weight loss help

Starting the year with a list of New Year's Resolutions may be as commonplace as ending the year without them. Perhaps therein lies the problem - starting with a list of resolutions intead of just one specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based (S.M.A.R.T.) goal . . .  but I digress.  Below are a few tricks to improve your chances of making the right resolution(s) and seeing them through to success.  You can do it!

Happy Heart Month!  What a blessing that just a few simple changes in your lifestyle can improve your chances of living a longer, healthier life.  The beauty is, anyone can make these changes, the steps are not expensive and even modest improvements will make a big difference.  

Goodness knows it's hard enough to keep your weight in check on any 'ol ho-hum day, let alone during the ho--ho--holidays.  Heck, I can gain a pound just looking at a slice of cheesecake.  Think about this, though.  If you put on  just 1 pound a year, what will you weigh when you're 60, 70, 80 or 90?  Mind boggling.

My high school reunion is coming up in June.  Needless to say I'm a-dither about looking good.  Here's the problem:  When I put pressure on myself to lose weight, my body thinks it hears 'Pack on the pounds!' and voila, I gain instead. 

I argue with my mom about this all the time.  She insists that the only way to lose weight is to expend more calories than you eat.  I tell her that there is an insulin component in there that regulates the way your body stores and uses fats and sugars.  If you know how your body works, you can use that to your advantage if you want to lose a few pounds here and there.  I am not advocating anything like the Adkins diet, although it works very well.  It just seems so unhealthy to eat so much fat and protein in whatever quantities you want.  That is the hook, though.  I like to eat a modified low-sugar diet complete with high complex carbs that break down slowly and don't cause a big blood sugar rush.  When I want to lose weight faster, or get it "going", I cut back on the carbs.  There are plenty of books and resources out there about how to do this safely, and plenty of reasons not to do it at all if you don't know what you're doing, but here's a quick synopsis of how it works.

Todd and I have been reducing our carb intake over the past couple weeks (ugh) to coax those holiday pounds off.  One good thing is that we've stumbled on the perfect low carb breakfast for busy people.  It's a variation of a recipe listed in the book for Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet.  (See "How Does the Low Carb Thing Work Anyway?").