losing weight for CATS — Page 2

One of the most important things to remember, too, is that the more you dance and exercise, the more muscle you will gain. Muscle weighs more than fat, so don't always gage it based on the actual weight. Start to notice how your clothes are fitting and look closely at how you look. I've been exercising regularly for 4 years and doing a modified Adkins for 3. I'm not a fanatic about sticking 100% to Adkins, but I've been pretty good with it. The main thing I continue to remind myself if I'm going to have something "bad" is the amount I've accomplished and I ask myself if it's going to be "worth it" to have the food that's off my diet. I don't believe that depriving yourself is the answer, but really you have to learn what the balance is for you. I'm in my mid-40's which is an IMPOSSIBLE time in life to stay trim. You're body just starts processing food differently. When I was 30, I was 6'2" and 156 pounds (yes, very thin). I could eat everything and anything I wanted and didn't ever gain an ounce. However, by the time I was 40, I was 200 pounds. Now for my height, that's not bad -- it's just that I didn't like where a lot of the weight was falling (i.e., my gut). And I got to that weight WHILE working out 3-5 times per week. THAT'S why I felt I had to diet. Even now, it's not a strict Adkins, I just used that to jumpstart the process. I have a low carb breakfast and lunch, very little snacking during the day, and my major carbs come at dinner time (e.g., pasta, potatoes, rice). I've been able to keep my weight in the 170's for most of the last 3 years without having to deprive myself. I DO have desserts some and occasionally will have extra servings of the carbs. But I keep a close eye on how it's affecting my weight by weighing myself every day. If I see a couple of pounds going on, I pull the extras and get things back into check. It's easier to get rid of 3-5 pounds than it is to lost 10-15 pounds (or more). I know a lot of people don't believe in Adkins because of all the bacon and beef that you can have. I also don't believe in having that much fat. Most of my protein is in the form of grilled chicken or fish as well as having cheese. I do have a boiled egg as a part of my breakfast. I guess if you natually have an issue with cholesterol, then you should be really careful on Adkins. It just seems to me that (if your body reacts as MANY peoples do), all you will have to do is follow the Adkins induction phase (2 weeks) and you will easily get to the weight you want.

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If you go to www.soyouwanna.com, they have a really good explanation of how to lose weight safely. Besides eating lots of fruit and veggies, lean meats/fish, and cutting out processed starches (ie stick to whole grains), they provide the mathematical formula to figure out how many calories you burn in a day.

The best way to lose weight is to simply burn more calories than you take in. I burn approx. 1300 calories a day, so to lose weight I eat 1150 and exercise to burn 250. So I'm left with a 500 calorie difference each day, which translates to about 1lb lost/week. It's not recommended that you try to have more than a 500 lb difference.

Other tips:
1. weight training = more calories burned
2. green tea is a great metabolism booster, and some say an appetite supressant
3. make sure that your bread products are WHOLE grain. Sometimes food will be labled as "wheat" or "multigrain" but this means that the part of the grain that has all the health benefits has been removed. You might as well eat white bread.
4. Cut out coffee and soda, even diet. I'm already pretty thin, and I lost a lot of puffiness when I stopped drinking soda.

Hope this helps!

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