Category Archives: Weight loss tips

Metabolic rate and burning calories

girlinbed

Do you know how many calories a day you use just living? That is, your basal metabolic rate?

When researching the post on exercise for weight loss, I came across this piece which showed why the hour a day or three times a week exercise regime that most of us are doing, isn’t doing much for our weight loss goals.

It’s partly to do with what happens for the rest of our 23 hours per day. Also the fact that poor eating choices do far more damage than can be fixed by moderate exercise.

It has to be something like 90 mins of intense exercise daily to have any effect on your weight and many of us can’t keep that up.  Or like me, I don’t want to, it’s just not the life I want to lead. Not to mention the fact that it lowers your metabolism.

So let’s check out the daily calorie burn just by living, basal metabolic rate thing…

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How much protein do I need.

enough protein

I was thinking about my protein intake because it’s important for all kinds of things like your skin, connective tissue, muscle building or maintenance, makes hormones and enzymes. As a ‘fish only eating’ vegetarian, I wondered… “if I don’t eat fish every day, would I still be eating enough?” How much protein do I need?

(Note – 2021 Update: I no longer eat tahini, nuts, chia seeds, protein powder, peanut butter and only very occasionally fresh salmon. This is because they are too high in polyunsaturated fats which cause all kinds of issues. Read more about what kinds of issues in this article.)

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weight loss journe

Weight Loss Journey

I had a fantastic conversation with a friend Pam who has been overweight all of her adult life, tried everything to lose it as well, without success. She has tried everything on her weight loss journey. She loves to exercise, drinks lots of water, is into alternative health and the Law of Attraction, is active, fun loving, gets out lots.  But still this is the one thing that has niggled her and her whole family actually, all their lives.

Then she read my book.

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weight loss motivation

Weight loss motivation

Is weighing yourself every day weight loss motivation for you?

I was checking through some instagram posts on what people are up to with their own approaches to losing weight and a person posted a question…

“Do you weigh yourself every day?”

The owner of that account went on to say how they do weigh in every day; another one said ‘yes it keeps me on track.’ My head was screaming – “no way! Keeps you on track for what? Total obsession about how much you weigh and how much you haven’t lost today?”

If a healthy weight loss is to lose 500g (1lb) per week (that is if this is permanent weight loss that you won’t put on again in a flash) then for six days out of the seven what are you looking at? ‘No haven’t lost it yet. No haven’t lost it yet….’

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How to lose weight fast

coffee, friends, loose skin. excess skin

I had told dear friend Maryanne about the progress of my book and she listened intently like the loyal and beautiful friend that she is. She has heard about this book and the way I eat for about two years now, so perhaps it is sounding more like blah, blah, blah to her now. I can’t help it though as everyone is trying to figure out how to lose weight fast, without a thought about how it may affect their health.

Anyway, so we moved on to her news.  She proceeded to tell me about a naturopath she saw who told her about these weight loss drops to suppress your hunger and the diet you eat of only 500 calories.

What the?

I stopped in my tracks and my jaw dropped open. Involuntarily I started shaking my head and blurted out, “Nooooooo!”

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Fasting Diet – is it the best solution?

fasting diet

I read others articles, blog posts, facebook and instagram posts on weight loss and health because obviously it interests me.  It alarms me to read that people are still doing more of the same rubbish that I was up to 20 years ago trying to lose weight.

One particularly horrifying tale was a Fasting Diet Water Detox for 20 days! Really?

The writer was adamant that fasting was beneficial.  I’m sure I’ve also read something along those lines too.  However this type of extreme fast should be highly controlled – think resting and taking naps. You definitely shouldn’t be trying to live your normal life at the same time or exercising, as it’s pretty dangerous.  Situations can happen like passing out when you are trying to drive to work, organs shutting down from lack of nutrients.  The worst part was that she wasn’t doing it this for the purported health benefits, it was for weight loss!

No way people!

This got me thinking about the whole yo-yo diet thing and why it seems like we go on a cycle of ‘on the wagon’ and ‘off the wagon’ and having to ‘start again on Monday’ over and over again.

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Weight loss resolutions

new year, diary, weight loss, resolutions, fresh start

I was a diary writer from a young age and every New Years Day, I loved to get out the brand new Letts diary Christmas present. Weight loss resolutions always factored in.

The first day of the year, so fresh and clean like the first diary page, so full of hope and optimism. I would consider how I would like the year to unfold and I would go weigh myself and write – current weight 85kgs (187lbs), this year get to 65kgs (143lbs.)

There was no concrete plan as to how to do this. Sometimes it was just thoughts of “I am really going to stick to xyz diet” or “I am going to run and exercise every day.” But a few days in and usually it was shot to pieces. That ice cream or chocolate being just too tempting and when you have a bit, you have ruined everything, so you might as well eat the lot. Continue reading →