I’m back in the “Geek Diet” saddle again — I’ve reinstalled BalanceLog on my PC (whence it had been lost during all the PC changes), and have started counting calories on it and/or my Palm.
Over the course of the holidays (Thanksgiving to, well, just now) and vacations and business trips and the like, I’ve managed to go from the 207 I was at to 215 (as of this morning), and all those Size 36 pants are getting a bit uncomfortably snug. Worse, I’ve fallen back into some bad habits, which is the real danger.
My goal (beyond restoring the previous status quo, and getting the good habits back) is to go from 215 to 175, 40 lbs., losing a pound a week (which means I would hit the target as of 20 October). I have a calorie budget of 1920/day, which means any exercise I take counts as “gravy” (figuratively or literally).
I think I can do it. Wish me luck.
Good luck! I’m back on serious weight watchers, too — it’s not been a pretty couple of months, weight-wise.
Good luck, then, to you as well!
***Dave, no need to wish you luck. As you’ve said, this is more about mindfulness, of being aware of what goes into mouth and also just how much you move the bod.
One way you can make those calories work for you is to study the glycemic index of food. (The Geek in you will love the tables and the explanations of how metabolism works.) As we all age, because of our lifetime of eating highly processed foods, we tend to develop insulin resistance which helps promote the production of fat.
I spent most of my life eating poorly. I also did a lot of fad dieting which also helped screw up my metabolism. It has taken me almost two years to gradually fix my metabolism through exercise and diet, but it’s been totally worth it.
If you switch to a diet of low glycemic index food (for example, oatmeal/porridge for breakfast, sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes, gradually phase yourself from white bread to darker breads, etc.) you will notice a big difference in the rate of your weight loss. Not to mention energy levels.
Plus, if you start Katherine off now eating a low glycemic index diet, in a sense you’re helping her to invest in her future health. Low glycemic index foods are less processed foods and they have a lot more of the micronutrients we need. If she learns to make smart food choices when she’s young, maybe she’ll never ever have to wrestle with the demon of obesity.
A year ago my own daughter started switching to a low glycemic index diet. She found less processed food makes you feel “full” faster and so cutting down portion size wasn’t nearly as painful as she thought it would be. She’s 32 pounds lighter now without feeling that she had to sacrifice anything.
In contrast, a friend of hers who went on a special protein bar diet dropped 30 pounds in six months and within four months gained back that 30 and added another 10. Ouch.
All this stuff involves a commitment. But when you think about what the risks from obesity are–diabetes, heart problems, stokes–it seems a worthwhile trade off, at least to me.
You’ve made tremendous progress. I know you can do this.
If you switch to a diet of low glycemic index food (for example, oatmeal/porridge for breakfast, sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes, gradually phase yourself from white bread to darker breads, etc.) you will notice a big difference in the rate of your weight loss.
I prefer darker breads, and enjoy oatmeal for breakfast. Sweet potatoes, and other non-true-potato tubers, are, on the other hand, starchy vegies of the Devil, and I will have nothing to do with them.
Katherine actually eats a very healthy diet. True story: Last weekend, for my RotK soiree at the Testerfolks, we had a variety of hors d’oevres from Costco heated up out in the kitchen — taquitos, buffalo wings, bacon-wrapped scallops, mini-quiches, and other tasty but not terribly healthy bits. We also had bowls of vegies — carrots, sliced cucumbers, etc.
Katherine kept coming into the kitchen and stealing cucumbers.
She also prefers, when we go to McD’s, the sliced apples they sell as alternatives to fries.
And she enjoys oatmeal (“porridge”) very much.
I’ll look into the glycemic index stuff. But I’ll be happy if I can just keep the calories down, even if that’s not hte optimally healthiest I can eat. Baby steps. 🙂