by Tommy Galen of Happy Universe
The reason diets don’t work is because we associate pain with food deprivation. Diet equals hunger, and hunger is pain. How could anyone succeed on a diet when pain is the result? Luckily, there is another way. After losing 40 pounds, I can testify that it works. The trick: Eat More! [Read the rest at Dumb Little Man]
I am really having a difficult time in maintaining my weight loss. I stopped going to my Weight Watchers meetings a few months ago because of the cost. I lost my lifetime status (they only allow you to gain 2 pounds to stay free) and I had other pressing issues for my money, like taking ukulele lessons and my son's therapy for his autism.
Not only did the WW meetings get cut, but going down to the salad bar and buying my lunch stopped. That five to seven bucks a day was a treat I could no longer afford, so I started taking frozen entrees to work most of the time. I do go out maybe once every week or two if I can find a two for one coupon and split the cost with a friend. Seven bucks for a salad is too much. I used to be able to get it for five dollars just a few short months ago. Food prices seem to be going through the roof, both for groceries and eating out.
I don't know what it is with salt, but now I seem to crave it constantly since I've been eating those high sodium TV dinners. Most of them have like 700 mg of sodium. I get home and want nuts or chips or some kind of salty munchie every day. I know that's not helping my weight situation any, but a stalk of celery has no appeal to me whatsoever.
You know, you would think that losing weight would be so cheap because you are eating less food, but it is one of the most expensive things I have come across in my life. The programs, the foods, health clubs and exercise equipment, and on it goes. Despite all the costs, it really only comes down to you making it happen. All diets work if you work them, but there is no magic bullet. You are the one who makes the choices. Nobody is stuffing food in your mouth. That is something we do to ourselves. We know how we are supposed to eat and that we need to exercise to lose weight. Knowing it and doing it are two different things altogether.
Time to get back to doing what we need to do to lose weight. Two pounds a week or bust.
It is a fresh new year and a time to restart your commitment to getting back into shape. Not every diet works for everyone so you have to find the plan that you are most comfortable with and make a strong commitment inside yourself to reach your weight loss goals. Whether you are trying to lose 10 pounds or 50 pounds, it all depends on YOU and what YOU do. It is a lifestyle choice.
Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that weight loss is as easy as taking a pill. Sure, there are diet aids that can boost your metabolism or block fat absorption in your body, such as Alli, but at what cost... and for how long. There is no magic pill. You still need to diet and exercise to lose weight. If you wish to take weight off and keep it off, you have to burn at least as many calories as you take in and to lose weight you need to burn more. It is as simple as that. May 2009 be your most successful weight loss year ever!
Sometimes I get so disgusted with myself. All I have to do is maintain my weight and stay under 140 pounds in order to sustain my lifetime status in Weight Watchers and attend the meetings for free. I blew it this week, but I am right at the edge. I really should be able to turn this thing around but I am wanting to eat all the time and I am finding it nearly impossible to stay around 18 points per day. Who can live on that without eating only bunny food?
This weekend is going to be especially challenging as I will be away from home at a con and eating out a lot. I'm thinking that if I bring in some healthy snacks such as fruit to keep in my room and try to stick to salads most of the time, I should do OK. There is a lot of temptations around though.
I just put in an order at Peapod for the first time in several months and discovered a great new feature called Nutrifilter. It allows you to set dietary restrictions and will display related information to help you make the best choices for your particular situation. I chose Weight Watchers so now on most of the products the calculations are done and a little box appears with the points value per serving. Let me tell you, this is really cool. I know many products already have points listed, but those are generally frozen entrees such as Smart Ones and Lean Cuisine. This gives you so much more for all product categories.
Weight Watchers is not the only option. You can choose peanut-free, gluten-free, high fiber, low-sodium, etc. One day I may look at a gluten-free/Casein-free diet for my son and this will be very helpful. Peapod started in the Chicago area and has since expanded to other regions. It is a wonderful service. I love to order from Peapod when I need to re-stock my heavy stuff, like laundry detergent, bottled water and canned goods.Check it out.
I know, I know... I was raving about Lean Cuisine's 3 point herbed chicken the other day. I tried another frozen entree, the Thai Chicken, which has 4-points and I thought I was going to hurl. Yes, it is that bad. The smell even turned my stomach.
I'm going back to the salad bar.
Well today was one of those Mondays where I was so busy at work that I had to skip my Weight Watchers meeting and just eat a TV dinner at my desk. This is the third week in a row where I could not stay for the meeting. Bummer... I did go downstairs and weigh in though. I'm maintaining.
Anyhoo, my lunch hit me with some surprising good news. My TV dinner was only 3 Weight Watchers points. I couldn't believe it. These are usually 5 or 6 points and sometimes a 4 pointer if I want to starve myself. I had the herb chicken and it was really good. Actually, one of the best frozen entrees I have tried. By skipping the pasta and doubling up on the veggies they finally figured it out. I've noticed that some of their entrees are also featuring whole grain pasta. This will boost the fiber and knock down the points. Seems that Lean Cuisine has beaten Weight Watchers at its own game and has come up with several three-point entrees.
Chicken Marsala
Roasted, seasoned chicken breast in a rich Marsala wine sauce with tender mushrooms and a side dish of carrots and green beans.
Herb Roasted Chicken
An herb roasted marinated chicken breast topped with a creamy basil, garlic and mushroom sauce. Accompanied by roasted redskin potatoes, broccoli and red bell peppers, in a savory sauce.
Garlic Beef and Broccoli
Beef steak with broccoli, water chestnuts and yellow carrots in an asian- style garlic sauce.
Roasted Turkey & Vegetables
Tender roasted turkey and mushrooms in a traditional home-style gravy accompanied by a vegetable medley of hand-picked green beans with accents of red peppers.
So next time when you are hitting those 2 point snacks, remember it may just be lunchtime and try the herbed chicken. You'll love it.
A gal at work who I hadn't seen in several months noticed my weight loss. I wanted to purr... Kats like strokes. ;-)
We had a bunch of red grapes in the fridge that just weren't sweet enough and nobody was eating them. I took them out (about to toss them) and said to my guy, do you want to eat these, they are really sour. He said don't throw them away, I'll make grape juice... and that is exactly what he did. It was delightful. He took the grapes, washed them, threw them in the blender with water, honey and powdered cloves, zapped and strained it and voila... the most delicious grape juice in the whole wide world.
Why the cloves you ask. For flavor, of course and there is also something in cloves that helps cleanse your system and kills eggs of parasites (if you have them), according to Dr. Suzanne Gudakunst's book. We just wanted something unusually yummy though.
One of the interesting things about living with a guy who spent so long in South America is that down there they really know a lot more about fruits and veggies. Making grape juice (and other juices) is quite common in the culture he lived in. This is the guy who makes stewed apples/homemade applesauce and turned me on to chayote, what he calls shoo-shoo. He also cuts up fresh pineapples for me all the time because he knows I love it. I sure am increasing my fruit and veggie intake and loving it!
- Drink a half gallon of water or so a day (one ounce for every pound you weigh)
- "Dip the Tip" instead of dunking your food in fatty sauces or dressings, dip the tip of your fork in the goop first, before putting the fork into your food. You'll get the flavor without all the fat.
- "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips." Stay conscious of what you are consuming before it consumes you.
- Eat some fruit first thing in the morning, before anything else. It digests faster and by having it first you take the edge off the hunger and so it doesn't just sit on a pile of goop in your stomach fermenting for hours. Learn to combine (or separate) foods for maximum benefit and acid/alkaline balance.
- Eat less processed foods. If you are on Weight Watchers, give the core plan a try.
- Don't drink your calories. Drink mostly water and green tea. Switch to skim milk and be a designated driver.
- Lay off the pop and sweetened drinks. Diet soda is full of artificial sweeteners which they are finding may have the same addictive qualities as sugar and make you crave sweets. Instead of substituting, train your tastebuds to like things less sweet so you are not craving so much.
- Watch for more random weight loss tips here.
kat
Over the weekend we made some stewed apples. It is like homemade chunky applesauce and is absolutely wonderful. It is also really easy to make. You take a bunch of apples, slice and core them. (I have a little gizmo that does this.) Do not peel the apples. Toss them into the food process and zap 'em till they are small pieces. Throw them into the pot, add cinnamon, cloves and honey to taste and cook down for about an hour. Your house will smell soooo good, like baking an apple pie. Stewed apples are good hot or cold. Try them.
Sunday morning I decided I wanted to try them in oatmeal. I sometimes eat the instant cinnamon oatmeal such as the Quaker weight loss oatmeal. This time I made the old fashioned oatmeal from the drum, added some of the homemade apple sauce, a little more cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and a bit of wheatgerm and honey. I also added some coffee mate fat free French vanilla to the skim milk I pour over it. This was the best damn oatmeal I've ever tasted!
I do have a major sweet tooth and have gradually switched over to Splenda and honey as sweeteners. I put honey on grapefruit and it is yummy. I have heard a bit about Stevia and will probably start using that as well but I don't get to the stores that sell it much and from what I've read, it tastes a bit like licorice at first and is quite expensive. For now I am trying to adjust to things less sweet, such as coffee. One Spenda packet in a big cup of joe does it for me now. It used to take about 3 teaspoons of sugar or two Splendas. I'm making progress on cutting sugar and moving towards whole foods....
My good friend is finally tying the knot and I'm going to be a bridesmaid! She found herself a nice guy online a few months ago and they are getting married in two months. It all happened so fast.
I get to wear a shiny satin halter bridesmaid dress, which makes me a bit, uh, nervous. I'm used to hiding under big sweaters and stuff. Yeah, I know I lost thirty pounds... but still. I'm a bit modest and don't dress up much. Actually, I rarely even wear anything low cut or sleeveless. Surprisingly, the way this dress is cut, it covers a multitude of sins. (I hope!)
Anyway, I'm getting back with the program and I don't have a lot of time to dilly dally. I am going back to journaling everything I eat and continuing to exercise on my gazelle everyday. I am having some big issues with the 18 point allowance I have to stick with in order to lose. After tracking for the last two weeks, I find my intake is closer to 22-24 points a day. That is fine for maintaining, but I hope to get down a few more pounds and lose a bit of this tummy. To help me along, my daughter shared with me this 7-word quote:
Eat food
Not too much
Mostly plants
... and she brought me up some green tea and 1/2 an orange after dinner. She has really been into the Asian thing lately and is learning to cook. In many of the nicer Chinese restaurants you will be given oranges in lieu of fortune cookies.
Wooooooo Hooooooo!!!! I DID IT!
I maintained my goal weight through my birthday, the holidays, some pizzas and one of those all the meat you can possibly eat Brazilian steakhouses. And I actually went down a pound. I was getting a little nervous there for awhile with all that food and not being able to weigh in for several weeks because of the meetings being cancelled for three sessions due to the holidays. When week number six rolled around, I had to miss the meeting to take my kid to a doctor's appointment.
Anyhoo.... I made it. I rock and I have a brand new sized small black t-shirt and a golden key for becoming a lifetime member. The t-shirt reads in small print, "*Results not typical." That is the usual disclaimer in ads for weight loss products and we adopted that little slogan for the t-shirts for lifetime members of our group. I think its pretty cool.
I feel great. I reached my goal and lost 35 pounds since summer 2006. If I can do it, so can you!
Kat's NOT fat!
Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite everyday comfort foods. Unfortunately, they are not a dieter's dream, especially with all the butter, milk and gravy that accompanies the innocent vegetable. Here are some lower fat and healthier alternatives to the traditional mashed potatoes with gravy.
Add other vegetables: Turnips, parsnips and cauliflower all make great mashed potato mix-ins. To add even more flavor, add some horseradish or garlic.
Skip the potatoes all together: I often make sweet potatoes or turnips instead of potatoes. Just the other day, quite by accident, we made a delicious vegetable soup by adding red peppers to the turnips we were boiling on the stove. You never know when you will come up with a yummy combo like that.
Use non-fat dairy: Substitute down the fat content of dairy products by using things such as non-fat half and half or skim milk and a buttery spread with no trans-fat such as Smart Balance. The same goes for baked potatoes, instead of loading them up with butter and sour cream add broccoli and spray with Parkay. You can also add fat free sour cream. The main thing is to get the fat out of your dairy products. It makes a big difference.
Here are a couple of recipe links to get you started:
Horseradish Smashers from The Healing Gourmet
and
Hungry Girl's Miracle Mashies a one-point garlic mashed potatoes with cauliflower recipe.
Yum!
Happy New Year!
As we look back at 2007 and forward into 2008 many of us make resolutions. Personally, I always resolve to not make resolutions. LOL
Here are some tips from Hungry-Girl.com for 2008.
1. Don't go "on a diet".
2. Don't deprive yourself.
3. Drink lots of water.
4. Listen to your body. It knows things.
5. Live one day (or even one MEAL) at a time.
6. Get exercise with activities you enjoy.
7. Let yourself cheat a little.
8. Keep track of what you eat. Write it down.
Best wishes for the new year. Here is a fun look back at 2007 from jibjab.com.
My daughter showed me a website today called zenhabits.net which is about simplifying your life and getting more out of living. Here is a good article comparing losing weight with losing debt and it is something that I have been thinking about a lot recently.This last year I have spent focusing on my weight loss goals and I lost about 30 pounds to reach my goal.
I am now focusing my efforts on freeing myself of debt and getting my finances in order, including pumping up my 401(k) and making weekly payments on credit cards and paying my mortgage biweekly. I'm reading Suze Orman, David Bach and Loral Langemeier and really getting focused on my goal of financial freedom.
Lose weight, lose debt, have a better life. It's all good!
BLTs, also known as "bites, licks and tastes" can add up fast, especially during the holiday party season. If you are counting points or journaling, remember to count these. Let's say cheesecake is 10 points and someone gives you a bite (letting you know, of course, that it is just a little taste) tally up those 2 Weight Watcher points. There are approximately 8 tablespoons in a half cup so calculate accordingly.
Also watch the sizes of what you eat compared to what the package says is a serving. If you eat a normal sized chocolate chip toll-house cookie, it is 4 points. It may be helpful to plug your recipes into weight watchers e-tools if you are a subscriber.
Wooooo Hoooooo!!!! I finally hit my Weight Watchers goal. After going a couple of weeks with no meeting because we didn't have enough paying members sign up at work, I went back to Weight Watchers. The first week I was short about a pound and then the second week I hit goal.
I now have to maintain within two pounds of my target weight for six weeks to become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. That is now my goal. Lifetime members attend meetings for free. I really hate spending money on stuff like being able to attend meetings and could certainly find better uses for that sixty bucks a month, but I know how important attending the weekly meetings is for me. It helps me stay on track. I don't think that I would have made it this far without going to the group. Sure, I could have lost 10 or maybe 15 pounds on my own, but my goal was closer to 30 and those last two pounds literally took months to take off.
I have to maintain my weight loss through Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is really going to be challenging. I did eat a full Thanksgiving dinner, but since I cooked it , I did things to reduce the fat such as making a boneless turkey breast instead of the whole bird and foregoing a pie altogether. I made delicious sweet potatoes (without marshmallows) by peeling and cutting into chunks, tossing in some honey, a bit of cinnamon and some chopped pecans, spraying with Parkay spray and microwaving them for about 7 minutes. I also made the green bean casserole using skim milk and real onions instead of the fattening french fried ones. It was a delicious Thanksgiving dinner for far less than the typical 30 point holiday meal. There is no reason on earth to "Gobble 'till you wobble" when the holidays roll around!
I am very proud to have taken off the weight. I feel and look so much better now.
This week our Weight Watchers at Work was cancelled. The problem is that we have been too successful. We need 15 paying members to begin a new session and we only have 12 right now, including me. Nearly 10 of our members are lifetime and do not pay for Weight Watchers anymore. They have achieved their weight loss goals and many have lost over 50 pounds on the program. I was about a half pound away at our last meeting and well on my way to lifetime, but without the at work program I don't think I can continue. I am a creature of convenience.
I will still work the program on my own maybe sign up for e-tools or the Anne Collins program. I will continue to do my daily workout on my Tony Little Gazelle Sprintmaster and watch what I eat. It just won't be the same without our meetings at work.
Kat
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