Tops Tips For Weight Loss From TAME YOUR INNER OCTOPUS! First Five Steps to Permanent Weight Loss...

These are great top tips for the first five steps to permanent weight loss while setting up a healthy eating pattern for life.

1)  Create the right "Mindset".  It is best not to think of this is as a "diet".  It is best to realize from the onset that you are setting up a healthy eating pattern for life.  This will be a lifestyle change.  This eating pattern will be your "go to" plan of eating on a daily basis 95% of the time.  This does not mean you will never eat another "brownie" in your life.  It simply means you know it would be hard to eat them everyday of your life and expect to reach and maintain your goal weight.  Realize, if you wish to lose weight, you will need to create a deficit of eating fewer calories each day.  Many experts suggest that the average woman requires approximately 1,800 calories a day.  If you are overweight, you are probably eating more than that each day in order to maintain your weight.  This is where the deficit of calories comes in.  Many experts suggest creating a deficit of 500 calories each day in order to lose one pound by the end of a week.  It takes approximately 3,500 fewer calories in order to lose one pound.

Sure, you can simply trim off 400-500 calories and set up a 1,400 calorie per day plan of eating.  That's a nice spot. You can do this by eating 400-500 calories less each day or by a mix of exercising off 200-250 and eating 200-250 less.  It's all up to you.  All that really matters is that your cutback or deficit equals 3,500 calories by the end of the week.  Remember, if you're eating way more than 1,800 calories like I was before I created a deficit to lose weight, you'll probably lose more weight initially.  It's widely known that there's no fast way to lose weight properly.  That's why 1,400 is a nice spot to start for the average woman, you can even go up slightly higher to 1,500 or 1,600.  It may take a little longer but it's all up to you.  It's good to note that experts do not recommend women go lower than eating 1,200 calories per day. One of the reasons is that your body could think that it's in some type of "starvation mode" and hold onto to fat for protection.  This is what happens at times when people hit a plateau.  Sometimes they are too low and don't know it because they don't know how many calories they are actually eating.  Eating way too few calories can work against your goals in weight loss.  That's why counting calories is an awesome way to know in your mind that you're doing all you can do in the correct manner in order to achieve your goals.  You don't have to do this for life but the information you get from learning what 1,800 calories looks like is invaluable for success in maintaining your weight for life.  You will no longer be searching for the latest or greatest diet; you'll know how to take off a large amount of weight or the last five pounds you've always wanted to lose.

2) Get rid of the junk food in your home or hide it away and out of your sight until you are strong enough to resist and after you've become comfortable with your new healthy way of eating.  This may take up to a month or two.

3) Compile a list of healthy foods you enjoy from the basic food pyramid, located at www.mypyramid.gov.  This site spells out what your body needs each day in order to form a healthy balanced diet.  This is a great place to pull from while creating your healthy grocery list.  It's awesome, you can see what your entire family requires based on their gender and age!  Go to the grocery store and purchase all of the healthy foods you enjoy eating on a weekly basis.  Realize this list will grow over time and it is perfectly fine to eat the same things over and over but always in the correct proportions in order to stay within the deficit you've created in order to lose weight while in weight loss mode.  You can find out how many calories are in the food you eat by purchasing a book or looking on the web at sites like caloriecount@about.com. Remember, to always write down what you eat throughout the day on a tablet or in a composition book.  This is a way of making yourself accountable for every article of food that you choose to put into your mouth!  This one habit in weight loss mode has been greatly proven to assist you in losing every last pound you've ever wished to lose.  Trust me!  I did this and it works!

4) Eat at the right times and in the right amounts.  If you know you have only a certain amount of calories you can eat each day in order to stay on course so that you will continue to lose weight until every last pound you've wish to lose is gone, make sure you eat at regular times throughout each and every day.  This is the key in preventing yourself from overeating by not allowing yourself to get to the stage of becoming famished.  Here's a sample guideline to follow.

Breakfast  Between 7:00 and 8:00 am
Mid morning snack  10:00 to 11:00 pm
Lunch 12:30 to 1:30 pm
Mid afternoon snack 3:00 to 4:00 pm
Dinner 6:00 to 6:30 pm

5) Exercise.  Week by week the weight will continue to drip off of you.  It only helps the situation if you can begin to walk or do some condition type exercises on a daily basis.  You don't have to join a gym; you can slip in a 20 minute yoga or Pilates DVD and/or begin walking by opening your front door each day.  It's all good and it all works towards reaching your goal.  Remember to stick with your healthy eating plan and look for new ways to introduce more healthy items into your daily eating pattern by adding them to your healthy grocery food list each week.

Do these top five things while in weight loss mode.  It's best to stay away from special "eating occasions" when you're in weight loss mode.  It's best to stay away from eating out often.  If you must, then choose widely.  Ask for your fish to be prepared with a small amount of oil.  Order two sides of healthy vegetables or salad.  Skip the rolls, desserts and appetizers.  It's all good if it all works in your favor and it will over time.

If there is a get-together that you feel you can't or don't wish to miss, make sure to bring your own healthy foods or eat before you and make small healthy choices once you get there.  This way you don't have to miss these special occasions; you can enjoy them without focusing on food items that work against achieving your desired healthy goal weight.

Later, we'll discuss how to incorporate "off track" eating into your healthy eating pattern.

Always remember it is widely recommend to consult with your Dr. before beginning a new diet or exercise program if you have any concerns.

Have a great day!

I Had Another Run-In With Key Lime Pie!

OK, I guess it's obvious, I happen to like Key Lime Pie!  This is the second post I've written on the subject.  I ate "off track" slightly Saturday.  It was a "special occasion" because a relative came into town and we took her out to eat.

It was lunch and I knew we would be eating "off track" Sunday due to it being Father's Day, so I didn't go overboard and I ordered a cup of soup and a half sandwich.  Trust me, there was nothing low cal about my meal but it was better than a burger with fries.  My husband ordered that; it's one of his safe favorites.

At the end of the meal, I asked, OK, I pleaded with everyone to have a dessert that we could all share at the table.  No one bit, so I did the next best thing and ordered it "to go" for myself.  Yes, it was the slice of Key Lime Pie again.  I took it home and I asked my husband to share it with me.  It always makes me feel better to split something when I know it's not in my best interest to eat it alone.  It's sort of like having a partner in crime and my husband is always up for a challenge of this type.

I discovered that this particular version of Key Lime Pie tasted more like a light cheesecake.  In fact I had to take a couple of bites before I found the little key lime distinctive taste.

My husband agreed.  I pondered a bit and realized that I need to be very selective about what "off track" type "high caloric" item I'm going to purchase.

I've decided, from now on, it's going to have to be worth it or it's simply not worth eating.  Who needs to eat an extra, not particularly healthy item for 400 calories or more and have it not be worth it?  Not I, said the pig...

I didn't finish off this slice of pie.  I passed it on to my husband.

I did learn a valuable lesson.  Make "Key Lime Pie" yourself or go to where you know you can get a great piece of Key Lime Pie that's worth eating "off track" for in life.  I have an awesome recipe by the way but it takes FOREVER to squeeze 20 of those little key lime suckers!

I also have an upcoming trip to "Key West" planned.  If my memory serves me correctly I think Key West is known as the home of the "Key Lime Pie".  I saw a special on TV about it. They even have a contest for the best Key Lime Pie where people compete from all over the place.

I'm going to the same restaurant I went to last year where I know they serve an awesome piece of Key Lime Pie.

As far as today.  I'm going to exercise and get right back to my 95% way of eating healthy on a daily basis.

But somewhere, in the deep recesses of my mind, I'll be dreaming of my next "off track", special occasion (vacation) type eating, where I will once again partake in the eating of a slice of Key Lime Pie!

Have a great day!

Top Tips From TAME YOUR INNER OCTOPUS! Eating Doesn't Have to be an Event; Keep It Simple Most Days.

One way to lose weight and keep it off permanently is to de-emphasize food on an everyday basis. Food is basically fuel for our body and we only need a certain amount of it each day. If we eat more than our body burns off it shows up as excess fat on our body. It's as simple as that in most cases.

It goes back to "Eating to Live" versus "Living to Eat". Yikes! That's a mouthful if you stop and think about it. I can still hear myself saying the following: "I'm starving! Let's go get something "good" to eat. Where do you want to go?" Let me tell you one thing, ultimately the place I chose was not a place where I ate a simple, healthy, and in the right proportioned meal.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying food. I love to eat but I realized over two years ago that my thoughts cannot be centered around what I am going to eat next throughout the course of a day. I have to always have my basic plan in place. Food used to control me; now I control what I eat. I now realize why I gained 40 pounds of excess weight in the first place. I now have the knowledge of how to keep the extra weight off and under control. I know food is important in my life but I acknowledge that I must always aim to keep it "simple" most everyday of the week. I call that my "on track" daily eating habits. I try to go straight through the weekend eating this way. Guess what, keeping it simple and eating many of the same foods each week but in a slightly different manner at times is perfectly fine because it works and if it works, keep doing it!

It's OK to stick to meal plans that work for both you and your family. It's OK not to bring foods into your home that are known to be high in sugar and fats. This way, no one will be tempted to eat them because they won't be hanging around staring at you in the face each day. It's great to continually be working on healthy "replacements" for the high fat and sugary items in your life.

There's nothing wrong with eating "off track" every now and then. My gosh, we have enough birthdays, holiday celebrations, or special occasions all throughout the year to eat "off track".

It's best not to treat each day as if it were a holiday or special occasion in our lives when it pertains to what we choose to eat. We can't continually be rewarding ourselves with foods we know prevent us from losing weight or maintaining our "ideal" weight.

It's best to keep it simple, eat in a healthful manner and aim to eat what our body is capable of burning off each day. Doesn't that make great sense for all of us?

Have a great day!

Top Weight Loss Tips From TAME YOUR INNER OCTOPUS! It's Best NOT to Eat Off Track on the Weekends!

Hey, let's be realistic here! We've all celebrated the feeling of eating well all during the week and thinking it's OK if we eat "off track" all throughout the weekend. If you stop and think about it, it doesn't make great sense to nullify what we do all week long and simply blow it over the weekend. We end up being right back where we started on Monday if we "choose" that type of mentality.


Why not take on the "mentality" that we're going to attempt to stick to a plan throughout the weekend just like we do during the week? We're all constantly bombarded with new opportunities to "eat" for various reasons. At some point, we need to re-focus our energy on making the best "choices" so that we can always be in a great position to achieve the goals we wish to reach in this area of our lives.

We want to be in control of the "choices" we make as they pertain to the foods we "choose" to put into our mouths. We don't want to live the life of the "grabby Octopus" that shovels food into its mouth at any point in time throughout the day or course of the week.

We can do it! We can learn to eat well and accomplish our goals throughout the entire week!

That includes the weekends too!

Have a great day! Have a great weekend!