Dieting Like It's 1953

Growing out of my clothes has been quite upsetting. I used to have no problem finding vintage clothes that would fit, but as I've gotten older, things have shifted and spread. It also used to be very easy to drop a few pounds. Now, though, it takes me a week to drop even one pound, and only a couple days to put it back on. I know I need to make permanent changes. I find this difficult for a couple reasons. One, by the time I get home, I'm pretty tired, and really don't like cooking, or cleaning up afterward. Two, I have one major food sensitivity, which makes it hard to add a variety of tastes onto my plate. 

I started thinking about how people ate 60 years ago. I'm sure the portions were a lot smaller than they are now. Matter of fact, one thing I learned trying to count my calories over the last few weeks is how small a serving size is. We tend to eat two or three servings sizes per item. Looking back through my old magazines, I found several articles on how to loose weight. Many reduce a day's calorie intake to 1200 for women. This is actually what My Fitness Pal told me I should be taking in if I want to loose a pound a week. Now, I assume that since I walk about three miles a day, that I could have a bit of wiggle room - but not much.

I also noticed that there weren't any snacks in these plans. Some of the meals were pretty large, though. So, maybe that keeps one full longer. I thought I'd give it a try. I took pieces from three different meal plans, changing things that I either couldn't eat (gluten), or don't like (liver, lamb, etc.). I created an eight day meal plan all just under 1200 calories - that way I have a bit of room if something comes up. I am curious to see how I fair under this plan.

Another thing I have often chuckled at, is the exercise that these magazines promote. Often, they are silly things like massaging facial muscles, or doing crazy stretches, not actual exercises. I wondered if people didn't need to exercise, or they just didn't know how to. Compared to today's intense workouts, these older work outs seem tame. But, again, as I was looking through these magazines, some of the exercises they promote don't seem that different than the ones today. I thought it can't hurt to try, right? So, starting Monday (gives me time to go grocery shopping), I am going to follow a vintage style meal plan, and do these exercises every night. I am hoping to see some improvement in the fit of my clothes. If all goes well, and I can stick to this plan, I will let you all know how it went.