Weight Loss and a Shocking Occurance

After 43 years -- much of which has been spent trying to lose weight -- I again realize that I have to moderate what I eat. If I want to lose weight, I am going to have to make some concessions. You would think I would have had that in my head a lot earlier than now...this is coupled with the fact that my metabolism is slowly decreasing. It is really all working against me!!

So, with this in mind, I need to make some life changes so that I get and keep my weight under control:
- I will not eat chocolate and sweets every day; I will eat these once a week and eventually slow down my sugar intake more
- I will keep my carbs reduced overall and especially at night (I eat about 3 times the recommended quantity)
- I will follow the 90/10 rule -- eating a good quality diet 90% of the time and splurge 10% of the time (currently I do this backwards -- no wonder I have a weight problem)

Making these simple changes will do a lot toward making me get control of my eating and be at a healthy weight. If I can make a few changes, this will do a lot to help me lose weight for good.

Weight Loss -- A Different Approach

My friend (who is my weight loss partner) has suggested for months that I adopt some of Larry North's (fitness guru) suggested weight loss habits. I have started reading one of his books and many of the things he says make perfect sense. Let me see if I can highlight some of the Larry North weight loss suggestions:

- eat every 3-4 hours
- eat lean protein, starchy carbs and fibrous vegetables at most meals
- eat very little fat (including nuts and other good quality fats)
- eat little or no sugar
- avoid getting yourself so hungry that you make bad decisions or eat a lot of food

What he says is very interesting and avoids that starvation and deprivation feeling. You are eating so much good food constantly that you never put yourself in a position to make bad choices. He also talks a lot about when your muscle gets all of the food it needs, the only other place for the excess calories to go is your fat cells -- even if it is good quality food. This has really made me think about what happens when I overindulge.

The other important point that I found about controlling your weight is that if you are constantly satisified, you will find that you are not craving sugar (which gets us into trouble)!

Another note: when I put all the food I eat from the Larry North plan into my points for Weight Watchers, it is fewer points than I need in a day yet I am eating constantly.

Chocolate and Weight Loss

I am getting out of control! I am at my holiday weight where I jump up 5 pounds automatically. Clearly, this is not a way to weight loss.

Chocolate has been the recent problem impacting my weight loss efforts (technically, my weight gain efforts). I know this is crazy. Maybe I need to simply not have chocolate in the house as I just eat it all.

Yesterday I went to Costco and they were sampling this delicious fudge. They were only carrying it through the weekend. It was fabulous. I bought a box for me and one for a gift. Do you know that I ate a whole one pound box yesterday??? I don't even feel bad. It was fresh and delicious. That's bad!!!!

So, that is how I have discovered after years of weight loss trouble that I simply can't have chocolate in the house if I want to lose weight. My friend has this same problem with wine. If she has it with dinner, she doesn't drink too much wine but instead finds that it causes her to not have control over what she eats. As a result, she eats too many calories.

What one thing could you cut out that causes you to over eat? Is there one thing that causes you to lose control and get away from your weight loss efforts? How willing would you be to step away from it for one month?

This weight loss thing is hard!!!!

I actually am at my holiday weight -- this is the first time in a long time that has happened as early as summer. It is scary!

Why is weight loss so hard for some of us and so easy for others. I read a startling statistic today from Weight Watchers CEO David Kirchhoff. Bread for the World reported that there were 862 million people going hungry in the world. This is startling to me -- particularly because we are a fat nation and I am constantly trying to lose weight because I eat too much. Naturally, I was horrified to find that the World Health Organization did, in fact, report that 1.6 billion people worldwide were overweight.

These facts from 2007 should kick our weight loss efforts into gear. The sheer numbers and inequity of it all is just horrifying. While I am trying to think of how I can get that next sugar fix, there are others right here in the U.S. (not to mention around the world) that don't even have enough to eat.

Let's make a difference and stop eating so much -- not just because we need to do so to be healthy (goodness knows if that were it we would have lost the excess weight years ago), but let's lose weight so that we can put that extra food money into the hands of people that need it simply to survive the day. Let's help other countries who are not nearly as wealthy and lucky as we are in the U.S.

Weight Loss and Juicing - the bad side...

I have been periodically juicing for a couple months now. When I do it and stick with it (sticking with it is not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be), I lose weight and feel great. However, I have got myself in this bad habit when I am juicing for weight loss.

I decide to juice for 1-3 days straight. I will get to about 2 p.m. on the first day and determine that I can juice tomorrow, I'll go ahead and eat today. When I am making this decision, I am thinking "a sandwich might be nice now" rather than "I have to eat or I will not survive." So I eat and eat and eat as I believe I have had a good morning. I lose control so I decide I have consumed so much food that I have to juice tomorrow.

The next day comes and the exact same cycle happens again. I end up actually eating more calories than I would have ordinarily and I justify it by saying I will gain control of my weight loss the next day.

Thankfully, I caught myself in this cycle but not before I gained 5-7 pounds. That was a costly weight loss experiment. There is no quick fix that does not have some downside...you just have to eat carefully and realize it is just going to be a little work.

Weight Loss and Juice Detoxification

I have been reading a couple of books and visiting a couple of web sites at the urging of my acupuncturist. I am learning all kinds of information on the power of juice fasting and how it can help those of us who are trying to lose weight.

Many believe they can benefit from juicing by:

-- cleaning out the built up toxins in the blood
-- restoring proper function to various organs throughout the body
-- gaining energy and mental clarity
-- cleaning out the bowel thoroughly
-- improving the quality of nutrients going in to the body

All of this will assist you in losing weight by dramatically cleaning out the junk that has been in a holding pattern in your bowels for some time. It will also help you function better mentally as well as internally.

From what I understand, it is best to drink primarily vegetable juice and minimize the sugary fruit juice content. I just did this for a few days and I was shocked at how much it helped me think clearly, feel energized and lose weight. I mixed all juice with equal amounts of water and made sure to take something like Smooth Move -- a tea that facilitates bowel elimination everyday (the key to success and weight loss).

What I experienced was well worth not eating solid food for a few days. I plan to do this one day a week for quite some time to continue to improve my weight loss as well as my energy level.

Trials and Tribulations of Losing Weight!

Did I mention that losing weight seems to be so difficult??? On one hand, if I just put a little effort into it and live by a few rules consistently, the weight flies off. On the other hand, if I live with reckless abandon (like I always do), I struggle with every pound and sometimes gain weight!!

I am just at a loss (or I wish I was)! We are firmly into 80 degree days and I should be uncovering rather than covering up to hide flab. The other thing I have noticed is that I don't seem to care that a little flab shows. What's up with that? It is as if I have too much going on, in part, to care what someone else sees. This is so dangerous.

The other observation I have made is that I realize now that losing weight is a life long path for me regardless of what I weigh. When I was about 30 pounds lighter, I thought I had beat the weight loss game. But what I didn't realize is that you have to make it your plan for life. It will always be on your mind. It makes sense, why would I think things would change instantly after 35 years????