Category Archives: health
It really works!
If you are feeling hungry or snacky… drink a glass of water. Chances are you are THIRSTY instead of HUNGRY.
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard that in Weight Watchers meetings or on TV… but yesterday my daughter reminded me of this trick and told me that she had seen it on “The Doctors” TV show.
I tried drinking a glass of water each time I felt hungry (snacky) and I when I weighed myself this morning – I was DOWN! YAY!
Hunger (Physical vs Emotional)
How often do I eat because of how I feel? I know that I reach for something yummy whenever I feel upset or sad or even when I want to celebrate… it’s always “where do you want to eat?”
Almost anyone you ask will acknowledge that there is some connection between mood and food… right? Like so many other Americans, I have substituted food for feelings. Over the past few weeks I have been working on feeling my feelings instead of feeding my feelings. This has been an interesting journey, because I really don’t know HOW to feel my feelings.
I was grouchy with my wife last Wednesday because I was making a conscious decision not to feed my feelings and I didn’t know how to process what I was going through. Sadly, it is easy to mistake emotional hunger for physical hunger. I think that we have conditioned ourselves to expect food when what we really need to do is nurture our emotions.
I heard an interesting statistic the other day… I can’t find the source for it – so it may not be exact… but… “57% of women with more than 11 pounds to lose are emotional eaters.”
First, I’ve got to ask myself… why weren’t men asked this same question? … LOL… seriously… but really, How often do I eat in response to my emotions? Until recently… OFTEN!
How does that affect my weight-loss? It causes me to GAIN weight or AND it’s not healthy for my emotions.
How can I tell the difference between EMOTIONAL Hunger and PHYSICAL Hunger?
Physical Hunger:
- Physiological hunger can make you feel empty, lightheaded, irritable, nauseous or unable to concentrate.
- You may experience a headache or stomach pangs.
- Hunger builds gradually, and never feels out of control.
Emotional Hunger:
- *You want it… NOW!
- Hunger usually occurs in conjunction with increased emotion (Had to confront the boss? Fighting rush hour traffic?)
- It hits you “above the neck.” (Crave chocolate? See a commercial on TV? Smell something sugary baking at the grocery store and you get giddy?)
Some things that I’ve been working on:
- Identify my “food” triggers
- Feel my feelings
- Reframe my perception of food
- Track my food intake
- Track my hunger level & emotions when I feel “hungry”
- Ask for help
- Drink 8oz to 16oz of water 30 minutes BEFORE a meal
- Drink 8oz to 16oz of water 60 minutes AFTER a meal.
- Plan my meals (as much as possible)
Reframing
Reframing is a technique used to help change an individuals perception of something.
A “frame” or “frame of reference” is complex. It’s the lenses with which you look at a particular issue or belief. It may be your “reality”
To reframe something - is to step back from what is being said or done and consider the lens through which this perception is being created. Understand that there are unspoken assumptions, beliefs, or experiences which could color your view of the situation.
Consider alternative lenses and challenge the way that you see what you are looking at. Some common ways to reframe may include:
- A problem as an opportunity
- A weakness as a strength
- An impossibility as a future possibility
- Unkindness as lack of understanding
The state of our Emotional being has a lot to do with how we frame things. If I’m happy, I’m more willing to overlook something than when I’m grumpy. If I’m sad, I’m more likely to overeat than if I’m feeling optimistic.
I use reframing to help me overcome food issues. I have to ask myself a few questions:
- What does this behavior give me?
- What benefit comes from eating this food?
- Is there another activity that can give me a similar benefit? (If I’m stressed, maybe a long walk will help vs. consuming a pint of ice cream)
Motivation #1
One of the things that I really appreciate about Weight Watchers is that they don’t simply focus on the weight loss. There are other things that you can experience VICTORIES in that are “NSV” (non-scale-victories).
Weight Watchers encourages members to set Goals which are both weight loss goals and non-weight-loss-goals. For every 5lbs that you take off, you get a “5″ sticker. They also celebrate at 5% & 10% weight-loss (when you take off 5% or 10% of your original weight). And if you stick around for 16 weeks, you get a “stay and succeed” award.
Some non-weight-loss-goals that I might set would be “Write down all of my food items today” or “Make a healthy selection at lunch”
People who regularly set eating or fitness goals (and make an attempt to follow-through) experience winning outcomes.
Today I am sitting in the Dining Room trying to do homework (but I’m not motivated) and I realized that I’m sitting in a size 40 pair of Khaki’s that have been sitting in a drawer for 5 years. They were probably last worn before we made our trek to Las Vegas. THAT is a non-scale-victory for me today. I’m enjoying sitting in a slightly-tight (but not too bad) pair of pants that I couldn’t have buttoned a month ago. On Sunday, our pastor noticed that I had lost weight. And… Gramma noticed that my belly was no longer hanging out under under a shirt that I LOVE to wear.
You may have a bad day now and again – but the measure of success isn’t how many time I screwed up – it’s whether or not I got back on the program and kept going. And for 12 weeks I’ve “kept going!”
As of this morning (according to my home scale) I have taken off 25.8 lbs in 86 days. I feel better for it.
I know that it’s not always going to be easy and that I’m going to need to look at this post in a few months to help keep me motivated. I still have 110 lbs to lose. I didn’t put it on overnight and so I know that it won’t come off overnight. One day at a time, if I keep working the plan, I will take off this weight!
9 Timeless Nutrition Tips for Any Age
One of my favorite places to browse the web is over at Marc and Angel Hack Life.
They have a great blog… nice pictures… lists of great things to remember or do… and it’s easy to bookmark and come back to again and again.
Recently they posted a guest article from Nicole entitled “9 Timeless Nutrition Tips for Any Age” I would recommend clicking the link and reading the entire article… but here are the tips:
- Limit junk food or don’t eat it at all.
- Go on a healthy food shopping spree.
- Limit eating out.
- Visit a farmer’s market.
- Cut out the white stuff.
- Exercise.
- Eat at a table.
- Eat smaller portions by buying smaller plates.
- Cut out ‘beverages’ and drink water.
Weight Loss Journey
It’s finally starting to sink in. I’m finally starting to realize that I cannot eat like the “average” American if I want to be healthy and energetic. I was a husky child and I have been overweight for all of my adult life. I tried Atkins, South Beach, Mediterranean, “Bible” diet and others. I lost weight initially – but was never really equipped to eat in the real world.
In 1995 I was at the thinnest of my adult life – I was about 180-195lbs. By 2005 I had gained over 100lbs – I started the “Weight Watchers @ Work” program (at 305lbs) and lost 30lbs in 11 weeks… At 275lbs (just 1/2 lb from my 10% goal) I moved to Las Vegas and stopped working the program.
January 2010 – now back in Seattle I rejoined Weight Watchers (at 300.2 lbs). In 9 weeks time I have lost 18.6lbs. Just 3 weeks into my journey – my wife joined and has had similar results… about 15lbs in 6 weeks time.
My wife has a simple goal – she’s calling it 30 by 30. She wants to lose 30lbs by her 30th birthday. She’ll probably overshoot that goal – but it’s a nice goal for her…
My goal is to lose 70lbs by September 20… That’s 2lbs per week – not too aggressive – but it definitely requires a weekly loss in order to achieve.
Discipline
I found this quote the other day and it sort of fits my new lifestyle goals…
Do what you OUGHT to do -
So you can do what you WANT to do
Hard Work
Losing weight is HARD WORK!
It’s hard when you are used to eating whatever you want, whenever you want, and as much as you want. It takes discipline. In fact, for the first few days, I experienced incredible headaches every afternoon.
I have been drinking at least 2 quarts of water per day and I have drastically decreased the amount of soda that I am drinking. I feel better and I feel like I have lost something around my waist – although I don’t believe that I have lost any kind of real weight yet…
I am taking this one day at a time. I keep telling myself that I am “behaving myself to success”
Tomorrow will be my weigh-in day – and I truly hope to see some sort of movement DOWN on the scale. I’m hoping for ANYTHING under 290. Just to be in the 280′s again will be a great step forward in this long journey.
“Feelings” Blog #1
Ok. I’m pretty certain that this is psychological… but… on the 2nd day of taking my Blood Pressure medicine, I feel “more relaxed”… that is not to say that I’m not feeling rushed and still in a high stress position at work… it is to say that I feel less stressed about my position and actually feel like I’m thinking with a clearer head… again – no scientific proof – just feelings.
Walk-In Clinic
Tonight I walked into a walk-in clinic to seek treatment on my sore knee… My knee has been bothering me for a few weeks… so after a short wait, 5 position x-ray, and a very long wait – the doctor said … there’s no bone damage, take some ibuprofen and here’s a script for High Blood Pressure… my BP was 192 over 89 which my wife says is scary high on the top number somewhat high on the lower number… *(her step-dad is a nurse)
My followup is in 4 weeks… we’ll see what happens with the BP… I did a 3 week trial of Blood pressure medicine in September 2006 and my wife said that it made me feel better and have a better attitude… so I’m going to start a “feelings journal” and I may even post some of my feelings here… if anyone cares 
