Half Assed Fitness

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a king punished in Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down again, and to repeat this throughout eternity.

Doesn't weight-loss sometimes feel like this?

If you look closely at the picture, you can see, Sisyphus is ripped! All that constant work has gotten him into phenomenal shape. And it will do the same for you too.

Continue to work, every day, day in and day out and what you will find is not that you go crazy or frustrated from doing the same thing over and over but that you become stronger and you change; you turn into someone that can easily get that stone to the top and when it slides, you just go back down and push it up again, no big deal. It becomes part of your life.

According to Wikipedia, the term Sisyphean can be used as an adjective meaning that an activity is unending and/or repetitive.

Fact: Calories are calories

Snacks aren’t the culprit; calories are. You can have a small container of yogurt for breakfast and a piece of fruit for a snack before lunch. Some dieters prefer to have more structure and limit themselves to three meals a the day and no in-between-meal snacks. Others are more comfortable having small, low-calorie snacks between their main meals. What counts is the total number of calories.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

Fact: Calories don’t know time

What’s important is how many calories you consume; not when you eat them. Many successful dieters save 200 to 300 calories to eat at night. Sure, eating a big steak before you go to bed may give you some indigestion, but it won’t ruin your diet. Eating at night may be the best time for you. You’re at home, the kids are in bed, and you have time to enjoy your food. Oprah says she doesn’t eat after dinner, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a late snack and still stick to your diet.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

Fact: Get on that scale!

You really need to weigh yourself to keep your weight in check. Sure, you can notice if your belt is getting tighter — or looser — but chances are you don’t have an accurate assessment of your weight. Weigh yourself at least once a week. If you don’t have a scale at home, go to your doctor or health club and weigh yourself. Weighing yourself shouldn’t be seen as punishment. It’s just a way to keep an eye on your weight. And your scale doesn’t always have to tell you bad news. You may not have noticed that you lost two pounds the other week.

You can weigh yourself once a day or once a week. But don’t weigh yourself more than once a day. (That means you’re obsessing about your weight.) Get on the scale the same time every day, so you have some consistency. You can record how much you weigh, but it’s not necessary; you probably won’t forget the number.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

Fact: Exercising alone is not enough

You probably won’t be able to work out enough to make up for eating a huge meal. Exercise just does not burn enough calories. If you eat a slice of apple pie a la mode that is 500 calories, you’ll have to walk briskly for two hours to burn those calories. So, you won’t lose weight unless you also cut calories.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

Fact: Don’t deprive yourself sweets

Deprivation is the downfall of all diets. You can have a small portion of dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth and still stick to your diet. You just don’t want to eat a large portion, or more! Food is pleasurable for many people. So, treat yourself but don’t overindulge. You can create a diet that lets you eat a sweet once a day or once a week. Dieters who deprive themselves tend to go overboard when they have candy, cake, or cookies. So make a good choice of what you include in your diet. Maybe you can have a small dessert after dinner or lunch.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

Fact: Fats increase your sense of fullness

Fat is twice as fattening as carbohydrates and protein, but you don’t want to avoid them. Studies show that fat gives you a sense of fullness and adds flavor to many foods. Eliminating fat from your diet will increase your hunger. Fat keeps you fuller longer, because it prevents your stomach from emptying out too quickly.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

Fact: Carbs are necessary for a balanced diet

Carbohydrates do not make you fat. Calories make you fat. Often it’s the sugar and fat contained in carbohydrates that make you fat. Also a lot of carbohydrates are processed, so you don’t get the advantage of feeling full from fiber found in unprocessed carbs. For example, whole grain pasta is more filling — and makes you feel satisfied longer — than white pasta, though both have the same amount of calories. What will change the number of calories is the amount of sauce and butter you put on your pasta. What you want to do is eat carbs in moderation.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

Fact: Eat when you want to maintain calorie intake

Once again, it’s all about calories. You can eat three times a day or six times a day, as long as you have the same caloric intake. However, you should have at least three meals a day. That structures your daily eating, so don’t become too hungry. And if you eat six times a day, you won’t be having six full meals.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

Fact: Eat some time during the morning

If you wake up at 7 a.m., you don’t have to immediately eat a big breakfast. You’re probably not even hungry right after you wake up. You don’t have to jump start your metabolism. You simply have to structure your eating throughout the day, so you’re not too hungry later on. It's best to eat within three hours of waking. If you get up at 7 a.m., eat something by 10 a.m. Have some yogurt or a piece of fruit. If you don’t eat in the morning, you will be too hungry when you finally have a meal, and then you’ll likely overeat. Remember, what counts is your total daily calories.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

Fact: Counting calories is important

You definitely need to count calories in order to lose weight. People tend to overestimate their physical activity and underestimate their calories. Don’t rely on eyeballing your caloric intake or trying to estimate it. Instead, every day write down what you eat, the corresponding calories, and your physical activity. To make it easier for you to quantify your physical activity, wear a pedometer. Do this every day. Don’t do it just once or twice a week. Consistency is important for dieting. Sure, this isn’t easy. But if you want to lose weight, this is important to do on a daily basis.

And remember that a calorie is a calorie whether it’s fat, sugar, or protein. Still, some foods are more calorie-dense than others. That means that they contain more calories per ounce. Carbohydrates and protein have the same calories per ounce. Fat, on the other hand, has twice as many, so the calories found in fat add up twice as fast. Eat fatty foods — dairy products, skin on meat, fatty meats — in moderation. You want to limit your intake of fat, but you don’t want to stop eating fat. Fat increases your sense of fullness. Your body also needs a small amount of fat to function. Fat is part of our cell structure. The body can’t make some essential fatty acids on its own, so it needs to obtain them from an outside source.

* Information Quoted from an MSNBC article entitled 10 weight-loss myths that can ruin your diet with Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom 2006

I know someone that actually gave up on losing weight because she didn't want to have to buy new clothes.

First of all, for a lot of people, this is a good problem to have. The need for new, smaller clothes is actually a reward for their hard weight loss work. It can be fun and motivating and a real ego boost.

For some, this is an expense that they can't really fit into their budget and adds to their stress which can backfire and cause them to gain the weight back or give up. Please don't let this stop you from reaching your goals. More often than not, it's really just an excuse.

If you are losing weight and can't afford a new wardrobe there are other options available.

In the beginning, a belt will help. This will only go so far but it will buy you some time between stages when your clothes are getting looser but maybe not quite loose enough to need replacing.

Another option is to have your clothes tailored. I did this. For about $6-8/ per pair (this will vary per location), I had my pants and skirts taken in and I was able to go another several months before actually replacing them with new clothes.

Maybe you still have some clothes in your closet you've been hanging onto in the hopes they will fit again someday. Try them on, you may be there already. If not, let those clothes encourage you to keep on track so you can wear them again soon.

Please post other ideas that may help someone in this situation. I'm sure there are some creative options I haven't thought of.