Alrighty, the kids are taking a nap (yes, both of them!!!!!) so I decided it would be a good time to write.
Picking up where the last post left off...
After I made the decision to lose the weight, and to allow myself 2 years to lose the 110lbs, I had to figure out what "method" was going to work best for me. My mom (who has also battled the scale her whole life) joined Weight Watchers and began going to meetings. Attending meetings was impossible to fit into my schedule, so I decided to join online.
I did well for the first couple of weeks and lost about 20 lbs right away, but for me, the freedom of the points system was leading me to make not so great choices. Because of my weight, and the fact that I was breastfeeding a newborn, I was allowed a TON of points each day. (I think 57!!!!) Eating that much during the day and making sure they were healthy choices wasn't easy. I remember actually eating Nutella on crackers simply to make sure I got all my "points" in. Needless to say, it wasn't working for me.
A few years ago, before I even met my husband, I had lost a bit of weight on South Beach diet. From that personal experience as well as through my research on PCOS (Polycystic ovarian Syndrome----- diagnosed at age 18), I determined a low carb, lean protein diet would be best. I wasn't able to cut out ALL carbs, again, because I was breastfeeding a newborn and carbs are VERY important in milk production.
My plan was (and still is) to have my carbs before 2pm (low calorie/high fiber bread). LOTS of veggies and lean proteins. I also cut out most of my dairy. Our family is on Almond milk completely, and I have the unsweetened original type in my coffee in the morning.
I also try to follow a couple of key rules
Drink plenty of water
Take a multivitamin
Stay away from anything white
Stay away from anything boxed or canned (the amount of sodium in these processed foods is unreal!)
Try to add extra veggies to anything possible (I add shredded carrots and zucchini to spaghetti sauce)
Get rid of red meat (we use ground chicken/turkey)
Eat more fish (especially salmon)
Don't eat after 7:30pm
Leave room to "cheat" one day a week
I'll talk about exercise in another post, but I really believe something that I heard a Dr. say in the HBO documentary The Weight of the Nation. Exercise is important, of course, but the MOST important part of LOSING weight is and has to be diet change.
I tried South Beach, before the two weeks were up my husband gave me a choice, eat carbs or else.... just kidding, but I could not do two weeks without carbs! We do Intuitive Eating, there is actually a Catholic program called the Lightweigh that is about this. There is the book the Eded Diet which is Christian and the other two books are Intuitive Eating and the Overfed Head, oh, and I forgot I Can Make You Thin. It is a slower weight loss method, but with our crazy life it is hard to keep any more paperwork or keep track with/of anything. Keep up the great work!!
ReplyDeleteOh the above comment is from Tammy Plaisance.
ReplyDeleteJust getting around to reading your blog (ok, cut me some slack... I'm a busy mom too :)) This blog brought tears to my eyes because I know how fiercely you love your little family and how incredible you all are. Anything I can do to encourage you and walk with you through this journey is offered!! No words could describe how much I admire you! -Lacey
ReplyDeleteHI. what i wanted to ask is, when you go for the "Cheat day" do you follow it through out the day, means all the meals of that day be "Cheat" or just one of them?
ReplyDelete