The Secret of My Weight Loss Success
Webfetti.com Friday, April 27, 2007
BREAKFAST: Either an egg fried in Pam assembled into a sandwich of toasted bread and cheese or McDonald's Sausage Burrito (1 or 2 depending on my mood) and sometimes a hash brown. Why? It is early, eat good! Especially proteins that are filling. I have found for me, that cereal or Slim Fast leave me hungry by 9 am with knawing pangs that could potentially drive my to a vending machine or to over eat junk at lunch. Stay full in the morning!!! Several Saturdays a month, I love to go to IHop for the pancake special that is $4.99 or $5.99, comes with pancakes, eggs, meat, hash browns. Cinnamon is good for weight loss, and they have those pancakes now, unless they changed it. I also like the whole grain-nut ones, and pumpkin when they have them. When I eat this breakfast, I literally am not hungry until 2 pm, and guess what? It will fuel all of your Saturday shopping errands, you will burn it off! Also, COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE!
LUNCH: McDonald's Chicken Ranch Salad, w/grilled chicken & French Dressing! Maybe Subway, a deli sized sandwich somedays. Very rare, fast food, but always the kid's meal. Sometimes I go home and eat Sante Fe Rice and Beans with a big scoop of cottage cheese, any frozen brand, they are all good, or, Brocoli and Potatoes with a big scoop of cottage cheese! mmm, so good, it's my warm comfort food and there is hardly any fat or calories!! Or, lunch in on Ramen Noodles in the cup w/veggies or the cheap square pack, but I would break in half and put in a coffee cup w half the chicken powder (too salty!) I probably go to Mc Donalds though about 4 times a week, and now, they have a Southwest Salad that just rocks! Also, DQ's grilled chicken sandwich, AppleBee's Confetti Chicken, and McDonald's Grilled chicken are other lunch faves. Also whole wheat pita with turkey, low fat swiss lorraine cheese, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber slices, grape tomatoes, and ranch or miracle whip.
IN-BETWEENS: Keeping your blood sugar at a consistant level is so important! If I can't eat about 5 - 6 times a day, I will binge like a maniac. So I like Trail Mix in a single serving bag from the vending machine, dry roasted peanuts, peanut butter & milk, baby carrots, yogurt, MCDonald's yogurt parfait (I do a lot of McDonald's & their COFFEE!!) and Dark Chocolate Dove bars - dark chocolate will help you lose weight! (2010 add ons: strawberries, blueberries, tuna, brocoli, tomatoes, apples, oranges, cucumbers, watermelon, oatmeal, green tea bags in your water bottle!)
ALWAYS: Like clockwork, at 12 noon, I have a One-A-Day Weight Smart vitamin and water. This provides the much needed chromium, and B-vitamins that will battle cortisol related stress belly fat, and provides a plethora of other essential vitamins and minerals. DO NOT MISS YOUR VITAMIN, I'm serious!
DINNER: Not too restricted on dinner, I usually eat what Pat leaves me, but the key is PORTION CONTROL! Have pizza, but savor 1 or 2 slices, add hot red pepper to boost your metabolism. Don't be like I used to be -- thinking about my 3rd and 4th piece of pizza while racing through pieces 1 & 2!! If you go slow, it is filling, and it is satisfying. It's all about new behavior. Ideally, I do try for a protein and a vegetable if I can.
BEHAVIOR: Do not miss breakfast! Do eat in betweens that are protein, dairy, fruit, or veg. Do eat a strategic lunch - focus on protein & veg. Enjoy a portion controlled dinner. Stop eating after 6 pm! Avoid sugar & fat....for me this was good-bye brownie & fudge frosting, bakery cake corner pieces with big flower-frosting, donuts, cookies, candy of all sorts, whole bags of chips, french fries, rolls, excessive breads, you get the picture. These things cannot be part of your normal diet....you are eating to live, not to entertain yourself like you are at a party everyday! But, you also can't deny yourself these things. You will find when you focus on healthy eating and dodge these culprits, that by the time you do have them, a little is enough because you will not be used to big surges of sugar, fat, salt, etc, it will make you ill to eat. If I have one McDonald's chocolate chip cookie, I become a drama queen, I enjoy it so much and eat it so slow, but it's enough. I used to make chocolate chip cookies and could not control myself and scarf down 12 in no time. Which brings me to another rule: eat when you are hungry, it's ok. If you are not hungry, you do not need it. If you get too hungry, you will need a food exercist to control the ravenous demon!!
DO: Read Star Magazine - learn about fashion, be inspired by actresses in their 40's, 50's and 60's who are beautiful! You can be too! You already are! Keep your hair trendy and trimmed, feel modern and alive! Buy racey clothes along the way, feel fun and daring! It's about getting a whole new mindset, a "you" loving mindset, and being the best you that you can be at every stage of the journey and knowing that you are unique and special!
GOTO: Richard Simmon's website, I love him so much! He speaks to me, and I have written to him and canned letter or not, his replies sure seem personal. He is great! (In Sept 2007 he actually had me on his Sirus radio program due to a letter I wrote to him when I first started this diet! What a thrill! I was hoping he'd fly me out to Cali, no such luck! Lol!)
DO: Surround yourself with positive people, no one who makes your stress level rise, you do not need to be driven to emotional eating or grow a cortisol belly. Find people who really make you laugh and who you can genuinely hug! Find people who are easy to talk to, and who are both interesting to you and interested in you!
DO: Find something to do beyond your normal activities, that you enjoy, don't view as punishment, look forward to, and can stick to. I have severe back problems and cannot get in the cardio that I need, so I do stretches, legs routines, and I dance to Michael Jackson several nights a week. It's fun, I feel the blood pumping, and I go back for more! I now have very toned legs, so you don't have to be a neurotic aerobics freak to get great results. My stuff is only 10 - 30 minutes a day tops!
DO NOT: Sit on a couch all day, go out, go anywhere, and get away from the fridge!
DO: Get the proper sleep! It's essential to losing weight and also to looking young!
DO: Take great care of your face, skin, nails, and hair. Everyone of those things takes a regemine that can be fun to do and also keeps you out of the food! My biggest hair secret is changing shampoos and conditioners, I never use the same thing for very long. I alternate from clarifying to moisturizing or repair formulas. Color is always an issue I have to stay on top of, too. But then it can be fun because a new color can mean all new make up! I usually try to rinse conditioner in cold or cooler water to get a high gloss shine! Sounds petty? Not at all! These things keep you busy, keep you out of food, and good care focuses attention to all these other spots and away from any problem spots while you are loosing weight. You are a total package!
Aromatherapy...stock up on tantilizing candles, burn them often! Also air freshners, and your fave perfume! I love Rasberry and Apple Cinnamon in air freshners and candles! My fave perfume is Pheromone, it's just exhillarating to me! Bath and Body Lotions are wonderful, I love Rasberry, Cucumber/Watermelon, and a few others. Why does this help? A smell you enjoy will put you in a happy & positive frame of mind, and you will be less likely to eat out of anxiety, because, you will be promoting peacefulness.
Clothing...never ever wear tight clothes when you are on a diet, save form fitting clothes for when you are where you want to be. This is not to hide yourself, rather, to create a feeling that things are loose on you! When I was fluffy, I remember how discouraging tight clothes were to my attitude, they were a constant reminder that nothing fit. I wore some things far past their fitting point after I began to lose, and that motivated me because I knew those clothes were now loose! Plus, if you carry abdominal girth like I did, tight clothes flat out hurt! That is not good for your aorta, either. I rewarded myself with the most awesome clothes, shoes, purses, accessories, coats, and jackets every step of the way! I had a total blast!
Did I mention the vitamin? I know I did, but I can't stress it enough, get a bottle of One-a-Day Weight Smart vitamins, and do it NOW!
Going out to eat? Immediately when your food comes, get a box and halve your portion. You can eat it later on at home, or give it to a family member, but do not eat it all at one sitting because it will bloat you, and you need to maintain a stomach that you are trying to shrink and adjust to portion control. And guess what, you will be amazed that half the food is really filling, after you eat it slowly. Have water with a lime wedge with your dinner, I don't know why, but it helps.
A big motivator for me: go tanning! You will enhance your relaxation level from those sessions, and afterward you will want water, a salad, fruit, all things good and lite! Plus you will look healthy with a nice glow, and that will pick up your momentum of becoming even more positive about yourself. For some reason, you will look thinner too...tan legs look thinner than pastey white legs! I even think the heat burns some fat cells! (I know tanning beds get a bad rap, so do at your own discretion, I'm just telling you what I do and why it is helpful, and ultimately that out weighs the risks for me.)
Speaking of legs, shave your legs exactly this way: use Dove soap, a good ladies razor like Venus, then while your legs are still kind of wet, apply Bath & Body lotion....I love Rasberry or Cuc - Melon! Smooth, sleek, tan legs make you feel lighter, sexy, and just darn nice! And your husband will go insane over how smooth they are!!! Then, accent them with wedge flip-flops or trendy Mudd heels, play it up! Be the best you can be! This may sound nit-picky, but it is the aggregate of many positive actions that will change who you are inside, thus making you more conscious of being good to yourself by not abusing your body with too much food!
07/08/2010 What are the chances, 3 years later I revisit this theme and spend another few hours writing an update and FB goes offline and all is lost! One thing I wanted to add was information I read in Aug 2010 Prevention Magazine, there were so many pages that reminded me of what I had written in 2007 that I had to go to My Space and copy my blog, post it here, and then give this addendum. The articles I read really validated what I came to learn on my own that worked, and now points me back to the best things to do as I need to get back to work again!
From page 46: It only takes a night of sleep deprivation to increase levels of ghrelin (the hormone that triggers hunger) and decrease levels of leptin (which supresses hunger.) As a result, your body thinks you're starving, which spikes cravings for high-fat and high calorie foods. This is SO true! I found it out first hand when I worked a family-unfriendly schedule in Chicago. I loved it there, but I can say a single person could do this better than a person with responsibilities to a lot of other people in that the single person could manage their time better for themselves. I got up at 4 am, commuted 4 hours a day, and if I was lucky, got to bed by midnight. By Nov 2008 that started taking a toll on me after 4 months at that point, my weight started creeping up, exercising diminished from sheer exhaustion, and I ate like a maniac all over Chicago!! Cinnabon, Food Life, Macy's Deli, Ditka's, Lowery's Prime Rib, California Pizza, Chinese, Mexican, candy from the pharmacy, candy from Macy's, candy from the train station, carmel corn from Nuts on Clark, OMG why didn't someone stop me?! I didn't manage this life changing event well, and I think a large part was not just the sleep deprivation but some other hard to handle things that were going on at the same time. The aggregate of it marked the beginning of losing the great habits I had developed over the previous 2 1/2 years.
Page 45 agrees with my narrative above where I tell you why I valued eggs! Prevention states you will experience a reduction in calories eaten all day after an egg-and-toast breakfast. This is also SO true, I was living proof! And keep it real! They say do egg whites, but I always used the whole egg, sorry, I love the yolk, not giving it up! And judging by getting to a size 2, I was proof I could eat egg yolks! HA! Anyhow, they have those great EB eggs now, and those are the kind I buy and will start my day with, everyday, once again!
Page 39 talks about a lady's success going from 282 lbs to 141 lbs, and one of the things she did was "halve her portions!" I'm not surprised, because I know it works! I clearly remember that when I got used to smaller portions, that was all I could eat! When your stomach shrinks, it hurts to eat big portions, and you truly do not want them anymore!
Page 5 extolled the values of finding an exercise you love so it does not feel like a chore! Also mentioned not depriving yourself, and that over time, after you eat good foods by the time you do indulge in a bad food, your taste buds won't tolerate them well. Yup, I said the same above!
Finally, page 37 pointed out the value of eating proteins, and specifically suggested peanut butter. I used peanut butter as a late night snack to kill hunger after teaching college classes back in 2006, I taught 3 nights a week, 6 to 10 pm and didn't get home until 10:30 pm or later, and did not want to blow it by eating a bunch of stuff late at night. Then I went on to keep peanut butter at my desk as a necessary staple after I lost a lot of weight, anytime I got hungry and it wasn't meal time, I ate a spoonful to quiet my complaining stomach down!
So, finally, lob on several more tough situations and losses, and I began losing battles. I haven't lost the war, though, because I didn't gain all that weight back, but I am not very happy with the amount I did gain. Reading these things has renewed my resolve to get back to a size 2, I was very happy there! And it was really not as hard as it sounds, it is all in your head. I will add to this from time to time to let anyone who is interested know how it's working out again, how fast my progress is, etc. Anyone who wants or needs help or support should contact me, I will be so happy to help you! I will talk to you by phone, by email, by chat to talk about these strategies, or meet you anywhere to go for a walk, you got a friend! Why do I want to help you? Because actually, you will really be helping me too! :-)
Exercises I really want to try to get into: Yoga, learning all the This Is It choreography!, water aerobics, running & walking circuits, kick boxing, weight lifting, my old leg routine, my old stretch rountine, extreme ab workouts, video fitness game, and use my pilates DVD w weight balls, bands, and exercise ball.
In closing, this is not about a diet, it is about a new way of life!
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