For my second Tip From the Scale Wednesday I want to look at mom weight. There are so many reasons that mom's tend to gain weight. It's harder to exercise with little ones around. One of my favorite suggestions is "take a walk with your toddler." You mean three steps, look at a bug, three steps, pick up a rock, etc. Sure you walk for an hour, but you only make it around the block.
The type of food your family will eat can be another hurdle. I might be happy with all veggie meals sometimes, but my teenage boys would wither up and die. I have to cook a lot of food using recipes that feature meat.
But I think one of the least obvious ways that mom's gain weight is that they become the human trash can. Too often we don't want to waste food, so we eat what our kids won't. When you order a kids meal for a preschooler, you get a lot of food, usually two to three times the amount of food they need or want. So, you (or your spouse) end up finishing their meal, even when you have just finished your own.
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to get used to the idea of wasting food sometimes. I don't like the idea, but it is a fact. You can't be the human trash can.
In one of the many diet books I read the author held a get-started meeting at a buffet. She had all the newbies go through the line and take what they wanted to eat. As soon as they sat down she instructed them to get up and throw the entire tray of food away. It was a dramatic, cringe-worthy way to let the dieters see how they felt about "wasting" food.
The best way to avoid throwing away food is to plan ahead (which is an entire post for another TFS Wednesday). Know exactly what you want to eat and stick to it. When there is one last slice of pizza on Jr's kiddie plate, leave it, or take it home (cause cold pizza is the breakfast of champions for my kids.) When there is one serving left in the pot or one scoop of ice cream left in the tub, you have to make a conscious choice. Do you want those point/calories? Are you full already? Can you pawn it off on someone else in the house who can afford the calories? (one big benefit to having a teenage son who plays football). My last resort is throwing food away. I hate to do it, but it's better off in the trash can than in me.
Labels: diet, food, leftovers, TFS
