How To Lose Body Weight Not Wallet Weight

If you eat this way, you’ll lose weight.

Try our programme and see how quickly the pounds will melt off.  (Jenny Craig, Nutri-System, Weight Watchers and the list goes on and on)

Become Vegan. It’s dairy and animal products that put on your pounds and, you’ll be saving animals and the planet while you’re at it.

Eat Vegetarian, save the earth and the planet, lose weight while still having some dairy products.

Eat Organic.

Get onto a low carb, high fat diet. Eat meat, butter, hard cheese, bacon all that you want and watch the pounds melt off. Stay in Ketosis or follow the Ketogenic Diet (code for the old Atkin’s Diet)

Only eat ONE meal a day or, only eat for only a few hour window a day with Intermittent Fasting and lose weight.

The list goes on and on as new studies come out to cancel out other studies that will eventually be redone and changed again.  It’s all so confusing, isn’t it?  What’s a person to do?

 

Let’s face it, dieting is a multi-billion dollar industry that people will buy into and there are literally thousands of people out there who will prey on that fact, your wallet, mind and emotional strings.  Do we really need all of this to lose weight?

We know when we’re fat.  Even Vanity Sizing (the labels where a size 12 is labelled as an 8 or even 6) can’t fool us.  We have mirrors. They’re everywhere we go.  No one need tell us that we’re fat or overweight.  It’s not as though we pass the mirror and say to ourselves that we look good when we’re seeing rolls.  If that isn’t bad enough, if we buy the “made in Bangladesh, Pakistan or China” clothing, we’ll find out that an XXL is the equivalent of a small in North America because their sizing ranges are different.  We’ve blown our sizing out of proportion. For them, that’s normal sizing…unless of course, they start eating like we do.

I’ve tried them all.  I mean, fad diets, sensible diets, calorie counting, fasting, ketogenic diets and yes, I’ve lost weight but, I’ve always gained it all back again and found a few more pounds tagging along for good measure.  As a matter of fact, the more diets I go on, the fatter I end up.  How does that happen?

Sugar makes you fat

Carbs make you fat

Fat makes you fat

Meat and dairy makes you fat

Gluten makes you fat

Eating past 6:00 at night makes you fat

Count calories

Cut out entire food groups

Only eat at certain times of the day or only for a certain short period of time of the day

No artificial sweeteners  because not only are they toxic in every way but they cause extra weight

Pour Metamucil into a glass of water every time you’re hungry and swallow some pills that make you feel fuller, faster or eat metamucil laced gelatine that is mixed with artificial sweetener laden Crystal Light (The Barriatric Surgery Alternative Diet)

Dr. Oz is full of suggestions…follow his thinking and pills while he sits in front of congress being wrist slapped for backing and selling these things…if he still is that is

Have you ever followed a thin person around, watching what they eat in a day and found that them with a bag of potato chips in one hand, soda/pop in the other (not the diet kind)?  Has it made you scratch your head as to how they can be so thin still? Nevermind the fact that there’s 9 grams of saturated fat in every handful of those things or that every sip of pop/soda is 1 teaspoon of sugar.  How do they do it?

“I’m going to the gym after work to work out,” she or he says as though they are somehow angelic or gods.  Meanwhile, they pay a small fortune to walk around an indoor track, peddle on a stationary bike, elliptical machine, treadmill and work out with hand weights and a blow up balance ball (the latter few which can be bought at Walmart for a few bucks).  They look cool in their expensive brand name spandex workout outfits and $200 running shoes though. More than anything, it sounds good to hear them utter the phrase of going to the gym as though they’re important people who do the right thing all of the time.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve done all of that and more. I think everyone should do what works for them.  If going to the gym works because doing it on their own at home doesn’t motivate them to move beyond grabbing the remote for the television set, by all means, they are doing the right thing.  If eating only certain food groups helps them to lose weight, keep on doing it as long as you’re supplementing properly for what you’re not getting in terms of vitamins, minerals or essential elements of our diets that our bodies don’t make for us.  If paying for pre-packaged foods that you pick up or have delivered does it for you, please ignore what I’m saying here.  What I am saying is that getting the weight off is a battle.  Keeping it off is another entirely new game and honestly, much harder to do than say because in keeping it real, not many of us can sustain that kind of a lifestyle forever.  I am one example who has done all of the above and not been able to keep it off.  There are very few people that I know who have done so.

What it really all seems to boil down to is a few things.

• Our genetics may make our metabolisms faster or slower
• Thyroid issues can go undetected because of the wide range of “normal” in blood tests
• The Western World eats too much of everything and exercises too little
• When we’re younger, our bodies contain more muscle which burns fat faster and we move more
• Elderly people lose muscle but, eat far less automatically for the most part (there are exceptions of course as there are obese elderly) They may even “forget” to eat altogether
• Technology has made us more “Couch Potatoes” than anything physical
• Our stage in Life, financial abilities etc., rule our weight as bodies change with age, hormones and money

There is no “magic” to losing weight for anyone.  These “diets” and “diet products” are all gimmicks, designed to make it easier for us to lose weight and keep emptying our wallets into someone else’s bank accounts.  No one has the perfect answer as to how to lose weight and keep it off in spite of their claims.

There are fat Vegans and Vegetarians nor are they necessarily healthy if they don’t do the proper research in how to supplement essential elements that they’re not getting from their veggies and fruits that can only be gotten from animal sources. Beans, lentils and Quinoa, Spirulina don’t contain them.  Barriatric surgery patients can and many of them do, regain the weight as they stretch their downsized stomachs eventually.  One can only drink their meals for so long before they’re eating their dogs or cats.  Eventually, no one can afford to keep up with pre-packaged meal costs and have to quit. Cutting out entire food groups can not only be dangerous if not done properly but, for the most part, are only sustainable for shorter terms (i.e.: Ketogenic diets).  It’s a never-ending circle of gaining and losing weight or “Yo-Yo dieting”.  Look at Oprah Winfrey.  She’s paid cooks, personal trainers (who have all written books), drank her meals, exercised herself silly and still struggles with her weight.  Of course, she now owns part of Weight Watchers and will remain slimmer because money talks and she’s making it.  Hollywood promotes thinness and those stars are on one fad diet after another.  Look at them years later where they put on weight and we don’t recognize them anymore because they no longer are young and getting the parts that they used to get.

Every method of weight loss works if you work it properly.  I’ve lost the equivalent of 6 people over my lifetime thus far and regained 8.

I’ve cut out meats and dairy and gone Vegan/Vegetarian until I wanted to eat my husband for the meat.

Gyms are no stranger to me nor, are classes with everything from strength training to aquatic exercising.

Meats, fat and cheese have been my staples for months or until I got sick and my digestive tract rejected the fats or I wanted a carb so bad that if I saw another piece of meat, egg or cheese, I’d throw up.

I’ve tried eating everything I wanted and thrown up afterwards, only to start again…until I choked once and stopped that practise.

I’ve drank water until I sloshed when I walked and knew every bathroom from here to Timbucktoo.

Fiber supplementation resulted only in knowing more bathrooms everywhere I went.

Healthfood stores love me as I swallowed handfuls of their vitamins, minerals pills and liquids, trying to supplement what I wasn’t getting by cutting out entire food groups or, was told they would help my metabolism rev up with exercise.

Cutting out junk food helps but no one can live forever without some sort of sweet or the odd handful of chips

Let’s say that I’ve tried it all as have many people I know, only to figure out that something, somewhere, somehow, will sabotage the weight to coming back on even if slowly or turtle like pace.

Whatever anyone does to lose weight, there’s always going to be times when once on a certain eating or exercise pattern, most people are going to slip up for one reason or another…although Vegans and Vegetarians will tell us all that they will be the “exclusions” of course.  Maybe, they will be? Who knows? Who cares if it’s not for us to do?

I’m going to go back to a few things that worked for me though injuries sidelined me and age has done a number on both my joints as well as my metabolism.

1. Eat less junk foods. Give yourself a reward, eat desserts but make them small and smart.
2. Watch portion sizes.  Go by the package. They often have a serving size measured out.
3. Count calories by journalling everything you put into your mouth.  You might be surprised to find out that you’re eating double or even triple what your body needs to maintain your weight. It’s a guide only.
4. Find yourself a BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) calculator online and Google what you need in a day then subtract approximately 500 calories per day or a combo of what you eat and what you exercise to lose 1 lb per week. There are a ton of sites on the net for this.
5. Put an app on your phone so that you can track what you eat in a day as you eat it. Don’t rely upon your memory because you’ll forget what you ate somewhere, somehow.
6. If you’re short on cash or don’t want the hassle of going to a gym (which I didn’t after awhile), set up a Home Gym with inexpensive equipment.  Get a balance ball, a set of hand weights, use an iPod or MP3 player or your boom box and get some jazzy music with an upbeat beat. Dance for 30 minutes, walk around the block a few times, work your way up from wherever you are. Put in a DVD of exercise or google “walk a mile” videos on YouTube where you move on the spot but allegedly, walk a mile or two and build up.  Most of all, find videos on building MUSCLE as it will continue to burn more calories and fat while you’re using your thumb to change channels on the tv afterwards. You will also save on fancy gym clothing unless that’s what you like to do.
7. Look up Paul McKenna who teaches behavioural changes like smaller plate sizes, chewing your food more thoroughly, not being distracted by television or reading while eating (we tend to not even taste our food most of the time), putting down our forks/spoons in between bites and the list goes on with his eating style changes that work on our brains.
8. Eat everything in moderation…except trans fats.
9. A calorie is a calorie. Fats and proteins are denser in them so, it takes less of them size wise to add on those calories yet, we still want some in our diets.  Even Vegans/Vegetarians eat protein and fats but, they just don’t get them from animal flesh or products.  If they overdo their beans and nuts though, they’ll know it.  Beans and legumes, nuts and seeds etc. are packed with calories.  Ever see a Vegan eating a bag of potato chips? They can and do but, will claim that it’s “Vegan” while they pack on the weight if they’re not careful.
10. Eating enough calories to keep our bodies functioning at optimum levels is key.  If you are eating like a rabbit, you’ll only keep that up for a small amount of time before you are licking out of the dog’s bowl.  Don’t deprive yourself.  Cheat every now and again.  Have a piece of chocolate cake but, make it a cheat, not an every day occurrence.
11. Don’t try to “diet”. Make it a Lifestyle change instead.  Diets fail.  Weight will go on again.  Remember if there’s a wagon to fall off of, you’re going to fall off of it more than likely at some point.
12. Not everyone’s digestive tract can handle a sudden onslaught of veggies and fruits. Some people’s intestines can’t handle fruit at all.  It’s best to start off slowly and see where you fit.  You may be fine as many people are but, I’ve found out that there’s only certain fruits and veggies and in certain quantities that my digestive tract can handle even if built up to slowly.  I can’t each much raw either.  It has to be steamed or cooked more than lightly.  Know your limits and stay within them.
13. Eat everything in moderation.

In summing this idea up, I’m going to link to a previous article HERE .  The idea of eating anything but doing it in small portions and moving is all that you need.

Eat, Live and Laugh.

Be well. Love and Light from my little corner of life to yours.

Have a great day or evening.

(Disclaimer: I am NOT a professional dietician, nutritionist, personal trainer or anything of the sort. This piece speaks of my experiences only, based upon my years of research as well. It should NOT be used in place of professional counselling or medical personnel. What you choose to do to lose weight is solely up to you.  Be smart.  Don’t take anyone’s word for it that aren’t properly trained, including Vegans or Vegetarians who claim to know it all. They don’t. Get proper nutritional and exercise advice from a medically trained professional before embarking on any weight loss program. I waive all liabilities for your choices or lack of them through this disclaimer.)