Weigh-in 10/11/02

[Guest guest]

I did my weigh-in on Friday morning. This will become a weekly weigh-in, but it

has been just over two weeks since I last weighed. I am down another 15 pounds.

That is a total of 30 down and 120 to go. Oh, I like this trend!!!

, you asked what my routines are. (Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner,

my puter died and I just got back on line.) I don't know that I have any formal

routines. My desire is to make small changes that I can live with for the rest

of my life. I cannot eat no carb, high protein, vegetarian, cabbage soup, or any

of those things for the rest of my life. I know what to eat, and I know how

much to eat. I have been on the exchange diets off and on most of my life. (I am

borderline diabetic) I do well when I rigidly stick to the exchanges. My problem

is I get sloppy and start eating portions that are too large. I then get sloppy

with weigh-in and the weight creeps back. So the number one thing I am doing is

being accountable to someone for a weekly weigh-in. (Actually, I have a dear

friend that is working at this also and one other group I am accountable to.)

What I am doing:

1) Weekly weigh-in - reporting to at least one other person.

2) I ask myself if I am really hungry before I eat anything. I eat ONLY when

hungry. I keep track of the last time I ate, and if it has been about 3 hours

and I think I feel hungry I allow myself to eat something. I keep in mind when

the next scheduled meal is and *try* to eat appropriately. I also try to plan a

meal or snack every 3-4 hours to combat hypoglycemia.

3) I am making a very conscience effort to control and decrease portion size. If

I think I want to eat 2 cups of pasta for dinner, I start with 1 cup. If after

eating the one cup I still feel hungry I allow myself to have a little more.

Most of the time I am satisfied with only one cup.

4) I am drinking lots of water. According to someone's recommendation I should

be drinking about 150oz of water a day. My goal, right now, is 128oz or 1 gallon

a day. Most days I meet or surpass that goal.

5) I am increasing my activity. I am not an exercise person! I probably never

will be. So, instead of formal exercise I add extra steps and so forth. A couple

of times a day I have to climb a flight of stairs. I have started walking the

stairs twice for every trip. Meaning - I walk to the top, turn around walk down,

turn around walk up and continue where I was going. Same on the down trip.

I park at the far side of the parking lot, I have taken the horses for a walk,

etc. I have been adding steps wherever possible.

I have also placed a couple of 5 pound weights here by the computer. (Sue just

posted some great free weight exercises.) I do those while sitting here at the

computer.

This is my 'routine' right now. As long as the scale keeps dropping I will keep

doing what I am. I know that someday I may need to plan meals more carefully,

measure and weigh portions, or heaven forbid, I may have to begin a formal

exercise program. My weekly weigh-in will be my barometer of whether I need to

make more changes.

We are each individuals, what works for one may not work for another. Take what

you can use and throw out the rest.

Blessings,

Shari

335/305/185