Posting about my weight loss experience

Plain and Simple


It is a very simple mathematical equation. You need to burn more calories than you are eating. Your age, height and gender will determine how many calories you burn (on average of course) if you are sedentary, semi-active or very active.

It's also simple human biology/chemistry that if you don't consume enough calories your body will think it is being starved and will start to STORE food as a FAT reserve. The biggest consequence of not eating enough throughout the day is that when you do eat a big meal or a lot at one time, the body doesn't Automatically reverse itself out of STORING mode and go into burning mode. So if you hardly ate at all during the day and had a huge dinner, you will not lose weight, might even gain.

Another thing is INSULIN! Insulin is the hormone that makes fat (in the simplest terms) Insulin is created by carbohydrates. Our generation lives on processed food (flour and sugar) and that is exactly what cranks up our Fat creating Insulin.

But people don't care! They eat white bread, sugar, extreme quantities of fat and SALT etc etc, its only when they wake up one day 100lbs overweight that they realize what they did wrong. Then it's too late, most are usually addicted and have learned that Food can temporarily comfort any and all emotions. That completes the vicious cycle and getting people to change is like trying to take away a teddy bear from a baby or a bone from a dog.
People say they LOVE the food but hate their bodies...kinda of mixed up isn't it.

I am a gourmet cook and have eaten at the most gourmet restaurants in lots of cities, my palate is very evolved and for me to eat just simple basic food isn't easy, but I do it as best as I can. Its a miracle that I lost the weight I gained by eating like a lunatic for a few years...it wasn't easy to lose, it's a full time job 24/7 to make sure I eat enough and certainly not too much...and mostly the right balance of carbs, proteins +fat FOR LIFE.

I've been contemplating giving cooking classes and day to day meal planning to people who understand what is needed to lose weight, stay healthy and that diets don't work because they are temporary.
We need permanent loss not fast weight loss...we need to learn how to eat right for life.

There is also a real Psycho Drama that occurs around food and that is one of the biggest obstacles in making the change needed . Relearning how to love yourself enough to let go of the death grip on food could require counseling on many different levels.

Posting about my weight loss experience

Weighing and Measuring Food.

"I truly need to do this weighing and measuring. If I can lie to myself when the FACTS are right in front of me...Think of how easy it would be to lie to myself about portions if I didn't do this!"

Weighing on my digital scale is always for the cooked food I am about to eat...UNLESS it is pasta/rice/etc..because the calorie content on the packages are always for dry uncooked!!! Then it is a bit harder to figure. For example I made Quinoa today, it is 160 cals for 1/4 cup DRY, so I cooked 1 full cup and divided it into 4. It might seem like a lot of work...but it is the only way I can honestly know what the Eff I'm doing!

As for weighing directly on the scale...I just place a piece of plastic wrap on the scale either with the food in it or put it on top of the plastic (cooked). The scale is for meats and cheeses mostly.

This might sound completely pathetic but I once weighed my coffee: 1st the empty cup then with the coffee. I was curious to see how much water weighs too!

This is the moment of truth! See if you can be totally honest with yourself and if a food is 4.1 ounces will you mention the .1 ounce...also if you used oil in cooking, measure that OIL. So many times I actually wanted to basically LIE to myself that it made me realize how much I truly need to do this weighing and measuring. If I can lie to myself when the FACTS are right in front of me...Think of how easy it would be to lie to myself about portions if I didn't do this!

I know I've found a way to lose that isn't dieting and is perfect for being nourished and content.

Don't forget to use (free) sparkpeople.com, it's a billion times better than writing it out on paper and trying to figure out the MATH.