Ups & Downs in Losing Weight

So happy to see you again. Wishing you more happy health!

Hello, and welcome to my first entry into the More Happy Health Blog! Please take a few moments to look around. You can learn a little bit more about my passions and me if you click on the “About” tabs at the top of the page. So, let’s get started…

I am woman who has struggled with her weight for years. Although, I’ve never been obese or even really overweight. I’m saying that one year I may be up 10-15 pounds and the next I’ll be back down. I don’t do any of those strange fad diets – at least not for more than a week or two. Actually, I haven’t done a fad diet in years. I learned a long time ago that weight management all comes down to a few simple principles:

· Make the decision to eat healthy – meaning, incorporate nutrition rich and non-processed into your diet. For me, this means that if I have to stop at a fast food restaurant, then I need to order from the healthy selections most of them offer now. It is difficult to order a salad from McDonald’s, but the reward is so worth it!

· Limit the intake of starchy or high-carbohydrate foods like potatoes and bread. I happen to like crackers a lot and have been known to eat half a box without even realizing it. So – I don’t let just any old crackers in the house now. There are a lot healthier choices on the market now and thankfully, my family has gotten used to the whole grain and less fat versions.

· Fill the plate mostly with veggies and then your protein and a small serving of a whole-grain starch like brown rice. Okay, I know brown rice is an acquired taste. I happen to like it, but I still can’t get it past my family unless I hide it in something. My family used to love to drown all veggies in butter, cheese or any other kind of sauce they could find. Not anymore. They are now used to lots of spices and lemon or lime juice. A little squirt of lemon juice and some Mrs. Dash and we’re all set. So many calories and fat saved right there! Another good thing about veggies is that they are low in calories and high in fiber so you will feel full longer with less caloric intake.

· Eat regularly – and regularly doesn’t mean at least once a day! You body will think you are starving it and will hold everything in your body hostage, including all the stuff that makes or keeps us fat, until you get on a regular routine of eating small meals every few hours. This is a challenging area for me. I get so focused in whatever I’m doing and I don’t make time to eat or drink, which leads me to…

· You have to drink water throughout the day. Most people are walking around like a prune and they don’t even know it. Dehydration will slow you down, make you cranky, and even make you think you are hungry. Get used to sipping on water throughout the day and see how much better you feel. I don’t like to drink out of a glass because the cold bothers my teeth, so I invested in reusable straws and now I can sip away all day.

· Exercise regularly – did you think I wasn’t going to get to this one? Truth is I love to exercise. Truly. I find that with at least three 30-minute workouts a week I am able to maintain my weight and feel energetic. The thing is that if I want to lose weight, I need to increase the number of days I workout, my workout time and intensity. I prefer to exercise five to six days a week and I continuously change my routine so I don’t get bored. To increase effectiveness, you should try to change up your fitness routine approximately every four to six weeks, even if you make slight adjustments. This will make you engage new muscles or at least use your muscles in a slightly different way.

· Incorporate weight resistance training with cardio exercises for better results. The really good news here is that the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn at rest. So, if you have a healthy muscle mass you are burning more calories at the movies than that flabby person next to you who just consumed a whole large popcorn and giant sized Dr. Pepper! Pretty cool, huh?

· Sleep. Yes, sleep. It is important for your body to get at least six to eight hours of sleep every night. This time of rest is necessary for your body to recover in a peaceful, restful state. With proper rest, you will have more energy to exercise. Recent studies are proving that those who are sleep deprived tend to consume more calories in order to create more energy. You body won’t use all those extra calories efficiently and the excess will be stored somewhere. Guess where? Yep, it’s right behind most of us!

I think that’s enough tidbits of information for now. But, getting back to why my weight is up one year and down the next… I don’t always do the work I know I need to do. I lose focus, I get “too busy” and I fall off the treadmill (so to speak). I am proud to say that I may have broken that destructive cycle though! How did I do it, you ask? Well, I made a decision about two years ago that I was done with obsessing over my weight. I came to grips with the fact that my overall health was most important and I may never be ‘skinny’. And you know, I don’t think skinny is really healthy (mentally and physically) for me anyway. I am within my weight range, although it’s on the high end of the range. I am very healthy and all my tests put me at least 10 years younger than my real age. I workout because I like the way it makes me feel. I eat right because of the same reason. Life is short and I want to enjoy it. I can do that and be healthy just as long as I do the right things and don’t punish myself if I don’t always do it 100% all the time.

Much happiness and good health to you!

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