3 days to the New Year

There are three days left until the start of 2013. It is time not only to start making New Years Resolutions, but also making a PLAN to carry out those New Years Resolutions.

Nothing happens without a plan.

You cannot just wake up on Tuesday morning, January 1, and just like that change all the bad habits that you have spent a life time engraining into yourself.

Most people's New Year's Resolutions drop by the wayside after about a week, because such a sudden change in attitude and behavior is hard to maintain.

Instead of a sudden change in behavior, make it a gradual change.

With a gradual change, you will never feel as if you have failed in your New Year's Resolution, because your resolutions are to start the processes to change, not to change overnight.

So, if you're reading this blog for the first time, your goal on January 1 should not be to stop eating chocolate cold turkey. Your goal should be to cut down on chocolate by eating only one candy bar a day if you typically eat two, cutting back to two cookies a day for dessert if you habitually have four, and so on.

In the same way, don't plan suddenly to bike 10 miles a day if you haven't been on a bike in ten years. And if you've never walked more than a couple of blocks at a time, don't make a resolution to walk or job 10 miles a day. No. You bike a mile, or you walk a mile, and you gradually build up to your goal to bike 10 miles a day sometime in the year.

Everything's a process. It's like writing a book. Writing 60,000 words in one day for a book is impossible. But if you write just 100 measly words a day, you'd have 30,000 words written in a year. If you write 200 words a day, you'd have a whole book done by the end of a year.

So get to work on those New Years Resolutions, and remember they are year-long resolutions. Which means you have a whole year to bring them to fruition, and you can if you work on them every day.

Merry Christmas

Well, I hope you're having a merry Christmas, enjoying family and friends - or a peaceful day at home all by yourself if that's your thing.

Eat, drink responsibly, and be merry.

Eat leftovers tomorrow.

Then, back on your weight-loss regime.

Here's an interesting article from Shape

Weihght gain? It's all about an individual's psychology.

http://www.shape.com/celebrities/5-reasons-kirstie-alley-cant-keep-weight?utm_source=nRelate&utm_medium=CPC

Posts resume this Wednesday

I'm a freelance writer and I am way behind on a job I have to do, so I won't be posting here until Wednesday..

Thanks for your patience!

Make sure you enjoy yoyur Christmas

Throughout November and December I always tell my clients, "Do not buy into the horror stories you'll be seeing - "You'll gain pounds if you eat too much during Thanksgiving."  "Beware those Christmas parties, you'll gain wait!"

And then - and it happens every year - from January 1 onward, you'll be bombarded with people telling you that you're too fat and that you can lose weight by doing this, this and that.

Do not let this constant bombardment affect you. It's hard, I know, but you've got to ignore it. You're going to lose weight at your own pace - and if you want to enjoy a large Christmas dinner you're damn well going to do it!

All you have to remember is that, if you do "over eat" you need simply go back to your old regimen afterwards. Maintain the eating process you've been following - DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF THE DAY AFTER IN PENANCE!!!! - and after a week or so you'll reach the caloric imbalance level again...and then you'll start losing weight again.

Obviously it would be best if you do not stuff yourself during Christmas...take a sliver of pie instead of a large wedge, take two or three pieces of chocolate instead of a handful, etc.... and just enjoy the time you spend with friends and family.

Are you ready for some football?

I'm sitting here typing on my computer - doing my various writing tasks. One of my many income streams is as a freelance writer, and as a freelance - my workweek never stops.

So I'm sitting here typing and watching TV, waiting for football - another 20 minutes to go. (One of a very few good things about living in Wyoming is my football starts at a reasonable hour.)

And  I'm wishing I could have a pepsi.

But during winter I restrict myself to two Pepsis a day, since my physical activity is cut down considerably during these cold months. Yes, I run up and down my stairs several times a day and work out 3 days a week, but I'm still not out and about biking as much as I do during the warm months, so I have no choice to cut down.

But I don't deny it's hard...and annoying! Damn age-related metabolism slow-down!

However, it is what it is.

You can actually purchase products to make your metabolism speed up - but these are not healthy and you shouldn't bother with them, any more than you should take 5-hour energy or other stuff of that nature. Tired in the middle of the day? Start getting a better night's sleep!

Yet more women getting on the weight training bandwagon

I've been telling my clients this for years - as my readers here know!

Why Women Don’t (But Should) Lift Weights
Despite study after study supporting the benefits of strength training, many women still opt for cardio over weights. Maybe they’re worried about “bulking up.” Women have seen a few too many beefy men grunting it out in the weight room and fear that if they pick up a dumbbell, they’ll suddenly start to resemble a linebacker, too.
This can happen, although it’s extremely rare, as we reveal in 6 Ways to Beat Your Bad Genes. But for most women, “this just isn’t possible,” says personal trainer and Prevention fitness expert Chris Freytag. “Ladies have too much estrogen in their hormonal makeup.”
So what is the secret to looking toned (think: Michelle Obama’s arms, which we have the secret to) but not tough? Strength training.
Here, nine reasons why women should strength train at least two or three times a week.

1. Your metabolism will soar.

As women age, they naturally lose muscle mass. This causes your metabolism to slow, which means you could start building a spare tire by the time you reach your 30s. “When you do weight-bearing exercises, you start revving up your metabolism—and it keeps burning for many hours after your workout,” says Wayne Westcott, PhD, director of fitness research at Quincy College and Prevention advisory board member. 

2. You’ll you burn fat.

Muscle tissue is more "active" than fat tissue, with each pound burning about 30 calories a day just to sustain itself. So even if you’re sitting on the couch or are stuck at your desk for eight hours a day, the extra muscle mass you develop will burn more calories, helping you finally get rid of that spare tire—and keep it off for good. (If you want to love your lower body more than you do, check out this fat-blasting do-anywhere workout from Freytag.)

3. Your body will get tighter.

While cardio is important and will help melt fat, weights sculpt your body, creating curves and definition right where you want it. They also help fight the effects of gravity, making you much less likely to have arm jiggle in your upper arms. (Scientists discovered the three best moved for perfect upper arms—check them out.)

4. You’ll fit into your skinny jeans.

“One pound of fat takes up much more space than one pound of muscle,” says CrossFit athlete and certified level-1 trainer Cheryl Brost, a 41-year-old mother of two. “So even though muscle weighs more, what do you want all over your body? Something that’s bulky, like body fat, or something that’s lean, and takes up less space, like muscle?”

5. You’ll reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Curbing age-related muscles loss isn’t just good for your looks; it can protect your heart and help ward off type 2 diabetes, too. "Muscle helps remove glucose and triglycerides from the bloodstream, which reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as hardening of the arteries," says Timothy Church, MD, PhD, a preventive medicine expert at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. For specific exercises that can reduce your diabetes risk, check out our Diabetes Exercise Solution.

6. Your blood pressure could drop.

"Strength training lowers blood pressure for ten to twelve hours after each session, which gives your heart a break," says William Haskell, PhD, professor emeritus of medicine at Stanford University. "How strength training does this is not completely understood, but it probably has subtle effects on everything from hormones to nervous system regulation."

7. You can do it anytime, anywhere.

You don’t need a lot of space or a lot of special equipment to get a great strength workout, says Westcott. Simply using your own bodyweight through the use of pushups, planks, chair dips, squats, and pull-ups is enough to tone and strengthen your entire body. Bonus: You can do it indoors, which means you don’t have to weather the cold, freezing temps of winter or the scorching heat of summer.

8. You’ll blast loads of calories.

Plyometric strength moves (think squat jumps and burpees) and kettlebell workouts skyrocket your heart rate, which boosts the calorie burn of regular strength training routines. These types of workouts give you cardio, strength, and sculpting all in one, which is a great timesaver, says Freytag.

9. It’s good for your bones.

Strength training is one of the 12 best ways to break-proof your bones. “Lifting weights can help counteract age-related bone loss,” says Ethel Siris, MD, director of the Toni Stabile Center for Osteoporosis at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. “Strengthening your muscles also improves balance and keeps you as strong as possible which lowers your chances of a fall-related fracture.

 

Can you deal with the stress?

The Christmas season should be a season of joy and giving - regardless of whether you're religious or an atheist, you can still celebrate the season of giving - but for many people it is a time of stress and depression.

For someone people it's because they're trying to lose weight and are confronted by so many advertisements for goodies...

For others it's because they can't get home to their families....

For others it's because they don't like their families and yet have to spend time with them...

For others its because they want to buy presents for their kids but can't afford to - .

And so on ...and so forth.

And when people are under stress...they eat.

So you need to make sure you practice your meditation and keep yourself centered....don't let the stress get you down. Realize that you are under stress (a lot of people don't realize that this season is so stressful, they feel edgy or grumpy and don't know why...) and deal with it...

Don't forget the stairs

As I've blogged many times in the past, I dislike winter. I don't like getting cold, and cold wind whistling past my ears gives me searing headaches.

So I get my exercise/aerobic exercise indoors.

I live on the ground floor of a two floor house, and there's a flight of about 10 steps up from my place to the main floor.

So I put some music on my laptop, and I run up and down those stairs for about 20 minutes.

Well...run is perhaps the wrong word. I vary bettween walking up them and trotting up them- - the main thing is to keep at it without stop fro 20  minutes to get the heart rate up.

But going up stairs really helps your leg muscles!

So if youve got a flight of stairs in your home or where you work, incorporate it into your exercise routine!

Athletes don't always know best

The myth has been that sports teaches sportsmanship, and that athletes treat their bodies like temples and never do anything to harm it.

That myth, unfortunately, was exploded long ago.

Bodybuilders not only do the legal supplements to help their muscles grow, but they also do illegal steroids, which take a toll on the heart (which is why Arnold Schwarzenegger had heart problems a while back), the temper (a couple of professional wrestlers have gone berserk and killed their spouse and then themselves) and then there's football players who are apparently taking everything from Adderal to Viagra to give themselves an edge on the playing field.

And they deserve every side-effect they get, the morons.

Too many kids, to segue to the point, are prescribed Adderal without it being needed. I always remember a Calvin cartoon. He got up and had 2 bowls of some sugary cereal, then hid the evidence so his mom wouldn't know. So when she got up she gave him another bowl of sugary cereal. Result - in school he couldn't sit still and was jumping around. One wonders if that's why most little kids- mostly boys - have problems sitting still in class. Not to mention the fact that girls mature earlier than boys so boys just don't normally have the capacity to sit still anyway, and add on to that the sugary cereal they have at home...

Although having said that...I don't think the government has the right to go into people's homes and say, "Don't feed your kid cereal. Here's a hundred dollars a month but you've got to buy oatmeal and this and that..." and on and on.

The "ideal" of the athlete is still one to strive for - someone who treats their body like a temple. By that I don't mean not eating any chocolate! - but not consuming alcohol or other drugs (marijuana, etc) that alter one's brain chemistry. The side-effects will come back to haunt you later in life.

How Terrible! How Awful! Derek Jeter has gained weight!

I could not believe this headline. It's from UPI, a reputable news agency.

Their motto? "Over 100 years of journalistic excellence."

This story?

3 paragraphs, telling us - oh horrors - that Derek Jeter, short stop for the Yankees, has gained weight!

That's it! That's the sole purpose of this article.

If Jeter were fit, it would be news, of course. Here's a world famous athlete who has put on a few pounds! Scandal!

But Jeter broke his ankle about a month ago, so is not mobile.

But apparently he is daring to eat as if he were mobile, so he's gaining weight.

And this is news???

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2012/11/30/Report-Derek-Jeter-with-broken-left-ankle-has-gained-some-weight/UPI-55351354306990/?spt=mps&or=4

Let me clue you in, UPI reporter. Once Jeter's ankle is healed, he'll start jogging and lifting weights...and you know what - I bet that weight will come right off.

I suppose we can be happy that this story wasn't about Maria Sharapova or some WNBA star...so nice to see the news getting into a kerfluffle about a guy's weight for a change - but over all, really, this is just nonsense and a sickening trend.

Make Sure You Read Labels!

It used to be that it was easy to avoid food that was reduced fat, reduced sodium...reduced taste.

The packaging clearly indicated with a bright green stripe across the top or something similar. Also, most of the food was the real thing and the reduced crap occupied a single row.

Now it seems to be different. Now the reduced fat/sodium/calorie crap takes up the majority of shelf space, and you've got to work hard to find the unadulterated product. It wouldn't surprise me if pretty soon that's all you'll be able to find on the shelves!

I embark on this rant because a couple of weeks ago I picked up a box of beef quesadillas at Sams. I didn't even bother to read the label beyond the word "beef", I admit, but when I looked at the box today prior to opening it...there it was plain as day, Made with reduced fat cheese.

Blech....

Don't get mer wrong...I suppose if you were raised on reduced fats foods you'd be used to the taste and it wouldn't bother you...but *I* prefer to reduce my fat and calorie intake by the portions I eat, not by some cheese company doing something to the food.

Thanksgiving over, Christmas to come

Well, hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Now we're on to Christmas.

And invariably, after Christmas, we'll be bombarded by media saying, "Oh, God, you gained 5 pounds during Christmas, here's how to lose them!" Happens every year, although I suppose the juxtaposition with January 1, the new year when everyone makes their new year's resolutions, also has something to do with the barrage.

Weight loss is a billion dollar industry.  There's pills, there's books, there's surgeries, there's media influencing people to be unhappy with the way they look.

Remember that your goal is not specifically to lose weight... but to get in shape. The one will follow the other. But dont' obsess over every roll of skin. Your body needs some fat to work properly. 

So train your mind to ignore all the media bombardment. Work to your own schedule. Eat whatever you like - just do it in smaller quantities. Remember, as you gradually cut your food intake, your stomach will shrink and so will your appetite.

So plan to enjoy some good meals around Christmas time, and when January 1 comes around don't think, "Oh, I've got to lose 5 pounds..." no. Think, "Time to resume my journey toward fitness."

Happy Thanksgiving!

How many times have I said that time goes by too fast?

I had no idea it's been so long since I'd posted here.

I apologize.

Well, it's Thanksgiving, and my parents and I will be going over to my sister's house at 4 pm. We'll stay for 2 hours, then come home. Which is good because I've got too much work to do!

And too much football to watch while I do it.

Well, I hope you have a good Thanksgiving. Feel free to eat what you want...although try to just take small portions of each dish offered.

Make sure your relatives bring home as many left-overs as possible - left overs taste great, by the way, 24 hours always helps flavors marinate better - and feel free to eat up the rest tomorrow.

Life's for living - enjoy it.

And tomorrow you can walk an extra mile or so, or bike, or whatever, to work back into your caloric-imbalance mode you need to continue losing weight.

Don't despair over Twinkies yet

Apparently Hostess, which employed 18,000 people, closed its doors on Friday. Either Hostess was to blame or the Unions were to blame. Who knows?

Apparently people are flocking to stores to pick up Hostess Twinkies and other items....

The Twinkies and those other items aren't going to die, of course, some other business will buy the brands and produce them.

I have to admit I haven't had a Twinkie in a long time... I used to like them as a kid but the last time I had one as an adult they didn't taste the same - they tasted "store bought" rather than fresh baked the way they used. to.

I think many of the foods we liked as kids disappoint us when we reach adulthood, or at least don't taste the same. I used to like ham...today I find it too salty, for example.  (Except when it comes to ham and green olive on pizza - yum!)

Anyway, the point of this entry is that if you want to eat a hostess Twinkie now and again (or whatever company takes it over) feel free to do so. As long as you don't make a daily habit of them, it's fine.  (Always assuming that whoever takes over the recipe makes it properly and doesn't use cheaper ingredients. That's always a risk.)

Of course if you are going to eat some chocolate or other sweet now and again, I'm sure you can do better than a Twinkie!

Habit is Everything

If you have a busy schedule, you know that the only way you get things done is to have a schedule, and do the same things at the same time every day. (And if you don't have a schedule...and are constantly late to meetings, forgetting to do stuff, and always behind...well...that's the reason. You must live to a schedule. A schedule isn't a straight-jacket, it's a tool that allows you to get the most out of life.

Take your weight training schedule.

You must work out 15 minutes a day, every Monday, Wednesday or Friday - or whatever every-other-day works for you.

You must work out at a time of day when you have the most energy and the desire to use it.

So if you try to work out first thing in the morning, but skip your scheduled session every other time because you just don't have the energy...well...think about moving the session to before or after lunch, after you get home from work, or even last thing at night.

Everyone's body clock is different. Some people are early risers, some night people who have to get up early because of having to take kids to school or go to work, just kind of putz around for a couple of hours until their bodily clock kicks in and starts giving them energy.  So it's important that you know when you are at your most energetic (and it will be the same times every day) and that's when you should do your exercisig.

If you never have any energy, well, something''s wrong. Make sure you're eating right - getting all your fruits and vegetables and protein and vitamins. What's your mood like? Do you feel depressed all the time (as opposed to just a day or so?) That could be a sign of clinical depression - which requires medical treatment. You can not snap out of clinical depression on your own, so don't be afraid to talk to your doctor about it.

Apologies

Sorry for not  having posted in this blog for so long... I actually thought I had scheduled several posts, but apparently I lost track of time.

So, what to discuss today?

It's Thursday... you've done your weight training on Monday and Wednesday, and I'm sure you're looking forward to doing it on Friday as well.

Have you been writing repetitions and weights in your weight training journal? Is it time for you to add a couple more reps or a few more pounds to your weights?

Remember that lots of reps = endurance, whereas more weight = building strength.


If you aren't training with weights yet, you really should start. You do not have to invest a thousands dollars in a bowflex or something of that nature (not that that wouldn't be nice!).

Just stop in at local garage sales, or even check Craigslist, for people selling their free weights.

You can typically get barbells, dumbbells and plate weights inexpensively.

What you do want to buy is a weight bench with a leg extension accessory, because you want to be able to do leg curls and leg extensions on it.  That's something you might have to actually buy new.

Don't be afraid of waking up one day looking like Jean Claude van Damme (at least, if you're a woman!)  The only way women get the huge muscles you see on body building shows is if they take a lot of steroids and HGH. If you just weight train and eat right, you will "sculpt" your body, rather than build it.

East Coast battling more storms

If you're living on the East Coast and dealing with the remnants of Sandy and the nor'-easter that just blew up and dumped tons of snow on you guys, surviving is more important to you right now than losing weight, I'm sure.

This is a post about being prepared for disasters. Obviously for being flooded out of your home there's little you can do. If you live in a flood plain I suppose all you can do is have very heavy-duty plastic bags handy, identify your treasures, and stick the one in the other before you evacuate. If you're home isn't washed away but rather just filled with mud, this would perhaps keep your treasures safe.

But if you live in an area which just gets tons of snow such that you can lose power, remember to have an emergency kit - or two or three! - handy. Extra blankets, food stored in water proof containers (and not too salty food if you don't have access to fresh water) and so on. And of course if you've got pets, set some extra stuff aside for them as well.

Remember there's nothing more important than your life - so if it's raining cats and dogs outside, let your pet tinkle indoors for once. Don't go out when there's a chance you could get hit by a falling tree limb - most of the people who died during Sandy died in just that way.

November is here again, oh lord

Well, we're getting in to November...and November and December are always the hardest months as far as weight loss and weight maintenance are concerned.

Well...mostly December.

The 22 is Thanksgiving, and prior to Thanksgiving there will be plenty of food to eat, and after Thanksgiving is over we get in to December and all the food available then.

There's lots of good food, and my advice is don't stint yourself. Eat what you want!

But - don't go overboard. That's the key as far as everything is concerned.


I'll talk more about this as Thanksgiving gets closer.

Just remember life is short and is to be enjoyed. Don't feel guilty if you wake up on Jan 1 and find you've gained 5 pounds over the course of 2 months. (Not that you will - I'm not saying that!) Just remember that that weight will come off easily because you know how to make it come off.

5 pounds is nothing! Very easy to lose. It's a lot easier to lose 5 new pounds of weight, then to lose 100 pounds of old weight.

We'll travel the journey together.

Migraines suck

Been struggling with a migraine for the last 2 days. When I get a migraine, I can't do anything except lay in bed and wish I was dead. Seriously.

I get a migraine about once every 6 months. I always try to figure out why I got one, so I can not do whatever happened to cause it, but as usual it was a combination of very little sleep and too much mental activity. (I was working on a project for a client that was taking me forever.)

Having a migraine is not like a typical headache. It's not a question of taking a couple of aspirin and taking a nap for an hour. A migraine doesn't go away and renders you immobile for a day or more.

 So, I apologize for not posting in here for so long.

It's Monday - have you done your weight training exercises today?

Well, *I've* given up on bowling

I have to go in for 3 games every Saturday, because I play with a few of the members of my Scrabble club, but other than that I've given up. It's just too damn frustrating!

Time to find another winter activity - preferably one that doesn't cost me $7 each time I do it.

Ideally I'd like to go to a mall and walk around briskly for half an hour to 45 minutes, but I live 10 miles away from the nearest mall and with the price of gas...I don't want to do that every day...

I am thinking of investing in a heavy bag to hang in my garage. I don't intend to become a boxer or even a kickboxer, but you can certainly get a good workout punching and kicking the thing...

If I get it, I could defray the cost by having my clients use it - having them sign a waiver in case they break a wrist or foot while punching/kicking it...

But I think I'd prefer one that actually hangs from the ceiling.

I'll have to think about it...

Attitude is everything

I don't need to tell you that attitude is everything.  If you're happy or cheerful, you have a tendency to eat til you're full, and feel quite comfortable in feeling a few hunger pangs - assuaged perhaps by a couple of carrots - before you go to bed.

If you're sad or depressed, you think, why bother, and you chow down on that comfort food.

It's important, therefore, that you realize why you should lose weight. It shouldn't be because you want to look attractive to someone else. You lose a boyfriend or can't find a boyfriend and you start eating to feel better since "no one cares." But if you're doing it for your own health and well-being, then just because you don't have a boyfriend doesn't matter. You're doing it for yourself.

Of course there's plenty of other reasons to be depressed - your work is getting on your nerves, you've lost your job, etc... and at those times you need to cheer yourself up somehow.

I always find that going for a bike ride and expending energy cheers me up. You could also put a punching bag in your basement and pound all your frustration out on that (MUCH better than taking it out on an innocent person) and so on.

What you want to get away from is using food for comfort. Or if you do use it for comfort, just a little bit at a time! No pigging out on two candy bars - stick with one a day, at the most!

WInter blahs

Winter has just started, but it's never too early to warn you about winter blahs.

With winter - depending on where you are in the world, of course - we get a preponderance of gray days. Stressful driving and walking conditions abound.

And with stress and depression (for those that get overly tired with a lack of sunlight - and that's a documented medical condition) comes eating - comfort food.

So that's something to watch for during these winter months. Chances are you're exercising less and eating more, perhaps not even being aware of it.

Be aware of it.

Try to make a conscious effort to get out and walk for half an hour (or go to a gym and get on a treadmill) or if you've got a flight of stairs in your house, run up and down that for a steady 20 minutes (listening to music or TV the while...)

Check out this article on Seasonal Depression
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/seasonal_affective_disorder_sad/hic_what_is_seasonal_depression.aspx

Dress for the weather

When I used to live in Minneapolis, MN (several years ago) I was always surprised to see folks - usually guys, in particular UPS drivers! - walking around in 10 -20 degree weather, wearing shorts.

And of course here in Cheyenne, WY, at least last year, the "in" thing for teens was not to wear coats during winter time, so every time I walked into my local Walmart, hunched up in a warm jacket and swearing at the incessant wind that brought down the windchill to 20 degrees below what it would be otherwise, I'd just laugh and shake my head at these teenagers walking in all hunched up against the wind in a simple shirt. They could not possibly have been comfortable... (any more than they could be comfortable with jeans belted below their butts) but that's the style and so that's what they do.

Point is, when you're young you may think you can get away with that stuff...but it will come back to bite you when you're old and the first fingers of arthtitis start to clench over your joints...

So when you go outside, if you live somewhere where it gets cold, make sure to dress warmly, regardless of what the fashionistas tell you!

The old chiche - if you dont' have your health you don't have anything - is very true...but it's particularly true the older you get!

Even Those Who Know Better Can Sometimes Fail...

For the last week it's been too cold to be outside doing any biking.

I've been with my clients on a regular basis of course, helping them with their workouts and sharing lifetime-eating advice, then I come home... and have been pigging out myself.

Family issues - my brother lost his job and came here (we've got a spare bedroom used for guests and my brother, who loses his job every couple of years - he's in a volatile field) and various other things...

End result I've been eating way too much comfort food and not working out, biking or doing anything physical at all.

Well, my brother just got hired, and will be out of the house by Wednesday. I like to think that I'd've stopped this wallowing in the fleshpots on my own today anyway, but the fact that my brother will be out of my hair has certainly helped.

I've gained a pound...I'm not too worried about it.

I'll make a conscious effort to run up and down my stairs steadily for twenty minutes or so, starting today, and make sure I take smaller portions (but not too small) and after a couple of weeks I'll have lost that pound and get my fitness level back up to where it should be...

WInter is a time for maintaining

If you've been following my program successful - and if you've been following my program you have been successful ;)   you might be a bit bummed now that winter is coming.

Unless you live in an area that stays warm all the time, or unless you love to cross-country ski, chances are you're going to have to curtail your outdoor activities.

And that's going to slow down your weight loss.

I don't recommend cutting your eating any more - that will ensure you continue to lose weight, but it will also cause you to be more hungry, and increase you chances of breaking off your weight loss regime and pigging out.

You're the best one to know you own abilities - will you continue to be able to get outside, or go to a gym wit a track or pool, and continue to get aerobic exercise. (Weight training exercise can  be done winter or summer, of course.)

If necessary, look on the winter months as maintenance months. Your goal will simply be to not gain any weight. If you lose any weight - that's a bonus.

Once spring comes around - or any warm winter days! - you can get out for a quick bike ride or job.

Calorie Awareness

A couple of days ago I expressed surprise that only 60% of women polled put ice cream on their brownie. However, it's true that if you are going to have a brownie, and you're trying to lose weight (as opposed to maintaining weight) - you should not add that extra icecream.

A few years ago, I worked as an editor on a book that a researcher had done about food studies among college students. A majority of students actually believed thtat if they had salad with their hamburger or other meal...the salad had no calories.

They believed that if they had ice cream, the hot fudge and nuts they put on it added no extra calories.

And in all cases, it seemed, these people believed that if they ate something "healthy" along with the hamburger, pizza or what have you, the entire meal had less calories than if they'd just eaten the hamburger or pizza alone.

In truth, of course, the opposite is true. Every single piece of food you eat has some calories, and there is no food that is a "fat burner", burning it off quicker than would be the case if you didn't eat that particualar food (along with everything else you ate that day).

Moderating your portions means just that. If you're going to eat peanut butter cookies for dessert, for example, dont' add chocolate chips to them and expect to only consume peanut-butter cookie calories. You've got to add in those chocolate chip calories as well.

When you're maintaining your weight, that's fine - when you're trying to lose weight - don't do it!

Winter is Here Again, Oh Lord

It snowed here in Cheyenne a couple of days ago.

As I've blogged many times before, I am not a winter person. Nevertheless, I've got to work out, however. I don't really want to spend the money to go to a gym, nor do I want to spend the gas money it would take me to drive into town every day and walk briskly around a mall.

Solution - my flight of stairs.

It's not a big flight of stairs - only 12 steps, but I'll be running up and down it for 20 minutes at a time starting tomorrow.

I'll have music going, so it won't be too boring.

Take every day a few ounces at a time

For the first two weeks of your weight loss program, you won't lose any weight. You have to increase your exercise - biking or walking at least 20 minutes a day and working out with weights three times a week, and cut back on your eating - by cutting out all desserts after 8 o'clock, and eating the same meals, but smaller portions. After a couple of weeks, you'll reach a caloric imbalance, and you'll start to lose weight - a few ounces at a time. Over the course of another week, you'll lose probably a pound (if you're over 40/45), or two pounds (if you're in your 20s - young people's metabolisms typically slow down after a certain age). After you've lost about five pounds and can actually see a difference in your scale, you'll believe in the system, and want to continue it. At this point, however, you may think, "Well, what I'm doing is working so well that if I start skipping lunch, it will work even better." Not so. Remember what I've always said - it may be counter-intuitive - but it will take you longer to lose weight if you don't eat than if you do. You want to have breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. In this way, your body won't feel as if it's in starvation mode, and slow down its metabolism on its own. Instead, it will burn calories as normal, and you will lose weight.

Don't forget the stairs...

I've had a month of good weather here in Cheyenne, and so I've been out on my bike...biking about 5 miles a day (which is really nothing, except that even with good weather, the wind is always against me at some point, so I get the calorie burn of riding 7 or 8 miles a day, I'm sure!)

But now it's getting cooler...and here in Cheyenne when winter comes, the wind reeeeaaaaally comes. It's non stop at the best of times, but really fierce during winter.

So I've been cautioning all my clients who've also taken up biking...if it's too unpleasant to ride during the upcoming winter months, they've got to keep their cardio/whole body exercise going. For myself, I've got a flight of steps that I'll be running up and down about 30 times a day (there's only about 10 steps).

A couple of clients have invested in stationary bike machines, one bought a Step Up - basically a long plastic plank suspended on a couple of plastic planks.

This might seem kind of boring, but if you put it in front of your TV and step to music, or watch an exciting TV show, it should be just fine.

It's too bad that I like Subway sandwiches...

Because otherwise I'd boycott this restaurant chain.

Their ads, which have been running for several months, show normally-weighted people sitting around, taking a bite out of a hamburger or something, then their buttons pop off their shirts or the benches they're sitting on break in two, etc.

Yeah, they kind of take it "over the top" which is supposed to be funny, but really when you look at it it's a form of "fat shaming."

But the stupidest thing about it is the people they show are not in the least bit overweight! So what's the subtle message here - that if you aren't skin and bones you're too fat?

Another thing they do is show a subway sandwich in all its glory - with the cheese and the sauce and so on... but if you pay attention to the calories - they give the calories for sandwiches without the cheese and the sauces. So the ads try to trick you. After all, without cheese and sauce, any sandwich would taste pretty dry.

But...I like Subway's food. I usually get a chicken breast sandwich with cheddar cheese, lettuce, a little bit of onion, a lot of black olives, and one swipe of Southwestern sauce.  Delish.

Epic American Collapse at Ryder Cup!

I have to admit I don't really care that the Americans got beat - this is golf, after all, not something important, but it is funny that the Americans went into the day with a commanding lead - 10-6 - and lost their first 5 matches.

Including Phil Mickelson, who hit a bad shot and lost on the final, 18th hole.

But if you watched the Ryder Cup, you saw - if the cameras deigned to show it, both choking, and stone cold nerves under pressure.

And that's something you can learn from for your real life needs.

If you watch each golfer, they all have their pre-shot routines. Keegan Bradley's is the most fun to watch. He'll stand away from his ball, start toward it, back away, start toward it, back away, start toward it...and finally continue on...and then hit the ball.

He does it the same way every time - it's just "his way."

Other golfers have a pre-shot routine also, though most of the do not go to Keegan's extreme.

But the thing is - that's how you win. By doing the same thing the same way every time.

It's the same when you're trying to lose weight.

Create a menu of 10 dinners you like to eat (or less, if you're not an adventurous eater) and those are what you eat each day.  The same thing with your breakfasts and lunch. If you eat the same things (of 10 things, surely enough variety) you know how many calories that is and you don't have to obsess over it.

(And if you feel the need for a half of a milk shake on a weekend, that's ok because that's not going to impact your "calorie deficit" that you need to maintain to lose weight. A half a milk shake every day is another story - that you cannot do!

Whatever happened to "playing it as it lays?"

Just watched TIger "get relief" from the cart path...so he gets to movie it onto the grass.

That's not right!

You play it where it lies, whether it's on a sprinkler head, jammed up against a building, or up in a tree!

There should be none of this "relief" crap!

Bowling continues to ... vex... me

I'm regressing. Bowled today with my regular Saturday friend... he averaged 150 per game, I couldn't even break 100. It's so frustrating.

 Each of two previous times I end well, think I've "got it", then go back the next time and nothing that worked the prior time works again.

Today was worse than ever. I'm trying to not move my wrist or my fingers, but I must be doing so... so frustrating.

They do sell wrist guards that prevent your wrist from moving, but I am not going to use that crutch. I'm going to do it on my own. (Though, I suppose I could try the wrist guard and see if it improves my score, which would prove that it is me moving my wrist that is the problem...)

Now I'm back at home, watching the Americans destroy the Europeans in the Ryder Cup.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend...and have found a sport less frustrating than bowling to play!

My bowling saga continues

I received my new bowling ball (a Monsters Inc ball with Mike's one eye on one side, and the Monster's Inc characters on the other. An 8 pounder, very light. I had the pro shop at the Bowling Alley drill it, and for some reason the nimbul drilled it so the eye is not on one side, looking really cool as the ball rolls down the lane, but so the eye rolls vertically - you only see it half the time.

I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt that there was something about the makeup of the ball that forced him to have to do it that way, but I don't knw...

Anyway..I'm still having trouble getting the darn ball to go straight. it's my wrist...you're not supposed to "break it" but occasionally I do. So I've got to practice not doing that.

I went bowling 2 days ago - 95, then 125 and finally 129.

I know how to do it...the idea is just to keep that darn wrist from breaking.

And that's the same thing you have to do with any project, including losing weight.

You have to practice until you improve all the skills sets that you need to improve.

What skill sets are needed for losing weight?
1) Patience

2) Willpower. The willpower to have 1/4th of a bowl of ice cream rather than a whole bowl, half a candy bar rather than a whole one...

3) Common sense. You're cutting back your portions of everything in a reasonable way. Don't cut out all carbohydrates, all fat, etc. Totally not necessary and detrimental to your health. But you do need to eat a good selection of fruits, veggies, dairy, meat, etc. (You read about athletes doing this - weight trainers mostly - but you are not a weight trainer and you don't need to go to that extreme)

4. Your life-long sport - whether it's walking, biking, bowling - something you enjoy doing and will do at least three times a week if not more.

5. Weight training - easy weight lifting just to tone your muscles. Again, three times a week for this.

6. Resuming after you've missed a week or two.

Many folks will lift weights for a week, or even two. Then they miss a week and decide to give up. No...just get back right on the horse and start weight training again. Depending on how long you've missed, you'll drop your weights or repetitions to a beginning level, but you will do the exercises. And remember, practice makes perfect.

Exercising to Lose Weight: Is Less Actually More?

From Men's Ftitness:  Exercising to Lose Weight: Is Less Actually More?

If you hit the trail or treadmill hard for an hour every day hoping to shed unwanted pounds, you might be sadly disappointed by the results. It turns out that exercising too much or too hard can come back to bite you…especially when you eat more to make up for all those burned calories.
In a new study in the American Journal of Physiology, researchers found that shorter, less intense workouts were more successful for weight loss. So if you're looking to lose some flab, keep these tips in mind as you make the necessary lifestyle changes:

• Find the exercise sweet spot. In the study, sedentary people who did 30 minutes of moderate exercise lost more weight (7 pounds over 13 weeks) than those who kicked it up a notch for 60 minutes a day (5 pounds).
• Build gradually. If you’ve been a couch potato for a while, don’t overreach. Give your body time to adapt to its new activity level. Start small,and build gradually—maybe 10 minutes for a few days, 20 minutes the next week, and so on.
• Stay active all day. The 30-minute exercisers were more active throughout the rest of the day (and burned more calories!), probably because they had higher energy levels. In addition, many studies point toward the health benefits of regular physical activity, even if it’s climbing stairs to a meeting or walking the dog.
• Strike a balance between diet and exercise. People who exercised 60 minutes in the study ate more at meals and snack time. To lose weight, you need to keep your eating under control. Being more mindful when you eat or keeping a food diary can help you avoid exercise-induced overeating.

 

Bob Newhart from the 70s

Even as I type...there's a Bob Newhart episode on in which this psychiatrist has been told he needs to lose weight. And it's late at night - when everyone has gained weight because of a day spent eating - and he's standing on the scale saying he's gained an eighth of a pound in 5 hours.

I hate it when they demean Bob's character like this. He would know that you don't obsess over gaining an eighth of a pound in 5 hours.

Meantime, this morning, I was at my local Walmart. I looked at, I think, a People magazine. On the cover were photos of some actresses who looked like skin and bones - namely LeAnn Rimes and Jennifer Connolly.

And I thought - how hypocritical of this magazine. If any of these actresses were five pounds overweight, their writers and photogs would pounce on it and say, "She's gotten fat." "Why has she gotten fat." ya da ya da. But now they're pretending all this concern for these anorexic women... although there was also a photo of Mathew McConahay looking too skinny as well...and what is going on with Sean Murray - he's so gaunt now it's scary.

The media needs to take a long, hard look at the role they play in these actors and actresses downfall.

Taken a break? Get right back to your regimen

One of my clients, who had been doing quite well for the first four weeks of the program, had hit a plateau. (Remember I'd posted about plateaus a couple of weeks ago?)

She'd lost five pounds...then spent another week working out and eating smaller portions - no weight loss.

After 7 days of stepping on the scale - I always tell people to step on a scale once a week but every single one of them finds it necessary to do it every day! - and seeing no weight loss, she got depressed and "gave up."

She skipped 3 weight training sessions - Mon, Wed and Fri, and didn't do her daily biking, either.

Fortunately, she did not pig out over the course of this week, but she did eat more last thing at night then she should. Not ice cream, thank goodness, but apparently she's got a thing for hot buttered toast.

After a week of not stepping on the scale - (she eats too much and doesn't work out, and now she won't step on the scale every day?) she stepped on the scale and found to her surprise that she had not gained any weight.

This discovery has re-motivated her, and today she rededicated herself to her regimen, doing her weight training (and apparently able to do same weight and repetitions that she'd been able to do prior to her "break") and went out for a bike ride.

And she has promised me the late night hot buttered toast is a thing of the past. At least until she gets into her maintenance phase.

Remember, the more muscular you are, the more calories you burn "at rest." (Which doesn't mean that you can stop exercising and eat all you want. If you don't work out, muscles weaken and the less muscle you have, the less calories you burn.

[Note also that you are not working with heavy weights, because you are not trying to hyper-build your muscles like a weight lifter does. You are working with low weights - a 20 pound barbell, perhaps, 10 pound dumbbells at the most. Only on your leg exercises do you want to use 50 pounds or so - because your legs are so much stronger than your arms.  Remember you are toning your muscles, not building them to a gigantic size!

(Not that, as a woman, you can get your muscles to a gigantic size without drinking things like whey shakes and taking various supplements and working out 3 hours a day instead of 20 minutes!)

So, if you've skipped your weight training for a week...or if you have been eating too much ice cream recently or what have you...do not despair. Simply re-dedicate yourself to your goal, start now, and carry on from here.

Clarification on the Eat All You Want post

A couple of days ago, I posted a blog entry from someone who pointed out that if you were trying to lose weight, you should eat more.

I've gotten a few questions about it, so let me clarify.

If you want to lose weight, you've got to burn more calories than you consume.

The best way to do this is to eat less than you currently eat and exercise more.

What you musn't do is try to starve yourself. It's unnecessary, unhealthy -  and will cause you to take longer to lose weight because your body will go into starvation mode and slow down your metabolism.

So you don't want to eat more than you're currently eating and just add in the weight training and the walk/jog/biking.

You can eat the same as you're currently eating and add in the weight training et al, but that will increase the time it takes you to lose weight...and if you miss a couple of days, all will go for nought.

By eating less - at least 300 calories less than you currently eat (achieved just by choosing smaller portions - you don't really have to count calories obsessively) and doing the work out and the aerobics, you will - after two weeks -lose weight steadily.

And if something happens such that you miss a weight training day or a jogging/biking day, it won't set back your caloric imbalance bt a couple of days.

Patience and all things in moderation.

Pay yourself first

You've heard the advice from money management experts - it's necessary to build up a nest egg for retirement, so each time you get a paycheck, and every time you get a raise, "pay yourself first" - take a percentage of money out of that paycheck and stick it right into savings. No exceptions.

The same should be true for your exercise regime.

You need to set up a specific time each Monday, Wednesday and Friday (or whatever every-other-day period you select) to do your weight training. And you need to set up a specific time every day to go for a long walk or bike ride, etc.

And you mustn't miss a single day.

Which means if a girl friend rolls into town - invite her to your workout or to come on a walk with you...don't say, "well, I'll skip it for today."

You want to have the mind set that your time - your weight training time and your aerobic exercise time are sacrosanct.

Now,  having said that, there are times when you just must miss the time - but these must be exceptions, not the rule. Have to take your mom to a doctors appointment that you foolishly scheduled during your weight training time instead of later in the day? (which happened to me yesterday - to no avail as we still had to wait 30 minutes for the doctor to get to us)?

Well, try to get in your weight training later on in the day, for just that one day only. (Although to tell the truth, I blew it off ocmpletely. But then, I'm fit, and maintaining, not trying to lose weight.  ; )    )

But if you've got a husband, and/or kids, or a boyfriend, whatever, impress upon them the importance of your time. Don't sacrifice your time to cater to their whims.

Ever wonder why all female athletes on TV are beautiful?

It's because plain girls don't become athletes - they don't want to face the snarky comments of guys - and gals - if they come into the public eye - where they'll be criticized for their looks and their weight and god knows what else.

Case in point: Taylor Townsend

A black female junior tennis player who is tall and powerful...and wins. But weighs too much to please the USTF so they don't want her attending any tournaments, regardless of whether she could win them or not. "If you're too fat, you can't play."

Seems to me Townsend's parents should sue the pants off those idiots. And I hope she doesn't lose a single pound. If she can win with her weight at whatever point it is, t hen why should she lose weight?

From the Atlantic: Serena Williams Defends Taylor Townsend: 'Everyone Deserves to Play'

Reuters

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Alexander Abad-Santos 710 Views 6:15 PM ET

During this U.S. Open, we found out that The United States Tennis Association cut the funding to America's brightest junior tennis star not because she was bad, or that she was losing, but because they thought she was overweight. And now this mistake has caught the eye of one of America's current tennis stars: Serena Williams. "If that happened, that's obviously a tragedy, because everyone deserves to play. ... Women athletes come in all different sizes and shapes and colors and everything. I think you can see that more than anywhere on the tennis tour," Williams said in report by ESPN posted last night.
Taylor Townsend, 16, is the world's top-ranked junior tennis player and the most exciting American tennis prospect since the Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport, but as The Wall Street Journal's Tom Perrotta first reported on September 8, the USTA wasn't impressed by her physique.

... unbeknownst to everyone outside her inner circle, the USTA wasn't happy to see Townsend in New York. Her coaches declined to pay her travel expenses to attend the Open and told her this summer that they wouldn't finance any tournament appearances until she makes sufficient progress in one area: slimming down and getting into better shape.

It's a good thing Townsend didn't listen to their advice. Townsend is blessed with an electric serve-and-volley game won the U.S. Open girls' doubles title this past weekend and rode her attacking style to be one of the last eight standing at the Open's girls' singles event.
But, just in case you were wondering, there is no weight limit in tennis. If, say, a member of any one of TLC's exploitation side shows television shows were good enough to beat Andy Murray or wipe the floor with a Williams sister, officials would totally let them play. But when you're a junior, like Townsend is, your entry into professional events like the U.S. Open and funding to go to international tournaments is largely determined by governing bodies like the USTA.
"Our concern is her long-term health, number one, and her long-term development as a player," Patrick McEnroe, the general manager of the USTA's player development program (and a tennis commentator) told Perrotta and the WSJ. "We have one goal in mind: For her to be playing in [Arthur Ashe Stadium] in the main draw and competing for major titles when it's time. That's how we make every decision, based on that." McEnroe's comments seem harmless enough, but he doesn't outright deny that the USTA told Townsend to slim down. And apparently, the directions given to Townsend weren't very clear either.
"I didn't get any definite answer on why they didn't want me to play they just told me that they felt I should focus on my fitness," said Townsend in an interview Good Morning America over the weekend. And she explained the gravity of being the No.1 junior player in the world to USA Today, "Pretty much all the other federations, if they had a No. 1 junior in the world, they would kind of break their backs to bring them to whatever they needed to go to... I'm not going to sit here and say I'm the fastest person or the most agile, because I'm not."
Now, anyone that's watched tennis coverage throughout the years can attest that the physical appearance of athletes often turns into a talking point (hey, matches get really long and there's only so much you can say about forehands...we guess). "His gut resembled the kind of swollen thing you'd see at the O'Hare food court," a Sports Illustrated writer once wrote about Argentinian player David Nalbandian. And writers and analysts been just as unkind to the female players like Serena, Lindsay Davenport, former number-one Dinara Safina, and top 10-player Marion Bartoli. They've even chastised one player for being too skinny.
But those are commentators. And yes, it's a completely depressing thought that that type of body-snarking and judgment is what awaits Townsend should she turn pro, it's a completely different thing to have an organization like the USTA which holds the fate of your tennis career judge someone based by the shape of their body. Mind you, that shape that Townsend was good enough to win the 2012 junior Australian Open this year, as well as three junior grand slam doubles titles.
"No one tournament is bigger than a player's career, especially when the player is 16. Taylor continues to be one of our best prospects, and our goal is her long-term development," McEnroe said in a statement picked up by ABC, sounding a bit more remorseful than he did when talking about her "health." And the USTA has since reversed their decision and said they will reimburse Townsend and her mother for their trip to the U.S. Open this year.
"I think it will pass, because I think we all have a common goal here, that I want to do well," said Townsend in response--sounding like a true professional. She adds in The New York Times:

I want to be in a place where I can have a free mind and don’t have to worry about any drama or anything," she said, chuckling, "and just go out and kind of have fun on the court, and work really hard and get everything I possibly can out of it every single day."

Townsend's mother told ABC News that Taylor stands at 5'6" and weighs you know what, who cares?  And it doesn't take a tennis expert to see that Townsend she isn't built like Anna Kournikova ... Venus Williams... or Steffi Graf ... or Maria Sharapova. But if she's winning, we'd argue, she doesn't need to be.

 

Eating more frequently helps you lose weight

NOTE THE KEY IN THE ARTICLE BELOW IS TO EXERCISE AND WORK OUT TO BUILD A FRAMEWORK OF MUSCLE TO BURN THE CALORIES THAT ONE CONSUMES!!!

From The Post Game: Why Eating More Helps You Lose Weight

Do you have a lot of discipline but still can't lose weight? Do you get frustrated when your results don't match your willpower?

Maybe the answer is to eat more. It's counter-intuitive, I know, but there's plenty of logic and evidence to show that it works.
I've tried every diet under the sun. I fasted for 15 days. I ran a marathon. I gave up soda. And while I did manage to go from 287 pounds to 187 pounds., I found my way back to 240 and fought every step of the way.
I finally figured out that the secret is to eat more. And eat more frequently.
I didn't buy it either at first. After lots of research and understanding the why behind it, I made my way below 200 pounds again and, even better, get to enjoy that unrestricted feeling of eating as much as I want.
Here are the 5 reasons to eat more:
1. Eating more ramps up your metabolism
Jon Gabriel, author of the bestselling "The Gabriel Method" who lost 220 pounds without dieting, says, "When you go on a diet and start eating less, your brain sends a signal to your body that you're in starvation mode.
The body responds as it would if you're in a famine and stores fat." It doesn't seem fair -- until you realize that eating more and more frequently -- is what speeds up your metabolism.
2. Eating more allows you to build lean muscle mass which helps burn fat
Muscles are hungry and burn fat. The two ways to get them are by eating protein and doing resistant training (weight-lifting, push-ups, power yoga, etc.). According to Todd Durkin, C.S.C.S., and author of "The Impact! Body Plan," "muscle is a metabolically active tissue, which means it burns energy just to maintain itself. The less muscle mass you have, the less calories you burn."

3. Eating more gives your body the fuel to want to exercise
When you diet and eat less, you don't have any energy. You may understand the benefits of exercise, but it's
impossible to get off the couch without food. That's why eating more will give you the fuel you need to work-out and add lean muscle mass.
4. Eating more (and more frequently) makes you feel full
Most of us can stay on a strict diet for a few days or maybe even a few weeks, but we eventually give in to cravings and binge. It's not that we're undisciplined; it's because we're frickin' starving! According to Dr. Mark Hyman, author of "The Blood Sugar Solution" said, "When you eat regularly throughout the day, you get a slow, steady burn effect from the food." Plus when you eat more you lose the urge to binge and avoid junk.
5. Eating more provides the nutrients your body needs and the fiber to eliminate
If you've been waiting for the catch, the only one is that you must give your body the right kind of fuel. Yes, that means lots of vegetables, fruits and lean proteins. Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of Eat to Live, suggests eating two pounds of vegetables and four servings of fruit per day. These foods are packed with nutrients so you actually feel satiated and your body has everything it needs to be healthy. They are also full of fiber, which helps you eliminate toxins. It's a win-win.
Diets don't work. Eating less is not only a drag, but it's also unsustainable. The beauty of eating more is that you don't have to give up anything. Yes, you will naturally "crowd out" a lot of the junk because you feel full, but even when you do indulge, your ramped-up metabolism will be able to burn it off.
So if you're ready to lose weight, skip the diet and grab a fork.
-- Greg Dinkin is a Certified Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and the author of three books including The Poker MBA. He explains in his TED talk how he used the power of both mind and body to lose 100 pounds.

Well...dang

Looks like my ambition to make a living on the senior circuit of a Bowling tourney is not going to materialize...

Played today and did not do well at all.

113 first game, 114 second game, 93 third game.

The ball just would  not go straight... it would curve either right or left.  Except on those occasions when I *wanted* it to curve right or left and *then* it would go straight!

Nothing is more annoying - or heartbreaking-  then getting a total of 3 pins in the next frame *after* you bowled a strike!

I know you can get these wrist thingies to keep your wrist from "breaking" but I shall not employ them. It's me, the ball and the pins... and did I but have some slidey shoes... (I've looked at the bottoms of my  new shoes...there's a white "slidey" surface on the balls of the feet, which after 6 games total (3 Wed, 3 today) is already getting grey - which tells me the area of the bowling lane where you make your approach is not that clean...which must be what stops me from sliding. (But then again, the guy I was playing with had no problem, he shot a 164 in our final game).

Don't get me wrong...it's still fun. The challenge is to figure out what I'm doing wrong...since I try every time to do everything the same way and I concentrate on rolling the ball with my wrist straight because I don't want it to curve, normally...but I'm doing something wrong.

I ordered a Monsters Inc ball on ebay about a week ago, hopefully it will arrive Monday. Foolishly, I don't even know what weight it is. I assumed it'd be 6 pounds or so - a kid's ball that I could wield easily, but in checking the internet - as opposed to Ebay - I think they made these things in a variety of weights. It is not drilled, so I'll have to take it into the ProShop at the bowling alley to do that. Supposedly a ball drilled to the specifications of your hand are a lot better than the "one size fits all" balls that you get at the bowling alley.

More reports as they develop. When that ball arrives and I take it to be drilled, I'll just have to play 3 games with it then to see if it improves my score!

The Saga of Tiger Woods

I've blogged about Tiger Woods in the past - how I watch golf just to see him lose. Unfortunately, this year he's been doing well and has won three times!

However, despite the fact that I dislike him, his story is an interesting one for folks working on a weight-loss program.

If you don't know the story of Tiger Woods, after a bit of a family scandal he took a year off from golf. At least - from playing at professional tournaments - he probably still practiced every day.

But in addition to not playing, he had some knee surgery, and he also switched his swing coach - and had to adopt an entirely new swing.

When he came back to playing in professional tournaments, he expected to win first crack out of the box. Didn't happen. And indeed in a couple of tournaments he dropped out - he said because he tweaked something - his detractors said it was because he was losing and didn't want to lose as bad as he was losing.

So at the beginning of this year, pundits were saying Tiger was done, would never win another major, etc.

But Tiger, who had spent his whole life playing golf, knew what was going on with his own body and his own skill set, and he kept working on his new swing (which apparently put less strain on his surgically operated on knee) and his puts and this and that.

Upshot, this year - 3 wins.

Now, you can take somewhat of the same lesson away from this.

Tiger didn't give up after his first year returning to the tournament scene, when he was doing so badly. He did not change what he was doing, he kept on with it. (Pace the two tournaments he dropped out of because he was "in pain.!") And in the end, because he had so much experience and knew what he was doing would pay dividends, he kept at it and ignored the critics.

The same philosophy can be used for weight loss - and later, weight maintenance. Pay no attention to the fads that come and go - the "eat only grape fruit" or "give up all carbs."  Common sense should tell you those don't work - and if you've tried them you know they don't work.

Tried and true and proven methods are the best. Eat less. Exercise more.

"Eat less" does not mean "cut out all your favorite foods completely."

"Eat less" does not mean "feel guilty" when you eat a whole brownie - or go to a restaurant and eat an entire plate of pasta loaded with tons of butter.  (I was reading one of those "Do Not Eat These 10 Foods" articles yesterday - I think it was on Yahoo.com).

Bushwa. Eat what you want. If you want to have a Blooming Onion at Chilis, have one. (Although, according to the article I read yesterday, you can't get a Blooming Onion at Chilis anymore. Bummer.)

Thing is...if you get a Blooming Onion - if you can find one - you eat one cluster complete with that delicious blooming onion sauce for an appetizer, and bring some of it home, and you have it once every two weeks or once a month as a treat. There's no reason not to ever have it again!

But the food police are determined to make sure that you will no longer have access to the foods you love. (Ever look in the cheese aisle? You used to have lots of real cheese, and the "low fat" and ""low calorie" crap occupied one row. Now it's the other way around!)

Everything in moderation - from food to exercise. The only thing that you need an excess of is patience. And you can cultivate that, just like a muscle.

Well...damn

I got my bowling shoes today...and immediately went to the bowling alley to check them out.

They don't slide either.

The box says "long sliders" so I know they're supposed to slide... so it's got to be whatever the alley itself does to the floors of the lanes.

Very annoying.

So, here's a summary of my scoring.

8/25/12.  My first day bowling in probably 10 years
9/1/12 - Bowled with 2 other guys
9/5/12 - bowled all on my own for 3 games. First two games sucked as I kept trying to get the damn shoes to slide. Third game...not sure if that was luck or not. Will find out Saturday!

8/25/12: 75 - 108 - 109
9/1/12:  102-102-87
9/5/12: 72 - 94 - 125

I got 1 strike and 4 spares in this last game.

(In game 1 today...I got two strikes, but my subsequent 2 balls were 1 and 2 on the first occasion, and 4 and 3 on the 2nd.  I also started out with 3 points each on the first two rounds - I'd get 3 then miss the rest as I struggled to figure out the shoe/non-slidey lane paradigm.

Still, it was fun. It's a challenge. I will figure it out, and I will improve!

Plateaus happen

Let's say that you're two weeks into the losing weight status of your weight loss program.

By that I mean...you've spent two weeks getting you body into a caloric imbalance state, and you're working out with light weights and biking or jogging to help the process along. Then, once that first pound came off, you've gone two more weeks, and lost a couple more pounds... probably about a quarter pound a day or something of that nature.

So you step on the scale on the Sunday of the third week (because I advocate stepping on the scale only once a week) and you haven't lost any weight!

You haven't gained any - but you haven't lost any.

Do not despair.

Plateaus happen, as your body strives to get used to each new weight. All you need to do is continue doing exactly what you're doing  - eating reduced portions, exercising and so on. Once your body gets used to the new weight, and maintains that caloric imbalance, the weight will start coming off again by the next week.

It's just one of those things that makes losing weight so fun.  ;)

But it is also what's going to help you when you achieve the weight you want to stay at. As long as you don't go hog wild the day after you achieve that weight, but rather just increase portions a little at a time, you will be able to maintain your new weight  - ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT MAINTAINING your new weight is much more difficult than losing it to begin with!

For most people - those not following my program! -  they start eating "normally" - the way they always used to eat - right away, and the body remembers back to that old weight it had and wants it back, and starts doing its best to get back to that weight. (Yes, I'm anthropromorphizing, but it does really happen.)

But because you've lost weight so gradually under my program, and your body thus has had a chance to get used to each new weight loss, you will not be seized with un-resistable cravings when it comes time for you to maintain.

Smart Post sucks

Well, it's Wednesday. If I'm lucky, I'll get my bowling shoes tomorrow, Thursday. But hopefully no later than Friday.

I don't know what this "Smart Post" is. I'd ordered the shoes from someone who sent them Fed Ex, except when they arrive at their destination they are then sent out by mail.

So the shoes arrived in Denver, which is I guess the closest Fed Ex hub to Cheyenne. From there, they were sent on a truck to Cheyenne, and were in limbo over the LAbor Day holidays

According to the tracking number, they just arrived at the Cheyenne post office THIS MORNING, and now I have to wait "one or two days" for them to arrive at my house.

Ridiculous.

I've been "dry bowling."  I don't know if that's the right term for it, but I"ve been practicing holding an imaginary bowling ball, going through my "address", and then taking three strides and throwing it. I had wanted those shoes early so I could go to the lanes and practice for 3 games, before Saturday, when I'll be bowling with my Scrabble club members and want to be throwing strikes!

Ah, well, like weight loss, skill in any endeavor takes practice, and in this case, lots and lots of patience!

Patience...Patience....Patience

I've got a client who was 100 pounds overweight three weeks ago. She is now 90-91 pounds overweight (depending on what time of the day she measures herself. (I've yet to convince her to only measure herself once a week, every Sunday for choice.)

So she's lost 10 pounds, but she looks at her body and sees no difference, and she's in despair about it.

I told her that even though she can't see the difference - there is a difference. If she had a pair of slacks a size smaller than what she normally wears - she could get into them now. (I didn't want to suggest that she go out and buy such a pair, as in another month or so they'll be too big for her too!)

I also told her that in another month, when she was only 80 pounds overweight, instead of 90, she would be able to see the difference.

If you buy boxes of butter from Sam's Club, you can see how much volume a pound takes up - a couple of sticks of butter - and you can see how much 10 pounds takes up.  And the equivalent of that volume is coming off your body - all over your body...a little from the legs, a little from the belly, a little from the breasts, a little from your face.

So do not despair that you have months and months to go in order to have an easily viewable weight loss. Just know that it is  happening, and will continue to happen!

Bowling pt 2

Went bowling again today with 2 friends from my Scrabble club.

The shoes this time were even worse than last time - they would not slide.

My left upper thigh is sore, not because I had had such a grueling workout, but just because I come down on that foot soo awkwardly when it doesn't slide. (I'm left-handed.)

I'd ordered new bowling shoes from Ebay. For some reason they were sent Fed Ex rather than by mail...and since you have to pay extra for Saturday delivery...I won't see them til after Labor Day.

(I was beat by the two guys who seemed to have no-problem with non-slidey shoes....I guess it's what you're used to...)

Right next to us was a family of bowlers - mom and dad, girl about 10 or 12 I suppose, boy about 5 who scored 125 - more than me! - because they had the bumpers up...so his ball would bounce off them and hit the pins.

But the girl, who looked like she should have been athletic, just could not get the hang of it. I suspect it was because she was trying to throw a ball that was too heavy, and because she had no idea how to do it..and I guess couldn't learn simply by watching the example of her parents (not that they were that good...)  She'd walk up to the foul line and then just swing her arm and roll the ball - into the gutter.

I doubt if she'll ever go bowling again...which makes me think it's important for folks - especially kids - to have someone who knows what they're doing show them how to play. Otherwise, regardless of the sport - the girl - or boy, will just blame themselves and never want to play again!

The two most dangerous points when you diet

T holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are dangerous points when you're just beginning to diet, and the day you decide that you've lost enough weight and now it's time to maintain is another dangerous point.  (The maintenance part will be a LOT easier if you follow my program, mark you - but I"ll get into that in another post.)

But the two *most dangerous* times  in a dieter's regime is during the first four weeks of the regime, and right after those first four weeks.

During the first four weeks
You know what I'm talking about!  You've cut back on your food, you're working out 3 times a week and biking or jogging every day.

Yet every day you step on that scale and it hasn't moved..or it will be down one day and back up the next.

And you're getting madder and madder and finally you say, "To hell with it, I can't lose weight, so I'm not going to bother."

But you just need to be patient.

In order to lose weight, your body must achieve a state of caloric imbalance and then it must stay in that state.

It takes at least a week for the state to first be achieved...and if you eat too many treats on a Saturday or something such that that state is disturbed, it will delay your weight loss by a couple of days.

What you must always remember is that even if you're not losing weight during these first four weeks, you are actually getting healthier. You are losing some fat (if you're working out - with even light weights) because the fat you're losing is replaced by muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat. And once you get those muscles, the weight will start to come off quicker because muscles burn calories quicker than fat does. (Which is why when you're fit and have a toned body and are maintaining, you can eat all the foods you love in decent-sized portions, and not gain back the weight you lost.)

This is why I advise my clients not to step on the scale for the first 4 weeks of their new diet/exercise regime. It will only drive you crazy. As long as you cut back on your food - you don't have to cut out all the foods you love, you just have to cut back! - work out 3 times a week - and go for a walk or a bike ride every day, you will be losing weight. How much weight you lose will depend on how old you are, remember. If you're young you'll probably lose 2 pounds per week, if you're old or have a slow metabolism - 1 pound.

But hell - that's a loss of 52 pounds in a year.

Now, the second most dangerous point in your new diet...is when you step on that scale for the first time after those 4 weeks are up, and see that weight loss. You will be so happy.

But you'll also think - "If I can lose this weight while eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, I will be able to lose more weight more quickly if I skip breakfast and lunch and just have dinner."

And this is not true. It may seem to be contradictory, but you will actually take longer to lose weight if you cut out breakfast and lunch, because your body is going to go in starvation mode, and deliberately slow down weight loss.

So you must eat breakfast and lunch. Small portions. And you must eat supper. And you can have dessert of a couple of cookies after dinner, or maybe half a candy-bar. If the hunger pangs hit late at night - a banana or some piece of fruit.

But whatever you do, you must eat those three meals a day - or five small meals. Do not skip meals!

This is important during your entire diet plan, and it is also important when you're in the maintenance phase. Since you've never skipped a meal, you will be able to continue your "new lifestyle" easily, with just the addition of an extra portion of this or that...and mebbe a whole candy bar for dessert instead of half of one.

So be patient, and you will achieve your goals.

Your winter sport - bowling

I went bowling on Saturday, the first time in maybe a decade, and I really enjoyed it. So much so that I intend to make it my winter sport, once it gets too cold to bike.

You get a good workout with bowling - if you're mobile of course. (Otherwise, swimming will do.)

You have your throwing hand, but your other hand and arm gets exercise as you hold the ball preparatory to throwing it, and both your legs will get exercise - albeit the tops of your thighs more than any other muscle.

I didn't do very well, points wise, it must be said - barely broke 100 each time. But this I blame on the shoes that I had to rent from the alley. They didn't slide, so my release point was always awkward.

I ordered some $30 shoes on Ebay, and they should be here by next Friday. Until the advent of winter, I'll be playing 3 games every Saturday, and once winter comes, probably more often.

From where does the weight come off first?

Depending on how overweight you are, you won't be able to tell from where the weight is coming off as you use it.

Let's say your 100 pounds overweight. You lose 10 of those pounds (over the course of 3-4 weeks), and you really won't be able to tell where the weight came from, as it'll come from everywhere.

Of course when you're 100 pounds overweight, you don't care where the weight comes off from first, you just want it to come off.

By the time you've lost 20 pounds, you'll be able to fit into a size-lower pair of jeans...

Of course, if you want to work on specific areas, and add some weight training to target that area, you can direct to some extent where weight will come off in addition to the overall weight loss.

For example, if you have "widows weeds" underarms, and target them with tricep curls, you can firm them up in a month or so.

Biking will work on your legs; situps, leg drawups and so on will work on your belly.

Don't worry about where the weight is coming off from - just be aware that it's coming off and you'll be healthier because of it.

Instructions are relative

I have to correct myself on one piece of information I've been given.

I've been telling folks that there's no need to cut out on your favorite desserts - cake, cookies, etc., or sugared drinks - Pepsi, etc., just cut down on them, add weight training and walking to your regime, and that after 2 weeks, you'll have lost a pound or so - after that caloric imbalance has been established.

And this is true....for people under 40.

But remember that once people hit 40 - well, when women hit 40, with guys it might take til 50, the metabolism, however slow or fast it was, slows down even further.

So if you're over 40, do not despair if you have gone your 2 weeks and see no measureable loss of weight - or see a weight loss in the morning, only to disappear by evening since you have drunk water and milk and coffee throughout the day.

But if you've been following a weight training regime - even with the lightest weights, you will see an improvement in your muscles - if no other proof than that you started doing 5 military presses with 20 pounds on a barbell, and after 2 weeks you're up to 8 repetitions or even 10. Your strength is increasing, your muscles are increasing - and as you continue to work out and increase those muscles - that weight will disappear.

So stay patient, stay with the regime. You will see results.

Don't try Sensa

I've long seen Sensa ads on various webpages that I visit - I had no interest in the product and I was sure most folks would realize it wouldn't work as advertised....

But then I thought...people see these ads, think, "They're spending so much money, it must work" and will try it.

Don't.

All Sensa is is "flavor enhancers" designed to make you feel fuller quicker.

Well, water will do the same thing.

So will success. There's nothing like seeing those first 5 pounds come off to make you realize that yoiu can do this, you're on the right path, no artificial drugs or unneeded operations need apply.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2RKKY12UBZTGC/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B002KJ6IV4&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=#wasThisHelpful

is a link to Amazon's page selling Sensa - the reviews of the product. 5 5-star reviews? I wonder if  Sensa is paying to get the reviews they want?

Take a look at this page also. It debunks Sensa...so it can offer Saffron Extract.

Do your research on that if you need help curbing your appetite.
http://www.reinventingaging.org/diet/sensa/sensa/

Be Proud of Your Accomplishments

I have a client, a teenage girl who is a 100 pounds overweight. Lives at home. I've just started working with her. She's been biking for a couple of weeks. She lives on an incline, so she can coast down the hill to start her bike ride, but she has to bike up the hill - and biking up a hill is a helluva lot harder than coasting down it, aas I shouldn't need to tell you.

Well, yesterday, she did a 3-mile bike ride, and then, for the first time, managed to bike all the way up the hill to her house.  That is quite an accomplishment for someone who is as out of shape as this girl.

So she goes into the house, and her dad asked her how far she'd ridden, and she said, "Three miles."

And he dismissed it. "Oh, that's nothing. That doesn't accomplish anything."

And she was quite hurt. She didn't say anything to him about it, but she poured out her heart to me this morning.

I had to be very careful in my response - I felt like telling her to tell her dad to drop dead, but of course I didn't. One musn't criticize the parents when working with a teenager!

I just reaffirmed to her what she already knew - that she was getting fitter, that biking 3 miles and then non-stop up a hill was a great accomplishment - something she could not have done a couple of weeks ago. It was only going to get better from here.

I also pointed out that parents didn't always mean to be mean (there are some verbally abusive parents out there, as well as neighbors, schoolmates, etc, but I think this guy didn't mean to be mean, he just wasn't thinking.  In fact, I might have a word with the mother - she's who hired me to work with her daughter - and suggest that she tell hubby to be a bit more supportive, no matter how slight he thinks his daughter's accomplishments are!)

Accomplishments are relative. Back when I lived in a town that had flat areas to ride and no damn wind, I was biking 10-15-20 miles a day no problem. To someone like that, biking 3 miles a day is a bit of a laugher. But when you consider that this girl could not even do that two weeks ago - it is a great accomplishment and I was very proud of her.