Weight Loss - A Few Things To Think About

So, let me be clear, I know next to nothing about losing weight.  Okay, I actually know less than that.  I do know how to get out of shape though.  Lots of Ho-Ho's, high fructose corn syrup, eat only one meal a day, no fluids, and work too many hours a day.  And this is from personal experience.

So, I figure getting back in shape means doing the opposite of that, which would be no Ho-Ho's, no high fructose corn syrup, eat many meals a day, drink lots of fluids, and find a balance between working and living.  How is that for advice?  I cannot guarantee you will lose 50 or 100 lbs in 2 months like some of the others but I can put you on the path.

In the most general and broadest sense, losing weight is simply eating less calories than it takes to maintain your body.  But if that were strictly true, we would all be in great shape.  Part of the challenge for why losing weight is more difficult than the previous statement would suggest is that your body works against you.

Let us face it together, your body is lazy - mine too.  It will seek the path of least resistance and will do whatever it takes to counter what it perceives to be a threat.  And eating fewer calories than you need to maintain your body is a threat.  I am no guru, but that statement seems like commonsense to me.  So, let me apply some commonsense and provide some tips on how to start on the path to getting back in shape.

No Ho-Ho's:  Gosh, this has been a lifelong secret, not so secret, illicit love affair for me.  Some days, I have cheated on my Ho-Ho's by sneaking out with Twinkies, but never Ding-Dong's, I swear.  If you lack the self-discipline to put aside your food vices, then that is the first place to start.  If you are not able to control and override your impulses, the battle is lost before it is even fought.

High Fructose Corn Syrup:  Is that industry really trying to convince us that HFCS is same as sugar and is no problem for us human animals?  Are they really trying to tell us that some artificially created sweetener whose sole value is in being cheap and a preservative is really the same as sugar?  Plus, who says white sugar is good anyways?

One meal a day:  Maybe the worst thing you can do is have only one or two meals a day.  Regardless of how few calories you consume, all those calories will go to fat.  When you only feed your body once or twice a day, your body does not know when it will eat again.   And like a bear in hibernation, your body stores everything as fat.  If need be, it will begin scavenging your muscles to build more fat.  For argument sake, you will have a better chance at losing weight by consuming 5 evenly spaced meals at 400 calories a piece than eating 2 meals at 800 calories a piece.

Fluids:  We lose up over 10 cups of water a day through urine, bowel movements, sweating, and other bodily functions. At a minimum, all that water must be replaced.  Do you drink at least 10 cups of water a day.  10 cups equates to 80 ounces or half a gallon plus a pint.  Now, all fluids count and that includes veggies and fruits - think of how much water is in a tomato.  Juices, milk, and sport drinks all count toward that goal.  Soda technically does to, but forget the soda's and booze.  Drink a cup of water or fluid every hour and you will be fine.

Too many hours at work:  Right off the bat, working too many hours will feed right into fewer meals per day and drive your body into hyper mode to protect itself.  You may think you are burning up calories staying up late and stressing out, but your body is again converting everything to fat.

So, the foundation of any, of your weight loss program must begin with self discipline and mastery over your body.  Your diet must be balanced and, to the extent possible, devoid of stuff like HFCS.  And you must eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day.  You should be eating 4 to 5 evenly spaced out meals so that your body understands that it is not going to starve to death.   Get a good night's sleep.

And finally, you must adopt a consistent exercise program.  The simplest program I can think of would be walking briskly for 30 minutes.  At the end of the walk, do 2 rounds of the following:  deep knee bends, pushups, ab crunches, reverse crunches, and lunges.  A round is doing all exercises with no rest in between exercises; rest 1 minute and repeat.  As for repetitions, do as many as you can which initially may not be much.  That is okay, we all start somewhere.  Everyday, shoot to do one more repetition and progressively build your strength.

I cannot guarantee you will lose 83 and half pounds in the next 19 days, but this will get you on your way.

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