Eat to lose weight, and exercise to get fit. I’ve heard that before many times, but I never really got the significance of it until this week. We’re on vacation (yes, again!), but this time around we’re on our own when it comes to food and we’ve been cooking for ourselves.
As you might recall, we went on a cruise about a month ago and, despite exercising a lot while we were onboard, I still gained a few pounds. Not surprising given that food and drink were abundant, and we were practically guilted into eating by the wait staff.
This time around, we’re staying in a beachside condo with a full kitchen and we’ve almost exclusively eaten in. This stands in contrast to not only the cruise, but also to our “regular” home life, where we still eat out a few times a week.
Note that we’re not doing anything super special here. Our menu has been populated by “regular” (albeit home-cooked) things like tacos, pasta, an excellent roasted turkey breast, salads, nachos, etc. I’ve also been partaking in some of the finer things in life, such as a good bit of 100% agave tequila in the evenings.
I should also note here that my only exercise (other than playing on the beach with kids) has been Week Three of the Couch-to-5K running program. In other words, I’m exercising significantly less than when we were on the cruise, and also less than when we’re at home.
And guess what? I’ve been losing weight steadily. I had a brief hiccup on Monday with a slight gain following a big burger and fries on Saturday (our one restaurant meal this week), and a bunch of jelly beans and chocolate on Easter. But aside from that, my trend line has been down, down, down.
So what’s the difference? We’re fending for ourselves when it comes to food. This means that we’re not exposing ourselves to the temptation of a restaurant menu, and we’re also not relying on a restaurant kitchen to make decisions on ingredients and portion sizes.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you can eat absolute crap at home and still lose weight. But even a “normal” home-cooked meal is likely to be far healthier than a “typical” restaurant meal.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Totally agree that it’s easier to lose weight at home! Another BIG difference between restaurant meals and home cooked meals is the sodium content. I’ve just now begun to realize the effects this has on my short term weight.
Yeah, I was just thinking about the sodium angle. I think that can add a lot of noise to my weigh-ins at times.