{"id":3040,"date":"2013-09-19T10:00:14","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T17:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/?p=3040"},"modified":"2013-09-19T10:00:14","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T17:00:14","slug":"20-pounds-down-part-deux-5-invaluable-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/20-pounds-down-part-deux-5-invaluable-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Pounds Down Part Deux: 5 Invaluable Strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"jeans\"In my last weight-related post<\/a> I mentioned how I\u2019ve dropped wheat from my diet voluntarily and found that I feel a lot healthier, more focused, and have more energy\u2014all in addition to dropping some weight. It hasn\u2019t just been magic, but I have found several things that have really made the process easier for me. Some of them may help you too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Supportive Group<\/h2>\n

I mentioned my original weight-loss goal on Facebook and found a few other people who wanted to start a closed group to discuss our weight issues and problems\u00a0 and successes as we tried to lose weight or change our eating habits. I got some good suggestions from other people, and had a place to ask for help with concerns. An online group of sort-of strangers is good because someone is around 24 hours a day and you may feel less embarrassed to ask someone else who isn\u2019t part of your RL world. It doesn\u2019t work for everyone, but it has for me.<\/p>\n

My Fitness Pal<\/h2>\n

Several people in my group mentioned this website\/app<\/a>. I balked at the idea of writing down everything I ate, but decided to try it for a week. The database is HUGE so you can find everything, and you can put in your own recipes.<\/p>\n

Why it worked: In addition to tracking how much I was eating I could see a graphical breakdown of fat, sugar, cholesterol, sodium, etc. It helped me swap out unhealthy foods for healthier ones. My blood pressure is high and this helped me notice when I was overdoing the sodium and which foods were the real culprits. I could track my fiber intake and see if I needed another 5 or 10g on a day and know which food would get me there without going over on fat\/calories (half a cup of beans with a splash of vinegar is perfect).<\/p>\n

You also track exercise here. It adds your exercise calories to your daily food goals, so you immediately see how much more you can eat!<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t eating enough due to not being hungry much. This program helped me make sure to get enough food each day. If I just ate according to appetite, I would only be getting 800 calories a day. Some days it was a struggle to find more things to eat.<\/p>\n

Cooking in advance<\/h2>\n

\"\"I have a few staple items in my diet now. I have some quinoa every day. It\u2019s gluten-free and high fiber. I cook up a batch once a week and keep in the fridge. One cup of quinoa makes about 3 cups cooked. At half a cup a day, it lasts a week. I don\u2019t have an excuse for not eating quinoa. This works with rice or another high-fiber grain.<\/p>\n

I also cook up a batch of chicken or lean pork chops all at once. I buy the meat, then cook it all when I get home. I can easily grab a piece of chicken for a salad or sandwich. Having a few hardboiled eggs on hand is good too. I can have one for lunch or make egg salad. I sprinkle herbs on the chicken and pork so it\u2019s very tasty even on its own in a sandwich.<\/p>\n

Have Go-to Meals<\/h2>\n

This goes along with cooking in advance. I have some set meals I can easily throw together, like quinoa salad or egg salad sandwich, or yogurt with berries\/trail mix. I make sure to have all the ingredients for the meal on hand all the time and ready to go. I like my trail mix chopped up, so I\u2019ll chop a half a cup and put in a baggie, then measure out a tablespoon to stir into yogurt. Then if I\u2019m tired or in a hurry, I can grab and make the go-to meal very easily, with little thought, and still make sure it\u2019s healthy and delicious.<\/p>\n

Plan a Daily Treat<\/h2>\n

I like chocolate. I plan in a pudding cup or a couple of pieces of Dove chocolate each day. When I know I\u2019m going to have something like this, I don\u2019t feel any craving for junk food during the day. \u201cI\u2019ll just wait for the pudding after dinner.\u201d I make sure it\u2019s really something delicious and pre-measured, just in case I get that old desire to eat the whole bag full. I haven\u2019t been feeling like that lately, but I know my own weaknesses to realize it\u2019s still a possibility.<\/p>\n

Your treat may be something else: Potato chips or bacon. Just find a way to have a small treat every day and it cuts out the cravings. You don\u2019t need to miss the yummy stuff, since you\u2019re getting some every day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ll add some other tips next time when I talk about fiber!<\/p>\n

Do any of these sound like they would work for you? What tips and techniques have made watching your food easier?<\/b><\/p>\n

Would you be interested in some of my recipes?<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my last weight-related post I mentioned how I\u2019ve dropped wheat from my diet voluntarily and found that I feel a lot healthier, more focused, and have more energy\u2014all in addition to dropping some weight. It hasn\u2019t just been magic, but I have found several things that have really made the process easier for me. Some of them may help you too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":3043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[587,180,640],"tags":[646,645,51,558],"class_list":["post-3040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature-article","category-personal","category-weight-loss-2","tag-my-fitness-pal","tag-quinoa","tag-tips","tag-weight-loss"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/jeans.jpeg?fit=275%2C183","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pzLgx-N2","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emlynley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}