"Vanity is a mark of humility rather than of pride." -Jonathan Swift
Part of feeling good is looking good. I don't care what anyone says If you look good to you, you feel great. For me there is nothing like putting on a new pair of jeans and cute shoes. For me those jeans and shoes wouldn't feel as good if I didn't feel like how I looked in them. People ask a lot how I stay fit, so this blog is my personal feelings on the subject.
"I never worry about diets, carrots that interest me are the number in a diamond." Mae West
Diet doesn't have to be the worst four letter word you know (It's not the worst one I know). I know it brings about really bad feelings for most people but it doesn't have to. In the dictionary the original definition of a diet is: the kinds of foods that a person, animal, or community eats (used as a noun). So saying "I am going on a diet" is using the word as a verb, the original form is a noun (person, place or thing). To me a diet just is. It is what I eat, not what I do. Diet is a mindset.
With that being said, my diet (used a s a noun) is high in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and protein with at least 64 ounces of water daily. My diet is low in processed foods, refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup and white flour. I usually only have these things 1 time per week on what I call my cheat day, and it is only 1 meal. I don't eat bad stuff the whole day. Even though it is a cheat day, you still have to exercise portion control and stay within your daily calorie goal.
DIETS DON'T WORK! (the short version)
Your body is an amazing machine. It can recover and is constantly trying to fix the stuff we do to it. This machine does what we tell it. When we cut calories, (what we call a diet) it is usually to start pumping in good stuff right? Wrong we cut calories and put in only what that diet calls for. Atkins, cabbage soup, lemonade, HCG diets call for things that are mostly bad for us, while taking away what we need. The only reason you should cut calories is to transition your body and it should be for a very limited period of time(one week, to get rid of cravings). There is a reason why you need a certain amount of calories in your daily diet and really you don't have calories to waste. Like I said your body is a machine, like a car, it needs gas. Food is our fuel. Refined sugar and white flour is like putting the wrong gas in a car, it will work for a while but it eventually dies. Eighty-five percent of people usually gain their weight back in the first two years. (some studies say it is as high as ninety percent)
A few words about Metabolism
Everyone thinks calories in calories out. This just is not the whole story. I used to think that if I just exercised more than I burn more calories and it all balances out. Well what if for the whole year I eat 100 calories more. An apple. I have accumulated around 3600 calories in a year. 3500 calories is equal to one pound. In order to get that pound off I would have to run the equivalent of 35 miles to take it off. Which means about a mile a day. I don't know very many people that get that much exercise. Exercise is not enough and god forbid something happen and you can't work out.
When you cut calories your body goes into panic mode. It burns all the stores it has which includes muscle. If you do not get enough protein in this stage you cannot maintain your muscle. Muscle is what burns fat. The more muscle a person has the more fat it burns. By the end of a cycle (which is to say someone stuck with it long enough to see results) you may have lost weight but you are now less efficient. Since you have cut calories the minuet you take in more you start to store because you have now reset your metabolic rate lower. (your body thinks it needs to function on less, starvation mode) Do you follow? In order to lose weight you need to burn fat, keep muscle while intaking adequate calories.
If you are going to lose weight you need to do it the right way. Weight loss or eating better needs to be a life choice. Little choices everyday will add up. So think about your choices, it can be that simple.
-Ari
Be Good, Do Good,Look Good, Feel Good.
For more information on Diet go to http://theskinnychic.me
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