March 26, 2009

I have been staying with my brother for the past few days and preparing meals for him and my nephews. The kids are really picky eaters and if given the opportunity would eat junk all day. I am trying to give them balanced meals but it isn't always easy. There is a supply of junk food here...I guess when you have pre-teen boys..chips, Twinkies and cookies are the norm. For myself, I am trying to watch all the snacking that can come so easy with all the temptations around. I have done okay and have noticed that one cookie here and one cookie there is adding a lot to my caloric intake.
The nutritionist finally called me and said that her call was long over due. We talked for a while about my food logging. She said that besides www.thedailyplate.com (soon changing to www.livestrong.com) that I should check out www.fitday.com. She told me that I should be around 1600 calories per day for a 1-2 lb weight loss per week. I said that I was really close to that amount...some days slightly more, other days slightly less. I thought I would see a more marked weight loss by now and she stated that it is typical for the body to "hang on" before it starts to shed lbs because it is confused by the drop in calories. I did tell her that I have cheated several times and consumed certain foods before I was suppose to. I openly admitted to trying to test my body with prohibited foods to see if I could indeed tell whether or not I had the TOGA. She laughed and said that I am not alone and they kind of expected this due to the nature of the study and human behavior. One point she made was to limit my carbs. Of course, I LOVE my bread, rice, pasta etc BUT I should focus more on lean proteins, veggies and fruits.......unprocessed foods. Really haven't we known this along...consume foods as closely to their original state....whole foods, natural. Well, I certainly am trying :) I now have my meals with the carbs and starches in way smaller portions than before and increase veggie serving and actually consume the proper serving for meat. PTS, my meals usually consisted of double meat and carbs (rice/potato/pasta) and small vegetable portions. I live in MN and fresh veggies/fruit are not so readily available due to climate. But spring is right around the corner (I hope...last week it was 70 degrees and yesterday it snowed and dropped below 30) The farmers markets are awesome and home grown tomatoes are one of life's greatest pleasures...I can and do make meals on tomatoes!
Although I no longer consume Diet Coke, I still have my daily dose of OJ. It is 120 calories I factor in and am not ready to give up. I do know that it is very easy to drink a lot of calories through juice and it is one thing I know I did before the study. Now I drink lots and lots of water. I do still drink a glass of OJ everyday but it is one serving rather than 3-4 and I factor in the 120 calories. I am printing up my food logs for the nutritionist to evaluate and make any adjustments or suggestions and am going to met with her at my 3 month check up in 2 weeks.
I am hoping for some good numbers in loss!