Tonight, Elizabeth Knecht from CaveMomChronicles.com brings the goods again. We discuss how to deal with everyone around not necessarily being “on board” with your eating decisions. And a pudding recipe you won’t believe! Click HERE to start listening!
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Tag: dietingEvery wonder why dieting is hard? So did we. Here's our discussion about it...and some interesting articles, too? Click HERE to start listening!
In the news:
108 Reasons Dieting Is Hard
Cutting Calories Kills Your Weight Loss
8 Cold Heart Truths About Exercise
Recipe/Cooking Tip: "Cleaning Out and Starting New" - Brought to you by Elizabeth Knecht of the CaveMomChronicles.com!
This week we discuss foods that might SEEM to be healthy, or better choices, but might just have you sabotaging yourself. Click HERE to start listening!
In the news:
Atlanta Journal Constitution: How to talk to your kids about making healthier choices.
Recipe/Cooking Tip: How To Spice It Up! - Brought to you by Elizabeth Knecht of the CaveMomChronicles.com!
Every week Aaron gets some of the same questions about his fitness success. Here are the questions…and the answers! And as a bonus, some great discussion about healthy eating choices. Click HERE to start listening!
In the news:
Esquire: Best Athletes of 2012 – Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man, makes the list!
Recipe/Cooking Tip: Cooking Is Fun! - Brought to you by Elizabeth Knecht of the CaveMomChronicles.com!
Basically, Mark, Don and Aaron talk about themselves. No, really. Their successes, their failures. Their weaknesses, their strengths. Maybe you can relate? Find out by clicking HERE to start listening!
Recipe/Cooking Tip: How to REALLY cook meat! - Brought to you by Elizabeth Knecht of the CaveMomChronicles.com!
Have you heard of the Paleo Diet? Join us for a discussion about the pros, cons, ins and yes, the outs of the Paleo Diet! Click HERE to start listening!
Nerd Fitness’ take on the Paleo Diet: Beginner’s Guide to the Paleo Diet
In the news:
YouTube: Obese Man Asks for Help
Healthy Recipe Tip: Top 8 Healthy Breakfasts from Food Network. Find out if they are “Paleo approved”!
This week the guys discuss compulsive eating, getting back on track, how to win the “head game” and more. Quite the lively discussion! Oh, and Aaron uses dozens of cliches, too. Click HERE to start listening!
In the news:
ScienceDaily.com:Chew Gum, Lose Weight?
Healthy Recipe Tip:
Baked Flounder – courtesy of AllRecipes.com
Last week I posted about my extremely bad idea of eating whatever I wanted the entire time during a 10 day vacation. My weight on Saturday night when I returned was horrible (270 lbs), and when I weighed in on Sunday morning, I was at 263.3 lbs. (In case you didn’t go back and read my other post, this is about 30 lbs heavier than I’ve been at my lightest.)
When I got on the scale and saw those numbers, I really only had two options of what to say to myself.
1) ”I’ve blown it. Oh well, it was nice being fit for a while.”
2) ”Okay, I’ve proven how bad an idea THAT was. Now it’s time to get back on track.”
I opted for the latter. I re-read some of my own posts for encouragement, started a food diary, did a podcast about my lunacy of eating bad for 10 days, and made sure to get all my ducks in a row to move forward.
I weighed myself this morning (my normal Saturday weigh-in time), and I was at 247.6 lbs. I had lost 15.7 lbs this past week. I’m sure a lot of that has to be water weight, but obviously I was very encouraged.
If you have a bad meal, a bad day, or like me, a bad 10 days, don’t let it stop you. If you eat a bad meal, eat better next time. If you miss a workout, make sure you make the next one. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You can take back control of your health, one meal at a time, one workout at a time.
(This was originally posted on my original blog, Aaroneous Findings, back when I first began my journey. However, since it seemed to resonate with me when I read back over it, I thought I’d re-post it here.)
One of my in-shape, thoughtful friends and her husband are coming over for dinner Saturday. She was nice enough to make sure that bringing cookies for dessert wasn’t going to throw a monkey wrench in my weight loss plans.
I told her to bring the cookies. If I want one, I’ll eat it. If I don’t, I won’t. No problem.
I’ve told a few people that I could eat the way I am eating right now for the rest of my life, and I truly believe that. It’s simple: cutting back on sugar in general, no sugary drinks, stay away from white foods (white rice, white bread, white potatoes), and eat reasonable portions. That’s it.
It’s NOT a diet. I’ve dieted plenty of times. I know a diet when I’m on one. I’m not on a diet, but I am eating differently. The big mental shift I’ve made is that when I’m on a diet, the DIET is the boss. The DIET says, “Aaron, you can’t eat that. Aaron, you can’t have that.”
Now, I’m the boss. No diet is my boss, and food is not my boss. When I’m presented with a choice of what to eat, or how much, I just ask myself a couple of questions.
1) Am I truly hungry? (If the answer is “no”, I don’t even go to the other questions.)
2) Is there something just as good and convenient that would be better for me?
3) Does this move me closer to, or further from, my goal?
I know it sounds a little complicated. But now that I’ve been doing it for a month, it takes a half second. Here’s an example.
Someone brought Dunkin’ donuts to work for my office last week. They sat on the table about 15 feet from my cubicle all day. I’ll be honest. In the past, I would have eaten 2 or 3 when they arrived, and then ANOTHER 2 or 3 throughout the day. Hey, why not? Free donuts, right?
But now, I’m the boss. Not the food…and not a diet.
I walked by the donuts at least a half dozen times that day. The first time I walked by I opened the box and took a look. I thought to myself, “Huh! Look at that. Donuts…lots of sugar. Not worth it.”…and walked on by. The second time I walked by, I didn’t even slow down.
It’s not a situation of “I can’t eat that”, but simply “I don’t want to eat that”.
I recommend that if you are considering going on a “diet”…don’t. Make some positive changes in your eating habits, be healthy, but YOU be the boss, not a diet. If you want to lose a few pounds (or a lot, like me), before you pop that pop-tart in your mouth ask yourself question #1.
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What ONE thing can you do to help yourself (in regards to eating) TOMORROW? Drink an extra glass of water? Eat breakfast? Single meat burger instead of double meat? Let me know if you do something and I will most definitely cheer you on!
I said from the beginning that I was going to be as transparent as possible during this journey. That being said…
The week between Christmas and New Year’s I was pretty loosey-goosey on my eating. And, yes, loosey-goosey is a real word. Then last week, the week AFTER New Year’s I was on vacation, and I made a conscious decision to eat poorly.
I didn’t eat bad just to eat bad, but instead, I just ate the way I used to eat all the time. BAD.
It was partly an experiment, but mostly just a bad idea.
Since May I’ve hovered right around 240 lbs, give or take 5 pounds. I’ve been as low as 233, but never more than 245. On Christmas Eve I weighed-in, and I had crept up to 247 lbs. So when I stepped onto the scales on the 8th of January, I was hoping that I hadn’t gone too far north of 250 during my “experiment’. I was weighing in the evening, so I thought the results might not be good anyway. On top of everything, I had just ridden 16 hours in a car, and was feeling a little “bloated”, to say the least. I stepped on the scales, and…
270.0 lbs.
That’s right, 270 lbs. Two hundred and seventy pounds. Two. Hundred. Seventy. Pounds. I hadn’t weight that much since LAST February, almost a year ago.
Ouch.
I was 37 lbs over my lowest weight, and I had “gained” 16 lbs in two weeks. Of course, I knew that an evening weigh-in and morning weigh-in was not really apples to apples. I hoped that the morning might bring better results. I really didn’t expect a miracle…and I didn’t get one.
263.3 lbs.
On a positive note, I had “lost” 6.7 lbs overnight. On a negative note, I still weighed 263.3 lbs.
That morning, I got back to my original “1 Meal – 1 Workout” plan. This morning I was curious, so even though I would normally only weigh once a week, I jumped on the scales again.
259.0 lbs.
Over four pounds in one day, and eleven pounds down since Sunday evening. Obviously, some of that must have been water weight. I’m still up 12 lbs in two weeks. Not good. But at least I’m heading in the right direction. To be honest, it scared me just a bit.
Here’s what I learned:
- I still have one of the most efficient metabolisms on the planet. I’m better at converting food into fat than just about anyone I know.
- The grass is not greener! Eating bad is not the promised land. I don’t miss it.
- If you sit in a car for 38 hours and eat lots of bad food, you will gain weight.
- I’m ready to “finish” my journey. My tentative goal is 220 lbs. I plan on hitting it in 6 months.