So it's been no secret that I've been contemplating changing up my plan. I adore WW and advocate it to anyone wanting to lose weight in a healthy way, but I haven't been getting anywhere with it since last summer. Whether it be that I'm at the dreaded "plateau" genuinely or whether it just be that I'm not being consistent enough, something has got to give and I've got to change what I'm doing because I'm just not having any success these days.
I also mentioned that I was interested in a new book which won't be delivered until sometime in May called "The Cheat to Lose Diet" by Joel Marion. I'm not into any trendy weight loss "diets" but this book does interest me because it explores your body's response to calorie deprivation and the hormone "leptin" which causes your body to go into starvation mode. This causes people to go into plateaus whether or not you are still being a healthy eater.
From what I understand and from what I posted before, the idea is that you plan your weekly meals such that your body never gets used to a certain standard of calorie intake and which includes the all enticing "Cheat Day!" The idea is that if you eat well all week while also minding the glycemic index of the foods that apparently changes each day (kind of an unappealling part which I still have to get the book to learn exactly what he means), you can enjoy a guilt-free "cheat day" which allows you to eat whatever you want one day a week. The only rule he gives is that you do not eat to the point of discomfort. This apparently keeps your leptin hormone levels in check in your body such that it does not go into starvation mode and your will continue to lose fat rather than store it.
I know there is merit to this because I can't tell you how many times I've "saved up my flex" for a special occasion and had a big meal out which was way over and above what a normal points day would be and it would trigger a huge loss for that week. This is actually what caused him to come up with this idea and research it further. He found the same thing happened to him when he was trying to lose fat. Problem now is, I feel like my body has stalled, so I need to jazz it up.
So, as I mentioned before, I've got to get hard core with my progress for my wedding dress September 6. Sure I've got plenty of time, but seriously folks, I'm right where I was 8 months ago, so no more waiting around. And that means no waiting for me to get the book, read it and put it plan into action. So I've decided to get back into tracking on Sparkpeople and follow
Lynn's lead with calculating my BMR (Basil Metabolic Rate) and staying within my weekly allowance of calories according to my activity level and move away from the points counting. I love this idea because there's logic and science behind it. When my emotions get the better of me, I can always go back to the logic of what has to happen for it to work and that always gives my head a shake and shakes away the whining and excuses.
So, I am on Day 3 now of tracking with
Sparkpeople again and it's an excellent free website which has all the tools that WW Online has (and more dare I say) and it will be tracking my calories although, like Lynn, I won't be following their daily calorie ranges because I'm using my BMR to guide my weekly calorie intake. And instead of balancing out the calories every day, I plan to have higher calorie days and lower calorie days. The Wendi Plan with WW is similar in structure of course, but the point here is that I eventually wanted to move away from paying $22/mth forever for my WW online subscription, so here I go!
So some of you were asking about the recipe I mentioned yesterday for the Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Stew. It's pretty darn rude of me to mention a recipe and not post it I think! I got it from sparkspeople.com and I'm not sure if I'm suppose to be posting it, but it's a free site and I'm going to anyway! My opinion about it is that it was super easy, but the beans sure did a number on my belly last night. It was very good and it being so high in fibre it does fill you up really fast.
Ingredients: 1 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can black beans
1 16-oz can kidney beans
1 16-oz can corn (drained)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce2
14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
1 1.25-oz packet taco seasoning
1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Directions: Mix everything together in a slow cooker except chicken. Lay chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. 30 minutes before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. This is good eaten with cheese, sour cream, or tortilla chips.
Number of Servings: 14 (I have 2 servings)
Nutritional Info
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 115.8
Total Fat: 0.8 g
Cholesterol: 7.9 mg
Sodium: 782.8 mg
Total Carbs: 17.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.4 g
Protein: 7.8 g
I also mentioned that I was interested in a new book which won't be delivered until sometime in May called "The Cheat to Lose Diet" by Joel Marion. I'm not into any trendy weight loss "diets" but this book does interest me because it explores your body's response to calorie deprivation and the hormone "leptin" which causes your body to go into starvation mode. This causes people to go into plateaus whether or not you are still being a healthy eater.
From what I understand and from what I posted before, the idea is that you plan your weekly meals such that your body never gets used to a certain standard of calorie intake and which includes the all enticing "Cheat Day!" The idea is that if you eat well all week while also minding the glycemic index of the foods that apparently changes each day (kind of an unappealling part which I still have to get the book to learn exactly what he means), you can enjoy a guilt-free "cheat day" which allows you to eat whatever you want one day a week. The only rule he gives is that you do not eat to the point of discomfort. This apparently keeps your leptin hormone levels in check in your body such that it does not go into starvation mode and your will continue to lose fat rather than store it.
I know there is merit to this because I can't tell you how many times I've "saved up my flex" for a special occasion and had a big meal out which was way over and above what a normal points day would be and it would trigger a huge loss for that week. This is actually what caused him to come up with this idea and research it further. He found the same thing happened to him when he was trying to lose fat. Problem now is, I feel like my body has stalled, so I need to jazz it up.
So, as I mentioned before, I've got to get hard core with my progress for my wedding dress September 6. Sure I've got plenty of time, but seriously folks, I'm right where I was 8 months ago, so no more waiting around. And that means no waiting for me to get the book, read it and put it plan into action. So I've decided to get back into tracking on Sparkpeople and follow Lynn's lead with calculating my BMR (Basil Metabolic Rate) and staying within my weekly allowance of calories according to my activity level and move away from the points counting. I love this idea because there's logic and science behind it. When my emotions get the better of me, I can always go back to the logic of what has to happen for it to work and that always gives my head a shake and shakes away the whining and excuses.
So, I am on Day 3 now of tracking with Sparkpeople again and it's an excellent free website which has all the tools that WW Online has (and more dare I say) and it will be tracking my calories although, like Lynn, I won't be following their daily calorie ranges because I'm using my BMR to guide my weekly calorie intake. And instead of balancing out the calories every day, I plan to have higher calorie days and lower calorie days. The Wendi Plan with WW is similar in structure of course, but the point here is that I eventually wanted to move away from paying $22/mth forever for my WW online subscription, so here I go!
So some of you were asking about the recipe I mentioned yesterday for the Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Stew. It's pretty darn rude of me to mention a recipe and not post it I think! I got it from sparkspeople.com and I'm not sure if I'm suppose to be posting it, but it's a free site and I'm going to anyway! My opinion about it is that it was super easy, but the beans sure did a number on my belly last night. It was very good and it being so high in fibre it does fill you up really fast.
Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can black beans
1 16-oz can kidney beans
1 16-oz can corn (drained)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce2
14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
1 1.25-oz packet taco seasoning
1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Directions:
Mix everything together in a slow cooker except chicken. Lay chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. 30 minutes before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. This is good eaten with cheese, sour cream, or tortilla chips.
Number of Servings: 14 (I have 2 servings)
Nutritional Info
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 115.8
Total Fat: 0.8 g
Cholesterol: 7.9 mg
Sodium: 782.8 mg
Total Carbs: 17.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.4 g
Protein: 7.8 g