Recently I told you about my challenge to take 30% of my weight off. I have found that what works best for me is to transition in slowly. Therefore, since that time I have:
- Stopped eating fast food completely.
- Given up caffeine and especially Coca Cola.
- Began eating Gluten Free (this isn’t a weight issue, it’s a digestive one.)
It’s been slow going and I’ve been frustrated with myself that I am not doing more. I have been told that it takes 21 days to form a habit and I’ve thought that it was best to establish some good habits before diving in to make them even better.
I was also recently selected to participate and utilize the 80Bites diet plan.
From the 80Bites website:
When you eat too much food (whether it’s carrots or cookies), your stomach stretches. A stretched stomach requires more food to feel full, resulting in more overeating.
The bottom line: once the body is out of balance, it fights and resists your good efforts. The old diet formula actually works against your body’s chemistry. But if the system is normalized, your body will naturally shed those extra pounds
80Bites offers a new solution: with work with your digestive hormones to create lasting weight loss.The program is based on the way people ate before dieting became an obsession. By working with your body rather than against it, you’ll repair your broken digestive system in just 3 months.
80Bites is a 12 week plan that is separated into 4 themes. Those themes are Quantity, Frequency, Quality and Balance. This week I am focusing on quantity. I have found two things to be true about my eating habits. One is not a surprise, the other is more of an enlightenment.
1. I eat way too much! DUH right? I am overweight to the tune of about 75lbs, clearly I over eat. I try to make healthy eating choices but even when I do that, I eat too much.
2. I am not a conscious eater. By that I mean that I just dump food on my plate, sit down in front of the tv (unless the kids are here, then I try to eat with them at the table) and eat. I usually finish what is on my plate regardless of what my body is telling me. I also snack, a lot. And when I do this, I’m not paying attention. I just eat. I was watching tv the other night and having rice chips with hummus. I wasn’t paying attention and before I knew it, the entire bag of (it’s not a huge bag, mind you but more than 1 serving) was gone.
I am working on being more conscious about what I choose and in the past two days, I have been doing a much better job.
Recently, (as in last night) I decided that I wanted to add something to my leap list (which will be published on 2/29). I have decided that I want to run a 5K before I am 40. That gives me 2 1/2 years to get this fat, lazy, obese body up off the couch and into the freakishly weird world of runners. I once said (as in last month) that I would never run unless I was running towards someone or running away from someone but I’m finding myself now wonder if I can do it.
With that in mind, I woke up this morning and hit the door running, sorta. I utilized the gym at my apartment complex (small but adequate for my needs) for the first time. I wanted to walk for 30 minutes, which I did but I also added in a minute of running. It’s not a lot, I know but I have to start somewhere, right?
I don’t know if I’ll ever actually run a 5K, seems ridiculous for me to do it but even if I work at it until I’m 40 but can’t finish, I still win!
What have you done today that takes care of your body?
PS. I weighed myself. While you don’t get the actual number, I was grossed out
I also blog at A Five Star Life. I write about anything that comes to mind but try to focus on finding the good in daily life.
I’ll tell you my number if you tell me yours.
Heather(Quote)
Good job in setting a 5K goal!! You can totally do it! I started a running goal when I was 20 years old and 50 pounds overweight. It took me a while of walking and biking to get in shape enough to attempt running, but I loved it when I started and haven’t looked back since. You’re making excellent progress if you’ve already ran for one minute — you can definitely run a 5K by the time you’re 30!
Christa(Quote)
HAahahahha did I say 30?? Yea I’m 37. I meant 40. Clearly I’m loosing my mental capacity already.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
If you’re on the large side, walking might be more suitable. High-impact with a lot of weight on top can be hell on the knees and ankles. Long walks (long!) while listening to PF podcasts will be just as effective as running, in the long term.
101 Centavos(Quote)
Yup I already have arthritis forming in a knee. I probably should get checked out by a doctor before I really get serious about running.
Guess I need to find some podcasts to listen to on my phone while I’m exercising.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
I’ve done absolutely nothing good for my body this week, sucking at it lately and I’ve gained weight. Hmm.
Andrea(Quote)
It sounds like a triathalon right now. But I hope that in 2 1/2 years I’ll be saying “I can’t believe I was so out of shape.”
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Twitter:
on February 23, 2012 at 12:30 am
I actually have a friend who has a Mindful Eating group.They focus on conscious eating and conscious shopping. If you’re interested, I’d happily provide an intro!
Andi @ MealPlanRescue(Quote)
I would love to talk with her about it. Please forward my email on to her debtprincess at gmail dot com
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Twitter:
on February 23, 2012 at 6:41 am
I think it’s awesome that you set a goal for yourself. I’ve found it helpful in the past to write down my goals, and post them somewhere that you will see them all the time. It might also be helpful to promise yourself a reward if you hit that goal. I think 101 had some good advice, as walking could be more beneficial than running. Plenty of people walk 5k’s!
Matt @ RamblingFever Money recently posted..
Matt @ RamblingFever Money(Quote)
I did hear my knee cracking when I was walking yesterday It’s been happening more and more in recent months. Growing old is shit man.
I’m going to post my goals on my closet door so when I am getting dressing in the morning I can remember them. I also have them posted in my day planner and my Life Binder (it holds my life inside)
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
My wife said the same thing about the 5k, and she did the Couch to 5k Program and has run 2 or 3.
I started a gluten free diet 23 days ago, not for weight loss but for health. I have lost weight from it and I would guess that almost everyone would lose weight from it. The diet is actually called the Slow Carb Diet and I avoid grain, fruit, fruit juice, dairy and any dairy product (cheese). Even on my weekly allowed cheat day, I avoid grain (which isn’t a requirement of the diet).
It hasn’t been easy, but I concur with the 21 day habit guideline.
John | Married (with Debt)(Quote)
I’m going to work at this for awhile before I start C25K.
And with the diet, I can’t have a cheat day. Eating gluten for me is not good on my digestive system. I’ll let you surmise why but if I eat gluten, I’m almost immediately assaulted with “issues.”
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
I can definitely relate to the whole not-being-a-conscious-eater thing. But I’ve had a lot of success using sparkpeople.com to track my food. You can use their whole diet system, which is free, that gives you targeted calorie ranges and such. I don’t get that into it but I use their nutrition tracker feature to see how much I am really eating. What an eye opener!! Sometimes just having a visual of the hard, cold numbers helps put those eye-balled portions in perspective.
Best of luck with your weight loss!
Spence(Quote)