This is the time

No, they are "Bean Thread Noodles" :D
Bean curd is different, but also very tasty :p
They are made with starch from the mung bean. I love 'em, and they come pre-portioned in lumps of 1 cup or so, each! Tasty on their own, they are also great if you add some flavoring.
I had some tonight with chicken and veggies, drizzled over with some balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and a splash of olive oil.... plus some assorted seasonings ;)

I used to make the same dish with ramen noodles, but had a few spoonfulls of butter and less water for broth. This version is still pretty darn good. :)
 
Thanks Qjay. My family has quite a lot of instant noodles and I used to. I always had the feeling that they would be "white" foods that I should avoid but looking up the GI values I see that ordinary noodles aren't too bad and the bean thread :D noodles are really low - so great - something I could add back on to my menu.
 
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I finally weighed myself. The scales were shifted and the back-up scales have disappeared so the amount might not be correct but it looks about what I would have expected. I’m down 0.8 kg (1.7lb). I’d be very happy if it was for a week but it’s for 2 ½ weeks so it’s not wonderful. Then again, I am still doing this and I am still losing so I’m not complaining either. The new weight is 87.8 kg (193.1 lb). I think I lost 0.4 kg the first week. I say “think” because I weighed myself very late in the day that week, and thought it was probably not a true comparison. I’d expected to do better that week. So I went back the next morning and my weight was worse than the previous afternoon! Therefore, no more checking up this time!!


Breakfast ~ 7:00 1 wholemeal muffin with minimal margarine and strawberry jam. 1C lowfat soy milk. ½ glass tomato juice. 1 C White coffee ~ 40 ml Hilo milk

No egg - my family had finished off the eggs before I woke up! I couldn’t handle the alternative proteins that I thought of at the time.

Lunch 2:00 2 wholemeal Salada crackers with ~ 100gm low fat cottage cheese and 1 tomato. A handful of sugar snap peas. A small bunch of grapes.

I’m kind of proud of myself for managing this. I packed it in a bag and took it with me and had a picnic in my car outside a clothing outlet I had agreed to take my daughter and her friend to. A bonus was that despite not deliberately providing entertainment for myself I found that my husband had left a radio in the car and it was tuned to News Radio. So I enjoyed myself. Also I am happy because my husband helped me bring the shopping in and said he would pack it away so that I could have time to prepare myself the food.

Snack 5:00pm 1 Salada cracker, 1 white coffee.

Dinner: 7:00 ~ Veal fried in olive oil. Ratatouille (onion, capsicum, zucchini) topped with a little grilled cheese. 1 microwaved potato.

My husband cooked. This gives me less control, but he’s deliberately helpful about trying to keep my food on track. Also, I need to accept his help with this some of the time. I do find this weight loss process to be something of a balancing act, trying to keep all the things that help going at once, and not favouring one aspect at the expense of another.

Exercise 7:50 local walk.Water: 1250ml Yesterday’s Bedtime: 12:15
On plan:80 days Achieved food target: 66 days Exercised: 64 days All goals: 6 days.

The last couple of days I’ve walked locally, but taken more twists and turns within one of the parks so that I can leave the dog of the leash for almost the whole walk. This lets me focus more on my own walk. I was uncertain about doing this when I first started walking because I was worried about adding anything that seemed like laps and might make the experience more negative. That really isn’t an issue now, though I do try not to repeat the same path in one walk just to keep it more fun. I haven’t pushed myself in my walks lately, maybe partly because I wasn’t feeling as enthusiastic, but more because I had injured one leg when I rolled my ankle over a week ago. It seems fine today though and I started alternating 8 fast seconds with 12 slower ones. (Actually I count 10 secs and 10 secs because I can’t help counting faster and slower when I walk faster and slower). Even with the slow bits it was more strenuous than what I've been doing and it was good to be pushing myself again – felt good emotionally and physically. The dog was funny. At the times she walked near me she was matching my pace - walking fast with me and slow with me, even when she was walking a little ahead. She must have been listening to how I puffed. It was nice.

I am thinking that I need a different way of having a fall back exercise plan to deal with bad weather and time issues. I was getting closer to the get-up-early one but what’s happened is I’ve started waking up early enough to see that the street lights are on at 6:30 am. That was the finish walking time in my plan. OK. Daylight saving will finish soon and give us another hour – but still only for part of the year. So walking first thing in the morning just isn’t an all year round option regardless of what effort I make. I don’t plan to walk in the dark.

So once I started trying to fine tune the idea of an exercise video I realized that this would mean bouncing up and down on a concrete floor (not much softened by carpet). A couple of years ago I started an early morning exercise program of dancing using some favourite dance music. A couple of weeks of this, is what first alerted me to the problem with my knees, which previously had never hurt. So maybe this is not such a good idea, at least for now.

However, there are plenty of other options. If I have to I’ll join the Curves near my daughter’s dance studio.
Why don’t I? I still have good memories of a gym with circuit training that I went to long ago, but that went bankrupt (with my investment). Then I wasted the money I spent on the next 2 because I didn’t go. I’d like to try Curves later when this trip is paid for, but I still want to find ways that keep my exercise under my own control. I guess I want my exercise habits to be based on things I can count on long term.

My latest thought is a mini-trampoline. Maybe I could get one and jog in front of the TV. My husband might be a bit resistant because I bought one before we got married and I didn’t use it much. Also I bought it one day when we were both working in the city and didn’t think about how to get it home, so he ended up holding it while we both stood up on a crowded bus. Therefore he has not forgotten about it. I never tried to use it in the house though and he knows I’ve been exercising consistently, so he wouldn’t be too resistant. I see there are some terrifically expensive ones, but I reckon I could get a second hand one for little dollars. I wish I could have a test drive. Aside from the one I didn’t use much, I did use them a lot at the gym I liked, but that was about 18 years ago! I might check out the local SwapMeet in the morning, and look in the Sunday classifieds.

Also I just opened my e-mail and there are about 20 messages from Sparks people about exercise ideas. I didn’t have time to read them but I didn’t delete them.

Oh dear. Another loooong post. I wonder if it will fit in.
 
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No. I'm prepared to try different things but I had thought I would need to go to a class to learn pilates. I suppose it could be learnt from a DVD though. I need something with low joint impact that would still burn calories. Would it do that?
 
well its very low impact.. and i have done it a couple of times and found it really exhausting (in a good way)!! and i am pretty fit so i think it must burn calories.. it also helped to tone up my abs really well
if you research around on the net theres also quite a few videos available for low impact cardio exercise workouts.
you could also try a big swiss ball and a medicine ball.
and theres also something called contact yoga .. but that is done at a centre not at home
 
Thanks Sophie I will have look for what I might be able to do with pilates. Toned abs would be nice too!! :) I think I might have seen a pilates DVD at the library the other day but I didn't realize it might fit my needs. Oh the bliss of having the internet again. I can sit at home and look up the catalogue! :D

I might try the big ball thing when I am smaller. My impression is that you need to be able to cope with falling off one of those balls before you get on them! :D Nah! Actually I would try it if I already had one! I really appreciate your ideas. :)
 
Hey you - wepll as for the ball commet - I am bigger than you adn i use on - your build co-ordination as you use it - if you are interested in yoga and pilates I bought the for dummies set and it was great - pilates is a little hard but oyu get use to it the Yoga for Dummies was awesome I still have them both and never use them if you are interested in them - let me know - boy that was a long post but it wasnt so bad to read - lol - I like Curves - I am a Curves girl that is where i go to boot camp - they are great and work with you to help you reach your goals - just thought i wold check in with you and I wnated to thanky ou for your post in my diary :):):)
 
Thanks cinderelly. It's kind of you to offer your Dummies. I am a looong way away though, so I will try to find something locally. :) I really appreciate your offer. I do need to improve my balance. We test kindy kids by seeing how long they can stand on one leg. I can not do the minimum we are expecting from them! Time for a change!

I'm going to swap meet now. I hope you get better really soon!! :)
 
Have a good time at the swap meet, Felici!

When it comes to the mini trampolines, just be careful; they can be really hard on your knees, if you make a misstep, and they can be pretty slick if you are in socks, so make sure to always use it carefully.

I think the Curves near your daughter's dance studio is such a great idea, especially since you have to go spend a couple of hours there a few times a week ANYHOW. :D It's just a great way to get in an extra hour or two of workout time, and you can always make sure they have the number for Curves, in case they need to reach you for an emergency.

The faster walking = faster counting thing is great, and it is the same way for me; I'll never be a drummer in a rock 'n' roll band, dangit ;)

Keep up the good work!
 
Trucker –
Thanks for the hi! I do need all these hellos and things and especially peace, love and weight loss! :)

Qjay –
Swapmeet didn't work out for trampoline. I will keep looking but thanks for the caution. I was wondering if there might be a downside now I have "knees"! As long as the actual bouncing doesn’t hurt I will give it a try I think.

I am still leaving Curves as a last resort because I really don't want to commit the money to it yet. It's not that I don't like the idea of attending. I always imagine myself doing some kind of exercise where I get to lie down at the same time!:D With the internet crisis over I will spend a chunk of tomorrow chasing work – I haven’t done a lot of chasing yet because the first couple of weeks' of the year are always quiet. The more work I get the more relaxed I’ll feel about spending money. I guess exercising only 5 days out of 10 does sound like a crisis, but I think I can get over it without Curves. If it happens again I will join a gym. That should be a good incentive to keep me active. :D Parameters. 3 days off in a row, or 3 days off in a week. Unless I'm physically injured or stuck by a hospital bed.

I did make my quick shopping list while I was off line. It helped a lot yesterday. I probably will still need to shop Wednesday or Thursday as well, but I've improved a lot from shopping every day! :D

Also I have found a bunch of pilates stuff to chase up at the libraries tomorrow.

I don’t stay at dancing while my girl is there, but it would be efficient to do something local. The studio is in a light industrial area but I checked out the reserve at the end of the and it turned out to have a couple of big sports fields attached to a decent patch of bush so I will try to give that a go this week if it's cool enough that early. I have worked out a plan to share the driving with a friend so I don’t go back and forth every time now.

Umm. Sounds like I don't get to be a drummer either then? View attachment 2656
 
Practice your Clap-n-tap exercises and you might get there some day :D

I stink; apparently, I gots no rythm. Well, it does explain why my bass playing is so bad ;)
That park area down at the end sounds nice, but if it is relatively abandoned, there could always be some native wildlife to look out for. I always hike with a walking stick (mainly for my knees) and some pepper spray (in case of hostile wildlife). I've never had to use the pepper spray, but I'd rather have it and not need it, lol.
I'm thinking about getting a pedometer, so that I can track how much I hike on trails that aren't marked; I don't like having to guesstimate. FYI, exercising 5 days out of 10 is actually pretty good, especially since I know you had a couple of busy ones when your kids were sick, and you were running all over the house or running out shopping, etc, on some of them.
Did you know that going shopping at a local farmers market, or even hitting a big grocery store can add half a mile or more to your walking for a day; not to mention all of the bending, stretching, and carrying you have to do with the groceries. Put em in the cart, pick 'em up from the bottom shelf, reach up to the top shelf, push the heavy cart, put 'em on the check-out counter, put 'em back in the cart, push it out to the car, load them in the car, get them out of the car, carry them into the house, put 'em back on the low and high counters, etc, etc. :)
I like to make sure I count my exercise when I see it. :p
 
:D I guess there could be snakes in the reserve. Wildlife here is mostly not bitey - or else will only hurt you if you don't notice it or deliberately try to touch it - like spiders and snakes. Though there are crocodiles in Australia, they are only in the far tropical north. It is too cold here. The reserve is not very big but would make a walk a bit more interesting.

I suppose the amazing country near you has bears and things in it. I would want a coping plan like yours before I went where bears live!! Actually I might not even be brave enough. My husband and I camped around the top end, but when we thought we were near crocodiles we camped inside our car!!


I had wondered how far I walk shopping. It sure is tiring enough to count as exercise and I had noticed all the bending and the ridiculous number of times it requires me to shift each item from one place to another! :)

Breakfast ~ 7:00 1 slice wholemeal toast with minimal margarine and strawberry jam. 2 weetbix, 1/3C diced peaches, 1C lowfat soy milk. 1 boiled egg. ½ glass tomato juice. 2 C White coffee ~ 40 ml Hilo milk each.

Snack 11:15 1 toasted crumpet with a little honey. White coffee.

The honey isn’t exactly in my plan – but I reckon the amount I had isn’t an issue. I saw something one time that said unprocessed honey has a low GI though processed honey doesn’t. It didn’t make sense to me, but I did buy unprocessed honey for a while after that. I don’t have any now though.

Lunch 2:00 1 wholemeal muffin with grilled chicken, about 1 inch bacon and a little parmesan. Snow peas, celery, carrot. 1 pear. White coffee.

Snack 5:00pm 1 white coffee.

Lots of coffee today. I don’t get guilt about coffee though. Especially as I don’t usually have much.

Snack 7:00pm Snow peas and celery.


Dinner: 8:45 ~ Grilled roo steaks. 1 microwaved potato. At least 3 cups of salad. Lettuce, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, cucumber, celery, capsicum, carrot, ½ tomato. A little balsamic vinegar and basil. 1 tub diet apricot yoghurt.

I was so glad to find that yoghurt! I thought we had run out, as I couldn’t find any on Saturday and I thought I would be happy with natural lowfat yoghurt and fruit, but tonight I was hankering for something more creamy. I won’t mention the things I really wanted. The yoghurt really hit the spot!

Exercise 7:20 local walk. ½ hr alternating fast and slow.Water: 1250ml Yesterday’s Bedtime: 2:45

I did almost the same walk as yesterday. I just added a bit. I have decided not to worry about not walking further than that when I am doing this new thing. It feels quite strenuous still. I watched the end of the (Australian) Biggest Loser instead.

My daughter wanted to train me! At first she thought I might do squats… with her pressing on my knees. Instead we did three leg raises. Oh dear. She said tomorrow we could do 4. I said maybe – first I am going to google leg raises and see if it says decrepit old mothers ought not do them. It didn’t. I had to google “leg raises problems” to get that information. I had kind of guessed from the way they made me feel.

On plan:81 days Achieved food target: 67 days Exercised: 65 days All goals: 6 days.
 
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No real worries about bears here; I'm more concerned with stray dogs deciding "I want a bite of THAT guy! He looks delicious!" :p

I have been bitten several times by dogs over my lifetime, and not just meaning a nip; I finally asked a cop if the police are trained to deal with attacking animals if they are barehanded. He told me "If you know you're going to get bit, cram your hand down it's throat and grab something, then start pulling and use your free hand to hit it in the head until it stops moving." He was actually a bit more graphic, but that covers the gist of it; ever since then I haven't had any problem with animals. I'm not scared of them, so they seem to not want to chase me any more.

I'm glad to help answer some of your wonderings about shopping; I like thinking I'm helpful and all :)
I think your new style of walking is great, and it's wonderful that your daughter wants to help you work out! It helps teach some great lessons, too!

Btw, your salads look really great, I wish I was more willing to put that kind of prep work into mine, lol.
 
My salads taste great too! :D Thanks! I don't feel as though they are too much effort - I have a good knife right now - so that makes a lot of difference. I like things that don't need cooking!! When I was single I didn't eat them I'm afraid. At that time I couldn't be bothered putting the effort into my food that I do now. I knew it wasn't healthy but I used to think I could ignore that.

Breakfast ~ 7:00 1 slice wholemeal toast with minimal margarine and strawberry jam. 2 weetbix, 1/3 C diced peaches. 1C lowfat soy milk. ½ glass tomato juice. 2 C White coffee ~ 40 ml Hilo milk

Lunch/snack/bad thing 11:20 2 Salada crackers. Some low fat cottage cheese. 2 fruit muffins. A low fat chocolate drink (Jarrah chocolate). Most of a big lump of chocolate (like a cylinder 3”x 2”)that my daughter gave me for Valentine’s Day.

OK. This is a big deal for me. The only other chocolate I remember having since I joined here was a minute squiggle on top of a dessert I ate as planned at my nephew’s wedding. (edit: Nope there was that cassata and chocolate cheesecake at Xmas and then again on 31 Jan at my nephew's 21st. I ate small controlled amounts and I thought it was ok. Xmas was. 31 Jan is not so long ago. Too late to think about this any more tonight.)

So why did I eat it? I didn’t want to, I didn’t enjoy it, I didn’t finish it (in the bin now where I should have put it before). Yet somehow the idea of eating off plan has been nagging at me for a while. It got worse when I was offline but looking back I see that even before that I was having a bit of trouble. I will spare you the rest of the considerations I’ve given to this and say I think the reason I did it today and not any of the other times was that I was very sleepy this morning – trying to catch up on missed sleep and not succeeding. So I felt hungry when I shouldn’t have, and when I ate I kept feeling hungry. The second reason is that the damn stuff was there and it was mine. Well, I don’t recommend this, but the immediate reason I ate it is so that I would have the peace that comes from giving in. I didn’t do it on the basis that if it was just a little bit that wasn’t really a big deal either. I ate a lot of it and that was on purpose so that I would end up finished with it and hopefully feeling revolted the next time I saw some. At least that bit has worked.

I didn’t eat it because I’d just eaten muffins and drunk low-cal chocolate. I had that because I was trying not to eat the real stuff. It did help too.

Okay. So far on this journey I have acknowledged anything a bit off-plan but those things were not like this. They were marginal or thought out. It was good for me to find out that I could manage them and go on but I mostly thought they were adaptations to cope with the rest of life. Just now I see them as the right thing to do and this as the wrong thing to do. It will be good for me to prove that I can manage this and go on. (Did I do it because I somehow wanted to prove I could? Maybe. I don’t really think so.) I don’t want to do it again though. Having a plan like mine and going off and on, off and on, is like walking with a limp. Maybe I could but it’s not pleasant and I don’t want to end up too tired and sitting down instead!

So what ought I do different? Pay more attention to my sleep. Say thank you nicely for gift chocolate from my daughter (until she gets a bit older and starts understanding that she can do it for other people and not me, and that’s ok) and throw the damn stuff in the bin before it gets under my skin. Actually, I should have headed her off before this. I could have. I just didn’t think it would bother me. We have chocolate in the house every day, and I buy it, but I don’t eat it and it doesn’t bother me! So now everyone else is back on to chocolate frogs and nothing else in the house for a while. That’s it for those chocolate crusted icecreams that I have been noticing too. I will plan to have a controlled amount at Easter - at the end of Easter so it’s done with then.

Anyway according to one set of ideas I brought with me to this journey, I will now have to struggle for a few days to detox. I don’t know if that’s true. According to that idea I would have found that stuff this morning divine and a million pleasure spots would have started tripping, setting me up to want to repeat the experience. Well it wasn’t like that.

The immediate thing is that I still have to actually do the stuff to prove I can get over it. It seems to me that I just will and I don’t feel anxious about it. I don't feel like what I did was a reversion to old habits except that I was eating chocolate.

I don’t know if I can stop this happening again. I have been thinking that maybe I should vary what I eat a bit more. That might help. I guess if it takes me another 81 days to break out that won’t exactly be a worry. :) For now I’m thinking, if things are awkward focus on the one day at a time idea - the idea of just getting it right for now. If I have a bad patch there’s no reason for it to last.

Snack 4:00pm 1 white coffee.

Dinner: 9:00 ~ 1 corn cob. Big salad 2- 3 cups. ~ 100 gm tin light tuna with cracked pepper and lemon, broccoli, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, cucumber, celery, capsicum, carrot.. A little balsamic vinegar.

Exercise 8:00 local walk. ½ hr alternating fast and slow.Water: 1500ml Yesterday’s Bedtime: 12:00

On plan:82 days Achieved food target: 67 days Exercised: 66 days All goals: 6 days.

A good thing about today is I found a book and tape on Pilates. It looks like I could do it without hurting myself as long as I learn it properly. The book has lots of information on how to learn it slowly and carefully and the tape is good because it gives me an idea of how it can look and feel.

It’s 10:00. I will post this and then go straight to bed.
 
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Hey you - I survived yor post and didnt get lost - LOL - ANyway - dont beat yourself up over hte chocolate - I mean come on - indulging isnt a bit deal once in awhile and in moderation - did you really eat that much of it - plus it came from your daughter - actually I dont htink I recieve chocolate anymore - LOL - I think I have requested not to - I do however think you are way to hard on yourself...but your serious which I guess is good - that will get you far - I will check in more latta...Congrats on your pilates tape and book - oh I also wanted to add - I dont usually east as planned - actually I dont usually plan out what i eat and i am still doing well - LOL
 
Hi, Felici!
Must agree with Cinderelly there. You must've burned the calories from the chocolate you ate by agonizing over eating it. So just decide that a) it wasn't such a big deal and b) you'll think carefully before doing it next time (not so much for the calories in it but the remorse you go through for it).
And live happily ever after. ;)
Juliette
 
It's always rough when we face our addictions head-on and that can give us a sobering look at a piece of ourselves we don't like to see; the junkie. Food is addictive, chocolate is addictive, and the feelings they used to create in us are addictive.
Chocolate has: Sugar, fat, creamy mouthfeel, lovely smell, and caffeine, not to mention the "buzz" that cacao beans create and the hormonal responses. I have never really seen myself as "addicted" to chocolate until it gets into my house and is prominently displayed, but I now know it is the case.
That emotional "downer" you went on... well it sucks, but it is also the way you can beat the addiction feelings. The emotional aspect of chocolate is every bit as addicitive as the other parts of it, so don't let yourself get TOO down over it all, okay?

Take a look back over my food diary if you want to see some unhealthy eating. :p Until then, it was just one snack, so get back on plan, dammit! I can't do this alone, neither can you, and you have been unsupported for the best part of the past two weeks over a "candy" holiday, so a slip is understandable, especially since you know your daughter was just trying to tell you "I love you mom!" in the way we are supposed to over Valentines.
Next year, tell her you want a card AND flowers! ;)
 
I'm one of the few on here that believes guilt is a good thing. What else do we have to remind us when we didn't do so well ??

Embrace guilt as your mental foot soldier in this battle and follow him into the trenches. No one gets out of this adventure without a boo boo, just look at your scar and remind yourself from time to time.
 
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