(The reason for the photo of Woody will be evident as you read down)
I’m calling what I’m doing a lifestyle change, not a diet. I won’t stick to a diet most likely, and just the term ‘diet’ makes me think of a temporary thing that, once I’m where I want to be, I can go back to eating whatever I want.
Won’t work. I already know that. So why use semantics to get around this? Partly because semantics actually do mean something. Semantics can give positive or negative connotations to things. Understood definitions of terms can imply things. "Lifestyle change" allows me to keep telling myself this isn’t temporary and that I won’t be doing what I did before. "Diet" says, "Lose weight you fat pig, then you can eat again!"
Before I get into my progress, which will be fairly quick, I’ve got an update on my dog, Woody. He’s been on phenobarbital for over a week now, and he’s kind of loopy from it, but daily getting more stable in his walking, and his personality is able to show through more and more. I was really afraid last week that I was going to lose him, but now I have hope that he’ll make it to his 15th birthday, and, hopefully, well beyond. The more his personality continues to come out, the better I feel.
Part of why I’m doing well on my lifestyle change is that I’m getting some exercise each day. I’m not on the elliptical yet, but I’ve been carrying Woody up and down steps several times a day… Don’t tell me that’s not exercise! Fortunately, he’s very easy going and doesn’t squirm around.
So anyway, my progress: I weighed myself today, and I lost 3 more pounds this week, for a total so far of 5 in 2 weeks. I really don’t care a lot about the actual weight, but I have noticed that I’ve moved up a notch on my belt and that my pants are fitting a bit looser.
Maybe even better than the results are that I’ve noticed a change in my eating. Last week, after eating the right amounts of food, I was still really hungry, and I could have continued to eat. This week, I’m noticing that I’m satisfied with what I’ve eaten, and I even have a hard time getting all my snacks in now and then.
One thing that I think makes this a bit easier is that I don’t drink pop. Soda, pop, whatever you want to call it… I used to drink several Mt. Dews a day. That’s 440 calories for 4 of them. Times five days at work, plus, let’s say, 4 more on the weekend. That makes it 2620 calories in a week, for pop! That’s also 137.280 calories a year, which equates to a potential gain of over 39 pounds in a year, if all other eating and exercise is the same! I wanted to see if I could go a month without drinking pop, and I did. In fact, I did this in May of 2004, and I haven’t drunk more than a small drink of pop since then. I’ve tried it, but found that it just tastes like sugar water to me, and I don’t care for it at all! Here’s a challenge to those of you that are pop fiends out there… Set a goal of 4 weeks of not drinking any pop – not just a substitution with another type – no pop at all. Then try your favorite pop. Email me and let me know if you decide to stop drinking it altogether or not. I have a friend that can do that with Pepsi, but when the month is over, he’s as addicted as always.
Another thing I realized was that I was picking up breakfast at the gas station almost every morning. Not only does it get expensive, but I looked at what i was getting, thinking none of it was too too bad. A Little Debbie’s oatmeal pie is 310 calories, and a Rice Krispie treat is also 310 calories. If I had a Slim Jim, which I LOVE, that’s probably another 150 calories, most of which are from fat. So, just for breakfast, I was looking at about 770 calories. That doesn’t sound bad, but let’s look at a trip to Skyline Chili for lunch: a 3-way chili is 770 calories (400 from fat), and a coney on the side adds another 340 calories (200 from fat), for a total of 1110. So in just 2 meals, I could easily be at around 1900 calories already. Add a snack here or there, or a Powerade at 280 calories, and then dinner, and, maybe a snack later, and I’m probably topping 3500 calories with little problem!
It gets easier to talk myself into eating right when I lay out the numbers!
Awesome Curt. About 3 years ago, I worked out that soda calorie thing plus the 2 scoops of sugar in my 3 cups of coffee each day. Once I heard those numbers, I immediately went to Splenda in my coffee and started on Diet Cokes. Compound that with starting an exercise regimen, I lost about 40 pounds in 6 months. Without hardly doing anything.
It’s amazing what effect sugar has one a person’s weight.
Adam, unfortunately, I seem to be allergic to the artificial sweeteners, Splenda included. However, I’ve been doing a couple of things: I have stevia, which is really, really sweet, or I use a very small amount of honey, as it’s at least good for me, and I have switched to less-processed sugars (cane, muscavado, etc). And when I drink coffee, I drink it the way it’s supposed to be… thick, black and strong!
dang, what a curse. As far as coffee is concerned, I do hear that once you go black ….
Curt,
I think “lifestyle change” rather than “diet” is definitely the way to go. I will never be a “dieter” but I have made a lot of changes in my eating the last few years and none of those changes have felt like a sacrifice at all. When we moved overseas, we pretty much stopped eating fast foods and my soda consumption dropped drastically because we don’t have the “convenience stores” on every corner. I started cooking much more and staying away from overly processed foods (mainly because I’ve realized how much better fresh, homemade food tastes!). Also, since we’re in Sicily, we started using much more olive oil than I ever did before. I don’t think I’ve cut the fat in my cooking at all and I don’t think I eat less but I lost almost 40 pounds over the first year or two we were here. Of course exercise is also really important and if I don’t stay active, I do notice my weight creeping up. But my exercise is just moderate…I don’t spend hours at the gym and I’m not into jogging or anything. Anyway, just keep thinking positive and don’t try to make too many changes at once
Slow and steady is the way to go!
Nicole, congrats your change… of course, I’m not quite ready to become an expat to do it! But thanks for the words of encouragement!
I’m not an expat…I’m a military spouse
My husband is currently deployed to iraq. We’ll be stationed in Sicily for only one more year.
I was just saying I’d have to be an expat to move to Europe.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Sicily, and I pray that your husband is safe and stays so!