My quirky weight-loss strategies, part 3 of 3
Another of my strategies is that I’m not afraid to skip a meal. I never, ever miss breakfast. And at lunch, because I always work out in the morning, I’m ravenously hungry. I don’t skip that either. But I often skip dinner, probably once a week on average. If I’ve had a big, late lunch, or a big late afternoon snack. Or if I’ve got a couple pounds to lose. It’s so good for your body to give it a rest.
I make sure I have at least a quart of green smoothie made FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. Then it’s made, so I’ll be sure to drink it since I’m not going to let it go to waste. And about 1 or 2 days a week, I have nothing for dinner except a green smoothie.
I go to bed hungry occasionally. Your body gets used to it. Your digestive system needs intermittent rests. (Don’t do this night after night, though.) It works best on a night that I’m really busy. If you’re really that hungry that you can’t sleep, eat a apple or banana (the magnesium in a banana will help you sleep). Or eat a big spoonful of chia seeds and chase it with a big glass of water. (It fills you up, for 40 calories and outstanding protein and nutrition.)
So, my second tip:
2. Skip dinner one or two days a week as needed, or have nothing but a quart of green smoothie. Have a day or two a week where you drink TWO quarts of green smoothie instead of one.
I virtually never eat after dinner, and I really try to avoid eating dinner late. (Eating late is only necessary occasionally because of a social situation.)
I drink a ton of water, most of it in the first half of the day. It helps your metabolism in countless ways. I drink a pint of water first thing, when I wake up. I don’t drink water with meals, but when I begin to feel just the tiniest big hungry, I drink a glass of water. Then I wait 20 minutes to eat a meal. That way the water is purifying, rather than being mixed with food and diluting gastric juices.
3. Don’t eat late at night.
4. Drink a ton of water.
I also never snack on sugar or processed foods by themselves. If I DO eat those foods, I don’t do it more than once a day and I do it only after a really good, 80%+ raw meal.
5. Don’t eat sugar/dead foods alone, only after a high-raw meal, and not more than once a day.
Finally, and this is a weird one, wear form-fitting clothes. ALL the time, even when you’re at home. The fastest way to lose track of how much weight you’re gaining is to do the baggy-sweats thing. Big, elastic-waist pants is you saying to yourself, “I’ve given up. Now I’m going to hide!”
They don’t have to be uncomfortable. On a day I’m working at home, in front of my PC, nobody’s around, like right now? I wear bike shorts or low-rise spandex pants and a very fitted t-shirt. If I’m up a couple of pounds, I’m annoying myself and I get serious about changing that situation.
6. Dress a little bit sexy. Even when there’s no one to impress but yourself, wear things that won’t let you get away with anything.
(Notice I said A LITTLE BIT. Please take this in the spirit it is intended, which isn’t to be provocative; it’s to wear things that keep you aware of any gradual onset of weight.) I never count calories, and I rarely get on a scale. This Strategy #6 keeps me honest.
You already know that keys to maintain a healthy weight are to rarely (if ever) eat animal proteins (and never processed meat), exercise regularly, and eat abundantly of whole, raw plant foods.
But these are my quirky, “works for me” habits that I believe lead to stable weight on the low end of the weight chart. I will be on a quest to learn more of these secrets that have served healthy people well, over a lifetime. Share your own tips here!
Posted in: Healthy Weight, Mind/Body Connection
Thank you for these strategies!
amen!!! thanks robin, as always, for your candid honesty!!!
Im really glad you have posted this. I’ve never had a weight problem but have always ate healthy and not too much. For the most part anyway. It has helped me see I’m not the only one that struggles with the temptation of chocolate. Although i have some other bad habits that I havent given up. (coffee, alchohol). I wish I could be more diciplined at night but find thats where i consume most of my calories. I’m always so hungry and just want to munch. And not thta I’m munching on bad stuff but healthy is not always low calorie. Thanks!!
Well, I will have to say that I find this a bit depressing. I have not really ever had a weight problem (thankfully) but the last few years I have had gained a few pounds and found it harder to get rid of (probably age related). My husband is finding the same. Before finding GSG we both went on the protein diet for a while just trying to get rid of the few pounds. I really didn’t like it (but it worked) and that actually lead me on a search where I found GSG. I have always felt that good nutrition is most important and excess protein just isn’t good balance.
So I talked my husband into trying this, we have been having green smoothies for about 2 months. I love how it makes me feel but I haven’t lost any weight at all, neither has my husband. I have tried to tell him that if we persist it should get better. I think that this will be a hard sell for him. I just can’t see him wanting to skip meals. He is a very active person and he is starving when he gets home from work. He is doing good with the green smoothies but he would really like to get rid of those excess pounds. He is thinking again of trying the protein diet. I would really like to avoid that but now this post has made me unsure of what to do.
We are both conscious of what we eat but not perfect in our choices all the time. I guess I wish this post was better news.
Jayne, you don’t have to skip meals. That isn’t something that will work for everyone! It just helps me. 🙂 Don’t be discouraged–the best weight loss strategy is to eat MORE low-cal, high-nutrition foods: greens, vegetables, fruits, legumes. They bump out the higher calorie ones you’ve been eating!
Robyn,
What do you think is a good portion of salad? At lunch everyday I have a big salad. I put in about 1c of spinach and 1c arugula both loose and not packed. Then I add diced about 1/8-1/4 of pepper & Red onion, small handfuls of grape tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, and sprouts. About 7-8 chopped homemade candied pecans and 1/4 avacado. I add my own dressing made with flax/olive oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, diced olives, and red pepper flakes. Do you think this is too much for one sitting? Most ppl when they see my salad think that its huge. What would be a typical salad for you?
Jennifer, that sounds like a FABULOUS salad, ingredients AND portion! That’s me too, and there’s no “too much”–people do not overdose on salads. You just get tired of chewing.
I’m disheartened by this becasue none of this has worked for me. I’ve even tracked my whole food calories before and GAIN weight when I get to 1200 calories a day and maintain at 1500– (I know I’mnot supposed to obsess or anything about calories) but I’m so stumped! hubby and I went off ALL sugar a month ago (already off processed–took out agave, honey, etc) but are allowed to have fruit in our smoothies.- we weren’t having that many healthy treats anyways)- but I have lost nothing and do not feel any better. i wish this all worked for me. –however I know eating healthy is the best for me in every way and I keep doing it (it isn’t about the weight anyways) but I didn’t ever lose weight eating green smoothies- even when I had it as a meal and had a healthy breakfast and whole grain small portioned dinner and salad. sorry to go off. do you think my body is soo used to eating healthy that any health changes I make now aren’t significant enough?! okay so I did finally lose weight right before getting pregnant again (took 2 years after baby) – but now I’m at square 1–I don’t want it to take 2 more years. through all of this I have exercised 1hr-2hr/day.
I have gained 10-16lbs each time I am nursing and it sticks despite healthy eating. do you think it could be protective?! (I know you don’t give health advice) but anyone else have any hunches to share?! (my 3rd is 6 months old–this last time I was 3lbs away from PP weight and gained the 13+ lbs in a matter of weeks and all the while I changed nothing–was eating super healthy and exercising.
LaLa, have you had a full blood panel workup at a bioidentical hormone clinic? NOT just a T4 test?