So much for “hopefully last night was the worst of it” with my cold last week. I didn’t go to the gym that night or any night since, because I’ve been busy sleeping. I didn’t go to work Tuesday or Wednesday. I was feeling much better Sunday, then woke up early Monday to spend a couple hours vomiting. So that was fun. Today, I finally feel about 75% of normal, so I’m happy. I spent some time yesterday afternoon going through my email, and last week wasn’t crazy, so I’m actually all caught up for the moment. Happy!
I’m also very UNHAPPY. Since I got pregnant, any time I get any sort of sinus stuff that gets the slightest bit infectiony, I end up puking over and over for about an hour just as I’m starting to feel better. (When drainage kicks into high gear.) It’s happened 6 or 7 times in the last two years. My doctor says it’s just changing physiology, and that’s the way my body works now. She prescribed an anti-nausea quick dissolve tab that has worked okay the last couple of times. Yesterday, it just made me hang out in a miserable pre-puke limbo for a couple of hours.
Despite the awful on Monday, I felt great Sunday. The weather was beautiful, so we took Katie to the zoo with my parents. We had a very good time. Katie had a couple of highlights: she fed a giraffe and rode a pony. She had a big romaine lettuce leaf for the giraffe, but she shredded it and fed him little bits. He didn’t seem to mind. And I’ve never seen her smile so big as she did while she rode the pony. At the end of the day, we were on a deserted walkway leaving the zoo, and I ran with her stroller up the hill. Bobby said I looked really funny (my pants were falling down!), but it felt great and Katie laughed the whole way.
Then we got home, and we all fell asleep for 2 hours. Very good day.
AND we took a bunch of pictures, some of which I’m in, and I don’t hate them. The picture on today’s post isn’t the most flattering, but it’s my favorite because it takes me right back to that moment. Katie had been petting a goat, and got scared when it turned its head to look at her. Backing away, she ran into another goat and totally freaked out. I scooped her up pretty quick, and this picture perfectly captures her terror and me laughing at her.
As far as weight loss goes, February has pretty much been a long plateau, but I am FINALLY out of the 170s. 169.0 two days in a row, oh yeah. I have 5 lbs to go before I can wave bye-bye to obesity, and it feels good.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Pushing On Through
After a lot of thought and a couple of days using both tracking programs, I've decided two things:
1) Sticking with it is the most important thing. Do I think I'll acheive better results in a shorter time frame if I strictly monitor fat, carbs, and protein? Yes. But the likelihood I will keep at it when I'm frustrated about inaccurate estimates and trying to count calories burned is much lower. There's a lot to be said for simplicity. And there's nothing to stop me from pushing to include more natural calorie sources in my diet with weight watchers, and there are note fields in the tracking for me to type in any info I want to track but don't have a check box for.
2) I'm "firing" the nutritionist. Because I started my treadmill class during a holiday period, I took several weeks of the class before my class officially started. We just caught up with where I started, so I won't miss much if I step out. Also, the course instructor is pre-med and has taken more physiology, nutrition, and anatomy than the nutritionist and can answer any questions I have. I asked him about the canola oil and was satisfied by his response. So for the 20-30 minutes each week we meet with her, I'm going to get a headstart on the treadmill.
In other news, lasagna, cookie cake, movie theatre popcorn, and french fries resulted in maintaining weight this week. (And helped me determine that a strict calorie source counting diet isn't for me.) Obviously my hard work at the gym did something for me. I caught a cold as well, but it actually seems to be pretty mild today. Hopefully last night was the worst of it.
NSV! On Saturday, I maintained a 2.1mph pace for one full cycle of sideways walking. Then I walked backwards for 3 minutes on an incline faster than my mother was walking forwards. My mother wasn't thrilled when I pointed out my accomplishment, but I was quite pleased. I also jogged at 4.2mph for 3 minutes while having a conversation. I might just manage not to be last in my race in April.
Thanks much to everyone who responded to my last post. You validated the things I was thinking, and reinforced why it is so important to keep at it. You're the best.
1) Sticking with it is the most important thing. Do I think I'll acheive better results in a shorter time frame if I strictly monitor fat, carbs, and protein? Yes. But the likelihood I will keep at it when I'm frustrated about inaccurate estimates and trying to count calories burned is much lower. There's a lot to be said for simplicity. And there's nothing to stop me from pushing to include more natural calorie sources in my diet with weight watchers, and there are note fields in the tracking for me to type in any info I want to track but don't have a check box for.
2) I'm "firing" the nutritionist. Because I started my treadmill class during a holiday period, I took several weeks of the class before my class officially started. We just caught up with where I started, so I won't miss much if I step out. Also, the course instructor is pre-med and has taken more physiology, nutrition, and anatomy than the nutritionist and can answer any questions I have. I asked him about the canola oil and was satisfied by his response. So for the 20-30 minutes each week we meet with her, I'm going to get a headstart on the treadmill.
In other news, lasagna, cookie cake, movie theatre popcorn, and french fries resulted in maintaining weight this week. (And helped me determine that a strict calorie source counting diet isn't for me.) Obviously my hard work at the gym did something for me. I caught a cold as well, but it actually seems to be pretty mild today. Hopefully last night was the worst of it.
NSV! On Saturday, I maintained a 2.1mph pace for one full cycle of sideways walking. Then I walked backwards for 3 minutes on an incline faster than my mother was walking forwards. My mother wasn't thrilled when I pointed out my accomplishment, but I was quite pleased. I also jogged at 4.2mph for 3 minutes while having a conversation. I might just manage not to be last in my race in April.
Thanks much to everyone who responded to my last post. You validated the things I was thinking, and reinforced why it is so important to keep at it. You're the best.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Nutrition Frustration
I've been getting very frustrated with the nutrition portion of my gym class.
For example, I cook with olive oil and canola oil, depending on the heat level. Both are supported by WW and a well-researched blog I read. Yesterday, the nutritionist told us we should be cooking with saturated fats - oils that are solid or semi-solid at room temperature, because unsaturated fats turn to trans fat when heated. Olive oil should be added at the end for flavor only and canola oil is not natural and shouldn't be used it at all.
I was perplexed, because I thought trans fats were purposefully created in a lab setting, not accidentally in my kitchen. (Googling results have so far supported my view.) As for canola oil, she asks "What's a canola?" She says if we can't identify the original source or the final product doesn't resemble it, we're not supposed to eat it. In general, I agree.
However, canola oil comes from rapeseed or field mustard and doesn't seem to be any more processed than olive oil. (If only I'd known that yesterday!) Lots of things are named something different than their source for marketing reasons. Rapeseed oil isn't terribly appealing. "I've never heard of a canola," is not enough justification to consider something unhealthy! There have been other things, and I'm so irritated. Sometimes it's like she's only done half the research, and then draws uninformed conclusions and passes it on to us as gospel.
A lot of the things she says are valid. Processed sugars, flours, etc? Foods that are stripped of their natural nutrients and then enriched with them and others in lab? Yeah, not as good as something untouched by crazy processes involving toxic chemicals (chlorine, for example) to bleach, dry, rehydrate, and preserve FOREVER. But how do I know what's valid and what's fuzzy statistics or something she's just pulling out of the air? I'm getting frustrated and discouraged. I don't know what advice to take.
At the same time, the good things I've learned make me wonder if Weight Watchers is strict enough for me to reach my goal. Like, maybe my metabolism needs help recovering. That's one of the things my nutritionist is supposed to teach us how to do, but I don't have any sources I trust to check against her advice. (I like WW, but sometimes information is hard to find or just not here.) When I was watching my carb-to-protein-to-fat ratios, I lost weight more steadily. It was harder to track, and I got lazy with it. WW is easier to stick with, but I'm afraid my health still won't be where I want it when I've lost the weight.
I think the harder path would be better if I can stick with it. Basically, it calls for 1200-1600 calories of lean meats and minimally processed carbs in equal proportions. Healthy fats account for 20% of the daily calorie intake. I think olive oil is okay for most cooking and canola for high heat. Butter is better than margarine when called for, but I don't think it's best for everyday cooking no matter what the gym chick says. She recommends 2 servings of veggies for 1serving of fruit with a combined total of 9-11 per day. I'll try for more vegetables and overall servings, but not 2:1. I'm just not sure what a reasonable cushion for indulgence moments should be.
It requires a lot more detailed tracking, so I'd use another program, but might keep WW for the blogging community. I would also need to talk Bobby into letting me get a heart rate monitor to figure out how much extra to eat to fuel my workouts. (I want one anyway, but I agreed to make it a milestone reward, which is still 16 lbs away.)
For example, I cook with olive oil and canola oil, depending on the heat level. Both are supported by WW and a well-researched blog I read. Yesterday, the nutritionist told us we should be cooking with saturated fats - oils that are solid or semi-solid at room temperature, because unsaturated fats turn to trans fat when heated. Olive oil should be added at the end for flavor only and canola oil is not natural and shouldn't be used it at all.
I was perplexed, because I thought trans fats were purposefully created in a lab setting, not accidentally in my kitchen. (Googling results have so far supported my view.) As for canola oil, she asks "What's a canola?" She says if we can't identify the original source or the final product doesn't resemble it, we're not supposed to eat it. In general, I agree.
However, canola oil comes from rapeseed or field mustard and doesn't seem to be any more processed than olive oil. (If only I'd known that yesterday!) Lots of things are named something different than their source for marketing reasons. Rapeseed oil isn't terribly appealing. "I've never heard of a canola," is not enough justification to consider something unhealthy! There have been other things, and I'm so irritated. Sometimes it's like she's only done half the research, and then draws uninformed conclusions and passes it on to us as gospel.
A lot of the things she says are valid. Processed sugars, flours, etc? Foods that are stripped of their natural nutrients and then enriched with them and others in lab? Yeah, not as good as something untouched by crazy processes involving toxic chemicals (chlorine, for example) to bleach, dry, rehydrate, and preserve FOREVER. But how do I know what's valid and what's fuzzy statistics or something she's just pulling out of the air? I'm getting frustrated and discouraged. I don't know what advice to take.
At the same time, the good things I've learned make me wonder if Weight Watchers is strict enough for me to reach my goal. Like, maybe my metabolism needs help recovering. That's one of the things my nutritionist is supposed to teach us how to do, but I don't have any sources I trust to check against her advice. (I like WW, but sometimes information is hard to find or just not here.) When I was watching my carb-to-protein-to-fat ratios, I lost weight more steadily. It was harder to track, and I got lazy with it. WW is easier to stick with, but I'm afraid my health still won't be where I want it when I've lost the weight.
I think the harder path would be better if I can stick with it. Basically, it calls for 1200-1600 calories of lean meats and minimally processed carbs in equal proportions. Healthy fats account for 20% of the daily calorie intake. I think olive oil is okay for most cooking and canola for high heat. Butter is better than margarine when called for, but I don't think it's best for everyday cooking no matter what the gym chick says. She recommends 2 servings of veggies for 1serving of fruit with a combined total of 9-11 per day. I'll try for more vegetables and overall servings, but not 2:1. I'm just not sure what a reasonable cushion for indulgence moments should be.
It requires a lot more detailed tracking, so I'd use another program, but might keep WW for the blogging community. I would also need to talk Bobby into letting me get a heart rate monitor to figure out how much extra to eat to fuel my workouts. (I want one anyway, but I agreed to make it a milestone reward, which is still 16 lbs away.)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Now with MORE sprinkles!
I typed up another down post yesterday, but held it back. Suffice it to say: period angst. I'm not used to having one, since I didn't for almost 2 years while I was trying to get pregnant, then another 19 months while I was pregnant and breastfeeding, and then while I figured out my birth control, it just didn’t seem like anything. Now stress and/or magic-office-PMS-syncing has it all out of control. I'm out of my mind with hormonal crazy.
Moving on. With that has come insatiable hunger. I conditionally gave in last night and gave myself permission to consume, as long as I have vegetables and fruit accompanying the chocolate and pasta or whatever. (Peas aren't free. WHYYY aren't peas free?) I'm convinced that further self-denial this week will result in someone's death or Bobby making me move back to my Mom's. I can be a raving lunatic, angry at everyone for their unreasonable habit of eating several times every day. Or I can just relax, do what I need too to get through it without casualties, and then move on. I’m not forgetting anything I’ve learned about responsible eating, and I’m confident I can still make better choices even if I don’t completely abstain. In times past, this kind of mental crisis probably would have ended with me making and eating an entire pan of double-fudge, ganache-filled brownies by myself.
Even with the angel food cake binge, I was down .2 lbs, and I’ll take that over a gain any day. We'll see how the rest of the week goes, but I’m not worrying about it anymore.
Weird time for an NSV – the pants I was so happy about fitting into a month or so ago won’t stay up today. (The first pair. There was a second pair last week; those are still tight.) I think I’m going to check my measurements again this weekend. I also turned down a free fountain Coke yesterday; didn’t even ask if they had Coke Zero.
Protein shake experiment of the week: I added a little bit of almond extract to my mix. It wasn’t quite as rich as with the peanut butter I tried last week, but it was a lot lower fat. I want to try cocoa powder and cherry extract next, I think.
Moving on. With that has come insatiable hunger. I conditionally gave in last night and gave myself permission to consume, as long as I have vegetables and fruit accompanying the chocolate and pasta or whatever. (Peas aren't free. WHYYY aren't peas free?) I'm convinced that further self-denial this week will result in someone's death or Bobby making me move back to my Mom's. I can be a raving lunatic, angry at everyone for their unreasonable habit of eating several times every day. Or I can just relax, do what I need too to get through it without casualties, and then move on. I’m not forgetting anything I’ve learned about responsible eating, and I’m confident I can still make better choices even if I don’t completely abstain. In times past, this kind of mental crisis probably would have ended with me making and eating an entire pan of double-fudge, ganache-filled brownies by myself.
Even with the angel food cake binge, I was down .2 lbs, and I’ll take that over a gain any day. We'll see how the rest of the week goes, but I’m not worrying about it anymore.
Weird time for an NSV – the pants I was so happy about fitting into a month or so ago won’t stay up today. (The first pair. There was a second pair last week; those are still tight.) I think I’m going to check my measurements again this weekend. I also turned down a free fountain Coke yesterday; didn’t even ask if they had Coke Zero.
Protein shake experiment of the week: I added a little bit of almond extract to my mix. It wasn’t quite as rich as with the peanut butter I tried last week, but it was a lot lower fat. I want to try cocoa powder and cherry extract next, I think.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Went a Little Crazy
I had a really rough Friday, and started thinking what's the point? I'm doing all this hard work, and all it's doing is making it more diffucult to deal with the stress I'm under already. Even if I succeed (and how likely is that?) it's not like it will change anything. All the things I dislike about my life will still be there, and I won't have gained anything significant in the parts I enjoy.
Yeah. That was bad. Needless to say, I didn't do so well this weekend. My hormone levels have been a little wonky, and I felt super hungry ALL weekend. I didn't completely ditch the plan, but I half-assed it all over the place most of the weekend. Then, on Sunday night, I ran down from my office to grab my credit card so I could renew my truck registration. Instead, I got distracted and made angel food cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting. (And I didn't count how many I ate.) I never did get my registration done.
Today, I'm looking at the target again. I'm waiting until this afternoon to record my weight, but I'm pretty sure I'm looking at a gain. I worked out 2 extra days this week, then tossed all that effort into a cake mix! I am pretty disappointed with myself, but I'm moving past it. I can suddenly remember all the perfectly valid reasons why this IS worth it.
Part of this was brought on by some pictures of a girl who lost 73 lbs and is now garnering a lot of attention. She's just a tiny bit taller, and her current weight is my goal weight. I'm a bit hippier, but she has bigger breasts, so I think that we're pretty comparable body type. I don't know why, but instead of being inspired by her story, I looked at her photos and thought, " **** have I been smoking? There's no way I can EVER look like that!" I'm asking today, WHY NOT? I don't like how I reacted or understand entirely where it came from. Trying to figure it out.
I'm not sure about the copyright on the pictures, so none here, but they are all over the web now; search for "crissfit." Hopefully they're a little more inspiring to you.
Yeah. That was bad. Needless to say, I didn't do so well this weekend. My hormone levels have been a little wonky, and I felt super hungry ALL weekend. I didn't completely ditch the plan, but I half-assed it all over the place most of the weekend. Then, on Sunday night, I ran down from my office to grab my credit card so I could renew my truck registration. Instead, I got distracted and made angel food cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting. (And I didn't count how many I ate.) I never did get my registration done.
Today, I'm looking at the target again. I'm waiting until this afternoon to record my weight, but I'm pretty sure I'm looking at a gain. I worked out 2 extra days this week, then tossed all that effort into a cake mix! I am pretty disappointed with myself, but I'm moving past it. I can suddenly remember all the perfectly valid reasons why this IS worth it.
Part of this was brought on by some pictures of a girl who lost 73 lbs and is now garnering a lot of attention. She's just a tiny bit taller, and her current weight is my goal weight. I'm a bit hippier, but she has bigger breasts, so I think that we're pretty comparable body type. I don't know why, but instead of being inspired by her story, I looked at her photos and thought, " **** have I been smoking? There's no way I can EVER look like that!" I'm asking today, WHY NOT? I don't like how I reacted or understand entirely where it came from. Trying to figure it out.
I'm not sure about the copyright on the pictures, so none here, but they are all over the web now; search for "crissfit." Hopefully they're a little more inspiring to you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)