Unintentional Diet Habits

I’ve been dieting now for almost 2 months, and I am very happy that I’ve been losing weight.  Sure it’s been slow at times, it’s gone up at times, and there are times I just want to give in and eat whatever the heck I want, but overall, I’m still happy with everything so far.  Through this journey, though, I noticed I’ve picked up on a couple of other diet habits that I didn’t realize until recently.

Intermittent Fasting

The concept behind Intermittent Fasting (IF) is instead of multiple smaller meals a day, you eat larger meals less frequently, with almost no eating in between.  Some people do it daily by cutting out a meal, and making the other 2 meals of the day more filling.  Others do it by fasting for longer periods, up to 24 hours in between (I believe with this method you are able to eat a very small, light dinner).

 

I’ve never really studied this diet too much, as I love food and I love to eat, and the thought of starving myself for periods of time was not that appealing.  However, I did notice that I almost did do this type of diet without even realizing it.

When I get up in the morning, I am perfectly happy going about my business for several hours without eating anything at all.  I actually have to force myself to eat something if I think I need it (like if I’m planning on exercising right away).  Now my days have a later start than most, as I don’t usually wake up till 11am.  But I can go as late as 4-5pm without eating anything and not realize it.

It’s not like this every day, and like I said, it’s an unintentional habit.  I don’t consider my diet to be an “IF” Diet, per se, but I do enjoy being able to eat larger meals later in the day when I crave that full feeling.

Low-Carb

The idea of not eating carbs was like a Sin to me.  You mean to tell me I can’t have pasta? No bread? No grains?  What?!!!  When I was doing some research on it I could feel the little rage monster inside me screaming at the thought of me using this type of diet.  I knew that it wouldn’t be a diet I could maintain for long periods of time without binging and going completely off-plan.

RAAAAAAGGGGEEEEE!!!!!!!

Little did I realize that I was already doing it, lol!

Carb-heavy foods had a higher points plus value while on Weight Watchers, and I find they also have a higher calorie limit, so I’m naturally avoiding those foods because I want to be able to eat more throughout the day. 

Now my carbs are not as low as say, someone who is following a truly low-carb plan.  From my understanding, most low-carbers tend to stick around 20-75g of carbs a day.  Mine hovers around the 125g of carbs per day, but that is still significantly lower than what I was eating before dieting.  There were times I could polish off a whole box of Velveeta Mac & Cheese by myself…that is a lot of carbs.

I do miss pasta, and still have it on occasion.  I actually like the Hidden Veggies kind, instead of the whole wheat, I think it has better flavor and still has more nutrients than regular ol’ plain pasta.  Same with potatoes…I love love LOVE mashed potatoes with a bit of cream and butter whipped together.  YUM!  But those types of foods will be reserved for those special occasions, and not part of my every day eating.

Yesterday

Food Diary for 6-27-13:

1 Special K Chocolatey Drizzle Bar-90 calories

4 oz Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan and Garlic-110 calories

2 cups Homemade Baked Ziti-630 calories

4 Slices Oscar Mayer Honey Ham-60 calories

1 Multigrain Sandwich Thin-100 calories

1 Banana-110 calories

1 Double Dark Chocolate Fudgy Brownie-194 calories

1 Fiber One Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie-90 calories

1 Weight Watchers Divine Triple Chocolate Ice Cream Bar-110 calories

Total calories: 1494

Exercise Diary for 6-27-13:

60 minutes of Elliptical-523 calories

Woot for 4 miles!!  First time hitting that, so excited!

Total NET calories: 1494-523=971 calories

The Baked Ziti, Double Dark Chocolate Brownie and Roasted Cauliflower were estimates based on some of the items available in the MyFitnessPal database.  My Dad made the Ziti and the cauliflower, both which were absolutely scrumptious!  The brownie was left from the anniversary dinner I made them, and I’m not sure of the calorie count in those (and to be honest, I’m a little scared to calculate it, lol!!).  That’s why I left a couple hundred calories open for wiggle room…better to over-estimate the calories than underestimate, in my opinion.

Music Addition

I think it’s neat to hear what music is playing on other people’s playlists, especially the music that people use for working out.  I like to hear songs that have a good beat to them, stuff I can dance to!  I’m going to try and bring a song from my playlist here every day, both to inspire others to exercise with it, and to see if others enjoy it and might want to share songs from their playlists!  Feel free to leave recommendations in the comments!

Today’s Song:  Mambo! By Helena Paparizou

This song makes me want to get up and MOVE!  I would probably be a fun song to do Zumba to, in my opinion.  Although I’ve never really done Zumba, the music I hear in the infomercials reminds me of this.

Enjoy!