Working out with YMCA trainer Alex Jasinowski
All calories are not created equal. I attend many business events and all I want is to eat cheese and use up all of my free drink tickets. Oh, and still lose weight. I had a heart to heart with my trainer about it because this is one of my toughest situations regrading food (the other is when I have to go to court and talk over my impending divorce - I'm an emotional eater, remember).
Alex came up with a great concept when I"m in social eating situations. She suggested taking a plate and going over the buffet one time and then only eat off that plate of food. This way you don't have to eat it all at the same time but you can keep track of the calories. I even went so far as to take a picture of my plate with my phone so I wouldn't have to try and remember everything until I got home to my computer to log it into Calorie King.
With the plate concept in mind, I went to a huge business networking gathering and banked 1000 calories so I could eat what I wanted (cheese!), not go over my 1500 calories for the day and not feel deprived. I ate 1000 calories of cheese. Do you know how much cheese that is? 10 one inch cubes. And I loved every inch. Until the next day when I felt horrible. I had no energy. I thought I had played by the rules and figured out how to still do what I wanted. I still lost weight but, I didn't physically feel good. It's the last time I'll do something like that.
Weight lost so far: 13.4 lbs. Has it gotten any easier? No, but I am giving it everything I've got.
Cynthea Wight Hausman is the owner and operator of Cynthea’s Spa, a petite, urban day spa in the heart of Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace.
