Saturday, March 2, 2013

2 Steps forward, 2 steps back, Carbonara

So, as of 2/19/2013, I was 209.8 pounds. Then the next week hit. It was pretty bad, and set me back basically a week and a half.

It started President's day. Because it was a holiday, the team and I went to the cheap dish. It's basically a half price cafeteria. I had some Cordon Blue, fries, and "Yakisoba noodles", which, in truth, looks more like spaghetti and hamburger mix. I finished the Cordon Blue and fries without trouble, but I didn't really dig into the noodles for the above reason, and because I was full.

A few days after that, I had a breakdown and scarfed 1/4 a box of triscuits and the few twizzlers I had left. Friday that week, there was a potluck where cake and ice cream were served. I tried not to overindulge, but I ended up with a slice of coffee cake and a cupcake. Sunday, I had to go shopping, and I made the mistake of going in hungry. I ended up buying another piece of cake and scarfing that down as a lunch replacement.

As I said, it wasn't good. I put back about 3-4 pounds because of that week. It's only today that I got back down to 210.0

I've been pretty good since then. I still eat mostly chicken or shrimp tacos for dinner, but occasionally I can make a carbonara pasta in some form. Last time I made shrimp carbonara.

Shrimp Carbonara:
Ingredients:
  2 slices of onion, cut each slice across the center
  12 medium shrimp detailed
  2-3 oz spaghetti or fettucini
  olive/canola oil
  1 egg

Directions:
  Cook the pasta until al-dente (when it's still semi hard, but noodly)
  sautee the shrimp and onions
  add the pasta and some of the pasta water to the sautee pan and sautee for a minute or two
  crack an egg over the pasta/veggies and mix while sauteeing for a few more minutes
  eat, be happy, bask in the glow the carbonara gives you after eating it

It's really simple, really delicious, and after eating it, I was basking in that good feeling for the next few hours. I did have to modify the original recipe though, which called for bacon instead of shrimp, and also wanted noodle-looking slices of zuchinni, neither of which I had. I say the whole meal in total came out to around 300 to 350 calories, and left me plenty of caloric room to add a salad to the end of that meal if I needed it.

So, anyways, short story, I messed up pretty bad, and only now have recovered from the damage I've done. I'm thinking the next few weeks will go better, especially since I'm just going to outright refuse to buy anything that constitutes a snack. Should help a bit while I'm not at work keeping busy and my mind off food.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Catch up, things went South

Since my last post, whenever that was, things changed, and not for the better.

I moved, for work of course. Prior to the move, I worked 2 jobs, was always exhausted, slept just about any chance I could, was always moving around, and pigged out on donuts, danishes, and anything else including actual food. And somehow, in that situation, I was stable at 190lbs, 30 pounds over the skinniest I've ever been. Just prior to moving I had gotten up to 200.

After the move, my job was to sit in front a computer and program. Problem was, I retained all the bad habits. I ate anything and everything because I hadn't been able to adjust at all. I slept at odd hours. I gained 20 lbs and shot up to 220 by the time five months had passed.

I'd tried working out, but it wasn't happening. I live in a higher elevation, I have a sedentary job. I almost ended up pulling my back twice before I just gave up. Exercise was clearly not going to work to get me to lose weight like before. To make matters worse, 5 years of chowing down at a bakery had given me a nigh insatiable sugar craving.

For Christmas, my sister got me a cookbook: Eat This, Not That!

The general gist of the book was low calorie but still fulfilling meals. I didn't have to starve, I didn't have to restrict my meals to something the size of a ramekin. In fact, the meals looked just as big as any I'd eaten before, but far more delicious and far less calorie intensive. My recent favorites are Shrimp or Chicken tacos. I do want to try Chile Relleno at some point though.

Using this cookbook, my general eating experience has been much better than before, although buying the ingredients has lightened my wallet a bit. To balance that, I've lost about 10 pounds since starting use of this cookbook and its recipes a month ago. I'm now at 210 pounds.

Keeping on the straight and narrow with the recipes has been hard at times. I have gained a pound or two back on a few occasions because of it. One particular week I gained back all the weight I had lost the week before, and I promised myself I would never eat sauteed food again until I was set with my weight, which is unfortunate because of how delicious zuchinni carbonara can be.

However, despite that, I've managed to lose 10 pounds, and that's a good sign. I've been giving myself encouragement as often as possible by writing down my new weight every morning at work, if I've dropped weight from my previous low. For example, one day I was 211.4, then 212.0, then 211.8, then finally back to 211.4. I didn't write any of those down. Today was 210.8, and I'll be writing that down monday. Hopefully tomorrow I hit 210.3 or, then 209.7 monday morning.

As before, my ultimate goal is 160, if I can attain it with just eating properly. My average weekly weight loss is about 2.5 pounds on a diet of approximately 900-1000 calories daily. I don't exercise, so I can't afford to eat more than 1200 calories a day, or I'll start gaining weight again. 1200 a day will actually result in sustaining my weight. Losing 2.5 pounds per week means that in 10 weeks, I should be back to 190, and at 20 weeks I should weigh around 165, assuming my weight doesn't plateau anywhere.

So, my first month has actually been pretty successful. I can't believe how much better I feel just weighing 10 pounds less. I never realized how miserable I actually was. I'm going to keep with the trend, and I'll update every two weeks until I'm done.