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Escape From Obesity details
Listing ID: 915
Title: Escape From Obesity
Description: A look into the life and inner thoughts of an obese woman.
Category: Health : Weight Loss
Owner:
listed on: June 08, 2008 08:00:25 AM
Number Hits: 5 times
Recent Posts:
| A Good Day - Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:59:00 +0000 |
| Today is one of those hugely successful days where I felt like I atesooomuch delicious, decadent food and am satisfied and full... and I think, "gee, I hope I didn't go too far over my calorie goal" but when I look, I have only eaten 1078 calories! How is that possible? I pore over mysparkpeoplelog, looking for some mistake or omission: Breakfast: Emergen-C orange vitamin drink chaitea latte with sugar Smart Ones veggie/egg/cheese FiestaQuesadilla hot green tea with agavenectar Snack: nice hot mug of pumpkin spice tea with agave nectar and a splash of 2% milk, and a soft, big,chocolateyKashiTLC Chocolate Chip Cookie Lunch: big plate of fresh, steamed asparagus spears topped with a huge blob of egg salad (made from 1 hard boiled egg, 1 hard boiled egg white, light mayo, mustard, and salt and pepper) nice hot mug of lemongrass green tea with agave nectar 2 chocolate covered peppermint Altoids Snacks: 2 separate squares of dark chocolate: one earlier in the afternoon...Lindt70% cocoa dark chocolate; and one right before dinner...Bissinger'sdark chocolate (OMGYUM). Dinner: One serving (1/12 of a large pan) ofButternut Macaroni and Cheese. This stuff has GOT to be one of my all-time favorite foods! It is BETTER than any mac n cheese I have EVER made. This time, I used half extra-sharp cheddar and half smoked cheddar. It was fantastic. I am freezing several servings for other meals!! Anyway, I also had a large plate of steamed asparagus. Doesn't that sound like a LOT of food? And all very satisfying food. And yet, only 1078 calories! I am totally happy andsatisfied. I may have a cup of tea later, with milk and sugar, as a treat while I watch The Biggest Loser (yay!) And if I get hungry I have room for a protein snack. This is the kind of day that makes me want to replicate it over and over. If every day was like today, I'd be skinny by now! Maybe I need to include favorite foods like dark chocolate, mac n cheese, and egg salad in my meals more often. I am still sick, but recovering. Almost better. My bones ache. But guess what I did? I got on my bike and rode for 30 minutes today! I rode slowly... and did not ramp up the intensity much.. but I just had a longing to move my body. And I did feel better afterwards. Scale this morning said: 226. Here's to another great day tomorrow! |
| Habit-A-Week Challenge, Week 9: Curb Nighttime Eating - Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:48:00 +0000 |
| It's week 9 of theHabit-A-Week Challenge. If you've been keeping up with your one simple habit each week, your life is changing for the better! Are you ready for another healthy change? For those of you who started late and want to take a look at the other weeks, you can see links toweeks 1 through 5 here. Then we had: 6.Eat Healthy Fats 7.Watch Your Portions 8.Love Yourself This week, we will work on eliminating unhealthy nighttime eating. Now, there is nothing bad about eating at night as opposed to eating at any other time of the day. At least that's what a lot of studies show. If you eat 1500 calories per day, it's the same whether you eat them in the morning or at night. It's still 1500 calories. However, how much you eat and when can alter your energy levels. That's why most doctors and nutritionists recommend eating a big, healthy breakfast: to give you energy to start your day. If you eat a ton of food at night, you don't get to burn it off before going to sleep. The real problem with nighttime eating is that usually, it ends up increasing your total calories for the day. What I mean is this. You have a healthy day. You eat enough calories to run your body and satisfy you all day long. Then it's time to wind down after dinner. Unless you're going to run a midnight marathon or do 500 push-ups at 2 am, you don't *need* any more calories. You're done. If you are in the habit of snacking at night, it can really add up. You watchTVand mindlessly eat a bag of chips. How about some cookies? Raid the fridge for pie. Then you go to bed with a full stomach and have tosleep propped up all nightto keep your food from oozing back up your throat. (Yeah, I remember those days.) I was reading aninteresting studyin which healthy people were admitted to a clinical research unit. Their food intake and timing of eating was monitored closely. About a third of the people were "nighttime eaters" and it was found that they ate about 15% of their calories at night. And more significantly, they ate MORE calories than non-nighttime eaters. Overthetime they were followed, the nighttime eaters gained far more weight than the others. The study concluded that nighttime eating is a predictor of weight gain. If you're eating at night to cope with anxiety or stress, the likelihood of weight gain is even higher.Night Eating Syndromeaffects about 27% of obese people , and is linked to depression and other serious health problems. But for most of us, not eating at night is just a good way to cut back on the amount of food we eat in a day. When I get in the habit of having evening snacks, I usually consume about 200-300 calories per evening on food I do not need. It really is just a habit. Once you stop, you feel better, and your body has more time to process your dinner. I sleep much better on a stomach that's not stuffed to the brim with food. According toDr. Sears, "Going to bed with a full stomach does not, for most people, promote a restful night's sleep. While you may fall asleep faster, all the intestinal work required to digest a big meal is likely to cause frequent waking and a poorer quality of sleep. Eat your evening meal early. Heed the sleep wisdom: 'Don't dine after nine.'" For me, I try not to eat after dinner. We eat dinner around 6pm and finish by 6:30. Occasionally I'll have a little something sweet: a couple of chocolate-covered Altoids, a hard candy, a sugar-free Jello or pudding cup. Even a bit of fruit. Then I am done for the night. Here's my main strategy for not eating after dinner: I go straight from the dinner table to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I floss and use mouthwash. This is my signal to my body and brain that I am DONE EATING. This really works for me. But what if you get hungry... truly HUNGRY in the evening? Well, it does happen sometimes. If I am done eating at 6:30, that means I have about 4 hours, maybe more, before I am in bed. Occasionally I will get a stomach growl in the evening. When this happens, I give my body a bit of protein. I choose from one of the following: 6 almonds string cheese 2 oz of chicken or turkey half bottle of K2O Protein Water cup of decaf or herbal tea with 1/4c milk added That's about it. Usually a small snack like one of those will quell the hunger pangs until bedtime. And you know what? Going to bed and having a little grumble in the stomach is NOT the end of the world. It isn't even terrible. I used to think that *hunger* was an emergency. It isn't, unless you have diabetes or some other disorder or unless you skipped your last scheduled meal. It is OKAY to feel hungry. And while I try to avoid hunger during the day (because after awhile I get crazy and want to binge), I am reallyOKwith hunger at night. Not a searing, painful hunger... I always will have a snack if it gets uncomfortable... but a little bit of stomach grumbling when I go to bed makes me smile. It reminds me that I controlled myself that evening. It means I didn't overeat that night. It feels nice to not have heartburn or acid reflux and to know I am treating myself right. So this week, find your happy balance. Take note of how much you eat after dinnertime. How many of those calories are out of boredom, or habit? Are you even hungry at all? Can you get by with less? This is the last month you will ever have in 2008. Make it a good one. |
| December 1, 2008: 227 Pounds - Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:28:00 +0000 |
| This morning I weighed in at 227 pounds. That's a seven pound LOSS for November. Yeah!! Finally, I'm back on the losing end! After months of gaining or maintaining, it's a welcome relief to see a loss. It's all part of the journey. So I guess that means mymonthly calorie budgetwas a good idea. It really helped me stay on track. For the first 3 weeks of November, I averaged about 1780 calories/day. The last week, well, things fell apart a bit as far as calorie counting goes, and when I got sick with this flu I just decided to let the last week of November be what it was... a series of slip ups, recoveries, indulgences, and then sickness. I thought I would be up a few pounds, but in fact, I am only up ONE pound from my lowest weight this month. And a net loss of 7 pounds makes me quite happy. Especially since we had Thanksgiving AND a 3-day trip out of town with lots of fancy food. I did bike a lot in November... about 100 miles! Of course, it's a stationary bike, so the scenery left a lot to be desired... but I got on the bike and rode, often. I think that's a key to my success, as well. The plan for December: I will keep doing a monthly calorie budget. I am thinking 1800/day max. Actually, that number makes me nervous. It seems *so high*. Especially since when I was doing a *daily* calorie budget, I aimed for 1500-1600/day. (But I had a lot of days that I went over 1600 that I didn't really count, obviously). So lemme start with 1700/day, and then if I need to add a bit more in by the end of the month, I can. That gives me 52,700 calories for December. That should help me stay away from the cookies, right? Okay. Actually I am quite sick today, so I am signing off for now. I will try and put together the Healthy Habit of the Week post by tonight, so it might be a day late. Happy Holidays. Let's make December a month of giving ourselves the gift of health and a vibrant life! |