My Weight Watchers leader this week was focused on the process of tracking every calorie, carbohydrate and food put into my mouth.  “Losing weight is all numbers — it’s simply all about the tracking”.

I happen to agree with that statement, but for anyone who has ever, will ever or is now trying to lose weight that statement sums up all the frustration because it isn’t simple.  Tracking, the art of jotting down everything you eat, is very difficult! 

I’ve made every excuse in the book — can’t use the tools on my phones, can’t find the paper tracker, not enough time — you name the reason to track and I’ll throw an obstacle up in front of it.  Why? Because tracking means being accountable and taking responsibility for your loss or gain every week.  When I track I can no longer blame anyone else for my bad choices. 

This week I pledge to track every morsel that passes my lips and let the chips (no pun intended) fall where they may.

What food tracking can do for me.

My mother, who is 83, is literally wasting away in front of us because she can’t remember what she had for lunch or simply forgets to eat.  We nag and argue with her that she needs to keep a food diary so we can be sure she’s getting the nutrition her body needs to function.  

My waistline has been expanding since I came out of the womb, or at least since I got permanent teeth.  But I really have the same problem my mother does.  My body is getting plenty of calories, but I might still be suffering from nutrition deficiencies because I’m not necessarily eating the right foods to keep my body healthy.

 Dieters who track their meals lose 50% more weight!

Amazing.  That’s a statistic I hear almost every week.  Weight Watchers says that people who use the etools (interpret that as people who actively track their eating habits) lose more weight.  So tracking doesn’t really cost anything but you can see a huge improvement in results.  Let’s face it, if someone offered me a 50% bonus in my income I’d be studying the materials day and night.  Get 50% better gas mileage at no additional cost?  I’d do whatever it takes. 

I started a walking plan today.  Alright, I haven’t actually started, but I’m getting all jazzed up for it.  My goal is that magic 10,000 steps a day.  Dr. Oz said it on his program yesterday and I’ve read it all over the internet.  I figured that is about 5 miles a day and since I work from home a big chunk of that is NOT going to come from parking in the last spot at work.  My total commute is 39 steps to my desk so whatever steps I take (literally) are going to be driven by the desire to exercise.

Day One.  I didn’t want to overdue it in the first day.  So today I went to Google’s Pedometer Maps to map out my attack plan. This was a really easy way to figure out how far I’d have to walk to get my 10,000 steps.  My choice has been to break it down into a 1.7 path and commit to walking that at least twice a day. 

Coming tomorrow.  Day Two — the pedometer.

Someone told me the best way to exercise is to make it fun or something you like to do.  The best way to determine what will be “fun” is to look back on your time as a kid.  Children are always moving.  Always running, walking, biking and playing games. 

I actually love to walk outside — on the beach, through the woods, around the block, in gardens.  I hate walking on a treadmill because there isn’t anything to look at. 

The walking site (one of my new favorite places) suggests that beginners to should walk 10,000 steps a day (that’s approximately 5 miles).   I’m not very good at estimating the total number of steps I take or the distance without help so now I’m looking for a new pedometer to help me track those steps.

Dr. Oz recently gave away free pedometers (missed that).  Jolly Time Popcorn is giving away pedometers now but you have to pay the $2.99 shipping.  But you can also buy a pedometer for as little as $15 these days.

Now no more excuses.  It’s time to take a walk!

I’m a fan!

I love granola and I like it best mixed in with Greek yogurt. I can find granola and muesli in the grocery stores, but I’ve never found anything quite like this.  Tree hugger is chewy and better than the granola I make myself (which usually includes a can a sweetened condensed milk).   At Abe’s Market this Tree Hugger Granola is only $11 for two 14-0z bags. 

Tree Hugger Cinnamon Almond has the best ingredient list:

In the words of my favorite TV chef — How bad can that be?  This, mixed with about 1/2 cup of greek yogurt is my breakfast at least twice a week.   It’s fast, easy and very calorie efficient. 

Tree Hugger also produces these other great granola flavors.

I’m always reading stories from overweight women and how desperate they are to control their weight.  I sit in Weight Watchers meetings every Sunday morning and hear the same story from each of us.  We all have the same excuses and we all do the same thing. 

I confess that I am the epitome of the stressed out, thoughtless dieter.  I am never hungry.  Really. I am never famished and I could probably fore go food for an entire day and never notice except that food is my way of coping with stress, frustration, anger and sadness.   In short, I am always surprised at what I’ve eaten at the end of the day because most of the time I’m not thinking about the food I’m putting into my body.  I’m thinking about life. 

As a footnote (or food-note) I am also now aware that I do an awful lot of eating standing up.  What’s with that?  I can’t even take it to the table?

A lot of changes in the last year have added to my stress level and my unhealthy lifestyle. 

1. I left my job of 15 years and started my own company. Yup, right in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. 
2. My mother got sick.
3. I turned 50.  YIKES!  Midlife crisis in full swing.
4. I started a “Work at Home” job.
5. I went back to school.
6. Money, money, money issues. 

During the summer of 2011, I spent virtually every free moment in the hospital with my Mom, who is thankfully recovering from her bought with cancer. I, along with my siblings, lived in a fog of running from job to hospital to doctors and in between we ate whatever.  

If you saw the movie Super Size Me you already know what happened.  I gained weight, I felt awful and I damaged my health.  Now I’m trying to reclaim that. 

So is the problem my stress level or my approach to food?   Score two points if you said both.  (Score three if you said it out loud.)

Everyone has stress.  Being able to manage it and make good lifestyle choices I think is about education and behavior modification.  It’s all about priorities.

Most emotional and stress eaters, me included, can pound down cookies or crackers without even thinking what went into our mouths.  It’s a learned reaction.   I can find myself wandering in the kitchen just because I’m not doing anything else.  Suddenly I realize I’m about to eat peanut butter out of the jar or I’m opening a package of some snack just because it’s there. Then I feel bad that I didn’t control myself.  Then I eat because I’m mad or depressed.  Oh God, this is a crazy circle.

My #1 Solution:  Think about EVERY item I put in my mouth.

This is so hard!  There is a lot of documented evidence that people who keep a food journal — if you’re in Weight Watchers they call this tracking — lose a lot more weight.  How much more?  Twice as much!   Seriously, given that statistic why don’t I track?

My #2 Solution: Stock the kitchen with better choices.

I’ve never done the 12-step program but I suspect they tell you rehab that the easiest way to avoid drinking is to not have alcohol around.  That isn’t easy for someone who has to eat.  But it makes great sense to clean the kitchen of items that are tempting.  I can’t have potato chips, cookies or candy in the house. I simply cannot control myself at this point.

What can I have?  A lot of  stuff.   Obviously I’m pushing out the snack items, but I’m trying to incorporate a lot more whole foods and raw foods in the house pantry.   In my opinion you can only feel so bad about overdosing on whole foods. 

My #3 Solution: Attitude Change.

 I need to be a priority in my own life.  For now and for the next few weeks while I try to acquire a healthy routine I need to be first!   I need to be more important than anyone else in my world.  I need to have time to be thought-ful and I need to feel good about saving my life.  Because ultimately that is what is at stake here.

I thought the Kardashian family had the reality family super weight title all locked up with Kim’s wedding and Rob on Dancing with the Stars.  Then I caught an episode of ABC’s The Chew this week and was surprised to find Daphne Oz was one of the co-hosts.   I wondered if she was related to THE Dr. Oz.  It didn’t take but a minute to discover she was the daughter of Dr. and Lisa Oz and wrote her own book entitled The Dorm Room Diet: The 10-Step Program for Creating a Healthy Lifestyle Plan That Really Works

A few minutes later I watched Daphne demonstrate her family recipe for holiday Chestnut Soup with guest Lisa Oz.  Sure enough, it turns out that Lisa Oz is married to the celebrity doctor and heads up the Oz business. 

I am impressed with Daphne’s “cute” factor.  At 25, she is the youngest of the The Chew’s round table, but she was eloquent and funny during her presentation and managed to blend pretty well with the kitchen kings Mario Batali and Michael Symon.

I was stuck by how beautiful Lisa Oz is at 48 and I am now obsessed with her views on vegetarian diets.  She made one of the best comments I’ve heard about a plant-based diet stating simply that she doesn’t have a problem with eating meat, just the way that American’s eat meat as a main course instead of a condiment.  I think I will probably agree with her on this point, but I don’t think I could give up my red-meat completely even to look as good as she does.  

It seems the Kardashian family may have competition from Oz.

I heard about Senator McCaskill’s diet success last week when she announced via twitter that she’d dropped 50 pounds. The Senator is in her late 50s, but the exercise and diet has really made her look much younger. I LOVE it when our elected officials step up to the plate to do something they want everyone else to emulate! Good job Claire!

At yesterday’s Weight Watchers meeting they started talking about “the holidays”. Almost like these are the bad relatives, the holidays arrive every year and most people are unprepared. I know I certainly am. Like clockwork when Thanksgiving and Christmas arrive I realize I didn’t budget and save enough for gifts, I usually will gain 8 to 10 pounds because I’m not eating or exercising, I don’t get all the decorations up. Quite honestly the list is endless for me. I love the holidays, but I’m just not a good manager. I don’t quite understand how I can manage a business well, but my personal life is in total disarray and that is magnified during the holiday period.

As part of my efforts to get organized I stumbled on this website with the Printable Holiday Planner in PDF form. Lists and calendars is how I stay organized at the office, so I was thinking I needed to build one of these and then I found that someone had already done the hard work. It’s a steal at just $9.95. If you know a busy Mom or a busy business woman this could be that one-of-a-kind gift t hat saves her life this season!

I broke out my cookbooks this morning. Rolling the clocks back to standard time this weekend has brought me an extra hour in the morning while my body adjusts to the new time. I filled it today by looking through the low calorie recipes in my South Beach Diet cookbooks. I was searching for a banana muffin recipe to use the four overly ripe bananas on my counter, but instead I probably marked six or seven potential recipes for the holidays (alas, nothing with bananas). The Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie recipe that uses phyllo dough as the crust may get a test drive next week and the apple cobbler with dried cherries looks very appetizing in the picture.

So let the planning begin. Start your budgeting because Black Friday and the big sales are right around the corner and so are lots of parties and holiday gatherings.  This year I promise not to over spend and not to over eat.   Maybe if I start planning now I can have those New Year’s Resolutions written before January 10th.

Dr. Oz and Weight Watchers joined forces for thsi $1 million promo. While Weight Watchers stepped behind it, a lot of what is discussed on the Dr. Oz program regarding weight loss doesn’t exactly follow the WW plan. Still both should be applauded for trying to make a really big difference in the lifestyles of Americans.

As a Weight Watchers member I’m already on board with the program. The basic guidelines are similar –eat healty, exercise and lose weight. I was stunned, truly speechless, to hear Dr. Oz says that 2% milk is a better choice than skim milk. I think his exact words were don’t drink skim milk, if you strip the fat out of milk you’re left with just sugar water. What? Did I just hear that? I’ve been choaking down that tasteless milky-water and it’s actually worse for me than the 2% milk?

At first I didn’t actually understand how this could be. I suppose if you’re drinking enormous quantities of milk then going to the skim saves a few calories over 2%. But for those of us only drinking 1-3 cups of milk a day, the calorie difference is hardly overwhelming.

However this story on MSNBC made me take an even harder look at skim milk products. The process of whitening skim milk appears to be very unhealthy for those of us predispositioned to heart disease through our family history. At least for now I’m off the Skim Plus this week and I’ll make up the points somewhere else.