Archive for July 19, 2007

Health Conditions and Dieting

I was planning on writing on something else, but then the message I received for my previous post got me thinking about a very serious problem.

You might have read (or not) some of the previous posts on what NOT to do to lose weight. I am underlining it each time because from there to becoming an anorectic or a bulimic is not a long way.

I have seen plenty of cases, especially in my teens. I had a classmate whose best friend was naturally skinny. The pressure was too much for her, it seems, and from 115-120 pounds she got to 95-100. The thing is that she didn’t get there by being on a proper and healthy diet, but she got there by eating normally and then putting two fingers into her throat and emptying her stomach.

A friend I had was not fat, but she was a bit more roundish, because that’s how mother nature made her forms look. At home she was overeating lots of times as well. And then she was following a very struct diet and losing in between 10-15 pounds in two-three weeks. Then, in no time, she was putting everything back on. Her mind was so screwed after a holiday we had that when she came home she couldn’t stop herself eating anything and everything. Would you eat fish with chocolate? She was. And many other weird things. She craved food so badly, she couldn’t stop herself. And do you know what that was? The lack of food she put herself through. The lack of vitamins and minerals.

This is not a joke. This happens. It mostly happens with insecure people, or with teenagers. When you are 14-20, you can control your appetite better. So well you control it, that you get yourself in trouble.

Bulimia

According to theFreeDictionary, bulimia is “an eating disorder, common especially among young women of normal or nearly normal weight, that is characterized by episodic binge eating and followed by feelings of guilt, depression, and self-condemnation. It is often associated with measures taken to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, the use of laxatives, dieting, or fasting”.

I recognize half of the issues (the first part) because I could eat forever before my period. I do control myself however, or I prepare myself for this occasion by buying lots of fruits and vegetables and cereals or diet cereal bars. Even so I feel guilty eating. But I try to exercise and drink penty of tea and I also know that these cravings will be over the moment my period comes. I also know that these pounds will also come off then.

Anorexia

According to Wikipedia, anorexia is “an eating disorder characterized by low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Individuals with anorexia often control body weight by voluntary starvation, purging, vomiting, excessive exercise, or other weight control measures, such as diet pills or diuretic drugs”.

I do have an obsessive fear of gaining weight but I am happy with that. If you lose the fear, you are in trouble. Especially when you have a tendency to put on weight. I don’t think that the fear of putting on weight is something negative, as long as you know how to deal with it. Excessive exercise – well, you have to tell me what excessive means. Because I don’t think that exercising for 1 hour a day or two is excessive. Unless you exhaust yourself each time. The others are a problem though. Puking, starvation, purging, laxatives – they are the sure way to putting on weight later on.

When you think about doing any of the above in order to lose weight, think of this: you will get better or you will die. It’s very easy. And you will get better either by yourself, and you will end up destroying your metabolism, or someone else will take action and put you into a hospital, and then you will get well again. Which still means that you have ruined your metabolism.

So, look at it the way you want, but if you are taking this way or you find yourself on it, stop before it gets to late. This will NOT get you slimmer, but sick and in trouble with fighting off pounds for the rest of your life.

Sweets When on a Diet

If you are not on a strict diet, and you are only planning to reduce the number of calories, and you are allowed or you allow yourself to have sweets now and then, you have to know that some sweets are better than others.

Chocolate is a definite ‘no’. Even if it based on artificial sweetner, the cocoa found in it is very rich in calories. Also, since it stimulates endorphins, and maybe due to other factors as well, it is addictive. How do you explain that the brain craves most chocolate and not other sweets?

The safest sweets are ice-cream and sweets based on fruits.

Ice-cream is rich in Calcium so, to the negative side, we do have a positive one as well: rich in Calcium, mineral that improves metabolism. What it actually does is it helps transform the fat deposits into energy. If you try the light ice-cream (for example Magnum Light), even better.

Let’s talk about the fruits now. There are plenty of sweets that you can create based on fruits, and in many cases you don’t even need to add any kind of sugar. For example, you can always bake an apple or cherry strudel. Peaches and apricots are also naturally sweet, and if the dough is thin you can have many for less calories. Any fruits almost can make wonderful tarts or pies or strudels.

Feels Good to Lose Weight

Yuppers… I’ve seen two friends that I haven’t seen in a while and individually they’ve told me that I had lost weight.

Obviously, that makes me feel good. Because You cannot always tell, you know? So when people tell you that you feel better. :)

I’ve started jogging (like stepping in a way) in the house for about 20-30 mins. It makes you lose that extra water. Then I usually have 2 cups of hot tea – usually one cup of green tea and then one of Earl Grey (both without sugar because I never have my tea or coffee with any kind of sugar – in my view, sugar ruins the taste of tea and coffee). The next morning the scale went down one pound, even though I am right before my period and I retain water like crazy, and even though I ate.

Oh, unfortunately I couldn’t follow very strictly my diet, but I have used some elements of it now and then. So even though I haven’t lost as much as I wanted – since I did not follow the guidelines – I have lost about 2-3 pounds again. Maybe more, but since like I have said I am before my period, I cannot tell. At the moment I am a bit swollen and I will be even more. But I will get to see what really happened after my period is over.

8 Pounds in One Week: Cabbage Soup

I talked about this before, but now let’s go more deeply into it.

Those who have been on this diet claim that they had lost about 8 pounds in one week. Lucky are those who love cabbage soup. I am not one of them.

Honesyly, the only cabbage I like is the pickled one. And that one only made the Romanian way.

Anyway, if you choose cabbage – and you should – then you ought to be in mind that the best cabbage (like the Chinese one) is when it is cooked only for 5-10 minutes, so it remains crisp. If you have realized, all Chinese dishes use crisp vegetables, unlike most European or American recipes.

Cabbage Soup Recipe

2 onions, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped (you can add tomato juice as well, but not ONLY tomato joice)
1 small head cabbage, shredded
2-3 carrots, cut into cubes or shredded
2 green bellpeppers, thinly sliced
1-2 cubes of bouillon or beefstock (your choice)

1 stalk celery, slices

optional: hot pepper, sliced
salt – make sure the cubes weren’t ALSO salty
pepper

Optional spices : they make the difference between fad food and fab food – parsley, garlic, basil, paprika, and thyme.

You are supposed to eat this day in and day out and nothing else. No sugar, no alcohol, no bread. Just cabbage soup, unsweetened tea, and black coffee.

Have fun!

How I Lost Weight

If you have managed to lose weight, we would love to hear from you.

It does not have to be long or elaborated – you are not writing a novel, but a diary entry for others to see.

Tell us how much you have lost and how you did it. Help others by giving them free advice. :)

If you want to see your ‘confession’ here, drop me an email. (You can find my email address by clicking on See My Complete Profile link on the right sidebar).

Or… aylin_chateaunoir*yahoo*com

You know how to fill in the “*”. :)