When you analyze yourself, you find yourself!

6/02/2012 *Sara-Marie* 2 Comments

My last post about two weeks ago was a frustrated one. I had gained weight three weeks in a row even though I thought I was being pretty diligent with my eating and exercise routine. I received an overwhelming positive response from friends and family that really motivated me to keep going, instead of baking some brownies and calling it a day.

Over the past couple of weeks, I analyzed my food intake with a fine tooth comb by continuing to count points, but also by counting calories, fat, protein, carbs, etc. I'm an analytical person by nature so I actually enjoyed it. The calorie counting app that I have suggests that I eat around 1410 calories a day to lose 1 lb a week. What I did notice was that usually equated to 28 points -- exactly what I'm currently allowed on the Weight Watchers plan. So in reality -- it's the same darn thang.

However, I did go back through my food journal for the weeks that I gained weight and I had a few AH-HA moments.  First, there were a few days that I consumed close to 1800 calories, but my points tracker still only said 28 points. How could that be? Those darn "free" bananas and mangoes. On the new WW plan, all fruit is zero points. I agree with this concept because it does steer me towards having a banana instead of eating a piece of bread as a snack. HOWEVER, there were multiple days that I was abusing the rule. Kinda like when there's a sale at the grocery store, but they limit your purchase to 4 so you don't abuse the sale. Yea, the plan should have a limit like that so that we are aren't abusing the free fruit. Maybe they have given participants a limit, but I haven't heard of it yet. SO I'M GIVING MYSELF A LIMIT.

Now, there's NOTHING wrong with "cheating on your diet" with some extra fruit -- in the grand scheme of things it's always the better choice. But I didn't realize I was going overboard, because my points tracker said I was good. And when I'm making green smoothies where there could easily be 3-4 servings of fruit (and 2 servings of vegetables), I have to be mindful of the calorie intake! This was my first epiphany.

Second epiphany: I was not eating enough vegetables. My current fruit to vegetable ratio (3 to 1) HAS to be flipped. I should be eating 3 servings of vegetables for every piece of fruit, not the other way around. At least, if I want to lose weight and get all of the nutrients my body needs to function properly.

Third: On days that I earned activity points, I was too quick to use them back up in food. Now, I know you're allowed, but there has to be a deficit if I want to lose weight. If you want to maintain your weight, then, sure eat more on days you work out. But for me, I need to be more diligent in almost pretending that I didn't work out and just stick to my points target/calorie goal. The calorie deficit is what is going to bring results!

So after realizing these things, I began to implement changes into my diet immediately. I am happy to report, that as of this morning, I am down 2.2 pounds since my last post. WOOT :)

I'm still 4.8 pounds away from getting back to where I was before the wedding, but I know that with my new outlook and focus, I should be there in no time. I just can't wait to get there, so I can then focus on losing more!! I really want to get into the best shape of my life!

So here are my new healthy eating guidelines which I will be posting on the refrigerator:

Mark doesn't know it yet, but this is going to apply to him too! After all, I am the one who does the cooking and grocery shopping around here!

For a while now, we've been trying to ween ourselves off of over processed, sugar and chemical filled foods. We started buying full fat foods (and practicing better portion control) after comparing the list of ingredients and realizing that the "fat free" versions are full of fake stuff -- our bodies weren't designed for tons of fake stuff.

So now, I'm making an even more conscience decision to try to eliminate, as much as possible, processed foods. God designed us to be 100% satisfied by the things HE created in nature -- why then am I stuffing my face with so much 'man-made' stuff in an effort to be healthy? This was my final epiphany for the week.

Since this post has been extra long, I will end with some pics of how I incorporated these changes into my diet over the last two weeks! Enjoy!

To make it easy to add veggies to all of my meals, I spent 15 minutes prepping on one day and put them in these compact little containers. Made it sooo easy to add to salads, marinara sauce, eggs, etc throughout the week!

Check out all of the veggies and fresh herbs that went into my veggie marinara! Yum!

Veggie marinara after adding the tomatoes -- this was delicious over my spaghetti squash!

Bought this awesome julienne peeler that turned my zucchini into spaghetti like stings in minutes!

Spaghetti squash, spaghetti zucchini, veggie marinara and a roasted drumstick. Delicious.

Caprese salad, grilled asparagus, grilled chicken and baked polenta

Roasted balsamic chicken over a bed of spinach and grilled zucchini

Turkey burger salad: spinach, turkey burger, feta, roasted red peppers, and hummus. No dressing - the hummus gives enough flavor!

Another caprese salad (grilled plum tomatoes this time) and put it over some salad greens, grilled asparagus and roasted drumsticks.

 Until next time!

God Bless and Enjoy Your Weekend!
SMP