Weight gain

[Laurie4b]

I forgot to add this piece: your environment can tell you both that you should eat or not and what you should eat. So spend some time in your kitchen evaluating the environment.

 

The general principle is that you will have a higher probability of eating what you see first.

 

So scan your kitchen: is there fruit out in plain sight? (That's good. People will grab fruit when hungry.) What about other stuff? A lot of people keep cereal out, which lends itself to grabbing a mindless handful, then another, and another.... because your mind thinks of cereal as healthy (which hopefully yours is) but it's not keeping track of all those handfuls.

 

Next, open your fridge, your pantry, your cabinets. What foods hit your eyes first? If the veges are stuffed away in the hydrator, but that piece of cheesecake your dh brought home from the office party is front and center, guess which you will eat? Make it easy to grab veges for snacks. Either buy prewashed packs of broccoli, cauliflower & carrots or make up your own and keep them in the front of the fridge along with a healthy dip such as hummus or homemade ranch with a yogurt base.  Same goes for your cabinets. If you must keep chips in the house, make sure that you don't see them right away.

 

Where is the water? In a pitcher in front of the fridge or on the kitchen table where you'll see it? or is it in the pipes where you wont?

 

Check your plates. If they are 12 inch size, go to a thrift shop and buy some 10 inch plates. It's your mind processing visual clues. It has a template for a "full plate" and you'll eat fewer calories off a full 12 inch plate than a full 10 inch one, but your mind won't process the difference of the 2 inches so you fool yourself into eating less.

 

You will also eat less if the color of the plate is different than the color of the food cause your brain can see the serving size. Mac and chees on a yellow plate? You'll keep eating!

 

Eating by candlelight will slow down your eating and your calorie intake.

 

By engineering your environment, you are making choices ahead of time that will make "mindless" choices go in favor of less food, not more, and will shift mindless choices toward healthier food over junk.

 

[idnib]

So many good suggestions! Thank you.

 

I shall grab a pitcher of water and balance it while eating Trader Joe's chocolate. This will be followed by reading Frog and Toad by candlelight.

 

:D

[Scarlett]

There is a wealth of info on this thread. Our community here is so awesome.

[Chris in VA]

I'm about 10 days into a more healthful way of eating. I really wanted the 21 day fix thing, but I know myself--I just want the neat containers and a plan, because then I feel like I've achieved the solution. Sigh.

 

So I cut down some regular cheapy containers from the Dollar Store and am using those plus measuring spoons--the green and purple (fruits and vegs) are 1 cup each. The orange (oils and dressings) is two tablespoons. The red container (protein) is 3/4 cup. The yellow (carbs--garbanzo and other beans, starchy carbs, that sort of thing) is 1/2c. The blue (healthy fat--cheese, nuts, avocado, etc) is 1/3 cup. These are the official measurements of the containers of 21 day fix. I get several containers a day of each "color"--it's a good, healthy way of eating within a very reasonable caloric amt.

 

See, I thought, if I can't do it without the sexy little containers, then I'm not really ready to do it at all, so this is an experiment of sorts. I'm always falling for that temptation--to go for the quick fix. My mind goes Oh YAY! All I need to do is buy this and I'm set. Skips right over the work it takes to master the problem.

 

This is a way I can eat the rest of my life. I won't need to measure very long to be able to see what is a healthy portion for me.

 

I am also giving myself grace, and being intentional about asking, "What am I learning from this experience?" I've gone "off plan" a couple of times. It is teaching me that I simply can't, at this stage, expect myself to turn down really yummy stuff that everyone else is eating. So I am not going to put myself in that position. For example, at work, we had 2 birthday parties in a row. The first had one of my fav cakes--Tres Leche. I had a piece, but I had it with a serving of guilt, too. Yuck. Guilt robs the sweetness. So I learned I need to plan better, and I need to take care of myself and not put myself in a tempting situation, but if I decide to eat something, then enjoy it without kicking myself.

 

The next day, I had a small piece of vegan pizza and salad (they did lunch instead of cake) and it was fabulous. It was a reasonable portion, I could track it, it was all whole foods. And it was yummy. Totally different experience.

 

I also tend to overeat when I'm hungry and have gone too long without eating. I get anxious. So, I've been able to talk myself down a bit--I really talk out loud! lol  The other day, I said, "Calm down. Eat this yogurt, then decide what else I want." I ate the yogurt, took a breath, and made a good decision on the rest of the meal. I knew I needed to eat, I knew my blood sugar was down (could tell, cause I get sort of wild feeling, in a mild way!), and I was intentional about finding something that would be ok and good for me.

 

My motivation is that I know time is slipping away. I snore. I need to model something good to my daughter. I need to feel better. I want to go on a small vakay with dh for our 30th and I want to be able to sleep in the same bed all night and not drive him away with the snoring! I want to have more energy and eventually be a good g'ma to my grands. So it's kinda fear and deadline at the moment, but it's long term, too. Only one day at a time will work for me as it's too stressful for me to project out too far, and it's also not good because I then think I have lots of time to get better, but it has to start today. Small things, done well over time, lead to big things. I found that out homeschooling, and it applies to all of my life, even the weight stuff.

 

And my son motivates me. If he can overcome, I can. That brings me to grateful tears. I want to be that sort of person. I want to model that sort of life.

 

Good luck to you--I hope you find what works. Sorry for the novel.

[lewber]

I'm about 10 days into a more healthful way of eating. I really wanted the 21 day fix thing, but I know myself--I just want the neat containers and a plan, because then I feel like I've achieved the solution. Sigh.

 

 

 

 

This is so me! The neat containers made it look so appealing and were probably exactly why I liked the 21 day fix.  :lol: But luckily I had just read the Magic Art of Tidying Up and did not bring them into my house!

 

Thank you all so much for sharing your suggestions and ideas. I have read them all and thought about myself and my struggles when I read them and that was very helpful.  I already gave up on the 17 day - 1 day was enough for me! :huh:  I think I have learned from all my trials that depriving myself isn't going to be a success. I am going to have to be a moderation girl. I really think if I can start exercising more it will make me feel better about myself and get me on the right track. I really eat fairly well except when I go off the rails every few days. I watch my carbs. I do a very healthy green smoothie every morning. I drink lots of water. Wine is the only calories I drink. But I am sedentary. I work at a desk all day. I need more movement and it's going to have to be intentional. When I was using my fitbit and now on my phone - if I don't try I only average 2500 steps a day and that includes walking my dog. I am not breaking a sweat. I have been thinking about signing up with a trainer. To make me accountable. But I have been thinking about that for months. I did go to Zumba once.  :laugh:

I am going to get my bloodwork re-done next week. We'll see what that tells me. Maybe that will be the kickstart I need. Gotta keep trying something in order to succeed, right?

 

Thanks again and good luck to all who are trying to improve their health! 

[Deb in NZ]

I changed my way of eating 2 years ago next week.  I was very unhappy with how I looked in dd's 21st b-day pictures.  I was shocked to find that I weighed 168.5 lbs as I am not quite 5 foot tall.  Being in my mid to late 40s I thought i was destined to be big from here on out as I can't ever remember my mother not being overweight.  I read somewhere about the new 5:2 "diet" & thought I'd give it a go & if it didn't work for me, nothing was lost.  I began to weigh myself each morning to see if the "diet" was working.  As the first day fasting (limiting myself to 500 calories) was not as bad as I thought & I lost 4 pounds that day alone, I ended up doing more 4:3 (3 days fasting each week) from there on out.  I never fast 2 days in a row & seldom have more than 2 non-fast days in a row.  It works for me.  I never feel deprived as I can always have what I crave tomorrow.  I swap fast days around as needed to work around my social commitments.  I now weigh a healthy 120 pounds.  This was achieved though changing what I eat alone.  Exercise was not a factor.  Tomorrow is another fast day & I am looking forward to my huge colourful salad in the evening, a refreshing change from the party foods I had these past 2 days while dd was home to celebrate her 23rd b-day.  It works for me.