Happy Saturday, to all! I hope 2024 is off to an awesome start for everyone!!
*Guidelines:
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Compliant 2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Compliant 3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Compliant 4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Compliant 5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Compliant
6. Eliminate any added oil.
Compliant 7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e. bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
Compliant 8. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Not Compliant - Non-compliance/reason: There were two occasions this week I was out & about. I looked at my options & chose what I thought was "ok." Those choices were still compromises.
- Decision to Adhere: (1) In one situation, I see the benefit of eating without a drink & waiting until everyone has made their drink decisions. As my family members got their drinks, I compared my choice to everyone else's and thought it was "better." My focus wasn't this guideline though. (2) I want to get in the habit of just ordering water (bottled or not) when I'm eating out. That will keep things simple! (3) I must be ok with and resolved to not order a drink at Starbucks. When I know I'm meeting someone there (like this week), perhaps I can drink my fav tea before I go, filling my belly so I don't feel the need for a drink. Perhaps that will satisfy me. Worth a try! (4) This week, I also thought about ways to redirect my meetups with friends to places without food/drinks. Sometimes I don't feel like I'm in the driver's seat to make that choice...but perhaps I should be to maintain the integrity of my health. I know what's best for me!
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself.
Compliant 10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Not Compliant - Non-compliance/reason: There were 2 days this week I didn't workout. I didn't work out Thurs because I had a very long day. It was such a hard decision but I didn't have the physical energy to push myself. On Friday, it was purely an emotional decision to not workout. My day was packed but I had the time. Honestly, my weight gain this week discouraged me. It may just be a fluctuation BUT I felt so defeated. I thought about how hard it is to follow guidelines with intention while others seem to be living their best lives with reckless abandon when it comes to food. I know logically those folks may experience physical/emotional consequences I don't want to go thru. But what I felt inside was totally different.
- Decision to Adhere: I think I need to revisit WHY I'm here, in this Group. My motivation is key. I also think it's time to draw from what helped me get thru the toughest moments of my grief. I learned this statement from my Grief Recovery Group: Just do the next thing. It was a call to keep going, move forward, look ahead. My health journey is the same. My decision is to just do the next thing I know is best for my body & exercise today!
*Weight Change: 1.2lb gain**SUMMARY/THOUGHTS*Overall, I feel good about my week. I feel like the scale was not a true reflection of my effort this week.
- I have attended a couple of events this month. I was able to wear clothes that now fit comfortably. Such a great feeling! And the compliments have been encouraging.
- I have a new Virtual, Personal Trainer. Her Program includes fitness + nutrition. I was honest with her this week and told her about the Forum & my decision to not follow her nutrition plan. I sent her a pic of dinner one night. She is super supportive and encouraged me to stay on track with my guidelines. YAY!!
- Batch cooking saved the day (a few times) this week! It truly is a game changer to have food on-hand, ready to warm & eat!
- A friend (who is a Health Coach) urged me to post a video on social media about what I do. I posted a video about how to eat healthy, on-the-go with kids in tow. I was able to show the starter + lunch I prepared that I ate in my van between errands. Lol! In the video, I mentioned that putting my food together at home prob took me less time than waiting in a drive-thru line for fast food. A win for me!!!
- We hosted friends last night. I always like to have something folks can eat. I usually make vegan foods I can't eat. I decided instead to make a big bowl of fruit. SCORE! It served as dessert for my family and a better choice for my friends! I was shocked by how many servings my friends ate. It turns out people like fruit...lol
Thank you, Mark, and all of you for your support!
-Chesca