Last tip, for now anyway.

My final tip to you folks who endeavor to be a little more fit. Weigh yourself daily. Yes, that's right, I said daily. I know a lot of places recommend NOT weighing yourself daily, and to only weigh yourself weekly so you can see your results.

I say baloney! The reason people get frustrated is because they don't understand that power of water weight. You see when your weight swings a few pounds in one day, it isn't fat that's swinging, it's water.

Ok, so if you eat something high in sodium your body is going to retain more water until the sodium is "washed" away. So a pickle is high in sodium, and if you eat a pickle, your bound to gain a pound or two. This isn't bad, by any means, it just simply means your body is carrying around a little extra water for a little while. Don't worry, it'll pass.

One way to help keep water weight down is by increasing your water intake (yeah, I know sounds stupid, but it's true). You see the more water you drink, the faster the sodium will be 'flushed' out of your system.

Well, the new year is upon us, and I'm starting my old routine again today (along with millions of others, I'm sure). Good luck, don't give up!

Happy New Year!!!!

I'm gonna keep it short and simple, happy new year y'all!!!!  I'll keep my tips coming, if you call keep reading em.

That Dirty Little Word: Exercise (Tip #4)

Yeah, I said it, and I know you hate it... But the a truly successful weight-loss program should include exercise.  And for the people who say "I can't workout because of x, y, z", I say bull.  

Not enough time?  You mean to tell me that you wake up and go straight to work, then go straight home and to sleep?  I hardly think so, you know you can make time.  For me, I had to wake up earlier (really for two reasons) but one of them being because of time.

Too overweight (or old) to exercise?  Nope, I doubt it.  I'm not saying run a marathon, I'm just suggesting you do something more than what you normally do every day.  For example, if you can't run, walk, if you can walk far, walk to the mailbox and back every day.  When you're ready, and your weight (or endurance) has improved, walk to the end of the street.  If its too cold outside, do something inside.  Maybe try dancing, if your knees can't handle it, try dancing in a roller chair (sounds weird, but should have the same net effect).  

Anyway, you don't actually have to do exercise to achieve weight loss, but it sure does make things easier.

You see, to lose weight, its a very simple calculation:  The calories you exert must be less than the calories you consume.  But don't go crazy, you only want to lose about 2 pounds a week.  Yes, I said 2 pounds a week, I know that seems slow; however, in a year you would have lost 104 pounds, which is quite remarkable.  

I, personally, try and workout 7 days a week.  Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday I typically focus on some sort of cardio.  Monday's I'll hit the elliptical for 20 minutes, and then squash for 30 minutes.  On Tuesday's and Thursday's I do a spinning class for 45 minutes (man, those will kick your butt!).  On Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday I typically do 20 minutes of light cardio and then hit the weights for 40 minutes.  On Sunday I normally walk (and sometimes jog if I'm up for the challenge) 4.6 miles.

I feel weights are important as to try and prevent loss of muscle mass.  I don't believe that you can lose weight and build muscle at the same time.  I do believe you can help prevent the loss of muscle mass.

Until next time,

Dieting Success, Tip #3

Water, water, water, water.  And I'm not talking about two tall glasses before each meal (sure that helps too), I'm talking about drinking water non-stop (in a healthy manner, of course).

As I said earlier I started out on the Atkins diet, and from my understanding of it, it was strongly recommended that you drink a lot of water to wash the "ketones" away (whatever those puppies are).  So I did as the book prescribed and drank a lot of water.  My hunger pangs (yes, I said pangs, didn't realize those hunger pains had their own word: pangs) subsided, I'm not going to lie, they were definitely still there, but just not as bad.  

After I got off of Atkins, I kept the water intake high, and I swear by it.  I haven't actually done much research, but I can tell you it has worked for me, and worked for a friend of mine.  My buddy has lost 32 pounds, and he also says that one of the biggest contributing factors was his water intake.

Like I said, I won't lie, water is not the miracle diet as some sites might suggest.  You still need to limit your food or change your food, and do some exercise.  But, above all that, drink a lot of water.  One site suggests you drink 1 once of water for every 2 pounds you weigh.  So if you weigh 250 pounds, you should drink 125 ounces of water.

So get to drinkin..... Water that is....

Dieting Success, Tip #2

Quick diets don't work -- trust me, I've tried them all.

So I've tried all the quick diets, and while I always had a little success at first, it was normally followed up with failure and weight gain.  Often times gaining more weight back then what I weighed before I started the diet.

Ok, ok, so your asking what crazy diets have I tried: Slimfast, shake for breakfast, shake for lunch, and a sensible dinner.  Why is this a quick diet?  Is it realistic to think that for the rest of your free life you will have a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, and a sensible dinner?  I think not.

Shangri La Diet - Maybe one of my more embarrassing dieting adventures.  This one entails putting empty calories into your body to fool your body's 'set point'.  So they suggested ingesting a few table spoons of non-flavorful oil.  The thought being that it (essentially) fills you up with calories, and your body doesn't crave food.  I was on this one for 3 weeks, and had some success, but nothing really to mention.  I read the book, and believed it so much I actually talked to a co-worker and convinced him to try it.  Needless to say, it turned out rather embarrassing when the diet didn't work.

Now having said that, utilizing quick diets to give you a (much needed) motivating jump start, I say do it!  Use it to your full advantage, but realize that you're not going to have continued weight loss success with that diet.

That's essentially what I have done.  I started out with a quick diet, one I'm sure you all have heard: The Atkins Diet.  And let me tell you, it was quite successful for me.  Right off the bat I lost 20 pounds, granted most of that was water weight.  On Atkins I ended up losing about 40 pounds, when I flat lined and couldn't lose any more weight.  Atkins works great, you lose a lot of water weight up front (Carbs hold water, when you don't eat carbs, you have less water mass), and you lose a lot of fat mass as well.  However, the secret to Atkins is that when you cut out a major food category (in this case carbs) it's amazing how many less calories you take in per day.  However, it won't last, and it's not realistic to think in 10 years you'll still be on Atkins.  I will say that Atkins made me much healthier, my cholesterol numbers were never better, but it's hard to stay on it.  

So what is a quick diet?  A quick diet is something that you only look at as a temporary solution.  However, your mind can fool you, and make you think that you'll stay on this diet forever.  So ask yourself, is it realistic that you'll stay on this diet for 10 years from now?  If the answer is no, call it a quick diet.

You see, diet has become to mean a weight loss routine, and often considered temporary.  Like my wife always says: "You don't need to go on a diet, you need to change your eating habits".  And she is absolutely correct.  To be successful, you need to change your eating habits for the rest of your life.  If you can't make that commitment to yourself, then maybe you should reconsider if going on an "eating habit change".  

I know, you're dying to know, what have I given up that I loved:

French Fries, 

Mashed Potatoes 

Hamburgers

Just to name a few.  Do I still crave these items?  Sometimes, but its very rare.  Sure, sometimes I'll indulge myself with some French Fries, but not like I used too.

Moral of this post is quick diets don't work, don't do them unless you only plan on doing it temporarily for a morale booster.  You're in this for life, your life, so change it now while you can!  Good luck!

New Years Resolution Success (oh yeah, Merry Christmas too!!!)

Just wanted to tell everyone Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

This is the time of New Years resolutions, and I'm always just a little annoyed.  Here's why:  The gym I workout at is fairly small, and normally there are only, say, 25 people there.  However, after the first of the year that 25 people jump up to 50 or 60 people just for a few weeks.  All new years resolutions, I'm sure.  Sometimes a few of those folks will stay, and we become workout buddies (everyone there, for the most part, I consider a friend).  I'm guessing the biggest new years resolution is always to lose weight.  As a person who has lost 95 pounds in the past 10 months, my new years resolution is going to be lose weight, and then maintain. 

I hope I can follow through, and I think I will.  I've been on this same routine for the last 10 months; but recently with the holidays, its been VERY hard to stay on the bandwagon. I'm bound to succeed and will stop at nothing to do so!  Anyway, I digress again; on to the point:

I'd like to give offer some advice:

1:  This isn't going to be easy, don't fool yourself.  

To point #1:  This isn't going to be easy, I've struggled with weight loss all my life, and now I've finally found my "solution".  I can tell you, it wasn't easy, I struggled, I fell off the waggon, I wanted to quit, I craved (and still do crave, though not as bad) unhealthy food.

My advice:  You need support, one of the biggest reasons I was successful is because of my family.  I really owe a lot of this to my wife.  She went out of her way to help me food wise, and mentally.  All the little stuff really added up.  Like not bringing in the Girl Scout cookies we bought (I never knew we had them until I check our bank account), like encouraging me every step of the way, also pushing me to do better, and listened to my complaints and struggles.  Thanks Christina for the support, I love you with all my heart and owe the largest part of my weight loss to you.  My mother & brother for encouraging me every step of the way, always wanted to hear about my results, and even going on the diet with me and being successful in their own right.  Even my friends and co-workers played a roll in my journey.  I told everyone that I was on a diet (which isn't easy to do for those of us who have done the dieting thing.  Its sort of embarrassing right?), they were all surprisingly encouraging and helped me stay away from the "counter food" (you know, donuts, bagels, candy & etc).

The fact is to be successful, the number one thing you need is support.  Don't be afraid to tell people your on a diet, who cares what they think?  Your doing this for yourself, and odds are they will understand, and try to help out.  I can tell you, beyond all certainty, that a majority of my success was due to the supports around me.  Being secretive will lead to failure... Why? because if you are successful, people are going to realize and start asking questions like "what have you been doing to lose weight" and it'll just make you equally as embarrassed.  You need people to encourage your success, and get you through when you fall off the waggon, like I did.  

I had several other points, but I think I'll just keep going one post at a time.  Check back tomorrow for my next tip!

Cold Day in Dayton

Wow, today was a really cold day in Dayton.  I believe it was only 5 degrees, but the wind chill was the absolute worst part.  The wind has some crazy gusts, almost seemed as bad as the little hurricane we had earlier on this year.  Of course, it looked deceivingly nice outside, but then you would hear the large gusts of wind crash against the house.  So needless to say, I didn't go out very much.

Another reason why I didn't go out much was because my family arrived today!!  I know, I know, I was complaining about it earlier, not my family arriving, but all the prep work required.  But as I was talking with my wife earlier, we both commented on that we're really glad we did it.  Regardless if they were coming or not, we're both really glad that we got everything accomplished.  Heck, we should start having people come and stay more often, at least our massive dog house would stay clean.