I’m going to start with the good news. I’ve worked out six of the past seven days, everything from four-mile runs to Zumba to cardio-kickboxing. It felt good to get a good workout and feel like my body is getting back in to shape. That is the only good news, however.
After one week of supposedly watching the food I put in my mouth, I’m only down one-and-a-half pounds. I’ve lost more weight in one day before on accident. I’m not happy with the results or the choices I’ve made this week.
My number one problem: alcohol. In the past week, I hosted a cocktail party and went out twice with friends. Each time, I drank my will power away and ended up eating (I’m embarrassed to say) a hot dog or pizza after midnight. I was tipsy and I was hungry. So this week I’m putting a cap on my alcoholic beverages. I don’t need the empty calories or the voracious, manly appetite alcohol gives me.
This week I also realized that food is an all-consuming thought in my brain. I’ve heard people say, “I eat to live. I don’t live to eat.” I’m in the second group though. I live to eat. I love to eat. Delicious foods are my weakness. This week, I am going to make a conscious effort to shift my thoughts to the eat-to-live model.
My other pledge for the week is that I’m not putting anything in my mouth unless I write it down and count the calories. When I was at my thinnest, this approach worked for me. It made me second guess the amount of calories I consumed, even if it was just a slice of cheese from the refrigerator or a handful of almonds. I counted every calorie all day long.
In order to help me write down everything I eat without carrying a pen-and-paper food journal, I downloaded an app for my iPhone called myfitnesspal.com. This app will allow me to set a daily calorie goal and log each calorie I consume to ensure I don’t pass my daily allowance (1200 calories). The app is free and can be downloaded at the iTunes store or used online via their site.
I genuinely believe that my eat-to-live motto and my pledge to write down everything I consume and not exceed my caloric allowance will result in more weight loss next week.
Need a recap? Check out last week’s post.
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Comments
Aysha Manori
February 17th, 2010 - 1:42:16 PM
I'm always starving after two drinks... don't know what to do! (I mean besides not drinking so much ;>)
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Sarah
March 2nd, 2010 - 9:11:22 PM
I would be careful with the writing down every single calorie approach. As I read in your first blog entry, you said that led you down the path to an eating disorder. Though you are 10 years older (and wiser, I assume), I still think that is a negative, forceful way of dieting. I'm also speaking from personal experience. I've suffered from bulimia for a year now, but have gone months at a time where I didnt' binge or purge at all. That was when I was active, keeping busy and not really thinking about food, though I enjoyed going out to dinner with friends and drinking etc, without counting calories I still lost weight and I think it has a lot to do with my healthy state of mind at the time. This past month I got serious about losing weight (10-12 pounds by summer) and thought a food journal where I counted every calorie would be a good idea. It ended up fueling my binging and purging to a point where I recognized the lack of any "give" with a calorie-counting food journal just exacerbated my bulimia, made me feel guilty for an extra handful of almonds, and definitely didn't help with my goal. Sorry for the long comment but I definitely relate to your blog, and I'm going to keep up with it. Best of luck, know that there's someone else right there with you.
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