Ideoform's Tips on Weight Loss

I, Ideoform, lost 44 pounds.

Someone asked what I did. I tend to give out way too much information... so I have to cut myself off all the time. And I did. Then I realized that I could just post it all here, and then give anyone interested the URL for this page. Voila, instant weightloss booklet. No missing information.

OK, basically it is not rocket science. Eat healthy and exercise. Both together.

Everyone knows that part, but there is this endless discussion about the details; "Eat what?" "Exercise how?"

And then there is the elusive "tips" section that includes all sorts of alchemy and superstition, mixed with sometimes contradictory scientific studies.

The most important part for me was finding out that I was allergic to food. And allergic to ingredients that are added to almost all processed and preserved foods. "Well, that makes it easy to loose weight," you say, but I was also craving food all the time. So that's a real problem...craving what makes you sick. Well, wait a minute, this is the same thing most overweight people have.

The thing is, there is way more to it than that. Addiction. Allergy. Immune dysfunction. Insulin resistance. Stress.

So it started with me gaining weight in the first place, because I was sick. Then figuring out why I was sick, and then feeling better and able to eat less and move around more easily without getting tired. I suspect there are a lot of people who are not true couch potatoes, but have underlying health issues that make it hard to eat correctly and to exercise and feel good while doing it.

Figuring out why you gained weight in the first place is a big part of loosing it. You just reverse the process, right? (None of us was born overweight, at the risk of hurting our mothers...)

I am going to start out with the tips, then. This is just what I do, and what worked for me, and you can try these things and see if they are a good fit for you.

Tip:
I stopped drinking soda, any kind of soda, even carbonated water. I transitioned to carbonated water for about a week, and then gave that up too.

Reasoning behind the tip:
I understand that there is a chemical in the citrus flavorings in carbonated sodas and waters that affects the thyroid, and so I went to filtered water, and sometimes added some real lemon juice (from a fresh real lemon, not from a concentrate.) Diet soda has Aspartame in it, which affects the brain and can lead to an addictive process, and headaches. Oh, and I saved a lot of money, too.

Tip:
I stopped eating or drinking anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Reasoning:
HFC has been known to be contaminated with Mercury, and can suppress the feeling of fullness you get from eating so you never feel satisfied. It also is processed in the liver, which puts an added strain on your liver.

Tip:
I stopped eating anything after 8pm at night.

Reasoning:
You don't want to be digesting all night. This helps you sleep better. (Unless you are starving yourself all day, and then your brain won't have the energy to sleep well.) Also, Sumo wrestlers are known to eat mainly at night, and then their bodies store more of the calories during the night, turning them into fat instead of movement.

Tip:
This goes along with the previous tip: I eat breakfast every morning with my kids. Most of the time it is two organic, free-range eggs, poached, or over easy. Don't overcook the yolks of the eggs, they have biotin in them that you need, and cooking destroys that. But definitely cook them just enough so the clear part turns white. Some days it is gluten-free waffles with real 100% maple syrup.

Reasoning:
Eating with my family is nourishing to me and my kids in more ways than just with calories. It gives me energy for my day, and makes me less likely to eat late at night.

Tip:
Meditation 30 minutes per day.

Reasoning:
Stress reduction. Stress causes cortisol to rise. Cortisol makes you gain weight, especially around your midsection. Meditation also retrains your brain, interrupts the negative thought-cycles that cause you to eat more because you are worried about eating more, which is a vicious circle. If you stop projecting your thoughts, you can stop projecting your current weight outward into reality and being stuck there.

Tip:
Plant a garden. Can be any size.

Reasoning:
Food you grow yourself tastes better. Really. Plus, it is organic (unless you decide to spray it with chemicals) and there is a study that says that taking care of plants is a big stress-reliever, and makes people live longer. Even if it is just house plants.
It is much more fun to eat vegetables and you are more likely to actually eat them just because they are there. Plus, you don't have to store them if you pick them as you eat them. Refrigerated vegetables loose some of their flavor. And this is better for the environment than having vegetables and fruits transported from other countries. Eating vegetables in season is better for your health.

Tip:
Eat only organic food. (See above.)

Reasoning:
Sounds expensive, but if you add in the cost of health care, you might find that it evens out. Pesticides kill things. End of discussion.

Tip:
Take vitamins. Get your levels of vitamins tested if you can. Supplement whatever you are low in. Get chewable vitamins with no preservatives or artificial anything. Or get a liquid version. Add them to your smoothies so they absorb better. Make sure they are fresh and not rancid. The oils can go rancid, so open one up right after you buy it and smell the oil. If it smells rancid, take them back.

Tip:
Make sure you are getting enough minerals. Get your water tested and find out what's in it. If it has lead, arsenic, or pesticides, filter it or buy filtered water. Then make sure to take a balanced mineral supplement. Make sure the supplement doesn't have lead in it, either.
One of my son's was having trouble sleeping at night. We discovered he was low in iron. So we supplement iron. I then got rid of all of my aluminum pans and all my non-stick coated pans and switched to cast iron.

Reasoning:
If you filter your water, and don't use well water, you might be low in various minerals, too. Aluminum can be toxic to the brain. Cast iron pans are inexpensive, and will last longer than you do, and outlive your grandchildren, too. And they help you get the iron you need. Check your iron levels sometimes to make sure you don't have hemochromatosis (a genetic disease that leads too much iron in your blood.) Men don't need as much iron as women do. Men can have too much iron, so men, give blood to your local blood bank.

Tip:
I stopped drinking juice I didn't make myself from scratch. I make lemonaide:
Recipe: Boiled, cooled, filtered water. Lemons, Turbinado sugar. I do sometimes still drink 100% grapefruit juice.

Reasoning:
The labels on juices are deceptive. They can add HFC and can be corrupted with things added during processing. Juices can have a lot of calories. I would rather eat more food and drink less juice.

Tip:
I trained my taste buds to like water when I am thirsty. I boil water, filter it, then put it into used Snapple bottles (or whatever bottles are the right size) and keep about a dozen in the fridge. I take them everywhere with me.

Reasoning:
Recycling is good. Convenience is good. Water is good. This tip combines all three.

Tip:
Wear New Balance Shoes. Get your feet fitted with arch supports you can put into any shoe, if necessary. I credit Flylady for this tip. (www.flylady.com) The minute I get up in the morning I get completely dressed, to lace-up shoes. I don't go anywhere without shoes on. Birkenstock shoes work also, and they have sandals that work great.

Reasoning:
I used to have knee, ankle, and hip pain. All great excuses for not exercising. Most of it went away with a bottle of Glucosamine/Chondroitin. The rest went away from this tip. I think that as I gained weight, my arches couldn't support my legs, knees and, in turn, hold my hips in the right position. All causing pain. No, this is not a plug for New Balance shoes. They just have the best arch supports of any shoe I have tried. They last a long time, and they are made well. And they don't kill my sensibilities with a mountain of advertising.

Tip:
I stopped eating anything with nitrates in it. I do eat some meat, but it isn't processed meat. I buy the whole chunk of meat and cook it in a slow cooker/Nesco. Nitrates are in bacon, and almost all processed deli meats like hot dogs.

Reasoning:
Nitrates cause cancer when they are exposed to high temperatures. I suspect they also cause cancer at low temperatures, but that I can't say for sure. Processed meats include animal parts I would rather not think about, much less eat.

Tip:
I buy free range, organic meats with no added antibiotics or hormones.

Reasoning:
Free range means the animal gets vitamin D from sunlight, is healthier, and doesn't need the antibiotics to stay alive until slaughter. Why eat a sick animal when you can eat a healthy one?

Tip:
I eat less meat and more fish. I have a vegetarian day for the entire family twice a week or more.

Reasoning:
I was a vegetarian for 15 years. I know how to cook this way and still get enough protein. If you go vegetarian completely (as in vegan), be sure to take vitamin B12 supplements. Being vegetarian is an easy way to avoid saturated fat.

Tip:
If you do eat meat, never eat the fat. You can cook with the fat, but remove it before eating. For instance, you can broil a chicken with the skin on, but take all the fat drippings and get rid of them, and don't eat the skin. If I buy chicken breasts with no skin on, I coat them in olive oil before cooking.

Reasoning:
The animal's body's way of dealing with toxins that their liver can't deal with right away is to store them in the animal's fat cells. You are eating everything the animal's body didn't want, and couldn't handle. This little tip is also in the bible, of all places.

Tip:
I gave up margarine. I didn't give up all fats. I use organic cold-pressed olive oil, walnut oil, safflower oil, coconut oil, and flax oil. I gave up trans-fats before it was the IN thing to do. I use organic clarified butter, mixed with the oils for flavour sometimes. Clarified butter is also called Ghee.

Reasoning:
Trans fats will kill you. Well, maybe not right away -- slowly. Your body can't digest them correctly. Fat isn't the problem, its what kind of fat, and don't overdo it.

Tip:
Smaller portion sizes. Weigh and measure all of your food for a while. Keep a food journal. Use smaller plates, smaller cups.

Reasoning:
Knowledge is power. Know what and how much you are eating so you can't live in denial.

Tip:
I eat one square of dark chocolate every day. I get the best organic, free-trade, dark chocolate I can afford. I eat about 1 to 2 inch square with my coffee or tea for a snack. The average chocolate bar lasts me about four days. If I get really good chocolate, I don't crave the entire bar. And I know I will be getting some every day, so I don't moon over it.

Reasoning:
Chocolate is good for me. Its good for my soul too. But it has to be really GOOD chocolate.

Tip:
I learned how to cook from scratch. I watch cooking shows and cook like the chefs do. I experiment all the time, and I get a lot of variety.

Reasoning:
The better tasting the food, the more satisfying a reasonable portion of it is. Plus, the more fun it is to share it.

Tip:
I learned to cook -- from scratch -- seven healthy evening meals for the entire family, that everyone will eat.

Reasoning:
Once I had seven healthy meals memorized, I didn't have the excuse that I didn't know what to make for dinner.

Tip:
I eat my biggest meal in the middle of the day.

Reasoning:
I burn off the calories during the day, instead of getting all bloated and tired at night. My energy levels at night are better. My boyfriend likes this part.

Tip:
I eat nuts. I have them out in a dish where it is easy to grab a small handful as a snack. I get organic, raw almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios.

Reasoning:
Almonds have calcium and have anti-cancer properties. Just eat less than 10 per snack. Walnuts are good for the heart (folklore: walnut hulls are supposed to kill worm eggs that can get in the heart.) Cashew butter can be a cheese substitute in some dishes.

Tip:
I avoid sulfates. Sulfates are in dried fruits and wine unless labeled sulfate-free.

Reasoning:
Sulfates give me a headache, literally. I think it is the sulfates that cause the hangover more than the alcohol itself, although I don't drink much for it to matter to me. I drink about two glasses of wine a week, on average.

Tip:
I try not to spike my insulin levels. This means eating three meals a day plus two small snacks. I eat at the same time each day, and I exercise to burn off some of the calories each day. I follow the principle that I eat until I am 80% full, then stop. After 20 minutes, I feel full.

Reasoning:
Too much sugar in your blood is caustic to your blood vessels, leading to heart disease. So your liver and pancreas work to produce insulin to manage blood sugar. The body burns some of it with movement (or fidgeting -- this is why kids fidget.) The liver stores some of it, and what it can't store the insulin directs into the fat cells. So I try never to eat more at one sitting than I can burn up by the next meal.

Tip:
I exercise enough each day to empty my liver of any stored calories.

Reasoning:
On the eliptical the display shows the number of calories burned. The liver can store about 400 calories. So I try to "empty my liver" at least once per day. Then I am in "fat burning mode" after that. I can actually feel this happening at a certain point in my routine. It happens about 25 to 35 minutes into cardio exercise. I hit this low energy point, and after a few minutes my body switches over to a different form of energy burning, and then I can go on for almost forever...

Tip:
I got my thyroid levels checked. I was mildly low, and now take a thyroid supplement. This really helps. But go slow adding thyroid hormone. It can make your hair fall out if your thyroid levels change drastically.

Reasoning:
Thyroid hormones help set your body's metabolic rate, heart rate and other things. Low thyroid makes you feel cold all the time. Creating body heat requires burning calories, and so you can gain weight just sitting there if your levels are too low. Low thyroid makes you constipated, and so nothing is moving, letting toxins build up in your system.

Tip:
I got rid of mercury fillings.

Reasoning:
I couldn't afford to do this all at once, but I made sure that as they needed replacing, I replaced them with non-mercury fillings. Mecury does all kinds of nasty things, including messing with your immune system, and making you feel fatigued. I grind my teeth at night, not good for fillings of any kind.

Tip:
I shop for food more often. I go to the Farmer's Market in the summer, and I shop almost daily for fresh items. I buy what looks good and then make it the same day.

Reasoning:
The food tastes better, is fresher, has more vitamins in it, and I don't have wilted vegetables getting mouldy in my vegetable bin, so I throw less of it out. Broccoli looses half of its folic acid each day it sits in the refrigerator. Besides, the food has already usually been stored for a while during shipping and sitting at the store. Around the world, more people shop daily for food than we do, and it seems to be working for them. My goal is to never actually use my refrigerator. It is very empty-looking now. Shop. Eat. Pray. Something like that every day. It works.

Another reason; if you are busy having fun shopping, cooking, and eating fresh, healthy foods, you are less busy thinking about your next trip to the fast food place.

Tip:
I made a pledge to see if I could go to the gym every day for six weeks. I set a time in the morning right after dropping my kids off at school. I stayed for at least an hour.

In my mind, I made it AS important as picking my kids up from school. After all, keeping myself healthy was as much a commitment to their future as to mine, and my kids will need me for a lot longer than most children need their parents, since both of my children are disabled.

Reasoning:
I got a free six-week membership. I had to prove to myself I would use it if I paid for another month or six. The bonus was that going every day made it a routine. A habit. And then it stuck. This turned out to be Much, Much easier than making a fresh decision whether or not to go to the gym each day. No decision necessary after the first one. Saved me a lot of emotional energy talking myself into going...motivating myself, ect., ect.,....

Another way to do this tip is just to challenge yourself to see how many consecutive days you can get to the gym in a row. Make it a competition. It is way easier this way than to try to "decide" with your brain somehow each day. There are so many excuses, rationales, denials, and twists and turns your brain can come up with that you will easily be overwhelmed with them within a week.

Tip:
I try to get 9 solid, contiguous hours of sleep every night. I have very dark shades, and have a very comfortable bed with lots of pillows, and keep it very quiet. I go to sleep and get up at the same time every night, and try to keep the same routine on the weekends.

Reasoning:
If I am tired all day I won't have the energy to do very much, including exercise or eat right, which, for me, includes shopping and cooking. If you are tired a lot, get a sleep study done and see if you have sleep apnea. Good sleep will help you loose weight.

Tip:
I learned to swing dance. There is nothing like the combination of music and movement. They just go together.

Reasoning:
The funnest way to exercise for me is to music. I have a small radio I got from Radio Shack I listen to with earbuds while I work out. I have a playlist of exercise music, and another just for housecleaning, which makes housecleaning an indoor sport.

Tip:
Find a gym close you where you live. My gym is only five minutes away by car. Find a gym you like, that has activities you like. If they don't have something, ask for it. My gym is now getting together a ballroom dancing class.

Reasoning:
If its farther than the grocery store, you will be buying more food than burning it off...

Tip:
On nice weather days, I walk to the grocery, I walk to the restaurant, I take my bike to places.

Rationale:
Save the planet, reduce my need for products made with imported oil.

Tip:
Chop wood, carry water.

Rationale:
Zen dictate that means, do whatever is required of the moment with zeal and gratitude for life. Join Habitat for Humanity and literally chop wood and carry water... great exercise and you have something "concrete" to show for it.

OK, the above things anyone can do and I am certain they will help.

I did one at a time.

I made them lifestyle changes.

Not temporary things. Like for instance, I gave up soda seven years ago and I never went back, and never will. Its a permanent change.

First of all, I reassure myself that I won't commit myself to doing any change I am not willing to make permanent. So if I am not ready for the change yet, I just don't.

So it was worth doing just this one thing for the first entire year. I think it takes 21 days to make a habit. So if you work to make good habits, instead of bad ones, you commit to doing the change for 21 days. If you change too many things at once you will forget, or loose your resolve because it will be too hard, unless you are living at a health spa and this is all you have to do during the day...

I don't have the energy to be going back and forth on things a lot. So I make the decision once. Not thirty times over my lifetime. This actually saves me emotional energy.

And once I get one thing to stick, it is so rewarding, and I see improvements in my health and so then it is easier to be motivated to do the next thing because my confidence in my willpower and ability goes up.

Here's the more specific-to-me things I did, that naturally had an effect and helped me to loose weight:

Two years ago I went on a very strict GF/CF diet. I didn't do it for weight-loss reasons. I didn't even do it for myself. I did it for my son who has Autism. I was curious to see what effect it would have on myself, and so I followed it, too. And it was just easier and simpler to have the whole family follow this at once. Its not a "diet" in the traditional sense of limiting calories. Calories is not the point of this diet. It is avoiding of certain components of foods that cause problems for me and my son.

GF/CF means no gluten/no casein. Gluten is a component of wheat and several other grains. Casein is in all dairy products except eggs. (I don't know why they call eggs dairy products.) Dairy means the stuff that comes from cows, goats, sheep that they feed to their young, and everything that people make out of that stuff. Both gluten and casein are additives in other packaged products and so you have to read all labels to do this correctly.

The benefit of this to me was all my symptoms of Fibromyalgia, IBS, and other symptoms that I had been suffering with went completely away. The secondary benefit was weight loss, but not the way you think. I ate the same amount of food. It was just that all my cravings for foods went away, and I felt more satisfied by what I did eat. I had more energy, and so exercise felt good instead of making me feel worse. In fact, now, if I get any kind of craving at all, I suspect that I have been exposed to gluten. I get fewer cravings during the week when I cook all my own food from scratch, and more on the weekend when I tend to eat out more. I love the way I cook, and I buy all my favorite foods, so it isn't that there isn't good food to eat.

It feels really good to eat a healthy meal and not feel like I am still hungry an hour later. What a relief not to think about food all the time! I still like to cook, I enjoy cooking shows, and I like to plan my meals and shop at the market, but I don't do it because I am hungry all the time.

I think that one of the weight-loss side-benefits of eliminating dairy is that I was avoiding something that often has a lot of hormones in it that can cause weight gain in cows. Well, if it can cause weight gain in cows, and makes a calf grow to be full-grown in less than a year into a huge cow, then perhaps it helps to avoid it if you are trying to loose weight. You can get all of the main nutrients from other places that don't involve a lactating cow as the intermediary.

I don't know how much the following things have to do with weight-loss, but they do involve things I have done to eat and live healthier and I suspect that being healthier in general has made it easier for me to think clearly, stick to my resolutions, and to move around and burn up energy. I also have a very healthy sex drive, with the added benefit of burning calories doing something very enjoyable to me and my partner.

I avoid Aspartame and all artificial sweeteners. I do use all organic Turbinado sugar, organic 100% maple syrup, dark chocolate, and some honey. Artificial sweeteners just add to cravings later on for me.

I drink organic, fair-trade green tea twice a day, but not after 4pm at night, since it does have some caffeen. My favorite flavour is Jasmine. I limit coffee to times with friends, and during that time of the month, when it seems to help with water retention better than tea. I buy organic, fair-trade coffee beans, store them in the freezer and grind them myself.

I avoid artificial food colorings. You can get a variety of colors with vegetables and natural products. I eat a rainbow of colors every day. I prefer red bell peppers to green because they have more vitamin C. I try to have a plate that has at least three bright colors on it every meal.

I eat a lot of organic berries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, red cabbage, fresh garlic, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, onions, mushrooms, fresh ginger, fresh lemon, fresh orange juice from oranges.

I have two categories for saving food:
Good ways to save "preserve" food:
Root cellar, refrigerator, salting, home canning, freezing, making jams/jellies.

Bad ways to preserve food:
Chemical/artificial preservatives, nitrites, BHA, BHT, etc... pesticides, heavy metals like lead, arsenic, aluminum, mercury. Believe it or not, these have all been used at one time...

I avoid all these things in products I use on my skin and hair too. If the nicotine patch works, then how does the chemicals that are in personal hygiene products like soap, shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, body lotion, makeup, lipstick stay out of your body? Well, the answer is, they don't.

I make my own cleaning products. This is easy as cake. It only takes a minute or two to make any product like window cleaner. I scent them with food grade essential oils (non-synthetic) like lemon oil, vanilla, and almond oil. I preserve them with a capsule of vitamin E or citric acid. There is a book called "Clean and Green" where I got most of my recipes. They are simple, with ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, borax, washing soda, vodka (to use as a disinfectant instead of the more toxic rubbing alcohol.)

The idea here is to avoid having hormone-disruptors in my house. This includes scented candles, deodorisors, room fresheners, laundry soaps. There are many artificial scents, and chemicals that affect the body's hormones. This makes it difficult for your body to operate properly.

I open my windows and make sure to air out my house at least once a week in the winter and as much as possible in the summer. I practice deep breathing exercises because I was told I was a shallow breather. Oxygen helps your body to metabolize and create energy. I took voice lessons and joined a performing choir. This forced me to breathe more deeply and it is the second-funnest way to practice deep breathing. I sing around the house while doing housework.

I try to get 30 minutes of sunlight every day, and failing that, I use full-spectrum lighting in my house, and take vitamin D in the winter. (I have been taking vitamin D for many years now, way before it was noticed that most people are deficient in it.)

I do yoga. I think it is important to learn to stretch your muscles out, particularly if you are tightening them up with weightlifting. I am not that flexible, but yoga is paradoxically both energizing and relaxing at the same time. It is great for keeping your balance, both literally and figuratively. I want to learn Tai Chi soon.

I took a class in massage. I learned to give a really good massage, and I trade with people who also are good at massage. This helps move the blood in your body around and helps your circulation, and is great for energy levels. Don't get a massage from an angry, negative, cynical person.

I try to stay around positive people. I think that getting out and around lots of different people is good, but it is even better to hang out where healthy people hang out, because I can soak up their energy. Some people do the opposite -- they can drain the energy out of a room....or a person. Notice when this is happening to you and make some changes in your life if necessary to minimize energy draining.

I learned not to internally beat myself up. If I have a "slip-up" I go right back to my normal routine as quickly as possible with no guilt attached. Last month I got the flu and I gained a few pounds because I didn't go to the gym so I wouldn't spread any germs there (always a very good idea). I rested, took care of myself, and I didn't get all mad at myself, as soon as I felt better, I just went back to the gym again.

I read something positive every day. I plan ahead, set goals, and write them down. I also tell someone my goals -- to put them out there in the universe and set them in motion. My current goal is to loose another 40 pounds. I used to weigh 134 for much of my adult life before I got sick. I want to weigh around 140. I am 5'9" tall and very strong and this would be a good weight for me.

I wear comfortable clothes that fit me. If I gain I have clothes that fit. If I loose I have clothes that fit. I don't do traditional diets that lead to yo-yo weight gain, but I do always try to wear clothes that aren't too tight or too loose.

Try to love and appreciate yourself. I learned this one from Flylady also. If you are gentle with, and taking care of your physical self, and you are nurturing and caring of your emotional self, you will naturally be in a better mood to do what is healthy for you. This is different from selfishness. It is selfish to live in a negative, self-defeating way, that causes you to need more health care, medicine and other people's patience.

I want to say that almost none of these are my original ideas. I can credit Oprah's magazine, Dr. Phil's books, Dr. Mercola's website, Flylady's books, and others. I picked and chose from their ideas and suggestions what I wanted to try, and it is the above combination of things which finally worked for me. I know for certain now that if I am not sick with the flu or something, that if I follow this lifestyle I will continue to loose weight and keep it off, and to do it in a healthy way without risky surgery, starvation diets, or dangerous drugs.