Zee’s Status (7/13)

Status: Loss
Mood: Positive

I think it’s safe to say that I am on track, and I am happy. For the last 2 weeks, I’ve been progressing well on the plan.  I even survived the July 4th holiday, which included one party and eating out. Holidays can be tough when you are maintaining a diet because it means plenty of socializing and unexpected menu options.

I had two interesting conversations around the holiday weekend I’ve carried with me through this week.  One was with one of my best friends and the other was with my cousins.  When you talk to people who care about you on topics like losing weight, you always get a great perspective and it’s all out of love and care for your well being.  Here’s what I learned:

• Be Positive — This stemmed from my first status update where I mentioned some things I did not do.  A very dear friend reminded me to stay positive. So I’m learning to reflect more on what I did do to help reach my goal.  For instance, thinking of how I took my vitamins 5 times this week, instead of dwelling on the 2 days I did not.

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” Willie Nelson

• Practice Portion Control — We all are aware that Americans like our plates big with lots of food piled on.  But in truth, measuring out servings to the proper portion is really the name of the weight loss game.  Smallstep.gov suggests, when eating out, try ordering the smaller servings; and when eating in, try using a smaller plate.

• Drink Water — I always have to be mindful that beverages may have calories, but not only that, some diet drinks may still have a form of sugar in them.  All of this can attribute to drinking your calories, which will add on to your daily caloric intake. When in doubt, drink water. Here is some helpful information on rethinking your drinks from CDC.

• Go Decaf — Whew! I’m caffeine all the way, and just about everyday.  So needless to say, I will need a bit more convincing on this one.  My cousin suggested I look into the benefits of going decaf, so I found this interesting article on Livestrong.com.  I’m still researching, so to be continued.  Suze and I agree that we don’t know if we could ever quit caffeine entirely.

So that was some of the great advice and ideas I have received.  All of which are “small stuff” in the grand scheme of things that are doable.  I’m curious, for my readers out there, what “small stuff” advice have you received that could be added to this list?