Resolutions and attitude

Avoid making resolutions that sound like "I will lose weight." Sometimes, the way we phrase certain tasks influences whether these tasks will get accomplished or not. "Lose weight" sounds dreary, and sounds like it involves pain or being deprived. I always thought "Weight Watchers" wasn't a great name for a business because the name has built-in dreariness. Saying, "I will lose weight," doesn't really describe how you're going to do it, either.

The subconscious hears the things we say to ourselves and leads the body accordingly.

Make resolutions that are phrased better. It's like asking the right question. Ask the right question--the one that will give a better answer. Don't ask "how much do you bench press?" ask "how do you bench press and how does it make your chest muscles feel while you do it?"

Instead of "I will lose weight," say "I will learn how to do basic weight training moves." By starting with low weights and gradually increasing them, while learning correct lifting form and eating 6-7 meals a day (adding snacks between meals)."

By February--probably before the end of January--you'll notice the changes to your body as a side effect that you get for pursuing your hobby, learning weight training moves and eating throughout the day. The positive changes to mood, energy level, even outlook on life, will also be side effects. And all this just for picking up a new hobby.

How to Lose Weight

Every person needs a certain amount of calories (food) in a day.

Here are two ways to go about eating that amount of food:

1. You can take this amount of food and divide it up into 6 to 8 fractions and eat it throughout the day, taking each small meal about every 2 or 3 hours while you're awake. (6-8 small meals)

• you won't really feel hungry
• your metabolism will speed up
• you will lose weight
  

2. You can starve yourself all day while drinking soda and then binge eat all your calories in 1 or 2 sittings. (1-2 giant meals)

• you'll be hungry at first, but then the hunger passes as your body enters survival mode
• when you do get around to eating, your body will "remember" or realize how hungry it is and the urge to gorge or binge on food becomes intense
  
• your metabolism will slow down
• you will store as much fat as possible and gain weight

Somewhere in between these two extremes is "3 meals a day" which is a social convention that we made up. Is "3 meals a day" the best of all possible worlds?

The metabolism changes based on the frequency of meals (how often one eats) regardless of whether one exercises or not.

Eating 6-8 meals or grazing (eating throughout the day) changes the metabolism and puts the body in an "anabolic state."

• For people who train with weights with a goal of building muscle, eating 6-8 meals is a must. Otherwise, they won't get significant results--unless they support their training (work done) with proper nutrition.
  

• For people who want to lose weight (body fat), eating 6-8 meals is an effective and long-lasting way to go about it.
  

This principle is essentially what NutriSystem sells. There's probably nothing special about what is in their food--the key is in having a consistent meal schedule.

Some cereal brands promise weight loss of 5 or 10 lbs by eating their cereal for breakfast. I have a hunch that the weight-loss occurs just by encouraging people to have a more consistent and well-proportioned meal schedule.

There is a stereotype that obese people eat all day long. More often than not, they fast until they've made themselves very hungry and then they binge eat. The roots of this behavior usually begin with the false but common misconception that skipping meals will lead to weight loss, which is absolutely false.

After fasting or starving oneself, the pleasurable feelings produced by finally eating are intensified. It becomes a reliable way to change the way one feels--using food to influence one's emotions--much like drugs and alcohol are used as predictable ways to change one's feelings. In contrast, if you eat throughout the day, you don't get to that point of intense hunger; you forget what hunger is like. Food is still pleasurable but it doesn't affect the brain's survival and pleasure centers as intensely.

After adjusting one's eating habits for long enough one realizes that unless you fuel your body and brain throughout the day with well-portioned and balanced meals, they don't run as well. It's a self-reinforcing habit.

The New Plan for Powerful Legs

Any properly executed squat, however, may be a more effective muscle builder than all other exercises combined. It requires the synchronized recruitment of muscle fibers throughout your body. And because squatting is one of the most natural human movements, like walking or using the remote, it's perfectly safe. And new research shows that squats burn up to three times as many calories as previously thought. So it's a powerful fat-burning tool as well.

...

Named for the way in which you hold the weight--in front of your chest, with your hands cupped--the goblet squat may in fact be the only squat you need in your workout.

25 Biggest Weight Loss Mistakes

"Many women have spent an average of 20 years "dieting," so another safe assumption is that we know a lot about what to do right. However, little attention is usually given on what not to do. Apply this list of things NOT to do to your healthful regimen, and spare yourself many of the pitfalls that derail most dieters."

1. Having a negative defeatist attitude. If you think there is no way that you are going to succeed this time, lose the weight and keep it off, then you will be right! However, if you think positively and believe that change is at hand, you will empower your journey, and you will reach your goals!

2. Going on any diet that is NOT a manner of eating that you can adhere to for the rest of your life. Be careful when deciding what nutritional plan you want to follow, as it should be a manner of eating that matches your tastes, budget and lifestyle. You should model all of your future nutritional plans closely after how you lost the weight to keep that weight lost for good!

3. Believing that you will eat cabbage soup -- or any other low-cal, monotonous fare everyday for the rest of your life. If a particular odd "diet" is something that you can barely stomach, it isn't realistic to think you will eat that way for the entire time it takes to lose all the weight. It certainly won't teach you much about how to live healthfully for the long-term. Just say NO, to cabbage soup and other such funky diets!

4. Weighing in too frequently, letting the scale rule your mood and actions. Up to this point, have you been fixated on the scale? Well, if so, it hasn't really helped you lose weight, has it? Otherwise, you wouldn't be here, looking for yet another "diet." So do us both a favor, and pack the scale up, put a big red bow around it, and unwrap it after six months of consistent healthful living. It might actually show you something you want to see! --- more »

Calorie needs can fluctuate like your weight

Calorie needs depend on weight, age, gender and activity level, as well as individual metabolic rate. The figures from the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion provide a rough estimate.

Tip of the Week: Six of the Worst Workout Habits

Lobes of Steel

"Scientists have suspected for decades that exercise, particularly regular aerobic exercise, can affect the brain. But they could only speculate as to how. Now an expanding body of research shows that exercise can improve the performance of the brain by boosting memory and cognitive processing speed. Exercise can, in fact, create a stronger, faster brain."

Not very long ago, scientists and doctors thought that the number of brain cells a person has after puberty was all they would ever have in their life. Now scientists now that adults produce new brain cells throughout adulthood and into old age, in a process called neurogenesis. The article explains that physical exercise enhances neurogenesis.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

A nice story about attitude

Tired of spin classes? Try Wii workout station

He estimates that one session of Wii boxing, tennis or bowling equates to going for a brisk walk and can burn between 75 to 125 calories.

“All of our clients get great results, but the biggest result we see is the smile on their faces. People have to understand that fun is important,” said Mellalieu.

...

Nintendo is also currently developing Wii Fit, a 2008 video game with an array of activities, from yoga to aerobics. [link]

The Comfort Zone

Remember that big conversation you had with yourself, in which you vowed to lose weight or find a new career or start exercising, etc? Do things always seem to get in the way of accomplishing even the simplest of goals like calling potential clients? If you find yourself in the intellectual zone and not the productive zone, I have some ideas for you to think about if you’re willing to break out of your personal “comfort zone“. [link]

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

It's amazing how many cares disappear when you decide not to be something, but to be someone.
- Coco Chanel

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.
- Maya Angelou

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (Paperback)
-This book teaches something truly amazing. It can change the way you see the world.