Weighing In

I've decided to only weigh myself once a week.  This is, in part, not to become too obsessed with worrying about each little fraction of a pound that might go up or down every day or even throughout the day.  I think that weighing in once a week, on the same day and around the same time will give the most accurate results of my progress over time.  

So, how did I do my first week?  (drum roll)   174.8 pounds, which is a loss of 2.6 pounds!  Not bad for my first week.

A note about the idea of "a pound a week": While this is the average that I'm aiming for, my general expectations are that I'll probably lose more than that in the beginning and less than that as I get closer to my goal weight.  This is the typical pattern of weight loss for most people.

How did I do it?

This week, my focus was planning ahead.  I looked at my busy schedule and decided when the best times would be to fit in my meals, and then decided what I would eat for each one.  I don't think it's necessary to plan out your entire week ahead of time- though some people find this more useful.  For me, it's a matter of two things.  First, knowing when the next meal is. If I know lunch is at 2:00 and I'm starting to feel hungry around one, I can just tell myself lunch will be soon and then move on from thinking about it.  On the other hand, if it's 11:00 and I still have a few hours to go, that means it's a good time to have a light snack.  (Snacks should always have nutritional value and be able to hold you over until your next meal without being a meal themselves.  Some good snacks are a small handful of nuts, a piece of fruit, an all natural granola bar.)

Second, know what the next meal is.  How many times have you done this? Be honest!  It's dinner time.  You haven't planned anything, and you are staring into your pantry/cabinets/fridge thinking, "what am I hungry for?"  At this point, you have probably already failed.  This is because we confuse our wanting to eating a certain food, with our need for nutrition.  I can guarantee you that when I'm asking myself what I'm hungry for the answer is not tofu stir-fry and brown rice (though this is a dish I very much enjoy).  More than likely, the answer will be something related to potatoes, pasta, or pizza.  However, if I know when I'm driving home from work that I'm going to go home and make tofu stir-fry and brown rice, then I never give myself the chance to think about what my pleasure center would most enjoy. Over time, cravings in general will greatly diminish. One day, you'll find yourself really craving a cup of amaretto gelato from that Italian cafe down the road and you will realize that you haven't had a cup of amaretto gelato in a very long time, and you can walk yourself right into that cafe and order some, without a single hint of guilt, because you know that with a healthy diet like yours it is perfectly all right to treat yourself from time to time.

Or, at least, that's what I'm hoping for.