Posted by Tawny Weber May 3 2012, 1:00 am
I’m a fan of rules. Okay, not so much rules, but guidelines. I’m a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, too *g* I personally think that guidelines serve a wonderful function in both writing and in weight control. Guidelines give us those generalities that we can craft our story, our diet, or our workouts around.
This week, I thought I’d share some of the food specific and diet rules that I’ve encountered, and how breaking them played into making my weight goal.
I’ve heard over and over the rule that humans must be carnivores because of the structure of our teeth. Okay…. some people do consider that a rule and figure that not following it leads to health issues, weight issues and a ticket to rule-breaking jail. But I’ve been breaking it for over 20 years and haven’t suffered the oft-predicted horrifying consequences. What I have done, though, is to ensure that I am getting my healthy daily intake of protein. I eat a lot of beans, quinoa, greek yogurt, eggs (yep, there’s a rule about those), soy and nuts. I track my protein–all of my food, actually, but protein is one of my main focuses–daily to make sure I’m on track and getting 60 grams daily.
I’ve heard quite often that cutting calories below 1500/1200/1000/900 (pick the popular number) per day is forbidden. But to lose weight, we have to cut calories from our average daily caloric intake. Once I let go of the rules, I decided to figure out what my caloric intake was to maintain – just to comfortably eat and not gain or lose. I measured and journaled my food to make sure I was using an honest number and discovered that my average comfortable intake is 1200 calories per day. That might seem low, but I have a pathetically low metabolism, and for the most part, I eat a whole food, clean vegetarian diet (aka, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, low-fat dairy, a minimum of 60grams of healthy non-meat protein). So if we use the general rule that a pound equals 3500 calories, and I want to lose 2 lbs a week (per the rules, a safe, healthy and sustainable loss rate), I had to cut 7000 calories from my diet each week. Even if I worked out 7 days a week, doing both cardio and strength training, I wasn’t going to burn that. So it had to come from diet. I talked to my doctor, who said not to go below 900. That cut 300 calories a day (or 2100 a week) from my intake. And that was my magic number. As soon as I got past the ‘not allowed to go below XYZ calories’ rule, I saw the weight start to drop. But if I’d stuck with the rule? I’m betting I’d still be struggling, frustrated and angry with my weight.
Another rule? Not to eat after 8pm is one that I hear a lot. Or 9pm. Or 10pm. Since I write until 3am, I’d go crazy with hunger if I didn’t eat at least one last snack at midnight. But that snack is healthy, protein packed and low calorie. And since I tend to pace a lot between pages (or when the story is stuck, or every hour just to keep the circulation going) I do keep the burn going right up till about 2am when I start cycling down so I can sleep.
Lets see, what other rules are there? There is one about exercising first thing in the morning. I throw up. Or that you have to exercise earlier in the day. I exercise around 7pm – it fuels my writing session! Oh -the no prologues or epilogues rule. That one is always fun. I’ve done both and my books didn’t spontaneously combust, nor did I get angry/unhappy/derogatory reader mail. 
I’m now over 2 months and counting at my goal weight. I’ve brought my daily calorie intake back into my previous comfort zone (1200 a day), gone through 4 birthday celebrations, my anniversary (and a yummy brunch complete with a cheesecake bar), Easter, three family gatherings, revisions, an overdue book deadline and a conference – and maintained my weight. So I’d say that so far… Breaking those Rules is working for me 
BTW… Another reason I’m a fan of Breaking the Rules? It was the title of my February 2011 release and it’s still my favorite cover!! Isn’t he yummy?
So how about you? What rules have you successfully broken? Which ones would you still like to break? Are you like me, and want to automatically rebel when you hear a rule? Or do you like to embrace them and enjoy how much easier they can make life?
Posted by Trish Milburn May 2 2012, 12:01 am in The Biggest Loser, Trish Milburn, weight loss
Last night’s episode of The Biggest Loser, the last of this season, was the live finale. So we got to see what all of the contestants look like now, how much weight they’ve lost and who the big winners were. Most of the contestants’ weight loss percentages were in the 20- and 30-something ranges, but [...]
Posted by Mary Curry May 1 2012, 12:10 am in healthy snacking
Healthy Snacking There’s a part of me (my brain) that thinks those two words don’t belong anywhere in proximity to each other. But then there’s the parts of me (my mouth and stomach) that are starving when I get home from work and I’m ready to demolish anything in sight! That’s what has me [...]
Posted by Michelle Butler Apr 29 2012, 4:21 pm in Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, Writing
I’m back from another wonderful WRW Retreat and am once again inspired about my writing and storytelling. My mind is full of ideas, thoughts and questions about my stories in progress. One of the questions is about the value of self-deprecating humor. One of my manuscripts in progress is a contemporary originally aimed at the [...]
Posted by Sally Kilpatrick Apr 27 2012, 12:07 am in boot camp, injury, Sally Kilpatrick, the perils of fuzzy socks
I can’t say I’m going to miss the 4:55 wake up call, but I’m sorely disappointed to end my boot camp experience early. You see, I did what I so often do: I managed to injure myself to the point that I’m out of commission for the next four weeks. Yes, I went over to [...]
Posted by Trish Milburn Apr 26 2012, 12:01 am in guest blogger, weight loss
By Anju Gattani Look up effective weight-loss strategies and ‘bam’ – a load of books, websites, blogs and TV shows will slam you in the face. Many people have succeeded – and continue to do so – with their weight-loss goals. However, maintaining the lost weight is another story. Some research and I’ve learned that [...]
Posted by Trish Milburn Apr 25 2012, 9:02 am in determination, Trish Milburn, weight loss
Last night we learned who would earn that coveted third spot in the finale of The Biggest Loser next week. We started off with the eliminated players coming back into the gym right after last week’s weigh-in. Jeremy had just been eliminated so he was now a part of this group. Each player had to [...]
Posted by Mary Curry Apr 24 2012, 5:42 pm in beef, Mad Cow disease
First, my apologies for being late with this blog today. We’re in the midst of 6 days of NYS testing insanity and it’s addled my brain. I sat down last night to post this blog, but something distracted me and I completely forgot it. So, speaking of addled brains, I’m changing up the regularly [...]
Posted by Michelle Butler Apr 22 2012, 8:26 pm in Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, Writing
This weekend I am going to the annual WRW writers’ retreat in Westminster, Maryland. While it has changed locations three times since I started attending it about 10 years ago, it has remained a highlight of my year. I always get so much out of it. When I first started attending writers’ conferences, I was [...]
Posted by Sally Kilpatrick Apr 20 2012, 12:04 am in boot camp, delirium from lack of sleep, Sally Kilpatrick
So the best thing I can say is that I’m still standing. I’d love to give you some measurements or tell you I’ve lost five pounds, but that’s not how a program like this works. Boot camp is about conditioning. It’s a lot like when you start a strength training regimen and you don’t lose [...]
