MyWeightLossForLife.com

Archive for August, 2007

I thought I’d bring back the monthly habit posts here. For one thing, I think a lot of my recent weight loss success has been due to creating (and maintaining) a no-seconds habit.

As I mentioned in that earlier post, I haven’t had much luck building the exercise habit lately. So, in September my goal is to exercise every day, even if it’s just for 10 minutes or so. The idea is to build the habit, not get carried away with long exercise times.

Here are the “rules” I’m setting for myself.

1. Exercise can be pretty much any physical activity, as long as it’s either something I usually don’t do, or more than I usually do. I’m going to try to stick with walking and strength-training, but I won’t rule out a long shopping trip on the weekends.
2. I’m setting 10 minutes as the minimum exercise time daily.
3. My goal is to exercise every day, but I’ll consider six days a week a success.

I’m sure I don’t have to mention the benefits of exercise or the fact that it can help speed weight loss. If you’re like me, you know why you should; it’s just difficult getting motivated to do it.

If you’d like to participate, then post your own goals below. I’ll keep you updated throughout the month.

I wanted to post my weight loss update.  In three months, I’ve lost fifteen pounds. That’s a healthy rate of weight loss.

What’s working

1. I still think the most beneficial change has been giving up second helpings. Since working on that habit, I rarely go back for seconds, and I’m sure it’s saving me hundreds of calories a week. If you only do one thing to take off weight, I’d suggest that this be it.
2. We eat a lot less junk food. Since my husband was diagnosed with diabetes, I just don’t buy much junk food. Other than sugar-free candies, we don’t eat sweets either.
3. My husband has to follow a low-carb diet, which means that almost all our meals are low-carb. I haven’t been following the diet strictly, so I can’t say that the weight loss is due to that. I try to eat healthy in general, but I do eat some of the things that low-carb diets restrict (fruit, bread, potatoes, etc.).

What could be better

1. Exercise! I just haven’t been able to stick with an exercise schedule lately. I do try to be active on the weekends, even if it’s lots of shopping! This is somewhere I need to improve!
2. I’m managing to avoid the vending machines on most days. I’m tempted to hit the vending machines in the afternoons for those treats that we don’t keep at home any more. I’m not doing as well with this as I’d like — I’d like to not treat myself at all!

How is your weight loss going? What works well for you? Post your comments here.

Building habits Lifehack has a good article with tips on building habits. This is one you’ll want to check out.

Weight Loss is all in your Head. This article talks about how your mental state affects weight loss.

Over the last few days, we’ve eaten out almost exclusively. That’s enough to wreak havoc for any dieter, especially one who’s watching carbs. Here are a few tips we used to get through it.

Eat from the salad bar. You can easily fill up on vegetables and watch both carbs and calories. Be careful how much cheese, dressing, etc. you add to your salad; those are the real diet breakers.

Choose unbreaded food. Breading is bad for low-carbers and dieters in general. It adds a lot of calories by itself. Since breaded items are almost always fried, it’s even worse.

Choose breakfast. A vegatble omelet is a good choice for any meal. Many restaurants serve breakfast all day. Avoid the fried meats and potatoes, and choose a more healthy side instead.

Avoid sauces and gravies. Foods that are heavily sauced are usually a bad choice. The sauces are often high in sugar and calories, and a bad idea all around. If you must have it, ask for it on the side.

Work in some exercise. If at all possible, take some short walks. This will help you feel more rested when traveling, and it will burn a few calories.

We were out of town, so I haven’t posted in a few days. My cousin isn’t expected to live, and we went to see her and her family.

I’m back, and I’ll try to get some posts up soon. Thanks for being patient!

Everyone has experienced a plateau when losing weight. No matter what you do, not a single pound will come off. I’d like you to change the way you think about plateaus. Not only are they not necessarily a bad thing, weight loss plateaus can actually be a good thing.I’m speaking from my own weight loss experience, and I’d be curious to know if you’ve experienced something similar.

I tend to lose weight in bursts, not steadily. For example, I’ve recently lost 8 pounds, but that hasn’t been spread evenly over the last two months. I lost five or six pounds pretty quickly, and then the remainder over the next month. For the last three weeks, I’ve been stuck. I know how frustrating it can be to do everything “right” and still not see any results. There are more positive ways to look at the situation.

First of all, you’re not gaining.

If you’re anything like me, it’s not uncommon to lose weight and see it immediately come back on. At least when you hit a plateau, that isn’t happening.

A plateau can help reset your “normal” weight.

I’m speaking strictly from personal experience, but I think that plateaus are your body’s way of resetting your setpoint. That is, your body learns to recognize a new, lower weight, as normal. Have you noticed that when you gain weight, you tend to quickly bounce right back to where you were when you started? Why is that? I think it’s simply that your body is used to being that weight. If you can get your body accustomed to a new, lower weight, then that’s definitely a positive, don’t you think?

Positive attitude and actions

If you focus on not losing weight, then you’re likely to just increase your level of frustration, which in turn ups your chances for failure. Instead, focus on the positive things the plateau can do for your body. Given time and continued persistence, you’ll break through the plateau and keep on losing.

I thought you all might like to know how I’ve been doing on the weight loss. In the last two months, I’ve lost 8 pounds. That’s not a terribly speedy weight loss, but perfectly acceptable. However, I haven’t been doing so well on the exercise (sigh).

Anyone want to update how your weight loss is coming?

We’ve been having trouble find a lot of low-carb foods locally, so we’ve started ordering online. If you haven’t already found them, Netrition is a great place to find unusual foods that may be tough to find where you live. Although we buy low-carb foods, they offer a wide range of products.

Even better, they ship quickly and charge only 4.95, regardless of your order size.

I’ve made these twice, with great success. I can’t even tell they’re low-carb.

Beat two eggs in a mixing bowl with three tablespoons of oil and 1 1/2 cups cream thinned with water. I like to do mine about half cream and half water, until it’s the consistency of whole milk. Add carb quick to that until it’s the thickness of pancake batter. If you want to add flavoring (vanilla or almond would be good), now is the time.

Fry pancakes in a hot, greased skillet. I wouldn’t recommend skipping the oil; these tend to stick a bit. When they’re golden brown, poke the center to make sure they’re done. Serve with butter and syrup. We like Walden Farms.

These pancakes come out nice and fluffy, just like my regular ones. Enjoy!

When was the last time you bought something new to wear?

Did you wear makeup today?

Did you do your hair?

Did you take any time for yourself today?

Of course, I’m speaking from a woman’s perspective, but I think men are guilty of this as well, even if not to the same extent. Sometimes I tend to put off doing things for myself, like buying clothes or makeup, until I’ve lost weight.

Why on earth do we do that?

Make a resolution today, right now, to do something nice for yourself. Do you need some new clothes? When was the last time you got a haircut? Take the time to look your best now; there’s no need to wait to look good. You’ll find that you feel a lot better about yourself when you do.

Yes, I’m taking my own advice. I did some shopping this weekend.