Sonoma/Mediterranean weekly thread - 8 to 14 August

pilgrim · 08-08-2011, 02:35 AM

Good morning everyone! What are your goals for this week? I'm hoping to lose at least one of the pounds I regained on holiday.

I did have a nice NSV (non-scale victory) while I was away, though. I somehow managed to pack less underwear than I actually needed, so I had to go to a store to buy some while we were away. I was in a hurry and just grabbed the first pack of cotton underpants I saw - when I came to open it, I realised they were size 12 (UK), rather than the size 20 I was when I started losing or the 16s I've been buying recently. Well, guess what - they actually fit! A little snug, but not uncomfortable. So that was a nice demonstration of the way my body's changed.

LADY WINDSONG · 08-08-2011, 05:02 AM

Fantastic and what a nice surprise.

pilgrim · 08-09-2011, 02:03 AM

Yesterday:

B: Pot of yogurt, berries and grapes from M&S (Marks & Spencer - a long-established British store that mostly sells clothes and nice food.) There were about two portions of fruit in the pot, so I didn't have any fruit with lunch; but there was less than a cup of yogurt, so I also had a mini babybel to make up the extra dairy.
S: Wholegrain crackers and another mini babybel.
L: M&S wholefoods shaker salad - this has quinoa, lentils, peppers, lemon juice and spinach among other things, so it works well with the Sonoma Power Foods.
D: Wholewheat pasta with patty-pan squash, cherry tomatoes, almond tofu, red peppers and a bit of cheese for flavour. Grape juice.

Exercise: 1 hr walking, 15 mins yoga.

Zofia · 08-09-2011, 02:40 PM

B: 1 english muffin, one egg and 2 tbs of cottage cheese
L: 12 soda crackers, one can of tuna with 1 tbs of mayo, one bowl of frozen vegetables (steamed)
Snack: One coke zero, carrots and hummus (just 1/4 cup of hummus)
D: Low fat sausage pasta with mushrooms and peppers and cheese
S: Carrots and cucumber

Exercise: 30 mins of cardio 10 mins of weights.

pilgrim · 08-09-2011, 07:20 PM

Today:

B: Wholemeal bagel with peanut butter; banana
L: Salad from the work canteen
D: Stirfry with brown rice, patty-pan squash, red peppers, quorn fillets, spring onions, bok choy; raspberries; grape juice

Exercise: 40 mins walking

pilgrim · 08-12-2011, 04:41 AM

Well, it seems I've lost the two pounds from my holiday, plus a third besides! I really wasn't expecting that, because I had two bad days this week. Wednesday, I had a blood sugar crash and had to eat more than allowed on the diet in order to avoid fainting or being sick. Thursday was the day of a close friend's funeral, so I was out of town all day with little choice of where or what to eat, and I was still feeling shaky from the previous day's blood sugar episode. Here's what I ate, in the end:

Wednesday:
B: Wholewheat bagel and peanut butter; banana
L: Salad, wholegrain bread, blackberries. I think this is where it started to go wrong, because I ate more like two portions of blackberries as they were about to go bad and I didn't want to "waste" them (sigh; one day I'll learn that food is still wasted if I eat it when I don't need it!) I think it was just too much sugar for my body to handle after several weeks on Sonoma. So then to try to fix it, I ate:
S: 1 oz pistachios - I actually felt worse after this, but that might be the ongoing reaction to the blackberries rather than the fault of the pistachios; 1 mini babybel; 2 packs wholewheat crackers
D: Brown rice with chickpeas, mushrooms and some other veg, I don't remember exactly what, but it was all tier 1.

So that added up to 1 extra portion of blackberries and 1 extra pack wholewheat crackers; the rest was all on plan, but I still felt terrible about it.

Then yesterday (the day of the funeral):

B: A banana quickly before I left home, then a cooked breakfast in a cafe with fries, baked beans, tomato, mushrooms, 2 fried eggs, 2 slices of white bread and butter. The cafe did not allow any substitutions on the breakfasts, so I couldn't make modifications, and I didn't know if we would have time for lunch before the funeral, so bearing in mind the blood sugar crash of the day before, I thought I'd better just eat it all. At least it had plenty of protein and two power foods!
L (at another cafe, as we just had time before the funeral): Half a cheese and vegetable panini - not too bad Sonoma-wise apart from the white bread.
S (at the wake afterwards): 1 glass orange juice, 1 slice cheesecake (bought for me by a well-meaning friend when I started to get concerned about my blood sugar levels again; he said there wasn't much else to choose from, and it did at least have some protein in it, which is usually the key to blood sugar stability for me.)
D (back home): wholewheat spaghetti with vegetables, tomato sauce, cannellini beans and a little goat cheese, so that was back on plan. Glass of grape juice and a dark chocolate brazil nut for dessert.

So the off-plan items there were the fries, white bread (twice), orange juice and cheesecake. When I write it down like that, it doesn't seem quite as bad as it felt at the time, actually, and I think I made reasonable choices in difficult circumstances. I just wish I hadn't triggered all that blood sugar stuff by having those extra blackberries! But I guess it all worked out in the end, judging from this morning's weigh-in - possibly because the low blood sugar meant my body really did burn all the extra calories as soon as it got them!

gardenermom · 08-12-2011, 09:25 AM

Hi Pilgrim, well done on your weight loss! Don't stress about a day or two off plan, you are still losing weight and have got quickly back on plan. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.

I havent been posting so much this week. My weight seems to be stagnant and I'm a little frustrated about it. I've been eating well, not snacking, and doing a Jillian Michaels workout every single day (ouch!), so I am just going to keep going and hope that the scale moves soon.

Was your holiday the one you had mentioned to the Norfolk broads? My grandfather used to live on a houseboat there, many years ago. When I was younger we went for many family holidays in the Horning area, I loved it and have very fond memories of sailing a little dinghy on the rivers and broads. Its a lovely place for a holiday!

pilgrim · 08-13-2011, 12:33 PM

Hi Gardenermom,

Yes, it was the Norfolk Broads! It was lovely. We even saw a seal on Breydon Water!

If you're eating right and exercising, I'm sure the scale will move eventually. Good luck!

This is what I ate yesterday:

B: Wholemeal bread with almond butter (first time I've tried it; I think I really prefer peanut butter, though); banana.
L: Salad with black-eyed peas; raspberries; wholegrain crackers.
S: Goat's cheese mini babybel; wholegrain crackers.
D: Savoury bread pudding with courgettes and sweetcorn; grape juice.

Exercise: 15 mins yoga, 30 mins Wii Fit.

pilgrim · 08-14-2011, 11:30 AM

Yesterday:

B: Scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast; banana
L: Pasta with ricotta and tomato sauce; raspberries
S: 1 dark chocolate brazil nut
D: Wholegrain giant couscous with tofu and vegetables; grape juice

Exercise: 1 hr walking, 30 mins gardening

pilgrim · 08-14-2011, 12:09 PM

Ping - if you're reading this thread, a couple of weeks ago I said I'd look for some one-pot recipes for you. Turns out I don't have as many Sonoma-friendly one-pot recpes as I thought I might, but I've added three to the Sonoma recipes sub-forum - one warm salad, one cold salad and one recipe for spicy noodles. Hope one of them suits you!

pilgrim · 08-15-2011, 03:42 AM

Yesterday:

B: Wholemeal pancakes, vegetarian sausages, banana.
L: Polenta with stir-fried broccoli and bell peppers; strawberries.
S: Mini babybel; wholegrain crackers.
D: Tofu in spicy tomato sauce with mushrooms and bell peppers; wholemeal chapatti; grape juice.

Exercise: 30 mins walking.

pilgrim · 08-15-2011, 04:34 PM

Today:

B: Wholemeal toast, peanut butter; banana
L: Salad with eggs; wholemeal bread; raspberries
S: Brazil nuts; wholegrain crackers
D: Chilli on brown rice; grape juice.

Exercise: 45 mins yoga, 40 mins walking.

pilgrim · 08-17-2011, 03:16 AM

Yesterday:

B: Wholemeal bagel, peanut butter; banana
L: Salad with eggs; wholemeal bread; blackberries
D: Wholegrain giant couscous with onions, chillies and herbs
S: 1 dark chocolate brazil nut; grape juice

Exercise: 15 mins yoga, 90 mins walking

gardenermom · 08-17-2011, 08:46 AM

Here is mine for yesterday:

B: 2 slices homemade WW-seedy bread, w low fat cream cheese
L: Leftover brown rice w 3-bean chili
S: salad
D: spaetzle w mushroom bourguignon, red wine

Exercise: 30 minutes jillian michaels ripped-in-30

Pilgrim, how's the blood sugar going, I hope you are feeling better?

gardenermom · 08-18-2011, 09:17 AM

Yesterday:

B: granola w skim milk
L: leftover spinach linguine w tomato/pepper sauce
S: 1 80-cal choc-granola square
D: egg-white veggie quiche w big leafy salad and tomato salad, white wine

Exercise: walked to work (25 mins fast walking), no time for DVD in the evening