Day 4, Dive Into Your Diet Diary

“Warning!  Daily Exercise and Healthy Eating leads to Increased Awesomeness.”

 

 

If you are serious about controlling your weight, a diet diary may be indispensable.  In this entry, you will learn more about how I use a diet diary to make my diet work.  You can do it too.

 

 

I am enjoying a Hoopla experience of 80s music from my county library.  This is not to remember that I was thin back in the 1980s; quite the opposite.  I weighed more then than I do now.

 

 

 

Thankfully, I can use myself as inspiration.  I will not look this young again as this was four years ago.  However, that is okay.  If you do not have a model picture of yourself, find a photo of someone who looks like you and represents your vision of the future.  Put it on your vision board and look at it regularly.

 

The key to weight loss is permanently changing lifestyle habits.  Getting married changed my habits.  Getting depressed also threatened my healthy habits.  I do not plan to get unmarried.  However, I am now undepressed–excited with the prospect of sharing this journey with you.

 

 

Yesterday, I revisited ten powerful affirmations.  I recited them from memory this time, not perfectly, but I will do it again.

 

 

I scored 238 points in my JV Life Tracker (Vibrancy) app this morning for yesterday.  It was almost an all-time high.  My sense of purpose is increasing.   If you want to know more about how my JV Life Tracker app works, consult my FREE ebook, Joyful Vibrance:  Transform Your Body Image, Energy, and Mood!

 

Before I became a health coach, I worked as a senior software engineer.  Later, I designed, programmed, tested, and published the app in 2014-2017.  I am still working on it when time allows.  I use the FREE app every day.  If you have an Android, give it a try.  If you do not have an Android, consider one.

 

 

Research supports the effectiveness of using a diet diary.  I am planning to share my food log throughout this journey with its triumphs and flaws.  Hopefully, I will improve from day-to-day.  I believe yesterday was better than Day One.

 

 

I want to keep my meals simple to make them replicable.  The day before yesterday, I fixed spiced hard-boiled eggs, which take a little time to prepare but are not complicated.  However, it has been my experience that some people find even doing that too much for them.  If you are in that category, consider developing your cooking skills.  They will help you follow a diet.  My cookbook, KaeLyn’s Korner Kitchen, was not written by a chef.  It was created by little old me, who does not like to cook that much.

 

 

I took 1.15 grams of garcinia cambogia.  I am not sure what effect it will have.  Except for medications, I am still fasting before breakfast.  Fasting is one of the hardest yet effective lifestyle modifications to undergo.  Do not expect yourself to be perfect at it on the first try or the second.  I am still working at getting intermittent fasting into my life.

 

Fasting is especially effective at cutting off all evening snacking.  Eating after dinner will derail your diet and make it harder to sleep.  Also, not eating in the evening helps rebuild leptin sensitivity.  Leptin is a hormone secreted by your fat cells that tells your brain you have eaten enough food.  The problem?  Sometimes, our brains do not get the message.  This happens as a result of our Western diet and eating habits.   There are several habits to change to improve this.  Intermittent fasting is a good one to start with.

 

Breakfast was delightful.  The recipe is on the diet diary below.

 

 

 

I designed, prepared, and ate a sardine salad with tomatoes, cucumber, spring mix, and fresh parsley for lunch.  It was easy, so you may want to try it.  The ingredient list is in lunch on the diet diary below.

 

A half an hour before lunch, I swallowed over a gram of garcinia cambogia powder with some water.  That seemed to curb my appetite until I could get the salad fixed.   So far, for breakfast and lunch, I had only had 663 calories.  I am preparing better food than usual and am very happy.  Maybe I will even learn how to use my Android’s camera.

 

My husband had a taste of my salad, so my actual intake is probably even less than 663 calories.  Let me see how I can fast until snack time.

 

People may tell you to concentrate only on when you eat, others say the secret is what you eat, others insist on controlling how much.  All of these factors are important.  Strive to integrate what, when, how much, and even where.  Knowing why you eat what you do is important too.  We will talk more about that later.

 

 

In a few minutes, I will leave the condo to visit a couple who live on our floor.  I have not told them about this new journey because I only started Monday (two days ago).  However, the last time I visited them, I was depressed and had been for weeks.  Now, I have new life breathed into me.  While you diet, work on a project that is meaningful to you.  It will make both efforts so much more rewarding.  Enjoy!

 

I visited with my neighbors and ate some lightly salted mixed nuts.  I brought along a tiny scale to weigh the nuts for my diet.  Of course, I did not tell them I was on a diet.  Dinner was simple and filled the holes in nutritional requirements.  My calories are low, but that may help me lose weight.  The garcinia cambogia seems to be curbing my appetite a bit.  That is a welcome thing because my eating has been out-of-control for weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have complete nutrition except that my macronutrients (fat, carbohydrate, and protein) are low.  However, if I can refrain from breaking my fast tonight, I may lose weight tomorrow.  Cross my fingers.  I had to take five capsules of fish oil to balance the omega-6 fatty acids in the mixed nuts.  The evening primrose oil also has omega-6.  Evening primrose oil has helped keep eczema from returning to my hands.

 

So far, I feel satisfied since dinner, even a little energetic.  My best friend from Utah called me, and we chatted for a while.  It was great to catch up with her.  

 

What do I want to do tonight?  I could read, walk, or both.  I could watch TV.  I could watch YouTube.  I could get my ebook, Joyful Vibrance:  Transform Your Body Image, Energy, and Mood!, ready for publication on Amazon.  However, I would like to do something a little more relaxing.   Let me pray for a while.

 

 

EVENING PRAYER

Dear Lord,   Gratitude I am so grateful for another day of happiness!  Another day is winding to its close, my fourth day of 110.   Confidence Lord, give me the confidence to know I can and will do this!   My goal is to reach 50 kg by January 2, 2021.   Roadblocks My neighbors could become roadblocks if they find out I am dieting.  Let me be cautious about what I am telling them about this project.   Integration Help me to keep recalling all the techniques that I have learned to successfully diet over the years.  I used to weigh almost 160 pounds.  I do not want to ever see those days again.   Forgive Me Lord, it is probably not my fault that I have had so much depression in my life.  However, forgive me for it anyway, especially for anything I did that I could have done better.  I do not want to fear the next depression I might have, but I kind of do.  Help me to live each day to the fullest without that fear.   Imagine I told my best friend from Utah that this project is a secret.  She wanted me to share it with her once it is unveiled.  I imagine doing that with zest.   Envision I envision myself making these blog entries for the next 106 days.  Please help me to make each entry beautiful.  I have started to photograph my food again, which is a positive change.   Bless Bless my intelligent readers that they will take away everything I intend and perhaps more.  Bless them with joy!   Amen.

 

If you would like to join me on this journey from the beginning, please start with Day One.  If you wish to download a FREE copy of my ebook (with no need to enter your name or email), click on the book below.  Please continue this journey with me by clicking on the arrows at the right of the page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article, with its diet diary, shows what worked for me.  I do not claim that it will work for you.  Consult a licensed medical provider to determine your diet and medical care.  These blog entries do not diagnose or treat any disease.  If I provide any clues for you or your provider, I will be happy.