Well, everyone, what are we going to do? Carol-Ann has not weighed in yet, but she may be like me -- scared to get on the scale today! So far, we have not had any huge gains, just little ones that keep adding up, so I'm hoping we can come up with some ideas that will help all of us get back on track. Perhaps we could compile some of these and post them all together. I'm going to start us off. Andrea and I have a distance to go, and Carol-Ann and Pat are not all that far from their goals, so maybe the approaches need to be different.
- Set mini-goals of 5 pounds. My last goal was to have the scale give me a number under 180 no matter what time of day I got on it. I met that, but now I will have to work on it again.
- Come up with strategies that work to divert our attention. For example, I find that chewing gum sometimes helps me forget about chewing on actual food. I once knew a lady who decided that, instead of eating when she shouldn't, she would pray for her children until she forgot about the food. I thought that was very creative and served a very good purpose, as well. That might not work for all of us, but can we think of something helpful like that?
- Is there a competition we can have going among us that would spur us on? Most weight loss in a month? At least a pound a week? Could we have a rewards section on the sidebar or at the top somewhere where we can earn (or lose??!) stars or points? Maybe several different kinds of little medals for different things, like consistent exercising?
- How about giving ourselves a non-food reward for reaching our final goal, something we can look forward to? Maybe for reaching significant interim goals, too.
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Well, I shall have to think about this one! I forgot to weigh this morning! I shall fill in my blank tomorrow! I must agree that we need to set our sails in a new direction --- we're kinda sallow, we are!
Aye, aye, C-A! Will wait to see what you are thinking...
Keep going ladies. I don 't know if its good, but I find that coffee, with milk and sugar fills me up.
As it happens, there was a timely item in the Toronto paper this week about weight loss. There was a study done somewhere (pardon the lack of detail!) on a large group of people (or was that a group of large people??!!) who needed to lose weight. Some of the group wrote down everything they ate, every day, and soon came to realize that there were things that they could easily cut out and not feel deprived. Therefore, it is felt this is the reason they could lose more weight than the others in the group, who did not write down their daily intake did not lose as much weight because it wasn't as visually obvious to them how many extra calories they were consuming.
Jeanette beat me to it. I was also going to suggest gum or some other substitute for chewing food. Years ago, I lost a considerable amount of weight by switching to smaller and smaller snacks between meals, then chewing gum instead of snack food and drinking cups of hot tea to quell the hunger pangs between meals, then cutting out eating between meals altogether. Then I was able to reduce my meal size, because portion control plays a huge part in my inability to lose weight and keep it off.
Re portion control: Walter has already suggested that we buy smaller dinner plates (luncheon plates, actually) and serve meals on those, because our dinner plates are just TOO BIG and visually it looks as if we are on starvation rations if the plate is not full in appearance.
Walter also has observed, quite accurately, that I eat way too fast. This is from the years when I had to feed myself and Jess, too, and I used to shovel my meal quickly just so I could concentrate on helping Jess. If I would slow down, I would probably have the opportunity to feel that "full" feeling before I hoovered everything in sight and licked the pattern off the plate!
Another suggestion is to avoid foods with a high sugar content first thing in the morning. I find that if I drink orange juice, my blood sugar spikes up and then drops mid-morning. Then, I just can't make it through to lunch time without a coffee or tea, and while I'm at the coffee shop, those cookies look and smell mighty good! And the cookie starts the high/low cycle again. I've substituted V-8 Juice and I don't experience the highs and lows all day, although I have to admit that the afternoon is still hard to get through without some kind of treat.
As for rewards, what about if we plan to get together next time Jeanette is in town and take another photo for posting on the blog - and we all make our goal to be slimmer for the photo. Would that inspire you ladies?
Well, those are my ideas.
Pat
This has been a lot of good reading tonight! OK! Starting tomorrow I am going to record -- just for ONE day, everything I eat. I can only promise to do that for a day! We'll let the next day take care of itself!
I like Amrita's solution -- fill up on coffee with milk and sugar!
Great suggestions, Pat! That is an interesting thing about avoiding high-sugar foods in the morning, even things that are considered healthy like pure fruit juice.
Pat and I both have the same problem with eating too fast, and for similar reasons, too. I got a laugh out of the "hoovering everything in sight!" What a picture that presents to my brain!
Okay, since you are writing it down tomorrow, Carol-Ann, I will too! Actually, way back whenever, I know I said that is the only way I can lose weight, and I even created an Excel spreadsheet to add my calories up automatically, but it is such a pain in the patootee to do it and to figure out how many calories are in it (if you go that far). Writing it down is the first big step, though, because when I don't, I'm constantly underestimating what I have eaten.
Report back tomorrow evening, Carol-Ann? Hoo boy! If we had to post our list here of what we have eaten...hmmm, best deterrent I ever heard of!! I tend to begin every day pretty well, and then it all slides downhill the farther the day goes! Amrita definitely has it right!
I'm all for that reward when I come next time, Pat! We'll have to figure out when that will be soon!
I will also try to write down stuff I eat today. Sometimes having a written record is encouraging to look back on because you can see how far you have come or how well you are doing.
I also think that exercise helps me not want to give into my food temptations because I don't want to think that I just did all that work for nothing!
Here we go ladies!
Woo Hoo!
Writin' fast and furious!
Oh dear! If I get writer's cramp today, does that indicate sumpthing is wrong?
Sorry!
Late posting my weight again because I kept forgetting weigh 1st thing in the morning!
Hey! I get the Elmo award this week!
Well, I have to admit that I will be using the low-tech method of writing down what I eat. I have a wee, little book that I got from the dollar store and I can carry it with me in my purse, since it doesn't take up much room. That way, I can jot down the things I've eaten when I'm away from my computer while I remember them.
Carol Ann and Jeanette, you've caught me off guard so I will begin tomorrow. Well, wait a sec (or is that WEIGHT a sec?) I can remember what I've eaten to this point in the day, so I'll get my little book and start right now.
Pat
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