Don't Go Too Low

In the efforts to ‘get the weight off’ as quickly as possible, it’s important not to drop your calories too low. As I discuss in the blog entry listed here, “Determine Your Daily Calories,” there are healthy calorie calculators that indicate, for your particular height and desired weight, the proper number of calories to take in each day. Dropping the calories too low will backfire because the body is apt to go into starvation mode, shutting down its metabolism, resulting in NO weight loss at all. And even if you can get away with lower calories for awhile, eventually your cravings will kick in and you’ll end up standing in the pantry or in front of the refrigerator in an out of control binging frenzy, not to mention that hardly eating anything is just dead boring! What kind of life is that?

One to two pounds a week is a good healthy weight loss. I’m talking long term, steady, consistent. I know that’s frustrating when you wake up one morning and decide you really want to do this, have the motivation, the desire. You want the weight gone – now! But slashing your caloric intake or, Heaven forbid, going for one of these advertised plans that claim you’ll lose 20-pounds in 1-2 weeks, are not only ridiculous - they would be dangerous if they really worked. And trust me, they don’t. Think of it, if they did, none of us would be overweight.

So go slow and steady. You didn’t put on the weight overnight - don’t expect to take it off that way. As baby boomers, the days of extreme dieting to fit into that dress for the prom is over. Those of us who are still going for the cabbage soup diet, grapefruit diet, Hollywood liquid diet plans, are just fooling ourselves, -because with that kind of dieting, if you lose it, the weight always comes back – sometimes twice as much.

No, this is a lifestyle change. It’s weight loss for the purpose of good healthy maintenance so we feel good about ourselves and don’t have weight-associated health issues like heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Be smart. Be sensible. Look great!