Hi all. Happy Monday. Just a quick note to say I've wandered over from Ladies Who Lift to join you. There's a typically garrulous introduction in the "about me" thread, although this note will be on the short side since the suits in charge seem to think I should earn my paycheck. As Christopher Robin would say, Silly bears.
I haven't done a single thing for Thanksgiving. In fact, I can hardly believe that it's next week! Fortunately, we're going to my MIL's for dinner, and it will be just DH, her and me. No pressure; I can eat (or not eat) whatever I want.
However, I realized over the weekend that I hadn't been planning and provisioning to the best of my ability. Stored up on basics Saturday morning, and on Saturday afternoon cooked a cauldron of chicken and a bucket of brown rice, and made sure that my briefcase was filled with clean emergency rations. Then, I had a mini-brainwave, and set aside a large ceramic bowl for my office. Brought in bags of apples and oranges and put them in the bowl, which I sat on a bookshelf. A promient reminder that I can avoid the coming deluge of sweets and snacks and eat fruit.
I also found some interesting things in the freezer compartment of the market. Someone had suggested WW's new line of low-carb entrees, so I threw a couple in the basket. I haven't tried one yet, but whenever I do, I'll have to add some cottage cheese -- they're really low-calorie, and I need at least 300 per meal. Then I discovered that both Boca and Gardenburger now have frozen entrees. I tried a Gardenburger meatballs and penne for lunch; pretty good. High protein, good fiber and very low fat. Although I prefer my own cooking, these are good in a pinch.
Finally, add me to the Braun handmixer club. Couldn't live without mine.
There is a good book by Laurel Mellin called The Solution. In it, among other things, she talks about something called 'essential pain'. This is the concept of accepting things we cant change and also feel bad about. One of the things about losing weight and maintaining is accepting we can never eat all the foods, nor the amounts we used to, and there may be some pain, frustration, deprivation, etc. about this. 'Essential pain' we need to deal with in order to move into the next life phase with freedom.
The grieving process applies to more than just lost loved ones. We sometimes need to mini grieve about the loss of smaller things such as a job, a broken vase, a friendship, a pet, and now, old pleasurable eating patterns. In fact when having to moderate food, we have lost a good old friend many of us have had. Something that was there thru thick and thin, who was there for us when others might not have been, something that was fun, something that distracted us and so forth. And now its gone. We need to grieve this loss, even though it was a dysfunctional relationship, and sometimes this is unpleasant.
Jan – I just wanted to thank you for your post; it was exactly what I needed to be reminded of: the concept of accepting things we can’t change and also feel bad about! And that grieving is what comes before accepting.
I’m up a couple of pounds this week too. Even though I always do my weight training; I easily drop the cardio when I’m short of time. And for the last couple of months I’ve just been doing short sessions on the treadmill – so I need to get back to running. Hopefully it will help keep my weight more stable too.
I also found some interesting things in the freezer compartment of the market. Someone had suggested WW's new line of low-carb entrees, so I threw a couple in the basket. I haven't tried one yet, but whenever I do, I'll have to add some cottage cheese -- they're really low-calorie, and I need at least 300 per meal. Then I discovered that both Boca and Gardenburger now have frozen entrees. I tried a Gardenburger meatballs and penne for lunch; pretty good. High protein, good fiber and very low fat. Although I prefer my own cooking, these are good in a pinch.
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If any of you live near a Trader Joe's, I have found great frozen entrees there that I keep at work. I like the various kinds of Asian rice or noodle bowls. Also the spinach-tofu rolls are tasty and pretty high-protein. I keep a HUGE amount of food at work now--good thing there is a large fridge. It's very reassuring to know that I have lots of good choices available and I don't need to stress about packing something every day.
Add another Braun hand blender fan to the mix. Although I'd never thought to use it to purée cottage cheese. That might be good for a change. I use it several times a week for sauces, making chocolate milk for the kids, puréeing part of soups to make them creamier, mixing wet ingredients for pancakes (I find it makes the pancakes fluffier).
I had a great weekend, with a short run Saturday am, followed by taking the kids downtown for a city sponsored family event. Sunday I ran approx. 60 minutes, my longest run so far, followed by a bit of cleaning up around the house and lots of not doing too much of anything specific. Foodwise I did well, even when we ate lunch downtown at my favourite breakfast/lunch place.
I also have a braun hand blender and love it. Mine is old, purchased at a garage sale years ago. I only use mine a couple times/week, but its powerful and does the job.
I consider outside yard work/gardening as exercise, but 3-4 hours is the minimum for me to count it as that day's exercise, unless I am doing hard digging or something else strenuous. But if I am out there working hard, its usually several hours anyway. I love gardening.
I am looking forward to this week - a clean slate. In part because there is nothing big happening. Its the last peaceful week before the holidays really start, and the mine-field of eating. I started the week today making some really good soup, one of my mainstays for eating satisfaction. Todays is bean/tomato/pork-carmelized onion broth. Sounds richer than it is, but its very good and filling.
I also went to my favorite thrift store this morning for more clothes therapy. They are in the washing machine now. This is so much fun for me to get so many cute clothes for so little money - two bags for about $8. I realize now I have been dressing like a transient esp. here at home. Not really of course, but far too casual. Last night at the party, I looked very nice and felt as if I looked just as good as anyone else, and better than many. I usually dont feel so comfortable with respect to my clothes. And there were lots of dignitaries present, our mayor, our congresswoman, sheriffs, judges, etc. (Not my usual crowd to be sure, LOL.) I am extremely frugal so the thrift store finds really thrill me. I've not really extensively shopped in them before the past couple months. I am just so very starved for cute things to wear - a whole life-time deficit infact because of both being fat, as well as not being willing to spend the money that is necessary to dress the way I would love to.
Does anyone watch bbc america's 'what not to wear?' I really enjoy watching this and have gotten very good tips for dressing esp when they feature someone with my general body type. It is their fault I have come to this attraction for nicer fitting and styled clothes this late in life.
Happy pre-Thanksgiving week! After several months of very slooow weight loss I have suddenly had a weight loss break through. I'm not really sure what's going on but I'm not complaining. I started tracking all of my food on fit day a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to get to my personal goal. I think something about my Thanksgiving fears made me decide to shake things up a bit. I decided to continue eating around the same number of calories, but flip flop my carbs and protein. For the last week I've been trying to eat over 100 grams of protein and under 100 carbs. This hasn't been a dramatic change in my eating, but all of a sudden I'm loosing again and the pounds are dropping off quickly. I've been loosing a little over .5 of a pound per day. My home scale shows me down from 135/134ish to 129.8. It's a little too good to be true so I'm afraid of even typing this out because I'm afraid that tomorrow I will be back to 135 since it is WW weigh in day. I will use my weigh in weight as my official weight, even though my scale seems to be more accurate then theirs. Suddenly I feel like setting my personal goal to 119 since loosing seems doable again. I'm wondering if the loss is do to eating lower carbs and higher protein or if it is just due to being more vigilant in my monitoring of all my food intake. Well whatever it is I'm not complaining.
Ann - I know what you are talking about...that is the same thing that I went through before I decided to lose weight. I know that feeling you are describing exactly! Good luck with your next big adventure .
Thanks to all of you that posted last week about Thanksgiving fears. You all had a lot of good suggestions. I'm suddenly not as afraid as I was. I'm making plans and back up plans....and if all else fails and I gain a little so what. I'm going to be ok and I'll be able to get back on track. I don't know why I was afraid that one little holiday with a little bit of indulgence would completely derail me or undo the changes that I've made in the last 18 months. I think it is just my fear of something new and something unknown that was unsettling. Ok the other thing that is scary is that I haven't been "off program" once since I started this weight loss journey. That's not to say I haven't had days where I indulged a little more or allowed myself treats...but I haven't once felt like I totally blew it for a day or even a meal. I've always been in control and I've always been able to plan. I think my biggest fear is loosing control.
Dee4Ever- When you drop your carbs and up your protein like that, a lot of your initial loss is water weight. Carbs are sponges: they hold water in your body, whereas protein doesn't. It's a great mental boost, though, and lots of people use carb cycling through the day or week as part of their plan. Just don't be alarmed if you switch your ratios back and see the scale go up again. It's water, not fat! Just changing thing up can be a good platuea buster, though
I haven't been on the scale for a full week now- Dh HID it! I'm about ready to ransack the house. I think I'm doing OK, but since I rarely wear anything but gym clothes and am still swollen on my hip from my last surgical gouging, it's a little hard to tell with the pants-o-meter
Yesterday's leg workout is making itself felt Nice and sore! I tried some new balancing exercises involving jumping and then squatting on a bosu ball and have a beautifully bruised bottom to show for it. Today is chest and cardio. Hopefully, a safer combination.
Hi everyone. I looked everywhere yesterday for a Braun hand blender and had no luck. I even ran into a woman at WalMart who was looking to replace her Bruan (that she had for 5 years and then her hubby went and broke it) and she said she'd been looking all over town, too. I was too impatient to buy it online so I settled for a Kenmore (hope I don't regret not waiting for a Braun).
I used it yesterday and was really happy with my nf cottage cheese and Carb Control vanilla cream yogurt puree - it tasted so much like cheese cake. Mmmm. Today, I topped it with a 1/2 cup of Fiber One because my menu for the day was too low in fiber. It was really good - I may make that a regular thing.
My workout buddy had a dentist appt today so we didn't go to the gym together. We promised each other we would still work out so it helped that she was holding me accountable. I did an hour of The Firm and felt good and worked out! I challenged myself and went up a notch in weights for each move.
Jan, I love thrift store shopping! Last week, I got an Eddie Bauer sweater, a Gap denim shirt, a Life is Good tee, two other sweaters and two other workout tees - all in great shape and for just under $25. For me, it's a painless way to combat wardrobe boredom.
I'm feeling more confident just lately. As if, maybe, just maybe, I can do this without driving myself crazy. I haven't entered anything in fitday.com since the 7th and I'm only weighing myself every third day or so .... and everything is fine.
I've been at or just below goal since the first part of September. I'm eating pretty sturdily. I exercise, more or less, regularly.
It's good. I feel good.
Oh yes ... thrift store shopping. I LOVE it. I adore turtleneck sweaters that hang over my hips. I got one the other day for $2.50. I'm kinda hoping to find a weight bench one day.
How weird about the Braun hand blender. I know my mom bought mine from Sears last Christmas. I am now motivated to try yogurt/cottage cheese for lunch tomorrow. The idea of healthy cheesecake is wonderful.
Hello, my name is Donna and I am a thrift store shop-a-holic (as well as a shop-aholic at flea markets and garage sales and eBay and clearance racks). I like buying funky clothes for next to nothing and then amazing people with my answer when they ask where I got something. One of Mrs. Jim's posts recently has me interested in shopping eBay for clothes. I've shopped eBay for lots of things - including a guitar for Mr. Donna a few weeks ago - but never clothes. I've often said that I'll buy anything secondhand except underwear and mattresses.
WW weigh-in today. Weigh-in last week was good and I am now (finally!) back up to my usual maintenance points level. Hurrah!! That lowered points target was getting annoying! I had gotten in some of those little "food routines" that we all get into and lowering my target points forced me to change some my routines. But this whole little experiment of lowering points has really boosted my confidence in myself that I can maintain my weight truly long term. A simple "I can do this." Silly as it seems sometimes, Points work for me. I think it has more to do with journalling and keeping track and getting in those vegetables than Points. But I have to admit the ease of counting Points helps.
I did a 2 mile run with my littlest sister last week. It was a night run in a county park that has a large Christmas lights display. The run was part of their season-opening festivities for the light displays, so we ran past animated light figures of Santas and sleighs and Christmas trees and elves and you name it. It was fun and quite pretty, after all. Now she is to come up here this weekend and we're going to do a "Turkey Trot" race. This is one of my favorite races because the t-shirts are just as cute as they can be with a picture of cartoon turkeys racing around in running shoes on the front. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I have a special affinity for turkeys.
Meg, funny you should mention lists. I too started my Thanksgiving "to do" list on Monday. Yes, some of my motivation for lists is simply to check off items once they are done. The other motivation is creeping senility and the attendant forgetfulness!
The scale is up a little from the beautiful 129 I saw the other day...but that's ok. Thanks Mel for reminding me about the water weight...actually thank you for explaining it to me. I've heard people refer to it but didn't really know what it meant. I definitely am loosing again...my clothes are feeling a bit looser and my skin is looking saggier...lol. Yay saggy skin...woohooo!
Karynlee - cottage cheese and yogurt thing sounds interesting...might have to give it a try! I love cheese cake!!!
I think all of the Carb Control yogurt flavors taste a little "cheesecakey." Like that word? But, the vanilla cream REALLY reminds me of cheesecake and it's so good blended with my cottage cheese.
I was going to Step Class today but I was too exhausted after volunteering in my son's Kindergarten class. Oh my goodness! That was a little crazy. My new plan is to jump on my treadmill during Oprah or Ellen D.
Karynlee, in a low fat cookbook I like, the author weekly mixes equal parts cottage cheese/plain yogurt and stores it in the frig. she calls it 'low fat blend' and uses it in all sorts of dishes as a replacement for mayo, cream, sour cream etc.
Donna, I too am a garage sale junkie and have purchased numerous bargains there. Food is about the only thing I buy retail, and usually that's on sale too. I also like ebay and purchased all my pond supplies there for a fraction of retail. I dont shop ebay for clothes however. Yet. For some reason I prefer to actually see clothes in my hand to test zippers, inspect seams, etc. But that is personal preference. I even purchased something valuable I later saw on the antiques roadshow at a garage sale for one dollar - I tossed mail into it for years before I knew. I hadnt thought of not buying a used mattress, but like you, I dont buy used underwear, nor shoes either. But almost anything else is fair game.
Yesterday I felt fuzzy-sad much of the day, but today has been a very good day. We played our arch-rivals at tennis this morning and our team took all 4 matches from them. We have never done that before. Ever. And afterwards I gave away the muffins I had baked for refreshments to someone with kids without having one myself. I had one last night, and licked the bowl, and it was good. While a muffin wont really hurt me, I would prefer to not have eaten it. I need to remind myself I am not muffin-proof, and never will be, and next time make something I like less. As Mrs Jim said, I got complacent.
After reading my 'new' book this morning about breaking bad habits, I have felt major inspiration. I have eaten very little today without feeling very hungry. My standard breakfast then good veggie soup and some fruit thus far today. Its just after 7pm here and I am still not hungry enough for dinner. I suspect tomorrow will be a hungry day. I will deal with that then. Tomorrow will be a work in the yard day. In coastal so. calif. the weather has been absolutely gorgeous lately and I am looking forward to getting my hands in the dirt.
Ok, I have to share. Major major success today. Very stressful meeting at work today. Walk out of meeting and there on the table are four huge pieces of evil, a cheesecake, a gooey chocolate cake, a pecan pie, and a pumpkin pie. And I was hungry too!
So, I thought about it for 15 seconds, and then I ATE MY CAULIFLOWER!!!
WOO-HOO! That was the hardest thing I've done in a while.
Nice and sore! I tried some new balancing exercises involving jumping and then squatting on a bosu ball and have a beautifully bruised bottom to show for it. Today is chest and cardio. Hopefully, a safer combination.
I looked everywhere yesterday for a Braun hand blender and had no luck. I even ran into a woman at WalMart who was looking to replace her Bruan (that she had for 5 years and then her hubby went and broke it) and she said she'd been looking all over town, too. I was too impatient to buy it online so I settled for a Kenmore (hope I don't regret not waiting for a Braun).
