Admittedly, my damn metabolism has slowed down. Drastically. I used to be able to eat anything and not gain a size--even well into my twenties. Then babies made it a little more difficult, but working out 3 times a week for a half an hour and drinking lots of water and fat was at bay. Then, it needed to be 5 days. Then it was 5 days, 45 minutes a day. Of course, I've tried lots of various things to substitute the working out. I'm just like any other overworked, tired, wore out, stressed, lazy person on the planet. Looking for the easiest way out. So, what has and hasn't worked? Here we go:
One, it's all very dependent upon your body type. No "diet", in fact, let's not call it diet--let's call it nutritional plan, no nutritional plan will work for everyone. Rabbit food plans work for people that have been accustomed to eating a lot of ruffage. My body tells me it is starving all the time when I am strictly eating lettuce and rabbit food, and raw greens most of the time will tear up my stomach. I've also become lactose intolerant in my old age, about the equivalent to two slices of cheese is my limit before the lactose makes me feel like I've got motion sickness. Of course, I can take Motrin to end any misery at all, but taking too much Motrin isn't good for us either. Cooked vege's, potatoes and meat--beef, preferably, are my body's favorite foods. Seafood is always acceptable too, but some seafood has no real flavor so the seasoning becomes very important. Sea cod is really good for me--but without some lemon juice, pepper and some fresh parsley or some cajun spicing, well, yuk. So needless to say, I'm a nutrionalist's nightmare. I'm eating no matter what.
Energy drinks actually will work, but that jumpy feeling is terrible. Red Bull has a lot of sugar, and Sugar Free Red Bull has aspartame. So here's where we're going to start. STAY AWAY from ASPARTAME. It's been proven that it causes our bodies to think we are starving for sugar. So ultimately our bodies will pack on the weight to make up for that loss. In fact, a recent study conducted over 10 years showed that people that drink diet soda gained an average of 70% more weight than people that drank regular soda. No matter what the nutritionalists say about corn syrup it's better than aspartame. If you don't mind jumpy, I recommend Xyience energy drinks. They're the least harmful of the Monster, Red Bull, et cetera set. They do help drop a little weight and maintain your current weight. But the downside is the minute you stop drinking them, you're weight will go up. Also, do not drink more than one a day and do not mix with other diet pills or energy pills. No energy drink is truly healthy for you.
Pills and powders will not work long term. They can jump start the weight loss, but a lot of them make me jumpy as hell. I hate that feeling. One of the most popular, Hydroxycut, gets a little better results when used with working out. But that jump varies by person and our individual metabolism. Don't waste your money. My results with it and a slew of other products was the basically the same as just working out. Sensa, on the other hand, was amazing. I was dropping 5 pounds a month like magic. By the 4th month though, I was getting pounding headaches. I counted calories and was taking in more than 1200 calories so it wasn't lack of food or water. It was my response to the Sensa. I suspect that if you're mostly fat cell weight that Sensa works much better, but since I'm a lot of muscle mass, that once I had reached below 20% body fat (which ladies is considered normal for us) that my body didn't like the Sensa anymore. Regardless, the minute something is making you sick in any way, shape or form, cease using it. A friend of mine had a lot of luck with OxyElitePro pills, so I tried them. First, do not take more than one a day. You'll starve yourself. Second, they won't work for everyone. Some will get the jitters. Monitor your heart rate for the first few days you use it to make sure it doesn't mess with you. It didn't effect my heart rate, and they give me energy first thing in the morning. Thing is that they are mostly caffeine--so if you try them, stay off the coffee and the caffinated soda. I'm not sure that they've helped as far as fat cell elimination, but they have helped me feel energetic through my morning workout. Also on the days that I've skipped working out, they have kept me from feeling "fat", although admittedly that could all be in my head.
I've known quite a few people that have had a lot of luck on the protein shake diets. I'm not calling them nutritional plans. First and foremost, if you are not working out regularly, protein diets are not good for you. You will need dietary vitamin supplements. Thus, why programs like the V-whatever and other protein shake programs have a LOT of other shit for you to buy. You need all that extra crap to remain healthy. Don't buy it. Protein is for building and maintaining muscle. If you are not working out, you don't need as much protein as you would think. The CDC recommends women have about 45 grams of protein a day and men have 55 grams. The majority of protein bars are almost half of that. Most of those protein shake diets are often more than half in one shake. Now, if you're working out, that's a different story, but we'll cover that later. Vegetarian nutritional plans are often lacking the protein needed. One of those protein shake routines will probably be ok if you don't mind eating a lot of vegetables. Also, they mix with a lot of sugar, fruits primarily, so you run the risk of taking in too much sugar. Besides, these programs actually technically require you to work out.
So that brings us to working out. Women aren't going to like this. If you've ever worked out a lot--5 or more days a week aerobics or running, former military, weight lifting (even mild), you will never drop weight if you aren't working out. Sorry, no pills, no powders, no miracle diets or nutritional plans for you. Muscle may break down and you'd think you can lose the size and weight that way. It doesn't work. You pudge out. Once a workout-a-holic, always a workout-a-holic. The best you can hope for is maintaining yourself with a mild routine. Here's the good news though. Even a mild routine can have you toning and losing fat cells. Notice I don't say weight. Muscle weighs way more than fat--muscle is almost 20% denser than fat, so take two people the exact same weight for example. The person who doesn't work out will look considerably larger at the same weight. Look at my picture. My driver's license says I weigh 140 pounds; I actually weigh 165 lbs. I wear a size 6 ladies. For those ladies that have never worked out, you will drop fat like no tomorrow, but initially as muscle you've never had builds, you're going to be aching. You're also going to gain weight unless you have so much fat cell weight that you can lose more fat cell weight than muscle building in the same period. Yea, that isn't the majority of us. The majority of women say up to a size 12 will gain weight as they lose size. Get over it. Measure yourself instead. Take measurements on the lower thighs, the upper thighs (the "fatest" point), around the butt, around the hips, around the waist, below the breasts and around your arms. If you've never worked out and you're working your arms with weights or push ups or pull ups, expect your arms to get more muscle. In fact, unless you're really flabby armed or very overweight, your arms will likely get bigger. Men. Well, you guys can read one lousy article in Men's Health and drop weight and gain muscle. Now here's where I recommend protein drinks--again no need to waste your money on the fancy protein diet plans and their automatic shipping scams--a basic protein powder. I recommend ON protein powder. It doesn't have the grittiness that often annoys us and the "coconut" flavor that can bother some isn't really as noticable as with other products. Pretty much the same stuff as the fancy expensive protein diet shakes--only cheaper and you have a choice of whey or soy. Ladies, the soy can have a negative impact on hormonal mood swings--so if you're not lactose intolerant, whey might be better. (Another reason to avoid the protein shake diets is that they are almost exclusively soy based.) Again, you don't need to eat over half your protein in one sitting. Even when I'm working out, I only use half a scoop of the 25 g scoop after a workout. (No, you don't need to use the whole scoop no matter what the cute guy at the counter said.) Guys, you need the whole scoop after a workout. Don't ask me why it works better for men than women. Annoying I know. But they can also just cut out soda from their nutritional plans and drop 20 pounds in a couple months. Muscle burns fat, so working out is the only true way to get healthy. I'm going to reiterate what I just stated twice. Not for your breakfast, not for your lunch, not for your dinner. FOR YOUR AFTER WORKOUT SNACK. Don't care if you want a protein bar or a protein shake. Who cares? Ladies, try to stick with 12-ish grams of protein. Guys, you can go up to 30 grams if you so desire.
Working out also means finding what works for you. If the only thing that works for you is walking, then so be it. You just have to find a routine that entertains you enough you stick to it. Now, I'm going to listen to a bunch of people yell, I'm sure, about muscle confusion. This crap they sell right now is based on a "fact" that you plateau and that muscle confusion helps you burn more fat cells. Umm...yea, it works, but not because of confusion. You're working new muscle groups and/or in different motions which causes the muscles to need to work in ways they haven't been or haven't in the past. It's technically correct calling it muscle confusion, but it's not really making a big difference in the whole fat cell burning process. It's toning the muscles in a new way, creating new or more definition. The fat cells are still going to burn the same. Sorry. It's all bullshit as far as your fatty tissues are concerned. Not that it isn't awesome to gain more definition; that's what's getting you to the body you want. Just don't buy into any hype. If you only like one routine, you're a creature of habit, you'll still burn fat. Will it seem slower than your friend that is working out with muscle confusion? Yes, they are toning different places by modification of their routines. But, those plateaus are overcome by your body regardless. I had a friend who did step aerobics. At 3 months she had lost the weight that she wanted and looked fantastic. By 6 months she was in even better shape. It was basically the same routine, 5 days a week, day in, day out, for the whole 6 months. It was the dedication. I used to love to run 30 minutes and then do nautilus for half an hour--again 5 to 6 days a week. The routine changed very little and I still continued to lose weight and size even after a year. Of course, I stopped so I pudged out again. It is the stopping, not the plateau, that "stops" your losing weight. Again, if you are accustomed to working out 5 days a week, you will not continue to lose size at 3 days a week. You will just be maintaining. And remember, male or female, to really maintain your current position once your metabolism starts thumbing its nose at you (if it hasn't all your life), you need to be working out at least 3 times a week for 20-30 minutes. At 5 days a week will you eventually plateau? Yes, when you're body is as small as it's going to get. Walking an hour a day though will take a hell of a lot longer to get to your goal, no matter what the goal, than an aerobics routine. Common sense.
Well, ok, you're thinking, what workouts should I try? That depends upon you. I recommend Hip Hop Abs if you need someone talking to you, cheering you on, so to speak. Shaun T will make you laugh and makes it fun. Tracy's Metamorphosis routines are awesome, but you have to give her over an hour a day and the routines are very mundane. Often you'll feel like your doing each part of her routines forever. The big plus with her workouts is that the inner thighs will reduce and every woman knows the inner thighs are like never ending fat zone even for the most skinny women on the planet. Yoga is great, especially if you don't want to build muscle (by build I mean bulk up and turn into a body builder looking thing). But for most to lose any weight at a noticable rate, you'll need to commit to 6 days a week. It will seem slower. Also, yoga is difficult for people in good shape. You might want to start with walking or tai chi first. Ditto that on pilates. I have a friend that's a pilates instructor, and when I was working out religiously 5 days a week, I thought she was killing me the first time I tried it. Don't assume pilates and yoga are easy because they look like it. Work up to those--they are harder than any other workouts. The biggest plus with yoga and pilates is that it helps you build balance. Yoga and Tai Chi are very relaxing. Tai Chi is highly recommended for elderly. Balance, muscle tone, and centering the body without the twisting of the yoga. Ladies, avoid routines designed for men. Why? They don't have our shape, our metabolism or muscle structure. In contrast, gentlemen, use our routines all you want. Sorry girls.
Foods are a biggie. OK, I'm a firm believer in eat when your hungry and eat what you are hungry for. Your body knows what it needs. However, do NOT eat when you are bored but not hungry. If you are one of those people that is eating over portions, I have good news for you. I have a really good friend who measured her portions, and over the course of three years, lowered her portions to the recommended caloric intake for her meals. She did nothing else. No working out and went from a 12 to an 8. If you are overeating, you're not going to help yourself in any way shape or form. Which brings me to my recommendation on what to use to track your calories if you need to. Which you might--eating too few calories is just as bad as eating too many. I recommend MyFitnessPal, which is an app for smart phones and is accessible from your computer. It's about the same as the Weight Watchers app, but it's FREE!!! The major downside is that it's a little difficult to record workout calories burned. It will recommend your daily intake automatically. You still probably want to follow up with your doctor on your actual recommended daily intake, but this is awesome to ensure you're eating enough without eating too much. If you're hungry, your body is telling you something. If you're hungry and you've eaten your daily caloric intake, you're missing nutrients--figure out what's missing. A mullti-vitimin will help. Your body will generally pee out extra vitimins so don't worry about finding a multi-vitimin that goes with your nutritional plan. If you have special dietary needs, make sure to consult with a doctor about calories, multi-vitimins, et cetera. The average person can generally take advice from laymen, articles, blogs and amateurs.
Next, I've been told by some nutritionalists that these recommendations are crap and others that they buy into it. But a lot of research lately has been about certain foods nutritional value and glycemic indexs. Some foods burn faster, more efficiently. It just makes sense. Some of us are round, some are pear shaped, some are whatever. Some foods have more sugar, less, protein, no protein. Anyway, glycemic index identifies which foods increase your blood sugar levels the fastest. The glycemic index is what Nutrasystem is based on. A friend tried it and said the food tasted like crap. So, I'm not recommending it--it's expensive and tastes like crap (her words). Basically some foods are better with your body's desire to control sugar levels. The glycemic index number tells you if it will maintain sugar levels over a longer period of time--slower release over time or a quick fix. Lower number--longer release, less spike in the blood sugar level. Higher number--higher spike, quicker drop back to your body needing sugar. This is the simplest way to explain the glycemic index. Some nutritionalists are still not on board that this helps with weight. There are several websites that have glycemic index lists, for example: http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htm
Do I buy it? Yes and no. It's good to maintain your sugar levels steady even if you're not a diabetic. It probably can help control your appetite by maintaining the your blood sugar levels.
OK, my biggest pet peeve. DO NOT CUT SUGAR FROM YOUR NUTRITIONAL PLAN. Your body must have sugar. The brain functions require it. Most nutritionalists right now say no corn based sugars (sodas, candies, ice creams, etc.) and no granulated sugar, processed, etc. They push fruits mainly and carbohydrates. Yet, they'll also tell you to limit pastas and some other carbs. Ignore, ignore, ignore. If you're craving a chocolate bar, eat a damn chocolate bar. Don't eat two. You should not need two. But when your body is craving something like sugar, it's telling you something!!! I will agree with the processed sugar in truth. Only because I don't think you should ever eat processed anything if possible. I recommend Sugar in the Raw. First, it's sweeter and therefore you need less and get the same sweetness with less. Second, it's not processed. I know nutritionalists who will argue with me. Newsflash though--they've been wrong in the past and there are those that disagree even now. Dark chocolate is much better for you--full of antioxidants--still remember too much of anything is a bad thing. You can't live off chocolate alone and you'll hit your average caloric intake too fast. Four candy bars is the average, non-working out, man's daily intake. Three for the ladies. So do not over indulge. And contrary to popular belief, adding 15 minutes to your workout routine on the days you do over indulge is crap. Stick with your normal workout and learn to enjoy in moderation!
Final word on the foods. DO NOT BUY FAT FREE, REDUCED FAT or any of that crap. They use chemicals to flavor "fat free" and "reduced fat" products which doesn't take a rocket scientist to know chemicals are NOT good for you!!! Enough said....well, no. Most of the time if you compare labels of the fat free/fat reduced labels to the natural stuff, you'll see the caloric intake is basically the same and in many cases MORE!!!
Finally, don't make any of this work. Routine is good. Work is bad. If you dread it, change and try something new. Routine will still lose weight once you get into it and stick to it. Dreading it will make excuses faster than you can roll out of bed. Don't get caught up in all kinds of new age, new concepts, what seems to work better for someone else, blah, blah, blah. Workout, eat healthy most of the time, get enough protein, sugar (carbs) and water--hydrate, hydrate, hydrate (about 2 liters a day). Add a multi-vitimin, and a calcium chew with vitimin D added if you're female over 35, if you aren't confident you're getting what you need after tracking your plan with MyFitnessPal for a couple of weeks. And keep in mind this is just a conglomeration of my experiences and others' experiences. Your results depend on you and you being realistic. If you're big boned, you may never get smaller than a size 10 and that's fine!! Accept your body for who you are. You're beautiful just the way you are. You just want to be healthier and exercise and eating right will help you be healthier!! Good luck!!!
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