Healthy Lifestyle Change and Motivation Please

www.prevention.com

Prevention magazine... is GREAT for health/diet/exercise/nutritional tips. GREAT magazine... and they have actual work out and eating plans and tips... per Doctors and studies. I have a subscription to this magazine.

I also strongly suggest you do what is called "interval training." Even athletes do this, to get in top physical shape and to lose weight. Look it up online... it is very flexible, does not take a lot of time, and can be done with a variety of exercises.

all the best,
Susan

Dear Stephanie,

Glad to know you are looking at the lifestyle change for weight management. That is where it really matters. Stress management, Low Glycemic Index eating, and proper exercise, with targeted nutritional support is really what sustains most people's weight management goals. It comes down to behavior modification.

If your body is retaining much water, have you gone on a gluten free diet ever? People who are gluten sensitive tends to retain water in their body. Since you have yo-yo dieted before, you may have messed up your metabolism already, that you need to reset that.

Our system helps people use journal to help a person form the habit of good lifestyle. I will send you some more info on this in the message.

Shi Y.

Good morning Stephanie!
Congrats on taking the first step...recognizing that you want to make a change! If you want your changes to be permanent the most important advice I can give you is to start small. Choose one thing to change, then slowly add to it.
My best recommendation on a book is Un-Dieting by Jackie Jaye-Brandt. Excellent book! Of course, I am partial because the concepts are based on intuitive eating (reconnecting your body's hunger with your brain). It makes perfect sense and I wish everyone would read it.
Exercise is a very important aspect, but your fiddle calories count too! By fiddle, I mean all of the time that we spend just sitting. Recent research suggests that one of the reasons we are "heavier" today than we were just 40 years ago is that most of us work at a desk, or have a machine that does the work for us! Again, common sense. ;-)
I do have a food diary that goes along with Intuitive Eating if you are interested, just let me know. But, I do highly recommend you check out the book, you won't be sorry.
In good health,
J.

You might want to also check out the new Weight Watchers program. They changed it completely and it is now based on how many carbs, protien, fat and fiber is in the food you are eating. You still can eat carbs but they take up a lot of your points, so you tend to limit them on this new plan. They have journals too. If you didn't lose weight on it before, did you talk with your leader as to why? If you follow the plan, you should be able to lose weight. As Weight Watchers says, it is a lifestyle not a diet. Exercise is the best way to help boost that weight loss and to maintain it too. I lost 50 pounds this year on Weight Watchers. Good Luck to you!

Here are the 2 easiest lifestyle changes I know of with the "best" results (meaning most weight loss and overall increase in health).

1) Walk.

It starts off as parking as far away as possible in the lots. Don't park right next to the store, don't look for the closest place. Look for the fathest. Walk around your block once a day. Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator. Pure and simple, walk as much as possible. ((If you're in snowy or rainy weather DO invest in snuggly boots and a weatherproof jacket. It's amazing how we DON'T dress for the weather when we go from warm house to warm car to warm building.)) These little "extras" are quite amazing. Back when it was still okay to weigh secretaries something rather extraordinary was found. When the switch was made from manual to electric typewriters... secretaries on average gained 11 pounds in that year and then stayed at that extra 11lbs for the course of their employment. Just that little bit of extra force needed for a manual key press over the course of a year meant a difference of over 10lbs.

Then, add in distance walking. (AKA walking for no other purpose other than walking... as opposed to parking farther away to get somewhere). Keep it short. No more than a half mile. Or a quarter mile. Or a block. Whatever distance is so short it feels pointless. If you feel sore the next day you went too far. And if you're tired day of you went WAY to far. Do it every day for a week. Next week, add half that distance to it. Every week, add just a little bit more. EACH time, the shift should still feel pointless. It may take you 3 months to be walking a mile. But because it's so EASY, you'll do it. Keep adding until you are up to 3-6mi every day. By that time, it should take maybe an hour to an hour and a half of your day. And you can do it with kids or after the kids are in bed. If you don't need to buy weather appropriate clothes... it's *completely* free. And if you DO need weather appropriate clothes, hey, you needed them anyway and you can use them for years.

2) try not to watch TV sitting down. Over 90% of our daily calorie expenditure is keeping ourselves upright. Not being "puddles" but the energy it takes for our muscles to hold our bones.

My FAVORITE way to watch TV not sitting down? With a broom handle over my shoulders twisting. You'll read over and over that this exercise does no good *at toning muscle*. It doesn't. Not a bit. What it DOES do is tighten you INTERIOR abdominals. The ones that hold your organs in place. You can never SEE them, but they are the ones that pull everything IN instead of making pretty 6packs. If you twist for 30-60 minutes a day with your arms draped over a broomstick make SURE you have a tape measure. Because inches MELT off of your waist. I just put on a movie, grab my headless broomstick, set it on my shoulders, drape my arms over it, and twist back and forth while watching TV. When I haven't done it for awhile (a few months) I usually end up losing 3-9 inches from my waist. All without breaking a sweat. Don't need to go fast, don't need to concentrate on anything but the show, don't need to sweat. Just don't over extend or you'll get dizzy.

<grinning> And I'm with ya! I'm looking to drop the last 50 by June. I'll be happy with 30. ((I'm 6' tall... 50lbs on me is like 20lbs on other people)).
I doubled my weight (180x2) when I was preggers. I lost 130 of it just by walking 5mi a day (had to get up there... took me 6mo) and twisting in under 2 years. Then life intervened and I've had the last 50 hanging around for over 5 years now. Time to drop it.

Cheers to lighter by summer!!!

Sparkpeople.com - you totally need this! First of all it's free - it's a whole healthy lifestyle community. There are too many amenities to list in this email, but I have been a member for 2 years now and I love it - helped me lose my baby weight and get back into shape and now I'm a runner. I have run several 5 and 10K's, one half marathon and training for more. At least check out the site, it's very motivational. Look me up when you get there, my user name is evelynmf. Good luck!!

If you want the low carb to be a lifestyle I would get South Beach Diet book and cookbooks. Their phase one is tough but after that it is more lenient. Maybe just even start out in phase 2 and then go to maintenance. You will naturally lose weight by limiting your carbs. I would encourage you to educated yourself as much as possible on why this is so that the knowledge will help you make good choices. Low carbing should def help with your blood pressure problem also.

Congratulations, Stephanie. You are on the right track. You might want to read the book South Beach Diet. He has a lot of good info in there about carbs and which ones to eat.
For exercise, I highly, highly recommend the T-Tapp videos. They are not difficult to do. I do them 15 minutes a day. I have lost 2 sizes very quickly by using this program (in a couple of months). I am now a size 8. A friend of mine started using the 15 minutes workout plus (which is what I use also), and her blood pressure went down 20 points on top and bottom in just 10 days of doing them. It is good for diabetes also. It is excellent and not difficult to do. You feel it, but it isn't highly aerobic. Here is the website if you want to take a look: http://www.t-tapp.com/
The other thing I do is use Isagenix. One negative is that it is expensive. But, it works for me. I started with their 30 day system for the first 2 months. Now, I just order the shakes and isafruit/isagreens. I started feeling really healthy, my hair started getting thicker and healthier. I feel really good on it. The system is set up that you do 2 shakes and one regular meal a day. I have always been against these types of things, so it is funny to me that I am using this. But, they are very healthy, and I find that I am not hungry most of the time. Now, I typically do one shake and one meal. I just am not hungry for the second shake. Let me know if you want more info. I got it from my chiropractor. I can share what she told me. If this is not something that interests you, I totally understand that, too! But, be sure to get the T-Tapp video. You'll love it. You can practice online to see what it is like. It's awesome!
Best wishes. 30 pounds by August is definitely doable! Way to go, you!

Congratulations for starting a healthy life style!!! YOU will love it because of how good you will feel! I don't know much about carb diets but since you asked about an on-line journal I wanted to recommend this one:

http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/

Best of luck!

I'm not especially educated in these topics
but perhaps better informed than most.

The exercise item is particularly important.
In addition to the gym across the street,
consider regularly walking or running
or biking around your neighborhood.
Depending on how young your children are,
you might consider making this a family activity.

About healthy carbs . . . .
do you already like eating raw vegetables?
Cooked vegetables?
When you look at all your food choices,
consider making various raw vegetables your snack item of choice.
I usually keep one or more of carrots, celery,
cabbage, jicama, etc., on hand.
When I feel like munching on something,
one or another of those is my first choice.

About keeping a journal . . . .
it really doesn't matter what other people do.
What are you most comfortable with?
If it's typing onto the computer, do it there.
Not necessarily a blog for others, but just for yourself.

If you're comfortable writing by hand,
get yourself some BIG pads of paper . . . like legal pads.

If you enjoy dictating into a tape recorder
(or whatever the technology is these days), do that,
perhaps for transcribing later on.

I just remembered a book, "Writing Down the Bones",
which might be helpful.
also, one of Anne LaMott's early books, "Bird by Bird",
is good for inspiration in this area.

You probably need to make an appointment with yourself,
in which you agree that you will, with no exceptioins --
OK maybe an occasional day off -- consistently do
one or more of X, Y, Z every day.
Something specific and tangible.

Let us know how you're doing.

Dear Evelyn,

Your only motivation must be being healthy and live long for your love ones. Especially for your children, they need you. I am not heavy but with due some medical issues I am prone to gain weight. Since my kids were born I gained pounds and I made the decision to take care of myself for them. I,too, have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the last one I keep on track just exercising every single day 30 to 45 minutes. I met my goal just placing a picture of my kids and husband in front of me while in the treadmill.
Just think of them, that is enough motivation I believe..
Good luck!

The first thing you should try and master is self-control. Don't begin making the diet or food your goal, because that will begin the mental torture (can I eat this, too much of that, watching calories, etc - That's work) You already have your goal, now put that in the back of your mind and continue as normal.

Then start "practicing" the self control by doing practical things that will eventually lead you to your weight loss. Do them consistently. Park your car far enough every time you go grocery shopping so you can exercise. Clean your pantry of the old food. When you share your portion of food tonight, use your fist as the amount and drink water to fill you up. Do not go back for 2nds. Tell yourself you have had enough. Pick the birthday dress you would like to fit in in August, hang it where you can see it every day and let that be your motivation and reminder.

Once you get started doing it once, then twice, eventually you start a habit and it becomes easier, then when the new year turns around and you choose to use the Atkins or whatever diet "tool" you use to help with the "self control" and portions, then it will not be so difficult to get started per se, because you would have already begun a habit and your system would have gotten used to it.