Archive for February, 2008
February 14th, 2008 by Cynthia
My husband knows me all too well. Or maybe it's self preservation, because chocolate always tends to put me in a good mood, LOL! Oh, it's true, he only bought me ONE Lindt 85% dark chocolate bar, but as he pointed out, I didn't say anything about not buying other brands. (!!!!!)
He brought me home beautiful red and white tulips, which we will have to protect from the kitties, because Luna is a plant shredder and is most interested in the new arrival! But with luck, once they have bloomed, I can save the bulbs and replant in the front yard somewhere and hope they prosper. Yay! There's this whole section I'd like to do in bulbs, it's too shaded in summer because of a couple small trees, but in early spring, it is not and the color would be welcome there.
And he brought me home a couple of lovely Gillham & Grand dark chocolate and raspberry bars. And some individually wrapped dark chocolate squares, both raspberry flavor and orange. I'm afraid I immediately ate two squares in a moment of weakness.
The rest has been stashed. I'll try to only eat a square a day. But this will test my willpower rather severely. I nearly dived in as it was, as I was due for a meal. After the two squares, I reluctantly put the rest away and had a chocolate protein smoothie instead, which definitely helped me chill out on the chocolate craving.
Meanwhile, the poor guy is coughing still. I think I'll go make him some nice herbal tea in hopes that will soothe his throat some.
February 14th, 2008 by Cynthia
I was looking forward to that, but it's OK, we'll just do it on another day. Hubby appears to be coming down sick with something, he had a bad cough this morning and is not feeling too great at work. Valentine's Day is more fun when you are well! I'm a bit tired today and plan to take a zinc supplement and hope I don't catch what he has.
I just did my Nordic Track workout and managed to stay calm and not go crazy. Average heart rate 131, maximum 147. My right ankle and foot were still bothering me, so I kept it at 20 minutes and 1.4 miles skied. I just have to keep telling myself that I do what I can do, and not get frustrated by the things I can't do at present.
I'd thought about just blowing it off, but, given that I can't do all that much, I figure every bit of exercise I do manage is important. So it got done.
As it looks like we are eating in, I ate my portion of crawfish casserole after my exercise. Then I can have something lower carb later. I've learned that it's A-OK to be eating something entirely different from hubby at dinner. One of the nice things about fixing food and having it prepared and ready to go is that then, you can choose your timing so that the carbs come after exercise. I also find that sometimes, I plan a meal where I can add in a portion of carbs for hubby if he has worked out, but leave it out for me, since I'll usually have exercised earlier in the day.
February 14th, 2008 by Cynthia
My husband loves me... and I love him! But he has a habit of showing that love by buying me piles of wonderful dark chocolate for Christmas, birthday and Valentine's Day and other holidays. We aren't talking one or two bars... we are talking sometimes 6-10 BIG bars!
I can NOT resist good dark chocolate!
So today, I laid down the law. He is allowed to buy me one lonely bar for Valentine's Day this year. I suggested that a Lindt 85% cacao dark would be best. That has the least sugar and some of the time, I can restrain myself and just savor a square or two a day. Well, that's the plan!
We are hoping to manage reservations for a dinner out either tonight or tomorrow night at Raphael's Restaurant to celebrate. The cooking is wonderful, the old home that houses the restaurant is lovely and actually, one of my favorite dishes, the Indian Salmon with fresh spinach, tomatoes and huckleberry puree, is quite healthy. But we'll see what else is on the menu! It's extravagant, but so good we just have to go.
Happy Valentine's Day to all!
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February 14th, 2008 by Cynthia
Today started with a nice surprise, a drop to 226.4 pounds!
Heaven knows if that will hold or whether it was just the shift in my schedule. Probably the latter. With hubby doing a midnight shift, I ended up staying up late last night on the computer and didn't get to bed until after 3 AM. Sigh. I did not wake up in time for water aerobics.
Though I missed exercise, it may not have been an entirely bad thing. My feet have been hurting, even though I iced them well last night. So they probably needed a rest. I may try to ice again tonight.
For eating, all has been well, though on the lower carb side.
Meal 1 = Shrimp, green pepper and pecans
Meal 2 = Egg white omelet w/yolk, assorted veggies & goat cheese
Meal 3 = Chicken and spinach and mixed veggie salad w/olive oil & lime
Meal 4 = Crawfish casserole w/steamed broccoli
Meal 5 = PN bedtime snack w/carrots
The casserole was not entirely compliant, but the starchy carbs there were wheat bulgur, so plenty of fiber and given the rest of the day was very low for carbs, I'm considering it compliant enough, even without a workout.
I've had plenty of water and green tea, easily made my gallon goal!
Tomorrow looks busy, not sure if we'll be able to get a reservation for dinner or not. If not, we'll just do it tomorrow instead, which might be best anyway, since I don't want the casserole to go bad. Plus, I think hubby is off for the weekend again, so might be easier on him. He had a day shift, then a midnight shift... then another day shift, ugh!
February 13th, 2008 by Cynthia
My love affair with peanut butter has gone back a long time. I can remember eating spoons and spoons of it out of the jar when we went to the beach on vacation as children. I'm sure that didn't do my waistline any good!
Yet, peanuts and peanut butter are still a healthy food, if used in moderation. It's funny, in recent years, it was not part of my life, because neither was moderation. Then, I reintroduced it last year, because it was present in some of the PN smoothie recipes. Naturally I got the kind that is just peanuts and salt and must be stirred. I can't say I like stirring it up, since that tends to get a bit messy, with oil slopping out of the jar, etc..., but once done, it's popped into the fridge and no worries.
Mostly.
Except there are those times when I start to crave it. Seems to happen in front of the TV. Well, that's where I was last night, watching NBC's "Biggest Loser" and icing my feet. I'd eaten at 6:30... and then gone grocery shopping quick to resupply us with veggies and I was just starting to feel a wee bit hungry. I waited 10 minutes. Still hungry. Show didn't end until 10 PM. By that point, I'd be slightly overdue for a meal.
Normally I'd have gone and gotten a spoon of peanut butter and that would lead to another spoon and maybe even a third and fourth or GASP, a fifth and sixth spoon!
Time to try something different. This time, for the first time in my life, I tried having a single tablespoon of PB with celery. I quick cut two stalks into nice 3-4" pieces and spread the PB thinly along each. Funny, it was very good and much more filling! I then decided, since it was approaching time for a meal, to go ahead and have some protein. So I mixed up some Mountain High fat free yogurt with some whey protein and ate that, along with a little more plain celery. Hunger solved, no further TV snacking needed. And instead of getting my next meal a touch late, I had it a tiny bit early.
Best of all... there's still peanut butter left in the jar!
February 11th, 2008 by Cynthia
Didn't have time to make this post before dinner... so I'll get to it now.
I am definitely down 3.2 pounds. Today's weight 228.8 vs. last Monday's 232.0.
Still mystified as to why the 227+ I hit and held for several days in mid-January went away. My eating, though spotty at times, has really not been bad overall. The plan is to improve compliance and see what happens next. Mind you, I'm not unhappy to be that much closer to goal!
I have noticed a slight downward trend on both my Tanita body fat scale and my Omron body fat monitor. That may have to do with better hydration levels lately, or it may be that my body composition is indeed subtly changing for the better.
Half my trouble I think, is that I am so spotty with compliance to my plan, it becomes hard to judge if my current eating is really working for me or not. Oh, it's working as to my health and well-being, no doubts there, but I need to see if I am losing at this calorie level and not just spinning my wheels up and down the block.
So, publicly stated goal for this week is to hit 90% compliance. I might add that I need that compliance, because we may elect to go out to eat for Valentine's Day and/or my husbands birthday, both of which fall during this week. So I'll need to have a couple 10% meals set aside.
I will post a screenshot from Joe's Goals at the end of the week.
February 11th, 2008 by Cynthia
After my Saturday fiasco... I jumped back on track. That is perhaps one of the most important lessons I've learned in this. One poor choice does not make me a failure. It's only a poor choice. And the best way to counteract a poor choice is to continue making good choices.
Sunday's eating was fine.
Meal 1 = Omelet & veggies with goat cheese and a side of red grapes
32 minutes on Nordic Track
Meal 2 = Chai Blueberry protein smoothie
Meal 3 = Salmon, mixed veggies and pecans
Meal 4 = Grilled chicken breast & steamed broccoli w/EVOO & vinegar
Meal 5 = PN Bedtime Snack with a few baby carrots
Today's food still compliant
Meal 1 = Low carb milk w/whey protein, apple w/peanut butter, greens+
Meal 2 = Raspberry/Banana/Walnut protein smoothie
60 minutes water aerobics, 13 minutes water walking
Post workout = 1.5 servings whey protein and water
Meal 3 = Oatmeal w/goji berries, milk & whey protein. Bell pepper.
Meal 4 = Spinach & chicken salad, half cup of acorn squash.
Meal 5 = Grilled chicken breast & steamed broccoli w/EVOO & vinegar
(EVOO is shorthand for "extra virgin olive oil")
Last week at Joe's Goals
For fun, I tossed in a screen shot of my Joe's Goals page where I work on my compliance for eating my 5-6 meals a day. You can see that this past week was a bit spotty. Improvement is coming!
