Email from a Reader: Does Eating on a Schedule Matter in Weight Loss?

January 25th, 2012 § 17 Comments

Read the rest of this series: Email from a Reader: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

“Hello Ms. Andie,

Like many people who read your blog, I’m struggling with weight loss. I’ve had terrible health in my 19 years, from a brain tumor to multiple kidney surgeries, and a few years ago I had the misfortune of being put on steroids for my lungs (as they almost collapsed). One of the most unpleasant side effects was the weight gain. Now I can’t say it was only the medication – I’ve never been ‘fit’ since I could never walk more than a few blocks without getting winded – and my eating habits are atrocious as well. But a bunch of factors led to me being over weight (and since I’m quite short – 5’1 – it looks even worse) and now I have a new problem. University.

My question is this: lots of advice over the internet tells me to eat three times a day, or five small meals a day, at regular times, but what happens if you can’t eat at regular times? Classes are sporadic and during ‘usual’ eating hours, and with a part time job coming up, that’ll get even more complicated. Would you have any advice for eating healthier if you cant eat at certain times? Most days I don’t get up until 12 in the afternoon, and I don’t go to bed until 2 in the morning. Not to mention being at school and traveling an hour home each way doesn’t lend itself well to cooking frequently.

I know it’s a random question, but I thought you might have some insight. I really appreciate what you do – your blog, the way you’re so open with the world, the delicious food you show people – it’s really an inspiration for so many people, myself included. You make me think that, hey, maybe I can do this. Maybe I really can.
Thank you for everything you are and everything you do.”

……………………………….

You are so fantastic. Thank you for writing me! I can’t imagine how hard it must be to deal with such emotional and physical trauma. You’re clearly very strong and for that, I commend you.

My advice on eating times: Don’t worry ONE BIT about noshing at regular meal times. Those times that people generally eat breakfast (morning), lunch (afternoon), and dinner (evening)? They’re arbitrary. It’s just that many people have common work hours- generally 9am to 5pm. And, historically, evolutionarily, we worked from sun up to sun down. The timing of our meals made sense for many reasons. The only thing that you need to keep in mind is this: EAT WHEN, AND ONLY WHEN, HUNGRY.

I use caps sparingly.*

*Italics? Unrestrained usage.

I would say this: Just eat from the time you wake to about an hour before you go to bed, every 4 hours (or 3-4 if 4 hours feels too long a stretch!). Whatever hour of the day you wake up, even if that’s 12pm- sister, that is your breakfast. Pay no mind to the daily clocks of others. They’re regulated on a different schedule, and yours- albeit nontraditional by common standards- is perfectly fine in its own right. Own your time. Make your schedule of eating according to how you feel. This was one of the biggest helpers in me finding my own way through weight loss.

You may naturally (organically) find you get onto a schedule like this with your eating:
12pm: Wake up. Breakfast
4pm: Lunch
8pm: Dinner
12am: 2nd dinner
This seems to me like a really reasonable plan. Try to keep each mealtime to 400-500 calories or so and you’ll be within a range of 1600-2000 calories a day.
If you need to adjust by breaking the day up into smaller, closer snack times, go ahead. Feel absolutely free.

For kicks, below is my rough eating schedule (I say ‘rough’ because I have a very difficult time following normal, repetitious order- I barely follow the same routine of shampoo, conditioner, body wash- in the shower. It’s zany and different every time.)

8am: Breakfast and an obscene amount of coffee

12pm: Lunch

3:30/4pm: Snack

7pm: Dinner

9-10pm: Dessert(s)* (*Because I’d be lying if I didn’t add the ‘s’)

Now, I’d also like to address the size and frequency of meals. There seems to be two camps of eaters out there: those who eat 3 meals a day and those who break their intake up into 5-6 meals.

Reasoning behind eating 5-6 meals a day:
Folks who prefer this way of eating believe that by eating every few hours, they’re keeping their metabolisms running efficiently all day long. If we were going to compare the human body to a car with food being the fuel (gasoline), frequent/small meal-eaters would say that they are adding just enough fuel to their tanks every few hours to keep their car (body) moving along smoothly. There is no excess fuel in their tank to be stored as fat.

Also, frequent/small meal-eaters tend to enjoy snacking more. They don’t want to wait quite as long between each meal. By scheduling many mini meals- they’re ensuring they’ll never get too hungry between eating periods. They seem less likely to overeat at each eating time because they know that more food is just a few hours away.

Reasoning behind eating 3 square meals (and maybe 1-2 snacks):
I belong in this camp. Here’s why I personally prefer it: I like mealtimes to be longer and more celebratory and most importantly: I like to eat more in one sitting.

Over the years, I’ve experimented with eating more often and eating less often. What I found when I ate many mini meals, or through grazing all day long, was that I was constantly preoccupied with my next snack/meal. I was always tightrope-walking a line between semi-satisfied and semi-hungry. I never walked away from the table feeling the fullness that my belly has come to long for, come to love. Food was constantly on my mind.

I also found that since I was breaking my food intake into smaller calorie servings- I felt more restricted in options. That is to say- there are fewer meal options in the 250-300, say, calorie range than there are in the 500ish calorie range. A serving of lasagna, pizza, etc- each of those exceeded what I could conceivably consider a small meal. And as someone who cooks and bakes like her dog’s life depends on it- I want to feel like the meals I make are truly based upon my serving size preference.

Now, here is what I love about three big meals (and dessert):

1. I want mealtimes to be special events. By sticking food into three very regular hours (morning, noon, and night), I am making those times of day unique and noteworthy. They’re lengthy. I eat, I find my own fullness, and I am able to move on with my day. My thoughts are less food-focused.

2. I like big dinners and nighttime eating. This is, and probably always will be, my favorite time of day. For years I’ve been making dinner for my clan, and we’ve sat around the table together every night. And, goodness I hope you know this about me by now: I love dessert(s).

I could never practice the “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper” way of eating. (To explain: this mantra proposes that you start the day with your biggest meal and then eat less and less as the day goes on. It’s believed that your body does not need as much fuel later in the day because you’re very likely expending less energy.) I much prefer to eat more later in the day, just because I find it relaxing, comforting, even. So long as I keep what I’m eating within my own healthy calorie range (very specific for each individual), eating at night has never inhibited my weight loss.

My bottom line: I have never gained weight from eating fewer, larger meals. Nor have I gained weight from eating a lot in the evening. I have never lost weight from eating smaller, more frequent meals.

I truly believe that it’s just a matter of proper caloric intake for your body’s needs, no matter what time of day you eat. The reason we’re often advised to stay away from heavy nighttime eating is because people tend to go above their daily calorie needs by munching away as they watch TV to unwind at night. I believe that as long as you remain within a reasonable calorie range for your body, you can eat at absolutely any hour, even right before bed. If 1600 calories are your target for weight loss- eat them whenever you prefer.

Wishing you the best
in everything.

Andie

On my 27th

January 24th, 2012 § 87 Comments

364 days out of 365,

I am content to stop after one [generously frosted] wedge of cake.

Because,

the first one is pure and true,

the most intense and lusty.

But today,

my birthday,

the day my mother sweetly recalls that I sashayed into the world, “all lips with wild black hair, so very Betty Boop,” and asserts, “I wasn’t certain you were mine,”

followed closely by,

“But now I’m pretty sure.”

I eat two wedges.*

Just to prove I’m hers.

*And by two I mean three.

Lemon Sugar Roasted Chicken

January 23rd, 2012 § 17 Comments

Lemon Sugar Roasted Chicken

1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 bone-in and skin-on chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 of a small onion, sliced thinly (about half cup)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a small bowl, whisk the lemon zest, juice, garlic, oil, oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper.
Place chicken (skin-side up) in a greased glass baking dish. Arrange the bell pepper, tomato, and onion all around the pieces of chicken. Pour the lemon mixture evenly over the top. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and spoon the pan juices repeatedly over the chicken to moisten.
Bake uncovered, basting every 10 minutes, for about 30 more minutes. Serve chicken and vegetables with all of the pan juices.

serves 4

Email from a Reader: When You Slip Up on Your Diet

January 22nd, 2012 § 28 Comments

Read the rest of this series: Email from a Reader: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Hi Andie,

First of all, thank you. You give me such an immense amount of hope. I believe that you will help more people than you could ever know- all because you helped yourself. My question is about mental roadblocks. I’ve been overweight since I was ten years old (now 26). Food is my drug, and I have been desperately trying to recover since middle school from this powerful addiction. It’s obvious that you have struggled in a similar way, so I am wondering if you ever found yourself stuck in the “all or nothing” way of thinking like I do. Even if I tell myself that tomorrow is another day, after that initial binge, I feel completely sapped of emotional strength. I am so weakened by my choice that my “healthy switch” turns off. Nutritious food (that I generally love) seems unappetizing. Exercise (that usually fills me with joy) seems daunting and joyless. I go from feeling energized and stimulated to just wanting to zone out in front of bad reality tv as my life passes by. It is horribly depressing. So my question is (if you dealt with this) how did you overcome black and white thinking and get to the balanced place you’re in now? How did you forgive yourself after slipping and binging? How can I make myself realize that after a binge (or simply after an indulgence), a salad is still good for me later in the day, and working out is not a pointless act? Thanks so much, I know you get a lot of questions and I really appreciate the time you devote to your readers!!

Sincerely,

…………………………

Thank you.

This is the honest truth: It’s tremendously hard.

HARD with caps lock jammed and unrelenting.

I wish that I could tell you more. That I could say one thing to make it all click for you. That all the ideas of how and why you should stay the course could flood down in one perfect stream of water- water that would make you feel full. But I can’t.

When I decided to do it- to really do it, I was more ready than I’d ever been. And like everything in my life- I viewed it as an extreme sport. I’m intense and passionate and wildly eccentric. I have a very hard time doing anything less than completely, anything less than as perfectly as I’m capable of. I’d almost always rather pursue something doggedly than not at all. I, like you, am so often black and white in thought. All or nothing.

And so, knowing this about myself- my extremism, that is- I stayed in one color zone- black (it’s witchy). I sided with the ‘all.’ I committed to losing weight, and I married it. I put a ring on my finger, figuratively, and said to myself- “I can give it a year. I can give this everything I’ve got for one year. And then I’ll be free.”

But a year feels just so long, doesn’t it?

I’m impatient. I broke the time down.

I found that three days- just three days of solid, unwavering commitment to eating well- was enough to make me want to keep going. Then, three would become three more, and three more, and so on…

Day one, day two- they were dark. Dark and so difficult I fantasized about just staying fat forever. But at the end of day three, something changed. It was just enough time to 1.) Make me feel strong and proud of sticking it out, and 2.) Make me know that wrecking my hard work with a binge would make me feel like I’d just finished writing my book only to have my laptop crash.*

*Laptop don’t fail me now.

Consistency was all that mattered. Mini goals kept me going.

But yes, inevitably I slipped.

One day, the first that I spent living in Rome, I felt so unsettled, so jarred from moving to a big city from charming Florence, that I bought one full bag of fun sized KitKats and a package sugar wafers and ate each of them, entirely, in my new apartment. I felt that guilty gravity that I’ve come to associate with letting myself down. That evening, to compound what I’d already done, I visited the pizzeria on my corner and popped arancini (fried balls of risotto) like they were vitamins.

I started over the next morning.

And I did not look back.

The thing about messing up is this: you get to start over. And the thing about starting over when you’ve eaten a cake is: the only way you can start over is by doing the hard part. It’s not like speeding in your car, getting a ticket, [cursing profusely,] and then just paying the fine. You cannot simply write a check and drive on.

Losing weight is, for better and worse, daily work.

Every, single, solitary day, I woke up and recommitted to my goal.

I spent more days faithful to that health-pursuit than unfaithful with some floosy cake I barely liked. And when I did cheat, I did that damn starting over thing. Every damn time.

But hear me:

The slip ups, the two steps backward, they’ll become fewer and farther between. The further along I got, the more weight I lost, the less I wanted cake to be my antidepressant of choice. It’s the beginning that’s hardest- the most desperate. Trust that your will to push on- your resolve- it gets stronger with time.

All the good things,
Andie

New England Butter Crumb Baked Alaskan Cod

January 19th, 2012 § 23 Comments

Of all the ten thousand recipes my family has made for years,

this one may be among the eldest.

Almost like my own mother, the second oldest of nine. And me, the second oldest of five.*

*And my pug DeeDee, the second oldest of two.

This dish- New England Butter Crumb Baked Cod- is undoubtedly among my top ten of tastes. It’s nostalgic in a Cape Cod way. It’s summer and dropped r’s and foil-wrapped peanut butter and fluff sandwiches on the beach. Jimmy Buffett, even.

All manner of delicious.

Alaska Seafood, a company I honestly adore because all of their fish is wild, natural, and sustainable, also a company I’ve worked with many times in planning the International Food Blogger Conferences, recently sent me fresh cod filets.*

*Pray for my mail carrier.

Fresh fresh, thick thick, tender tender. Alaskan cod better than any I could find at the market.

And I, New England fish and chipper that I am, told my mother to do with that cod what she does best.

So she, for her part, covered it with a melted stick of butter and a sleeve of crushed Ritz crackers.

To say that the fish comes out of the oven luscious and buttery would be a misstatement. To say that the butter comes out luscious and a bit fishy would make more sense. Which, on all accounts, is exactly what I want and need it to be.

Flaky and tender. Just

plain

my version

of delicious.

New England Butter Crumb Baked Alaskan Cod

2 lbs fresh Alaska cod, skin removed
salt and pepper
1 sleeve Ritz crackers (about 25), coarsely crushed with your fingers
6 tablespoons salted butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Lay cod in a single layer in a glass baking dish or metal rimmed baking pan. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper.
Toss the crackers in the melted butter to coat. Spread and press the buttery crumbs evenly over the top of the fish. Bake 20 minutes, or until the fish is an opaque white and easily flakes with the touch of a fork.

serves 4-6

Learn more about wild and fresh Alaska seafood at AlakaSeafood.org

Attune, Uncle Sam, and Erewhon

January 18th, 2012 § 19 Comments

There’s a reason I wake up every morning.

One very simple reason my eyes even consider fluttering open come 7 in the a.m.

And that reason is

breakfast.

Eating, naturally, just sets my whole day on fire.

It’s the tradition of it, the routine of eating my favorite foods while lingering at my computer with several [dozen] mugs of hot coffee.

Most mornings, I’m behind a bowl of oats or Greek yogurt. But this past week, I traveled back 20 years to my girlhood and ate nothing but cereal. Cereal cereal cereal.

My dear friend Annelies, a gal whose writing and spirit I’d like to bottle and wear, sent me no less than seven different kinds of morning crunch.

Now, Annelies knows I’m a whole food-, whole grain-loving lady. She also knows I’m interested in anything that comes to my mailbox in excess (hence the seven boxes). And as a part of the Attune Foods team, she was generous enough to share with me products from Attune, Uncle Sam, New Morning, and Erewhon (gluten-free).

I opened the box of cereal, graham crackers, and chocolate bars, braced myself, braced my pug DeeDee, and then read Annelies’ very stern, very instructive note:

“Andie,

Enjoy.”

I accomplished that much.

What I love about the Uncle Sam and Erewhon cereals is this: they’re a world more natural than the kinds I find when I’m lusting in the breakfast aisle at the market. All whole grain and with very little sugar, I really found myself wishing I’d known about these guys sooner.

For years, during and after I lost weight, I ate cereal religiously. I searched high and low for boxes that boasted better ingredients than the kinds I grew up with: Lucky Charms and Apple Jacks. I thought seriously about creating my own. Because, all I wanted, all I needed to feel good about my bowl, were the following criteria to be met:

Roughly 150 calories per cup of cereal (because I want much more than a cup in my bowl)
100% whole grains
As short a list of ingredients as possible (And ideally I’d be able to identify all of them)
At least 4 grams of fiber per serving
No more than 2-3 grams of sugar per serving
Crunch crunch crunch

Surprisingly, there were not many options that fit. I ended up going the Kashi route more often than not. And not unhappily- just feeling a bit limited.

But these Attune cereals would have worked just as well, if not better because none of the members of the ingredient list seemed foreign to me. Many of the cereals had no sugar at all.

The stash of the products I sampled:

Uncle Sam Healthy Breakfast Cereals

My favorite: Honey Almond (shown in all cereal bowl photos)-
This cereal is the kind that almost vehemently resists sogginess. And even when it eventually relents, it doesn’t dissolve into the milk- it plumps and becomes almost muesli in texture. Lovely, really. It’s filling in that way I bet people intend to mean when they say something “sticks to your ribs”- though I’ll never quite know that I want anything to, in fact, stick to my ribs.
The flavor is subtly sweet- malted and nutty with sliced almonds.

Erewhon Gluten Free Cereals

The Corn Flakes were crisp and unsweet- just as I’d prefer. I’m tempted to crush them and coat chicken and fish for baking.

New Morning Organic Graham Crackers

Cinnamon grahams were my favorite. And by favorite I mean- I ate them in bed by the sixteen-pack. I felt good and healthy about that.

Attune Probiotic Chocolate Bars

Chocolate didn’t need a better reputation for me to love her fiercely, but Attune added probiotics to their 100 calorie bars, and I ended up smug with how healthy I could describe my dessert.

Check out the Attune Foods website to learn about their real food approach. They’ve also got a great blog with lots of inspiring blogger contributors.

Have you tried any of these cereals? And if you’re a serial cereal-ist like me, which healthy kinds are your favorite?

Slow Cooker New England Pot Roast

January 17th, 2012 § 26 Comments

Sometimes, when I think ahead to dinner,

specifically a dinner that requires minimal effort on my part,

I wonder if everyone feels the same happy longing.

Do they? Do you?

And then when I sit down to eat it,

I also wonder,

Is slow cooked pot roast, saucy in all that brown stringy sex appeal,

as good looking to you as

it is to me?

That much I hope.

Slow Cooker New England Pot Roast

This pot roast is one of my favorite easy meals to throw together. There’s no need to sear the beef in a pan before adding it to your slow cooker, as most recipes advise- it will be tender all the same. The acidity of the tomatoes helps to sweeten and soften the meat into strands that need only a fork to pull apart. And all those rustic root vegetables? They’ll soften, too, while absorbing the slow simmering juices of the beef. Also notably tasty: bay, thyme, and rosemary. Aren’t they always.

1 boneless beef chuck roast (3 pounds)
2 large russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium parsnips, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large carrots, sliced thickly on the diagonal
2 large ribs celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, cut into chunks
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) beef broth
1 can (14-15 ounces) diced tomatoes

Cut roast in half; place into a 5-qt. slow cooker. Top with potatoes, parsnips, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.
In a medium bowl, combine thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, pepper, broth, and diced tomatoes; pour over vegetables.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaves before eating.

My Favorite Bakery: White’s Pastry Shop

January 16th, 2012 § 28 Comments

I thought

for

I don’t know,

a sturdy five minutes about

titling this post “Gratuitous Food Pornography” as my friend Andrew Scrivani might do [in a much classier, more respectable way].

But then I realized that,

although overtly flashy, lustful, and hotly dramatic characters exist in my mind for both pornography and pastry,

Google may not feel so turned on.

So I settled.

This place- White’s Pastry Shop in Hingham, Massachusetts- is

by and large

my favorite bakery in New England. The cakes, specifically their aptly called “white cake,” is velvet. So soft and light it’s almost ethereal in texture.

And that frosting. A heavily whipped wonder with so much fluff it almost bounces back when pressed. It’s one of *ten things I’d request at my last supper.

*Leonardo DiCaprio being the other nine

My family knows my affection for White’s. In fact,

when I signed both of my book deals this past August, my mother mailed me one of their double layer 10” cakes.

A cake so delicate, so sensitive, that my fork disturbs its entire crumb at the very hint of touch.

Boston to Seattle.

The United States Postal Service.

Boston to Seattle.

Cake.

See this post for the deliciously true story.

And so,

naturally, when I came back to Massachusetts from Seattle this winter to visit my family,

we made one very celebratory, very special trip.

And I’ll have you know

my mother (the same woman who mailed me 37 Mallo Cup candy bars a few months back) and I (her sweets-loving baby)

waltzed out of White’s with:

*1 cake

*1 chocolate whoopie pie

*1 red velvet cupcake

*1 white snowflake cupcake

*1 vanilla snowman cupcake

*1 chocolate and vanilla frosted half moon

******Our dignity remains in tact.

Email from a Reader: Building the Motivation to Lose Weight

January 15th, 2012 § 24 Comments

Read the rest of this series: Email from a Reader: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

“Hi Andie,

I absolutely cannot even begin to tell you how much I enjoy reading your blog. I love your style, I love your honesty, I love your story. I have been dealing with overeating for about 10 years but didn’t realize that is the problem I had until about 2 years ago.

My question is …. how did you continue day in and day out on the right track to let yourself lose that 135lbs? I really feel like losing weight you have to be consistent. You can work hard for days / weeks but easily undo all of that work in just a short amount of time and end up nowhere. I guess that is my issue, I keep ending up nowhere.

How did 9 out of 10 times you choose the healthy option while losing? How did you not make drive through runs at Wendy’s, eat a whole pizza and so on? How did you STICK TO IT? I feel like I KNOW what to do. I KNOW how to eat, what to etc. There is NO lack of knowledge or accessibility to the right foods. It’s just doing it.

Whether it is praying, reading, writing, meditating, exercising…all of the above, I need to find something that helps get me through. I feel like I am a strong person I can do just about anything I set my mind to but not this. It’s still got a tight hold on me. For now least.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
J”

………………………………….

Hi J!
Thank you so much for emailing me, for being so kind. I’m sorry it has taken this long for me to get back to you. I receive about 100 personal, blog-related emails everyday, so I sometimes get behind.
This is a great question and I guess it’s the most important one, huh?
Motivation
Where to start….

Define Your Deepest Desires- ON PAPER.
It’s not about a specific diet, not a plan, not quitting everything that tastes delightful cold turkey. It’s just listening to your body and your heart. Doing all the things you know you should be doing- like moving it for thirty minutes a day or eating vegetables with dinner- and letting that momentum drive you onward and downward to your goal. There are small changes that make a world of difference. But the real work starts upstairs in your mind. Put pen to paper, get unbearably honest with yourself, and write down two lists: what you want out of your life and yourself and what obstacles are in your way to living that life. Spend time with those lists; look them over; analyze the columns. Use adjectives for how you want to feel- energetic, positive, and productive. Think about the things you could add to your life, or the things you could do, to make those adjectives the way you feel everyday. I did this.

I made lists and wrote a letter to myself. I exposed every nook and cranny of doubt and fear and anger and resistance and hope. And then I made one final list. But this one contained the small steps and additions that would allow me to move into those optimistic adjectives I’d written. The list stated things like, ‘walk for 10 minutes in the morning before starting the day, walk for 10 minutes after dinner, take the stairs, make half of my dinner plate filled with vegetables, add an apple everyday, drink 5 glasses of water, ask Kate if she wants to meet for a walk in the afternoon, take a pause each night before bed when I’m really craving not one, but four packs of Ring Dings and ask myself why I’m dying for them, switch to whole grains.’ They were manageable. I could do these things.

Think about it, we make ‘To Do’ lists all the time of things we need to accomplish outside of ourselves. Why not make one for your mind and body? I can’t tell you how much this helped me. Because even if you think you know all about your goals, your obstacles, your wishes and desires for your life, you really see more when it’s inked on paper. Lots of times we have big ideas floating around in our heads and we think they’re formulated and supported without question, but when you really force yourself to articulate those things- to assemble them into coherent facts and figures- you see so much more. Some of them aren’t true and you realize you’ve been toting around a duffle bag of false information for the last five years. Some of them allow you to read more deeply into who you are and how you’re hurting.

Whatever you want this year- to lose weight, to find a more fulfilling job, financial stability, stronger friendships- know that they’re not unattainable. Having a big, beautiful picture of the future in the clouds of your head is unbelievably helpful.

Make a Vision Board.
For real. Get out your photo albums, your magazines, and your glue stick. Get a poster board. (They’ve really gone up in price, somewhat surprisingly).
Cut out and slap on that board all of the following: pictures that inspire you- beaches, gorgeous scenery that makes you want to be out and doing and exploring, people laughing, folks dressed all dolled up in a way you wish you were, photos of you smiling with friends, quotes that make you feel something, clothing, water, words.
This board is not only therapeutic in the making, but it also serves as a reminder of all that you dream. All that you want to feel and be and do in the next year. Make it goal-oriented. Make it something that gets you going, just upon first glance.
Note: I do not care if you feel too old to do this. I do not care if you haven’t a glue stick. CVS does. The reason we buy magazines, most often, is for inspiration and ideas. This vision/dream board is your own magazine. It’s full of pictures and language that inspires you- specifically you. Maybe put it in your closet so that you don’t feel like a high schooler taping it to your wall. Maybe look at it every morning, and every night, and remember your dreamy future.

Stay present.
Take each day, each minute as its own individual moment. Do not think too far back, do not think too far ahead. This is incredibly strange at first. Most of us are planners, we’re multitaskers, we’re thinking about what happened that time with that thing at that place, we’re not in the moment. Years ago, when I first lost the weight, I felt gravely depressed. I realized that I had been sad for much of my life but had eaten away the sadness. At that time, my first experience not having food to numb me, I had to sit with emotions I’d rather not face without Ring Dings. I missed food as a support system and friend.
That year, 2007, maybe? I read every self help book on the shelves at Barnes and Noble. And by every book, I mean:
eve-ry: (adj): Constituting each and all members of a group without exception.
I’m specific.
I read books on trusting myself, on listening to my body, on eating disorders, memoirs on being overweight, diet books with prescriptive advice sections, and trust me: the very best were by author Geneen Roth. Her writing, “When Food is Love,” “Feeding the Hungry Heart,” “Appetites,” etc…those books have changed my life.
But one book, not specifically related to weight loss, really helped me to become more mindful: “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. This book showed me how crucial it is to stay in the present moment at all times. So many of the pains we feel, the discomfort of being, is related to thinking of the past or planning for the future. We feel overwhelmed by all we have to do, all we have to deal with in life, and we spend lots of energy rehashing the past and thinking about ways to be better. The key is to just stop that. Understandably, not easy to do. But it’s possible. You’ll find yourself less overwhelmed by the big picture- all the weight we have to lose, all the exercise we have to do today and tomorrow and the next day and the next after that. By just focusing on the minute by minute (with a gentle mind to the future and an acknowledgment of our history), we just deal with ‘what is.’
I learned to move through my day by trying to stay in the moment. Yes, I kept a big dreamy vision above me of all I hoped to be someday, but I only kept the positive parts. I hung on to the helpful, hopeful dream of a future healthy me- content and confident- and tossed the negativity- the dread and daunting 135lbs I had to lose- away like last week’s trash. I asked myself, every single day, every single moment, “Can you get through this moment right now without bingeing? Can you make the healthy choice just for today?”
And, almost all of the time, I could. I put little stock into tomorrow. I tried to not let the idea that I’d have to exercise daily overwhelm me enough that I wanted to quit exercising altogether. Dreading the future would only stop me from acting now. If you’re on the treadmill, being active and kind to your heart, and you’re already telling yourself you can’t continue to do this for the rest of the week, you’re just placing a huge burden on the here and now. Tomorrow maybe you’ll find something else, some other way to move. Tomorrow maybe you won’t be so tired. Tomorrow you might feel inspired after reading a magazine article, or seeing a picture of a sequined dress on Facebook (not me!).
Hard as it may seem, I just tried to be present and take each day as it came. Everyday, I journaled- two things: what I ate and what I felt. I did this at the very end of the day, when I typically wanted to eat a dozen cupcakes. The checking in and recounting of my day usually made me feel accomplished and proud. It made me not want to undo all of the progress I’d made that day. I smiled into that notebook.
And then, the next day, I started it anew. Everyday asking myself, “Can you do it today, Andie? Just today?”
Because even if I blew the whole previous day with a double-drive-thru binge, no matter. Today is not yesterday or the day before.

Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.