Want to Lose Weight for the Long Haul? Start Writing!

Want to Lose Weight for the Long Haul? Start Writing!

By Tina Haupert

For most of my life, calories never crossed my mind—and counting calories was an even more foreign concept to me! Of course, I knew that I was eating fattening foods (my clothes were snug!), but I didn’t realize just how quickly all of those calories added up. Before I knew it, more than 20 pounds piled on to my small frame. I wanted to lose weight once and for all, so I bucked up, took some responsibility, and picked up my pen. I quickly learned, though, that it wasn’t that easy!

Keep a food journal
I halfheartedly kept a paper-and-pen food journal, but I never lasted more than a few days at a time. It was time-consuming and inconvenient to continuously calculate all of those calories, so hundreds of them often went unaccounted for each day. Plus I wasn’t completely honest with myself, but just because I wasn’t writing down the 10 Hershey Kisses I ate didn’t mean they weren’t eventually going to show up on my hips.

I had pretty much given up all hope on keeping a food journal to lose weight until a friend told me about a free online weight-loss journal that tracks calories, exercise, goals, and progress. It made food journaling easy; the program did all of the math work, so there were fewer excuses for me not to use it—and fewer ways to fudge the numbers. I still had to make the effort to account for those Hershey’s kisses even though I didn’t want to, though.

(ISTOCKPHOTO)

Tracking what I ate every day changed my thinking about what I was putting into my mouth—and how it was affecting my hunger later. Eventually I started making better choices. For instance, I realized that calorie-wise, my breakfasts were much too small, which often lead me to overeat at lunch and sometimes dinner too. Filling out my serving estimates on Fitday also helped me realize that I underestimated my portion sizes. Even though I was eating mostly nutritious foods, I was serving myself way too much. So I began using measuring cups at home to learn how to identify a healthy portion size.

Taken from http://antiquedress.blogspot.com/

Want to Lose Weight for the Long Haul? Start Writing!

Want to Lose Weight for the Long Haul? Start Writing!

By Tina Haupert

For most of my life, calories never crossed my mind—and counting calories was an even more foreign concept to me! Of course, I knew that I was eating fattening foods (my clothes were snug!), but I didn’t realize just how quickly all of those calories added up. Before I knew it, more than 20 pounds piled on to my small frame. I wanted to lose weight once and for all, so I bucked up, took some responsibility, and picked up my pen. I quickly learned, though, that it wasn’t that easy!

Keep a food journal
I halfheartedly kept a paper-and-pen food journal, but I never lasted more than a few days at a time. It was time-consuming and inconvenient to continuously calculate all of those calories, so hundreds of them often went unaccounted for each day. Plus I wasn’t completely honest with myself, but just because I wasn’t writing down the 10 Hershey Kisses I ate didn’t mean they weren’t eventually going to show up on my hips.

I had pretty much given up all hope on keeping a food journal to lose weight until a friend told me about a free online weight-loss journal that tracks calories, exercise, goals, and progress. It made food journaling easy; the program did all of the math work, so there were fewer excuses for me not to use it—and fewer ways to fudge the numbers. I still had to make the effort to account for those Hershey’s kisses even though I didn’t want to, though.

(ISTOCKPHOTO)

Tracking what I ate every day changed my thinking about what I was putting into my mouth—and how it was affecting my hunger later. Eventually I started making better choices. For instance, I realized that calorie-wise, my breakfasts were much too small, which often lead me to overeat at lunch and sometimes dinner too. Filling out my serving estimates on Fitday also helped me realize that I underestimated my portion sizes. Even though I was eating mostly nutritious foods, I was serving myself way too much. So I began using measuring cups at home to learn how to identify a healthy portion size.

Taken from http://antiquedress.blogspot.com/

Bikini Girl Slams

For one brief moment during Wednesday night's "American Idol" finale, it seemed as if Kara DioGuardi and Katrina "Bikini Girl" Darrell had settled their feud when they performed Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" together.

However, on Friday (May 22), Darrell gave an interview slamming DioGuardi for baring her bikini at the end of their performance. "I don't think she got the reaction she was hoping for. I think she probably thought I would cry or get mad, and I didn't — I played it off," Darrell told RadarOnline.com. "Looking back at the tape, she just made herself look stupid; she didn't make me look stupid."

Darrell also claimed that "Idol" producers cut off her mic when DioGuardi surprised her onstage. "I knew there were 100 million viewers, so I couldn't cry," she said. "I couldn't get mad. I just had to smile and deal with it. The show producers kind of said, 'I'm sorry.' I think they tested me. I think I did really well, considering all that I went through."

After the show, Darrell said her little sister had a nasty run-in with DioGuardi backstage. "We were walking, and [Kara] said, 'Oh, sweetie, I hope you didn't take anything personally,' " Darrell recalled. "I rolled my eyes, and my sister said, 'Hey, next time you try to upstage my sister, get a spray tan! How old are you — 45 or 50?' I looked back and shrugged. She kind of said what I was thinking but couldn't say!"

As for who looked better in a bikini, Darrell said: "Well, I'm not 50 years old, and I do spray tan!"

For one brief moment during Wednesday night's "American Idol" finale, it seemed as if Kara DioGuardi and Katrina "Bikini Girl" Darrell had settled their feud when they performed Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" together.

However, on Friday (May 22), Darrell gave an interview slamming DioGuardi for baring her bikini at the end of their performance. "I don't think she got the reaction she was hoping for. I think she probably thought I would cry or get mad, and I didn't — I played it off," Darrell told RadarOnline.com. "Looking back at the tape, she just made herself look stupid; she didn't make me look stupid."

Darrell also claimed that "Idol" producers cut off her mic when DioGuardi surprised her onstage. "I knew there were 100 million viewers, so I couldn't cry," she said. "I couldn't get mad. I just had to smile and deal with it. The show producers kind of said, 'I'm sorry.' I think they tested me. I think I did really well, considering all that I went through."

After the show, Darrell said her little sister had a nasty run-in with DioGuardi backstage. "We were walking, and [Kara] said, 'Oh, sweetie, I hope you didn't take anything personally,' " Darrell recalled. "I rolled my eyes, and my sister said, 'Hey, next time you try to upstage my sister, get a spray tan! How old are you — 45 or 50?' I looked back and shrugged. She kind of said what I was thinking but couldn't say!"

As for who looked better in a bikini, Darrell said: "Well, I'm not 50 years old, and I do spray tan!"

Taken from http://antiquedress.blogspot.com/