Omega's journey

Hi Kimberly

You will be pleased about making that promise about shreddies if we are on the same team.

I cannot say that I am crazy about hubby's choice of fish for tonight as I suspect it has a little extra sodium (in a crumb coating) that what I would choose. Nothing that is going to blow any limits or anything - but not the salmon that I would have gone for with a free choice. Still - I am not going to discouraging him from making healthier choices so we will go with the breaded plaice.

The big thing is what happens on the scales on Thursday and Friday. Again I am 11st7.8 (or 161.8) on the scales today Wednesday.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
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Tuesday 12/02/08

It was cold and foggy first thing so I wore a jacket in the morning. In the afternoon I didnt need a jacket

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles
Round the block = 6 times
Extra exercises = yoga class
Weight = 11st 7.8lbs (i.e. 161.8 pounds)
Steps = 29,719
Distance = 11.49 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – missed one bio-oil massage.
Continued ankle exercises

My Food / Drink:

For challenge need to count sodium content of food and keep daily total under 2500mg

total sodium for day = 1917mg

1 banana (1mg sodium)
3 weetabix (150mg sodium), sweetener (0 sodium), 350 ml skimmed milk (175mg sodium)
1 large handfuls honey Shreddies (105mg sodium)
1 large handfuls honey Shreddies (105mg sodium)
1 clementine (0mg sodium)
Pork loin steak (100mg sodium), tin of baked beans (1000mg sodium)
1 large handfuls of raisins (140mg sodium)
1 large handfuls of raisins (140mg sodium)
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola (trace 1mg sodium)
 
Since the turn of the year - I have to say that my weight loss has slowed down. I had put this down to being this deep into a long term project. I have however just realised that was about when I started having two handfuls of raisins instead of just one. I think that I will aim to move back to one handful of raisins and maybe more fruit and see how that works out. I hate adopting new food habits. It is silly really because I was happy with one handful of raisins right up until the weekend before new year.
 
Omega said:
Since the turn of the year - I have to say that my weight loss has slowed down. I had put this down to being this deep into a long term project. I have however just realised that was about when I started having two handfuls of raisins instead of just one. I think that I will aim to move back to one handful of raisins and maybe more fruit and see how that works out. I hate adopting new food habits. It is silly really because I was happy with one handful of raisins right up until the weekend before new year.
Click to expand...

I know how this is, hon. After a while on my food plan, I started getting REALLY hungry and I was no longer satisfied with the diet I'd adopted. Thankfully, a friend suggested how I could switch it up and now I eat protein, fruits and carbs in different parts of the day than I use to. It seems to really be working.

Don't worry, you'll be over this speedbump soon. The way I see it, obstacles make us stronger. They can be frustrating as all hell, but they make us grow as individuals. It's the choices we make that define our character, and if one decides to make a lifestyle change and finds ways to stick to it, I'd say they're one pretty stong character. I'd want to hang with that person.

((big hugs))
 
Hi Rae

Thanks for visiting. I see that you have lost a similar amount of weight to myself. Well done. I am able to appreciate the extent of your achievement. I wish that I had lost weight when I was a lot younger.

I am sure that you appreciate how you can feel comfortable with eating certain things and be a bit uncertain about making changes. I cannot believe that I have carelessly changed it from something that was working well.

I am pleased that you were able to make changes that moved things up a notch for you. I hope that I cope ok with these changes and they get things going better for me.

I am beginning to wonder whether I should keep on having my raisins - and the last time I tried to cut them out in November I got some terrible constipation problems back again within a few days. An earlier bout of those problems were what started me having so many raisins in the first place!

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
Tyly - You are pretty impressive yourself! You have lost more weight than me since the start of the Valentine Challenge I can assure you.
 
Hey Margaret,

I'm Just stopping by to see how your day is going so far. I know how you feel about weight slowing down because i had it for so long when i was losing. I know you can do this and don't try to get too discouraged cause its slower. As long as your still eating healthy and exercising regularly, than i say keep on keeping on! Focus on your accomplishments when you get discouraged and i guarantee it will make all the difference in the end.


Take Care,
Trevor
 
Omega said:
Hi Rae

Thanks for visiting. I see that you have lost a similar amount of weight to myself. Well done. I am able to appreciate the extent of your achievement. I wish that I had lost weight when I was a lot younger.

I am sure that you appreciate how you can feel comfortable with eating certain things and be a bit uncertain about making changes. I cannot believe that I have carelessly changed it from something that was working well.

I am pleased that you were able to make changes that moved things up a notch for you. I hope that I cope ok with these changes and they get things going better for me.

I am beginning to wonder whether I should keep on having my raisins - and the last time I tried to cut them out in November I got some terrible constipation problems back again within a few days. An earlier bout of those problems were what started me having so many raisins in the first place!

Take care
Love
Margaret
Click to expand...

I can tell you for certain, that raisins don't particularly work in my favor. I use to eat them as a fruit substitute in my cereal and as a snack. For some reason, I found them to stall my weight loss efforts. I tried eating raisins for two weeks and as soon as I stopped, I started once again loosing at my regular pace. I don't understand the semantics of it, but I know in my own personal experience, fresh grapes work better for me.

Can you try red grapes instead of dried ones? Or perhaps an over-the-counter constipation retaliator?
 
Hi Trevor

Thanks for popping by. You know what it is. You cannot help but feel that with all this healthy eating and all this exercise there should be tangible results every week. When it just doesnt happen at the same rate you start analysing things. My biggest problem is that I cannot calculate calories on a daily basis like you do. I have a psychological flaw in that I tend to over analyse why one day is more or less than the next. I end up beating myself up over trivialities. Eventually I have a day / week when I have more calories than my target. Anyone sane would say "that is life". I go off the deep end and put on all my weight at that stage. It is stupid - but it is the way that I am.

I have found it far more productive to develop a balanced way of eating that seems to meet most requirements. I then eat in a very repetitive manner and tend to only really change the main meal. I am pretty good at analysing data - and I capture data pertaining to my weight loss project into a spreadsheet. This has allowed me to analyse my main meal against my weight variation the next morning. In itself this has led me to drop meals that tended to make my weight gain and repeat more often meals that brought me a loss.

I certainly am still eating healthily - I always list my food. I am also getting a good exercise level. During the month of January I averaged 11.63 miles per day and February so far my average is 11.4 miles per day. I have done 10.47 miles so far today. I think that is pretty good going all things considered.

As you suggest I will focus on all the positives. In some ways I am pleased that I have seen the link between the raisins and my weight loss slowdown as it would be nice to get things moving along at a better rate.

Take care
Best wishes
Margaret
 
Hi Rae

Thanks for your comments.

I was having quite a lot of grapes in the summer when the constipation all started. It took quite a while to be sure that it was constipation as I had never had similar pains. The doctor prescribed a number of things which didnt help while not sure of what was causing the pain. It was only by chance that I found that a laxative improved matters. The doctor told me to watch things and take a laxative as often as required. I got a bit nervous about taking laxatives too regularly as the last thing that I want is to develop bulimia or something. My hubby suggested raisins and I have been eating them continually ever since.

The choice seems to be
a/ cut out raisins and take laxatives quite regularly as required.
b/ go back to 1 handful of raisins as I was doing up until the weekend before new year.
c/ cut out raisins and increase my other fruit intake in the hope of hitting on a better solution - taking laxitives as required (unsure of regularity - but altering fruit selection until a good solution is found).

I am leaning towards c - but it is down to b or c at the minute. Knowing me - the first time that I get pain it will be straight back to b.

Your experience does kind of confirm that my increased raisin consumption is likely to be at the root of my weightloss slowdown and that changes need to be made.

The stupid thing is that I never had a problem when I had a comparitively unhealthy diet.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
Wednesday 13/02/08

Like yesterday - it was cold and foggy first thing so I wore a jacket in the morning. In the afternoon I didnt need a jacket

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles
Round the block = 6 times
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 11st 7.8lbs (i.e. 161.8 pounds)
Steps = 27,762
Distance = 10.73 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – missed one bio-oil massage.
Continued ankle exercises

My Food / Drink:

For challenge need to count sodium content of food and keep daily total under 2500mg

total sodium for day = 1889mg


Aiming for 30g fibre
Fibre in raisins = 2.8g in 1 handful, 5.6g in 2 handfuls

Total 41.63
increased water to 2.5 litres

Total calories = 1297
which is only 8 times my weight

This is too low

Should have 81g protein

60.7g

this was too low


Need to increase my calories and part of that should be protein based on this sample day's food. Probably a little more fruit initially would also make sense



1 banana (1mg sodium) 3g fibre 107 calories 2g prot
3 weetabix (150mg sodium) (190 cal), sweetener (0 sodium), (4 calories), 350 ml skimmed milk (175mg sodium) (123 cal) 5.7g fibre 17.3g prot
1 large handfuls honey Shreddies (105mg sodium) 2.8g fibre 126 calories 2.9g prot
1 large handfuls honey Shreddies (105mg sodium) 2.8g fibre 126 calories 2.9g prot
1 clementine (0mg sodium) 2.5g fibre 24 cal 1g prot
1 small pear (trace 1mg sodium) 3.0g fibre 48 cal 0.5g prot
1 apple (trace 1mg sodium) 2.3g fibre 61 cal 0.4g prot
Breaded plaice (350mg sodium) 196 cal tin of baked beans (1000mg sodium) 210 cal 1.03 + 18.4g fibre 15.3g+17.6g prot
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice (0mg sodium) 0g fibre 82 calories 0.8g prot
2.5 litres of cold water
some diet cola (trace 1mg sodium)
 
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Omega said:
Hi Rae

Thanks for your comments.

I was having quite a lot of grapes in the summer when the constipation all started. It took quite a while to be sure that it was constipation as I had never had similar pains. The doctor prescribed a number of things which didnt help while not sure of what was causing the pain. It was only by chance that I found that a laxative improved matters. The doctor told me to watch things and take a laxative as often as required. I got a bit nervous about taking laxatives too regularly as the last thing that I want is to develop bulimia or something. My hubby suggested raisins and I have been eating them continually ever since.

The choice seems to be
a/ cut out raisins and take laxatives quite regularly as required.
b/ go back to 1 handful of raisins as I was doing up until the weekend before new year.
c/ cut out raisins and increase my other fruit intake in the hope of hitting on a better solution - taking laxitives as required (unsure of regularity - but altering fruit selection until a good solution is found).

I am leaning towards c - but it is down to b or c at the minute. Knowing me - the first time that I get pain it will be straight back to b.

Your experience does kind of confirm that my increased raisin consumption is likely to be at the root of my weightloss slowdown and that changes need to be made.

The stupid thing is that I never had a problem when I had a comparitively unhealthy diet.

Take care
Love
Margaret
Click to expand...

I'm glad you're trying something else. I'd go with c to. It's what I did. I started eating some kind of citrus in the morning instead of rasins, and it's really seemed to work. Usually I eat half a grapefruit or a tangelo or perhaps a clementine.

I'd definatly try different fruits for a while and see if any of them help. Hopefully you can find a solution to this dilemma rather soon. I know how uncomfortable physical complications are.
 
I would definitely choose plan b or c over a. If you want to go with c, I'd get some apples or oranges and eat a lot of them. 1 small apple has almost 3g of fiber, and a large orange has 4.5g. As long as your fiber is around 30g a day, you shouldn't have any trouble with constipation. :) I would calculate how much fiber is in your raisins, and then eat enough fresh fruit to equal the fiber content of the raisins. I'm sure that calorie-wise, the fresh fruit will be far less than the raisins, helping the scale to go down.

Well, at least the scale isn't going up. I'm sure tomorrow will give you a new low. It seems whenever I hover at my lowest for a day or two, the next day brings a new low. :)

Poor thing! You had to wear a jacket out walking this morning! Just to go to and from my car, I had on a coat, scarf and gloves. :D
 
Thanks for visiting. When all this started I felt like I was eating half the fruit consumed in England. That is one reason it took me ages to think of constipation.

Rae

I have had a decent selection of fruit today so will see how it goes. Thanks.

Kimberly

I have been through today's food and edited to show my fibre. If I get constipated on over 40g fibre I will be particularly unimpressed with life. Especially since I make sure that I drink at least 2 litres of water a day. Not being a big fan of pain - I am going for the approach where I get a lot of fruit and therefore fibre for less calories than the 406 calories I reckoned to be in a single handful of raisins when I calculated it in November. If things go well I can then have the option of cutting things out and seeing how things go.

Look out for English fruit imports to go up and a slump in the Californian raisin market.

One thing is for sure. If I get constipated I will complain like hell about it when I see the quack on Friday. I wasnt particularly impressed with her laxative suggestion last time round. It seems no surprise that people get bulimia if doctors tell obese people to take laxatives instead of investigating if there is no dietary reason for constipation.

You know what it is like - some days you just get a bit sick of not enough downward trend. I lost 3.8 pounds in January. Everyone says that the rate of loss goes down as you get nearer goal. At this rate it will take me all year to get there and if the rate goes down - heaven knows how long it will take. I know that I wont be there before this July - but would very much like to be there before July next year. I was thinking all about it on my morning walk today which is when I suddenly realised that I was eating more raisins. I checked it in my diary listings when I got home.

Lets hope that we both get a new low tomorrow. The next two times at the scales count for the challenge and we would both like some points.

I knew that you would feel sympathy for me braving English weather this morning. Dont worry - I am sure that our winter rain will resume very soon.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
I like your anti-constipation idea and I hope it works!! LOL@ the slump in California raisin market/rise in fresh fruit. :smilielol5:

Actually, after all you suffered with the nasty rain a few weeks back, you certainly deserve some nice days like you've had!. :hug2:
 
hey just caught up with the diary. you have been busy since i last visited. weight loss is slow again i understand. don't worry soon the pounds will be falling of like crazy. there is no logic to weightloss i have come to the conclusion lol!!! makinga change seems like a good idea. i would try apples they are good aparently.

hope you had a good day once again. weather wasn't too bad was it. a bit cooler but still nice.

;-)

x
 
Howdy Margerett,
Your doing so gr8! I can't believe almost 150's
NEW LOW : + ).. Yeah things do slow down after you lose a
majority of the weight,I think I am lucky this week to have had
a nice drop (knock on wood)..:banghead: Anyway have a nice day!!
 
Omega said:
I am sure that you appreciate how you can feel comfortable with eating certain things and be a bit uncertain about making changes.
Click to expand...

In my diary a week or two ago, I went into a complete tizzy about wanting to bump my calories up by 100 or so - because I've been in the same range since September, and it works for me, and I didn't know what to eat or when to get the extra calories in.

I also eat the same foods over and over. Doing things the same works for me! :)

bikinibound said:
As long as your fiber is around 30g a day, you shouldn't have any trouble with constipation. :)
Click to expand...

Oh, I wish! I've averaged 38g of fiber for the last month, plus I drink at least 2 liters of water a day, plus I walk at least 30 minutes a day. And I'm having some issues. (Personally, I think that's due partially to spending so much time sitting and partially due to not having a huge amount of food volume "in transit." But fiber alone does not necessarily fix it.)
 
Thanks for visiting.

Kimberly

I just hope that the constipation is sorted out by the fibre. If not - then it is back to the quack.

I hope that you get some better weather soon. I have never had a winter with as much snow as you have.

Angel

You know me - I am greedy for weight loss. If it isnt quick it is just too slow.

Yes - we had cooler weather - but still much nicer than normal. I could get used to not needing more than a sweatshirt in the afternoon in February. The forecast is that it gets worse before the weekend.

Tammy

I am so pleased that your weight is coming down. You work hard for your weight loss and deserve it.

Phoebe

Altering a food plan that has served us well is a very scary thing to do. We always have at the back of our mind that a different food plan made us big and kept us there.

Constipation is a very serious problem. I certainly never appreciated how painful it is until last summer. I am sorry that you have been suffering with it. Since you are eating plenty of fibre and drinking plenty of water - I wonder if there is an underlying issue. It may be worth seeing the doctor. If it starts up again I will go back to the doctor's with all relevant data. Since you are trying to eat more calories and are virtually at your goal weight - I can suggest that eating raisins has served me well since the start of September. I had been plagued by constipation giving me 4 to 5 hours of incredible pain a couple of times a week since May. If your major problem is the pain and you have the calories to spare then raisins could be a great solution for you.

I am going to monitor my fibre level and I have decided to try to increase my water consumption to 2.5 litres (from 2 litres) in line with what I was drinking for the water bonus a couple of weeks ago. As you know I do quite a lot of walking and exercise classes - so I do not think that inactivity is at the root of my problem. If my problems resume as I said - I am back to the quack.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
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