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, March 2, 2013
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Last Two Weeks
The last 2 weeks have seen a net gain of 0. Also a net loss of zero.
The weekends have been murder lately. Sat Sun Mon for the 3am shift. Hungry, cranky, running on the fumes of fumes, donuts and cookies disappear down my gullet. I come back from work exhausted, still hungry, and usually with a short fuse. Admittedly, I leave with a short fuse.
Tuesday through Friday I'm fine, despite substituting diet soda for water. I should get back on the Water and off the soda. Easier than it sounds, right?
There was a brief period last week where I was 183 instead of 185. Not sure what happened there, maybe I had better donut control on that particular weekend. For now though, I'm sittin' pretty at 185. Still 25 pounds heavier than my slimmest, still 15 off the size 32's. 34's aren't an issue though at least: no need to suck in at all to get those on.
I'll do my best starting today to get back on water and low-calorie meals. Combined with my achievement of simply eating less, it should help reduce my weight a little bit more. Getting to water and low-calorie is going to be issue though, isn't it?
Let's see how this pans out.
The weekends have been murder lately. Sat Sun Mon for the 3am shift. Hungry, cranky, running on the fumes of fumes, donuts and cookies disappear down my gullet. I come back from work exhausted, still hungry, and usually with a short fuse. Admittedly, I leave with a short fuse.
Tuesday through Friday I'm fine, despite substituting diet soda for water. I should get back on the Water and off the soda. Easier than it sounds, right?
There was a brief period last week where I was 183 instead of 185. Not sure what happened there, maybe I had better donut control on that particular weekend. For now though, I'm sittin' pretty at 185. Still 25 pounds heavier than my slimmest, still 15 off the size 32's. 34's aren't an issue though at least: no need to suck in at all to get those on.
I'll do my best starting today to get back on water and low-calorie meals. Combined with my achievement of simply eating less, it should help reduce my weight a little bit more. Getting to water and low-calorie is going to be issue though, isn't it?
Let's see how this pans out.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Week 5.5
Last time I weighed myself was Monday. Despite the hardcore resurgence of Diet Pepsi, I'm at 185 lbs. Combine this with my 34 jeans, which were previously tight, now fitting pretty much perfectly, I'm calling this a success in the face failure.
The failure is Diet Pepsi. Still, success was had, and I'm happy about that.
Assuming that if I were to drop Diet Pepsi again, I'd lose another few pounds, my guess is that my actual weight is 182. That lines up with what I know about my body and pant sizes. At about 170 pounds I can realistically start looking at size 32's. They'll be tight, but they'll be feasible. I don't know that I want to bother with them until 165 pounds though.
I'm surprised at how much weight I've lost this last month or two. Simply eating less does wonders. The trick is, however, eating less, isn't it? Seemed like an unbearable fate back then, drooling over pop tarts and candied treats. Now I barely give any of it a second look. It's not that I'm disgusted by them, I still like them. I just...don't eat them, and don't even think about it.
I haven't even been working out. In fact, I've been glued to the computer almost every hour of every day, whether for work, TV, or games. The only exception is work, and necessary chores. My exercise has been sitting on my ass.
Probably the other half saving me is that I don't cook anymore. I suspect that if I cooked, like Ty, I might have an impossible time not eating what I make.
So, week 5 and week 6, success! Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat!
The failure is Diet Pepsi. Still, success was had, and I'm happy about that.
Assuming that if I were to drop Diet Pepsi again, I'd lose another few pounds, my guess is that my actual weight is 182. That lines up with what I know about my body and pant sizes. At about 170 pounds I can realistically start looking at size 32's. They'll be tight, but they'll be feasible. I don't know that I want to bother with them until 165 pounds though.
I'm surprised at how much weight I've lost this last month or two. Simply eating less does wonders. The trick is, however, eating less, isn't it? Seemed like an unbearable fate back then, drooling over pop tarts and candied treats. Now I barely give any of it a second look. It's not that I'm disgusted by them, I still like them. I just...don't eat them, and don't even think about it.
I haven't even been working out. In fact, I've been glued to the computer almost every hour of every day, whether for work, TV, or games. The only exception is work, and necessary chores. My exercise has been sitting on my ass.
Probably the other half saving me is that I don't cook anymore. I suspect that if I cooked, like Ty, I might have an impossible time not eating what I make.
So, week 5 and week 6, success! Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Week the 3rd? or 4th?
I forget if this is the 3rd or 4th week since I started a better nutrition program combined with less consumption...I guess it's the third since I started posting about it, so let's say the 3rd week.
The weight scale has me down another 2 pounds, so I'm doing something right. 186 is the weight, and the 34's I recently bought fit without an ounce of "sucking in". I actually think I'm going to need a belt after another 2 pounds go.
Conquest of sugar has gone well. I'm not completely unfettered, but I don't outright crave any of it by just looking at it. I used to be able to smell sugar from a mile away, but not now. I don't even consider eating that cookie in the sample bin anymore, or eating the donut that broke and can't be put out for sale because of it.
Diet soda is making a comeback. I do need something tasty to drink, I just don't down 2 liters of it every day like I used to a month ago.
Meal wise, it's still mostly meat, and when it's not, I keep the calories low. An example is a soup that has a lot of carbs. It's not enough for me, so I dump an entire can of green beans in with it. THAT is enough, almost too much, but it sates me.
So, in one month I'm down 6 pounds just from eating and drinking better. Maybe it could have been 10 if I was really on top of it, but I'm easily 15 from the 200 mark, and I feel pretty good about that. I'm looking forward to losing more, and I wonder how much I can let just evaporate with better nutrition, as opposed to actively trying to melt it off with exercise.
The weight scale has me down another 2 pounds, so I'm doing something right. 186 is the weight, and the 34's I recently bought fit without an ounce of "sucking in". I actually think I'm going to need a belt after another 2 pounds go.
Conquest of sugar has gone well. I'm not completely unfettered, but I don't outright crave any of it by just looking at it. I used to be able to smell sugar from a mile away, but not now. I don't even consider eating that cookie in the sample bin anymore, or eating the donut that broke and can't be put out for sale because of it.
Diet soda is making a comeback. I do need something tasty to drink, I just don't down 2 liters of it every day like I used to a month ago.
Meal wise, it's still mostly meat, and when it's not, I keep the calories low. An example is a soup that has a lot of carbs. It's not enough for me, so I dump an entire can of green beans in with it. THAT is enough, almost too much, but it sates me.
So, in one month I'm down 6 pounds just from eating and drinking better. Maybe it could have been 10 if I was really on top of it, but I'm easily 15 from the 200 mark, and I feel pretty good about that. I'm looking forward to losing more, and I wonder how much I can let just evaporate with better nutrition, as opposed to actively trying to melt it off with exercise.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
2nd Week Update
It hasn't been a wildly successful week, but I haven't started a backslide. Things are ok in that regard. This week has been a bit stressful since the microwave incident. We've cleaned 3 rooms, moved about 300 sq ft of stuff (I mean it literally, that's how much floor space that stuff took up) out of the house, and cleaned the vents. Leaving work to work...it's not the best environment for sticking with the mostly protein diet.
You can guess that I've had more carbs than I should have, even caving a little Saturday morning and have a cheery cheese danish. More Peanut Butter sandwiches, the danish, a treat here and there. Enough to keep me stable, but not enough to cause gain, thankfully.
Now that the cleaning is, at the least, mostly done, it'll be MUCH easier to continue on the protein path that lies ahead. I, and probably everyone, have a stress limit, and that was about all I could put up with last week. This week, with less stress on the table, I can handle the stress of not eating what I want to.
Last week's weight was 188, the same as this week's. I'm looking to lose another 1-2 pounds by next Sunday.
You can guess that I've had more carbs than I should have, even caving a little Saturday morning and have a cheery cheese danish. More Peanut Butter sandwiches, the danish, a treat here and there. Enough to keep me stable, but not enough to cause gain, thankfully.
Now that the cleaning is, at the least, mostly done, it'll be MUCH easier to continue on the protein path that lies ahead. I, and probably everyone, have a stress limit, and that was about all I could put up with last week. This week, with less stress on the table, I can handle the stress of not eating what I want to.
Last week's weight was 188, the same as this week's. I'm looking to lose another 1-2 pounds by next Sunday.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Overcoming the Sugar Cravings
I've made some real progress this last week.
Conquest 1:
Work this weekend wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be. I shuffled (pretty literally) at 3am to work, and having already drank some water and eaten a PB sandwich (what else do you have time to make at 2:48am?), I didn't have that overwhelming mouth watering sensation that I used to get on approaching the bakery. I was able to avoid eating anything this weekend that took the form of chocolate, sugar, cookies, donuts, or otherwise. There were some close calls, where I actually stared at the chocolate for a few seconds, but I overcame. Go me!
Conquest 2:
Eating at home has worked out also. I've stuck with an almost nearly protein diet except for yesterday, where I actually needed some carbs because of work that I was doing to fix some smoke damage. Basically, I used an unfamiliar microwave on a chicken patty, and the thing was nuked. The microwave smells bad and smoke got everywhere, into a bunch of clothes that were out there, as well as the carpet and curtains...it was bad. I've spent about ten hours wiping everything down, throwing stuff out, moving stuff around. The smoke smell is just about gone now. Problem with this whole mess is that I've been banned from cooking...so...I don't know, I suppose I'll be eating a lot of canned tuna since I can't be trusted with a toaster after this.
Conquest 3:
I've also defeated soda, and graduated from flavored water to tap water. Now losing weight is even cheaper, and soda won't be holding back my efforts!
Results:
I've gone from 192 to 188.
Conclusion:
My 36's sag something horribly, but the 34's are still tight. Core workouts would fix the 34's tightness, but that's not the goal. The goal is and always was to get into 32's comfortably, and that occurs at about 170-165 pounds for me. I've considered working out, but my workouts typically add muscle mass. Having things fit better is nice, but I respond better to seeing actual numbers. For the time being, I don't plan on working out while I continue to work on keeping with good nutrition.
Conquest 1:
Work this weekend wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be. I shuffled (pretty literally) at 3am to work, and having already drank some water and eaten a PB sandwich (what else do you have time to make at 2:48am?), I didn't have that overwhelming mouth watering sensation that I used to get on approaching the bakery. I was able to avoid eating anything this weekend that took the form of chocolate, sugar, cookies, donuts, or otherwise. There were some close calls, where I actually stared at the chocolate for a few seconds, but I overcame. Go me!
Conquest 2:
Eating at home has worked out also. I've stuck with an almost nearly protein diet except for yesterday, where I actually needed some carbs because of work that I was doing to fix some smoke damage. Basically, I used an unfamiliar microwave on a chicken patty, and the thing was nuked. The microwave smells bad and smoke got everywhere, into a bunch of clothes that were out there, as well as the carpet and curtains...it was bad. I've spent about ten hours wiping everything down, throwing stuff out, moving stuff around. The smoke smell is just about gone now. Problem with this whole mess is that I've been banned from cooking...so...I don't know, I suppose I'll be eating a lot of canned tuna since I can't be trusted with a toaster after this.
Conquest 3:
I've also defeated soda, and graduated from flavored water to tap water. Now losing weight is even cheaper, and soda won't be holding back my efforts!
Results:
I've gone from 192 to 188.
Conclusion:
My 36's sag something horribly, but the 34's are still tight. Core workouts would fix the 34's tightness, but that's not the goal. The goal is and always was to get into 32's comfortably, and that occurs at about 170-165 pounds for me. I've considered working out, but my workouts typically add muscle mass. Having things fit better is nice, but I respond better to seeing actual numbers. For the time being, I don't plan on working out while I continue to work on keeping with good nutrition.
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