Other tips.

So, similar to my friend Jen's blog "Testing the Tips," I will include several different tips that I am going to try. I am not going to simply use the SELF diet tips, but utilize a myriad of sources. The January 2008 edition of Glamour has a section entitled "Follow these rules, reach your goal." The article insists that it is as simple as following these five steps to reach your goal weight. Well, we will see...

Step 1: DON'T OVERHAUL YOUR LIFE - MAKE SMALL CHANGES.
If you really want to lose weight for good, a gimmicky plan won't do it. "As soon as you say the words 'I'm going on a diet,' you've already failed because that implies that at some point you are going to go off of it," says James E. Painter, Ph.D., a food psychologist at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston who has conducted dozens of weight loss studies. "Diets don't work." Even if you had the Herculean willpower to stay on a dramatic plan forever, it wouldn't be healthy or fun.
Repeat these words, Painter suggests, until you truly believe them: I want to get to a healthy weight and stay there forever. I don't have to to make huge changes all at once, just small ones consistently. Such a simple mind trick won't work for all women - some need to address other issues like emotional eating (LIKE ME!) - but it can help many. "You are basically saying out loud that you're done with the quick-fix diet mentality and ready to commit to a newer, healthier way to live," says Painter. "It is a pledge."
I am committing RIGHT NOW to live a healthier lifestyle.

Step 2: LEARN HOW MANY CALORIES YOU NEED.
Only 17 percent of women can accurately estimate how many calories their bodies need each day, according to a recent survey by the International Food Information Council. But figuring out this baseline (which depends on your height, weight, and activity level) is crucial so you can determine how many calories you should be eating to reach your goal. Thankfully, your body's requirements are easy to figure out. Go to www.glamour.com/health and click on "How Many Calories You Really Need" to figure it out.
It claims that I need 2448 calories a day! Dear lord, that seems like way too many calories, especially for my goal of losing fifteen pounds in 45 days. I am going to aim for 1400 calories total a day.

Step 3: WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU EAT FOR AT LEAST A WEEK.
Now take the time to tally how many calories you're eating. "A food diary is a critical part of successful weight loss," says McManus. "So many woman try to keep a mental tally of what they eat, but it just doesn't work." A written log can be eye-opening - oops, I just ate 600 calories' worth of mini-appetizer thingies! - and help you spot habits you need to address. Maybe you go nuts on weekends, or eat like a bird all day and then have an enormous dinner.
But most important, your log will tell you what to do to get to your goal. To lose a pound a week, you need to eliminate roughly 500 calories a day through exercise or food changes (you may need to trim more if your food diary shows you have been overeating). The healthiest way to cut back is to eat 250 fewer calories - about the amount you'll save if you skip the mayo and cheese on a sandwich, or have a medium coffee with skim milk instead of a low-fat cafe mocha. Then burn off 250 more through exercise.
If you're not sure what to eat, all our experts agree: Focus on fruits and veggies (they're satisfying and low-cal), healthy carbs like whole-grain breads and cereals, low-fat dairy and lean meats or protein sources.
Well, in order to accomplish my goal of 15 pounds in 45 days, I need to lose roughly 2-3 pounds a week. If I am to follow the "experts" suggests of how to lose one pound a week, I should just double it, right? That means that I need to expend an extra 1000 calories a day through food choices or exercise. My goal is to be at the gym for approximately an hour and a half to two hours just focusing on cardio EVERY DAY, with thirty minutes of weight-lifting 3-4 times a week. I will also save some calories by limiting my daily intake to 1400 for these first 45 days of my new lifestyle.

Step 4: BE ACTIVE FOR 60 TO 90 MINUTES ALMOST EVERY DAY.
The book Good Calories, Bad Calories by science writer Gary Taubes recently made headlines by arguing that exercise won't help you lsoe weight. It's true that cutting calories from your diet may be easier and may lead you to drop pounds faster than exercise alone, but the weight loss benefits of exercise should not be discounted. James O. Hill, Ph.D., a cofounder of the National Weight Control Registry - a study that tracks the habits of people who have lost more than 30 pounds and kept them off for at least one year - is vehement: "There are thousands of studies showing a relationship between exercise and weight loss," he says. "Honestly, questioning whether exercise helps you lose weight is like questioning the fact that the world is round."
I already spoke to this with Step 3.

Step 5: EAT SENSIBLE PORTIONS
Most of us don't - we eat whatever's on our plate. In one study Painter conducted, people who unknowingly ate soup out of self-refilling bowls consumed 73 percent more than those who were given regular bowls. "They just wanted to get to the bottom," he says. But the normal-bowl eaters felt just as satisfied after their smaller portions: proof that a lot of hunger and satisfaction is in our heads. "Even though they ate much less, in their minds it was like, Hey, I had a whole bowl - I'm done!" says Painter. That's why for weight loss he recommends using small plates, bowls, glasses, and even utensils whenever possible.
Easy.