Has it really only been a little more than 3 weeks since I embarked on this new adventure? It feels like a lot longer than that! Some days have been really easy. A few lately have made me want to fall back into my former bad habits.
The thing that I think is different this time is that I am very (very) aware of what I am putting into my body. Everything I eat is a very conscious decision made by me. There has not been any mindless eating. When I have overdone it, I knew I had.
Another thing that is different this time is my mental attitude. I over did it. So what? I'm human. I've only been doing this for 3 weeks. I did not ruin all my progress on one or two episodes of overeating. I have not undone the exercise that I have recently started. Tomorrow is a new day. God's grace is new every day. If God can do that for me, shouldn't I extend that grace to myself?
I have made progress on the scale. I am trying not to let that be my motivating factor, but some days that is the only reason I get out of bed...well, that and the three kids screaming for their breakfast.
I am trying not to weigh myself until Feb. 2. That will be one month on this new "not dieting" thing. It will be my next update on the right hand side of my blog. I have not weighed myself since last Thursday. This is really hard for me. I would eventually like to get to the point that I only weigh myself once a month, but as of now that seems entirely impossible.
I have also noticed that there are a lot of opportunities to eat when I am not really hungry. Just because someone else has a snack does not mean that I need one. Just because the ice cream is staring at me in the freezer does not mean I need to eat it. I have had an amazing thing happen recently. About a week (2 weeks ago?) I opened a pint of Ben and Jerry's. I ate a little less than a 1/4th of it and put it away. It has remained untouched in the freezer since then. That in itself is a miracle. In the past, I would eat an entire pint in one sitting. I'm not sure what the difference is this time. It's definitely a God thing. Normally, even talking about the Ben and Jerry's like this would have me getting up from the computer and grabbing the ice cream and a spoon and coming back to type the rest of the post. I honestly don't even have the desire. Amazing.
I have started reading some more in the "Lose it for Life" book. The part that I am reading now is talking about the quality of the food we put in our body. The last part I read was about all of the physical problems caused by obesity. There are many more than I realized.
I have eaten out about 4-5 times in the past week. That is very unusual for us. However with all the "strange things (are) happening" (anyone know the movie that song is from?) around here, I have eaten out more. The difference now is that I never leave stuffed and feeling miserable. I've had a Big Mac, Steak, loaded mashed potatoes, bread rolls, onion petals, and chai tea among other things. On any other "diet" I've been on, most of those would have been huge NO NO!s. I can't express enough the freedom of "Lose it for Life".
I have started walking on the treadmill 3 days a week. Usually I only walk a mile. I do it while the boys are awake, which has proved to be a challenge at times. However at this point in my life I am not committed enough to get up at 5 am in order to walk before they wake.
The first mile I walked took me 26 min. The other day I walked a mile in 18 min. and 44 seconds. I have no doubt after the weight loss of the first week or so that I would continue to lose weight without exercise. This is just my attempt to speed things up and get a little more toned along the way.
Showing posts with label diet update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet update. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Friday, January 09, 2009
Not Dieting Part 2
Warning....long post ahead.
While talking with a friend a couple of months ago, I realized that I have been dieting on and off for the past 20 years! That just amazed me and saddened me. I'm not that old for Pete's sake.
Low carb has been the diet of choice in recent years, but I have also done low calorie, low fat (during college one time I ate baked potatoes with grape jelly, frozen yogurt, and pretzels), the "Cleveland Clinic diet", and the "The last minute 12 pound crash diet" or something to that effect. While all of them helped me lose weight, all of them felt rigid, full of rules, and restrictive.
Because those diets were full of rules, when I "broke a rule", I felt guilty. I felt like a failure. And you know what? I tend to be an emotional eater. So what do I do when I feel bad? Eat. I'm also a binger. Most people would probably be shocked (and disgusted) to see how much food I can put away in a sitting. I'm also partial to doing whatever I want to do. So when someone tells me I "can't" do something (like eat chocolate), it just makes me want to do it. I'm also a stress eater. Diets seem to cause me a lot of stress. Kind of sounds like I'm working against myself doesn't it?
After a few days or weeks on those diets (without cheating), I start to gain a false sense of control. I would wonder who that over eater was. Certainly I have enough control and mindset to know what I can eat. So I would go have something that was not on the list, which would lead to two things not on the list, and then I had all out binge on things that were "not allowed" because I had "already blown it".
So....I start reading this book called "Lose it for Life". I'm somewhat leery only because I fear that it's another diet book that will tell me what to eat... I'll try it... and eventually fail under it's overly high expectations. However, I knew just from skimming it, that this book was different. There were Bible verses posted throughout the book. That had to count for something, right?
Well, it turns out that it does. This book is helping me to heal my mind of all the dieting crap that the world has sold me over the years. In all honesty, I'm only 79 pages into the book. However, I've learned some interesting things which are shaping how I think about food, dieting, and my relationship with God. I will share some of the interesting things and things that are helping me. I'm pretty sure that none of them will appear to be life changing. Some of them may be things you've heard before.
One of the interesting things the book talked about was the first temptation. You know what? It dealt with food. A forbidden food. A food that the devil was trying to get Eve to eat. Can you see the correlation with dieting?
We want to have it all (all the food we can eat, all the chocolate, all the junk). We don't want to practice any restraint. You can eat off of all the trees but one...
We don't appreciate what God has given us. I mean truly appreciate. I have noticed this week that almost all of the eating I have done up until now has been very mindless. Sure I have had some good food, food that tasted good, but I never really appreciated, savored, and thanked God for it. I'm not talking about the pre-dinner thank you, but a heartfelt expression of gratitude.
We listen to the "snake". "You're a failure at dieting", "You'll never be thin", "Just eat it, you deserve it", and on and on and on.
We give in. We "eat the apple" and then pay for the consequences of disobedience.
The other "temptation" in the Bible? Jesus in the wilderness. Again, tempted by the devil....again with food. When it says that Jesus understands our struggles, it's true!
What I'm Doing
- I'm eating serving sizes of foods. I'm not measuring things, but I do have a pretty good idea of what a serving size is (and if I don't, I check the box or bag).
-I eat one helping at meals.
-I drink as much water as I think to during the day. I'm not counting them.
-I usually have only one diet Coke a day.
-I'm not snacking much. If I do, it's usually some cashews and a large drink of water. I know that doesn't sound like much, but honestly 98% of the time I have not been hungry. It's 9:30 am and I'm not hungry yet. Strange, but true.
-I know just by eating one serving of things that I have probably cut my calorie consumption in half or more. I'm sure that is the cause of my weight loss so far.
-I'm not exercising....yet, but I will get there.
-I'm not restricting what I eat. I eat bread (gasp), some sugar (gasp gasp), etc. "There are no forbidden foods". That is from the book. It is an amazingly freeing concept!! In the past week I've enjoyed pizza, spaghetti, cookies, a Buckeye, hard candy, french onion soup, bratwurst....
It is hard to change your thinking about dieting. It is especially hard if you have dieted for any amount of time. Some of those dieting "do's and don'ts" are very ingrained in our thinking.
I will continue to post some things I'm learning as the weeks go on, but I can't really recommend this book enough. I challenge you to check it out of your library or go sit at Barnes and Noble and just read the first 8-9 page introduction.
Oh and you want to know how much I've lost since last Friday? 11 pounds!!! As excited as I am about that, I am more excited to have found a way of living that I can live with. There is not a thing that I am "not allowed" to eat, and nothing I "have to do", so how can I fail? The only way I can fail is to return to my former way of eating. By the grace of God, I hope that will soon be a distant memory.
While talking with a friend a couple of months ago, I realized that I have been dieting on and off for the past 20 years! That just amazed me and saddened me. I'm not that old for Pete's sake.
Low carb has been the diet of choice in recent years, but I have also done low calorie, low fat (during college one time I ate baked potatoes with grape jelly, frozen yogurt, and pretzels), the "Cleveland Clinic diet", and the "The last minute 12 pound crash diet" or something to that effect. While all of them helped me lose weight, all of them felt rigid, full of rules, and restrictive.
Because those diets were full of rules, when I "broke a rule", I felt guilty. I felt like a failure. And you know what? I tend to be an emotional eater. So what do I do when I feel bad? Eat. I'm also a binger. Most people would probably be shocked (and disgusted) to see how much food I can put away in a sitting. I'm also partial to doing whatever I want to do. So when someone tells me I "can't" do something (like eat chocolate), it just makes me want to do it. I'm also a stress eater. Diets seem to cause me a lot of stress. Kind of sounds like I'm working against myself doesn't it?
After a few days or weeks on those diets (without cheating), I start to gain a false sense of control. I would wonder who that over eater was. Certainly I have enough control and mindset to know what I can eat. So I would go have something that was not on the list, which would lead to two things not on the list, and then I had all out binge on things that were "not allowed" because I had "already blown it".
So....I start reading this book called "Lose it for Life". I'm somewhat leery only because I fear that it's another diet book that will tell me what to eat... I'll try it... and eventually fail under it's overly high expectations. However, I knew just from skimming it, that this book was different. There were Bible verses posted throughout the book. That had to count for something, right?
Well, it turns out that it does. This book is helping me to heal my mind of all the dieting crap that the world has sold me over the years. In all honesty, I'm only 79 pages into the book. However, I've learned some interesting things which are shaping how I think about food, dieting, and my relationship with God. I will share some of the interesting things and things that are helping me. I'm pretty sure that none of them will appear to be life changing. Some of them may be things you've heard before.
One of the interesting things the book talked about was the first temptation. You know what? It dealt with food. A forbidden food. A food that the devil was trying to get Eve to eat. Can you see the correlation with dieting?
We want to have it all (all the food we can eat, all the chocolate, all the junk). We don't want to practice any restraint. You can eat off of all the trees but one...
We don't appreciate what God has given us. I mean truly appreciate. I have noticed this week that almost all of the eating I have done up until now has been very mindless. Sure I have had some good food, food that tasted good, but I never really appreciated, savored, and thanked God for it. I'm not talking about the pre-dinner thank you, but a heartfelt expression of gratitude.
We listen to the "snake". "You're a failure at dieting", "You'll never be thin", "Just eat it, you deserve it", and on and on and on.
We give in. We "eat the apple" and then pay for the consequences of disobedience.
The other "temptation" in the Bible? Jesus in the wilderness. Again, tempted by the devil....again with food. When it says that Jesus understands our struggles, it's true!
What I'm Doing
- I'm eating serving sizes of foods. I'm not measuring things, but I do have a pretty good idea of what a serving size is (and if I don't, I check the box or bag).
-I eat one helping at meals.
-I drink as much water as I think to during the day. I'm not counting them.
-I usually have only one diet Coke a day.
-I'm not snacking much. If I do, it's usually some cashews and a large drink of water. I know that doesn't sound like much, but honestly 98% of the time I have not been hungry. It's 9:30 am and I'm not hungry yet. Strange, but true.
-I know just by eating one serving of things that I have probably cut my calorie consumption in half or more. I'm sure that is the cause of my weight loss so far.
-I'm not exercising....yet, but I will get there.
-I'm not restricting what I eat. I eat bread (gasp), some sugar (gasp gasp), etc. "There are no forbidden foods". That is from the book. It is an amazingly freeing concept!! In the past week I've enjoyed pizza, spaghetti, cookies, a Buckeye, hard candy, french onion soup, bratwurst....
It is hard to change your thinking about dieting. It is especially hard if you have dieted for any amount of time. Some of those dieting "do's and don'ts" are very ingrained in our thinking.
I will continue to post some things I'm learning as the weeks go on, but I can't really recommend this book enough. I challenge you to check it out of your library or go sit at Barnes and Noble and just read the first 8-9 page introduction.
Oh and you want to know how much I've lost since last Friday? 11 pounds!!! As excited as I am about that, I am more excited to have found a way of living that I can live with. There is not a thing that I am "not allowed" to eat, and nothing I "have to do", so how can I fail? The only way I can fail is to return to my former way of eating. By the grace of God, I hope that will soon be a distant memory.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Weight GAIN Update
Today is the first day of the rest of my life.... or so I've heard.
I haven't posted one of these in awhile, so I thought I would update everyone. I have gained about 9 lbs. back. It's amazing how life can just throw you for a loop when you have been cruising along. Eating is a deeply emotional thing. At a time in my life when I was disappointed and angry, I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted. Even though the anger went away after a week or so, the disappointment remained and so did the bad eating habits that came back with a vengeance. Anger is such an ungodly thing. It caused me to slow down/stop my weight loss and instead start packing the pounds back on.
I decided that June 1st would be a good day to jump back on the wagon and start fresh. So far today, I'm doing great. Ha ha. ( I wrote that at 8 am). I am trying to get back into drinking my water and staying away from sugar. There is no Diet Coke in the house (just coincidence, I'd be drinking it if there were).
I haven't posted one of these in awhile, so I thought I would update everyone. I have gained about 9 lbs. back. It's amazing how life can just throw you for a loop when you have been cruising along. Eating is a deeply emotional thing. At a time in my life when I was disappointed and angry, I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted. Even though the anger went away after a week or so, the disappointment remained and so did the bad eating habits that came back with a vengeance. Anger is such an ungodly thing. It caused me to slow down/stop my weight loss and instead start packing the pounds back on.
I decided that June 1st would be a good day to jump back on the wagon and start fresh. So far today, I'm doing great. Ha ha. ( I wrote that at 8 am). I am trying to get back into drinking my water and staying away from sugar. There is no Diet Coke in the house (just coincidence, I'd be drinking it if there were).
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Weight Loss Update
Well, the weight loss challenge is over at work and I just barely won. I lost 7 and another lady lost 6. There were only 3 of us in it this time. I have a feeling that it may be our last challenge for awhile. The sad thing is, I think I lost those 7 pounds for a second time, not really new weight. So I'm still stuck around a 48 pound total loss since January. I know some of this is the choices I have made to "enjoy" a few weekends (such as this past one). I have been getting more comments about the loss lately which is nice, but also strange since I'm not down that much for the past couple of weeks.
We are going out for Chinese tonight for Matthew's birthday. That scares me. I will eat very minimally today and then I am going to try to just have one plate and skip the rice. I will eat some crab rangoons because those are my favorite.
We are going out for Chinese tonight for Matthew's birthday. That scares me. I will eat very minimally today and then I am going to try to just have one plate and skip the rice. I will eat some crab rangoons because those are my favorite.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Weight Loss Update
I'm not sure that I can really call this a "loss" update since I gained 5 pounds over the weekend. My little hula girl at the bottom of the page has danced backwards this week.
If you've read my past weekend post, you will see why I gained. At the time, I thought it was worth it. However, when I think of where I could be......blah!
Only one more week left in this challenge at work. I need to be good until next Tuesday, but it's going to be hard this weekend.
I don't have any problem with my beverage choices anymore. I always either drink diet pop or drink water.
I don't really have any problems at home either. It's usually a special occasion that gets me into trouble.
If you've read my past weekend post, you will see why I gained. At the time, I thought it was worth it. However, when I think of where I could be......blah!
Only one more week left in this challenge at work. I need to be good until next Tuesday, but it's going to be hard this weekend.
I don't have any problem with my beverage choices anymore. I always either drink diet pop or drink water.
I don't really have any problems at home either. It's usually a special occasion that gets me into trouble.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Weight Loss Update
It is with great joy that I announce the loss of 5.4 pounds this week! I am now more than 1/2 way to my goal and I am 2 pounds away from a 50 lb. loss so far.
I have been walking about 3 days a week on the treadmill. I try to go at least 2-2.5 miles and walk for 35-45 min.
The best thing for me this time is that I have not given up a single food. I am not following any diet except my own. I do watch my carbs and my calories because I know both of those impact my weight.
This is what I ate yesterday:
B- banana
L- philly cheese steak no bun (steakum, onions, peppers, and provolone cheese), 1/2 mug of chai tea
S- pulled pork sandwich with honey mustard no bun, Texas coleslaw, sweet potato salad (like regular potato salad, but with sweet potatoes and regular potatoes), and a lemon bar
The day after I have a day with more carbs or calories than usual, I try to eat less. I also try to exercise a little longer to compensate. The treadmill has a calorie counter on it to show you how many calories you've burned. When I see how long I have to work to burn off 2 measly mozzarella sticks, it makes me question if they are really worth it.
I do not ever plan to go back to eating the way I was before or being the weight I was before. I know that no one does plan to gain the weight back. I plan to stick with this mindset the rest of my life. Moderation. Not giving anything up completely. I plan to get rid of my "fat clothes" as soon as I'm in the next size. I thank God for helping me with my food addiction. It is getting easier every day in the fact that I know the right things to do. It is still a struggle every day. It's hard when your husband is eating your favorite kind of ice cream. (I told him that he was giving me horrible cravings for....ice cream water and then went and drank a bottle). I told Tim the other day that I just wanted to eat mindlessly again and not have to think about it. Then I came to my senses and reminded myself how far I've come and look forward to where I'm going.
I have been walking about 3 days a week on the treadmill. I try to go at least 2-2.5 miles and walk for 35-45 min.
The best thing for me this time is that I have not given up a single food. I am not following any diet except my own. I do watch my carbs and my calories because I know both of those impact my weight.
This is what I ate yesterday:
B- banana
L- philly cheese steak no bun (steakum, onions, peppers, and provolone cheese), 1/2 mug of chai tea
S- pulled pork sandwich with honey mustard no bun, Texas coleslaw, sweet potato salad (like regular potato salad, but with sweet potatoes and regular potatoes), and a lemon bar
The day after I have a day with more carbs or calories than usual, I try to eat less. I also try to exercise a little longer to compensate. The treadmill has a calorie counter on it to show you how many calories you've burned. When I see how long I have to work to burn off 2 measly mozzarella sticks, it makes me question if they are really worth it.
I do not ever plan to go back to eating the way I was before or being the weight I was before. I know that no one does plan to gain the weight back. I plan to stick with this mindset the rest of my life. Moderation. Not giving anything up completely. I plan to get rid of my "fat clothes" as soon as I'm in the next size. I thank God for helping me with my food addiction. It is getting easier every day in the fact that I know the right things to do. It is still a struggle every day. It's hard when your husband is eating your favorite kind of ice cream. (I told him that he was giving me horrible cravings for....
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Diet Update
There is good news and bad news today. The bad news is that I had a .2 gain at work yesterday. I think it is a case of losing inches and not pounds. The good news is that this morning I was down 2.5 lbs at home, but I won't officially count that loss on my ticker at the bottom of this page until next week. I seem to lose on Wednesdays for some reason.
I did get into a smaller pair of pants yesterday. Things are starting to look baggy on me, but I'm not totally into the next size down yet either.
I have been eating pretty well. I did get slightly off track on Sunday with this yummy snack mix my mom made for Easter. It was the sauce for caramel corn poured over Chex cereal and then had dried cranberries and little chocolate eggs in it. I know it sounds strange, but it was so good! It was sweet and salty and crunchy and chewy. Other than that I ate moderately at lunch and stopped after one small serving of everything at lunch. The best thing that I have learned this time around is to just get right back into the swing of things the next day. I did go and exercise on Monday too and that doesn't hurt either.
I was looking at a Good Housekeeping from this month or last and on the cover was a girl who was the same age as me who had about the same amount of weight to lose and had done it in 7 months. So that was encouraging. No real diet "secrets" in there, I think maybe she did Weigh Down Workshop or something, but I found it interesting that in almost all of the weight loss success stories, God or faith was mentioned. I thanked God this morning for giving me the willpower this time and for helping me to stay on track.
I've been exercising 2-3x a week. I've been using the treadmill at my in laws. I think I am starting to get addicted to exercising. I always thought people who said that were crazy. I have NEVER been a fan of exercise. I know it is helping with the weight loss though and it does make you feel so good when you do it. The first 10-15 min. are the hardest for me and there are days that I don't want to go walk, but once I get into it, I want to keep going longer. I really think that I'd like to get a treadmill of my own, but I don't think that will happen anytime in the near future. I like it better than other exercise equipment because it makes you keep going even when you want to stop.
I did get into a smaller pair of pants yesterday. Things are starting to look baggy on me, but I'm not totally into the next size down yet either.
I have been eating pretty well. I did get slightly off track on Sunday with this yummy snack mix my mom made for Easter. It was the sauce for caramel corn poured over Chex cereal and then had dried cranberries and little chocolate eggs in it. I know it sounds strange, but it was so good! It was sweet and salty and crunchy and chewy. Other than that I ate moderately at lunch and stopped after one small serving of everything at lunch. The best thing that I have learned this time around is to just get right back into the swing of things the next day. I did go and exercise on Monday too and that doesn't hurt either.
I was looking at a Good Housekeeping from this month or last and on the cover was a girl who was the same age as me who had about the same amount of weight to lose and had done it in 7 months. So that was encouraging. No real diet "secrets" in there, I think maybe she did Weigh Down Workshop or something, but I found it interesting that in almost all of the weight loss success stories, God or faith was mentioned. I thanked God this morning for giving me the willpower this time and for helping me to stay on track.
I've been exercising 2-3x a week. I've been using the treadmill at my in laws. I think I am starting to get addicted to exercising. I always thought people who said that were crazy. I have NEVER been a fan of exercise. I know it is helping with the weight loss though and it does make you feel so good when you do it. The first 10-15 min. are the hardest for me and there are days that I don't want to go walk, but once I get into it, I want to keep going longer. I really think that I'd like to get a treadmill of my own, but I don't think that will happen anytime in the near future. I like it better than other exercise equipment because it makes you keep going even when you want to stop.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Weight Loss Update
The weight loss seems to be going really slow now. It's frustrating when you are eating so much less than you were before, and trying to make the right choices of what to eat. I know that slow and steady is the way to go, but that doesn't keep me from hoping the weight comes off faster. I think I only lost 1 pound or so this week. One of the ladies at work that is doing the challenge with me told me to stop wearing baggy clothes to work. The problem is that I haven't really changed sizes yet. My smaller stuff still doesn't fit.
I pray that when I get to my goal weight (or even near it) that I can always remember how crappy it is to diet, how frustrating it is not to fit in my clothes, etc. I can handle eating this way for the rest of my life. I don't ever want to go back to mindless overeating/gaining weight again.
I am 1 1/2 lbs from where I wanted to be on Saturday for the wedding. I am about 3 lbs from being 1/2 way to my goal.
I really need to start exercising more.
I pray that when I get to my goal weight (or even near it) that I can always remember how crappy it is to diet, how frustrating it is not to fit in my clothes, etc. I can handle eating this way for the rest of my life. I don't ever want to go back to mindless overeating/gaining weight again.
I am 1 1/2 lbs from where I wanted to be on Saturday for the wedding. I am about 3 lbs from being 1/2 way to my goal.
I really need to start exercising more.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Dieting Update
I'm down three more pounds since last week. I finally made it below 200 on the scale at work. Check out my hula girl at the bottom of the page. I'm almost halfway there! We did start a new challenge at work yesterday for another 5 weeks. My mini goal for myself is to lose 4 lbs. before our cousins wedding which is a week from Saturday.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
My thoughts on dieting, for what they are worth....
Where to start??? I really can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't dieting or in between diets. I know I started in high school if not sooner. I have done Atkins, Protein Power, the 14 day crash diet, the Cleveland Clinic Diet, counted calories, etc. These thoughts are random and in no particular order.
I think you have to take it one day at a time. If you start thinking "oh my gosh, I can never do this forever" you're going to talk yourself right out of ever sticking to it. You actually sometimes have to take it one meal at a time. Every time you make the choice to eat something healthy or avoid something that is not, you are making progress. Dieting is not the ALL OR NOTHING thing that we all try to make it.
Everyone generally knows what their weaknesses are. Pick a diet that focuses on that. For me, most of the time it is sugar. I could eat chocolate all day long. I also like bread and chips. And like Sonya, one taste could just throw me off. So Atkins was a good choice for me. I have also done Protein Power (which is very similar to Atkins). I needed someone to tell me- "you can have this, but not this".
I do think you have to have the mindset to want to lose weight. Most people want to lose it, but do it without any effort on their part. They want a quick fix, or a pill, or that one exercise that will just do it for them. I have started a diet several times when I wasn't really ready and it just doesn't work. I don't know how to make yourself ready. I don't know why this time moderation is working for me and other times it wouldn't.
I think that if you stick with the strict part of a diet for at least 3 weeks before you allow yourself to "cheat" or have a "free day" or whatever you want to call it, you will have better success at getting back on the wagon the next meal or next day.
As I said on Jamie's blog, preparation is a big key in success. Know what you can snack on. If you have a problem with portion control, count things out and measure them. Know what a serving size is. Have snacks ready to eat. Have legal things to "cheat" on. Plan out what you are going to eat and have things on hand.
If you give up sugar, you will probably go through withdrawal. You will have headaches. It will be over in about 3 days. You will feel better once it is out of your system. Things that are sugar free or made with artificial sweeteners will not taste good the first couple days to weeks. After you get all of the sugar out of your system, try them again and they will taste better. If you still don't like them, try a different brand. I really don't like Diet Pepsi. I don't mind Diet Cherry Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper.
I truly think sugar and caffeine are drugs. I recently went to a drug seminar for work and there are so many correlations between what people addicted to drugs do/think and what people addicted to sugar do/think. If I find my stuff at work, I'll try to post some of those things. I also believe that there is a lot of sugar added to foods that don't need it, just to get people to eat more or become addicted to it.
No matter what diet you do, I think calories and carbs will affect your outcome. If you eat too many of either, you will gain.
I don't worry too much about vegetables and fruits (as long as they are natural and don't have anything added to them). I did not get fat on carrots and apples. The only thing I try to watch is my potatoes.
It only takes 2 seconds to tell someone "no thank you" when they offer you something. Or to pass the bowl by when it goes around the table. In most cases, no one will even notice and if they do, you tell them that you are choosing not to eat that food right now. I've also found that people will leave you alone more if you tell them you are doing something "for Lent", "for a challenge at work" or whatever.
For me, I'd make excuses to eat anything. Like this may be the only time I get to try Sally's Pecan Pie, or work is paying for the pizza, so I should have some, after all I earned it, or today is Bob's birthday and everyone else is eating ice cream cake. Don't let other people give you guilt trips either. "Come on, you mean to tell me that you are not going to have a piece of your sons birthday cake?", or "Oh what's one little brownie going to do to you?". They choose what to put in their bodies and you choose what to put in yours. We are all 95% responsible for our weights (that's my personal very scientific guess on the percentage). You can only blame so much on genetics and having kids.
Set your goals small. I will stay on this diet for 2 days. I will drink 3 glasses of water today. I will stop eating 3 of my 4 daily Twix bars. Don't try to do everything at once. Expect the progress to be slow. You didn't gain the weight in a day and you aren't going to lose it in a day. There is no miracle drug, and if there were we would all be skinny.
I started out at the beginning of this year with 100 pounds to lose. My thing at the bottom of the page says 92, but I could easily shoot for 100 to be in my "ideal body weight range". I just have always liked the number 147 and that's what was on my first drivers license. I don't consider myself only having a little to lose. I'm sure my chart at the Dr. would say "morbidly obese".
I just don't get the whole keeping your weight a big secret thing. I feel that people know I'm overweight, all they have to do is look at me. The numbers on the scale are not who I am. I think it's good to have someone to be accountable to. Every week at work I weigh in front of someone else.
I weigh myself daily. It keeps me on track. If I'm up a little, I will really watch what I eat that day. If I am down, I want to keep it down and will watch what I eat that day. I know if a certain meal/day wasn't good to me.
I have exercised very little. Maybe a total of 8-10x this year. It definitely speeds up the loss when you do and you can also allow yourself a few more calories. When I get closer to my goal I will definitely need to exercise if I want to be the least bit toned and not all flabby.
You can live on Atkins forever. It's meat and fruit and vegetables. It's not rocket science. When you cut out the sugar, you don't need as much food to feel full. It's meant to be a lifestyle, not a diet you go on and then quit when you've reached your goal. I think people need to get out of the "forever" thinking though like I said before.
Sonya- One of my very favorite sites for support and recipes is here. I used to spend a lot of time reading questions on the bulletin boards and trying recipes. Very good motivation and support. There are also challenges that you can sign up to be a part of. There are also tons of before and after pictures which I loved to look at. Real people who have and are doing it. There is a century club for people who have lost 100 or more pounds. Anyways, check it out.
OK, my diet update for this week is reflected at the bottom of the page. I lost 3 lbs. this week and a total of 9.2 in the past 5 weeks. I would have lost more if I hadn't had to lose the 8 that I regained from eating girl scout cookies. Oh well! I started out at 239 and am now at 201.4 according to the scales at work. I think I won the challenge again, but things were a little crazy at work today as we are having a mock survey.
An evil woman from Hospice brought me a gift for Social Work month. It was called "Double Indulgence" and has milk chocolate, pecan pieces, salted cashews, toffee, caramel, white and dark chocolate. (Sorry fellow dieters!) It looks like a cow patty and is about 6 inches in diameter. I did eat about 1/4 of it (considered that supper along with some Diet Coke to balance it out) and shared the rest with co-workers and Tim. We'll see tomorrow if I did any damage.
Thanks to everyone who actually read through this very long post. I'm sure I forgot to add something.
I think you have to take it one day at a time. If you start thinking "oh my gosh, I can never do this forever" you're going to talk yourself right out of ever sticking to it. You actually sometimes have to take it one meal at a time. Every time you make the choice to eat something healthy or avoid something that is not, you are making progress. Dieting is not the ALL OR NOTHING thing that we all try to make it.
Everyone generally knows what their weaknesses are. Pick a diet that focuses on that. For me, most of the time it is sugar. I could eat chocolate all day long. I also like bread and chips. And like Sonya, one taste could just throw me off. So Atkins was a good choice for me. I have also done Protein Power (which is very similar to Atkins). I needed someone to tell me- "you can have this, but not this".
I do think you have to have the mindset to want to lose weight. Most people want to lose it, but do it without any effort on their part. They want a quick fix, or a pill, or that one exercise that will just do it for them. I have started a diet several times when I wasn't really ready and it just doesn't work. I don't know how to make yourself ready. I don't know why this time moderation is working for me and other times it wouldn't.
I think that if you stick with the strict part of a diet for at least 3 weeks before you allow yourself to "cheat" or have a "free day" or whatever you want to call it, you will have better success at getting back on the wagon the next meal or next day.
As I said on Jamie's blog, preparation is a big key in success. Know what you can snack on. If you have a problem with portion control, count things out and measure them. Know what a serving size is. Have snacks ready to eat. Have legal things to "cheat" on. Plan out what you are going to eat and have things on hand.
If you give up sugar, you will probably go through withdrawal. You will have headaches. It will be over in about 3 days. You will feel better once it is out of your system. Things that are sugar free or made with artificial sweeteners will not taste good the first couple days to weeks. After you get all of the sugar out of your system, try them again and they will taste better. If you still don't like them, try a different brand. I really don't like Diet Pepsi. I don't mind Diet Cherry Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper.
I truly think sugar and caffeine are drugs. I recently went to a drug seminar for work and there are so many correlations between what people addicted to drugs do/think and what people addicted to sugar do/think. If I find my stuff at work, I'll try to post some of those things. I also believe that there is a lot of sugar added to foods that don't need it, just to get people to eat more or become addicted to it.
No matter what diet you do, I think calories and carbs will affect your outcome. If you eat too many of either, you will gain.
I don't worry too much about vegetables and fruits (as long as they are natural and don't have anything added to them). I did not get fat on carrots and apples. The only thing I try to watch is my potatoes.
It only takes 2 seconds to tell someone "no thank you" when they offer you something. Or to pass the bowl by when it goes around the table. In most cases, no one will even notice and if they do, you tell them that you are choosing not to eat that food right now. I've also found that people will leave you alone more if you tell them you are doing something "for Lent", "for a challenge at work" or whatever.
For me, I'd make excuses to eat anything. Like this may be the only time I get to try Sally's Pecan Pie, or work is paying for the pizza, so I should have some, after all I earned it, or today is Bob's birthday and everyone else is eating ice cream cake. Don't let other people give you guilt trips either. "Come on, you mean to tell me that you are not going to have a piece of your sons birthday cake?", or "Oh what's one little brownie going to do to you?". They choose what to put in their bodies and you choose what to put in yours. We are all 95% responsible for our weights (that's my personal very scientific guess on the percentage). You can only blame so much on genetics and having kids.
Set your goals small. I will stay on this diet for 2 days. I will drink 3 glasses of water today. I will stop eating 3 of my 4 daily Twix bars. Don't try to do everything at once. Expect the progress to be slow. You didn't gain the weight in a day and you aren't going to lose it in a day. There is no miracle drug, and if there were we would all be skinny.
I started out at the beginning of this year with 100 pounds to lose. My thing at the bottom of the page says 92, but I could easily shoot for 100 to be in my "ideal body weight range". I just have always liked the number 147 and that's what was on my first drivers license. I don't consider myself only having a little to lose. I'm sure my chart at the Dr. would say "morbidly obese".
I just don't get the whole keeping your weight a big secret thing. I feel that people know I'm overweight, all they have to do is look at me. The numbers on the scale are not who I am. I think it's good to have someone to be accountable to. Every week at work I weigh in front of someone else.
I weigh myself daily. It keeps me on track. If I'm up a little, I will really watch what I eat that day. If I am down, I want to keep it down and will watch what I eat that day. I know if a certain meal/day wasn't good to me.
I have exercised very little. Maybe a total of 8-10x this year. It definitely speeds up the loss when you do and you can also allow yourself a few more calories. When I get closer to my goal I will definitely need to exercise if I want to be the least bit toned and not all flabby.
You can live on Atkins forever. It's meat and fruit and vegetables. It's not rocket science. When you cut out the sugar, you don't need as much food to feel full. It's meant to be a lifestyle, not a diet you go on and then quit when you've reached your goal. I think people need to get out of the "forever" thinking though like I said before.
Sonya- One of my very favorite sites for support and recipes is here. I used to spend a lot of time reading questions on the bulletin boards and trying recipes. Very good motivation and support. There are also challenges that you can sign up to be a part of. There are also tons of before and after pictures which I loved to look at. Real people who have and are doing it. There is a century club for people who have lost 100 or more pounds. Anyways, check it out.
OK, my diet update for this week is reflected at the bottom of the page. I lost 3 lbs. this week and a total of 9.2 in the past 5 weeks. I would have lost more if I hadn't had to lose the 8 that I regained from eating girl scout cookies. Oh well! I started out at 239 and am now at 201.4 according to the scales at work. I think I won the challenge again, but things were a little crazy at work today as we are having a mock survey.
An evil woman from Hospice brought me a gift for Social Work month. It was called "Double Indulgence" and has milk chocolate, pecan pieces, salted cashews, toffee, caramel, white and dark chocolate. (Sorry fellow dieters!) It looks like a cow patty and is about 6 inches in diameter. I did eat about 1/4 of it (considered that supper along with some Diet Coke to balance it out) and shared the rest with co-workers and Tim. We'll see tomorrow if I did any damage.
Thanks to everyone who actually read through this very long post. I'm sure I forgot to add something.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Weight loss update
I weighed in at work yesterday and had lost 3 lbs! I think I've only lost 4 lbs. total so far in this 5 week challenge (due to the unfortunate Girl Scout cookie incidents). I may still have a chance at winning though. After talking to everyone yesterday, they seem to be stuck or gaining.
My scale said 198 this morning! I'm so glad, especially after yesterdays lunch of salad, pasta, garlic bread, and Tiramisu! I can't believe how many carbs they served us. It was yummy though.
11 more pounds and I will be 1/2 way to my goal. I need to start exercising again. I'm sure that would speed things along and give me some muscle.
I'm happy with the progress I've made although it is discouraging at times because I haven't changed sizes yet. Things are looser. I'm having a hard time losing weight around my hips and my chest. I wish I would have measured myself when I started.
My scale said 198 this morning! I'm so glad, especially after yesterdays lunch of salad, pasta, garlic bread, and Tiramisu! I can't believe how many carbs they served us. It was yummy though.
11 more pounds and I will be 1/2 way to my goal. I need to start exercising again. I'm sure that would speed things along and give me some muscle.
I'm happy with the progress I've made although it is discouraging at times because I haven't changed sizes yet. Things are looser. I'm having a hard time losing weight around my hips and my chest. I wish I would have measured myself when I started.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Busy
I often find myself wishing my Tuesdays and Thursdays away as they are always so busy. Today I'm going to run to the eye Dr. before work (which is 20 min. in the total opposite direction) because I broke my glasses at midnight. Then I have to go to work to pick up another lady so that we can go to a lunch (in a totally opposite direction 30 min.) celebrating Social Work Month. Afterwards, I have a very full day planned at work after which I need to go to the store because we are almost out of milk, juice, and toilet paper.
There was a bright spot this morning when I stepped on the scale and it said 99 lbs. Yes, you read that right. Of course, the first number is not lighting up, but I'm pretty sure that it's 199 and not 299. Pray that I don't ruin all my hard work at lunch today. I've been working on that pound for almost a week now! I will update my ticker at the bottom later after I've had my official weigh in at work. Only one more week in this challenge. I really don't have any idea where I stand in this one, because they only made it so that you have to weigh at the beginning and then end.
There was a bright spot this morning when I stepped on the scale and it said 99 lbs. Yes, you read that right. Of course, the first number is not lighting up, but I'm pretty sure that it's 199 and not 299. Pray that I don't ruin all my hard work at lunch today. I've been working on that pound for almost a week now! I will update my ticker at the bottom later after I've had my official weigh in at work. Only one more week in this challenge. I really don't have any idea where I stand in this one, because they only made it so that you have to weigh at the beginning and then end.
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