It is hard to believe that the holidays are now behind us. We had a wonderful season and I am grateful! But once again it is time for me to buckle down and lose weight. I envy Valerie Bertinelli in that she hasn't made any resolutions about her weight for two years now because she finally lost it all. Of course, if I had someone paying me to lose it, I'd probably have the motivation to do it too. I know . . . losing it for my family, myself, and because that is what God wants me to do should be enough. Unfortunately when I'm tempted to eat something I shouldn't or when I lust for something I that isn't good for me, I have given in and eaten it. I even caught myself the other day doing just that. We had some whole wheat macaroni with cheese on it and some turkey hot dogs. There were some hot dogs leftover and still sitting out. I walked by and picked up one and started eating it. I then said to myself, "I shouldn't be eating this but I am anyway." And then I realized what I just thought and put the uneaten half right back down. It amazes me how strong some habits are.
I've done a lot of thinking about what I should do. I realized that of the 120 pounds I have needed to lose for many years, the only ones that have stayed off are the ones that came off because of a lifestyle change that I made and never returned to. I lost 20 pounds because I stopped drinking diet drinks and sweet tea and started drinking water instead. Of all the "diets" I've done, this is the only thing that I have not undid--I still do not drink diet drinks, regular sodas, or sweet tea except on the rare occasion. So those 20 pounds have never come back--shocking. I guess I need to find some food changes that I will NOT undo. I'm going to have to figure out how to make some of my Christmas goodies more healthy, in order to make it through the holidays and not gain. (Hmmm, healthy peanut butter balls, kiefle, and pretzel candy....I don't know about that.)
I found Let's Do Lunch a couple of years ago. (Be sure to visit the Message Boards if you go to that website.) I lost twenty pounds on that one too but never stayed completely on the plan after the first month or two. I started it in August of 2006 and went off over the holidays and took a while to get completely "legal" on it again. By the next fall, I was determined to stick to the program and even did so over the holidays for the most part but even then I ate a few things that were not allowed on the plan. I'd done a lot of reading on health and nutrition and came to believe that certain things were ok and also realized that I cannot live without pizza--I'm a pizzaholic. (I tried many many things to overcome my pizza craving. I put tomato paste and toppings and low-fat cheese on Corn Thins, I tried the one made with popcorn flour, I tried pizza soup and all helped but none satisfied. I even made it with whole wheat lavash/flat bread and whole wheat tortillas but it just isn't pizza. I love pizza!) Over the last several months, I have strayed from the "plan" and over the holidays, enjoyed eating the candies and sweets that I have limited in the past several years. Bottom line is that I have gained all the weight I lost on LDL.
My teenage boys love LDL and are a bit upset with me for looking for something else. They were chunky, quite chunky, from about 7 years old until 2006 when we found LDL. They lost their weight and have stayed thin. They will eat the sweets and goodies they want when not at home, which is not frequent, but then during the rest of the time they eat mostly on plan. I guess that is why I thought I could make a few changes and still lose weight.
The bottom line for me is portion control. Yes LDL does tell you not to eat when you are not hungry but I have a hard time with that, evidently. Several years ago I did Weigh Down Workshop and that was the problem I had with that one as well.
I bought Sue Gregg's cookbooks a couple of months ago. In the Weight Management book she talks about PRISM. I seriously considered that program because I erroneously thought that it allowed you to eat whole grains. Sue's book has several lists of 1200 calorie menus, using her recipes. No, I do not really like to weigh and measure my food or count calories but I think it is what will help me get portion control. The other thing is that I know I need to have a well balanced food intake and if I don't sit down and make a menu, then I end up eating the same thing every morning and staring at the refrigerator at lunchtime wondering what I will eat, ending up eating too many grains and no veggies or fruits.
Then another thing that I was pondering was those people that I've heard about (and caught a couple on a morning television show) that basically made their own diet and followed it and lost their weight. Why do I feel that I have to follow what works for someone else. I don't do that with homeschooling, why should I do that with weight loss.
So, what have I decided to do? I'm basically doing a 1200 calorie diet. I've got the ingredients for 4 more dinners that I don't know the calorie count for, and yes, I could put it in Mastercook to find out, but I don't feel like doing that. So, I've made up menus using Sue Gregg's cookbooks covering my breakfasts and lunches and then picking up with the dinners after I finish off the ones I already have the ingredients for. So for a few days, I may be eating more than 1200 calories but it will still be less than what I would have eaten otherwise.
Remarkably, Sue's cookbooks go well with LDL. She uses only whole grains, no sugar, and low-fat dairy products (which are occasionals on LDL). She uses fruits and some honey (and some pure maple syrup) for sweeteners. I had one Apple Oat Muffin this morning with a Fruit Smoothie. I've never been much on fruit smoothies but she had it listed on one of her breakfast menus and had a recipe for it, so I decided I'd try it today, since I needed something to go with that one muffin. I'm glad I tried it. I was so full! AND I got in about 3 fruits this morning. Of course, since it was fruit it wore off in time for lunch, for which I was starving. We had our dinner at lunch, since we are all here at that time today. I fixed chili but know that I ate too much of it. That is okay though because I probably won't eat anything else today. If I'm hungry I'll either have a small salad or an orange or popcorn.
I first heard about her cookbooks from Cindy Rushton, then later from The Old Schoolhouse review. I checked out the website and was thrilled to see some sample recipes. We absolutely loved that she has a recipe for pancakes using brown rice and oats! We reduce the amount of salt and baking soda called for though, as our first attempt was way too salty for our liking but the recipe was definitely a keeper!
The other thing I am doing is using my Wii to exercise. We have Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Active Life Outdoor Challenge. I'll tell you, I break out in a sweat with that last one. When I first started using the Wii Fit, I would make myself do the stretching and strength for at least 15 minutes before doing the aerobics or balance games. I actually got sore! I know, it just proves how out of shape I am.
So there you have it, I am following much of LDL basics, as Roger Troy Wilson, the creator of LDL, has added whole oats and very dark brown rice or wild rice to the allowable list of foods. I heard one nutritionist say that because Ezekiel bread is made with sprouted grains, your body sees it as a vegetable and not a grain, so that furthers my belief that this bread is good for me and I should eat it in moderation. The other thing is that olive oil and coconut oils are good for you. I believe that my calorie limit will ensure that any nuts or whole wheat or other non-LDL food that I eat will not cause me to keep from losing weight. I guess the 1200 calorie limit for me is kinda like a schedule is for our schooling. It seems like it would be like a straight jacket, binding me but instead it is more like a life jacket, freeing me. Left to my own devices I always think I'm hungry, so this should help me. At least I hope it will.
I hesitated writing about this at first preferring to keep my weight loss embarrassment to a minimum. I don't know why I changed my mind. If this helps you at all, please leave me a comment below.
Oh! Another thing I liked about PRISM was that they have a daily devotion that people say really helps. Like Weigh Down Workshop, they address the spiritual side of being overweight and losing weight. I really wanted something like that. Then I realized that I still have my WDW materials, so I should just reuse them. But I wanted something else fresh, new. So, I googled. I found this neat devotional. It is called Devotional for Dieters. It is a Yahoo Group that only sends out messages from the owner, so it is not chatty. I've only been a member for few days now but I really like it. Today she talked about some memory verses she gave before and gave a new one. I'm looking forward to using this on a daily basis. I doubt that I'll use many, if any, of the recipes but that isn't really the reason I joined.
There is another devotional for weight loss available on the web written by a friend of mine. You can find it here. There are 23 devos to enjoy. She wrote these a few years ago and I'm very glad that she still has them available on her website.
I spent a lot of time yesterday making my menu for 9 days. I know I have to get my mind off of the food. This is why diets don't work, many times, because you are constantly thinking about food and it makes your mouth water. Face it, generally if you are overweight it is because you like food, so reading recipes and thinking about food is only going to make you hungry. About 25 years ago my family went on an extended fast, for many reasons. We looked through low-cal recipe books, planning how we were going to eat differently when we came off the fast. This made me hungrier, if that was possible. I don't want to focus on the food but know that I have to spend some time making the menus, since I'm a picky eater and cannot just follow menus someone else created, so that I have a plan that I can follow rather than floundering and eating something I shouldn't, simply because I'm hungry. I intend to try to balance out my "study"/planning time by spending some substantial time in Bible study on the days that I don't need to do menu planning.
One more thing that I am doing to help lose weight is increasing my water intake. As I mentioned earlier, I don't drink sodas of any kind, as a general rule, or sweet tea. I drink distilled water. I must admit that I don't drink a lot of water throughout the day, generally speaking, so I'm trying to get in more water. I've read that you should drink a half ounce of water for every pound you weigh. I'm not getting that much in, that's for sure, but I'm definitely drinking more than I was and intend to continue to increase as I go along. I've also heard that many times the overweight person eats when they are really just thirsty; I think I must have been that way a lot.
I guess I'll close for now. Blessings,
Michele ºÜº
I really appreciate your sharing. Many of us are frustrated with weight loss and it is great to hear that we are not alone. I had not heard about 1/2 ounce of water per pound, I am really working on more water intake as well.
As I was reading your post I was thinking, "I need to comment to her about the Wii fit." And then, there you are using that as well. I only just started and have been on for a week, I am absolutely stunned that I can work up a sweat AND that many of the activities are fun. I'll look into the Outdoor Challenge, I know I had noticed it and wondered about it. The Yoga things are killing me, they look so simple and painless, but boy some of them can be really tough! I will keep you in my prayers for much success! Hugs!!
(Me and my dd, Tiffany on an easy to climb tree limb on vacation in VA in 2007.) These are my ramblings on homeschooling and whatever else comes to mind.
Counting Down
The Holidays are over and I'm not quite ready to start a new count down yet. Maybe I should start a counting up the number of days I've stayed on my "diet".
(I tried many many things to overcome my pizza craving. I put tomato paste and toppings and low-fat cheese on Corn Thins, I tried the one made with popcorn flour, I tried pizza soup and all helped but none satisfied. I even made it with whole wheat lavash/flat bread and whole wheat tortillas but it just isn't pizza. I love pizza!) Over the last several months, I have strayed from the "plan" and over the holidays, enjoyed eating the candies and sweets that I have limited in the past several years. Bottom line is that I have gained all the weight I lost on LDL. 
☺ Jan. 17, 2009 - Thank You
As I was reading your post I was thinking, "I need to comment to her about the Wii fit." And then, there you are using that as well. I only just started and have been on for a week, I am absolutely stunned that I can work up a sweat AND that many of the activities are fun. I'll look into the Outdoor Challenge, I know I had noticed it and wondered about it. The Yoga things are killing me, they look so simple and painless, but boy some of them can be really tough! I will keep you in my prayers for much success! Hugs!!