So let me ask you.  Have you kept your New Years Resolution to lose weight?  What?  I can’t hear you… I see a lot of smiles and hear a few giggles.  You didn’t, did you?  Not to worry, neither did the millions of Americans or Canadians that kept a New Years Resolution to lose weight.

But can I tell you a secret?  I kept a resolution to lose weight.  You know what else?  I was successful.

Those that have been following my other weight loss site (http://www.lose-weight-n-feel-great.com) know that my family and I moved out to BC several years ago.  At the time, I was a 48-waist and around 280lbs.  I spent some time at home, but over the years the weight crept up and in 6-years time I ended up gaining 30lbs.

Just before 2011 I promised myself that I will lose weight.  But I didn’t make any New Years Resolution, I resolved to myself that I must lose weight.  I didn’t make any promises to anyone — not even my wife or 7-year old (an only child, who loves soccer and expects that I will play with him).

I did it for me.  The side effect was that I had more energy to play with my son and do more around the house.  It was a win-win situation.

Today I am 284.5 lbs – not quite 280, but I can no longer wear my size 54 pants.  In fact even my size 50′s are too loose and I have to get them ALL taken in!  I love it!

When you are wanting to lose weight, you cannot wait (or is that weight) for New Years Resolutions, promises to your wife, son/daughter, significant other or anyone.  You need to lose weight because YOU want to.  Yes you may be doing it for other reasons — and that’s not bad, but you should be doing it primarily for you.

Will you keep making resolutions to lose weight?  Or will you do it for you?

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So I developed a way to put some of these strategies to better use and asked those that I was talking with to try them to see if they made any difference. Of course you want to be able to measure success, but when it comes to weight loss you need to take a lot into account. Cutting down food doesn’t mean you’ve cut down calories, you need to exercise (or do something to burn calories) as well.

Back to indulgence. So I proposed this to the small group I was “coaching”:

Eat your snacks, keeping mind of the label. So if one serving is 1/4 cup – stick to it BUT only indulge if you are having your snack (typically it’s junk food, like chips) if you are also having a healthy meal with it.

That was the only rule.

This meant that if you were watching tv and wanted ice cream, cake cookies, chips or any other junk food you could not. You could have chips if you were having a healthy lunch (I did not define what a healthy lunch is, that’s something each individual had to do for themselves), or a good balanced supper you could add something to indulge yourself. Of course the way to lose weight is to eat less food, eat more often, make healthy choices and exercise – so unless you are doing that this strategy that I am sharing will not help you.

So they tried, and they lost weight – but then, I can’t take credit for that because they are already losing weight and all I did was give them one more strategy to use.

What they did say was this:

“Mohamed, your strategy really helped. I had to make a conscious choice every time I went near the pantry for a snack even if it was for crackers or popcorn. I found that I looked forward to a healthy lunch and dinner because the rules said I could indulge myself during those times.”

…and…

“This trick really helped me out! By the time I am done dinner, because I have forged myself on a soup or salad, I don’t want my side snack or indulgence! Instead I ended up snacking smart, like apples, pears, oranges or other fruits or vegetables. I think that with this strategy I will finally be able to kick my junk food habit for good!”

Will this work for you? I don’t know, but what can you lose (besides weight) if you try?

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Don’t feel guilty if you gain some weight back, instead use what you have learned to fine tune your diet and get back on track.

But this post isn’t about how to maintain your weight loss, or how to fine tune your eating it is about the side effects of losing weight.

Your clothes fit, right.

Yes that is a benefit of losing weight, your clothes fit. You do not bulge over or hang out. You begin to have a shape, other than round or square.

Clothes are less expensive.

Another great benefit of weight loss. Over the last few months I have lost another 10 – 15 lbs so went from a 58 waist (and pants in the $100.00+ range) down to a 52. Cost of pants, shirts and other items also fell (in addition to the clothes). Yes I have more to go, but if I can trim my professional clothes budget by 10% every few months it adds up to significant savings over the course of a year.

Health improves, and you have more energy.

At one time, when my 7-year old (slim, fit and healthy) son would want me to race him up the stairs, my mind would think about the huffing and puffing, sweating and my weak and sore joints.

Only 3% of weight loss has allowed me to race him to the top of the stairs. I am still huffing, but no weak or sore joints.

Also I wake up fresh every morning. I am not as tired by 8:00pm and can function at 110% at work even on regular 10 hour days (I am a workaholic).

The only side effect of weight loss that I don’t like? I feel cold more often, but then that has to do with not having to lug around extra weight (and insulation).

As I work towards the last 100lbs, I do not mind feeling cold and quite enjoy wearing the latest styles and designs of clothes, suits and sports jackets. Working in a senior management position where I meet with other senior managers, you need to look good – being overweight just does not cut it. That is not to say there are not overweight executives, but they are much fewer.

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Although some people realize that starvation is actually a counterproductive way to lose weight, they don’t know how many calories that they need to eat to lose weight.

The best way to do this is for an individual to track how many calories they eat on a daily basis. Many people say that 2000 calories are a typical day’s worth of calories. In actuality, though, that really depends on the weight and size of each individual. Women usually eat around 2000 and men around 2700. Most people are shocked when they find out how much (or how little, but usually the former) they eat once they actually write everything down.

Common practice is to figure out how many calories one eats per day, and then subtract a certain amount of calories during the “diet period”. As a general rule, if one reduces 500 calories per day, at the end of 7 days, they will lose one pound (3500 calories).

While the body does respond to eating the same amount of lower-calories every day for the short-term, it plateaus after a while. A good tactic to fight back is to calorie cycle. By calorie cycling, you might eat 2000 calories one day, 2500 the next, and 1500 the next. This constantly keeps your body “on its toes”.

The general rule of calorie cycling is to figure out how many calories that you were going to eat if you were going to go on a traditional diet, multiply it by 7, and divvy the calories out for the week. For example, if one was going to eat 1800 calories a day, that would be 12,600 calories for the week. Calorie cycling would be eating, for example, 1600, 1800, 1600, 2000, 2200, 1600, and 1800.

Rachel has lost 100 pounds herself, and is passionate about helping other people do it too. She has been featured in Woman’s World, among others.

You can check out more about calorie cycling on her website at YAY Food.

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But these tricks will help you lose weight.  They’ve worked for me, and continue to work for me…

Tip #1 for Fast Weight Loss

Exercise.  You need to burn calories in order to lose weight, eating less will not do it.  It does not need to be very active, vigorous exercise – but moderate exercise.  Some great examples of moderate exercise are: watercize, walking or even bicycling.

If you’re not in a position to go outside, consider an exercise bicycle for your home and try 3-5 times per week for as little as 10 minute per session and gradually work your way up.

I can understand that if you are obese exercise is difficult and you don’t want to over exert yourself, so start slowly and work your way up.

If you have other health issues, you should also speak to your doctor to let them know what you’re planning so that they can give you good advice about the type of exercise you should undertake and any limitations that they may suggest.

Tip #2 for Fast Weight Loss

Drink water.

Yes, soda pop, juice and all the other sweet drinks are tastier than water – but your body needs water.  I find drinking a glass or two of water before I eat helps me control how much I eat and makes me feel fuller, quicker.

If you can’t drink water straight up – try adding something like Crystal Light to it.  I did this, and do this from time-to-time and it really helps me stay hydrated.

If water just won’t cut it – you could try decaffeinated drinks like tea or coffee – cut the sugar and use skim milk instead of whole milk or cream.

Tip #3 for Fast Weight Loss

Proper nutrition.  OK, you can’t get away from it.  You need to eat right, you do not (and should not) cut out, but cut down on the bad foods but you need your share of good foods: fresh fruits and vegetables, grains. Plus stop eating  fast foods, fried foods, sugary foods, and white flour products – to mention a few.

Cutting out fast foods is a must.  Did you know that one fast food meal could contain the amount of calories you need for a full day!

Tip #4 for Fast Weight Loss

Sleep.

Your body needs it.  You should try and get at least 7 or 8 hours of good sleep every night.

Try and keep your room cool.  A good pillow, and great bed will help you get the best sleep.  Consider the type of bed you are using – I used to use the typical spring bed — but was introduced to a bed made from “rubber” — and you know what, it supports my weight better, is firmer and I get a GREAT nights sleep (I’ll talk about beds and sleep in a future post).

Your bedroom should be used for sleeping, and well OTHER activities.  You shouldn’t use your bedroom for eating, or watching tv.  Keep these activities confined to those areas where they’re meant to be conducted.  Associating your bedroom with TV or FOOD means it will distract you from what the bedroom is intended for.

Do you have any tips that you’d like to share?  Though we moderate all comments we review them daily!  I’d love to hear your tips.  Oh yes, we are a FOLLOW blog so we’ll share link juice with you.

Here is to your health!

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Preoccupy yourself.

That’s it.  That is the one tip that will help you lose some weight.

Why does it work?  Here is the explanation.

When I was at my heaviest, and when I was told “lose weight, or die” I looked at what I was doing and found that most of the time I was bored.  So I sat and watched tv.  A lot of TV.  To kill time between channels or shows, I would eat.  

Then as I started my lifestyle changes (which resulted in weight loss) I made better use of my time.  I went away from TV and tried to occupy myself.  We had purchased a house, so kept myself busy with yard work – mowing the lawn, taking care of it, weeding, watering – you name it, I would do it.  I’d be drained when I was done, but you know what – I kept myself busy and away from the TV and I wasn’t bored!

I bought a bike and rode around the neighborhood until I started riding a few miles each day.  I really enjoyed that.

At work I took walks during my 1-hour lunch break.

Boredom is a sure way to gain weight, especially when you are prone to weight gain – boredom is your mortal enemy.  By doing something, maybe even reading a book (outside) you keep your mind active and engaged.  If you can keep yourself from getting bored by doing light exercise – like a walk, or going out of the house you’re sure to beat it and stay away from the fridge or pantry.

Here is to your health!

Mohamed

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