I'm happy to say that I weighed in today at 200.5, which puts me a half-pound ahead of schedule. Any secrets to this? Not really. But here are some things I'm cognizant of:1. Do SOMETHING every day. I get a good all-around conditioning workout in, which includes aerobic exercise and light/medium weights, on four or five days a week. The other days might just be walking a couple of miles and/or doing yoga, but it's something.
2. Avoid fried foods and things loaded with fat. But if you have anything like that, limit your portions. This past Sunday I'll admit to having eaten a Burger King Whopper. But it was a Junior Whopper and hence not as tragic.
3. Limit snacking and eating after dinner. When I have been snacking though, we have these great lime popsicles that are around 80 calories each.
4. Don't deprive yourself of everything you like to eat and drink. I haven't given up on tacos and beer, and don't intend to anytime soon.
5. Finally, remember this number: 3500. That's what a pound of body fat equates to in calories. So in order to lose one pound per week, each day you have to somehow dispose of 500 more calories than you'd normally take in when you sustain the same weight. That can be a combination of exercise and less caloric intake. I choose to try and burn approximately 300 additional calories through exercise and reduce consumption by around 200. I'm sure there are factors that make this amount more or less but I find it to be an accurate rule of thumb.
To 2010 (and beyond)!
Very insightful and instructive. Keep up the good work! You're inspiring to the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Inspiration can be a contagious thing. I can think of a few who have inspired me, from my Boeing conditioning instructor through BowlingWidow (who quietly lost 25 pounds of her own over a two year span).
ReplyDeleteThat is just great, Joe! You´re doing so well. My technique with the inches instead of the pounds has gotten me nowhere. So I´m back to your method of watching pounds, but also inches. I hope I can match your success.
ReplyDeleteKeep doing the right things, Pilla. It's challenging over the holidays, that's for sure, as a lot of us get out of those good routines. And I include me with those Christmas goodies I indulged in yesterday.
ReplyDeleteAs you taught me, if I accept the validity of the measurement system, then I need to accept the results that take place. I'll be thinking about that when I next step on the scale on January 6th.
Until then, Happy New Year!!!
BowlingJoe
Nice work, Joe! Keep it up! We'll have hitting your target weight by May, I am confident of this. I agree with limiting late-night noshing. I used to scarf down a PB&J (or two!) shortly before bed time- it was really habit more than anything. Now I eat a "no sugar added" Dole Popsicle (25 calories) and an apple. It was a tough adjustment, but after a couple of weeks it became second nature.
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