The U.S. is the biggest consumer of weight loss products but yet we are the most obese nation in the world. Why is that?
Look at the ingredients of weight loss products, most of them contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. The FDA will tell you that the body processes this ingredient no differently than regular sugar. This is false. It processes it differently & stores in in the body as fat, it doesn't use it for energy. 90% of the food you see in grocery stores today have high fructose corn syrup in them.
So, what is the number one way to get rid of fat? Don't eat or drink foods with High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. If you've seen the commercials for Losing it with Jillian (Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser), she says the same thing. I went thru our pantry & got rid of all the foods with high fructose corn syrup in it. Manufacturers are seeing that consumers don't want food with this ingredient in it & are starting to make foods without it, like Log Cabin pancake syrups & Hunt's Ketchup with their no High Fructose Corn Syrup Ketchup. Which if I may say, is the best ketchup I've ever tasted.
There are many diets out there for us to try. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Hcg, Atkins, SlimFast, South Beach, Mediterranean, raw foods, etc. Depending on your budget, you may or may not be able to afford any of these & continue to struggle with weight loss or gain. Also, many can't afford a gym membership so this becomes a hurdle too.
So, what is an easy way to lose weight & stay within your budget? Well, after a lifelong batter with my own weight & seeing MANY members of my family in the same boat. I decided to take some info from one diet & some from another diet. Add in a little bit of will power & some good old fashioned sweat to see if it could be done.
I did it. I've lost 8.5 pounds in one week. How did I do it you may ask? Well, here is how I did it.
First off, I had to find my Calories burned at rest. Meaning, how many calories do I need just to sit here & read my computer screen. This also showed how many calories I needed just to maintain my current weight. I then could figure out how many calories I needed to take in each day to lose X amount of pounds per week. After searching all over the web, I came across the link below.
www.mycaloriecounter.blogspot.com
This had all the info I needed to give me a plan for losing weight. You input male or female, height & current weight. It then tells you how many calories you burn at rest, caloric intake to maintain your current weight, your current activity level & the calories taken in per day to either lose weight or gain weight. Even tho it told me to only take in 1,144 calories per day to lose 2.25 pounds per week, this daily caloric intake that I'm doing is resulting in a bigger weight loss. Which is a good thing.
Now, many foods tell you on the package that a number of ounces or grams is X amount of calories. What about chicken, beef & turkey? Nutritionist will tell you the size of a deck of cards. Well, there are 2 different sizes of a deck of cars. You have your regular playing cards or if you play UNO like I do, you have a deck of cards of over 100 cards. So, after more searching, I found this website that will tell you the calories in many foods & you can adjust the the portion size to what fits you best. There is a free membership & a paying membership. I've always been able to use the free membership.
www.calorieking.com
Its not just calories in, calories out. Your calories out needs to be GREATER than your calories in order to lose weight. Not only do you need to count calories BUT you also need to keep a food journal & keep track of everything you eat & the number of calories you take in each day so that you are sure you stay within your caloric budget. This makes for some difficult decisions when we want to eat our favorite foods, especially if its a special day during the week. Like I keep the Sabbath on Saturday & we have all sorts of goodies that are put out on this day. I have to make sure that I stay within my intake budget, even on the Sabbath.
Now, by now many of you are saying, diets are great but the biggest thing to overcome is the hunger between meals. Yes, this is hurdle BUT with will power & seeing the big picture & a little help from a ingredient our bodies are mostly made of, the hunger problem isn't that big of an issue.
You need to drink water & lots of it. The following info comes from the Hcg diet. You need to take your body weight & divide it by 2. This is how many ounces of water you should be taking in each day. Now some of you are looking at that number & saying, that is a LOT of water. What about water toxicity? The first few days that you are drinking that much water, you might get a headache or feel a little water logged, I know I did. BUT, it will pass. Now, if I don't drink that much water each day, I feel dehydrated. Some days I drink more than that because of I'm out doing my walking. As long as your are going to the bathroom, you shouldn't have any water toxicity problems.
Now, I just mentioned walking. There are various types of walks. There is a leisurely stroll, a quicker walk & then there is power walking. This is a fast deliberate walk in which you cover a good distance in a short amount of time. I do the power walking 6 days a week. I cover 2.5 miles in about 25 min. I take our dog with me since he also carrying a few extra pounds. My route for my power walking also goes by a number of neighborhood dogs so he learns to ignore them & concentrate on just walking or in his case its a trot for him.
If this rate continues, if I can stay with my will power & see the big picture at the end of the tunnel. Which in this case, is a new wardrobe & replacing our 25+ year old mattress set. I should be done to my goal weight by the end of July. YEAH!
Til next time friends,
Lori
