Being Well Rested

I am going to second my If All Else Fails post and reiterate how helpful it can be to a weight loss effort to go to bed early when you're tempted to eat and to just plain go to bed when your tired.  Like many people I am an emotional eater but what is even more damaging to my body is being tired.

I have been a single parent since my son's birth and the memory that over arches everything we ever did or I the feelings I felt was the sense of being tired all the time.  It is not his fault; it is one of the consequences of doing things outside of God's will.  He always intended for a child to be raised by both of his biological parents and in a perfect world that would happen.  I honestly believe one of the main reasons why so many women are overweight is that they are raising children on their own or with very little help.  If they're serious about the responsibility then they are probably tired all the time.

I bring this up because we often find that food will help to combat that sense of tiredness (if even for a short time) but when the energy rush has dissipated more food is required.  I remember when I worked downtown going to the little market a couple of blocks from where I worked and buying potato chips and dip nearly every afternoon to snack on for the remainder of the day--just so I could make it through last part of my work day.  Of course we'd stop and get fast food on the way home because I was too tired to cook.  And then I would eat to get through the evening responsibilities.  There were times when I couldn't crawl into bed fast enough after I got Ian to sleep at night.  But here's the rub; when you've eaten a lot in the evening your body uses it's energy to digest the food and you don't get restful sleep which means you to wake up tired.  It was a never ending and destructive lifestyle that packed the pounds on.

Now that Ian is 18 I can just go to bed if I want--and if I was smarter I would.  Sometimes I just stay up, just to stay up, and I eat my way though the evening trying to stay awake.  It can be rather sad really.  You may laugh but I seriously crawled into bed last night at 6:30pm.  There were multiple reasons for doing so: I was tired, I was chilled to the bone, and I was hungry (because I was tired.)  I finally gave up the fight, brushed my teeth and crawled into bed with my sweats, socks, two shirts and a hoody sweatshirt on in order to warm up.  I was warm and sound asleep by 7:30pm.  I woke up at 5am this morning and I feel good.  And, the scale didn't reflect a late night binge either.

So my advice to anyone trying to lose weight is to do everything in your power to make sure you get enough sleep.  When you are well rested and have the phyiscal resources you need you are far more likely to bre able to accomplish everything you need to get done.

Weight Loss Programs

I have tried nearly everything but the way that I choose to eat when I am not binging or eating fast food is based on a balanced diet promoted by the USDA pyramid and the First Place 4 Health program.  Both recommend fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, calcium (milk) and healthy oils in specific serving amounts, which equates to 1 ounce or 1/2 cup servings usually.  It is a very easy way to measure and track food portions and it helps to ensure that our bodies get sufficient vitamins and minerals.

I also prefer to track my food and activity using e-tools rather than writing it down with pen and paper.  And because I was looking for a fresh start I mentioned I have chosen to use the WW website for my tracking efforts.  I did it mainly so I could use a web tool where I had no history already and because it has a lot of helpful tools on it.  Calorie King does much the same thing but again I have used their tool and wanted a fresh slate to start on.  Spark People and Fitbe also have great websites and they are free if you are interested in using web tools.

My only concern and the reason I bring up what food program I am using to guide my food choices is because many of the websites allow you to just count calories, or points, and as long as you stay at your appropriate calorie level you will lose weight.  It is a mathematical certainty.  FP4H is about quality and quantity and it pushes you to eat the appropriate amounts of breads/grains, fruits and vegetables (all carbohydrates when it comes to most web tools) meats, milk products and healthy fat servings--while just eating to meet a number may not.

The other thing to always remember is that we should never eat below 1200 calories on a regular basis (sometimes we're just sick and don't eat) but unfortunately 1200 calories does not actually provide all the nutrients we need to be healthy.  That is why we should be incorporating exercise into our days.  By doing so we can then eat additional healthy calories which will support strong and healthy bodies.  We shouldn't be exercising just so we can eat junk food!

Another reason I choose to follow FP4H is that it looks at each of as a whole being with a spirit, emotions, a mind and a body.  All four need to be healthy in order to be the best we can be and while other programs may look at mind and emotions as a part of their weight loss programs most do not take into account the spiritual aspects of our lives.  Whether you know it or not we were created to worship God and when we don't we try to fill that hole in our lives with something else.  There will always be a sense that something is missing.  And I have to tell you from a personal perspective that when I am on track with my bible study, my weight loss efforts are usually on track too.  Fortunately, we will be starting a new session of FP4H at our church next week and I look forward to being a part of it after more than a year away.  I need the accountability and the relationships it provides me.

If All Else Fails

If all else fails going to bed early can curb evening eating problems.  Ian and I had dinner about 5pm and by 6:30pm I was ready to eat again, even though I was not hungry.  Part of that stems from my early mornings and work schedule but I decided I would go to my room and get ready for bed rather than sit and be tempted by food for the next several hours.  I washed my face, brushed my teeth and then decided I would re-watch one of the Elementary episodes on the internet.  So I went and got my laptop, got my bills and listened to the show while sitting in bed and working on my budget for January.  By the time I finished it was a little bit after 8pm and I was ready for bed.  I let another episode play and fell asleep to it.  Woke up at 10:30pm to shut off the computer and went back to sleep.  Unfortunately, it was cold (how surprising) in the morning so even though I got nearly 8 hours of sleep I didn't want to get out of bed.

I am not into New Year's resolutions but I do like to track my eating and activity (writing down what you eat on a consistent basis is one of the strongest indicators of a successful weight loss effort and helps to ensure the weight loss is maintained once accomplished.)  I needed a fresh start visually and decided I would try the weight watchers website (I have used so many and like aspects of them all but wanted something where I had no history.)  Of course you pay to use it but I committed to three months and started using it about two weeks ago.  I think they have done a great job with their website.  Keeping track of points is different from keeping track of calories (I calculate that each point is about 50 calories worth of food consumed) but I can work with it and I really like their recipe builder and meal tracker tools.  So I have gotten myself back on track with my eating from both a health perspective and a portion perspective.

The other important element to weight loss is exercise, which I have even made a stab at these last couple of days.  It appears to be linked to New Year's also but is more in line with the fact that I started tracking my food and activity again and the fact that my boss has given me an hour off each afternoon this past week.  The weather has been glorious and the lake is full because of all the rain we've had in the last month.  And because it is winter the migratory birds are at the lake making the scenery even more interesting.  So I have been grabbing Reilly and driving over to the lake and we've been walking the last several afternoons.  I have to admit it is a completely different crowd of people from those that we normally see on Saturday mornings when we walk.  I really should make it a habit to walk in the afternoon even when I get off at the regular time--we'll have to see what happens in the next week or so.

So, my advice to me (and to anyone else that needs it) is regardless of the time of year if all else fails start fresh and get on track with eating healthy and exercising regularly.

New Year's Thoughts

I have tried just about everything (except surgery) in the last ten years to try and lose the weight I need to lose.  And guess what?  I am still very overweight.  Between the fact that it is New Year's and the fact my body is finally recovering from some choices I made over the summer and fall I have come to the conclusion I am going to have to do this ALL BY MYSELF.  What I mean by that is that although I appreciate Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig prepackaged meals, I yearn to cook and learn, so having meals made by someone else only works for a little bit of time and then I get bored with the limitations and choices.  Options like liquid fasts are appealing but again it is tough not eat (although I am not saying it can't be done) and I get stressed by the limitations and choices.  Writing down what you eat has been proven to be a key indicator for weight loss because it makes you both aware and keeps you honest.  And if you don't want to be honest you have to ask yourself if you are really ready to lose weight.

So given all these experiences what can I do to lose weight?  This seems rather obvious but it comes down to the point that I am just going to have to walk this journey out.  I have said this before and meant it but I am coming at it now from the perspective of having tried so many other options that I need to apply some good old fashioned self discipline and self control.  They sound like bad words and are often used like synonyms but a recent bible study pointed out that they are truly different words (look up discipline and control in the dictionary if you don't believe me!) and are just what I need to exercise in order to get rid of this extra weight.  What surprised me most was that self discipline is actually quite a positive process.

So I began looking at the various weight lose websites again and settled on one about a week ago to see how the tool will work in giving me insight into my choices and begin to bring about the needed discipline that has been missing so far.  The point now is to walk this out day by day, choice by choice.  It is not a resolution to be broken but a lifestyle to be chosen.  I made the choices that got me here and I will need to make the choices to get to a better place.  I can use all the encouragement and bible study I can get to keep me motivated but when it really comes down to the nuts and bolts of weight loss I am ultimately the one that has to do it.  So I will be preparing our meals, shopping for our groceries, making lunches, tracking my food choices meal-by-meal and getting up off the couch to walk, with or without the dog.  No help--just (re)learning new and healthy habits and getting back the body that God gave me.