“I’m back in the saddle again. Out where a friend is a friend. Where the longhorn cattle feed. On the lowly gypsum weed. Back in the saddle again.”—Gene Autry

In the immortal words of the late, great Gene Autry, I’m back in the saddle again. Now that my crazy travel schedule for work (Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Washington, DC!) has come to an end, and Chuck and I are (sadly!) back from an amazing vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I’m back to blogging … and back to eating healthy once again.

I tried not to go overboard while traveling, but with tons of amazing restaurants right at my fingertips, I did allow myself to indulge a little. And by “a little,” I mean about 4 pounds worth of indulgence. I guess it could’ve been worse, right?

But, our wedding is now less than 5 months away, and with a destination wedding in Mexico, I need to get with the program—or back in the saddle if you will!

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Yesterday marked the end of The Chef and my’s second month of healthy eating, a month in which we had some successes, some near misses, and in which we learned some new lessons. So, without further ado, I present to you our …

Successes: 

This month I lost 8 pounds and The Chef lost an amazing 13 pounds, which brings our two month weight loss totals to 26.6 and 45 pounds, respectively. Wow, right? We also found some new favorite recipes that will definitely be making a return to our dinner table. Now, on to our (my) …

Near Misses:

At the start of our healthy eating adventure, I set some personal weight loss goals for myself. Unfortunately, I missed two of them this month. I had hoped to lose 10 pounds each month and I missed that goal by 2 pounds this month. I had also set some weight loss percentage goals, and while I hit the first one last month, I missed my second goal by 0.4 pounds this month.

As most people who are dieting average 1 to 2 pounds of weight loss per week, I’m not too upset by missing the 10 pounds per month goal … and as our good friends at Ninja Fingers so rightfully note, losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint. I think I’m more bummed by missing my weight loss percentage goal by only 0.4 pounds … I was so close! But you know what they say, ”close only counts in horseshoes and hand granades.” This has however made me examine what we could be doing better and that bring us to our …

Lessons Learned:

Two big lessons were learned by The Chef and I this month. First, planning is essential! We got super busy this month and skipped planning our meals one week. Umm, two words … not good! While we both stuck to eating well and saw positive results on the scale, we were a bit frazzled with figuring out what to eat and neither of us enjoys being frazzled. It’s so much easier to know what you’re making as soon as you get home, so we won’t make this mistake again.

Second, exercise is essential. The Chef and I do take walks together sometimes (and he does hit the gym occasionally), but since our bodies are now used to our healthy eating ways, we need to something else to make sure we’re meeting our weight loss goals and the addition of routine exercise is what’s called for. The hard part? Fitting it in.

We have a free family membership to a gym through The Chef’s work, and while the location is good for him and he’s committed to going regularly, it is no where near my work or our home. I’m not a morning person, so I know I won’t get up early enough to go before work … and since we’re committed to cooking at home each night, going after work means not eating until 9:00 pm, which isn’t an option either. I need something that I can do for 30 minutes or so everyday that still allows me to get all my work and my extra-curricular activities (ie, volunteering) done as well.

So … what is the answer? Well, I’m hoping it’s the Wii Fit because I just shelled out $350 dollars for it. I’ve heard positive things from friends who have one and the online videos make it look like fun. And if it gives me the energy and success on the scale I’m hoping for then it just may make me want to find the time to go to the gym … and it will be money well spent.

Here’s looking at month three!

Yes, you read that right. After one short month on our new healthy eating/weight loss plan, I’ve lost 18.6 pounds. Amazing, huh? Even more amazing … Chuck has lost 32 pounds. (And in the interest of full disclosure, it’s technically been one month and 2 days.)

I bet you’re sitting there wondering, “They must have done some crazy cleanse for two weeks, right?” Or maybe, “Are they only eating cabbage soup three times a day?” The answer to both of those questions is no, we haven’t done anything drastic; we’ve just implemented a number of easy … and healthy … changes to our diet. Want to know how we did it? Well, here you go:

1. Eat breakfast. We all know the adage that breakfast is the best meal of the day. Well, it’s true. I’ve recently read a number of studies that show that eating a healthy breakfast aids in both successful weight loss and successful weight loss maintainence. I was never a “breakfast eater,” but now Chuck and I make an effort to eat breakfast every day . And on the days that we don’t, we definitely notice an increase in our appetite throughout the day and a decrease in our energy levels. Diet lesson #1: Eat a healthy breakfast every day!

2. Portion control. Most of us think we know what “1 cup” or “4 ounces” of something looks like. Chances are you’re wrong. From the first day we began our healthy eating plan, we started measuring and weighing our food so we knew exactly how much we were consuming … and I was blown away by by some of the things we learned. 1 cup of angel hair pasta? It’s more than enough for a hearty, filling portion of food. If you don’t have a food scale, I suggest investing in one. Chuck and I purchased an Escali Primo digital scale from Kitchen Conservatory, and we love it. Diet lesson #2: Watch your portions!

3. Fiber, fiber, fiber. Did you know that adults should consume 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day? Unfortunately, the average American only eats 10 to 15 grams of fiber per day, if that. Dietary fiber is important part of a healthy diet. It aids digestion, helps prevent constipation, and because it makes you feel full faster, it can be helpful in controlling weight. Chuck and I now include a number of high-fiber foods in each of our meals, and we take a fiber supplement every night before bed to ensure we get 30 to 35 grams of fiber per day. Diet lesson #3: Get your fiber!

4. Plan, plan, plan. Every one leads busy lives these days, and it’s easy (and tempting) to just pick up take-out or have a pizza delivered when you’re short on time. Chuck and I used to play the “what do you want for dinner” game alot … you know … he says, “What do you want for dinner?” and then I say, “I dunno. What do you want for dinner?” This used to go for a good 10 minutes and then one of us would either pick up carry-out or we’d order a pizza.

In reality, we all have a lot more time to cook than we think. Chuck and I now sit down on Sundays, plan out our dinners for the week, and then go shopping on Monday afternoon, getting as many groceries in that one trip as possible (a second trip for fresh veggies and fish to be used later in the week is sometime necessary). We also write our weekly dinner plan on an erasble whiteboard on our fridge so we always know what the next night’s dinner will be so there’s no more playing “what do you want for dinner” in our house. We usually make enough for leftover so our lunches are automatically planned. No only does this make it easier it find time to cook, our food bills are definitely less. Diet lesson #4: Make a game plan and stick with it.

5. Find a support system and tell them what you’re doing. It goes without saying that having friends and family who support your healthy lifestyle is extremely important. I know I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am without Chuck (thanks, babe). Talk to your friends and family about your goals. You may be surprised to find how interested they are in helping you succeed. Diet lession #5: Get support!

And finally, the one thing we’re doing that may be the most important of all … cook with real food.

What, you ask? It’s simple. “Diet food” isn’t healthy. “Real food” is. What do I mean by real food? My favorite definition of real food comes from Read Food Challenge. They say that real food is “food that is ethically produced, with fair treatment of workers, equitable relationships with farmers (locally and abroad), and humanely treated animals. It’s food that is environmentally sustainable, grown without chemical pesticides, large-scale mono-cropping, or huge carbon footprints. Real food is food that is healthy, tastes good, builds community, and has the potential to inspire broad-scale social change.”

That seems like a tall order, doesn’t it? In actuality, it’s really not:

• Shop for fresh meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables at your local farmers’ market. Ask the farmer about how they grown their vegetables or raise their animals.
• If you can’t get local, shop for organically-grown foods. Make an effort to learn about where your food comes from and how far it’s traveled to get to you.
• Avoid processed food, especially those made with high-fructose corn syrup or genetically-modified organisms. Read food shouldn’t be filled with chemicals. Oh, skip the soda too, even diet versions. You only get one body. Should you be putting the best food in it?

See, that’s not so bad, right? It’s also worth it. In addition to the weight I’ve lost, my feet are no longer swollen at the end of the day and my acid-reflux is gone … no more eating Tums before bed for this girl.

As I said before, we only get one body, and you need to do all you can to take great care of it. And yes, I realize all this information may seem daunting, but please don’t let it deter you from pursuing your own healthy eating plan. With a little planning and a little creativity, you can be successful too!

P.S. Just for the record, I don’t expect us to lose anywhere near this amount of weight next month. Our bodies are getting used to our new healthy lifestyle so I think we can look forward to losing a more “normal” amount of weight (ie, 1 to 2 pounds) per week … which is just fine with me.