Saturday, January 26, 2008

Food Journal: Day 5 & MY NEWEST CHALLENGE

Whole Wheat Apple Crisp: 300 (leftovers were calling me)

Japanese Veggies & Rice: 200 (gotta love leftovers)
W.W. Peanut Butter Sandwich Crusts: 100

Spinach & Cottage Cheese Salad: 200
Carrots: 50
Sweet Potato & Potato Skins: 150 (my favorite parts)

Pistachios: 180
Chopped Dates: 120 (they're sugared and they melt in my mouth!)

Chopped Dates: 50 (I just couldn't resist)


I feel good about today. I really like my 5 meal system. I almost have to force myself to eat sometimes so I don't miss a meal. By habit, I'm a light snacker (as you can tell) and a heavy mealer. With my new plan, I'm eating all day so I don't get sudden overwhelming urges to eat. It's kinda nice, but I know it won't last forever. One day at a time, right?

It's Stake Conference tomorrow and we're having some people over after for lunch. We're providing a turkey (Brady's specialty) and everyone else is bring whatever sounded good to them. I've heard Scalloped Potatoes, Cornbread Casserole, Cinnabon Streusel, and German Chocolate Cake so far. I'm making some hummus and veggies, of course. Compared to the other options, I may be the only one eating the hummus, which doesn't bother me one bit (that just means a few days of tasty lunches for me!).

In more weightier matters (pun intended), I've been weighing myself everyday. Last week, I tried one mid-week hop on the scale to test the waters. It went well, so I decided to give this everyday thing a try (although I did miss a day because I just don't have the habit yet). So far, I like it, but that's probably because it's going down.

On the flip side, I'm feeling quite up. My normal life (without our house on the market or graduate school) has been refreshing. I find myself looking forward to the day, not dreading or worrying about all I have to do. Still, with all this time on my hands, what a great opportunity for...

MY NEWEST CHALLENGE. I was inspired by this post to not only kick start my physical habits, but my spiritual habits as well. In February, the Month of Love, I am going to show my love for the Savior by reading the entire Book of Mormon in my personal scripture study. With 531 pages that's only 19 pages a day! (Thanks to Leap Year, there's even one extra day!).

I don't need to sweet-talk anyone into this one -- we all know the benefits far outweigh the sacrifice. Whadouyasay...any takers for MY NEWEST CHALLENGE?

Friday, January 25, 2008

Food Journal: Day 4

Maple Syrup Blender Pancakes: 285 (healthy, yummy, AND easy!)

My Best & Easiest Whole Wheat Bread EVER!: 225
Beef, Beans, & Hidden Veggies Chili: 100

Peanut Butter Sandwich Crusts: 200 (blasted nibbles!)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Shake: 50
Apple: 80
Whole Wheat Apple Crisp: 120

Japanese Steakhouse Date Food: 600-700!!


Uh, as you can see Brady won the Date Activity tonight. I really wasn't hungry (I had already had dessert for heaven's sake), but I thought I'd take one for the team this week, since I made him go through the drive-thru last weekend (thanks, Brady).

To my credit, I made the best of the situation without being freakish. As a cook, it hurts my feelings when people don't at least try the food I make. So, when the chef prepares my meal directly in front of me while making flaming onion volcanoes and pulling chickens out of his hat, I thought I'd at least take a sample.

Overall, today was fine -- not bad, but not great. I also survived making my Best Whole Wheat Bread batch today with only a few scrapes. For this, I credit you -- my fellow Blog Buds. Even if no one makes a comment, or even reads my entries, I know it's out there in the wide open internet world. Thanks for keeping me out of trouble today.

Tomorrow -- same time, same place...I'll be here.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Food Journal: Day 3

Toad in the Hole: 300 (so yummy!)
Oatmeal: 50 (I just couldn't resist the leftovers)

Spinach & Cottage Cheese Salad: 310

Sweet Veggies & Roast: 400 (I cleaned my plate AND the kids')

Banana: 20 (nibbles while making frozen slices)
Popcorn: 100
Yogurt: 50 (nibbles of Shelley's new flavor:Cranberry Raspberry...yum)

Apple Pie & Ice Cream: 50 (grocery store taster)
Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie: 100 (gourmet cookie shop taster)
Lunch Box Nibbles: 20 (nibbles while packing lunches)


Today was filled with such yummy food! My nibbling calories sure did add up, but overall not bad. All my main meals were over 300, mostly due to nibbling (notice all my explanations). I'm liking the 5-Meal Plan, though, but I want to keep my total intake closer to 1200 rather than 1500. Tomorrow will be difficult because it's Date Night. I've been trying to convince Brady to see 27 Dresses or Juno instead of going out to eat -- not an easy task. (Although...just between you and me...Brady does enjoy a good Chick Flick every now and then ;)

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Food Journal: Day 2

Oatmeal: 120
Cream of Wheat: 100
Apple: 80

Missed Lunch (Visiting Teaching)

Best Darn Black Beans: 350
Lettuce: 20

Popcorn: 180
Green Pepper: 30

Nibbles: 150
Graham Crackers: 90

I Am Soooo White!

In case you haven't figured this out yet, I kinda like to do things myself -- take care of my kids, make dinners, etc. For this reason, I am very guarded about who watches my children. When Brady and I go out, I always put my babies to bed first (one nice thing about early bed times) and I only use a very short list of sitters (maybe 2 or 3 in 6 years). My children have virtually never seen the inside of any child care facility. When Kelsey was almost two she went to the gym child care a few times a week, but only because my running partner (and Primary President) worked there. Otherwise, it's Caroline (my sister) or Brady.

So when I decided to try out a Zumba class at the YMCA, I made sure someone I knew would be there to take care of Shelley. My long-time friend, and overall one of the most awesome people that I know, Ofa, just happens to work on Wednesday mornings from 8 -12, during the 8 o'clock Zumba class. Although Shelley cried a bit today while I was away, she made it through without any serious emotional trauma (or at least she didn't tell me about any:) so I decided to give the class a go...

AND I LOVE IT!

I showed up wearing my usual running gear and felt quickly out of place when the instructor arrived wearing some cute, and very tight, black capris and a floral tank -- along with a rockin' body (which gave immediate encouragement -- no wonder infomercials work). As for my moves, I had no idea what I was doing half the time and the times that I did were worse than the "bad" auditions on So You Think You Can Dance. I tried to do salsa, some meringue, hip-hop, and a few other things I can't pronounce or didn't hear because I was too busy concentrating.

I don't know about any physical fitness from today's attempt at dancing, but shakin' my hips and swinging my booty (in whatever direction) sure did my soul some good.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Food Journal: Day 1

Oatmeal: 100 (Shelley's leftovers)
Pistachios: 170 (on the way to the library)
Oyster Crackers: 30 (shared with Shelley -- she likes to share)

Broccoli: 60
Black Bean Hummus: 250 (the last of it;(

Chicken Manicotti: 200 (interesting recipe)
Asparagus: 100 (yum)

Apple: 100
Popcorn: 200
Peanut Butter Sandwich Nibble: 20

Cold Stone Peanut Butter Ice Cream: 100 (post-presidency meeting treat!)

There were a few other nibbles, but overall a great day for me. Too bad they all can't be like this.

The Truth Is...

...I don't want to win.

Last year, I started a weight loss group, Girls With Goals (aka, GG's). At the end of a 12-week program I had lost the most weight, with 132 pounds my lowest weigh-in. I was $250 richer, but it didn't matter because the money didn't last long (not when you're paying bills, anyway) and neither did the weight loss.

As most of you know, March was the start of our financial crunch, followed by 6 months of daily, intense cleaning to keep our house suitable for sale (everyone knows how much I HATE cleaning my house!), and my application and admission to graduate school, etc. I handled the stress well in most areas -- I still did my callings, made homemade meals, stayed on a tight budget, packed lunches, threw baby showers, organized play groups, and was almost mostly (ok, sometimes) nice to my family.

The only area that really gave was me. I had virtually NO time to take care of myself, even to sit down. It seemed that if I sat down for one second I would fall behind in one way or another and lose even more of my precious time. Did I have to eat myself into so much weight gain? No. But did I chose that over Plan B? Yes.

The result was humiliating. I gained back all the weight I had lost and more I am sure. I stopped caring after a while. It was like wearing a fat suit. Just having the courage to do regular things like attend church, go to the park, see my friends took more courage than I knew I even had. Still, just because I have it in me, doesn't mean I EVER want to do that again.

I know people think that because I gained the weight back so quickly that what I was doing to lose the weight was drastic. Quite the opposite actually. What I did AFTER I lost the weight was WAY more drastic than what I did to lose it. I was overeating every day and every night -- every time I opened my mouth I would binge. I was trying to feel happiness because my life was so stressful. And the saddest thing (that we all know) is that it didn't even work.

So what do I want out of this Throwdown? I want to lose weight, duh -- and keep it off. My starting weight, your starting weight, the date we officially start, it's all secondary to my goal to just lose the freakin' weight, for good this time. Our little friends from High School Musical said it well, We're All In This Together.

Who's kickin' who's butt is not as important as what our butts look like anyway.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Throwdown The Weight Contest

Ok, so I think I'm ready to make some changes to get what I want. And just for the record, here's what I want:

...to be healthy.

Yes, according to my BMI I am healthy, but what you don't know is that I binge, even at this weight, which is not good. I can eat entire large pizzas, half gallons of ice cream, whole loaves of bread, and other monstrosities -- sometimes all at once, sometimes in a few hours. Fortunately, I am blessed with an amazing metabolism and great genes (thanks, once again, mom and dad). Unfortunately, this makes my secret (and sadness) easier to hide. Basically, I have a healthy weight, with secrets that I no longer want to have.

...to be wealthy.

To help reach my first goal, I've enlisted the help of the Original Parker Sisters ~ Julie, Alisa, and Erin. They are so inspiring, each of them for different reasons. I created a Throwdown The Weight Contest where we are each going to lose 7% of our body weight (around 10 pounds). The first person to do this, and maintain it for two weeks (our Maintenance Clause), will get what's in our Weight Loss Pot. We've all contributed things like a $25 Outback Steakhouse gift card, $20 in movie bucks, a $25 gift card to Target or GAP, and a Amex card for a haircut or some other pampering. Sounds cool, huh?

...to be wise.

In the end, I want to be able to make good choices and overcome my scale phobia. At a healthy BMI, does the number really matter to me? I'm about to find out as I start my quest to be 130 (I'm really starting this time).

This week, I am actually going to count my caloric intake. Why? Because people should know these things, at least generally. I don't mean become obsessed, but it's a part of taking care of our bodies whether we admit it or not. To lessen the stress of counting all day, I've devised a scheme to trick myself into counting without an all-day worry.

My new plan is to keep each meal around 300 calories and the same for any snacking in between meals. All I have to do is calculate at each meal (instead of all day) and keep a rough estimate the two times I snack during the day -- usually between lunch and dinner and after dinner. If I skip a meal, I'll just keep on going like normal, instead of "making up" the calories later. This will help me with portion control and it will also keep me from juggling long lists of numbers in my head or on some paper I always lose and rarely have with me. Although it has been a long time since I've taken a math class (and Adam knows just how long, too!), I think I can still count to 300!

I may start blogging my daily menu, too. In part because I need to be accountable for it; and, in part because I think what I eat can be interesting sometimes. Maybe just for a week...I can do anything for a week, right?

As for exercise, I'm running, doing my Pilates once a week, and desperately trying to take a Zumba class at the YMCA I can never seem to get to. (Zumba is a Latin cardio/dance class). I try to do 5 days/week of running -- one long, one medium, and 2 short runs. I've been experimenting with my treadmill's incline a little (I'm trying to keep the bump I found on my back after a month of doing hills at my parent's house). This week may be the start of long runs outside because I've maxed out my treadmill limit, so that could be an adventure.

My stats are a little more than I wanted, but certainly what I deserve for not being serious -- although, it makes for a great Throwdown start for me :).

Current Weight: 149.8
Current BMI: 23.3

Throwdown Goal Loss (7%): 10.5
Throwdown Goal Weight: 139.3
Throwdown BMI: 21.7

So bring it on, ladies 'cause I'm about to throw you down, take your money, and run (if I still can after losing soooooooo much weight)! HEHE!