Prevention is the best medicine

I get 'Prevention' magazine. I love it. So many health tips and lots of information. I also get a daily email from them that is loaded with info.

One of today's links took me off to an article about 'Why slow weight loss wins'. If you're following Weight Watchers as I am, or another hopefully healthy eating program, you know that slow and steady wins the race. WW suggests to not lose more than 2 pounds a week. I think, as do the people that wrote this article, that we've all become victim to the 'I want it, and I want it NOW' bug at one point or another. I know I have.

Before I got back to MI, I was happy with 1-2 pounds a week loss. It meant I was eating right, exercising right, things were moving in the right direction. I gained 15 pounds between the last weigh in in FL, and the first one back here in MI. So, now, all of a sudden, the 'I want it and I want it NOW' gene has kicked in again.

I've never been a big loser like some. Lots of weeks that I was 100% OP, exercised faithfully 6 days, etc. I'd lose .2 of a pound. I rarely lost over 1 pound a week and 2 was heaven! Got frustrating at times, but it was coming off steadily.

I lost 4 pounds that first week back on plan here in MI. That was OK as everyone knows you lose a lot the first week. I lost 4.4 the second week. I thought that was great. Is it? I mean, really, is it? I told myself that as soon as I get that 15 pounds back off, I'll work on my daily points target to get my weight loss back to 2 pounds a week. Now I'm questioning that logic. Should I really wait?

I am hoping for a great loss this week of course. I'm hoping that the first two weeks weren't a fluke, that my system just wants to let go of that fat it put on so quickly. I think, however, that if I have a loss over 2 pounds this week, I shall add a point or two in daily. I'm still in the thinking stage. I'll let you know what I decide.

I don't want to commit plagiarism here, but I want to share a few things from the article. I think I'll be covered if i tell you it came from my wonderful daily prevention email. Everyone should subscribe to Prevention magazine...there, that should keep me safe from jail don't you think? Everything you read below I've cut and pasted from the article.

"We're constantly presented with advertisements that convince us that we can lose inches by tomorrow, and be slimmer by next week. It seems like there's no harm in wanting to lose weight by yesterday. After all, it is possible. Isn't it?

Not at all, insists Mandel. Because when it comes down to it, fast weight loss can't last, because it usually means adapting to very difficult eating habits and an impossible-to-live-with lifestyle.

Quick Fix, Fast Failure[With quick-fix diets], our metabolism slows down, and eventually we're eating fewer and fewer calories but not losing weight," says Mandel. "This leads to anxiety, which prompts us to eat even fewer calories to try to lose. The body rebels against that even more."

So it's a vicious cycle. Because if you don't get enough nutrients—which is a major risk when you're going for a quick fix—your brain, and then your body, will, well, insist that you eat. To your body, it's nothing more than survival. But to you, it will feel like you're giving in and losing control. Then you'll feel like a failure, which might very well send you to the fridge. "

Oh for goodness sakes!!! I just realized that article came in my weekly Weight Watcher email! Please change all the plagiarism rules to Weight Watchers is awesome and everyone should join. There.

I still think Prevention rocks!

Anyway, it brings me to my point, yes, there really was one! If you're trying to lose weight AND stay healthy, slow and steady does win the race. You, or I, didn't gain this weight over night and we're not going to lose it overnight. We might think if we have a single oat for breakfast and a tomato slice for lunch and a slice of chicken breast for dinner, we'll lose it fast. Just get it off and THEN we'll eat healthy. We're wrong. That's not going to happen. We'll ruin our bodies in the mean time so when we do try to add healthy food in, our body isn't going to know how to handle it. If you're not eating right, and saying you're trying to lose weight to be healthy, you're deceiving yourself. You just want to get skinny, you don't want to be healthy. Hey, I never thought about health for the first 20 years I was on WW either! I do now.

So what if you have 200 pounds to lose? So what if you 'only' lose 1-2 pounds a week. What would happen if you weren't trying to lose 1-2 pounds a week? If you're like me, you'd be gaining 5 a week that's what!

We need to keep our bodies healthy in the process. That means we need milk. We need healthy oils. We need fruits and veggies. Yes, veggies. Gag me, I know. I hate them. I'm a big girl, I suck it up and eat them because my body needs them and I would like to keep my body for a lot more years. We need protein. We need whole grains. We need water to keep our inside stuff moist.

What don't we need? We don't need trans fats. We don't need enriched bread products. We don't need hydrogenated oils (don't even get me started on that subject again!). We don't need white rice or white pasta. We don't really need all the sugar and salt that is in a lot of canned foods. The list goes on...you get the drift.

Will it hurt us once in a while? I'm not an authority, but I feel the answer is no. Except for hydrogenated oils!!! Do you just HAVE to have pizza once in a while? Do you just have to have fish and chips? Sure you do. It makes you happy, well it makes me happy anyway! Moderation is the key. As long as you're balancing it out with a healthy diet the rest of the time, I think it's fine. Doctor Debby I guess...this is of course opinion!

You can't say you want to get healthy and then say you're not going to eat veggies. That's part of it. Do you have to like it? Hell no, I don't. Just find a way to do it. Vegetable soup (toss some barley in for a whole grain!) works for me. Hold your nose and just eat it. You don't have to love it for it to be doing your body good.

Do you hate milk? What about pudding made with skim milk? What about yogurt? What about reduced fat cheese? What about fat free cottage cheese? There are ways around dietary dislikes.

Do you hate fruit? What about juice? Juice isn't as good as a whole fruit, but if you're not going to eat a whole fruit, the juice would be better than nothing!

Do you hate protein? What's wrong with you! hehe Not really...there are tons and tons of healthy proteins out there...just look around and find what you like.

I'm sorry, I rambled here....it's just that after all these years of trying to lose weight so I could be smokin hot, all of a sudden that's not my priority anymore. I want my body to be healthy so it can live for another 40 years or so. I need to do what it takes to make that happen.

If slow is the way to go, I'm there.

:-)