Thursday’s adventure: Dieting

As you know, or maybe you don’t so you should go read this, I am trying to lose a moderate amount of weight and become generally healthier (aka, not binge on junk food all the time and be able to take a hike without wanting to die at the end). I am reluctant to call it “dieting” because dieting is a fad, and I plan to implement this healthy change of eating habits for the rest of my life.

I would like to start writing a weekly weigh-in post, both for myself and for any of you who are trying to become healthier, to record a general overview of my weekly menus, changes that I have found to help, encouraging articles I’ve read, healthy recipes I’ve found, and my personal stats (weight, measurements), and anything else I’ve found throughout the week that I think helps.

I am not an extreme dieter, as you will see. I am cutting out all sugars except fruit sugars, and any white flours, but I’m not giving up dairy as I know a lot of people do because 1. I only ever have dairy in the morning, and 2. I personally think that some forms of fats are good for you. (Dairy– in moderation–, avocados, nuts, etc.)

So here we go!

Goals:

• Long-term: 140lbs/size 6-8 jeans/38″ hips
• This week: reach 159lbs, start walking

Stats:

• Weight: 161.2lbs
• Waist: 28″
• Belly: 37″
• Hips: 44″

Breakfast:

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick oats, 2tbsp honey, 1 cup milk (or, depending, 1/2c milk and 1/2c water), berries/bananas/whatever else is good in oatmeal
• 2ish 8oz servings of coffee with half-and-half

Time it takes to prepare: 5 minutes or less to toss it all into a container, plus 3 to cook it in the microwave at work.

Lunch:

• Handful of salad greens, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, and whatever other veggies are in the fridge
• Rice, balsamic, raspberry, or apple cider vinegar dressing
• Fruit of some sort. Lately, watermelon and plums
• Occasionally, string cheese.

Time it takes to prepare: less than 5 minutes. I throw everything into a baggie or container without cutting up my veggies, and bring a knife to work so I can chop it all up while I’m there.

Dinner:

• Small portion of meat (fish, pork, chicken, whatever.)
• About half a plate of loosely piled salad/veggies
• one serving (small) of grains such as brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, or Quinoa (I love Quinoa!)
• More fruit.

Snacks:

• Peanut butter pretzels (no sugar added)
• (rarely) Sugar-Free ice cream.

I am not usually hungry enough to want a snack so long as I’ve eaten all of my breakfast and lunch, which makes me extremely happy. I’m getting into the habit of only eating when I feel hunger pangs, and drinking water if I’m craving something. And yesterday, I didn’t even want a very delicious-smelling oatmeal cookie from the batch that Mr. Owl had made. This is progress.

Also progress: the worst thing I’ve eaten so far this week was macaroni and cheese yesterday for dinner. Might not sound progressive to you, but the big thing was that I recognized I was full and didn’t go back for more like I might have a few weeks ago.

I haven’t been able to exercise yet thanks to a persistent cough and occasional fever (if I’m not well by tomorrow, I’m going to the doctor), but once I am well I plan to start walking and pushing myself a little further every day.

Lastly, the two really encouraging things that I keep going back to when I start feeling frustrated are: Selective Potential‘s two posts about weight-loss (1, 2), and the answers Sarah With a Bow sent me when I asked about how she lost weight and has kept it off for years. And the little voice that keeps reminding me the measurement and weight I would like to be. That definitely helps when I’ve got my hand on a bag of chips or someone offers me something I shouldn’t eat, to just think “140lbs”. That’s my goal, and I know eating even one snack-size bag of chips will throw me off.

I hope you all don’t mind this new feature, which I want to keep up until I’ve reached my goal. If you have any tips or encouraging thoughts that have helped you in your journey to being healthier, or if you want to share your own health goals with me, please do! I would love to hear what you all have to say!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

follow me on:
bloglovin | chictopia | facebook | twitter | pinterest