First things first. I declared in the last post that I was looking to lose 30 pounds by year's end. And the question is, "how am I doing? Well I lost 5 pounds over the last month by following Mark Bittman's advice to reduce the amount of meat that I eat and to increase my intake of fruit and vegetables. I took a swimming class, a tennis lesson, pilates once this week and I walk my dog daily (although I am not working up a sweat doing this). Most of the loss I attribute to laying off the snacks. So in my real life, what I did was eat grains, pastas, noodles sea plants and veggies, like I said above. Then by Thursday of this week, I was anxious to have meat and I did--- soba noodles with fresh ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, green onions, carrots, sea weed and a little boiled chicken breast. When I finally went out Saturday night, I had chicken wings, broccoli rabe with garlic and a veggie pizza. A little over load. But I'd thought about what the possibilities at dinner might be and I'd saved my calories all day just in case I couldn't make the best decisions. Bittman doesn't advocate a particular diet or admonish readers to not eat meat for example. To be truthful, he is totally not a dictator. The recipes are well within reach of even an average cook. And what I love is variety is encouraged. So for the first 5 pounds, this is how I am rolling. Any ideas to share about how to lose the next 5?
Stop eating after 7PM... that's what I do, and I've cut out LOTS of unnecessary snacking.
ReplyDeleteAlso, don't buy Halloween candy too early. Even if it is on sale. I end up eating it every year! Better yet, get a kind you don't like ;)
Good for you and your progress!
Thanks Sheryl for weighing in. The 7pm cut off is a good idea although I must say I gave it some thought this summer when I had guests from Granada, Spain for one month. They ate a small breakfast around 9, brunchie/lunch sandwich at 1:30pm, small snack around 6 pm and full dinner at 9:30pm of meat and starch. Neither had weight problems( one was middle age) and they were a serious meat eating group. So it made me wonder about the stop eating at an earlier hour mantra.
ReplyDeleteBut I am definitely taking your advice about the candy and that's easy because I don't have little ones. As a general rule, however, I am definitely going to try to eat before 7 for this second month. Let me know if you get any other bright ideas. Thanks.