Tip: Watch your food environment

“The food environment is overriding all the biological cues,” said Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale, who blames what he calls a “toxic food environment” for the prevalence of obesity. He added, “Biological safeguards against weight gain are being disabled, almost like someone went in and changed all the wiring.”

For full article, read “People offered snacks will eat them, whether hungry or not.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/health/nutrition/08eat.html?_r=2&ref=health

Sure, I read all that information and more, yet I soiled my own food environment, and the results almost devastated me. If you’ve been following my blog, you know my weight loss slowed down to a halt lately. I kept telling myself not to get discouraged; plateaus are common for those who want to lose weight.

What I didn’t do was examine absolutely everything that had changed. I hadn’t been honest with myself, and now I will be honest with myself and my readers: I changed my food environment. It happened subtly. First, I felt great about losing more than fifty pounds. I loved my new look and my new clothes. I felt a great accomplishment, and then ever so quietly, a whisper in my ear was saying, “You did so well, you deserve to have a little fun. Take a break. You earned it.”

While at a big-box store, I saw a bag (big, of course) of pistachios. What has TV been saying about pistachios? Lowest in fat of all the nuts. What have nutritionists been saying? Eat more nuts; people who eat nuts live longer. Nuts have good fats in them that we need. Bingo! I put the bag of pistachios in my shopping cart and strolled farther down the aisle. Hm. Dark-chocolate-covered almonds. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. “Almonds are another nut that’s good for you. Dark chocolate is good for you,” I told myself. “You can have those. You’ve done so well; you’ve earned them,” the devil on my shoulder said. The container (huge, of course) of chocolate-covered almonds made its way into my cart. By then I’m amazed I didn’t buy my real downfall: popcorn. It’s the one food I love above all else, with plenty of butter and salt, of course. At least I bypassed the popcorn and left the store with only two shopping errors, but they were major.

For a normal person a bag of pistachios and container of chocolate-covered almonds would have been fine, but I’m not a normal person. In seven days, I’d eaten every pistachio in the bag. I took to eating five to ten chocolate-covered almonds after a meal, as well. Now you know the truth about my “plateau.” It had nothing to do with normal weight-loss programs and everything to do with my food environment and inability to resist treats that I made available to myself. To make matters worse, once in the mindset that a few chocolate-covered almonds are okay, I saw myself taking larger portions of food than I needed, too. Something had to stop, and finally, it did. Why? Because I actually gained weight. Duh. Surprise? My weight went up three pounds, and I heard myself shout, “No!”

A psychiatrist friend once told me she gets her patients to stop negative thinking by yelling “Stop!” Saying it out loud makes clients hear themselves and recast their thinking in a more positive way. My yelling “No!” from my bathroom scale made me hear myself clearly. I could not let my potentially harmful behavior continue.

Back on the bandwagon I jumped, back to proper food portions, back to salads and no second helpings of anything. Ever. The pistachios are gone, eaten, digested, and the shells thrown away. I can’t undo what I did. The remaining chocolate-covered almonds, however, I put into a cabinet, out of sight, in a place that’s not easy to reach. I need to slow myself down before I eat, think, and be conscious of what enters my mouth. Again. That’s what I’m doing.

Because of my fall from the wagon, I have still not met my goal of weighing 190, which I had hoped to meet by New Year’s Eve. I reset that mini goal several times, but guess what: I’m going to make it, now. I have only one more pound to go, and I’ll be there, and then I’ll set another mini goal, and another and another, until I reach my overall goal.

On the bright side, I easily lost the three pounds I’d gained, once I climbed back aboard the food-plan wagon. I changed my food environment and left nothing to tempt me. It’s amazing how I could so easily justify my wrong food choices in so many ways. I can’t let that happen again.

Starting weight: 245
Weight last check-in: 191
Weight this week: 191
Total pounds lost: 54
Goal weight: 150

Tip: Remember the Reason for the Food Plan

This past week I had a blast decorating T-shirts for a musician who likes to wear unique shirts on stage. I used to date the guy—Rickey Godfrey—years ago, and although he’s married now, we have remained good friends for almost thirty years. When we dated back in the 1980s and 1990s, I made him a few unique shirts that he’s never forgotten, so recently, when he asked for more, my creative juices started flowing again. I pulled out my old fabric paints, some of them twenty or more years old, and tested them. It came as no surprise that most were dried out and useless. Off to a hobby shop to find new paints! Wow! The colors are more copious now and priced better than they used to be. I also grabbed some unusual brushes and applicators. Loaded with my new finds, I drove home and went to work on a few shirts I’d garnered from a thrift shop at a good price. No sense in buying new shirts, in case I messed them up, right? I’d have to wash the shirts before I painted them, anyway, so why not buy them pre-washed, as long as they were in good condition?

The first shirt I decorated fit me perfectly. Uh-oh; that meant it would be too small for Rickey. Guess I’ll have to keep it. I checked the sizes on the next few, to make sure at least four would fit him, and then I dived into the process, loving every minute of it. Most of the decorations took several hours of drying between layers of paint, so I had shirts spread all over the house, on tables, on counters, and even on the floor. All around me lay examples of my creative efforts, and it felt good. When I finished, I took photos of all the shirts, before I packed the four to send to Rickey. I hope he likes them as much as I do. I told his wife to send them back to me, if she or he doesn’t like them. I’ll find them a good home, I’m sure.

It’s good to take time off from my regularly scheduled life to do something that frees me and sends me in a new direction. For a while I took art classes, simply to have something to do that didn’t have anything to do with writing and editing. I spend most of my time writing and editing, and I feared I could burn out. I burned out on painting, however, and haven’t touched brush to canvas in a couple of years.

Maybe T-shirts will be my new outlet for a while. If I can just think of a place where I could market them…

Back to the subject at hand, my food plan. It was time for a reality check. My weight loss had slowed to a crawl (and sometimes a halt), but I still had more than forty pounds to lose to reach my goal. I used all sorts of things to comfort myself and remind myself that weight loss should be slow, if we want it to be permanent and that weight loss slows down after you’ve lost the first pounds (in my case more than fifty of them). All that information is true; however, I haven’t been as diligent about my portion sizes and selections, and I feel guilty when anyone compliments me on my weight loss, because I still have so far to go. What conflict!

Yes, it’s time I admit to myself that I can’t eat a big handful of pistachio nuts, several nights in a row, without having negative consequences when I step on the scale. I’ve slacked off and fallen back into my old habit of eating too much, eating when I’m not hungry, and eating higher-calorie foods at times. As long as I’m facing reality, I admit I’ve worked out less, too.

It’s human nature to slack off after an accomplishment, and losing more than fifty pounds is a huge accomplishment. The problem, however, is that I have forty more to lose, and with my body shape and type, I can’t ever slack off for long. Those pounds leap out of thin air and attach themselves to my waist, hips, stomach, and butt, if I don’t watch out. They’re lurking around every corner, waiting for me to drop my guard, and drop my guard I have. It’s a wonder I haven’t actually gained weight, to tell the truth.

I probably haven’t gained weight because I’m still doing my best to make one meal a day a salad, and that action alone has counteracted my relaxed eating habits at other meals. I have had to rededicate myself several times over the past seven months, and today I rededicate myself again. It’s so darned hard to stay motivated for the length of time it takes to lose almost one hundred pounds, which is what I’ve needed to lose to reach a healthy weight.

On the bright side, despite all my slipping, cheating, and overeating, I have lost another pound. I have reset my mini goal of reaching 190 several times, and I’m determined to meet it this time, by March 15.

Now I simply have to remember why I went on this food plan to begin with. I absolutely must remember the pain I felt when I walked up or down stairs. The volume of medicine I had to take to lower my blood pressure and cholesterol. I must remember how I saw Jabba the Hut sitting on the side of my bed, only to discover it was my reflection in the mirror. I have to look at the nifty, pretty, medium-sized blouses I’m wearing now, instead of the size 22-24 I had to wear before. I have to remember what fun it is to buy clothes in regular stores and not have to look for plus sizes. I have to remember what fun it is to breathe and tie my shoes at the same time. Yes, I used to have to hold my breath, because all my fat squished my lungs into stillness when I bent over. I swear I will remember these things the next time I have the urge to eat more than my body needs.

Starting weight: 245

Weight last check-in: 192

Weight today: 191

Total pounds lost: 54

Goal weight: 150

Mini goal: 190 by March 15

Tip: An Apple a Day Is Not a Cliché

A grapefruit almost the size of a dinner plate?

Lately I’ve encountered an overwhelming urge to eat more fruit, an urge I can indulge myself in. I no longer crave cookies, cakes, pies, and candy, even though I do eat a piece of chocolate now and then, but nowhere near the volume of sugar-laden desserts I used to eat. Fruit has natural sugars that satisfy my taste buds, and fruit is also loaded with nutrients and fiber. I say “yes” to fruit, and I enjoy exploring all the fruitful possibilities.

A few weeks ago I bought something called a pomello. I’d never seen the fruit before. It looked like overinflated grapefruit, perhaps a cross between a grapefruit and a basketball. I took pictures of it, because I wanted to show how large it was. When I cut it open, the sections were uneven, sloppy, more unpredictable than a grapefruit. I suspected it might taste like grapefruit, but I had no idea it would taste so deliciously sweet. Eating half a pomello was like eating a whole grapefruit sprinkled with sugar, but I didn’t add any sweetener. Delicious! Pomello, it turns out, is a forerunner to the grapefruit, rather than a hybrid, and it’s popular in other countries, but only recently imported into America.

Perhaps because I could not eat grapefruit all the years I was on cholesterol-lowering statins, I’ve had a craving for grapefruit. My cholesterol is once again within recommended levels, so I’ve stopped taking statins and started eating grapefruit (and grapefruit-related fruit) again and loving it.

Is juice as good as fruit? Not usually. I read on the WebMD.com site that apple juice is overloaded with sugar and should be avoided, although apples themselves are a perfect snack.

In general eating the fruit is almost always better for you than drinking the juice from the fruit, because the juice eliminates the vital fiber, plus you’re likely to drink more juice than a single fruit would have, so it would be like eating several apples or several oranges, adding calories to your intake without adding fiber. The one juice that is actually better than the fruit is red grape juice, because it is made from the whole grape, skins, seeds and all, giving you more antioxidants than you’d get from eating the fruit without eating the seeds.

Orange wedges offer even more benefits, not only for the fiber, nutrients, and vitamin C of oranges, but also because eating a few orange wedges curbs my hunger. I love to eat slices of orange for a midday snack.

I have also fallen in love with lime. I order it instead of lemon with my water in restaurants, even though not all restaurants have limes. I also buy limes in quantity and use them in several ways. Primarily I use limes to extend my salad dressings. Lower-fat salad dressings are usually lower in flavor yet higher in cost and often higher in sugar than high-fat dressings. Some of those “low-fat” dressings are simply diluted with water, yet the price can be higher for less of the pure product. My favorite dressing is regular high-fat honey mustard dressing. I measure two tablespoons for my salad and then squeeze half a lime onto the salad. I pull out the pulp and add it to the salad as well. The lime juice expands the liquid of the salad dressing, so it covers all the greens, and it enhances the flavor of the salad. I love biting into a bit of the tart/sweet lime pulp amid my greens, carrots, and avocado.

I squeeze lime juice on my steamed broccoli, too, and it’s yummy. No butter or salt necessary.

My only problem with fruit is that it must be eaten relatively quickly, or it spoils, but apples tend to be the exception. They keep a long time in my refrigerator, so it’s easy to keep a few apples on hand for that snack attack, so I won’t attack something more fattening.

At my weigh-in yesterday I hadn’t lost any weight this week, but I’m still on track to meet my mini goal by the end of February, so I’m not worried. I especially love the feel of my muscles and body these days, now that I’m working out more diligently and more often. Yes, underneath all this fat is a truly buff Bobbie!

Starting weight: 245
Weight last week: 193
Goal weight for this week: 192
Actual weight this week: 193
Total pounds lost: 53
Goal weight: 150
Mini goal: 190 by February 28

Tip: Know Good Oils; Use No Bad Oils

Christmas has come and gone, now, and at a time when the average person gains weight, I lost two pounds. Such losses call for severe discipline over the holidays, when calorie-laden bring-a-dish parties and buffets multiply and cookies, cakes, and candies abound. Even I fell prey to a dish of pretzels sprinkled with peppermint chips and coated in white chocolate. My so-called friends, Roger and Cheryl, were real friends, until they brought those bedeviling pretzels into my house on Christmas Day, along with brownies and cheese chunks. I put out a buffet for my friends and relatives, and some bring food to add to the larder. As a result, all day long, my guests (twenty or more of them) ate turkey, ham, dressing, squash casserole, potato salad, cole slaw, deviled eggs, chopped chicken liver, sliced tomatoes with basil and mozzarella cheese, carrot salad, artichoke-heart dip, and spinach pie. I prayed the guests would also eat all the desserts, as well, including those peppermint-chip, white-chocolate-coated pretzel slices. I don’t even like pretzels, but add chocolate, and I scarf them down. Add peppermint, and they’re singing my name. After the main meal, I also set out a giant éclair, a pear-glazed cake, fudge, and brownies, and as a result, perhaps, not many people sampled those special pretzels. Please, please let them be gone when everyone leaves, I begged silently.

Meanwhile, I stayed aware of my food choices, and while I probably overate a little, I didn’t stuff myself, and I avoided every one of the mouth-watering desserts, but those pretzels—those darned pretzels—begged me to taste them. I took a small chip, and the cycle began. I know for a fact that eating sugar makes me want more sugar, and sure enough, soon I found myself walking by the plate and taking one more little chip, and then a bigger piece, and then a whole pretzel, and the dance lasted for two days. Thankfully the quantity in the original bag was small to begin with, and I stretched out my treats, one piece at a time, maybe once every couple of hours, but by the day after Christmas, I knew I had to stop, and I did. Today I haven’t had any, even though many pretzel chips still remain on the plate, quietly calling to me.

My rule at Christmas is “no gifts.” We’re all old enough to buy whatever we want or need or want, so I’ve relieved everyone of the gift-exchange burden to create a guilt-free, stress-free Christmas. Nevertheless, my cousins Bryan and Michael brought me a hostess gift and denied it was a Christmas gift, and it was a bottle of exotic olive oil. I cannot wait to taste it! Olive oil is one of the few oils that are actually good for you, and I use it often, whenever I cook. It makes a great dip for bread instead of butter or margarine, as well, although I’ve been limiting my bread intake lately.

What about oils? Which ones are okay, when you’re trying to lose weight? I rarely click on ads on the Internet, but one caught my eye, a promise to explain some of the “diet” foods that could actually make us gain weight. I had to listen to a long, long promotional advertisement to get to the good information the ad promised, but in the end it was worth it. It promotes a series of e-books created by a nutritionist who touts eating fat-burning, rather than fat-storing foods, and guess which foods she says turn into sugar in our bodies that our bodies then store as fat. Yep, exactly the foods I’ve been avoiding on my food plan: pasta, bread, white rice, hydrogenated oils, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup, but she added one I hadn’t considered: Canola oil.

I recall all the hype in the 1970s about Canola oil and all its healthy benefits. It supposedly was high in omega-3, which was good for us. My, how information changes once you look into it. Turns out Canola oil is cheap, which is why so many processed-food manufacturers embraced it.

Here’s the whole scoop. Canola oil is made from genetically modified rapeseed plants. Rape oil is used as a lubricant, fuel, soap, and synthetic rubber base, and even to brighten colors in magazines. It is an industrial oil, not a food. Rape oil, when consumed, can cause emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, and blindness. Obviously rapeseed oil is great for lamps and as a mosquito repellant, but products from rapeseed were not fit for human consumption until someone in Canada genetically modified the plant. In addition to the genetic modification, the process of making Canola oil involves a combination of high-temperature mechanical pressing and solvent extract, usually using hexane. Even after considerable refining, traces of the solvent remain. Like most vegetable oils, Canola oil also is bleached, degummed, deodorized, and refined at very high temperatures, a process that can alter the good omega-3 content in the oil and in certain conditions make the trans fat level as high as 40 percent. I also read that many products that claim they include olive oil, such as some mayonnaise manufacturers claim, actually contain mostly Canola oil and only a trace of or no olive oil.

By the way, the reason Canola is capitalized is that rape oil wasn’t exactly pleasing to consumers, so someone came up with the term Canola to refer to the oil originally created in Canada; basically Canada oil.

Olive oil, on the other hand, while expensive, is a natural juice that preserves the taste, aroma, vitamins, and properties of the olive fruit. Olive oil is the only vegetable oil that can be consumed as it is, freshly pressed from the fruit, without all the processing required of Canola and other oils. Studies have shown that olive oil offers protection against heart disease by controlling LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels while raising HDL (the "good" cholesterol) levels. No other naturally produced oil has as large an amount of monounsaturated fats as olive oil. Whereas Canola can potentially cause problems for some people who use it, olive oil has a beneficial effect on ulcers and gastritis. Olive oil even activates the secretion of bile and pancreatic hormones much more naturally than prescribed drugs, so it lowers the incidence of gallstone formation.

An important component of the healthy Mediterranean Diet, olive oil, it seems to me, should be one of the few oils that someone trying to stay healthy should use. Other healthy oils include butter (yes, real butter, not the fake, processed stuff called margarine) and coconut oil. Other oily foods that are fine to eat on a healthy food plan include raw nuts, avocado, and even eggs. All yummy stuff. Nothing manufactured or genetically altered and renamed to avoid negative marketing implications.

Okay, so how did I do after cooking (and tasting) for two and a half days and then enduring a gluttonous Christmas Day? Not bad at all. I lost two pounds this week. Hooray for me!

Starting weight: 245
Weight last week: 198
Goal weight for this week: 197
Actual weight this week: 196
Total pounds lost: 49
Goal weight for next week: 195
Goal weight: 150

Bobbie's in One-derland!

A few days ago a friend I haven’t talked to in a while asked me a question no one dared to ask me six months ago, before I started my food plan. “What’s your current weight?” she asked.

I glumly responded, “I’ve been at a plateau for four weeks. I’m stuck at two hundred.”

“Wait till you reach Wonderland,” I thought she said.

I didn’t respond at first, and then it hit me what she actually said: “Wait till you reach One-derland.”

Oh, how clever! I’ll have to use that in my blog, if I ever do reach One-derland. I had started to doubt it, after four weeks of staying the same.

Plateaus are common in weight-loss programs. The body reaches a stage where it thinks it’s starving, and it calls out all its forces to hold onto the fat it still has stored. We who want to lose weight can’t let those plateaus bother us, though. We must keep pursuing our weight-loss goals and stay on track. Most failed dieters gave up when they saw the scale not moving for a while, but when we give up, the scale starts moving up. When we give up, we lapse into old habits. We add a little more food to our plates (remember, the body thinks it’s starving, even though the mirror proves it’s not so). We may say we’ll get back on the plan tomorrow or we come up with some other excuse, and soon the weight adds up.

I held to my belief that the plateau of 200 pounds was temporary, even as the days and weeks passed, and even yesterday, my weight still held at 200. I’ve said I would report my progress every Monday, but yesterday I took a friend in for oral surgery and then took her to my house so she would not be alone while she recovered from the anesthetic. As a result I never had time to write a blog entry yesterday. Somewhere in the back of my passive-aggressive mind, I was thinking that maybe if I waited one more day, that dial on the scale would finally go down a notch. I knew it was tottering on the edge, slightly less than 200, but not a full pound less, yet.

It worked! This morning I entered One-derland! The scale finally read 199. I decided that I created this blog, created my own food plan, and made my own promise to write at least once a week, so I am in control of everything related to my food plan and blog. I gave myself permission to fudge (Whoops! Maybe I should use a less-fattening word!) and report my weight today, Tuesday, instead of yesterday, when today is such a milestone day. I’m in One-derland! Hooray!

Oh, before I end this blog entry, let me tell you a tale that could have ended in dining disaster. Sunday I made a big dessert to take to a friend’s party. Outside, a light snow was falling, but I didn’t let it concern me. It was melting when it hit the streets, so I didn’t worry about it. Note that I live in Georgia, where we have no ability to clear the streets of snow, so I’m a wuss about driving in ice and snow. In addition, I live at a higher elevation than almost all my friends, so the weather in my area tends to be a little harsher than the weather at lower elevations. Nevertheless, I felt eager to see my friends, many of whom had been following my blog and congratulating me on my weight loss, so I got dressed and ready to go. I put the dessert in the car, and only then did I notice the snow had started sticking to my driveway.

Yikes! I have the world’s steepest driveway, and when it ices over, there’s no traveling up or down it safely. Dare I leave the house to attend a party for a few hours, knowing that while I was gone my driveway, and indeed my whole county, might become impassable? Would I enjoy the party, knowing that I might have trouble getting home? Is any party worth risking life and limb, not to mention automobile?

Reluctantly I decided not to leave, not to join my friends, and I called the host with my apologies. Thankfully he had made a fruit salad, so the partiers didn’t suffer for dessert. I would have loved that fruit salad too, I’m sure.

Next problem: what should I do with my giant éclair dessert? If I kept it, I would be tempted to chow down on it, and the recipe serves twenty people—or one very hungry, overweight person! The solution hit me while I walked the dog through the snow flurries. My next-door-neighbor works in a busy veterinarian’s office. She could take the dessert to work the next day and serve it to coworkers and clients, and I wouldn’t be tempted any longer. When I offered it to her, she gladly accepted, and I felt five pounds lighter, simply getting it out of my house and in her hands.

Disaster averted!

Okay, on another subject, now that I’m at 199 on December 14, I may have to re-evaluate my mini goal, although I won’t change it just yet. A while back I set a mini goal of weighing 200 by New Year’s Eve, but I hit 200 earlier than I expected, so I reset the mini goal to weigh 195 by New Year’s Eve. Immediately after setting my new mini goal, I waltzed into a four-week plateau wherein I didn’t lose a single pound. Now, finally, I’ve seen a breakthrough to 199, but I have only two and a half weeks until New Year’s, so I may not meet my mini goal of 195 by then. Instead, I’ll rest on my laurels for having met my first mini goal so much earlier than expected. See? I make all the rules, so I can change them whenever I feel like it! Who can challenge me?

Starting weight: 245

Weight last week: 200
Goal weight for this week: 199
Actual weight this week: 199
Total pounds lost: 46
Goal weight for next week: 198
Goal weight: 150

Mini goal: 195 by New Year’s Eve (former mini goal of weighing 200 by New Year’s Eve was met early, so I set a new mini goal, also subject to change, now!)

Tip: At a Plateau? Change Something!

Weight Watchers recently announced its new points system, and guess what it considers freebies, no points at all toward your daily “eating” score: non-starchy vegetables. Yup, exactly what I’ve been eating, mostly.

Confession time: I haven’t been perfect. Once I hit 200, I celebrated and felt great about myself. That milestone meant I had lost forty-five pounds. Maybe I’ve been patting myself on the back too much, though. I’ve gotten a little lax on the eating thing. That is, I’ve eaten more than four ounces of protein at dinnertime several times in the past couple of weeks. Yesterday, I had a little—just a little, but still, probably calorie-laden—hot chocolate. I added a little hot cocoa to a cup of spiced chai tea, the day before, on the recommendation of a reader, and in this cold weather it warmed me up and tasted terrific. I strongly believe that sugar begets sugar, though. Once I eat a little sugar, I feel okay about eating a little more sugar, and then, if I don’t watch out, I will crave it. The sugar stops here, then. No more for me.

My overdosing on protein and nipping a little hot chocolate here and there resulted in another week without a full pound lost. Yes, there was a little movement downward on the scale dial. Perhaps I lost a quarter of a pound or so, but I report only the whole pounds, so as far as this blog is concerned, I again lost nothing this week, for the third week in a row.

What’s a person on a weight-loss plateau to do? Research, that’s what.

I read a bunch of conflicting information from other Web sites and resources. Some said that when you hit a plateau, just wait it out. Others said it’s time for a change (so you aren’t following the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results). The concept of change hits home for me. I evaluated what I’ve been doing the past few weeks, and I’ve fallen into my old pattern of forgetting to eat breakfast. Whoops! Breakfast, I’ve learned sets our metabolism for the day. If I skip breakfast, my body thinks its starving, so it slows down my metabolism in an attempt to “save me” from starving to death. Oh, thanks, body!

Here’s my promise to myself this week, then: I will remember to eat breakfast. I will not eat unrefined sugar (I will eat fruits, but they don't count as unrefined sugar). That’s what I’ll change this week and see what happens. Oh, and I’d better not eat as much protein at dinner. Ignoring my own eating guidelines has been foolish of me.

By the way, “friend” Scott Isaacs, endocrinologist and weight-loss specialist on Facebook to get up-to-the minute information on weight-loss and healthy eating. Scott’s my cousin, and he’s constantly researching and reporting the latest information for people like me who want to lose lard and get healthier. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Atlanta-GA/Scott-Isaacs-MD-Endocrinologist-and-Weight-Loss-Specialist/139152506137045.

Let’s hope that next week’s weight-in shows better results, but here we go for this week (again).

Starting weight: 245
Weight last week: 200
Goal weight for this week: 199
Actual weight this week: 200
Total pounds lost: 45
Goal weight for next week: 199
Goal weight: 150

Mini goal: 195 by New Year’s Eve (former mini goal of weighing 200 by New Year’s Eve was met early, so I set a new mini goal)

Even Thanksgiving Didn't Throw Me Off Track

I've enjoyed finding old, fat photos of myself and posting them at the top of my blog, so readers can compare them to the new, improved me when I post new photos.

I thought Thanksgiving at my brother and sister-in-law’s house would be the most tempting of all days, but it turned out to be a breeze. First, my family members praised me for my weight loss, which reminded me to make wise choices when the food was served. Next, my sister and I have a ritual dating back to our childhood. We used to fight over who got the tail of the turkey, but now we simply share it. Yes, a turkey tail has a tiny piece of meat and a huge amount of fat. We know that, but I’ve learned that meat-related fat isn’t bad in moderation; instead, we gain weight from eating starches and sugars, which turn to stored fat in our bodies. She and I therefore indulged ourselves, giggling and eating half a turkey tail each for our guilty-pleasure appetizer.


When dinner was ready, I chose a small piece of turkey, a small piece of ham, a big batch of string beans, and a small bit of cranberry and fruit Jell-O salad. I spurned the broccoli casserole, which sounded healthy but was loaded with cheese and cream. I ignored the sweet potatoes, normally healthy eating, but that particular casserole included brown sugar and marshmallows. I passed up the stuffing and anything else that looked calorie-laden and starchy.

After dinner, out came a huge buffet of alluring pies, candies, cookies, and puddings. In the past I would have eaten a plate filled with samples of each sweet. This Thanksgiving, I ate a little fruit for dessert, and that was it; I felt perfectly satisfied.

How did I resist all those temptations? My blog keeps me motivated, because I know I have to report my weight in a few days. I hope that for the first time in my life I will be able to report that I actually lost weight during the week of Thanksgiving.

Stay tuned for my weigh-in on Monday!

Tip: Say Yes to Sweet Potatoes

Yesterday was Monday, and I stayed too busy to report the results of my weigh-in, or maybe I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t lose any weight this past week. I knew my weight loss would slow down at some point, but I trust it hasn’t come to a dead stop. I’m still way ahead of my scheduled goals, and I’m still eating right, so I’m not concerned by a one-week idle.

Today I visited my doctor for a regular checkup, and she told me I should be very proud of myself for losing forty-five pounds since I last saw her in April. She’s right. I am proud, and one week of staying the same weight is no big deal. It’s only the second week my weight stayed the same since I began my food plan in July. I’m sure I’ll still meet my mini goals and overall goal. Heck, I already met my first mini goal, which was to weigh 200 by New Year’s, and it’s not even Thanksgiving yet.

Yes, I am proud and excited that I’ve lost forty-five pounds, and more and more people are asking how I did it. My plan is simple, and it’s not about depriving myself, just making wise choices. One of the main components of my plan is to consume starchy foods in moderation. I can’t resist a little corn, rice, or pasta now and then, so I don’t deny myself, because if I did, I’d crave it even more. Instead I eat starchy foods in moderation, no more than half a cup at a time, and less than that is even better. For example, at lunch yesterday, the chicken wrap I ordered arrived with French fries on my plate, even though they were not in the description of what I had ordered. “I don’t want the fries,” I told the server.

“They come with the meal,” was her answer.

My lunch companion said, “I’ll take some,” so I tried to put all the fries on her plate, but she wouldn’t let me.

I took one small fry, put it in my mouth, and chewed. I had to admit that it did not taste nearly as good as losing weight felt, so I left all the other starchy fries on my plate and ate half the wrap I’d ordered and a small bowl of soup that came with it. I took the other half of the sandwich home and ate it for dinner with another small bowl of soup. Good choices.

Some starchy vegetables are fine, though, and one of my favorites is the sweet potato. The Center for Science in the Public Interest ranked the sweet potato number one in nutrition of all vegetables. Points were given for content of dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars and complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. Points were deducted for fat content (especially saturated fat), sodium, cholesterol, added refined sugars, and caffeine. The higher the score, the more nutritious the food. With a score of 184, the sweet potato outscored the next highest vegetable by more than a hundred points. No wonder I love them! No, I don’t add brown sugar to them, but a pat of butter and a little sea salt, and they’re out of this world.

When my family went to a hamburger restaurant a few weeks ago I ordered a grilled chicken breast on a bowl of lettuce, rather than a beef burger on a bun, so I didn’t feel guilty about eating some of the delicious sweet potato fries and onions rings we ordered as an appetizer. I left the table feeling that I’d had great treats without overeating things that are bad for me. Sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal, more vitamin A than carrots, more potassium than a banana, and more flavor than white potatoes. A small sweet potato has only about 150 calories, and all of them good for me.

So am I depriving myself? Am I starving or craving things I can’t have? No way! That is why I deny that I am on a diet at all, and without dieting, I’ve lost forty-five pounds. Yay, me. Now on to the next forty-five…!

Starting weight: 245
Weight last week: 200
Goal weight for this week: 199
Actual weight this week: 200
Total pounds lost: 45
Goal weight for next week: 199
Goal weight: 150

Tip: Pause before You Plunge

First the great news: I hit a major milestone this morning. My mini goal had been to weigh 200 by New Year’s, but guess what. It’s only November 15, 2010, and I already hit that goal this morning, when I stepped on the scale and weighed 200 pounds. Oh, heavens, that number still looks awful, doesn’t it? I have so much more to lose, but hooray for me, because I’ve lost forty-five ugly, health-threatening pounds. I hope the next forty-five pounds are as easy to lose as the first forty-five. I trust they will be, because I am in the habit of making good choices, and I constantly read more good information to keep me on track.

Most recently I read an interesting tidbit in AARP The Magazine that said that the Cornell Food and Brand Lab studied 213 people while they helped themselves to a buffet. Seventy-one percent of the thin people scouted the buffet table first to see what they wanted to put on their plates before they even picked up a plate. Three-quarters of the heavy people grabbed their plates first and began taking food before they even had a good idea of the choices available.

At lunchtime last Saturday I went to an opening of a new business in the neighborhood that offered a free buffet. I had read the article about thin people who perused the buffet before making choices, but honestly, I didn’t think about it at the time. I instinctively scrutinized the offerings at the food table before I put anything on my plate. I’m not sure, now, though, whether I actually took a plate first or not, but I certainly didn’t put anything on that plate until I had made my healthy choices.

Remember my blog entry about thinking like a thin person? It’s working. More and more, I’m thinking like a thin person. That buffet table had green beans, broccoli, white rice and beans, two types of dried-out-looking meat, and a cabbage-based salad. I chose the salad, broccoli, and green beans, and without any effort bypassed the dried-out meat and white rice, plus, without even thinking, I also bypassed the entire table of sweets, which included cookies, cakes, and my absolute favorite, whipped cream. Well, it was probably the fake kind, loaded with hydrogenated oils, but in the past that fact wouldn’t have stopped me from glopping it onto a piece of cake and eating it with gusto. That’s the past, though. Now I automatically scan buffets before I put anything on my plate.

I know I will be faced with more buffets, especially during the holiday season, and I feel confident that I’ll pause, scan the selections, and make my choices before I put a drop of food on my plate. In that way I’ll fill my plate with the best choices and not be tempted by the starch-laden ones. Getting through Thanksgiving and Christmas while sticking to a food plan may be tough, and actually losing weight over the holidays may be even tougher, but I swear I’m going to do it. I have a goal in mind, and nothing can stop me.

Because I’ve met my first mini goal, I’ve set another one. My new mini goal is to lose five more pounds before New Year’s and weigh 195 by January 1.

On another topic, one of my many readers said to forget the digital scale that has become my nemesis, because it says I weight more than my dial scale says. I think I will use the digital scale when I want to see incremental changes in my weight, but for now will ignore it and stick with the dial scale, which, by the way, agrees with the expensive dial scale at my gym, where I weigh in wearing a bathing suit. Today is weigh-in day, so here’s my official report:

Starting weight: 245
Weight last week: 204
Goal weight for this week: 203
Actual weight this week: 200
Total pounds lost: 45
Goal weight for next week: 199
Goal weight: 150

Find Your Inspiration, and You’ll Inspire Others

I’ve been getting wonderful e-mail messages from blog readers and followers.

One of my blog followers wrote to say that she likes my blog, and because of it, all the previous week she told herself all she had to do was make good choices, and it worked. Good for her!

I answered her this way:

Thank you for reading my blog. Keep making good choices. It gets easier. Even today, I was about three-fourths finished with my lunch when my dog barked to ask me to let him out on the deck. When I returned to the table, my inner voice said, "You could quit eating now." Hmm. I thought about that little inner voice and decided it was right. I put the remainder of my food back in the fridge, and I was completely satisfied with the quantity I'd eaten and happy with myself, too. This food-plan/healthy-choice thing gets easier and easier with each day, even though I originally thought it would get harder. Instead I've made a habit of making good choices.

One of my Australian friends wrote:

I just scanned down your Facebook page and learned that you have lost 37 lbs. Oh, my God! Is there anything left of you? I would be in heaven if I lost that much, so I’m going to use you as my inspiration.

Love,
Judi from Oz

I responded:

Believe me, there's still plenty of me left. Too much. I have a l-o-n-g way to go before I reach my goal weight, which will still be ten pounds more than the alleged perfect weight for someone my height. If, however, I can come within ten pounds of what I weighed high school some forty-eight years ago, I'll be pleased. My greater joy, though, has been that by going so public with my intent, I've inspired dozens of men and women who have written to me like you did, and they, too, are eating healthier and losing weight. They now inspire me to keep going. It works both ways.

Another writer said this:

I'm also wanting to lose some significant weight and needing inspiration. Perhaps your notes will give me the kick on the backside I need.

I hope my blog helps her and all my other readers.

When I decided to go public with my intention to lose weight, I did it for me, so that I couldn’t quietly back down and not follow through, not when I had declared my intention to the whole world. Now that I am proving how easy weight loss can be through wise choices, being conscious of the foods I eat, and eating moderate and correct quantities of food, I’m inspiring others. It’s the happiest cycle I’ve ever witnessed. While I’m getting inspiration from others, I’ve also giving inspiration to others. We feed off each other, and it’s the only feeding frenzy I know that can lead to weight loss instead of weigh gain.

Tip: Remember Your Motivation

My original goal was to lose weight so I would feel better. Within a month of following my food plan, I started to feel better, so now I have to keep remembering my original motivation.

It's easy to forget the amount of pain I was experiencing before I started the plan. I must keep remembering the pain and restrictions I dealt with for many months before my decision to stick to a food plan. My mobility had deteriorated to the point that I used my mother's old cane to help me get around the house, especially in the morning when I needed to hobble to the bathroom or take the dog out to the deck.

Some days I didn’t walk my dog at all, making him pee and poop on the deck. I could much more easily clean off the deck than I could walk down my steep driveway to take the dog for a walk. When I walked downhill like that, I not only felt pain with every step, but I also feared my knees would go out of joint and I'd fall. I could feel my knee joints slipping and popping.

When I felt a little better, I put the dog in the car and drove down to the end of the driveway, took him out, and walked him a little bit on the flat part of the street. Within weeks, though, I could leave the car in the garage and walk down the sheer cement walk with the dog.

Since losing more than thirty-five pounds, I take long strolls down the driveway, down the street, down the hill, around the corner, and back up, all the way, as far as I want, without fear or pain. No more pain: that’s why I have to stick to my plan. It works.

We all know what we should be eating, but cutting down drastically on starchy and sugary foods can be tough. I absolutely had to; I had no choice. My goal has nothing to do with my looks; it has everything to do with my health. If I come out looking better, that's a bonus, not a goal, but I have to admit I’m enjoying the compliments coming my way these days.

For a long time I fought depression, because I knew my enjoyment of life had decreased immensely. The term "quality of life" kept running through my head. I thought of the dogs and cats I’d euthanized when their quality of life went down. I did not want to be euthanized, though. I wanted to be youth-inized, and losing weight did it. I feel young, spry, and healthy again. Hooray!

If I want to stay motivated and stick to the plan, though, I must remember that earlier pain, stiffness, fear, and immobility. Writing about what I experienced keeps me motivated. The memory of feeling limited, seeing my quality of life diminishing, keeps me moving in the right direction, the healthy-eating direction.

Tip: Become Your Own Weight-Loss Company; Don’t Pay Those High Prices!

I find myself more interested in ever in reports on various diet plans and weight-loss companies. I read an article that quotes a study whose results say the Jenny Craig diet helped women who weighed 200 pounds or more lose twenty pounds a year. The study was funded, of course, by Jenny Craig. Once I read the entire article, I learned that the cost of the diet is usually about $350 for the intake and counseling and $100 a week for the food; however, all those things were provided free to the study participants. Finally, if you read to the very end, the article makes the most ludicrous of all statements: “If provided for free, structured programs like Jenny Craig may be a cost-effective way of encouraging weight loss and fighting obesity.” Of course it’s cost-effective when it’s free, but it’s NOT free. It’s expensive and unnecessary, if we simply learn to eat correctly on our own. For the whole article, see http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/09/jenny-craig-clients-in-study-shed-20-pounds/.

Twenty pounds a year, when you weight 200 pounds, means that reaching a weight of 150 would take two and a half years. Although slow weight loss is smart, something that slow would probably discourage most dieters before they reached their goal weight. In addition, how many people can afford to pay for Jenny Craig food, counseling, and monitoring for two and a half years?

An advertisement came in the mail recently for Nutrisystem, another expensive weight-loss plan that makes participants buy their food, rather than teaching you how to eat normal, healthful food from supermarkets, farmer’s markets, and restaurants.

Logic dictates that if we don’t learn how to eat correctly on our own, without prepared meals being delivered to us, as soon as we stop eating those prepared foods, we’ll go right back to old habits that made us gain weight in the first place.

Now Nutrisystem also offers a program to help lower blood sugar and control type 2 diabetes. Nutrisystem D, like the regular program, requires that you buy Nutrisystem-prepared meals. Do they expect people with type 2 diabetes to eat Nutrisystem D meals for life? What an impossible and expensive task! It means participants can never go to a friend’s house for dinner, take a cruise, or eat at a restaurant.

Let’s back up a moment and look at some facts. What causes type 2 diabetes? According to the Centers for Disease Control, while not everyone with type 2 diabetes is overweight, obesity and lack of physical activity are the two most common causes of this form of diabetes (insulin intolerance) and obesity and lack of exercise are responsible for nearly 95% of type 2 diabetes cases in the United States. If we can avoid getting type 2 diabetes 95% of the time by eating correctly and adding a little exercise to our week, it would cost less, save us from having to monitor our blood sugar, give us personal freedom to travel, eat out, and enjoy life, and also let us avoid the horrific effects of diabetes, including but not limited to skin problems, foot problems, heart problems, blindness, and death.

My food plan calls for self-motivation, rather than motivation from a counselor, plus I get motivation from those who send me e-mails to encourage me, since I went public with my intention to lose weight.

My food plan doesn’t cost any more than regular groceries cost, because it calls for regular groceries. My groceries cost about $35 a week. My food plan involves buying and eating real food, not food manufactured, dried, frozen, or otherwise prepared. I eat regular, normal, healthful food. Cereal, oatmeal, fruit, and/or yogurt in the morning and vegetables and fruits for lunch, dinner, and snacks, plus three to four ounces of protein of some sort, be it eggs, fish, chicken, beef, or beans, at lunch and dinner.

I worry about people who diet on pre-packaged foods. What do they learn about how to eat normal, everyday food? How can they know what to cook for themselves? What can they know of how to order healthy food at a restaurant? I have learned how to eat normal, healthful, delicious food. I can follow my food plan for life, and it’s simple. I eat lots of veggies and fruits and I control the protein. Around 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon I might have a snack of an apple, fresh pineapple, kiwi fruit, or whatever is in season. I avoid snacking on starch-laden snacks such as chips or popcorn. I avoid dessert entirely or allow myself one forkful, which is amazingly satisfying. My plan automatically results in low-fat, healthy eating, and the weight falls off at a satisfying rate.

It took me about three weeks for this healthy type of eating to become a habit, but that’s it. It’s a habit with me now, and I no longer have hunger pains or cravings that feel uncontrollable.

I have become a zealot, I know. I want to tell the world how easy it is to lose weight and eat right, all without paying someone to monitor you, counsel you, or make food for you.

Tip: Almost Every Menu Has Good Choices

Yesterday after bowling my sister and I went out to lunch. Both of us immediately scanned the salad portion of the menu and found a salad made with avocado slices, shrimp, and Romaine (a good form of lettuce with fiber, food value, and taste, unlike the popular iceberg lettuce). It also promised pico de gallo, and feta cheese, all with an olive-oil-based dressing. Great!

My sister asked our server, Sarah, if it was okay to split a salad, explaining that she and I are both on diets, whether I admit it or not.

I laughed, because as my sister knows, I refuse to call my food plan a diet, because the D word sounds repulsive. It is, after all, a four-letter word. Diets require restrictions, restraints, limitations, and hunger, and most call for unusual or bland foods. Diets are difficult to maintain, and they are short-lived, because of that fact. My food plan is not a diet, because it doesn’t have immutable rules; it’s just a healthy way to eat, and it’s a plan for life. It calls for real food, with unlimited choices, and no matter where I am, I can eat healthy, good food. I get frustrated when people say, “Oh, you’re on a diet; does that mean we can’t go out to eat together?” Of course not! A food plan isn’t a diet, and besides, we have to eat something, every day, to stay alive. I eat real food; restaurants serve real food. It’s up to me to make healthy choices.

My sister and I made our healthy choice. We told the server that we would split the salad, but put the pico de gallo, feta, and dressing on the side. The server said the restaurant also had a balsamic vinaigrette dressing we might like, and she offered to bring both dressings, on the side, of course.

I wanted the pico de gallo on the side because it contains raw onions, which sometimes give me a bad aftertaste that continues in my mouth for hours. We ordered the other items on the side, though, so we had complete control over them. I don’t care for feta cheese, for instance, but my sister loves it, so she could have all she wanted on her half of the salad, while my half remained cheese free. Often when a restaurant applies salad dressing it adds too much; besides, with two dressings, we could choose the dressing we preferred and apply it in the quantity we wanted.

When the salads arrived (the restaurant split it and put it on separate plates for us. How nice!), I had one more shrimp than my sister, which we agreed worked out fine, since she was eating the cheese, both of us mindful that both shrimp and cheese should be eaten in limited quantities. I picked out some of the tomatoes from among the onions in the pico de gallo (which, by the way, means rooster’s beak in Spanish. What’s up with that?) and added them to my salad. It turned out my sister and I both liked the olive oil dressing best, and olive oil is one of the good oils included in cholesterol-lowering Mediterranean diets. Half a salad turned out to be exactly the right amount of food for each of us for lunch. Isn’t eating is restaurants a treat?

Although I give many tips in my blog and will give many more as I go along, there's obviously no trick to my food plan; it’s just a healthy way to eat, and regardless of where I eat, I can almost always find healthy choices. As a conscientious eater, my only job is to make the right choices, every time I eat. See? It’s not a diet at all, and yet I’m losing weight every week and having a great time doing it.

Weight-loss Drug Banned; My Food Plan Still Works!

First I want to thank everyone who has posted comments on my blog or sent me e-mails supporting me or regarding your own successes. Although not all these comments show up on the actual blog, I get them, read them, and love them. Keep staying in touch, and keep up the good work yourself, if you’re on a food plan.

Next I want to mention Dr. Scott Isaacs, an endocrinologist in Atlanta who specializes in weight loss for his patients. He’s not only handsome, he’s also kind, friendly, concerned, and sweet. I know, because he’s my cousin. As a doctor, though, he’s also knowledgeable and stays up to date on everything in his field. He’s written several books about hormones and weight loss and is working on another. He recently posted links on Facebook, a few days apart. One link is to his article that appears on http://www.livestrong.com/ about the leptin diet (see http://www.livestrong.com/article/258287-how-to-master-the-leptin-diet/). After reading about leptin, how it works, and how to counter it, I understand weight loss and weight gain much better. I knew that eating lots and lots of vegetables, some fruits, and a little protein each day has changed my weight and improved my wellness, but because of Dr. Isaacs’s article, I now know why.

The other link is to a Business Week article at http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/644146.html?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5 that announces that the FDA has banned the ingredient in Meridia, an alleged weight-loss drug, because it caused heart attacks and strokes in 16% of the people taking it. It said that further studies on the drug proved it was not more effective than diet and exercise alone.

The ban on Meridian, he said, didn’t surprise him, and it didn’t have any impact on me, because I refuse to pay anyone to “make” me lose weight. Here are the facts: I gained weight by overeating, eating the wrong foods, and being sedentary. To lose weight, I have to eat less, eat correctly, and get more exercise. No fad diet, pills, or magic will replace the fact that my actions are the key factors in my losing weight. I can’t blame anyone for my weight gain, and I can’t rely on anyone but myself to make the weight go away.

I measured my boobs, waist, and hips today and see that I’ve lost more inches in my hips, mostly, which means I’ve lost more weight in my abdomen, which definitely needed to decrease. Good for me! I’ve known I was losing in my chest, because I’ve been able to hook my bras on the tightest hook, instead of the loosest one, and I even bought a new, sexy bra in the same cup size as before, but with a circumference four inches smaller.

Besides the things I can measure, I love noticing the subtle ways that weight loss is improving my health and appearance. Some things we women never want to discuss, but since I am already so boldly posting my original weight, horrible figure that it was, I may as well be totally honest about all that is going on. Here are a few other delightful changes I’ve noticed since losing thirty-five pounds:

1. I walk better and without pain. Not only are my dog walks more enjoyable, but I also walk down stairs without fear of my knees going out. I walk up stairs at a much faster pace than before and actually enjoy bounding up the stairs on occasion.

2. I breathe better. I used to lie in bed and hear breathing in the room and realize it was my own wheezing caused by fat constricting my windpipe.

3. I sleep better. When I breathe better, I sleep better.

4. My blood pressure is better. My pressure used to be in the high to high normal range. Now it’s almost always at or below 120/80, the recommended range. Granted I’m still on blood-pressure medication, but I was on it before, when my pressure was registering as high as 160/95 at times.

5. My body is more flexible, which means I’m finding it easier to put on socks, cut my toenails, tie my shoes, cross my legs, and even give myself a good foot rub.

6. I swallow easier. I could actually feel the fat in my neck constricting my swallowing at times. I’ve read that overweight people choke on food more often than slender people, but I didn’t want to apply that news to myself. Nevertheless, I had several instances where I choked on food when I was alone, and I’m not talking about food or liquid going down the wrong pipe and causing coughing. I’m talking about seriously choking, unable to breathe, cough, or speak, with food completely blocking my airway. Each time, I was finally able to dislodge the food myself, thank heavens, but it left me weak and freaked out.

7. My bladder control is better. Women who have given birth to children are inclined toward bladder leakage in latter years. Weight, however, is another factor. I had several strikes against me, but that’s history, now.

8. My muscles don’t cramp as much or as often. Cramps are painful and inconvenient, but mine went a step further. I was driving out of a parking lot one time, and both my legs cramped so severely that I had to pull the car to an awkward stop, jump out, and walk around to stretch my muscles until the cramps subsided. It took almost a half hour, and all the while I was in severe pain. When the pain finally stopped, I was afraid to get back in the car and drive, lest it happen again while I was amid traffic. Thankfully I got home safely. As a bit of a disclaimer, this event took place after I had walked around a large store for an hour and then walked across a large parking lot to reach my car when the temperature was one hundred degrees outside. The cramps may have been exacerbated by heat exhaustion and/or dehydration, but I’m sure my weight made me more vulnerable to both.

9. Sex is better, with less fat in the way. Enough said!

All these benefits definitely add a great deal to my quality of life, which is why I feel younger than I did a year ago. Yes, life is grand, even when you’re old enough to be a grandparent.

Yesterday was weigh-in day, and the news is good. I hit another milestone: thirty-five pounds gone!

Starting weight: 245
Goal weight for this week: 210
Actual weight this week: 210
Goal weight for next week: 209
Total weight lost: 35
Overall goal weight: 150

Tip: Eat four ounces of protein with lunch and dinner, and only four ounces.

Monday again? How did it roll around so quickly? As I lay in bed last night, knowing I had to weigh in this morning, I mulled over my past week. I had returned to keeping a food diary, to assist me in being conscious of everything I ate. I made sure I made one meal a day a salad with protein in it. I worked out at least once this past week and walked every day, several times a day. I bowled twice, three games each time. I avoided eating out as often, so I could more clearly know the contents of what I ate. It was all a good week…until Saturday night.

Saturday night as I chopped my greens for a salad, I thought about the protein I planned to put into the salad. I had several options: a hard boiled egg (about 32 calories), some fake crab meat (about 115 calories), or an aging bratwurst (about 250 calories) that had been cooked about five or more days before. Each of these proteins was about four ounces. Isn’t it amazing how they compare, though?

My thinking went this way: “I’ve been good almost all week, and this bratwurst is getting old, and it tastes terrific on a salad. Even though it is the highest in calories, I’ll eat it, so it won’t go bad.”

Okay, that wasn’t the worst decision I could make. I decided to warm it a little, because bratwurst has a lot of fat in it, and the fat tastes better warm than cold. I opened the Ziploc bag with the two leftover bratwurst and dropped one onto the plate. I looked at the remaining bratwurst and wondered how much longer it would last before it went bad, and that’s where my mind disconnected. Darn it, I put both on the plate, warmed both up, cut both up, and put both in my salad, for a whopping 500 or more calories on the meat alone.

I say I don’t count calories, but they are a good indicator of what’s the best thing to eat, and obviously I failed to be conscious of my actions for long enough for me to warm, cut up, and eat two bratwursts in my salad, when one still had a boatload of calories. I figured I’d blown the whole week of eating consciously. Well, I could have.

That night I bemoaned the fact that I had eaten so much. I didn’t feel comfortable. I’d forgotten that I used to feel that way after almost every meal, uncomfortable, slightly stuffed, and regretful. I’m imperfect, but at least I haven’t had that bloated feeling in a long, long time. Maybe I needed to go through it to remind me that I must eat more consciously.

This morning I stepped on the scale with trepidation, as I usually do, but I discovered I had lost weight anyway. The rest of the week had redeemed me from my one-meal fiasco. Whew!

Here’s today’s tip, then: Eat four ounces of protein with lunch and dinner, and only four ounces, and be conscious of the fat content in those four ounces.

Here's today's weigh-in information:

Starting weight: 245
Goal weight for this week: 213
Actual weight this week: 211
Goal weight for next week: 210
Total weight lost: 34
Overall goal weight: 150

Tip: Don't Get Discouraged!

Bobbie's Birthday Party!

Yes, yes, I know; it’s Monday. I’m supposed to report my weight. The news isn’t great this week, just as it wasn’t great last week, but last week I at least lost a pound. This week my weight stagnated.

I expected weeks like this. I know they happen on weight-loss plans, but I hoped it wouldn’t happen to me. Instead of kicking or cursing myself, though, I point to the fact that I wanted to lose an average of a pound a week, and if I lean on the averages, I’m still doing okay. Let’s see. I began my food plan on about July 15, but I won’t count those first few days and say it began instead on July 19, so I can count Monday to Monday. Today is September 27, so I’ve been on the plan ten weeks and have lost 31 pounds, which is an average of three pounds a week. Okay, I’ve found a way to see the good side and stop concentrating on the not-to-good side, the fact that the scale stayed the same this week. I can also say, “Hey, at least I didn’t gain anything.”

I could have gained. Really, I could have. My food plan isn’t highly restrictive; I can eat what I want, I just have to be conscious of the portion sizes and keep them small. I’m human, though, so at times I consume more food than my body needs. I know I ate more than I needed last night, for example, when I went to my favorite Chinese buffet and it had coconut shrimp, one of my favorites. Believe me, I didn’t consume nearly as much as I used to eat when I visited that buffet. I used to consume at least two big plates full of mostly shrimp and fish. Last night I first made a salad and ate that, before I fixed a single plate and was careful to add vegetables to the protein. I used to eat apple pie and ice cream for dessert there. Last night I skipped dessert entirely. I know I’m eating healthier and less, but less than far too much can still be too much!

Overeating last night might have been so bad, but I had overeaten the night before, as well. My sister gave me a dinner party for my birthday. Although I insisted on bringing fruit for dessert instead of having a birthday cake, the dinner was so delicious that I ate more than usual, and my stomach felt it, too.

Whenever I overeat, though, I try to make up for it by eating less at other meals, but obviously I’m not perfect, or my weight would have gone down this week.

Am I discouraged? No way! I may be disappointed, but certainly not discouraged. In the past the news that I hadn’t lost weight in a week might have sent me to the freezer to binge on ice cream, but not today.

I examined what I’ve done all week and what I’m eaten. The first thing I acknowledged is that after I saw progress in my weight loss, I stopped keeping my food diary. As a result, this week when I didn’t lose weight, I couldn’t even look in my food diary to closely examine the foods I’ve consumed. Bad Bobbie! I vowed to return to original plan and write down everything I eat.

What’s the purpose of a food diary? When I write down what I eat at each meal, I can more carefully analyze whether I’ve eaten enough vegetables and protein each day, but more importantly, the food diary is my conscience. Every item that goes in my mouth gets written into the daily diary, which means I can’t eat a candy bar and forget I ate it, the way I used to do. The diary keeps me conscious of my food consumption, and conscious eating is the entire basis of my food plan. My food diary is a simple spiral notebook where I write down the date and list each meal or snack that I eat that day. If I’m at home, I list what I eat as soon as I eat it. If I eat out, as soon as I get home I list the items I ate. I don’t wait until nighttime to try to recall everything I ate that day, because invariably I’ll forget something.

In examining this week’s weight stagnation, the second thing I realized was that I’ve skipped breakfast almost every day this past week, and breakfast is an important meal. I know that fact, but I still sometimes forget to eat breakfast. I pledged to eat breakfast this week. I began today with plain yogurt, blueberries, and high-fiber whole-wheat cereal sweetened with a very light sprinkle of raw sugar.

The third thing I know is that I got to the gym only one time this week. I need to work out more, to burn off calories and get more fit. My excuse has been the fact that my dog has needed much more attention than normal while he recuperates from eye surgery and complications following surgery. That excuse will soon disappear, though. The veterinarian estimates that the dog will be much better by the end of this week, and I’ll have no excuse not to swim and do water aerobics, my workouts of choice.

Examining last week makes me analyze what I can do better this week, and by golly, I’ll do it. Nothing will sway me from becoming as healthy as I can be, and for me that means I must have a smaller body. No, I am not discouraged in the least; if anything, I’m more determined than ever.

Starting weight: 245
Goal weight for this week: 213
Actual weight this week: 214 (rats!)
Goal weight for next week: 213
Total weight lost: 31
Overall goal weight: 150

One Small Pound for a Woman

I don’t mind admitting it; I worried on my trip to the scale this morning. I knew that this past week I had walked away from the dinner table with a tummy a little fuller than it’s been lately. I ate properly and ate healthy foods, but didn’t always watch my portion size. Instead of just a leg or a thigh of chicken, I ate the whole quarter, leg and thigh. For several meals. My fault; for me whatever goes on my plate goes into my mouth, most of the time, and I know that fact about myself. I swear next time I cook a package of chicken quarters I’ll cut the legs and thighs apart, so I won’t be tempted to take a whole quarter at a time. Add in the fabulous prime rib lunch I ate yesterday, when a client came to town and insisted on treating me to an expensive meal. At least I switched the garlic mashed potatoes out for broccoli, but I couldn’t resist the shrimp-and-grits appetizer and ate a good third of the grits. When it was over, I’d eaten way too much for one meal, even though I took some of the food home.

While I strolled toward the dreaded scale, I promised myself I’d be better at portion control this week.

I also acknowledged that I had worked out only one time this week. Only one time did I show my face (and a few other things) at Gold’s Gym when I slipped into a bathing suit for water aerobics and swimming. One time, all week. I mentally pleaded, “Oh, please, scale, at least show no gain, and please let me have lost a pound. I swear, if you’ll show me one pound lost, I’ll work out more this week.”

In my bargaining phase, though, I reminded myself that I’ve been taking longer and more walks with my dog, now that my knees and feet don’t hurt. It may not be much exercise to stroll my street, but it’s at least moving around, instead of sitting at my desk or sitting on my sofa. I also bowled twice. Again, not much exercise, but it involves lifting weights, walking, and a lot of high fives, when my sister or I make a mark. Doesn’t that count?

Up on the scale I stepped, trepidation in my heart. Alas, I had barely eked out a one-pound loss. Oh, if my scale were digital and showed increments, truth is I probably didn’t lose a whole pound, but it’s not, so I’m claiming the pound.

I knew I couldn’t maintain weight losses of three or four pounds a week, but I really do want to average one pound or more a week, so I’ll be better this week. I swear it.

On the good side, this week I’ve had several moments of joy over my smaller body, even though I have much more weight to lose. I wore a pair of earrings that used to dig into my shoulders, but because my shoulders have dropped and neck has elongated with my weight loss, I was able to wear the earrings comfortably. One day I was sitting on my sofa and chatting with a friend, when I noticed I’d crossed my legs at the knee. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I haven’t been able to comfortably cross my legs in years. Fat little legs and arthritic knees don’t allow such flexibility, but there I was, with my legs crossed. Hoo ha! Slender people don’t have these thoughts, but I’m sure some of my friends can relate to the joy I felt at that moment.

Watching my body grow smaller and feel younger is more than a delight. It’s a reward for eating consciously and healthily. This week I reached my sixty-sixth birthday, and yet I feel younger and better today than I did on my birthday last year. I love the direction I’m going.

Starting weight: 245
Goal weight for this week: 214
Actual weight this week: 214 (barely)
Goal weight for next week: 213
Total weight lost: 31
Overall goal weight: 150

Tip: Celebrate Mini Goals and Milestones

Note: The photo on the far right was taken when my sister Go (in photo) and friend Vicki gave me a birthday party in September 2009. The photo of me alone was taken a few days ago, September 2010, wearing the same shirt. I had gained even more weight between my birthday last year and July of this year, when I began my food plan, but still you can see that the shirt hangs looser in the front now, and my face looks thinner, as do my arms. One day at a time, folks.

Yes, we need to set our ultimate goal, but for me, if that goal looks unobtainable or too distant in the future, I lose faith that I can reach it. I want to reach 150 pounds, but I have a long way to go, which is why I set interim goals, as well. Every week my goal is to lose one pound. As I lose more weight and have less to lose, that weekly one-pound goal may not be attainable, so I may revise my weekly goal as my weight drops. In the meantime, though, having that weekly goal gives me something to achieve, because success breeds success.

I also set longer interim goals. For example, my longer interim goal at this time is to reach 200 or less by New Year’s Eve. So far it looks as if I’ll make that goal, and I find the prospect exciting. New Year’s Eve: what a perfect time to celebrate having lost forty-five pounds! I keep visualizing it, seeing me step on the scale and seeing it read 199 or 200. It feels good, even when I simply visualize it, and December 31 doesn’t seem terribly far away, whereas realistically, I probably won’t reach my overall goal for two years or more.

In the meantime, I celebrate reaching my mini goals as well as when I hit milestones, even if my celebration means that I just to raise a fist in the air and say out loud, “Yay me!” Today is a “Yay me!” day. When I stepped on the scale I had lost four pounds since last week, three more than my goal for the week. I hit the number 215 on the scale, which means I’ve lost thirty pounds. Milestone! Yay me!

My sister has joined me in my food plan, and she mentioned the other day that it gets easier and easier, and that she no longer feels hungry, the way she did in the beginning. Of course we get hungry at mealtimes, but we’re eating tasty, healthy, normal food, and yet we’re still watching our tummies and tushes grow smaller. What a great reward for taking care of our health!

What amazes me is that I have no cravings at all for the things I used to eat that were not the most healthy choices, popcorn, chips, desserts, candy bars, and ice cream. I know that I can eat any of that in moderation if I want, but my desire to lose weight and have long-term good health has grown stronger than my desire for temporary oral gratification. I’ve been eating consciously since mid July, and it’s become an easy, healthy habit for me.

Today the weather turned a little cooler, and I reached into my drawer to find something more substantial than the tank tops I’ve been wearing all summer. I pulled out a T-shirt I haven’t worn in years, because it was too tight. I hadn’t donated it to charity because I loved it so much, a purple shirt with bright splashes of pink and the slogan “Bring the arts to life!” Without a thought, I put it on, and it fits fine. Another milestone. Yay me!

Here are my statistics for today.

Starting weight: 245

Goal weight for this week: 218

Actual weight this week: 215

Goal weight for next week: 214

Total weight lost: 30

Overall goal weight: 150

Tip: Be the Locomotive

It’s Monday, so I’m here with my weigh-in information, but first a story.

One of my friends on the food plan told me she fell for temptation this weekend. She was visiting friends, and the hostess placed a full tray of exotic doughnuts right in front of her. My friend tore off and ate pieces of several doughnuts, and in her remorse, figured she had eaten the equivalent of a whole doughnut.

I reminded her that one doughnut does not spoil everything she has done so far. All she has to do is get back on her food plan. If she wants, she can compensate for that doughnut by cutting out a few other starches and fats this week, or she can simply get back to eating healthy, fresh food that is good for her body and move forward.

One sugar-and-fat-loaded doughnut may seem like a big transgression, but let’s put it in perspective. If I took a jelly-filled, sugar-coated doughnut and laid it on a railroad track and a six-ton locomotive came along, what would happen? Yup, that heavy engine would squash the doughnut like a bug and stay the course toward its destination. We who have decided to take control over our health have to be that locomotive, and if something tries to knock us off our path, we squash it and stay the course toward our goal of a healthy lifestyle and healthy weight.

My own weigh-in news this week disappoints me, but I expected it. I knew I could not maintain the level of weight loss per week I had in the first four or five weeks of my food plan, but I wanted to average at least a pound a week, and at least I did lose a pound since last week.

I know the reasons (or excuses) why I didn’t lose more.

1. It’s natural to lose more weight per week for the first few weeks you begin any food plan or even any (heaven forbid) diet.

2. I was unable to schedule any extra exercise this past week, other than walking the dog, because I had to take my dog to an eye specialist for examinations and tests while also meeting deadlines for several editing projects.

3. I’ve lived with high anxiety, knowing my dog’s health is in danger and having to drive to several locations unknown to me to have my dog examined. When I learned that he needed an eye operation, my stress level increased. When I saw the costs associated with the surgery, my stress level shot even higher. Now, several times a day, I have to restrain my pet and put drops in his eyes, which he hates. I feel like an ogre, and I fear he will stop wanting to cuddle with me, if every time we cuddle I put drops I his eyes. Stress galore!

In the past anxiety often meant added snacks—crunchy, salty things I stuffed down my gullet in an attempt to stuff my feelings. Thankfully the corn chips and popcorn in my pantry stayed in my pantry, but I know I ate more protein than I needed at several meals. Anxiety, stress, less exercise, and being further into my food plan all conspired against me, and yet I still dropped a pound. I’ll give myself a pat on the back and say I did well. One average week won’t stop my train. I’m more determined than ever.

Today is another day, another chance to be conscious of every bit of food that enters my mouth, another chance to eat healthy foods and feed my brain and my body instead of attempting to soothe my psyche. Choo, choo, toot, toot!

Here are my statistics for today.

Starting weight: 245
Goal weight for this week: 219
Actual weight this week: 219
Goal weight for next week: 218
Total weight lost: 26
Overall goal weight: 150

Tip: Personal Control Results in Portion Control

My sister noticed a new restaurant had opened, and always looking for new adventures, we wanted to check it out. Cars filled the parking lot, so we thought we’d found a good place to eat. When we walked inside, though, we understood the volume of cars. The young girls who greeted us wore tiny plaid push-up-bra tops displaying hefty cleavage up top, and below, they sported short, low-waisted kilts, with plenty of skin showing from midriff to below the belly button. Everywhere we looked, men peopled the tables, eating pub (read: fried) food. We scanned the menu and ordered salads, about the only thing that did not come breaded and fried.

The server sat at our table for a chat, as I had seen her do at the other tables, which were heavier in testosterone. I asked her how she was treated there, and she assured me that the establishment did not allow any touching from customers, and she felt that she was treated very well by all. I told her she looked great in the outfit and admitted I wouldn’t have said so, if she hadn’t reassured me that she doesn't have to put up with harassment from the management or customers.

She thanked me and added that I wouldn’t have said such a thing a few years ago. What? Yes, she admitted, she had been chubby, but she decided to take care of her health, and she dropped thirty pounds. The next question is always, “How?” Her quick answer: eating healthy foods and portion control. It took her about a year; she dropped the weight slowly and wisely, and she’s kept it off for two years. I congratulated her.

On television a day later, one of the reality show stars looked better at the reunion show than she had during the show, so the emcee said, “What happened?”

Her answer. “I lost thirty pounds.”

Emcee: “How?”

“Portion control.”

I guess you see where I’m going. Nobody said, “I didn’t eat sweets.” No one said, “I didn’t eat my favorite foods.” No one said, “I starved myself.” Instead, their simple answer to losing weight was portion control.

Portion control: I harp on it, and that’s why I don’t call my food plan a diet; it’s a matter of portion control. I don’t need other people to tell me what to eat. I don’t have to cook and eat foods that are not natural to my eating patterns. I simply had to decide to take control over my health, take control over myself, and take control over the amount of food that enters my mouth.

Portion control is a positive action, not a negative one. Once I say, “I won’t eat fattening foods,” I’ve moved into negative talk, and even mentioning fattening foods can attract fattening foods to me and make me want them.

Positive talk involves saying to myself, “I will eat foods that are good for me. I will eat food in proper portions. If I want dessert, I will eat a tiny bit and quit. If I want a steak, I’ll eat four ounces and quit. If I want pasta, I will eat only a couple of ounces and quit. If I want anything, from soup to nuts, I’ll be conscious of the volume I consume, and I’ll eat less than my body needs. I will gradually reach the weight that is right for me.” Week by week, I'm getting there, and it feels wonderful to be in control of my person and my portion sizes.