My Weight Loss Blog

I’ve had some emails from readers saying that the hardest part of dieting is the constant craving for food. Hunger isn’t easily ignored. However, should we actually call it hunger? Most of it is psychological, your body doesn’t actually NEED food, but your mind is telling you that it is after food. Learning to control your mind will be just as important as controlling your body. At first, when people start dieting they are enthusiastic, but after a while their mind starts to wander and thoughts of food will once again pop up. Dieting is largely the effort of resisting the urge to give in to your cravings and eat whatever you want. Preventing yourself from taking that cookie will be vital. You know that once you start eating those lovely small cookies (in fact they contain 70 calories per cookie) you won’t be able to stop easily. Before you know it you have eaten 6 cookies worth almost 450 calories! That’s about 20% of the recommended daily calorie intake for a male!

So concentrate on keeping your mind off food, and hide all those tasty chocolate cookies from sight. Once you are able to control your “virtual hunger feeling” you will be in a much better position to lose weight. There are several protein drinks that are low fat, and low calorie – and calm down your urge to eat calorie-rich food. Do be careful what kind of drink you decide to take. Do some research on the product. Start with small amounts and gradually increase if the product is working and not having any nasty side effects.

It is well known that fibre-rich foods are a great way to prevent yourself from consuming calorie-rich foods. Fibres are an excellent hunger fighter, and they are healthy as well. Fibres have even been mentioned as a good way to restore blood sugar levels.

Do not underestimate the power of the human mind. It has the ability to make you a stronger, and healthier, person if you are able to control its mechanisms. The right mindset makes losing weight a lot easier.

I am scared. Christmas and New Year are getting closer and I need to find a way NOT to gain weight again. I’ve actually gained weight every Christmas since I started keeping track of my weight. I usually end up with 4 kilograms of extra weight after Christmas and New Year are over. Since I can’t seem to get myself not to eat so much during this period I have decided to eat less 2 weeks before Christmas starts, this way I lose some extra weight and then during Christmas I can eat without worrying about my weight. So far i’ve lost 3 extra kilograms, another 1 to go

I’ve also increased my exercise time. I am spending about 2.5 hours a week on my exercise bike, and can see some improvement. My wife even mentioned my buttocks are starting to look nicer!

Have a great Christmas.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been extremely busy lately. Actually me and my wife have been busy. We moved to a new house a week ago. It took months of planning. It’s just unbelievable how much stuff we really have. It’s all hidden away until you move. About 20% was donated to various charities, there was just too much we didn’t use anymore – hopefully someone else will be happy with it.

Maybe you have guessed it… but I’ve lost a bit of weight again because of the move. All the carrying stuff around, stressing out over little details – and not much time for snacking – burned off about half a kilogram. My wife looks extremely well now that we have settled in our new home. Time for a holiday to some exotic resort to get a tan and leave all our worries behind us for 2 weeks.

I am actually happy with my weight today. No, I am not all of a sudden the fittest man on Earth, but losing another 2 kilograms feels like a load off my shoulders. Why exactly these last 2 kilograms make me feel this way, I don’t know. I must have hit some sort of artificial boundary that allows me to feel better about myself. And hey, I was able to stay away from those darn chocolate bars the kids were eating at a party last week! Yummy Mars and Snickers.. but I think they contain like 290 calories a piece. NOT good for someone like me. Oh well if I can just keep it up long enough i’ll be able to consume some of those in my next life without actually feeling guilty.

Wife made pancakes yesterday evening. Now normally i’d eat about 6 of them (and they are pretty big), but last night just 3. For some odd reason I wasn’t THAT hungry. Has my stomach shrunk? Or is that even possible through natural ways? Hmm something I will have to look up.

Anyway, have a good weekend.

George.

Did you know that you can limit calorie intake by taking smaller bites? I never thought about it, but it does make sense. A small company is introducing a device that restricts jaw movement, forcing you to take smaller bites. I came across it through Google, the news article is from last year. To me the device doesn’t actually look comfortable. Won’t it cause problems with your jaw? They’ve tested the device on 50 Europeans, and will be starting trials in the US soon. If approved in the US it would be the first oral-weight loss device gaining approval.

Small Bite Inc. CEO Denis Mulder displays his company’s device, which is designed
to help people lose weight by making them take smaller bites, ultimately reducing the
amount of food they eat. The Haverford company hopes to start patient clinical trials
in Philadelphia early next year.

Americans perennially try to lose weight. They try diets. They try pills and
supplements. Some even opt for surgery to make their stomachs smaller.
But many of these methods don’t work long-term, or, in the case of bariatric surgery,
not everyone is ready for such a drastic step.
Now one company, Small Bite Inc., thinks it may have an answer.

Full article in PDF format, right here.