My successful dieting program
I had at least a thousand "I'll start dieting tomorrows" before I finally did it after becoming determined that the extra weight HAD to come off, no ifs, ands or buts.
The following is the information that I've shared with people it in regards to how I've knocked off the lbs. I wrote this out a few months ago when I started offering to share it with others, hoping that if I showed them that you CAN lose weight without starving to death then perhaps someone will become motivated to "just do it." Here it is:
I do not believe in diet drugs, supplements, surgery, etc. While some people are successful with these, my personal research has shown that the people who lose weight and KEEP it OFF are those who are doing what I'm doing...eating better and moving the butt more. I used to be a severe couch potato until I decided to get the extra weight off by changing my eating habits and starting huffing-n-puffing in the gym.
My personal rule #1: Don't think of it as having to lose 30 lbs (or whatever it is you want to lose). At first I chose to think of it in 10 lb. increments....I had 10 sets of 10 lbs. to lose. When I hit the first 10 lbs. lost then I'd go for the second. It's psychologically much easier to adjust to that way. Now that I'm halfway there on goal #1 I have reached the level where I now say, "Come on other lbs...you're coming off buddies."
My rule #2 was that I chose to start on a Wednesday and do my weigh-ins on Wednesday. Here's my reasoning. Everyone starts diets on Mondays. If I were to start on a Monday and have a week where I hadn't lost anything, or worse even gained, then it would be harder to stay "up" for the week. If I wait until Friday and the news isn't good then because it's the weekend I may get tempted to overeat again. So, Wednesday is my day...that way when the scale rolls back I get an additional emotional high that carries me through the weekend. You pick the day that works best for you.
Initially I worked out five days a week at Gold’s Gym (four days were cardiovascular and weights, the other is just cardiovascular). Now I'm at the gym three days a week doing a full body workout. Trust me, walking into the gym the first time was the scariest thing I've done in YEARS. I thought everyone there would be those disgustingly skinny size 4 women and hunk-of-muscle guys. NOT TRUE. I've seen people of various sizes working out. I told myself at first that if ANYONE came and said anything to me about "WHY ARE YOU WORKING OUT, YOU FAT LADY, FORGET IT" then I'd basically have to knock their head off (not really!).
In reality, the staff there has been VERY supportive and encouraging. Other people I've seen working out at the same time of the day I'm there have been supportive, offering kind comments and praises, which now makes my head swell so much I have to hit the cold showers (well, not quite that bad). My stamina has increased so much. At first I would do 15 minutes of slow walking on the treadmill, five minutes on a butt-buster machine, a few light weights and be ready to just about pass out. Over the months I've increased to a fast walk on the treadmill and cardiovascular equipment for 45 minutes and then 45 minutes of weight workouts. I NEVER thought I'd be able to improve this much this fast.
You may prefer to choose another route of exercise, i.e. walking, swimming or aerobics at home. There are many exercise videos on the market. Richard Simmons has some great videos in which he has people of ALL SIZES working out in them (verses most of the other videos on the market that show only the skinny-binnies). . If you choose walking start out with a small distance (i.e. 1/2 mile) and each week add a little further to go. It doesn’t matter what form of exercise you use, just as long as you do more than you used to.
As far as eating goes, here's what I've been doing. I eat 1000-1300 calories, 15-20 grams of fat a day. Here's the best part...for the first 100 lbs loss I allowed myself one meal a week as my "free" meal which I can eat anything I want...guilt-free. I now have no more than two of these "free" meals. It is important that if you don't currently drink 8-10 glasses of water a day to do so. Since I sit in front of the computer 8-10 hours a day I keep an insulated cup that holds 2-1/2 glasses of water in it on my desk and drink at least two of those during the work hours. When I go to the gym I take a different container that holds two cups and drink that while working out. Usually in the evening I'll get at least another glass of water sipped down. I don't like to just stand there and drink a glass straight of it.
What I do is each day I write down every morsel that hits my lips and keep up the calorie/fat count going. Then if I want a snack in the evenings I look and see how much I've had during the day and figure the snack out according to the numbers. Federal law requires food manufacturers to put the calorie/fat content on packages, which makes life a LOT easier for dieters. Also there are many food calorie/fat gram books out on the market for less than $10 that give you the breakdown on everything. If you prefer, there is a free web site, http://www.dietwatch.com in which you can enter your daily food intake and they will do the computations for you. The negative part about the site, though, is that it doesn’t list foods by brands all of the time, and I have seen variations in calories/fat with that, but the overall “picture” it gives you is good.
I happen to be single with no kids. So, when I buy the canned veggies at the grocery store, after I open a can I break down the contents into three containers: Two small tupperware containers to either go into the fridge or freezer and then the pot I'm using to cook whatever it is in. Most of the regular size can of veggies have three servings in them. Most grocery stores sell the smaller cans that have two servings per can, but they aren't cost-effective and I'm a cheapskate! Also when I buy meats when I get home I split them into serving portions and freeze them in the freezer baggies. On the outside I label what the calorie/fat content is for whatever the meat is. You may want to have a calculator handy so when you are breaking up that package of chicken, or whatever, it will be easy to divide it out. I usually buy my meats/chicken, etc. in larger packages because it's cheaper that way.
I would recommend having a "cleaning out the cupboards/fridge" session and either throw away the fattening foods or give them away. A couple of my neighbors benefited from my cleaning the freezer as I gave them the bacon, fattening bologna, sausage, brownie mix, etc. NONE Of these items are allowed in my house now. If the temptation isn't here then I'm forced to eat "good for you" stuff when I get hungry.
Of course, if you have a family, the above may me a little harder to do. I recommend to those who have asked about doing all of the above with the families that you limit their snacking to ONE room of the house, and then stay out of it. Preferably pick a bedroom or if you have a basement or playroom, then use that. They can keep their snacks (chips, cookies, candy) in that room and only eat them in there. It will be TOO HARD for you to stay focused if people are in front of you daily muching away on things you shouldn't be muching on.
The hardest part for me was the first week because my brain was wanting food even though my stomach wasn't growling. If you have a "bad" day the biggest thing you have to do is to forgive yourself and promise yourself that the next day you will focus on eating better. Don't give up over a bad day every now and then. After all, you are changing your eating habits entirely.
You may find that with trying to stick to a 1300 calorie diet it may leave you too hungry. In that case, try maybe going for a 1500 or 1800 calorie diet with 20-30 grams of fat, and after you get used to that over a few weeks you can cut it back more.
If you want to view sample menus, return to the home page and select "sample menus" (see below for link).
Click here to return to my home page
