Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Thought for the day...
No matter how much it hurts, no matter what the pain is inside, FOOD IS NOT THE ANSWER!!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Drinking Water
Just goes to why we should do all things in moderation. Without balance, look out!
Why Drinking Too Much Water Is Dangerous By:
Dr. Ben Kim on March 31, 2009 Health Warnings
Updated on March 31, 2009
On January 12, 2007, a 28-year old Californian wife and mother of three children died from drinking too much water. Her body was found in her home shortly after she took part in a water-drinking contest that was sponsored by a local radio show. Entitled "Hold Your Wee For A Wii," the contest promoters promised a free Wii video game machine to the contestant who drank the most water without urinating.
It is estimated that the woman who died drank approximately 2 gallons of water during the contest. When she and other contestants complained of discomfort and showed visible signs of distress, they were laughed at by the promoters and even heckled.
This tragic news story highlights the importance of understanding why drinking too much water can be dangerous to your health.
Whenever you disregard your sense of thirst and strive to ingest several glasses of water a day just because you have been told that doing so is good for your health, you actually put unnecessary strain on your body in two major ways:
1.Ingesting more water than you need can increase your total blood volume. And since your blood volume exists within a closed system - your blood circulatory system - needlessly increasing your blood volume on a regular basis puts unnecessary burden on your heart and blood vessels.
2.Your kidneys must work overtime to filter excess water out of your blood circulatory system. Your kidneys are not the equivalent of a pair of plumbing pipes whereby the more water you flush through your kidneys, the cleaner they become; rather, the filtration system that exists in your kidneys is composed in part by a series of specialized capillary beds called glomeruli. Your glomeruli can get damaged by unnecessary wear and tear over time, and drowning your system with large amounts of water is one of many potential causes of said damage.
Putting unnecessary burden on your cardiovascular system and your kidneys by ingesting unnecessary water is a subtle process. For the average person, it is virtually impossible to know that this burden exists, as there are usually no obvious symptoms on a moment-to-moment basis. But make no mistake about it: this burden is real and can hurt your health over the long term.
Forcing your body to accept a large amount of water within a short period of time - say, an hour or two - as several contestants did during the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest can be fatally dangerous to your health. Here's why:
If you force large amounts of water into your system over a short period of time, your kidneys will struggle to eliminate enough water from your system to keep the overall amount at a safe level.
As your blood circulatory system becomes diluted with excess water, the concentration of electrolytes in your blood will drop relative to the concentration of electrolytes in your cells. In an effort to maintain an equal balance of electrolytes between your blood and your cells, water will seep into your cells from your blood, causing your cells to swell.
If this swelling occurs in your brain, the bones that make up your skull hardly budge. The result is an increase in intracranial pressure i.e. your brain gets squeezed. Depending on how much water your drink in a short period of time, you could experience a wide variety of symptoms, ranging from a mild headache to impaired breathing. And as occurred recently in the tragic water-drinking contest, it is quite possible to die if you drink enough water in a short enough period of time.
This information is particularly important for parents to pass on to their children. Foolish water-drinking contests are not uncommon among high school and university students, especially while playing cards.
So how much water should you drink to best support your health?
The answer to this question depends on your unique circumstances, including your diet, exercise habits, and environment.
If you eat plenty of foods that are naturally rich in water, such as vegetables, fruits, and cooked legumes and whole grains, you may not need to drink very much water at all. If you do not use much or any salt and other seasonings, your need for drinking water goes down even further.
Conversely, if you do not eat a lot of plant foods and/or you add substantial salt and spices to your meals, you may need to drink several glasses of water every day.
Regardless of what your diet looks like, if you sweat on a regular basis because of exercise or a warm climate, you will need to supply your body with more water (through food and/or liquids) than someone who does not sweat regularly.
Ultimately, the best guidance I can provide on this issue is to follow your sense of thirst. Some people believe that thirst is not a reliable indicator of how much water you need, since many people suffer with symptoms related to dehydration and don't seem to feel a need to drink water on a regular basis. My experience has been that most people who are chronically dehydrated have learned to ignore a parched mouth. If you ask such people if they are thirsty and would like a piece of fruit or a glass of water, they will almost always realize that they are indeed thirsty.
Some people suggest observing the color of your urine as a way of looking out for dehydration. The idea is that clear urine indicates that you are well hydrated, while yellow urine indicates that you need more water in your system. While this advice is somewhat useful, it is important to remember that some chemicals (like synthetic vitamins) and heavily pigmented foods (like red beets) can add substantial color to your urine. Thumbs down for synthetic vitamins, and thumbs up for red beets and other richly colored vegetables and fruits.
The main idea that I wish to share through this article is to beware of mindlessly drinking several glasses of water per day without considering your diet, exercise habits, climate, and sense of thirst. And when you do find yourself in need of water, remember that you can get it from liquids and/or whole foods.
Why Drinking Too Much Water Is Dangerous By:
Dr. Ben Kim on March 31, 2009 Health Warnings
Updated on March 31, 2009
On January 12, 2007, a 28-year old Californian wife and mother of three children died from drinking too much water. Her body was found in her home shortly after she took part in a water-drinking contest that was sponsored by a local radio show. Entitled "Hold Your Wee For A Wii," the contest promoters promised a free Wii video game machine to the contestant who drank the most water without urinating.
It is estimated that the woman who died drank approximately 2 gallons of water during the contest. When she and other contestants complained of discomfort and showed visible signs of distress, they were laughed at by the promoters and even heckled.
This tragic news story highlights the importance of understanding why drinking too much water can be dangerous to your health.
Whenever you disregard your sense of thirst and strive to ingest several glasses of water a day just because you have been told that doing so is good for your health, you actually put unnecessary strain on your body in two major ways:
1.Ingesting more water than you need can increase your total blood volume. And since your blood volume exists within a closed system - your blood circulatory system - needlessly increasing your blood volume on a regular basis puts unnecessary burden on your heart and blood vessels.
2.Your kidneys must work overtime to filter excess water out of your blood circulatory system. Your kidneys are not the equivalent of a pair of plumbing pipes whereby the more water you flush through your kidneys, the cleaner they become; rather, the filtration system that exists in your kidneys is composed in part by a series of specialized capillary beds called glomeruli. Your glomeruli can get damaged by unnecessary wear and tear over time, and drowning your system with large amounts of water is one of many potential causes of said damage.
Putting unnecessary burden on your cardiovascular system and your kidneys by ingesting unnecessary water is a subtle process. For the average person, it is virtually impossible to know that this burden exists, as there are usually no obvious symptoms on a moment-to-moment basis. But make no mistake about it: this burden is real and can hurt your health over the long term.
Forcing your body to accept a large amount of water within a short period of time - say, an hour or two - as several contestants did during the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest can be fatally dangerous to your health. Here's why:
If you force large amounts of water into your system over a short period of time, your kidneys will struggle to eliminate enough water from your system to keep the overall amount at a safe level.
As your blood circulatory system becomes diluted with excess water, the concentration of electrolytes in your blood will drop relative to the concentration of electrolytes in your cells. In an effort to maintain an equal balance of electrolytes between your blood and your cells, water will seep into your cells from your blood, causing your cells to swell.
If this swelling occurs in your brain, the bones that make up your skull hardly budge. The result is an increase in intracranial pressure i.e. your brain gets squeezed. Depending on how much water your drink in a short period of time, you could experience a wide variety of symptoms, ranging from a mild headache to impaired breathing. And as occurred recently in the tragic water-drinking contest, it is quite possible to die if you drink enough water in a short enough period of time.
This information is particularly important for parents to pass on to their children. Foolish water-drinking contests are not uncommon among high school and university students, especially while playing cards.
So how much water should you drink to best support your health?
The answer to this question depends on your unique circumstances, including your diet, exercise habits, and environment.
If you eat plenty of foods that are naturally rich in water, such as vegetables, fruits, and cooked legumes and whole grains, you may not need to drink very much water at all. If you do not use much or any salt and other seasonings, your need for drinking water goes down even further.
Conversely, if you do not eat a lot of plant foods and/or you add substantial salt and spices to your meals, you may need to drink several glasses of water every day.
Regardless of what your diet looks like, if you sweat on a regular basis because of exercise or a warm climate, you will need to supply your body with more water (through food and/or liquids) than someone who does not sweat regularly.
Ultimately, the best guidance I can provide on this issue is to follow your sense of thirst. Some people believe that thirst is not a reliable indicator of how much water you need, since many people suffer with symptoms related to dehydration and don't seem to feel a need to drink water on a regular basis. My experience has been that most people who are chronically dehydrated have learned to ignore a parched mouth. If you ask such people if they are thirsty and would like a piece of fruit or a glass of water, they will almost always realize that they are indeed thirsty.
Some people suggest observing the color of your urine as a way of looking out for dehydration. The idea is that clear urine indicates that you are well hydrated, while yellow urine indicates that you need more water in your system. While this advice is somewhat useful, it is important to remember that some chemicals (like synthetic vitamins) and heavily pigmented foods (like red beets) can add substantial color to your urine. Thumbs down for synthetic vitamins, and thumbs up for red beets and other richly colored vegetables and fruits.
The main idea that I wish to share through this article is to beware of mindlessly drinking several glasses of water per day without considering your diet, exercise habits, climate, and sense of thirst. And when you do find yourself in need of water, remember that you can get it from liquids and/or whole foods.
Tracking Tools
I recently found a great site sparkpeople.com. I have decided to use this site to track the food I eat. Honesty is the best policy, afterall, the only person I am cheating is myself. Another good reason to track my meals is it keeps it real for me. If I have a successful week, I can easily go back and track what I did to make the weight go down. If I gain, then I also have a way of tracking and eliminating the food culprits.
Losing weight takes a lot of hard work. For me, this weight loss journey is a full time job. It requires rigorous honesty, planning, preparing, and dedication. Each day I need to keep motivating myself to eat properly. It does not come natural to me. But I am not a quitter and I want to become healthy and be able to walk without pain again.
There is no softer. gentler, easier way to do lose the weight. If there was I would have found it by now. But I trust that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. That one day at a time, I can and will succeed. The only way I won't succeed is if I give up. That is something that I refuse to do.
Losing weight takes a lot of hard work. For me, this weight loss journey is a full time job. It requires rigorous honesty, planning, preparing, and dedication. Each day I need to keep motivating myself to eat properly. It does not come natural to me. But I am not a quitter and I want to become healthy and be able to walk without pain again.
There is no softer. gentler, easier way to do lose the weight. If there was I would have found it by now. But I trust that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. That one day at a time, I can and will succeed. The only way I won't succeed is if I give up. That is something that I refuse to do.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Detours
Okay, I did it again. I did some sightseeing again and took a major detour from my food plan. Of course this off ramp had me lost for 4 days going in circles which cost me a 6 pound gain. Today I weighed in at 385! Yuck! It sure does go on faster then it comes off. This will teach me to read the signs better! These types of detours are dangerous for me. However, I am going to try to gleam some knowledge from it instead of beating myself up over it.
I checked my BMR today. The calculator says that in order for me to stay the same, I would need to eat about 2,384 calories a day to maintain my weight. We all know that it takes a deficit of about 3,500 calories to lose one measly pound of body fat. I am going to aim between 1500-1800 calories a day. If I feel less less hungry and might tell less detours.
For me, I need to count calories. Maybe one day I will be able to just eat by my satiety level but for today that mechanism is broke in me. Therefore, I believe I will always have to track my food intake. I still think that tracking my food is a small price to pay to live inside a normal size body. Thank God I am back on the highway of life.
I checked my BMR today. The calculator says that in order for me to stay the same, I would need to eat about 2,384 calories a day to maintain my weight. We all know that it takes a deficit of about 3,500 calories to lose one measly pound of body fat. I am going to aim between 1500-1800 calories a day. If I feel less less hungry and might tell less detours.
For me, I need to count calories. Maybe one day I will be able to just eat by my satiety level but for today that mechanism is broke in me. Therefore, I believe I will always have to track my food intake. I still think that tracking my food is a small price to pay to live inside a normal size body. Thank God I am back on the highway of life.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
One is too many, and a thousand is never enough!
We have all heard of that saying before. But I have lived by those words. I have struggled since the time I was a young child with my weight. I have never been really been what I would call a normal size. I have always been the fat girl. Like most of you, I too have struggled with all kinds of diets looking for the magic bullet. I am here to tell you that there is no magic bullet. It is going to take a lot of hard work and determination to create a food lifestyle that I can live with the rest of my life.
What really bothers me is that I think about food all the time. What to eat, how much to eat, should I eat, should I not eat. Is this food good or is this food bad. It is mentally exhausting to be me! I must be wired different than people that don’t have obsessive food thoughts. I don’t think that normal people obsess about food all day. They eat when they are hungry they stop when they are full and that is the end of that.
I have always been amazed at how some people can take one or two bites of something like a donut or a candy bar. Are you kidding me?? Take a bite or two and leave the rest? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I can do that, but it is not natural for me to do, it takes a lot of effort and metal self talk to make that happen for me. How about those people who forget to eat?!?!?! I have never forgotten to eat, not ever! I may have been too busy to eat, but I have never forgotten to eat! Another thing that really bothers me is that I am a quantity eater. I can’t seem to get full on a “normal” portion of food. I really think that whatever switch gets triggered to tell a person that they have eaten enough is really broken in me.
I am an all or nothing kind of person when it comes to my food. I am either on or off a diet. I am either good or bad. I am either on program or off program. Hungry or stuffed. I am either weighing and measuring my food or binging. There is no in between! I just don’t get why some of us struggle so much more than others with food. It is just food! I just don’t’ get it. It is the one area of my life that is so out of control but it is the area of my life that I try to control the most! Who am I kidding to believe I control anything!
I have never known what it feels like to eat just to fuel my body. Food has played and continues to play such an important role in my life. I have a love/hate relationship with food. It is a struggle that I live with each and every day of my life. I don’t think it will ever be normal for me to be satisfied with just one portion of anything. I have to convince myself each and every time I sit down to eat to eat only the portion of food that is allowed on my program. I always want more. The funny thing is that intellectually, I know this is crazy. I know that food is fuel. I could teach anyone how to lose weight and keep it off. It’s not that I don’t understand nutrition. It’s just that I suffer from the notion that if one is good then a thousand will be better and we all know that is just not true. Yet, mentally, I struggle with that ridiculous notion a thousand times a day. I have a broken relationship with food. But I will never give up. I refuse to give up. If I need to count points, or count calories or count whatever for the rest of my life to get my life back then so be it. While there seems to be no cure for my addiction, there is a way to arrest the damage it does. In the days ahead, I will fight for my life many times a day. I must really work on my emotional, physical and spiritual life. I must learn to believe that I am worth saving!
What really bothers me is that I think about food all the time. What to eat, how much to eat, should I eat, should I not eat. Is this food good or is this food bad. It is mentally exhausting to be me! I must be wired different than people that don’t have obsessive food thoughts. I don’t think that normal people obsess about food all day. They eat when they are hungry they stop when they are full and that is the end of that.
I have always been amazed at how some people can take one or two bites of something like a donut or a candy bar. Are you kidding me?? Take a bite or two and leave the rest? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I can do that, but it is not natural for me to do, it takes a lot of effort and metal self talk to make that happen for me. How about those people who forget to eat?!?!?! I have never forgotten to eat, not ever! I may have been too busy to eat, but I have never forgotten to eat! Another thing that really bothers me is that I am a quantity eater. I can’t seem to get full on a “normal” portion of food. I really think that whatever switch gets triggered to tell a person that they have eaten enough is really broken in me.
I am an all or nothing kind of person when it comes to my food. I am either on or off a diet. I am either good or bad. I am either on program or off program. Hungry or stuffed. I am either weighing and measuring my food or binging. There is no in between! I just don’t get why some of us struggle so much more than others with food. It is just food! I just don’t’ get it. It is the one area of my life that is so out of control but it is the area of my life that I try to control the most! Who am I kidding to believe I control anything!
I have never known what it feels like to eat just to fuel my body. Food has played and continues to play such an important role in my life. I have a love/hate relationship with food. It is a struggle that I live with each and every day of my life. I don’t think it will ever be normal for me to be satisfied with just one portion of anything. I have to convince myself each and every time I sit down to eat to eat only the portion of food that is allowed on my program. I always want more. The funny thing is that intellectually, I know this is crazy. I know that food is fuel. I could teach anyone how to lose weight and keep it off. It’s not that I don’t understand nutrition. It’s just that I suffer from the notion that if one is good then a thousand will be better and we all know that is just not true. Yet, mentally, I struggle with that ridiculous notion a thousand times a day. I have a broken relationship with food. But I will never give up. I refuse to give up. If I need to count points, or count calories or count whatever for the rest of my life to get my life back then so be it. While there seems to be no cure for my addiction, there is a way to arrest the damage it does. In the days ahead, I will fight for my life many times a day. I must really work on my emotional, physical and spiritual life. I must learn to believe that I am worth saving!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Worshipping the Scale
I decided to weigh this morning. I was looking forward to a loss of some kind. Instead, the scale told me that I was up two pounds... UGH!!!
Why is it that the scale has such power over me. Eventhough I know that it is probably just water weight that causes these fluctuations I still find it upsetting to see the number go up. I guess it's because I have so much weight to lose that I want the weight loss to just consistently go down. Time is of the essense. I am tired of being fat. It is really disappointing when I see a gain and I am really trying to do all the right things to support my program. I need to work on not giving that darn scale so much power. It is just a tool. It produces a number that does not take into consideration how many things I have done right. Perhaps it might be a good idea to just weigh every Tuesday to alleviate the emotional distress I experience when the scale does not give me that instant gratification I am looking for....I know that if I just keep doing what I am doing the weight will come off. I also need to remember that if I choose the let scale dicatate how I feel about my weight loss journey I will binge on something to make myself feel better for the moment but this action is self destructive and serves no other purpose but to keep me exactly where I am now.
Why is it that the scale has such power over me. Eventhough I know that it is probably just water weight that causes these fluctuations I still find it upsetting to see the number go up. I guess it's because I have so much weight to lose that I want the weight loss to just consistently go down. Time is of the essense. I am tired of being fat. It is really disappointing when I see a gain and I am really trying to do all the right things to support my program. I need to work on not giving that darn scale so much power. It is just a tool. It produces a number that does not take into consideration how many things I have done right. Perhaps it might be a good idea to just weigh every Tuesday to alleviate the emotional distress I experience when the scale does not give me that instant gratification I am looking for....I know that if I just keep doing what I am doing the weight will come off. I also need to remember that if I choose the let scale dicatate how I feel about my weight loss journey I will binge on something to make myself feel better for the moment but this action is self destructive and serves no other purpose but to keep me exactly where I am now.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Fruits, Fruits and more Fruits
It is truly amazing how I have been able to replace any cravings for eating candy, icecream, or pretty much any sweet treat with fruit. For breakfast I have been enjoying cottage cheese with some yummy blueberries, peaches, or a crisp apple sliced. I like to sprinkle the apples with some cinnamon. I know that in order for me to be successful on this weight loss journey I must not allow myself to get too hungry. So when I am feeling hungry and it is not time for my meal I grab for a fresh piece of natures candy. Watermelon is especially good at night to quench my after dinner dessert cravings. I find nightime is my hardest time to stick with my program and fruit has been my lifesaver on more than one occassion. The best part is that I don't seem to abuse fruit even though is has natural sugar. It feels really good to make healthier choices that support my weight loss goals. Fruit, it does a body good!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Finally out of the 380's
Friday I weighed in and to my surprise the scale said 379.6. Gosh, I have not seen that territory in a long time! It felt so good to be out of the 380's. It has taken me about 4 months of yo yo dieting to get to this weight. I start in April 2009 weighing in at 411 lbs. Weekends are always my downfall! If I am going to not eat healthy it is always on the weekend. For some reason, when the weekend comes I want to let loose and eat all the things I have not eaten during the weekday. This habit of going off my program on the weekends costs me physically and emotionally. I don't know how to eat like a normal person when I pick up the sugar and refined foods. With these foods I never feel full. This behavior is what has kept me from losing the weight I so desperately need to lose. For the food not to control me, I need to eat from whole foods. Meats, poultry, fish, non-starchy veggies, fruit. These are the only foods that I don't binge on!!
On a positive note: I am happy to be able to say that I finally had a clean weekend of eating this weekend. I did not romance the food this weekend. I pray that I keep this mindset which is the only way I am ever going to get to a healthy weight. Please keep me in your prayers.
On a positive note: I am happy to be able to say that I finally had a clean weekend of eating this weekend. I did not romance the food this weekend. I pray that I keep this mindset which is the only way I am ever going to get to a healthy weight. Please keep me in your prayers.
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