Now I’ve had my baby (December 21, 2008!) and I’m ready to lose the baby weight and get strong for the events we have planned for the summer (among them: a 350-mile 5-day bike tour). I ended up having a C-section (not my idea!) so I have been exercise-restricted, but today is my six-week follow up appointment and I expect the doctor will give me the go-ahead.

I’ve started tracking my food with Gyminee, and I’ll be focusing on cycling and also a bit of running and swimming with the goal of finishing a sprint-length triathlon this summer. Also, the good folks at Body Media (the company that makes the bodybugg) have provided me a GoWear Fit unit to review, so I’ll be reporting my experiences with that, too.

Finally, a visitor sent me the following questions:

I’m trying to lose 15 pounds, and was hoping I can get your input.  It’s odd, but I have coincidentally been studying and thinking about trying both Extreme Fat Smash and JUDDD diet and then I ran across your blog which discuss both (I’m also interested in Crack the Fat Loss Code by Wendy Chant).  Can you compare the two from your experience (difficulty, ease in maintaining, quirks, pros/cons, etc…)?

In my experience, the Extreme Fat Smash diet is both more difficult and more effective than JUDDD. I don’t think either one of them is sustainable (though some might be able to stick with JUDDD for a long time, I guess). I see both of them as a kick-start to get the scale needle moving in the right direction—but you have to follow it up with something that will work long-term, or you’ll just undo your progress.

Since you want to lose 15 pounds, I’d probably go with the Extreme Fat Smash and really devote yourself to it for at least three weeks. It’s highly unlikely you’ll lose all 15, but you’ll probably get a good chunk of the way there—it’s a heck of a kick-start. Then you can either do it again or simply follow a reduced-calorie diet for the rest of the loss you’re looking for.

One thing I liked about the Extreme Fat Smash is that I didn’t have to put much thought into what to eat or how much. It took a while to prep the food, but mentally, it was easier than deciding what to eat. I do well when given a specific plan, though, and knowing it was “only for three weeks” kept me motivated when I otherwise would have given in to temptation.

Do you have any suggestions on how to control hunger?  I am really bad at portion control and eating chocolate.  I try so hard, but I often can only go a few days, at most, before I cave.

NutritionData.com has a very cool feature that tells you the “Fullness Factor” of pretty much every food. I’ve found this helpful in reducing hunger—when I’m really in the groove, I have to work to meet minimum calorie guidelines (this usually takes a week or two of being serious before I’m that in tune with my body, though). Figure out what foods give you the most bang for your calorie buck by experimenting a little.

As far as chocolate goes, it’s like any other temptation… it’s too easy to give in if you’re constantly considering it. For me, that means I need to keep chocolate either out of the house altogether or not easily accessible. I use social pressure to my advantage here, too. For instance, I won’t open a sealed bag of chocolate chips to munch because I’d be embarrassed if I got caught. However, when there’s an open bag of chocolate chips, I’ll snag a few every so often… so I have to avoid having open bags around.

I’m also a big fan of bribery. Right now, my husband and I have a deal that if I stay on track with my weight loss goals, I’ll get a GPS computer for my bike in June. So when I’m faced with a delicious-looking piece of cake when I don’t have room for it in the calorie budget (as I was on Monday!), I can ask myself, “Is this piece of cake worth losing that GPS computer?” When put that way, it’s obviously not worth it, and I was able to resist.

For stuff that you really love, though, it’s smart to make room for it in your diet. With that piece of cake, I ate less of other things on Tuesday so that I could have the cake. I have dessert almost every evening, too, because I plan for it. For me, it’s an important component in avoiding that “deprived” feeling.

Does anyone else have some good tips for controlling hunger and avoiding temptation? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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Here, for your comparative pleasure (and my record-keeping), are the numbers thus far:

Hey, maybe that’s why I don’t like measuring! That was slightly depressing. I’m not sure what to make of it, just because my weight and body fat is going down, but a good number of my measurements are going up. (Of course, it may just mean that my self-measurement techniques are screwy, too.) I guess another month will be enlightening… especially since that month will contain another metric century on the bike, and lots of hard mountain biking.

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Lately I’ve been very disappointed with my health choices; I think it’s finally sinking in that I really can’t be trusted around sweets. This is also making me realize that there are two components to my resolutions: behaviors and results. Most of the time, I tend to focus on results (”lose 10 pounds”) while ignoring the behaviors that will lead to the results (”stop eating so much junk!”). So this year I’m grouping the results and the behaviors together.

In 2007, I resolve to:

• Be physically and mentally prepared to “Cycle the Divide” in early July. I will get there by riding three times a week (indoors through March; on mountain bike trails from April on), working up to 175 miles per week in June.
• Reach my goal weight of 130 pounds by June 1. I will greatly improve my odds of success in this goal by keeping sweets out of the house. I’m getting rid of the Christmas candy today and will stop buying sweets except to take to potluck (where many other people will take care of consuming it for me, allowing me to have a sensible portion and no more). I will also exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week (including the biking).
• Meet new friends and improve existing friendships by participating in social exercise groups (like the BOMBB Squad) and planning healthful activities for social events with my current friends.

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About a year ago, I found my weight had somehow managed to drift up to 175 pounds. I’m 5′7″ (although I swear I used to be 5′8″—how does that work?!) and 175 is definitely too much. Like most people, the weight added up gradually. I remember the first summer I lived in Boise (2001, five years ago now), my weight was hovering right around 150. In college, it was less, and the upward trend kept going until 175.

I’m a person who likes challenges but also gets bored easily. I signed up with eDiets and that worked well for a month or two. I managed to get back into the 160s but just kind of stuck there (I know, everyone seems to do this!). Around the beginning of this year, I signed up with SparkPeople but didn’t really use it.

My current downward trend started this spring/summer when I got a little bit more serious about biking (it would be a big overstatement to say I’m really “serious” about it!). I got a new mountain bike which made the twice-weekly mountain rides nicer, and focused on training for the charity road rides I would do.

It turns out that all those exercise-and-diet experts are right! I do need to eat right and burn calories! (Novel concept.) When I focused on my eating with SparkPeople, and got regular exercise, I started seeing success. I got out of the 160s, through the 150s, and am currently working to stay below 150 for a consecutive week (I weigh in daily)—then I’ll get a new pair of pants as a reward.

My eventual goal is 130—125 if my body will support it. I want to hit this goal by October 31, which is still within the realm of possibility. Halloween is a significant date for me; I’ve been at my worst and at my best on Halloweens past, and for some odd reason, they seem to mark this era of my life, so I’d like this one to mark a permanent life improvement.

In future posts, I’ll get into motivation and all that good stuff, but this is my “one-inch frame” for my current situation.

Where are you at?

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