Omega's journey

Hi Janice

Thank you for your support and kind comments.

I certainly do feel such a lot better - being this much smaller - although I am still obese. I just wish that I had managed it while in my 30s.

I love my husband to come out walking with me. :beating: It is the best present. I get so worried about him - and would love him to lose some weight as I fear for his health.

You are lucky having your Mum so close and sometimes keeping you company. My parents are 300 miles away - and my mother is 85, my father will turn 90 in a week's time. He rarely goes out now - but when I visit she sometimes comes out for a short walk with me but the pace is a bit slower than I would normally do.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
Friday 2/11/07

Another bright dry day.

For an experiment I am not going to have any raisins unless I get a pain. I have to admit that I have been having it to try and avoid the pain. This may mean that there are greater differences between one day’s calories and the next. It may give an opportunity to improve my weight loss though. It does mean that I need to have some extra things to stop my calories being too low if I don’t need it and to make up for that much fruit disappearing from my intake – but it will make them even higher if I find that I do need it later on.

Today I ended up not needing any raisins. I will need to see how the next few days pan out. Especially whether it alters my rate of weight loss - it could alter it in either direction.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 5 times (on two laps my husband came too)
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 13st 5.8lbs (i.e. 187.8 pounds)
Steps = 31,106
Distance = 11.53 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – missed off a bio-oil massage

Food / Drink:

NB I have no target calories. I am not trying to reach any magic number.

1 banana = 107 calories
3 weetabix (190 cal), sweetener (4 calories), 350 ml skimmed milk (123 cal) = 317 calories.
120g oak smoked ham = 131 calories
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice = 82 calories
120g oak smoked ham (131 cal), half a cucumber (45 cal), 6 small tomatoes (54 cal) = 230 calories
1 handful honey Shreddies = 126 calories
1 glass (200ml) orange juice = 92 calories
170g honeydew melon = 62 calories
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola
1 wine gum = 20 calories
 
Margaret,

Interesting experiment with the raisins. I'm curious as to the outcome. I'm not a calorie counter myself and I'm afraid if I make too many changes to my food, that I won't be able to follow the plan. I know my number one fat maker is soda pop. I am down to one a day.

I was also wondering how long it takes for calories/fat to actually make fat/lbs in your body? Maybe one of the experts can answer that question. I mean, like if I ate a piece of cake/junk, etc. last week, how long would it take for that piece of cake to add weight to my body? Would that piece of cake be hanging over my head all week in anticipation I'd see it show up on my scale, or once it is out of my system, and it doesn't show up right away, am I in the clear?

You don't need me to wish you luck this week---you are a woman on a mission and you aren't going to let anything get in your way. :) I admire your strength and motivation SO much!

Anne
 
Margaret - You exercise SO much, how can you take it? lol. I wish I was that strong. But it seriously kills me to just do 30 minutes of exercise a day. Maybe I can make myself stronger as time goes on so I can increase my exercise. It seems like you're under the 1200 cals. It seems not to be effecting your weight loss though, so I guess whatever works for your body. :D

Anne - I think, lol, THINK, that it takes 3500 extra calories to make 1 lb. of fat. That's what I remember anyway. So I'm always suspicious of people saying they gained weight, when I seriously doubt that they've ate 3500 calories in two days. It's probably just water weight. And about the cake, I think the calories just add up gradually over time with other things you eat and cause weight gain, unless you exercise and burn it off. But, I may be wrong. It may be better to ask someone that actually studied how the body works. :p Sorry for answering in Margaret's thread. I feel like it's a weird thing to do. :p
 
~*Happy Saturday Sweetie!*~

*Happy Day 1 of Challenge!* :D

I'm excited! :hurray:

This is just what I need!

Have A Great Day! :waving:

:hug2:
 
Thanks for visiting my diary and giving me this continued support. It is much appreciated.

Anne
Like Jennifer - I too have heard of the 3,500 calories amount being quoted various places. Like so many things I believe it is supposed to be an average based on an average sized person. I am not sure how complete an explanation it is!!!

The whole area of calories is a bit of a danger area for me - so I generally try not to focus on it at all. So much so that I am a bit apprehensive about converting them.

Jennifer
There is no way that I could have walked the distances that I walk when I started out. It is something that needed to be built up. I am convinced that almost anyone could do it given time and dedication.

As far as calories go - I am convinced that there is more to the equation than pure calories alone - like how your unique body processes different types of food. As you know - I do monitor my food carefully and generally am very modest in my intake. I also do quite extreme amounts of exercise and weigh myself every day. I have got used to understanding my daily weight fluctuations - and being able to account for them regarding such things as my period, what I have eaten etc. Three times I have done over 10 miles of walking in the day (and surrounding days), eaten modestly, not been in a water retention mode etc - but I have gained two pounds on a single day. The only difference was that these were the only days where I ate the following snack:

1 slice unbuttered bread
1 dairylea cheese slice = 69 calories

The cheese slices are individually wrapped and are a very measured way of eating cheese.

There is no logic to it as far as anything written about calories is concerned - but when it happened for a third time - I axed cheese from my diet completely.

There becomes a time when you have to act on your own experience rather than what you find written in books. No matter how much you respect the author of the said book.

It has to be remembered that with anything scientific there is always something new waiting to be discovered.

Stacy

Thanks. I hope that everything including the challenge is happy and goal reaching for you.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
Saturday 3/11/07

Another bright dry day. Went shopping to Tescos in the car in the afternoon.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 4 times (on one lap my husband came too)
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 13st 5.0lbs (i.e. 187.0 pounds)
Steps = 28,794
Distance = 10.67 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – missed off a bio-oil massage

Food / Drink:

NB I have no target calories. I am not trying to reach any magic number.

1 banana = 107 calories
3 weetabix (190 cal), sweetener (4 calories), 350 ml skimmed milk (123 cal) = 317 calories.
120g oak smoked ham = 131 calories
pork loin steak (200 cal), tin baked beans (210 cal), dessert spoon of apple sauce (20 cal) = 430 calories
1 handful honey Shreddies = 126 calories
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice = 82 calories
1 glass (200ml) orange juice = 92 calories
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola
 
:waving: Howdy OMEGA holy crap looky at all that weight you have lost
over 100 lbs that is awesome!I love your attitude on calories I get so stressed at times counting cals I really don't count but I keep adding things to my menue some days so I can atleast HIT 1,200 for healthy reasons but some days I would be happy with 900-1,000ish lol.Your doing great keep up the great work,also I hope your pain gets better and I never heard of raisins and water to help with pain I may have to try that,Tammy:hurray:
 
So glad the weather is in your favor! :)

It's 76* here today and just beautiful.

I'll be heading out for a walk at the park/pond soon. ;)

Keep up the hard work Margaret. :hug2:
 
Hi Margaret,
Hope your day goes well!!! Thanks for explaining your calories and exercise. You are really motivating, I can't stress that enough. :)

Jennifer
 
Thanks for dropping by

Tammy

It is hard to believe that I have dropped as much weight. I really had given up hope of ever getting rid of as much as this. It just shows how you can con yourself that a task is impossible - just because you keep on failing.

I am a bit of a diet gurus nightmare because I hate counting calories because I have failed in the past when I have gone over a limit and then given up on the project. Anyway I cannot see counting calories as a long term solution. All I try to do about food really is eat sensibly and in a balanced way. I just like to see protein, fruit, veg, cereal, milk and an occasional little bit of fat. I need something that I can picture me doing with little or no effort for life. I am just calculating calorie values this week because of the challenge - and you should have heard my husband complain when I wanted to weigh out my dinner when dishing up.

Stacy

Hope your walk went well. I just hope that we are in for a mild winter.

Jennifer

Thanks. You are welcome. The best thing that anyone can learn from my mistakes is not to get up to 294 pounds in the first place. It is very hard work to sort it out - but I firmly believe that it is possible.
 
Sunday 4/11/07

Another bright dry day. More blisters between my toes which husband dealt with.

Husband was less than impressed when I weighed out all the food in my main meal. He felt that it delayed our dishing up – which it did do. Counting calories is really not a long term solution for me.

This is the end of the “no raisins” experiment. I got the pain which I have had before. If all the calories for the day are written down – it is impossible for me not to total them up and think about whether I want to spend any more – I have been on too many calorie controlled diets over the years. By the time I got the pain I had used up really all the calories that I had planned on using for the day – and had drank all my cold water in the fridge.

I had one handful of raisins which was not as effective as what I have done in the past which was two handfuls and water from the fridge.

Whether a second handful of raisins would have improved the situation – I can not say.

It may seem to others as an excessive use of calories – but I was happy with my weight loss when I was having the raisins so I am going back to having them whether I need them or not. At this moment in time prevention seems a lot better than a half baked cure.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 4 times
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 13st 4.0lbs (i.e. 186.0 pounds)
Steps = 27,911
Distance = 10.35 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – missed off a bio-oil massage

Food / Drink:

NB I have no target calories. I am not trying to reach any magic number.

1 banana = 107 calories
3 weetabix (190 cal), sweetener (4 calories), 350 ml skimmed milk (123 cal) = 317 calories.
1 handful honey Shreddies = 126 calories
1 handful honey Shreddies = 126 calories
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice = 82 calories
5 grapes = 10 cal
130g pork (287 cal), 90g roast potatoes (135 cal), 160g boiled potato (128 cal) , 40g half a roast parsnip (46 cal), 120g carrot (50 cal), 95g broccoli (34 cal), 70g peas (38 cal), 150ml gravy (42 cal), apple sauce (20 cal) = 780 calories
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola
1 wine gum = 20 calories
1 large handfuls of raisins = 406 calories
 
Margaret,

If you've been having raisins for quite some time and you are losing weight on a regular basis, I wouldn't stop them either. They don't seem to be hindering your your loss and if they help you, sure I'd keep eating them. ;)

I have to agree with you on the calorie counting. I know it works for some people, but it doesn't work for me. I try to eat sensibly and I know what things I should avoid.

You are doing a wonderful job doing what you are doing. :hurray:

Anne
 
Hi Anne

Thanks for your support.

I think that I had raisins pretty much every day of October and I lost 12 pounds that month. I am more than happy with that rate of loss this far into a weight loss project. It would have never occured to me to drop them if not for counting calories for the challenge this week. I am certainly stopping counting after Friday. Well I have learnt my lesson and they are back in.

I am looking forward to today's raisins. I will put off having them for another couple of hours - then I know that they will be there to prevent problems tonight.

I must be a raisin addict. You would not believe it. I even started pouring water on my weetabix today. And my weight is back up to Saturday's level today. How is that for withdrawal!!

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
Hi ya Margaret! :waving:

What are your "normal" winters like?

Texas is just plum crazy...We never know..

Most often the weather takes turns often..

mild/super cold/chilly/warm/spring-like/cold again...LOL :rolleyes:

It's no wonder ppl here stay sick and all kinds of germs are always floatin' around.

We have had so many C-Mas' in shorts for pete sakes!

This is a perfect example:

The high today will be 85*

Tonight a cold front will reach us and it'll be in the 40's by morning.

The high tomorrow will only be around 60-65*

:willy_nilly:

Have A Goal Reachin' Monday Sweetie!
 
Hi Stacy

I hope that Monday is goal reaching for you too.

Our "normal" winters arent too bad. The worst thing is that we get lots of rain. It would be a particularly harsh winter if we had snow for more than two weeks of the year - and often not for as much as that. We dont really get what you would call a lot of snow even then. Some years we get little more than a couple of light dustings of snow.

Probably if you take away your worse extremes of heat and cold - you are left with us if you use a lot of your dull days.

My parents live in Newcastle upon Tyne (where I was born) which is in north England about 300 miles away from us - and they have more snow there. Not dramatic amounts, but generally the weather is worse there.

The daytime max weather here is generally about 60 degrees at this time of year. That is the approx temp this week. Our weather forecasters do everything in celsius so to convert I take the temp we have and divide by 5, multiply by 9 and add 32. I think that it is about 15 so that converts to 59. It sounds like tomorrow you are going to have weather similar to us.

We certainly wont see anything like 85 until next summer - and we will be lucky to see that then. We often have summers that never turn out too great.

I have just checked our local weather forecast. It is
Tues - min 5 max 12
Wed - min 9 max 14
Thur - min 5 max 15

These translate to
Tues - min 41 max 53
Wed - min 18 max 57
Thur - min 41 max 59

We have never been in shorts for Christmas - but it is unusual for it to be "white" too. We sometimes get a couple of dozen snowflakes though in Newcastle.

I bet you are glad you have your weather!!

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
Monday 5/11/07

Cloudy but dry.

Raisins most definitely back in daily diet. Although the pain certainly had eased it hung over me from last night causing me to feel generally below par. Decided to put off eating raisins until evening because I didn’t want to be wanting twice as many as normal.

Blisters between the toes on my right foot seem to be getting worse. I have no idea what is causing them.


General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 5 times (on two laps my husband came too)
Extra exercises = keep fit class
Weight = 13st 5.0lbs (i.e. 187.0 pounds)
Steps = 33,279
Distance = 12.34 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – missed off a bio-oil massage

Food / Drink:

NB I have no target calories. I am not trying to reach any magic number.

1 banana = 107 calories
3 weetabix (190 cal), sweetener (4 calories), 350 ml skimmed milk (123 cal) = 317 calories.
1 handful honey Shreddies = 126 calories
200g mackerel (402 cal), 160g boiled potato (128 cal), 120g sweetcorn (99 cal), 5g olive spread (33 cal) = 662 calories
2 large handfuls of raisins = 812 calories
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola
 
Speaking of the weather....It was 37 degrees here today and will be 30 tonight. Tomorrow we will get a high of 45 and a low of 29 and both nights we are expected to have snow flurries.

Margaret, I'm sorry about your blisters. I know how irritating and painful they can be. I have been putting the shea butter on mine, to stop the cracking and they are holding up ok. Do you ever use moleskin for those blisters? Hubby says a lot of the guys in the army wear pantyhose underneath their socks to help while walking road marches, etc. with blisters. I don't know how many of them would admit it... but they do...lol It must help. ;)

Don't your legs ever hurt? I am guilty of not stretching before walking, and I think it makes a difference. I just forget to stretch, and I pay the price.

I hope you have good weather this winter so you can continue your walks. Other wise, do you have a mall near you? Lots of folks walk inside the malls for exercise. Ever thought of that? I'm not sure you have malls like we have here in the states, do you?

Ok, I've got to run. Will talk to you later. :)

Anne
 
Howdy Omega,
:ack2:S:ack2:N:ack2:O:ack2:W!!!EWWWWWWW I am
so not looking forward to the white stuff it is a pain in da ass for me
and kids walking to school it is hard to get in the walking for the day
your tootsies are cold when the city plows they tend to bury your car then you dig it out to only have you nice neighbor with 5 vehicles take it as soon as pull away GRRRRRRRRRR I so hate it!
Anyway your doing really great and I hope your pain gets better to,Have a nice day Tammy
 
Thanks for visiting my diary and your continued support. I am quite used to blisters - but these are really odd. For one thing I cannot think how my feet have been rubbed to get blisters in that location. For another thing - I cannot see the blisters clearly in order to deal with them for myself. Last night husband was saying that if they did not improve I should show them to the doctor. I really am not too keen on that if I can sort them out for myself.

Anne

You poor thing - contending with weather as bad as that. We are much luckier than you. I will take our rain and drizzle over that any day.

Although we do have malls in England - there arent any too near here. Not near enough to be a practical solution. The only indoor thing near here is a Tesco Extra (big supermarket) - and it would get really boring to try and walk round that all day.

It is interesting the concept of pantyhose under socks helping. I think that I will give that a go.

I am quite lucky as far as the leg stretching side of things go. The fact is that in the morning I almost always walk until my legs hurt or feel really tired. That is just something that has developed as for a while I addressed plateaus and indeed weight loss slow-downs by increasing the length of the walk. It was such an easy solution and I like to see results. When I felt I couldnt do that anymore I added in later walks and increased those.

Tammy

It sounds like your winters are a real problem too. Talking to you and Anne - I am getting to think that our regular rain is a lot better than it might be. The obvious solution is that we should all go and spend winter with Stacy - I cannot believe that their days can still be 85 at this time of year.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
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