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.
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!
If you've never read Japanese manga online before, you read it right to left, top to bottom. You can click on the page to go to the next one, or hit the "go right" arrow on your keyboard.
This is a two-part story in a series of often dark stories about teens. Madness (transient or otherwise) or surreal escapist fantasies or skewed perspectives figure in many. The author weaves the characters into a very cool finale, complete with an unnatural natural disaster and "new day" sorta hope. It's an ending that lets them...fly...sorta...
In The Sweets Empire, a gal loses a lot of weight in order to confess her love to a boy in her class who favors thin beauties. But she's derailed by ONE spoonful of a sugary treat snuck into her mouth by a mischievous friend. What follows is ...not normal. Binge eaters will identify in part with her reaction!
The ending of her story is victorious for her, and man, some of us need a full-size poster made out of that last panel. If cakes and sweets are your downfall, take a look at that panel and repeat like the heroine, "I won't ever surrender to you, evil sweets empire!"
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!!!
CHALLENGE WEEK RECAP will be added to end of this post later:
Tanita-san: 193.4
If I made 1.5 pounds lost for the week, I'd make challenge loss goal. I made that today.
But man, I had to fight off temptation last night. Hubby wanted to take me out to dinner. I knew quite well that if I did go out, I'd go over 1400 (the high level cap for the challenge). I'd go WAY over. No question. You get to the point where you know YOURSELF and what you usually can eat at restaurants and how much you can handle.
I said no. No anniversary dinner out. We had dinner home.
We did eat lunch out,al fresco, at a Mediterranean cafe, with these little yellow blossoms dropping on our table every now and then from the tree that shaded the eating area. And this is what we ate:
My Greek Salad, His Chicken Kabob platter, hummus in background.
We ignored the bread basket, I used my fork to steal the chick peas from the hummus.
I also filched that piece of chicken from hubby's plate for protein. I had about an ounce of his chicken.
My Greek Salad, I eyeballed about 1.5 ounces feta,
and they were obligingly very light on the dressing.
We had a smiling-good time! It was warm and humid, and my curls began to reimposed themselves in short order after the blow-out:
Wearing a wedding band on middle finger is funky!
See, he's also smiling!
A Happy Princess in the Florida Sunshine!
Recap for StSC Day 6:
Calories: 1302
Fluids: Yep.
Prayer: Yep.
Exercise: Nope. I mean, we did some minimal walking around, like 10 blocks, but I ain't counting that. That makes Saturday my second rest day. Oops, that means I have to exercise TODAY!
Encouragement: Minimal. I wasn't home. :P
CHALLENGE WEEK 1 GOALS CHECK:
Weigh in: Um, yeah. ; )
Keep calories between 1200 and 1400: Did so all but one day.
Track Food: Done every day (though man, it's a pain)
Exercise 5 days: I exercised 4, so fell short on this goal.
Pray daily for challengers: Completed
Encourage others daily: Did it every day, but some days hit more blogs than others.
14 glasses minimum of water/fluids: Met every day of the week.
Keep blogging: Been doing that daily.
Not quit: Still at it!
I gotta tell you, I'm really, really proud of myself for fighting off the "let's have dinner and forget about calories" temptation that warred in my bosom. But then, a good dose of hugging and smooching and food is ...well...not as tempting. There is always something better to do than pig out.
Happy Sunday. May all the challengers make their weight goals this week. Chins up and eyes high on the prize, peops! Put a rose in your hair and smile!
That's 1.2 lbs lost this week. Rounded up to 215 for the Challenge WI. Yes! I can report a loss to A. Hooray!
I actually TALKED to my body before dropping off to sleep at 3:30 AM. I begged it to be 215.2 or less so I could round it to a loss. It felt like listening, I guess.
I figured it would be a loss when I woke up. I always "feel myself up" in the torso, from ribs to thighs, to see if I feel "less than". I can tell when I'm bloated just by how much more my belly will feel "rounder". I can feel when it's flatter. (I have been feeling more bones lately. I even mentioned it in Pilates. In certain positions, on certain equipment, I can tell I have a lot less padding in my butt and ribcage area. It can be painfully apparent.)
Yesterday was one of those funny "perfectly rounded" calorie counts for the day on my SparkPeople nutrition tracker. (And I was spot on with my R.D. + Challenge coordinated/designed eating plan). Usually, as you know if you track online, the final total calorie numbers don't come out with nice fat circles at the end. Well, unless you round counts in a notebook, say. And some folks do, and that's fine. Easier, for sure. For the challenge's goal of 1200 cals, let's say, my final tally is not gonna be "1200 calories" perfectly on a daily basis. It'll be 1146 or 1235 or 1173 or 1288, etc. Yesterday, it was 1200, exactly. That's always cute.
I wish I could have slept a couple more hours. Eyes are a tad bleary. But off to make some yummy Ethiopian Yirgacheffe , make my healthful breakfast, and start chugging my water--need to be properly fueled and hydrated to face birthday party temptations with panache, ya know?
Just 15 lbs to be in Onederland, and 15.8 precisely to have lost 100 pounds. Double celebration. I will get there.
BTW, did you notice the announcement that there will be a Phase 6 and it will have a charity connection. Cool!
Okay, have a blessed Sunday. For my fellow believers, remember to thank God for the life and love you have and for all the great things in your day. If it's a hard dieting for you, ask Him for strength. The strength is there, in you, believe it!
For those walking a different faith (or nonfaith) path: I still pray a blessing over everyone reading this and struggling with food issues, emotional issues, depression, griefs, sorrows of all kinds. I pray you overcome (and that I do, too) and gain health and joy.
No weight change. I guess I had my whoosh and now my body is back to being laidback. :)
I had my egg white veggie omelette, Bagel Thin with neufchatel, Canadian bacon, coffee, water breakfast. I have fruit and yogurt to take with me to the NY Eve party to help arm myself against the onslaught of traditional food temptations. (Oh, lawdy!)
Hubby set up the XBox Kinect for DANCE CENTRAL. He's done the Lady Gaga and Dirty Vegas and will be sore no doubt. I havent yet (got up late), but I'm the one who asked for it to get me moving some. Anyone have it?
I found the Wii was too easy to cheat and do less movement. This baby, you gotta use the whole body. So, like Dance Dance Revolution, it should burn up some nice number of calories. Plus, it's good tunes, not generic stuff like some exercise videos.
Anyway, my main goal for today--other than have fun--is to not mess up my good week and weigh-in decently for the last Spawn weigh-in. I'd like to have 3 lbs gone, but I think that's unreasonable for me. If it's at least 2, I'm fine.I had some close to 1200 calorie days, some closer to 1600 days. But I haven't gone over this week.
I hope my challenge-mates enjoy the last day of 2010. It's a year where I finally made progress toward my goal. No tiny progress, but GOOD progress. I have some other major goals for next year (three, to be exact), but priority ONE will be getting healthy--slimmer and fitter. If I can make goal weight next year instead of 2012, I will be one seriously happy camper.
I'd like to thank again all the supportive challenge-mates and fat-fighting bloggers who've been so kind and encouraging. Really, my heart is full of gratitude.
My prayers are for our safety (yeah, drunk drivers out there!) and joy for today's celebrations. And for a new, fresh wind tomorrow that will drive us toward our prizes in 2011.
It's chilly in Miami, folks. For those of us not used to it, teeth-chatteringly so (overnight, this am). But the day was bright and beautiful, so it fit my mood.
Weight held at 236.
I had a mild moment of food-yearning after Pilates, but that calmed down. Breakfast was 440 and lunch was 320 calories, and my fluids are up to 12 glasses. So, I have from 420 (for the 1200 calorie lower level) to 1000 calories (for the goal-calorie weight level) left for the day. I've been eating mostly a bit under 1760 (goal weight level), with the occasional close to 1200 day if my appetite is really low. Today, it's feeling middling-low, so I might end up around 1300 to 1400.
Had a lovely muilt0color salad for lunch that had spinach, sliced strawberries, some almonds, some cranberries, yellow/orange/red sweet peppers, part of a chopped boiled egg, a bit of shredded cheese, and some honey mustard dressing. The combo of flavors was very satisfying. I had three strawberries with a shot of fat free whipped topping for dessert. The strawberries were surprisingly numsy. I expected them to be more sour, but they were sweet and delicious.
I have a yen for those very low-cal vegetarian fresh Vietnamese rolls (no shrimp or chicken, just carrots and lettuce and celery in a steamed rice paper sheet). I love the combo of the glutinous steamed low-cal wrapper with the crunchy lettuce and veggies and a hint of the sweet dipping sauce. I sometimes add some peanut butter or crushed peanuts for added flavor and protein/fat. It's one of my fave things lately.
My brother is making the family's traditional meat pies for New Year (my mom used to painstakingly make them from total scratch and the family would help with all the grinding of the ingredients), so I'm gonna find a way to make room for one of those fried babies. It's one of those things he only makes once a year, always for New Year, and they go fast (since the relatives crave them). He tends to save one for each of the siblings (since I'm often sick on holidays and have missed NYE events from time to time). No one made them as good as mom--the particular crunch of the shell, the savory quality of the meat's spicing--but she took no shortcuts. It was a lot of work and worth it in taste and calories, frankly. Hers were bigger than brother's, so maybe calorically, that's a good thing. I figure one is probably easily a minimum of 400 cals. Maybe even 500. I am not really sure. Guesstimating. I did bake one of mine a few years ago to cut down on calories, but it just isn't the same experience. Ah, well.
What would be REALLY dangerous is if while my bro makes the empanadillas, my P.R. born SIL makes pasteles. Oh man. Another rare, home-made treat for our family. Since my SIL's mom passed on, I don't think I've had any. But those are great, too... starchy with bits of pork inside and great with ketchup or hot sauce. No clue about the calories on those, but I'm sure there's some Puerto Rican cuisine site online with the facts. Although they both get boiled and are wrapped in leaves and string like Cuban tamales, and both have pork bits inside, the texture and taste aren't the same. One is plantain-based, and one is corn-based. I like them both, though. They are foods that are rarely seen/eaten by us and so are special and say, "celebrate!" with every bite.
I'll take ONE of either over any ubiquitous holiday treat. Something about the home-made taste of tradition that you only get maybe once a year.
So, I guess just like Christmas, I'll have to plan and stay watchful of what goes in the mouth. I want another week of losses despite the temptations.
And I hope you can maneuver through the landmines of food, too, whatever it is that YOUR family does for New Year's Eve and Day!
As most folks well know, this was a week of temptations. Fortunately, the scale was happy with me:
236.0
A couple pounds lost this week. For me, snail-girl, outstanding.
I ate one of my supertop trigger foods--pizza--twice, once a delivery from Vocelli's cause hubby wanted some. I had ONE slice with a salad.
The next day, we had lunch out with sis, and she had a pizza yen (it's one of her main craving foods, too, we share that). So, we went to Anthony's Coal-fired pizza. And I got a salad and sis and I shared the personal size fresh mozza/basil one--about 10 inches cut in four slices--and she had 2 2/3's slices and I had 1 1/3. It was really tough not eating the foccacia bread and more pizza, but having a tiny pizza rather than a large one made a huge difference. Less temptation.
Christmas dinner was not in my control, as it was not at a siblings's home as usuall, but an in-law extended family place. I brought a salad for myself, as that side of the family is vegetable averse. I was right. Only starchy plantains and potatoes. No salads/crudites. There were lots of desserts-cream puffs, brazo gitano, buche du noel, ambrosia, rice pudding, chocolates, cookies--and lots of chips and stuff.
I had some roast pork (about 2 ounces) and turkey fricasseed breast with olives and potatoes (more of that, since I love the stuff) and congri (black beans cooked with rice, traditional stuff), boiled plantains with some EVOO. The fricasee was excellent. Totally enjoyed that.
I hd for treats between 1/4 and 1/3 cup of ambrosia (made with fruit and yogurt and marshmallows) and 2 dark chocolate squares. I took my own bottles of water. :)
I got lots of nice comments on the weight loss, including one, "You look TOO good, girl!" I felt pretty and energetic and that was pleasant, indeed. Some of these folks at the party hadn't seen me since last Christmas, so I guess the drop was noticeable.
Yesterday's Christmas dinner at my sister's was prime rib with asparagus, mushrooms, roasted sweet potatoes and potatoes, and arugula salad. I had my waer and coffee. I took my own 60 calorie dessert and had a square of Godiva dark chocolate. My contribution was the arugula, asparagus, and mushrooms. :)
On both days, I kept the intake at breakfast/lunch very low to balance what I knew would be larger meals in the evening.
It worked out fine. No bingeing.
So, felt great joy and cheer. It wasn't a very Christmassy-feeling Christmas, but I felt so happy and laughed and enjoyed being with family and eating yummy stuff in moderation.
Here's one way to do it courtesy of the EATING LESS Newsletter from September 2010, link at the site for all archived newsletters. This one is targeted at buffets, but the idea is sound for all major eating occasions. Practice beforehand. Have a plan:
QUESTION TIME
THE PROBLEM:
It's only September and already I'm worried about Christmas and I really hope you can help. The reason is that I've worked really hard this year to lose the weight I gained last Christmas and I'm afraid it's just all going to go back on again this year. I'm fairly safe at home, it's the buffets at the parties are what really do me in. It's on my mind already and I'm thinking about going away somewhere to avoid it all but that's not something I'm going to want to do every year.
MY ANSWER:
I think it's great that you've brought this up so far ahead because this means you've got lots of time to practice, to get into training for The Buffet Table Challenge. I wonder if you've ever used the technique of 'Plans' described in Chapter 6 of EATING LESS, because that's what will help you most.
What you do to make a Plan is simply to decide what and how much you intend to eat, preferably just before you start eating. Try to picture it, and as you make that Plan, keep in mind how you will expect to feel after you've finished eating that amount, for the rest of the evening and even the following morning. So it's something like, "do I want to eat so much that I feel bloated, uncomfortably full and miserable, or do I want to eat less and feel energised, happy and in control?" So you make your Plan with that - what sort of experience you intend to create afterward - in mind.
Assuming you've made a moderate Plan, the real challenge will be keeping to it, because when you've finished eating a significant amount smaller than usual, you will almost certainly feel an addictive desire to eat more. Keeping to your Plan will depend on your management of that feeling of desire.
The more you can use any opportunity to practice making and keeping Plans over the next three months, the less anxious you'll be feeling and the more control you'll have when the parties begin.
That's how many calories I had YESTERDAY! 80% of my good intentions were blow out the birthday window.
I didn't eat the gumdrops. I didn't eat the Kit Kats spread out on the table around the birthday cake. I didn't eat the rice. I tried not to notice the Cuban bread, and I resisted its siren call. I didn't drink the sugary cokes standing around.
I served myself chicken breast and salad, skipped the dressing, but did cave on the tamale and major-comfort-food tostones.
I did eat 4 diffident bites of said birthday cake after niece cut a small, small slice for me.
That after I went so psyched. My hair looked good, my makeup was smooth, and I fit into one of my "goal" outfits. Size 22 jeans. (I fit into a previous identical style but size 24 jeans not that long ago. I bought the 22s at the same time.) Hubby complimented me. I felt purdy. I got comments about how I lost weight. I had packed my protein shakes and sucralose drops.
And then I slipped, bit by bit from the plan.
What's amazing to me is how LITTLE I ate (compared to bashes past), how much I had to STOP myself from "that little bit more", and yet now MUCH it added up to. I mean, to have to use that much energy to pull back, and yet still cave here and there...damn. I have far to go before I sleep. Miles.
Yah, sure, if I used to eat 3500 to 4000 calories at parties, half seems like a lot less. But from the perspective of a "goal weight eater" that's almost 400 above my limit--which means it's enough to regain over a short amount of time if I were goal weight and ate like that.
Won't break it down for each meal--I'm still bleary from all the sodium from supper, but not one meal I ate went over 1000 calories. But it doesn't take a binge to gain. It simply takes more than one off plan meal.
One of those meals was Chinese (we took our nephew out to a comic book/anime store and then to one of his fave restaurants for late supper).
I wanted to weep that I couldn't have my usual "past fat eating" faves, and still I went over plan. Damn.
Anyway, scale says 250.8
The only reason it isn't showing more Chinese food bloat is cause I drank tons of tea and lots of water (12 glasses) and hit the potassium (green magma, coconut water). That's 1 pound up scale-wise from Friday's new low.
I feel beyond embarrassed. I feel foolish.
I want to see the 240's again fast!
Already told hubby no nice Sunday dinner outing. It's stay home and start making up for the overage. Lots of water! Lots of tea! Roasted chicken and protein shakes and papaya for debloating.
I think I had a deficit in calories for the week until yesterday--so I need to calculate how much I need to make up (if any) of if I just start clean slate. Not sure. Will look at my caloric totals and see.
The DDDY Challenge weigh-in is tomorrow, no? (First weigh-in was on a Monday, so I'm assuming).
Anyway, glad there isn't a family birthday party for a few weeks. Sigh.
It's not just the Halloween candy crap that's filling the food minefield this weekend. No, I also have a weekend family party and a visit to a new anime/manga/otaku store that will likely assault my eyes with the sight of Pocky. (I really like Pocky, strawberry flavor and chocolate coconut. I have a box at home that's been there since June...my temptation test. I've been very good.
So, I gotta jot down what to take to up the healthfulness and "filling" quality of what's available at the party (Cuban chicken and rice, for one). Mostly likely, I'll have a very low carb and low-cal breakfast to give me caloric room. Probably drink a protein shake before driving over and take another to have a bit before cake-cutting to nip any sort of peckishness that might lead me astray. Maybe take various bottles of water to continually sip. Fruit for sure.
Anyway, doing fine. Had a big breakfast and still feel full almost 4 hours later. The 6 glasses of water helped with that fullness. :)
This is my food/water/accountability post for today. If that bores you, skip it. If you like seeing how other people eat/calorie count/drink, fine. Knock yerself out.
Calorie limit for the challenge is: 1760
BREAKFAST:
2 Alderfer (organic, free roaming, etc) eggs and 2 egg whites.
2 cups chopped veggies (mushrooms, zucchini, red pepper, onion)
2 oz Swiss Cheese (actual Swiss, from Switzerland, hah)
1 tbsp EVOO for cooking eggs and veggies in...
2 tbsp hot sauce (Crystal)
1.5 cups fresh organic cantaloupe chunks
(smelled nice while cutting, so I had a half cup before I even got to sit down to eat. Yum.)
2 cups fresh coffee (regular, Terroir Coffee blend, so good)
Sucralose drops for coffee
6 glasses of water (2 before bkfst, 2 after, and 2 more a while later. This is definitely getting easier. Allan's right.)
breakfast calories: 594
(41grams of carbs, 36 fat, 37 protein)
SNACK: water (2 glasses)
LUNCH: (OMIGOSH, I WENT NUTS)
I had grilled chicken breast (1.5)
guacamole (260 cals worth, oh dear)
pico de gallo, cilantro, 1/4 cup refried beans
16 tortilla chips (YIKES)
1/4 cup queso dip
salsa
iced green tea
2 cups water before meal
Not having a snack and not portioning stuff out on a plate (as opposed to just opening stuff and dipping) is a huge mistake. I went nuts. I did not have my between-meals protein. Mistake. I got all cocky and idiotic cause I felt so good this am and after breakfast. Just goes to show...can't view any meal carelessly.
lunch calories: 1070 (!!!)
I have only 96 calories left. Sheesh.
SNACK: (no dinner today!)
2 servings Green Magma shaken in water (40 cals)
assorted supplements and fiber (29--yes, some supplements have calories)
water--2 glasses
snack calories total: 69
Total Calories for Day Five: 1733
Total Water for Day Five: 12
I suspect the salt bloat will be ugly on the scale tomorrow. But I managed to stay under 1760. Not happy with how I distributed calories (not optimum at all) or the loss of strategy and control. BUT...I'm glad I didn't add insult to caloric injury by overloading. Since I'd had plenty of fat and protein in previous meals, and carbs were over 100, I figured I had enough nutrition and could skip dinner. We shall see what sodium damage I did....
Today, Tanita-san (my scale) smiled a nice number at me: 251.0
I like even weigh-ins. Don't you? Especially if it's a lower round number.
- 1.8 lbs.
The original goal, as you may recall, was to lose 4.08 lbs per month, roughly a pound per week. This puts me back on track. This is my seventh weigh-in since setting my 98 lbs in 2 years weight loss goal. So, I should be 7 lbs down.
And now I am, after some iffy weeks.
Nice to be back on track.
I'm hoping that I can accelerate loss before Thanksgiving, cause once the holiday hoopla starts, the celebratory days may get dicey. Better to lose extra beforehand, just in case.
If I can lose 1.5 lbs for a few weigh-ins, rather than "roughly 1" (technically, 0.95 per week), I can get a nice cushion for holiday temptations. Although I do need to PLAN for those tempting episodes. That's the pre-holiday homework.
What truth am I facing?
I don't have to let my diet go all to hell cause my health deteriorates a bit. Normally, when my asthma/allergies act up, I hit the comfort foods hard. I slurp a ton of soup. I drink a lot of tea. And I go for the easy to swallow, warm, gooey comforting stuff (usually something cheesy or doused in gravy or swimming in olive oil).
This time, when the breathing went downhill last Wednesday, got worse Saturday, and then got better before hitting a bump yesterday, I didn't go for the gooey-food-loves-me consolation.
It is possible to say no to food self-medication.
I need to remember that I did that this week when this temptation hits again.
So, while I'm not feeling great health-wise, I'm feeling great about my controlled eating and progress this week.
Hope this Friday finds you full of joy and health...
Today we celebrate a few things family style (sister's birthday, 102nd birthday of late Papa, niece beginning teacher career). Sister decided she wanted a Spanish tapas theme. I'm making the Spanish Omelette (the quintessential tapas item).
I love omelettes and usually have one a few times a week for breakfast. But nothing in the omelette world is better than a perfectly done Spanish omelette made with Spanish EVOO, potatoes, (lotsa) onions, real eggs--up to there is the basic ingredients--and it's even better with Spanish chorizo and Serrano Ham. And as far as The Princess is concerned, adding Swiss cheese makes it utterly perfect. Some green pepper is not bad, either.
The potatoes kind of kill the lower carb. But everything else is a fat or a protein or a low carb veggie.
I am not sure what everyone else is making, but usually it will include Sangria (I make it sans sugar, use diet Sprite or liquid sucralose for the sweetening), some sort of almond torte or marzipan, fried chick peas with chorizo, ham/cheese/olive platter, salad...
I had a low cal, low carb breakfast with 3 glasses of water to set me up for the barrage of temptations...
