Metabolic Rage and M&Ms
This morning I went to get a few groceries, and while I was waiting in line to checkout, I had some Combos, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, a king-sized Snickers, and some Funyuns.
April Fools! Well actually, I saw an interesting study (ashamed to admit it was on the Dr. Oz show. It was the first time I watched it, I swear!) The study went like this: Group One was sent into a room and asked to think about drinking a glass of water, to use all their senses to 'experience' the water, and were then presented with a bowl of M&M's and told to eat as many as they wished. Group Two was asked to think about eating one single M&M, to imagine looking at it, smelling it's aroma as it neared their mouths, feel the crunchy shell on their tongue and even acknowledge the urge to crunch into the shell, to let the chocolate melt on their tongue and slide down their throat. They were also given a bowl of M&Ms and told to eat as much as they wished. Can anyone guess the result? The group who imagined drinking water ate the entire bowl, the other group ate only 60% of their bowl. The message was that satisfaction comes not just from the taste but from all the senses, and that you can trick your mind into feeling partially satisfied and it will result in weight loss. They had a lady on the show who'd apparently lost 15 pounds in a year just by doing this mental exercise alone. She claims that she feels totally satisfied, and even enjoys the food more, even though she's eating less. I am on the fence on this one. I know the power of the mind, and I know that can work for or against you. I think if you have bingeing or portion control issues, this might be a bit of a help, but I am not totally convinced. It is almost giving people the green light to eat unconstructive things, as long as they do the mental trick beforehand. Then again, I do find when I begin a diet, that smells become very satisfying to me, especially of things I am not eating, like the bread baking at Subway, or cinnamon rolls. So, not sure what to make of that whole thing. Another fad that people will buy into and be disappointed when they too do not lose 15 pounds in a year by eating their M&Ms slower.
As I was shopping today, a lightbulb went on and I figured out what my body image issues are right now. The reason I feel like I should look better than I do, is because I was in complete denial about how big I truly was to begin with. When I looked through some old photos yesterday, there were literally times when I gasped in horror at the size of my body. I knew I was big, and I have seen the photos before, but it really hit home for me (finally!) yesterday. And when I compared, I was able to see how far I'd come, how good I'm doing. Thanks to getting back on schedule with my meal timing, not to mention all the extra cardio I did this week, my metabolism is RAGING! I had to get up twice during the night to eat, because once my stomach starts growling my eyes pop wide open until I eat something to get my blood sugars stabalized again. That was after eating a little extra serving of fat with my bedtime meal, because this has been happening all week. I'm OK with my metabolism speeding up, but I am losing a lot of sleep because of it. Ah well, the price we pay to look good, right?
Today I changed up my interval walking (still doing it in my house because it's still icy outside) by listening to music instead of watching Good Morning America. Even though I am sleep-deprived, I had one of the best workouts in a long time, thanks to the music. I can't believe I never thought of it before, I always use my iPod when I walk outdoors, but never indoors. Well, from now on, I will listen to music for walking. To think there was a time in my life when I really wasn't that interested in music anymore. I think I wasn't interested in life much either at that point, just existing. Sigh. Glad those days are long gone!
Not much else going on today, so I'll procede with the monthly measurements.
March 1-April 1 Loss Total loss since Dec 1
Bust: 1 1/4 inch 5 1/4 inches
Chest: 1 1/2 inch 4 inches
Waist: 1 1/4 inch 4 1/2 inches
Hips: 1 inch 5 inches
Midway: 1 7/8 inch 4 7/8 inches
Thighs: 1/4 inch 1 1/4 inches
Knees: 1/4 inch 3/4 inch
Calves: 1/4 inch 5/8 inch
Upper Arm: 1/4 inch 1 1/2 inch
Forearms: 0 difference 1/2 inch
And the scale said 163 today. I am determined to get under 162 will be 30 pounds. Hope to get down to 160 or less by the end of April. Just going to keep plugging away at the extra cardio and keeping those meal intervals 3 hours or less. Speaking of which, time to eat! Hope everyone has a super fantastic weekend!
April Fools! Well actually, I saw an interesting study (ashamed to admit it was on the Dr. Oz show. It was the first time I watched it, I swear!) The study went like this: Group One was sent into a room and asked to think about drinking a glass of water, to use all their senses to 'experience' the water, and were then presented with a bowl of M&M's and told to eat as many as they wished. Group Two was asked to think about eating one single M&M, to imagine looking at it, smelling it's aroma as it neared their mouths, feel the crunchy shell on their tongue and even acknowledge the urge to crunch into the shell, to let the chocolate melt on their tongue and slide down their throat. They were also given a bowl of M&Ms and told to eat as much as they wished. Can anyone guess the result? The group who imagined drinking water ate the entire bowl, the other group ate only 60% of their bowl. The message was that satisfaction comes not just from the taste but from all the senses, and that you can trick your mind into feeling partially satisfied and it will result in weight loss. They had a lady on the show who'd apparently lost 15 pounds in a year just by doing this mental exercise alone. She claims that she feels totally satisfied, and even enjoys the food more, even though she's eating less. I am on the fence on this one. I know the power of the mind, and I know that can work for or against you. I think if you have bingeing or portion control issues, this might be a bit of a help, but I am not totally convinced. It is almost giving people the green light to eat unconstructive things, as long as they do the mental trick beforehand. Then again, I do find when I begin a diet, that smells become very satisfying to me, especially of things I am not eating, like the bread baking at Subway, or cinnamon rolls. So, not sure what to make of that whole thing. Another fad that people will buy into and be disappointed when they too do not lose 15 pounds in a year by eating their M&Ms slower.
As I was shopping today, a lightbulb went on and I figured out what my body image issues are right now. The reason I feel like I should look better than I do, is because I was in complete denial about how big I truly was to begin with. When I looked through some old photos yesterday, there were literally times when I gasped in horror at the size of my body. I knew I was big, and I have seen the photos before, but it really hit home for me (finally!) yesterday. And when I compared, I was able to see how far I'd come, how good I'm doing. Thanks to getting back on schedule with my meal timing, not to mention all the extra cardio I did this week, my metabolism is RAGING! I had to get up twice during the night to eat, because once my stomach starts growling my eyes pop wide open until I eat something to get my blood sugars stabalized again. That was after eating a little extra serving of fat with my bedtime meal, because this has been happening all week. I'm OK with my metabolism speeding up, but I am losing a lot of sleep because of it. Ah well, the price we pay to look good, right?
Today I changed up my interval walking (still doing it in my house because it's still icy outside) by listening to music instead of watching Good Morning America. Even though I am sleep-deprived, I had one of the best workouts in a long time, thanks to the music. I can't believe I never thought of it before, I always use my iPod when I walk outdoors, but never indoors. Well, from now on, I will listen to music for walking. To think there was a time in my life when I really wasn't that interested in music anymore. I think I wasn't interested in life much either at that point, just existing. Sigh. Glad those days are long gone!
Not much else going on today, so I'll procede with the monthly measurements.
March 1-April 1 Loss Total loss since Dec 1
Bust: 1 1/4 inch 5 1/4 inches
Chest: 1 1/2 inch 4 inches
Waist: 1 1/4 inch 4 1/2 inches
Hips: 1 inch 5 inches
Midway: 1 7/8 inch 4 7/8 inches
Thighs: 1/4 inch 1 1/4 inches
Knees: 1/4 inch 3/4 inch
Calves: 1/4 inch 5/8 inch
Upper Arm: 1/4 inch 1 1/2 inch
Forearms: 0 difference 1/2 inch
And the scale said 163 today. I am determined to get under 162 will be 30 pounds. Hope to get down to 160 or less by the end of April. Just going to keep plugging away at the extra cardio and keeping those meal intervals 3 hours or less. Speaking of which, time to eat! Hope everyone has a super fantastic weekend!
Good luck. You are right about the perils of using that mental technique. It would be too easy to talk eating more.
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