Later...
So the on-going saga that I posted about a couple weeks ago (I took the post down cuz it was a crappy, emotional rant, but in case you read it and were wondering...) has calmed down a bit. Finally spoke to mom this morning. I called her. I've been debating for a week on whether I would sit back and wait, or be the bigger person and call. I invited her to dinner, AGAIN. She claimed "she didn't know she was invited".
As if.
As if I had EVER IN MY LIFE not invited her to Thanksgiving dinner! She has this way....
But I must say that, all in all, she was MUCH calmer on the phone than the last time we spoke. She was civil, almost congenial. Only a trace of guilt-trip in there. But I think I heard a little bit of relief. Maybe just a tad, but something. Definitely a tone of wanting to get past her last ridiculous, unfounded ranting tirade.
And that's a good thing.
Even if she won't be coming over for dinner, at least we talked, and it wasn't "angry". Maybe we both just need a little more time. That's fine. That means a small Thanksgiving dinner at my house, just 4 of us.
And that also means I don't have to do the insane-house-cleaning to make my Aunts (Mrs Clean and Mrs Cleaner) happy. Not that my house is dirty, or even that cluttered. I just tend to hyperventilate when I know that they are coming over. See, we have three dogs, and have raised 3 kids, and no matter how hard we've tried to keep the house clean and orderly on a regular basis, my house will never compare to that of an older widowed compulsive cleaner with no pets.
Know what I mean?
In any event.....we'll be having a ton of food for just 4 people, but I know how to handle all that turkey, and my family loves my left-overs, so it won't go to waste, and I'm pretty sure I can still stay on plan. Did I mention that I make a killer turkey soup? Shepherd's pie? I can eat it, as long as I control the portion size, and drink the water!
Well, that's it for now....I'll post the food totals later tonight.
Thanks for stopping by...
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Day 95 I Broke the Barrier!!
WOOHOO!! I finally broke the barrier!! Since starting this weight loss journey I have been stuck in this 7-10 pound range for what seems like forever! I'd lost weight right at the beginning, but then gained 1 lost 1, gained 2 lost 2. Back and forth. I could never get past the "lost ten pounds" mark. This morning I got on the scale and I lost another 1.5 pounds! which means I've now lost 11.5 pounds!
Seems like such a small goal, but this is what made me throw up my hands last time. I got stuck, and no matter what I did, my weight just wouldn't budge.
Now I am over the hump! And I'm staying over it!
Breakfast: coffee, 120 calories
Lunch: turkey sandwich, plain: 210 calories
lemonade: 90 cal
Total so far: 320 calories
_______
More later....
Seems like such a small goal, but this is what made me throw up my hands last time. I got stuck, and no matter what I did, my weight just wouldn't budge.
Now I am over the hump! And I'm staying over it!
Breakfast: coffee, 120 calories
Lunch: turkey sandwich, plain: 210 calories
lemonade: 90 cal
Total so far: 320 calories
_______
More later....
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Day 94 I Need Scale Consistency, and No Drama
So I have a scale at work that I've been using to weigh myself, and occasionally I will also weigh myself at home. Problem is that the two don't match. It appears that they're off by three pounds, my home scale reading heavier.
I actually trust my work scale much more, since that scale gets calibrated on a yearly basis. Who knows if my home scale was ever calibrated in the first place!
The lesson here is to use one scale and stick with it. That's really the only honest way to tell what's going on with your weight. I should know this. As an engineer, I know that it is critical to use the same instruments when making measurements over time, to eliminate the uncertainty from different pieces of equipment. In this case, my anxiety over whether or not I've lost weight this week got the best of me, and I used my home scale, which read 3 pounds heavier. I promptly went into a tail-spin over gaining weight, despite sticking to calorie and water goals throughout the weekend. Matter of fact, I've been on target for calories and water since I started the DDDC with Allan.
So I ended up causing myself all kinds on grief this weekend for no good reason. As Allan said, I need to relax.
Yep. Definitely need to do that.
My Thanksgiving Dinner headcount is the smallest I've ever had. There will probably be only 4 of us this year, kinda sad, actually. It may grow to 7, but that is entirely dependent on whether the drama queen in my family cares to continue the current episode or cut the crap and enjoy a nice holiday together.
I've decided to not get sucked into it. I'm going to enjoy some turkey, green bean casserole, carrots and minimal potatoes, with a side of "calm", a dollop of "relaxed", and a hefty serving of "don't give a shit".
The door will be open, the plates will be available, the food will be hot, and the company friendly. If they show up, great. If not, I'm not going to get all angst-ridden....
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
_________
Tally for the day so far:
Breakfast: coffee w/ sweetened creamer: 2 cups 240 cal
16.7 ounces of water
Lunch: one apple (95 cal), one clementine (35 cal) and one banana (105 cal): 235 calories
Bottle of water, 16.7 ounces
475 calories used
33.4 ounces water consumed
________
Finally, for dinner: 3ounces of marinated chicken breast, pan-fried, 150 cal
About 1 cup of rice, 230 calories
3/4 cup of peas 90 cal
Lemonade, 90 calories
2 more bottles of water
Glass of white wine, 120 calories
And here comes the stupid snack...mini marshmallows 1/2 cup 80 calories.
Total: 1235 calories
67.6 ounces of water
16 ounces of lemondade
24 ounces of coffee
I actually trust my work scale much more, since that scale gets calibrated on a yearly basis. Who knows if my home scale was ever calibrated in the first place!
The lesson here is to use one scale and stick with it. That's really the only honest way to tell what's going on with your weight. I should know this. As an engineer, I know that it is critical to use the same instruments when making measurements over time, to eliminate the uncertainty from different pieces of equipment. In this case, my anxiety over whether or not I've lost weight this week got the best of me, and I used my home scale, which read 3 pounds heavier. I promptly went into a tail-spin over gaining weight, despite sticking to calorie and water goals throughout the weekend. Matter of fact, I've been on target for calories and water since I started the DDDC with Allan.
So I ended up causing myself all kinds on grief this weekend for no good reason. As Allan said, I need to relax.
Yep. Definitely need to do that.
My Thanksgiving Dinner headcount is the smallest I've ever had. There will probably be only 4 of us this year, kinda sad, actually. It may grow to 7, but that is entirely dependent on whether the drama queen in my family cares to continue the current episode or cut the crap and enjoy a nice holiday together.
I've decided to not get sucked into it. I'm going to enjoy some turkey, green bean casserole, carrots and minimal potatoes, with a side of "calm", a dollop of "relaxed", and a hefty serving of "don't give a shit".
The door will be open, the plates will be available, the food will be hot, and the company friendly. If they show up, great. If not, I'm not going to get all angst-ridden....
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
_________
Tally for the day so far:
Breakfast: coffee w/ sweetened creamer: 2 cups 240 cal
16.7 ounces of water
Lunch: one apple (95 cal), one clementine (35 cal) and one banana (105 cal): 235 calories
Bottle of water, 16.7 ounces
475 calories used
33.4 ounces water consumed
________
Finally, for dinner: 3ounces of marinated chicken breast, pan-fried, 150 cal
About 1 cup of rice, 230 calories
3/4 cup of peas 90 cal
Lemonade, 90 calories
2 more bottles of water
Glass of white wine, 120 calories
And here comes the stupid snack...mini marshmallows 1/2 cup 80 calories.
Total: 1235 calories
67.6 ounces of water
16 ounces of lemondade
24 ounces of coffee
Monday, November 22, 2010
Day 93 Just the Bottom Line
Busy day with youngest's birthday today; she's 16! Had the big celebration a couple weeks ago, so today is just out to a movie and lunch, followed by a visit to get her hair done.
So I'm just going to recap the food from yesterday and today.
Yesterday:
Finished the pad thai from saturday: about 400 cal (there was a bit less than half)
one serving of oatmeal, 160 cal
coffee w/ sweetened creamer 140 cal
67.6 ounces of water
one slice of pepperoni mushroom pizza about 350 calories (best guess)
Total: 1050 calories
Today, so far:
coffee w/ sweetened creamer 160 cal
cranberry chicken pecan salad 491 cal
coffee w/ cream & sugar 75 cal
33 ounces of water
Total: 726 calories
remaining: 606 cal and 50 ounces of water!
Finished off the night with a clementine, 35 calories
1/3 bag of microwave popcorn with butter flavored sprinkle 148 cal
5 ounces of white wine 120 cal
33 ounces water
Total: 1029 cal
Water: 67.6
So I'm just going to recap the food from yesterday and today.
Yesterday:
Finished the pad thai from saturday: about 400 cal (there was a bit less than half)
one serving of oatmeal, 160 cal
coffee w/ sweetened creamer 140 cal
67.6 ounces of water
one slice of pepperoni mushroom pizza about 350 calories (best guess)
Total: 1050 calories
Today, so far:
coffee w/ sweetened creamer 160 cal
cranberry chicken pecan salad 491 cal
coffee w/ cream & sugar 75 cal
33 ounces of water
Total: 726 calories
remaining: 606 cal and 50 ounces of water!
Finished off the night with a clementine, 35 calories
1/3 bag of microwave popcorn with butter flavored sprinkle 148 cal
5 ounces of white wine 120 cal
33 ounces water
Total: 1029 cal
Water: 67.6
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Day 92 Weigh In Day and I'm Kinda Nervous
Sometime today I'll be getting on the scale and sending my numbers to Allan, over at Almost Gastric Bypass. I've been sucking down the water like crazy. This water thing has only added to my family's belief that I am "tiny tank". I contend that I have the world's most efficient kidneys, as I can process liquid in about 15 minutes, on average. Especially lemonade.
But I'm kinda nervous about this weigh in. Nothing feels different. Like, my pants aren't fitting any different, my bra isn't getting any looser. (That's a good thing, right? I mean the bra part. ;) )
The first month into this, I dropped some pounds right away, and immediately felt a change in the way my clothes were fitting. Now.....nothing. Nada. And that's what's making me worry about the weigh in.
My belly is rumbling, and I'll be heading the the b.r. soon, so I'll get on the scale after that. Wish me luck.
_______________
But I'm kinda nervous about this weigh in. Nothing feels different. Like, my pants aren't fitting any different, my bra isn't getting any looser. (That's a good thing, right? I mean the bra part. ;) )
The first month into this, I dropped some pounds right away, and immediately felt a change in the way my clothes were fitting. Now.....nothing. Nada. And that's what's making me worry about the weigh in.
My belly is rumbling, and I'll be heading the the b.r. soon, so I'll get on the scale after that. Wish me luck.
_______________
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Day 91 Keepin' it Honest
Today was a work day at our house. Hubby and I have decided that, given the amount of tasks, projects, and endless lists of needed repairs or whatever, we would deem every other weekend a "work weekend" in an attempt to get things done and not get burnt out. It's not a foolproof plan, and there are times when we switch it up for more pressing needs, or just cancel the work weekend when we are "just not feeling it". But all in all, it works pretty well, because if its planned, there's no haggling over "I want to and you don't, you want to and I don't". It's the plan, and we're sticking to it.
So, as I mentioned earlier this week, youngest kidlet is moving upstairs into one of the vacated rooms from the older two. She picked the eldest's room, which eldest had painted "red". UUGHH!! It was horrible! Hubby had to put 4 coats of primer on just to hide the last remnants of it. Just aweful.
So, earlier this week, youngest and I went and picked out new paint, and thankfully she picked something a lot more "relaxed"....a pale blue. We're going to accent with pale green and 3 shades in the medium range, to add varying sizes of circles. Sounds kinda strange. I'll add pics when it's done. The medium accent colors are blue, green, and purple. You'll see. It'll be MUCH better than the red.
So food today was pretty much a utility thing.
For breakfast: microwave oatmeal 160 cal, plus water and coffee 140 cal
Lunch: 2 slices of bread 110 cal, and 2 slices of salami 60 cal, plus water
Snack in the afternoon: a very small, sad looking apple 30 cal and two hard boiled eggs 180, plus water
So far: 680 cal
Dinner: 1/2 order of carry-out chicken pad thai. Now this was a tough one to figure. I ended up at allrecipes to try and calculate how many calories I ate. Now I'm sure that what allrecipes calls one serving isn't what my local Thai restaurant calls one serving, so here's what I did. One serving at allrecipes is 524 cal. I would guess that the restaurant serving is about 1.5 times that, or 786 calories, of which I ate half which is 393 calories. I'll throw in an extra 100 cal just to be safe, and call it about 500 calories. Sound reasonable? Thoughts? Objections?
Plus more water.
Total for the day: 1180 cal
Water: 67.6 ounces.
So, as I mentioned earlier this week, youngest kidlet is moving upstairs into one of the vacated rooms from the older two. She picked the eldest's room, which eldest had painted "red". UUGHH!! It was horrible! Hubby had to put 4 coats of primer on just to hide the last remnants of it. Just aweful.
So, earlier this week, youngest and I went and picked out new paint, and thankfully she picked something a lot more "relaxed"....a pale blue. We're going to accent with pale green and 3 shades in the medium range, to add varying sizes of circles. Sounds kinda strange. I'll add pics when it's done. The medium accent colors are blue, green, and purple. You'll see. It'll be MUCH better than the red.
So food today was pretty much a utility thing.
For breakfast: microwave oatmeal 160 cal, plus water and coffee 140 cal
Lunch: 2 slices of bread 110 cal, and 2 slices of salami 60 cal, plus water
Snack in the afternoon: a very small, sad looking apple 30 cal and two hard boiled eggs 180, plus water
So far: 680 cal
Dinner: 1/2 order of carry-out chicken pad thai. Now this was a tough one to figure. I ended up at allrecipes to try and calculate how many calories I ate. Now I'm sure that what allrecipes calls one serving isn't what my local Thai restaurant calls one serving, so here's what I did. One serving at allrecipes is 524 cal. I would guess that the restaurant serving is about 1.5 times that, or 786 calories, of which I ate half which is 393 calories. I'll throw in an extra 100 cal just to be safe, and call it about 500 calories. Sound reasonable? Thoughts? Objections?
Plus more water.
Total for the day: 1180 cal
Water: 67.6 ounces.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Day 89 & 90 Staying on Task
So first up is a recap from yesterday:
Coffee w/ sweetened creamer 140 cal
2/3 of a plain hamburger 276 cal
3/4 of an order of fries 277 cal
a can of coke 136 cal
1.5 chicken strips 205 cal
7 corn chips 137 cal
1 Tbsp barbeque sauce 30 cal
10 ounces of wine 140 cal
71 ounces of water 0 cal
Total 1341 cal
So the less-than-ideal choices yesterday need a little explaining. Several co-workers and I had planned on taking another co-worker out for her birthday. She picked the place, which serves exactly 5 items: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings and baked beans. Given my choices, I picked the lesser of the evils and did not eat the whole meal. I could have skipped the coke. Then after work, two former classmates and I had been requested to attend an innovation symposium at our alma matter, to be recognised for a project we did. We met to car-pool, and stopped in to a bar/restaurant for a quick bite before heading to campus. We split a basket of chips & salsa and an order of chicken strips. I had a couple glasses of wine last night as well. Even though WHAT I ate wasn't ideal, I was very conscious of QUANTITY so that I could stay within goal of my calories.
To come up with all these values, I use NutritionData.com. I pick the closest item I can find to what I actually ate. Sometimes I have to settle for a generic description and make a best-guess, so my calories above may not be exact, but I'm being as honest as possible.
___________________
Today, so far: coffee w/ creamer 180 cal.
2 bottles of water so far, 33.8 ounces
beef stew for lunch, quinoa added 494 calories
Used so far today: 674
Remaining: 646 calories
1/2 of an oatmeal cranberry energy bar: 65 calories
Remaining calories: 581 calories
Dinner: the last of the stew (whew!) about 1/2 of a serving: 250 cal
1 serving of baby carrots, raw: 35 cal
1.5 servings of Cheez-its: 200
Tbsp cashews: 65 cal
Tbsp peanuts: 50 cal
2 more bottles of water
Calories 600
Total cal for the day: 1338 cal
Total water for the day: 67.6 ounces
And about 16 ounces of coffee
While the variety wasn't all that great, the choices were better than yesterday and I made my goal for calories and water. Yay!
Spent the evening working on the house again. We are doing some repair work in an upstairs bedroom, and prepping for paint. Our oldest two have moved out and the youngest is moving into one of their old rooms. I cannot believe how much sticky crap they have on their walls! Tape residue, and god knows what else! How many posters can you possibly hang in one room?!?
So that has been my workout in the evenings. Scrubbing walls, fixing drywall/mudding, painting.
Fun, fun.
Coffee w/ sweetened creamer 140 cal
2/3 of a plain hamburger 276 cal
3/4 of an order of fries 277 cal
a can of coke 136 cal
1.5 chicken strips 205 cal
7 corn chips 137 cal
1 Tbsp barbeque sauce 30 cal
10 ounces of wine 140 cal
71 ounces of water 0 cal
Total 1341 cal
So the less-than-ideal choices yesterday need a little explaining. Several co-workers and I had planned on taking another co-worker out for her birthday. She picked the place, which serves exactly 5 items: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings and baked beans. Given my choices, I picked the lesser of the evils and did not eat the whole meal. I could have skipped the coke. Then after work, two former classmates and I had been requested to attend an innovation symposium at our alma matter, to be recognised for a project we did. We met to car-pool, and stopped in to a bar/restaurant for a quick bite before heading to campus. We split a basket of chips & salsa and an order of chicken strips. I had a couple glasses of wine last night as well. Even though WHAT I ate wasn't ideal, I was very conscious of QUANTITY so that I could stay within goal of my calories.
To come up with all these values, I use NutritionData.com. I pick the closest item I can find to what I actually ate. Sometimes I have to settle for a generic description and make a best-guess, so my calories above may not be exact, but I'm being as honest as possible.
___________________
Today, so far: coffee w/ creamer 180 cal.
2 bottles of water so far, 33.8 ounces
beef stew for lunch, quinoa added 494 calories
Used so far today: 674
Remaining: 646 calories
1/2 of an oatmeal cranberry energy bar: 65 calories
Remaining calories: 581 calories
Dinner: the last of the stew (whew!) about 1/2 of a serving: 250 cal
1 serving of baby carrots, raw: 35 cal
1.5 servings of Cheez-its: 200
Tbsp cashews: 65 cal
Tbsp peanuts: 50 cal
2 more bottles of water
Calories 600
Total cal for the day: 1338 cal
Total water for the day: 67.6 ounces
And about 16 ounces of coffee
While the variety wasn't all that great, the choices were better than yesterday and I made my goal for calories and water. Yay!
Spent the evening working on the house again. We are doing some repair work in an upstairs bedroom, and prepping for paint. Our oldest two have moved out and the youngest is moving into one of their old rooms. I cannot believe how much sticky crap they have on their walls! Tape residue, and god knows what else! How many posters can you possibly hang in one room?!?
So that has been my workout in the evenings. Scrubbing walls, fixing drywall/mudding, painting.
Fun, fun.
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