Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Laura,

I slipped up on core 2 days. What should I do? I’m new on this. My weigh-in is Monday.

Elda

Elda,

Start today just like you would if you haven’t slipped up. Because it works so well for me, I would recommend trying the Flex Plan after your Monday weigh-in. Whenever I have a slip up, I make sure I write every bit of food that went into my mouth. That way, I have data to tell me exactly how much is too much.

It took me a few months to realize that I had been limiting my points too strictly, which was causing some of my binges. After looking at my food journal for the last few months, my Weight Watcher leader was able to notice the pattern. We tried raising the number of total Flex Points I eat each week and it stopped a lot of my bingeing. Unless you keep good records, your leader can’t see what’s going on. That’s why I like the Flex Plan better than Core.

Talk to your leader about it tomorrow and ask her/him what is the best thing to do.

You might want to see my entry about what I do when I lose motivation:

• Starling Fitness » Losing Motivation

I’ve found that taking a few moments and writing it out really helps me.

The most important thing is to not beat yourself up. The fact that you are looking for ways to feel better and fix the problem shows me that you are dedicated and willing to work past this slip up. You’re doing a good job, keep it up!

Laura Moncur

They say that we all need 6 to 8 glasses (48 to 64 ounces) of water every day to be healthy. I’ve never had a problem drinking that much water, but I have heard a lot of people complain that they are having trouble “getting their water in.” Here are a couple of tips to make sure you get enough:

• Every morning I start the day with a trip to the restroom and a full glass of water. I’m always thirsty when I first wake up, so drinking a glass of water is the first thing on my mind.

• I like to have a glass of water with each meal and snack. That’s a total of five glasses of water.

• I like to drink water when I exercise; usually a glass before and a glass afterward.

• Use a bottle that measures four glasses (32 ounces). I like to use a Gatorade bottle. I only need to drink two bottles of water to fulfill my water for the day.

Whether that much water in necessary to aid weight loss is still debatable. I know that I feel more full when I make sure I drink enough water. That is all I need to know to keep doing it.

Laura,

How do you decide which to do? Flex Points or Core Plan?

Lisa

Lisa,

For me, it was a really easy decision. I was starved as a child, so any diet that restricts which foods I can eat, immediately throws me into Starvation Mode. If I can’t work a treat into my diet, then I might as well not diet because I will only be able to stay away from the restricted food for so long before I end up bingeing.

Of course, when I first started Weight Watchers, they didn’t have the Core Plan, so I really didn’t have a choice when I was learning good habits. Fortunately, that was really good for me and my history with food. I used to save up my points for those treats that used to be restricted on other diets.

Now, however, I might as well eat on the Core Plan. I follow the nutrition advice so closely that switching over to the Core Plan would not be an issue for me. There is that psychological issue, however, where I am scared that I might switch over into Starvation Mode if I realized that food was restricted for me. Even though I eat Core Foods ninety percent of the time, I don’t think I could ever follow the Core Plan.

Good Luck, Laura Moncur

I have heard the idea that food addiction is similar to drug or alcohol addiction. These researchers are measuring brain activity and the reactions of it in relation to addiction.

• Science News Online – Food Fix: Sept. 3, 2005

It looks like addiction causes the same activity in the brain, whether it’s for food or drugs.

“This is consistent with the idea that cravings of all kinds,” (whether for food, drugs, or designer shoes) “have common mechanisms,” says Pelchat.

The only problem with this is that I can’t quit food cold turkey. I’m well-aware of the fact that I use food like an addictive substance, but I can’t stop eating. Worse still, I don’t believe in a god, so those twelve-step programs are useless on me. I’m not turning my addiction over to an imaginary friend.

All that I’m left with is consciously dealing with the things that lead me to overeat. Dealing with the problems and the emotions that make me want to turn to food has been the only way I have been able to stave off the bingeing.

If you find you have this problem, try reading Losing Motivation. This is how I deal with the times when I feel like bingeing.

Via: Mind Hacks – Addicted to food?

I think the reason that Weight Watchers worked so well for me is because I approached it so slowly. I didn’t dive into it like I usually did with most diets. My sister lost 25 pounds on Weight Watchers and she told me that as long as I stayed within my points, I would lose weight. I believed her and I didn’t pay much attention to the eight good health guidelines.

Guess what? I lost weight. As long as I kept my points within my range and was honest about what I ate as far as portion sizes, I lost weight. As I continued with the program, I slowly added the good health guidelines to my diet. I never suffered from “Fiber Overload” or stressed too much about “Getting My Water In.” I just slowly adopted all the recommendations given to me instead of jumping in and making all those changes at once.

I think that’s why I was able to make the change. Whenever I tried other diets, I jumped in full steam ahead. It was so difficult to make all the changes that needed to be made that I usually gave up within a couple of weeks. So, what does this mean to you?

How To Make Small Changes In Your Lifestyle: (more…)

I’ve never written a poem to a tomato. I love to eat them, but I’ve never felt the need to place them in a pretty setting, take a picture of them and then write a poem to them. Thank the stars that Dakota did:

• Dakota – Heirloom Tomatoes

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we truly appreciated the lovely food that it has to offer us? Why haven’t I written a poem to a tomato? There were many times when I was starving in Billings, when a plain boiled potato tasted like sweet sustenance. Once, I was so hungry, I ate a huge zucchini the size of a small watermelon. It was probably a total of 100 calories, but I was stuffed and full when I was done. Why didn’t I ever write a poem to that monster of a zucchini?

To learn more about heirloom vegetables and gardening: Wikipedia – Heirloom plant

The World’s Healthiest Foods is a site that promotes healthy foods. They’ve chosen a list of healthiest foods based on their criteria. While the usual suspects are there—whole grains, vegetables, fresh fruits, and beans—there are also some odd choices like Calf’s Liver and Maple Syrup.

Whether you agree with their criteria or not, one useful part of the site is their collection of recipes. You can select recipes based on which of the healthy foods they contain, or just browse the list. There are bound to be a few good healthy recipes in there, and I appreciate the ability to exclude those that contain Calf’s Liver.

Part of eating healthy is choosing your treats wisely. I used to save my points for Krispy Kreme donuts and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (bite size, not full size). After so many years of eating highly processed and preservative-laden food, I’m not attracted to it anymore. It rarely appeals to me and I can find myself wandering around a convenience store, looking for something to eat. Lately, I have come back to the car empty-handed.

When I have the extra points for a treat, these are the kinds of treats that I want. Small amounts of rich food made with fresh ingredients:

• Slashfood – Food Porn

Even the roasted peppers, which are probably only one or two points a serving, look delicious and decadent. So much of our enjoyment of food is in the presentation. That is part of the reason why food at fine restaurants tastes better. Try to make every meal you eat an entry into the Food Porn category and whatever you’re eating will take on a fullness that you never noticed before.

I remember seeing her on television. She was talking about her most recent book, but I couldn’t tell you which one it was. I couldn’t even tell you when I saw her. The only thing I remember from that television appearance is my reaction to her program, “She’s a nut.”

She was talking about cow’s milk and how it’s not meant for humans, it’s meant for baby cows. I remember her saying, “This is something that turns a baby cow into a two ton steer.” That was her explanation of why I shouldn’t drink milk. I changed the channel and let whomever it was interviewing her lose one viewer.

Last week I came across her diet again. This time, it was being reviewed by The Diet Blog. I sighed and thought I might as well give Marilu a look.

• Total Health Makeover – The Ten Steps

I felt really silly after reading her Ten Steps:

1. Eliminate chemicals from the foods you eat.
2. Eliminate caffeine and nicotine from your system.
3. Eliminate processed sugar from the foods you eat.
4. Eliminate meat, especially red meat, from your meals.
5. Eliminate dairy products (anything made from the milk of another animal).
6. Combine your foods for efficient digestion.
7. Reduce and change the fats you eat.
8. Exercise daily and practice stress reduction.
9. Get enough sleep.
10. Do everything with Gusto!

I pretty much follow her plan. I still eat dairy products, but like meat, I make sure that they are from “clean-living cows” instead of doped up ones. Eliminating the chemicals from my life came as a function of taste rather than health. After eating preservative-laden food for so long, I just can’t stomach it anymore. I think eating healthy and fresh food made me desire better tasting food and frozen meals don’t cut it anymore.

As far as combining foods, I’m not a believer. I think each person needs to experiment to find out what works for them for each of their meals. I know that if I ate solely fruit for breakfast, I would crash at 9am, demanding donuts. It has happened before.

Other than that, I’m surprised at how closely I follow Marilu’s program. It’s almost embarrassing to me because I discounted her so long ago. If I had just bothered to listen, I might have been able to be healthy a couple of years earlier.

Steve Pavlina has a new entry on How To Find the Best Diet for You. He recommends experimenting with new diets for 30 days, following his 30 Days to Success plan. He also talks about what has worked for him.

• Steve Pavlina – How to Find the Best Diet for You

I can tell you that I tried every diet in the book. Jumping into the cold water of a new diet never worked for me. Ok, that’s a lie. They would always work the first three weeks until I started feeling deprived and then I would binge. Trying out various diets and giving them 30 days wouldn’t have worked for me.

The way that I was able to succeed came much much slower than 30 days. When I first started Weight Watchers, all I worried about was my Points. I kept my Points within the range that they needed to be. Then, I slowly started trying to follow the eight Good Health Guidelines. I would set a goal for the week, like eating all my fruits and vegetables or drinking all my water. It probably took me three or four months until I was following all eight guidelines every day.

Even after that, it took me a long time to slowly eat even healthier. I would ask for brown rice instead of white rice. I would cook whole grain pasta more often. I cut caffeine out of my diet. All those things came slowly and over a longer time than just 30 days.

My recommendation would be to do ONE thing. Instead of jumping into a new diet for 30 days, how about doing one good thing this week for your health. You know what your body needs. When I said one thing, it popped right into your head. Do that one thing for your health this week and keep it up. Add a new thing next week and try doing both. Soon you will have a healthier life.