A Weight Loss Journey

Many women who are approaching menopause find themselves experiencing unexplained weight gain, especially around the waists and hips, regardless of their best attempts to lose weight. Often the methods of weight control that worked for them before, suddenly stop working. In fact, abdominal weight gain is one of the most often heard complaints of perimenopausal women. Yet most women have been told, and believe, that those extra ten or twenty pounds are simply the way it is at this time of life and they should just accept their “middle-age spread.”

But you absolutely do not have to!  You don’t have to resign yourself to weight gain at this stage of your life, but you must realize that your body is changing.  For example, hormonal fluctuations, many years of exposure to toxins, and your body’s natural tendency for retaining fat cells which produce estrogen at this time can result in some extra weight. But it doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it.

Check back tomorrow for more . . .

A while back I discovered the most wonderful site at

www.tut.com

that sends daily inspirational messages such as the following:

Thinking brand new thoughts that you’ve never thought before, Cindi, is wildly more conducive to creating big life changes than just thinking different varieties of the same old thoughts.

Think about it -
The Universe

Whenever I get one that hits home with me, I’ll share it with you here.

Top Three Tips

You know that!  If you want to lose weight, permanently, then you must exercise.  It’s probably the most important predictor of whether you will succeed at long term weight loss and weight loss maintenance.

In order for exercise to be helpful in weight loss, set your behavior goal at five 30-minute sessions per week (150 minutes total).  Can’t find the time for that?  Then break the 30-minute session down into three 10-minute sessions, five days per week (150 minutes total).  That’s just as effective for weight loss. Be certain to find something you enjoy so you will build consistency as well.

Try these aerobic activities . . . walking, biking, swimming, dancing.

2.   Do Strength Training Too

Strength training increases the amount of muscle tissue you have.  If you increase the amount of muscle tissue you have, you will increase the number of calories you burn every day by a corresponding amount.  If you increase the number of calories you burn, and don’t increase your intake, you will lose weight. 

Strength training is listed separately from the “exercise” category because of the significant weight loss benefits attached to weight training all by itself. Remember, world class weight lifters must eat thousands of calories a day to maintain their weight.

Muscle is active tissue, fat is not. For this reason, muscle “burns” a significant number of calories each day for its own maintenance.

While aerobic activity can help burn calories, more muscles give your metabolism a significant daily boost even at rest.

3.   Keep a food diary.

Figure out which foods you eat that hinder weight loss. Keeping a food diary can be a huge asset in successful weight loss. Devote some time each day to record what you have eaten and how much.  Also note what your hunger level was before eating, and notice if you were feeling significant emotions at the same time.

A food diary can provide self-awareness. It can identify emotions and behaviors that trigger overeating, foster greater awareness of portion sizes, and help you discover your personal food triggers. Study any patterns that emerge from your food diary and identify where you may be able to make more healthful changes, or at the very least, head destructive behaviors off at the pass.

A food diary provides an added benefit of keeping you focused on and committed to your goals.

Even something as simple as the table below will get you started.

Tomorrow morning, my husband and I will be embarking on a road trip from our home in Evans, Colorado through Lincoln, Nebraska, on to Fort Riley, Kansas, and then back home. All of this will occur in the space of four days. That means lots of time sitting in the car . . . not exercising, and probably thinking about stopping at the first convenience food store we find to fill up on cold drinks and treats.

Many times before, when I have been on something of a roll diet-wise, a break in my routine, such as a business trip, or a holiday, or some other special occasion, derails my consistency train. I revert back to those old behaviors that have caused so much damage to my level of health and fitness in the past. This time, I am determined to avoid that outcome. I will make plans, follow through with them, and report my (hopefully) success back to you.

Here’s a short video that describes why low-carb diets may work. Low-carb is my strategy for this trip. Wish me luck!

Ideas
Ideas for Breakfast
Easy Ideas for Breakfast
Super-easy Ideas for Breakfast
Super-easy, No-excuse, Ideas for Breakfast
Super-easy, No-excuse, Low-carb Ideas for Breakfast
Five Super-easy, No-excuse, Low-carb Ideas for Breakfast

mmmmmm!

For those of us who have accepted the notion that we may be dealing with metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance, we must also accept the notion that we will feel better and be healthier if we limit or eliminate starches and processed carbohydrates from our diets.

Here are some ideas for quick-n-dirty breakfast that you can use to start your anti-insulin-resistance day:

1. protein drink with half a cantaloupe

Mix dry protein powder and water (enough to make a quart of liquid), store in the fridge. Pour yourself a glass over ice, cut a cantaloupe in half, scoop out the seeds, dig in with your spoon.

2. strawberry smoothie

blend frozen strawberries, low-carb milk, protein powder

3. pile-o-sausage

cook several pounds of bulk breakfast sausage, cool, store 1/2 c. servings in snack bags, and freeze. Microwave a serving whenever you want.

4. ham-n-cheese melt

mix diced ham with diced cheese, load into a low-carb pita, microwave until just melted

5. blueberries with yogurt

Place a serving of blueberries in a cereal bowl, top with a serving of no-sugar-added yogurt.

Please keep current by subscribing — either RSS or by email.

A few days ago, my husband and I arrived in Atlantic City from our home in Colorado, anxiously awaiting and finally arriving for a few days of well-deserved vacation.  It was too cold and windy outside to walk around much, so we decided to stay in the hotel room and postpone our sightseeing until the next day which was forecast to be sunny and warmer.

We were lounging on the bed, flipping through the channels on the TV.  I had a belly full of spaghetti.  I controlled the remote.  Life was good.  A few clicks into my channel surfing, I landed on a station that was broadcasting the story of a bed-bound woman who looked as though she weighed in the neighborhood of 700-900 pounds.  Painful neighborhood.

I was hooked.  I could not look away.  I could not change the channel.  I felt like a passenger in a car who unexpectedly drives up on a terrible accident; someone who can’t bear to look at the carnage, and who also can’t tear their curious stare away from it.

“You are obsessed with fat!”  My husband observed. 

True enough.

Starting in my early childhood, continuing all through school, throughout my entire adulthood, until this very moment . . . I am obsessed with fat.  Yours, mine, ours.  Always feeling ashamed of my body.  Always fearing food and it’s magical power over the thinking part of me.  Always burdened with the responsibility of needing to lose weight.  Soon.  This afternoon, if possible.

Until today.  Now, I declare myself changed.  I will do differently.  I will be different.

Please keep current by subscribing — either RSS or by email.

Today is the beginning.

This blog is the tool.  I will use it to figure out, once and for all, what it takes to lose weight and keep it off.  The tool is here for you too.  Learn with me.  Lose weight with me.  We’ll both be the better for it.