Beginning again

Ok, my weight loss blog has been sorely neglected. Well, honestly, ALL of my blogs have been woefully neglected of late, but I'm hopeful that that will change now. My household has changed again, and I'm no longer having suit anyone else's wants/needs when it comes to food preparation and grocery shopping. I've got a good bit of my dinners this week planned. Tonite I had a nice chicken breast baked with some bread crumbs and a little parmesan cheese on top of a small portion of angel hair pasta with herb sauce, and a nice little side salad with a wee bit of bleu cheese dressing. Tomorrow I'll probably have a kosher dog, a salad, and maybe some peas. Wednesday is Genghis Grill. Thursday is the spaghetti with the sauce I made tonite when I already had the kitchen heated up for the chicken.  Friday I'm still undecided on, but I'll figure it out before then. 
I'm so happy that I can keep fresh fruit and veggies in the house again, and I can shop in small enough quantities to keep me fed, but not so much that they will go bad before I can eat them all. 

272 or 271

Either way, it's a HUGE number. It's the number I saw on the scale this morning when I stepped onto it. It's a totally unacceptable number to me, and frankly, was a bit of a shock when it appeared. I mean, I sort of expected it to be a little higher than the last time I weighed, whenever that was, because some of my jeans aren't fitting quite as well as they usually do, but I didn't expect it to be quite that high.

I know that there are a lot of things I need to do to address this, and at some point, I'll get to most of them, but I know my brain and my body, and they're going to happen one or two at a time, and as each couple of them become habit and my new "norm", I'll add in another. If I jump in with both feet making a ton of changes, I'll give up one, which will lead to giving up another, and ultimately failure.

This week I'm cutting my Dr Pepper consumption from roughly 4 cans a day to no more than 2, adjusting some of my food choices, and tomorrow evening I start back to Belly Dance class.  As much as I would love to return to my first studio in Bedford, Isis, the drive is just too far, and it's not feasible to make the drive during the week, and there is just too much going on during various weekends in the spring to make the Saturday classes, as well as the silliness of an additional $15 in gas per class. I've found a class near work on Tuesday evenings, and for the next 8 weeks, at least, I'll be there, learning from the 2nd teacher I've ever had.

Have a good night & expect tomorrow's post to be late, and happy tired.

Food Diary day 2

I did pretty well today, though I've discovered that it's probably in my best interest to actually crawl out of bed a few minutes earlier in the morning so I can get everything done that I need to before I leave.



Breakfast: 16 oz chai tea skinny vanilla on the way to work, protein shake: 5 oz. lowfat vanilla yogurt, 3 oz milk, 1 scoop protein powder, ½ C each cherries & pineapple, 1 egg. I did find that the yogurt and the egg make a huge difference in helping to keep me feeling full. Yesterday, I finished my shake about 8:30, and by 11 I was pretty hungry. Today I finished it by 7:45, and when I had a handful of nuts around 10:45 I just beginning to feel a few hunger pangs. 


Lunch: 4 oz grilled chicken, 2/3 C of brown rice, and about 1 C green beans with about ½ T margarine, ~16 oz chai tea skinny vanilla


Afternoon snack: another handful of nuts, and a handful of sweet-tart like candies


Dinner: turkey burger with about 2 oz cheddar cheese, on an Orowheat flatbread sandwich roll (honey wheat), some Ketchup, and about 3 oz olive oil & rosemary oven fries, ~16 oz green chai tea skinny vanilla.


I did get a bit of a headache this morning, which I attribute to the reduced caffeine intake, but I've not had any Dr Pepper in over 24 hours. The tea has no calories, and the skinny vanilla creamer has 30 calories per Tablespoon, and I use less than 2 per 16 oz serving of tea. I'm getting a little less caffeine than I'm used to, but I've cut my calories from caffeinated beverages by more than 50%, and from my past experiences with giving up Dr Pepper, I will get through the caffeine withdrawals soon enough.

Changes for 2011

As much as I'd like to say that I'm going to be better at blogging, somehow I don't manage it most of the time. I mean, really, it's been over a year since I last posted here. For 2011, I am putting forth an honest effort to improve my health, starting with better eating habits and taking my vitamins/supplements more faithfully.

I stepped on the scale this morning for the first time in probably a month and a half, at least. It read 265.2. That's not the heaviest I've ever been, but obviously it's heavier than is either healthy for me, or acceptable to me. I am setting small goals for myself, that I think are attainable without making me feel deprived or making drastic choices which could negatively impact my health or my ultimate goal.

In general, I concern myself more with inches, jeans & shirt sizes, than with numbers on the scale, simply because I know that the numbers on the scale are a rather arbitrary, "one size" sort of measurement, which doesn't work, at least with my body. (at 17, I was 25-35 lbs "overweight", yet I wore about a size 10 skirt & 12 jeans) That being said, I didn't take the time to measure myself today, and frankly, am unlikely to do so until perhaps next weekend at the soonest.

What I AM going to do, is endeavor to keep a food journal, and adjust my eating habits.

Short term goals:

• 2 lbs/week loss
  
• Eat out less than 3 times per week
  
• Spend 20 minutes moving at least 3 times per week
  

  
   

Long term goals:

• Food journal/diary
  
• Work out with weights 2 times per week
  
• Drop 2 jean sizes by the end of February
  
• Drop 5 jean sizes by Memorial Day
  

  
   

Today's food diary:

Breakfast: Protein shake (protein powder, ½ C whole milk, ½ C each frozen cherries & frozen pineapple), ~10 oz Dr Pepper

Lunch: Long John Silver's 2 pcs fish & fries (no hushpuppies) ~16 oz Dr Pepper

Snack: 1 cherry candy cane

Dinner: 5 oz grilled chicken, 1 C steamed green beans, 1 C brown rice, ½ T margarine, ~ 12 oz green Chai Tea Skinny Vanilla Latte

Bedtime: 8 oz Serenitea Herbal Tea

Starting again

Ok, it's been MONTHS since I posted, and actually I spent a good portion of those months being mopey and whiney, and depressed about not having a job, and being quite tired of the whole drama of searching for a job.

Last week I decided that I was going to start working out again. I did water aerobics Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I didn't do much in the way of changing my eating habits, but I did try to not nibble all day long. I lost about a pound and a half, and, apparently, a whole jean size.

I made class Monday and Tuesday this week, but I decided that tonite I would celebrate the job I start tomorrow by having dinner with my friends, so I hit the gym earlier in the afternoon and did a water aerobics workout on my own. I'm pretty sure I didn't push myself as hard as an instructor would, but I did push myself and I kept moving for a little over 45 minutes. I kind of miss the cameraderie of the Wednesday dinners, so I may just make Wednesday a morning workout day so I can make dinner.

This weekend I'll try to update measurements, but as of Monday morning, I was at 259, down from 261 the week before.

WOO HOO

It's been forever since I posted, but it's been a tough week. Monday I lost my job, and it made me mad as hell. This weekend was the final weekend of Scarby for the season. It was up and down, and I expected it to be, but I made it through.
In the last few days, I managed to break 250! I weighed in this morning at 249.6. I haven't been under 250 in over 10 years, to the best of my recollection. The trick now will be maintaining it and continuing the progress.
Today is unpacking the car, getting groceries for the next few days, clearing out my stuff from the site, and getting situated to do some hardcore jobhunting!

Walking

My legs feel like I walked about 42 miles today. It wasn't truly that far, because, in deference to the rain and mucky conditions at Scarby, once I made it to Pecan Grove, I didn't get back on either bridge until I was leaving, so I didn't go very far. I did, however spend what time I was on walkabout gingerly picking my way around, trying to avoid the really horribly squishy mud, but I was having to work a little harder to keep my footing.

I took measurements tonight, to use as my benchmark and starting place. All are in inches

Bust: 47 (43 around the underside)
Waist: 45.5
Hips: 59
Arms: R-17.5, L-17.25
Thighs: R-35, L-33.5
Calves: R-18, L-17.5

I find it amusing that my right side is, indeed larger than my left. I've known for most of my life that my right hand and foot are bigger than my left ones, but I guess I never thought about the rest of my right side being larger as well.

I do find it HORRIFYING that my hips are quite nearly as big around as I am tall. somehow in my clothes, they don't look THAT big.

I am sure that most women have some sort of unrealistic body image issues, however I just don't think I look THAT fat. I mean, I still have a defined waist, and I do have a lap when I sit down, I don't have to buy bigger than a 2X in most places, and frankly, here lately, I've been buying more XL than 2XL, which is progress, despite not seeing the scale move. I truly don't believe that I LOOK like I am nearly as round as I am tall.

There are changes that I know that I cannot realistically expect, like thighs that are thin enough to not rub together when I walk. Even when I was wearing 10s and 12s my thighs touched, and I hated to wear pantyhose for fear of setting them on fire from the friction of the nylon! My calves will never be thin... they never have been. In my life, I have owned exactly 2 pairs of boots that covered my calves. The first pair, I was somewhere between 8 & 10, and they were white gogo boots, that were that pleather stuff that was so popular back in the 70s, so they were stretchy. The second pair I spent $250 on, more than I have EVER spent on shoes, but I LOVE them, even if I don't wear them a lot some years. They are custom made Medieval Moccasins. In fact, I am planning to wear them with my pirate outfit and socks tomorrow. The good news is that my Birkenstock arch supports fit inside them nicely, so hopefully my fasciitis will settle back down again and my heel won't be bothering me for the entire week.

Now it's off to bed for hopefully a good night's sleep before another full day of faire.