Losing weight the lazy way (General Weightloss & Healthy Eating Tips)

Name: brandygirl

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Product:	General Weightloss & Healthy Eating Tips
Date:	08/03/03 (500 review reads)
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Advantages: Cheap and easy, No exercise, Little effort needed

Disadvantages: Initial time outlay on planning but it will pay dividends later.

Why does that sound like a gimmick?
Too good to be true? NO!
Without exercising? YES!
It can't be that easy! SERIOUSLY, IT IS.

I have never had a problem controlling my weight until 6 years ago when a car accident followed by a series of health problems meant that my exercise options were severely restricted. A sharp drop in the household income also led me to buy whatever foods were on offer at the supermarket instead of looking for healthy options. Before I knew it, I had put on 2 stones in weight. Oh well! That's life, I thought and graciously accepted my lot.

On the other hand, my younger sister had always been overweight. Two years ago she was diagnosed with an under-active thyroid and the weight piled on her. So imagine my surprise when I was confronted by my new slim sister.
How did she do it?
CALORIE CONTROL AND EXERCISE, she answered.

Now my sis is a perfectionist and when she puts her mind to something she goes the whole hog; digital weighing scales, griddles, low fat cookbooks from which she'll follow recipes to the letter and a different exercise video for every day of the week! Hard work, but she did it and I'm proud of her.

BUT THERE WAS NO WAY THAT I COULD FOLLOW SUCH A REGIME.

I could think of several reasons why it wouldn't work for me:-

EXERCISE - I can't do it.
CALORIE CONTROL - Boring and time-consuming.
I hate to be constantly aware that I'm dieting.
Won't I be hungry?
I'll get light-headed and feel ill.
What if it slows down my metabolism because I'm cutting out food
and not exercising?

BUT, COULD I ADAPT IT TO MY SITUATION?

YES - Six months later I'm 17lbs lighter.
I am not aware that I am dieting. <
br> I'm not hungry or light-headed.
It is not time-consuming.
My only exercise is walking the dog at the weekend.

Time and space do not permit sharing every detail about how I've done it, in fact there has probably been enough dieting advice written to encircle the entire globe, but for anyone who finds exercise difficult and can't abide the thought of dieting I hope that the following tips may be of help:-

'DIETING' TIPS

1) DON'T DIET, RE-EDUCATE YOURSELF ABOUT WHAT YOU EAT.
There's little point in crash-dieting or following the latest dieting fads and fashions if you
are going to revert to the same eating patterns that caused your original weight gain.
Any weight gain is simple mathematics. You are eating more calories than you are
burning off.

2) IDENTIFY THE FOODS THAT ARE CONTRIBUTING TO YOUR WEIGHT GAIN.
To do this you need to get a) a good, comprehensive and up-to-date calorie counting
book.
I can recommend 'The Calorie,Carb + Fat Bible 2003
price £10.99 from www.weightlossresources.co.uk
( the 2002 edition is on sale at £6.49)

b) keep a food diary and write down the calorific value of
everything you eat.

This may seem like a time-consuming pain at first, but it only took me two weeks to see exactly what my problem was. I also got an idea of the value of portion sizes. I didn't use it after that.

3) FIND OUT WHAT THE DAILY RECOMMENDED CALORIE INTAKE IS FOR YOUR SEX, WEIGHT, HEIGHT, AGE AND ACTIVITY LEVEL.
Look at how many calories you are eating now and compare to the recommended calorie

intake. Next compare it to the recommended daily calorie intakes if you want to lose half a
pound a week, one pound a week etc and decide on a realistic target.

4) ANALYSE WHAT FOODS ARE YOUR WEIGHT GAIN CULPRITS
And make the choice to a) exclude
b) eat smaller portions
c) don't eat them as frequently.
d) find lower calorie alternatives.
e) substitute with different foods.

5) MAKE A LIST OF FOODS/MEALS/RECIPES THAT YOU CAN EASILY INCORPORATE INTO
YOUR LIFESTYLE TO ACHIEVE YOUR TARGET.
This will help you with your meal planning, shopping lists and what to take to work.
For example: I used to take two fruited teacakes to work for my lunch, but now I take
two wholemeal slices of bread with a slice of tasty ham. These are just
as easy to make up, taste better and are half the calories of the teacakes.

The weight loss resources website also has a list of tried and tasted foods. If you log on
you can see a small selection of products which are rated on taste and what their
calorific values are. Not all good food has to be bland!

6) EAT MORE HEALTHY FOODS THAN JUNK FOODS
Eating foods that give you a good balanced diet will make you feel fuller and will help
you to stick to your plan. Your income and tastes will determine how you juggle this.

7) DON'T FORGET TO TREAT YOURSELF
I may no longer eat bars of chocolate (50 calories for 1 little chunk!) but I do eat my
crisps (Walkers Lites 112 calories a packet) and ice lollies (Refreshers ice lolly -42 cals)
If I'm on holiday or going out to dinner or a party I forget all about calories and enjoy.
Provided there are mor
e weeks in a year when I eat less calories than my recommended
daily intake, I'm still onto a winner.

8) OTHER USEFUL RESOURCES
If you seriously want to lose weight then I would certainly recommend
www.weightlossresources.co.uk website as a useful start.
If you want to pay out a bit more money you can buy their weight loss resource kit
at £39.99.
This includes - The Calorie, Carb + fat Bible 2003
Food diary and calculator.
Goal and results portfolio.
Goal and results pad.
Tables and charts booklet.
Recipes and Combinations.
Ideas and favourites booklet.
Results graph.
Kit guide.
Kit bag.

I chose to do my dieting the lazy way, and apart from two weeks counting calories, keeping a food diary and working out what foods I was going to eat in the future, I have not expended any more effort than this. A little time deciding on your tactics and strategies saves a lot of time later. I deliberately haven't included statistics and recipes. If this is going to work for you then it needs to be your plan to fit in with your tastes and your lifestyle at whatever pace you choose.

I thought my days of losing weight were over, but I have found a way round my problem. Even my husband has lost 14 lbs following this. I really do hope that this information will help someone else who has given up on dieting and can't exercise.

Thanks for taking the time to read.
Good luck!

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