Thursday, November 8, 2007

Operation: Healthy Habits

Thanks for all of your advice in our transition to brown rice. It feels less traumatic when you have friends to encourage you. And thanks to my friend Jamie the Fitness Queen at Tri Harder for her great advice on setting fitness goals.

Our Healthy Habits Plan has been going well. It certainly helps when you have a partner who can keep you motivated and accountable.

Some of you might remember our Master Cleanse experiment. It was certainly an experience, but probably not one that I'd repeat. Sort of like that time we did New Years in Times Square, and stood for seven hours without food or bathroom options - glad we did it, but glad it's over. Anyway, this new plan is more sustainable, and is meant to give us some better discipline in our daily lives.

Here's the general plan:
  • Exercise at the gym three times a week. This has worked for me for almost a year, particularly because I bought a membership to the gym, and am not one to waste $70. Also, the gym is one block away from our house, so no excuses.
  • Whole wheat pasta and brown rice. I mentioned in my previous post that this will be hard because I'm Chinese, and was raised on white rice as a central part of every meal. But you all had some great ideas for how to make this more doable.
  • Smaller meal portions. For our wedding, we received sets of dishes with two sizes of plates: mini and humongous (like wok-size humongous). We've decided to only use the mini plates, utilizing dish-space psychology to our full advantage.
  • Snack on fruits and vegetables. This one is pretty straightforward - stop eating crap all day, and grab an apple instead.
  • One dessert per week. That's right - no more ice cream, cookies, or other goodies throughout the week except for one allotted day. This week we enjoyed a chocolate chip cookie at a friend's house.
There you have it. Simple plan, right? I'm open to other ideas, so bring 'em on.

What I'm really frightened of is the upcoming holiday season, when my wonderful mother-in-law has the tradition of spending days upon days baking up a storm, and setting out an entire spread of cookies and pies for all to enjoy during the week of Christmas. I'll probably need to steer clear of the dining room.

13 comments:

  1. One dessert a week! Ouch, that's tough. I could do all of the others but with the holiday season (and yes with your mom-in-law's baking!) it will be a test of willpower.

    I find that when I eat a smaller dinner or eating it earlier instead (say before 7pm), it helps to keep my weight in check.

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  2. All of your Healthy Habits plans sounds fabulous. How about drinking more water too? I've been working on that, but it's sometimes difficult to do.

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  3. I agree with Katie. Drinking more water is a must!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm adding you to my reader :)

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  4. Always choose water is a good one...that is after you have your morning coffee!

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  5. Larissa-
    Thanks for stopping by! I've only read one of your posts and I can already tell I'm going to be a frequent visitor. I'm as obsessed with fitness and nutrition as I am with food! And yes - the chocolate orange cupcakes were *to die.* My project for this afternoon is to calculate the nutritional info for them...

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  6. Your healthy habits are pretty similar to what I've been trying to do! Smaller portions, more gym time, one dessert and definitely more water and less soda/alcohol. I think that's about your best bet there.

    And about the holidays coming up, I don't really know what to say, I'm a little worried too. But at least I know the gym will still be open and I can only eat so much right? haha.

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  7. I am dreading the upcoming season... but I have six weeks to get back into shape and lose just a few kilos before heading on the plane to see Jason. I will be borrowing some of your willpower and goals, I think!

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  8. Aw, don't dread the holidays, guys! They only come once a year!

    Really, I think it's important to exercise restraint during the holidays, but also not to get too caught up in "this is my plan and I'm sticking to it!" I think it really comes down to respecting your body and what you put into it. So go ahead and have a homemade cookie, and a little bit (a very little bit!) of yams with marshmallows on top . . . this holiday season is special!

    As far as the brown rice goes, I know what you mean. Stir fry over brown rice just isn't the same! But here's the story behind my favorite way to eat brown rice: Candiss's grandma always has brown rice, and also fresh mangoes. So while I was staying with them, I would eat brown rice and mango for breakfast. Very yummy, and all that bran provides excellent, complex carbohydrates--long-burning fuel that will sustain you all day!

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  9. i blogged about habits yesterday, and then today i come visit your blog to discover you had done so as well! i like your healthy-habit ideas... i think the 1 dessert a week thing would be difficult for me; i'm a sucker for cookies. i wish you luck on keeping up the habits in this dangerous month ahead!

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  10. "One dessert per week" ... how about "dessert one day per week"?

    As long as you don't throw all the other guidelines out the window and eat ONLY desserts for the day ...

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  11. What a great blog, Larissa! I'm so glad you found me and I was able to discover your site. After talking so much about fitness/health-related inspirations on my own blog recently, it was nice to come here and find related content. I've added you to my Google Reader and I look forward to reading more! :)

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  12. Yes! Drinking water!! It is very important. I resolved to only hit the espresso stand once a week - since it's about 250 calories a pop (oh, you evil pumpkin spice latte you!) and so far it's going well. It's a little treat I look forward to every friday -- as a reward for getting through another boring work week.

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