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Ahhhhhh, ok, so, I think I need a little adjustment…a reframing of the mind, and the way I am approaching this Weight-Loss Adventure.
Last week I was starting to learn about being more flexible in both this Weight-Loss Adventure, as well as in my life as a whole (believe me, my husband could recount quite a few times when I’ve reacted poorly to a sudden change of plans. And saying “reacted poorly” is me trying to ignore the fact that I basically have thrown a fit like a stubborn toddler. Ahem…).
This past weekend Jim and I had no plans, so I was gonna take full advantage of spending about 90% of my weekend in my PJs, relaxing, and watching Hallowe’en stuffs. I was also hoping to walk around the neighbourhood with Jim on Saturday and see how everyone was celebrating Hallowe’en. Cute fun, plus low-key exercise? Scooooore!
Then, Jim got called into work. Both Saturday and Sunday. Ugh. I’m super-proud that he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves for the work he does and his skills/talents, but his recent promotion has him working pretty hard, sometimes for really long shifts.
So, siiiigh, home alone, kinda bummed that my plans for Hallowe’en had fallen through. I didn’t have a costume or anything, I was just looking forward to doing something festive. I ended up cleaning the apartment, doing laundry (my most-hated chore, apartment laundry!!)…and eating whatever struck my fancy here and there.
I didn’t like, binge or anything, but I certainly didn’t care about counting calories and tracking at that point.
Sunday was kind of the same deal – Jim went to work, and I watched some movies, and grazed on whatever was available. Eventually I forced myself to check what I had planned to eat for the week, and see what I could pre-make in order to cut down prep time. I think I boiled 3 eggs, and made my lunch for the next day. Then I made a big bowl of popcorn (with melted margarine and white cheddar flavouring, so not horrible but not exactly healthy) to eat while watching The Walking Dead and wait for Jim to get home.
Monday night I made a reeeaaally sad chicken and pasta dish (trust me, zero flavour, blech – lesson learned: herbs and spices are your friend!!), and prepped my lunch for the next day. Tuesday night Jim went to a friends house, so I made up some pasta with pesto. Specifically, I took some cottage cheese, a little sour cream, and pesto, and blended it until it was creamy. Toss that with pasta, and you’ve got a fairly healthy and tasty dish. I sorta kinda maybe eye-balled the food, and I definitely made more than I needed to, but I was starving (poor excuse, yes, but it informs the story). Last night I stayed at work later than I thought I would, and I was feeling like garbage – something I’d eaten wasn’t sitting right. Jim got called into an emergency shift, so I was once again alone for dinner. I made my go-to meal for when my stomach decides to be a jerk – a big bowl o’ rice – and I had that for dinner.
Imagine my surprise today when I stepped on the scale and lost 2 pounds!
I basically didn’t track anything for the last few days, ate half a bag of chips (Jim stumbled upon Ruffles Harvey’s Flame-Grilled Cheeseburger chips and OHMYGOSHTHEYAREAMAZING. They’re limited edition, so you’d better believe I’m searching them out and bulk-buying them to last as long as possible!), and I barely measured anything I ate.
I bet you’re now asking, “So, the moral of the story is to throw caution to the wind entirely and you’ll magically lose weight?”
No, not in the least. This week was a fluke – maybe my being kinda sick last night helped? Maybe I’m subconsciously refraining from going overboard? Maybe I got more water in than I thought? (Ahhh, I really need to start tracking my water intake…) All I know is that I cannot use this week as an example for the weeks I may…scratch that, WILL have in the future where I fall off the wagon, “but it’s ok, I’ll probably still lose weight!”
(Ok, side-note – when I was doing Weight Watchers, I had some weeks with a “surprise” weight-loss. The lady explained that sometimes you need a week to mentally “check-out” a little and not stress about your weight-loss, and this somehow helps. It kinda makes sense, take from it what you may.)
Every day is a chance to start over, get things right. Every weigh-in day (Thursdays for me) is the start of a new week, in a sense.
So what DID I discover/learn this week?
Weekends will present a challenge to me, hopefully not for long, and maybe not for the reason you think. Yes, there will be weekends when I go out to celebrate something with friends or family, or go out for a date night. Those times I am entirely fine with eating or drinking what I want, within reason…ish. Those moments don’t scare me, since they’re a part of life – it’s the times when I’m at home, all the chores are done, and I’m draped over the couch watching a show. Boredom usually results in me heading to the kitchen, especially if there is something tasty and easily snackable.
Also, it kind of feels like all of a sudden our lives are chaotic. I work in two buildings throughout the week, dividing my time between them. One place is about half an hour away from home, the other is 45 minutes away, give or take with traffic, construction, etc. I really, really, really hate waking up in the morning. I’ve lately disciplined myself to get out of bed to be at work at a decent time (thankfully my boss is cool with my arrival time, as long as my work gets done, and I’m not skipping out early – not that I would!), but some mornings are rushed. If I haven’t prepped enough of my breakfast/lunch the night before, this causes a number of problems – mostly grabbing whatever I can, maybe trying to make something healthy and filling but that makes me late, and so on.
So, ok, I make it to work on time, but my breakfast and lunch are kinda sucky. They might be tasty, maybe I threw in a few leftover Hallowe’en treats as extra snacks, but what happens when it’s 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon, and I’m peckish, and descending into starving, and my lunch bag is empty? By the time I get home, anything edible is fair game, screw trying to lose weight! I’m starving, possibly hangry, half a brick of cheese and a sleeve of crackers should do just fine…on top of the carefully portioned, healthy dinner I’ve made.
The solution to all of these scenarios is pretty simple, but does take discipline and proper planning. Every weekend I do my best to carve out time for the usual chores that need doing – this is one more that I will be adding to my list:
Prep work, prep work, prep work.
First, I make sure I have a game plan for the week ahead: Have I planned my meals? Did I remember any out-of-the-ordinary events that might change things?
Next, I write a grocery list of anything needed for the week ahead. I’ve created an ongoing list in my phone that I just keep adding to – anything that’s not needed that week is crossed off. I also divided the list into sections, and tried to keep the sections in the order that you would find them in a grocery store (my list goes Produce – Grains – Proteins – Dairy – Fats – Others, which generally works for any store I go to).
Get home after shopping, put food away. Either right after that’s done, or later in the weekend, I get into the kitchen and make sure all the dishes are cleaned and put away, because I’ll probably need all the space and storage I can get.
Go through the weekly meal plan, and see what can be prepped ahead of time – cook up some chicken breasts, prepare some pasta and/or rice, cut fruits and veggies, and so on.
If the food is for snacking purposes, and I have enough baggies/storage (ha ha, yay, more Tupperware pieces with lids I can lose!), I will portion out the servings for easy access.
Basically, the idea is to make my kitchen the equivalent to a healthy fast food joint, at least to a degree. One of the toughest parts of going on a Weight-Loss Adventure is that, by and large, you’re cutting out the convenience of grabbing whatever you can/want on the run. Making this Lifestyle Change is definitely worth it in the long run, but getting started is a real pain. Hopefully by taking the time to prep as much as possible, I’ll be saving time and money, and avoiding eating extra calories in a fit of hanger.
I will also need to re-examine my meals at work – I’m ok with being slightly hungry when I get home to make dinner, but not ravenously hungry which leads to poor choices. Driving past a McDonald’s when you’re starving, knowing you have $5 in your pocket and can almost taste a McDouble cheeseburger is a one-way trip to Hangryville and nobody wins in that situation.
So, what’s the answer? I’m going to try and make sure all my meals – snacks included – have some kind of protein. I also need to make sure that I’m grabbing substantial veggies, too – a baggie of cucumber slices and celery or carrot sticks is amazingly satisfying!
And finally, a more general rule – I need to be keeping the kitchen tidy and organized as much as possible. My kitchen isn’t a disaster (sometimes the dishes sit for a day or two, not often), but it’s not a big kitchen, so if I don’t put things away, it gets a little frustrating trying to prep anything. If I’m able to set up my breakfast for the next day as I clean the dinner dishes, that’s a big time-saver for the morning. I HATE rushing in the morning – I literally start to sweat, and if I’ve already taken my shower and applied makeup? Ew.
I realize that a lot of these solutions are common sense, and evidence of being a grown-up and organizing your life. I was kind of implementing the right changes in the first week or two (and actually before that I was making a concentrated effort on keeping the apartment clean on a daily basis – woot, Adulting!), but this week made me realize that I truly have to buckle down and discipline myself. I can’t put things off, because it creates a chain reaction that eventually results in a hasty decision, fueled by emotions and/or hunger.
I won’t lie, it’s starting to get a little freaky seeing how this action is connected to that reaction which causes this reaction and results in that reaction. At some level, I think I vaguely knew how my life affected my eating habits and vice versa. Now that I’m seeing the chain of events in writing, I can stop and/or change the negative ones and start or encourage the positive ones.
Now I just have to remember that these changes need to happen slowly, not “go big or go home” style! Changing everything at once will result in burnout. To quote a great movie, “Baby steps to positive life changes, baby steps to positive life changes…”
Baby Steppin' to a Better Me,
Jenn
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