Downsizing portions and making better food choices :)

[gratefuldeb67]

Hi everyone! I just wanted to report in before the weekend and mention that as of today, I feel ready, and I feel it's necessary for me to start downsizing my portions a tad and making some better dietary choices which will help get me to start losing pounds.
I feel pretty good about my NoS habit at this point.
In the past 21 days, I've only had four failures, and two of them were very minor ones for eating a fruit at night. I'd say, even tho 21 is the magic number around here, 16 good days still is pretty darn good!
I'm really not having much problems with my meal habits right now, but my portions are definitely too big and my choices could be better, especially if I want to see some weight loss.
So, I will be using plates that are a few inches smaller in diameter now.. Just measured them and they are cool little Corelle shallow bowl/plates, where there is about a one inch rim all around it and the actual diameter of the part where the food goes is about 6.5 inches across.. The plates I have been using up till now are more like 8 inches in diameter and *no* rim around them.. they were just shallow plate/bowls, but they were about an inch deep, and really held quite a large serving size if totally full.
I estimate I'll be cutting out about 1/3 of my daily calories by doing this, with all else staying equal.
Buuuuut,,, all else is *not* going to stay equal, because I also am going to be trying to do a much healthier version of NoS than I had previously.
Not that I'll be eliminating *any* foods, but I will really be cutting back on several categories and increasing in others..
The main one I will cut back in are breads and pasta rice etc..
I love all these, but I know I can live with less of them.
So what I am doing with those is simply cutting my portions in half.
If I normally have a sandwich with two pieces of bread, I'll have one that's open faced with only one now.. If I had a big bowl of pasta with sauce before, now I'll have half that amount and add more veggies to the plate in it's place.
As well, I'm going to be putting the brakes on ordering out, specifically Chinese food, as I tend to retain so much water after eating it, and it's very very discouraging to see myself go up and down that four or five pounds after having it. At most I'll allow myself Chinese once per month and only on S days.
I'll be upping my fish and cutting back on cheese and butter and other very high fat foods.. Definitely totally cutting out deep fried anything and if I am dying for some fries, I'll make them myself with healthy olive oil in the oven at home, not out of the greasy fryers at a diner or Mcdonalds.
Also I'll be trying to incorporate much more raw foods, specifically raw veggies, which I enjoy.
I am sure this will all help in the weight loss dept and I feel that all these changes are the kind I'd like to make for life as well, so here I go!!!!
I'm excited!
Have a great weekend all!

Debs

[bizzybee]

Sounds smart Deb, habit is place now time to make some headway.

I have a plan to cut out starchy stuff on N days somewhere down the line. I'm still losing right now but will need to modify at some point.

[Thalia]

That sounds great. I think the single biggest change most of us can make that both cuts calories and improves food quality is just to increase veggie intake.

[Nichole]

Sounds smart! I think you will see results, definitely.

I am also trying to eat more healthfully & posted my mods today.

[apomerantz]

Your ideas for changing seem very sensible to me. Please keep us posted on how they go . . .I am very small in stature so I know that I can easily consume more calories than I need in my three meals per day - - so ultimately, I will need to go down the same path. But for now, I'm just working on cementing the "mealing" habit. Somehow I'm having no trouble doing that - - probably because my meals are on the larger side. Nonetheless, I'm happy, and I'm certainly not gaining weight which is a big plus.

Good luck with your changes. I look forward to hearing details and following your progress as you are slightly ahead of me in terms of timeframe.

[apomerantz]

Your ideas for changing seem very sensible to me. Please keep us posted on how they go . . .I am very small in stature so I know that I can easily consume more calories than I need in my three meals per day - - so ultimately, I will need to go down the same path. But for now, I'm just working on cementing the "mealing" habit. Somehow I'm having no trouble doing that - - probably because my meals are on the larger side. Nonetheless, I'm happy, and I'm certainly not gaining weight which is a big plus.

Good luck with your changes. I look forward to hearing details and following your progress as you are slightly ahead of me in terms of timeframe.

[gratefuldeb67]

for now, I'm just working on cementing the "mealing" habit. Somehow I'm having no trouble doing that - - probably because my meals are on the larger side. Nonetheless, I'm happy, and I'm certainly not gaining weight which is a big plus.

Thanks everyone!! I feel ready for this now.
Yes, it just so happens that I've had enough time to feel my "mealing" habits have fallen well into place, and I am certain if they weren't yet in place I wouldn't be making this next step as it would be too overwhelming and I'd probably have just failed much more trying to do too much at once.
So yes, Anita, definitely stick with that until it feels like you are really ready. It's worth it as it just makes the adjustment so much more natural and less difficult.

I will definitely update on my progress and let you all know how it's going.
Today I measured myself around my waist and took my weight and I will do again in a few weeks.
I happen to be about 5 foot 3" and my weight right now is so far off from what I would like to be. I got a long way to go.
I weigh 242 right now and ultimately would love to be between 160 and 170..
Gotta get my exercise habits to be more consistent as well.. So far only about 50 percent there.

Have a great evening friends!
Love
Debs x

[Kathleen]

Debs,
I don't understand this. If you are having failures in following the 3S guidelines, why would you add more restrictions? I'm happy to be losing any weight at all, but I am losing weight just by sticking to those guideines on N Days.

Thursday nights tend to be the most difficult, and my one plate was loaded down with food, enough so my son got a chuckle out of it. I told him that you need to follow the letter of the law in the diet not the spirit. Of course, then I had to explain what that meant!

I'm concerned that your approach could lead you to feeling famished between meals and then the fact that you cut back so much at mealtime could lead to a justification to eat between meals.

What I have found by following the N Day rules perfectly is the amount of time I spend thinking about food has decreased significantly. It's nice. It makes it easier to stick to three meals per day because I haven't been dwelling on my hunger all day.

Think about it. Maybe you could just stick to the 3S guidelines and not worry so much about size of plate or choice of food. Tonight, I looked at the meatball sandwich and the 1/2 peanut butter sandwich and I actually waited until the broccoli was cooked. I wanted broccoli! I think that making healthy food choices comes naturally on this diet because you overload your plate with junk until you get sick of it.


Kathleen

[apomerantz]

My plan is definitely to wait at least three months before making any changes from vanilla no S and also to wait until my S days look a whole lot more like N Days (which I am assuming will happen naturally).

Then, I'll see where I am on the weight loss front. So thanks for the encouragement to really get the meal habit in place. I know that for me, r estricting is really the antithesis of what I need right now. I am a realist in that I know this is ultimately about calories in vs. calories burned, but I've got the rest of my life to play with this so I figure three months to nail down a habit is really pretty reasonable.

[gratefuldeb67]

Debs,
I don't understand this. If you are having failures in following the 3S guidelines, why would you add more restrictions?

Hi Kathleen, I haven't been having lots of failures in following the 3S's.. I've had a four failure days this month, and two were for eating a tiny bit of food at night..
I feel fine and good about downsizing now, and don't feel it's an additional "restriction" at all.
I'm happy to be making better food choices and eat less fried food and stuff.
Not really restricting it.. Just cutting down on it.
The plate size isn't drastically different and I feel this is an excellent way of cutting down on my portions, which have been too large for me to lose weight.

Think about it. Maybe you could just stick to the 3S guidelines and not worry so much about size of plate or choice of food.

Thanks for worrying that I shouldn't be famished between meals.. I'm not.
I'm really pleased with my decision and it seems very livable.
I may not eat *every* single meal with a smaller plate, but I know I have been over eating just enough to *not* lose weight.

Kathleen

[gratefuldeb67]

ps.. I have never really felt very restricted with NoS Kathleen, and so a little modification of my portions and better choices of foods, seems to just be an improvement on something that I already feel very comfortable living with.
I am very tired of being this fat and need to lose weight for my health and self esteem.

Thanks again for caring.
Love
Debs x

[MerryKat]

Debs

I applaud you for looking for healthier options, but don't try and change everything at once. All your ideas sound really sensible and worth while, but I would concentrate on one issue at a time for 21 days and then add the next one.

Trying to change to much at one time can become over whelming (I am the master of all or nothing and it gets very stressful).

Hugs
Mo

[la_loser]

Debs,

I do understand where you're coming from. And you've certainly been a part of No S for years so I know you are aware of all the pitfalls of "tweaking" here and there. I also know that Reinhard has even said that if after a significant time you are not seeing results that we may have to rethink what a "plate" means or whatever--or making sure our meals are balanced with plenty of fruits/veggies at most meals. (or up the exercise level-which if my memory serves that you don't have an issue with that!)

My goodness, Debs, it seems to me that you that these are smart decisions that aren't really restrictions but healthy choices.

I applaud you, a No S veteran, for looking at yourself and your habits and finding some little changes that could make a big difference! You've certainly done this long enough to recognize whether this is something you need to do.

Good luck-and best to Richie--how great that you are modeling such a great lifestyle for him.

[Kathleen]

Debs,

I cannot speak from the perspective of someone who's dropped all the weight she wants and is contentedly maintaining a normal weight. It may be that I'll have to modify this diet to achieve better results. After all, I'm down less than a pound (as of today) from 11/22.

Having said that, I still think that four failures in a month, no matter how little the failure, is what prevents No S from being a habit.

I've modified No S so that I have two exceptions per month to use when I want but no other NWS. Following that, I have had no failures since early September. Zero. According to Reinhard, you should limit Special Days to an average of two per month. You've had at least weekdays of not following N Day guidelines. That's why I thought it might be better to focus on following N Day rules rather than reducing plate size.

I'd be interested to know your experience with No S. Thanks, and good luck.
Kathleen

[wosnes]

That sounds great. I think the single biggest change most of us can make that both cuts calories and improves food quality is just to increase veggie intake.

I agree! A lot of folks "in the know" are saying exactly that. Not only are vegetables not calorie dense, they're full of nutrients that are health-promoting. And there are so many tasty ways to prepare and eat them.

In addition, you can eat MORE of them and still enjoy smaller amounts of everything else.

High vegetable consumption is the one thing that nearly all the various diets agree on. Remember the calorie-controlled diets? Most vegetables were (and still are) "unlimited." I don't know much about Weight Watcher's points system, but I do know that vegetables don't have many points. There's a good reason for that: vegetables have about 100 calories per pound. Try eating a pound of vegetables, especially leafy greens. It's hard to do! You'll be full before you've consumed too many calories.

Deb, there's some that you're doing that I don't agree with -- but I don't have to do what you're doing! I wouldn't eliminate ANYTHING. I'd just eat it less often. When I want fries, I want fries -- but every now and again is okay. I did discover that part of what sounds restrictive to me is a matter of wording.

A sandwich with one slice of bread sounds restrictive to me -- kind of "poor me, I'm on a diet..." Sandwiches have bread on the top and the bottom. But when I started to write this, I realized that nearly every time I eat lunch away from home, I do exactly that. I have a sandwich with one slice of bread; I have half a sandwich along with soup or salad. Somehow, half a sandwich doesn't sound as restrictive to me as "a sandwich with one piece of bread."

I do agree that we need to pay attention to portion sizes -- most of us have lost any sense of what reasonable portions are. I have an easy method: when my meal is on a plate, 1/2 of the plate should be filled with vegetables; 1/4 should be starches and the remaining 1/4 can be meat or other source of protein. If my meal includes a casserole or some kind of mixed dish, it should cover no more than 1/3 of the plate, with the remainder being vegetables.

And here's where I vary from No-S. When it comes to vegetables, I can have as many as I want. I can have them (in the form of soup or salad) in an additional bowl and if I'm still hungry I can have more of them -- especially if they're not covered with cheese or some other sauce. I can also have additional fruit -- as long as it's not in a pie! If I get hungry between meals, I bypass juice and/or milk and go for vegetables or fruit. Not only do I find them more satisfying, but I can eat more of them for fewer calories than I can juice or milk.

Juice and milk, in fact, are things we've lost track of what a serving is. A serving of juice is 4-6 ounces -- a juice glass. Milk is 8 ounces. I'd guess that those drinking milk or juice between meals are drinking 12 ounces or more. That really ups the calories consumed -- especially with juices and milk that isn't fat-free.

A note about salads and soups: I'm talking vegetables -- not salads loaded with cheese, meat, croutons and heavy on the dressing. I eat soup nearly every day for lunch. They're heavy on the vegetables and beans, light on meat -- in fact, usually meatless. Light on the cream soups, too. I do have them occasionally -- but that's it: OCCASIONALLY.

Having said all that, there are certain salads that I reserve for S days -- those with breaded chicken, for instance. I love those, but they aren't for daily consumption. Cream soups and those full of meat are generally S day foods, too. Again, not for daily consumption.

Well, that was a long-winded way of saying that I do think we have to pay attention not only to what we're eating, but how much of it, and how often we eat it.

[gratefuldeb67]

Thanks everyone!!! It's great to have the feedback and I just wanted to say it's going great and fine..
To reiterate. I'm not *always* going to downsize my plate and of course, if I'm really feeling the need for more bread or whatever, I'm gonna have it, no problems.. I totally enjoyed the tuna on toast the other day and didn't feel at all deprived or whatever..
Yesterday I had three pieces of pizza over the course of the day so obviously I'm not "dieting" and being restrictive.
Yes, Wosnes, so much of this is how one words things, because that describes their own perspective.
I am not in *ANY* way feeling restricted at all with the decisions to try and slightly cut down on my portions, and I've already adjusted to the amount and feel just fine.
Kathleen, thanks again for your concern. Maybe you don't realise this as I didn't exactly go public on my failure records here before, but now this maybe will give you a slightly different picture of my progress..
Before this month, I was having more like 20 or more failures a month and all due to night time eating. I'd say that I've improved quite significantly on that.
Anyway, I'll give you all progress news when it's significant enough to report.
Thanks for your support and suggestions!
Love
Debs

[Kathleen]

Looking forward to it, and wishing you the best of success -- It can be really frustrating to have a lot to lose and to decide to follow this diet because the weight loss is slow and not even steady!
Kathleen

[gratefuldeb67]

Hi again friends, I just felt like reporting back already because as of this morning, after a perfect week of NoS, with my slight mods, and only two failures for N day exercise, I am down four pounds!
I'm really happy!
Debs x

[apomerantz]

Congratulations on your loss! How motivating is that! I hope I can follow in your footsteps soon once I've really got my habits squared away. N days are going great, but S days - - well, let's just say the habits aren't quite carrying over yet.

[gratefuldeb67]

Thanks Anita!!
I'm very excited!!!
S days are usually pretty indulgent around here. I'd say don't worry about them, unless they are non stop gorging events..
Focusing on the N days is what helps. For me, no night time eating is key, as well as doing exercise. This week, I also had a good week with my new "Teaspoon Ceiling" modification to the amount of hot chocolate I put in my coffee. I'm sure that helped as well, since I have a lot of coffee this time of year.. usually about four or five cups a day.
Yeah!!!!
See you later, and have a great weekend!!!
Thanks again!
Debs x

[gratefuldeb67]

So I just realised that I actually exercised quite a bit more than I gave myself credit for, because I forgot to note a ninety minute long massage, as well as the next day, I had to clear out my massage table and all my supplies, linens and rolling chair and carry them out of the office, since for the next two months my partner needs that room exclusively.
It didn't register when I sat down to mark my HabitCal for exercise, because it wasn't my usual activities for exercise, but it took me about two hours of carrying and climbing up stairs with multiple trips to get all the stuff out..
So to be fair, I would like to mention it here, as it was *quite* a big workout, and definitely had to have something to do with my weight loss as well..
I was soooooo exhausted when I finished!
I'm hoping that this week I simply maintain what I've lost.
That is what I am praying for. Please God, don't let me gain that bloody four pounds back!!!
Then hopefully I'll start inching down, hopefully a pound or so a week afterward.
Till next time!
Debs x