I need to add that I am hungry a good bit of the time. Sometimes it's a constant gnawing hunger and I think about food a lot. (Why is everything on my Pinterest page food?) I know there are lots of ways to curb this but time is limited sometimes. (For example I was going to cut up a cucumber to bring to work today but didn't.) I just struggle from meal to meal and I pray for God to help me on this journey.
What keeps me going of course is my goal- the cruise. Which is now just over 4 weeks away. I have always struggled with long term goals. Knowing I need to lose 40 lbs and it will probably take 6 months is very daunting to me. The last time (2012) I achieved this I did it in phases. I lost 20 lbs and kept it off for 6 months and then lost another 20. (Yes, I wonder, too, however I could let myself get back up this heavy.) So a 7 week goal is manageable. I'm going to eat what I want while on the cruise while trying to keep up with exercise (take the stairs, mate) and then when I get back I'll set another reasonable goal.
I read a post on Pinterest recently that really hit home "Stop rewarding yourself with food. You are not a dog". How true that is but still it is in my nature. If by thinking about eating while on the cruise will get me through the next 4 weeks of dieting than that is what will get me through.
Last night at my exercise class we tried this app called "7". It's a total body workout in 7 minutes and it is very intense. I was panting and sweating and my heartbeat was around 170 after the 7 minutes. I am not sure how much benefit that was or how many calories you burn but it was a workout. I am still not good at doing any exercise on my own so that class is essential.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Week 3
It's Friday again and I've made it through a week of watching my sugar and counting my calories. This means I've eaten some higher calorie foods (protein bars) to get the lower sugar content. I'm leaving off that gelatin I like so well. I'm not treating myself with those Weight Watcher candies. I went to Kroger Monday after work and really searched for some food options but those entrees still seem to be my best bet so I'll avoid the pizza but continue with the others.
Sunday night I feel like I sabotaged myself by skipping lunch and going to the movies and consuming lots of popcorn. I felt sick later and only had a small entree about 9pm. I looked to see how bad the popcorn was on carbs and really regretted that action. Live and learn. (I love movie popcorn!) So on Tuesday Mom & I went to the movies at 12pm and packed ourselves lunch. I took a ham and cheese flatbread (warmed in oven to melt the cheese) on these low calorie wraps I found, carrots, grapes and 100 calorie almonds for a snack later.
Then the real challenge. I went out with some girlfriends to a fancy Tex Mex place. I had a wonderful glass of Sangria which I'm sure was loaded with sugar and calories. But I avoided chips and had fajitas without eating the tortillas. That with the extra exercise and I hope it was not too detrimental to my progress.
Thursday I had a doctor's appt and I put on those capris I bought 3 weeks ago at Kohls. I wore them only 2 hours and decided to return them. They were already a little too big. My work clothes, too (elastic waste) are starting to feel loose. I went to the gym yesterday and I went back to my exercise class. I made a two egg omelet last night with Feta and ham -lots of protein.
I should tell you that I bought some carb master yogurt. That was awful stuff. Sweetened with aspartame which I detest (no diet drinks for me). I ate only half and gave up. I'm going to try with another flavor since I bought it but I don't have a lot of hope.
I seem to be doing better when I work to go ahead and eat supper at work, too. I resisted this because who wants to consume all 3 of ones meals at work? But eating after 8:30 or 9pm at night is known to be a bad. However, Wednesday night I ate a bowl of cereal and milk for supper. I had bought some regular Cheerios and mixed with a little honey nut to make it palatable.
Tomorrow night there is a celebration for my parents at a nice restaurant and I will have a little piece of cake and try to be careful the rest of the day. It's just one day at a time afterall.
Sunday night I feel like I sabotaged myself by skipping lunch and going to the movies and consuming lots of popcorn. I felt sick later and only had a small entree about 9pm. I looked to see how bad the popcorn was on carbs and really regretted that action. Live and learn. (I love movie popcorn!) So on Tuesday Mom & I went to the movies at 12pm and packed ourselves lunch. I took a ham and cheese flatbread (warmed in oven to melt the cheese) on these low calorie wraps I found, carrots, grapes and 100 calorie almonds for a snack later.
Then the real challenge. I went out with some girlfriends to a fancy Tex Mex place. I had a wonderful glass of Sangria which I'm sure was loaded with sugar and calories. But I avoided chips and had fajitas without eating the tortillas. That with the extra exercise and I hope it was not too detrimental to my progress.
Thursday I had a doctor's appt and I put on those capris I bought 3 weeks ago at Kohls. I wore them only 2 hours and decided to return them. They were already a little too big. My work clothes, too (elastic waste) are starting to feel loose. I went to the gym yesterday and I went back to my exercise class. I made a two egg omelet last night with Feta and ham -lots of protein.
I should tell you that I bought some carb master yogurt. That was awful stuff. Sweetened with aspartame which I detest (no diet drinks for me). I ate only half and gave up. I'm going to try with another flavor since I bought it but I don't have a lot of hope.
I seem to be doing better when I work to go ahead and eat supper at work, too. I resisted this because who wants to consume all 3 of ones meals at work? But eating after 8:30 or 9pm at night is known to be a bad. However, Wednesday night I ate a bowl of cereal and milk for supper. I had bought some regular Cheerios and mixed with a little honey nut to make it palatable.
Tomorrow night there is a celebration for my parents at a nice restaurant and I will have a little piece of cake and try to be careful the rest of the day. It's just one day at a time afterall.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Week 2
I started out this week intent on a new diet trend I had read about: Apple Cidar Vinegar. Following the internet (and everything you read there is factual, right?) I mixed 30 ml of ACV with 8oz of cold water and drank it on Monday morning. Apparently you are supposed to do this before meals three times a day and I had high hopes. I did get that first glass down but that was the only glass I could manage. If I mixed it with 24oz of water I might could do it but no. There are lots of recipes for making it palatable but after some thought I abandoned this effort and continued on my calorie counting journey.
Today I went to the gym before visiting my physical therapist. I had experienced a lot of swelling and a little pain in my foot (not my ankle) and she suggested I try the recumbent bicycle instead of the treadmill. The first week I had tried the elypitcal as suggested by my boyfriend and found that 10 minutes was all I could tolerate. So I had been using the treadmill with the settings that varied the hills. I had gotten up to 30 minutes with a pretty brisk pace. The therapist tried me on the recumbent so I will try it at the gym tomorrow.
I also overheard a conversation another therapist was having with a patient about sugar in our diet. He is one of these somewhat fanatics who bicycles 150 miles/week and doesn't consume any sweets. Now, I can't give up sweets altogether but I realized the logic of just counting the calories and how cutting down on the sugar would give me an extra boost. I had already cut out bread but I was consuming tortillas and eating the Lean Cuisine cheese pizzas on occasion. As well as treating myself with various low calorie snacks. Even my favorite 140 calorie breakfast bar contains 8g of sugar. What really got me though, was my longtime favorite Del Monte mixed fruit in cherry gel cup that I ordered by the case and ate with every frozen entree I consume as a kind of dessert fruit. I was shocked to find that with it's 80 calorie it contained 18g of sugar. Oh my!
So I ate a cheese wedge for an afternoon snack (that Activa yogurt was also loaded with sugar) and started looking closer at labels. I knew I could not do an absolute low carb diet because I didn't like to consume a lot of meat and I was not vegetable eater but I am going to watch the sugar and try not to sabotage my efforts.
Tonight, Mom & I went to a concert and ate out at a sports grill. We both had a side salad and then split the quesadillas. While not ideal it was better than a burger and I had exercised quite a bit that day. Overall I was feeling pretty good.
Today I went to the gym before visiting my physical therapist. I had experienced a lot of swelling and a little pain in my foot (not my ankle) and she suggested I try the recumbent bicycle instead of the treadmill. The first week I had tried the elypitcal as suggested by my boyfriend and found that 10 minutes was all I could tolerate. So I had been using the treadmill with the settings that varied the hills. I had gotten up to 30 minutes with a pretty brisk pace. The therapist tried me on the recumbent so I will try it at the gym tomorrow.
I also overheard a conversation another therapist was having with a patient about sugar in our diet. He is one of these somewhat fanatics who bicycles 150 miles/week and doesn't consume any sweets. Now, I can't give up sweets altogether but I realized the logic of just counting the calories and how cutting down on the sugar would give me an extra boost. I had already cut out bread but I was consuming tortillas and eating the Lean Cuisine cheese pizzas on occasion. As well as treating myself with various low calorie snacks. Even my favorite 140 calorie breakfast bar contains 8g of sugar. What really got me though, was my longtime favorite Del Monte mixed fruit in cherry gel cup that I ordered by the case and ate with every frozen entree I consume as a kind of dessert fruit. I was shocked to find that with it's 80 calorie it contained 18g of sugar. Oh my!
So I ate a cheese wedge for an afternoon snack (that Activa yogurt was also loaded with sugar) and started looking closer at labels. I knew I could not do an absolute low carb diet because I didn't like to consume a lot of meat and I was not vegetable eater but I am going to watch the sugar and try not to sabotage my efforts.
Tonight, Mom & I went to a concert and ate out at a sports grill. We both had a side salad and then split the quesadillas. While not ideal it was better than a burger and I had exercised quite a bit that day. Overall I was feeling pretty good.
Friday, April 14, 2017
Week 1
Today is Friday and the end of the first week of serious dieting. B and I drove to Auburn on Wednesday and back on Thursday and I faced the challenge of sticking to a diet while on the road. We at out at O'Charley's (salad) and I skipped the free hotel breakfast and ate my bar. I went to the gym the afternoon I got back. I originally thought I might go to the gym after working my 12-13 hour shift but have found that very difficult. So mostly I am going to the gym on my off day. I also increased my morning walk with the dog. I am finding my apple watch and it's activity tracking app to be very useful. MyFitnessPal has calculated for me a 1500 calorie day but I am shooting for 1200. Also, another tip I've found useful is to not eat my exercise calories.
The first week of any diet plan I have ever started (and believe me, I have started many) is always the hardest. The withdrawal of sugar is the main reason. I would say that I had been eating 2500-3500 calories a day to maintain my current weight and exercising very little. A basic google search teaches us that you need only cut out 3500 calories per week to lose 1 pound a week. My goal was 2.5 pounds a week so I figure I've cut out at least 1000 calories a day and am trying to exercise an average of 250 calories per day to get my 2.5 lbs.
Now this may surprise other dieters out there but I did not get on a scale when I started. This is for the same reason I hadn't stepped on a scale in over a year: fear. I am afraid of how much over 200lbs I have reached and I couldn't face that truth. This is tricky because I am relying entirely on how I feel and how my clothes fit for a measure of progress. But it is also keeps at bay that discouragement you feel when you plateau. I had a goal - to fit into my jeans by time for the cruise and I was going to diet as hard as I could for the next 6 weeks.
Now for the progress. This morning my work clothes which had been feeling a bit tight have started to lessen up. Yeah!
The first week of any diet plan I have ever started (and believe me, I have started many) is always the hardest. The withdrawal of sugar is the main reason. I would say that I had been eating 2500-3500 calories a day to maintain my current weight and exercising very little. A basic google search teaches us that you need only cut out 3500 calories per week to lose 1 pound a week. My goal was 2.5 pounds a week so I figure I've cut out at least 1000 calories a day and am trying to exercise an average of 250 calories per day to get my 2.5 lbs.
Now this may surprise other dieters out there but I did not get on a scale when I started. This is for the same reason I hadn't stepped on a scale in over a year: fear. I am afraid of how much over 200lbs I have reached and I couldn't face that truth. This is tricky because I am relying entirely on how I feel and how my clothes fit for a measure of progress. But it is also keeps at bay that discouragement you feel when you plateau. I had a goal - to fit into my jeans by time for the cruise and I was going to diet as hard as I could for the next 6 weeks.
Now for the progress. This morning my work clothes which had been feeling a bit tight have started to lessen up. Yeah!
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Wednesday
Yesterday, B had a weather day out from school for a massive storm that never arrived. We spent the day together. We went shopping at Kohls. I was looking for some new comfortable capris. My favorite pair having lost it's main button. On the way home she made a comment the way all people/kids do that struck to my very core. So that afternoon I made a commitment that I had been circling around (like circling around a drain) for so many months. I've had two surgeries in the last 12 months and have found myself (again) more than 40 pounds over weight and very unhappy with myself. I just couldn't find the motivation to get started. I had not gone back to my exercise class yet using my recovering ankle and extended work schedule as the excuse. The comment she made was the kick in the *ss that I needed. We were leaving on a cruise in just over 7 weeks and I needed to be able to fit in my blue jeans. And thus began my journey on a Thursday.
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