Portioning treats vs. Grabbing them throughout the day
Dark Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses are my favorites! They are only out at Christmastime, so I tend to grab a few bags and savor them for months after the holidays are over. I work from home and keep the stash in my desk drawer. There's just enough mint that I can't eat too many of them before the flavor gets too strong, so I don't ever REALLY overdo it. I have noticed that if I intentionally portion a serving (7 kisses) and put them on my desk, I rarely eat all of them. On the other hand, if I just reach in my drawer to grab 2 here and there throughout the day, I'll often eat more than a serving. Do you have an idea as to why that is? Thank you for everything you do to support your community, and those of us looking to make our lives better! Andrea
What Am I Doing Wrong??
I'll try to keep this short. Age 66. 5'5". Steady weight all my life. No yo-yo dieting. Then I gained 20 pounds with menopause. I am currently 190 pounds which I have maintained for several years (even through the pandemic) by doing absolutely nothing. No tracking. Pretty crappy eating habits. Decided to finally lose weight. Calculated my TDEE. Subtracted 160 calories to bring me down to 1400. I track daily. I try to hit 30% protein/day. I haven't been perfect but I've been pretty consistent within these parameters for about a month. Started strength training about a month ago (nothing too crazy.). I don't quite get 10K steps/day, but I've been doing cardio almost daily (again, nothing crazy). The result? Absolutely nothing. The scale hasn't moved. All this work and I get the same result as before I started working so hard. Yes - I know - strength training adds muscle which weighs more. But my clothes are not fitting much looser. Shouldn't I be seeing SOME progress? Do I have to go down to 1300 calories? I'm not sure that would be sustainable. I've heard you say "wait for the whoosh." Do I need to give this more time? Thank you.
Having a hard time reducing calories
Hi Heather, I’ve been listening to you for about 2 years now and I’m so appreciative of all that you do to help others. You have great advice that I try to follow. My problem is with execution. Like many other people, I have been on a diet rollercoaster since childhood trying everything from severe restriction, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and even bulimia for a short period of time. I’ve only lost significant amount of weight twice in my life. The first was when I was severely restricted my diet when I was in 6th grade. I lost about 20 pounds and didn’t keep it off for long and gained even more weight back. The second time I lost a good amount of weight was in my early 20’s when I lost about 40 pounds. I was able to do that through some diet change and a lot of exercise. After I got married and had two kids, the weight has piled on and has remained there for 2 decades. It took me a long time to finally get into a habit of tracking my calories daily. I have been consistently tracking for almost two years now and was able to maintain my weight. The problem is I want to lose weight for health reasons. There’s lots of things I’d like to do with my kids but physically can’t. By tracking my calories, I’ve become aware that I like large portions of food and I love to snack, mostly on salty things like chips, crackers and cheese. I’ve maintained my weight eating at about 2500 calories per day and my small goal was to just reduce it to around 2300 calories per day. I’ve been trying not to be too restrictive with my diet because I don’t want to backfire. I have binged at times and I’m afraid if I’m too restrictive, I might binge. I do like to exercise but I don’t want to lose weight just by exercise alone. I know that to lose weight and keep it off permanently, I need to adjust my diet. I try to pre-track my meals. Breakfast and dinner are pretty consistent, lunch varies but I think my downfall is mostly due to snacking. I’ll eat my pre-tracked meals but get hungry and start snacking usually in the afternoon or late evening. I’ve tried delayed gratification and can maybe last for about a half hour when my lower brain starts screaming at me and I give always give in. I can’t seem to ever reach my goal of just 2300 calories per day. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Angela
Supper time and learning what’s enough
Hi Heather! I have been a member for a few months, listen to your podcasts, learning lots! My question is, when it comes to supper time, I make supper, usually a protein and veggie and a starch, this is the meal I know I am overeating, I sit at the table and eat, to much! I need tips on slowing down, eating less, my goal is to loose weight, seems like the goal posts keep moving! I am not a evening snacker, I have dialed into eating to late doesn’t help my sleeping hours, thank you for your coaching! Kayann
A note of thanks
Hi Heather, I want to thank you and all those who participate in your show. Special thanks to Katerina! I loved being a premium member before hearing her interviews because there's so much great content at Halfsize me. But Katerina's interviews are reason enough to support your fantastic podcast. Her journey has been equal parts fascinating and inspiring. I admire Katerina for her courage and candidness about her experience. What a generous soul! Equally, I am always amazed by your ability to hear what she is saying, empathize, and help her find solutions to her problems. That's a real skill. I've listened to all of Katerina's interviews at least twice, not just because they're beneficial to anyone with a tendency to binge eat but because they help me address other compulsive behaviors. Understanding that the behavior will happen again, despite our having dismissed the urge many times, is empowering. I don't beat myself up these days when I give in to an urge. I accept it's part of the process, let it go, and lovingly speak to myself, secure in the understanding that this is how I will move forward. It's so healing. Thanks for teaching me that knowing my maintenance calories is crucial. I tracked for a couple of months and gained a better understanding of how my food choices impact my weight. When I decided to take a deficit, I discovered that tracking to lose weight caused me a lot of anxiety. If I neared my calories too early in the day, I gave up and spent the rest of the day eating with abandon. Here's where your other guests come in: someone said that numbers freak them out, so tracking calories and stepping on the scale is problematic. Your advice to track food without tracking the calories and to use our clothes instead of the scale to gauge weight loss really hit home for me. I realized that calorie counting and aiming for a particular number on the scale had always underscored my desire to lose weight quickly. I embraced the idea that my ideal weight would be within a range instead of an arbitrary number, and I decided to weigh in once a week instead of daily. I also gave up tracking calories. I bought a pretty little notebook that fits in my purse, and in it, I wrote down whatever I ate, whether it was an almond I popped in my mouth while prepping a salad or two pieces of pizza and a chocolate chip cookie I grabbed while out shopping with a friend. The upshot was that I could look at the data and without even knowing calories I could see where I needed to tweak things. The almond for example: Did I need it? I didn't. Eating while prepping food was among my worst habits. I stopped doing that, and within a short time, my clothes felt looser. When I got on the scale, I was down five pounds. I've been listening to your show for a while now, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it has changed my life. I am no longer interested in quick-fix diets or reaching a number on the scale. Your advice has enabled me to look at myself and my situation and create a plan that works for me. It's so freeing. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I will be 60 in January, and instead of obsessing about being a certain weight for my birthday, I am looking forward to celebrating a new stage of life, confident that my body will take care of me if I take care of it. Best wishes to you, Heather, and to all your wonderful guests. Hettie.