I gained two pounds over the past week. I realize that many things cause weight to fluctuate, but I did eat waaaaay too much over the weekend. A new friend and I went hiking and then ate dinner at a restaurant that evening. I did not try to make up for the overeating, but by week's end I found that I had "undereaten" about 38 points total. This was mainly because I did not feel like snacking (except for one day where I ate pretzels) and because I ate low-point frozen meals and salads. I may have gained because I undercalculated my weekend points- who knows? The good thing is that even though I gained two pounds I still tracked my foods, ate what I should have over the rest of the week, and drank a lot more water than I usually do. I even remembered to take vitamins every day. I'm also proud of my hiking day. I got a lot of exercise completing my home organization, too: I had to put shelving together and do some heavy lifting over a three-day period. Doesn't count as cardio or anything, but I did get some musclework in.
Although I like WW for it's simplicity and dedication to health rather than to fast weight loss, it discourages me that I feel I'm "on a diet." That feeling occurs when I'm following the program properly but still feel hungry. At that point, I want to eat more but I tell myself I can't because of the point value of the foods. There are a few times when I feel so hungry on WW that I eat an extra meal. I don't go over my points because they give you an extra 35 for the entire week, which can be split into 5 a day (this week I couldn't do that because I'd eaten my extra 35 in one day!) I think that it's the types of foods I eat that lead me to feel hunger between meals. Perhaps it's the carbs or something in the processed frozen foods. Also, you don't get much buik in a "lite" frozen meal, so I don't always feel satisfied. It'll take me a while to adjust to these portion sizes if I keep eating frozen meals.
When I ate raw, I eventually stopped being so strict about counting calories and fat, or doing portion control. I ate when I was hungry, stopped when I was full, and still lost weight -and felt good! So although WW is great for losing weight and is very healthy, I'm still eating foods that scream "DIET" to me, and which don't fully satisfy me.
To deal with the hunger and lack of "satisfaction" I will try to take more fruit to work with me, and maybe make bigger salads. Over time I should phase out the frozen foods in favor of whole foods that I prepare myself, but that will depend on how much time I want to spend in the kitchen. That Vitamix is looking better all the time! I can quickly chop up a bunch of veggies and herbs and stick 'em in the fridge. I figure the money I spend on the Vitamix will be made up by not spending that money on the salad bar at Whole Foods!
I still have my days where I feel lonely and depressed, but I'm not eating my way through them. Unfortunately, I am not at all motivated to go to the gym and have yet to go this year. I have all the equipment I need so I have no excuse to avoid it except my mental state. I could probably use the endorphins to get me through the rough times, so I really need to start going.
Note to JennP who left a comment this week- it's nice to know others are trying (or thinking of trying) the same thing I happen to be doing. I do believe that I can adapt WW to a raw diet as I head in that direction. And maybe I'll get there sooner than later, since I'm not at all happy with the foods I'm eating now!
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