Safe, Simple & Satisfying - Session Two

 Weight Loss that is Safe, Simple & Satisfying

Session Two

Welcome back to the Safe, Simple & Satisfying Weight Loss Blog

  

Have you lost 20 pounds since reading the first session?  No?  Good.  Weight loss is not a magical experience in which the pounds disappear overnight.  But be encouraged.

You have embarked on a lifestyle shift.  This is a shift in your eating and a shift in your activity.  Because you are choosing foods from a list of foods you already like and choosing exercise you like, the lifestyle shift is not as radical as if you started on a diet program that introduced all new foods.

Some people will develop anxiety about food.  Do not be afraid to eat.  Do not be afraid to enjoy food.  In fact, if you eat slower and savor your food, you will find that you enjoy food more and will experience a greater level of satisfaction.

Lunch is An Important Meal!

Besides breakfast, lunch is probably the next most ignored or skipped meal.  Remember this, you do not lose weight by skipping meals and you might harm your health by doing so.  During the last session, you made a list of your favorite breakfast foods, then selected, from that list, foods that will help contribute to weight loss and fit the description of Safe, Simple & Satisfying.  Now it is time to create a list of lunch foods.  Your schedule probably impacts your lunch options.  If you work, whether in a office or a factory or a retail outlet or a restaurant, you have to consider your practical, realistic options.  Do you pack a lunch and take it to work?  Perhaps you work in an environment which does not provide an employee break room and you are expected to leave the premises for lunch.  Perhaps you teach at a school and due to a short lunch break you are required to eat the meal provided by the school.  As you consider your options, be realistic about limitations placed on you because of your job.  On the other hand, if you are retired or are a stay-at-home parent caring for children or someone who works from home, then you probably have more freedom to plan and prepare lunch.  I spent many years working in an office and had the freedom to eat at my desk or in an employee break area.  I also had the freedom to leave the office to eat at restaurants or even a local park.  This freedom helped me control lunch.  My favorite lunch foods:  Salads, soups, veggies, yogurt, fruit, and fruit smoothies.  Fortunately for me, all of these were helpful choices to facilitate weight loss.  The only foods I had to eliminate from my lunch menu was the occasional fast food.  But that was not really a sacrifice.

Take the next 60 seconds and brainstorm a list of all the foods you like to eat for lunch.  Now, do the same thing you did last week with your breakfast foods.  What lunch foods that you already like will be Safe, Simple & Satisfying as well as promote weight loss?

Practical Tip of the Session

Crunchy!

Begin lunch and dinner by eating something crunchy, and I don’t mean nachos!  Eat some celery, apple slices, carrots or a lettuce salad.  Crunchy foods require effort to eat and will start the process of you feeling full, i.e. satisfied.  Conclude lunch or dinner with something sweet like a piece of fruit or yogurt.

An Important Third Meal of Your Day:  Dinner  

In some cultures, this is the meal during which people tend to consume the most calories.  If you are accustomed to eating large dinners which include salad, an entree, perhaps a couple of side dishes as well as dessert, you will need to evaluate which items will help you reach your goal of weight loss.  If you are a parent raising small children and especially if you are the one who prepares the meal, it might be necessary for you to begin preparing a separate meal for yourself.  If you are accustomed to entrees that include gravies or other sauces, be aware of the added calories.  In some cases, you might be able to eat the same foods by reducing the size of your portions.

During my initial weight loss experience, I began to eat a rotisserie chicken every week dividing it among dinners and lunches.  These were readily available at the deli counters of grocery stores and other places.  This gave me a Simple, Safe & Satisfying basis for dinners.  If you do not like chicken, find some other easy-to-prepare entree.  On the weeks when I wanted variety, on Sunday, I would grill a large steak or bake some chicken breasts to provide an entree base.  Each day I would reheat the entree in the microwave or steamer.  I supplemented this with salads and vegetables.  I eat very little bread and have gravy only once a year on Thanksgiving so I did not need to eliminate those from my menu.  I am aware that some people eat gravy every evening and bread every day.  Those two food items are added calories, so consider your portion sizes. 

In the next 60 seconds, assemble a list of foods you like to eat for dinner.  Now, follow the same pattern as breakfast & lunch.  Choose the foods you already like to be your dinner menu.  Foods that you will find Safe, Simple & Satisfying as well as promote weight loss.

If you want to end your dinner with something sweet, jello or fruit or yogurt are good ways to satisfy a sweet tooth without adding a lot of calories.

Plan your lunch & dinner menus and make a commitment to eat only those foods for the next 21 days.  My children began calling my weight-loss menu, “the chicken, yogurt & fruit diet” because I consumed a lot of those foods.  You need not limit yourself to a small variety of foods.  After a week or ten days, get creative and find new foods that will be Safe, Simple & Satisfying.

Calories Consumed Squared

I have never spent time counting calories but I think it is good to acknowledge we consume, or take in calories when eating then burn calories through activity.  Some foods have very high caloric content and most of the time it is easy to know which foods provide you with more calories than you need.  Unless you are an NFL lineman or a 10 year old boy, you never, ever need to consume an Extra Value Meal at McDonald’s.  Next session will focus on portions!

Easy-to-remember-menu-guideline

 A balanced, nutritious meal needs to include a fruit, a grain & a vegetable plus a little protein and a tiny amount of fat.

Is 5 pounds very much?

The first time you realize you have lost 5 pounds, you might decide that is not very much.  I would like to challenge that thinking.  In your kitchen you might have a container of flour or sugar that is 5 to 10 pounds.  Pick that up and hold it for awhile.  Now imagine having that hanging from your neck.  My doctor once explained to me that any gain or loss of 5 pounds makes a huge difference in breathing, blood pressure and heart rate.  Every five pounds you lose will have a positive impact on your health.

A final word for this session.

  “Be not anxious for what you shall eat, or what you shall drink --- Isn’t life more than food?  (Luke 12:22 & 23)