I Am The Walrus

PROLOGUE: Sorry if I’m going to sound pompous because of this entry. I’ve had a pretty rough few days, what with work hitting me like an asteroid right at the first hour after the holidays. Never mind that I’m sick — let’s set that aside. I just need to feel better.

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First, you have to decide to lose weight. You need to decide. You can’t just say "I think I’d like to lose weight". You have to say "I have to have to have to lose weight". It’s all about motivation. And the best kind of motivation is having the moral decision to actually do something.

Your motivation can’t come from a person (I want to lose weight because my boyfriend wants me to). It can’t come from a thing (I want to lose weight because I want to fit in a bikini this summer). It has to come from you — wanting it for it’s own merit. To lose weight for the sake of losing weight. And nothing else.

And then you do the following:

1. Eating habits: Go down to bare essentials. A decent meal consists of a carb-source and a protein source. Rice and fish. A ham sandwich. Fish and Onion oatmeal with dilis bits (you have to try this. It’s heaven to the palate). Everything else is a luxury. You DON’T need soda to finish lunch. You DON’T need nuts to start off a meal. At the very least, you can have dessert. Fruit, in particular, like a slice of mango or a small can of pineapples. Since I love chocolate, I’m going to say yes to it, but in decent portions. And at MOST, one serving a day. A medium size bar of Kitkat, I’d say is enough. Or half a Snickers bar.

Just cutting down on unnecessary food and drinks will mean a lot to a healthier diet.

2. Developing an Exercise Regime: Get Off Your Ass! A lot of people frown at exercise. I used to. But if you introduce it in your system, you’ll find yourself craving for it. It’s relaxing and even therapeutic to let out all that sweat. After a broken heart caused by that Virus Man, I went out and rode my bike for an hour. Instead of crying, I let the sweat fall from my brow to my nose to my chin. When I got home, I felt better.

The simplest exercise is walking. It is also the best way to prepare your oft-sedentary body for movement that didn’t involve a refrigerator. I started by taking the stairs on my way out of the building — 15 floors, about 30 flights of stairs. It’s not so bad since it’s a descent, you’re not going against gravity. And I’ve timed it, and it’s about 15 minutes. At 200 calories an hour, you’ve burned 40 calories. Not bad.

And then your body gets used to the movement, you build endurance,then slowly you can go up a notch — walk greater distances, start running or biking.

I read somewhere that the perfect exercise should match your personality. If you’re competitive, then you should get into a sport-type of activity like badminton or basketball. If you like dancing, like me, there are TONS of exercise videos that you can buy. I’m using Hiphop Abs now and it’s awesome.

3. Etcetera, etcetera.

- Buy a weighing scale. It’s only P300. You can’t track your progress if you don’t have the meter.

- Alcohol, unfortunately, makes you gain weight. Although the stuff itself is as heavy as soda calorie-wise, it encourages eating beyond what’s necessary. Ever downed a large pack of Lapid’s chicharon while finishing off three bottles of beer?

- I operate on a reward-punishment basis, a system I learned from how my parents raised me. (Good grades? Here’s a barbie doll! Bad grades? No field trip! My grade school life in four sentences). So when I’ve been particularly good in eating terms, I treat myself to a scoop of ice cream or one WHOLE bar of chocolate. When I’ve been bad — pizza, pasta, chicken and coke, for example — I need to burn at least half that through exercise. So if I guzzle down three beers the night before — 300 calories total — I need to run 300 calories worth. About an hour around the UP academic oval.

- Drinking lots of water helps the weight loss and gives you nice skin too.

- Have yogurt or a yogurt drink every other day for calcium and to help with digestion. You need to shit every day. No kidding. If you don’t, you have a problem.

- There will be days when you crave for something salty, like chips and nuts. But keep these in moderation, too. A small bag of chips is enough. Finishing a whole cylinder of Pringles is about 1,000 calories — like eating 5 cups of rice. Nuts are a good protein source, sure, but fat content is high, and it goes straight to that unsightly belly (which I still have boohoo). Keep your nuts consumption to half a cup at most.

It helps to eat these undesirables — chips, nuts, chocolate — slowly and in small pieces. Don’t inhale it, for crying out loud.

- I find that sleeping late also encourages unnecessary eating so make sure you’re horizontal by 12mn.

- Finally, let me say this. There’s more to life than food! There are books and DVDs and friends and nature and sleep and hugs. If you find yourself stressed and depressed, there are other ways to heal.

Oh, and there’s also blogging.