Week 5 - Keep a Food Diary

You can follow my daily food diary at ibeeric.com or at twitter.com/ericsfooddiary

Stop the Pop - Lose 25 lbs

In the average year Americans consume around 830 8 oz cans of pop.  This comes out to about 87,000 calories which translates to approximately 25 lbs gained or lost.

Beyond issues surrounding gaining or losing weight, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, reports that consumption of pop leads  to a  "higher risk of kidney stones and a slightly higher risk of heart disease."  

The possible side affects of pop also include dental problems and osteoporosis in some.

Switching to diet pop is not a good answer for weight loss as studies report that a switch to diet pop is frequently followed by a gain in weight.

Pure cane sugar is now being touted as a healthier option and high fructose corn syrup is fighting back with ads suggesting that it "also" a healthy choice when consumed in moderation.  The problem with either cane sugar or corn syrup is that we are not a nation of moderation.  We like our drinks sweet and we consume a lot of them.

Of course the single best option would be to stop consuming sweetened carbonated beverages.  While the need for 8 cups a day of water is somewhat of a myth, water is the healthiest option.

Just one change (a big change for many people) can lead to big results.

Diets suck.

Diets suck! Several years ago I tried the Nutrisytem diet.  It worked quite well.  In 3 month's I lost 90 lbs.  I looked better and felt better.

On the nutrisytem plan, you buy their food and supplement it with fresh fruit and veggies.  Not horribly expensive, and at first I thought the food was passable.  After a while though, I fell off the wagon and went on a quest to find all of the buffets of Colorado.

The problem was the plan was too planned, and I really only had one choice do it or not do it.  It really didn't require any fundamental behavioral change on my part.

The only way to lose weight is to eat less.  To eat less you need to either go all in or change your core behaviors over time.  

Going all in does not work, diet programs do not work.   The only way to lose weight with a hope of keeping it off is to change your behaviors in such a way that they become permanent.

That is what I am trying to do here and at my website ibeeric.  I am going to make one focused behavioral goal every week or so.  I commit myself to working on those goals.  One goal, however, I will not make though is "Eat Less"  I will fail if I do that.  Instead, I am working under the belief that thinking about and committing to change in one area, will cause change in other areas. 

So, please vote on my polls,  It helps me.

Week 2 Update

OK, so this is not as good an update as the first week goal.  My week two goal was to swim more.  Since at the time my amount of swimming was  . . . Nada.  Any swimming would have in theory been a win on that goal.

I did join a club with a lap pool.  I did get my swim trunks.  I did by get a padlock for the locker at the club.

Sounds good so far.  The only problem is that I seem to have left one important step out achieving this goal.

I haven't actually gone swimming yet.

Main reason?  Body image - I'm letting fear of what others might think of me prevent me from doing something I actually like.  Swimming is one exercise I can do for a long time.  It really is the perfect fit for me.  I just haven't done it yet.

I'm not giving up, and my other goals are progressing well.

Eric