Weight Loss
I last worked on this page 08/08/2008 04:58:47 PM
Only changes to report are an additional weight loss bringing my total to date of 101 pounds Yes, still at it.
Take a look at current pictures (recent pictures) to see that I am back to my low weight and holding.
Update 6-7-07 Yes, my weight has fluctuated a bit, but I am still well below the chubby level. I do not eat at fast food places and know exactly what I eat every day, calorie-wise. A bit extreme? I don't think so. Check my latest pictures!!
I consider our community a very sophisticated one. We are known to research every topic to death and come up with some every innovative ideas. We are also very aware of the world around us and have a fairly good fashion sense. Now that I have pumped up everybody we go to the other side.
What is the mystery about weight loss? I have heard hundreds of people say "Oh, I lost umpty pounds on the (Insert your favorite diet here) but when I went off it I gained it all back plus 20 pounds". DAH!! When did common sense become such an elusive item?
Diets: A marketing scheme to build market share, i.e., make more money. Nothing more, nothing less. A diet is a fad, a short term approach or view on anything. Remember the Pet Rock, fins on cars, sideburns, etc. you get the point.
Years ago one of my fellow MBA students was looking for a thesis project. A skinny Asian guy came up with the fastest growing market trend at the time, dieting. He developed a very sound marketing approach with a distribution scheme and all the support networks at the onset, never really defining what kind of diet he was going to propose. He was simply going to find a product to bring to market and make a fortune. I asked him what his diet was going to be. He told me he hadn't thought one up yet! He built his support structure, then investigated the various diets and developed a sound approach using Eastern holistic methods and herbs. His thesis was sound and well defended. When asked by his advisor if there was any plan to take his thesis plan forward, he remarked, "Yes I have and I have already cleared $300,000 with it! "
My fellow student, Charles, had developed his plan, written a tiny book, hired a public relations firm to hype the hell out of it, and had it printed at his expense. Before we were out of school he had cleared the aforementioned $300K with no sound data, no background, no weight loss visible. It simply pointed out how desperate the public is for an easy fix. They are always looking for the magic words, the quick fix, something that will take the pounds off and not require any effort on their part.
Following Charles' lead another of my fellow students, now out of school, wrote the now famous "Grapefruit diet". It was based on no research, simply a sound thinking that any one item if religiously eaten will deprive the body of essential nutrients and energy sources and cause anyone to lose weight.
I started this topic because of the large number of emails I received about my own weight loss. I mention it on a couple of pages and refer to it in my "Hip hugger" pages only because it allowed me to really look different than I had in the past. When I write that I went from a fat 189 to my current weight of about 135, people always want to know what diet I used. Was it Atkins, Grapefruit, South Beach, what?? My answer is always the same. There is no "magic diet". My secret? I used an often forgotten method of weight loss, I changed my life style!!
What is a life style change? Consider this: Do you have any snacks in your cupboard? Are there any Twinkies or ice cream cartons or candy bars in the house? My house had all of these and I couldn't seem to lose any weight. Color me dumb!! While not wanting to sponsor any person or appear to be a fanatic, I offer a book written by the television shrink, Dr, Phil. Now don't go and roll your eyes and go, oh boy, yet another book about diets. This book is titled "The Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge". It is not about a diet, it is about a lifestyle change, a permanent lifestyle change!
Get the book if you like and read it but the most important point in the book to me was that I had to change for life or I would relegated to always wearing size 22 dresses. Changing my lifestyle involved creating a "No fail" environment. When you go to reach for food, the food must be good for you and fit your eating plan, not a diet, I can eat anything I want and seldom am I hungry. Get the largest trash bag you can and put every piece of snack food in your house in it and get rid of the bags. Don't think about the loss in monetary terms, but in terms of the wrong calories you will no longer have available to you.
When I go for a snack now it it usually a serving of roasted soy nuts or carrots or a piece of fruit. I drink the best tasting smoothies everyday and have an overall intake of around 1200 calories per day. I know the food value of everything that goes in my mouth and keep track of it all. I have been doing this for over a year and have managed to hold at my current weight, although I may lose a few more pounds so that I can develop a nicer figure!
Pictures taken 10-6-04 and 8-8-08
It is certainly worth it to me! I don't know how to doctor a picture with some fancy photo shop package, I just take pictures, crop them and show them. Of course I have added padding but you can't fake the flat stomach and the size 5 hip hugger jeans. MMMmmmmm!!
How to do it?
Dump the junk, don't eat fast food!!! No junk food, no McDonalds, Arby's or Windy's. (Can you visualize the person in the picture above chowing down on a supersized package of fries at McDonalds??)
Set a goal.
Eat to fuel your body, not your mind.
Track everything that you eat, you will be surprised at just how much you eat.
When you feel hungry, you are losing weight!
Exercise daily. (Try wearing your highest heels and working out on your elliptical trainer at a high resistance level for an hour every day!)
There is no magic!!!
That's it, no more suggestions, just simple information that is common sense and works!!.