Slim People in Progress

Weight Loss Progress Report #8

Not a lot to report today. Went to Weight Watchers meeting. Lost .6 lbs for a total loss of 6 pounds. A relief since I was only sporadically following the plan this week and worked out less than usual. Missed my Wednesday run.

At one point during the meeting, Flora pulled out a 10" plate that has the portion controls defined for you. I've never seen this before. Half the plate should be veggies, quarter is lean meat and quarter is whole grains.

So if you're not disciplined about your portions, you can use this plate to serve up your food and do it right. The site, Portion Doctor, has a lot of other stuff to help you manage your portions.

The topic of the day was monitoring: measuring and weighing your food; counting your steps; writing in your food journal or using etools; controlled portion products.

Flora also emphasized that we typically underestimate how much food we eat and overestimate how much exercise we get. I know I'm guilty of that! On the food, when in doubt, round up; on the exercise, round down.

Calories In, Calories Out

I read an interesting post by Jeff Hopeck called The Numbers Behind "SLIM" on his Healthy Habits blog.

Hopeck details the exact number of calories required to add a pound of fat to your body and how easy it is for the pounds to add up (don't we know it).

One pound of fat = 3,500 calories.

If you need to consume 2,500 calories to maintain a healthy weight and you are consistently eating 2,000 or more excess calories per day, you can see how fast the pounds stack up.

Of course you can counter act that with exercise. And we know it takes a hell of a lot of exercise to burn calories. When I do a 30 minute run at a 12 min/mile pace, I typically burn about 260 calories. If I turn around and eat a Big Mac for lunch, I'm consuming 560 calories on that alone (not that I know anyone who would do that!!!). I've just eliminated any benefit I got from the run. Especially when you add 380 calories for medium fries and 210 calories for a medium Coke. (All calorie counts from Dotti's Weight Loss Zone)

OK, I'm being extreme. But you get the point.

In Weight Watchers, they calculate that one point = approximately 50 calories. Right now, for weight loss, I'm supposed to confine my self to 19 points/day. That's 950 calories! If I went to McDonald's for lunch just once during the week, I'd be so far over my daily points just for one meal, I definitely would not be losing any weight.

Just keep in mind, it's easy to consume calories. It's harder to burn them. Watch (and count) what you eat.

Tweet What You Eat: Social Networking to Lose Weight

Through a group I belong to on LinkedIn, I ran across an article called Social Networking Used to Help Shed Pounds. The site they are profiling is called Tweet What You Eat.

If you have an account on Twitter, then you simply log in with your Twitter ID, then begin tweeting your food intake and calories. The tweets are recorded as direct messages (DMs) which are private. They do NOT get sent out through your public twitter stream.

Since I'm using Weight Watchers etools to track points, I probably won't use this tool, but for those not on WW, this could be a great way to track your eating habits and calories. And it's free!

Not sure what twitter is? Watch this clever video.

If you are on twitter, let's connect!

Weight Loss Progress Report #7

Been awhile since I checked in...3 weeks to be exact. My excuses are: traveling, car in shop, lazy, in denial and feeling guilty about not following the plan.

Happy to report that I lost 1.6 lbs regardless of not following the Weight Watchers plan, not tracking, and indulging in emotional eating.

And, today's a new day. Went to my meeting and the topic was movement. I'm always good with that. I went to the gym and had a good cardio/weight workout.  Planning a run for tomorrow; Pilates on Monday.

I still have 8 weeks to meet my goal of losing 20 pounds and since I only have 15 to go, that should be do-able. That's less than 2 lbs a week.

Any weight watchers doing the Momentum Walk-It Challenge? Looks like a good program to get anyone started on a walking routine, all culminating in a 5K (3.1 mile) event. A couple of people in my meeting want to start a walking group. And while my preference is to run, I'd be happy to do it to support others to get up and get going. If you're in the North Hollywood/Studio City/Sherman Oaks area and want to form a walking group to train for a 5K for 8 weeks, post a comment here.

How are y'all doing out there with your weight loss goals?

Resources for Weight Loss and Fitness

Three good resources that I'd like to share with you this weekend:

Weight Loss and the Mind - a free podcast about how to use your mind to get fit (gotta use your body too and control your mouth, and the right attitude and thought processes help as well). Download to your mp3 player and listen on your walks or runs.

Vital Juice is a free daily e-mail newsletter that delivers the latest must-read information about fitness, nutrition, beauty and wellness. They have a NYC edition, an LA edition, and an "Everywhere" edition.

Hungry Girl is one of my must-read daily emails that provides tons of great tips for eating better, healthier and consume less calories. I've been a subscriber for about 3 years and never delete one edition. Always good stuff.

Do you have a weight loss or fitness resource you can't live without? Please share your best resources here by clicking on the comments link below. Thanks!