A New Year

Follows are my resolutions for this year:

1. Buy smaller - plates, cups, really anything that you can put food on.
2. Drink more - drink more things that have zero calories, even some water with the yummy pink lemonade in them.
3. Be more active - plan activities each week that involve some kind of activity. I am thinking bowling night and wii fit night are first on the list.
4. Don't be bored - especially with myself.
5. Live, love and laugh!

I hope everyone starts out on a healthy plan for the year!

Christine

Meal Plan and Water

I think one of the things that makes it hard to eat healthy is that we always seem to be eating on the run, even when we eat at home. Breakfast and lunch are not hard but dinner or supper seems to be a problem.

So, I am going to start doing some meal planning. I am thinking that for a while I will pick a day of the week and that will be chicken night. This means for a typical month I will need to come up with four chicken dinners that are nutritious. When I get my plan done I will post it.

I am beginning to think I am not a drinker. Even if I count the diet drinks, I have I do not get enough "water" for the day. Drinking whatever I drink as cold as I can has not been a problem but getting the amount has been a big one. More than six bottles, cans or glasses of something a day seems like too much. Maybe it is because it is winter.

Praying for warm weather,
Christine

Water & Dr.

So, I went to a doctor and nutritionist. He was great. Things he told me.

1. Start keeping a food diary. I got a calculator so I could track calories but I think just writing down everything you put in your mouth can stop you from eating somethings. At first you should try to eat less than you did the day before until you have gotten yourself into good eating habits. He said "Noone eats just a tic, it is always a tic-tac. Write it down."
2. Water - He said to drink the coldest water you can drink. To try and drink water before meals and at lease two bottles of water between meal. He also said to drink 10-12 glasses of water a day. Why the coldest water you can drink? What is asked me was "What do people who work in the Antarctic do when they are outside?" Shiver, which burns calories. So when you drink cold water your body has to work to warm it up. Keeping your metabolism working. Water with sugar free mixes, diet drinks or unsweet tea with splenda or something like that counts as water. This was good for me to know because water is not my friend.
3. I am getting old... or at least older. People my age, really do I need to say it, are on the down side of muscle growth. We are losing muscle every year for the rest of our lives. What he recommends... Doing 30 minutes of cardio three days a week and using the muscle confusion with free weights or resistance training to build muscle. By building muscle and not just trying to burn calories you help keep the muscle you have and build muscle which burns fat. As most of you know, I have arthritis. So telling me this did not upset me. Tatiana and I just bought new bikes and after I bought a new seat we love to ride.
4. Portion control - He said this one was a no brainer... guess I do not have much of a brain because I always eat to much. He made me make a fits and then grab my wrist just below where it bends then slide it toward my hand. This is your portion size. You appitizer should be that size and both of your sides should be that size. Really you are eating three fits full of food.
5. Eat your veggies and lots of salad with measured dressing on the side.
6. Drinking - Don't drink needless calories. Drink diet or sugar free or my favorite.... WATER. These are not your friends.

Something I learned this week, not from my doctor. Tell the truth. I used to think until Monday that I was a truthful person. But when it comes to myself I only tell myself the bad stuff. Part of telling the truth is being able to recognize the good and bad about things. Be honest with yourself. Most people do something good everyday. Sometimes you do more good than you think.

Christine

Breakfast for those like Jr.

I forgot that what I eat for breakfast is not what Jr. eats because I like cereal and he does not. So what I do for him is a serving that equals about 110 calories plus, protein/dairy serving, fruit and a piece of wheat bread(I guess you could ask my hips but men get extra).

2 Egg Omelet with 1/2 serving of cheese and 1/2 serving of ham
6 oz of OJ or V8 Splash(I like it cause it is cheap)
1 slice wheat toast

1/2 cup Grits (I use a little butter when I cook them or 1/2 slice of cheese and less milk)
6 oz Milk
6 oz Juice
NO toast on Grit day because he likes a little more than 1 serving of Grits

2 Eggs
6 oz Milk
6 oz Juice
1 slice wheat toast
6 oz Juice

P.S.
I have bought cups(from the dollar store) that are small to use with breakfast so I don't have to measure in the mornings.

Breakfast & Water

Breakfast:
Cereal with 4 oz milk (I use 2% because I don't like fat free!)
Dairy or Protein
Fruit

Okay for breakfast I like cereal. I found the Great Value Enriched Bran Flakes were very similar to what I was eating. The serving size is 3/4 cup but I use the 1 cup and just don't fill it full. I am putting 4 oz of 2% milk in the cereal and drinking 6 oz of milk and 6 oz of OJ with breakfast. Most of the time I add some of the milk from my cup to my bowl cause I like the extra milk in the cereal.

This is what I used to find the bran flakes:
Calories around 110 per serving
Less than 1 gram fat
Total Carbs 25g with 5g being from Dietary Fiber and 5g from sugars
Protein 3g

You can add as much coffee as you want as long as you use a sugar substitute!

Water:
You are suppose to drink 8, 8oz glasses of water. This is the hardest thing for me. It is really only 4, 16 oz bottles so I try to fool myself into thinking only 4 bottles. One thing I have done is eliminate calories from drinking. I drink diet/splenda everything so I don't have the empty/extra calories from drinking. I almost always miss the mark on the water daily.

What I am learning...

I started NutriSytem about 2 months ago. What I have learned is that I knew nothing about what a portion of something really is. I have tried other things to take the weight off but they never really worked because portion meant nothing to me. I hate counting calories. It wasn't very realistic for me to think I would ever take the time to read the serving size and figure out how much I was eating and keep a total for the entire day. I know with modern technology they now have programs that will help you do that. It just wasn't something that would work for me. I needed someone to say... this is it. Eat what we send you plus this, drink water and that is it.

I also learned that leaving something behind on your plate is not a bad thing. I have been guilty in the past of making the comment about the starving children of the world and wasting food. I personally have never packaged any leftover food up and sent it any where but my frig to turn into some kind of weird science project because we do not really eat leftovers unless it was for lunch the next day. After that...weird science at it's best! Trying to figure out to stop eating when you are full is like trying to figure out when a newborn cries if it is hungry, wet or just needs to be held. When someone can learn to translate the meaning of those cries correctly please put them on to making a device that beeps when you are full! It is really okay to not be a member of the clean plate club. Maybe not starting with such large portions would make more sense when talking about a clean plate.

Let them eat CAKE... I think everyone should be allowed to eat dessert,sweet or salty. Knowing that you can have something, even a little something about an hour after dinner makes the world a better place. It allows me to stop eating before I have devoured my entire plate. Perhaps teaching children to eat a little of the veggies and meat then you can have something later instead of having to clean the entire plate to get to the prize would be a good thing. Not that my eating habits came from being made to clean my plate. I think that was something I learned as a adult.

Wait, weight... It is funny and heart breaking to think that I just woke up one day and was this size so now I should be able to go back to sleep and magically become smaller. I don't think my mind is always my friend. Do you ever dream at night? I do and guess what, in all my dreams I am the size I once was. I don't and I have never wanted to be bone thin. I like having some meat on my bones but I have never once dreamed of me the way I am when I look into the mirror. I guess that is why when I get up in the morning and glance into the mirror I am always thinking who in the heck is that and where did I go.

Next time I think I will talk about why I eat... I don't think it really has anything to do with hunger!