how to lose excess pounds.

that is my personal view built on personal ideas. It works for me.


The Stiffsteiffs Lifestyle Plan.


The plain truth is that we are not stupid, we all know how to lose poundage. There is
no miracle cure, no overnight sensation, no morning after pill, as the times we live
in would love to have you believe. They want you to believe this so money can be
made out of misery year on top of year with amazing new breakthrough slimming plans.
As I said, we are not stupid, but somewhat lazy and glad of the excuses bandied
about what is actually simple truth.

You would not expect a major operation to be followed by a training session the
next morning, followed by discharge in the afternoon, and work the next day,
these things take time to overcome, a gradual recuperation period.

I think we all accept that is pretty much of a fact, yet we seem to think that
slimming down from a grim start poundage is achievable overnight with no attendant
dangers if we rush our attempt using dangerous techniques.

The plain truth is that to lose pounds you have to take less calories in than you
are burning. End of story. Period.

In order to do this we might like to exercise more as this speeds up our
sluggish and near terminal metabolism towards a semblance of its old self.

There is only one major obstacle to this being a life changing revelation.
The obstacle is you, and that is a large obstacle.

Insidious advertising does not help much either.

The problem is your body, and your triggers, and your impulses and your mind set.
There is also the question of duration. Many can adopt new regimes for
days, weeks or even months at time, but making this into a permanent
change is also some huge problem, especially given that advertising wants
you to do it EVERY year, not just once. There is little money in your
just doing it once, for people whose job it is to sell you on slimming plans.

The Atkins slimming plan seemingly defied the odds, and propounded you could
eat anything you liked and eat yourself slim. It seemed calories in
were meaningless, that they would disappear without exercise or
effort. That calories in versus calories out was wrong.
It appears now that the fact that denser protiened foods contain less calories
than carbohydrates, pound for even pound, coupled with the fact that in most
cases denser protiened foods trigger the body into saying, now hold on here
Im already full up with food, does in fact follow the age old principle
of calories in must be less than calories out.

I would question whether it is necessary to be swimming in fat and not
just grilled or poached, alternatively boiled, as I see the main benefit being in the
eating of denser protiened in exchange for denser carbohydrate, that is my
own deduction from the data available to date.

This denser protiened being a lower calorific value and trigger to being
full and damping down pangs of screaming appetite, must surely be
the basis of a simple slimming plan. Let us investigate other known
beneficial tools for us to slim and choose our own
way from the resulting possibilities, as contrary to what
advertisers would have you believe there is no set way for a whole
nation of slimmers.

It also is seemingly true that leaving a thirty minute gap between
courses actually means you often do not want the next course, as
apparently the body takes about fifteen to twenty minutes to tell
you are full after your main course. You want a dessert or a sweet
because it is different, and most of us have a sweet tooth, but your body
probably does not need it. You would not eat your main course
twice, but a sweet is appealing. If you leave it twenty minutes, chances
are you will not need it, as the better Restaurants will allow.
Perhaps that is why we are sometimes rushed to order in lesser
establishments.

Obviously also there has to be this set amount of calories per day that
is a pseudo upper limit for that day, depending on height, structure, age,
and exercise regime, otherwise we would be eating the right things in
excessively large amounts.

There has to be a balance.

Below is a list of what I would say are the most salient points to note. 1. Exercise increases metabolism.
2. A faster metabolism burns more calories.
3. Substitution of denser protiened for carbohydrates works.
4. Our metabolism is fastest in the morning, slowest late at night.
5. Food eaten early will burn up quicker than food eaten later.
6. Leaving a thirty minute gap after your course may save a course.
7. Small portions over a day put on less poundage than the same
amount of the same food in say three sittings.
8. Slimming watchers type unit watching works if followed.
9. Eating after seven pm accumulates fat due to slow metabolism.
10. A large obstacle is our sweet tooth for chocolate, cakes, sweets
biscuits, and desserts.
11. Few of us take in enough water per day, though it makes up eighty
per cent of our being, and is important in releasing toxins.

These seem pretty obvious statements, but we can glean our own slimming
plan for the future just using these simple components.

I have evolved my own lifestyle, which I will endeavour to explain, not
as the follow me that is the way, but as that is just how I used the above information
to help me in my own way, as no doubt you are clever enough to adapt it to your
own way. That is where many slimming programs fall down. They make it seem
insurmountably hard to achieve without their patronisingly know all ideas
and cures plus proclamations.

I was part of computing when it first started, and programming was nowhere near
as difficult that people would have had you believe, but you hardly tell your
customers that, when you are charging the earth for your expensive services.
You make it seem difficult, almost guru type thing, so clients will not worry
too much over the cost.

It seems this way to me with slimming. Certain companies would have it deemed
almost an insurmountable obstacle without help and guidance, which of course
you pay for willingly, believing it to be of much benefit, and like all things having
a healthy self doubt in your own ability, unless you are the Prime Minister.
My own lifestyle is as follows.
You may well view this as dont try this at home.


a. Find out your calorie or unit allowance per day for your height age and frame,
Your GP will assist in this, or slimming watchers type meetings can
be joined locally or over the internet. That is important to allow
yourself treats now and then, which are necessary in any regime.
that is a bit like knowing how much you have to spend for your week
and not going over weekwise, probably a bad example in the era of
credit cards and loans.

b. Do a simple exercise which takes little time morning noon and night.
For me twenty sit ups is fine, and helps to hold in my stomach,
but you could walk up and down stairs, or do simple step ups.

c. Eat a decent breakfast, preferably denser protiened, minimal fat and minimal
carbohydrate, grilled poached or boiled as opposed to fried.
I go for eggs, bacon and sausage with more meat content.

d. Do not eat anything else for thirty minutes, if desperate drink water.

e. Remember, the longer your day goes on the less your metabolism burns food.
Basically eating late is bad news eating early is good, besides which you
need breakfast to get through the day, as in break fast.
f. I find lunchtime I only want something light, but try eating denser protiened where
I can. Often I eat pilchards, sardines or salmon, not only for denser protiened
but for oils good for the joints, which are creaking more.

g. I tend to carry a small bottle of water with me at all times in the car, or out
walking, as it fills a gap other things might fill.

h. Evening meals are quite dangerous time for me, as I tend to convince myself I
did more exercise than I actually did, and deserve my treat. Now I try
also to use denser protiened, as in lean meat, vegetables and fruit. I
have tended to cut down on potatoes and bread in favour of denser
protiened, which seems odd at first but soon becomes more enjoyable
and more varied. I think we tend to eat what we have always been
used to eating, almost out of habit.

i. Your sweet tooth should be allowed within the confines of your calorific
and units plan, as it is no use suppressing what you like in a lifelong
plan, it will always surface in the end, probably explode.
Better to appease your demons than shut a lid on them.
If you cannot do this in moderation then you will just stay fat,
and there is no point in trying to change. There is after all an
element of will power involved here. You only cheat yourself.

I found that cutting out cakes, sweets, sugar, biscuits for a while right at the very start helped
me to feel in control from the word go, and more easily assess what I could eat without
their distraction. I eat them sparingly now and then now, but to start with it was useful.

I only ever now eat up until I feel full, I eat what I need, not what I would like.

Generally speaking we know what we should be eating and what we should be doing,
but then doing it is quite another matter, not helped by the food chain stores and slimming
gurus making it seem tantamount to impossible, or at the very least difficult.
that is simply just not so, if you use common sense it is achievable.

following these simple guidelines will at least give you some foundations on which
to base your own regime to suit your own unique situation. There are at least some
concrete facts here on how to go about it in a sensible way for yourself.

Obviously age comes into the equation, as Im in my fifties now it is harder to
lose poundage as my metabolism is a little slower, but too often that is used as an
excuse as correspondingly it is often true that as we get older we need less
calories to achieve what we do on a day to every day basis, and in any event you
can always tailor your suit to match your cloth calorie wise, at any age.

The best help is your own will power and determination, plus the long term goals
of more energy, better appearance, less strain on the joints and back plus heart,
more self confidence and greater fitness, and the great boost to pride of feeling
more vibrant and more attractive. It is an upward spiral, instead of an out
of control downward spiral which saps your self confidence and esteem.
It is not a wish to look like waif thin role models bearing no semblance to
reality, but more a sensible healthy lifestyle gateway to energy and
fitness plus happiness. These go hand in glove, as the fitter and
less fat you get, the denser that the serotonin levels and the greater
that feeling of happiness.

You have it in your own power to do this for yourself, it is not unachievable,
or supreme effort, or an endless struggle, as adverts would have you believe.
It is an eminently achievable long term goal to be achieved once by a
conscious change of lifestyle, a gradual recuperation after the operation,
a new life in a new way with a new happiness achieved by your own
common sense and willpower ONCE. All the guilt and hardship plus
super regimes to help you slim are to produce one result, the spending
of money on others to do something for you, preferably EVERY YEAR
with a new regime and new fad and more money down the drain.
You can do this yourself. people do not need anyone telling them how to slim,
it is all there for every one of us to read, it is just taking control of your
own destiny which seems difficult, and is made to seem doubly difficult by those with
vested interests about selling you slimming plans.

I make no money whatsoever in publishing this article free in ezines
or letting you read it on the internet here. It is to help people take
control of their own destiny and future, plus hopefully we will all benefit
in the long run and have more time and energy to enjoy life.

Best of luck in your quest.

Malcolm Pugh March 2004.

My personal slimming.
Target 14 stone 5 pounds.

Thurs 18th March 2004 16 stone 5 pounds
Thurs 25th March 2004 15 stone 13 pounds
Thurs 01st April 2004 15 stone 09 pounds
Thurs 08th April 2004 15 stone 06 pounds
Thurs 15th April 2004 15 stone 05 pounds
Thurs 22nd April 2004 15 stone 03 pounds
Thurs 29th April 2004 15 stone 03 pounds
Thurs 06th May 2004 15 stone 01 pounds
Thurs 13th May 2004 15 stone 01 pounds
Thurs 20th May 2004 15 stone 01 pounds
Thurs 27th May 2004 15 stone 03 pounds
Thurs 03rd June 2004 15 stone 00 pounds
Thurs 10th June 2004 15 stone 00 pounds
Thurs 17th June 2004 14 stone 13 pounds
Thurs 24th June 2004 14 stone 11 pounds
Thurs 01st July 2004 14 Stone 10 pounds
Thurs 08th July 2004 14 stone 09 pounds
Thurs 15th July 2004 14 stone 08 pounds
Thurs 22nd July 2004 14 stone 08 pounds
Thurs 30th July 2004 14 stone 08 pounds
Thurs 06th Aug 2004 14 stone 07 pounds
Thurs 13th Aug 2004 14 stone 07 pounds
Thurs 20th Aug 200414 Stone 07 pounds
Thurs 27th Aug 2004 14 stone 06 pounds
Thurs 03rd Sept 2004 14 stone 06 pounds
Thurs 10th Sept 2004 14 stone 05 pounds
Thurs 17th Sept 2004 14 stone 04 pounds target achieved

26 weeks to lose 2 stone is about one pound every week

I went on holiday may 15th to 22cnd
and had this bit of a hiccup, but recovering.
Still 9 lbs to go, but I feel a lot fitter.
Near the end it is becoming hard to lose
but gradually I am making headway.
I think muscle is replacing fat right
at the end, making it a lot harder.
Muscle weighs in at three times fat,
so it can seem as if it is not working,
but muscle then burns fat as you get
fitter and your metabolism speeds up.

Have started playing golf, should help.

Tuesday 12th July 2005 still 14 stone 5
only 1 pound difference
but what a difference in energy levels
and so much less pain from my hip and knee
with that much less poundage to carry.

Dont forget muscle weighs three times the poundage of fat, so after the first
week or so where quite a lot is initial fluid, it seems you are losing little.
It would be easy to quit at this stage. Dont.
In fact fat is turning to three times heavier muscle, so a very small apparent
overall slimming per week is actually that much bigger achievement than you
may at first think. Consistent small slimming is fine, until your body
evens out at what it should be, your ideal frame.


My picture is too big for here at present. Hoho.

Addendum on October 4th 2005.

I find Red Bull to be effective. I take one can when I get up, after
35 sit ups in bed before rising, and some 80 per cent cocoa milk chocolate.

This primes my metabolism to fast and the chocolate produces serotonin
which in turn produces endorphins, or the other way around.

This should supercharge the body to cheerfulness and fast metabolic
rate from pass go collect 200 pounds start position for the day.

I had polio, hence I need dopamine to counteract post polio syndrome,
but I guess that it will be that much more effective for you normals out there.

If you are buzzing and happy from the off, you are going to do more and
burn more off per day, and then you will feel elated at having achieved
your better level of fitness, which enthuses you to do more, a positive
circle of forward momentum, not a vicious cycle of depression.

The better you feel the quicker you will attain your goals, and
the fitter in mind and body you will be to cope with lifes stresses,
often the weight of which contributes to the weight you carry in
the form of comfort eating to counteract pressure and stress.

that is a new idea added to my regime recently,
Red Bull, plus high cocoa chocolate early morning.

Malc.



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