Hello 2010!! Goodbye Unwanted Pounds!!

Hey Everyone … and Happy New Year! 

So, we have before us a brand new, shiny year with which to make fabulous changes in both body and mind.  I’m excited, are you?  Let’s get it going!

Hey  – here’s a fun fact … check it out:  if you scramble our new year, 2010, you get the number 1200.  Hmmm, why does that sound familiar?  A-HA!  1,200 calories per day is the platform to success!  (Right, ladies?!  Fellas - you get a little more, but don’t go cuckoo!) 

Okay, I don’t know about all of you, but I had a lot of fun this past holiday season … did you?  I hope so.  And, I’ll be honest with you, my scale and my clothes are reminding me of that fun.  Okay, okay – I get it.  So, what do I do?  Well, I remember that, in keeping with what we’ve discussed previously, I gotta keep it within a cool 1,200 calories per day guideline to manage my weightloss until I’ve reached my goal.  Simple.  I mean, that.  I’m not being coy or evasive – totally do-able.  I did it before, and I’ll do it again starting RIGHT NOW.  Yes, over the holidays, I exceeded the standard guidelines, and I accept responsibility for that.  Now, it’s time to conquer the pounds that I’ve accumulated, and that are making my clothes fit a little more snug than I’d like for them to.  Plus, it’s just not healthy, right?  But, man – Mom’s cookies are good.

“I HATE MYSELF!!!”  Well, no, I don’t … but, are you feeling self-hatred because of your holiday celebrating?  Stop it.  And, I’ll get into that a little later on, but for now – as we’ve also previously discussed here on DELAI, it’s easy for us to fall into a knee-jerk reaction of punishing ourselves for stepping outside of our weightloss plans.  Listen, there’s a difference between knowingly exceeding those guidelines vs. purposefully throwing those guidelines in a shredder while stuffing our faces with nary a care in the world.  Guilt is not a useful or productive feeling – in fact, it is toxic.  In any aspect of  life, embracing responsibility is not only productive, but empowering.  It is of absolutely no use for you, zero/zip/nada, to sit there with thoughts such as, “Whyyyyyyy did I drink all of that delicious egg nog?  I’m such an idiot and a loser, and there’s no way I’ll ever lose weight.”  Or “Whyyyyy didn’t I have the strength to turn down Aunt Mary’s homemade apple pie?  I’m such an idiot and a loser, and there’s no way I’ll ever lose weight.  I hate myself!”

C’mon, now – first of all, smarten up.  Yes, it’s true that nobody forced you to eat those things, and that you knew the consequences of eating that second slice of mince meat pie (hey – I happen to like mmp!)  BUT, DON’T LET THAT SPIRAL YOU INTO DEFEAT!!  You ate the stuff, so what?  It’s the holidays, and delectable food that is not friendly to diets is plentiful … AND, here’s a twist, food is even sometimes sentimental … as in the example of Aunt Mary’s apple pie.  (p.s.  DELISH!!)    NEWSFLASH:  YOU’RE HUMAN!  Food is part of the human experience.  You’re going to indulge yourself every once in a while – SO WHAT?!!  But, don’t – I repeat, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the choices you made over the holidays make you a bad person, an idiot or a loser.  You are, simply, HUMAN. 

So, now what?  Well, now the RESPONSIBLE human who is serious about weightloss is in charge post-holidays.  Saddle up and get back on your horse … that’s all!  And, you know what, too?  These events are going to occur for the rest of your life with regularity – almost as if they’re marked on your calendar.  Wait … they are!  So, here’s some advice:  Start figuring out the most managable way for you to cope with future holidays which we know are going to come.  And, it’s important to remember, too, that you’re NOT ALONE in this struggle.  Millions upon trillions up quadrillions upon gazillions … okay, maybe I’m over-emphasizing, but a LOT of people are in your very shoes right now.  Don’t over think it … just get back on a plan.  Ladies – keep it to 1,200 calories a day, drink lots of water and exercise.  Fellas – keep it to around 1,800 calories a day, drink lots of water and exercise.  You’ll soon start to have that “I’m in control” feeling again, and all of the guilt and self-pity that you may be experiencing will melt away like unwanted pounds on a responsible dieter!  We’re all in this together kids - and, we are extraordinary!  Yes, even you, Dave!   

Anyway, I hope that your holidays were great, that you enjoyed ALL aspects of the celebrations and that we all make 2010 our best year yet!  

All the best, and Happy New Year!

Donna

Six Questions For … Lizzie Wraight (Professional Fitness Trainer)

Image by aJ GAZMEN ツ GucciBeaR via Flickr

Hello Faithful Followers of “Don’t Eat Like An Idiot!” 

First of all, I wanted to thank all of you for the warm response to our blog here, and for the barrage of emails that we have received!  I have been having a wonderful time answering questions and getting to know everyone on the site, so thank you for your interest, and continued patronage.   You know, it’s helpful to me to be able to guide some of you through waters that I’ve navigated myself through, and I hope that my words of encouragement are helpful to you, as well.  Keep those emails coming!

Next – and, I’m very excited about this – we’re kicking off our series titled “Six Questions For … .”   Today’s featured guest is, none other than, health & fitness guru Lizzie Wraight.  Lizzie hails from beautiful England, and currently lives in Reno, Nevada along the Sierra Nevada mountain range of northern Nevada.  For nearly two decades, through an approach that has been accurately described as “part drill instructor, part nurturer, all heart,” Lizzie’s clients have seen fantastic results from their hard work with her, and her dedication to helping them achieve their goals. 

As you will see, Lizzie has volumes of expert advice on what to do to help lose – and keep off – your pounds, and she was thrilled at the opportunity to share some of it with you via our “Six Questions For … ” segment.  Her knowledge, coupled with a wicked sense of humor and delivery, make this a fun and informative read!   So, without further ado, let’s launch this baby!

SIX QUESTIONS FOR … LIZZIE WRAIGHT

Hi Lizzie!  Thanks for signing up to do this!  So, this blog is dedicated to folks looking for those common sense tips for losing weight.  And, while I’m not a fitness guru, I do recognize that an exercise regimen should be included as part of a healthy weight loss program.  You ARE a fitness guru, though, which is why I contacted you to participate in our segment called “Six Questions for ….” - five for purposes of learning, and one just for kicks!  Let’s get started!

1.   Lizzie, as a professional fitness trainer, what do you recommend as beginning exercises for weight loss novices? 

Great question!  You know, I think that right now is an excellent time to join a gym!  Get quotes for a membership from several gyms, and then make them give you a deal.  One thing to keep in mind is that you’ll want to either join a gym close to work or join a gym close to home.  It really gets down to one thing; time in the gym versus time travelling to the gym!!!  
 
When you get to the gym, BELIEVE ME, NO ONE – AND, I MEAN NO-FRICKIN’-ONE IS LOOKING AT YOU!  They all just want to get their 50 minutes in and get the hell out the door!  Here’s the routine that I use with great success on all of my clients:

• Warm up slowly; 5 minutes walking on the treadmill … or, hop on the elliptical.
• Then get your cardio in.  I recommend 4 times a week, 40 minutes of cardio.  For example, get on the treadmill walking uphill (elevation 4.0, speed 3.0 or 3.5.)  Elliptical weight loss program for 30 minutes will work too.
• Now, get to the weight room floor (and, still remember, NO ONE IS LOOKING AT YOU!) 
• Some lateral pull-downs are a great way to loosen up.  35 lb weights for most of you ladies will be fine – do 3 sets of 10.  
• Some bicep curls with 5-10 lb weights will also be good.  
• Lunges across the floor are excellent – maybe carry some 10 lb weights with you on your lunge walk!  (This is all very personal.  Nothing should hurt that day.  But, if it hurts the next day, you did pretty good!) 
• You also need to start working your stomach muscles (“abs.”)  This is easier on your back if you use an exercise ball.  (We’ll get to how to work out the abs a little later on!)

Sound confusing?  Don’t worry!  Most gyms will offer (or, if not, prompt them) that you can get a free session with a personal trainer.  Take advantage of this – most of us do really know what we are talking about!   Maybe when you are doing your first few sessions of cardio, watch them work out other clients.  (If they are holding a Starbucks, and giving their boyfriend a good talking to, you may wanna stay clear.  You do not have to sign up for their program – just say you will think on it.)  The first session with your trainer will have you onto the weight room floor, and they will draw up a workout plan designed specifically for you!
 
Also, please make use of their aerobics classes – they are usually free.  If you find a class too hard, just pretend you need to pee, and don’t come back!  If you find a class that is “stick-a-fork-in-your-eye” boring, do the same thing!!!!  Working out should be FUN!  Honest!

2.     Not everyone can get to a gym for a workout.  Do you have any ideas for a home workout routine?

Okay, it’s a recession, so I know that maybe you don’t wanna commit to the whole gym thing, so here is an alternative for you:

Go to a Target store, or somewhere else you can get stuff cheap, and purchase the following:

• One set of 2.5 lb (5lb total) ankle weights made by PRINCE – they are the most comfortable.
• Yoga/exercise ball - know your height because the box will tell you what size you need based on that.
• A set of 5 lb and 10 lb hand weights.
• Put the Prince weights on your ankles and WALK!   Walk until you really feel it, and are totally ready to go home – I think, for beginners, start off with a 20-30 minute walk with the weights, and work your way up to 40-50 minutes.   Good stuff!  Having said that, I know DK’s blog reaches most of the country, so if you are walking up a mountain, know your body.  If you get light-headed, get down the hill!  (I live in the High Sierras, so I know that sometimes the altitude kicks your butt!)   Figure out how your body reacts to having weights added to it … and customize your personal routine around that.  Push yourself, but not to the point where you pass out!
   
  Your exercise ball is your friend!  Pump up the ball.  (A husband is handy here, but I know you single girls will find a way – i.e. “If I go on a date with you, can we play with balls after?”  should work!)
    
  Okay, now you have your ball (and, likely, the hangover from hell … )
   
• Do 3 sets of 10 chest presses lying on your ball with your neck totally safe on it… BUTT UNDER / STOMACH IN
  
• Do 3 sets of flys  (i.e. as you hold your weights, put your thumbnails together and open the weights up away from your body.)
  
• Do 3 sets of triceps  - put your heaviest weight behind your head, elbows tucked in, and – without using your shoulders – elevate the weight just with your triceps. (Picture a 90 degree angle in your mind.) The other name for this is the “Nose Crusher,” so I am pretty sure you got the image just from the name alone!

 3.  There are so many fad diets out there, including the latest that I’ve seen which involves eating a lot of chocolate.  I encourage my (female) readers to stick to a 1,200-calories-per-day budget in order to lose weight (not very much chocolate!)  What approach to eating do you take and/or recommend for weight loss?

Okay, as to the diet – and, I am not a nutritionist - learning to eat “CLEAN” is a habit and a lifestyle.  You will need exercise along with the right food to make you the person you feel you can be. 

Here are some ideas for starters:

If it’s WHITE, don’t eat it – replace it with BROWN … Brown rice, whole wheat pasta, red skinned potatoes, (for those readers in northern California and Nevada, Raley’s Organic Black Beans are excellent!) Lots of fruits and veggies!  For your proteins, try chicken, turkey, white fish… etc.

CRUNCHY IS GOOD, TOO!  Peppers, broccoli, snap peas, etc.  Think color and crunch!
 
SAY GOODBYE TO SODIUM!  In the day-to-day meals that you guys will eat, you will get enough sodium for the rest of your lives!!!! If you ladies just drink at least 6 bottles of water a day, and go and buy some Mrs. Dash’s seasonings, you will think I am a genius!!!
 

4.     What about imbibing … drinking … boozing it up?

Yes, please!  By all means!  But, choose your drinks like you choose your food – carefully!  Vodka and diet soda/water is, by far, your best bet.  Any “happy summer mixed drinks” are a total disaster!!!!!!  I try to keep off of the booze during the week, and have a fun time at the weekend, remembering that one decadent margarita will set you back 600 calories … you judge if it’s worth it.

 5. In your experience, what is the biggest challenge to people being able to achieve, and then maintain, lifetime weight loss - and how can they avoid the pitfall known as “relapse?”

You have to be able to make the commitment! 

The happiest time for me is when I have been working with a client for about three weeks, and I suddenly see a change in their body.  Soon enough, I hear, “My husband thinks I look great!” … or … “My arse is tighter!” … or … (“insert here the compliment you would like to receive.”)

This first month really inspires a gal to keep on.  But, there will be a plateau – a time when your body catches up to the situation.  It is here when I know I have to keep a client moving on and progressing, or I will lose them.  Look at my Web site for some terrific stories!

Now, I have never had anyone quit, but you have got to realize that when you make this step to change, it cannot be “half-arsed.”  It has to be, “I will never go back.”  Once I hear this, I am so happy because I know I have saved another person from the depths of obesity, denial, and – most importantly – a shortened life. 
 

6.     Okay, Lizzie … last question – off the subject:  You are stranded on a desert island for an indefinite period of time.  You can have three items (not people) from home with you.  What would those be and why?

Hmmm, let’s see.  I would take:

 1.    My “Billy Dog” – because he is my true love.

 2.    My camo Yankees cap, in case Derek Jeter decided to come save me.

 3.    My exercise ball – gotta stay in shape, in case Jeter actually shows up!

Bottom line, if you can look at yourself in the mirror in the morning and know that you have made good choices for your family, your body and your life, you don’t need much else – except Jeter … and that’s just a fantasy anyhow!!!!!

Lizzie (pictured center) works out two of her clients.

If you’d like further information about Lizzie, or would like to contact her for additional information, please check out her Web site at www.fitlizzie.com.  She’d love to hear from you!

Until next time, keep those calories under 1,200, use Lizzie’s workout tips and keep those emails coming!!

All the best,

DK

 

 

Common Sense Weight Loss From a Reformed Fat Girl

Image by ninahale via Flickr

Chances are, if you’ve found this particular blog, you and I have a lot in common … and the common denominator that unites us is likely the ever-present, pesky subject matter known as “weight control.”  Am I right?

Hey, look … for some of us, myself included, throughout our entire lives, weight has always been in the forefront of our minds – either talking down to ourselves for an inability to morph into the same shape or size as the cover girls and celebrities that appear on magazine covers and television shows that we see at our every turn (especially if you’re a celebri-gossip junky like me.)  Or, carrying on raging internal dialogues with ourselves about how we’ve “just got to lose weight,” but don’t do anything about it, and then feel guilty about our lack of action – we, then, seek comfort through our friend, “food,” thus perpetuating a cataclysmic cycle that undermines, and sometimes derails, any weight control goals we may have set for ourselves.  Or, we think, “I’ve lost weight before … I’ll just put it back on again … so, what’s the point?  Think I’ll eat that donut over there …”  Do thoughts like that sound familiar? 

If they do, then – yes, we are compadres in the on-going battle to take control of our weight.  We are sisters (some brothers, but mostly sisters according to our demographics) united in the fact that keeping weight off just doesn’t come naturally to us.  For whatever reason, either physiologically or psychologically, our relationship with food has been, up until now, unhealthy in a variety of ways, and on many different levels. 

But, you know what?  We’re in this together, and we CAN lose that weight!  And, if you stick with me, I’ll share with you how.  I am not a doctor, nor am I a nutritionist, nor am I a weight-loss company trying to sell you a weight-loss program, nor am I someone trying to get you to subscribe to anything.  As you get to know me through this journey, you’ll see that I am an honest, down-to-earth person whose only ulterior motive is to share with people in similar situations as mine what has worked for me, what I’ve learned, what I’ve discovered, and how great I feel to have figured out a weight-loss solution.  Call it want you want to … a diet, a lifestyle, a life program, etc. – I’m not here to tell you what to do, and I don’t want to let semantics get in the way.  I’m here to share with you what’s worked well for me, and you can glean from that what you need to in order to have this information fit into your life and work for you, too.  It’s not rocket science, but I have an awful lot to share with you, so let’s get started and have a whole bunch of fun along the way, too!  You in?  I am soooo in!! 

C’mon … let’s go!

Please Tweet me at donteatlikeanid … I’ll get back to you pronto!