I hate diets. No, I really hate them. I love to eat and have an overly healthy appetite, and I hate to be told I need to restrict or eliminate this or that. If I am in the mood for something you might as well get out of my way because I am going to eat it even if I promised myself I wasn't going to. Brett has often tried to help remind of any self-imposed restrictions and has learned he probably just shouldn't butt in.
With that said, I have resigned myself to the fact that if I want to lose these last 15 lbs from my pregnancy I have make a change. Not even running enough to be able to finish a half-marathon (running the whole way, mind you) was enough to get it all off. Basically, unless I want to spend my whole day at the gym, I won't burn enough calories to get back to pre-pregnancy condition. I have to change the way I eat :(
Don't get me wrong, I actually love fruits and veggies and would rather have anything whole wheat rather than white. I also don't like most condiments, dressings and sauces, so that takes away some of my calories automatically. I also prefer drinking water to anything else. It takes at least a whole year usually to get through a 12 pack of 7-up in our house. We just don't do the soda thing and only keep 7-up on hand for illness. So, I am not the picture of horrible health and bad eating.
Where's my weakness? Well, it's actually two things: Portion size and sugar. I like to have generous portions. I read these diet books talking about portion control and all I can think is I will starve. Who eats that small of anything? Well, a lot of people do and apparently you have to in order to lose weight :( And sugar...There is not much of anything that contains sugar that I don't love. I am a total dessert / candy junkie. With the exception of foods with shredded coconut or marshmallows, I'll pretty much eat anything that resembles a sweet treat.
The working out part of weight loss is just fine with me. I actually really like to exercise. Well, let me rephrase that, I like how you feel after a good workout and how much better it seems you can manage your life when you're working out on a regular basis. I have been fairly diligent at getting some exercise, but probably not enough effective exercise to really make a difference. It was really hard to make enough time for it when I was doing the full-time work / mother / RS pres all at the same time. I still got something in at least four days a week, but it was often a weak attempt and probably didn't last much longer than 30 minutes at a time. It's all I had time for.
Now that work is no longer a factor I am getting back on a 6 day / week workout schedule and I am really excited about that. I haven't been perfect at that yet either, but I know that's something I can be successful at because for the six months or so before my mission I was a gym junkie and I loved it. Besides that, Brett has always been really supportive of my exercise efforts and makes sure I have time and support to work out. Having a jogging stroller really helps too.
Anyway, I didn't intend this to be such a long post about diet and exercise. Really, I just wanted to know if anyone has any tips that help in weight loss, especially in changing my dieting habits. I realize it's a life change, not a 3 month program that you just do and then you can go back to eating huge meals and dessert everyday :) So, any advice I can get to help out would be super helpful.
8 comments:
Seeing as my struggles are the same, I don't think I can offer advice. However, I always appreciate your time given to going on walks with me...at least a small effort to being active!!
sorry I am built for comfort not speed so I probably am an unlikely source of info on this topic. I know how to not lose weight though, I have been doing it for years now and consider myself somewhat of an expert in the field
I sympathize with you because I just simply love food. I could eat and eat and eat. My struggles are definitely portion size related.
You would think I'd have more to say on this topic, seeing as I have a degree in Exercise Science, but alas, I do not. Ok, I have lost 15 lbs in the last 2 months, but not in a healthy fashion. I guess my only bit of advise would be smaller meals, and more of them. 5 small meals instead of 3 big ones. That seems to work for a lot of people.
You could probably make a lot of money if you figure this one out. I have the same issue. I eat too much at a time, and then always want ice cream at night. Anytime you want me to watch Adie so you can workout by yourself.... :)
I tend to want sugar more when I'm stressed. So having different coping patterns can help alot. Oh and..I try and not buy anything sweeter than fruit, so at least in my house I won't be tempted! :)
maybe this will help...choose a calorie goal to meet everyday and pay attention to the serving size portions on labels. For example, i try to meet 1500 calories a day of good calories, (as opposed to empty ones) low in fat, saturated fat and sugar. Its hard to eat smaller portions at first and not feel so hungry, but if you do it for awhile your body will become use to it and you will feel satisfied after meals. Also if you are craving something sweet in between meals try eating your favorite fruit (we can never get too much fruit!). But dont feel bad if you splurge on some chocolate every once in awhile! :-)
Thanks for the empathy and advice. We were going to start the diet Monday, but I started my week making cookies (for other people), so of course, I indulged a little too much. I guess I just need to get back on the horse and try again :)
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