Mom's on a Diet

When I hit 40 I found my eye sight was not quite what it used to be but bifocals took care of this slight imposition. Now in my early 50's I found that my weight is slowly creeping upward, despite my 6 day a week work-out routine. I want to loose 15-18 pounds. Ten pounds of post baby weight I never lost after my second child and another 5-8 pounds that has snuck up on me. So what is a mother of two young and impressionable children to do, especially when that mom is a Dietitian?

A parent on a "diet" will impact a child (mine are 7 and 12)and I don't believe in diets. Children can take in the wrong message from a parent making too much of their diet. I believe in making changes that can be made without adding any stress, tension or feelings of hunger or deprivation. Changes need to be life long.

So I decided to eat less, one portion of food (i.e. 1/2 cup to 1 cup portions mostly). I put myself on a 1500 calories plan as I am only 5"4". I eat 6 times a day with 400 calories at breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus three 100 calorie snacks. I eat what I want, both healthy foods that I enjoy and potato chips, nuts, cookies and ice cream which I also enjoy. I am just eating less, 1/2 cup of ice cream is 120 calories (Dryers Slow Churn) and Trader Joes reduced fat potato chips, 1ounce, is also about 120 calories. So a lunch of 2 scrambled eggs, 1 oz. chips, 1 large apple and 1 square of dark chocolate is 367 calories. No special foods, shakes, bars or recipes. My kids see me eating. I tell my husband that I don't want my body to think it is being starved, so I always eat all of my calories. I eat any "left over" calories in addition to the 100 snack calories dedicated for evening snack, as dessert.

I am loosing about 1 pound a week, 10 pounds down so far. What will I do when I reach my goal? I may not make it to my goal as at some point my body may stop loosing weight. At that point I will just keep the same eating pattern and be the way I am. If I do reach my goal and am still loosing weight I will add a few more calories until I neither gain nor loose weight.

Addiction to Political Polls and the Bath Room Scale

The bathroom scale and political polls have much in common. Both are used to give us information. The bathroom scale tells the user how much he or she weighs and can certainly warn of unhealthy or unexpected weight gain or loss. Political polls are used to judge the current popularity or approval rating of a candidate. Although both are tools, used too often or incorrectly they can do more harm than good.


So why are we constantly using polls and bath room scales? What are we hoping to discover? Can’t we think, see, feel, and judge for our selves? Do we need to know what everyone else thinks to decide how to vote or what to eat? It seems it just gives us something to obsess about, while avoiding the real issues. Let’s get in touch with what we know is right for our bodies, our minds, and our country. Use the bathroom scale and a political poll sparingly, as one of many tools towards creating a healthy body and a healthy country. A poll result is only a number created by the manipulations of math. Your weight is a number describing how much gravity you exert on the earth. Don’t let it control you. It’s only a number that will certainly change.