Fighting Fat- and Winning!

Sometimes you learn things fast, and sometimes you need to be hit with a brick before you understand a concept. I knew I wasn't supposed to be eating breads and pasta, but I kept eating it, just not as often, and taking smaller portions. The idea was, 'A little bit won't be so bad.'

Hah!

That's when it hit me- I was eating some kind of wheat flour product at least three times a week- small amounts, but I was eating it. And it showed on the scale. I gained a bit, I lost a bit, but I was basically maintaining. Not bad, but not good either.

So I decided to try another experiment.

Last week I didn't do any walking (the weather was miserable and I had the car), but I did do my workouts. My diet consisted mostly of clear broth soups and stews, and meals that were mainly meats and vegetables that had no flour as a side or in the gravy. The soups contained rice, the stews contained potatoes, so the results of this wouldn't be skewed by the fact I didn't have any grains or starches. I did this all week, refraining from any flour consumption.

The result? I lost three pounds! I am now down to 294!

So, I can say I won't eat flour all I want, but the fact is, I was eating it- sometimes without realizing I was doing so, or thinking a 'little bit' won't hurt me- but when I began to think about wheat flour as a poison to my body instead of just a hindrance to weight loss, everything snapped into place.

Absolutely NO wheat or rye flour. None. Nada. Zilch.

I bought other flours that don't have gluten (graham seems to work well for things that don't need to rise, like pie crusts), and I'll experiment with them in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully I can find something bread-like so I don't crave the gluten breads.

Thanksgiving is coming, the holiday where bread runs rampant over the feasting table. That is going to be a real challenge for me! But I'll keep my chins up and put out some more veggies like broccoli and baby carrots to stem the bread tide.

I'll keep you posted on how I do!

Struggling but Succeeding!

The past few months haven't been easy, and I still have a long road ahead of me. But I am learning a LOT about myself, and have found that I've been maintaining because I haven't been stepping up the exercise and stepping down the menu portions.

I've started walking to the gym more often, and most times I can get an additional 4-6 miles in a week when I do. I've been working longer at the gym machines, doing slower reps instead of increasing the amount. I haven't been adding any weight either, because I wrenched my rotator cuff and am waiting for it to heal up a bit more. I'm trying not to sit at home as much either, but hen you're a writer, it's pretty much part of the job!

As for the menu, I've found that soup is a good way to get filled up without overdoing it- as long as it's a clear broth. It doesn't do much good when the broth is creamy (which happens to be my specialty), so I'll be perusing the cookbooks and spice cabinet looking for more clear-broth recipes. I want to make sure I have a daily supply of soup, and one pot goes a long way.

Veggies are also becoming a bigger part of the meals, and are great to hide in casseroles so my son will eat them. Good for me too, because I can hide a lot of veggies in a casserole! Luckily for me I don't mind eating leftover for lunch, so a huge pot of soup and salad each day is going to be slotted in during the week.

Oh, and did I mention I'm back down to 297? I think that's a three pound lost from my last post! Either way, I'm under 300, and that's where I want to be. Now all I have to do is get closer to 275, and I'm golden!

Please keep those chins up- if something isn't working, keep trying to change it up or cut it down- something will work eventually! Just remember it took me years to put all of this on, and it'll take years to get it off- but it won't be as many years to lose as it was to gain, and the same goes for you too!

God Bless!