Keeping It Slow

Current Weight: 225 lbs.
No New Change Today

As I mentioned before, pushing too much at once is a fast way to fail.

Stop Drinking Soda

Current Weight: 223 lbs.
Change 8: Stop Drinking Soda

Every serving (8 oz) of carbonated beverage (soda) can contain over 30 grams of sugar. While there is no recommended daily allowance (RDA) for sugar, official US guidelines advise a maximum of 40 grams of refined sugar for every 2000 calories consumed. So 1 serving of soda for a 200 lb person is well over 50% of their sugar intake for the day. A typical can of soda is 12 oz, so you actually are consuming 150% the serving size of sugar, or over 45 grams.

Sugary beverages also fail to trigger a sense of fullness, which means you can consume a lot of calories without taking the edge off hunger. Drinking water in place of beverages that contain a lot of added sugar can significantly reduce your caloric intake, as well as the other benefits of drinking water.

In addition, soft drinks raise triglycerides, an unhealthy type of fat in the blood, which in turn lower HDL cholesterol (the good kind), he said. Low HDL cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease. It is also believed that high fructose corn syrup, used as a sweetener in most soft drinks, causes a decrease in insulin production increasing the risk of diabetes, as well as affect levels of the hormone leptin, which is involved in appetite suppression.

Brush Your Teeth

Current Weight: 223 lbs.
Change 7: Brush your teeth after each meal.

For the average person, every evening your metabolism slows down, preparing your body for rest. Eating in the late hours of the day is a sure way to store those calories as fat. One trick to prevent yourself from eating in the late hours is to brush your teeth after dinner.

Brushing your teeth cleanses your mouth and cleans your teeth, and while most people typically start their day brushing their teeth, it is best performed after every meal to clear the food stuck to your teeth. Otherwise, the food you just ate sits on your teeth, eating away at the enamel.

Once you brush your teeth, your teeth have a fresh, clean feeling, deterring you from wanting to eat immediately after, especially foods that contain citric acid, which reacts with the fluoride in such a way as to create a horrible taste in your mouth.

Weekly Progress

Current Weight: 226 lbs.
No New Change Today


This week's changes have been positive, but slower, possibly due to vacation eating.

Vacation

I'm taking my family on vacation to Disneyland in California for the next few days, so I won't be posting again until Saturday. We'll see how I did over vacation when I return.