hi folks

just the chatty one checking in again...on my favourite topic! weight loss....heh

okay, well, I didn't lose no 40 lbs in a year. wow. that's a lot and that's fabulous. it was more like a year and a half to lose 25 or 30 lbs....and I have kept it off. In fact, this year, I didn't even really get the winter 5 lbs. yay!

foodwise:
always eat breakfast

snack at your desk more

drink more water

eat more vegetables

eat lots of protein

make sure your carbs come from whole grains as much as possible


sure, so how do you make that work? one thing at a time, making habits as you go along.

I started with snack carrots at work

I keep boiled eggs handy for quick protein

I only buy cookies, chips, pretzles, etc when we go on a road trip

we eat a lot of boneless skinless chicken breast

I make a wicked banana bread with very little fat, very little sugar and loads of cool things like raisins and cranberries and blueberries, etc.

when I make soup, I start with a can, but you can bet I'll add 2 cups of veggies and a touch of whole wheat pasta and some type of meat (tofu meatballs work well)

veggies are expensive up here in the great white north. when bell peppers go on sale, I buy tons, chop em and freeze em. perfect for soup and stir fries

everything is spicey. especially thai spices. very satisfying

I keep bread in the freezer. just one extra step to snacking on it, slows down my consumption.

dried fruit and nuts make good snacks. so does my banana bread. and fresh fruit! and sliced peppers or any other veggie you like.

diet pop? yeesh, why bother? herbal tea. no sugar added. keep trying them and you'll find ones that you like: Stash has a very nice rooibis and their lemon ginger is quite good. Tazo zen is quite uplifting. Stash also has a nice green and white tea combination. that and water. try not to drink anything else if you're not exercising at the moment. (before, during and after a heavy exercise session is totally different: gatorade, monster, red bull, cytomax, endurox, whatever works for you)

try a new vegetable every month. every once in awhile you'll find a cool one you didn't think you liked. integrate it into your eating. I tried eggplant. turns out if you chop it small it just takes on whatever flavour you've got in the rest of the food. I keep chopped eggplant in the freezer to add to soups, sauces and stir-fries. just another vegetable.

and for exercise....change it up once in awhile. try a new sport for a month. change the way you do your weights. work on intervals instead of long endurance spins. go ahead....go out of your "target range". my personal experience has been: the greatest advances in losing that extra layer of fat which allows all the muscle to be defined happened from the most intense aerobic intervals. primarily from mountain biking and doing lots of anaerobic hill climbs. seriously, the lower heart rate might have some merits, but intervals and high intensity stuff works faster!!

get enough sleep

get enough rest

when you reach a milestone, don't celebrate with food (I used to do that) try something different: new clothes, new aromatherapy scents, a pretty candle, a new book...anything but food!

somebody said this already: sometimes we think we're hungry when we're thirsty. If you're about to devour whatever you can get your hands on, first pour yourself a good tall glass of juice or watered down gatorade (something more than water usually helps the hunger go away, but water can work, too). by the time you've drunk it and let it settle, you'll either find that you can eat less, you might not need to eat at all, and you've had time to rethink what you were going to eat to something more healthy.

oh, and pay attention when you eat. savour it. enjoy it. eat slowly and meaningfully. except, of course, after an intense ride! haha

that ought to be enough ideas for one post, don't ya think?

go, girls, go! you can do it!!!

Namaste,
~T~
who currently has strep throat and an oveactive brain