amberandrews

Oh, I hate the anxiety that kicks in at about Day 10 of a diet.  It happens to me without fail, and it feels as though my brain has been hijacked.  I feel crazed, either wanting to run or binge endlessly.  I don’t know the root cause of it, but I’m sure it’s more psychological than physiological.  At any rate, to cope, I use celery.

Yep, good ol’ fashioned celery.

At other times in my life, I’d go out for a walk to calm my nerves but these days I’m confined to a desk job so I can’t just up and leave whenever I want.  But I can bring celery to much on.

There’s just something about crunchy food that calms my nerves.  It’s like I get the opportunity to destroy my aggression, chomping down and devouring something so crisp.  And, it doesn’t hurt that it’s basically neglegible in calories and high in fiber.  I could eat it until the cows come home.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

I will not binge this time!

Maybe you’ve seen it as a guideline for calorie restrictive diets, maybe you’ve heard it’s the bare minimum of calories you should consume in one day, but, have you ever wondered where this magic number comes from?  Well, in my time working as a nutritionist I investigated the mystique of the 1,200 calorie threshold.

It comes from the theory that if you let your calorie consumption dip too low your metabolism will go into ’starvation mode’, meaning it will slow down considerably.  This causes your weight loss to plateau if you maintain the same energy intake, or causes you to put fat on if you increase your calorie intake again (for a consistent period, and by a considerable amount).  But then, that begs the question of how anorexics manage to keep getting so skinny consuming usually a maximum of 1,000 calories a day, if that.  What’s the deal?

Well, the minimum guideline comes from what is assumed to be your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).  Namely, the amount of calories your body would burn if you did nothing all day.  And I do mean nothing.  You’d be bed ridden.  That’s not to say that 1,200 calories is what everyone would burn at rest, but it’s the standard estimate used for an average aged woman of average fitness or average size.  It can varies for everyone — by quite a bit too!  My BMR, for example, is about 1,400 calories per day, and that’s mainly because I’m fairly young (28).  That’s a lot more than 1,200!!  So, in essence, the theory is that if you let your average calorie consumption go below your personal BMR, you risk entering your body’s metabolic ’starvation mode’.  Plus you’d just be really really cranky and tired.

So what about those scrawny anorexics?  Well, at first their bodies did resist weight loss, provided they jumped right into extreme deprivation from normal food intake.  But, in general, anorexics started as regular dieters and got worse (more restrictive) over time.  Their bodies have not only burned their fat mass off for fuel, but their muscle mass as well.  Some muscle loss is inevitable when losing weight.  And that really is ok and unavoidable.  Your body simply does not need as much muscle as it used to to lug around your weight as you get lighter.  But it’s when the body is truly starving (ie// not getting enough calories to meet your basic needs –your BMR level), that it starts to deplete muscle mass alarmingly because it takes the most energy to maintain, but generally you will lose fat first.  Anorexics die of general malnutrition and from their bodies needing to resort to using muscle sources –like your heart– for fuel.

The bottom line is this: don’t let your calorie intake dip below your BMR.  There are equations to give you an estimate of what your BMR is and they should factor in your age, sex, and weight.   1,200 is not the BMR for everyone.  Your BMR will be higher than that if you are: tall, possess a lot of lean muscle mass (ie// an athelete), young, male, or are just genetically blessed with a faster metabolism (although, this generally doesn’t make too much of a difference — usually only 50-75 calories/day).

Estimate Your BMR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_rate#BMR_estimation_formulas

Wow is all I can say.  I’m only six days into keeping my calorie count low, doing a bit of walking, and nightly calisthenic exercises and this morning I awoke to find my tummy looking trimmer.  Perhaps it’s just a result over getting that nuissance Time of the Month out of the way (likely), but it’s nicer to think it’s as a result of my efforts!

I haven’t weighed in again yet, but I should be down about a pound.  I’ll confirm that on Saturday.  Yippee!

Oh, and, much to my surprise — I can do two more push-ups in a set!  WOOOHOOOO!

In other words, 33 lbs to go, or 15 kg.  Not a small amount by any means but I’m so inspired by all the BuddySlimmers who have already lost so much more than that.  It’s such hard work and requires a lot of consistent dedication, I’m never short of amazed by how many people have burned off multiples of those numbers!

To me burning off 115500 still sounds daunting!  But, psychologically it’s better for me to think about it in terms of calories than weight.  Oh man… today I’m at 113168 more calories to go!

I love Women’s Health magazine!  It’s always full of great information and in a non-fanatical sort of way.  Here’s a link to their 13 Weight Loss Tricks that work.  I find them all to be fun and enjoyable things that make me eager to live life, not just lose weight in the process.

Enjoy!: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-motivation?page=0

A lot has already been said on the topic of “portion distortion”, especially in the States where restaurant and fast food servings can make you feel like a pig placed in front of a trough for a weekly feed.  But what about the flip side of the coin?  Are your typical diet portions truly all that restrictive?  I’m willing to bet that they’re not.

A friend of mine in med school recently asked for my quasi-expert advice on whether it’s more important to advise an obese patient to focus on diet or exercise to start losing weight.  I said diet, hands down.  While the two go hand-in-hand and exercise has a lot of side benefits that help you lose weight, aside from the obvious burning of energy, restricting calorie intake so that you consume less than you burn is the only tried, tested, and true way to guarantee weight loss.

So how do we restrict calorie intake without feeling deprived?  Well, getting back to my initial diatribe, I believe it’s all in the mind.  When we start diets we tend to think of it as an agonizing means to an end.  We think that we’ll make some sacrifices in the short term to lose ‘x’ amount of pounds and then… well then maybe we can sneak some ‘normal’ food in or feast every once and awhile.  Not so.

We have to, instead, rewire our minds as to what ‘normal’ really is.  Did you know that just 20 years ago the average calorie intake for a woman was 1600 per day?  These days that’s considered a restrictive diet to lose weight quickly.  And it is, but that’s just because we’ve gotten so fat eating far beyond what we really need.  Even some scales that indicate what a healthy weight is for your height and frame have gone up by about ten pounds.  We are simply more accepting and accomodating of living large these days.  No wonder cutting back feels like starvation, we’re not actually starving on 150 calories worth of rice a day in Ethiopia, we’re just inclined to think we are because we’ve gotten used to having everything in excess.

To stick to eating fewer calories not just in the short term but as a lifestyle change we need to re-program ourselves to think that we’re eating like a normal person should.  We’re not just people who are genetically ungifted and thus have to really watch what we eat.  It’s plain and simple — smaller, skinnier people eat less, and do so consistently.  Unless you have hypothyroidism, there’s nothing more to it.

I came across this fantastic quiz today where you can judge for yourself how we’ve shifted our concept of ‘normal’ in the past twenty years.  Guess the calorie content of modern day portions from pictures comparing it to what ‘normal’ was in the late ’80s.  Better still, guess how much physical activity you need to do to burn those extra calories off — and I’m not talking going to the gym, but regular activities like cleaning house, walking the dog, and raking leaves which people used to occupy their time with a lot more than us lazy fat arses of today!

Happy Re-Programming, cheers! :   http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/

I’m a private person by nature, and especially when it comes to my feelings about my body.  Truth be told, I’m a little embarrassed to broadcast to the world that I have problems controlling my weight, and in particular what goes in my mouth.  There’s a good reason for my shame — I used to be a personal trainer and nutritionist.

It’s pretty hard to justify being/looking anything short of ideal when you’re a fitness professional.  Even though it’s been 6 years since officially working ‘in the biz’, health, fitness, and nutrition are key passions (obsessions?) of mine and I feel like my body should reflect that positively.  However, it doesn’t.

Instead I am 20 lbs overweight and my taut younger body has been replaced by what appears to be my mother’s looming figure with broad hips and a disconcerting lack of firmness.  I never thought this would happen, let alone at the mere age of twenty-eight!  No, this sort of horizontal elongation was supposed to be reserved for the post-menopausal years.  But here I am with no one to blame really but myself.  And, for the record, I don’t believe that just because my mother (and father) is overweight that I’m genetically doomed to the same fate.  Sure, I’ll always gain weight in the same awkwardly disproportionate ways as my parents, but I’ll be damned if I end up as fat as them!  There is a lot to be said for will, determination, and changing the bad habits you were brought up with when it comes to determining your relative size.

So then, what’s my problem?  Why all the extra padding?  Well… ummm… as human nature goes, these problems are complex.  It’s certainly not a lack of knowledge, I’ve devoted over ten years to studying the ins and outs of healthy living.  Like most women, the issues for me are emotional.  Calorie counting has always been an effective means to manage me weight, but sometimes this rebellous personality of mine just wants to BREAK FREE from those restrictions, even if they are self-imposed.  Then there’s eating for comfort when I feel like my relationships with people around me are going sour.  I avoid conflict, never knowing the most effective way to say something potentially hurtful to someone in a delicate manner.  It’s hard for me to tell people what I want and need, and so I usually refrain out of fear that asking anyone from anyone will result in them turning around and saying I’m not worth the effort.

So I eat.  I eat to punish myself for being out of control and imperfect, and for not succeeding.  I eat to comfort myself when I’m worried that people will turn away from me.  I eat for that rush of stress-suppressing serotonin.  I eat for that ‘one last time’ I’ll enjoy these fatty, high sugar foods before I kick it in to gear again and commit to eating less (tomorrow, or the next day).

Yes, I eat, too much.

1. Grooming
   • facial
   • manicure
   • pedicure
   • epilate
2. Calculate Stuff
3. Check Gossip Mags
   • http://www.perezhilton.com
   • http://www.thesuperficial.com
4. Go for a walk
5. Watch a movie
6. Do calisthenics
7. Play
8. Drink
   • coffee + water
   • green tea + water
9. MSN friends
10. Read Weight-Loss Related Stuff
    • habits of skinny women
    • Women’s Health articles
    • Shape articles
    • Self articles
11. Browse model photos
12. Think of things to do downtown & make plans
    • theater
    • art
    • movies
13. Mentally transform ideas of food into unappealing things