Postin' It Up

Okay, so here are the week and weekend calories. They don't look too bad, I guess. These include my start to the South Beach Diet, which began on Thursday evening, September 11th.

(I also fixed all the images in the previous posts so that they link to the correctly-sized images, in case you actually wanted to read them... really, it's over-rated, though. Trust me.)


Last Weekend:


The Week:

The Autocross Weekend:

Autocrosses really do me in, but I am outside all day, usually running around, so I don't feel SO bad about the calories. But THIS particular weekend, I managed to snag a hotel room ALL TO MYSELF!!! So I took a long, fantastically silent bath, did some stretching, and buried myself in two beds worth of pillows. Literally. I had pillows under me, on top of me, behind my back. There's something to be said about an overabundance of pillows. So deliciously fabulous. Oh wow, I want to go back right now!

To top it all off -- and wreck my diet -- they had a hot continental breakfast. Doughnuts? Not a problem. I can ignore those. Bagels? Pastries? Again, meh, who cares? But OMG. Carbon's Malted Waffles? No. I must have them. They are so tasty, so deliciously buttery and soft. And if they're just a tad cripsy? EVEN BETTER! I've been really tempted to find a hotel in the area that has them, too, and just go.

:sigh:

But that will have to wait until after this whole Phase One of the SBD.

Today I Feel... Good?

It's been weird, but all day, I've been feeling pretty good. I got up, made myself an omelet (which is pretty miraculous in and of itself), got the diaper bag properly restocked, finished cycling my laundry, wrote an email or two, and got to the gym by 10:30 for my cardio/weightlifting class.

During class, too, I was looking at myself in the mirror -- normally a horrendously BAD idea -- but today it seemed like I looked a little less frumpy, I guess. The scales dropped back down, too. That's always variable, though. There is about three pounds variance in my weight from morning to evening, usually, depending on what I ate and did. I'm trying to drink lots of water, too, and today I think I did okay there, too.

I had a dance lesson, and my instructor liked my dress. He said it fit well, and didn't look like it would flare up too badly on the turns. The straps are pretty secure, too, which is nice. I can't keep a strap on my shoulders unless it's literally glued there. (And as luck would have it, I'm allergic to the "glue" -- double-sided adhesive tape.) I was feeling pretty decent even before I went to my dance lesson, though.

I got on the elliptical again today, and did almost 4 miles, which burned 400 calories. I'm going to try for the early cycle class tomorrow, but it's hard to get to that 9am class on time for me... but I'm going to give it my best shot, and the diaper bag is already packed.

I even made breakfast tonight, for the rest of the week. Turkey sausage crustless quiches with cheese. The turkey tastes awesome, too! I actually ate the leftovers as a snack. The recipe called for 1/4th cup turkey sausage for 6 cups. The turkey only comes in one POUND packages, so I had more than enough for a full muffin pan. But I added more meat, since I'm getting tired of eggs already. I've had at least three omelets since Thursday, and I've had to buy another dozen eggs.

Tonight, though, I made parmesan chicken, which turned out really tasty. I was really surprised at how good it was. I used a container of parmesan cheese as "breading," added paprika, pepper, and italian seasonings, and baked it in the oven. No bread crumbs, and parmesan is moderately low in fat anyway.

I may have gotten carried away at the grocery store though. I picked up chicken -- which made tonight's meal, plus two others which are currently marinating in the fridge -- lean, thin-cut steak, mushrooms to stuff into the steak, and more mushrooms to be stuffed with spinach and cheese. But it's good that I'm really interested in what I'm making. I need to pick up some veggies here and there, too. I had some leftover asparagus tonight, at least. Not a lot, but it's something.

I still need to record my calories, and post them, but I'd actually like to get in bed before 1am, for a change. If my daughter takes a decent nap tomorrow, maybe I'll do it then. Cross your fingers for me.

Week 3 Summary: My Soul for a Cracker

Well. I guess it's going a little better. The number on the scales finally dropped... one pound. Okay, it dropped FOUR, and then went back up, although not ALL the way up. Regardless I'm just a little wary of throwing a party over it, when I have this Scale Flatline History.

However, I did try on some pants I have, and they were LESS tight in the thighs and in the waist, so I can be ecstatic about that at least. It's a sign of progress of some sort, and it's what I needed.

I also took up the doctor on his suggestion about low-carb dieting. I started on Thursday, and I've done okay. I was kind of flailing around for a few days, but I went to the library on Saturday and sheepishly checked out The South Beach Diet and the accompanying cookbook. It's actually a combo of low-fat and low-carb, which sort of sucks. Low-fat cheese is usually pretty terrible in my opinion, in addition to being dry, but I guess I can always poke around until I find one I like.

The headaches are better, though, and the cravings aren't so bad right now. I'm not terrible about my sweets, as a general rule, but I seriously miss my yogurt and my Kashi crackers. Breakfast is not going to be fun in the morning, though. I did okay this weekend, because I slept though breakfast and ended up at lunch, which was nice. (And wonderful of the hubby; thank you, sweetheart!)

I don't have anything prepared for the morning, though, and I need to make a run to the grocery store in order to start having an appropriate breakfast in general. All I've got right now are three boxes of Kashi cereals I'm dying for, that of course, I can't have. I can't skip it though, because if I do, I'll never make it though my workout classes. I skipped on Friday (accidentally), and it was all I could do to make it through a simple yoga class. Not that yoga is easy, exactly, but it's definitely a lower exertion level than cycle or step aerobics. I was actually grateful when the nursery came and got me to take my daughter because she was upset.

So tomorrow, it'll probably be tomatoes, cheese, turkey, and whatever else I might have time for, that's also Phase One Approved. I have some new whole-grain, vanilla-graham, probiotic cereal from Kashi that looks fantastic, but that will have to wait. I keep reminding myself that Phase One is only for two weeks, and I only have eleven days left to go.

My liquid intake has been terrible since I started the South Beach Diet (SBD), though. I got close yesterday, but still didn't make my goal of 60 ounces of liquid. I was making up part of that number with milk and fruit juice. The SBD takes out everything except a cup of decaf in the morning -- with Splenda as a sweetener -- and water for the rest. I'm not a very good water drinker. Even during a workout where I'm sweating through my shirt, I'm still really bad about not drinking enough. Which, of course, is why I've been recording the number of ounces I'm getting.

I'm still counting calories, too, and I'll post those up later, of course.

But I guess, overall, things are a little better. Not enough for a celebration, but definitely a tiny bit of a sign that I'm heading in the right direction.

This week's itinerary:
1 Cardio-Weight Class
2-3 Cycle Classes (I didn't make any last week, and I'm severly disappointed with myself.)
2 Weightlifting Classes
1000 Calories on the machines

I'll Have the Not Cool with a Side of Frustration

I had a realization today. On this day last year, I weighed 14 pounds heavier. Just 14 pounds. One full year. I lost 25 pounds in a month, mostly due to my little girl, and her accompanying luggage. She was 7 pounds, not quite eight, plus the placenta, and if I estimate it correctly enough liquids to fill a gallon-sized milk jug, plus some.

I was feeling some better yesterday, I guess. But then I went to see a Gastroenterologist. I've had weird nausea off and on, randomly for years. I had six months solid just after college where I couldn't think about eating before noon without yakking. And no, I wasn't pregnant. Trust me. My husband finally made me actually ask someone about it, so today, I found myself sitting in a very well appointed doctor's office with beautiful oak furniture and heavy ironwork decor, talking to a man I just met about subjects I won't admit to the hubby I do, and hopefully never will. (It's gastroenterology, folks. Think about it.)

But sometimes I get this weird unsettled feeling, instead of true nausea, and throughout most of my pregnancy I felt this way. Like I was compelled to put something on my stomach, even though I wasn't hungry. It just didn't feel okay, didn't feel full, even though I knew I was totally stuffed to the gills. (Anyone want to guess why I gained 60 pounds during my pregnancy?)

The only thing the doctor could tell me was that there is nothing really wrong with my stomach, per say. However, he did feel like my random nausea was metabolically related. So I suppose on the upside, at least when it happens again, I can identify it, and write it down, instead of wondering "What IS that?"

On the downside, though, he did mention that in order to lose more weight, I might want to consider a low-carb diet. I have no idea how to go about this. I tried a low-carb diet for a week a very long time ago, and had such bad headaches and nausea, I just felt like I was falling apart.

I don't eat a lot of what people consider "bad" carbs -- rice, pasta, white bread -- and when I do eat carbs, it's usually whole grains with lots of fiber. However, if I snack, I'm usually desperate for a cracker. Breakfast is even worse. If I want to get out of the house at a decent time (or at all) , breakfast needs to be portable. I need to either be able to pour it into a bowl or rip open a package. Mostly, that means cereal or waffles or some other item that can be stuffed into a toaster.

I usually have Kashi Heart to Heart cereal, which is awesome, but it has 25g of carbs per each 3/4 cup serving. I'm also allergic to nuts, so most low-carb cereals are right out. The only breakfast bars I've ever been able to eat without a side helping of Benedryl have been Full Circle Organic Breakfast Bars. (The Apple Cobbler rocks, too, btw.)

Not only that but, I don't drink anything but milk, coffee, fruit juice and water. No soft drinks whatsoever, and not much tea lately... However, a 1/2 cup milk contains 11g of carbs, and fruit juice... well, yeah, that would have to go, no question. But what this means is if I quit carbs, that leaves me with... what? The water?

But honestly, my net progress in one year has been 14 pounds. That's a little less than one pound per month. In addition, I was here, at this exact weight on October 29th of last year, before I started back to the gym and workouts.

I get an eye-twitch just thinking about all of this. Not to mention I didn't go to the gym because I just didn't feel like it, and my parents were in town helping me with She Who Must Not Sleep, and gave me just enough excuse not to go. (She picked her own title. Believe me when I say my choice would have been different.)

It's so hard to look at my "results" and my input, and really feel good. I'm severely disheartened and frustrated. I guess in another week, I'll make a call on the low-carb diet, if the cycle/spin doesn't start to make some impact.

Week 2 Summary: THIS. SUCKS.

I have been feeling pretty confident about my workout schedule. I added cycling/spinning to my weekly routine, and I've been trying to do more weightlifting and aerobics in general. I thought I did okay last week. My caloric intake wasn't too bad, and aside from my car being invaded by a cockroach and preventing me from getting an official workout on Tuesday, I managed to burn a total of 4,064 calories.

Sure sounds like a lot, doesn't it?

My scales don't seem to think so. And okay, I haven't been on the more vigorous workout schedule for long, but maybe I was just hoping a little too hard. On top of which, during a belly dancing class I took, I just felt huge and awkward, and there were mirrors everywhere. I remember what I used to look like, and it just really seemed like I was nowhere near where I had been, so I was hugely depressed for most of the week about my weight. Not to mention when I went dancing on Thursday, none of my clothes fit well; they were all tight in the wrong places, and showed off everything I was trying to hide, and nothing looked good.

I still went to classes, though, and I still watched what I was eating. It is only the second week of the harder workouts. I just need to be patient, I hope.

The Extended Birthday-Holiday Eating Marathon

As I said before, birthday calories shouldn't count. Even if it's not your own. In fact, if you THROWING a bash for someone, that should count as a workout. No kidding. All that running around, getting things straight, getting things clean, setting up, decorating, cooking... definitely a workout. I was up until 1am on Friday getting things ready for the hubby's birthday. We had a tailgate-style birthday, since the hubby is a real Tiger Football fan -- Clemson, of course. Is there another team?

My buddy made FABULOUS ribs, in addition to the wings I baked. He makes a kick-ass sauce that has become my hubby's No. 1 Favorite... which would have been good information to have before I made sixteen trips to various grocery stores looking for the previous number one. But how can you surprise someone if you ask them what they want? It's kind of hard to slip in those questions and be sly about it, you know what I mean?

For having a ton of food available, I was pretty good, though. I had eight wings (baked), a small section of boneless ribs, two "bones" worth of boned ribs, cinnamon sugar sweet potato chips (don't ever try them; you can't ever get enough), two oreos, and a minor amount of Tennessee Sin Dip, which I made low-fat by using yogurt cheese instead of cream cheese.

Part of what did me in was that the English Country Tea House was closing, so we went and had High Tea with scones and tea sandwiches, and a few pieces of cake... and a traditional pasty. About 800 calories or more, I think. I didn't have much of the cakes though, so I was moderately well behaved. But since it was the last day they were going to be open, my poor husband had to deal with an English Tea for lunch on his birthday. Fortunately for him, our buddy Rock was in town, and just his mere presence can level the playing field in the Estrogen versus Testosterone Battle, no matter how many girls you have in the room... or the building...

So to sum up the Labor Day / Hubby Birthday Weekend, my caloric intake for each day was as follows:

Friday: 1200 Calories
Saturday: 3166 Calories
Sunday: 2351 Calories
Monday: 1855 Calories

I did play a little golf, though. The course is fairly hilly, and I did carry my clubs, so that's something of a workout, even if we did have to quit at the Eighth Hole because of rain. (It was a really delicious day to be out, honestly. The rain was perfect!) I also played a little Wii Golf and Wii Bowling, which can be a little bit of a workout.

It was even somewhat quiet since we sent the Monster Munchkin off to visit Grammy and Grandad. But yeah, from the diet/weight loss perspective, not a great weekend. A lot of fun, of course, but not productive towards my goals.

:sigh:

Internet Withdrawl

My internet was out all last week. The cable company finally got around to fixing it on Saturday, but that was the hubby's birthday, so that didn't help me get a blog in... and then there was the Mad Keyboard Milk Disaster.


My infant woke up while I was fiddling with the cable modem, and Little Miss Ninja Fingers slid off her beanbag chair and crawled over to my keyboard as silent as you please. It was like a slow motion moment in the movies, where I looked over to see my milk precariously on edge and tipping slowly over my keyboard. And she has amazing aim, apparently. Almost all of it landed in the keyboard itself, somehow.


I figured, "Well, it already has a FULL glass of milk in it... how could I top that?" So I ran it under the sink and popped it into the dryer -- on a drying rack on "No Heat" of course. But yeah, it's gone to that keyboard heaven in the sky. So Tuesday night, I dropped into WalMart and bought a new one.


And here we are, wired again!


Back on topic: last week, I promised to post my calories, and I have them right here. I think I did fairly well last week. Lots of good exercise, eating within moderation, even though I'm craving chocolate chip cookies so badly I could scream. And there are THREE packs of Oreos from the birthday celebrations sitting on my counter, and I haven't eaten any this week. I'd consider that a success in and of itself.


At least it looks like a good week by the numbers.

My Net Caloric Intake:
MONDAY = -585 Calories
TUESDAY = -775 Calories
WEDNESDAY = -158 Calories
THURSDAY = -1061 Calories
FRIDAY = -453 Calories



All in all, looks pretty decent, huh? And then the weekend happened. All I can say is Birthday Calories shouldn't count -- even if it's not your birthday.

But that's for another blog, I guess.