A Good Week!

I’ve had a good week this week both in terms of my eating and exercising.  I’ve been really concentrating on eliminating dairy products from my diet (you can read this post for the back story on that), and on eating a lot of greens and mushrooms, With the exception of last night, I’ve done well!

Last night I had a wonderful dinner at Grissini Italian Bistro in Kennebunkport, Maine.  It was very rich (butter) and wasn’t within my new diet plan, but it was good, it included mushrooms (in the butter sauce) and I didn’t eat too much nor did I have dessert!

I also managed to get in two runs and two yoga classes this week.  The runs were great.  It is a bit painful to get back into running, but it feels good.  Running makes me feel strong and I feel like I am strengthening my heart and increasing my lung capacity.

Yoga makes me feel powerful.  It strengthens my body and calms my “inner voice” — you know that annoying internal dialogue that holds us back.  Plus the physical stretching of yoga is a great compliment to running.   It stretches out all the things that  running tightens — hamstrings, hip flexors, lower back and glutes!

Weigh This

I bought a scale today.  You may recall I got mad at mine and threw it away quite some time ago.  And now, since the gym I go to doesn’t think it is wise to have a scale in the locker room, (I guess it is too “judgmental”),  I have been scale-less for a while.

Well I’ve been exercising and eating well, and my clothes have been fitting better, so I figured it was safe to purchase a scale ….

Last night I got on the scale and wasn’t at all happy with the result (or lack of results).  I know, “it’s only a number”, “what matters is how you feel”, yeah I know.  but I’ll feel better if that  number moved in a downward direction.  I decided I’d try again in the morning.  This morning’s result was a bit better, down about 3 pounds since the fall when I started really concentrating on eating well.  I’d like to lose 3 more pounds, but I’ll give myself to mid-April or so as that is a healthy weight loss of about 1/2 a pound a week.

Forget Losing the 10 Pounds

Before we make a new year’s resolution to lose 10 pounds (again), keep in mind that ads for women’s clothes use 16-year-old models,

This model for a "women's" bathing suit, is clearly a "junior"!

And ads for prom dresses use 30-year-old models:

My high school prom picture didn't look like this!

Maybe it’s not the 10 pounds we have to lose, but rather the ads that lead to a poor body image!

An Overweight Nation

As a nation we are overweight, don’t admit it and aren’t doing anything about it!

According to a 2010 Gallup Poll, on average, 62% of Americans are overweight. Only 19% are their ideal weight and 11% are underweight.

The average man weighs 193 pounds, 12 pounds higher than the average ideal of 181. 59% of men in the US are overweight, 22% are their ideal weight and 15% are underweight.

The average woman weighs 159 pounds, 19 pounds more than the average ideal weight of 140 pounds. 60% of US women are overweight, 17% are at their ideal weight, and 9% are underweight.

Despite these facts, 57% of Americans describe their weight as “about right”! Yet, 54% of Americans say they want to lose weight, and only 27% are actively trying to do so!

Almost there!

After 2 1/2 years of bad eating and no exercise and 20 extra pounds, I started exercising, eating healthy and eating only the calories I needed. I am very happy to report that since February I have lost 10 pounds! Hey it does work. Watch your caloric intake and exercise and you can lose weight. It’s hard, but it gets easier. I have found that as I eat healthier my body begins to want to eat healthy. If I stay away from “junk food” I’m OK I don’t even want it. But if I have a small piece of cake or a cookie…I can’t stop, I want more! So, for me, it is easier to just have an apple or an orange and learn to enjoy the natural sweetness in the fruit.

Fitday.com

Here is a great tool for calorie counting….www.fitday.com

Check out this on-line calorie counter and fitness journal — it’s free.  You enter the food you eat (and the amount), and the site calculates your calories, proteins, fats, carbs, etc.  If a food isn’t listed, you can add it and add the nutritional information from the label.  You can even track your activity.

Very motivating…..

Calories in, Calories out

Losing weight is theoretically simple.  Take in less calories than you burn during the day and you will lose weight.  But how do you know how many calories you should be taking in?  Well there is a formula involving basil metabolic rate, height, ages, activity levels that is accurate for most people.

You can use one of the many calorie calculators found on the internet.  A good one I found is at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ped/content/ped_6_1x_calorie_calculator.asp You put in your weight, height, age and it will calculate the amount of calories you  need to eat to maintain your weight,or to lose weight.  You can lose weight by eating fewer calories or exercising more, or any combination of the two!

I like this calculator because it presents a reasonable number of calories.  Remember, starving yourself by eating fewer calories than your body needs is not only unhealthy, it is counter productive to losing weight.  When you eat fewer calories than you need, your body believes it is starving and actually slows down your metabolism for self defense.