Winning the Diet Game

I have had several people ask me about what I am eating while trying to lose weight, and I have been gathering my thoughts on this for the past few days.

It is certainly true that couponing doesn't exactly lend itself towards healthy eating if we are talking about fresh, clean food, but it is entirely possible to count calories while couponing.

Here's the deal. To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you take in, simple as that. I have tried diet after diet after diet, and the only thing that works is to burn more calories than you take in. I have however, taken a little bit of dieting strategy from each diet that I have done, so I am going to try to break that down.

First of all, I am big believer in recording what you eat for the first few weeks of a diet. Let's say you are dieting for the long haul--and I highly recommend dieting for the long haul, but I will get to that in a minute--I think that for the first three weeks or so, you need to be meticulous about writing down what you eat. And I mean every. single. bite. Why? Because if you don't, it is very easy to have a bite here and there, and without even realizing it, the calories start to pile up. I also think that after three weeks, you can slack off a bit when it comes to recording everything because you have established the habit of not taking a bite here and there. You see? And I am not saying that you should never take a bite. If there is cake or cookies at work, for example, and you are dying to have one, then by all means have one, just be sure to write it down and adjust your calories accordingly. This leads me to my next bit of dieting advice--

Don't cut out any one food. I have tried this before--no potato chips or french fries or chocolate or whatever, and for me it always back fires. I love potato chips and french fries. Love them, and I think they can easily fit into a diet. Again, our focus is on how many calories you eat in the day, so if I choose to eat fries at Chick-fil-a on Monday, then I just eat a low calorie dinner and breakfast. In the past when I have totally cut something out, it back fires because I end up ordering the fries anyway, feeling like I blew it, throwing in the towel, and calling it quits on the diet. However, if I never tell myself that I can't have fries, then if I eat them, I just adjust the day's food schedule. Do you see? This applies to whatever your "weakness" is; mine just happens to be french fries (dipped in ranch dressing, in case you were wondering).

Okay, while I don't believe in cutting out particular foods, I do believe in being smart about your food choices. I tend to get hungry often. Like, I may eat breakfast at 8 am, and by 10 am, I am famished. So, over the years I have learned that it is much smarter for me to eat eggs and whole grain toast than a cereal bar for breakfast. Protein and whole grains (complex carbs) are going to stick with you much longer than simple carbs (cereal bar). An easy mistake to make is to think that all calories are equal, and they are not. In fact, I would rather initially eat more calories at breakfast (omelet vs. bagel), but have the breakfast last until lunch. At the end of the day, I will have actually eaten less calories by being smart about what calories I choose. Does that make sense?

Now, this leads me to dieting on a budget. As you all know, my main priority right now is saving money in every way that I can. This means that my food choices most often reflect price rather than health or calorie count. There have been times, like when I was still teaching, when I could make health or diet my priority over price. So, alter your decisions accordingly. When teaching, convenience also played a huge role. For example, I might only have thirty minutes (or less) for lunch, so I often bought frozen, microwaveable meals such as Kashi or Lean Cuisine. These usually filled me up for the most part without packing on the calories. Now that I am staying at home, those things rarely work their way into the weekly budget. I do like Lean Cuisine pizzas a lot, so I try to stock up when they are on sale and I have coupons, but for the most part it is much cheaper for me to buy a loaf of bread (on sale) and peanut butter and call it lunch. Peanut butter is a cheap protein, and it is especially good for you if you buy Natural Peanut butter, so you aren't getting any added sugar or other ingredients. I use this to make peanut butter toast (on whole grain bread) or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (on whole grain, using "all fruit" type jellies). Again, the diet secret is no big secret, I just figure out how many calories I can have each day, and I stick to those calories no matter what.

This is getting long, so let me throw in two other things, and I will wrap this up. I suggest aiming for 1/2 lb to 1 lb a week. In college, I gained about ten lbs during my freshman year (which is a lot of weight gain when you are only 5 feet tall), and I tried my hardest to lose that weight over the course of three years. I tried everything, but finally, the summer before my senior year of college I did weight watchers, and I lost maybe 1/2 lb a week, and some weeks passed with no weight loss. It probably took me six months to lose the ten pounds, but I have never gained it back (not counting pregnancy, of course). Even now, I don't carry around that extra 10 lbs. Slow weight loss is the best kind. Don't try to drastically reduce calories. IT WON'T WORK. You will only become obsessive and it will back fire, I promise. (I speak from experience.) Be realistic and stick to a healthy amount of calories, and take it slow. The weight will come off and stay off, but you have to be patient and consistent. Any questions? I love talking about this stuff, so feel free to ask away.

And remember, here is my favorite place for dieting information. At the Daily Plate you will find out how many calories you need to eat each day, and you can record your daily meals and exercise. It is a great tool for staying on track!!