QuestionANSWERS IN CAPS
John,
What is your age 47, weight 235, and height 5 FOOT 7 INCHES? Have you gained or lost more than ten pounds in the last five years GAINED 50 IN THE LAST 4 YEYEARSI'd also like to know more about the migraines-what are they like? how long have you had them? MIGRAINES CAN BE SEVERE TO MILD, AT THE SEVERE END I AM BASICALLY ON THE COUCH BECAUSE I LOSE VISION IN THE RIGHT EYE. HAVE HAD THEM THE PAST 5 YEARS
And finally, in an average week, how many times do you exercise and what kind of exercises do you do? I HAVE BEEN HIT AND MISS ON EXERCISE. FOR THE MOST PART I AM DOING 3 DAYS OF LIFTING 3 OF HIIT FOR 20 MINUTES. I AM WORKING FROM THE BODY FOR LIFE PROGRAM And over the past year, what kind of diet have you been eating? TRIED TO EAT CLEAN BUT THE HEADACHES CAUSE ME TO EAT MORE AS WELL AS MY STRESS
AnswerJohn,
So you already know, then, that when you're in pain, tired, or anxious, it's very difficult to eat healthy. To be honest, I'm not sure that this is the right time for you to start a diet. I think that you should get some of the other problems out of the way first. First issue is the stress. People under pressure eat a lot more than people who aren't under any pressure, and it's not because of lack of willpower-it's because your body makes stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline, that signal your brain to eat. You need to lower your levels of these hormones-you can do it by removing the source of stress in your life, or if that's not possible, talk to your doctor-there are a lot of so-called "happy" pills that will prevent you from getting overly anxious when bad things happen to you. The goal is to stop your body from making cortisol and adrenaline.
Second-migraines. Again, you need to see your doctor. There are three types of migraine medicines. One type you take every day to prevent migraines. The second you take as soon as you feel like you might have a migraine starting-it will stop the migraine before it can get started. The third kind is plain old-fashioned pain medicine. Pain pills won't do anything to prevent migraines, and they can't stop the migraine from running its full course, but they'll make it easier to get through.
And the third and last item: sleep. You didn't mention how you're sleeping, but poor sleep increases both stress and hunger. You need to sleep at least 7 hours every night, and you should go to bed and wake up at the same exact time every night.
So after those three-stress, sleep, and migraines-are taken care of, how about setting January 1 as the day to start a diet? Between now and then, keep up with your weight lifting for now, and start building cardio exercise-try to build up to 2 1/2 total hours of cardio a week by Jan 1. (Brisk walking is a good way to start). If you do all of these things, then you'll be ready.
Now, come January, what should you do?
There's really only one kind of diet method that works-the kind where you have to keep track of what you eat. It doesn't matter if you count calories, carbs, or Weight Watchers points. The catch is that you have to count something. You can keep a log book with you, use Palm Pilot software, or my personal favorite, a free internet tool at www.fitday.com.
If you count calories (and I recommend this) then on days when you do NOT exercise, you should eat 1,600 calories. On days when you exercise 45 minutes or more, you can eat 2,000 calories. That will be a change at first, because to get to your current weight, you have to have been eating more than 2,800 calories every day (otherwise you would not have gained the 40 pounds). If you want to track other nutritional goals, you should eat less than 18 grams of saturated fat daily, less than 150 g of carbohydrates, and at least 35 g of fiber and at least 100 g of protein-and of course, ZERO trans fat (eating any amount of hydrogenated oil is about as healthy as eating rat poison). If you do your weight lifting, do 2 1/2 hours of cardio a week, and never exceed your calorie limits, it will take you just over a year to get to your healthy weight of 175 pounds.
I know it's a lot, but take the time between now and New Year's to get your exercise program going. Decide how you will keep track of your food intake-buy a computer program, log on to www.fitday.com and get your profile set up, or if you want to do things on paper, buy a book of nutritional information or look for websites that give free information (like dietfacts.com or nutritiondata.com). If you eat fast food, go to the restaurant's websites and look up the nutritional information in the foods you usually order (usually just looking at that information is enough to make you swear off fast food forever.)
The week between Christmas and New Year, go through your fridge and cupboards and throw away foods that you have decided will be off limits (especially any high calorie foods that you have trouble eating just a little bit and stopping). Go grocery shopping and buy new healthy items like fresh vegetables and fruit. Plan your dinners for the first week, and look at frozen dinners in the store-when you're just starting, they can be a lifesaver, because the nutrition information for your whole meal is right on the box. You CAN do this-you just have to prepare yourself and be totally ready to start when the time comes.
Good luck!
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