Many people are afraid to “diet” because they hear that word and hear “deprive.” It doesn’t have to be that way. A big factor in losing weight has more to do with changing your lifestyle, rather than starving yourself for a while and then returning to the same old habits.
One of the big reasons that many people find themselves on a rollercoaster with their weight is that they go on a diet, only to set themselves up for failure by setting as a reward for losing weight some “special food” that will only start them back on the same track that got them overweight to begin with. I mean it may seem like an enticing reward to say that you’ll have that chocolate cake once you have lost 5 pounds. But then when you have lost that amount of weight, you eat the cake and then you are off your diet and back to eating the way you did before your diet.
A better choice might be to reward yourself with an event, or special item that you might want to get yourself. Like you might want to promise yourself a date with your wife to the movies or maybe buy yourself a cd or fishing rod when you reach a certain goal.
As far as making your diet work without seeming to be starving yourself, I suggest that you start by deciding to stop eating when you are no longer hungry, not when you are stuffed. A good way to do that is to control your portion size. Use the suggested serving size as a guide to how much to eat at one sitting. Eat until you are not hungry but stop there.
You may find that you are hungry again in a couple hours and that is OK. Then have a small snack to curb hunger until your next meal. This is what some people refer to as a grazing diet. These small in between meal snacks keep you from being hungry all the time and without this discomfort, you are more likely to remain on a diet.
One thing to keep in mind is that most portions served in restaurants these days are more than actual serving sizes and if you eat out a lot, you should make a habit of bringing home about half of the meal and saving for another meal. Not only will this help in losing weight, but it will also help with your wallet as well.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
All healed and Getting back on Track
After a few weeks dealing with differing ailments like the pinched nerve in my hip and muscle spasms in my back, I'm ready to get back on track. It amazes me how quickly you can get out of the habit of working out. It's easy to get out of good habits, something totally different to get back into the good habits. So this morning, I allowed myself to sleep in. I have determined that I won't do that again. I need to get back on track and lose the weight faster than I can by watching my diet alone.
Speaking of staying on diet, I have been doing relatively well. I am working to fight the temptations to go overboard and completely blow it. The fact that I am the only one in my house who is concerned with watching my diet; it makes it a little tough. I have to keep a picture of the scale's dial in my mind as motivation. I think that is the most important thing to do when deciding to diet. You must find a way to motivate yourself. Other people can't and won't motivate you. That is a personal thing and that's why you need to find something that will keep you going through all the temptations to slack off. Mine is the picture of the scale. Days when I've reached another milestone, it is a motivation to keep up with the success. Days when I haven't improved, it is a protection against giving in.
But since diet alone will not allow me to reach my goal, I need to motivate myself to exercise. That is a toughie, but I will persevere. And knowing that I have some people reading this blog is a strong motivation to push through. I have to report to you what I am doing and what my results are. So in the morning, I start my routine all over again. I'll let you know how it goes.
Crusher
Speaking of staying on diet, I have been doing relatively well. I am working to fight the temptations to go overboard and completely blow it. The fact that I am the only one in my house who is concerned with watching my diet; it makes it a little tough. I have to keep a picture of the scale's dial in my mind as motivation. I think that is the most important thing to do when deciding to diet. You must find a way to motivate yourself. Other people can't and won't motivate you. That is a personal thing and that's why you need to find something that will keep you going through all the temptations to slack off. Mine is the picture of the scale. Days when I've reached another milestone, it is a motivation to keep up with the success. Days when I haven't improved, it is a protection against giving in.
But since diet alone will not allow me to reach my goal, I need to motivate myself to exercise. That is a toughie, but I will persevere. And knowing that I have some people reading this blog is a strong motivation to push through. I have to report to you what I am doing and what my results are. So in the morning, I start my routine all over again. I'll let you know how it goes.
Crusher
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Age takes it's toll
Ok, I know we all get older and things change. As I started my new fitness program, I knew that I was going to be working on things that had been neglected for the last 10 years. I was never a particularly fit person. I have been somewhat overweight ever since college. Even in college I was always battling my weight to stay in R.O.T.C. Once I was completely out of the National Guard, I let myself go. I never felt really out of shape, I just knew that I wasn't in the best shape possible. I figured I was about 20-25 pounds overweight and that was about it.
As I started to get in shape, I realized that I was about 50 pounds overweight and very out of shape. So I started watching my diet and working out. Push ups, sit ups, running, and then the pain....sore muscles, and the exhaustion. I kept pushing myself and could see the pounds start to come off. I was feeling good about myself...that's probably the best side effect you can get.... Then it happened. I woke up and my hip was in excruciating pain. No running for a couple days.
When I was younger, I might have taken one day off and been fine. Now it was more like 2 or 3. Then I started again once the pain was gone. Well not gone, but seriously deminished. Big mistake... After 3 runs, I was hurting again... and worse this time. Now It's been about a week and I couldn't run, could barely walk, and no sit-ups or Push-ups. The only thing to do was continue to watch my diet. And that is a constant battle. Counting calories, watching fat calories, and the biggest thing I found is to watch that I'm getting enough vitamins and minerals and keeping hydrated as well.
Besides the sore hip, I also was dealing with some back spasms that felt like a knife going through my back. I know that these symptoms are truly only muscle rebelion, but I have to wait till they calm down before I can push them some more. Meanwhile, My progress so far, I have lost about 12-14 pounds and about 1-1/2 inches from my abdomin. That's not too bad for only about 3 weeks. I'll keep you posted.
As I started to get in shape, I realized that I was about 50 pounds overweight and very out of shape. So I started watching my diet and working out. Push ups, sit ups, running, and then the pain....sore muscles, and the exhaustion. I kept pushing myself and could see the pounds start to come off. I was feeling good about myself...that's probably the best side effect you can get.... Then it happened. I woke up and my hip was in excruciating pain. No running for a couple days.
When I was younger, I might have taken one day off and been fine. Now it was more like 2 or 3. Then I started again once the pain was gone. Well not gone, but seriously deminished. Big mistake... After 3 runs, I was hurting again... and worse this time. Now It's been about a week and I couldn't run, could barely walk, and no sit-ups or Push-ups. The only thing to do was continue to watch my diet. And that is a constant battle. Counting calories, watching fat calories, and the biggest thing I found is to watch that I'm getting enough vitamins and minerals and keeping hydrated as well.
Besides the sore hip, I also was dealing with some back spasms that felt like a knife going through my back. I know that these symptoms are truly only muscle rebelion, but I have to wait till they calm down before I can push them some more. Meanwhile, My progress so far, I have lost about 12-14 pounds and about 1-1/2 inches from my abdomin. That's not too bad for only about 3 weeks. I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Persistence, Perserverence, and Personal Demons
Day 2 and Beyond
Each morning I try to get up early to workout. Considering that I've gone about 6 years without a workout, this IS quite a challenge. I hit snooze(my wife just loves this) and hope that I can muster the motivation to get out of bed. Once my feet hit the floor, my brain fills with excuses as to why I shouldn't be doing this(the demons). I keep telling myself that it will all be worth it. When I reach my goals, I will feel alot better about this. I hope to run in the 5K run here on Labor Day Weekend. I'll let you know.
Out of bed and downstairs to stretch and do some calesthentics before starting on my run. I have to keep pushing myself, the pain isn't that bad, I can work through it. 20 situps, 30 leg raises, 30 crunches, 20 pushups. All in all, about 20 minutes of excersise then I'm off for a run. My route right now is about 1.6 miles and my goal is to run more and more and not stop to walk at all. When I can do that, I'll add more until I am running about 4 or 5 miles.
Before I take my first step, I can hear them, the demons. Telling me that I hurt too much. Or I'm too tired. Or it's too far. Or I just don't feel good. I have to ignore them and continue to make deals with myself. I just go to the next telephone pole and I'll see how I feel. I'll go to the next house and see how I feel. I have to get at least halfway then I'll see how I feel. Now I made it halfway, I need to go a bit further. With every deal, the demons are telling me that I gotta stop, You're gonna kill yourself. I don't listen. Instead, I just make another deal. With each deal, I've made an accomplishment. I gotta keep going. By the end of the first week, I'm not stopping at all.
I know that I'm not alone out there. There are probably many of you who are fighting your own personal demons. I know that everyone must deal with them in their own way. I just told you mine, you can use that, or take a variation of that and keep up the fight. It goes on in me every day. I do my best to not give in and in the end, I see the progress and knowing that keeps me motivated.
Each morning I try to get up early to workout. Considering that I've gone about 6 years without a workout, this IS quite a challenge. I hit snooze(my wife just loves this) and hope that I can muster the motivation to get out of bed. Once my feet hit the floor, my brain fills with excuses as to why I shouldn't be doing this(the demons). I keep telling myself that it will all be worth it. When I reach my goals, I will feel alot better about this. I hope to run in the 5K run here on Labor Day Weekend. I'll let you know.
Out of bed and downstairs to stretch and do some calesthentics before starting on my run. I have to keep pushing myself, the pain isn't that bad, I can work through it. 20 situps, 30 leg raises, 30 crunches, 20 pushups. All in all, about 20 minutes of excersise then I'm off for a run. My route right now is about 1.6 miles and my goal is to run more and more and not stop to walk at all. When I can do that, I'll add more until I am running about 4 or 5 miles.
Before I take my first step, I can hear them, the demons. Telling me that I hurt too much. Or I'm too tired. Or it's too far. Or I just don't feel good. I have to ignore them and continue to make deals with myself. I just go to the next telephone pole and I'll see how I feel. I'll go to the next house and see how I feel. I have to get at least halfway then I'll see how I feel. Now I made it halfway, I need to go a bit further. With every deal, the demons are telling me that I gotta stop, You're gonna kill yourself. I don't listen. Instead, I just make another deal. With each deal, I've made an accomplishment. I gotta keep going. By the end of the first week, I'm not stopping at all.
I know that I'm not alone out there. There are probably many of you who are fighting your own personal demons. I know that everyone must deal with them in their own way. I just told you mine, you can use that, or take a variation of that and keep up the fight. It goes on in me every day. I do my best to not give in and in the end, I see the progress and knowing that keeps me motivated.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Lost 10 lbs in the first week (day 1)
Ok, before I start I need to get this out. This journal is presented for anecdotal information only. This is a journal of my personal Weight Loss and Physical fitness journey. Any information presented here is without guarantees and I assume no liability. That said, if any of the ideas or techniques used here are appealing to you, feel free to try them yourself. I do suggest that you check with you personal physician before beginning any physical fitness program.
The Journey Begins(day 1)
I started on my quest to be in better shape out of necessity, not desire. Last week I made the decision to re-enlist in the National Guard. Only one problem, I was 35 pounds overweight and 6% above my allowable body fat. I wanted to be able to be processed in by the end of June/beginning of July. I needed to start losing weight and getting back into shape.
I'm not really sure what my before daily calorie count was, I just new I had to drastically reduce my intake and increase the amount I burned each day. My goal was to remain below 1500 calories for the whole month. I began with making reductions in my lunch. I found that McDonalds Side Salad and dressing was only 250 calories with dressing. Add a 4 piece chicken nugget for variety and you are still under 400 calories for lunch. Yes, I did get a Diet Coke with that too. So my first "Diet Lunch" was Under 450 Calories and $3.15 with tax. This wasn't going to be too hard I told myself.
Dinner was the next challenge. If your family is like mine, portion size was never a real concern. So now I brought out the measuring cups and read all the packages and limited myself to one portion of instant mashed potatoes(170 calories. 1/3 cup serving) green beans(20 calories. 1/4 cup) one piece of roast pork (245 calories, 3 oz.) and one crescent roll(110 calories, 1 oz. roll) add 1/4 cup of gravy and the total for dinner was 565 calories. And surprisingly, I wasn't still hungry. I wasn't stuffed either. Later that night I had a 1 serving bowl of Chocolate Ice cream for dessert (120 calories, 1/4 cup) giving me a total for that first day of 1065 calories. So far so good.
Next on the agenda was to get in shape for passing the PT test. The first thing was running. I need to be able to run 2 miles in 18 mins and 18 secs or less. I began with a mile run and have continually added to that. I have tried to make this run twice a day. I will keep going until I can run a full 2 miles without stopping. Then I will focus on speed.
The Journey Begins(day 1)
I started on my quest to be in better shape out of necessity, not desire. Last week I made the decision to re-enlist in the National Guard. Only one problem, I was 35 pounds overweight and 6% above my allowable body fat. I wanted to be able to be processed in by the end of June/beginning of July. I needed to start losing weight and getting back into shape.
I'm not really sure what my before daily calorie count was, I just new I had to drastically reduce my intake and increase the amount I burned each day. My goal was to remain below 1500 calories for the whole month. I began with making reductions in my lunch. I found that McDonalds Side Salad and dressing was only 250 calories with dressing. Add a 4 piece chicken nugget for variety and you are still under 400 calories for lunch. Yes, I did get a Diet Coke with that too. So my first "Diet Lunch" was Under 450 Calories and $3.15 with tax. This wasn't going to be too hard I told myself.
Dinner was the next challenge. If your family is like mine, portion size was never a real concern. So now I brought out the measuring cups and read all the packages and limited myself to one portion of instant mashed potatoes(170 calories. 1/3 cup serving) green beans(20 calories. 1/4 cup) one piece of roast pork (245 calories, 3 oz.) and one crescent roll(110 calories, 1 oz. roll) add 1/4 cup of gravy and the total for dinner was 565 calories. And surprisingly, I wasn't still hungry. I wasn't stuffed either. Later that night I had a 1 serving bowl of Chocolate Ice cream for dessert (120 calories, 1/4 cup) giving me a total for that first day of 1065 calories. So far so good.
Next on the agenda was to get in shape for passing the PT test. The first thing was running. I need to be able to run 2 miles in 18 mins and 18 secs or less. I began with a mile run and have continually added to that. I have tried to make this run twice a day. I will keep going until I can run a full 2 miles without stopping. Then I will focus on speed.
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