40 Modern Day Things Influencing Your Weight Loss

nice summary on why it's harder, as well as easier to lose weight than before

me. i am trying a new thing. 'lifestyle change'. As in, instead of doing what worked for me before for losing weight over 2-3-4 months, i am picking on things that i think i can always do daily. So, no signing up for gym classes, coz i know i stop that at some point. No tracking food, and no tracking steps. All have worked in the past pretty well, but nothing sustained. Instead i will trying to switch my diet, and walk/workout what i think i can do forever.

result: so far, a big fat fail. But i will keep working on this approach, let's see.

https://www.eatthis.com/weight-loss-influencers/

rasāsvāda wrote:me. i am trying a new thing. 'lifestyle change'. As in, instead of doing what worked for me before for losing weight over 2-3-4 months, i am picking on things that i think i can always do daily. So, no signing up for gym classes, coz i know i stop that at some point. No tracking food, and no tracking steps. All have worked in the past pretty well, but nothing sustained. Instead i will trying to switch my diet, and walk/workout what i think i can do forever.

result: so far, a big fat fail. But i will keep working on this approach, let's see.

thought will post a monthly update... slowly but surely, did get it working. Bigger motivation came when my blood sugar began soaring in the pre-diabetes range. It happened only 2 or 3 times randomly, but enough to give me a freak attack.

lost 8 lbs in last month. However, it was the weight i had also gained in a hurry, so it doesn't count. And I was so overweight that an 8 lbs loss doesn't really become noticeable enough for people to start commenting. I asked my kids if i look like i been losing weight. one said, 'oh yeah, you are!', and the other said, 'i was about to tell you that one of these days'. heh.

Things i did change:

1 - roti/paratha/naan. Gave that up. Not more than half a day, if at all. My friends say that's probably what caused this sharp drop in weight. Now I can't imagine how i religiously ate 4 rotis daily, for like, no reason other than pure habit! I was never much of a rice eater, so that wasn't a prob, but i add it in small quantities if i cook it for others, which is like once a week. Now, I either eat the sabzis directly, or if i have lettuce at home, i chop it up and mix it to make it a crunchy desi salad. For most of the sabzis/beans/lentils, the combo is not a deterrent taste wise.

I have not really given up on bread. some mornings, i eat a brown (or white) bread with full or half avocado, or eggs.

2 - barley (Jau). Introduced this bigly in my diet. I was sitting one day and wondering why don't i do jau and bajra, and i realized that's coz i simply don't know how to. So I asked my group of friends what do they do with it, and if it was beneficial in any way. One replied she used to drink barley water for water retention, and that it works! That was enough of a sell for me, so I ordered a packet from amazon, and began using it. I usually make a batch on Sundays. I soak barley overnight, then change the water in the morning, and boil it for about an hour with lots of water. I keep the water in a thermos and drink it daily whenever i remember. I eat the cooked barley itself as a cereal in the morning, mixing little bit of honey in it. My friend had warned me of the water's jelly like consistency, and she was right. It does look unappetizing as the days progress, but to me it doesn't taste as bad as it looks. I usually pour enough for one shot, and there is nothing unpleasant about its smell or taste. And she was also right about the diuretic part of it. it does work!

3 - yogurt. Now I regularly make yogurt at home. I like that taste and texture better even if it's a little watery. I usually buy half a gallon of milk at a time, pour it all in a pot, and make yogurt out of it. Lasts me a week. I bought a bunch of baby food jars from amazon, and now i fill a jar daily with yogurt and a choice of fruit, and bring it to work as my post lunch snack. Or at home, i mix desi namkeen into it if i am craving spicy stuff. Works for me.

4 - millet flour (bajra). In one of my recent visits to desh, had this rajasthani drink made out of bajra and yogurt, and remembered how i had forgotten about it for years. So bought a packet and asked mom the recipe. Basically, you make chaanchh (buttermilk) out of yougurt, and boil it with bajra flour. Just need to add salt and black pepper, and a healthy enough drink is ready.
On days that i have overeaten, or say i have only a beans sabzi with nothing else, i use this as a tasty meal substitute or filler. I love the taste, and it staves off the hunger.

5 - khichdi with a lot of daal - another substitute for days i have eaten a lot. Kids and ex began protesting it at a point - aaj phir khichdi? heh. So i try to keep it to a minimum, or make sure they have something else. Son loves it though, so all good.

6 - ice cream and other sweet stuff - so one night i had a full choco bar. Then i panicked and walked around holding weights for 30 minutes. Checked my blood sugar after 1.5 hour of eating. It wasn't high, but it wasn't comfortably low either. So rule for the rest of my life -> never ever eat a full bar of ice cream ever again, unless you are going to run a full marathon right after.

7 - walking. So i figured walking works best for me if i can walk 30 minutes right after a meal. So I try to do that as a minimum, atleast after lunch. I walk 30 min in the morning. And then i walk whenever i can. If i can't dedicate full 30 minutes, then i take a couple of 10-minute breaks. If i am not good with walking the whole day, i chromecast whatever i am watching on tv, and watch it for 1-2 hours standing and mildly strolling (i am try to add this to my daily routine, but unsuccessful so far).  the basic idea is to make myself as non-sedentary as possible.

8- other exercises. Not doing too much of this. Sometimes i walk with weights. But that's for the vanity of my flabby arms. Sometimes i would do random squats or standing pushups. Nothing much. I think once I lose the next 10 lbs and hit that plateau (the one i have NEVER ever cross in last 15 years), that time i will pick up exercises to break that barrier. Until then i am gonna let my body believe it's safe, heh.

9- potatoes - didn't give it up. Sometimes i add it in my veggies coz i know i will be substituting it for roti.

10 - dark chocolate - cannot give it up even if i try. But same rule as icecream. Never more than 2 or 3 bites at a time.

11 - daily awareness. And this is the final to all of the above. I do weigh myself daily, and i take my blood sugar daily. I avoid pure carbs as much as i can. e.g. If XH has made pasta for dinner, i just heat up a chicken sausage, and eat that instead. But everything else is flexible. If say, i have dropped close to a pound overnight, i don't fret about walking that morning. And if I walk in the morning, i let myself indulge in a banana on the way to work. Same rule with banana as with other sugar stuff, never eat it all at a time. So i will take a bite when leaving for work. And finish it at some point after reaching work.

There a are a lot of other things that I am trying to add to my lifestyle. But will mention it when i succeed.