Health Goal Update for April 27, 2009 (Blog)

[Erin Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Erin Pavlina's blog:

Health Goal Update for April 27, 2009

[staceyterry]

YAY!! This calls for a calorie-burning happy dance don't you think?!

Glad to hear there's some success and that you keep refining your process. I'm looking forward to this week too. I'm going to have my first session with a personal trainer on Tuesday morning. I figure it's gotta be a good thing that I've come far enough in my perspective that I'm actually looking forward to pain (the good kind!!).

My success this week was being out at my family's for three days without reverting back to eating any meat. In my own home, I don't have an issue anymore with meat, but it's so tempting there to just want to fit into old patterns so that everyone will be more comfortable. Thankfully I'd brought along The China Study with me and reading it kept me motivated. I'm still working on refining my dairy consumption as I did eat a few chips that had some dairy in them and a cup of coffee with cream, but as cheese is one of my major weaknesses, I was pretty darned pleased with myself for going to my sister's wedding shower and completely passing by the meat and cheese tray.

I hope the point system is helpful! I'm at a point of indecision again about my food approach. I've tried counting calories and planning meals, and as you said, it does work! I also found my approach (counting and using KDiet planning program) heightened my thinking about food so that I was always running more food streams of thought and adding to my obsessiveness about food. I want to create a state of being where I am no longer a slave to my obsessions and constant thoughts of food, but there's no denying that the planning and counting creates results and accountability. Life... always trying to make me grow with choices.

Hope you have a fantastic week Erin!

[Tina Rowley]

Go, Erin! I'm so pleased that you've found something that's working for you. And I'm doubly pleased that it's Weight Watcher-based, because when I start losing the baby weight after young Fred emerges that's the plan I'm going to be using. It'll be extra delightful to read your updates. And I can share delicious low-point thingies (recipes, I guess they call them) with you.

Yeah, those Flex points really take the stress off the diet, because you know that you can go out for a meal or have a special occasion and you won't be derailed. And the activity points definitely encourage going the extra mile with the exercise. I remember being on the treadmill when I was on WW, and I'd push myself a little harder to squeeze an extra point out of the session.

Bravo, mama. If you see a cute, graphic black and white dress out there when you're at your goal weight, buy it. Oh, wait - that's a good idea. You could look around for some particularly fabulous piece of clothing that you love, and plan an occasion to wear it, and when you meet your goal you buy it and take it on the town looking like five million dollars. And then you have something specific to picture yourself in while you're trucking along!

So glad for you.

Tina
The Gallivanting Monkey

[Lucky13]

Margarine? Ranch dressing?
Those are highly processed foods that are so bad for you, I thought noone trying to get healthy ever eats them. They mess up your metabolism.
Have you ever tried eating good quality coconut oil (it has a consistency of butter so you can put it on your toast)? A lot of people loose weight eating it. It makes you less hungry. The bonus is also great skin.
Interestingly, in the 1950-ties american farmers tried to feed coconut oil, which was then cheap, to their livestock to fatten them up but the animals lost weight and became more active as a result. It works the same on humans. On the other hand, oils in margarine (canola, trans fats, corn etc) will make you fat fast. This is what they now feed livestock to fatten them up and to slow down their metabolism. Please read up about coconut oil, you will be astounded by its benefits.

[Creative]

Congratulations on your success! In an odd coincidence my colleagues have started the Weightwatchers plan too. One of my friends says it is the only weight loss programme that she's actually lost weight on. I am pleased to hear you've had such good results so quickly.

I am surprised you have margarine- it's not very healthy but hey if WW has made you stop having it then it's all good

I hope your cough and cold are gone quickly so you can increase your gains with some exercise. I wish you lots of luck.

[lifetimelearner]

loved reading about your success with the weight watchers plan

and what a supportive husband!!

[ericabiz]

Hi Erin! Congratulations on finding something that works.

There's a food I like that apparently doesn't have any WW points -- it's called "Fiberful ends & pieces" from Trader Joe's. Basically they are pressed strips of fruit + fiber. Very healthy and (obviously) vegetarian. I eat them to help me stay regular.

Trader Joe's also has the Fiberful bars; I keep them as a stash in case I have a hunger attack. AFAIK these are also 0 points. In both cases it's because of their high fiber content. Just be careful -- TJ's also sells pressed fruit bars that are not under the Fiberful brand, and those would cost points.

HTH!
-Erica

Added: TJ's fans write in: Trader Joes Fan : Recipes and Favorite Product Reviews - Fiberful Fruit Leather

[Savage]

FYI here's the calculator program I wrote for the Casio fx-8000G.

 
"CALORIES"?->C
"FAT"?->F
"FIBER"?->I
"POINTS="
I>4=>4->I
C/50+F/12-I/5->T
T

It asks you to input the calories, fat grams, and fiber grams for a serving of food, and then it outputs the Weight Watchers point total. Erin had a paper slider from WW to calculate points, so I used it to reverse engineer their underlying formula. This is an old slider from several years ago, so I don't know if they still use this same formula today.

The formula is simply this:
Points = Calories/50 + FatGrams/12 - FiberGrams/5

However, the max deduction for Fiber is 4g, so if you enter more than 4g, it gets capped at 4. This means you can only deduct at most 0.8 points for high-fiber foods.

For some reason Erin says it makes her horny when I do stuff like this.

[Erin Pavlina]

I wasn't eating margarine before either, but yeah, we have it in the house for occasional use. Sometimes the kids eat in on toast. Don't hock me about the margarine people, it's not overused here. It can take us 6 months to go through a tub of it. I was doing coconut oil for a while. It sure is tasty. But my body didn't react well to it.

Erica, I'll try to find those at Trader Joe's. Thanks for the tip!

[StellaBlue]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

FYI here's the calculator program I wrote for the Casio fx-8000G.

 
"CALORIES"?->C
"FAT"?->F
"FIBER"?->I
"POINTS="
I>4=>4->I
C/50+F/12-I/5->T
T

It asks you to input the calories, fat grams, and fiber grams for a serving of food, and then it outputs the Weight Watchers point total. Erin had a paper slider from WW to calculate points, so I used it to reverse engineer their underlying formula. This is an old slider from several years ago, so I don't know if they still use this same formula today.

The formula is simply this:
Points = Calories/50 + FatGrams/12 - FiberGrams/5

However, the max deduction for Fiber is 4g, so if you enter more than 4g, it gets capped at 4. This means you can only deduct at most 0.8 points for high-fiber foods.

For some reason Erin says it makes her horny when I do stuff like this.

Lol, intelligence is big a turn-on so I can understand that! It would probably turn me on if a guy did that for me. It is so nice you are supporting her with it all.

Erin, I don't usually comment, but I have been reading your progress. Great job!

Maybe Steve can help you create some tasty raw salad dressings with low points. You could skip oil and make combos of other tasty stuff--ginger, garlic, apple cider vinegar, etc....

[Erin Pavlina]

There are some low point salad dressings out there, but I don't love them. However, eating raw veggies is going well. I gotta get me a plate of cucumber and carrots. I have to be careful with carrots cuz too many will cost me a point, but you can eat a fair amount for 20 calories or less.

[Shyone]

Way to go Erin!! I know that you've had a rough start, but I think you're going to do great! Congrats on finding a program that suits your life, and actually works! Thanks for posting your results online. I think it'll be great for others like myself who are in the same position as you. Thanks to your blog posts, hopefully we'll be able avoid the mistakes that you've made, and learn from your successes. Good luck!!

[Andrew Brunelle]

Glad you're losing weight. You know what they say, "It's a lot harder to lose weight than it is to put it on." Have you tried fasting at all? Maybe just for one or two days? There's also a spiritual component to fasting that I'm sure you'll benefit from.

Are you eating green smoothies at all? I would suggest drinking at least one quart a day to speed up your weight loss. I'm sure Steve can help you with that.

[TimG]

Hi Erin

I'm so glad you are making headway.

Points system sounds pretty simple once you do all the up front setup work. You can work out your daily energy needs using something like this, but at 1450 calories you should be well and truly on the weight loss side of the equation. MIght be worth checking it though. It's great that your diet doesn't leave you hungry or craving.

So sounds like you got the "calories in" part under control.

Keep up the exercise too (especially lifting the weights), because it will help you preserve your muscle and lose your body fat, as well as burning the extra calories.

Keeping with the simplicity theme, a good rule of thumb for intensity of your cardio workout is to make sure that you are breathing hard (open mouth breathing) and can still talk a little but cannot carry on a conversation easily. Then you don't need to get all scientific on heart rate zones and stuff.

With the weights intensity, the last few reps should always be a struggle! If you are not pulling a strange face at that stage, you are going too easy Add a little extra weight as you find it easy, and mix up the exercises from time to time as well. The higher the number of reps you do (more than 15 as a rough guide), the less likely you will be to "bulk up" or "get heavier due to muscle gains", but you'll have to use lower weights to get the reps done. Doing exercises that involve lots of muscles (eg: squats, bench press) will get you more bang for your buck in the same amount of time than doing exercises that involve fewer muscles (eg: bicep curls).

Amazing what happens when you keep it simple!

Looking forward to the next weigh in

Cheers,
Tim

[PTJohn]

Re: Weight Watchers

It's a great program--I've had several clients go on this and it absolutely does work (that is, if you are weighing your food, counting calories, and keeping a food journal). Like I've said before, I never had one person fail to lose weight when they became accountable and proactive about their diets.

Weight loss and getting in shape really comes down to a simple equation: success = consistency X time.

[Erin Pavlina]

Thanks TimG and PTJohn

You know you're making progress when you can't wait to get up in the morning and weigh yourself again.

I know that if I stick to my points and don't go over I can reasonably expect to see less of me in the morning.

[TimG]

PTJohn, might expand the formula...

success = good info + (consistency X time)


Erin, last night was the finale of the biggest loser here in Australia. The guy who won lost 52% of his body weight, and was the oldest competitor in any season of the show.

He said "I'm only half the guy I used to be... I'm not sure which half, but on behalf of the half that is here, thank you!"

haha ... One of the best winners speeches I ever heard anywhere.

[Aleksander Krstic]

I think you'll be beautiful, when you lose more weight.

[lifetimelearner]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

Thanks TimG and PTJohn

You know you're making progress when you can't wait to get up in the morning and weigh yourself again.

I know that if I stick to my points and don't go over I can reasonably expect to see less of me in the morning.

I agree that's why I love the WW plan !
I only go to the weekly meetings to support my sister -she needs more outside support than I do \otherwise I would do the plan at home like you do

[liamona]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

I was doing coconut oil for a while. It sure is tasty. But my body didn't react well to it.

That's actually a common reaction—coconut oil has powerful anti-fungal and anti-viral (among other) properties. That's why it tends to be a popular food in anti-candida diets.

When I first started taking it, I went over-board and ate too much. It would make me feel nauseous and dizzy. You're supposed to start out with a small amount like a teaspoon, but I didn't listen and paid the price.

[Creative]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

For some reason Erin says it makes her horny when I do stuff like this.

Lol, you guys are so cute. It is great you are so supportive of Erin. I am borrowing the code for my friends, I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Apologies if it seemed like I was telling you off about the margerine! Just want you to do well and am excited for you.

Is it just me or are more people doing health and fitness related goals at the moment? I am doing an April trial of exercise everyday. You seem to have inspired a lot of people!

[Jack Christopher]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

I wasn't eating margarine before either, but yeah, we have it in the house for occasional use. Sometimes the kids eat in on toast. Don't hock me about the margarine people, it's not overused here. It can take us 6 months to go through a tub of it. I was doing coconut oil for a while. It sure is tasty. But my body didn't react well to it.

I know you've addressed this already, but I want to strongly emphasize this again anyway. Instead of margarine, why not Extra Virgin Olive Oil? Also, do you remember what kind of *coconut* oil you tried? Was it extra virgin? The other types are more meant for cooking.

Whole Foods sells the the best EVOO I've seen -- the 365 brand, green and flaky. They also sell EVCO too.

[Erin Pavlina]

When I was eating fat I would use extra virgin olive oil, yeah. All the time. The coconut oil was raw extra virgin coconut oil. Sat in the pantry and was solid at room temperature.

But I don't have room in my current plan for added fat like oil or coconut oil. I don't miss it either. I'm not eating nuts either as they are just way too high in points for the amount of satisfaction you get from them.

Margarine was something I would put on toast and like a sweet potato or lima beans or something like that.