Let’s try it again….
Filed Under (Diet) by myjaxon on 19-03-2008
My 10 year reunion is this summer and I really want to lose all the weight I’ve gained in the last 10 years. So, I’m going to try again. I talked with our physician and she recommended doing yoga and pilates as an exercise and I’ve heard raved reviews about Weight Watchers. Unfortunately, I can’t afford Weight Watchers. I really want to do it, but Jesse isn’t allowing me too. So I’m going to try and do it on my own. I have the basic idea, so I’m going to work with that. I am definitely going to need everyone’s help to keep me on track.
Here are the Good Health Guidelines… as ‘prescribed’ by Weight Watchers. I found this list on one of my forums.
- Eat at least 5 servings of fruits or vegetables (5f&v) - a serving is 1/2 cup, except for leafy greens which are 1 cup
- Choose whole-grain foods
- Include 2 servings of milk products per day
- a serving of milk, yogurt, pudding is 8 oz
- a serving of cottage cheese is 2 cups
- a serving of hard or semi-soft cheese is 1 1/2 oz
- Drink at least 6 glasses of water each day (6h2o)
- Have some healthy oil each day (2 tsp.) Healthy oil include olive, canola, safflower, sunflower or flaxseed oil
- Make sure you get enough protein - recommendation is to get a serving or two each day
- Limit added sugar and alcohol
- Take a multi vitamin-mineral supplement each day
Another practice I have found useful is keeping a weight log (it’s after midnight, so I’ll starting the weighing in the morning). Basically, I’ll weigh myself in the morning and at night, plus I’ll include how much I exercise during the day as well as how far I walk. By seeing how much I gain, lose, or maintain during the day, I’ll be able to stay away from foods that make me gain weight on a daily basis. It’s a bit of a mind game, but it kind of works. At least for me. Plus, maybe by making it this public, it’ll help me keep on track. Keep your fingers crossed and pray for me. 
I was under the impression that it’s better to weigh yourself once a day, at most. The morning to night weight fluctuation would be just water weight - you might sweat some off if you are exercising, or retain some if you eat a lot of salt. A morning to evening weight change isn’t indicative of an overall trend; breakfast may still be in your digestive tract by the evening weigh-in, so there’s no way it’s processed into fat or muscle by that point. A better idea would be to weigh yourself at a set time every day (morning or night) and track just that. That being said, good luck!
Hey, no I’ve actually done the twice weight check before and actually lost 5-10 pounds doing it. Yeah, you’re right, some of the fluctuation is water weight, but some foods will sit heavier and some won’t. It also helps with portion control. If you eat a ton of food, you’re going to see a bigger difference between morning and night; plus you’ll see how much is actually burned off during the night. If you watch what you eat, and how much, you can get an idea of what to stay away from and what you can have more of. Another aspect of it is, you’re more aware of your weight. It helps with the motivation and if you see that you’re gaining 1-2 lbs between morning and night, then it kind of signals that you need to be careful with what you eat. It’s all a mind game, but it seems to help.