Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
case) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomsecrets2013-07-13 03:49 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2013-07-13 03:49 pm
[ SECRET POST #2384 ]
⌈ Secret Post #2384 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 086 secrets from Secret Submission Post #341.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
no subject
- the "and exercise" part of "diet and exercise" is crucial to maintaining weight loss. Diets alone take away slightly more mass, but that includes burning muscle. Most people reach the end of a diet, return to their previous eating habits, and are surprised when they balloon up past their original weight. What they don't realize is that their diet resulted in less muscle to metabolize the calories they're eating post-diet.
- the best exercise is the one you will do. The best equipment is the kind you will use.
- schedule your exercise like any other appointment. It's preventative medicine after all, and people (including you) won't try to co-opt your workout if you're saying you have an appointment.
- a 2000-calorie diet as "recommended" by whatever institute it is? Does not necessarily match your metabolism. I personally needed only 1500 to maintain my weight 35 lbs ago, so I've been aiming to eat 1200 a day. Doctors recommend not going under 1200 without medical monitoring, btw.
- don't deprive yourself. I've got my 1200-calorie target, so when I'm hungry I've got this mental ticker saying "you can have that 230-cal ice cream bar, but don't you think you'll get hungry later? you've got 400 calories left for the day, if you have the ice cream you'll be having toast with curry greens for dinner". I can have the cookie if I really want, I can eat out, I can drink alcohol, but it's going to cost me the steak dinner on offer.
- track your habits. It doesn't necessarily matter what you're tracking (other than the number on the scale, that's not a good one to pick: muscle weighs more than fat, and carbs and hormones -- if you're female -- make you retain water), nor does it matter if you're turning the results in and therefore feeling held accountable to someone else. I track my meals/times, calories, and exercise. Other people track the level of stress they're under (good to monitor if you're an emotional eater), or use a pedometer, or count up servings on the food pyramid.
- pay attention to when you're hungry, and why you are. HALT - am I hungry, angry, lonely, or tired? (If you aren't actually hungry, great: go do something to relax. A walk, a shower, listen to music, read a bit-- if you're at work, depending on the workplace you might only be allowed to go to the bathroom and just breathe for a few minutes. It's still something other than grabbing a handful of chips.) If you are hungry, is it "I could snack" or "omg I am so hungry I can't wait to cook something drive-thru here I come"? If you aren't all that hungry really, give it ten minutes and see if it goes away. If you're super-hungry, drink some water to buy time, eat, and then work on figuring out why you didn't notice before you got super-hungry and how you can fix that.
- have goals and use non-food rewards. Pick whatever motivates you to turn off the tv and go for a walk after dinner, or eat one cookie instead of six (or even pick berries, or not eat dessert at all). "When I lose five pounds, I'm going to reward myself with [item that is not food]." "When I move up to 10-lb free weights, I'm going to go [do that thing that does not involve food] I'm looking forward to." etc.
- find things to do that are not about eating, tv, or the computer. Everyone has more interests than that. Maybe it's art, or sports, or volunteering, or travel. Track what you actually do over the course of a normal week and see what you could switch out in favor of an activity you like more.
- and most importantly, start small. If you can't take a thirty-minute walk, do ten. If you can't stand skim milk, switch your 2% for 1% (and measure the milk, cereal doesn't need as much as you think it does). Pick the lowest-calorie cereal of the kinds you like. Try one new vegetable this week. Go exercise once more than usual this week. (You don't have to do all these things in the same week.)
And as some people commented above, consider it a lifestyle change, not a diet. Don't worry too much, though; as you work on it, you'll find healthy foods you like, and activities you enjoy, and get used to having a workout in your appointments calendar. Good luck!