Happy New Year Resolution- The Diet
Every New Year, there are tons of diet books, exercise books and the like promising that THIS YEAR will be the year that you shape up. You will lose 20 pounds in two months, you will get fit in just six weeks, you will have the muscles of Arnold Schwarzenegger in just two months, yoga proficiency in just 3 weeks, etc, etc, etc...
Just no, okay? NO.
I am not saying it's good to make a new year's resolution for better health and a better shape. I am saying that you should not count on seeing results the way those books, videos and magazines tell you to.
I will use myself as an example.
I was nearly a size 14 this time last year and quite sick from pneumonia and out of breath just running for the bus. I made a resolution to be in better health and to lose weight- much of it put from a shitty job and terrible life circumstances. The Obama campaign and understanding my future did not lie in some crap office job filled with desperate, petty people were major motivators to take control of my own body and therefore the course of my life.
In addition to additional training for a new career I was to prepare myself for, I started my new health regime, which included cutting down on alcohol, restraint on the white flour products ( the bread and pasta and French pastries, which I thought I loved and thought I would miss horribly) increasing the veggies, and increasing the exercise.
It was all hard at first- it meant shopping more consciously, and since I live in house with housemates, it often meant eating something different from what they were eating. So instead of Fettucine Alfredo with cream and butter, garlic bread and chocolate cake for dessert, I was having kale and bean soup with a baked apple for dessert. Good, but it sticks out when eating with friends!
It also meant scheduling exercise into my day, regularly. I have not done that since college, and even then I did not stick with it due to all the athletes who monopolized the facilities (which is why to this day I will not give a penny to my alma mater- not one.) Even with being a ardent biker for errands I did not get to more than 5 miles a day- at most.
The first 3 weeks were the toughest. I was working a temp job at night, and had to remember to make food to carry with me. I had to force myself to go to the gym after working all night. And I had to remember to not patronize the vending machine. I was sore from muscles I did not know I had. I got (false)hunger pangs from not eating so much bread and pasta. I was not seeing immediate results from my exercise.
But I did have more energy, and deeper sleep.
This is what prompted me to keep with it. It was not until week 12- March, that all of sudden the weight started to truly peel off. I tweaked the diet a bit, and hired a package of trainer courses. This included weight training, stretching and plyometric exercises.
By May I was a size 8.
Then I started doing power walking in addition to my sessions in the gym, and biking more for errands and trips across town.
By July I was size 6, and I seemed to be staying there, but this month, in spite of the Holiday season, I have lost another 3 pounds, so I might be a size 4 by March.
(Seriously. I had wine, chocolates, spice cake and butter cookies- just not as much as in previous years.)
So, to recap, I lost about 35 pounds, 14 inches overall and 6 dress sizes- in the course of an entire year, not weeks or months. I don't care what The Biggest Loser shows you- all that weight did not come on immediately ( no, not even for pregnancy) and it's not going to leave immediately. And exercise is awesome and important and makes you stronger, but it will also take time for the body to show results from that.
So, if you are gonna make a resolution that THIS YEAR I WILL BE FIT DAMN IT, ignore the bullshit about 2 months or 2 weeks or 12 weeks or whatever. Those results, if true, are done using a extremely low calorie, low water diet that will cause the pounds to come back when you deviate from the extreme.
Here are my tips and links:
1) Eat 3 to 5 times a week- three full meals and two snacks. Make your snacks either fruit, salad or a broth based veggie soup.
2) Drink a liter of water every day- 2 if you are in hot climates, dry buildings or drinking coffee or caffeinated tea.
3) If you drink wine with dinner, a serving size is 4 ounces, and that is enough for your heart health. More than that seems to negate that. A great wine alternative is strongly brewed rooibos tea, pomegranate juice diluted with sparkling water (1:1), hibiscus tea infusion with ginger, black cherry juice diluted with water and lemon ( 1:4) or hey, plain water with lemon!
4) Schedule your exercise and stick to it like a doctor's appointment.
5) If you join a gym, make sure it is either close to your house or close to your work. Pack your bag and have it by the door so that you don't forget.
6) If you are not joining a gym, get your books, magazines and videos from the library and save serious money. Also, many exercise videos are available for rent. Both are great for alleviating boredom and learning something new!
7) Olive oil is wonderful, as well as coconut oil and walnut oil, for dressing veggies. Butter is good in small amounts only. Learning to love almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews and peanuts- they have fats and minerals and proteins necessary for living. Yes,they are high in calories, but again, you only need small amounts for meals and snacks.
8) Yes, this sounds old, but reduce the amount of white floury products in your diet. Get tested for gluten intolerances if you can. Learn to love oatmeal, quinoa,buckwheat, brown rice and amaranth.
9) Read your food labels on canned or frozen foods. Watch the salt, sugar and preservatives. Try to make as many meals as you can, and freeze leftovers in small containers so that you have a ready mede frozen meal.
10) Quick way to do portion sizes: make a fist. 3 fists= entree salad, 2 fists=vegetable stirfry or veggie based soup (without cream) 1 fist= meat or fish or tofu or pasta or rice. 8 oz= water or herbal tea, 4 oz= wine or juice.
11) Carry your food with you- don't rely on ready meals from the supermarket- they won't make you full and happy.
12) There is always a co worker or a acquaintance who will comment negatively. You smile and keep going with your plan. When there are candies, cookies and cakes about in the workplace, take one candy, a cookie or a thin slice of cake. Refuse seconds and say "Hey, I'm on a regime! But thanks!" Then work it off during your exercise. Carry a bag of fruit, like peaches, plums, apples, pears or kiwis and have that to snack on at work.
13) Watch the booze when out with friends. Get a mixer ( liquor +soda or diet tonic) rather than a cocktail. Or ask for tonic and bitters- you'll look sophisticated and be booze free to boot. Raise an eyebrow at the happy hour snacks. At the resturant, avoid pasta if you can, go for ordering to two (non fried) appetizers and a side salad and share dessert, and you are golden.
14) Best links for exercise:
Powerwalking
Beginning Yoga
Plyometric exercises
stretching at your desk
14a) Best links for cooking and revamping your diet:
Clean Eating magazine. Highly recommended if you are a meat eater. a great resource for recipe and ideas. I highly rec subscribing to this magazine.
Vegetarian Times magazine. Highly recced for all time wonderful veggie recipes, plus recipes for those who are dairy free/gluten free/peanut free. Excellent!
Also, please check your local library for cookbooks that will help you revamp your diet. I recommend anything put out by Rodale publishing.
15) And remember, just keep going. You did not gain the weight nor lose your zip overnight- you will not gain it back overnight either.
Here's a healthy and content New Year, everyone!
Just no, okay? NO.
I am not saying it's good to make a new year's resolution for better health and a better shape. I am saying that you should not count on seeing results the way those books, videos and magazines tell you to.
I will use myself as an example.
I was nearly a size 14 this time last year and quite sick from pneumonia and out of breath just running for the bus. I made a resolution to be in better health and to lose weight- much of it put from a shitty job and terrible life circumstances. The Obama campaign and understanding my future did not lie in some crap office job filled with desperate, petty people were major motivators to take control of my own body and therefore the course of my life.
In addition to additional training for a new career I was to prepare myself for, I started my new health regime, which included cutting down on alcohol, restraint on the white flour products ( the bread and pasta and French pastries, which I thought I loved and thought I would miss horribly) increasing the veggies, and increasing the exercise.
It was all hard at first- it meant shopping more consciously, and since I live in house with housemates, it often meant eating something different from what they were eating. So instead of Fettucine Alfredo with cream and butter, garlic bread and chocolate cake for dessert, I was having kale and bean soup with a baked apple for dessert. Good, but it sticks out when eating with friends!
It also meant scheduling exercise into my day, regularly. I have not done that since college, and even then I did not stick with it due to all the athletes who monopolized the facilities (which is why to this day I will not give a penny to my alma mater- not one.) Even with being a ardent biker for errands I did not get to more than 5 miles a day- at most.
The first 3 weeks were the toughest. I was working a temp job at night, and had to remember to make food to carry with me. I had to force myself to go to the gym after working all night. And I had to remember to not patronize the vending machine. I was sore from muscles I did not know I had. I got (false)hunger pangs from not eating so much bread and pasta. I was not seeing immediate results from my exercise.
But I did have more energy, and deeper sleep.
This is what prompted me to keep with it. It was not until week 12- March, that all of sudden the weight started to truly peel off. I tweaked the diet a bit, and hired a package of trainer courses. This included weight training, stretching and plyometric exercises.
By May I was a size 8.
Then I started doing power walking in addition to my sessions in the gym, and biking more for errands and trips across town.
By July I was size 6, and I seemed to be staying there, but this month, in spite of the Holiday season, I have lost another 3 pounds, so I might be a size 4 by March.
(Seriously. I had wine, chocolates, spice cake and butter cookies- just not as much as in previous years.)
So, to recap, I lost about 35 pounds, 14 inches overall and 6 dress sizes- in the course of an entire year, not weeks or months. I don't care what The Biggest Loser shows you- all that weight did not come on immediately ( no, not even for pregnancy) and it's not going to leave immediately. And exercise is awesome and important and makes you stronger, but it will also take time for the body to show results from that.
So, if you are gonna make a resolution that THIS YEAR I WILL BE FIT DAMN IT, ignore the bullshit about 2 months or 2 weeks or 12 weeks or whatever. Those results, if true, are done using a extremely low calorie, low water diet that will cause the pounds to come back when you deviate from the extreme.
Here are my tips and links:
1) Eat 3 to 5 times a week- three full meals and two snacks. Make your snacks either fruit, salad or a broth based veggie soup.
2) Drink a liter of water every day- 2 if you are in hot climates, dry buildings or drinking coffee or caffeinated tea.
3) If you drink wine with dinner, a serving size is 4 ounces, and that is enough for your heart health. More than that seems to negate that. A great wine alternative is strongly brewed rooibos tea, pomegranate juice diluted with sparkling water (1:1), hibiscus tea infusion with ginger, black cherry juice diluted with water and lemon ( 1:4) or hey, plain water with lemon!
4) Schedule your exercise and stick to it like a doctor's appointment.
5) If you join a gym, make sure it is either close to your house or close to your work. Pack your bag and have it by the door so that you don't forget.
6) If you are not joining a gym, get your books, magazines and videos from the library and save serious money. Also, many exercise videos are available for rent. Both are great for alleviating boredom and learning something new!
7) Olive oil is wonderful, as well as coconut oil and walnut oil, for dressing veggies. Butter is good in small amounts only. Learning to love almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews and peanuts- they have fats and minerals and proteins necessary for living. Yes,they are high in calories, but again, you only need small amounts for meals and snacks.
8) Yes, this sounds old, but reduce the amount of white floury products in your diet. Get tested for gluten intolerances if you can. Learn to love oatmeal, quinoa,buckwheat, brown rice and amaranth.
9) Read your food labels on canned or frozen foods. Watch the salt, sugar and preservatives. Try to make as many meals as you can, and freeze leftovers in small containers so that you have a ready mede frozen meal.
10) Quick way to do portion sizes: make a fist. 3 fists= entree salad, 2 fists=vegetable stirfry or veggie based soup (without cream) 1 fist= meat or fish or tofu or pasta or rice. 8 oz= water or herbal tea, 4 oz= wine or juice.
11) Carry your food with you- don't rely on ready meals from the supermarket- they won't make you full and happy.
12) There is always a co worker or a acquaintance who will comment negatively. You smile and keep going with your plan. When there are candies, cookies and cakes about in the workplace, take one candy, a cookie or a thin slice of cake. Refuse seconds and say "Hey, I'm on a regime! But thanks!" Then work it off during your exercise. Carry a bag of fruit, like peaches, plums, apples, pears or kiwis and have that to snack on at work.
13) Watch the booze when out with friends. Get a mixer ( liquor +soda or diet tonic) rather than a cocktail. Or ask for tonic and bitters- you'll look sophisticated and be booze free to boot. Raise an eyebrow at the happy hour snacks. At the resturant, avoid pasta if you can, go for ordering to two (non fried) appetizers and a side salad and share dessert, and you are golden.
14) Best links for exercise:
Powerwalking
Beginning Yoga
Plyometric exercises
stretching at your desk
14a) Best links for cooking and revamping your diet:
Clean Eating magazine. Highly recommended if you are a meat eater. a great resource for recipe and ideas. I highly rec subscribing to this magazine.
Vegetarian Times magazine. Highly recced for all time wonderful veggie recipes, plus recipes for those who are dairy free/gluten free/peanut free. Excellent!
Also, please check your local library for cookbooks that will help you revamp your diet. I recommend anything put out by Rodale publishing.
15) And remember, just keep going. You did not gain the weight nor lose your zip overnight- you will not gain it back overnight either.
Here's a healthy and content New Year, everyone!