Friday, October 1, 2010

Why Can't I Lose Weight?

Often women over eat due to "wrong thinking". I had a friend when I was growing up that had extra weight she was struggling to lose. She always said that she didn't eat very much.

She really didn't eat very much at meals. She ate while she was cooking, while she was shopping and when she was bored.

One day when she was cooking, eating and complaining about her weight I pointed out to her that she was eating quite a bit while she was cooking our meal. Her answer was, "it doesn't count".

Her thinking was that the only calories that count were the ones she ate at meals. The sampling at the store, tastes while cooking and little bites while bored didn't count toward her daily calorie intake.

The interesting thing was when I started working with clients I saw that she was  not alone in her thinking. When my clients would journal their food it looked like they weren't eating enough. When I asked them if they tasted food while they cooked, took samples at the stores and if they took little bites of food when they were bored the response was, "am I suppose to write that down too?". "Yes!" would be my reply.

All the food you put into your mouth counts as your daily intake. Your body doesn't know if you're sitting down for a meal. It just knows that there's food coming in and it needs to burn it or store it.

I realize tasting food while you're cooking is needed sometimes but keeping it to a minimum and really just tasting the food is important. Those calories do count. Chewing gum while you cook can help prevent the extra nibbling that goes on when cooking.

Next time you're at the store and you're offered a sample think twice! Ask yourself this question," do I really want to add this to my days calories?". If you do then help yourself but know that you need to eat a little less at your next meal.

All the food you put in your mouth does count. Being aware of that could help you lose the extra pounds you want to go away.

Your fitness expert

Lynn      www.getrealfit.org

5 comments:

  1. This is definitely true - I have to really make sure I am aware when I am cooking and making lunches or else I start mindlessly taking bites too...and I KNOW they count. Happy Friday!! :)

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  2. Since I started keeping track of my carbs I haven't had any trouble dropping pounds.

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  3. Thanks for dropping by! I have to be careful with my carbs too. I have to be aware of everything I put in my mouth.

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  4. I love fitness and exercising. I need to incorporate more of that mentality into my cooking.

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  5. It so funny to think that we don't include these little tidbits in our daily calories but it is so true. I have struggled with controlling the intake of calories on a daily basis as most people I think do. What is interesting to me is that when I started counting calories, I didn't realize the amount of calories in certain foods.

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