Summer Slimmin' Check-in Week 7: Damage Repaired, Momentum Back

Whew. Adding extra protein mini-meals worked. the 4 pounds I had regained during the "Carb-Wild Week of Family Festivities and Pizza Pig-Out" are bye-bye:

259.6

I wasted SS Challenge time when I lost my way, but I find my appetite is calmer adding those protein snacks (the pudding shake, oatmeal especially, since they're easy to make and eat, so no hassle for me).

I have not been eating at lower calorie levels I'd wanted. I'm eating at about 2000 calories average. My goal this week is to keep it under 1900 and to keep up the nutrition tracking and water (which I had totally slacked off on).

So, this has been the challenge progress (and backsliding):

Starting Weight: 267.6
End of week 1= 265.6
End of week 2= 263.2
End of week 3=264.8
End of week 4= 262.6
End of week 5: 259.6
End of week 6: 263.8
End of week 7: 259.6


So, basically I lost two weeks, cause I'm back to where I was at the end of week 5.  There's only  TWELVE DAYS left in the challenge, I don't see making my goal of 250. But I'm still hanging in and seeing that number as my objective. :)

I did get some help with my water intake in the last couple days when I went and got some cucumbers (Kirby's), fresh mint, and limes, and I added all that to a container and chilled in the fridge for a few hours. It was amazing. If you like Persian mast o' khiar salads (the minty cucumber yogurt salad you get as an appetizer at Persian restaurants), and I'm wild about the stuff, this tastes like it (sans yogurt). Love it. So refreshing this crazy hot summer.

Anyway, more reviews on the WonderSlim (alternate Medifast sorta) I tried along with my regular foods:

Oatmeal: Ya know, there were sooo many reviews about how much better this was than MediFast oatmeal, so like real oatmeal, five-star reviews, that I'm thinking that MediFast oatmeal must be incredibly awful, cause this was passable. Now, if I had been eating the world's ickiest oatmeal and had this, I'd give it 5 stars, too, I guess. I had the apple n cinnamon. It did have a nice apple and cinnamon taste and the rolled oats were REAL and so the texture was nice (if not overcooked, like my first batch. Use less time than the directions and increase as needed). But like so many of the higher protein, lower calorie diet stuff I've tried over the years, there is this aftertaste, this bitterish undertone. So, side by side with REAL oatmeal, it would get no more than 2 out of five stars (and that for the nutrients/low calorie/appleyness). If you compare it to some other diet protein/soy oatmeals I've tried, yes it fares better. I will say it fixes fast, is easy to eat once you get used to the aftertaste, and is filling for its portion. I like it as a side to eggs to quell my voracious appetite in the am, and as a snack between meals. Worth trying, especially if you are an oatmeal lover who has tried other diet/protein oatmeals and found them wanting.

Cheesesteak Macaroni entree: I cooked this stovetop since other reviewers recommended that. I watched it the whole time to avoid overcooking. It was all right. The final serving is about a cup. The "meat" has a slightly odd texture, but not totally offputting (chewy). The pasta was okay. The cheesiness was adequate. It's not something that made me gag and it's not an entree that made me go "Oh, that as fun." It's merely adequate. Although the cheese-addict in me was satisfied by having the cheesy flavor.

I am not sure at this point if I'd reorder this entree. I'd have to wait and see how it grows--or doesn't--on me and how the other entrees strike me. BUT...it does have a nice filling quality given the quantity. I had it with a side of sauteed spinach, a boiled egg, a small wedge of cheese, and had a creamy pudding for dessert. I was full and got plenty of protein. By itself, I would not be satisfied, but I do think adding veggies as sides--or a salad--or adding some extra low-carb pasta would help oodles. If you LOVE cheesesteak, then definitely try it. There aren't that many entree options, and this seems to be one of the more highly regarded WonderSlim ones. I'd recommend it to those who know it's special high-protein diet food and are willing to base their taste expectations on that basis.

Creamy Pudding/Shake: I almost didnt' try this as a pudding, cause the reviews at the WonderSlim site tend to skew towards this as a shake. But I think the problem is that this is NOT puddingy. This is like a mousse consistency--airier and less creamy than pudding. I like it. I took one star off cause it does have a bit of an aftetaste, but I expect this from high protein diet foods, so no biggie, really. Four to 4.5 stars (based on experiences with other lowcarb dieter foods).

Here's what I did: I prepared it with refrigerator-chilled water (really cold), a bit less than 4 ounces,  and let it sit while i ate my soup. Afte 10 minutes or so, this has set quite nicely. I added a tablespoon of Bob's Red  Mill Shredded organic coconut (smells good, low carb, about 30 calories, 3 grams of fat, 1.3 carbs per tbsp) and about 6 ChocoPerfection dark chocolate baking chips (sugarfree, lowcarb). Almost negligible calorie-wise, really. Just for appearance and to give a shot of chocolate. I found it to be a really nice high-protein QUICK dessert after soup (or even salad or a veggie joe bowl with veggies). I definitely will reorder this. I got the chocolate cream, which I will get again. And I want to try it with some fresh berries, too.

Really, don't be put off of it as a pudding. So quick, no blender to clean, slower to eat, which is always good for dieters. And you can pump it up with low-carb or fruity goodness. Mixes easily with a spoon. Nice "moussey" texture (and I like mousse). A tad gritty, but not horribly so. Just differently so. If they could find a way to rid it of the aftertaste, this would be pretty perfect diet fare.

I've also been enjoying the utterly wonderful bounty of avocados and donut peaches (my fave, fave among peaches) out there. Been eating berries and LOTS of spinach. The arugula has been a bit sad, which makes ME sad, in turn. Love that best of all salad greens. Watermelon has been faboo, too.

I'm still only exercising 2x a week, and part of that is that I'm just having my endocrine issues, and there's not much I can do about that.  I just gotta hold on until my status can be worked out with medication tweaking.

So, that's my check-in. Glad to have "backtracked" to the 250's, glad to be back on the momentum wagon, though, as usual, I suck at challenges, since giving it my all just seems to never work out with these things. I'm such a slacker. ; )

Anyway, I wish you all a happy week with losses! Of the fatty kind. And all sorts of beneficial health and joy and love gains!
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Dieter Tolerance: Letting People Do It Their Way Without Neener-Boos

Let me say up front that, like most human creatures, I have a critical streak and a judgmental birthmark. We all have it--fess up, you know it!

But one thing I wish we could have more of in this fatfighting microcosm online is tolerance for the way each person feels they need to journey toward a better weight and better health.

Not every body, every mind, every emotional situation is the same. Some people will never understand those of us who do emotional binge eating. I will never understand people who can tolerate liquid protein fasts or, egads, puke up meals. (I have a serious pukephobia. I'd lay in bed trying hard to not puke even as a kid with stomach flu. I hate the sensation of food and bile coming right back up my throat. How do bulimics do that???)

But I can UNDERSTAND that we got fat--and STAY fat-- for more reasons than just "ate too much". Ate too much is fundamental--more calories than our bodies can handle and we gain weight. That's the basic layer, the thick heavy poured-out root of the structure.

But physiologically, some people handle sweets and carbs better and others are absolutely sent off on highs and lows and binges by them. Some livers handle things better than other livers. Some of us have non-functional (or minimally-functional) thyroid glands, and others have normal or hyper ones. Some of us got put on appetite-increasing (but essential) medications, and maybe others got on needed (or elective) medications that revved up metabolism or reduced appetite. Some folks are tall and some short, some male, some female, some mushy and some muscular, so some can eat more than others even with activity rates factored in. Some of us have moral issues for or against eating meat --or how animal products are raised and  butchered--and some of us have environmental concerns about pesticides or responsible farming and others don't. Some have tight budgets and some lavish ones. Some of us suffer from depressions that, rather than curtailing appetites (gee, why couldn't I have THAT version), have depressions that send us self-medicating with food to raise mood. Some of us had parents who took effort to make healthful, low-caloric meals. Some of us had moms and grandmoms who were food pushers. Some of us were abused and castoff, some of us were nurtured and valued. Some of us thrive on exercise, love it like some love a glazed donut; others hate to sweat and would rather have dental surgery than go to the gym. Some of us have terrible joint pain upon movement, so moderate to vigorous exercise can prove excruciating. Some of us have high-stress cranking out the cortisol, others have more leisurely lives. Some of us have to cook for various people in a household with various tastes, some only need to cater to a couple, or just to ourselves.

I was reading Lyn's excellent blog, and she's apparently getting grief about Medifast as a diet choice and its sustainability lifelong.

Well, I'll say this: I am leery of packaged foods diets a la Nutrisystem, MediFast, Jenny Craig, ONLY cause I really do think that natural food is generally better for us and fresh organic even moreso, and because I am concerned about hefty caloric restriction causing metabolic issues (which I suspect is at the heart of some gastric bypass folks regaining weight on much lower caloric levels than normal).

But ya know, we're different and we gotta try different things to learn how we handle stuff. And we gotta realize none of us is the expert about another person's life and body.

I would even try something like Medifast or Jenny Craig in order to LEARN about my body and self and nutrition, etc. I might not keep doing it or like it, but I think every diet can teach us something. Lyn has learned a lot on MediFast, and while the pics of MediFast food grosses me out, she's losing weight and feeling great and she realizes she does better on low carb. Period.

For people to start harping about sustainability isn't going to help. And what we fatfighters want is HELP, not the critical gallery. If Lyn had been doing, say, old Kimkins, with 500 to 800 calories and minimal fat and not enough nutrients, I'd say, "Hey, girl, you're damaging your body with starvation levels of calories and not enough nutrition. You're gonna go bald and have metabolic slowdown!"

But as long as she is well-nourished (and she is) and she's feeling health and emotional improvements, who the hell am I to neener-bo her?

No, I am too busy neener-booing myself. :)

What I need from you , what I really want, if you're willing, is the good word that's gonna be the wind at my back to move me along, even if just a little, towards my goals.

If you don't have that good word: move along. I don't need a downer.

Please, when you visit assorted blogs, even if you have misgivings about the ultimate success of A, B, or C diet or weight loss technique (and let's all laugh through our tears together at how ineffective just about all of them have been for most Americans so far in terms of sustainable losses), as long as the person is not anorexic, bulimic, or doing something patently nuts, let's give them a cheery "I wish you well; I'm rooting for you." And if you have a good, solid, positive tip in your own successful journey, go for it.

If a plan or technique fails for someone, it will be evident soon enough. That's life. But it's really kinda a bummer, not to mention not at all helpful, to be told "Oh, you can't keep that up. You're gonna fail."

How does that help? Hmm?

Let people try stuff. Let people ride their wind. And if they fail, then help them get back up.

The world has enough neener-booboos.

Now, that's not to say we shouldn't HAVE DISCUSSIONS in general about this stuff--what we see might be dangerous, fallacious, ill-advised. I do believe in informed consent re lap bands and gastric bypass. But as long as people know the pros and cons (of diets, of training equipment, of particular supplements or foods, etc), if they wanna go ahead, then let's give them the cheerleader's rah-rah. We should want EACH OF US TO SUCCEED. We should wish for it. Pray for it.

And we should want the dieting odds to be beaten to a bloody pulp in every case.

So, like so many others are doing for the summer, I'm taking on a summer slimming challenge. Do challenges help ultimately? I dunno. Maybe to refocus us on good habits for weight loss and to get support. But I know it's better to keep fighting and trying than to just look at the bad odds (98% of dieters fail) and say, "Oh, well, might as well order a double-meat pizza."

Here's to everyone trying to get healthier and slimmer. I want you to win, and I want to win, too.