Day Nine

I can't believe it's only been nine days since I started this blog! It feels like I've been working on it for weeks already!

Thanks for all the emails and comments - I really appreciate feedback. :)


If any of you think that you're not losing weight fast enough, and you're considering fad diets or diet pills, my advice to you is not to use either. Like I've been saying since Day One, weight loss is a lifestyle change. It's long term changes that need to be put into your routine, not short term changes that you follow until you lose weight. That's why diet pills that say you're going to lose a certain amount of weight in a certain amount of time are scams - you lose the weight while on the product, but after you stop taking the pills, you are more likely to gain the weight back.

Remember that during the weight loss proccess, results take patience and effort. You can't just melt away fat by eating cabbage soup for every meal of the day - you have to have a balanced diet and you need to exercise every day if you want to lose weight. Weight loss can be fun if you make it fun. You can go swimming with your friends or join a YMCA with your family so you'll be exercising together. You can decorate your food so you won't feel like you're eating plain vegetables and fruits - carve little faces into strawberries if it makes you happy or make a smoothie with your favorite fruits. No one ever said that dieting had to be boring!

Day Seven

You have probably started eating healthier and exercising more already. So what else is there that you can do?



-Chew on ice when you get hungry. In terms of digesting ice, your body recognizes it as water, but when you munch on ice, it gives your body the feeling that you're eating something, but you won't have the negative effects of extra calories since it's calorie-free.



-Tap your feet and drum your fingers when you're bored. You don't feel like you're working out, but you're burning extra calories. This is a good idea for any of you who work at a desk, a cubicle, or are sitting in a classroom all day - you'll burn calories throughout the day without putting in a lot of effort.


-For those of you who eat when you're emotional ( like sad, angry, depressed, or worried), keep a journal to write you're feelings in. I know, I know, it sounds corny, but it really does help you eat less overall because you'll have something to do to vent your feelings without gaining any unneccessary weight.


-When you eat, fill up on foods with less calories first. That way, if you get full before you finish eating, you will have eaten less calories than you would have if you had eaten the more fattening foods with a higher calorie content first.


-Since most of the readers here are teenagers and kids, this tip is for them. Stretch in the morning when you wake up and before you go to bed. Over time, you will most likely grow taller, and your weight will distribute more evenly and you'll have less weight to lose. This will only work until you're about 20 - that's usually when the growth plates close and you can't grow any taller.


-I don't know if I mentioned this before, but drink lots of water when you exercise so you don't get dehydrated. Make sure you drink at least 8 8oz glasses of water every day so your body will be healthier overall.


-When you eat salad, go for salads with more dark, leafy greens. Don't ever get a salad from a fast food restaraunt - they're usually loaded with extra calories. Also - if you're making your own salad (which is what you should do), and you want to add dressing, make sure the dressing is low-cal or fat free, and don't use too much dressing. Just lightly dab some dressing onto your salad, don't coat your salad with a thick layer.


-For all of the vegetarians here - make sure you're getting enough protien. Eggs, nuts, and soy are all good to have on a diet. Vegan Boca burgers have 70 calories by themselves (I think), so their a good option for protien. If you don't like nuts (or are allergic), you might want to try eggs, and if you're a vegan, you should take supplements to make sure you're getting enough protein.

Day Six

I just read in a health magazine yesterday that green tea helps you get a faster metabolism. I'm not sure about that, but I do know that tea has antioxidants, which are really healthy. Fruits like blueberries and raspberries also have antioxidants, so you might want to put some of those in your diet.


Also, for those of you that I'm making diet plans for, (if you want me to make you one, send me an email), don't forget to tell me if you're lactose intolerant or a vegetarian/vegan and if you have any food allergies. I wouldn't want to make you a diet plan of food that you can't eat.


Don't forget to leave comments! If you don't know how, all you have to do is click the little "comment" button under the post. It can be anonymous or you can choose to leave your name and email address. I just want to hear from more people. What's working for you in your diet? What have you found that's a good idea to avoid doing while on a diet? Thanks to all of you who have already left a comment and to those of you who are going to leave comments!

Day Three

We've already talked about how a healthy diet can help your weight loss, but we haven't really talked about foods to avoid. When I say avoid, I don't mean you have to completely cut food groups from your diet, but you should try and have a balance between good foods and bad foods, and, if you can, have more healthy foods than unhealthy foods.

Try to stay away from sugar - sugar, as you know, is not good for your body, and certainly isn't good for your body. Remember to watch calories, but don't be too harsh on yourself if you snuck in a piece of chocolate cake. Weight loss is like a road - you may encounter bumps in the road, but you have to keep moving forward and not give up.

Now, you might be telling yourself, "Okay, so I've started to change my diet and be more healthy. Now what?"


Here's what you do - you start the exercise part of your diet. I know, I know, exercise seems hard even though everyone makes it look easy. I won't lie to you - exercise isn't easy to start for an overweight person (or someone who just wants to lose weight).


For me, I feel self-conscious when I exercise and people are looking at me. I don't know if any of you feel that way, but I feel like I have fat jiggling around and people will stare at me. It's okay if you feel that way, too, or if you feel that it's too hard to exercise and it feels impossible. It may feel impossible, but it isn't.


There's swimming, hiking, dancing, roller skating, running, jump roping, etc. What do you find the most fun? Do you like basketball or do you prefer tennis? There's always a way to incorporaate exercise into your life without it feeling like work.


If you don't like any sports or any physical activities, try walking to a song while you sing along, or doing push-ups during T.V. commercials. Lift weights. Climb the stairs up and down five times in a row. You can still put exercise into your life.

Day Two

A/N (Author's note)
I'm back with more diet help! I won't be able to update every day, but I'll try to update as much as I can. I really appreciate the support from everyone! :) Keep posting comments: I love to hear all of you!


Now that you've hopefully started changing your diet habits, you probably want to know where to go from there. As I said yesterday, it's all about the little changes that make a diet really work. It's a lifestyle change, not just a diet that you follow until you lose the weight and then go back to your old eating habits. That's why so many people who go on fad diets or pills never keep the weight off - they always go back to bad eating habits and gain the weight they lost.


For those of you who asked me to make a diet plan for you, keep in mind that you don't have to be really strict on the diet plan. It's more of a general plan for you until you know enough about food and health to make good health decisions and lose weight at the same time. I went on a diet two years ago and I made a strict diet plan for myself for about six weeks. I lost 17 pounds, but I gained it all back because I was on a certain diet program (the Special K Diet) where you eat a bowl of cereal for each meal but dinner, when you can choose what you eat. I got so sick of eating cereal for two meals a day that I started eating whatever I wanted because I made myself not eat certain foods, and so I felt deprived.


The lesson I learned from that is to not force yourself to cut certain food groups, but eat them in moderation. For example: If you have an obsession with chocolate, don't completely stop eating chocolate for the sake of your diet. Eat chocolate in lesser amounts; that is, if you had 5 bars of chocolate every day, lower that amount to one bar of chocolate each day. It may seem like no chocolate to you, because you've been having five bars of chocolate every day, but your body will get used to the lesser amount of chocolate and you won't try and sneak in more.


Another important factor to think about when trying to lose weight - do you actually pay attention when you eat your food? Or do you eat in front of the T.V. or while listening to the radio? Eating with distractions makes you think you're not digesting any calories when you really are. That makes you want to eat more - and that gets you off track in your diet.


Also: How fast do you eat? It's been shown in studies that people who eat faster tend to gain more weight or weigh more overall than those who eat slowly. That's because it takes about 15-20 minutes for you to recognize that you're full, so you often times overeat when you eat fast because more food gets digested before your body realizes that you're full.


Do you eat from bags? You know what I mean - potato chip bags, popcorn bags, you name it. When you eat food from a bag, you usually stop at the bottom of the bag, because, of course, it tastes too good to put away. You know the feeling - you want to put the unhealthy food away but you feel like you're addicted to the food and you won't let yourself put it away. There is a solution to this problem: put the food in a plate before you eat it and put the bag away before you get tempted. That way, you won't feel like you have to eat the whole bag, and you'll end up eating less wasted calories than you normally would.


I don't know how many of you know this already, but celery has negative calories! That means you burn more calories eating celery than the amount of calories in the celery. Keep in minde that this is only true with plain celery - celery with dip or peanut butter or anything else won't be negative calories.

Some more healthy foods to consider:
All fruits (strawberries, bananas, kiwis, watermelon, etc.)
Vegetables (corn, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, etc.)
Wheat bread - not white bread

That's all for day two! Tomorrow, I'll talk more about exercise and stuff to avoid while on a diet.

Day One

Hello, and welcome to the Weightloss Guide for The Clueless!


Many people today want to lose weight for many different reasons. Some want to be supermodel skinny, some want to lose their baby fat, and some have to lose weight for medical reasons. No matter what category you fall under, this website is for you! I won't advertise diet pills or scams that won't work; I'll only give you help in achieving your weight loss goals.


"So," you may be asking yourself, "where do I begin?" The answer is simple: Stop drinking soda and start drinking more water. Soda has a lot of sugar and regular soda has a lot of calories that add up. Water has no sugar and no calories, so it's a perfect way to quench your thirst without the unnecessary calories. Drink water whenever you get hungry, too. The human body often times confuses hunger with thirst, so you may be eating when you really should be drinking water.


Another thing you can do when you start your diet is keep track of all the food you eat and your emotions when you eat them. Having a food diary really helps when you're on a diet because it makes you realize how much you're eating and how much of it you're eating.


Count how many calories you eat on a regular day, and subtract 500 calories from that amount. That will be your new caloric intake for a while. Since 3,500 calories = one pound, in six days you will have lost one pound just by changing your caloric intake.



You can't lose weight just by diet alone, so you have to incorporate exercise into your plan. You can start with just fifteen minutes of exercise a day and slowly work your way up to an hour every day. If you don't have the time to work out for an hour every day, try doing little things like taking the staris instead of the elevator or walking your dog around the block.



Don't skip meals. Believe it or not, skipping meals can actually make you gain weight instead of lose it. When you don't eat, your body goes into "starvation mode" and starts using your muscle for energy instead of fat. This makes you gain weight because the less muscle you have, the slower your metabolism is. The slower your metabolism is, the more weight you gain.

If you want to increase your metabolism, start lifting weights. You don't have to start out with heavy weights, but just like with exercise, you should work your way up.

Look out for more tips on Day Two.