Losing Weight the Healthy Way
February 27th 2008 18:12
The thing is, I KNOW the right way to eat and lose weight. The problem is, I DON'T follow my own advice!
I've struggled with weight most of my life - ALL of my adult life. I was "chubby" when I was a pre-teen, dieted (not in a healthy way) when I was a teenager, and have been fat since I got married and had babies. Now, I'm not just fat, I'm OBESE! I currently weigh 210 pounds. This is how much I weighed at full term pregnancy, and it was too much even then! (and since my youngest is now 12, I have no excuse!) I'm only 5'3" tall - so I should weigh about 125-135 pounds (depending on the chart I'm looking at.)
So - as I said - I know the right way, but I don't do it. I'm getting older, and if I don't do something about it now, it's going to make old age really hard on me.
When I took over this blog, I thought it would help me stay on track - but as usual, I read, and write all about the right ways to lose weight, and still don't apply them to myself. So now I've made a decision. I've got to commit to eating healthy. If I don't WORRY about the weight, but just concentrate on the HEALTH, maybe I'll do better.
I typed "losing weight the healthy way" into a serch box, and found an interesting web site. It's a section of HealthAndAge.com and it's titled "Losing Weight The Healty Way" (just what I typed in!!!)
It provides a self-analysis for setting personal priorities in six different categories:
1. Meal Planning and Shopping
2. Low-Fat Meal Preparation
3. Meal Rythm, Eating Speed, Body Signals
4. Exercise
5. Relaxation
6. Enjoying in Moderation
By clicking on one of the categories, you are taken to a questionnaire about your habits, and then it provides personalized advice based on your answers.
For instance - I clicked on "Meal Planning and Shopping" then answered (truthfully) the questions. Here are my results:
Moderately good meal planning and shopping habits
You already have some terrific habits when it comes to shopping and meal planning. There are a couple of new tricks you could learn - and these should have an impact on the scales in the longer term. The following list can give you some tips and ideas about the direction you should be taking.
Improving your meal planning and shopping habits
1. In future I will check the fat content of food on the label when I'm shopping
and will make sure I choose low-fat foods.
2. I will buy fresh vegetables three times a week so that I always have a small supply in the fridge. In this way I can eat vegetables every day without having to shop all the time.
3. Each time I go shopping, I will come home with a maximum of one high-fat
food product.
4. I will keep a supply of deep-frozen or canned vegetables in the house so that
I always have vegetables available.
5. I will make sure right from the meal-planning stage that the food I eat is low
in fat.
6. To make sure that I eat more fruit, I will always keep some at work or at
home.
7. If I have the urge to eat sweet things, I will buy a low-fat sweet item on
alternate days.
8. During the week I will eat wholemeal bread because it is better and satisfies
me for longer and has a more intensive flavor than white or bran bread.
9. From now on I will eat small portions of meat (80-120 g) and will make sure
that I choose low-fat varieties or cuts.
10. When I buy cheese, I will choose low-fat varieties or replace hard cheese with
low-fat cottage cheese, quark or fromage frais.
11. If I get hungry between meals, in future I will eat wholemeal bread, fruit, raw
vegetables or low-fat yogurt since these foods contain practically no fat.
What to do next
Select 1 or 2 of these suggestions for modifying your behavior that you feel are important and realistic for you, and put them in your personal contract. You can of course change these suggestions to suit your needs or you can add your own ideas. The exercises you have selected now need to be incorporated into your daily life during the period you have defined - and don't forget to reward yourself when you succeed. Good luck!
Now - while many of these suggestions are things I already KNOW I should do, seeing them in print (and I really like that it says "I" rather than "you"), will help me to really see in what areas I need improvement. I'll print the list and put it on my refrigerator, so I can look at it when I'm preparing a shopping list.
Also, by writing about my own committments in this blog, I'll feel more accountable for my decisions. After all, I'll have to continue writing and tell about my progress, or lack thereof. So, wish me luck. I'm not going to say I'll lose any specific amount of weight. I'm through focusing on weight. I'm committing to eating in a healty way, and getting more exercise. The weight will then come off naturally.
I've struggled with weight most of my life - ALL of my adult life. I was "chubby" when I was a pre-teen, dieted (not in a healthy way) when I was a teenager, and have been fat since I got married and had babies. Now, I'm not just fat, I'm OBESE! I currently weigh 210 pounds. This is how much I weighed at full term pregnancy, and it was too much even then! (and since my youngest is now 12, I have no excuse!) I'm only 5'3" tall - so I should weigh about 125-135 pounds (depending on the chart I'm looking at.)
So - as I said - I know the right way, but I don't do it. I'm getting older, and if I don't do something about it now, it's going to make old age really hard on me.
When I took over this blog, I thought it would help me stay on track - but as usual, I read, and write all about the right ways to lose weight, and still don't apply them to myself. So now I've made a decision. I've got to commit to eating healthy. If I don't WORRY about the weight, but just concentrate on the HEALTH, maybe I'll do better.
I typed "losing weight the healthy way" into a serch box, and found an interesting web site. It's a section of HealthAndAge.com and it's titled "Losing Weight The Healty Way" (just what I typed in!!!)
It provides a self-analysis for setting personal priorities in six different categories:
1. Meal Planning and Shopping
2. Low-Fat Meal Preparation
3. Meal Rythm, Eating Speed, Body Signals
4. Exercise
5. Relaxation
By clicking on one of the categories, you are taken to a questionnaire about your habits, and then it provides personalized advice based on your answers.
For instance - I clicked on "Meal Planning and Shopping" then answered (truthfully) the questions. Here are my results:
Moderately good meal planning and shopping habits
You already have some terrific habits when it comes to shopping and meal planning. There are a couple of new tricks you could learn - and these should have an impact on the scales in the longer term. The following list can give you some tips and ideas about the direction you should be taking.
Improving your meal planning and shopping habits
1. In future I will check the fat content of food on the label when I'm shopping
and will make sure I choose low-fat foods.
2. I will buy fresh vegetables three times a week so that I always have a small supply in the fridge. In this way I can eat vegetables every day without having to shop all the time.
3. Each time I go shopping, I will come home with a maximum of one high-fat
food product.
4. I will keep a supply of deep-frozen or canned vegetables in the house so that
I always have vegetables available.
5. I will make sure right from the meal-planning stage that the food I eat is low
in fat.
6. To make sure that I eat more fruit, I will always keep some at work or at
home.
7. If I have the urge to eat sweet things, I will buy a low-fat sweet item on
alternate days.
8. During the week I will eat wholemeal bread because it is better and satisfies
me for longer and has a more intensive flavor than white or bran bread.
9. From now on I will eat small portions of meat (80-120 g) and will make sure
that I choose low-fat varieties or cuts.
10. When I buy cheese, I will choose low-fat varieties or replace hard cheese with
low-fat cottage cheese, quark or fromage frais.
11. If I get hungry between meals, in future I will eat wholemeal bread, fruit, raw
vegetables or low-fat yogurt since these foods contain practically no fat.
What to do next
Select 1 or 2 of these suggestions for modifying your behavior that you feel are important and realistic for you, and put them in your personal contract. You can of course change these suggestions to suit your needs or you can add your own ideas. The exercises you have selected now need to be incorporated into your daily life during the period you have defined - and don't forget to reward yourself when you succeed. Good luck!
Now - while many of these suggestions are things I already KNOW I should do, seeing them in print (and I really like that it says "I" rather than "you"), will help me to really see in what areas I need improvement. I'll print the list and put it on my refrigerator, so I can look at it when I'm preparing a shopping list.
Also, by writing about my own committments in this blog, I'll feel more accountable for my decisions. After all, I'll have to continue writing and tell about my progress, or lack thereof. So, wish me luck. I'm not going to say I'll lose any specific amount of weight. I'm through focusing on weight. I'm committing to eating in a healty way, and getting more exercise. The weight will then come off naturally.
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