Want2Lose's Diary

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December 16

Menu
Breakfast: Three corn tortillas, peanut butter, dill pickle
Snack: Almonds and raisins
Lunch: Baked tofu (soy deli brand), carrot and celery sticks, apple
Snack: One piece butterscotch candy, popcorn (salt, garlic-herb seasoning)
Dinner: Salad (escarole, light honey mustard dressing), braised escarole (olive oil, sugar, lemon juice, garlic), herring in wine sauce
Snack: Grapefruit, dark chocolate

Exercise
Walked 10,000 steps; 5 push-ups; 21 sit-ups

Down to 134 today!
 
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December 17

Menu
Breakfast: Three corn tortillas with peanut butter and dill pickle
Snack: Popcorn
Lunch: Pinto beans with reduced-fat cheddar and salsa, acorn squash
Snack: Apple, baked tofu, decaf coffee (saccharin)
Dinner: Baked potato topped with lentils, spinach, reduced-fat cheddar, salsa
Snack: Blueberries, one brazil nut, almonds

Exercise
Walked 10,000 steps; 5 push-ups; 25 sit-ups. Really glad to be on the final day of the strength-training challenge. It's just not for me. I know there are so many benefits to it and that it will really help in my weight loss/maintence journey, as well as other health benefits as I age, but I seem to have some sort of mental block. I don't like it. On the other hand, I don't "like" walking either, but I seem to be able to do it. I think it's because walking is sort of an auto-pilot activity. Getting started is the hard part, but once you're out there, it's just putting one foot in front of the other, especially now that my stamina is better and I don't get winded right away. With strength training, you are constantly rearranging your body into different positions, getting up, getting down, working different muscles for short periods of time. I can't just zone out as I do with the walking.

A family member, who lives a short way away, has bought a new treadmill. It is a rather elaborate model, as he is a serious athlete, marathons, etc. I paid some money toward it, so I could use it too. It will be delivered in January. I am looking forward to it, as it has been hard to walk outside in the dark and cold this time of year.
 
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December 18

Menu
Breakfast: Three corn tortillas, peanut butter, dill pickle
Snack: Half banana, green tea
Lunch: Tuna salad (garbanzo beans, onion, lemon juice, black pepper, miracle whip)
Snack: Popcorn with olive oil, salt, garlic-herb seasoning, blueberries
Dinner: Rutabaga, onion, broccoli with chopped walnuts
Snack: Blueberries

Exercise
Walk/jog 15,000 steps; 5 push-ups; 25 sit-ups
 
December 19

I have been reading SuperFoods RX (2004) by Pratt and Matthews. I ordered it because I read a very inspiring story of a 200+ pound woman who lost over 70 pounds by following the principles in the book. It is not a weight-loss book, but rather about food as preventative medicine. The authors feel that some groups of foods are so packed with nutritient that by eating them daily we can dramatically reduce our risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, vision loss, osteoporosis and more. There are 14 groups of superfoods: beans, blueberries, broccoli, oats, oranges, pumpkin, salmon, soy, spinach, tea, turkey, walnuts, yogurt. The woman who lost the weight made it her goal to eat from at least 10 of the 14 groups daily. As an experiment, I will temporarily list in this journal the groups I eat daily. As I am pescetarian, I will not be eating from the turkey group. I have also been experimenting with cutting dairy from my diet, so for now I will not be eating from the yogurt group either.

In other news, my period started today, and I am holding on to water like a camel. Drinking water and tea and watching my sodium and it should come right off. I do think it's a shame that my weight can fluctuate up to 7 pounds just with my monthly cycle. It can really take the wind out of your sails.

Menu
Breakfast: Two corn tortillas, peanut butter, dill pickle
Snack: Half banana, clementine, almonds
Lunch: Brown rice and baked tofu, acorn squash, black tea with lemon
Snack: Popcorn (garlic, olive oil, tumeric, black pepper, salt, garlic-herb seasoning)
Dinner: Black beans (onion, carrot, red pepper), reduced-fat cheddar, salsa, broccoli, kale, water chestnuts
Snack: Blueberries, one brazil nut

Exercise
Walked 11,000 steps, 5 push-ups, 25 situps

Superfoods
beans: yes.
blueberries: yes.
broccoli: yes.
oats: yes. corn tortillas, brown rice (this group includes all whole grains)
oranges: yes. clementine
pumpkin: yes. acorn squash (actually the authors specifically name butternut squash as a subsititute, but I think acorn is close enough)
salmon: no.
soy: yes. baked tofu
spinach: yes. kale
tea: yes
tomatoes: yes. salsa
turkey: n/a
walnuts: yes. almonds
yogurt: n/a
 
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December 20

Menu
Breakfast: Oatmeal (soymilk, raisins, sunflower seeds, cinnamon)
Snack: Two dried unsulphured apricots
Lunch: Lentil stew (kale, shiitake mushrooms, onion, garlic, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, cayenne) topped with yogurt; salad (escarole with Newman's light balsamic vinaigrette)
Snack: Two clementines, green tea, blueberries with soymilk
Dinner: Tilapia, broccoli (lemon), sweet potato
Snack: Dark chocolate, two dried unsulphured apricots, almonds

Exercise
Walked 11,000 steps; 25 sit-ups; 5 push-ups

beans: yes. lentils
blueberries: yes.
broccoli: yes.
oats: yes.
oranges: yes. clementines
pumpkin: yes. sweet potato
salmon: yes. tilapia. Although he does not mention tilapia as a salmon "sidekick", it is mentioned in the chapter on salmon, so I will count it.
soy: yes. soymilk
spinach: yes. kale
tea: yes
tomatoes: yes. tomato paste
turkey: n/a
walnuts: yes. sunflower seeds
yogurt: yes.
 
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December 21

Menu
Breakfast: Oatmeal (sunflower seeds, raisins, cinnamon, soymilk)
Snack: Apple, green tea
Lunch: hard boiled egg (salt), vegetable sticks (carrot, celery, green pepper), clementine
Snack: Popcorn, diet pepsi
Dinner: Lentil stew (kale, shiitake mushrooms, onion, garlic, cayenne, tomato paste) topped with low-fat yogurt; salad (escarole, Ken's brand light honey mustard dressing, lemon juice); broccoli
Snack: Blueberries, almonds

Exercise
10,000 steps; five push-ups, 25 situps

Superfoods
Beans: Yes
Broccoli: Yes
Berries: Yes
Oranges: Yes
Oats: Yes
Pumpkin: Yes
Soy: Yes
Spinach: Yes
Tea: Yes
Tomatoes: Yes
Turkey: n/a
Salmon: No
Walnuts: Yes
Yogurt: Yes
 
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December 22

Menu
Breakfast: Oatmeal (1/3 cup dry), soymilk, sunflower seeds (2T.), raisins (10), cinnamon
Snack: Apple, green tea
Lunch: Baked tofu, vegetable sticks (carrot, celery, green pepper), clementine
Snack: Popcorn (olive oil, garlic, garlic-herb seasoning, salt)
Dinner: Pinto beans topped with yogurt and salsa, spinach, broccoli
Snack: Blueberries, almonds

Exercise
Walked 10,000 steps, 5 push-ups, 25 sit-ups

Superfoods
Beans: Yes
Broccoli: Yes
Berries: Yes
Oranges: Yes
Oats: Yes
Pumpkin: Yes
Soy: Yes
Spinach: Yes
Tea: Yes
Tomatoes: Yes
Turkey: n/a
Salmon: No
Walnuts: Yes
Yogurt: Yes
 
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Hi,.
I've just been looking through your diary for inspiration. Looks like you've really got it sussed, not just with the weightloss but good nutrition too. I bet your hair and skin are looking great too?
 
December 23

Thanks Isabel! I've never had a good complexion, but it's better, and my hair is a lot thicker and less oily. My hairdresser has commented on it.

Menu
Breakfast: Oatmeal, sunflower seeds, raisins, cinnamon, soymilk, clementines
Snack: Popcorn (olive oil, salt, garlic, garlic-herb seasoning)
Lunch: Garbanzo beans with red cabbage,avocado and celery topped with Newman's brand light balsamic vinaigrette (lemon juice, black pepper), herring in wine sauce
Snack: Baked tofu, apple
Dinner: Bok choy with tomato paste and shiitake mushrooms, sweet potato
Snack: Blueberries with yogurt

Exercise
Walked 10,000 steps, 5 push-ups, 25 sit-ups

Superfoods
Beans: Yes
Broccoli: Yes. Bok choy counts for both broccoli and spinach group!
Berries: Yes
Oranges: Yes
Oats: Yes
Pumpkin:
Soy: Yes
Spinach: Yes.
Tea: Yes.
Tomatoes: Yes.
Turkey: n/a
Salmon: Yes
Walnuts: Yes
Yogurt: Yes
 
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Happy Holidays SUNSHINE!!! :D!! I'm sure you are going to be eating some FANTASTIC great things!! :grouphug:!!!....You are the BEST!!! keep up your inspiring ways!! ;)!!!
 
December 24

Alta, thanks! I hope you have a happy holiday, too. We do not have a lot planned -- a family breakfast which will be a little more indulgent than usual, then dinner out for anyone who wants to go. I will pass on the dinner. I have never been a fan of dining out on holidays.

Strange experience this week. I ran into an acquaintance I see only a few times a year. He had not seen me since I lost the bulk of my weight. He had always been very distant to me, bordering on brusque and dismissive. I just put it down to a clash of personality or figured I must have said or done something at some point that he took offense to. Well, this time he was quite chatty and convivial. I was surprised, as the change in attitude was as inexplicable as the original coldness. I also was a bit surprised that he didn't mention my weight loss as most people whom I haven't seen in a while bring it up and say something complimentary. Anyway, a few days later a mutual friend said that he was asking after me and raving about my weight loss and that his opinion of me had really gone up because of what I had accomplished. It made me feel pretty crappy. After all, I am the same person I was before the weight loss. I felt shocked to realize I was the victim of a fat prejudice. It made me wonder how many other people had dismissed or discounted me because of my weight (and I was 185 at my highest, obese certainly, but hardly that unusual).

Menu
Breakfast: Three corn tortillas with peanut butter and dill pickle
Snack: Green tea
Lunch: Pinto beans topped with onion, salsa, avocado, lemon juice, reduced fat cheddar cheese
Snack: Clementines, hard boiled egg
Dinner: Bok choy cooked with tomato paste, garlic and shiitake mushrooms, sweet potato with walnuts
Snack: Apple, almonds

Exercise
11,000 steps, 5 push-ups, 25 sit-ups

Superfoods
Beans: Yes
Broccoli: Yes. Bok choy counts for both broccoli and spinach group!
Berries: No
Oranges: Yes
Oats: Yes
Pumpkin: Yes
Soy: No
Spinach: Yes.
Tea: Yes.
Tomatoes: Yes.
Turkey: n/a
Salmon: No.
Walnuts: Yes
Yogurt: No
 
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December 25

Menu
Breakfast: Pineapple, kiwi fruit, clementine, egg & potato casserole (onion, canned tomato, canned chili, reduced fat cheddar, 2% milk, olive oil) green & whie tea blend
Snack: Dry roasted edamame
Lunch: Navy bean salad with celery, red pepper, red cabbage, lemon juice, Ken's brand light honey mustard dressing
Snack: Popcorn (olive oil, garlic, salt, garlic-herb seasoning)
Dinner: Herring, sweet potato, collard greens
Snack: Dark chocolate, apple, cinnamon, almonds

Exercise
Walked 15,000 steps, 5 push-ups, 25 sit-ups

Superfoods
Beans: Yes
Berries: No.
Broccoli: Yes. Red cabbage.
Oats: Yes. Popcorn (any whole grain counts)
Oranges: Yes
Pumpkin: Yes.
Tomato: Yes
Salmon: Yes.
Soy: Yes.
Spinach: Yes. Collards.
Tea: Yes
Turkey: n/a
Walnuts: Yes.
Yogurt: No.

Got a set of resistance bands for Christmas with a video on how to use them. Also a gift cert to a sporting goods store. The breakfast casserole was funny. It was a fairly healthy recipe to start with, but my mom kept fattening it up -- extra butter, extra oil, extra cheese, full-fat milk. I figured, hey, it's Christmas. If you can't indulge then, when can you?
 
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December 26

Hi, NedoCTB, and thanks for the encouraging words. I did not do the whole progress pic thing, so don't have any to share. When I started trying to lose weight, I doubted if I'd be successful, and thought taking a "before" picture might jinx things. Now I wish I had!

Wow! Ended up at 1800 calories yesterday. Glad I did some extra walking. Christmas cheer! I have stopped tracking my superfood intake. My diet is already pretty wholesome, and the extra administrative burden is too much.

Menu
Breakfast: Three corn tortillas, peanut butter, dill pickle
Snack: Decaf coffee with soymilk, raisins
Lunch: Swiss chard with lentils, garlic, tomato paste, olive oil, salt; two clementines
Snack: Popcorn (olive oil, garlic, salt, garlic-herb blend), black tea
Dinner: Herring in wine sauce, decaf coffee with soymilk
Snack: Pineapple, blueberries, almonds

Exercise
Walked 11,000 steps (includes some jogging), five push-ups, 25 sit-ups
 
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December 27

Menu
Breakfast: Three corn tortillas with peanut butter and dill pickle, clementine
Snack: Baked tofu, apple, black tea
Lunch: Salad (garbanzo beans, red cabbage, celery, balsamic vinaigre, olive oil)
Snack: Popcorn (garlic, olive oil, salt, garlic-herb seasoning)
Snack: Pineapple
Dinner: Two corn tortillas with reduced fat cheddar, salsa
Snack: Blueberries, clementine, yogurt, almonds

Exercise
Walked 11,000 steps (some jogging), 5 push-ups, 25 sit-ups
 
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December 28

Well, now that I am maintaining rather than losing, I am becoming a little less strict with my diet. Adding a bit of oil or cheese where I wouldn't have before, using low-fat instead of non-fat yogurt, a few extra nuts. Maybe an extra serving of fruit or grains. So far the scale is not creeping up. But boy, it's amazing how quickly those extra calories add on and how quickly I get used to it. When I was losing, I tried to stick around 1600 calories a day. Then I bumped it to 1700, then 1750. Yesterday I ended up at 1850. And that's clean eating. It's not like I'm adding in candy, wine, potato chips. I just hope I don't gain it all back. According to fitday, I should be able to maintain at 2050 calories per day. I hope they are right. I have been reading as much as I can about maintenance and a lot of people say their metabolisms are so out of whack from years of obesity that they can only eat about 1600 calories if they don't want to gain -- this with regular exercise. Of course, I was only technically obese for about a year, but I was overweight (using BMI definitions) my whole life. Perhaps I will not have to restrict my calories as extremely.

I have been extremely depressed the past two days (although feeling better this evening after forcing myself to go out in the cold and get a few minutes of sunshine which is scarce this time of year). After I cleaned up my diet and started a regular exercise program, I noticed that my moods evened out and I was a lot mellower and happpier in general. Now, whenever I feel a sudden and irrational change of mood, I look to my diet if there isn't an obvious emotional cause. A lot of times it is a PMS symptom. And this most recent time, it could have been post-holiday blues. It has been so cold and icy outside that I have been doing my walking almost completely indoors, so it could be related to the lack of sunshine and fresh air. I have also been eating more dairy than usual this past week. I'm not saying this is definitely related to my recent bout of depression, but it is a dietary change and I want to make a note of it.

I have been rereading some of my earlier journal entries. The food looks a lot more appetizing, especially the summer menus. I miss grapes, apricots, fresh strawberries, fresh lettuce. Apart from the seasonality of my food, the things seem somehow more appetizing last summer and fall. Maybe it's just the winter blahs, but my menus nowadays don't have the same appeal. I think I'm going to start having fresh tofu again (as opposed to the pre-baked and marinated kind I have been having lately). I think I will also have more salmon and more brown rice. My grains seem to have shifted to corn (tortillas, popcorn) over the past few months. Not that there's anything wrong with corn, but variety is always good. I haven't had spaghetti or soup in a while. I need to shake things up, because I feel a boredom with my food -- meals have become rote -- instead of thinking about what would be tasty I look at fitday, and if I see I am low in vitamin A, for example, I eat a food because it is high in that vitamin, not because I have a particular desire for it. I notice that I am spending much less time in food prep and cooking, relying more on prepared items like hummus and herring in wine sauce. I am concerned that this may be the beginning of a disconnect from my food that bodes ill for maintaining my weight loss.

Menu
Breakfast: Three corn tortillas with peanut butter and dill pickle
Snack: Pineapple, green tea
Lunch: Baked potato topped with small red beans, reduced-fat cheddar, salsa; kale with olive oil
Snack: Air-popped popcorn (salt, cooking spray, garlic-herb seasoning), diet pepsi
Dinner: Brown-sugar sesame marinated Tilapia (inlandmarket brand), sweet potato, broccoli
Snack: Pistachio nuts (salt and pepper flavored), dark chocolate, red wine

Exercise
Walked 10,000 steps (some jogging), 25 sit-ups, 5 push-ups
 
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What a great observation!...The food you eat definitely has an effect on our moods, and not exercising doesn't allow us the "great endorphin" release as well, which is where that great "natural high" feeling comes from! :D!

...as well, I think you are so right in respects to calories being able to get high quickly..Very very true. I notice that and I notice it in my pants a a lot lately! :(

...I have a favor to ask you: :beating:...I AM DYINGGGGG TO SEE SOME BEFORE AND AFTER SHOTS PLEASE!!!!...I love how methodical and observational you are, and I just want to see how fantastic you look at your goal weight!...I hopppppppe you can post a couple pics up for some much needed inspiration! ;) Thank you!!!
 
December 29

Hi Alta. I wish I had some photos to post, but I avoided the camera for years because I was so dissatisfied with my appearance. I thought about taking pix at the start of my weight-loss journey, but I was not sure if I would succeed and I was afraid of "jinxing" things by taking pix -- I know that doesn't make any sense but such was my reasoning at the time!

Menu
Breakfast: Two corn tortillas with peanut butter, pineapple
Snack: Green tea, raisins
Lunch: Hard-boiled egg (salt), two clementines
Snack: Edamame (the kind in the pod, it's frozen and you boil it with salt and then eat the soybeans out of the pod. I did NOT like it at all. I will stick to the dry-roasted kind), apple
Dinner: Butternut squash with walnuts and raisins, soup (tomatoes, bok choy, brown rice, onion, garlic, olive oil, garlic-herb seasoning, cayenne, salt)
Snack: Pistachio nuts, red wine, two pieces dark chocolate, three dried unsulphured apricots

Exercise
Walked 10,000 steps, 5 push ups, no sit-ups (my neck hurts, I think maybe I am doing them wrong)
 
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Want2Lose said:
Hi Alta. I wish I had some photos to post, but I avoided the camera for years because I was so dissatisfied with my appearance. I thought about taking pix at the start of my weight-loss journey, but I was not sure if I would succeed and I was afraid of "jinxing" things by taking pix -- I know that doesn't make any sense but such was my reasoning at the time!
Click to expand...
Oh really! :( awwwww....I'm sure you have completely transformed yourself too!!

Wish you would have taken them anyway, but I completely understand you! Don't shy away from that camera now missy! ;)!
 
December 30

Home sick today. Do not think I will get all my walking in. There was a lot of snacking last night but surprisingly only 1500 calories for the day.

Menu
Breakfast: Two corn tortillas with peanut butter, pineapple, clementine
Snack: Popcorn, diet pepsi
Lunch: Soup (navy beans, brown rice, butternut squash, shiitake mushrooms, edamame, tomatoes, carrot, celery, bok choy, onion, garlic, olive oil, cayenne, salt)
Snack: Pistachio nuts
Dinner: Baked tofu, apple, two corn tortillas, one with peanut butter, one with cheese and salsa
Snack: Pistachio nuts, decaf coffee with saccharin

I was ravenous. Could NOT stop eating. Nearly broke 2,000!

Exercise
Walked 10,000 steps, 5 push-ups
 
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