Saturday, June 19, 2010

My 24 "Dieting" Tips

I say "dieting" because I don't look at as a diet. I view this as a new lifestyle that I"m forever committed to.

As of 10/1/10, I've lost 63 pounds. I have 5 more to go to reach my goal. I thought I'd share some pointers with those of you are are thinking or are in the midst of losing weight. I hope these points would be an encouragement to you.

  1. I'm no longer a slave of sin. In my bible study over the past year, I was convicted when I realized 2 things:
    • Gluttony is a sin.
    • Christ has freed me from being a slave of sin and has given me power to overcome my sin.
    (For details on this, see my link mentioned in #10 below)
  2. Drink Diet Cream Soda!
    I've read somewhere that one should avoid diet carbonated drinks when attempting to lose weight. I'm not sure why the experts say that - I guess because it expands your stomach and therefore increases your capacity to overeat? Early on in my diet I found that drinking a can of fizzy diet cream soda 15-30 minutes before a meal resulted in me feeling somewhat full before mealtime. Since I felt this way, I did not eat as much as I would have had I not drank the can of soda.
  3. Avoid Non-Diet Drinks!
    Here in the "Sweet-Tea-Drinking" South this is a difficult task! But drinking sweet tea and non-diet soda is like drinking pure sugar! This is a real diet killer! You must STOP drinking non-diet drinks!
  4. Wear Tight clothes
    I can't stand to have tight fitting clothes on. It makes me feel swollen and fat! Subliminally, wearing tight fitting clothes makes me strive to lose weight so they won't be so tight and I won't be so self-conscious about my mid-section hanging over my belt! When I wear clothes that are big and loose, I can "hide" behind them; I feel that there's no need to lose weight.
  5. Eat without distractions
    By distractions, I don't mean don't eat with your family or your children! I have 3 small kids, they are certainly a distraction at the dinner table! The type of distractions that I am talking about are things like TV and reading materials. If you get engrossed in a book, magazine, or a TV show, it's very easy to lose track of how much food you have consumed.
  6. Use a smaller plate
    For nearly a year now, I've been using a small plate. In the past I had a huge dinner plate that I would fill up and then go back for seconds and thirds! Now I use a small plate that I still feel to overflowing, but I don't go back for seconds.
  7. "Pay" for your transgressions!
    By this I mean, if you overdo it at some meal, tell yourself later that you either won't eat at the next meal (since you had enough for 2 meals!) or at least not as much. Doing this also helps with the guilt you will feel for "falling off the wagon"; you tell yourself, "all is okay. I've got enough in my system to allow me to skip the next meal so no harm done!"
  8. Exercise.
    Some people exercise so they can eat more. I don't look at it that way. I see exercise as serving 2 purposes:
    1. It allows you to lose weight faster since you're burning more calories by exercising than being sedentary.
    2. It's good for your health!
  9. Serve others and put others first!
    • By jumping up and grabbing refills or 2nds for somebody else, you'll increase the time it takes you to eat your meal. Everybody else will tend to be finished before you. As a result, you won't feel like sitting there stuffing your face while everybody watches you. Instead, you'll tend to cut yourself short in order to catch up with the rest.
    • Hopefully by serving others, you'll run out of the fattening foods! Face it, everybody wants the fatty, salty, unhealthy stuff. The carrot slices are never the first to run out!
  10. Do Document your struggles and thoughts....
    By keeping a diary you can go back and read about your struggles and how you got over them. You'll be amazed at what you thought were real struggles but now are not a big deal at all. You'll be shocked at how much food had control of you as you read about your early thoughts.
    Please read mine at http://parker-house.blogspot.com/2010/05/thoughts-on-dieting-by-robert-parker.html
  11. ...But Don't document your food intake!
    That's right, I said "Don't"! I know people who would spend a lot of time weighing their food, looking at the food labels, tallying all calories consumed, etc. This is a lot of work! It is very laborious! What ultimately happens is you get weary of all this work and you soon abandon it and fall back to your old ways.
  12. Don't change what you eat. Do change how much you eat!
    Now, you need to exercise some common sense here. If your diet consists solely of donuts and french fries, then of course you need to change what you eat! The point that I'm trying to make is that many diets consist of partaking of foods in frequent quantities that you used to consume very rarely. That is, these diets are somewhat "foreign" to your body. You WON'T stick to a grapefruit diet, a low-carb diet, or any other diet that has food choices vastly different from what you historically eat.
  13. Have a strategy when heading to a big food event!
    Over the last year or so, I could not tell you how many times I had gone out of town to see family or on a business trip only to find myself "falling off the wagon" and taking weeks to get back on the wagon when I get back home!
  14. Avoid butter/margarine and sweets.
    In the Parker household we usually have pancakes on Sunday mornings. In the past, I used to put a hefty slab of butter and drench them with a ton of syrup. Now I never put butter on them and I put very little syrup on them. What I do though is put a ton of cut up strawberries and bananas on them. The fruit gives the pancakes the sweetness that I want and therefore don't need much syrup.
    If you're like me, I have a "sweet tooth". I have to have some kind of sweetness or dessert after a meal. Instead of satisfying my craving with a big slab of German Chocolate cake, I usually grab a couple of shortbread cookies or a biscotti. If you don't know what a biscotti is, here's what they look like and what the ingredients are: Biscotti Recipe. Note: we don't make our biscottis; we buy them. You can buy a large container of individually wrapped biscottis at Sam's. They don't have many calories and I like the fact that they are individually wrapped - this allows me to exercise portion control.
  15. Never eat cereal for breakfast!
    There are a couple of problems that I always have with cereal:
    1. I can never have just one bowl!....or 2, or 3, or 4...!
    2. No matter how much cereal I eat I am ravenous by 10am! I'm not a dietitian and I don't know why that is. I guess it has something to do with carbs.
    I find it amazing that just half a bagel with cream cheese, a banana, a small glass of OJ will stretch me to lunch.
  16. Psst!...It's okay to skip breakfast!
    (i.e. Don't eat if you're not that hungry!) This is related to #6 above. I found that if I ate too much for dinner the night before that I'm really not all that hungry for breakfast. Just because we're told that breakfast is "the most important meal of the day", doesn't mean that you should eat if you're not hungry for it! It's okay to skip....just don't tell your Momma!
  17. Give yourself a pep talk before taking your first bite.
    When I sit to the dinner table I fill my small plate up with food and then I intently look at the food on the plate and tell myself, "Look at all this food! Robert, your body does not need more than this. This is going to be so good! Praise God for the pleasures of taste and smells of good food! Thank you Lord for providing this food and thank you Lord that I'm not sick and have an appetite to enjoy it!"
  18. It may be okay to snack between meals.
    I don't stick to a firm rule of "no snacking between meals!" Instead, before I raid the pantry to get some food I ask myself, "Robert, why are you grabbing something to eat? Are you really hungry? Or are you wanting food for some other reason such as stress or anxiety reliever?" If I'm wanting food for the wrong reason, I reprimand myself and don't partake. If I am hungry, I tell myself that it's okay to eat but I need to eat healthy such as by grabbing a handful of raisins, or some raw almonds, or an apple, etc.
  19. Remind yourself where you've come from!
    As you loose weight, you'll be encouraged to continue your progress when you:
    • look at pictures of yourself when you were heavier
    • look at the worn holes on your belt that you used in the past
    • After climbing a flight of stairs pause and think, "Wow! That was easy! It used to make me out of breath!"
  20. No going back! This is a lifelong commitment!
    Don't look at your diet as a temporary period of time where you must suffer, after which you'll then be able to go back to your old, unhealthy ways. Tell yourself that this is a "new you"! You are getting older and your God-given body will not endure long if you abuse it by eating too much and making poor food choices.
  21. Brush your teeth!
    By brushing your teeth after every meal you'll reduce the temptations to snack between meals. I could not tell you how many times I've been able to turn down the offer of goodies and snacks that people bring in to work because I had just recently brushed my teeth and did not want to go through the trouble of having to brush them again just because I ate a couple of cookies!
  22. Get a job!
    Now if you are a stay-home-Mom, this may not be an option for you. I've noticed when I take a day off from work and stay home so I can get some things done at the house, I totally lose it! All day long I find myself drawn to the pantry to grab a couple of cookies here and there; I'll take "just a couple" of chips now and then. I think you understand! By the end of the day I feel guilty for both eating too much and for making bad food choices.
  23. Put a scale by your shower
    You need to have frequent feedback regarding your weight. By having a scale next to your shower you'll be more likely to step on it to check your weight. There will definitely be times after nights of excess that you won't want to step on it. In that case, the scale could be a source of conviction for you to cause you to make corrections in your eating habits.
  24. Drink caffeinated drinks!
    Now, you need to do everything in moderation. But I found in my own life that when I have my morning coffee, I am WAY more active physically. After several cups of morning coffee, I dart to and fro around the building at work. This physical activity is burning calories!.
Robert Parker
10/1/10

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