Unexpected Thanksgiving Challenges

Going to stay in an environment where I have no control over the food in the house is tough. I was surprised at the amount of junk food in the family home.  My mom has regained 30lbs of the weight she lost.  We had a good talk and it's basically she went back to eating convenient and fast food like pizza, Chinese (the deep-fried stuff, not authentic) and pasta.  

She's been having some health challenges, fibromyalgia is the main one, and the pain and fatigue has thrown for a loop lately.  Her pain interfered with her exercise classes and sometimes even walking 15 minutes is too much.  Playing into this is also the emotional... it's been almost two years since my father passed away and where she is in her grieving process she does not say.  She admitted to turning back to using food for comfort.  Sigh... yes, like mother like daughter.  At least she did have lots of fruit and veggies stocked, so she hasn't fallen too far.  I gave her my advice, but just being there for her, listening without judgment, and leading by example are the best things I can do.

Leaves floating on the Lake

Although I tried to keep on my feet and active, there was a lot of sitting and talking with relatives.  And sitting and more sitting. I volunteered to help do whatever chores or setting the table, ect., when I could just to keep moving. My man and I did get out for a walk and luckily enough it was a nice day.


As for my weight post-Thanksgiving, I'm up slightly to 171.0 lbs.  Was expecting a bigger gain but I'm just fine with .4 lbs given all the salty ham I ate!  Really I did keep my portions small, filled up on veggies and fruit, didn't drink too much alcohol and for dessert only had a slice of apple pie.  Yes, just the one :)  

For improvement this week: Hydration! At work, the water fountain is out of order so it's a trek to get to the nearest one. Not a trek really, more like the opening to that old TV show "Get Smart"! At home on weekends, it just seems that I forget. Solution: Carrying a 1 litre refillable water bottle wherever I go. And refill at least once during the day.

Pre-Thanksgiving Weigh-In

With all the activity and preparations in the next few days before Thanksgiving, I figured I'd post now.  So pre-Thanksgiving weight is 170.6 lbs, so slightly less than last week.  No big loss, but a loss nevertheless.  Although I'm happy that the scale is moving in the right direction, I know I still have a ways to go. Not to undervalue coming from over 220 lbs, the reality is I am still not near to  where I'd like to be.

Fall colours while walking on the weekend

Thanksgiving could be a good excuse to go off the rails and fall face first into a bowl of ice cream. That won't happen in my world, but what could is less activity than usual on account of travelling, spending time with relatives and just being out of my routine.  With brisk walking, I can do that pretty much anywhere. There will be tons of chores to do so I'll try and keep busy, on my feet and away from the cushy living room sofa.

As for food, that can be a mixed bag. As I've mentioned before, some relatives equate food with love and if you reject the food you are essentially rejecting them. It has gotten a lot better over the last few years, but this is always a concern.  

The menu for the various suppers usually is a roast beast of some sort, carby fixings, gravy and vegetables. My man does not follow the same eating style as I do, so he usually has no problem with any glutinous carbs that cross his path. But we both have issues with the desserts. The past few years, my Mother has retired her recipe for pecan pie (a.k.a. the devil's pie LOL) in favour of apple pie so I'm hoping the trend continues. I'll likely have one slice, one :)

Wednesday Weigh-In

We've really had the most beautiful Indian Summer that I can remember and the leaves are turning all sorts of pretty colours. The sun is setting earlier and earlier. The other evening I went out to do some gardening after supper and it was already dark at 7:30pm! Time really flies.

Starting to slowly change from spring/summer clothes to fall/winter clothes. I tried a couple of nice sweaters and a pair jeans that I had packed away a few years ago that were too small and they now fit. Very happy about that! 

Next step is the clothing store. I've been avoiding it because I don't have much time (or much money) lately to try on outfits and shop, but... it's come to a point where I've got to get a few new work basics: Blazer, cardigan, a couple of new blouses, dress pants, dark denims. One thing I've learned is to ALWAYS try things on. Every time. I find more and more odd variations in clothing. How can jeans in the same brand, same size, same style but a different colour can fit so differently? Just odd. 

Balancing work and getting my own stuff down has become more challenging. The work days are filled with meetings, appointments and other demands so no time for nice leisurely lunchtime walks with colleagues. I did a few quick solo walks around the building to at least get a bit of fresh air and the blood pumping :)

Down this week to 171.1 lbs, a couple more pounds gone. Some weeks, like last week, can be difficult but I'm learning that a bad week is not the end of the world. 

Giveaway Winner

Thank you for your giveaway comments! The lucky winner of a copy of Sean Anderson's book Transformation Road as chosen by the Random Number Generator is... 

LuckyMama at A Long Weigh Away Congrats! So she's is actually very lucky after all :) If you haven't read her blog, please do stop by. She's also lost a lot of extra pounds this year, so double-congrats to her!! 

In answer to the question "If you were to be a cast away all alone on a deserted island which record would you choose to have with you?" 

LuckyMama answered: I'm a Queen freak - all of it, but I'd probably take Innuendo.

BUT, there's a new artist I found - small at the moment - named George Ezra. Young fellow too, but I'm loving his voice!

If you don't know about George Ezra he's English and recently released his first album called Wanted on Voyage. He has a distinct voice and writes catchy folk melodies. It should be interesting to see how his career evolves.   

My choice is... well, it took a while to decide. Here was my thinking on narrowing down the list:

The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? 

Oliver Jones or Oscar Peterson? 

Mozart or Beethoven? 

Joni Mitchell or Carole King? 

John Coltrane or Miles Davis? 

Alanis Morrisette or Tori Amos? 

Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan? 

Radiohead or U2? 

Bessie Smith or Robert Johnson? 

PJ Harvey or Bjork? 

Missy Elliott or Beastie Boys? ... yeah it goes on and on...

In the end, I had to chose what over time has stayed with me the most on a personal level:

Kate Bush's album Hounds of Love.  In particular, I've listened to the song Running Up that Hill so many times since discovering her catalogue of music and it speaks to me on so many levels. Mostly relationship-wise,  but also when facing any challenge and of course weight-wise. The version I've linked to is the remixed version she performed at the 2012 Olympics in London. 

Lady Business and Weighing In

Riding the lady hormone roller coaster. Not a fun ride this week. So emotional this time. This was the first time I've cried over a commercial on TV. Just want to wear yoga pants, a hoodie and a knit cap (to keep the bad hair days at bay) and hide away watching Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth edition). Did this affect weight loss?  Yeah I chose to let it. Bad choice. Not going to blame anything or anyone else but me.

In terms of exercise, I wasn't pushing myself at all. Although I did my workouts, morning pilates DVD and weekend and after work walks, I was just going through the motions. Rather than finding little ways of being active through the day, I just coasted. No stretches at my desk. No extra going up and down the stairs at work or at home. I certainly could have directed those crazy hormonal emotions into working it hard, but I chose the easy way out.

In terms of food consumption, although I ate all the right things, I ate more than I should have. Examples: extra helpings of roasted sweet potatoes, bigger portions of meat, more guacamole, more sunflower seed butter on apple slices... those extra calories add up quicker than one thinks!

Weigh-in: 175.5 lbs. Up 2.2 lbs from last week.  It was a nice run of small losses week after week, and this is the first gain in a while. Even before I stepped on the scale this morning, I could feel the bloat and I just don't like how it makes me feel.  Will work hard this coming week to get back into action.

How? I'm going to change things up. I'm going back to my 30 minute morning brisk walks before work since the ragweed pollen is almost gone. I find it's so much easier and requires less concentration to just walk quickly. I'll still do my after work walk to unwind about 30+ minutes, and also go back to doing the workout DVDs either before or after supper rather than in the morning. 

Didn't fall too far down the rabbit hole this time. But I can sure see how I could wind up there and back to being over 220 lbs if I choose to keep making the same bad decisions. Won't happen next week. I choose not to let that happen.


PS: My little giveaway closes tomorrow, so if you haven't entered you can here

Giveaway and that Wednesday Scale Thing

Having received a free extra copy of Sean Anderson's book Transformation Road : My Trip to Over 500 Pounds and Back, I've decided to pass it along to a lucky reader. 
Sean felt that he was tardy in sending out the copy of his book that I bought, so he added another signed copy in the mail. How nice is that? When I received it a couple of weeks ago I thought how can I return this favour? I figure the best way to pay him back is to pay it forward.

This is not a how-to lose weight book, rather a very honest chronicle of Sean's history with morbid obesity. Some passages were hard to read, especially the ones where he details the effects on his family. He writes with his authentic voice and if you've ever read his blog, it's that same honest writing you'll find in this book.

All you have to do is answer the following question in the Comments on this post:  

If you were to be a cast away all alone on a deserted island (with an iPod of course, ha ha!) which record would you choose to have with you?

I'm such a music lover and supporter of local musicians, I'm having a hard time answering this question! I'll give my answer with the winner's name next Friday September 26th.

• The winner will be chosen by a random number generator
• Entries close on Thursday 25 September 2014 at 11pm /EST
• I'll send the book to wherever in the world the winner is located, even the South Pole :)

Since I'm a small blogger and am not doing any promotion to try to get a larger following, the chances of winning are good.

Other news, since it's Weigh-in Wednesday, I'm at 173.3 lbs. Slightly less than last week.

Scrambling and Wednesday Weigh-In

I've been scrambling in the kitchen since Monday and I don't like it. Basically, since I was on vacation for four days, I didn't have time to do much food prep for the work-week. Trying to grill fish in the morning on the Foreman grill while trying to dry my hair has been... interesting but mostly stressful. I should have done the prep before I left. Seriously I don't know what I was thinking. Just not thinking!  

Went to the grocery, stocked up on some eggs, meats and fish. I think all I had left was a can of tuna in the pantry and no other protein. I bought a couple of big chicken breasts, baked them tonight with a small amount of chili pepper flakes, garlic, coriander, cumin and a bit of cinnamon. Sort of Thai inspired seasoning. Had about 6oz of the chicken for supper on a bed of greens with some sweet potato fries, and I made a small amount of harissa mayo. 

Growing up as a latch-key kid in suburbia in the 80s, all I knew about mayonnaise was it came in a Hellmans jar. My mom, while a fab cook, when she was working full time she went for convenience and casseroles. It wasn't until I met my man's relatives who are French/Italian and into their traditional cookery that they told me mayo is basically just beaten eggs. Who knew? Since I still have some harissa paste left, I just beat it in with the eggs and the other ingredients (oil,vinegar, Dijon mustard, a little salt) and it made a mayo with a spicy kick.  

I'm still somewhat clueless about the basic techniques of cookery. Sure I can follow a recipe, but I mean knowing what various cuts of meat are best for and how to properly cook veggies to bring out their natural flavours. I'd like to take a course but the one I'd like to take is $ costly $. Since money is tight right now, I'm socking away a bit of my pay each month. One part of a cooking course I can skip is the desserts and baking part. Will not step anywhere in that minefield!

Weight-wise, down this week again. Not much, but that's about what I expected to have lost. Now at 173.7 lbs.

Have Passport, Will Travel

One thing I love to do is travel. I never used to be this way. But my man's enthusiasm for exploring the world is contagious.  And honestly, I figure since you only live once and it's better to live without regrets.  When my man said he was sick of the daily grind and the inconsistent weather, I agreed and we decided to plan a quick get-away. 

Money is tight right now so our limit was $50/per day for the both of us for four days. So that means a road trip to the good old U.S. of A. where gas and lodging are much cheaper than here Canada. After a 10hr drive we made it to the beach! We had great weather and hot temps while back home it was rainy and much colder.

My eating was not exactly on plan, had some fries and some chocolate, but I didn't go far off the rails and did not use the word "vacation" as an excuse to eat anything and everything. For most meals, we bought what we wanted at a grocery store, threw it in the cooler and headed for the beach for the day.  Salads and roast chicken and pre-cut veggies and some fruit as a snack for me; and cold cuts, cheese and bread for sandwiches for him. One night, we rinsed the sand out of our hair, got cleaned up had a fancy restaurant supper. He had the Chicken Parm, I had the grilled salmon and seasonal vegetables, no rice thank you very much.  

Even though my man and I agree to disagree about diet and nutrition, we have  an understanding to never ever sabotage one another's efforts. I'm not envious or craving in any way the food my man chooses to eat. I just know that my body does better on low carbs. When I used to eat a plateful of pasta, I'd feel so sleepy afterwards, like my energy was sucked right out of me. On this trip, I was able to have lots of fun in the ocean and swim and play in the waves on my boogie board and still have energy for a long evening walk along the beautiful coast.

Otherwise I got burnt to a crisp. Even with sunscreen. "Honey, please pass the aloe" :)