Well, like many others, I am obsessed with what the scale shows.
But today we will play with your mind. We will program it to motivate you in your weight loss.
The best moment to get on the scale is the day you start your weight loss program. Why? Because what you see on the scale will freak you out and will determine you to take action. If you have a scale with 'memory', save your current weight.
The next thing to do is to put on one of your pair of pants that is still fitting you, but barely. Something you can wear but is so tight on your legs that you cannot move. Watch the buttons or the zipper ready to explode on your tummy. Take a few steps around dressed like this. You did put some weight on, didn't you? Now that you know how you feel and look in this pair of pants, take it off and put it aside.
You have two standars of measurement now. They are better than normal measuring and watching the inches drop, at least for now.
Grab a bit of your inner thighs between your fingers and see how much of fat there is. Do the same for your tummy. Good. Feel that fat! Don't worry, it will start melting once you want it to go away!
I asked you to measure yourself against pants for two reasons: scales are highly sensitive and might not record your little weight loss during the first 4-5 days and even if they do, the difference is small and not encouraging. Two - I bet you want to fit in those pants more than you want to lose 3 pounds without fitting.
Fat melts slowly. If you go on strict diets - which I do not recommend - you will lose water and the scale will show the difference. But it's water that goes, not fat. Fat is extremely light and shows less on the scale at the beginning. Muscles weigh a lot, however, and if you do exercise, at the beginning the scale will not show as if you lost weight, because you built muscle. But trust me, you did lose fat! Also, right after intense exercise, the muscle tends to swell and retain the milky substance that creates the muscle. That is a good sign however, because when the situation goes away, your newly built muscles will start eating a lot of fat from your body.
Also, I made you feel the fat because the first thing that happens when you lose weight is that the fat becomes less dense. On your inner thighs for example, where you can feel it better, the fat will start disappearing, but to your eye it will look the same. Only grabbing and feeling its density at the beginning will make you understand that you *did* lose weight.
About the pants: try them on again in a week - don't do the mistake of trying them on every day - and feel the difference around your legs and tummy. Also, don't start with a pair of pants that don't fit you at all, because you cannot measure yourself weekly against them. After the pants fit you perfectly, grab another pair that is very tight on you. Follow the same routine with this new pair. Go also in shops and try clothes on. Try your old measure and your new measure. Now, doesn't THAT feel good?
As for the scale, you can get on it again in a few days, but don't bring yourself down if there is no significant loss. You want to look good for others and yourself, not for the scale, right?
Anyway, start exercising now. Start with fun exercises like winsor pilates or yoga. Download them online if you can't find them otherwise. Personally, I hate routine exercise and I hate aerobics and fitness. But pilates is fun. Same is yoga.
Good luck with your losing weight program.
If you have any questions, let me know. Post a comment and I'll answer for sure.
If I told you that movie stars suffer also from cellulite I wouldn't make you feel any better, right?
I am just trying to point out a thing which is obvious to us already: once you get it, it's hard to get rid of it. The more you wait before you take action, the longer it will stay with you.
There are afew things that can facilitate the 'getting rid of cellulite' process. Obviously, exercise is the first thing, and losing weight is the second one. According to other sites, however, neither exercise not fat loss will decrease the cellulite. FALSE. They both do, as many of you already know. If you start exercising a lot, particularly for those areas, you reduce it. I've been there, done that, witnessed it.
If you read websites and articles you will realize that everyone disagrees. And if you make a list with the FALSE ways that help you get rid of the orange peel effect, you will be left with nothing to do. To summarize for you: there's nothing you can do, if diet, exercise, water, massage, laser therapy, etc, do not help.
It's wrong. All women know it, because the moment you take action against cellulite, you see the results.
What is cellulite actually? It is an accumulation of fat, fluid and toxins trapped into a hardened network of elastin and collagen fibres in the deeper levels of your skin.
The causes? Many, including poor diets and hormones.
If you can get rid of it? Yes, you can.
What I started doing and worked, no matter what others say about these techniques?
Exercise: lots of exercise for legs and thighs, especially the ones that build lean muscle. Try yoga or winsor pilates. Why some athletes have cellulites? Unless your exercises focus on those particular areas, you will never get rid of it! Anyway, forget the athletes. Look at some of your skinny or good looking friends who don't have it. Some of them had it but now they don't anymore. Ask them the secret. Exercise they will say.
Losing weight: You will see the difference! Or you think that when you lose weight you don't lose at all from certain areas? You think you can end up with very thin arms and a tight butt and stomach and still have all the kilos on your thighs? I doubt it.
Massage: Whoever told you that it doesn't work, doesn't know what he/she is talking about. Whenever I start my own massage routine or use the electric 'machine' for massage, it helps me. Do it every day, five to ten minutes, even fifteen for one leg.
Creams: They do help, especially combined with massage. Ask the ones who use them regularly! I did so for a month, before summer and I could see the difference! Many of my friends use creams and see the difference. First, in only two weeks, your skin becomes a lot softer, then the orange peel starts disappearing. I have tried Dove Firming Intensive Cellulite Gel-Cream for 10 bucks. There are others too.
Hot and cold showers: They help. Maybe not directly, but the Scottish showers always helped metabolism.
Plastic bags: It sounds weird, doesn't it? Well, a 'tactic' used here, in Romania, by young girls, was to wrap their legs in plastic bags or something similar and then exercise or ride a bike, even sleep. The area perspires thus gets rid of your extra water and the toxins retained in the cellulite tissues. Try it once and see the drops of sweat!
I'm not taking money for this advice, but if I were to take, I would guarantee the results. If you combine all of the above there is no possible way in which you can cheat the fat on your button or legs!
Not today. Today it's gone and you want to enjoy your pasta still.
But be ready for tomorrow. Get positive! You will defintely not start a crazy diet to famish yourself! You will simply apply some of the easy tricks I shared with you. You will have fun tomorrow by making a change!
Changes are fun, aren't they? Routine is boring, and all that eating and living in front of the TV became too much. So making a change is like having a small vacation.
When you wake up, imagine the energy you will have! You are full of life, ready to start. Remember: no sweets! Try lots of teas and bubbly water (if you need pops), eat until almost full but only good calories. Do not famish yourself!
You should find 10-15 minutes to exercise a bit, so you can actually feel the adrenaline being released into your body. Force yourself a little, and try to touch those muscles to see how nice they feel when they are like steel. Don't worry - soon you will get there!
Encourage yourself!
Go shopping! Not to the fast food place, but to the super market. Or go shopping for clothes. If you shop for food - which might be a wonderful idea - admire the sweets on the shelves and don't buy! That will give you more confidence! Buy instead any veggies or fruits that you feel like eating. Instead of chocolate, have a fruit yogurt - preferably a diet one. They will definitely make you feel better! Get ham, get white cheese, olives, lemons, limes, chicken breast, or fish. If you buy bread, remember that rye bread is the best, so go for it. Do not have more than two slices a day though! Buy juice without sugar: grapefruit, orange, apple, whatever you like.
When you get home, don't start eating everything. But if you want to try everything however, take one bite from whatever you please (the good things that you've bought, that is). That will calm you down. Remember, your plan today is not to lose 5 pounds, but to change your frame of mind and get yourself used to the new life!
The best way is not to lose tens of pounds a week and then put them all back on. Your goal is to have fun with your new diet and feel the change in you. Your goal is to feel that today you took the step towards losing one extra pound, one step towards building a beautiful body, one step towards feeling your body clean again.
So go for it and stop whining! Boost up your morale tomorrow!
I ain't gonna put a picture of a chocolate because that would start me right away!
Have you ever smoked? In case you haven't - good for you - then you should know that eating healthy and giving up chocolate is easier than quitting smoking. And that should make you feel better.
Chocolate is addictive. I don't know why - maybe because it causes your body to realease endorphines, the 'happy' fellows. If I don't have a chocolate or a bar one day, I can survive the next day. But the first day is always hard.
Of course, I tried to trick myself into eating chocolate without sugar, but that doesn't really help. What you need to do is to break the addiction!
I could tell you to have only one square a day and everything will be fine. But we both know that one square will never do. It's at least four squares!
There are no tricks in breaking an addiction, but just giving up the idea of chocolate. Try it at least for a while. Pretend it's a game. Pretend you don't even know what chocolate tastes like. And make sure you have no sweets around the house - not where you can see them, at least! And if the word 'chocolate' crosses your mind, find something to do: fast!
This is maybe one of the number one factors why you do not lose weight, if you do eat properly.
Normally, the growing hormone is responsible for growing in children, but once you become an adult, it is produced less and less. The body stops producing it when you are around fifty.
This hormone plays with the fats in such a way so that you remain fit.
So how can you stimulate the production of the growing hormone? There are a few tricks and a few other nutritional supplements. First, it is produced while you sleep, and the maximum quantity is released 90 minutes after you have fallen asleep. Exercise also stimulates the production, even more if you exercise 15 minutes before going to bed.
Aminoacids are the most responsible for stimulating the production of growing hormones. For example, omitine and arginine. These two aminoacids form a very strong connections and they can be found in similar foods: nuts, popcorn, gelatine, chocolate, raisins, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and all the food rich in proteins.
It's funny how all of the above help you both lose weight and put on weight, isn't it?
As a conclusion, if you don't want to risk it, try getting a nutritional supplement that already contains the two aminoacids. Or eat small quantities of nuts, raisins, and seeds. The body needs them anyway and if you are careful and don't overdo it, it's fine.
First, unless prescribed by your doctor, do not take it on your own. As a nutritional supplement it is not reccomended. Instead, try to get it from food.
Seaweed, any sea food, and onions are very rich in iodine.
There is also salt with iodine but I do not reccomend overdoing it because too much salt is bad for your body. Very bad even! The smallest thing that can happen is to make your body retain too much water. As for the worst things, there are too many, including increasing your blood pressure.
It's a blue-green algae, a natural extract obtained from Spirulina platensis which grows in some alkaline lakes in Australia. It has been used over the centuries by different civilizations and it is known to contain unusually high amounts of protein. The protein inside is even superior to the ones contained in legumes.
It also contains essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and photosynthetic pigments. In other words it is also rich in anti-oxidants. Its beta-carotene is ten times more concentrated than in carrots and it also is the richest natural source of Vitamin E.
Given the concentration of proteins, it is also highly recommended for vegetarians.
Why buy and take it? Because:
it enhances immunity and helps the body fight even against cancer;
it helps the formation and development of red blood cells;
it decreases the allergic reactions;
it helps fight infections, including HIV;
protects liver against damage;
stimulates diggestion;
inhibits appetite when taken before meals;
helps you stay young and pretty;
helps reproduction;
through its beta-carotene it helps the ocular problems;
it regulates the endocryn system by stimulating hormones like adrenaline, insulin, etc.
it helps you lose weight - which is why I listed it here!
So next time you go shopping, don't forget to check it out! It's worth it!
What they have in common? Iodine, probably, and the fact that they are healthy food.
Iodine can help you lose weight, but unless your doctor prescibes, don't start taking it on your own. It's better to get it from food that has it.
What works for me just fine? Well, sometimes I crave food in the evening, around 10 or 11pm. That is mostly because I go to bed at very late hours and I have a crazy schedule all day. How do I deal with the cravings?
1. Onion. I have it with cheese and nothing else. No bread, no nothing. I eat onion like a maniac when I get the chance and I love it. First, the combination is good, because the veggie goes perfectly with protein according to many diets. Second, the iodine helps lose weight. Third, the onion has fibers that also help lose weight. So I don't plan on putting on weight when I eat this late at night. Cheese is also good because it contains calcium, and calcium helps you lose weight also.
2. Lemon. Cheese with any salad that you can use lemon with. Or tea with lemon. Do not have more than one lemon or lime a day, however, because it is not good for the heart. Lemon also has iodine plus a lot of vitamin C. Vitamin C is both an antioxidant and a good fighter against colds and such.
3. Seaweed. It goes with anything, but don't combine with too many foods. Put it next to fish, and have your dinner. Seaweed and sea food, in general, plus fish, are rich sources of iodine and contain a lot of minerals and vitamins.
Did you know that the more sugar you have in your blood the harder it is to lose weight?
Well, you can't live without insulin in your blood, but too much is also bad. If you have a high insulin your body tends to store fat easier; it causes you to grow hungry faster, and also causes the body to retain water.
So, if you don't want to have this problem, pick carefully your carbs - rye bread, veggies, and fruits are wonderful choices. If you eat a chocolate bar that has only 120 calories and you think that is little, think about how hungry that chocolate will make you through the day and how it will increase your insulin and cause your pounds to add up on the scale.
Try to reduce the bad carbs in the morning and see the results. I tried and indeed, the days I didn't start by having a chocolate bar or chocolate milk instead of breakfast, I didn't feel that hungry by lunch. So it must be true.
One thing is for sure: you should not eliminate bread from your diet. It is not a healthy thing, and even if you lose weight now, later on you will put it back on. Instead, pick the right bread to eat.
How do you do that?
Fiber is good. Never go for white bread. Never. You might like the taste of it, but it's the poorest choice for your body. Whole grain is better, or those kinds of bread that contain seeds. But, according to some studies, the best bread is rye bread, especially it terms of losing weight.
I found a quote for you on everydiet.com, so you don't say that I am inventing things:
"Rye bread typically contains moderate portions of protein and fiber per slice. A 100-calorie slice will contain a few grams of protein, a few grams of fiber, around 20 grams of carbohydrate, and decent amounts of calcium and iron. The addition of flaxseed increases protein and fiber (for the same 100 calorie slice) but also adds trace amounts of healthy, unsaturated fats."
That's the story of bread. When you buy, please check not only the calories, but the fibers as well.
I got the idea of creating such a blog when I realized that my obsession can mean something good. I have friends who keep asking me stuff about losing weight so if I can help them with my advice, I can help others too. No, it's not professional, but it's tested. However, I will not quote myself but serious sources.
I will add the pros and cons for the diets that I know, and I will talk about essential elements when you try to stay fit and healthy or when you try to lose weight.
I, myself, have managed to put on a few good pounds during the last year and this 'diary' will help me 'reinvent' myself. I am not fat and I am not skinny either. I will never be very skinny because my body doesn't allow it: I know my limits. But I can look good if only I started to care again. :) Sounds familiar?
Losing weight and staying healthy is easy, when you care. Forget famishing yourself: there are other ways.
Since I was 15 I've been obsessed with healthy diets, losing weight, sports, and everything included. I read books after books and I collected articles on staying fit and healthy. Even now, 12 years later, I am still reading everything I find on the subject.
I will share with you, step by step, everything I know. Free advice.
About Me
Name: Andreea Home: Bucharest, Romania About Me: Post graduate student, happily married, who has found the perfect job in a perfect company. :) See my complete profile
