Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Weight-Loss Puzzle

I'm in the middle of week three of my race training program. It's going really well. I've also been doing the weight machines MWF. The little aches and pains are subsiding, and I feel good. I can definitely feel changes happening. What I'm currently struggling with is the eating program. There are so many rules to follow i.e. this much protein, this much milk, this much whole grains, this much water. All of the rules are there for a good reason. It's supposed to provide structure as I learn what a balanced diet actually looks like. I'm just struggling to motivate myself to do the work it takes to eat that way.

I really don't like to cook and I also don't have a very adventurous palette. I seriously had the same lunch for all four years of high school. I'm perfectly happy to eat the exact same thing every day as long as it requires minimum effort and thinking. Right now, that is not cutting it. At first, I changed what I was eating to fit the amount of calories that I am allowed on the plan. That went pretty good for a while. I've been on that plan for six weeks. The problem is that even though it's low calories, it's not balanced. I'm not getting enough fruits/vegetables or dairy. My diet is almost completely protein and carbs.

I think what I need to do now is make a daily menu that fits all the rules and the calories and then stick to it for a long while. I don't get bored eating the same things every day if I like them. So that's my next project. I've been dragging my feet on it for weeks obviously. I just don't want to do the work. Food is utilitarian for me, it always serves a function, but it's not something I take pleasure in for it's own sake. Cooking is something I dread. I'm much happier with something I can microwave and be done with in a few minutes with no cleanup. I feel like I need to do a spreadsheet or something and come up with all the combinations that work. Then bag them up so I can just grab something out of the fridge and heat it up. I foresee a lot of baked chicken and steamed veggies in my future.

2 comments:

  1. Doesn't weight watchers do that for you?
    I subscribed to a web newsletter for about a year called "saving dinner" - it was all about creating balanced meals, new recipes, etc - but that might not work if you hate to cook.
    Good luck. I HATE being told what to eat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are people out there that will do this kind of thing for you too -- they prepare everything and then you just put the homemade 'frozen dinners' in your freezer. And there are also places like Dream Dinners and I don't remember what else where you can go spend an afternoon doing it yourself. 'Cept Healthy they ain't.
    ALSO, my Cooking Light magazine had a story last year sometime about a group of neighbors/friends who decided to do this for themeselves. They get together once a month (or however often), drink wine and build a month's worth of homemade frozen dinners. I don't know if you've got a group of neighbors/friends who'd be interested in doing something like that, but . . . just thought I'd mention it.

    I go through phases of being Miss Suzy Homemaker and preparing all sorts of stuff on the weekends -- I'm in that phase right now. So on Sunday (today) I made a gigantic fresh fruit salad -- with apples, pears, oranges, grapefruit, banana, mango, vanilla yogurt. I then package it up and keep it in the refrigerator for a fast healthy breakfast every day. I do the same with salad -- I LOVE LOVE LOVE salad. My salad, anyway.

    I too can eat the same thing every day without complaint. But then I fall off the wagon and am too lazy, or whatever it is, and don't make my weekend meals. That's trouble, because then I don't feel like cooking on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday . . . so guess what happens? Walk across the street to the Mexican restaurant (from work) and have a cheese-laden burrito with beef and refried beans and rice and guacomole and sour cream and chips.

    Ok. So you get the picture. Anyway, I'd be happy to send recipes if you're looking for something of the sort.
    Much LOVE!
    Tiger

    ReplyDelete