Heather's Healthy Beginnings

Your values are looking great, Heather! I hope you have time to give us a fuller update soon--I'm mooching around with no motivation, so I want to hear that other people are doing better, damnit!

Sophie
 
Felici - Thanks dear! It was a longish entry and it sucked to lose it. Hopefully I'll have some time now to track what's been going on.

Sophie - Hopefully I'm getting my motivation back!! Things are starting to calm down and I'm forcing myself to put my quest toward health back on the front burner (if not the medium to front burner)

So I might not still be checking diaries, but I wanted to say that things are finally calming down again. This weekend was actually AMAZING in most every way. Work was spectacular - I got home at 3:30pm yesterday and 2:30pm today. Un. Real. That NEVER happens. I haven't had a weekend that easy probably in three months. Plus, my schedule this week looks pretty decent and I have off on Friday. Oh thank God.

Friday night I had an italian sausage sandwich and french fries with cheez whiz. Oh lord. And ironically enough, the food gave me the worst stomach ache I have had in a long time. I almost couldn't sleep because I had such gas pains. (sorry for the TMI!) So it's interesting. . . .I definitely seem to get stomach aches when I eat bad food. (Bad meaning generally unhealthy or fried) Maybe my body is getting used to eating lower fat and now reacts when it gets fat. I dunno. But I did go to the gym yesterday and today as well which was GREAT. I'm determined to get my butt back in there five days a week. NO EXCUSES. Even if I'm tired, I can get my ass there. I KNOW I'll feel better after I go and will feel more energized in general for my day.

So Saturday I made a low-fat version of ground beef stroganoff which was DELISH. Then had it again for dinner tonite. Stuck to what I had planned on eating and did well both days. PLUS my vacation is coming up super super soon. :-D YES!!! I'm so tired of working I could cry. Maybe I'll feel better after next weekend when I have a three day weekend.

Anyway I'm determined to continue to kick butt even though I'm stressed. Today's values:

Calories - 1594
Carbs - 221
Fat - 23
Protein - 61
Sodium - 1413
 
Ohh...do you have a recipe for the low-fat stroganoff? I've always made it with, uh...ample amounts of butter and sour cream.

Sophie
 
Sophie - I really kinda made mine on the fly, so I don't know if it's gonna be all that acurate or close to what beef stroganoff should be like, but here's what I did:

1lb (approximately) 93% lean ground beef
egg noodles, macaroni or other pasta
half medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1 can healthy request cream of mushroom soup
one package fresh mushrooms (approximately 12 medium mushrooms
1 cup fat free half and half (you could probably substitute in fat free sour cream or low fat sour cream here)

Sautee garlic, onion and mushrooms in a nonstick pan coated with cooking spray. I added some water toward the end just to make sure nothing burned. Add the ground beef. Once beef is cooked, add cream of mushroom soup and half and half (or sour cream). Cook on low heat until bubbling. Serve over egg noodles or macaroni. (serves six)

I added everything up and the nutritional values from the handy dandy sparkpeople recipe calculator say:

Calories: 346
Total Fat: 6.7g
Sat fat: 2.4g
Polyunsaturated: 0.9g
Monounsaturated: 0.5g
Trans fat: 0
Cholesterol: 36.6mg
Sodium: 291.1mg
Potassium: 405.5mg
Total Carbohydrates: 49.5g
Dietary fiber: 2.9
Sugars: 4.3
Protein: 20.8

Enjoy! I thought it was delish. I used macaroni in mine, but you can obviously use anything.

OK! Today was another good day. Went to the gym and did alternating jog/walk at 3.5 and 4.8. Did a full 10 minutes of 4.8 at the second half of my workout which was pretty awesome. I think I'm getting close to being able to do 15 solid minutes at 4.8 at which point I will increase my speed again to 5.0. Exciting! Food wise I did ok. I'm 7 calories over my goal, but it's one hell of a lot better than yesterday. Sure, my values look ok from when I posted but then I went on an insane binge fest involving salami, popcorn and chips. Blahhhhh. So I'm going to give my values for yesterday first, then I'll do today's.

Sunday -
Calories: 2396
Carbs: 276
Fat: 60
Protein: 80
Sodium: 2744

Monday -
Calories: 1787
Carbs: 225
Fat: 49
Protein: 71
Sodium: 3368 (WHAT??!?!?!?!?!?!?! this must be investigated.)

So uh aside from my AWFUL SODIUM, I did pretty well today. I felt kinda a surge in motivation today and yesterday (despite my awful eating behavior). I need to call the nutritionist and make an appointment. I need someone who can help me with suggestions on what to do when I have a salt craving because I have them ALL THE TIME. (or at least a few times a week) Maybe I can go back to what I used to do when I had a salt craving and I was eating way too little. I kept a stock of pickles handy and just ate a pickle. It's not great for my sodium, but I'm OK with that as long as it doesn't destroy my fat and calories for the day. But I do need to set this up for myself.

Soooo. . . .not doing fabulously, but I'm passable and I'm damn determined to do better and to keep this at the forefront of my priorities. Work today was grand - got out right on time and got home by 5pm. Now I'm watching playoff hockey (go Flyers!!!) and I'm gonna paint my nails. Hopefully I'll have time to stop by some journals in a bit.
 
I am just popping by your diary to say hello! And Great job with your totals today. Don't worry too much about the sodium; just drink a lot of water tomorrow!
 
Thanks so much for the recipe! I'll have to see if I can figure out how to adapt it to my cooking quirks because stroganoff is definitely an old favorite.

Sophie
 
Hey all! Just popping in quickly before I go do some packing (hopefully) and make my lunch for tomorrow. I'm exhausted! I never ever want to move again. I have friends coming this weekend and while I'm so excited to see them, I wish I could just tell them not to come. It's such a bad time - it's our last weekend here before we move the following weekend and the apartment is just a hole and I kinda don't want people in it. Plus, other friends are coming in as well and I just don't feel like going out with them because I know they're gonna want to go out Friday and Saturday. I'm. Not. Going. Both. Nights. I dont' even know if I'll go one night. Blahh.

Anyway, went to the gym this morning which was good. Looking forward to jogging again tomorrow to see how I do. And my values today are ridiculous. I'm under calories and WAY under fat. I have no idea. Here we go -

Calories: 1197
Carbs: 190
Fat: 24
Protein: 58
Sodium: 1506

Huh. Strange.

Appointment with the head lady tonight too. It'll be good to unload some stress because I oscillate between being really productive and doing nothing at all because of all the crap I have to do. Ah me! At least work is better!!! Thank GOD.
 
Sophie - ironically, your suggestions were exactly the same as those of my therapist. I'm still having my friends over this weekend but I prefaced it with "the apartment is awful, I'm going to be packing the whole time and I'm going to be a poor hostess." I would love to have them here, but I refuse to stress out about them being here.

Soooo. . . .not much to write about. I'm tired. I need some extra sleep tonight and I"m considering napping before I watch Ghost Hunters tonite (we watch a select few shows in this household - Ghost Hunters, Scrubs, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and Lost). So here's values. Not fabulous. I don't care. I'm doing my best, and I'll refocus after I move.

Calories: 1816
Carbs: 266
Fat: 41
Protein: 74
Sodium: 2912 (ugh)
 
You know, moving is one of the most stressful things you can do, even within the same town. (My own specialty is moving halfway across the country every few years. But I've got at least another three years before I have to do it again.) So just do whatever you can to stay sane, and remember that going to the gym will help with that--think of it as a break for you, not another chore to fit in.

Sophie
 
Sophie thanks so much for the encouraging words. Moving does indeed suck. I hate it. I've moved about once every two years at least for the past 8 years of my life, sometimes more frequently than that. It's all been within Philadelphia, but it doesn't matter how far you move, it's still a huge pain in the butt.

Speaking of moving, we got our keys today and I went into the apartment to check it out which was pretty fun. We have a little terrace at the back and we're definitely thinking of getting a grill and some patio furniture to adorn it. The kitchen is TINY, but I'm thinking of ways to maximize the space. I need to get some new tupperware containers for stuff like flour, sugar and all that and then I can keep them in the cabinets. They are currently in these gross country-esque aluminum containers. Don't like them. We are getting rid of a lot of stuff in this process, so that's a good thing. Plus I have off tomorrow so I'm planning on doing a lot of stuff then.

Saw the therapist on Tuesday which was good. She kinda reminded me that I'm going through a stressful period right now and I don't need to stress myself out so much about stuff like exercise and diet. I'm still going to be mindful of it, but I'm not going to freak out if I don't go. I'm going to try and make the gym my priority and to make lunch for myself every day, but beyond that I'm gonna relax a little. It's hard for me to not do everything to the best I can possibly do all the time and thusly very often I get overloaded and just stop doing everything. No good.

So values so far - I'm having sushi for dinner tonight so I'm sure the calories won't be fabulous but it's ok. :) I went to the gym this morning. Was planning on jogging the whole time but my stomach started to hurt so I did 15 minutes of the treadmill then weights instead which was better. Tomorrow shall be jogging, then Saturday will be cardio plus weights (hopefully). My friend is visiting who likes to go to the gym too so we're gonna be exercise buddies this weekend. Yay!

Ok values so far:

Calories: 1007
Carbs: 163
Fat: 16
Protein: 35
Sodium: 1471
 
have fun eating sushi tonight! I'm really good at making it and making it artful. ( a hobby of mine) I'm a culinary major in college. But I've never developed a liking of it. I think its the nori. Good luck with weigh in tomorrow!
 
heathercb04 said:
Sophie thanks so much for the encouraging words. Moving does indeed suck. I hate it. I've moved about once every two years at least for the past 8 years of my life, sometimes more frequently than that. It's all been within Philadelphia, but it doesn't matter how far you move, it's still a huge pain in the butt.

Speaking of moving, we got our keys today and I went into the apartment to check it out which was pretty fun. We have a little terrace at the back and we're definitely thinking of getting a grill and some patio furniture to adorn it. The kitchen is TINY, but I'm thinking of ways to maximize the space. I need to get some new tupperware containers for stuff like flour, sugar and all that and then I can keep them in the cabinets. They are currently in these gross country-esque aluminum containers. Don't like them. We are getting rid of a lot of stuff in this process, so that's a good thing. Plus I have off tomorrow so I'm planning on doing a lot of stuff then.

Saw the therapist on Tuesday which was good. She kinda reminded me that I'm going through a stressful period right now and I don't need to stress myself out so much about stuff like exercise and diet. I'm still going to be mindful of it, but I'm not going to freak out if I don't go. I'm going to try and make the gym my priority and to make lunch for myself every day, but beyond that I'm gonna relax a little. It's hard for me to not do everything to the best I can possibly do all the time and thusly very often I get overloaded and just stop doing everything. No good.

So values so far - I'm having sushi for dinner tonight so I'm sure the calories won't be fabulous but it's ok. :) I went to the gym this morning. Was planning on jogging the whole time but my stomach started to hurt so I did 15 minutes of the treadmill then weights instead which was better. Tomorrow shall be jogging, then Saturday will be cardio plus weights (hopefully). My friend is visiting who likes to go to the gym too so we're gonna be exercise buddies this weekend. Yay!

Ok values so far:

Calories: 1007
Carbs: 163
Fat: 16
Protein: 35
Sodium: 1471
Click to expand...

Hey Heather!! Sorry I have been MIA.. catching up now.

Man did I have a bad bout' of something, it was like someone had sucked the life out of me, and I was so in denial about what I needed to do to make this weight loss keep going on the downslide. So I started eating badly, but I am back. I have missed all of you!!

I wish I didnt go through periods where I stop coming here, and just get so ugh. Weightted down maybe we could say, by the enormous weight I have to lose. So I kind of sucketh and gained some weight back ...

but it looks like you are on the right track, and I am getting there myself...

well ttylater hun
and those calories are pretty low... but like I should talk... mine are too high!
I just get worried about how low your calories are...
becareful...

love yas
natalie jo :coolgleamA:
 
I hope you enjoyed your sushi! I may be having a Chinese food splurge tonight, if I write ten pages today. So...we'll see.

Don't stress yourself, dear, you're doing wonderfully.

Sophie
 
So I gave myself a food weekend off. I went to the gym yesterday and ran for 18 MINUTES!!!! but between friends being over and packing and all the stuff going on I just didn't worry about food. I'm gonna try to get to the gym today but if I don't I'm not gonna stress - I'll either go to the gym or pack up the kitchen. Either way I'll be doing something productive. Tomorrow starts the last week before my VACATION!!!!!!! Almost a full two weeks off. Dear God, I can't even wait. We started moving boxes over to the new place this weekend which was great. I'm starting to get excited even though moving sucks. :) Our new apartment is really cute.

That's all for now - gonna have me another cup of coffee and after that kicks in, gonna pack some more! We're allllmost done packing which is unreal. We literally have the kitchen left, the bathroom cabinet and my desk drawers. Oh and my shoes. Shouldn't take too long though. I'm going to be so happy when it's over!!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
 
:seeya:Hi Heather! Wow, you are having a very busy time lately, that's for sure. I HATE MOVING. Blaa, blaa, blaa :ack2: Even when moving "up" it is still absolutely draining. The only good thing is that it forces you to sort & cull every last item. We have moved waaaaaay too often, and as we are still renting (yes, even though we are nearly 40 GRRRR!), we will have at least one more move to make if ever the Good Lord sees fit to endow us financially with enough $ to buy a place.

At any rate, I want to encourage you to keep up with your healthy eating, tracking foods, and exercising! You are so very close to being in "one-derland" and it will feel just marvelous when you get there!

Cheers
ABBA
 
Brandy - I LOVED the sushi dinner that I had. :) And ooooh i'm so impressed about your culinary major! I've always wanted to learn how to cook. So cool!

Natalie - No worries my dear, my calories were definitely way more than the 1000 I had posted for Thursday. That was without the sushi dinner that I had. And the most important thing about your LOA from the forum was that you came back. :) Good for you!!

ABBA - Thanks so much for your encouraging words. It's been difficult to say the least keeping my weight loss on the forefront through all of this moving nonsense. I don't know that I'll see any progress in the next week or so (and haven't seen any for the past like 3 weeks!) but it's ok. . . .I'm still going to the gym and I'm trying to keep the food under control as much as possible. I'll refocus once I move.

OK . . . so it's the final week before we move and all I'm trying to get through is work and packing up the remains of stuff in our apartment. Trying to keep everything in perspective. . . .I'm reading a book that my therapist recommended which is really doing me some good mentally. That's about all I have in the way of updates because I'm zonked. So on to values for today:

Calories: 1347
Carbs: 235
Fat: 23
Protein: 54

I could probably have a snack tonight if I get hungry but we'll see. I'm really working on trying to not snack after or before dinner.
 
So again, not much time to write. . . .one of these days I promise I'll get back to everyone else's diaries. So sorry. . . .I just have no free time anymore. I just CAN'T wait until we're done moving. I'm really trying to enjoy some time to myself in the face of all this moving crap, but it's hard and I sincerely just want everything to be finished and to be on VACATION!

Ok anyway, I want to update everyone on something exciting. . . .scale today said 201!!!! First progress I have seen in a LONG time.

OK, breakdown for today (and I even had two slices of Red Baron pepperoni pizza!)

Calories: 1549
Carbs: 198
Fat: 58
Protein: 63
Sodium: 2997

Sodium is high. Again. But that comes with processed foods.

Trying not to stress myself, but oh my gosh I hope I can get to 200 this week!!!
 
So I'm keeping my own journal entry short in the hopes that I can visit others' diaries. Today went well. gymmed in the morning, scale still says 201. Food was OK - could have been better but that's alright. I'm hoping to gym tomorrow too but I might have to keep the every other day plan until after we move - mainly because tomorrow I have to start work really really early in order to get home in any kind of good time to finish up packing.

So anyway, here's breakdown for today. Sodium is insane again. I'll start worrying about that once I get a handle on my calories on a consistent basis.

Calories: 1605
Carbs: 250
Fat: 44
Protein: 57
Sodium: 2958

Not too shabby!!
 
OK! Checking in very quickly tonight as I got home late from work (again. . . rrrrrrrrrgh), made dinner, and packed up the computer room. we're so close. . . .I can't believe we only have two nights left in this apartment. I'll always remember it - our first apartment together. :-/ Kinda sad to think about even though the landlords here are horrifying.

So. . .on to values for today, then I'm going to take some ME TIME. I'm reading a book my therapist told me to check out called "Codependent No More" which is kinda like the book about my life. It's teaching me a lot about myself and about the way I behave and think about things and it's just AWESOME. I can't wait to get through it.

Calories: 1511
Carbs: 192
Fat: 25
Protein: 70
Sodium: 2336

Not too shabby! I'm scared for weigh-in tomorrow because today I was 202.5 which was annoying, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I refuse.

I can't wait to get moved and get back to reading diaries again! Until then, continue to forgive my absence.
 
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