Confessions of a struggling dieter...

Yes, it's been quite some time since I've posted anything. After "maintaining" for three months, I then had six months of some of the weight slowing creeping back on. I've had a good week followed by a couple bad weeks, then another good week followed by more bad weeks. It seemed to be much easier when I said "No, you can't eat that!" than when I tried to allow myself some exceptions. My exceptions easily led to a spiral downward on the sugar train. It seems when I have a little sugar, my body then craves more sugar and overtakes my brain and before I knew it, I'd be downing my third or fourth exception in one day. I don't know it you've ever experienced such a frustrating roller coaster. Since I see diet tips and tricks on the front of 90% of the magazines on the shelves each week, my guess is many people struggle with the same problems.

So, I'm now up 20 pounds and have determined that I need to be serious again to take off these pounds plus my additional 20+ more that I initially wanted to lose last year.

I feel like I'm Kirstie Alley reporting, or Oprah or Wynonna. Well, I guess I really am like them. It seems, we who have had to fight weight gain all our lives, will continue to have to face the battle daily for the remaining days/years that we have left. I just need to remind myself daily that it is a battle and I need to stay focused to win.

I've read it's not about the destination, but rather it's all about the journey to the destination. I believe this is true in living a healthy lifestyle, as well. The daily journey needs to be lived in such a way that I remember my eating choices are about being healthy and minimizing my chances of chronic health problems. It is a daily choice to choose the right food, the right snacks, and simply the right time to say "no" to eating anything at all.

I'm also learning that stress is a huge stimulator to eating poorly for me. There have been stressful times over the past six months that have taken a lot of my energy. I think it just became easier to just "treat" myself to a little satisfaction with chocolate when other things around me seemed to be out of my control. The problem with this thinking it that I was also losing control of my body... it really wasn't a "treat" but another time that I lost out to my inner struggles.

So, back to my renewed vigor to get back on the bandwagon. The Biggest Loser finale proved again that weight loss is possible... with a lot of hard work. A friend of mine recently started dieting using a similar tactic that I used last year - no carbs and no sugars. In 15 weeks, she reported that she had lost 28+ pounds. I know in my mind it can be done. I witnessed it first-hand in my own life last year. And, before spiraling any further down this slippery slope to fathood, I must take charge of my life, my mind and my mouth. I am cutting out the carbs and sugars as of today. I will report back on a weekly basis to let you know where I am. I need this accountability. And, through this process, hopefully I can motivate you to eat healthier and choose to live life to its fullest, too.

Good luck to me... and good luck to you!

Weekends hard?

How do you do when it comes to the weekend? Is it a little hard to stay focused? What is your food fettish? Are you a chocolate lover (like me)? Or, is do you crave salty snacks? Or, is it a need for ice-cream?

Well... let's see... what do you do to keep from snacking all night long, all weekend long? I'll attempt to give you a couple of ideas to help you through this weekend.

First, have something like an apple, a piece of fruit or some carrot sticks BEFORE you run to the store to buy your groceries. :) Then, when you go to the grocery store, try to look for natural foods (fruits, vegetables). If that doesn't sound good, then at least try to purchase snacks or sweets that are low fat or low sugar. I try to fill the cupboards with pretzels or low-fat wheat crackers for my kids. Sherbet is also a good alternative to ice-cream. I also try to buy things that seem good (but healthy) for my kids, yet not tempting for myself.

Then, go ahead and keep drinking your water! Get some flavored water if that will help you feel like you're treating yourself to something sweet.

Finally, if you really want to have something "off your list" of approved diet foods, then try to treat yourself with a bite or two of someone else's serving. That way they can eat the rest before you're tempted further.

Good luck! Have a great weekend... enjoy something healthy and watch a great movie!

Water... your best drink option!

Hi! I've been quite busy this week, but thought I better take a few minutes to post another weight loss tip.

Water... this is what you should be drinking each and every day... at least 8 glasses (64 ounces total). More is even better. Other drink options include coffee and tea, preferably warm tea. You should use a sugar substitute rather than sugar. The best sugar substitute available is Xylotol. Do not count your cups of coffee or tea as part of your 64 ounces of water.

Start first thing in the morning with 8 ounces of water. This will help fill your stomach. Then, throughout the day keep a cup of water with you to sip.

Although you may think it's okay to drink diet soda, it's really not good for you. It actually causes you to be more thirsty as well as causing you to crave foods, especially sugars.

So, if you're craving some pop, just take a sip of a friends and then go back to your water. If you're bored with plain old water, then try some flavored water or sparkling water. I began the switch from pop to flavored water. That's the only way I managed to make the switch. Then, after a few months, I got tired of the sweet flavor of the water and actually preferred plain, crisp, cool water.

Good luck... have a drink (of water) on me tonight!

Remember, weight loss is possible. You can do it. Stay focused and take baby steps!

Best Veggies to Eat

During the main, strict portion of my plan I was very limited on the vegetables I could eat. Let me share the list with you:

Lettuce (darker leafed forms of lettuce is best)
Spinach
Onions
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Celery
Red radishes
Cabbage
Fennel
Asparagus
Chard
Chicory
Beet-greens

I listed the fully available vegetables, but I didn't personally like all those listed so for my 7 weeks of strict dieting, I was limited to lettuce, spinach, onions, cucumbers and celery. I had radishes once, but they're just not that exciting to me. :)

So, how much can/should you eat? Well, it was suggested that you eat one handful of one vegetable for lunch and one handful for supper. It has been suggested that you can eat larger quantities than one handful, if needed, of this list since they are lower in caloric value.

It is best to not have the same exact meal for lunch and supper in the same day. So, if you have beef and onions for lunch, then try to have chicken and lettuce or some other vegetable other than onion for supper.

So, go now and enjoy some great vegetables that are also good for you and your weight loss effort!

Track Your Weight Loss Success

Tracking your weight loss is helpful to keep you focused on the plan. It can also be another form of encouragement!

I started my Excel spreadsheet in 2001 - 4 diets ago. :) I've tracked weekly weight loss (and then gain) each time until I gave up... UNTIL this time.

This past year (July 2007) I started tracking for the fourth time on a new sheet in my Excel workbook file. I have the past diet losses to compare with, which is a bit fun.

You may be wondering what should be "tracked". Well, I weigh in (and record my weight) every Friday morning. I type in this weight in one column. I then have other columns give me some calculations to show how much I've lost during the past week, how much I've lost total since I started and the average pounds lost per week. I also have two more columns - the date and the total number of weeks I've been dieting. This time I also added one more column for the total percentage of body weight I've lost so far.

My stats this week are:
55 weeks completed, 88 pounds lost total, average of 1.6 pounds lost per week, lost 34.38% of my total weight since I started.

So, go ahead... begin a new tracking system whether it's in Excel or some other format. It's just good to have that weekly date to look forward to and also great to have a record of goals met and weight loss to be able to look back at and get encouraged!

Something else to track would be inches lost... more on that another time!

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Roasted Vegetables - A Recipe Great for Dieters!

Veggies... how many of you like eating vegetables every day? I haven't been much of a veggie eater. There are few of them that I really like, and most that I do like aren't found on "diet" lists. :) Thus comes the challenge when trying a new weight loss/diet plan.

I've spent the past year on this new "eating plan", traditionally known as a diet. For me, it's a new way of living, a new way of eating. I have a list of vegetables that I can eat on a regular basis. Of course, it's not always easy to find ways to eat your veggies without overcooking them or just eating them raw all the time.

Well, my husband (the cook of the house) has come up with a couple ways to roast vegetables in the oven that is simply delicious! I ask for roasted veggies every night. My kids are kind of sick of them now, but I still love them.

Set your oven to 450 degrees. Spread out your vegetables (in our case, we usually do carrots or a combination of carrots and onions) on a 9 x 13 jelly roll pan. Pour 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over the veggies. Stir briefly, if needed. Sprinkle with seasonings (I'll list a few of my favorites). Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring half way through. The carrots should look half wrinkled up with blackened edges to them. They should be tender to the touch, but not smooshy.

Season options include:

• Dill weed (best when roasting just carrots)
• Garlic powder (great on carrots or combination of veggies)
• Sea salt & pepper (great when including red onions, or when also including potatoe wedges for your family)

Be creative with your vegetable choices. We tried zucchini and onions the other night. The zucchini cooked a little too much, so it would probably be better to start with only the onions in the oven, then add the zucchini 10 minutes later.

Enjoy! Bon appetit!