Sophie's Diary--Holding Myself Accountable

Breakfast—One bowl Quaker Simple Harvest hot cereal cooked with non-fat milk, half a cup of coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Lunch—Half a chicken breast with mushrooms and mustard-caper sauce, fresh cantaloupe, one mini-muffin, one ounce Pont-Eveque cheese, one strawberry balsamic chocopod, one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Dinner—Three slices of pizza (oy)
Snack—Baby carrots, one cup non-fat cocoa

The pizza was a semi-planned splurge. I knew I was going to have pizza tonight, but I only meant to have two slices. I feel really, weirdly bad about that third slice. I don't know why. I'm perfectly capable of moving on after a bad dinner. In the scheme of things, this will barely register as a setback. But I'm feeling very weird and torn. Like half of me wants to eat everything in the house and the other half of me wants to punish myself with vast quantities of exercise and vegetables. I'm pretty sure neither is emotionally healthy, as far as responses go.

I can move past this. I know I can. Tomorrow is a new day in which to cultivate healthy habits. I can exercise, refreshed after this day of rest, and cook myself up some lovely, nutritious meals. And that is precisely what I'm going to do.

Camy, thanks for the good advice. It seems like something creamy (i.e. hot milk) best helps me settle down for the night, but I'll definitely keep experimenting.

Sounds like a choice I have had before!! Hello JW!!!
Three slices of pizza aren't going to kill you, what will hurt you is if you start binging because you feel bad about eating the third slice ..
Tomorrow is a brand new day, to make nutritious food items and what not..
You can do this! Don't worry about the third slice, just move on ...

Tomorrow is another day to make good food choices .. I mess up all the time ... BUT I find my way back on the right path and keep trecking ...

best wishes hun
always
natalie jo :grouphug:
 
Breakfast—juice of one grapefruit, oatmeal cooked with non-fat milk, apricot sauce, one medium-sized turkey sausage patty
Snack—half a cup lemon-ginger brew sweetened with agave nectar and a little bit of sugar
Lunch—Romaine salad with light Caesar dressing and some cooked shrimp, fresh cantaloupe and blueberries
Snack—100-calorie bag of popcorn
Snack—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, one slice whole-grain toast with a scrape of butter, approximately two tablespoons walnuts
Dinner—half a chicken breast in caper-mustard sauce, one cup green beans and spaetzle in light sauce

I did thirty minutes on the elliptical today! With intervals! I felt really proud to be able to do that, to complete something like a "normal" workout. I know, of course, that there's no such thing as normal, and that some people can and should do less, and some people can and should do more. But it also made me really happy to know that I'm raising my fitness level so that I can do more!

I also bought myself some five-pound dumbbells today so that I can start working on toning up some muscles. Added muscle isn't a huge concern for me, but I know that mine are not in the shape they ought to be in. I'm planning my inaugural toning session for Thursday.

That big snack in the afternoon was a little weird, but I was feeling pretty hungry and knew that I wouldn't be able to have my dinner until very late (I teach from 6:30 to 9:30 on Tuesdays, and have to leave home before five to be there on time). It was hard to control my snacking in the afternoon, but I feel like overall I did a decent job of being mindful and fairly careful.

Natalie Jo, thanks for the encouragement. I must and will keep on trucking, despite these slips and mishaps.
 
Congratulations on reaching half an hour on the elliptical! I really love the elliptical, since it is low-impact and I still feel like I'm getting a workout. (It's not a good workout unless I'm sweating a lot!)

Also, I was reading through your menus, and they appear really delicious. I'm jealous, my menus could never be filled with such a diversity of yummy food. I also notice that you have a lot of chocolate--delicious. (I find the darker the chocolate, the more satisfying it is. Especially if you keep it in the freezer so it takes longer to eat.)

About reintroducing vegetables--the way I usually incorporate new food into my diet that doesn't sound that great (cooked spinach, for instance) is to find a dish that contains it but has a lot of other elements that I like (for spinach, eating spinach pizza did the trick for me. Also spinach quiche. Yummm.) If I have something that's really good that contains a new food, I usually start thinking about how good the new food was and develop a taste for it.

I will try to keep up with your diary. Good luck!
 
Hey Sophie! Huge congrats on the 30 minutes on the elliptical, you rock!!

I totally feel you on the guilt thing when eating something you hadn't planned on. It's all a part of us having to basically re-teach ourselves how to eat. I've come to accept that I am going to get a food overhaul by the time this thing is over, and while that is hugely scary right now, it's all about the small steps. And hopefully by the time we get the hang of it, it will be second nature and we won't even have to think twice when we eat a third slice of pizza, we'll just think "Oh ok, I'll just do an extra 15 minutes tomorrow at the gym" and that will be that. No more of the prolonged guilt and overdrawn thought process.

You're doing the right thing - and your menus are still absolutely delicious! :)
 
Breakfast—smoothie made with banana, non-fat yoghurt, plain coffee, wheat germ, and a big spoonful of Nuttella
Lunch—shrimp curry over basmati rice, large helping asparagus, approximately two bites of a roll
Snack—carrots
Snack—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Dinner—spinach salad with non-fat feta, dried cranberries, walnuts, and a balsamic vinaigrette; baked salmon without skin with one teaspoon of Japanese ginger dressing; green beans and spaetzle in light sauce
Snack—fresh papaya
Snack—buttery popcorn and two chocolates (was feeling a bit grumpy and deprived—baby steps, right?)

Had a cup of low-fat cocoa and a baked banana last night after posting, as I stayed up rather late.

I am to be faced with the pizza temptation again tomorrow—some friends are helping me move a new bed into my bedroom and get rid of the old one (whose mattress and box springs are forty years old, so you can see that a replacement is needed), and of course I must buy them beer and pizza. I am determined, however, that no more than two slices of pizza shall be eaten by me, especially considering how badly I felt after my last slip.

Did thirty minutes on the elliptical machine tonight, though it was very hard to get up the energy at nearly ten o'clock. I didn't want to work out before I had dinner, because I was feeling really drained of energy and afraid I wouldn't be able to work out as hard as I wanted to. I got through it, anyway.

Eggy, thanks for stopping by. It's hard to think of things I like that could incorporate cauliflower, though. But I bet brussel sprouts could be incorporated happily into some good things. There are still a few veggies that are just not going to happen, though.

Heather, I think you're right. I know that I'm going through a process, that it's not going to always be this hard to make good choices or to keep from feeling ridiculously guilty about the occasional splurge.
 
Breakfast—coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, oatmeal cooked with low-fat milk, fresh blueberries
Lunch—two slices of pizza, caesar salad
Snack—coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, caesar salad
Dinner—half an Italian sausage with spinach, mushrooms, and a small serving of polenta
Snack—Yoplait light yoghurt (110 calories)

I had a big day of cleaning and shifting heavy stuff—I had some friends helping me move my new bed in, but it was still a lot of work! I took a long nap in the evening, and did thirty minutes on the elliptical after that, despite having some protesting muscles!

I'm really feeling good about limiting my pizza intake to two slices, and even better about only keeping one slice for later (I sent home all the rest of the leftovers with my friends). It wasn't too hard, though, remembering how badly I felt on Monday.
 
Hey there.

Your diet looks pretty good so far ( and i too wish i could cook like that). you certainly do better than I do and while you've had a few indulgences ( I have caved to the pizza demon too) you know you can get past it and that's not worth dwelling over.

Regarding your weight lifting. Good on you for getting into it now becuase it's very helpful in the losing of weight. You're not going to notice new muscle for a long while though until you uncover the muscle you've got hidden behind your current weight. However if you don't use the weights you risk your body using the muscle you do have for energy instead of fat. Basically use it or lose it. There are other on the board who can explain it better if you're confused.

You're making good progress so far and I'm looking forward to stopping in and seeing how you're doing?
 
if you switch yogurt types and get a sugerless one they are half the calories - some 'light' ones are fat free, some sugar replaced. Check the labels, i can now eat twice as much yogurt from just switching away from yoplait to another one.
 
Hey Sophie, happy Friday! Congrats on the pizza accomplishment, that's awesome! :hurray: I have yet to be faced with temptation and I hope I can handle it as well as you did. Then again, I've only been calorie counting for 3 days!! Keep up the good work, you're doing it. Ooo and congrats on a new bed - I'm jealous! Our bed is in HORRIBLE need of replacement! Hope you got something comfy. :)
 
Breakfast—oatmeal cooked with low-fat milk, dried cranberries, walnuts, and a spoonful of maple syrup
Snack—one glass sweetened lemon-ginger brew
Lunch—tuna melt made without mayo but with about half an ounce of cheddar, on whole grain bread; fresh honeydew
Snack—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, one slice whole-grain toast with one tablespoon of peanut butter
Dinner—butternut squash soup; spinach and feta pocket; two Hershey's kisses

So I spent some time with my dumbbells and balance ball today. I used an all-over toning workout that I downloaded from self.com, and it kicked my butt pretty handily, so that was good. I look forward to toning up those muscles so I can do more. My kitties also think I should do more, since they find it super-fun to have me down on the floor doing crunches and stuff. They think that might be the best time ever to rub up against me and bite me.

Then I did thirty minutes on the elliptical, leaving my butt really well and truly kicked. I may need to make tomorrow a rest day to let my body catch up.

Ladyumbra, I'm sure you're right. I know that having an adequate amount of muscle is important, so I'm going to have to keep up with the toning and make it a twice a week routine.

Wishes, that's good advice about the yoghurt. I tend towards the Yoplait because they disguise the aspartame taste relatively well in their flavored yoghurts. I'll have to do a little poking around the next time I'm at the grocery, though.

Heather, Happy Friday to you too! I'm always impressed at anyone who counts calories, since I'm completely incapable. The new bed is pretty comfy—although it's a little weird after being used to a mattress that resembled a hammock. I'm sure this will be better for my back in the long run, though.
 
Okay! Special weigh-in morning post! The scale is a little all over the place this morning (it's a pretty cheap one), but I averaged the numbers it was giving me, which brings me to three and a half pounds lost this week! That's not too shabby, I think, particularly given that I had a few splurges over the last week. Feeling really good over seeing progress towards my goals. And, of course, ticker movement is a happy, happy thing. Go, little ladybug, go!
 
3.5lb in one week is great! :hurray: i hate scales. i had to get a new one because th eold one just got tooo tempremental but this one now is giving me a higher number (my correct weight). It is more accurate. soory i haven't read most of your diary but i will soon. are you taking measuremenst? i find it alot easier to work with them then the scale lol!

x
 
Breakfast—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, one grapefruit, two small turkey sausage patties
Snack—one glass sweetened lemon-ginger brew
Lunch—three-quarters of a no-mayo tuna melt on whole-grain bread, fresh honeydew
Snack—three cubes of light laughing cow cheese, three crackers, baby carrots
Dinner—baked sweet potatoes, pork loin, brussel sprouts in mustard sauce, one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, one cranberry oatmeal cookie
Snack—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, two low-fat oat bran mini muffins

Did twenty minutes of yoga to try and stretch out some of my achey muscles. It felt good and reminded me that yoga really does do wonderful things for my body. I think I'm going to try and incorporate yoga into my fitness routine more often, especially on my rest days, since it's challenging enough to be helpful, but not so much as to prevent my body from regrouping and regaining strength.

Speaking of rest days, I was sort of annoyed at needing to take today off, since I have plenty of time and really want to work out. Plus, I know the whole rest day concept mostly has to do with muscle work and not cardio. The thing is, working on the elliptical does work my thigh muscles fairly hard, and it's those muscles that are screaming for a rest. Basically, I need to listen to my body and give it a break when it asks for one. Tomorrow, though, is back to work!

I've also decided on what my reward should be for reaching my first mini-goal: the New York City Ballet Workout DVDs. It's something that I want that will help me continue working towards my goals, which is surely the best kind of reward. Reading the reviews, they're fairly difficult, and I won't be able to do them all (or even most of them) at the beginning, but it'll be a good challenge!

a-n-g-e-l, I don't do measurements, largely because it would be too easy for me to pull the tape a wee bit tighter to get good results. I like having something relatively objective that I can't second guess quite so easily.
 
Breakfast—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, one grapefruit, two small turkey sausage patties
Snack—one glass sweetened lemon-ginger brew
Lunch—three-quarters of a no-mayo tuna melt on whole-grain bread, fresh honeydew
Snack—three cubes of light laughing cow cheese, three crackers, baby carrots
Dinner—baked sweet potatoes, pork loin, brussel sprouts in mustard sauce, one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, one cranberry oatmeal cookie
Snack—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, two low-fat oat bran mini muffins

Did twenty minutes of yoga to try and stretch out some of my achey muscles. It felt good and reminded me that yoga really does do wonderful things for my body. I think I'm going to try and incorporate yoga into my fitness routine more often, especially on my rest days, since it's challenging enough to be helpful, but not so much as to prevent my body from regrouping and regaining strength.

Speaking of rest days, I was sort of annoyed at needing to take today off, since I have plenty of time and really want to work out. Plus, I know the whole rest day concept mostly has to do with muscle work and not cardio. The thing is, working on the elliptical does work my thigh muscles fairly hard, and it's those muscles that are screaming for a rest. Basically, I need to listen to my body and give it a break when it asks for one. Tomorrow, though, is back to work!

I've also decided on what my reward should be for reaching my first mini-goal: the New York City Ballet Workout DVDs. It's something that I want that will help me continue working towards my goals, which is surely the best kind of reward. Reading the reviews, they're fairly difficult, and I won't be able to do them all (or even most of them) at the beginning, but it'll be a good challenge!

a-n-g-e-l, I don't do measurements, largely because it would be too easy for me to pull the tape a wee bit tighter to get good results. I like having something relatively objective that I can't second guess quite so easily.

Hey JW,
You sound like you are doing awesome!! I wish I could have grapefruit lmao ...just a little to acidic for me lol I like oranges although-- once in a while lol
Your workout dvd that you will be getting sounds interesting and difficult ...but cool ... that is so awesome ... I have never heard of Ballet Dvds....


well ttylater hun
always
natalie jo :biggrinjester:
 
Hi Sophie! I hear you on feeling restless on the "off" days - I feel like it's been an age since I went to the gym, and I only just went yesterday morning. It's funny how once you get into that routine, the good feeling of exercising makes you want to do more!

I'm totally interested in what the ballet DVD has to offer - I did ballet for a little under 10 years when I was a kid, and although it was really ballet "lite" (never even got to the toe shoes) I really enjoyed it and still remember lots of the different moves. Is it getting good reviews?

Hope you had an enjoyable weekend!!
 
Breakfast—one grapefruit, one low-fat bran muffin, one small turkey sausage patty, half a cup of coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Snack—fresh honeydew
Lunch—one slice whole-grain bread spread with one tbsp. mayo and a little deviled ham; spinach salad with fat-free feta, walnuts, dried cranberries, and two tbsp. dressing
Snack—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, one low-fat oat bran mini-muffin, two cubes of laughing cow light cheese
Dinner—stir-fry with cabbage, green beans, mushrooms, lean pork, and rice noodles; yoplait light yoghurt
Snack—low-fat cocoa

I had one more mini-muffin after I posted last night. Fresh baked goods are hard to resist!

Did thirty minutes on the elliptical, which felt really good. I think that rest day was just what I needed to get my verve back. Tomorrow I'll go for the toning routine again—I'm actually looking forward to it.

Wishes, thanks for stopping by—you're such an awesome example to all of us.

Natalie, I love me some grapefruit. We had a tree when I was growing up, and now I buy giant bags of Texas grapefruits. Yum. I'll definitely report back on the new DVDs when I get them.

Heather, hey you! I totally wish I could be a ballerina, even though I'm probably the size of three ballerinas! The ballet stuff definitely seems to tone muscles, though. Here's the Amazon link so you can check out the reviews for yourself:
 
Hey there! Sounds like you are doing some awesome work with elliptical and all your yummy food choices. I checked out the NYC ballet video - looks really interesting! I'm traditionally not a video person, but that might be fun to check out if nothing else just to do ballet stuff again.

And yeah, I was never one of those teeny ballet girls - definitely probably one of if not the heaviest in any given class, but when you're 9 it's not quite as big a deal. I was actually pretty good at it as far as tiny tot ballet goes. Not that I was ever going to take the stage, but it was fun. :)
 
Breakfast—oatmeal and oat bran cooked with nonfat milk, topped with cranberries, walnuts, and half a banana
Snack—apple
Lunch—leftover stir-fry, fresh honeydew, one ounce cheese, one low-fat oat bran mini-muffin, one chocopod
Snack—popcorn (100 calorie bag), cup of coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Snack—Yoplait light yoghurt (110 calories)
Snack—one nectarine
Dinner—one baked sweet potato with half a baked banana mashed in, small serving lean pork with one tbsp. of ginger marinade
Snack—one cup ½% milk, heated with ginger and one tsp. sugar

Did thirty minutes on the elliptical today. I didn't get to the muscle stuff because I woke up this morning with my shoulder all funky and sore, which has been happening to me intermittently for the last month and a half or so. Should be better by tomorrow, at which point muscles shall be whipped into shape.

The crazy number of snacks relate to my weird schedule for the day. At around five p.m., after my popcorn and coffee snack, I fell asleep for over five hours. I woke up and had my yoghurt before going to the grocery store (didn't want to be hungry there). Then I came home and had a nectarine to give me some energy while I worked out.

I was so proud at the grocery store, though! I didn't buy one single thing that would have made me ashamed to have all of you look into my cart.

My scale is finally moving back into submission—for the last two days, it's been randomly up to 282—tonight it finally went back to where it was on Saturday. Not sure what's up there, as I haven't done anything since Saturday that was different from what I was doing before. Anyway, maybe now I can start cracking that 280 barrier!

Angel and Heather, thanks so much for the encouragement! I love my elliptical, creaky and broken-computered as it is. It really gives me a good workout and makes me feel like I've done some serious work on my flab for the day!
 
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