Ennui reached already?

Okay, a couple of people have probably stated it best this week. The excitement and adrenaline from starting a contest with the idea you could win has worn off, and now we're down to the day to day processes of removing the excess poundage.

First, I have to say, there is no magic bullet. You just have to eat less calories than you expend to lose weight. Very simple, but not that easy. The best way to go is a combination of more (or at least some!) exercise and less food intake. For me, the food intake is generally easier than the exercise.

And one of the adages of Weight Watchers is that if you want to be healthy, this is not a "diet" with a beginning and an end. For almost every one of us, we need to change our eating habits to get to a healthy weight and stay there. So think of this as retraining your brain and your stomach to have a long and healthy life. There IS great food out there that is healthy, low fat, and filling.

Like Ginger has said, I spend most of my day sitting at a desk or in the car. That doesn't burn a lot of calories. Research has found that many, many things you don't think of does burn calories though. For those of you wanting to have immediate satisfaction from your exercise, scrubbing you floors on your hands and knees will use up lots of calories, and make you happy every time you walk in the kitchen. Particularly if it's very dirty. ROFLOL I'm sure that isn't high on any one's list. But seriously, vacuuming, scrubbing floors, walls, and tile, and gardening do use up calories.

Second, one of my favorite hints over the years is that you want to keep your blood sugar level as equal as possible so you avoid the highs and lows. You can actually speed up your metabolism by eating more frequently and smaller meals. A good way to go is to divide your daily food intake into 5 or 6 smaller meals. It has a two fold benefit. It keeps your blood sugar levels more even, so you don't get hungry, and it speeds up your metabolism because your body is "burning" calories more evenly. If you have a small meal every 2 hours during the day, you will see an amazing change. And you're only hungry the first 2 hours. After that, it's not been a problem for me.

Third... DRINK YOUR WATER. Unless you're thinking about it, most of us don't drink enough to keep hydrated. I have read on several medical sites that you need to drink HALF YOUR WEIGHT in ounces of water every day to be fully hydrated. Yes, it's a lot of water. But it does a lot of good things for you. You skin will be "dewy", and wrinkles don't show as much. It keeps you fuller. The first few days of it, you will think you spend all of your time in the bathroom, but after a few days, your body gets used to it and you will go back to a more normal schedule.

Okay, and the last hints I have will be spread out over several days. Many of you know that I love to read, and I mostly read mystery books. I have a ton of favorite authors, but I found a new one a few months back. The author is Kathryn Lilley, and her series is called "a fat city mystery". I read the second one first, and it's been donated to the library, but I just found the first one and read it this week. It's called "Dying to be Thin." The heroine goes to a "fat farm" because she's in the broadcasting business and needs to lose some weight so she can get a job in front of the camera instead of behind the camera. At the beginning of each chapter, there are weight loss hints supposedly given to the heroine in a "Little Book of Fat-busters" by her best friend.

So I'll throw out a couple.

1. The many benies of exercise:
Research indicates that dieters who exercise regularly lose more weight, keep it off longer, and have a greater sense of well-being than sedentary people. An added bonus, you feel more confident and enjoy the physical act of sex more.

2. Avoid Emo eating. Stress, fatigue, and strong emotions can all lead to unplanned eating episodes. Ask yourself the HALT question. Am I Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired? If you're not truly hungry, drop the food and back away from it -- slowly-- with your hands in the air. (Added bonus... if you do this, you'll probably start laughing and stop the negative emotions!)

3. Dealing with the Unexpected.
Life throws us curveballs. When you miss lunch and are starving by the next meal, you have a tendency to dive into whatever is there without thought about your eating plan and gain a few to several pounds overnight. It's not because there is salt in the food!
When events go awry, don't use it as an excuse to go off the deep end with food. Take a deep breath, realize that God has a great sense of humor, and eat a huge salad before your meal. That should stave off the hunger pangs until your brain is back in gear.

More in a few days!

Hope these help and get you moving in the right direction.