Saturday, June 20, 2009

Saturday Weigh-In: June 20, 2009

Weight: 369.4 lbs

I was afraid of something like this. I'm either gaining weight or, at best, breaking even. The optimal eating schedule for weight loss is to eat 5-6 small meals a day. My parents only eat twice a day. They have breakfast and then a lunch/dinner that can be anytime from 2:00 pm until around 5:00 pm. Of course they're in their 80s, they have significantly less muscle mass to support, and they spend a lot of their time sleeping. Their caloric needs are a lot lower than mine. Eating twice a day is fine for them. I, on the other hand, am usually starving and frequently have a headache from low blood sugar by the time they get around to having their lunch/dinner. This leads to between meal snacking and when we do eat I tend to go for high calorie dishes with high carbs and fat. Even when there are healthy choices on the menu, such as a grilled chicken salad, I'm hesitant to get them because they are relatively low in calories, compared to the others things on the menu, and I'm worried about not eating enough. Keeping calories down is good but you don't want to make your body think you're starving or it becomes a harder to lose weight.

My goal this week is to come up with some light, healthy meals I can eat in the early afternoon and late evening to keep me from getting overly hungry during the day. Right now I'm thinking a baked tilapia filet with some steamed veggies would make a good mid-day meal and might make it easier to eat a lighter meal when my parents do go out for their lunch/dinner.

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