If you’re like me, when you get overly hungry all you want to do is put something in your mouth as fast as you can. Then you can hardly stop eating because it takes awhile for your brain to catch up with your belly to know there’s actually food in there.
When you wait too long to eat, your blood sugar drops and the brain sends hunger signals to your body. These hunger signals get stronger until you’re ravenous. When you do start eating, the digestion of food and release of sugar into the blood stream takes a little time. So it makes overeating very likely.
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I just got a Polar heart rate monitor and used it for the first time today. My model shows current heart rate and calories. It tracks how many minutes my exercise session is. It also provides a summary of my highest, lowest and average heart rate, as well as how many minutes during my session I stayed within my target heart rate zone.
Now, I have to admit that my husband set it up for me. I couldn’t figure out the manual, and the buttons, and all the settings. Thankfully he’s a whiz at it. When I got to the gym, I hoped I could remember the right buttons to push to get it started. I did!
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Just about everywhere I go, I pack food and water for me and my family. It doesn’t have to be a long road trip. It could be grocery shopping, going to the mall, or going to the park. I know by the time we get back to the car, everybody will be hungry and thirsty.
I have no desire to stop at a convenience store for provisions. First of all, the healthy food selection is minimal at best. Sugary drinks and snacky junk foods are the main fare. Then you’ve got overinflated prices. I mean, really, who wants to pay $2.00 for a little bottle of water?
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I came home from my run today hungry and tired. It was lunchtime and my kids were sitting at the table with Grandma eating chocolate ice cream for dessert (that she’d brought special just for them). The house also smelled like pizza and the empty pan with crust crumbs was sitting on top of the stove.
Now, I knew I needed to get out of there. So, I drank my electrolytes then hit the shower. My lunch was in the oven baking and would be ready by the time I was finished.
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Recently, a past client came back to start training with me again. She gained quite a bit of weight back in the months since I’ve seen her and she feels very badly about it.
When we first started talking, it seemed like she was fighting the accusations failure often bring: It’s all over for you. You messed up. You totally blew it. You’ll never be able to do it again.
I put my hands on my hips and said, “Who’s to say we have only one chance to lose weight?”
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The goal of every workout is to challenge our bodies so they can become stronger. Of course, also very high on the priority list is calorie burn. We’re all trying to lose or maintain our weight, so burning as many calories as we can during our workouts is supreme.
Usually, cardio workouts (swimming, cycling, jogging) burn more calories than weight training. But weight training absolutely cannot be skipped because of its great effect on lean muscle growth and metabolic rate.
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“Disappointments are inevitable; misery is optional.” – Joel Osteen
One of my clients turned in her weekly food logs for feedback. When she handed them to me she said, “I had a couple of times that I didn’t do too well, but I got right back on it.”
Now that’s an attitude I like to hear.
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It’s a lot of fun to work with new clients who are super motivated to lose weight. For one, when you’re training them, they push themselves to work as hard as they can. The sweat is flying. They’re puffing and red-faced. And even though the workout is tough, they want more.
Give them a couple months and see which ones are still working out as hard. Chances are, you’ll find at least half of them have fallen off the wagon.
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I have found sugar to be a nasty little addictive substance. Have you noticed too that once you get a taste of it, you want more?
I had a perfectly healthy bowl of fresh strawberries and decided to add a plop of Cool Whip Free on top. It tasted mighty delicious. But then I noticed, after I licked my spoon clean, that my taste buds were clamoring for more – more sugar, more sweet something! Fortunately I needed to take a shower so I locked myself in the bathroom before I started raiding the house.
What works best for me is to avoid sugar altogether. If I start on sugar, it’s a roller coaster ride that’s hard to get off of. When I don’t eat sugar, I don’t have cravings. I feel great with lots of energy.
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Having an ice cream craving? Want something sweet and cold, but don’t want to blow your diet?
Here’s a thick, creamy, deliciously berry smoothie that’s sure to turn on your taste buds. Even my son gave it a thumbs up.
3/4 cup frozen strawberries
1 Dannon Light & Fit blueberry yogurt
1/2 cup nonfat milk
1-2 ice cubes
1 packet Splenda
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Some surprising studies show that people who drink diet sodas don’t lose weight. They actually gain weight. There is a higher risk of being overweight with every diet soda a person drinks than with regular soda.
Is it an ingredient in the soda? Or is it psychological?
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I’ve seen many people join a weight loss program or buy a weight loss book expecting it to magically make them lose weight. They think that somehow by signing up to a new program or buying the next greatest book, it will be all they need to lose weight. Then when it doesn’t happen, the program “doesn’t work” or the book “wasn’t any good.”
Let me tell you, if someone really wants to work on their weight, they can take the simplest plan and find success.
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“I ate too much this week,” my client moaned over her dismal results on the scale. “I guess I just need to have more control.”
“No you don’t,” I told her. “You never will.” She looked at me liked I’d grown two heads. We were walking together on the indoor track while she did walking lunges. “You’re not going to magically, somehow have more control. What you have to do is control your environment. Get rid of the stuff that tempts you.”
She didn’t want to accept this at first. “But my husband wants to eat certain things,” she said. “It’s not his fault. I have to take responsibility. I’m the one with the problem.”
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Usually on Sundays after church, I like to make a really nice meal for my family. It’s a time when we can sit down together without being rushed and enjoy family time.
Of course, everybody wants dessert. But I don’t want to load them (or me) up with lots of calories and fat. Here’s one of our favorite lower calorie desserts that’s super easy to make.
Banana Cream Pie
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Have you ever watched a TV commercial for pizza? The cheese bubbles, the crust glows golden, and you can nearly smell the aroma. Suddenly your mouth is watering and you’re craving pizza like crazy! Maybe you even call up the local ristorante for a delivery.
If you react like this to a food commercial, you might have EFS.
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I was taking a client through muscle endurance exercises. That’s where you use lighter weights, but more repetitions until the muscle fatigues (completely tires out). This creates a lot of muscle burn by the end of the set. It is hard and it hurts.
She said, “Oh, this is too much. It hurts. I can’t do it.”
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If you’re going to be successful in weight loss, you need to journal your food. Yeah, it can be a bother to always be jotting down calories in your little notebook. But let me tell you, the results on the scale are worth the effort.
Let’s compare your calories to money. Say you have a budget of 1500 calories to spend. You want to get as close as you can to that amount without going over. If you were at the grocery store with only cash in your pocket (no credit or debit cards), you would be adding up the items in your cart as you went along. You wouldn’t want to get to check-out and be over your cash on hand.
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For weight loss, you not only have to choose healthy, nutritious foods. You must also eat the right portions and then STOP eating.
If you’re used to always overeating and feeling really full, it can feel uncomfortable to eat only until you’re no longer hungry. You have to train your body/mind to eat smaller amounts, and to actually allow your stomach to feel empty and hungry before your next meal.
Place your food portions attractively on a plate. Sit down and eat slowly, enjoying the food’s taste and texture. Then use these tips to signal your body (and mouth) eating for that meal/snack is over. [More]
I saw a news interview where two beautiful young women (amply displaying their cleavage) talked about their book. One theme they hit on was having confidence. They claimed that women need to have confidence no matter what their size. I was thinking, “Yeah, anybody with your body would feel that way.”
They said that the trait men are most attracted to in a woman is confidence. I would have yelled at the TV, but I was running on the treadmill at the gym. So I refrained.
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Are you too rushed in the morning to stop and eat breakfast? Would you take the time to eat breakfast if it set you up for better weight loss?
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Snacking healthy on the go takes a little planning and preparation, but it can be done. Taking the time to prepare certainly beats getting stuck at work or on the road with nothing healthy to eat. You know how hard it is to find low calorie, nutritious foods in vending machines or convenience stores.
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You don’t have to give up all your favorite foods to watch your waistline. Many foods can be made over into delicious, healthy alternatives.
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I started training a new group of clients this week. They’ve just embarked on a journey to lose weight and get into better health.
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Protein shakes are quick and easy, taste good, and are a great way to get in a serving of protein. They make a great breakfast-on-the-go or a between-meal snack. You just need a blender and the following ingredients:
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Despite keeping my weight off for five years, I still struggle with some of the old mentality. For instance, if I eat off plan (like I did today – shouldn’t have opened the peanut butter jar), I feel like the day is lost.
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