Friday, May 30, 2014

Everything in moderation

Almost daily, I see headlines (and sometimes I read some of the article too) on Facebook, or Yahoo, or on Google about tips to lose weight. Lose a pound per day! Lose 10 pounds this week! Lose weight fast with these easy steps! While I don't doubt some of these methods might work - it irks me that these programs promote rapid weight loss through really harsh restrictions, crazy amounts of exercise or that magic pill (yeah, right). Who can sustain the lifestyle that some of these diets promote? Give up sugar, give up flour, give up pasta -- why not just give up eating! Spend 3 hours per day exercising -- who has that kind of time? Well, I know I can't and I don't.

Or, maybe, I just don't want to...

I don't want to give up sugar, I don't want to give up carbs, I don't want to give up fats. Let's face it, our bodies actually need these things to remain healthy. Now, that's not to say that too much of anything is good, just because I say I don't want to give up, doesn't mean I'm not willing to reduce and I have done that, significantly, especially sugar. It also doesn't mean I'm not willing to change the types of sugar, carbs and fats I consume, for the most part. Fruit is a good carb and sugar source; olive oil and almonds are good fats. Counting calories and keeping tabs of what I'm putting into my body has made me hyper-aware of exactly what foods are really bad and where I can indulge a little and sometimes cheat.

Case in point, Memorial Day Weekend, big grilling weekend for most American families. Big weekend for family and/or friend gatherings. We all know, as soon as you get multiple families together, all contributing to the meal, there's going to be a lot of food and a lot of food that is not on anyone's diet plan. Our gathering of four families included smoked pork BBQ (awesome!), hamburgers, hot dogs, mayonnaise based potato and pasta salads, baked beans, fruit salad (my contribution) and a chocolate brownie/pudding/whipped cream trifle http://instagram.com/p/oeU91JOv4V/# (also my contribution) - just because I'm trying to lose weight doesn't mean everyone else has to as well ;) Oh, and lots of alcohol - wine, beer, vodka, sodas, lemonade, iced tea - you get the picture. We had enough food and drink to feed 6, maybe even 7 families - of course there were 6 teenage boys in the crowd - so I guess they easily count for 2 adults each when factoring how much food 4 families can eat. I'm fairly proud of myself - could I have done better - of course, but I managed to drink mostly water all afternoon and evening, only had 1 full drink of vodka mixed with lemonade. I ate a bowl of fruit salad as my appetizer (filler) so as not to partake in the chips and sour cream based dip that was out. But, then there was BBQ -- yum!! So, I skipped the bun and indulged in the meat. I had a good helping of potato salad (guilty pleasure) and just a tiny spoon of baked beans -- if I had to measure I'd venture it totaled about 3TBS. I did partake in a lil' bit of trifle later in the evening -- but again - I probably had about 1/2 cup. After measuring for some time now, I've become pretty good about eyeballing my portions (although I still measure, religiously, when at home.) So, all in all, I think I did fairly well that weekend - nothing crazy but I still managed to enjoy myself. Result - I was up 1/2 lb. on Tuesday morning. But, you know what -that's okay! Because I knew going in I wasn't going to entirely deprive myself of what I like and that I may have to repair the repercussions later. And I did! I'm down not only the 1/2 lb. that I put on, but another 3/4 lb. beyond that this morning.

So, getting back to my original thought about this blog entry... In the battle to lose weight, I think a lot of folks (including me) see the big goal at the end of the line and miss the changes that need to be made along the way. We are all looking for the quick fix -- how do I lose a ton of weight as fast as possible? As I stated before, I've done this weight loss thing in the past (haven't we all?) and I made changes and lost a significant amount of weight. I know what I need to do in order to do that again (I just need to NOT get lazy this time once the weight is off.) Some time ago, I read an article that made sense, it said that we don't get fat overnight. For me, it's been a slow and steady weight gain of 20lbs. over the last 4 years. Therefore, the weight is not going to come off overnight (or in a month) either. Yes, I know, there are many diet gurus and trainers out there who will tell me that I can take off 10 pounds in a month and have 30 gone in 3 months time. But, then what? If I restrict my diet and exercise to the point of exhaustion over the next 3 months in order to quickly lose 30lbs. -- what happens when I stop doing that? Well, I think logic tells me - the weight will slowly (or maybe not that slowly) creep back on. I need to make changes that are sustainable. And, if I make changes that are too restrictive, those will not be sustainable. There's a reason for the saying "everything in moderation," because moderation allows us to enjoy life without going crazy. It allows us to eat smoked pork BBQ and potato salad on Memorial Day weekend. It allows us to live life and have fun. So, that's my goal -- to make lifestyle changes (more time being physically active and smaller portion sizes) without entirely giving up everything that I love and enjoy.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Just keep walking...


As promised, first a review of my Fitbit...

I've had my Fitbit for about four weeks and so far so good! It's not a magic bullet and I haven't lost 30 lbs. in the last three weeks, but I really think it's helping to motivate me to move more. I find myself checking my status -- how many steps have I taken? How many stairs have I climbed? Have I been active for at least 30 minutes today? And, those are good things.  I wish it was a miracle gadget that once in use the weight was just shedding itself in a pool around my feet. It's not. But, what it is, I think, is a wonderful tool to help me shed those pounds over time.

Here's my attempt at "screen capturing" what my dashboard looks like (almost):

As you can see, it keeps track of so much!  The screens are fairly self-explanatory - but I love that it keeps track of my active minutes, steps, calories burned v. calories eaten -- so many good things about this tracker. Oh, and then there's the "gamification" - my husband is my Fitbit "friend." On this screen I can see what his total steps for the week are and where I am in comparison. Well, he always beats me -- I swear it's because he's taller than me and it counts his steps double :) At least that's what I tell myself :)

I lost 2.5 lbs. in the first week -- AMAZING!! I was so excited to see those lower numbers on the scale! But, alas, the 2nd week wasn't as amazing. In fact, according to the scale, I didn't lose an ounce that week. But, I was hoping that that meant other things were going on. My mother saw me, on Mother's Day, after not having seen me since Easter and she said I looked like I'd lost a few pounds. And, she wasn't aware that I was back on my weight loss agenda -- so that was nice. She noticed that I looked "healthier."

Then, Mother's Day weekend repercussions hit and all I can say is "ugh." Even though my family and I went on a very lengthy hike in one of our beautiful state parks - almost 8 miles - I still managed to gain back 2 of the 2.5 lbs. lost. Talk about depressing! But, that's what happens when you eat sushi rolls and Chinese food one night and follow it up with a very wonderful Italian restaurant the next. So much for the thought that I earned my indulgences. But, the only thing I could do was move on.

And, move on I did. Back to the gym, back to walking daily, back to making 10,000 steps per day and back to logging all of my food. And, now I am happy to say that those 2lbs. gained are gone and another pound to boot. I'm now down 3.5 lbs since starting this journey. Like I said, the pounds are not melting off, but I'm happy they're at least steaming away slowly :)

So, all in all, I have found that the Fitbit is definitely the motivator I need to get me moving, to get me watching what I eat, to really think about what I'm doing to make myself healthy. And, ultimately, it isn't about being skinny - oh, who am I kidding--yes, it is - but it's also about being healthy. I have two teenage sons who I want to see grow up. I want to be around when they go to college, I want to be around when they graduate, when they get married, start their own families, have children of their own. I want to do everything in my power to stay healthy. Oh, and being skinny won't be so bad either :)