You Don't Have to Lose 100 Lbs. - Part III

The thing that amazed me the most was how much I was able to eat! The foods I ate were far more satisfying than I had been eating previously, and then I either didn't miss the treats, or really savored smaller amounts. Whereas before, I might eat a candy bar, and then not be hungry for a proper lunch, then eat 2 or 3 helpings at dinner of casserole or whatever, and not be hungry for veggies, now I was enjoying a large, satisfying meal and not wanting dessert, or having 1/2 a candy bar once a week. I also discovered small but satisfying treats. I realized that when I ate one little chocolate chip cookie, which was 2 carbs and about a zillion calories, I was really only eating it for the chocolate. So for me it is much smarter to just have a handful of chocolate chips themselves. Thirty-three is one serving, about 60 calories and only 1 carb. If I eat them slowly, I really get that chocolate that I crave without much harm. And for me, semi-sweet gives me what I need without making me want more, whereas I cannot stay away from milk chocolate. I also discovered that when I just plain have the munchies, it doesn't have to be potato chips that I eat. It's too easy to eat a whole bunch before I come to my senses. If I eat the little, tiny carrots instead, I can eat as many as I want, and when I am ready to stop, I haven't really done any harm. I was surprised to realize how often I ate because I was thirsty, too, so I learned to drink a glass of water if I was hungry when I didn't need to eat. It also helped to chew gum after eating a proper meal, as a signal that the meal was over and it was time to stop eating for awhile. My sister, on the other hand, tends to nibble while she's cooking, so that's when gum helps her.

There are many tips and tricks that work for different people, but the bottom line is finding what works for you. Actually, this is getting sensible. We were tricking ourselves before when we had an unhealthy relationship with food. Food is fuel for our bodies. It isn't companionship, entertainment, comfort, recreation or most of the other things we use it for. Many times we should be taking a walk, or a nap, making a phone call or reading a book, praying, and even fasting instead of eating. When we do eat, we can take pleasure in choosing from a wide variety of healthy, tasty nourishment that fuels our other activities. It's time to find new ways of being well-rounded!

You Don't Have to Lose 100 Pounds - Part II

The turning point for me was ending up in the hospital for a week when I hadn't even known I was sick. All I did was go to church! While there I participated in a free blood pressure screening, more to please the friend who had set it up as a ministry than anything. But my blood pressure was something like 250/130. They called it a hypertensive crisis. At the emergency room they discovered I also had really high blood sugar. By the time they released me I was on roughly 21 pills a day, which "lowered" my blood pressure to about 164/101 and my sugar to 271. Not very encouraging.

While I was in the hospital, I was visited daily by two different dietitians, one for the hypertension and one for the diabetes. Their advice wasn't exactly contradictory, but basically what one would allow me the other one wouldn't. I remember pouting that they were putting me on a no-food diet! When I got home, though, I sat myself down and took a hard look at what I had been doing to get myself in this mess, and what I could do to get myself out of it. The scenario of a very long term nursing home situation while I was still in my 40's had been painted for me in lurid detail, and it didn't appeal to me a whole lot.

The first thing I did was think of food as fuel, almost as a scientific formula. I thought about which foods provided which nutrients, especially protein, carbohydrates and fats. I thought about how much I needed when, and what combinations would please me the most. I began writing down what I ate when, how many calories, carbohydrates and sodium grams each had, how much water I drank and how much exercise I did. I measured everything. I really worked hard at learning about food and nutrition and how it all affected me personally. After a while I began to learn enough to be able to cut some corners without harming myself. For instance, the diabetes educator taught me about the plate method of serving up dinner. One-half of the plate was to be devoted to vegetables of some kind. Salad, green beans, whatever I wanted, and lots of it. A fourth of the plate was some sort of protein and a fourth was a carb. I could add a milk or fruit, but I learned it was better to have them at a different time. In other words, eat more often during the day with less at each sitting. And many people have learned that they do better eating off smaller plates. What I did was splurge on veggies, which took the edge off my hunger, and then I found the 1/2 to 1 cup of pasta or potatoes and the 3 oz of meat were more than enough!

Then I learned ways to measure portions more easily. Your measuring device is literally in the palm of your hand! The tip of the thumb is about 1 teaspoon - think butter or mayo. The closed fist is the size of 1 cup. The palm of the hand is the size of a portion of meat, about as thick as the little finger is wide. There are other tips, too. A medium-sized potato is about the same size as a computer mouse, or 1/2 a soda can. A golf ball measures about 1/4 cup. 1 oz of nuts is about 2 full shot glasses. Fill a coffee mug with pretzels - that's about 3/4 oz. One chicken thigh or leg is about 2 oz of meat, while 1/2 of a chicken breast is 3 oz.

You Don't Have to Lose 100 Pounds - Part I

When you hear about someone who has lost 100 pounds, doesn't it just inspire you to do the same? No, me either. It's not that I'm not happy for them. It's that, just like if someone won a million dollars on a game show, gold in the Olympics, or the Nobel Peace Prize, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with me. It's too big and I don't even know where to begin. To me it is much more inspiring to hear of someone who is gradually losing weight and thereby getting healthier. If that is what inspires you too, then I have good news for you. I'm doing it, and I can show you how you can do it too.
First of all, Joslin Diabetes Center has done a study showing that people who lose just 7% of their weight along with a program of moderate-intensity exercise for six months, improved their blood vessel function by 80%! Seven percent is doable. The example they give is a 220lb, 5'5" tall woman losing 16 pounds. I think 7% is an excellent goal to shoot for. When you reach it, you can do another 7%, right? And even if you don't, you have still succeeded in making yourself healthier, along with building true healthy habits that you can probably stick with long term.
Another sticking point for a lot of people is going on a diet. They don't believe they'll be able to keep it up long enough to do any good. The good news and the bad news is that your new eating plan needs to be something you can live with, not something you "do" for a short time. But that's really better news than you may realize. If you know you are developing a new way of dealing with food, you are more apt to take the time to think it through and make choices you'll really like. Because the truth is, food is NOT your enemy! Food is given to us by God to nourish us. Nourishment has connotations of fueling our bodies, sure, but it also has unmistakable connections with comfort as well. It's ok to like food! Liking food will not make you fat. Really enjoying what you do eat will actually make it a lot easier to skip the food you've decided you don't want to eat.