Another diet tip and a progress report

Diet tip: buy yourself some measuring cups and spoons.

Srsly.

You can get both at the dollar store for, well, a dollar.  Get a set of measuring spoons and the long-handled measuring cups in individual sizes (1/4 cup, 1/3 cup) JUST for dieting purposes. Look for ones that are smooth and will be easy to get sticky foods out of.

Now use them.

 I was eyeballing stuff - I bake and cook, so I just assumed I could accurately judge.  WRONG!  I was stunned at how much I was overestimating tablespoons and divisions of cups!

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I'm pleased to report that I am now only 10lbs away from my goal weight (of 170lbs)!

I began dieting in mid March (2007) about 10 days after my last child was born and I've lost 132lbs total so far.  I've lost 19lbs of  that since I've been following the Lacto-Paleo lifestyle (about a month and a half).

Fascinating article on dieting

I came across this article that moves me to blog on two blogs (this one and the ThriftyMom Blog).

What an interesting thing:

"When it comes to dieting, Americans put on a good show, buying millions of diet books, watching TV programs about weight loss, obsessing over celebrities and their baby weight. But in the end, that may be all it is: a show. The number of people on a diet - 26 percent of all women in the United States and 16 percent of men for the year ending February 2008 - is the lowest it's been in more than two decades, according to a soon-to-be-released survey.


"Our interest in losing weight is waning," says Harry Balzer, lead food and beverage industry analyst for The NPD Group, a market research firm, and author of the survey, the Annual Report on Eating Patterns in America.


The report, which asks 5,000 Americans to keep a daily journal for two weeks about their eating habits, also found that despite high levels of obesity nationwide, a declining percentage of people want to slim down or, for that matter, consider excess weight unattractive. In 1985, 55 percent of those surveyed "completely agreed" with the statement, "People who are not overweight look a lot more attractive." Today, only 25 percent completely agree with it.


Dieting was once practically a national pastime. In 1990, the same report found that 39 percent of women and 29 percent of men were on a diet.

(snip)


Kelly D. Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University ... says that diets are "notoriously ineffective," and posits that many overweight people may have simply given up."

Marge McMillan, 60, is one who says she's given up on diets, if not on slimming down. A veterinarian who lives in Medford, McMillan tried the low-carb Atkins diet and Weight Watchers but threw in the towel on both. Now, she's just trying to eat healthily. "Diets don't work," she said. "You lose the weight but regain more."

NOT true.  Diets DO work if you are willing to actually DO IT.  If you want to diet, lose weight, then turn around and sit on your backside and eat whatever you want, well, then, yeah, your 'diet' didn't work. You must want it badly enough to be disciplined and change your lifestyle to a healthier one ... permanently.

As a person who has lost a HUGE amount of weight, I am saddened that some Americans are so lazy and overindulged as to really think that a simple diet - getting healthy for your loved ones and yourself - is SO tough.

We are in control of our own selves.  We are responsible for our own actions.  If we overindulge and gain weight to the point of ill health, we have the ability to change our habits and lose the weight (barring a medical condition).  Simply DO IT. Put forth the effort.

Folks want something for nothing.  They want a magic pill.  They want to be able to eat whatever they want, sit in front of the telly all day, and still look fabulous.

How many times have you heard someone say, of a diet: "I felt so deprived!"

Well, duh, honey.  It's a DIET.

Yes, dieting is hard. It bloody sucks. But it's do-able.


The key word here is "DO".  What did Yoda say?  "Do or do not.  There is no try."

Cool tool

One of the most helpful tips I can share about dieting for weight loss is to write down what you eat.

And I mean EVERYthing. Write down that stick of gum, the creamer in your morning coffee, that glass of water, everything that goes in your mouth.  It REALLY helps.

A cool way to track what you're eating and how healthy it is, via Rebecca's excellent new diet blog, and Barb on our own Evil Genius Woman Forums.

Personally, I keep a log in Excell with a few funtions thrown in to calculate number of calories and carbs per day and I use Calorie King to look up nutrition info.

However you do it, it really pays to track your food intake.

Food allergies and the Paleo way

Hmmm.

I just noticed that of the 8 most common childhood allergies, half of them are things not eaten with the Paleo Diet Lifestyle: milk, wheat, peanuts, and soy.

Of course the other four are: eggs, tree nuts, fish and shellfish.

I could argue that Paleolithic man came across these four things rarely and so we are not yet evolved completely to deal with them.  I mean, being serious, man in the stone age would have had plenty of access to fruit, veg, roots, seeds, insects, and meat in various quantities.

Eggs would have been hard to get to, mostly being up in trees; nut trees would not be common; fish and shellfish, hard to catch/collect and much less available to non-coastal groups.

Makes sense to me.  What do you think?

There's such a thing as too little!

I think I'm now UNDER carbing.

Sheesh!

When you eat no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, peanuts, or corn and virtually no sugar, cutting calories means your carbs hit rock bottom!

Srsly. This whole thing is just too easy.  I have no cravings and I'm not hungry.  Cutting calories has been a cinch but my carbs have dropped below 20g per day several times this past week.  That's TOO low.  I'm not feeling bad or seeing any side effects, but it's bound to happen.

So I've resolved to up my veggie consumption to compensate.  I just boiled down some collards fresh out of my garden yesterday. Those should help a LOT!

Mmmmmm, collards.

Confessions of a 100 calorie addict

Great article here.

"Two new marketing studies found that some people tend to consume more calories when junk food portions and packages are smaller. For some, it's because they perceive small packages to be ... get this ... diet food.



[snip]


Manufacturers are releasing more and more products in smaller packages. And in recent years, several brand-name products, from chips to cookies to candy, have been released in smaller packages promoted as having just 100 calories. In terms of sales, the tactic has proven successful, past research shows.
The strategy might seem counterintuitive, because in many past studies, people tended to consume more when given more. In a 2005 test, for example, people who were offered 12-inch sandwiches ate more than those given shorter sandwiches.



But one of the new studies, led by Rita Coelho do Vale at the Technical University of Lisbon, found people believe smaller packages help them "regulate hedonic, tempting consumption," but in fact their consumption can actually increase. Large packages, on the other hand, trigger concern about overeating.


The participants watched episodes of "Friends" and were told the study was about evaluating ads. Bags of potato chips - of differing sizes, of course - were slipped into the test.


The result: Smaller packages are more likely to fuel temptation. "Because they are considered to be innocent pleasures ..."


I have to agree wholeheartedly!

I, myself, became addicted to those 100 calorie packs of Cheetos and Doritos. I shamefully spent huge amounts of money, cringing every time, for these 'treats' that were only to 'help me lose weight'.

I'd eat my tiny bit of starchy, carb-heavy foods and feel hungry again an hour later, so I'd grab one of those packets of crisps. Hey, it's only 100 calories, right?

Then an hour or two later: hungry again.  Rinse and repeat.

While I do believe that eating all through the day in several small meals is natural for us and so helps us regulate our hunger and blood sugar, I DON'T think that those wee, carby, overprocessed snacks are the answer!

Veggie tips for Paleo dieters

If you're not a big veg person but want to go Paleo, here are some tips:

If you're doing Lacto-Paleo (not giving up milk), like me, then dips are wonderful.  You can usually find the store brand spinach, ranch, and onion dip seasoning packets (I plan to experiment with the italian dressing seasoning, too) for a low price.  I grab the store brand neufchatel cheese (same carbs, fewer calories), soften and mix.  Very inexpensive, easy-to-make, low cal and low carb!

I thin my dips down (you can use water, milk, or sour cream for a tangy taste) even more to save calories.  Dip doesn't have to be thick like brick morter, despite what the big-name dip people tell you!  They make them so thick so that you'll get enormous globs on each tablespoon-sized chip and thus run through the dip faster whilst adding more flab to your backside!

Anyway, once thinned, you have a creamy dip for raw cucumbers, broccoli, celery, and zucchini.  Yum!

I even thin this same 'recipe' down until it's easily spoonable, and substitute it for dressing over spinach or iceberg lettuce salads.