Kim’s Journey to a Healthier Place

I heard this great tip at one of my weekly WW meetings and wanted to pass it along.

How do you eat your salad?

a) I pour the dressing all over my salad.

b) I order the dressing on the side and dip the salad on my fork into the dressing.

c) I order the dressing on the side and dip the fork into the dressing before putting the salad on my fork.

Since WW, I’ve always done b) and dipped my salad into my dressing. I never considered that if I dip my fork into the dressing first, I always get the taste of the dressing while using so much less. I’ll be doing c) from now on! So the next time you order a salad, consider how you eat it.

Here’s something that’s worked well for me. Have you ever lusted over some brownies or cake and finally given in, only to be disappointed in how it tastes? Especially if you saved points to eat it? Remember that disappointment when you lust over holiday treats and goodies. Tell yourself that although it looks really good, it probably doesn’t taste all that great. And think about that specific time you were disappointed. This helps keep me from even wanting to taste something. Once I get a taste and it IS good, it’s hard not to go back for seconds…or thirds…or more. Of course this doesn’t work for every treat, but at least this way you’ll save points for things you really know will be worth it. Maybe this tip will help! Good luck with whatever strategy you use-we all need it this time of year! (c:

Do you have any holiday eating tips you could share?

I’m not a nutritionist or professional in the area of diet or exercise. I don’t claim to do everything right, but I’m glad to share some of my experiences in losing these 40 pounds. I admit, it’s been super fast with huge weight losses. I’ve often wondered if I’m losing too fast. I guess being young and making some good choices have helped my body lose quickly. I DO eat all my daily points, and quite often, eat some if not all my extra weekly allowance points.

What are you eating? 

Notice my title is ”Kim’s Journey to a Healthier Place”, not “Kim’s Journey to a Skinnier Place”. This includes making wise food choices. One observation I’ve notice is the trap we fall into about our points. What we eat is just as important as how much we eat. A lot of people want to buy tons of 100 calorie packs and live off them. While they’re staying in their points range, they don’t lose much weight. Most 100 cal pks are still junk food, just smaller amounts. (Of course they’re fine on occasion.) Our bodies don’t work efficiently on that kind of stuff. I got in that rut too and didn’t feel as well or lose as much. I stopped buying 100 cal packs completely and replaced them with grapes, part-skim cheese sticks, bananas, whole grain crackers, carrot sticks, sugar-free pudding, yogurt, etc. These foods at least have some nutritional content whether it be fiber, vitamins, or calcium. Our bodies respond best to whole foods (i.e., minimally processed foods.) Changing these food choices made a big difference for me.

Avoid becoming ravenous 

One of my weaknesses is the bottomless pit syndrome (i.e., overeating). To combat this I started eating 3-4 small meals before dinner. My husband and I like to make dinner a heavier meal than lunch, so lunch for me is broken down into mini meals. I’ll eat breakfast before I get ready for work which usually consists of a high-fiber cereal (Fiber One Oat Clusters is my fav), with 1% milk, a Breakfast Lean Pocket, or a Smart Ones breakfast sandwich. My first snack at about 10:00 is something 1-2 points from the foods I listed above. I then eat lunch between 12:00-1:00 which is usually about 2 serving of soup (1-3 points), a frozen meal, or leftovers, and then a third snack shortly after lunch or about 3:00. Then for dinner I cook something more substantial. To manage my points I typically divide the number of points I have available in half (for example, if I have 22 points, 22/2 = 11.) I’ll eat half of my points in the morning/afternoon and save the other half for dinner. Of course there are days where is doesn’t balance out that way and I make adjustments.

Move! 

I try to work out between 2-4 days a week. I’m currently training for a 5K and doing a lot of cardio and stretching. I really need to start weights, but I just don’t like doing them. I’ll get there!

 The Ultimate Challenge

If you’re like us, you eat out quite a bit. At restaurants, I pretty much never eat everything on the plate. If you’ve ever seen how many points are packed into restaurant fare, you’d understand. Dotti has a great resource of restaurant menus and their point values. It’s SHOCKING! I always take some home or just leave some on my plate- even if I think it’s something healthy. Turns out, most of the time I’m not hungry anymore. I’ll even drape my dirty napkin over my plate so that I stop picking when I’ve reached the point I’m satisfied. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy hamburgers, wings, pizza, etc, just a lot less often. Maybe 1-2 times a month using my method of madness I just described. You’ve already paid for the food whether you eat all of it or not. It can go in the trash can or on your trunk. You decide! (I live by this motto when I eat out.)

Summary 

So to summarize, these are my daily notes to myself. Eat nutritious foods. Stay away from empty calories, even if they’re within your points, approach eating-out with caution, move, and drink water. That’s how I’ve gotten this far!