I have to agree with others that the gluten free treats etc. is a hige trap. I guess we all like making excuses that "well its gluten-free" and so many people seem to fall into eating more bread/pasta than they did before ....
People don't just gain or loose weight overnight... it usually involves the body switching from one stage and going to the oppostite. This makes it a little dissapointing, its easy to feel its not working but its just the body going from one phase to the other.
I don't really agree on walking, its a pretty inefficent way to loose weight if you are time limited. If you are not its excellent but you need to be spending a long time walking to burn off the same calories....
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try to have (2) 30 minute walks each day(apparently this burns stored fat whereas strenuous excercise burns available carbs first)
This is sort of true but it doesn't actually help much because you still have the energy from the carbs and although it takes energy for those to be stored as fat it actually still leaves them!
Its an excellent way to maintain your weight .... but not an
efficient way to burn it. Having said that any exersize you enjoy is good! My mum walks 10 miles a day evey day... (and across the countryside, up and down hills) and is still a few pounds over weight but in pretty good shape for a nearly 70yr old.
If you really wanna loose weight then walking a lot will certainly work.... I just got back from Italy where I was walking 14-16 hours per day, up and down hills carrying packs in 40C (105F) and higher and probably lost 10lbs in 2 weeks.... (I don't know cause I don't and won't own scales)
On another thread I posted a calories burned per hour chart for different "exersizes" ... these include ironing and vacuuming, square dancing and tennis ... etc .etc. but you can find these pretty easily with google.
I don't really think 2x30 minute walks is "exersize" in a lot of ways... 2x30 minute walks is what everyone should be doing who expects to be at least able to enjoy an active retirement....
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i plan to join a new gym and maybe get a few personal training sessions to help me.
I think this is an excellent start.... get with it and don't delay....
http://www.health.utah.gov/lhd/tooele/Comm...ies_Burned.html
Walking in a park at moderate speed burns
130kCal/hr .. this sounds OK until you compare this to driving in heavy traffic at 120kCal/hr or
Busily cleaning house, doing laundry, hanging clothes outside on clothesline, going up and down stairs, cleaning refrigerator, picking up clothes (doing a lot of bending over and picking up items) which is the same at 130 kCal/hr!
*Swimming for pleasure, no time limits, no stress. This can only be considered aerobic if it is continuous for 20 - 30 minutes without stopping at your THR (as I said 15 mins is 3 steps forward and 2 back!)
Tennis, Doubles, Square Dancing: 350 per hour
So really you can't say joining a square dancing group isn't social! But its nearly 3x the efficiency of walking.
But the real shocker is Reading, Watching TV, Sitting (some brain activity) 75 per hour is over half of moderate walking..... and this is the real point.
Do you spend an hour doing something double the efficiency of sitting at a desk or watching TV or 5x-6x ? or even 10x
*Bicycycling, (12 - 14 mph) (working at your THR for 20 - 30 minutes without stopping) 530 per hour
*Stairclimbing in a gym, 125 - 140 sets of stairs (10 stairs to a set) (working at your THR for 20 - 30 minutes without stopping) 600 per hour
*Exercising using an Elliptial Rider or Rowing Machine, (
working at your THR for 20 - 30 minutes without stopping) 850 per hour
Source: Compiled by Helen Ann, Public Health Educator using various health education resources including Utah State University textbooks
(edited bits out for brevity so check the original.....)
The thing is choose something efficent ... you have a timetable that is completely realistic ...
What I tend to do is a compromise.... I enjoy walking but its a waste of time (I mean this in its literal sense) to do it to loose weight. Most people are time restricted, its the nature of our lives.
Most manual workers spend more time doing exersize at double or triple walking at 3mph .... working on a building site etc. but many eating crap .... you can pretty much figure out for yourself that many of them are not skinny !
So back to what do I do..... I do an hour or so of high aerobic activity during the week.... every day. This might be rollerblading, running or cycling. (but could be any of the exersizes from the link!) and at weekends I walk for pleasure.... at least one of the days. If I am going out I will walk to a bar.... (You can do this in Paris, I guess not in Chicago) at the other end of Paris (I have a place I walk to that involves all the hills in Paris and is 4-5 miles) and walk back afterwards.... when I go shopping I take a backpack and walk... and once a week I do a bigger shop and walk to a supermarket a bit further away that has lots of "treats" like artichokes in Olive oil and canned tomatoes or such. Its not the closest place I can get this stuff but its just a decent distance away ...
When I'm in a rush I take the metro (subway) but then I (usually) walk up the stairs instead of the lift or escalator and sometimes take a stop or two before.
On vacation I just walked because I had the time and other than museums this is what I wanted to do.... the only exception was sitting in trains
but other than this almost every day was spent waking up, having breakfast and walking until dinner at 8PM with a small lunch stop (most days but not all) ... 3-4 days of 14 we sat on the beach but we walked to the beach (4-5 miles and a lot of altitude) and then i also swam for 1-2 hours... (it wasn't the closest beach... that was the point) ....
Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt. (JC, De Bello Gallico Liber III/XVIII)
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