Growing up in the era of the Anorexic, Fat Free, Sugar Busters, and Atkins Come Back diets, I spent countless hungry hours trying to master the art of dieting.  I mean if there was a degree in dieting I’m sure by now I’d have several, but to my disappointment, I lacked true commitment in the restricting department. I blame being raised in Louisiana for that, and was just never that good at it.  Let’s face it there are “those girls”, you know the ones that actually get excited over pool party invitations, who refer to their size two jeans as their “fat pants” and wouldn’t eat a carbohydrate if it was the last morsel of food on the planet.  Now “those girls” are committed!  Me – not so much.  My love for food permeates my every waking moment (pretty sure it taunts my sleep too) and no doubt I’m cursed with a bazillion taste buds always egging me on for a second helping.  So you see, I could never be one of “those girls.”   But, I must say for the record that I have complete admiration for their dedication to continually withhold, cleanse? (That seems to be their new thing) count and burn every calorie that dares to find its way to their thighs!  So carry on girls. Without you we wouldn’t feel so bad about ourselves and truthfully you do inspire us.

 

Now with all that being said, I must admit after 20 plus years in the fitness business I’m definitely a contender in the diet- weight loss arena.  Yes, it’s true I don’t possess the calorie counting, exercise obsessed devotion of “those girls”, but I’d like to think that after years of thin thigh searching research I’ve come up with a few tips to help you find a way into those skinny jeans!

 

Don’t let yourself go over 3lbs of your ideal weight.  Yes, it does happen, and my solution is to torture myself for the day with a pair of too tight jeans. Bad Girl!

 

Weigh yourself three times a week, buck naked first thing in the morning.  I’ve even considered stripping down for my weigh-ins at the doctors office (what’s up with their scales), but they keep the rooms so cold!

 

Find ways to keep your motivation steady.  I once read that Uma Thurman, (one of “those girls,”) would eat in the nude to keep from over indulging.  Find your inner Uma!  All it takes for me is a new pair of sneakers to get motivated and I’m happy.

 

Set weight and fitness goals that keep you accountable to your plan!  Truthfully, I’m so not the “goal” setting kinda’ girl.  But when it comes to shaving off a few minutes on my run or keeping that number on the scale in check, I’m in.

 

Exercise hard enough to sweat!  Real cardio isn’t the time to catch up with your girlfriend on the treadmill, if you’re working in the right cardio training zones you won’t be able to gab, so hush up and get to work!  Try for 5 cardio days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes.  Push yourself!

 

You have to do resistance training at least 2 days a week.  If you’re over 50 try for 3 sessions a week to combat the loss of muscle that comes along with aging.  Love this getting older thing, requires a lot more of everything, workouts, root touchups . . .

 

It’s gonna be hard to stay in those skinny jeans if you eat out often.   Do some research on how to order your meals healthier and remember your getting extra calories even when you think you’re being good, so on the days you eat out try to make lean and clean choices at your other meals to keep those skinnies in your wardrobe rotation!

 

Yes, calories do count!  Be truthful and log your food in daily to one of the many calorie tracker apps, Myfitnesspal is a great one.  Probably invented by one of “those girls”, they love to count calories!

 

If you are too lazy to cook, like me, try one of the many healthy food services available.  We love Tru Meals, Snap Kitchen and My Fit Foods.  This has been a huge help in my life.

 

For dinner I try to avoid starchy foods, you know, all the tasty stuff like bread, potatoes, rise and pasta and keep my food choices to fish, lean meats and lots of veggies.  This works for me, and unlike Uma I keep my clothes on!

 

My sweet tooth is easily satisfied (I’m lying) by nibbling on frozen bananas and grapes.  Yum, yum!

 

Stabilizing your blood sugar is a key to loosing weight and keeping it off.  Eat your 3 meals a day plus a few low calorie snacks.  Letting yourself get too hungry is when you make bad food choices and turn into the cookie monster!

 

Best of health!

 

Liz