Whenever my weight loss stagnates or (*GASP*) starts to creep back up (like I'm denying it's done over the last few weeks) I always hem and haw about going back to counting calories.
'Cause I HATE doing that. I don't know why, but there is something inside me that rebels against it like nothing else - which is completely against my nature because I normally face things head-on. I'm afraid of open water? Swim in every lake I can find! Nobody can handle this crazy dog? Let him live with me until he's trained and adoptable! I can't run? Marathon it is!
But for some reason I can't find the same tackle-it-head-on enthusiasm for calorie tracking. I've tried many times to do a food diary and I always have a brief window of "Hey! Look at that! I track what I eat more carefully and I LOSE WEIGHT. What a concept!" And then I get sick of it and give up.
But I don't have the easy-breezy kinda life (who does?!) where tracking my food is a simple thing, because on a bad work day I'm not chopping and measuring perfect portions of a health variety of veggies, I'm speed-dialing the pizza joint to pick up dinner on my way home from whatever client meeting just made me want to climb a clock tower with an AK47 before I face piles of dishes and unfolded laundry and dirty litter boxes and a few more hours of work that I'll probably just blow off because I'm getting a headache.
Guess what I'm saying is, my life is normal, just like everyone else's.
But I'm really getting sick of this piddly 1 pound a month crap and I KNOW it's my own damn fault, because I'm not being very careful about what I eat, especially since the holidays. This has never happened before - the last several years I've actually lost weight around the holidays, but this year it was like a gluttony trigger went on in my brain around Thanksgiving and here it is nearing the end of January and I haven't found the Off switch.
So, my friend has this nutrition software that she's been raving about. I got a copy of it yesterday. After spending the first 20 minutes being irritated at the dated, poorly written software (digging through the Help is particularly enlightening - they took time to document issues and how to work around them rather than just fixing the damn issue) I finally figured out how to enter what I ate yesterday and got a wakeup call - I had a migraine, felt like hell all day, ate what felt like next to nothing... and I was 700 calories over my allowance. Hmmm. Guess I do need the damn software.
Sidebar: Me not being able to figure out a simple application like this is a serious indictment of the design, seeing as how I have built some software on my own and my last job included writing test documents for some newly developed applications and writing user manuals for all the existing applications in my department. If I can figure out a 20 year old mainframe application consisting of cryptic 6-letter commands and not your supposedly user-friendly GUI diet program written in 2000... it sucks. Pure and simple. In design and function. (Husband said it looks like someone wrote it in VB 2.0.)
I'm motivated enough by what it can tell me to keep using it for now. I'm motivated enough by the crappy design to look around for what else is out there (I'm not fond of the idea of logging into a website to do this, but if it comes down to it I'll consider it.) This one does have some neat features (like comparing your caloric intake against your weights, calculating your metabolic rate and adjusting the stock calorie recommendations to suit you) I'd like to keep. And I dig the charts - there's lots of charts. But I'm already beyond irritated that you can't enter anything in for prior dates (I got in yesterday's by pretending it was today's) - which means I can't enter any of my paper diet logs and I can't enter in my starting weight, both of which would be solid data for it to work with in terms of said metabolic calculations.
*SIGH* Now I'm off to have a late breakfast of 1 piece of whole wheat toast (100), a teensy weensy bit of butter (50), 1 egg (70), maybe a small glass of V8 (100)...
6 comments:
Planning ahead really does make a difference. I plan, generally, what I am going to eat each week, shop for it, and cook some of it, over the weekend my my schedule is usually less hectic. If you have the good stuff already available, it makes it simple to grab something for dinner that is quick AND healthy. I try to make a huge pan of roasted veggies every weekend -- toss them in a salad, or in a frittata, or eat them as a side. Roast a chicken or a bunch of breasts. Make a big pot of veggie soup. Nothing you don't know, if course, but it really helps me keep it together. Oh, and try fitday.com, free, easy to use software. Once you've used it a bit, it gets easier and faster. GOOD LUCK!
It is easy to gain a bit of weight when you're injured, too, because you just aren't burning the calories you normally would.
I'm the Crockpot Queen, particularly in the cooler months. The butcher even saves me bones from boning the chicken breasts and I make broth in the crockpot that I can use in recipes or as soup stock.
Well... I gave you my recommendation, fitday.com. It's free and it works, it's easy to go back to previous days/dates as well. I hate CC too, but alas, it does work. I've lost 8lbs since January 1st. Granted I am working my @ss off in the gym with 2 hour workout sessions daily, but the food tracking helps too. Sorry you spent your money on that. :(
Here's an easy way to do it, Siren; Eat half your portions. Load up your plate with what you think it'll require to curb your hunger, then scoop half of it off and THEN sit down to eat. My brother lost 18 pounds JUST doing this. You aren't counting calories and you don't feel deprived. If you're still hungry after the first portion, then eat something healthy and low calorie 30 minutes afterwards (a handful or almonds or toast). The 30 minute wait time is important because it gives your brain a chance to tell your stomach that you've eaten!
It works and it's easier. Good Luck :)
It doesn't fit the "not a website" criteria, but SparkPeople.com is easy, mostly intuitive, and prettily designed.
Also: tracking food is The Suck. Which is why I HATE SO VERY MUCH that it's totally effective. :/
Lynn's idea sounds like a good one!
Sorry to hear things aren't going as well as they were. I hope things keep going down. :)
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