Weight loss strategies-updated

      It's not as if people don't know what they need to do to eat right and exercise.  It's coming up with a system that you can stick with that is the problem.  So we came up with some ideas in the form of guidelines or rules.

     Rule 1: Don't eat after 7pm.  The idea is to engage in a 12 hour fasting period and get all of your eating done by 7pm at night.  Teas and coffees are fine after 7pm and before 7am.

     Rule 2: Find an amount of weekly cardiovascular exercise you can handle fairly easily.  For some it's 15 miles of running a week, for others its 60-90 minutes.  The point is find where you are at and then maybe stretch the amount a tiny bit so its still manageable.  Now make sure that you get your miles or your time in every week.

     Rule 3: Do you have a sweet tooth?  Do you love your afternoon cocktail/wine?  Find those empty calories you are ingesting and place a limit on them like only 4 of the 7 days a week or only one or the other.  But come up with a plan to limit them but not eliminate them (everyone needs a treat from time to time).

     Rule 4: Speaking of empty calories....by now I think we all agree that white flour, white rice, and white potatoes are more calorie than nutrients.  Breads, pastas, etc....need to be eliminated if possible, and at the very least limited.  I prefer to not allow them at all but this may be your hardest rule if you love your carbs, so maybe just limit them to 3-4 days of the week.

     Rule 5: Weigh yourself morning and night.  Lots of people are 100% against this idea.  But I think that it helps you to see where you are at and make choices for the next day as well as see the impact of your day's choices.  Usually there is a slight difference in the 1st thing and last thing weights, just start to see that and react accordingly.

This is the key to the entire system-You may break any rule you like, you will just need to add 10 minutes or 1 mile of running to your weekly total.  That's per rule broken.  If you decide to have a late night snack of bread pudding....there's potentially 3 rules in 1 if you are over the weekly allowance already.  So choose wisely!

     Try this but one caveat: Don't increase your running mileage to fast!!!