I have struggled with my weight since I was about 12 years old. That was the first time I remember feeling embarrassed about it and trying to lose weight. Over the last 20 years I have tried many things weight watchers, nutrisystem, metabolife, protein shakes, slim fast, you get the drift. I even listed fit into a single digit dress size in my original Devil’s Workshop list from the early days of this blog.
I know that as my doctor said it is pretty simple to lose weight but not at all easy. Simple in that to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume. Meaning the combination of eating less and exercise has to result in a calorie deficit. Yet for some reason that simple formula has been so hard for me. It involves a whole slew of behavior changes and learning to respond to my emotions differently. I explored some of those changes when I tried hypnosis for weight loss. In that series I did tap into some techniques to help with my way of thinking.
All of it can be quite overwhelming at times. From past experience I know that feeling overwhelmed can be a big trigger for overeating. So to combat that feeling of being overwhelmed I am making an effort to remind myself that life is just a combination of little choices that when added together produce out comes. It is the little things that add or subtract from our wast lines. So here are some facts about the little choices I can make and how they impact my weight loss.
For the last few months I have been walking for half of my lunch on average of 3 days a week. I burn about 125 calories on each walk. That works out to about 375 calories burned a week, 19,500 burned a year, and approximately 5.6lbs lost or kept off each year.
I typically make it to Zumba class every other Friday. I burn about 450 calories each class. That woks out to 900 calories burned a month, 10,800 calories burned a year, and approximately 3.1lbs lost or kept off each year.
I am in no way a gym rat but I do go every now and then. If I get there once a week (in addition to zumba class) and do the elliptical for 30 minutes I can burn about 250 calories in 30 min. That would work out to about 13,000 calories burned a year, and approximately 3.7lbs lost or kept off each year.
On the weekends like a lot of us I will often throw healthy eating to the side and opt for fast food. Fast food meals can easily be 1000 calories or more. Even if I only had one of these meas a weak would work out to gaining or holding on to 15lbs a year. Imagine if I ate it more than once a week 🙁 If I could decrease this to only once a month that would be a much more reasonable maintaining or gain of only 3.4lb a year.
I have a habit of wanting something sweet every day. Over the years I have managed to switch from having snack cakes that often have close to 500 calories each to those between 200 and 320 calories each. However, this adds up to between 1400 and 2240 calories a week and 70,000 to 116,480 calories a year. This works out to gaining or holding on to 20 to 33lbs every year.
These are all small choices that I make regularly. When I look at them individually I can see how they add up to me gaining losing or maintaining my weight. I can see where it would be the most beneficial for me to make changes. I can see what behaviors are best to continue with.
I calculated my calories burned and consumed using the app lose it from my cell phone. I also used the scale of 3500 calories equalling one pound for my calculations. I like math and seeing things in numbers helps me to understand how all of these little things add up.
Do you ever think about how all of the little decisions you make add up? What small things do you need to change or maintain to get the outcomes you want? What little things are interferring with your joy?
I too have a sweet tooth and although my frame is small I still want to tone and firm. My struggle is snacking late at night so I force myself to not bring in house. Portion control is another way to minimize calories again small choices. I also like to mix up my fitnes regime I found pole fitness to be excellent and next I'm trying yoga for more toning and firming. You definitely honed in on the key to making those little decisions create significant results.
Keep up with the walking, it's a great way to keep active and lose weight as well.
Losing weight is a combination of things, calories in calories out, nutritional content of food, mindset, regular targeted exercise and having a good support system. In addition to this everyone has to find what is right for them and suits their lifestyle. I wish you well in your journey and don't forget to call on me for any support I can provide, I'm all ears.
Fitnessbuster supporting you in improving your fitness and nutrition.
This post is right on time because I've been fluctuating to lose my last 10 lbs. Just when I'm almost there, I gain the weight back. But I know that it's because I get too "comfortable" and decide to "treat" myself…for example with the cookies 'n cream ice cream I had tonight AFTER I juiced.
I'm thin, but I'm not in shape. I've started walking and getting physical with a new friend, and although I'm still out of breath when I push it a bit, I remember that the little bits will add up, and eventually things will get much easier!
sugar is my demon. and carbs. which of course, break down into sugar.
The thing that gets me about this article is that it is the little decisions about everything that makes big differences in our lives. I guess the lesson I learned from you is that I need to watch all my life decisions like I watch my calories.
I had the most weight loss success when instead of focusing on losing large numbers at a time, I focused on tweaking bad habits a little at a time. Using Spark people I would focus on drinking 8 glasses of water per day, and not making any other changes for a few weeks. I would build on that by adding a new habit every few weeks. Before I knew if I had lost 15 lbs and kept it off, but it took making those small changes and sticking with them instead of trying to overhaul my life all at once. Great post!
I can totally relate, I was making progress but had to pause exercising because of medial reasons. I am just getting back into it and there are so many programs out there its a bit overwhelming. :/
I can sooooooo relate to this post. As I type this I am watching an episode of Dr. Oz about burning fat. For some reason I am still looking for the quick fix, although I totally know that it doesn't exist. I think my thought-process is the thing that is standing in my way the most.
Taking on too many tasks interfere with my joy. I used to feel like I was a lazy person if my to-do list wasn't a mile long. My husband told me I should limit it to 6 things and once they were done that's it. It's worked so much better for me. Accepting that resting is not a sign of laziness is something I've gotten better with but still need to tweak a few more areas.
Thank you for the encouragement. I've struggled with my weight as well and looked for quick fixes. If I chunk it down into more manageable sizes, I can conquer weight loss/gain as well.