In which I think about losing weight...
Jan. 7th, 2004 11:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jcfialaIt's really amusing at times to go over how much my body has changed with the ninety pounds I've lost. The changes to my wardrobe (a belt is required to use any pants more than a month old, or they relocate to my ankles), to my health (no more back aches, no more stomach problems), and to my looks (my knees are skinny!).
What's also interesting are some of the things I've learned. For those of you not on it, the Weight Watchers plan basically comes down to three tenets, which I will recite in a joking way:
1) Eat less,
2) Drink a lot of liquids,
3) And it wouldn't hurt if you'ld get up off your ass and exercise.
The fact that these three are also what doctors often tell you really shows why WW has stayed around for so long - it's not a fad at all, but a real way to change your life.
Some other hints to help out with:
1) Don't just grab for the 'low fat' items on the shelves. For one thing, often a 'low-fat' item makes up for the lack of fat by adding more sugar - compare! Is it worthwhile to lose 4g of fat if you're adding 100 calories? And sometimes the differences between low-fat and regular are so small that you might as well take the regular. Now that we're drinking coffee a lot, my wife and I first tried the non-fat creamer... but I soon noticed that the normal creamer was 1.5 g of fat and maybe 10 calories more. So we use the normal creamer.
2) There are a lot of snacks out there that taste pretty close to what you usually snack on, but are a lot better for you... or at least a lot less bad for you. For instance, there are a surprising number of granola bars which are fairly low in calories and fat, and taste good. A lot of the kudo chocolate-covered granola bars are only 2 points, and the Snickers and M&M flavored ones substitute nicely for a candy bar. The mini-rice cakes that Reddenbocher makes with the cheese flavors are much lower in calories and fat than cheetos, but taste very much like them. Take some time and just wander through the supermarket and try some things out.
3) If you don't like something you've gotten, then don't finish it. You're only allowing yourself so many calories (or points) per day - no reason to waste them on something you're not enjoying it.
4) If you're living alone, you've probably got a habit of going out to eat a lot. A good number of the Lean Cuisine meals are good tasting, and are low in points. If you've looked at the little entrees and decided they're not big enough to fill you, take another look - there's a small number of dinner-sized meals they make. They've generally got the same amount of calories and the like as the small ones, but they're bigger by adding a side-dish of veggies. They're usually quite filling.
Later on, I'll talk more about this - either exercise(which I will continue to mis-spell) or water intake.
What's also interesting are some of the things I've learned. For those of you not on it, the Weight Watchers plan basically comes down to three tenets, which I will recite in a joking way:
1) Eat less,
2) Drink a lot of liquids,
3) And it wouldn't hurt if you'ld get up off your ass and exercise.
The fact that these three are also what doctors often tell you really shows why WW has stayed around for so long - it's not a fad at all, but a real way to change your life.
Some other hints to help out with:
1) Don't just grab for the 'low fat' items on the shelves. For one thing, often a 'low-fat' item makes up for the lack of fat by adding more sugar - compare! Is it worthwhile to lose 4g of fat if you're adding 100 calories? And sometimes the differences between low-fat and regular are so small that you might as well take the regular. Now that we're drinking coffee a lot, my wife and I first tried the non-fat creamer... but I soon noticed that the normal creamer was 1.5 g of fat and maybe 10 calories more. So we use the normal creamer.
2) There are a lot of snacks out there that taste pretty close to what you usually snack on, but are a lot better for you... or at least a lot less bad for you. For instance, there are a surprising number of granola bars which are fairly low in calories and fat, and taste good. A lot of the kudo chocolate-covered granola bars are only 2 points, and the Snickers and M&M flavored ones substitute nicely for a candy bar. The mini-rice cakes that Reddenbocher makes with the cheese flavors are much lower in calories and fat than cheetos, but taste very much like them. Take some time and just wander through the supermarket and try some things out.
3) If you don't like something you've gotten, then don't finish it. You're only allowing yourself so many calories (or points) per day - no reason to waste them on something you're not enjoying it.
4) If you're living alone, you've probably got a habit of going out to eat a lot. A good number of the Lean Cuisine meals are good tasting, and are low in points. If you've looked at the little entrees and decided they're not big enough to fill you, take another look - there's a small number of dinner-sized meals they make. They've generally got the same amount of calories and the like as the small ones, but they're bigger by adding a side-dish of veggies. They're usually quite filling.
Later on, I'll talk more about this - either exercise(which I will continue to mis-spell) or water intake.
