the lencurrie life » weight loss

Battle Of The Best Diets! – by Oprah

lencurrie — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:15:37 +0000

Soo.. umm… went on Sunday to get my picture taken with Liz and the hounds on Sunday when she got back from Halifax, and as great as the photographer was (and she’s extremely talented), nothing could hide the fact that I looked absolutely huge in the picture! Ha.. ok, perhaps I’m over-reacting.. but it certainly wasn’t one of my better shots that’s for sure.

Soo, let’s just say I’ve spent a few minutes here and there looking up diet recipes – I know what I have to do if I want to lose weight.. it’s called Weight Watchers, but I wanted to see if there were any really good natural weight loss supplement that did the trick.

Low and behold, I found a site which posted the results of studies on the Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet, and LOTS of others.. take alook:

Oprah.com – Battle of the Diet Plans

Nutritional Labels Confusing? I Could See It

lencurrie — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:32:47 +0000

I’m not sure how many people out there read the Guardian now on a daily basis, but one article that I just read which caught my imagination was an article on how confusing our nutritional labels are now – and what could be done to improve them.

The article basically states that food companies are making it as difficult as possible to understand what’s good and what’s bad for you and listing them on their box or packaging isn’t really helping. For example, all of a sudden I started hearing about all these foods which contain ‘no trans fats’.. well, I didn’t know wtf a trans fat was, nor did I know that there was an opposite to trans fat. How much trans fat is bad for me? How much is healthy? Any? *sigh*

I never really thought about it, but even when I was on Weight Watchers.. they really only take 3 nutritional ingredients into play – calories, fat, and fibre – the combination of which combine to equal a point score. In truth it wasn’t that hard to follow – but you had to keep track, etc..etc.. kind of a pain, and it’s not like I’ve ever heard of any crash diets that work either.

Anyhow the article proposes a new system for measuring the nutritional value of foods into a single number. And yes, the critics say that you can’t really do that accurately, however, I believe it’s a great idea to implement that system. I know if I was staring at two different cereals for example.. and cereal a had a value of 50 and cereal b had a value of 65 or something.. well I could tell you which one I was going to purchase. And don`t I have that right? To know which foods are healthier for me? Which foods I should be eating? I think so. The system is called the NuVal system – and the article centered on Dr. Arya Sharma`s recommendation of the system. The article can be found here at drsharma.ca.

Worth a read for sure… really, how hard would it be to add a number into that box of nutritional information?

Weight Loss Tip That Everyone Knows..

lencurrie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:45:19 +0000

It’s no secret to anyone that drinking more water will help you lose weight. Not only does it make you feel better, it also helps in two other key areas for weight loss that I can think of right now.

1. It makes you feel full. Drinking lots of water fills up your stomach so you don’t feel hungry or the urge to eat nearly as much. Very critical.

2. It ‘lubes’ up your system. Well, this sounds kind of gross, but it’s true.. it flushes out your system if you drink enough of it and carrying with it lots of crap that’s been bogging up your body! Awesome!

Now I’m not sure about you, but I’m not one to usually go to the faucet and fill up a glass and just go to town. Most times I have a jug filled with water (still just tap water.. but a lot colder) in the fridge, but at work.. to ‘spice’ things up a bit.. I buy those Crystal Light singles and use them in 1 litre of water – it says to add them to 500mL each, but I find they taste just fine with a full 1L. So they taste great.. have no significant calories (yes.. yes… they have Aspartame.. I know..) and I can down a liter of water in the morning and afternoon. Pretty click considering 10 packets generally cost about $2.99 or so.

And that’s all I’ve got to say about that

A Year Of Weight Loss – Reviewed

lencurrie — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:17:03 +0000

No.. this isn't me..

it was way back in January when I started the ‘biggest loser’ BellAliant edition at work. I ended up winning going from 202 down to about 182 or so. As impressive as that is, I’m really happy to report that I’ve kept that off for almost the entire year (even though it’s not over yet!!).

There is no question that I learned a hell of a lot this year in regards to what it takes to lose weight, feel good, and what not to put into your body (sorry about that McDonalds).

During the course of the year, I used fat burner pills, went to Weight Watchers, tried a cleansing product (Isagenix) and I can honestly say that nothing works better than eating properly.. it really comes down to the calories you’re putting into your system. With the hockey I play as well as being smart about the foods and especially the snacks you chomp down on every day.. losing weight really isn’t that difficult.

It feels good that I have a belt currently at the leather shoe guy at Superstore putting in 3 sets of notches smaller than the lowest setting, I should take a picture of it actually.. it’s quite inspirational to me as it shows it warn on each level..

I get a kick out of the folks that keep telling me “you don’t need to lose weight”, I really do appreciate it as they are giving me a compliment, however it has nothing to do with ‘need’. To me, it’s a matter of ‘want’… I want to get to my goal weight, and I know I can do it..we’ll see what the new year brings.

Losing Weight Is Really Easy.. Or At Least It Should Be..

lencurrie — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:54:32 +0000

Eat Less.. Lose Weight.. Simple!

Been thinking about this really for quite some time, just never jotted it down anywhere..

Generally speaking, when you gain weight.. you are intaking more calories than you are burning on a daily basis.. that being the case, it would make sense to say that in order to lose weight, you have to burn off more calories than you take in. Simple right?

Well why is it so tough to do?

As I was driving in this morning to work, I noticed that yesterday the Government of Canada approved a H1N1 Vaccine to be administered to Canadians, and it got me to thinking.

“Why is it that we can obtain and administer a vaccine for a disease only really discovered and widespread last year, yet we can’t find cures for Cancer, AIDS, or on a lesser scale, Obesity”

Was H1N1 that easy to figure out?

That’s a bit off topic.. I’d like to get back to my original topic of weight loss. I’m pretty happy to be down 9 lbs and keeping it off so far just eating better, but what if I used the best appetite suppressants to keep me from getting hungry to begin with?

I don’t really know which are the ‘best’ or what the deal is with some of them, but wouldn’t it make sense that if you had some sort of supplement to assist in controlling hunger, that you’d eat less.. thereby increasing weight loss? I’m sure there are all kinds of arguments to the fact that maybe they’re not all that healthy, or perhaps they don’t work.. but to that I have the following rebuttals: a) is over-eating any healthier? and b) but what if they do?

Anyhow, just food for thought.. pardon the pun.

We’re Down A Bunch Of Weight.. And We Quit Weight Watchers?

lencurrie — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:49:16 +0000

Yep, that’s right.. on both counts.

I’m proud to say that as of this morning I am down 9.2 lbs, and Liz was down 10.4 lbs as of this morning as well. How awesome is that eh? Pretty darn awesome if you ask me It’s all about what you eat.. as I’ve posted before.. I do a little bit of exercise in the way of goaltending now, but it isn’t exercise that makes you drop weight, it’s the foot you eat.

So I’m almost 1/2 way to my goal.. Liz is as well.. we’ve calculated that we’ve been on Weight Watchers since August 18th or so, so what’s that.. a month and a half? Awesome! So ya.. now we quit.

Ok, we didn’t really quit we actually just decided that we’d stop paying WW $15 a week to go in and get ‘weighed in’. It really didn’t make sense to me after the first week we did it, however as long as Liz was going and motivated, I was willing to do it. Last week however, Liz emailed me and told me that we should keep doing the program, but instead of paying the money, just keep track ourselves as we do have a digital scale at home.

I couldn’t agree more, I think it’s important to start, as well as to get the information and program.. however once you start and get used to it.. you really don’t need to keep going to and paying etc.. Between the two of us, we were spending $120 a month ($15 x 4 x 2) and we could spend that on groceries or something else. Heck with it.

The biggest thing continues to be self control and attitude... this cannot be understated. If you want to lose weight and are determined, you will do it. If you just expect it to happen without changing anything… it won’t. It’s the same with everything, if you want to retire early in life.. you have to save money and invest wisely.. if you don’t do anything.. you won’t..

Personally, I want to go on orlando vacations and more NHL hockey games when I retire.. as well as many, many other things.. so I’m starting early and trying to stay focused on that. So I’ll keep losing weight until I reach my goal then start working out at the gym.. (yes.. I could do both and I realize this.. but hell with that.. I’m busy enough!!) and I’m going to continue to try to invest wisely and keep glancing back at the compound interest calculator that is just an amazing piece of information.

Weight Watchers Update – How many weeks have I been going?

lencurrie — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:16:28 +0000

As I sit here staring at my stats for the blog today.. (over 3400 hits today alone), I have to remember to keep blogging when I have a second!

Anyhow, me and Liz keep on trucking with the Weight Watchers program. I really like it, the biggest difference I find besides eating habits is that I’m really enjoying cooking good foods every night for dinner. Last night, for example.. we had steak sandwich wraps, bruschetta made with our own homemade salsa, and some tomato/cucumber with balsamic vinegar. It was delicious! And for the most part, very healthy!

I’m happy to report that I’m down.. hmm.. 6 lbs as of today, and Liz is down 10 lbs I think. Considering I admittedly am not trying very hard as I’m waiting for hockey to start.. I think this is quite an achievement. We aren’t really exercising all that much (although hockey for me is starting soon), and the only thing we’ve really changed is our eating habits. I guess my article on weight loss not working through exercise is true eh?

Tonight I’m making another soup (same one as before) but I’m going to be posting step-by-step pictures/instructions on how to do it.. so stay tuned!

Oh, and if you aven’t already.. subscribe to the RSS feed to keep updated on all the new articles without having to visit the site! Don’t know how to use RSS feeds? Don’t worry.. post coming up which will teach you all about it

First week of Weight Watchers done.. some interesting discoveries..

lencurrie — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:30:10 +0000

Get pretzel sticks instead and save points!

Well, besides the coffee post which I thought was really helpful for Weight Watchers fans, during our first week of Weight Watchers, I also made some really interesting discoveries thanks to my little calculator for my Blackberry which is extremely helpful (especially at the grocery store yesterday).

I hate to admit it, but myself and Liz indulged in a Blizzard yesterday.. likely THE WORST frozen treat ever consumed by man… but OH MY GOD it was good. Want to know the scary facts behind mine? Well, my favorite Blizzard treat is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard, and it is sporting a whopping 44 grams of fat.. and a huge 14 points on the Weight Watchers scale (this is for a medium). Thankfully, I have 32 to spend a day and I had a big dinner of 3 corn on the cobs which ended up only 5 points… truthfully I was well under (by at the end of the day thanks to a much needed sleep in till about 11 AM.

Another great discovery we made yesterday at the Superstore was that of my old elementary-school-favorite cheese and crackers are 2 or 3 points a package.. however if you get the pretzel stick ones.. it’s only 1 point! Needless to say I bought 3 5-packs

Let’s see what else, there were some rice cakes which Liz bought which were 0 points (and 0 flavor to go with it), rice krispy squares are generally about 2 points each, oh, and my favorite Kraft Dinner is not exactly ‘healthy’.. I figured it out to be about 9-11 points for 1/2 a box! (I used to be able to eat the whole box!)

So, we do have to go in and get ‘officially’ weighed tomorrow.. but after a week, I can safely say I’m down about 3-4 lbs, and I believe Liz is almost down 6! Incredible.. the best part about it now, is that it’s starting to feel second nature.. it’s really quite easy to do after you get used to it.

So we’re going to Weight Watchers…

lencurrie — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:15:02 +0000

I am nowhere near 124.1

Yep.. first meeting last night.. or at least we thought it was.. ended up just getting there early enough to sign up before they closed.. (whoops).

Pretty excited about it actually, it’ll be a LOT easier for both of us to lose some weight and keep it off if we both do it at the same time. Our goals are different and if you’re familiar with the WW plans, the ‘points’ we get to spend each day is pretty radically different (I have a full 10 more than Liz every day), but that’s ok.. as I just finished off a 7 point breakfast of course

So here we go.. I’ll be posting my progress every week to see how it’s going, thankfully I’ve been able to keep off over 1/2 of the 20lbs that I lost when I won the ‘biggest loser competition‘ back in Jan – March.. Since that time, actually just more in the last month to be honest.. I’ve kind of gotten in the ‘bad eating’ habit.. junk food, too many beers, etc..etc.. (hell it’s the summer.. I need my Coors Light!) But I have another goal in mind.. and I would be ecstatic if I was to get to it.. I know Liz is the same. Now to go find out how many points are in my coffee every morning.

As an added bonus.. the activities I do can count towards adding points.. so hockey tonight.. yep.. that’s an additional 7 pts.. or what I like to call.. 3 beer

We’ll see how long I hold out … the good part about Weight Watchers.. is that it’s more of a lifestyle change.. and truthfully.. the portions seems great (5 cups of popcorn for 1 point!? I’m in!)

Shocked – Exercise will not make you thin.. DAMMIT!

lencurrie — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:40:49 +0000

This actually makes a little sense to me… after seeing people very close to me lose over 30lbs each on weight watchers, which requires very little exercise.. and seeing the bellies on some of the people I know whom go to the gym all the time and play hockey, etc..etc.. I read this article with great interest.

Thankfully, I am not one of the people that pay for a membership to a gym.. sadly, I am not a ‘gym person’.. I’m a sports and active person. I would rather play 4 games of hockey a week than spend an hour in a gym working out. I’ve done it before for an extended period of time, and perhaps I will get into that kick again.. but I don’t know.. I doubt it.

“As recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against rigorous exercise, particularly for older adults who could injure themselves. Today doctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advice for many reasons: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower risk for all manner of diseases — those of the heart in particular. They less often develop cancer, diabetes and many other illnesses. But the past few years of obesity research show that the role of exercise in weight loss has been wildly overstated.”

“In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless,” says Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University and a prominent exercise researcher. Many recent studies have found that exercise isn’t as important in helping people lose weight as you hear so regularly in gym advertisements or on shows like The Biggest Loser — or, for that matter, from magazines like this one.

The basic problem is that while it’s true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn’t necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.

This article from Time.com I read with great interest as this is something that all of think about at some point, and whether we’re looking for natural fat burners in the supermarket, or some other product (which of course I have bought and used.. hello hydroxicut).. the bottom line is pretty well summed up at the end of the article:

In short, it’s what you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain. I love how exercise makes me feel, but tomorrow I might skip the VersaClimber — and skip the blueberry bar that is my usual postexercise reward.