Building the Habit of Exercise & Why is it difficult to lose weight?

Eating, Food In. Why is it so difficult for anyone to lose weight?

Let’s look at my past eating habits as an example. I have kept a food journal on and off for the past 10 years. I’m not as fanatic about tracking my food as I am about weighing myself everyday. It shows in my waistline. I’m not what you would call obese person at all. I don’t even think I’m fat which just may be my positive thinking kicking in. At the same time, I’m not lean or ripped at all either. Why is that? Why has it been that I have tracked my weight for 10 years, and I am not lean or ripped.

Two reasons: Exercise and Eating.

1) In the past, I have not made exercise a priority. I did it when I had time. Now, if you are like me, who has time for exercise? Exercise has not really been fun for me. In the past, I have rationalized my exercise as something I have to do rather than something I want to do. I am working on changing that rational right now. So, my Food Out has not been steady. Even when I do add 30 minutes to 60 minutes of exercise a day. I’m really only adding 300 to 500 calories to my normal expenditure.

2) Eating. I love food. Seriously, I love to eat out. I love to taste food. I love the sensation, the feeling of being full is not a bad thing for me. The excitement and the social aspect of eating is super fun. When you are going to meet a friend you haven’t seen in a while, what do you do? do you go hiking? Do you say, let’s go for a bike ride? Or, maybe we should go build snowmen outside? No, you usually say lets meet for lunch or for drinks. Then you have a wonderful leisurely lunch full of fantastic conversation which makes the meal even more enjoyable. Mmm… food. Now, while tracking my food, I have realized that I can eat roughly 2200 to 2600 calories and pretty much maintain my weight. However, I often eat more like 3000 to 3600 calories. So. Obviously, I’m going to gain weight.

So, Why is it difficult for you or me to lose weight?

If you are like the typical person who eats more than they should, then not only do you have to cut your eating habits to get down to your maintaining metabolism burn. You have to cut your eating habits below it. So, for me. If I eat 3600 calories on norm (I don’t anymore, but still happens every now and again), I have to stop eating 1000 calories just to get to 2600 calories I mentioned that I would not gain weight. Now, I want to lose weight, I have to cut that even further. So, I basically have to go from 3600 calories to 1800 calories. Wow, I’m cutting my typical diet in half. That’s a thought process that I’m just not mentally prepared for. I often thought I could do some other way. I could overcome it by exercising, or I just didn’t really think about it at all.

This wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t enjoy food so much, but as I said I love food. Its not like I eat terrible. I generally eat whole grains. I eat mostly poultry. I do love my fast-food mexican, and I will eat unhealthy at regional fast food joints. Yet, I don’t know when the last time I went to McDonalod’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, or Wendy’s. I do know the last time I had a Coca Cola was in 1999. I drink maybe two cans of pop (sprite, 7up, or Root Beer) a year. I have cut most frutcose corn syrup from my diet. I eat whole grains, brown rice, mufa, and all the other super foods you can find. I could use more vegetables and fish in my diet, but I do make sure I eat a vegetable at every dinner and almost every lunch. So, how can I eat 3600 calories? My empty calories come from too many servings and not managing my cravings.

So, for me to lose weight, I have to cut my Eating Habits. I’ve been regretting that a ton. I know it has to happen, and I’ve tried to do it with some success. In fact, knowing that cutting my food intake will have a big impact in my waistline, I have tried many times to only cut down my quantity of eating. I do lose weight that way. However, I begin to notice that I also start to feel sluggish. I start to crave more sugar to jump start my brain. I start to want more, and when I do get a special dinner, I just gorge myself (I love thanksgiving dinners). I don’t last that long, and I eventually gain most of the weight back.

So, I have also tried just exercising to lose weight. That did work as long as I was conscious enough not to increase my eating habits. It was slow going. Yet, I found that as I increased my exercising, I became hungrier. We all will. We are burning more calories, so your body says to itself that its time to get more calories. Its easy to give into.

As you can see, my tracking my eating and exercise patterns helps me to identify my trends, to learn from my own habits, and allows me to experiment to find the best possible way to maintain my own healthy body.

What do we do? If we exercise, we eat more, if we cut our calories, we crave sugar. We have to do both of them together. However, changing long ingrained habits at the same time is a sure fire way to not change any habits at all.

Knowing that changing your food consumption would have the greatest impact on your weight loss, I used to always recommend to myself and to others to start with the changing your eating habits first. After much self-experimentation combined with researching the subject, I have decided that changing my eating habits first is not the best way to go. Building the exercise habit must come first. You must build the necessary pscychological muscles to generate the increase in energy you’ll need to overcome the sluggishness that will inevitably set in when you cut your eating. Now, I know some dieticians and fitness gurus will preach if you eat the right and correct food, you shouldn’t feel sluggishness, and I agree with them to a point. But, now you are talking about changing your daily life to include exercise, changing your daily life by eating less food, and changing your daily life by eating the right kind of food. Now, we need to make three habits happen all at the same time.

You are just setting yourself up for failure. In addition, that tumbling in the tummy is still there. The psychological cues you have built up to eat are still there. The temptations will still be there to eat. So, we’ll have to build some fortitude to overcome these challenges by demonstrating and committing to ourselves the building of the exercise habit. Exercise must be something you schedule your day around.

So, here’s what I recommend you do.

1. Print a two week or monthly calendar from calendar.google.com
2. Put Circles around the days you plan to exercise right now. I suggest you circle every day. A habit is much easier to build if it is consistent and if it is every day.
3. Now, you don’t want to overdue it. So, if you have not exercised in a while just commit to walking 5 minutes the first week everyday. then walk 10 minutes every day for the second week, then walk 20 minutes every day for the third week, then walk 30 minutes every day for the fourth week.
4. When you exercise, put an X through the circled day.
5. Build momentum!  Soon, you will not want to break the chain of days that you’ve built up.  It’s a snowball.  As you continue going, you’ll want to keep doing it.

Now, if you are like me, and walking or running is not that difficult to do. Don’t overdue it. Mix it up. Do Weight Training 4 of the days, and Walk/Run 3 of the days. or some mixture. Just be ACTIVE everyday. ACTION!

As I said before, I don’t want you to over do it. So, If that’s too much for you, then add in some rest days. Yet, I still want you to pretend like you are exercising. So, let’s say you are planning on weight training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You also plan on cardio training on Tuesday and Thursday. You want to rest on Saturday and Sunday. I have no problem with that plan. Here’s what you do on Saturday and Sunday. You set aside the time as if you were going to exercise. Then, I want you to do mental exercises, stretching, yoga, or meditation exercise. You just need to do something to keep that exercise habit from weakening. They don’t call the weekend for nothing.

We’ll talk about building the endurance for changing your eating habits in a future post.

So, Take note. February is almost here.  If your New Year’s Resolution was to stay fit. There is no time to stop and no time to rest. We must continue the year with ACTION.

What can we do to help you ACT on your weight loss goals?

Benefits To Going On a Restaurant Diet

So, I am 2/3 of the way done with my restaurant diet from Jan 3 – Jan 31.

What is a restaurant diet?

A restaurant diet is where you don’t spend your own money at restaurants or cafes.  No Starbucks, No ice creams, and no take-out.  You can use gift cards or have your friends or company take you out, but you can not spend your own money.  This is the second time my family is going through this self-discipline exercise.  What benefits do I see?  (By the way, if you are my friend, I’ll be very grateful if you want to take me out to lunch.  Doh! Did I just type that?

Benefit 1: Remembering that Restaurants are a treat

While growing up, dining out at restaurants was more a treat rather than a fall back for poor planning.  We didn’t go to fancy restaurants all the time, nor did I go out to fast food often. For special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, or promotions, we would dine at our favorite fancy restaurant.  The food was great, the company was fun, and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Some of why we enjoyed it was the fresh and new feeling of dining out. Here’s an example: If you ate ice cream every day, pretty soon ice cream doesn’t taste so good.  You then have to look for gourmet ice creams.  The spiral goes out of control.

By going on a restaurant diet, one benefit is turning dining out back into a treat.

Benefit 2: Homemade meals get more creative.

Another factor of a restaurant diet, is constraints.  37signals, a popular design and software company, talks about embracing constraints in their book, Getting Real.  Now, I’ve placed constraints on my diet which in turn forces me to think creatively and reminds me of the benefits of planning meals in advance.  You have to.  If you can not go out to eat at a restaurant, and you want to eat food, you, at the very least, have to plan going to the grocery store to pick up food.  Now, if you live like me where the grocery store is not the most convenient place to get to, you don’t want to go there every day.  So, you have to plan your grocery shopping.  Now, I am not a big fan of box or frozen meals.  I like fresh prepared food.  So, using our creativity, we can try to create the restaurant experience at home by trying new recipes we like, setting an elegant table, making appetizers or desserts, or adding mood music that coincides with the meal’s theme.

Benefit 3: Saving money

One benefit of not going out to eat at restaurants and cafes is I spend less money.  Sometimes I wonder do I really spend less money, but I am sure I do.  When I go to a restaurant, I am more apt to order pricier dishes, desserts, appetizers, wine and drinks.  At home, I don’t always have those items, and its cheaper at home.  Instead of a brownie sundae at a restaurant for $6.  I can bake homemade brownies at home, and eat them for a week.  According Bundle.com the average household spent $291 dining out during Oct 2009.  So, if I spend just the average, we’ll save $300 this month.

Benefit 4: Better Nutrition

When I make the food at home or buy the groceries, I have a much better idea of what exactly I am eating. For example, I know that I’m using quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil and using very little salt in my recipes.  I also very, very rarely make fried foods.  However, when I dine out, Chicken Fingers is one of my favorites.  In addition, I will often order french fries at a restaurant.  By putting myself on a restaurant diet, I’m reducing my calories in and eating better.

So, When are you going on a restaurant diet?

Take Action To Inact Food Labels at Restaurants

As I’m on a restaurant diet (not spending money at restaurants) from January 3 to January 31, I have not had a chance to ask.  Yet, one of the things I want to know is how many calories, fat, protein, and carbs I am putting into my body.  I have stopped asking restaurants.  They just don’t know or don’t want to tell me.  It drives me crazy.  How can they not know?

Sure, I have heard that restaurants and chefs want the creative license to change their menus based upon what food items are in season.  I’m all for that.  I think variety and creativity in a menu should be lauded.  Yet, with tools such as simpleweight and other online web based nutrition calculators, it is very easy for someone to enter a recipe and receive the nutrition value of a particular dish.

Why is it that we require canned and prepared food at grocery stores to have informative labels, but we do not require restaurants.

Let’s look at our food habits:  Take a look at these great photos from Time Magazine titled:  What the World Eats.  See any contrast between Americans diets and other countries?  Look at all the packaged and processed foods versus the green fresh vegetables and fruits of other diets.  It’s not just that, according to the National Restaurant Association magazine circa 2000, “An average of one out of five meals consumed by Americans — 4.2 meals per week — is prepared in a commercial setting, according to Meal Consumption Behavior — 2000,* a new National Restaurant Association report.”

I’m sure that number has gone up dramatically in the past ten years. (Its late, and I’m not in the mood to find more research on it.) We can tell just by the growth in the number of restaurants nearby.  Now, let me ask you, are restaurants and food manufacturers nonprofit companies?  Of course the answer is no.  They are out for a profit.  They want to maximize their income while minimizing their expenses.  The goal is not provide you with the most nutritious meal.  That’s just an after thought.  If they can, that’s great.  If not, oh well.

So, we’re not eating at home where the number of calories are more well-known.  We’re eating out at profit-centered restaurants.  Is it any wonder that Americans are becoming more unhealthy in their diet habits?  I’m all for more profits.  Restaurants are only going to make money if people show up, and people show up if they like the food.  Yet, there is a good way and a bad way to make the same thing.  They both can taste good yet have dramatically different nutritional values.

My feelings are that all restaurants no matter the size must publicly post on their menus the nutritional information.

Now, I know some of you may be thinking.  Wait a minute, Isn’t this just big government?  Won’t this just put restaurants out of business due to the added expense?  How can a chef be creative?

My thoughts are that a new restaurant economy will grow.  New nutritional consultants will grow to help chefs and restaurants shape their menus.  In fact, it is already happening.  New services and devices will be invented to help a restaurant dynamically adjust the calorie items on the menu.  It will happen if it was required.  Now, the question is does it help?

In other words,  if the calories are on the menu, will you eat less caloric dense food? Again the studies are mixed.  At a minimum, it does not hurt the consumer nor does it cause you to eat more food.

Here’s what NPR new article stated recently:

Whether disclosing calories on a menu will change consumer behavior remains the subject of contentious debate, but a new study supports the idea that it can: An analysis of 100 million transactions over 14 months at Starbucks by researchers at Stanford University showed that when calories were posted prominently, the average number of calories per transaction fell by 6 percent.

So, what can we do?  I suggest you write your Governor, your Senator, your local politicians, and your restaurant owners.  Implore them to add better nutritional labeling to their menus.
Here’s an example letter I found a while back at cspinet.org.

Subject: Please Support Menu Labeling

Dear [ Decision Maker ] (insert politician name here),

As your constituent, I urge you to establish regulations or support legislation to require all restaurants to list calories, saturated plus trans fat, carbohydrates, sodium, and protein on printed menus, and just calories on menu boards (where space is limited).

Although Americans eat out more than ever before, few restaurants provide nutrition information. As a result, we often are getting more calories, fat, and salt than we realize. This can be particularly problematic for people who watch what they eat to manage health conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.

Restaurant labeling regulations would give the citizens of our state an important new tool to help us eat well and maintain a healthy weight. It would provide information that would allow people to take responsibility for their own health and make more informed decisions for a significant and growing part of our diet. And limiting the requirement to chain restaurants would not burden independent restaurants.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Your Name.

You can help yourself eat better, by making better informed decisions. In order to do so, we need the information.  Please help in attaining the information.

Some links you might enjoy:

Become a fan of Menu Labeling at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Menu-Labeling/29002084021

http://www.cspinet.org/menulabeling/

http://takeaction.cspinet.org/CSPI/alert-description.html?alert_id=10171593

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2009/01/21/united_kingdom_to_post_calories_on_menus_too.php

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/11/21/calories_on_fast_food_menus_should_it_become_law.php

2010: Year of ACTION. Do not tell me your goal, and you will succeed.

Why so quiet at Simpleweight?  Where are the blog posts that I love?  Where is the updates to the system?

Some answers to follow.

First off, Its January 18.  How are you doing on your 2010 resolutions & goals?  Have you given up hope?  I hope not.

If we think about the root word of resolution.  One who is resolute will be characterized by firmness and determination. If I look in the the simpleweight archives, back in 2007, I described Dalai Lama’s 7 steps to positive lifestyle change: Learning, Conviction, Determination, Action, Effort, Habit, and Eliminate Negativity.

Behavior and lifestyle changes require self-motivation, self-discipline, and Determination!  We must persevere through the difficult times in order to enjoy the fun and easy times.

For myself, I’ve labeled 2010:  the year of Action. I am going to “DO” in 2010!  If you think about it, in order for anyone to achieve their fitness goals,  They must ACT.  You must do!  You must move! Weight-loss or weight-gain will not happen on their own.  You have to act on your goals rather than just talk about your goals. So, what have I done?

I put a plan in place for exercise. Everything else must fit in around it. Weight Lifting (alternating muscle groups) six days a week in the morning prior to the kids get up in the morning.  Cardio (walking, running, and elliptical) six days a week in the evening after the kids go to bed.  Swimming when I can get to the pool which will likely be once a week for now. For the past two weeks, I have implemented that plan, and I have exercised more days than I have not.  It feels good.

If you have been following Simpleweight at all, you know that Food In = Food out.  I have increased my Food Out part of the equation.  That’s what I wanted to focus on first.  One Step at a time.  For the Food In part of the equation, I have tracked my food most of the days.  Although, I have yet to make a major change in my eating habits.

Why have I told you what I did rather than what I am going to do?  Mid to late December, I ran across Derek Sivers blog post titled:  Shut up! Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them. This blog post contradicts what I hear from most self-help experts.  They say:  Tell everyone publicly what you are going to do.  It motivates you and makes you more committed.  Yet, when I read this article, a red brick hit me in the face. I recommend you go read it, but here’s a quick quote for those of you who don’t want to click through.

Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen.

Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed.

Wow.

Here’s the abstract of the recent study  “When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?”

ABSTRACT—Based on Lewinian goal theory in general and self-completion theory in particular, four experiments examined the implications of other people taking notice of one’s identity-related behavioral intentions (e.g., the intention to read law periodicals regularly to reach the identity goal of becoming a lawyer). Identity-related behavioral intentions that had been noticed by other people were translated into action less intensively than those that had been ignored (Studies 1–3). This effect was evident in the field (persistent striving over 1 week’s time; Study 1) and in the laboratory (jumping on opportunities to act; Studies 2 and 3), and it held among participants with strong but not weak commitment to the identity goal (Study 3). Study 4 showed, in addition, that when other people take notice of an individual’s identity-related behavioral intention, this gives the individual a premature sense of possessing the aspired-to identity.

Now, that is powerful stuff. It contradicts everything I have thought of when it comes to the power of intention.

Let’s break it down in plain english.  You tell your friend you are going on a diet, and plan on losing weight.  You now feel satisfied, because you’ve done step one.  You’ve made your goal public like many experts state.  However, just because you have taken a step and made it public, you start to feel like you are already attaining your goal.  So, since you feel like you are already losing weight, you actually don’t work as hard to attain your fitness goal.

So, what can we do?  Well, if you are going to make your goals public, don’t state them as if you achieved anything.  Like, I joined a gym or I weighed myself today.  Make it more where the person you are sharing said goal with will actually motivate you.  For example, if I share with my wife that I want to eat less, I can say:  at dinner, please ask me if I am really hungry before I get up for a second serving of dinner.  Use it more in an active motivating process rather than a congratulatory process.

Currently, I am self-experimenting with this theory this month and beyond.  Instead of telling people, what I am going to do.  I just do it, and then tell them what I did.  I ACT.

Now, you know why I have been silent here on the blog. I wanted to do something first and then talk about it afterwards.  2010 – Year of Action.

I know that our simpleweight tools and the menu bar across the top has been intermittently working. I have nothing to announce right now.  Let’s just say, keep telling us about it, and tell us what we can do to help you achieve your fitness goals?

Remember:  Food In = Food Out.  Take Action to change that equation, and you will achieve your goal.

Use Am I Hungry to Lose Weight

Am I the only one that talks to themselves while eating?

Normally, I am thinking,

“mmm, this is good.  I want more of this.  Oh, wow, mmm.  Can I have some more?  This is some of the best food I have had in a while (since lunch).  mmm.  I have to keep eating this.  Good Cook!”

You know what, I normally do keep eating it.  I eat and eat until one of two things:  either there is no more food or I am entirely stuffed and full.

Obviously, this self-talk is sabotaging my goal of weight loss and weight management especially in my current semi-sedentary lifestyle. So, if I am to be serious about weight loss, One of my early goals must be to change my dining self-talk.

The best way for me to do this mentally is to constantly remind myself to eat until not hungry.  I have to ask myself after every bite of food.  Am I still hungry? If I answer yes, I keep eating.  If I answer no.  I stop. It’s a simple question, and if we’re honest with ourselves,  You will stop eating.  For me, I just don’t ask.  I just don’t think about stopping, because I am too busy stuffing my face and enjoying the food and drink.

Why is this eating such an important topic?

A Recent study that stated  reducing the amount of food you eat is more important than your exercise, and

“The message of our work is really simple,” although not agreeable to hear, Melanson said. “It all comes down to energy balance,” or, as you might have guessed, calories in and calories out.
Source: Edward Melanson, Ph.D., an associate professor in the division of endocrinology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, quote from: New York Times

The energy balance is what we’ve been stating here on Simpleweight since our inception.  If you read the study in more detail, you’ll realize there is no “afterburn” of exercise. This is great news for those of us who find indoor fall/winter exercise boring. The challenge then is decreasing the quantity of food you eat.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  Exercise is still required in the equation, but its not the first item that needs to be tackled in your weight management and weight loss endeavors.

Now in my most recent post, I asked are you serious about weight loss?

I said “I know what I need to do.  I need to move, I need to eat less, and I need to measure my progress.  Will I do it?  stay tuned.”

In my post about the slow weigh, I talked about the way to weight loss.  The first item on the list is measure your progress. That’s what I did this week. I wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t need to be.  I just needed to measure my progress.  I did that.  I weighed myself everyday, and I tracked my food three of the past six days.  When we’re starting lifestyle change such as a diet and exercise regiment, it is more a mental battle than a physical battle.  We often times beat ourselves up if we miss.  The key, I have found, is to getting right back up and re-establishing the good habits you want as soon as possible.  So, failure is expected.  We won’t be perfect, but if we can get started and stay started, inertia will take over.

My goal for the next week is to continue to measure my progress, but I’m going to add one more to it.

Consciously try to change my dining self-talk from: Am I full/Is this good to Am I hungry?

I will fail.  I am not perfect.  The key is What do you do when you fail?  How do you handle it?  How soon do you pick yourself up and start again?

If there is anything we at simpleweight can do to help your weight management, please let us know.