tidbit's blog

tidbit's weight loss

 abuse

Last week, I posted requesting advice/ suggestions on a photographer and why I was looking for one. Several of you posted asking how I was able to lose over 240 + lbs.

So here's the blog I promised. It's actually sort of a repost (though updated) since I did post about this back in March.  As soon as I get my "After" pictures done I will post a blog with the before and after pictures.

I’ve done every fad, every “special diet”, you name it, I tried it and it didn’t work for me. Jenny Craig, LA Weight loss, Herbalife, Soup Diet, Grapefruit diet, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, etc, etc. etc.

 The key things I’ve learned:

1) You HAVE to change your eating behavior. Period.

           Fads like Herbalife and others where you drink your food or only

           specific things don’t work because the moment you stop, you will

           gain all the weight back and usually more. 

2) You absolutely cannot do it without exercise. Don’t even try. Don’t exercise? Don’t lose. It’s simple.

3) Eating healthy DOES NOT mean tasteless and boring!  I love collecting awesome recipes of healthy meals. I'm never bored or feel like I'm being denied anything.

4) the more strict you make your eating habits, the more you set yourself up to fail.

5) One serving means exactly that!!! ONE SERVING.

6) snacking is important – but snacking on the right things is the key

7) Reduce caffine and sodas.  Water, Water, Water. For every 8oz of cafinated beverage, you should add an addition 8oz of water to your drinking total.

Here is exactly how I do what I do (I say do because I'm not done!):

1) Nothing I eat should be over 3g of fat per 100 calories.  So if it is 350 calories,  there shouldn’t be more than 10g of fat. It should have the least amount of Saturated Fat possible.  If 9g of that 10g are saturated? I don’t eat it. 

2) I make sure to get 25-30g of Fiber a day.  Not enough fiber, I notice I will find myself grazing more than I should.

3) I get in 65g to 90g of protein a day.  Like fiber, helps me feel full.

4) Make it a goal to eat 5-6 servings of fruit/ vegetables a day. This is hard for some reason for me. So I change things up everynow and then and make my own smoothies for breakfast with 2 servings of frozen fruit & protein powder

5)  I take in between 175 to 225g of complex carbohydrates – Whole grains.

6) I drink 65-100 fluid oz of water or non-caloric/ non-caffinated drink. Sometimes that means Crystal Light or something similar.  But caffeinated drinks are limited to 1 cup a day if at all and absolutely NO SODAS.  Alcohol is limited and rare.

7)  I try no to take in more than 56g of fat total in a day.

8) I go to the gym on M-W-F to do Cardio – I do various cardio routines to keep things changing up. Elipitical, bike, exercise class, etc.. 

9) I go to the gym on Tues-Thurs to do strength training.  Tuesday is lower body and Thursday is upper body.  On these days I walk at work during lunch - 1.5 miles in 20 min

10) I plan all my meals, including my lunches every week. It’s saved me $$ and it keeps me eating healthy since I have everything I need from the groceries, but it is time consuming to sit down and do. So I invested in a recipe organizer that allows me to make shopping lists for my menus, which saves LOTS of time.

11) I document my daily food on TheDailyPlate.com. It keeps me honest and on track. I include my exercising in this documenting. I have to be careful not to burn more calories than I take in. I run the risk of messing up my metabolism and having run into this before, started gaining when I was exercising too much. 

12) I absolutely eat NO FRIED FOODS or Refined Sugar.  My "sweet tooth" gets satisfied on occasion. MODERATION is the key. Usually though I go once a week to the coffee shop and order a "frappe". The place I go to let me give them my protein powder.  I get sugar free syrup - dark chocolate and skim milk.  It's like having a chocolate milk shake with a LOT less sugar and fat but with the added bonus of the protein powder

So what does a day for me look like? Let’s take today:

I was at the gym at 5:30am. Doing the bike and elliptical, I burned an estimated 700 calories.

I went home, got ready for work.  I made my breakfast: 

1 miniature whole grain bagel (Trader Joe’s) –

            90 cal, .5g fat, 22g carb, 3g fiber, 1g sugar, 4g protein.

with 1 teaspoon of reduced fat peanut butter

Smoothie:  2 cup frozen fruit (I used frozen peaches and straberries), 1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice, 1 scoop Isopure Whey Protein Powder (no sugar), 2 TBSP cherry yogurt (light) – I use Activia Light (I added some Benefiber to the smoothie)

Work – 1st snack: 13 whole grain wheat thins, reduced fat (13 is one serving), ¼ cup Greek yogurt mixed with a sprinkle of Hidden Valley Ranch powder to make a dip. 8 carrot sticks.  (Greek Yogurt is very thick like sour cream and tart like sour cream. The brand I get has zero fat and 20g of protein per serving)

Lunch:  1 cup spring mix (salad) with balsamic vinagrette.  1/4 cup whole wheat linquini pasta with a 3 TBSP of Sun Dried Tomato alfredo sauce, topped with 6 large shrimp, portebello mushrooms and fresh spinach leaves. 

I have still have for a snack in my lunch box: 

1 naval orange and also 1 cup of popcorn (fat free – light) mixed with 15 cashews and 1 teaspoon of sugar free chocolate chips.

Dinner was pre-planned:  Almond Crusted Pork with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce (See below for recipe).  Steamed Asparagus and roasted new potatoes.   I’ll eat 4 to 5oz of the pork, 1 cup of the asparagus and 1 cup of the potatoes.

Later in the evening, I'll walk the dog for about an hour. (Burns approx 400 calories)

That’s a standard day.  On the weekends, I LOVE walking around the Flea Market at the State Fair grounds, or the Farmer’s Market.  You can usually find me being dragged by my shep/huskie.

It gets really hard now that I work 2 jobs. The meal planning is even more important!! I carry an insolated lunch box with me at all times with cold gel packs to keep bottle water and snacks with me. 

I keep myself as busy as possible that keeps me from sitting around the house. I’ve started some projects outside that I can do slowly.  The more I’ve lost, the more need I have to do stuff. I find have more energy then I have time to spend it in a lot of cases.

People just have to be careful with snacks.  Don’t load up on what I call “slider foods”. Like lots of pretzels, popcorn and such.  While I might have crackers,  I try to balance it out with proteins – Peanut butter (minimally), nuts, yogurt (be careful of the sugar), etc.  Cherios Multi-grain cereal is awesome on top of some yogurt!! So is Grape Nuts!

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Recipe:

Almond-Crusted Pork with Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce (from EatingWell.com)

 Makes 4 servings  ACTIVE TIME: 25 minutes   TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes 

1 cup coarse dry breadcrumbs, preferably whole-wheat
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 large egg white, beaten
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet and coat it with cooking spray.
2. Place breadcrumbs, almonds, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a food processor; pulse until the almonds are coarsely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a shallow dish.
3. Place egg white in another shallow dish. Dip both sides of each pork slice in egg white, then evenly coat with the almond mixture. (Discard any remaining egg white and almond mixture.) Place the pork on the prepared rack and coat on both sides with cooking spray.
4. Bake the pork until golden brown and no longer pink in the center, 16 to 18 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, whisk honey, soy sauce and mustard in a small bowl. Serve the pork with the honey-mustard sauce.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 299 calories; 7 g fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 74 mg cholesterol; 30 g carbohydrate; 29 g protein; 3 g fiber; 561 mg sodium; 562 mg potassium.

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