For All of Us Who Are Stuck...

You are not alone! There are more people stuck than not when it comes to weight loss. For instance, when I woke up today, I told myself I was going to stick to the plan and really attack my dietary goals. As it turns out, I'm finding it to be a difficult task and I'm wondering when this "Frogger" will actually be making the jump? 

Get the Lead Out!

Do any of you recall watching The Biggest Loser? Did you ever see the trainers tell contestants, "Oh! It's okay! You take a break. Don't worry about your weight loss goals; the pounds will just come off even if you're not working?" 

Heck No! Blood, sweat & tears are the only thing you'll see on that show! Whenever someone wants to slow down or stop, the trainers are hard and harsh! That's what we need to do with ourselves! 

Get Tough!

Today I want to be with you wherever you are. Next to the couch. In the drive-through line. At your lunch table and in your kitchen!

No more of this sweet, nice talk! Save your excuses for something else! Today is the day we make the jump and we continue until we've reached our next weight loss goals! Let the tears roll on out, but don't give up! I wish I could say there's another way to meet your weight loss goals, but there isn't! 

Get rid of the negative self talk and take control!

Every other web site out there is going to feel warm and fuzzy, but it's just sweet nothings! Sometimes we need to hear a harsh word and be held to a higher standard. What we're trying to accomplish is over ridding years and years of habits. This is not an easy task! If it were we wouldn't be reaching out for help in dramatic ways and constantly struggling. 

Personally, I'm unraveling 18 years of bad habits. My hope is that it won't take that long to get back to where I was before my habits changed causing my weight gain. 

I can't afford to be luke-warm!

When I think of all the years I've taken putting on these pounds! It's easy to get complacent, but I have to be tough and stop making excuses! I have to drink my water, take my vitamins, eat the veggies and change EVERYTHING from how I've done it in the past!

So, today when you're going about your day, just pretend that I'm right there screaming at you! I'd be quite annoying! When you start bargaining with your choices just think of what your own personal trainer would be saying?

"No! Don't give me tears and excuses! 

You don't get a break!

              

 

"Frogging" A New Idea in Dieting.

Instead of working for a year trying to reach my goal weight, I will make my first milestone within 10 or 20 pounds of where I am today. Just as a frog jumps many times to the finish line, I too, will take smaller more achievable leaps. I want to make these changes lasting and I feel that if I discipline myself to do maintenance stops at strategic milestones; I will make better, longer lasting progress. 

I want to purposefully create resting points where I bring my caloric intake up to a maintenance level and hold it there for a short amount of time. Rather than becoming discouraged and worrying about plateauing after several weeks of dieting; I can take planned stops, making sure that I'm not falling back into my old habits and gaining back all the weight I had lost plus more. Yo-yo dieting is just a plan I cannot live with anymore!

When searching for a long term solution, I find it necessary to institute a multitude of great ideas. I don't stick to just one diet plan, but use the best from many ideas and then add my own flavor to them. In my search to find accountability partners on line I came across a helpful website to keep track of my caloric intake and daily exercise at: Everyday Health. There I found it easy to sign up and use the tools they have there. 

I want to make lasting changes and for me, "Frogging" will be the style with which I attack this plan. So, for now, my goal is to get to 240 pounds. I hope you will try a goal that works for you too and may we all find great success together!

Mastering the Plateau!

It's been a few weeks now that I haven't lost or gained much. I'm hovering right around 250 pounds. I've been as low as 248 and as high as 252. I'm still struggling with late night eating as well as some poor food choices and while "Frogging" is an idea that I think will work; it seems to be proving a little uncomfortable.

I'm feeling good about the fact that I have been able to hold my weight and I'm equally pleased by the changes in my dietary choices. The uncomfortable part is the discipline it takes to "maintain" my weight, not gaining or losing, but staying at one weight level on purpose. 

In the past, I've always called this time a "plateau".

In the preceding link to the Mayo Clinic’s article entitled, "Getting Past a Weight-Loss Plateau, they describe the phenomenon of plateauing as, "A weight-loss plateau occurs when you no longer lose weight despite continuing with your exercise and healthy-eating habits."

For me, plateauing is something I'm trying to master now instead of fighting. I want to make lasting changes and I believe that controlling a healthy maintenance weight for a few weeks at a time will help me. Instead of rushing the weight loss process and failing again, I want to make changes for a lifetime.

So, for me, jumping from one weight loss goal to the next and hovering there for a while will increase my chances of success. I've never been able to just stay in one place with regards to my weight for any substantial amount of time. 

Learning the discipline of maintaining my weight has been an interesting ride for me so far. I'm becoming more aware of the difference between the number of calories it takes to lose weight verses maintaining it. 

I found this easy to use and helpful calculator that shows weight loss as well as weight maintenance recommended daily caloric intakes. It doesn't require you to sign up and it compares with several other calculators I found on line. 

So, whatever your weight loss choices may be I hope that you are successful in your goals. This isn't an easy journey, but it is one worth taking.