Just Counting Calories

Right now, since it's the eating season and there's food EVERYWHERE at my job, I'm taking the lazy way. I'm just counting calories and walking when I can.

Any other plan is just too stressful this time of year...

The Eating Season Approaches

Yes, the eating season is nearly here again. An entire year has went by and I'm still poking along, barely holding the donkey back from the sweets that will come pouring into the house in another couple of weeks.

I'm not even buying the Halloween candy until just before that day. I can't have it in the house, I have a horrible weakness for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

But Halloween is just the beginning. Then there's Thanksgiving and then home to Mom and Dad's for Christmas and then New Years Day.

Look, if you manage to make it through the potlucks, holiday meals, and food everywhere without gaining any weight, you've done well.

It's the two month eating season. Just do the best you can to hang on, think moderation, and get back on track after those big holiday meals.

This too shall pass.

Let's just make it as easy on ourselves as we can. OK?

The Tortoise Diet

I talked about this concept on eHow.com, http://www.ehow.com/how_5310424_lose-weight-slowly-naturally.html.

Essentially, it's a lifestyle change. You start off at maintenance level and just stay there. When you reach goal, you're there! You don't change a thing, you just continue eating like you have been all along.

Yes, it's definitely a shift in the dieting philosophy.

Think about it. Consider carefully if you're willing to go the slow but sure road to a healthy weight. Like any eating plan, it won't be easy, but it may be the best path for you. Me too.

(I can hear my inner donkey just screaming "NO, NO, NOOOOOOO!"

Teens and Dieting

I can tell you right now, it's almost impossible to watch your eating with a teen in the house.

You know that "road to Hell" thing? Well the road to overeating runs parallel to it.

You're planning a nice salad for dinner. OMGosh, the kids can't live without pizza on a Friday night! And, hey, you have a slice or two and the next thing you know, you wake up in the morning with massive water retention.

Don't step on the scales. Wait until Sunday, or even Monday, you don't want to have "scale shock" when you realize how much water your body is retaining. (As if you can't tell, your fingers feel like stubby little sausages...)

Like always, just hang in there and do the best that you can. Drink extra water, walk twice as far, go easy the rest of the weekend and by Monday you'll be back on track!

The Battle Continues

You know, it's hard when you have teens at home.

Somehow, if there's not chips, ice cream, fast food, and/or junk food in the house, they'll proclaim "There's nothing to eat in this house!"

A refrigerator full of food, a freezer, cupboards, shelves, all full.

But if there's nothing there that's bad for you, they think there's no food at all.

Ayyyy, what to do?

Well, the battle must rage on, not just against the inner donkey, but against the outside influences of our lives that lead to overeating and obesity.

Keep fighting the good fight.

And leave those chips in the grocery store. You REALLY don't need them, no matter what your inner donkey and the kids think!

I Made It Through Lent

I swear, I never would have been able to do it alone, the Lord carried me through.

It is just so, so hard to give up added sugar in your diet.

I appreciate more the sacrifices that my family and friends have made in having the gastric bypass. Some people think that surgery is the "easy" way to lose weight.

They're wrong.

Yes, people lose a lot weight, quickly, but few realize the sacrifice that goes with it.

The physical effects of rapid weight loss. No sugar. No alcohol. Shakes. Dizziness. Vomiting. Malnutrition. Loose skin.

One woman I know DIED. Yes they said it was heart failure, but she'd just recently had the surgery and my opinion is that her body just couldn't take the strain.

I'm the one taking the easy road, because it goes as fast or as slow as I choose to make it.

I made it through Lent, the time of sacrifice.

Now to make it through the rest of the year, following the rule of moderation in all things.

I can make it with His help...

Sugar Temptation

So far, I'm holding firm.

At work, there's been lady fingers, princess breads, chocolate cake, brownies, boxes of candy, cupcakes, and more.

I even went to a birthday party on Saturday and didn't have the cake (omgoodness, it was chocolate!!) and ice cream.

But I can't take the credit for this willpower. As I told my co-worker, if I was just doing this for myself, I'd have failed already. I'm doing this for Lent -- a whole different thing than just a plain old "diet".

But I know the worst is yet to come. Somehow, there's always a huge temptation right before Easter, right before it's time to break the fast.

I'm quite sure I'll have a huge sugar temptation. I will depend on Him to help me through...

Those New Year's Resolutions

Today I want to discuss those New Year's resolutions.

Yeah, you remember, the one you made about losing weight. The one that's been derailed for three months now.

It's time to pick it up and start again. As we used to say in Weight Watchers, wipe the cookie crumbs off your chin and start over.

I know, the next question, what am I doing?

Well, to be honest, I was washing dishes on Ash Wednesday and contemplating fasting.

No, no, no, not the kind of fasting where you just don't eat. Fasting is more than just not eating. You can fast anything. The point is to fast something that's getting in the way of your life -- physical, mental, spiritual.

Sigh, I was washing dishes and then it came to me.

Sugar.

I need to fast sugar.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. So for 40 days, I'm fasting added sugar. No sugar in my coffee (fake sugar is OK). No donuts, no cookies, no brownies, no candy, no cake, no chocolate.

The funny thing is, 10 days into this, I'm really not having a hard time with it. I expected to have a hard time, especially where I work. There's candy, there's cookies, there's brownies, there's food everywhere!!

I haven't seen any effect on my weight. But I'm not doing this for my weight. I'm doing it because I got a Word that I need to do this.

Those New Year's resolutions are doomed right from the moment they blossom in your mind. But a fast, according to the Word, that's a different matter...

The Two Month Eating Season Ends

Oh, thank the good Lord, the two month eating season ends today.

I made it through with a minimal weight gain, less than the average, so I've done well.

Time to begin again. Tomorrow is again a time of moderation and exercise.

No, I'm not doing the usual resolution thing, stop this, stop that. No, I'm going to do what I heard another woman on the radio is doing -- I'm adding.

I'm adding exercise to my daily routine.

I'm adding more fiber to my diet.

I'm adding more fruits and vegetables to my healthy eating plan.

I'm adding more "push aways from the table" to my days, weeks, month, year.

Muzzle that donkey! The two month eating season is OVER!