Well, I just returned from two weeks at home (childhood home). Stayed with mom and grandma...which meant quite a lot of grandma cooking (including desert every night). She did put in an inground pool last year, which I utilized all but the three rainy days...but I still came home with 6 more pounds than I left with.
Ah well. It was the longest I've been home since Summer of 2002. I loved and cherished every single second of it. I NEEDED it. I felt peaceful, and relaxed. I missed my husband like crazy, but other than that, I would have stayed longer.
Now...for some goals!
1. I want to lose 10 lbs before August 18th. (First day of school.)
That's 7 weeks away...so a bit less than 1.5 lbs a week. Completely doable if I stick to it and MEAN IT. I want that 10 lbs off of my official dietician weigh-in weight tomorrow, so I'll make a ticker tomorrow with that weight and goal.
2. I have fallen off the exercise band wagon since the last challenge ended, so I want to exercise a MINIMUM of 4 hours per week. Counting swimming and walks with my husband (or best friend's kids) this is more than doable, again, if I stick with it and mean it. Before my trip home, I was only averaging 1.5 hours per week. That won't do it! I will not be counting Wii Fit time, although I'll certainly still be using it.
3. I've been HORRIBLE about taking my vitamins this summer. I've remembered only about twice a week. I want to change that, for sure!
My aunt, who used to weigh 185 and now weighs 122 gave me some good advice when I was home.
She said she takes 3-5 bites of each item on her plate (or 10 bites if it is a one dish meal), chews each bite slowly and waits a few seconds between bites. She then stops eating for 3 minutes. She assesses where she is in fullness. If she is not satiated, she eats 5 more bites and repeats. She always stops at satiated, but not full. She said you can always eat leftovers, prepare or buy the same meal again, so there is never an excuse to feel you must eat every bit.
She also said she makes a list of snacks she has available on the fridge (some good, some bad) including the portion. She puts a checkmark by it if she eats it. She has to check off at least 3 good snacks before she can have a bad one. Her list when I was there was 1 apple, 1/2 c. watermelon, 1/2 c. cantelope, 3 celery stalks, 1 dill pickle, 1 pk mini rice cakes, 2 mini hershey bars, 1 ice cream bar, 2 cookies, 1 pudding cup. She crosses through her checkmarks after she "earns" her bad snack and starts over. She said depending on her level of hunger, she may eat 4 snacks in a day, or it may take her several days. She does not start the checks over each day.
She said she eats her breakfast, lunch and dinner on a regular schedule (and unless there is an outstanding circmstance, she is always within a half hour of her schedule), but she only snacks if her stomach actually growls. If she just "feels" hungry, she drinks water or decaf ice tea.
She makes lunch her biggest meal of the day, and tries to make supper more of a light meal to tide her over til bed. (I've tried that in the past and not stuck to it.)
She also said she has a regular bedtime and never eats within 2 hours of bed.
I am going to try implementing these. I think bedtime will be the hardest one!!
That is great news. Well done. 