How I Lost Weight

By now, I'm sure you have heard the definition of insanity to be: Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. This is ever so true in life, but I find it especially true when it comes to weight loss. If you yourself are finding weight loss to be too much of a challenge, I hope you will try some of my ideas listed below. I am not a doctor nor a medical professional. I am just a person who used to weigh 160 (or more) pounds, and lost 35. These are just tricks that have worked for me. You may hate some of these ideas, but. . .if you've never done them and you are overweight, it's worth a shot, right?

1. You HAVE to change your mindset. - If you don't expect to lose weight, you aren't going to. Making excuses like, "I'm too old" or "I've always been a heavy" or "skinny people have it easy" or "it's genetics" are lies that are trying to hold you back. Yes, there are thyroid issues and genetic eventualities we all deal with--and some people's metabolisms are more efficient than others. The reality in general, however, is that most people eat too much but don't want to give up eating too much. If you are overweight, I'm asking you to see yourself in that last category. I know it's harsh of me, but I'm saying this from experience, and I want you to experience freedom. Lying to yourself with excuses takes all your power away. Being honest with yourself is the first step in weight loss freedom.


2. Weight doesn't come off quickly. - It took me about a year to lose all that weight, but I have maintained it for almost three years. Fad diets and pills are going to claim (and often give money-back guarantees) if you don't lose "X" amount within a week or two. The main problems with this sort of regimen are that (1) it doesn't help you maintain your goals because it is not a long-term plan; (2) long-term continuation of these plans robs the user of actual nutrition; (3) outrageous claims take all the power away from the user when it's the user who needs to take responsibility for his/her weight.

I would maybe use one of these programs to jump start your weight loss, but if you are committed to long-term health, you are going to have to change your mindset and eating habits forever.


3. You HAVE to change your eating habits. - It's scientific and observable that if you are eating a certain way and weight isn't coming off, you need to make more drastic changes. This is probably the hardest yet most beneficial thing to do--even more than exercise--simply because you HAVE to eat every day whether or not you exercise. If you are serious about weight loss, you will have to be less sedentary at some point, but you can start eating the right way right now before you figure out what exercise works for you! Once you start eating healthy, maintain that! Don't look at weight loss as something you do for a little while and then go back to old habits.


4. Invest in a bathroom scale. - Digital is better than analog. (Digital is more accurate, and it's too easy to mess with the calibration of an analog scale. Cheating ALWAYS happens. It's human nature.) Honestly, when I weighed 160 pounds, I had no idea I weighed that much and likely would never have gained all that if I'd had a bathroom scale to keep me accountable. Nowadays, I step on the scale every morning and use that information to plan my eating for the day. At first, stepping on a scale was really depressing (and sometimes after a vacation it still is), but I use the information to empower me, not destroy me. If I happen to be up 5 pounds, I know what my eating plan should be for the next week or two. If I've reached a plateau in my weight and I still need to lose more, I know that I need to make another drastic change. See your scale as your tool, not your enemy; and use it every day.


5. Get out of the mindset of "cheats" and rewarding yourself with food. - Stop rewarding yourself with food. Plain and simple. If you have achieved the next level of weight loss, the worst thing you could do is to repack yourself with calories. Consider this analogy: I had trouble with stabbing myself in the eye. One day, I went the entire day without stabbing myself in the eye. To reward myself, I stabbed myself in the eye.

See how lunatic that is? High calorie food is proven to be detrimental to weight loss and overall health, and yet we love it so much we use it specifically for celebration! Think about it. When do you eat the most? The holidays! When do you eat cake? Birthdays! Back in the olden days, cakes, ice cream, and candy were all reserved for once a year at the fair. Nowadays, most Americans have two or three tubs of ice cream in their freezers and feel they need dessert after EVERY meal. And we wonder why we are overweight!

If you achieve a goal in your personal weight loss, please consider rewarding yourself with something other than food. Don't allow this advice to start another vice, however! Taking yourself out for a shopping spree every time you meet a goal can be just as detrimental! Consider these options: Go for a nature walk, explore a new part of town, take a bubble bath, watch an episode of your favorite show, etc.. Americans need to relearn the art of denying oneself vs. gratifying oneself. We used to understand it years ago--back when we were skinnier.

A REALLY great and healthy way to reward yourself that I learned from my aunt-in-law who did Weight Watchers is to carry around the weight you lost for a few minutes. In other words, if you lost 5 pounds, find something that weighs 5 pounds and carry that around for a while. (A great place to do this is in the grocery store with flour or sugar bags.) Five pounds doesn't sound like a lot at first, but after a few minutes of carrying it around, you are going to notice how much it really is. Mentally congratulate yourself that you are no longer being weighed down by it!....But don't reward yourself with food!


6. Everyone's body is different. - This brings up the age-old frustration: Men lose weight faster than women. If you are a woman, like me, this information can easily turn into an excuse. Don't let it. Realize that your body is almost magical because it has the ability to grow another life (or even multiple lives) inside of it. Because of that amazing fact, your body holds onto fat longer. That layer of fat is also what gives you a beautiful, softer form. At some point, you need to embrace things about your body instead of hating them. Always remember that (1) girls in magazines are airbrushed and (2) everybody gets older eventually.

If you need competition to help you "stay in the game," refuse to compare yourself to a photoshopped ideal. Instead, compare yourself to yourself. If you are 50 pounds heavier than you used to be, look at pictures of yourself when you were thinner as motivation.

(Also, I encourage you to look into www.dressingyourtruth.com. It's uncanny how wearing the wrong colors can actually add pounds to your appearance. I don't make any money off this, so don't let that little thought stop you from looking into it.)


7. Don't eat fast food. - I have heard lots of people complain about weight loss, and yet they eat fast food. Remember that documentary "Super Size Me," about that guy who was in the peak of health who committed to eat McDonalds every day for every meal for a month? By the end of the month, his body literally started shutting down. Yeah. So. One of the main things I remember from watching it is that health care professionals now consider eating fast food once a week as "excessive." Consider that if you are overweight but eat fast food a few times a week. ONCE A WEEK IS EXCESSIVE. Let that sink in, and please stop doing it to yourself.


8. Portion control. - If you don't have a good handle on what portion control means, do this: eat half of what you normally eat. (This is especially good for people who I am never going to convince to eat vegetables.) If you aren't going to eat healthily, at least eat less. I really suggest limiting meats, pastas, sugar, and salt. When I personally eat those four things, I find it really hard to lose weight. Eating vegetables (especially raw ones) is not easy at first, but vegetables are really the only food that have any nutrients. I know there is protein in meat, but there is also protein in beans, nuts, quinoa, and flax seed--without the saturated fat.


9. Adding vegetables to your diet, doesn't erase a bad diet. - I know lots of people who think that vegetables are there to counteract the bad stuff. This mindset will keep you fat. Just because you ate a bag of carrots after you ate a hamburger isn't going to magic the hamburger away. Replace the hamburger with the carrots, or at least eat half the hamburger and half the carrots. If you see a diet as "both and" instead of "either or," you are going to have trouble.


10. Stop grazing. - I know just about every health magazine promotes this idea that you can eat continuously all day and somehow lose weight, and honestly you can...if you do it right. The problem is that most people do it wrongly. When a person hears, "You get to eat all day long!" they inevitably end up including bad stuff or large portions and then throw some apples in there so they can feel good about themselves. If you graze--and if you are serious about losing weight--only eat small portions of healthy food. In a few weeks, when you HAVEN'T lost any weight, consider not grazing.


11. Consider skipping a meal. - I know this goes against everything you've heard, but it works for me. It has also worked for other people I know. We have all been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you are not losing weight, try scrapping that advice. Instead, drink water all morning until your first bowel movement. (I know, it's gross to talk about. Sorry.) Once that is done, continue seeing how long you can go before eating breakfast. (When I leave for work in the morning, I pack my breakfast in my lunch bag to eat later vs. eating while running out the door.) Sometimes, I skip breakfast entirely. Sometimes lunch. Sometimes my lunch ends up being my dinner. If you live in America and you are rich enough to read this on the internet, you really don't have to eat as much as you think.


12. Exercise. - This is really hard for most people, because most people think they are too busy. If you have an hour to "crash" on the couch after work and watch T.V., you have plenty of time to exercise. Consider multi-tasking. Why not exercise while you watch T.V.? I blogged about a T.V. exercise plan here if you want some ideas. If you take care of children, why not get them to be active along with you? They will sleep better. (Entice, entice...)

I say "an hour" because if you are really serious about losing weight, it's gonna take an hour of sweating. I know there are all these "20 minute" workouts out there, and yes, 20 minutes is way better than none at all. But I say again, if you are SERIOUS about weight loss, it's gonna take an hour at least 3-5 times a week.


13. If you are female, it is likely you won't lose any weight for a month or so. - Personally, it took me about three months before any of my weight would budge. Again, it has to do with the fact that women's bodies don't give up fat easily. It's okay, though. Stick with it and it will happen. Be kind to yourself and don't cheat.


14. Green smoothies. - Whether you skip a meal or not, you really need to replace one of your meals with a green smoothie. First of all, all vegetables have nutrients, but most of us never unlock those nutrients because they are enclosed within the cell walls of the plant. Chewing releases barely any of these nutrients and so most vegetation simply passes through our bodies as roughage. A blender or juicer breaks these cell walls and releases essential vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.

I was surprised when I started replacing my dinners each day with a smoothie. I thought they wouldn't ever satisfy me and I would be hungry after. Amazingly, I find them hard to finish most of the time.

I know lots of people think they hate vegetables. If this is the case for you, consider that maybe you need to open the possibility that there are vegetables out there that you do like. (For me, I can never get enough avocado.) From there, start adding more and more variations. I say variations, because if you get stuck in the rut of just doing kale, avocado, and lime juice, say, your body isn't getting all the nutrients it needs from other vegetables. Be willing to explore the produce section. If money is an issue, only buy what is on sale that week.

You can be creative with your smoothies, but remember vegetables are better than fruits in this situation, because they have way more vitamins, minerals, and enzymes and fruits are packed with sugar. (Yes, it's good sugar, but to a diabetic for instance, it's still sugar.) A quick Google search will uncover thousands of green smoothie recipes, if you need ideas. Always remember to add some nuts or soaked beans for protein, though.


15. Regrow your good bacteria. - If you are coming from a diet of carbs and fats and switch "cold turkey" to vegetables, your stomach and intestines are going to hurt, then you are going to think this is just a load of crap, and you are going to go back to your bad diet. This is mostly owing to the fact that bad food has killed the good bacteria and fed the bad in your stomach. You will need to get some probiotics into your system to regrow this good bacteria. You can spend lots of money on the pill forms of probiotics, or you could just do what I do: a dollop of plain unsweetened yogurt on my frozen fruit-laden oatmeal in the morning and a spoonful of either sauerkraut, red cabbage, or kimchi in my green smoothie at night. (A great side effect of regrowing and feeding the good bacteria is that your body will eventually stop craving bad food so much.)


16. Organic potato chips...are still potato chips. - A lovely change that farmers have started making is the switch to organic farming. It's true that pesticides and hormones cause health problems in consumers. However, it is also really easy to lie to yourself and buy high calorie food simply because the label reads, "organic." Here is a great rule of thumb: Organic is great, but if it's in a box or bag. . .it's not that great. If you eat organic all the time, but aren't losing weight, consider changing your mindset here.


17. You are going to reach plateaus. - As I've said, I've lost 35 pounds over the course of a year. It didn't all happen at once. Again as I've said, I didn't lose anything for the first three months. After that, I lost five pounds right away. Then I lost another ten and my body stopped losing weight for awhile. I had reached a plateau. It was depressing because I was still 145 and I wanted to be 120 (which I'm still not, but that's okay). At that point, I had to take account of what methods I was using and then be willing to change them even more. I lost another 10. Plateau. Change. Lost another 5. Plateau. At this point, I'd lost 30 pounds, weighing 130. Those last five were by far the hardest to lose, and I still wish I could lose five more past that, but the grass is always greener, right? I am happy that I was able to lose 35 pounds, and I will work to maintain it. (Honestly, I could probably lose another five if I really really worked at it, but I enjoy food as much as the next guy, and I find a life of total deprivation to be not a happy one.)


18. Cut back on caffeine. - I know there are studies that show that drinking caffeine in the morning can help you lose weight or whatever. Maybe in certain ways it can, but once I personally cut back on caffeine, I saw a big difference in my weight loss. I used to drink two or three cups of coffee every morning. Then my husband and I decided to do the "Daniel Fast" one time (21 days of eating only fruits and vegetables and drinking only water). That first week I had major headaches, nausea, and just depressing feelings like my best friend had died or something. After that first week, I felt more energetic than I had in years. (I know it was cutting the caffeine that did it because Billy and I were already eating mostly fruits and vegetables up to that point.) Listen, I still have a cup of coffee now and again--especially on vacation at restaurants--but at home and whenever it's possible, I drink decaf or none at all. I know decaf still has trace amounts of caffeine and doesn't taste as amazing as regular, but it works for me. I never want to go back to caffeine dependence.

Another reason I suggest cutting back on caffeine for weight loss is because it does "jump start" you. That sounds contradictory, but hear me out. Drinking it in the morning is almost acceptable (even though you still develop and addiction), because it "wears off" during the day. However, especially if you enjoy drinking it in the afternoon, it is going to directly effect how you sleep. Maybe you don't notice it and fall right to sleep even if you drink it an hour before bed, but studies show your body doesn't sleep well if there is caffeine running through your veins. Sleeping well is a crucial part of weight loss. If your body isn't totally asleep, it can't run through necessary repair/immunity functions. If it doesn't do these functions well, you will develop chronic problems over time--weight loss being the least of these.

P.S. You know if you stop drinking soda (even diet), you will lose like 10-15 pounds right away, don't you? Okay. Just making sure you knew that.


19. As you age, you will need to try new methods. - It can be depressing to think, "Gosh, why can't I just eat the way I used to when I was 25?" Don't think like that. Your body is going to keep changing and metabolizing differently. Honestly, this is why that bathroom scale can be your best investment. Stay on top of your weight, and be willing to make sacrifices if you need to. You can actually prolong a youthful metabolism and reverse age-related diseases if you feed it a majority of raw fruit and vegetables with beans and nuts for protein.


20. Honestly answer the question: Which do I love more? Eating or Exercise? - The answer to this question is very indicative of who weighs more and who doesn't. If you can't give up eating, and you refuse to exercise, you need to start finding things to love about being fat and embrace them. There is nothing more frustrating than a person who complains that they are fat, but can't pass a candy dish without taking one or two.

If you dare, do this little practice to strengthen your will-power: Buy a bag of your favorite chocolates and put them in a highly accessible place in your house. Open it but don't take any. Whenever you pass the bag and you feel a craving, go to the refrigerator and eat a baby carrot or grape. Keep the bag accessible and open. When you have people over, let them take whatever they want. Observe them. Observe yourself when they take them. Are you angry? Are you jealous? Are you sad? If you are, candy has become your master. Congratulate yourself every day when you don't give into the candy, and keep losing weight! You really can do it.

You really really can.



The End

Make Your Own Convenient No-Sew Reusable Napkin System in Less Than 20 Minutes!

If there's one thing I hate, it's buying paper napkins and paper towels. I always end up forgetting to buy them when I'm at the grocery store, or else forgetting that I bought them last time and having bazillions of paper towels cluttering up my precious under-the-sink space. I also really can't stand how much trash my husband and I create from just paper napkins and paper towels. Think of how many you use a day--not only for meals, but snacks, wiping things off, etc. It's a ridiculous amount. Last Saturday, I did something about it, and you can too! Apparently, a quick Google search will bring you to hundreds of other people who have had this same brilliant idea.

What makes my idea different is that my process only takes 20 minutes of your life and creates a reusable napkin system that is just as convenient as the paper ones!

All you Need:

1. Pinking Shears.
2. A clean old bedsheet.
3. Measuring Tape.

A word about the supplies above. Pinking Shears are those funky zig-zag scissors. People use them when they want to create a non-fraying edge to fabric without having to hem the fabric by sewing. You can buy a decent pair at Walmart for around $10, or ask your grandmother for one--every grandmother has a pair. It's a grandmother prerequisite. (Don't use the kind for scrapbooking, because they don't cut fabric very well at all.) Use an old bedsheet. In other words, DON'T GO BUY A BRAND NEW ONE. That defeats the purpose of "Going Green." If you don't have a bedsheet to spare, use random cotton fabric scraps, or else if you absolutely have to buy one go to the thrift store. Let's use what we have already instead of creating more trash.

Now you need to figure out the correct measurements to your liking. I am too lazy to make big ol' 12-14" napkins because when they are that size they need to be folded before they are stacked. Yeah right. Not happening. Also, you are going to want to measure the entire piece of fabric to see if it is closest to a multiple of something. In other words, if your sheet is 60" across, and you are making 10" napkins, you can make six napkins across without any waste. If you are using bolt fabric that someone gave you, that kind of fabric is usually 44-45" across, so if you made 11" napkins, you could get four of them across. Make sense? My fabric was 52" inches across (I had a big scrap), so I decided to make 10" napkins. I cut a little slit at 50" and then ripped the fabric down the length of it instead of cutting: (1) it saves time (2) I was sure to get a straight line.

(The picture below just shows you what 10" looks like compared to a folded paper napkin.)

From there, I measured the fabric the other way and got 64", so I cut a little slit at 60" and ripped it down the length. When I finished ripping I had a piece of fabric that was 50" x 60". 

In other words: 30 napkins.

From here, you can just cut the edge of your fabric all the way around with the pinking shears. However, if you want to save time, do my little trick: Fold the fabric in half and then half again. This creates four layers. (My pinking shears can cut 4-6 layers of material, so this was perfect.) Smooth out any wrinkles and then cut the two sides of raw edges. This creates the same amount of cutting in 1/4 of the time!

From here you can painstakingly measure 10"x10" and cut, measure 10"x10" and cut, or you can do my time-saver method below! 

Lay your tape measure just above one of your newly "pinked" edges and make little cuts at every 10" or 11" measurement. Then move the tape measure up a few inches as pictured below and cut from the little cuts you just made to the designated measurements on the tape measure. Don't worry about your lines being perfectly straight, just do them as straight as you can.

Move the tape measure up a little and do the same thing.

And again.

And now you are done with that series of cuts. 

Now stack 2 or three of these strips on top of each other and do the same cutting technique going the other way to create squares.

Notice that I have two and a half napkins forming. Remember how my fabric was 50" wide? When folded in half, it becomes 25". If you have a measurement with an odd number followed by a zero (30", 50", 70", 90", etc.), make sure you leave the "half" part on the folded side. Otherwise, you will have a bunch of half napkins!

Aaaaand (Blogger put my picture in sideways) You're done! You can use them for normal napkin use, or you can even clean surfaces with them like paper towels! Plus, they don't rip like paper products do, so you can use fewer of them at one time.

How to Put Your New Napkins in an Old Napkin Holder:

You probably have noticed that these napkins are a bit bigger than the folded size of your paper napkins. Don't worry, you don't have to fold them individually to get them to work in your napkin holder. All you have to do is fold them all together a little bit on one side. 

Then, put that folded side down into the holder. To get one napkin out at a time, simply grab one napkin and lightly and quickly tug-tug-tug at it until it comes out. You may have to practice this a little because if you grab one the way you grabbed the paper napkins, they will all come out at once. Don't worry, it works really well once you get the hang of it. (One other advantage to pinking the edges rather than taking hours and hours to hem the edges is that you can fit more napkins into your holder at a time.)

Goodbye old paper towel dispenser! You were breaking anyway!

Now to Make a Napkin "Laundry Bag":

I didn't know what else to call it but a laundry bag. In order for this whole fabric napkin thing to become just as convenient as its paper alternative, you are going to need a place to put the dirty ones until they can visit the washing machine and dryer. They need to be kept separate from the rest of the laundry so that they don't go missing/end up all over the house. This can be done in several ways, I'm just going to give you two. Be creative!

The first thing I tried was a lingerie bag I bought at the Dollar Tree. Any small mesh bag will work. Make sure it's mesh so it can breathe. Sometimes napkins get wet, you know. In other words, DON'T make your napkin laundry bag out of a plastic bag...unless you like stinky mold.

This is what it looked like when I hung it on a nail on the door under the sink. It was kinda too long and took too much effort to open and close every time we had a dirty napkin. If you aren't as lazy as me, then this system is fine.

However, I knew I wasn't going to keep that effort up for very long, so I took some yarn and some plastic canvas, and constructed this little box and hung it on the same nail. (This part takes about 45 minutes, though.) Voila! Easy and Doable! You could achieve this same convenience with any mesh or holey box on a nail under your sink. You don't have to make it, you know. Just use what you have! That's all I did.

**Doing this project with your kids (that are old enough for scissors) is a really great way to help them see the importance of reducing trash, saving money, creating something, helping the environment, and saving time!**

The End!