The Trouble with Travel

The trouble with travel is that everything changes, and routine is forgotten. How can someone expect to lose weight when nothing around them is familiar?

I have traveled a lot in my life; I am very lucky. Last year, I traveled to Italy, and came back close to 15lbs heavier. In 2 days, I am going on the very same trip again. This time I will be prepared to lose weight instead of gain it.

Trouble 1: Where is the scale?
Resolution: Bring a tape measure instead!

Unfortunately, a travel scale has not been invented yet. I have seriously considered packing my scale in my bag with me, but with all of the weight requirements that airlines have right now, it just isn't practical. Weight is not the only way to measure progress.

Instead of packing the scale, I am packing a tape measure. It is light, small and measures my progress even better than a scale. Instead of watching a seemingly arbitrary number drop, I can watch the inches around my waist and my thighs shrink. My trip is a long one, so this is a satisfactory way to travel and track.

Trouble 2: Iffy Internet with online weight-loss program
Resolution: Bring a notebook.

While online programs make tracking everything easier, you can still track with a pen and paper. I intend to bring a notebook and take it everywhere. If I eat anything, I will write it down and estimate how many calories it contained. Just the act of writing it down will help.

Tip: Since eating out is a common occurrence on vacations, add an extra 100 calories after every meal eaten out. This extra allowance will take into account the extra oils that are hidden in many restaurant meals. You can do this even when you aren't on vacation!

Trouble: No gym!
Resolution: Bring a pair of running shoes and buy equal sized water bottles.

You can't take the gym with you, but a pair of shoes is definitely do-able. If you just remember to get out and run for a couple of minutes, not only will you see more of your destination, you will end up with more energy and a couple extra calories burned.

The water bottles act as hydration, and as weights. If you fill up matching water bottles you can use them as impromptu dumbbells. If you need more weight than a 1 liter bottle, you can either bring emptied and squished 2 liter soda bottles to fill, or go find them where you are to use. In the end, just leave them there! (preferably in a recycling bin)

Trouble: I'm hungry but it isn't meal time!
Resolution: Find a local market, and bring some snacks along.

When you find a market, you find all of the local fruits and vegetables. A grocery store would be a good choice also. This way you can buy some fruits and have quick snacks that you know are healthy and don't require refrigeration!

I went out and bought 15 of my favorite energy bars and a handful of fruit leathers. This wasn't cheap, but since last year there was a major focus on gelato and pizza, I need something healthier to eat when I get hungry and everyone else wants calorie laden foods. Throwing one in my bag is easy enough and my snacks are only 100 calories each so are much better choices than the local "fast foods."

If you have any other ideas that would make weight-loss on a trip easier, write it in the comments!

When Should You Count Calories?

Yesterday, I went to the movies with my boyfriend and I hadn't eaten breakfast. We were late, so I ordered some Reese's Pieces and we ran to sit down. I knew it wasn't the healthiest breakfast, but how bad could it be? I estimated about 2 servings of probably 150 calories per serving. A bagel would have been about the same. Right?

I remembered to put the package in my bag when we left so that I could track correctly later. But I didn't track it until after I had eaten lunch and dinner. When I finally pulled out the package and looked at it, it was 5 servings of 200 calories. My 300 calorie breakfast was actually 1,000 calories. Let me tell you, I was SO MAD that I hadn't checked before I ate them.

I have the Spark App on my Blackberry, and I have several computers available to me. What was so difficult about checking to make sure it fit into my plan before I ate them? I could have had Aussie Cheese Fries from Outback, 10 bananas, or 20 cups of Strawberries instead. There are so many things that would have satisfied me more than those few handfuls of Reese's Pieces.

So when is the ideal time to log calories? For most people before they eat,( or even the day before) is the best plan. Logging your calories before is the best way to make sure you know the damage a food will do (or not do) before you eat it.

Everyone makes mistakes, so all I can do is check everything I eat today, and log it BEFORE I eat it. Guessing doesn't work for me. But next time I am in a similar situation, if I even get the candy, I will make sure I know what I am actually eating.

Have you ever been in a similar situation?

The Diet Game Plan

You have good intentions when it comes to your eating habits, so why is it so hard to resist when temptation comes calling? You know you shouldn't order those fries, or eat that cookie, so what is it that is going wrong?

For me, if I can't resist, its because I don't have a game plan. When I plan my meals a day ahead, or plan a whole week at once, all of a sudden, temptations aren't as tempting.

When I know exactly when I am going to eat next and what I am going to be eating, politely refusing becomes so much easier. Instead of thinking "maybe I will skip dinner" to make up for your temptation, you can think "I can wait for my garden burger and salad" or whatever its going to be.

Getting rid of the meal limbo is like a coach planning out the week for his players. He isn't going to just come up with something on the spot; he makes sure that his players are well prepared by balancing different workouts each day. Be your own meal coach.

Occasionally things will come up and you will need to change your plan, but being flexible is okay. At least you are making a decision about what meal is best instead of playing the "omg what should I do" game.

Not only does planning ahead make it easier to resist temptation, it makes it easier to go grocery shopping, it makes it easier to stay within your calorie range and it makes it easier to eat out.

I will save eating out for another blog, but trust me when I say planning ahead is a lifesaver.

How to Eat Chips

Sometimes, you really need junk food. When finals time comes around, I give myself a break and let myself eat crap. I feel like crap, so I need an equal food. So here is how you do it.

1. Buy smallest package of chips that you can find in that will satisfy the craving.

If it is prepackaged in a manageable portion, you CAN'T overeat them. Instead of eating 6 or 8 portions, you will only consume 1 or 2.


2. Pour them into a bowl.

I believe that the packaging hides the quantity from us. If we can see the massive amounts of chips, then we won't want to eat as much.

3. Put a paper towel under the chips in the bowl.

So this isn't actually doing that much, but it is absorbing some oils. The oils in chips are what make them so high in calories. Absorbing any is going to lower the calorie count a little. Its the same idea as patting down a piece of pizza with a napkin.

Tip: Use 2 sheets so that you can cover the chips when you don't want another one. Out of sign out of mind.

4. Don't watch TV with this bowl of tastiness.

If you are studying, or working, or reading, you will at least have to look down to eat. Every time you look down you are a bit more conscious of what you are putting in your mouth and you can enjoy it more. TV zaps your brain, and allows you toeat mindlessly. You can go from bowl to mouth without even thinking.

5. Enjoy them.

The whole point of junk food is to enjoy. Savor the flavor of them. I usually get Jalapeno or Barbecue flavor, and I get Kettle style because I like the crunch. Know what makes you tick. Don't bother if it isn't exactly what is going to make you happy. This is why I don't eat baked chips. This isn't a habit, its a treat. Treat is as such.

Weight-loss to date: down to 151 lbs from 157 lbs
Current BMI: 26.7

The Stress Balance

As you probably know, I am a college student. This last week, ALL of my papers were due, ALL of my art projects were due, and sleep did not factor in. While I generally think that sleep is overrated, going days with minimum levels of sleep is, well, exhausting. My brain was fried, and my body was achy.

Your body basically has three reservoirs of energy: emotional, physical, and mental. When you are perfectly awake and balanced you should theoretically be completely satisfied in all three of these sectors. When you wear yourself out in only one of these areas, your life will start to feel out of sync.

For example, when you go through a breakup, you feel emotionally drained. You probably sit around moping, eating ice cream and watching sappy movies. You exhaust yourself emotionally, but physically and mentally you have too much energy. To balance this out, you should probably go exercise, or take a class. Keeping yourself "busy" is what gets you over the emotional troubles.

The same goes for stress related to school. I mentally wore myself out without physically wearing myself out. Even when I had time to exercise, it would not have been safe since my brain was so out of it. I really needed to catch up on my sleep and then get to the gym.

This upcoming week is finals. To stay mentally alert, I have decided that to stay healthy (since I have a habit of becoming ill just towards the end of finals), I am going to start out my days with the gym and a run. Emotionally, I will be fine since my wonderful boy friend is a constant source of strength for me.

My goals for this upcoming week are to:

• get enough sleep


• exercise daily


• study effectively


• Stay on track with my eating

Good luck to all who are graduating!

Weight-loss to date: down to 152.4lbs from 157lbs (2.5lbs gained from lowest point, but still down 4.5lbs)
Current BMI: 27

Celebrities and Body Image

I love fashion, and I love looking at celebrity fashions. The problem with that is the gap between my weight reality, and that of Vogue and Hollywood. How can real people tell what healthy looks like?

The Project:

Use celebrity images to educate yourself about what a "healthy" weight looks like.

The Steps:

1. Create a Word document and make a table with headers of "Name," "Height," "Weight," "BMI," and "Images." Use this table to keep track of the next few steps.

2. Use the internet to find as many celebrities as you can that are within 1 inch of your own height (and a couple who have bodies that you envy regardless of their height).

Example: I am 5'3", so I looked for models and celebrities who are between 5'2" and 5'4".

3. Try to find an accurate weight for each of these celebrities.

4. Use a BMI calculator using this data to find the BMI of each celebrity. I used http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/.

5. Then put the celebrities in order of BMI from lowest to highest.

Tip: I copied the table into Excel, clicked "sort" by BMI and then copied it back into Word.

6. Use the highlight feature in red on celebrities with a BMI under 18.5, and over 25.

7. Go online and find images of each of these celebrities. I tried to find bikini pictures so I could see their bodies clearly. Paste the images into your document so you can refer to them later.

This exercise will start to give you a clear image of what an unhealthy weight looks like, at least on the low side of the scale. Since I idealize celebrity bodies more than I should, it gave me a clear division between which people look healthy, and which people look anorexic.

Now I can look through Vogue and recognize that I will NEVER look like a fashion model; I don't even want to anymore. My body isn't built to be that skinny or gazelle-like. The clothes still look beautiful, but the bodies look under weight and unhealthy. I have a Word document with images of healthy figures that are actually my size. I can aspire towards a more realistic goal, instead of an unhealthy, impossible goal.

As promised, I am posting an image I created using My Virtual Model.

Weight-loss to date: down to 151lbs from 157lbs
Current BMI: 26.7

Eat Stop Eat - Revisited

So it has been about a month since I began Eat Stop Eat, and I have revised my opinion of it. I still think that it would be a good idea for some people, but as a college student who is a little bit social, and has to be able to think straight everyday, it might not be the best program.

There are a lot of things about fasting intermittently that are beneficial, but finding time every week to not eat is much more difficult than I thought it would be. I think my main problem is thinking about food too much. I like eating and think it is an enjoyable activity.

Another problem with Eat Stop Eat is that it gives me an "excuse" to go over my calorie range during the rest of the week. Instead of thinking: "oh I shouldn't eat out tonight," I think: "I will just make tomorrow an Eat Stop Eat day." Then, the next day I most likely won't so the extra calories will just build up. I am trying to change my life, my habits, and my relationship with food, so Eat Stop Eat has become detrimental to my progress.

Maybe once I have raised my will power overall, Eat Stop Eat will be easier for me. For now, I need to focus on eating healthy foods, moderation, and staying within my calorie range every day.

Weight-loss to date: down to 151lbs from 157lbs (up 3lbs from last post)
Current BMI: 26.7

Eat Stop Eat

I have begun a program called "Eat Stop Eat." I have been aware of this program for awhile, but I have not started it until recently. While I have not read the online book, I used to be subscribed to the list serve. I believe that I am well-informed enough that I can safely follow the program, I have done research, and it has several great reviews on reputable diet review sites.

Eat Stop Eat allows you to eat whatever you want to eat, most of the time. That is the "Eat" part. Two non-consecutive days a week you fast - water, black coffee, diet soda and tea are all acceptable on your fasting days. That is the stop.

To maintain and build muscle, you must weight train, so that your body will use fat stores instead of muscle. The program will not put you into starvation mode, you will not binge after, you will not pass out from hunger. All of that is myth from the diet industry.

Fasting a day or two a week is surprisingly easy. Although it goes against conventional wisdom, it is scientifically backed, and actually makes logical sense: if you eat less, you will lose weight. If the average person eats 1500 calories a day, then saving twice that (3000 calories) a week can significantly effect your weight-loss efforts. (remember: 3500calories is 1lb)

Now I am not doing this without eating healthy on my eating days. I feel like Eat Stop Eat is a tool, but it cannot replace nutrition and common sense.

This program is probably not for people with health problems (aka diabetes) or who are pregnant...

Weight-loss to date: down to 148.8lbs from 157lbs.
Current BMI: 26.4 (YAY!)

Breaking the Coffee Dependency

I regularly drink coffee. I buy one almost everyday between my classes, sometimes more than once a day.

My regular order is a Grande Non-fat Mocha with flavored syrup. According to Starbucks, my "little" indulgence is between 280 to 350 calories per cup(remember 1lb=3500cals).

If I get once drink 5 times a week, it costs me around 1500 calories. That isn't even considering the pastries that I sometimes get if I forget breakfast.

If I replaced that morning coffee with tea instead, it would help break my caffeine dependency, but also help me lose an extra pound every two and a half weeks.

In terms of money, I would save a significant amount as well. I have a limited budget, so the extra $4.50 per coffee could be used in a much better way. I could use that money to buy painting/school supplies, or organic produce, or new gym clothes, or going into savings (oh my!)....

So this morning I made myself a cup of green tea instead of stopping at the coffee shop. I didn't even miss my 350 calorie mocha.

Weight-loss to date: 153.9 from 157
Current BMI: 27.3

Image from Starbucks.com

Weight Loss Blog

My final whole quarter of school has begun. It is the beginning of Week 2 of 10 weeks of classes. It is also the beginning of my active lifestyle FOR GOOD. I am going to update this blog at least 4 times a week with my activities, tips, recipes and exercise advice.

By the time June comes I will be within my BMI range, thinner than I was after mono, and fitter than I was in high school when I was a competitive runner (cross country and track). I will be eating fresh vegetables, not wasting money on caffeine, and running daily.

This blog will help me track my progress, improve my writing skills, help other people educate themselves about nutrition and health, and keep me motivated.

Tomorrow I will post an image of myself in a sports bra and shorts, with all of my stats and measurements. Get ready for the most epic 10 weeks of my life!

Weight Loss Start: 157lbs
Current BMI: 27.8 (Overweight)