Sunday, May 31, 2009

Weekend Closeout

So, it was a challenging weekend in terms of food. I think I did ok,
but since we were so busy I didn't write down every bite. In general I
made good choices.

Today I was on track for the morning/afternoon. Then we went out to
dinner with some friends--last minute plan. I ate 1.5 pieces of
amazing brown raisin bread, a burger on a delicious brioche bun (I ate
only 2/3 of the bun). I swapped my fries for salad and skipped the
beer. I ate 3 of Doug's fries.

But, I also walked. A lot. Pushing the stroller. We didn't walk that
fast, but we were still moving. From Mt. Pleasant to the zoo to
cleveland park and back to Mt. Pleasant.

If I had skipped the bun I would have been totally fine on pts. But, I
feel satisfied. Not overly full. The burger was really good!!
Grass-fed beef, said the menu. Made me think of Jenna's love of such
healthy-raised meats.

Exhausted. Will confer with Jenna tomorrow about how it all went....

--
Sent from my mobile device

Weekend of celebrations

Yesterday was a blur... I only have a few minutes to post so here's a list of what I remembering eating:

3 egg whites, 1 yolk
toast
1/2 grapefruit
1/2 banana
coffee

Luncheon from Lebanese Taverna
pita bread (maybe 1 piece total?)
hummos
chick peas and tomato
eggplant
green beans
2 fried turnover thingies--DELICIOUS!
fruit
1/4 c. white wine

Snack at home
veggies & hummos
pita chips--only a few

1/2 c cottage cheese
toast w 1 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 pear

Dinner out with friends
1 cocktail
seaweed salad
sushi rolls... probably 2 rolls or 2.5 hard to estimate

I have no idea how many points this all is... I can't even think about it right now. But I think I did okay in the sense that I skipped dessert... had only one cocktail.

I didn't exercise yesterday, except for the sprint to the synagogue when I was late yesterday morning...

Friday, May 29, 2009

Day at home with sick baby

My son started running a fever last night so I kept him home with me.
He was still quite hot in the morning, and fussy: didn't want to be
put down. Always a challenge to feed yourself when you're caring for a
little one.

Breakfast 1 @ 7:30
Cereal
Milk berries
Total: 5

Breakfast II @ 10 am
Toast
1 tsp PB
1/2 banana
Total: 4

I'm sort on pts... Will make them up later with bigger snack

30 min walk pushing stroller

Lunch @ 11:45 am
1/2 c br rice. 2
Stir fry veggies with tofu. 3 (not sure how to count this. Did I have
2 pts of tofu? Or 3? I need at least 1 pt for the oil I used to
saute...)

Snack

Tofu & veggie stir fry: 2

carrots and cues: 0

Yogurt/wheat germ/1/2 c cereal: 4

10 points left for dinner... not sure what we're having since we were supposed to go to some friends' house. Not with sick baby...

Dinner:

2 veggie burgers: 2

sweet potato: 3

brummel & brown: 1

pita chips: 1

Going now in search of a 3 point snack...

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Got in a workout!

I managed to get 40 minutes of cardio in on the treadmill downstairs.
Worked at 4.0 or 4.2 for most of it, as well as a 2% incline. Feeling
good. Boys were home early so no weights or stretching....

Dinner
Baked chicken. 3
1/2 c brown rice. 2
Stir fry veggies with tofu. 2

Leaves me 1 pt for fruit.

--
Sent from my mobile device

Fabulous Food Blog

I just found a college friend on Facebook. His wife is a food writer (also an alumna but she was 5 years ahead of me and I never met her). She has a blog--it is awesome! She writes about food as if it is a third child (they have two boys). Her discussions are lyrical and lovely and they make me feel like baking, or cooking, or shopping for really delicious ingredients. This is problematic since I have entered the phase of minimizing the role of food in my life in order to get back to a comfortable weight. The desire to have my clothes fit me again is strong. Is it stronger than my urge to make rhubarb strawberry crumble for my husband (if you are familiar with his reaction to rhubarb-inspired desserts you will know the severity of this question)?

The payoff

I went to weigh-in at Weight Watchers this morning. My last visit was exactly 1 month ago. I was down 2.2 pounds. Very pleased with myself. Officially, I am 20 pounds over my 'goal' weight. The lady at the counter said that while I'm still nursing I shouldn't try to lose more than 3 pounds in a month... if I stick to that pace I will only lose another 10 pounds between now and September.

Is it possible to lose between 5-6 pounds/month? That's double my current rate... I will see where I am in another two weeks and then determine what other adjustments I need to make.

Counting up the points

Tracking for today:

6:30 a.m.
1/2 banana: 1

8:00 a.m.
toast: 1
brummel & brown: 1
1 egg, 1 egg white: 2
strawberries: 1

Total for Breakfast I: 6
(on target)

10:00 a.m.
toast: 1
1 tbsp PB: 2
1/2 c fat free cottage cheese: 2

Total for Breakfast II: 5
(still on target)

Lunch 12:20 p.m.
Lean Cusine: 7
1 c frozen veggies (including some corn) added for bulk: .5

I have not mastered the required planning... had to dip into the freezer to find a suitable lunch.

Snack 1:30 p.m.
carrot sticks 0
tomato juice 0

Snack 2:30 p.m. (HUNGRY)
Greek yogurt 2
1/2 c cereal 1

Day 3 of posting

The baby went to sleep after about 10 minutes of crying and I managed to survive those long minutes without going into the kitchen. Success. Then I distracted myself by watching a movie with my husband--Doubt. Very interesting... not exactly what I expected! I thought both Meryl Streep and Amy Adams were great. Philip Seymour Hoffman is always awesome.

Jenna has cautioned me to avoid the scale. Yes, I'm a little obsessed at the moment. Two weeks in--before the big family Memorial Day weekend--I was down to 175.5 (a fluke?). When we returned I was back up to 177. Defeated! Well, this morning I checked again: 176. Reassured.

So far this morning I've only eaten 1/2 a banana (1 pt). Must go make eggs/toast. Working from home today means that I may be tempted by the kitchen. But it also means I can exercise. Objective: 40 minutes of cardio and some weights, starting at 4:30 so I'm done by the time the boys get home.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Screaming baby makes me want chocolate

Michael is crying in his crib. We can't find a pacifier for him,
though he can definitely fall asleep without it. The crying is like
nails on my emotional chalk board. I feel the urge to dig in to the
carton of chocolate ice cream in our freezer (left overs from his
birthday party that my husband is only too slowly eating).

My dinner was on target.

3/4 c Lentils with dressing. 4
Chicken. 3
Steamed veggies

Watermelon. 1

That's 30 pts, I think...

Now if only he would stop crying!!!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Posting from my email?

Apparently I can post new entries from my email account. Fascinating! I'm testing it out with this post.

It's 4:30. An hour since my snack of wheat germ + yogurt and I'm HUNGRY. I wish I had more veggies with me...

1st compliment!!

I can't believe it. I got my first compliment today!! A co-worker whose office is a few doors down from me just came in to whisper "You look great" to me. I'm shocked. She lost 42 pounds doing WW over the past year: SHE LOOKS GREAT. But here she is in my office telling me that I look good too. I'm so happy. I have been progressively and slowly losing weight since I returned to work in late September. Probably I've lost 10 pounds in that time period. I'd have to check my WW book to confirm. But, it was so gradual that no one really noticed. It's true that I've been working at it for the past three weeks but I haven't seen any big change on the scale. I'm down 2 pounds since my start...

Focus on the positive!! I'm making progress. And, someone noticed!

Day 2 of posting

Yesterday's lunch choice botched my day--not by that many points (3?). Nevertheless I was disappointed with my choice. I made up for it by measuring my food at dinner. Lentils are 2 points for 1/2 a cup. How can that be when they're supposed to be so good for you?? I sound like Jenna, frustrated that protein doesn't count for more. With me it's fiber. Fiber the cure-all. Not.

So, the tally for today:

Breakfast (7:30 a.m.) --5 points
cereal 2
1% milk 2
1/2 c berries .5
coffee-milk .5

Breakfast II (9:45 a.m.) --4.5 points
1/2 c oatmeal (I actually measured a level cup today... usually I put more than 1/2 c) 2
1 c 1% milk (also measured... ) 2
10 dried cherries .5
[This makes a much drier/chunkier oatmeal which tells me that I have been eating more than 2 points worth of milk/oats at my second breakfast... I wonder where else I'm undercounting... realization that I must measure... ]

Walked two flights of stairs with Jenna

Lunch (12:15 pm)--7 points
1/2 c lentils with oil dressing 3
chicken 3
steamed veggies/salad 0
balsamic vinaigrette from Jenna 1

Walked one set of stairs...

Snack (2:45 p.m.)
apple 1

Snack II (3:30 p.m.)
Greek yogurt 2
wheat germ 1

That's 20.5 points Dinner is chicken & lentils again... I can eat more lentils--1 c for 4 pts to make it a 7 point meal. Add steamed veggies with olive oil for another 1.5 points. Then 1 point of grapes or watermelon.

It's hard to "budget" exactly the right amount of food. I haven't been strictly following the program in so long that I've forgotten how to do it. Shocking. It used to be second nature... I think it's also easier to be eating fewer points--less counting. Even though that also means managing hunger differently.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Day 1 of online posting

Breakfast (7:30 a.m.)

cereal ("just sweet enough" honey flax flakes): 2
non-fat milk in cereal plus some in coffee: 2
1 c berries: 1

Breakfast II (9:30 a.m. since I'm still nursing I'm eating a 2nd breakfast--gotta love it!)

1/2 c. oatmeal: 2
1 c. non-fat milk: 2
10 dried cherries: .5?

Lunch (12 noon)

1.5 c watermelon: 1.5
1.5 pieces veggie pizza: 10
salad with a few pine nuts: 1

(This meal kept me from feeling hungry for quite a while!)

Soda break (2 p.m.)
walked down and up 7 flights of stairs to get diet-caffeine-free coke

Snack (4:15 p.m.)
Greek yogurt: 2

Dinner (6 p.m.)
1/2 c lentils with olive oil dressing 3
Moroccan chicken 3
salad with oil/few pine nuts 1

bites of my son's tortellini 1

1/4 glass champagne 1

DAILY TOTAL: 33

The numbers

I started this WW renewal on May 13th so it's been about two weeks of following the program.

At the start of all this I was 179. Wearing mostly size 16 pants. Size L shirts. I've got to take my measurements as those are totally key.

How did I get here?

I've never been thin. I was heavy all through college and my 20s. But, before I turned 30 I lost all the weight and at my wedding I was the lightest I have been since high school: 151. Now, after gaining 60 pounds (gulp!) in my first pregnancy I have about 9 to go before I'm back to pre-pregnancy weight, but I'm 20 away from my "goal" weight.

I lost my "Freshman 15" (more like "30") in 2001-2002 when I was in graduate school in North Carolina. Everything was aligned for success. I was single, or in a long-distance relationship--which means no "date night" food to deal with, and the 'wow' factor of my weight loss was a great motivator since I only saw the boyfriend every month or so. The weather was beautiful year-round. Duke had a fabulous and huge indoor gym/weight-room/free yoga and aerobics classes. I lived with two marathon runners... it was time to shed the weight. Once down to my 'goal' weight of 158--it took me a year to lose the 30 pounds--I had so much fun shopping for clothes.

In the years since I have gained back some of that weight but was usually pretty successful in getting it back off. I was a regular at the gym--minimum twice a week. I really lived by the Weight Watchers program. I became a Lifetime Member when I finished losing the weight in 2002.

Then in 2007 I got pregnant and I started eating whatever I wanted (mostly things with cheese) and I stopped exercising. I told myself this was okay as I was exhausted. I gained 60 pounds. When my son was born in May of 2008 I lost the 1st 30 pounds in two weeks. It's a year later and I have since lost another 21 pounds mostly without trying (yes, I'm nursing...). I did go back to WW when my son was 10 weeks old but I haven't been very careful about tracking.

For me, tracking is key.

Then in January I helped a friend at work with her weight-loss goals. I coached her on the Program. She lost 35 pounds. She looks amazing!!!

Now, I want that for myself. I can do it. I've done it before. It will take sacrifice. It will take rejiggering my already chaotic and time-crunched life. But I can do it. I have great support in friends and husband.

The blog is intended to help me track my eating. It'll also help with accountability. It worked for Svelte Mommy! Of course, she's much more into the nutrition than I am...