Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Dieting is For Dorks

Yesterday a lot of people were asking what kind of dieting I’m doing. Before I go on and on about this, please realize that I am not advising anyone to do what I’m doing…I’ve heard that it’s dangerous to eat under 1000 calories a day, although I’m obviously not feeling any of those so called dangerous effects.
I weighed myself at 20 days into the diet and have lost 14 pounds.
I'm hoping to lose 60 by February. Why February? I don't know. Just picked something that seemed kind of far away but not too far.

I’m an overeater. I usually eat really healthy foods, just too much of them at a time. I also eat when I’m not hungry and eat things I’m not that fond of to begin with just to put things in my mouth.

I have a strange oral fixation where I literally feel better after I put something in my mouth. I used to chew gum until it screwed up my jaw. Just tonight I went to put Max's half eaten, totally slobbered on chocolate dipped pretzel in my mouth. I stopped myself just short of jamming the damn thing in there.

And before you think I’m just ripping on myself for no reason, I will tell you my weight. It's hard to even write it down. Ugh!

I’m 28 years old 5’3’’ and I weighed 190 pounds before I started dieting 21 days ago. So everyone is congratulating me and all I can think about is the 50 pounds ahead of me!

I weaned Elijah a month ago, so since I’m only eating for me now and not creating giant buckets of breast milk, let’s have at it!

As far as exercising goes, I’m a pretty active person. I clean a lot, play with the kids a lot, we go on walks and ride bikes quite often. I do a yoga/pilates routine after I put Elijah down for his nap around 1p.m.
I’m mainly working on holding poses, doing long smooth movements and contracting different muscle groups.

Max and I do jumping jacks, push up and sit ups after that, but just a brief ten minute thing.

Other than that I try to be active, but I don’t ‘work out’.

My diet is a different thing altogether. I’ve been a vegetarian on and off most of my life…mainly because I just don’t like meat.
I don’t like chicken, I don’t like pork (unless it’s my mom’s yachamay), I rarely eat any red meat and if I do I’m perplexed at why I’m even doing it, considering I don’t like it.

So I don’t eat any meat. However, I do eat eggs (no yolks..yuck) and dairy (but sparingly).

So I made a decision to change the way I eat.
Here’s my intake for today:

Breakfast (I usually eat ½ cup of multigrain cheerios with a splash of skim milk 125 calories):
1 small piece banana peanut butter bread (homemade by me with smart balance peanut butter and applesauce instead of butter) (I have no idea how many calories this is…it was a very small piece)
1 apple (80 calories)

Lunch:
2 cups spinach
Three button mushroom
3 whole small pickled beets
One handful sugar snap peas
Alfalfa sprouts
1 tbs newman’s ginger soy dressing ( 35 calories for 2 tbs…I thought I’d use 1 to be safe)
3 salt and vinegar soy crisps
(all the veggies add up to about 80 calories 15 for the dressing and the crisps are 100 calories for 17 crisps…so lets not even count them, who wants to do math right now?)

Snacky Poo:
Four Pecans
Four cashews
8 peanuts
2 macadamia nuts
(it says that 1/3 cup is 140 calories…so I’m guessing this was 100 calories)

Dinner (the second week of dieting I made a giant pot of cabbage soup and had 1 ½ cups of that for dinner for five nights…I added stuff to it over the week to change it up):
Brussel Sprouts
Mushrooms
Sprouts
Black beans (just a couple)
½ tbs of olive oil
Tons of spices
A splash of worsteshire sauce
(here I’m also guessing the total calories to be 200)
(45 for the brussel sprouts 50 for the beans 50 for the olive oil…50 for the mushrooms and sprouts?)

Dessert:
I’m not there yet, but I’m going to have about 10 oz. of gingerale. I think drinking fills you up more than snacking…for less calories. I usually add a half a lemon wedge. This drinking of gingerale thing seems like an extravagance to me, but I stay up pretty late and it’s hard not to snack while Jeremiah’s eating chips or triscuits every night)
(150 calories)

During the Day I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee with a splash of skim milk. So I’m guessing total 100 calories for the milk?

Total Calories: 830

Now I imagine total I burned 200 calories. One short aerobic workout, yoga, two short bike rides (once with Max in the kid’s seat, once with Elijah) and one long walk with all four kids.

So Calories for today 630. According to some online resources this isn’t healthy…but I feel freaking awesome.
I love being in control of what I eat and making the portions pretty and petite. I like being healthy and I really like being different.

I made excuses in the past like, ‘I don’t want to make myself a separate dinner‘, etc…etc…but I really enjoy preparing myself alternative dinners. The saute I came up with tonight was excellent.

So to curb cravings I do these things:
Add ½ ounce of cheese to my salad or soup. (cut a block of cheese into 8 pieces, those are 1 oz. pieces)
Eat dill pickles.
Make cold green tea with lots of lemon. Just the time it takes to make it curbs the cravings enough that I’m satisfied with the tea.
Eat green peppers. They make you feel a little bloated after awhile…then you’re not hungry!

These are the times I failed miserably in the past three weeks:

Jeremiah, Elijah and I went to a Mexican joint. I ate two enchiladas, one spinach, one mushroom. That’s not so bad but they ladle this cheese sauce over EVERYTHING. I also had a dollop of sour cream with it. I was sooo sick afterwards.

I had pizza at Elijah’s birthday party.

Elijah and I shared a small bowl of chocolate ice cream.

It’s been super hard and there’s been a few times where I’ve been down in the dumps (I think it may have been a lack of iron in my diet, so I added some beans to my dinners), but it’s been worth it so far.

I’m hoping to lose enough weight where I’m not embarrassed to be around people at the holidays. I’m hoping I can get to the point where I don’t eat when I’m not hungry, where I make healthy decisions and most importantly where I feel like I'm hot, so I can stop being the touchy silly self conscious fool I've been lately (sorry Jeremiah).

That’s it. If you want to talk about being fat or dieting or getting tips whatever, don’t hesitate to email me. I'm a prompt responder.

18 comments:

Pop and Ice said...

I've never dieted, but I know I need to change my eating habits for my health and weight. You are inspiring - but I fear you may be depriving yourself so much that it may backfire. I wish you the best of luck in attaining your goals.

Mr. Condescending said...

Freaking awesome erin!

I know when I eat healthy I always have more pleasant experiences in the bathroom.

John Pender said...

I switched from eating three 2,000+ calorie meals a day to just munching on stuff all day long, mainly fruit, and now consume less than 2,000 calories in a whole day. Lost fifty pounds over the past four months.

Ms. Moon said...

I think you are not getting enough variety here and not enough protein. Or dairy. And I think you are not eating enough calories. I used to (years ago, not now) work for Weight Watchers and I have seen people slow down their metabolisms to nothing by NOT EATING ENOUGH. Yes. It's not only possible- it happens.
Why don't you go to a few WW meetings or check them out online? Their program is very healthy, very sensible, and allows for very personal dietary choices. You do eat real food and learn to make the choices you need to make in real life forever.
This is my suggestion because I don't think you need to reinvent the wheel here and I think you are being stricter than you need to be.

kara said...

that menu scares me. you are aware you are not a minified bunny-type animal thing, right?

Petit fleur said...

Can't remember where I heard this, or what the reasoning is but... that eating on or two walnuts before a meal will help curb your appetite. I am an over eater also. I eat pretty good foods (mostly) just too much.

I have not tried this yet, but been meaning to. There is a logical explanation why it is supposed to work, I just can't remember it.

In any case... Go dorks GO!!!

Mwa said...

I'm finding it really hard not to eat when I'm bored or unhappy as well. I try to substitute all the food I want but don't need with mugs of tea. I realised recently that I grew up equating eating with being good, and with being happy. It's hard to start seeing it as taking in fuel instead. I'm getting better, though.

I do try to avoid crash dieting, as so far that has always resulted in weight gain in the long run for me. I'm trying to let my lifestyle be what I want it to be, thinking my weight will follow. It is following, slowly, but I'm more hopeful of keeping it off this time.

Miss Yvonne said...

Wow, you have a lot of self-control! And girl, I can't believe you put your weight on your blog. Go you!!

Alyson said...

The more I read, the more horrified I became. I have no idea what some of that stuff is you're eating and I'm guessing I don't want to find out. If pickled beets or alfalfa sprouts ever made it to our table, there would be mutiny.

Having said all that, I'm glad you're working to make yourself healthier.

erin said...

Pops: I never dieted before, the weight after having babies just slowly came off for me and I didn't fret about it, until this time when I only lost 10 pounds after elijah's birth.

Mr: Thanks. I'm going to pretend we're not talking about pooping here.

John: If I had to guess I was probably eating over 2000 calories a day before. I'm just doing the extreme now to try and get to a more fitness healthy weight and then maybe I'll alter the plan.

Ms. Moon: You sound like my momma. The problem with eating too much at any time is that I just go nuts and over eat. So I'm trying to control that overeating by not overeating anything ever. I'm not using the WW plan mainly cause I'm a rebel.
My mom did WW and lost 50 pounds when I was pregnant with Max. Thanks for the thoughtful insights. They're much appreciated.

Kara: Oh my God! I would be the cutest little minified bunny thing ever!

Petit: I use nuts in my diet for a snack or to replace a meal if I'm not able to prepare something. But I worry about the amount of calories in them! And thank you!

Mwa: I'm hoping that I can get to a weight where I'm less unhappy with this very strict diet, and then I can modify it from there. Maybe add some fish with dinner or a bigger lunch. Going slow is good, that's the way I always did it before!

Miss Yvonne: I can't believe I did either. I was going to take pics of myself in a bathing suit once a month and changed my mind. Which is good for all of you.

OWO: I've been eating all that crap since I was a little kid...but after we realized what we were missing there were a few cases of mutiny. I think it was after my cousins took us to Burger King. I didn't eat much there, but the Burger King Crown was just kick ass.

MJenks said...

You're better than I am.

I tried again at the beginning of last week. However, when I get depressed, I eat.

Since things have coming up anything but roses lately, I've been shoveling all sorts of crap down my gullet. And it's been rainy around lunchtime, so I can't do my lunch walk.

Hopefully I get back on track again. The weather's supposed to clear.

Anyway, congratulations and keep up the good work.

J. said...

good for you taking things into control. I think that's great.

My husband is dieting too, he tried some of those meal replacement shakes. He says they were pretty tasty, and if you get the right ones they have all the added supplements so you don't have to worry too much about iron intake, etc.

He also has been using ultrameal for breakfast. The kind he uses is chocolate/banana, and has high protein. It doesn't mix well, pretty grainy, but works well to boost his metabolism in the mornings.

Good luck, and way to go with picking when you want to have lost the weight. I think that's smart. don't forget to congratulate yourself, its an accomplishment to loose weight, give yourself a few rewards.

Steam Me Up, Kid said...

One day of sugar withdrawal down, two to go. You totally inspired me. I even made myself a sticker chart. For real, I did. A scratch and sniff rewards chart. I'm 5.

BrightenedBoy said...

Wow, congratulations on losing that weight!

I'm trying to be healthier myself.

BrightenedBoy said...

P.S.

I am a mega over-eater. If I didn't stop myself, I'd just keep on going.

I have one day a week where I eat whatever I want, and boy do I look forward to it.

Madame DeFarge said...

I think that I've just given up trying to lose weight after being tied to the idea for over 30 years. It actually feels rather liberating, if slightly tight around the waist.

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Best of luck on the diet thingy. (You look fabulous the way you are though.)

Jay Ferris said...

I would never harp on someone for their food choices, unless of course they label any of their meals with the word "Poo" in it.