I don't remember if it was Dr Phil or Oprah...probably Oprah because Dr Phill makes me throw stuff at the tv. Anyway I was watching a show 4 or 5 years ago and they were talking to (and about) a person who was seriously overweight. I believe he was around 800-900 pounds and there was a segment where the show staff brought out all the food that this man was eating in a day. It filled several tables. I remember looking at this and thinking "man oh man I sure would not want to have everything I eat put on display for everyone to see."
The first thing I did when I was working to lose weight was to start writing down everything I put in my mouth. I didn't have any idea what I was eating in terms of calories. They say that in order to lose weight you need to keep your calories down to under 1500 per day. I was eating well over 2500 a day. Just start with a trip to Starbucks. Vanilla Mocha. 720 Egg salad sandwich 450. That, right there is 1170 calories. And that's not breakfast or dinner...
The first time I tallied the foods I was eating I was so depressed. I thought "there is NO way I am eating that much". I just didn't feel super full. In fact there were days when I felt like I was holding back from eating and yet there was the proof in the numbers. It made a dramatic difference to me to actually SEE the numbers.
The math is very easy, if you don't exercise and burn the calories and you add more calories on they have to go somewhere. I started looking at it like balancing my checkbook, start with the total of calories that I should try to eat in a day and just don't go over that number. Of course it's a lot easier said than done. And I am of the opinion that for me to make this work I can't feel like I'm depriving myself of something that I want. I just have to want to lose weight MORE than I want the cheese enchilada meal. In fact I wrote myself a note that is on my fridge: "you have to want it more than you don't". And whatever IT is, is up to me.
So today I had a particularly stressful day at my job and when the telltale signals started to rumble through my stomach I was able to identify them as stress and so I concentrated on drinking my water (and Sobe lifewater - I LOVE that stuff!) and all of a sudden it was 2:30 and not only had I forgotten to eat but I wasn't dying of hunger like I thought I would be. Of course I am well aware that if you starve yourself that does no good so I made sure that I ate something (3 chips from the pack in my desk drawer that I hadn't thrown away) and then since it's my short day at work I came home and made a big, beautiful salad. I stopped at the store on the way home and bought a bunch of the Sobe Lifewater (zero points) and Crystal light on the go packs (zero points) and the salad that I made was HUGE and still came in at under 7 points. Mind you I will be eating some vegetables and grains and protein this evening. I haven't decided what yet. I have tofu and vegetables but we'll see. I always have sandwich makings. :)
Basically I just keep reminding myself that this is a 100% do-able process. That I CAN do this. Set small goals (15 pounds is my first goal, not the end goal). And it doesn't hurt to keep in mind that I don't want to end up on Oprah having to show the world what I ate today!
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Week 2 day 2 - Hunger
So, without really trying today I reacquainted myself with what hungry feels like. I believe that one of the reasons I started to gain weight in the first place was that I did not properly identify hungry versus stressed/depressed. The two, for me, are located in the exact same spot: my stomach. The difference is how they feel.
I don't generally feel hungry until around 10am and while I have always heard that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" - and I get that it jump starts your metabolism into working off the calories it has stored up - I just don't like to eat before about 10. Today I decided that I was going to wait until my stomach was really telling me I was hungry before I was going to eat. And I ended up being HUNGRY at about 12:45.
There used to be a Thai restaurant across the street from my work. Lucky for me it has been replaced by a deli that serves salads and my favorite food in the world: sandwiches. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE Thai food. And Indian food. And Lebanese food. I LOVE FOOD. But this deli makes salads that I can buy...and salads are (usually) made up of zero point foods. :)
So, I went over and got a Cobb Salad and they asked for what dressing I wanted so I got to pick a vinagrette. Evidently they were out of the packages so I got FRESH vinagrette. It was good. And not creamy high points Ranch. The salads are pre-packaged daily and (being a vegetarian) I picked off the bacon and chicken, but still got the tomatos, lettuce, black olives, blue cheese crumbles (YES! they were totally worth the points) and hard-boiled egg. I also got a vegetarian sandwich - home made whole wheat bread, shredded lettuce, avocado, tomato slices, red sweet peppers, cucumbers and cream cheese. No mayo. No cheese. But lemme tell ya. GOOD stuff. And 8 points. Yay!
So, then I waited to get the afternoon munchies that usually show up between 3 and 5pm....nope. Did just fine.
Tonight I pulled out a bag of vegetables for stir fry and I bought a bag of Quorn ("veggie" chicken stuff) and put some teriyaki sauce on it and am going to thoroughly enjoy it. When I went grocery shopping this weekend I bought some olive oil pan spray, WW recommends this and I know from experience that spraying gets more coverage but less actual calories than pouring. (Have you used those Salad Spritzers?? Totally effective and low calories.) I sprayed the pan with the olive oil and just threw the stuff in. Since it was frozen the water helped cook the veggies....less need for all the oil I usually pour on.
I am finding that I've been waking up earlier than usual for the last week. Don't know why but today it resulted in me having to wait for the shower and...10 minutes to try for those cat/cow poses and the yoga! I admit, I did not try the pretzel move. I just could not bring myself to give myself a charliehorse before I was fully awake. Corpse and child pose were very easy. hee hee
So, yeah. Hunger. I think that allowing myself to get hungry and then eat, instead of at the "regular" times, or because everyone else is eating is a VERY good step. I'm a joiner and boy howdy, if you're eating well I can too!
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
I don't generally feel hungry until around 10am and while I have always heard that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" - and I get that it jump starts your metabolism into working off the calories it has stored up - I just don't like to eat before about 10. Today I decided that I was going to wait until my stomach was really telling me I was hungry before I was going to eat. And I ended up being HUNGRY at about 12:45.
There used to be a Thai restaurant across the street from my work. Lucky for me it has been replaced by a deli that serves salads and my favorite food in the world: sandwiches. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE Thai food. And Indian food. And Lebanese food. I LOVE FOOD. But this deli makes salads that I can buy...and salads are (usually) made up of zero point foods. :)
So, I went over and got a Cobb Salad and they asked for what dressing I wanted so I got to pick a vinagrette. Evidently they were out of the packages so I got FRESH vinagrette. It was good. And not creamy high points Ranch. The salads are pre-packaged daily and (being a vegetarian) I picked off the bacon and chicken, but still got the tomatos, lettuce, black olives, blue cheese crumbles (YES! they were totally worth the points) and hard-boiled egg. I also got a vegetarian sandwich - home made whole wheat bread, shredded lettuce, avocado, tomato slices, red sweet peppers, cucumbers and cream cheese. No mayo. No cheese. But lemme tell ya. GOOD stuff. And 8 points. Yay!
So, then I waited to get the afternoon munchies that usually show up between 3 and 5pm....nope. Did just fine.
Tonight I pulled out a bag of vegetables for stir fry and I bought a bag of Quorn ("veggie" chicken stuff) and put some teriyaki sauce on it and am going to thoroughly enjoy it. When I went grocery shopping this weekend I bought some olive oil pan spray, WW recommends this and I know from experience that spraying gets more coverage but less actual calories than pouring. (Have you used those Salad Spritzers?? Totally effective and low calories.) I sprayed the pan with the olive oil and just threw the stuff in. Since it was frozen the water helped cook the veggies....less need for all the oil I usually pour on.
I am finding that I've been waking up earlier than usual for the last week. Don't know why but today it resulted in me having to wait for the shower and...10 minutes to try for those cat/cow poses and the yoga! I admit, I did not try the pretzel move. I just could not bring myself to give myself a charliehorse before I was fully awake. Corpse and child pose were very easy. hee hee
So, yeah. Hunger. I think that allowing myself to get hungry and then eat, instead of at the "regular" times, or because everyone else is eating is a VERY good step. I'm a joiner and boy howdy, if you're eating well I can too!
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Monday, August 9, 2010
Day 1 of Week 2
Getting easier, in fact if this whole diet/losing weight thing is this easy.... hahahahaha. Ok, moment of delusion there. But to be honest, today wasn't that bad. Got up and decided to step on the scale just to see and this is why I don't trust this scale: it said I'd lost 5 more pounds since yesterday?? I know that water is heavy but still - I did NOT pee that much yesterday. So, they say you need a good, reliable scale and that you should only weigh yourself once a week. I'm guessing this is why.
Anyway, I started the week off in a good mood and paid very close attention to when I'm actually hungry vs not. Turns out that I didn't need to eat as much as I usually do so I get to use up more points tonight. I think that I will probably have to balance the 3 meals out in a day at some point but for now this seems to be working.
Made 10 minutes for a walk today. Not as long of a walk and not as fast as I was doing a few years ago, but it was walking. A step.
This week I'm working on making sure I'm drinking enough. I like the Crystal Lite on the go packets, they help me get in more water AND taste good.
Thinking it's going to be more stir-fry and veggie chicken for dinner tonight. I have noticed that I am staying away from rice and any bread that isn't Whole Wheat. I'm sure it's better for me and after seeing that 1 measly package of string cheese (low moisture, part skimmed milk) is 2 points I'm not taking my chances elsewhere!
Not much else in my head today but I'm happy to be on week 2 already and maybe I can make that delusion a reality. Hee hee.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Anyway, I started the week off in a good mood and paid very close attention to when I'm actually hungry vs not. Turns out that I didn't need to eat as much as I usually do so I get to use up more points tonight. I think that I will probably have to balance the 3 meals out in a day at some point but for now this seems to be working.
Made 10 minutes for a walk today. Not as long of a walk and not as fast as I was doing a few years ago, but it was walking. A step.
This week I'm working on making sure I'm drinking enough. I like the Crystal Lite on the go packets, they help me get in more water AND taste good.
Thinking it's going to be more stir-fry and veggie chicken for dinner tonight. I have noticed that I am staying away from rice and any bread that isn't Whole Wheat. I'm sure it's better for me and after seeing that 1 measly package of string cheese (low moisture, part skimmed milk) is 2 points I'm not taking my chances elsewhere!
Not much else in my head today but I'm happy to be on week 2 already and maybe I can make that delusion a reality. Hee hee.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Yoga for beginners
I have a yoga mat. Little purple weights that are 2 pounds each, and 5 pounds each. A purple squishy disc to hold while you sit up and stretch. And a cool bag to put the mat in. I have a yoga DVD and a friend from work gave me 3 video tapes of yoga. And the last time I did any yoga was last fall. For about a month or so I was doing really well - getting up at about 6:30am and going into the front room (with full sunshine), putting the dvd on and following the paces while a teeny tiny woman in Hawaii showed me how to be happy and peaceful. I believe I mentioned in an earlier post how I felt about this tiny woman so I won't reiterate that. Needless to say I had zero excuse to not do yoga. And today I decided I was going to try it.
So, I did the yoga for beginners this morning. I didn't use the tapes or DVD, another section on the WW site is all about work outs, and Yoga for Beginners is a work out that is going to be good for me. And it's going to be a chore.
The work out starts with my favorite of all poses - corpse pose. Yes, you get to lay down and play dead!! You lie on the mat with your arms out and your legs out and relaxed and do deep breathing Yes, I LOVE this pose.
Then there are a couple of poses that make me laugh - cat pose and cow pose. You basically kneel on all 4s and then arch your back up. The trick on these is to hold your abdominal muscles in while you're doing it (you know, instead of letting the stomach just hang...)
Exercise #4 is another favorite: child pose. You kneel and then stretch your arms out in front of you and put your forehead on the mat. Yep, I like this one too.
Exercise #5 is plank pose. This is almost like the beginning of a push up. You get up on your toes and hold yourself up on your arms and hold your stomach in. Good pose.
All through this you are supposed to do deep breathing which helps clear the head as well as works on the abdominal muscles. (Breathing like a singer, from the stomach/abdomen not the shoulders.)
Exercise #6 makes me laugh, it's upward dog. Basically you lie on your stomach with your feet apart and then push your torso (and tummy if you can) up with your arms and look up. It's a fantastic stretch.
Exercise #7 was my brick wall. It's called the bow and I think it will be a while until I can do this stretch - I very nearly gave myself a charliehorse in my thigh! In this heartless pose you lie on your stomach (this part's easy) and then you reach back and grab your ankles and look up...... I can grab one of my ankles but I am here to tell you that second ankle was NOT going to be grabbed without turning my entire set of leg muscles into a pretzel. This stretch SUCKS. And will be good I'm sure. But for now it sucks.
Thank GOD the next (and last) 2 poses are child pose and corpse pose. So, that was my first yoga set. 15 minutes. WW recommends doing it through twice, and I can see that it would be good to do. It's going to take a while to assure my muscles that they can indeed push through the fat but I will keep doing it.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
So, I did the yoga for beginners this morning. I didn't use the tapes or DVD, another section on the WW site is all about work outs, and Yoga for Beginners is a work out that is going to be good for me. And it's going to be a chore.
The work out starts with my favorite of all poses - corpse pose. Yes, you get to lay down and play dead!! You lie on the mat with your arms out and your legs out and relaxed and do deep breathing Yes, I LOVE this pose.
Then there are a couple of poses that make me laugh - cat pose and cow pose. You basically kneel on all 4s and then arch your back up. The trick on these is to hold your abdominal muscles in while you're doing it (you know, instead of letting the stomach just hang...)
Exercise #4 is another favorite: child pose. You kneel and then stretch your arms out in front of you and put your forehead on the mat. Yep, I like this one too.
Exercise #5 is plank pose. This is almost like the beginning of a push up. You get up on your toes and hold yourself up on your arms and hold your stomach in. Good pose.
All through this you are supposed to do deep breathing which helps clear the head as well as works on the abdominal muscles. (Breathing like a singer, from the stomach/abdomen not the shoulders.)
Exercise #6 makes me laugh, it's upward dog. Basically you lie on your stomach with your feet apart and then push your torso (and tummy if you can) up with your arms and look up. It's a fantastic stretch.
Exercise #7 was my brick wall. It's called the bow and I think it will be a while until I can do this stretch - I very nearly gave myself a charliehorse in my thigh! In this heartless pose you lie on your stomach (this part's easy) and then you reach back and grab your ankles and look up...... I can grab one of my ankles but I am here to tell you that second ankle was NOT going to be grabbed without turning my entire set of leg muscles into a pretzel. This stretch SUCKS. And will be good I'm sure. But for now it sucks.
Thank GOD the next (and last) 2 poses are child pose and corpse pose. So, that was my first yoga set. 15 minutes. WW recommends doing it through twice, and I can see that it would be good to do. It's going to take a while to assure my muscles that they can indeed push through the fat but I will keep doing it.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Weigh-in Day 5.6 pounds down 9.4 to go!
Sunday morning. Woke up with the absolute fear that I'd mis-calculated my calories when entering what I ate for dinner last night. It was good by the way. For you vegetarians out there, I took a package of Asparagus Stir Fry vegetables, put them in a pan with oil (next shopping trip probably today will include cooking spray that WW recommends instead of oil) and then a package of Morningstar Chik 'N Strips. I added a sauce that I just bought from a friend that sells Pampered Chef items - it's Raspberry Jalapeno. That might not sound good to you but let me tell you, the sweet with the hot and the savory of the vegetables? Y U M. Totally filled me up. Of course it turned the food all purple so it wasn't the most attractive of dishes, but I did NOT care. I added a little bit of salt for flavor (not too much) and if I'd have had garlic that would have been perfect.
Now, about salt. This was actually one of the things that I started to cut way down on a month or so ago. Preface: part of my bad habits in the past and really bad choice for dealing with stress was smoking. I didn't do it long. Cigarettes have never smelled good to me, but for some reason smoking menthols (even worse for you than the regular nasty kind) was a trick I played on my head to say "this traffic is not so bad, the cigarette has made me less inclined to scream at the drivers." Of course there is no such thing as a magical cigarette to make one not want to yell at morons going 40 in a 55. That's the thing about life - there really aren't many magic pills at all. We just have to go through it. ANYWAY, so I smoked for a bit and burned some of my tastebuds and so started adding more salt to my food. According to the American Heart institute, 75% of the salt in American diets comes from manufacurers adding it to the foods that we eat. To make it taste better. (Instead of maybe making it taste good to begin with?!)
From the American Heart Association (http://www.americanheart.org/) I learned that we are supposed to aim for 1500 mg of sodium per day in our diets.
"High-sodium diets are linked to an increase in blood pressure and a higher risk for heart disease and stroke. Reducing the amount of sodium you consume can help lower high blood pressure or prevent it from developing in the first place. Keeping your blood pressure at healthy levels is important, because high blood pressure can lead to heart attacks or stroke." ~ source at website link above.
According to this same website average Americans consume 3436 mg of sodium every day!!! What made me really start paying attention to how much I put on food (which is in addition to whatever there is already in the food) is that I started to get water retention (or edema) in my ankles. Sitting for so long at work and not getting circulation going is one way to have your ankles turn into cankles, adding too much salt to your diet is another. And both are bad. As I've mentioned in previous posts I am on this path to lower my chances of heart disease, as well as getting into a less oval shape. My family has a long and storied history of heart disease, my beloved grandfather on my dad's side died of a heart attack years after having a quadruple bypass for clogged arteries. So, watching salt intake is going to be huge. (it's also why I try to get creative with other spices in my food, and why I use cayenne.....a lot) The AHA website says that it takes 6-12 weeks to re-train your tastebuds to believe that a 1500 mg sodium diet tastes good. But 6-12 weeks versus 10 or more less years at the end of your life PLUS cankles??? (look it up, Seinfeld and Sex in the City had episodes on them) yeah, cutting that salt is worth it.
So, I weighed in today. 5.6 pounds down. I still feel full so even though it's morning I'm not rushing out to eat. Part of this process is re-training myself to recognize what hungry feels like, versus bored, mad etc.
There's a great article on WW that I read today about Change in challenging times. It specifically addresses how major stress situations affect our ability to stick with healthy eating habits. "How to hang on when everything around you is shifting". I thought that the tips were so good that I'm re-posting here. The article is by S. Kirk Walsh and available on http://www.weightwatchers.com/. The tips are:
Be Flexible - this includes forgiving yourself in times of major change/stress. It can be nearly impossible to continue your weight loss in the face of major stressors so it can be a good goal to just maintain. Forgiving yourself for not reaching your goal, and in fact re-setting that goal to reflect the stressful situation that you are going through is a really good point I think. Now, I believe that life in and of itself is stressful enough so that high stress may in fact be the norm. That is why I personally (even tho I have a much lower stress life than many of my friends) am setting small goals along the way. And small goals achieved will lead to big goals.
Stay close to your support group - seems obvious but again, support, support support. Having someone(s) to vent to, to let your emotions out to makes it easier to not just dive into that box of Krispy Kremes. (Or whatever your comfort food is - Macaroni and Cheese?) It helps to feel less alone and more possible to get through it.
Maintain an exercise program - of course you have to have one to maintain it but it is well documented that physical exertion helps to release endorphins that make us FEEL better. I have a sticky note on my wall at work for the times when I am thisclose to just going off on someone... "Breathe, think, smile, walk" These are my release valves when the steam is building up and up. And there's a reason they work for me. (I'm still employed and believe me, my German-Irish temper has NOT gone away.)
Make sure you have healthy foods available - this is one of the reasons that I cleaned my fridge out last week. Having healthy things to eat quickly when things get stressful makes it so much less likely that I will head to Taco Bell or wherever. I can grab an apple and a string cheese packet and while it's not a burrito it's not 800 calories either!
So, week 2 starts today and I'm trying to stay focused on the short term goals (15 pounds to start) and not the 100 pounds that I really want to focus on.
Thanks for reading.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Now, about salt. This was actually one of the things that I started to cut way down on a month or so ago. Preface: part of my bad habits in the past and really bad choice for dealing with stress was smoking. I didn't do it long. Cigarettes have never smelled good to me, but for some reason smoking menthols (even worse for you than the regular nasty kind) was a trick I played on my head to say "this traffic is not so bad, the cigarette has made me less inclined to scream at the drivers." Of course there is no such thing as a magical cigarette to make one not want to yell at morons going 40 in a 55. That's the thing about life - there really aren't many magic pills at all. We just have to go through it. ANYWAY, so I smoked for a bit and burned some of my tastebuds and so started adding more salt to my food. According to the American Heart institute, 75% of the salt in American diets comes from manufacurers adding it to the foods that we eat. To make it taste better. (Instead of maybe making it taste good to begin with?!)
From the American Heart Association (http://www.americanheart.org/) I learned that we are supposed to aim for 1500 mg of sodium per day in our diets.
"High-sodium diets are linked to an increase in blood pressure and a higher risk for heart disease and stroke. Reducing the amount of sodium you consume can help lower high blood pressure or prevent it from developing in the first place. Keeping your blood pressure at healthy levels is important, because high blood pressure can lead to heart attacks or stroke." ~ source at website link above.
According to this same website average Americans consume 3436 mg of sodium every day!!! What made me really start paying attention to how much I put on food (which is in addition to whatever there is already in the food) is that I started to get water retention (or edema) in my ankles. Sitting for so long at work and not getting circulation going is one way to have your ankles turn into cankles, adding too much salt to your diet is another. And both are bad. As I've mentioned in previous posts I am on this path to lower my chances of heart disease, as well as getting into a less oval shape. My family has a long and storied history of heart disease, my beloved grandfather on my dad's side died of a heart attack years after having a quadruple bypass for clogged arteries. So, watching salt intake is going to be huge. (it's also why I try to get creative with other spices in my food, and why I use cayenne.....a lot) The AHA website says that it takes 6-12 weeks to re-train your tastebuds to believe that a 1500 mg sodium diet tastes good. But 6-12 weeks versus 10 or more less years at the end of your life PLUS cankles??? (look it up, Seinfeld and Sex in the City had episodes on them) yeah, cutting that salt is worth it.
So, I weighed in today. 5.6 pounds down. I still feel full so even though it's morning I'm not rushing out to eat. Part of this process is re-training myself to recognize what hungry feels like, versus bored, mad etc.
There's a great article on WW that I read today about Change in challenging times. It specifically addresses how major stress situations affect our ability to stick with healthy eating habits. "How to hang on when everything around you is shifting". I thought that the tips were so good that I'm re-posting here. The article is by S. Kirk Walsh and available on http://www.weightwatchers.com/. The tips are:
Be Flexible - this includes forgiving yourself in times of major change/stress. It can be nearly impossible to continue your weight loss in the face of major stressors so it can be a good goal to just maintain. Forgiving yourself for not reaching your goal, and in fact re-setting that goal to reflect the stressful situation that you are going through is a really good point I think. Now, I believe that life in and of itself is stressful enough so that high stress may in fact be the norm. That is why I personally (even tho I have a much lower stress life than many of my friends) am setting small goals along the way. And small goals achieved will lead to big goals.
Stay close to your support group - seems obvious but again, support, support support. Having someone(s) to vent to, to let your emotions out to makes it easier to not just dive into that box of Krispy Kremes. (Or whatever your comfort food is - Macaroni and Cheese?) It helps to feel less alone and more possible to get through it.
Maintain an exercise program - of course you have to have one to maintain it but it is well documented that physical exertion helps to release endorphins that make us FEEL better. I have a sticky note on my wall at work for the times when I am thisclose to just going off on someone... "Breathe, think, smile, walk" These are my release valves when the steam is building up and up. And there's a reason they work for me. (I'm still employed and believe me, my German-Irish temper has NOT gone away.)
Make sure you have healthy foods available - this is one of the reasons that I cleaned my fridge out last week. Having healthy things to eat quickly when things get stressful makes it so much less likely that I will head to Taco Bell or wherever. I can grab an apple and a string cheese packet and while it's not a burrito it's not 800 calories either!
So, week 2 starts today and I'm trying to stay focused on the short term goals (15 pounds to start) and not the 100 pounds that I really want to focus on.
Thanks for reading.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Day 5 - Weekend Blahs
So, Saturday. Stayed up too late last night and ruined my sleep schedule and resulted in feeling like crap all day. I realized that I've been blogging before I have my evening meal this week. Basically have been having some sort of veggie "meat", some vegetable and some dairy (cheese). Last night I went way over the day's points. (ok, over by 4) and with weight watchers you have a certain number of points per week that you can use up (for those of us that cheat) so I was able to use a couple of those.
I have had a weird headache most of the day and haven't felt like eating so that has helped what is usually a difficult day. Weekends are when I get bored and well, food is usually right there (or comes if you call the pizza guy) and while I seriously could do some walking or exercise, the extent of exercise is usually cleaning house. (This counts, but walking would be better. Goals. Goals.)
I went to the Weight Watchers website today and one of the tools they have for people like me that are doing the online version is a list of foods that are filling. I went through and marked a bunch of them as favorites so that when I go on to list the foods I've eaten I can just click on a "favorite". Interesting that they have a bunch of stuff listed like "lentils, dried" and gives the points. Uhhh, who eats dried lentils???? No one that I know. But they also give you points for a cup of cooked whatever.
Of course the vegetables with high water content like cucumbers and celery have no point value. Put them in a salad and you can have a bunch of stuff to much on with very few points!
Tomorrow is my weigh in day but I pulled out the old scale just to see today and if it is correct I have lost 5.6 pounds this last week. That is possible, given the fact that I started to track what I was eating and thus ate less. However, just think what I can ultimately lose when I add exercise to this. I just need to make myself do it. It's funny, I come up with these big, grand plans to get up and exercise - when I'm falling asleep at night. I have the best of intentions and ideas but when the alarm goes off the next morning I hit that snooze button like it's a whack-a-mole. So, maybe my answer to that is to walk in the evening when I'm home.
I also found out that a very good friend of mine from work is a life-long member of weight watchers and she has offered to be my walking buddy so I think I may be able to get back into that good habit. This is also the friend that goes to the gym regularly so when I am up to doing that I would go with her. It really is important to have support when doing this stuff. Mel sent me a great email when I told her I'd signed up with the Weight Watchers plan, cheering me on and supporting me and underscoring the importance of having a support system. I remember in college I had a friend who was very happy to "diet" with me. She was very nice and well-meaning but she was about a size 5 when she started. And her diet involved one day where all we ate were banannas.... Yeah, this does not work for me.
Luckily I live with my best friend and as I mentioned he and I have talked about this goal I have and he is neither pushy (which would piss me off and send me to self-destruct mode) nor judgmental. Because really, this is my project. My choice. My responsibility. And, ultimately, my success. :)
So, today I haven't eaten much. As I said I don't feel good. Was supposed to go to a BBQ tonight and I can't imagine even leaving the house, much less eating anything. I poured myself a glass of Coke Zero, that will hopefully help with the headache. I have focused on the whole grains that the WW website points out have more grams of fiber and are less points overall. I had a couple of open faced "sandwiches" also. 1 less piece of bread than 2 sandwiches, and it's basically a griller (or equivalent - meatless "hamburger") a smear of olive oil mayo and some mustard.
I like that the WW website encourages you to track how you feel before and after you eat. This is important for people like me that eat when we're emotional, or bored. Plus you can create a meal and see how many points it would be. Honey mustard has very low points and I like the taste it adds to sandwiches. (my favorite of all foods).
So, 5.6 pounds down (will see what it says in the morning), little to no change in exercise habits yet and I still have 2/3rds of my points to go for the day. Think I'll go cook up some veggies and (meatless) chicken strips.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
I have had a weird headache most of the day and haven't felt like eating so that has helped what is usually a difficult day. Weekends are when I get bored and well, food is usually right there (or comes if you call the pizza guy) and while I seriously could do some walking or exercise, the extent of exercise is usually cleaning house. (This counts, but walking would be better. Goals. Goals.)
I went to the Weight Watchers website today and one of the tools they have for people like me that are doing the online version is a list of foods that are filling. I went through and marked a bunch of them as favorites so that when I go on to list the foods I've eaten I can just click on a "favorite". Interesting that they have a bunch of stuff listed like "lentils, dried" and gives the points. Uhhh, who eats dried lentils???? No one that I know. But they also give you points for a cup of cooked whatever.
Of course the vegetables with high water content like cucumbers and celery have no point value. Put them in a salad and you can have a bunch of stuff to much on with very few points!
Tomorrow is my weigh in day but I pulled out the old scale just to see today and if it is correct I have lost 5.6 pounds this last week. That is possible, given the fact that I started to track what I was eating and thus ate less. However, just think what I can ultimately lose when I add exercise to this. I just need to make myself do it. It's funny, I come up with these big, grand plans to get up and exercise - when I'm falling asleep at night. I have the best of intentions and ideas but when the alarm goes off the next morning I hit that snooze button like it's a whack-a-mole. So, maybe my answer to that is to walk in the evening when I'm home.
I also found out that a very good friend of mine from work is a life-long member of weight watchers and she has offered to be my walking buddy so I think I may be able to get back into that good habit. This is also the friend that goes to the gym regularly so when I am up to doing that I would go with her. It really is important to have support when doing this stuff. Mel sent me a great email when I told her I'd signed up with the Weight Watchers plan, cheering me on and supporting me and underscoring the importance of having a support system. I remember in college I had a friend who was very happy to "diet" with me. She was very nice and well-meaning but she was about a size 5 when she started. And her diet involved one day where all we ate were banannas.... Yeah, this does not work for me.
Luckily I live with my best friend and as I mentioned he and I have talked about this goal I have and he is neither pushy (which would piss me off and send me to self-destruct mode) nor judgmental. Because really, this is my project. My choice. My responsibility. And, ultimately, my success. :)
So, today I haven't eaten much. As I said I don't feel good. Was supposed to go to a BBQ tonight and I can't imagine even leaving the house, much less eating anything. I poured myself a glass of Coke Zero, that will hopefully help with the headache. I have focused on the whole grains that the WW website points out have more grams of fiber and are less points overall. I had a couple of open faced "sandwiches" also. 1 less piece of bread than 2 sandwiches, and it's basically a griller (or equivalent - meatless "hamburger") a smear of olive oil mayo and some mustard.
I like that the WW website encourages you to track how you feel before and after you eat. This is important for people like me that eat when we're emotional, or bored. Plus you can create a meal and see how many points it would be. Honey mustard has very low points and I like the taste it adds to sandwiches. (my favorite of all foods).
So, 5.6 pounds down (will see what it says in the morning), little to no change in exercise habits yet and I still have 2/3rds of my points to go for the day. Think I'll go cook up some veggies and (meatless) chicken strips.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Friday, August 6, 2010
Day 4 - Honesty
So, a note about honesty. I started this blog under a pseudonym. That's my norm for most online stuff. But I got to thinking about the importance that honesty plays and will play in my getting to fitness goals. And I realized that the first thing would be to start by being honest with my name. So I changed it from the pseudonym.
Honesty is one of the biggest things that has and will hold me back in my goal of losing weight. It is very easy to lie to yourself and say "why yes, I will get up in the morning and do some yoga." It is a whole different thing to actually DO that. And no, I haven't yet. I love sleep. I love being lazy. I love to sit on my couch and read, or watch tv or surf the 'net. And I love food. The cheesy goodness of a lasagna and breadsticks. I'm not as big of a sugar fan but man oh man can I eat cheese. What I do not love is not being in shape enough to walk up the hill behind my house.
In high school I played basketball and football and swam and even jogged occasionally. I was physically active on a daily basis. And then I went to college. And I sat. And sat. And walked in between class. But I still sat some more. I was also depressed and my way to comfort myself was to......eat!
I don't see myself going out to the gym anytime soon, but what I do know is that I have lost quite a bit of weight in the past by walking and by watching what I eat. This is where weight watchers, and this blog come in. I know that Weight Watchers works. I've seen the pictures and as I said, Mel is living proof that I sat and talked to last weekend. This blog is my tracking for myself and I have quickly come to the belief that I must be honest with myself first and foremost if I am going to reach my goals.
I mean, it's not exactly a secret that I am overweight. I can hide my body under layered clothes or loose clothes (and can I just say that whoever makes clothes for fat women really should try to make them more attractive?? NO, some of us do NOT need to wear sleeveless dresses.) but I am still fat. I am in a shape, but it's a round or lumpy shape. And that is not the shape I'd like to be in. Now, I am not expecting to end up a size 2. I don't think in my life I've been a size 2. But I want the energy and I want the looks that come from NOT being overweight.
It is about self esteem, of course. How you look very often determines how you are treated. Now, it does not always determine how others feel about you. But (being honest) people treat you differently if you look like you're about to pass out while trying to walk up some stairs. Don't get me wrong. I'm not on this quest or whatever you want to call it for anyone else but it sure will be nice to know that when people see me they are seeing a smaller me than I am now. That's what I want. Being fat doesn't make you a bad person. It doesn't make you less loveable or less intelligent. But it makes you more likely to suffer from diseases like heart failure, stroke and diabetes and I really would like to be around to see my nephews grow up.
I am very good at starting things. Getting a great idea. Starting it and then losing interest after a short period of time. I realize this makes me just like pretty much everyone else on the planet, but this is another thing that makes it less likely that I will follow through on the exercise that I know that I must do in order to get my muscles to show up from under the fat. I was talking to my best friend the other day about weight loss and he said that for him to get in shape he "throws a switch" in his head. And I think that's probably what this will take for me. If I can get this into a habit and make it an everyday thing, where it's been 6 months and then a year since I've started and I don't even notice it I will be a big step in the right direction.
So, here's today's list of foods and look out for the surprise "snack" midday....still trying to get the taste out of my mouth!
I started today in a very bad mood. I have a pet that has let's call them bowel issues and I had to run around cleaning up after her this morning, making me late to work and cranky on what is always the hardest/busiest day at work. I notice that when I am stressed or mad it is very easy for me to say "I'll just go through the drive thru". And sure enough I did....
10:15am - Crystal Lite - 10 calories. I really wanted a mcmuffin this morning but I was late so at least I saved myself from that bad choice. I know I should eat a real breakfast, but today I am busy and irritated.
11:30am - total melt down of co-worker on the otherside of the cubicle. Her family issues are so very familiar to mine that I really would love to eat at least 1 donut (Krispy Kreme) right now. Sugar = comfort food today.
1:30pm - finally out of the intense part of the day and able to eat lunch. STARVING. Jack in the Box here I come. I bought a southwest chicken salad, no chicken - ate it with the dressing and crunchies. YIKES - 300 calories! Wonder what the calories would be without the chicken, but still I had the dressing.....
Also really wanted a breakfast sandwich, with egg and cheese so I got a kid's meal grilled cheese. Still 328 calories but it had cheese in it so I was happy. Ordered a diet dr pepper but am positive they gave me regular. Couple of sips while driving back to the office. Ate while listening to NPR in my car and NOT being in the office.
1:51pm - wonder how many WW points that bug was that I just almost ate. EEEEEEEEEEEEW. Walking into the office and it just kamikaze'd into my mouth. I could not spit or gag fast enough. Drank 1/2 of the Dr Pepper. And it was worth it. Horrendous taste in my mouth. Funny but disgusting.
2:30 - peppermint candy, still trying to kill that damn bug taste.
3:30 - 1 more - man, that bug is LINGERING.
4:30 - yeah, I really really hate bugs. I would not last in the wild.
6:30 - went grocery shopping (and for the pet) and picked out lots of good low fat veggie protein and sandwich stuff and my favorite drink - Sobe Lifewater. Lots of flavors and ZERO calories. Zero points.
So, the weekend begins and I weigh myself again on Sunday. Haven't bought a new scale yet. Thinking of going to work and stepping on the scale there, it is very reliable.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Honesty is one of the biggest things that has and will hold me back in my goal of losing weight. It is very easy to lie to yourself and say "why yes, I will get up in the morning and do some yoga." It is a whole different thing to actually DO that. And no, I haven't yet. I love sleep. I love being lazy. I love to sit on my couch and read, or watch tv or surf the 'net. And I love food. The cheesy goodness of a lasagna and breadsticks. I'm not as big of a sugar fan but man oh man can I eat cheese. What I do not love is not being in shape enough to walk up the hill behind my house.
In high school I played basketball and football and swam and even jogged occasionally. I was physically active on a daily basis. And then I went to college. And I sat. And sat. And walked in between class. But I still sat some more. I was also depressed and my way to comfort myself was to......eat!
I don't see myself going out to the gym anytime soon, but what I do know is that I have lost quite a bit of weight in the past by walking and by watching what I eat. This is where weight watchers, and this blog come in. I know that Weight Watchers works. I've seen the pictures and as I said, Mel is living proof that I sat and talked to last weekend. This blog is my tracking for myself and I have quickly come to the belief that I must be honest with myself first and foremost if I am going to reach my goals.
I mean, it's not exactly a secret that I am overweight. I can hide my body under layered clothes or loose clothes (and can I just say that whoever makes clothes for fat women really should try to make them more attractive?? NO, some of us do NOT need to wear sleeveless dresses.) but I am still fat. I am in a shape, but it's a round or lumpy shape. And that is not the shape I'd like to be in. Now, I am not expecting to end up a size 2. I don't think in my life I've been a size 2. But I want the energy and I want the looks that come from NOT being overweight.
It is about self esteem, of course. How you look very often determines how you are treated. Now, it does not always determine how others feel about you. But (being honest) people treat you differently if you look like you're about to pass out while trying to walk up some stairs. Don't get me wrong. I'm not on this quest or whatever you want to call it for anyone else but it sure will be nice to know that when people see me they are seeing a smaller me than I am now. That's what I want. Being fat doesn't make you a bad person. It doesn't make you less loveable or less intelligent. But it makes you more likely to suffer from diseases like heart failure, stroke and diabetes and I really would like to be around to see my nephews grow up.
I am very good at starting things. Getting a great idea. Starting it and then losing interest after a short period of time. I realize this makes me just like pretty much everyone else on the planet, but this is another thing that makes it less likely that I will follow through on the exercise that I know that I must do in order to get my muscles to show up from under the fat. I was talking to my best friend the other day about weight loss and he said that for him to get in shape he "throws a switch" in his head. And I think that's probably what this will take for me. If I can get this into a habit and make it an everyday thing, where it's been 6 months and then a year since I've started and I don't even notice it I will be a big step in the right direction.
So, here's today's list of foods and look out for the surprise "snack" midday....still trying to get the taste out of my mouth!
I started today in a very bad mood. I have a pet that has let's call them bowel issues and I had to run around cleaning up after her this morning, making me late to work and cranky on what is always the hardest/busiest day at work. I notice that when I am stressed or mad it is very easy for me to say "I'll just go through the drive thru". And sure enough I did....
10:15am - Crystal Lite - 10 calories. I really wanted a mcmuffin this morning but I was late so at least I saved myself from that bad choice. I know I should eat a real breakfast, but today I am busy and irritated.
11:30am - total melt down of co-worker on the otherside of the cubicle. Her family issues are so very familiar to mine that I really would love to eat at least 1 donut (Krispy Kreme) right now. Sugar = comfort food today.
1:30pm - finally out of the intense part of the day and able to eat lunch. STARVING. Jack in the Box here I come. I bought a southwest chicken salad, no chicken - ate it with the dressing and crunchies. YIKES - 300 calories! Wonder what the calories would be without the chicken, but still I had the dressing.....
Also really wanted a breakfast sandwich, with egg and cheese so I got a kid's meal grilled cheese. Still 328 calories but it had cheese in it so I was happy. Ordered a diet dr pepper but am positive they gave me regular. Couple of sips while driving back to the office. Ate while listening to NPR in my car and NOT being in the office.
1:51pm - wonder how many WW points that bug was that I just almost ate. EEEEEEEEEEEEW. Walking into the office and it just kamikaze'd into my mouth. I could not spit or gag fast enough. Drank 1/2 of the Dr Pepper. And it was worth it. Horrendous taste in my mouth. Funny but disgusting.
2:30 - peppermint candy, still trying to kill that damn bug taste.
3:30 - 1 more - man, that bug is LINGERING.
4:30 - yeah, I really really hate bugs. I would not last in the wild.
6:30 - went grocery shopping (and for the pet) and picked out lots of good low fat veggie protein and sandwich stuff and my favorite drink - Sobe Lifewater. Lots of flavors and ZERO calories. Zero points.
So, the weekend begins and I weigh myself again on Sunday. Haven't bought a new scale yet. Thinking of going to work and stepping on the scale there, it is very reliable.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
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