Trick Yourself Into A Smaller Serving...

...with a smaller plate. I kept hearing about this one and finally tried it myself, and it worked.

I recently watched a televised weight loss series with Paul McKenna, and one of the topics he covered was how food appearance affects hunger. He conducted an experiment where he told people to eat until they felt full. He repeated the exercise with subjects who were blindfolded, and found that these folks felt full a lot sooner, and ate a lot less, when they couldn't see the food.

The "empty the plate" mentality is a big culprit for overeating. If you use a smaller plate with less food on it, and the serving dishes are in the kitchen instead of at the table in front of you, chances are you may skip a second helping and eat less than if you had put more food on a larger plate.

Pondering Pork

I just don't get it. Pork, I mean. I really really don't understand why people buy it, eat it and then cook it. Blech.

The only pork I've ever liked was a roast I tried a long time ago... slow cooked with an entire jar of sauerkraut dumped on it. Yum. Hubby won't touch that with a ten foot fork. In fact, he ran screaming from the house, tearing madly at his hair, the last time I suggested it.

(sigh)

No, my spouse likes Shake 'n Bake on his pork chops. I'm not kidding. Trust me, I wish I was.

So after much surfing (and head shaking), I came up with something simple, involving olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, that I think he'll eat and I might be able to choke back.

I let you know how it goes...

Out Of Ice Cream

Hopefully hubby doesn't buy anymore next time he shops, 'cause this could be key for my weight loss goal ;-)

(What? Oh come on, who has will power, anyway?) Sheesh.

LOL

One Change At A Time

I've heard it takes two weeks to make or break a habit. This might explain why weight loss that takes longer is more likely to stick.

If your diet plan consists of small changes, one at a time, you're less likely to feel overwhelmed. If you can maintain each change for at least two weeks before introducing a new one, you're more likely to form new beneficial habits, rather than constantly struggling and giving up.

My example: putting sugar in my coffee.

One day it occurred to me the amount of refined sugar I was drinking in coffee, so I decided to look for an alternative. I went out of my way to research coffee brewing techniques and flavouring ideas, such as cinnamon, vanilla, and so on.

I was so caught up in experimenting with flavours that the "two weeks" flew by, and sure enough, now I drink sugarless coffee all the time. Adding sugar has become weird to me.

Now if I had tried removing sugar from my daily java while making a bunch of other changes at once, it might not have been as easy. One change at a time appears to be the key to my success.

Ha! Lost Two Pounds :-)

I've changed my focus.

Instead of looking at the total amount I need/want to lose (about 15 lbs), I've broken it down into small categories. It's soooooo much easier when it's a small amount.

So at this point, I've achieved 2 pounds out of my 5 pound goal. Wahooo!!! Once I lose the next three, then I'll set a new goal...