Posted on 01/21/2006 7:21:11 PM PST by RightOnline
I mentioned this superb list of rules/suggestions for fitness and weight loss in another thread, and my FReepmail box filled pretty quickly. :)
To keep this brief: The Lovely Wife and I got into weight lifting (strength training) a few years ago, and one of the companies from whom we purchased sports supplememts (whey protein, etc.) issues a monthly email newsletter. This particular one I kept, because to my mind, it is the best......by FAR........encapsulation of the things we should all do to lose weight and keep fit. Anything and everything I have learned about fitness fit in these "rules" very, very well. I have sent this to a fair number of people, and without exception, EVERY one of them has lost significant excess weight and is far, far healthier.......and in a way they can so easily live with on a daily basis.
Therefore, I'm sharing this with all of you in the hope that it may help one or two of you. I can only promise that if you print this out, tape it to your refrigerator, and diligently follow what you read here..........you will feel sooooooo much better in such a relatively short period of time, you simply won't believe it.
Top 10 Ways to Drop the Fat by Cathryn Majorossy
1. Eat 4-6 small meals per day. Spread your calories out evenly during the day to help keep your metabolism moving and your energy levels naturally high. Try to target balancing each meal so that they contain roughly the same amount of calories. Meal replacements and nutrition bars are an easy way to supplement up to 3 meals per day.
2. Balance each meal with protein, carbs and fat. By providing reasonable amounts of these three essential nutrients at each meal, your body will have the fuel it needs to run at an optimum level. Balancing the nutritional make-up of your meals also helps prevent the storage of body fat.
Preferred sources of protein: fish, lean meat, chicken, eggs, turkey, lean pork, protein powders. Preferred sources of carbohydrates: fruit, vegetables, beans, whole grains. Preferred sources of fats: olive oil, nuts, fish oils, canola oil.
3. Choose the right carbohydrates. When constructing your meals, select complex carbohydrates that are “colorful” and high in fiber (like fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts). Try to avoid highly processed carbohydrates like pasta, bagels, crackers, chips, soda and candy. Highly processed carbs have little nutritional value and can easily be stored as body fat. If it’s a carbohydrate and it comes in a bag or a box, you should be suspect.
4. Don’t forget completely about the fat. Despite the hype in the 80’s and 90’s, fat IS an important part of everyone’s diet and is necessary for fat loss. It may sound strange but it is the reality. One benefit is that fat is slow to digest so it makes you feel full and thus you eat less. Fat also helps in proper digestion of carbs and protein; without it your body cannot process food efficiently. The key is to select foods that are rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These include salmon, mackerel, almonds, walnuts, olive and canola oils.
5. Eat until you are no longer hungry, not until you are stuffed full. A common mistake people make in their everyday eating habits is that they just eat too much. They eat until they are literally bursting at the waistline. You don’t need to be stuffed at every meal, or eat every bite . . . despite what your mom told you, it is ok to leave food on your plate. Even better, don’t put so much on your plate in the first place. Keep your portion sizes under control If you find yourself eating for no reason, or you just can’t stop, you are probably eating to fill a void in your life, as many people do. Taking some time to evaluate the areas of your life that are making you unhappy may help. Food is not the answer, and overeating always results in feeling worse.
6. Don’t cut your calories too low. Drastic calorie cutting attempts usually result in failure. If you are looking for lasting results and not just a quick fix, then your best bet is to aim for about 2/3 of your “normal” caloric, or food, intake. Putting your body into starvation mode will ultimately derail your weight loss attempts. Your body will fight back by trying to hold onto your fat even more tightly! Slow and steady wins the weight loss war.
7. Give yourself one, and just one, splurge day per week. If you are eating “clean” 6 days a week, you deserve a splurge day. Pick one day per week and save up all your cravings for that special day. Make a chocolate dessert, or have some extra pasta with dinner. Whatever it is, after 6 days of keeping your diet in order and keeping focused on your ultimate goal, you not only deserve a day of eating some of your favorite foods, but your body can also completely handle it. Remember, you cannot gain a significant amount of body fat in just one day. It takes months, in most cases, years of poor eating to add that weight. One splurge day a week is acceptable and even helpful; just make sure when the next day comes around, you get back in the saddle again and get ready for 6 more days of good clean eating and weight loss progress.
8. Get your body moving with exercise. You will not reach your fat loss goals without getting your body in motion. Exercise helps you burn calories more efficiently, improves blood circulation to all parts of your body (including your brain), helps your skin stay young looking, and even improves bone strength. Just 3 or 4 workouts per week is enough to get some truly life-changing benefits from exercise. There are so many types of activities you can participate in. There’s no excuse. Weight training exercises are great for both men and women to build muscle strength. The more muscle your body has, the more calories it burns per day. Cardiovascular exercise is a great way to get your blood pumpin’ and your energy levels high. And you can do some of your exercise outdoors and breathe in some of that fresh air too!
9. Drink plenty of water. Drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day is essential for fat loss. Water helps your digestion, helps you feel energized, gives you a feeling of fullness and keeps you looking young. In addition, water seems to act as a natural appetite suppressant. In fact, people on diets who do not increase their water intake will find themselves feeling “hungry” much more often and more severely than those who do up their water consumption.
One possible reason for this is that dieters are getting less water from their food, because they’re eating less food, so the body is actually craving fluid. These cravings can be significantly curbed with increased water intake.
10. Supplement wisely. The JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) now recommends a multi vitamin/mineral complex for all healthy adults. Also, a quality weight loss supplement may aid in your efforts and help you finally get rid of that unwanted fat. (Note: weight loss supplements work well only in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise program).
Wrong. You miss the point entirely. This is about a lifestyle change; proper food intake/diet combined with exercise. Just cutting calories will NEVER do it alone.
Wow, do a Google search on babka with safe search off. There are some yummy babkas out there!
Babka must be Russian for "luscious young hooters." Unfortunately, it's also Russion for "real old woman."
Ugh, I can't stand tofu. The taste is fine (it has none) but the texture just grosses me out.
I've tried all different firmness of it, tried baking/frying/sauteing it, etc - still makes me gag.
The only way I was able to choke it down was to soak it in teriyaki sauce, slice it thin, then cook it down into a sort of tofu jerky in a slow oven for 3 or 4 hours.
I could eat it then but the noise of it wetly sputtering in the oven still made me nauseous.
LQ
I went from getting winded walking to the corner store and back, to running marathons and climbing mountains, while losing 125 lbs. I know what I am talking about.
I was actually very concerned that this time, the weight wouldn't come back off. I gained 77 lbs. with my first son, 55 lbs. with my daughter (she was over 2 months premature), and 72 lbs. with my second son (he was 3 weeks early). The thing is, there are over 4 years between my second and third pregnancies, and I wasn't a spring chicken when God blessed us with children. I actually thought I was going through menopause, only to discover I was pregnant!
I've always had a slim figure and not much of an appetite, so I guess my body's natural inclination is go back to "normal." Thank God! I know women who found their body-type and metabolism had changed after their children came, and it took years to drop the pounds.
Lol! At least you have a sense of humor about it :)
Hubby had triple bypass and they put him on a very low fat diet along with brisk walks. In a year he lost 60 lbs.
Okay, I'm just going to back away slowly now...
Well...You can't live off tofu. :-) Veggies and rice are my staples, and those, too, are very versatile...
All the above advice is fantastic. There are a couple tips I'd add:
The "8 glasses of water" isn't strictly necessary and has been disproven, as far as the old idea that everyone is basically dehydrated all the time. But if you're exercising and sweating out more water than you used to, the water needs to be replaced. Additionally, the body doesn't do a very good job of differentiating between hunger and thirst; sometimes a bottle of water is the cure for a "hunger" pang, especially if you're otherwise eating properly.
The idea of 5-6 small meals a day is tough to do properly. Eating the same three unhealthy meals a day, and adding a 10 A.M. donut and a 3 P.M. bag of Doritos won't cut it. The idea is that the average person trying to lose weight and getting moderate exercise should consume around 1500-1800 calories a day; the point of multiple meals is to divide that caloric total roughly equally among 5 or 6 meals. The simplest way to think of it is that, assuming your "three squares" are themselves healthy and the right caloric balance, divide each of them in half and eat half of one every three hours.
For me, the "day off" of the diet, or eating whatever you want one day of every week, wasn't as big a deal as finding a way to enjoy what I eat on the other six days. I had to find a way to add flavor to the healthy meals I eat, and the key is to find things that are flavorful but not caloric. Spices, like garlic or pepper, are one way. I found myself "addicted" to hot sauce, of which there are literally thousands of different varieties from mild to insane. Fresh vegetables and fruits are another good way to add "healthy" flavor to well-balanced meals.
Finally, exercise should be intense for the person exercising. It's critical to rapid, healthy weight loss, but it can't be standardized. If it's a stretch to walk from the mall to the parking lot, 20 minutes of brisk walking is sufficient; trying to jog for a half hour will result in quitting after five minutes and not trying again. But if you've been jogging for a half hour every day for the past three months and hit a plateau, more is necessary.
Good luck to those just starting out; it really is a lifestyle change.
ping......per your request :)
ping......
Pinging to send to the kid later, thanks for posting this, it sounds like very sensible advice.
You're very welcome. :)
That's what most people do and get fat: meal, snack, snack, meal, snack, snack, meal!
Precisely.
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