Friday, January 31, 2014

Jan 31st, 2014

I thought I'd mention that I am vegetarian - that's why you don't see any meat in my meals. I do like and eat dairy products. I am not a big fan of eggs, so I don't eat them very often. Also, I much prefer savory and spicy stuff compared to sweet things. This is especially true for breakfast. When I can't have something savory/salty/spicy for breakfast, I usually skip breakfast altogether rather than eat something sweet. That's why you see so many Indian breakfast foods in my meals - a good spicy start to the day. :-) 

The scale this morning was 232.8lbs. I added a "Progress" page that I will update each week.

Nothing much else to report for today. I have a busy day at work today and here is the planned food -

Breakfast. 6:00am
Tea w. Milk & Splenda
1 Pilot bread
Puttu, Black Chickpeas

Mid-morning snack. 11:00am
Fruit,Orange Juice

Lunch. 1:00pm
Rice, chickpea curry
Broccoli
Pear

Mid-Afternoon Snack. 3:15pm

Banana

Dinner.
1/2 medium veggie pizza (4 small slices)

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Thoughts after 3 days

I stepped on the scale this morning. 233.4lbs. I know this can be very misleading. But, I also know that I have not been 233.x in more than a week. Maybe this has something to do with my 3meals+3snacks resolution?

I am really trying to keep up the resolution of only eating three meals and three snacks each day. Yesterday, I ate 4 snacks, but one of them was quite small. Anyhow, what I have noticed is that I do get cravings, and when I feel a craving come on, I try to rationalize eating something quick. I think -

"Oh. Just a small something..."
"I can eat less later in the day."
"I hate not being able to eat when I want to."
"It won't really matter. How long do I think I can go on doing this anyway?"
"I could eat it and then not blog about it..."
"This is horrible! I am going to get depressed if I go on restricting myself like this."

But I also find that when I stick to the resolution and just wait until my next meal or snack, it does not affect the quality of my life negatively. And, I also realize that I am not really restricting myself. I am eating 6 times a day. I am eating whatever I want to. It's just that when I do eat something that should not be consumed in great quantities, I don't consume a great quantity of it. (Pat myself of the back!)

Breakfast. 6:30am
Tea w. milk & splenda
1 semolina rusk
Puttu, Black chickpeas

Mid-morning snack 9:45am
Baked homemade key-lime coconut doughnut at meeting
(Not what I had planned. But this was yummy and wonderful, and home-made and baked, so less junk-y than Krispy Kreme?)

Lunch. 11.55am
2oz cheddar cheese, 10 rice crackers

Mid-afternnon Snack. 2:00pm

Carrots
1/2 bag cinnamon-sugar Chex chips


Exercise. 5:15pm
1hr moderate walk with a friend

Dinner. 6:45pm
1.5 slice veggie pizza
1/4 cup pasta salad
1/2 cup green salad
2 pilot bread
Olives
Tortilla Chips x8
1/4 cup black beans
(Dinner was at a potluck. I ate quite a bit because I had had no time to eat a proper lunch during the day. However, I only took one serving and did not go back for seconds. I also skipped dessert.)


Exercise-II. 7:30pm
1.5 hrs mild square dancing. It's not really vigorous. But I will be on my feet and moving. 
Did not happen - class got cancelled.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Free Chex Chips

I picked up a free bag of Chex Chips at 7-11 today. If you have a smartphone, you can download their mobile app and make an account to get this special offer. There is a "Redeem" button. Don't click on this until you get to the store and have the bag in hand because the offer is only valid for 15 minutes after you click the "Redeem " button. Valid till 1/31 or until supplies last. Free stuff - who can resist?

Anyway, I got the "Cinnamon and Sugar" flavor. I think there is a cheesy flavor as well, but my local 7-11 were out of it. I will be reviewing this today. I have never done a review for a food item before. Very exciting! Here goes -


These are giant, puffy chips that are shaped like the Chex rice squares, except these are about 10 times as large. I'd say they are more a "puff" than a "chip". They are multigrain, and sugar is the 8th ingredient. It's not very sweet, but is sweet enough - which I like because I find most sweet snacks to be really sweet. It is also slightly salty, so it's a good mix of a sweet-salty taste. They taste distinctively of cinnamon, but not overpoweringly so. I like that the nutritional information at the back is for the entire pouch. This makes it easy for me since I am not naturally the kind of person who does not eat an entire pouch of snacks. (Who ARE these people?!?!?!?!) And talking about size, this is not a super large bag - it's 1.5ozs. That's a good size snack, I think. I ate half of this as a mid-morning snack (see - I can portion out snacks. It's just that it does not come naturally to me) The downside may be the price. While I got this for free at the 7-11, I saw that it costs $1.79. That's a bit much for 1.5ozs of a snack in my opinion. So, overall, I would say it's definitely worth a try. And there is also another cheesy version if you prefer savory instead of sweet.

Here is the non-free nosh:

Wake-Up Snack. 5:15am
Tea w. Milk and Splenda
2 semolina rusks

Breakfast. 6:30am
Puttu, Black Chickpeas

Mid-morning Snack. 9:45am
10 rice crackers, 2oz cheddar cheese


Mid-morning Snack. 11:15am

1/2 bag of Cinnamon Sugar Chex Chips

Lunch. 12:50pm
Rice, chickpea curry
Water Crackers x4

Snack @ Meeting. 4:20pm
1/2 Bagel w. cream cheese

Dinner. 7:50pm
Rice w. Vegetable stir-fry

1 piece nougat 
1 piece almond chocolate
1/2 cup fat-free vanilla icecream

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Jan 28th, 2014

Nothing much to report today. I got a good night's sleep last night, so am feeling better today.

Weight this morning: 234.8 lbs. Here is the plan for today -

Breakfast. 7:30am
Puttu, Black Chickpeas
Green Tea

Lunch. 12:10pm
Quinoa-Feta Salad w. Tomatoes, Pears, Chickpeas
Roasted Broccoli w. Lemon

Snack. 2:45pm
Pear

Pre-Exercise Snack. 4:30pm
Rice crackers x10
1/2 Banana

Exercise. 5:15pm
1 hour moderate walking on mild incline with a friend

Dinner. 7:00pm
Potluck at a student organization meeting
** I ate a cookie that was not worth it. I thought halfway through that I should probably skip it since it wasn't even that tasty, but I finished it anyway. Why???

Monday, January 27, 2014

Restart

D and I had another fight this morning. It is very odd - I did not think we fought that much, but I seem to be blogging about it a lot. Today, I had no doubt in my mind that I was right and he was wrong. I also did not fly off the handle; I was calm and level-headed as I talked about my side. He looked a bit sheepish.

In body-related news, I did not get much sleep last night, and woke up feeling completely exhausted. I stepped on the scale. 236.4 lbs. YIKES! However, I have been thinking, and I think I know more about myself and my eating now...

I have discovered my weak points:
  • I don't eat enough during the day and then have a larger than necessary dinner and dessert
  • I snack way too much between meals.
So, keeping that in mind, I have decided that this week, I am going to try to restrict myself to 3 meals and 3 snacks each day. In theory, if I only can have 3 snacks, then I will be thoughtful about what these choices are. I'll try to translate this theory into practice. 

Breakfast. 7:30am
Puttu, Black Chickpeas

Snack. 10:45am
1 cup Cajun sesame sticks

Lunch. 12:27pm
0.5 cups Cajun sesame sticks
Fajita vegetables (leftovers from noche muy romantico with D last night)
1 slice rustic onion-herb bread

Dinner. 8:00pm
Quinoa-Feta Salad w. Tomatoes, Pears, Chickpeas
Roasted Broccoli w. Lemon 
Fat-Free Vanilla Icecream

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Bad Mid-Day Binge

I slept very little last night. I stayed up late and watched two movies back to back - "Win Win" and "Vicky Christina Barcelona". I also had gone to the library yesterday evening and picked up the new Bridget Jones sequel that I talked about in my last post. I read a couple of chapters of that - it's definitely not as good as the first book, and not even as good as the second book (which had been disappointing). I will finish reading it, but was disappointed and ended up watching the movies instead.

D and I made up last night and things have been fine. We made love this morning. How many calories does sex burn? Then we slept some more.

I woke up, ate breakfast and went hiking with a friend. We hiked up and down a small local butte twice - there are two paths up the butte, and we hiked the easy one first, went down and then hiked up the difficult one. Good start, right? Well, I went and followed it with a binge - not good!!!

Breakfast. 9:05am
Idli x3, coconut chutney
Tea w. Milk & Spelnda

Exercise. 10:30am
Hike up the butte twice (1.25 hrs total) with L.

Post Exercise Snack. 11:49am
Banana

Lunchtime Binge (the next three hours)
2 pieces soft nougat
1 cup creamy sundried tomato-parmesan pasta
Small handful garlic sesame sticks
3 oz cheddar cheese
3/4 packet of rice crackers (not calorie dense, but still!!)
1 diet pepsi
Wisdom gleaned (1) Eat a proper lunch instead of snacking. (2) Don't shop hungry!

Dinner. 8:00pm
Rice, plantain curry

Friday, January 24, 2014

Jan 24th, 2014

I logged everything I ate yesterday, brushed my teeth and then went to bed. I got a good night's sleep and woke up feeling refreshed. I weighed in at 234.8 lbs. That's 1.4 lbs less than yesterday - I know it's not real weight loss - water weight or something, but still, the number does seem soothing.

Had another fight with D this morning. He is an exasperating man. We fight differently. I get angry and want to hash everything out right then. He withdraws and doesn't want to talk about it when we are upset - which drives me crazy!

In other news, I only found out yesterday that there is a new sequel to the Bridget Jones' Diary. It's called "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" Must get it and read it!

Here's the nosh -

Breakfast
6:45am: 5 Idlis and coconut chutney

Snack
10:45am: Trail Mix - 1 handful

Lunch
12:15pm: Leftover Veggie enchilada, 2 oz cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup fruit

Snack
4:00pm: 2 Lindor truffles

Pre-Dinner
5:00pm: 4 idlis and coconut chutney, 2 Lindor truffles (the chocolate was unneccesary)

Tea/Dinner
 
7:00pm: I went to tea at a friend's place and we were delayed and ended up turning it into a mini-dinner

Late Night Binge
10:45pm: 1/2 bag garlic popcorn, 4 Lindor truffles (maybe 5. I finished the bag at any rate) :-(

Thursday, January 23, 2014

My Heaviest Weight Ever

Did I have to hit rock bottom before I created a blog? No. But I did reach an all-time low this morning when I stepped on the scales and weighed in at an all-time high for me. 236.2 lbs. The highest I had ever been before was 235lbs. That was five years ago. Since then, my weight has fluctuated between 202 lbs and what it is now, generally staying at around 217 lbs.

I was never happy with this weight. In fact, I have never been happy with my weight for my entire life. But, this morning really depressed me. It didn't help that I had already had a crappy night having had a fight with D last night. We made up this morning, but I still felt like crap after I saw the numbers on the scale.

I have dieted before and made resolutions before. Never really stuck to any of them. I don't know what I will have to do differently this time. Here are some things that pop into mind right away:
  • I snack wayyyyy too much between meals. This needs to be reduced.
  • I usually miss breakfast since I sleep in as late as I can and then scramble to get to work.
  • My portion sizes are too large. D is a big man and can eat a lot. Perhaps I should not serve myself the same amounts as I do for him.
  • I need to exercise more! I MUST NOT be in denial of this fact anymore. 
  • I need more sleep and more self-care. 
  • I should log my food intake. Counting calories is not a sustainable habit for me - it is not something I believe in anyway - food is to be enjoyed without being labelled good or bad. I will eat all kinds of yummy food, but I will write down what I eat and also post it here on the blog. This should keep me accountable to not overindulge. 
  • When I go off-track, I should not give up and use that as an excuse for a binge-fest. 

Here are my goals:
  • Lose 15 lbs in 5 months
  • Be under 200 lbs by the end of 2014
  • Exercise 4x/week
  • Track food intake
  • Eat breakfast 5x/week (to start with)
  • Post monthly goals at the beginning of each month
  • Don't lie. Don't hide. Don't stop blogging.

Okay here goes - first confessional for 1/23/2014

I ate way too much for breakfast - I tend to binge when I am depressed.

Breakfast
8:15am: Jasmine tea
9:15am: Banana w. nuts, craisins
9:40am: Spelt-Oat Scone, 4 pieces of watermelon

Lunch
12:15pm: Rice, beans, leftover Tofu stir-fry

Snack
3:30pm: Spelt-Oat Scone - this was totally avoidable

Dinner
6:45pm: Went to a potluck and had-
1 slice cheese pizza
1/2 dinner roll
1 cup salad
1 devilled egg
1/4 orange
1 slice apple pie
1 small piece cake

Exercise
1 hour of moderate pace walking with a friend