I came by to welcome Teresa and check in. I was MIA on this thread for awhile and now I'm trying to check in more often. Teresa, welcome and happy to hear you're already feeling better eating this way. Isn't it amazing how food affects our bodies? Honestly I think PPLP taught me SO much more than how to best lose the weight...to me my overall health is the most important thing and I truly believe weight loss is a happy side effect of it.
Beth, you're right on the money with finding ways to relax and believe in what you're doing, rather than pick apart the numbers of what you eat or the scale or whatever. I think it's critical not to "obsess" over any aspect of your WOE. I know I've hovered at the edge of that with weighing myself and using FitDay. I think that doing these things is important, especially when you start out, so you have some kind of hard evidence as to how your body is changing. And I still weigh myself and take measurements, but I keep it to about once a week. But you have to know yourself and what will set you off because sometimes what could be good can turn ugly.
As for FitDay, I've actually stopped plugging in food because I am so pressed for time, but it was absolutely a Godsend when I first started so I could properly track and -- as importantly -- be HONEST with myself and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for what I ate. I do still track weight and measurements in there, but since I've been tweaking my WOE for the longest time...and after having a baby in January, realizing I needed to adjust it again...I felt I could try stepping back and going more intuitively. I have a ballpark number of calories for the day and within it I've found I just naturally, without trying because of my PPLP influenced WOE, also fall into a range of carbs too (50-100). I know very well what portion sizes are now, having weighed and measured for so long. I used calorieking.com and other resources to help guide me, but honestly I've studied this stuff so long that I know most of it intrinscially. So I decided it was time to "test" myself and just literally go with my gut.
Also, I buy very specific, high quality foods. Though I've mentioned this before, I'll repeat the details for the benefit of those who are new here. I tend to eat more carbs -- and more of a variety -- than most, including grains. But my goal is whole grains, no HFCS, no trans fats. I buy eggs that are either cage free or have extra Omega 3 (depends on what's on sale). I buy nitrate free bacon and ham for sandwiches. I eat dairy, but have changed to make it more of a condiment to my meals than the crux of them. I watch ingredient labels very closely and when reduced fat dairy is an option (like Jarlsberg swiss or Breakstone's, neither of whom puts added crap in their RF dairy) I will choose that as well. Again, I'm searching for an overall balance of moderate calories and carbs. I don't eat low fat, but I make moderate fat choices. I cook eggs with butter, but it's premeasured. I used olive oil to cook, but I'm careful with the amount. I use mayo on my sandwiches - again, measured. And at this point it really doesn't take any longer because I've gotten so good at eyeballing. And the real key is I eat what I love. I enjoy a sandwich at lunch with 100% natural "health nut" bread by Arnold with nitrate free ham and RF swiss and 1tbsp mayo. It's about 400 calories and about 30 net carbs. Yes, some LCers here would shudder at that, but oh well. It's utterly satisfying to me and since my breakfast is much lower in carbs (primarily protein/fat) and my dinner is a good balance, it works out.
Again, I'll be a broken record, by saying that finding what works for YOU is the key. I struggled after having my son to find my way back to LCing and I realized that I was trying too hard to eat like others eat. I did try things I'd loved before, but also realized I didn't love them like I did before. I'd changed and I needed to respect that in order to find a WOE I could truly live with the rest of my life. Part of this, to be very clear, also involves a challenging but very enjoyable exercise program (details in my gym log) as well.
Beth's quote about "starting as [she] plan[s] to continue" is the key and it's exactly what I do. It reminds me of a baby book I read (Secrets of the Baby Whisperer) where she advises that the way to raise your child is to "start as you mean to go on". Just like I gave my 2-week old a bedtime routine (and everyone chided me, but they can stop laughing since he goes to bed without fuss and sleeps through the night) I'm also eating in a way I intend to the rest of my life, allowing for tweaks here and there. And yeah, it's slow going. But slow and steady is supposed to win the race, right?
Last edited by lisaz8605 : Mon, Aug-04-08 at 10:10.
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