Heaps of whole foods keep your hunger satisfied and keep you trim; brilliant! That's today's filling yet slimming lunch, above
In "Numbers UP On The Scale? Don't Panic!" I gave you the skinny on how I transformed my relationship to the bathroom scale from one of "fight or flight" to mutual respect.
The scale can be your friend, as trendy as it may be to say otherwise. And if you are afraid of the bathroom scale, it's time to take a look at THAT. Because making the scale your friend can be a very helpful tool when it comes to weight management.
Dietary Guidelines Pave The Simple Solution Path.
Since I know that nutrition is number one when it comes to weight management (see You Can't Out train A Bad Diet), I thought back to my eats the last couple of weeks to find where this slight gain might have come from.
It is, after all, all about calorie density. The simple solution is to pare down foods high in calorie density – that means a high amount of calories per pound of food – and to nudge your selections back in the direction of low and overall moderate calorie density with vegetables, starchy vegetables, whole unprocessed grains, fruits, and legumes. This crowds out the culprits while keeping you happily well fed.
You look at what you have been eating that may be creating weight challenges due to its calorie density. For me, looking back the past couple of weeks, it was not hard to find:
- Tahini sauce on my veggies more often than usual
- Champagne on a couple of occasions
- Extra rounds of grainy bread
- Slices of avocado (on the grainy bread) more often than usual
Each of these on their own might not be enough to make a difference. But put them together, and they end up making a difference. Reality! I got it!
Here's The Immediate Action I've Taken
When the scale goes UP, I just make sure that I have plenty to eat that will reverse the gain, so that I can shed the extra lbs without hunger and with complete satiety. Quickly and easily. It works like a charm.
Here's what I did today to insure success:
Rinsing potatoes - 3 varieties - to bake in a big batch
- Fired up my rice cooker with a big new batch of brown jasmine rice
- Pressure cooked a new big pot of black turtle beans
- Soaked and scrubbed a dozen potatoes: red, gold, and sweet – to bake today
I'll can the avo and tahini for now, save the champagne for down the road a bit and replace most of the bread with rice, other whole grains, and potatoes for a few days.
That's all it will take. And this will match my requirements of being well-fed, eat according to appetite, and stay up with my usual, time-saving workout strategies.
Simple solution. Piece of cake.
Do you have a strategy for taking action if or when the scale nudges up? Share about it in comments below.
And I promise to report back in with the success of my FitDream Food Plan. 
© Lani Muelrath 2010
Filed under Blog, Calorie Density, Diet & Nutrition, Plant-strong diet, Weight Loss by 
Take the "fight or flight" out of the scale experience
Numbers UP on the scale?
This used to grip my heart with fear and send my stomach sinking.
But that was BEFORE I transformed my relationship with food, eating, and my body.
What Is Your Relationship With The Scale?
Between you and me, I used to have a love/hate relationship with the scale. I was either:
- Compelled to weigh several times a day (big mistake), or
- Avoiding its reality like the plague (problematic red flag)
When I finally committed to making a good relationship between me, weight, and food a priority, I made a choice to be true to my "all the cards on the table" nature.
That meant instead of having a pathology about the numbers on the scale, to instead change my relationship to that, too. The goal of freedom I kept before me like a shining star. And that mean abandoning avoidance and embracing a new attitude.
Man, am I glad I did.
I did this for 2 reasons:
- To take back my power (scale fear puts the scale in power)
- To be able to share the reality of these numbers with women I knew I would be coaching through this same process down the road
In a very short period of time, by cultivating a new relationship with the scale instead of being commandeered by an old one, it became a useful tool for me.
Nothing more, nothing less.
It's called freedom through embracing the reality check.The truth shall set you free .
And since then, I've discovered that research shows those who monitor their weight enjoy more success with weight management. (See Does Checking The Scale Help With Weight Management?)
So for those who insist the scale doesn't tell you what you are measuring, and can report wild fluctuations in weight day-to-day depending on food intake and activity levels, it is an indicator of trends and can be a darn good additional tool of measure, along with how your clothes fit and how you feel.
Scale Reality Check Still Works Today
The work I did with cleaning up my combat with the scale continues to pay off, more than a dozen years later. And it can do the same for you.
When I see my weight pop up, it's usually due to a salty meal or post-exercise hydration, where the challenged muscle packs on some extra water weight in the process of recovery.
Yet if I see the upward trend persist, I know it's time to take a look at the eats.
This past couple of weeks, I noted an upward trend on the scale that persisted. Just a couple of pounds, but that is precisely the wisdom of checking in regularly. It gives me a chance to reality check my food choices, and redirect them to be in alignment with my body composition goals. Fancy way of staying trim WHILE being well fed at the same time.
Well fed is critical in my book. Hunger and weight management are NOT a good match.
CLICK HERE to find out my simple, quick strategies to redirect weight gain.
image: invisible
Filed under Blog, Weight Loss by
"Yes, I will!" trumps "I plan to" or "Yes I can" when it comes to taking ACTION for success.
Think about it.
Dig in and find any challenging goal, right now.
Something that presents itself to you without much thought. You know what I mean.
For example, take the goal of doing your workout schedule this week. Hopefully, you've planned something that takes minimal time for maximum results and has flexibility built into it, due to the always-present human predicament of the unpredictable happening.
Now, out load, say "Yes, I can do my workout schedule this week". Yes, an important statement. You've established your capability.
Now, say THIS out loud:
"Yes, I WILL do my workout schedule this week".
Feel the difference?
One is of them has an "I'll try" feel to it. Wiggle room.
The other has an vested commitment. Solid.
I'm betting my bottom dollar on "I will" getting you a heck of a lot closer to your goals when you add it to "I can".
This is on my mind today as wild circumstances have been swirling all around me.
- A close, aging relative is in serious condition in the hospital.
- My web server had problems in the middle of some important business projects.
- The roofer arrived to repair the roof leak. Shall I go on?
Here's the thing.
Though it took extra resolve to follow through on my workout plans and being prepared with healthy, energizing eats today, to NOT do so would have made these circumstances far more difficult to manage. It's easy to say "just this time…there's too much stress to eat right!", or "I don't have time to get in a workout!"
But in most cases, neither of these statements are true.
Nor are they in your best interest. You will be more resilient, better able to face even the most unpleasant of circumstances and tasks, and of better service to not only yourself but those around you as well when you take care of your health and energy needs. That's what wellness is all about.
In other words, put the oxygen mask on first. Then you can breathe. And have the vitality to be up to the tasks. And be of service.
Are you an "I can" or an "I will" person?
You can learn to become an "I will" person. This doesn't mean you'll get the oxygen mask on in time each and every time. But trust me, it'll happen a lot more often than if you are rallying around in "I can" territory.
The Bigger Picture
Extend this same idea to another endeavor in your life. Give it the "I can" vs. the "I will" test. See if you don't experience a shift in energy.
Spare Me The Yabutz
"Yeah, but what if…."
Hey, don't go there. If something comes up and you absolutely need to change your plan, and it will from time to time, then you just do what you need to do.
But without the foundation of "I will", the change in plans can happen just often enough to destroy your dreams.
Challenge: take just one thing that you have been "can-ning", and turn it into a "will" statement. Watch what happens. And click here tell what YOU are changing to an "I will" in comments below.
© Lani Muelrath 2010 image: prospurring
Filed under Blog, Inspiration, Motivation by
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