Weight Loss Essentials
Okay, I talked about keeping a food journal, but that’s only part of the picture. The very first thing you need to do is get a scale. Doesn’t have to be fancy, or digital, but you can pick up a decent one at www.target.com for $25. Next, you need to figure out what’s in the food you’re eating. There are a couple ways to go about doing this. We should all be looking at the ingredients in the foods we’re putting into our bodies, but this can be time consuming as well as tedious. I do check ingredients while shopping and try to only have healthy foods in my home to start with, but once they’re home, there’s an easy way to figure out what you’re eating.
During my weight loss I joined www.livestrong.com for free. This is Lance Armstrong’s website and whatever your stance on him personally is; don’t let that prevent you from utilizing this excellent website. Once at the site, you’ll want to sign up and then head to “My Plate” under the “Daily Plate” heading. The basics are quite easy and you should have them mastered in no time at all.
I know we’ve all heard that we should drink 8 glasses of water every day, but how many people know what a glass of water actually is? I’m talking volume, not a physical glass. One glass is equal to eight ounces, which is equal to one cup. This is not a huge amount. I recommend taking a measuring cup, filling it with one cup of water and pour it into a standard glass you have at home as well as a glass or mug you have at work so you can ditch the measuring cup and just fill your glass to a certain point and know it’s eight or sixteen ounces. I have glasses at home where there’s actually a line that’s equal to eight ounces, and the mug I have at work is equal to sixteen ounces.
Now, once you have your measurements, you’re ready to start drinking. Water that is! On the right hand side of the page at “My Plate” you will find a section labeled “Daily Water Consumption.” Simply click on “Add a Glass” for every glass you drink, and once you reach eight glasses it will let you know that you have completed your requirement for the day. Now you can still drink and add more, but getting the eight is the important thing. Now I have also given some thought to when I’m drinking the water. I normally have two glasses before I leave in the morning, another two before lunch, and two more after lunch before I go home followed by two more in the evening. When I first started out I was so gung-ho that I would often drink all eight before lunch! I considered just stopping there, but quickly realized that although it is better to drink all eight period, you just can’t stop at noon.
The danger with drinking everything in the first part of the day is that you will be thirsty the rest of the day, which may lead to drinking other types of liquid. I must caution you to be very careful of what you drink outside of water. Tea and coffee are fine as long as you don’t add cream, sugar, etc, and watch your caffeine intake as well. Soda should be tops on your list to cut from your diet. I’m including diet soda here. Now diet soda is better for you in terms of calories, but with the amount of chemicals listed in their ingredients I’d steer clear. I do know there have been studies done linking diet soda to overeating, cancer, etc. I don’t know the validity of those studies, but just steer clear of diet soda all together.
Next: Eating and Recording