A Serious Post - Starving in a Land of Plenty

A French model died yesterday, of anorexia. She was 28 years old, weighed something like 59 pounds, and had struggled with anorexia since she was 13.

It's stories like this that make me worried every time I hear Michele Obama maundering on and on about how our children are too fat, and need to eat less and exercise more. Girls are unable to get away from boys obsessed with their looks as it is, and obsess over their weight from an early age already, now a horror of weight gain is going to be institutionalized in schools? Kids are going to have to be weighed every day to make sure they aren't ...horrors! 5 pounds over weight? How many more cases of anorexia is this going to engender?

Yes, anorexics take this weight obsession to extreme, and lets not forget there are bulemics out there also....women who eat, but then vomic it all up again. (That's something I'll never understand. Better to eat nothing than to vomit everyday, I've vomited when I've been sick and it is the most unpleasant experience. And they do it after every meal!)

That is why, in this blog, I urge you not to concern yourself with your weight. I don't even want you stepping on a scale more than once every 2 weeks or so. Find a pair of jeans that are just a leetle bit too tight, and use them as your measuring stick once a week. If they are loose, you're losing weight. If they continue to be too tight, then you're taking my advice about a relaxed approach to weight loss a little too relaxed.

I can't emphasize enough...you should not be losing weight because you're concerned about your appearance to other people, in particular boys. You should be concerned about being at a healthy weight, because it is the healthy thing in order for you to live a long and enjoyable life. Eating well is part of that enjoyment.

French Model Dies of Anorexia

Ironically, the 28 year old model and actress, Isabelle Caro, who told aspiring models in an online video, "Believe in life" has died of anorexia, on November 17th, in France. The young French model told friends and interviewers, that she had struggled with anorexia since she was only 13 years old.

Caro was featured in a controversial Italian ad campaign shot by Oliviero Toscani in 2007. The ads were run in the United States and Europe, after a 21 year old model from Brazil died from anorexia. Caro appeared in the ads which contained headlines which said "No Anorexia". In these displays, Caro was pictured naked, with jutting out check bones and back bones. The model stated that she weighed only 59 pounds at the time the pictures were made.

Vincent Bigler, a singer from Switzerland had been at work with Caro on a music viideo, for lyrics he wrote for a song about anorexia. Speaking of Caro, he said, she "left me with many images, and much hope."

Distributors of pro-anorexia sites on the Internet have posted her obituary and photos of Caro containing the words, "Die young, stay pretty." [Apparently, pro anorexia sites, or 'pro-ana' are quite popular on the web. These people believe anorexia is a lifestyle choice, not a mental illness, and their goal is to be as skeletal as possible! Sorry, folks, it may be a lifestyle "choice" but its an incredibly stupid one.)

Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by an unrealistic fear of weight gain, self starvation, and the conspicuous distortion of one's body image. 90% of all persons suffering from anorexia are female. On-set of the disorder usually begins in females between 14 and 18 years of age. Anorexia is a serious public health problem. Over the past years, the number of persons suffering from the dis-order, have increased. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders.

What to eat on your "diet"?

Several weeks ago, on Rush Limbaugh's radio show, he talked about a guy who had lost weight on a "McDonald's Diet". The guy had eaten fast food instead of "healthy food" and just by counting calories, had lost weight. (Whether he'll be able to keep it off is another story.)

In any event, Limbaugh seemed to think this was news. It's not news. Everyone knows - or should - that that's how you lose weight. Not by eating skinless chicken or giving up potatoes or chocolate, but by eating less calories per day - 2000 calories a day instead of 3600, for example. (3600 calories = 1 pound).

Now, whenever you go to these fast food restaurants, they have to, by law, tell you how many calories there food is. And a Big Mac is something like 1,000 calories. A chocolate shake is probably 1000 calories, and so on. So it does help you to know how many calories are in food, but for all that, you don't need to dwell on it too much.

Remember in my plan you are not trying to lost 30 pounds in 30 days. You are going to take a whole year to do it. You're going to do it gradually, because in that way you'll be able to maintain that weight loss for the rest of your life.

I've been urging you to keep a journal in which you record many things, including what you eat, and when. And really, bu looking at this journal you should know where you need to cut down in order to lower your calorie consumption.

Do you have a bowl of icecream after dinner? Cut it down to half a bowl.

Do you have a donut for a snack to tide you over between lunch and dinner? Cut it down to half a donut.

Do you have a candybar or something before you go to bed to ease those hunger pains? Replace those with carrots.

Do you have hunger pains at night? So what! Yes, at some time during the losing weight process, you're going to have to go to bed feeling hungry. Get used to it! You dont have to go to bed starving! Just jave a handful of carrots to take the edge off.

You are going to gradually be cutting back on what you eat, so it will take a while for your stomach to shrink, but eventually your appetite will lessen, which will enable you to keep a rein on what you eat, and maintain your new weight.

And of course, you need to exercise.

In future entries I'll give tips on weight training - all women should train with weights. Not to "bulk up" - unless you want to, of course, but to keep muscle tone and to aid in the weight maintainence process.

Then there's biking - my sport of choice. Jogging is good, but can behard on the knees. Walking is perhaps the easiest sport of all - I always find it boring but if you get some good music or an audiotape, that helps.

The new year, and the new you, is one day away.

We are prepared for it.

When Do You Choose To Stop Re-Gaining Weight?

Was reading a message board today. A woman posted:

And, I discovered I'm within 2 pounds of gaining back all the weight I lost a couple years ago, so I joined Weight Watchers online today. Not going to get too excited about it until after New Years, I plan to make the other half of my Thanksgiving turkey and trimmings to go with it. But I'm starting to track as of today just to get an idea of what I'm eating.

So for two years this woman has been gradually gaining back all the weight she'd lost - she doesn't say how much weight she had lost - and it is not until now, when she is within 2 pounds of that original weight loss, that she is going to go onto a diet again to try to lose the weight again?

Why didn't she go back on her diet after she'd regained five pounds, or even ten? (I'm going to go out on a limb and assume she'd lost 50 pounds or so.)

Well, for that matter, why doesn't everybody? See, that's the whole thing. 90% of people who lose weight gain it all back within 5 years...not only that, they even gain more back.

Why is it that they can't step on a scale, see that they've regained 5 pounds of all the weight they've lost, and stop right there?

Well, it's psychological. When someone has been on a diet for a long time - a "diet" being something temporary that they only have to do until they achieve a goal, and then they can stop and go back to their old habits - tension builds up and builds up. Then, once they've achieved their goal, the tension relaxes, and it's like a muscle tensed up for too long, it begins to shiver uncontrollably. People need a release...and that release is to start eating ....and keep on eating and eating and eating.

That's why the key is not to "diet" temporarily - the key is to have a total lifestyle change, so there is nothing to go "off" of.

And once you've lost however many pounds you desire to lose, you know exactly how much food you can add to your portions on a daily basis - one extra portion - to maintain your new weight.

And again - don't deprive yourself of anything. Eat white bread, if you like it, eat white rice if you like it. A calorie is a calorie.

The only thing that you really need to cut out, if at all possible, is soft drinks like Pepsi or Coke. 150 calories per can, and if you drink 5 a day, as I used to do... Drop it down- as gradually as you have to - until you're only drinking one a day...if that.

5 Days To Go

Have you made your new years resolutions yet. Lots of people - mostly women - do, and the main resolution is to lose weight.

Well, 2011 is the year you're going to do it.

But you've got to start plannnig now.

I've been advising you in several posts to start a journal, in which you record everytyhing. This is gong to help you when you start on your quest to lose weight - and then maintain the healthy weight that you achieve.

By keeping a journal in which you record how you feel aftr you eat a meal, or even a snack, you can learn about yourself. What foods give you a "sugar high" and then lead to depression afterward, if any. Can you eat "just one" potato chip, or is this impossible. Are there any snacks that you can eat that don't cause you to crave even more of them, and so on.

Do you feel sluggish after eating any particular foods? Carbohydrates are important, but too many and you feel tired.

ONce you learn how your body reacts to food, the easier it will be for you to lose and maintain weight.

HOw many pounds overweight are you? Let's say you're 100 pounds overweight. Well, you can only safely lose 2 pounds a week. So to lose 100 pounds, it will take you 50 weeks, or a whole year.

But it will take more than that, because when you first start changing your eating and exercise patterns, you won't see any changes for at least two weeks. Indeed, if you start weight training, as I advise you to do, you may even initially gain a couple of pounds, because muscle weighs more than fat. But, once you improve your musculature, and achieve your desired weight, you can eat a bit more than normal - because muscles burn more calories than fat.

Losing 2 pounds a week is ideal. You don't want to lose more than that, because you don't want your body metabolism to change. If you lose weight too quickly, then start eating the same foods in the same quantities that you had done previuously, you'll find yourself gaining weight back much more quickly, because your body won't burn calories as quickly as it once did.

So, it's time to start preparing yourself mentally for your resolution to lose weight. You're going to aim for two pounds a week. You're not going to starve yourself - you're going to eat all the foods you want, just in smaller portions. YOu're going to increase your exercise - biking, walking, tennis...whatever it takes. If it's too cold to go outside you'll walk up and down your stairs while listening to music. No stairs, build a stair stepper - jut get a few pieces of wood which you nail together, so that you have to lift your legs at least four inches.

Don't let yourself be guilted into losing weight. After every Christmas, the ads from Weight Watchers and Slimfast and so on seem to triple. Women, in particular, are never allowed to be comfortable with themselves. "Oh, cover up those skin flaws with this product." "Can you pinch an inch! You must lose weight immediately!" Ya da ya da.

You're going to lose weight because it'll be healthy for you, and for no other reason. Keep that in your mind at all times.

Willpower is a Muscle

If you've tried diet after diet and failed, you have probably said to yourself, "Well, I'm going to give up. I just don't have the willpower."

Well, there's no need to despair. You may not have the willpower now, but willpower is a muscle. If you exercise it, it will grow stronger and stronger.

That's one reason why I advise people who have a lot of weight to lose - like over a hundred pounds - to do it gradually. To spend a year doing it. Because losing weight is just the first part of the process - you then have to keep it off, and that is actually harder for people to do! Statistics show that most people who lose a lot of weight, gain it back, plus a bit more, within 5 years. And if you watch the commercials for Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, all of them have a bit of text in tiny white letters, "Results not typical."

You don't need to use Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, you don't need to replace one of your meals with a Slimfast milkshake.

All you need to do is practice portion control and increase your exercise level.

How do you practice portion control? You eat what you want, just not as much of it.

And at nght when the hunger cravings hit, you eat a few carrots instead of a candybar.

It all takes willpower - and you have to develop that willpower.....or learn how to work with it. (For example, as I've said many times, I can't cook fresh-baked cookies, because if I do I eat the whole batch in one sitting. But if I have Oreo Cookiesin the house...I can eat two for dessert, and that satisfies my chocolate craving. The rest of the Oreos are quite safe until the next day.

I had a long struggle in cutting back on Pepsis. Up until I was 40 I drank several pepsis a day, because I biked a great deal and was able to maintain my weight even though I was drinking a lot of extra calories. But when I hit 40 and my metabolism slowed down...the weight wasn't coming off. So, I had no choice but to scale back on Pepsis, and I wasn't happy about it, I can tell you. But, it had to be done.

And the only way to do it was to do it gradually. I kept track of how many Pepsis a day I drank, and when I drank them - basically everytime I finished taking a break from my computer, I'd grab a Pepsi and then get back to work. It was a habit. I broke it slowly...spacing out the time between Pepsis more and more, substituing water for one Pepsi, and so on, until I was down to two Pepsis a day. (I don't drink Diet Pepsi - awful stuff!)

You keep a journal to record many things, among them how your strength is improving due to your weight training regime. Well, keep a journal on how your will power improves, as well. It may take you several months to work it up to snuff, but you can do it!

Appetite and Drinking Water

While you're waiting for December to be over, so you can implement your new - and permanent - lifestyle change, you must be doing many things.

1. Keep a journal of what you eat and drink every day...and why. By this I don't mean breakfast, lunch and dinner, but the in-between snacks and so on.

2. Look at your portions. Do you eat the equivalent of two servings of mash potatoes as one serving?

3. Watch your calories. A bowl of ice cream a day is not that bad...a couple of hundred calories. But do you pour chocolate syrup over it? That adds another hundred calories. Do you chop up a candy bar and add that? That also ads calories.

4. A salad may be healthy for you - but it does have calories. A lot of people, apparently (according to a college study I once read) believe that if they eat a salad alog with a couple of huge hambuger and fries...the salad doesn't have any calories. Not so. Unless you leave off the dressing and toppings. So eat a large salad, or eat a large meal, not both.

I always tell the people whom I'm helping to lose weight that it is not necessary to count calories - it is only necessary to use portion control.

If you become familiar, over the course of a month (in this case December) with what you eat, and you are overweight by 50-100 pounds, then the solution is obvious. You're eating too much, and not exercising enough. Don't cut out all carbohydrates, that's ridiculous. Eat everything - just in smaller portions!

I'll explore this more in later entries.

Ever heard of Jenifer Ringer?

Back in late November, ballet critic Alastair Maccaulay was reviewing a performance of the New York City Ballet's Nutcracker Suite. Jenifer Ringer, a featured ballerina in the Ballet, was cast as the Sugar plum Fairy.

McCauley said in his review, "She looks like she's eaten one sugar plum too many." (Translation? She's overweight. She's fat.)

However, in the same review and in the same paragraph, Macauley also gave his opinion that one of the male ballet danceers also looked like he'd spent to long at the sweet trolley. Translation, he also was fat.

But all the brouhaha since then has been about the fact that he called a ballerina - someone with probably no fat on her bones, fat.

So of course there's a double standard, but that's because guys don't mind being fat. (Well, most guys, there are always exceptions to the rule.) But most guys can have a gut out to here, and they still think that they are irresistable to the ladies.

Women, on the other hand, don't have that luxury. Jenifer Ringer, indeed, is a recovered anorexic, which made Macaulay's comment not only all the more hurtful, but dangeorus. God forbid this perfectly fit and healthy-weight woman should think to herself, "Oh, god, I weigh a pound too much, I've got to stop eating right now."

The reason I bring this up is that it just goes to show that women just can't win. There's always going to be someone in a position of "power" - a critic, a boss, a boyfriend - who, no matter what they weight, is going to say, "Hey, you should lose a few pounds." And more often than not the woman is, unfortunately, going to take this to heart and start starving herself.

In any event, the point of this rant is simple. Do not stress out about your weight. Your goal is to become physically fit and have weight in proportion to your height. You can't please all of the peole all of the time, so go with what's healthy.

Gradualness is your enemy...and your friend

Unless you're bound and determined to gain weight quickly (having 3 or 4 Blizzards a day in addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner), you probably have never gained more than a pound a day. If you've skipped walking or biking for a week, and not only not left off a portion of food from your dinner, but added an extra portion, you'll gradually put on weight. A half pound one day...a half pound the next, and so on. It's so gradual you don't even notice it until one day, a month later, you find out not only that your slacks are getting a bit tight, but now you can't even zipper them up.

Time to reverse the process - and do it gradually.

People who go on crash diets to lose weight actually mess with their metabolism, and by the time they are finished, they will be unable to eat the same amount of food that they used to eat, without gaining weight. That's because their metabolism has slowed down, to compensate for what the body believed was a starvation process.

When the body doesn't get enough to eat, that's what it does. It goes after muscle first, before fat - it tries to conserve the fat to keep you alive.

That is one of the reasons why so many people who successfully lose a hundred pounds or so...gain it all back within a year. They go back to their old eating routine...and even if they maintain the exercise routine they started while they were losing weight, they still gain back all the weight. Why - their metabolism has slown down. It's busy (I'm anthropomorphising here) trying to get back all that weight it lost, so it will start storing fat quicker than ever before.

That is why it is important to lose weight gradually, so you don't play havoc with your metabolism. Be satisfied with losing 1 pound a week. A goal like that is eminently doable, does not require you to starve yourself or feel hungry, and once you reach your desire weight, will be easy to maintain, as I explain in future entries in this blog.

Outdoors too cold in winter?

As I've said here often, I'm not a winter girl. I bike in the spring, summer and fall, but in winter time I hibernate indoors.

Yorktown, Virginia wasn't so bad. The weather there didn't fall much below 30 degrees, and so I'd bundle up a couple of days a week and be able to bike around my housing area.

That's not possible here in Cheyenne. It doesn't get very cold...but that horrible wind...terrible.

Solution? My stairs.

I've got a single flight of carpeted stairs leading from the first to the second floor. There's bannisters on either side, but they really aren't necessary. The stairs are wide and perfectly safe.

And I run up and down them a dozen times a day. All at once, of course, because the idea is to get my heart beat going. And because I'm going up and down stairs, my legs get a pretty good workout as well.

If you don't have stairs where you live, or if it's not convenient to run up and down them, there is always your local mall. Typically the doors are opened early in the morning for those people who want to go walking in relative safety.

SO even if you hate winter with a passion, there are ways you can get out and get some exercise.

Do so.

Don't Dread Christmas

In twenty more days it'll be Christmas. And whether you're allowed to celebrate Christmas or have to celebrate with "Holiday" parties (I'm an atheist, but I celebrate Christmas. Peace on Earth, good will toward men - that's a great sentiment whatever your spiritual leanings) chances are you'll be surrounded by food for the rest of the month.

If you've changed your eating habits already (I hate to use the term "dieting" - to be successful in weight loss/maintenance, you don't "diet" you "eat properly") then you will be able to get through this Christmas season and gain only a couple of pounds, if that. I say that because if you "know yourself" - you know what treats you can have that won't trigger an eating binge.

If you're just now thinking of starting a diet....why not wait until January 1. Make it a New Year's Resolution - and one that you'll be able to keep.

So if you're not going to start your "eating properly" now, what constructive things are you going to do during this month?

1. Set your goal now to obtain a healthy weight in the New Year.

2. Realize that you are going to lose 1 pound a week, or 2 at the most. That is the healthy way to lose weight, and the best way. Anything else will alter your metabolism - slow it down, as a matter of fact, and you don't want that!

3. Realize that for the first two weeks - or even three - of the New Year, you are not going to step on a scale.

4. Before you can start to lose weight, your body must use up any extra calories it has, and achieve a "caloric imbalance." This can take up to two weeks! If you step on a scale and haven't lost a single pound, or even have gained a couple of pounds, you may give up and start binge eating.

5. Realize that you may gain weight before you start to lose it. Why? Because in addition to moderating your food intake, you are also going to increase your physical activity, and if you are wise, you will start weight training. And since muscles weigh more than fat, you may initially gain weight. Just for a week or so, until the weight starts to come off.

6. Realize that muscles burn more calories than fat does. The fitter you are, the more calories you burn (and the more you can eat - up to one extra portion a day.)

7. Don't be misled by the term "portion" - you can eat until you're full. Don't settle for a couple of pickles and a sprig of celergy for dinner!

8. Prepare your family for your new weight loss program. They must be supportive without being nagging. Do not accept any jokes about your weight, even if they are meant honestly as jokes in a misguided attempt at support. You need positive support - you deserve positive support.

9. Start a journal.

I'll tell you what to put in it in my next entry on Wednesday.

Your Goal is to Achieve a Healthy Weight, Not to Become a Skeleton

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you realize that your goal is not to lose weight, but to become fit. If you become fit, the weight loss/maintenance, naturally follows.

There are three types of skeletons, or frames - small, medium and large. People with large frames cannot healthily weigh the same as someone the same height, but with a small skeleton.

Being five pounds underweight is much unhealthier than being five pounds overweight, and if you're 20 pounds underweight, you're extremely unhealthy, whereas if you're 20 pounds overweight...that's nothing. Start riding a bike, give up one candy bar a day, or forget your weekly Blizzard, and you'll lose that weight in no time.

This blog is really aimed at people who are 50-100 pounds overweight or more.

If you're that overweight, you need a complete - and permanent - lifestyle change.

And no, it doesn't mean you have to give up chocolate completely, or carbohydrates completely, and so on. All it means is you have to practice portion control and increase your physical activity.

But of course that is easier said than done, which is where this blog comes in.

What is one reason dieters fail?
Because you expect too much, too soon. You can gain two or three pounds in a day...it will take you three weeks to lose it.

If you lose the weight quickly, chances are you'll gain it back again quickly, plus a little more, because your metabolism will be out of whack.

If you lose the weight gradually, over the course of several months, there is much more likelihood of you maintaining your new weight.

I suggest NOT taking diet pills, appetite suppressant drugs or metabolism increasing drugs. ALL drugs have side effects. And you don't need them. (If you are healthy. If you have diabetes or some other disease of that type, consult your doctor, My advice is ONLY for healthy people who simply struggle with their weight for a variety of reasons.)

More than one way to lose and keep off weight

I lost weight and have kept it off for 3 years by eating anything I want, including cookies, in moderation. The story below is from a Dallas paper in which a man lost 300 pounds and says that there should be no cheat days.

Well, what I do say is that you have to know yourself. If you have a cheat day, does it stop at that, or does it extend to a week. If that is the case, then of course you can't have a cheat day.

Dallas man loses 300 pounds and keeps it off

05:01 PM CST on Monday, November 29, 2010
By DARLA ATLAS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Rick Salewske hasn't tasted ice cream in 10 years.



RON HEFLIN/Special Contributor
Rick Salewske has found daily exercise and an almost fervent stance are the keys to maintaining his size. Until October 2000, the treat had been his favorite source of comfort, and he often overindulged.

"I'd always have ice cream at night," says Salewske, 48. "Those Nutty Buddy bars – I'd have four of those. Or I'd go to Braum's, where they have the hot-fudge triple sundae. Sometimes I'd go to the store at midnight just to get my ice cream."

Back then, Salewske was a different person in mind and body. He weighed 538 pounds and was almost defiant about it: "I'd think, 'I'm a good person. I love my parents, I don't do drugs. I support myself. Why do I have to change?' "It took an intervention of sorts, followed by unwavering dedication, to lose 300 pounds, which he's kept off for eight years. While his weight has fluctuated by 30 or 40 pounds now and then, Salewske sees himself not only as a weight-loss success story, but a weight-maintenance winner as well.

For Salewske, a production scheduler at ClarkWestern Building Systems in Dallas, going back to his unhealthy self isn't an option.

"I can't believe there are people out there who lose 300 pounds and gain it right back," he says.

He'd be surprised. Maintaining a weight loss – be it 50 or 200 pounds – is a challenge many aren't up for, says Dr. Edward Livingston, director of the bariatric surgery program at UT-Southwestern Medical Center.

After all the work it takes to lose the pounds, why do people regain?

"One way it happens is that we sort of slide off the wagon slowly," Livingston says. "One cookie becomes two and then three, and then it's the whole bag. The other thing I've seen happen is that there's a life event, and the person just gives up and gets depressed."


Family Photo
Salewske, who weighed 538 pounds 10 years ago, was almost defiant about it. They begin eating – which, unfortunately, helps for a moment.

"Food activates the same pleasure centers in your brain as some drugs do," he says.


'The Biggest Loser'

Even losing weight in the limelight doesn't guarantee keeping it off. At the end of every season of The Biggest Loser, victorious contestants are seen pumping their newly toned arms as confetti falls around them. Check back a year later, and several have ballooned back to their former sizes.

"It's strictly a willpower issue," Livingston says. "If you've got the willpower, you can do it."

Salewske has enough of that and then some, but he didn't in 1981, when he moved from Michigan to Dallas and ate out of loneliness. By the time he drove home for Christmas in 1999, his family was distraught by what he was doing to himself.

"My parents sat me down and told me, 'Your sisters were crying last night. They think you're going to die,' " he recalls.

By 2000, Salewske had a 66-inch waist and wore 6X shirts. He turned down a job back in Michigan, which he'd landed sight unseen, because of his weight.

Also Online Restaurant critic Leslie Brenner loses nearly 30 pounds on 'The Restaurant Critic's Diet'

Full coverage: Weight loss news
The CEO at his job in Texas was grateful he'd turned down the other position, but he was also worried about Salewske's health.

He said, 'Rick, I want you to work for me for the next 20 years. But if you don't lose the weight, you're not going to be around for 20 years. Go find a program, and we'll support you,' " he recalls.

That led Salewske to the Cooper Aerobics Center, which helped transform his eating and exercise habits. By 2003, he'd lost 300 pounds, was named Cooper's Man of the Year, appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and in People magazine, and married his wife, Kelley, with whom he now has two sons. Success was his.

That success could easily have been fleeting.

"I haven't been perfect, believe me," he says of the fluctuations. Earlier this year, for example, he'd started making late-night trips for fast food again, and he'd find himself snacking on the kids' potato chips.

"I got on the scale in March of this year and weighed 284 pounds, which was probably the heaviest I've been since I lost the 300 pounds," he says. "I go, 'Man, this has got to stop.' "

After quitting the junk food again, he dropped back to 245 pounds. As for exercise, Salewske works it in every day by going to the gym or jogging around his neighborhood.

Salewske takes an almost fervent stance on maintaining his size.

"In our lives, so many things can be taken away from us," he says. "We could lose our house, our jobs, money in the stock market. If you lose the weight and stay committed and feel good about yourself, nobody can ever take that away from you. Nobody's going to put that 300 pounds back on you."

Except, of course, the person who lost it in the first place. To formerly overweight folks like himself, Salewske has some not-so-fun maintenance advice.

"If we're the type of people that gain 50, 60, 100, 200, 300 pounds, that's who we are," he says. "It's kind of like being an alcoholic. You always have to watch it."


Ditch the falsehoods

Which means giving up the excuses or little mind games that lead to backsliding. Among them:

•It's OK to have a cookie here and there.

"I don't think so," Salewske says, "because before you know it, it's been a week, two weeks, and you've had a cookie every night. Now you have to break that habit again."

•Life is too short to deny yourself all of its pleasures.

"I've never known anyone who hasn't lost a lot of weight who isn't much happier," Livingston says.

"They feel better and they're more energetic. So it's a tradeoff."

•After the weight-loss goal is reached, it's fine to have a "cheat meal." Or a whole cheat day, even.

"If you believe you should have a cheat day, then you believe you need those bad foods to get through," Salewske says. "That's just like an alcoholic saying, 'Hey, I can go three months without drinking, but I deserve one day when I can drink!' "

Livingston agrees that "if you cheat once, it's hard to stop cheating. Your brain just seeks that holiday day."

•Once the weight is lost through a plan such as the Atkins Diet, it's fine to gradually go back to normal eating.

Livingston calls such diets – along with contests such as The Biggest Loser – unnatural programs for weight loss. "After a while, you get tired of it and regain the weight. You need to make a lifestyle change you can live with, and live with forever."

•Weight-loss surgery prevents people from putting the weight back on.

Wrong, Livingston says. "With bariatric surgery, lots of people are completely unmotivated and think surgery will fix the problem. They gain it back."

At the other end of the spectrum are weight-loss winners such as Salewske, who work at it every day.

"You get used to saying, 'You know what? Maybe I can go the rest of my life without ever eating a doughnut,' " he says. Or ice cream, even. Salewske is confident that Nutty Buddys and Dove bars are forever part of his past.

"Ice cream was really, really bad for me," he says, recalling the hold it had on him and his life. "I haven't had it, and I won't. And it's OK. I don't need it."

What the "War on Fat People" Leads To

Yes, this blog is about helping people obtain a healthy weight, and then maintain that weight, but occasionally I do have to rant about what's going on in the world today. Overweight people are quite simply under attack - they're treated with scorn, looked on with contempt, all because of social engineering (it used to be being overweight was a sign of being successful, now it's a sign of being "over-indulgent").

Women of course are the main victims, and for the last few years kids have come under attack, now its babies.

Should parents put their babies on diets?
New York – Some "fat-fearing" moms are taking worries about their infants' weight to extremes. Is this utter insanity or a natural reaction to the obesity epidemic?

A recent "Saturday Night Live" episode featured a parody ad for a product called Baby Spanx, with a pair of neurotic parents squeezing their adorably chubby infant into a slenderizing undergarment. The joke, apparently, is not that far from the truth: Pediatricians across the country report that they're seeing concerned parents putting their tots on diets even before they reach their first birthday. Here, a brief guide to the alleged trend:

What exactly has been reported?
According to ABC's "Good Morning America," parents who've struggled with their own diet issues are fretting over their children's weight long before the kids are out of diapers. "I have seen parents putting their infant and 1-year-old on diets," says Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, a Georgia physician who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics' nutrition committee. And, Dr. Blair Hammond, a pediatrician in New York City, says "some parents... are very pleased when their children are thin."

Is this really a common practice?
So far, the evidence is mostly anecdotal. At the mommy blog Mom Logic, Jessica Katz says that she was shocked to learn that a mother in her play group had put her 7-month-old son on a diet. Katz says she has since concluded that the practice is "fairly common": "People get caught up in a baby's growth percentile and are disappointed when they have bigger babies."

Is excessive infant chubbiness a documented issue?
In the United States, one in 10 children under the age of 2 is now obese — "an alarming statistic that has doubled over the past two decades," says Kayla Webler at Time. At the same time, eating disorders have also risen sharply among children under 12. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the rate of hospitalization for eating disorders among pre-teens more than doubled between 1999 and 2006.

How dangerous can baby diets be?
Earlier this year, a young couple in Washington state took the weight-watching to extremes. Brittainy and Samuel Labberton were accused of starving their baby daughter, and Child Protective Services found traces of laxatives in the infant's bottle. Brittainy allegedly said, "My husband has a weight problem and we didn't want our daughters to be fat." The couple's children are currently in foster care as their parents undergo counseling and attend parenting classes.

What should parents do to raise healthy babies without obsessing over their weight?
Dr. Bhatia recommends breast-feeding: "Breast-fed babies tend to gain weight faster early on and then slow down in the next six months," he says, while babies reared on formula tend to keep gaining weight and are often overfed by their parents, some of whom then grow alarmed. "We need to stop the notion that fat, cuddly, cute babies are a good thing," he says. Mom Logic's Jessica Katz says baby diets aren't the answer, but therapy for the obsessive parents can be.

Welcome to December

For those new to this blog, about three years ago I was a hundred pounds overweight. So I kmow what it's like - the sweat under the breasts (I have large breasts, even when I'm not overweight!) Relaxing in a bath tub and sending the water splashing over the sides. Having to buy new clothes. Chastising some punk kids for behaving meanly towards a pet dog, and getting "You're fat so don't tell us what to do" comments.

For me, I lost weight because I wanted to be able to ride my bike, and it was a heckuva lot harder while carrying around an extra 100 pounds. Of course that's a circle - by riding my bike even harder I was able to lose the weight quicker than just by watching my eating as well.

What triggered this weight gain? Well, my metabolism changed. It used to be that I could eat as much as I wanted, and more importantly, drink as much Pepsi as I wanted, during spring, summer and fall, because I'd burn it off with my biking. I'd gain weight during winter because I was not a winter sports person at all,and I did not adjust my eating, but I'd burn off the gained weight come spring.

Three years or so ago...I didn't. When you get older your metabolism slows down, so I gained weight during winter, and it did not come off in the spring. In addition, I'd had some personal disappointments and was consolding myself with eating a half gallon of ice cream a day.

It took me to get to the tipping point, 100 pounds overweight (from 134 to 234) before I said, "Okay, this is getting out of hand" and decided I'd have to take the terrible step of giving up Pepsi. I drank 5 pepsis a day - that was 1,000 extra pepsis. All I had to do was cut out the pepsi and maintain my exercise level, and the weight came off.

But pepsi was my vice, and it was very difficult to give it up. I had to do it gradually.

More on this in my next entry.

I'm OK, you're OK!

Diet Tip #2: Before going shopping, make a grocery list. Then, eat a hearty meal! Then, go shopping. It's a proven fact that if people who are hungry go into a grocery store, they end up buying more things on a whim - including sweets - than when they shop on a full stomach. Once you get to the store, buy everything that's on your list, and nothing else. Don't wander into the candy aisles!

I'm Okay, You're Okay
One of the recurring themes of this blog will be my advice that, if you're a TV watcher, you mute the TV, or leave the room, whenever commercials come on. Well, perhaps you already do so, just on general principals, because most commercials are annoying!

However, some of the commercials are more insidious than others. I'm talking about the diet aid commercials. Not only Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, but also ones selling weight equipment, like a new one I've seen called the "Shaker Weight" I believe. It's a weight that looks like a dumbbell, that you hold up and let shake. Stupidest thing I've ever seen. But apparently if you use this thing three times a week for a month, you'll tone your body and lose weight effortlessly!

Don't believe it!

Also, don't go for the appetite suppressions, the energy boosters, and so on. You can suppress your appetite naturally, if you "know yourself" (another one of my recurring themes) and thus know how your mind and body react to every conceiveable stimuli.

But another reason why I suggest this is because of the subliminal nature of these advertisements. They all tell you - you're too fat. You must lose weight. It doesn't matter how in shape you are, how great looking you are, these advertisements can't help but engender dissatisfaction in your mind.

The fact that women look at their bodies so critically is made fun of in probably every sitcom you've ever seen. "Does this dress make me look fat?" and of course the bored boyfriend lies and says "No," because if he told the truth and said, "Yes," the girl friend will then take another hour to dress. Yeah, funny, but ask yourself why does it take you (or any woman) an hour to choose what to wear? Because of the indoctrination that starts in our childhood and continues throughout our lives... that we must look good for the guys, but our bodies are just too fat, or too tall, or too muscular, or too flat.

Women's dissatisfaction in their bodies thus starts from a young age, and I urge you to keep this indoctrination (in the form of commercials) from yourself, and from your kids. Yes - even the boys. Because they too are taught from a young age exactly what girls are for - to be their eye candy, and they'll be obsessed with sex soon enough, as all teenagers become! Don't let it start when they are four or five years old!


Here's a photo of a weight bench with a leg exercise attachment, which allows you to do leg curls and leg extensions. If possible, purchase such a weight bench. If you can't afford one with all the bells and whistles, purchase two 10-pound leg weights, which you can wrap around your ankles, and use them instead.

What is "Sexy"?

I'm visiting friends after Thanksgiving, here in Burleson Texas, and some store is advertising open toed, winter... boots. Because they're "sexy."

What is so sexy about a foot, completely covered, with the big toe showing? For that matter, what is sexy about toes at all? It's the same thing with girls who go around showing their "muffin top" - they force their legs into the tightest of tight pants, and all the fat hangs out over their low-cut pants in a most unattractive way, as far as I'm concerned. But I guess they must consider it sexy - or think that boys consider it sexy, which is more likely - which is why they do it.

But the amount of discomfort women put themselves into, just to look attractive to the opposite sex...it's just ridiculous.

We scoff and shake our heads at those decadent Chinese who wrapped girls feet in bindings to make sure their feet wouldn't grow beyond a certain size - and also ensured they'd only be able to walk at a hobble - so sexy, a woman hobbling along helplessly - but Western women, particularly in the US, do the same thing, wearing shoes that are two sizes too small so they end up with bunions and corns. Indeed, I think in Europe - or perhaps more likely Japan - which is even worse than the US wen it comes to young people conforming and keeping up with the Jones' - women are actually going to doctors to have part of their feet cut off in order to be able to get into tiny shoes.

Today's women do this self-mutiliation willingly, but I believe it's because they've been indoctrinated since day one (first birthday) that it is their job, as a girl and then as a woman, to be attractive to boys. And since boys like small feet, they've to go endure all the pain in the world, just so some total stranger on the street who looks at them can get his vicarious thrill.

Well, that's a bit of a rant but seeing "open toed boots" today - and the ad copy that accompanied it - just set me off.

Not too long now til a new month, December, with a Christmas feast at the end of it. Then comes 2011, and a whole year, 365 days, to lose the weight you desire, and then keep it off.

I always start out the new year by starting at the beginning, again, of how to lose and maintain weight - by keeping a journal. So I'll do that again.

Really, there are only a few things you can explain to people about how to lose weight - well, more precisely...about how to control their appetite. When you learn to control your appetite, you have the problem licked.

It's just a question of learning that control. Some people can do it immediately. Over night they can decide to give up all chocolate, and they never look back. Other people - and if you're reading this blog you're probably one of them - struggle with appetite control all the time - because they don't know the info I'm going to share!

I'll go into this in more detail in December. I'll also be introducing a website, come the new year, where my readers here can go to download journal pages and weight training pages, for free. (Yes, my Kindle readers will have to visit the web via computer to get these, but i'll be well worth it.) That'll be in January.

Every day is a new day, and life is beautiful.

Slow and Steady Achieves the Goals

Diet Tip #1: To subdue hunger pains that arise after dinner, make a habit of drinking a small bottle of water, starting an hour or so after dinner and continuing until bedtime. Water helps fill you up and eliminate hunger pains.

Are you ready to start on your Weight Training Program? Visit our webpage to download your journal, or simply download the free PDF by clicking on: Beginner's Weight Training Log. (Our homepage, where you'll soon be able to find more downloads, is: Diet Tip Daily Free Downloads.

Slow and Steady Finishes the Game
One reason why many dieters to stick to their Diet is that they become frustrated. They start a Diet one day, and the next day they expect to have lost a pound. By the end of the week, they expect to have lost five pounds!

That's not the way it works. It takes a day to put on a pound, it takes a week to lose it. It's that simple.

So when you start the Wordsworth diet (which consists of portion control), please don't even step on a scale for the first week...or even the second.

In order to lose weight, your body must burn more calories on a daily basis than you consume. In order to do this, you must create a daily caloric imbalance. When you first start cutting back on your food, it takes a while for your body to realize what's going on. (I'm anthropomorphizing your body, but the science behind my statements is sound!)

It will take about five to seven days for your body to realize that it's not getting as much food as it used to, and to start burning off the fat. Once this starts to happen, you'll lose two pounds per week.

Losing two pounds a week is the maximum amount you can lose in a healthy way.

Indeed, because you'll start working out as well, if you step on the scale during that first week or two, you might get an unhappy surprise, as it may look as if you've gained weight. This is because muscle weighs more than fat.

However, the good news is that muscle burns calories more quickly than fat does. So once you tone your muscles, and lose fat, you will be able to increase your daily food intake (an appropriate amount) and not have to worry about gaining back any of the weight you lost.

Most people can lose weight...but have trouble keeping it off. I'll talk about that tomorrow.

Just remember. You are not in a race to lose weight. You are playing a game - the weight-loss-and-maintenance game. With strategy and common sense - and yes, willpower and effort, you will win this game.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm sitting in my basement bedroom in my new house in Cheyenne, WY. The wind in Cheyenne in winter is fierce - it sounds like a freight train is roaring past the house, and has sounded like that for the last few hours.

In two and a half hours, I have to get bundled up (I think it's 11 degrees outside) and head over to my sister's house for Thanksgiving. There'll be turkey, mashed potatoes, presumably stuffing (hopefully not with giblets in it), and for dessert, pumpkin pie.

I intend to chow down.

And hopefully you will too. Whether you're going over to friends, or having a solitary meal yourself, don't be afraid to eat everything on your plate. The key is merely portion control.

And if you do "over-indulge" today, so what? You've got today, and you've got Christmas, when you will be surrounded by family and friends and over-eating just comes naturally. Don't stress out over it. Resume your portion control eating habits (I prefer the term eating habits to dieting - it's "eating habits" that will get you thin and then keep you thin, and healthy) the next day.

Of course, if you've been "good", fall off the wagon today, and all of a sudden you start eating uncontrollably tomorrow, well then, that's a lesson to be learned. That you can't go even one day of breaking your good eating habits, without consequences.

Bear that in mind, take however much time you need to get your eating habits back under control, and then don't break the habit again. And for Christmas, make sure you do practice portion control.

The whole point about losing weight and keeping it off is to KNOW YOURSELF. Know what you can do and can't do, food-wise.

I've blogged about this before - I can't have fresh baked cookies in the house. Whether it's the aroma or just because they taste so good... I'll scarf them down in one sitting. But if I have a box of Oreos in a cabinet, I can eat two of those for dessert, which satisfies my chocolate craving, and I don't need any more until the next day.

So enjoy today - either as a day when you get to eat as much as you want before resuming your eating habits tomorrow, or as a learning experience.

Indeed, every day should be a learning experience - but that's a topic for another post.

I hope you all have a good Thanksgiving - whether you're in the bosom of your family or enjoying the solitude of sitting in your own living room watching football - or whatever TV floats your boat, or just reading a good book. (Which is what i really wish I could be doing in two and a half hours, but family calls...and at least the food should be good. ; )

More on weight training

When you start your weight training program, it is important that you not get carried away. There is an old cliche, "No pain, no gain." That cliche may be true when it refers to bodybuilders, but you are not a bodybuilder. You are someone who wants to achieve a healthy weight, and then maintain that weight for the rest of your life, without having to constantly obsess about what you eat!

In order to achieve that, weight training, rather than body building, is an essential part.

As I have advised my readers in the past, when you first decide the time has come to lose weight, you must first...do nothing. For two weeks, continue your old routine, whatever that might be. Well, you must do one thing. You must keep a journal, recording everything you eat and drink, and when and why. (Because you felt hungry, because you felt bored, because you needed a pick me up, because someone really annoyed you, and so on.)

Don't even start your exercise routine until after you've completed your two week journal. (Unless, of course, you are already in the habit of doing an exercise routine and have been doing it steadily for at least a month.)

After you've spent two weeks getting to know yourself, you'll know what times of the day you have the most energy, and what times you don't. Many people are morning people...they can get up at 4 am with a smile on their face. Others prefer not to get up until noon, or at least, that's when their energy starts to kick in.

So it's important that you know when your most energetic times of the day are, and that's the time you'll do your thrice-weekly exercise routine.

When you do begin your exercise routine, do it only three days a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You don't want to overtax your muscles, or your mental stamina, and burn out before you truly get started.

So that leaves Saturday and Sunday free.

It's on the weekends that it's okay to treat yourself to a candy bar, or even a blizzard, if you so desire. While I emphasize that it's not necessary for people to give up the foods they love, it is necessary to restrict them, and make them treats rather than everyday occurrences. Have a candy bar every two or three days, or better still, every weekend.

The weekend should also be the two days when, if at all possible, you get out and do things. Play golf or tennis, go skiing, go for a longer walk than you do during the week, and so on. If you don't have time to participate in sports during the week (apart from your exercise routine which you must do) try to do it on the weekend.

Three square meals a day. No less. Maybe more.

A lot of people who grow frustrated with their weight go to desperate measures to lose it. They stop eating entirely.

For most people this fasting doesn’t last long. They get hungry and they eat…and give up on their diet altogether.

For some people – anorexics – they continue to starve themselves for months, even years, until they are skeletal and end up dying from multiple organ failure.

And it’s all so unnecessary.

If a person stops eating altogether, this doesn’t do any good in the short term, because the body thinks its in starvation conditions, and actually slows down its metabolism…so you don’t lose any weight at all! Then, when the body needs some nutrition, it starts taking energy from muscles first – not fat. Eventually, the body starts consuming itself.

So, don’t start fasting for long periods of times. (Sure, some people fast for a day to “cleanse themselves,” in some religions, which is okay, but don’t go without food for more than 24 hours.

There are two ways to eat. Eat three meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Typically in the US the dinner is the large meal. In other countries, the lunch is the meal of the day, and dinner is just something small to curb the appetite.

Or, you can try eating five small meals a day, and see how that handles your appetite (keeping track with your journal to see how this works for you.)

What you do not want to do is deprive yourself of the things you love. This always backfires. Instead of cutting out chocolate or sodapop altogether, simply cut back. (Although, truth to tell, if you can cut out sodapop altogether, you should do so. It’s nothing but liquid sugar, with no nutritional value whatsoever, and too much caffeine. Don’t replace it with diet pop, either, as that has chemicals in it that really isn’t healthy for you.)

However, I can personally state how hard it is to give up pop, after having drank it for 20 years! But when my metabolism changed in my 40s, I had to do so. I used to be able to drink 4 cans a day with relative impunity thanks to my active lifestyle. After I hit 40 my metabolism slowed down, as did my exercising, and I started gaining more weight, although I was eating the same portions of food and drink that I always had. I bit the bullet and cut back to one Pepsi a day (buying those half cans so I could have one in the morning and one in the evening.) I was annoyed at having to do this – I cannot tell you how annoyed I was!, but it had to be done. And after cutting out those extra three cans of pop – and nothing else out of my diet, my weight returned to its easy-to-maintain self.

Find A Sport to Play Your Whole Life

There's nothing I enjoy more than sitting in front of my computer surfing the web or writing. I could...and do...do it all day....interspersed with some activity.

After an hour or so of working on a research or writing project, my attention starts to flag. I can't take a break to watch TV (my computer is so situated that I can watch TV while I work on the computer) so I get outside and ride my bike for half an hour. Sometimes I just go for one circuit of the driveway that runs around my apartment complex - a ride of a mere five to ten minutes. Other times the weather is so nice that I'll stay out for an hour.

Of course, I live in a residential area with not a lot of car traffic for most of the day. Other people who live in congested cities - for example the heart of New York or Chicago, are not so lucky, and they may have to travel some distance before they can bike safely.

But whether you bike, walk, fence, play tennis, golf, or play on a skateboard, cultivate the skill and do it all your life.

Indeed, it's best if you have two activities. Play tennis two or three times a week, but walk every day for at least half an hour (and work up to that time span if you can't do it to start with.)

Swimming is called the perfect activity - it exercises both your legs and your arms, and works on your cardiovascular fitness. Truth to tell, I've always found swimming laps to be pretty boring, but now you can purchase waterproof IPods and earbuds so you can listen to music while you swim, which helps immensely!

In addition, try to get some exercise while you shop or go on trips. Instead of wasting ten minutes looking for a parking space close to a store, park at the rear of the parking lot and walk for five minutes. Sure, you're not going to get a lot of cardio, but you're stretching your legs and moving.

Take the stairs instead of an elevator - again, it's a bit of a workout for your muscles.

Keeping active your entire life...will ensure that you will be able to be active your entire life! (Of course, if you are mobility impaired, there are still sports you can play -- wheelchair basketball, for example. And you can enjoy the fresh air and scenery on hiking and biking trails just like anyone else.)

You're never too old to start weight traning

Regardless of how old you are, you can start working out with weights. Don't be afraid that you're going to get bulging muscles - that will only happen if you work out three hours a day and consume a lot of supplements. What you will do is strengthen your musculature to make it easier to carry your kids, carry groceries, catch yourself should you start sliding on the ice, increase your enjoyment of skiing or tennis... and just generally provide you with a good, toned body.

Even little old ladies should work out with weights - assuming they have a clearance from their doctors and don't have brittle bones. Of course it helps if you start out at age 60 rather than at age 80 (and obviously younger than that) but you can start at any age - simply get the appropriate weight amounts.

Solid cast dumbbells come in weights from 1 pound in increments all the way up to 10 pounds. For the elderly who have never used weights before, five pound dumbbells should be fine. It's not about building big muscles, it's about strengthening your muscles. 20 dumbbell curls with each hand, using a 5 pound weight, may be nothing to most people, but to women in their 70s who have never trained with weights before, it's accurate.

I want to make the distinction that I want my readers to "train with weights" , not "lift weights." Lifting weights is what body builders do, the ones who like hypertrophied muscles. (As an aside, I must say that I don't care for that look, not on men and definitely not on women, but it's a free country and if that's what they like...)

By weight training, you're actually "sculpting" your body, removing as much flab as possible. However - don't get carried away with that, either. A little flab is necessary, in particular in women - if you lose too much body weight you'll no longer have periods, for one thing. There is nothing wrong with being able to "pinch an inch." You just don't want to be able to pinch two inches!

When you're first starting out with weight training, be truthful with yourself. If you're a bit of an athlete, you can use weights appropriate to your strength, and do as many repetitions as you can. However, if you're not an athlete, don't be afraid or embarrassed (even privately!) to start out with the lightest weights, and the easiest repetitions.

"No pain no gain" - as far as the average person goes - is a myth. Too many people work out hard for a couple of days, develop muscle soreness, and lose interest in ever exercising again.

Just take it easy! Keep a record each day of all your exercises. Start out very simply, and increase weight and repetitions, every week or so.

Weights
Purchase your weights at garage sales or at used sports stores. This will save you a lot of money.

Weights needed:
Dumbbells - from 5 to 10 pounds. 15 to 20 if you're a guy.
Leg weights - from 5 to 20 pounds (if you dont' want to invest in a weight bench)
Weight bench - if at all possible, invest in one that has an attachment so you can do leg exercises
Barbbell - A barbell set, from 50 pounds to 200 pounds, is nice to have, but dumbbells and leg weights can be sufficient. Having a barbell helps to vary the routine, which ensures that one's thrice-weekly regimen will be maintained.

Aim For Your Optimum Healthy Weight

People who suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia say that when they look in a mirror, they do not see the skeletal creature they have become, but rather an overweight blob.

So don't trust your eyes. Trust your scale. In fact, save the full-length mirror for one quick glance to make sure your dress or outfit fits right, and then walk away wihout even looking back!

Health experts have put out a guideline of the *average* weight of a person, given their height and bone structure. (Small-framed people of the same height will weight less than medium-framed people, who will weight less than large-framed people). If you're a large-framed person, don't try to get down to the average weight of a small-framed person, that's just asking for trouble.

Do NOT use a scale that just calculates your weight based on your height, as for example this thing:
http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcweight.htm

That is useless. It points out its only giving you an average, but there is just not enough information there. It doesn't ask for your age, and it doesn't ask about your body frame. Useless.

This calculator is much better:
http://www.changingshape.com/resources/references/idealbodyweight.asp

The scale presented there is also presented below - for women.

And always remember this. Being 5 pounds over your optimum weight is more healthy than being five pounds under weight. And it is your health that is the key factor. There's no point being as slender as a beanpole if you don't have the energy to enjoy activities.

Height and Weight Table for Women

Height Small Med Large
4' 10" 102-111 109-121 118-131
4' 11" 103-113 111-123 120-134
5' 0" 104-115 113-126 122-137
5' 1" 106-118 115-129 125-140
5' 2" 108-121 118-132 128-143
5' 3" 111-124 121-135 131-147
5' 4" 114-127 124-138 134-151
5' 5" 117-130 127-141 137-155
5' 6" 120-133 130-144 140-159
5' 7" 123-136 133-147 143-163
5' 8" 126-139 136-150 146-167
5' 9" 129-142 139-153 149-170
5' 10" 132-145 142-156 152-173
5' 11" 135-148 145-159 155-176
6' 0" 138-151 148-162 158-179

Participate in Run-a-thons/Walk-a-thons

I've long been a fan of the WASP of WWII (women who ferried planes from place to place, as well as towed targets for plane-to-plane and ground-to-plane target practice - very dangerous work) and drove down to Sweetwater Texas on Saturday to get the autograph of a WASP who was there. It was the first annual WASP 5K run fund raiser (participants paid $25, but got a t-shirt and various goodies from Sweetwater busineses) and there was a pilot from Dyess Airforce base, Rachel Wall, who flies Hercules C130s, as well as a couple of actual, real athletes who do it for a living, as well as 30 other participants who were just normal people.

I hadn't intended to participate, but as I was standing around looking at the bustle, a woman started talking to me, asking me if I was walking, and I said, heck, I'd do it. So I signed in. Then was approached by another woman who invited me to walk with them (I walked rather than ran) since it was my first time. Long story short - everyone was extremely friendly. Don't know if it was because it was Texas and everyone in Texas is just real friendly, or if it was just the community of runners/walkers that was so friendly.

Anyway, if you've never participated in walkathons or runs, consider doing so. They are generally for good causes and each time you complete it, it'll make you feel good.

Why you shouldn't go on a diet

Venus at the Mirror, by Peter Paul Rubens. Voluptuousness is the name of the game.

Lots of English words have two or more meanings, and diet is one of them.

In the context of this blog, I use a capitalized Diet, and a lower case diet.

The lower case diet is the diet that I want you to follow. It stands for the overall types of food and drink you consume. Modifying your diet is one of the only two things you need to do to lose weight. (The other is exercise.)

The capital D is Diet - for those things like Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, the Atkins Diet, the Grapefruit Diet, and so on, artificial constructs that entrepreneurs create to separate people from their money.

If you look at commercials for such thing as Slimfast and Weight Watchers, you will see teeny tiny print that says RESULTS NOT TYPICAL. That is because, for everyone who actually does lose weight on these programs, 90% of them gain back the weight they lost, because they don't change the underlying reasons why they are overweight.

Just what is Overweight?

Let's clear the air. There's lots of propaganda these days about how 80% of children are obese. That's not true. The definition of Obese has been changed to include children who are just a few pounds over the "average" for their age group.

Sure, some kids are overweight because they eat too much and never stop, but most just have normal "puppy fat" which will dissapate normally if they aren't traumatized into either continuing to eat, or stopping eating altogether.

The problem with this propaganda is that it is making kids obsess over their weight earlier than they need to - girls especially, of course.

Indeed, the entire Western World seems to be preoccupied with weight. In England, children are actually taken away from their parents...if the parents are fat! Soon, that will be coming to the US.

Take back your life
It is important that people not get tremendously overweight, because that will impact their quality of life when they get older. Someone who is a mere 10 pounds overweight is not in any danger... so if you want to be 10 pounds over weight, go for it! If someone comments on your weight, tell them thanks, but you're not worried about it.

Future tips will share how tremendously overweight people can lose weight, and keep the weight off once they lose it.

My Cheyenne Report: Snow, Beautiful Snow

Two views from the deck of my new house

From the age of 20 to 38 or so I lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and when we got snow storms there, we'd get an average of 6 inches of snow, sometimes up to a foot. And I'd still drive to work each morning...only wimps stayed home after a 12-inch snowstorm. (Of course, this was 20 years ago, when the city actually had money to send snowplows out at the first hint of snow, and they'd keep the highways clear from morning til night.)

When I lived in Yorktown, Virgina (on the east coast of the state), from age 38 to 45 or so, if it snowed a half inch, the whole city would shut down, and people were warned to stay home. They had no snow plows, and you just had to wait until the snow melted...which it did by the next day, if not sooner. But god forbid you should dare to drive in an inch of snow!

Now, I'm in Cheyenne, WY, and there's 4 inches of snow on the ground. To me, this is nothing, and I would have thought it would be nothing to Cheyenne-ers, either, as they must be used to this. According to my sister, snow here is also supposed to melt "the next day" - but I don't think I believe that.

All this is a long-winded way of saying that, I'd like to go biking today, but prepared as I am for biking with earmuffs and gloves and a fat-tired bike... I think I'm going to skip it.

Don't be afraid to get out and shovel your driveway, though - after all, exercise is exercise. Just take it easy and use good form so as not to strain your back.

No driveway to shovel? Take a walk, build a snowman.

Or if you're really adventurous, go downhill or cross-country skiing (depending on how much snowcover you have, of course.)

And at the end of the day, when you're settling in at home, don't forget the marshmallows in your hot chocolate!

Don't wait for January 1

There's about 3 more weeks until Thanksgiving, and then at the end of December is Christmas.

Don't worry about it. Start your plan to get fit (and lose weight in the process) now. You are not going to deprive yourself during Thanksiving and Christmas - indeed, they will make excellent experiments. If you eat as you always do, how much weight will you gain, if any?

I say this because your weight loss and fitness journey is going to be spread over 365 days, 12 months, a year. You are going to get fit, you are going to achieve a healthy weight, and once you do so, you will be able to maintain that state because you will have learned everything you need to know to live a healthy life - and still enjoy eating all the foods you like - from hamburgers at McDonalds to Blizzards at Dairy Queen.

It's all a process of portion control and exercising.

The process begins with my next post.

_______________
This blog is updated every MONDAY, WEDNESDAY and FRIDAY

Got milk?

A press release from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:

New study finds milk drinkers may have a healthy weight advantage
Research suggests boosting key milk nutrients calcium and vitamin D could aid weight loss
Now there's a new reason to grab a glass of milk when you're on diet, suggests a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In a 2-year weight loss study, milk drinkers had an advantage over those who skipped the milk. Israeli researchers found that adults who drank the most milk (nearly 2 glasses per day) and had the highest vitamin D levels at 6 months, lost more weight after 2 years than those who had little or no milk or milk products -- nearly 12 pounds weight loss, on average.

Researchers also found that each additional 6-ounce serving of milk or milk products (about 3/4 of a glass of milk) was associated with 10 pounds successful weight loss above the average, at 6 months.

More than 300 overweight or at risk men and women ages 40 – 65 participated in the study following low-fat, Mediterranean or low-carb diets for 2 years. Regardless of diet, researchers found participants with the highest dairy calcium intake 6 months into the study (averaging about 580mg per day – the amount in nearly 2 glasses of milk) lost about 12 pounds at the end of the 2 years, compared to about 7 pounds for those with the lowest dairy calcium intake (averaging about 150mg, or about half of a glass).

Beyond calcium, the researchers also found that vitamin D levels independently affected weight loss success and in line with previous research, milk and milk products were the top contributors to vitamin D in the diets of the study participants.

Despite the potential health benefits, many Americans are still not getting the recommended 400IU of vitamin D each day – the amount in four glasses of fat free or lowfat milk. This D-ficiency may put their health at risk, for healthy weight and beyond. Well known for its role in keeping bones strong, vitamin D is now being hailed for so much more. Emerging science suggests vitamin D may also help protect against diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and certain cancers. It also supports a healthy immune system.

Fat free milk is packed with nine essential nutrients Americans need, including calcium and vitamin D, and contains 80 calories per 8-ounce serving. Research suggests eating right, getting active and drinking the recommended three glasses of lowfat or fat free milk daily can help you maintain a healthy weight.

So if you don't drink milk, perhaps this is the time to start. Give up a few cups of coffee (especially if you drink the caffeine version) and try milk instead.

My Cheyenne Report: Where are all the bikes?

I've just moved from the narrow confines of York County, Virginia to the more wide open spaces of Cheyenne, Wyoming. I don't live in town, but rather 10 or so miles to the south of it. I've got 2 acres of land, which isn't as much as you might think.

I live on a bit of an incline..I can't reall call it a hill, and there's a rural housing area all around...some houses set quite close together, others in their own two acres or so.

My closest neighbor, about 50 yards or so to my south, has two horses and a sheep, and 8 cars in various states of disrepair, and a boat. A nice boat. A powerboat. But three of his cars are parked right by the fenec that separates his property from mine - albeit in a row, the only one I can see is a beat up pale yellow truck. In a few months or so I'm either going to plant large trees to block the view of that truck, or perhaps put in a different kind of non-see-through fence.

Anyway, I've been here for three weeks now, and I have yet to see anyone on a bike. Now, school is in session, I know, but they get out about 3 pm, and you'd think there'd be some kids on bikes. But even if they bike in other directions than by my house, I haven't even seen any bikes out in people's yards.

It is winter here, but worse than that I think is the wind. The wind blows 90% of the time. At the time I'm writing this, there is no wind, but this is a rarity. Usually I sit in my office and it sounds like a freight train is roaring past the house.

That does not make for pleasant biking, and although I am an avid bikerider I do not like to ride against the wind, especially a cold wind. I get earaches very easily and have to wear earmuffs to defend against even the slightest wind. (Well, not earmuffs but I'm blanking on the name. A headband that extends out a bit so it covers the ears on both sides.)

Anyway, there's a lot of area out here to explore, and there is very little traffic. So while it may take less time for me to zoom around in my car, I will do it on my bike, instead, and see what I can see.

The Case of Kirstie Alley

I've never been a fan of Kirstie Alley, so haven't seen very much of her work. All I know is that she was slender for many years - and even played a Vulcan, Savik, in a Star Trek movie. Then she "got fat," and her current career is in the Reality TV show arena - such things as "Fat Actress."



Speaking from the outside, however, Alley is that rare case, a female actress in Hollywood who lets herself "get fat," thereby destroying her career in that tinsel town. Actresses in Hollywood...at least until they get up to their 60s or 70s, are simply not allowed to be fat. Indeed, the more skeletal the better.

And Alley's weight gain is so huge (no pun intended)... she isn't just 20 or 30 pounds overweight, which indicates a woman who is comfortable with herself and her body, she's got to be at least 150 pounds overweight...maybe even 200...and this after having slimmed down some for her Jennie Craig commercials.

Why?

Well, it's either mental or phsyical. Mentally - did the whole Hollywood (you're too fat, now you're too skinny, you're too fat, now your'e too skinny) scene get to her, and cause her to rebel? So much so that now she eats all the time without even realizing why she does it? Or is it physical...does she suffer from depression or some other illness - such as chronic fatigue, etc., in which food is most definitely a "comfort food". Again, if you don't feel well, if you're constantly in pain, and eating a few pieces of choclate give you succor for an hour or two, I dont' blame her! Been there, done that.

But let's forget about Kirstie Alley, and talk about you. You've been keeping your journal for two weeks, you've gotten to know yourself, you've figured out what triggers your food cravings, and you know ho wto avoid them.

Time to get started on your diet. Not a Diet, but a diet...a way of eating that you will continue for the rest of your life.

No need to deprive yourself of things you love like chocolate or sugar, or carbohydrates. Everything in moderation...that is all you need to remember.

So don't let the propaganda from today's "war on the fat" get to you. Don't give up the food you love, and don't feel guilty because your'e eating a candy bar while someone else is eating a piece of yogurt-covered popcorn..or whatever it is!

Start a Journal Now

If you're just now starting on your weight loss program, the first thing to do is start a journal, in which you will record what you eat, when you eat it, and why. Also, when you exercise, and how you feel before and after you do your exercises.

Some people like to keep extensive journals, others just want to make minimum notes. Regardless of whether you're a maximalist or a minimalist, you must keep a journal.

A journal serves many purposes. It is a memory aid. If you run a mile in 6 minutes now, think how proud you'd be to look back in your journal and see when you first started jogging that you couldn't even run a block.

If you're taking medication for some illness, it can track mood swings or altered behavior because of that medication, or even side effects. (My mom has congestive heart failure, the result of not having taken her high blood pressure medication for 20 years. A few weeks ago, one of her pill dosages was changed. Immediately after that, she started having balance problems and needed to use a cane. Now, this was a clear case of something being wrong with that medication, but what if her balance-deterioration had taken place over the course of several months? With a journal, recording one's physical and mental well-being each day, it still would have been possible to track back and see when it all started, and have that medication adjusted.

Therefore, I cannot emphasize enough, start keeping a journal. I'll share some ideas of what your format template should be in my next entry.

Winter is here again, oh lord

I have a feeling I've used that title before, but it can never be used too often.

I'm a warm weather girl, and winter sports don't appeal.

I've moved from Yorkcounty, VA to Cheyenne, WY. There's little snow in Cheyenne, usually it snows and is gone within a day (Or so I've been told). What I don't like about Cheyenne is the constant wind.

On my drive from Virginia to Cheyenne, I stopped in in Texas, where I have relatives, and they gifted me with a book called The Wind (aka The Winds of West Texas). Written almost a hundred years ago, it was made into a movie with one of the Gish sisters, and is all about a pampered Eastern woman who goes west and is driven insane by the constant wind.

I'm seriously thinking about picking up an inexpensive electric bike. (If I can find an inexpensive one!) It's relatively flat here in Cheyenne, but of course my house is in a hilly area. Typical!

As I'm sure I dont' need to tell you, losing weight or maintaining weight during the winter months is difficult. It's too cold to go out and walk or run for any but the most dedicated jogger, and when you're housebound you have a tendency to snack more.

It's important therefore to establish and maintain good habits during the winter months.

This blog gets back on track Tuesday, Nov 2

Hello, faithful readers.

I've recovered from my outrage over Amazon's reducing the price of my blogs. It still enrages me, but since I've still got subscribers who need help losing and maintaining weight, I shall persevere.

Antoher reason why I haven't posted for a while is because I've just moved from Yorktown, VA to Cheyenne, WY. We've been here for a week, but the stress of traveling with an elderly parent had me knocked out for a week, and then now all our stuff has arrived and we're unpackign bookcases, dressers, et al, and I've got to tell you it's at times like this that I'm glad I'm in shape!

The one thing I don't like about Cheyenne is the wind. It seems like the wind never stops, and it roars around my bedroom windows like a freight train. I actually like the sound of freight trains, but I don't like biking in a cold, steady wind. So we'll see what I can do about that.

So, again, this blog resumes tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also election day - so please go out and vote. I'd prefer it if you'll all vote the straight Republican ticket ; ), but if you are Democrats, go out and vote Democrat. The key thing is to take part in the democratic process.

Thanks, and talk to ya tomorrow.

Too Much of Winter

A lot of people are able to manage their weight just fine during spring, summer and fall, but have a hard time dealing with winter. They spend most of their time indoors, and if they do get out to do winter sports, it's usually downhill skiing or sledding, not something that gets them a lot of exercise.

Nevertheless, it's important to remain active during winter. There are indoor roller rinks, or outdoor/indoor ice skating rinks, which really help tone up the legs.

Food management is also more difficult during winter, especially when the two big food days, Thanksgiving and Christmas, take place within a month of each other.

But, really, those two days are easy to deal with. As with the rest of the days of the year - eat what you want. The deserts, the sauces, etc. Just use portion control.

Habits Help You Lose Weight

When I was young, I developed the habit of opening up a Pepsi every time I sat down at my home computer. (Pepsi is my tipple of choice.)

I work from home, on my computer, so I ended up drinking quite a lot of Pepsi asthe day progressed. Every Pepsi has 150 calories, so I ended up having an extra 1,500 empty calories a day because of this.

I cut back gradually. Every other time I got up, I'd substitute a cold glass of water for the pepsi.

Cutting back consumption of 600 calories a day is that easy. Make no other changes in your routine, and you'll lose weight.

But of course it'll help to increase your exercise level as well.

What habits do you have? Start keeping a journal and write down how much food and drink you consume in a day - and when. And why. (Because you're hungry, bored, stressed, taking a break, visiting friends, etc.)

Breast Cancer Is All Year Round, not Just Once a Month

and that goes for all other health issues as well!

If you're a certain age, it's time to start getting mammograms once a year or so. If you're a woman, especially if you have a family history of breast cancer, make sure you get a mammogram.

The worst thing you can do is ignore your health.

My mom was diagnosed with high blood pressure 30 years or so ago, when she was 40, and prescribed medication. Well, she took her pills for a couple of days, or perhaps weeks, but didn't like the way they made her feel. Rather than talking to her doctor about ajusting the medication...she just stopped taking it.

For 30 years she's been buying books on healing naturally, foods you can eat to keep you healthy, etc...and it didn't do her any good.

Ten years ago, 20 years after she'd been diagnosed, she had congestive heart failure. Now, instead of taking one pill once a day to control her high blood pressure, she takes five or six pills, plus medication - i.e. Metamucil - to counteract the side effects of all the medication she takes.

All of this could have been avoided if she'd just taken her medication 30 years ago, instead of trying to take care of it "naturally."

Not that I'm against natural healing. Or perhaps natural preventatives. But once you've been diagnosed with a disease, take your medication until you've got proof that dealing with it natually works. And if you've tried natural cures for a month or two and it hasn't helped, go back on your medication!

I say this because I've had to deal with my mother and her health issues for over ten years, and it is extremely sad to contrast her today with what she was even fifteen years ago, and all of it unneccesary.

Establish good habits and a good routine

One way to lose weight - and maintain your new weight once you've achieved it - is to establish new, good, habits, and a routine, that allow you to eat whatever you want without bothering to count calories.

(Indeed, you don't need to count calories, every. All you need to do is practice portion control, and run/walk/jog at leat 30 minutes a day.

Beware things that break your routine. For example, I'm currently in the process of driving from my old home in Yorktown, VA to my new home in Cheyenne, WY, via Burleson, TX where I have relatives.

Now when you're traveling - or at least when I'm traveling - I like to get out every hour or so and walk around. And buy a snack from a vending machine. And since I'm in a hurry I get fast food via McDonalds or some similar restaurant, instead of going to a sit down restaurant.

And since I regard travelling as a treat, I'm more likely to stop in at a Dairy Queen for a hot fudge sundae - despite the ridiculous prices.

Also when you travel, you're exercise routine gets interrupted, unless the hotel in which you're staying has an exercise room, or your relatives are also health conscious and go walking every day.

(Sadly, although my aunt is health conscious and does go walking every day, she does it at 5 in the morning. No thank you! I don't even get up until 9!)

Choose a few sports/actvities for variety

Depending on where you live, there's lots of activities you can take up to keep you active...and the more active you are, the better. It's a lot easier to get in shape when you're young, and stay in shape, then to wait until you are in your 50s.

Don't get me wrong - it's never too late to get into shape - it's just easier to do it when you are young and more active than you will be in future.

The cliche is that it's only guys who will go out and practice their basketball skills - playing HORSE, etc, but if you have a driveway and room for a hoop - why don't you go out and play some HORSE. (I'm assuming that all my readers are women.)

Or if you've got kids, play catch with them, or take them to play tennis, and so on.

Biking is perhaps the easiest hobby to get into, but you also want to work on your upper body strength as well. In order to prevent those flabby under arms, you need to get a couple of dumbbells and do a few exercises with them every day - I'll share those exercises in a future entry.

Stretching Exercises

Depending on the weather, you may or may not feel like going outside for a walk or bike ride. But one thing you should be able to do every day is stretching exercises - from touching your toes to performing the splits.

Regardless of how old you are, start now with stretching exercises. Choose a certain time to do them - on getting up, when you get home from school or work, or before you go to bed.

Here's a test. If you sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you, can you bend forward and touch your forehead to your knees...or does your belly get in the way? If your belly does get in the way...time to lose weight!

Stretching exercises won't help you lose weight in and of themselves, but they will keep you limber as you grow older.

Choose Your Sport

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you add exercise to your weight loss regime.

Biking is fun, but walking will work as well. Jogging can cause shin splints, depending on what kind of you surface you jog on.

Whatever exercise you choose - jogging, biking, walking - the important thing is to keep track of what you do every day - how far you jog/bike/walk, and how long it takes you. In this way, you're able to measure your progress every day. It's also fun to see your distances and times increase.

As far as bikes are concerned, the best thing to do is get a man's bike, rather than a woman's bike - men's bikes are simply sturdier built because of that top bar. Go to your local bike store, rather than to a Walmart (have you seen the furniture put together there? Do you really want to trust them to put a bike together properly?)

Hello faithful readers!

I've been driving from my old home in York County, VA to my new home in Cheyenne, WY, via Burleson, TX where my mother's sister lives. For various reasons I just haven't bad time to post here, which I apologize for.

I've now "fetched up" (as the Texans say) in Burleson, and will be able to start posting from now on.

So thanks for your patience.

Hello new subscribers!

Although if you saw my two messages which said I was closing down this blog, you have perhaps already unsubscribed.

I have now more time to write here, and had intended to do my first new post yesterday, but my internet went down and was down all day long.

So, back to the grindstone.

Although, losing weight, and keeping it off, doesn't have to be a grind, as you'll find out in this blog.

Starting tomorrow!

Bicycle built for two

A couple of days ago I advised all my readers to purchase a bicycle.

What kind of bike you get is up to you. If you get a 10-speed road bike, for example, you don't need to keep the skinny seat they give you, you can always purchase a wider seat made especially for women. And make sure you get a gel seat for extra padding, and that the seat post has shock absorbers!

As I said before, I prefer a mountain bike with fat tires. One advantage of this is, you have to work slightly harder to propel a bike with fat tires. If you ride a ten-speed, with its narrow tires, you zoom along. But put the same amount of effort into a mountain bike, and you'll go a couple miles slower.

You must have an odometer put on your bike. This is essential, so you know how fast and far you go every day. You'll keep track of this in a journal, to record your progress, as you go a few tenths of a mile more each day. So, start out with 1 mile, then work up to 2, then up to 3, until gradually you're going 20 miles every day, really fast!

If you can find a riding partner, that's all to the better. Not necessarily on a tandem bike, but someone you can ride with side by side (when it is safe to do so) and chat while you ride or just have their presence to give you the impetus to bike.