I lost another pound at weigh-in, but managed to undo any good I did last night.
*sigh* Sometimes it happens that way.
But I have the tools: tracking, portion control, knowledge and support to get back in control. Shoot, let's get real, even those people who aren't on Weight Watchers have the 'tools'. You know what you have to do, the key is to actually doing it!
So, what do I mean by tracking trends?
When I track, I provide more information than is technically necessary--if I do a quick add, I will add the time of the add. This gives me an idea of how often I eat along with the quantity.
Here are a few of my observations:
Portions--This is a biggie since our eyes tend to see things differently from reality. Weighing and measuring is the only way to figure this one out. Weighing in grams is more accurate than weighing in ounces. Another problem with portion control is plate size. The smaller the plate makes the smaller amounts of food look like more than it really is, which is better for those of us who enjoy quantity over quality. The fact is that if you eat out, the plates are HUGE, which means you receive more than an appropriate portion, therefore 2-3 servings on your plate instead of one. You have to weigh and measure at home to keep yourself in the right mindset when you eat out.
Tracking--writing everything down is pinnacle to succeeding. When I was at goal, I became lazy. I knew the program. I knew what a portion was. I knew how to lose weight. What I didn't know was how to keep it off. Tracking even at goal, keeps you on the straight and narrow path. If you don't write it down, then you tend to convienently forget that you ate it. True, sometimes we have a bad day and don't track because we don't want to know what we did, but it helps to jot down a note about what happened.
Notes--are important. If you happen to have a busy day: meetings, errands, children, whatever. It helps to jot down what was going on, especially if it causes a non-tracking, overeating type of day. This is especially important in the future if you have another one of those days. Hopefully, a bad day will cause you how to plan NOT to have that type of day in the future.
Hoarding points--I am so guilty of this that it isn't even funny. Having only 26 points is a huge problem especially if your significant other has 43 points. He can eat a 7-10 point breakfast and lunch and still have more points for dinner than I do in ONE DAY! It's frustrating. So I tend to hoard points to allow for more points during dinner. What I need to start doing is figuring out my dinner points and then spread the rest evenly throughout the day.
Not eating until hungry--I also do this, but the problem that I noticed is that while I might not eat until I feel a twinge, I tend to keep eating even when I'm full . . . er, overfull.
What you eat and when you eat--we're told that we need to eat every four hours to keep our blood sugar at a steady rate. This doesn't mean a full meal every four hours, it just means something. One thing I learned is that while a banana might satisfy my hunger in the morning, it doesn't last. Fruits are carbs--good carbs, but still carbs--they are digested quickly, which means they don't hold you as long. I need protein to keep me, and my stomach, from grazing. Protein takes longer to digest, which means it sits in your stomach longer, thus keeping you from hunger.
So as I settle into weight loss mode, I'm analyzing my food choices more than when I wasn't trying to lose weight.
I make good choices, and I also make poor choices, but they are my choices. I'm the one who has to be accountable.
How accountable are you? Document everything and you will notice patterns and trends in your food choices. Sometimes it has to do with the monthly cycle, sometimes the lunar cycle, but the more you are aware of your personal trends, the better you are at making better food choices.
Later, Peeps!
Showing posts with label portion control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label portion control. Show all posts
2/26/14
Weighty Wednesday -- Lazy Eye
*I'm putting a few of my books up for free through Amazon over the next ten days. If you have a Kindle or Kindle App, you can download them. Click on the cover to the right of the blog and it will take you to the US Kindle store. I don't remember which ones are free for what day, so you'll have to do a little clicking to find out! GNOME is free today, so click the picture on the right and download away!*
**Yes, it's available in foreign countries, but I don't have them linked on my front page.**
Today's topic, "Lazy Eye" is NOT about ophthalmology, where the doctor diagnoses one eye going wacky because the muscles aren't holding it in place, usually seen in children.
This is blog is about how we "think" we know amounts and sizes of food.
Those of us who have practiced measuring, weighing and portion control will eventually stop doing it because we know how much everything is. In other words, we start eyeballing the amount.
Eventually this gets us into trouble as our eye becomes lazy and the four ounces we had been eating soon creeps up to five or six ounces of food.
Which adds up to more food, more WW points, and eventually more pounds on our bodies.
So many people complain about the WW program that there is too much portion control management. That's true, but you could also follow their Simply Filling part of the program, but it limits you in your food choice.
The key to good weight loss, along with keeping it off, is portion control. And the only way you will be able to control your food when you eat out is to practice portion control at home.
Because if you think the servings you receive in a restaurant are one serving, then you have a little reality check coming your way.
Do your homework of measuring, and then weighing, the products you are eating at home, because when you eat out, you will have an educated eye about the foods you are served.
Later, Peeps!
**Yes, it's available in foreign countries, but I don't have them linked on my front page.**
Today's topic, "Lazy Eye" is NOT about ophthalmology, where the doctor diagnoses one eye going wacky because the muscles aren't holding it in place, usually seen in children.
This is blog is about how we "think" we know amounts and sizes of food.
Those of us who have practiced measuring, weighing and portion control will eventually stop doing it because we know how much everything is. In other words, we start eyeballing the amount.
Eventually this gets us into trouble as our eye becomes lazy and the four ounces we had been eating soon creeps up to five or six ounces of food.
Which adds up to more food, more WW points, and eventually more pounds on our bodies.
So many people complain about the WW program that there is too much portion control management. That's true, but you could also follow their Simply Filling part of the program, but it limits you in your food choice.
The key to good weight loss, along with keeping it off, is portion control. And the only way you will be able to control your food when you eat out is to practice portion control at home.
Because if you think the servings you receive in a restaurant are one serving, then you have a little reality check coming your way.
Do your homework of measuring, and then weighing, the products you are eating at home, because when you eat out, you will have an educated eye about the foods you are served.
Later, Peeps!
3/20/13
Weighty Wednesday -- A Few Things
1) With the time change, I've started walking twice-a-day a few days a week. Actually, it was supposed to be four days a week, but I don't want to overdo it. I've been taking it slow and walking four times around the path behind the middle school, which encompasses a football field, a baseball field, a park area, and a small basketball area. One loop around is about 0.85 mile, maybe a little more. I do know they have it posted that you have to walk a little more than one lap to reach a mile.
Anyway, I'm exhausted!
I love walking. I love walking in the evening. But I love walking with my hubs in the evening even more. Hear that hubs?? Quit working so late and come home to walk with your woman!
Thursday night I was saved because the school is finally fixing the asphalt trail. The last two summers have been brutally hot, cracking the asphalt so deeply that you could almost see through to the magma layer of earth! Most of the track had been torn up, leaving an uneven gravel path. I walked it once and threw in the towel. I was tired and I didn't want to hurt myself.
2) I purchased a couple of 'single serving' items recently-- peanut butter and hummus.
Now, we all know that these items are more expensive than buying a jar of whatever, but sometimes you have to take the financial hit to get a handle on serving size. Both of these are 2 oz., roughly 1/4 cup of product. One is worth 4 Weight Watcher's Points, one is 7 WWP. It's easy to guess which is which, and I'm not here to tell you which one I think is the 'healthier' of the pair. The key is AWARENESS. I'm also using this as a learning tool for my daughter. Unless you start measuring and being aware of an appropriate size and how many calories/carbs it is, then you will start eating out of the jar with a spoon . . . like I did. Learn this portion control lesson when you are younger, then you might not have a weight issue when you are older.
Notice I didn't say you won't have a weight issue? Too many factors go into the equation, but sometimes it's better to take the financial hit.
Personally, I like the hummus with baby carrots. It's 4 points, but I really like it. :-)
3) Remember that if you increase your exercise, but don't change your eating habits you might see an increase or a plateau with your weight. Don't 'fess yourself. This is perfectly natural. The key is to maintain the same level of eating while you increase your activity, and eventually you will see your weight decrease. If you don't see some change in a week, then concentrate on your diet. Make sure you eat ENOUGH food. Many times, believe it or not, we decrease our intake so much that our bodies think we are in starvation mode. And also make sure you are eating enough of the RIGHT kind of food. In other words, cut out the refined sugars and flours, and measure/weight you food as our eyes tend to see more than we should eat.
4) If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and have a rare day of sunshine, then go out and enjoy it. The sun is so weak at this point that you don't need suntan lotion, but you can be burned if you have sensitive skin or you stay out too long. Just soak up that Vitamin D--it's good for you!
5) Remember to change out your walking shoes before they look like this:
That's all I have for today.
Later, Peeps!
Anyway, I'm exhausted!
I love walking. I love walking in the evening. But I love walking with my hubs in the evening even more. Hear that hubs?? Quit working so late and come home to walk with your woman!
Thursday night I was saved because the school is finally fixing the asphalt trail. The last two summers have been brutally hot, cracking the asphalt so deeply that you could almost see through to the magma layer of earth! Most of the track had been torn up, leaving an uneven gravel path. I walked it once and threw in the towel. I was tired and I didn't want to hurt myself.
2) I purchased a couple of 'single serving' items recently-- peanut butter and hummus.
Now, we all know that these items are more expensive than buying a jar of whatever, but sometimes you have to take the financial hit to get a handle on serving size. Both of these are 2 oz., roughly 1/4 cup of product. One is worth 4 Weight Watcher's Points, one is 7 WWP. It's easy to guess which is which, and I'm not here to tell you which one I think is the 'healthier' of the pair. The key is AWARENESS. I'm also using this as a learning tool for my daughter. Unless you start measuring and being aware of an appropriate size and how many calories/carbs it is, then you will start eating out of the jar with a spoon . . . like I did. Learn this portion control lesson when you are younger, then you might not have a weight issue when you are older.
Notice I didn't say you won't have a weight issue? Too many factors go into the equation, but sometimes it's better to take the financial hit.
Personally, I like the hummus with baby carrots. It's 4 points, but I really like it. :-)
3) Remember that if you increase your exercise, but don't change your eating habits you might see an increase or a plateau with your weight. Don't 'fess yourself. This is perfectly natural. The key is to maintain the same level of eating while you increase your activity, and eventually you will see your weight decrease. If you don't see some change in a week, then concentrate on your diet. Make sure you eat ENOUGH food. Many times, believe it or not, we decrease our intake so much that our bodies think we are in starvation mode. And also make sure you are eating enough of the RIGHT kind of food. In other words, cut out the refined sugars and flours, and measure/weight you food as our eyes tend to see more than we should eat.
4) If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and have a rare day of sunshine, then go out and enjoy it. The sun is so weak at this point that you don't need suntan lotion, but you can be burned if you have sensitive skin or you stay out too long. Just soak up that Vitamin D--it's good for you!
5) Remember to change out your walking shoes before they look like this:
That's all I have for today.
Later, Peeps!
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