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Becky J
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| Posted: Sept 22 2010 at 10:01am | IP Logged
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I decided to take a look back at the "rules for dieting" I came up with in April and see what rules I would propose now. In reading over what I wrote then, I noticed -- to my pleasant surprise -- that I have managed to lose about 13 lbs. in the past 5 months. That's not a great rate of weight loss, but something nonetheless. And I was told twice last week, by people who hadn't seen me in those intervening months, that I was looking good. So I'm feeling more hopeful these days about my weight loss prospects!
What I have been finding is that I lose the weight in fits and starts, meaning that if I'm faithful about writing down what I eat and tracking Weight Watchers Points (even if I don't stay perfectly within my daily Points allotment), I manage to lose weight. If I stop tracking Points, my weight loss stalls. So I would say that if there is any one thing that makes a difference for me, it is writing down what I eat and aiming for a particular Points target (even if I exceed it).
A few months ago, a friend recommended that I read Dr. Judith Beck's "Beck Diet Solution". This is a very good book that forces one to be brutally honest about bad habits that can sabotage one's weight loss efforts. Beck doesn't propose a specific diet but, as a cognitive-behavioral therapist, she walks dieters through a 42-day plan to get over sabotaging habits and follow any diet more effectively. I haven't been good about working through each of Beck's steps day by day, but I do find a lot of her advice to be very sensible. Here's a sample of it:
* Stop worrying about wasting food. Look at it this way: the food will get wasted one way or the other -- either in the trash or on your body! Isn't it better for the sake of your weight loss efforts that the food be wasted in the trash?
* Break yourself of the habit of eating while standing up. When you eat standing up, you tend to put little things in your mouth here and little things in your mouth there. It's hard to keep track of those things, but they can really "add up" Points-wise or calorie-wise.
* Seek progress, not perfection. If you eat something you shouldn't, move forwards and get back on your diet right away. Don't fall into the trap of thinking "Now I might as well blow the rest of the day and start my diet again tomorrow."
* You have to stop thinking of weight loss as something that can happen quickly or can be sustained without effort. You may have to accept the fact that if you want your body to stay at a certain (low) weight, it may take awhile to get your body there, and you may always have to be careful and conscientious about what you eat.
* You have to make time to diet and, especially, to plan ahead what you are going to eat each day. You have to get over the idea that you can decide what to eat "on the spur of the moment" based on what you feel like eating or whatever is sitting around.
* If you are someone who hates or fears the feeling of hunger, you are going to have to learn to tolerate hunger.
* You have to get over the idea that it's not fair that you can't eat however you want to eat and still be a certain weight.
* It takes 20 minutes for your body to realize it's had enough to eat. What that means is, eat the moderate portions of food you'd planned out to eat. If you're still hungry afterward, don't immediately try to fill up with more food. Rather, wait 20 minutes and see if you're still hungry after those 20 minutes are up. (I find it hard to have that kind of patience, especially when I feel like I'm squeezing in meals between other tasks, but when I have tried to do this, I have found that Beck is right: often, I am no longer hungry once those 20 minutes are up.)
And here are some weight loss rules or changes in mindset I've worked out for myself:
* Really, I can eat anything -- absolutely anything -- if I do so in a reasonable enough portion. It does seem weird to split things in halves or quarters that don't come that way. But getting over that sense of weirdness, or the desire to be gluttonous, may be what it takes to be able to have my cake and eat it, too, from a dieting perspective.
* I like being in denial about how fattening some foods really are -- e.g., slices of cake, frozen meals (even Lean Cuisines!), a scoop of ice cream. But I can't be in denial if I want to get a handle on what I'm really eating and if I'm eating too much of fattening foods to lose weight.
* Easing into one's diet may be acceptable. For instance, in following Weight Watchers, it is a good day for me if I can at least write down everything I eat and track Points, even if I exceed my Points range. Being mindful of every last thing one puts into one's mouth is more than half the weight loss battle, I think.
* I don't like Beck's idea of completely preplanning meals. But I think it may be sufficient to at least preplan how many Points or calories one will eat at each snack or meal. When I do that, I can stagger my Points allotment throughout the day. If I don't do that, I find myself blowing through half of my Points allotment at breakfast!
* I need to work on saving treats for Sunday. Not that I want to plan on spending all of Sunday pigging out. But maybe if I save my biggest weakness for Sunday (in my case, this is Frappucino-type coffee drinks), I would do both my waistline and my budget a favor!
* Eat fattening foods only if they are worthwhile. For instance, we have store-bought sandwich cookies in the house for my daughter to have in her school lunch. I tasted one, didn't care for it much, certainly didn't think it was worth 2 Points or 4 Points or whatever it would "cost" me to eat it. So I might as well not waste any Points on eating those cookies. And if they go stale before the kids can eat them up, then so be it. I have to remember: they will go to waste somewhere. Better wasted in the trash than in my body, sabotaging my weight loss efforts.
* Here's a list of foods I've found really helpful in terms of trying to restrict my consumption of fattening things and enhance my consumption of healthy things:
Pre-sliced apples
Baby carrots
Freeze-dried fruit (Trader Joe's in one place that sells this. It's not cheap, but I think it's money well spent if you're the kind of person who has a hard time using up fresh produce before it spoils.)
Minute Maid Fruit Falls juice packets
Honest Tea iced tea
Nestle Fat-Free Hot Cocoa Mix
Mini ice-cream drumsticks
Single servings of ice cream
Single servings of peanut butter
** Even a whole "single serving" of ice cream or peanut butter may be too fattening to eat in its entirety (e.g., the peanut butter ones are 6 Points), but at least it's a lot easier to exercise portion control with these single servings than with a regular container, since ice cream and peanut butter are foods hard to measure.
McDonald's now sells mini McFlurries and Dairy Queen now sells mini Blizzards.
I was able to get a mini coffee drink at a chain we have in California. This happened by accident: I asked for the smallest size and was asked if I wanted the child size. I said yes. So I got to have a coffee drink, but in a very reasonable portion. I wonder if Starbucks would let me get by with this. 
Please share the weight loss rules that have been working for you of late!
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Willa
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| Posted: Sept 22 2010 at 10:13am | IP Logged
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Great post.
I too find that writing down food intake makes a big difference on how I do.
My other big helps (for maintenance, now, which is very difficult for me):
--combining my high-fat favorite foods with vegetables (for example, if I want lasagna I make a big bowl of vegetables and put some lasagna on top for flavor), or if it's a sweet thing I am craving, having a half or quarter portion along with fruit or a drink or something.
--exercising daily even if it's wimp-level exercise, just to keep up the habit of physical activity.
--frozen vegetables can be very useful for that trouble of fresh produce spoiling. You can find fun mixed vegetables in the frozen aisles. They're easy to prepare and mix with almost anything in the fridge.
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Willa
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DominaCaeli
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| Posted: Sept 22 2010 at 6:49pm | IP Logged
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I really like your rules, Becky--many of them are ones I follow as well:
Becky J wrote:
| * Stop worrying about wasting food. Look at it this way: the food will get wasted one way or the other -- either in the trash or on your body! Isn't it better for the sake of your weight loss efforts that the food be wasted in the trash? |
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Totally true! I'm glad to have my children that are little garbage disposals and will very often finish what I shouldn't--that eases the guilt of "wasting food" around here.
Becky J wrote:
| * Seek progress, not perfection. If you eat something you shouldn't, move forwards and get back on your diet right away. Don't fall into the trap of thinking "Now I might as well blow the rest of the day and start my diet again tomorrow." |
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I will often have a "bad morning" (hot bread comes out of the oven and I have an extra slice or two, I'm craving chocolate and have a cup of cocoa after my pre-planned breakfast, etc.). On those days it's easy to say "Oh well, that's that!" But I have found that I can usually make up the calories by being ruthless with myself the rest of the day, and without much extra effort in the end.
I am a comfort eater, but I heard something during a sermon a few months ago that really struck me: at the end of the day, temporary comforts that briefly provide solace but require you to give up your self-control will only make you feel worse. Definitely true for me. I do feel better after an extra slice of pie on a hard day...but only for a few moments. An hour later, I still feel the stresses of that "bad day" and also feel the guilt of my lack of self-control. So I treat overcoming those temptations as an opportunity to turn my day around, a chance not to let vice gain a foothold. And I feel victorious when I resist.
I've also found that it's nice to give myself an "easy day" once in a while. Since I'm still in weight-loss mode, I eat about 500 calories under my basal caloric needs. Now and then, I'll take a day off of dieting and just eat my full basal amount. It is a relief to have a break here and there, and it keeps me from over-indulging on other days.
Becky J wrote:
| * You have to make time to diet and, especially, to plan ahead what you are going to eat each day. You have to get over the idea that you can decide what to eat "on the spur of the moment" based on what you feel like eating or whatever is sitting around. |
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I pre-plan most of my meals and I find it very helpful. I have a list of potential meals/snacks that I enjoy, along with the calorie count for each. I reference this list often.
Becky J wrote:
| * Really, I can eat anything -- absolutely anything -- if I do so in a reasonable enough portion. It does seem weird to split things in halves or quarters that don't come that way. But getting over that sense of weirdness, or the desire to be gluttonous, may be what it takes to be able to have my cake and eat it, too, from a dieting perspective. |
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I do indeed eat anything I want. This is a real relief! We bought a cheesecake for my birthday last year and I ate one slice a day for a week to finish it--and continued to lose weight. It's all about fitting it into my daily calorie limits. (For me, cheesecake is definitely "worth it"! )
I really liked the list of foods you provided that have helped you stay on track. Here are some of mine:
tea, iced tea, coffee (I now see beverages as a snack in themselves, rather than something that goes with a snack. Great low-cal snacks!)
yogurt (whole-fat yogurt is almost as creamy as ice cream and makes a great dessert)
polenta (plain polenta is SUPER low cal)
olive tapenade (1T mixed in my polenta and I have a big lunch for under 200 cal)
salad (dressed with just vinegar or lemon juice and salt = almost calorie-free)
fresh fruits and vegetables
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Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: Sept 23 2010 at 8:20am | IP Logged
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Great post, Becky! There is lots to think about there - I especially need the idea of not wasting calories on something that isn't really all that yummy anyway. Also, I find that if I eat a balanced meal, I don't get hungry for junk. Or when I do get hungry it isn't junk that I'm craving. So, for me, not starting with the junk is what keeps me away from it. Also, the whole thing with *wasting calories* by using up your allotment on junk -- if by eating junk, I don't have enough calories or points left over for good, nourishing food, I don't feel well and *can't eat* the good stuff because then I'm over-eating according to plan. So, again, I just need not to start down that junk path.
I really appreciate your weight loss posts - they are good common sense reminders and very encouraging. Thanks.
Peace,
Nancy
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hmbress
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| Posted: Sept 24 2010 at 5:13am | IP Logged
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You may find Overeaters Anonymous to be a good source of support - I have (maintaining 50 lb weight loss for 5-1/2 years now)!
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: Sept 24 2010 at 5:52am | IP Logged
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Wow... I needed to read this right now.
So much to consider...
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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mamaslearning
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| Posted: Feb 19 2011 at 10:34am | IP Logged
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Becky J wrote:
| * If you are someone who hates or fears the feeling of hunger, you are going to have to learn to tolerate hunger. |
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YES!! During my pregnancy, hunger fueled my anxiety and panic. Now, I can see that I am still feeding my hunger out of fear of panic. I have to learn that being hungry (slight hunger, not gone-all-day-long-without-food hunger) is okay. I am okay, I am not going to faint or die. It's just my body telling me something and I need to evaluate what is going on right now.
Thanks for this great post. I'll have to look up her book.
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kristinannie
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| Posted: Feb 19 2011 at 11:58am | IP Logged
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Thanks so much for sharing. It is a great post!
My biggest trouble lately is finding healthy lunch options. I am so tired of salad, sandwiches and homemade bean burritos. I know they are the right calorie range, but I am so over it! Can anyone suggest healthier lunch options? It has to be easy to prepare since lunch time is hectic in our house!
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JodieLyn
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Kristinannie, often I find it's not the item "sanwiches" for instance that is so boring.. it's that I keep making the same variety. If I've been using lettuce and plain bread.. then a small roll or two with sprouts instead of lettuce will make it much nicer.. or a pita bread with the salad in it (it's good) sorta making my salad a sandwich. Changing up the cheese, meats.. chicken salad instead of sliced ham.. whatever..
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-Sir Walter Scott
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kristinannie
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JodieLyn wrote:
| Kristinannie, often I find it's not the item "sanwiches" for instance that is so boring.. it's that I keep making the same variety. If I've been using lettuce and plain bread.. then a small roll or two with sprouts instead of lettuce will make it much nicer.. or a pita bread with the salad in it (it's good) sorta making my salad a sandwich. Changing up the cheese, meats.. chicken salad instead of sliced ham.. whatever.. |
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Thanks for the advice. I think you are right. It is always chicken or turkey on wheat bread. I definitely need to change that up!
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4Real Forums : Our Lady of Good Remedy and Care
Topic: Weight loss rules revisited
