Thighs | Project Happily Ever After

Posts Tagged ‘thighs’

How to stop winter weight gain

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

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.