I've just realised that I've been blogging for a whole month! When I started I was so nervous about putting myself out there and the response I would get. I needn't have been, because it's been such a positive experience so far. It's been both motivating and cathartic.
Without a doubt, though, the best part of this whole thing has been connecting with some inspiring and wonderfully encouraging people. I love following the journeys of others who are themselves working on losing weight and/or improving their health, as well as hearing their thoughts and encouragement on my own experiences. To anyone who has been reading and following this blog, and to anyone who does so in the future, thank you. Just having you here is motivating me to make the positive changes I want to in my life.
Thursday, 28 February 2013
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Food Fight
I've said it before and I'll no doubt say it an inordinate number of times again, that for me weight loss begins and ends with food. In today's post, I wanted to share what I'm doing, food-wise, to battle the fat.
1. Kilojoule Counting
Years of horrific eating have left me with almost no sense of how good or bad foods are, nor how much of them I should eat. Having a daily kilojoule limit of between 5000 and 6000 kilojoules (roughly 1200 to 1430 calories), and keeping a record of everything I eat helps enormously to correct for this lack of knowledge. Doing it religiously also keeps me accountable and firmly planted in reality about what I'm eating. It makes seeing mistakes in my eating a breeze and takes away the ability for me to fall into denial about what I've eaten.
At the moment I'm using a free version of the Shape Up app on my phone. It's a decent enough app (although the features are a little limited with the free version) and it's handy to be able to input my foods on the go. The only reason I use this over MyFitnessPal is because it has the option to use kilojoules. Here in Australia pretty much all food labelling uses kilojoules, rather than calories, to measure energy. MyFitnessPal looks to be the better app, but unfortunately they still don't have the option to record or measure in kilojoules.
2. Meal Replacement Shakes
Meal replacements have always been something that I looked down on and had no interest in. When my partner started on a meal replacement scheme to lose weight last year, I repeatedly voiced my concerns about how healthy they were. In the end, I struggled so much trying to lose weight with food, because I couldn't curb my compulsive and binge eating behaviours, that I caved and gave it a go. I'm glad I did because I've really benefited from the structure it provides. Sustaining myself with something other than typical foods has also allowed me to start addressing my compulsive food habits and building willpower.
The meal replacement plan I use is by Herbalife. Their weight loss plan involves replacing two meals a day with shakes and taking nutritional supplements with all meals to ensure adequate nutrient intake. The shakes are made from Herbalife's powder formula and your milk of choice. Depending on what milk you use, the shakes are fairly low in kilojoules. Currently, I use the shakes dependent on my mood. If I just can't do a shake, then I'm pretty happy to change it with a healthy meal.
3. Eating Lots of Vegetables, Fruits and Whole Foods
Bodies love that stuff. I partake in the school of thinking that our bodies are made to consume this stuff and so probably benefit from a diet high in foods that are natural. While I haven't eliminated processed foods from my diet (see point 2 above), I try to focus on adding and substituting in lots whole foods, especially vegetables. It helps to keep my kilojoules down, while making sure my body is getting lots of nutrients.
4. Drinking Water
I know water is not a food, but maintaining adequate hydration helps me to feel less hungry. The body has difficulty distinguishing between hunger and thirst signals, and often when I'm underhydrated I tend to feel hungry more often and end up eating more. This was part of the difficulties I had last week. Proper hydration is no doubt also important in helping the digestive system do it's job.
Although not all of these things will work for everyone, they have been really working for me so far. I think the key is to find out what makes sense to you and what you can reasonably stick to. Let me know what food based plans you're using and having success with!
1. Kilojoule Counting
Years of horrific eating have left me with almost no sense of how good or bad foods are, nor how much of them I should eat. Having a daily kilojoule limit of between 5000 and 6000 kilojoules (roughly 1200 to 1430 calories), and keeping a record of everything I eat helps enormously to correct for this lack of knowledge. Doing it religiously also keeps me accountable and firmly planted in reality about what I'm eating. It makes seeing mistakes in my eating a breeze and takes away the ability for me to fall into denial about what I've eaten.
At the moment I'm using a free version of the Shape Up app on my phone. It's a decent enough app (although the features are a little limited with the free version) and it's handy to be able to input my foods on the go. The only reason I use this over MyFitnessPal is because it has the option to use kilojoules. Here in Australia pretty much all food labelling uses kilojoules, rather than calories, to measure energy. MyFitnessPal looks to be the better app, but unfortunately they still don't have the option to record or measure in kilojoules.
2. Meal Replacement Shakes
Meal replacements have always been something that I looked down on and had no interest in. When my partner started on a meal replacement scheme to lose weight last year, I repeatedly voiced my concerns about how healthy they were. In the end, I struggled so much trying to lose weight with food, because I couldn't curb my compulsive and binge eating behaviours, that I caved and gave it a go. I'm glad I did because I've really benefited from the structure it provides. Sustaining myself with something other than typical foods has also allowed me to start addressing my compulsive food habits and building willpower.
The meal replacement plan I use is by Herbalife. Their weight loss plan involves replacing two meals a day with shakes and taking nutritional supplements with all meals to ensure adequate nutrient intake. The shakes are made from Herbalife's powder formula and your milk of choice. Depending on what milk you use, the shakes are fairly low in kilojoules. Currently, I use the shakes dependent on my mood. If I just can't do a shake, then I'm pretty happy to change it with a healthy meal.
3. Eating Lots of Vegetables, Fruits and Whole Foods
Bodies love that stuff. I partake in the school of thinking that our bodies are made to consume this stuff and so probably benefit from a diet high in foods that are natural. While I haven't eliminated processed foods from my diet (see point 2 above), I try to focus on adding and substituting in lots whole foods, especially vegetables. It helps to keep my kilojoules down, while making sure my body is getting lots of nutrients.
4. Drinking Water
I know water is not a food, but maintaining adequate hydration helps me to feel less hungry. The body has difficulty distinguishing between hunger and thirst signals, and often when I'm underhydrated I tend to feel hungry more often and end up eating more. This was part of the difficulties I had last week. Proper hydration is no doubt also important in helping the digestive system do it's job.
Although not all of these things will work for everyone, they have been really working for me so far. I think the key is to find out what makes sense to you and what you can reasonably stick to. Let me know what food based plans you're using and having success with!
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Weekly Weigh-In: Week Four
No loss for me this week. If I'm completely honest with myself I kind of expected it. I've been BAD this week. Especially the last few days, when I've almost let myself eat whatever I want.
Even though it was expected, getting on the scales and seeing that those numbers haven't changed made me feel pretty discouraged. I've been going so well so far and I knowingly blew my diet. I let myself fall back into my old mindset about food. For almost three months I've been fighting so hard to escape it, that I'm disappointed in myself for giving in.
Despite my disappointment, I'm going to try not to beat myself up. Instead, I need to focus getting back on track. Starting this whole weight loss attempt, I knew there would be days and weeks like this where I would falter. I made a deal with myself that when it happened, big or small, I would pick myself up and keep going. That's what I intend to do.
For clarity's sake, here is what I did wrong this past week and what I need to address for the next:
Starting today I'm back on track and whether I lose weight next week or not, I am going to be able to say that I gave my best and didn't let a hurdle overcome me!
Even though it was expected, getting on the scales and seeing that those numbers haven't changed made me feel pretty discouraged. I've been going so well so far and I knowingly blew my diet. I let myself fall back into my old mindset about food. For almost three months I've been fighting so hard to escape it, that I'm disappointed in myself for giving in.
Despite my disappointment, I'm going to try not to beat myself up. Instead, I need to focus getting back on track. Starting this whole weight loss attempt, I knew there would be days and weeks like this where I would falter. I made a deal with myself that when it happened, big or small, I would pick myself up and keep going. That's what I intend to do.
For clarity's sake, here is what I did wrong this past week and what I need to address for the next:
- Let myself eat for eating sake, and not because of hunger
- Gave in to food cravings, resulting in poor food choices
- Didn't make my usual weekly meal plan and go shopping to stock up for it all at once
- Barely drank water
- Did not get up and moving, even once!
- Forgot why I was doing all of this and how far I've come
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Weight Loss Bucket List
Since I’ve started losing weight, I’ve been thinking so much
about the future and the things I want to achieve and do. Some are directly
weight related, some I physically can’t do because of my weight and a lot are
things I won’t do because of how I feel about myself. I’ve been trying to write them down as I’ve
thought of them, and have compiled a heap of them into a sort of weight loss
bucket list. As well as this post, I’ll be adding the list to a permanent page,
which you can find in the menu just under the blog header. This way I can add
to it and (more excitingly) mark them off as I do them.
- Get under 100 kgs
- Get under 80 kgs
- Buy a pair of swimmers
- Feel comfortable enough to go to the beach
- Feel comfortable enough to go for walks outside
- Find a fun outdoor activity to enjoy
- Host a party
- Dance at a party
- Go overseas
- Shop in regular sizes
- Ride a horse
- Go skiing or snowboarding
- Learn to run
- Go camping
- Be more adventurous
- Buy (and wear) a dress that sits above my knees
My progress so far, both weight and mentally, has made me
feel so positive and excited for the future. I can’t wait to see some of these
checked off!
Let me know in the comments below if you have any
weight loss goals and what they are. Also, feel free to leave a link if you
have a list like mine. I’d love to have a look!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)