Okay, so as the previous post explained, I'd been something of a mess with my eating off-plan.
Sunday: 184.8 Monday: 184.0 Today: 183.4
My saving grace yesterday after the truffle disaster was that I did 1 1/2 hours of exercise--strengthening, stretching, and walking.
Today, I'm nicely sore--especially inner thighs, back, upper abs, side. This makes me happy. :D
Good timing for Gillian Riley's newsletter. It was in my inbox when I checked my mail. She has a new book, DITCHING DIETS, but it might simply be a recap of stuff she has in her other books, such as EATING LESS. If anyone knows whether this has new information and is worth Kindle-ing, let me know. (NOTE: I am adding this as I noticed it's a new version of BEATING OVEREATING, the book by Gillian with the orange cover. You may already have it. It may have new info, not sure, but the first 6 chapters have the same titles, so the basic info is surely identical to the "orange" book.)
I want to make something clear. My 183 lbs now is not my 183 lbs a year ago, when I was working out. This is 183 lbs after 6 months of inactivity. Fat has replaced some muscle. My body LOOKS different naked. I'm lumpier in the waist and hips and my legs aren't as well-shaped with walking and Pilates muscle as they were a year ago at the same weight. I can feel and see the difference in my mirror. And yes, I do a "Nekkid Check" every day.
Here are pics in form-fitting wear I took an hour ago. The increased torso/belly girth and hip lump are evident:
These are my accountability photos. Sometimes, you just gotta LOOK and SEE. Like it or not.
I am well-stocked with goodies. Collards. Romaine. Strawberries. Blueberries. Kiwi. Yams. Lemons and Limes. Papayas. Broccoli. Nectarines. Cucumbers. Watermelon. Honeydew. Peppers. Apples. Decaf Green tea. Coffee. New refill filters for the water pitcher that I got back when I needed to drink gallons for Allan's challenges. I've slacked on water intake, ya know?
I have chicken breast defrosted for supper.
I do need to visit the store for some of my pastured eggs, organic egg whites, turkey, mushrooms, shredded low fat cheese for my breakfast eggs and salads, Greek yogurt, baby spinach, potatoes, tomatoes, celery, and carrots. Maybe some rainbow chard and baby bok choy, both of which I really like lightly sauteed.
With that, I'll be well-stocked against temptations. It's best to have the house overflowing with GOOD options, to cut back on the lure of bad ones.
My hope is that Sunday's weigh-in will make me smile. Anything lower on the scale and higher in motivation is welcome, right?
Right. I can do this. I really can.
WE CAN DO THIS.
WE REALLY CAN!!!
OK, let's kill it today. We believe. We move. We choose properly. WE CHOOSE. Remember that
Every bite and every sip and every step--we choose it. We decide it's what we'll do or not do, eat or not eat. WE CHOOSE.
Tanita-San: 182.2 , so a bit of bloat down, but I know no real loss.
Okay, two things coming up this weekend.
1. We're planning to hit Fort Lauderdale for an art exhibit, and that means eating out at least ONE meal. I will be doing a lot of googling to find a sound eatery within walking distance of the museum or one within short driving distance that offers a venue for a walk (like, well, Riverwalk or the broadwalk). The reason: post-meal, or pre-meal, we can get some movement in. I also need to check online menus and PICK my food before I go. I plan to go armed with a list in my purse: acceptable venues, acceptable items on the menu.
This has to be my strategy, cause my willpower is in a less than ideal place.
2. Sister (eldest) is having her birthday gathering Sunday. I know some of the stuff my sisses are making (gluten free meatballs/pasta like they did for my birthday, pigeon peas and rice with pork). It's up to me to make something/bring something that is more diet friendly. I can take a fruit salad or platter, a veggie salad or platter, or both. Middle sis suggested a Spanish omelette, but I may save that for Easter. There will be enough protein, sounds like, and starch. I do best in these tempting family events when I go armed with my own goodies and think ahead about what to have and not have.
Last year, these things were a cinch, pretty much. This year, right now, I'm in a less warrior head-place, and I gotta have some dang good planning.
When I was deep into my diet mojo near the beginning of my journey, I often simply refused to eat out or do stuff that had temptations. But family events, I always had to plan and work around, and mostly (except for last holiday season, when I didn't stick to the lower rung of the caloric levels) did really well. I want to have that sort of food poise again. Where food was not a draw, where activity and conversation and people were what I focused on. Gotta do that again. Let food be background noise. Eat, enjoy it, but not let it be a factor that has any control over me.
It's a good place to be. Food Poise. This girl needs it! It makes life so much easier to just walk gracefully by that buffet or banquet or burger stand.
I haven't lost it all, but it's bobbling some with the cravings. I plan to get it back. Where food is...not even a mosquito buzz. Just something there I can ignore until it's needed. :D Not wanted. NEEDED.
But life's pleasure also includes eating out, so I have to make compromises. Going out to do stuff with hubby away from home means eating out, even with snacks in my purse as a standby. I don't plan to be a hermit ordering crap food to binge on. I plan to do fun stuff and do what I did half of 2010 and almost nearly all of 2011: Eat out with composure and sound choices and with JOY.
That makes 118 pounds off. Ticker reflects this as of...a minute or so ago. :) I am eager to cross that barrier to the 170s...so eager.
Food has been so easy this week. Hubby is out of town --boohooo--so I only have to worry about MY food. Which means...heck, easy-peasy. I do whatever is minimal, and I only go into the kitchen when hungry. This means I barely hit the kitchen. Yay! I don't lose 2 pounds in five days unless I'm eating less. So, yeah, I'm eating less. But it's cause I'm following my natural rhythm: Only go into the kitchen when I'm hungry or just before I think I'm about to get hungry (preventative meal-making).
When hubby returns, I have to be regular with cooking, make extra for his lunches/snacks. It makes me think of food more, have to eat more on a schedule. That means more eating.
I want to win the PowerBall and never have to cook again. I'll be 125 pounds that way. hahahahahhahaha!!!!!
joking, half-way. ; )
I remember when I was morbidly obese and hubby went on trips. I saw that as "Woo-hoo, let's order delivery like mad" time. Order a pizza with the toppings MY way, no compromise. Order lasagna and meatballs. Order Chinese binge-feasts.
Now, I'm a different gal. I didn't order delivery once. I fixed all my meals. They were focused on protein, veggies, fruit, nuts, good fats, with one deviation last night. I had a small portion of some leftover rice n beans, topped with salsa, alongside my home-made quickie-chicken-picatta and wilted spinach. Honeydew for dessert.
I actually could have not eaten at all on Tuesday--really had no appetite--but I always worry that if I go too long without, I'll get TOO hungry and set up a bingey thing. So, while I'll do intermittent short fasts (17 to 21 hours), I won't go longer. I guess I don't trust the binge-monster in me completely, even if I feel like a transformed person. Better safe than sorry.
I finished WHEAT BELLY, reviewed it at Amazon, and it firmed up my resolve from a few months back not to eat wheat/gluten. Hubby is on board, so it makes shopping/meals easier knowing he supports this. I know he's seen how it's done me good, and he sees how it's done him good, and why go back? His coworkers are frequently asking him what he's doing, cause they see he eats A LOT of food and has gotten radically slimmer. I think they see his three tupperware cooler of two-lunches and assorted snacks and wonder how he is so sleek, when he wasn't so sleek before. hahahah.
ETA for JoBee: People become dependent on bread/wraps/crackers/pasta because it's simple/easy/no brain. To ditch the wheat--stop thinking of any food as a lunch food or a breakfast food. Any food is okay any time. Chicken for breakfast. Eggs for dinner. Veggies for breakfast. Steak for a snack.
For hubby, to simplify, I cook extra at dinner. A lot extra. And then I can use extras for the next couple days. And right after supper, I might make scrambled eggs with ham or cheese or both and he nukes it for breakfast with fruit.
Breakfast: have eggs any way you like with veggies. Add fruit if you're not insulin resistant/diabetic. Or can't live without it. hah. Have leftover dinner food. Have any protein with any veggie and some healthy fats. My fave is veggie omelettes, usually with some cheese (feta, cheddar, swiss). I almost always have fruit. But I've had leftover chicken with spinach for breakfast. Hubby has had leftover buffalo chicken (I make it at home, no breading) for breakfast. He has turkey and cheese. He has leftover burger. As long as there's protein and some plant item, it's good. I cook his stuff in EVOO, butter/ghee, or coconut oil.
Lunch: I have to fix him two lunches, cause he gets too think since ditching gluten and most sugar. Here is one day's packed lunches/snacks:
Here's one "lunch set": There's grilled chicken with chopped carrots and diced celery over romaine; carnitas pork with rice and mozzarella cheese, applesauce, cashews; snacks include hummus/carrots, Larabar, dark chocolate square. He took his usual banana/apple in his workbag.
The above includes food from meals (leftovers). Grilled spicy chicken over yellow rice with a spinach mozzarella salad side; cheeseburger (sans bun) with asparagus (cooked in EVOO) with real mashed potatoes on the side (butter, cream); Snacks: Beanitos and salsa, cottage cheese with cantaloupe and strawberries, and there's dark chocolate under the bag of Beanitos. On top of this, he took an apple, a banana, and a bag of peanuts.
I stress that *I* can't eat like this. We tried totally grain free, and he dropped 5 pounds a week and was heading toward seriously UNDERweight. I added rice and taters back for him. I have them maybe 2x a week. I have metabolic issues he doesn't. But he has lost about 60 pounds from his highest weight.
I find salads are easiest: chopped cheese and turkey or chicken or ham or leftover steak or chicken or pork on top of greens with some veggies he'll eat (diced celery, broccoli slaw, shredded carrots). He's not got a big veggie vocabulary, but I do my best. :) He often has hummus with carrot sticks. I love using the Sabra single serve ones. Perfect for a snack. I also buy him Larabars (raw, gluten-free), which he enjoys. I can't eat them (too carby), but it helps him keep weight on these days. :D Cheese and nuts with crudite veggies and fruit can make a perfect no-cook meal. Breakfast can be non-sweetened yogurt with berries and nuts.
Just focus on protein/veggies as the spotlight, then add nuts, cheese, fruit (in moderation for those sensitive to sugars/carbs), seeds as accents, lots of nice spices. The starches that are safe and a allowed in our home--tubers, rice. For the non-carb-sensitive, gluten-free oats can be used. Use legumes if you aren't sensitive to them and they are properly soaked (although it's not Primal/Paleo, it's up to you. Dr. Davis gives the okay to moderate portions t keep glucose under control).
If you have any suspicion you might be wheat or gluten sensitive, if you have diabetes or insulin resistance (like moi), if you have a belly (ie, fat one), if you get cravings for wheat/gluteny products (that is, when you do your uncontrolled snacking, is is made of wheat or gluten-containing products, like crackers, pretzels, pizza, wraps, cookies, etc--or are you night snacking on roast chicken and spinach or honeydew and Manchego cheese?), if you have autoimmune conditions, or if you have low HDL/high triglycerides and dangerous small LDL that's HIGH--read the book.
The September 5th Woman's World magazine (your supermarket has it), gives a quickie overview and sample eating plan. But I recommend the book as he shows why wheat has been altered from its ancestral type. How it's not even the wheat eaten a couple generations ago. Different beast.
I'll eat ancestral wheat, should I come across bread made from it. I won't eat modern rejiggered/engineered wheat with its scary properties.
I don't need it, anyway. There's no nutrient in wheat that I can't get from the whole foods I eat, and in better form :) And I bet you don't need it, either. You might desperately want it. You just might be addicted to it. (And yes, he addresses that in the book, and if you have a loved one with schizophrenia or autism, you do want to read about the experiments in these areas with regard to wheat.) But that's all the more reason to assess your dependency on this not-benign grain and staple food.
So, that's my book recommendation for the week. WHEAT BELLY by Dr. Davis.
If you read it and try the program, really give it a good shot of at least 30 days, let me know how it goes for you.
Have a great Thursday, eat well, move well..be well.
Yesterday ended up better than it began. By my evening walk, I could up the pace. Breathing was nearly normal but nasal congestion, while improved, remained.
Make me wonder if the Pilates session did the respiratory good.
I will note that, so far, this summer has been MILES better than a couple decades worth of summers. I didn't need to cancel a whole month of exercise sessions. I didn't need nasal cauterization. I didn't rely on Nasonex (which I quit taking after the March onslaught, and usually start up again before August, to ready myself). I'm much less affected. I just got used to feeling GREAT on the non-crazy-allergy months, so I expect to feel and breathe great. The impediment this month, while frustrating, is nothing compared to summers past. Even the trainer commented on my improvement over the past 3 summers she's worked with me. Well, it's true. :)
I need to keep perspective. I am a whole, whole lot better. I am not dripping gobs of snot or needing to see an ENT or longing for Prednisone to put me out of my misery. :)
It's amazing to me after having years of being a "respiratory cripple", as I tagged it in the early 90s, when walking to the bathroom was enough to wind me, when I became often housebound, when I would have 6+ bronchitis episodes a year.
This is so much better. I guess I wanted to skip the bad altogether. To get a reprieve.
And I did. This is a reprieve. I will be thankful and not whine. :)
Today, to keep the motivation up, I spent some time in front of the mirror stark naked. And you know, I didn't mind it so much. I knelt on the bed and looked in the dresser mirror and thought, "Wow, if I hadn't gotten morbidly obese and had still done Pilates, my body would be amazing..." and then I thought, "But for an old dame who did wreck her body for 2+ decades, it's not bad. I kinda like that woman there."
My body would terrify a Hollywood starlet and it probably would disgust the shallow types who only see beauty in the perfect smooth slenderness of magazines...but me, I looked and thought, 'Yeah. I want to keep this. I don't wanna go back."
Hanging skin and droopy boobies and rippled butt and all, I had a woman's curves and some muscle and lean cool looking legs. This is my motivation today. To keep this and to do even better...to not lose what the hard war has won me.
I stayed in my challenge calorie counts yesterday. I exercised 75 minutes altogether. I drank all my fluids. I stayed away from starches. And while the scale didn't move down, I feel like I'm starting to get a grip again from the slippery slope. (fingers crossed) Onward...I don't lose heart or faith.
And to commemorate the re-commitment to MY own transformation today, a pic of me fitting into an old pair of "goal shorts". White shorts. With a white tank. I haven't worn white in..in..I can't remember. Fat people tend to avoid light colors. Well, this fat woman did. But here I am, all in white. These shorts are XL. I bought them back when I was 4x. They didn't go over my hips then. They do now--with room to spare:
My plate again has room to spare, too. Back to reining things in and not letting portion creep get me.
I wish I could eat like hubby and be on the verge of underweight like he is. Sigh. Men. So lucky. Can eat more than we do! Here's the "lunch and snacks" I packed last night for hubby --not including the breakfast I pre-made for him to nuke or the apple and banana he takes in his work-bag for his extra fruit snacks or the Larabar and nuts he keeps at his desk for emergency hunger:
Hubby's lunch for today...with snack..in his
EASY LUNCHBOX set, cooler not shown.
Today's lunch part 1: grilled chicken breast with 1/2 cup Mexican rice and a spinach mozzarella salad Lunch part 2: sirloin burger with cheddar, asparagus, mashed potatoes (real butter and cream) Snack: Beanitos with salsa, cottage cheese with strawberries and cantaloupe, dark chocolate square. Not showing: nuts, apple, banana, Larabar
Yes. That's his "lunch bag" contents. And he's on the border of underweight. (He lost 60 or so pounds altogether, half this year when he did the Primal experiment. Experiment cancelled. He dropped so much weight, I had to put starches back in the diet in the form of rice and potatoes, with the occasional legume (peas, those Beanitos now and then). He was turning into pure bones. Starch is fattening, so there you go. Eat the starches, keep from losing too much.
So, for you men who want to drop fat like mad, go Paleo/Primal. Hubby literally had to eat ALL DAY, snack ALL DAY, eat multi-meals to just keep weight on...and still got bony.
Grrrrr. This is so unfair. I want to eat all day long, too! hahahahahah
And for those, like me, who won't be reaching certain goals by Slimmer This Summer Challenge's end, don't ever give up and repeat this quote I got from Anne today:
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached,
don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.”
Anyway, be good to yourself with healthy foods and movement and be very, very happy today! It's your day for JOY!
And for believers out there having a hard time, going through the dark night of temptations and sorrow, this one's for YOU!
I am on increased meds, so excuse the rambliness of major proportions, should it show up. :)
This was an emotional week. A few reasons:
1. Since the weekend, the asthma/allergies have started getting worse. August is a notorious month for me (September, too). A month that often saw me in the emergency room in the past (before I became better controlled with a battery of Rx's), often saw me with bad sinusitis, bronchitis, nosebleeds, visits to docs, steroids,e tc. So, doing Pilates this week has been hard. I've even teared up today in frustration at not being able to breathe deeply or control my breathing. My walks have been at a slower pace (no sprinting or superwalking), because my respiration can't keep up. But I'm trying to stay active.
2, Sunday, the family (sans eldest sis who was visiting with ill relatives and friends) got together. Mood up. Tuesday was the first month marking of my nephew's death. Mood way down. Yesterday was the 13th anniversary of my father's death. Sad. But my sisters and I, and my niece (the one whose brother just died) and grandniece (her papa is the one who died) got together to put flowers at the cemetery and have lunch and talk. This was good. But there were some teary moments. And today is my big brother's (well, the youngest of the 3 big brothers) birthday. Glad he's alive and well (though he's asthmatic/allergic-sufferer, too, so we congest together). Up and down and up and down.
3. Appetite has been higher, no longer superzen. This is a combo of the stress from the breathing, the mood shifts, and who knows, maybe the extra fruits I'd been having since last week. Scale is still higher than my lowest weigh-in, and the lack of adequate sleep is making things worse. Oh, yeah, that does make me hungry, forgot that. Not sleeping. (This is partly the meds, partly the trying to shift to earlier hours.) It will sort out, but it means it's tough to portion meals and it's a struggle.
On the plus side:
~I'm still trying to move at a good level against the breathing odds. Makes me feel...powerful...to not give in. :D
~I'm not focusing constantly on the stressful negatives, but actively focusing on what's good and making "thanksgiving breaks" during the day when I focus on and thank God for the great stuff in my life. I am blessed in so many ways.
~While we ate out yesterday--at Ruby Tuesday's--I had salad bar (1 and a half plates of all the non-starchy veggies plus some egg and a couple tablespoons of the chopped ham for protein. Drank my water, decaf, iced tea. Kin had a fried/butter-drenched extravaganza. And when everyone else had the chocolate lava cake with ice cream and tiramisu, right in FRONT OF MY FACE, I didn't touch a single crumb/spoonful. I just sipped my coffee and averted my eyes when tiramisu flew around. ; )
~Been really tired, tired, tired in the evenings (lack of sleep, adrenal exertions from the meds increase), but still am fixing hubby his three bento boxes' worth of healthy lunches before I go to bed and making sure he has his breakfast stuff--which sometimes means scrambling his eggs ahead of time so he can nuke em warm, or making gluten-free hotcakes (he can have starch, since he's a metabolic burner!) with no-sugar homemade fruit compote, etc. He and I really love the EASY LUNCHBOXES system I got him last week and we started using this week. It's a positive, cause I'm keeping up with NOT caving to crap, even when exhausted. I force myself to the grocery store; I make myself make the lunches. I make sure we have produce galore. Big plus. Big lifestyle change from the gal who just would call for delivery crap when tired.
As far as the EASY LUNCHBOXES: a dream for us. Three boxes fit in the bag, and it zips and is easy to carry. Works great. He gets two meals and one box full of snacks (nuts, Larabar, hummus with carrot sticks, cheese n apple slices, etc.
I won a set from Katie J's blog (thanks, Katie!) and that should arrive soon. This way, we'll each have our own bento system, which is lovely, as when we have to take food for BOTH OF US to avoid temptations when out and about, that will simplify matters. And they have a great page with pics of REAL lunches and ideas. They do need more low-carb, Paleo, Primal, Gluten Free example pics! Maybe I'll snap one these days of hubby's threesome. ; )
No BPA. And though the lids are made for kids to be easy pop open (not Tupperware supertight), I just use rubber bands to secure stuff that might spill and use Press n Seal for when I use cottage cheese/yogurt/mooshy-smooshy-semi-solid--oozey stuff.
I have the bags in olive and aqua, and won a system with a dark red bag. The newest color is the pink, I think, and young girls, as we know, loveth the pink. With my three bags and 8 containers--and they have nice colorful lids--I'm REALLY set. I fill them at night, put the whole bag in the fridge, and hubby just has to grab 'n go in the AM when he's ready to head out for the office. Then he puts the whole bag in the fridge at work. :D EASY!
It's a great TOOL to make sure you think about what to eat and plan for balanced, healthful, non-crap meals. If you're a dieter who works, really, get some sort of brown-bagging or bento system. Makes things easier. And making stuff is as simple as cooking extra at dinner (or lunch or breakfast) and saving it for the next day. And some things I pack are so easy and don't require cooking for hubby: nuts, fruit, cottage cheese, salads with deli meat, etc. If you like yogurt, you can make a whole great snack in one bento, make your main lunch food in another, and not have to give in to office-crap temptations.
Speaking of stuff that makes lunches easier: Anyone try those gluten-free, no soy or assorted weird stuff alternate to regular sandwich wraps, PURE WRAPS? If you have, review it or link me up to your review of it. And where did ya get it? Thanks.
Anyway, if the weather is benevolent--and August/September in Miami is not the most benevolent of times for exercisers being outdoors--I will have my walk and that will make for almost 1.5 hours of exercise for the day. I may not be able to go all-out while I have congestion issues, but I can do something. And so can you!
I wish all my fellow fatfighters well today. If you're struggling like me to get back down the scale and find your full-behemoth mojo again, let's egg each other on. No quitting. Ever!
Okay, eating normally again. No weird cravings. No over-the-top appetite. Good. I like to be in this zone. Oh, and I want some more java. Mmm.
Anyway, I've been distracted by wanting to swim (pool not open for night swimming on Fri-Sun, bummer). Only a kiddie pool in my near future (ie, tomorrow's family get-together).
I am supposed to bring pico de gallo to the fajitas party. I plan to take fruit as well, maybe some other veggie/crudites, so I have enough of my own stuff to eat. I'll be taking my bathing suit for sun-fun. Maybe take a frisbee.
I've also been distracted by the new anime season. Summer animes on parade. So far, I've only gotten excited by Kami-sama no Memo-chou. It's got that "weirdly reclusive genius short girl who looks way younger than real age" with "normal nice boy" thing going like GOSICK, which I loved. I cried buckets at the bittersweet romantic ending last week. Sniff. Sniff. I was happy to see Kujo and Victorica end up together. Even if she looks all of 8. hahahah
Anyway, KamiChou (for short, and the title means Memo Pad of the Gods) has enough quirky characters and mystery stuff with weird-butt theorizing by said genius-girl to keep me happy. Plus, I'm all about the hikikomoris. I don't know why. Like my thing for albinos, I got a hermit/recluse thing. Maybe cause I've had my hermit-lifestyle issues. (Like not knowing my car got crashed into in the 90's until a neighbor told me I was at risk for a towing since it was damaged days before. My longest streak of not going outdoors was like 21 days without so much as stepping through the threshold.)
Plus I qualify as a NEET. So, there ya go. (If you never watched the faboo Higashi No Eden, which also featured NEETs, do so. Terrific anime and I enjoyed the follow-up OVAs as well.)
I will say that for lovers of Bishies, Uta no Prince-Sama (Princes of Song) has them galore. I'm all about the sexy Japanese voices, and that's the only reason I bothered trying this one's first episode. LOADS of Bishies, some very nice voices, and I like the total whack-job head of the school, former idol Shining Saotome. If all schools had ceremonies that entertainingly odd, students would be happier, I say.
Anyone who watches it has to have a high tolerance for cheesy J-pop boy band tunes, though. Like, um, the opening theme, highlighted as the track for this teaser:
The voice on the long-lighter-haired, tall, forelock across bridge of nose, "Prince-ish" rich dude is hot.
It's not gonna win any awards, I'm guessing. Animes based on SIM games usually suck monkey butt.
But, hey, voices/bishies/bad songs. One can have fun.
My fave in the "it's heartwarming and I loved the manga to start with" category is USAGI DROP. Oh, that manga made my heart go all peachfuzzy warm. And the anime is doing the same. They kept a nice sort of...tone...mood. The colors, the minimalist, air-filled feel of some scenes, some like a watercolor from a slice-of-life storybook. The emotion that is low-keyed in its depiction, but hits your heart like a bullet of condensed-humanity--that's my kind of stuff, too. I 'm not just about weirdos and over-the-top theories and big fights and such. I love emotion, real people-ish stuff, too. Man, I'm gonna get all weepy just thinking about how much I wanna adopt Rin myself! Sniff.
I also enjoyed NATUSUME YUUJINCHOU-SAN, and didn't realize this is a third season of an ongoing story. I liked the first episode for the atmosphere. There is this sort of level of nostalgia (the past plays a big part, yes) and burdens inherited from one's kin/parents/society. There is humor. Nice animation. Interesting spirit-beings. I'll have to check out the other two seasons FIRST, then catch up to this season. And after the awfulness of the UTA opening song, this off-key singing in the opening theme is kinda charming for its earnestness:
Didn't you just love the big White Mask spirit threatening the smaller ones? He's like a mix of a BLEACH Hollow and that plaintive spirit in Miyazaki's brilliant SPIRITED AWAY (my fave Miyazaki film). I totally fell into cute-love with the tiny teacup spirit who does a very beautiful (foreshadowed) thing. Made me feel heart-warm again (after Usagi Drop blasted my heart into the oven).
We're set up to watch episode 1 of Kamisama Dolls soon (and I heard it's weird, like "whoever did it was on crack" weird). I am willing to give crack-weird anime at least a look-see. :D I'm skipping the girl-love (YURU YURI) and boy-love ones (forget name), as the plots don't interst me, though I really enjoyed the humor and manga-environment of the best gay anime last season--which just finished a couple weeks back-- SEKAIICHI HATSUKOI.
I'm awaiting the upload of DANTALIAN NO SHOKA (girl, mystical library, etc). I'm all about libraries and supernatural stuff, fictionally speaking. This might be like a more supernatural GOSICK thing, or GOSICK meets TOARU MAJUTSU NO INDEX. We'll see. It's definitely one to look into. Also want to see No 6, as it's science fiction and I like the look of the trailer and the sound of the manlier voice, heh:
I'll be skipping the next Blood+ related one (BLOOD C), and I haven't decided about whether the France one (IKOKU something) will be up our alley.
I have seen nothing that's as wacky insane hilarious hooking makes me snort with glee as BEELZEBUB this season yet or as suitable for both me and hubby to watch as AO NO EXORCIST, but one can hope. I will definitely continue with USAGI and KAMI-CHOU. Beyond that, dunno.
But you can get an idea of what's coming here (and enjoy the breezy music from a past season of Kimi No Todoke, one of my fave school/romance/teen mangas-animes):
So, if you feel like munching or snacking or overeating.... Heck, distract yourself with some anime.
Be well, later, I have a summer season's worth of debuts to catch up on...
I finally hit new low ground after my freaky week: 189.4
Nice new territory. Haven't been here since, oh, 1991 or 1990.
I had a Japanese food craving, so I got some vegetable sushi. I had a plumcot and some cherries, too. And...my bad...steamed gyoza. Totally not primal or lower carb. Pffft.
Today, with one meal to go, I have 550 to 750 calories left, depending on if I go to 1200 or 1400. Between the soy sauce and rice and--drat me--dumplings, I might bloat again. If they're rice dumplings, I'm fine. If they're wheat flour, there's a price to pay (inflammatorily). I'll see how my joints feel come morning. Gyoza used to be a weekly treat for me. Now, maybe once every 3 or 4 months. Sometimes, you just get the call for a particular thing. Fortunately, these were tiny and had minicule amounts of meat. Hooray.
Or I may not. The body is weird. Who knows.
But I didn't get the BIG sleepies after, just some mellowness, which is a good sign that I'm less insulin resistant. Dinner will likely be protein plus salad fixings and fruit and decaf and water. I got some honeydew, and if it's sweet, that's dessert.
Water/fluids is fine. Had a great Pilates session. I could feel longer, leaner, stronger. Some days are just good. Breathing was not an impediment.
Had a 25 minute walk in the cloudy-post-rain coolness.
I was thinking as I ate my Japanese food today how I used to eat 3 and 4 and 5 times what I had today. I'd have fried rolls dipped in spicy mayo, salad with miso or ginger dressing, teriyaki, maybe tempura veggies, too, maybe some sushi, a cup + of rice, banana tempura. Now, I get a few pieces of veggie rolls or sushi, usually get some yakitori for protein, drink tea, have a small salad, call it a day. I saved today's salad. Maybe have with dinner or tomorrow.
Some days, when I want to eat more, I use the "It's not an option" phrase. Today, when I wanted more, I told myself another mantra of mine: "You can have it later. Or you can have it tomorrow. Just not right now."
I said it a few times, and eventually, the "full" signal gets to me and I don't need it. I only need it for those few minutes before all the food and stomach stretching from fluids/food sends the "you're done eating' signals. I guess I ate a bit fast or the rice and dumplings made the glucose/insulin thing go wackier than I'm accustomed (as I don't have starches every day) so the stop-eating signals didn't come as fast as they do on a lower carb/no starches (ie, usual) eating mode.
Sometimes, all you need to do is remember the next meal is not that far away.
When I binged, the feeling was, "I have to eat it now. It's hot now. It's fresh now. I want it now. NOW."
If at those "I want more" moments, I can just get in the mindset that takes the appetite into account and says, "Yes, you can have more. Next meal. Next snack. Next Day"...then I"m gonna be okay. It's not a flat no. Just a "later". For binge-ers, knowing there is a later for more food can be very calming when food is calling a little or a whole lot.
So, if food is calling....tell it: "Sure. Later. Not now. I'm done for now."
I had started feeling a shift in my mood lately, and waking up with that "it's cloudy and gray in my mind" sensation confirmed that my body is up to something chemically.
This might explain my jonesing for fruit and salty. Last night, I had gluten-free pretzels for a snack, and yes, totally processed crap, cause I wanted salt so bad. Dipped 120 calories worth in yellow mustard to satisfy the I WANT SOMETHING CRUNCHY AND SALTY RIGHT NOW urge, before it turned into something sinister and bingey. It's been harder staying under 1400 the last couple days (but I've done it), and it's all about wanting fruit (sweet) and salt. Just like my old depressed PMSing days.
I know there is a weight/mood connection. I know when I feel the lighter sort of blues--this is not all out depression, just that cloudy-gray melancholia thing--that I need to start being seriously attentive and preemptive or I might dip into a depression. I haven't been all-out depressed-depressed-clinically-depressed since end of 2007/start of 2008, and I haven't had a mood impairment of significance since over a year. It's been pretty clear-sailing for a long spell, for which I am grateful.
So, preemptively, I added something salty but protein/low-cal (Canadian bacon) along with something sweet and natural (cherries) to get that sort of sweet/salty thing taken care of first thing. Had my eggs with mushrooms and added herbs and onions for flavor, and added salt to the eggs. Just a bit. Normally, I don't. I got used to Mrs. Dash on my eggs months ago (round late January/early February), but I want to satisfy whatever the heck is in my chemical mess right now without resorting to Frankensnacks. I'd rather get it from a processed meat with protein than a processed low-carb weirdo food. Cherries are super-sweet and anti-inflammatory. My joints are a bit swollen, so two birds, one bowl of stone fruit.
Since I woke up with the melancholy flu, I put on praise music right off. I first put on more serious praise music, as it fit the mood--Rich Mullins' posthumous brilliant JESUS RECORD. It's still one of my fave Christian music albums. The songs are like these grittily gleaming gems with amazing lyrics and gifted musicianship. When Ashley Cleveland sings, "Jesus, write me into your story. Whisper it to me. And let me know I'm yours..."--I just tend to get these astonishingly strong feelings. It's my favorite song, along with MY DELIVERER, from a top-notch creative work. I prefer the disc where Rich doesn't sing--he sings only in the demos, which are moving in themselves--but where his friends and colleagues sing his songs in a tribute after his passing.
Here is one of the members of the Ragamuffin Band (Rich's band) singing "My Deliverer". I sing that chorus spontaneously on days when I feel at the end of my rope or just like I need a dose of uplifting hope and, above all, PERSPECTIVE, which this video gives a solid dose of:
"My Deliverer is coming; my Deliverer is standing by.
He will never break His promise; He has written it across the sky...
I will never doubt His promise, though I doubt my heart, I doubt my eyes...
My Deliverer is coming; my Deliverer is standing by..."
We all have to be "delivered" from something. Maybe you're lucky, and the only deliverance you need is from food addiction. Yes, that's being real luck. But we all need some delierance.
Anyway, after some songs--Rich's deep songs and David Crowder's louder modern praise tunes--I had perspective and less "grayness" and pensive sadness over the crap in the world and less anxiety about my future. Maybe not my usual cheer, but it was a lifting up of some kind. Perspective. One can't feel sorry for oneself when one knows the historical and currrent series of sufferings of others. My problems are so tiny, so very tiny, when viewed in the light of the REAL suffering of those in the video and in the Bible and in history and, heck, in my own hometown.
Praise is a healing thing. Perspective is a centering thing.
If you feel really down about something essentially minor or stupid, get over it. Life is gonna have hard times, and some people's hard times are horrible beyond imagining. I spent a good portion of my hour after waking praying for those in captivity (sex slavery and other forms of captivity). They know what suffering is. They know what hardship is. People dieting don't know squat. People who have lousy jobs don't know squat. People with relationship issues don't know squat. Having loved ones falsely imprisoned, your daughter sold into a brothel, your wife tortured, your son murdered, your body racked by an incurable and deadly disease. Those are real trials and suffering.
What most of us have on a daily basis just doesn't compare. So, we need perspective.
Wouldn't you rather be hungry cause you're not eating as much for the sake of weight loss than be hungry cause your farm was attacked by locusts or a rebel army? Yeah, thought so.
And if you are reviled--as some online will, due to stalkers or mean people doing their mean thing--it's trivial in the big picture. Dust yourself off, stand up, praise God that you can see, walk, eat, sleep under a sound roof (or any roof), have healthy kids, have a loving partner, have any job in an economy like ours. Be grateful. Sing a song of gratitude. Smile even if you feel like NOT smiling. Adjust your attitude.
I'm adjusting mine today. I won't let my biochemical wonkiness mess with this day God gave me. I choose joy and gratitude--even if it's elusive today. Even if I worry about hubby losing his job. Even if I worry about my sick sister and my recently hospitalized nephew. Even if I worry about growing old and sicker. I choose hope and joy and thankfulness.
So, say grace when you sit to eat your planned meal. It may not be a bingey feast like you may have had in the past, but it will be good health for you. Be grateful for the food on your plate, the clean water in your glass, the life you have, the life you WILL have...the dreams you can make come true.
Onto other things:
Calories: Okay, got 600 to 800 more calories left for my supper and possible snack. Should be fine. Hubby wants Thai, and for me, it's easy to get something on plan there. I like their chicken and avocado sushi.
Exercise: I'm sitting here in my workout clothes. Rain has curtailed my walking, but I went out for a very brief walk yesterday between showers. I hope today, I can do my full 30 to 40 mins. I'll do what I can. If not, then I'll dance. But I will move.
Prayer: Yes, you are being prayed for, fellow challengers. Please, stay in it. Even if you stumble. Let's stay in it all the way!
Bras: I got a shipment of Lane Bryant bras and undies (they had an online sale and I took advantage). The wirefree lace ones are REALLY comfy and have decent support. 38DDD. I could maybe have gone for 38DDDD (my usual), but they don't carry that. The underwire 38DDD had not enough cup room. I'll have to wait until I'm a 36 band, and they'll probably fit better. ; ) If you want a comfy, girly wirefree, check out the LB lace wirefree. Pretty cute.
Weekend Planning: Hubby and I have hit the Florida Supercon two years running. Prior to that, I was so heavy and out of shape, that I couldn't handle a convention. But Pilates helped me get through my first in 2009. Last year was a breeze, even walking constantly for 12 hours+. This year, as long as my knee holds out, should be even better, as I'm way smaller than I was last year in th 260s. Seventy+ pounds off makes a huge difference in stamina and flexibility. I hope there's dancing! :D I am looking forward to seeing if Bruce Boxleitner is as handsome in person. One of the hunkiest guys on TV ever! Commander Sheridan in Babylon-5 (one of my fave SF programs, I own the box set) and he looked pretty hot in TRON and SCARECROW AND MRS KING, too. :) Anya of BuffyTVS (Emma Caulfield) is gonna be there, too. I go for the SF and anime/manga/Japanese culture/art stuff. My hubby goes mostly for the gaming/anime stuff. We have fun. :D Don't expect much blogging again this coming weekend.
So, I gotta plan for my eats. I know they always have chicken Caesar salads and usually some kind of fresh fruit. I'll have breakfast before going, take one of my all natural sticky-bars (sort of like a fruit/nut composite trail mixy thing) and plan to have tea, water, coffee, and the chicken salad for lunch, maybe dinner, too. Not sure how to work dinner. If I have to, I'll just do the protein/salad/fruit thing twice. The most important thing is to stay very well-hydrated, or I will get hugely hungry. I gotta make sure to guzzle water and avoid the Pocky vendors. ; ) I have a weakness for Coconut Pocky.
Okay, gonna go and enjoy some French Press decaf and get in more water with it.
I wish you all a joyful, thankful, healthful day. Be well...
Very nice. That's like a 1 pound whoosh in one day. Hope it's not me seeing mirages or something...heh. I'd love to make it to 191.4 for Sunday, but that's rather optimistic. To make challenge goal, I'd need to make it to at minimum 192.0 and better 191.8 (for 1.5 pounds a week rate). I can make it as long as I don't...fudge. I'm most concerned about reduced movement. I do not doubt the good whoosh is a combo of that hour of exercise and the cutback on calories.
I had a very light supper. My appetite that had spiked a bit calmed down some yesterday, and the few temptations were easily batted away. A look at yesterday re challenge goals:
Today: I did feel as if there are some changes going on in my body. Been noticing it a couple days now. I look in the mirror and something in the...lines...have changed. Waist is an inch down from yesterday...really? Hip measurement is down, too. The lower belly fat is reducing. My belly hangs LOW...and losing in the hips is more like losing in the gut for me...
I'm still stunned waist budged that much from yesterday!It's 36 inches, not 37. How does one lose an inch overnight?
Knee still "snappy" and the bruises are an unflattering green. I iced some more yesterday and used a bit of compression (brace) while I was walking around making supper. I used some arnica gel, too, from the health food store. I am still a bit stressed that I can't go do my usual walk, but patience is called for. Been taking extra vitamin C and some vegan glucosamine, and just...well...having calm thoughts, healing thoughts....
So, Father's Day. This is gonna be a temptation time for many of us. Yesterday, the Zevia I ordered arrived and I will be taking a couple cans to drink (one cola, a grape or cherry). This will give me the "feast" feeling, as I don't do soda much anymore. Zevia is fizzy and sweetened with erythritol and stevia (not aspartame or sucralose). I got ginger ale for sis to try (not my thing, Ginger Ale).
I plan to take some sugarfree chocolate for my treat and a caprese salad with either pesto or balsamic (haven't decided, maybe both). Also, some of that grassfed organic beef I ordered from Idaho a couple months back. I need to defrost today so I can marinate overnight Saturday. Brother wants steak on the grill and, hey, that's fine with hubby and me.
I may take some sugar-free, low-carb ice cream for hubby as my brother is making homemade mango and coconut ice cream--he makes amazing frozen stuff from real fruit, just like our dad used to--and hubby has been eschewing sugar. (Miracle. He used to be the sugar-vacuum.) He likes fruit or unsweetened Ghirardelli cocoa powder on top.
My plan is to stick with protein and veggies (grilled and salad types) and have my sugarfree treats to ward off the temptation for the sugary ones that may strike.
It's about family anyway. I won't be able to play, like I like to (catch or frisbee or whatever), but we can play board games and talk about the "good old days" when our parents were alive. It's about FAMILY, not food. Food is just an adjunct to familial love.
Family isn't around forever. Years pass, we get old, loved ones die. Enjoy your holiday and let food just be an accent, not the focus. Make plans. Make plans for how to sidetrack, avoid, exile the off plan or trigger foods.
The challenge applies to Father's Day, too, because every year for the rest of our lives, temptations will arise. If we want to get to goal and stay there, we have to learn to handle it NOW and never let food be the "big deal" on holidays. The big deal..is the people.
And here's a photo that I saw on Caroline Jhingory's site to help motivate you (and me) to stick to it this holiday weekend:
The gorgeously fit Ms. Ernestine Shepherd...
senior citizen and bodybuilder! Wow!!!
I have had issues with the Food Pyramid for a long time. I don't think it's that easy to grasp. I also think it's not for everyone. Anyone with Celiac Disease or Insulin Resistance knows that we have issues with grains and/or starches/sugars.
But, finally, they're saying adios to Pyramid in favor of Plate. Plate is easy. Plate is a concept anyone can grasp, from a school age kid, maybe even PRESCHOOL, to the seniorest citizen on oxygen and multiple meds. We eat off plates. We GET plates.
Karen O knows, as do I, as do those who read REFUSE TO REGAIN, the author (Dr. Barbara Berkeley) recommends PLATE PATTERN: Your plate be 1/4 lean protein source and 3/4 fruits and vegetables. As an I.R./Metabolic Syndrome/PreDiabetic diagnosed person, that's actually the ideal way for me to eat. Most meals are pretty darn close to that, though I do use dairy.
...a simple, plate-shaped icon, which is sliced into portions for basic food groups - fruits and vegetables take up half the space. The plate symbol will be announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday.
...
The fruit, vegetables, grains and protein sections are colored individually. There is a small circle next to the place for milk, yogurt or other similar products.
Teaching people not some fuzzy concept in a pyramid, but showing them, "This is what your plate should look like" is a GREAT idea. Whether people will or won't, well, you can bring a horse to water, yadda yadda. But with a portioned plate, no one with a functioning brain can say they don't GET it.
Advocates of fresher foods, clean eating, wholesome diet, local and organic natural eating, etc, will rejoice. But some manufacturers are gonna have a hard time fitting themselves on the plates. As Dr. Berkeley writes:
But this easy formula presents a problem for the people who process and package foods. Where do cereals, all that soy stuff, all those crackers and breads and bagels fit in? What about those nice fatty steaks that come from the CAFOs where they stuff cows full of grain? What about premium ice cream, candy and cake? What about all those corn based products (corn is a grain, not a vegetable)? The answer is simple. They don't fit in, so they need to be relegated to the Itty Bitty Consumption category. But companies that make millions producing these foods are not interested in itty bitty sales.
The Food Plate, with modifications for our dietary issues--no gluten, limited starches (potato, sweet potato, some rice, especially for hubby who has a hard time keeping weight on once we gave up most starches, fewer for me)-- suits us pretty much. We've moved to a more whole foods, clean foods, organic foods, natural meats, veggie and fruit profile. I've given up, for the most part, the canned and boxed goods I used to rely on for convenience. I shop the outer perimeter of the grocery store--dairy, eggs, poultry/meat, produce, nuts, nut butters (I get the organic refrigerated ones from Whole Foods that are in the produce section from local Glaser Organic Farms, yum). I order my coconut oil and true cinnamon online. I order our toilet paper (Green Forest, recycled) online.
I only need to visit the inner aisles for EVOO, spices, seasonings, tomato sauce/paste, paper products, water/beverages. I spend very little time in the frozen section. Pretty much only need to get frozen fruits (for smoothies) and veggies (for convenience) and the occasional sugar-free frozen treat.
Plate Pattern or Food Plate--easy to grasp, right?
And honestly, when I adhere to Plate Pattern, I lose or don't gain.
When I broadly deviate from my R.D. plan--which mirrors Dr. Berkeley's Plate Pattern, in that the emphasis is on lean proteins, lighter on fat, heavy on produce-- I stall and gain.
I have deviated--too much protein and fat, not enough measuring-- and am stalling. Transgression are paid for, be they legal or food. I gotta get back to PATTERN and PLATING.
Do you like the Food Plate or Plate Pattern?
What's your plate look like these days?
I think the sleep disturbances and the higher salt yesterday are messing me up. I have found in the past--through blogging and weighing and analyzing--that when my sleep goes into the dumps I stall or gain, and when my sleep messes up, I crave salt. I have no idea why there is this connection. Maybe one of y'all out there know. But when I sleep poorly, I gravitate towards the salty.
I slept semi-crappy, and have only had two good sleep days this week--and yes, the turmoil in my mood and stress in my brain is contributing to this, but I also need to get me a new, more coddling mattress. I feel like someone stuffed a bunch of cotton into my cerebrum. Like I'm stupid. My husband has had to repeat stuff to me. I watch a program on tv and have to ask my husband what just happened cause I zone out.
Sleep is important!
I found a book I promised to review (and then lost in my clutter), and it's about MASTERING YOUR SLEEP, so it's time for me to sit, read, and see what I can apply. I am doing too well and a too happy with my current physical changes to have crap sleep and mood and stress sabotage me. Ain't gonna happen. I am putting on my warrior garb and fighting this until I'm sawing away in dreamland with sweet rest.
I worked on mood a bit yesterday, reading encouraging stuff, praying, and FORCING cheerfulness. If you suffer from depressive issues, you know that the last thing you want to do is...be active or be cheery. But since the brain is a mysterious thing and, whether properly shown in studies or not, facial expression CAN have a reaction to mood, I decided to smile up a storm, force laughter, watch comedy and otherwise fight the hell out of the lil blue aura around my head. I am not WORSE for it, so I will continue to experiment with that. A cheerful face until it revives my normally cheerful heart. A positive thought plan until my optimism and positivity are unforced and natural.
May sound nuts, but if it works, don't care. :D
BREAKFAST:
I have become a creature of diet habit when it comes to breakfast. For me, eggs, veggies, fruit and coffee seem to be what works best for me to control hunger for hours and hours and to make me feel like I had stuff that was emotionally, visually, and mouth-satisfying. I like the colors, the textures, the flavors. So, for me, it's almost a given I'll make a veggie omelette (with cheese usually, and usually egg-white, though occasionally I'll use a whole egg), make fresh gourmet coffee (black and sweetened), drink lots of water, and have (optional, but usual) some fresh fruit. My fruit choice is usually papaya with lime squirted on it. My allergies like its decongestant properties and my tummy likes the enzymes. (I used to suffer from GERD. Not so much now.)
Today, I wanted to do something different with my egg/veggie things, so instead of an egg-white omelette , I took two boiled eggs and 1 additional boiled egg white, made an egg salad out of it with dijon mustard, lite mayo, chopped celery, chopped carrot, chopped scallions, and paprika. I spooned it into little endive leaves Had to chop off a lot of the endive as it was, sadly, not in the most beautiful shape at the bottom. Tops were fine and crunchy. I made a mini salad of the leftover little endive center bits and cucumber, added a small bit of homemade dijon vinaigrette (EVOO, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, pepper, stirred up). It was fun. :) I still perfer omelettes, but this was a nice change and looked PRETTY on the plate! I served some papaya with lime on the side (see pic). I also took a fiber supplement with Chromium and my multivitamin. Total calories: 369 per Sparkpeople tracker. (27 carbs, effective carbs 16g after subtracting fiber, and 19g protein).
That may be too many carbs for the low-carbers out there, so if you want to try it, of course, just leave out the papaya or have 1/2 cup instead. Or just some blackberries. :) I love enjoying the blackberries this month. So nummy!
Here are pics of a couple of typical breakfasts from this month, as well as today's.
Broccoli slaw and onion omelette with side of garlic mushrooms and blackberries
Greek Omelette (feta, peppers, tomato, onion, fresh oregano leaves) with spinach and mushrooms saute (EVOO) and papaya
Egg Veggie Salad, Cucumber salad, papaya
I ended up not working out at all yesterday. Dang. I felt like such a sluggard. Today, I am gonna use a Pilates DVD (since I missed it yesterday) and do my walk (if the weather permits). I think rest days are great, but two in a row is me risking going back to old, lazy ass ways. Can't let it happen. My quads are still quite sore. I find that even when all we do is a couple spurts of "All out, run for your life" half to a block long sprints (I wouldn't risk much more due to crappy knees), because I really GO GO GO for it, my quads will be sore the next day. I also did a few push-ups Wednesday (I still can't do them PROPERLY, which makes me nuts), so my shoulders/arms feel it a bit, too. Can any of you ladies to 5 or 10 all out proper push-ups? I know some do (Dr. Fatty does oodles in TKD). But even when I was a skinny kid, I had no fricken pull-up or push-up ability. I could do all sorts of stuff the was lower body with ease, but chin-ups were beyond me, even as a normal weight teen.
One of my goals is to make it to 10 real push-ups by my birthday next year. Is that realistic? Dunno...but it's a goal! No modifications. REAL push-ups. The Princess' Push-Up Proposition.
Have you set a fitness goal for your next birthday? What? Tell me!
So, I had to set my alarm to weigh-in for P5, since I'm a nite owl and don't normally wake up by noon (unless I have Pilates, in which case I wake up between 10:30 and 11:00). I sent off my official rounded number to A as 204. (On my scale at 11:53 am, it was 203.8.) 2 lbs off officially for the challenge.
I went back to bed. I got up when I got up normally, and I weighed in to see what just getting my extra few hours of sleep did: 203.4 I used this number for my sidebar update.
I did my bathroom thing after that: 203.0
That would have made it 3 lbs off for P5, had I had full sleep and a poo. Snarf.
In any case, an excellent week's loss. I'm 3 lbs away from 200. I'm 4 lbs away from 100 pounds lost. Making progress.
I'm about to have some nice fresh java and ask hubby to do another round of PlayWalking with me. Tonight's chicken breast should be defrosted, and I'm gonna cajun it up, prolly. Or, if hubby wants Italian, I'll make zucchini spaghetti to go with it, a bit of spinach, mushrooms and maybe broccolini. We're gonna have a green meal.
Enjoy your Sunday, and this is a whole new week to make more weight loss and fitness progress. Let's go!
So close to being in another "decade". Argh. Can taste it!
I rested yesterday to give my heat rash a break. Have one welt that is still crazy itchy and really pink, but I'm easing off using too much of the steroid cream. I'll grin-some and bear-it-some and see.
I was hoping EVERYDAY PALEO would be on its way to me next week, but when I went to order it (yeah, didn't preorder), it was out of stock at amazon. It was not available for Kindle or Nook. And my local B&N (I called) didn't have it.
Hubby and I are moving towards fewer (in his case) to nearly no (in my case) grains and legumes and sugar, and Paleo/Primal/Primarian dishes fit that profile. It's easy enough for me to add some rice or potatoes or bread to his meals when he wants that, in lesser portions. I just mostly skip them altogether. And that's really easy for breakfast and lunch (as my dietitian's meal plans are quite happy with me having eggs/veggies and protein/salads for those meals.) I do watch portions, measure, and don't go nuts with the fats.
It seems to be a sustainable diet (Primarian is what I'm doing with dietitian recommendation, /Paleo/Primal inspired sorta, but with dairy allowed as well as sugar free treats allowed), that maybe I can use on maintenance. I'm learning more and more about it NOW, cause when maintenance comes, I wanna be armed and ready. (Remember, target and weapons from that Warrior book?) I gotta get my weapons in a row.
And if a diet/eating plan is not sustainable, what's the point? If you can't KEEP eating in a way to maintain weight loss, why did we even bother to lose any weight? Right?
So, for me, I'm finding ditching most of the starch is not as onerous as I once thought it would be. (I had tried South Beach when it first came out and ATKINS shortly before, and hated doing both. I simply defaulted to a lot of processed, easy, low-carbing, and that isn't tasty). Primarian and Paleo/Primal IS tasty. This is hugely important.
It's dinner when I tend to crave starches (ya know, pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, yuca). The only starch I really miss at breakfast is oatmeal, and once in a while a nice bit of toast. Otherwise, I'm fine with veggie egg white omelettes or scrambles (or whole eggs occasionally) with fruit and java. Makes me feel good. Lotsa energy. No weird afternoon energy crashes since I ditched most (nearly all) starches.
I joke about how we don't binge on broccoli, but last night, I wanted to. I had two cups of steamed broccoli lightly sprinkled with parmesan, and it was so amazing, I wanted more and more. No, I didn't have more and more, but I WANTED TO JUST EAT buckets of the stuff. I didn't have any dessert or treat (sugar free or otherwise) last night. Just my unsweetened tea, broccoli, chicken, asparagus, and some carrot puree soup. I was happy. And happy with the scale. Yes!
Today's breakfast was my standby egg white omelette with organic spinach, mushrooms, onions and some Jarlsberg Lite Swiss and fresh papaya with squeezes of fresh lime juice, water, coffee. Satisfying.
I have leftover chicken for supper. Probably just throw some veggies next to it--maybe artichoke hearts and a broiled tomato-- or throw it on a salad. Not sure. I have it all spiced up with Shawarma spicing and may garlic it up even more. (Loooove garlic) If hubby wants a starch, he'll get some potato, likely.
I want to have a nice brisk cardio-walk with him later, when it's cooler, cause I don't wanna go another day without moving. Hopefully, the rash won't get all riled up again.
On to Sunday's weigh-in. Fingers crossed I can stay away from the sodium (that'll mess up a weigh-in but good) and report more than 1 lbs. I've lost 1.4, but I have to ROUND the number....If I lose a fifth of a pound or more by tomorrow, I can report a 2 lbs loss (rounded). And hey, if my body wants to be freaky and actually lose .6 of a pound, that'd be super. No rounding needed.
I hope your Saturday is going well and you're eating well and you're moving well and you're FEELING WELL!
My official weigh-in for Phase 5 Sunday was 215. Stasis as far as the official number. A .2 lbs gain from last week's weigh-in. I'm plateaued.
When I plateau, I look at what's going on and if there is a fixable issue, I work on it. Here's what's going on:
I am using steroid creams (rash), increased my inhaled steroids (asthma, allergies), am using steroid eye drops (allergies), and added steroid antifungal ear drops (ear infection from, yes, allergies). While this is not the same steroid load as when I routinely took prednisone (egads, that sucked monkeybutt), it is absorbed into my body and it's coming from various sources (eyes, ears, skin, lungs, nasal lining). I suspect this is part of what's causing me issues.
I am also just fighting the multiple inflammatory processes that just sprang up like demons heading for spring break on my body.
Because I had some days when I just could not fathoming exercise, due to, well, not breathing much, I exercised less last week.
I'm starting to feel some relief. My rash is not driving me ubernuts with itching and scaliness. My ear pain is reduced. My nose is slightly less congested. My bronchii are a bit better, although when I exert too much, it induces an attack (which when I'm fine and dandy is not an issue unless I do stuff like, well, sprinting or superhard no-rest kind of stuff).
I want to see a loss this week. I intend to see a loss this week. So, I'll be hoping my body stops vexing me.
Meanwhile, to not lose motivation or hope or get frustrated and do something stupid (like, yes, binge), I am going back to basics. As many of you know, as you go along on an eating regimen of lower calories, you develop a number of set, useful, controlled meals--yeah, I do have set repetitive meals, meals I have measured, gotten used to, prepare quickly, are on my R.D. plan, and are no-brainers, like my veggie-egg whites plus fruit breakfast or my roast chicken breast with lightly sauteed or steamed veggies and herbs-- and I stop measuring event hose cause, well, you get used to it. I think it's those situations prone to portion creep. So, back to MEASURING and WEIGHING even the usual meals.
Today, it was that-- back to measuring. This is just to reinforce the habit of portion control once more.
I had gotten slack with journaling. I'd do maybe a few days out of the week. Not all. Again, this is something we tend to do when we're used to smaller meals and sort of eyeball what's on the plate.
Today, it was back to SparkPeople. Back to putting in every bite and spoonful and cupful and pat and sip.
I had NOT felt like blogging. I hadn't much felt like visiting blogs or commenting.
Today, I made sure to read some fellow fatfighters, comment on some blogs, and now do my blog post. I do think the staying in a blogging habit is a way to focus the mind ON THE GAME. Motivation can flag too easily. I don't want to flake.
My chest still feels like there's a critter sitting on it. But it's not a tiger anymore. It's a fat cat. So, me and the fat cat will be walking...
I went to Pilates and had a hard time in some positions (for asthmatics, sometimes it's hard to push the air OUT..and it sort of gets stuck, and more fresh air can't really get in, and this is a bad thing, yes). But I pushed on. Talked to the trainers about my plateau, and one recommended more cardio. I mentioned that for me, it's a very fine line between enough cardio (which makes me feel invigorated and energetic) and too much (which makes me crazy hungry and a bit grumpy). For now, I said, I'll wait a bit and see if things move. If they don't, then I'll consider increasing by 5 minute increments or slightly increasing pace, and see. All of it is a "let's see" for me. Don't wanna make things worse--not the breathing, the bad knees/ankle, or the appetite.
Next point: Weighing. I like to do it daily to keep tabs on my fluid retention.
I'm afraid if I get on the scale too soon and don't see it budge, I'll do something immature and stupidbutt like freak and head in 1 of 2 bad directions: 1. go on a whey fast and not eat real food for a week just to see movement on Tanita-san or 2. stuff my mouth full of whatever crap is handy just to quell the brain turmoil.
I'd rather just wait a few days or wait until the official weigh-in day and not precipitate some crazy dieter reaction. I'm not prone to crazy reactions often. But it has happened. I'm too happy being binge-free for 3/4 of a year+ to do anything to sabotage myself. So, my scale junkie needs to chill.
Next Issue: Affirmations-- I still like to rah-rah myself. But I've slacked off. My mood hasn't been as cheerful and beautiful due to being sick. So, today, I rah-rahed. and I'm gonna be doing a lot of the pom-pom waving to get the psychological circulation up and revved. I sometimes feel really stoooopid affirming myself, but I figure it's part of keeping the right mindset. So, I do it. Feeling stoopid is a small price to pay for preventing slippage into Gloom and Doom Town:
I can do it! This is not bigger than me. My body will respond!
I am strong! Stronger than fat! My appetite serves me, not me it! I rule!
I plan to reread parts of my fave books--poetry, dieting, self-help, spiritual--as a way to keep my spirit up. I enjoy JOY too much to let sickness or a plateau take it from me.
I really do believe that proper actions will and must eventually yield positive results. I'm gonna reinforce basic good habits that got a bit lax as the challenge went on (measuring, journaling, affirmations) and not let this hyper-reactive immune system of mine roadblock me. Ain't gonna happen.
My eyes are on a prize, and that prize isn't NYC with the Kleins and a Christmas Tree....my eyes are on the number 186. The number at which I won't be obese anymore.
So, screw the plateau! I'm lighting fires left and right and this fat old antiquated barn is gonna burn down to a sleek modern cottage with WiFi and craftsman details.
The Princess will not be deterred...and this fat is gonna lose the siege...and this Challenger is gonna win, if not the DDDY-P5 prize, the war...
Update: Back from walk. 32 mins at a nice clip. Lovely evening with a wispy shy smile of a moon. Gorgeous sky and breeze. Happy! See, this is great for mood issues! A sweet breeze, a gentle moon, the rustle of palm trees, the fragrance of gardenias...how could I be grumpy? Sparkpeople says that my bkfst/lunch/snack have totaled 850 cals. That leaves 350 for supper. Okay. Doable! 4 more glasses of water to go to reach my fluid requirements for the Challenge. So doable. I'm off...nitey....
Update 2: RUBY is annoying me like nobody's business. I wanna slap her. And then I remember it's a reality show no longer in it's first season and she's probably used to the attention of all those trainers and counselors and camera folks and is becoming more of a diva....or she wants to create fake drama for ratings. Whatever. She's a whiny pain. Someone please remind her how fortunate she is to be making a good living from people helping her get healthy and slimmer! How many of us get multiple trainers and plush locations in which to work out? I'd have loved to do that obstacle course on the beach, even with my crap knees and bad ankle. It was a specially created course for her, with professionals begging her to try, and she just bitches and says they're mean. Oh, please. Spoiled brat is what she is. She needs to listen to her show's theme song a few times: "I can if I think I can...I can!" Lately, she's a lot of "I can't." And I wonder, really wonder, if it's fake/acting for conflict for viewers? Or is she really just a brat?
I may stop watching the show altogether....or I may continue to see if RUBY looks around, realizes the shining moment she's been given to get healthy and slim, and grows the F up, stops whining, and finds her inner warrior at last.
Right back where I was last weigh-in on Saturday. So, the overage is gone and it's time to make progress. I honestly don't know any reason other than salt or muscle-inflammation from some extra walking/sun/exercise. (I do have an itchy heat rash since Hatsume fair...too much sun for this photosensitive/heat-intolerant gal.) But, back down and hoping I can report some dang loss this weekend to the fearless leader. I have been eating like an angel, so I had better see some result other than clothes/tape measure. :D
I'm gonna be on a bunch of topics today, since I may be out and about tomorrow and my sister's birthday party is Sunday.
Big Sis is Catholic and does no meat at all for Lent, so my niece is making a "mini Thanksgiving" with roast turkey and fixings. I will bring healthful stuff and I can go to town on turkey breast. Yeah! I may take some broccolini, as I'm currently addicted to it.
I love it with dinner protein and I love it with breakfast eggs/egg whites/omelettes. OMG, cooked up with a scosh of EVOO and some garlic and herbs, and that baby makes an egg white omelette SING! With onions (sweet) and mushrooms (baby bella, organic) and some Mrs. Dash extra spicy and original blend and a bit of garlic/herb blend (I love Mrs. Dash stuff now)...it makes my morning.
I have learned that it pays to make EXTRA veggies for dinner and just bag the leftovers to use in omelettes in the AM for a couple days. Do the same in restaurants. Get extra steamed or roast or grilled veggies and dump 'em in morning eggies. Simplifies life, adds nutrients, filling, fiber...flavor!
So, I'm happy. Energy is great. I feel...NOT OLD (and I like that feeling, until my knees remind me otherwise). Put on some Buck-Tick and then some Benjamin Gate (one cd is after the other on the carousel) and just danced for a bit before and during making breakfast. I had my new bra on (went down a size, so got 3 new bras yesterday) so the puppies were nice and comfy as I bounced around on bare feet. I felt...so good. :)
All that talk about how exercise and eating well makes for energy: It's not bullshit. Seriously, I have not felt as good as I do this year...in 2+ decades. I'm 51 and feel like I'm back in my late twenties, energy-wise. My husband is happy cause he has his "young wife" back... in terms of my energy, enthusiasm, laughter, and sex drive. (Vavoom!)
You wanna feel young again: eat well and exercise. It will astound you how you'll feel after a while. Amazing.
I do get stuffier on my walks these days. Miami is in allergy season. At this time of year, for decades, I'd get sinusitis/bronchitis. Since I started eating better and exercising, I don't get 6+ cases of bronchitis/sinusitis a year anymore. I haven't had bronchitis since...um...late fall of 2009. (Knock on wood.) But I still take my inhaler and tissues on my walks. My nose will stuff up from the pollens, so I will have to restart Nasonex (which can give me nosebleeds when used regularly, so I take seasonal breaks.) I do take my Advair daily, Serevent, Zyrtec (actually, started using the Kirkland generic, ALLER-TEC, and it works great for a fraction of the price, recommended), nasal saline rinses..daily..part of maintenance. My immune system is messed up...hyperreactive..so these are necessitities. But I function. Amen. Thank you, God, for science.
And so, here I am walking last night (with tissues in hand). Hubby is carrying my inhaler in his pocket, otherwise that would be in my hand, too:
Night-Walking with my faboo ASICS and DanskinNow top and Danskin Plus Capris
Last topic: If someone you know/like/love asked you for advice on how to get onto the losing weight bandwagon, and they said keep it simple, 3 tips they might use right away...what tips would you give? What gifts would you consider giving them to help?
I may post tomorrow on the tips I'd give (or Monday, not sure), but I'd like to hear what you would offer as the 3 simplest, most effective or helpful tips or gift for an obese loved one or colleague....advice or a gift basket or some creative way to get them going that incorporates the tips/strategies. How would you do it?
Okay, enjoy your Friday, a lot! (I wanna see SUCKER PUNCH, myself!)
Hubby took a pic of me last night at Jerusalem Restaurant. It's a kosher place where a lot of orthodox and Hasidic Jewish families go to eat Middle Eastern, Italian (including really good kosher pizza) stuff. Since they do dairy, no meat natch. But you can get assorted salads and things that I don't order there (knishes, the "pareve" fakey meats, etc). We went Saturday evenings (about 10pm) and the post-Sabbath crowd was there. (They get busy when they open after sundown.)
We were the only non-Jewish folks there last night, and Charles got some looks from the very young boys (with the forelocks and yarmulkes) cause he didn't have his hair covered. The wives wear the wigs, and all the females wear sleeves and long skirts. I'm used to it. My brother lived in Brooklyn where there is a large, large community of Jews who keep traditional garb and kosher. And I've eaten at this Kosher place since hubby and I were newlyweds (and seen ownership change hands a lot, with quality bobbling from excellent when we started going to not-so-good to okay and around again).
One guy sported one of those impressive big fur hats (I don't know what critter the fur came from, and PETA would have a conniption, but it is beautiful fur, dark brown and silky, like the one in THIS PIC, only darker and prettier, really, as if it was new and a really good critter died for it) and a satiny overcoat with a black-on-black pattern.
(There was this place I used to love going to, a kosher Mexican place 5 minutes' drive away--though they are no longer kosher and we've stopped going since the quality went downhill--where you could get meat, but not dairy, so it was soya "cheese" and "sour cream" on the tacos/fajitas/burritos/etc. But the stuff was delicious and the meat so nice. One time we went during Hanukkah and got free one of those jelly donut things from a traveling group of Hasidim driving a HUGE HUGE mennorah with electrified "flames" lit up to the appropriate day. Loved those jelly donuts! And the good cheer. Everyone was celebratory.)
I must look like a total Jezebel ho to them with my decolletage and red lipstick and snug jeans, but really, I'm not. I'm a good girl. :) Here's one of the pics hubster took:
I was clearly having a good day, yes? And how much do I love this teal color?? One of my fave colors ever, but hard for me to find stuff that fits me in this color. Hard to find this color, period. (Edited to add: I notice uploaded on my 'puter, it looks less teal and more royal blue. Whatever...love it. Rich color and with my almost black hair, it's killing it!)
And here's my Valentine's Day gift from hubby:
Yep. He got his hair highlighted. He has (naturally) dark kinda-mousy blonde with silver (age will do this). He once gave me his hair all blonded up (golden wow-factor blonde) in 2007 as an anniversary gift. Big surprise. I loved it. He got oodles of compliments. Strangers gave him the eye; one woman at the airport told him he was very handsome. He didn't get that attention with dark/mousy blonde. People are weird. He's always been hot! Heh. He let it go natural for a spell. Yesterday, he came come lightened up. I love it. He's got the Germanic/Hungarian pink-cheeked coloring and hazel eyes to carry off blonde.
Now my hair's darker, his is lighter....nice contrast, yes?
Okay, it's date night...so I gotta go get ready. It's nice to feel not "out of control". The hunger of a couple days ago has taken another vacation. I was at my brother's yesterday, and was able to eat maximum 250 cals even with much temptation (rice and beans, pumpkin soup, bread and butter, chocolate). I took fruit, my snacks, and just ate the lean protein available. Made my own decaf and decaf green tea. Went fine. :)
Wishing you a really beautiful Sunday free of FF and full of cheer and health and good company (cause love is a lot more than just romantic love). Valentine's Day is for lovers and those who are loved in all sorts of ways... imo. Enjoy it!
