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IVORY1825's Recent Blog Entries
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Saturday, April 18, 2009
Today, I walked to the mall from work. Typically, I take the bus (which costs $1.25 until I pay $20 to get a new UMass ID), but the weather was nice and we were intending to go out to dinner, so I thought I would walk. I mapmyrun'd it and it was only 3.5-ish miles. It was a nice enjoyable walk. There was a short segment along the split road that was not really walking-friendly, but not awful. Then I went to Whole Foods and grabbed all their visible free samples to recharge, including the Friday wine tasting! (I ended up buying two of the wines, but they were good and partially for the party tomorrow).
Dinner went well. I wanted to eat wheat (since I'm supposed to until the 30th for blood test purposes) but not too much because I knew I would feel crummy later. I had just one piece of bread, and felt fine with that. We split some fried calamari, which I ate slowly. I ordered penne with chicken and scallops and red peppers and chard (really, I just wanted the chard!), and I even left quite a few penne on the plate. I then went with the flourless chocolate espresso-torte with extra homemade whipped cream (sooo delicious). I did not overstuff myself. I'm happy with my choices. I did have a small Friendly's sundae tonight and some leftover Easter candy, but not too much. I also did my upper body workout and push-ups when I came home before the treats.
I've determined what my push-up problem is. I need more ab strength. The thing that kills me with push-ups is that my lower back starts to hurt, which based on what I've read, means my abs are too weak to hold me up for that long. My new goal is to do ab exercises daily, good ones too, not just "crunches". I'm doing planks, spiderman climbs, various lower ab exercises, etc. along with some focused crunches.
Tomorrow is Bill's party, and there will be food galore! The majority of my eating plan for tomorrow is a normal breakfast (maybe a scramble or omelet with what's left of the fresh asparagus and feta!), and then stick with fruits, vegetables, and yogurt until dinner. BTW - the winner for the higher-protein lower-cal snack item is edamame! I don't know why I didn't think of that, I even have some in my freezer! I'll just throw a few frozen pods in my lunchbox, and maybe a small bag with some sea salt. I can zap them in the microwave in water in my teacup, and boom, snack! I'm also making a few other dietary changes in the near future including trying to limit my dairy to yogurt more often (and make higher-fat yogurts) and save the cheese for dinner, decreasing my dinner grains and eating more sweet potatoes vs. regular potatoes. I'm also going to try and eat more egg whites for snacks along with the edamame. Protein definitely satisfies me better than anything. I'm not sure when this will happen though since I'm out of town next week, and my wheat-eating continues through the 30th. Probably May. Good, more time to plan!
Tomorrow morning I'm going to run intervals to the little grocery store for tomatoes for Bill! Then bake him a cake with butterscotch chips for his party, though I might replace the eggs/oil in the cake mix with diet sprite, applesauce, or other item, not sure what yet. We'll see. We'll also see if he sees this ... hehehe.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
I found an interesting podcast today (http://weightloss.podomatic.com/) that is teaching me the mental skills required to lose my stubborn weight and survive temptation. The idea is to use various kinds of mental imagery to retrain my subconscious mind to help me out instead of fighting me. You subconscious mind is very aware of things like how good you feel immediately after eating something high in quick carbs and fats, but terribly unaware of how that goes right to my belly and is impossible to burn off. What I need to do, is make my subconscious mind more aware that not having that belly would make me much happier than the few minutes of pleasure I get from a brownie, and then learn to turn that on when needed. I like what I've heard so far. Anyway, here are a few of the things they suggest.
1) write a mission statement with specifics and a date. I thought about that for a bit, and I haven't quite come up with something yet. I'm thinking about two possibilities, one is to make it my mission to lose 4 inches around my waist in 4 months. That should be possible. the second thing I'm thinking is instead of having a physical goal, have a mental goal of being able to avoid temptation and stop eating for stress relief, although I'm not sure how I would measure that or by when I would achieve it. I'll start with the measurable one:
I will lose 4 inches around my waistline by September 1st, 2009. To obtain my goal, I will exercise daily, including at least 4 days of strength and 3 of cardio each week. I will make healthy food choices, including choosing protein instead of carbs. I will not use food as a crutch for stressful or boring situations. As a result of my inches lost, I wish to achieve a better body image and to feel good in a bikini, to wear a size 6 comfortably, to have a healthier attitude about food.
2) they suggest journaling, especially how you feel when you eat. I pretty much do that here. It's the best I've ever done with keeping a journal, so I'm going to stick with it!
3) shifting your emotional response to food. One thing to do it develop a mantra to continously repeat while you are trying to deal with emotions of food, and one that uses only positive words, such as "I'm thin, fit, and healthy". They suggest never saying "don't eat [blank]" because as soon as you aren't supposed to do something, it is all you want to do! Also, they suggest dissociating yourself from the emotions of food. Act like you are watching your unhealthy self devouring that delicious thing on a movie screen, step back and watch it. Then picture your healthy self. From an un-emotional, third party position, that ice cream is not nearly as satisfying as the healthy body, right?
Anyway, that's a lot (like 6 little podcasts) for one day. So, enough said. My usual big issue is practicing these so that I get in the habit of using my mantra and dissociating BEFORE grabbing the food and then falling into my downward cycle. That means every day, I need to imagine something delicious, and then vividly imagine myself handling it. Your subconscious doesn't know the difference between real and vividly imagined, so I can train this way.
Today was a good eating day overall. I was more hungry than I like between meals/snacks, but I just nibbled at the almonds in my lunch box and managed perfectly fine. I do want to look for something less calorically dense than almonds to munch on, but with less sugars than fruit, but enough of something to keep me going (celery sticks ain't going to do it). Anyone know a high protein, less dense than carrots vegetable that would work here? I still need to workout, but it will happen. That part I like!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tonight for dinner, I made black bean pizza with a polenta crust. It was pretty good! The crust was a big too mushy in the middle, and I need to find a way to either thin it out in the pan or thicken it, maybe a few more egg whites. It was topped with salsa instead of sauce, black beans and spinach, mexican cheese, and drizzled with salsa verde and sour cream. I think it is a keeper. I have been considering an all-pizza week for a while, and it will go on that menu. That would also include a buffalo/BBQ chicken pizza, a "regular" pizza the way we like it with tomatoes and provolone, I'm thinking about a rice crust with stiry-fry veggies and chicken on top, and a cheeseburger pizza. That's 5, and I need 7. Two more, any ideas? I think this will happen in May the week before I leave for ASM and leave Bill on his own for 5 days. Yeah, I blackmail.
Today was a bit of a mess in terms of my eating schedule. I had my morning snack and lunch early soI could go to a training, but I was tired, so I grabbed the Luna bar in my desk to give me a lift, and then munched on the Fiber One bar I had through the training (which I was at from 1-4) and my nuts, and then ate my afternoon snack on time. It was an extra bar, and I was just too hungry all day, but my calories have been too high the last few days so this doesn't surprise me much. I think tomorrow I need to focus on protein more. So, two full eggs for breakfast plus my pancake (1 tbsp bisquick + 1 egg white). My morning snack is greek yogurt and blackberries, no honey tomorrow, and I think I will throw in a little peanut butter. Lunch will be black bean pizza, carrots celery and hummus, and maybe an extra chunk of cheddar, then my typical apples/celery/yogurt with a few almonds for afternoon. That should keep me on track for dinner. I'm highly considering doing a detox of sorts while Bill is away in CA in two weeks, but I'm not sure if that is a good idea since with him gone my stress level is higher and my cravings might be insane. Thoughts?
Tonight is a push-ups and yoga night, which I plan to get to rather soon. I have no idea where my push-ups are at since I had trouble on Monday. I guess I will find out. I'm hoping to complete Week 4, column 2. Then I will do the Denise Austin moving yoga because I totally need to burn these calories I've been eating! Tonight for snack I'm having strawberries with a bit of cinnamon and yogurt to coat them, and maybe a bit of balsamic vinegar, and maybe I will toast up some cheese too, I haven't had one of those in ages and Bill's always smell so good!
In work news, I am now radiation safe. I have to figure out what I need to do for the last two days before the meeting. I know I have to count cells, and help some people measure uranium, but other than that I don't have a plan, which is never good. However, I also have a million sequences to play with and a manuscript to revise ... and ASM in a month! Ack!
Oh, I was listening to a podcast at work, and they talked a bit about the master cleanse, and it turns out, when you think about it, since all that is is spicy lemonade and maple syrup, it is essentially 800-1200 calories of sugar. Sure, you lose weight, but all you injest is sugar! They suggested if you want to try something like that, just have the same amount of calories in protein shakes! Saves muscle, more filling, and useful calories! Really people! Not that I'm doing either of these things ever.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
I burned my crispy potatoes tonight. It was really sad, because they were spiced PERFECTLY!! They also burnt with only about 10 minutes before Bill was going to be home, and I had to completely revamp the dinner plan. We ended up with microwave baked potatoes topped with butter, sour cream, and Mrs. Dash. It worked. However, I really liked the bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with tomato, basil, and mozzarella, however, next time, I have to flip them so that the bacon crisps on both sides. I may have eaten some chocolate after the potatoes burnt. Fortunately, my dear husband noticed and stole the chocolate out of my hands and said no. Every now and then, he does something wonderful ...
We walked tonight and worked out, the weather is great, and hopefully it means it now! My arms are starting to look great, although I still need to seriously lose fat. The problem with losing fat of course, is you need a deficit, and I like to eat. Not easy.
I have way too much work to do at work, and I may need to do some work-related catching up during my travels to and from DC for my conference next week, ack. I have about 300 sequences to play with and a manuscript to revise. Tomorrow, we have to put together the poster for the conference, and I have to be radiation safety trained. Yuck.
Ok, off to bed soon!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Dude, I should never go on sugar binges. My metabolism still hasn't recovered, I've gotten dizzy on and off all day, and kept needing to eat things. I need to be more particular about pairing protein and fiber with my sugars, even if I am going to have a cheat/treat. Not good for the diet. I am going to be diligent about being on track tomorrow. I did pick up some cheap Easter candy today, but I stashed it in a difficult to get to place. I have enough treats for one a night for quite a while, and I can handle one a night without issues I think.
My meal tonight didn't quite come out the way i intended, the sauce got kind of thick and chunky, and I was aiming for something creamy, however, ham, asparagus, sundried tomatoes, and parmesan do match nicely taste-wise. My workout tonight could have been better as well, but it is hard to put in a good workout when your blood sugar keeps dropping. I did work hard though! Just not for long. I also did quite a few push-ups, though not as many I was planning on.
I hope my sugars stabilize overnight, but my contingency plan for tomorrow is going to be prunes and almonds if needed. Right now, I need tea, and a good night's rest, and maybe some mind over matter on my blood sugar!
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