A week ago today, I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of my newest project - portion controlled meals that were going to be delivered to my door, hopefully making a difference in my weight loss journey (or lack thereof.) I spent a good portion of that morning cleaning out the pantry, since I'd been in touch with a few ladies following the regime that commented on the sheer amount of food products that arrived each month. So I cleaned, and I organised, and I left a whole entire shelf empty - and when the delivery came on Thursday morning, I packed it all up neatly and began my journey.
It's one thing to fork out the dollars and mentally commit to a new health plan, but it's another to actually enjoy doing it. My biggest worry was that I wouldn't enjoy the food, wouldn't be satisfied, or would simply just let myself down. Either way, I grimly weighed myself that morning on the Wii, shed a few tears of pure horror and then promptly got busy with the healthy living, starting then and there all over again.
It's not rocket science. The food is portion controlled servings which you can add to, in order to hit your targeted number of calories per day. Breakfasts are usually porridge or granola. Lunches are soups, casseroles or dairy shakes. Dinners, well, there are loads of options to choose from. This week I've eaten mac and cheese, thai chicken curry, vegetable casserole with pork sausages and pasta with beef meatballs, just to name a few. And surprisingly, they taste okay! They also provide you with snacks to munch on: oatbakes, low GI biscuits, fruit and muesli bars - and of course, I add in my own fruits and veggies as well as a portion of brown rice or wholemeal bread/pasta once per day, if I choose.
I'll admit - the first day I was dubious of the whole thing. The portion of granola was oh so tiny, I didn't possibly think it would be enough to sustain me for an hour, let alone a morning. So I added a banana to it and proved myself wrong. The portions are a good size. Perfect, in fact. It just terrifies me to think of what a 'normal' portion has been for me for such a long time - let me just say that I was way off. (My usual bowl of cereal would easily have been about three times as big as the portioned controlled ones.)
Committing to this program has also made me very conscious of making sure I'm eating enough - in that I'm making an effort to eat my food spaced out throughout the day. I think that has helped a lot with adjusting to the smaller portions, and I'm definitely more conscious of calories now too. And you know what? Today, for the first time in the last two months of eating well and exercising religiously, I was excited to get on the Wii and weigh in. I've lost 6 pounds in my first week (well, I got too anxious and weighed in a day early!) and I couldn't be prouder. In six days, I've dropped more weight than I have in the past two months: basically all from portion sizes.
I'll admit - the first day I was dubious of the whole thing. The portion of granola was oh so tiny, I didn't possibly think it would be enough to sustain me for an hour, let alone a morning. So I added a banana to it and proved myself wrong. The portions are a good size. Perfect, in fact. It just terrifies me to think of what a 'normal' portion has been for me for such a long time - let me just say that I was way off. (My usual bowl of cereal would easily have been about three times as big as the portioned controlled ones.)
Committing to this program has also made me very conscious of making sure I'm eating enough - in that I'm making an effort to eat my food spaced out throughout the day. I think that has helped a lot with adjusting to the smaller portions, and I'm definitely more conscious of calories now too. And you know what? Today, for the first time in the last two months of eating well and exercising religiously, I was excited to get on the Wii and weigh in. I've lost 6 pounds in my first week (well, I got too anxious and weighed in a day early!) and I couldn't be prouder. In six days, I've dropped more weight than I have in the past two months: basically all from portion sizes.
It's early days yet though and I don't want to get ahead of myself - I have a lot of weight to lose and a long way to go, and the first week's loss is always going to be the most drastic. But I have a lot more hope now and a lot more understanding - and even if 1-2lbs is all I'll manage to lose each week from here on in, I'll be happy. It's movement, it's in the right direction, and I'm learning. That's all I can ask of myself.
Now all I have to do is shake this flu that I somehow picked up over the weekend.. and then I'll be right back into feeling positive and throwing myself into the next week.
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16 comments:
Wow! Go you! That's a fantastic start!
Yay! I'm glad it's starting off so well! The first couple weeks of a diet are always when huge chunks of weight come off (partly water weight), but six pounds is incredible! Congrats!
I always freak out when I go back to retraining my portion sizes by weighing or measuring out with standard cups, but it IS enough, I just need to realise this!
What a brilliant start! I was just trying to convince a friend on Skype last night that SMALLER portions MORE often was the way to go instead of his "one big meal at the beginning of the day and that's it" (!!). I'm proud of you for getting off to such a great start :)
What's that in kilos? *face palm*
Congrats! I weigh in Fridays :D Slowly getting the weigh down x
You mean the flu wasn't part of your weight-loss plan? Always works for me!
Just kidding.
I'm so proud of you!
Congrats! Off to a solid start, keep it up!
Way to go lady!! Like I said, the portion control thing really worked for me! I'm so excited that you're having success!
HOORAAAAAAAAAAY!
I'm so happy for you!!
Congrats on your new start! I hope you feel better soon!
Well done! Six pounds in a week is amazing!!! I'm half considering doing this myself now!
nice
Congratulations!! I'm so glad to hear the portion control bit is working for you!!
Congrats! You're off to a great start, and I'm glad you're enjoying it. I've definitely learned a lot about portions lately. I've realized that my plate doesn't have to be heaping for me to be full. I also eat slower now, and I read somewhere that it takes the brain 20 minutes to realize it's full, so I'm patient and pace myself. (Like I ate oatmeal about forty-five minutes ago, and I wasn't feeling full as soon as I finished, but now I feel very satisfied, and I know it'll hold me over for another few hours before lunch.
I also try to snack on healthy things (fruits, granola, small salads, yogurt) when I need something in between meals. I occasionally eat oreos and milk, though, I admit.
Can't wait to hear more about your journey!
It is scary to realize how much we really *need* to eat and how our portions are HUGE compared to that.
Bravo! Stay on it! And don't be discouraged when you hit plateaus, they are natural on your journey to weight loss.
That sounds great. I definitely need to get back on the bandwaggon as well. I've gained so much during finals that I now weigh more than I ever have. It's awful.
What is the name of that program? 6 pounds sounds amazing (even though likely some of it is water, even 3 pounds would be amazing for me right now).
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