Food and Weight loss

I think that the biggest change in my life in recent years has been my weight loss.  In all honesty, it’s probably even bigger than the breast cancer, because it’s now a constant part of my life and has necessitated the most lifestyle changes.  Losing the weight has meant completely changing the way that I approach food.

Right now I still focus on counting calories.  Maybe someday I’ll be able to get away from that, but for right now it is what works.  Now keep in mind, I don’t count them obsessively, and I also don’t fret about counting them if we’re at a party or something.

For me food currently falls into 4 categories: eat a lot of, okay in moderation, good for an occasional splurge, not worth it.

Things like vegetables fall into the eat a lot of category – though not all veg.  I do tend to eat a lot of veggies and the key to remember with them is to limit the butter and oil.  A cup of broccoli that’s been steamed is going to be a lot different than a cup of broccoli that was sautéed in butter.  These are also the foods that I reach for the most throughout the day.  They form the basis of my meals, and are what I reach for as a snack.  Low calorie rice cakes and popcorn are also in this category.  As are seaweed snacks.

Foods that I tend to eat, but watch how much I eat, are things like starches and meats and some sweets.  One of the decisions that I made early on was that I wasn’t going to cut out any food group.  I don’t eat a lot of carbs, but I eat carbs.  I eat meat or fish every day.  I also have cheese and ice cream.  The key is moderation and choosing the best of something.  Take steak for example.  If I want steak (and hey, it’s what’s for dinner tonight), I choose sirloin as it is leaner and still really darn tasty, and I make sure to have a small piece – 5 or 6 ounces.  I will have ice cream a couple of nights a week as a snack, but I make sure to get good quality ice cream (or frozen yogurt) and only have a scoop.

Then there are the foods that are good for an occasional splurge.  There is a local chain of donut shops that make the most incredible decadent donuts.  This is not something that I’m going to eat on a regular basis, but I did have two for my birthday J 

Finally the foods that are just not worth it.  This is going to be different for everyone.  For me, the first thing that pops into mind is pizza – greasy, take-out pizza, that is comforting while you eat it, but makes you feel so yucky afterwards.  Now don’t get me wrong, good quality pizza, is a worthwhile splurge, but it has to be really good.  A fast food hamburger wouldn’t be worth it for me, but a burger at an amazing burger restaurant would be.

How do you look at food?  Do you count calories, avoid certain foods?  Let me know in the comments below.

Weight loss - Almost to the Finish Line

At the beginning of 2015 I decided to work on trying to lose weight.  At that point I was wearing a size 16, and they were starting to get a little snug.  My goal was to get to a size 8 by September 2015.  Well, I made the original goal and then kept right on going.  I’ve currently lost about 75 pounds and now wear either a 0 or a 2 in clothes.  The cancer treatments did slow my progress down a bit, but all in all, didn’t affect it too much.

There wasn’t any kind of magical pill, or special diet plan, it was hard work and a major lifestyle change.  I’ve had to relearn how to eat, what foods are good for me, and what foods I need to either avoid, or to have only in moderation.  Basically, I count calories.  I base my decisions on what I’m going to eat by how many calories something has.  And let me tell you, when I was starting out, I was really surprised by some of the foods that were high in calories.  I also have a Garmin VivoFit that I wear all of the time.  It keeps track of my activity level and I can “earn” extra calories with it.  Right now I net between 1200 and 1280 calories a day.

A couple of things that I’ve learned through this journey

• Rice is really high in calories
• Have a plan in place for when the munchies strike
• Baby carrots fill you up, without a lot of calories (just make sure to skip the dip)
• While I can wear clothes a size too big, once they are two sizes too big they don’t look so good J
• You can’t exercise your way to losing weight – you have to change your eating habits
• Once you hit your final weight you can’t go back to eating the way you used to or you will gain it back.
• Make sure to provide room in your daily calories for fun stuff like cookies.

I am just about done with the weight-loss and will be transitioning to maintenance, probably during fall.  That’s going to be a whole different adventure and learning curve.