The Diet Naked Blog

Balancing act

Okay, one more time.  Back on the high wire, arms horizontal, eyes on the horizon.  Steady now.  Don't panic.  Balance.  One step at a time, one foot in front of the other.

I have just completed two days of healthy eating.  "Dieting," if you will.  After all this time writing about eating and losing weight (and gaining weight) and trying to lose weight and I'm still not sure what lingo I ought to use.  The word "diet" is like a dirty word, conjuring images of grapefruit and cottage cheese.  "Healthy eating plan" is a clunky phrase.  "Lifestyle change" is what I thought I was making last time around . . . when I was on my "diet" . . . which fell apart when I stopped daily walks and started eating a bunch of stuff that is exceptionally bad for me to eat.

Well, for the purposes of this blog, I will use the word "diet" to mean eating healthy and making good choices.  I generally prefer the low-glycemic index plan, which is so similar to Sugar Busters or the South Beach diet plan or a dozen other diets.  The idea is to avoid refined flour and sugar and to eat healthy, whole foods.  And that's what I've done the past two days.

I am fixing my eyes on the distant horizon, on the eventual goal, even as I take one step at a time.  I just have to make a series of good decisions each day in order to reach the goal.  One good decision isn't enough.  Two good decisions aren't enough--because I can so easily demolish those two good decisions by eating a half a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies.  (And I plummet to the ground and have to go back to the starting line all over again.)

I am really my own worst enemy but also the only person who can get me out of this fix. 

Balance.  One foot in front of the other.  That's the goal for tomorrow and all the tomorrows after that.

Candy-Coated Friday

Last night at this time, I was up to my elbows in candy.  Not eating it, mind you, but decorating with it, thinking about Hansel and Gretel as I glued candy onto a homemade gingerbread house with that super-cool royal icing that dries as hard as cement.

All that because today, we went to a school winter celebration that involved a village of gingerbread houses.  My candy-coated creation paled in comparison to some of the other houses which were obvious results of many hours of work.  The little sugary village was impressive.

Before I loaded up the car with five kids and the gingerbread and directions this morning, I microwaved my oatmeal and ate in in gulps while I gathered the supplies I needed to take with me.  I packed a little lunch, just in case, but we ended up taking a lunch break at McDonald's, where I thoroughly enjoyed my Bacon-Ranch salad (with low-fat balsamic dressing).

Planning ahead and knowing exactly what you will eat when you are out and about is so important.  I never let a busy day stand in the way of me and my weight-loss goals.  You shouldn't either!

More Answers

Allie says:  Ok, now the important stuff. What kind of chocolate do you eat every day? I know you posted it but cannot find it.Is it a problem that the only thing I take away from your blog is eat chocolate everyday?

I buy my favorite chocolate, Droste Pastilles, at Trader Joe's.  They are 72% cocoa.  When you buy dark chocolate, you want to look for something above 60% cocoa content, preferably above 70%.  After you started eating this type of high quality chocolate, I promise you that Hershey's and Nestles will take strange.  (I ate one of those tiny bars of Hershey's the other day and it tasted all grainy to me.)   Ghiradelli puts out some dark chocolates you can find in grocery stores or Target . . . just be sure to look for a high percentage of cocoa.  And then let the chocolate melt in your mouth, for ultimate pleasure!  No chewing allowed! 

Ginny asks: Hi Melodee, I've been wondering why you chose to give up sugar. And what, exactly, is a low GI diet?

I found the low-glycemic index diet when I did a little research about a diet that would be appropriate for someone with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).  I have PCOS--among other things, that means I tend to be insulin resistant.  Anyway, the low-glycemic index diet was recommended for women with PCOS.  The rest is history. 

The low-glycemic index diet is a diet based on eliminating high-glycemic index foods and eating those low on the glycemic index.  Foods high on the glycemic index make your blood sugar rise quickly . . . causing a surge of insulin because insulin's job is to deal with sugar.  (You can read more about the glycemic index if you click those links on the right.)  When your blood sugar goes wildly up and down, you experience cravings. 

Eating a low-glycemic index diet keeps your blood sugar steady and you stop craving sugar and its evil cousin, refined flour.

The low-glycemic index diet is very similar to the South Beach Diet and Sugarbusters. 

Jen says:  Do you find strangers treat you differently than when you were 50 pounds heavier? Do you welcome newfound attention or do you still feel like a "fat girl"?

I have noticed people are much friendlier to me now that I'm a normal size than they were when I was fifty pounds heavier.  Acquaintances make a point of talking to me, to ask how I lose weight.  I don't mind the change in people's behavior to me.  When I was fatter, I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide because I was so embarrassed by my size.  Now, I'm much more comfortable with personal interaction. 

I do not feel like a "fat girl."  I never did . . . I felt like a normal girl stuck in a fat body.  I'm thrilled to be free of that prison!

Mary asks:  I am wondering whether you give your family the same food you eat, or how you work that out. My husband would leave me if I stopped serving potatoes and rice (only partly kidding). My kids all have different tastes and are picky about different things. I'm interested in knowing how you've handled the husband/kids issue.

I think I need to address this issue in depth because so many women ask me the same question.  It's hard to balance the needs of our families with our own health needs. 

Dinnertime has not been a tremendous challenge for me, but that may be because my family doesn't "do" casseroles.  (Much to my chagrin!)  My twins were extremely picky as toddlers and preschoolers and never did develop an appreciation for foods mixed together.  That works to my advantage now because I am accustomed to keeping foods separate.  For instance, rather than a chicken casserole of some sort, I cook chicken breasts separately (in a variety of sauces) and offer vegetables and a starchy accompaniment of some sort.  (For instance, barbecued chicken--I would eat it with no sauce--and broccoli and baked potatoes.  I would eat the chicken and the broccoli only.) 

Last night, I made soft tacos for my family.  I used ground turkey.  Everyone else ate a soft taco.  I opened a can of kidney beans (we were out of refried beans) and made myself a taco salad with fat-free sour cream and salsa as the dressing.

A couple of nights ago, I cooked frozen chicken breasts (from Costco) in Cacciatore sauce (from Trader Joe's).  I served the kids pasta and sauce and chicken.  I ate chicken and a crunchy vegetable salad made with cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery and red peppers. 

Usually, most of the components of dinner are fine for me to eat.  I just avoid the starches and refined foods.  (Another example:  if I serve them turkey burgers and fries, I would eat the turkey burger with no bun and a sweet potato.) 

Sometimes, I make something I simply can't have, like frozen pizza.  (Hey, sometimes it happens!)  The most recent time that happened, I cooked a whole bag of frozen broccoli (this cool brand I found steams the vegetable in the bag in the microwave--how easy is that?) and sprinkled some (full-fat!) cheese on it.  Delicious and filling.

And this concludes this edition of Answers!

Weighing Daily

I admit that I weigh myself more often than once a week.  Sometimes, I just want to reassure myself that I didn't magically gain back fifty pounds overnight.  I keep my scale in the kitchen, though, because I have wall-to-wall carpet in my bathroom and bedroom, so it's always kind of funny to stand by the kitchen counter as I weigh.

Anyway, here is an interesting article about the merits of weighing yourself every day.  Weighing myself more frequently than once a week does seem to work for me.  I like the immediate feedback the scale gives me, even if it does fluctuate due to water retention and other factors.

What about you?  Do you just weigh once a week or more often?  Does the number on the scale make you want to eat in celebration or despair?  Or is it just information to you?

A Post-Thanksgiving Report

Thanksgiving:  the day of the year when you spend three hours cooking, twenty minutes eating and an hour cleaning up.  At least you do if you are me and you have four kids under the age of thirteen! 

I started my day with oatmeal, as usual.  I made stuffing with 100% whole-wheat bread, making it a low-glycemic index food.  We had corn souffle', (a decadent dish involving butter, eggs, sugar, corn and cinnamon), green bean casserole, sweet potatoes (which contained an indecent amount of butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows), rolls, and, of course, turkey.  I put four things on my plate:  turkey, whole-wheat stuffing, and small servings of sweet potatoes and corn souffle'.  Oh, and olives. 

I had a small second helping of sweet potatoes and another bite of corn souffle'.  Then I put it all away.  I served pumpkin pie to my kids and pecan pie to my husband.  I had a bite of the pecan pie to see how it turned out since it was a new recipe. 

I considered walking a few miles to my mother's house with my 4-year old, but then the rain started up again and I decided we'd drive.  My daughter and I left the menfolk at home and visited with my grandmother and mother and my brother and his wife.  I said no to pumpkin pie, but ate a few nuts.

Last night, I had a generous serving of Crustless Pumpkin Pie topped with sugar-free Cool Whip.  I didn't finish it--who knew that I'd actually hear my stomach say, "Enough," if I listened hard enough. 

I exercise last night, as usual. 

And thus concludes this year's edition of Thanksgiving. 

Today, I left my house at 8 a.m. to shop.  I was in a huge hurry (trying to avoid seeing my 4-year old) and didn't have breakfast.  I didn't bring anything to eat, either, which was unfortunate.  I spend the morning shopping (even standing in line for half an hour at Toys R Us to purchase a single toy!), and then saw a movie at 11:00 a.m.  I ate popcorn, as usual, at the theater and boy, was it good!  (The movie, "Stranger than Fiction," was pretty good, too.)

After the movie, a little more shopping.  At about 3 p.m., I thought a soft taco would be good, but I only ate half and realized that I wasn't really very hungry.  So, I stopped eating it and threw it away.  I THREW AWAY A PERFECTLY GOOD SOFT TACO!  And I lived to tell about it!

Tonight, I had leftover whole-wheat stuffing and a slice of cold turkey. 

And I exercised. 

I am confident that I--and you--can get through the next month without gaining weight and quite likely, losing another three or four pounds.  Maybe more.  You never know. 

This will be the first Christmas in many years that I don't use the season as an excuse to eat too many cookies, to gorge on too much chocolate and to eat as if the New Year will never arrive.  I think I'm going to like it.

Mindful Eating

The Today Show featured a segment today about mindful eating called called, "Why we don't realize we overeat."  I thought this was a timely reminder of how we can triumph over food.  The article from the website says, "We all do some mindless eating on occasion. But if you’re having a hard time losing weight, then it’s time to develop a plan to break the habit of mindless eating. This involves recognizing external and internal influences over your eating.'"  Check it out if you need just a little more reinforcement before coming face to face with a pecan pie.

In other news, I finished 100 days of consecutive exercise!  Hooray me! 

Also, I stepped on the scale today (a day early) to find that I've lost 50.6 pounds now.  I weighed 175.8 this morning.  I only have 25.8 pounds to lose before I reach my goal.  Last weekend, I tried on size 12 pants and jeans--I bought the pants.  The jeans fit (THE JEANS FIT!), but I didn't love how they looked, so I didn't buy them.  BUT THEY FIT! 

Unless you have ever worn a pair of (at least) size 20 jeans, you don't know exactly how amazing that is!

Tomorrow, I'll be cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner at my home for my family of six.  (No company this year--my sister is hosting dinner at her house for her in-laws and my 100-year old grandmother insisted on going to my mother's house.  My brother and his wife will be there, too.)  I intend to pay close attention to what goes into my mouth tomorrow while I spend the day in the kitchen.  I'll have my normal oatmeal breakfast, then leave a big bowl of baby carrots on the counter just in case I feel the need to pop something into my mouth! 

Happy pre-Thanksgiving Day to all of you!  May you have a lovely day and may your pants still zip up when the day's done. 

Just Say No

Hey, don't forget!  You can always say, "No, thank you."  You know what I'm talking about.  When your great-aunt offers you a slab of pie with a thick layer of whipped cream, you can simply say, "No, thanks."  And if anyone has a problem with that, you can remind yourself that that is not your problem. 

(For more on this topic, check out this blog entry.)

Let's practice. 

"No, thanks."

"Oh, I've had enough."

"Thanks, but I'm done."

"No."

"Thanks, but no."

See how easy that is?

Feeling Sad

While driving home last night after spending a glorious day alone (shopping, seeing a movie, not talking to another soul), I realized with a start that when sad feelings bubble to the surface, I no longer push those feelings down with food.

And so I have felt sad more than usual lately.  I had attributed my funk to hormones and the rainy weather and a particularly busy stretch here at home, but I think the truth is that I'm just processing emotions without the assistance of my old "friend," food.  And without food as a shield, feelings dig a little more sharply into my soul.

So, I'm sad.  That doesn't mean I need cookies.  It just means I feel sad.  To feel sad is to be human.  It's all right, even if I cry a little for no discernible reason.

To feel sad without shoveling chocolate cake into my mouth is a triumph.  And that makes me happy, even while I'm sad.  (Frankly, it also makes me feel a bit crazy to be happy and sad simultaneously, but that's all right, too.)

Three-Food Interference

This morning I happened to catch a segment on the Today Show which talked about emotional eating called "Are You an Emotional Eater?"  I especially liked this strategy nutritionist Joy Bauer offered for overcoming emotional eating:

Practice three-food interference. Make the commitment to first eat three specific healthy foods (for instance, an apple, a handful of baby carrots and a yogurt), before starting on comfort foods. If after that, you still want to continue with your comfort foods, give yourself permission. However, most of the time, the three foods are enough to stop you from moving on.

That is something that I can see really working for some of us.  Let me know if you try it.  I will definitely keep that trick in mind. 

Thanksgiving Hints

Thanksgiving approaches quickly with the lurching speed of a turkey trying to escape the platter.  (Less than two weeks!)  But, unlike the turkey, you do not need to fear because I have some pre-Thanksgiving tips for you and some things to consider.

First of all, something to consider. 

A few years ago when I attended Weight Watchers, my leader mentioned a rule change involving carrots.  Previously, they'd been considered a "free" food (meaning you didn't have to count it when journaling).  But then, the powers-that-be decided that one cup of carrots would equal a point. 

She said, "I was upset about that change . . . and then I realized that carrots weren't the reason I was fat."  Perspective is important, isn't it?  Count them or don't count them . . . you'd have to overeat a lot of carrots to gain weight!

And here's the thing.  If I ate a giant Thanksgiving dinner--huge portions of high calorie foods--I would probably gain a pound or two.  If I overate at Thanksgiving dinner in full view of my companions, I would be stuffed and probably long to unbutton my pants and sprawl on the couch instead of cleaning up and doing dishes (like I usually do). 

But Thanksgiving dinner is not the reason I gained seventy-five pounds. 

The reason I weighed 226.4 pounds last year is because of what happened after Thanksgiving dinner and after Easter dinner and after birthdays and after Christmas and after dark when everyone else was asleep.  (Hint:  Eating in secret.)

After Thanksgiving dinner, I would clean up, carefully ladling leftovers into containers and covering up pies with tin foil.  I'd scoop rolls into plastic bags and wash up all the dishes and roll up the tablecloth and swipe the countertops with a dishcloth.  The children would disappear into the playroom, my husband would fall into a football stupor and my guests would leave.

Then I'd pull out the huge Thanksgiving newspapers (so many ads!) and start in on the leftovers.  Or maybe just pie.  Followed by something salty, followed by something sweet.  (Rinse and repeat.)  

The point is that I'd start eating again before I even had time to digest my food.  I'd concentrate on my favorites, the stuffing I'd made using a whole stick of butter . . . the sweet potatoes with a gooey topping of marshmallows . . . the corn souffle' (also made with a whole stick of butter).  I ate because it tasted good and because I'd hardly had time to taste it during dinner while tending to the needs of my family and guests and because eating makes everything more fun.  (Doesn't it?)  

My husband doesn't really care for leftovers or peanut butter cream pie, so guess who was mainly responsible for their disappearance? 

And then I'd slide down the buttery slope of overeating until we'd reach Christmas and my pants were tighter than ever and I hated myself.

Thanksgiving wasn't really the problem.  The problem was leftovers.  The problem was the disorientation I experienced afterwards when I seemed powerless to resist overeating.  The problem was allowing myself to splurge through the holiday season, rather than reigning myself in.  The problem was eating in the (figurative) dark.

This Thanksgiving, here is what I will do to prevent myself from coming apart at the seams:

1)  Realize that Thanksgiving dinner is not the reason I am fat. 

2)  Wear snug-fitting jeans to remind me that my stomach is not infinitely expandable.

3)  Start the day with my normal breakfast of old-fashioned oatmeal.

4)  Eat a reasonable portion of whatever foods I deem worth the calories.  I like the Three-Bite Rule . . . savor up to three bites of a food, if that food is truly worth it.  That goes for dessert, too.

5)  Send leftovers home with someone else.  Or simply decide not to eat them myself.  For me, compulsive overeating means I can't just "have a bite" while no one is looking.  I can certainly enjoy dinner with everyone else, but I can no longer eat big plates of leftovers at night when everyone else is sleeping.  I resisted all Halloween candy--I can certainly resist leftovers from Thanksgiving.

6)  Get some exercise.

The day after Thanksgiving, I'll be back to focusing on low-glycemic index foods. 

Here are some other very helpful ideas for dealing with Thanksgiving dinner. 

And here are recipes that are low-fat and Weight-Watchers friendly.  (Click on "Recipes" at the left and scroll down for Thanksgiving ones.) 

Remember, the idea is not to simply diet our way through each holiday (hanging on desperately by our fingernails), but to figure out a way to deal with holidays so that we can maintain a healthy weight for the rest of our lives and still have fun.  Each of us will have a slightly different way of managing, whether it be portion-control or limiting certain foods or both.

How do you plan to deal with Thanksgiving?  Share your tips or fears so we can support one another.

[And for those who are wondering . . . I will work on updating stats a little later.  And I haven't forgotten Diet Buddies . . . I'm just slackluster . . . (slacker + lackluster = slackluster.)  My apologies.]