Diet and Nutition » Sweet Potato Pie

Set Your Dieting Rules

Nov 142007

Set your dieting rules. What are dieting rules? Dieting rules are a set of guidelines that you will follow to help you achieve your weight loss goals and hopefully, by the time you’ve reached your goal weight, they become habits and an everyday part of your life.

On average you have to do something 17 times before it becomes a habit. 17. So don’t think you’re just going to wake up one morning, decide you’re gonna lose weight and all your old habits will just fall by the wayside. No, you have give yourself a set of rules to follow to make that transition possible. And remember these have to be things you can live with FOR LIFE. Not just something you’re doing until you get fit into the little black dress.

Just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about here are my dieting rules:

T.S. Johnson’s Dieting Rules

1. Eat breakfast no exceptions. Even if it is just a piece of fruit.

2. Drink at least a glass (8oz) of water after I eat anything. And I mean ANYTHING. If I chew a piece of gum I’ve got to drink water.

3. Walk at least 30 minutes a day 6 days a week. No exceptions. If I do other things fine but if can’t do anything else I gotta at least walk.

4. Eat 25 – 30g of fiber everyday. No exceptions. Doesn’t matter what else I eat…gotta get the fiber in.

5. Don’t feel guilty about falling off of the wagon. Recognize it happens and as long as I’m doing Steps 1-4 I should be okay.

So there you have it. Those are the rules I live by and let me tell you it makes a WORLD of difference in trying to lose the weight and sticking to my goals. So if you haven’t set you some rules…get to it. It could mean the difference between losing the weight and trying to lose the weight.

Today is a new day. So what are you waiting for?

Eat Like the Master.....

Diet & Nutrition 4 Responses »

Nov 122007

Mere seconds before all the lycra exploded……

Hi All!!

Had a faaabulous time Saturday nite! Details next post, I’m still recovering (what can I say, I’m old!)

I did want to add a quick thought for y’all tho….

Recently, my mother was told by her doctor that she could eat pork. Lean pork, mind you, but pork just the same. She was astounded! She thought that all pork was bad for you and that the pig was the cause of heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.

I, of course was elated, cuz me and little oinky have been best friends since grade school. But now that I am older and wiser (and fatter), I realize that you have to be smart about everything that goes into your mouth. So, ladies, and gents too (I know you are out there! Call me!) get your pencils and papers out! Here is your guide for pork, and just about any kind of meat or food:

EAT LIKE THE MASTER, NOT LIKE THE SLAVE

Ok, this part is for the Black Folks – everyone else talk amongst yourselves….

We have all heard the stories about Massa getting the good part of the hog, cow, etc and the slaves getting the leftovers. That’s how we got chitin’s, pig feet, ears, stomach, tongue, brain and all the other parts that should be thrown away. Yes, we were talented enuf to make all of that taste good, and we have even made some of this main stream, but at what cost? OUR LIVES!

These “parts” are all just fat and gristle, not meat. Instead of eating and “seasoning” with the leftovers, eat the lean cuts. Watch the bacon and ham or anything that is smoked(including turkey) for nitrates and salt. Folks, we’re not slaves anymore, and while some of us are far from rich, there are affordable, leaner choices that can be made.

Trim the fat to 1/8″ and grill or bake, and center cut chops are a lean choice. Tenderloin roasts are also and excellent choice. Same goes for beef, and chicken. Do you know I actually saw some chicken feet for sale? How much meat can be on those? And whose idea was it to market turkey tails?

If you are a carnivore, like me, make it a point, no a mission, to eat healthier, better quality foods. They will make a difference in how you look and eventually feel.

Oh yeah, get some salad and veggies in there too!

Til next time, good night!

Food Diary - Day 2

Diet & Nutrition 2 Responses »

Nov 122007

Today wasn’t the best day but I got all my fiber in and just barely made my water goal for the day.

Breakfast – Kashi Cereal with 2Tbs of raisins
Fiber – 12g
Water – 16oz

Snack – Large pear
Fiber – 4.5g
Water – 16oz

Snack – 1 6 pack of Oreo cookies
Fiber – 2g
Water – 0oz

Snack – Pecan and rasin trailmix
Fiber – 3g
Water – 0oz

Dinner 1 – Big N Tasty value meal with cheese from McDonalds
Fiber – 8g (Yeah really. No lie.)
Water – 8oz

Water – 8oz

Dinner 2 – Grilled chicken with sauteed mushrooms, onions and carrots
Fiber – 12.3g
Water – 16oz

Fiber – 39.8g
Water – 64oz
Exercise – 30 minute walk/jog
20 minutes on the treadmill
30 minute weights/abs

Food Diary - Day 1

Diet & Nutrition No Responses »

Nov 112007

Food diaries are a great way to keep track of what you’re eating and keeps you honest about what you’re consuming and how much you’re consuming. I’ve been resisting FOREVER actually keeping a food diary. I thought it was hokey and unnecessary but it turns out it is a very handy way to keep me on track with attaining my goal of 25 – 30 grams of fiber a day and ultimately getting down to 140 pounds.

So I will keep a daily food diary until I reach my goal weight. Feel free to comment. Talk about keeping it honest…with the whole world watching and all.

Breakfast – 1 cup of Kashi high protein, high fiber cereal with raisins.
Fiber – 1 2g (including raisins)
Water – 16oz

Snack – 1 small apple
Fiber – 3.0
Water – 16oz

Lunch – Spinach salad with tomato, cucumber, carrots and oil and vinegar dressing.
Fiber – 5.6g
Water – 16oz

Snack – 1 large pear
Fiber – 4.5
Water – 8oz

Snack – 1 6 pack of Oreo cookies
Fiber – 2g (Really. Scouts honor)
Water – 8oz

Dinner – Veal with carrots and mushrooms
Fiber – 0g
Water – 16oz

Snack – 1 small apple
Fiber – 3.0g
Water 16oz

Total Fiber – 29g
Total Water – 96oz
Exercise – 30 minutes of walking/running
20 minutes on the treadmill
30 minutes of weights/abs

More on Emotional Eating

Diet & Nutrition 2 Responses »

Aug 072007

So I was searching the web for some practical solutions to emotional eating but kept coming up short. So I thought well, I can offer what (little) advice I have on how to deal with the problem.

1. Run. LOL. Or simply put find some other way to channel whatever energy you have that you’d rather put into a pint of Haagen-Das, a bag of oreos or whatever you favorite comfort food is.

I used to be a really angry person for a lot of different reasons. Eating was one way to deal with that anger, sex was another (that’s another conversation) but EXERCISE was the best. Nothing mellowed me out faster then doing 20-30 minutes on the treadmill or punching a heavy bag or running. The idea was to exhaust myself so that I wouldn’t have time to worry or stress about what upset me.

2. Bargain with yourself. Like I said in the last post I made a deal with myself. Eat all of the good stuff (fruit, veggies, whole grains, etc.) during the day and then ice cream is my reward. And let me stress to you how much I Luuuuuvvvv ice cream.

3. Wait it out. What I mean about this is that if you find that you’re craving something to eat but know you’re not really hungry give it 10-15 minutes before you indulge and most importantly go do something else. Call a friend, hit up a blog (preferably this one:-) ), clean something…whatever it takes to let the craving past.

That’ s all I have for now but if you have other suggestions feel free to post them. This is a subject I will come back to a lot ’cause I suspect that many of us are eating for reasons that have nothing to with hunger and for us to lose and keep the weight off it is something we will have to understand and work on.

Emotional Eating

Diet & Nutrition 2 Responses »

Aug 062007

My name is T.S. Johnson and I am an emotional eater.

LOL.

Seriously, I eat for many reasons that have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with hunger.

I eat because I am sad, lonely, bored, depressed, angry, horny (yeah I said it) and for a host of other reasons that have nothing to do with satisfying a biological need. I wish I could sit here and tell you that I have conquered this issue and that’s why I’m currently losing weight but I’d be lying.

I don’t have any good answers for it. For me my emotional eating is usually not a problem. Since I turned 18 I have worked out regularly. So worst case scenario I wouldn’t lose any weight but I wouldn’t gain any either.

The problem would come when I wouldn’t be exercising as often or as hard as I should be then I would gain weight. Lots of it. This is basically what happened after I had my daughter. I was 130lbs right after and within a year I was 160lbs. SMH.

While I still passed what I call the “jeans test” ( I still looked good in a pair of jeans and plenty of people let me know it. LOL) I went form a size 4 to a size 10 and just thought I was the size of a cow. And much of the weight stemmed from a mix of depression, frustrations, stress and much more sedentary lifestyle then I was use to.

So what do I do now? Well I still eat for various non-hunger reasons but I made a deal with myself that if I eat most of the right things during the day (fruit, vegetables, whole grains, etc.) then I can indulge in a little ice cream.

I also decided I wouldn’t have any guilt about what I was eating anymore. If I had a bad day and indulged a little more then I should have then I’d say okay and I’d do better the next day. My system isn’t perfect but it works for me.

So my question for those of you who fall in the emotional eating category is: what do you do? What are your strategies for dealing with it? What are the reasons behind why you eat?

For those of you who read this and are thinking, “I have no idea what she is talking about it. I just don’t get it,” feel free to play armchair psychiatrist and offer your insight.