Regular readers know that one of this year's projects is getting 6 pack abs. I like to avoid over-thinking things so the strategy is simple. In fact, Mad TV spelled it out in about 120 seconds. The strategy is called "Eat less, move more." Yes, it's just that simple. Let's make like an enzyme and break it down.
Calories are a measurement of energy. Energy is delicious because our bodies evolved so that we would want to eat high energy things. All cavemen who did not enjoy eating fatty brontosaurus burgers died off from gathering rather than hunting and couldn't get dates with cavewomen.
Since the dawn of things like agriculture, refrigerators, and Cap'n Crunch, food has become a lot easier to come by. Where fatties were once found attractive because of their ability to survive during famines and presumably collect more resources in prosperous times, they are now seen as unhealthy and unattractive because of the many health issues that arise from overeating.
So yeah the "ELMM" strategy is simple, but it's not. We all know we should eat/drink less and exercise more but it's not easy. There are a number of factors that either keep us from eating healthier things or stops us from eating too many of those healthy things , but there is one that really stands out to me:
Discipline, or the lack thereof, it's easily my biggest fault and I'd wager the biggest problem among overweight people. I say things to myself like "I'll work it off later," or "How often does the Sam Adams Autumn Beer Collection come out?" or "How often does the Sam Adams Winter Beer Collection come out?" or even, "How often does the Harpoon Winter Beer Collection come out?" To combat this I'm doing a few things:
1) Calorie counting: I record everything on an Excel spreadsheet and at the end of the day, week, and month I sum it up. I get the number of calories in each food off the interwebz or Nutrion Facts panel if there are any.
To figure out how many calories I burn, I found my basal metabolic rate (BMR) and got a Polar heart rate monitor which tells me how many calories I shed in a workout based on heart rate, age, gender, and resting heart rate (which was like, 50). I used a few websites to calculate BMR and averaged them to about 2300 daily.
Seeing the math regularly is great motivation to eat the right foods. This also takes discipline but I'm better at doing things than NOT doing things (like not eating scrumptious foods). I can frequently see how close or far I am from my goal. Remember when we talked about setting measurable goals and approaching things rather than avoiding them?
2) Grocery shopping: At least, increasing it and changing how I do it. 90% of my shopping is in the produce and deli sections. If the item in question comes in some sort of wrapper, box, or can, it's generally off limits. This also means I'm going out to eat less frequently which means avoiding high calorie meals. I hate going out and getting something healthy with few exceptions. The majority of the restaurants I go to have the permanent smell of beer soaked into the wood of the bar, seats, floor, and people. If you think I'm ordering something that will make my life longer, you're looney tunes.
3) Snacking: Eating snacks throughout the day is recommended to avoid hunger and increase metabolism. It curbs hunger throughout the day so I'm not that hungry going into meals. I'm eating a lot of fruit (10 points to the first person who comments with "You are what you eat.") which is tasty and low calorie. It also helps me avoid sugar cravings as it naturally contains fructose. I don't know why snacking increases metabolism but I guess it keeps the digestive system working throughout the day which means work, which means calories burned.
So that's the plan. I'll keep you updated on progress on another post coming soon. With the personal trainer test out of the way, there will be a lot more time for bestowing my wisdom on the blogosphere.
Keep training,
LSF
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| Overeating: Never an issue in hunter/gatherer cultures |
Since the dawn of things like agriculture, refrigerators, and Cap'n Crunch, food has become a lot easier to come by. Where fatties were once found attractive because of their ability to survive during famines and presumably collect more resources in prosperous times, they are now seen as unhealthy and unattractive because of the many health issues that arise from overeating.
So yeah the "ELMM" strategy is simple, but it's not. We all know we should eat/drink less and exercise more but it's not easy. There are a number of factors that either keep us from eating healthier things or stops us from eating too many of those healthy things , but there is one that really stands out to me:
Discipline, or the lack thereof, it's easily my biggest fault and I'd wager the biggest problem among overweight people. I say things to myself like "I'll work it off later," or "How often does the Sam Adams Autumn Beer Collection come out?" or "How often does the Sam Adams Winter Beer Collection come out?" or even, "How often does the Harpoon Winter Beer Collection come out?" To combat this I'm doing a few things:
1) Calorie counting: I record everything on an Excel spreadsheet and at the end of the day, week, and month I sum it up. I get the number of calories in each food off the interwebz or Nutrion Facts panel if there are any.
To figure out how many calories I burn, I found my basal metabolic rate (BMR) and got a Polar heart rate monitor which tells me how many calories I shed in a workout based on heart rate, age, gender, and resting heart rate (which was like, 50). I used a few websites to calculate BMR and averaged them to about 2300 daily.
 |
| 283 calories lost that day, 339 from the mark |
3) Snacking: Eating snacks throughout the day is recommended to avoid hunger and increase metabolism. It curbs hunger throughout the day so I'm not that hungry going into meals. I'm eating a lot of fruit (10 points to the first person who comments with "You are what you eat.") which is tasty and low calorie. It also helps me avoid sugar cravings as it naturally contains fructose. I don't know why snacking increases metabolism but I guess it keeps the digestive system working throughout the day which means work, which means calories burned.
So that's the plan. I'll keep you updated on progress on another post coming soon. With the personal trainer test out of the way, there will be a lot more time for bestowing my wisdom on the blogosphere.
Keep training,
LSF
You are what you eat.
ReplyDelete-Frashe
+10 points
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