Any Benefit to Cheat Days?

June 21, 2010 By

I had never heard about cheat days until after I lost my 150 pounds. Then, I started hearing about them from friends and reading them about them in weight loss books. Now, I see them mentioned on occasion and it makes me wonder. I did not have cheat days during my journey. I messed up every now and then, but I tried to be consistent with my food and exercise choices. I did choose to eat dessert or candy on occasion, but never had a day set aside to eat whatever I wanted.

A cheat day gives a “dieter” the chance to eat anything they want to for a whole day or perhaps just one meal. You might save up your cheat calories and have a big restaurant meal or choose a special ice cream treat. Or maybe on that day you choose to just snack on foods you would not normally eat. However you might do it – is it a good idea?

Here are my thoughts:

♦In my mind, a cheat day might mean you are thinking of your eating plan as a temporary diet rather than a lifestyle change. If you are changing your relationship to food forever, then there is no reason to cheat, because you are just living life. Does that mean you can’t have the occasional brownie or piece of pie? No. If you choose to have those desserts once in a while, make it a choice that fits within your lifestyle.

♦If you are someone who struggles with controlling their sugar or processed food cravings, then a cheat day might set you up for failure. Oftentimes, if we crave those foods and then eat them to excess we might find ourselves on a “roll” and have a hard time stopping.

♦If you go all week eating a really clean, healthy diet but all you can think about is your cheat day coming up is that a healthy thing? Would it make you see that cheat day as a reward for good behaviour? It might, and when you do reach your goal you may still see food as a reward, which can hurt your maintenance efforts.

You can probably tell that I’m not a big fan of cheat days, but I’m very interested to hear what you all think.

Is there any benefit to having a cheat day while you are losing weight?  Diane

Filed Under: Choices, Weight Loss Tagged With: ,

What are SoFAS and Why You Should Care

June 18, 2010 By

The US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) just issued it’s new dietary guidelines.  The guidelines are issued every five years, so this is the first time since 2005 that they are being updated. For the first time, the guidelines are shining a light on the obesity problem and have recommendations to help Americans fight obesity.

Here are the highlights of their recommendations. Of particular interest is section D, where they get down to the details of their recommendations.

♦The first two sections encourages us all to eat healthy foods, and offers guidance on how to achieve that goal.

♦The third section begins to address SoFAS. The cute government name for not so cute “foods.” Solid Fats and Added Sugars. The committee actually encourages people to AVOID sugar-sweetened beverages. Not just suggests they limit the amount they drink, but avoid them altogether. That should be interesting for soda manufacturers and lobbyists during the public comment time to come.

♦The report also addresses the reduction of  childhood obesity by trying to prevent the problem from happening in the first place.

I have to admit that I am encouraged by these recommendations. I am not a big government person, but having these guidelines can serve as a starting point and open up a dialogue concerning the sad state of Americans. When 66% of the adults in our country are medically overweight or obese that is a problem. Add to it the number of children who also struggle and there really is a crisis.

What are your initial thoughts? Do you see guidelines such as these making a difference in the lives of ordinary Americans any time soon?  Diane

Filed Under: Weight Loss Tagged With: ,

Quick Quirky Question

May 26, 2010 By

Today is the last day to enter the Subway Giftcard Giveaway!

This morning I was thinking about what a friend asked me yesterday afternoon at around 3:30 p.m. We were talking on the phone, chatting mindlessly about nothing, and she said, “I’ve got a strange question for you. What’s the last thing you ate?”

I laughed and asked her why she wanted to know. She said, “Well, you always seem to eat so healthy so I was wondering if I caught you unaware what your answer would be.” I told her that the last thing I had eaten that moment was a handful of animal crackers. (Honestly, it was only half a serving! :) )

So my blogging friends. Time to confess.

If I asked you that question at 3:30 in the afternoon – what’s you answer? Good choice or not? Diane

Filed Under: Choices, Meal Time Tagged With: ,

What Can’t You Have In The House?

May 21, 2010 By

(Beware of some tempting pictures below!) I have a little confession here. As you know, I’ve been in maintenance for a little over 12 years, but there are certain foods that I just can’t have in the house. Certain foods like this:

And these:

And don’t forget these:

When I was losing weight I was (and still am) all about moderation. I lost my weight always keeping in mind that I wanted to lose weight by eating “real” foods so that when I hit my goal weight I wouldn’t have to change anything. I could just eat the right amounts of my regular foods and maintain my loss.

And it worked – for the most part.

I learned that even though I had put the reins on overeating brownies, cookies, and chocolate. There were certain foods that I still had a hard time controlling myself around. This disappointed me a little bit because I was sure that I had “conquered” my bad eating habits. To my dismay whenever I brought the above foods: peanut M&M’s, Oreo cookies, and peanuts into the house I ate too many of them. Granted I didn’t buy them often, but I sometimes purchased them in a moment of weakness. Like when I was standing in the grocery store line with four kids under the age of nine.

What to do? Well, what I did was almost never bought those “non-foods.” And for the most part, I don’t buy those foods anymore. BUT, if the overwhelming urge to eat peanut M&M’s comes over me then I buy a small bag and do one of two things. Either I eat a few and throw the rest of the bag away, or I share with whomever I’m with. I’ve learned that I’m really satisfied with just a taste or two and that the first ones I eat seem to taste the best.

Perhaps I should never buy those tempting foods again, but with my personality I start to feel deprived. I start to feel sorry for myself-and that’s not a good thing.

Do you have certain foods that you try not to have in the house?  Diane

Filed Under: Choices, Weight Loss Tagged With: ,

Is This Okay? (Mini-Rant)

May 15, 2010 By

I know it’s the weekend and I usually post something about my family or something that is going on in my life. And I may put that up tomorrow. But twice today I was confronted with something I see ALL THE TIME and for some reason it struck me wrong.

Here’s the first scenario:

I’m in the parking lot of Kroger putting my groceries in the car. A woman and her daughter come up next to me and begin unloading their groceries. I glance over, mainly to make sure they aren’t ax murders or something, and can’t help but notice three things:

  1. The mom is about as big as I used to be.
  2. The little girl, who is probably about eight years old, is fairly overweight.
  3. They are each holding a candy bar while at the same time opening a 20 oz soft drink – the mom a coke, and the little girl an carbonated orange drink.

The mom tells her daughter, “You can’t go wrong with a soda and a candy bar on a hot day.”

It made me so sad to see this. I was morbidly obese. I know how it feels to be obese, and even at my biggest I knew I didn’t want any of my children to be obese. Not obese as a child or an adult. I wondered why the mom would offer a huge soda which had over 200 empty calories in it coupled with a several hundred calorie chocolate bar. Doesn’t she realize that she is setting her daughter up for a life of difficulties, both from the emotional toll obesity can take and the health problems obesity brings?

The second scenario was one a friend was telling me about. He was at a local donut shoppe and saw a morbidly obese woman eating donuts with her overweight child. And the child didn’t have just one donut, but rather two iced donuts complete with sprinkles. Now, I’m not a kill-joy. Not at all. We eat cookies on occasion. We have dessert. I think I’ve eaten a donut in the last two years (maybe). But if I was weight challenged, and my child was too, then feeding them two donuts at 7:00 a.m. wouldn’t be how I would generally start the day.

I don’t believe that government can regulate our food choices. Sure, they can force the manufacturers to eventually lower the sodium content in foods. They can work on reducing the trans fat/high fructose corn syrup/etc. in foods – but it does come down to individual choices.

That’s why I have such high hopes for the blogging community. It’s a grassroots community that has a wide reach and is influential. I hope that as time goes by we will all see less and less of these types of destructive behaviors. It grieves me when I see it or hear about it because I KNOW what it feels like to be morbidly obese, and it isn’t fun.

My husband asked me if I said anything to the candy bar/soda woman. “Of course not,” I responded. I never would have. Although I did want to ask her – “What’s so great about soda on a hot day? What about a bottle of water?” But I didn’t say anything. Instead I got into my car and drove home, thinking about it the whole time.

What do you think when you see things like this? Does it make you sad/mad/don’t care. Do you ever say anything?  Diane

Filed Under: obesity, Weight Loss Tagged With: , ,

Resting Too Much!

May 13, 2010 By

couch potatoBeing overweight wasn’t just hard on me, but it was also hard on my family. I was often tired, and lacked energy for participating in activities that most people do without thinking.  Going shopping for clothes, standing for long periods of time, walking up stairs and playing with my children were hard for me. I did all those things, but I quickly tired, and often found excuses to cut the trip or activity short. I remember one time when we were watching our daughter play soccer, and we had forgotten to bring our folding chairs. I stood there, and stood there for what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality only about 20 minutes. Finally, I looked at John and said, “The bugs out here are bothering me, so I’m just going to sit in the car.”  And so I left him standing there – alone – to cheer on the team and our oldest daughter. As I sat in the car I berated myself for being a wimp, and not having the endurance to stand for just a few minutes. Once again I was angry with myself for being so fat.

One game that I did like to play with my daughters when they were small was the “rest game.” This game was an obese person’s dream. It went like this: I would lay on the couch in the living room and pretend to be taking a nap. They would run in and out of the room every few minutes yelling, “Don’t get up yet – your nap time isn’t over!” I loved that game, because I didn’t have to exert any energy or even get up. This game could easily go on for a half an hour or more. At the end of the game we’d all go and have a snack together. The girls something healthy like cheese sticks and apple slices, me something unhealthy like chips, chocolate and a cheese stick thrown in for good measure.

The games I didn’t want to play were those that involved any physical exertion. Things like bike riding, going for walks, dancing, throwing the ball, swimming, etc. were off limits for me. I would sit and watch the children play those games and participate in those activities, but I never joined in. I was the classic Mom on the sidelines. I was living my life on the sidelines. I’ve had people tell me that they don’t really have a lot of motivation to lose weight because they can participate in any activity they want to. I would have told you that too back then, but if you had asked me to “prove it,” I would have been hard pressed to follow through. I’d ask you this – Are you truly physically able to do anything you want to do at your current weight? If you lost some weight and improved your fitness level would that activity be easier and more enjoyable?

Rest game, as fun as it was, didn’t get me anywhere close to achieving my physical fitness and weight loss goals. The games I needed to be playing couldn’t be played on the couch. I needed to get up off the couch, out of the chair, and move away from the sidelines. Finally losing weight enabled me to really be able to participate in my children’s lives. No longer did I have to sit down while the rest of the family walked the nature trail at the park. Now I was leading the way through the trees.

How has being more active changed how you interact with your family and friends? Diane

Filed Under: Choices, Exercise, self esteem, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , ,

What Events Get You?

May 11, 2010 By

Here’s my latest post on the Dr. Oz Blog! Will I Fit?

Social events are part of our culture. There are office parties, weddings, baby showers, dinners with friends, family celebrations, reunions, pot luck suppers, dinner clubs, etc. When I see those events all listed in one place it makes me stressed. It reminds me of all the office parties and social situations I attended during the 10 years that I struggled with obesity.

Certain social situations were easy. Easy in that I didn’t have a hard time controlling my food intake. Other situations were extremely challenging to me. I fared much better when I was served a preportioned plate, such as at a sit-down wedding. Then I just ate what was offered and having seconds was out of the question, because it would be embarrassing to ask the server for more food!

I didn’t do so well with events where the food was laid out as pretty as a picture. No – those events were a disaster waiting to happen. It didn’t matter if I were “dieting” or not. When I walked into a room where the food was free for taking any resolve I had possessed during the day disappeared like a mist in the sun. I felt sneaky sometimes as after I went through the line the first time I’d send John or one of the kids back for more cake or cookies. I’d ask other people if they would like something and get their request while at the same time getting something for myself.

Like it or not, the fabric of our lives includes social events. I think that learning to handle ourselves with regards to food at these kinds of functions is vital to our weight loss AND weight maintenance success. Here are my top 10 tips for handling social food situations while trying to eat right.

10 Tips for Social Eating

  1. If you can, bring one or more of the dishes. This puts you in the driver’s seat.
  2. Don’t be afraid to call ahead and ask what’s planned for the menu. Then you can decide ahead of time what you will eat.
  3. Drink up before you go. This helps you feel more full.
  4. Use the smallest plate available, or if none is available, visually divide your plate in half and only fill up half.
  5. Focus on the healthier options that are there. Try your best to ignore the fried chicken, and instead gravitate towards the fruit or veggie tray.
  6. Don’t go back for seconds, unless it’s for more salad!
  7. Ask your spouse or friend to be your accountability partner if that would help you.
  8. Have a snack on the way there. Arriving at a function starving is a recipe for disaster.
  9. Rate the tempting foods. If they aren’t a “10″ in your book, then pass completely.
  10. Don’t be afraid to say no. It’s your body and your weight. Don’t let other people push food on you.

In addition to the above tips, I think that planning ahead as best as you can is vital to coming through social situations unscathed and victorious.

Question: What events “get you” and how do you attend them without going off your plan?  Diane

Filed Under: Choices, Holidays, Meal Time, Weight Loss Tagged With: ,

What Do You Drink?

April 28, 2010 By

In case you are interested, here’s my latest blog post over at the Dr. Oz Blog. It’s called Exercise Matters.

And now onto today’s post about drinking. . .

My best friend, who sadly doesn’t live here, and I were talking on the phone the other day. She was sharing with me how she is working hard on kicking her habit of drinking diet drinks.

I didn’t tell her this because I didn’t want to discourage her in her attempt to kick her diet drink habit -  but while I was losing weight I didn’t drink nearly as much water as I should have. Confession time: I drank mostly diet drinks with a little water thrown in here and there. In my own sad defense, way back then, drinking water all the time wasn’t “in vogue.” There were no water bottles along side the diet drinks, and everyone I knew just drank tap water!

When I was morbidly obese, I drank not only diet drinks, but fruit punch, regular sodas, sweet tea, juices, and Kool-Aid. Once I decided to try losing weight again, I changed not only my eating habits but I also changed my drinking habits. I cut out all the other high calorie drinks but hung onto diet soda. The only exception was putting a splash of cranberry juice into my occasional glass of water to add a little flavor.

I had been to enough Weight Watcher’s meetings in my life to know that I shouldn’t be drinking very many of my calories. I learned this was a good tip very quickly when I went abruptly went from eating about 4000 -5000 calories a day to about 1500 – 1600 a day. Those 1500 calories didn’t  leave a lot of room for Kool-Aid!

It’s funny because once I lost all my weight I stopped drinking diet sodas altogether. Just like so many other parts of my weight loss journey evolved over time, so did my beverage choices. Sure, over the last twelve years I’ve had the occasional diet drink, or the occasional sip of John’s cherry Coke, but for the most part I just drink water throughout the day. Either plain or with a splash of juice.

I’ve gone back and forth with coffee. I’ve been pregnant so many times since I lost the weight that there were long periods of time that I drank no coffee. But when I wasn’t pregnant I would drink some coffee and enjoy it. Over the past year I have gradually cut back on my coffee consumption and have switched to green tea in the mornings. Sometimes I have caffeinated and sometimes decaffeinated. I worry about the chemicals they use to decaffeinate beverages so generally just have one cup of caffeinated green tea.

Question: I thought it would be a fun post today to find out what your drink of choice is these days and has it changed during your journey?   Diane

Filed Under: Meal Time, Weight Loss Tagged With: ,

Owning Your Plan

April 12, 2010 By

There are more diet plans out there than I could even begin to list. When I read your blogs I notice that people are using a lot of different plans to lose their weight and get more fit. Some use a program such as Weight Watchers, and others are just doing their own thing.

I think whatever you do, it’s important to own your plan.

What do I mean by own your plan? I mean take ownership of the method you are using to lose weight. Take ownership in your own mind and heart. Why?

Because when you really take lessons into your heart they stick around. At least that’s the case with me. When I’ve had struggles in my life and really understood the lessons I learned during those hard times, I tend not to repeat that particular error.

Same thing with a weight loss plan. When I finally figured out a way that worked for me, I owned the plan, took it into my heart, and believed that I could live with it for a lifetime.

That’s why I have a problem with the Jenny Craig’s and those types of prepackaged weight loss programs. Sure you can lose weight by eating prepackaged meals 24/7, but what lessons have those people learned along the way? There are some long-term successes, but I’d venture to say from my own experiences, not too many.

Making your weight loss plan your own is important because this is a plan that you will use as a model for the rest of your life. It’s vital to think of what you are doing now as something that must be continued forever.

Sure you can have a few more calories after you reach your goal, but the lessons you are learning right now are the lessons that will carry you through forever.

Kinda scary/exciting to think about isn’t it? It was for me.

As I journeyed from weight loss into maintenance I was so thankful that the way I lost weight was life sustainable. It was healthy, manageable, and not complicated. It meant that maintenance didn’t require any huge changes in how or what I ate. Rather maintenance just meant I kept living my plan. Because I owned it.

Past things I tried weren’t sustainable for me, and even though I never made it anywhere close to goal, looking back I know I couldn’t have kept it up. I would have regained.

Do you feel that your plan is your own? Have you thought about how you will continue on your healthy path once you reach your goal weight? Diane

The image was created using Wordle

Filed Under: Weight Loss Tagged With: ,

Giving Up or Gaining?

March 29, 2010 By

The other day Vickie asked:

Do you feel that all you have done is give up things? I have read many a blogger that feels like ‘thing’ (food) after thing has been taken away from them in their weight loss process. I personally feel as if I am moving toward things (healthy food) rather than away from things.

I’ve been asked variations on this question a lot – as I’m sure many of who have lost weight and changed your lifestyles have. It’s a common question and one that I thought would be interesting to talk about.

It’s true that when we are in the process of:

  1. losing weight
  2. changing our relationships to food
  3. improving our fitness
  4. learning healthy eating

That there seems to be a tendency towards taking away things. For me personally, I did give up a lot of unhealthy habits. Most of those habits were related to food choices I made, such as: visiting drive-thru restaurants all the time, eating sweets all day long, relying on high fat snacks to get me through the day, eating huge portions at every meal, secretly hiding food, and much more. So when I look at the bad habits I gave up – Yes, I did give up some things that I previously held dear.

I gave up all the things I listed above and after the initial shock to my system I realized I didn’t feel like I gave up anything important. Rather I was able to see all the things I had gained and all the ways I was moving into a healthier and happier zone.

Of course it was initially difficult to wean myself off my daily dose of chocolate, but once I did I felt better physically than I had in years. And in addition to physically feeling better I also felt emotionally stronger because I wasn’t relying on a chocolate fix to get me through my day. Instead I dealt with emotions that came up and used the healthy tools I had learned to get me through hard times. Exercise, talking it over with friends, and eating healthy foods were all more positive ways to deal with stress than eating a pound of chocolate.

Looking back I see that even though my weight loss took but 14 months, the journey never really ends. To this day I still find myself reaching FOR the ultimate goal of eating right all the time and always doing the right kinds of exercises for my body. I don’t look back and think about all I gave up, but look forward to a healthier, longer life.

Where are you? Do you feel like you have given up too much, or can you see all that you have to gain?  Diane

Filed Under: Choices, emotions, Weight Loss Tagged With: ,
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