One Step at a Time

One of the things I love about Vtrim is that they help you to incorporate lifestyle changes slowly so that you get a chance to live into them. That is SO important for me. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, during the first week on Vtrim you don’t make any changes in your diet or lifestyle at all. Instead, you focus on gaining an awareness of what, when, where, and how you eat by tracking everything you put into you mouth.

At first, I thought this chronicling of bad habits was a waste of time and wanted to get to the “real” part of the program – changing my life. But it didn’t take long for me to see the wisdom of this approach. Beth, my Vtrim facilitator, explained that if I didn’t understand what I was usually consuming in the way of calories (not to mention where those calories came from) that it would be hard for me to make changes that would last.

The goal was to be a nonjudgmental observer, a detective of sorts, so that I could learn my weaknesses and uncover my blindspots. And you know what? It really worked. I was astounded at how many calories I was actually taking in. There were other patterns I noticed as well – eating large amounts late at night, not eating at the table, gorging on ice cream (a food I seem to have little control around), and not eating enough protein. Although these things were initially really hard for me to look at, I found that if I removed the judgment and negative self-talk, they were simply information, data, that I could use any way I chose.

All that new information helped tremendously when I began the 2nd week of the Vtrim program – reducing calories AND tracking my food intake. As my last blog indicated, I had a great week and lost four pounds while eating great food. Not a bad start, right?

Now I am starting Week 3 of Vtrim – beginning to incorporate regular exercise into my weight loss program. Once again, the idea is to make gradual changes, to get used to scheduling some focused exercise into each day by starting with small, manageable goals like walking 10-15 minutes a day. That works great for me because when I try to take on more than I can handle early on, I get discouraged and tend to give up. But hey, walking 10-15 minutes a day is something I can do. More importantly, it’s something I can do over and over again which is, after all, the goal.

So, I’m pulling on my walking shoes and heading out for a walk. I’m starting with 15 minutes a day, but before you know it, I’ll be logging 20 miles a week. You know what they say – a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lookout world, here I come!

A Delicious Week

Today marks the end of my first week of calorie reduction on the Vtrim program and it has been an awesome first week. I lost 4 – YES, FOUR – pounds! And I ate great stuff all week. Since I am such a foodie, it’s important to me to eat real food, good food, and not sacrifice taste simply to lose weight. I know that I would never be willing to stick with something that asked me to give up the joys of eating so there’s no point going on a diet that would deny me those pleasures. No, for me it’s about figuring out how to eat delicious food AND lose weight. And I’m here to tell you that it can be done.

One of the things I am learning is to adapt recipes to reduce calories while still maintaining flavor. For instance, this week I realized that I can sauté my favorite fresh asparagus (‘tis the season!) with a couple of cloves of garlic in 2 teaspoons of olive oil instead of the usual 2 tablespoons without sacrificing taste. Who knew?

I also found a recipe for Chicken with Green Olives and Prunes (one of my favorite dishes) in The Eating Well Diet (a collaborative effort between Vtrim and Eating Well Magazine) which has almost half the calories of my usual recipe and is still delicious! Of course, being me, I had to make some additions, but they were not high calorie additions (garlic and lemon peel) and they added even more flavor to a great dish. I hope you enjoy my adaptation. I’m expecting rave reviews!

Chicken with Green Olives and Prunes (adapted from The Eating Well Diet)

1 ¼ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
¼ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup chopped, pitted green olives (I like Picholine)
¼ cup chopped pitted prunes (dried plums)
4 strips of lemon zest (2 x ½ inch)
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Pat chicken dry with a paper towel. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Do not crowd the chicken or it will not brown properly. Remove chicken from pan. Add the minced garlic to the skillet and stir for one minute until fragrant. Return chicken to pan and add broth and vinegar; stir while bringing to a simmer. Add olives, prunes, lemon zest, and pepper; reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender and no longer pink in the center, 12-15 minutes. Transfer chicken to plates, spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

Makes 4 servings
Per serving: approximately 224 calories; 8 g fat; 29 g protein; 1 g fiber.

Hungry for a Change

OK, so it’s been a LONG time since my last entry. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say that life intervened and delayed my plans for this blog. But today marks a significant turning point in my relationship with food so I decided that this was as good a time as any to dive back into the fray.

Today I begin the Vtrim program that I spoke about in my last entry. Vtrim is a 24 week weight-loss program run by the nutrition department at the University of Vermont. It is a behavioral approach which combines journaling (writing down EVERTHING you eat as well as all your exercise), weekly lessons, and the support of a trained facilitator and other group members.

In all honesty, I actually started the program a week ago, but today marks my first day of calorie reduction. During the first week of the program, you don’t make any changes to your eating but you do still track everything you put in your mouth. The goal is to make you aware of the habits and choices that got you where you are. Wow – has that been a wake-up call! It’s one thing to track your eating and calorie intake when you are making good choices, but having to do it when you are eating junk, not to mention, way too much junk, is a powerful, and sometimes painful, lesson in awareness. Who knew that an average cupcake has around 450 calories? OUCH!

So stay tuned for this new chapter in my food journey. Who knows, maybe you’ll even get some great new recipes out of it. Time to get cooking!