Posts
Of course most of us are not surprised by this statistic and it's great to realize that January presents a wonderful opportunity to take the time to set up a healthy eating and fitness pattern once and for all! It's hard for me to believe that it was two years ago at this very same time in January at the age of 53 that I began my personal weight loss journey. Trust me, I had no idea in the world that I could turn this thing around by losing weight and getting fit at this stage of my life. I thought is was pretty much impossible.Truthfully, looking back at my mid to late 30's and early 40's when I began to put the weight on, I didn't believe it was possible back then to find a way to take the weight off permanently. My eating was based on my emotions and many outside influences, like most of the 68% of our nation that is either overweight or obese. It took me this long to put together the tools I needed to be able to see the entire picture and take the weight off once and for all! I also realize that some people never do figure it out. We wrote the book, "It's Never Too Early or Too Late to Lose Weight, TAME YOUR INNER OCTOPUS! In 30 Days or Less!" for people like us, who wish to make these type lifestyle changes. We felt the need to share with everyone both young and old the simple fact that it is never too early or too late to lose weight and set up a healthy eating and fitness pattern for life!
Now we all know that it is not impossible and I'm solid proof. No, I'm not perfect but just this past Sunday, while celebrating my birthday, I realized at 55 years young I am in the same area of weight and fitness levels as I was when I was in my 20's! Even after close to two years, I still feel like I have to pinch myself every now and then to see if this is all real and not a dream!
I can assure you I enjoy great foods and there was no way in the world I was going to give up eating great foods just to be thin. It was not going to happen, so I did the next best thing. I got smart through research. I read everything I could get my hands on and I sat back and used my common sense. I discovered a way to lose the weight by setting up a healthy eating pattern in order to lose the weight I had put on over the course of two decades. After I had lost the weight I added on a few hundred calories in order to maintain my goal weight once reached. I stay on this healthy pattern of eating great foods 95% of the time. It's called "eating on track". That's what the co-author of "Tame Your Inner Octopus" and I named our healthy pattern of eating. We refer to "off track" eating anytime there is a special event or occasion where we make the "choice" to eat off track. That's how we learned to incorporate foods we don't normally eat into our overall pattern of eating. We don't forbid ourselves from eating these items; we simply realize we can't eat them on a daily or weekly basis and expect to maintain our weight for a lifetime. You can learn to do it too!
It's really not that complicated but there are some critical elements that have to be addressed in order to make these type changes in life. Here are "My Top 12 Tips" . I will discuss these tips in upcoming posts in depth. Remember to always talk to your Dr. before starting any new diet or exercising program.
1) We must possess the proper "Mindset". This is not a diet; we are setting up a healthy pattern of eating for life. We must realize that we will temporarily feel a few growing pains as we work against our former pattern of eating in order to set up a new healthy pattern of eating. This will only take a few weeks before it begins to feel like second nature.
2) We need to know and keep in mind always that the average woman's body requires approximately 1,800 calories on a daily basis.
3) We need to remove unhealthy items from our home or place them out of sight so that they won't be within sight while we are setting up our overall healthy eating pattern. It would be best to simply not have them in your home.
4) We need to make a list and concentrate on purchasing healthy items on a weekly basis. We need to always have these items available in order to pull from during the week. We need to work on preparing these items ahead of time or as needed.
5) We need to decide what type of deficit of calories we wish to create. It takes 3,500 calories to lose one pound. If the average woman requires approximately 1,800 calories each day, you can drop back to the 1,400 or 1,600 area in order to create a deficit.
6) Experts suggest losing no more than 1-2 pounds per week. This is a "slow and steady" process that works and that's all that matters in the long run.
7) Study the guidelines at http://www.mypyramid.gov/ in order to set up a healthy balanced eating pattern. All the information is set up for you to study and there are tools to help you create your own pattern while in weight loss mode and maintenance.
8) Make every attempt to eat breakfast, a mid morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack and dinner at approximately the same time each day.
9) Weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you eat without clothes.
10) When you have the eating pattern in place, however long it takes you, slowly begin to exercise, unless you're exercising already, by walking, popping in a great exercise DVD or going to the gym. It does not matter just move and get going. This works hand in hand with the healthy eating pattern and keeps you motivated and feeling awesome and productive.
11) We need to document and look up the caloric content of everything we eat. You can go to the web at caloriecount@about.com, buy a book or purchase a calorie counting calculator at http://www.amazon.com/. Write down your intake throughout the course of the day and add it up at the end of each day. This way you become aware and totally accountable for the choices you make in weight loss mode and thereafter in maintenance. You also learn to structure your intake out over the course of a day.
12) After you've lost the weight and learned to maintain your weight, you will no longer need to rely on writing your intake down. You'll have the tools and knowledge in your mind in order to maintain your goal weight.
Once you make these changes, you can relax knowing you're going to lose every last pound you've ever dreamed of losing and you're going to know how to keep the weight off and stay fit permanently!
Take it from me; this works!
I will discuss each area in depth in the upcoming weeks.
