How I did it # 1 - General guidelines

Today was my annual physical at my doctor's office in Rocklin. I know in my age group I don't necessarily need a full physical and blood work every year, but my health plan gives me a discount for doing it - and this year was a very rewarding visit. I got to see someplace other than my own records how much weight I've lost and exactly how well I'm doing. Bear in mind I've been with this doctor for about five years now so he has even more data than I do. So here are some fun stats :

Peak weight : 275 pounds (Feb 2006 - holy crap!!)
Last recorded weight : 266 pounds (Oct 2008)
Today's weight : 220 pounds (ok so my scale is accurate after all)
Total weight loss from peak: 55 pounds!!!!
Last recorded blood pressure: 130/85 (Oct 2008)
Today's blood pressure: 110/70
Last recorded resting pulse rate: 84 (Oct 2008)
Today's resting pulse rate: 60

He also handed me a lab slip for a fasting blood test which I intend to go take care of Friday morning. All in all a VERY rewarding visit, proof positive that what I've been doing is absolutely benefiting my health. He actually asked ME all sorts of questions like what worked, what was different, ok here's how you can keep it off, etc. I told him about this blog and some of the things I've been writing and researching and he commended me on being correct - especially about fad diets (see below). I'm still reserving judgment on what my lab results will look like, but the doctor certainly seems to expect really good numbers, so we'll see. Couldn't have had a better afternoon.

So that said I felt it was a good place to start the "How I did it" series I've been promising, we'll start by laying some ground rules that I enforce on myself, and my apologies if I've repeated this information before, but here goes...

Some general do's and don'ts for your new life:

• DO eat breakfast, and preferably a large one. Not only will this keep you from being hungry before lunch, it will also allow your body more time to burn off the calories with your base metabolic rate


• DON'T eat like a snake - snakes take in one big meal and then they don't eat again until they're hungry (sometimes this is a period of days). Your body is designed to store fat when food is not present, so it will not be at peak efficiency unless you are spacing your calorie intake out at a constant rate throughout the day - you want a minimum of three meals a day, as evenly spaced as possible, with no longer than 4-5 hours in between meals. For even better results, you can try splitting the same amount of food into 5-6 small meals every 2-4 hours, but honestly that does take a lot of time and effort and it's not a schedule I'm personally able to maintain over a long period - perhaps it could help you in the short term but I wouldn't recommend relying on it


• DO plan ahead for both meals and exercise AND integrate it with your schedule for the day - as a general rule, you should give yourself 60 minutes after eating before performing low-to-moderate exercise, and 2 hours before intense exercise (basic rule of thumb on intensity - if you can sing, that's low intensity; if you can't sing but can still talk somewhat, it's medium; and if you can barely talk at all, that's "intense"). Knowing that plus what you have to get accomplished for the day (three meals plus exercise plus work/kids/whatever), make a mental picture of how to fit it all in and then execute it.


• DON'T wait until you are hungry to eat - make your daily plan in the morning while you're eating breakfast and stick to it. If you wait until you're hungry, you won't be making good decisions about food, you'll be making convenient decisions because you'll want to satisfy the hunger...and 99% of the time what is convenient is going out and buying fast food. Planning ahead will cut this down to a bare minimum. Having a plan also lowers your stress level which can contribute to your body's fat-storage potential.


• DO aim for foods that are (a) natural, (b) high in fiber, and/or (c) low in fat (particularly saturated fat and trans fat). I'll cover specific substitutions tomorrow, but if the large majority of your diet follows those three rules as much as possible you'll be doing much better


• DON'T start some stupid fad diet, drink some disgusting drink or down some useless supplement you saw on TV expecting it to "save" you - I have tried: Atkins, Zone, SlimFast, South Beach, Creatine pills, Ephedra (back when it was legal), Acai berries, Dexatrim, Hoodia, Whey Protein powder, etc. etc. etc. (more listed at http://www.faddiet.com). NONE OF THESE THINGS WORK!!!!!! Almost ALL of them are marketed to show that you can get these incredible weight-loss results with no change in diet and minimal exercise. Bullshit. I know you're desperate, and I know as a FAT person that you are by design lazy and looking for something easy to help you out of your misery JUST like I was, but there is no magic pill, sorry. You may lose a few pounds temporarily with one of these witch-doctor remedies, but I guarantee you will put back on every single ounce you lose, PLUS more...AND you'll have less muscle mass at the end of it. The only way out is improving your diet and getting more exercise, period. Do not believe the hype, none of these diets are sustainable or healthy in the long-term, which is what you need to keep the weight off for good.


• DO try to get some form of exercise every day - I hate to tell you this, but losing weight is basically a zero-sum game of calories consumed vs calories burned. While it IS true that you will burn calories even at rest if you space out your meals properly and improve the quality of your diet, it probably won't be enough to lose the weight you want. In order to lose weight, you need to create a caloric deficit - that is, you need to burn more calories than you take in, and you need to do it over an extended period of time in order to see any results - preferably every day, and you WILL NOT GET THERE WITHOUT GETTING YOUR ASS OFF THE COUCH. Some recent studies promoting exercise will tell you to get 30 minutes of exercise 3-5 times a week, such as taking a walk or 5000 steps or whatever the current catch-phrase is for the day. That's not specific enough, and if taken at face value, it's not enough to get anything done either (my doctor agrees). You need at least 3-4 days per week of INTENSE exercise lasting a minimum of 30 minutes, and then as many days of the rest of the week as you can with low- to moderate-level activity. Walking is good, don't get me wrong, but doing that 3-5 times a week will only help you MAINTAIN your weight. If you want to lose weight, you have to push yourself, plain and simple. I will help you with some exercise tips later in this series.


• DON'T overdo it - ok I know that sounds oxymoronic given the last bullet point, but even when you're doing the intense exercise you want to keep it within what your body is going to be capable of handling. You do want to push yourself, but you don't want to get sick or injured either, so set your goals accordingly


• DO keep track of everything you eat and the exercise you perform. Your computer is your friend here, there's plenty of software programs out there that track calories/points/whatever. As I've mentioned frequently, I use Weight Watchers but sparkpeople.com or fitday.com would work just as well. Even writing it in a notebook is preferable to doing nothing, just be sure that you're calculating calories burned vs calories eaten. If you're writing it down, it not only allows you to plan ahead, but it makes you confront the choices you're making so that you can keep attempting to make better ones.


• DON'T think you're going to lose it all at once - you don't want to do that anyway. A normal weight loss rate is 1-2 pounds per week, it gives your body more time to adjust, lessens the possibility that you're losing muscle mass, and allows your skin to snap back instead of leaving you looking like a burlap bag of bones. Remember, you are making a change for the rest of your life, and you'll hopefully have all the time you need to get down to the weight you want. I mean look at me, I've lost 47 pounds and I'm 5 pounds away from my goal weight, but that has taken me 7 months to accomplish. Be patient.


• DO keep your expectations in line - sure everybody wants a six-pack, or a nice butt, or arms that don't flap in the breeze, whatever. You should understand that might not be totally possible for you - even if you get all the way down to your goal weight you might not look 100% perfect like you thought you would. The important thing is what is happening inside your body, and the improvements you're making in your health. If you gave me the choice of seeing my abs for 5 years vs living to 99 years old, then I hope I never see them. Never have anyway, so I'm not losing jack. To see that sort of muscle definition for men you have to be in the 10-12% body fat percentage anyway, and that just might not be in the cards for me. Will I keep trying? Probably, but I'm not crying over it :)


• DON'T beat yourself up - so you had a late night binge at Taco Bell, so what. Get back on the diet the next day and stay on track. Everyone has a weak moment, your goal is to have as few of them as possible.

That's enough for now, I'll give you round # 2 and a review of tonight's Biggest Loser in tomorrow's blog.

Diet for Tuesday 10/20/09:
Breakfast

• Fiber One original w/fat-free milk
• 4 oz orange juice w/vitaims
• Big cup of coffee
• 2 pieces wheat toast w/yogurt spread

Lunch

• Tuna sandwich on wheat
• 3 large carrots, raw, peeled

Dinner

• Turkey sandwich on wheat
• 
  
• Baked Lay's potato chips
• 1 apple
• 1 glass red wine (ok yech will not make that mistake again)

Dessert

• fat-free chocolate frozen yogurt w/Hershey's lite chocolate syrup

Exercise for Tuesday 10/20/09:

• 5 min warmup @ 3.5 mph
• 10 min stretching
• 20 minutes of the Tar Heels medicine ball workout (20 reps each exercise)
• a few minutes playing with my daughters at soccer practice

Sleep for Tuesday 10/20/09:

• 7 hours