Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Little Tidbits Of Weight Loss Advice

Hello weight losing fans...

Today I stepped up onto the Magical-Mystical-Digital-Scale weighing in at 179.8-pounds.
Hey, that's not bad.

I upped my calorie intake the last three days. I wrote that yesterday. I gave up on the 1,300 calories for now. I was just too hungry all the time.

I couldn't sleep. My stomach felt like cats were gnawing the insides and clawing me. It was too frustrating.

I wasn't making any progress. I wrote that yesterday as well. It's amazing how the body can kick itself into a mode of operation that brings down the total metabolism to a slow burn when there isn't enough food for it. I think this is what happened to me.

As I have written before in the past, I am playing this weight loss thing as I go. I don't have a hard-core set of rules that I am following.

My hard-core set of rules is just this: Eat Less Food. Again I have written that before.

I wish I could come up with a magical formula for losing weight. I wish I could come up with magical food recipes that would help you burn off those calories. Alas, I have none.

I can encourage these following ideas:
  • Stop relying on diet products. If you will notice products that are labeled diet, "Fat Free," etc., etc., are actually a little more expensive than other foods. If you can get them at a bargain price like I did some "Lean Cuisines" fine. Once in a while the "Healthy Choice" products go on sale around where I live. I will get them then.
  • Be careful relying on artificial sweeteners. I have been making a real serious attempt to wean myself off of artificial sweeteners. For myself I found that my muscles ached after drinking Diet Cokes, and Pepsi. Artificial Sweeteners can become as addicting as sugar. I found myself putting a packet in every cup of coffee that I consumed. Every glass of unsweetened tea I drank had to have a packet of artificial sweetener in it. I think this may be too much. Like everything else, moderation is the key here too.
  • Everyone that has any sense endorses consuming more water. Since we are made up of water, we need water. We need to be aware of drinking more water. Water flushes the system of toxins. Water hydrates the living body cells. Water helps cool the body in the heat, and warm up the body by convection in the cold.
    Someone may complain that drinking more water increases the use of the bathroom. Yes, it does. We are supposed to eliminate. If we don't eliminate, then we have a problem. Do you see your dog worried when it urinates every ten minutes? I hate our modern society that forces us to control everything we do, and makes us worry about normal behavior. If you are older, it gets harder to control yourself. I do tightening exercises for my "you know whats."
  • Do what you can with exercise: I told my aunt that I do shallow squats to music. I do stretches where I put my feet up onto the counters. I do twists and turns for my ailing back. My body suffered some deterioration here in the last seven or eight years. I am not sure if it's because of artificial sweeteners or other factors like deteriorating arthritis. If you are bed ridden, then do arm lifts. If you are chair ridden then exercise your arms. I know it's hard. Yes, it's hard to overcome old habits and momentum of a stale life. I know. But, you have to work on you. Don't depend on anyone else. You don't have to have weights and machines to get the body moving.
  • Get yourself a food journal. It doesn't have to be fancy. Just keep a record of everything you put inside your mouth and swallow. Yes, it's a pain in the Southern-back-side, but you need to become keenly aware of what you consume. I mean you, not someone else. I have a family member who's spouse thinks it's her job to comment on everything her husband eats. She herself isn't making an effort to change her body, but she thinks it's her job to be critical of her husband. Nope, it's not her job to monitor everything her husband consumes. It's not my job, or the government's job to watch what you eat.
  • Read about nutrition. Make it a habit to educate yourself about food. I personally love cooking. So, it's no skin off my nose to read about nutrition.
  • Consume foods that are beneficial. Greens, Greens, raw greens, cooked greens are good for you. Colored foods like carrots, artichokes, garlic, apples, and on the list goes, raw and cooked are good for you. Make an effort to change yours taste to eat them. It's for you, not for mommy anymore.
  • Be aware that sugar is as addicting as narcotics. Yes, we can become dependent on sugar. I know that I was. Whew, years ago, I would drink down at least one Two-Liter-Coca-Cola. I drank Coca-Cola morning noon, and night. It's no wonder my body turned into a balloon.
  • Make an effort to balance those meals. A hamburger, and a bun, is a starch, and a protein. Potatoes are a starch. Try to eat some salad, or greens with that hamburger.
  • Educate yourself about which foods are loaded up with those calories. You can eat a bucket full of green beans because they don't have a lot of calories. But, if you eat a bucket full of potatoes, you will definately see that someday. Do you get what I mean?

I could go on with my list there. If you are like me, you are an adult. It's time for us to put away our child like behavior. Yes, I wrote child like behavior. My parents taught me when I was little they weren't always going to be there for me. I didn't like the idea, but I had to get used to it. It's not mommy's, daddy's, your wife's, or your husband's job to baby sit you. If you have a brain in your head, and the wits about you to control yourself then it's your job to baby sit you.

We have to become aware of the proper behaviors that are beneficial, and detrimental. Eating food until we are full is detrimental. I have written about this in the past.

Real true freedom is when we have the ability to make decisions or choices that influence the direction of our future. You, so far in this country, have the ability to make choices. They are being thrown at us faster than we can process them. But, no one is holding a knife to your throat and telling you to eat.

The one choice you can make is to "EAT LESS FOOD." Eat one hamburger at lunch, and skip those French Fries. Ditch that chocolate shake. Drink water. Wean yourself off the sweets, and sugars. "EAT LESS FOOD."

When I went into the army, we were standing in front of the barracks. The Drill Sergeant got up in front of us and said, "I am your momma, your daddy, your sister, and your brother. You will do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it." Whew, that was tough to deal with.

Think about what you are doing to yourself letting yourself get bigger, and bigger.

Do you have to have someone control you? I hope not.

Bye for now...

And that's the way it is...I'm David Dane

2 comments:

Andrew is getting fit said...

I blame most of my obesity on Coke. I used to drink a 1.5litre every day of the week without fail.

A said...

That's a lot of Coke. My trouble is sugar and heavy cream in coffee.

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