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.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
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.
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. ; )
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
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.)
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.)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
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
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.
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.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
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!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
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
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
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Got milk?
A press release from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
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.
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.
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.
Friday, November 5, 2010
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!
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!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
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.
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.
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.
Monday, November 1, 2010
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.
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.
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