What's Your Secret?!

Now that it has been a year and I've shed 70 pounds, people are starting to ask, "What's your secret?" It's no secret, and I am happy to share.  I am NOT on a "diet". If you are ON a diet, you can be OFF a diet! I am trying to make a sustainable lifestyle change for my long-term health and fitness. (The TRUE test will be where I am in January 2013 ... '14 ... '15 ... )  It all boils down to the classic phrase "Eat less, move more" ... but that is so VAGUE! How do you figure Calories In/Calories Out? Here are some specific tips I have picked up from reading and learning about health and nutrition:

1) "Move your body." -- Walk, walk, walk. (Or run, cycle, swim, dance ... Find something you enjoy and move your body!)  The "best" exercise is the one that you DO. Joining a group can really help with motivation.

2) "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." (Michael Pollan)

2.1) "Eat Food." -- where the name of the food IS the food: Apple, Orange, Banana, Oatmeal, Garbonzo, Black Bean, Spinach, Romaine, Chicken, Milk, Egg, Almond. Shop the edges of the grocery store. Food doesn't come out of a box -- it comes out of the ground, off a tree, or has a mother. "If God/Nature made it, you can eat it."

2.2) "Not too much."

2.2.1) OK, just how much then? Calories are not the devil. Calories are a unit of measuring the energy in food to fuel your body.  Can you believe there is a simple formula for determining how much each day? It is "Goal weight times 10." That's it!  My goal weight is 140, so my daily calorie budget is 1400.

2.2.2) "Fuel your workouts" -- On the days you move your body, eat just a few hundred calories extra to fuel that workout. For walking & running, it's about 100 calories per mile.  So on the days I run/walk three miles, I'll eat an "extra" 300 calories, for a daily total of 1700.

2.2.3) "If you bite it, write it." -- Keep a food diary for tracking these numbers. A good FREE online diary is www.myfitnesspal.com. They have a FREE app for iphone and android -- with barcode scanning! My username is Leigh_D.

2.3) "Mostly plants." -- fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, grains ... "I don't know about you, but I don't have a Cheetos Tree in my yard!" (paraphrased from Jillian Michaels)

~*~ Recommended Reading ~*~

"The Body Fat Solution" by Tom Venuto

"Eat for Health" by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

"Running and Fat Burning for Women" by Jeff and Barbara Galloway with Nancy Clark, MS, RD

~*~ My personal progress log ~*~

2011 - # - Waist - Shirt - Pants - BMI (5' 6")

JAN 19 - 235 - 47 - 2X - 20W - 37.9 Obese

APR 19 - 210 - 43 - 1X - 18W - 33.9 Obese

JUL 19 - 195 - 40 - 1X - 18 - 31.5 Obese

OCT 19 - 180 - 38 - XL - 16 - 29 Overweight

2012

JAN 19 - 168 - 36 - XL/L - 14/12 - 27.1 Overweight

MAR 19 (40th B-day!) -

GOAL - 155 - "Healthy" BMI