Woke up dreading the gym. I like to do my 20 minute shoot-around workout on the days I weigh in. That way I am motivated to do my workout and not skip. Mind move on myself. Plus, I know the coach who weighs me in is always there Thursday morning with the weightlifting. I dreaded getting on the scale because of the whole buffet eating binge last weekend and not a ton of exercising last week. The last time I weighed in I was 157. Today.... 155 (154.9). I just kept looking at it thinking "How is this possible? I should have gained weight." Then the slow realization.... I CAN eat like normal people (including eating out) as long as I pick the right foods, don't get carried away with portion, and exercise at least 3X a week. I also have to swear by the crunches--I never skip them.
I'm not any type of expert on dieting or eating; I have been learning as I go here, but common sense is FREE. Like use the small salad plates at a buffet instead of full size plates they offer and limit yourself to two (without PILING) the food. I have also enjoyed trying all these new foods and recipes. I didn't get to try the baked apple yet and I need to go get some of this butter spray they're talking about, but I can say that you can take a recipe and reduce the calories EASILY after you've started learning the calories and health benefits of certain foods. Like jarred Alfredo Sauce v. Packet Alfredo Sauce made with skim milk (my chicken/spinach lasagna).
I also noticed that I COULD have brown sugar on my oatmeal this morning but if you're going to do that, just eat the apple-cinnamon at 120 calories to start with. Plus, I don't add the milk to my instant oatmeal-- I add berries. I added raspberries this morning and on milk. For lunch I took the "eat 1/2 the soup" approach and it was plenty. I had salad instead of steamed veggies and ate my 12 almonds instead of a smoothie only because I don't have a blender at work. I really want a smoothie though, so I might take my daughter's one cup blender to work with me tomorrow. I traded my 1/2 baked potato for a sweet potato tonight. I did eat my 1/2 candy bar too. Since I still lost my two pounds... and the menu said I could... why not! Yum!
This web site I'm using right now is fairly smart about calories, but I think some of the choices could be healthier. For example, there's a lot of benefit to both almonds and celery. Both are great for your heart. I will post a whole thing on almonds later (Kali) but I've also found the research that talks about the health benefits of almonds for diabetics too. Bananas have a multitude of benefits, and dark honey, dark lettuce, and whole wheat everything. If you're going to have bread.. why not healthy bread? If you're going to eat lettuce... why not healthy lettuce? If you want popcorn... why not try weighwatchers Jolly Time mini-pouches kettlecorn (100 calories for the whole pouch)? Instead of cooking everything with oil.. what about Pam spray? So many easy calorie or healthy choice fixes. I would have to say that I crave fresh fruit and veggies every day now. I would rather eat that then a candybar. Now I still have my weaknesses and enjoy eating other things once in a while, but habits only happen when we KEEP DOING THINGS. Don't stop! If I can lose 12 pounds with minimal, low-impact exercising and better eating habits over a two month period, anyone can do it. It doesn't have to be WOW! she lost 50 pounds! It's more about taking it slow and changing our actual eating and activity habits. The weight loss is just a side perk. When I hit the magic 20 mark.... PARTY! That means... shopping! :) Did I mention my 30 year renunion is in July. Perk, perk, perk.
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