Down another pound, despite some lapses during the week.
I'm also noticing that when I do have a lapse, I feel it much more. My body seems to violently reject sugar now, and really doesn't cope well with it.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Mixed progress
I'm getting better at portion control. My meals still aren't perfect, but I've developed better awareness. We were out for dinner on the weekend, and I was able to pass up some of the things that I would have grabbed before. This time, I was able to say yes to a Meditteranean salad and tuna, and no to Caesar salad, bread basket, bruschetta, deep-fried appetizer and dessert.
Exercise-wise: I did get a nice long walk in on Sat. afternoon, but other than that, the week has been a write-off. Making time is a serious issue. My husband was out of town and things came up at work. The DVD is still in its plastic. Tonight I need to do it, no excuses.
Exercise-wise: I did get a nice long walk in on Sat. afternoon, but other than that, the week has been a write-off. Making time is a serious issue. My husband was out of town and things came up at work. The DVD is still in its plastic. Tonight I need to do it, no excuses.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Progress report
My weight was down 1 lb this week, with a slight reduction in percentage of body fat.
Of course, I've also noticed that every scale seems to be a bit different. From now on, I'm only going on the readings from THIS scale, since we use the same one each week at the weigh-in.
My realistic goal is 1-2 lbs/week, since that it was will realistically be fat loss.
The theme of the week at today's group meeting was exercise. Bottom line: It's not just about spending more time at the gym, but about doing a serious weight training routine with high-intensity cardio intervals. If I can do it in 30-40 min. a day, that would be awesome!
Of course, I've also noticed that every scale seems to be a bit different. From now on, I'm only going on the readings from THIS scale, since we use the same one each week at the weigh-in.
My realistic goal is 1-2 lbs/week, since that it was will realistically be fat loss.
The theme of the week at today's group meeting was exercise. Bottom line: It's not just about spending more time at the gym, but about doing a serious weight training routine with high-intensity cardio intervals. If I can do it in 30-40 min. a day, that would be awesome!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Supersize me
At my daughter's sleepover party last night, the girls surprised me by choosing to rent "Supersize Me".
I had seen it before, but it was certainly an added bit of motivation. Last time, I thought it made fast food seem gross. This time, it drove home the fact that it is truly toxic.
I related to it. I was clearly in the grip of a junk food addiction, in which my mood would briefly elevate as I was eating, followed by a dip, weird depression, general anxiety and other weird feelings. Honestly, I feel like the past few weeks have been a detox session.
I'm sleeping better. The bloating is gone. Most of the cravings have passed. I had tons of energy this weekend. My waist is at least an inch smaller.
I don't know why I had so many false starts, but this feels like lasting progress. It's not been just about having willpower when a craving strikes. It's been about having a plan, so that the cravings are stopped in their tracks. I've also been really trying to cut through the denial to truly appreciate the dangers of certain foods and ways of eating. The soft drinks obviously had to go - they were the most drug-like. I'm trying to make sure that I always have my water bottle now. I only use 1/2 cup juice/day now, just for the smoothie. The rest was also way too much sugar. Cutting out the grains felt extreme, but I can't deny that I feel better. I wonder if I was sensitive to it all along? I may increase the grains a bit once I'm at the goal weight, but I'll keep remembering portion control. All the fibre and whole grains doesn't do any good when you overeat.
I've stopped the fast food, pretty much cold turkey, and I don't buy myself things from convenience stores anymore either. It's gradually getting easier, as the new way of eating is coming together as a habit. That's really what I need - it has to be on auto-pilot for me. I can make a morning smoothie without thinking about it, with stuff that is always in my kitchen. This past week, I made twice the amount of greek yogurt, so I had plenty on hand for both smoothies and dips. I love the baby carrots, because they are so easier to grab. The pre-washed baby spinach takes no effort to stuff into a plastic container. I already know that my designated daily grain is a whole grain tortilla with hummus. I just need to prep the rest of the veggies and the proteins. I baked extra Thai green curry chicken thighs on Friday and froze them, so hopefully those should be good meals this week.
My challenge in the upcoming weeks will be to integrate "my" food with the rest of the family's meals. I'll include my husband with my meals this week, since I think he would benefit too. He will just need a bit more, since his activity level is higher. Also, it would be great for healthy eating and fitness to be a joint venture, instead of separate obsessions (he's a fitness nut). I also want to continue to improve the kids' eating, without going overboard. They are young, and following my food plan clearly wouldn't give them enough energy. OTOH, Supersize Me drove home, yet again, how we are really letting our kids down if we don't give them healthy meals. The school is a lot better than it used to be, and is really pushing fruits and veggies as proper snack choices (and they provide time for morning and afternoon snack in addition to lunch). I need to find a way to keep sugar and carbs under some sort of control, and up the protein. My son has figured out that too much sugar makes me puke. It gets challenging when I have restrictions on what I can send with them - no nuts, no meat, and something individual restrictions on eggs and fish, depending on what allergies classmates have.
I had seen it before, but it was certainly an added bit of motivation. Last time, I thought it made fast food seem gross. This time, it drove home the fact that it is truly toxic.
I related to it. I was clearly in the grip of a junk food addiction, in which my mood would briefly elevate as I was eating, followed by a dip, weird depression, general anxiety and other weird feelings. Honestly, I feel like the past few weeks have been a detox session.
I'm sleeping better. The bloating is gone. Most of the cravings have passed. I had tons of energy this weekend. My waist is at least an inch smaller.
I don't know why I had so many false starts, but this feels like lasting progress. It's not been just about having willpower when a craving strikes. It's been about having a plan, so that the cravings are stopped in their tracks. I've also been really trying to cut through the denial to truly appreciate the dangers of certain foods and ways of eating. The soft drinks obviously had to go - they were the most drug-like. I'm trying to make sure that I always have my water bottle now. I only use 1/2 cup juice/day now, just for the smoothie. The rest was also way too much sugar. Cutting out the grains felt extreme, but I can't deny that I feel better. I wonder if I was sensitive to it all along? I may increase the grains a bit once I'm at the goal weight, but I'll keep remembering portion control. All the fibre and whole grains doesn't do any good when you overeat.
I've stopped the fast food, pretty much cold turkey, and I don't buy myself things from convenience stores anymore either. It's gradually getting easier, as the new way of eating is coming together as a habit. That's really what I need - it has to be on auto-pilot for me. I can make a morning smoothie without thinking about it, with stuff that is always in my kitchen. This past week, I made twice the amount of greek yogurt, so I had plenty on hand for both smoothies and dips. I love the baby carrots, because they are so easier to grab. The pre-washed baby spinach takes no effort to stuff into a plastic container. I already know that my designated daily grain is a whole grain tortilla with hummus. I just need to prep the rest of the veggies and the proteins. I baked extra Thai green curry chicken thighs on Friday and froze them, so hopefully those should be good meals this week.
My challenge in the upcoming weeks will be to integrate "my" food with the rest of the family's meals. I'll include my husband with my meals this week, since I think he would benefit too. He will just need a bit more, since his activity level is higher. Also, it would be great for healthy eating and fitness to be a joint venture, instead of separate obsessions (he's a fitness nut). I also want to continue to improve the kids' eating, without going overboard. They are young, and following my food plan clearly wouldn't give them enough energy. OTOH, Supersize Me drove home, yet again, how we are really letting our kids down if we don't give them healthy meals. The school is a lot better than it used to be, and is really pushing fruits and veggies as proper snack choices (and they provide time for morning and afternoon snack in addition to lunch). I need to find a way to keep sugar and carbs under some sort of control, and up the protein. My son has figured out that too much sugar makes me puke. It gets challenging when I have restrictions on what I can send with them - no nuts, no meat, and something individual restrictions on eggs and fish, depending on what allergies classmates have.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Finally making a bit of progress...
Today was #3 of my 10 week weight loss group.
I'm down 2 lbs from last week. In addition, I've noticed far less bloating since I've drastically reduced the flour, and I have more energy.
The first week, I had massive carb cravings, but those are mostly gone now and I seem to be adjusting. My body just had to realize, "Oh, I'm not really starving".
I still need to increase the amount of exercise, esp. muscle work, so I'll need to finally make a workable schedule.
I hope that some slight modifications with my eating, like having even more veggies, less juice and a bit more protein, plus the increased exercise, can kick the weight loss up a notch.
Since I've terminated my memberships in imamother and babycenter, my online time has decreased, and I've been more focused at work. In turn, my stress is reduced.
New goals:
Keep on top of bills and billings, both at home and work, and get all billings done by year end
Go to bed by 11 p.m. each night
Have dinner on table by 5:45 p.m. each evening, then spend 1 hour with my son on homework and reading.
Weight:
144 by Nov. 11
137 by Dec. 12
130 by Jan. 10
122 by Oct/11
I'm down 2 lbs from last week. In addition, I've noticed far less bloating since I've drastically reduced the flour, and I have more energy.
The first week, I had massive carb cravings, but those are mostly gone now and I seem to be adjusting. My body just had to realize, "Oh, I'm not really starving".
I still need to increase the amount of exercise, esp. muscle work, so I'll need to finally make a workable schedule.
I hope that some slight modifications with my eating, like having even more veggies, less juice and a bit more protein, plus the increased exercise, can kick the weight loss up a notch.
Since I've terminated my memberships in imamother and babycenter, my online time has decreased, and I've been more focused at work. In turn, my stress is reduced.
New goals:
Keep on top of bills and billings, both at home and work, and get all billings done by year end
Go to bed by 11 p.m. each night
Have dinner on table by 5:45 p.m. each evening, then spend 1 hour with my son on homework and reading.
Weight:
144 by Nov. 11
137 by Dec. 12
130 by Jan. 10
122 by Oct/11
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)