At least that is my theory. It helps explain why attempting to lose weight causes anti-diet activity around you.
I've found that losing weight causes...
your friends and co-workers to invite you to join them for lunch more often.
others to pick the more fattening places to eat out.
the sudden appearance of snacks, candy and/or pastries around your workplace.
you to win or be given free meals, gift cards or coupons for dining out.
I must have done well over the weekend because today it seems that everywhere I went at work there were doughnuts and other pastry sitting around for the taking. I wasn't so surprised about the (very yummy looking) doughnuts in the break room, but what's with the tray of apple turnovers on the table in the computer lab?
Have to figure out what day to weigh in weekly. I'm thinking Friday because weekends usually suck for me most weeks. I'm at work and never know what can happen there. I should be confident that I will do well but I'm not yet. This last weekend went good though I have to say :D I think this next Friday will be my weigh in day and I'm sure Cory won't care what day he weighs in. He's doing so good too :D I'm very proud of him! I'm not doing perfect but I'm doing ok. I do feel i have lost something! I just hope it's enough so I want to keep going. I wish it were spring so I could walk outside without freezing :( AND I really want my treadmill to work again :(
Carrie
Unfortunately, what we are doing to lose weight isn't as simple as looking for a number on a pre-packaged "lean" meal. First off, most of what we are eating isn't pre-packaged. Secondly, most of those meals aren't very filling and I'm ready for more way too soon.
We also found out that the average American (us included) no longer knows how much a "serving" is of most foods. Meals served at fast food and other restaurants have been growing in an effort to "out big" the competition. Just because you are getting "more" food for your money doesn't mean you are getting a real value for your meal.
All of that means we need to count calories and actually measure out servings. As we get a feel for which foods provide the most nutrition, flavor and satisfaction we have been able ease off counting calories.
The whole process is pretty eye opening. When making a chicken dish early on we had a piece of breast we figured was about a serving. It was actually two. I remember looking at 1/2 of that and thinking... man, we're going to starve eating like this. But, after adding proper servings of vegetables and a potato with toppings the final meal was so filling that neither of us actually finished everything on our plates.
On the other hand, if you plan to just eat less of the same foods you always ate then you are setting yourself up to fail. A lot of what we eat every day gets most of its taste from sugar, salt and fat. So most of it is high calorie, low fiber (less filling, hungry again faster) and low on nutrients.
For example, if I were to head down to the local BK and get a large double whopper w/ cheese value meal, I'd be getting pretty much ALL of the calories someone should eat for the entire day. I'd also only be getting a fraction of most of the nutrients we need. I definitely wouldn't be satisfied all day. In fact with a regular diet like that I'd be craving more food due to vitamin deficiencies. Yet that is what millions of us eat on a pretty regular basis.
Each week Carrie and I want to post a recipe of something we have been cooking while trying to lose the weight. We're going to try to include some of the nutritional info too but can't guarantee it's 100% accurate. Should be close though.
Avocados are pretty nutritious and produce a VERY heart-healthy oil. While a good guacamole dip has more calories than salsa, it is better in most ways than some sour-cream based dip. Besides, we're pretty fond of the taste.
In the past we always used a packet of seasoning. The sodium was way higher than we wanted and we weren't too keen on some of the other chemicals on the ingredient list.
Approx nutrition: Servings/batch: 14 (2 Tbs) Calories: 50 Fat: 4 g (6%) Dietary Fiber: 2 g Sodium: 90 mg (4%)
Ingredients:
Flesh from 2 ripe avocados
1/2 tsp salt (I like Kosher)
1/2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs salsa
1 Tbs taco sauce
Fresh juice of 1/2 lime
For instructions on selecting ripe avocados and EASILY getting the innards out of them, watch this good eats episode.
(You can skip to about the 9:30 minute mark if you just want to see how to dissect it.) BTW, if it's hard to scoop out the flesh then it isn't ripe yet.
Actually making it is a snap: Add all of the ingredients to a bowl. Mash and stir everything until well blended. Stash covered in the fridge for 10+ minutes for flavors to meld. Serve.
Notes: The hint of lime flavor also makes a huge difference on how long the guacamole can last without browning. Even stuck in a sealed baggie, the stuff we made with a seasoning packet would be mostly browned by the next morning. Our last batch with lime was just barely browning on the surface after a couple of days.
When deciding how hot the salsa and taco sauce you use should be, keep in mind that you won't be using much and also the fats in the avocado will cool it down quite a bit. I use medium Newman's Own salsa and the result is a completely mild guacamole that even Carrie likes (she is a mild gal.)
Well I got on the scale this morning hoping that I would see something. Nothing! Zippo! Well, I haven't been honoring the no eating after 8pm :( so I guess I really need to get going on that. At least there was NO gain. I can deal with that. I have to start making mini goals...I seem to fight more and do better when I have something to reach for. I have still been eating thing I really should not be eating for example: Cr cheese and Ritz crackers. Yes they are both the low fat version but I still have to stop that. SO my first mini goal I have decided to stop eating after 8pm at least for this week. So starting tonight through Jan 28 I will not be eating after 8pm. A weight goal is to lose 3 lbs this week. I know it sounds high for one week but I have the extra water weight that I know will come off so that makes it a bit higher usually. Lets see if I reach my goal next week by doing those two things. The soda is coming along really good, I'm actually REALLY proud of myself and I know if I had added that back into my fails I would have gained for sure. I do have a soda once in a great while but it's not an every day thing now. I feel like I have control of it :D I'm maybe having one every two weeks or so. Well, better get going here, have lots to do. Hope everyone reading has a great day today :D And thank you for reading!
Healthy foods and veggies aren't cheap. So we weren't sure how eating like we should was going to impact our budget. It was surprising what affect eating healthier actually had on our food bill. The truth is that even opting for some (higher priced) organic ingredients our total food bill is quite a bit lower than it used to be.
Ditching fast food saves a ton of money. Just consider what happens if you don't take a lunch to work and eat out somewhere. It adds up fast even for a $5 lunch. That times lunches a week is an extra $100 every two weeks or $200 when we are both working full time.
We are cooking at home most of the time and it is often from scratch. Pre-packaged meals are actually costly compared to cooking from scratch especially if you get some things on sale. Just looking at yesterday's "cooking day", we produced 10 days worth of lunches and dinners for the two of us. I'm pretty certain that if we were to add everything up we would be in the $2 per serving range for some of the meals and less for others. (The soup I actually figured out.... $0.92 for a 1-1/2 cup serving!)
The last thing affecting our food bill is that we are eating proper serving sizes of more filling foods. That alone is really stretching our food budget and helping us pay for the healthier choices at the store.
Today has been a very good day for me so far. Now if I can make it through work I would be so thankful! I have always struggled at work knowing we have a mini store there full of goodies AND soda. My boss makes it easy for us to get whatever even if we don't have money. Just pay next week she says...not a problem! Wish me luck tonight :D
