Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Still on the journey....but at a slow pace!

I'm still on the journey with my weight loss efforts but at a slow pace. I've only lost 9 lbs since January. When I was younger, I would have lost that in the first week. This slow crawl toward my goal is not a mystery to me though. I know what I have and haven't done toward this effort. For instance: not exercising, occasional binge eating, late night snacking. So, I know these are things that I need to change.
While portion control is important in the WW world, equally important is eating filling foods. In our culture we are overwhelmed with a plethora of processed foods to choose from. I have been fighting a battle for 9 years with my gastrointestinal system, so in an effort to curb or at least minimize these problems, I have eliminated some foods altogether and have minimized as many processed foods as possible.

For instance:
-
I traded Stevia for Spenda several years ago when I noticed that I had abdominal bloating and discomfort. If you aren't familiar with Stevia, go to www.stevia.com
- I build my meals around fruits and veggies, instead of meats. We have a great little fruit/veggie place now that is affordable and fresh...this allows me to buy fruits/veggies every 2-3 days so that they won't spoil (the name of the place is "Main Street Market")
- If I eat processed frozen meals, or snacks, I try to stick with Kashi products which are supposed to be more whole grain/less processed.
-I cut out diet cokes, except for an occasional one. I am attempting to drink less coffee but I'm not there yet. Also, one of my future goals is to cut out flavored creamer (which has probably been a big contributor to my coffee addiction).
-I am drinking quality hot teas on occasion.
-I am doing some kind of exercise everyday that I don't work, except on Sunday.

This will be a life long journey and I've got a long way to go. If anyone has ideas or suggestions, please send them to me. I welcome any advise that I can learn from!