Desperately Seeking Britney Spears

Last night, I sat with my mouth wide open as I saw The Daily Ten flash a picture of the new and improved Britney Spears. She is now S-L-I-M!! Take a look at Ms. Spears at press time. Apparently, she's been on a high protein, low carb, 1200 calories a day diet, combined with 5 days of cardio and weight training. Now who wouldn't lose weight with all that? Plus, she's got all the support in the world, all the time in the universe, and a still-sizable bank account to draw from. I think that if she still didn't look this good after all that, she would have had to look into more drastic measures.
To be honest though, Britney didn't look that bad pre-svelte hot mama that she is now. Ok, she didn't have the same hit-me-baby-one-more-time body but, hey, she had 2 kids in a row! She was entitled to some baby weight. Her downward spiral into a whole lot of issues and a galactic sized black hole probably didn't leave much room for a diet and exercise plan either.

So, seeing her now brings out 2 reactions from me:

1. Pure and utter irritation and frustration at how she can spend time and money to go back to looking good while mere mortals, like myself, kinda have to slave away at it for the number of months it took her to lose weight multiplied by 10 (at least). This sounds very selfish and whiny, I know.
2. Some hope as well. If Britney Spears and all her drama and problems can focus and do it, then dang it, so can I!!!! (Ok, I am having a really, really hard time believing this as I am writing it, so, support people!)

I must chant to myself: I must diet, exercise, count calories, and lose weight!

Too Early to Think but not to Think Weight Loss

It's 6:40 am and I am at the office, getting ready to go to a Job Fair my office joined. I am really sleepy. Anyone who knows me knows that this is much too early for me. I have always been, and I suspect always will be, a night person. I had to drag myself out of bed, switch to CNN (yes, I find news entertaining, so call me a bore already), and dream of the end of the day, just to be able to get dressed and going.

Anyway, now that I am here I am spending some waiting minutes looking through interesting sites. One on Calorie Restriction Affie suggested I look at is particularly interesting. I used the Calorie Calculator and got a rough estimate of how many calories I need to ingest to maintain my current weight. I have to say I wasn't surprised. I was pleased to see though that the calorie count I assigned myself to lose weight was just about on target. I couldn't understand everything written in the links I clicked (hey, there's only so much my brain will process even if it is about weight loss) but I think what I understood was good enough.

All in all, not a bad way to start a very early, long day.

More Weight Loss Tips

Ok, I've been trying to cut down on my calories, improve my social life, be more active, work, be a good mom, wife, and friend all at the same time and I can say only 1 thing right now: I am hungry!

In the spirit of continuously looking for ways to change my eating lifestyle, I went on the Net and found some helpful tips. When I say helpful, these are real things or activities that apply to me and my life and therefore I can change or control.

For exercising:

There are lots of ways to increase the amount of activity you do. Team sports, racket sports, aerobics classes, running, walking, swimming and cycling will all improve your fitness levels.

Find something you enjoy that's easy for you to do in terms of location and cost. You are then more likely to build it into your routine and continue to exercise, despite inevitably missing the odd session through holidays, family commitments, etc.

• Get out and about at the weekend. Leave your car on the drive and walk to the shops. Try to incorporate longer walks into outings to the park, coast or countryside and take a picnic so you are in control of what you are going to eat that day. (The picnic part is hard but the longer walks can be done especially in the mall!)
  
  
• Every extra step you take helps. Always use the stairs instead of the lift, or get off the bus a stop before the usual one and walk the rest of the way. (My house is FULL of stairs. This can work. Plus, the commute to work can be extra exercise.)
  
  
• Use commercial breaks between TV-programmes to stand up and do exercise, or consider using an exercise bicycle in the living room while watching your favourite programme. (This is the hardest for me. Often, I just want to sit and watch.)
  

For Diet:

In terms of weight-loss, you can get your body to use up existing stores of fat by eating less and making healthier choices.

This doesn't mean crash diet (anything less than 1500 calories), which usually ends up with you either getting weaker or giving up in desperation. Quick-fix diets can lead to a yo-yoing effect of drastic weight loss followed by weight gain, resulting in a vicious cycle.

There are no shortcuts to losing weight in a healthy and reasonable way.

Eating 300 to 500 calories less per day should lead to a loss of between one and two pounds per week. This is a realistic target. It may seem slow, but would add up to a weight loss of more than three stone in a year.

Below are ways to reduce calorie intake without having to alter your diet significantly.

• Replace fizzy drinks and fruit cordials with water. (Not a problem..)
  
  
• Swap whole milk for semi-skimmed, or semi-skimmed for skimmed. (Still easy)
  
  
• Eat less lunch than usual. For example, make your own sandwich and limit the use of margarine/butter and full-fat mayonnaise (store-bought sandwiches often contain both). (Still on track but self-control is needed here.)
  
  
• Stop taking sugar in tea and coffee. (not do-able. C'mon, gimme some things!)
  
  
• Have smaller portions of the food you enjoy. (OK.)
  
  
• Avoid having a second helping at dinner. (Sniff, sniff. OK.)
  
  
• Cut out unhealthy treats such as confectionary, sugary biscuits and crisps between meals. (This is easy. I am not a sweets fan even if I bake.)
  
  
• Cut down on beer and alcohol. (uhhhhhh.......occasional is cutting down, right?)
  
  

All these things will influence your health in a positive way.

Finally, don't be tempted to skip breakfast – or any meal to lose weight. While skipping a meal will reduce your calorie intake for that hour, it will leave you much hungrier later on.


Only 2 more weeks before I can start attending gym classes. I am excited!

(you can find the article here.)

Losing Weight

One of the things I told myself I would start doing again is exercising. Since my fall, it's been tough to do just that. I am almost well though so I am excited about starting my diet and exercise plan. I've already lined up gym possibilities and am going to check out their viability later today. So that's done. Now, I've never lost weight on diet alone and, from past experience, only 3 kinds of diet have ever worked for me: something low in carbs or counting calories or a combination of both. The last time I counted calories was way back in college so suffice it to say I do not remember the calorie count list. Because of this I went online to look for a chart that I could use as a point of reference and this is what I found.


chart 1
I love meat so this chart was (understandably?) depressing. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it's going to be to cut down on portions AND cut down on carbs at the same time. I think I'm going to be hungry a lot. I thought I would look for the chart with low calorie food to help me substitute without blowing my regular calorie intake count and this is what I found.


chart 2
Even more depressing huh? I seriously do not like a lot of the items on this table. Seriously.

But I am determined to lose weight. I think I've used the "I've just had 2 babies" line far too much already. Besides, there are too many cute (and cheaper) clothes out there for slimmer women that I want to wear. And, let's not forget, my vanity and memories of my slimmer days are torturing me. I miss the days when I was thinner because, in my opinion anyway, I looked better and I definitely felt better.

So wish me luck on this new project. So many ongoing projects, the Gemini in me is in heaven and hell at the same time.