Keeping food in check
I’m 28 and I work four days a week in HR for a defense contractor in the DC area and I go to law school at night. I just started my second year and, in general, I love school and I love the feeling that this is the first time in my life I’m 100% maxed out. For the first time, I’m giving everything I can and I’m DOING it! I’m not drowning or failing. I somehow manage to get everything done! But of course it can also be totally overwhelming at times. I’m the only one looking out for me. I live alone, except for my puppy, so that means I do all the cooking, cleaning, walking the dog, paying bills, figuring out a budget on top of going to school and working.
Working out has become a huge part of my way to cope. Right now I’m 15 pounds lighter than I was when I started law school last year and in general I’m pretty content with myself—I’d just really like to know how far I could go. I want to know what it feels like to not feel a little self-conscious in a bathing suit and to feel actually HOT! I weigh 160 right now and I’m 5’7″. My goal is 145-150 or a size 8.
I’m hooked on Turbo Jam and I alternate that with yoga and running six days a week. I generally work out every morning before work for 30-40 minutes and walk the dog for 20-30 minutes. I could not survive right now without working out. I feel awful and uncomfortable on the days I don’t and I feel strong and confident and able to handle my crazy life on the days I do. It’s so fun to say that I have biceps. And quads! And a pretty firm ass!
So it’s not working out that’s a problem for me, it’s totally food. FOOD FOOD FOOD!!! It seems to be the place where I find my comfort and collapse. All in all I eat pretty healthy food, but the portions are out of control and lately I find myself eating ALL THE TIME. And it’s always hardest for me in Fall and Winter. I love to cook and the thought of roasted squash and pumpkin muffins and dark beer and brats gets me so excited. It’s my outlet and the thing I look forward to every day. I love thinking about what I’m going to cook on the weekend when I have more time and searching through my favorite food blogs for recipes. Smitten Kitchen is my other favorite blog. God the food!
So that is my challenge. Being able to enjoy food as a hobby and part of my life, but keeping it in check. I want to see how far I can really go and what throwing off those last ten-fifteen pounds might do for me and my little life. Is it possible to have a release and not completely lose yourself in it?
– challenge sent in by Katherine
Oh, readers, I hope you have some good advice for Katherine, because this is one of my biggest challenges too. I also love to cook, and bake, but I have a very hard time with portion control when I do so. It’s easier for me to eat healthy when I make simple, lean meals, but I wonder if I’ll ever be able to bake some muffins and eat, like, ONE, you know?
December 30th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Katherine, I am so impressed by how much you are getting done! Congratulations and kudos to you.
I love food too. And I also struggle with finding that balance between food-as-hobby and food-as-fuel. Speaking only for myself, I am committed to maintaining (not reducing) my current weight over the winter. I figure, my body evolved to hang on to calories in the cold months- when spring brings longer, warmer days and fresh vegetables it will be easier to start losing weight again. In the meantime, I am eating potatoes and staying inside.
So far, so good!
December 30th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Ugh, this is always my problem. Love to workout, love to eat, hate that as I get older my metabolism is not keeping up with the plan.
Portion control. Buy brats for the winter, but put them in individual zip lock bags and freeze them. Only defrost one at a time. Have *a* beer, not three. And I love to cook too, but I had to switch it over to Cooking Light for reciepes, and cut the portions in half.
There’s also a lot to be said for timing your food. Eat your starches and beers and carbs directly (within a few hours) of working out, when your body is in a better “mood” to break it down. Other times stick to protein based portions. This book: http://www.gourmetnutrition.com/ has a great philosphy about the best way to fuel your body for workouts/life (and can explain it better than I ever could), and the meals are all pretty easy to whip up … and very tasty! I had some great sucess losing about 15 pounds last year when I switched my meal planning over to this book.
Good luck! Grad school was the HARDEST time for me to keep control of my diet — I totally understand!
December 30th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I totally feel you–I stay active but just love to eat! One trick I’ve been experimenting with lately (with some success) is to try to use time to my advantage. I tend to be a fast eater, and once I start eating I just want to keep filling my mouth until I feel stuffed. It’s like once I start eating, all my impulses/reflexes go into food mode. Stopping before I feel completely full is really hard, but I have found that, if, after eating a reasonable portion size, I take a 15 or 20 minute break from eating it gives my stomach time to “catch up” with my mouth, and I no longer feel that ravenous impulse to dive headlong into whatever food is available. We’ll see if I can stick with this strategy, because it’s still really hard to walk away from the plate. But if I tell myself that if I still feel really hungry in 15-20 minutes I can have more, that makes it a bit easier. Good luck, and keep up the great work!
December 30th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Oh man, do I love to cook! And bake! And – and this is where I don’t weigh a million pounds – I love to SHARE! If you have any outlet for getting the “rest” of a batch of whatever – yummy stew, pumpkin muffins, etc – out of your house, do it! I bring a lot of stuff to work (coworkers love me) and to almost any in-home gathering of pals.
Also, I don’t think you can overdo vegetables. The nutritional value in veggies far outweighs the negligable calorie intake, as long as you don’t slather them in fat/salt. Get thee to the grocery store and stock up on the good, colorful plant life, and eat lots of that. Takes up room in your stomach so that brat and beer stays at “one”, not “one…every hour.”
(Exception: Potatoes and corn don’t count – well, as vegetables. Too starchy.)
Good luck, and please share with us anything that works for you!
December 30th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Thanks for your support everyone. Please keep sending ideas! Right now I’m most struck by the timing and Cooking Light ideas. I just hope that in my eating euphoria I can pause long enough to remember that I’m supposed to wait 20 minutes before diving back in. Sometimes I feel like my brain shuts down when I’m eating.
I’ve also tried bringing stuff in for coworkers but the way they tear through grocery store boxed donuts brings out the snob in me. Why bring in Cocoa-Nib Buckwheat Butter Cookies made with French butter when those people will devour cardboard if it’s got a little powdered sugar on it?
That sounded a little harsh.
But I’d love any other ideas you might have!
Katherine
December 30th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Katherine, I think you are doing such a great job with everything! It sounds like you’ve got a great balance going. I find that I sometimes get in moods (Christmas is especially challenging!) where I can’t stop eating. My sister was recently here and she is a fabulous cook. I’ve been in a constant state of pig-out for the last week. And no powdered sugar cardboard here. All the good stuff. French butter, empanadas, and pounds of pie and bread dough. I find I do better if I let myself enjoy the food for short periods of time like that, but then pull back. If I tell myself I can’t have anything than I eventually cave and make horrible decisions involving potato skins, M & Ms, or Mexican food. Maybe set one meal or day aside each week where you allow yourself to be a little indulgent. And maybe if your coworkers don’t appreciate your delicacies you could share them with your law school friends. Keep up the good work!
December 30th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Katherine I’m LOL about bringing in food for co-workers. There’s something about the office lunch table that turns people into ravenous garbage disposals, I wouldn’t be surprised to see people fishing stuff out of the trash in there.
So, yeah don’t waste stuff on them! Although for a few that sit near you, if you wrap up a single piece of cake or cookies and place on the person’s desk, I bet they’ll savor it more.
I love the baking too and lately I figure out some way to turn everything into a muffin. So – no whole cakes, no breads – everything goes into cupcake papers. Then, the whole herd of muffins goes into freezer bags. Every night I take out ONE muffin and put it into the fridge to thaw out for the next morning; then I’m looking forward to my morning treat and I have to limit myself to that one only because the rest are frozen. Also I make a lot of bran muffins and even though they’re like bricks, they’re filling and they still feel like a pastry treat. I do one that is applesauce, blueberries, and 3 parts bran (to one part WW flour). There’s hardly any sugar in it and with morning coffee it still feels like a treat.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:00 am
Wow! It sounds like you really have a lot on your plate and that your body is in GO GO GO mode! I totally understand using exercise as your stress release and as long as you are alternating activities so you don’t cause yourself an injury, it seems to be a really healthy outlet for you.
What struck me the most about what you wrote is that it doesn’t sound like you have ANY time for a relaxing activity – hot shower/bath, stretching, zoning out with candles and music, etc. I wonder if maybe you are multi-tasking and using your eating time as a way to also help you relax. I think we all do that to some extent because food releases those relaxation hormones into our systems. That’s why when you’re overstressed/under-rested you eat more than your body needs – it’s trying to compensate for what it’s lacking!
Maybe it would work for you if you consciously tried to incorporate some relaxation time into your schedule on a daily basis, and tried to be conscious of that while you’re eating. You might surprise yourself with what you discover. Best of luck to you!!!!
January 4th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
This is what I struggle with the most as well. I shake my fists at Europeans who can eat pasta and croissants and whatever else but in small portions. How is that possible? HOW?
One thing I’ve found that has been helpful is to dole myself out half a portion so that I can go back for seconds. And I eat off appetizer plates, so the amount doesn’t seem so small.
January 6th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I found a great cookbook called “Healthy Cooking for Two (or Just You)”… I have tried about a third of the recipes and have loved them all. There are some more in depth recipes and are more involved but most are just a couple of ingredients and have a quick cooking time.
The benefit of this book (if you haven’t guessed by the title) is that you don’t make a huge batch of anything for endless leftovers. She shows the amounts for one seving and two, sometimes shows two and four servings. I will make the bigger servings of the recipes that I like, split them into individual containers right after it is finished cooking, and eat them for lunch or dinner for the next couple of days.
It’s only $13 on amazon- and you can see the index of recipes in the preview. This is one that I have had luck with…I am sure there are more out there. Good luck!
January 6th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Katherine, I am so impressed with the healthy habits you have established for yourself at a young age AND at such a hectic time in your life, balancing that kind of schedule. The confidence and strength that you are getting from your workouts is amazing and if you ever have a phase where you’re not feeling it, I hope you come back and read your own inspiring words here!
As far as the food goes, two things jumped out at me. One was the way you think about food. I’m wondering what it would mean to you if you shifted your thinking towards how food can be a marvelous tool for supporting and nourishing this healthy strong body you are creating. The perspective I heard when I read your words was that for you food is a means of relaxing (looking for recipes, cooking, and then the act of eating itself) and a pleasure, so it’s more emotional nourishment than physical nourishment. Another reader hit the nail on the head when she said there’s no time in your day for nourishing, relaxing activities. So when you’re feeding yourself with food, it’s that craving to recharge and relax yourself you’re really feeding.
The great advantage I think you have is that you sound like someone who looks at food as an adventure and a way to be creative. When I work with people who are trying to lose weight, a major obstacle is resistance to TRY NEW THINGS. You don’t have that standing in your way which is super!! Could you channel your interest and creativity around food to be a strength instead of a weakness? Seek out healthy, delicious recipes, experiment with new foods or new way of preparing old favorites.
You are on such a roll and I know from the tone of everyone else’s comments you have a lot of people believing that you will be successful! Good luck!
January 12th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Sarah: I just ordered the book you recommend on Amazon and also bought the Bon Apetit Fast Easy and Fresh book. I think they both look great, and cooking for one can be really hard. I think that contributes to my portion size problems–I cook a huge meal and then feel like I have to eat it all before it goes bad. The book looks like it could be a real help. So thanks–I’ll keep you posted!
Meg: Your point about trying to be creative with healthy food is really hitting home right now. After more than a month of baking like crazy I’m having a really hard time turning my focus to cooking healthy meals rathers than just chocolate babka. Also I really like the way you suggested changing how I think about food. Rather than thinking about food alone, but about nourishing my body–I am really going to work on that. Everything I think about food I’m going to try to think about how it’ll make me feel.
Thanks for everyone’s support–It is really motivating to come here and get such positive feedback!!!
January 13th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
I guess you probably already know about Epicurious.com? If you click on “advanced search” under the Recipes & Menus tab, you can rifle through all their recipes based on what you’re looking for–Low Cal, Low Fat, Low Carb, High Fiber, whatever. I like to look at it if I want to make something fun/sweet but healthy that I haven’t made before.