I lost a good portion of my weight by making dead-easy (but also boring) meals like chicken patties with plain brown rice and plain broccoli. Healthy but incredibly boring. I used to look at recipes and think there were too many unhealthy ingredients–too much milk, sugar, cheese, whatever it was.
The more I read health blogs, the more I realize that there are plenty of ways to make healthy food that’s not boring (and that even an “unhealthy” meal I make myself is still probably healthier than its restaurant/takeout equivalent), and I’ve been trying to cook and entertain more lately. Slowly, I’m turning grabbing takeout for at least half of my meals into trying to cook as much as possible so I can save money. I mean, what good is losing all this weight if I can’t buy fun clothes????
I’m also REALLY trying to become a morning exerciser/more organized person. (Um, maybe these are actually BIG TWEAKS.) While I usually don’t make it to the gym in the morning, even I can roll out of bed and into my living room to do a workout DVD and a few minutes of yoga. And if I have a few more minutes, instead of reading blogs (which, although I love, is honestly a HUGE time suck for me), I can do something productive like cook. Which I did for the second day in a row BEFORE WORK. I sauteed some spinach, onions and chicken sausage to add into my risotto.
But to be honest? The one habit I’ll never give up? Hopping on my scale every morning. After losing 50 pounds, I need to know that I’m keeping it off. And if I didn’t hop on every day, I wouldn’t have realized that I freaked out on Monday and was just retaining a little water–just from pumping my body with lots of water, the scale already says 4 pounds less than it did on Monday.
Oops, that’s not a change 🙂
Also, I’m really honored that Tina named me one of her “health heroes” in her latest Health.com post. Tina is definitely one of my favorite bloggers, and I’m lucky now to also call her a real-life friend, so it really means a lot to me! Also, I’m in good company over there.
I am a daily weigher too. It helps me stay focused and on track!
I try not to weigh myself daily and stick to weekly weigh-ins, but just because my weight can fluctuate so much from day to day that I have to force myself not to get down about it. Therefore, weighing less often = less of a chance to obsess, haha.
Congrats on Tina’s big mention, by the way! You deserve it — you are so inspiring!!
Congrats on the mention on Health.com. I’m with you on the boring = healthy thing. I have to get out of that line of thinking. I don’t know where my fear of flavor came from.
I wish I were a morning exerciser. It just doesn’t work for me though, unless I don’t have to be anywhere until hours later. As far as being organized though, I am super when it comes to that department. I’ve even started picking out all my outfits for the workweek on Sunday afternoons. I am much more creative with my wardrobe when its not 6am, so I feel better about how I look each day and it really saves me time in the morning.
I’m so glad to have found healthy living blogs because they’ve showed me just how un-boring healthy food can be! Satisfying, flavorful foods are also less likely to make me overeat so it’s a win for my taste buds, win for my waist line :).
The scale thing doesn’t work for me. Since losing about 30 pounds, I avoid the scale at all costs…it just messes with my head too much! I choose to go with the fit of my clothes.
Great post, advice I need to hear. Also huge congrats on being a health hero!
I’m so glad I’m not the only every day weigher. When I tell people I do that, I get a lot of freak-outs along the lines of, “ohmygosh you’re going to get obsessed it’s so bad for you change only happens over weeks and months!” But seriously, I put way more emotional energy into “weigh-ins” when they only happen once a week or month. If I do it daily, it’s just another damn thing and no big deal.