The title of this blog is a quote from the movie Saturday Night Fever. One of my all time favorite scenes is when the family is sitting at the dinner table and John Travolta is sitting there with a sheet wrapped around him because he did not want to get dirty before a big night of dancing. As he reaches for a second pork chop his father quickly grabs it from his plate and shouts “One pork chop!!!!” Classic!!!! Well, just read the blog and you will understand the correlation of the title and meaning of the blog (hint - portion control).
I am no Jenny Craig but I do know a thing or two about dieting and losing weight. I lost forty pounds three times in my life following the same guidelines all three time and not by following the Atkins or South Beach diets. I always felt I would gain the weight back once I started eating the foods I avoided during a restricting diet. Plus I avoid digesting excessive amounts of fatty meats as possible. That is just not healthy. I always believed in portion controlled moderation dieting. Using my own formula of maintaining a balance of the two E’s: portion control Eating and Exercising, I was able to reach my goal weight. I will discuss dieting in this blog and exercising in a future blog. This blog is a short description to guide people in following an effective and inexpensive diet plan. If you know anyone who would help me write a book about my diet plan I can go into more detail.
Maintaining a stringent diet is not easy. It takes discipline and determination to achieve your goal weight. I believe everyone has the ability to achieve any goal desired. Staying focused on a daily routine and not looking ahead should be the approach taken following any diet. One thing to remember is that not all diets work for everyone. Everyone is different and their body responds differently to dieting and exercise. You can see results by following a strict diet but you will see more positive results if you put the two, dieting and exercising, together. Aerobic and anaerobic exercising helps making a weight loss program more effective. You may not notice the weight coming off after aerobic and anaerobic exercising but you will notice your clothing fitting better. The reason for this is muscle weighs more than fat and your weight shifts throughout your body. I call this “The Shift”. You burn fat and gain muscle tone. I have noticed that when I dieted and started exercising my mid section became flat and the muscle tone in my body increased, making my body feel tight and toned. It is seeing results that drives you to maintain the focus needed to continue in obtaining your goal.
I always followed the same formula of items when dieting:
Ø Getting started
Ø Set realistic goals
Ø Take one day at a time
Ø Portion control
Ø Do not eliminate foods you enjoy
Ø Stay satisfied, not hungry
Ø Stay out of the kitchen
Ø Weigh in everyday
Ø Believe in yourself
Getting Started
It is a challenge to start a diet. I always treated the start of my diet as a detox program. I would slowly wean myself off of certain foods during the first week of my diet program. These were the foods that I really enjoyed and knew that I would be limiting but not eliminating during my diet. This may help some people who have a hard time cutting out foods cold turkey.
Set Realistic Goals
When starting a diet you should set realistic goals. Setting the bar too high eventually leads to burnout and disgust. I never set my goal weight to be achieved in a certain amount of time. For example I never set my goal to lose forty pounds in six months. I set my goal of a certain weight to lose and then started the program. I focused on a one day at a time plan that eventually led me to achieve my goal. I also knew that I would't run into the challenge of trying to fit into that dress by a certain date.
Take One Day at a Time
I would always ramp up my diet during the first two weeks of the program. Take one day at a time, concentrated on the next pound and the current day’s diet plan. I never focused on the fortieth pound. You will notice that you may not lose anything in the first week but just remember you are preparing your body for good things to come. I always believe that the “one day at a time theory” leads you to positive results.
Portion Control / Do Not Eliminate Foods You Enjoy / Stay Satisfied not Hungry
I do not believe in depriving yourself of the foods you enjoy. Remember eliminating the foods you enjoy can eventually lead to a binge. I do believe, however, in depriving yourself of the portions you enjoy. Make a list of all the foods you know are your weakness then a list of all the foods you enjoy and know should be more consistent in your diet. You are not going to completely eliminate the foods that are you weakness just space them out and limit them. Now evaluate you daily routine. Do you work crazy hours? How can you set up your meals? Do you need to cook all or just some foods in the plan? If you work at a place that does not have the conveniences of a refrigerator or microwave then pack dry protein snacks. Protein holds you over longer and helps you get through to your next meal. Now set up a balanced diet plan of five small meals a day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. You want to stay satisfied during the day, not hungry and not too full. Set up a portion controlled meal plan around your routine. The snack between the three meals holds you over to your next meal. This is the most effective way in keeping your metabolism going. It allows your body to maintain digestion and for you to function after a meal; it also conditions your stomach in getting used to small meals. Do not overload your stomach with a big meal where you feel like a nap is needed. Your stomach eventually shrinks and will feel satisfied with the five small meals. This is more effective than three big meals. Do not starve yourself. It is also very important to continuously drink water throughout the day. This helps flush your system and keeps you hydrated. It also keeps your metabolism going.
For breakfast you can have a small bowl of fruit or just a piece of fruit, bowl of cereal, bacon and eggs or whatever you enjoy but just remember, portions!! Don’t have that second bowl of cereal and only have two eggs and a couple of strips of bacon or sausage. Remember you have the snack in a couple of hours to help hold you over. The snack falls between the previous meal and the next meal. The snack can be a piece of fruit, hard boiled egg, cheese stick, a small container of veggies, handful of peanuts or something real small and preferably healthy. I always ate a piece of fruit or an egg white. I stay away from yokes to aid in maintaining low cholesterol. For lunch it could be anything you want but that word keeps sneaking up, portions!! Okay not just anything, and certainly not a sleeve of cookies, maybe a sandwich, grilled chicken, fish or a hot dog (but one) accompanied by a small portion of veggies or fruit. Only you know what you enjoy and should be eating. Just stay focused on a one-portion meal. Then comes the second snack, again something small to hold you over to dinner. Now it’s dinnertime, the last meal of the day. This is the challenge. This is where your mental toughness and discipline comes in. Can you do it? Can you make this the last meal of the day? Of course you can. You have to want to do it. Follow the same procedure as the other two, breakfast and lunch, a small-portioned dinner followed by a snack that you love right after the meal. Some people need something sweet after their meal, me too. What I used to do was have three cookies directly after the meal. I ate a small portion controlled dinner followed by three of my favorite cookies. Why three? The first cookie satisfied my sweet craving, the second cookie was the catalyst that sealed my satisfaction and carried me into, what I call “One for the road”, the third cookie. The third and last cookie was the one I would remember until my next cookie, which was the next day. That’s it, only three. A small bowl of ice cream is okay too in place of the cookies. Now your craving may be fruit, well that’s even better. Have a small bowl of fruit for dessert but have it directly after your dinner.
Now that you are done with you fifth meal of the day, clean up your mess and stay out of the kitchen. Do not set one foot back in there. Going back into the kitchen can possibly lead to you regretting something. It may lead to you ruining your full day’s efforts and hard work. You will be so proud of yourself if you just say “No!” to entering the kitchen and will see results quickly. You will start to notice your mid section flatten and you will lose that bloated feeling. This is tough but essential to dieting. If you need to ingest something, drink water.
Weigh in Everyday
Weighing in everyday keeps you honest. It keeps you focused and maintains the drive to lose weight. If you know you have to weigh in the next day you will think twice about reaching for that extra cookie.
Believe in Yourself
I believe that the mind is a powerful force. You have to believe that you can do anything. You have to have the confidence that you can obtain whatever goals you set out to achieve. Dieting isn’t easy, you have to maintain focus and discipline using any diet plan, Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers or even my diet program. You have to want to do it and want to see results. This is something that only you can do for yourself.
Conclusion
Maintaining a diet is very challenging. People work crazy hours and find following a stringent diet difficult. I understand this, but it is important to figure out a way of consuming five small portioned meals throughout your day. I found success following, what I believe to be, an effective diet plan. Remember set realistic goals and take one day at a time. Once you achieved your goal weight then it’s up to you to continue this diet to maintain your ideal weight. With this program you don’t have to worry about adding back the foods you eliminated because you have been eating them all along through portion control. After you obtained your ideal weight then this diet turns itself into a "way of life" program. I always believed, “everything in moderation”, are important words to live by. You can do it. I will be writing about aerobic and anaerobic exercising in a future blog. Keep an eye out for it.
Good luck.
In the Shadow of the Haggis Bird
7 years ago
Part I
ReplyDeleteThe Psychological Battle of Losing Weight
Note to previous blogger: This is my first blog and first time writing about something in depth that has related to my experience. My mind moves faster than my fingers so it may be hard to follow me at times. I’m open to any criticism and I’m aware of the possibility that everyone’s different and I may have failed to see things through the eyes of others. While you read this you’ll see where we agree but at the end I will discuss where we disagree or differ.
When I first read “Office Contest” I already considered myself enrolled in the competition. It could have been any kind of contest. I love to compete and jump at the chance of a good challenge. It’s in my blood. The monetary gain was just extra motivation. For those of you not familiar with the contest, it was a 6 week (Nov. 2nd to Dec. 14th) weight loss contest. There was a weigh-in on Nov 2nd, a weigh-in at the midway point on Nov. 23rd and a final weigh-in on Dec 14th. There were 20 people involved and the winner was whoever lost the most percentage of their original weight. It was a $25 entry fee and 2nd place won 25% of the total pot, the rest going to 1st place.
My weigh-in to start was 183.7 lbs. (I felt heavier than that). I wasn’t dying to lose weight but I had a bit of a gut and wanted to slim down. A few years ago I was 170 lbs. and wanted to be 180-185 and I eventually got there. I wanted to build muscle on top of fat cause at 170 I was muscular but it looked weird because I had little body fat. If I was fatter with muscle I’d get that bulky look that I desired. I was skinny my whole life and never felt I’d get a gut but it started to take its shape. My male relatives are skinny with rather large bellies which is not an appealing look. My physical appearance is not that important to me but I didn’t want it to get out of control. An unwanted double chin started to appear too.
Besides the challenge and winning money there were additional reasons to entering this contest. Testing my willpower was very important to me. I’m very critical of people with no self-control. I’ve always said how easy it is to stop bad habits but I’ve never actually tested myself. Another reason was to eat healthier. I ate mostly junk food and rarely ate fruits and vegetables. I wanted to stop my glutton ways and wanted to fit into some of my old clothes. I’m also looking to get a city job and a lot of these departments won’t take you if you’re overweight. I was very close to these limits. I also wanted to be slimmer to increase my speed in sports. And lastly I would have enjoyed annihilating certain people in the contest.
My first approach to losing weight was rather strange. Normally I drink two cups of black coffee a day due to having to wake up at 5:30am. I stopped because I wasn’t sure if it had fat contents. I never set out on losing weight before and was therefore oblivious when it came to nutritional facts. I’ve always ate what I wanted, when I wanted. So I decided to stop coffee intake regardless. A few weeks into the contest I found out it wasn’t fattening. I knew it probably wasn’t but I didn’t think peanuts were fattening but it turned out that they were. Nevertheless, I stopped drinking coffee and it was one of the biggest reasons I was able to lose the weight. My normal eating routine was bacon and egg on a bagel at 8am, a big fattening lunch at 12 pm, and a nap at 4pm (cause of little sleep the night before) and ate occasionally at 6-7pm and asleep by 11-12pm. I lost sleep because all the caffeine would keep me up. The more I was awake the hungrier I would be. Since I stopped my caffeine intake I was able to get 8 hours of sleep and eliminate naps. Hunger sensation is controlled by the brain so by sleeping more, that part of the brain (I think the hypothalamus) gets turned off so to speak and hunger takes awhile to kick in once I awoke. Thus, by getting more sleep and longer REM cycles, I felt that resting my brain was controlling my hunger urge. Hunger can’t affect you while you’re asleep.
Part II
ReplyDeleteIt was important to spread out my daily eating cycle. Referring to my normal routine, I would eat as soon as I was hungry. So to eliminate a meal I’d have to delay when I’d eat. This is where you have to battle the urge of hunger. When it was time to eat at 8am and hunger kicked in, I would fight it and try to eat after 9am. Then hunger wouldn’t kick in again until 1pm and I’d fight that for an hour and eat at about 2 or 3pm. You have to gradually spread this out. Fight hunger for a half an hour at first and gradually add 5 minutes everyday if you’re having trouble. Go at your own schedule if you have time to lose the weight but never minus minutes. This system is very important. Create a visual daily timeline if you’re having difficulties.
I didn’t plan on gradually eating less and less but it was vital to my weight loss. The first week and a half I ate basically the same only eliminating meals after 5pm. Starving yourself on the onset would have been internally harmful. It was like I was systematically decreasing my stomach size.
Those were my two main strategies but here are a few others I had. I wrote down everything I ate during the six weeks. That kept me from eating unnecessary items. I wrote it on a small sticky pad and knew if I ate additional food my system would become complicated. This may not work for other people because they wouldn’t care about their systems. I on the other hand would be committed to something trivial like that. The final two weeks I left only one line in my graph to limit what I wrote.
Another strategy that would only work with committed people was to record my weight everyday when I first woke up. This eliminated me eating extra food because I didn’t want to write down an increase in weight. If there was an increase I would try harder at my weight loss. At the end of the week I would set weight goals that I wanted to be. I tried to estimate what you would be (the leader of the contest was kept secret) and what I’d have to lose to beat you. But my trick was to set unreasonable goals. For example I aimed at 139 lbs. for Dec 14th. Ultimately I failed at that and finished with 148.8 lbs. But if I aimed for 148 I’d probably not have reached that.
A relative of mine said that doctors told him the reason he was virtually skinny but had such a large gut was because he would not eat breakfast but eat a lot right before he would go to bed. This made a lot of sense to me. We eat to gain energy to be active throughout the day, so if you eat and then don’t use the energy the food will sit in your stomach producing fat. Thus I didn’t eat after lunch, usually at 2 or 3 pm. I tried to eat right before I was active to utilize the fuel.
I know little about nutritional facts but I decided to eliminate red meat from my diet because I’ve heard it stays in your system for awhile. This was hard because I would normally eat 2-3 cheeseburgers per week. I also love mozzarella and decided to eliminate that. I believe we’re an obese nation not because of our main dishes but because of our side dishes. I always order fries, onion rings, garlic bread, etc. with my food. This was an obvious indulgence I had to eliminate.
I also knew I had to eliminate alcohol. I’m not a heavy drinker so I didn’t think it would be too hard but there was one issue. I couldn’t hang out with friends and not drink. So for six weeks I had to basically eliminate going out and “enjoying myself”. Halloween night was a very big final farewell for me, before the contest started. Not going out Thanksgiving Eve was difficult too. One night I went to my friends’ birthday party where they were serving lasagna among other things. I just stood in the kitchen for about an hour watching everyone eat. I had to leave abruptly.
Part III
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I don’t like throwing away food, so if I was internally satisfied that would have no bearing on the amount of food I kept eating. Restaurants in America generally supply excessive amounts of food for one person. I guess to eliminate any type of complaining to assure your return business. Normally I would eat so much at lunch I would feel extraordinarily full. I’d have to limit my portions for the contest. Like I said, I love burgers but I never saw the purpose of the double cheeseburger. It makes people feel like they’re eating one thing when in actuality its two burgers. Just order the two burgers if you’re that hungry. By ordering one double cheeseburger you may get the idea of ordering those chicken nuggets too. Self-control was very important for this contest. I’ve always had this motto of “put down the fork” towards someone working to lose weight. I think I got that from the TV show, “Family Guy”.
My parents are smokers and I’ve always felt if they wanted to quit they just had to stop buying cigarettes or lighters/matches. I decided to go food shopping and bought $100 worth of dietary foods. I kept the receipt and this acted as my “only foods allowed to eat” list, crossing off items once I finished them. This is where you need additional support. If you have parents or a spouse that load up the cupboards with fatty foods it may offset your system. My girlfriend actually lost weight too because we stopped going out to eat. My parents are good cooks but I told them not to make a lot of food for the house for I would not be eating any of it. For some reason when they cook the smell goes right into my room making it difficult to contain my urges.
A lot of professional dietary plans have their customers eating a lot of foods they don’t like. This has always seemed odd to me. When I went food shopping I was able to buy fruits and vegetables that I liked like, strawberries, bananas, broccoli and carrots. I tried not to cook my vegetables because I knew that it takes away from its nutritional value. Because I was eating less I relieved my bowels less so I tried drinking prune juice to aid the process. It didn’t really help and tasted so bad I couldn’t commit to this. However, I drank the juice when I ate so the awful taste of the drink started to associate with my food. The next day when it was time to eat I would get the bad prune juice taste in my mouth. I was familiar with this association conditioning in my psychological studies.
People feel like they have to be exercise nuts to lose weight but I disagree. It’s really limiting what you ingest. As long as your active after you eat you won’t develop fat as far as what I know. During the contest I exercised 2-3 times per week, which was my normal amount. It’s important to do things you like. I was able to play softball on Sundays but unfortunately my basketball league ended so I had to start jogging in my neighborhood and at my gym. I ran about 1-2 miles making sure not to overdo it. I was afraid I’d build muscle in my legs and I’ve heard muscle weighs more than fat. It helps if you have a friend to exercise with so if one day you don’t feel like going and he/she does they may convince you to go. I wanted to sweat a lot to lose some of the water I drank. I only drank water and lots of it. Whenever I was hungry I drank water. This doesn’t really satisfy your hunger but I felt like it tricked my brain into having an oral intake. It had a psychological affect in that I was eating when I really wasn’t.
Part IV
ReplyDeleteI’ve always observed dieting people claim that they’re going to “cheat” just one day. This was usually on holidays. They’d forget any dieting system they have committed to. You may think it isn’t a big deal to do this for one day and I agree. However, there is a problem giving up a strict routine for just one day. One day becomes two days and then three days and then the diet plan is over. You’re aware that the one day of indulging was no big deal so the next day won’t be a big deal as well. If you’re able to draw the line at one day, like I was on Thanksgiving, you can do it. However, most people don’t have the self-control or reasoning capabilities. If you have trouble staying on diets, try eliminating cheating days.
Motivation is an important factor in weight loss. If you “kind of want to lose weight but not really” you’re not going to lose the weight. You have to ask yourself if you’ll be fully committed. My motivation was the money prize and my competitive drive. This may be extreme, but having someone belittle you on your obesity can serve as a good motivational drive. Getting your feelings hurt can be a good thing. Look up your high school nerds to see this cause and effect. Just remember if you fail at the initial attempt you can always retry or alter your system. Finding the system that best fits you may take a few attempts.
There were two strategies that I failed miserably at. Firstly is that you have to keep your mind off food. If you’re a chef or in the food business this may be difficult. If your weight is out of control and serious about losing weight you may have to consider a change in careers. It was difficult for me because I don’t do much at work so I was constantly looking at menus in my desk drawer and planning what foods to order for a party in January. I should have thrown away my menus. They’re free and easy to retain. I also found myself watching the food network and the “Cake Boss”, which only tortured me. I also constantly asked what people were having for lunch. It’s important to be active and think about other things. Being too active can increase your hunger though so be careful. I did a lot of Christmas shopping during my lunch breaks. I actually did my Christmas lights alone for the first time this year. I had no issue with dealing with the cold temperatures for eight straight hours because I wasn’t focused on the pain of hunger.
Previously I said I cheated on Thanksgiving dinner. I ate foods I shouldn’t have but I ate small portions and only took seconds of string beans. This was hard but the following day was the hardest day of the six weeks. All those leftovers in the refrigerator were calling my name. And I wanted to give up because I incorrectly thought I was losing the contest. I probably just wanted to believe that was true. The second hardest day was the final few days when I felt I had second place locked up and was too far from first but couldn’t really tell.
Ultimately I came in second and won 25% of the prize money. I dropped 35 lbs. in 42 days to finish at 148.8 lbs., which was 19% of my original body weight. My commitment was exceptional but at 5’9” that weight was going too far. Check with professional listings to see where your optimal weight should be. I actually saved approximately $400 in five weeks on food I would have normally spent. Another positive result was my desire to learn how to cook. My parents taught me a few things I should have learned awhile ago. Also the less food you eat the better it tastes. This will make you even hungrier creating another potential issue. And when I first started the diet I no longer felt that awful bloated feeling after eating like a glutton.
Part V
ReplyDeleteAmericans seem to want the easier, quicker way to losing weight. I’ve never experienced any type of pill or supplements for weight loss but I would have to disagree with these methods. Losing weight is not an easy task but if you want results you have to work hard. Genes have proven to be a factor in being overweight but shouldn’t be an excuse. If you’re entire family is overweight or obese you should see it as an opportunity to beat the odds and impress them by overcoming your disadvantages. Picturing yourself trim at your next family function where everyone is obese could be a huge motivational factor.
An obstacle I had to monitor was my history of migraine headaches due to malnutrition. Be careful not to overdo your weight loss routine. Any sign of dizziness or headaches should be subsided with a light snack or rest when necessary. It’s also not safe to binge eat once your diet plan is complete like I have. This could be detrimental to your biological system. I’ve been extremely hungry but I’ve felt very nauseous by going back to my old eating habits. I’m still learning about this stage of the process.
We tend to believe that losing weight is a physical battle. Half of it is but a huge factor is the psychological battle. We can do anything we set our minds to and there’s no obstacle we can’t defy.
I felt we had a lot of similar ideas but a few differences. I know many say eating more frequently at few amounts is a better way to go. I just feel that by eating 5 times a day you increase the likelihood of going too far and overdoing it one of those times. If I plan on eating a small amount of ice cream I may lose control and go for the whole gallon. I’d rather just eliminate it all together. If I have some of it now I may be thinking about it all day and may make my carrots taste awful. But I didn’t actually try that technique so I’m not 100% sure it wouldn’t work. I know my gradual starvation method could be somewhat unhealthy. We also differ on the goal setting technique. I know some may get the burnout feeling by setting unrealistic goals but I’ve always felt setting high expectations was a good thing. Aim for the major leagues and worst case scenario you may make it to the minors.
Weight Loss Strategies
• More sleep equals less hunger.
• Spread out eating routine, gradually eating less.
• Write down everything you eat.
• Write down every days weigh-in.
• Set high goals.
• Don’t eat 5-6 hours before bed.
• Eliminate fatty foods and unnecessary side dishes.
• Don’t eat past being internally satisfied/ Eat small portions.
• Eliminate going out if it includes eating and drinking with friends.
• Avoid a household where people have fatty foods.
• Find healthy foods you enjoy.
• Try negative association techniques (extreme measures).
• Stay active immediately after eating.
• Don’t “cheat” if you can’t control it.
• Drink a lot of water.
• Get motivated.
• Avoid a food environment if possible.
• Don’t take the easy way out (pills, etc.). Must work hard.