So I've been stuck at 150 all through June and the beginning of July. No surprise really, with birthdays and holidays going on. I have, however, continued shrinking, going from a size 14 to fitting into some 12's (yes!). The past couple of weeks have been rough, but comments from friends have really bolstered my motivation.
Last Sunday a gal from church told me I looked like $10 million, "not $1 million, $10 million" to quote her exact words.
The other day at the grocery store I saw the gal who does our taxes. She was really impressed with my weight loss and we got into a whole conversation about losing weight.
I had to get some new pajama pants because my old xxl ones from Old Navy were huge on me, so I went to ON and took a bunch of pj pants into the dressing room. I realized when I got in that I forgot to get any larges to try, they were all xl. Well guess what - they were all too big! I had to go back and get size large and they fit perfectly! Needless to say, I was stoked.
My dear husband, Mike, said I was really slimming down, that he could see more definition in my waist. I mean, he tells me how good I'm doing all the time and how proud he is of me, but then he pulls these specific details out that make me feel wonderful.
35 pounds off feels great! I have been struggling here at 150, but did the Nutrisystem Body Boost this weekend and dropped to a low of 146.5. This in the face of TOM, so I can't wait till it's over to see if I actually get lower. I have yet another birthday this week (my oldest is going to be 16! Yikes!), but then I'm good till our 17th anniversary on August 11. At least that's the plan, lol!
I love em! I could eat them all day. Saturday I took all five kids to pick apricots - $.50 a pound, can you believe that? They are $2 a pound at the farmer's market here.
Anyway, we got 20 lbs. Grandma wanted some for a pie, and I wanted to make jam. I tasted the jam, and yes, had a small piece of pie.
Yum.
I walked for 45 minutes this morning. I do this Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I have rheumatoid arthritis, so I don't want to overdo it. If I do, I'm in pain for a couple of days after. I've been wondering if I could jog, but I'm sort of scared to try. One because I'm self conscious, and two, because I'm afraid that will be too much for my body. I had been doing very well, with no pain meds needed, but lately my wrists have been hurting, and I wonder if it's not those 5 lb. dumbells I use.
I am grateful though. When my oldest children were in diapers, it was rough. I couldn't change their diapers because it hurt so bad, and sometimes my knees hurt so horribly I wouldn't move for hours. This was 14-15 years ago.
If you have recently had a baby and are experiencing pain, once your baby is six months old, get yourself tested for rheumatoid arthritis. RA is best tackled as early as possible. I was diagnosed as soon as my second child was six months old.
A Father's Day dinner, a birthday, and a road trip
All in one week's time. Sounds like a formula for diet disaster, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't the end of the world. Just when I hit 150 for the first time in who knows how long, we had a family Father's Day dinner, then a road trip complete with hamburger and french fries and the first soda I've had since March. Then we had my youngest daughter's birthday. And my oldest daughter made an absolutely wonderful, simply scrumptious carrot cake.
So, yeah, I gained a few back and have been struggling to get it off since. Finally today I hit 149.5, so woohoo - I hit the 140s! It was frustrating to gain, sure, but like I said, it wasn't the end of the world. I know that when that happens, even after I reach goal, I can just get back on track, because I plan on eating this way for life, and that means never gaining too much to handle. It's not that hard really, and makes the special occasions more special. I am thankful for Nutrisystem! It feels easy for me. Not as-easy-as-just-eating-whatever-easy, but doable easy. I like that dessert every night is important to my diet success.
Oh, and I just realized that I can pretty much eat a 100 calorie dessert or snack with a protein serving like, say, fat free milk, and that is fairly equivalent to a Nutrisystem dessert entree. I try to keep the sugar down, and make sure to drink extra water if my sodium is high. I already drink 10 glasses a day as it is.
So, I have bone spurs in my heels. They arrived with the rheumatoid arthritis, with my first baby 16 years ago, though the doctor says they are unrelated (the spurs and RA, that is - RA was definitely brought on by childbirth). Anyway, for years I wore tennis shoes with orthotic inserts. Every day. I added wooden clogs at some point too.
Then I guess I decided I'd had enough. I wanted to see my toes again, to have a reason to paint my piggies, so I started wearing thong sandals. As I am not on my feet much this didn't pose much of a problem until I became more active. I would wear my tennis shoes with the inserts (still do for my walking), but I needed to fix the problem with my thong sandals because it was getting to be a serious problem. I could feel my bone spurs growing and wiggling.
I set out to find some great looking thong sandals that didn't look anything like Birkenstocks, but that would give me superior support or allow me to add my own support (have you ever tried wearing an insert in a thong sandal? Not pretty, they flip and flop right out the back - at least the ones I have did).
Enter Moszkitos. My research led me to this site. They make orthotics, standard and custom, and thongs with the orthotics built right in! I was thrilled! I ordered myself a pair of Archy leather thongs and paid to have them shipped fast. Let me tell you, they are worth every penny! It took some getting used to because I haven't been using such rigid arch support. I would just slip on my old thongs every time my feet started to ache, and after a couple of days, they felt like a dream.
I can actually go to the grocery store and cook a meal without the serious foot pain I had before! I also had my MIL try these on and now she ordered some for herself.
The best part for me is that they just look like your regular old surfer-y flip flops. I love my Moszkitos!
I do not believe Atkins is the best way of eating, but I have my own views of fat that differ from the Nutrisystem program I am on. I love NS, I think it's the best plan out there for teaching us how to eat. Knowing the limit on carbs is wonderful!
But fat? Well, this is the path of my logic: Humans have eaten meat with its fat since Creation, correct? And how long have we had all the diet related diseases and this rampant obesity? Since Creation also? No. Within the past 100 years these problems started popping up and they've only been getting worse since. But if people ate animal products and fats (butter, lard, cream, etc.) since Creation, and if they were the culprit, wouldn't those problems that we see today have been obvious throughout history?
You see where I'm going with this? What changed within the past 100 years or so? Flour and other grains became more and more refined, and sugar became more refined and more readily available to the general population.
Now, I am not "anti-carb" like some people. I believe grains are healthy. People have been eating them since Creation, too. I will never go the way of the low-carb diet. That's why Nutrisystem is so valuable to me. I've learned how many carb servings I should have. Do I always eat whole grain carbs? Nah - I'm not that good yet. But I am integrating them into my diet and trying to replace as much as I can with whole grains.
And I am not afraid of fat. Not one single bit. Well, trans fats, yes. I don't want to consume too many calories though, and I have yet to figure out how to do that without cutting carbs. Fat calories cost alot, and I don't want to eat so many calories that I maintain my current weight. But what I'm doing seems to work for me.
I add coconut oil to my diet, using it for baked goods, frying eggs, etc. Not too much, usually no more than a tablespoon a day, and not always even that much. I also use butter for green beans and so on. I don't butter bread, because I usually don't just eat bread like that, but if I were to opt for a piece of, say, french bread for my carb serving, I'd have no qualms eating it with butter. I have been known to have a little regular cheese or sour cream as well, though not all of this on the same day. Since I found Kraft fat free cheese, I've been using that. It tastes great (to me, and I've had some nasty FF cheese), and the protein bang for your buck is greater with the fat free. Same with cream cheese. While I wouldn't mind eating a little regular or even light cream cheese, you get so much more protein with the fat free, and protein itself is one of the keys to my own success.
I know, I know, it's been a long time. You know, I just don't think the daily menu thing is a good idea for me. If, however, I try a new recipe or create one, I'll post it here. And hopefully with the pressure off of me to tell you everything I ate, I'll blog more often.
I will tell you that I feel like I'm eating normal. Nutrisystem was and is a lifestyle change for me. That means sometimes it's not going to be possible, no, comfortable, eating only one carb serving at a time. Like when MIL makes macaroni salad to go with homemade hamburgers. I could pass it up since I'd already having a bun, but I don't want to feel deprived at any time. I mean, if she was serving potato chips with burgers, I'd probably pass on the chips. They're just not special enough. This is not an everyday occurance, because this diet is a lifestyle change.
I also had dessert. A fabulous concoction with angel food cake, strawberries, jello, and whipped cream. I don't like eating sugar, but I'm not scared of fat. I'll try making this recipe with SF jello and Cool Whip for you - it's perfectly yummy!
Measure your berries in a glass measuring cup or place in microwave safe dish and sprinkle with sweetener. Nuke till bubbly (1 minute in my less-than-1-year-old powerful micro). Combine cornstarch and cold water to dissolve cornstarch. Pour into berries and stir. Microwave another minute or so till sauce has thickened to your liking.
Note - since microwave ovens vary, no matter what any instructions may say, watch what you are cooking and be prepared to rescue something - whether the food or the microwave, lol!
This is a modified recipe from the Moosewood cookbook.
1 cup low fat cottage cheese
1 cup fat free plain yogurt (or vanilla)
1/4 cup fat free milk
Vanilla extract or SF vanilla syrup to taste
Sweetener to taste
Combine dairy products in a blender and whir till smooth, adding more milk if necessary. Add your vanilla and sweetener and whir again. Be sure to count up the calories in your vanilla and splenda if you use those. This makes, obviously, 2 1/4 cups. 1/4 cup serving size yielded for me 56 calories and 7 grams of protein. You might prefer to add the vanilla to your individual serving just before you eat it.
This is yummy with fruit or as a topping for anything sweet. And what a protein bang for your buck. I did make too much for myself, and I don't think my blender can manage smaller amounts, so if you have something that can, you might want to half the recipe. I happily fed it to my kids who used it as dip for fruit and cream for their baked oatmeal. It's rich and delicious - and healthy!
I know I made the vanilla creme dip somewhere in here
Dinner
Lean Cuisine Garlic Chicken Pizza
Extra chicken
Coleslaw
Cucumber salad
Dessert
Homemade chocolate pudding
Dollup of Cool Whip
The waffles are awesome and the blueberry topping is so easy! I think I killed the pizza, but it still tasted good. Next time I'll know better how to cook the thing.
I know it's been a few since we last spoke! Been busy. master bathroom is being remodeled this week, we're trying to finish up school in the same house where loud construction noises are happening. The girls' ballet recital is this Friday and they have rehearsal every evening this week right through dinnertime (yikes!). And to top all that off, we're dealing with our first scam seller on eBay.
So, no, I haven't had time to blog. And I forgot what I ate, though I do remember the popcorn. Yes, the popcorn. We got the smallest size and the lady asked us if we were sure it was going to be enough, lol. I always try to eat less than half and leave the rest with DH. I wasn't sure what kind of result we'd see on the ole scale, but drank lots of water anyway, and I've been within those NS guidelines since. Yesterday I popped up to 157.5 in the morning, but at bedtime I was down to 154.5 and couldn't wait till morning. Morning brought a bigger surprise - 153.5!
My theory seems to be holding. I have also discovered decaf green tea. I don't drink plain water, I use the slightest amount of Kool-Aid and stevia. It's gotten to the point that I can't drink a full strength drink anymore. So I make my tea, put about a quarter cup in my bottle, fill up with water and put stevia in. Tastes great, and no more constant Kool-aid. Green tea is supposed to promote weight loss, whatever that means.
