Don't Diet - Live It Weight Control & Management Tips

After a recent "Behavior Management" class I realized that many of the same techniques used for behavioral patients could also be used for weight control. Start slow, introduce new things gradually, give each step a chance to work, repeat the step until it's natural not forced, if it's just doesn't work don't beat yourself up over it simply adjust and try something else.

Do NOT "Go on a diet"!
What is the first word in "diet"? Die! And, "go on" implies eventually "going off". Instead think of it as adjusting your life style, habits, environment, and behavior for a happier, healthier LIFE!

If your goal is to loss weight always, always remember -
You didn't gain this weight over night so do not expect to loss it over night. Not only will you be setting yourself up for defeat but you could be tempted to try some very not healthy actions that could result in damaging your body more than the extra weight would. Before making changes to your body please talk with your physician. He/She should know your body, sometimes better than you do, and can help you decide what is best for YOU. I do not recommend making any drastic changes without checking first that it will be beneficial to you and your body.

But nothing is impossible for God.
Luke 1:37

The following "tips" are things I have found here and there over the years.
I am certainly not an expert, unless you count experience, am not a health nut, and certainly am not an exercise freak. The best advice I can give to anyone is "in all things moderation". Don't throw out all the "fat food" in your house - you'll just go buy more tomorrow. Don't jump out of bed and run 5 miles if you haven't walked 1 mile in years - you'll only be so sore the next day you won't walk for a week. Don't fall for the many fad diets that are available - you will only be disappointed in the long run. The following list seems to grow as I go so feel free to stop back occasionally to see if anything has been added. DO NOT take this list and try to do everything at once. I suggest reading through the list (printing it out can be really helpful) and pick 3-5 things that YOU think YOU can do easily. Once you are comfortable with those things add a couple more until YOU feel YOUR life is the way YOU would like it to be, you've lost the weight you would like to, or YOU think you can live forever where YOU are. For some people this might be simply adding more water to your daily habit or doing 10 leg lifts a day. Others may in time want to do more. It's YOUR life and YOUR body YOU need to be happy with it.

20. Pass up fatty munchies, particularly peanuts, chips and dips.
21. Attending parties can be a challenge. Granted, when someone else is throwing the party, you have less control over the menu. In that case, make sure you do not arrive starving. A piece of fruit beforehand will take the edge off your hunger and make it easier not to eat everything in sight. Since it's not polite to show up at a party empty handed, bring something healthy like a fruit or garden salad with low fat dressing.
22. Sit down to eat, in a settled atmosphere. It is best not to eat if you feel upset.
23. It is good to have a little cayenne pepper on your food, this is stimulator of the digestive system. As is ginger and most spicy food.
24. If you can be bothered, make a mixture of fresh grated ginger and lemon (equal amounts) and eat a teaspoonful about five minutes before your meal.
25. Eat food that is as fresh and natural as possible. Avoid processed food.
26. Stretch your meals to, at least, 20 minutes or longer. Your stomach, mouth and brain are all connected and it takes 20 minutes of chewing before your stomach signals your brain that you are full. To feel full and successfully lose weight on any weight loss program, you need to eat slowly for 20 minutes or longer.
27. The more positive your self-esteem, the better you feel about yourself, the faster and easier it will be for you to lose weight. When you are self-confident, you are better able to take charge of your life. It also means that after you lose weight, it will stay gone permanently. Think of something you are happy with and concentrate on that quality.
28. When you go fat free or low fat, you also cut out much of the taste of the foods you eat. Add the flavor back with herbs and spices. Strong flavors such as vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cayenne, curry powder, rosemary and tarragon can be used to doctor up any food you are eating. For your low fat and fat free diets, experiment with different herbs and spices until you find some you like. Staying on your fat free or low fat diet will be easier and your weight loss will be speeded up.
29. Increase your metabolism by as much as 40% by using hot and spicy foods such as hot peppers of all varieties and mustards. Research shows these foods all increase your metabolism. For double duty, give up fat filled mayonnaise for mustard and add hot peppers to your food for greater flavor and increased metabolism.

30. Negative emotions will also interfere with your weight loss program. Think Positive! It's difficult to stay motivated to lose weight when you feel bad. Overeating often accompanies negative emotions such as depression, anxiety, fear, guilt and anger. If this is true for you, begin a stress management program including some exercise and relaxation exercises.
31. To lose weight faster, reduce your intake of caffeine. Caffeine leads to an increase of insulin in your body, which retards the burning of your stored fat. This is a simple chemical reaction in your body that you can change. Reduce your caffeine intake by 50% and see what happens. This is sometimes a struggle for me - I love my Diet Pepsi…. A good way to cut back is simply look at what you do now. If you start your day with a pot of coffee or 2 liter of soda - cut back to half. Big tip though when limiting caffeine don't attempt to cut it out completely in one day - you WILL have side effects, biggest for me were horrid headaches that nothing could fix, a quick fix of Pepsi and the headaches were gone within a half hour. If you notice anything like that cut back slower. But DO cut back!
32. Exercise is probably the most important key to increasing your metabolism and burning off excess fat. Research shows that you burn more stored fat for energy when you do aerobic exercises on an empty stomach than on a full stomach. Research also shows that you burn more stored fat when you exercise late in the day rather than in the morning. Put together, the best time to exercise to lose weight by burning your stored fat is in the late afternoon/early evening before dinner. Second best is in the morning before breakfast. Our metabolism naturally starts to slow down about 8 hours after we wake up. Thirty minutes of aerobic exercises in the evening, before dinner, will not only burn off stored fat but it increases your metabolism for about two to three more hours just when it was starting to slow down. This produces a significant increase in fat burned off, even after the exercise is over.
33. Get enough sleep! Preferably 8 hours per day. When your body doesn't get enough rest it slows itself down to conserve energy which includes slowing down your metabolism and thus not burning calories.
34. Don't wait too late in the evening to exercise. Exercise speeds up your metabolism but by waiting to late your body may not be ready to settle down for the night when it's time to sleep causing you not to get enough rest.
35. If you don't already, invest in a multivitamin. Don't bother with the high priced name brands - the less expensive store brands are just as good. I personally take one that is a "Complete Formula for Women" and believe me I can tell a difference the days I forget to take it. Remember, vitamins are supplements, not replacements.
36. Get a friend to help you! If there is someone willing to make similar changes to their life great - it's always nicer when you have company. If not then ask someone to be your support person. That does not mean they should call you everyday asking how much you lost or how much you ate. You need someone to talk to if you get discouraged, to bounce ideas off, and that will encourage you along the way to changing your life for the better. If you do not have anyone in your life that fits this bill then no need to get discouraged - contact me and I will do my best to be there for you via email. (See Below)
37. Set a goal for yourself then cut it in half! Why do this? Because it's human nature to expect more of ourselves. By cutting that goal in half it make is twice as easy to obtain thus giving yourself more motivation. If once you met that "half-goal" your still not where you want to be then go ahead and set a second goal - and do the same thing, cut it in half!

More on Water for Weight Loss
Nothing quells the appetite like water, lots and lots of water. Start out with two quart bottles in the morning and carry one with you to work or wherever you go. If you like, divvy up the 64 ounces of water into eight (8-ounce) bottles or four pint (16-ounce) bottles to carry around with you all day. Freeze half of them the night before and they will last all day, even in a hot car. Keep some unfrozen so they will be ready to drink immediately.
Yes. You will have to make more frequent trips to the bathroom, but it is worth it. Drink your 64 ounces of water before dinner, if possible, so you're not up half the night going to the bathroom.
Water not only fills you up and lessens your appetite, it prevents those "hungry horrors" we all encounter when our blood sugar drops and we reach for cookies, candy, ice cream, fries or other high-calorie treats. Water also flushes out the system, rids the body of bloat and toxins and rosies up the complexion. Now, start splashing.

Helpful Herbs and Spices
Cinnamon - Stimulant, carminative
Cayenne - Stimulant, circulatory tonic
Mustard - Stimulant
Ginger - Stimulant, carminative
Ginkgo biloba - Circulation

Cabbage Soup
Some years back I was wanting to loss 10 lb. In conversation with several co-workers they too want to lose some weight. One of the ladies had just heard about this "great diet", the Cabbage Soup Diet….. guaranteed you would lose lots in a short period of time. The general idea was you ate all the fruit you wanted one day, all the vegies you wanted the next, and ate all the cabbage soup you wanted. Well, we all went together (5 or 6 of us) and to make it fun each day each of us brought 1 idem of the day (fruit, vegetable and such). It was great, we got variety without spending a fortune on different things, we all lost weight, and within 2 weeks we all tired of it and stopped. Only to gain back the weight lost and several gained more back. The only thing I took away from that fad diet that was good was the soup recipe (included below). The diet is not healthy but the soup does have some good qualities, low in calories, high in fiber, filling, and it's good (adding red or cayenne pepper not only gives it a zippy flavor but also speeds your metabolism). Go ahead and cook up a batch if you'd like then freeze in small portions to add to lunches as desired or even for mid-morning or afternoon snack

Recipe for Cabbage Soup

1 package of Lipton soup mix
2 bouillon cubes for flavoring - either chicken or beef flavored
1 stick of celery (not the whole stalk) - diced
1/2 head of green cabbage - diced
3 carrots - sliced
2 bell peppers - any color - sliced
6 large green onions, or 1 large yellow, white or purple onion - diced
2 cans of tomatoes - either diced or whole
Cooking Spray

Salts, pepper, parsley, garlic powder to taste, use any seasoning that you like to add flavor.

Spray large pot with cooking spray. Sauté onions, peppers and carrots until tender. Add cabbage and about 12 cups of water. Toss in bullion cubes, soup mix and seasonings. Cook until soup reaches desired tenderness; add tomatoes. Soup can be re-heated and contains very few calories but several good vitamins.