One Pound Of Flesh

do0rdiet.blogspot.com
by Christina_2009

How do get those 9 servings of fruits and veggies a day? It might help to think about it in terms of cups. Guys and gals need different amounts. Your age will also help determine how much you need. Everyone over the age of 2 needs at least a pound (2 cups) of flesh and preferably fresh fruit and vegetables every day. Although, keep in mind that frozen, fresh, dried, canned, fruits and vegetables all count as servings. Keep reading to find out how much you need.

Ladies First
Age 2: 1 cup each
Age 4: 1 cup fruit and 1 1/2 cups veg
Age 9: 1 1/2 cups fruit and 2 cups veg
Age 14: 1 1/2 cups fruit and 2 1/2 cups veg
Age 19: 2 cups fruit and 2 1/2 cups veg
Age 31: 1 1/2 cups fruit and 2 1/2 cups veg
Age 51: 1 1/2 cups fruit and 2 cups veg

Fellas
Age 2: 1 cup each
Age 4: 1 1/2 cups fruit and 1 1/2 cups veg
Age 9: 1 1/2 cups fruit and 2 1/2 cups veg
Age 14: 2 cups fruit and 3 cups veg
Age 19: same as age 14 and remains same until age 51
Age 51: 2 cups fruit and 2 1/2 cups veg

Good to know, but how much is a cup? Better still, how much is 1/2 cup? 1/2 cup servings are generally better because that gives more opportunity for variety. And variety is important to help get all the vitamins and minerals we need.

Examples of one cup servings are:
one large orange - all flesh, no rind, no seeds
one large ear of corn - all kernels no husk
one large sweet potato - all flesh, no skin

Examples of 1/2 cup servings are:
one large bunch of grapes - about 16
baby carrots - about 6
strawberries - 4 large, no tops

for more examples visit 5aday.gov
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Like the Leaves of September

My body is changing shape and so is my attitude. My stomach shrinking is great and so is my positive outlook.

I'm sure that this is just me being moody, stressed, and tired but I'm getting bored with dieting. That being said, I am determined not to give up! I should write that ten times just to reiterate it to myself. I do fine with lunch. I am usually skipping breakfast and then I am tending to eat waaaayyy too much for dinner. I'm going to go re-read My Diet Plan (see archives... too tired to put in the link) and hopefully I will revive. My title has to do with the fact that in August I was rapidly racking up red days. Many days were green, some days were yellow, and more often than I would like, red days appeared. My Food Log (see LINX) looks like the leaves of a tree, changing in September. I need to hold on to the green of July and if I have to stumble, my log should then look like a tree in March or April... mostly green but with hints of immature yellowish green.
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Eating Evolution

I want to share with you all the type of information I received during a series of free seminars given by a number of healthy living advocates in my area. Tonight I will begin with some weight loss reduction tips for evolving your eating habits.

Some of these will be obvious to most of you. But I find that these types of list usually stimulate my own thought process. They also help me think more broadly about other things I can do to be successful. Sometimes I even find a new and novel idea. I hope at least one of these seems like a fresh idea to you.

Eat slowly. Take time for a breath and for conversation between bites (but not with your mouth full ;-)

Chew well, you might even try chewing each bite a certain number of times. This helps you body digest, get all the nutrients out of the food, and will help you feel full faster... say that ten times fast.

Think about the food you are eating as you eat it. Don't just mindlessly gulp down food. Ask yourself if the food you are eating is the best choice for you. Think about alternatives to the food you are eating. If you have chosen a healthy food, think of different ways to prepare it.

Cut your food into small bites. Cut it into the smallest bites you can. Then remember to chew each bite well.

Drink water with your meals... ever been to Europe... wine or water with all meals. Water will help digestion and help fill you up.

Serve from the stove. This will make you have to do more than just reach if you decide you have to have seconds. I like this idea in particular and have started trying to incorporate it at family meal time.

Tell everyone close to you that you are dieting. Be accountable for your actions. If people are aware of your goals they may be less likely to tempt you.

Get a diet buddy, either a family member, friend, or co-worker who regularly eats with you.

Don't buy junk. It's harder to eat it if you don't have it. Also, don't make sweet treats to have at home. You will set out with the best of intentions for having one portion of the treat a day and end up eating half of what you made in one sitting.... I know this from personal experience.

Set realistic goals. Not meeting your goals could lead to you giving up all together. Set goals that may be a struggle but not goals that are unattainable. Break your long term goals into shorter sections and feel the sense of accomplishment after reaching each part of that short term goal.

Remember that little nibbles here and there count too. Try to avoid tasting or sampling food during preparation.

Don't give up! Realize how long it took you to put the pounds on. Realize that it may take just as long to get rid of them.





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When Green Suddenly Turns Red

do0rdiet.blogspot.com
When a good run of green days suddenly turns red... what do you do?*** Last week I was determined to get back on track with my diet after having had a few weeks of events and vacation. I incorporated the use of mini-goals. Instead of just striving for the large progress markers, I focused on the next few days. This was a tremendous success as I ended up with 5 days in a row with green results. But then...

I got busy again, had company come to stay for the weekend, a festival to attend, and an outdoor catering venue to work at. All of these events are out of the ordinary for me. I was completely off schedule. As a result I logged 3 red days in a row! It's like I take 2 steps forward and 2 steps back because on at least 2 of the red days I also consumed more than I burned... this equals weight gain. Actually overall, I have not seen a weight gain, even though I was over eating. I attribute this to the increase my level of activity. I normally have a sedentary day. I work at a computer/phone and I love watching TV. Over the weekend I did lots of walking, standing, lifting, and in general saw a huge increase in my activity level. But none of this explanation answers my question... what do you do when green suddenly turns red? I could try the mini-goal of 3 green days again. I could also concede slightly and strive for 5 days of yellow. I'm wondering if green day goals are putting too much pressure on me and therefore at the first change in schedule or activity I am more likely to fail. This weekend will also be filled with out of the ordinary events. I will be traveling to the Charleston area on Friday. Back home on Saturday. Then I have another outdoor catering event to work Sunday and Monday. Knowing that I may be setting myself up for failure, I am going to strive to have green days for the rest of the work week. Then I'm going to try hard to have yellow days (and I may push all the way up to 1800) all weekend. This is an obvious concession to my overall goal, but even at 1800 calories, I am still having some, albeit slower, forward progress. Should this idea not work out, I will be better prepared for next time, and I will have a better understanding of how to set those short term goals for stressful periods.

***If you're not familiar with my system, visit My Food Log for a better understanding. I color code my dieting success on a log of my daily calories. That way, when it's time to get on the scale, if the results that I'm expecting are not there, I can quickly scan back to my eating history and see why I was disappointed. Green days are days where I met my goal, currently 1200 calories per day (I still call it a green day if I was over the goal but by less than 50 calories). Yellow days are to represent days where I did not meet my goal, but I still was able to burn a significant amount of calories. Yellow days are from 1250 calories up to 1800. Anything over 1800 is a red day. Red days also cover days when I consumed more calories than I burned.

I am pleased to announce that I have had 3 official takers for my offer to develop free, personalized, diet plans. I am looking forward to hearing back from these folks. I am more anxious to see if I've actually helped. I still have 22 slots left for free plans. One aspect of creating these plans that I wasn't quite prepared to deal with is the time it takes away from my blog. My post rate has been low as of late because I have a limited amount of time each day to devote to internet/computer/blog work. So, I apologize for not having fun fresh material every day. I am working on ways to resolve this issue. I am currently "pre-writing" this article. I am hoping that this method will make it so I can get a good archive of articles that are relevant and ready to print while at the same time make my evening work hours more productive.

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Alli, Friend or Foe

do0rdiet.blogspot.com
My mother just announced to me that she is now taking Alli. The question tonight is whether to convince her that is bad or to support her efforts to recover a healthy weight and disregard the chemical side of her plan. What to do?

I think the answer has to be to support her no matter what. For one, she is my mother. Secondly, she is doing this with the blessing of her doctor. Thirdly, I did the workup of her daily calorie usage... it's not pretty. Due to her age and short stature, she only burns 1800 calories in a day. She has to work 14% harder than I do to burn the same amount of calories that I do in a day. This is rough because she is 22 years older than me and is 3 3/4 inches shorter than I am.
Just by coincidence, I discovered that we are now the same weight. I am attempting to get her to wager with me as to who can loose the most weight and keep it off. But, then I realize that I truly have the advantage. While I'm talking about money.... I would MUCH rather her pay me the $45 - $80 monthly that she will spend on Alli.
I can do the same thing for her. I can "block" the fat from her diet by guilting her into not eating junk, but then, I realize that as much as I want her to succeed, I can't do it for her. She has to want to be healthy for herself. She has to want it so badly that she will do whatever it takes to get there. I guess this is my biggest concern with her choice of Alli. It seems like she wants an easy way out.
Now I will say that the "Alli-Oops" or treatment effects (oily and gassy discharges, sometimes uncontrollable) seem to be a struggle to put up with in and of themselves. And according to the Alli diet plan, calories and grams of fat must be counted to make Alli a success and make the Alli-Oops minimal. So they are striving for personal accountability. But I just don't know. It seems terribly unhealthy to chemically alter your digestion in this way. At the same time, doing nothing at all is ultimately just as unhealthy.
All in all, I will support her efforts whatever they may be and continue to offer what I believe to be more healthy tips and information. Got any better advice?
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Free Diets

do0rdiet.blogspot.com
A short post tonight. So far I've had no takers on my offer for free diet planning. The offer is still open to the first 25 people who respond. In other news, I have lost another pound. Go me!

Has anyone talked to Flabuless lately? I haven't seen a post since the announcement of her co-blogging with The Incredible Shrinking Ladies. I worry about her in light of her recent personal troubles. Lady Rose seems to be doing well. And although The Middle Aged Shed is down one buddy, they seem to be shedding along. Hang in there. We Can Do It!
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