Until My Meds Get Checked/Tweaked, "Skaking" things up here & Do You Do MediFast Alternatives, like WonderSlim?

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Wow. I've been absent again. I missed the SUMMER SLIMMIN' check-in. I've been carbing it up at family gatherings (one day chicken and rice with sugar-topped plantains, the other a lo mein and steamed dumplings feast, and a pizza backslide last night).

I have been feeling off. My face feels a bit "masky", and since we changed my regimen a month ago, I think my previous thyroid med status has now sequed to the new one (lower dosage) and it's NOT helping. I have felt like sleeping more, and I've craved carbs (and been indulging, though until yesterday, not bingeing), and my attention is hard to focus. The scale is up. Yeah, something's off. I have an appot to see doc in August, so I gotta do something until then to not lose all traction.

I will say that despite feeling groggier and carb-happy, I only big-time overate twice in the last week plus. And even though I wanted to binge last night, it was a minor binge (and weighted in less than day before). I did NOT eat enough to gain 4 pounds, and the scale showed me up to 263.8. I know the carbs and sodium mix is mostly to blame.

Yesterday, it was pizza. Damn the Dominos 2x Tuesday. I had not been shopping (due to feeling lethargic) and so there was NOTHING in the house to give hubby. So, I fell into the order-crap hole and got the 2 pizzas for one price. I ate 3.5 slices and a salad and stopped. I wanted more. I wanted the whole fricken pizza. But I took the slices, bagged them, froze them. I wasn't gonna throw them out, as hubby can take them for lunch (as he did today, two slices).

I haven't had an all-out, stuff until I hurt binge in a while. In fact, even when I wanted to eat MORE at the family functions, I didn't. I avoided cakes and sugary snacks for the most part. I didn't have more than one mojito (and that has sugar), and ended up having half of it. I took my own beveraged. I ate something before showing up.

Even the late night eating (the other night I overate), I ordered HALF of what I would when I binged.

I like to think the sense of calmness on most days is progress. Even with the regain.

So, I'm not stressing overly.

I am taking a different tack until I can see the doc (it's too coincidental that I feel off when we're trying a new combo, which I researched after and found was LESS strong than the original one, though should be better absorbed.)

I have watched with good cheer and interest, Lyn of Escape From Obesity's progress on MediFast. (She has a coupon code for those wanting to use the plan. See her blog  post on the MediFast winners.)

I can't do that--first, saw too many reviews of the horrible taste of the stuff and, second, too much soy. I am not euthyroid, and I don't want to take in THAT much soy every day and then have to worry about rejiggering my medication all the time. Nothing worse than unstable thyroid levels when you're hypothyroid. Sucks bigtime. And makes losing weight virtually impossible for me when I"m out of my limited "happy range."

And I wondered about all the folks who have seen our Lyn do so well and want to try something like Medifast, but without soy or with LESS soy. Who worry about soy or are just sensitive or allergic to it. What are their/my options?

So, I did googling. hahah.

Then, I ordered stuff from Diet Direct. Stuff related to WONDERSLIM (though I'm not doing the plan.) I heard about Wonderslim from two sources within one week: 3FatChicks.com's forum and Impatient Dieter. And I saw that soy sensitive folks have used it as an alternative to MediFast (though MediFast seems to work better, it tastes worse and is more expenseive). Trade-offs for people to research.

I am not doing "the program". I simply feel too draggy and demotivated by that dragginess to want to shop/cook/plan, etc. I want simple stuff here that is high-protein, low-to-medium carb, easy to fix, so I don't have to think about food some days (or several days in a row). So, that's my rationale--just holding on and maybe make some progress until we fix me up medication-wise.

BUT..you can use the Diet Direct WONDERSLIM stuff for your "cheaper and tastier alternative to Medifast" regimen if you choose. Others have done it (check 3FatChicks forum to see). You can read up on both plans and see how to work it. In truth, if you have the patience and bucks, you can order stuff from both and see which flavors you can handle before you choose a plan.

For those following Impatient Dieter--who used a regimen of 7 Wonderslim shakes of 100 calories each and two lean/green meals a day of 250 calories each with full fat dressing to lose an astounding amount of weight FAST--and who were curious to try that regimen, I'll happily post reviews of the drinks and meal equivalents for you.

WonderSlim has some soy items, so you do need to read ingredients and decide how much you think you can handle. The shakes and drinks are not soy-based. They are whey-based. You can read nutritional info on their products here: WONDERSLIM

From what I understand, MediFast has more fiber and probably a higher nutritional profile than WonderSlim. It has fewer carbs in its entress. (WonderSlim offers some pasta dish options). WonderSlim's oatmeal is supposed to taste LIKE OATMEAL, unlike the MF weird one. The shakes are supposed to be tastier and without aftertaste like MF. BUT..the WS stuff uses in many cases aspartame. So, some folks don't do that.

So, I do recommend you compare ingredients and carbs, etc, and also if you do WS, to get a fiber supplement. Not a biggie, really. Everyone should review ingredients in what they eat, anyway.

QUICKIE REVIEW: I had the protein WS Hot Cakes for breakfast with two eggs with cheddar and some Almond Breeze. (All stuff I still had at home and easy to prepare). (I'll revise this post with a pic when I upload and rescale. I'm feeling draggy, remember?)

Lots of protein!

The hot cakes would not be confused with regular pancakes, but I found them pleasant--nicely vanilla-ey and with some sugar-free syrup and cinnamon sprinkled on top, satisfying. (One packet makes 3 very small hot cakes. Cute, too.) Don't overcook. Easy to prepare.  Add 1/4 cup water to one packet, stir, let stand for 1 minute (it thickens and becomes frothy), scoop onto pan that's been preheated low-medium heat. I spritzed Pam for the "greasing". I added a tiny dollop of Smart Balance over each pancake (like a pea sized drop) for some healthy fat.

SparkPeople's Nutrition Tracker lists my breakfast as 491 cals,  27g carbs, 35g protein.

It's now 4 hours since I ate--yeah, yeah, I'm not eating every 2 hours, that's up to you if you do the whole plan, which I'm NOT doing--and I"m not remotely hungry, but plan to eat anyway to keep me from GETTING to the point of hunger.

This is not CLEAN EATING. You see that, right? :) It's not "wholesome" eating.

MediFast and WonderSlim are what I call Frankenfood Diets (although others define it differently)--foods that are not what nature makes or near-natural. Processed, reconfigured, "isolated" this, added vitamins, removed THAT, preservatives, all sorts of stuff in there that's hard to pronounce. If you prefer to stay close to nature--as I generally do, but man, I'm zapped right now and justt balk at the idea of toting bags full of produce and proteins home and chopping and cooking... aaaaaarrrgggghhh-- this is not for you.

If you can get tired of flavors easily, this is not for you. Shakes and drinks have limited flavors , there's lots of chocolate , sure. Most of the entrees seem to be similar in spice structure. But your lean meal can be whatever you want that fits the parameters, so make that one happy for your mouth. Lyn has great recipes. See her site for that. Make the most of your REAL FOOD. (I have some frozen asparagus, some fresh Spinach and zucchini, but no meat or poultry at home right now. Dang.)

I plan to add stuff I have in my pantry to use them up, like my nice FiberGourmet high-fiber, lower-carb version of pasta. I like the fiber in that and the texture. I have many soups that I can easily heat up (most are veggie-based). I have frozen Diet-To-Go suppers that can fill in a pinch (though not low-carb, they're vegetarian and lowfat).

I didn't want to ditch the challenge, though exercising is really hard--and I have been tempted to cancel Pilates, but dammit, I refuse to give in THAT much!

If anyone has tried a MediFast alternative (for folks who can't afford/don't like taste of/can't do all soy), please post a link to any post you've done so others can see the resources you have. I don't mean SPAM or PR. I mean YOU use it and it works well for you.

If you've used WonderSlim, do you blog about it? Please comment and link.

If you've done Medifast and found a way to construct your own using more accessible ingredients from your supermarket/health food store--post and link.

So, right now, I was up 4 lbs from last weigh-in, then today down a bit, but still up 3 lbs. Let's see what next weigh-in brings.

On the plus side my natural hair journey has yielded nice results. Here is hair on Saturday on way to one of those carby family gatherings:

Happy week to you all.

WONDERSLIM / DIET DIRECT NOTE: If you spend more than $79, shipping is free. Spend 99 bucks, get 10% automatically off. I got my stuff  IN FIVE DAYS via FedEx, and would have gotten it sooner, but I ordered on a Saturday night.

Legal Note: I did not get any free products (other than usual few samples added to orders). I bought these products on my own dime and my review is my own. I am NOT at this time an affiliate. I am considering becoming one, and it depends on if I enjoy the products.

ETA: Okay, as of Thursday afternoon, I am an affiliate. Just  updating.
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ETA: Okay, so I just changed my mind and emailed them to remove me as an affiliate. I feel dumb. hah.

The Sleep Factor, Confirmed Yet Again and Today's Food

I think a couple of times in the past three years, I've posted about how I do better on the scale when I sleep well and sufficiently (ie, 8+ hours). I find that the combination of morbid obesity and peri-and-menopause had caused me to have BAD SLEEP, when prior to this combo, I tended to sleep easily and well. Not so the last couple years. Sleep apnea and hormonal chaos really did a job on my ability to sleep deeply and adequately and, really, at any time. I used to be able to nap like a cat--at will.

But I had a lovely catch-up on lost sleep and the scale was nice for a peek weigh-in: 261.0   New low...again.

I hope I can somehow get my sleep back on track, but that usually means back to "vampire time" (ie sleeping days, awake nights), but I don't want to do that. I'm struggling to stay on daylight hours, but this makes life so much easier, if not Zs.

I had breakfast of pomodoro omelette (Diet To Go version), which is a high protein egg mixture firmly cooked with a creamy spinach and marinara sort of sauce combo with some asparagus on side. I cooked up a bunch of spinach with EVOO to up my veggie count and had some coconut water and coffee. Oh, and a slice of rye toast with Smart Balance spread. I had three pieces of avocado sushi with wasabi and pickled ginger for a snack.

For my next meal, I ordered vegetable pad thai with steamed veggies side order (cabbage, carrots, pea pods broccoli, squash). Hubby wanted cashew chicken (which he ate for early supper), and my pad thai is waiting for nuking when I'm hungry.

Fat to Fit Blog Hop Thursday: Journaling In Better Nutrition...can get tricky!

As my regular readers know, I got back to Sparking, which include using the SparkPeople Nutrition Tracker (a lovely online tool for food journaling). I have found it really useful, not just to track food, but to track holes in my nutrition, since it tells you as you enter your meals how you are stacking up not just in carbs/proteins/fats, but in assorted nutrients (and you can customize).

As a middle-aged, post-menopausal woman, I wanna know that I'm getting  enough calcium and vitamin D. And I wouldn't have realized I'm chronically deficient in zinc, folate, B-12, and potassium had I not sparked. (I can't eat shellfish/seafood, and I won't eat organ meats, and I limit my nuts/seeds for caloric reasons,  so I tend to have issues with areas where those are the major suppliers of particular nutrients.)

Thanks to Sparking that journal, I have been able to target my supplement intake to what I need, not just shove some in my mouth "just in case." I love doing the report after supper and seeing where I need to boost nutrients--and am most happy when I meet goals in most categories. But knowing where the holes are lets me know if I need a B-complex or just a B-12 dot, if I need to have more romaine or spinach, if I should add a beef dish, if I need to pop a Citrical-D max.  I do find that I have to take zinc. Period. I have almost never ever made my zinc nutrient RDA, so, yeah, I take liquid ionic zinc. It tastes truly hideous, but I do it, cause I suspect at the bottom of my chronic skin and thinning hair issues may be this chronic zinc deficiency.

Because I was low on potassium yesterday (I usually am, and most Americans usually are), I had some banana with dinner and coconut water with lunch on Wednesday. This morning, I added a banana-skim-milk-raw-cocoa-powder smoothie to breakfast to get magnesium/calcium/D/potassium (all nutrients that a lot of people fall short of, including me if I'm not careful with meal planning).

So, what is the tricky part in the subject header?

Well, no nutrition tracker that I've ever used is comprehensive for all users. If you buy stuff ready-made, you better have the ability to deconstruct that chicken salad or beef stew or whatever it is you bought to get the components (unless someone posts a generic you just go with).

Today, breakfast is a delivery meal from Diet-To-Go that I'm using to get me through the first few weeks of the Summer Slimmin' Challenge. (See badge on top of my sidebar for info).  While the Diet-To-Go site has some nutritional info, it doesn't give it for the major nutrients (just the "top label" ones, fat, sodium, carbs, protein, calories). It doesn't give me the nutrients in my Eggs Florentine with soy sausage and asparagus, which, given there's spinach, milk, and eggs in there, should be nice. I know it's high protein (44 grams) and low-carb (6, and hence me having the banana, heh, cause I didn't have toast), but not how much of vitamins, minerals, etc.

That diminishes the usefulness of my journaling (in terms of health), although I still will know the calories and major categories that most dieters care about.

Still, I want to know that I had enough folate or B-12 or magnesium. It matters to me.

So, the convenience of diet delivery meals makes for inconvenient food tracking. Hey, Diet-to-Go! Make it easy for Sparkers who use your food. Give us the lowdown. BETTER YET: Contact SparkPeople, you Diet-To-Go administrators,  and give them your meal titles/info and side dishes and the comprehensive nutrient breakdown, so that these can be added to the food database there. Who knows? You might get a lot more subscribers through that huge online community (of millions of fatfighters!)

Anyway, visit other blogging fatfighters/health-seekers in the Fat to Fit Blog Hop:

Go ye and hydrate, move, laugh, and lose!

Happy fatfighting this Thursday!

Starting Weigh-In for SUMMER SLIMMIN' Challenge, Goals, and Preparatory Actions...

Got on the scale to document my starting weight for the Summer Slimmin' Challenge. (You still can join, so click on that badge to the left at the top of my sidebar.)

And here is the kick-off poundage:

267.6

I can see the crap I had Saturday--chorizo tapas, rolls with cheese butter, fried chicken, fried green plantains--took its toll. It was a lollapalooza of bad choices at a mediocre restaurant. That's 1.6 lbs up from last time I weighed.

My goal for how many pounds I wanna lose by August 6: 17.6

That should take me to 250, a weight I haven't been at since, like 2001--I'd have to check old records, but I know I was 254 after my appendectomy, and I had lost some weight, so I'm assuming I was 250 the year before (as I tended to gain about 10 pounds a year, give or take, and by 2003 I was 266.)

Well okay, so I started off fine this AM with a breakfast nearly half my usual breakfasty caloric level: 437

I'm aiming for 1800 a day the first week, 1700 the second, and then 1600 for the remainer of the challenge.

If I feel too hungry at the lower level of 1600, I'll let myself move up again to 1700 and then 1800, the latter being where I want to set the upper bar. I haven't been able to eat that few calories consistently for two months at a time in years and years, and I could NEVER keep it up, so let's see what the challenge can do to my mindset. If I am to sustain a lower weight--and my goal is to get to 175 one day--then I have to learn to eat less. I am hopeful. Ever hopeful.

One of the things I learned in the last couple weeks is that 2300 calories more or less is maintenance for me. I had weigh-ins that never moved more than a pound up or down on days I tracked my calories at around 2300.

So, if I eat more I will gain (and when I don't restrain myself, I naturally gravitate to eating about 4000 to 4500 calories, and yes, that's how you get to 300 lbs, peops!) So, if I eat 1800, that's 500 less than maintenance. Times 7 days means I will lose at least a pound  week--add in the water losses that come with dieting and I might make 2 lbs a week. Add in more exercise and I might make it to 3 lbs a week. Hence, I aim for the middlish ground, 2 lbs per week.

So, here's to getting to a size 22 by August 6 (or at least that's my estimate. I'm a bit snug in 24, and sometimes loose in 26 and sometimes perfect, so it seems to me that 17.6 lbs off should take me down to a 22 with some comfort in the fit, yes? At my highest I wore a 30/32, so this will be a nice change.

Other goals:

~~to blog daily and be accountable to my challenge-mates and readers

~~to post encouragement to other challenge participants (at least two a day)

~~to drink 8+ glasses of water (fruit essenced or plain)

~~to add 20 mins of exercise on non-Pilates days (I normally do an hour of trainer-supervised Pilates 2x a week), meaning pop in a DVD and do it or dance around the living room or march in place or whatever. Just move my butt for 20 mins on 3 other non-Pilates days for a total of 5 days with exercise.

~~to eat at least 6 fruits /veggies a day (the challenge only asks for a minimum of 5, but I want to set a wee bit higher bar for myself)

~~to eat/cook/prepare most of my meals at home (not to be tempted in restaurants, with the exceptions being, certainly, my anniversary on the 11th and my husband's birthday on the 26th)

~~to be more scrupulous with my food tracking/journaling. I am going to do it at Sparkpeople (where I have only been sporadic and non-comprehensive). My aim is to document EVERY SPECK of food or beverage that goes into my mouth and down to my tummy.

~~to blog my weigh-in on Sundays (although I may weigh-in for my own purposes more often.

I already requested delivery of vegetarian meals (I'll receive it sometime next Thursday) in order to simplify the caloric-watch for a few weeks, then I'll begin making my meals myself. I want someone else to portion it for me, as I really tend to just go nuts with portions. 3 to 4 weeks of pre-portioned meals should help get me in the mindset of "this much is the correct amount".

After that, I will weigh/measure at home to keep things calorically tidy.

Since the meal delivery won't start for several days, I will be shopping today to restock on fresh produce, skim milk, lowfat cheese, and whatever I need to make healthful meals for me and hubby until I get my pre-portioned vegetarian lowfat meals. I am going to make my shopping list as soon as I get off blogging this.

Z of Bottomless blog, who is hosting the challenge and created our cool badges, has already done her challenge-friendly shopping. Go see.

I will happily accept any encouraging remarks and rah-rahs to keep me on target. And I hope I can encourage you, too. It's a long haul and a tough fight, so let's be pillars for each other.

Let's do it! Onward and DOWNward!

Other measures to track for the challenge:
starting waist: 44.5
starting hips:   54.5

And again, I Step on the Scale After a Week of Delivery Meals, some Raw Food meals, and some cheating snacks...

Better news this time: 3 lbs down and back firmly in the 260's in last two weigh-ins this week. It was really a shock to have seen that higher number last week.

So, the ShapeLovers meals, combined with some raw food meals--and I won't deny it, some extra snacks, some not diet-friendly (Godiva chocolate, Holey Donuts)--helped. The Shapelovers meals have been generally very tasty, a few coming close to "mom's old cooking" flavors (ie, Cuban food). The salisbury steak, though, was hideous beyond words. I threw both mine and my hubby's serving away. Horrible. But the chicken fricasse and the tortellini in a creamy sage were great, as was the very low calorie Aloha Coconut dessert (like a coconut flan with some pineapple bits, sugar free and  yumsy). It's nice not cooking and having some low-cal, low-fat, low-salt meals handy (soup, entree, side, dessert). If you sign up for it, just totally skip the turkey meatballs and salisbury steak. gross....

Raw foods from Veggiemunn: The corn chowder was really, really good. I may even like it better than my previous "raw corn soup" fave from them, the corn and leek. The pear and watercress was too fibrous for my taste, but the flavor itself was quite nice. The unstir fry had good flavor, but I got crazy gas from all that raw cabbage. :P  The zucchini pasta alfredo was okay. Something about the zucchini has been less than stellar the last two weeks (ie, texture wise, not tastewise. I like it really firm to sub for pasta).

I'm considering another order from Glaser Organics--I love their nut butters, spinach pesto, hummus, and fresh coconut water. Their raw pies are yum, too, but I'm not ordering any, preferring to rely on fresh fruit.

I did order a lot of citrus from Cushman's, so I can have a nice orange or ruby red grapefruit with breakfast. The tangerines locally have been lovely and are amazing juiced.

I have had pizza cravings, but haven't ordered any. I think I'm gonna get me some whole grain pita and just make one at home with part-skim mozza and marinara and some mushrooms.

I really don't feel like cooking or food shopping (hence the healthier delivery options), but I need to get back making some meals. I can only really successfully lose when I plan and control my own meals and snacks according to my own eating desires (not some pre-made menu's).

Hope everyone out there is happy and getting healthier and finding ways to meet health goals. I'm still fumbling, but at least the scale is moving properly downwards, making up still for eating booboos that had me regaining...

School Lunches; Jamie Oliver and Chicken Nuggets; Weight Loss Shows; Shapelovers again, and Strawberries galore; Five Fruit Frenzy at Jamba Juice

Easter Sunday I was over at my big bro's home. He has two grandkids and I got a look at the elementary school lunch menu. It was taped to the fridge and smack in front of my face as I stored the extra chicken satay.

What crap we feed our kids. How come taxpayer dollars go to feed kids fattening, unhealthful crap? Chicken nuggets. Meat pizza (I'm guessing NOT on a whole grain crust or with low-fat cheese). Hot dogs (omigod). Corn Dogs (doubleomigod).

A quick google got this article with this summary of research findings regarding obesity and these crap school lunches:

Research presented this past weekend at a meeting of the Annual College of Cardiology determined that kids who eat lunches served by their schools are almost 60 percent more likely to be overweight or obese when compared to children who bring their lunch from home. The survey of nearly 1,300 Michigan-based sixth graders, taken over three years, also found that school lunch eaters ate more fat-intensive meats and sugar, as well as fewer vegetables than their counterparts—which contributed to them showing elevated levels of bad cholesterol in their bloodstreams.

If I were Empress of the US, school lunches would be the epitome of healthful, balanced eating to give kids a great start and energy to get through their studies. Whole grains. Nothing fried. No caffeine. Nothing with sugar (except for rare treats on a holiday times or other special occasions). No sugar-laden chocolate milk, for sure. No sodas--diet or otherwise. No junk chips (unless baked and low-salt and ideally made from something that has fiber). Fruit cups would have no added sugar. Certainly no hot dogs would be featured. Egads.

I know, they'll say this: kids won't eat healthful stuff.

Guess what? Tough patooties. Give parents before school starts an idea of a menu and what items are included. "If your child has not been trained at home to eat these foods, then please pack as suitable brown bag or bento or boxed lunch for them each day."

I figure it's up to parents to train kids to eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, etc. If they don't, then make lunch. I, as a taxpayer, don't wanna finance the ticking time bomb that is obesity and diabetes. I am a product of this junk food lunch system training kids to want and like more and more crap. (I remember grilled cheese sandwiches DRiPPING with margarine, fatty meat pizzas, oily fried chicken, sloppy joes on white buns, oily fries, huge-sized cookies.) Funny, cause at home we got rice, beans, salad with avocado and olive oil, and things that were far less damaging than what schools gave.

So, today, I caught Jamie Oliver on The Doctors (where I got a look at a liver and a heart that probably look like mine, given I'm obese. Ick.) He was showing kids how gross chicken nuggets can be made. It was vile. But when he fried them up and asked which of the kids would eat them, all of them raised their hands. Even after seeing the globs of fat and goo that went into the nuggets, they'd eat 'em. Hah. Jamie was shocked.

They also showed the crazy amounts of salt and sugar in kid's lunch meals. One could weep.

I really am amazed parents tolerate those menus. Corn dogs. CORN DOGS???

Insane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I caught a couple episodes of LOST IT! on Discovery Health channel. I wanted to see if the stories could up my mojo factor. It's always nice to see folks get it off and feel happier and healthier. One lady did WW. One did Jenny Craig. One guy did hypnosis tapes, which actually looked maybe interesting.

I'm not feeling all that motivated, but I did feel a tad more hopeful watching. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gotta admit that the Shapelover meals this week have been very good. Their food is tastier than when I first tried them more than a year ago (for a brief while). Very tasty. Yesterday, I had the Normandy Beef consomme, and while it wasn't so much consommeish (it had thick veggies in there), it was really delicious and hearty.

Hubby really liked his pork fricasse with carrots that I served him with the mashed new potatoes that came with my blue cheese beef dish. Today, for lunch, I had a pesto beef lasagna for lunch that was excellent, if a tad tad tad salty (prolly the cheese sprinkled on top was to blame for that). It came with a tomato basil onion salad that had a lovely balsamic/basil flavor. The chocolate berry dessert was so good for 70 calories. Mmm.

Been eating a lot of strawberries, too. The harvest right now is huge from Central Florida, so prices are low and berries are sweet. :D  I hope you check for them when you go shopping this week. Good for ya!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hubby went to get some home repair stuff, and I asked him to pick me up some carrot juice and the new Five Fruit Frenzy smoothie that Jamba Juice has been highlighting as having "five servings of fruit in a 16 oz serving." I asked for the smaller size (in case I'm not wild about it, anyway). It's got strawberries, blueberries, banana, mango, peaches--ye five fruits there--mixed in peach juice, berry juice with ice.  I'm a sucker for mango, so I hope this is numsy.

If ya wanna try it, get a dollar off with a printable coupon until 4/10.

Alive, but not kicking so much...but WANTING to kick. :)

It's been more than two months since I checked in. Whoa. Okay, so...

I've been a slug. Haven't done much of anything I should be doing. Won't go into the whys and wherefores, other than to say I'm having a bit of a midlife event. Hitting the big FIVE OH was more trying than I expected. Even though my birthday celebration and the weeks before and after had some good times (great Valentine's Day, happy party, days off enjoyed with hubby), I still have felt the burden of that number and all it entails in the negative. Yes, I'm not seeing the half-full cup. I'm seeing a cup dribbling out water through cracks caused by time...

Urp. Enough.

So, I got on the scale a few days ago and I had sliipped back into the 270s (271.4). I know a chunk was bloat, so I reweighed today and I was 268.8. But that's still a regain from where I was holding in the lower part of the 260's.

I'm not feeling it. I hate that it takes so much to just get motivated to POST something.

I am having some healthful meals and some not so, but I am making an effort to have more calorie-conscious ones. Here's an example:

This was lunch some days ago (after weighing in high and scaring myself). Clockwise from upper left glass: Coconut water (chilled) to debloat. Mandarin orange cream (a sort of  cross between rice pudding and vanilla yogurt with some orange puree on top, sugar-free and low-cal. Pumpkin spice soup (very low cal). On plate: peas and carrots, basil mashed potatoes, chicken breast in a low-cal creamy lemon sauce (I added more lemon juice). And finally, raspberries and cantaloupe (fresh). All told, it was like 600 calories, little fat, lots of potassium, vitamins, minerals, and some decent fiber. Plus treats for my sweet-tooth.

The meal came from Shapelovers (except the fruit and coconut water). Yesterday, I had their three-cheese spinach lasagna. Today I had a chunky split pea soup (double portion) that came with today's entree (chicken and rice, california medley veggies, mamey flan--which is so nice). Tomorrow, it's Beef Tenderloin in blue cheese sauce. You can see the weekly menu (this week, click to see next week) here.

I notice that tomorrow's dessert is 68 calories. Hm.

I haven't stuck perfectly to their program (no surprise), but it has helped to start putting a curb on the out-of-control chocolate and fast-food fest that got me back in the 270's temporarily. They deliver at 10:30 in the AM roughly, so it forces me to get up early (which I've wanted to do to get more sunlight to improve my mood issues, maybe, cause being on "vampire time" was NOT helping. I never saw the sun hardly, except on my Pilates session days.)

It's amazing to think that come June 30, I will have faithfully doing my Pilates for TWO YEARS. Shoot. That's worth a party. :)

I intend to start Sparking again. I don't feel like it, but I NEED to.

I hate demotivated me. I really do.

Anyway, I also ordered half a dozen electronica/dance/energetic music cds to try and get me up and going. I'm getting desperate to lose this funk. If you're curious what I got, I'll post again about the music. Let me know what music gets you going. Or what else gets you going. Cause I just wanna nap all da time.

VeggieMunn Meal #4--yummy kale and tasty lentils

This time I'm reporting on these:

o Lentil salad - mixed baby greens, sprouted lentils, onion, parsnip, bell pepper, orange, tahini, lemon, Nama shoyu, parsley, thyme
o Mediterranean Kale Salad - kale, red bell pepper, black olives, lemon, cold pressed olive oil, sea salt, black pepper

Both very good. I enjoyed them. The raw lentils had a nice chewy texture and the spicing reminded me of tabboule, which I love. The kale was very fresh and delicious, the olives were super, and the red pepper still crisp four days. I have to admit that though it was fine as dressed, I wanted a stronger flavor, so I used some of Annie's Organic Goddess dressing (a vegan, though not raw, dressing). My fave bottled dressing.

I didn't feel like soup or dessert.

Now, I'm craving more kale salad. :)

~

VEGGIEMUNN Meal #3 Review

Not much to report on the food today. I had my second serving of Pasta Primavera, as this was the entree on which I doubled up. It's the one I enjoyed so much the first day and, yes, enjoyed similarly today). I'd happily have this every week. It remained nice and fresh though it's been in the fridge since Monday.

I had another citrus salad with it (like day one). Again, nothing special.

The new thing I tried was the fruit soup. This one was composed of juice and pulp from honeydew melon, apples, bananas, nectarines, and valencia oranges.

Verdict: Refreshing and nice, a good thing to have after a tough workout, as it's hydrating, sweet, and relaxing. Basically, a runny smoothie in a bowl. :) Makes eating it slower and slurping through a straw, which I guess is not a bad thing, right? A slowing down at day's ending.

Did you have your fruits and veggies today? At least five servings, but better to have 7 and more. Did ya?

~

Review Of Second VEGGIEMUNN Meal

This combo that I had for lunch today included:

o Orange/Fennel Soup - orange, fennel, walnuts, garlic, sea salt, pepper
o Thai Green papaya salad - green papaya, carrots, fresh basil, fresh mint, fresh parsley, lemon, chili pepper, cashews, sesame oil, sesame seeds, sea salt
o Choco piña colada on a stick - pineapple, agave nectar, coconut butter, cacao powder

This was like a sandwich with great bread and disappointing main filler. By that I mean great ends and a bummer middle.

The soup was deliciously refreshing--the brightness of citrus with the savoriness of the garlic and the fennel notes blended to make a chilled soup reminiscent of the freshness of gazpacho, but with a lighter touch. Gazpacho's girlier little sister, let's say. I liked it. (And I adore gazpacho, so it makes sense that anything that reminds me of gazpacho gets a pass.)

The salad, not so successful. I really expected a burst of flavor. In the past, I'd only had green papaya salad twice. It's a strong-flavored dish that really fills your mouth with citrus and some heat and some sweet and some salty and that amazing element of green papaya. This lacked the green papaya power, because it was mostly carrot. And the dressing was too tame to fill the bill. So, what it felt like to my taste buds was a pleasant, if bland, carrot salad. I tried to brush aside the carrot shreds and pick up just dressing, papaya strips and basil--and those couple of forkfuls were more promising. But the salad is just not successful. Green Papaya salad should have green papaya. I felt like I paid $5 for carrot shreds with some underseasoned dressing. Disappointing.

I didn't finish it. And when I went to put the rest away in the fridge, I dropped the container and the contents spilled on the kitchen floor. I didn't mind too much having to toss it, frankly.

Dessert was a nice improvement on the salad. The chocolate coating is very chocolatey and pleasing to this choco-lover. Not too sweet. The pineapple was good (could have been a bit sweeter/riper. I enjoyed this. I would mention that I am not a huge pineapple-with-choco fan. I prefer berries and banana for chocolate dipping. A frozen banana with this chocolate coating and some shredded coconut---mmm. I wish I'd had that. But after the sad salad, this definitely picked up my mood. And the serving was generous--two long cuts of pineapple. It could be divided into dessert for two meals.

Hope you guys had lovely, healthful eatings today!

Now, I can't wait for my avocado sushi, pad thai, and salad with ginger dressing for supper. Hubby's picking it up. After that very light lunch, I need something substantial, and the noodles called to me. If you've never had avocado sushi--I recommend it heartily. So good, that avocado creaminess with pickled ginger, wasabi, and a dip of soy.

Review of First VEGGIEMUNN Raw Vegan Meal

Okay, got my delivery of 15 meal items plus two breads--all organic, vegan, and raw. John Munn, the partner of Mariela (the cook for VeggieMunn) came by. We chatted. Very personable guy.

I had this tonight:

o Savory Parsnip Soup - parsnip, cauliflower, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, cumin, cayenne pepper, onion, red bell pepper, pine nuts

o Pasta Primavera - zuchinni and or yellow squash, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, dehydrated vegetable blend, Italian seasoning, garlic, parsley

o Citrusy Fruit Salad - Valencia Oranges, grapefruit, grapes, apples, shredded coconut

o Onion Loaf - onions, buckwheat, nama shoyu, EVOO, flax seeds

The soup: Lovely color, spicy from the cayenne (maybe a scosh too spicy, I'd dial it back just a tiny, wee bit), but lacking something in "roundness." I think it may need a bit more acid--grapefruit or lime or more lemon juice. It has a nice sweet tone and the red pepper in it is pleasant (as well as adding to that pink color). So, a bit more acidity, a bit less cayenne, and some more herbs/savoriness would make this excellent. As is, decent, but forgettable.

The entree: Terrific! I love the fresh taste of the raw squash strings and the vegetable-herb sauce is really tasty. My suggestions: Add more of the flavorful sauce. The "noodles" are generous, so they need more sauce for a nicer balance. Also, the sundried tomatoes were hard. I'd maybe puree them or chop them more finely so they blend with the sauce. This one I'd have again, no question. Nice.

The onion bread: MMMmmmMMMmmmmMMMmmmm. I wish I'd ordered three or four of these. MMmmmmMMMmmm. So oniony!

Fruit salad: Pleasant, but not outstanding. Might benefit from some sort of nice accent sauce. The valencia oranges, the grapes, and the shredded coconut worked. The grapefruit was a bit too tart and the apple didn't seem to blend. I think a different fruit to apple would work better--just not sure which. Strawberries, perhaps? Papaya? Mango? Banana would work, but they turn brown fast.


So, two of tonight's offerings were quite, quite tasty and I'd have again. The other two were okay, but need ramping up to make them really zing.

Can't wait til tomorrow's lunch.

If you've tried VeggieMunn in South Florida, leave a comment with a link to your review. I'd like to see which entrees and desserts and such you would rate highly (as a reference for my future orders.)

Oh, and if you wanna see some pics of her food, visit her MySpace page where the main page has a slideshow instead of a member pic (upper left) or the pics page.

Hope you all had a lovely day. Let's sleep well and have a great Tuesday!

New Week, New Day--same old crappy sleep schedule

I'm trying (unsuccessfully so far) to switch back into daytime mode. I need to see the sun! I'm up early today, but that means I slept about 4 hours. Yoiks.

For a while, I've been getting up around 6 to 7pm (unless forced to cut back on sleep to get up earlier for some reason.) Which sucks. I see little of the daytime and am missing the cooler change in weather we've had (marginally cooler, but a noticeable change in season). Lack of sunlight is very bad for dieters and those prone to depression. We lose out on vitamin D, sure, but we also lose out on the energizing effect of that direct light, and the (so I hear) slight appetite suppressing effect, too.

I really need to stop being a vampiress!

So, new day. New hope.

Breakfast was my egg white greek omelette with tomato and fresh oregano, papaya chunks with lime juice, coconut water (unsweetened), coffee, water, and some crackers.

Pilates at 4pm. Starbucks for my post-exercise "skinny" latte at 5. And around 6pm, I should get my raw vegan cuisine items. I'll let you know if/what I like on the menu.

I hope you have a great day that brings you weight loss and improved health and a lot of smiles.

~

Very Veggie Food Deliveries A-Coming!

Since I'm still not 100% in the swing, I decided to have food delivered to me for a couple weeks.

Next week, for a few days, I'm going Raw Vegan with a delivery from VeggieMunn in South Florida (they deliver to Miami and Broward areas). Here's what I'll be getting (soup, entree, dessert, crackers for five meals--I doubled up on some items to make five servings)--

Organic Raw Vegan Soups:
o Corn Chowder - corn, avocado, cilantro, celery, almonds, sea salt, fresh black pepper
o Fruit Soup - (every week is a different version)
o Orange/Fennel Soup - orange, fennel, walnuts, garlic, sea salt, pepper
o Savory Parsnip Soup - parsnip, cauliflower, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, cumin, cayenne pepper, onion, red bell pepper, pine nuts


Organic Raw Vegan Entrées
o Lentil salad - mixed baby greens, sprouted lentils, onion, parsnip, bell pepper, orange, tahini, lemon, Nama shoyu, parsley, thyme
o Mediterranean Kale Salad - kale, red bell pepper, black olives, lemon, cold pressed olive oil, sea salt, black pepper
o Pasta Primavera - zuchinni and or yellow squash, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, dehydrated vegetable blend, Italian seasoning, garlic, parsley
o Thai Green papaya salad - green papaya, carrots, fresh basil, fresh mint, fresh parsley, lemon, chili pepper, cashews, sesame oil, sesame seeds, sea salt

Organic Raw Vegan Desserts:
o Banana Cream Pie - bananas, coconut oil, agave nectar, almonds, walnuts, dates, raisins
o Choco piña colada on a stick - pineapple, agave nectar, coconut butter, cacao powder
o Citrusy Fruit Salad - Valencia Oranges, grapefruit, grapes, apples, shredded coconut
o Peach cobbler - peaches, agave nectar, cinnamon, coconut butter, walnuts, almonds, dates, Brazil nuts

Organic Raw Vegan Dehydrated Extras :
o Onion Loaf - onions, buckwheat, nama shoyu, EVOO, flax seeds
o Spicy Flax Crackers - flax seeds, flax meal, bell pepper, onion, garlic, cayenne, sea salt

I'll receive those on Monday.

On Thursday, I will receive my five day's worth of Diet-To-Go meals, vegetarian menu. They have amazing good apple pancakes and soy sausage breakfasts, and I look forward to those like mad. I do a lot of substituting in breakfast and dinners (a bit of an extra charge for each change), cause I don't like their soy-based dinners and lunches (though I love a good bit of cold tofu with asian dip or grilled tofu teriyaki, but DTG's soy is gross). I'll be getting stuffed shells, bean burrito, tomato spinach melt, curried cous cous with creamed spinach, tomato veggie pie, black bean soup with soft pretzel and mandarin pudding, and...well, go see the Week 4 menu (vegetarian).

So, it's an expensive food delivery time the next couple weeks, but it'll let me know there's something healthful, produce-laden, and diet-friendly waiting for me in the fridge or freezer.

My mouth is a-watering!

~~

The Reformer...and Food Talk

Well, after two sessions with the Cadillac contraption, I finally got to use the Reformer:



I'm gonna be soooooooooooooo sore tomorrow. Liza continues to rock as a trainer. What patience, positivity, and compassion for this morbidly obese gal. I definitely recommend her to anyone wanting some Pilates exercise, but afraid to take the step. (If you live in South Florida, that is.)

It was a killer hour. Seriously, my inner thighs totally hate me right now.

But I got such a cool energy high. I was wobbly and tired and a little high from oxygenation (all that breathing!) and thought I'd totally collapse on the couch as I usually do after 5pm.

Nope. I put on my sneakers and washed hubby's car (waterless, eco-friendly car wash, btw). Lots of elbow grease, bending, huffing, puffing.

Now, I'm showered, clean, and feel exercise-virtuous. My eating went overboard with supper (I had a scone. A whole scone and not a small one either. It was ridiculously yummy and I was stupid not to eat just half or, better, a third). I did eat all ovo-lacto vegetarian today--still having raging salt and chocolate cravings, though-- and had lots of fruit (plums, mango, pineapple, orange, grapes). Not a total wash, but still disappointing in the calorie-restriction area.

Tomorrow is my organic food delivery, and I'm looking forward to those vegan dumplings for supper with sauteed baby bok choy. I'll have my Shape Lovers meal for lunch, which is the following:

FRICASSE DE CERDO
Bite size pork filet stuffed with apricot, curry, Parisian carrots and almonds

363 Calories, 18g Fat, 20g Carb., 35g Protein

ARROZ CANARIO
Delicious rice with peas, onions and black olives90 Calories, 2g Fat, 15g Carb., 2g Protein

SOPA MARAVILLOSA
Our lightest pureed soup with a variety of vegetables

34 Calories, 0g Fat, 7g Carb., 1g Protein

TRES LECHES
A divine sugar-free 3 milks creation

110 Calories, 3g Fat, 13g Carb., 3g Protein

Mmm. Good eating day ahead!

As you can see, the Shape Lovers meal is about 600 calories. My Vegan dumplings and bok choy will be about 500 once I add my fruit for dessert. So, if I can keep my breakfast and snacks (if any) to 500-700 calories, it will be a very good day for me. (Any day I'm under 2000 calories is a good day! Any day I'm at or under 1800 is a fabulous, throw-confetti day. Any day I'm at 1400-1600, it's time to call it a bona fide miracle and alert the Vatican.)

Review of my First Week of Shape Lovers Meal Delivery

Okay, so I've had most of my first week of one meal a day deliveries. My thoughts on this week's menu of Shape Lovers in South Florida?

The soups have been very, very good except for the tomato. Didn't like it. It didn't have a burst of tomatoey-ness, was quite watery, and had some oiliness in the taste. I'm a tomato-soup freak, so I was disappointed.

The other soups rocked! The orzo with meatballs was lovely. The Garbanzo Toledo soup was so good I was licking the bowl. No kidding. I could eat that every day! Yummy pea soup. Thumbs up on the soupies!

I don't do well with reheated poultry, so I've had some trouble with the chicken and, especially, the turkey. This is some sort of genetic weirdness that I share with my middle sister (and only found that out a couple years ago) and not with my other siblings. Middle sis and I gag at reheated poultry. Sometimes, with fresh poultry. It's an oddity.

Most of the time, I can eat chicken or turkey breast fine (not the dark meat, ugh). But occasionally, the funny taste makes me gag.

I had that problem with the turkey fricasse. Hubby did not. He enjoyed it. I did have the potatoes and carrots from the fricasse, and they were lovely--including the light version of Cuban fricasse sauce. But I couldn't eat the turkey.

The chicken napolitana only had the mild weirdness on reheating (I tried to only heat it to sufficient heat so as not to dry out or encourage that funky thing that bugs me). The stuffing was delicious! The curry sauce was nice, if a little skimpy. A couple more tablespoons of the sauce would have been perfect. But I was wild about the lite, veggie-cheese stuffing! Mmm.

The fajita chicken that substituted for the turkey loaf (I requested a substitution) had a nice flavoring (the spices/onion/pepper), but again, I have issues with chicken that's reheated.

The side dishes have been variable: the rice dishes have been adequate. Nothing wrong, but not outstanding. The platanitos dulces (Tuesday's side dish) was OUT OF THIS WORLD. Another bowl licker. I would have that any time. Ripe plantains pureed with some pineapple--sweet and perfect. Sadly, I didn't get the vianditas con almendra (the Wed side), I got sauteed veggies with garlic. They were fine, but the vianditas sounded much better. I guess subbing out of the turkey loaf meant I got a different veggie.

Desserts: Across the board fun! The mamey flan was really tasty and very light. The mousses are simple (really, they taste like a lite Cool Whip with flavorings/fruit). Which is fine. I like creamy. But I've enjoyed the small sweet end to the meals, every one of them was a treat, though I'd give the highest rating this week to the mamey flan.

I haven't had Friday's offerings yet, but I'll chime in again about next week's offerings, which includes a substitution for me on Monday of stuffed pork, as well as their Ropa Vieja on Wednesday (one of my fave Cuban dishes, a shredded beef thingie in tomatoey sauce with peppers and onions). I also have a Spanish Omelette as a sub for next week's turkey on Thursday. So, more variety, protein-wise.

Today, I'm due for a pasta dish and the soup is a light version of the national soup of Cuba--the ajiaco. Can't wait!

The result: I'm down nearly two pounds since Sunday. I would have done better had I not had a pizza feast yesterday. Yeah, I binged a bit. I get one meal delivered, and I make myself two out of my three daily meals, which means my choices can range from very good to crap, depending.

I still have some poundage to go to get back to where I was on the scale back when I went AWOL from this blog, but I'm getting there. One of the things that's a plus about Shape Lovers is that each morning delivery--the knock, the "Good morning to you" and the passing of the bag of goodies-- is a reminder: You're supposed to watch what you eat. Here's something to help you.

It's like a little heads up every day to pay attention. Some days, it works better than others, but considering I'd been on the way up and up and up in the last three months, it's nice to be going the other way: down.

Thanks to those of you fatfighters blogging with consistency and success. You gals and guys are my inspiration!

Shape Lovers in South Florida: Calorie-Controlled Meals

In an effort to get back on track--cause, really, I am just sooooo not feeling it--I just signed up for a different diet meals delivery service: Shape Lovers. The link will show you next week's menu.

It's only one meal a day I'll get(lunch or dinner, as I choose to use it), but it'll be balanced, with diet-friendly portions and calorie counts.

I know. Lazy Princess. Princess spending too much money!

I had to do something, folks.

I just have not felt like cooking lately.

I have not felt like weighing and measuring and being meticulous. I have circles under my eyes from sleeping poorly. My energy levels suck.

I had to do something.

And, yes, I don't want to be tempted to take the easy fat-chick route: gorge on easy delivery stuff like pizza and Chinese.

So, this is something to help me transition. I'll still make the easy meals: breakfast and lunch. Those are usually a snap: I keep 'em simple--soups, salads, oatmeal, eggs, whole grain English muffins, sandwiches, fresh fruits). Dinner tends to be my downfall. I always get loony with that last meal. If I binge, that's the one.

The food has a Latin flair, so that suits me. I grew up eating Cuban food, and I miss it. I consider it comfort food. It'll be nice to have the low-fat versions for a change. I hope they keep to my two restrictions: no ground turkey dishes (I gag at the stuff, seriously) and no seafood dishes. I have a really bad allergy to seafood, as in EMERGENCY ROOM bad. I have to carry around an epi-pen, just in case. I've had bad reactions twice--once for tuna, once for scallops. I learned my lesson.

I haven't had seafood in 10 1/2 years. (Argh!) I cannot begin to tell you how tough that is in Miami, given how much fabulous seafood there is down here and how many great restaurants that specialize in the beauties of the ocean.

It's torture.

I used to eat seafood at least twice a week. Whenever I ate out with hubby, it was generally seafood. Loved shrimp and scallops and corvina and red snapper and my trusty tuna fish lunches. Gosh, I miss the stuff! Especially since seafood is a big frined to the dieter, if it's cooked sanely, not fried or covered in cream sauces or dipped/soaking/slathered in butter.

Sniff. Boo hoo.

Anyway...

I'm hoping between slightly scaled down organic food delivery and this 5x-per-week, one-meal service that I can find my way back to the Major Fat-Fighting Mojo highway.

God, please just take about 3/4th's of my appetite away. That would help oodles. Thanks.

:)


Anyone out there used this service in South Florida? The Miami Herald ran an article some months back and that's how I heard about them. I might report back. Especially if it's tasty.

Oh, and did I mention each meal includes a sugar-free dessert? MmmmmMMMmmmmm. Soup, entree, side dish and...dessert! (I hear their version of mango cheesecake rocks. I hope they have that soon.)

Here's to yet another tool. The price will be worth it to me if it satisfies, especially if readjusting to diet portions kickstarts me in a good way.

I hold the hope. Every day.

Happy weekend to all!

Easter Challenge: Weigh In, Finally

Sorry, y'all. I haven't posted since the day before my birthday. Birthday week was nice. Lots of enjoyment.

Then not so great. Two words for not blogging: I'm sick.

I tried real hard not to catch the bug that got my hubby, which he picked up at work. Because I have a wonky immune system, I"m a freak about handwashing and avoiding crowds and nose-runny kids and such. I had managed to go 8 months without a case of bronchitis or sinusitis, which is miraculous for me.

But, try as I might by avoiding kissing and cuddling and sleeping most nights on the couch, it still got me. (My grocery delivery guy says lots of his customers are sick, too. Ah, well.)

Anyway, I overindulged birthday week and went up FIVE pounds in one week (combo of too many rich meals with desserts and, probably the biggest scale-upping culprit, too many salty foods), then I got to work getting back down and was doing okay until I got sick and wasn't able to cook and started wanting comfort foods. Yesterday, two fried items and chocolate cake. Yep. I'm ashamed. But I got my organic foods delivery just a few minutes ago, and I have some fresh fruit and nice greens to make up for yesterday's oral debauchery.

So, I'm in the same place as last weigh-in:

269.4

Lost ground recaptured, but no progress.

I hope this doesn't turn into bronchitis, which would mean many weeks ill and steroids (I don't even wanna get into what that does to my appetite and holding-of-water).

I gotta go spit up and get rid of some sinus gook.

Hope everyone is doing well. I expect to post not at all or spottily until I'm over this.

Be well. Be happy. And may God give y'all and me the strength and grace to stay on plan toward a healthier us.

Onward and Downward...

Still Fighting Dragons, Goblins, & Ogres

I edited the September Challenge post below to reflect Sunday.

Sunday was going well...most of the day, that is. I was eating really good stuff. No junk. Then, I missed my protein mix (between meals) and I went 6 hours without eating, and the hunger came hard.

Historical Note: Evenings have always been tough. Night binges have been numerous.

I spent 45 minutes of that 6 hour delay yesterday pondering what to eat to use my remaining 8 WW Points. I had planned to eat a light supper, because I wanted to be in bed by 10pm. But the hunger was bad, so I went through all the things I had in the house that I could have that would fill me up. Finally, I narrowed it down to oatmeal with berries or chili. The chili had 20 grams of fiber. The fiber about a fifth of that. So, I went with the Healthy Valley chili. Whole can, four points. I decided I'd add low-fat cheese to make it more proteiny (plus I hadn't had my calcium that day.) I added salsa for a flavor punch. I drank a diet orange soda I'd had sitting in the fridge for more than two months, cause I didn't want to use up points on a beverage. And water, natch.

Well, I waited after eating, but the raging was still there. (What is up with my appetite? I go six hours without eating and it goes insane. Geesh.)

So, having had little calcium that day, I figured if I was gonna bust my points, I'd do it with low-fat vanilla organic yogurt and get my live cultures and calcium.

That didn't do it. So, I went for fruit. Two points worth of cherries and grapes.

That didn't do it. So, I went for protein this time and had a low-carb, EAS protein bar.

All told, I went roughly 8 points over my limit.

Interestingly, I still ate about 25-35 points less than I used to on normal eat-it-up days when I didn't write it down or think about my choices. I didn't eat junk. I didn't eat high-salt. I didn't eat Taco Bell or pizza. I didn't order Chinese Take-out. I had low-fat, high-fiber, protein and calcium.

So, while I'm disappointed in my overall performance for the weekened (ie Friday through Sunday), I see that I still haven't controlled my schedule to quell the beast. My dragon appetite just cannot go 5 and 6 hours unfed. I can't miss meals. When I do that, bad things happen.

Acquiring new habits is tough.

But I am not throwing in the towel. HOw many times in the past at this point did I just stop showing up at WW meetings? Did I just stop writing down my food consumption? Did I just say, "Why bother?"

I know why I'm bothering. It's in the mirror. It's in the picture of me at my heaviest that I taped to my food journal's inside cover. Note that my heaviest wasn't that long ago (2004) and it wasn't that HIGH ago (18 to 19 pounds more than now). It would be too easy to regain. It's too easy. And I am not going back there. I may hover here for a while maintaining before I move down again, but I am not going back.

The fight is worth it.

And, boy, I can't wait until I get my high-fiber pasta delivered. It's delayed. Why does it take so long to make pasta? Anyway... All that fiber should be great for filling me up. And I adore marinara sauce with lots of garlic. I'm gonna start figuring out what's most filling for me and I MUST KEEP THAT IN THE HOUSE AND STOCKED AND READY.


The THIN COMMANDMENTS guy talks about how strategy is mightier than cravings. Strategy beats Overeating Ogres. Well, I'm paraphrasing.

More truth: I've been lazy. I haven't done enough.

One: I didn't make the WW veggie soup (which, when I was perfect on plan was the most filling, low-calorie option around the houe). I have to make it , pack it in tupperware, and have it there to nuke when the appetite beast roars.

Two: I also need to get me some fat free cheddar slices and low-cal bread, so I can make a fast 3 points sandwich to go with that soup when necessary. I hate fat-free cheese (I prefer the 50 calorie low-fat for toasted cheese), but it's a reality that I need that in my arsenal right now.

Three: I'm still not exercising regularly.

As I said. Lazy. Not enough.

But we are still in the fight. Amen!

Okay, that's my update.

I already have my food delivery for today: egg white frittata and oatmeal, chicken pita sandwich for lunch, beef paprika for supper. And I have my protein powder on the counter for between meals. I just need to make a shopping list for my "ward off hunger with minimal points" stuff. The soup fixings. The lite, hi-fiber bread. The fat-free slices. Some more low-fat stuff with BEANS.

Off I go to another day of fatfighting.

I hope your appetites on Sunday treated y'all better than me.

Be good to yourself. Eat an apple. Meditate for 10 minutes. Stretch. Drink your water.

HAPPY MONDAY! Onward and Downward!

Made it Through Yesterday's Cravings

Call me sleeping beauty:

I just woke up after sleeping for....wait for it....

THIRTEEN HOURS

I've been trying to reset my schedule from nite owl to day sparrow.

My normal rhythm is nite owl. Even as a kid, I was never a morning person. But my sister's birthday is Saturday, and we want to do stuff with her, so here I am, waking up at an hour when I usually go to bed.

It was a bit complicated doing it (took days of finagling with my sleep schedule). Let's see how long I can keep it up. I'm hoping a long time. I'm hoping through Christmas.

I can hope big. :)

To update from my last entry:

I calmed down considerably yesterday after I posted about the snack attack. The second breakfast helped ENORMOUSLY. For lunch, I had a low-fat, high-fiber burrito (delivered from a healthful food delivery service), and the combination of oatmeal in the second breakfast and black beans and brown rice in the lunch totally calmed down my appetite. I even had enough calories in the day to enjoy a nice low-fat, no sugar tiramisu that was FABULOUS and felt completely like a decadent treat.

I stayed so full from the combination of fiberful meals that I didn't get hungry enough to have supper. So, I didn't. Totally skipped the baked chicken parmesan with asparagus and broccoli that was my dinner meal from the delivery service. And I had the calories to spare for it. (It was only like 300 calories).

I'll be taking my meds now and going to do bathroomy grooming stuff, then I'll weigh-in.

My only regret was not exercising at all yesterday.

But, hey, one battle won.

And special thanks to Lady T for the prayer and good wishes and to Chubby Chick for the kind comments. Hope today is fabulous for us all.

(And a second hug to Chubby Chick, who is having a hard day. I'll be praying for peace to sweep over you.)

~

GOBBLING GOBLIN: ACK! WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Did the evil fairy whack me into a Gobbling Goblin? I think so.

I've been continuing the unbalanced road. My nose in craft books, my fingers on keyboard, my butt in chair, reading and writing, reading and plotting, plotting and outlining, outlining and writing some more. And tackling the DREADED SYNOPSIS (preliminary, anyway.)

Meantime, my mouth has been on a rampage.

The damage done: Got on the scale today and it's...

286

After a bit of wailing, hair pulling, and self-denigration.

I checked the blog and, geesh, I've not only been missing in action, I've been in another dimension altogether. I kid you not. It did not FEEL like this long.

Okay, so, I'm taking some action. Clearly, good intentions aren't doing it and until I get the novel finished, my life will be unbalanced and screwy and I have to work around it.

1. I just went to amazon.com and ordered some motivational books for
dieters.

2. I'm gonna put sticky notes all
over the bathroom mirror and in front of the computer monitor--two
places I can't avoid. (Anyone have suggestions on some good affirmations?
Pick-me ups? Motivational quotes?)

3. Shop for a bunch of
healthy stuff. (ie, pack the fridge and pantry with what I need, which
I haven't been doing. I have had the Diet-To-Go delivery, but I still was
ordering take-out for dinner with hubby, and then I ended up eating stuff with
him like lasagna and pizza and Chinese food, etc. This has sabotaged the calorie
controlled portions DTG sent me. And this meant my fridge accumulated food over
the last three weeks, and has no room for anything else. At least I'm stocked
with vegetarian fare.)

4. I'm gonna stack some exercise tapes
right at my desk and put the weights where I can't miss them.

Any other suggestions?

It would have to be pretty simple stuff, cause if I have to THINK about it, I will shunt it aside. Right now, writing my novel is priority 1. But I don't want to lose ALL MY PROGRESS, and I'd like to lose a nice amount by Christmas.

For all you FatFighters out there, I dropped the sword. The Gobbling Goblins possessed me.

But the exorcism is on!