Weigh-In Wednesday and Re-Thinking Food

I've been doing okay and have been walking briskly part-way to work 4/5 days. And try a get a quickie nooner walk in there too. Trying to be active at the end of the work day is tough and it to be honest it doesn't happen. I do about 5K total for the day. Right now my goal while on these meds is not to gain. Another month or so and I should be off them. So far I've been successful in keeping away the gains: I'm still at 181 lbs.  

As for food, I looked over my little collection of recipe and weight-loss books over the weekend and I did try a few new recipes...

Breakfast:
-Veggie packed mini-quiches (no crust, with a small bit of lactose-free Swiss cheese)
Lunch:
-Turkey Burger on a Portobello mushroom cap, topped with grilled zuchs and onion 
Supper:
-Lemon Garlic Shrimp with asparagus and peppers

They were good and didn't require too much more time in the kitchen than usual. I think for the last  while I did find myself in a bit of a cookery rut there. I truly hate spending hours in the kitchen. My Mom loves it and would do it the live-long day but I didn't inherit the kitchen gene. I'd rather spend my time in my studio painting or meeting friends or just enjoying the day. So I usually prep on the weekends and freeze a lot of meals. Helps me out especially when I come home some nights nearing 7pm! Blah! Those are the nights when I do come home hungry, tired and vulnerable to naughty temptations. Having good nutritious food around saves my bacon, ha ha! 

Seriously, on those nights, I do consciously take time to eat at the table, preparing a nice setting, chew slowly and savour what I'm eating.  Just that small change has been so so helpful in turning my fat-girl thinking around. Mindless eating is a sure road back to morbid obesity.

Wednesday Weigh-in

Even though I'm following almost the same food and activity that I have for the past several weeks, weight has not shifted much all week. I weigh myself every morning, but record officially on Wednesdays. I'm at 181 lbs. I know the medication I'm on has fatigue and weight gain as possible side effects... I'm fighting it as much as I can. 

Food these days is about the same with some variations on lunch and dinner. I just have to be careful with portion sizes:

Morning: 2 Eggs with mushrooms and peppers (usual); or oatmeal and berries with almond milk, vanilla and cardamom (once a week or so); or smoothie with protein powder (twice a week or so).

1 cup coffee with almond milk 

Lunch: Grilled chicken or beef or bison on salad with 1/2 avocado sometimes with soup; or nori roll with smoked salmon or tuna with avocado, cukes and carrots

Snack: Small apple with sunflower seed butter; or tuna and red peppers

Supper: About the same kind of meal as lunch, just a smaller portion

-If still hungry in the evening, I have a cup of tea with a small amount of honey and tough it out until morning.

To all this I drink about 2 to 3 litres of water a day. 

Otherwise, not much new here. Battling dandelions and crazy growing vines in the garden. I'm certainly not missing the over 7 foot high snowbanks we had this past winter :)

Summer Clothes

A few weeks ago, I tried on a bunch of summer clothes that I had stored away from last year. Nothing is tight on me. Hooray!  Some pants and shorts are too loose in the hip and thigh, but can be belted so they are saved for now. Two pairs of low-rise shorts are way too loose and just can't be worn anywhere. Falling off my ass is not a good look.  Some of the tops are also looking shabby. So I've been clothes shopping. I don't mind it because I can usually find clothes that fit... eventually... but sometimes it's tough for this fat girl. It gets easier every season when I'm a bit smaller than the season before :) 

Trying everything on takes a while. I'll try on twenty items and only purchase one or two. I figure if it doesn't fit perfectly and isn't flattering, why waste money on it?  I used to think it fits, so it'll do. Not anymore. Even if something fits, it can make you look 20lbs bigger if it's a tent.

I've picked up a couple of nice skirts and one new top so far. From the thrift shop of all places!  This weekend, I'll be hitting the stores again.

One little problem I'm having is trying to find a nice comfortable light-weight summer jean. Most of the ones that fit my curves have 10 to 30% polyester along with cotton. Yep polyester, the enemy of the chubby girl in the hot summer heat. Gives a new definition to "hot pants"!

Since my man is away this weekend, I'll be doing a blitz with a friend on Saturday and on my own for the rest of the stores on Sunday. Lots of walking in the malls and the big box stores. Must remember to bring my big bottle of water this time! On the menu for lunch, a restaurant with lots of healthy options. The menu is online so I've already made my choice: Baby kale salad with cucumber, tomato and avocado, a bit of crumbled bacon, a bit of goat cheese topped with grilled chicken. I'm skipping the dressing and will ask for a lemon instead. Planning in advance is setting myself up for success, not restaurant failure!

Good Night's Sleep and Weigh-In Wednesday

The weather here has been hot, then cold, then rainy, the, warm then muggy. Basically all over the place. Didn't stop me from walking though.  I find with this medication I'm on, fatigue definitely sets in during the late afternoon. If I want to do any exercise that takes energy, it's got to be in the morning. And I'm such morning person! not.  

But I've got to do this. Not fail again. Even if it means getting up earlier, I've got to put my health as a priority. So far during the work week, 4 out of 5 morning brisk walks. And 3 quickie noon walks. Super-long weekend walks or hikes are definitely not first thing in the morning, but I got it done both days.  Still stretching every evening.

Sleep has been good, surprisingly so! I've added a warm bath before bed and that really seems to help me mentally unwind. One particularly hot and sticky night, I slept on the pull-out in the basement. I'm too cheap to keep the air conditioner running all the time :)

Food-wise, there have been moments of temptation: vending machines, free samples of organic dark chocolate at the grocery, chips at a party. I was able to resist. Thing is, I knew after having a bite of any of it,  I'd use it as an excuse to keep on eating and eating.  Reason being I've been stressing over some controlling mother-in-law stuff.  Think a carbon copy of Marie Barone from the sit-com Everybody Loves Raymond. 

Weight this week, a teensy bit lower than last week: 181.1lbs

Hodge-podge of Miscellany and Weigh-In

I've been quiet lately, just trucking along as usual, reading blogs (but not commenting too much) and thinking about things.

Finished reading The Diet Fix by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff and the upshot is:  it's just okay.  If you can find a copy on sale or at the library, I'd say it's worth a read. I found a lot of good common sense tips and strategies, things I already knew, such as logging all your food in a diary and count those calories!  A good quote is "The more weight you want to permanently lose, the more of your lifestyle you're going to have to permanently change" Very True!   But... he is okay with sugar substitutes like Splenda. For myself anyway, I find that sugar or substitutes makes me crave sugary sweet stuff all the more. And I try and keep away from processed man-made franken-foods like Splenda. (Natural, organic as much as possible works well for me.) He did not address stress/emotional eating in any meaningful way or food intolerances. Maybe saving it for another book?

On the medical front, I've had some news (not bad news, really) that I've been processing and discussing with my man. I'll be taking some meds. Have to. The doctor said some of the side effects will include fatigue.  At this point, I can't imagine being any more fatigued. This past week, my sleeping has been about five to six hours per night mainly because I can't seem to relax, stop thinking and let go. Hoping it's just a blip. I started taking a warm bath, with a few lavender drops, before bed the night before last and it seemed to help.

Been eating on track for the most part, a couple of chocolate cheats this week. I don't regret it. High quality indulgences that I didn't want to pass up. I wasn't acting out of stress or any other emotion. Nor did I chow down on a whole box! 

Exercise could always be better but I've been walking every day and stretching in some way every night. A gym membership is on the horizon. My man has said he'd join with me too. A nice step in the right direction :) With hot summer days around the corner, I won't want to be outside when it's hot, hazy, humid and smoggy. Besides I need to start using heavier dumbells. These 5lb ones I have are no longer a challenge.

Weight: 181.3 lbs   A number that is still going down :)

Eating out, Books and Still Going Down

Navigating the mine-field of eating out has been a challenge lately. Lots of graduations and birthdays have just passed and are coming up. And all involve supper at restaurants.  I know I've been making the wiser choices judging by the scale and looser pants. I usually order grilled lean meats no salt added and salads with no dressing. Drinks... water with lemon or lime, seltzer or if I'm feeling it, a white spritzer. For dessert? I chew sugar-free mint gum. Boring but it works.

I've been reading a new weight loss book and re-reading a couple of others. The new one is The Diet Fix by Yoni Freedhoff and the re-reading are Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels and Eat Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno. I know it's a bit of an odd way to read, but I read one book on the bus, one on breaks at work and another before bedtime.  It's one way to keep my mind focused on staying on track :)  I'll write a little review of The Diet Fix in a couple of weeks once I'm done.

One discouraging aspect of my life lately is that even though I've been losing steadily, it's coming very slowly off my waist. Hips, legs and everywhere else are coming along... just not that belly fat. That stubborn belly fat. In my case I just have to be patient. I'll likely see slow progress and it'll be the last to go. My mother and I share the same apple shape so I know it's part genetics. The answer I think will lie in shaking up my exercise routine. I'll be looking into what I can do and exercises that I won't get tired of doing this week.

Weight 182.5 lbs  

Mom, Chemical Footprint and a Weigh-in

Had a really nice weekend visiting my Mom. Bonus was it's warm enough to wear sandals for the first time this season! We went shoe shopping and I picked up a nice pair for work. My Mom chose a pair of Birkenstocks. Didn't know she was a hippie, ha ha! Made me realise how I've not been taking care of my feet over the winter, so we gave each other pedicures. Emery boards, foot soaks, olive oil and moisturizer, woo-hoo! No polish though... I'm just not into that.

Once home, I noticed I had some spring cleaning to do. Lots of dust and sand have come into the house from outside so after taking off a layer with a damp mop, I had a second go-round with a water-vinegar mix with a little bit of dish soap and some lavender oil drops. Did the trick. 

More and more, I'm looking to reduce the amount of chemicals I use. Like with food, just trying to make better choices. I use a damp cloth, vinegar water or baking soda water mixes as much as possible. I still keep bleach though... you never know when you have to disinfect. I use it rarely. Still haven't found a good 100% solution for the laundry yet. Method or Seventh Generation brands do an okay job.

One solution I found was for antiperspirant. I no longer use it. I use deodorant instead. I kept getting skin irritations with the standard antiperspirant brands that I had to find another solution. Also I had a couple of white dress shirts that became pit-stained. Apparently it's the aluminum that does that.  Finding a "natural" deodorant has been a trial. Going through over ten different brands until I found one that worked with my own body's chemistry.

As for sunscreen, I haven't found any ideal solution here either. The Environmental Working Group's Guide to Sunscreens is a good place to start. I use one that has zinc oxide or titanium dioxide even though they make my skin look a bit paler than I already am. Avobenzone makes me itch like crazy so I stay away from that ingredient. I also will wear a hat and stay in the shade whenever I can. But I love traveling to the beach and swimming at the lake so... I takes my chances :)

Weigh-in: 183.1 lbs

Not as good as I've been doing lately, but that number is still going down. This week I had a hard time getting a good night's sleep, which in turn made me extra groggy in the mornings and running late I had skimpy breakfasts. The domino effect set in and I became a hungry hippo at the end of the day. Yes, that problem again with eating big portions at suppertime. Also because of running late, I didn't walk in the morning and was too tired at the end of the day to make up for the lost workout.  Will do better this week!

Wonderful Weather and Weigh-in Wednesday

The weather here has been great this week, meaning no rain. Woo-hoo, bring on the allergy pills!  LOL  So I'm out walking in the morning part-way to work and after work walking part-way home. I try to keep a brisk pace and it takes about an hour of my weekday. It's a good way to relax before and after work. 

Maybe it's just the Spring, but I'm much more active outdoors. Even though I shoveled a record-breaking amount of snow this past Winter, I'm definitely more active now. There's the yard to tend to, lots of twigs and leaves picked up, lots of weeds to pull. Strength training or yoga or T'ai Chi at home in the evening is still on the schedule.

My man and I are giving some thought to Summer vacations... Lots of possibilities since we've been saving money like mad. I think one of the prettiest places I've been to was Monet's garden in Giverny. Here's a view from the flower garden looking toward the house.

I wouldn't mind going again but there's a big old world out there that we can explore.

Food-wise I've been keeping to my food plan and making sure to hit my protein targets for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack so I'm not ravenous once I get back home.

I've also been much more careful with calories on weekends. I noticed in my food journal that my calories had been getting a bit too high and some meals I just couldn't be sure 100% of the calories. I know it's eating out that is the cause. Most of the restaurants my man and friends go to are small businesses that do not post nutritional information. (Here in Canada, it's mostly fast-food chains that do.) So the calories in my journal were guess-timations... yeah, that won't do anymore! I'd usually go for a chicken stir-fry, no extra salt please or a salad with grilled or Tandoori chicken, no salad dressing.  Instead, we've been hosting friends at home. At least this way I can have some measure of control. I don't want my hard work during the week wrecked by a meal or two over the weekend!

Still on a downward trend and weighing in at: 183.8 lbs