06-20-2004, 05:26 PM
7 Strategies of Successful Dieting
By Gina Leros for WeightWatchers.com
Feel like your weight-loss efforts are getting you nowhere? Here are seven sure-fire ways to make that scale inch downward every week.
1. Keep Track of What You Eat
Pay attention to what you eat during the course of the day. How much you consume without even thinking about it just might surprise you -- a cookie here, an extra helping of leftovers there, all tend to add up. Writing down each item will help you think twice about whether it's worth it.
2. Weigh Yourself Weekly
Does it seem like it's taking forever to lose weight? Maybe you're jumping on the scale too often. Weigh yourself at the same time every week, not every day. "Reaching a plateau -- where the weight won't budge -- can be frustrating," says dietitian Anne-Marie Mackintosh. "But losing 1 to 2 pounds a week is okay. Anything greater comes from water loss or muscle wasting, rather than actual fat loss."
3. Find a buddy
Dieting along with a friend can strengthen your resolve. A supportive buddy keeps you from overeating and helps you stay motivated. Call or e-mail your buddy when you feel yourself slipping or need a nudge to get to the gym. "Having support -- be it talking with a friend, enlisting your family or having regular appointments with a weight-loss group -- really does help," says Mackintosh.
4. Do Exercise You Enjoy
"Exercise is the key to maintaining a goal weight," says Mackintosh. By exercising 30 minutes every day, you raise your metabolism by replacing body fat stores with muscle, which burns calories. Most important: choose an activity you enjoy. Studies show that 90 percent of the people who keep weight off use exercise as one of their key strategies.
5. Forget Fads
Beware of "new" or "revolutionary" diets. Avoid fads that claim you don't need exercise, that promote eating unlimited amounts of certain foods (e.g., eggs, bananas), that ban food groups like carbohydrates, or that encourage missing meals or taking pills. They all treat dieting like a short-term scheme, when in fact losing weight and keeping it off involves changing your lifestyle. "There is no magic wand, pill or gimmick," warns Mackintosh. "But a healthy food plan that doesn't leave you hungry and allows the occasional treat is easier to make a long-term commitment to."
6. Watch Out for Weekends
It's practically impossible to resist splurging at Saturday night parties. We appease our nagging conscience by promising to get back on track next week, but a weekend feast, if not planned for, can ruin all your hard work, putting you back at square one come Monday. The secret is to stop thinking of the weekend as a reprieve, a get-out-of-jail card. An ongoing commitment to eating well means watching what you consume even at a Sunday picnic. Plan for occasional splurges by eating a bit less earlier in the week. You'll be grateful when your hard work shows up on the scale.
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By Gina Leros for WeightWatchers.com
Feel like your weight-loss efforts are getting you nowhere? Here are seven sure-fire ways to make that scale inch downward every week.
1. Keep Track of What You Eat
Pay attention to what you eat during the course of the day. How much you consume without even thinking about it just might surprise you -- a cookie here, an extra helping of leftovers there, all tend to add up. Writing down each item will help you think twice about whether it's worth it.
2. Weigh Yourself Weekly
Does it seem like it's taking forever to lose weight? Maybe you're jumping on the scale too often. Weigh yourself at the same time every week, not every day. "Reaching a plateau -- where the weight won't budge -- can be frustrating," says dietitian Anne-Marie Mackintosh. "But losing 1 to 2 pounds a week is okay. Anything greater comes from water loss or muscle wasting, rather than actual fat loss."
3. Find a buddy
Dieting along with a friend can strengthen your resolve. A supportive buddy keeps you from overeating and helps you stay motivated. Call or e-mail your buddy when you feel yourself slipping or need a nudge to get to the gym. "Having support -- be it talking with a friend, enlisting your family or having regular appointments with a weight-loss group -- really does help," says Mackintosh.
4. Do Exercise You Enjoy
"Exercise is the key to maintaining a goal weight," says Mackintosh. By exercising 30 minutes every day, you raise your metabolism by replacing body fat stores with muscle, which burns calories. Most important: choose an activity you enjoy. Studies show that 90 percent of the people who keep weight off use exercise as one of their key strategies.
5. Forget Fads
Beware of "new" or "revolutionary" diets. Avoid fads that claim you don't need exercise, that promote eating unlimited amounts of certain foods (e.g., eggs, bananas), that ban food groups like carbohydrates, or that encourage missing meals or taking pills. They all treat dieting like a short-term scheme, when in fact losing weight and keeping it off involves changing your lifestyle. "There is no magic wand, pill or gimmick," warns Mackintosh. "But a healthy food plan that doesn't leave you hungry and allows the occasional treat is easier to make a long-term commitment to."
6. Watch Out for Weekends
It's practically impossible to resist splurging at Saturday night parties. We appease our nagging conscience by promising to get back on track next week, but a weekend feast, if not planned for, can ruin all your hard work, putting you back at square one come Monday. The secret is to stop thinking of the weekend as a reprieve, a get-out-of-jail card. An ongoing commitment to eating well means watching what you consume even at a Sunday picnic. Plan for occasional splurges by eating a bit less earlier in the week. You'll be grateful when your hard work shows up on the scale.
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][blush]haha HEAR YA! HAHA maybe it,s just the fact we,re content with ourselves, even if anyone else isnt? haha but ya also got to look at it, this world has got so,s they think ya got to be so skinny that your bones are showin. and puts a head set, on ya. the kids have these complexes where they odnt eat at all, are sickly because of it, and some die, beause of how others see them,comments OR PUT THEM DOWN, whjen there tiny anyways, jealousy, too other kids say to em, and then they see thereself, that ways, and feel they have to be perfect, ya hear what i,m sayin?? and there body pays fer it. belemeia i think it,s called, i got bout 15 -20 pounds on me that shouldnt be there, haha got meat on my bones haha, but other than this chronic pain i,m in all the time, thru my body, i feel good. no i,m not 110-120 like i use to be, but i,m also 49 now, what do they expect, haha after all these years i expect somethin and i own it. haha its all bought and paid fer haha happy, content with me like me. haha whether others dont or not. hahadeal with it. hahaha but some are not strong enough to say this to those who run there mouth, and arent as strong as me, to say it to em, i will, and i think it,s these computers with the kids, and adults sittin in front of it like i am now which aint shortly. i,m walkin to the store. and i heard a comment from a guy when we was on vacation, where, he said, my wife wont walk a even a half mile to the store, or less without takin the car. hahaha that was somethin. couldnt believe it. i use to walk to work oput a 8 hr day in on my feet all day,and walk back home. and it was 3 1/2 miles one way./ haha and this was only 2 years ago. wish i could do it now. haha but i still walk as much as i can. i think people, and sent that attitude down to the kids, and have taken the easy ways fer everythin and payin fer it now. dont you?? back the old days we use to work hard play hard and eat hard and it didnt matter cause there was no way we were gonna git fat. material things have got so,s ya dont have to work fer nothin, its all done by machines other people ya got workin fer ya, or stayin in front of computers all day not movin. kids too. i see kids that are bigger than me. it,s not mcdonalds, it,s not burger king, it,s not kc, that does it, it,s us! we make the choices, on how we want to live. or can live to do waht we want and need to do fer ourselves, our choices. so if we still try to be active and make sure our activiness outweighs the mcdonalds, kc, bk, and do eat healthy, and do these 3 once in a while seems we.d still take it off. granted i,m not in the shape i use to be, physically, i push myself everyday to do what i have to, physically and i hurt, but we have to keep trudgin, if we quit, thats when it,s all over, got ot keep the spirit! but stayin a medioker weight aint bad either, just be happy with yourself, too, do ya hear what i,m sayin. mentally, emotionally, and be strong, mentally, emotionally, and dont allow others to put ya down. ya always cant go by what others think of you. and it hurts, too. right. with comments, this overwieght thing i think has just gone too fer in some instances. dont you?? it,s just not just the weight, it,s mentally how ya feel bout yourself, and emotionally, and sometimes ya got to be strong and stick up fer yourself and theres some that just cant, be strong. cause it hurts what p[eople say. hear me?? well that,s enough i just wanted to make some points here. i have a girlfriend that is so insecure, self conscouious of her weight,and puts herself down, jokinly but i know what she,s feelin and it hurts what people say, or do. ya know, but i love her, she,s got a heart, a good lovin person, who would give the shirt off her back if someone needed it. and she knows what love is.and we go fishin. i dont know if she knwos how much i love her, but i,m gonna tell her, i got a hat fer her and a shirt so,s when we can go fishin again. haha says BAD ON THE HAT.! HAHAHA the tee shirts of the mountain racin cars. i just wish others could take others the way they are, except each other the ways they are, rather than the way they want big people to be. ya know. my dog does. my horse did, why can,t human. NOT JUDGIN! THA GITS ME HOT. MARE it,s her choice when and if she wants to loose weight, and when she does, i,ll back her all the way. but i,m not goin to harp on her. controlin is not lovin. probably got goin again, but to me it,s a touchy subject. also that some cannot handle yet. it,s on there time not ours. ya know? later mare
]i,m hearin ya, me too. haha i never cared fer the boat fishin much anyways. ahha i couldnt sit still that long haha, couldnt play with jake either or go walkin with him. i think ya need a good hound like all of em i had. jake was the best though. this one on the bottom, cliff has his brother and is 12 years old now. i lost jake last year and miss him terrible, he was my best, and my last. louie the dashound we got, me and jack, he,s more his than mine, i love him dont git me wrong, but i took jake out his mother, and the connection was there the second he came out. he was my whole life while i lost ma, then cliff went to florida fer 2 years, together constantly. fishin and huntin. but they make ya walk and run and play. hahahaha aint nothin better than an ol hound dog, haha and ponies. ahha fishin and huntin. later [