Evaluation Day

If you've been reading this blog since Jan 1, I recommended that you not step on a scale for at least two weeks after starting your new eating and exercising program.

Let's choose today as an evaluation day. Step on your scale. If you've been following this program for 20 days - reducing your food intake by half-a-portion, and exercising, you should either still weigh the same, or have lost a pound or two.

Why might you weigh the same?

Because since you've been exercising, flab has turned to fat, and muscle weighs more than fat. (But, in proper proportion, it looks better. i.e., nicely muscled as one gets by normal exercise, not bulging muscles one gets by consuming supplemnets and working out 3 hours a day.)

And once you gain muscle, remember that muscle burns calories faster than fat does, so from now on, the weight will melt away a bit faster - albeit, again, only about 2 pounds a week - at the most.

But with this program you're not really so concerned about weight loss but about fitness gained. The one follows the other.

So take today to evaluate yourself realistically. If you have lost no weight, or at most only a pound, you are on the right track.

If you've gained weight, how much weight have you gained? If its more than 5 pounds, than chances are that you are not following this program. By cutting down a half portion of what you normally eat (three spoons of mashed potatoes instead of four, half a piece of pie instead of a whole piece, carrots for a midnight snack instead of cookies), you should not be gaining weight - except perhaps a pound or two of muscle weight. Any more than that - and you haven't been cutting back on your portions! [If you have, and you've still gained over 5 pounds - without consuming supplements or workig out 3 hours a day, consult a doctor.)

Now, have you been able to cut back on your portions? Or do those hunger pains - or worse - cravings - still hit? Been there, done that. I'll address how to eliminate cravings in future posts.