Day 5... Weight Loss!

It seems no matter what kind of diet and fitness books I read, they almost always recommend that you get in the habit of weighing yourself every day.  In particular, I'm referencing my suggested reading of the week, Mark Bittman's "Food Matters." 

The book is available on paperback for about $15 and is full of motivational information on why we all need to get out of the habit of eating processed foods and start focusing on dominating our diets with plants instead of eating so many animal products.  In fact, most of my recipes will be in keeping with his serving sizes when it comes to meat portions (last night's serving of soup only has one scallop per person). 

If you don't have time to read a whole book (or, if you just don't feel like it!) he also has a wonderful article in this month's bon appetit magazine.  The article is pretty much a synopsis of the book, so you get the spirit of it without the bulk.  I will say, however, that one thing I found very helpful about the book was all the information it contains about what he calls "sane eating."  Personally, I find it difficult to make big changes in my diet (especially the first two weeks or so) but when I have a lot of facts to help keep me motivated, it really helps me stay on track. 

Since I've basically been using Mark Bittman's "rules" to guide me through this process, I started weighing myself every day--even on the weekends, which I never used to do because weekends were for cheating and I would inevitably gain a pound or two because of it.   So, since the new year began I have officially lost three pounds!  Hooray!