Weight Loss Tips and Tricks

My sister-in-law Jodi is a fitness coach – she posted this on her Facebook page the other day and it’s pretty much the attitude I adopted back at Christmastime ...

 

 

“There is no TRYING. 

You either DO IT, or you DON’T. Pick a path. 

It’s your CHOICE!”

I gave myself January-April to stop trying to get pregnant, and give 110% of my effort to losing the weight that was holding me back. The key for me, and something I realized back when I dropped the first 25 pounds before we moved to Illinois, is that when I exercise (even a little bit) I get so hungry that I destroy any chance I have of eating my target number of calories. I simply do not have the willpower to do it.

 

 

So I used a supplement called Slimquick - pills that you take during the day, that are supposed to do many things to help women lose weight, but for me, the #1 thing was appetite suppression!! When I could keep myself from being hungry and stay ahead of my appetite, I could avoid sabotaging myself. It was kind of like when I used the Nicoderm to quit smoking - I had to do the work, but the product gave me the edge to do it.

 

 

Once I started, my keys to success were;

 

 

1. Staying ahead of the hunger beast!

 

By eating something healthy and low calorie the SECOND I felt hungry (instead of trying to hold off until later and just tough it out) I avoided overeating when my hunger got the best of me or worse, grabbing something unhealthy because I was starving.

 

Some of my favorite quick snacks are

- carrots, zucchini slices or Crunchmaster crackers with hummus

- pretzels with a low-cal veggie dip made with greek yogurt

- popcorn with whatever seasoning I’ve been craving (salty, sweet, ranch, etc.)

 

Having those go-to snacks always available made a huge difference for me.

2. Always fill up on the good stuff first!

 

Veggies are like free calories, so I’d eat as many of them as I could stomach (which wasn't too hard because I actually like them to begin with).

 

I started each day with a smoothie adapted from a recipe my friend Gwen taught me. 

 

 

 

Baby spinach or kale

+ 1cup diet cranberry juice

+ half an avocado

+ whatever fruit I had around

= A GREAT START!

 

For very few calories, I could consume all of my day’s fruit and veggies before breakfast! Then when I did have breakfast, later in the morning, I’d make an egg white omelet with any veggies I had leftover from dinner the night before plus a sprinkle of low fat cheese. The whole dish is high protein/low carb, but because of the cheese it tastes decadent, not like you’re shortchanging yourself.

 

At lunch, I’d always start with soup or a salad and fill up on that before I went for the higher calorie sandwich I was really craving. Then by the time I got around to making a sandwich, I only needed half, or sometimes I didn’t need it at all!

3. Skimp on dinner as often as possible.

 

I grew up with dinner being the biggest meal of the day, but now I know that keeping the balance of my calories earlier in the day (when I'm using energy to burn them) is a better option.  When I could eat a salad or a frozen lean cuisine for dinner instead of whatever the family was eating, I knew I was shaving hundreds of calories off my daily intake.

 

When I did eat what the family was eating, I’d eat the protein, double or triple my veggies and skip the carbs/starches, or only have a little bit.  You'd be surprised how satisfying a bowl of haricots with spaghetti sauce can be instead of the gobs of pasta the family is eating!

4. Substitute low calorie preparations for high calorie ones

 

This means Pam instead of butter/olive oil, plain yogurt instead of mayo, milk instead of cream (but not in my coffee! no one better mess with my coffee!) mashed potatoes that are really half cauliflower, baked potatoes instead of french fries, etc.

5. No food after 7pm. PERIOD. And an early bedtime!

 

This one was by far the hardest. I’ve never been able to not snack at night. I’m a night owl, and the way I would stay up is to fuel myself with an extra meal at midnight. So I had to radically change my nighttime habits. I had to put the kids to bed, kiss Marc and the house goodnight (no more doing cleanup or projects or messing around on the internet until midnight!) and take a bath .and go to bed

 

My new bedtime ritual became a bath with a cup of tea.  I bought a CASE of gingerbread tea from Amazon.com, because with a little Truvia in it, it really tastes like dessert! I also have a case of sugar cookie tea for nights when I wanted something different, but it's a little weaker so I need to use two tea bags. Celestial Seasonings makes both, but they’re only available at Christmastime unless you go through Amazon.   The warm tea filled my tummy up and made me feel like I'd had something sweet and yummy to reward myself for a great day.

 

And then, no matter how hard it was, I would go to bed AND STAY THERE until I fell asleep. I’d read a little something uplifting, say my prayers and hope for the best.

 

Yes, my house was messier, I was less prepared for the next day, and I had to prioritize in a major way.  But being properly rested was such a game changer for me. Right off the top it cut out 300-500 calories a day from the lack of nighttime eating, but in addition to that, I woke up on a more even keel and could keep myself that way all day long. I was less shrill with the kids, less tired in the afternoon, and more able to keep my big mouth shut when food temptations were around instead of constantly craving that shot of sugar/carbs/caffeine I’d come to rely on.

5. Keep it simple

It’s important to find the recipes and meals that work for you and stick to them! Setting an end date was important for me, because it reminded me that this weight loss journey will not take forever, so losing out on a little variety in favor of saving my sanity was worth it.

6. CELEBRATE SUCCESS!!!

Knowing that I had 40-50lbs to lose at the beginning of this journey was almost too much for my brain to comprehend. It seemed an impossible task! But by focusing on short term goals that were stepping stones to my BIG goal, I celebrated along the way and kept myself motivated. I focused first on losing 5lbs. Then 10. Then another 10. And at each milestone I’d do something nice to reward myself – not a FOOD splurge, but maybe buying a new dress, or getting a pedicure, or some new makeup, or going out for a date night with Marc.

 

7. Lastly, KEEP TRACK!

 

I counted calories on the MyFitnessPal app on my iPhone. I tried to stick to 1200 a day, though many days I ended up closer to 1500.

In the end, you have to remind yourself that this ISN’T forever – you are NOT depriving yourself, in fact, you are actually TREATING yourself when you choose something healthy and good for your body instead of something that will cause you to feel depressed and self-loathing.

 

I always use the mind trick that “I can have that if I want, but AFTER I eat a salad”.

 

Because after I eat the salad, I won’t really WANT the bad thing. And even if I do, I’m already full, so a few bites will satisfy me. For example, I took the kids out to eat last weekend at a burger place that I’ve been DYING to try. But instead of ordering a burger, I ordered a salad. I KNEW that Ben would not finish his burger, and that I could sneak fries from all three of them, so I filled myself up on a tasty salad first, drank two large waters, and then as dessert, ate Ben’s remaining burger and ten or twelve fries. And I did not feel one bit deprived! Sure I would have loved to eat a huge burger with a fried egg, bacon, avocado and a little wasabi sauce on top...but it’s more important to me to not go back to my old ways because I’m SOCLOSE to my goal.

 

For anyone else thinking about taking on a weight loss goal, I'd recommend thinking about the answers to these questions, because just saying "Tomorrow will be different - I just won't eat!" has very little chance of success (trust me, I tried that method for YEARS!)

 

• How are you going to nurture your body with good food?
• Do you have an exercise plan?
• What are the pitfalls you need solutions for so you don’t sabotage yourself?
• What are your mini-goals?  
• What can you think of to motivate yourself when you're not feeling up to the challenge?
• How will you track your daily progress?
• How will you celebrate your success?

 

It’s not easy, but it’s SO rewarding.  Having people tell me how great I look is awesome, but even better is feeling FABULOUS and full of energy, looking in the mirror and seeing 'myself' for the first time in years (rather than the bloated imposter in my 'before pictures'), trying on clothes in sizes I haven't seen in half a decade (and bringing my old favorites out of hibernation) and knowing that I'm doing the very best I can to live a long, healthy, happy life.

 

Seeing some of my relatives with failing health in their fifties and sixties has made me even more resolute that I want a better quality of life (especially since my youngest wont be out of college then!)  Granted, anyone can get stricken with disease, or have a tragic accident...but personal choice is the one thing I can control in the paradigm so doggone it, that's what I'm gonna do!

 

And just as much as taking care of myself physically, I am realizing how important it is to keep my mental health in check. If I’m miserable and self-loathing and constantly beating myself up, then I’m setting myself up to waste the precious time I have in life.

I still have the tendency to look at other people and mentally kick myself for not managing to look as good/run as fast/be as skinny/eat as well as they do. But just as quickly, I can now correct myself with positive thoughts of what I am doing to create the best life for *ME*.

 

Not for looks (though that's not a bad side benefit)

but for lifelong health and happiness.

 

You only get to journey through this life once.
 It's just too precious to waste being miserable!