HOW TO LOSE 90 POUNDS IN 6 MONTHS (or, How I Did It)
1. ACKNOWLEDGE- that you are going to fail, and that WHEN you do, you just start over....it's OK, everyone messes up their plan.
2. EXERCISE- cardio, lots of it, 30-40 minutes a day, 5 days a week (6 if you're just that crazy).
3. REST- 6-8 hours a night (you won't lose weight consistently without it).
4. HYDRATE- at least 64 oz. a day of WATER, though some will say drink half your body weight in ounces.
5. SUPPLEMENTS- All I really take is a good whole food multi-vitamin...anything else is mostly hype.
6. ACCOUNTABILITY- find someone who is doing this with you, helpful if they've already done it and can prepare you for what's coming (Gracias, Senor McIntyre).
7. DIET- Ready for it? Each meal should have a fist-size portion of lean protein, a fist-size portion of fruits or vegetables, and half a fist of fat (avocado, walnuts, almonds).
NO refined sugar (though I do use honey, less impact to blood sugar and it's natural)
NO high-fructose corn syrup
NO artificial sweeteners
NO soda, diet or otherwise
NO juice, eat a fruit if you want juice
NO margarine or cooking oils- Cook in real butter or coconut oil.
NO table salt- Sea Salt only.
NO- simple carbs (potatoes, breads, pasta, etc). They're all out, at least for the first 8 weeks or so. You can add back in a bit of brown rice, whole grain bread with no preservatives or corn syrup after that.
I'm sure I'll think of more, but that's the basics of the diet. I take one meal a week off and eat what I want, and generally feel like death the following day, FYI. Drink green tea, lots of water, and DO NOT forget the fats. It seems weird, but if you don't eat some fat, nuts, avocado, something, you will NOT lose weight.
There are lots of good resources out there for diet and exercise- I've had some success with most of them. The big thing about this is that you have to make it work with your life AS IT IS NOW. Don't reinvent the wheel. Fill the house with the kinds of foods you CAN eat, and get rid of all the rest. Go OUT for your cheat meal, so you don't eat a block of cheese or a package of Oreo's at 3 AM after a bad day that just won't quit! (It's like I've been there). Always reference #1 above also- you WILL fail, so acknowledge that and be prepared to start over every time you do. THat will make the difference between just another New Year's resolution failed and a conscious decision you developed an unstoppable plan for, and then EXECUTED IT.
4 comments:
hey do you think the green tea is effective? I started drinking it. I'm still hooked on diet cola though. Why is this bad exactly? I ask myself.. But I've got 7 lbs that just won't go away (I know- wah). So I must be doing something wrong.
sigh.
Well, first of all, and feel free to kick me for this, it's just easier for guys to lose weight. I can lose 7 a week easy- a girl would take 7 weeks. And if you've only got 7 to lose (I hate you), those are going to be the hardest to get rid of.
Lots of back-and-forth about green tea- I like it, it gives me a break from straight water, and it doesn't make me feel as jittery as coffee, soda, or even regular black tea. OH, I forgot to mention honey- I use honey as a sweetener- pretty much the only carb I have right now....thank you bees.
Soda is the devil, and I love it. Diet is better than regular, clearly, but the problem with diet soda is not in the sweetener- I mean, I guess if you drink enough aspartame you might die from cancer at 70....but you might die of cancer at 70 from cell phones, second-hand smoke, or orange juice! The problem with soda is in the carbonation and caffiene. Imagine taking water, which our body needs, and adding carbon dioxide, which our body is trying to get RID OF, and caffiene, which is a stimulant, both to your heart and your appetite, and you create the perfect tool to undermine your fitness. The carbonation reduces the oxygen supply in your blood, which slows your metabolism, and the caffiene momentarily speeds up your metabolism, only to cause it to quickly crash, and as a side-effect, you get hungrier when you drink soda, AND you get those great downer headaches when you need a FIX. It's bad stuff. Just say no!
oh I NEVER thought of that. I thought it was purely an aspartame thing... but my mom says when she stops drinking pop altogether she feels better. So maybe I should ix-nay on the oda-say.
I've just read a lot of interesting things about green tea. My hubby is Chinese and they drink tea way more than anything else. His grandma just died at 100 - and none of them are ever overweight. It's disgusting. I am a cow next to his female relatives, seriously. GRRRR
So I was thinking if maybe I start drinking tea with him and no more pop...it would help. But it's 100 degrees here in the summer, how can I drink hot tea? LOL
Please, I seriously doubt the validity of your bovine self-image! Hey, oddly enough, I know it's hot outside, but drinking hot beverages is another metabolism help. Drinking ice-cold drinks forces your body to expend energy heating the liquid up to body-temp so it can be processed. This is one more way we slow our metabolism. Even if you wait until it's luke-warm, that will help. I'm all about some green tea- Republic of Tea is my fav, and they have a "superfruit" tea that is very tasty. I have read studies that say that drinking green tea may be better for you than drinking water...I need a lot of water, but if I get burned out and drink more tea, I don't really notice a difference in my performance. Good stuff.
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