On my personal wellness journey, I have found that eating is the hardest thing to control. Being of Filipino descent, my culture's food is rich and always comes with a side of jasmine rice (and I say jasmine coz that boil-in-bag stuff doesn't cut it at my house). You can see how this can be somewhat of an eating heaven, uh I mean nightmare, for my wellness journey. So getting a hold of my diet (what I eat) was essential to my wellness. The balance between exercise and consumption is pretty much a tightrope.
And I was on that tightrope for a long time. No matter what I tried, I couldn't find the right equation between what I ate and how much I exercised that would give me weight loss. And then I would get frustrated and get off. Then get on again, and so on and so forth. It was tiring. When I enrolled in graduate school, it all got tossed to the back seat.
So when school ended and I joined WW, it was great. I was told exactly how much to eat per day and could fill the day with whatever I wanted. AND I talked to my doctor. She suggested to try not dipping into any of my extra points (exercise or flex) as much as possible. So far it has worked great! I've lost pounds in the double digits since starting about 10 weeks ago... yea that may seem like a long time, but for me, slow and steady wins the race. As I continued on the journey, I learned to cook in ways that could satisfy my hubby (he's Filipino too) and help us both around the waist-line. He, in turn, has accepted what I cook and now we're on the right track.
So you see how important it is to find the right diet (eating and eating for weight loss) for you. It not only has to suit your body (because some do leave you starving at the end of the day), but it has to suit your life. It has to fit in with your family, your lifestyle, your budget, etc.
We are in the final stretch for the Pre-Summer Slimdown. May and June's focus will be consumption. If you do not log your daily intake, please start doing so. Remember - knowing and awareness are very important in any wellness journey! If you are an employee at the hospital, please make use of the LiveWell representative to go over your food intake with you. Remember, don't cheat. Write down everything you eat. Lets do this for about 2 weeks, then start looking to see where there can be improvements.
Some tips:
1. Personally, I don't recommend totally cutting out your favorite foods. Remember, everything in moderation. If you starve yourself off of the things you love, eating will become a chore and you will hate every minute of this challenge.
2. Drink GALLONS of water. Well not gallons. Try to get at least 8 8oz glasses per day. If you drink about 2.5 of those red water bottles given by the hospital, then you've done it. I have found that I will drink more during the day if I drink it without ice.
3. Eat fruits and veggies, but try to venture out and eat some fruits and veggies that you're not used to eating. Preparation is a big thing... who knew pureed cauliflower with the right fixins is a great sub for mashed potatoes.
4. Eat lean meats. If you have to eat steak, ask the server which is their leanest cuts. If you're making them at home, trim the fat before grilling
5. PORTIONS PORTIONS PORTIONS.... watch them! Check food labels to see how much the label gives you nutritional information for... you'll be amazed at how much this will help.
That's it for now! I'll talk about it in class more! Don't forget to get measured!!
>M<
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