Ten Things
that I Have Learned About Dieting
My definition of dieting: Deliberately consuming fewer calories than my body needs to maintain itself at the 250 pounds that it desperately wants me to be at so that my body fat is reduced to the level that it would be if I did not have virtually unlimited amounts of food available to eat without significant effort anytime I feel like eating -- like it would be in a more natural state when I would have to work hard for every calorie and experience regular shortages.
Here are ten things I have learned about my dieting:
1. If my goal is to reduce body fat then the only way to accomplish that is to force my body to use the fat as an energy source. There is no other way.
2. All diet pills are bullshit. At best they do no good and at worst they can damage my health. Just accept it. There are no short cuts or magic fat-burning pills.
3. Sugar is the enemy for two reasons:
a. First is that it makes me incredibly hungry for more a short time after I eat it and,
b. second, it will cause my body to quit burning fat for energy.
4. The worst thing about sugar is that I love it so much, I crave it, and I think I might be a sugar addict if such a thing is possible. I can keep the sweet-tooth under control with small doses of simple carbohydrates each day like ketchup on my meat, a fist full of raisens, an apple in the evening, or occasional 140 Cal snack bars.
5. Weight lifting and long walks (and probably other kinds of physical exercise) reduce my apetite while increasing my energy use at the same time. Starting an exersise routine usually leads to significant weight gain at first due to muscle swelling.
6. It is important for my success to have an exersise routine in place and working smoothly for at least a month before I begin any attempt at serious weight loss. If my muscles are already used to the exersise then the first couple of weeks usually result in an unusually high amount of weight lost (very good for motivation) -- mainly water weight and it will level out between one to three pounds per week after that if I can stay motivated.
7. During a weight loss diet I want most of my calories (more than half) to come from fat, animal fat in particular, because I want my body to start using fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. Most of the remaining calories should be from protein with very little from carbohydrates. In order to loose about 2 pounds per week I need to keep my daily Calories below 1500 (I must use labels because I consistently underestimate the calories in food).
a. My body will naturally use all available carbohydrates and start using protein for energy before breaking down any fat molecules.
b. If my blood gets high carbohydrates and runs out then I will get a powerful urge to eat more carbohydrates (especially sweets) that is difficult to resist.
c. Once my body starts using fats and proteins with a lack of carbohydrates then my apetite is reduced and so is my urge to eat sweets. The less sugar I eat the lower my desire for sugar.
8. Eating fat doesnŐt make people fat. Eating too much food, especially carbohydrates, makes people fat. Even more particularly, eating carbohydrates mixed with fat (chips, ice cream, doughnuts, cake, candy bars, etcÉ) makes people fat and is the most likely base cause of diabetes and high cholesterol problems that are not inherently genetic. The body uses the carbohydrates for energy, insuline levels spike and bottom out, fat is stored, and cholesterol floats around the blood stream unused.
9. Having a weight lifting routine in place causes my body to prioritize the maintenance of muscle over the maintenance of fat storage. So once my body is in fat-burning mode for lack of carbohydrates then it will continue using fat for energy from my fat storage cells instead of attacking my muscles for energy. This is the ultimate goal of my weight loss diet.
10. I must keep a diary and write down every single thing I eat along with the amount, the time, and the number of food calories. I have tried it without the record keeping and found it to be a waste of time leading to either no weight loss or even weight gain. The diet journal is very important.
One other interesting thing that I have read about and appears to have some truth based on my experience is that it is good to have an occasional high calorie day once in awhile. The idea is that when going on low calories for a couple of weeks the body will start adjusting to the lower input and slow it's use of energy. Exercise can become more difficult because the body wants to be sluggish. By eating a normal intake (about 2500 to 3000 for me) once every couple of weeks it will cause the body to reset back at it's normal metabolic rate and start burning more fat for energy. That is the hypothesis anyway. I need to do a little more experimenting on myself to be more certain.
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