Blob Blog

I’m giving up actively dieting for now.  I don’t ever really give up.  I’m always thinking about it or what I’m going to try next, but for now I’ve got too much other going on.

My diet has totally fallen apart.  It started the day before my birthday almost a month ago.  I had some time to myself and indulged with treat food relaxing in front of the TV.  Then was my birthday and a special treat my mother made.  Then a birthday/Valentine’s day dinner.  Then was Valentine’s day and you can’t not eat the treats your hubby and kids give you.  Then just a little laziness getting back to the diet and maybe a delayed trip to the grocery store so a lack of fresh fruits or veggies.  Then someone has a cold and you have to take of them, then you’re sick a day and all of a sudden the diet has disappeared and it is so hard to get motivated again.  ACK!!

I’d still like to diet and loose weight, but it is so not easy.

I am really discouraged, but do not want to give up. 

What I expected to be a day or two off the diet turned out to be a week because of my birthday and Valentine’s Day and laziness.  And it is hard to get back to how well I was doing before.

I am still struggling tremendously with drinking enough water.

I am still struggling with dinners.  I’ve been trying to have at least some commonality run between my on-a-diet meal, my husband’s “normal” meal and the boys’ kid friendly meal.  Like tacos – my husband eats tacos, the kids eat tortillas with beans and melted cheese and I eat taco salad.  Or Pizza, the boys eat cheese pizza, my husband eats cheese pizza and an Italian sausage, I eat an Italian sausage and baked tomatoes and zucchini sprinkled with Italian spices.  I need more variety of ideas.

I need more variety of soups.  And I need to remember to get them out of the freezer prior to lunch time.

I need to find healthier, nutrient rich meat/protein sources.  I’ve been eating deli meats and they have lots of sodium and nitrates.

I’ve been doing fairly well with fruits, but I need to do more veggies.
I rediscovered a wonderful website (NutritionData) that offers a plethora of good information and diet change suggestions.  Fruit is generally good for overall health and nutrition, but mostly sugar (natural sugar, but still sugar).

I switched yogurt brands to a lower calorie one.  And they claim to use a sweetner that is better.  I haven’t yet researched that claim.

I probably need to eat less, but still want to eat frequently.

I need to exercise, but that is another story.

My plan was to put on leg weights before we walked Davy to school and take them off when we got back from picking him up.  This hasn’t worked well at all.  Often we don’t get dressed before time to go to school and we are usually rushed and there is general chaos.  To complicate matters, the boys have decided the weights are good toys, so I’ve had to put them out of sight.  Out of sight, out of mind for the boys, but also for me. 

Water consumption is still struggle.  I have good days and bad days.  More good days probable, but the bad days tend to be in a row as opposed to spread out.

Couple other things I’ve figured…

Put a water bottle by the computer.  I spend probably more time at the computer than any other single waking place, so why not have a water bottle there.  (P.S. Water bottle with a lid.)

Time slots - I’ve discovered with both trying to get enough water and not drink too much tea to break up the day.  I try to have 1/3 of my water drunk by noon, another 1/3 by supper and the last 1/3 before bed.  As for tea, I get one cup with breakfast and another between 3:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon.  This time in the afternoon seems to be stressful for me so I find myself looking forward to relaxing and enjoying my treasured cup of tea then and am willing to wait for it.

Breaking the day into time slot orientated goals make sense.  After all we break our months into weeks and our weeks into days.

I have alluded to it, but I haven’t actually said what I’m doing to watch my diet.  So here it is…

Eliminated:  Grains.  No bread, cereal, rice or pasta
Purpose:  To cut back on carbohydrates.
Exceptions:  Up to one serving of Trisket crackers per day and occasional bowl of Grape Nuts Cereal.  Both whole grains with lots of fiber.

Eliminated:  Most Dairy.  Especially Cheeses.
Purpose:  Cut back on fat and calories.
Exceptions:  Approximately 8 oz of my yogurt blend and milk, a splash in my tea and maybe an 8 oz cup.

Eliminated:  White condiments.  No blue cheese dressing, no mayonnaise, no ranch dip and no sour cream.

Eliminated:  Dessert/Sugar Treats.  No cookies, candy or cakes.
Exception:  Maybe, maybe, maybe one cookie or small piece of chocolate per day so I don’t feel too deprived.  (If I do indulge, I eat very slowly savoring every bite.)

Eliminated:  Juice & pop.
Emphasizing:  Water, water, water.  My goal is to work my way up to 64-96 oz/day.
Exceptions:  Up to 8 oz of milk.  I do also drink 2 cups of tea a day.  I know the tea is not good for me nutritionally, but in is good for me emotionally, so it is staying!

Emphasizing:  Fruits & Vegetables.  Lots of variety.  Mostly fresh, but not limited to fresh.

Emphasizing:  Nuts & Seed

Emphasizing:  Meat protein sources - eggs, fish, chicken, and turkey.

Eliminated:  Sauces and casseroles.  No hamburger helper or cream of… dishes.
Emphasizing:  Make from scratch.  For instance,  I made chicken fajitas the other night from scratch.  I didn’t use a tortilla or add cheese, but it was easy for the others in my family to.

Emphasizing:  Broth based or bean/lentil and/or vegetable soups.

Important Strategy:  Eat small quantities frequently.  Absolutely no more than 4 hours between meals/snacks during waking hours.  Ideally eating a little something every 2-3 hours.

I think that about covers it for starters.

Do you have the problem where things that are suppose to be good for you just don’t taste good?  I eat yogurt a lot for breakfast and I just can not learn to like plain, no fat yogurt.  I wish I could.  I have learned to compromise.  I buy low fat vanilla and organic no fat plain and mix them together.  Honestly, the taste is fine.  I notice very little difference from the straight vanilla yogurt.  My glass in half empty of the not-so-good-for-you stuff and half full of the better-for-you stuff.

I do this a lot when feeding my kids too.  I mix regular organic applesauce with organic unsweetened applesauce.  I mix honeynut cheerios with plain cheerios.

It may actually be only half a goal, but a dozen half ways are a long way.  I’m pleased.

Most people when they diet are weight loose goal orientated.  My thought is that I be time orientated.  Say, “I will diet in this way for 4 weeks.”  Time is a concrete, finite goal.  You reach four weeks whether you want to or not, reaching a weight loose goal is not guaranteed.  The trick is that the time and diet need to be enough to see some results.  Hopefully by then, you’ll be motivated by success to continue.  The longer it is continued maybe the more it’ll become habit.

Okay, I’m not really following my own advice on this one.  I guess I’m looking forward to not worrying about the diet for Valentine’s dinner with my husband.  One other thing is that I would be so proud to establish this diet permanently.  It is not just a weight lose diet, it is a healthy diet.  I also know that diet by itself is not an effective weight lose tool.  I have to exercise too.  I haven’t really started that so until I do… 

Last week I started something new.  I strapped weight to my ankles.  I think they are 5 lbs. each.  I’ll put them on before we walk Davy to school and keep them on until after we pick him up.  This’ll be 3 ½ to 4 hours 4 days a week.

In my mind this serves 2-3 purposes.  The extra weight means burning more calories to drag it around.  Maybe I can build some leg muscles lifting it.  And, when I take them off I can feel what a relief it is to have lost 10 lbs and keep motivated to keep on my diet.

One psychological diet trick is to use smaller plates.  They look full and it makes it seem like your getting more than you are.  I’m trying to remember to use smaller plates.