Lose Weight and Feel Great!

You've heard those words, haven't you? Was it the slim-fast commercial? I can't remember. It can be true, however. It's not just a clever slogan to catch your attention. I'm just starting the weight-loss journey, but I've been fighting the battle like many of you have been for quite some time. I've found some things that I KNOW for a fact work, just a matter of taking the steps and measures to keep to it. I'm not the greatest at that myself, but it's a start. Email: alfitz13@charter.net

--Note: you should always talk to a professional (such as a doctor or dietition) before making any drastic changes to diet or lifestyle. Any quick changes may be too much for a body that's not accustomed to it and you could get injurred or sick.--

Silent ounces make loud pounds

There are things that you may do, take, or NOT do that have little to do with what you're eating but have everything to do with your weight. You may not be aware of it, but something you are taking (a medication, perhaps) may be making things more difficult. There are also some illnesses and disorders making it much more difficult to lose weight. Sometimes simply your schedule will have something to do with it. Little things like that can make the difference of a size 8 verses a size 10. Here are some things to consider (but always talk to your doctor):

• Birth control- pills or shots can often times be responsible for 3-5 lbs per year of weight gain. Doesn't seem like much, but those pounds sure can sneak up on you.
• Other medications- (commonly hormone containing meds) there are a slew of medications out there, usually perscribed because YOU NEED THEM that can either cause weight gain or make weight loss more difficult. I do not suggest you stop taking these, but it may be good to know so you can adjust your lifestyle or diet to fit accordingly.
• NOT EATING ENOUGH!- starvation or failing to eat on a regular schedule can actually make you GAIN WEIGHT or lose weight MORE SLOWLY! If your body senses it is not being nurished as often as it needs to be it will start conserving every last calorie it DOES get, and won't metabolise nearly as quickly.
• Eating TOO late!- Your body burns more calories in your waking hours than it does when you're sleeping. It is best you eat at least 2-3 hours prior to going to bed, and don't eat the high fat stuff late at night. Save that for the afternoon so you have more waking hours for your body to burn off extra calories.
• Thyroid problems- having a thyroid that does not produce sufficient amounts of necessary hormones causes the body to metabolise much slower which translates to a lot more work to lose less weight. This is treatable by medications and diagnosed by a physician. (An overactive thyroid often times means you metabolise too fast and you may lose weight)
• Boredom- I don't care what you say, but I know for a FACT that I and many other people I know tend to eat MORE when we have nothing better to do. We snack and snack and snack and that adds a lot of little calories to make big numbers.
• Drink more water- I'm told this will help in two ways: 1- it helps keep your stomach feel as though it has something in it so it can help curb the hunger feeling, or make you full sooner during a meal. 2- it helps the body process faster (though I'm not sure if this is true) by providing plenty of hydration. Most people do NOT get the intake of water their body SHOULD have every day!

Pills:

I cannot say whether or not those miracle pills they market out there are truly what they seem to be, miracles. I've never tried them. In fact, I always thought it wise not to regardless how tempting they seemed. Anything that chemically alters the way your body reacts to food can't possibly be completely good for you. I believe there are probably benificial herbal remidies, like lecithin and papaya enzymes, that can help you safely but I have never seen it proven myself. Because I do not trust nor condone the chemical remedies I will not mention them further. Here is a brief list of some herbal remedies available in pill form said to help you metabolise faster, or burn fat or block calories: (I find most of these pleasant and in some cases very tasty, but you should make sure these are safe for you prior to taking them)

• Lecithin
• Papaya enzyme
• Papaya and Pineapple enzyme
• Fiber (such as chitosan)

Foods that help burn calories

I am still researching and compiling this list but here is what I've heard/read so far:

• Grape Fruits
• Papaya
• Pineapple
• Celery

Cut the Fat-moderation is the key

As I understand it your daily allowance of fat is 60 grams a day. If you count your approximate intake of fat grams a day I would bet you that you're over that. You wouldn't believe some of the things that could do it. A single serving of fettucine alfredo could have 54 gram of fat or more. Add some garlic bread to that and you're well over 60. I was forced to cut my fat intake for health reasons for 2 months. I did not eat anything containing more than 7 grams of fat, and never more than 7-9 grams of fat per sitting. I ended up eating 30 grams of fat or less per day and I lost more than 20 lbs in 2 months. (Needless to say I put that back on after that health issue was gone). The only problem was eating small amounts of things I liked so much! A little will power goes a long way!

Reducing Carbohydrates

Sugars are the easiest form of energy to burn. It's also the most common source of energy in most types of food. Cutting sugar out of your diet could help you significantly lose weight. How? This is my theory: sugar is the easiest energy to burn. Sugar is a simple form of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates is the simplest energy form of the three macro nutrients- carbs, lipids, proteins. Fat is harder to burn than carbs, but easier than protein. Protein is the hardest to burn, and therefore the last form of energy your body will use. What puts on the weight? Excess carbs, which are easy to come by, can be stored as fat. If your body DOES burn the carbs, it may NOT burn the fat because it doesn't need all that excess energy and therefore it will store the FAT. So therefore, too much sugar just means your body isn't burning other forms of energy it should be burning. I believe if you took in very little to no fat, you would probably lose weight regardless your carbs intake (within reason). However, if you take in a lot of both (as many do) then you are probably doomed to gain weight unless you burn all the carb energy and still need to burn the fat energy as well. That is were EXERCISE comes in.

EXERCISING!

The big E word. Ignore anything that claims that you can lose weight without doing a thing. That's not true, nor is it good for you. You need to move about, even if just walking in order to: circulate blood through your body and improve circulation, strengthen your cardio-vascular system, stimulate circulation of lymph fluid (especially important for those suffering from lymphedema). Exercise doesn't mean you need to go out and sign up for an aerobics class. It also doesn't necessarily mean pump weights or do sit ups. You need to do exercise that helps your heart, to lose weight or just live longer. Here are some tips:

• Start slowly. Take 10 minute walks every day, work up to 30 minutes or more
• Swimming is great exercise for the entire body. It is very vigorous, so start slowly.
• Sports such as tennis, soccer, basketball, racket ball, badmitton, etc all include a lot of moving and running.
• Outdoor activities such as skiing, cross-country skiing, hiking, bicycling, and boating are also great.
• Gyms have a lot of great machines to help your cardio-vascular system: bikes, treadmills, cross trainers, cross country machines, stair steppers, etc. (Start slowly- 6-10 minutes to begin)
• Remember, the more excess weight you carry the harder your heart must work, so it is important that you start slow, work up to a goal, and monitor your heart rate and blood pressure as you do.

Don't be fooled by the machines that claim you have to do no work and you still lose weight. You must move your body to burn energy because your muscles are what burn that energy. If a machine moves for you then that's less work your body does. The electric machines that claim to stimulate your muscles are also a sham. It was shown, on TV in fact, that in order for these to be effective they would have to be quite strong and painful and 80-90% of those types of machines on the market weren't even close to being effective.

The Me I See is the Me I'll Be

This is something my grandmother has preached for years, and its probably true. It basically means the way you see yourself is eventually the way you'll be. You will grow into your own self image. If you look into the mirror and see a fat person, even though you're a size 3 and weight 100 lbs, you may eventually become that fat person. Look in the mirror and see yourself getting thinner. Try to see the potential you have. I look in there and see someone who WOULD be beautiful if she could only push herself to keep to a diet. I've been trying, so we'll see how I do.

Want to hear a familiar story? I recently looked through boxes of very nice clothing I used to be able to wear. I felt very fat wearing these clothes, thinking myself far over weight to have to wear them. Wanna know something? I'd pay a good sum of money to be able to wear those things again!

Motivation, motivation, motivation

There are dozens of reasons you can make to not exercise. You don't feel like it, you'll do it tomorrow, your toe hurts, etc. Truth be told, there aren't nearly that many reasons that are GOOD! I find if I allow myself to make an excuse, then it becomes easier to make then next excuse, and the next, and so on. DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES! You can almost always exercise unless you have a serious ailment or illness that dictates you shouldn't. The swimming pool is a great place to go if you have troubles with weight bearing limbs.

----STILL BUILDING!----

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