Weight watching is not for wimps. It is a week by week, hour by hour, minute by minute struggle, at least for me and I bet for a few of you too. The reality is that there is no true, done, voila, check. It is a constant, never ending commitment- sort of like marriage. In my first marriage, I failed. We married young and lasted in blissful denial for nearly ten years before the edges unraveled and we fell apart. My first weight loss success failed. I lost, got new clothes, gave away the old, and somehow one morning nothing in my closet fit.
My core being does not really believe in failure. Every person, every thing, every issue has a lesson for you to learn, a step to help you get to your best. The trick, blog readers, is to endure the lesson, learn from it and improve from some perspective. I was given many gifts in my first marriage, learned many lessons, and hope it all sets my current marriage up for success. It was certainly not a failure. Today, I am trying to apply this theory to my weight loss journey, and help set it too up for success.
Lesson 1: Plan your intake. I cannot count how many times I scooted to the school, picked up an SUV full of boys, plowed through homework at McDonald’s and dashed off to football practice only to pile those same stinky, smelly kids in the SUV, dash through the drive thru for shakes and pies, and hurry them all home. My calorie consumption rose to nearly a week’s plan in just a few hours. Planning the night before, packing a sandwich and a few snacks (at least for me, if not for the kids too) would have saved me at least a pants size. I can not blame it all on the kids. I have happily stopped for a biscuit in the morning, grabbed a mocha instead of a skim latte, and bought a burger and fries alone. A few minutes of planning and a good selection of healthy grab and go choices make all the difference.
This week, I tried some very successful grab and go ideas. I stole a Pinterest idea and made several jars of salad. Here’s how I did it: Slice your favorite salad stuff, cucumbers, green peppers, and grape tomatoes were my pick. Tear up assorted lettuces and layer the ingredients in pint size mason jars. I added a teaspoon of feta crumbles and a tablespoon of balsamic vinaigrette dressing. There was an easy salad to grab and go each morning for a week! A tablespoon of dressing saturated the salad and I will certainly cut that in half next time. That was almost my only source of countable calories, so I splurged for the full labeled serving. Toward the end of the week the greens were still pretty crunchy, but may have endured a bit better without the dressing. I’ll try ½ with dressing and ½ without until midweek next time.
I stocked my cabinets, car, pocketbook and desk with plenty of fresh fruits, low calorie/high fiber bars, cheese sticks and froze sliced strawberries in containers for a sweet, thawed midday treat. Canned soup and salads were my staple for lunch, and the snacks carried me quite well. I found some fantastic 80 calorie mini ice cream sandwiches to help with my night time struggles and make me feel like I was not on a diet. Not to forget, was my ever full, always carried water bottle and a few no cal/low cal flavor packs. Learn from my lesson. This week, plan it, stock it, and don’t forget to take it… and save a whole bunch of calories… and maybe even a pants size. J
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