I finally sat down and caught up on the Biggest Loser special from Wednesday night. It was excellent and great to see almost all the season winners have maintained a healthy weight, with the exception of season one winner, Ryan, who was at the Thanksgiving get together with the other 9 season winners, and Jillian. Other contestants, though they may not have won the grand prize, have won the greatest gift of all, LIFE and in some cases, LOVE. Sam and Stephanie brought lots of tears to my eyes as he proposed to her back at the ranch. He is so hot and they make a gorgeous couple, bonded by an experience that only they share.
I was thrilled to see Tara emerge the winner (of the females) in the triathlon. She is one tough cookie! I especially loved that Holly, from season 4, now works on the BL show. She looks fantastic! The entire show was great and what excellent motivation to help stay focused through these eating orgy holidays.
Last night I could take no more leftovers or anything that wasn't healthy for my body! I baked a spaghetti squash (cut in half, skin side UP, in a little water, in a baking dish for about 45 minutes) and then, after scooping out the inside, which instantly turns the squash into spaghetti strands with NO effort, I topped it with some marinara sauce and fresh basil. I also roasted brussel sprouts, lightly tossed in olive oil and a little salt, and grilled some baby potatoes, and it was a meal...and a filling, low calorie, one at that. It felt good to overload on the veggies, as it always does on Sunday. If you have never tried spaghetti squash, I highly recommend you give it a try. I had been a little intimidated about cutting and cooking it, but it was really simple
If you were with me Saturday morning at the gym, we did some interval training. Keeping the heart rate at the very low end of the training zone for most of the cardio, but adding short bouts of high intensity every couple of minutes or so, for just about 30 seconds. It's a great way to burn calories without keeping the heart rate up high for too long, and as several mentioned, the time went quickly and it was easy for them to endure. I like to do this while running sometimes, too. In running we call the bouts of high intensity "farklets." They help train you to work harder (or faster) without killing yourself as the "farklets" are followed by what we call "recovery" periods. You can do this walking, running, biking, swimming, or basically during any form of cardio. A good formula is 30 seconds of high intensity followed by about a minute (or more if needed) of recovery.
Have a great Monday. In the midst of this holiday season, try to take the days that are EVENT free and clean up your eating and work on your fitness programs. This is the hardest time of year to find balance, but with a little pre-planning, you can have and do it all!!
I loved this episode too - I'm always interested in seeing what happens to these people after the cameras are gone. Ryan (season 1 winner) was very brave as was Eric last year for allowing everyone to see that they had regained most of the weight.
Maintaining weight years after a loss is actually harder than the initial loss itself. I hit my goal weight 5 years ago now and even though I'm 10-12 pounds over that I consider my weight maintenance a huge success.
There was a missing winner in this episode - Michelle - she won the year after Ali. She was part of the year with Amy & Phil (who they showed). She was one the show with her mom, from whom she had been estranged.
BTW - The stupid scale changed it's mind about my 4 pound weight loss :-( We'll what happens next week as weight is never a static thing.
E
Eric
I'm sorry, there's really no such thing as a safe diet pill. They almsot all contain stimulants that can damage the cardiovascular system, and then there's Alli, which can give you explosive diarrhea, so I don't think you want that pill either. Diet and exercise should work perfectly fine. I think you're probably either not giving it enough time (you should give it at least a month before you decide you're not seeing results), or you aren't dieting or exercising right.As for your diet, you should be eating high protein, high fat (saturated not trans, and no that's not unhealthy), low carb, low sugar. Keep your calorie intake around 1500 a day, carbs around 100-150 g a day, and as little added sugar as you can manage. Make sure to eat lots of fruits and veggies too.And you need to push yourself when you exercise. A nice easy pace won't do anything. You have to get sweaty, tired, and work hard. If you don't feel tired when you're done, if you're not out of breath, you're not doing it right. And you need to do both cardio and weight training, but on different days. Try and work out for at least an hour, 4-6 days a week.
2 comments
Carolanne
I loved this episode too - I'm always interested in seeing what happens to these people after the cameras are gone. Ryan (season 1 winner) was very brave as was Eric last year for allowing everyone to see that they had regained most of the weight. Maintaining weight years after a loss is actually harder than the initial loss itself. I hit my goal weight 5 years ago now and even though I'm 10-12 pounds over that I consider my weight maintenance a huge success. There was a missing winner in this episode - Michelle - she won the year after Ali. She was part of the year with Amy & Phil (who they showed). She was one the show with her mom, from whom she had been estranged. BTW - The stupid scale changed it's mind about my 4 pound weight loss :-( We'll what happens next week as weight is never a static thing.
Eric
I'm sorry, there's really no such thing as a safe diet pill. They almsot all contain stimulants that can damage the cardiovascular system, and then there's Alli, which can give you explosive diarrhea, so I don't think you want that pill either. Diet and exercise should work perfectly fine. I think you're probably either not giving it enough time (you should give it at least a month before you decide you're not seeing results), or you aren't dieting or exercising right.As for your diet, you should be eating high protein, high fat (saturated not trans, and no that's not unhealthy), low carb, low sugar. Keep your calorie intake around 1500 a day, carbs around 100-150 g a day, and as little added sugar as you can manage. Make sure to eat lots of fruits and veggies too.And you need to push yourself when you exercise. A nice easy pace won't do anything. You have to get sweaty, tired, and work hard. If you don't feel tired when you're done, if you're not out of breath, you're not doing it right. And you need to do both cardio and weight training, but on different days. Try and work out for at least an hour, 4-6 days a week.