Archive for June, 2008
I Have No Filter…
My mom said something to me over the phone this weekend that truly hit home. She said, “Lis, I think your biggest problem is you have no inner filter.”
I’ve always know this, but she verified it for me in the loving, genuine way only a mother could.
Of course, her comment didn’t come out of nowhere. We were talking about my blog, the subsequent confession to my family, and various related topics including the things I was vowing to work on.
After praising me for taking this head-on and really embracing my decision to come clean and make strides, she said that the *only* thing about my personality that she wishes I could improve upon would be my filters about food and exercise…or, I should say, lack there of.
Essentially, I (admittedly) have no filters when it comes to these two things; I’m excessive. I say whatever I am thinking, almost like a constant stream of consciousness and I don’t even realize I am doing it. (more…)
6 comments June 30, 2008
Weekend Recap
Well, I made a promise on Friday not to journal this weekend, to give it one week.
So far, two days down, and I’m two for two.
In my head, I still knew what I was eating more or less. But I only counted points for non-Core foods, per the Weight Watchers Core plan I follow.
It was a pleasant change to not be journaling every bite on Sparkpeople, or worrying about updating my spreadsheet.
I ate to satisfaction, and didn’t obsess over my food choices. Though I had no dining-out challenges this weekend, my husband and I grilled, which was fun.
I enjoyed some treats and otherwise ate healthily, without devoting more time than necessary to my weight, food, or the blog (which will be updated M-Fr).
I still worked out all three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but nothing excessive–just my usual cardio and weights and I stopped when I was tired, didn’t push myself too hard. I’ll be taking Monday off and just biking with a friend for moderate exercise.
All in all, it was a good weekend and I think I’m off to a good start. I don’t intend to update my blog every week with how I did over the weekend, but I did want to acknowledge the progress I think I’m already making.
Til tomorrow…
Add comment June 29, 2008
Bidding Adieu to Sparkpeople and Spreadsheets…
For the past year I’ve flip-flopped between Weight Watchers’ Flex and Core programs. I have had love affairs with each of them at different times, and they have both been proven to work.
On both programs, there are 8 Good Health Guidelines everyone is expected to meet (2 dairy servings, 2 tsp. healthy oil, exercise, water, fruit/veggies, whole grains, lean protein, vitamin, etc.) .
But whereas on Flex, Points are counted for everything you eat, on Core, you only count Points for foods that aren’t on the Core list and eat to satisfaction–no more weighing or measuring every morsel (except for non-Core foods).
This means when I’ve been on Core, I didn’t need to count Points anymore for things like apples, oatmeal, skim milk, corn, chicken, lean beef, etc. (Core foods tend to be wholesome and unprocessed, save for FF/SF Jello pudding and a few other anomolies).
Since I love those things and eat pretty cleanly anyway, Core is clearly the better plan for me. Instead of planning my day around a measly 20 Points on Flex, I found I ate healthier and better on Core. I was less obsessed about food, didn’t stress about or “fear” when my next meal would be. I was making progess. (more…)
18 comments June 27, 2008
TGIF: Dining Out Strategies
It’s the weekend (yea!), and for many of us that means going out to eat with our friends or families.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to prepare more elaborate meals at home than I eat when I am out at restaurants, usually just ordering a simple grilled entree and often splurging on a (shared) dessert. It’s kind of boring, I know … and someday I’d like to get to the point where I can order something off the menu “as is” without any substitutions. But with the exception of Rock Creek Restaurant in Bethesda, Md., I’ve yet to find a restaurant whose entire (and I mean entire) menu is healthy and truly desirable “as is.”
That said, here are some tried and true tips I’ve come up with over the years that have worked for me that aren’t too restrictive or over-the-top OCD. (more…)
3 comments June 27, 2008
The Chicken or the Egg Conundrum
Which comes first, disordered eating or dieting? I know for me, it wasn’t until I began dieting, logging my every bite and calorie burned in a journal, that I became obsessive about my weight.
In retrospect, it makes sense… the tools that teach us to lose weight are also the very tools that can backfire and set us down the path toward disordered eating.
When we embark on the weight loss journey for the first or fiftieth time, we’re taught the keys to success: journaling what you eat, exercising regularly, planning meals, making good choices and stepping on the scale once a week to gauge your progress. Measure yourself. Test your body fat. Learn your waist circumference. Become one with your body mass index.
But aren’t all these things obsessive? Where does one draw the line? Why are some people more prone to disordered eating habits than others? (more…)
5 comments June 26, 2008
Pondering Pregnancy
Within the past year or so, I’ve been feeling the real urge to start a family. I’ve been married to my husband for almost two years after being together nearly eight years, and I’ve always wanted to be a mom. Ideally, I’ve wanted to be pregnant or have my first child by the time I hit 30 (God-willing).
Well, I turn 29 this October, and I’m really getting excited at the notion of creating life. And since my husband is possibly more eager than me, I hope we will not have difficulty when the time comes in the next year or so.
But I’ll be honest…I fear being pregnant. Getting “fat,” and having to lose the weight all over again daunts me. That sounds awful, I know … as it’s creating life, the most beautiful thing in the world, and I truly can’t wait to be a mom. (more…)
18 comments June 26, 2008
Food for Thought…
If you Google “Eating Disorders,” you will find 8,590,000 hits.
But if you Google “Disordered Eating,” you only find 323,000 hits.
Hmmmm … All the more reason for this blog to exist!
Add comment June 25, 2008
“You’re Addicted to Exercise!”
This is what my dear husband told me last night when, after my biking plans with a friend were thwarted half-way through our ride due to trail construction, I was still desperate to get in my workout.
I just wanted to go to the gym and “get it over with” … torch 400 calories or so and move on (which I realize sounds obsessive) … but he wanted us to take a nice walk together to prep for his business school interview today.
At first I was plagued with anxiety… I need to exercise every day, don’t I? Then I realized quality time with my husband–especially the night before such a big interview–definitely trumps a cardio session. And it’s not like I won’t hit the gym the very next day. (more…)
4 comments June 25, 2008
“No Choice”
A few months ago, I heard some girls on a Weight Watchers message board I frequent singing the praises of Dr. Judith Beck’s book, “The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person,” a self-help guide which embraces cognitive therapy (her father coined the phrase) as a method for overcoming emotional eating issues. I got my hands on a copy as quickly as I could.
As this topic fascinates me, not surprisingly, I devoured the whole book in one weekend … I literally spent 48 hours gorging myself on her words, going through all the exercises, diligently jotting notes in my journal and on various response cards (i.e., notecards). Note to self: It’s not the way one should go about such a book, but it’s how I chose to do it, especially since a lot of her exercises were things I’d already been doing for four years, anyway. (more…)
5 comments June 24, 2008
The Battle Continues
Three years into owning this new, slimmer body, it seems things have only gotten worse.
I’ve put on a couple from my lightest, and now I feel like a normal-sized woman who has put on a few, instead of a heavier woman who proudly dropped three sizes. My self-worth seems tied to a number on the scale, versus how I feel.
I find I am far more critical of myself than one ought to be. Instead of admiring my leaner, stronger legs, I’m obsessed with the number on the scale which has gone up the past year. I’m bemoaning the fact that my clothes still fit, but don’t fall as nicely. I’m staring at my midsection in the mirror, poking at “fat” that wasn’t there at my leanest.
(The irony is, when I was heavy, I never noticed fat on my hips…and since I lost several inches from them… clearly I wasn’t preoccupied with them before).
I think about food all too often: what I’ve eaten, what I will eat, if I’m hungry or bored, where we’ll have dinner on Friday, how many calories I’ve eaten today or how many I have left in the bank.
And when I’m not thinking about food, I’m thinking of my workouts. Did I burn enough calories today? If I lift, will I have time for cardio? Did I eat enough to get in a good workout? Or did I just eat back my workout? . (more…)
6 comments June 23, 2008
