OK, so it's not that dramatic, but in the scheme of things, it's kind of annoying. I was out of commission for a week with Strep throat. Bleh ... No exercise... No dieting... No tracking... No nothing. Absolutely nothing constructive at all was accomplished... I didn't even write Christmas cards. I suck!
So to backtrack to the weekend before the big time warp, the experiment went very well and taught me many things. On the Friday we went to the Keg armed with all their website nutritional info and we came out winners. My weight did not go up due to the restaurant outing and in fact it went down a bit. On Saturday it was part 2 of the experiment and armed with nothing really.... things went horribly horribly wrong. I tried to stick to the veggie trays (thankfully there were 2 kinds of veggie trays) but found myself nibbling on a few cashews here, and a few chocolate covered almonds there.... those suckers add up quick. Obviously I went to the party hungry, and I really should have prepared better for it...Then dinner was steak with scalloped potatoes. The steak was probably double what I should have eaten and the potatoes should not have graced my plate at all. So 3 pound gain for one night out... basically trashed my whole week's worth of work in one evening.
And then I got sick on Sunday..... which meant I gained more... NO FAIR!
*sigh*
Back at work today, back to tracking, dieting and hopefully this evening I won't be too wiped out to even walk on the treadmill for a bit...
On at least a different note... looking forward to hearing more details about the new Weight Watchers plan. I'm thinking if things don't start to move around, I may invest in going to the meetings... as a gift to myself... I can always quit after I get all the new books on the new plan if I find that it's too expensive...stay tuned!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Still lot's of room for improvement... practice, practice, pratice
Practice will probably never make me perfect, but practice might help things feel more natural....
I'm talking about how to deal with weekends and especially eating out socially on weekends... Last week I had Thursday off for Remembrance Day and I did very well, stayed on plan and even got some exercise into my day despite wanting to lounge on the sofa all day :P I am a couch potato after all, it's my natural habitat.... like the house Hippo in the TV commercial except I don't eat raisins :P House Hippo
So over the weekend, my plan was to repeat the success of Thursday. Sounds pretty easy. Well, Friday I went out with friends for some Vietnamese and I chose my meal very carefully and next day on the scale I still managed a loss. Saturday during the day I walked a nice long 7.38 kms outside in the fabulous weather, but Saturday night I went out unexpectedly. Now, there were things on the menu at that place that "I could have" ordered, but I was a bad bad girl. Alex was there with me, and she put it best when we spoke on Monday "I think I got caught up in the atmosphere… the pizza wasn’t even good. And dessert was unnecessary. Delicious! But unnecessary" I also felt like I got caught up in everybody's thrill to eat naughty and really didn't need dessert either. Part of the issue was eating so late... I should have brought snacks with me for Alex and I to munch on while we watched our friends at the Curling Club. They were burning calories, while we sat down and talked LOL Not many calories burned there!
So what I get from this is that it's good to know about social outings way in advance to help your brain build a steel like resolve when it comes to reading the menu, bring healthy snacks like carrots and celery to help fill you up and regulate the blood sugar and most of all... nobody needs dessert!
I also have resolved to do some form of exercise everyday... even if it's just walking on the treadmill. I wonder if I could do 100kms in a month.... hmmmm might be a new goal to set...lot's of kms to strengthen my base so that I can then do the training schedule to run 10km. Right now I can run 5km without any issues... but anything over 6km seems to make my knees hurt... so I'm working on my base with fast walking and hoping to up my kms to 10km walking and then progress into running again.
So off I go into the sunset... practice... practice... practice....
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Apparently i'm not the only one that thinks i'm awesome :D
On Wednesday afternoon I had an appointment with the Diabetic Team's Dietitians at my family doctor's office. I've been seeing this new family doctor for almost two years now. When I told her I was a type II diabetic (controlled with diet and exercise) she set up an appointment for me to meet with her Diabetes team. That was about a year ago and when I met with the two ladies (I forget their names) they said that I was on the right track with my learning to run with the Couch to 5km and following Weight Watchers on my own. They gave me their blessing and a pat on the back and sent me on my way. This year it was two new ladies, Collette the nurse and Bennett the dietitian invited me in and asked me how things were going.
I told them that my recent appointment with my Endocrinologist was a good one with some really great numbers; 6 blood sugar, 126/70 blood pressure, low cholesterol but same weight as 6 months ago. I told them I had run 4 races this year (5km distance). I told them I was still following Weight Watchers and slowly transforming the types of food I ate from pre-packaged 100 calorie snack bags and Smart Ones frozen meals to fruit, veggies and as many home cooked (even if pre-cooked) meals as possible. I told them I was struggling with bouncing around in the 230's for several months now, and that I thought I needed to increase my exercise and be much more regimented on weekends.
You know what those two nice ladies said to me?
*DING*
To which I responded "yeah, but we don't have to celebrate every time we go out to eat ... right?" They laughed and agreed that it's best to make rewards non-food related, but that when out with friends a few extra calories are OK as long as you laugh a lot :P
I'm happy with my progress so far and like most people I know I'm impatient and want more progress.. NOW NOW NOW :P So I'm going to accept the fact that I'm doing really great compared to how I used to be a long long time ago, and try not to forget how far I've come. Maybe put up my worst before picture up on my bathroom mirror of inspiration....
That being said, I still want to strive for better.. so I'm going to work harder on my weekends. It's not in my nature to be so strict that I totally fall off the wagon so I'm not too worried about working on my deviant weekends. I have to give credit to Collette and Bennett for reminding me (*DING*) about low blood sugars, It's been so long that my blood sugars have been in the really good ranges that I've forgotten the golden rules of diabetics and that is to eat regularly otherwise you mess up your blood sugars. Low blood sugars can be just as bad as really high blood sugars.. so thanks ladies... that reminder really drives home the benefits of eating 3 meals and some small snacks every few hours to make sure my whole body is a happy camper. Now if only we can figure out how to re-wire the brain hahahaha
Today's experiment is going well so far..... stay tuned...
I told them that my recent appointment with my Endocrinologist was a good one with some really great numbers; 6 blood sugar, 126/70 blood pressure, low cholesterol but same weight as 6 months ago. I told them I had run 4 races this year (5km distance). I told them I was still following Weight Watchers and slowly transforming the types of food I ate from pre-packaged 100 calorie snack bags and Smart Ones frozen meals to fruit, veggies and as many home cooked (even if pre-cooked) meals as possible. I told them I was struggling with bouncing around in the 230's for several months now, and that I thought I needed to increase my exercise and be much more regimented on weekends.
You know what those two nice ladies said to me?
- Your numbers are really good, keep up the good work.
- Your exercise regimen is really good, we're impressed... even we don't run races!
- Your eating plan looks very good during the week, we're glad you're switching to more whole foods.
- Your weekends need work for sure, but you have to keep in mind that if you sleep really late, that messes with your blood sugar levels and that's why your brain makes you go overboard later on in the day.
*DING*
- Don't be too strict or hard on yourself because we don't want you to abandon everything. You are awesome and you are doing great.
- We want you to keep up the good work and most of all don't forget that an occasional treat when out with friends is OK. You still need to live.
To which I responded "yeah, but we don't have to celebrate every time we go out to eat ... right?" They laughed and agreed that it's best to make rewards non-food related, but that when out with friends a few extra calories are OK as long as you laugh a lot :P
I'm happy with my progress so far and like most people I know I'm impatient and want more progress.. NOW NOW NOW :P So I'm going to accept the fact that I'm doing really great compared to how I used to be a long long time ago, and try not to forget how far I've come. Maybe put up my worst before picture up on my bathroom mirror of inspiration....
That being said, I still want to strive for better.. so I'm going to work harder on my weekends. It's not in my nature to be so strict that I totally fall off the wagon so I'm not too worried about working on my deviant weekends. I have to give credit to Collette and Bennett for reminding me (*DING*) about low blood sugars, It's been so long that my blood sugars have been in the really good ranges that I've forgotten the golden rules of diabetics and that is to eat regularly otherwise you mess up your blood sugars. Low blood sugars can be just as bad as really high blood sugars.. so thanks ladies... that reminder really drives home the benefits of eating 3 meals and some small snacks every few hours to make sure my whole body is a happy camper. Now if only we can figure out how to re-wire the brain hahahaha
Today's experiment is going well so far..... stay tuned...
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Weekend experiments
This past weekend I was planning an experiment....I was going to try and eat as close to a weekday schedule/amount as possible.
Saturday: Up at 8am, breakfast, snacks, were like during the week. Lunch was skipped because I had a function to attend in late afternoon and I knew it was going to be point heavy. (mostly wine points) I still managed to lose weight by Sunday.
Sunday: Up at NOON! yeah, you read that right, Noon. So it would have been the perfect day to eat the regular schedule, but time shift everything... nope.. didn't happen as planned... I gave in to the request for waffles and by the time they were made and we sat down to eat it was almost 1:30! I was beyond starving....the waffles were a WW recipe and 8points for 2 huge ones, but it's not the waffles that sent my day out of whack, it was the extreme hunger... the rest of the afternoon was spent making egg bake for weekday breakfasts and homemade WW pizzas for lunches... I tried to eat snacks like yogurt and grapes, but the other snacks that I usually eat require two hands, either to make or consume, so the apple didn't happen and the carrots/celery with hummus didn't happen. I did however eat a lot of pieces of veggies while prepping my week foods.
It all came to a crash when I just couldn't avoid the hunger anymore and used the leftover veggies with some measured ground chicken combined (unfortunately) with unmeasured rice noodles... those noodles albeit totally yummy were too much and I gained 3 pounds by Monday morning. *sigh* I've already lost 2 of the 3 pounds, but the point was very clear to me. "Don't let myself get too hungry"
I am liking the breakfast and lunch made in advance thing for during the week, and I think time shifting or otherwise on the weekend can work, as long as I keep eating the same types of foods and snacks. I have the day off on Thursday and I may try the time shifting thing that day, since I'll be home alone during the day.
I've read a lot of blog posts from other people talking about planning ahead is crucial to their weight loss success and I can see how that is true, but if I want to live this lifestyle, I really need to adjust myself to real life situations and come up with more strategies and tricks to deal with all the social things we do. I HAVE to get into the habit of ordering a damn salad with chicken on it when I go out... HAVE to drop the whining voice in my head that keeps saying "but you're out with friends, you need to celebrate!" Celebrate what? Knowing how to put on shoes and leaving the house? Not everything is a celebration.
Awesome quote that I read today:
"You can't expect to loose weight if you keep shoveling the same garbage in your mouth that made you fat."
Saturday: Up at 8am, breakfast, snacks, were like during the week. Lunch was skipped because I had a function to attend in late afternoon and I knew it was going to be point heavy. (mostly wine points) I still managed to lose weight by Sunday.
Sunday: Up at NOON! yeah, you read that right, Noon. So it would have been the perfect day to eat the regular schedule, but time shift everything... nope.. didn't happen as planned... I gave in to the request for waffles and by the time they were made and we sat down to eat it was almost 1:30! I was beyond starving....the waffles were a WW recipe and 8points for 2 huge ones, but it's not the waffles that sent my day out of whack, it was the extreme hunger... the rest of the afternoon was spent making egg bake for weekday breakfasts and homemade WW pizzas for lunches... I tried to eat snacks like yogurt and grapes, but the other snacks that I usually eat require two hands, either to make or consume, so the apple didn't happen and the carrots/celery with hummus didn't happen. I did however eat a lot of pieces of veggies while prepping my week foods.
It all came to a crash when I just couldn't avoid the hunger anymore and used the leftover veggies with some measured ground chicken combined (unfortunately) with unmeasured rice noodles... those noodles albeit totally yummy were too much and I gained 3 pounds by Monday morning. *sigh* I've already lost 2 of the 3 pounds, but the point was very clear to me. "Don't let myself get too hungry"
I am liking the breakfast and lunch made in advance thing for during the week, and I think time shifting or otherwise on the weekend can work, as long as I keep eating the same types of foods and snacks. I have the day off on Thursday and I may try the time shifting thing that day, since I'll be home alone during the day.
I've read a lot of blog posts from other people talking about planning ahead is crucial to their weight loss success and I can see how that is true, but if I want to live this lifestyle, I really need to adjust myself to real life situations and come up with more strategies and tricks to deal with all the social things we do. I HAVE to get into the habit of ordering a damn salad with chicken on it when I go out... HAVE to drop the whining voice in my head that keeps saying "but you're out with friends, you need to celebrate!" Celebrate what? Knowing how to put on shoes and leaving the house? Not everything is a celebration.
Awesome quote that I read today:
"You can't expect to loose weight if you keep shoveling the same garbage in your mouth that made you fat."
Friday, November 5, 2010
Interesting....
So I decided to experiment a bit with my eating this week.... shuffle up the points and eat more fruit & veg and eat something every 3 hours (during the day) Now that doesn't mean I stayed below my points... nope, not at all... went horribly over my points several times because no matter how good I was during the day... there were several Halloween treats consumed in the evening.
If I go by past experience (and I've got the charts and graphs to prove it) the weekend is what usually breaks me... even if I eat horrible all week (like this week) my weight either stays the same or drops down to at least the same as the week before. I seem to bounce up on the weekend and creep down during the week when eating is scheduled a bit more rigidly and the items are almost the same everyday (well except for evening meals and free for all snacking fiascos) So if weekends were not so off kilter or so different, then in theory I could actually drop down into the 220's instead of bouncing around in the 230's for months on end.... right?
This weekend will be experiment number one: I am going to try the "eat exactly the same type of structured every 3 hours meals" but time shifted because i want to sleep in.... and see what that does. Maybe next weekend I can *try* getting up early and eating like a day during the work week.
Most of all, I've got to put the Halloween treats in the freezer, I tend to ignore them when they are in there.. not sure why... out of sight, out of mind? Besides, frozen mini chocolate bars are hard on the teeth LOL
I've done my measurements for the first time in a long long time, here is the comparison between September 2009 and November 2010:
Chest: Sep/09 50", Nov/10 47.5"
Bra strap: Sep/09 ??, Nov/10 41"
Waist: Sep/09 46", Nov/10 45"
Hips: Sep/09 54", Nov/10 51"
Thigh: Sep/09 22", Nov/10 24"
Calves: Sep/09 16", Nov/10 16"
Arm (Bicep): Sep/09 ??, Nov/10 15"
That's a difference of 6.5' if my calculations are correct, so I haven't moved much in that department either, but at this point any reduction in size is good in my books :P I can tell in pictures that my body has changed. YAY one less roll to hide... hehehe
So my new official weigh-in day is today and my weight is the same as last Wednesday @ 239. Tune in next week to see how the experiments work out :)
If I go by past experience (and I've got the charts and graphs to prove it) the weekend is what usually breaks me... even if I eat horrible all week (like this week) my weight either stays the same or drops down to at least the same as the week before. I seem to bounce up on the weekend and creep down during the week when eating is scheduled a bit more rigidly and the items are almost the same everyday (well except for evening meals and free for all snacking fiascos) So if weekends were not so off kilter or so different, then in theory I could actually drop down into the 220's instead of bouncing around in the 230's for months on end.... right?
This weekend will be experiment number one: I am going to try the "eat exactly the same type of structured every 3 hours meals" but time shifted because i want to sleep in.... and see what that does. Maybe next weekend I can *try* getting up early and eating like a day during the work week.
Most of all, I've got to put the Halloween treats in the freezer, I tend to ignore them when they are in there.. not sure why... out of sight, out of mind? Besides, frozen mini chocolate bars are hard on the teeth LOL
I've done my measurements for the first time in a long long time, here is the comparison between September 2009 and November 2010:
Chest: Sep/09 50", Nov/10 47.5"
Bra strap: Sep/09 ??, Nov/10 41"
Waist: Sep/09 46", Nov/10 45"
Hips: Sep/09 54", Nov/10 51"
Thigh: Sep/09 22", Nov/10 24"
Calves: Sep/09 16", Nov/10 16"
Arm (Bicep): Sep/09 ??, Nov/10 15"
That's a difference of 6.5' if my calculations are correct, so I haven't moved much in that department either, but at this point any reduction in size is good in my books :P I can tell in pictures that my body has changed. YAY one less roll to hide... hehehe
So my new official weigh-in day is today and my weight is the same as last Wednesday @ 239. Tune in next week to see how the experiments work out :)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Dr. Feelgood!
Birthday and Halloween are over for another year. Check
Expected weight gain is showing on the scale. Check
Getting back on the wagon without too much whining about it. Check
My Endocrinologist (Doctor that follows my diabetes) is happy with my blood sugars (6 - normal is between 4 and 8) he is happy with my blood pressure (126/70 (i think 70 was the bottom #) - normal average is 125/83) what I'm disappointed with is that my weight has remained the same since my appointment in May :(
So had I not had the b-day and Halloween-I-don't-give-a-crap weight on my butt, I would have shown a weight loss per the Docs records. He never harps about my weight, he is awesome that way, but I harp about my weight to myself.... He said that I can extend my next visit from 6 months to a year now that I have such great numbers. That just makes another goal for myself to show a significant amount of weight loss for my next appointment in November of next year :)
I think I still have time to loose a good 10 to 15 pounds before Christmas, so I'm going to try and keep that as my short term goal, since there are no more races for the winter season.
I'm a bit concerned that my right knee and ankle are not enjoying the extra mileage. It seems that anything over 5km seems to make them twingy and/or hurty... so I'm going to try and power walk my kms up to 10km... especially for the high mileage days during the week and on Saturday for the short run I can actually run that one.
My weigh-in day is getting switched to Friday mornings. Weekends are still a dangerous time of the week and I think that moving my weigh in day will alleviate a bit of the pressure while I try and tweak my meal plan to try and make weekends more stable.
Alex and I have talked about it via e-mail as we are known to do... and Alex figures I've got two choices... stop sleeping in and eat the exact same way I would during the week... OR sleep in, but still schedule the same meals and 3hr intervals.... so same eating, just time shifted....I'm willing to try both, but I know myself and I'll probably get all pouty and bummed when I miss my sleep in times... I'm not very good at napping... have difficulties falling asleep during the day.... oh well... I'll just have to exercise more and tire myself out...
Zumba classes, here we come!!
Expected weight gain is showing on the scale. Check
Getting back on the wagon without too much whining about it. Check
My Endocrinologist (Doctor that follows my diabetes) is happy with my blood sugars (6 - normal is between 4 and 8) he is happy with my blood pressure (126/70 (i think 70 was the bottom #) - normal average is 125/83) what I'm disappointed with is that my weight has remained the same since my appointment in May :(
So had I not had the b-day and Halloween-I-don't-give-a-crap weight on my butt, I would have shown a weight loss per the Docs records. He never harps about my weight, he is awesome that way, but I harp about my weight to myself.... He said that I can extend my next visit from 6 months to a year now that I have such great numbers. That just makes another goal for myself to show a significant amount of weight loss for my next appointment in November of next year :)
I think I still have time to loose a good 10 to 15 pounds before Christmas, so I'm going to try and keep that as my short term goal, since there are no more races for the winter season.
I'm a bit concerned that my right knee and ankle are not enjoying the extra mileage. It seems that anything over 5km seems to make them twingy and/or hurty... so I'm going to try and power walk my kms up to 10km... especially for the high mileage days during the week and on Saturday for the short run I can actually run that one.
My weigh-in day is getting switched to Friday mornings. Weekends are still a dangerous time of the week and I think that moving my weigh in day will alleviate a bit of the pressure while I try and tweak my meal plan to try and make weekends more stable.
Alex and I have talked about it via e-mail as we are known to do... and Alex figures I've got two choices... stop sleeping in and eat the exact same way I would during the week... OR sleep in, but still schedule the same meals and 3hr intervals.... so same eating, just time shifted....I'm willing to try both, but I know myself and I'll probably get all pouty and bummed when I miss my sleep in times... I'm not very good at napping... have difficulties falling asleep during the day.... oh well... I'll just have to exercise more and tire myself out...
Zumba classes, here we come!!
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