FYI - I am learning how to blog…I am sure you will see that by my ugly inclusion of code at the beginning of the next post…
Have faith…I am learning…and each day I apply just a little bit more knowledge. It is the same way I lost over 100 pounds (and counting!) and it is the same way I prepared to go back to school, etc.
Obesity can be stopped and reversed TODAY, if you just take a few extra steps and eat a few less bites.
Enjoy your day!
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The concept behind the Power of Ones is very straight forward. Do little things repeatedly…and they add up to big things…in our case, pounds lost, hundreds of them. While I would love to take credit for such a brainstorm, the only thing I can accept acknowledgement is the catchy Power of Ones phrase. In fact, this concept of doing little things has been around since the dawn of human kind.
In the May/June addition of ACSM’s journal (American College of Sports Medicine) ,
Nutritionist and Exercise Physiologist, Dr. Stella Lucia Volpe, writes about ways to help individuals adhere to exercise programs and changes in diet. She stresses that big changes are hard to implement and even harder to maintain…and instead, finding evidence in the research, that smaller bouts of intense exercise are easier to accomplish and have possibly better health benefits. Additionally, making a small change in diet…cutting back instead of cutting out, can be maintained…an example she uses is eating ice cream out of a coffee cup instead of a bowl. Sure, maybe you go back a couple of times in the beginning, but research shows that over time, you will eat less.
What does this mean for us? For those of you that have been practicing the Power of Ones in your life, you are seeing the results. No, not the huge lottery winning results that we all love to read about…instead, the losing 100 pounds of weight results. One of my readers, OM (to protect his privacy) has lost over 50 pounds since April…a steady, and safe 1-2 pounds per week. And this while living dorm style with 6 other overeaters and non-movers! It can be done and he is proof. SR has gone down 3 sizes and in her words “hasn’t been this small in years.” These two people are examples of applying the basics, over and over. It is easier to do, and more successful in the end.
Another interesting article in the ACSM journal is on the social undermining phenomenon for eating and exercising. In short, it demonstrates that those closest to us are often the ones that give us the most resistance to changes in our eating and moving. Statements like, “you would rather work out than be with me” or “just one bite, I made it just for you” can put a lot of pressure on us to stray from our focus of eating and moving better. AND – to be clear, our loved ones are usually not trying to hurt us or derail us in any way…but the results can be the same…a missed movement session or 1,3,10 extra bites that effect our goals. Finally…in this same article, the authors stress that those individuals that have support systems in place…friends that they move with, or talk about eating strategies, or trainers or coaches to discuss their challenges with are 60% more successful!
So find friends/coaches/trainers to help you…and chose small changes to make big and PERMANENT differences in your life.
When we are moving along our weight loss journey…going from obese, possibly morbidly obese, to normal sized…we have a lot of decisions to make.
Some days…it is just about putting the right things in our mouths and moving in a way to get our metabolism going. ON other days, we have bigger decisions to make.
What size do I want to be?
What size CAN I be?
Who am I when I am not this fat woman?
We all are heavy for our own special reasons…and to change that…permanently, we all have to answer some of these questions - and we all have to make the decision: that we are NOT fat.
That might sound like psychobabble…but hear me out. We all have beliefs that we carry about ourselves and the world around us. For those of us that are obese, (or were) we carry a belief that we are big. Many of us, fail to see HOW big we are…often times for years at a time. Some of us carry a belief that we are fat - though again, we may fail to see how obese we have gotten over time. NONE of us carry a belief that we are a normal size…and that truly inhibits us as we move towards being a normal (average) size.
Don’t get me wrong…normal is not a standard of acceptance…in this case, it is a perspective.
What size clothes do you wear? Currently the average American woman is a size 14 with a 34-37 inch waist, and the average American man has a 35-38 inch waist.
At size 28, I was…well, not a size 14, and frankly, I had never been a size 14 in my entire adult life.
So what business did I have deciding that was normal sized? It was an essential part of my journey.
You see - if I continued to be a fat woman, losing weight…I would always be a fat woman. Sounds redundant…but think of the consequences. If I saw myself as ONLY a fat woman…no matter how much weight I lost, I would still be fat. Not until I saw myself (my belief system) to be a normal (averaged) sized woman…that I could actually become that woman.
THAT is the decision we have to make…each of us. Not to lose weight…that goes without mention. But to decide to be something completely different.
My friend, Mandy Evans, helps people to breakout of their limiting beliefs. I enthusiastically recommend you check out her site.
Essentially, think of something want that you feel only a miracle could bring to you…and then ask yourself why you can’t have it. THOSE are your limiting beliefs.
I couldn’t be normal sized, because I am a big girl. Why can’t I be normal sized? Because I am a big girl. There wasn’t even room in my thought process to be lean and strong…just to be a less-fat big girl. Now…at 5′8″ and 190 pounds, and currently wearing a size 12-14…I am averaged size…but still bigger than a hollywood starlet. But, I am AVERAGED sized…NO LONGER a big girl.
What if, you could be something different? What would you be? Think on it a bit…
Each day, millions of people think about losing weight - or more specifically, about being different. No one actually wants to lose weight…we just don’t want to be obese or overweight anymore. To many of us, the need to lose weight is tied together with the vicious cycle of feeling good about ourselves when we lose weight then feeling utter self-loathing when we can’t keep losing it - or worse, we gain the lost weight back.
Currently, there is no biochemical way (pill) that can make us lose weight - not without side affects and cost. Weight Loss surgery is averaging about $17,500 (with out complications) but cost and insurance remain hurdles for millions of obese individuals. But there IS a way to lose weight…and millions have succeeded at it, keeping the weight off for years. Some didn’t even know they were following any program or system - yet to read their stories, they clearly were. It didn’t cost them anything (unless they wanted it to), they didn’t have to buy an new foods (unless they wanted it to), and they didn’t have to give up all the “good” stuff in life. What were they doing?
The Power of Ones. A simple, common sense method of changing they way they ate and moved. The Power of ones, stated simply, is that any action, no matter how tiny, repeated daily, will add up to massive success. What does that mean? That each day, those once-obese women and men ate just a little less and moved just a little more. No crash dieting or marathon workouts at the gym; no special diets or pills to be taken; to read and hear of their success, each of these individuals figured out a way to lose massive amount of weight one bite, one step and one pound at a time.
For those of us that were obese, this meant hundreds of pounds were lost in tiny, steady, safe increments. Making the final journey of weight loss slowly, reducing the higher calorie foods but not denying themselves every enjoyment, gave these people the ability to make the weight loss permanent. The Power of Ones - a single difference in your eating and moving, repeated daily, over and over and over means a lifetime of obesity can be conquered, once and for all.
Remember - One bite, one step, one day at a time.
To many, those words can start a fight. There are literally HUNDREDS of people on the internet insisting they have the best way to lose weight, or the fastest way to a thin belly, or the quickest fat loss program out there. Many sites, or books offline, will state that if you eat this food, or perform that exercise, you will suddenly lose weight like never before.
For those of us who are obese, or have been obese, just overweight for many years of our lives…we have been the primary target of all that advertising. We have, as a demographic, spent billions of dollars following the claims and promises of one ad or another…desperately looking for that BEST, FASTEST or QUICKEST way to lose weight.
Unfortunately, there have been few significant changes in the science of weight loss. The bottom line remains: losing weight equals burning more calories than you take in. In other words, eat less, move more. What many of us have bought into is that someone has new information to make it EASIER to lose weight. What if someone actually did…and what if it was FREE? Furthermore, what if we had all heard of it, in most of the success stories we ever heard or read about, but we just didn’t realize it?
Think about it - What would make losing weight easy? If we could eat what we wanted - yes? Actually, if we could eat WHATEVER we wanted - yes?
What if we could eat whatever we wanted - and we just learned to moderate the massive quantities we had eaten…you know 2-3 slices of pizza instead of a whole pie, or 3 scoops of ice cream instead of the whole half-gallon?
In fact, if you could still eat cookies or cake or chocolate or sweets, AND still lose weight - and not have to take pills or powders or go to a gym - wouldn’t that be the EASIEST way to lose weight in the world?
Now - I am NOT saying that you can eat the same way, and move the same way and have a different body; many would call THAT insanity. What I am saying is that you can still eat your favorite foods, if you are willing to cut out a bite of them, here and there, and if you are willing to walk a bit more, here and there.
Really - if you just cut out ONE bite of a candy bar, every day (About 50 calories) and walked about 500-750 feet more every day (if your weight is over 200 pounds), you would lose about 10 pounds in a year. JUST ONE BITE LESS? Just 2 laps around the grocery store more? Yes - really.
You see, people who have lost weight, and kept it off did one thing consistently…they made small changes daily. Just little things, like one less bite of candy bar and a little bit more walking, make a difference. That is what makes the Power of ones the EASIEST way to lose weight, EVER.
Free - easy - start losing your weight today.
www.obesityfreeforlife.com
Big words there…lose weight now.
How many times have we struggled with that simple little concept.
After all, losing weight, as a concept is just that, simple. To lose excess weight, we must eat LESS than we burn…or burn more calories than we eat.
Either way - simple. But we all know it isn’t easy. In fact, it ranks up there with divorce and death as one of the most difficult things we have to go through…and the research is clear on this. Obese individuals are getting MORE obese because of the cycle of crash dieting and gaining the weight back. Let me be more clear with that statement, we are getting fatter because we continue to eat more than we take in; however the cycle of diet and gain is creating additional obesity, according the the research.
It is speculated that because of the crash dieting and recurrent weight gain, we are more inclined to overeat, therefore gaining more weight than we first lost.
But here is the thing - SOME people are losing weight, and some people are doing it permanently. Unfortunately, Weight Loss Surgery, which can be a boon to many, doesn’t guarantee lifelong weight loss. Instead, if the individuals do not change the way they eat and move, they will gain weight, even all of their weight back. Furthermore, Weight loss Surgery, whether it is a Roux-en-Y or LapBand surgery is not covered by most insurances. Statistics show that there are still only about 200,000 surgeries performed a year, but MILLIONS of us are obese.
So what does work, EVERY TIME? That almost seems to be a trick question - but it isn’t meant to be.
Eating less and moving more works EVERY time - and there are ways to do just that, in such a small and painless way that it can be EASY - yes, actually EASY to lose weight. Additionally, making small changes and repeating them daily insures your weight won’t crash off of you, only to be regained when your eating goes back to normal.
Using a simple method called the power of ones…simple changes repeated daily, you can lose 100 or more pounds. I did, without dieting, surgery, pills, powders or special foods. I did and I still eat my favorite foods, and did all along; ice cream, pizza, pasta, beer, chocolate. No empty promises. I guarantee it.
If you want to start losing weight now - you can. I promise.
I have a free book you can download. Free and it tells EXACTLY how I lost 100 pounds of fat.
With the weight loss industry bringing in BILLIONS of dollars a year - it is obvious that people are profiting from our desire to lose weight. It is understandable for someone to charge for counseling or coaching…for that requires active participants to invest time and energy into the process. It remains startling, and frankly, disconcerting, that people continue to charge people for the INFORMATION regarding losing weight.
Anyone and everyone who has been obese, especially morbidly obese (more than 100 pounds overweight) knows the struggle, the pain and the effort that goes into trying to lose weight. Actually - men and women who have been overweight or obese know the challenge of even THINKING about losing weight. Often times, it takes every bit of energy we have to stay focused on the new diet of the day…and the bitterness of PAYING money to buy special food and a new book on the RIGHT way to lose weight seems…exploitative at best.
The science is pretty darn clear - we must decrease our calories and increase our movement if we are going to lose weight. That result is seen in every research study done…the challenge for researchers and weight loss professionals, including doctors, counselors, nutritionists, trainers, etc. is helping clients to stay focused on the simplicity of that concept.
Most of us, who have struggled, possibly a lifetime with obesity, know that food creates a buffer or a distraction for us…it helps us out of our current pain. Yes, we are clear on the pain it creates long term…but now, in this moment, we hurt so we eat. Sometimes that moment lasts one candy bar or one ice cream cone…sometimes it is 1,2,3 pizzas, or 5 different stops at a burger joint; sometimes it even lasts for days or weeks, leaving us in massive despair.
If you really want to lose weight…if you want to change your life and really get obesity help, EVEN if you are considering weight loss surgery, you will need to accept that to lose weight you need to eat and move differently that you currently are. The GOOD news is that the information is free…it can be, if you just look for it. You are looking for sites that give you free strategies or help on HOW to eat less and move more. If you want to pay for support, whether a personal coach or daily emails that will help you to stay focused, that is your call. But the INFORMATION on how to lose weight - how to eat less, move more, slowly and safely, is out there. And it should be FREE to all who want it or need it.
I think a lot of people have the feeling that “life will be better when…”
When I lose weight, when I get married, when I get this job, or that promotion, when I get better, when I blank, blank, blank; THEN I will be happy.
Losing weight doesn’t solve every problem I have ever had. I still have many of the same ones…but I don’t have 100 + pounds that I have carry around and deal with at the same time. Believe me, that helps.
Try to stay focused on just eating less, moving more and taking on your other challenges one bit a time. You can do it.
We are NOT predetermined to be fat, or obese. I know this for a fact.
Even those of us that have fatter parents or siblings, those of use who consider ourselves big boned, none of us are DESTINED to be fat…at least not by nature.
Instead, the saddest, most bitter pill of all, is that we MAKE ourselves fat. We create the medical condition of Morbid Obesity by eating. Eating - that most basic human need - we manage to overdo it to such an extent that we have 100, 200, sometimes 400 extra pounds or more on our bodies.
Whether we do it to ourselves after a pregnancy (our own or our wife’s), or over years…the truth is we consume more calories in a day, in a week, over any time period you want to measure - and we gain weight for it. From a physiological standpoint, only the most elite endurance athletes, Lance Armstrong, for example, could reasonably burn the amount calories we routinely put in our bodies and NOT gain weight.
So, What is our solution?
Well, in my opinion, it isn’t paying hundreds of dollars a month for a special food plan. How is that going to translate to “real life”, i.e. going to lunch with your co-workers or celebrating a birthday or holiday with your family?
It also isn’t finding the right diet or the right supplement to help you burn fat…nature has given you all the tools you need for that, and the information on how is free for anyone who can download a file off the internet.
The BEST way to lose weight, safely and permanently is to take it off, just like we put it on, one bite at a time. Many people find this approach frightening and overwhelming…after all we are accustomed to crash dieting and losing weight with WILLPOWER, then hating ourselves when we can’t maintain the discipline of reduced calories or giving up our favorite foods. OF COURSE WE CAN’T!What if we could take it off, slowly, steadily and certainly? How would that change our life if we were 100 or 200 pounds lighter, without having to risk surgery or buy pills or fight a daily battle?
The most common statement or theme my clients say to me is this - this is easy and I could do this for the rest of my life. This actually works for me. Thank you.
We are not destined to be fat, we just made a LOT of poor choices over the years…but the good thing is we can change that. WE can make our lives different, if we want to.
As a morbidly obese woman, I spent over 30 years trying to “hide” my obesity from my friends, family, and of course, myself. After all, I was athletic, I was strong, I was a P.E. teacher for goodness sakes - how could I be obese?!
The truth is, I was obese for the same reason nearly 100 million Americans are - I simply ate more than I burned off on a daily basis. While it sounds so simplistic, that is the bottom line…more calories consumed (sometimes by 1000 per day) than I burned off in my sedentary life.
Many of us try to insist that we are big boned (I did), or have a slow metabolism (I did), or have some thyroid problem (I did and had it tested). But the painful understanding was that I made myself obese. I ate myself into morbid obesity. And that is where the shame came from - for me. I was the one who didn’t, or wouldn’t, (or COULDN’T) say no to the second and third helping of pasta, or pizza, or burgers and fries.
I realize that many people try to accept themselves as they are - and I am in 100% agreement! No one should let anyone else’s words or actions make us feel shame!!! Only I have the power to do that.
Unfortunately, I didn’t want to be fat, or obese, or big-boned. I wanted to be able to buy clothes off the shelf and feel stylish. I didn’t want to be hollywood skinny! Just a size 14-16! That is where I felt shame - because no one had ever held a gun to my head and told me to eat. No one had ever stopped me from taking a walk.
As obesity becomes more of an issue in our society, the media continues to push the dangers of being morbidly obese. I can honestly say, health was a concern, but only a small one - I wanted to fit into those 34 jeans! I wanted to know that I was a normal size. That was my motivation.
If you are obese or just overweight and like your body - EXCELLENT! Don’t let anyone, not a family member, a friend, a lover, a child, a stranger - NO ONE, take that from you. But if you are unhappy with your size; if you want to stop being obese, or maybe just stop getting larger, start looking today for safe, permanent solutions. There are many available, for free, by means of the internet. You can find friends, groups, coaches - whatever you need to get your body where YOU want it.
A new trend is online support - and I think it is pretty cool. Just by email support, I can check in with someone and be accountable…a great way for me to lose weight!
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