Hungy hungry hippos

Have you hit a plateau in your weight loss?

Are you craving food more than a hungry, hungry hippo?

Are you feeling tired?

Are you feeling cold?

If you've answered yes to the above questions, then it's possible that you're suffering from the famine reaction. When we go on a diet and lose weight, our bodies can act in unusual ways. Often once we've lost a bit of weight, we may end up suffering from the famine reaction. This has resulted from many years of human evolution - our bodies will try to retain onto every last morsel of food that we eat when they think that food sources are scarce. This effectively makes it that much more difficult to shift those unwanted kilos!

So what can we do to stop the famine reaction from halting our weight loss efforts? The answer may surprise you. Ordinarily when our weight loss stalls, we become even more determined, spend more time at the gym or cut down further on food. However, studies at the Garven institute indicate that this is exactly what we shouldn't be doing.

In an article written by Dr Amanda Sainsbury-Salis entitled "Why losing weight and keeping it off is so difficult", she suggests that we should be taking the counter-intuitive action and EAT MORE! That's right, if you answered yes to all of the questions above, you should consider eating more food in order to deactivate the famine reaction. Now this doesn't mean pigging out on a whole cheesecake to yourself, but rather choosing a variety of healthy and nutritious foods. You should be eating more calories than your diet would otherwise allow. Exercise can also assist in getting your body out of this mode and put your weight loss back on track.

For further information about the famine reaction, make sure you read the whole of Dr Sainsbury-Sails' article for yourself (refer to the above link).

Happy weight loss!

Food intake vs Exercise - the best way to lose weight

There are a lot of arguments both ways when it comes down to the "best" way to lose weight. If you've read my blog, you'll notice I try to incorporate a bit of exercise into my routine every day in addition to healthy eating.

I'm a firm believer that exercise is necessary for maintaining your weight loss long term as well as your overall well-being. It may be hard to get started, but I guarantee if you can get into a routine, after a couple of weeks you'll feel bad if you don't exercise!

Back to the title of this post - where should we be concentrating our efforts when it comes to weight loss? Well from everything I've read, I believe that diet is the number one place to start and should be given the top priority.

Why is this? Well because it takes far more effort to burn off those excess calories by working out than it does to simply not eat them in the first place. I'm sure most of us know that losing weight is a numbers game - you have to eat less calories than you burn in a day in order to lose weight (that is, have a calorie deficient diet).

Here is an extract from an article on free women's fitness entitled How to Lose Weight for Good, Your Ultimate Guide (click on the link to read the article in full):

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The mathematics of weight loss

The sad part about weight loss is that it is mostly, in the long term, about maths. You see, if you want to lose weight you need to be burning more calories than you take in. If you have excess calories in your diet they are going to be converted into fat stores. And the thing that most women don’t realize is that over a number of years those calories add up.

Take a look:

If you have a can of Coke with lunch everyday of the week you are taking in 155 calories x seven days a week. That is 1085 calories a week. Now, there are 3500 calories per pound of body fat. So, if you take in 1085 calories from one can of Coke per day in three weeks you have added a pound of fat. That is 17 pounds per year. Just from your daily Coke.

Now, don’t panic. Weight loss is more complicated than that. It is not that black and white. The point of the above example is to show you how important your diet is going to be over the course of your life. Every little thing you take in each day will add up to extra pounds.

Eating well vs running

The most important thing you need to realize after seeing that mathematical example is that eating well is so so so much easier than running and burning the calories. All you have to do is leave the can of Coke in the fridge and you have effectively burned 155 calories from your diet. That is a good 20 minutes on the treadmill. Now, when you do go to the treadmill, you are going to be burning other calories and that means you are going to lose weight a lot faster than if you had that Coke with lunch.

Remember this: eating well is so much easier than running.

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Having regard to this, it seems logical why people have so much success with shake diets, even without exercise. The challenge that ultiamtely faces us is the transition to normal eating at which stage it's vitally important to remember that it's a numbers game!

General thoughts

It's officially day 7 today, I'm still feeling really happy and motivated to be making this change in my life. I'm sure once a few more weeks have passed I might not be feeling quite so chirpy. In reality I'm yet to face any "real" challenges when it comes to food.

As it was a long weekend last weekend, most of my friends were out of town. Whereas on any ordinary weekend I would have several social outings to deal with. Weight loss is so much easier in a controlled and temptation free environment. No wonder those people on the Biggest Loser manage to shed so much weight.

In any case, I though I'd mention one little saying / mantra that helps me get by. Hopefully if I reflect on it in times of temptation, I can get myself through:

What I choose, is my choice.

For those of you who are music buffs, you might recognise this as a line from the Smashing Pumpkins song, Disarm (obviously I'm taking it out of context here!). At the end of the day, I have arrived at the weight I am, based on my choices, there's no blaming anyone else for making me fat. I am the one who chose to eat each extra mouthful, to have seconds and not to exercise.

It's time to take accountability for my actions. If I want to lose weight, I have to choose to lose weight. This means eating right and exercising. If I choose to give way to temptation, then I need to be aware of the consequences.

For anyone who has been susceptible to binge eating (which includes me), it's easy to have a bit of calorie blindness. It's almost like if you eat it quickly, or in secret, the calories don't count. This is obviously crazy talk! By recognising my choices I can hopefully gain control over my eating habits and learn to eat more consciously.

In the zone

At the moment I'm finding it quite easy to stay "in the zone". One advantage that I suspect I have over a lot of other people when it comes to dieting, is that I live on my own (for the time being anyway). This means, luckily for me that I can have a temptation free household.

As wasteful as it might sound, before starting on this challenge I gave away or threw out all the bread, rice, pasta and junk food that might lead me astray. Now my fridge is full of fresh vegetables, pre-prepared meals such as soup and diet jelly. My cupboards on the other hand are pretty bare, I have some psyllium husks, a variety of herbs and spices and a few sauces (soy, chilli etc).

This might not be a viable option for most people. But for me, it ensures that home is a safe-haven. Now I just have to resist the temptation of biscuits at work, eating out, shops, visiting friends... aye aye aye!

Another tip which I've found helps is to avoid shopping at supermarkets as much as possible. That way there's no chance that packet of chips can accidentally fall into your trolley. Green grocers and butchers provide much better alternatives. As an added bonus the produce is generally much better (and often cheaper)!

Now I know you can't buy everything at your butcher/grocer and I'm not going to suggest that you never go to the supermarket. I can't imagine the creative alternatives for toilet paper that we might end up with if that were the case! But this is just another tip which might help those of you struggling with your weight loss journey.

Planning ahead

I keep on reading over and over the saying, that failing to plan, is planning to fail. The more I think about it, the more it rings true to me.

We all make a million excuses as to why we can't lose weight - not enough time, we're too busy, too stressed, work too much. While I'm not encouraging anyone to make excuses, sometimes these can be legitimate - especially the lack of time.

I know personally, I work long-ish hours in a corporate environment, like to socialise and eat out. But what happens in these circumstances? We rely on convenience and end up making poor food choices.

This is where planning comes into place. Work, friend and family will always be there. Along with the housework and anything else which is taking up your time. If you want to make real changes and lose weight, we have to be selfish! Put all those other factors aside and make you and your health your top priority.

This might mean simple changes - taking a lunch break at work and using that time to go for a walk. Spending half an hour to sit down, plan your meals for the week and do the grocery shopping accordingly.


I have to say, I'm boring when it comes to food. I can eat the same meal for days on end without wanting to shoot myself. So for me, I generally set a couple of hours aside on a Sunday to get myself ready for the weekd ahead. I cook up a big batch of soup, which will be my lunch for the rest of the week. I might also cook another meal, whether it be roast vegetables, or cauliflower croquettes which can act as dinner for me on a night I'm not in the mood for cooking.

If you're not the type of person who's happy eating the same soup for 3 days in a row, I still recommend making up a big batch. That way you can freeze it and have it in a week's time, when you're ready to face that meal again.

Do you guys have any planning tips which help you to get through the week and avoid temptation?

It won't happen over night...

I was just watching tv and heard this line, I'm sure you've all heard it before:

It won't happen over night, but it will happen.

So what on earth does Pantene shampoo and conditioner have to do with weight loss? Well not a lot, but I think this motto is something that really rings true when it comes to anyone who is trying to reach their weight loss and fitness goals (as well as their hair care - thanks Pantene :P).

It's far too easy to give up if we have a bad week, you've tried so hard, only to lose a few hundred grams. Either that or you've been dieting for 2 months and are only half-way there, what's the point?

The point is that weight loss takes time. I don't think anyone who is overweight got there by eating poorly for 2 months, for me it happened over a matter of years. So why is it that I expect that I can lose it all in 2 months? We can blame it on anything, our fast-paced lifestyles, being generation y (I want it all and I want it now). It seems everyone wants instant gratification.

Unfortuantely, when it comes to weight loss there's no miracle cure, no wonder drug, no way to drop 20kg overnight (except maybe with the help of a bit of surgical intervention in the form of liposuction). We have to put in the hard yards - eating well and exercising on a consistent basis.

This isn't meant to be a depressing post, quite the opposite in fact. When we are feeling down in the dumps and stuck on our weight loss journey, it's important to remember that it is that - a journey. As much as we'd love to, there's no jumping to the finish line - so we may as well enjoy the ride.

Hints and tips - green tea

Well if you've taken the time to glance over my food intake since the start of my challenge, you'll probably notice I've been drinking a lot of green tea. I enjoy green tea and go through phases of drinking it, but would love to incorporate it as part of my everyday life.

Each time I get onto a phase of drinking it, is because I have read (yet another) article or report on the amazing health benefits it has to offer. There are stories that it helps in everything from weight loss, to preventing cancer.

I try to take things with a pinch of salt, especially when a product is stated to be the latest cure all, weight loss secret, or super food. But with green tea, I think I'm willing to make an exception. The latest reading I've been doing about green tea is here on free women's fitness. I was absolutely dumb-founded when I read that "a recent study has shown that women who drink four or more cups of Green Tea per day are up to 80% less likely to get cancer".

That is crazy - 80% less?!!? Now I haven't read the study, so maybe it comes down to the fact that women who drink green tea regularly are more inclined to a healthy lifestyle. But in any case, I'm going to do my best to keep drinking it for the rest of my challenge (and going forward).

Hints and tips - coffee

While on this journey, I'm happy to try anything (well almost) to give me a boost and increase my weight loss. One tip I've read lots about is to have a strong coffee before your morning work-out.

During the week I tend to work out in the evenings - it just slots better into my day. On weekends however, I like to get my exercise out of the way early on.

So today (day 3) I thought I would give it a go. After hitting snooze one to many times, I dragged myself out of bed and made myself a strong coffee. The only bad thing about this theory - sugar and milk are both no-no's.

If you refer to tip 3 on this free women's fitness link, they go into a much better explanation of some of the possible explanations behind this theory. It's way too early for me to say if this will be beneficial, but I'm prepared to continue doing it for the next 12 weeks before my weekend workouts.

Mmm coffee, but don't forget - no milk or sugar!