Tough Choices and Easy Failures for Dieters

I think that this week will be a bad one for my weight loss quest. Last week, even with the Jewish Holidays, I managed to reduce a bit. But this week, I'll be eating in restaurants a few times.

Yesterday I showed up for a brunch on a very empty stomach. I even made a point of getting a decent walk in beforehand. I was very hungry by the time I sat down. OK, I saved a few calories by being able to substitute a second coffee for the juice. You may not realize this but juice is just the sugar, the calories of the fruit without any of the roughage which is so good for your system. And also it takes a few apples/oranges etc to fill a glass with juice.

The breakfast/brunch I ate was like two meals, with two eggs, some lox, cheese, salad, a bit of bread etc. But I could rationalize that brunch is "two meals."

BREAKFAST + LUNCH = BRUNCH

But then... suddenly this irresistible calorie laden vision appeared in front of me:

I failed to resist. OK, I had half of the cake, none of the jam and just a spoon of the whipped cream --just to check if it was real of course-- Sometimes self-control deconstructs and just disappears.

To quote Scarlett O'Hara:
"Tomorrow is another day..."



And since today is yesterday's tomorrow...

Fighting to Get Off Every Ounce, Gram

Just under ten years ago, I found myself going on a diet, helped by Start Fresh, for two reasons:

1. I was obese
2. I was offered the program for free in exchange for blogging about it.

One of the biggest reasons I continued dieting, my own version of course,  was that the weight just fell off. Really, it was easy. I was out of work that year for the first time in over a decade, so I was able to devote the energy to myself and take walks with friends. The switch from high carbohydrate vegetarian eating to carnivorous low carbohydrates was just what my body needed to shed about thirty 30 pounds, fifteen kilograms. In six months my body changed enormously. I hadn't looked that good for years.

In the past year a few kilo snuck back on. Maybe I'm not as careful as I was in the heyday of my big weight loss. But I am still very active, exercise and rarely eat carbs, except Shabbat. 

If only there was a simple magic formula... an abracadabra that could make our bodies become what we dream.

In the meantime, I just do my best and try to fight to get the weight back off.

Diet-Phobic, Don't Call it "Diet"

One reason many people just can't "diet" to lose weight is that the recommended portions are just much too small. Yes, I'm one of them. For decades I refused to hear about diets, because the idea of eating a few spoonfuls of food and shrinking the plate just made me phobic.

Yes, diet-phobic!

Am I the only one diet-phobic? I honestly doubt it.

Another, probably related, thing I don't particularly like is when people serve me, deciding how much of the various foods I will eat. Inevitably I would have prefered less of one and more of another. Maybe I'm just contrary and it could be called a "control" thing. Whatever you want to call it, the psychological effect on "dieting" is pretty bad.

And the most important part of "dieting" is the ability to make it a life-changer, finding a way to permanently eat in a way that the weight will stay off.

It certainly doesn't pay to work hard, lose weight and have it return with interest before you've worn out your new clothes. Let's say you manage to lose weight for a special event, get some great clothes, look spectacular in the pictures and then just a few years later people look at the album and say:

"Who's that?"

I've always said that it's best to make a few livable, sustainable changes, which may not produce the perfect body of your dreams, but you can continue eating that way.

I basically did that almost ten years ago. The weight stayed off until just over a year ago, and all that came back was barely a third of what I had lost. That is considered successful weight loss. And I'm already working hard at banishing them again. I have no doubt that this will happen periodically for the rest of my life.

My basic eating plan is to include a lot of cooked vegetables, which are filling and tasty. Here's yesterday's lunch.

The beef was cooked for Shabbat, and I heated it up with an onion and and a big chunk of cabbage. Salad was simply a cucumber and tomato. Since my husband and I have an empty nest, I cook a week's worth of meat, mostly chicken, when I cook for Shabbat and we reheat it during the week. That's most efficient for us.

I hope this helps, me, you and all.

More Steps = Less Weight & Lower BP

A few months ago, when my blood pressure was suddenly in that questionable numbers category that is too high to be good and too low for medication, and my weight had crept up just a wee too much, I decided to try to "walk it off." Ever since I got my smartphone, about two years ago, on the recommendation of Isramom, who is still a close friend, though no longer blogging, I got the WalkLogger application for my phone. It's free, of course!

Until then, I hadn't used it to push me to walk more. It did make me realize that I don't walk as much as I thought I had been walking. On very rare occasions, I'd march around the house to get to a close goal. I'm set up for a Bronze Medal at 5,000 steps, Silver at 8,000 and Gold at 10,000 with a special mention of 5 kilometers. I had gotten myself "satisfied" at the lowest level of 5,000 steps, and even that wasn't all that often.

But things changed during my recent trip to the states. I love walking in Manhattan and walked a lot. An almost daily Gold Medal perked me up, and then I was in the Phoenix, AZ area for a few days, during its most comfortable season for walking, and I kept it up. When I got home I saw that even though I hadn't stuck to my eating plan all that carefully, I had dropped a kilo.

So I decided to push myself to read at least Silver and even Gold as much as possible even if it wasn't an outdoor walking day. Remember, it's winter and that means rain and snow. So equipped with my phone in a pocket, I've even put on my listening device and marched around the house to make sure I'd get a "prize." And even my blood pressure dropped to an amazing (for any age) 123/66, bli eyin haraa, and that was at the "first try." And another kilo plus (each kilo is 2.2 lbs) left, bli eyin haraa.

There's nothing like success, so I'm determined to keep up the walking, even if I'm home or at work, since my phone counts the steps.

Dreams and Fantasies for 52Frames

You probably know that I'm not a fiction writer, and I live my dream here in Israel, so this week's 52Frames theme,  Dreams and Fantasies, was almost impossible for me. Yes, I wrote almost. Admittedly, I came up with a quick, last minute, not very aesthetically pleasing photo, but it does fit the bill. It's definitely a "dream and fantasy" to instantly and painlessly lose weight.

So I turned this photo:

into this one:

Yes, it's  self-portrait. I was in such a rush I didn't even check to see how I looked, nor put on lipstick.

A Doable Diet, The Life-Transforming Diet, Based on Maimonides

I've been reading diet books for over half a century.  My mother got me the Pat Boone one, Twixt Twelve and Twenty when I was barely a teenager. My kitchen book shelf is full of diet and health books, but to tell you the truth, none of them promote a diet one can really live on forever.

Over the years I've heard that our great sage Moshe Maimonides included eating and health suggestions among the books and article about Judaism.  So I was extremely happy to be offered The Life-Transforming Diet, Based on Health and Psychological Principles of Maimonides by David J. Zulberg to review.

Zulberg's book is one of the wisest and most practical diet books/guides I've ever seen. It's actually doable and realistic. Unlike most diets which start with extreme changes and then gradually get to what they consider the way one should eat to keep the weight off, Zulberg follows modern coaching guidelines and promotes small slow changes to one's routine.

Experience an inner and outer transformationwith David Zulberg's The Life-Transforming Diet. This simple, practical and anything-but-boring program is more than merely a diet. It is a lifestyle that you can live with, because you are empowered to choose what to eat - and when to eat it. Based on the wisdom of Maimonides (Rambam), one of the greatest Jewish sages who ever lived and the outstanding doctor of his time, the Life-Transforming Diet will give you the tools for optimum emotional and physical health, a more spiritual outlook and sustainable weight loss, no matter what your age, gender or occupation. 
The Life-Transforming Diet offers you: - gradual, step-by-step implementation of a new approach to eating: you don't go cold turkey 
- theoretical and practical information, including insights into how we form bad habits and tips for laying the foundation for new, better ones 
- a simple, quick and well-rounded exercise program that doesn't require a financial commitment
- a do-it-yourself support system that takes only a few minutes a day 
- advice for Shabbos and other dieting challenges 
- an intelligent and realistic maintenance program 

As many people know, a few years ago I lost 15 kilo, just over thirty pounds (30lbs,) and I've kept it off. There are many similarities between The Life-Transforming Diet and my new way of eating. Zulberg has his terminology for the types of meals on the diet.  Once I figured out what he means by them, I realized that I've been eating that way, and it works.

I agree with Zulberg that walking is a fantastic exercise for most people and will facilitate fitness and weight loss.  As a former dancer, exercise and Physical Education Teacher, I would just suggest getting personal professional advice about what exercises suit you rather than doing the more strenuous exercise routine he suggests. It's not suitable for many people. Also, taking into account that in the time of Maimonides, The Rambam, about nine hundred 900 years ago,  fat removal from milk meant skimming the fat off of the top of the raw milk after it sat a bit, which resulted in a "fat free" milk of at least 1-2% fat, I don't think that the Rambam would recommend the highly industrialized modern 0% dairy products of today. That's just one of my pet peeves, which you can take or leave as you wish.

On the whole I consider Zulberg's book to be excellent and highly recommend it.

An Important Lesson From Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day..."

Yesterday for the first time since I lost 15 kilo, just over 30 pounds, three and a half years ago, my weight inched over what had been the highest number of my new "normal weight." It was no real surprise, since I had been having my "once every week or two" cake, bread more than once a week for the past month.  Also, last week I made an enormous lentil soup (aka carbohydrates)  which I had eaten a lot of.  And I have been exercising less this winter, mostly due to the weather and my schedule.

Add all those things together, and it is pretty obvious that I was off-track.  I had managed to lose all the weight and keep it off, because I took the general advice of the "blood type diet," meaning that as I am Type O, I've reduced carbohydrates from my daily food and restrict protein to a conservative "portion" per meal.  I do eat a lot of fruit, but it hasn't brought my wight up, when I've kept to the rest of the regime.  I also make sure to eat every few hours, never allowing myself to get to hungry and out of control.

Now, how does Scarlett O'Hara come into this?

A number of years ago, I trained as a Life Coach.  Actually, I have never worked formally in it and didn't appreciate what a great thing it could be at the time, since I had never heard of the profession before.  One thing I liked is that it helps people change without getting all involved in their past.  It looks forward.

"Tomorrow is another day..."

And as I stepped off the scale, I knew that I'd be immediately preparing the cabbage that had been lounging in my refrigerator.  It doesn't matter why I had eaten the wrong things, but I was looking forward to taking a daily walk when possible (and making sure that I make it possible more often) and eating lots of the foods that would keep the weight off.

In the coaching course we were taught a technique using visualization to "put the past behind us."  I think it's an extremely healthy thing to do.  We can't control or change our past, but we do have some control over the future.

No doubt this isn't going to be the only time, I'll have to deal with unwanted weight gain.  G-d willing, I'll have the self-discipline to go back to my eating regime, which has done me well for the past four years.

I'm Really Enjoying Those Compliments!

Public Diet Update

True I haven't recently written much about the new me. As expected, my weight loss isn't going on forever, and I may have reached close to what I'll be if I don't change my changes into something more extreme. Honestly, I have no desire to do such a thing.

I don't see the point in adopting eating rules I can't live with, because then I'll only backslide/cheat and end up gaining much more than the weight I am now.

One big accomplishment is that I'm much too thin for the fat lady stores. I wear regular sizes, not the skinny ones, but not the bigger ones either.

According to the charts, I'm still overweight, and I still weigh more than I used to between pregnancies, before that strange weight gain. But I have lost weight, more than half of what had been added somehow.

This month I've eaten more than I would normally eat, because we've been to a number of weddings. I've easily succeeded in staying away from carbohydrates, but I certainly had more protein than recommended. The interesting thing is that on the day following, after eating double or triple the protein recommended for one meal, my appetite is reduced. There's an important message there:

Hunger, cravings, binging are probably

the results of insufficient protein.

If you eat enough, your body won't demand extra food!

I'll see how my weight is after a few days of "normal eating" to see if I resume weight loss.

In a couple of weeks, I'll have a new challenge, since I was asked to substitute teach in a nearby high school. I'll have very little control over my schedule, so I'll have to find solutions to how to eat the right foods frequently and without stress. The job will add a lot of stress to my life, but it should also be very stimulating in a positive way. I still see Life Coaching, with a specialty in Diet Coaching, as my next career. Teaching and Coaching are related.

It's So Much Better To Serve Less

I've always had an appetite problem, or call it a satiation problem. That "full" feeling is rare. So, if there's food in front of me, I'm hungry, regardless of how much I've already eaten.

Some foods actually make me hungry the more I eat them. In my "new way of eating" I've eliminated them and don't even start. That has contributed greatly to my weight loss.

Events, like weddings, are real challenges for me. The "require" eating three meals plus within a few hours.

1. The reception, with deceptively "small" tastes, you can end up filling up on double the calorie count of a normal meal.
2. The first course of salads, made with lots of salt and oil, plus the plate of fish or doughy delight filled with liver or vegetables.
3. The main course, which we eat, even though we've already eaten two days worth of food.

Last night at the wedding I didn't overeat. First of all, I missed the reception. We arrived seconds before the ceremony. And since this was a wedding "designed" for maximum guests, there was no "first course." The salads, side dishes and a choice of poultry and beef were set up on buffet tables. We took what we wanted and that was the meal.

Nobody was hungry. We left before dessert.

If I Get So Many Compliments Now, Why...

If I Get So Many Compliments Now, Why...

...Why was I considered overweight years ago when I weighed twenty pounds (8 kilo) less?

This peculiar situation has been troubling me a lot. I was considered "too heavy" all my life. It certainly didn't help that I was a teenager when Twiggy was the idealized figure.

My self-image, even when I was thirty and forty pounds less than my present weight, has always been that of a fat person. I truly wonder if that contributed to my obesity. It became a self-fulfilling prophesy.

I felt comfortable even at my fattest. That's bad. And I was in no rush to get the weight off. I was on the obese charts for about fifteen years. That's a long time.

Don't call it diet... Since I've changed my way of eating, I've been losing weight. I can't predict how much more I'll lose, and I tell people I counsel/coach that they shouldn't make strict goals. Just find a healthier way to eat and accept the results. Temporary diets are the worst, because the resulting weight loss will also be temporary.

I Have Returned, And There's Less Of Me

Yes, I'm back! I landed at 5am this morning. Pictures to follow, G-d willing, eventually.

I've already been to the pool! So I just missed one morning of the season, since it opened on Sunday. There was a nice crowd of women, and many were new to the "women's hours."

After my shower, I weighed myself, and I'm a few hundred grams, about a pound less than before. That's not bad considering that I tried not to make my "new way of eating" a burden to others. It's pretty easy to keep low carbohydrates even eating out. Of course those salad plates and main course with two side dishes (usually a piece of fish, meat or poultry with a simple green salad plus steamed vegetables) cost more than sandwiches. I was glad to discover that I had lost weight and not gained.

I did treat myself to Mint Chip Hagen Daz. I bought a pint and took two nights to finish it. That took self-control, since I could easily have eaten the whole thing in one night. I had another couple of things I normally avoid, but only enough to be polite.

Once my pictures are on a cd/dvd, I hope to write a series of reviews of kosher restaurants in New York.

Diet Support Group, Getting Better

I have four regulars now who come to my house for diet support. Each week I plan a different focus. We work on finding solutions to the others' problems in dieting, and I give "technical" information about nutrition, dieting and my own experiences.

We start with the weigh-in. I serve water and expect them to take notes. It's part of the kinesthetic learning. If you write things down in your own words, they enter your brain.

A major part of my spiel is "If I can you can." I'm no different in my diet phobias and ambivalence about losing weight. Weight loss isn't easy, and it can't, or shouldn't, be seen as some temporary diet. We each have to find the eating habits which both suit us and will keep us slimmer and healthier.

I wouldn't want to help someone who just wants to be slimmer for a one-time event. No quickie weight loss. It's better, yes healthier, to invest in a good dress-maker to design something super-flattering and comfortable.

IMHO, of course!

Dieting--Motivation

A key to successful dieting is motivation. There are a couple of problems with my previous sentence.

What's "dieting?" Is it losing weight for a special occasion?
If so, then the special occasion is the motivation, and once it's over the weight will probably return "with interest," as the Hebrew saying goes.

That sort of dieting is just a temporary solution to a problem that may not be as big as the "dieter" perceives.

My gut feeling is that many people think that they can change their bodies, instead of eating more healthily and consider it an adventure to an unknown destination.

When I filled out the Start Fresh form, I had to name a number as a goal. If I really go in business as a diet coach, I'll probably forbid such a thing. I'll also forbid fixations with clothes sizes.

My emphasis for losing weight is health and being satisfied with the body G-d gave. By eating properly, one will eventually get to a healthy weight. It's just another of life's adventures.

Dieting Irony

Davka, just as I discovered how badly some of my newer clothes fit, due to weight loss, the scale showed a shocking change. It went up, my weight, that is. Certain that it was some sort of fluke, the next day I weighed myself again, and the number was even higher.

Over and over in my mind, I've gone over the foods I've eaten the past week, and I can't figure out what's wrong. Maybe I haven't snacked enough or exercised. I could have eaten too much protein. I don't weigh my food. For five months, the weight went off steadily. Maybe one week didn't show a weight loss, but there had never been a gain.

Yesterday, I spoke to Yehudit, my coach, and she suggested that I stay away from the scale for at least two weeks. I hope I can wait that long. Considering that prior to the diet, I hadn't weighed myself for about twenty years, I hope to succeed in being patient.

In the interim, I'll try to exercise a bit more and pay more attention to portion size. Luckily the frozen salmon I had in the freezer and now cooked is in much smaller pieces than the fish I had been eating. I had noticed the large size, but I didn't think it would make a big difference. One of the general principles in controlling one's weight is that everything makes a difference, and that includes stress.

It's time to buy this summer's tickets to New York, and I have to find another travel agent. Veteran readers of this blog may remember that I had written the same thing last year. In the end we used the old agent, and he fouled up big by not notifying us about our return flights being cancelled. The El Al office insisted that our agent had been notified. I think that the guy doesn't read his emails. He had never replied to any of mine; all communication was by phone. So the time has come to find someone else.

Yes, stress, but G-d willing...

Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach

May You Have A Peaceful and Blessed Sabbath

The Passover Oven--Not Just For Cake!

I'm a creative "problem solver" by nature, and that's how I like to think of my Diet Support Group. This week we discussed how to survive Pesach without gaining weight.

G-d willing, I won't have a problem, since, besides Shabbat, I don't eat the forbidden chametz at all during the week now. No more sandwiches on the run and no more noodles at home. I stopped baking prior to the diet, since I can't resist my own cakes, as simple as they are. The inexpensive store-bought ones we get don't tempt me.

Quite a few years ago, I stopped baking Passover cakes. They take so much time and work, and I could finish eating one in minutes.

"My ladies" and I were discussing our general Passover menu when I asked if they use ovens on Pesach. For years I didn't use an oven on Passover, because it's so hard to clean properly, but then I bought a large "toaster oven." One of the women said that she has one, too, "only for baking cakes."

"There are lots of other, more dietetic things, you can bake in the oven." I replied.

"What?"

"Roast vegetables, or Baked Apples."

To lose weight and stay healthy, we have to have lots of tasty healthy foods to eat. If we don't make ourselves enough good food, we'll be hungry and tempted by the fattening unhealthy stuff. Many unsuccessful dieters don't eat enough. Yes, that's right. They keep depriving themselves of food, so their metabolism slows down.

Eat more, but the right things, to lose weight.

Lots To Do, Too Much To Do

I just spent most of my morning computer time writing about Christian missionaries masquerading as Jews to entrap the unsuspecting. As if I have nothing else to do. Yesterday, my football-playing son cleaned out the laundry room, family bathroom (the main one,) polished the leather couches and refolded everything in the linen closet. I didn't give him too much to do, since he's recovering from Saturday night's winning game and gathering strength for Friday's final.

Today is my last full day for "the rest of the house." I must attack my bedroom and make room for stuff that's in the den. Why "attack" my bedroom? Because it's a monstrous mess. I must return to my "fly lady ways" of throwing things out. There's just too much stuff I never touch and will never use. I have some great medium level jigsaw puzzles. They take up lots of shelves. Now we have two computers going all week, so I never set a puzzle up to do. What can I do with them?

There's also tons of English-teaching stuff. I've hardly gotten a tutoring job, so I don't really need it all.

The worst is the dust and mess. I've gotten rid of some clothes and haven't bought hardly anything this year. I'm approaching almost half what I want to lose lost in my diet. For some very peculiar reason, I can still wear my clothes. They just fit differently. Either I had been buying the wrong size, or I had gained weight in the past year and didn't notice. Whatever, though my skirts are now much longer, they don't yet fall off. I haven't been swimming much this winter, so I guess my muscles aren't as "sleek" as in previous winters.

I have to lose lots more weight to justify buying new clothes, and considering that we don't have the money, maybe I ought to get to know the 2nd hand stores.

Off to the shower, dress, doven, eat and .... do I really have to? ...clean.

And The New Grand Total Is.....

....nu...



I was hoping to find a dramatic drum roll on youtube...

7 kilo or 15.5 pounds less than when I started!! And please don't ask how many more until my "goal!"

This Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet isn't bad at all. I never thought I could do it. Not that I'm even close to my goal, but still. I would never have even tried if Steve of webads hadn't offered me the deal.

There's nothing more encouraging like success, so I'm continuing with the diet to lose weight, G-d willing.

Cold or Hot Outside, Relax and Read HH and Blog for Other Carnivals

That's right, Havel Havelim is up at Ima's.

I'm being lazy today; I don't have to babysit. The "Other Savta" is there. There may not be enough rain in the HolyLand, but there are lots of posts to read on the internet. Not totally lazy, I hosted an exercise class to Richard Simmon's Sweatin' to the Oldies.

Nu, and maybe you have something to send to the Kosher Cooking Carnival! Please send them here. And if you'd like to host an edition, please let me know at shilohmuse at yahoo dot com

You can also write a post about kosher food, kosher cooking, Jewish Laws about it, kosher restaurants, cookbooks etc.

And if you're dieting, or once dieted or blogged about dieting or would like to blog about dieting, I'm starting a new blog carnival about losing weight. More info about my new weight loss carnival, here.

I have gotten a bit involved with dieting since starting Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet. I'm so grateful to find a diet I can live on.

More Down, And Lots More To Go

Yes, I'm sticking to my Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet, and I've lost another pound and a half. That's ten and a half pounds so far.

Thank G-d!

This week will provide new challenges, and eventually I'll reveal why.

Please forgive me for not visiting other blogs much or answering all my mail.

Nothing breeds success like success, so I'm feeling very positive about dieting.

Diet Talk

Since I'll be dieting for at least a year, ok the rest of my life, I may as well establish a Diet Blog Carnival, though by the time I send the info to bc,I hope to find a snappier title. How about?

Blogging About Losing Weight Carnival

For me, the key to dieting has been the fact that I honestly believe that I can live on the principles I've adopted from the Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet.

Obesity is a super-major problem in today's world. When I was growing up, mid last century, there was only one chain of "large" clothing stores, Lane Bryant, but today it is so easy to find gorgeous clothes in large sizes for both men and women and children.

Even if I reach my "target," meaning lose fifty, yes, 50, pounds, about 22.5 kilograms, I'll still be overweight according to the charts. That's frightening, because I know that soon, I'll be losing less than a pound a week, and there are only 52 weeks in a year, so I have to consider that it may take me about a year and a half to gradually change my body to something it really should be.

I'm only interested in a gradual weight loss, because I want to reach a way of eating, which I can live with and not feel that I'm dieting. That's the key. That's my aim.

The other night, daughter #1 reminded me that I actually have a very small frame, but the extra weight is evenly distributed, so that people who didn't know me before haven't a clue. I mentioned it to someone who only knows me as a fatso, and she was surprised. I then mentioned it to someone who first met me thirty years ago, and her reaction was:

"You were a chatichah, (a knockout.)"

That shook me up, because I had always thought myself fat.

I can't predict the future, but I can learn how to eat less, G-d willing. Now I'll set up the new blog carnival and edit in the submission link. I hope to hear from all sorts of bloggers about losing weight, diets etc. No doubt that many of the links will be ads. I'll make it a separate category.

Here's the link for sending in your story/post!

Please publicize the carnival, thanks.