Get Fit Slowly

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Like I’ve said earlier, I’ve successfully lost weight before. This time, I plan to use some of the same methods that have worked for me in the past, as well as incorporate some new ones. (Items in bold are new things I’m going to try)

Drink Water!:

The more you drink, the fuller you feel! This really works, once you trick yourself that water tastes better than ice cream, that is. There are many online calculators out there to help you determine how much water you need to drink per day. A quick google search led me back to My Food Diary which gave me 2 easy ways to do the calculation. Unfortunately, they give me two very different answers. One of the methods tells me I need almost fourteen 8 oz glasses a day! The other mandates just over eight glasses. I think I’ll shoot for the latter and be happy if I make it to ten glasses.

Exercise more!
The more you exercise, the more calories you burn and the less time you spend eating! Conventional wisdom says don’t get stuck in a rut. Find an exercise you like doing. If exercise is a chore, or a job, or a bore, then you’ll find some excuse to not do it. Exercise tips the energy scale into a calorie deficit quickly. If you think you can lose weight with diet alone, you’re right. But for many, the reason we’re fat isn’t because we eat too much, it’s because we eat more than is required for our body’s activity level. Another way to look at it for all you food addicts (myself included) is this: If you exercise more, you can eat more and still maintain a healthy balance between calories ingested and calories expended.

Keep a food diary!
Do you really know how many calories you eat in a day? I didn’t think so. Most everything you put in your mouth has calories. They add up, they make you fat. Keep track of what you eat, down to the last calorie. Keep track of what activities you do, down to the last calorie. Find the difference between the numbers and you can estimate how fast you’ll lose (or gain) weight. But more importantly, you’ll know just how much fuel you give yourself every day and you’ll finally understand why you’re the way you are. It’s hard, it’s a lot of work, but I think it’s worth it. I just wish I did it.

Stay on target!
Is the goal to get smaller? NO. The goal is to get healthier. Smaller is a side effect of healthier. Try and think of food in terms of supplying your body with the nutrients it needs to keep if functioning efficiently. Don’t think of food in terms of how it effects your body size, this just leads to feelings of guilt. If you eat something unhealthy, ask yourself what it’s going to do for (or to) your body. Maybe next time you’ll make a better choice.

Find some buddies!
Buddies work wonders. They guilt you into getting your ass on the treadmill. They guilt you into not eating that fried snickers at the county fair. They encourage you when you’re feeling like a failure. They make workouts bearable. If you work together with someone that shares a common goal, you succeed and fail together and that makes this goal of getting fit slowly much easier to deal with. Try weightlossbuddy.com or check out yahoo groups. There are over 8000 different weight loss groups there. I’m sure you can find someone to share your burden.

If you try these things, they’ll help you achieve your goals. Get in the habit of doing them and they’ll soon be second nature; you won’t have to force yourself to do them any more. You’re on your way to a healthier body.