Fueling Your Weight Goals, Part 2

Holy Cliff-Hanger's Batman!!!!

Okay, I know it has been a month since part one of my installment, but business travel and the holiday's really took a lot more of my time than expected.  Now that my justification moment is officially over.....on to part two.

The next segment in fueling my weight loss really has to be geared toward beverage consumption.  I struggle with this portion of the fueling process mightily and it is horrible that I do because in my opinion it is one of the most important building blocks to healthy weight loss.

Continuing on with the two stage theory introduced from the first installment, this is how my routine went.

• Phase one (312lbs to 217lbs)

• Water

• Herbal Tea (numerous types with a wide variety of benefits)

• Stevia sweetener products ONLY! 

• The reason for the water and tea strictly being used for beverage consumption during this phase is that it is during this time of the weight loss that the body needs a jump start to begin the calorie burning process.  Nothing, and I mean nothing, starts this process better than high water consumption (2qts up to a gallon a day).  With that said, for me, it was really a concerted effort to stick to that because I am not the biggest fan of just drinking water out there.  This for me was one of those sacrifices I had to stick to make it a habit though, and eventually it did.  So if you are thinking right now, no way do I just want to drink water, be diligent and don't cheat yourself during this phase, because it truly works and will rev up that metabolism.
• NOTE:  Water intake right before you plan to eat can really make the difference in being successful or not.  Try to drink 2 cups of water before you even take the first bite of your prepared meal and I guarantee that you will eat less that you would have otherwise.
  

• As for the herbal tea, it really served two purposes for me during phase one.  The first being that it gave me a break from plain water.  The second is that there are numerous herbal tea's out there that are blended for specific purposes.  An example of such a purpose is cleansing your digestive track with a tea such as Smooth Move or detoxing major organs such as the liver and kidney's.  I also really enjoyed white tea in the morning's before work which is not geared toward a specific benefit, but just tasted good and gave me some caffeine to start my day.

• Stevia was the ONLY sweetener I used in my tea.  I beg of you not to use any other artificial sweetener during this phase of your weight loss plan.  I will talk a little more about sweeteners later.

• Phase 2 (217lbs to 185lbs)

• Once you are in this stage, you certainly gain the right to more freedom in the variety of beverages you partake of, but I offer some tips and advice.

• Stick to a portion of water intake that is more than any other beverage you consume.  I still consume 2qts of water per day minimum.
• NOTE:  I still highly recommend drinking two cups of water right before you begin to partake of a meal to reduce the amount of food that you will eat.  Remember, we still want less calories in than the amount we burn.

• I still drink tea or even have coffee during this phase, but I do not drink the specialized herbal tea's as often.  Maybe once a month for cleansing tea's due to a personal belief that my body will become immune to their effects if I was to continue them daily.  That is just a personal belief, it will be up to you and the new relationship you have established with your body to determine the frequency you wish to continue the specialized tea's.

• Here is the bad one for me.  Diet soda.  I love it.  But, as I stated earlier, I really want to stay away from as much artificial sweeteners as I can, only using Stevia products when I do choose to sweeten.  Alas, some days are better than others in this quest because of my love for the diet soda.  It will always be a continuing battle for me, but as for now, I am winning more battles than I am losing.

• Absolutely no sugary drinks!!!!  Evil, Evil, Evil!!!  Such beverage consumption is absolute empty calories that threaten to derail any and all progress you have made to get to your phase 2.

So now for my comments on artificial sweeteners.  There are lots of theories and studies out there that sometimes contradict each other and make decisions very difficult for the average consumer. I will in no way try to make any profound point one way or the other regarding what the use of these sweeteners will do to ones body, I will only go off my thinking for my weight loss.  I believe that artificial sweeteners actually make me retain weight with overuse.  I believe this because when you take in something that is sweet, your brain is given signals that you are receiving calories that your body will have available for burning up.  Once your body begins to go after these available calories and discovers that they are not actually there, it will very quickly flop over to protection mode and think it is starving and attempt to store calories.  I also believe that too much of anything artificial in my body is counter productive in my quest for healthy living.  So, the question may be why Stevia then.  Simple (in my mind at least), it comes naturally from the stevia plant, and it is 300 times more sweet than sugar so I automatically use a lot less of it than I would an artificial sweetener.  Some day, as Stevia is used more, studies may reveal it causes something terrible but for now it is the option I use.