Since last Thanksgiving, I put on about fifteen pounds. The three primary contributors to this gain were stress, a longer commute, and allowing 'white death' foods back into my diet.
Disgusted with myself, I signed up for my gym's holiday challenge. Basically, you put up $10 and get weighed a week before Thanksgiving. You get weighed once a week until the week after New Year's Day. As long as you've gained no more than three pounds, you get your $10 back. If you have lost more weight than other participants, but not more than twenty pounds - which is considered an unhealthy loss, you get any money forfeited by other participants.
I've already dropped four pounds since my initial weigh in. Though, I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that I won't gain weight today while chowing down at my sister-in-law's house. However, it was good to start the day with a little (flabby) wiggle room.
Here are some of the things that I am doing to help improve my chances of losing weight:
- take my vitamins - I have been really bad about that this last year
- drink tea, especially green tea (chemicals in tea help reduce appetite - and it's not just the caffeine
- eat at least half a cup of whole grains every day (fiber makes you feel full longer, helps you release carbs more slowly, and helps you eliminate toxins
- eat a cup of yogurt or a chunk of cheese every day (calcium supposedly helps with weight loss)
So, here's wishing all of us the best of luck with our collective 'battle of the bulge' as we kick off the holiday eating season today.
2 comments:
I noticed the effect of fiber the first time I ever tried to diet. But that time it was carrots, and I was eating a ton of them.
Since carrots are also full of calories, I switched to bran buds cereal and I save the calories for other things I like to eat.
Good for you, so far! My weight loss has hit a bump in the road these last couple of weeks, starting with my birthday. I give in to peer pressure too easily when it comes to eating. But I've already lost 10 lbs and I know I can make it through the holidays if I put my mind to it.
Stupid holidays!
Damn straight! Our contest is still on, by the way. It's just taking us a lot longer to get there. ;-) I've put a few on since last Thanksgiving, but am down 10 lbs again. I had a slight hiccup with the wildfires, but managed to get back on track and be down 1.2 lbs after Thanksgiving weekend.
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