Why I'm not getting any thinner

The salt makes you want the sweet makes you want the salt. It's a vicious cycle.

Lessons Learned: It's All About Control

I've gotten out of my routine!  When I don't have a routine I feel out of control.  I've been lazy with my workouts and lax with my eating and I've gained 3 pounds.  But I've learned a few lessons.  Sometimes I have to learn them more than once.

Lessons (re)Learned

1- When I'm eating good real food it's easy to keep eating good real food.  But when I start eating junk, I crave it.  My 13 year old makes delicious chocolate chip cookies and when he does I have no control.  And it all spirals from there. On the cookie day I also went for the Eclair dessert and the licorice.  Not good.

2- When I get up early and exercise, I care more about what I eat.  On the days when I sleep in, I feel out of control and like I'm trying to catch up all day. I love being up early to workout before the day gets hot.  It's just that I don't remember that I love it when the alarm goes off at 6:45.

3- If I plan my meals, (dinner especially) I feel in control and good about myself.  This means I need to plan ahead and shop for healthy meals.  I also need to have a plan for busy days when there's not a lot of time to prepare dinner. Read more about control over at TrainerMomma.com today.

4- I've also re-discovered Exercise TV. And now that it's "On Demand" I can do any workout at any time.  Today I did Pilates, Latin Dance and Butt Bible.  I had to mute the sound on that last one because she says ridiculous thing through the whole workout like "Treat your butt like royalty","We gotta make love to the butt." And "I have a super strong love for the butt." Really, she said that.  Annoying, but it was a great workout.

I feel like I'm back on track now.  I'm eating smoothies, salads and raw vegetables and I'm back on track with my workouts.  3 lbs to go!

Know What You're Eating

image courtesy of atasteofheaventreats.com

Remember when I said I had no more willpower than anyone else?  Here’s your proof!   For my birthday last year, my coworkers and I celebrated with one of my favorite things: cheesecake.  I had a piece at the office and they sent me home with the rest.  I ate another after dinner that night.

Here is my blog entry for that day:

Today I followed Jacque's example and decided I'd find out how many fat grams were in the 2, yes TWO, pieces of cheesecake I ate today. 32 grams per slice. That's 64 total fat grams folks! And 1020 calories I might add. Luckily, it was still light outside when I realized what a pig I am. So I went for a little run. I ran 3/4 of a mile and walked 3/4 of a mile. I feel a little better now, But I'd feel a whole lot better if I'd looked at those fat grams before I'd made the decision to eat that second piece.

If I would have known how many fat grams and calories were in the cheesecake, there is NO WAY I would have eaten 2 pieces.   It wouldn’t even have been a temptation. The moral of this story is:  Know what you’re eating!  With a little bit of knowledge you don’t need willpower.

If I don't want it, it's not Willpower

 A friend of mine recently commented that she admired my willpower.  I thought that was so strange. I don't have any more willpower than any one else.  What I do have now that I didn't before is Knowledge.  I've tried the weight loss thing for years with zero results, until last year when it finally clicked.  Now that I know the Why and the Why Not behind my eating and exercise choices, it's simple. No willpower required.

Here are some of the books that have really helped me:

The Culprit and the Cure:Why Lifestyle is the Culprit Behind America's Poor Health by Steven Aldana. Once you understand why your current lifestyle is causing poor health and see what is meant by good nutrition and physical activity, you will be more ready to change your behaviors.

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan He talks about the Western diet and its detrimental effects on our bodies and culture.  We're overfed and under nourished!

Eat To Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman  This will educate you on why you on the importance of eating vegetables, fruit, and beans and contains a 6 week plan to lose weight quickly eating plenty of real food.  Eat For Health: Lose Weight, Keep it Off, Look Younger, Live Longer by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.  This is a 2 book set and is similar to Eat To Live except that it gradually eases you into Dr. Fuhrman's nutritarian lifestyle in phases. It's also about losing weight, but more about becoming healthy and preventing and reversing diseases caused by the Standard American Diet. (Diabetes, Heart Disease, etc.) The second book in the set contains recipes.  I haven't used many of them because the ingredients aren't simple common ingredients, at least where I live. But I'd still recommend reading it. 

Mormon Wisdom and Health by Kenneth E. Johnson, MD  This book is out of print, but it's a good one if you can find it. It contains scientific evidence that backs up the Mormon "Word of Wisdom" health guidelines.