Tuesday 18 December 2018

On the weigh down

Weight 181 lbs. So far so good. It's been hard to resist a lot of the good food and treats flying around. Not going to lie, I've hard more than my fair share of salted caramel shortbread cookies. But, they were a unique homemade treat that I made room for in my calorie budget. 

Writing a few quick sentences in my journal first thing in the morning, really helps. I just set out my intentions for the day. Exercise goals, eating strategies, feelings, whatever comes to mind.

This is crunch time. The next few weeks, I have some sort of event involving food almost every single day. My goal is not to gain over the holidays. Reading over some old posts, I remind myself when selecting food from a menu or pot luck to think "Is it worth it?". 

On the exercise front, the holidays usually involve a lot of sitting, eating, and talking. I do have plans to hop on the treadmill when I'm visiting my mother since her apartment has a gym.  I do hope the weather is cold enough to go ice skating on the canal. Sometimes it's hit and miss. I could head down to NYC and do Rockefeller Center for some skating... just like Snoopy! 


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to anyone who passes by here :) 

Thursday 22 November 2018

And so it begins...

The daily journaling is going well. I honestly didn't think it would. I just write a line or two in the morning to set out my intentions for the day, and a few of lines at night as a recap of actions emotions for the day. It's keeping me from thinking food is a solution for my issues.

I think this is going to be important in the next month and a half... it's that time of year of get-togethers, parties and temptations everywhere! This is going to test my resolve!

Weigh-in: 185.5 lbs


Saturday 13 October 2018

Status Quo

I hoped I could write I've made tons of progress, but no.  I'm in the same spot as ever. Weight swings from 180s to low 190s and I'm a size 16. Definitely lack of sleep, teamed with fighting the Black Dog of depression saps all energy and motivation. Days seem to melt into one another. Temptations flow in. And here I am again.

Weekends have been difficult. After seemingly long days at the office, and insomnia at night, I'll sleep in Saturday and Sunday morning. Then we go out for supper--could be restaurant, could be with at a family member or friend's house. And overeat there. Sometimes I do cook something, it's usually a healthy balanced meal, but I overeat.

Although I've stuck to walking to the store get groceries, I've sabotaged that by having a meal delivery kit to bring three big suppers to my door for the week. The portions in those are huge so even though the meals are supposed to feed two, I could, and should, divvy them into four meals to suit my nutritional and calorie needs.

Daily walking has not happened in a consistent way over the summer and my flabby thighs show it. On average I guess I walked outdoors maybe twice a week. This past Thursday, I walked about 30 minutes uphill after work and felt so much better for it afterwards. I did go on some bike rides this past summer but not enough for it to be called a workout in anyway.

Plan for the week: Daily writing in a paper journal. Ten minutes.

Might seem simple, but it's a start. One day at a time. Sitting down (not in front of tv, or device, or laptop), taking just ten minutes  each day to write initentions for the next day (re:family, food exercise, work, hobbies), feelings, what happened during the day, and a food log. 

Food Plan for the month: Limiting food box delivery to once a month.  

Why restart again now? Winter is coming, it's getting colder, and the sunlight here has shifted. I tend to hibernate in winter already and absolutely don't want to let the Black Dog have free reign. 









Tuesday 8 May 2018

Back Home for Good

After all the trips I've had to take for work this past while, I wasn't sure what kind of number would pop up on the scale. It reads seven pounds gained. Sigh. I knew this past month or so would be tough. Not just with navigating eating and exercise, but also stress. Being "on", and having to pretend to be interested in whatever presentation, or to produce fake enthusiasm while presenting; it all takes a toll. Fortunately, there are no more business trips scheduled until the next fiscal year.

While away from home, I did try to make better choices, but when faced with stale bagels, powdered eggs and canned fruit in syrup as the hotel's complimentary breakfast... well I had to find an Sbux or Tim Hortons for a quick brekkie. Some meals were provided by the company, some meals I had to eat out with colleagues. Not much was vegan or vegetarian. I was not always in hotels that had mini-fridges so I did have a small cooler that could keep a salad cool for a few hours. Plane food? Forget it. Eating more processed food and restaurant food than I'm used to as well as being extra sedentary is where the seven pounds come from. 

A pretty lake in British Columbia.
I was able to get away from meetings or the hotel once in a blue moon, so I'd take walks outdoors as much as I could. Right now, I feel more bloated and tired than weak.

Plan
Food: Track everything! Lots of veggies, lean and plant protein (easy on the red meat). 

Exercise: Walking everywhere! Ride bike more after work to build up endurance to ride to commute to work (there's a new bike path that would make it a a 25K ride total... about 2 hours or so, which is the same as the bus).

Mental: I haven't taken the time to meditate or do yoga regularly. For the sake of my sanity, I'm getting back at it!

Current weight 185.3 lbs






Monday 2 April 2018

Post-Easter

I didn't really overdo eating any food over the Easter holiday, but I did indulge in chocolate. Moderation seemed to work fine. Sometimes it doesn't... A bag is filled with little chocolate eggs which were given to me, will go onto the share table at work tomorrow. 



Keeping active, working out every day is important. Walking outdoors, or in bad weather I worked out at the gym. My first visit there, the only piece of cardio equipment available was the dreadmill. Oddly enough, it wasn't so bad. Even on an incline, I was almost jogging! A workout with weights came after. 

At the family gatherings I was the one doing the dishes. It's much easier to keep busy, than to sit on my behind and eat another piece of pie. There were lots of opportunities to visit, gab and catch up on life.

Weight this morning: 178.5 lbs. 

Wednesday 21 March 2018

Snow Workout

It snowed here last week, again! Lots. And in addition to my own shovelling, I spent Saturday shovelling a friend's parents' driveway, and doing some other chores. They are out of town, and my friend caught the flu -- the real Influenza, wasn't up to it. Since I was on the mend getting over my bad cold, I was happy to help her out. After dropping a bunch of soup at her door, I headed over to her parents' place. It took an hour and a half to clear their driveway because after it had snowed, there was thaw over a few days, and a re-freeze which means tough snow, tough ice. Regular shovel, heavy metal shovel, and an old heavy-duty ice scraper/chopper helped me get the job done. Now that was an upper body workout!

I'll be travelling more for work in the upcoming months, and that will be a big challenge. My next business trip next month, I'm booked into a hotel for three days but it doesn't have a fridge, microwave or kettle/coffeemaker. Not my choice of venue, but I'll figure it out. The hotel restaurant's menu is basically a step above fast food. Finding vegan or vegetarian restaurants, cafes, and local grocery stores that have healthy food is my side project. 

Anywhoozle, my weight is still 186 lbs. With little exercise in the past while, my scale will stay still. Tracking in MyFitnessPal shows no day above 1600 cals. Now that I've been feeling better I've been walking a lot more, and getting back into my routines. Not panicking... yet! 

Wednesday 14 March 2018

Dealing with a Cold

Just trying to get through a nasty, ugly cold. Everyone seems to be sick around me, especially at work, and I finally caught a baddy! Constant headache, sinus pain, and stuffed up!! 

Hydrating, like a mad woman these days -- drinking lots of water and tea. Eats have been chicken soup, beet and carrot soup,  carrot and ginger soup... and I'm getting souped out! A few other light meals, like some salads, sweet potatoes, and such. And I've been staying away from sugar and white flour stuff, like bread and crackers. Although crackers are our family's traditional go-to food with soup when sick, I can demolish a box, or a sleeve of saltines in one sitting. Major trigger.

With the time change, it's so so dark in the morning -- my get up and go has got up and left!  I find it easier waking up with the sun. I know it'll be better in a few weeks.

Not much progress on the scale I'm afraid. But I'll take zero gains!


Wednesday 28 February 2018

Re-Adjustments

It turns out I have absolutely no energy first thing in the morning. None. My workouts have been half-assed to say the least.  My legs are like lead pipes and I have no pep in my step! The lack of movement on the scale is pretty reflective of that. 

The only time my morning workouts rock are on the weekend. I really get my sweat on. Those are the ones where I gradually wake up, take about an hour to have something to drink (coffee!) and a little something to eat, read the news and then get to it. 

Weekday mornings, I'm on a time-crunch playing "Beat The Clock". Five minutes to splash water on face, get something to drink, throw an exercise bra on, forty-five or less minutes for the workout, and thirty minutes to shower, get dressed, grab my lunch from the freezer (meals prepped in advance) and get out the door to catch the bus. 

So... it's back to late afternoon, early evening workouts for me. At least we've seen the last of the severe winter snow storms (fingers crossed) so my commute from now on shouldn't so bad, and I shouldn't have to spend an hour or more shoveling. 

Food-wise, my calories have been a bit on the higher side, so I'm pulling in the reins a little on that too. My pants are looser, so that's a good sign.

Constant re-adjustments are just fine. It means I'm keeping track of what's going on with my body, rather than burying my head in the sand (or a in a bag of chips) and wishing things were different.

Saturday 10 February 2018

Adjustments

I do well with consistent exercise for a time, and then fall off the wagon. I did really well before Christmas but since then, my workouts have been irregular. Although I walk outside everyday, shovel snow when it falls, I don't use a car to get groceries instead I walk the 15 minutes home, this is not enough. When it comes to purposeful workouts, I'm the worst at being consistent. This morning I was doing a cardio routine and 10 minutes in, I was a huffin' and a puffin', really sucking wind like a vacuum cleaner. 
This is not good! 


The only solution that makes any sense right now is to exercise in the morning, before work. This means waking up earlier, and going to bed earlier. AND making sure everything is organized for the morning (meals, clothes, work bag ready to go). Waking up earlier will be tough for a night-owl like me! But really, at the end of the workday, chances are I am burnt out, had a long commute (2 hours last week to get home because of snow), or just had a bad day. I just can't eat supper at 9pm, then try and squeeze in a sweaty workout before 11pm. So morning workouts it is!

Food-wise, I've been more snacky in the past couple of weeks, and that also has to stop. I know I get good nutrition from my mostly veggie-filled (and sometimes meaty) meals, and I feel really good. The snacking is all a mental game. I just have to keep reminding myself that giving into cravings for junk food will negate any progress.

Weight is still the same, bouncing between 186 and 189 lbs. 

Saturday 20 January 2018

New Year, New Me?

One thing I'm very good at is self-sabotage. I wish I were not an expert at this, believe me.  From the end of November running up to the Holidays, I was able to lose about ten pounds through diet and consistent exercise. But then... the Holidays... you know, same old story. I think succumbing to Peanut Brittle pushed me over the edge. I didn't gain an enormous amount of weight, but still... Next year, I will abstain in order not to have a repeat! No more sabotage!

Like many in January, I re-committed and re-started for the New Year. Since then, I've been following a month-long vegan plan, and feel very good actually.  It's a plan set out by a dietitian, not something I grabbed off the Interwebs, or from some other blogger who doesn't know what they're doing. It is plan that emphasizes health and the calories per day are in the 1600 to 1900 range.  But I must admit, I do miss chicken, fish and especially ground beef in chilli. And cheese! The calories and macros and such are calculated on the plan, and I'm meeting my targets. I will likely go back to being an omnivore when the vegetarian plan is over, but will try and choose plant protein over animal protein when possible. 

Right now, my weight is at 188.2 lbs.