*DISCLAIMER:
I am NOT a doctor, nor a nutritional expert in any way. The following is from my own personal experience and research. It is not meant to be professional advice, an endorsement or a recommendation of any kind. It's only what I've learned, experienced or read about over the years. I strongly suggest you do your own research. It is always recommended that you check with your doctor or healthcare professional before beginning any exercise or diet routine. *
Anyway! I set out to try to figure out how to get this weight off because a) it's not healthy and b) I don't like the way I look. I don't want to be old AND fat! I can't do anything about being old, but maybe I CAN do something about being fat. 🙂 So, I set to figure it out! Weight loss has always been a subject that fascinated me. It's a terrible problem that needs solving. So I've read and researched it over the years. My ex-husband nearly lost his career to hereditary obesity and his son battles it, as well. Many friends have battled obesity and it really wrecked their morale and state of mind. Boy does it ever! I learned a lot over the years, so I thought maybe some of those things could work for me, too.
One of the things I learned from my ex's doctor was about a program called "Eat more, Move more, Lose more", was that starving yourself was the worst thing you can do. If you deny your body nutrition? It will put itself into starvation mode and store anything you eat for later (as fat!). Once your body has stored up fat, it will no longer use it for energy. It will now use its protein for energy. That protein? Is your muscles and vital organs. I've heard that even anorexics can have 30% body fat. Their body literally eats itself to death, because it's going to get nutrition from somewhere and it will not use stored fat as nutrition. (I used to have a print out of the program and the food list, but for the life of me I can not find it! I'll keep looking, though!)
*FOUND IT! Sure enough, it's the same book! Here's a link: Eat more, Move more, Lose more book
Fat in food is what makes it taste good. Like salt and sugar do, also. Fat is really supposed to be your body's source of energy. Protein is used to build muscle and organs. If you don't exercise or you starve your body because you're overweight? You have to re-train your body to use the fat it stored, (just in case you starved it again) for energy. So, let's say we haven't exercised in a while or ever. We have to get up off our butts and start exercising. You know what you need? Bigger engines. According to that program, bigger engines burn more gas. Your engines are your thighs. So what you need to do is walk. But you're only supposed to walk as quickly as you can walk and talk at the same time without being out of breath.
So! You haven't walked in a while? Ok! Walk to the mailbox and back. Tomorrow, walk 2 feet passed the mailbox. Next day? Walk 5 feet passed. Every day, walk a few feet further. Walk to the end of the block. Then the next, then the next. Try a half a mile for a week or so. Then up it until you reach a mile. That's only a half a mile one way. Drive the distance in your car, make a mental note of where it is, then walk to that point and back. Every day. Is the weather terrible where you live? Join a small gym. I joined one that only cost $20 a month. They don't have a spa, a pool or showers. But so what?! They have treadmills and ellipticals. I stop on my way home from work. I was using all of the weights too, and then I remembered something: lose first (weight/fat), then build (muscle). So I only walk now and I'm seeing much better results. Once I lose 25 pounds, I'll start using the weights to build my muscles back up.
During my search to figure out how to win this battle, I thought of something. I wondered how people who gained and lost a lot of weight, took it off and kept it off. You know what I found? They all changed the way they eat and they walk, every day! I figured if someone could lose more than 100 pounds walking 5 miles a day? I could lose 35 walking 3 miles a day! So, I stop using the weight machines and stuck to the treadmill only. I lost 3 pounds the first week. So, that little voice reminding me to lose weight and THEN build lean muscle was right. Seeing results also told me that my body is learning how to use the stored fat, again. I did make the mistake of limiting my food intake too much at first. Lesson learned. I never drank water, but I'm learning how. Cramps are caused by dehydration. So make sure you're keeping hydrated. I'd get those charlie horses in my legs at night. I'd drink a small bottle of Gatorade before bed and Viola! no more cramps. It gave me back the electrolytes I was losing from exercising and sweating, too. Don't like plain water? You can do one of these. The lemons are fresh, the fruit is frozen:
Something else to keep in mind. Don't get on the scale every day. It lies, sort of. Remember: muscle weighs more than fat, but fat takes up more room. So, if the scale still says 155, but your pants are falling off? You're seeing results! KEEP GOING! Pretty soon, the weight from fat will start coming off the scale, too! But at first, you're exchanging fat for muscle. I've notice a pair of jeans are easier to button now and at least one roll of fat is gone. Oh! And don't expect to keep eating whole bags of M&M's and see results. But if you do, you have to give up something else in exchange for those calories. A grilled chicken salad will fill you up more than a candy. I'm not judging, I'm just saying what I know is true.
Another thing. You can not go complete deprivation. If you take something away, you must exchange something back in so you don't feel deprived. But if you have a craving for something? You should feed that craving in moderation. If you don't? It will keep bugging you and bugging you and bugging you until you finally give in and over-do it! For instance, instead of keeping a big bag of M&M's around? Keep those smaller snack sized bags. When your brain says M&M's NOW! Eat one of the little bags and your brain will shut up. You also won't feel bad about yourself because you broke down and ate a big bag when you finally gave in to the craving. (By the way, M&M peanuts have less fat! 😉)
Here's a nice little chocolate fix. To a mug of hot water, I add spoonful of instant coffee, a spoonful of hot chocolate, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a tiny dash of cayenne pepper. (cream and sweetener if you like and I do):
That program said that you should eat more, not less. If you look around, you'll see most of these doctors and nutritionist tell us we should be eating more, smaller meals every day. If we keep foods we're allowed to eat with us all of the time? We're far less likely to stop by the store and pick up that candy bar or soda. I was trying to figure out why I couldn't lose weight 20 years back. I was going to the gym, eating fat-free foods, watching my calories from fat and such. Then suddenly I was like: wait! I'm drinking a soda and eating a bag of chips on break every day. I put down the soda and chips for a month and BOOM! 10 pounds gone! They are both empty calories, like many of the foods we eat. (Guess who doesn't have soda and chips every day now?) We have to lose our taste for sugar and salt, too.
How do we lose a taste for something? By eating less and less of it, gradually, so your brain and taste buds don't notice as much. Take the salt shaker off the table, too. We know it's not healthy to do away with salt all together, but we do use way more than we should. I got into the habit of not adding any more salt to my food once it left the stove. And I use less than I did before while cooking, too. The only seasoning I add at the table now, is pepper. When I do baked potatoes? I use powdered ranch dressing in a salt shaker, instead of butter and sour cream. And it's really good! I've learned to like less sugar by adding half of the sugar I used to in my coffee. I cut back on the creamer, too. I switched to splenda and use that when I make refrigerator tea or cold-brewed coffee (that I turn into caramel iced coffee). I even started with two packets in my coffee and now I'm only using one. I make diet citrus green tea in the fridge, too. It's really easy to make both. Just add your tea bags to the amount of water you normally use on the stove, place in the fridge overnight, then mix as usual the next day.
For my green tea, I use a gallon jug I saved from purchasing ready made. I use 4 family sized tea bags (or 16 regular), to a quart of water and put in the fridge overnight. The next day, I add a 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract, 1 tablespoon of lemon and 1 of lime juice and then splenda to taste (you can use sugar) to the jug, then fill it up with water. Viola! Homemade citrus green tea that tastes store bought. (This one pictured is just a bottle I saved, not an endorsement. It was actually the first time I had tried green tea, before I decided to switch from regular tea.)
(You can make your own extract, by putting orange peels into a small bottle and add vodka. I twist the peels as I'm putting them down in the bottle to release the oils. I use the small amber bottles. But you can use any small bottle. Just shake every day, store in a cool dark place until ready, about a month. Extracts are expensive to buy, but cheap to make at home.)
For cold brewed caramel iced coffee: I use 1 cup of caramel flavored coffee grounds, add to a quart of water. Place in the fridge overnight. Next day, strain and store in the quart jar. (I used my French press the next time and was able to skip the straining!) When I get ready to use it, I add 1 cup of the coffee to a quart mason jar, fill to the quart mark with water, sweeten to taste (I use 4 splendas) and fill with liquid creamer. If you use plain coffee, you can use flavored creamer or just plain, depending on what you like. I used chocolate caramel creamer in mine and it's yummy! (You can make a gallon with the original recipe or make a quart at a time. It's just me, so I make a quart.)
One of the biggest changes I made was I stopped eating meat. You don't have to do that, but that's what I did, as a personal choice. There are so many good alternatives today, it's easy to do now. I'm a Lacto-ovo vegetarian (Lacto-ovo vegetarians do not consume red meat, white meat, fish or fowl. However, lacto-ovo vegetarians do consume dairy products and egg products. This is the most common type of vegetarian.) I was born vegan, so it's been easier for me to do. It made my family of farmers a little nuts. 😜 (Here are the different types: http://www.vegetarian-nation.com/resources/common-questions/types-levels-vegetarian/) One of the craziest things I learned about eating healthier and not starving yourself is this: make your veggie portions larger and your meat portions smaller (if you eat meat) and use smaller plates. There are tons of sources other than meat, to get your protein, as well. (You'd be surprised what you'll find once you look into it!) Your brain doesn't give a hoot what you put in your belly. It's just waiting for the signal from your tummy that says: okay, I'm full now. So, fill up on the healthy stuff. There are literally tons of foods you can eat as much as you want, whenever you want (nearly all fruits/veggies). There are other foods like melons, you can eat up to a pound a day of and foods you should eat sparingly, like butter, oils and fats, but if you do, very little. Learn to read labels and get serious about it! If an item has more than 30% calories from fat? Put it back! Ideally, it should only be 10%, but 30% or less is a good start. Most labels tell you now, so you don't need a calculator anymore.
One of the biggest changes we can make is how we cook the foods we eat. And we do need to cook more. Stop frying your foods immediately! Switch to baking and learn how to go without coatings on your meats. They're in that group of eat sparingly. Seasonings go a LONG way to replacing fattening coatings (like flour/eggs/milk). We have to have a balanced diet. Have you ever notice the food pyramid tells you to eat more fruits and veggies than meats? And pasta and breads are on eat more of list, too. Switching from white bread and processed foods to whole wheat or whole grains makes a huge difference. Fruits, veggies and whole grains have vitamins, minerals, nutrients and fiber. All of those things will fill you up faster than chips and dip and they aren't empty calories like the chips, dips and sodas. Did you know a cup of say, honey-nut cheerios (dry, no milk) have fewer calories than a snack bag of chips? And will fill you up and satisfy you longer than the chips? I tried those veggie chips as a substitute for regular chips and the calorie difference is amazing!
Also, I find if I portion my snacks out, in snack size bags, I eat far less and satisfy my craving for a snack. I have avoided depriving myself of a snack, by switching in the cereal for chips. I switched regular chocolate out for dark chocolate, because it's not as sweet and it's better for you (or so they tell us!) I also found some frozen meals, SmartOnes that I can microwave. They're very low in calories and more than a few are vegetarian. They're pretty good, too. I'm not promoting any brand over another, it's just what I'm using or have tried and liked. They have desserts that are low in calories, too.
There are so many things we can exchange to save calories and guilt. Exchange a yogurt for ice cream. If you absolutely must have ice cream? Buy individual portions. You'll eat less than you would if you're serving yourself out of the quart. (NO pints! We'll eat the whole thing! LOL!) Have a grilled chicken salad instead of a fried chicken sandwich. Eat a baked potato instead of fries (or bake them instead of frying them, it does help!) Plan your meals instead of shopping every day. You'll save money and make healthier choices. Eat your biggest meals during the day, you'll use the calories. If you eat your biggest meal in the evening, and you're in for the night? Those calories aren't going to get used, they'll get stored...as fat.
I make my own yogurt, it's very easy. And you can freeze it with fruit, and use it as your ice cream. I used plain yogurt, lemon curd and canned blueberries:
I found this really yummy soup! It's easy to make and I noticed I have never needed to add any seasonings to it. I make a batch up and freeze it into individual servings. I eat it for lunch at work, I take it out in the morning and it's thawed enough to heat up by lunchtime. I have noticed that I'm not hungry for a long time after I eat this soup. I don't know if the name is true, but it's very good and fills you up! I'm thinking of using this recipe when I take a canning class. This has to be frozen or pressure canned. I've never pressure canned, so I'm going to take a class this summer. I cheated and bought everything pre-cut and used coleslaw bagged cabbage (all it is, is shredded cabbage) and used diced tomatoes, too. The second time I made it, I used V-8 juice and really liked it: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13116/cabbage-fat-burning-soup/
Believe it or not, wine, beer and liquor all translate to BIG calories! I used to go to free beer night and put on a ton of weight! I stopped going to free beer night and the weight came off. If you want to continue to drink alcohol, find a product that will lower your caloric intake. Switch to club soda or tonic and a lime instead of lemon-lime soda. Here's a good source to help you decide: http://www.livescience.com/52990-alcohol-calories-weight-loss-be-healthy.html. I've learned to limit my alcohol intake to one or two wine coolers with a lime, now and then. (I fill a tall glass with ice, 3/4 with blackberry merlot, top off with lemon-lime soda.) I remember reading that your body treats alcohol like sugar, so it makes sense that it's high in calories, even before we add mixers, sodas or juices.
I found a handy calorie calculator. It's pretty good gauge and will give you some ideas for healthy eating and exercise. If you're goals are unrealistic, it will tell you and then readjust it to a healthier place. I did that and it set me straight in a hurry! LOL! Pretty good place to start if you need an idea of how much you should be eating: https://www.verywell.com/how-many-calories-to-lose-weight-3495659
I entered an unrealistic goal and this is what came up:
Ultimately, we have to decide for ourselves what we're willing to do to get healthier. I have heard time and again, when people lost weight down to a "normal" or near normal weight, most of their health issues were gone, too. It makes total sense to me. If you weigh less, you can breathe easier, move around easier, you feel better, you look better and you're less likely to be loving yourself with food! And we do that, we love ourselves with food or make excuses and say: I'm already fat anyway. NOPE! No more! We need to stop making excuses and get our lazy asses up off the couch, out of the fridge and cupboards! We're worth it!
We need healthier rewards for hitting goals or milestones, too. If yours is candy or sweets, stick to the portions stated on the package. No matter what you choose, and ideally, it shouldn't be food, do it in moderation. Most importantly? DON'T GIVE UP! AND DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP IF YOU FALL. We didn't put this weight on overnight, so it's not going to come off overnight! Don't expect miracles. But keep going! You can do it! Changing habits and lifestyles aren't easy. I never believed I could quit smoking. But I did! I found a way that worked for me and stuck with it. Losing weight is the same concept. Find what works and stick with it!
I joined a small gym so I couldn't use rain or heat or cold as an excuse not to walk today. It's also on my way home, so I can't pretend it's out of my way to go there, either. When I want to quit, because I still have a half a mile to go? I tell myself to keep walking! Don't be a quitter! When I think "I can't do this", I tell myself to shut up! You CAN do this, too! I started with a quarter of a mile and thought I was going to die before I finished. Two weeks later, I'm up to 3 miles. I listen and watch Learn French while Walking, or watch a movie. I figured out the treadmill has a little spot I can put my iPod on so I can watch while I walk. (tee hee!)
You know what the hardest part is? Keeping promises to yourself. Tell everyone what you're doing and document your successes and your failures! It will inspire you to keep going and to keep that promise to yourself. Your failures, when you keep going, will inspire someone else to get up off the couch and walk to the mailbox...today...and begin their own journey to a healthier life. Don't do this for anyone but YOU. You are worth it! ♥
And remember...
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