Want to Reduce Belly Fat?

First, you need to know the facts about it...

Does Planning Help You Lose Weight?

YES!

I weigh 174.5 this morning -- I weighed 176 on Friday.

I weighed 173.5 last Monday.

Why? Because I now have a very "planned" weekend diet -- that includes eating out Friday evening, eating in all day on Saturday, including a planned, healthy dinner, and eating a brunch on Sunday of eggs, bacon, and wheat toast followed in the evening by a light dinner of yogurt and a whole wheat English muffin.

It's planned... it's healthy and I don't feel hungry.

Meanwhile, during the week, I've been doing less planning -- I go to work with no clear plan of what I'll eat -- while my breakfast of yogurt, coffee, and starbucks caramel macchiato is pretty consistent, I otherwise have very little in the way of a plan.

And so, Monday-Friday last week, my weight increased... despite a high level of activity on those days. I didn't know what I would eat, so I ate whatever... and that was not usually good.

Plan your meals, lose (or at least maintain) your weight.

Wrong Direction

...But I still feel good at 176.

I started this week at 173.5 -- due to a light eating day on Sunday and some running (plus, possibly, b/c I upped my intake of tea last week).

But now, I'm at 176.

Today's Weight

174

Is Drinking Tea Really Working?

I'm not sure if it is the tea... but, it's a Monday and I weigh 173.5.

I drank tea at night (Chai Tea) 3 times last week and then had tea (iced) with dinner on Saturday and Sunday.

This has done two things: it has reduced my consumption of diet soda and increased my consumption of antioxidant rich tea -- it also makes me feel more relaxed.

Supposedly, tea has catechins which aid in boosting metabolism -- tea drinkers tend to have lower body fat content than non-tea drinkers.

I'm trying it out.

First, I love tea -- it's refreshing and the caffeine content is much lower than coffee or most diet soda.

Second, it does take some planning... I need to have tea made to consume. And for hot tea, there's water to boil and then 5-7 minutes for steeping. But, it seems to be worth it.

I'm going to keep drinking the tea more deliberately...and I'll report my results here.

another day...more tea

yep, I had a cup of tea last night -- about 7 oz. of warm chai tea, lightly sweetened. It seems to help ease the nasal congestion that impacts my throat around this time of year.

We'll see soon if it helps give my metabolism the boost.

Today, I'm weighing 175.

I have for years told people I weighed 175 -- because I thought saying a number higher than that would make me sound fat...but really, I weighed 178, 180, even 185.

Even now, when I look in the mirror, I think I'm a bit overweight...which makes me think about how I must have looked at 185...ugh.

But, happier times since 2011 -- and happier into 2012... from 175 to 172 to 170?

Can drinking tea help you lose weight?

That's what my wife says.

But, she didn't make it up.

There's a study out that establishes a relationship between tea drinkers and weight loss.

Apparently, tea (black, green, oolong) has catechins -- which help boost metabolism. (no, it's not JUST the caffeine).

And, tea drinkers are significantly less likely to be overweight compared to their non-drinking peers.

Of course, you have to have at least one 8 oz. serving of tea at least 3 times a week to get the benefit.

And, it IS possible that tea drinkers have other healthy lifestyle habits that enable them to lose weight (exercise, better diet).

I like to think that the few minutes I spend drinking a hot cup of tea help me relax...thus, reducing stress and reducing cortisol (which holds fat in your body).

Whatever the case, tea is good for you -- packed with healthy antioxidants -- and, it could help you lose some weight.