I'll bet this one resonates with a lot of people, doesn't it? I think just about everyone I know has at least one 'fat day' now and again. Of course, it's all about self-perception, isn't it? If I stand next to one person, I feel fat. If I stand next to someone else, I feel thin. The answer, of course, is to stand next to overweight people and...
No, that's not the answer. The answer is to change your mindset about weight. The government has given us guidelines on what constitutes a healthy life, but let's face it: it's not going to happen. Who has an hour a day to exercise? Who has two hours a day to shop for healthy food and prepare healthy meals? Yes, yes, yes, there are all sorts of shortcuts: make mega meals on the weekend and heat 'em up during the week. Get up earlier to get to the gym. Incorporate exercise into your day.
I'll tell you what worked for me, and I speak from experience: I lost 40 pounds in one year, and I did it this way:
1. Change your attitude about food. Food is fuel. You don't need a field hand's lunch (i.e., a Big Mac, fries, and shake) in order to sit at a desk and type.
2. See #1. Eat according to your needs, not your wants. There are bunch of programs on the market to help you figure this out (I use "Lose It" on the Iphone). Figure out what calories you need to get through the day and, hopefully, lose a little bit of weight at a time.
3. See #2. Plan to lose a half-pound or a pound a week, max. If you do that, it'll stay off because *you will have changed your eating habits*.
4. During the week, stick to your plan. Eat small meals (I eat the same thing for lunch every day. Boring? Yes. Easy to count the calories? Yes.) On the weekend, deviate in small ways: splurge on one meal for that Big Mac. Get a hot fudge sundae. But ONLY on the weekend.
5. Move around. Exercise every day. I get in between 7000 and 10,000 steps a day. I do one walk at noon (1/2 hour or 45 minutes). The rest of the time I get up every hour, I take the 'long way' to the coffee pot, I park far away from the door.
The biggest change I made: I don't make excuses. I don't say, "I can't do that because..."-- "I can't do that because I"m busy" or "I can't do that because I don't have time."
Now I say, "I wonder how I can..." as in, "I wonder how I can get in more steps today?" or "I wonder how many calories that has? If I eat just half, then..."
Think about the excuses/reasons you make for not doing the healthy thing. Figure out a way around THAT and you'll be on your way to weight loss.
I'll talk more about what is 'healthy' and self-image in another post. This is long enough for now.
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