Ok a bit of background. As I mentioned earlier, I am soon to be 45 years old. I am not going to make excuses for being overweight just stating facts. I was raised in a meat and potatoes family in the northern part of the country.
I am a picky eater the list of what I will eat is very much shorter than what I won't. Be that as it may, I am still overweight.
Activity? Hmmmm, oh yeah that's part and parcel of this isn't it? Ha! Again, I figure skated (remember I'm from the north people) and took dance classes as a child but I realize now that when I became a teen, activities weren't a huge priority and weren't suggested to me or pushed for that matter.
So here we are, and like any other life change we make it is something we have to do for ourselves. We can't do it because people want us to no matter how well intended they may be.
In 2009 my life changed forever when my mother passed away suddenly from a heart attack. Yes big surprise I come from a long line of heart attack deaths. So that scared me. I didn't quit smoking right then because to be honest the day after your mother dies is NOT the day to quit smoking.
So I waited and knew I had to do it and was ready to do it. Last October I has my last cigarette and surprisingly have not missed it since. Funny it was such a huge part of my life and I quit and moved on without looking back. I won't say it was easy, I thought about it a time or two but I never craved it, nor did I cheat and sneak 'just one'. I quit and that was that.
I feel so much better since doing that so now I am going to tackle another monkey that has been on my back forever. Unfortunately, I can't just quit this one which is the hard part. We all still need to eat right?
My problem all my life has not been how much I eat because I truly don't eat much, but it was what I ate and when I ate it that seems to be the problem.
I am an overweight person who forgets to eat. Yes, you heard me. I forget to eat! That's part of the problem people. I start doing something and my stomach says it's lunchtime. Ok just a minute let me finish this one thing.
Next thing I know 2 hours have passed and my stomach is reporting in again. Crap, that's what I was going to do. Ok let me just finish.......I think you get the point.
Ok, now I have never been one to talk about myself either but here it seems my fingers are just going and going. I hope to do this anonymously but if you comment or email me call me.......hang on I'm thinking.....Call me Kate. Yes I think Kate will be just fine.
The other problem I have is that I don't sleep much or well. Why? I don't know really, my mother used to ask me that same question and I would tell her what I will tell you. If I knew what the problem was, I would be sleeping better. Ok sorry to get snippy but when you don't get a good night’s sleep for years you might get snippy too.
So now I have decided to tackle this weight lost goal. It's big but I can do it. I have a positive outlook and I have actually already lost 3 lbs so actually 97 to go ;-)
I have done the gym thing and I have talked to trainers and nutritionists yet every time someone tried to explain to me about macronutrients I evidentially zoned out because it all sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher talking and if I have a PhD maybe I could have followed along with them.
I finally found someone who wrote a book where it all makes sense! Yippee, people writing in a way that us everyday folk can understand it. Amazing isn't it?
So I learned about macronutrients (that's carbs, fats, proteins, etc folks) and understand now about what falls into what category. I'm no expert.....yet.... but I have enough knowledge to wade into the water.
Goal 1: Find out the RMR (resting metabolism rate) for my goal weight.....done
Calculate that by my activity level of 1.55 (I don't know who comes up with the standard charts that show this magic number but there it is) and with the help of the magic number box I found out I needed to eat (are you ready for this?) 2150 calories per day in order to meet my goal.
Now I also learned that of this 2150 I should be eating 240grams (pesky metric system) of protein. Huh? What does that mean? Well kids, there are 4 calories per gram of protein. Moving to the magic number box and we find out that 240 grams of protein = 960 calories per day of protein.
Goal 2: Glycemic index. What is that? I have heard the name but never understood what it was. Ok this is the tricky part that if it was explained this way to everyone we would get it and understand why we shouldn't eat certain things.
First of all understand that the lower the number on the glycemic index the longer it takes your body to break the food down to glucose (aka sugar) in your body. The longer it takes the more likely you are to burn it off.
If you eat foods from the high end of the glycemic index that food is whisked away to the glucose factory that much faster and then you end up with a spike in your blood sugar (not a huge issue if you aren't diabetic) and when you get that spike, then the insulin fairies come to town to deal with all this glucose. Once the insulin fairies have rid your blood of the glucose and that leaves you tired and carving more glucose to replace the glucose that was just wiped out of your blood. Note the vicious cycle here?
Ok so carbs are ok as long as they are closest to their natural form (such as whole fruit, raw or steamed veggies and oats) and of course make sure the carbs are from the low end of the glycemic index.
Now we are on the right track. We have a food journal, we are ready to drink water, water and more water, and those pesky 2150 calories/day can't be a problem as long as I remember to eat. Right?
Wrong. I made it through day one and ate 5 meals today (I missed breakfast because of sleeping issues). I had a snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and a final snack. Wow, that was tough. I managed to have 18 calories left over at the end of the day.
Also I didn't eat my goal of protein but I did try.
This is all going to be more challenging than I thought.
Measuring, noting calories, fat grams, carb grams, and protein grams. I'm exhausted from just one day. It has to get easier as I get used to
A: eating regularly
B: eating healthy
C: knowing what food belongs to what group
D: measuring or knowing how many of what is in that
E: eat slowly. It takes our stomach about 1/2 hr to realize it is full.
It takes me longer to calculate it and write it all down in the journal than it does to make the meal. But I know it has to start somewhere right?
And amazingly enough when I made my dinner tonight (grilled chicken, roasted baby red potato, cottage cheese, baked beans and 2 apple rings) there was quite a bit of food on my plate even though it was just one serving of each type of food.
Ok enough for today. I'm actually tired tonight (could be all the yard work that did me in). Hopefully I will sleep before the sun comes up.
For me it's always a happy day when I realize I slept during the dark time ;-)
Later.
Totals for today
Calories 2132
Fat 99
Carbs 181
Protein 124
8oz. glasses of water 5
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