Falling of the Horse

I am embarrassed to say that only a week and a half into this challenge of mine, I've already taken a big stumble. Last night, I had a nice dinner of tofu and stir-fried vegetables planned.  My husband asked if there was any way to make the tofu crispy, so I made a tempura batter and fried it up.  This wouldn't have been so bad except that the green beans I planned to cook with it had gone bad and we decided it would be yummy to tempura fry the peppers and onions as well.  It was way more fat than I should have had, though I didn't eat a huge amount.  

To make matters worse, I was I seem to be coming down with a cold and I overslept this morning, skipping breakfast.  For lunch I made a spicy noodle soup to help clear my head.  I loaded myself up with cough drops and Italian ices and took the rest of the day off from work.  But I didn't want to cook so I had two frozen empanades.  They were really small and not very satisfying, and not entirely healthy either, I'm sure.  So, I had the left overs from last night, which were oily and gross.  I had two of the ices throughout the evening to help with my sore throat.  The sugar in them set off a bad cycle of cravings for me and I ended up eating a bunch of junk to satisfy need, but nothing helped.  I tried Hershey's kisses, a granola bar, an apple, rice chips, caramel sauce right from the jar.  I'm ashamed to admit it all, but if there is a bright side it's that I even though of eating an apple in the midst of all that other stuff!  

I'm going to try not to let this bring me down.  I walked yesterday and will try to get out there tomorrow as well.  I'm already planning my meals for tomorrow.  I just hope I'm feeling well enough to care.  

A New Week, a New Goal

My goal for the upcoming week is to focus on being more active.  I know first hand that it really just takes a little time each day to make a real difference.  When I first moved to South Korea 2 years ago, I lost nearly 15 pounds the first month I lived there.  I attribute the majority of that weight loss from living in a city and walking every where I went.

But I also know that it's not so easy to get oneself into a regular exercise routine, which is why my plan is to start slow.  Remember, this isn't about getting thin, it's about small, easy changes in my day to day life with the ultimate goal of being a healthier, more active person.  This week's goal is to take a walk for 20 minutes 3 times a week. I could easily walk more, and I love walking, but taking an hour or two out of my day isn't reasonable on a regular basis.  20 minutes on the other hand, is something I think I can do without even really having to try.  It's just a matter of planning ahead.

Speaking of planning ahead, I will continue to plan my meals ahead of time and work on establishing that habit.  It's not always as easy for me as it seems it should be.  It takes a conscious effort every day to look at my schedule and figure out when I'm going to eat and then what I should have.  New habits aren't that easy to form, but I know I have people counting on me now, so I'm doing my best not to let myself or my readers down.

I'd love to hear from anyone who is following along- especially if you are trying to lose weight too and my be going through similar struggles.  Share your advice!

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.

A Potluck Dinner

The weekends are always a challenge for me.  After a long week of work, the last thing I want to do is think about cooking, so it usually ends up being pizza for dinner.  Or some sort of frozen dish I can heat up and mindlessly eat while catching up on my shows.  Or worse, I go out with friends for dinner.  But, tonight is the worst of all- an international potluck dinner.  I wanted to cook an "American" dish and remembered how well a macaroni and cheese dish had done at a previous dinner I'd had.  I think mac and cheese is about as American as you can get.  This recipe is not your typical mac n' cheese.  It has 3 cheeses with tomatoes and sunflower seeds and is a real crowd pleaser.  It also has about a million calories and contains two of my worst addictions- pasta and cheese.

Why would I make this, you ask, when I'm trying so hard to watch what I eat?  For one thing- as I said, it's all American cuisine.  Plus, it's easy to transport.  Another thing is that bringing this dish to a party means I get to have a taste, but there is most likely be none left over for me to take home, a huge benefit.  Finally, I'm hoping that someone will be thoughtful enough to bring something halfway healthy, a probability, since many other countries eat much healthier than we do, in general.

My goal for tonight is to limit my portions.  I'm sticking to one plate of food, no matter what.  And not a heaping one, covered with every bit of food on the table, but a reasonable dinner size-plate.  I'm also going to seek out things that will fill me up like vegetables, beans, rice, etc and avoid pasta, bread, cheese, chips, and sweets.  Finally, I have a friend coming with me to the dinner, and I will commission her to make sure I don't stuff myself.  She's already on board with my diet, so I think she'll be willing to help me out.

It's a rough weekend.  I've got another event on Sunday for which I've been asked to make a cheesecake.  And as if cheesecake all on it's own isn't bad enough, this will be chocolate turtle cheesecake.  It's all my fault for being a good cook that this came about.  But I'm determined to stay strong this weekend.  I'm loaded up with a bunch of healthy recipes for meals and will stop by the farmer's market this afternoon to load up on the fruits and veggies.  I'm looking at is as a pre-test for the holiday season.  Parties, dinners, holidays, events will all go on, but they don't have to be an excuse for me to spend all winter pigging out.

One more final motivation for me to be good tonight- I'll weigh in tomorrow and report how my first week went.  Wish me luck!

Banana Bread Recipe

This isn't your typical banana bread recipe.  This is the most delicious banana bread I've ever tasted. And, it's healthy and fairly low GI.  A great breakfast or midday snack.  So moist you won't need any butter!

1 cup packed light brown sugar
7 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 egg
3 large, overripe bananas
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla or plain yogurt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Coat 9 in loaf pan with cooking spray.

Beat sugar, oil, egg whites and egg in a large bowl.  Add bananas, oats and yogurt.  Mix well on medium speed.  In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients.  Mix together with a fork until evenly combined.  Add to banana mixture.  Stir until just moist.  Add walnuts and stir briefly.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 70 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove and cool thoroughly on wire rack.

Can be eaten immediately, but flavor will be best if wrapped tightly in aluminum foil and allowed to set overnight.

My Longest Day and Some Snack Ideas

Thursdays are the longest day of the week for me.  I'm out of the house from 9:00am to 7:30pm with only about 20 minutes around 3:00 for lunch.  Most Thursdays I'd stop at Taco Bell, but I'm planning ahead.  I have just enough time to swing by my house and have a quick lunch, leftovers from last night's dinner.

Planning ahead isn't something all that difficult, it's just something that a person needs to be mindful of.  For me, it's all to easy to slack of in this area.  This week, I've been asking myself the night before, "What am I going to eat tomorrow?"  If I plan it out ahead of time, it's much easier to stick eating the right foods.  If I know I'm going to have a bowl of soup for lunch, then when lunch time comes, I don't have to think about what I'm hungry for at the moment.  This is a great thing, because if I ask myself what I'm hungry for, nine times out of ten I'm going to decided on junk.

Last night I went grocery shopping.  In addition to things for meals, I was really looking for healthy, nutritious, and filling snacks.  Here's what I came up with:

• pistachios 
• Quaker Simple Harvest Chewy MultiGrain Granola Bars (chocolate chunk) - these have no HFCS and  are pretty high in fiber and good enough to satisfy a mild sweet-tooth.
• Kind Bars (packed with fruits and nuts)
• Rice Works chips- these are a new item at my grocery store and they are really yummy.  They are salty and crunchy and would definitely satisfy a chip craving and they are low on the Glycemic Index which is great for someone who is trying to eat better.
• I decided to make some of my all time favorite oatmeal banana bread.  I'm going to cook this tonight and will share the recipe then.
• As always, I will go to the farmer's market on Friday and stock up on fresh, local produce.  It's apple season, yummy!

Ooops!

I did not eat squash soup for dinner last night!  Eric, my husband, suggested Chinese and I caved without a second thought!  Though I went light (veggie lo mein) and didn't stuff myself, it was definitely more food than I needed to eat for dinner.  This is a typical error I make on a regular basis with dieting.  Eric isn't as on board with my new plan as I am, though he's starting to come around, and is always saying words like Chinese, Taco Bell, and pizza to me.  Depending on how much I feel like cooking at the moment and how hungry I am, these words all too often have their way with me and I end up eating junk!

Fortunately for my diet, Eric works the next few nights.

Tuesdays

Tuesdays are another bizarre scheduling day for me.  Breakfast at 8, Lunch around 2, Dinner sometime after 7:30.  Part of my problem is the long gap between breakfast and lunch and another problem is such a late dinner.  This is especially a pain if I have to cook when I get home.  Who wants to cook dinner after being out of the house working/at school all day?  Not I!  Whenever I do have time to cook a meal, usually on the weekends, I try to make extra so I have food during the week.  A big part of sticking to a diet is planning ahead.  This is something I don't always do.  Often I'll just think, "Oh, there's something in the cabinet I can whip up."  But that usually ends up being something not-so healthy, like grilled cheese or noodles.

Soups are a quick and easy favorite of mine, but the canned varieties in the store aren't so satisfying and loaded up with salt.  I think this weekend I will try my hand at canning my own at home.  Sometimes I freeze them, but I think freezing often makes foods lose their consistency.

Today for lunch I had vegetarian stuffed peppers and whole grain rice.  For dinner I will finish up the last of my butternut squash and cashew soup.

Snacks continue to be the same sort of thing: fresh or dried fruit, nuts, Kind bars.  I'd welcome any other suggestions for low-calorie, filling snacks.  Filling is a key word there, a packet of 100 calorie crackers might be low calorie, but hardly filling and just makes you want more.  Portable is another issue.  Eg, I love yogurt, but can't leave it sitting in my car for half the day.

I go grocery shopping tomorrow night, and will be on the hunt for more snacks that meet these requirements and will be sure to post anything new I find.

Smoothie Recipe

I've got breakfast down pat.  Most days this is what I have.  It holds me over and is packed with protein, nutrients and fiber.

All measurements are approximate.  I eyeball everything.

Berry Protein Smoothie

1 small scoop (1/2 cup) fat-free frozen vanilla yogurt
1 cup frozen mixed berries
1 cup orange juice
1-2 tbs unsweetened plain or vanilla soy-based protein shake mix*
1 tbs fiber Benefiber

Mix all together in a blender for about 30-60 seconds.  This yields about one 16oz cup and has about 300 calories.  Make sure to use fat-free and unsweetened, otherwise you will pack on a lot of extra calories.

*My favorite is Spiru-tein, unsweetened vanilla.  I sometimes also use Genisoy Ultra, unflavored, but it's a little chalky.

Mondays

I got through yesterday successfully despite my crazy schedule.  Today, like most weekdays, I don't get to eat lunch until 2:00 and no dinner until 9:00.  I know these aren't ideal times to eat, but it's really the only time in my schedule.  I usually end up having a bigger than snack, but not quite meal around noon, between classes, and then lunch at 2, but always feel like I'm eating too much.  Plan is to rely on some nuts- which I'm told can curb your appetite and a piece of fruit, then have a big lunch, another snack in the afternoon and a small dinner, maybe a bowl of soup.

Day 2

It's my second day and I'm already off to a rough start.  I woke up this morning with a severe hangover-like headache, though I hadn't been drinking the night before.  The only thing I can think of is that I was dehydrated.  After dinner last night I had some popcorn, which was only my second snack of the day, but it was a little too salty.  It took 3 Tylenol and as many glasses of water before it started to subside, and I didn't get out of bed until  12:30.

Herein lies my first dilemma.  Do I skip breakfast and go straight to lunch?  That never seems to work for me.  I always end up looking for the 3rd meal later in the day.  Also, I have a big dinner planned for tonight because we are having some friends over.  And we will be out of the house from about 2-5.  I decided to opt for a light breakfast- granola, dried fruit and soy milk.  And my game plan is to bring several snacks to munch on throughout the day instead of lunch.  I'm thinking of a Kind bar- nutty, fruity deliciousness, and a couple pieces of fruit. I hope this will hold me over until dinner.

176.4 - 30 Pounds to Go

My starting weigh, measured this morning, as always, in the buff, is 176.4 lbs.  Therefore, my goal is to get down to 146.4 by April 17, 2010.  A person set on becoming thin, I'm sure, could lose the weight more quickly.  My goal, although being thinner is a nice benefit, is not to get super skinny, but rather to get super healthy.

Each week, I will focus on a new aspect of dieting or fitness, with the hopes of establishing good habits that will be long lasting.

This week's challenge- eat 3 meals at regular intervals with healthy, low calorie snacks in between.

I don't buy into the idea of eating lots of little snacks throughout the day.  I understand the concept, maintaining one's blood sugar levels, but I've tried this way and it doesn't work for me.  I just end up eating all day.

The real challenge for me with this goal is scheduling.  My weekday schedule is hectic to say the least.  It's not just that I work a lot.  I also go to school.  On a given day, I am traveling from one place to another in 2 hour intervals, with little time to stop and eat.  Or else, I'm caring so many things out the front door with me in the morning that to bring lunch and possible dinner, as well as snacks is a real challenge.  And there is no place to microwave anything, or fridge to keep things cold it, so I have to really plan ahead.

But, it's the weekend right now.  Here is what I've had to eat so far today-

Breakfast
A protein smoothie with frozen berries and yogurt.
A cup of black coffee

Lunch
A low-fat yogurt
An apple
A handful of pumpkin seeds

Snack
A tablespoon of all natural peanut butter and honey

For dinner, I plan on Quorn patties with wild rice and asparagus.

Quorn is a brand name for something called mycoprotien.  It's a meat substitute which resembles chicken and is a good diet choice because it's low in fat and has a low glycemic index.  This is an important factor for dieters, from what I've read, because it doesn't spike up your blood sugar levels.

Why Write a Blog about My Diet?

A)  Because it will hold me accountable. My hope is that knowing that I must post my weight online on a regular basis and admit to my readers when I breakdown and eat a pint of ice cream will help me stick to my weight loss goals better than I have in the past.

B)  Because I think that there are a lot of people out there like myself who can benefit from reading along with a real person who might be having some of the same struggles.  

C)  Because I wish to create a discussion, an open forum, for people to discuss their trials and success, healthy eating tips, etc.

What brought you here, reader, to this blog about dieting?  Perhaps you are trying to lose weight yourself.  Or you want to become more active.  Or learn how to eat healthier.  My guess is that most people reading this are doing so because they are in some way dissatisfied with their current level of fitness. 

In my adult life, my weight has fluctuated from 150ish to 212 lbs at my highest.  It is a constant struggle for me to lose weight and keep it off.  I turned 30 this year, got married and have been thinking about having a few kids.  For me, it is very important for me to learn to how to have a healthy relationship with food before I am responsible for passing this information down to my future children.

We all have different reasons for wanting to get in shape.  I've gotten to the point in my life when being unfit is not an option for me anymore.  And so I am challenging myself to lose 30 pounds in 30 weeks- not by following a strict diet, but by really learning what it means to be healthy.

I welcome you, reader, to join with me on this challenge.  You might have your own weight loss goals and reasons for wanting to get in shape, but if we do it together it will be easier to stick to and increase our chances of success!