Day 15

Walk the Dog.

About a year and a half ago we got a yellow lab. She’s an intelligent, gentle creature who now weighs 85 pounds and, as a large breed hunting dog, needs lots of exercise. I’m an early riser anyway, but if I dare to sleep past 6 am she comes into my room and wakes me with an expression of “What the hell?” We go for a long morning walk, and then a mid-day walk, and a home after work walk, an evening walk, and finally, a last walk of the day at around 10 pm. All told I probably spend an hour and twenty minutes each day walking the dog.

While this might seem annoying especially when it’s February in Minnesota and minus 14 degrees out, this is over an hour of modest exercise that I do every day, regardless of what else is on the schedule. The more calories you burn with exercise, the more weight you lose.

To lose a pound of fat you have to be in a deficit of about 3500 calories. So to lose a pound of fat in a week you have to be down by 500 calories a day (7 X 500 = 3500). Walking the dog adds to the calorie deficit.

You could do the walking without the dog, but then you’d have no one to talk to on the way.

Day 14

No Soda Pop.

Not even diet.

Soda is a processed chemical solution with sugar and caffeine (or aspartame and caffeine). It tastes good but is not good for you. Drinking pop, even diet, has been linked to an increased incidence of the Metabolic Syndrome (doctor speak for being too fat).

What really is in soda? Well, we know it has a lot of calories, that much is on the can. The kind without calories has aspartame in it, which fools the body into thinking it’s sweet. Who knows what else it does? Why bother risking toxic side effects? Furthermore, drinking diet pop does not help you lose weight.

Water is great and free. You can drink it right from the tap. Bottled water is fine too if you're not concerned about wasting money.

Fruit juices are ok in small amounts, but beware of the calorie load. Vegetable juices (tomato, V8, carrot) are all low calorie and good bets. In all these cases read the label to be sure.

The path to your ideal weight does not include soda.

Day 13

Perfection

You are not perfect. None of us are. You will have setbacks on the path to your ideal weight. You will wake up in the morning and realize with horror that last night at the party you ate an entire basket of chips and then had a huge platter of appetizers and finshed the evening off with two pieces of cake.

OK. Today is a new day. Yesterday is history. Get out of bed, brush your teeth and rededicate yourself to your goal of achieving your ideal weight. A slip up does not mean you’re hopeless, it means you’re human. We are biologic creatures who were designed (intelligently or not) to hunt and gather. We evolved in an environment where you had better eat everything in front of you because who knows when the next wildebeest will come along? Yet in modern society we are surrounded by food, in the real world, and in the media. Supermarkets are open 24 hours a day. The refrigerator is full of stuff to eat. Pizza can be delivered whenever you want it.

To stay thin you need to constantly be on guard, constantly make the right choices in terms of what you eat. Sometimes you’ll screw up. Move on. Nobody’s perfect.

Day 12

Times of Danger

At 2 or 3 in the afternoon I am usually tired and hungry, not to mention irritated at life in general. My cortisol (the body’s stress hormone) level is dropping, I’ve been working all day. I am hungry and out of sorts. I may walk down to the Doctor’s Lounge and look longingly at the trays of cookies and pastries. But I keep walking, because I have planned for this time in advance.

This is a time of danger, a time you must plan ahead for. It is tempting to grab a chocolate chip cookie or a candy bar, or you may want to get a sugar and caffeine boost from a can of pop. Don’t do it.

What you should do at these times of danger is have a banana or a cut up apple. If you need the caffeine boost, have a cup of tea with a little honey in it. In fact, the best thing is to plan a mid-afternoon snack: some fruit, tea or coffee, half a homemade turkey sandwich. This will perk you up and help you avoid the eat whatever is in the break room syndrome.

The other time of danger is after dinner, if you are the kind of person who likes to kick back with a little TV. There’s something about TV that makes you want to snack. You can put away a huge amount of calories in short order just watching American Idol. Again plan ahead. A cut up apple, a small turkey sandwich and a glass of water are a heck of a lot better than a bag of chips and a cola, followed by a dish of ice cream and some cookies.

Plan for times of danger. Make sure you are prepared with a low calorie snack.

Day 11

Stairs.

It always amazes me. If you tell someone you are going to spend half an hour working out on a stair-stepper machine they will usually nod their heads in approval. On the other hand if you suggest to someone that they use actual stairs, they are shocked and hurt.

I work in a hospital that goes from LL to the 8th floor. The doctor’s lounge is on the LL, the ICU on 3 and medical wards on 6 and 8. I go up and down the stairs continuously during the day. Whenever I get paged out of lunch for a patient on the 8th floor I look forward to the nine floor climb as a bonus, a chance to work some physical training into my daily life.

The same holds true in other situations. If I go to a mall, I leave the close up parking spots for the old ladies and the disabled. I park far away and walk, If I need to go to the grocery store to pick up some food, I walk and get two bags of stuff to carry home: weight training and aerobics! An extra bonus.

Losing weight is all about diet and exercise. The more calories you burn by incorporating physical training into your daily life, the more weight you will lose.

Pretend the elevator was never invented. Take the stairs.

Day 10

No Dessert.

Sorry. What can I say? Dessert is a high calorie, high fat end to the meal. Eliminating dessert eliminates calories. Less calories = weight loss.

This sounds harsh, but achieving ideal weight requires discipline and sacrifice. If you are a believer in those “Eat all you want and still lose weight!” diets, then I have some great swampland in Florida to sell you. The diets that make these claims are about as successful as you would imagine them to be.

The exception to the rule is a Special Occasion. If you are out to eat at a wonderful French restaurant, go ahead and order the flourless chocolate cake and eat it with gusto. If it is your child’s birthday, have a generous piece of cake and enjoy it.

But on a typical day forget it. Starting today: No Dessert.

Day 9

Learn to love fruit.

When you reach that point in the afternoon when you just need something to get yourself through the rest of the day, try an apple or banana or orange. Fruit is low fat, low salt, high potassium, high fiber and generally good to eat. Eat as much as you want.

You have to teach yourself to eat fruit, as most of us are imprinted on grabbing a pastry or cookie when we are hungry. Eating fruit seems like a chore. You have to wash it, peel it, rinse your hands and face after eating it. So much easier to wolf down a brownie. You need to make fruit a habit.

One trick with apples, for instance, is to quarter and peel them rather than eating them whole. When I offer one of the kids a whole apple it’s like “Whatever Dad. “ But if I peel it and quarter it and present the fruit in small bowl it’s like “Thanks Dad! “ The same works for adults. Spend the one minute it takes to wash, quarter and peel the apple, and then enjoy a filling, healthy snack.

Fruit is free; eat as much as you want.

Day 8

Hunger is good.

Don’t eat pastries or muffins. Don’t eat pizza. No fast food. No fries. What the hell? Is there anything you can eat? Is 365/weightloss a guide to starvation?

We’ll talk about what you can eat in later posts, but if you want to lose weight you will have to be hungry at times. Hunger is good. Hunger is the way your body feels when you are losing weight. If you are never hungry then you are likely gaining weight on a daily basis.

But eating is a pleasure, right? Good food is one of the greatest pleasures in life. True, but you know what? Being lean and fit is a pleasure too. Fitting into your clothes is a pleasure. Looking great in a bathing suit is a pleasure. Being able to fully participate in an active, vigorous life-style is a great pleasure too.

It’s okay to be hungry. Hunger is what you feel when you are losing weight.

Day 7

Repeat after me: I will not eat French fries.

Fat, salt, starch, in a hot, crispy high calorie package. I admit nothing beats a good order of French fries, but it has been a few years since I’ve eaten any.

No French fries. Don’t order them. If they come with the meal go ahead and ask them to substitute a small green salad or fruit salad. Most restaurants will be agreeable to this, but if not, just tell the waiter to leave them off the plate. If you think this sucks you’re right, but you’ll live. No one ever died of French fry deprivation. It’s worth it to be thin.

Go ahead and say it: Today I will give up French fries forever.

Day 6

No fast food.

What’s really fast about fast food is the speed with which you will gain weight when you eat it.

Forget about burgers, tacos and the like. Fast food restaurants, in my humble opinion, are one of the main reasons that the majority of Americans are overweight. The burgers are cheap and tasty, but contain a whole day’s worth of calories and a week's worth of salt.

While you’re at it, do not, repeat, do not take your children to fast food restaurants. My youngest son has never been inside of McDonald’s. And you know what? He’s a perfectly happy, well-adjusted, popular kid. He’s also lean and athletic. His schoolmates are increasingly overweight or even obese, which is heart breaking to see. Make the kids' lunch and snacks at home.

From this day on, fast food restaurants do not exist. Just drive on by.

Day 5

Pizza is not your friend.

We all love pizza, but it does not love us back. It makes us fat.

Sure, if you are at the local Italian bistro and the pizza is a small item with a thin crust, a little olive oil, tomato slices and a dusting of cheese, go ahead and eat it. On an occasional basis. The problem is that your typical take-out pizza oozes olive oil and the cheese is so thick it flows onto the table. Which is to say it is loaded with fat and calories.

When pizza is on the menu just say no. Not even one slice. Not even a bite. Live a pizza free existence and stay lean.

Day 4

No Muffins.

… or croissants, or sweetrolls, or stickybuns, or Krispy Kreme, or even organic blueberry bran muffins.

How many of us start the day with a tall latte (hopefully skim) and a little something from the bakery. If the muffin involves bran or fruit we think it is somehow healthy. What it is, is a truckload of fat and calories. Pretend the word muffin had never been invented and you were forced to say “I’ll have a tall latte and a piece of cake. “

All these baked goods are high in fat and high in calories. Forget about them.

Thou shalt not eat muffins.

Day 3

Don't worry about the past. The past is gone. The process of achieving your ideal weight starts today.

After we pass our early twenties, the typical American lifestyle leads to a slow, steady, inexorable weight gain. American adults typically gain about a pound a year. This means that by the time you are forty you’re 15 to 20 pounds overweight. Many people add on another twenty pounds by the time they reach 60 years old. Some gain at an even faster rate.

This is not a normal part of the aging process!! That means you can change course.

You do not need to accept the fact that you are overweight or obese as a permanent condition. It's not like being short or having brown eyes. Go take look in the mirror. Accept that this is where you are now and that it will be a long journey to get to where you want to be. Don’t blame yourself, or anyone else for what you look like right now. In terms of your weight, the past is gone, forget about it. The future is where it’s at.

The first step is commitment to the goal.

Day 2

Obesity in the United States is epidemic. We don’t need statistics to tell us what we see every day at the mall, in the airport or in our schools. Just as our celebrities are getting thinner and thinner, we are getting fatter and fatter.
In my medical practice I am no longer surprised when my patient is a woman who is five foot two and weighs 245 pounds. Of course, the flood of obese patients in my office has to do with the fact that I am a nephrologist, which is a specialist in kidney diseases. The most common causes of kidney disease in modern America are diabetes and hypertension and both of these diseases are related to obesity. Being fat puts you at risk not only for diabetes and hypertension, but also degenerative joint disease or arthritis, heart disease and even cancer.
Besides these health risks, it is my observation that many obese people dislike their appearance and are unhappy with their bodies.
I believe that there are four main benefits from achieving and maintaining your ideal weight.
1. Physical Fitness : an enhanced ability to perform physical activities and fully participate in life.
2. Health : feeling better and living longer.
3. Appearance : In modern America we equate attractiveness with being thin (Just take a look at an issue of People magazine).
4. Happiness : People who are fit, healthy and attractive are generally happier than those who are not.

I am writing 365/weightloss to help people achieve and maintain their ideal weight. I chose the format of a daily blog because I think it is sometimes difficult to put an entire diet/exercise book into daily practice. The information sounds good as you read it, but by the time you’re done, unless you take notes, you don’t really know where to start. The idea behind 365/weightloss is to focus on one concept each day. On each day’s blog there is a single guideline, action plan or idea, followed by a paragraph or two of explanation.
Start with Day 1 and read a new page each day with your morning coffee. Try to put the day’s concept into action on that day. Taken alone, each page may seem simplistic or inconsequential, but they add up over the course of a year, forming a comprehensive plan for achieving ideal weight.
Good Luck! Prepare to get lean!