Dear all:
I have been losing quite a bit of weight over the past 5 months from very careful eating and lots of exercise. I just purged my closet of size 12 and 10 clothing and had to go buy a new wardrobe of size 8 stuff. It has not come easy, and it takes permanent lifestyle changes and never-ending diligence. I have only been losing about 0.5 lbs per week, but I have stuck with it and it adds up. I am almost 42 and, damn, I look good in bedlah again.
One change I made, and it took me a while to come around to it, was to get very quantitative about the whole thing. I had never before counted calories but, you know, I had several years of NOT counting calories NOT working. But really it all boils down to calories in, calories out. Yes, there are healthy and not so healthy ways, but if the calories "in" exceed calories "out"...the numbers don't lie.
And when you think about it -- would you treat your money this way? If you were broke and overdrawing your checking account every month, would you take the following advice: "Oh, don't balance your checkbook, and don't bother looking at the amount of your paycheck. Just try to be frugal, work hard at your job, and buy what you feel you really need, but not more." I mean, for some people that may work (for money and weight). But if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.
The other thing that made me quantify -- realizing the difference between being fat and being thin is a very small amount of food. People gaining weight for the most part aren't gluttons, they eat very close to what they burn, just like everyone else. Very close. If you average only 100 extra cals per day, that's about a 1 lb weight gain per month; 10 lbs per year; 50 lbs in 5 years. Anyway, now I am a firm believer that anyone who has a weight problem and wants to solve it needs to know how much they are eating and how much they are burning.
So I had a metabolism test at my university recreation center (cost me $25) which measured my basal metabolic rate. It was 1500 cals. Add to that a desk job and moderate daily activity, and I burn around 2000 cals. (This is exactly average for my age, height, and gender, so no more whining that I have "slow" metabolism) Exercise can add another few hundred calories to that per day. To lose weight safely and effectively, one needs about a 500 cal per day deficit.
I make sure I have that 500 cal per day deficit.
Other things working for me:
eating 5 small meals rather than 3 larger
eating more protein and less carbs
Measuring out calorically dense food like meat and pasta. The first time I saw what 1 cup of pasta looks like (a serving of pasta is 1 cup), I almost cried. I used to eat 3 cups at a sitting. I got over it and measure my pasta.
I keep "Muscle Milk" protein shakes at work, and I drink these when I don't have time for a proper meal. They taste great.
I also got an eliptical machine for my basement and I use it for 30 mins per day, every day, even if I really really don't want to. I also train with weights, because the middle aged female body will lose muscle mass if you don't do progressive weight training to keep it. And because it mitigates aging.
Anyway, that's my story.
Sedonia
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