Didja? (Did You)

There is a well-known weight loss group that tells their employees not to ask “The Didjas” when clients complain that they are not losing weight. I’m not sure what their reason is for instructing employees in this manner. It doesn’t make sense to me. If you are trying to lose weight, and you are not, you must ask yourself these questions. Examining what you are doing is merely accountability, which is the ONLY way to achieve a healthy body fat percentage, unless you are one of the rare people who just wake up perfect. If you, we, myself included, do not account for the calories that we eat, we will almost certainly eat too many. The inability to regulate our caloric intake is what got us overweight in the first place, so we have already exhibited that we CANNOT “intuitively eat” and be healthy. “The Didjas” are necessary for those of us who gain weight easily and have a hard time losing it once we do.

Did You Say “Diet”?

Thinking of getting healthy as a “diet” is probably the most common mistake that we make when we want to shed those extra pounds. A diet is a temporary state of deprivation that makes us miserable until we can’t stand it anymore. Then we rebound with a fury and eat everything in sight. When we truly decide to get healthy, we must understand that the lifestyle that we’ve been living is not getting us what we want out of life. If that’s the case, then it’s necessary to create a new lifestyle.

Did You Count Calories?

A great favor that my mother did for me was to introduce me to calorie counting. She was very concerned about the prospect of me becoming overweight and she bought a small, pocket calorie counter at the grocery store checkout. In the front of the little book, there was advise about how many calories to consume based on insurance charts, and the rest of the book was an alphabetical listing of all common foods. Whenever she decided that I was getting too fat, out came the calorie counter. At the age of 4 years, I was counting my own calories. I have tried almost every diet known to man, calorie counting is all that works in the long run. Counting your calories is easier than ever now. My Fitness Pal does it for you free. There is a paid version of the app but you don’t need that. If you can use your phone, you can use My Fitness Pal.  When you start counting your calories, you will understand ONE of the reasons that we teach to avoid added sugars. Foods with added sugars are high in calories and cause you to waste those precious calories on junk food that is going to cause an insulin dump which will make you hungry. If you have used too much of your calorie budget on desserts, yo won’t have enough left to satisfy that hunger when it hits and you usually eat too much. Counting calories educates you on which foods satisfy your hunger and help you spend your calories wisely.

Did You Count EVERYTHING?

How many times have you paused to think about what you have eaten in a day and when you remembered that “bite or two”, just dismissed it?  That cream-filled doughnut pictured above has about 350 calories in the whole thing. Two bites, which is almost half of it, will cost you close to 175 calories. For that same calorie count, you can have 3-4 ounces of lean beef. Which do you think will keep you full longer?

If you make this one omission to your calorie count in a day, every day, in a month you will have dismissed about 5,250 calories. There’s 3,500 calories in a pound of fat. Do you see how those unaccounted foods add up? To be truthful, if you don’t routinely count those random bites, licks and tastes, (BLT’s), the total calorie count of foods that you dismiss is going to be 3 or 4 times that amount. If you take a bite or two of one doughnut and rationalize that you don’t have to count them, you are most likely taking other bites of sweets and sips of drinks throughout your day. It ALL adds up. Not only will this habit prevent weight loss, it will make you gain weight when you think you are “dieting”.

Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash

Did You Listen to the Wrong Voice?

 You very well may have to purge your friend list. If you have ever had the experience of doing great on a new lifestyle and somebody telling you that you “look tired”, “deserve to live a little”,  “You’re changing and I don’t like it.” or other trash talk that is designed to pull you back into your former destructive habits, THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND. Distance yourself from them at all costs. That relationship can and will cost you your life over the course of many years. Almost all women have had this experience. As hard as it seems when you first realize that this person that you place so much value in, is working against you, you MUST remove them from your daily life. If this destructive force is a close relative, set hard and fast rules and NEVER give in to their harmful influence. If you show weakness one time, they will feel that they can control you. If you don’t have to see them, don’t. If they live in the house with you, take control of the environment and exhibit the benefits of improved fitness as you lose weight and get healthy. If the relationship is worth living with that negative influence, it is. If it’s not, change that. I did.

Did You Sleep Enough?

Sleep is essential to regulate hormones and repair our bodies physically and biochemically. Muscle torn down during hard workouts is rebuilt during sleep. Hunger, stress and calming hormones all reboot during restful sleep. If you do not get enough sleep, you will stay hungry more and feel the need for extra food for the energy that  is depleted by not sleeping. You will also graze during those hours that you should be sleeping. I repeat, it takes only a small number of calories to make a HUGE difference in your body fat. You may think that the yogurt, granola or peanut butter that calls your name at 3 AM is “okay, because it’s healthy” but if it causes you to exceed your calorie allowance for the day, it’s NOT okay.  Insomnia is at an all-time high. See your doctor if you cannot seem to get enough sleep and follow his recommendations. Sleep is not a luxury, it is necessary to living a healthy life and especially to control your weight.

Did You Swap Activity for Food?

I was in a group one time that allotted themselves extra calories for the Activities of Daily Living. You WILL NOT be successful at weight loss if you try to award yourself more food for washing the dishes. I tried swapping “Activity” for food and GAINED 7 (SEVEN) pounds in two weeks. It DOES NOT WORK. Agreeably, if you do intense workouts, you will be able to eat more than a couch potato but allowing yourself a stop at the drive-through because it was laundry day is just laughable. Above all, you MUST be honest with yourself. If you “cheat”, you are only cheating on yourself. I work out hard and NEVER count those workout calories, much less the calories burned by the Activities of Daily Living. Exercise, as prescribed by your doctor is great to build muscle and cardiovascular fitness but it is not a ticket to splurge.

Did You Exercise?

Your doctor can tell you what you need to do for exercise based on your medical information. As soon as he does, GET GOING. Exercise will boost your metabolism and make those pounds drop easier. It will also improve your state of mind when you are struggling with the new changes to your lifestyle. Exercise helps to balance hormones and makes you feel more in control of life. By decreasing stress, it helps you avoid emotional eating. When you are working out, it’s hard to be bored so there goes the excuse of eating out of boredom. It will also help you start to look like the person that you want to be and help improve all of your blood labs at the doctor’s office. Do whatever your doctor approves and you WILL DO. Don’t commit to go to the gym if it’s too far from home. You won’t do it. Don’t commit to swim if you’re scared of the water. Do something that is practical FOR YOU. Just do it!

The “Didjas” are accountability and accountability is EVERTHING. Be true, to YOURSELF and win!

Dream Big. Work Hard. Make It Happen.