Day 94
Paczkis' should be outlawed. I'm still suffering from the three I ate yesterday, plus the two I ate late this morning. Why can't I lose weight? I'm sure it's obvious to most people that eating that many calories in a day is going to put weight on most people.
How does it work? Put simply, to lose weight you must burn more calories than you take in. So if you eat 3000 calories in a day but you only burn 2500 calories, you'll gain weight. Conversely, if you take in 2500 calories but you burn 3000 calories you will lose weight. You will also gain or lose weight if you retain or expel water. Too much salt intake will cause water retention among other things.
Many fast weight lose diets will have you taking some form of a diuretic to help your body to expel water thus making it look as though your burning fat and losing weight. But you actually need to take in water to lose weight. Water washes away the waste product from burning calories and keeps the metabolism working efficiently.
To lose weight, watching what you eat is as essential as how much you eat. Healthy food choices speed up the weight lose process. Exercise is also essential to prevent flabby arms and legs. Without exercise the body will burn lean muscle mass first. You don't need a lot of exercise to begin with. Studies show faster weight lose with a moderate amount of exercise several times each week to start. A ten minute walk followed by a short workout with light resistance will work wonders. As time goes by you'll find yourself wanting to exercise more and more, but don't do too much, too soon. We want to tone and maintain muscle mass not add to it just yet.
The human mind is an awesome tool. It's scary what you can accomplish if you put your mind to it. So if you don't really want to lose weight, you won't. Just saying you want to lose weight isn't going to get it done. You have to believe it. When you make up your mind to lose weight and get in shape, nothing can stop you. The best way to do this is don't think of this as a diet. Diets end, diets break. Convince yourself that this is a change of lifestyle. Then just eat good healthy food in small portions several (3-4) times a day.
At first it will be hard to eat a small amount but remind yourself you'll be eating again in just two to three hours. Then do something that will keep your mind busy for a little while. Something other than watching TV. Too many food channels and fast food commercials. Out of sight, out of mind. Soon you'll look at the clock and think, "Wow, it's already time to eat again." If you need to eat a little more at first that's OK. Just eat a small amount more. After a few weeks of eating small, your stomach will begin to shrink and you'll feel your stuffing yourself at each meal.
Always use a plate when you eat and portion it out in thirds. Do not heap the food onto your plate, even healthy foods have calories and too much of anything is bad. Follow the One Third Rule, one third lean protein, one third starch (potato, rice, etc) and one third vegetables.
Example: A 4-6 oz piece of skinless, boneless chicken, one third mashed potatoes and one third broccoli florets. Drink plenty of water (especially when exercising) and limit your salt. Generally the food you eat has enough salt without adding extra. Most healthy foods have plenty of flavor, you just have to adjust your taste buds. Acquire a taste for them if you will. If you must use condiments for flavor, stick with low calorie ones.
Exercise is important. Mondays and Thursdays take a ten minute walk or bike ride. Increase time after two weeks or when you feel comfortable. Eventually you should work up to at least 30 minutes walking, three or more times a week. Remember don't do too much too soon. And never do more than your comfortable doing. Don't push yourself until you are ready. A pulled or strained muscle can stop an exercise program and make it hard to start again.
After a few months, you'll find you've lost a significant amount of weight. You'll feel pretty good and your self esteem will be higher than it has been in a long time. This is a very dangerous time for your new lifestyle. If your like me you'll want to celebrate your accomplishment and you should. The problem comes in when you decide to celebrate by eating some of those sinful delights that made you overweight to begin with. DON'T DO IT! Nothing will sabotage weight lose like old eating habits. After all that's how you became overweight to begin with. Don't go back to it.
Celebrate by doing something different. Go see a show you've wanted to see. Buy yourself some new clothes. If your up for it, go dancing. Reward yourself with anything but food. Your new motto is "eat to live, NOT, live to eat".
Somehow, someone will always tell you, "You have to eat more." Do not be swayed. Stay the course. In the long run the naysayer will see that you are OK, and looking and feeling better than ever. They may even ask you for advice on losing weight.
One last piece of advice. Don't try to lose weight too fast. Often the faster you take it off the faster you put it back on, plus a little extra. Your body believes you have been through a famine and automatically stores more fat to prepare for the next famine. If you lose the weight, at a slower pace your body doesn't feel starved, then if you indulge a little (and you will indulge) your body won't quickly turn to fat. Never quit trying and you will succeed. That's it. Easy-peasy.
Until tomorrow,
Ken
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