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Posted by Sue (MN~Sue) on 1/31/2003, 12:24 am, in reply to "CONTINUED" Now, if you've gone for more than about 6 weeks without any measurable fat loss, you're probably asking What's wrong with me?!!! I understand. You're convinced that your entire metabolism consists of a small turtle on a treadmill. You think that regardless of how much effort you put in, your cells can still be seen eating Twinkies when viewed under a microscope. I've seen this problem hundreds of times. Trust me. Nothing is wrong with you. There's only one reason you're not losing fat, and it's that you aren't creating a persistent caloric deficit. FOCUS ON THE DEFICIT. It may be that you're not working out consistently enough, but my bet is that you're taking in too many calories. Don't throw things at me yet. Most likely, there is some source of caloric intake that you haven't accounted for properly. I know you don't believe that. How can I say that without even knowing you? Simple. Studies show that people tend to significantly underestimate caloric intake, particularly those who report having trouble losing weight. My favorite study involves 41 women eating chocolate Haagen-Dazs. Another study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that, on average, subjects who claimed to be resistant to losing weight were underestimating their actual food intake by 47% and overestimating their activity by 50%. The greater the degree of overweight, the larger the estimation errors tended to be. I know you really don't want to believe that. But I'm going to prove it to you. We're going to unleash the secret weapon. The big gun. And here it is. A blank 3 by 5 card. Keep reading. STEP 1: For at least the next 4 weeks, you're going to write down everything you eat on one of these. No, this isn't some wussy little "food diary" I'm talking about. This is an advanced data analysis and behavior modification system, cleverly disguised as a 3 by 5 card. That's how I want you thinking about it. You should be picturing British Intelligence Agent Q handing it to 007. If you study the habits of people who have made dramatic and rapid changes in their physiques, you'll find that nearly all of them wrote down everything they ate. They didn't necessarily track the calories, but planning and writing down everything was essential. Visit www.bodychangers.com and listen to any number of those interviews to see this fact for yourself. Here's how it works. You keep this thing in your pocket. Every time you put something in your mouth, you immediately write down what you ate, and how much. I don't care whether you note the time (you'll remember that anyway) or what was going on as you ate (though if you tend to eat emotionally, that will help). I just want to know what and how much. Everything. A measuring cup is a cheap investment here, but just try to get an accurate estimate. A card is preferable to a book or electronic device because it's small, portable, instantly available, and doesn't have to be turned on. I'm not even asking you to change your eating behavior (yet). I'm just asking you to write everything down. You can decide what to do about it after you analyze your habits.
Unleash the secret weapon
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