I like to think that my blog readers (if there are any out there besides me) are somewhat knowledgeable about diet and exercise already. After all, if you're reading this post, you're likely trying to lose weight or maintain your weight or simply have an interest in a healthy lifestyle (or just think I'm ridiculously amusing and awesome). So, when thinking about writing my Thanksgiving Day survival blog, I'm going to make a couple of assumptions.
Assumption 1: Everyone knows that eating a massive plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cornbread and then washing it all down with a half of a pie, is NOT going to make the number on your scale go down.
Assumption 2: Your idea of a good time on Thanksgiving does not include making yourself miserable because your plate only has peas and carrots on it while everyone else is shoveling in the good stuff.
Ok, now that we are all on the same page, there are some things you can do to enjoy Thanksgiving and not want to kill yourself the next morning. As I've said before, I believe in balance. It's not realistic to think that the average person is going to be able to resist the deliciousness that is Thanksgiving. Sure lots of people like to "pretend" this is the case, like my favorite Biggest Loser competitors. If I was in the running to win hundreds of thousands of dollars for losing weight and the finale was only 2 weeks after Thanksgiving, yeah, maybe I'd ease up on the stuffing too or make some low-calorie version, but I'm not so I have zero intent of doing either of these things.
So, how do you enjoy your Thanksgiving and not ruin your weight loss progress? Well, there are definitely some popular tips and strategies that you can adopt. Here's a quick list of some things you can do to save yourself a few calories without missing out on anything.
Eat a healthy breakfast. It does not do you any good to skip this meal to prepare. Eat what you normally would.
Reach for the white meat. White meat is much better for you than dark meat, and while you are at it, avoid the skin.
Don't use a heavy hand on the gravy. Smothering your plate in gravy is an easy way to add hundreds of calories. If you love gravy, don't skip it, just be mindful that you don't need gravy soup with turkey floating in it, a tablespoon or 2 will do the trick.
Pick pumpkin. Pumpkin pie is typically lower in fat and calories than all other pies. If you can, don't pick pecan or cream pies. These are usually the worst for you.
Here are some other things to think about...
Thanksgiving is a holiday and therefore a special day. Its unlikely that you have Thanksgiving Day foods like stuffing many (if any) other time in the year, so it is ok to enjoy these seasonal favorites on this one day a year. If you love your Mom's pumpkin cheesecake and this is the one time of year she makes it, by all means, allow yourself a treat. That being said, don't go crazy. In other words, have a piece of the pumpkin cheesecake. Don't take the whole thing to your face or I promise you will regret it later. After all, it's the first bite that tastes the best anyway.
Even though its a special day, keep the important question in mind, is this worth it? In the example above, the piece of pumpkin cheesecake is worth it. You love it and its not something that you can eat everyday. Maybe before you hit the bread basket hard, think about whether or not you need that roll in addition to the heaping pile of mashed potatoes you are about to consume. Unless you make some sandwich concoction (which is usually for leftovers--which I will cover shortly) than you probably can skip the roll and not miss anything special. Rolls are not Thanksgiving specific and you can get one any day of the year. Remember, don't eat as much as you can until you feel sick just because you feel like its the one day you are allowed to cheat. Eat what you want until you are full. After that, stop eating, because it does not taste as good and you will feel sick.
Now, onto the leftovers. Let's be real here. Leftovers are often better than the original meal. So, what do you do? Normally, I would give that advice that it is ok to splurge on the special day, in this case on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. I would normally tell you that after that one day, it's time to get back on track. I would warn people not to think that because they over-ate on Thursday, it is ok to just call the weekend a wash and start again Monday. But, since Thanksgiving leftovers cannot possibly be put into the normal category, I am altering my advice. Here it is: If you host Thanksgiving at your house, give away most (not all of your leftovers). Keep enough for you and anyone else you live with to enjoy ONE plate of leftovers. On Friday, eat breakfast and lunch like you normally would, and eat your delicious tasting leftovers for dinner. DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT keep enough leftovers so that the next morning, you are eating mashed potatoes and pie for breakfast and then again for lunch and for an afternoon snack and so on... If you do not host, maybe you are lucky enough to have someone give you some leftovers to take home. If not, you don't even have to worry! But, be careful. Eat your one plate of leftovers and do not call the weekend a wash. It won't make for a pretty sight on the scale on Monday.
I've read in numerous places that the average American consumes over 4,000 calories on Thanksgiving Day. This whole time, I've been telling you this is ok. While that number is beyond disturbing, I still don't think it will stop many of us from pounding on Thursday. Personally, I want to eat my favorites on Thanksgiving, but not at the cost of completely blowing all of my recent hard work. Since I know my will power is non-existent when there is a bowl of stuffing in front of me, I know I need to work out on Thanksgiving to at least give myself a little piece of mind. So, if you're going to eat it, you might as well work some of it off. Find some time to hit the gym or get in some form of physical activity (and no, mashing the potatoes does not count). You obviously won't be working out after dinner, so you must get this done in the morning. If you can, up your workout a bit to prepare for the big meal. Also, make sure you hit the gym the next day too!
To end this post, here is a little poem I found:
May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
-Anonymous
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Weight Loss Tool: The Food Journal
One of the easiest (and cheapest) weight loss tools out there is a food journal. Here is my current food journal. See how small and pretty it is? It fits nicely into all of my handbags and I carry it with me everywhere I go.
A food journal is simply a log of everything you consume in a day. Simple huh? From the time you wake up, to the time you go to bed, record ALL of the food you eat. (I also record how much water I drink, my exercise and the Weight Watchers points for each food that I eat.) Here's a sample page from my food journal:
Accountability
If you write everything you eat down, you are held accountable. You can't just forget about that handful of M&Ms you grabbed from the candy bowl. If you eat, it you have to write it down and those M&M's will be staring you in the face all day from the page of your journal. The fact that you have to write it down makes you think twice before putting anything in your mouth.
Identifies Problem Areas
The point of the food journal is not simply to eat less so you have less to write down. Instead, the food journal can help you identify your problem areas. After you've kept the journal for a week, go back and look at your eating habits. Perhaps you'll notice that you do more mindless snacking than you realize. Or, maybe you'll see that you eat less in the day and end up compensating at night. By keeping a food journal, you're more likely to see where you need improvement and can work to correct your bad eating habits.
Do What Works For You
You can organize your food journal any way you want. I used to categorize my journal by meal type. So I'd write "Breakfast" and underneath, I would record everything I had for that meal. After a while, I changed the way I was eating so I changed the way I recorded. Most days, I eat more small meals. So I simply write everything down without worrying about what meal each food is associated with. Maybe you don't follow Weight Watchers, but instead count calories. Include a calories column instead of points values.
Just Remember...Cheaters Never Win (Or Lose Weight)
If you aren't honest in your food journal, you're only hurting yourself! So, even if you don't want to own up to eating that cookie, you should. There a days where I add up all of my Weight Watchers points in my food journal, and see that I have come in over my allowance. Though it would be just as easy for me to take something off the list and seemingly "stick" to my points, that would just be a lie and not help me. So, write down EVERYTHING (and I mean everything) you eat in the journal.
Electronic Food Journals
For the tech-savvy healthy friends out there, you can record your food journal electronically. There are TONS of different options out there, ranging from keeping your journal in a word document to websites and services that calculate calories for all of the foods you eat. You can google "food journal" and you'll get a lot of free, easy to use choices. One web-based program that I have used and like is called FitDay. It's free and very user-friendly. Click here to check it out.
If you don't have access to a computer all day or are just forgetful, than a program like fitday might not work for you. If you have a phone that allows you download applications, like the Iphone, well, there's an app for you! I have two weight loss apps on my phone now that are like portable food journals. One is called Lose It! and it is very easy to use. You simply add the foods you eat, and it provides the calories for those foods. I also have an app called IWatchr that isn't Weight Watchers approved, but really just keeps track of points for you. It includes a point calculator.
Both FitDay and Lose It! allow you to enter a common food or add your own. So, for instance, if you eat an apple, you can search for apple and add to your log. The programs will automatically give you the nutrition info for that apple. Both also offer nutrition info for brands so you can easily look up foods that you buy in the supermarket based on brand name. If you can't find your brand or food, you can create your own and add the nutrition info yourself. Another benefit of using these type of programs is that they also track progress. You can enter your goal and they calculate how many calories you should have a day to reach your goal. They also can create charts to track weight loss.
So, whichever route you go, old-school paper journal or new-age Iphone app, you should definitely keep a food journal!
A food journal is simply a log of everything you consume in a day. Simple huh? From the time you wake up, to the time you go to bed, record ALL of the food you eat. (I also record how much water I drink, my exercise and the Weight Watchers points for each food that I eat.) Here's a sample page from my food journal:
Accountability
If you write everything you eat down, you are held accountable. You can't just forget about that handful of M&Ms you grabbed from the candy bowl. If you eat, it you have to write it down and those M&M's will be staring you in the face all day from the page of your journal. The fact that you have to write it down makes you think twice before putting anything in your mouth.
Identifies Problem Areas
The point of the food journal is not simply to eat less so you have less to write down. Instead, the food journal can help you identify your problem areas. After you've kept the journal for a week, go back and look at your eating habits. Perhaps you'll notice that you do more mindless snacking than you realize. Or, maybe you'll see that you eat less in the day and end up compensating at night. By keeping a food journal, you're more likely to see where you need improvement and can work to correct your bad eating habits.
Do What Works For You
You can organize your food journal any way you want. I used to categorize my journal by meal type. So I'd write "Breakfast" and underneath, I would record everything I had for that meal. After a while, I changed the way I was eating so I changed the way I recorded. Most days, I eat more small meals. So I simply write everything down without worrying about what meal each food is associated with. Maybe you don't follow Weight Watchers, but instead count calories. Include a calories column instead of points values.
Just Remember...Cheaters Never Win (Or Lose Weight)
If you aren't honest in your food journal, you're only hurting yourself! So, even if you don't want to own up to eating that cookie, you should. There a days where I add up all of my Weight Watchers points in my food journal, and see that I have come in over my allowance. Though it would be just as easy for me to take something off the list and seemingly "stick" to my points, that would just be a lie and not help me. So, write down EVERYTHING (and I mean everything) you eat in the journal.
Electronic Food Journals
For the tech-savvy healthy friends out there, you can record your food journal electronically. There are TONS of different options out there, ranging from keeping your journal in a word document to websites and services that calculate calories for all of the foods you eat. You can google "food journal" and you'll get a lot of free, easy to use choices. One web-based program that I have used and like is called FitDay. It's free and very user-friendly. Click here to check it out.
If you don't have access to a computer all day or are just forgetful, than a program like fitday might not work for you. If you have a phone that allows you download applications, like the Iphone, well, there's an app for you! I have two weight loss apps on my phone now that are like portable food journals. One is called Lose It! and it is very easy to use. You simply add the foods you eat, and it provides the calories for those foods. I also have an app called IWatchr that isn't Weight Watchers approved, but really just keeps track of points for you. It includes a point calculator.
Both FitDay and Lose It! allow you to enter a common food or add your own. So, for instance, if you eat an apple, you can search for apple and add to your log. The programs will automatically give you the nutrition info for that apple. Both also offer nutrition info for brands so you can easily look up foods that you buy in the supermarket based on brand name. If you can't find your brand or food, you can create your own and add the nutrition info yourself. Another benefit of using these type of programs is that they also track progress. You can enter your goal and they calculate how many calories you should have a day to reach your goal. They also can create charts to track weight loss.
So, whichever route you go, old-school paper journal or new-age Iphone app, you should definitely keep a food journal!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Office Food: The Dangers and How to Avoid Making Bad Choices
On the road to healthy eating, my office is the huge pothole that gives you a flat tire. It's the detour that takes you through so many back roads, you end up lost. It's the dead skunk that you don't see until it's too late and the smell lingers for days. OK. Maybe that last one was too much. You get the point.
A few years ago, when I was a bartender, I used to blame any bad eating on the fact that I worked in a bar where food was constantly in my face, the long hours and the off schedule. I used to say that when I got a "9-5" type job, healthy eating would be so much better because I would have a set schedule. Well, not so much.
My office is full of bad foods ALL of the time. First, we order food for all sorts of meetings. Internal meetings. External meetings. Small meetings. Big meetings. Breakfast meetings bring trays of fatty pastries, bagels, muffins, scones, and even cinnamon buns. Lunches feature anything and everything like pasta salads, pizza, sandwiches, rolls...the list goes on and on. And, who could forget the cookies and brownies tray? A lot of the times, I'm not even in the meetings where this food is being served. However, for some reason tons and tons of leftovers appear magically in our kitchen, just sitting there, begging to be eaten.
If you can somehow survive the kitchen full of tempting foods, you still need to find a way to pass up the monthly staff birthday cake and the occasional treat or candy brought in by a colleague. Perhaps the worst at my workplace are the quarterly staff meetings we have (like we did today) where we hold our meeting off-site at a hotel and food is supplied every two hours. Today alone I was faced with bagels, scones, muffins, mini pumpkin pies, chocolate cakes, carrot cakes, cookies, brownies, bags of chips, bags of doritos, potato salad and rolls.
So, how in the world are we supposed to stay on the road to healthy eating without giving in to all of the many detours available everyday? Here are some tips and strategies that I use and that really work:
Bring your own food to work. This is the number one way I avoid eating crap at work. Pack breakfast (if you don't eat it before you go), lunch and snacks. If you have all of your food for the day planned out, you will be less likely to go looking for food and less likely to stray from your plan!
Keep some healthy snacks in your desk and choose them instead of the fatty ones! Be careful with this one...don't keep so much in your desk that you are tempted to over-indulge. Also make sure you aren't reaching for these snacks when you aren't actually hungry. This is your emergency supply. Good choices include healthy bars, almonds, etc.
Always have sugar-free gum handy. I hate when The Biggest Loser pretends that a nice piece of sugar-free gum is a good snack. It's not. C'mon now. If you're hungry, gum isn't really going to do the trick. However, often when we snack at work, we aren't eating because we're hungry. We're eating because the food is right there. If there's food around, pop a piece of gum. You'll have something in your mouth so you won't mindlessly grab something and eat it.
Ask yourself: If I eat this, will I regret it later? Chances are, you will. If you pass up that cookie, the world won't end. You don't NEED it. Cookies aren't going out of style. If the next day or week you really want a cookie, rest assured, you can find one.
Stay hydrated. Of course, you should be drinking lots and lots of water which keeps you healthy and feeling full. You can also enjoy a cup of tea or coffee to keep from grabbing food you don't really want.
So, stick to the tips above and don't be one of those people that storms the kitchen like a stampede to get your hands on a bagel that's been sitting out for hours. You don't need it! Let's all avoid the potholes, detours, and definitely the skunks, and get to our final goals!
A few years ago, when I was a bartender, I used to blame any bad eating on the fact that I worked in a bar where food was constantly in my face, the long hours and the off schedule. I used to say that when I got a "9-5" type job, healthy eating would be so much better because I would have a set schedule. Well, not so much.
My office is full of bad foods ALL of the time. First, we order food for all sorts of meetings. Internal meetings. External meetings. Small meetings. Big meetings. Breakfast meetings bring trays of fatty pastries, bagels, muffins, scones, and even cinnamon buns. Lunches feature anything and everything like pasta salads, pizza, sandwiches, rolls...the list goes on and on. And, who could forget the cookies and brownies tray? A lot of the times, I'm not even in the meetings where this food is being served. However, for some reason tons and tons of leftovers appear magically in our kitchen, just sitting there, begging to be eaten.
If you can somehow survive the kitchen full of tempting foods, you still need to find a way to pass up the monthly staff birthday cake and the occasional treat or candy brought in by a colleague. Perhaps the worst at my workplace are the quarterly staff meetings we have (like we did today) where we hold our meeting off-site at a hotel and food is supplied every two hours. Today alone I was faced with bagels, scones, muffins, mini pumpkin pies, chocolate cakes, carrot cakes, cookies, brownies, bags of chips, bags of doritos, potato salad and rolls.
So, how in the world are we supposed to stay on the road to healthy eating without giving in to all of the many detours available everyday? Here are some tips and strategies that I use and that really work:
Bring your own food to work. This is the number one way I avoid eating crap at work. Pack breakfast (if you don't eat it before you go), lunch and snacks. If you have all of your food for the day planned out, you will be less likely to go looking for food and less likely to stray from your plan!
Keep some healthy snacks in your desk and choose them instead of the fatty ones! Be careful with this one...don't keep so much in your desk that you are tempted to over-indulge. Also make sure you aren't reaching for these snacks when you aren't actually hungry. This is your emergency supply. Good choices include healthy bars, almonds, etc.
Always have sugar-free gum handy. I hate when The Biggest Loser pretends that a nice piece of sugar-free gum is a good snack. It's not. C'mon now. If you're hungry, gum isn't really going to do the trick. However, often when we snack at work, we aren't eating because we're hungry. We're eating because the food is right there. If there's food around, pop a piece of gum. You'll have something in your mouth so you won't mindlessly grab something and eat it.
Ask yourself: If I eat this, will I regret it later? Chances are, you will. If you pass up that cookie, the world won't end. You don't NEED it. Cookies aren't going out of style. If the next day or week you really want a cookie, rest assured, you can find one.
Stay hydrated. Of course, you should be drinking lots and lots of water which keeps you healthy and feeling full. You can also enjoy a cup of tea or coffee to keep from grabbing food you don't really want.
So, stick to the tips above and don't be one of those people that storms the kitchen like a stampede to get your hands on a bagel that's been sitting out for hours. You don't need it! Let's all avoid the potholes, detours, and definitely the skunks, and get to our final goals!
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