7 Steps For 7 Stone!

In September 2006, I weighed 19 stone, 10 pounds, my weight had spiralled. As a man in my mid 30’s that placed me directly for heart-attack territory which was rapidly approaching on the horizon.

In January 2008, I now weigh 12 stone, 7 pounds - a weight loss of over 7 stone. I haven’t done any crash diets, dodgy diets, strange detox programmes or unhealthy methods. I don’t drink any vile tasting mixtures and concoctions or eat bizarre foods with unpronounceable names! I simply changed my ‘relationship’ with food and what foods I enjoy. Believe it or not, I also had practically none to NIL cravings along the way.

Binging out on beer, curries, cheeses, sweets, cakes and chocolate piled on the pounds for me and by changing the foods I craved and swapping them for healthy alternatives, alongside a good ‘food education’ worked wonders! Initially I didn’t turn into any form of olympic athlete over night (far from it!) and I simply built on the existing healthy eating knowledge I had, learning new ways to manage my food intake to balance it sensibly and correctly.

In doing so, I lost around 10 inches off my waistline and over 7 stone in weight.

My basic guidelines were/are simple and these were my 7 steps to a permanent 7 stone loss:

1. Check with your GP for advice before any changes to your diet or lifestyle - especially if you need to get your blood pressure, cholesterol, pulse rate or any other medical conditions checked out first. Know your desirable, approximate weight for your height and build.

Don’t ever start any weight loss journey for anyone else other than yourself. Make changes because you want to, not because you’re pressured to by someone else, nagged into it or otherwise persuaded. Chances are if you’re not the main instigator of your changes, they won’t last long!

2. Always READ the label. Low fat doesn’t mean low in calories! Understand the content, understand and read the fat, salt and sugar content. Beware of ‘trans-fats‘ too and avoid wherever possible.

3. Know your recommended, maximum daily calorie intake (e.g. 2500 for men max, 2000 for women maximum) and what main food groups should be in your diet (e.g. minimum of 5 fruit/veg a day).

Remember your calorie ‘balance’ can also be used over a week period (e.g. don’t use up more than 14000 calories in a week for a woman) so you can use more or less calories from day to day if you want.

Don’t get obsessed with counting calories, but accept the idea that you will need to keep a mental note of how many calories any food or drink contains in order to manage some idea of your daily calorie intake). More calories than needed = weight gain. To lose weight, eat less than your maximum daily intake, even starting at just 200 calories less per day (e.g. 1400 per week).

4. Redesign your cravings and food likes & recognise when/why and how you eat (e.g. are you bored when you eat or thirsty/hungry?).

‘Food redesigning’ is all about substituting (one by one or all at once - it’s your choice) the bad foods for healthy alternatives and teaching (’conditioning’) your body to derive new pleasures and satisfactions from the new replacements. Let’s take Chocolate for instance, I found I could replace this with tasty low-calorie cereal bars and found I then ‘taught’ my body to produce the same response as to when I ate chocolate.

5. It’s literally mind over matter. Self-discipline and self-control is the key.

Picture your goal, keep it in your head, and strive for it. ACCEPT that you will need to change your relationship with food, forever in order to succeed.

Let’s face the music, some foods you may have to cut out forever or only enjoy once or twice a year (e.g. chips) and sometimes during your weight loss journey (certainly initially) you may well feel hungry from time to time - an unfortunate but mandatory side effect I’m afraid.

6. As you feel more energetic and able, begin to do more exercise as it begins to appeal to you. Losing weight often means we gain more energy and means you’re more able, confident and willing to become involved in any form of exercise (from walking, to swimming, to walking the dog, it all counts!). Above all, do something that you like and that makes your heart beat faster. For me it is swimming over the last few months that burns calories and tones muscles.

7. Customise, develop and research your own lifestyle plan constantly to permanent weight loss and accept this may be initially by trial and error. Explore what works for you & when to eat, embrace and enjoy the changes you make that empower you to reach your goal.

Accept that it may take you a substantial period of time to achieve, take each day at a time and throw away any old diet books, make your own route!

PS: Oh and remember…!

Always, always, eat breakfast!

Even if you’re not hungry. You need it to literally ‘break-the-fast’ and kick-start your metabolism. Breakfast doesn’t have to be eaten at 7am, 8am, 9am, etc…, it can be a time that suits you and doesn’t have to be eaten immediately on getting out of bed (take your time)! In time you will naturally be hungry when you first awake as your body adjusts to your new routines.

Good Luck!

© This article is copyrighted (2008) and may not be used, reproduced, copied or otherwise/similar in any form of media without permission from the author.

Watch the Telly!
Junk food junkie to TV junkie?!

Hey? What? You’re suggesting I watch the telly while I watch my weight? Surely not!

Gasp. Horror. Shock.

Yes, I’m suggesting you do exactly that and before you start reaching to send scathing comments, read on…

Well, to be specific, I’m suggesting you educate yourself, motivate yourself and teach yourself selectively using the old square box. On TV, there are so many health programmes, healthy-eating cooking and tips, weight-loss shows, etc, (some are awful admittedly!), you’ll be surprised at how much info and advice you can pick up. I could recommend a few to you, but then you’d start accusing me of working for the likes of the Beeb, Channel 4 or SKY TV wouldn’t you?!

You’d also probably be less surprised to hear that you may also discard a lot of it too as absolute ‘branded’ nonsense (common-sense?!) and just ‘slicked up’ ways to try and flog you a new book, DVD or similar and you’d be right in thinking that. Nevertheless, there are some brilliant gems of knowledge to pick up along the way of your new, enlightened passage into ’slimmerness’ (is that a word?!).

For goodness sake, please, please don’t settle yourself in for the night though with a HUGE box of chocolates in front of the tube. Before you ease yourself into that ‘homer-simpson-esque’, comfy, well-worn dent in the sofa, leave the crisps, coke and munchies behind!

If you must eat and watch, choose healthy items such as fruit, low-fat dips/vegetables, low-calorie cereal/fruit bars, with no added sugar.

It’s not surprising that these days the vast majority of unhealthy food is consumed whilst we sit ogling at the box.

The thought of eating in front of the television to many is at least, ‘common’ or ‘uncouth’, however personally I see nothing wrong with it, just not ALL the time (obviously avoid dropping the beetroot on your best furniture)! Before you know it, as you get carried away with your TV entertainment, you may find yourself to have munched through endless supplies of choccie, crisps, sweets and other rubbish – it’s possible to eat a whole day’s worth of calories (2000 – 2500) in just the space of an hour or two in front of a film. Beware!

Lecture over. Back to the serious point…

Choose your ‘weight loss/healthy living etc’ programmes carefully – laugh at other’s techniques, disregard what YOU think is twoddle and learn from the decent bits of info and then go down your own path, all the way.

Give it a go and I think you’ll be surprised with how much you may pick up.