So! Now that you’re on board, whatcha gonna do? Just saying you’re ready to get back in shape isn’t enough. We each need a plan for how we’re going to accomplish our goals. Everyone needs to choose her (or his—are there any hisses out there?) weapon before heading into battle.
And, yes, I’m mixing warfare and choo choo train metaphors. Sorry.
My Plan
I woke up Sunday morning just feeling blah as usual. That’s when the Switch finally went off—that point in time where the desire to do something about a problem becomes greater than the desire to continue the self-sabotage. The first thought that sprung to mind was: let’s just clean house first. So I decided to cut out meat and dairy products for at least two weeks. (I tried this approach once before, to moderate levels of success. This just felt like the right to give it another go.)
Of course, “no meat or dairy” isn’t much of a plan in and of itself. For all you know, I’m eating beer and pretzels all day. (Which, now that I think about it, might not actually be a bad diet. Besides, it would sure as hell sell more copies than my last book.) I’ve also cut out diet sodas, Cheez-Its, cookies, Cheez-Its, diet sodas, Cheez-Its and Cheez-Its.
My Menu
Actually, instead of talking about what I don’t eat, let’s look instead at what I am eating. This has been my menu all week. (Yes, I pretty much eat the same thing every day. I know most people can’t do that. It doesn’t bother me at all.)
Meals
- Breakfast: Peanut Butter & Toast
- Lunch: Veggie Burgers
- Dinner: My Homemade Veggie Soup
Snacks
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Bananas
Drinks
- V8 Juice
- Mint Tea (lots of this)
- Soy Milk
And that’s it. That’s been my last five days and oddly enough I feel perfectly fine. Although . . . well, I should mention that on Wednesday night, for dessert, I got a little naughty. When I made the big pot of soup on Sunday, I had half a large onion left over. I put it back in the fridge and for some reason I got a real hankerin for it. So I chopped it up, threw it in a pan with two tablespoons of peanut oil, added some spices and a pinch of sugar and caramelized the heck out of them. The onion weighed over a half pound when I started and reduced to four and a half ounces when finished. I wolfed it down like a bowl of ice cream.
One in ten of you is drooling over this. The other nine are deleting your browser bookmark and RSS feeds for my site.
So How About You?
It’s your turn! Do you have a weapon of choice? Are you in the middle of a program already or just thinking about starting something? Let us know below (or if you’ve already detailed all of this on your blog, just leave a link).
Oh, and happy Friday too. Hope everyone has a good weekend.
on August 20, 2010 at 7:28 am
I’m the freak who would be drooling over the caramelized onion. I would totally do that!! I can also eat similar things everyday and not get bored. That’s why I haven’t (until recently) posted my daily meals. I am now, just to keep me accountable but it’s really pretty boring except for dinner.
Here’s my plan. It worked a couple of years ago and if I can just stick with it, it will work again.
http://debbidoesdieting.blogspot.com/2010/08/1-2-3-4-5-diet.html
on August 20, 2010 at 7:32 am
Well cutting out the Cheez-Its is a pretty good weapon in my opinion. Works for me.
Sameness at breakfast and lunch also are things I do. But I’ve gotta have some variety at dinner otherwise I go a little nuts and start looking for the Cheez-Its.
on August 20, 2010 at 8:03 am
I’m responsible for family meals around here and nobody but NOBODY would be OK with a no meat/dairy routine for two weeks. Plus, I don’t find it useful to do anything so different that I can’t keep it up indefinitely. That’s how I gain back the weight. Every. Single. Time.
I am drinking more water, eating salads for lunch and working more fruits and veggies into the dinner rotation. Finally, no desserts and the only snacking I am allowing myself will be a small portion of nuts or a bit of popcorn.
Oh – and no wine or beer except for special occasions. That oughta do her.
on August 20, 2010 at 8:44 am
Want to officially hop on board, Deb? All it takes is one quick picture. 🙂
on August 20, 2010 at 8:53 am
Hi Charlie
Is your veggie soup a bit like the cabbage soup on the CSD?
I watched a prog the other day that proved that soup or liquified food results in more weight loss. It basically fills you up more and for longer 🙂
I’m sticking to 1000 calories at the moment. (I’m only 4’11” and am quite sedentary so dont really need more).
It goes something like this:
Breakfast : 2 small slices wholemeal toast with bertolli spread and a dairylea triangle = 200 cals
Lunch: Veggie Omelette with 30g cheese or fish with salad = 300 cals
Dinner: Meat/chicken/fish with lots of salads + mayo light or tartare sauce or cole slaw = 400 cals
Desert: Fab lolly = 90 cals
Drinks are black/green tea, water in the main, but I have a couple of cups of tea with skim milk + zylitol in the morning 🙂
Plus HIIT exercising 5/7 for around 30 mins.
I dont have a problem sticking to this in the week. My problem is weekends when I like to go out and drink wine!! Copious amounts…lol…when this happens I lose all dietry significance and end up with KFC etc. Have decided to only go out once every fortnight for 6 weeks. See if that makes a difference….this is my first weekend in……*sigh*
on August 20, 2010 at 9:05 am
Oh, and I weigh and track everything on Fitday.com I’m pretty useless at guessing!
on August 20, 2010 at 10:18 am
I knew Debbi would love the onions!! She is still my friend even though I hate onions and sweet potatoes! 😀
I am going to continue with the low/no alcohol, getting in at least an hour of exercise a day – my next weigh in isn’t until Labor Day, so we’ll see how August turned out then 😀
on August 21, 2010 at 10:46 am
I just sent in my On Board pic.
My plan is on my blog at:
weightonmeat50.blogspot.com
It’s simple.
Watch portions, no seconds.
Almost no sugar.
Drink lots of water.
Eat less processed, packaged and restaurant foods.
Walk every day 2 to 3 miles.
Lift light weights 2X per week.
Watch salt & MSG intake.
This is not a diet, these are healthy habits.
on August 21, 2010 at 2:33 pm
I have been known to eat 2 onions in the same manner. Shameful. But soooooo greasy spoon licking good!
I’m actually maintaining the most recent 6 pound loss, which was impressive for a Saturday morning. Normally, I weigh on a Sat AM with my eyes closed, and wait for him to snicker at my recent gain. But today, I was 2 pounds lighter than yesterday. Maybe the scale is starting to like me. Or maybe I have just been eating better things. Who knows?
And if you haven’t figured it out yet, my reference to my scale as a him suggests what arrived in the mail yesterday… 😉
on August 21, 2010 at 6:19 pm
My plan is:
*follow WW CORE plan (similar to South Beach)
*exercise 45 minutes 6 days/week
*drink 64 oz of H20 minimum each day
*eat more s-l-o-w-l-y, minimum 15 min for dinner
*attend WW meeting on Wednesday & WI
This has been working for me. I climbed back on the wagon and have lost 23 pounds since May 1, and 33 since I started in 2008.
on August 21, 2010 at 7:51 pm
I am on board. I had bariatric surgery 3 weeks ago and sm now on the road or “tracks”.
Check out my blog
http://rdrichardson.blogspot.com/
Bob
on August 22, 2010 at 7:42 am
Welcome!
on August 21, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Charlie, is your train stopping anywhere near my home in Minnie-sota? I’d like to hop on but not sure if I missed the train or not.
I’ve been working on my life style change since Jan 2nd and have lost 30 lbs and have another 20 to go.
I have a blog about my life style changes and am working hard at getting to my goal.
I’ll wait for you to either e-mail me or leave a comment and if the train is stopping in my area I’ll send you the picture and ticket to get on board.
Take care and God Bless!!
on August 22, 2010 at 7:30 am
The train never stops and we can keep adding cars to it as long as we want! Tickets are still on sale at the low-low cost of just deciding you want to get on.
on August 23, 2010 at 8:53 pm
So Charlie, I’ll see you tomorrow. Plan on asking for my ticket in the morning. Get your punch ready. See you then.
on August 22, 2010 at 6:58 am
Hey Gang
I’ve found another weapon!!
I registered with myfitnesspal.com yesterday and am totally excited about it. Essentially its an online food diary, but so much more than fitday.com which I was on:
It tells you how many calories you should be eating. It suggestes you eat your exercise calories!! (never heard that before but some people on there swear by it?) and when you shut down for the day even leaves an inspiring note saying “if you stick to you plan like today you will lose X amount of pounds in X amount of weeks” – very cute I thought 🙂 But most importantly, you can invite your friends onto your diary where you can email, leave status comments (like facebook) and join in forum discussions.
I spent most of the day on there yesterday and have to say I’m inspired, motivated and totaly hyped!!
Would be great if we could befriend each other on there? Obviously not all of us are tracking calories, but for those that are, it’s brilliant 🙂
Incidentally, I joined a similar site when I quit smoking and it kept me sane and on track when I most needed support; I couldnt recommend it enough. That was 6 years ago and I still don’t smoke 🙂 Perhaps now by joining a fat loss community, it will, finally, help us achieve our goals??
Up to you! But I’m hyped, I tells ya….lol
xx
on August 22, 2010 at 6:59 am
Oh Bob, the link you left is your email, rather than your blog!! 😉
on August 22, 2010 at 7:32 am
I updated it!
on August 22, 2010 at 7:04 am
Oh! And I’m not detracting from the fact that we are all on your train Charlie…..!!! You’re the one who has motivated me thus far. But I’m the type of person that needs spontaneous, sometimes hourly…lol… support so having thousands of like minded people around me is even better than our little group here 🙂
Hope that’s ok?
Anna 🙂
on August 22, 2010 at 7:40 am
Totally okay. And, oddly enough, I just started using myfitnesspal a week ago. I’m going to write about it next week.
on August 22, 2010 at 7:42 am
OH WOW!! FAB!!!
Well are you going to befriend me then?? lol
AnnaPixie is my name on there 😉
on August 23, 2010 at 3:59 pm
If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
[Sorry, had to let this bit of spam through. :)]
on September 9, 2010 at 11:18 am
Mind-blowing article bro. This kind of is just a enormously nicely structured piece of writing, just the awesome info I was looking regarding. I praise you
And your comment, Mr. Spammer, is also the kind of is awesomeness I wanting to keep blog going. –Charlie