My Focus For 2009
Though I usually do not start off a blog post by stating its purpose and although the purpose of this post seems obvious from the title, let me say it again anyway. The sole purpose of this post is to inform everyone of my focus for 2009.
Where will my focus be for 2009? I plan to focus entirely on 2 related topics. The first topic I plan to focus on is my own daily diet. Though I wrote about and documented my daily diet in my ebook “Save Your Sweat”, not everyone has had the ability to download copy of the book. Therefore, I plan to post daily about what I choose to eat each and every day. Posting daily about my food choices will provide those without the means to download my ebook with a guide they can model their own diet and food choices after. Following my example will be just like having read my ebook (minus the charts, graphs and biographical information), so I will be giving away most of my best ideas for free.
The second topic I will focus on for 2009 is the reinforcing of the premise I stated in my ebook that:
- Exercise is not necessary for weight loss.
- It is not what you eat, but the quantity of food you consume that makes you fat.
- The best way by far to lose weight or maintain your weight is by calorie counting.
In my ebook, I state that exercise is not necessary for weight loss. I proved this fact by losing 40 lbs in only 12 weeks with absolutely no exercise. My friend Mike Beeze achieved the lowest weight of his life by applying the principles I taught him. My wife Lyann dropped from 165 lbs to 122 lbs in 12 weeks.
I was tired of forcing myself to participate in physical activity I did not enjoy. I was tired of punishing myself for the bad food choices I made and the feelings of guilt that drove me to go to a gym each day. I found that by making better food choices and monitoring my calorie intake, I was able to achieve greater weight loss results than I ever had during my days as a competitive bodybuilder.
In 2009, I will be experimenting by finding some physical activities where fun, rather than exercise is the focus. There’s nothing wrong with being active, but forcing yourself to exercise sucks.
My ebook also states that it is not what you eat that makes you fat, but the quantity of food you consume (in the form of calories) that adds extra pounds to your frame. Granted, there are some foods that are far more calorie laden than others, but if you can learn to balance your portion sizes accordingly, then this apparent difference in calorie content can be negated.
The third part of the premise in my ebook states that the best way to maintain your current weight or to lose weight is by calorie counting. Think about filling up your gas tank at the local garage. There is a reason why the gas shuts off when your tank is full. It’s because you cannot see how full the tank is and do not know when to stop putting gas in the tank. If there was no automatic shutoff, you would end up overfilling the tank and spilling gas all over your car, the ground and your shoes.
The human body is the same as your gas tank. You cannot tell visually, day by day, if you are putting too much fuel (food) in your tank (stomach). You need an automatic shutoff to tell you when you have had enough to eat. The only way you can tell whether or not you have reached the automatic shutoff point is by counting the number of calories you consume during any given day. You need to set a goal and stick to it. That is why I picked a goal of 1000 calories per day when I wrote my ebook.
1000 calories per day may seem really low to you, but remember that you can make it as difficult or easy as you want to make up a 1000 calorie daily allowance based on what foods you choose to eat. Some are far lighter in calories than others. That is why I am a huge proponent of a diet rich in fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. I am also a big fan of lean meats like tuna, other fish and chicken. I have also been known to enjoy turkey on occasion. I keep red meat to a minimum, sometimes going a couple of months before giving in to a craving.
In the spirit of calorie counting and in keeping with my focus for 2009, I intend to prove my ideas about calorie counting, calorie intake, food quantities and exercise by conducting twelve 30 day weight loss diets. This is a rather ambitious schedule of events because it leaves me only 5 days grace where I will not be actively involved in proving out my theories. However, I am excited about my plans because they will give me alternating periods of what you might call feast or famine.
What I intend to do is spend alternating months eating my normal diet that is full of fresh and frozen fruit, vegetables and lean meat versus an opposing diet that consists of nothing but food that is heavily calorie laden such as fast food and boxed food from the grocery store.
The catch is this: No matter what diet I am following at any given time, my total calorie intake will remain constant. If you thought that 1000 calories per day was a crazy limit, then how does 800 calories per day strike you? You could argue that it is impossible to get fat eating only 800 calories per day regardless of what food you choose to consume, but setting a goal like this is what will ultimately teach you to limit your portion sizes when faced with the calorie laden foods available so freely in our society today.
Setting this automatic shutoff point for myself in terms of calories will allow me to set a great example of the power of decision that we are all capable of whether we will admit it or not and will also allow me to prove a few things to you, the reader.
First, I will be able to show how much more satisfying a fresh, whole food diet can be as compared to eating only prepared foods that generally come from a box and are laden with calories, chemicals and preservatives. I know before even getting started that my plate will seem much fuller when I am eating whole foods.
Second, I will be able to show that maintaining your weight or losing weight is a pure function of the number of calories you consume and has nothing whatsoever to do with the type of food you eat.
Third, I will be able to report on the differences in my health. I know that my health will suffer as a result of the months where I am eating substandard fare. I also know by experience that I will be subject to mood swings and feelings of anxiety.
Fourth and last, I will be able to report daily on the fluctuations in my weight (if any) in order that you can see the truth I am promoting.
I will continue to participate in another important part of my diet plan that my wife Lyann and I refer to as our “Free Days”. Once per month, or in the case of this year at the end of each 30 day cycle, we will have one of our free days. A free day is our reward to ourselves for having stuck to our calorie limit and our nutritious diet for the past 30 days.
On free days, we take the entire day to eat whatever food we want, in any quantity we want. We dangle this proverbial carrot in front of our noses in order to make it easier to maintain our focus during the rest of the month. We find that our free days also remind us why we stopped eating high calorie foods in the first place and renew our commitment for the coming month.
No food is really off of our regular menu, but we have just naturally gravitated away from calorie laden foods over time, now preferring a fresh salad to any other food we might have been tempted by in the past. We like to plan our free days with a theme like Mexican or Italian and look forward to the planning and preparation as much as the actual free day itself. I will be posting once per month about the great foods we enjoy on our free days and also hope to be adding more videos to the site which will document these events.
Please believe me when I tell you that no matter what weight you are now, you hold within you in the form of determination and personal responsibility, the power to make a drastic change in your physical appearance. You can decide today to make a change in your life. All you need is the determination and tenacity required to make proper food choices each day in order to reach any weight loss goal you set for yourself. Make weight loss your focus. Make 2009 the year of change.
My focus for 2009 will be on proving my weight loss theories and searching for enjoyable non-exercise specific activities. Remember that exercise as defined by today’s standards is not the same as recreation. We all need more recreation and less exercise. Being cooped up in a sweaty gym and chained to a stair-master machine for hours are not my idea of activities that promote health. They only promote self-loathing. If you absolutely feel the need for recreation, then go throw a frisbee around. It is all the “exercise” you need.
Exercise your freedom of choice by sticking with me through the year and watching day by day, month by month, as I prove that calorie counting and personal responsibility are the real keys to successful weight management. Set your own automatic shutoff limit and achieve successful weight loss with me in 2009!
Also be sure to check out the FitBuff.com Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival #83, hosted by FitBuff.com which included this post. There’s a lot of other great articles to see as well!
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Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival 83…
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