It's a school/workday today. I lack motivation.
The PSMF has taught me about the value of protein! Nothing fills me up for longer. I started the day with a ham n' egg sandwich and a bunch of green grapes.
Followed by some BBQ flavored popchips (new addiction, these things practically count as eating a vegetable) and tea.
Even though I wanted a eggwich for breakfast, I also wanted overnight oats! What to do? Breakfast for lunch! In this jam jar:
1/4 rolled oats
1/4 oat bran
1 tsp flaxseed meal
1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup water
bunch of blueberries
and chocolate granola on the side.
I didn't feel quite full after eating this but oats always seem to take a while to expand in my stomach. Quelled the (psychological) hunger with a hot cup of matcha tea and a piece of gum. It worked!
Work kept me super busy until I snuck downstairs for an iced unsweetened tea. Paired with a fruit cup for an afternoon snack.
I knew this time that the hunger wasn't psychological, so I also ate half an apple.
More work, then it was finally time to go home! I froze some leftover rice from a while back and left it in the fridge to defrost this morning. I lived with a Japanese roommate in my 2nd year and was intrigued by her rice-making habits. She would make a big pot of rice, use what she needed, and then pre-portion the rest of the rice in saran wrap and freeze it. Then for the rest of the week she'd thaw out only what she needed.
Those Japanese don't mess around! The rice tasted almost as fresh as when I had it the first time around. I panfried 1/4cup egg whites & 1/2 of a lean ham chop with a chopped tomato and teriyaki sauce. I stirred 3/4cup of rice at the end and it soaked up on the tomato juices! Mmmm super yummy.
After dinner I sat down with my two Real Estate assignments due tomorrow (Urban Land Economics and Real Estate Economics) ... one of the assignments is super hard and involves using regression in excel and CALCULUS. Omg I went into business so I would never have to do Calculus again in my life!!! Being super frustrated with my assignment, I ended up munching on the rest of the Popchips. Straight outta the bag. There was about 1 serving left.
And to further procrastinate. I ate a little bowl of frozen grapes and Puffins cereal. Stress eating to the max.
Now instead of fueling my frustration with more food, I decided to take a blogging break.
While the PSMF may be over, my journey with weight loss is far from. Ideally, I would still like to lose 20lb, but will focus on 5lb increments to be more realistic. While I certainly don't want to restrict my food intake in any drastic form, I still want to make choices that allow me to reach my weight loss goal.
Enter - the Un-Diet.
The whole concept of a diet is that it is a TEMPORARY restriction in food consumption in order to reach a desired weight or body fat%. As soon as that goal is met, the diet is stopped and normal eating resumes.
However, your weight is a reflection of your dietary LIFESTYLE, and that in order to maintain a satisfactory weight, you also need to maintain that eating lifestyle. One of the reasons why I keep yo-yo dieting is because I change my eating habits SO EXTREMELY. Naturally the pounds will shed off, but as soon as I revert back to my previous ways, they will creep back up. I had never dieted up until the age of 20, and had maintained a happy, healthy weight. As soon as I started dieting, the lbs actually started to creep up!
That's why, I hope this next 'diet' will be my last. And by that, I mean, I hope to continue to eat this way (and lose weight) for the rest of my life. I thought about the more mainstream diets associated with weight loss and whether I could see myself eating that way forever:
Atkins - out of the question, I love carbs
South Beach - flexible and intuitive, but too many rules and 'forbidden' foods
Zone diet - too rigid
Calorie Counting - too obsessive, food isn't homework
Weight Watchers - another form of calorie counting
Body for Life - too many meals
Since there wasn't any 'dieting lifestyle' that I felt suited me. I decided to come up with my own diet! All these guidelines are flexible, but comprised of things that I know benefit me. (They might not benefit you ...)
The Guud un-Diet
Food
1. Eat Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner but it's ok to skip a meal
2. Eat 1-2 snacks per day, no foods are off-limits
3. Only eat when hungry
4. Stop eating when 7/10 full
5. Do not eat while doing homework or studying for exams (stress eating!!)
6. Snack after dinner if still hungry, but do not make it a habit (leads to munching)
7. Incorporate protein in every meal - aim for 40 to 50g a day
8. Incorporate vegetables in every meal - aim for 4 - 5 servings a day
9. Make feel-good food choices, this means both physiologically AND mentally
10. Limit calorie-dense and fatty foods (nut butters, full-fat cheese, coffee cream) they're not off-limits, but shouldn't be eaten with liberty either
11. Satisfy sugar cravings with natural sugars (fruit, honey, cane sugar, 100% fruit juice) and not artificial ones
12. Eat slowly and mindfully
13. Drink 6 - 8 glasses of water a day
14. Drink a glass of water with lemon juice upon waking (helps metabolism)
15. Teas and coffees ok, but do not overdo caffeine
Lifestyle
13. Exercise for 30+ min everyday
14. Alternate between yoga, cardio, strength training
15. If there isn't time for exercise, then walk for at least 30min.
16. 7-8hr of sleep a night
That's all I can think of now! The hardest parts for me will be fitting in the exercise everyday and not snacking after dinner. However, both of these are POSITIVE lifestyle choices that I think I can stick to in the long term. The main weight loss aspect will come from rules 3 and 4, so many times I eat until I am STUFFED, or eat when I'm not even that hungry. For the next six weeks (until my 21st birthday!) I will be living by these guidelines and updating you guys with weekly weigh-in results. Already, I feel a sense of relief in the guidelines, I can eat out wherever I want, eat whatever I want, and 'dieting' will not interfere with my normal life! I guess the big question is: will I get results?
Only time will tell, but for this present moment: housing price indices awaits!
miss you girl <3
ReplyDeletekeep up the healthy