Today I got on the scale and saw a number I did not like. It was 123.
I know some of you might be overjoyed to see such a number. Not me. You see, not very long ago, I got on the scale and saw a different number: 116.
Ouch! That hurts.
Now I’m not particularly attached to 116. Let me state that up front. I’m not one of those women who starves herself regularly in order to stay unnaturally skinny. No, it’s not about that at all. It’s just that I’ve basically—without trying very hard—weighed 116 for the past 4 years. My entire wardrobe is based on 116.
And here’s the thing: any woman’s body can go up or down about 5 pounds without affecting clothing fit all that much. Go up more than 5 pounds? Your pants get tight in the thighs. Your shirts no longer button properly. You walk around with a perpetual front side wedgie.
Oh, let me just stop before the idea of it is too painful to bear.
I’ve officially gained 7 pounds—and it’s not even Christmas yet! I have to put an end to it now or I’m going to be left with one of three choices:
1. Walk around feeling like a stuffed sausage in my too-small clothing.
2. Spend lots of money on a new wardrobe of size 6 clothes (which is sort of enticing, actually). The problem with this approach is that I don’t have a lot of money right now.
3. Lose a couple pounds and then hold the line until spring—when I tend to drop my 5 extra pounds quite naturally through salad eating and outdoor movement.
I think choice #3 is the way to go, don’t you? Thankfully, as I’ve mentioned, I’ve ghost written pretty much every diet book you’ll find at your local bookstore. I know a trick or two. This is how I will hold the line on my winter weight gain. Feel free to follow in my eating steps.
I will drink alcohol no more than once a week and, when I drink, it will be beer. There’s nothing truly wrong with wine. Despite popular belief, it’s no more fattening than anything else. My personal problem with it is that I love it-especially in the winter. I love both the taste and the warm sensation that it creates. I can’t stop at one glass-and the glasses I pour for myself probably count as two pours. Once I get started, there’s no stopping me, and I usually feel the need to accompany my wine with a good dose of chocolate. Beer, on the other hand, takes a lot longer to drink than wine, and it’s not anywhere near as addictive. I can nurse a beer for hours. Beer also doesn’t cause me to flirt with the idea of holding a solo chocolate picnic, either.
I will eat desert no more than twice a week. Here’s the problem with dessert: it makes you hungry. So you eat more dessert. Why? It’s high in sugar and fat, both of which trigger hunger rather than fullness. Yeah, now you know you are not going crazy when you have one slice of apple pie, finish it off, and say, “Wow, I’m hungry. I have no idea why. ‘Nother slice of pie, please.”
For that reason, my diet dessert of choice is dark chocolate. Dark chocolate – 75 percent cocoa or higher-is also quite high in fiber and low in carbs, making it a satisfying and filling dessert option.
I will eat grains just twice a day. I will have the high fiber English muffin that I love as a snack (Thomas’s Light brand, with 8 grams of fiber per muffin). And I’ll occasionally have a grain with dinner.
I will overdose on vegetables. They are filling and low calorie. You can’t go wrong. Plus, I’m one of the few people in this world who actually loves them. Salads for lunch and two veggie side dishes with dinner, please.
I will occasionally have frozen dinners. This is actually the fastest way to lose weight. Frozen dinners have about 200-250 calories per dinner. Pair one with a veggie sidedish and you are good to go.
I will reinstate Alisa’s Food Coma Recovery Cocktail. I have not been drinking this as often as needed. In case you need a refresher from last week, it’s 2 scoops whey protein powder, 1 tbsp ground flax or 1 serving Benefiber, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 pint water-in a blender. It’s the perfect breakfast or lunch option-and it’s soooo filling.
I will walk the dog every day. My walk is about 1.5 miles.
I will cure my running injury and run more often. I mostly gained this weight in the first place because running has become a true pain in the ass. I have some sort of injury that makes my rear end, back and leg hurt whenever I do it. But enough is enough. Screw the pain. I’m pounding the pavement 3 to 4 times a week whether my butt complains or not.
I will strength train 1-2 times a week. This is no hardship now that I’ve discovered Pete Cerqua’s super fast program that can be done AT HOME. With Pete, you can work your entire body and be begging for your mommy in just 5-10 minutes depending on which program of his you follow. It’s super effective. I’ve worked on more fitness books than I can count, but I truly believe his is the best there is. Check it out.
I will weigh myself every day. This helps me to know that my Stop the Weight Gain program is working. If I continue to gain, I just might have to skip the butter on my English muffin, swapping it for peanut butter-mostly because peanut butter is more filling. I might have to stop putting so much oil on basically everything I cook. I might have to cut back even more on dessert, and I just might have to pray for a miracle. That always works.
What are your favorite anti-winter weight gain strategies? Suggest them in the comments area.
UPDATES
- My ear is doing just fine. Thanks to everyone who asked. Apparently I did minor surgery on my ear while I was sleeping. Hey, some people eat sandwiches in their sleep. I do ear surgery. We all have our odd little quirks.
- The Best of Mommy Bloggers carnival has been posted at A Daily Dose of Toni. Check out all the great blogs. From a touching story about life with a baby in the NICU to a call for peacefulness in the blogging community to the story of how one mom lost 65 pounds with Wii Fit – there’s enough there to keep you entertained throughout your workday.
- Tomorrow I’ll have a guest blog at Storked! For Glamour.com. It’s a must read, so be on the lookout for it!
Coming Soon
My husband is a dreamboat, and yours can be, too!
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Since August, I’ve lost 22 pounds and plan to lose about 35 more. I think my success has come from walking, mostly. Before I developed two squashed cervical disks, which caused the walking to be quite painful (and still is), I had worked up to 5 miles a day, 5 days a week. Now I am doing physical therapy for my disks (and it’s working) and will soon be back to my walking and my weight loss program.
At least I haven’t gained any of the weight back, even with Thanksgiving having just passed and my period due at any moment.
BTW, I don’t eliminate any food group. My mantras are just two: “all things in moderation,” and “enough is as good as a feast.”
Whenever I’m trying to lose anywhere from 5 – 10lbs, I try to eat very light dinners. I also love vegetables, so this is not particularly hard for me. But, I also have a huge sweet tooth, so I balance that out by skipping high-calorie/high-fat foods that I can live without (like animal proteins) and instead have the veggies and then some dark chocolate. This usually works.
You can come visit me for a juice cleanse. I would barter for some blogging, and writing
I’m a STS girl too, found your blog on Angelas newsletter.
Me too, two pounds. Not much by anyone’s standards, but the trend upward is on.
I miss my 4 p.m. walks in warm sunshine, or my after dinner long walks at 7 p.m. Too dark and cold now.
And I crave sugar. I notice this every year when the days get shorter. I do not have a sweet tooth any other time of the year. But I am kissing goodbye my vanilla waffers.
It is hard in the winter. I am always hungry. Maybe we need some extra body fat to insulate us from the cold (I tell myself this). I allow five extra pounds until March. Then I go into full recovery mode, and drop them again, and go back to my 108 druing the spring and summer.
I have the enviable problem of not being able to keep weight on. Comes from a personal issue, but that’s not the point. It also comes from riding my bike like a mad man 12 months a year. No reason to dial it down during the winter. Just bundle up, and hit the road. Good luck with your plan, but personally, I would put the scale out at the curb on trash day.
Low Glycemic eating and a patented all natural protein peptide that causes your body to burn fat has kept me on a losing trend. 42 lbs and over 40 inches. Go me! I am not far from 116, but then I haven’t seen that in over 20 years.
really….41 pounds? We’re supposed to believe that you weighed 170 when you were as skinny as you were in the pictures?
I am really starting to think that this whole “weight loss” focus is wrong. We need to be focused on “healthy living” and then everything else will follow…(like natural weight loss, longer life, cleaner arteries (heart health), better skin, and generally happier life) That, to me, makes a whole lot more sense! Thank you so much, Kristen K.
Great post, thanks for sharing this information. I had read where Art Linkletter had lost weight just by filling his plate one time and one time only. It seems a lot of people go for seconds even though they are full and then they do no exercise to burn any of it off. Nice blog and good information.
.-= Dan Johnson´s last blog ..Vita Mark is The Name of My Primary Company =-.
Great post! I found it very helpful and inspiring.
Hey,
I read your post and I really like your candor and humor. The comment on your pain in back and leg is it in your butt too? if you don’t have any medical reason that you can’t stretch try the Piriformis Chair Stretch. It is the simplest to do, and you can do anywhere, at work, at home, on the bus kind of stretch, and just don’t look back at the people starting at you.
Cross one leg over the other with your ankle resting on the knee of the opposite leg. Gently press down on the inside of the knee and slowly lean forward until you feel a mild stretch in your butt. Then hold for 20 or 30 seconds, relax, and do the other leg. You inspired me to write up a post on it at http://fittvo.com/home-fitness/pain-in-the-butt/ So I hope this helps and thank you for the inspiration!
Wishing you wealth and wellness
Cynthia
Cynthia Carpenter´s last [type] ..Resistance Bands – Fun and Use
I have been on a special programme now for a few years now and I must say I feel great. Better than what I felt two years ago. Great Article… Oh Ye…..
I have a friend who is interested in natural way of lossing weight, any suggestion?
I am finding now as the weather gets colder and the days are shorter it is much eassier to turn to comfort food. It is also easier to hide any weight gain under thicker clothes though. Lol.
Su@abs belt´s last [type] ..Multi Gym – Are Multi Gyms A Good Choice
I came across your site while looking for some info on ab belt and everything here is really useful, so-thank you!
Liliya Goranova´s last [type] ..AB BELT Toning
The tips given in the post are really very useful, as these have helped me a lot.
richard´s last [type] ..AB BELT Toning
This seems like great advice. Everything in moderation. That philosophy tends to work well in every situation. Keep it up and you shouldn’t have any problems with weight gain. Thanks for the article!
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