Diet Update!

So as far as the crazy diet stuff I'd been trying, here's some of the stuff I've been doing... and it seems to be working!

1. Snacking. LOTS of it. Nothing big, of course. I've been buying lots of bananas - they're the cheapest form of fruit I know of, and I know I don't eat enough fruit as it is. Also, I've been keeping 100 calorie packs of daisy-go-rounds in my desk [not the most nutritious, but its the truth.] As far as the chocolate cravings go, I got a pack of dark chocolate individually wrapped squares... but the catch is this - the serving size! Four pieces = one serving, which = approx. 130 calories. Well I don't need to eat FOUR pieces, I just want something to saitisfy the craving for the day. I haven't done the math, but its a smaller calorie count if I'm just eating one piece.... and if I decide I want a second piece, its not a full serving. Check out those serving sizes people!!

[I find that by snacking, when it comes down to actual meal time, I eat very small portions, which is pretty much more snacking.... and its not quite eating every hour, but its eating at my own pace, I guess?]

2. Eat breakfast. EVERY DAY. Even if its not the 'best' or 'healthiest' breakfast out there. If I eat something moderate or even big in the morning, I eat a lot less during the rest of the day. And its not like I'm starving myself or depriving myself either... I just don't feel hungry at all.

3. Drink lots of water, especially before meals. Hey, they used to do it when we were fighting the world wars so we could send more food to the soldiers, why not do it now? It helps you to eat less. Also, drink green tea between meals. Its all-around good for ya, and it kind of has a bit of an appetite suppressor. And, sometimes you can mistake thirst for hunger, so if you start to feel hungry, drink up... you might surprise yourself and realize that you're just not drinking as much water as your body wants you to.

4. EXERCISE! TV is a great thing.... but its a terrible thing because it encourages you to sit idly and relax, but not completely because your mind is processing what's going on. You may as well be sleeping with your eyes open. This is something that I heard from one of the contestants on 'The Biggest Loser' - Don't say you don't have time to exercise if you have time to watch tv. So if you're going to watch TV, stand up. Do some squats. Lift some weights. Do situps. Learn some simple yoga stuff. Do some core exercises. Get an exercise bike or treadmill and plop it DIRECTLY IN FRONT of the TV, and make it a rule that you can't watch TV unless you're using one of those. Use exercise balls as chairs. You don't have weights? BS! Yes you do - you have cans of something whether it be food or soda, I'm sure. Bottles of water. Apples and oranges. A gallon of milk that can be filled with something once the milk runs out [water, sand, etc]. Weights don't have to be HEAVY, so don't be afraid to improvise.

If you're bored at the gym, assuming you're going to one, SERIOUSLY -- go get an mp3 player! They are soooo cheap! I just saw one for 30 bucks! 2 gigs of music for 30 bucks! Chances are that you wont even work out for the full length of however long 2 gigs of music will run, so who cares if it can only hold X amount of songs. If you really want to shell out big bucks though, get something with video capabilities, and put some tv shows on there. It really changes the entire atmosphere up if you're on a treadmill and you've got a video player propped up in front of you, and you're laughing at something or watching a concert and focusing on something other than the burning and the sweating.

5. Brush your teeth. OFTEN. As gross as this sounds, sudden hunger cravings come 'out of the blue' because you sometimes have a piece of food lodged that finds its way to your stomach after a meal... and confuses you into thinking you want more food when really, you just had some not too long ago.

6. NO TV DURING DINNER! Or any meal for that matter. I've found that you get easily distracted with TV, and then you're not focusing on eating/making sure you're full. You start getting entertained, then you get into movie-theatre mode and start eating without thinking... and soon you ate twice as much as you would have if you had just been by yourself in a quiet room with no windows.

Foods I've been staying away from: Ice Cream, Any kind of soda [but I don't really drink soda to begin with anyway], fried stuff, BEEF, cake & other oven baked pastries, milk.

Things that I've been doing instead: sherbert & sorbet or even a bowl of cereal if I want something cold and junky, iced teas & mineral water if I want something that's got carbonation like a soda, grilled or boiled stuff instead of fried, turkey & chicken instead of beef, 100 calorie packs of stuff and/or low calorie packages of sweet stuff that has a serving size of more than 1 piece, but eat only one piece at a time and not the actual # of pieces required to make a serving. And the milk? Wow.... its been almost a whole year I think that I haven't had milk. I'm not dodging dairy altogether, just the milk. There's this fantastic thing called Almond Milk. I swear it tastes just like regular milk... or at least its how I think regular milk tastes. If anything its closer to lowfat/skim milk, but if you're using it for cereal you're totally not going to notice.

I think the biggest thing in all of this is the exercise, as it plays the biggest role. But as I documented before, even without a gym you can lose weight. [crazy hourly eating.]

The final tip I shall leave you with is for the exercise - stick with it. It doesnt have to be 5 hours a day.... but stay on schedule and keep doing the same thing every day, as long as you're getting at least 5 minutes in. Its better than nothing, and consistency will pay off.

I am happy to report that so far.... I've lost one whole pants size! WOO! I dont know how much weight I've actually lost, but I'm in it for the inches. :D

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Gotta get the car repaired in the morning, and then deal with crazy people at work.

I havent posted a fortune lately. Sorry about that... I'll try to pick a good one for ya:

OWN A CLEVER GOAT BY ALL MEANS, BUT MAKE SURE YOU CAN OUTWIT IT.