Cindy's Stuff
I came to a crossroads recently - I didn't feel well. I was overweight, unhealthy and sluggish. This is a little window of what worked for me and the surprises along the way. I took a very hard look at what wasn't working right. I was ready for change and I was quite surprised at what I found.
I start with what I know and went from there. You've been eating a certain way for a long time. Patterns are hard to break. Start with what you know and look at the information. I *thought* I had an idea of what I was consuming. I needed to assess hard data to better understand what wasn't working. What I *did* know is that I had been at this for ten years or more and I knew what wasn't working. When I took the time to calculate the calories in/energy out, it was very apparent to me that I needed to do some recalibrating. I started with food, primarily because I was too lazy to exercise. Really. But after I'd lost the weight I *wanted* to exercise!
While there are many free online programs to try, I used sparkpeople.com as my means of calculating my intake and caloric burn. The software is free and easy to use.
Be prepared to choke, not literally! I'd started to commit myself to inputting my intake and I did for several weeks and then I let it lapse. Too much work. Too distracting. Too this. Too that. Still fat. I went back, recommitted and I began in earnest to use the software. It was pretty easy to use and I could set it up to work specifically for me. I then began the first stage of a life change, not a diet, although that was quite accidental - I had meant to just go on a diet.
I started with what I had been consuming normally. I was shocked at all of the hidden ways calories snuck in. I was surprised at my distorted perception of portion size. Way off. Waaaay Off. I was surprised at the fat grams I'd been consuming. I began to understand the source of the problem - my lack of knowledge.
Second point of attack involved an arsenal of ... things I already have in the house! This level required the use of measuring cups and measuring spoons. I began to measure *everything*. I started to adjust my fat intake. I began to measure everything I consumed. I began to read boxes and packages.
What I thought was roughly a cup of pasta was more like two or even more. I started cooking my rice pilaf without any oil at all. I didn't lose flavor in the exchange. I realized that what I thought was a 1/2 cup of rice was more like 1.5 cups! I started portioning it out, saving the rest. Once I commandeered that successfully, I realized I could make my own lunches and reduce that fat in even better than those prepackaged meals!
I bought small plastic containers that measured 1/2 cup of rice, a portioned correctly size of meat or fish and a vegetable. You can pack a lot of peas into those little 1 cup containers! Rice pilaf served to "season" the peas - no butter or salt necessary!
I made peace with cottage cheese, sort of. I found the higher end cottage cheese easier to eat and Friendship cottage cheese goes one step further and makes whipped cottage cheese with 1% milk fat. I bought 1/2 containers and measured up my breakfast for the week: 1/2 cup of whipped cottage cheese with a dollop of my homemade super spicy mixed berry jam. I'm lazy. I could copy my breakfast over into the software. It was pretty much prepackaged and ready to go. It was tasty and it curbs my mid-morning cravings far better than the carb-loaded breakfast of the past. No more insta-oatmeals for me. I traded up my milk consumption with the cottage cheese and other sources of calcium and protein.
Having a pre-prepared lunch and breakfast made calculating caloric intake very easy for me. I realized the added benefit of being able to, at times, preplan dinner! whoa -- with chicken slices and eggs as snacks in between, I had some, forgive the pun, wiggle room for dinner! And so it began, my accidental lifestyle change. Frozen, prepared diet dinners were a thing of the past. I had good command of how to incorporate oil into my diet in a healthy way.
I bought salad plates to use for dinner - they were generous enough in size. Apparently our dinner plates have grown through the years, by 3 inches! "Compare the size of a modern dinner plate to one in Grandma's china set. A modern dinner plate has 36 square inches of surface area, compared to 33 on Grandma's. Simply by using a smaller-sized plate, you'll eat less food at every meal. Eating all the food on those extra 3 square inches three times a day can add up quickly to increase your waistline by 3 more inches." (http://life.familyeducation.com/nutrition-and-diet/weight/46766.html).
I also bought little pyrex bowls, 1/2 cup in size to use for desserts. You can pack a half cup of Perry's Raspberry Truffle Frozen Yogurt into those without a second thought. Chocolate almond frozen Yogurt is also quite tasty. I would break up a single graham cracker in the bowl and douse it with 1/4 cup of frozen yogurt or recently thawed strawberries I'd frozen (see my articles on preserving food, especially good quality stuff like strawberries, coming soon!). I'd made ice cream sandwiches with the graham cracker and a dollop of ice cream.
I don't know when the tides shifted but my out of control eating fell easily into control. I don't know if it's what I changed in eating. I don't know if it's a mental thing, with the preparing and planning I do for eating, but almost immediately I gained control of my eating. In part, I know it's because I became aware of how much I was eating and how much fat grams I was consuming. That I do know. But it came quite readily and I fell into habit within weeks.
Oil is sneaky. It's appears in most recipes as a requirement to cook. Not so fast. I learned to saute meats and vegetables with bullions and broths. If I was looking for a crispy toasting of what I was cooking, I'd measure a teaspoon of oil for taste and texture. Butter spray and Butter Buds replaced traditional butter for seasonings. Salad dressings have hit the skids in my house.
I realized that salads weren't all that effective for diets and thus, I reconfigured the vegetables into sides and sandwiches. They existed but not longer in the form of over-dressed salads. The big surprised was my newly acquired taste for vegetables in their honest state. I panic if I don't have a drawer stuffed with veggies in my refrigerator.
Write your own cookbook! That's right - start to tweak recipes or make some up specifically tailored to you and right it down! I have a wonderful collections of delectable recipes.
The garden I started was more than vegetables. Cooking well, especially with produce, became a self-imposed challenge. It was/is a fun project that resulted in new, healthy menus. We have been eating on the run. In a cost conscientious attempt at food shopping, we often buy packaged food. It's cheaper to buy potato chips or box of instant scalloped potatoes than it is to buy a bag of carrots!). We are food prepping against deadlines and schedules. We often consume for stress. We eat a lot; however, we do not eat well! Preservatives, chemicals, and disproportionately unhealthy ingredients (sugars, fats, etc.) contribute to our ever increasing wasteline (yes, I mean "waste" line!) and our general unwellness. Cheer up, though, there is hope! It might be time-expensive on the front end, but not for long - and you'll feel better. What to do? A couple of things worked for me.
Plan, Plant, Prepare, Preserve - I decided to start a tiny garden experiment that led me a happy trail and learning experience. I had so much fun with my garden; just call me the Accidental Gardener! It wasn't a well thought out plan but a series of fortunate results that took shape. Don't despair if you can't have a garden, enjoy your local produce stands instead - they'll love you for it. Buy Locally and Make It work For You! I lost weight and more importantly, felt better than I have in years by accidentally changing my eating habits. My self-imposed challenge was instrumental to all that changed in my life -- eating better, feeling better, learning to preserve great food, cooking well, and the huge savings was an added bonus.
Eat Well - Be Well - Recipes for Success!