New Found Motivation

New found motivation...my son Dan has lost 30 pounds in the past couple of months simply by walking "briskly" for about 45 minutes at lunchtime.  Once the weight started to come off he was naturally encouraged to make wiser choices for food and portions.  He weighs in weekly when he comes to our home for Sunday dinner.  He is down to 167 and looks great.  His wife Anne says he needs to gain a few pounds.  Awesome job Dan.   

Week by Week Melting Away Slowly

This past week brought new successes and challenges.  I did lose a few pounds.  But when I have too many special events to attend I eat too much of the wrong kinds of foods.  I would hate to  become a recluse just to stay on a diet.  So new strategies are developing.  

Instead of stopping for that juicy hot dog after 9 holes of golf, we have been carrying our own low calorie protein bars in the golf cart cubby.  Instead of drinking high calorie pop or "energy" drinks, water will do just fine.  It is becoming a new habit.  

I am OK as long as I lose 2-3 pounds per week.  I really don't want to go back to a food program that completely controls my diet.  Been there, done that, and benefited by the new small meal habit.  Let's keep up the good work and enjoy a successful week.               

Protein Powder Shakes to Replace Slim-Fast

As a followup to my last post about my newly invigorated self guided weight loss efforts, I received some great suggestions from my daughter Heather who has done a superb job losing weight over this past year.  I am now replacing slim-fast shakes with personally mixed protein powder shakes.  I was so impressed with the nutritional value by making this change.  

We bought our chocolate protein powder from Costco and simply mix crushed ice with the powder and ad some liquid for the mixing process, which in our case is a magic chef mini-mixer.  It takes about 5 minutes to make the shake and it really does taste fine.  The benefit is less sugar and more protein and other good stuff. Give it a try and see if your progress hastens. 

Back at Weight-Loss with Enthusiasm---Stay tuned for Regular Updates

Here is my confessional/weight-loss blog post.  I admit I gained back 20 of the 50 pounds I lost last year.  In fact I basically took a year off from my diet while we moved and settled in our new home in Idaho.  I suffered through about six months of post retirement depression which always licks in anxiety eating binges.  I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do dope, so I eat…it’s my “acceptable” drug of choice.   

But alas, I have found my old swagger and once again feel some enthusiasm for the future.  So I started to replicate the Medifast diet on my own terms and with my own food.  Last year after three months on Medifast I just got tired of the same diet food all the time. 

When people ask, I still encourage them to get on a strict diet program and find a weight loss coach.  “Take Shape for Life” with Medifast food worked the magic for me.  I learned how to lose weight and keep most of it off.   It was the jump start toward serious weight loss that helped me regain sufficient health to enjoy retirement.

Here is what I am doing to continue my quest toward losing a total of 80 pounds.  I eat 5-6 small meals each day.  It starts with a slim-fast shake each morning.  I actually buy the generic chocolate shakes from Costco since they are less expensive and come in boxes of 24.  My “second-breakfast” (said with the appropriate accent) is another shake with ice, juice, protein powder, and fiber powder at 10am. 

Other meals throughout the day consist of nuts, raisins, dates, and low calorie protein bars bought in bulk from Winco.  I also might have some cottage cheese with apple sauce.  My final meal of the day is a deluxe salad with protein added (chicken or shrimp) made with loving hands by my sweet wife Jeannie with no fat low calorie dressing.    

I exercise by stretching each morning for about an hour, doing back work as prescribed by my physical therapist.  My wife does yoga for a similar benefit.  I do aerobic workouts to get my heart rate up for about 30 minutes, usually on an elliptical machine.  We also play golf and ride our bikes as often as we can.  This summer we will do as many hikes as possible.  Working in the yard helps as well. 

This self motivated plan is doing the magic by helping me lose 2-5 pounds a week.  By the end of the summer I should be to my goal weight of 199.  I started this process about a year and a half ago at 280 pounds. 

 
I tried being a weight loss coach but wasn’t real good at it while I was busy getting ready to retire and move.  I still have a few friends whom I talk with about their diets. I am resurrecting my weight loss blog to share my progress.  I hope it helps someone find hope while they work to regain their health by losing weight. 

If you would like to receive an email when a new update to my weight loss blog is posted please sign up to the right of this post.  

 

How to Stay on Track with a Weight Loss Program

Over the past year I have lost some significant weight. Most of us can stay on a diet for a few weeks without cheating.  It’s what happens after the first 14 days that either defeats us or turns us into a new physical specimen of beautiful proportions.  I do know that doesn’t happen exactly at day #14, but most experts admit that after 14 days any newly adopted process becomes habit.  Then dieting becomes our new normal.  Here are my suggestions for making it to day #14 and into the new habit-sphere.

1)  Make your new food program the most important thing in your life for the first 14 days.  Think about it constantly. 

2) Plan your next move around how it will impact your food choices. 

3)  Avoid trigger-foods and fast-food like the plague.

4)  Stay out of the kitchen. 

5)  Set up your food for the day in the morning and do not deviate. 

6)  Weigh yourself daily for only the first 14 days, so you can see regular progress even if it’s a portion of a pound.  After that go to weekly weigh-ins and report it to someone, preferabbly a weight coach, mentor, or diet buddy.     

7)  Drink lots of water to keep yourself hydrated and feeling full.

8) On day #15 add exercise back into your routine, if nothing else, walk 30 minutes per day. 

9)  Don’t think of food as comfort but rather as essential energy sources.  Don’t eat absent mindedly.  Control those calories with exactness. 

10) If you mess up after day #14 you stop the binge and simply start afresh with the 14 day plan once more.  After awhile you discover your diet has become a life habit and you have lost 50 pounds and know how to lose more.  Your binges have become less attractive since your body has been feeling so much better with less food clogging your system.

You can do this.  Gaining control of the nutrition and exercise makes the rest of life much more productive.  Here is a link to my professional weight coach's website with more motivation stories:   

http://www.drbradycoach.com/gallery

Seven Foods You Should Be Eating--from LivingStrong

Seven Healthy Snacks---
Click for a direct link to an article from LivingStrong, an affiliate of the Lance Armstrong Foundation http://www.livestrong.com/article/553652-the-7-best-healthy-snacks/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=05232012

Summer 2012 = How to do More Weight Loss

My challenge to all my friends is to lose 25 pounds during the summer of 2012. 

A good strategy for summer weight loss is to plan each day with as many outdoors events as possible.  Today I started with a 30 minute brisk walk in the morning.  Later I will spend time in the garden turning over the soil to prepare for planting in a week or so.  Believe me, for someone my age (59), it is aerobic to turn over the dirt with my four foot long shovel.  I will break more of a sweat doing that than I did on this morning’s walk.   

Jeannie wants to go for a walk this afternoon.  So I will go out one more time and all told will probably be burning over 500 calories doing my training for the day.  Now the trick is to not replace those calories with increased intake, like pop, or sugar or whatever.  My food program has kept me losing weight in a “steady” pattern for many months and it will help me stay on track. 

The most difficult hours each day are from 3PM to bedtime.  I drink water or 5 calorie per glass crystal light and stay away from the kitchen as much as possible.  My family helps by hiding all the trigger foods that start me on a food binge.  They have to be quite sneaky because I know most of the best hiding places.

Right now my daily goal is to beat eat about 1200 calories and 500 calories burned.  I know when I do this I am currently losing 2-5 lbs per week on average.  Now lest you think it is easy for me, I do struggle with food craving most days.  But as long as I win most of the daily battles I tend to keep losing weight.  Every now and then I hit a plateau and tread water for a week or so.  I have a strategy for breaking through those as well, which I have posted previously. 

Every individual has their own journey to change their health lifestyle, and I have mine figured out.  I know how to do this because of the help I received.  The food they provided helped get my caloric intake to a glycemic balance.  My health coach, Dr. Cliffton Brady, is outstanding.  The curriculum materials have taught me the science behind the program.  I never lost more the 25 lbs on any previous diet.  Nothing has worked long term like this program. 

Dr. Brady tells me he can now take on new clients, so I am interested in sending any of my friends who have asked questions about their particular health situation or medications to him.  I am grateful for his willingness to help my friends.  If you are interested in a consultation with him please let me know by email at vanordenr@gmail.com or by signing in at my weight loss website:
http://weightlosspowerusers.com/