Losing Weight: I Want To Zip Up My Jeans

Photo: Scott Snyde

I am trying to lose 15 pounds. Why? I can't fit into my jeans. It is HARRRD and excruciatingly slow going, but I am ever so slowwwly losing about a pound a week.

Here is how I'm doing it.

Breakfast:
Eat a protein (like a Nature Valley chewy protein bar) and a 16 oz cup of coffee with milk. 

Lunch:

Photo: Dreamtime

Eat a low-cal, high-protein smoothie: Consists of a scoop of Whey protein powder (either chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry), one cup skim milk, and 4 ice cubes. Mix the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Once you acquire a taste, it's rich and creamy like a milkshake. At 68 grams of protein, it keeps you going until dinner. (Select a brand without heavy medals.) Sometimes I throw frozen spinach, blueberries or strawberries into the smoothie for variety.

Dinner:
Eat low-fat, regular food, a balanced meal: a protein, starch and two vegetables, plus drink milk. I might also have fruit and/or a side salad with vinaigrette dressing.

Snacks: 
I had to eliminate snacks, except for one: Eat a small late night snack - either flavored soy chips, a serving of nuts or thin slices of extra sharp cheddar cheese on saltine crackers. I could eat the whole freaking block of cheese, but don't let myself!

Free food/beverages: Diet Arizona Tea and/or afternoon coffee or tea with milk: I get tired of just water, but drink plenty of it because often we mistake thirst for hunger. If you eat enough protein, you should last from one meal to the next. I might eat stalks of celery for crunch, or a few strawberries or blueberries in between meals if I buy them.

Just a few years ago, the weight would have dropped off quickly on such a diet. Not anymore.

And of course, if I attend a party and eat a piece of cake, or drink a single glass of wine ... sometimes you have to be a good sport, I can gain two pounds in an evening that took a week to take off. That's why I say I am losing a pound a week. One pound less a week is what is sticking. Arghhh, it shouldn't be so ridiculously HARRRD!

From my experience of losing seven pounds, so far, I find:

1. You lose weight if you burn more calories than you consume in a day. Period. It doesn't matter when you eat most of your calories, morning, noon or night, or if you eat or skip breakfast. What matters is calories in, calories out. 
2. To lose, figure out when you get hungry and plan your meals accordingly. I don't do well eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. There's no evidence it matters. So figure out what works for you. I like to eat breakfast like a pauper, lunch like a prince and dinner like a king, and I can't seem to give up my nightly (after 9 pm) snack. For some reason, food tastes AMAZING late at night! So I must work with my appetite, and so do you. (For me, 3 bigger meals and a snack works. Six small meals a day would not. Once I take a bite of food, I turn into a gobbling Pac-Man!)

Photo: Today Gourmet Foods

3. Let yourself get hungry, but not too hungry. Eat when you are hungry (not bored, stressed or gluttonous), and eat nutritious foods (mix it up: protein, whole grains and a variety of vegetables - colors and textures) so you feel satisfied. 

When all is said and done, you need the resolve to drop the pounds. Kate Moss got a lot of flack for saying it, but she is absolutely right. You must have her mindset: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." I don't believe she meant that people should starve, or be bone thin. That is sick, not attractive. She meant, it takes discipline to maintain a desired weight, and it does. People who claim otherwise are lying.

There is no one standard of beauty. Whether you have been slender or large your whole life, we are all the same. Dropping a pound is challenging for everybody regardless of size. It is HARRRD!

This post is part of a conversation Patricia and I had on her blog, The Red Cardinal. Later she plans to write about her recent weight loss, and I look forward to hearing about her success.

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