Losing Weight Is Like Trying to Take Olives out of a Bottle

the first pound is hard to lose, but after that it's (relatively) easy.

I have a new client who, at the time of this writing, had been working with my program for 5 days. She had followed all of my advice except for one essential piece, which was almost a deal breaker.

TO begin with, she'd done the 5 days I recommend in which she changed none of her current habits, just kept a journal - what time she got up, what time she went to bed. Every single meal or snack she ate, every type of drink she drank, from water to pop to coffee to alchohol, if any. SHe also wrote down how she felt before and after each event - did eating a donut for breakfast give her a headache, did she start snacking because she was hungry or bored, and so on.

Then, she spent 5 days working on the program. She started walking a half mile each day. She didn't get any leg exercise equipment, but she used dumbbells to exercise her arms. She did cut out all snacks - cookies and so on - rather than diminish them gradually.

And she went to bed each night feeling slightly hungry. Not starving, but hungry. And it was this feeling that caused her to believe that she'd just have to have lost weight by the next day.

But...she did the one thing I told her not to do. She also weighed herself every day - once at night before she went to bed, when people weight the most, and once in themorning after she got up and went to the bathroom - when people weigh the least.

And on the fifth day, when she weighed herself in the morning and saw that for 5 days her weight had not varied at all, she got angry. Not at me but at life in general. Here she'd been going to bed hungry for 5 days, and hadn't lost a single pound. Obviously she couldn't lose weight so why bother.

So I told her what I tell all my clients - you are not going to lose any weight in the first week of the program - or any program. You're exercising which is going to increase muscle weight - which is a good thing, and in any event your body doesn't work that way.

Your body is at a plateau...it takes more than one day of caloric imbalance before it starts losing weight...it takes at least two weeks. But after that two weeks...after that first pound goes away...then, the weight starts to come off steadily, as long as that caloric imbalance is maintained.

So please - when you first start this weight loss program - weigh yourself on the first day, sure. But then, don't weigh yourself again for at least 2 whole weeks. And after that 2 weeks, you will have lost 1 or 2 pounds. That may seem like a small amount, but it is cause for celebration (although not by consuming a Blizzard!) because then you will know you are on your way.

Don't Eat After 8 pm

Your goal - as long as you're a person who works a 9-5 job and is able to go to bed at a reasonable hour - 10 pm, 11 pm, whatever - is to not eat anything after 8 pm. And to not drink anything with calories either. Drink as much water as you want - and that will certainly quell your hunger pains, but nothing else.

Now, because I advocate easing in to everything gradually, I have often posted here that if you do feel hungry late at night, go ahead and eat some carrots or other fruit. And I meant that.

But eating those fruits and/or veggies is just something you're going to do as you work to lower your appetite level...you're not supposed to eat them every night from now on... you eat them only to quell hunger pains if drinking a glass of water doesn't do the trick.

My whole program depends on doing things gradually. Sure, there are some people with strong willpowers who can quit anything cold turkey - drinking, smoking, eating this food or that food. Most people can't do it, which is why most people fail on these diet plans. They try to quit cold turkey, fail, and think they have no willpower and will never be able to control their appetite.

Willpower is a muscle, and like every other muscle in the body, if you exercise it it will grow stronger.

Going Out To Dinner? Order Lunch

I've got some relatives visiting from out of town, and we went to Red Lobster last night.

When they ordered, they ordered the fried flounder...from the lunch menu. And the waitress thought nothing of it.

If you've never been to a sit down restaurant (as opposed to a fast food restaurant) they typically have a lunch menu, which is the same as their dinner menu except the portions are smaller and the price is smaller also.

It never occurred to me that once 1 pm or whatever time rolled around that I consider the end of lunch time, you could continue to order from the lunch menu at a restaurant.

For example, at Red Lobster, if you order the Maple Chicken (which is all I ever get because I don't like seafood and their steak is too expensive) for lunch, you get one chicken breast. But you get everything else - the salad, the choice of rice or potato, the unlimited Cheddar Bay Biscuits (mm mm good!)

If you order it for dinner, you get two chicken breasts, and you pay a few dollars more for it.

Now, for me, that isn't a problem. I eat one chicken breast, and I take the other one home and have it for lunch the next day.

But if you're not in to eating left overs (and that's a mistake, believe me. Leftovers can often taste better than they did the night before, as all the juices and flavors have had time to marinate together) then try ordering your dinner off the lunch menu.

As long as you're at a restaurant that actually does have a lunch menu, you should be fine. Just ask.

It's Not Going to Kill You to Go To Bed Hungry

I encourage all my clients to go about their weight loss/weight maintenance goals in a no-pressure type of way.

There's no need to cut out desserts. There's no need to cut out any types of foods - rice, potatoes, whatever.

The key is simply portion control.

Having said that, there's one thing everyone who wants to lose, or maintain, weight, has got to realize, and that's that sometimes you have to go to bed hungry.

Not starving - there's no need to go to bed feeling ravenous - eat a few carrots or even an apple to take the edge off. But don't eat a whole bowl of icecream and then go to sleep. Desserts should be eaten at least 3 hours before you go to bed. And even then, remember, when you're trying to lose weight, don't eat a whole bowl of ice cream, eat half of one.

If you don't have the willpower to eat only half a bowl of icecream at a time - then you'll have to quit icecream cold-turkey. Don't bring it into the house. When you get an urge for ice cream, drink some water and read a book or something - do some kind of activity - until the craving passes.

You must take the long term view. Don't get frustrated or angry because you're only losing 1 or 2 pounds a week even though you go to bed hungry every night. Given sufficient time, your appetite will shrink along with your waistline, and you'll be able to go to bed without feeling hungry.

Because as I've posted before - it is those late night hours that are the defeat of a lot of people. If you can't get to sleep, you get up and get something to eat while you read a book or watch TV. Switch eating for drinking - water! or decaff coffee or tea.

It's one thing to eat at night if you're going to be active - if you have an evening job rather than a day job, but try not to eat a big meal just before you go to bed. That packs on the pounds.

The Name of the Game is Patience

Patience is a virtue. It's also an extremely important skill that most people aren't trained in. And so you must train yourself.

When it comes to losing weight, there's no getting around it. It will take time. (If you go in for liposuction the weight disappears over night, sure, but since the individual involved has not learned the necessary diet and exercise routine to follow...that sucked out weight will return shortly.)

When you're over 40, you must be more patient than ever.

If you had a fast metabolism when you were young...around the age of 40-45, it slows down. If you had a slow metabolism, it will slow down even further.

That does not mean its impossible to lose weight! The same law of nature applies - if you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight.

It will just take longer.

Which is why I encourage everyone who is just starting out on there new, life-long regime, to not even step on a scale for the first two weeks. If you feel hungry all day, go to bed, wake up and step on the scale and see you haven't lost a single pound, frustration and anger can set in and you'll eat something - and likely too much of something - just to soothe your anger.

It takes about two weeks of new exercise and cutting down on food intake before the body develops an overall caloric imbalance and the weight starts to come off.

In those folks younger than 40, losing 2 pounds a week is the safest rate of weight loss. For those folks over 40, 1 pound a week may be the best you can do.

And that's pretty good. That's 52 pounds in a year!

So make patience your watchword.

Samantha Stosur

I watched the women's tennis finals yesterday, Sunday. The Australian, Samantha Stosur, beat Serena Williams.

Both Serena and Samantha have biceps to die for, but Samantha's definition is a bit more ....defined ; ).

Her biceps are about as big as a woman's can get without taking HGH or steroids, and it just goes to show that you can work out and look muscular and sexy at the same time.

Now..according to an article, Samantha doesn't do bicep curls. I find that very difficult to believe. But according to her trainer, Giselle Martin, this is what she does;

Giselle Martin, the physical trainer of Sam Stosur, says: “Sam’s preseason training consists of Swimming, Sand Dune running, Stairs/Hill sprints, Boxing/Kickboxing, Sprints using resistant bands/Parachutes, Core Strengthening using Bossu/Fitball, Strength sessions using weights/Straps/Kettle Bells/Vibroplate.
'With only one weeks rest, from a gruelling year on the women’s tennis circuit, Sam was back into her pre-season training.

'We started with cross training (doing exercises she doesn't normally do e.g sand dune running, swimming etc) it's refreshing and she responds well to training diversity. The variety in her training ensures each session is new and exciting. I like to train with Sam or have someone train with her. This keeps that competitive edge, whilst challenging her and pushing Sam to her limits.

'As we get closer to the Aussie circuit we introduce more tennis specific exercises. It’s a building process, each week the training changes, it's all calculated and everything we aim to do, is for a reason, purpose!!!

'It’s imperative that we use pre-season training in Australia to our advantage. Whilst other players around the world are training in cold climates, we have the advantage of training in the heat etc, we become acclimatised to these harsh conditions (35-40’ heat) prior to the Australian Open.'

Too hot to handle

A model's good advice:

Elle's advice:

"You know what, as long as you're feeling good about your life, you're healthy and you're having fun, that's all that really matters. So don't put too much pressure on yourself. I know we're our own worst critics, but that can just be detrimental at the end. Just take care of yourself and enjoy your life."

From London Free Press: Too hot to handle
Playboy cover model Elle Patille gives new meaning to the term "explosive workouts."

The Canadian bombshell loves climbing active volcanoes in Central America in her spare time.

Seriously.

Patille, a 33-year-old native of Mississauga, Ont., has documented eight such daring and gruelling volcanic treks online.

Her latest conquest was the mighty Santiaguito in Guatemala's western highlands during an orange alert -- aka a "do not climb" advisory, she tells QMI Agency with a devilish laugh.

The brown-eyed brunette and three other thrill-seekers spent three days hiking the dangerously active volcano earlier this year.

"There's debris about the size of small cars to minivans that actually come flying your way with every eruption. We were hiding behind large boulders whenever that would happen," she recalls.

"And after every eruption, there's usually a torrential downpour because of all the vapour clouds. And there's ash showers. It looked like snow was falling. It's pretty unreal."

It's also "an amazing workout," the Torontonian adds, noting she has "27 more volcanoes left to climb in Guatemala."

Of course, not all of Patille's workouts are quite as extreme.

But then again, there's nothing routine about her, well, workout routine, especially considering her hectic travel schedule.

"I just try to do it as often as I can," she explains. "So even if that means grabbing a kettlebell and working out in the backyard, or taking some weights or one of those stability balls while I travel, then I do, just so I can try to get a quick workout in my hotel room. It's too hard to stick to a daily regimen when you're so busy."

Patille, a lean 125 pounds at five-foot-10, also enjoys Bikram yoga.

She works up a sweat in what she affectionately calls the "torture chamber" as often as her schedule allows.

"It's hot yoga for 90 minutes at 115 degrees," she says. "It's like doing yoga for an hour and a half in a sauna."

Fitness has always been important to Patille.

But as she moves into her mid-30s, she admits she's "a little older than most of the girls who are still posing for Playboy," and her workouts have taken on a greater sense of urgency.

"I've been very lucky, very fortunate -- good genes, I guess," she says. "At the same time, it does put pressure on you. You look at the younger girls coming in, and by no means is it a competition, but it does put more pressure on you, absolutely."

That's why Patille doesn't splurge as much as she'd like to when it comes to her diet.

She eats plenty of veggies, fruit, nuts and fish.

"I try to avoid red meat. I think it's the animal lover in me," she adds.

Even if she didn't pose nude for a living, Patille explains, she'd still keep fit.

"Fitness is important for anybody, even if you're not in my profession," she says. "I just think it's something that should be mandatory for everybody just to feel good about themselves. I'm a strong believer in it."

Visit www.ellepatille.com.

Elle's advice:

"You know what, as long as you're feeling good about your life, you're healthy and you're having fun, that's all that really matters. So don't put too much pressure on yourself. I know we're our own worst critics, but that can just be detrimental at the end. Just take care of yourself and enjoy your life."