Control Your Appetite. Quit the Clean Plate Club.

Ever watch how some people eat?  I can’t believe how fast the food goes down.  These people are full before they even know it and they keep eating anyway.  I always eat when I’m hungry. I eat what I want, which means I don’t eat food that is OK, so so, or just plain yucky to me. When ever I do this I end up eating more than I need because I still want to eat the food I like even though I just ate something I didn’t like. Kinda nuts!

I’m usually the last one to finish my food.  My mom was a slow eater. I eat slow but she could drag her meal out to for-ev-er… She was very thin too. I never have my kids eat any food hey don’t want to or eat when they are not hungry.  Guess what?  They are at a very health weight, not too thin and definitely not over weight. Plus they make fairly good food choices most of the time.

So slow down when you eat. Chew each bite until it’s gone. Set down your fork or your food between bites. Turn off the TV and put away the newspaper and magazines. Focus on eating. Pick foods you like. Eat until you are full and eat only when you are hungry. And please, quit the clean plate club now.

Don’t Diet to Lose Weight

What? Don’t diet. What could she possibly mean? I hate diets.  I can’t stay on a diet for more than three minutes which means I never really start one.  Just the thought of depriving myself of something I need and want would send me eating up a storm.  I’d probably gain weight on a diet.

For me, the only way to lose weight is this. First I really have to want to shed some pounds.  I have to tell myself that I can and I will be losing weight gradually over the next few months. Then I increase my activity level by doing something that I enjoy.  I like to bike ride, walk and rock climb at the local climbing gym.  Where I live has flat terrain so it’s the only choice. 

Do some kind of fun activity for an hour a day, six days a week and you will lose weight.  You don’t need to go crazy with it, such as seeing how fast you can go. Just keep moving.  It will burn extra calories and as long as you don’t “reward” yourself every day with a banana split you should be fine.

This is how it works.  One pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories.  If you are active, beyond the norm for you, for an hour a day, you’ll be burning anywhere from 300 – 500 calories per hour.  Multiply times six and that is 1800 – 3000 calories per week.  Keep it up for a year and you’ve lost between 25 – 45 pounds.  No diet required.  Although if you’re only trying to lose ten pounds then you’ll have to start eating more food.