Most of what I've been doing follows the philosophy in the book "Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell" which I bought when I was a teenager (I highly recommend it; it's fantastic and so straight forward and honest). It has the radical ideas of exercising moderately and stepping up gradually, eating when you're hungry, learning when to stop, eating smaller, more numerous meals during the day, and moving to a low-fat diet (which for me was cutting down on fast food and cutting out the very little processed food I was eating.)
I started doing aerobic exercise (stair stepping in my basement) for ten minutes a day, going a little longer if my body felt up to it, but just keeping it at ten for a week or so, then up to 15 minutes, and so on. Once you get up to the 30 minutes of aerobic exercise you're in fat-burning range.
I started by not changing what I ate, but the amount; starting by taking half of what I used to eat. It takes a week or more, but gradually your stomach gets used to it, and I really focused on eating only when I really was hungry and learning my triggers for eating--which for me is being stressed (the "I've had a rough day so I deserve two Whoppers and a large fry") and being bored. I helped it along by not keeping any snacks at my desk at home or at work, and finding something to do any time I got the urge to eat when I knew my body didn't need it. For me the biggest change was getting to where my life didn't revolve around food.
I'm now working on integrating healthier food--more fruits and vegetables, backing off on the snacks/carbs and such, but still keeping it balanced; I'm allowed to have a treat now and then. You don't have to suddenly cut your diet down to nothing but celery and rice cakes; and for women, doing that only makes our fat cells more stubborn, so it's self-defeating.
It's all about starting small and taking it one day at a time, and not getting discouraged if you get hormonal or just have a bad day and eat half the house. I found that keeping a calendar of days I exercised helps, watching all the Xs pile up and going "Wow, I actually worked out every day for a week!"
It's all about balance and taking baby steps to start. I highly recommend the book because that's what I've based my approach on, and I can already see the changes happening. :)
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Date: 2010-04-11 02:59 pm (UTC)I started doing aerobic exercise (stair stepping in my basement) for ten minutes a day, going a little longer if my body felt up to it, but just keeping it at ten for a week or so, then up to 15 minutes, and so on. Once you get up to the 30 minutes of aerobic exercise you're in fat-burning range.
I started by not changing what I ate, but the amount; starting by taking half of what I used to eat. It takes a week or more, but gradually your stomach gets used to it, and I really focused on eating only when I really was hungry and learning my triggers for eating--which for me is being stressed (the "I've had a rough day so I deserve two Whoppers and a large fry") and being bored. I helped it along by not keeping any snacks at my desk at home or at work, and finding something to do any time I got the urge to eat when I knew my body didn't need it. For me the biggest change was getting to where my life didn't revolve around food.
I'm now working on integrating healthier food--more fruits and vegetables, backing off on the snacks/carbs and such, but still keeping it balanced; I'm allowed to have a treat now and then. You don't have to suddenly cut your diet down to nothing but celery and rice cakes; and for women, doing that only makes our fat cells more stubborn, so it's self-defeating.
It's all about starting small and taking it one day at a time, and not getting discouraged if you get hormonal or just have a bad day and eat half the house. I found that keeping a calendar of days I exercised helps, watching all the Xs pile up and going "Wow, I actually worked out every day for a week!"
It's all about balance and taking baby steps to start. I highly recommend the book because that's what I've based my approach on, and I can already see the changes happening. :)