I stopped right there. That's what most people do and get fat: meal, snack, snack, meal, snack, snack, meal! No! (personal opinion.)
Posted on 01/21/2006 7:21:11 PM PST by RightOnline
I mentioned this superb list of rules/suggestions for fitness and weight loss in another thread, and my FReepmail box filled pretty quickly. :)
To keep this brief: The Lovely Wife and I got into weight lifting (strength training) a few years ago, and one of the companies from whom we purchased sports supplememts (whey protein, etc.) issues a monthly email newsletter. This particular one I kept, because to my mind, it is the best......by FAR........encapsulation of the things we should all do to lose weight and keep fit. Anything and everything I have learned about fitness fit in these "rules" very, very well. I have sent this to a fair number of people, and without exception, EVERY one of them has lost significant excess weight and is far, far healthier.......and in a way they can so easily live with on a daily basis.
Therefore, I'm sharing this with all of you in the hope that it may help one or two of you. I can only promise that if you print this out, tape it to your refrigerator, and diligently follow what you read here..........you will feel sooooooo much better in such a relatively short period of time, you simply won't believe it.
Top 10 Ways to Drop the Fat by Cathryn Majorossy
1. Eat 4-6 small meals per day. Spread your calories out evenly during the day to help keep your metabolism moving and your energy levels naturally high. Try to target balancing each meal so that they contain roughly the same amount of calories. Meal replacements and nutrition bars are an easy way to supplement up to 3 meals per day.
2. Balance each meal with protein, carbs and fat. By providing reasonable amounts of these three essential nutrients at each meal, your body will have the fuel it needs to run at an optimum level. Balancing the nutritional make-up of your meals also helps prevent the storage of body fat.
Preferred sources of protein: fish, lean meat, chicken, eggs, turkey, lean pork, protein powders. Preferred sources of carbohydrates: fruit, vegetables, beans, whole grains. Preferred sources of fats: olive oil, nuts, fish oils, canola oil.
3. Choose the right carbohydrates. When constructing your meals, select complex carbohydrates that are “colorful” and high in fiber (like fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts). Try to avoid highly processed carbohydrates like pasta, bagels, crackers, chips, soda and candy. Highly processed carbs have little nutritional value and can easily be stored as body fat. If it’s a carbohydrate and it comes in a bag or a box, you should be suspect.
4. Don’t forget completely about the fat. Despite the hype in the 80’s and 90’s, fat IS an important part of everyone’s diet and is necessary for fat loss. It may sound strange but it is the reality. One benefit is that fat is slow to digest so it makes you feel full and thus you eat less. Fat also helps in proper digestion of carbs and protein; without it your body cannot process food efficiently. The key is to select foods that are rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These include salmon, mackerel, almonds, walnuts, olive and canola oils.
5. Eat until you are no longer hungry, not until you are stuffed full. A common mistake people make in their everyday eating habits is that they just eat too much. They eat until they are literally bursting at the waistline. You don’t need to be stuffed at every meal, or eat every bite . . . despite what your mom told you, it is ok to leave food on your plate. Even better, don’t put so much on your plate in the first place. Keep your portion sizes under control If you find yourself eating for no reason, or you just can’t stop, you are probably eating to fill a void in your life, as many people do. Taking some time to evaluate the areas of your life that are making you unhappy may help. Food is not the answer, and overeating always results in feeling worse.
6. Don’t cut your calories too low. Drastic calorie cutting attempts usually result in failure. If you are looking for lasting results and not just a quick fix, then your best bet is to aim for about 2/3 of your “normal” caloric, or food, intake. Putting your body into starvation mode will ultimately derail your weight loss attempts. Your body will fight back by trying to hold onto your fat even more tightly! Slow and steady wins the weight loss war.
7. Give yourself one, and just one, splurge day per week. If you are eating “clean” 6 days a week, you deserve a splurge day. Pick one day per week and save up all your cravings for that special day. Make a chocolate dessert, or have some extra pasta with dinner. Whatever it is, after 6 days of keeping your diet in order and keeping focused on your ultimate goal, you not only deserve a day of eating some of your favorite foods, but your body can also completely handle it. Remember, you cannot gain a significant amount of body fat in just one day. It takes months, in most cases, years of poor eating to add that weight. One splurge day a week is acceptable and even helpful; just make sure when the next day comes around, you get back in the saddle again and get ready for 6 more days of good clean eating and weight loss progress.
8. Get your body moving with exercise. You will not reach your fat loss goals without getting your body in motion. Exercise helps you burn calories more efficiently, improves blood circulation to all parts of your body (including your brain), helps your skin stay young looking, and even improves bone strength. Just 3 or 4 workouts per week is enough to get some truly life-changing benefits from exercise. There are so many types of activities you can participate in. There’s no excuse. Weight training exercises are great for both men and women to build muscle strength. The more muscle your body has, the more calories it burns per day. Cardiovascular exercise is a great way to get your blood pumpin’ and your energy levels high. And you can do some of your exercise outdoors and breathe in some of that fresh air too!
9. Drink plenty of water. Drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day is essential for fat loss. Water helps your digestion, helps you feel energized, gives you a feeling of fullness and keeps you looking young. In addition, water seems to act as a natural appetite suppressant. In fact, people on diets who do not increase their water intake will find themselves feeling “hungry” much more often and more severely than those who do up their water consumption.
One possible reason for this is that dieters are getting less water from their food, because they’re eating less food, so the body is actually craving fluid. These cravings can be significantly curbed with increased water intake.
10. Supplement wisely. The JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) now recommends a multi vitamin/mineral complex for all healthy adults. Also, a quality weight loss supplement may aid in your efforts and help you finally get rid of that unwanted fat. (Note: weight loss supplements work well only in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise program).
ping......as you requested
I stopped right there. That's what most people do and get fat: meal, snack, snack, meal, snack, snack, meal! No! (personal opinion.)
ping......per your request
No. It's all in WHAT you eat.
It really is that simple. I would just offer an addendum to #8. Focus on your breathing and take in as much air as you can. Being better ventilatied well help metabolize more fat quicker.
I have GOT to start drinking more water and less Diet Coke. I have a feeling that would be five pounds right there.
What happened to turning off the tube and going for a walk???
Eat to live; Not live to eat..!
Sumo wrestlers eat up to nine square meals a day...I'm thinking that eating more often would HAVE to mean eating small snacks throughout the day, as opposed to actual meals.
I had it backwards. I eat 6 splurge meals a week.
You're actually very close. These are SMALL meals; more along the lines of what you and I would normally consider a "snack". To me........just me, now...........a protein shake is very filling and I easily count it as one of my "meals". I have one right before and right after each visit to the weight room at the YMCA (5 days a week; not necessary to do that much, though).
Think.........a tuna salad. Tuna on a bed of greens. Lots of folks grill up chicken breasts on the weekend, refrigerate them, and cut them up onto salads for meals during the week. You get the idea. SMALL 'meals'.
Not watching your diet, you could make the same mistake I used to make and go run hardcore, then stuff yourself when you get home. The result....you're still fat, except you can run good.
I found, as I got into my thirties, that making dinner my big meal of the day was a mistake, and have come to believe that anything eaten after, say, 8 PM is going to be stored as fat, because very few calories are burned while asleep.
The same thing struck me! Snacking and picking are surefire weight gainers, IMO. She also forgot to mention that it doesn't hurt a lot of us to cut back on drinking if you want to lose weight. And sodas, for that matter.
What a great idea! Bring along a good portable music player (I'm using a skip-protected CD player nowadays) and listen to music while doing long, long walks. I usually walk about 40-50 minutes a day for good exercise. 
Have you had weight loss success? I have been working out at Curves for the past month, and my resting heart rate has gone from 72 to 60 in that time.
Think of the meals you currently eat and cut it by about half. You could actually eat a little more than that in each meal because eating more meals eventually increases your motabolism.
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