Readers: I’ve Moved….

Posted on May 17, 2009 by datdude826

Please join me as I’ve moved to any site domain name. My new blogsite is the same as this one in terms of content. I probably won’t be posting on this one anymore, so come find me at www.tips4weightmaintenance.com

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Why Women Must Lift Weights

Posted on April 27, 2009 by datdude826

weights201 I’m a guy who has discovered how valuable weight training has been for me in my continued journey of losing weight, and especially with keeping the pounds off in the long haul.  What weight training has done for me is to allow me to continue with my calorie counting and not having to be so stringent with my diet.  Weight training is one of the better exercise methods one can do to increase their metabolism.  The faster your metabolic rate, the easier it is be at your ideal weight!  HOWEVER, weight loss/gain and weight management has a direct correlation with the balance of total calories consumed, versus calories burned.    Your metabolism is just the engine that burns calories, which varies from person to person.

See my post about Understanding Calories & Weight Lost for additional info regarding calculating your bodies metabolic rate to see how many calories your body needs daily to function.

The Mayo Clinic writes about metabolism:

Stated simply, metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy. During this complex biochemical process, calories — from carbohydrates, fats and proteins — are combined with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function.

The number of calories your body burns each day is called your total energy expenditure. The following three factors make up your total energy expenditure:

  • Basic needs. Even when your body is at rest, it requires energy for the basics, such as fuel for organs, breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, plus growing and repairing cells. Calories expended to cover these basic functions are your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Typically, a person’s BMR is the largest portion of energy use, representing two-thirds to three-quarters of the calories used each day. Energy needs for these basic functions stay fairly consistent and aren’t easily changed.
  • Food processing. Digesting, absorbing, transporting and storing the food you consume also takes calories. This accounts for about 10 percent of the calories used each day. For the most part, your body’s energy requirement to process food stays relatively steady and isn’t easily changed.
  • Physical activity. Physical activity — such as playing tennis, walking to the store, chasing after the dog and any other movement — accounts for the remainder of calories used. You control the number of calories burned depending on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities.

The general consensus from women is that, ‘I don’t want to get bulky.’  Or, ‘I want to have that feminine look and not too much muscle.’ On the contrary to these beliefs, fitness expert Jim Karas states that, weight and strength training makes you smaller.”  In addition, Karas believes that “walking, running, and spin classes do not burn up nearly as many calories as we’ve been led to believe,” which is why strength conditioning should warrant more attention from women.

Elizabeth Quinn, an exercise physiologist, says that you will gain muscle tone and definition, particularly for women when including weight lifting in their program.  Researchers state that ‘women typically don’t gain size from strength training, because compared to men, women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy.’  Quinn says, “this is a bonus[particularly for women].”

I can’t express to both women and men just how much weight training  plays a part with me keeping off the pounds, even when taking a few weeks off of healthy eating.  I’ve used a combination of cardio and strength training.  I wish I could say that I’ve been consistent with my workout routine.  But over time, the close to 90 pounds I have lost, has been fueled by some weight lifting. The bottom line is muscle develop, which also increases your metabolism and allows more oxygen(water) to flow easier through the body, which in turn helps your body burn more calories per day! Generally speaking, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn 35 to 50 more calories each day.

So what are the ladies thinking at this point?  Again, the key to weight management, in my opinion, is a combination of cardio and weight training.  People who do both are better equipped to control their weight and not worry about whether that hamburger or small french fry order will put on pounds!  Most women only do cardio.  This is evident when I go to the fitness center.  If there are, say 12 women in the gym, I’d only see about 2 of them doing any weight training.  Women love the treadmills and stairmasters and elliptical machines.  That’s great.   But, don’t forget to lift some weights.  With my weight training, I’m allowed to eat foods other than veggies and other healthy choices here and there, and not gain a pound….because of my increased metabolism.

Ladies, do not be afraid to visit the weights section of the fitness center! That area belongs to you just as much as it does the fellas!  I’d encourage you to do some research on finding good weight training exercises to do and how you carry them out.  If you’re doing only 3 weight training exercises each time in the gym, you’ll be fine.  Start out with the lowest weight possible, and gradually increase in small increments over a period of time.  And never hesitate to ask any of the patrons or staff at your fitness center for help and guidance while lifting weights.  Everyone is willing to help; never forget this!

And remember, the easiest way to improve your metabolism(metabolic rate) is to alter what you eat and increasing routine activities.  I list 25 non-exercising ways to help increase your metabolism in another one of my blogs here.

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Latest Opinions: P90X Workout System

Posted on April 26, 2009 by datdude826
A Home Fitness Workout System

P90X: A Home Fitness Workout System

This is in search of opinions regarding the P90X system! I saw the infomercial one late night recently, and was intrigued by this health and fitness exercise system that’s built around exercise and nutrition, from your own home.

Here’s what they have to say about their product, P90X(Trademark):

“P90X is a revolutionary system of 12 sweat-inducing, muscle-pumping workouts, designed to transform your body from regular to ripped in just 90 days. You’ll also receive a comprehensive 3-phase nutrition plan, specially designed supplement options, a detailed fitness guide, a calendar to track your progress, online peer support, and much more. Your personal trainer, Tony Horton, will keep you engaged every step of the way, and you won’t believe your results!”

“The secret behind the P90X system is an advanced training technique called “Muscle Confusion,” which accelerates the results process by constantly introducing new moves and routines so your body never plateaus, and you never get bored! Whether you want to get lean, bulk up, or just plain get ripped, there’s an endless variety of ways to mix and match the routines to keep you motivated the full 90 days and beyond!”


If anyone has any experience using this P90X system, please offer your opinion here. Perhaps, you’ve used the program yourself. Or, you may be interested in it and want to hear others’ opinions. Post your comments! Thanks much!

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For Dummies: Understanding Calories & Weight Lost

Posted on April 15, 2009 by datdude826

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I hope this day finds you in a peaceful and resting state of mind. If not, why? Are you wanting to be doing something else? Are you multitasking, and at the same time feeling like you’re not doing much or that there is too much to do? Have you had a good day at work? Was it a busy work day/week? Are you not looking forward to work tomorrow? Did you sleep well last night? Did rush hour traffic bother ya? Did some person give you a wonderful compliment today? Have you complimented someone today? Did you have to stand in line for an hour while trying to accomplish some form of transaction? Did you hit up the gym or go for a walk or jog recently? Did you participate in some sensual healing last night? Or, are you frustrated that you didn’t?

What does all of this mean? Well, who knows, lol. However, many of these activities have weight control and weight lose implications! The human body as we know it, is a vastly complex and self regulating phenomena. When I hear someone say that the body is a temple, I take that literally. Many high level scientist cannot phantom that One Man could create such machinery mostly because of all of the intricacies and co-dependent functionings of the body. Hey, I digress.

This post is to shed light on just how many calories we’re burning on any given day. The human body burns between 1400-2500 calories per day, simply without doing much at all. To find out what your body burns per day, you’d want to use a bmr(Basal Metabolic Rate) calculator. Your score is the amount of calories you need per day to sustain itself.

PhotobucketYour Metabolic Rate(metabolism) is the rate at which the body burns up calories in your body without doing anything. Its results tells you how many calories it takes to maintain your weigh daily. [BMR Calculator<<<click] In other words, if you intake 2500 calories a day, you’d have to burn less calories than that in order to lose weight. So, a body that consumes 2500 calories a day, and burns 2500 calories a day will stay at the same weight. A body consuming 2500 calories daily and burning 3000 calories will lose weight at the rate of about 1 pound a week. Sounds simple right? No? Well peeps, I’ll tell ya. ;-)

One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. <<<Understand this fact right there for the rest of your life! Whether your goal is to maintain a good weight or lose weight, knowing that fundamental truth is your first step toward your goal! So, if you’re burning 500 calories less than your overall intake daily, in 7 days, you will have burned 3500 calories and 1 pound. Eating 500 less calories daily is not a difficult task at all!!! Remember, the way I just explained in how to lose 1 pound a week and totally WITHOUT doing any physical exercises. For a healthy person, you shouldn’t be losing more than 7 pounds in one week, which is supported by many nutritionist! And again, it’s very important to know how many calories your body needs daily to maintain itself at a normal baseline of functioning.

Katherine Goodwin[TheDietChannel.com] states, “when you lose weight rapidly, your body is typically only losing glycogen (carbohydrate) and water weight, not fat. Your body thinks that it’s starving and reduces its metabolic rate, which makes it harder for your body to burn each calorie (they burn at a slower pace than they normally would). Then when you start eating normally again, your body stores as much food as it can into your fat cells in case of another “famine.” If you’re not losing more than 7 pounds a week, you’re doing just fine!

Some people, myself included, believe that counting calories is dumb and monotonous and hard to follow. What I do here to compensate for this is that I  started studying how many calories are in specific and popular food items, particularly restaurant bought items. Also, look up the calorie content of random items. You can’t count [estimated] calories if you don’t know how many calories are in that cheeseburger or apple or steak soft taco or soup or veggies or chicken breast sandwich. Note: with calorie counting, in my opinion, you can eat not-so-good things as a cheeseburger(minus cheese) or a hotdog here and there. However, you must know how many each carries in calories so that, one, at the end of the day you can have a “rough estimate” of knowing how many calories you ate…and how much harder you should work the next day to burn off a few more calories.  And two, you can calculate in my head whether you burned more calories than you consumed on that particular day.

Right off the top, I know that a regular sized chicken breast(boneless/skinless) is roughly 250 calories. If I put myself on a daily calorie intake(bmr) of 2200 calories, that means that I have roughly over 1950 calories to intake for that day.

How many calories did I burn today? This is your next reference point to losing and maintaining weight. After you have learned how many calories that are in some foods, you’ll want to know how many calories you’re burning with certain activities. A key to losing weight is to increase your physical activities!  And you should know of roughly how many calories certain exercises and non-exercises are  burning.  For example, walking for an hour burns around 250-350 calories.  Or, how one hour of playing basketball can burn up as many as 600-800 calories.  Or simply, standing for an hour burns 150 calories.  What I don’t do is this:  on a given day, I do not exercise(calories burned) to subtract(calories consumed) from what I ate that day.  These two entities, I keep separate.   Calories consumed is for me to not overeat.  And calories burned is for me to help gauge my weight maintanence/loss.

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25 Easy Ways To Cut Fat Without Exercising

Posted on April 11, 2009 by datdude826

Below, is a list of random and commonplace things you can do to increase your chances of burning more calories than you’re taking in(intake), without starving yourself…AND, without exercising or giving much effort.

Note: Don’t forget that the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to exercise! There is no substitute for exercise and its ability to increase our metabolism!   <<<Remember that key point for your reference!.  I will be creating another post soon regarding the benefits I received from exercising, and weight training(especially women)…on any low to intense impact level. The key is not in how much you can lift!

I’ve comprised this list, in which we’ll categorize them as ‘do’s on a daily basis.’ These 25 occurrences are coming directly from firsthand account, and has helped me to maintain and lose over 75 pounds so far. I can’t express more just how important “activity” is to increasing your metabolism. I strongly feel that I’m simply sharing ideas that have worked for me and will work for others.

When you’ve reach a faster metabolic rate through exercise and a healthy diet, your body does you a favor each time you’re not sticking to your caloric intake. Meaning, you don’t gain weight as easily if your metabolism is raised and running faster! Along with other recommended ways to a fit body, if you’re beginning a new diet and exercise program, always seek professional guidance!

divider-21These Are My 25 Easy Ways To Cut Fat

Without Exercising;

Easy things that I Do Daily

  1. Drink cold water—at a rate of 8 8oz. of ice cold water/day, you can burn almost 500 calories in one week.  The body is burning calories by warming the cold water to your body temperature.  Try putting 5 rubber bands on your wrist per day.  Take one off each time your drink a 16oz. glass of water.  Plastic bottle waters are king.  Water helps to keep you from feeling empty stomached as well as helping in increase your metabolism(metabolic rate).
  2. No rice/noodles–always try to avoid white rice.  A lot of sticky carbs to can keep pounds on for days.
  3. No/Less Cheese–a lot of dairy products are high in fat.  So, shop wisely for them.
  4. Walk the stairs instead of the elevator, especially if you don’t work pass the 5th floor
  5. Stand on your feet as much as you can. Supporting your own weight is the cheapest calorie burner.  Always prefer to stand up whenever possible, whether you’re at the bus stop , reading a book, or using a laptop computer. You can burn over 150 calories/hour of standing.  Not bad.
  6. Less/No breads—I don’t want to throw out an important item that helps us to take a healthy prepared meal to work for lunchtime, instead of spending extra money for a meal at work and not knowing how many calories are in it.  Sandwiches are okay with me, as long as the bread is low carb or low fat.  Cheese isn’t really needed if you spice up the sandwich with some oregano and pepper and sweet onions and zero calorie spray butter, etc. Try low carb flour tortillas; brown it with spray butter, and at whatever healthy choice that you like.
  7. Sleep at least 7 hours—the body is still burning calories as we sleep, on average about 60-100 calories per hour of quiet sleep.  Wow! 
  8. Eating smaller portions per meal, about 5 short meals a day.  Eating smaller portions allows for efficient time for the body to recognize and absorb what it needs, while optimizing the exodus of food through the body at a quicker pace.
  9. Eat slower—-Have  you ever witnessed that thin people eat their meals slower? Eating slowly is one way that can help take off pounds. From my readings, I know that the brain takes 20 minutes to start signaling feelings of fullness. Some of us eat far beyond the point of fullness because when haven’t allowed our “I’m full” signals to kick in!
  10. No eating after 9pm. When this becomes a non-issue, try increasing that to 8pm.  Fruits and microwave popcorn and low fat tortilla chips( with low cal jelly and spray butter) are a quick substitute for a food craving after these hours.
  11. Park further away from the store.  Whenever possible, walk as much as you can!!!
  12. Walk during your lunch breaks at work. If you take a 1 hour lunch, try to walk for that entire hour or very close to it.  <u>Get into the habit of walking</u> for lunch breaks. The rougher the surface you’re walking on, the more calories you’re burning.  Effort equals calories burned in whatever we do.
  13. Walk after every meal.  I love this one folks! It’s Chinese custom to walk for 30 minutes after each meal.  It helps move food through the body faster, thus getting rid of sticky calories quicker.  And take this opportunity to aim for a brisk walk, not just leisurely pacing.  Walking also helps in increasing your metabolism.  There’s almost never an excuse to not walk for an hour a day.
  14. Don’t overeat. I like this one because when you consistently stop overeating, your stomach lining naturally shrinks, thus giving you a slighter trim line around your trunk areas.   Also, before you start eating, tighten up your belt.  It helps me to feel fuller faster when eating
  15. Eat something for breakfast, such as some adult brands/grain cereals, oatmeal, cream of wheat, fruits, skim milk, a white or egg beater omelet(with less or no meat/cheese), or yogurt.  Skim milk is not tasty to many people.  The way I switched to skim milk was to mix whole milk and skim together, drink it that way for a week, and after that, simply go strictly to skim milk.  For some, it will work, as it will somewhat taste that there’s little different between the two.
  16. Green tea(bags) helps boost metabolism. 3 times a day is recommended.   Hey, a glass if ice cold green tea can take the place of one of those glasses of water.  I mean, who the heck is able to remember to drink 8 8oz. glasses of water a day.
  17. Fidget…..whatever you can do to cause body movement or support of your body weight.  People who are appearing nervous by bouncing their knees while sitting, or playing with their fingers can burn many calories a week, perhaps up to 1 pound lost.
  18. Increase your protein intake. Good items are boneless/skinless chicken breast, tuna in water, some protein snack bars (always look for the lowest ‘calories’ number/serving), or protein shakes/drinks.  As well, protein helps with muscle tone and metabolism!
  19. Always think of easy ways to burn calories! Yeah, that’s it.  Meaning, as long as calorie burning is on your mind, try as much as possible to do activities, regarding of how minimal, that will burn calories.
  20. Think healthy eating ALL the time. It helps to increase the percentage of times you eat healthy foods.   It’s as simple as that.
  21. No diet pops, energy drinks, and fruit juice drinks. All of these are considered “empty calories.” They serve little purpose and can be avoided.  Now I’m a realist, so, this will be difficult for some of you.  I try to mainly drink water, but, I will have my energy drinks such as low cal gatorade.  With plain water, try adding fresh fruit pieces.  I also like the Vitamin Water drinks.
  22. Those frozen healthy microwavable meals come in handy both at home and at work.  Look for the best prices with these.  Be careful with the sodium levels, fyi.
  23. Only buy what’s healthy as much as possible when doing your own grocery shopping.  If you’re a mom, well, the other housemates will have to get use to it, or buy there own darn heavy-calorie foods and snacks.
  24. READ THE LABELS of everything you buy! Gain an understanding of how to read labels, and for those that are most important to your diet program, whether it’s cutting sodium, or fat, or calories, etc.
  25. Find ways to rid your body of retained water. This helps when you’re weighing yourself and every little pound means something.  It’s best to have a weighing scale that tells you both your weight and the weight of the amount of water in your body.  Muscle is made up of about 60%-70% of water. Fat has only 45%.  Many people that are overweight or have a not-so-good diet tend to eat foods high in sodium which slows one’s metabolic rate and is an aide to weight gain.  Sodium helps in retaining unnecessary water.

I believe that incorporating these things into  your daily life will pay good dividends for you in the long haul because they all form together to increase your metabolism and increase your activity! For myself, including all of these and other very low-intensive activity makes for a happier day. I feel so wonderful when my mind is focused on good health and I’m automatically thinking of ways to burn calories on a daily basis.  And again, these are things that are non-exercising.

Do you have any easy ways to cut fat without exercising?  Feel free to share them with us!

Thanks!

ps, *For more information regarding some content of this post, check out Calorie Counter’s website or other professional info.

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Healthy Eating: Everyone Needs A Wok! Here’s why!

Posted on April 6, 2009 by datdude826

wokpicOkay people, take the title of this journal entry figuratively!  A wok isn’t going to serve as your fitness coach, persuading you to put down that cheeseburger and head to the gym.  For the record, if you’re gonna have a cheeseburger, make it yourself; buy the highest (lowest fat content) ground beef (ground turkey, preferred) possible; eliminate the cheese, and ask me for my wonderful recipe I call a “Dirty Burger!!!”  It’s generally a bun’less burger. It’s encouraged that you experiment with different herbs and spices when seasoning, attention to a low-sodium preference. Some nutritionist recommend eating close to the same thing each night with subtle changes for flavorings. 

On topic:  I personally think that I wouldn’t have lost all the weight I have if I hadn’t had a wok. Roughly 75% of the things I eat and cook at home can be prepared in a wok.  I guess my preference of consumed foods consist of anything healthy that’s stir fried in a wok, or where choices of meat can be cooked with minimal oil to no oil-fat/calorie content(s).  I love my veggies. (Hey, can someone tell my mom that I just said that, haha.)  I love buying my vegetables, which consist of bell peppers (red, green, yellow, and orange), onions (sweet and green scallion), broccoli, green beans, and cabbage (I make a mean cabbage soft taco), bok choy, etc, etc.

I encourage all to find a very cheap produce store with cheaply priced veggies.  I prefer the discounted produce and fruits specific stores that have competitive pricing daily.  I live in the Chicagoland area and I frequent produce stores such as Cermak Produce, the Egg Store, Jerry’s Fruit & Garden Center, and Valli’s.   For similar stores in your area simply do a search at yellowpages under ‘produce’ for your area/location.   You can view links under my ‘Relevant Links’ section in the right column of this page.   From my experience, stores similar to these will give you the best bang for your buck, some better than others!  ;-)

My base meals tend to consist of any combo of vegetables, combined with boneless/skinless chicken breast(grilled or sauteed-excess fat trimmed off), or fish, or some other meat.  Veggies style is an option as well, such as steamed or sauteed vegetables smothering seasoned cooked cabbage.  Find yourself a meat market store where the pricing tends to be cheaper due to less overhead.   And in many of them, you get to pick out your own meat, where basically the store itself is one big freezer.   I stay away from buying red meat for the most part.  Well, when it’s time to grill and BBQ, you can count me in!   WOOHOOOO!

Cooking with a wok doesn’t require you to use grease or heavy butter.   I only use virgin olive oil, or perhaps some zero to low calorie butter spread spray.   I cook with high heat a lot of the times while using the wok for stir frying veggies.   I also prefer to pan grill my meat in the wok.  Having a glass cover helps thicker meats and veggies to cook faster.  But, you must not overcook you veggies, which is a MAJOR mishap with cooking veggies!  The longer you cook them, the more of there nutritional benefits are lost!  Just remind yourself; ‘If it’s close to crunchy, that’s a good thing.’

Having a good wok is KEY!  The link proceeding provides a quick guide to the best wok for you and its benefits. about.com

Remember that old adage “You get what you pay for?”  This is one of those cases where that may serve some truth.   I’ve bought a few different wok’s, and from the one I have currently, in comparison, I prefer this model.   It’s a carbon steel wok with a flat bottom.  I also have a shorter diameter flat bottom wok.  The way I see it, there is no substitute for a good carbon steel wok. Not only is it relatively inexpensive, it conducts heat evenly which makes for easier cooking.  While there are many other types of woks on the market today – aluminum, stainless steel, even copper – I’ve randomly asked a few Asian people whom tend to prefer this model for their pan-Asian cooking.

It’s just so easy for me to throw foods in the wok and let it sizzle.  It’s fun cooking.   I love to take a day (Sunday) and cut up my veggies and store them in storage bags or plastic containers for cooking later on in the week.  I do the same with my chicken breast;  I’ll cook enough on Sunday and store for a few days.  With doing this, and having a wok, you’ll have a very healthy meal cooked in 5 minutes tops for any given meal!  With this as well, you leave very little excuse for not feeling like preparing food to cook.  When you’re coming home from work, and having to deal with whatever you have to deal with, it’s wonderful to basically have your meals already prepared.  All there is next to do is wok-it! Try it!

There are so many different varieties of herbs and spices to taste your stir fries with.  Personally, I haven’t gotten tired of cooking my favorite home cooked healthy dish.  There are those prepared pre-packaged sauces and sodium-infested flavorings to season vegetables and meats with.  Some flavorings(e.g. powdered sauces) are specifically for stir frying.  In my opinion, I’d stay away from them, particularly if hypertension and high blood pressure is an issue for you.   Buy your own  crushed herbs and spices and/or buy them fresh.  I haven’t stepped my game up yet to consistently want to buy my herbs and spices fresh.  I’m a bachelor, and buying them fresh is just time consuming although it’s the better option for better tasting.   Low-sodium teriyaki or soy sauce are a couple of flavors I use from time to time.  But, be very careful with any type of soy sauce as I like to call soy sauce liquid salt.

Lastly, if ya don’t own a wok, and you’re trying to either lose weight or maintain healthy eating, shame on you!

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Weigh Yourself Often….The Scale Is Your Friend

Posted on April 4, 2009 by datdude826

scale1Contrary to popular belief, I’m an advocate of weighing yourself as much as ya want, within reason of course.  It’s important, however,  to know when and when not to weigh yourself.  The best time is when you wait up before you put anything in your stomach.

For the most part, the scale has been a MAJOR motivator in my weight lost!  And this notion goes against your average expert of nutrition and fitness who wouldn’t support my belief.

I think weighing yourself 2-3/week has been sufficient for me!  The scale is a direct measure of success for weight lost!!!  However, I’ve had to learn that, as I develop more muscle tone, the scale might not always be reflective of what I think it should be.  The scale is able to tell me if I’m working hard enough with my diet and activity level.

-Always weigh yourself in the morning, before you eat anything! Why weigh yourself after you’ve eaten something.  So what if you’re psyching yourself out with the scale by doing this; it’s better to fake til ya make it.  And with this, I’ve turned all of it into fuel for motivation.   Sometimes, I like to weigh myself after a good workout at the gym.

-Don’t weigh yourself if ya know you haven’t been living up to your diet and/or exercising for a period of time. Why feed yourself voluntary negative feedback.  However, with this, if you’ve lost focus for some extended period of time–say 2 weeks plus, weighing yourself can be a great motivator in helping ya get back on track.  I’m speaking from experience.  I had to do this today.  I knew I wasn’t working well on my diet and exercising.

Well, I had gained 7 pounds from my inactivity.  I didn’t get discouraged; it made me so eager to get back into the gym and on the streets jogging and walking.  As easy as I can gain 7 pounds, I knew I can lose it.  Why?  A small percentage of those 7 pounds is just retained water and food on the belly.  I take a hypertension/diuretic which helps much in ridding the body of excess and unneccerily retained water.  Every little pound lost is a pound of motivation!

-Write down on a calendar, your weigh-in weight! This is good to see your progressions(or regressions) over time.

So, what works for me, is what I’ve stated above!  Us humans are built to have a need for validation.  The scale gives me this validation in concrete numbers.  I welcome all opinions on this topic!  Other measurable entities such as the body mass index(bmi measurement) and body fat content may be more pertinent, but the old fashion scale is our most readily available tool to us.  I try to look at weighing myself in a very superficial way, meaning that I block out all other opinions and facts related to weighing oneself.  It’s all about me, and what the scale says.  The scale doesn’t lie. However, it might not solely tell the whole truth.  Cool

Thanks for reading, and more power to ya in the search for a fit’er and healthier self, both physically and mentally.

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