Curbing Cravings

Related Articles:
How to Stop Sugar Cravings
Is Evening Eating Destroying Your Weight Loss Efforts?
Outsmart Your Cravings with These Smarter Temptations
Overcoming Overeating
Stop Emotional Eating Before It Starts
Tips to Stay Full Longer
Snacking Healthy
Too Much Junk!
Facts on 100-Calorie Snack Packs
Healthier Ways to Eat Dessert
Stop & Chew Your Dinner

Other Tips
*You should ideally being eating 4-6 small meals within your allotted calories. Therefore, you avoid those sugar crashes and hunger.
*Eat nutritious food-the quality of food will help keep you full. Foods that are high in protein or fiber will help keep you fuller, longer.
*Drink water. Sometimes we mistake hunger for thirst. Drink a cup of water and wait 20 minutes and decide if you are still hungry.
*Chew gum-as stated above it can curb cravings for sweet treats.
*Find distractions-write your feelings in a journal, go for a walk, do 20 squats, ect.

It is important to distinguish the difference between cravings and hunger. If you are hungry, you should not starve yourself. However if it is cravings and more emotional or food specific, then find a distraction. Think about a food you dislike, or veggies/fruit ect. If I am hungry enough to eat an apple, I know I am hungry. If I do not want to eat the apple, I know I am just bored or craving a food.

The Scale and why we hate it!
I really hate the scale. I know many of us argue with it. It never tells us what we want to hear, it discourages us, it lies! And here is why...
The scale/your weight can fluctuate for several reasons any given day, however just because you weigh more today does not make you fatter today than yesterday!
The scale simply tells you how much you weight, but does not discriminate between muscle and fat (or bone, organs ect). Focus on improving your body composition (losing fat and gaining/maintaining muscle).
Our weight can fluctuate due to your body holding more water than normal. Eating more carbs, fiber or sodium than usual can cause this to happen. Yet that does not mean you should avoid carbs or fiber completely since they are things your body needs.
Also, when you begin to work out, you body might hold onto water as well. This happens when your muscles hold onto water to supply them with either energy or to repair them.
Furthermore, many females report gaining weight (up to 9 pounds) before their period. Again this is not fat but water!
The point is, do not get discouraged with what the scale keeps telling you. No matter what the scale is saying, if you are eating healthier and exercising you are doing great things for your body! So don't simply give up when you see a gain.
Instead, focus on other goals or other ways of measuring. Do you have more energy? Do you sleep better? Do your clothes feel loose or baggier? Are you taking your measurements and losing inches?

Here are some articles related to scale hate:
Body Composition Measures Results
Reference Guide to Body Composition
4 Signs It's Time to Step Off the Scale
Think "Fit" Not "Fast"
Find Your Perfect Weight - Part 1
Find Your Perfect Weight - Part 2
Find Your Perfect Weight - Part 3

Tips on how to reduce Sodium
For most, sodium might not be a big health threat, yet for others with medical problems like High Blood Pressure it might be necessary. The suggested intake of sodium is to be less than 2,300 mg. Yet, most people eat way more than that! Sodium is put into all packaged foods, mostly either to add taste or lengthen shelf life. It is in foods you buy at restaurants and fast food joints.
About a year ago I set a goal to reduce my sodium to 1,500-2,300 yet still eat enough calories to be in my range. This is very difficult! I learned that sodium lurked in almost everything! However, I figure if I can meet that goal at least a few days out of the week it will still be beneficial to my health.
If you are interested in reducing your sodium intake, this is what I have learned.
Websites:
Shakin' it up with the Skinny on Salt
http://lowsaltfoods.com/ (This website is very large, but very helpful! You can see the sodium content of most foods, make comparisons and see which are better choices. )
Easy Ways to Cut Sodium Intake
Enhance the Flavor of Your Food

Tips:
*Your best choice is to really eat "whole", unprocessed foods. In other words, foods that are closest to nature. Fruits and veggies, nuts, lean meats ect. since most fruits and veggies contain very little sodium.
*Watch the sodium in canned food and microwave dinners. Make your own soups if you can. I do eat canned foods and quick meals, however I aim to buy lower sodium versions.
*Read labels See above. Compare labels, find one that has less or lower sodium if you really must buy canned or frozen food.
*Eat items that have more calories than sodium. For example, if you have peanut butter that has 200 calories, but only 100 mg of sodium, and then apply it to all/or most of your foods and you take in less sodium!
*Add flavor with herbs (like parsley) instead of salt
*Some say that you can wash your canned veggies and running them
through water helps wash the sodium off (or some of it)
*Some also say (I am not sure if it is true) that adding a potato to a salty dish, like a soup, will help reduce the sodium since the potato absorbs the salt. I am not sure if this is true or not.

If you must, go over your sodium allotment to meet your calorie needs. When I started reducing my sodium, I ended up not eating because I was going way over my sodium range. But I started eating because I know it is important to eat enough!
Finally, if you are using something like Sparkpeople.com to track your food you can track your sodium there too. Once I started seeing what foods I was eating that was highest in sodium, I began reducing those and eating healthier stuff, things with less sodium.

The Truth About Trans Fat

*Trans fat is formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats in a process known as “partial hydrogenation” for the purpose of increasing shelf life of food
*Trans fat raises LDL (bad Cholesterol) and reduces your HDL (good Cholesterol) and may be associated with a high risk of Type 2 Diabetes
*Trans fat is naturally occurring in many foods such as dairy or meat, however the negative health impact in these are minimal compared to the processed Trans fat
*The FDA recommends limiting intake of Trans fat to less than 2g daily
*Read your labels! A processed food can claim 0 Trans Fat on the package but have “hidden” Trans fat in the product because foods with less than .5g can be marketed as such
*Read labels and avoid eating products containing the words “partially hydrogenated” or “shortening”
Source: Thetruthabouttransfat.com

*Taken from my calendar project (minus the clip art & calendar)

Related Websites:
Trans Fats
Fats that Fight Cholesterol
Diet to Lower Cholesterol
What is Cholesterol?

One Buddy Slim member, Poetry, offers weekly tips in her blog. Click here to check out the weekly tips section of her blog, and maybe leave a comment thanking for for sharing great information with us!
And thanks Poetry for allowing me to link your blog here

Putting off pounds with Poetry» tips of the week | Diet, weight loss, fitness blog

as promised, will try and remember to post some tips in here


Weight-Loss Rules You Should NOT Follow

Most of the time, nutritionists and dietitians are full of brilliant ideas that help you eat healthier, stay slimmer, and live longer. But every once in a while, food gurus forget that the rest of us have limited time, funds, and willpower. That's when they dole out wonky bits of advice like "Ask your waiter to wrap half your entrée before you start eating." Yeah, he'd be happy to—right after he sticks his thumb in your pasta.

We collected seven of the hardest-to-swallow expert suggestions and replaced them with equally healthy tips that a regular person can actually use.

Diet myths you dont need to follow.


This is a good one, I will try and post something each time I am on, love this, Dagny!

Originally Posted by FiestyKitty Kama

as promised, will try and remember to post some tips in here


Weight-Loss Rules You Should NOT Follow

Most of the time, nutritionists and dietitians are full of brilliant ideas that help you eat healthier, stay slimmer, and live longer. But every once in a while, food gurus forget that the rest of us have limited time, funds, and willpower. That's when they dole out wonky bits of advice like "Ask your waiter to wrap half your entrée before you start eating." Yeah, he'd be happy to—right after he sticks his thumb in your pasta.

We collected seven of the hardest-to-swallow expert suggestions and replaced them with equally healthy tips that a regular person can actually use.

Diet myths you dont need to follow.


This is a good one, I will try and post something each time I am on, love this, Dagny!

Thanks Kama!

Buddy Interviews

I had an idea that we could come up with a list of questions newbies would want to know or to ask. If you are interested in answering the questions, feel free to. If a question is too personal or does not apply to you, skip it. If you can think of other questions that should be on my list, either add them in when you answer or PM me and I can edit my post to include them.
These are the questions I have thought up:

1. What is your weight loss philosophy?
   
2. How has your eating changed or your attitude toward food changed?
   
3. Are there any new foods that you love now, and what are they?
   
4. What are some pitfalls or challenges that you have faced since your journey. If you have gotten through them, how did you do it?
   
5. Do you enjoy exercising? What is your favorite exercise and why?
   
6. How do you (or how did you) become motivated and stay motivated?
   
7. What has been your motivation or reasons for losing weight?
   
8. How do you deal with cravings?
   
9. What would be the best advice you would give a Newbie if you could tell them just one or two things?
   
10. How do you deal with set backs or days that you mess up (go over calories, don't workout ect)?

1. What is your weight loss philosophy?
   I think my weight loss philosophy is all about moderation. I never deprive myself or make lists of forbidden food. I aim to eat 80% healthy food and 20% of my calories are treats.
   
2. How has your eating changed or your attitude toward food changed?
   I have made alot of changes in my diet. I aim to eat foods with lower sodium. I also aim to eat enough healthy fats (like almonds and peanut butter). Furthermore, I aim to make food choices based on the nutrients a food provides me. A meal of veggies, lean meats ect has much more nutrients than a meal of the same calories that is unhealthy junk (like chips or cookies)
   Furthermore, lately I am focusing on eating enough protein and choosing foods based on that. I think protein is greatly overlooked and many weight loss or diet foods (other than Kashi) are extremely lacking in protein.
3. Are there any new foods that you love now, and what are they?
   I eat fiber one or kashi products for breakfast, these are new foods for me. I have also tried fresh pineapple, kiwis, hummus, clementines, whole wheat bread, yogurt, skim milk, spinach and cottage cheese. I loved all of these foods except for the cottage cheese!
4. What are some pitfalls or challenges that you have faced since your journey. If you have gotten through them, how did you do it?
   I think with me, hypothyroidism and my mom are big issues. First I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism after I lost about 60 pounds. It was becoming harder to lose weight, then I got sick...it was only when my doctor checked my cholesterol and also my thyroid that I learned I had the disease.
   I was afraid I would either gain or not be able to lose any more weight. I read horror stories of how, even on medication, that people continued to gain weight! But I was put on medication, and continued to lose weight! I lose weight slowly, but I am happy. I later met many members who have hypothyroidism and are still losing weight. One member, Kristen had no thyroid but met her goal! Don't let anything, any disease tell you that you cannot be healthy!
   Then there is my mom. She buys a ton of food, unhealthy food! I have been trying to get her reform but she is like a boulder that will not budge! There are treats all over the house, in plain sight! I even did a blog about it. I can't throw it out, or give it away. She will be mad at me and just buy more...so I learn to live with it!
   First, I just aim to eat healthy foods that taste good. They taste good so I want to eat them instead of the other foods. Then, like I said I do allow treats. I think forbidding foods makes them more...alluring. Finally I keep little treats at home so I don't feel left out. I keep things like skinny cow treats, or flavored yogurt. Then, if my mom is eating ice cream I eat those and they hit the spot but I stay on track. Things like kashi or fiber one bars can replace candy bars. Crave chips? I think wheat thins or other crackers with or without laughing cow cheese are yummy.
5. Do you enjoy exercising? What is your favorite exercise and why?
   I love Pilates and kick boxing. At first when I tried Pilates I almost gave up. I could not hold a plank to save my life! But now I love my Pilates workouts and kick boxing workouts like Tae Bo are fun!
   Step Aerobics (with my step) is fun as well!
   I enjoy my stationary bike and walking/jogging on days that I just want to do a workout while listening to my mp3 player.
6. How do you (or how did you) become motivated and stay motivated?
   I believe that we motivate ourselves. I am motivated to be healthy, to wear smaller clothes. These are results that have motivated me though. Before I was seeing results I used the sticker idea I described in a previous post.
7. What has been your motivation or reasons for losing weight?
   Stay healthy, wear smaller clothes. (did I repeat this question?)
8. How do you deal with cravings?
   See the pitfalls question
   
9. What would be the best advice you would give a Newbie if you could tell them just one or two things?
   I would tell them that you should not eat less than 1200 calories a day!
   Eating less than 1200 calories a day for women, 1500 for men can result in the body going into starvation mode. Furthermore, the body can actually sacrifice muscle and hold onto the fat-you don't want that! IT also makes your metabolism crash and if you do lose weight, will make it difficult to maintain.
   Also, don't underestimate the power of strength training! I wish I had gotten into strength training earlier. I thought Curves was a good enough workout until I did the Shred...
   I am not sure if I will need a gym someday, I would love to join one! But even buying a few different weights (like 5 or 8 pounds, depending on how strong you are) and following a program like the Shred is still good!
10. How do you deal with set backs or days that you mess up (go over calories, don't workout ect)?
    If you forgot to brush your teeth this morning, would you not brush them again tonight, or tomorrow? No, you would brush your teeth immediately after you remembered, right? Thus, if you eat that donut, skip that workout, just get back on track right away!

Perspective on healthy living: The Suicidal Butterfly

I enjoy life and I want to live a very, long and happy life! This is why I am so motivated to continue my journey to lose weight, workout, eat healthy ect.
One day I was driving home with me and my mom. A butterfly was flying by and flew right into my car windshield. My mom called me a murderer because I killed a butterfly with my car.
But I disagree. The butterfly must have been suicidal because it flew into me! It could have flown somewhere else, where it was safer. So either because it did not know any better, or it really wanted hit, it flew into my car's path.
The suicidal butterfly is like the people who are overweight, but don't want to do anything about it. Much like my mom, I tell her how unhealthy a certain food is, but she still eats it! Of course the butterfly did not know that running into my car would be hazardous but if we know that eating unhealthy everyday and being overweight or obese is not good, and not exercising to improve our body...well we are like the suicidal butterfly but we know better!
I want to live! I don't want to be the suicidal butterfly and cut my life short by making bad choices!