This caught my eye because I am on my first 'diet' ever. I put diet in quotes because I am not really counting anything or avoiding any particular food. Here is my version of a 'diet':
-I eat what have always eaten at each meal/snack (same foods), but try to eat somewhat less than what I typically eat. I try to decide this before the meal. ("I am going to eat only two pieces of chicken instead of three, and first I am going to eat the rest of the steamed broccoli. Then I can have some whole wheat couscous. No seconds tonight.")
-I eat pretty much all whole grains: bread, pasta, rice, etc. and make sure I get at least 3 servings of vegetables per day.
-I eat my high fiber/high protein cereal every morning with fruit and low fat yogurt.
-I drink nothing but water. This is easy because I don't like soda, and there are things I'd rather have other than juice, etc.
-There is no ice cream in the house, nor potato chips, or most other processed snack foods. (There is chocolate, pita chips, low fat whole grain pretzels, a variet of granola bars, fruit, etc.) I occasionally bake cookies, which is very dangerous. I stopped baking fruit crisps because I had no willpower around the darn things. (I eat the fresh farmer's market fruit instead)
-I am getting used to feeling vaguely hungry periodically throughout the day. (Like right now, although I was at a barbecue an hour ago and ate a hamburger, potatochips, various salads, and two small brownies. Ack! How on Earth can I still be hungry????) It's like a challenge: can I handle this hungry feeling, or do I really need to eat something? Can I drink some water, wait 10 minutes, and eat if I am still hungry then?
-I try to go to bed earlier so that I won't be awake when my stomach empties from dinner and suddenly I feel the need to eat something else.
-When I decide I need to eat something, I have certain "Go To" foods on hand that I can eat without derailing everything, things like cut up carrots/cucumbers w/hummus, and a certain granola bar with chocolate coating that is really filling and also hits my chocolate craving. Oh, and apples are nice and filling.
-I've stopped mindlessly eating off my children's plates after they finish eating and leave 'good stuff' behind.
-Similarly, I ask, "Is this really worth it?" for every 'decadent' food I encounter. Like if there are store bought cookies served somewhere, well, I already know what they taste like and they aren't that great, so I'm going to pass on them and eat something I really enjoy when I get home, like a buttery grilled cheese sandwich. MMmmmmm <--that just popped in my head! I would share it with my kids to reduce the amount I ate of the sandwich, too.
-York Peppermint Patties. I eat at least one to three of these almost every day. The strong peppermint/chocolate taste makes it feel like I am eating something much larger. I take really small bites and try to make them last.
-I do high impact dance aerobics 3x per week (probably good for burning about 450 calories/hour) This is the same as I have always done, maybe I go a little more often now.
-I haven't noticed a change in my milk supply. DD is 2 and eats really well, so I decided to not worry about it and give food reduction a try.
-I weigh myself once a week, first thing in the morning.
I've lost almost 10 pounds in the past 3-4 weeks, and this is literally the first time I have ever consciously tried to lost weight. Sometimes I feel sad because I really love food and love to eat, but also I want to be in good health, look healthy, and have my clothes fit properly. I also want to prove to myself that I do in fact have some ability to self-regulate and be a better example to my kids.
Hmmmm. Must decide whether I really need to eat right now or not.... going to try the water trick first.
Hmm, easier said than done. At least for dinner last night I resisted stuffing myself full. I'm heading out for a walk now to burn off these pancakes! Today I'll check out those books and websites too.
. Nice job!!!
