Thin Blog

Posts Tagged ‘diet’

So many people ask the question of the best way to lose 20 pounds or the best way to lose 100 pounds. All too often we read questions that ask what is the best diet to lose weight. All too often those who want to lose weight are looking for a quick fix, the magic diet pill or the way to lose weight while you sleep. To answer any of the above questions the answer is always the same, it is always going to work and it will never let you down. I Choose Thin is about to save you an incredible amount of money because the advice is provided free of charge and you do not have to pay a penny to make it happen.

How To Lose Weight
If you want to lose weight you simply have to burn up more calories in the course of your life than you consume. Calories in and calories out. It is that simple! Nothing more and nothing less. If you eat less calories than you burn off you will lose weight if you consistently do it day in and day out. 

Let me share a story with you that I have seen unfold over the past year or so.  I exercise at a local health club that is nearby where I work.  I arrive there and exercise for one hour pretty much 5 days a week.  I use the elliptical machines that are near the front entrance so I see everyone that comes and goes.  I have seen so many people come to the heath club and sign up and then come back for a few sessions of exercise.  After a very short period of time the people that signed up never return.  All too often peoples motivation does not last nearly as long as the health club contract.  Just this morning I saw a woman who is morbidly obese show up and leave in less than 15 minutes.  The point I want to make is that if you want to lose weight then just do it.  Exercise more and eat less.

If you decide to lose weight and embark on the journey to lose weight you need to educate yourself about fitness and nutrition.  You need to learn your way around the facts of weight loss.  We here at I Choose Thin have told nothing but the truth from the very beginning.  We do not push you to buy diet pills because they are all a farce.  People are making tons of money off diet pills and we decided to be true to the facts.  The fact of the matter is that if you want to lose weight then you need to exercise more.  You need to get your heart rate up and you need to do it often.

If you really want to lose weight then educate yourself.  Stay away from websites that only want to sell you something.  Everyone is out there to make a buck with total disregard for your ability to actually lose weight.  If your goal is to lose weight there is much useful information on I Choose Thin that can be the basis of your journey.  You need to stop dieting and start living.  You need a “live-it“. 

One recomendation that we strongly endorse is eDiets.  This website/organization is as good as you can find on the internet if you are looking for a support group to help you lose weight.  Whatever you decide to do it is up to you because it is your body and the reality you live is from the life you have chosen.  That is why I Choose Thin, what do you choose?




 

Getting motivated to lose weight has never been a problem for me. The problem has always been the lack of ability to sustain that motivation for the time period needed to lose the weight.

All too often I would see the television show “The Biggest Loser” and resolve to lose the weight and eat better. Somewhere along the journey of the season of “The Biggest Loser” I would slack off and soon it would be the season finale. I would be watching the formally obese contestants flaunt all of their weight loss and say to myself that “I need to go back on that diet”. Somewhere along the way I would waiver from the diet plan and be settled into being over weight again.

It was during the shows most recent finale that I decided enough is enough and it was time to get serious about my own personal weight loss. I had read many books and watched infomercials and I have always come up short. It was this time that I realized that what I was missing was self determination to lose 100 pounds. I decided that my past failures were because I have come up short on sustained motivation because of my lack of self discipline.

Sustained motivation because of a lack of self discipline has always been the overwhelming reason behind my failure to lead a healthier lifestyle. This may seem like a simple statement but it is true. All too often our desire is not rooted deep enough in the decision we make to lose the weight. We launch ourselves headlong into the weight loss quest and limit our ability to maintain our motivation because of the lack of knowledge we possess. The one issue I see present in many weight loss “wannabes” is they do not know what needs to be known to make correct food and exercise choices. One of my early questions was what kind of “diet” plan are you going to start? I have learned that if it is not a plan you can live with for ten years then chances are you will ultimately fail.

The entire weight loss journey is similar to putting a jigsaw puzzle together while horseback riding. In your life you are required to keep moving and make your “diet” plan work for you in the real world. Sure you could lose weight skipping carbs, but could you forgo carbs for 10 years?

You need to wrap your mind around your quest to lose weight. By that I mean you need to obtain basic knowledge and then by applying that knowledge into your daily decisions you will increase your motivation through small achievements. As those achievements come to life you begin to groom the growth of your self confidence which will feed your motivation that will help you to be able to sustain your motivation.

Knowledge is power and that statement holds ever so true in weight loss. With this discovery I have been able to lose 20 pounds to date!

I have a few questions for you. How would you describe yourself while looking in the mirror?  How do you feel about yourself?  How would you describe yourself to other people?  Have you made your weight you?  Have you forgotten your dreams and aspirations because you feel like you are too overweight to accomplish them?   When you look in the mirror do you see a person you would want to be best friends with?  Do you love the person you see?  Can you see past your double chin and the wrinkles around your eyes?  What color are your eyes and can you look yourself in the eyes? 

I am asking these questions because if it is difficult to love the person looking back in the mirror when we are overweight. How do we know we will love ourselves when we are thinner?   We need to love ourselves for who we are, from the inside first, and only then should we can work on controlling our weight.  Many people tend to try and fix the outside by trying every new fad diet or diet pill that comes on the market.  The truth of the matter is the problem isn’t on the outside of us, it is inside.  Dr. Sklare, an eDiets psychologist tells us that we cannot change our weight until we change our minds. 

I know that you want to eat healthy and be healthy, but there is a driving force on the inside of you that steers you in the opposite direction.  My husband Keith and I were talking one day and we both agreed that it is almost like there are two different people fighting inside of us.  One part of you wants to be exercising, eating healthy, and taking good care of your body and then there is another part of you that procrastinates, makes excuses, interferes and sabotages your best interests.  This internal argument goes on all the time within you and it is at the very heart that keeps you from weight control.  If you listen you can even hear the argument. 

So how do we fix this?  How can we make ourselves as one and become united in losing weight, begin an exercise routine and become healthy on the inside first before running to the next fad diet or the new diet pill.

Everyday is a challenge for me.  I never before realized how many times a day food comes into my realm of choices that have to be made.  Some days I am offered candy and pastries and other sorts of food that do little but expand the waistline.  Today was one of those days!

I awoke this morning to a dozen fresh jelly donuts on the kitchen table that were beckoning me.  When I got to work there were candies piled in the break room and pizza in the afternoon.  All of these choices came at me so fast that now that I look back on the day I am slightly amazed that I was able to resist all of the cravings.  Pizza was the hardest to resist.

I have come to realize that even though today I chose to not eat the fat pills I know that it would not have destroyed my quest to lose the extra weight.  Maybe I have turned a corner and I will be able to control my will power and stop eating all of the bad choices so often.  Today was a good day!

As I sit here now I just remembered that butterfinger candy bar stashed way back in the freezer.  I guess the day is not over yet!!!  Losing weight is not the easiest thing I have ever done.  In fact I think I got through boot camp for the U.S.M.C. easier.

Butterfinger? Will power?  GRRRRRR!!!  The battle continues….

First off I am not a doctor and to actually get all the advice you need on gastric bypass surgery you will have to speak with your doctor. This is just a brief over view of what you can expect.

The first big consideration is how are you going to pay for it because without the cash the hospitals are not going to perform the procedure. If you think you can save money by having it done in a third world nation please think again. I have seen photographs of what can go wrong and it was pretty scary and gross. You will need to kind of look around and see what is available. More and more insurance companies are paying larger and larger portions of the bill. I would expect for the total cost to be no less than $17,000.00 and with certain “add ons” cost as much as $40,000+. Those add ons will be something you will discuss with your doctor. One thing to keep in mind is that most insurance companies pay a portion of the actual operation, but will not pay for any of the outpatient visits and those office visits can add up quickly. If money is no object then you just need to choose a doctor and sign up for the program.

From what I have seen is that for you to be a success you have to make a lifestyle change and you will have to make adjustments to your eating habits. You can rest assured that you will lose weight when you opt for gastric bypass surgery but what harms people is the fact that they cannot be disciplined in their eating habits once the procedure is performed. After the operation you will be on small portions of liquids and after a few weeks will start to eat solid foods. The biggest difference is the tiny portions you will eat because of your diminished stomach pouch size. The procedure actually reduces the size of your stomach and you will be full after only one chicken nugget and four french fries. By eliminating the desire to eat a person will eat tiny portions and the end result is massive weight loss in a relatively brief period. You can expect to lose up to 75 pounds in as short as three months. After that the weight loss tends to slow down but it will still drop off.

A big issue is after the surgery when you have lost the weight. What has occurred often is people forget (or ignore) that the stomach pouch has an elastic quality and if you overeat you can increase the size and start to over eat again. Also carbonated beverages need to be forsaken forever once you have the procedure because the carbonation will cause your stomach to expand. You will need to pretty much give up bread and never use a straw again. One sip of alcohol can make you drunk and sober in less than 30 minutes because of the straight absorption of the alcohol. There are many things you need to take into account as to your new “diet” after the surgery. Too many people focus on the surgery and only the result of the weight loss. What you really need to come to grips with is whether or not you can stick to the meal plan after the procedure is performed. There is no going back as the operation is irreversible. Educate yourself and gain all the knowledge you can. Interview doctors and ask hard serious questions and make sure you are ready for life after the operation. That life will be thin and has the potential to make you healthier and has worked for thousands of obese people. Just make sure that you have the mental endurance to be able to spend the rest of your forever on the diet plan you will have to live on. If you have the operation and dismiss the need for vitamins and over eat and eat the wrong items the procedure will be a disaster.

Anybody out there have any personal experiences?