Tag Archives: diet

Weekly Weigh In #2

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I weighed in on Monday morning, expecting things to not go well. Even though I had stayed within my daily 1,600 calories, I couldn’t exercise as much because of homework and work, and my scale at home showed that I was up. When I weighed in on Monday I…

Gained/Lost 0 pounds

So basically, I maintained. I was disappointed, but after a good talk with the nutritionist, we pinpointed some reasons. First of all, I’m not really mindful of salt before weigh ins. I always thought it was just hocus pocus that eating a bit of salt would puff you up, but after chowing down on homemade stir fry this weekend (hello, soy sauce!) and a couple frozen meals, apparently  I was puffy (and sure enough, I’m down a pound this morning. Oh well.) Secondly, my nutritionist thinks I shouldn’t eat the extra calories I get from exercise through the My Fitness Pal app. She broke down the math for me and reminded me that I have a slow functioning metabolism – one that theoretically isn’t “broken”, but needs lots of stoking. We also decided I need to amp up my cardio to 4-5 times per week.

These changes are all pretty significant for me, because they point out the thing I’ve been kind of hoping wouldn’t be true for a long time… and that’s that for me to lose weight, I need to be damn near 100% in my efforts. The last time I lost 30 pounds was my last semester in college – when I was working two jobs, serving as an editor on the college paper, attending classes and constantly riding my bike to and from campus. Weight loss seemed easy back then – because even though I was involved in so many things, I was active. I didn’t sit on my butt all day. Now I sit 40+ hours a week, and then I sit some more, after work, when I do my thesis project or go to class.

The increase in cardio is good – while I’ll struggle at first, I know it will help decrease my stress, get me in shape, and most importantly, it will help rev up my metabolism. I like to imagine my metabolism as a squishy little cartoon character wearing a fuzzy robe and bunny slippers, with a perpetual yawn, curling up inside me next to my thyroid like the ultimate couch potato. I want that little metabolism to sweat and start being more productive, and the only way I’m gonna do that is to stop being my own form of couch potato, and move it to lose it, ya know?

 

One last thing I forgot to mention is I’m moving to bi-weekly weigh ins, because the wise nutritionist thinks it will be better for me to focus on my weight less and my energy and fitness level more. She reminded me that in cases like mine, sometimes you can be doing everything right and your body just takes some time to “prove it”. So yup – next time I weigh in on May 16… 3 days after my birthday!

I’m so glad I have a “weight whisperer” like the nutritionist to help me put some perspective into this challenge of mine that feels like something I’ll never overcome. But I will overcome it eventually – I just have to accept that weight loss is not going to be as simple as driving to the store and picking out a new, size 6 metabolism with a button nose and a love of volleyball. Weight loss is hard – which is precisely why the first three letters of diet are die. Heh. How are you doing this week? How are you feeling? Any revelations about anything?

The Last Hurrah

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Last night, I celebrated the “last hurrah”. The last hurrah for what, you ask? For my impending membership in…. Weight Watchers! After Alycia’s inspiring guest post and the fact that my work finally got the monthly-pass option, and that they’ve reworked the points plus system, I wanted to give it another try. Not to mention my flex spend account will cover Weight Watchers for 2012 – so I really had no reason not to give it a go. (And if I run into similar issues like I did last time with the meeting/leader, I can now attend meetings other than at work.) Our first meeting is on Thursday.

Sangria Sampler, yum!

Anyways, we had a groupon for Muvico – an awesome movie theatre in Thousand Oaks that has age 21+ movies where you can bring wine and beer into the theatre, and feast on free popcorn! We met up with our friends Shelley and Daniel for a double date! Before the movie, we had a light dinner at the Lazy Dog Coffee. I started my evening with a delicious Sangria sampler consisting of Red Pomegranate, White Peach and Black Currant Rose. The white peach was definitely my favorite – and Shelley’s too! I also had some super tasty lettuce wraps.

Lettuce Wraps

After dinner, we headed in to the movie theatre to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This movie theatre had very plush, reclining seats that also gently rocked back and forth. With my hot, salty popcorn (Fresh from the popper!) I was a happy girl.

POPCORRRRRN!

The movie was really good – very suspenseful and with a strong (albeit a little nutty) female lead. I was enjoying a healthy buzz from my sangria sampler, which regretfully lead to the inhalation of one bag of sourpatch watermelon slices and about a bag and a half of popcorn. I pigged out, and am not proud of it as the bloat from crazy salt manifested itself as an 8 pound gain on the scale this morning :|

However, I know it’s 8 pounds full of salt and water and little pieces of candy floating around, so I’m not that worried. I’m back on track after my last hurrah, and even spent 35 minutes sweating my butt off on an incline 6 on the treadmill at the gym today. I’m ready to get started… and have even started tracking again! Here’s to hoping this time around I can make Weight Watchers work for me, by consistently tracking, being honest and keeping up the exercise. In this case, my last hurrah was exactly what I needed to get mentally prepared for some of the changes I need to make in the coming months.

When you’re getting ready for a diet or “lifestyle change” (I hate both of those terms), do you ever give yourself a “last hurrah”?

 

 

Midwestern State of Mind

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Little me creeping up stairs

I came screaming into this world in Naperville, Illinois, which was at the time, a small suburb of Chicago for new families and new shopping malls. (Fun fact: It’s now so yuppy people call it “Diaperville”) My mom was a native Michigander and my dad was a native Minnesotan, and together, they made a Midwestern hybrid baby that would be raised with good Midwestern values and three square meals of meat and potatoes. In the Midwest, “vegetables” are potatoes, iceberg lettuce, carrots and canned olives. When my cousins come to visit us in California, their noses turn up at the “grass” that is served as a salad – leafy arugula, green spinach, declicate baby greens. In the Midwest, gravy is a beverage. Oil is a condiment. Butter is a must.

I’m sure parts of the Midwest are different, but where I was raised, cheese in a can was a perfectly acceptable counterpart to crackers. “Salads” were rarely made of vegetables. Like what, you say? Potato Salad. Pasta Salad. Jello Salad. Taco Salad. Egg Salad. Chicken Salad.  Things like London Broil or Tri-Tip or Alfalfa Sprouts were unheard of. In fact, I never tried an artichoke, avocado, or soy milk until I moved to California.

Awkard chunky pre-teen phase. But I always was an LA girl!

It’s no laughing matter, but in both sides of my family, more of us fit into the lumpy category than we do lean. Would it be different if we had been raised in mountainous Colorado, or sunny Florida? (Florida: Probably not. Pretty sure funnel cakes, pulled pork and Cuban sandwiches do not a skinny person make.) Does the region you live in affect your tendency towards a certain body mass? I know I can’t blame my obesity on all the times I ate ice cream instead of fruit, but I have to wonder if my corn and grain-fed habits translated to a paunchier person.

One of the few years of my life where I had a normal BMI... I was 2.

I get grumpy sometimes when I compare my present eating habits to some slender folk around me. I cook rustic, wholesome meals with things grown from my garden. I mostly eat meals based on a lean protein, green and one starch every night. I try my best to stay away from processed foods and I exercise. I’ve made bad choices in the past and let’s be honest, will probably continue to do so, but the slightest bit of me loves blaming it all on genetics. In all fairness, I identify that I can’t blame the region – but I can blame the habits.

Did the region you grew up in contribute to your eating and food habits? How? If it was negative, how are you working to change them?

 

Weekly Weigh In #1

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*Trumpet fanfare* I had my first weigh-in yesterday… and it was successful! I lost two pounds! In my weight watchers experience past I usually have a more impressive loss the first week of the plan, but I definitely used all of my weekly flex points (those are kind of like a “free” pass for a  little splurge or treat (but you still have to track ‘em)) and ate well all week, including fatty fatbomb things like ice cream and garlic bread. (Curious what points are? They’re a numerical value assigned to food based on carbs, fat grams, protein and fiber. For example, an orange is 0 points, but a dinner roll is around 4 points.) (How many points you get to eat a day depends on your weight. This is one instance where being fat = win.)


The biggest struggle this week was remembering to chart what and when I ate. It’s not second nature for me yet to write down what I’ve just eaten, but thankfully, the iPhone app I’m using has little text reminders that pop up and remind me to log everything. Another challenge? Not having seconds. Sure, on the plan I can have seconds, but I think logging everything makes me realize the give and take or the trade off value of seconds versus say, having dessert later.

Today I stocked up on pre-portioned snacks, because I need a lot of grab n’ go options with my busy schedule. I picked up some Fiber-One 90 calorie brownies (2p+), natural fruit leathers (1p+) and some yummy instant iced tea flavors like mango acai. My challenge this week will be continuing to track and make good choices amongst the usual stress and chaos – I have a busy week coming up!

If you’ve ever started a “lifestyle change” or diet, what was your most impressive first week loss?

My Weight Loss Dilemma

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Hello dear readers: now that there’s more than a few of you, I realize I need to make this into an actual weight loss blog and LOSE some weight! Sigh – I was hoping I could keep up the facade forever ;) (I jest.) I’m hoping to get my new “Progress” link going in the next few days – so help me make a decision on which way to lose my flabby fluffy flubber! PLEASE leave a comment and let me know your thoughts. I crumble easily under peer pressure… which is why my doughnut-pushing co-workers are evil. For those of you who are new to the blog, I’ve got the exercise thing goin’ on, so any plan I follow will include lots of heart pumping cardio and strength-training :)

  • Weight Watchers. It’s reliable, it’s worked for me before, it’s very well recommended, it’s sensible and livable. I can have a glass of wine, I can eat sugar. Keeps me accountable with weekly weigh ins and motivational meetings. I’ve seen it work for many of my friends. Cons are: I sometimes feel I have too much freedom, it’s not cheap at $40+ a month, and there’s start up costs associated with getting e-tools, the little calculator, etc. Sometimes the meetings get a little preachy, and I’ve never been spurred to motivation by the cheesy stories and jokes. I also end up not tracking sometimes due to forgetting, being in meetings all day at work, etc. Can anybody comment on the online plan? How does it work?

  • Low Carb – Ala South Beach. It works for me better than any other plan, and completely eliminates my problems with boredom or emotional eating. It’s just strict enough to keep me away from the stuff that makes me uncontrollable, and I get to eat yummy fatty stuff like cream cheese and bacon (within reason). Weight loss is rapid and the rapid pace keeps you motivated. It’s fairly inexpensive, but it’s also a hard lifestyle to maintain when you’re at parties or out with friends. Also makes it fairly difficult to cook for the husband since I’m one of those “I cook for you because I love you” type of people. I can usually last a few weeks before I feel like stabbing somebody for a bite of an apple.

  • Old School – The tried and true of weight loss. Cut the crap, move more, eat less. This way WORKS, no questions asked, and I’ve lost 30 pounds before this way, but I also had a free nutritionist on hand (ah the joys of being a student and working only PT) and a crazy schedule (hence less time to eat and always being on the move). I feel like in many ways this is the hardest choice at all – because it means being GOOD. Journaling my food choices on my own, having to really be conscious of decisions I make. Inexpensive, certainly less limiting than low carb.

So there you have it. Tell me what you think – what’s worked for you, why it’s worked, your opinions, etc. I realize this is a personal choice, but I like to weigh out the factors on all sides before making a decision. I’m a highly analytical person and like to hear suggestions, because sometimes you get your head so far up your own butt that obvious facts get buried in vanity, stubbornness or sheer laziness. I’m also kind of ridiculously wishy-washy. Matt picked out his wedding band in 20 minutes. It took me over a month.

My brain is kind of telling me to go back to Weight Watchers, but my heart wants to believe I have that little bird of hope and inspiration in my soul that will burst into song and cling on to the deeply-hidden willpower within me. (Little bird of hope just vomited at that trite, over the top description)

So – it’s a swing vote. Influence me. Peer pressure me. Convince me. It’s time to practice your persuasive speaking skills (btw, I am VERY persuasive. Won an award for it in a college political science debate class!). Those of you lurking behind your computer screens, SAY SOMETHING! I know you’re there, I can see you in the daily visitor numbers. Say something! GO!