Anyway. I was really interested in watching this show when I saw the first previews for it during one of the few minutes I actually sit and watch TV. Being a huge fan of the Food Network and all things delicious, I of course know who Jamie Oliver is. What I didn't know was that he helped reform school lunches in Great Britain and is currently trying to do the same thing in America. Being a product of the American school lunch, I have to say that I find his efforts admirable and I'm sad that nobody tried doing this sooner. Maybe it really just takes a cute man with a badass accent to do the job. :P
I remember my elementary school lunches. It was the same kind of second-rate pizza at least twice a week (I remember a few times mine having plastic stuck in it...), the same chicken nuggets the kids eat in Jamie's show, the same flavored milk (I always loved Strawberry). I remember that I used to make jokes about the Mac 'n Cheese, calling it Mac 'n Glue because I could stick my plastic fork into it and turn it upside down and nothing would drip out. I ate nachos on a regular basis, and the closest I ever got to fruit were these triangle-shaped frozen fruit popsicle things wrapped in paper. Combined this with my mom's out-of-box cooking (no offense, Mama!) and I was pretty much doomed. I was always a heavy kid - I have pictures to prove it - and insisted I was "big boned" when compared with my very thin and light little sister (and pretty much my whole mom's side of the family). I think a lot of my self esteem problems stemmed from this blatant difference between me and my sister, and it took me a long time to accept myself. Unfortunately, when I accepted myself as I was I also accepted my bad eating habits. Fast forward about seven years, and here I am, almost obese (according to the BMI chart), still in an unhealthy relationship with food, and still unable to change my habits, to which my recent weight gains will attest.
Me and my sister during my senior year of high school.
By the way, I weighed myself. 204.5. Very not good.
I wish I had been taught proper eating as a child. I wish I had learned to appreciate fresh fruit and vegetables when I was 10 instead of 21. But I'm a smart cookie, and I'm not too old yet - still young enough to change my ways. :P
I think I need to go back to the basics here. I can exercise my ass off, but my eating is what is always going to come back and bite me. I'm going to see how many meals a week I can cook for myself, versus eating out. I like eating tasty things, and I want to learn how to make tasty things - what better time to start than now? As per my boyfriend's advice, I also want to learn a bit more about metabolism. I know eating smaller and more often is better, but I don't really know why. What time of day should I eat? I have questions, and I want to take some time to answer them. Although I may not reach my goal of losing 50 pounds by Christmas Eve, if I can learn all these things about food and eating and then implement them in order to change my life...I still count that as a win.
Speaking of food, I've really been trying to eat organically as possible since I watched Food, Inc. I've been avoiding high fructose corn syrup like the plague (and yeah, sure, it's fine in moderation, but it's hard to eat it in moderation when it's in literally everything that goes in my mouth). I haven't had a pop, save for a sip here and there, for about two weeks now, even diet pop. I've been reading ingredient labels (what the hell is maltodextrin? Does anybody know?) and making every effort to buy organic food. Unfortunately, eating well can be expensive, and I don't really have the money for it. Does anybody out there have advice on what's worth spending the money on to get organic stuff?
In order to get my healthiness and weight loss back on track, I'm going to try and go back to posting every day here. That really seemed to help keep me focus, and as my life gets busier toward the end of the semester, I'm going to need all the focus I can get.
Well, I need to go do dishes so I can cook myself dinner. I'm thinking salmon and Gina's faked-mashed-potatoes cauliflower puree. Yummy...
I've had a thing for British men ever since Curtis Taylor moved to Jamaica from Britland in the 3rd grade. He like me because I helped him with math. But Tamara Richards (the class vixen because she moved from America) explained that it was really because my private school uniform was short. I bet she was just jealous. All the girls were in love with him and I'm still glowing that he picked me. Me! He finally appeared up on facebook recently (tattooed and grown and kinda sexy and I'm almost ashamed to admit that I've been searching him on facebook for the past couple years.) But can you imagine that he doesn't remember me?! I was complaining about this to me ex-boyfriend and saying that is typical of a man. And he just like, "Are you serious? That has nothing to do with him being male. It was the 3rd grade!"
ReplyDeleteHa!
Speaking of school lunch, I was always chubby, but it wasn't so cute anymore after I moved the States when I was 12. I started eating fried food, lots of milk, lots of meat, pasta, etc., in school. Ahhh New York public education!
ReplyDeleteIn Jamaica, everyone eats locally and no one drinks milk on a regular basis like how it's done in this country.
For a bit, I tried the Every-other-day diet, or at least a form of it, since there are a number out there. What it does to your metabolism, on the other hand, is really interesting - after 72 hours or so of eating right, as in small, healthy meals every 3 hours or so since you wake up, your metabolism can actually handle a day of you eating the way you normally do. It worked really well for me since I am very prone to temptation, but I can go through two or three days knowing on that fourth one I can go to a chinese buffet. In a week-long span of this, you eat health 5 days and unhealthy/normal on 2 days, and the overall caloric intake is signifigantly lower than normal and your metabolism is faster. Look into it! It might be helpful :)
ReplyDeleteI think you need to forget about the numbers on the scale and work on eating healthier, cook more, and exercise. I could be wrong here, but I feel you focus on how much you can lose in a certain amount of time and then you get wigged out a bit when the numbers don't cooperate. Ok, you eat out a lot, well, cut down on that or make better choices when you do eat out. And I keep hearing about eating smaller meals during the day from everyone here, so i tried something. I actually started eating breakfast, then a light snack late morning, light lunch, mid afternoon snack, then dinner on a small plate. I always have a little something at night, usually some cottage cheese and peaches. And, get this, I have more energy, I don't feel as uncomfortable, and I seem to sleep better. I haven't weighed myself yet, but my underwear is falling off my ass so I know I lost inches (still exercising, walking mostly) and to tell you the truth, if the pounds are coming off too, fine, if not, I still feel better, and that's magic to me. I really don't care what the numbers say on the scale, as long as I FEEL better and have more energy, I am happy. I remember Andrew mentioning something about the metabolism and eating smaller meals would be best and he's right. I'm not hungry during the day, I don't feel deprived of any food, I have more energy. So, that's my input here. I have a couple of cookbooks here I think that might help so next time I see you, remind me to give them to you. They are basically healthy cooking books. Love you and miss you!!!!
ReplyDeleteForgot one more thing.. I was looking at your prom picture with Andrew, and this pic with your sister, and I can see that you are thinner now than then. Your face is definately thinner, and you have more muscle now than then. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteOk, here are some things I've learned in classes and when I was studying for my own diet/exercise plan:
ReplyDeleteThere are 4 calories in one gram of carb and one gram of protein, and 9 calories in one gram of fat. If you want to know the real number of calories in a food, look at the Nutrition Facts and multiply 4 or 9 by the number of grams of carbs, proteins, and fats and then add that together. Food companies usually round off. We did an example in my health psychology class and found out that a granola bar which was said to have 130 calories actually contained 153.
Saturated and Trans Fats are bad for you and cause weight gain. Trans fats are things like vegetable fat or anything that is a solid fat. Saturated fats include butter, cheese, and ice cream. They aren't as bad for you as the trans fats, but they do cause weight gain if you eat them on a regular basis (ice cream especially, since most of it contains high fructose corn syrup).
Your BMR (basal metabolic rate) isn't something you can determine the speed of. The basal metabolic rate is the base rate of energy expenditure in one person, determined by heredity, age, activity level, and body composition. Weight loss can lower your BMR, exercise can raise your BMR. If people hit a weight plateau in their diet, it is usually because their BMR has slowed. There is only one "formula" that raises and keeps up your metabolism. It was "developed" by two doctors who created a national weight registry which included people who had lost a significant amount of weight (at least 30 pounds) and kept it off for at least one year (Dr. James Hill and Dr. Rena Wing were the doctors who made the study). They found that eating healthily/monitoring what you eat, exercising regularly, and having regular weigh-ins is the only way to guarantee weight loss.
As for the time of day to eat, there's really no better time of day. You HAVE to listen to your body. Make sure to get plenty of sleep (when you're tired you crave more carbs and sugar, which is your body trying to make up for the lack of energy) and eat breakfast EVERY DAY NO MATTER WHAT. Not eating breakfast is proven to be strongly associated with weight gain, as is sleep deprivation. Just doing those two things can help hugely.
As for other tips: switch to skim or low-fat milk, it helps your bones without unnecessary fat intake; eat more turkey or ham than beef, which takes longer to digest; have an afternoon snack high in protein (it can be accommodated by something sweet like a piece of fruit) because it will prevent you from being really hungry at dinner time and will give you more energy than a carb, and generally ingest a high protein diet - it will also help when you work out by making your muscles stronger and giving you more energy for a longer period of time.
FINALLY: you don't have to buy organic to be healthy. Most organic food, unfortunately, is no more nutritious once it hits the shelf than nonorganic fruit or vegetables. Because they've been shipped from far away (for us at least) most of their nutrients which made them more "beneficial" have actually died. This is also true for commercial fruits and veggies, but they taste just as good, are usually bigger (YAY steroids!) and considerably cheaper. Don't make your diet any harder on yourself by attaching an expensive price tag; just go to walmart and buy lots of delicious fruits and veggies and find recipes for cooking them in scrumptious ways. Organic is actually better in taste and content, but only if you eat it right after its been picked (my father is an organic farmer and I ate nothing but organic until I was 6 years old, believe me, I know what I am talking about).
I hope that helps :) Don't put too much pressure on yourself. One of things that kills a diet is when you try too much too fast, but I'm sure you're already aware of that, since it's sort of basic knowledge. You seem to be doing great (in spite of the influence of school lunches :P)
I am ridiculously proud of you. Awareness is where it starts! You may also want to read "Omnivores Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. Totally in to slow food. I buy organic apples and lettuce. They don't have a protective outer rind to prevent direct absorption of chemicals into the fruit itself.
ReplyDeleteAvacodos are ok to buy regular though. There was an article on this in the Yahoo news very recently, do a search.
Also, in reference to your April 1st post, figuring out your unhealthy relationship to food is a very worthy goal. Always ask why. That's my mantra. Down with HFCS!! <3
Study your glycemic index and pay attention to when you feel tired, most likely you are crashing from carbs/sugar. The goal is to keep your glycemic index steady. It's the peaks and valleys that lead to cravings, feeling good after satisfying a craving and then craving again. It's a bad cycle.
Patty