Losing It

And the infamous "it" I speak of is weight. This picture was taken last weekend.

Now, as every other woman, I have struggled with my weight most all of my life. I've done this diet and that diet. I've exercised and eaten things that I can no longer eat (i.e. Tuna-Thanks Adkins).

So, this past January, I went to a conference in Orlando at Disney and since my parents live that way, they made a special day trip to come see me. Now, mind you, I hadn't seen them in quite awhile. So, I spy my father from a distance and, like a reunite in a movie scene, I smiled and ran to him. He hugged me and said... "You're getting fat." not "I've missed you." or "How are you, my love?" No. The first words to grace my ears after not having seen the father that raised me was "You're getting fat."

Nice, dad. ;)

So, I already had it in my head that I would join the YMCA when I got back home and so this comment was definitely the straw, icing, whatever you want to call it.

As soon as I got home I joined the YMCA and started my journey of yet again, another season of weight loss.

Here's where my story takes a turn.

Like I said, I've gone on every diet you can possibly imagine EXCEPT a caloric diet. I began reading about how to lose weight the healthy way and how these people who've lost 100s of pounds did it and yada yada. After a few days of searching, I found some rather interesting info and began my change of life. People who knew me awhile ago and haven't seen me in awhile have this shocked look on their face when they see me and ask what I'm doing. So far I've lost 30 lbs. and if things go my way, I can now tone up and be ok with my body (for once, right).

So, I tell them,

"I'm counting calories and keeping my food intake @ what is ideal for my body." That's not the kicker, though...

I also "shock" my body every week. This technique melts the pounds away. Here's what this is:

Find out what your daily caloric need is. Mine is 1300 (which is average). Know that the longer you go over, you gain weight. If you stay under too often, your body gets used to it and thinks it doesn't have to burn as much, dropping your metabolic rate and all. Your body will burn up stuff but that stuff becomes muscle instead of fat.

So, the happy medium...I work out 4xs a week, yes, and I do keep my daily intake of calories where it needs to be (300 calorie breakfast, 150 calorie snack, 400 calorie lunch, 150 calorie snack, 300 calorie dinner) BUT...1-2xs a week I indulge. Not because I can't control myself but because I have to:)

You see, your body memorizes what you're doing today. It thinks that what you do today will be the same for tomorrow so...you drop your caloric intake to what your body weight requires to keep your metabolic rate consistent, your body gets used to you doing this and you'll lose that initial 10 lb of water weight. Then you plateau.

But, I want to keep going...

Ok, take a day to eat what you enjoy eating (aka fatty crap) and here's how this works...You're body has been in autopilot thinking that you're going to eat what you ate the day before but you have now spiked the calories and your body says "Oh crap, I gotta get moving!" and kicks your metabolism into gear, working overtime to burn off that calories.

Your body thinks that tomorrow you'll eat the same way so it keeps humming into tomorrow meanwhile you've cut back down to your NEEDED caloric intake and *viola* your body is burning the fat from yesterday and you're dropping the 'ole L.B.s. This method is called "Calorie Shocking".

It'll take your body a couple of days to realize that you've dropped back down so stick with the low calorie stuff for the next week until the weight plateaus then "shock" it again.

The thing I love about this is that this is something I feel I can stick with. I love me some pizza or fried crap every so often so I don't feel like I'll never be able to eat it again thus causing the old "What's the point?" mentality I've had in the past. I've also found a love for eating healthy, knowing that I'm doing this for me.

Working out is a BIG part of this weight loss, don't get me wrong. (I'll blog about that later)

If you're trying to drop a few, try this method for a couple months and let me know how it works for you.

I can help out with specifics if you ask me or you can read up about "Calorie Shocking" on the web.