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WHGRN60's Recent Blog Entries
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Monday, March 03, 2008
Hmmm. According to some folks, I should be consuming 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight each day. So for me, that would be 265 grams of protein daily. Uhhh, that would be over 70% of my calories for the day! Not to mention the fact that I'm happy if I get in over 80 grams a day! I have absolutely no idea how on earth I could ever get in 3 times as much as I do now.
In addition, I'm unable to tolerate most protein supplements. The vast majority are made from whey or soy, which I cannot have. And the rice protein is just AWFUL!! I certanly can't imagine consuming 180 grams worth of rice protein daily!
Oh, well, I'm gonna stick with what my nutritionist told me and aim for 80-110 grams a day.
In other news, I did the gym today before PT and it was probably a mistake. I was SOOOO tired in PT!! 45 minutes on the treadmill kind of tires me out, ya know? And I upped the speed to 2.1 mph with no problem. So in a few days I'll try for 2.2. Eventually I would really like to be able to go steadily at 2.5 for 45 minutes or more. I don't walk faster than that in "real life" so I don't feel the need to go faster at this point. Given my orthopedic limitations, I'll be quite happy at 2.5!!
My new Polar heart rate monitor arrived today. I've gotta set it up so I can use it tomorrow when I do the elliptical!!
Tomorrow is weigh in. I'm not expecting much since I just resumed the Maxzide today. I can feel that my legs are still very "full", so even though I ran to the bathroom alot today, I think I've got a few more days before the extra fluid clears out. I just hope I get a tiny little loss--0.1 pounds would be just fine! Meanwhile, I KNOW I'm losing, since I can wear smaller clothes without a problem. Well, the number will be what the number will be--I know I've done my part!!!
My mood seems to be changing. I am alot happier lately! And this is even with backing off on the Lexapro. Hopefully I'll be able to be off it altogether by the end of next week. In any event, I feel like i'm enjoying my kids more (most of the time!!), and in general just feeling happier. Hey, whatever the reason, I'll take it!!
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Here I've been feeling really good about the fact that food has not been calling me. But this afternoon I was at a friend's house, and she had put out organic corn tortilla chips. I checked the label, saw they were ok, and took 2 (serving size is 15). No problem, right? WRONG!! I kept coming back to them, and was actually stupid enough to go hang out by them! I ended up having probably about 20 chips--a good 200 calories worth!
My first actual "cheat". (Hey, I made it 2 months without...)
OK, so onward. I honestly logged it into my food logs, both written and on SparkPeople, so I'm not trying to hide anything. (also a very NEW thing for me with food logs!)
The last few days have been busy, which is why I haven't journaled in a bit. Friday was a good day--I hit the gym and did 45 minutes on the treadmill. Even though I stretched afterwards, I was quite sore!! But it was well worth it. I am SO happy to be back in the gym!!
Yesterday was my day off from the gym--I had the kids and it was not going to work out. But I got my exercise a different way! (see below) I woke up in the morning feeling crappy--sort of a cross between "I'm starvng" and "I feel like I'm gonna barf". I bagged the breakfast plan, and about 10:30 I nibbled on a tiny baked potato. I only ate maybe half of it. No pills, supplements, or amino acid drinks for me. After going to the chiropractor and having a mini-massage, I did feel better. So for lunch I had a small bowl of rice with my veggie-meat sauce. It seemed to set ok. By midafternoon I was feeling much better. I had some mango and nuts for my snack. Then it was time to leave for the Casting Crowns concert!!!!!!
We had a nice drive up, with everyone chatting about everything. 8 of us in Amy's Suburban, and we were all pretty comfy! (we did put the 3 kids in the way back) I ate my dinner on the way--a repeat of lunch, plus an apple. We were very fortunate to get GREAT parking--Amy had reserved online--and didn't have to walk too far in the cold wind.
The concert was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Totally blew me away. It was so inspiring, so amazing to be with 5000 other believers, just giving praise and worship to the Lord. We were up and dancing to the music--now THAT is exercise I can live with!! Laura wanted popcorn, so I got her some, and some water. I had maybe 1/2 cup of the popcorn, and we shared the water. (I checked, the popcorn was popped with a bit of oil, but nothing else on it--we even watched it pop!) Later she wanted ice cream, and I honestly had no desire for any.
On the way home I had my granola, with some raisins mixed in (I had to boost my calories somewhere!) We got home after midnight, so sleep was short. But I had no problem popping up out of bed this morning for church!
Today I'm happy to say I was feeling fine and back on the normal routine as far as food goes. (well, other than the tortilla chips...) I hit the gym this afternoon and did 30 minutes on the elliptical (and burned MORE than the calories I ate in chips!) and felt pretty darned good! It will be an early night, since we were all up too late last night. Bed will feel good!!!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Day 58--MORE Calories?!?!?!?
This morning I went and had my basal metabolic rate measured. It was pretty cool, just breathe in and out through a tube for 10 minutes. Turns out, guess what! I'm not eating enough calories! I've been doing around 1400-1500, and I need 1533-1915, just to cover breathing, never mind the exercise and daily activities. Wow! Who knew?
So off I went home to figure out where and how to add this in. I mean, it's only 200 calories, but still, where will they come from? I decided I should add them proportionately to my overall calories. About 25-30% fat, about 30% protein, and about 40-45% carbs. Cool! It works!!!
For today, I added 1/2 oz tuna at lunch, about 50 grams potato and 1 oz chicken at dinner, and 1T nuts at my snack. Not too hard, except the extra chicken at dinner. This brought me to 1555 calories, 204 grams of carbs, 52 grams of fat and 81 grams of protien (which barely makes it, since I'm supposed to do 80 to 110 grams). Tomorrow will be easier protein-wise, since I'll have my morning snack which includes 2 ounces of turkey. Today I had breakfast late because of the test, which was done fasting, so I had no AM snack. Ah, well, it all works out in the end!
So I went to the gym, and did 30 minutes on the elliptical. The machine says I burned 203 calories, but SparkPeople says 463!!! Then I did 10 minutes on the treadmill, at 2mph, NOT holding on! Another 40 calories. BIG difference!! I wonder why that is, considering the elliptical seems SO much easier to me! I guess for now I'll alternate between 30 minutes (or more) on the elliptical, and 45 on the treadmill. 3 days of each? That ought to cover it!! At 600 calories every two days, that comes out to an average of 300, and to 1800 for the week. Not too shabby!!! And that doesn't even count the strength and stretching of PT! My calories are based on 200 calories a day for exercise, or 1400 for the week, so I should be a bit ahead of the game. I felt SO good after exercising, even though my legs are a bit tired!
I left my name and number with the desk so a nutritionist can call me. I want to set up an appointment with someone familiar with bariatric nutrition as well as exercise. This could be REALLY good!!!
The agency screwed up my helpers. AGAIN. Apparently Esmin called them and said she can't come back until Tuesday. But Monica has to leave tomorrow as planned because she starts a new job on Sunday. So they called and said they will send someone else tomorrow until Tuesday when Esmin returns. i really didn't like the idea of yet another person to get used to, even for just 4 days. So, after talking to Mom and Tracey about it, I called back and said to cancel the new girl, and to cancel Esmin for Tuesday, and I'll just end things tomorrow when Monica leaves. I mean, really, what were they doing for me? Hooking my bra? Helping me put on my sneakers? Well guess what? I won't WEAR a bra unless Laura is here to hook it for me! And my sneakers are now just right so I can slip them on. Voila! I'm self sufficient!! The laundry is all up to date, and the kids can help until Lorie comes back (and Tracey offered to do it if I need her to). The house is squeaky clean, so that can last until Lorie comes back. I'm already doing the cooking (except tonite, when Danny cooked the chicken that they'd made Sunday at cooking school), and if the kids have to help empty the dishwasher and do the grocery shopping, oh well! Meanwhile, it will save me a bunch of $$$.
As for the bra, I just ordered a new one that hooks in the front. That should solve that problem pretty quickly! As much as I hate them, at least it will get me through until I can hook the regular one myself. And at $14, you just can't go wrong!
I went for my iron infusion today, and for some weird reason, my hemoglobin DROPPED from last week! OK, only 3/10 of a point, but still, you'd think it would go UP since I had the infusion last week. Oh well, at least I'm still in double digits!!
All in all, a rather productive day!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Oh, I am soooo clueless!!! The machines at the new gym are rather confusing! They all have their own TV (these are just the cardio machines). I cannot figure out how to hook my headphones up and get any sound out of them! Also, I got on a machine today thinking it was the elliptical, and it was like a ski machine without using your arms. it about killed me!! And the first "elliptical" I got on was actually a stair climber thingy and I couldn't even get ON it!! All of this is not surprising, considering I can't fully program my cell phone, or get the bluetooth connection to work, or even get the stupid message light to stop flashing on my phone when there are no messages!! I'm hopeless!
In any event, I had a very productive day. I was at the gym/PT place for nearly 4 hours!!! (Only 30 minutes in the gym doing any actual exercise though...) I had my eval for lymphatic drainage--I'm set up for 3 times a week starting the week of March 10 (no openings before that...) I was able to coordinate the LD and the PT so i'm not making multiple trips each day. It looks like I AM going to need compression stockings, which I already knew. I guess I just need the prescription from the doctor and I can go get measured.
PT was good--I can finally do "active-assisted" exercise, not just passive. So I have to do stuff with a cane to move my right arm by pushing the left, and also isometrics. And I get to use the pulley instead of the dreaded wall walking!!! YAY!!! Much easier in my opinion. The LD therapist also suggested some rear leg lifts to strengthen my hip muscles. Hey, if it helps, I'm on it!!
The good news is that I CAN go to the gym again tomorrow. YAY! Cell was cancelled, so I have free time from 10-12. I have to be there at 8am for the basal metabolic measurement. They will tell me how many calories i actually need. This could be interesting!
I can really tell that I did more in PT today--my shoulder is a little sore. But it's well worth it to know that I'm making good progress. And i'm still doing well with food, so something is obviously happening in my life. Oh, yeah, I'M TAKING CARE OF MYSELF!!!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Yup, that's right! I got clearance from all my doctors, and headed to the gym right after lunch today. I got signed in, photographed, and then it was up on the treadmill for me! I did 30 minutes, a full mile! It felt sooooo good! Tomorrow I will probably try the elliptical, and see how I do with just one hand. The trainer I spoke with today said I should not be using either hand on the TM or the elliptical. HUH? My balance isnt' good enough without holding on! I'm liable to fall right on my face! Hmmm, well, guess I could TRY....
The scale was up 0.4 this morning. I say the scale, not me, because it makes no sense. There's no reason for me to gain. I'm not gonna worry about it.
It's funny (as in funny strange, not funny haha), but I always, ALWAYS hated writing down everything I ate. Maybe because I felt I couldnt' cheat? But this time around, keeping track has been a godsend. Why is it different? Well, I think a big part of it (maybe all of it?) is the elimination thing. Not being able to have eggs, milk or wheat has so greatly limited what I CAN eat, that if I don't write down what I DO eat, I'll never remember the ideas from one day to the next! I know, pathetic, right?
I can honestly say that in the past 8 weeks I have had almost no desire to "cheat". And trust me when I say that is unheard of for me! At this point, it's pretty easy, since the things I would most likely cheat with are things I can't eat due to the sensitivity thing. I mean, having bread and butter won't only wreak havoc on the scale, but it would totally screw up the whole elimination thing. And that, I'm just not willing to do at this point!
I must admit though that right now, having had my evening granola early, I am sorely tempted to go have more! Would it kill me? No, it's 140 calories, not 1000. But I am trying very hard to "ride the wave" and not do it. So, instead, I'm here writing about it.
With the scale being so weird for me--up a bit one week, down alot the next, and then back and forth between the two--it would be easy for me to throw up my hands in disgust and just give up. But I'm not going to do that! The trend is downward, and that's what matters. I'm wearing my "skinnier" pants (if you can call a size 20W "skinny") and feeling great. I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill today. (WOOHOOO, that felt GOOD!!!! ) And I KNOW that I am eating just the way I should be eating. I've come prepared for the battle of the bulge. I am fully armed. And now the outcome is not up to me anymore. My body will do what it will do. I cannot force it to lose any faster or more consistently. I cannot make it walk faster, or climb higher, or stretch farther. It is what it is. As long as I keep doing my part (eating right, taking the supplements, and exercising), I know I am doing all I can to win the battle. The rest is up to my body. I just hope and pray it has forgiven me for all the years of abuse and neglect.
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