Off the Wagon

          I have a friend who tells me that when she is not doing so well nutritionally or not exercising she is "off the wagon!"  Well, Thanksgiving knocked my off the wagon and into the ditch.  I have been trying to crawl out of the ditch since Monday. My nutrition counselor did tell me to enjoy Thanksgiving and have what I wanted.  WELL - I don't think he meant it for 4 days.  Of course there was the meal on Thanksgiving day and the desserts.  But then came the leftovers for four days.  This is where I failed because I knew that I was going to have pie or those evil sweet potatoes bathed in all that butter and sugar goodness - I should have kept track of everything else and not gone to far over board.  I lost track of what I was eating - this is dangerous.  I would not have gained so many pounds in 4 days if I just listened to my body and didn't overeat everything!  Good thing I did exercise!
          So, I move on.  I am back to tracking what I eat and have lost all the Thanksgiving pounds.  I am back on the wagon with a big giddyup! 
         

 

Smoothies for breakfast!

          After one official week, I am down 10 pounds.  Yeah!  Now to keep it off.  I added beans last night for dinner in the form of soup and almond milk for breakfast.  The almond milk is a wonder!  It doesn't taste too great to just drink, but put in a blender with a frozen banana and an apple (unpeeled) and some ice - it was a great breakfast smoothie.  I made this yesterday for breakfast and I thought I had eaten at a buffet, I was so full!  Today I made the smoothie with a frozen banana and frozen strawberries (unsweetened).  Too many frozen fruits though - I was full and freezing this time! 

          Adding protein has given me a lot more energy!  I am sort of getting back to my normal exercise routine.  I swam this morning and taught Kickbox yesterday.  Looking forward to a trainer ride tomorrow. 

          I am now really wanting some real carbs - oatmeal, a cracker or two, some pita, or just a taste of Jacob's frozen waffle that he had for breakfast.  Although I will be careful with that one b/c I always "taste" the boys' food and I know that adds a lot of extra calories to my intake.  I've heard them called BLTs - Bites, Licks, and Tastes.  Not good!

          So, the addition for today will be fish for dinner.  Not so thrilling, but varying the protein has made things a lot more pleasant.  I'll keep you posted...

Coming Clean Day 7! Chicken - Yea!!

          Day 7!   I made it!  I have lost 8 pounds and 3% body fat!  Success.  I am very excited.  The second day of the weekend was tougher than the first - I ended up adding an extra banana to make it through a hike at Beaver Lake with my kids.  And we watched a movie, so I added a 1 cup of microwave popcorn - Steve reminded me that corn is a vegetable after all! 

          Yesterday I added chicken.  It never tasted so good.  I had some leftovers in the fridge from that crockpot meal and I ate that with cooked zucchini.  For dinner, more chicken, this time roasted by my mom!  I didn't realize that I hadn't eaten anything cooked in a week.  Hot food tasted so good.  I also added some almonds - making snack time a little more enjoyable.

          So, I continue eating all veges, two fruits, and now some protein.  I actually have more energy today and hopefully I won't be so miserable.  The miserable part, Steve brought to my attention last night!  I usually get miserable when I am hungry and hungry is an understatement for this past week. 

          I trudge on and hope that scale keeps going in the right direction and those waistbands keep getting looser.  

          I leave with you with a statement from Thomas Jefferson:

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.


 

         

Weekend Day 1: Gingerbread Houses

          Still eating veges and my two fruits.  Today has been especially difficult.  Joey and I went to the regional farmer's market to fill up on more fruits and vegetables.  Of course along the many aisles of green, there were samples of pie, granola, cheese, nuts.  I did have 3 cocoa roasted almonds - they were super yummy.  I was very proud to say that I did not taste the other samples or even ask for a taste of Joey's homemade, hot from the oil, donut. 

          The evening brought our annual Gingerbread House decorating that we have been doing every year for 7 years with another family.  This was hard.  I made another big salad for me to eat and share.  Our friends brought pizza.  Just a few hours earlier we were discussing what our favorite foods are - mine:  pizza - of course.  I smelled it a whole lot, but didn't have any.  Leftovers are in the fridge - hope I don't sleep walk down to it tonight!   Not that I have ever done that.  Back to the Gingerbread Houses.   Decorating them involves tons of candy, pretzels, cereal, frosting - all the good stuff.  I didn't have a single taste.  WOW - that was hard.  What I wanted most was the starchy stuff - cereal, pretzels, etc.  Phew, that's done and all the candy is gone.  I feel like sometimes it's easier to not eat any of that stuff than to stop when I should and not overindulge.

          So, one successful weekend day.  I am hungry, but I just can't bring myself to have veges for an after dinner snack.  I think I will stick with a cup of tea. 

Coming Clean Day 4. Scale day...

          So, I braved the scale this morning.  Of course it was before my shower (so my hair is not wet), before I ate, and naked.  This is how I weigh in always.  I wouldn't want anything to add to that number on the scale!  I am officially down 6 pounds!  I was very worried about weighing in, b/c that is what usually derails me.  If the number is not what I expected, then I am dissappointed.  I am happy with this number.  I know it's not always about the number - of course I say that when I don't like the number on the scale.  It's more about health and how your clothes fit.  My jeans feel a little looser today.  Not sure if that is because of the few pounds that are gone or because I want them to feel roomier - or maybe they have just stretched out. 

          I am hungry though.  I had my apple and banana for breakfast, snow peas for snack and a big salad for lunch.  One good thing about eating veges raw is that they take a long time to chew!  Lunch was very tiring! Now it's time for my afternoon snack - snow peas again.  They are very sweet and again crunchy adding to that chewing thing. 

          So, I'll head to the kitchen for my snack and think about what the weekend will bring.  Oh no...

         

Coming Clean Day 3

          So, it's day 3 and believe it or not I am still okay!  One friend said to thank God that he created so many different vegetables - she is right!  I have eaten all kinds of lettuce, red cabbage, butternut squash, snow peas, carrots, green beans, a sweet potato, and tomatoes.  I have found that a little oil and vinegar mixed with salt and pepper makes a good salad dressing - I am not supposed to eat anything packaged. 

          The biggest issue I have had was making gingerbread houses yesterday.  I am proud to say that I did not taste the dough at all!  Not even one little taste.  I am little embarassed to say that because I didn't eat any of the dough I had enough to make an extra house - they are small, but still.

          The other issue has been eating with my family.  For dinner last night, while I was having one more salad, they were eating the chicken that smelled so good in the crockpot all day.  And of course we still have some good Halloween chocolate left.
    
          I haven't weighed myself yet.  I am afraid to actually.  I'm afraid to see that after all these vegetables I will not have lost anything.  Stay tuned, because eventually I will have to get on the scale. 

Coming Clean...

              I haven’t written a blog post in a very long time.  Partly because of time, partly because I forget, partly because I don’t feel like I have a great deal to share on the subject of eating fit.   In the past year I have gained ten pounds.  Probably more if you count the pounds I have lost and then gained and then lost again.  It seems to go on so easy and takes a lot to get back off.  This seems to get worse as I get older.  Summer and the holidays seem to do it for me – it creeps up and I can’t get it off.  So, this fall I decided to see a nutritionist.  This comes after trying in the past a lot of other weight loss programs.  From the Oprah Winfrey low fat diet, to Slim Fast, to LA Weight Loss, to Shakeology.  After a lot of procrastination I made an appointment.  Yesterday was my second appointment!  That shows you how long it took me to call!  At the first appointment he made some suggestions and figured out how many calories I need to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week.  I hate those numbers because it takes so long to lose anything, but I know that losing slowly is the successful way to do it.  I knew he wouldn’t give me some magical answer, but deep down that’s what a really wanted.  Oh well.  Following the calorie allowance allowed me to lose about 3 pounds.  Then came Halloween!  That darn candy.  So, I begin again.

                At my appointment yesterday he asked me to do a detox for seven days.  Seven whole days!  OMG!  This detox includes eating two servings of fruit a day and vegetables the rest of the day.  Which he called "eating clean." It’s a real good thing I like vegetables.  When I protested he asked what I will miss the most.  I told him cereal and oatmeal in the morning for breakfast and believe it or not the chicken we eat for dinner.  Also, watching my family eat protein for dinner will be difficult.  Not being able to exercise as much or with the same intensity will be difficult too.  

                So today is day one.  So far I have had a pear, ½ banana, and a lot of veges with a little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (I know those two things are going to be my best friend this week!).  He told me that I could experience headaches and fatigue, but so far so good. 

                Tomorrow might be different.  We’ll see…