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Slow and Steady

Old 07-20-2011, 05:32 AM
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Default Slow and Steady

Hi all,

I am so excited that I found this site. It is amazing and just the tool I have been looking for. I am looking forward to getting to know you all and be a source of support for anyone who needs it.

This is the first of many entries I will be making. These entries are more for my own cathartic process than for seeking advice or feedback from anyone (although any feedback is always welcome.) The reason I am choosing to post to a public forum like this is to keep myself accountable.

Yesterday I decided it was finally time to STOP "dieting" and change my lifestyle. In the past I have jumped into this diet or that diet with both feet only to feel discouraged and burned out after only a few weeks. This has ALWAYS led to my gaining back all of the weight I had lost plus 10,15,20 or more pounds on top of it! Lately, I spent some time really reflecting on what goes wrong and this is what I came up with:

1. I LOVE food!! All food, veggies, burgers, whole grains, pizza, lean meats and fish, anything out of the hotbox at the gas station....
2. I don't have the time or the desire to make 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 2 dinners every day (one for my family and another, often less appealing, one for me.)
3. I eat FAST! I've got places to go and people to see
4. Work, school, kids, husband, commute, homework, sports(for the kids): It's hard to find time to exercise.
5. Additionally, It's really hard to make time for boring exercise.
6. Last and most important: The way that I eat and live my life is KILLING me. This is no longer a matter of vanity for me. I have gained 130 pounds in the last ten years and I am starting to see the impact that it is having on my health.

Luckily I have seen the light and am beginning today to change my entire lifestyle and the lifestyle of my family. I will be incorporating changes slowly and steadily so I do not shock my family's system or cause a mutiny in my house.

My goals for this week are:
1. set a bedtime for myself- I am used to staying up until midnight and getting up at 5:30. This means I am usually too tired in the morning to pack a lunch or eat breakfast. It also means that I spend most of my morning downing coffee and energy drinks.
2. Eat breakfast!
3. Take my vitamins- I recently had some bloodwork done that indicated that I was low in many nutrients.
4. Journal my food and activity EVERY DAY
5. Start thinking about meal planning differently- In our house we always plans our dinners a week in advance. Our dinner ideas have always been centered around a main protein or starch dish with veggies either an afterthought or forgotten all together. Starting this week, I will plan our meals around a featured veggie, make it the largest portion and serve a lean protein on the side.

This is my beginning. Good luck to everyone on their journey as well
ChubbyBunny28 is offline  
Old 07-20-2011, 07:52 AM
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Just a couple comments on your post.

First, if you enjoy your food, stop eating fast. Stop and take time to eat your food slowly. Enjoy your food. Many people suggest doing nothing but eating when when you are eating - no computer, no TV, no driving. I have trouble with that one, but am working on it.

Second, I have found over the years that when I don't get enough sleep I am hungrier and will eat more. It may be the same with you. Make sure you get enough sleep and try to replace some of the coffee and energy drinks with water.

Exercise. Find a way to do it. Watch your favorite show or listen to your favorite songs when you do it to make it better. If you are up at 5:30, do you have time to get something in before the rest of the family gets up? Its a great way to start the day if you can do it. Also, you will go to sleep quicker and sleep better with exercise.

Finally, it is pretty easy to eat a good, quick breakfast. I keep oatmeal and raisins in my desk at work. Or you can make healthy muffins and keep them in the freezer and warm them in the microwave. Or keep yogurt available. Even a baggie with breakfast cereal can work in a pinch.

These are all just my opinions based on my experience. Good luck. It sounds like you are doing a lot of self-examination and coming up with some good ideas. Keep that up, and keep your spirits up and you will succeed.
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Old 07-20-2011, 08:07 AM
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Welcome, ChubbyBunny, looking forward to getting to know you. rmdaly gave you some good thoughts; I have one more to add, which is to keep in mind that you don't need to make second meals. In the first place, it helps your family to be healthier too, so if you can get them away from really unhealthy stuff, so much the better (yes, this is slow and will be met with grumbling at first, but be creative and give it some thought and you'll do fine). I've "lightened up" a bunch of recipes that are our old standbys and found some new ones, too.

Second, you can make small changes for your food without doing a whole different meal. For example, the last time we had Mexican, I just had the meat in a taco salad instead of in taco shells or burritos like my family did. In fact, they were using a low-carb, high fiber burritos; they like them just fine and what I did was to bake one in the oven till crunchy, then crumble it on the lettuce, salsa, meat, cheese, etc. Often I'll make extra brown rice and heat that up on the days I make mashed potatoes for them. I'll put extra veggies in pasta sauce and make my plate more sauce, fewer noodles, but I don't do a whole separate meal. I can say from experience that if it's too much trouble, or if you're going to sit there feeling deprived, you won't stick with it. It takes some trial and error, but if you need suggestions or help, just holler!
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Old 07-20-2011, 08:19 AM
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There are no foods that are off limits necessarily in a weight loss diet, just some foods are more 'expensive' than others calorie wise. You have a certain budget of calories to use every day, spend them wisely and well and you will be able to eat a lot of food that tastes good. If you choose a more 'expensive' item that just means that you will have fewer calories to spend on the rest of the day. I find eating a lot of fruits and vegetables to give me a way to eat a huge amount of food and avoid too much hunger while still staying under my calorie 'budget'.

You can also use positive affirmations to help you. Here's two videos I found that are helpful:
‪Affirmations for weight loss - I love fruit and vegetables‬‏ - YouTube
‪Affirmations for weight loss YES I CAN‬‏ - YouTube
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Old 07-20-2011, 10:01 AM
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Hi there and welcome. As you can see from the other posts there is a wealth of advice on this site and great people who will share it with you. I am taking the slow and (reasonably) steady route too. Logging my foods really helps as does posting. I agree that you can still enjoy some of your favourites but in a different way, for me Friday night was pizza night but now I only have 1/2 of a small one with a large green salad on the side. I also cut it into tiny slices and eat each one slowly and it works. Overall my diet has improved a lot with much more fruit, veg, fibre and way less fat, now if only I could cut out more carbs and wine !!
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