So, here we go. Part one: Diet, food, and weighing in.
At one point on my Weight Watchers journey, I had gotten myself organized to the point where I was eating fairly similarly each day. It didn't bug me while I was doing it, and I did try to throw in some changes to that it wasn't identical.
But when I got off course, the idea of going back to that lifestyle was harder than I could imagine. Coupling that with the changes to the WW program and having to recalculate all that I ate left me frustrated and eating whatever the hell was around.
I'm not giving up on the program completely, I'm just taking a break and seeing what else might work for me. I've signed up for SparkPeople but haven't used it. Then I thought about cleaning out my system and starting from scratch. I'd thought about doing this ages ago, but knew that the household I was living in wouldn't be condusive to the choices I needed to make.
I've considered doing this for reasons other than weight loss. I've suffered through enough indigestion and food poisoning. I constantly feel like my body is fighting the food I'm putting in it, and I have no idea what guilty ingredients are. I originally planned on talking to friends about the over-the-counter products available and seeing if any suited me.
Then last week I was inspired by a friend's blog entry mentioning what he was planning to do to detox his system. I aspire to do the same, removing the usual suspects (alcohol, caffiene, meats of all kinds, dairy, gluten, etc) and slowly reintroducing them into my diet to see what effect they have on me. Or maybe I'll just take on this new gluten-free vegan-esque diet if it works for me, who knows? It won't be easy, considering I'll be living with a partner that very likely won't be doing the same.
Does it sound like I'm trying to explore too many options? Because that's the way it feels.
Your suggestions and feedback are welcome.
PS - these choices aren't being made right now...as we wait for Thomas's benefits to kick in, we're cleaning out the pantry and freezer before buying more food. And they're filled with beef, chicken, pasta and sauce.
Beef and Chicken are good.
ReplyDeletePasta and sauce are less good.
There's also a tonne of information to be learned on the timing of meals. A rough example is fast carbs (sugar) with protein immediately following a workout.
What I have found works best for me, is carb-cycling. On workout days, post-workout, you have carbs, on off-days, just vegetables.
But back on point, yes, you're faced with a tonne of choices. I've never been a fan of a detox, because honestly, everyone I've ever seen go on it, doesn't get the results they want and just gets annoyed with what they're eating.
I would suggest starting with just logging what you are eating now, for one week. Don't skip anything at all. I've not used SparkPeople but if it's similar to fit-day, where you get a breakdown of the macro-nutrients and carbs from said, it will give you a much better birds eye view of where you are and what you can change.
Not everybody can go crazy cold-turkey with a diet. Most people who I talk to about it blanche when I tell them what I eat. So I'd start with smaller changes in the right direction, after you find out what direction that is.
The urge to do 50 things is strong, but that's 50 times the difficulty to maintain, and often you'll get a cascade where if you fail on one thing, you blow off the others.
I'm rambling now. Sorry, typing while working.
To sum up:
1. Track what you eat now for a week.
2. Assess what you need to change and what you can.
3. Find your BMR (google it).
4. Plan your meals.
5. Plan your exercise.
For now, if you "just" want to lose weight, it's simple; figure out your BMR, eat less than that (I would estimate for you, and I haven't seen you in a while, a 1300-1500 cal daily intake would do that).
It's simple, but not easy. ;)