Weight Loss Intro - week 1

There are a million websites and books and forums and organizations out there talking about how to loose weight. Some of it is good info but, a lot of it is crap.

But, when you're getting started, it's hard to know where to get started. Lots of the good info out there is too vague. How do you get started? What does this mean to you? What do all these terms mean? I recently read a book (Choke: What the secrets of the brain reveal about getting it right when you have to) which talked about how once you master something, you begin to lose all the little steps that it took you to master it. Therefore, you lose some of the insights that would be useful to teaching another person.

One of the reasons that I started this blog was I wanted to show people that any one can do this stuff. Whether it is losing weight, racing a triathlon, or what ever you dream of, it is in all of us to shine.

Before I get started, let me make it clear.

• I AM NOT A TRAINED DIETICIAN. 
• I AM NOT A DOCTOR
• BEFORE EMBARKING ON ANY WEIGHT LOSS OR EXERCISE PLAN, TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR. Your doctor is a partner in your health. Don't shut him/her out. Use them!
• I HAVE NO VESTED INTEREST IN LIVESTRONG.COM, WEIGHT WATCHERS.

I believe in balanced, some what clean eating combined with exercise. Pretty much what the CDC
advises. So, if you're looking for cleansing, paleo, vegan, etc., I won't be talking about those. I also don't go in for a lot of supplementation other than a good multivitamin and a Omega-3 pill.

Without further ado, let's get started.

Recently, the results of a study was published. This study showed that with 2 groups of dieters, those that were instructed to NOT change their diet for the first 8 weeks while they learned about weight maintenance, kept the weight off longer than those that began immediately.

So what is there to learn? I mean, everyone knows it's calories in verses calories out. In the upcoming weeks, you'll see how that is just not true.

For this series, I'll be using MyPlate on Livestrong.com to explain about tracking you food intake, determining how many calories your body needs, and how exercise burns calories. You can use other calorie tracking software (or you can do it by hand) but, examples and settings will be based on MyPlate. There is also an IPhone app which I use regularly but, the set up needs to be done on the website.

Assignment:

1. Log on to Livestrong.com/myplate
2. Create an account if you don't already have one.
3. For your calorie goals, set it to maintain weight
4. Follow the instruction for Activity Level (How do I choose the right activity level)
5. Weigh yourself and enter the current weight. Be brave. It's just a number and gives you a starting point.
6. For the next week, enter every bit of food or drink you have. Be honest but, don't drive yourself crazy about it either. Also, start tracking your exercise.

DO NOT worry about what the numbers are currently adding up to. Take a casual note of what things are high calorie and high in fat. But, we haven't talked about a lot of stuff so right now you're just gathering data. Data about yourself and your habits.

As you enter the data, think about how you were feeling before and after you ate it. Did you want more? Were you stuffed when you were done? Were you nervous/bored/upset? How much sleep did you get? When did you last have a drink of water?

Be kind to yourself.