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: Limes: The Forgotten Fruit

First to answer the questions foremost in people’s minds: where have I been lately? Why haven’t I written a blog entry in more than a week?

Answer: I took a short drive to the Greenville, S.C., area, and in two days I shifted my entire business focus. I visited a long-time, brilliant friend who just sold her business and is taking a course in Internet marketing. Together we looked at my business website (http://www.zebraeditor.com/), and Rocky pointed out dozens of things I could and should improve. We worked for hours on ways to add more value to my website, reach more people, and help writers even more than I already do. We both came away so excited that she plans to upgrade my website for me as her first class project. Exhilarating as it is, it also has meant a great deal of work and copious communication between us. Forgive my absence from this blog. Accept that I’m here today, reporting in, albeit late.

In my prior entry, I mentioned how much I’ve fallen in love with limes, a fruit few people consider, and let me say the love affair continues. When servers ask for my drink order, I try to remember to ask, “Do you have limes? If so, I’d like water with lime.” Invariably my lunch partners follow suit, and all agree that lime in our water tastes ten times better than lemon. I make sure I squeeze every bit of that precious juice into my water before I drink it.

I squeeze limes on top of my salad dressing to extend it and make it burst with flavor while adding very few calories. Limejuice poured onto steamed vegetables has to be the most appetizing and lowest-calorie way to consume healthy, delicious foods. I should dig deeper and find even more uses for limes, and if you have some, let me know.

When I looked up the content of lime, all the figures were based on one cup of the juice. I barely use a tablespoon at a time, not a cup, but still, now I know that a cup of lime juice contains only 60 calories. I’m not a mathematician, but that figure extrapolates into only a few calories per tablespoonful. Limejuice also contains the following vitamins and minerals:

Vitamin A
Beta Carotene
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K
Thiamin
Riboflavin
Niacin
Vitamin B6
Folate
Choline
Betaine
Calcium
Iron
Magnesium
Phosphorus
Potassium
Sodium
Zinc
Copper
Selenium

When I read the labels for any “reduced-calorie” salad dressing, the product usually contains more water and salt than the equivalent “regular” salad dressing. Many reduced-calorie foods have added sugar and salt to make up for the fact that the added water literally waters down the taste. Ugh. Instead, I use regular (tasty) dressing, but use slightly less of it. After I add the dressing and before I mix up my salad, I squeeze on the juice of half a lime, which spreads out the dressing so it covers all the greens, and the taste explodes in my mouth. Love it! I'm adding vitamins and minerals, too. How many vitamins and minerals would water add?

To lose weight I eat quite a few salads, often one a day for extended periods. How bored I would get if they all tasted bland, dry, or worse, bitter! Lime solves everything. It makes the flavor of everything in my salad bowl taste better, especially the avocado. Don’t get me started on avocado, though. I’ll have to talk about those dear things in another blog, because I might talk all day, otherwise.

Meanwhile, forgive me for not checking in with everyone for a while. I feel disappointed in myself that I failed to meet my latest mini goal of 190 by the end of February. This is the second time I’ve failed to meet my mini goal of 190. My weight loss has slowed way down, but I’m still moving in the right direction, and I’m still reaping compliments from friends. Best of all, I feel great, and it feels good to feel good.

Starting weight: 245
Weight last check-in: 193
Weight this week: 192
Total pounds lost: 54
Goal weight: 150
New mini goal: 190 by March 15

Stalled, but Not Disheartened!

I am officially disappointed that my weight stayed the same again this week, which makes two weeks in a row. Ugh! In the past, such a disappointment would have been enough to throw me off a food plan, make me stuff my face in frustration, lose faith, and lose momentum. Not this time. I have more than myself to disappoint, if I were to do such a thing. Now I have more than a 1,600 readers of my blog that I’d let down. Writing this blog definitely keeps me going. You folks keep me going. Thank you!

To encourage myself and prove that I’m making progress, I pulled out my old photos and took some new ones in similar poses, to see—and confirm—that I’m getting better and better, even if I am still far from my goal weight. I’ll include “before” (left) and “during” (right) shots in this blog entry. I can’t take an “after” shot until I reach my goal weight, but expect more “during” shots to come.

How do I plan to put an end to this languishing period and start losing weight again? Exactly what I did before: Eat fewer white carbohydrates. Eat more salads. Keep food portions within boundaries. Work out. Make wise choices.

The news isn’t all disappointing. This morning I received the report from my latest blood test. My cholesterol has fallen into the normal range, so I have stopped taking statins, no longer exposing myself to their potential side effects. I will stay off statins for six months and see what my next report says. My fasting blood sugar count was down, too, at 101. Normal glucose levels fall between 70 and 150 mg., with 99 or less being ideal, but my number used to be higher than 101. No, I can’t remember the exact figure, but it wasn’t in the diabetic range of above 150. Again, the doctor advised fewer white carbohydrates, including sugar. I promised I’m already following that regimen, so things should be even better on my next test.

I also was able to reduce my blood-pressure medication, because my blood pressure has fallen within normal range. Two medications I can strike off my list and keep out of my body! Hooray! I’m definitely seeing definitive, recordable progress in my health, which explains why I feel so much better today than I did six months ago. It’s also why I plan to be the Energizer Bunny and keep going and going.

Here’s today’s weigh-in results:

Starting weight: 245
Weight last week: 200
Goal weight for this week: 199
Actual weight this week: 200
Total pounds lost: 46
Goal weight for next week: 199
Goal weight: 150
Mini goal: 195 by New Year’s Eve

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

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: Celebrate Success

Oh, heavens, I messed everything up. I caved and bought a digital scale, figuring it would give me increments my dial scale couldn’t. Yes, it gives me increments, but oh, dear, the digital scale says I weigh more than my dial scale says. How will I handle that disconnect in my accounting? I’m thinking about it.

I don’t want to discourage myself by taking a leap of several pounds backwards from what I weighed on my dial scale a day earlier. I’m open to suggestions on how to handle my dilemma. I posted my question on Facebook, and a few of my friends asked if I could calibrate the digital scale. No, it allows for no adjustments. One friend said to take helium. Although that suggestion might be good for laughs, I’m still looking for the perfect answer. Until then, I’ll report both weights.

Regardless of what scale I use, though, I have lost thirty-eight pounds, which is cause to celebrate. As a result, I’ve been going through my storage closet and pulling out expensive clothes I refused to donate after I gained weight. I donated most of my cheaper smaller-sized clothes when they no longer fit, but I kept a few nice pieces, believing that one day I might fit into them again. That day has arrived. Last week I slipped into a hand-painted jacket I bought some twenty years ago and haven’t been able to wear for the past ten years. It fit perfectly again. I found a Bob Mackie sweater vest probably worth hundreds of dollars that I bought brand new in a thrift shop about five years ago, but my blouses were too long and showed from underneath, so I never wore the sweater vest. Why were all my blouses so long? Plus-size blouses are big in every respect. To accommodate my large stomach, the girth had to be large, but as a result, the shoulder seams hung down between my shoulders and elbows, short sleeves reached my elbows, long sleeves covered my thumbs, and the lengths came down below my expanded butt. Now that I can wear smaller blouses, they are also shorter, so I can again wear many of the fancy jackets I’ve been storing.

As far as fashion goes, I had grown into a complete slouch. I used to love to wear bright-colored, unusual clothing. My eye was naturally drawn to things with sparkles, dangly things, or unusual designs. Once I grew into larger sizes, my clothing choices grew limited. When I shopped for clothes, I bought what fit, not what I loved. My clothes became plain, bland, and gigantic.

Remember, please, that I’m still not thin by any stretch of the imagination; however, now that I am bordering on a size 18 to 20 instead of a 24 to 26, I can wear shorter blouses and stylish jackets, and I’ve plundered my closets and pulled out the bright, cheerful clothes I love. When I wear something I like, I become more conscious of my hair, makeup, and jewelry, whereas for years I just slapped myself together and left the house without spending much time on my looks. Nothing helped, so why bother?

It’s so much fun to see the real me coming back to life. I’m finding my true self again and enjoying my clothing choices and personal image. Now I’m just waiting for an excuse to wear that Bob Mackie vest.

Rediscovering and reactivating my beloved clothing choices has been a wonderful way to celebrate this point in my success, and I have other, smaller clothes I’ll enjoy fitting into in the future. I know it is not only possible; it’s inevitable.

Here’s today’s weigh-in information, and I’ve lost another pound.

Starting weight: 245
Weight last week: 207
Goal weight for this week: 206
Actual weight this week: 206 dial scale, 210.2 on new digital scale
Goal weight for next week: 205 dial, 209.2 digital
Total pounds lost: 38
Goal weight: 150

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.

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: Walk; Just Walk!

As you can imagine, I’ve become embroiled in health tips and information related to the food we eat. The other day I read the following information on weight loss:

Along with diet and exercise, healthcare professionals recommend that you:

Reduce saturated and trans fats
Limit refined carbohydrates (Bobbie's note: these are the starches I avoid)
Keep fat intake under 35% of total calories

Three brisk walks a week may be the most health-conscious thing you can do for your body.
In fact, a study presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association reported that women who walked for at least three hours a week had a 40% lower risk of heart attack and stroke than women who didn’t walk. The study, part of an eight-year research project of 84,000 female nurses ages 40–65, also suggested that the brisker the walk, the greater the health benefit.

(end of article)

All that information is great, but my walks aren’t that brisk. I walk with my dog, and my miniature poodle, like most male dogs, spends a great deal of time sniffing things and marking his territory. Our walks, therefore, include many stops and starts and only a few brisk strides here and there when something new draws his attention. Still, we walk, every day, two or three times a day, for ten to twenty minutes, and every time, I have to walk down a long, steep driveway and then climb back up it to get into the house. I figure that driveway adds enough strain at the end to count for a few more brisk steps than I actually took. At least it all adds up to some form of exercise.

Fact is, and I’ve said it before: I don’t like to exercise, and almost nothing motivates me to do so, except obligation. I don’t have a fenced yard, so I’m obligated to walk the dog and scoop up his poop, so I stay on good terms with the neighbors. I also joined a gym and pay a monthly fee, hoping that fee would form an obligation to go, but I still go only on average of once a week or less. Instead, I point to the fact that at least I walk every single day, several times a day.

Here’s another confirming article I found on the Internet:

Walking benefits you

Results from the Nurses’ Health Study demonstrate the following benefits:

It’s inexpensive, requiring little equipment other than a pair of sturdy shoes. There are no fees to pay, no courses to drive to, and it’s as easy to do as strolling around the block.

It’s probably the safest form of exercise. Walkers stand little chance of developing shin splints, tennis elbow, or torn muscles, cartilage, or ligaments.

Walking is one of the most efficient, low-impact workouts available. Walking and running burn about the same amount of calories per mile. The benefit to running comes from the fact that you can cover more miles running than walking in the same amount of time.

Walking offers a host of long-term benefits. The study found: women who walked briskly (3–4 miles per hour, or one mile every 15–20 minutes) had a 54% lower risk of heart attacks and strokes. Walking lowers blood pressure, improves the cholesterol profile, lowers the risk of osteoporosis and may lower the risk of certain kinds of cancer. There is evidence that walking helps reduce stress, too.

Walking may reduce the discomfort of the most common forms of arthritis, and it can help with weight loss, which can help improve overall long-term health.

(end of article)

I guess I’m doing okay, then, to walk; at least it’s something, and I do know this: walking and losing weight have definitely reduced my arthritis pain, and I love the fact that I feel younger and more vibrant at 66 than I did at 65. I’m definitely going in the right direction, however and whichever way I’m walking!

Oh, and although I claim with all my heart that my weight-loss plain is strictly about health and not about looks, I have a confession. I saw several friends over the weekend that I had not seen in months, and all of them commented on how much weight I had lost and how good I looked. Such comments and compliments make me feel even better about my decision to lose weight. Yes, flattery is not required, but it sure feels good and is the fringe benefit to eating consciously, losing weight, and regaining my health.

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

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.

Tip: Join or Create a Community of Like-Minded People

First let me say that several people have complained they were unable to leave their comments on this blog. That’s okay. Folks have been reaching me through Facebook and by e-mail, and I want your comments, experiences, and feedback. I’m ecstatic that we have become a community of weight-conscious people supporting each other. Together, we will rock!

Let’s all weigh in on Mondays. Let me know how you’re doing, up, down, or the same. You don’t have to give your actual weight, even though I do, to spur myself on. By putting that original ugly number (245 pounds) out in front of the public, I finally had to face the ugly truth myself. Facing the truth and going public with it has motivated me to stay on track. I also feel extra pride as the weight disappears. You can choose to reveal your weight or not. Either way, I'll support you and your goal.

Okay, so today is Monday, weigh-in day, and I stepped timidly on the scale. Yesterday I had gone to my favorite restaurant and eaten my favorite dish there, eggplant parmesan. I can only guess at the caloric enormity of that dish. Three large eggplant slices arrive breaded, fried, and covered in cheese and sauce, and if that’s not bad enough, the plate includes a “side dish” of pasta that’s enough by itself to make another entire meal. In addition, it includes a choice of a Caesar salad or house salad. I can’t make a good Caesar salad at home, so I always go for the Caesar.

Restaurants want to make customers happy, and they know that large portions please customers and high-fat foods please the palate. My sister and her hubby and I ordered the same dish, but as a couple, the two of them wisely split and shared one order. I didn’t have a partner, so I chomped down my entire Caesar salad, but skipped the croutons (every corner cut is a calorie unconsumed!). I then ate one of the eggplant slices and about three or four small forkfuls of spaghetti. I pushed the plate away and asked for a takeaway box. I now have two more meals in my fridge, once I add salads. As a result I pleased my palate, my stomach, my wallet, and my mind. I consumed plenty of food and felt thoroughly satisfied, plus I felt proud to have resisted the urge to eat more, simply because it tasted good.

Still, that breading, frying, and pasta weighed heavily on my mind this morning, and I felt a little trepidation when I stepped on the scale. Voila! My weight is down three pounds from last week. It proves that conscious eating—not dieting, but eating consciously—and a little exercise combine to give me the results I want.

Why do I harp on the “Don’t Call It a Diet” theme? Because diets dictate what you can and can’t eat, and for me, if I’m told I can’t eat something, I’ll soon crave it. If I cave and eat what I craved, I lose confidence and stop following the diet. In addition, if I am told I have to eat something, after a while, I don’t want to eat it. I know, because I’m a veteran of diets.

I tried the Scarsdale Diet years ago. It required that I eat some sort of bread that I had never tasted, and I was not pleased with it. Still, the diet plan called for a slice of that bread toasted and eaten every morning, and within the course of eating a loaf of that junk, I was done. No more Scarsdale for me, and very little weight lost. Another diet called for cooking and eating large quantities of cabbage, onion, and tomato soup. I actually liked the taste of it at first, but it gave me tremendous amounts of gas, which set me up for quite a few embarrassing moments at work. Having to eat that concoction every day, though, I soon lost my taste for it and quit. A few times I’ve told myself I won’t eat popcorn or desserts, and depriving myself of those things would be my diet plan. Oh, heavens, the next thing I knew, I was wolfing down ice cream, followed by large bowls of popcorn.

My food plan, though, is not a diet. The only restriction, if you can call it that, is to be fully conscious of what I eat. I know I don’t need the full amount of food I used to eat. The quantities I used to eat resulted in an overweight body. I now want a more height-weight-proportionate body, which means I have to reduce the volume of food I eat. To do so, I must be conscious of every mouthful of food I consume. It’s the easiest thing in the world! I don’t have to buy special foods, order special prepared foods, pay a consultant, attend meetings, buy and read any more diet books, or undergo surgery. All I have to do is put less food into my body than my body needs for that day. One day at a time. One meal at a time.

Exercise builds my strength and uses up some of that food I like to eat. In addition to my dog strolls, my preferred exercise is swimming and water aerobics, a series of calisthenics performed in the water. Water resistance adds to the workout, plus the water adds buoyancy that reduces the impact on my body. It’s all good.



One water aerobics exercise, though, has been my nemesis for years. In it I’m supposed to make a fist, bend my elbows, lift my left knee, touch it to my right elbow, and then alternate, again and again. It’s a good body crunch, provided a person can actually get her knees high enough to touch her elbows. My fat legs have long limited my flexibility, plus my fat stomach gets in the way. I haven’t touched elbow to knee in years. I always made the attempt, but all that happened was that I got winded and frustrated. Guess what, friends. Today my knees and elbows touched. I did it! It was a huge milestone for me. Oh, this losing-weight thing is so much fun, I wonder why I resisted it so long.

Now for today’s weigh-in information.

Starting weight: 245
Goal weight for this week: 223
Actual weight this week: 220
Goal weight for next week: 219
Total weight lost: 25
Overall goal weight: 150

Tip: The first bite of dessert is always the best. Make it your last bite, as well.

After I cut out sweets for a while, I no longer crave sweets. I have my favorite things still in the house, bite-size candy bars and Little Debbie peanut butter bars, but everything is growing stale while I am of the mindset that I want to get healthy and stay healthy. I strongly believe we should not forbid ourselves anything, lest we then crave it, but conscious eating means that if I ate a bite-size candy bar, I’d have to eat considerably less lunch or dinner than I’d like, and I’d rather eat foods that add to my health, than those that merely add to my pleasure and, unfortunately, my waistline.

One friend of mine, though, says she can’t give up sweets entirely. She simply can’t. Well, I haven’t given up sweets, either; I simply choose to make fruit my sweets, now. What I told her, though, is my philosophy (and I swear it’s true; challenge me!) that the first bite of any dessert is always the best, so there’s no need to eat more than one bite to fulfill a serious craving. She decided to buy the slice of chocolate cake that she loves, take it home, dice it up into bite-size pieces, freeze them individually, and eat one maybe every few days or so, if she gets a craving for a sweet snack. Her idea is an excellent one for folks who find giving up dessert impossible.

Instead of eating high-calorie desserts, though, I weaned myself to fruit when I want a treat. I eat a few slices of fresh pineapple or a pear, peach, plum, or pluot as a snack around 3:00, if I feel a little hungry. I needed to break myself of the habit of eating dessert at all. I used to eat a full meal (usually more than I needed to eat) and then dessert, and sometimes several desserts. After that I might still have a bowl of popcorn, but all that is history. I want health more than I want to stuff my mouth, now.

Every time I get on the scale, look in the mirror, or put on a blouse I haven’t worn in a while and see the improvement in my weight or the fit of my clothes, I’m reassured and reminded that I am doing the right thing for my health. Statistically, overweight people die at younger ages than people who are height-weight proportionate, and I’m of the age that I’ve already lost many friends, some of whom were younger than me. I don’t want diabetes, a heart attack, or painful joints if I can do something to avoid all that.

As I write this, I’ve been on a food plan for only five weeks, and it has become second nature to me already. No longer do I fret over what to eat. I no longer have great hunger between meals, only hunger at appropriate meal times.

What inspired me to start a food plan was a visit to the doctor. I’d been hobbling on painful knees for a couple of years, feeling like an old lady, and finally the pain in my back and knees reached a peak that sent me for help. The nursing assistant casually mentioned weight as being a factor for most orthopedic surgery, and when my doctor also suggested weight loss and referred me to an orthopedic surgeon, I didn’t feel thrilled. A week later, when I finally got into the orthopedic surgeon’s office, I had lost a couple of pounds, but the orthopedic surgeon wanted to put me on heavy painkillers and antacids to avoid internal bleeding, and he, too, suggested that I lose weight. I hated the thought of being so full of painkillers that I also had to take a strong antacid to avoid bleeding internally. How many times did I have to be hit over the head with the facts, before I finally listened?

Now, only five weeks later, and with no surgery, I no longer have pain in my back, and my knees are much better, more flexible, and with only an occasional tweak of pain that passes quickly. I can again walk up and down stairs comfortably. I can carry my groceries from the car and up the stairs into the kitchen without having to set the bags on each step to rest. I can walk down my steep driveway without fearing that my knee will go out and I’ll fall. I walk the dog farther and more often and enjoy every step of the way. I feel normal again, and I no longer feel like an aging cripple. I feel young, spry, and ready to go out dancing, something I thought was over for me, forever, just six weeks ago.

I thank all my fellow food watchers who report I have inspired them to choose to eat healthier and lose weight, and I thank all of you for supporting me. I’m still shooting for that goal of being 200 pounds or under by New Year’s Eve, and it looks quite feasible. I have eighteen weeks and about 21 pounds to reach my goal. After that, I’ll set another goal, until I finally reach my healthy weight, which for me is 150 pounds. I still won’t be a lightweight by most standards, but 150 pounds would be only ten pounds more than my weight in high school.

Let me know what you’d like to weigh by December 31, and we’ll all move toward our goals together!

Tip: A Salad a Day Keeps the Weight Away

Glory be, I love this food plan! I weigh myself once a week (or more; let’s face it, even I cheat!), and yesterday was my weigh-in day, and I lost two more pounds. I’m like an alcoholic who’s finally gotten sober and becomes addicted to sobriety, talking about it all the time. Seems all my friends and family members want to join me in my food plan, and they’re losing weight, too. As a result, healthy eating and losing weight top the list of our conversation topics.

I don’t mind. It’s a good thing to see folks around me climbing on my bandwagon toward success. It helps me, and I help them.

I keep saying I’m not on a diet; I’m on a food plan, and I can eat whatever I want, as long as I keep portion size in mind. Last week at the supermarket I saw samples of cake. I took one of the small slices, unwrapped it, and took a nibble. M-m-m good, one of those moist pudding cakes. I moved my cart to my now-favorite section of the supermarket, the produce section, and I took a second nibble of the cake.

Isn’t it funny that the first bite of dessert is always the best? I swear, it’s downhill from there. The second bite was good, yes, but the first one was better. I saw a trash bin near the corn and tossed the remainder of the cake in the trash. It’s fun being completely conscious of what I consume. I fulfilled my sweet tooth without mindlessly inhaling the entire slice of cake.

Let’s get back to the produce section. One of my biggest food-plan tips would be to make at least one meal a day a salad. I never get bored with my salads, because I get all sorts of add-ins. Oh, sure, I use the usual lettuce (I prefer Romaine), spinach, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and other items from the produce department, but I love to add things that surprise my taste buds, too, such as fresh basil, tasty croutons (in moderation), chopped pecans (in moderation, and chop them yourself; they’re much tastier than the pre-chopped, expensive ones), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, beets (either plain or pickled), olives (in moderation), granola, dried cranberries, raisins, dried blueberries, corn kernels (in moderation), cilantro, and you name it. Don’t forget the protein, though. Yes, add enough protein to make the salad stick around, so you’re not hungry in a couple of hours. Here’s my favorite protein to add: an egg; chopped leftover pork, beef, fish, or chicken; a chopped slice of chicken bologna, chopped turkey bratwurst…you get the picture. Simply remember the portion size. Limit the protein to the size of your palm of your hand, and you’ll be within portion limits. The leafy greens, however, do not have to be measured or weighed or anything. They’re good for you, and the more greens you have in your bowl, the fewer fatty things you’ll put in it.

Do be aware that some of the items I listed as add-ins are high in fat—avocado, seeds and nuts, olives, croutons, and the like, so include them in moderation, just enough to taste.

When it comes to the salad dressing, forget all those “diet” or low-fat dressings! You’re usually paying for added water, that’s all. All you have to do is know how much dressing to use. Use no more than two tablespoons, and I assure you, when you toss your salad, two tablespoons of dressing will coat every leaf and other item in the bowl. Trust me. If you want more dressing, you can add in a little plain yogurt to your creamy dressings or a little more vinegar to your vinaigrette dressings to expand them almost harmlessly.

So today’s tip: A salad a day keeps the weight away.

Knowing that you will have a salad for lunch or dinner makes meal planning simple and cuts down on your shopping decisions, both in a supermarket and in a restaurant. I like things simple, don’t you?

Before I give this week’s statistics, I need to add something that several people have written to warn me about. I have a goal of losing one pound a week, but people tell me that goal is unrealistic; some weeks I won’t lose that much, and as I stay on a food plan, my body will adjust, and the weight won’t come off as quickly as it does at the beginning of a food plan. These folks are completely right, so I should have clarified two things.

My goal of one pound a week is an average loss. In this way I won’t be disappointed when I lose less than a pound, because some weeks I have lost as many as three pounds, and the average is still good. Secondly, I set my goals high, maybe even unreachable, but I’d rather aim high and do well, if not perfectly, than aim low and perform less well.

If you’re reading my blog and thinking of losing weight, please sign up to follow my journey. You’ll get tips along the way, and we’ll all support each other in our goals. The more the merrier.

Now for today’s statistics:

Original weight: 245
Weight last week: 226
Goal weight for this week: 225
Actual weight this week: 224
Goal weight for next week: 223
Total pounds lost: 21
Final goal weight: 150

Tip: Weigh Yourself Only Once a Week

It’s Monday, so it’s weigh-in day, and the news is okay; not great, but okay. I lost a pound, which meets my goal of losing at least one pound a week, so I’m certainly not complaining, but I know why I lost only a pound. I had the best week, filled with social activities, which means going to restaurants with family members and friends. I ate out not once or twice but at least four times in seven days. Restaurant food tends to be loaded with calories and portions that are larger than they should be, and buffets are even worse. They beg me to overeat, or so it feels. I did well with most of my choices and quantities, but still, I know I ate more than necessary and ate things I wouldn’t have eaten at home.

A girl’s gotta have fun, even when she’s on a food plan, and I did have fun and lost a pound, too, as my weigh-in this morning can attest. I find it tough to weigh myself only once a week. I often sneak peeks midweek or after eating a big meal, but I know I shouldn’t. Do as I say, not as I do! I had an interesting conversation recently with a girlfriend, who disagreed with me about weighing in once a week. “Weight fluctuates from day to day,” she said, “and sometimes you can be two pounds up and the next day it’s gone. What if you’re two pounds up on the day you weigh in for the week? It could be discouraging.”

I agreed that weigh fluctuates; however, my comeback was this: “If you’ve stuck to your food plan and exercised all week, chances are that at the end of the week, you won’t be up two pounds, even for a day.”

Her argument, that weigh fluctuates, is exactly why experts tell us not to weigh every day; a weight gain when you’re on a weigh-loss program can frustrate a person and make him or her go off a food plan. If you give your body a whole week between weigh-ins, though, and you stick to your food and exercise plan, you have a greater chance of seeing a weight loss after seven days.

That’s my tip, then; weigh in only once a week. Mondays are my weigh-in days, so today’s score is listed below. One more pound dropped. More importantly, I feel a difference, an improvement, in my body already. My midriff feels less bloated, my knees hurt less, and I’m able to walk up and down the stairs in my house much easier, faster, and without pain or fear that I’ll fall. As a result, I’ve been walking my dog farther, which adds to my exercise. Things are looking up, even if my weight is down only sixteen ounces this week.

Original weight: 245
Weight last week: 230
Goal weight for this week: 229
Actual weight this week: 229
Goal weight for next week: 228
Total pounds lost: 16
Final goal weight: 150