2011_0111 Half of Chapter 2: The Power of Paying Attention
I am not done reading the second chapter yet, but this is what I have read so far.
CHAPTER 2: The Power of Paying Attention
Tracking Calories and Losing Weight, One Meal at a Time
The title itself gives you a manageable chunk to deal with your weight loss. "One Meal at a Time." More specifically, one food item at a time. Starbucks is so convenient on the way to _______. You fill in the blank, with so many locations and many of them having drive-thru, it is too convenient to grab a cup of your favorite cup of joe and tack on a pastry. My first step was to stop getting the pastry to go with my coffee. I have been weaning myself off of Starbucks to save calories and save a some money as well. I am down to 1 cup of Starbucks coffee every other week. That is down from 4-5 cups a week, which is about 1600 calories saved every two weeks.
There Are No Tricks Here
The crux of the matter is tracking calories and Lose It! has it as the core of their philosophy. I have been using the Lose It! app for on and off, but never gave it a real try. Now, as of a week ago, I have been giving it a serious go. To my surprise, they have almost everything I have eaten. I have had to do very little work entering new foods into the data base. This is very helpful because I do not have a lot of time to sit down and keep entering every single thing I eat. The app makes it convenient and easy to enter everything you eat, and I've been doing a much better job at tracking my caloric intake and expenditure as well.
Tracking Yourself Right Into Weight Loss
This section offers a way to track your food intake with paper and pencil. I glanced over it and moved on since I am using to the Lose It! app and intend to keep using it.
This section also offers 8 small changes most of us can related to that save our calorie intake. Small changes that at the end of the week can make the difference of a pound. I have already made the switch from regular sugar to Splenda and from regular butter to Smart Balance.
The Power of Prevention
By keeping track of what I eat and when I tend to eat (or over eat), I can try to do something about it to not do it again. For instance, I have found that when I run around doing errands, I tend to put off eating in lieu of getting one more thing done. Then, at the end of the day, I am very hungry and over eat. Now, usually the night before, I pack a few snacks, veggies, so if I do not have time to eat, I can much on healthy stuff. Not only does it keep me from over eating later, but it also reduces the temptation of eating a candy bar. Keeping track of my calories also helps in being able to eat that candy bar with a clear conscious because I can see if my calorie budget has or has not been exceeded.
Yes, You Can (Eat What You Want)
Most diets I have looked at guide you to eat stuff that isn't 'normal' to my taste buds, or culture. The approach presented here gives me freedom to continue with my lifestyle the way I am used to it, but guides me to make wiser choices. It is because of this difference that the past 3 dinners we've had have been 'normal' to us, but made a much wiser way. I used a little spray olive oil and baked instead of fried things AND I was able to eat garlic Parmesan bread guilt free. I like that. Well, if you check my LoseIt.com account, you will see I did go over budget. I am still happy about it because it was not where nearly as far over budget as it was, say 3 weeks ago.
Tracking and Eyeballing
Being the primary person who cooks the meals in our home, I tend to measure out enough for the family. My sense of eyeballing comes in i) enough for the 4 of us, ii) enough for 2 of us, ii) enough for us and left overs for lunch the next day. Portion control can be challenging after I have been measuring things out thinking in terms how many mouths to feed. I have done as the book suggests. When it comes time to prepare food and dish out portions, I keep the measuring cups and spoons handy. This is simple and makes a big difference. I used to have one 1 set of measuring cups and spoons. I now have two sets and am considering getting a third set so I do not have to keep washing them while preparing one meal. The sets I have are not fancy ones. I got a set of measuring cups and spoons at Walmart for $0.97+tax. A very small investment.
As a result of measuring foods out in the past two days, I have realized I what I thought was one serving was actually 3 or even as much as 5! Wow! So as not so shock us, I have brought it down to 2 servings for most things but kept it at 3-4 servings when it came to veggies.
They offer a quick reference guide using your hand to measure food when you are eating out.
Next time ... Are All Calories Created Equal?
CHAPTER 2: The Power of Paying Attention
Tracking Calories and Losing Weight, One Meal at a Time
The title itself gives you a manageable chunk to deal with your weight loss. "One Meal at a Time." More specifically, one food item at a time. Starbucks is so convenient on the way to _______. You fill in the blank, with so many locations and many of them having drive-thru, it is too convenient to grab a cup of your favorite cup of joe and tack on a pastry. My first step was to stop getting the pastry to go with my coffee. I have been weaning myself off of Starbucks to save calories and save a some money as well. I am down to 1 cup of Starbucks coffee every other week. That is down from 4-5 cups a week, which is about 1600 calories saved every two weeks.
There Are No Tricks Here
The crux of the matter is tracking calories and Lose It! has it as the core of their philosophy. I have been using the Lose It! app for on and off, but never gave it a real try. Now, as of a week ago, I have been giving it a serious go. To my surprise, they have almost everything I have eaten. I have had to do very little work entering new foods into the data base. This is very helpful because I do not have a lot of time to sit down and keep entering every single thing I eat. The app makes it convenient and easy to enter everything you eat, and I've been doing a much better job at tracking my caloric intake and expenditure as well.
Tracking Yourself Right Into Weight Loss
This section offers a way to track your food intake with paper and pencil. I glanced over it and moved on since I am using to the Lose It! app and intend to keep using it.
This section also offers 8 small changes most of us can related to that save our calorie intake. Small changes that at the end of the week can make the difference of a pound. I have already made the switch from regular sugar to Splenda and from regular butter to Smart Balance.
The Power of Prevention
By keeping track of what I eat and when I tend to eat (or over eat), I can try to do something about it to not do it again. For instance, I have found that when I run around doing errands, I tend to put off eating in lieu of getting one more thing done. Then, at the end of the day, I am very hungry and over eat. Now, usually the night before, I pack a few snacks, veggies, so if I do not have time to eat, I can much on healthy stuff. Not only does it keep me from over eating later, but it also reduces the temptation of eating a candy bar. Keeping track of my calories also helps in being able to eat that candy bar with a clear conscious because I can see if my calorie budget has or has not been exceeded.
Yes, You Can (Eat What You Want)
Most diets I have looked at guide you to eat stuff that isn't 'normal' to my taste buds, or culture. The approach presented here gives me freedom to continue with my lifestyle the way I am used to it, but guides me to make wiser choices. It is because of this difference that the past 3 dinners we've had have been 'normal' to us, but made a much wiser way. I used a little spray olive oil and baked instead of fried things AND I was able to eat garlic Parmesan bread guilt free. I like that. Well, if you check my LoseIt.com account, you will see I did go over budget. I am still happy about it because it was not where nearly as far over budget as it was, say 3 weeks ago.
Tracking and Eyeballing
Being the primary person who cooks the meals in our home, I tend to measure out enough for the family. My sense of eyeballing comes in i) enough for the 4 of us, ii) enough for 2 of us, ii) enough for us and left overs for lunch the next day. Portion control can be challenging after I have been measuring things out thinking in terms how many mouths to feed. I have done as the book suggests. When it comes time to prepare food and dish out portions, I keep the measuring cups and spoons handy. This is simple and makes a big difference. I used to have one 1 set of measuring cups and spoons. I now have two sets and am considering getting a third set so I do not have to keep washing them while preparing one meal. The sets I have are not fancy ones. I got a set of measuring cups and spoons at Walmart for $0.97+tax. A very small investment.
As a result of measuring foods out in the past two days, I have realized I what I thought was one serving was actually 3 or even as much as 5! Wow! So as not so shock us, I have brought it down to 2 servings for most things but kept it at 3-4 servings when it came to veggies.
They offer a quick reference guide using your hand to measure food when you are eating out.
Next time ... Are All Calories Created Equal?
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