Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

If you’ve been following this blog, or my static weight loss site (it’s been around since about 2003) then you know that I did lose 100lbs in about one year and have kept most of that weight off.  Fact is I gained back some of that – about 30lbs.

I’ve been trying, though not very hard, to shed those 30lbs and bring my weight back down to 270lbs to 280lbs – though this is still far from my ideal weight which the doctors, nutritionist and dietician say is around 180lbs it’s been something that I was comfortable with – I was able to get into slimmer suits and my stomach didn’t bulge out as much as it is doing right now plus I could run up the stairs without huffing and puffing, play with my son without breaking a sweat and could handle warm temperatures without looking like I just got out of the shower!

If you go to my weight loss site, you’ll notice the statement that I made on the front page:

Weight Loss Is By Choice, Not By Chance

This means exactly what I say – weight loss is by choice.  YOU have to make the choice that YOU want to lose weight.  Though we go on diets, and make lifestyle changes for many reasons – it needs to be a reason for us – YOU.  Yes you can make the statement that you want to lose weight for “my spouse”, “my family”, “my son/daughter” or any other reason, but unless you are doing it for you – why would you have any motivation to lose the weight?  Seriously, think about it.  If there is no vested interest for you – why do it?

Enough of the lecture.  So what am I doing?

I had given up keeping a food diary, too much work.  But then I bought an iPod Touch about a year ago and downloaded some great applications (I will review the one that I use in an upcoming post) to track what I eat and when.  I’ve been keeping track of my food intake for several months now and discovered a few things:

• I started eating late at night, again (after about 8:00pm)
• I started consuming more sugary drinks than I normally do (like juice, and soda pop)
• I started consuming MORE artificial sweeteners that I normally do (I love my decaf tea)
• I started eating MORE junk food that I’ve done in the past
• I started eating out more often

As you can see, I started many wrong things instead of right things.

So how to break the cycle?  It’s not easy.  You can’t quit cold turkey (no pun intended).  You need to stop bad habits gradually.  So the first thing I started was cutting down the late night romps to the kitchen.  We ate when we ate, and that was it.  If I was hungry before bedtime, I had a glass of warm milk or some fruit.  It took about one week for the new habit to set it, but now when I’m hungry and head downstairs and open the fridge – I think about how hungry I really am and usually grab the milk jug instead of left overs.

Next was the sugary drinks.  I’m don’t particularly like soda pop so cutting this out was easy, I like juices more – dropping that is hard.  Cutting this out was hard, but we found some juice that is lower in sugar – it’s advertised as 25% less sugar and it’s not sweetened with any artificial sweetener.  I avoid stuff like Tang Orange Juice crystals and even drinks like Kool Aid and will look for juice thats either sweetened with natural fruit sugars or is reduced sugar.  I also limit how much I drink in a day to one or two 8oz glasses. 

Eating out is another habit difficult to break, while I generally won’t go to McDonalds, Burger King or any other fast food place that often — there are times when the french fry or onion ring craving hits.  My solution was to stop.  I just won’t go there anymore.  But the other foods that I enjoy are mediterranean style foods, and there is a great place close to work that I like going to.  My solution was to limit how often I go.  I will go there, but generally once per month.  I was going weekly before.  There is also another place I like to eat, but as it’s about one hour away we generally don’t go more than once every few months.

Junk food is a hard habit to break – I love chips, tacos, nachos etc., giving these up was difficult.  So I didn’t.  I count out 12-15 chips and snack on them instead.  Yes a GREAT amount of willpower is needed – but you know what, when you eat regular meals and good snacks you don’t get the cravings (or not as many and as severe) for junk food.

There are other things you should also know – as a general rule, we don’t eat a lot of processed meats at home.  This is where you’ll find a lot of fat, and salt.  Because we don’t eat pork/bacon/ham – this cuts out a lot of the processed meats that we can eat — which is generally limited to items such as chicken or turkey, and even then because of our dietary requirements (halal) I can’t just stop into my local grocery store and buy what’s out — I need to make the effort to drive to the store and buy it.

We also don’t drink alcohol – so no extra calories from there.

We do eat traditional indian foods – such as biryani, curries, and rice not to mention naan/roti — so I need to exercise greater control.  Because of my needs, my wife will normally cook more North American styled foods for me – such as more chicken and fish.

So how are things going?  So far, so good – my pants are starting to feel a little loose on me again and if I’m able to keep this up I should be down those pesky 30lbs in 3 to 6 months time.

Remember – DIETS DO NOT WORK - but lifestyle changes do work.  Why not Let us know how things are going, and any challenges you’ve faced and how you’ve overcome those challenges.

Here is to your health!

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Secrets of Weight Loss: Cut Down, not Cut Out

Losing weight is difficult.  I’m the first to admit.  While the 1st 100lbs I lost came off relatively easy, I did put some of that weight back on (30lbs) and am now trying to lose that.  But going back to healthy eating habits isn’t easy – what has helped is a family that really cares.  My wife goes out of her way to find me recipes that I’ll enjoy and my 7-year old son is always after me to play soccer or tennis with him.

That’s great support.

One aspect of weight loss that I stick by, eventhough some may disagree is that you should CUT DOWN not CUT OUT foods that you like.

I love my snack foods, like chips (my favourite) and soda pop.  I’m not a fan of ice cream, chocolate or other types of candies.  But I love my snacking food.  Rather than cut them out, and then face cravings that I end up satisfying by binging on those items I cut down on how much of them I eat and how often.

I tend to buy chips in those small, single serving sizes.  This way I can enjoy the chips but control how much I’ve had.

I know what you’re thinking – but you won’t feel satisfied with just one small bag.  You’re right, and that’s where you have to use will power and exercise control to keep from eating 10 bags.  Weight loss is about cutting back, and getting exercise – but it’s also about controlling your cravings and finding ways that help you control those cravings.  Indeed most of my cravings are as a result of not eating the right foods or at the right time, or starving my self when I know that this will not help me lose weight.

In my never ending quest for good information on weight loss, I found this site – Fooducate.  They offer some excellent information on what food is made up of, which also give you great information on the nutritional value of food.  A few posts that I read most recently:

• Comparing Kellogg’s Fiber Plus Bar to LaraBar [Inside the Label]
• FDA to Take On the “Serving Size” Hoax
• 11 Short Acrylamide Facts (French Fries Foe)
• The Real Reason Schools Are Still Full of Junk Food

Have a look at the posts, all well written and provide some excellent information.

Here is to your health!

Technorati Tags: lose weight without dieting, Weight Loss

Lose Weight And Keep It Off – Easy Tips #1

Did you know that most people that lose weight tend to regain most, if not all of it within a year?  It’s true – several studies have gone on to prove that 80% of people on diets gain their weight back.

How can you be part of the 20% that DOES NOT gain it back?

Getting Started TODAY

You cannot leave weight loss for January 1, New Years Resolutions, after the summer picnic, or any other event.  Weight loss (and waist management) needs to start today.

It is easy.

When I had gone onto lose 100lbs, I ate EVERYTHING – including the forbidden fruit, chips.  But I made use of portion control.  Go for the summer picnic, or the bbq – but control what you’re eating.

In addition to portion control, and avoiding high fat and sugary foods – exercise.  It doesn’t have to be hard.  I didn’t join any gym or workout like crazy.

I started with walking and riding my exercise bicycle.  10 minutes per day, daily.

Soon 10 minutes wasn’t enough.  So I did 20 minutes, then 30 minutes until finally I could do 60 minutes per day without a second thought (and without getting tired).

By starting slowly and building up, you not only make exercise enjoyable but something you turn into a habit – and once you have a good habit that has formed (hopefully) it’s not something that you will break.

As you watch what you eat, and exercise – you will lose weight and as you lose weight you won’t feel like going back to old habits.

Technorati Tags: easy weight loss, lose weight and keep it off, Weight Loss

Is Snacking All Day Instead Of Meals Unhealthy?

When I started to lose weight, I ate three meals per day AND I snacked in between meals.  Snacks were never high-calorie foods, but low-calorie AND low-fat foods – typically it would be things like baby carrotts, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers or other vegetables.  I’d also add fruit to the mix and preferred apples and grapes (watch grapes as they are high in natural sugars).

But I didn’t stop there – I would have snack crackers, but checked the labels to ensure that they were not high in fat or salt.

Other snack ideas are nuts - preferably un-salted, pretzels (in limited quantities – NOT the whole bag).

I also made sure that I drank plenty of water to keep myself hydrated.

Technorati Tags: snacking, Weight Loss

Obesity In The US

While there are statistics all over the place about the high cost of obesity, and the damage it causes the health care system – whether that be in Canada, the US or any other country one thing is certain that as the economic times have changed which has forced many families to take on more – such as both parents working or parents having to take on 2nd jobs and leaving kids behind to fend for themselves obesity has increased.

Parents that have to work, naturally will have less time to spend with their kids – as a result those kids may spend more time on the couch instead of outside playing.  In fact when you look at the playground, who do you see?  Generally kids where one parent is at home – not very often will you see kids by themselves.

While that is quite a generalization as there are skinny kids that may not be outside playing, are they necessarily healthy?  Just because you’re skinny doesn’t mean healthy.

I came across an excellent article about Obesity in the US on the CDC website – http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html.  They provide an animated map of the US that shows obesity rates from 1985 to 2008.  The 1985 map is primarily white, with some states in the < 10% or 10% – 14% categories.  Fast forward to 2008 and it’s anywhere from 20% to as high as OVER 30% with only one state in the 15% – 19% range (Colorado).

The article goes on to show the rate of obesity among minorities – white, non Hispanic, Hispanic and black non Hispanic.  It’s clear from the graphs that obesity is in epidemic proportions in many ethnic communities.

The final image that they provide is the prevalance of obesity by county and right below that the number of cases of diabetes.  It becomes clear when you view both of these that there is a high correlation between obesity and diabetes.

The fact is that we need to do more to lose weight – and not just an empty promise to ourselves that we’ll start “tomorrow”.

Here is to your health!

Mohamed

Technorati Tags: obesity in the US, Weight Loss

Mum Worried About Teasing in School Dies After Failed Weight Loss Surgery

Here is a story I found over at MedIndia: http://www.medindia.net/news/Mum-Worried-About-Teasing-in-School-Dies-After-Failed-Weight-Loss-Surgery-56171-1.htm

Kerry Greaves, the mother of 3-year-old Melissa, was so worried that her daughter would be teased because she had a fat mother that she opted for weight loss surgery.

Doctors in York Hospital carried out a gastric band procedure, but complications from the surgery caused liver and kidney failure in Ms Greaves, eventually resulting in her untimely death. Anne Greaves, the mother of the deceased woman, is now urging caution before opting for weight loss surgery.

“She didn’t have this operation through vanity, she did it for her daughter. She had just started nursery and even though Kerry had never been bullied because of her weight at school, she thought other kids might pick on Melissa because her mum was big,” she said. “I tried to warn her about the dangers but she was insistent and told me that everything would be OK. My advice to anybody thinking of this operation would be to have more pride in yourself and don’t do it.”

Weight loss is important, and there are many ways to lose weight – fad diets, strange diets (like the 3-Day Diet, Carrot/Cauliflower/Cabbage Soup Diet), and surgery.  Surgery is probably one of the most effective since it can provide very quick results – in a matter of weeks but there are risks with surgery as you can see from this article.

Regardless of your body type, size or looks you need to have pride in yourself.  When you have that “inner pride/beauty” it will manifest itself on the outside.  True there are people that may deal with weight issues all their life (I am one of those) but I’d rather be living and a good father to my son and husband to my wife than potentially ending up on the coroners table and 6-feet under.

Weight loss is a gradual process.  It is about eating right, getting and remaining active – it is about lifestyle changes.  Diet is DIE with a T tacked onto the end.  Think of it as a diet and you will fail.  Think of it as, and work at it as a lifestyle change and you develop healthy eating habits that stay with you forever.  These are then the same habits that you can pass onto your children.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve (my wife and I) have been stressing the importance of staying active to our 6-year old and he’s picked up on it.  After eating, he won’t sit down in front of the TV or computer or with his WII or DS.  Instead his comments are “I need to stay healthy, right?” or “Dad, I want you to live for a looong time.  Lets take a walk”.

There may be cases where surgery is required, but if you can do it – try things the natural way through a concerted effort and may making lifestyle changes.

What is bariatric surgery?  Find out here http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/weightlosssurgery.html.

Here is to your health!

Mohamed

Technorati Tags: bariatric surgery, Weight Loss, weight loss surgery

Yoga for Weight Loss?

Found an interesting article on WebMD entitled “Yoga for Weight Loss?”

It can help you find your bliss, and some say yoga may also help you shed those extra pounds.
By Colette Bouchez

WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Feature
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Jennifer Aniston does it. Reports are that Liv Tyler, Halle Berry, Madonna, David Duchovny and supermodel Christy Turlington do it, too. Many professional athletes are said to be doing it in an effort to improve their games.

The “it” is yoga, a sophisticated mind-body exercise many believe can do everything from tighten your buns to change your outlook on life.

But can this no-strain, work-at-your-own-level exercise really help you lose weight?

It’s true most types of yoga don’t have anything near the calorie-burning power of aerobic exercise. A 150-pound person will burn 150 calories in an hour of doing regular yoga, compared to 311 calories for an hour of walking at 3 mph. But it is exercise, after all, and many practitioners believe yoga can indeed help people take off extra pounds.

“Yoga is a phenomenal way to put you in touch with your body the way nothing else can, and yes, it can help you lose weight,” says instructor Dana Edison, director of Radius Yoga in North Redding, Mass., and a certified personal trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine.

Celebrity yoga trainers Ana Brett and Ravi Singh, who have worked with such hotties as Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, also believe in yoga’s weight-loss powers.

“We have seen it in ourselves, we have seen it in our clients – yoga can give you a real workout even if you are a beginner,” says Brett, who, with Singh, created the best-selling DVD program Fat Free Yoga.

How Does It Work?

In 2005, medical researcher and practicing yogi Alan Kristal, DPH, MPH, set out to do a medical study on the weight-loss effects of yoga.

With funding from the National Cancer Institute, Kristal and colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle led a trial involving 15,500 healthy, middle-aged men and women. All completed a survey recalling their physical activity (including yoga) and their weight between the ages of 45 and 55. Researchers then analyzed the data, teasing out other factors that could influence weight change – such as diet or other forms of exercise.

The end result: They found yoga could indeed help people shed pounds, or at least keep them from gaining weight.

“Those practicing yoga who were overweight to start with lost about 5 pounds during the same time period those not practicing yoga gained 14 pounds,” says Kristal.

For the study, he says, practicing yoga was defined as at least one 30-minute session per week for four or more years.

Kristal says it’s not clear just how yoga might help people keep off the pounds, at least from a scientific standpoint. His own opinion is that the effects are subtle, and related to yoga’s mind-body aspects.

“The buzzword here is mindfulness — the ability to observe what is happening internally in a non-reactive fashion,” he says. “That is what helps change the relationship of mind to body, and eventually to food and eating.”

Adds Edison: “Yoga makes you more susceptible to influence for change – so if you are thinking you want to change your lifestyle, you want to change the way you think about food, you want to get over destructive eating patterns, yoga will help give you the spiritual connection to your body that can help you make those changes.”

Another idea is that yoga forges a strong mind-body connection that ultimately helps make you more aware of what you eat and how it feels to be full.

“Essentially, in yoga you learn your body is not your enemy, and the conscious awareness of the body that you gain translates into better appetite control,” Edison says.

Power Yoga: The New Attitude

While some say yoga is too tame for extreme weight loss, many devotees of the practice known as “power yoga” disagree.

Power yoga is an Americanized version of traditional Kundalini techniques. Instructors like Singh and Brett believe it can offer all the fat-burning potential – and heart benefits — of an aerobic workout.

While traditional types of yoga are based on breathing techniques paired with static poses, Singh says, power yoga combines meditative breathing with faster, more active movements. The result, he says, is a workout that can be more aerobic than . . . aerobics!

“Aerobic means to exercise in the presence of oxygen, so when you are doing the traditional yoga breathing along with the more active exercises, you’re doing exactly that,” he says. “Our ‘breath of fire’ technique, for example, is one of many we use to help you burn calories while you breathe.”

Edison concedes power yoga may help some people lose weight, but she questions whether it could work for the yoga novice, or the average out-of-shape dieter.

“Can yoga build muscle? Yes. Is a fast-paced, power class aerobic? Sometimes. And can you sweat out water weight in a 105-degree room? Sure. But can the average overweight person effectively shed pounds through a one-size-fits-all physical yoga practice? Not realistically or safely,” Edison tells WebMD.

What about using power yoga to jump-start a weight loss plan? Kristal says even the most forceful power yoga techniques won’t equal the health benefits of a cardiovascular workout — nor will yoga ever burn calories quickly at a significant level.

“It’s just not medically feasible – it’s not going to happen,” he says.

Still, Brett and Singh say they’ve seen firsthand that it can work, even for beginners.

“People come to yoga for many different reasons, but we have seen many success stories in terms of losing weight and learning to control weight,” says Brett. “Active yoga, even for the novice, can change your body and your life.”

Making Yoga Work for You

One thing all our experts agree on is that yoga can be a terrific introduction to the world of fitness.
To help get you started, they offer these tips:

1. Practice in a room without mirrors, and put the emphasis on your internal experience rather than your outer performance.
2. Learn to experience the sensation of movement, down to the tiniest micro movement.
3. Always try to find your “edge” — the place where your body feels challenged, but not overwhelmed. When you achieve this, keep an open, accepting state of mind.
4. Give yourself permission to rest when you’re tired.
5. Combine your yoga session with positive self-talk. Appreciate your efforts and praise your inner goodness.
6. Go to class faithfully. If you work out at home, set a specific day and time for your yoga session and stick to it.
7. Recognize that you are not only working on your body, but are also working to develop qualities like patience, discipline, wisdom, kindness and gratitude.
8. Look for a teacher (in a class or on video) who you feel offers a balance between gentleness and firmness, and who inspires you to practice.
9. Recognize that simply buying a yoga DVD or attending the class is a step toward creating a better you. Use it as momentum to keep going.
10. Realize your efforts are not just inspiring you, but also inspiring others as you become more attuned to who you are, inside and out.

SOURCE URL – http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/yoga-for-weight-loss

Technorati Tags: lose weight through yoga, Weight Loss, yoga, yoga weight loss

Weight Loss Revisited 07.09.2009

I’ve really slacked off on a lot of stuff.

I blame my son.  His allergies are holding me back.

Joking.

But I have slacked off, and who would notice but da ‘wif.

So her comment was “are you just going to sit around on the couch again.” and I’m like “no – when do I do that?” and she’s like “all the time.”.  End of discussion.

So I promptly got onto the scale and weighed myself – 299lbs.  SO while I’ve kept my weight down I’m F-A-R from where I want to be.  Ideally by the end of this year (2009, honey not when hell freeze over) I would like to get down to 250lbs.

That’s my long-term goal for 2009 – lose 50lbs within 6 months time.

That’s only 8lbs per month and the ideal weight loss is 1-2 lbs per month.

So how am I going to get there?  By making many smaller goals that I can easily measure.

So my first goal is to lose 4lbs by July 16, 2009.  Yes that’s quite a bit, but I know my body and how I burn calories and know that I can meet that goal.

How will I get there?  By watching what I eat, and doing more exercise.

Breakfast

Bowl of Bran Flakes cereal with 2% milk (can’t stand skim milk), a small piece of home made cake (about 3″ by 2″).

Snack

Cherries.  Lots of them.

Tea.  About 2-cups of tea with 2% milk and no sugar.  Love my tea!

Lunch

Campbells Hearty Noddles soup.

Snack

Cherries.  More cherries.  I like cherries.

Oh… and something deliciously sinful and sweet – a large Butterhorn pastry.  I know I shouldn’t have, but couldn’t resist.  Besides, it was the last one.  Won’t be buying these anytime soon!

Tea.  About 2-cups of tea with 2% milk and no sugar.  Love my tea!

Dinner

Going out to a persian restaurant in North Vancouver.  The food is GREAT and we usually buy the same thing all the time.  Large green salad, rice with kobideh kabab.  Very good, probably more than I should be having but we don’t go out often so this is a small treat for us.

We ended up doing a bbq at home – burgers, some chicken wings (skin removed) and corn.  Lots of salad on the side, water to wash it all down with (I avoided soda pop).  Burgers had cheese on them, some mayo, mustard, ketchup and pickles.

Now you might be thinking that that’s not a lot of food (breakfast + snack + lunch + snack) – well, no it isn’t.  But I sit all day, so really need to watch what I eat otherwise I gain it twice as fast!

I also had a lot of water.  About 3 x 20oz worth of the wet stuff.  I was running to the washroom every hour!!!

I’ll probably have a late snack as well – usually it’s cereal.  I find as I get older, I need to have my fibre.  So normally it’s something like regular Cherrios with a 1/3 cup of a high-fibre cereal and milk.  Seriously though regardless of your age you should be having a lot of fibre.  It makes you feel full, and helps control cholesterol.  Porridge is a great source of fibre – just make it with very little to no sugar or other sweet stuff added to it.

Exercise/Activity

I was on an hour long conference call today, and had my wireless headset on so could pace my office.  I managed to get in about 400 steps.  Not bad, but definately not enough.  Hope to get out tonight and do some walking or playing Wii with my son as he really can’t go out too much due to severe allergies this year.

Did go out for a short walk and managed to get in just over 2,000 steps.  So a step (pun intended) in the right direction.

I don’t go to the gym – too expensive, and I get bored easily.  But I did spend money on a cool iPod Touch and loaded it with tunes from iTunes and from Napster (after they went legit) and will take that with me on my walks.

I’ll weigh myself next Thursday around 6:00am and will share the results with you.

I’ll also work on some side shots so you can see the difference… well, actually I’m not sure if I’m ready to share pictures yet.  We’ll see.

I will share with you what I’m having daily so that you can follow along and see what I’m doing to lose weight.  Chris over at The Second Coming Of Chris said this:

“I deprive myself of nothing, but don’t over-indulge or gorge on anything.”

Exactly.  I eat what I want, and what I like – but I don’t over-indulge nor do I gorge or binge.  I satisfy my cravings, and that is what has made me successful in my weight loss.

Till tomorrow…

Mohamed

Technorati Tags: diet plan, personal weight loss, personal weight loss goals, Weight Loss

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