The Life Ledger

Fitness is a way of life.

Weight Watchers ads this year are particularly masterful - they speak truths like “dieting doesn’t work” and show people eating in restaurants and lounging in coffee shops. Their message is eat what you want and still lose weight - and for a lot of people, it works well. However, when you consider the fee, it seems you are simply trading one consumption (eating) for another (spending money). At $17/mo plus the $30 join fee, participants spend a minimum of $235/year. I think it’s possible to reap the benefits Weight Watchers provides without spending a dime and joining the program by making some simple life changes - here’s how.

The lifestyle change - learn portion control.
I personally found the most important lifestyle change I made was portion control - instead of telling my body to eat more because something tasted good, I now listen to my body and stop when it’s full. Food is fuel - when I’ve topped the tank, it’s time to yank the hose. Here’s some strategies I use to help control my portion sizes:

• Drink water during a meal. When you fill up on water, you’re less likely to over-eat.
• Use small plates and start with small portions. You can always get seconds, but you’ll likely eat all your firsts.
• Eat slowly. There’s a slight delay between swallowing and recognizing satiety; slowing down your eating helps you recognize satiety before you over-eat.
• Split your meal in half. When eating out, split your meal in half and have them bag up one half before beginning to eat.

The points system - Learn how to visually recognize caloric values.
Many people succeed with Weight Watchers because it makes counting calories easier with a points system. Some weight-loss programs make counting calories even easier with pre-counted boxed meals. With a little effort, I found I could eyeball the caloric content of most foods by measuring or weighing basic ingredients in 200-calorie segments and remembering what that looked like. Sites like this one demonstrate the basic concept. For example, 200 calories of chicken is about the size of a deck of cards. Remembering how much food equals 200 calories is much easier than measuring caloric content for every meal.

The weekly meetings - Build your “accountability” community.
Eating in our country has become largely emotional - we eat at restaurants to unwind or enjoy family time, we eat as a way to deal with stress and depression, we eat special foods to celebrate holidays. The Weight Watchers program includes weekly meetings, which provides positive emotional support by stressing community and accountability - every week, members weigh-in (accountability) and talk with others struggling with the same weight-loss issues (community). Build your own accountability community by openly talking to your friends and family about your weight changes and weight struggles/accomplishments; start a walking group at work; start a blog and weight changes, struggles and accomplishments - there are many ways to hold yourself accountable to a community without joining Weight Watchers.

How about you - what are your thoughts on running your own Weight Watchers program without paying the fees?

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I could smell Sugar.

Didn’t know the source, and I really didn’t want to care. It’s a rainy day, so maybe someone brought in fresh doughnuts. That scent of the warm glaze spread through out the office, tickled my nose, made me hungry. No, that’s wrong because I had breakfast. It made me crave them. It was through concentrated effort that prevented me from tracking them down and eating like a starving man.

What’s funny is it’s not like I have great memories of doughnuts. Every Sunday morning, between church and Sunday school, I’d be able to get one and hot cocoa. It was like clock work, without fail. Being an outdoor lover, it was the only solace in having to be inside for 2hrs. And closer to present day, it was the only perk at my last job. We had limited 401k, no bonuses, no raises for 6 years across the board. But every Friday it was doughnuts. But that job was hell, and I’m very glad to be gone from there.

So what is it? Could it be that sub-consciously my body knows what that smell means? That if I was to eat one, or more, I could “feel good” for all the wonders that occur with change of blood sugar. The same could be said about my morning of coffee. Until I finish my first cup, my brain feels like mush. But sometimes even just smelling the coffee brewing, I become more alert and wired. So what is the connection? Am I nothing more that a human version of Pavlov’s dog?

At the same time man is a different animal, in that we can prioritize. Being able to control that impulse, redirect it or halt it completely in order to reach a higher goal. For me it’s fact that the past 3 days, I’ve been 203 and change. I’ve been on a hell of a plateau, and this is the closest I’ve gotten to my goal in awhile. So I said no. Prevented myself from that seductive snack, and was able to stay focused on the long term goal.

To wax abit poetic, the mind knows but the body remembers.

Step 2 - Set long-term and daily goals.
Now that you’ve recorded a starting point, it’s time to set some goals. There were three types of goals I set - goal weight, daily achievements and dream goals.

• Set a goal weight.
  

  First, you need a goal weight. Personally, I know I was pretty fit in high school when I weighed 185, so I chose that as my goal weight. If nothing else, you can use the BMI calculator from Step 1 to determine a rough estimate of your “healthy weight”, keeping in mind this is not an accurate measurement. Subtract your goal weight from your current weight, then divide by two - that’s roughly how many weeks it should take to reach your goal, assuming an average weight loss of 2lb/week . For example, last September I weighed 265 with a goal weight of 185:

  Read the rest of this entry »

  Table of contents for 10 steps to jump start your fitness

  1. 10 Steps to Jump Start Your Fitness: Step 1 - Get Started
  2. 10 Steps to Jump Start Your Fitness: Step 2 - Set Some Goals

You’ve heard it before - successful weight loss is not about dieting, it’s about making lifestyle changes. It’s easy to say, but where do you start? Here’s my list of ten steps to jump start your new fit lifestyle.

Step 1 - Calculate and record your starting points - BMI, daily caloric intake and measurements.

The first step to losing weight is to identify your starting point. It’s not enough to simply stand on a scale and record your starting weight - you should also calculate your BMI, daily caloric intake and record a couple of body measurements.

Read the rest of this entry »

The trend has reversed! I signed up with Traineo and joined the b5media group. I’m pretty impressed with Traineo, but still intend on reviewing a group of journal sites to get a feel for what is out there. I think I’ve lost sight of my caloric intake, which is why I was trending up - I’ve gotten pretty lax with snacking healthy foods (even if it’s “healthy”, it’s still got calories) and my portion sizes. It was a wake-up call to see how quickly I can start reversing all the hard work I’ve accomplished.

For exercise, I’ve got a racquetball court lined up for tonight.

I’ve started spreading the word about the Fatbloggers Gazette - you can participate by submitting an article, telling me about a good article you read or spreading the word.