past the first week .. shew

The first week has come and gone. It was wildly successful, which is the double edged sword. I lost 12 pounds and radically changed my eating habits. the changes were two-fold. They were:

1) I took notice of what I eat. I began eating healthier.

2) I took notice of when I eat. Regularly is the key.

Breakfast became a protein drink with 190 calories instead of a hit or miss fast food breakfast, or a whatever is left over in the fridge breakfast. i have found that when I know ahead of time what I am planning to eat, it keeps me on track.

Lunch became a healthy salad. I now keep a variety of salad fixin's in the fridge. The variety keeps it from becoming the 'same old thing' every day. At the start of the week, my wife and I will cut, slice, chop, and sort into individual baggies the ingredients of that weeks salads. So when it comes time to fix my daily salad, it is a matter of grabbing the individual baggies instead of doing the prep work daily. Too often in the past, lunch became whatever was quick to fix. Most of the time that was a couple of unhealthy sandwiches or fast food. Now, time is on my healthy side.

Supper became smaller. We always ate mostly healthy. We rarely fry things. we generally bake them or crock pot them. so, smaller portions was the key to changing supper/dinner. One trick my wife taught me was to use a smaller plate. This way, the food on the plate looks like more, fooling your brain into thinking you were still eating a large portion.

Snacks became fewer and healthier. I can't count the number of times I would open a large bag of chips for a snack while working on the computer. When I would look again, half the bag would be gone. Becoming more aware of what and when I am eating has eliminated this. Snacks are prepared or purchased in 100 to 150 calorie packs. If we buy a large bag of chips, we take appropriate size portions and repackage them. So, when we open a snack, when it is gone we are done. We are more aware. One of my favorite snacks is just to core an apple and slice it into 1/4" slices. One golden delicious apple is only 80 to 100 calories.

I am in the middle of week number 2. I have added walking to my daily routine. I still get hungry from time to time, but I think that is just because my body is still used to eating throughout the day, and not actual 'need nutrients' hunger.

I am 3 days from my next weigh in. I realize that 12 pounds a week is not only unhealthy, but unrealistic. So, I will be delighted to lose only a few pounds a week. This will still get me to my goal of losing 120 pounds total in one year. Fifty and a half weeks and one hundred eight pounds to go.