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Right Tools for the Right Job

December 28, 2007 by Mohamed  
Filed under Diet Plans, Weight Loss

1 Comment

Hi All,

I took about a week or two off of work to spend time at home with my family, and get caught up on all those tasks that I didn’t take care of during the summer.

It was great to get my hands dirty.

I was going to put up some shelving in the garage, so we could get some items off of the floor and away from possible pests which may find their way into the garage (there are a lot of fields and such where we live).  So I got to work.

I had some older brackets and screws — albeit not the correct ones.

I couldn’t find my drill, so I figured a screw driver of the approx. size would work.

Didn’t have the right size of brackets, but I’d make what I have work correctly.

Can you guess what happened?  Nothing.  Nothing worked.  Using a screw drive to make some holes in the wall resulted in walls with holes in them.  The shelf wasn’t stable because the brackets were not the right size.

Regardless of what you’re trying to do — put up shelves, change the oil in the car, or LOSE WEIGHT – you need the right tools for the job.

I quickly learned that I can’t put up a shelf that I expect to be sturdy if I don’t use the right tools for the job.

Losing weight is identical.  How can you lose weight, or gain the motivation to lose weight if you set yourself up to fail before you even start?!

Let me explain, using my own story.

When I was determined to lose weight, I prepared myself:

  1. Mentally.  I decided that this was something I was going to do.  It was in my heart and soul.  I believed in it fully and I was determined to make it work.  This wasn’t a thought process that I decided in 5 minutes or as a New Years resolution.  I was determined to lose the weight.
  2. Action Plan.  Once I was prepared mentally, I went to work on my action plan.  What would I do to lose weight?  Exercise?  Diet?  Of course, I had to do both — but I wanted to plan.  You must know that “those without a plan, plan to fail” — right?
  3. Right tools.  I spent a little money to get the tools that I needed.  I invested in a good recipie book that had foods that I’d eat.  I also spent a lot of time on the Internet gathering recipies and other health related information, such as types of exercises, food plans, exercise plans.  I bought a journal, nothing fancy.  The journal was to record my day — my feelings, what I ate, how much I exercised.  I could look at this on a daily basis to see what I’d done right — and MORE importantly what I did WRONG.  Then I could modify my behaviors so that the next day, I avoid the WRONGS and stuck to the RIGHTS.  I also bought a PEDOMETER.  This really, really helped me walk 10,000 steps per day.
  4. Goals.  I set realistic goals.  Do you know what SMART goals are?  They are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time Sensitive:

    SPECIFIC – I wish to lose 8 – 10 lbs per month, and over the course of the year I want to up to 100lbs.
    MEASURABLE – I will weight my self on a weekly basis to ensure I am on track.  Also at the end of the year I will be able to measure the amount of weight lost.
    ATTAINABLE – It is easy to lose 1-2lbs per week; or 8-10lbs per month.  It’s HARD to lose 100lbs < I hope you recognize this statement, as I'm sure we've ALL made it at one time or another.
    REALISTIC – Is your weight loss goal realistic?  IF your goal is “LOSE 100 lbs in 3 months” – that’s not very realistic.  But loosing 8-10lbs per month is realistic, AND attainable!
    TIME SENSITIVE – have you put a time limit to your goal?  It is FAR better to set-up several SHORT TERM goals, than one L-O-N-G goal especially when it comes to weight loss.  As you knock off the shorter goals, you will be more inclined to stick to it as you’re seeing your successes regularly. 

These are a few of the things that I did so that I would succeed with my weight loss goals.

What have you tried?

Here is to your health,

Regards,

Mohamed

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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

December 25, 2007 by Mohamed  
Filed under Weight Loss

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Hi Everyone,

Just a few minutes to wish you a Merry Christmas — if you do not celebrate Christmas, then Seasons Greetings.

Hope that everyone has a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!

Best Regards,

Mohamed

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Cool Recipies Website

December 14, 2007 by Mohamed  
Filed under Weight Loss

1 Comment

Hi All,

Here is a fantastic website I just came accross while looking for meals that I can prepare in less than 30 minutes.  You really need to check it out:

http://whfoods.org/

Their Recipe Assistant available, where you pick the foods you like, foods you don’t like and foods that need certain types of vitamins and minerals.  Simply make your selections and click SUBMIT and they’ll provide you with dozens of recipes.  Here is a sampling of what I picked:

LIKE: beef, bell peppers, black pepper, brown rice, cabbage, low fat cheese, chicken, ginger, halibut, mushrooms, olives, onions, oranges, papaya, pears, pineapple, plums, potatoes, raspberries, romaine lettuce, salmon, tomatoes, tuna, water and watermelon.

DISLIKE: NONE

NUTRIENTS TO REQUIRE:NONE

Here is what it came back with:

Breakfast

Salad Entrees

Soups

Fish

Chicken and Turkey

Lean Meat

Vegetarian Entrees

Side Salad/Dressings

Side Vegetables

Desserts

It also provided a list of meatless dishes:

Meatless Recipes
Here is a list of over 70 meatless recipes for you:
Breakfast

Salad Entrees

Soups

Vegetarian Entrees

Side Salad/Dressings

Side Vegetables

Desserts

Sorry – the links only point back to our site…

They even provide you with detailed breakdown of the recipie – the nutritional profile, plus the nutrients in the dish and the amount of the nutrient plus its rating (good/very good).  You can also get an in-depth nutrient profile for the dish. 

This is a great site, highly recommended!

Here is to your health!

Regards,

Mohamed

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Weight Loss Programs – WeightWatchers

December 14, 2007 by Mohamed  
Filed under Weight Loss

1 Comment

Hi,

Years, and years (and years) ago, when I worked at McDonalds a bunch of us (well, two girls and I) joined Weight Watchers.  It was much less expensive back then, the only thing that I didn’t like (and still don’t like) is the weekly fees you have to pay.  But the system worked for me!

I lost about 30lbs on WeightWatchers, and I (we) followed it diligently.

Weight Watchers is probably one of the few programs that I’d say work.  They actually teach you good food habits — they don’t provide you with pre-packaged meals that you have to buy to lose the weight.  You learn about what foods are good for you and why.

You also learn a lot about portion control.  You get to eat the foods you love, but all the while you are eating less of them in one sitting.

Background on WeightWatchers

WeightWatchers started in 1963 when Jean Nidetch, invited friends to her home for an ongoing weekly meeting that focused on weight loss. Since then, Jean has established Weight Watchers International, Inc. which offers its services globally through a network of Company-owned and franchise operations. In North America alone, over 48,000 Weight Watchers meetings are held weekly where members receive group support and education about healthy eating patterns, behavior modification and group support. The Weight Watchers program is developed by credentialed scientists and healthcare professionals with proficiency in weight management. Weight Watchers scientific advisory board includes eleven physicians and nine PhD health researchers. Weight Watchers headquarters are located in New York, NY.

On WeightWatchers, participants can lose 1-2lbs per week — this is the ideal amount of weight you should be loosing on a weekly basis.

Although WW is open to men and women, by far their largest (no pun intended) participants are females so men *might* feel out of place — though there are men and women meeting leaders.

If you are going to try a commercial weight loss program, then I’d recommend WeightWatchers.

Here is to your health!

Regards,

Mohamed

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Simple Guildelines for Healthy Weight Loss

December 13, 2007 by Mohamed  
Filed under Weight Loss

1 Comment

Hi All,

Weight loss is as much about eating right, as is having the mindset to lose weight.  You don’t need to go onto crazy diets or try weird foods to lose weight.  You can lose weight eating what you love, but controlling your portions — that doesn’t mean you go from three hamburgers and supersized fries down to one and a regular fry — yes, controlling will help but you need to look at making a total lifestyle change.

It will be difficult to lose weight if you continue eating foods high in fat.  Fast foods are a great convenience, but we rely on them too much.  You may even find that you go through mild withdrawl symptoms when stopping fast foods.  When I started my lifestyle changes, I stopped eating my favourite — Filet of Fish and Fries.  This was my treat every Friday.  But I stopped.  Over the next few months, I’d have really bad cravings for this.  The cravings were to the point that I’d get bad headaches, but over time they went away…

So how can you be successful in losing weight?  It’s pretty simple.  Here are some guidelines for you…

  1. Support!  Support is essential.  Someone to share your experiences with, and a chance to listen to others as they’ve faced challenges and overcome them.  Anyone can be your support – a friend, family member or even a support group.
  2. Set goals.  Your goals need to be realistic.  Don’t expect to lose 10lbs in one week and each week thereafter.  A health weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week.  Give it time.  As you lose weight, your energy levels will increase and you’ll be able to do more and stay more active. 
  3. Don’t shop when you’re hungry.  This is a MUST.  I’ve spent 2-3x the amount I would have when I’ve gone shopping hungry.  That’s when EVERYTHING is a necessity. 
  4. Plan your meals and snacks.  Planning is the best way to stay ahead of the game.  Don’t plan and try things on the fly and you will find it more difficult to stick to changes you’ve worked so hard to put in place.  Planning means you will make the effort to eat healthier foods and you will end up avoiding danger/comfort foods.
  5. Portion control.  This really is essential.  If in the mornings you had 2 or 3 slices of toast, cut it down to 1.  If you ate two sandwhiches, cut it down to one.  Cutting down your portions means you can still enjoy foods you like (provided they are healthy) and still stay true to your lifestyle changes.  When I lost 100lbs, I still ate all the foods I loved — but I cut down how much I ate.  Along with portion control we (my wife and I) also cut out a lot of high-fat items we used in preparing meals.  It was tough, but we did it!
  6. Water – LOTS of it!  It will keep you hydrated AND keep you feeling full!
  7. 30 minutes of activity every day.  It really is easy, it can be done.  How hard is it to ride a stationary cycle for 30 minutes?  Or treadmill for 30 minutes?  How about a walk outside for 30 minutes?  You can get more tips for adding a little bit of activity into your daily routine by clicking here.

I hope that these simple guidelines help you as much as they’ve helped me!

Here is to your health!

Regards,

Mohamed

 

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