Grades anyone? Not for me....

OK, so Nat and I were talking about grades and the fact that she felt like if she were graded that might be more incentive to do well. At this point, after thinking about it and even telling her I'd grade her, I don't want to do it. What I would like to do, though, is be a little more explicit in feedback:

Ang:

• Keep walking! It's great that you're getting out, and I want to continue to see that. But keep that tasty beverage at home while you're doing it. Not only is walking maintenance, you're killing it by having alcohol in your hands while ure doing it. Take water, any of the sports drinks, or even a 100% juice with you. But leave the booze at home.
• Your reduced fat cheese is good, knowing that you don't like milk especially.
• You hit the nail on the head with portions - they can make or break a meal. Even big portions of really good stuff can be more harm than good. Again, more throughout the entire day vs condensing into 2 or 3 meals will make you lose weight even if you sit there all day and do nothing. Beauty of metabolisms.
• Recognize your body will do better if you ate a meal the size of a typical dinner at 6 AM than it will do with nothing. Your Sat started off poorly, and believe me, I understand why. But without anything in the morning, your body really is running off of fumes, and it's gonna grab those fumes from places you don't want it to. Always always always eat something first.
• If you know you're gonna have a busy day, pack it the night before! You're already awake at 11 the night before, so you probably have an idea of what the next morning will hold. So pull out the food that you'll need the next day so that you don't have to in the morning.

Nat:

• I liked your Saturday - when you actually ate. You didn't eat enough during the day. I counted 3 times that you ate - you need to double that. Put a goal down for you to reach 5 meals a day by next Sunday. And if you keep eating like you did on Sat, you'll start to notice a difference.
• Your Sunday was better, but you missed lunch. And you didn't have anything to eat after you exercised. Your body needs that so it doesn't resort to stealing from broken down muscle. And yes, fruit is good, even as a topping on a DQ sundae. Just keep that as the exception to the rule, not the norm.
• I'll talk about exercise a little more tomorrow, but use your new neighborhood as a reason to get out and run. Explore streets, meet neighbors, etc. You've got your iPod all ready, I can only assume that your clothing is good to go....just keep up getting out there!
• I know that you said no clothes in May - so tonight, tomorrow or Wed, I want you to buy an article of clothing that you'll fit into by the time LA is here - something smaller than what you have now. Don't care if it's a bathing suit, shirt, pants, whatever... You work best with specific goals, so I want you to constantly look at whatever you buy as your goal. It's cheesy, but with you I think it just might work.

For both of you, weigh yourselves only in the morning, and do it about every 3 days. It will limit any variations, and the morning is the most consistent time to do the weigh-in. Nat, I know you don't have a scale, but you do need one. That will be a good house-warming gift :)

OK, I'm out. You guys have a great night!!!!