It's been nearly a month now since I made my public declaration to lose weight. And it's about the end of the fourth week that we have been on a food regimen- you can call it a diet of sorts, but really, we ate quite a bit. What we ate was primarily whole grains, green vegetables (lots of veggies), fruit and protein in the form chicken or fish- no dairy or sugars, other than from fruit... and there wasn't much of that, either. We were supposed to drink an ounce of water for every pound we weighed a day to help flush our systems.
My husband, who works out, walks in NYC and climbs many stairs throughout his day did really well. He lost about 15lbs. He drinks water like a fish under normal circumstances and he is OK when it comes to dietary restrictions.
I, who do not work out, sit idly at a desk a good part of my day, a hater of drinking large quantities of water and has a very poor self-depravation mode did OK. I do not have a scale at my house, but I can now fit better into certain clothes that before made me want to cry... and I've made some visible headway with the old mama belly and thick arms. When I look at my face in the mirror, it looks more like me (older me, but still me).
I've been exercising a bit, too. This deserves a huge congratulations in and of itself. Crunches, push-ups (girly ones), squats and lunges, I even broke out the 5 lb weights I bought with good intention years ago and did some curls. My bod aches, but it feels more taut. OK, OK, I get it!!!! I just still don't like doing it, results or no.
While we are completely bored of the foods we had been restricted to, we can see that we feel better, and that we've been not doing our bodies justice by eating large quantities of dairy, sugars, fat and red meat. We're going to continue to eat similarly going forward most of the week, reserving Friday and a weekend day or night for a splurge. What's nice is, once you've "cleaned" your palate of all that you craved, it becomes less desirable. Sort of like quitting smoking, what you craved now repulses you. "Ew! I can't believe I ate that!" Still, I've geared up with some gorgonzola, feta and pecans to make our twice daily salads more interesting and adding a touch of brown sugar to our morning steel-cut oatmeal will be heaven on earth.
25 comments:
Well done on your success.
well done you two! Your plan for going forward sounds good too
: )
Bravo
well done! sounds like the new regimen will shortly be 'the regimen' and you won't think about it much. i use my clothes as a weight barometer, especially if my pants start to get shorter ;).
Congrats on getting in some exercise:)
Awesome! I also need to work exercise into my routine again. No more excuses ...
I'm trying to work on my diet too - so I'm glad to hear things are going well. I am sooo the same way - I sit at a desk (which I don't like), but I also am not a big fan of working out or drinking water like crazy! Hello, bathroom every 5 mins?!
You're so inspiring! Good job on sticking with the mindful eating and excercise. As you mentioned, it does get easier as you start to feel better. Thanks for the reminder; I'm off to get a glass of water now!
Congratulations! Can I also recommend for your steel cut oats: dried blueberries, peanut butter, and flax seeds! So good.
im so glad i came here to read today! ive been cutting back on all my junk food. trying to eat a lot healthier...im only 22 but i already feel like im getting old, so i think i need to take charge of my body before it goes any more downhill.
Yay for you and Andrew!! I have to tell you that I agree about cleaning the palate. Now that I've been vegetarian for about 8 months I find that I like spicier foods and enjoy a wider variety of flavors. The boys even make healthier choices, which is shocking to me.
Good for you! I don't care for meat myself but it's the dairy i can't live without....
Great job! I think those first few weeks are the hardest, and it sounds like you both are really doing very well! I gave up red meat over 20 years ago, and I think it was one of my best moves, (although I still occasionally really miss it!)
Congratulations! What you eat makes such a huge difference in how you feel. Glad to see you're sticking to it, too!
Well done! Especially on managing to do some exercise, and to keep doing it - that's the hardest thing (eyeing the skipping rope I've used once in the past 3 weeks...)
Congratulations! :-) Keep it up!
I don't know how restrictive you're being on the sugar thing, but I actually use Diabetisweet white sugar and brown sugar. Body breaks it down faster and it tends not to trigger as many sugar cravings as actual sugar or Splenda. Good stuff.
And I could never give up cheese...
Great work. Keep it up!
i had forgotten how your first post on the diet made me laugh. sadly, i can relate entirely. congrats on your success this month. baby steps...
lovely little pin cushions below as well. took a small blogging hiatus and i've missed so much. gorgeous work you're doing!
Congrats . . . it's not easy but it sounds like you've found some good choices that hopefully become routine. I love water, but I'm with you on working out!
It sounds like it is going really well! Congrats! It is amazing - when you cut out some stuff and loose the craving. Good luck going forward!!!
Congrats on changing your diet!! That can be so difficult. I don't know if I could live without diary products. I agree with what Camille said about cleaning the palate and being vegetarian. We also have been vegetarian since this beginning of this year and it has made a huge difference in terms of what we like to eat. I think once your body cleans out, you literally begin starving healthy stuff. Take beets--I used to hate those (really hate them). During the last year I have made them a couple of times because they come in my csa box and, before long, I found myself wanting more.
Congrats to you!!! You certainly deserve it. You are sooo much stronger than I am.
But I did (for a SHORT while) rid my diet of sweets and amazingly enough, like you said, the craving disappeared. THEN, Christmas came along with all its cookies and goodies. One slip and woosh, all that went straight out the window.
Maybe I'll try that again once the Coconut Custard Pie is gone :)
Good stuff, keep it up, don't let yourself get bored of the food.... my way around this is changing up the salads. Greek salad with no lettuce one day, greek salad with spinach the next (OK we eat way too much salad, and yes we get bored), almonds and orange segments on romaine a day, strawberries on spinach the next. I just try to find new recipes. I'll post a few on my blog this week, because I'm trying to get back on track. Good luck to you!
Aw, keep at it! It'll get easier.
I had a yummy pita tonight with hummus, tabouleh, and chopped carrots, cucmber, black olive and tomato. Very yummy and very healthy!
are you sure you aren't describing me? I get so tired of beating myself up about my health and fitness. my friend got me into jazzercise weeks ago, even though I am exactly the opposite kind of person who can do any kind of coordinated step. but now it is getting much better, and I no longer feel obligated to feel bad about myself. :-)
I wish you well!
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