Tag Archives: candy

Plateau Diet Weekend

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Since my thyroid issues, I need to drop a couple of pounds.  Despite exercise and eating well, when your thyroid is out of whack, so is your weight.  (Some of you might need it after Valentine’s Day!)

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Today/Tomorrow Plateau Menu:

Morning:  Egg, spinach, 1/2 grapefruit

Snack:  Liquid protein drink

Lunch: Salad with fish (tuna for me) and 1/2 grapefruit

Snack:  Liquid protein

Dinner:  Salad and fish or chicken and 1/2 grapefruit

Snack:  Liquid protein

By the end of the two or three days (depends on how the scale looks), I could lose about 2-3 pounds. This plateau breaker works…done it before. Every diet hits a plateau.  It is temporary and you just make the best fo it.

Drink lots of water, take potassium and take a multi vitamin supplement.

If you can exercise, that is a bonus!

 

 

Prevent Halloween Holiday Weight Gain

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The holidays are upon us.  This usually means that people start to eat things that are higher-carb and they will put weight on themselves.   The “traditions” of the holidays–are man-made–and perhaps should be modified, as our society gets bigger and bigger.  I am not sure who came up with the idea that on Halloween–that we need to give a bunch of sugar items to children all night long.  I know their teachers are usually not too happy about it the next day because those kids are all wired from the whole event and the toxic poisoning of all of that sugar.

The carb-fest at Thanksgiving and Christmas is a whole other Oprah.  Let’s talk about Halloween though.

Here are some guidelines to follow if you are trying to lose weight on Halloween:

halloweencandy

At home:

1.  Buy candy you don’t like so it will be easier to resist temptation.
2.  Purchase candy at the last-minute so you won’t be tempted to sample it.
3.  Keep in mind that you will need to walk nearly a mile to burn off that 90-calorie “fun size” or “snack size” candy.
4.   Get out and walk with the kids or look at neighbor’s homes so you aren’t tempted to eat candy in your house.

At work:

1.  Do not bake and bring Halloween muffins, cookies, etc to work and when they are at work, stay away from them.  Have your healthier snacks available to you so you will not be hungry.  If you have to be standing or sitting near those sugary items, then eat your snacks before you are there and near them.

2.  There are recipes online for low-carb baking items and you should consider that if you need a treat.  There is also low-carb chocolate out there.  Eat a Power Crunch bar or a Nature Valley Protein Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate bar as a replacement of a regular candy bar.

Emotional Eating Can Hurt Your Diet or Lifestyle Change

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emo-eating

Emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts

Sometimes the strongest cravings for food happen when you’re at your weakest point emotionally and you may turn to food for comfort. Emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts. Emotional eating often leads to eating too much, and you most likely will eat too much of the wrong things.  I talked to a woman today who ate jelly beans when she knew she had to do a fasting blood test the next day. There are take steps to regain control of your eating habits and get back on track with your weight-loss goals.

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The connection between mood, food and weight loss

Emotional eating is eating as a way to push down or soothe out negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Things happening to you in life and the hassles of daily life can trigger negative emotions that lead to emotional eating and disrupt your weight-loss efforts. These triggers may include:

  • Unemployment
  • Financial pressure
  • Health problems
  • Relationship conflicts
  • Work stress
  • Fatigue
  • Also, being on diet or change of lifestyle with food and feeling bad about yourself or frustrated at where you are at–physically.

Although some people actually eat less when stressed,  if you’re in emotional distress you may turn to impulsive or binge eating — you may rapidly eat whatever’s convenient, without even enjoying it. In fact, your emotions may become so tied to your eating habits that you automatically or impulsively reach for a treat or a sweat, whenever you’re angry or stressed without stopping to think about what you’re doing. Food also serves as a great distraction. If you’re worried about a test, or some life event, or brooding over a conflict, for instance, you may focus on eating comfort food instead of dealing with the painful situation. Whatever emotions drive you to overeat, the end result is often the same. The emotions return, and you may also now bear the additional burden of guilt about setting back your weight-loss  or health-related goal. This can also lead to an unhealthy cycle — your emotions trigger you to overeat, you beat yourself up for getting off your weight-loss track, you feel bad, and you overeat again. desserts

Tips to get your weight-loss efforts back on track

You can take steps to control cravings and renew your effort at weight loss. To help stop emotional eating, try these tips:

  • Learn from setbacks. If you have an episode of emotional eating, forgive yourself and start fresh the next day. Try to learn from the experience.  So, make a plan for how you can prevent it in the future, focus on the positive changes you’re making in your eating habits, and give yourself credit for making changes that’ll lead to better health.
  • Stress management: If stress contributes to your emotional eating, try a stress management technique, such as yoga, meditation or relaxation.
  • Have a hunger reality check. Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago, you’re probably not really hungry. Give the craving a little time to pass.
  • Keep a food diary. Write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you’re feeling when you eat and how hungry you are. Over time, you may see patterns emerge that reveal the connection between your mood and food.
  • Get support. You’re more likely to give in to emotional eating if you lack a good support network. Lean on family and friends or consider joining a support group.  Overeaters Anonymous is a good group and it is free.
  • Fight boredom. Instead of snacking when you’re not truly hungry, distract yourself. Take a walk, watch a movie, play with your dog or cat, listen to music, read, surf the Internet or call a friend.
  • Take away temptation. Don’t keep supplies of comfort foods in your home if they’re hard for you to resist. And if you feel angry or blue, postpone your trip to the grocery store until you’re sure that you have your emotions in check.
  • Don’t deprive yourself. When you’re trying to achieve a weight-loss goal, you may limit your calories too much, eat the same foods frequently and banish the treats you enjoy.
  • Snack healthy. If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a low-fat, low-calorie snack, such as fresh fruit, low-sugar Greek yogurt, vegetables with low-fat dip or unbuttered popcorn. Or try low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your craving.

Realize there are two different cycles:  Healthy and Unhealthy Eating.  First picture here is unhealthy.  Second is healthy.

  • unhealthyeating

healthyeating

Discipline is Learned, Not Eaten

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At the end of the week of 4 days (usually only 3) of a restricted diet, and one all protein day, I lost 5.5 pounds. I am back to normal carb controlled eating. I will work hard to restrict myself to closer to 50g of carbs a day and try not to go to the upper level of 100g a day because I still want to lose 3 pounds in order to be closer to my all-time weight goal. It is always work. You can’t just give up. If I can lose weight, anyone can. I lose very slowly and my body LOVES holding onto the weight with my sluggish thyroid.

At the end of the day, you have to work on your motivation. It is KEY in weight control.

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It is Easter and I am not going to indulge in traditional Easter candy. I have no idea who came up with the idea as candy being attached to high holy holidays. “It is the day Jesus was born–have some chocolate.” “It is the day he has risen, have some chocolate.” And then, “it is your birthday, so have some cake.” We should focus more on spending time on things that we can do physically. “It is a holiday, let’s meet up with family or good friends and go for a walk and talk.” That is so much better for everyone involved.

Do something fun. Change the way you do things. Don’t teach children that when it is a holiday, they have to get a basket of candy or chocolate. They can color eggs and have fun, but come on everyone. Let’s change the way we do things in order to teach ourselves and our children better HABITS.

There is a lady in my Pilates class who discusses holiday foods like they are part of her holiday orgasm, but she also is very heavy and used to be even heavier–plus her husband suffers from diabetes. How has candy and chocolate associations to holidays helped out her life? Everyone who I know who is into all of this candy, has someone larger or ill in their home. So, think about it. What is wrong with special Easter omelets and turkey sausage with some delicious coffee?

If you want to look good and feel good, and teach your family to do the same….take a chance and change the way you do things. Change traditions. Not all are good. Teach motivation and discipline. I often get told that I have amazing discipline. You just have to teach yourself and coming from a disciplined father, I am sure a lot rubbed off on me. Do the same for your family.

Holiday Sabotage

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You are going to be surrounded by holiday candy, pumpkin bread, pies, etc.  I meet a lot of people who give up on their diet at the holidays or don’t even start with the excuse that they will start after the holidays are over.

NO!

You need to take control of your life.  You cannot have this excuse again.  You have had it for years and it is the reason you are heavy or gain the weight back.  Something has to change.  How you view food has to change.

So, it is the holidays.   You think that Mother Mary, Jesus or the Thanksgiving pilgrims thought that you should gorge yourself with carbs at the holidays for them?  NO.  The message behind these holidays is about being grateful and the celebration of a birth.  It has nothing to do with sugary carbs.  Thanksgiving was about sitting down and “breaking bread”, so to speak,  with the American Indians, in the spirit of cooperation.

WHAT THE PILGRIMS ATE:

The first Thanksgiving feast would have looked very strange to our modern eyes, consisting mainly of corn and meat. The spirit of the celebration would be easy for us to understand, because then, as now, Thanksgiving is a reminder of the bounty of the Earth and the importance of hard work and cooperation.

Cheese:

You might be surprised to know how how different the first Thanksgiving dinner was from what we enjoy today.  They might have had cheese made from goat’s milk.

A Variety of Meats

The pilgrims and the Indians had some type of fowl and venison. The pilgrims often hunted fowl for a special feast follwing the harvest. Wild turkeys are native to New England, as are pheasants. Both were enjoyed by the pilgrims and indians alike and were included in the feast. The Indians brought venison; some of the braves went hunting and brought back five deer to share. Other meats that may have been on the table include lobster, seal and swans.

The food was placed on the table, and people helped themselves to it.

Fruits, veggies without sugar, meats, and corn

Thanksgiving today includes many vegetables available, but in the 17th century, vegetables were not always plentiful. Special meals, even the Thanksgiving meal, centered around many different kinds of meat.

Common fruits and vegetables included pumpkin, peas, beans, radishes, carrots, onions, lettuce, plums and grapes. Walnuts, chestnuts and acorns were also plentiful. Though there was no pumpkin pie, the Pilgrims did make stewed pumpkin. They had cranberries, but no sugar, so they did not make cranberry sauce. Sweet potatoes were not common, so those were probably not on the thanksgiving table.

No  pies or other sweets.

They did not have an oven to bake pies, and even though they brought sugar over on the Mayflower, it had all been used by the time of the first celebration.

The Pilgrims had little in the way of grain, they only had wheat flour.

So, try to eat more like a Pilgrim than a Piggy for the holidays!  Tomorrow’s blog is about how to avoid the bad holiday foods.