Anyhow, my Resolution was the same as 96% of all women out there: To Lose Weight. No wait, let me rephrase that. It really is about eating right and eating healthy. No, I swear! The thing is, according to BMI charts, I'm not really that over weight. But according to my frame......I am. So really it's more about being healthy and hoping my body falls into line along the way.
I haven't been influenced by living in LA in such a way that I am about to announce that I'm starting some crazy cayenne-pepper, lemon juice, pickle juice, essence of Crystal diet/cleanse/starvation method. No, actually, believe it or not, I use Weight Watchers. Wow, it's kind of embarrassing to admit that. When you think of WW, what comes to mind for you? Come on......admit it, you're thinking of pre-menopausal women in a room, who survive on eating pre-packaged, frozen WW meals, aren't you?
Well, today's post is to prove to you that it's not that bad. I was introduced to it by a friend who is one of the healthiest, most active, beautiful women I know. And I was always impressed by how healthily she ate. When she admitted she did WW, I was stunned. So, I tried it. Just coming out of graduate school, I was significantly overweight (a common phenomenon for people who overwork their brains and ignore their bodies). So I did it, and lost over 20 lbs. My husband did with me and lost closer to 70 lbs (men lose weight differently......plus, he had more to lose). Anyhow, I'm good at the losing weight part, not as good at the maintaining part, so here I am again. I've decided to document my Mondays and what I eat to hold myself accountable. We'll see how far this lasts, huh?
Soooo, here goes! I hope you enjoy this little photojournal of What I Ate Today (wow, how narcissistic), and if not, you can just go back to doing.....something more important!
Here we go.....
A cup of Huckleberry Tea.
Breakfast
Lunch. Check out my cute new bento-style tupperware!
Snacks!!
Dinner!
Annnnd that's my day! 26 points in total.
That's it. I hope you enjoyed. I hope you realized you actually CAN eat and still lose weight. You don't have to stop eating all together, lose a bunch of weight, and then gain it back when you're done. This is just eating healthier. Period.
Yes exactly, it is about balance, about eating healthy, non-processed food, about getting food that is produced in the most natural way possible and eating it with all of its fiber and micronutrient content(for vegetables it means eating them raw or just barely cooked).
ReplyDeleteBTW, don't go crazy with the BMI, I am guilty of obsessively trying to get down to 18 (which was my BMI as a teenager eventhough I ate a lot), when now I am a 32 year old, my metabolism has changed, and my weight is where it should be I guess (I don't really go up or down on the scale, and we do try to eat well, except we love the sweet stuff, and maybe we exaggerate , but we are working on that).
I stopped obsessing when I read this:
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“As a result of extensive research, fertility expert and Harvard professor Rose Frisch maintains that only 10 percent of women are fertile with a body mass index of 18. She says: ‘Many women who maintain body shape made popular on the catwalks throughout the world are completely infertile ‘. Even if you are underweight and still have periods, your diet can affect your fertility. This is because your body needs a sufficient intake of fat (albeit the right kind) to produce the hormones required for ovulation”.
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Do you realize? That means that 90 % of girls with a BMI of 18, which is supposed to be healthy (the low limit, but yes, healthy), who are having regular periods could be sub-fertile. Wow.
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I wrote a post about coming to terms with all of this, about finally accepting that I will never be as thin as I was when I was 18 and that is a GOOD thing:
http://poppiesandicecream.blogspot.nl/2011/10/girls-are-meant-to-be-curvy.html
I also do WW and love it. It is the only time I have managed to stick to a diet and it work. With calorie counting I gave up quickly as I was starving and grumpy!!
ReplyDeletexox
Amanda, I checked out your blog entry and I think I am like you. I come from a thin family and so I am just used to "thin." Even at my heaviest I was never out of my "healthy weight range." But it was so NOT how I was used to looking. Currently, my BMI (according to charts) is 22. My ideal weight puts me at 20. So I feel like that is a normal, healthy weight for me.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it's not just about the BMI. Especially on charts. When I was at my heaviest, I had my BMI taken at a gym with those pincer things (oww!) and it was much higher than the charts said. So it's really about being healthy and happy with your body. There is NO way I will ever be as skinny as I was in college (I was 5'6 and 118 lbs!), but I think I was way too skinny. You could count my ribs. The problem is, after my metabolism changed, I kept eating exactly the same way. Ooops.
Plus, nowadays, if I get too skinny, my husband comments and says he misses my "curves."
Also, thanks for the article about BMI and fertility. Makes perfect sense. Who ever saw a fertility goddess that was bony and angular??
Ashleigh...Glad to find another convert! It's worked really well for me and my husband. Both of us for different reasons. For me, I needed to learn portion control. For him, he needed to learn to eat more often and more regularly (rather than not eating all day and then eating a ton).
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to be back on it completely. It feels good :)
I have the same bento-style box! It's great for getting the portions just right. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy BMI is the high side of normal; not overweight but I'm bigger than I'd like to be. I've tried WW in the past and what I'm doing now is very similar. I'm just trying to eat "whole foods" (rather than processed foods) as much as possible and eat fresh fruit or veggies with every meal. It's really helping me be mindful about getting good quality calories instead of empty ones.
My big thing is sweets - I just love them so much! I'm finding that VERY ripe pineapple with greek yogurt is keeping my sweet tooth in check. For now.
BTW: The huckleberry tea sounds delicious! I get a mix of blueberry and pineapple iced tea canisters from Teavana. Nom!
Dspence- here's a good recipe for your sweet tooth: Take plain Greek yogurt and mix in a tiny bit of peanut butter, vanilla and, if you need it, a little bit of sweetener (honey, brown sugar, etc). Then dip in apple slices and enjoy!
ReplyDeleteAn excellent idea to keep your resolution! Weight Watchers huh?! Wow! That might be just what I need to get rid of my muffin top problem. HA.
ReplyDeleteHi there! I'm Alexis Your newest follower :) I am a big fan of WW! I have decided for the new year I am going to start going to meetings again! attending for 3 months is my goal! Plus meetings always get me back on track! Have a lovely week :D
ReplyDeleteAlexis-
On the PB/Yogurt dip - oh my GOODNESS. That sounds SO good!
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