Wednesday, February 18, 2009

I can't believe the time

As in the time of year, as in, second half of February already. I was supposed to be down 10 lbs right away...

This weekend already is the Step training. I was supposed to look like a step teacher by now...

I'm still way up from Christmas. Haven't lost ANYTHING since then. It's simple math right? I'm not in calorie deficit. I don't feel like I'm eating significantly different from when I was 8 lbs lighter. Where is it coming from?

1. I think my lunches have gradually become bigger and bigger. Not that I try and eat processed foods, but if I did, a granola bar alone would be a morning snack. Now I need a granola bar and 1 cup of grapes. And the granola bars are higher calorie currently because they're oatmeal to go bars (200 calories) to try and get the extra fibre, or some sort of protein bar. In trying to eat for fuel and up the protein and fibre, and avoid just junk (100 calorie packs) I'm also eating more calories. I think the aim is right, but I shouldn't be making changes by choosing other processed foods with extra benefits. How about a dish of carrots and a hard boiled egg? More benefits, fewer calories.

2. Suppers haven't been awesome. I froze a pile of good stuff and when I remember to make a real meal it's good. But I often don't, and then eat "desserts" of bananas, muffins, candies or whatever.

3. Breakfasts. I think I'm enjoying my cereals too much. Buying "good" cereals that I want to over eat. When it was rasin bran, I couldn't eat too much of it. I also used to eat more fruit with breakfast and more smoothies.

I'm gonna say something that some people will disagree with now. I don't want a lifestyle change. I have a good lifestyle now. I try to avoid processed foods and preservatives in most things, (hello, homemade bagels!), I eat tons of fruits and veggies, whole grains. "bad" treats are rare (chips, cookies etc). Obviously I'm not perfect, but I think the way I'm eating is a good life long habit.

I want a diet.

I want to do a calorie restriction for a short period of time, then go back to my lifestyle. I don't think that's bad. I do think it's bad to be in a calorie deficit for years. Messes you up. I do think it's bad to be on some extreme diet or fad diet. I don't mean that. I think it's ok to deprive yourself of treats and eat different foods that you won't do long term. I only have 10 lbs to lose, that can be done in a couple months if I diet to do it. My lifestyle is fine, it's healthy. It's not making me lose weight (not making me gain either).

So that's my new attitude. I'm going to do the rest of february strictly and see what happens. Plan my splurges and treats again. I'm in maintenance mode now, but I don't want to maintain. So that's the plan.

In other news...

Went to a Mary Kay party with my sister last night. Ugh. I have no brand loyalty. I don't always agree with what they say (especially about mineral powder last night, but I bit my tongue). Oh, the big one was about moisturizing. I had "normal" skin, and she told me to not moisturize on my forehead and nose because without the special "oily skin moisturizer" then it would make me shiny and oily in the t-zone. Ok makes sense. Except that my forehead and nose felt really tight and dry with nothing on them. And I believe that's why I get oily, because I actually have dry skin. So to try and moisturize itself, my face produces oil. Like overwashing will dry my skin out and then give me breakouts. It makes perfect sense to me. But she didn't want me to put anything on my nose or forehead. wrong.

Anyway, it wasn't all bad. She had some nice techniques for putting on color that were different and gave a different look. We played with some fun colors and looked way beautiful when we left.

Gotta do some shopping after work today. We're out of shampoo. weird. I also want to buy some caulking for around the sinks. Plus used up the brown sugar and sandwich bags on the weekend. odds and ends. Then hitting the treadmill for a good one AND some heavy weights. When I was losing weight, I was hitting the heavy weights. Go with what works.

Also gonna try and plan some stuff for the weekend. My training saturday starts at 7:30 am and goes STRAIGHT until 6:00. No lunch break. we're supposed to bring food and snacks. (how am I going to go to the bathroom once and hour like I do at work?) So I gotta figure out what kind of food I can bring that will pull me through a whole day with no fridge or microwave. Maybe I gotta make something, go shopping etc. Ideas?

2 comments:

eurydice said...

i can't believe it's mid-feb either. i agree with you - the only way to lose weight is to restrict calories. it's basic math - calories in and calories out. of course you have to eat enough... 1200 a day or whatever just to keep going.

Angela Power said...

Hey ya know what I think would be exactly what you need? Go and buy "Making the Cut" which is a book by Jillian Michaels (yes I'm all about the Jillian these days), but the book is only $16 and it talks specifically about losing that last 10 lbs (vanity pounds) and it's all about how it's a totally different strategy required. It's a good book and I've been learning ALOT from her podcasts too. You should check it out.

Even if it is strict math, it ISN'T that simple with the last 10 pounds - toally different animal from needing to lose 50, totally different. Me, even though I only really "want" to lose 10-ish more pounds it doesn't put me in that category because technically my body does "have" more than that to lose, so i'm not following that strategy. Basically if you've got less than 10 to lose, you should never go below your BMR ever.

I agree with you on the "diet" thing. YOu have the lifestyle already established, it's just approaching those last 10 lbs with the strategy that's going to work!