10 reasons you’re not losing weight

I saw this subject line in my Inbox this morning, and needless to say I was intrigued. Some interesting stuff was listed in the article. My comments are italicized.

1. Not enough muscle – the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. No matter what you’re doing, muscle rips through more calories than fat. This is why I alternate between cardio and strength training.
2. Genetics – Researchers estimate that your genes account for at least 50% - and as much as 90% - of your stored body fat. Your weight-loss challenge is just 10% to 50% greater. Sweet! (sarcasm) I don’t know how my sister and one brother lucked out, but the rest of us battle (or have battled) weight problems of one degree or another.
3. Getting older – yes, I’ve noticed that this time it’s more difficult to lose weight than, say, 10 years ago. What to do about it? Lift weights and just MOVE. Funny story: last night I took a book to a woman that I visit teach. As I pulled back into my driveway, I thought “huh, I totally could have walked to her house.” It’s a mindset. When I’m in Europe (or even New York City), I don’t think twice about walking well, everywhere. When I was in Austria in April, we would walk probably 20-30 minutes to get to work. Then we’d walk another 10-15 to get to the “downtown” area for dinner. But last night I took my car to go a couple of blocks. I’ll have to work on that mindset.
4. Your body can’t keep up – This didn’t quite make sense to me, it said something out how our hormonal responses can’t cope with our sedentary lifestyles. So, another reason to BE ACTIVE and fill up on low-calorie foods (Does anybody have a list of the best, most filling, low calorie foods?).
5. The problem is in your medicine cabinet – A host of drugs that treat diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, inflammatory disease and more affect weight regulation. Luckily, this reason doesn’t apply to me, so whew! However, what the article suggests is to ask your health care provider if an alternate drug or a lower dose could work, but don’t change your medications without discussing it first.
6. You underestimate your portions and calories – this could very well apply to me. So, when I say that I’m within my caloric intake for the week, I could very well be off. I will have to pay closer attention. However, I really do hate measuring stuff, so I’ll keep trying to eyeball it.
7. You eat mindlessly or when distracted – distractions can lead to overeating. Make it a rule to always eat from a dish, never from a bag or carton.
8. You deprive yourself – It’s the vicious cycle I’ve been in so many times. I restrict what I eat so much that when I finally give in and eat something I think I shouldn’t, I feel guilty and angry. Then I figure, what the heck, I’ve already ruined my diet for the day, I might as well eat what I want and then start again tomorrow. Oh, the whole “I’ll start again tomorrow” trap… it drags me down. I do like the suggestion in the article “Take the focus away from that list of bad foods and emphasize those that are good for you. If 90% of the time you eat a wholesome diet of ample fruits and vegetables, some whole grains, lean meats or other sources of protein, then the other 10% doesn’t really matter.”
9. You’re usually good, but… – unless you’re on vacation or dining out – or my problem is unless I’m on-site. When I’m on-site, it’s hard, if not impossible to have a healthy “home-cooked” meal. Most, if not all, of my meals are dining out. One suggestion is to take half of the restaurant meal home to have the following day. As long as I have a refrigerator, that will work – I guess what I can do if not is just leave the other ½ of the meal (waste but not waist).
10. You overestimate your calorie burn – dieters can easily out-eat their workout. I can’t even estimate the calories I burn, so I just work out and try to eat my best (and hope for the best).

Oh, the frustration!

I can't even express how frustrated I am. Yet another week has gone by and I STILL haven't lost any more weight. To be honest, instead of weight, I am losing motivation. Seriously, I've switched workouts (Shake it Up! from the last post), the new workout is longer (Increase physical activity from the last post) and still nothing. I stay within my weekly calorie range - or at least, pretty darn close to it. Still NOTHING. Sometimes I feel that if getting up early to workout and "depriving" myself of the foods that I normally enjoy aren't making a difference, why try? Any ideas?

However, since I can't even hope to succeed at something I give up on, I'm not giving up. I have purchased a new workout DVD; I'll let you know more about it if it helps.

Tip for the day:

I eat a lot more salads when I'm dieting, and plain, undressed salads can get really old really fast. However, when I'm not at home, it's possible that the only fat-free dressing is something I don't like, i.e. the so-called French dressing which is a. disgusting and b. not French. Anyway, a little trick I learned from some weight-loss center a few years ago is to get the dressing on the side (of course), then dip my fork into the dressing, tap off the extra dressing (or not), then load the fork up with salad. That way each bite of salad has dressing AND I avoid eating too much dressing. In fact, I rarely even go through 1 Tbs of dressing. AND because fat-free dressing is not calorie-free dressing, this works even when you CAN get the fat-free dressing you enjoy!

Holy Plateau, Batman

How is it possible that I have reached a plateau already? I’ve lost weight enough times that I know that everyone, eventually, hits a plateau – but after three weeks? Come on! I’m eating less (and better), I’m exercising at least 5 times a week, and you’re telling me that I have stopped losing weight already? It’s been over a week since I’ve lost any weight. Now, I know that there are other benefits to eating better and exercising, but I really would like to see some visible benefits.

Anywho, because of this plateau issue, I did some looking online and found some ideas on how to get past the plateau. Several sites had the same suggestions, so they have to be good, right? Some suggestions annoyed me, but they all were helpful.

1. Hang in there. The annoying part? The website said “even dropping a third of a pound per week means that in a year, you'll be down a whole 17 pounds.” Like I only want to lose 17 pounds in a year. If I’m “depriving” myself, I better dang well lose more weight than 17 pounds a year.

2. Increase physical activity. Maybe I could wake up even earlier and workout longer… I’ll have to see what kind of energy that requires.

3. Increase protein (but only up to 25% of daily calories). I’ll have to make sure that the lunches I take to work have more protein in them.

4. Shake it up! – i.e. try alternating calorie-cutting days with less-restrictive maintenance days (but maintain the same weekly caloric intake), switch to a new type of exercise, alternate aerobic workouts with light weight training (I already do this, but maybe I should switch aerobic workouts).

I will try over the next week or two to “shake it up.” I’ll change my workout program, try different exercises, etc. Since I’m trying new things, that means I’m “hanging in there,” right? I will keep you posted.

Push-up is a four-letter word

I know it’s really six letters, but trust me – it’s a four letter word. As part of my new “fit by 40” regime, I try to work out at least 5 times a week. Right now I alternate a *Turbo Jam cardio workout with a *Slim in 6 strength training workout.

Strength training is a critical component of fitness. Strong muscles help you lose weight. Strong muscles are healthy for your heart. Strong muscles protect your joints and your back. Strong muscles give you a mental boost. Strong muscles help fight free radicals. Strong muscles slow bone loss that accompanies aging and increases bone density.

The Slim in 6 has a lot of lunges, squats, pliés, push-ups and sit ups. Who would have thought that 90 seconds of push-ups could be so difficult? I was quite shocked – I do a couple of push-ups, rest, do a couple more, rest, continue for the 90 seconds. I was so happy when I was finally able to do ten in a row. I think heavier people are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to push-ups – way more weight to actually push up. Maybe thinner people have an easier time of it? I’m hoping as my weight goes down (and, of course, my strength is trained), that push-ups will become easier. When I can do push-ups for all 90 seconds, there will be much rejoicing.

* I’m not endorsing any workout video, diet regime, etc. I’m just describing what I’m currently doing.

The eternal question… what’s for dinner?

Have you ever noticed that it’s much easier to put weight on than to take it off? Patience really isn’t one of my virtues.

Tonight I made a recipe out of my South Beach Diet Cookbook and it was DELICIOUS (of course, I made a few changes – which I’ll note). Since I’m only cooking for two, yummy, leftovers for lunch tomorrow…

Chicken Capri

1 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
½ teaspoon dried oregano - My oregano was too old, so I used ½ teaspoon of Italian Seasoning
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves - I had three large chicken breast halves, so I cut them in half – thus giving me 6 pieces of chicken, instead of 4
½ teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup crushed tomatoes - I used diced
4 slices reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

Combine the ricotta, oregano, salt and pepper.
Rub the chicken with the garlic salt. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 12 minutes per side.
Personal Note – I’m a huge Alton Brown fan. I remember from several of his episodes that he said once you put the meat in the skillet – walk away, just walk away. I didn’t move or turn the chicken until the 12 minutes were up. This gave the chicken a nice crispy crust. OK, now back to the recipe…
Once the chicken breasts are done, move them to a large baking dish and allow to cool.
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Divide the ricotta mixture evenly and put it on top of the chicken breasts. Divide the tomatoes evenly and put it on top of the ricotta. Top with a slice of mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes (or until thickest portion registers 170˚F. I’m not sure if it’s because I had extra thick chicken or because I live at a high altitude or what, but it took about 35 minutes for my chicken to be 170˚F.

I think next time I might try putting a fresh basil leaf between the tomatoes and the mozzarella. Nothing can beat fresh basil.

Per Serving
340 calories
15g fat (5g saturated)
44g protein
6g carbohydrate

Fab and Fit by 40

Like I really need to start another blog, right? However, that’s just what I’m going to do.

Two things happened recently:

1. In July, a friend of mine was visiting from France. I was so happy to spend some time with her and one of my former companions. As you can expect, since we haven’t seen each other in (muffle, muffle) years, many pictures were taken. I was appalled when I saw myself in these pictures. Now, I’ve never been photogenic, but these were awful. After seeing these pictures, I tried to motivate myself to do something about it. Luckily, the second thing happened soon after.

2. My friend Amanda joined Weight Watchers and invited me to join with her. I quickly accepted. Working on losing weight with a friend to back you up is always easier than doing it alone. One of the main benefits is that when we go out to eat, we’ll both be looking for the same healthy options.

I’ve been fighting a weight problem for the past, oh, 39 years. OK, I might be exaggerating a little, but I have had a weight for as long as I can remember.

I opted against Weight Watchers, but will still be moral support for Amanda (and she for me). Although the pricing for Weight Watchers is reasonable, I didn’t really want to spend money each week to weigh in. Another friend of mine showed me a free website that tracks weight loss – sparkpeople.com. So, I signed up. sparkpeople.com provides recipes, fitness ideas, etc. and allows you to track nutrition intake, exercise time, etc. I’ll have to see how it goes.

Anywho, I thought that it might be helpful to start a weight loss blog to chronicle the adventure. It’s mainly for me and my own accountability, but if anyone else can get something from my postings, all the better. I’ll be posting about recipes, exercises, successes, failures and anything else I want to post (it is my blog, you know).

So, my goal is to be (as you can see from the URL) fab and fit by 40. I know that being fabulous has nothing to do with size, but it’s very hard for me to separate the two. So, I have 11 months to get in shape – I’m not shooting for a particular size or weight because body structures can differ so much. I’m always frustrated with those programs that say “oh, you’re 5’7”, you should weigh XXX.” I mean, come on, people come in all shapes and sizes and trying to stick all people who are the same height into the same weight range is ridiculous.

So, sit back and enjoy the ride. I hope I do.