Today:
HW: 252.6 (Sept 30, 2012)
CW: 238.6 (up 3.2 pounds from last week)
GW: 140's
Height: 5'5
Age: 49
Workouts this week:
30 minute cardio (2 mile) low impact aerobics x1 ? Maybe.
30 minute weight routine x1
Too much cake.
I have been over at my Mom's nearly every single day this week helping her (and my husband) get my 5 year old nephew's bedroom ready for him. And, my mother has cake. Not homemade cake, either. Store bought mousse cakes that demand to be demolished in two days while taking several breaks, just for a "small slice." Potato chips and cookies peak from grocery bags piled on the counter. They call to me even after they're put away into the pantry. Unfortunately, I am less than enthusiastic about this room make over project--so I am justify eating those treats as "my reward." That--and the fact that my Mom's fridge is freezing her food at irregular intervals so having fresh food (or even something cold to drink) can't be relied upon.
My stress levels are sky high. I wake up in chaos and come home to worse. I've neglected the house all summer and I plan to just leave things be until the kids are back at school next week. The kids do the dishes when I ask but never all of them all at once. (That's hard for even me to do.) Vacuuming (the other chore I ask them to do) is hit or miss. I haven't cleaned. I haven't made a menu plan for two weeks now.
Even so, that number up there feels a little unfair. It surprised me. Obviously, I have not figured out how to lose weight yet and live the life I have here before me. And when I say it like that, it's no longer a big mystery why I'm gaining weight. The life I have here before me is a life which packs on the pounds.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
A Healthy Diet
Criteria:
1) Satisfying. Each meal (or snack) should be able to keep you from feeling hungry for as long as you need it too--anywhere from three to five hours. The frequency with which you eat will depend on each person. There is an argument to be made that eating more often keeps the metabolism revved up-- and that will help with weight loss. It's an argument. Some can do this. Some want to and can eat more often than others, for others, (like me) this just leads to inappropriate eating. I prefer to eat as I did on the whole 30-- just three filling meals per day, no snacks. To my way of thinking, the less I need to eat, the less I will actually eat, and the less I prompt a rush of insulin into my bloodstream, the better.
2) Adequate calories for activity. (Slightly fewer for weight loss.)
3) Lots of vitamins and minerals (and other stuff science is only beginning to identify) found in whole foods.
4) Nothing you are intolerant towards, whether that be fat (my gallstones) or gluten (celiac disease) or lactose, for example.
5) Affordable.
6) Sustainable. This is more than just affordability, it also includes variety (if you can afford that), and whatever it requires of you to prepare the food you're eating. Some advocates of paleo diets advised their participants to "cook on the weekends" and if they meant cook all weekend (or even one day) for the week ahead, there's no way that would work for me. Not right now, anyway. For others, that might be fine, even fun.
I've left out the whole macro breakdown on purpose. (That is, what proportions of carbs/fats/protein should be in the diet). Human beings have survived on all sorts of diets--and no particular macro breakdown is appreciably better than another for weight loss.
Are there other things I should be considering? Is there anything I've left out?
1) Satisfying. Each meal (or snack) should be able to keep you from feeling hungry for as long as you need it too--anywhere from three to five hours. The frequency with which you eat will depend on each person. There is an argument to be made that eating more often keeps the metabolism revved up-- and that will help with weight loss. It's an argument. Some can do this. Some want to and can eat more often than others, for others, (like me) this just leads to inappropriate eating. I prefer to eat as I did on the whole 30-- just three filling meals per day, no snacks. To my way of thinking, the less I need to eat, the less I will actually eat, and the less I prompt a rush of insulin into my bloodstream, the better.
2) Adequate calories for activity. (Slightly fewer for weight loss.)
3) Lots of vitamins and minerals (and other stuff science is only beginning to identify) found in whole foods.
4) Nothing you are intolerant towards, whether that be fat (my gallstones) or gluten (celiac disease) or lactose, for example.
5) Affordable.
6) Sustainable. This is more than just affordability, it also includes variety (if you can afford that), and whatever it requires of you to prepare the food you're eating. Some advocates of paleo diets advised their participants to "cook on the weekends" and if they meant cook all weekend (or even one day) for the week ahead, there's no way that would work for me. Not right now, anyway. For others, that might be fine, even fun.
I've left out the whole macro breakdown on purpose. (That is, what proportions of carbs/fats/protein should be in the diet). Human beings have survived on all sorts of diets--and no particular macro breakdown is appreciably better than another for weight loss.
Are there other things I should be considering? Is there anything I've left out?
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Wednesday Weigh-In: The Appointment
Today:
HW: 252.6 (Sept 30, 2012)
CW: 235.4 (up 0.8 pounds from last week)
GW: 140's
Height: 5'5
Age: 49
Workouts this week:
30 minute cardio (2 mile) low impact aerobics x2
30 minute weight routine x2
at least one brisk walk with the husband and the dog.
I slept badly.
I am stressed about meeting with a GI specialist this morning about my gallbladder. I really do not want him/her to take it out. The only reason that I can see to take it out is so I'll be able to eat fast food again without fear. But that seems like a stupid reason to lose a body part.
As well, I just do not like doctors, generally.
I've also been over at my Mom's a lot this week getting my nephew's bedroom painted and set up for him. I'll be spending even more time in the coming days over there. I've let my house go, too. It's stressful.
Ugh. Still. I shouldn't be using food to deal with my emotions.
HW: 252.6 (Sept 30, 2012)
CW: 235.4 (up 0.8 pounds from last week)
GW: 140's
Height: 5'5
Age: 49
Workouts this week:
30 minute cardio (2 mile) low impact aerobics x2
30 minute weight routine x2
at least one brisk walk with the husband and the dog.
I slept badly.
I am stressed about meeting with a GI specialist this morning about my gallbladder. I really do not want him/her to take it out. The only reason that I can see to take it out is so I'll be able to eat fast food again without fear. But that seems like a stupid reason to lose a body part.
As well, I just do not like doctors, generally.
I've also been over at my Mom's a lot this week getting my nephew's bedroom painted and set up for him. I'll be spending even more time in the coming days over there. I've let my house go, too. It's stressful.
Ugh. Still. I shouldn't be using food to deal with my emotions.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Wednesday Weigh-In: Illlogical Belief
Today:
HW: 252.6 (Sept 30, 2012)
CW: 234.6 (up 3.2 pounds from last week)
GW: 140's
Height: 5'5
Age: 49
Workouts since last week:
1 mile WATP w/Leslie Sansone video
at least one 20-30 minute walk with my husband and the dog
30 min (2 mile) Cardio workout w/ Leslie Sansone video
I don't quite understand the 231 pounds I weighed last week. I weigh myself in the morning, right after I've been to the bathroom, and I was 233, 231, 232, 234, and 233. The scale is rather arbitrary.
Then again, I did go to a movie last night and eat copious amounts of chocolate, including m&m's.
I've been inconsistent with recording what I am eating. Looking up calories got old, really fast! In fact, I think I only looked up about one day's worth of food. EitherI need to simplify this, invest more time, or find another method.
I really should promise not to eat any more junk food. But, I don't want to make promises I may not keep. I still have this belief, clinging to me like a stubborn toddler to her mother's leg, that I should be able to eat anything I want --and lose weight, too. Intellectually I know this is absurd.
Emotionally, I'm clinging to that leg for dear life.
Honestly, I don't know what to do with that.
HW: 252.6 (Sept 30, 2012)
CW: 234.6 (up 3.2 pounds from last week)
GW: 140's
Height: 5'5
Age: 49
Workouts since last week:
1 mile WATP w/Leslie Sansone video
at least one 20-30 minute walk with my husband and the dog
30 min (2 mile) Cardio workout w/ Leslie Sansone video
I don't quite understand the 231 pounds I weighed last week. I weigh myself in the morning, right after I've been to the bathroom, and I was 233, 231, 232, 234, and 233. The scale is rather arbitrary.
Then again, I did go to a movie last night and eat copious amounts of chocolate, including m&m's.
I've been inconsistent with recording what I am eating. Looking up calories got old, really fast! In fact, I think I only looked up about one day's worth of food. EitherI need to simplify this, invest more time, or find another method.
I really should promise not to eat any more junk food. But, I don't want to make promises I may not keep. I still have this belief, clinging to me like a stubborn toddler to her mother's leg, that I should be able to eat anything I want --and lose weight, too. Intellectually I know this is absurd.
Emotionally, I'm clinging to that leg for dear life.
Honestly, I don't know what to do with that.
Monday, August 12, 2013
August Menu Plan, Week 2
All of the meat for this week, except the salmon, will be from the freezer.
Special:
Wild Coho salmon steaks, fresh, $1.89/100 g.
Still, horribly expensive, but as Bittman says, it is Wild-Salmon Season.
Weekly Meal Plan (temperatures in parentheses):
Monday (26): Lemon and herb salmon, rice, corn on the cob
Tuesday (25): Brined, BBQ chicken, cucumber salad, broccoli
Wednesday (28): Crock pot garlic pulled pork, boiled potatoes, coleslaw
Thursday (29): Home made hamburgers, potato salad, spinach, tomato, black olive, and feta salad
Friday (26): Unstuffed cabbage, rice.
Saturday (22): Italian #3 (from Well-Fed, p. 37), oven-fried potatoes
Sunday (24): Moroccan grilled chicken, (Well-fed, p. 37) rice, fruit salad.
Special:
Wild Coho salmon steaks, fresh, $1.89/100 g.
Still, horribly expensive, but as Bittman says, it is Wild-Salmon Season.
Weekly Meal Plan (temperatures in parentheses):
Monday (26): Lemon and herb salmon, rice, corn on the cob
Tuesday (25): Brined, BBQ chicken, cucumber salad, broccoli
Wednesday (28): Crock pot garlic pulled pork, boiled potatoes, coleslaw
Thursday (29): Home made hamburgers, potato salad, spinach, tomato, black olive, and feta salad
Friday (26): Unstuffed cabbage, rice.
Saturday (22): Italian #3 (from Well-Fed, p. 37), oven-fried potatoes
Sunday (24): Moroccan grilled chicken, (Well-fed, p. 37) rice, fruit salad.
Friday, August 9, 2013
What's Important?
"It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle."
We hear this over and over again in the weight loss world.
What does my "lifestyle" have to do with my weight?
I thought I understood it. Paleo-low-carb-theWhole30 --none of that was a diet-- it was, I thought--a healthy way to live. I still do. But, I hope it is not the only healthy way to live because it isn't sustainable--at least not for this single income family of four which includes two teenagers.
I need a way to eat that I know I will be able to do for always. I need a way to exercise that's attainable no matter what my circumstances, too. (Though, I'm fortunate and I know it is highly unlikely that I'll ever live in an urban environment without sidewalks, or where it is too dangerous to walk outside, thank goodness.)
It's about sustainability. It's about consistency. It's about eating and exercising in a way that I want to live with forever.
And it about more than food and exercise.
What's "way I live?" how and when I sleep, how I manage my stress, the quality of my primary relationships, whether I'm happy or depressed. I musn't forget this.
We hear this over and over again in the weight loss world.
What does my "lifestyle" have to do with my weight?
I thought I understood it. Paleo-low-carb-theWhole30 --none of that was a diet-- it was, I thought--a healthy way to live. I still do. But, I hope it is not the only healthy way to live because it isn't sustainable--at least not for this single income family of four which includes two teenagers.
I need a way to eat that I know I will be able to do for always. I need a way to exercise that's attainable no matter what my circumstances, too. (Though, I'm fortunate and I know it is highly unlikely that I'll ever live in an urban environment without sidewalks, or where it is too dangerous to walk outside, thank goodness.)
It's about sustainability. It's about consistency. It's about eating and exercising in a way that I want to live with forever.
And it about more than food and exercise.
The way you live affects the way your body manages your weight.
Erika Nicole Kendall. Excerpted from Why Is It “A Lifestyle Change?” | A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss.
What's "way I live?" how and when I sleep, how I manage my stress, the quality of my primary relationships, whether I'm happy or depressed. I musn't forget this.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Wednesday Weigh-In: Its Working.
Today:
HW: 252.6 (Sept 30, 2012)
CW: 231.4 (down four pounds from last week (Aug 1))
GW: 140's
Height: 5'5
Age: 49
Squeeeeeeeeeeee.
Man, am I thrilled to see that my newly recommitted efforts have made a difference on the scale!
I've been "watching" what I eat. I've been stuffing my ears with wax and ignoring the siren call of the potato chips at the grocery store. I had chocolate, but I read how many calories were in a serving and ate less than I would have.
I've been working out. Leslie Sansone and I are becoming buds again--and twice I've said "yes" to my husband this week when he asked if I wanted to walk the dog with him.
I've only been writing down what I'm eating for two days now and I think this whole looking up calories thing is for the birds --but it is for thin, agile, perky little singing birds-- and I aim to be one, in time.
HW: 252.6 (Sept 30, 2012)
CW: 231.4 (down four pounds from last week (Aug 1))
GW: 140's
Height: 5'5
Age: 49
Squeeeeeeeeeeee.
Man, am I thrilled to see that my newly recommitted efforts have made a difference on the scale!
I've been "watching" what I eat. I've been stuffing my ears with wax and ignoring the siren call of the potato chips at the grocery store. I had chocolate, but I read how many calories were in a serving and ate less than I would have.
I've been working out. Leslie Sansone and I are becoming buds again--and twice I've said "yes" to my husband this week when he asked if I wanted to walk the dog with him.
I've only been writing down what I'm eating for two days now and I think this whole looking up calories thing is for the birds --but it is for thin, agile, perky little singing birds-- and I aim to be one, in time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)