Weight Loss

I've probably lost and gained a gazillion pounds in my life. Every time I lose weight I think that it will finally be for good--that this time my new eating habits will stick. But, they never do and the weight creeps back on until I decide to lose weight again. This time around I'd like to have a different outcome--I'd like to lose weight and not gain it back.

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Albert Einstin is credited with saying that the hallmark of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So, I guess I need to change my behavior to get a different result.

With this in mind, I thought I'd take some time to identify what I've done in the past that might have contributed to regaining weight. If I can pinpoint what I do that leads me to regain weight, I can work to change them, right?

So far, I've come up with three big ones, but I'm sure there are more.

I stop weighing myself. When I am losing weight I weigh myself everyday. It helps me stay motivated and regulate my eating. If I haven't lost any weight, then I know that I'm eating too much and/or not burning enough calories. But, when I'm not actively trying to lose weight I stop weighing myself regularly. This means that I might not even realize if I've gained five to seven pounds. Then, once I've realized I've gained weight, I still avoid the scale because it is the bearer of bad news.

Ideally, I think it would be best if I continued to weigh myself everyday or every other day. I don't want to obsess about every miniscule fluctuation, but I do want to be able to catch myself regaining before the amount I have to lose gets overwhelming. It is much easier to lose three pounds than it is to lose twenty pounds. Even if I allow myself to overindulge too much, if I can recognize weight gain and use it as a signal to return to "diet mode" I shouldn't regain all of the weight I lost.

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I rationalize anything and everything.

"Peanut butter has lots of protein"

"Nuts are the good kind of fat." 

"A small dessert every night is part of eating in moderation. It isn't good to deny yourself"
"Cheese is good for you in small quantities."

"I have to eat to stay awake in class."

"It is okay to have a huge portion of x, it is homemade and healthy."

"It is okay to indulge, its a celebration."

"It is okay to indulge, I had a hard day."

"It is okay to indulge, we are at a new/special/delicious restaurant."

"It is okay to indulge, I'm going to eat really healthy tomorrow."

"It is okay to indulge, I've been so good all day/all week."

"It's just 250 calories. No big deal."

"A five pound increase is no big deal. Weight naturally fluctuates."

I think it can be tricky to find a balance here. Because its not like it is never okay to indulge in some comfort food after a long day, but rationalizing everything all the time is problematic. I think the first step is to work on recognizing when I am doing this in the moment because if I have to rationalize it to myself, I probably shouldn't be eating it!

I "forget" that its about calories in versus calories out. This is something I did when I first made my new years resolution to lose weight. Instead of focusing on calories in versus calories out, I started focusing on cutting out preservatives, avoiding prepackaged foods, drinking more water and less soda, etc. Eating whole foods is certainly healthier, but eating these sorts of food will not automatically result in weight loss. Pizza is not all of a sudden diet friendly just because it is homemade (unfortunately). Ideally, I think healthy eating is a mixture of being mindful of calorie intake and what the food is made from. I'm pretty good at thinking about what I put into my body, but I need to remember that for losing weight the final number is what counts.

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oh avocados, you are delicious and healthy. 

but, you are more than 300 hundred calories

Can you help me think of any other ways that I might sabotage my weight loss? How do you keep yourself from gaining weight? I'm not too far away from reaching my weight-loss goal and I really want to have a solid plan for how I will keep the weight off.

xoxoxox
Alisha

In Bed, Under the Covers

Source: tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

I feel badly that I've been neglecting my blog lately. And I feel even worse that I've been neglecting all of your wonderful blogs. I won't even tell you how many read posts I've starred in my reader with the intention of returning to leave a comment. Its a lot. I'm sorry. I promise that I will be back and commenting soon.

On the bright side, I've been MIA for good reason. My thesis defense is officially scheduled. I have two weeks before I have to give a copy of my final document to my committee members and so I've been expending lots of energy worrying about that.

My summer classes have also been keeping me busy. I'm in class everyday of the week except Friday. One of the classes I'm taking is a class on group therapy. So far, I've found it really interesting. I think when I'm licensed I'd really like to run groups so I am trying to soak up as much information as possible.

Working out has also been taking up time that was previously reserved for blogging. There are times when I don't want to go the gym, but I just tell myself that it doesn't matter whether I want to or not because I have to. The other day Jenna posted about her weight loss and while I do not agree with everything she said/recommends, I did appreciate this little part of her post:

Know that it’s going to be hard. And that maybe it will be the focus of your life for a period of time. Once you meet your goals, you get to move on with your life! You won’t regret the hard work for a moment.

Neill and I did manage to take some some time out to celebrate Memorial Day together. Monday was the first really warm and sunny day we had in Chicago and so we enjoyed the weather by taking a long walk around the lake, something that was on my summer bucket list. It was just as much fun as I thought it would be! Chicago's lakefront is truly beautiful and it really gave me a new found appreciation for my city.

I love the water. In my dream world, Neill and I would have a wonderful boat that we could take out onto Lake Michigan. 

Navy Pier

One of the best ways to see the city is through a boat tour. If you ever come to Chicago, you absolutely have to go on one. It takes you on the Chicago river and just a little bit into Lake Michigan. 

This cute little guy stole someone's snacks

I'm watching the Real Housewives of NYC and I'm reminded about how much I love Jill Zarin. Do you have a favorite real housewife?

What I'm Munching On

Lately, I've been reading a book on intuitive eating by E. Tribole and E. Resch. While I'm still skeptical about their overall program, there have been a few points in the book when I felt as though they could have been writing about me.

Tribole and Resch describe a whole slew of different "eating styles," each with their own unique eating patterns and difficulties. I recognized myself in the "refuse-not unconscious eater." As they describe, a lot of the times I'm not fully aware about what I am eating, how much I am eating, or my hunger level. I often eat when I'm not hungry and lots of times I eat absentmindedly. If there is food, I eat it. And I will eat it until its gone.

According to Tribole and Resch, this is problematic (and I agree!). Instead, they advocate being mindful of hunger levels, food cravings, what it feels like to eat, and hunger level throughout the meal.

They advocate something so simple--eat when you are hungry and don't eat when you are not hungry. Unfortunately, this is incredibly difficult for me. But, I can see how being more mindful of my eating and hunger would make it easier. 

In fact, since I've been reading this book I am astonished to see just how often I eat while paying attention to something else. I eat breakfast while blogging. I eat lunch while working or while I'm in class and snacks might be in front of the tv or while I'm working/in class as well.  Lastly, at least a few nights a week I eat dinner in front of the tv or while working. In fact, just last night I realized I was eating dessert while completely engrossed in a novel. By the time I noticed what was going on I was more than half way through and I hadn't even been paying attention enough to enjoy it. 

So, instead of just absentmindedly eating all day (which often happens when I am working from home like yesterday), I challenged myself to take a picture of everything I ate. I hoped that this would not only serve as documentation of what I'm eating, but also help me be more mindful about what I eat.
So, without further adieu here is my food intake for Tuesday May 17th.

 coffee with almond milk at 7 AM

A mixture of  cheerios and some other kind of cereal at 8. Don't make fun of me, but I eat my cereal with water. I know it sounds weird, but I love it. 

I ate lunch around 12:30. I started getting hungry by 11:40 probably, but I was so engrossed with my work that I didn't want to stop. When I did eat, I had some leftover strawberry, banana, almond milk smoothie, four veggie corndogs by morning star (yummy), and about a cup of leftover cashew chicken.

Handful of cereal to much on around 3 in the afternoon. 

An apple at 4 PM

I ate dinner around 6:30. Neill had band practice so I ate alone. I made a salad with shrimp and tomatoes. I sprinkled some non-fat mozz cheese on there too. On the side, you can see my Annie's Goddess Dressing (so good).  I like to dip my fork in the dressing and then pick up my salad instead of mixing it all together. 

After dinner I wasn't really satisfied. I was full, but still felt like eating something. So, I had a yogurt that satisfied my sweet tooth. 

Late night snack around 10 PM. Nothing beats toast and butter :)

I hate one of these right after my toast. 

Taking pictures of everything I ate was certainly an interesting experience! Instead of just eating something right away, I actually found myself questioning whether or not I really wanted it and I think it kept me from eating out of boredom. For example, if I wasn't taking pictures I think I would have had a few more of those pieces of bread with butter. Not because I was hungry, but just because.

So what do you think? Do you ever eat absentmindedly? What does a normal day of eating look like for you? What do you think of my day? What has your experience with trying to change eating habits been like? 

xoxoxox