Breakfast
String Cheese - 80 calories
Lunch
Fried pork chop (I thought it was baked.) - 260 calories
Mac & Cheese - 156 calories
Peas - 76 calories
Dinner
Italian BMT from Subway - difficult to calculate with all the veggies/toppings, but around 700 calories
Tuesday's Estimated Calorie Count - 1,272
Expanding on this whole theory of accountability, I think I'm going to begin logging, on my blog, everything I eat. My thinking is, if I have to come and tell you guys that I ate half a bag of chips with salsa last night, I may rethink that action entirely.
Be patient with me, please. This may or may not work out, and I may or may not continue or stop logging everyday, but I have got to find ways to make this work. This is a learning process for me, as much as it is a weight-loss/get healthy process. I expect that public documentation of my eating will either cause me to recognize some self-defeating habits that I may be unaware of (or willfully ignoring), and/or help me to make better choices for no other reason than fear of humiliation.
My first log will be everything I had today. I'm going to try my best to update this on weekends. Whenever possible, I will also include calorie counts. I promise that everything posted in my food logs will be honest, because at the end of the day, being dishonest will only hurt me.
Comments will be enabled for food logs, so please, feel free to chime in. Let me know how I'm doing. If you've got more nutrition know-how than I, which wouldn't require much, tell me what changes I could benefit from. I can't promise to adhere to every piece of advice given, as everybody has a different opinion, but I will certainly hear what you have to say and take it into consideration.
Lastly, thank you all, for tolerating me and all this. I may not express it enough, but you have all been such great motivation for me to not give up. I really appreciate the support and encouragement.
Wish me luck!
I'm beginning to appreciate small victories more and more. Last week was an okay week in my weight loss journey. Even more than losing weight, I'm learning a lot about myself.
I think one of my biggest problems is my perspective of food. A healthy view of food is seeing it as fuel. For me however, food can sometimes be the highlight of my day. I come from a family, and a city, that makes and loves good food.
Every meal has to be delicious. That shouldn't be. I should be okay with eating anything healthy and filling, but I'm not. I want the very best food that I have access to. Here at the hospital where I work, we have 2 restaurants, one being slightly more gourmet than the other. If there isn't something that sounds great to me at the regular cafeteria, I'll go spend more money to eat the more fattening, really yummy food at the other one.
I've got to find a way to change the way I look at food. I've got to get to a point where food is simply fuel. I've got to find something else to look forward to in my daily routine, so that food isn't what I look forward to everyday. One thing I think I'll try this week is getting back into scrapbooking. It's something I really enjoy, but I haven't picked it back up since we moved to the new house. I still haven't even scrapbooked our wedding yet!
So, that's what's going on in my head lately. I'm really glad that I began documenting my weight-loss process publicly like this. Giving up has been very tempting, and something I may have done by now if I didn't have you guys keeping me accountable. When I go walk on the treadmill at lunch lately, I have to make a conscious effort to keep myself from jumping off. It's a constant struggle of will. I want to be thin. I want to be healthy. I don't want to do the work required to achieve those things. Ridiculous.
So, thank you guys, for making me feel supported, and for giving me a reason to not give up. When all other motivation fails me, I wonder what I will tell those of you who have been encouraging me and keeping me going.
Here's the week's breakdown!
Exercise:
Treadmill - 30 minutes; Tuesday, Wednesday... one day too few
Eating Habits:
I was good with my rules for the most part. There was probably too much snacking when I wasn't hungry over the weekend, especially during the Super Bowl. Also, still too many potatoes!
Pounds lost since last Monday: 2
Pounds lost overall: 17
Pounds to go: 68
Weeks to go: 16
Average pounds to lose per week to reach goal: 4.3
You may remember, back in August, when I posted about how badly I wanted an iPhone. I was unsuccessful in my manipulation attempt.
However, after seeing my little sister-in-law get her new iPhone on Saturday, I couldn't wait any longer! Yeah, yeah, monkey see, monkey do... blah blah blah.
I finally got it! Travis was eligible for upgrade, and he graciously let me have his new phone upgrade so I could get an iPhone. He took my Samsung Propel, which is a vast upgrade from his old flip phone that didn't have a full keyboard.
Another awesome perk is that we're finally on a family plan now. We couldn't get on one before because we had phone numbers with 2 different Louisiana area codes. I guess AT&T changed that regulation, so now, on our new family plan, our bill will be even lower than before, even with the new data package.
Needless to say, I'm having a blast with my new toy. I've downloaded a full page of apps, the first two being Facebook and Twitter. Those websites are blocked on my company's intranet, so it's fun being able to check in a few times a day when I couldn't before. That's also the reason my Twitter feed is back on my sidebar. With a little computer-phone, I actually tweet again.
...
For those of you out there who have iPhones, could you recommend some good apps... particularly good free apps? I don't want to pay for them, as the phone was expensive enough. I just know there are some cool ones out there, and I love playing with gadgets, so let me know what your faves are!
You know that sad trumpet tune they play when somebody loses a game on The Price is Right? Somebody cue that soundbite, because I've got nothing to be proud of today.
I stepped on the scale this morning, and you know what it told me? It told me I've gained 1 pound since last Monday... that's right - gained. I've been told that there comes a period during weight loss, soon after you've lost that first significant chunk, when you plateau for a little while. I guess I did, and then some.
But that's why I'm publicly documenting this! So that I can't just throw in the towel and give up. You all bear witness to my perseverance. I will not concede. I will try harder. I will do this.
So, where did I go wrong? Here's my theory...
In the beginning, just cutting out fried foods seemed to make me drop weight instantly. Walking helped even more, as did drinking more water. However, I think there comes a point where you have to address more than all that. It's not just about finding one or two bad habits and reversing them. It's about balance, not only making sure you avoid bad stuff, but that you're getting good stuff in place of the bad.
I think my problem is that when I gave up fried food, I replaced it with things that still tasted good, but weren't much healthier than the fried food. They just weren't boiled in oil, thus I could state with a clear conscience that I wasn't "breaking my rules."
One thing that I know is limiting my weight-loss success is potatoes. I love potatoes. I eat potatoes everyday, in some form or another. I used to brag about that, like it was a funny little quirk. It's suddenly not as funny. I've got to stop thinking I can have a baked potato the size of my head for dinner, piled high with cheddar cheese, mushrooms, and sour cream... and still lose weight!
The potatoes are just the biggest of the evils that I allow to stand in my way... you don't have the time or desire to read the rest of them.
Anyway, I think unlike most diets, I'm going to have to become stricter on myself as this process goes by. I feel like I've lost the weight that fried food added to my frame, and now it's time to address my carbohydrate-hoarding potato addiction. I expect that limiting my intake of potatoes to 2-3 servings/week will significantly reduce the number on the scale, as well as help me avoid the 2pm sleepies at work.
In spite of it all, here's the week's breakdown!
Exercise:
Treadmill - 30 minutes; Monday, Tuesday / 15 minute walks with the dogs on Monday, Tuesday. I didn't exercise the rest of the week. Not good.
Eating Habits:
Technically, I followed all of my "rules" for the most part. Those rules are currently under revision.
Pounds lost since last Monday: -1 =(
Pounds lost overall: 15
Pounds to go: 70
Weeks to go: 17
Average pounds to lose per week to reach goal: 4.1
