November 20th, 2008 — Meals, alternative ideas, healthy eating, nutrition, trigger food
Trying to map out a new health plan can be difficult, especially when you are used to overeating on a regular basis. Many of us don't even realize just how much we eat and how this can affect our bodies. The key to weight loss is the simple formula of calories in - calories burned. If you're taking in too many calories, you're just not going to lose weight the healthy way.
Learning how not to overeat can be a difficult process, especially if you have been used to it for many years. Your stomach is pretty much trained that it needs a set amount of food and when it doesn't get that amount, it sends out signals to your brain that you're hungry.
In order to stop overeating, you're going to need to employ a process with a few different techniques. It may take awhile to completely retrain yourself, but it is possible. Don't get discouraged and keeping moving forward, even if you end up falling off the wagon. It's only a disaster if you don't get back on.
Let's look at a few ways that you can start training yourself to avoid overeating. Personally, I went with 1-3 until I had figured out my diet and even now continue to rely on number 2.
1. Keep a log of absolutely everything you eat from the moment you get up to the moment you go to bed.
Don't forget to log what you drink as well. Sometimes, just seeing everything on paper is enough to make you realize how much you are eating. Talk with your doctor or nutritionist to see how many calories you really need, and then compare the two. Chances are, you're probably consuming more calories than you thought.
2. Start using smaller plates.
Even if it's only for your meal and not the rest of your family's, studies have shown that smaller plates really do help when it comes to weight loss. Eat only what is on that plate and avoid going back for seconds. You'll get that mental feeling of having cleared your plate, but it will be with much less food than you normally get. If you have difficulty with portion control, this technique can really make the difference.
3. Get a food scale.
It's tough to know how big a portion should be and having a food scale around really makes it easier. Chances are, what you thought was one serving is probably closer to two. It can seem a little frustrating and quite a bit crazy at first to weigh everything you eat, but after the first week or so it will become old hat.
4. Allow yourself your favorite foods, but cut back on their size.
In some cases, overeating is triggered by the feeling of being deprived. Instead of quitting all of your favorite foods cold turkey, allow yourself to eat them, but in much smaller quantities. If this is still a problem, try replacing these foods with similar versions that are lower in calories. There are new snacks that are packaged into 100 calories packs that are very similar to popular desserts and these can really help in this situation.
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October 9th, 2008 — Meals, Weight Loss Journal, alternative ideas, diet, drink, food, goals, healthy eating, nutrition, sodium, sugar
For many of us, trying to consume fewer calories can be very difficult. If you are someone that has a hard time feeling satisfied on little meals, or you just can’t seem to make any headway with your calorie count, there are a few ways that you can dramatically reduce how many calories you are eating without feeling the pinch. These tips are about some small switches that you can make to get some big weight loss results.
1. Remove temptation.
If you are someone that will go through an entire bag of chips without thinking, it’s difficult to look at that big bag and not keep reaching in. One of the easiest ways to control this is to make use of the smaller kid’s size bags. You’ll still be able to eat chips, but you will have that automatic portion control already figured out for you. The key is to keep as few of these bags around as possible, so that you don’t make up for what you’re missing by eating a bunch of small bags. Possible calories cut: 150 – 600.
2. Try tasty replacements.
If you just have to have those salty snacks and the little bags aren’t cutting it, it’s time to find a different way to get your salt fix without eating too many calories. One of the easiest switches to make is to try some air popped popcorn, lightly salted. You can have three popped cups of this for what nine potato chips would cost calorie wise. This is an easy way to feel more satisfied and you won’t have to worry about eating unhealthy oils. If you can’t do without butter, try a light 1 second spray of butter flavored spray oil. It’s a lot easier to replace chips with popcorn than it is with celery. Possible calories cut: 150 - 600
3. Get that dressing on the side.
If you are eating restaurant salads and wondering why you’re not losing weight, the dressing is usually too blame. Restaurants slather salads with high calorie dressings. Look for a non-cream based dressing, or better yet, go with a vinaigrette. Get your dressing on the side, and dip in the lettuce. You’ll be surprised at just how much is left over. Possible calories cut: 50 to 500 depending on the dressing.
4. Forego the cheese and mayo based toppings.
If you must eat out, get a plain hamburger instead of a cheeseburger. Use plain ketchup and mustard and forget about any special sauces. You’ll still be eating something you enjoy, but you’ll also be saving on calories. Possible calories cut: 50 to 250.
5. Replace soda with flavored sparkling water.
Sparkling water still has that zing of carbonation, without all the empty calories of soda. There are some great flavors out there and once you get past the caffeine issue, you’ll be on track towards losing a lot of weight. Possible calories cut: 100 to 600 (depending on the amount of soda you drink)
All told, these are five easy ways to carve anywhere from 500 to 2550 calories a day. Now that’s significant!
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September 23rd, 2008 — blood sugar, exercise, healthy eating, moderation
For most of us, eating normally means eating whatever we want. The key to eating the way we want to eat and not gaining weight is portion control and extra exercise. It is possible to lose weight while not depriving yourself of the food you love, but you will need to make that commitment towards getting healthy and finding the right balance. Let's go over portion control first.
It can be tough when you really enjoy food, because it's only natural to want more of it. So, how do you control yourself when your willpower is running a bit low? The best way to stop eating such large portions is to change the kind of plate you're using. It sounds so simple, but this is the best way to really trick your brain into eating right and getting over the problem of overeating.
Instead of a dinner plate, which has progressively gotten larger throughout the years, use one salad plate. These have gotten bigger too, so you won't feel too deprived. Allow yourself one plateful of food that you life using this plate. Feel free to add as many vegetables to that plate as you want - but the key is only eating what is on that plate. It may seem a little small, but chances are, when you're done eating that food, you're going to feel pretty full.
Your brain says, wow - I just ate a whole plate of food and you're getting to that point where portion control is a lot easier. You are going to need some willpower at first, and it is all to easy to run back and refill that little plate. However, you'll need to resist this urge. If you find it difficult to feel full, try several smaller meals throughout the day to keep your blood sugar levels up. This will help you feel a lot more full throughout the day.
Next, let's work on exercise. Every little bit counts when you are first starting out. You just need to get moving! Start really small so that you don't feel discouraged. We recommend walking for the first step towards getting into a healthy exercise plan. Your first time, just try walking for fifteen minutes. The next time - twenty, and so on until you find it a lot easier to walk for an hour or more.
Even just a little movement is better than non-activity and after about a week, you're going to start actually enjoying that walk and getting into the feeling that maybe exercise isn't so bad. If it's raining or there is bad weather, don't let this derail you. Walk around your house for the same exact amount of time. This way, you won't be tempted to simply give up.
Finding the right balance is essential for weight loss. You can do it but you have to take that first step. Give it a try for a week and see how much better you feel!
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August 16th, 2008 — about, motivation, weigh in
Pardon my french, but I am at a bit of a loss... I stuck to my diet more rigorously this last week than I had been since near the beginning of my journey. If anything my portions may have been a little large with the evening meal. I have started rehab on my ankle and it felt good to exercise more. My birthday was this last week and for my birthday dinner I only allowed myself 1 piece of low carb cheesecake (not dessert for dinner!). I didn't drink. I have been taking my blood pressure medication; although, that doesn't rule out water retention. I suppose there is a chance I wasn't eating enough and my body went into starvation mode, but I don't think so nor do I think that would account for a 2.2 pound gain. I probably ate too many calories with my larger than normal diet portions with the evening meal. My wife pointed out that I had a significant amount of salt the day before the weigh-in. In the end, I have to conclude that it was partially water retention and partially eating too much.
Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)... Clicking the image will open to a larger image.
So what is the plan?
I will be out of town during my next weigh in and so this plan will be in effect for two weeks prior to the next results.
I will swim a significant amount in the next week and the week after my rehab is allowed to begin in earnest. The doctor increased my dosage of phentermine to help with the portion control in the evening meal. I am going to redouble my efforts to watch my portion sizes. I will be weighing my food again using a food scale to remind myself of the correct portions for the diet. I will continue taking my blood pressure medication and I will try to avoid excessive salt.
My goal for the next two weeks is a total of 10 pounds.
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May 30th, 2008 — Meals, about, activities, diet, exercise, goals, gym, motivation, weigh in, weight loss
After 6 weeks on the medically assisted weightless program JumpStart medicine with Dr. Sean Bourke, I have lost 46 pounds in 45 days (just over a pound a day... Wow!) I highly recommed Jumpstart. I have a special offer for anyone in wanting to try Jumpstart in Redwood City or Mountain View: $25 off your first visit (just print it and bring it to your appointment). This week I lost 7.1 pounds and I am ecstatic to have achieved 109.2% of my goal. I have been feeling great, but the larger dose of Phentermine caused me to get light headed nearly to the point of passing out several time this week. (In addition to Phentermine, I have a weekly Methionine, Inositol, and Choline (MIC) Injection and daily I take Chromium, a multivitamin, B6 and B12 supplements.) I have decided I wanted to reduce the dose of Phentermine back to 30 mg (from 37mg). I had much less trouble with portion control on the higher dose, but the risk of passing out and falling is not worth it... I am 6'10" and that is a long way to fall.
Having over-achieved my goal of 6.5 pounds (the previous goal was set to 6.5 to make up for missing a 5 pound weekly goal several weeks ago.) I am setting a more modest goal this week of 5.4 pounds. Why 5.4? :) My weight at this weight was 344.4, so if I succeed I will weigh an even 339. Here's to a great week in the past and a great week upcoming.
Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)... Clicking the image will open to a larger image.
I didn't get a chance to work out as much as I would have liked because of work consideration... I didn't swim, play volleyball, or golf this week. I did play basketball twice and go on several walks... I am going to try and get to the gym for volleyball or basketball 5 times this week, I plan on playing (walking carrying my golf bag) at least 1 round of golf, and I would like to swim more than a few laps.
I plan to continue trying to eat less fat free cheese and more lean protein. I have been getting my dairy with a double tall non-fat no-foam latte from Starbucks.
I have not tried to stop my intake of caffeine, but my consumption of caffeine is drastically curtailed from where it was. (I need that morning java and coffee with skim milk just isn't the same.)
Good luck to all that are working on losing the weight...
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May 24th, 2008 — about, exercise, healthy eating, motivation, weigh in
After 5 weeks on the medically assisted weightless program I have lost 39 pounds... This week I lost 5 pounds which is incredible (the results of this diet and program are remarkable and fast.) 5 pounds was 77% of my weekly goal of 6.5 pounds per week. This week even though I lost 5 pounds I had trouble with portion control at the evening meal... This is been slowly building over the 5 weeks, but this week I asked my doctor if we could increase the Phentermine dose. So for this week I am on 37.5 mg (instead of 30 mg) of Phentermine.
I attribute missing the goal for the same reason as missing last week's goal... a later than normal and larger than normal (for a 1200 calorie diet) dinner last night and missing my regular movement this morning. I except that there are normal fluctuations in the weekly number as even on a daily basis I can fluctuate 5 pounds from morning through evening with the ups and downs of water loss and water consumption with the Ketosis and exercise.
Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)... Clicking the image will open to a larger image.
So if I am to believe my claim that 1.5 pounds is within a normal fluctuation and that I am still maintaining a 5 pound a week average weight loss (from missing my goal last weigh in.) Then I need to set my weekly goal for 5 pounds plus the pound and a half that the scale failed to recognize lost in previous weeks. So my goal for next week is to end the week at 345 or to have lost 6.5 pounds for the week.
I played 2 hours of basketball twice and 2 hours of volleyball twice and went of several walks and played 9 holes of golf at Harding Park Golf Club. I did not get a chance to swim... My plan is about the same for this week, only with more swimming.
I was able to drastically reduce my fat free cheese intake and plan to continue with more lean meats instead... I feel more satiated and frankly they taste better too. I ran out of sugar free Metamucil (non water soluble) and switched to benefiber (water soluble). If Metamucil is an orange cream shake, benefiber is like dirty water (in plain water) and noticeable but ignorable in crystal light. I plan on switching back as soon as my current container is used.
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May 2nd, 2008 — Meals, exercise, goals, healthy eating, medicine, motivation, tools, weigh in
After an incredible 22lbs in the first 10 days, my progress this week seems pedestrian. My weigh in was not with with Dr Sean Bourke as he was on vacation... Instead I meet another of the doctors of Jumpstart Medicine Dr Sooji Rugh. I highly recommed Jumpstart. I have a special offer for anyone in wanting to try Jumpstart in Redwood City or Mountain View: $25 off your first visit (just print it and bring it to your appointment).
Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)... Clicking the image will open to a larger image.
While my progress slowed it was still 3 lbs in a week... I expect that my weightloss slowed down because after the 1st week I was a little less careful about portion control and a little less diligent about getting exercise. I also cheated on one day.
I only achieved 30% of the weeks weight loss goal (mine not the doctors) and so I will set the goal again this week at 10 pounds. My take away is that if I want to achieve the weight loss as quickly as safely possible I need to stick to the diet and exercise more. This week I will attempt to exercise every day and not cheat on the diet at all.
At the weigh in the doctor talked about reading the labels on food. Not counting fiber carbohydrates and looking for lean protein. She also talked about how adding fiber to food (yogurt for example) while not reducing the countable carbohydrate count, will actually reduce the glycemic index of the food.
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