Showing posts with label Diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diet. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Whole 30- Much later

So, it's been a while since I've written.
I was a little mad at the Whole 30 when I finished because I lost only 3 pounds, and then after the trip to Florida, I gained 2 back. Alas.
It was probably unreasonable for me to expect that I'd lose a lot, since I've been already eating a very practical diet for a long time, the weight watchers for a while and then watching still closely since then. But I was a little annoyed.
Since the whole 30 ended, I've been making adjustments to it. I eat whole fat dairy products, as milk in coffee, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, high quality cheese. My stomach doesn't mind that at all.
I eat grains much less frequently, a bagel or french toast on the weekend when we go to breakfast. Or a hamburger bun or rice or corn tortillas when we go out to eat. Not that big of a deal. My stomach doesn't much like the bagels, they feel very heavy for about 3 hours. (But there is this amazing salmon platter at Barrone that I can't do without, so I have it every few weeks.)
Otherwise, close to Paleo at home and not as close eating out.
It feels good, my digestive system is functioning really well.
My normal breakfast is a 2 egg omelet with spinach, tomato and some cheese, with a small cut up avocado on the side with green salsa on top. Very tasty and keeps me filled for about 5 hours.
Then a small lunch, maybe roasted vegetables, or chicken salad.
Dinner is usually some paleo dinner that I make. I have found lots of good websites with recipes.
I notice that when I have some sugar I usually want more. I like dessert and crave it sometimes. But not usually more than once a week or so.

I have begun to see grains kind of like sawdust. A filler with almost no nutritional value. So, I try to fill myself with vegetables, fat, meat, protein, and high fat dairy, so that whatever that goes in does have some value. I may do the whole 30 again, it seems like a good idea to reset things, remind myself that the dairy, no matter how much I love it, is not necessary. I can live without many things in my diet. I guess it reminds me that I control what I eat and doing something strict is possible and healthy.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Whole30 - Day 22

I keep thinking how I am going to plan out my diet after the 30 days are over. Whole30 is meant more as a strict intro to Paleo, or a periodic re-commitment than a lifelong eating plan. But, as time goes on it gets both easier as I find more and more things I enjoy eating, and harder as I just want a treat and realize that the only sweet thing I can have is fruit. So yesterday I bought a pineapple and ate half of it!
I so miss coffee with cream. I've basically stopped drinking coffee because it is really bitter without cream and a little sugar. All I've read about paleo in the last few weeks, it seems that dairy is something that can be reintroduced if you are not intolerant to it, but on a lesser basis. Butter and cream because they are mostly fat and not lactose and then small amounts of cheese, can be added back in. I'm looking forward to that.
I have also found some interesting recipes for pancakes made with coconut flour or bananas that I'd like to try as well.
I am definitely losing weight! Who knows how much because I'm not allowed to weigh until the end of the 30 days, but I bought my first pair of size 8 pants since college. (That's over 12 years ago.) I am feeling slimmer all over and that is really nice.
Fred and I watched a documentary on Netflix called FatHead, where a man eats out 3 meals a day at fast food restaurants for 30 days and loses 12 pounds. Not with salads either, but with burgers and sausage sandwiches. He stayed under 2000 calories a day and kept the amount of carbohydrates under 100 grams, but his fat content was very high, over 100 grams a day. They referenced Good Calories, Bad Calories as well and it was great for me to see some of the examples illustrated out and explained more simply. I was glad Fred saw too. Eating fat helps your body get what it needs to burn. Eating starches and sugars increase your insulin and make your body turn them into fat and then store them instead of letting them out for your body to burn for energy. Very interesting. Helps me understand why I am still losing weight now even though I've about quadrupled my daily fat intake since starting paleo. And, nope, not "good fats" but all fats. Seems we have been duped by the government's agriculture pushing diet suggestions. (No one needs 6-11 servings of grains a day!, turns out I am needing no servings a day and am alert and upbeat and consistently energetic all day.)


Sunday, May 29, 2011

Whole30 - Day 15

We just had our first away time while on this new diet. We were in Carmel. The best western had tons of carbs for breakfast, so I had an apple and an orange and some cashews that I brought from home. Then we ate at our favorite place there, Belle www.carmelbelle.com for two meals yesterday. I had the polenta with everything, except the polenta. :) Which was roasted tomatoes, stir fried mushrooms, a poached egg, to which I added another egg and a side of roasted asparagus. SO delicious, then for dinner, I had the rotisserie chicken, avocado and tomato salad with bacon, alas, hold the blue cheese. Also SO delicious.
I had an americano, which is an espresso with hot water. Not as bitter as black coffee and at least it warmed me and made me feel like I was having a little treat.
I miss cheese!!!!!! So much. You know it comes with almost everything on every menu and is the most delicious thing in the world. I see it in my future in a mere 15 more days.
I am also excited to start up again with cream for the coffee.
That's what I miss most. Not breads or crackers or cakes or muffins. Just cheese and cream. Also, butter.
We had our grocery shopping day today. I made nomnompaleo's AMAZING baked broccoli with bacon. I followed the recipe and used two heads of broccoli. The flavor of the bacon permeated all of the broccoli and I feel like I could eat all of it right now! But I won't as I want some for later. I am roasting some tomatoes in the oven for garnishes for the next week's egg and chicken dishes. I also made some delicious salsa for garnishes as well. This is a variation of a recipe from a friend of mine named Lilliana who is from Colombia. She makes this much every week and it is excellent on tacos and chips.

Salsa:
5 tomatoes - chopped tiny
1 sweet onion - chopped tiny
1/2 bunch cilantro - chopped
2 jalapenos - seeded and deveined and chopped
4 scallions - chopped tiny
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp of garlic powder
salt
vinegar - maybe 4 tablespoons, I used cider just because wine, and rice vinegars are not allowed, and I'm out of regular.
olive oil - maybe 4 tablespoons

I'll top my eggs with this as well as almost everything else this week. So delicious.

So, things are going well.
I'm still alert and awake all of the time. No sluggishness or drowsiness. Not sure about weight loss as I'm not allowed to weigh myself until the end, but I think maybe 3 pounds so far. Things seem tighter (not clothes, but areas of my body), I'm sure the CrossFit workouts are attributing to that too.

It is so strange to say no to yourself as often as this diet demands. I was walking through San Francisco with visiting family and I thought, hmmmmm, shall I have a latte at Starbucks? no What about some small cinnamon donuts from the pier? no What about some ice cream? no What about anything at all in this entire bakery? no. It gives you a sense of power, but then also can be frustrating. Power because you realize you are in control of what you eat and saying no isn't going to kill you. Frustration because isn't it just lovely to eat some ice cream or have a latte while walking around? It's just 30 days. Then I'll have to figure out what I can do next.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Whole 30-Day 9

My acupuncturist said I should eat one cup of brown rice a day after I told her all about the Whole30 diet. I was actually surprised, thinking that she would have other concerns about it. I have added the brown rice, but only that, and so it may not really be the Whole30 anymore, but if there is a baby that is more important. I feel though that I am still on it and am behaving that way except for the rice.

It is a lot of cooking. But I try to do a lot in advance for the week.

For Breakfast I made a fritata:
I chopped onion, red pepper and zucchini and stir fried them,
Then I added 6 beaten eggs and cooked it for a little bit and finished it off in the oven.
It's good with green tomatillo salsa on top.
It should last 4 days.

For Lunch I made chicken salad:
I used "Just Chicken" from Trader Joes
Chopped it small and added mayo and dijon mustard and tarragon
Then I dice an avocado half and put the chicken salad on top
I top with some reduced Balsalmic Vinegar and a few roasted cashews for crunch
It will last 4 days as well.

For Dinner I made chili:
With a recipe from theclothesmakethegirl.blogspot.com
It will last for 2 days for dinner for both husband and I, and probably an extra meal or two for myself or some to freeze.

What I've learned so far:
Make sure to eat as suggested before and after workouts, Tuesday and Friday were the only days that I've had a bit of a headache since starting the diet. I don't think I ate enough quickly enough after the workout and got a little weak.

Eat before leaving the house:
We were going to a couple fair type events this last weekend and I made sure that I had eaten enough before so that I would be full during and not crave all the things that weren't allowed. The day that I did not eat enough, I had a Lara bar (Cherry Pie, only has cherries, figs and pecans) but still was hungry. Fred and I split a sausage with onions and peppers. Of course my half didn't include the bun, but it kept me going until we could get to Chipotle :)

How I feel:
Awake and alert all of the time. It must be different from before or I wouldn't notice it right?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Whole30 - Day 5

I am trying to gauge how I am feeling differently as I am in day 5 of my Whole30 restricted diet journey.
I feel more alert, from the moment I wake up, and throughout the day. I have more energy and pep and get bored faster and like to move more.
My stomach feels good, never too full or heavy feeling, but satisfied and satiated until the next meal, usually about 4-5 hours.
I did have some headaches on Tuesday and I think it was because even though I ate until I was satisfied for breakfast and lunch, overall it wasn't enough food to fill me up. It turns out I have to go a little past full if I have some engagement that will keep me from eating for a 4 hour chunk of time.
The ingredient thing definitely takes some research, it turns out that the mayo I'm using has soybean oil and the roasted cashews have some rice oil. I'm going to make some of my own mayo for the future and watch those ingredients more closely while shopping.
I do worry that I will forget about the diet and accidentally pop something into my mouth.
It is also two days after my first official Crossfit exercise routine at Crossfit Palo Alto. Wow, I can't think of a muscle group that wasn't used. It is all sore.
I fully agree with their philosophy of getting fit using movements that are part of daily life and not isolating certain muscles and working them in a way that won't happen naturally. So, no crunches happened but my obliques are feeling fully exercised from the other stuff we did.
It was interesting watching my stamina in relation to the other women in the class. I sure felt like a wimp and that I let myself give up and stop way too easily. Many of them pushed themselves much harder and were much more sweaty and exhausted looking afterwards than I was. I need to be more committed to give it my all when I'm there.
I think someday I'll start my own blog of foods and recipes I've made so that the blog can be more useful than just as a journal for myself.

I did have chicken salad over avocado a number of times for lunch this week:

Chicken Salad:
Shredded cooked chicken - I used Trader Joe's "Just Chicken" from the refrigerated section
Dijon Mustard - Mix in a bit
Mayo - Mix in until desired consistency
Dried Tarragon - Add

I made up a bunch and then used it over three days for lunch putting it over a diced avocado half and then drizzling it with a little balsalmic vinegar.


Monday, May 16, 2011

Whole30 - Day 2

Yesterday was my first day on the Whole30 diet. It was an eating out all day type of day, as Sunday's usually are for us.
At Chipotle I had: The Salad Bowl, with lettuce, chicken, steak, salsa, guacamole and fajita vegetables. Quite Tasty.
At the Mediterranian Grill: I had Chicken, tomato and cucumber salad, baba ganoush, and some pickles and radishes. Also yummy.
It was nice to know that in the evening I could have had a nice cup of tea, but I wasn't hungry for it, so skipped it.
I stayed full between meals for about 4-6 hours.

Today is Day 2.

Food:
I tried a recipe for bacon and strawberries http://www.tabatathis.com/?p=423 which was very tasty but felt like it had a lot of fat in it. I drained a bit but my stomach feels a little heavy.

For lunch I will make a simple chicken salad and put it in an avocado.

I figure for snacks I can have an apple or a banana with some almond butter on top.

For dinner we are going to have steak and a sweet potato salad from my Moosewood cooks at home Cookbook.

I had coffee with almond milk in it, which isn't too terrible. I do miss my little teaspoon of sugar.

Feel:
At the end of yesterday I felt good, the kind of full that is pleasant, leaves me not craving anything.

Whole30 - Intro

My last entry was about the weight watchers. Well, we've had a couple of trips since then, to New York, Home for the Holidays, and Hawaii! My weight crept back up a little bit and those last 5 pounds I've been trying to get rid of won't seem to go a way.
I exercise a lot and most everything seems to be trim-ish and not too bad looking. But it is so frustrating to feel like I am following the rules to Weight Watchers and am still staying exactly the same plus or minus one pound. Actually I've gained 2 pounds since the return from Hawaii.
So, I decided to try something else. I read the great book "Women, Food and God" TWICE it was so informative.
I got a lot from the guidelines at the end of the book and since reading it have stopped weight watchers counting and have been trying to just eat what my body wants when it wants it. And most importantly not to eat past being full. (Maybe not so surprisingly, I eat a very similar amount to when I was on Weight Watchers. It's just nice not to keep count of everything and to try to listen to my body.)A more mindful eating approach. I don't want to ruin it for you, I SO suggest reading the book. It made me think so much about how much I eat and why.

I thought that would help with the last 5 pounds, but nope. Here they still are, mocking me. I was finally to the point that I thought, "Well, I guess this is the weight I'm supposed to be, and I should learn to be happy with it."

Then I went to a Crossfit location in Palo Alto, as an introductory class, with a friend from my bible study. They mentioned nutrition as such an important base for good fitness and said they use the Whole9 eating program. I went to the website, curious, and found a pretty strict paleo diet suggestion for 30 days. They call it the Whole30. After reading the testimonials and giving it some thought, I decided to try it.

Let me say that I love LOVE dairy products and have tried a few times before to cut back on them and have not been successful.

This 30 day diet weans you from many food groups and you see how you feel afterwards and decide what you want to reintroduce based on the way your body feels after being free from that food group and the way it feels after reintroducing it.

It is nice that it is 30 days only and when I think about what I am missing, I know that I can have that item again real soon. I wonder, based on the testimonials though, if I will want the foods I am taking out when I'm done with the month.

The plan:
No sugar of any kind - real or fake
No alcohol
No grains - including corn and whole grains
No dairy - of any kind, including butter
No legumes - including peanuts
No white potatoes
No processed foods

It seems very similar to the Atkins diet, except without any fruit restrictions. Not that I've ever done the Atkins diet. So, of course I have all of the concerns I've heard related to that diet. What about the lack of carbs? Will I get headaches? Can my body still work well without grains? Aren't all three, Proteins, Fats, and Carbohydrates needed? Of course there are some carbs in nuts, and fruits, which I'll still eat.

I was thinking though, regarding grains, which is my only health issue with this. Of course lots of people all over the world live without dairy and they are fine. We all know sugar and alcohol aren't good. But what about grains? Most Americans eat white processed grains, white bread, white rice etc... Those have no nutrients at all. So, isn't not eating them about the same as eating them? And isn't not eating them making more room in my stomach for more vegetables, fruits and meat? Which do have nutrients.

I also read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" which had me fully convinced that the Atkins diet was based on great scientific research and is the best way to retain muscle while dieting and is also a great lifestyle way to eat.

So, I'm giving it a try.



Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Weight Watchers

So, I gained a little weight when I was pregnant for that little while and I didn't like it. Based on my personal history, I knew that the pounds weren't going to go away on their own so I had to do something about it. I've been on weight watchers for 11 weeks and have lost 13.4 pounds! Which today puts me at the just barely top of the weight range for my height.

It has been a little hard, but not too bad. Some things have saved me along the way.
1. Dark Chocolate Covered Raisins from Trader Joe's are 1 point for 10 raisins. That is my evening sweet snack.
2. Greek Yogurt with no fat is so creamy and delicious and can replace mayonaise or sour cream in lots of recipes.
3. I really already love vegetables and fruits and these are minimal calories.
4. There is this great program on my android phone called WWDiary that helps me track my points and activities. I've used it since day one.
5. Fred and I already love to split entrees when we go to restaurants, which makes eating out not too tricky.
6. CalorieCount website makes it easy to find out nutrition information on most foods.

I've also had a couple of epiphanies.
1. I can't compare myself to others. Yes, it is painfully true that there are lots of very thin people who seem to eat whatever without any thought. But that is not my body. I need to watch and count calories and exercise daily. It has to be okay that this is true so I don't become bitter and give up. I'm learning to be okay with that.
2. It is really nice to be thinner. It is nice to see the accomplishment (and to wear shorts that don't come all of the way down to my knees because I'm self conscious.)

I've entered the Maintenance Phase of the program to try to keep the weight off and learn how much I can eat to make that possible. But, not really, because I'm actually trying to keep losing until I get pregnant. The less I weight when I get pregnant, the easier it will be to come back to "normal" when the baby comes. But the way weight watchers works is that if you get to your "goal weight" which must be within the range for your height, and you can maintain for 6 weeks, you can become a "lifetime member" which means that there are no longer any fees to attend meetings and the weekly weigh in if you maintain that goal weight within 2 pounds. So, I chose the top of the range, which gives me a little leeway, but want to keep losing.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

4 days!!

4 days since I last wrote. AAAAAAAAAAhhhck!
Have I turned into a person who will say, "I tried the blogging thing, but didn't keep it up, oh well".
It has become sort of complicated, I don't know who's reading it, and do they expect that it is a journal or something else. Did I start it to be a journal? How come I never have something to write and also keep conveniently forgetting to write anything? Am I worried that it will be boring? Am I worried that I might begin to write a book and then have the idea stolen?
Welp, these may all be excuses, I am going to recommit to writing daily .

Hilarious episode of the Simpsons on Sunday. Marge was offering Oreo's and milk to her mommy and baby playgroup and the moms freaked out at the fat and corn syrup and cow cancer that she was trying to feed their children. Marge is told that until she can make more healthy foods, she is banned from the snack rotation! (Gasp.) You can imagine her distress. So she takes the family to Wellness Foods (Whole Foods) and they get lots of very healthy stuff for 790 dollars, and then when they scan the forgotten blueberries, it goes up to 830 dollars. (I can fully relate.) So, she prepares muffins for the playgroup, but when she says that she did not need to grease the pan because she used nonstick, they freaked out about that, and promptly hijacked an ambulance in front of the house to take them all to the hospital. (Marge can't take it anymore and finds Homer's forbidden snack drawer and they engorge themselves together.)
It made me think, how crazy have we become???
I was also reading the Skinny Bitch diet book, basically they get you to become a vegan in a matter of 50 pages. If I think that every food is evil except for vegetables, how can I eat enough to be healthy. Then I was looking at some advice books about how to eat when you are pregnant, and there is lots of milk and meat protein, and carbs in that diet. Way more than I eat right now.
So, I am trying not to become a crazy person. (Stay tuned to see whether or not I succeed in this!!)

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Diet

So, you all know that I have been trying to lose weight. Even just to keep up with my dear husband, who is loosing weight about 4 times faster than I am. He is now a mere 4 pounds heavier than I am. He is also 2 inches taller. Now, don't get me wrong, he looks very svelte and very nicely proportioned. It is a little annoying that he thinks it is so easy to lose weight now though. For me, for whom it is not easy at ALL.
I have lost a total of 6 pounds this summer. It has been the result of many things I believe. One is doing the 8 minutes of weight bearing exercise in the morning. From Jorge Cruz's book 8 Minutes in the Morning. After reading all 300 or so Amazon reviews of the book and practicing the diet aspect of it for a while, I find it useful for the exercises only. I also have been on my stationary bicycle for 30 - 40 minutes almost every weekday morning. I have been walking 1/2 hour a day, since walking uses different muscles than bicycling. (Let it be known that I have no job, which gives me all this time to read lots of books, and exercise this much.)(If I had a job, this would all be out the window and I would have a lot more stress.) I also have been doing the QiGong DVD mentioned in an earlier post at least 3 times a week.
I have been watching my diet as well, but mostly after reading Mindless Eating. Which is the point of this particular blog entry.
I don't feel at all deprived, just more in tune with how I feel on the inside. I have come up with three goals for the next month. He mentions that when you do something 28 days, it becomes a habit, so I have a check list for the three things I will be working on to help myself "mindlessly" lose weight. Wansink's point in the book is that if we do most of our eating mindlessly according to habits we have built up over the years, seen our parents doing, etc... then we can mindlessly begin to lose weight by changing these habits a little at a time. He says that if you just cut down on 100 calories a day (36,500 a year, that would become) you will lose about 10 pounds in one year as it takes a 3,500 calorie reduction to lower your weight by a pound. I like this and don't really mind how long it takes if I become healthier in the whole process.
My three things to work on are as follows:
I will eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
I will ask myself mid-meal if I am no longer hungry and finish/pack up/put back in the refrigerator as necessary.
I will say to myself, whenever I am in the mood for a snack, "I am going to eat this even though I am not hungry" to assess whether or not that is the case.
Of course if I am hungry, I will have a snack, because eating more frequently if there are fewer calories involved is not a problem.
I am excited about this check mark system because it makes me feel like I am in control of what I am eating and how I am feeling. I will feel a great sense of accomplishment if I can check all three of my goals every day and it will have nothing to do with denying myself particular foods or counting calories, etc...
I'll keep you updated as I meet my goals.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Diet

The next topic in my Writer's Block book is the word "Diet"
now, I know I've written about diets before, but I am determined to go through the writer's block book page by page whenever I am uninspired to write about anything in that day's blog.
I have a lot of complex craziness in my brain when the word diet comes up.
Who says that you have to be a certain size to be beautiful? Obviously there it is the fashion industry, the almost naked actresses on the television, the bikini clad on the Vegas commercials. It is refreshing to see actresses and singers that are not stick thin, but only because it is such a rarity. And even those who are not so thin, you can tell, would like to be, because they are always trying to find out how others do it. How they stay trim and eat at the same time?
I of course, being of american red bloodedness, would like to lose weight as well, would like to look beautiful, or at least not dimpled in the thighs, in a bathing suit.
So, beginning in high school, when I was enticed to join the cross country team, not because I had any interest in running but because the announcement over the intercom said "would you like better looking legs? Join the cross country team, tryouts after school today." I thought, yup, I'd like better thighs, so I joined.
Since then, it has been one exercise video after another, denise austin, kathy smith, billy blanks, running, walking, jumping rope, weights, and now QiGong and the exercise bike. Always fighting against the pounds.
I have never starved myself, I love food way too much. But I have had times of watching my eating habits, barely.
I tried the Zone diet when I was in my last year of college, as I noticed myself getting a belly. I think I lost about 10 pounds, but right after I got married, the month after college ended, I gained back 15. I am skeptical of diets, especially if I can't see myself continuing forever. I know yo-yo dieting is bad for the body and you usually gain back more than you lost, which was my experience with the Zone.
So, I've looked into things I can continue forever recently. After breast cancer (which they can't figure out why I got, it did not run in the family, I did not drink or smoke, or live an unhealthy life in any way, other than getting my period at the early age of 11, which is more and more common now anyways) I looked into becoming a more healthy eater. Have tried to increase my vegetables and a few good books "In defense of Food" by Pollan and the one I am just recently reading "Mindless Eating" by Wansink have been very helpful. I am much more conscious of labels and ingredients and fat content and calories and portion size. I am also (I think I've mentioned before) not letting myself feel denied of anything, but just watching how much I eat and trying to check with my stomach to see if I am full before I finish off whatever I am eating. It has been helpful.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

QiGong

I just realized that a blog is what I would say if I was perhaps having dinner with someone or riding somewhere with them and a subject came up. I have lots to say about lots of different subjects. So, whenever I get inspired by something or have an interesting thought, that is what my blog topic will be for that day.
To start talking about QiGong, I will explain how I became interested in relaxation techniques.
I was having some anxiety as I was teaching a few years back and one of the CHAC counselors gave me a link to a web site that is part of Kaiser Permanente, that has relaxation, meditation type exercises. I don't think of myself as a meditating person in general, but one day I was particularly anxious about the coming day and the students almost on their way into my classroom and I clicked on the site and tried one of the exercises right there at my desk. Here is the link if you are interested: https://members.kaiserpermanente.org/redirects/listen/
I spent about 15 minutes doing the beginning of the relieve stress exercise and ended it smiling as the kids were coming into my room. All day I felt like there was an inner strength that I had bolstered that helped me to be peaceful and calm for the rest of the day. Many things that would have normally gotten on my nerves did not.
Back when I was going through cancer treatments, I had a customary appointment at the doctor that was to be preceeded by bloodwork. I did not know yet to say that I was "a hard stick" and that I needed a "butterfly needle". I just knew that I hated the whole getting stuck by a needle thing and that most of the time the nurses made comments like "wow, hard to find your veins" and "I can't see anything". So I would get progressively more and more tense as the nurse tried to find my vein.
This nurse had a hard time and another nurse had to come over to try as I was almost hyperventilating. I went upstairs and started sobbing as I called the nurse person that the hospital had assigned to me to answer questions and help me through the trauma of being diagnosed with cancer. She immediately led me into her office and I sat down, she handed me tissues and told me to take deep slow breaths, from my stomach. She didn't hug me or try to really console me, other than that advice. I followed it and immediately felt relief. She told me that the increase of oxygen would calm me.
Over the years, I have realized that deep breathing is important.
I heard somewhere that QiGong, which is sort of like yoga, sort of like tai-chi, sort of like pilates was a good relaxation, healing thing to do. I had ordered a DVD from amazon, but it was so, so, so instructional and slow that I got tired out trying to do even 15 minutes and I gave it up. A while ago, I DVR'd a public television special called QiGong for Weight Loss by Lee Holden. Whenever I see something for weight loss, I become interested, and I thought I should give QiGong a second chance.
It was a 25 minute series of exercises with a lot of deep breathing and slow movements. I barely broke a sweat and other than thinking this would be a revolutionary way to lose weight, since I hate sweating, it was very relaxing. I felt my whole demeaner and day change after I completed the movements. I felt like my whole being was full of oxygen and that my insides were happy and satisfied. I wanted to do the 25 minutes every day. I didn't have to change out of my regular clothes or need to shower afterwards, so I could do it whenever.
I went online and found the DVD that this episode was a part of and it turns out that this is only one of the two routines on the DVD. There is a 41 minute routine as well. I bought the DVD and have done the 41 minute routine 3 times, but still do the 25 minute one at least 3 times a week. The 41 minute routine does make me sweat and is much more rigerous.
I don't believe that I have lost weight because of it yet. Since the beginning of the summer Fred and I have both been trying to eat better and he has lost 18 pounds and I have lost 6. I think that theh reason it is supposed to help you lose weight is because it works the core muscles a lot as well as the quadracepts and butt. Since those muscles are bigger, when they get worked, they help increase your metabolism, which helps you burn more calories. Also, Lee Holden says on the tape that relieving stress helps to keep the digestion functioning better. That weight is gained because things get stopped up inside. I buy that.
As I was just enjoying doing the 41 minute routine and my insides are all excited and full of oxygen, I thought it would be a good blog entry.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Mindless Eating

I got a book at the library yesterday called Mindless Eating. It is very interesting.
(It also recommends the Volumetrics book, which was recommended by the author of the Healthy Skeptic which I was reading before.)
What is interesting is that we in America tend to base our eating more on outside cues than on an inner feeling of either fullness or being no longer hungry. The author has done lots of research, which the book details nicely.
I think that if I paid attention to it, it could change my eating habits all together. Most people don't eat until they feel a little full (and then it would be really full after 20 minutes when all the food has gotten where it needs to go to make you feel full), they eat until the plate is clean, or the bowl is empty. Or, if in front of the television with a bag of chips, the bag is empty, or the box of crackers, or the pint of ice cream. I know that I eat whenever I am bored, or want something that tastes good.
Someone he quoted in the book said that he lost a lot of weight by saying when he was about to eat something but was not really hungry, "I am not hungry but I am going to eat this anyway." and that usually helped him to rethink and decide against whatever he was going to eat.
We can trick ourselves into eating less by using smaller plates, bowls, or taller glasses. Since our stomachs are not usually in control of how much we eat, but our eyes are, we can trick our eyes to see more food than there really is. We do tend to fill up the plate or bowl and have a certain According to Volumetrics, we can fill up our plates with lower energy density foods, like I mentioned in a previous post, so we feel that we are still eating the amount we think will fill us up.
What I appreciated the most today was that when I was eating lunch, I attuned not to my bowl and how much was there, but to my stomach and I stopped when I was satisfied. Knowing I was satisfied made me feel not at all denied, or that I was purposely undereating, but that I was taking care of myself. Hmmmm.
Mind changing.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Diet. ugh.

I LOVE food. I love to eat it, to wake up thinking about it, to think where I want to go for breakfast, then a few hours later, what I might have for lunch, and finally, what is in store for dinner.
Being on a diet is really a drag when you love food as much as I do.
Not that I am on a diet.
Oh no, it makes you feel like you might be denying yourself when you say the negative word, "diet", and then that makes you want to cheat and then to quit. And, once you quit a diet, you gain even more weight than you've lost and then where are you? Needing to diet all over, and for longer. Alas.
So, my dear husband and I are NOT dieting, we are eating more sensibly. Making better food decisions. Watching our portion sizes. Trying to be more healthy.
Yet, what about when you do all of that, and no weight comes off.
What about when you are on the stationary bike for 35 minutes in the morning. Then later in the day you take a brisk 2 mile or more walk. And then for another half an hour you do a relaxing, yet ab and quad working QiGong for weight loss DVD. Then what, as you have your salad for lunch (with low fat dressing) after your steel cut oatmeal with nectarine for breakfast, and revel in your great food choices and exercise regime. Then when you don't lose any weight either, then what???
That is what I want to know.
So, then you try to psych yourself into thinking that you never were trying to lose weight anyway. That you were only trying to get healthy and you MUST be somewhat healthier, what with all the great choices you've been making. (One time, when I was under a lot of stress and teaching 4th grade to lots of naughty children that hated each other, I lost weight on accident. I lost 12 pounds, without consciously eating better.)
You think you might trick your body into shedding a few pounds by telling it that you are not in fact trying to lose weight at all.
My body is not buying it. Not this time.
It is the same weight and has been the same for the last 7 weeks, seemingly no matter what I do, what I eat or how I try to psych my body out.
So, anyways, a little diet venting. Make that, healthy choice venting.
It is important to love myself the way I am. Right now. I do, I don't look bad, pretty good. Perfect is not in the cards for me and perfect can also be boring right?
Who wants to be boring?
It would be easier to be peaceful in this whole happy with myself being healthy thing if my dear wonderful husband had not lost 16 pounds without half trying. Then he mentions that it is a mind thing. AAAAAAAAAhhhhh. I felt like Miss Piggy there right before a well aimed karate chop at her beloved Kermit.
We almost weight the exact same weight!! He is a mere 3 pounds heavier than me. That is 1/4 of the weight of my cat. The weight of a small chihuahua. Yet he is 2 inches taller.
He does look good though, great actually.
Time to go enjoy some deviled eggs and lemon muffins I made for our apartment get-together. mmmmmmmmmm, yummy.