STAY FOCUSED IN THE NEW YEAR

Well, my friends, the New Year is upon us. It is a time for our annual resolutions to change behavior or appearance. If you are reading this blog, then there is a good chance that you may resolve to lose weight in 2011. If you have been reading this blog for a couple of months, then just maybe your resolution will be different this year. I hope so.

For my last blog of the year, I wanted to impart some wisdom on to you about motivation in the new year. We make our resolutions, and we usually start out very determined, and as soon as we falter, we get discouraged and give in to temptation. It's only human, you're not alone in this. Don't be so hard on yourself. My advice to you is make sure your resolutions are reasonable. Pace yourself, don't try to do too much, too soon. Stay consistent. If you want to see results, you have to work out consistently and you have to maintain your calorie intake consistently. You can't just go one week and then miss a couple weeks and then come back for a few days here and there and then miss a bunch of days. You have to stay consistent.

Another important aspect to losing weight is focus. In the past, this is an area where I failed miserably. I was trying to lose weight, but I was also trying to get bigger muscles and I was also jogging a lot. I got into pretty good shape but I wasn't getting the results I was looking for. So, now I'm smarter (o.k. wiser), I will stay focused on losing weight by doing a lot of "cardio" along with lifting weights, but I will keep the weights  light and do a lot of reps. In the old days I would have been lifting heavy. I think my body was too confused. When I get down to my desired weight, then I will start lifting heavier to grow my muscles a little bit. Then when I get to the desired end result, I will do a lot of jogging to help maintain my physique. So my advice is to focus on one thing at a time and keep plugging away until you achieve the desired results.

I wish you all thin bodies and fat wallets/purses in the new year. Thank you for reading my blog (I now have readers in 9 countries and 4 continents).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

THE 4 MINUTE LESSON

This morning I woke up to a man being interviewed on T.V. and he was talking about a weight loss book that he had wrote and was promoting. A lot of the things he was talking about made sense (keep in mind I was half asleep still). He touched on several things that I have mentioned in this blog (he recommended one "free day" a week as opposed to my recommendation of having them every so often), and then went into detail about why these things worked and even had a name for them. He obviously was a very smart man. So after coffee, I went to a book selling web site and looked up the book and the author. I then read the reviews by people who actually bought the book (I always find these to be very helpful). I thought that  I might buy this book to learn some new things to impart to you on this blog. A lot of the reviews were good but I also like to read the negative reviews so as to get the full picture. One reviewer said he noticed that a lot of the negative reviews were being scrubbed from the site. He also said that while the author provided some good information, there were also some half truths and omitted facts which he went on to list in detail and explain what the author did. He made a lot a sense to me. The reviewer was obviously an expert in one of the subjects that the author wrote about in his book. The book was more than a weight loss book, it was a book about losing or gaining weight in short periods  of time, gaining a lot a muscle mass and improving athletic ability in short periods of time and even how to become a better lover. So I thought to myself, this author sure knows how to appeal to our impatience for results to market his book. The reviewer also went on to describe some of the extreme measures that the author went through and was recommending his readers do the same. I found these measures to be extremely dangerous for average people trying to lose weight. So I decided not to buy the book.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, be careful. The old adage holds true, "If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is". Be careful what you buy into and beware of people trying to sell you a miracle. Also, there is a movement in our country to fight obesity with surgery. That should be a last resort for those that are mortally obese. Surgery is dangerous, and like medications,  there are side effects. And there is no guarantee that you won't gain the weight back. So I am begging you, please give my ideas a chance, please be patient, you didn't gain this weight overnight, you are not going to lose it overnight. Take your time, write everything down, keep notes and then stick with what works for you. Remember, I'm the one that actually cares about whether you lose weight or not. How do you know? Have I ever asked you for a single penny or have I ever asked you to buy a product? I'm writing this blog from the bottom of my heart and ask nothing in return except that you give losing weight an honest effort and when you succeed, be there for someone else struggling with weight. Why do I do this? Because I know first hand how some people judge us "fat" people. We are depicted poorly in movies, always stupid and always eating something. And in life we are always labeled as weak, no self control, happy but stupid, and I know this is not the case. I remember someone on T.V. saying once that  "in this country, it is more acceptable to be a heroin addict than it is to be overweight". This is why I don't judge anyone, because I know how it feels to be wrongly judged and that is why I write this blog.

HAZY SHADE OF WINTER

First order of business, I would like to recognize Simon & Garfunkel as inspiration for the title of this post.

Here in America (yes, I actually have readers from 5 other countries...welcome, and thank you) it is winter time. Also, many seasons of celebration. If you are like me, it is also a time of significant weight gain. It seems it happens every year, all sensibility gets thrown out the window and then after the new year, we resolve to lose weight, but we never do. At least we never reach our target weight. We have many excuses, it's the holidays, it's too cold to exercise, I only see these people once a year so I'm going to enjoy it, etc, etc, etc.

Then, on top of everything else, we have the cold and flu season. If you get the flu with a fever you may actually lose weight. But if you just have a cold then you have to feed it, usually with lots of chicken soup. Remember, "starve a fever, feed a cold". So again, you toss out sensible eating habits (at least I used to do that). 

Well, so far I've weathered the winter pretty well. I've gone through Thanksgiving and a bout with a cold, along with hitting a plateau and I've still managed to lose weight. I still ate my chicken soup, but accounted for how many calories it had and made sure not to exceed my calorie limits. This worked. I recovered. I didn't work out while I was sick, but I still was able to lose weight. It seemed before, I always gained weight while I had a cold.

I also think that our bodies go through a transformation during the colder months. We were meant to eat more lean proteins. Think about early man who had to hunt for food during the winter and had no access to fruits and vegetables. So if you find yourself eating more proteins but less fruits and vegetables, there is probably a good explanation. So, just watch your calories, allow yourself some "free days" during your celebrations, and get out there and exercise (just like early man who had to chase his dinner through the woods), no excuses. I guarantee you will feel better.

My "free days" are going to be Christmas eve and Christmas day, where I'll eat anything I want, won't count any calories, and won't feel a bit guilty about it. This will be the first year ever where I've actually lost weight during the winter. I hope you do to.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all faiths and religions, and if you are Atheist (hey..I don't judge), I hope you enjoy losing weight during the winter.

IN THE KITCHEN

By cooking your own meals, you can keep a better watch on your calories. There are a lot of hidden calories in food when we eat out. Remember, they want you to keep coming back so they load those foods with all the things that taste good, but help to keep us heavy. The portions are also huge because they want you to feel that you get more than what you pay for. So, if you want to lose weight but you eat out a lot, try restaurants that list calorie amounts on their menus. You could probably get away with just ordering  appetizers also. Remember, stick with the lean proteins, and you can even carry a pocket scale with you to weigh out your portions. I know, but it's the price we big folks must pay if we want to lose.

I work at home, but I also put in a lot of hours, and then go to the gym 4 nights a week. So, I tend to keep my meals very simple during the week. I also like to cook a lot of food at once and then eat leftovers the next few days, so I don't have to cook. My favorite tools in the kitchen are: a cast iron skillet, a sharp knife, and a large pot with a cheap steamer insert. That's it, nothing fancy. If I'm having steak, I just let it set out for an hour (with a rub on it) to let it come down to room temperature, then I heat my cast iron skillet up til it smokes (no oil), then I just sear my steak a couple minutes on each side, then finish it off in the oven, about five minutes. The most important thing is to let it rest for at least two minutes before cutting into it. That keeps it juicy. I cook a lot of lean meats that way. It's fast and it tastes good without adding a lot of calories. I can get four meals out of a 12 ounce steak. So it's acually not that expensive if you watch for the weekly sales at your supermarket. I steam most of my cooked veggies. Again, it's fast and I don't have to add a lot of calories.

Like I've been telling you, you don't have to spend  a lot of money to lose weight. The industry wants you to think that you do, but I'm telling you that you should be saving  money from losing weight, not spending it.