Eat It!

Ok, I did it again. I had to lower my calorie intake because I just am having trouble getting into the habit of eating EEK! The thought of breakfast just makes me frown. I will drink coffee though, but that doesn't have near enough calories.

Journaling has told me that I eat when I can't stand it anymore, binging.

So Here Is My Day Yesterday: (I was on the road)

Breakfast: Coffee with Sugar Free Creamer

Lunch: Rootbeer & Pulled Pork Sammy on Kaiser

Snack: Handful of BBQ Chips

Supper: Breaded Pork Chops and Velveeta Shells & Cheese

Today So Far:

Breakfast: Coffee with Sugar Free Vanilla Creamer

Lunch: Ham & Colby Cheese Sammy on Honey Wheat Bread & Pepsi

Weight Loss: 1 pound

Did you know that when you eat 3 meals a day, with snacks in between it helps control your blood sugar. When you control your blood sugar, you don't get those starvation pains where your body is telling you that it needs food, therefore controlling your binge eating.

Signs of Low Blood Sugar: Sweating, headache, lightheadedness, dizzy, hungry, shaky/tremors, nausea

Also, by eating 3 meals a day with snacks in between, you keep your metabolism active, therefore increasing your weight loss.

How are you doing?

I've Got An App For That!

www.myfitnesspal.com

My Fitness Pal App for Smartphones|Ipads|Kindle Fire

Did you know they had an app for that? Counting calories is going to be key in my weight loss goals. Even though I did a post "Stop Counting Calories Now", I like to do it to help me eat more. My Fitness Pal not only counts calories, but it's the easiest thing in the world to use. Guess what? You can even look back on it to help you in your journaling! You know? In case you forgot it at home, left it on the bus, burned it in the bathroom (I get disgusted sometimes too). 

The best part, first of all - IT'S FREE! 

Second, you can just type in what you ate and it gives you a list of foods, brand names and all, to add to your list of foods that you ate for breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, and even drinks. Heck, it even has Vanilla Iced Coffee with cream & sugar from Dunk'n Donuts! HA! 

It counts your calories and you can see when you reach your calorie count. My problem, I never reach it cause I have a bad habit of not eating enough. My calorie count is supposed to be 2400, but I dropped it to 2000 because I'm having a hard time meeting that goal. Something to work on, I know. 

Have you tried it, or are you going to? I'd love to hear your thoughts - comment me.

You can also join me on Facebook, I'd love to see you there.

First Things First! On the Road to Losing Weight

Weight Loss For Real


If you're serious about losing weight, and I mean really serious, then here are some great tips to get you started.


First Things First

The first step to weight loss is to journal. Go out and buy yourself a pretty little journal from Walmart or Barnes and Noble, make sure it's one that you just love. You want to enjoy how it looks so you're more comfortable writing in it.

Utensils


Really it's just a pen. But again, make it one that you love. How does it write? Is it fat enough, skinny enough, does it feel great in your hand? Is the point tiny and thin, or thick and smooth? Personally, I love me a big fat pen that writes thick and smooth. Dark is always good for me too.

Food Journal

This is when the fun begins. If you truly want to lose weight, you want to figure out what your daily routine is first. We all go through a day and have no idea what we eat, when we eat, how we eat, or why we eat. Every time you put something in your mouth, whether it's food, a drink, candy, gum, or chewing tobacco - write it down. Don't just write down what you're eating though, write down the time of day, what you are feeling at the time you are eating, drinking or chewing, and be honest with your emotions. Carry your journal with you everywhere you go, you just never know when you will need it. Most importantly, don't forget to write it down each and every time.

Do this for an entire week, for a full 7 days. At the end of each day, go over it and see what happened throughout the day. At the end of the week, take a long hard look at what your habits are. Make a mental note of when you stress eat, binge eat, emotionally eat, and prepare yourself to watch for these triggers in the future.

By journaling, you will give yourself an idea of where your problematic areas are and what triggers cause you to eat most.  This will be perfect for future weight loss goals.

Buddy System

It's always better when you start a weight loss program to have a support system. Grab a friend and team up to lose the weight together. I want in. If you would like to start together, comment me and we can be buddy's. I'm getting married and want to fit into my dress and would love a partner!

Here's to a happier, thinner Us!

It's Not The Calories, but The Content Of What You Eat

The way to cure Obesity is not always by lowering your Daily Calories, and here's why...



Haven't you ever wondered why some people are naturally overweight while other people can remain skinny while eating twice as much?

The truth is that your total "daily calories" is not the deciding factor in whether you're overweight or skinny.

You see, there are 3 main types of calories that you can eat each day. 

First, there is protein... 

Next, there are carbohydrates (carbs)... 

And finally there are fat calories...

The truth is that your body doesn't pay attention to how many daily calories are eaten, but rather your body pays attention to how much of EACH TYPE of calorie that you consume.

For example, if you eat too many sugar based calories (sugar is common in fat free foods) then your body won't be able to use all of those sugar calories, and the excess calories will be stored as fat tissue.

This can happen even if you didn't eat very many daily calories, because if you eat too many "wrong" calories then you'll get fat.  This is why many obese people remain overweight their whole lives even though they eat less than some of their skinny friends and family members.

...And it doesn't have to be this way, because even though it's true that some people have slower metabolisms (and suffer from obesity) they can still get just as skinny as their friends if they just learn to EAT THE RIGHT TYPES OF CALORIES EACH DAY.

You see, your body needs protein, carbs and fat calories too.  Your body needs all 3 types of calories, but it does not need them all in the same proportions at every meal.

Certain types of fat calories can speed up weight loss believe it or not, while other types of "fat free foods" will actually make you overweight if you eat them too often.

Why else do you think that losing weight is so difficult?  Why else do you think that our society is suffering from a serious obesity problem which is getting worse?

It's because the ANSWER to weight loss is the OPPOSITE of what most people think.  Most average people have been brought up to believe that eating "fat" is bad and that eating "fat free foods" is healthy.

That may "seem" logical at first, but in reality the opposite is often true.  Eating "fat" does not automatically turn to fat tissue on your body, and eating "fat free" does not automatically cause weight loss to happen either.

To begin losing weight you must realize this fact and open your mind to a new way of dieting.

If you want to lose weight fast then you must learn to eat foods which have fat burning properties, and these are foods which keep your blood sugar level more stable throughout the day.  

You see, if you eat foods which cause your blood sugar level to spike upwards too sharply then you'll feel "energetic" for a short while -- but then afterwards your blood sugar level will drop way too low and you'll feel tired and lethargic for the rest of the day.

The higher your blood sugar rises after a meal, then the lower it will drop afterward.  ...And when it drops you'll feel tired and hungry all over again.  This is why obese people often suffer from "highs and lows" in their energy level.  

But if you begin eating fat burning foods (which keep your blood sugar level stable throughout the day) then your energy will be steady all day long, you'll have plenty of energy and you won't ever feel tired of lethargic.

Also, when your blood sugar level is kept stable then your body's natural fat burning engine will begin burning more fat tissue.  That's why these are called "fat burning foods".

To learn which fat burning foods you need to eat to begin losing weight, we recommend using our new online diet right here.

Are Low Carb Diets Good or Bad for Weight Loss Success?



Everybody has heard of “low carb" diets -- since they are emerging as the newest trend in dieting.

But do they really work? ...And if so, are they the solution to weight loss that everybody is looking for?

We don’t think so, because most low carb diets have several problems which make losing weight very difficult for the “average” dieter.

For example, if you follow the Atkins diet (a popular low carb program) then the restriction on carbs for the first couple weeks is very severe (by almost any standards). 

The Atkins program allows just 20 grams of "net carbs" per day during the first phase of the diet (which usually lasts for 2 weeks).

Just to give you an idea of how few carbs that really is – even a large apple has more than 20 grams of "net carbs".

This low level of carbs is often too severe for the “average” dieter to tolerate for 2 weeks straight, and in fact eating such a low level of carbs can make a person feel “weak” and “miserable” all day long (because your body needs more carbs than that for energy). 

Other low carb diets (such as the South Beach Diet) are not quite as severe as the Atkins Plan, but in our opinion even the South Beach Diet is not as easy to follow as it could be. 

We believe that a successful diet needs to be easy to follow – because that’s the only way that people will stick to the diet and lose weight. 

We believe that diets should not make average people feel “miserable” and “weak” all day long, because if a diet makes people feel miserable and weak then it’s going to be very difficult for average dieters to adhere to such programs. 

We’re not saying that all low carb diets are as restrictive as the Atkins Diet is, but we're saying that most low carb diets are so hard to follow that “average dieters” will probably wind up feeling hungry and weak all day long (which is not a good thing for dieting success in our opinion).

We believe that “low carbs” is not the answer to losing weight, since your body needs a reasonable amount of all 3 types of calories to lose weight consistently (protein, carbs, and fat). 

The truth is that your body needs a reasonable amount of protein, carbs and fat calories too. 

To lose weight quickly you must eat all 3 types of calories in the right proportions, and that’s why most dieters fail. They fail because nobody knows what the right proportions of calories should be.

To begin losing weight fast we recommend using the new Fat Burning Diet shown below -- since there are no specific "portion limits" at any meal (and dieters can eat as much as they need to at each meal).   Also, unlimited amounts of certain condiments can be eaten with every meal. 

This is a brand new type of diet never seen before.

You can begin this new diet right here.

Stop Counting Calories Now!

Why Calorie Counting Doesn’t Work for Weight Loss...


Most people believe that calories are the "enemy", since eating excess calories leads to excess fat, right?   That’s why most people believe that the fastest way to lose weight is to cut way back on calories each day.

After all, if a dieter is eating 2,500 calories per day and they decide to cut back to 1,500 calories per day – then obviously those extra 1,000 calories have to result in weight loss, right?

Well, actually this is not exactly true.

In fact, if you try to cut your calories too much (via starving yourself and skipping meals) then you'll quickly reach a dieting "plateau" (a point where the scale refuses to drop any lower no matter how little your are eating).

Firstly, let’s talk about how the average person begins a new diet...

The scenario usually sounds something like this...

One day you look in the mirror and see that your clothes are fitting tighter than normal, and you look more overweight than normal. ...And on this day you get “angry” with yourself, you’re angry with what you see in the mirror – and you decide that you’re going to lose weight no matter what it takes.

You are filled with lots of motivation and anger on this day, and you feel determined to do whatever it takes to get slimmer.

So what's the first thing you do?

...You begin skipping meals and cutting way back on calories in an attempt to starve yourself thinner, since you're convinced that calories are the enemy.

Anyway, the above scenario is how you begin your “starvation diet.”

On the first day of dieting you feel so “motivated” to lose weight that you decide to skip breakfast.

Unfortunately, this motivation doesn't last for long, because after a few hours your hunger begins making you feel weak -- because your body is not accustomed to "skipping meals" like this, and your body is not accustomed to being without calories for so long.

Anyway, by the time lunchtime arrives you’re so hungry (and weak) that you feel absolutely miserable --- but yet you bravely tell yourself that you can handle this diet (because after all, you certainly don’t want to feel like a quitter).

So you perhaps have a piece of fruit for lunch (or perhaps another small food item instead), since you're still convinced that you can starve yourself thinner.

Finally, hours later when dinnertime arrives you’re so miserable and hungry that you have a major headache – and this is the moment when you finally begin to realize that starving yourself might not be such a good idea after all.

After this first day of starving yourself you feel horrible, but you’re determined to stick to your diet since you don't want to be a quitter so soon -- so you’ll likely hold out for another few days on this diet.

Or, if you are particularly brave then you may even hold out for a week or two.

However, regardless of how long you actually hold out -- you won't get any slimmer and the final result will still be the same.

You see, even after two weeks of starving yourself you won’t have achieved any serious weight loss at all.  In fact, your body will still look the same when you look in the mirror.

Why is this true?

This is true because most of the weight lost during a “starvation diet” is just water weight, and not real fat loss.

You must remember that any “water weight” lost during a starvation diet will be gained back immediately when you stop dieting and start eating normally again.

Also, whenever you starve yourself you cause a “hidden” factor to come into play...

You see, whenever you starve yourself your body will begin burning fewer calories each day.

For instance, let’s say that you normally eat about 3,,000 calories per day.

....But then you suddenly cut way back on calories -- so that you're now eating only 1,000 calories per day.

Guess what happens?

Even though you’re eating 2,000 fewer calories per day your body will begin burning 2,000 fewer calories per day – so in reality your weight will remain the same even though you’re eating 2,000 fewer calories per day.

When this happens the scale will stop going down regardless of how little you are eating each day, and this is known as a weight loss “plateau.”

This is why most starvation dieters cannot make the scale go down anymore after just two weeks of dieting. They all hit a “plateau” where the scale just refuses to go down any further, no matter how little they are eating each day.

Now you know why you’ve always failed when trying to starve yourself in the past, since it’s just not possible to lose weight by starving yourself.

The truth is that “serious” weight loss can never be achieved by starvation dieting.

Serious weight loss can only be achieved by giving your body the right types of calories at the correct times each day, which is something that we talk about below...

Your body is actually like a big “engine” -- and the truth is that your body needs all 3 types of calories (protein, carbs, and fat) to some degree.

To begin losing weight fast we recommend using the new Fat Burning Diet from Fat Loss 4 Idiots -- because it does not require any calorie counting (it's one of the only diets in the world which forces fast weight loss without the need to count calories). 

You can begin this new diet right here.

Artichoke-Scrambled Eggs Benedict

INGREDIENTS

8 canned artichoke bottoms, (1 1/2 cans), rinsed (see Shopping Tip)

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

3 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano, divided, plus 4 sprigs for garnish

1/3 cup chopped pancetta

2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise

2 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon water

6 large eggs

• 4 large egg whites
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese, (Neufchâtel)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Toss artichoke bottoms with 2 teaspoons oil and 2 teaspoons oregano. Place them top-side down on half of a large baking sheet. Spread pancetta in an even layer on the other half. Roast until the artichokes are just beginning to brown and the pancetta is crispy, 12 to 14 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, whisk mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice and water in a small bowl until smooth. Beat eggs and egg whites in a large bowl.
4. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the eggs and cook, folding and stirring frequently with a heatproof rubber spatula until almost set, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and fold in cream cheese, the remaining 1 teaspoon oregano and salt.
5. To serve, divide the artichoke bottoms among 4 plates. Top each artichoke with equal portions scrambled egg, crispy pancetta and creamy lemon sauce. Garnish with oregano sprigs, if desired.

http://www.eatingwell.com