I started this journey into better eating even before I started trying to lose weight. I went on a campaign against High Fructose Corn Syrup and Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil. I did this for health reasons but I also had the secret hope that by altering my diet I would magically lose weight while eating whatever I wanted.
For a year I (mostly) avoided these two items, opting for real sugar items and far more fresh food. I ate more fruits and vegetables and my food was tasty, yet I didn't shed a single pound.
(Break for Housekeeping)
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Chagrin. Yep, I was still gaining weight on my new, healthier diet. I looked at common weight loss programs, but I just couldn't get into any of them. Blood type diets, Adkins, they just seemed counter-intuitive and gimmicky. The buy your food programs seems expensive and the food didn't look very appetizing. So, I broke it down to the common denominator, calories. Math tells me that if I eat less calories than I burn, my body will be forced to use up some of this padding to keep me going.
I started by analyzing what I ate on my current "healthy" diet. Let me give you an example of my favorite dish, my veggie cheese ommelette. I would put about 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet (480 calories) and add three cloves of chopped garlic (20 calories give or take) then I would put in onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms (probably about 50 calories worth). I added a handful of potatoes (80 calories) and sauteed them all up nicely. Then I added three eggs (210 calories) and topped it all off with cheddar cheese (160 calories). In one meal, not including drink, I was eating 1,000 calories! Maintenance caloric intake at my height, weight, and activity level is about 1700 calories, no wonder I was gaining weight!
Once I started eating 1200 calories per day, I started looking for substitutes and alternative cooking methods I could live with. For example, I still make the above dish, but I cut the olive oil down to 1 tablespoon, the eggs to two, left out the potatoes, and cut the cheese in half. It is still yummy goodness, but I have cut the calories down by over half.
Granted, this won't work for everyone and it take a certain type of person to be happy toting up the numbers every day. I have found that after three or four months, I can keep a running total in my head and it forces me to make eating decisions...do I have that piece of chocolate and give up my yogurt later today? Do I drink my tea with honey or do I have a boiled egg? Everything is a trade off, but nothing is completely verbotten.
Now that I am approaching my goal, I am both elated and nervous. Can I conquer those last five pounds and once I get to my goal, can I maintain my weight over the long run? I am worried that maintenance, having no end in sight might actually be harder than my journey from size 16 down to size 12.
Open thread and discussion is encouraged!