13 Things About Weight Loss
As part of my 101 in 1001 project, I have set myself the task of determining and then reaching my ideal healthy weight.
This project has turned out to be a real eye-opener; showing me some things about my diet and eating habits that I would never have guessed.
Here then are thirteen things I have learned in the brief time I have been working on this project:
- It is easy to pretend I’m not overweight: I am not obese, and I carry my weight well, so it is easy for me to lie to myself and pass off my extra weight as being “large framed”, which is the grown up version of “I’m not fat, I’m big-boned.” It wasn’t true then, and it isn’t true now.
- Dieters are stupid & Diets are evil: If you are fat, it is because you eat too many calories. It has nothing to do with your carb balance, zone, etc… Atkins, Zone Diet, South Beach all set you up to fail – you must fail if you use them – because you do not address the underlying problem; that you habitually eat too much. The only diet that ever works for anyone is called moderation, and you never get to “come off” of it. You learn to eat in moderation and pay attention to what, when and how much you eat, or you get/stay fat. Full stop.
- It is hard to be over-hydrated: This evil nutritional analysis software I am using to get a grip on my intake keeps track of how much water I should be getting based on what I eat and so forth, and damn does it set a grueling pace. While the minimum recommendation that everyone is familiar with is 6-8 8oz glasses of water a day, once you factor in the sodium content and adsoprtive properties of the food you eat, it comes out being (for me at least) closer to 70oz per day, not 48.
- It is hard to feel very hungry if you are properly hydrated: Of course you still get hungry, but with 70-odd ounces of water going in my body in a day, the “empty” feeling that triggers so much overeating is almost impossible.
- A food diary is essential: Here at the beginning of my journey, I really don’t have a good grasp of what is going on other than that I consume too many calories. By being mindful of what I eat (and sticking it all in a analysis program to find out exactly what the problems are), I am slowly becoming a smarter consumer of food, and better able to make decisions that support my goal.
- I love cheese too much: It completely wrecks my daily allotment of fats and cholesterol, but it’s SO good…it’s going to be hard to move this one into the “occasional” column in my head.
- Breakfast IS the most important meal of the day: People who eat the majority of their calories early in the day, and eat them predominately as protein, eat less total calories throughout the day.
- Not smoking helps: Nicotine is an appetite suppressant, so it introduces another variable into the planning and analysis that is unnecessary and complicating. Since I planned on quitting smoking anyway, it seemed best to do it in tandem with this task.
- Exercise is important: While individual exercise sessions are almost useless for “banking” calories to be eaten later, regular exercise does promote more metabolic activity, and a raised metabolism helps you keep the weight you lose off.
- Software helps: Since I am serious about making this transition in a nutritionally sound way, there is way more for me to keep track of than just calories. Trying to do manually what decent nutritional software does would be a burden that would probably sink the whole project in less than a week.
- Soy Beans are amazing: milk substitute, meat substitute, complete protein and no cholesterol. I’m in love…
- More meals not less: Skipping meals can actually help lead to a slowdown of your metabolism, meaning you’ll burn fewer calories, not to mention being so hungry at your next meal that you will likely overeat.
- It doesn’t matter when you eat: It is the total calories you consume over a 24-hour period — and more often, over a week — that is what causes you to gain weight, and when you eat those calories doesn’t matter. So, eat when you are hungry, not when the clock says you can, or can’t.
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