OK, friends, if you are reading this post, you have asked me how I'm "doing it" as I lose weight--again. Here it is, for what it's worth.
First, let me say that not every method works for everyone.
Ha, not every method works each time you try it. The gist of what I am going to
tell you today can really be summed up in one sentence:
“Find what works for you.”
Adjust as necessary. Case in point: I joined Weight Watchers
in September of 2011 and was a faithful weekly member until I moved to Utah in
August 2014. During that time I lost 100 lb and kept it off for nearly 2 years.
Upon moving to Utah, I got off track, started eating my way through all my
emotions related to the move, and never found a WW leader/group with whom I
connected. And, they changed the point system—again. I just couldn’t get back
in the groove. When I got serious this summer about getting my act together
again, I decided I didn’t want to spend the money to rejoin, but to use what I
learned at WW along with all the different weight loss methods I have tried
over the years, including Atkins (my least favorite), South Beach, 20/20
Lifestyles, and Weight Watchers.
Exercise
Yes, you have to do some form of exercise. Find something
you like to do, or you won’t do it. I love walking, though going for a 30+
minute walk every day this summer probably exacerbated my foot issues. Now, I
ride our stationary bike. It’s not my favorite exercise but it has several
advantages over walking, especially this time of year. It’s indoors, I can do
it when it is dark and cold outside, it doesn’t aggravate my tendinitis and
bone spur, and I can multitask. I set my timer for 22-25 minutes, and use that
time to check Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and read on my Kindle app. Sure
beats staring at the wall for 25 minutes thinking about how much I want the
time to be over!
I’ve found that exercising in the morning keeps me moving
and burning calories all day long. During the school year, I generally only
manage to exercise on weekends. That has the added benefit of allowing me to
eat a little more on weekends because I have more calories to burn.
Drinking
I drink only water, with one diet Coke per week, usually on
Saturday when we have lunch at Subway. For years, I was hooked on diet Coke and
had one (or more!) per day. I had read all the studies warning that even diet
sodas adversely affected weight loss, but I ignored them. Call it coincidence,
but I stopped my daily diet Coke habit the same time I started actively working
on my weight again this time.
Tracking
Tracking is important. Calories (or points), exercise, water
consumption, current weight, body measurements (which, sadly, I didn’t do
before I started this time around), etc. There are tons of apps—many of them
free—that will help you with this. When I was doing Weight Watchers, I used
their app, but it was part of the monthly fee so I don’t use it anymore. The
app that Rob (who has lost 28 lb) and I are using is called My Fitness Pal. Aside from tracking
calories for food and exercise, you can enter recipes (easier to do on the
website), and it has a large database of foods. I love being able to scan a
barcode on a food to add it to my diary. It of course includes a weight
tracker, and one of my favorite features is that you can connect with friends
via FB or via your contacts list, giving you a community of supporters. If you
decide to use it, look me up and we can be weight loss buddies: CummingsMarie.
Food
Food, for me, is all about quick and easy. I hate cooking
and all that goes with it—grocery shopping, menu-making, and cleaning up. I
also work full-time during the school year, and just flat-out don’t have time
to cook. That led to eating a lot of fast food over the years. I would get home
from work and just not be able to face what I had planned to make for dinner.
Since starting this most recent round of weight loss, Rob and I have stopped
eating out regularly. We go to Subway every Saturday for lunch, and other than
very special occasions (like our 30th anniversary in July, or taking
the kids out for lunch after family photos), we just don’t go out. Yes, you can
manage to find something that will fit your plan at just about any fast food
joint, but we have chosen not to. It saves us both calories and DOLLARS like
you wouldn’t believe. There are occasions that call for eating out, and on
those occasions, plan ahead. Most places have their nutritional info online, or
better yet, in your fitness app, so making good choices on the fly isn’t hard,
either.
Find what works for you and your family. (Are you sensing a
theme?) There’s nothing worse (for a cooking-hater like me) than having to cook
one thing for yourself and something else for the rest of the family. Focus on
foods that everyone under your roof can eat, enjoy, and modify for their needs.
When we had teenage swimmers in the house, they ate what we did, just in larger
quantities (LOTS larger), and supplemented with things they needed (like
full-fat milk) that we less-sedentary folks did not. Now that it is just the
two of us, it’s much easier. We’ve become creatures of habit: chef salad on
Saturday, Taco Tuesday, etc. I make the same size recipes as I did when the
kids were home, but we use the leftovers for Rob’s lunches, and if we have
enough leftovers on Friday, that’s what we have for dinner.
Modify those family favorites. Get leaner hamburger. Use
ground turkey. Substitute lower-fat cheeses. Cut high calorie ingredients in
half. Make smaller portions. And, when you can’t modify a family favorite any
further, save it for days when you have more calories to spare, like on days
when you have exercised. Case in point: one
of our favorite Sunday dinners is called Cornflake Chicken. After modifying it
to use reduced-fat sour cream, we really couldn’t lower the calorie count any
further without compromising what we love about the recipe, so it has been
relegated to the first Sunday of the month, which in the LDS faith, is called
“fast Sunday.” We fast for breakfast and lunch, and contribute the value of
those two meals (called fast offerings) to aid those in our congregation who
need assistance with daily living expenses. As a result, we come to the dinner
table with our entire day’s worth of calories available, so we can enjoy
Cornflake Chicken with no reservations.
Recipes
We have been able to use most of our standard recipes,
adjusting portion sizes and substituting lower-calorie ingredients where
possible. We’ve also found some great recipes online. I love Pinterest and
skinnytaste.com—they are great sources of tasty, low-calorie, healthy dishes.
Here are some of our favorites.
Breakfast
Breakfast for me has to be quick, quick, quick. I like
having a variety of heat-and-eat options that have been made ahead of time and
frozen in individual portions. I usually have a Greek yogurt as well. My go-to
for a long time has been Dannon Oikos Triple Zero (120 cal), but recently
switched to Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt (80 calories). Maybe you like
oatmeal—go for it. Maybe, like my hubby, you like low-fat cottage cheese—go for
it. Got time to make eggs every day?—lucky you; go for it! Make it work for
your life. Here’s what works for mine:
Lunch
During the school year, I neither have time to go off-campus
for lunch, nor are there any places really all that nearby to the schools where
I work. I make chili or soup ahead of time, and freeze in individual portions.
I pair with a Honeycrisp apple, and about 7 ounces of baby carrots.
Dinner
In the summer, we grill a lot. Nice steaks, chicken, turkey burgers,
etc. Aside from tacos (and taco salad, which is how Rob likes it, with 3 oz of
chips), chef salad, a nice beef roast with baked potatoes on Sunday, we also
like these recipes:
- Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole
- Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef (we use low sodium soy sauce and cut the amount in half)
- Crock Pot Kalua Pork
- Chicken & Broccoli Noodle Casserole
- Skinny Chicken Enchiladas
- Baked Chicken Parmesan
- Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Savory Pot Roast (we make this with cream of celery soup—yum!)
- Skinny Bacon Cheeseburger Bake
Ha! I could have saved a lot of time and just said “see
skinnytaste.com!”
Snacks
Rob likes to spend all his calories by dinnertime. It works
for him to not eat past about 7 p.m. I, however, like to save a few calories
for a snack after dinner. I was raised on ice cream, so that’s what I like to
this day, brands like Arctic Zero, Enlightened, Yasso, Halo Top, and Low Cow. Ice cream may not be your thing. Maybe it is chips. If you
can resist, measure out a serving, and stop when it is finished. Popcorn? Sure.
I love Jolly Time’s light kettle corn. No matter your snack of choice, you can
find what works for you…this is a recording!
