Weight Loss Update

Finally.

Reached my second goal.

Thirty--30--pounds gone.

Now I'm thinking about setting a new goal.

But I think I'll enjoy this number for awhile first.

I could tell I'd lost without weighing myself--by the way my watchband fit.

I have a child's pink camouflage watch.

When I started wearing it I used the last hole.

It was tight.

Eventually I was able to use the second to the last hole, though tight.

Now is it loose on the second to last hole.

So I must be losing fat overall.

Let me encourage you to NOT go on a diet.

Instead figure out a way to eat for life that will 'carry' you to your ideal weight.

What worked for me is 6 mini-meals a day.

Six SMALL meals a day.

It is easier to eat less when you know you will be eating soon.

Eating before you get very hungry not only helps you prevent overeating, but helps you to eat less at that meal, and overall during the course of a day.


I always figured the more often I ate, the more I'd eat in the end.

But for me that was not true.

 I encourage you to 'discover' what works for you.

But the bottom line is :

We must all eat/take in less calories than we've been eating if we want to be smaller.

My mantra is :

Eat small to be small.  If you over indulge you will bulge.

Weightloss Update

Finally.

Lost the pound I gained at Christmas.  

Plus a couple more ounces.  

New low on the scale.

**BUT**

May have gained some of that back.

LOL.

Ate a 10 ounce rib eye yesterday.

With a baked potato.

And a Caesar salad drenched in delicious dressing.

I forgot to ask for it served on the side.

And for dessert?

Two tablespoons of coconut butter.

Heaven on a spoon.

Finally found the Artisana brand.

image from Artisana website

Expensive but yum yum.

Probably my first and last jar.

Too much temptation sitting in the cupboard beckoning me.  

Bye bye coconut butter...but not today.

But soon, very soon.

Weightloss Update

Last weigh in  the scale was down a pound.  Total lost: 28.  Two more pounds and I'll reach my second goal.  I may set a new goal when I get there. 

It's a winter wonderland here--snow everywhere.  We had 24+ hours straight of snowfall, which began on Christmas Eve. It was still snowing the day after Christmas but the kids made it to the airport to fly home. 

Now, begins the best time of the Christmas season.  A time when I can relax and just enjoy the decorations, eat yummy leftovers and read. 

In January begins the annual purge of papers but for the next few days--these 12 days of Christmas-- I am in 'do nothing but have fun' mode.

KISSES

Don't you just love this commercial? I do.

Weight Loss Update:

I lost the pound I gained at Thanksgiving, plus one more! Total loss to date: 27.

I Did It!

Music by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Brooklyn, NY

I reached my weight loss goal today--the first one.  Twenty six pounds--gone.

The plan was to work on the second goal after the holidays.  It would put me at a 30 pound loss.

Because it's only 4 more pounds AND because there's a week until Thanksgiving and a more than a month to Christmas I think I'll press on toward the second goal, eating just like I have been eating since February.

AND because I plan to eat this way the rest of my life it is EASY.

Thank you  fat free Cool Whip  for providing aid and comfort and helping me reach my goal.

I'd all but given up ever weighing this number again.  The moral is "NEVER give up".

If what you are doing isn't working or making you miserable, examine it, study it and find a WAY that WILL WORK that you can live with.

I've said it before and I will say it again:  make your diet fit YOU, don't try to conform yourself to a diet someone designed for commercial purposes.

Been Bitten By the Bug

The flu bug that is. Feeling miserable.  Will be well eventually.  In the meantime keeping sight of my weigh-loss goals.  The scale finally moved down another pound for a total of 24 lost.

I'm 3 pounds away from my first goal and have a second set.  To reach the second I'd have to lose an additional 4 pounds.  Both are doable.  It is within my power to succeed.  And I will.

It's too easy to drop the ball and lose the game.  Keeping our eyes on the prize and holding self accountable and giving ourselves a good swift kick in the rear is key to winning.

Making excuses is just a cop out.  We don't like and don't want to hear that.  But it is truth.

So be kind to yourself and hold yourself accountable.  Your nice friends won't--they don't want to make you feel bad.  Do for yourself what others can't or won't do.

Just do it.

It's just as hard for me to lose weight as the next guy.  Having to curtail your food intake sucks.  So what?

Having reached my 'advanced' age--I'm not 'that' old--I no longer suffer fools gladly.  And that includes myself.

How long can I go on making excuses?  My days on this earth are limited.  So are yours.

What's it gonna be?  Looking back full of regret?  Or looking back having run the race with patience.

It's totally your decision.  Yours and yours alone.  But you--as I-- will have to live with it.  And don't expect much sympathy in the end if you had opportunity but messed it up because you indulged yourself.

How's that for some tough love?

Another Pound Lost and Sometimes Simple is Best: Strawberries

 Another Pound Lost

Weigh in today revealed--ta da--I've lost another pound, totaling 21.  Nine more to go and I'll hit 30 which I think is where I want to stay put.

How will I maintain?  By doing exactly what I have been doing thus far.  I love my new way of eating.  It makes sense and it fits the way I live.  The foods I eat are foods I really love .  And I never go hungry like I did on Weight Watchers.

Key for me is eating small amounts often.  If you've been struggling, try eating smaller amounts every three hours or so.  Instead of eating 3 times a day, eat 6.  I used to think snacking was a bad habit to get into.  But planned snacks designed to meet your nutritional needs as well as the desires of your appetite are beneficial.

Assign a set amount of calories per meal and per snack.  Don't obsess but do try to stay close to that number.  In a day's time a 5% overage won't do much damage...but 10% might.  

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SOMETIMES SIMPLE IS BEST

Having a sweet tooth I need a fix everyday.  When fruit can fill that need, all the better.

This summer strawberries have been abundant, low cost and flavorful.  Still on sale  here, so I bought some, wondering how they'd taste this late in the season.  (They weren't local, from California.)

Wow.  Sliced with a sprinkle of sugar, they were incredible.  But I wanted to add a little something.  No shortcake on hand, no vanilla ice cream either.  Not in the mood for fat free Cool Whip on them--these days I'm eating my CW with coffee powder and Heath mini's added.

Enter the light sour cream.  Oh my goodness!  Wonderful pairing.  I ate a full cup I'm sure of berries with a tablespoon of light sour cream.  I must say, that  tasted better to me than the other options because the good taste of the berries came through.

Give it a try.  A big serving of wonderful fruit and a decadent tasting dessert, all in one.  What's not to like?

Note:  I let my berries sit on the counter about half an hour to take the chill off--I think the flavor is more prominent when they are warmish.  Sort of  like cheese--most cheeses taste better if they are room temp.

Weightloss Update

Another pound:  gone.  Total loss to date: 19 pounds.

Weight Loss Update and My Favorite Breakfast

Another pound gone for a total of 18 lost.  

As for my favorite breakfast, it is approximately 200 calories and the only 'cooking' is making the coffee.  

It's one ounce of goat cheese (70 calories) crumbled onto a plate, topped with a drizzle of raw honey (25 calories) and two walnut halves(25 calories) broken into pieces, accompanied with two toast rusks (80 calories).

Honestly, I could eat this every morning.  Eventually I'll move onto something else but for now this is my favorite.

Another One Gone

Ten days of vacation with daily eating out and no weight increase.  On the heels of that came the 4th of July with lots of good food.  Again, no weight increase.  With that I was totally pleased. 

And today I'm even more pleased.  I weighed this morning and I've lost another pound. That gives me a total of 17 pounds lost.

I must be doing something right.  Wish I knew what has made the difference.

It's A Miracle

We just returned from 10 days in TX with our children.  Lots of eating went on.  Eating of calorie dense food.

My goal was to not gain any weight.  I wasn't concerned with losing--taking a break for the duration of our trip.

We ate out almost every day and I felt fairly certain I'd likely see a rise on the scale.  I was hoping it would only be a pound or two at most.  But if it were more, it would not surprise me considering.

I was really dreading getting on the scale.  And though my clothes seemed to fit the same, and I was thinking positive I honestly stepped on the scale expecting to see a gain.

Imagine my surprise upon finding I weighed the same as I did before I left home!  What a rare--for me--treat.

I'm pretty sick of food at this point and our first day of eating back home has been very small amounts of light food.  Now I'm ready to get back in the losing mode and see my 16 pound weight loss become 17 pounds.  And then 18 pounds.  So on and so forth.

Weightloss Update

Down 15 pounds.  Yay me.

I feel like I've found the magic bullet.  Of course there is no magic bullet.  But when one struggles to achieve a goal-- falling down, it seems, a million times-- to finally 'walk' feels like a miracle.

The take away is this:

When you try to lose and can't, you have to figure out why and what.  Why aren't you losing.  What is going on?

Our individual bodies are unique.  What works best for one may not work for another.  And different stages of life require different approaches too.

For me eating 'small' several times a day; eating less fat; not restricting any food--instead putting it on the 'eat once in awhile'  list;  eating adequate protein and fiber at mealtime and snack time; those are the strategies that have worked for me.

If you think it is hopeless, that nothing works, don't give up.  Keep trying.  Eventually you will discover what does work and experience your own miracle.

Note:  If you've been dieting for years with little success and much frustration it may be time to take a break from dieting and read the book Intuitive Eating.  Reading that book helped me begin to unravel the lifelong muddle of  lose and regain.

Whoo Hoo: Doing Something Right

I normally don't weigh very often.  But I weighed again today and I've lost enough to qualify as another pound.  (My scale does tenths of a pound but I don't count the loss until there is a full pound down.)

Warning:  rehash ahead...no new information here.  I'm putting this down for myself--in case I look back and wonder how I did this.

I'm eating about 1350 calories of food, moderate amounts of protein, high fiber, low fat albeit good fats, consisting of 3 small meals and as needed, snacks, up to 3 equivalent to about 150 calories each.

The run down:

Breakfast 200 calories
Lunch 300 calories
Supper 400 calories
Up to 3 snacks as needed 150 calories each x 3= 450 calories

Grand total of 1350 calories a day.  Plenty for a woman my height and activity level.  These 6 mini meals keep me fueled and work better for me than 3 bigger meals with no snacks.

The trick here, though, is this:  all my calories must be 'quality' for good health and good nutrition.  There's little room, if any, for error.

Hence the 'eat often' and 'eat once in awhile' food lists.  Using that as my parameters eliminates the feeling of restriction.

Finally--and this may be key as well--avoid eating a lot of sugar, i.e. high glycemic foods.  Any excess calories, no matter what macro-nutrient they be  will be converted and stored in my body as fat.  As well, eating less fat forces my body to burn stored fat, imo.

Daily supplements of nutritional yeast and sea vegetables  for B vitamins and iodine, which is good for the thyroid. Plus plenty of fresh raw veg--spinach, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery and a serving or two of fresh fruit is filling and contains the natural enzymes we all need. Tomato juice or V8 .

To satisfy any craving for processed sweets:  Fiber One bars, high fiber cold cereal plus skim milk plus fruit like blueberries, bananas and strawberries.  100 calorie Hostess cupcakes or WW snack cakes--limited to one per day. For the chocolate craving:  one or two small pieces of dark chocolate.

In my coffee and hot tea:  1% or 2% milk instead of half and half.  Skim milk on my cereal.

Whole wheat pasta and rice instead of the white stuff.  Lots of beans, like garbanzo, pinto, black.

And probably most important of all:  KEEP IT SIMPLE.  Simple foods, simply prepared.  Read Margie's blog --"My Healthy Living..."..link on the sidebar--to see how she does it.

Under My Feet.

The scale moved downward again today, enough so that I can report another pound lost, totaling 12 pounds lost.

I'm very pleased with this progress.  The last time I lost weight--13 pounds total--it took me two years.  It was a real struggle.  Why the weight is moving now I'm not sure.  Maybe it's the B vitamins from the nutritional yeast I consume daily? Or the addition of iodine via the sea vegetables I mix in with my sea salt? Or the reduction of fat overall due to some fat free substitutes?  I doubt it's the fiber though the fiber does help me stay full--it's a real aid to prevent overeating and being satisfied with smaller amounts of food.

Speaking of fiber--yesterday after lunch I got hungry for a snack.  Wanting a low calorie very filling snack and having some coleslaw mix (the bagged kind) on hand gave me the brilliant (not) idea of having some raw cabbage instead of fruit or a Fiber One bar (which I was out of).  I mixed about 2 cups of the slaw mix with some very low fat mayonnaise, a little yogurt, lots of garlic and onion powder, and some salt and pepper--all tossed together.  I must say it tasted really good.  So--take this away--eat cabbage for a mid-
afternoon snack.  It'll fill you up but won't fill you out.

We had taco salad for supper last night and I threw in a handful of slaw mix (unadorned) with my salad--it supplied extra chew and crunch, was way more filling and added very few calories.  Plus, cabbage is a one of those eat often healthy foods.  I omitted the cheese on my taco salad but I swear-- those cabbage shreds did look like shredded Monterrey jack cheese.  It's pretty easy to fool yourself like that especially when your taco salad is loaded up with other stuff--tomatoes, onion, corn, pinto beans, cooked ground turkey, low fat sour cream and low fat dressing.

The past couple of nights I have been hungry when I've gone to bed so I must be eating under my caloric need--which is good and creates that deficit necessary to lose weight.  Most days I eat around 1350 calories give or take.  Last time I dieted (to lose the 13 pounds) I was allowing myself to eat 1600 calories a day.  I really didn't think an additional 250 calorie deficit would make that much difference but evidently it does--coupled with reducing total fat intake by using some fat-free products.  Mind, I do eat some good fat daily but small amounts.  Nut butters, olive oil and avocado are some of my good fat sources, as well as nuts themselves...of late it's walnuts and almond slices, usually eaten in my yogurt and oatmeal.

So, that's all for now.  I hope I can keep this up--the loss part that is.  My way of eating I intend to do 'forever'.  Whether I will continue to lose weight remains to be seen.  Theoretically I should, but real life and theory don't always coincide, do they.

Update

Not much to say here.  Still eating healthy and losing, albeit slowly.  Had some special eating including Mother's Day.  But the scale is going down, down, down, in two tenths increments...I don't count it though until it is a full pound, so I'm still at 11 pounds though I've lost more than 11...should be at 12 soon.

The thing that surprises me most is that the scale is down each time I weigh.  For the past 7 years it was down, then up considerably, then down, then up.  I kept losing the same pound or two over and over never making any progress.  There was no incentive to continue dieting.

My biggest change this time compared to the recent past is lower caloric intake overall, lots of fiber and trading out some foods for fat free foods.  Guessing my body is burning my fat since I'm cutting out some of the fat.  I still eat good fat, but small portions. 

I've learned to like mustard on my sandwiches as much as I like mayonnaise.  I haven't found a reduced or low fat mayo that is worth eating to me, so I go for the mustard.  Today I had a delicious sandwich for lunch--what could be simpler?--of 2 slices of 50 calorie high fiber bread, an ounce and a half of smoked turkey breast, a wedge of LCL cheese, lettuce, a sprinkling of dill weed and a smear of mustard.  All for 200 calories. 

Planning to report 12 pounds lost very soon.

Blah Here

Haven't been in the mood to post anything lately.  I get like that sometimes.  A slump I guess it is.  Have a lot of thoughts, stuff to say, but no interest in organizing my thoughts into a coherent assemblage.  If I could sum them up-- the flotsam and jetsam in my brain-- they'd be this:

• I don't suffer fools gladly
• Quit whinging--everybody's got it or had it bad or will have it bad at some point
• There is no magic weight loss bullet
• Over fat people are people who overeat.  You can bet that 300+ pound man or woman is eating 3000-5000 calories a day--or more.  That is a lot of food.  Oink.
• If you're a preacher and excessively fat, don't preach at me about personal discipline things.  Straighten up your own act before pointing the finger.  I tend to despise those who think they are 'better' when it is obvious they suffer from the same excesses that are common to man. It's fine to speak the truth, but not from a high place that looks down on my shortcomings while you ignore your own
• If I keep fooling myself, I will continue to be a fool or behave foolishly.  Wise up. 
• Quit making excuses.  No one wants to hear it.
• Cut the crap

And on and on I could go.  I'm in a no nonsense mood.  Maybe it's because I'm getting older.  I understand a lot of things now that I didn't before.  And I am getting to the point where I feel I must voice some of my thoughts--the ones that might not sound so nice.  But they need to be said.  Nice is not nice if it promotes error or harm or is indifferent.  I'll try to be diplomatic in what I say, because people do have feelings.

 But I'm even getting a tad tired of the feelings stuff too.  Focusing on how we feel puts us in the dynamic of being a victim. Instead of saying "what you did hurt my feelings"-wah wah-- how about saying 'that was rude'.  To the point, and pretty easy to understand.

Ah well, now I'm rambling.  Time to shut 'er up.

It's been another two weeks of mindful eating and I've lost another pound.  That makes a total of 11.  Think I'll keep on with the changes I've made. They're the closest thing I'll ever find that resembles a magic bullet.  Who knew it'd be eating small amounts of healthy food frequently and the other junk once in awhile?

Another Slow Carb Bowl

 Two weeks have passed and I've lost another pound for a total of 10 pounds.  Doing it eating slow carb foods, fruits and vegs mostly.

Here's another slow carb bowl I had last week.  It tasted delicious.

In a bowl combine:

• one serving cooked whole wheat spiral pasta
• 1/2 cup frozen whole young green beans broken and cooked
• one serving canned salmon
• a few sliced green olives
• diced onion
• salt and pepper to taste

For the dressing mix:

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon green olive juice
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• water to thin
• 2-3 tablespoons plain yogurt

Pour over and toss with bowl ingredients.

Deliciousness in a bowl.

Short and Sweet

Another two weeks has passed and I've lost two more pounds, for a total of 9 pounds. I will continue as I've been doing for these past 8 weeks. The way I am eating now is the way I will continue to eat 'for life'.

The one thing I have taken away recently is that if I want to be a 'little' woman--as in size--I must eat 'little' food.

Funny isn't it. And profound. The amount of food we eat is relative to the amount of weight we carry. Duh.

Whether we reduce our caloric intake by eating less food or eating less caloric food, the result is the same.

And we would do well to remember the Holocaust survivors when we reach a plateau and stall in our weight loss efforts. Those people existed on a tiny amount of food each day. The survivors were all, every one of them, skin and bone when they were released, which proves that starvation and the metabolic starvation mode our body supposedly enters will not stop weight loss if that starvation continues long term.

If I continue to eat little food in time I will be a little person.

One piece of chocolate. One bite of cake. One small portion of lasagna. A hot dog. Once in awhile. These types of foods can be eaten--if they are eaten infrequently and in small amounts.

I have a pretty good idea that all the 'small' people out there practice a lot of self control when they eat. They don't chow down, scarf the whole lot, pig out. They use reserve and self control--which cost nothing. Which require no special diets or programs.

Reserve and self control are functions of the will. And each one of us has a free will and the ability to exercise it as we wish.

Reserve and self control coupled with some brain power--i.e. using the knowledge we possess to make wise food choices that won't spike our blood sugar and insulin and affect our hunger-- are the key to long term success.

If I fail in this effort to become a 'little' person, it is my own fault. Owning that fact is critical. Blaming my failures on my past--the less than perfect childhood, the hardships and hurts-- is just an excuse, a cop out.

Two Weeks Result

My two week goal ended yesterday. The result? I've lost 2 more pounds. In six weeks I've lost a total of 7 pounds. I'm pleased with the result especially because I am not going hungry or having to do any tedious counting of calories or points. I've continued with the same strategies that I stated in  this post .


If you are on a diet or are contemplating going on one be sure to keep it simple.  Design a plan that fits you and the way you live and eat. Most of us revert to our default mode so if we can tweak that and lose weight, we just might stand a chance of losing for the long term.

4 Week Goal Results

On my March 7th post I mentioned I was trying a few things, incorporating them into my daily eating.  Not a diet, because that is something you go on which means you can also go off, but a way of eating day in and day out.  My 4 week trial period was up this past Tuesday--I started the trial long before my March 7th post.

The result:  I lost 5 pounds in 4 weeks.  I did not count calories, nor points.  I did not count carbs either.  I did incorporate the following daily habits:

• one teaspoon of Metamucil 2 times a day--per doctor's orders (for cholesterol, for IBS, and the fiber helps you feel full)
• one tablespoon of flax meal a day
• green vegetables every day
• raw food every day
• 1 or 2 servings of good fat every day, limiting other fats by using some fat free or very low fat products  so that my body will burn my stored fat first
• a serving of beans/legumes every day
• 2 fruits and 3 or more vegetable servings every day
• green tea every day
• eat less animal and more plant--the bulk of my food  was plant.
• eat less processed foods, eat foods in their closest to natural state--the test:  would my great great grandmother recognize this food?  The exceptions were the fat free and low fat products which I will eliminate once I lose my excess fat.

I made a chart and used tic marks to keep up with my habits each day.

While there were no forbidden foods I do try to limit or avoid using any food with fructose, high fructose corn syrup and trans fats/partially hydrogenated oils.  I personally believe these things make us fat, that they are a major contributor to the obesity epidemic we are seeing.

I divided food into two categories.

EAT OFTEN
EAT ONCE IN AWHILE

When I ate food that tasted really good I used my head to prevent eating past no longer being hungry.  Jack LaLannes "if one apple is good you wouldn't eat a hundred" was my mantra.

For portion control I made  a half cup my standard serving size no matter what I was eating.

I'm going to give it two more weeks and see what happens.

Here are the fat free and low fat products I used:  fat free cheese slices on my sandwiches mainly; 1% milk in my coffee instead of half and half ; for a savory snack Laughing Cow Light Cheese wedges; buttery spray and light heart smart buttery spread--it has no trans fats and is a good source of omega 3's.

Aside from my morning coffee I drank water the rest of the day--at meals and in between.

I ate 3 meals and 2 snacks most days.  If I ate an early breakfast and an early lunch I skipped the midmorning snack.

This worked for me.  It may not work for you.  We each are different.  We each must adopt a way of eating that will help us to achieve optimal health.  Critical to long term success,  it is key that it be something we can live with day in and day out.  And a key component for me:  keep it simple--simple plain foods, simply prepared.