Tag psychology

Why Diets Don’t Work For Weight Loss

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food snsg

Please check out my latest article for Sports Nutrition Supplement Guide! You can access the article directly here:

http://www.sportsnutritionsupplementguide.com/eating-plans/tips-for-a-healthy-diet/item/1577-why-diets-don-t-work-for-weight-loss

Of if you prefer to read it here, I have included it below.

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If you are like many people, you probably have been led to believe that the only way to effectively lose weight is to practice severe caloric restriction. However, if you are always struggling to lose those last 5, 10, or 15 pounds, and are frustrated because you tend to lose some weight, only to gain all of it back plus some extra fluff, then it is highly likely that you have damaged your metabolism via severe calorie restriction.

There is a very good reason why the weight loss and diet industry is so successful, and why certain well-known weight loss programs keep their customers coming back. Most diet plans doom their clients to failure, because they don’t provide enough caloric fuel to keep the body happy, so it becomes sluggish, and the metabolic rate drops in an effort to make the body more efficient at running on low fuel.

When you consume a very small amount of calories in an effort to create a significant caloric deficit, you can potentially wreak havoc on your metabolism by causing it to slow down. Why does this happen? When there is no food to break down, the body’s furnace slows down and becomes so sluggish that when you actually do eat something, your body is less equipped to break down the food quickly, and instead stores it as fat. Depriving yourself of food also causes sharp drops in blood sugar, robbing you of energy and increasing insulin resistance. Increased insulin resistance over time can precipitate the development of diabetes.

Other consequences of skipping meals include the following:

• Malnutrition – If you do not feed your body regular, balanced meals, it is highly likely that you are depriving it of essential nutrients. Malnourished states can lead to weight gain, poor health and progression of disease over time.

• Poor concentration – This is due to the depletion of glycogen stores which occurs. The brain simply does not have enough fuel to run on, resulting in fogginess.

• Hunger pangs – When you skip meals, you may experience intense feelings of hunger along with anxiety, dizziness or nausea. In addition, such feeling may lead to overeating when you finally sit down to eat something. Loading the body with a large meal is overkill, and leads to poor digestion and absorption as well as increased storage in body fat stores.

Do yourself a favor and practice the following guidelines. If you do, you will be rewarded with a healthy weight for a lifetime.

1. Don’t skip meals.

2. Make sure to eat enough protein to sustain your energy levels and satisfy your hunger.

3. EAT BREAKFAST.

4. Commit to healthy meals.

5. When you turn to snacks, make sure healthy alternatives are available so you aren’t tempted to reach for a nutrient-poor convenience food.

Valentine’s Day: A Money-Maker

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valentines-day-TWOBITS

Valentine’s Day is one of the most retail-driven events in the United States, and for good reason. Savvy business owners have figured out how to capitalize on desperate men everywhere who want to please their women. The women, in turn, have been heavily influenced by clever advertising. Most women know about Jared (no, he isn’t the neighbor two doors down), and the Robbins Brothers have also exerted a powerful influence on the fantasies of ladies everywhere.

However, it seems like more and more couples have become aware of the fact that the big day of love is filled with hype and commercialism. After all, it’s supposed to be about the love, lust, or shared interest between two people, isn’t it? However, I still think a fella can’t go wrong with a beautiful bouquet of flowers (I know I love them!) for his lovely lady. If he wants to go the extra mile, he can get a nice trinket of jewelry (no, it doesn’t have to be diamonds), a stuffed teddy bear (if she’s into that kind of thing), or a sexy undergarment from Victoria’s Secret, but those are very predictable gifts on Valentine’s Day.

Then there are the chocolates and candy hearts. Heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolates have become increasingly more dreaded, since more ladies than ever are concerned about the sugar rush which comes from consuming them. Don’t be surprised if you buy a box of cheap chocolates and your woman refuses to eat them because they have high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors or colors. Perhaps it’s time to get more creative and pick up a few gluten-free, vegan cupcakes?

A popular outing for couples is to go out to dinner, but restaurants have become far too opportunistic in recent years. Typical Prix Fixe menus for February 14th are so outrageously expensive that you almost have to take out a second mortgage just to afford the meal. I have gotten to the point that I have no desire to pay three times the amount of money I would usually pay for a meal at the same restaurant, simply because I was foolish enough to go there on Valentine’s Day. Besides, the restaurants are always packed, always noisy, and there’s a good chance that your table might be right next to the men’s restroom or in a drafty corner of the patio. Never mind that you made reservations three months ago and specified that you wanted a booth inside the restaurant.

What I enjoy the most, and am planning to do this year, is to cook a nice meal at home, open a good bottle (or two) of wine, and enjoy the comforts of home. That holds much more value for me than surrounding myself with red heart cutouts, chocolates I can’t eat, or spending a king’s ransom for a meal. I also don’t have to yell over the din of the other patrons blabbing.

How I Feel About Makeup

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color cosmetics
Though I like the colors featured in cosmetic lines like MAC, and have a massive collection of makeup which includes over 80 pro eyeshadow pans, I am really not a makeup person. Those rainbow hues sit in my giant train case, and are rarely used. I admit that the artist in me was drawn to those shades, and when I get a creative itch, I can create some lovely makeup looks. The problem is that the itch only strikes about once a year.

For the most part, I think daily application of full makeup is totally unnecessary. It looks phony, it’s a waste of time, it clogs and irritates the skin, and it can get pretty pricey.

I LIKE the look of clean skin with no makeup on it, even if the lack of contour makes my face and nose look wider. I don’t really wish to obsess over how perfectly applied my highlighter is, or if my blush will clash with my handbag.

I appreciate the power of contour, but as this image illustrates, this seems awfully extreme and mask-like:
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I cannot let go of the notion that black eyeliner and berry lipstick are the only important color cosmetics for me to have access to on a daily basis. It’s not that I walk out the door looking like I just rolled out of bed…though most mornings I literally roll out, quickly apply translucent powder and a thin line of eyeliner, throw on gym clothes and am out the door.

But you won’t see me rock ten tons of makeup to go to the gym, the grocery store, work, meetings, or even a nice dinner with friends. If I grab more exotic colors, that means a fancy event is coming up, and my five minute makeup routine suddenly expands to fifteen to thirty minutes, every minute of which I can’t stand. If false lashes are involved, you can be sure that I will be cussing up a storm at some point as the glue refuses to set or the lashes are applied unevenly. Not fun.

I hate the feeling of being encumbered by makeup, and I certainly don’t want to look “different” when I apply more than usual. I am a huge believer in allowing a woman’s natural beauty to come through, and think that makeup should ENHANCE a woman’s beauty instead of being corrective or somehow creating a mask which makes her look like someone else.

If you don’t believe that makeup can make people look very different, check out this video:

I love the freedom of light or no makeup. I love the fact that I never have to worry about smearing something during the day, since I really don’t pack on the paint.

What’s weird is that I can apply a small amount of eye shadow, and it looks like I have a ton on. It stems from the fact that I have large eyes, with a lot of lid. I have also noticed that if I apply black liner to the waterline, I get an instant super sultry eye look, so I have to be careful.

During a recent fitness expo, I had lash extensions on, so I didn’t even wear mascara or false lashes. Despite skipping those steps, my makeup ended up looking rather glam, all because I applied a small amount of eyeshadow and eyeliner.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoy having my makeup done for photo shoots and events. It’s fun for me, because I get to be a living doll. But I will never sign up for a daily makeup routine that enslaves me to my bathroom and has me gazing into my makeup mirror for lengthy periods of time.

Why I Hate Foundation

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First off, I want to apologize in advance to every woman who wears foundation or BB cream on a daily basis. I definitely don’t mean any disrespect to anyone, especially to women who experience a big boost in self-confidence when they cover birthmarks, scars, or other blemishes with makeup. However, I honestly don’t like foundation at all. I dislike it so much that I never wear it in my regular daily life. Here are the only instances in which I will wear BB cream or foundation:

1. Photo shoots
2. Public appearances
3. Auditions
4. Video or TV shoots
5. Formal affairs

I can’t stand the feel of anything cakey or heavy on my skin, and that is why I only use translucent powder on my skin on a daily basis. I know that I am very fortunate to have good skin, with no unsightly breakouts or other blemishes (though the freckles on my cheeks have always driven me nuts ever since I had them as a young child), so I can get away with avoiding foundation. Could my skin look smoother if I used foundation? Yes. But it is not worth the feeling of discomfort I get from having my skin suffocated with a liquid or cream cover. I don’t want to have to worry that part of my face might look different if a dog licks my face, or if I sweat profusely and wipe my face.

One of the most prominent memories I have of poorly applied foundation which solidified my aversion to the stuff occurred when I was in high school. One of my classmates had such a love affair with makeup, especially foundation, that she would cake it on every day before coming to school. Her foundation was so thick that it looked like she had applied it with a palette knife, yet the effect was nothing close to an exquisite oil painting, but more like a tribute to Bozo the Clown. If she scratched her cheek to calm an itch, her nails would leave deep gouges in her foundation.

To me, foundation looks like a mask, and to an extent, it is a mask. Though it creates a flawless finish (particularly if it is full coverage), it still covers up the skin’s natural beauty. I realize that a flawless finish is important on-camera, but in regular daily life, it seems a shame to suffocate the skin. Since I truly think that skin is beautiful, it bothers me that the majority of women in developed countries find it necessary to cover it up. The luminous quality of unadorned skin is lost when it is covered by even the lightest of foundation. I guess I just don’t want to look “done” in my day to day life.

I want my skin to breathe. I don’t want to have to worry about my foundation melting off my face, or about leaving makeup marks on my ivory sheets from an incomplete makeup removal. My mom always told me that eventually, I would have to start wearing foundation daily, but at this point, I have made it half a century without having to do so.

When The Hunger Beast Strikes

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Every once in a while, I will experience hunger that never seems to subside, no matter how much I give into my body’s insistence on foraging for food throughout the day. Since this type of insatiable hunger is exceedingly rare for me, I generally will allow myself to indulge in greater amounts of fuel than what I would normally eat. I usually take strong hunger impulses as a sign that my body actually needs the fuel, and that I might be lacking in some nutrient. Sometimes a killer leg workout will spark this mad hunger, and other times it might be a cleaning spree which causes my appetite to ramp up.

I almost relish the times that my body craves food like this, because I am usually not too excited about food. When I was in my teens, I went through anorexia, and feared many foods. Though I became a bit of a foodie in my twenties, exploring gourmet foods whenever I could, I had to adopt an “eat-to-survive” attitude once I reached my thirties, as a result of the rigorous medical training I underwent. During medical school and internship, I lived by the credo, “Eat when you can, use the bathroom when you can, sleep when you can”.

Then in my forties, the world of competing caused me to fall in love with some of the foods which I had demonized back in my teens. Though I rarely cave into the powerful lure of chocolate, desserts, pizza, and fried foods, I definitely learned to appreciate them during my competitive years. These days, I can stock chocolate, nuts and nut butter in my house without fear that I will go hog wild constantly and consume them all in one sitting. They are even relatively safe when the hunger beast strikes.

When I experience hunger which I cannot satisfy, I do NOT turn to unhealthy foods. Instead, I keep eating clean meals like chicken and green beans. However, I will often feel just as hungry after eating a meal as I did when I reached for the meal in the first place! When that happens, I will wait about a half hour, then snack on something relatively healthy, such as a small handful of almonds, or some lowfat cottage cheese, in hopes that my hunger will abate.

However, all bets are off if the hunger beast is around on my carb spike day! There have been numerous times in which the two have coincided, and during which I have allowed myself to eat pasta, bread, a large amount of rice, or some other carbohydrate rich food. The aftermath of such a carb bump is that my weight will actually DECREASE 2 or 3 pounds the next morning. This is one of the reasons why I encourage clients to have a moderate bump in calories and carbs every now and then, to spark the metabolic furnace.

As long as the hunger beast comes around only rarely, and you are in tune with your body’s needs, you should be able to indulge it without any issues.

When People Are Full Of Hate

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One of the hazards of posting on social media is that you run the risk of catching the attention of complete sociopaths who seem to have nothing better to do than to spread hate by posting negative comments on other people’s posts. I was utterly shocked to see a very negative comment added onto a Tweet I posted just now. It was ugly and mean-spirited, and it definitely hurt me to my core. The gist of the comment was that I was a dime a dozen, and will never win anything (hmmm, good to know). This was posted by a guy who had the look of a sociopath in his soulless eyes. I briefly scanned his profile before blocking him, and noticed that EVERY single Tweet he had (I scanned about ten posts down) was hateful and negative.

It truly blows my mind that a jerk like the guy I had to block would exert such an effort to spread negative energy. I have no desire to fend off creeps like this, so I block them immediately. They are loose cannons who look for victims to cyberbully, and there is no way to predict how far they will take their hatred. I will not tolerate such energy and always automatically block them, and if they are especially nasty or threatening, I will file an official report of abuse. I realize that I am more susceptible to such contentious people because I have built a name for myself and I put myself out there constantly, but it is not fair to blast me when my posts are primarily meant to inspire my fans and followers and entertain friends. The fact that some people go out of their way to be mean and to spread hate is mind-boggling to me. I begin to wonder what kind of karmic load they are carrying to spread so much negativity.

What is the best way to defuse hostility? It is always best to refrain from reacting to it. Physically walking away, ignoring hateful statements, employing the blocking feature on social media sites, email, and cell phones, smiling at the person who is being difficult can all work in neutralizing the bad energy.

I’m Smaller Than I Think

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I have never been overweight a single day in my life, but since everything is relative, and since there is tremendous pressure on fitness models and competitors to be extremely lean, I definitely experience fat days. You know those days when you just feel fluffy, bloated, tubby, like a stuffed sausage? Yep, I have those days too. However, I guess I am retaining less water, mostly due to following a pretty clean food regimen, and as a result have been awarded with a tighter appearance. My measurements are still the same, yet a bunch of people have asked me if I lost weight, and will tell me I look tiny.

I got confirmation of my tiny dimensions lately when I tried on two different articles of clothing in my closet. One item was a pair of jean leggings from Hue which I had purchased in a size Small, based on online reviews which suggested that someone with my dimensions (5’5″ tall, 120 pounds, 24 inch waist, 34 inch hips) would fit better into a Small than an X-Small. Much to my surprise, I put on the leggings, and they were so baggy on me that they looked ridiculous on me. Then I tried on an old pair of MEK Denim jeans in a 24 which I had avoided because I assumed that I wouldn’t be able to wear them. Instead, they fit like a glove. I had almost gotten rid of those expensive jeans because I thought they didn’t fit me anymore!

I realize that my immersion in the world of fitness has made me more neurotic about having more of an off-season body, but the truth is that my off-season appearance is actually quite acceptable. I admit that the increasing laxity of my skin has caused me a certain degree of distress. However, even though the half-century mark looms several months away, I am making every effort to give myself credit for looking pretty damned good for my age.

I no longer live in waist trimmers in order to squeeze out subcutaneous water and shrink me down. I am well aware of the fact that an excessive degree of body dysmorphia exists within the fitness community, which is the inevitable result of constant pressure to look almost superhuman, with defined muscles, ripped abs, and unnaturally low body fat. Though I adore that look, I am also tired of having every square millimeter of my body scrutinized.

By no means am I saying that I am giving up on being as fit as I can possibly be, but I will no longer allow myself to feel as if I am out of shape or huge when I can fit into a size 24 jean!

Those Days When Your Engine Stalls

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No, I’m not talking about your car. I am referring to your get-up-and-go, your energy, your motivation to do anything on a given day. We all have those days when we lack the pep to charge through the day, when the bed seems unusually cozy and warm, and when our ability to rationalize our way out of everything on our to-do list for the day is particularly strong.

On the more serious end of the spectrum, a lack of initiative can be indicative of depression, especially when it is recurrent. In other instances, fatigue could be a sign of stress, sleep deficit, over-training, dehydration, malnutrition, or hormonal imbalance. Some people will even notice a change in energy from weather fluctuations.

For the past three months, I have slept so deeply that I will remain in slumber, despite my alarm’s alerts, with no recollection of the device ever triggering. My dreams have been intense, complex, apocalyptic at times, and truly bizarre, causing me to wonder why my subconscious has meandered so much while I was in dreamland. The many months I spent battling night sweats and insomnia suddenly shifted to feeling (appropriately) very cold at night and sleeping like a rock, both of which I have welcomed. The only real problem now is convincing myself to get out of bed in the morning!

When I eventually begin to wake up, it is an agonizingly slow process in which I can barely move or open my eyes. The sudden dry eye condition I have been experiencing recently hasn’t exactly motivated me to open my eyes up quickly either. The bed is so cozy and so warm, especially because my cats have gotten into the habit of using me as a convenient heater during the night. They also pin me into a small space in the bed so that I have to shimmy my body out of the tunnel they create around me. It seems to be such a waste that I have a Cal King bed, because I never get to spread out on it!

When I absolutely MUST get out of bed at a specific time, I will change the alarm alert, and set more than one alarm, usually with one alarm in my bathroom. In order to shut off the alarm in the bathroom, I must get out of bed, but I have gotten so good at walking to the bathroom with my eyes barely open that I can shut off the alarm, crawl back in bed, and go right back to sleep.

These are the reasons which I have been using to remain in bed:

– The bed is nice and warm and the ambient temperature is cold (upper 60’s)
– The cats are warm too
– The cats are very affectionate and cuddly in the morning
– My bonding time with the cats can be considered a meditative exercise
– My bed is high off the ground and it is hazardous for me to jump down from it (it truly is high off the ground)
– My dry eye condition is a sign that I need to keep my eyes shut
– I need to make up for lost time when I had night sweats and insomnia (it was quite a sleep deficit!)
– I am most efficient at my morning social media posts when in a supine position in bed
– I want to make sure that I spend one third of my life in bed
– If I get out of bed, then I probably have to deal with people

At any rate, I have every intention of relishing the feeling of being in an insanely comfortable and warm bed. I’m sleeping in!

Wardrobe Issues

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“Darling-I-Have-Nothing-to-Wear”-Said-No-Woman-Ever-Thanks-to-These-Five-Tricks

Have you ever had a moment when you looked at all of your clothing and thought, “I don’t feel like wearing any of these things!”, and wished that a wardrobe fairy would alight upon your shoulder and grant your wish for a whole new wardrobe? Well, I have had that feeling repeatedly over the last few months, and I cannot figure out why I am experiencing such a feeling. As a result, I have been itching to switch things up, and add some color and flair.

The main challenge I face when it comes to adding wardrobe items is the fact that I can’t stand shopping. My eyes glaze over within about 15 minutes of being in a mall or shopping area. I will NEVER understand the rush that many women get from bouncing into a store, trying on mountains of clothing, spending their hard-earned money (or their husband’s or boyfriend’s, as the case may be), then moving on to the next store to repeat the process. No thank you!

Online shopping has been a welcome alternative to walking into brick and mortar stores for me. It is quick, relatively painless, and many companies make returns and exchanges easy. Even so, I still have a problem spending money on clothing, because clothing never holds much value. I know that the markup on clothing is astronomical, and I also know that reselling items yields almost no return on the initial investment.

However, I also know that flattering, comfortable, and stylish clothing can boost a person’s spirits and confidence. Though I go through all of my belongings several times a year and get rid of things which are threadbare or damaged, or which don’t fit me correctly, I still have this feeling that I need a change. Perhaps a few new tops would do the trick, since some of the tops in my closet have been a part of my life for close to two decades. I look at them now and think, what the hell am I doing, keeping these things?

It doesn’t help that my body has been shifting ever so slightly, but enough that my clothing fits differently. I am essentially the same size, but I know that age-related muscle loss is occurring, which makes me very upset. Another curious thing which happened recently is that I am suddenly cold in cold weather. I had spent a good year in the grip of night sweats and hot flashes, and grew accustomed to always running hot. I could go out in 35 degrees Fahrenheit weather without a coat and be fine. That has all come to a screeching halt, which I welcome, but the problem is that I got rid of most of the sweaters I had!

Is this a mid-life crisis? Maybe. Whatever it is that I am going through, I had to figure something out to keep me from tearing my hair out in frustration.

My solution: I purchased some new, inexpensive dresses, tops, sweaters and leggings, and said goodbye to some clothing items that just HAD to go in the give-away pile. I have been trying to assemble new outfits so that I present different looks which still reflect my personality. It has been fun looking at the new styles!