I have had quite a few emails about people who feel they are failing everyday and I wanted to clarify what failure is.
If you fall off the wagon, put off exercising or give into temptation, you have not failed. How you choose to handle that fall determines whether you have failed or not. Here is a visual I share a lot....
My friend (who is very well known in our city) was walking across a busy street. In the middle of the street, she slipped and fell right on her face. As she laid there, she thought to herself, I have three choices. I could....
1. Just stay here because I am so embarassed I don't want anyone to recognize me, but if I do, I could get run over and killed.
2. I could run back to the curb where I started, but then I will have not acccomplished anything or gotten to my destination.
3. I could get up, dust myself off, keep my head up and finish crossing the street.
I love this visual she gave me. So if she would have laid there, gave up and risked getting run over, she would have failed. If she would of taken the short path and run back to where she started, she would have failed. But she chose to get up from her fall and keep walking towards her destination, so even though she fell, was embarassed and bruised, she didn't fail.
Need I say more? Have a Merry Christmas my Weight Loss WINNERS!
Many people believe any weight gained will be composed of fat. Actually all weight gains are made of 3 components; fat, water and lean weight. As weight is gained all 3 components may vary according to diet, activity level, genetics and the time taken to gain the extra weight. In an extreme case, a greater percentage of fat will be gained if energy intake is too much, activity is low and the time taken to gain is quick.
Probably as much as 90% of excess weight will be made up of mostly extra fat stores. However, a small percentage of any gain will comprise lean weight and water. The water gain is often due to an increased daily sodium intake.
In the US, average sodium-intake in the daily diet is 4,000-5,000 mg. In the UK, dietary sodium-intake averages 3,500 mg daily. This is way above the RDA of 2400mg per day.
When sodium intake exceeds the amount the body can handle it builds up in the interstitial areas and the kidneys have to work extra hard to excrete a constant rise in daily sodium intake. A build up may cause the body to hold extra fluids in the blood and around the cells which contributes to increased blood pressure and also excess weight gain from water.
Congratulations to *Jacqueline* for winning a brand new copy of Tae Bo Extreme! Her name was drawn randomly and she answered the question correctly of
What are the 3 main things you need to change about yourself on the inside in order to change the outside?
Answer: Mind, Will & Attitude or heart was accepted.
There were other wonderful answers though and I appreciated each entry.
This month, we are drawing for a brand new Audio CD set of "The Taebo Way" read by Billy Blanks himself!
The average diet in the western world is made up of fast, packaged or convenient foods. These always consist of high levels of salt. If a diet is mainly composed of high sodium foods then extra weight is gained quickly as the body holds onto water. It has been estimated that many people in the UK and USA may be carrying up to 5 pounds of extra weight due to the effects of a high daily sodium intake.
The opposite effect also happens when someone reduces food intake in order to lose weight quickly. A percentage of the loss will be water because less high sodium foods means a reduction in daily sodium intake which results in water loss as the kidneys have a chance to finally rid the excess sodium from the body. This also helps partly explain why a dieter may experience the yo-yo effect when dieting, water weight is lost with food reduction but quickly regained when the eating is back to normal because daily sodium intake rises once more.
TIPS FOR REDUCING SODIUM
*Eat fewer processed foods.
*Eat less fast food.
*Reduce the amount of sodium used in cooking - start by cutting the amount in half and then cut it in half again several weeks later.
*Take the salt shaker off the table and don’t add salt directly to your food.
*Ask for sauces and salad dressings on the side.
*Use reduced-sodium chicken broth in recipes that call for it.
*Choose fresh or frozen vegetables over canned.
*Aim to keep daily sodium intake below 2,400 mg. Use Fitday or Nutrawatch to help you keep track.
*Always drink plenty of water to flush out extra salt.
