Despite my generally impulsive/right-brain nature--or perhaps because of it?--when I want to make a significant lifestyle change the actual decision is spur of the moment but I almost always pick some future day to implement the idea. The delay allows my level of commitment to deepen or lessen and allows me to consider possible strategies.
So, about a month ago I decided to "practice maintenance" during the month of April. There were only 2 rules. One rule was to not eat processed foods and the other was to not eat unless I had strong "gut hunger" (as opposed to brain cravings) and then to use a mix of low- and high-density foods to help achieve the "happily stuffed" feeling without actually ingesting too many calories.
At the same time, I also decided I would wage a final campaign of weight loss this year to reach a weight I feel good about and feel I can maintain. I lost 55-65% of my excess fat last spring/summer so my goals are reasonable.
The final piece of my planning a month ago was to create/identify a trigger that would shift me from the relaxed mode to weight-loss. Without a clear trigger, the starting date can become a rolling "tomorrow." After thought, I decided to make the shift the day my winter friends left to return to their home up north.
They're pulling out this Friday so my shift back to weight loss mode is upon me. What, you ask, does that mean?
It's very simple. Between "maintenance" and "weight loss" modes there are only 3 differences: frequency/type of fasting, dairy allowance and fruit allowance.
Frequency/type of fasting: For maintenance, nearly all fasting is IF (intermittent fasting) but for weight-loss I prefer modified ADF (alternate-day fasting.) My modified version is to fast Monday, Wednesday and Friday, eat fairly low-cal on Tuesday and Thursday and as desired (of unprocessed foods) on the weekend. For long term maintenance, next fall/winter I may still use modified ADF about one week every month or 2 to avoid a gradual erosion of appetite control.
Dairy allowance: For maintenance, heavy cream is as desired, divided between coffee and berries/fruit with cream. I make extra-fat home-made yogurt (3 parts whole milk to 1 part heavy cream) and eat 2/3 c yogurt 3 times per week usually with fruit. I occasionally use Kerrygold butter on cooked vegetables but in the summer I go all-raw on veggies (probably with oil and vinegar) and raw or frozen on fruit.
Fruit allowance: For weight loss, I eat no fruit on fasting days, 1 grapefruit on low-cal days and as desired on weekends (more like 3 total servingson average.) My natural preference for long term maintenance is to eat a generous amount of fruit but I rarely approach 50g of fructose daily. Note: I include water kefir in the fruit category as it contains at least a little fructose. I'm currently drinking 1-2 cups at least 3-4 days per week and that will remain stable this spring/summer.
That's it. I don't tend to overeat meat or vegetables so there are never any specific allowances for those. What I've learned in the past year is that my weight is stable or decreases gradually as long as my brain cravings/binge impulses are in good control. I eat about the same whether or not I fasted yesterday, so fasting tends to accelerate weight/fat loss. We'll see what happens now.
Wish me luck!
Showing posts with label weight-loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight-loss. Show all posts
April 25, 2012
April 5, 2012
Breathing, Planning for Weight Loss and Maintenance
I've been mindful of my breathing for the past few days. I'm trying to build a habit of relaxed, nasal, breathing--using my diaphragm, of course. I had chronic nasal congestion when I ate SAD so I tend to be a mouth-breather. Correct breathing is supposed to be good for your blood pressure. I can't speak to that yet but I swear my fingernails look more pink.
Other than the fascination with breathing, I've thought a lot about my upcoming shift back to a weight-loss mentality as well as my eventual transition to true maintenance--as in, that point at which I decide my body weight is about right.
Since I'm paying an unnatural amount of attention to my eating habits while pretending I'm NOT obsessed about food, I've noticed my appetite varies a surprising amount from day to day. Yesterday, for example, my food intake started with coffee (cream, honey) as usual. I ate a whole grapefruit in late morning and a while later I had 2/3 c. yogurt with a sliced banana. In the afternoon I ate a can of sardines and some fresh strawberries. And that's it. I had some lamb steaks thawed but never got hungry.
Today, on the other hand, at mid-day I've already had my coffee (cream, honey) and 2/3 c yogurt with a sliced banana and some strawberries plus bacon and 3 eggs. The bacon was ends and pieces, but I'd guess it was the equivalent of 3 full strips of regular-cut bacon. And I think that'll just be the first meal of two: I plan to make a nice leafy salad and eat that lamb.
Tomorrow it's entirely possible I will have my coffee and call it a day. I've learned I totally thrive on a 3-day cycle of light intake, generous intake and fasting. Don't ask me about the biology behind it, but I am thriving and one or 2 such cycles each week may be my natural form of maintenance.
So here I am. I feel like I'm actually learning a lot during this interval. My weight-loss season will start Monday, Apr30th with a weekly routine of fasting on Mon-Wed-Fri with light intake on Tues-Thu. The weekends will probably follow 2-day cycles of light and generous food. If that feels too punishing I can adjust as needed but I think it will be just right. I'm planning to pick up my exercise level a bit and I'm shooting for an average of about a pound per week for 5-6 months. I won't be using a scale, but about 10 pounds of weight change is around one clothing size. I'm currently 2-3 sizes above my desired ideal.
Other than the fascination with breathing, I've thought a lot about my upcoming shift back to a weight-loss mentality as well as my eventual transition to true maintenance--as in, that point at which I decide my body weight is about right.
Since I'm paying an unnatural amount of attention to my eating habits while pretending I'm NOT obsessed about food, I've noticed my appetite varies a surprising amount from day to day. Yesterday, for example, my food intake started with coffee (cream, honey) as usual. I ate a whole grapefruit in late morning and a while later I had 2/3 c. yogurt with a sliced banana. In the afternoon I ate a can of sardines and some fresh strawberries. And that's it. I had some lamb steaks thawed but never got hungry.
Today, on the other hand, at mid-day I've already had my coffee (cream, honey) and 2/3 c yogurt with a sliced banana and some strawberries plus bacon and 3 eggs. The bacon was ends and pieces, but I'd guess it was the equivalent of 3 full strips of regular-cut bacon. And I think that'll just be the first meal of two: I plan to make a nice leafy salad and eat that lamb.
Tomorrow it's entirely possible I will have my coffee and call it a day. I've learned I totally thrive on a 3-day cycle of light intake, generous intake and fasting. Don't ask me about the biology behind it, but I am thriving and one or 2 such cycles each week may be my natural form of maintenance.
So here I am. I feel like I'm actually learning a lot during this interval. My weight-loss season will start Monday, Apr30th with a weekly routine of fasting on Mon-Wed-Fri with light intake on Tues-Thu. The weekends will probably follow 2-day cycles of light and generous food. If that feels too punishing I can adjust as needed but I think it will be just right. I'm planning to pick up my exercise level a bit and I'm shooting for an average of about a pound per week for 5-6 months. I won't be using a scale, but about 10 pounds of weight change is around one clothing size. I'm currently 2-3 sizes above my desired ideal.
April 1, 2012
Monthly Update: April 2012
For the record, it was very hard to put my older, fatter mug shots on display for my April Fool's gag. Avoiding mirrors, glass reflections and cameras was a deeply-ingrained behavior pattern in my binge eating days. In case you missed it, I'll paste the fake progression at the end of this update post. I should keep it in front of ME as it's a good reminder of what's at stake if I ever slide back into binge eating.
Note: My last binge was in August 2011, so I've now gone the longest without bingeing since I first began to do so at age 15.
So, my new strip for April appears at the right--do you see what I think I see? I think my throat is losing a little more fat. What used to be a chin-to-chest roll, and what was still a thick fold last month, is oh-so-slowly becoming a thinner fold.
I'll admit my desire to practice maintenance all this month is wavering just a bit. My next-to-last winter friends are leaving for Canada tomorrow and my still-here friends won't head for Wisconsin until late April so I COULD sneak 2 or 3 weeks of ADF (alternate day fasting, which in my case is usually 3 days per week) into April without being too obsessed about it. In fact, if I have an obsession at the moment it's the fact that my Wisconsin friends are about to head north again and I'll have only the phone with which to stay in touch for the next 6 months.
A new variable entering my health regimen is that I've reached a level of health & fitness in which it's safe to begin what younger folks would recognize as exercise. Daily tasks done more manually are now a little too easy to build strength.
I forgot to mention my waist/hip measurements. They were exactly the same as on
March 1st, which is just fine since I've been practicing maintenance. It's good news, because shopping wisely and then ignoring timing, portions and mixes of foods worked perfectly and I'm showing NO tendency toward weight rebound. YEA!!!
I've pasted 2 April 1st mug shots below because I want to show you something.
Did you ever wonder why I never smile in my mug shots or profile pics? I am a person who smiles a lot, because it's who I am, but all the extra fat on my face contorted my smile so I looked as if I was in pain rather than happy. Now, finally, my true smile is just starting to come back.
Beginning next month I will use mug shots of me smiling so I can track the return of my smile. THAT will be a fun progression!
Okay, here's a reversed "April Fool" weight progression, from March 1st 2012 (left) to the summer of 2010; the "fat" end was not actually the peak of weight-gain but I didn't find a photo from early 2011, which is when I stopped gaining--let's say 10+pounds heavier?
Here's the thing: I FEEL as much better as I look. And that's what matters.
Note: My last binge was in August 2011, so I've now gone the longest without bingeing since I first began to do so at age 15.
So, my new strip for April appears at the right--do you see what I think I see? I think my throat is losing a little more fat. What used to be a chin-to-chest roll, and what was still a thick fold last month, is oh-so-slowly becoming a thinner fold.
I'll admit my desire to practice maintenance all this month is wavering just a bit. My next-to-last winter friends are leaving for Canada tomorrow and my still-here friends won't head for Wisconsin until late April so I COULD sneak 2 or 3 weeks of ADF (alternate day fasting, which in my case is usually 3 days per week) into April without being too obsessed about it. In fact, if I have an obsession at the moment it's the fact that my Wisconsin friends are about to head north again and I'll have only the phone with which to stay in touch for the next 6 months.
A new variable entering my health regimen is that I've reached a level of health & fitness in which it's safe to begin what younger folks would recognize as exercise. Daily tasks done more manually are now a little too easy to build strength.
I forgot to mention my waist/hip measurements. They were exactly the same as on
March 1st, which is just fine since I've been practicing maintenance. It's good news, because shopping wisely and then ignoring timing, portions and mixes of foods worked perfectly and I'm showing NO tendency toward weight rebound. YEA!!!
I've pasted 2 April 1st mug shots below because I want to show you something.
Did you ever wonder why I never smile in my mug shots or profile pics? I am a person who smiles a lot, because it's who I am, but all the extra fat on my face contorted my smile so I looked as if I was in pain rather than happy. Now, finally, my true smile is just starting to come back.Beginning next month I will use mug shots of me smiling so I can track the return of my smile. THAT will be a fun progression!
Okay, here's a reversed "April Fool" weight progression, from March 1st 2012 (left) to the summer of 2010; the "fat" end was not actually the peak of weight-gain but I didn't find a photo from early 2011, which is when I stopped gaining--let's say 10+pounds heavier?
Here's the thing: I FEEL as much better as I look. And that's what matters.
March 16, 2012
Training for Maintenance vs. Weight Regain
Fall and winter are wonderful here in the RV park as I have a number of American and Canadian friends who come down for 5-6 months every year. The cool season is my social time! It's also the time when I can take long walks outside, which isn't sensible when morning lows are 100 or above.
The weather here is gorgeous right now, with morning temps around 56F and mid-afternoon highs in the 80s. Unfortunately, though, some friends have left already and others are getting ready--the last will leave by May 1st.
The park will be a sleepy little desert village for the summer, which has its own benefits. The warm season is for recharging and serenity. I tend to focus on myself a little more with physical/diet challenges. We have an equipment room and one challenge this summer will be to use the treadmill and cycling machine to reach a higher level of fitness so I can walk longer distances next fall--or at least be up to my 4 mile standard. Last summer, I suffered a lower leg injury that put me out of action for months and it felt like I spent the whole cool season just trying to get back to normal. Which, thankfully, I did.
I deeply believe there's no one "standard" daily routine that maximizes my health and strength. For me, the long-term goal is to vary my eating from day to day but establish and "set" a desirable weight level. Between now and May 1st I will focus on my friends and attempt to follow a maintenance plan, with an overall goal to have my weight about the same as it is right now. If I happen to lose a little more or gain a few pounds back I won't call that failure--rather, it will be a typical training result won't it?
I have never been very successful at maintenance--my history being a yo-yo pattern with no stability--so this next month's test of a maintenance lifestyle is as important for me as the past ones in which I gradually or quickly lost fat. After all, if I succeed in dropping another 20-30 pounds this summer I'll be approaching a weight I'd like to keep and maintenance skills will be my primary need. I've already proven at least 4 times that a lack of preparation/training for maintenance produces rapid weight regain.
If something else surfaces I'll blog about it; otherwise, my intent is to post weekly progress updates about my maintenance training results before buckling down in May for a final campaign of fat loss.
How about you? If you're currently in fat-loss mode, do you have a set of maintenance principles and techniques ready to go or are you just hoping for the best? What will YOUR maintenance routine look like?
The weather here is gorgeous right now, with morning temps around 56F and mid-afternoon highs in the 80s. Unfortunately, though, some friends have left already and others are getting ready--the last will leave by May 1st.
The park will be a sleepy little desert village for the summer, which has its own benefits. The warm season is for recharging and serenity. I tend to focus on myself a little more with physical/diet challenges. We have an equipment room and one challenge this summer will be to use the treadmill and cycling machine to reach a higher level of fitness so I can walk longer distances next fall--or at least be up to my 4 mile standard. Last summer, I suffered a lower leg injury that put me out of action for months and it felt like I spent the whole cool season just trying to get back to normal. Which, thankfully, I did.
I deeply believe there's no one "standard" daily routine that maximizes my health and strength. For me, the long-term goal is to vary my eating from day to day but establish and "set" a desirable weight level. Between now and May 1st I will focus on my friends and attempt to follow a maintenance plan, with an overall goal to have my weight about the same as it is right now. If I happen to lose a little more or gain a few pounds back I won't call that failure--rather, it will be a typical training result won't it?
I have never been very successful at maintenance--my history being a yo-yo pattern with no stability--so this next month's test of a maintenance lifestyle is as important for me as the past ones in which I gradually or quickly lost fat. After all, if I succeed in dropping another 20-30 pounds this summer I'll be approaching a weight I'd like to keep and maintenance skills will be my primary need. I've already proven at least 4 times that a lack of preparation/training for maintenance produces rapid weight regain.
If something else surfaces I'll blog about it; otherwise, my intent is to post weekly progress updates about my maintenance training results before buckling down in May for a final campaign of fat loss.
How about you? If you're currently in fat-loss mode, do you have a set of maintenance principles and techniques ready to go or are you just hoping for the best? What will YOUR maintenance routine look like?
March 1, 2012
Monthly Update: March
The March mug shot appears at the right of the strip and my waist was a little less than an inch down from last month. One difference I've noted is that I lost relatively more fat from my limbs this past month. I don't know if that would've happened anyhow or whether fasting somehow caused that but it's very nice because I happen to be someone who carries more fat on my arms and legs than many women in proportion to my torso/butt fat. I don't think my new mug shot looks much different than the last 2, but in real life my cheek pads and throat do look a little leaner to me. Also, as mentioned before, my clothes are noticeably looser lately in the arms and legs.
When I first read about ADF (alternate day fasting) they said most people wind up eating about 120% of their normal 1-day intake prior to ADF on their feed days--and 20-25% on their fast days--and they lose weight. I quickly found I eat 100% of my pre-ADF intake on my feed days and, of course, 0% on my fast days. The latter is because I've always hated "diet" meals and if I ate a meal of 300-500 calories on a fast day that would actually be harder for me than not eating at all. As it is, about once an hour on a fast day I get an instant impulse to eat and I give the impulse a condescending mental smile and it goes away. My particular body is REALLY good at fasting and I feel as good as I can imagine feeling.
Until yesterday, I fasted when scheduled and ate sensibly (translation: whole foods) when scheduled. Yesterday I wound up eating in the evening so I will have only 2 fast days on record this week. I'm mulling whether to go for 2 or 3 fasting days next week; yesterday it started to feel like there was too much deprivation too fast and I may just shift to 2 days based on how I feel. Or, I may fast 3 times but try the 300-calorie meal recommended in the write-ups for fast days. Or, a 3rd option, I may do 3 zero-calorie days one week and then eat for a week straight. You see what I'm doing here? I'm reserving the right to experiment and find what suits me best before settling into anything long term.
I've now had 2 ADF weekends. On the first, I fasted on Saturday and ate on Sunday because I started ADF on a Thursday. During that weekend, through routine reading I discovered many people fast 3 days per week and I immediately realized I'd like that better than having my fast days vary every week. I could just hear myself asking, "Was yesterday a fast day or a feed day?" When I used to take medicine for GERD, I had to buy one of those day-of-week dispensers because I was never sure if I'd taken it that morning or not.
I designated my fast days as Monday, Wednesday and Friday so this past weekend I ate both days. Going into the second weekend, I wondered how I would react to eating both days. Would I be hungrier and eat more the second day? Would it be harder to resume fasting on Monday? Would I lose the deep feeling of physical calm that appeared during the first week of 2-day cycles?
No, no and no. I enjoyed being able to eat again and that was it. All day Sunday I was aware of Monday as an upcoming fast day but there was no urge to binge in preparation and when Monday came it was just another fast day meaning black coffee still doesn't do it for me but it's not quite as bad as it was the first time.
The really interesting measurements will be next month--will I continue to lose fat at the current rate or will adaptive responses cause weight loss to slow/stop? What will my blood glucose/pressure do as I continue ADF?
There are no negatives here, only the thrill of self-discovery (and the joy of more time to read/knit/walk.)
When I first read about ADF (alternate day fasting) they said most people wind up eating about 120% of their normal 1-day intake prior to ADF on their feed days--and 20-25% on their fast days--and they lose weight. I quickly found I eat 100% of my pre-ADF intake on my feed days and, of course, 0% on my fast days. The latter is because I've always hated "diet" meals and if I ate a meal of 300-500 calories on a fast day that would actually be harder for me than not eating at all. As it is, about once an hour on a fast day I get an instant impulse to eat and I give the impulse a condescending mental smile and it goes away. My particular body is REALLY good at fasting and I feel as good as I can imagine feeling.
Until yesterday, I fasted when scheduled and ate sensibly (translation: whole foods) when scheduled. Yesterday I wound up eating in the evening so I will have only 2 fast days on record this week. I'm mulling whether to go for 2 or 3 fasting days next week; yesterday it started to feel like there was too much deprivation too fast and I may just shift to 2 days based on how I feel. Or, I may fast 3 times but try the 300-calorie meal recommended in the write-ups for fast days. Or, a 3rd option, I may do 3 zero-calorie days one week and then eat for a week straight. You see what I'm doing here? I'm reserving the right to experiment and find what suits me best before settling into anything long term.
I've now had 2 ADF weekends. On the first, I fasted on Saturday and ate on Sunday because I started ADF on a Thursday. During that weekend, through routine reading I discovered many people fast 3 days per week and I immediately realized I'd like that better than having my fast days vary every week. I could just hear myself asking, "Was yesterday a fast day or a feed day?" When I used to take medicine for GERD, I had to buy one of those day-of-week dispensers because I was never sure if I'd taken it that morning or not.
I designated my fast days as Monday, Wednesday and Friday so this past weekend I ate both days. Going into the second weekend, I wondered how I would react to eating both days. Would I be hungrier and eat more the second day? Would it be harder to resume fasting on Monday? Would I lose the deep feeling of physical calm that appeared during the first week of 2-day cycles?
No, no and no. I enjoyed being able to eat again and that was it. All day Sunday I was aware of Monday as an upcoming fast day but there was no urge to binge in preparation and when Monday came it was just another fast day meaning black coffee still doesn't do it for me but it's not quite as bad as it was the first time.
The really interesting measurements will be next month--will I continue to lose fat at the current rate or will adaptive responses cause weight loss to slow/stop? What will my blood glucose/pressure do as I continue ADF?
There are no negatives here, only the thrill of self-discovery (and the joy of more time to read/knit/walk.)
February 5, 2012
How Do You Measure Success?
No, seriously, how do you measure success? I think each of us knows success when we feel it. Sometimes we plan for it and other times we stumble into it. And I'm sure we have areas of overlap but we probably each have our own personal definitions of success.
For me, there are 3 key areas of my life in which I will judge outcomes with labels such as success or failure: family/friends, health and weight.
Family/friends hasn't always been an easy one for me. I grew up in poverty and we moved around a lot (think gypsy mode) so I didn't have a chance to practice friendship skills. Family relationships were very dysfunctional so it was more a matter of knowing what I didn't want than anything else. And it didn't help that I was a bashful, withdrawn child who grew up to be an introverted-but-assertive woman. However, I look at my son (nearly 40) and grandson (nearly 18) and feel successful to the extent that I've always done the best I could and have extremely close relationships with both. And I'm blessed with great friends, both human and companion animals, to help celebrate the good times and survive the bad ones.
On the health front, that's been an up-and-down story. I've always been a basically healthy woman with a lot of chronic complaints, many of which involved considerable pain. After 9 months of ancestral eating, I can't remember the last time I felt true pain and that's almost spooky. My upcoming physical in 2 weeks will flesh out the story but as far as I know I'm unusually healthy for someone about to turn 65. I feel more like 40-ish.
Then there's weight, which has 2 success/fail elements: appetite control and level of body fat.
Given my 50-year history of binge eating, I have to say it's very weird that in the past 4 months I seem to have lost the ability to binge. Forget desire--I never had that, and who does? If you are able to control what you do/don't eat you may be many things but you're not a binge eater. No, I mean no matter what I do now a binge doesn't happen. Get upset? Nope. Eat sugary holiday treats? Nope. Have cupboards full of highly-processed treats the grandkid bought? Nope.
That doesn't mean I can't get a little off track. Eating a ton of fruit earlier this week made my blood sugar a little unstable and took the shine off my energy and sense of well-being, but there was never any time that I felt a true binge coming on. My body (personally, I think it was my gut flora) told me to knock it off and I did, and after several days of a better-balanced ancestral routine I'm feeling great again.
On the body fat question, I've thoroughly learned in my life that fast-off means faster-back-on. I do my best to eat at equilibrium or only a slight deficit so that any fat loss is very gradual and hardly noticed. And yet, since the first week in September my waist is down at least 5 inches. This morning I pulled out a pair of khaki cut-offs. This particular pair of pants was so much too small this time last year that I couldn't even pull them above my knees. I said MY KNEES. This morning I pulled them up and was able to zip and button them--what do you think of that? Okay, don't get too excited, I'm an old lady and the pants are still too snug for me to wear them in public but in a month or 3 I'm going to be walking around outside in those pants.
That's SUCCESS, baby!
January 29, 2012
Monthly Review: January 2012
I know, I know, it's not quite February yet but it's my blog. :-))
I feel like starting the next month right now so that's what I'm doing. The bad news is that my weight is about the same as a month ago. The GOOD news is that my weight is about the same as a month ago. :-))
I hadn't thought about it much, but I've now kept at least 30 pounds of my weight loss off for 6 months and that's better than I historically did. The fact that I've managed to lose about another 10 and I'm not currently gaining is, in fact, good news for me.
My waist measurement is about the same as last month, although I do have a sense that I may have lost a small amount of body fat overall. My new mug shot is also about the same although I think the shape of my neck has definitely changed in the last 60 days.
There was one cheat this month, hard-shelled tacos and tiny portions of rice and beans. And in the past week, I've hit fruit and salad hard while de-emphasizing meat slightly. I'll probably reverse that in the next week or two because I don't seem to be as high-energy on a high-carb diet.
The other marker to record for January is that I was less active than desired. I just don't like short days and cool weather! I won't have that excuse this month, because the days are noticeably longer now and the mornings are somewhat warmer. I really need to get walking again.
I'm a February child, so there will be an "anything but wheat" day in the coming month but it's still reasonable to expect a modest weight loss if I eat wisely (always a major IF, of course.)
I feel like starting the next month right now so that's what I'm doing. The bad news is that my weight is about the same as a month ago. The GOOD news is that my weight is about the same as a month ago. :-))
I hadn't thought about it much, but I've now kept at least 30 pounds of my weight loss off for 6 months and that's better than I historically did. The fact that I've managed to lose about another 10 and I'm not currently gaining is, in fact, good news for me.
My waist measurement is about the same as last month, although I do have a sense that I may have lost a small amount of body fat overall. My new mug shot is also about the same although I think the shape of my neck has definitely changed in the last 60 days.
There was one cheat this month, hard-shelled tacos and tiny portions of rice and beans. And in the past week, I've hit fruit and salad hard while de-emphasizing meat slightly. I'll probably reverse that in the next week or two because I don't seem to be as high-energy on a high-carb diet.
The other marker to record for January is that I was less active than desired. I just don't like short days and cool weather! I won't have that excuse this month, because the days are noticeably longer now and the mornings are somewhat warmer. I really need to get walking again.
I'm a February child, so there will be an "anything but wheat" day in the coming month but it's still reasonable to expect a modest weight loss if I eat wisely (always a major IF, of course.)
January 14, 2012
Are You Pessimistic About Weight Loss?
No, seriously. If you want to lose weight, are you afraid you won't or you'll gain it back?
I guess I should be. It seems like every blog, web site and magazine I've seen in the last week or so has quoted grim percentages regarding the difficulty of achieving/sustaining weight loss or they had ongoing conversations about all the people who've lost and then re-gained body fat. On my favorite forum, Paleo Hacks, people who've been trying ancestral eating for a week or a month sometimes complain they aren't losing weight and are frequently told "this is not a weight loss plan."
Unless you're selling a book. The only place I've seen unbounded optimism about weight loss, in fact, is on the covers of all the newly released books about eating--ancestral or otherwise.
But I'm confident anyhow. I've lost significant body fat so far and I hope to lose a lot more. I believe my ancestral eating regimen is working and my body is going to continue its release of excess fat. I also believe that if I continue as I am I'm not going to put any weight back on. I admit it could turn out differently. After all, I lost and "found" the same 50 pounds four times before finding ancestral eating last April. I could find myself getting hungrier and gaining weight back or my weight could stop going down.
So why aren't I worried? For one thing, I'm not "on a diet." I'm following a lifestyle that includes real, whole foods rather than manufactured food-like products. I like what I'm eating; everything tastes wonderful and leaves me with a feeling of contentment. I feel great from the moment I wake each morning until I go to sleep at night. I feel calm and content rather than anxious and guilty. I doubt many people who are "dieting" can say the same.
I've had a lot of ah-ha moments lately. One occurred yesterday morning when I was typing a comment and off-handedly mentioned I was feeling a little hungry but not going to do anything about it. Hell-o? Former binge eater here. Any twinge in the GI tract was enough to send me scurrying to the kitchen--and also enough to make me worry I was about to binge. Nowadays, though, the feeling of physical hunger is just another normal sensation--it has no more meaning than the first hint that I'm getting a little tired. I can choose to respond but I can also choose to ignore. Nothing bad is going to happen.
This morning was another ah-ha. I woke up and was considering the drastic action of leaving my warm, comfy bed for the very cool air of my bedroom. Thinking, not moving, you understand. As I lay there, I realized I felt very lean and perhaps lighter. I moved my hand to touch my side but before I got there I "hit" the layer of fat that still surrounds "me." That was the first moment that I noticed I no longer include my body fat in my identification of "me." It's just a covering like a heavy winter coat and the only connection to my lean body is that it slows me down when I move--but a lot less than it used to.
Unlike a calorie-restricted diet, my choice of real foods is causing me to slowly assume my natural shape and resume my natural level of activity without feeling deprived or anxious. There is no famine response from my body because I'm well nourished. At some point, I will stop losing weight and I don't plan to worry about that. I may be close to my desired weight or I may be quite a bit heavier. Either way, as long as I feel this good I will probably just keep going as I am and see what happens.
As I read all the depressing articles and optimistic book titles I plan to walk the middle path and just do what feels right. I'm not worried and I'm not afraid.
If you aren't already doing so, I hope you'll try eating some real, whole foods and see what happens. What have you got to lose?
January 9, 2012
Enjoying 2012 so far?
How's the new year treating you? Are you happy with yourself or displeased with what you have/haven't done so far? If you're down on yourself, just STOP IT and think about tomorrow as New Year's day. Do with that new start as you will, or not, but don't waste time worrying about the past week or so.
I had a great walk this morning. The last one was less fun because it was mostly in "sugar sand" and felt like I was walking along a beach. Very tiring!
I had residual fatigue after that and even after 2 days off I noticed a little tightness when I started off this morning. The 2 off days were because of family activities but I wasn't eager to walk yesterday anyhow.
So this morning I walked for an hour on much better footing and enjoyed the scenery and the activity much more. At one point in my walk I went past the edge of the golf course I live next to and I was delighted to see a white heron.
I was in a "working" state for most of the walk, feeling warm with increased but not labored breathing and for the final 20 minutes my body was ready to stop at any time but I wasn't in sharp distress. Needless to say, my breakfast of yogurt and fruit about 3 hours later tasted GOOD!
The delay between finishing my walk and eating breakfast was because I am one of the many for whom exercise means little or no appetite. I think it's because I perform very well in a fasted state--my bodily easily releases and burns stored fat so I don't need food for energy--and my mildly aerobic walks don't burn fuel fast enough to exhaust the stored fuel in my muscles and/or the replacement of those stores from the burning of released fat. And stoking up my metabolism with brisk walking floods my system with endorphin and fuel so I don't feel a need to eat for quite a while afterward. So there's no need to eat before, during or after the walk but that would probably not be true for highly intense activity.
I'm also happy with my eating in the past week. On most days I had a green salad with my main meal but a couple times I skipped the salad. On a few days I ate cuts of whole meat and on others I ate bone broth stew with chunks of several types of meat and cooked vegetables. Yesterday I was unusually hungry so I ate a little more than other days.
Yesterday after my usual breakfast of full-fat fruit with yogurt I had a nice large piece of browned ham steak at mid-day and in late afternoon I ate some crispy/baked chicken wings. So it was a low carb day although it wasn't VERY low. In case you're wondering, I was very high energy for my walk today and at the end of the hour I wasn't lagging or starving so obviously I did just fine on what I ate the day or two before.
And that's what it's all about--I am skeptical of people who say I HAVE to go very low carb or very high carb, or very low meat or very high meat. I think I should eat what I'm hungry for from my supply of whole meats and foods and let nature take its course. Since I notice some variety in what I'm hungry for from one day to the next I'm unconvinced of there being one "right" way.
Well, if you followed my weight-loss series please don't be a stranger. Leave me a comment and tell me what I got wrong and what you're learning from your own reactions and experiences after any eating/activity changes you've made.
My next post will be about binge eating. That may take me a day or a week but it will be posted fairly soon.
I had a great walk this morning. The last one was less fun because it was mostly in "sugar sand" and felt like I was walking along a beach. Very tiring!
I had residual fatigue after that and even after 2 days off I noticed a little tightness when I started off this morning. The 2 off days were because of family activities but I wasn't eager to walk yesterday anyhow.
So this morning I walked for an hour on much better footing and enjoyed the scenery and the activity much more. At one point in my walk I went past the edge of the golf course I live next to and I was delighted to see a white heron.
I was in a "working" state for most of the walk, feeling warm with increased but not labored breathing and for the final 20 minutes my body was ready to stop at any time but I wasn't in sharp distress. Needless to say, my breakfast of yogurt and fruit about 3 hours later tasted GOOD!
The delay between finishing my walk and eating breakfast was because I am one of the many for whom exercise means little or no appetite. I think it's because I perform very well in a fasted state--my bodily easily releases and burns stored fat so I don't need food for energy--and my mildly aerobic walks don't burn fuel fast enough to exhaust the stored fuel in my muscles and/or the replacement of those stores from the burning of released fat. And stoking up my metabolism with brisk walking floods my system with endorphin and fuel so I don't feel a need to eat for quite a while afterward. So there's no need to eat before, during or after the walk but that would probably not be true for highly intense activity.
I'm also happy with my eating in the past week. On most days I had a green salad with my main meal but a couple times I skipped the salad. On a few days I ate cuts of whole meat and on others I ate bone broth stew with chunks of several types of meat and cooked vegetables. Yesterday I was unusually hungry so I ate a little more than other days.
Yesterday after my usual breakfast of full-fat fruit with yogurt I had a nice large piece of browned ham steak at mid-day and in late afternoon I ate some crispy/baked chicken wings. So it was a low carb day although it wasn't VERY low. In case you're wondering, I was very high energy for my walk today and at the end of the hour I wasn't lagging or starving so obviously I did just fine on what I ate the day or two before.
And that's what it's all about--I am skeptical of people who say I HAVE to go very low carb or very high carb, or very low meat or very high meat. I think I should eat what I'm hungry for from my supply of whole meats and foods and let nature take its course. Since I notice some variety in what I'm hungry for from one day to the next I'm unconvinced of there being one "right" way.
Well, if you followed my weight-loss series please don't be a stranger. Leave me a comment and tell me what I got wrong and what you're learning from your own reactions and experiences after any eating/activity changes you've made.
My next post will be about binge eating. That may take me a day or a week but it will be posted fairly soon.
January 7, 2012
Weight Loss Tactics for 2012 - Part 5
Review:
In Part 1, we talked about distinguishing between physical and emotional hunger because for weight loss we want to feed one while distracting the other.
In Part 2, we talked about losing weight slowly and steadily rather than trying drastic measures that can back-fire.
In Part 2, we talked about losing weight slowly and steadily rather than trying drastic measures that can back-fire.
In Part 3, we talked about supporting your health and energy by moving around a lot and incorporating walking or other exercise.
In Part 4, we talked about different eating patterns and why I settled on a moderate pattern of eating whole foods and home-made probiotic foods.
Okay, now we get back to the hard part--eating healthier and/or losing weight in the real world, which includes events and circumstances that trigger emotional responses.
Let's imagine you're walking on a sidewalk. Except, the strap/lace/heel of your left shoe just broke and the shoe wants to fall off. You'd do something about that except, your arms are full of packages. They aren't terribly heavy, but they're all shapes and sizes and make an unwieldy burden. You'd put down the packages and deal with the shoe except, this is a very busy sidewalk and there's a crowd of other people moving briskly past you in all directions. In fact, you're at an intersection so the people are jammed up waiting for the light to turn green. If you step off the curb, your shoe will fall off. If you just stand there, the guy at your right elbow will jostle you and the packages will go flying. What will you do, WHAT WILL YOU DO?
So what, you ask, does the above goofy scenario have to do with your desire to get healthier and/or lose weight? Well, life is a messy business. It was messy before you decided to change how you eat and life isn't going to change just so you can follow your perfect plan for ancestral eating. S*%# happens!
But you're human. You get a promotion, or hit a nice pot at the casino, and you want to celebrate. You get laid off, your son/daughter/grandchild seriously messes up or suffers a tragedy, and you need comfort. You find out your credit card has been hacked and you're furious. Or, maybe nothing has happened for days and you're bored out of your skull. That's a pretty good list of reasons to slide on your eating plan, isn't it? Isn't it?
Or maybe it's not that dramatic. It's just that you go to the buffet and, yes, there are plenty of healthy options but your eyes go straight to all those tempting (think unhealthy, fattening) foods. Decision point: what do you REALLY want? Because if you want to eat for better health and vitality with gradual loss of any excess fat, you will look at the junk foods as if they are plaster figurines and you will walk past them to the real food. You will feel free to fill your plate several times with salad (oil and vinegar please, not dressing) and whole fruit and cooked vegetables and 3-5 kinds of meat. You will walk out of that buffet with your head held high and triumph in your eyes. Or ...
Yes, it's about you. You will be tired, you will be busy, you will suffer emotional highs and lows and you will be tempted. But you won't notice those things so much if you are obsessed with the life you want to have next month and next year.
What will you do? WHAT WILL YOU DO?
I hope you enjoyed this little series focused around the decision to eat for improved health. Possible topics of discussion are endless and I'll be as surprised as you when I select the next one. :-))
'Til then, think of ancestral eating as your new hobby and have fun learning about it and practicing how to make it work for you.
Special note to binge eaters: I didn't talk about us in this post because I've decided to write a self-standing one on the subject. I'm not sure when yet.
In Part 4, we talked about different eating patterns and why I settled on a moderate pattern of eating whole foods and home-made probiotic foods.
Okay, now we get back to the hard part--eating healthier and/or losing weight in the real world, which includes events and circumstances that trigger emotional responses.
Let's imagine you're walking on a sidewalk. Except, the strap/lace/heel of your left shoe just broke and the shoe wants to fall off. You'd do something about that except, your arms are full of packages. They aren't terribly heavy, but they're all shapes and sizes and make an unwieldy burden. You'd put down the packages and deal with the shoe except, this is a very busy sidewalk and there's a crowd of other people moving briskly past you in all directions. In fact, you're at an intersection so the people are jammed up waiting for the light to turn green. If you step off the curb, your shoe will fall off. If you just stand there, the guy at your right elbow will jostle you and the packages will go flying. What will you do, WHAT WILL YOU DO?
So what, you ask, does the above goofy scenario have to do with your desire to get healthier and/or lose weight? Well, life is a messy business. It was messy before you decided to change how you eat and life isn't going to change just so you can follow your perfect plan for ancestral eating. S*%# happens!
But you're human. You get a promotion, or hit a nice pot at the casino, and you want to celebrate. You get laid off, your son/daughter/grandchild seriously messes up or suffers a tragedy, and you need comfort. You find out your credit card has been hacked and you're furious. Or, maybe nothing has happened for days and you're bored out of your skull. That's a pretty good list of reasons to slide on your eating plan, isn't it? Isn't it?
Or maybe it's not that dramatic. It's just that you go to the buffet and, yes, there are plenty of healthy options but your eyes go straight to all those tempting (think unhealthy, fattening) foods. Decision point: what do you REALLY want? Because if you want to eat for better health and vitality with gradual loss of any excess fat, you will look at the junk foods as if they are plaster figurines and you will walk past them to the real food. You will feel free to fill your plate several times with salad (oil and vinegar please, not dressing) and whole fruit and cooked vegetables and 3-5 kinds of meat. You will walk out of that buffet with your head held high and triumph in your eyes. Or ...
Yes, it's about you. You will be tired, you will be busy, you will suffer emotional highs and lows and you will be tempted. But you won't notice those things so much if you are obsessed with the life you want to have next month and next year.
What will you do? WHAT WILL YOU DO?
I hope you enjoyed this little series focused around the decision to eat for improved health. Possible topics of discussion are endless and I'll be as surprised as you when I select the next one. :-))
'Til then, think of ancestral eating as your new hobby and have fun learning about it and practicing how to make it work for you.
Special note to binge eaters: I didn't talk about us in this post because I've decided to write a self-standing one on the subject. I'm not sure when yet.
January 4, 2012
Weight Loss Tactics for 2012 - Part 3
In Part 1, we talked about distinguishing between physical and emotional hunger because for weight loss we want to feed one while distracting the other.
In Part 2, we talked about losing weight slowly and steadily rather than trying drastic measures that can back-fire.
In this post, we'll talk about the relationship between health and moving around. Since every person reading this post will have a different level of daily activity and a unique level of possible fitness, I'll quote Arthur Ashe, "To achieve greatness, start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." And that's exactly the attitude you should have about being as active you you can. And I'd add, "Use it or lose it." The more muscle tone you can comfortably build, the better your other physical systems will perform.
I probably fall somewhere in the middle. Last spring, I was walking vigorously for 3-4 miles every other day and doing a number of manual activities so I had good overall muscle tone for a gray-haired lady. Then, I fell one day in a fluky accident (a stepping stone shifted under me) and I seriously wrecked my ankle. I was not able to do much for weeks. Then it was hot, then it was cold--you see where this is going. I've done some light walking, but I haven't done serious walking for exercise since. So yesterday morning I headed out and put in about 1.5 miles. I'm resting today but I could have walked again which tells me I did the first walk just right.
I don't think it does more mature folks any good to work so hard you hurt all over the next day. It's better to under-do a little, particularly in the early days, than to over-do. Even though I call this a "rest" day, I will behave as if I am a fidgety, restless person--that does burn a little energy and gives your muscles something to do. It's as simple as getting up every 15 minutes and moving around your space or your yard or your neighborhood/building. If things go well, you'll gradually find you have more energy and are stronger; over time you can gradually ask more of your body but remember to stay within the range of what's reasonable for your level of fitness.
I do my chores one at a time with a sit-down in between.The sit-down and get-up count as squats but the rule is you can't use your arms--sitting and getting up, plus stairs, should be done with legs only because that's much better for your back. Now, if you have any balance concerns just let your hand hover over the rail or support. I have a bad back, mostly from issues I was born with, and I learned in my 20s that I should push my way up stairs with my legs rather than unconsciously pulling myself up with my arms. It feels better and keeps your back and legs strong.
So, be calm and serene and enjoy your day but remember to pretend you are fidgety and move around a lot. What you can do today will help you do more next week!
In part 4, I'll talk about why I choose to eat whole foods and follow what is called ancestral eating.
In Part 2, we talked about losing weight slowly and steadily rather than trying drastic measures that can back-fire.
In this post, we'll talk about the relationship between health and moving around. Since every person reading this post will have a different level of daily activity and a unique level of possible fitness, I'll quote Arthur Ashe, "To achieve greatness, start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." And that's exactly the attitude you should have about being as active you you can. And I'd add, "Use it or lose it." The more muscle tone you can comfortably build, the better your other physical systems will perform.
I probably fall somewhere in the middle. Last spring, I was walking vigorously for 3-4 miles every other day and doing a number of manual activities so I had good overall muscle tone for a gray-haired lady. Then, I fell one day in a fluky accident (a stepping stone shifted under me) and I seriously wrecked my ankle. I was not able to do much for weeks. Then it was hot, then it was cold--you see where this is going. I've done some light walking, but I haven't done serious walking for exercise since. So yesterday morning I headed out and put in about 1.5 miles. I'm resting today but I could have walked again which tells me I did the first walk just right.
I don't think it does more mature folks any good to work so hard you hurt all over the next day. It's better to under-do a little, particularly in the early days, than to over-do. Even though I call this a "rest" day, I will behave as if I am a fidgety, restless person--that does burn a little energy and gives your muscles something to do. It's as simple as getting up every 15 minutes and moving around your space or your yard or your neighborhood/building. If things go well, you'll gradually find you have more energy and are stronger; over time you can gradually ask more of your body but remember to stay within the range of what's reasonable for your level of fitness.
I do my chores one at a time with a sit-down in between.The sit-down and get-up count as squats but the rule is you can't use your arms--sitting and getting up, plus stairs, should be done with legs only because that's much better for your back. Now, if you have any balance concerns just let your hand hover over the rail or support. I have a bad back, mostly from issues I was born with, and I learned in my 20s that I should push my way up stairs with my legs rather than unconsciously pulling myself up with my arms. It feels better and keeps your back and legs strong.
 |
| Moving Helps You Sleep |
So, be calm and serene and enjoy your day but remember to pretend you are fidgety and move around a lot. What you can do today will help you do more next week!
In part 4, I'll talk about why I choose to eat whole foods and follow what is called ancestral eating.
January 3, 2012
Weight Loss Tactics for 2012 - Part 2
In Part 1, we talked about distinguishing between physical and emotional hunger because for weight loss we want to feed one while distracting the other.
In this post, we'll talk about losing weight sensibly--interpret that as slowly and steadily--rather than trying to lose it too fast--going into crisis mode and doing things that will risk your health and/or cause you to lose control and actually gain weight.
Whether you suffered from binge eating as I did or just gained some extra body fat over time, I'll bet you didn't get to where you are now in a week or two. It takes time to gain AND it takes time to effectively lose excess body fat.
I don't recommend using a scale because your poundage will change erratically based on retaining/releasing water, gaining/losing muscle tone, eating more/less food volume and having/not having bowel movements. We're not really interested in most of those, although improved muscle tone should indicate improved general health.
If we think of our body as a living machine, we realize that the body already knows how to "run" but we, as the driver, have control of the steering wheel, accelerator and brake. Think about that--what's going to happen to your car if you put in the wrong kind of fuel? Or put the accelerator to the floor? Or slam on the brakes? How are those actions likely to work out?
Well, the body's not that different. We can start by using the right fuel--whole meat, vegetables and fruits. In this case, by "whole" I mean in the natural state as opposed to processed meats like hot dogs and whole vegetables/fruits instead of juice or vegetable/fruit products with sweeteners and/or additives.
So how do you lose sensibly? The good news is that if you are eating "plain" whole foods most people don't tend to over-eat the way we do when eating manufactured food-like products. You shouldn't need to use a scale or count calories, at least at first. If you start your day/meal with a nice portion of fatty meat that's one way to knock your appetite down to size. If you tend to over-eat the meat--only in terms of weight loss--then start with a nice leafy salad or other raw vegetables to gain a feeling of comfortable fullness before starting to eat the meat. Whether you use a little raw fruit as an appetizer or dessert doesn't matter. If you start with fruit, though, use your logical side to decide the right amount and then move on to the salad or meat.
If you eat in that way for a month, you are likely to find you feel and look better and your waist and hip measurements may be smaller. If not, don't panic! Your body may have needed a month to adjust to this different way of eating. You may need to eat/drink some probiotic foods/beverages to improve your ability to digest foods. Or, you may need to make SLIGHT adjustments to what you're eating and drinking. For me, that would mean looking at how much cream/honey I'm using in my coffee each morning, how much yogurt I'm eating per day and how many cups of fruit I'm eating. Frankly, I seem to lose weight no matter how much meat/fat/vegetables I eat although if you like starchy vegetables like white/sweet potatoes you may keep an eye on portion size there. The goal is to make sure the portion sizes aren't too generous rather than to eliminate any of the foods you're eating.
So, if the first month of ancestral eating causes you to drop some body fat that's terrific but it's not the end of the world if you don't. This is a slow, steady process and to reach the destination we'll make gentle use of the gas/steering. In the second half of the month, and in the months to come, we can talk about other strategies such as how many meals are eaten per day, the importance of bone broths and organ meats, etc. For now, let's just keep it simple!
In Part 3, we'll talk about the relationship between your health and moving around a lot.
In this post, we'll talk about losing weight sensibly--interpret that as slowly and steadily--rather than trying to lose it too fast--going into crisis mode and doing things that will risk your health and/or cause you to lose control and actually gain weight.
Whether you suffered from binge eating as I did or just gained some extra body fat over time, I'll bet you didn't get to where you are now in a week or two. It takes time to gain AND it takes time to effectively lose excess body fat.
I don't recommend using a scale because your poundage will change erratically based on retaining/releasing water, gaining/losing muscle tone, eating more/less food volume and having/not having bowel movements. We're not really interested in most of those, although improved muscle tone should indicate improved general health.
If we think of our body as a living machine, we realize that the body already knows how to "run" but we, as the driver, have control of the steering wheel, accelerator and brake. Think about that--what's going to happen to your car if you put in the wrong kind of fuel? Or put the accelerator to the floor? Or slam on the brakes? How are those actions likely to work out?
Well, the body's not that different. We can start by using the right fuel--whole meat, vegetables and fruits. In this case, by "whole" I mean in the natural state as opposed to processed meats like hot dogs and whole vegetables/fruits instead of juice or vegetable/fruit products with sweeteners and/or additives.
So how do you lose sensibly? The good news is that if you are eating "plain" whole foods most people don't tend to over-eat the way we do when eating manufactured food-like products. You shouldn't need to use a scale or count calories, at least at first. If you start your day/meal with a nice portion of fatty meat that's one way to knock your appetite down to size. If you tend to over-eat the meat--only in terms of weight loss--then start with a nice leafy salad or other raw vegetables to gain a feeling of comfortable fullness before starting to eat the meat. Whether you use a little raw fruit as an appetizer or dessert doesn't matter. If you start with fruit, though, use your logical side to decide the right amount and then move on to the salad or meat.
If you eat in that way for a month, you are likely to find you feel and look better and your waist and hip measurements may be smaller. If not, don't panic! Your body may have needed a month to adjust to this different way of eating. You may need to eat/drink some probiotic foods/beverages to improve your ability to digest foods. Or, you may need to make SLIGHT adjustments to what you're eating and drinking. For me, that would mean looking at how much cream/honey I'm using in my coffee each morning, how much yogurt I'm eating per day and how many cups of fruit I'm eating. Frankly, I seem to lose weight no matter how much meat/fat/vegetables I eat although if you like starchy vegetables like white/sweet potatoes you may keep an eye on portion size there. The goal is to make sure the portion sizes aren't too generous rather than to eliminate any of the foods you're eating.
So, if the first month of ancestral eating causes you to drop some body fat that's terrific but it's not the end of the world if you don't. This is a slow, steady process and to reach the destination we'll make gentle use of the gas/steering. In the second half of the month, and in the months to come, we can talk about other strategies such as how many meals are eaten per day, the importance of bone broths and organ meats, etc. For now, let's just keep it simple!
In Part 3, we'll talk about the relationship between your health and moving around a lot.
January 1, 2012
Weight Loss Tactics for 2012 - Part I
If you have a goal to lose weight this year, there are a few things you'll want to consider. The points I've listed below will be a series of posts over the next week or so:
- Your chances for success will be improved if you eat in a way that minimizes physical hunger while helping you to recognize and manage emotional hunger.
- It's better to let weight loss occur slowly and comfortably rather than punishing yourself with harsh restrictions that may cause you to give up and even gain more weight than you started with.
- Light activity such as walking and doing household chores are helpful for both health and weight loss. Again, you don't have to punish yourself but the more you can move around the better.
- It's possible to lose weight on many different diets but you'll enjoy the best health results if you eat healthy whole foods while you're losing and doing so will make it easier for you to keep the weight off.
- Emotional highs/lows must be carefully managed to stay on course with weight loss, particularly if you are a binge eater.
Avoiding/Managing Hunger. Since you want to lose weight and we're coming off the holidays, I'm going to assume you've been eating at least some highly sweetened foods such as baked goods. If you now change to eating healthy whole foods (meat, vegetables, fruits) you are probably going to experience emotional hunger.
What is the difference between physical and emotional hunger? Physical hunger occurs when you have absorbed and used the nutrients from the last food you ate. Now, if you're like me you're carrying around excess body fat, and you're not in any danger of starving, but your body would much rather work on new food than go to the trouble of releasing stored fat. Physical hunger is fine and it's not going to spoil your weight loss effort. You can and do ignore physical hunger until it's convenient to eat.
Emotional hunger is a different story. Have you ever gone into the kitchen and opened the fridge or cupboard and thought, "There's nothing in here to eat?" That's emotional hunger, because you're looking at a lot of food and if it was physical hunger everything would look GOOD. Emotional hunger is a craving for a specific food or type of food and nothing else will do. It is almost always something that's not healthy or nutritious--think chips or ice cream or cookies. The irony of emotional hunger is that you don't really need the food you're craving but the urge is much more powerful and upsetting than true hunger. You "need" the food and it can become the most important thing in your world at that moment.
So, if your attempt to lose weight is going to succeed it's important to avoid physical hunger by eating the right things. And avoiding physical hunger will also be an important piece in your efforts to manage emotional cravings. How you do that will probably change over time, but for now just remember that you FEED physical hunger and DISTRACT emotional hunger.
Feed your physical hunger. What are your favorite meats, vegetables and fruits? Fill your fridge, freezer and cupboards with them. Read this post about what an ancestral eating shopping list looks like.
One of the best things you can do is get out the slow-cooker and make a nice home-made stew. Buy some meat that includes bones, or separate packages of bones and meat, and cook them in the slow-cooker for a few hours. When the meat/bones are simmering nicely add whatever vegetables you wish (remember that corn, barley, rice and noodles are NOT vegetables.) Cook the stew until all the bones are clean and fish them out. Then refrigerate the stew and re-heat a bowl whenever you're hungry. If you're "hungry" but don't want the stew, guess what? That's emotional hunger and we'll address that in a minute. I recommend a thorough re-heating of the stew every 4 days or so if it's not all eaten yet.
One of the best things you can do is get out the slow-cooker and make a nice home-made stew. Buy some meat that includes bones, or separate packages of bones and meat, and cook them in the slow-cooker for a few hours. When the meat/bones are simmering nicely add whatever vegetables you wish (remember that corn, barley, rice and noodles are NOT vegetables.) Cook the stew until all the bones are clean and fish them out. Then refrigerate the stew and re-heat a bowl whenever you're hungry. If you're "hungry" but don't want the stew, guess what? That's emotional hunger and we'll address that in a minute. I recommend a thorough re-heating of the stew every 4 days or so if it's not all eaten yet.
Eat your first meal of the day as early or late as you like but here's the rule: the first meal has to be mostly meat and/or eggs. The goal is to eat a filling meal that will take your body a while to digest. Why? If you eat enough meat/eggs to fill you up, you won't be physically hungry for hours. You could eat your slow-cooked stew, but make sure you eat lots of meat. For the first meal, I'd think of something like chuck steak and eggs and use the stew for later meals. You can have a salad with oil and vinegar any time you like and you can have 1 or 2 cups of fruit per day.
If you are going to work, you'll want to take food with you. A portable salad or cut-up vegetables, a piece of fruit, a can of tuna (in olive oil) or salmon, leftover meat or boiled eggs, etc. Take plenty because you don't want to be at the mercy of vending machines, cafeteria or restaurant.
If you are going to work, you'll want to take food with you. A portable salad or cut-up vegetables, a piece of fruit, a can of tuna (in olive oil) or salmon, leftover meat or boiled eggs, etc. Take plenty because you don't want to be at the mercy of vending machines, cafeteria or restaurant.
Distract your emotional hunger. Okay, back to the cupboard "with nothing in it." Make sure that's true--before you begin trying to lose weight, get rid of all the foods you don't want to eat. If you're going to try ancestral eating, that means giving away or discarding foods that include grains or sugar or soy or processed seed oils. Pretty much everything in a bag or a box with a list of ingredients is probably not a good match for ancestral eating. Let's just say, if cravings strike you don't want a cupboard full of chips and cookies!
Since you're not physically hungry, real food won't be appealing and that's your signal that you are suffering from emotional hunger. You don't want to feed that, you want to distract it.
If weather permits, this is a great time to go for a walk or a drive because movement is good for you and it may temporarily kill cravings. Take a shower or clean out a storage closet. If you have a pet, groom it or play with it. Do a Google search on "ancestral eating" or "paleo diet." If you have a yard, do something outside.
Update 1/15/12: Check out this link on the subject of distracting emotional hunger from Health on TODAY.
If you are at work, catch up on phone calls or change what you're working on (if you can) so you have to concentrate. At lunch time or after work you can get up and do the walk or drive.
Good options are to go to big-box stores or large businesses that don't offer food such as clothing, hardware or garden centers. Walk around, read labels, etc.
Social contact may be great or risky--being around people can be a great distraction but it needs to be situations or people that won't tempt you with the foods you're trying to avoid.
You will do whatever is most important to you. If losing weight and enjoying better health are what you truly want, your physical and emotional hunger can't stop you and neither can other people. You may need to learn new habits and you may need to fight against old habits and attitudes.
It's about you. You'll only struggle if you aren't sure what you want OR if you believe that you don't have control. Well, you do have control of what you eat and, to a great extent, how you feel. You can make it happen and you aren't alone. There are web sites, books and forums available to provide information and reinforce your new reality.
To go directly to Part 2, click here.
Since you're not physically hungry, real food won't be appealing and that's your signal that you are suffering from emotional hunger. You don't want to feed that, you want to distract it.
If weather permits, this is a great time to go for a walk or a drive because movement is good for you and it may temporarily kill cravings. Take a shower or clean out a storage closet. If you have a pet, groom it or play with it. Do a Google search on "ancestral eating" or "paleo diet." If you have a yard, do something outside.
Update 1/15/12: Check out this link on the subject of distracting emotional hunger from Health on TODAY.
If you are at work, catch up on phone calls or change what you're working on (if you can) so you have to concentrate. At lunch time or after work you can get up and do the walk or drive.
Good options are to go to big-box stores or large businesses that don't offer food such as clothing, hardware or garden centers. Walk around, read labels, etc.
Social contact may be great or risky--being around people can be a great distraction but it needs to be situations or people that won't tempt you with the foods you're trying to avoid.
You will do whatever is most important to you. If losing weight and enjoying better health are what you truly want, your physical and emotional hunger can't stop you and neither can other people. You may need to learn new habits and you may need to fight against old habits and attitudes.
It's about you. You'll only struggle if you aren't sure what you want OR if you believe that you don't have control. Well, you do have control of what you eat and, to a great extent, how you feel. You can make it happen and you aren't alone. There are web sites, books and forums available to provide information and reinforce your new reality.
To go directly to Part 2, click here.
December 28, 2011
On the Edge of the Precipice
A little dramatic with the title, don't you think? After all, I am a pudgy grandma and not the type you'd imagine standing on the edge of a precipice.
And yet I am. After a life of binge eating and yo-yo dieting, it appears I've finally found the solution in ancestral eating. It took months, but I can now "hear" the signals my body gives when I eat good/bad things.
I've done so well in 2011 that I deliberately chose to splurge for the holidays. In the past, I had to be perfect on any diet because the first time I "fell off the wagon" it was the beginning of a binge that lasted until I regained all my weight back and then continued on to an even higher weight. I need to know if that has really changed. So, on November 15th I officially declared an "open eating" season.
So far, so good, but I'd be lying if I pretended not to be nervous about the upcoming end of open season on January 3rd.
On the good side, I have had a specific treat or two on a given day rather than anything close to a binge and I have comfortably had no treats at all on many days. I made a bad choice when I tested my wheat tolerance with shortbread, but home-made eggnog and 85% chocolate were fine. I even ate ice cream once and nothing terrible happened. Extra fruit on my yogurt has just been extra fruit. On the bad side, though, I have been thinking about food more and have noticed that I'm feeling cravings late in the day sometimes although I easily ignore them.
So here I stand, knowing I can either turn and walk away toward the healthy ancestral eating that resulted in the loss of half my excess body fat OR I can throw myself off the cliff and dive into bags and boxes of processed foods. Obviously, my rational side fully intends to turn and walk away but that other, compulsive and self-destructive side is hovering near the edge.
Why did I put myself at risk? Well, I want it all. I want to have an occasional treat and still reach and maintain a normal weight. I want to know that my inner shadows are under control. I want to be able to relax and celebrate major holidays confident in the knowledge that I can and will return to sensible eating.
January 3rd is coming. We'll see what happens then.
December 16, 2011
An Excess of Holiday Ham?
Yesterday my day started as usual, with 2 mugs of coffee, each with a little heavy cream and about 1tsp of honey. At mid-day, I had my usual dish of 2/3 c. home-made yogurt with a banana and a fermented fig (more on the fig later.)
So, in late afternoon, I decided to have some ham. This is not a strict "ancestral" ham because it's not from a pastured hog and I'm sure it was sugar cured. You know the type I mean, a ready-to-eat shoulder with the bone still in. I have plans for that bone, but for now I'm just going to freeze it.
Now about my meal--normally, I make a leafy green salad that marinates for a bit in vinegar and olive oil. And I usually have raw and/or cooked vegetables, and maybe a piece of whole fruit for dessert.
But not yesterday. No, I carved myself a huge slice of ham from around that bone, browned the slice of ham in a skillet and made a feast of it. It was about the regular thickness for a ham steak, but I would normally eat about half of a round with the salad and veggies.
That slice filled my dinner plate! And nothing ever tasted better. Ham has never been my favorite meat, so I only have it once or twice per year, but I am a woman who hasn't had refined sugar in 8 months (well, except for that binge in August) and my taste buds actually work now. The sweet, delicate flavor of the ham inspired me to eat that whole slice with gusto.
How, you ask, was I punished for eating a large meal of nothing but ham?
Umm . . . well . . . I WASN'T! When I woke up this morning, alert and well-rested, I had that tell-tale feeling when you know you've lost a little fat overnight. When I walked my dogs I was light on my feet and I had tons of energy; my waist was the same size as it was on Nov. 15th when I went on my holiday rules.
So, the moral of the story is that if you really feel like a big meal go for nothing but meat. It's not the ham that'll make you fat, it's the bread and mashed potatoes and pie. There's no such thing as an excess of holiday ham!
P.S. The fig I mentioned above is a dehydrated (unsweetened, unsulphured) fig I put in the pitcher when I brewed the previous day's water kefir. It soaks up the brew and becomes the juiciest, most delicious fig you ever had. I change out the other fruit every second or third day, but I have to put in a new fig every day because I just can't resist them.
So, in late afternoon, I decided to have some ham. This is not a strict "ancestral" ham because it's not from a pastured hog and I'm sure it was sugar cured. You know the type I mean, a ready-to-eat shoulder with the bone still in. I have plans for that bone, but for now I'm just going to freeze it.
Now about my meal--normally, I make a leafy green salad that marinates for a bit in vinegar and olive oil. And I usually have raw and/or cooked vegetables, and maybe a piece of whole fruit for dessert.
But not yesterday. No, I carved myself a huge slice of ham from around that bone, browned the slice of ham in a skillet and made a feast of it. It was about the regular thickness for a ham steak, but I would normally eat about half of a round with the salad and veggies.
That slice filled my dinner plate! And nothing ever tasted better. Ham has never been my favorite meat, so I only have it once or twice per year, but I am a woman who hasn't had refined sugar in 8 months (well, except for that binge in August) and my taste buds actually work now. The sweet, delicate flavor of the ham inspired me to eat that whole slice with gusto.
How, you ask, was I punished for eating a large meal of nothing but ham?
Umm . . . well . . . I WASN'T! When I woke up this morning, alert and well-rested, I had that tell-tale feeling when you know you've lost a little fat overnight. When I walked my dogs I was light on my feet and I had tons of energy; my waist was the same size as it was on Nov. 15th when I went on my holiday rules.
So, the moral of the story is that if you really feel like a big meal go for nothing but meat. It's not the ham that'll make you fat, it's the bread and mashed potatoes and pie. There's no such thing as an excess of holiday ham!
P.S. The fig I mentioned above is a dehydrated (unsweetened, unsulphured) fig I put in the pitcher when I brewed the previous day's water kefir. It soaks up the brew and becomes the juiciest, most delicious fig you ever had. I change out the other fruit every second or third day, but I have to put in a new fig every day because I just can't resist them.
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