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Karen
Skype me! karen.j.miller
Tel: 1.541.484.5455 PST
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Category Archives: Diets and Weight Loss
I am starting the 30 Day Weight Loss Challenge!
As much as I dislike “diets”, I think it’s time to do a diet designed for weight loss.
Back wh
en I weighed 256 pounds (on a 5’ 4” body), I developed diabetes and high blood pressure. The pain from my arthritis also got worse.
I have been able to lose 33 pounds through lifestyle and eating habit changes.
I have concentrated on changing my relationship with food and my body.
But I have hit a roadblock. Everyone knows how frustrating it is when you are doing everything right (or most everything) and your body simply will not let go of anymore fat!
UGH!!!
So, it is time to do a structured “diet” to help me pass this plateau.
I have already been able to decrease one of my high blood pressure pills, so my goal is to be able to decrease or get off of my other medications.
Besides, I feel physically better now and I look better, so I KNOW I will feel and look even better after losing more weight.
The last time I weighed myself (which I only do when I or one of my kids goes to the doctor), I was 223 pounds…and that was in the evening after I ate dinner!
My next weight goal is 219, and then my next will be 199.
I so want to get under the 200 pound mark!
I also saved much of my wardrobe from when I used to weigh under 200 pounds, so I am excited to be able to wear those clothes again!
I decided to try the Appetizer Diet that I sell through my network marketing company.
We have a 30 Day Challenge where I have an Appetizer Diet Shake and an Appetizer Diet Cookie for breakfast and again at lunch time.
I started the diet January 19, 2011.
So far my appetite has been satisfied. I am very pleased that I don’t feel “denied”.
The other meal of the day can be anything you want. The diet is set up for you to have a dinner. Yesterday, I ate a meal as a late lunch, then had my shake and cookie for dinner.
I am not starving at bedtime and I’m not starving when I wake up.
I have started experimenting with shake recipes and will post again with some of those.
Visit my online store to learn more about the Appetizer Diet. You can find info on the 30 day challenge and, of course, all of the nutritional information.
Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.imnotfluffy@gmail.com
Reason #1 Why Diets Don’t Work
If you’re like me, you have tried many diets ever since you can remember being (or being considered) overweight.
You probably have tried more than a few fad diets or products that promised to help you lose a lot of weight very quickly.
Even though we all know that rapid weight loss is not the best plan, we still go for it…just out of frustration and desperation.
We even kid ourselves into thinking that a strict diet that offers the chance of shedding pounds every day is OK if it is offered by a doctor.
I visited a local medical weight loss clinic in town and read that one of their weight loss plans allowed you to eat 800 calories a day!
Most dieticians would say a 1200 calorie a day diet is as low as a woman should go to lose weight.
Let’s face it, most people can buck up and start a strict diet. There are even some who can stick with it and lose a significant amount of weight.
But can they keep it off?
It’s unlikely.
Diets don’t work primarily because they are temporary fixes to a lifelong problem.
The diet changes are sudden and drastic. Most people feel like they are being deprived and will have to suffer through hunger and a grumbly stomach all night.
When we do manage to stay on a strict diet long enough to lose a good amount of weight, we often “treat” ourselves to a much deserved indulgence.
Often, that one little treat leads to another and then another and then another until we have returned to our old destructive eating habits and then some.
Willpower and discipline have nothing to do with diet failure.
Being a failure and a lazy, fat pig has nothing to do with diet failure either.
It is all about lifestyle changes and habits.
We can only climb Mount Everest one step at a time. If you’ve never climbed a mountain before, you have start with learning how to climb a hill.
Changing lifestyle habits has to be done with the same perspective in mind.
Tackle one habit at a time. Give yourself about a month practicing each habit change to make it part of your new lifestyle.
Most diet plans address the diet first, and then the habit changes. Unfortunately, in order to keep up with the “expected” weight loss, the habit changes are presented too quickly.
Try changing your habits first for a couple of months. Then, if you feel like you need to start a “diet”, you will at least have practiced climbing a few hills.
One day you’ll look up and find yourself at the peak of your mountain.
Believe in Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.imnotfluffy@gmail.com
6 Popular Weight Loss Programs Compared
OK, so who among us has not felt so discouraged about our inability to lose weight that we have not tried, or at least thought about trying, one of the major weight loss programs?
I’ve been there! As young as in my early teens I have mustered up the will power to join a program or start a diet on many occasions.
The greatest lesson I have learned in my 44 years is that diets don’t work!
Why do you think the weight loss industry is so huge? It certainly isn’t because of a shinning, consistently successful track record.
US News & World Report just published an article comparing 6 major weight loss programs, based on a Consumer Reports study.
They measured the effectiveness of the diets based on nutrition analysis, weight loss success, ability to maintain the weight loss and exercise.
Volumetrics was praised for its low calorie, high fiber diet.
Weight Watchers has a “reasonable, sensible diet” that people can successfully maintain, but may grow tired of the weekly meetings, which can get costly. Focus on lifestyle changes.
Jenny Craig has the meals you buy and are delivered to your home, which is the bulk of the cost. After weight loss maintenance can be a challenge.
eDiets is a nice online subscription-based service. Another plan where you buy the meals & they are delivered. CR rated it low for weight loss results.
Ornish Diet is so low in fat that it can be a difficult diet to maintain. Its benefit is that the plan emphasizes physical activity.
Atkins has been known in weight loss circles for a long time as the highly restrictive ultra low carb diet. You can lose weight easily on this diet, but it is not a balanced diet and after a long period, you can’t help but crave carbs.
Anybody can stay on a diet for a time. A lot of us have successfully lost substantial amounts of weight. The hardest part is keeping it off.
The challenge lies in choosing a weight loss program that is
- flexible,
- customizable,
- provides enough success to motivate us to stay on the program, and
- focuses on lifestyle changes.
In my opinion, focusing on lifestyle changes is the key to success. Any food that can’t be eaten on a weight loss diet should be something you can live without forever.
I hate diets. They may work for some people, but for many more, they cannot maintain the restrictiveness. The repetitiveness of the weight loss and gaining it back isn’t as damaging feeling like a failure.
Get real and get healthy.
Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.imnotfluffy@gmail.com
Fast Food Does More Than Make Us Fat Lets Check The Sodium
With a woman’s busy schedule, we often go through a fast food drive through to pick up a quick lunch or dinner on hectic days.
If your tummy is rumbling for something more filling than a salad, you probably will order the usual burger or chicken deal. My favorite burger treat is the Carl’s Jr. Original Six Dollar Burger.
Granted that is probably a full day’s quota, but a once in awhile treat so I can take the night off from cooking is worth it.
Most of us know these choices are unhealthy, but when you look at the nutrition numbers you may just be shocked!
The Daily Beast ran an article on The 40 Deadliest Fast-Food Meals which includes stats for calories, fat, cholesterol and sodium.
Most of us wouldn’t be the least bit phased by the caloric and fat content in fast food. It’s not exactly breaking news that fast food is fattening.
The more alarming statistic for me was the sodium content. I’ve been watching sodium more closely since I developed high blood pressure. Also, with my sister’s cirrhosis of the liver, her sodium levels are wildly unstable.
I love a good bacon burger as much as the next carnivore. However, I am not so sure I love it enough to send me to the emergency room in cardiac arrest!
The Wendy’s Baconator Triple (my 18 year old son’s favorite) not only has 1330 calories (almost a day’s worth for an average person), the sodium level is 3150 mg!!
According to the Mayo Clinic website, daily sodium intake should fall between 1500 and 2400 mg a day.
Anyone who is working on losing weight or who has high blood pressure, is at high risk for stroke or cardiac disease, or is diabetic should keep their sodium intake at the 1500 mg/day range.
My sister’s doctor advised she keep her sodium even lower at about 1200 mg/day.
Other very popular meals from Taco Bell, Sonic, McDonald’s, Arby’s, Jack In the Box, Popeye’s Chicken, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, In & Out Burger, White Castle and KFC were from 1400 to over 2000 mg.
Who would have thought a taco salad could be so deadly? And think, one slice of a Domino’s cheese pizza contains about 600 mg of sodium! Who eats just one slice?
So, if I want to have my favorite 6 Dollar Burger from Carl’s Jr. with a side of onion rings and a diet Dr. Pepper (gotta watch that sugar for the diabetes), I’ll be consuming…
- 1440 calories (1000 from the burger, 440 from the O-rings, 0 from the pop);
- 2425 mg sodium (1690 from the burger, 700 from the O-rings, 35 mg from 8 oz of pop).
If I only ate that meal for the entire day, I would be over the 1200 calorie limit for a strict weight loss diet and way over the 1500 mg sodium/day limit for my health issues.
I’ll be satisfied with a pine box folks!
Seriously, though, indulging in a fast food meal as a rare treat is not going to kill you. Unless, of course, your doctor has strictly forbidden it due to your health issues.
If you will miss your favorite burger or chicken meal just too much, and are in danger of going on a bender, then plan out your next fast food meal.
Decide how often a month—once or twice—or once a week. Start wherever you can be successful! You can always work towards less.
You can also plan out your meal. What are you actually craving? Is it the fries, the chicken, the burger, or the chili dog? Or maybe you just really, really want a Reeces Blizzard.
Just order the one thing you are craving. Leave the rest for your next visit. Remember to balance out your meals for the rest of the week so you are eating more fresh, home prepared meals.
This doesn’t mean only eat broiled chicken, salad & broccoli all week. That kind of bland boring menu is very difficult to maintain and would drive the most disciplined person to binge. Bake, microwave, and steam your food and avoid frying.
Remember, here at Ladies Living Large and Healthy, we are talking about healthy lifestyle changes that you can live with forever.
If you’d like to check the nutrition “label” for your favorite fast food meals look up Calorie Count.
Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.imnotfluffy@gmail.com
Yikes! Crash Dieting Can Make You Bald!
According to Rebecca Campen, MD, JD, who is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, going on a crash diet can lead to hair loss.
Very often, when women feel desperate to lose weight, they will start a strict diet. If they stick to the diet, they can lose a good bit of weight in a short amount of time.
Not only is this type of sudden weight loss unhealthy for our bodies, it is unhealthy for our hair.
If a diet is not nutritionally sound and has too low of a caloric intake, we can experience a nutritional deficiency. A deficiency in certain nutrients like biotin can cause hair loss.
Dr. Campen says a condition known as “telogen effluvium” is a more likely cause of hair loss with crash dieting.
On a crash diet when there is sudden, rapid weight loss, the hair follicles go into a “resting phase”. When hair is “resting”, hair loss occurs. When you are on a crash diet for a longer period of time, your risk having so much of your hair fall out that it becomes noticeably thinner.
So Girls, not only do those crash diets not work because they are unhealthy and the weight comes right back, you could go bald!
Stick to a healthy lifestyle and sensible eating habits.
Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen
Dr. Campen’s full article can be seen on MSN health & fitness.