Have a great day - eat something healthy.

Friday, September 10, 2010

About Losing Weight - Day 4

For those of you who are interested in shedding some pounds while participating in this cleanse, there are some things to consider.

1.) The first week of cleansing is a time of withdrawal, both physical and emotional. And during that time it's easy to eat a little more than usual – that’s where things can get a little tricky. It's easy to substitute quantity for what you used to consider quality – you might eat more because you feel like you're depriving yourself of your old favorites.

2.) Turning to non-meat sources of protein isn't as cut and dried as eating chicken or fish. Black beans are a tremendous source of protein but they're high in carbs. Same with quinoa. And it's those damned carbs that keep us fleshier than we'd prefer to be. The simplest trick to getting lean is to cut back on the carbs. Fitness buffs eat lots of chicken, fish and vegetables to strip off the fat. We can do the same thing - we just need to make sure we're getting at least some of our protein from tofu or tempeh and protein powder - they're packed with protein and low in carbs.

3.) The foods that become comfort foods while cleansing (rice, quinoa, gluten-free breads, pastas and crackers) are loaded with carbs. So be cognizant of how much of these types of foods you're eating each day.

4.) Calorie intake is the Holy Grail of weight loss. This is where a website called Livestrong can really help. Check out the My Plate feature, where you can enter each item of food you eat in a day and calculate the number of calories you’ve consumed. You can also enter any exercise you’ve done and it will add that into the mix. And you can enter your current weight and your weight loss goals (i.e., lose 1 pound per week) and it will calculate the number of calories it takes to do that. If you're honest and enter your intake every day it can really help you shed some of that insulation.

5.) Adding exercise to your mix will accelerate the process, so get up and move! Whatever you can do will not only help you burn calories, it will serve the essence of that body of yours! It was designed for activity – give it what it craves!

Veggies are the best for keeping you full while keeping the calorie count low. Fruits are great too, but keep an eye on the sugars they contain. If you've got to nibble on something, look to veggies first.

Water is great for curbing hunger. We often mistake thirst for hunger so any time you feel like to you want nibble on something, swig down 8 ounces of water first. Then see if you're really hungry.

And if you haven't already tried it, psyllium is a great jump-start for your digestive system. It can help clean out the pipes, which will help improve your digestion.

I hope this helps those of you who would like to shrink a bit during the course of this cleanse. Here's to getting healthy – and great results!

4 comments:

  1. Can I just say YAHOOOOOO! I made it through day three squeaky clean. Sure, I had trouble remembering words and finishing sentences, but I didn't have caffeine, or any of the other stuff on our cleanse. I ate healthy.

    Last night I slept about 9 hours. Hee hee! Even though I'm still a little nauseated and headachy from the withdrawals, I have high hopes that the side-effects are dissipating.

    Thanks to you all for your support.

    Here's to a great day four!

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  2. I lied yesterday. I said I gave up caffeine but I meant COFFEE. I've been drinking regular green matte tea everday even while cleansing. Time to come clean. So I gave it up this time and guess what! I like the decaf green tea even better and NO withdrawals. I think coffee has a mystique about it, that it's not just the caffeine we are missing. Let's make this fun, everyone!

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  3. Good for you for coming clean! I still miss my coffee, but am starting to feel mostly human again...it seems worth it to see what's on the other side of all this withdrawal! Thanks for writing!

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  4. Way to go, Maggie! A little victory before the end of Week 1 - that's great! And, Jeannie, thanks for setting your record straight - a lot of people assume all green teas are decaffeinated so you've gotta read the labels carefully. Thanks to you both for the update!

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