Of course, when people notice my weight loss the first thing they ask is "how did you do it?" or "what are you doing?" It's no big secret...healthy diet and exercise, but the first few times people asked me what I was doing, I kind of thought I hadn't really made all that many changes. In writing them down for a friend on Facebook though, I realized I had really changed my eating and fitness lifestyle in quite a few ways, so if you're interested...here they are.
1) I'm on http://www.sparkpeople.com/. It's a totally free website that has a nutrition tracker, exercise/fitness tracker, tons of articles on healthy weight loss, healthy recipes, fitness tips, motivation and wellness, even short exercise videos. I find it to be a very user-friendly site. You can use their meal plans and their strength training plans if you don't know where to start. It's a little time consuming keeping track of everything, but a great tool of accountabilty. It was after I kept track of what I ate for a day or two that I realized how many calories (many of them non-nutrient rich) I must have been consuming before I started all this.
Sparkpeople also sponsors sparkrecipes.com. You can search other people's recipes. I've found some very good ones. You can also use the recipe calculator to determine the nutritional value of your own recipes.
I use the nutrition tracker to write down everything I eat or drink. It automatically monitors calories, fat, carbs, protein, and you can add other vitamins or nutrients you think you might not be getting enough of.
I use the fitness tracker to keep track of my cardio (calories burned) and strength training.
2) I drink only water for the most part. I have an occasional glass of skim milk, and a very occasional diet soda or unsweetened ice tea. I didn't realize how many calories I was drinking until I considered my love for sweetened ice tea. I have a 32 oz nalgene bottle that I fill at least twice a day to make sure I get enough water throughout. Sometimes I mix in crystal light because it's only 10 or 20 calories, but most of the time I find very cold water to be the perfect beverage.
3) I eat at least 5 times a day, and always eat breakfast because it's best for your metabolism to eat smaller portions and more often. When you first start sparkpeople it asks your current and goal weights and gives you a recommended timeframe (you can move it up or back) for reaching that goal along with the caloric intake and exercise that will get you there. My calorie range is about 1200-1600, so I eat 200-400 calories 5 times a day. I usually make my snacks a little smaller to compensate for more calorie-laden meals.
4) I eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (I aim for 7) and try to eat whole grains instead of white products (english muffins, bread, dinner rolls, rice, etc.).
5) My go to snacks are:
- Dannon light & fit yogurt (60 calories)
- Baby carrots with hummus or laughing cow cheese (60-80 calories)
- Orville Redenbacher 94% fat free butter popcorn (1 cup=15 calories and I am usually satisfied by 3 or 4 cups )
- Jello sugar free pudding for my chocolate fix (60 calories--I often mix it with strawberries and little whipped cream and it's still less than 100 calories)
- Quaker fiber & omega 3 granola bars (they're really yummy, especially peanut butter chocolate and only 150 calories plus a third of daily recommended fiber.
I do not make any particular food off limits because I'll just want it more (I'm a chocoholic). I just try to find healthier ways to eat it. This weekend I had thin crust pizza with tomatoes and green peppers instead of regular crust with pepperoni and bacon, and it was delicious!
If you have a Nintendo Wii, I recommend the "my fitness coach" personal trainer game. It's not the same as wii fit. It's more like an interactive workout dvd and it's only 20-30 bucks. You can do cardio, upper body, lower body, core, yoga, and flexibility workouts and the trainer character adjusts your workouts based on how you keep up. The only thing that's sometimes annoying is that when you do any non-cardio workout, you start with at least a brief cardio intro. So, if I do a 30 minute core workout the first 10 minutes is warm up and cardio to get my heart rate up, which I guess is good, but sometimes I'd just prefer to get right to the strength training. It tells you at the end of each workout how many calories you burned.
I do all this either outside or in my house. I'm not much of a gym or class person. I have an aerobic step, resistance bands, hand weights (4 or 5 pounds), an exercise ball, and I just recently bought a folding recumbent bike too (found one for about $200 that I'm pretty happy with).
7) When we go out to eat I try to focus on portion control the most. If Bill wants an appetizer that sounds good to me then I have one (mozzarella stick, fried wonton, etc.). I also try to look up the restaurant's nutritional information before we go if I can. I don't eat french fries out (because I know I can't eat just one) and I try to always have salad or steamed veggies. I always order dressing (even low cal) on the side.
My weight loss has started to slow down a little over the last few weeks, but now that I'm back within the normal BMI range I'm not as concerned with the number on the scale now as I am with toning and making my body stronger. Doing all this has really changed the way I feel, the way I think about food and fitness, and the way we live as a family, and that was my biggest motivation for doing this in the first place.
