Healthy Portions

Today when my husband and I were getting ready to eat lunch he said something that really got me thinking.  He was about to put a small bowl in the microwave that I didn't think was microwave safe, so I asked him to put it in one of our regular bowls.  He protested, saying that he thought the bowl would do fine in the microwave and, besides, his portion would look tiny in our regular bowls.  In the end, I did convince him to heat his food up in something else, but he had a fair point.  Our plates and bowls that we bought when we got married are huge.  I'll admit that we picked them out based on looks and didn't think about much else.  I'm a little surprised they even fit in the cupboard.  In any case, this led to our Walmart purchase tonight of this (the picture is from Walmart's website):

It's a nice little set of normal size Corelle Livingware plates, bowls, and mugs.  Heaven knows we don't need the mugs (how is it that random mugs are always collecting in our cupboard?), but I'm excited to use the normal size plates and bowls.  I think this will help me eat more regular portions without my eyes whining that it's not enough.

P.S. Thanks Mom and Vati for the anniversary money that paid for the dishes.  Love, Katie

Kathy: Look for this at the Grocery Checkout

I've been working on menu plans that I'll be able to tell you about in my upcoming Saturday post...and then today as I went through the checkout line at the grocery store, the February issue of Prevention Magazine caught my eye. The "400 Calorie Fix" article aligns perfectly with the menu plans I have been making! Not sure whether that means I'm as smart as the folks at Prevention, or if they finally figured out how to be as smart as me!

Anyway, I've read about half of this little magazine this evening, and I'm liking it a lot. It has some easy, delicious menu ideas, a neat little tool to track portion size, a good list of options when you have to get fast food, some nifty exercise ideas...and there's more I haven't even read yet.

For $3.59, I feel like I've picked up a whole gaggle of good ideas for less than the cost of a hamburger.

Stay tuned for more about my menu plans on Saturday!

Katie: Week 1

In the following weeks I probably won't write quite so much in my weekly updates (yeah right, I am so long winded), but for this first one I want to show my pictures and current weight for the week, lay out the ground rules I have for myself, and talk about my goals a little.

So, here we go.

Pictures:

No, I'm not pregnant again already.  

Bleh.  Taking true-to-life pictures of yourself is motivation enough.  I kind of can't believe I'm doing this on a public blog.  It'll be good for me though, right?

Current weight: 170 pounds
Halfway goal: 150 pounds
Target weight: 125 pounds

My original goal was 130 pounds, but in playing around with the BMI calculator on the blog here I realized that 130 was a little closer to the breaking point into the "overweight" category and I want to get down to a healthier range, so I've upped my goal 5 more pounds, aiming for a total weight loss of 45 pounds.  Eeek!  Wish me luck. 

My rules:
1. No Sweets!
Absolutely NO sugar sweets/junk/desserts/candy/etc. for three months (i.e. until April 1, 2010).  At that point I'll reassess and see if I can allow myself small things here and there or if I need to keep up the no sweets rule.  I will allow myself the occasional healthy dessert, but it will count as a processed snack (see below).


2. No Fast Food!
No fast food or eating out.  Period.  And if on the off chance I'm stranded somewhere or something and I have to get fast food I will order the healthiest thing.

3. Healthy Meals and Snacks!
Eat three healthy meals each day along with 2-4 healthy snacks, with no more than one processed snack (100 calorie packs, etc.) per day.

4. Fresh Foods!
Trade out cravings/impulses to eat granola bars and other processed snacks with fresh fruits and veggies.

5. Keep Track!
Write down everything I eat in my food journal (a little notebook I can carry around and keep with me).

6. Exercise 30 Minutes!
Exercise in some way for at least 30 minutes every day and write down what I did to exercise in my food journal.

7. Drink 80 Fluid Ounces!
Drink at least 80 fluid ounces of water every day and write down how much I drank in my food journal.

8. Balance Food Intake!
Enter the foods I eat each day into the Menu Planner on MyPyramid in order to make sure I'm getting a good balance of the foods I need.

9. Stay Active!
No sitting at the computer/TV for more than an hour (or one movie) at a time.

10. Get out!
Get out of the house at least once a day!

I'm really excited to get going on these goals.  Mostly, I'm really excited to someday, probably months from now, but someday look in the mirror and not have to suck in to have a flat tummy.  I'm so tired of still wearing the maternity clothes I wore when I was pregnant!  I really want to fit into my old clothes again and I hope to someday have even those clothes be lose on me.  I think by doing this I will be a healthier, happier, more energized person.  I've never been much for specific goals, so I'd like to prove to myself that it is possible to accomplish the things I want to do.  And with that, I'm off to go exercise!

Edited to add:

I am a total space case and forgot to mention something very important.  I just wanted to say THANK YOU MELISSA (my friend from preschool teaching days) for sharing your inspirational progress and success over at FAT CHANCE.  It has obviously been the inspiration for this blog and for my goals.  You rock.  I am so impressed by your accomplishments.  And you are one of the funniest people I know.  Just an added bonus.

Also, I just finished a round of Tighter Assets and let me just say--what a workout.  Perhaps if you live somewhere where it snows (or rains or gets really hot or whatever) and sometimes prohibits your good exercise intentions a workout DVD from the local library or something might be a good idea.  I have a feeling Tamilee and I are going to get to know each other real well while it's still snowing here.

Welcome to The Skinny!

Welcome to The Skinny! Here Kathy (my mom) and I will each update once a week (Katie (me) on Tuesdays and Kathy on Saturdays) on our progress, with a picture every other week. You can find our personal goals in the column on the left. Also in that column you can find a body mass index (BMI) calculator. Enter your information and look at the results to see if you'd like to lose some weight along with us! In addition to our weekly progress updates, you can look forward to lots of great recipes, tips, and other helpful thoughts on health, fitness, and weight loss from us and our friends. (If you're interested in writing a guest post, please e-mail me. You can find my e-mail address by clicking on my profile in the left hand column. Or just leave a comment on here with your e-mail address saying you'd like to do a guest post and I'll get in touch with you.)

Since I mentioned the idea on my regular blog quite a few of you expressed your own goals in wanting to be healthier and lose some weight. So I've been thinking about it a lot and I think it would be really fun to have this blog be a central place where a lot of us can report back to one another. I haven't quite figured out how to do it (if anybody has suggestions please leave a comment letting me know what they are), so for now I'll just say if you'd like to lose weight along with us, feel free to do it in the comment section. I'd love to have you post your current weight and how much you lose each week. So please do! And if anybody comes up with a cooler way we'll update the system then. Best of luck with your goals! I hope you'll come back and support us in ours! Have a great day!