My Holiday Dieting and Exercise

Dieting is not easy no matter what the season. I have yo-yo dieted for many years. I think my biggest mistake was not keeping a food diary. A food diary is a record of everything I eat, and the calories in each food, and a list of any substituted foods from the major food categories. This will help in lowering my caloric intake, which will definitely aid me in losing weight. It will also help me in figuring out what worked, what did not work, and what needs to be eliminated from my diet altogether.

The holidays have approached fast. Thanksgiving day was not a good day for me to control my eating habits. There was so much food on the table. So many mouth-watering desserts. I wanted to sample them all. It was enough calories just on the dessert table to gain at least five pounds. The turkey probably had the least amount of calories of all the protein on the main table. Since I eat baked turkey only twice a year, I chose it as my main course. I ate very very small portions of other food items on the main table.

After dinner, I wrote down everything that I had eaten in my food diary. I had six ounces of turkey, one half cup of candied yams, sauteed green beans, stuffing, and a piece of apple pie. This was an estimated total of 1435 calories, gathered from http://walking.about.com /library/cal/blthanksgivingcalories.htm .

6 0z. turkey = 340 calories ½ c. sauteed green bean = 50 calories

½ c. stuffing =180 calories 1 pat butter = 45 calories

½ c. gravy = 150 calories 1 dinner roll = 110 calories

½ c. candied yams = 150 calories 1 piece apple pie = 410 calories

Total calories = 1435

I went shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving to get some equipment that will help me in my quest to lose weight. I will get a mat in which to do floor exercises. These will include Pilates and yoga. Pilates are designed to help sculpt my body giving me long lean muscles. Yoga will give me serenity helping me to focus on my journey of weight loss. To complete my exercise regimen, I will keep an exercise diary. This diary will record the activity, date of activity, and length of activity. I can examine what I have accomplished at the end of each week, and set goals for myself in the future.

My family is somewhat supportive in my weight loss needs, They will not join me in losing weight, but they encourage me to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly.