Plateau

I am at a very plateaued place, and I am in roller coaster mode. Of course, I only have 5 to 10 pounds to reach the first final goal I set, but I have decided I would like to drop that goal by another 10 pounds just to see if I can do it.

I went through almost three weeks of up and down weight, and let me tell you, that gets very frustrating.

My daughter gave me a couple of ideas, and I think I am going to use the one where I add 100 calories to my current calorie count.  I have been trying to stay between 1100 and 1200, but I think I am going to allow myself, for the next week to reach 1200 to 1250 each day, and then I will drop that by 100 and see if it makes a difference.  She also mentioned varying what I am eating, but I really enjoy my salads at lunchtime, and I can actually eat more in a salad then if I have eggs, bacon, and toast, even though with those three items, I would be eating fewer calories; of course, I need to add the butter for the toast and frying the eggs, but still, food-wise, it is less food I am eating.  I will see if upping the calories for a week and then lowering them will help bring me off of this plateau.

So, it has been about a week of adding the calories, and I actually added almost 200 calories to my diet.  I am ranging between 1300 and 1400 calories per day, and guess what - it has worked.  I have finally begun to drop some weight again.  I will probably stay at this calorie target for a few more weeks and see if I still continue to lose a few pounds or ounces here and there.

I guess my daughter was correct when she said that your body can decide that you are starving it, and then your body retaliates by retaining weight to fight off starvation.  My goal was never to starve myself, but sometimes, I forget that my body knows better than what my mind is thinking.  Who knew you could lose weight by eating more.  Of course, not too much more because then I would really begin to gain again, and weight gain is not my goal.

Give Up Nothing

This refers to much more than just quitting because you do not think you can continue.  No, this is about the food itself, and then on yourself.

Give up nothing that you enjoy, or better yet, Give up Nothing That You Love; yes, I am talking about food.  Instead of giving up on food that you enjoy, either cut the serving in half or eat only what a serving is because if you force yourself to give it up, then you will get frustrated and see it only as something you are losing out on.

For instance, I love chocolate and did not want to give it up, so what I did was to look at serving sizes, the number of calories in the serving, and then decided what I could and could not live with.  I made changes.  I have gone to eating Peppermint Patties, the mini ones, and Unwrapped Mint 3 Musketeers that are also mini bites.  Each of these alternatives are only 15 calories per piece.  Could I live with that?  Yes, I could, and I do.  Do I eat only one?  Heck no, I have anywhere from two to four, sometimes five, depending on what I really want and if I have the calories for the number of pieces I plan on taking.  I titled this post “Give Up Nothing” because it really is about not giving up those things that you really enjoy eating.

What else have I not given up?  Eating out, but I am careful where I choose to eat out at.  Living in a small town, we have very few choices, and that does help.  I still eat at subway; you can always find something low in calories to eat at subway, and Pizza Hut, but my family has gone to eating the personal pan pizzas rather than buying medium and large pizzas.  If you have less to tempt you, then you will not feel like you have to eat more; besides, we never could eat an entire large pizza and always threw some of it away.  Of course, the other factor in that is that I cannot eat the red sauce because it makes me sick, but I can eat the white sauce and the BBQ, both of which I really enjoy.  The rest of the family enjoys the red sauce.

The other places around us are Sonic and Wendy's, and I never liked Wendy's food.  Sonic, on the other hand, well, have you looked at their nutritional menu?  Their hamburgers, although very good, are astronomically high in calories.  I can make a hamburger at home with almost 1/4 the calories, and much healthier for me.  In my house, we have gone to buying 90/10 lean ground sirloin; yes, it is more expensive, but we also do not eat beef that often.  We now eat more pork, chicken, turkey, and fish.  All much better choices for us and also leaner with less calories.  It is a wonder what you can do with those meats when you start looking for recipes on the internet.

So, as I said, do not give up what you really enjoy.  Look at what the choices are in that food group, and choose wisely and with your health in mind.  Calories count, but so does enjoying what you are eating.  You be in control of what you choose.

So, What Do You Eat?

So, what can you eat, and how have I changed what I eat?  This is a very good question to consider when deciding you really want to lose weight and that you want to make a lifestyle change.  At first, I did not think about the foods I regularly ate, but as I began losing weight, I started looking at packaging information and especially the number of calories in what I was eating.  That change in itself was eye opening for I was surprised at how many calories were in some of the food I generally ate.

Take bread, for instance; we generally bought Iron Kids white bread, and for two pieces of bread it is 140 calories.  Okay, so I decided to make open face sandwiches for lunch and that cut the calories in half.  Then, Oscar Meyer Turkey Bologna was 50 calories per slice, but who uses only 1 slice, and Miracle Whip was 40 calories for 1 tablespoon.  Lettuce was a minimal 8 calories for one cup, but who puts a whole cup of lettuce on a sandwich.  Finally, we have the cheese, and depending on what cheese you use makes a huge difference.  Kraft regular slices of cheese are 70 calories a slice, Sargento Provolone is also 70 calories.  Now, if you add chips to your lunch, you are now adding anywhere from 140 to 160 calories for 11 to 13 chips or a 1-ounce serving.  If you also add a pop, 12 oz. size, you are now adding another 140 to 160 calories depending on which one you choose.  Altogether, your lunch 658 calories if you use two pieces of bread or 588 if you make an open faced sandwich (I averaged the chips and pop to 150 calories each).  I forgot to add a small dessert, but depending on what you like, you could add anywhere from 120 to 320 more calories, and if you add fruit or cottage cheese to your lunch, then you are adding 60 to 120 calories more.  That could bring you up to 773 calories if you stay on the low side of the fruit/cottage cheese and dessert.  Even yogurt can run you up to 100 to 150 calories.

Now, I found some changes to make in what I included in my lunch.  First, I found that Sara Lee makes a delicious bread that runs only 45 calories per slice.  It is called Sara Lee Delight, they also have hot dog and hamburger buns that run 80 calories per each.  In addition, Kraft, Bordens, and Sargento make cheeses using 2% milk which reduces the number of calories in them; each slice is about 40 to 50 calories, and Kraft also makes a Sharp Cheddar cheese using skim milk, which reduces a slice of cheese to 25 calories (allowing you two slices if you really want them).  Also, Miracle Whip light has only 20 calories per tbsp.  Then, I found Great Value 97% Fat-Free Smoked Ham at Walmart that has 30 calories per slice.  Once I make an open-faced sandwich using those ingredients plus lettuce (and yes, I use 2 slices of meat but only 1 slice of cheese), my sandwich is now only 158 calories compared to the 288 of the previous sandwich.  I do not drink pop, I have never liked the taste since I quit smoking umpteen years ago, so I drink mostly water; once in a while I'll have 2 to 4 ounces of cream soda, about the only pop I like anymore.  I avoid the chips as much as possible - I can live without them most of the time, but if I really want a chip type of food, I have found Special K Cheddar Cracker Chips a good substitute, and I can have 25 chips for 120 calories; sometimes I will have only half that number depending on what I decide to have later in the day.  So, even if I add the total number of chips and the cream soda at 4 ounces, I would still only have 335 calories compared to the 588 or 773 of the above lunch.  I save fruits for a middle day snack, and I don't like the taste of cottage cheese so I never eat that.  Now cucumbers I have found make an enjoyable snack or alternative to having chips with my lunch.  A good sized cucumber can have up to 38 or 40 calories - what a difference compared to the 120 of some types of chips.

Now, my greatest weakness is chocolate, and that is one food I have not deleted from my diet.  I choose my chocolate carefully, however, and have looked at numerous alternatives.  During the summer, one of my choices is Arctic Fudge Bars from Dillons - Kroger - they only have 100 calories per bar.  The low-calorie one has only 80 but I think the taste is rather flat, so I choose the higher calorie ones.  In addition, York makes a mini unwrapped Peppermint Patty that is only 15 calories per piece, and the Unwrapped Mint Three Musketeers is only 16 calories.  In addition, if you can find the correct ones, the Tootsie Roll Mini-Midgees are only 11 calories per pieces.  It all depends on what you choose and how much you choose to eat of it.

So here is a list of some of the things we have chosen to add to our food list, or have altered to fit our food calories better.

Kraft Skim Milk Sharp Cheddar slices = 25 calories per slice
Borden Fat-Free Sharl Cheddar slices = 30 calories per slice
Laughing Cow Wedges = 35 calories per wedge
Sargento Reduced Fat Provolone slices = 50 calories per slice
Crystal Farms Light String Cheese = 50 calories per piece
Special K Cracker Chips = 1 oz. 120 calories
Ballpark Smoked White Turkey Franks = 45 calories per link
Great Value 97% Fat-Free Smoked Ham = 30 calorie per slice
Sara Lee Delightful Healthy Multi-grain Bread = 45 calories per slice
Sara Lee Delightful Wheat Hamburger Buns = 80 calories per bun
Rhonda's Swai Fillets (fish) = 4 oz. is 70 calories
Cod (Kroger Frozen Pacific) = 6 oz. is 120 calories
Pollock Fillets Wild Caught (Walmart) = 6 oz. is 90 calories (raw)
   When it say raw, it means you weigh it before you cook it.
Pork Loin Boneless = 1 oz. 40 calories (4 oz. is 160 calories)

We also choose chicken and turkey over beef because beef has more calories, and when we want hamburger meat, we buy 90/10 ground sirloin instead of regular ground beef.

Again, chocolate is a favorite of mine, so I check the package for calories, and I choose bags with smaller pieces so I can eat fewer of them.  Cookies are the same, I look at the package if I really want cookies.  I also look at the size per piece so I can choose smaller amounts.  With the Special K Cracker Chips and other chip or cracker choices, I will usually on have half of a serving.

Following this lifestyle (notice that I do not call it a diet or a plan) does take perseverance, determination, and desire.  You have to want to do this, and you should focus on doing it for yourself.  If you do not do it for you, you will find it harder to remain with it.

So, here is a picture of me two, maybe three, weeks ago, and since then I have lost at least 2 more pounds.

So, has my effort been worth the time I have put into this new lifestyle?