As others have mentioned, the basic rule of weight loss is simply to expend
more energy than you take in (eat less, exercise more). Unfortunately, that
is often easier said than done. After gaining 50 lbs at a desk job, I finally
started getting the eat less / exercise more bit to work and have lost 15 lbs
in a month and a half. Here's the things I follow, and they might work for you,
too:
This is a lifestyle change, not a diet - That's one of
the most important things to remember. Eating better (and less) along with
physical exercise should represent a permanent lifestyle change. Realize up
front that your doing this for the long haul.
Keeps stats - Seriously. Monitor your weight from week
to week (daily weight checks might be discouraging as your weight can fluctuate
in a seemingly drastic manner throughout the week). Also monitor your food
intake. Set a healthy level of caloric intake that promotes weight loss (such
as around 1700-1800 calories/day for most men), and watch the calories. There
are some fantastic programs out there for Pocket PCs and Palm handhelds that
have great food databases for tracking intake. Best of all, if your not sure
whether you should eat something or not, plug in into your program and see
how it pans out with your daily caloric intake. If you haven't had much to
eat during the day, you might find that you actually can have a couple slices
of pizza and a beer, and still be fine. But, without measurement, you'll only
be guessing.
Ditch sugared sodas *and* fruit juice - We all know sugared
sodas are nasty for you, but the level of sugar and calories fruit juice (yes,
even the all natural stuff) is insanely high. Diet soda and sugarfree drink
mixes (like Crystal Light), will be better in the long run. Better yet, drink
water.
Learn to love black coffee - If you don't doctor
up your coffee with cream and sugar, it's surprisingly low in calories.
Need something cold? Well, skip the Frappucino (it's like drinking cheesecake),
and go for an iced Americano instead. Cold, highly-caffinated, and only 15
calories in a 16oz. size. Bear in mind, though, that if you're not a black
coffee / espresso drinker, you'll need taste buds of steel. Also, coffee is
a diuretic (sp?) meaning you'll have to pee more often. Be sure to drink more
water to replace the lost fluids.
Set an easy goal - Don't stress over something like I
must lose X pounds in Y months. Keep it simple. Know where you want
to be eventually, but don't set an actual time period. Instead, focus on simply
weighing less each week. If you lose half a pound over a week, great. If you
lose three, even better. You'll eventually get to your target weight, but
don't worry if it takes a long time. The important thing is that you make
progress (even if only a little) from week-to-week.
Make beer a special treat - I love beer. I love great imported
and microbrewed beers. I hate light beers, and would rather do without than
drink that swill. Unfortunately, alcoholic drinks can sabotoge weight management.
So, instead of giving up great beer, I just have it for special occasions,
and then only when dining out. This means that I have a beer (just ONE) every
month or so. I've saved money, weight, and now have discriminating taste (read:
I'm a beer snob).
Don't skip meals - If you don't eat, your body goes into
starvation mode, and will try to save some of that energy that come in later
in the day (translation, you're more likely to store fat). Be sure to have
some kind breakfast to kick off your metabolism for the day.
If you're expecting a big meal later in the day, adjust your intake
earlier - In other words, eat even less (fewer calories) for breakfast
It might not be "l33t" speak (or even IM shorthand), but the NY Times article should have added "lose" and "loose" (and their variants) to the list of misused words.
It seems that nearly every day I see a post on a message board or in a student's assignment (my wife is an English teacher) where "loose" has been used where "lose" is supposed to be (with using "loosing" instead of "losing" being very common as well). For the confused, "lose" and "losing" refers to something being lost, deleted, misplaced, etcetera, while "loose" and "loosing" generally refers to something being free of physical restriction (such as loosing a rope from its mooring on a pier).
I'm glad that the NY Times is bringing this up (and that it's being discussed on Slashdot). While it's true that we tend to use slang online or in casual conversation, if reports, business letters, or any other type of formal communication includes slang, it only results in the document's author being perceived as less intelligent. English is a great, albeit frustrating, language. The more of us that learn and practice its proper use, the better we'll all be. Good luck to all the other teachers out there.
I've had the Microsoft Natural at home for a few years now, and recently got the Natural Elite for work. I think both are great. Neither one has given me any problems, and hold up well to abuse (my home keyboard has been dropped, squished, and transported to three different apartments in two states - never had a problem).
I would, however, avoid the Natural Pro or any other keyboard that comines software-driven function buttons or touchpads into the device. I have yet to hear of someone that didn't have problems with them.
North Carolina is not the only one trying to get in the the Intertet Tax thing (disguising it as something else). Check out this article from the November 30th edition of the Detroit News ( http://detnews.com/1999/metro/9911/30/11300078.htm ). I don't know how the heck they're going to enforce this thing...
The Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow is better known today as the city of Celebration, Florida, located in the southern part of Walt Disney World's property. While it doesn't have the art deco and sterile feel of Walt's original vision, it does attempt to embrace his original concepts of a forward-thinking town with a strong sense of community. The homes are all wired together, and public Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs)can be seen zipping about the town. It might not be the perfect embodiment of Walt's vision for EPCOT, but it's as close as can be expected for now.
When Walt died, his brother Roy wanted to bring the EPCOT vision to pass. However, the technology required to construct such a city simply did not exist, and Roy just wanted to get the Florida property opened with the new Magic Kingdom. Once WDW opened to the public, attention turned to building the EPCOT community, but the technology still was not around, so the Disney Co. settled for the "World's Fair" concept that Epcot is today. Epcot (the theme park) has been moving away from the "prototype community" association for a few years now. A couple years ago Disney made a change so that "EPCOT" is now "Epcot", and has no acronymn associated with it (since the park is not a "community of tomorrow").
No internet attractions at Epcot? Well, perhaps you missed the one that was there. It's not very big, but as you exit Spaceship Earth, AT&T has set up a "Ride the Net" area where you stand in a rocking tube synched to a video in front of you. It's not much, but it is an internet-based attraction. If the Disney Imagineers could actually come up with an exciting attraction about the Internet, then they have my modest appreciation. I just can't see how anyone could make routers, packets, and high-bandwith pipes into a thrill ride.
What about Tomorrowland? When Walt Disney created the original Tomorrowland that was to showcase all that Epcot currently represents. However, the attractions were never updated to reflect changes in thought, and when Epcot opened, it basically took the place of Tomorrowland's original function. When Disney decided to go through a complete rehab and change Tomorrowland into a Jules Verne-esque themed area, I thought it was brilliant. By taking this new approach, Tomorrowland would not have to worry about being outdated. They also eliminated the haphazard grouping of attractions by tying them together to form a "town." Next time you're there, notice how all the buildings are supposed to be structures in an actual city. The only attraction that really seems out of place anymore is Space Mountain. Somehow a future look at high-speed FedEx delivery just doesn't cut it.
So remember, Tomorrowland isn't supposed to showcase the actual future, Epcot is no longer regarded by Disney as the "Community of Tomorrow", and Celebration, FL is the best embodiment of Walt's vision to date. Disney isn't really behind the times, they just haven't put the old city model in the dumpster, yet.
Slashdot Mirror
As others have mentioned, the basic rule of weight loss is simply to expend more energy than you take in (eat less, exercise more). Unfortunately, that is often easier said than done. After gaining 50 lbs at a desk job, I finally started getting the eat less / exercise more bit to work and have lost 15 lbs in a month and a half. Here's the things I follow, and they might work for you, too:
It might not be "l33t" speak (or even IM shorthand), but the NY Times article should have added "lose" and "loose" (and their variants) to the list of misused words.
It seems that nearly every day I see a post on a message board or in a student's assignment (my wife is an English teacher) where "loose" has been used where "lose" is supposed to be (with using "loosing" instead of "losing" being very common as well). For the confused, "lose" and "losing" refers to something being lost, deleted, misplaced, etcetera, while "loose" and "loosing" generally refers to something being free of physical restriction (such as loosing a rope from its mooring on a pier).
I'm glad that the NY Times is bringing this up (and that it's being discussed on Slashdot). While it's true that we tend to use slang online or in casual conversation, if reports, business letters, or any other type of formal communication includes slang, it only results in the document's author being perceived as less intelligent. English is a great, albeit frustrating, language. The more of us that learn and practice its proper use, the better we'll all be. Good luck to all the other teachers out there.
I've had the Microsoft Natural at home for a few years now, and recently got the Natural Elite for work. I think both are great. Neither one has given me any problems, and hold up well to abuse (my home keyboard has been dropped, squished, and transported to three different apartments in two states - never had a problem).
I would, however, avoid the Natural Pro or any other keyboard that comines software-driven function buttons or touchpads into the device. I have yet to hear of someone that didn't have problems with them.
That's just my 2...
North Carolina is not the only one trying to get in the the Intertet Tax thing (disguising it as something else). Check out this article from the November 30th edition of the Detroit News ( http://detnews.com/1999/metro/9911/30/11300078.htm ). I don't know how the heck they're going to enforce this thing...
Epcot never went away, it just got a new name.
The Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow is better known today as the city of Celebration, Florida, located in the southern part of Walt Disney World's property. While it doesn't have the art deco and sterile feel of Walt's original vision, it does attempt to embrace his original concepts of a forward-thinking town with a strong sense of community. The homes are all wired together, and public Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs)can be seen zipping about the town. It might not be the perfect embodiment of Walt's vision for EPCOT, but it's as close as can be expected for now.
When Walt died, his brother Roy wanted to bring the EPCOT vision to pass. However, the technology required to construct such a city simply did not exist, and Roy just wanted to get the Florida property opened with the new Magic Kingdom. Once WDW opened to the public, attention turned to building the EPCOT community, but the technology still was not around, so the Disney Co. settled for the "World's Fair" concept that Epcot is today. Epcot (the theme park) has been moving away from the "prototype community" association for a few years now. A couple years ago Disney made a change so that "EPCOT" is now "Epcot", and has no acronymn associated with it (since the park is not a "community of tomorrow").
No internet attractions at Epcot? Well, perhaps you missed the one that was there. It's not very big, but as you exit Spaceship Earth, AT&T has set up a "Ride the Net" area where you stand in a rocking tube synched to a video in front of you. It's not much, but it is an internet-based attraction. If the Disney Imagineers could actually come up with an exciting attraction about the Internet, then they have my modest appreciation. I just can't see how anyone could make routers, packets, and high-bandwith pipes into a thrill ride.
What about Tomorrowland? When Walt Disney created the original Tomorrowland that was to showcase all that Epcot currently represents. However, the attractions were never updated to reflect changes in thought, and when Epcot opened, it basically took the place of Tomorrowland's original function. When Disney decided to go through a complete rehab and change Tomorrowland into a Jules Verne-esque themed area, I thought it was brilliant. By taking this new approach, Tomorrowland would not have to worry about being outdated. They also eliminated the haphazard grouping of attractions by tying them together to form a "town." Next time you're there, notice how all the buildings are supposed to be structures in an actual city. The only attraction that really seems out of place anymore is Space Mountain. Somehow a future look at high-speed FedEx delivery just doesn't cut it.
So remember, Tomorrowland isn't supposed to showcase the actual future, Epcot is no longer regarded by Disney as the "Community of Tomorrow", and Celebration, FL is the best embodiment of Walt's vision to date. Disney isn't really behind the times, they just haven't put the old city model in the dumpster, yet.