Diet Choices

Look, I wrote this about midway through the weight loss journey. The goal was to lose 45 pounds in 6 months. To hit it hard by following ALL the advice there is on weight loss. We chose May through October because there are no real family holidays during the summer for us that require tons of yummy eating.

7-23-2023 Which diet to choose?

I’m doing ok on the weight loss journey. It sure is exciting to get to that 5 lb. mark. I’ve tried several times before so getting this far is exciting. I also have to emphasize exercise. I didn’t mention that before. I got carried away on the eating habits. But exercise is important. Now that I’m not suffering from shortness of breath, I can do my walks again. I’m lucky to live in a neighborhood where I can walk down my street for a mile long walk. I do that with my hubby twice per day if it’s not raining. We also do yoga stretching at night before we go to bed. A sun salutation is always good to do if you don’t have a full routine that you enjoy. There are so many YouTube videos and cable tv shows to follow, there’s no excuse not to get a good stretch in. I find that at the end of the day, right before bed is a good time because the muscles are already warmed up. It also relaxes you before attempting sleep. Just make sure that asana doesn’t drift you right to sleep, you’ll want to climb into bed. I plan to add more exercise after I get 2 walks a day and yoga down to a habit. Make those healthy habits.

More on the diet. Now that we are eating more fish and vegetables, I read an article on the MIND diet. It’s a combination of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet. We were already not eating fried foods and getting in the fish and poultry while cutting down the red meat. So we aren’t that far off the mark. Now the trick is to incorporate leafy greens EVERY DAY. I’m amused by one of my nephews who has high blood pressure and was obviously told to eat a salad at every meal. He attacks the salad with gusto! I’m not sure if it’s enjoyment or he’s getting his frustrations out. LOL. We are growing greens in the garden and this year we have a ton of kale. Do you know there’s 20 types of kale? Who knew? Anyway, I harvest kale, spinach, lettuce and cabbage leaves. I also read an article that said we could eat broccoli leaves. I have broccoli growing with lots and lots of leaves so that’s good to know.

I decided to harvest the broccoli and the kale, remove the stems and chop up all of it together. Then I store it in a bag and add it to any vegetable that I make for dinner, be it a stir-fry, soup or a salad. Easy. The tough one for me is grains 3 times a day. We have whole grains for breakfast in the form of toast but the rest of the meals? I can change it up with bulghur and quinoa, but I have a big container of chia seeds that I leave on the counter to sprinkle on everything. I can’t taste the chia seeds so I can add them to anything. I can even throw them into the protein drink. Hubby sometimes raises his eyebrows but so far, he’s with me.

That helps by the way, to have your partner committed to the same weight loss goals. Six months. Give it six months. Also, you can police each other. I like to get my frustrations out by announcing that I want chocolate or popcorn or ice cream or well, you get it. He promptly says “no, no cheating, get the carrots out and I’ll have grapes”. He eats a lot of fruit for snacks. Due to attempting to get my glucose levels lowered I find that I have to eat vegetables for snacks. I can only eat fruit sparingly.

Also, use low-fat dairy products and limit the cheese. I love cheese. That’s harder to limit than sugar for me. I get my chocolate fix with the protein shake but cheese. I love cheese. I miss cheese. Ok, enough about cheese. With the MIND diet the other thing to add is nuts and beans or legumes. I found that for me, traditional carbs like potatoes, rice and pasta makes me gain weight even if I limit to whole wheat or wild rice, etc. I have to eat corn, peas, squash or legumes. MIND says to eat beans four times per week and nuts four times per week.