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diets

Diets: Fiction for Your Facts

Are Diet Facts Your Fiction?

 

dietsFor diets when I was younger, I could eat anything I wanted. Mostly because I was athletic and very physically active in ballet and swimming, plus running, weight training, and all those cross training activities athletes do.

 

I had a lot of motivation to be in shape, especially when wearing a white unitard alone on stage.

 

diets

Courtesy of chicquero.com

 

This is such a cool shot, but I picked it, because I want you to try and imagine yourself walking around the streets of New York just in a leotard like this, and then just magnify that self-consciousness by about 100, when you are up in front of people with bright lights.

 

You learn lots of diet tricks to lean down and lose weight before a performance out of necessity.

 

Now I’m in my 40’s, no more ballet performances, and staying fit gets significantly tougher. Especially when you start a new business, and it’s just you making everything go for about 5 years.  It’s just a fact that you will not be able to manage everything getting a new business up and running, and for me exercise got put on the back burner.

 

But, this year with things more organized and under control, I decided to fit my health and fitness into my daily tasks, get back in shape, and drop weight back down to my usual.  That meant about 20 lbs.

 

dietsPounds are so easy to add, but so hard to subtract. Have you noticed that?

 

One pound is about 4000 calories, so when you do the math, that is an 80,000 calorie deficit to create.

 

If you take your weight times 10, that is about the daily caloric intake you need to maintain weight.  To lose weight, you need to intake less.

 

You can’t do something this large overnight, especially if you want quality of life, and avoid those extremes in dieting. But, you do have to calculate how many calories you can reasonably cut out of your daily  intake, and add those up over a number of days to reach your goal weight.

 

My calculations of losing 12 pounds since January and spending 151 days doing it, means I created a daily calorie deficit of about 318 to equal 48,000 calories.

 

But now I want to lose 5 more pounds by June 19th, my birthday as a treat to myself, but with the math, that means I need 1000 calorie deficit per day over the next 20 days.

 

dietsThis means a lot less calories in through diet, and a lot more calories out via exercise.

 

I admit, I will be in an extreme mode for the next 20 days, but extremes do change your body, and I do like challenges. I looked up some dieting facts for motivation and found these 10.  Yet for me, and knowing what works for me, some of these facts are definitely fiction.

 

So let’s have a little fun shall we, and find your own personal fiction in these dieting facts? My personal fact or fiction will be in italics for each fact listed. Be sure to comment with your opinions, and what does or doesn’t work for you. I always find that so interesting and helpful to hear everyone’s take.

 

dietsBut, before we start, here is more motivation…

 

Wouldn’t you like to have those legs?

 

diets

 

Ten Dieting Facts You Need to Know

 

While many diet fads and trends are helpful, knowledge and research are equally as helpful when it comes to your own diets and nutrition goals. Not every program is appropriate for everyone. An individual’s needs and goals are necessary to keep in consideration when beginning to search for the program that is best for you.

 

Arming yourself with information is a great way to begin a new diet. Here are ten dieting facts to start you off:

 

Diets #1. Skipping meals is not beneficial – Although many individuals think otherwise, skipping meals are not a good idea. Skipping meals not only causes a negative impact on your diet, is also has a negative impact on your body. You will only be hungrier later and tend to eat more and more of the wrong things at that.

 

dietsThis is fiction for me.  Simple fact on diets and changing your body: You have to cut calories, and that means eating less and skipping high calorie food in general.  I’m not a sit down and eat at a certain time person, and I’m never hungry for breakfast. I don’t eat if I’m not hungry.

 

Diets #2. Soup fills you up and keeps you fuller longer – Soup is very important for your diet if you are particularly looking to lose weight. Soup is healthy but also fills your stomach up and for longer periods. Eating soup is an excellent addition to any diet. However, be careful not to load it up with noodles or pasta, otherwise it defeats the caloric intake purposes.

 

dietsThis is fact for me, and I will have a “soup only” day each week.  I might have to up that to 2 or three days/week for my body weight goal, because I can really control my calories eating soup.

 

Diets #3. A diet high in fiber keeps you satisfied longer – Research is showing that a diet high in fiber keeps you fuller for longer periods. Fiber is a wonderful addition to your diet and your health if you are not used to incorporating it into your daily routine.

 

dietsThis is fact and fiction for me.  I’m allergic to fruit, so that is mostly out for diets. A salad does not keep me satisfied, but a bowl of cereal and milk with fiber in it does.  I try to do a “salad only” day too once a week.  There is nothing more satisfying than a cheeseburger and fries!

 

Diets #4. Diet without exercise may cause weight gain to return – Many individuals feel that if they diet for a short period of time, say six to eight weeks, they will lose the weight and keep it off. This may work for a little while, but if you do not incorporate exercise into a diet with changed eating habits, that weight is likely to come right back.

 

dietsThis is fact for me.  I just can’t create the same kind of calorie deficits without exercise, plus the exercise makes me feel so much better, and I lose inches, not just pounds.

 

Diets #5. Breakfast fuels your body – Skipping breakfast is a sure-fire way to eat more calories later in the day. Eating a high protein breakfast fuels your body and helps keep you going throughout the day. Skipping breakfast is a guarantee that you will be reaching for as many carbs as you can before lunch.

 

dietsFiction-I don’t eat breakfast, except for dinner, and I have no issues getting extra hungry from it.  If I ate breakfast, those would be additional calories I’d have to get rid of somehow.

 

Diets #6. Water hydrates you and aids in dieting – Drinking plenty of water hydrates your body and keeps you alert and energetic. If you are dieting, your body will invariably go through many changes. Keeping your body hydrated allows you to stay focused on your goals.

 

dietsFact-Here in the desert, we drink a lot, and have to. I have good timing right now with my body goal, because when it hits 100 degrees and higher, you don’t feel very hungry and just thirsty.  I’ll use it to my advantage! 

 

Diets #7. Eat carbs – Carbohydrates are necessary at some point as they give you energy. Choosing carbohydrates that are high in fiber and whole grain are a way to get your carbohydrates in without eating too much starch.

 

dietsFact-I can get by with just a bowl of cereal easily.

 

Diets #8. Too much of anything is not always good – Too much of anything is no good in any area of life. If you eat a diet that only consists of protein, for example, then you may be robbing your body of essential vitamins and nutrients.

 

dietsFact-For diets or body change, I have to mix it up, and especially for exercise to not go crazy.

 

Diets #9. Eating late at night does not necessarily inhibit dieting – It is more important to pay attention to what you eat throughout your day than to worry about a sensible meal or snack at night.

 

dietsFact- For diets and body change, it’s just calories in or out.

 

Diets #10. You have to continue to maintain a healthy diet – In order for weight to stay off; you have to continue doing what you did to lose it in the first place.

 

dietsFact-When I do my calculations, and stick to maintaining or creating reasonable calorie deficits over time, I keep variety in my diet easily, I stick to more healthful foods, because they are lower calorie, and I exercise to help myself with the numbers more.  For me, it’s a formula that works.

 

dietsWhat is your Fact or Fiction on Diets? Leave a comment!

I’ll leave you with an excellent workout video I found on YouTube called Sweaty Betty Ballet Boot Camp.  I can do it right in my bedroom, no shoes, and it kicks my tushy.  I can’t make it through yet, and the ones that are really hard like that are the ones that give you results, and change your body along with the diets…

 

~Courtney


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