What to Drink.

The biggest mistakes that I made when first starting my weight loss journey circled around liquids I was consuming on a daily basis. 

I didn't really get it. How could a can of Mountain Dew have as many calories as a sandwich? Could I really "drink" a day's worth of calories without ever chewing food? 

In fact, I was so lost, that I posted a question about drinking calories versus eating them on About.com's Nutrition Blog.

Even after getting my answer, I still didn't really follow it. I just drank whatever. That list included, but wasn't limited to:

Diet Mountain Dew
Orange Juice
Energy Drinks
Naked Juices and Smoothies 
Caribou Coffee Specialty Drinks 

And I don't mean half a glass or part of a can. I mean several glasses, and several cans, over the course of one day.

No wonder I felt like crap and still didn't lose any weight.

All of the things I listed contain large amounts of sugar or artificial sweeteners. And excess sugar in your body causes it to pump out insulin, which is affectionately called the "fat storage hormone." Gross. 

Sugar is also very addicting. It actually lights up the same centers in your brain that cocaine does! Crazy right? Rats addicted to cocaine overwhelmingly still chose sugar when given the choice. 

Did you hear that? Sugar. Is. As. Addicting. As. Cocaine.

Let's start with diet soda. It MUST be better for you right? It's diet! Research shows that 1) diet soda tricks your metabolism into thinking that sugar is on its way, which causes your body to pump out insulin (which increases the amount of belly fat you have!) 2) constant exposure to sweet things makes you crave them even more, leading to more food on the plate and 3) artificial sweeteners are associated with increased body weight.

So, my obvious recommendation is to cut out the soda. Which is going to be very hard for you, because you're addicted to it. Your mental cravings aren't a joke - legit addiction to it. 

So let's talk about other things like juice! Naked Juice has vitamins and stuff, it must be healthy right? A bottle of Naked Juice has the same amount of sugar as a Mountain Dew. 

Whoa.

So you could probably just drink a Mountain Dew and have an apple, and you'd be about as well off as your bottle of Naked Juice.

The Point:

1) Sugar (natural and artificial) is bad for you. Because it makes you fat. 
2) Sugar is addicting. As addicting as cocaine! Your body truly craves sugar when you start giving it on a daily basis.
3) Diet sodas and fruit juices are not better for you. In some ways, they are worse. Because they either trick your body into thinking it's getting something it's not, or trick your mind into thinking it's healthier than it truly is.

My (not so expert) Advice:

1) Cut out the soda. Seriously. The empty calories are not helping you, and the soda is contributing to your weight gain, especially around the belly.

2) Limit the fruit smoothies, juices and specialty drinks. It is very possible to drink your calories away. And, many of these options contain as many empty sugar calories as soda.

So, if you have to cut out all of the yummy drinks you love, what are you even going to drink?

Well, you're not going to like it. But here's the answer:

1) Water. (look for a future post on how amazing water is for you!)
2) Coffee. (watch the amount of extras you add - like cream).
3) Unsweetened tea.

Jeez. I know. It's a lot to ask.

And because you're addicted to sugar, it's not going to be easy.

Probably close to impossible.

I certainly didn't do it the way I am recommending. For me, it was a slow process to remove these things from my diet. 

So choose one. Pick one goal. Research It  and see how you feel after one, two or three weeks without soda or sugary drinks. 

I don't recommend limiting your soda intake. Such as: I drink 3 cans of soda a day, I'm going to now only drink 1. It doesn't work. Why? Because sugar is addicting. Gradually, you'll start increasing the number until you're right back where you started. Do you think cocaine addicts just slowly decrease the amount of cocaine over time? It doesn't really work that way. Cold turkey is the way to go.

And just like cocaine addicts who suffer from forms of withdrawal and mad cravings, you're going to too. But it's worth it.

I promise you - if you're looking to loose weight, evaluating your beverage choices is the first place to start. It will have in impact - on how you feel, how you look and how your pants fit.

I'm not suggesting you never drink another sugary thing for the rest of your life. I'm suggesting you cut out your main source of empty, sugary, liquid calories until you're no longer addicted to it, and drinking just one won't cause you to start drinking just one or two or three every day.

I've included links to some of the research above. But I couldn't include links to everything, or this post would be a big wad of text underlined in blue. So I encourage you to do your own research and make sure I'm on the right page - start with the articles I've linked you to.

Reach out to me if you want more resources or advice on this topic!

Thanks for reading,

Samantha

Research It.

So here's my first official tip (ah! this is so exciting!):

Do your own research.

I'm serious. I know that seems like 1) an obvious tip and 2) why would you be reading this if I'm just telling you to go read other things!

I get it.

But no one lifestyle is the "right" one.

No one diet will help everyone lose weight (why do you think there are so many!)

No one exercise program will help everyone get the results that they want.

In your real life, you do this all the time. Through trial and error, you figure out what kind of movies, books, music, people, and so on that work best for you. We can't all watch the same movie, read the same book, listen to the same band and hang out with the same friends. That would be super boring, confusing, and it would end up making YOU super boring and confused.

The same is true when it comes to your OTHER lifestyle choices. Specifically, how you take care of your body, what you put into it, the energy you get out of it. What worked for me is 99% guaranteed to NOT work for you. Because we're not the same.

My (not so expert) advice:

1) Do research on yourself.

If you're looking to make any lifestyle change, try it out for a week. See how you feel. Remove things from your life, add things in. And when I say one week, I truly mean it. COMMIT to your one week.

Example: There are a multitude of reasons why someone might get frequent (insert problem here: heartburn, stomach aches, headaches, etc). Obviously something you're doing or giving your body isn't working well for it. The only way to truly determine what that "thing" is, is to try to remove or add different things in.

Doctors recommend this to patients all the time. Have you ever heard someone say they were going to do an elimination diet? I feel like someone new tells me that every week. It's because they went to the doctor, the problem wasn't obvious, and so, the doctor wants you to do the research to figure out what the program might be. 

Better Example: You often get stomach aches at the end of the day. Like clockwork, they tend to come right before bed. This has been your life forever. But you're ready to make a change! You do some of your own research (see what I did there), and come up with a list of 3 different possibilities of what might be happening to your body. Based on this list, you decide to cut out dairy products for one week. This means no cheese, yogurt or milk - three of your favorites. And definitely no ice cream - which is your number one favorite. But you decide to commit to one week to see if not eating dairy will affect how your body feels.

It might work. It might not. But kudos for you for testing out a theory on yourself. 

2) Read both sides of every story.

There are good points to every story. For instance, when it comes to working out, there are die hard runners who insist that running is the best cardio activity you can do. And there are others who claim that running is the worst thing you can do for your body.

It's so easy to get lost in all of that. Who the heck do you trust or believe?

Really, the answer is yourself. (You probably already guessed that).

Ang and I after The Glow Run.

Example: I love to run. I love the way I feel after a run - that sense of accomplishment. I like running races. I like discovering a new trail, reaching a new milestone. Those all feel good to me. But too much running, and my knees start to ache. My body feels tired all the time. The runs actually become HARDER, not easier for me. Trial and error has told me that a little running is great, a lot of running is hard on me physically and no running is hard on me mentally. I've found a great balance between both sides of that story - after doing my own research and deciding what's right for my body and my life.

So there you have it. My (not so expert) advice. Research it!

As promised, I'm going to post resources to get you started:

My favorite nutrition/fitness blogs:

Carrots N Cake
Calorie Count Blog
Mark's Daily Apple

Thanks for reading,

Samantha

Tips and Tricks

Since starting our journey for a healthier lifestyle, I've had a lot of friends and family members ask me for advice on losing weight, feeling better and working out. 

I'm not an expert. Not even close. I'm not certified in anything at all. My only advice comes from my personal experience. And I'm still on my journey. I have fitness goals yet to reach, lifestyle changes yet to be made and weight loss goals yet to be hit. 

But, I do feel like I have some knowledge and resources that I can share, and I'd love to be able to direct someone to all of the things that float around in my head. So, I decided I'm going to start posting tips and tricks with details on where to go after you read what I have to say.

If you stumbled upon here or if I sent you here, I hope this information is valuable. 

Please reach out to me if you have questions or comments: sam@allrobots.org

Thanks for reading,

Samantha