Tools

There are some tools I've been using to keep this weight loss going. Today I want to share them. Some are the old tried and true type; some I have learned new for this experience. I also want to say that I am not affiliated with any of the things I'm about to endorse. I have no stock in any of these organizations and get no financial benefit from mentioning them. They are just wonderful tools that I have found and would like to share with others.

Tried and True Type
1. Write everything down!! This I learned from Weight Watchers. Back in 1985, they were the first to give me a booklet to write down everything I eat. On their plan I tracked exchanges. I have done this off and on for years and years, so by itself, just writing things down doesn't make you lose weight. When I ran out of weight watchers booklets, I started buying some little books at the grocery store and started tracking calories. I used them for a few years until they went out of print. Then I used a variety of journals and diaries. Then I used looseleaf paper in a 3-ring binder. Then I made a template on the computer, printed it out, made copies, punched holes, put them in the 3-ring binder. I'm still on this one.

2. Exercise and write it down! The exercise has to go into the notebook, too. Walking and swimming are my two favorites. When my knees and feet were bad, swimming was all I had left. Fortunately I live close to an aquatic center with all kinds of weight and cardio equipment, so I could swim year round. This time nothing was hurting except my back when I was carrying 322 pounds. I started walking at a mall that is built in an oval track with a cut through one/third of the way up the oval and with lots of benches strategically place. In January I could barely go from one bench to the other in order to make it around the lower third of the oval in 20 minutes. My back hurt so much after just a few yards, that I didn't skip any benches. Last Sunday, about nine and a half months later, I walked a 5k in an hour and ten minutes. It is now a goal of mine to cut that time to an hour and do an official 5k somewhere for a charitable cause.

3. Calories In/Calories Out. There's really no way to get around that.

New Tools I've Learned this time:
4. Use online support systems. I have found two online groups that send me daily emails with encouragement, articles about nutrition and exercise, and provide support systems of communities and weight loss tracking tools. These are www.peertrainer.com and www.realage.com. I look forward to finding those emails every afternoon when I get home from work. I track my weight loss on a scale and my waist measurements on a tape measurer on the realage site. I love putting my weight in every week and seeing the results. They also give you "rewards" of ribbons and trophies to collect. It's a nice visual "Yay for you!" boost.

5. Hungry Girl!! I can't say enough good things about her. Her real name is Lisa Lillien and she calls herself the Hungry Girl. My husband happened to see her on a TV news show. He was so impressed that he bought her cookbook, 200 Under 200. This is 200 recipes under 200 calories. My husband does all our cooking, so every night for dinner he's been trying her recipes. They are all fabulous. A main dish of Hungry Girl's 200 calories, a big salad with some grated parmesan on top, and a hot vegetable on the side like green beans or broccoli has become my standard dinner throughout this journey when I eat at home.

6. Miracle Noodles! And I DO mean Miracle. You have to buy them online at www.miraclenoodle.com. The miracle is that they have ZERO calories and ZERO carbs. Hungry Girl uses them a lot in her recipes.