The Fat Loss TroubleshootThis is your place to troubleshoot your fat loss problems from nutrition to training. This section is led by Leigh Peele, author of "The Fat Loss Troubleshoot," the ultimate fat loss manual. If your results have slowed or stalled this is the place to come for advice for all your fat loss needs.
A couple of things I want to mention:
Today I planted and rearranged plants in my woodland backyard for about 3 hours and then I cleaned my grill (it was pretty dirty), and then I grilled a COSTCO bag of chicken to freeze. It is almost 8pm and the GWF says 2120 with probably another 300 calories to burn tonight, giving me 2400 cal "doing nothing" ... I still have a resistance exercise to do, and I haven't included that in the total. My sedentary cal burn is about 1750, so that 650 calories of NEAT and living.
I really do think about activity now. I think, hmm I don't want to pick up that off the floor, or straighten that, or get up and do this or that, and then I think, "stop complaining, it will burn more NEAT!!"
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Sometimes (don't know if any of you have this issue), I think, I'm so much more energetic than my partner who sits a lot and reads or watches the news on TV for endless hours. In my mind, I can get irritated, "why isn't she doing this or that to help with housework?" .... "Why doesn't she see that this or that needs to be done?" Why doesn't she clear the dining room table.. clean the kitchen, "why does she do less than I around the house?"...
.... And then I think, "well, it is GREAT that I have all this energy. And every extra thing I do is NEAT and is contributing to my being healthy and active and lean!" ... And that turns the irritation into acceptance and compassion and energy spent!
Another additive to that, and perhaps you might find the same, is I find that once the movement starts it creates a pendulum effect. It is an old thought, but an often ignored, of movement creating more movement. You feel less aggravated by going to another room to get something when you are already up in the first place.
Lack of natural NEAT is a habit. Like all habits they must be formed, they can become 2nd nature, but they can also be broken, or even resented. The goal IMO is to find that balance and really note the things you enjoy doing and the things that can feel forced.
For me personally walking my dog extra times or dancing never feels forced. My house has also never been cleaner. Cooking is more enjoyable because its a number of rewards through burn and taste. Those are deep in me now and I enjoy. Where people mess it up is where they try and do too much, burn out, and end up missing the bigger picture.
That was a little off point I know, but it just sparked thought.
That's what Body By Eats will be… How to burn casserole, how to burn chicken, how to burn potato salad, how to burn jello… She'll prolly call things "charred" to make it sound like something you'd want to eat… but don't be fooled by the floury word play.
I know that my eyes were opened with the Gowear. I mean, I had read about NEAT in Leigh's books and that is why I got out my pedometer so I could move more - but when you actually see it, boy, it really makes you move. I am like a woman possessed! My husband thinks I have lost it. I don't want to just lay in bed on Saturdays now - I have to get up early and start doing SOMETHING. I look for things to do. Like Leigh, my house has never been cleaner!! I am constantly moving. I don't even want to sit at the computer (standing now).
I can't wait until I can get my hubby to build me a treadmill desk and I can get a laptop! I just know now how much of a slug/sloth I really was. I even want a push mower to mow the lawn! I park WAY in the last parking space possible (even in the rain). It is almost fretful to me to know I have to sit for a long time; I have a trip to make and I am already planning to move more before I have to ride 4 hours. It is crazy how it makes you want to go to another room to get something or bring one bag of groceries in at a time!! I just know if I want to eat more, I need to move more (and I love to eat more!)
What is funny to me that I hear a lot of people say they will diet all week but Sunday will be their "cheat" day. Well, what I have found is that Sunday is the one day I don't deserve near as much food as I thought (Yes, I have listened to Leigh's podcasts on what I think I am owed ) I mean n Sundays, I get up, get ready for church and then go sit for like an hour, then go eat (sitting) come home and I have barely taken 1000 steps. So I thought about all the past Sundays that I would do that and then come home and just lay down, read the paper, watch TV or sit at the computer until evening. I dont even want to know what I burned then - next to zip probably - yet, I would always eat more. So now, I make sure I get my steps in by going for a long walk and doing stuff around the house.
So I am loving knowing my ballpark movement figures - it has really helped me to see how little I used to move (and wondered why I kept getting bigger and bigger...)
Missy
That's what Body By Eats will be… How to burn casserole, how to burn chicken, how to burn potato salad, how to burn jello… She'll prolly call things "charred" to make it sound like something you'd want to eat… but don't be fooled by the floury word play.
Or call it "Cajun", because everything is blackened.
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Tom
No "happy hours" makes for a lot of miserable days. - Mahler
That's what Body By Eats will be… How to burn casserole, how to burn chicken, how to burn potato salad, how to burn jello… She'll prolly call things "charred" to make it sound like something you'd want to eat… but don't be fooled by the floury word play.
Aoife, I doubt all the weird photos/avatars are really YOU, but if this one is you, damn you're lookin' good!
I've only done this twice now, but I've started walking around my apartment while reading to increase NEAT. Then I get some bonus calories burned when I straighten things up to make sure I don't trip on something during my circuits.
Reading Leigh's books and wearing my bodybugg has definitely made me move more. I park far away, clean and cook more, walk around intentionally at work(offer to make the extra trip to the office) and walk my dog longer!! Neat has openedmy eyes and it is great!
__________________ "Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes"
My husband used to tease me about fidgeting, tapping foot, squirming around. Oddly (or not) when I restrained myself, I got fat. Now I don't give a damn if I am shaking the table, it burns calories. So there.
My job requires me to sit down for 8 hours, but I just won't do it! I purposely print to a far away printer, walk out to the mailbox, fax things each time instead of creating a pile to do at once and of course with all the water i'm drinking I'm constantly going back and forth to the bathroom!
I've been doing some thinking about increasing NEAT. Leigh told me I can decrease my calories eaten, or increase my calories burned... Of course those are the 2 options!!! And I was left thinking, "how can I possibly burn more than I am already? I am doing 4 resistance, 3 cardio, housework, gardening etc, and I don't have the energy for jumping jacks that I had at 20-40!" Plus, on OPT, I've been feeling a bit stressed from the 4 resistance days per week.
Then I thought, for some reason, about walking. Oh, my friend just came back from a 2 week trip to China where distances are HUGE, crossing the wide streets, airport, department stores, museums, the photos just showed huge spans of distance to walk.
Then I remembered when I travelled around the world for 5 years. I first spent 10 months as a volunteer on a kibbutz, where they had an all-you-can-eat buffet for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner. I quickly went up from 188 to probably 206+... None of my clothes fit by the time I left Israel for Turkey.
In Turkey, we walked. We would get up in the morning, walk to, and around the market and buy (well, not Greek yogurt) Turkish yogurt and canned black cherries mmmmmm.... and we'd buy lunch to go: salad fixings, feta cheese, olives, and a "french bread" fresh from the oven. I would eat 1/2 of the whole bread with the Greek salad.. Fresh lemons for salad dressing. Then we'd walk an hour+ into the countryside of whatever town we were in, a wonderful adventur walk, and I would then sit down and paint/watercolor for 4-6 hours. Then we'd walk back to town, stopping for tea and some new cookies (each town had different cookies to try)...Daily we bought dry roasted chickpeas and dried apricots for a snack as we walked around. ...and then get a vegetarian dinner of some bean vegie stew or omelette.
I lost a huge amount of weight, probably went down to 150 easily over 3 months in Turkey. I could not believe what was happening. I was not dieting really.
walking.....
I walked around the world this way for 5 years, walking, eating from markets or street vendors, painting, walking and looking at everything new. There was not any chocolate or icecream or pizza anywhere to be seen. I ate some cookies daily. I ate a ton of fruit. We'd buy 10 avocados and eat one each a day. We'd buy 100 passion fruit and eat 10 each a day. 1-2 mangos a day when we could find them. We'd be getting ready for a trainride, and buy a pineapple and eat 1/2 each on the train. Talk about 1-ingredient foods.
Well, I digress. the point of this message is that I know I can easily increase my pleasure walking, and I know the GWF loves to give me credit for walking , and I have experience that it works for fatloss.
So that's my plan. Increase my walking! No stress, keep it fun by walking outside, in malls, forests, and around the neighborhood, window shopping, etc.
That is what I do to increase my burn; every break and chance I get, I go walk in the parking garage or around the hospital, inside and out, while I am at work.
I've been doing some thinking about increasing NEAT. Leigh told me I can decrease my calories eaten, or increase my calories burned... Of course those are the 2 options!!! And I was left thinking, "how can I possibly burn more than I am already? I am doing 4 resistance, 3 cardio, housework, gardening etc, and I don't have the energy for jumping jacks that I had at 20-40!" Plus, on OPT, I've been feeling a bit stressed from the 4 resistance days per week.
Then I thought, for some reason, about walking. Oh, my friend just came back from a 2 week trip to China where distances are HUGE, crossing the wide streets, airport, department stores, museums, the photos just showed huge spans of distance to walk.
Then I remembered when I travelled around the world for 5 years. I first spent 10 months as a volunteer on a kibbutz, where they had an all-you-can-eat buffet for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner. I quickly went up from 188 to probably 206+... None of my clothes fit by the time I left Israel for Turkey.
In Turkey, we walked. We would get up in the morning, walk to, and around the market and buy (well, not Greek yogurt) Turkish yogurt and canned black cherries mmmmmm.... and we'd buy lunch to go: salad fixings, feta cheese, olives, and a "french bread" fresh from the oven. I would eat 1/2 of the whole bread with the Greek salad.. Fresh lemons for salad dressing. Then we'd walk an hour+ into the countryside of whatever town we were in, a wonderful adventur walk, and I would then sit down and paint/watercolor for 4-6 hours. Then we'd walk back to town, stopping for tea and some new cookies (each town had different cookies to try)...Daily we bought dry roasted chickpeas and dried apricots for a snack as we walked around. ...and then get a vegetarian dinner of some bean vegie stew or omelette.
I lost a huge amount of weight, probably went down to 150 easily over 3 months in Turkey. I could not believe what was happening. I was not dieting really.
walking.....
I walked around the world this way for 5 years, walking, eating from markets or street vendors, painting, walking and looking at everything new. There was not any chocolate or icecream or pizza anywhere to be seen. I ate some cookies daily. I ate a ton of fruit. We'd buy 10 avocados and eat one each a day. We'd buy 100 passion fruit and eat 10 each a day. 1-2 mangos a day when we could find them. We'd be getting ready for a trainride, and buy a pineapple and eat 1/2 each on the train. Talk about 1-ingredient foods.
Well, I digress. the point of this message is that I know I can easily increase my pleasure walking, and I know the GWF loves to give me credit for walking , and I have experience that it works for fatloss.
So that's my plan. Increase my walking! No stress, keep it fun by walking outside, in malls, forests, and around the neighborhood, window shopping, etc.
Since giving up, more or less, long distance runnning since the MRM I walk all the time, everywhere I can. it is completely non stressful on my body, I enjoy it, I lisen to podcasts, and it has helped me raise my NEAT its porbably easier here as its culturally not abnormal to leave the car at home and walk to the shops, the park, the doctors, the post office etc. I walk to the city centre, which is 4km away, no problem.
Also if you can make it mandatory, at least mentally--I don't have a car, so no matter how tired I am, I have to walk or bike to go to any place. I can't skip it. I have access to someone else's car, but don't like to drive, so mentally it is not an option. If I am in a hurry, I will sprint for a bit--but it's not forced, and I honestly couldn't tell you how often I do that. It's all need-based. That has helped me from getting sedentary, even in burn-out mode. I HAVE to move. I have designed my whole life around this--where I live, where I get a job, etc.
This is probably the fourth thread or so by now where I've mentioned that my most successful time of fat loss was when I lived in Chicago and didn't have a car. Walking was my main activity, with Curves for "resistance work" (yeah, yeah, I know better now...).
But I consistently lost 2lbs/week, and that weight I've kept off for three and a half years, now. (After that I lost more that I did not keep off, but that's another story. I'm still 30lbs lighter than I was pre-Chicago.)
Walking is fabulous for fat loss. I don't know why so many people give it a bad rap.
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
Etana, that time sounded like so much fun. I want to go to Turkey now.
My biggest period of weightloss was 10 years ago. I had joined weight watchers so I was dieting, but a group of ladies and I walked 4 miles a day for exercise. Once a week we walked 7 miles. I did weights at the gym and would bike for fun, but it was a lot of walking.
I too am trying to increase my walking. It's so easy to do, and now I listen to Leigh's podcasts as I walk (nice plug, huh.)
I've been meaning to share a cute little NEAT related story.
Last weekend we were out running errands with my husband driving. As is his habit, he started to park in the spot just outside the store door. My 9yo son goes, "Dad, you cannot park here, Mom needs her NEAT calories"
That's my boy!
Of course, on another day that was a bit cool and rainy, he asked me if we could skip the NEAT calories in this weather.
That's a great story! Wonderful to hear you have your son's support (weather permitting ).
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
I have to say, after reading your post, Etana, I have been revising my thoughts about various chores and while I can't say I *like* digging out old roses, because it is serious work, I now think of the calorie burn and go excavate with a will. Now if only I'd find some treasure, LOL!
Anyway, today the dirt is too damp, so I'll figure something else out to do in the yard.
graycyn - you never know about that treasure. I found my husband's wedding ring in the yard 10 years after he lost it!
I suspect whoever planted the roses was there before me in terms of any "treasure". All I've found are rocks, a drill bit and a couple of very faded rose tags. But I am only going about 2 feet down, enough to get all the major roots. Each rose is a good bit of NEAT... they are each about a 2x2x2 excavation... and then I have to put the soil back!
NEAT
) I mean n Sundays, I get up, get ready for church and then go sit for like an hour, then go eat (sitting) come home and I have barely taken 1000 steps. So I thought about all the past Sundays that I would do that and then come home and just lay down, read the paper, watch TV or sit at the computer until evening. I dont even want to know what I burned then - next to zip probably - yet, I would always eat more. So now, I make sure I get my steps in by going for a long walk and doing stuff around the house.
, and I have experience that it works for fatloss.
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