It seemed that everywhere I went this weekend I heard one common thing. "I can't lose weight, I exercise all the time and nothing happens, I do this program or that program and the scale still isn't changing, I cut back on unhealthy foods but don't notice a difference, ect." I don't really know why it jumped out at me this weekend but it did.
If there is one thing I can tell you it is this, what you eat determines the number on the scale, how you exercise determines your body type. Meaning this...you don't HAVE TO exercise to lose weight. However, when you do exercise this burns additional calories, improves your physical and emotional health, lessens your chances for weight related diseases and builds and tones muscles. You may have a 5'6" woman who weighs 130 pounds and still looks jiggley, flabby, has love handles, a saggy butt and bat wings or you may have a 5'6" 130 pound woman who is lean, tone, curvy in all the right places and looks fantastic. The difference? The first woman eats right to maintain an appropriate weight, the second woman eats right and exercises. Because she exercises her body is in better shape, is healthier on the inside and is more pleasing to the eye. So would I ever tell you not to exercises??? ABSOLUTLEY NOT!!! It is PRIORITY!
Example:
So that leads me to how you feed your body. People often have a very skewed idea of what is healthy. Even when they think they are doing correctly, they are not. First of Cassie's rules:
1. You have to eat. You can not starve yourself. This will only lead to short term weight loss and will back fire on you when you go back to your normal way of eating, wich I GUARANTEE you will do. When you do not give your body enough calories to perform it's daily functions it thinks it is starving so it begins to hold on to everything you do give it and other normal functions of the body begin to slow or come to a hault. Then you start to feed it more again and it is still in starvation mode and it still holds on to everything and all of the sudden you have gained back anything you lost and an additional 15-20 pounds. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER go below 1200 calories a day and I encourage 1500-2000 depending on your body type, daily activity level and goals. First mistake at screwing up your metabloism. I suggest using
http://www.calorieking.com/interactive-tools/weight-maintenance-calories-calculator/ www.sparkpeople.com or
www.myfitnesspal.com to figure out what range you need to be in.
2. Your body will not respond as well to you getting in your calories in unhealty food. For example you could have an afternoon snack of a snickers bar and a 20 oz coke for 491 calories and still manage to stay within your dialy calorie allotment. Or you could choose healthier options such as an apple with peanut butter, string cheese, light yogurt with a scoop of granola all together add up to the same amount of calories. I will again guarantee you that you will shed unwanted weight much faster if you stick with the healthier options 90% of the time. It is just how your body processes things. Get in your fruits, veggies, whole grains, complex carbohydrates, and proteins. Stay away from the simple sugars and highly processed foods. They do very little for your body.
3. Drink plenty of water. And no sports drinks and other calorie free drinks are not the same. If you properly hydrate yourself your body will learn to trust that you will continue to hydrate it and it will start to let go of excess fluid it has been storing, there for also naturally flushing your body. The formula I most commonly see and I use to determine appropriate water consumtion for a person is body weight/2/8.
For example for someone 175 pounds 175/2=87.5 87.5/8=10.93 This means if you round up for the sake of making it easier, an 175 pound person should drink AT LEAST 11 8oz glasses of water per day. The more the better.
4. You do not need to eat carbohydrates at the end of the day. Unless you are working out right before bed. A person does need carbohydrates to function and to fuel the body. However if you do not use the carbohydrate to make energy within 2 hours of eating it, it is turned to storage. How does your body store energy?? Fat. If your not going to use it don't eat it. Eat your carbs for the day before your afternoon snack. You do not need 3 scoops of potatoes at supper and then wonder why the scale isn't moving.
5. Log your food. The mind purposfully forgets what it has eaten and you may be supprised at how much or how little you have eaten. Even 200-300 extra calories a day adds up. at 400 extra calories a day it will add on one pound every 9 days, that is 40 pounds a year. 2 cans of Bud light every night adds up to 22 pounds a year. Make it straight Budwiser and its 30 pounds a year. These extras are ok once in awhile. I am not saying never have a piece of cake at a birthday party or you can not enjoy a beer with your friends once in a while but track your daily consumption so you can be sure you are in the correct range. I personaly use
www.myfitnesspal.com or
www.sparkpeople.com to log my food and these both have an app to use on your smart phone as well. Or there are also many other trackers out there I just listed the ones I use most frequently.
So with this being said I am going to make it my goal this week to report every evening my food, drink and exercise log to you. Then show the number on the scale at the begining of the week and at the end of the week, Monday through Monday, to show how I eat, exercise and what happens on the scale. Anyone, can do this if you stick to the math. It is as simple as an equation. I challenge you to find a tracker or a piece of paper and pencil and track everything you eat this week and see what your habits really are. Remember if your lying you are only cheating yourself!
