Better Bad Food Choices 

Dieting is hard so we recommend that you do not do it! 

Most diets are focused on restrictive methods of calorie control, or tout eliminating certain foods or food groups to achieve desired weight loss.  Most individuals cannot be successful with these methods long-term. The “Better Bad” system is designed to enable you to make better (relatively) food choices and control your food intake in a Realistic, Progressive and Maintainable way.

Trimming a little bit of calories here and there can do wonders for your weight and health.  It is not always about eating less; sometimes it is about eating smarter.  Skimming off calories is easier than you think.  Challenge yourself to implement one new strategy everyday for eating and one for exercise. All it takes are several small efforts to help trim excess calories. Choose a few strategies and you will eat approximately 100 calories less daily. Burn 100 calories more daily by walking for 20 minutes and that adds up to ½ pound per week.  This may not sound like much, but, it all adds up to 20 pounds in a year.

The more BBFC’s you incorporate the more calories (pounds) you will lose.  Small changes will yield HUGE results.

A few methods of a BBFC are:

Portion Control – Eat the same foods that you have been but reduce the amount by 10%

Food Switch – While at a restaurant or fast food establishment make a different selection based on taste, health needs and calorie needs.   A great example would be if you are in the habit of choosing an 800 calories Double Cheeseburger, your choice would be a Fried Chicken Sandwich at 600 calories.  This is not a perfect choice, but it is BETTER by 200 calories and most likely lower in sodium and Total Fat.

Food Frequency - Track the poor food choices you make and the frequency that you eat them.  Your goal is to eat fewer poor choices and decrease the frequency of their consumption.

This can be performed for liquids too.

Application: What can you choose differently while eating away from home this week?

Better Bad Food Choices

Surprise Exercise

Minimize Damage

90 Days to a New You 2012 - Includes the BBFC System.

Measuring Fitness and Weight Loss Success

How can I measure my fitness success?

The most successful people I have seen in fitness and weight loss plans fully understand that weight loss is a slow process and that their patience muscle must be flexed regularly.  Inevitably, weight loss will slow down and/or stop.  It will always happen at a slower pace than you wish it to and if you do not have numerous methods to gauge progress you will end up frustrated, demotivated and even potentially give up before you achieve your success. Also, I have found that most people are successful when the focus is not fat/weight loss but complete wellness/fitness improvement.  Weight loss can be part of the goal, but, if it is the sole focus, failure is imminent.

There are multiple ways to measure success. The more way someone uses to recognize progress the better.

• The physical methods will be:
• body weight and body weight range
• body fat percentage
• circumference measurements
• how your clothes are fitting 
• your ability to perform your workout activities 
• more efficient activities of daily living.

• The psychological measures will be:
• how much better and more confident you are feeling about yourself
• the improvements to your self esteem and your quality of life are endless when proper eating and exercise become a part of your life.

• I would strongly urge you to take ‘Before and After' photos. Photos can be an extremely positive way to provide positive feedback. The day to day changes are incrementally small but when seen over the course of 1, 2 or more months, the visual aid can be staggering.

The improvements to your self esteem and your quality of life are endless when proper eating and exercise become a part of your life.

How long will it take before I start to see results (i.e., changes in my body composition)?

• You should begin to feel better and more energetic within a week or two.
• You should begin to see results in the way your clothes fit and measurement changes within a month.
• Each pound of body fat is 3500 stored calories. If you create a deficit of 500 calories daily, you will lose about 4-5 lbs. monthly for the first few months.

Create your "success" list.  Your motivation and commitment will be much greater.

If you need one, grab it here:

90-Days-New-You-Transform

Are you a Scale Watcher?

Scale Watching

Many people are guilty of watching the scale every day, or even a couple of times a day, when they are following a diet and exercise regimen because they want to see immediate results. However, the effects of changing your eating habits and being more active are not instantaneous. It usually takes a couple of days or weeks before you can see a significant drop in your weight if you follow a healthy diet plan. If you weigh in everyday, there is a big chance that you will be disheartened because of the slow progress when it comes to shedding pounds.

Additionally, most people do not have a steady weight but rather, a body weight range.  It is normal to fluctuate +/- 2-5 lbs every few days.  This is extremely important information  for a dieter to understand as you are in control of some of the factors that cause the fluctuation and not in control of many others.

Keep in mind that there is 3500 calories in 1- pound of body fat. So, if you gained or lost 2 pounds from day to day it is HIGHLY unlikely that you created a 7000 calorie surplus or deficit to achieve the weight fluctuation.

Scale usage should be utilized for watching your weight trend.  The best method is to begin by finding your body weight range.  To do this - weigh daily for 5 days and mark the lowest and highest weights.  This is your natural body weight range.

As an example if Monday you weigh 167 lbs, Tuesday 164 lbs, Wednesday 166 lbs, Thursday 167 lbs and Friday 165 Lbs. Your body weight Range is 164 - 167 lbs.  Every time you step on the scale you should expect to see a number in that range.

While creating better food and fitness habits you will lose weight slowly.  If your are losing 1 lb of fat per week your body weight range would shift at the end of 1 month.  That means it would go from 164 - 167 lbs down to  162 - 165 lbs.

If scale watching has you in a good mood because the scale moved down or worse... a bad mood because it rose, you need to recheck how you are defining success.  The scale will move regardless of how well you are eating or working out.  Put the #'s in perspective by understanding the components of body weight.
Be aware of your weight range and watch your BW trend for true. long-term results.

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