Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Re-newed Drive

I have heard that "sticking with it" is the hardest part of losing weight.

I have given up on finding something that works and thinking of it in terms of "forever". While I firmly believe making changes that are healthier and thinking of this as a lifestyle change instead of a "diet" is what will work over the long haul -- sometimes we need to switch things up a bit. The trick is to know that is going to happen, and be prepared to look for the next big thing.

Recently I had been on a big oatmeal kick. I was eating oatmeal for breakfast and the scale was edging a little lower. I was enjoying oats with blueberries, oats with pumpkin seeds, oats with bananas, oats with... until eventually I hit this moment where I could just not imagine eating another bowl of oatmeal. I tried Kashi cereal, but it was no good. I needed a bigger change.

I was thinking about that oft repeated phrase "Eat Your Veggies!" and somehow that combined with something Dr. Furhman said on his Nutritional Excellence audio book that sounded weird. Eat a salad for breakfast...

Together that combined to form a plan for losing another 10 lbs.

I got out my calendar. 2 lbs a week for 5 weeks and I'd be at my goal.
It was a nice plan, do-able.

I started this Sunday on my "Salad for breakfast" kick -- and I started to incorporate eating vegetables as snacks and as part of every meal. Not ground breaking stuff... but the scale did that thing it does when you shake up your system, and I have lost 6 pounds in 4 days. I know this rate will slow down and plateau as my body re-calibrates to my new habit -- but for now I am enjoying this brief moment of encouraging/motivating progress.

So far it is a good plan, because I am in this happy phase where it is new. I had an artichoke with my lunch yesterday, plain, no dressing. I had a salad with avocado and balsamic vinegar. It was delicious. Tonight Eric made a salad dressing from homemade tomato sauce with balsamic vinegar (no oil) that was amazing. We had it over raw cabbage and carrots with cucumbers -- so satisfying, so mouth-watering. Then we had some skinless roasted chicken breast, a side of peas and corn and some beans (made from scratch no sugar, no oil) with onions. It was delicious and guilt free.

By focusing on eating a large variety of vegetables I am eating a lot of food for very little calories. I am making sure to include lean protein and whole grains, but I am watching those serving sizes to see what will happen over the next 5 weeks if I stick to my plan.

Eat Your Veggies! They're delicious!
Jennifer

1 comment:

  1. Yes! I am missing the field of Swiss Chard! Love you creative approach to being healthy! Very inspiring, too!

    ReplyDelete