Monday:
Happy birthday to me! 48 today. I like to think of it as 'going up a level', i.e. gaining experience, wisdom, skills etc, not as losing something (youth).
Seeing the doctor on Friday seems to have reignited my enthusiasm for losing weight, and despite it being my birthday weekend with restaurant dinner (with cake) on Saturday night and people over in the afternoon (with snacks) yesterday, I have lost weight this week and I am down to 70.3 kg. That is an official loss of 1.3 kg but last Monday's weight was a blip and I consider it an actual loss of 0.8 kg (still awesome) from my long plateau of 71.1 kg. The thing with the treats was, I didn't overeat. I had 2/3 or less of my restaurant meal, half my slice of cake. A few snacks yesterday. I enjoyed what I ate and stopped when I was no longer enjoying it enough to justify the overfull stomach/gaining weight. That is true progress.
I exercised hard for an hour on Saturday, including lots of big arm movements, and yesterday my upper back muscles were very sore! I felt quite proud of myself.
We went shopping for new mattresses for everyone yesterday morning. Our current ones are all pretty old, and Aiden had a few night-time accidents when he was younger... I did research online first to narrow down the choices and find End Of Financial Year sales, so we only went to one store and lay on a few beds instead of traipsing around all day. It will be a couple of weeks before they are delivered. Exciting!
Birthdays in this house always start with everyone piling into the big bed so the birthday person can open her/his presents. Because it was a work/school day, that was it for the morning, everyone had to leave. I made my own bacon and orange juice. I don't usually drink juice, or anything other than water and tea, but freshly squeezed is so good! Perfect for a special occasion. Then I faffed around on the Internet for a while instead of exercising, before going out.
I had thought of buying myself a new handbag, but the only ones I really liked were around $500! Maybe that is normal, I’m not really a handbag connoisseur (I own two, one big one small) but I couldn’t justify it to myself considering I don’t actually need a new one. When I do get one, I want something with a bit of personality. Regardless, I had a good time wandering around looking. I did buy a couple of books and some little pastries to share at home. I had a light lunch - anticipating afternoon tea with the kids and dessert tonight.
Oh, one thing I did that I got a lot of pleasure from, I went to the Lindt chocolate shop and chose myself some chocolates. They have a big display with bowls of all the different flavours of truffle balls and other individually wrapped treats. You can purchase by weight, or you can fill a gift box as full as you can get as long as the lid still closes and stays on, and the gift boxes were on special. I spent quite a long time carefully filling the littlest gift box with mathematical precision - I weighed it when I got home and I did very well! With the discount, I paid a third what I would have by weight. I haven’t eaten any yet, I just like gloating over them.
We already went out to dinner on Sat, so we’ll have one of my favourite dinners at home tonight and a quiet night in where it’s warm. It has just started raining so I think that was a good choice!
I got an email from the librarian who interviewed me a couple of weeks ago, asking me for my referee contact details. So that is a good sign, I am obviously still among the contenders. Hopefully a part time position will become available.
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Monday, July 2, 2018
Monday, April 2, 2018
Plant attack
Monday:
After Easter Show and Easter eggs, and it being that time of the month, I am up 0.2 kg this week. Never fear, it will go again quickly. As long as I manage a moderate chocolate intake! So much Easter stuff in the house.
A couple of garden-related things happened today. I went outside for about two minutes, and reached over some bushes to move a pot. Half an hour later I had a stinging rash up the inside of both arms. It only lasted an hour or two, but it was weird because I’ve dealt with those plants many times over the past two years and not had a reaction. It was a fern, I think, that got me; with little bronze hairs on the stems. When my arms started to hurt, I realised I had the hairs stuck all over my shirt. Maybe they only attack at a certain time of year.
Then Tim was out the front mowing the lawn when our neighbour came out with a chainsaw and asked if we’d like him to trim the tree between out properties (but on our land). It definitely needed a trim, branches were trying to take over our driveway and some were too heavy for the tree and collapsed on the ground. And it was blocking the water meter. So we said yes, but of course Tim had to stay and help drag the branches around and we had visitors arriving so he was all filthy and sweaty while they waited. And the tree has gone from full and bushy to rather bare at the bottom. I don't think Tim is entirely happy, but I am satisfied with the result and we didn't have to pay anyone to do it.
We had family over in the afternoon for Dungeons and Dragons, and then friends over in the evening so it was a busy day. I ate a lot less 'junk' (some Doritos and a chocolate marshmallow bunny) than I used to, but more than I should have. As usual these days, the bunny (sugar!) made me feel a bit sick. I never learn. Or maybe I do. A couple of times in the past few days I've taken only one or two bites of something sweet then decided I didn't want it so didn't eat it.
I haven't done any gardening (or any other exercise other than unavoidable walking) for two weeks while I had the flu, need to get started again tomorrow as I no longer have that excuse. The weather will be cooling again which makes it easier. I don't deal well with the heat.
It is my Poppa's 100th birthday coming up in May. My mother's father. 100! Still living in his own home without any assistance. Getting pretty deaf now and rather hunched, but otherwise fine. He's amazing.
After Easter Show and Easter eggs, and it being that time of the month, I am up 0.2 kg this week. Never fear, it will go again quickly. As long as I manage a moderate chocolate intake! So much Easter stuff in the house.
A couple of garden-related things happened today. I went outside for about two minutes, and reached over some bushes to move a pot. Half an hour later I had a stinging rash up the inside of both arms. It only lasted an hour or two, but it was weird because I’ve dealt with those plants many times over the past two years and not had a reaction. It was a fern, I think, that got me; with little bronze hairs on the stems. When my arms started to hurt, I realised I had the hairs stuck all over my shirt. Maybe they only attack at a certain time of year.
Then Tim was out the front mowing the lawn when our neighbour came out with a chainsaw and asked if we’d like him to trim the tree between out properties (but on our land). It definitely needed a trim, branches were trying to take over our driveway and some were too heavy for the tree and collapsed on the ground. And it was blocking the water meter. So we said yes, but of course Tim had to stay and help drag the branches around and we had visitors arriving so he was all filthy and sweaty while they waited. And the tree has gone from full and bushy to rather bare at the bottom. I don't think Tim is entirely happy, but I am satisfied with the result and we didn't have to pay anyone to do it.
We had family over in the afternoon for Dungeons and Dragons, and then friends over in the evening so it was a busy day. I ate a lot less 'junk' (some Doritos and a chocolate marshmallow bunny) than I used to, but more than I should have. As usual these days, the bunny (sugar!) made me feel a bit sick. I never learn. Or maybe I do. A couple of times in the past few days I've taken only one or two bites of something sweet then decided I didn't want it so didn't eat it.
I haven't done any gardening (or any other exercise other than unavoidable walking) for two weeks while I had the flu, need to get started again tomorrow as I no longer have that excuse. The weather will be cooling again which makes it easier. I don't deal well with the heat.
It is my Poppa's 100th birthday coming up in May. My mother's father. 100! Still living in his own home without any assistance. Getting pretty deaf now and rather hunched, but otherwise fine. He's amazing.
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Easter
Sunday:
We went to the Royal Easter Show yesterday. Tiring, but fun. We looked at some farm animals first: sheep, chickens, cows, alpacas, and horses. We skipped the pig pavilion! What a smell. Then we watched the lunch-time entertainment of working dogs rounding up cattle, precision car driving, and arial motorbike tricks. We had picked the coolest forecast day to go, but it was still very hot sitting in the sun so we went into the art and craft pavilion and then the food pavilion where we taste tested nougat, rocky road, jerky and chilli sauces. The kids got a show bag of lollies each, I bought one of chips but shared it around. I’d decided I wasn’t ‘on a diet’ for Saturday and Sunday but still took my Duromine so I wouldn’t go overboard. It worked well, I had bits of this and that but wasn’t interested in stuffing myself. We went to see the wood chopping, one of our favourites, and saw three events but it was stinking hot in the concrete stands with no shade. It’s like that every year - they really need to put a roof on! I started to feel really ill from the heat so we left and sat in the shade watching dog judging and then went home.
Today is Easter! We are not religious so for us it’s about family and chocolate. The Easter bunny had visited during the night so we had a hunt around the house, plus Tim and I gave each other and the kids bigger eggs. I had some chocolate after breakfast and more after lunch, but felt a bit sick from too much. I’m used to eating healthier these days. I still like chocolate and some other treats (not too sweet) but in much smaller quantities. My Easter stash should last me a long time this year!
Very hot autumn day, 32C in the afternoon, so we played board games inside then went for a swim in the pool and then family came over for dinner. Martha organised some Easter craft (painting eggs) and a hunt, she doesn’t believe in sugar for children so the kids found plastic eggs with blueberries, protein balls, or something that looked like rabbit droppings (?) inside and wooden painted egg decorations. My kids had enough chocolate already to not care, and would always be polite in any case, but weren’t impressed. We played board games after dinner.
Ping’s parents are here from China, they visit for months at a time but speak very little English (hello and thank you is about the extent) but this year her dad has an electronic translator. It’s the size of a mobile phone, you speak into it and it says it in the other language. Pretty cool. But some funny mistranslations that made no sense. Ping speaks both languages perfectly and was usually on hand to clear things up. Little Emma was having a tantrum about nothing when her grandad said something in Chinese that was translated into something in English I didn’t hear clearly but turned the normal tantrum into a full scale epic meltdown. Ping told Emma that the translator made a mistake but I’m not so sure...
We went to the Royal Easter Show yesterday. Tiring, but fun. We looked at some farm animals first: sheep, chickens, cows, alpacas, and horses. We skipped the pig pavilion! What a smell. Then we watched the lunch-time entertainment of working dogs rounding up cattle, precision car driving, and arial motorbike tricks. We had picked the coolest forecast day to go, but it was still very hot sitting in the sun so we went into the art and craft pavilion and then the food pavilion where we taste tested nougat, rocky road, jerky and chilli sauces. The kids got a show bag of lollies each, I bought one of chips but shared it around. I’d decided I wasn’t ‘on a diet’ for Saturday and Sunday but still took my Duromine so I wouldn’t go overboard. It worked well, I had bits of this and that but wasn’t interested in stuffing myself. We went to see the wood chopping, one of our favourites, and saw three events but it was stinking hot in the concrete stands with no shade. It’s like that every year - they really need to put a roof on! I started to feel really ill from the heat so we left and sat in the shade watching dog judging and then went home.
Today is Easter! We are not religious so for us it’s about family and chocolate. The Easter bunny had visited during the night so we had a hunt around the house, plus Tim and I gave each other and the kids bigger eggs. I had some chocolate after breakfast and more after lunch, but felt a bit sick from too much. I’m used to eating healthier these days. I still like chocolate and some other treats (not too sweet) but in much smaller quantities. My Easter stash should last me a long time this year!
Very hot autumn day, 32C in the afternoon, so we played board games inside then went for a swim in the pool and then family came over for dinner. Martha organised some Easter craft (painting eggs) and a hunt, she doesn’t believe in sugar for children so the kids found plastic eggs with blueberries, protein balls, or something that looked like rabbit droppings (?) inside and wooden painted egg decorations. My kids had enough chocolate already to not care, and would always be polite in any case, but weren’t impressed. We played board games after dinner.
Ping’s parents are here from China, they visit for months at a time but speak very little English (hello and thank you is about the extent) but this year her dad has an electronic translator. It’s the size of a mobile phone, you speak into it and it says it in the other language. Pretty cool. But some funny mistranslations that made no sense. Ping speaks both languages perfectly and was usually on hand to clear things up. Little Emma was having a tantrum about nothing when her grandad said something in Chinese that was translated into something in English I didn’t hear clearly but turned the normal tantrum into a full scale epic meltdown. Ping told Emma that the translator made a mistake but I’m not so sure...
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Thirty: TMI
Wednesday:
Day thirty and I'm still going! Not perfect, but much better than my first 8 week try after Christmas.
I spent the morning trying to sort out our cars, we haven't transferred the registration over to this state as we were supposed to do within three months of moving. I've booked them in for their inspections and filled out the forms ready to stand in line at the government office. It seems I have to unscrew the number plates and take them in! Whichever car I drive there, I'll have to do that in the car park so I hope it isn't difficult.
Tim and Jasmine both needed to have their phones looked at and Tim said last time he just walked in to the Apple store and they fixed it on the spot, so even though last time I went in I did need an appointment, I tried driving over there without one. Silly me. Five hour wait they said! So I made an appointment for Monday. And came home again. Rest of my morning gone.
This para will contain TMI about lady business, you are warned. All this year I've had extremely heavy periods, and the last one lasted three weeks instead of five days. I'd assumed it was related to my approaching menopause (although getting heavier seemed the wrong way round). Then on the forums for my diet, some other women brought up the subject, and it turns out it's really common when you are losing weight rapidly! There is a lot of oestrogen contained in fat, and when you lose weight quickly a lot of that oestrogen is dumped back into the body causing an imbalance for a while. As far as I could find out, there are no long term dangers in this. But I now remember that when I was pregnant being told not to lose a lot of weight because of this issue, the extra oestrogen might not have been good for the developing baby. Anyway, it's something I'm prepared to put up with.
Big cravings today, and I ate more chocolate than is good for me.
I didn't get any writing done today, but at least I did start guitar practise again. I don't seem to have lost what I've learned, I just went over some of the easier stuff. Ten minutes before my fingers started to hurt. I didn't make the same mistake as last time and keep pushing on, then be unable to play again for days.
B: yoghurt and raspberries, tea.
L: calamari, tomato soup.
S: chocolate, tea.
D: beef fajitas in lettuce leaf wraps, milk.
Day thirty and I'm still going! Not perfect, but much better than my first 8 week try after Christmas.
I spent the morning trying to sort out our cars, we haven't transferred the registration over to this state as we were supposed to do within three months of moving. I've booked them in for their inspections and filled out the forms ready to stand in line at the government office. It seems I have to unscrew the number plates and take them in! Whichever car I drive there, I'll have to do that in the car park so I hope it isn't difficult.
Tim and Jasmine both needed to have their phones looked at and Tim said last time he just walked in to the Apple store and they fixed it on the spot, so even though last time I went in I did need an appointment, I tried driving over there without one. Silly me. Five hour wait they said! So I made an appointment for Monday. And came home again. Rest of my morning gone.
This para will contain TMI about lady business, you are warned. All this year I've had extremely heavy periods, and the last one lasted three weeks instead of five days. I'd assumed it was related to my approaching menopause (although getting heavier seemed the wrong way round). Then on the forums for my diet, some other women brought up the subject, and it turns out it's really common when you are losing weight rapidly! There is a lot of oestrogen contained in fat, and when you lose weight quickly a lot of that oestrogen is dumped back into the body causing an imbalance for a while. As far as I could find out, there are no long term dangers in this. But I now remember that when I was pregnant being told not to lose a lot of weight because of this issue, the extra oestrogen might not have been good for the developing baby. Anyway, it's something I'm prepared to put up with.
Big cravings today, and I ate more chocolate than is good for me.
I didn't get any writing done today, but at least I did start guitar practise again. I don't seem to have lost what I've learned, I just went over some of the easier stuff. Ten minutes before my fingers started to hurt. I didn't make the same mistake as last time and keep pushing on, then be unable to play again for days.
B: yoghurt and raspberries, tea.
L: calamari, tomato soup.
S: chocolate, tea.
D: beef fajitas in lettuce leaf wraps, milk.
Friday, April 22, 2016
Twenty five: resisting
Friday:
I slept poorly with more bad dreams (but no night sweats) and struggled to get up. And struggled through the morning. I think my hormones are all over the place. I was feeling pretty headachy and tired and cranky and miserable. I had yoghurt and fruit for breakfast, and even though I was full it didn't satisfy me today. So I had some bacon (mmm, salty). And tea with a teensy bit of sugar (a third of a teaspoon). Not enough to taste sweet, but enough to balance the bitterness so it's drinkable. I might go with that for a while, but then again I might feel all energetic and virtuous tomorrow and change back. Who knows? I certainly don't.
We did the grocery shopping and I seriously considered having a "day off", a binge, just eating whatever. I felt yuck so I needed it, right? I DESERVED junk food to make me feel better. The big breakfast saved me. I think if I'd been even the slightest bit hungry or unsatisfied I would have given in. But I was able to resist. I told myself I could have some dark chocolate at home later if I wanted, but no junk from the shops. (I did indeed have a couple of squares of dark chocolate later.)
All day I had slightly bigger meals than usual and so went over my calorie budget for the day. That doesn't worry me so much. I know some people start with a strict calorie budget then gradually refine what they eat (hi Sean!) and that works well for them. I approach things from the opposite direction. I am more concerned with what I eat than how much I eat. Obviously I need to reduce calories to lose weight, but to be healthy I need to cut right down on processed food, added sugars, trans fats - and eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, healthy fats like nuts, and so on. I would rather have a day when I went over my calorie budget like today but all (even the bacon and the dark chocolate) within the general confines of the Mediterranean diet, than stick to a certain number of calories but all in the form of doughnuts and Doritos.
B: yoghurt with passionfruit, bacon, tea.
L: rotisserie chicken thigh, cucumber.
S: chocolate, tea.
D: steak, fried onion, salad.
I slept poorly with more bad dreams (but no night sweats) and struggled to get up. And struggled through the morning. I think my hormones are all over the place. I was feeling pretty headachy and tired and cranky and miserable. I had yoghurt and fruit for breakfast, and even though I was full it didn't satisfy me today. So I had some bacon (mmm, salty). And tea with a teensy bit of sugar (a third of a teaspoon). Not enough to taste sweet, but enough to balance the bitterness so it's drinkable. I might go with that for a while, but then again I might feel all energetic and virtuous tomorrow and change back. Who knows? I certainly don't.
We did the grocery shopping and I seriously considered having a "day off", a binge, just eating whatever. I felt yuck so I needed it, right? I DESERVED junk food to make me feel better. The big breakfast saved me. I think if I'd been even the slightest bit hungry or unsatisfied I would have given in. But I was able to resist. I told myself I could have some dark chocolate at home later if I wanted, but no junk from the shops. (I did indeed have a couple of squares of dark chocolate later.)
All day I had slightly bigger meals than usual and so went over my calorie budget for the day. That doesn't worry me so much. I know some people start with a strict calorie budget then gradually refine what they eat (hi Sean!) and that works well for them. I approach things from the opposite direction. I am more concerned with what I eat than how much I eat. Obviously I need to reduce calories to lose weight, but to be healthy I need to cut right down on processed food, added sugars, trans fats - and eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, healthy fats like nuts, and so on. I would rather have a day when I went over my calorie budget like today but all (even the bacon and the dark chocolate) within the general confines of the Mediterranean diet, than stick to a certain number of calories but all in the form of doughnuts and Doritos.
B: yoghurt with passionfruit, bacon, tea.
L: rotisserie chicken thigh, cucumber.
S: chocolate, tea.
D: steak, fried onion, salad.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Four: temptation
Friday:
I was feeling better yesterday, but much worse today. Bleugh. Not just lack of sleep, but I also didn't sleep well. My peri-menopause tablets say to reduce the dose (from four a day) once your symptoms are under control, but any time I take less than four - either deliberately or because I forget - symptoms return straight away. Worse sleep and weird dreams last night. I think I'll stick to four for a while. But mainly I think it's just this headcold refusing to budge. Feel sick and miserable. And I had to do a little shopping, and managed to crush my fingers in the freezer door at the supermarket. Great day.
I have a confession to make. After posting last night's blog, I started to think about chocolate. I struggled with it for at least an hour, determined to stay strong, but eventually gave in and ate half a chocolate bunny. "They" say cravings fade if you resist them for 5 or 10 mins or whatever and do something else, maybe that works sometimes but certainly not all the time for me. The desire just gets stronger. The moment of giving in was interesting, from an outside point of view; I felt sudden relief and delight, excitement, my mouth started watering, and I enjoyed the chocolate so much!
If this whole episode was due to some underlying addiction (and it did feel like that, both the craving and the indulgence) then presumably I will go through this again in another few days. Any ideas for conquering it? Small dose to wean myself off? It was evening, I probably should have just gone to bed instead of trying to distract myself.
....later
My meals were good today but I had a huge "snack" in the afternoon including the rest of that chocolate bunny. Wasn't hungry, just tired and sick. It is just after 8pm, I'm going to have a bath and go to bed and hope I feel better tomorrow.
What I ate:
Breakfast: bacon, cucumber, tomato, tea.
Lunch: chicken, grapes.
Snack: chocolate, watermelon, cheese sandwich.
Dinner: steak, salad.
Water: 4 cups. Dismal.
Good night.
I was feeling better yesterday, but much worse today. Bleugh. Not just lack of sleep, but I also didn't sleep well. My peri-menopause tablets say to reduce the dose (from four a day) once your symptoms are under control, but any time I take less than four - either deliberately or because I forget - symptoms return straight away. Worse sleep and weird dreams last night. I think I'll stick to four for a while. But mainly I think it's just this headcold refusing to budge. Feel sick and miserable. And I had to do a little shopping, and managed to crush my fingers in the freezer door at the supermarket. Great day.
I have a confession to make. After posting last night's blog, I started to think about chocolate. I struggled with it for at least an hour, determined to stay strong, but eventually gave in and ate half a chocolate bunny. "They" say cravings fade if you resist them for 5 or 10 mins or whatever and do something else, maybe that works sometimes but certainly not all the time for me. The desire just gets stronger. The moment of giving in was interesting, from an outside point of view; I felt sudden relief and delight, excitement, my mouth started watering, and I enjoyed the chocolate so much!
If this whole episode was due to some underlying addiction (and it did feel like that, both the craving and the indulgence) then presumably I will go through this again in another few days. Any ideas for conquering it? Small dose to wean myself off? It was evening, I probably should have just gone to bed instead of trying to distract myself.
....later
My meals were good today but I had a huge "snack" in the afternoon including the rest of that chocolate bunny. Wasn't hungry, just tired and sick. It is just after 8pm, I'm going to have a bath and go to bed and hope I feel better tomorrow.
What I ate:
Breakfast: bacon, cucumber, tomato, tea.
Lunch: chicken, grapes.
Snack: chocolate, watermelon, cheese sandwich.
Dinner: steak, salad.
Water: 4 cups. Dismal.
Good night.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Happy Easter
Sunday:
We started the day with an Easter Egg hunt, inside because the Easter Bunny knows there are too many creatures outside that would be very attracted to shiny foil and the smell of chocolate. This is my personal haul - big egg and bunny from Tim, little eggs from the hunt:
We started the day with an Easter Egg hunt, inside because the Easter Bunny knows there are too many creatures outside that would be very attracted to shiny foil and the smell of chocolate. This is my personal haul - big egg and bunny from Tim, little eggs from the hunt:
My plan is to eat some today and tomorrow, then put the rest away for occasional treats. I'm starting my healthy lifestyle change on Tuesday. How odd not starting on a Monday!
Actually I didn't feel much like eating chocolate today, and hardly had any. Aiden has had a cold for a couple of days and now Tim and I have it. At least Aiden was better today! Tim took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda 3 while I had a nap in the afternoon and then I felt a lot better, and Tim seemed ok in the early evening.
Ping was celebrating her birthday with dinner in a Japanese restaurant tonight. The company was good and we had a nice chat, but I was grumpy about the food. First they brought a little complimentary miso soup for everyone - except me. I was invisible. Then my main didn't quite look like what I thought I ordered. I queried it but was told it was right. I didn't like it at all and only picked at it. Then we worked out at the end that my main had got switched with someone else and they had eaten it all. I survived by stealing food off Aiden's plate.
Worse, though, was that Tim was rapidly going downhill throughout the evening. He was starting to look really sick. He realised eventually that as well as the cold, he was reacting to someone's perfume. We left as soon as we'd finished eating. Or in my case, not eating!
All those little temporary problems, however, are so fleeting. One family member didn't come to dinner because her father died today. Getting the wrong food, or having a cold, are nothing compared to something like that.
Ping was celebrating her birthday with dinner in a Japanese restaurant tonight. The company was good and we had a nice chat, but I was grumpy about the food. First they brought a little complimentary miso soup for everyone - except me. I was invisible. Then my main didn't quite look like what I thought I ordered. I queried it but was told it was right. I didn't like it at all and only picked at it. Then we worked out at the end that my main had got switched with someone else and they had eaten it all. I survived by stealing food off Aiden's plate.
Worse, though, was that Tim was rapidly going downhill throughout the evening. He was starting to look really sick. He realised eventually that as well as the cold, he was reacting to someone's perfume. We left as soon as we'd finished eating. Or in my case, not eating!
All those little temporary problems, however, are so fleeting. One family member didn't come to dinner because her father died today. Getting the wrong food, or having a cold, are nothing compared to something like that.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Valentine's Day
Sunday:
Valentine's Day for us (and I think most of Australia) means giving your partner chocolates and/or flowers, maybe going out for dinner if you book a restaurant far enough in advance. Not a big deal. Any traditions from other parts of the world?
I specifically gave Tim permission to give me chocolates, I wasn't quite expecting this (photo after some were eaten - I shared of course!):
Valentine's Day for us (and I think most of Australia) means giving your partner chocolates and/or flowers, maybe going out for dinner if you book a restaurant far enough in advance. Not a big deal. Any traditions from other parts of the world?
I specifically gave Tim permission to give me chocolates, I wasn't quite expecting this (photo after some were eaten - I shared of course!):
That is a lot of Lindor balls! It came wrapped like it was one huge Lindor ball.
He also gave me flowers. I gave him a smaller box of the same kind of chocolates.
He also gave me flowers. I gave him a smaller box of the same kind of chocolates.
Exercise was a bit less strenuous than yesterday - a lot of my muscles were quite sore! All up and down my back. Makes me feel like I did something yesterday! Also (not so good) my knees hurt when I tried to jump today. So today I just did half an hour of dance.
We spent a quiet day together, including doing some colouring-in all sitting around the kitchen table. Family over for Sunday dinner.
My favourite part of Valentine's Day wasn't very romantic. I've had this yucky wart on the sole of my foot for weeks, it was uncomfortable with every step I took which was very inconvenient. I've been treating it with caustic stuff for a week or so and today it finally came off! Gross, but now I can walk without pain which is so nice.
Happy Valentine's.
We spent a quiet day together, including doing some colouring-in all sitting around the kitchen table. Family over for Sunday dinner.
My favourite part of Valentine's Day wasn't very romantic. I've had this yucky wart on the sole of my foot for weeks, it was uncomfortable with every step I took which was very inconvenient. I've been treating it with caustic stuff for a week or so and today it finally came off! Gross, but now I can walk without pain which is so nice.
Happy Valentine's.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Cranky day
Thursday:
I don't know where my energy from yesterday went. Gone again today. I had a bad sleep with night sweats, which I get quite often. Maybe peri-menopause, but if so it's taking years. Very tired today. I struggled with food again, but not as bad as Tuesday. There may have been some bacon and chocolate involved - not together, although I've heard that is a "thing". I didn't fully give in to cravings though, I didn't go out and get takeaway, and this afternoon I passed a rack of chips and chocolate bars and did not stop to buy any although invisible hands were reaching out desperately! The kids kept walking, and so did I.
This morning I went to put away some paperwork that has been building up on my desk since we moved, only to find that the filing cabinet is locked and I have no idea where the key is! Inconvenient. We locked the drawers to stop them flying open in the move. I've checked the few places I could think of that I would put a key. Bugger.
I read something today that really annoyed me. Someone was saying the rule in their house is that coffee is black or don't bother drinking it, something like that. So judgemental. So what if people want to put in sugar, or milk, or cream, or vanilla extract or whatever. They are suddenly not worth speaking to? I don't drink coffee, but if I did I would drink it however I bloody well liked and not care what these people thought. It's like some cooking shows that say food has to be cooked a certain way. I happen to like my steak quite rare (very fashionable), but on the other hand I don't like scallops to be half-raw or duck to be too pink (so my palate is "wrong" there). I like it the way I like it. Why change your taste to align with some random food critic? Who made up the rules anyway?
I let my breakfast tea go cold this morning and didn't drink it, but I had a cup of tea this afternoon. After two weeks nearly (? I think) I still don't like it without sugar. Don't enjoy it at all. I've been forcing myself to drink it to try to get used to it (as I've tried many times in the past) with no success. Doesn't taste like anything I want to drink. I've completely lost the relaxing ritual of a cup of tea that I loved so much. So, do I just give it up entirely? Do I go back to having my tiny bit of sugar - less than a teaspoon - usually the only processed sugar I have all day? Do I stick to the no-sugar rule for the remaining two and half weeks of this strict blood-sugar balancing diet? Ha! As if I didn't have chocolate today!
I nearly forgot the kids were starting Acrogym today - a cross between gymnastics and acrobatics? It looked fun, learning to do cartwheels and stuff. I stayed and watched today but it's only a couple of blocks from home so I'll probably leave them next time, and come home. Or maybe go for a walk. No exercise today.
Sorry for tired crankiness. Hopefully everything will be easier tomorrow. At least I got my guitar practice in.
I don't know where my energy from yesterday went. Gone again today. I had a bad sleep with night sweats, which I get quite often. Maybe peri-menopause, but if so it's taking years. Very tired today. I struggled with food again, but not as bad as Tuesday. There may have been some bacon and chocolate involved - not together, although I've heard that is a "thing". I didn't fully give in to cravings though, I didn't go out and get takeaway, and this afternoon I passed a rack of chips and chocolate bars and did not stop to buy any although invisible hands were reaching out desperately! The kids kept walking, and so did I.
This morning I went to put away some paperwork that has been building up on my desk since we moved, only to find that the filing cabinet is locked and I have no idea where the key is! Inconvenient. We locked the drawers to stop them flying open in the move. I've checked the few places I could think of that I would put a key. Bugger.
I read something today that really annoyed me. Someone was saying the rule in their house is that coffee is black or don't bother drinking it, something like that. So judgemental. So what if people want to put in sugar, or milk, or cream, or vanilla extract or whatever. They are suddenly not worth speaking to? I don't drink coffee, but if I did I would drink it however I bloody well liked and not care what these people thought. It's like some cooking shows that say food has to be cooked a certain way. I happen to like my steak quite rare (very fashionable), but on the other hand I don't like scallops to be half-raw or duck to be too pink (so my palate is "wrong" there). I like it the way I like it. Why change your taste to align with some random food critic? Who made up the rules anyway?
I let my breakfast tea go cold this morning and didn't drink it, but I had a cup of tea this afternoon. After two weeks nearly (? I think) I still don't like it without sugar. Don't enjoy it at all. I've been forcing myself to drink it to try to get used to it (as I've tried many times in the past) with no success. Doesn't taste like anything I want to drink. I've completely lost the relaxing ritual of a cup of tea that I loved so much. So, do I just give it up entirely? Do I go back to having my tiny bit of sugar - less than a teaspoon - usually the only processed sugar I have all day? Do I stick to the no-sugar rule for the remaining two and half weeks of this strict blood-sugar balancing diet? Ha! As if I didn't have chocolate today!
I nearly forgot the kids were starting Acrogym today - a cross between gymnastics and acrobatics? It looked fun, learning to do cartwheels and stuff. I stayed and watched today but it's only a couple of blocks from home so I'll probably leave them next time, and come home. Or maybe go for a walk. No exercise today.
Sorry for tired crankiness. Hopefully everything will be easier tomorrow. At least I got my guitar practice in.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Two slow days
Tuesday:
I haven't talked much about healthy living lately because I keep waiting to have a good day so I can write about that. I have good intentions every day. But I rarely make it to lunchtime before making bad choices. Today I made it all the way to mid-afternoon before I ate some chocolate-covered honeycomb. That's better than I've done for ages so I'm calling today a partial win.
I felt the effects of that 50g of almost pure sugar pretty quickly. So dopey I could barely keep my eyes open. And of course my blood glucose shot up. I had a short nap and felt much better.
Wednesday:
Later yesterday evening (unrelated to my Crunchie Bar, I'm sure) I had a rather nasty stomach upset. I had a restless sweaty night and still not feeling great this morning. Luckily I'm feeling on top of stuff I have to do. I'm packing a bit every day, but most of it will be done when Tim has a couple of weeks off work.
I haven't talked much about healthy living lately because I keep waiting to have a good day so I can write about that. I have good intentions every day. But I rarely make it to lunchtime before making bad choices. Today I made it all the way to mid-afternoon before I ate some chocolate-covered honeycomb. That's better than I've done for ages so I'm calling today a partial win.
I felt the effects of that 50g of almost pure sugar pretty quickly. So dopey I could barely keep my eyes open. And of course my blood glucose shot up. I had a short nap and felt much better.
Wednesday:
Later yesterday evening (unrelated to my Crunchie Bar, I'm sure) I had a rather nasty stomach upset. I had a restless sweaty night and still not feeling great this morning. Luckily I'm feeling on top of stuff I have to do. I'm packing a bit every day, but most of it will be done when Tim has a couple of weeks off work.
Friday, April 10, 2015
NSV
Friday:
Last night as I was going to bed (all replete and contented from my fast food) I looked at my CPAP with some distaste. Another night coming up the same as the previous nine or so; a couple of hours sleep, waking to find the CPAP annoying me but staying true to my goal of minimum four hours every night, getting back to sleep for another couple of hours, the relief at yanking the mask off, the sore nose, trying to get back to sleep again, last few restless hours with sleep apnoea disturbing me. I've been proud of myself sticking to my vow but I was not exactly having a fun time.
Then I wondered if I was partly causing some of the problems with my resigned but resentful mindset. I was expecting all the wakefulness - was I causing it? So I turned my mind around. I decided to sleep restfully and well, with my CPAP on, all the way to 7am. No restlessness or irritation at all, just good sleep all the way. Somehow I found it really easy to just decide this would happen.
And it did. I woke once to go to the bathroom, then slept through to just after 7am. With my CPAP on all night.
The weirdest thing was when I looked at my fitbit sleep stats. I slept solidly and without restlessness except for two points. First when I woke and went to the bathroom, about the time I always do after two or three hours, but second when I usually wake and take off the CPAP nose pillows. I still woke, apparently. But I don't remember waking. I just went back to sleep quick enough that I don't even recall it. And those last few hours were as good as the earlier ones, because I still had my CPAP on. Amazing what a change of mindset can do.
Yesterday I finished my "quality" Easter chocolate, the Lindt egg and bunny my husband gave me. Five days to eat 220 grams, with a couple of extra little eggs so call it 50 grams a day. That is about five times the chocolate I usually eat a day! Hard to keep the calories down with an extra 250 or so calories each day. I still have some little eggs left from the Easter bunny but the quality is only Cadbury good, not Lindt great, and not nearly so tempting. I put them away in the cupboard, out of sight (they were on my desk!) and I think I'll be eating a lot less chocolate for a while.
I only realised today that I won't be able to go to the gym for the next two weeks except on weekends. It's the last day of school term today so I'll have my kids home. They are too young to come to the gym and the crèche isn't open in the holidays (how stupid is that!). My husband gets home too late from work, always after dinner, for me to go then - last night he got home at 11pm, tonight about 8:10. So there would only be weekends. I'll try to put my membership on hold, I think I can do that for one week without a medical certificate. I'll just have to use my Xbox games a lot at home and take the kids for walks. I could get up early, before Tim goes to work. I'm considering that, but I don't want to sacrifice precious sleep and I wouldn't be able to go to any classes so I don't feel that using the elliptical is necessarily any better than exercising at home.
Here was me thinking I had a stretch of time ahead with no deviations from routine! How silly was I! Two weeks of school holidays coming up. Or as I said to Tim this morning, anti-holidays for me. He'll still be working so it means I'll have the kids home all day. Need to think of lots of fun things to do. That don't involve food, or huge amounts of money.
I thought my weight might be up this morning after last night's salty dinner, but only up 0.1 kg. I did drink all my water so I'm sure that helped.
I started to have strong cravings again after lunch. This time specifically for Twisties (crunchy cheese flavoured twists). I fought it and fought it but finally after nearly three hours, after the kids got home from school, I gave in. We walked a kilometre each way to the corner store and had a treat. I enjoyed my Twisties very much but did feel a bit sick afterwards - it wasn't a family size bag but it was bigger than a one-person serve. What is it with these sudden cravings? I don't understand where they are coming from.
While Jasmine was in her ballet class, Aiden and I went for another walk. He chose the direction and the path unexpectedly went up a long steep hill. We made it to the top of the path - the hill continued in trees and grass - 24 flights of stairs high according to my fitbit. We walked back down and I hit 10,000 steps as we got back to the dance studio so that was good timing.
So it was a mixed day. Some good things, some bad. I did some exercise, but didn't go to the gym (because I left it until the afternoon and then just didn't). I ate about 500 calories of junk. I am a bit worried about these persistent cravings. It's not any special time of the month or anything. Oh well, it's only been for two days, two days isn't exactly a pattern set in stone. I had a great sleep and that is still an important Non Scale Victory.
Report Card:
Diet: Poor.
Exercise: Good.
Water: Poor.
Sleep: Great.
Mental health: A bit up and down.
Last night as I was going to bed (all replete and contented from my fast food) I looked at my CPAP with some distaste. Another night coming up the same as the previous nine or so; a couple of hours sleep, waking to find the CPAP annoying me but staying true to my goal of minimum four hours every night, getting back to sleep for another couple of hours, the relief at yanking the mask off, the sore nose, trying to get back to sleep again, last few restless hours with sleep apnoea disturbing me. I've been proud of myself sticking to my vow but I was not exactly having a fun time.
Then I wondered if I was partly causing some of the problems with my resigned but resentful mindset. I was expecting all the wakefulness - was I causing it? So I turned my mind around. I decided to sleep restfully and well, with my CPAP on, all the way to 7am. No restlessness or irritation at all, just good sleep all the way. Somehow I found it really easy to just decide this would happen.
And it did. I woke once to go to the bathroom, then slept through to just after 7am. With my CPAP on all night.
The weirdest thing was when I looked at my fitbit sleep stats. I slept solidly and without restlessness except for two points. First when I woke and went to the bathroom, about the time I always do after two or three hours, but second when I usually wake and take off the CPAP nose pillows. I still woke, apparently. But I don't remember waking. I just went back to sleep quick enough that I don't even recall it. And those last few hours were as good as the earlier ones, because I still had my CPAP on. Amazing what a change of mindset can do.
Yesterday I finished my "quality" Easter chocolate, the Lindt egg and bunny my husband gave me. Five days to eat 220 grams, with a couple of extra little eggs so call it 50 grams a day. That is about five times the chocolate I usually eat a day! Hard to keep the calories down with an extra 250 or so calories each day. I still have some little eggs left from the Easter bunny but the quality is only Cadbury good, not Lindt great, and not nearly so tempting. I put them away in the cupboard, out of sight (they were on my desk!) and I think I'll be eating a lot less chocolate for a while.
I only realised today that I won't be able to go to the gym for the next two weeks except on weekends. It's the last day of school term today so I'll have my kids home. They are too young to come to the gym and the crèche isn't open in the holidays (how stupid is that!). My husband gets home too late from work, always after dinner, for me to go then - last night he got home at 11pm, tonight about 8:10. So there would only be weekends. I'll try to put my membership on hold, I think I can do that for one week without a medical certificate. I'll just have to use my Xbox games a lot at home and take the kids for walks. I could get up early, before Tim goes to work. I'm considering that, but I don't want to sacrifice precious sleep and I wouldn't be able to go to any classes so I don't feel that using the elliptical is necessarily any better than exercising at home.
Here was me thinking I had a stretch of time ahead with no deviations from routine! How silly was I! Two weeks of school holidays coming up. Or as I said to Tim this morning, anti-holidays for me. He'll still be working so it means I'll have the kids home all day. Need to think of lots of fun things to do. That don't involve food, or huge amounts of money.
I thought my weight might be up this morning after last night's salty dinner, but only up 0.1 kg. I did drink all my water so I'm sure that helped.
I started to have strong cravings again after lunch. This time specifically for Twisties (crunchy cheese flavoured twists). I fought it and fought it but finally after nearly three hours, after the kids got home from school, I gave in. We walked a kilometre each way to the corner store and had a treat. I enjoyed my Twisties very much but did feel a bit sick afterwards - it wasn't a family size bag but it was bigger than a one-person serve. What is it with these sudden cravings? I don't understand where they are coming from.
While Jasmine was in her ballet class, Aiden and I went for another walk. He chose the direction and the path unexpectedly went up a long steep hill. We made it to the top of the path - the hill continued in trees and grass - 24 flights of stairs high according to my fitbit. We walked back down and I hit 10,000 steps as we got back to the dance studio so that was good timing.
So it was a mixed day. Some good things, some bad. I did some exercise, but didn't go to the gym (because I left it until the afternoon and then just didn't). I ate about 500 calories of junk. I am a bit worried about these persistent cravings. It's not any special time of the month or anything. Oh well, it's only been for two days, two days isn't exactly a pattern set in stone. I had a great sleep and that is still an important Non Scale Victory.
Report Card:
Diet: Poor.
Exercise: Good.
Water: Poor.
Sleep: Great.
Mental health: A bit up and down.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Happy Easter
Sunday:
The kids woke us when it was still a bit dark, ready to hunt for Easter Eggs. Sure enough, the Easter Bunny had left plenty of chocolate plus some Easter-themed lollies because my son doesn't like chocolate much. I collected a few, but let the kids get most of it. We also give each other a big egg or bunny (or both). Here is my Easter loot:
The kids had some straight away but I couldn't face chocolate first thing in the morning. Tim and I went back to bed for a while. Meals have been fairly normal today except for dinner, but with lots of nibbles of chocolate between meals instead of my usual fruit. I ended up eating about 50g of chocolate (250 calories), which isn't all that much. And roast pork with crackling. Plus the dessert which had about a million calories (croissants soaked in mainly cream, with raspberries and Toblerone chocolate, then baked. I suppose it's a fancy bread-and-butter pudding). It was tricky moderating the kids' intake, not because I'm mean but because I know what happens! Aiden had a bit of a meltdown just before lunch. His little body just can't handle that much sugar with impunity. I'm making sure they eat real food as well, and after today they will only be having very limited amounts of treats each day.
Daylight Savings ended here last night so everything is a bit out today. It will take a few days to get used to. We will get to sleep in, though, and it will go back to being light when we get up - at least for a while. The weather has turned towards winter.
Straight after breakfast I started Fantasia. In the 45 minutes I finished the storyline and saved the universe from the evil noise pollution! I still have plenty to do, songs I haven't conquered and some I have only just unlocked and haven't even tried yet. But I've finished the plot of the game, which involves being apprenticed to a wizard and clearing each realm of "the noise" by mastering various songs. I would have kept playing but we'd arranged to meet some friends at the playground at the Arboretum.
The playground was pretty crowded but included more friends who happened to be there at the same time. I started by going for a walk while Tim supervised Jasmine on the equipment. Not that either child really needs supervision at their age. Aiden came with me, he had noticed the steep hill cut into big steps (each about 2 metres high) and wanted to climb on it. So we walked all the way down the hill, me on the path and him scrambling down the grass "steps" and then we went back up, both on the steps. Each one was taller than I am and at a very steep incline. I don't think they are actually there to be climbed on! But very tempting. I only touched down with a hand once, but jogged up each one leaning right forward and with my arms spread wide for balance. I threw myself into it each time, bounding up with a little run-up. Then a short rest walking on the flat area before the next one. I'm not sure how many steps, 15-20. My fitbit counted 14 flights of stairs from the bottom to the top. My heart rate got up to 143 and I was gasping for air! I probably looked like a tomato too, I go very red in the face. Near the top I didn't think I could finish but made myself go on. Never give up, never surrender! Aiden ran up each one, hardly noticing. The stamina of the young! It took about 25 minutes down and back. It was fun. And exhausting. And sweaty. And then I sat and talked to my friends until it was time to go home and have lunch.
After lunch I spent a long time catching up on reading blogs and dietbet forums, but then got up and did some more Fantasia. I selected some songs that had been unlocked but weren't part of the storyline so I hadn't done them; like David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and Lady Gaga's Applause. Another hour! That is over two hours of exercise today! I think I have well and truly earned my chocolate.
In the late afternoon (pre-evening or prevening as Sheldon would say) Tim took the kids to see the SpongeBob movie. I had to stay home to start dinner, but didn't mind at all. A nice bit of quiet at home! It's not one of the movies I want to see. It's school holidays in a week and I'll take them to see a couple, probably Home and Cinderella. Tim was not at all impressed with SpongeBob but the kids loved it. They are the target demographic, after all.
I only kept the CPAP on for four hours last night. My nostrils got very sore. It's like getting used to new shoes, it gets worse before it gets better. Still keeping to that four hour minimum. And, as you can tell by my increase in exercise, I have more energy already. Love that restful sleep!
I haven't been tracking my food for a few weeks, I plan to start doing that again tomorrow. Keep a handle on my chocolate intake!
Report card:
Diet: Poor. Celebration day.
Exercise: Excellent!
Water: Excellent! More than eight glasses.
Sleep: Good.
Mental health: Great.
The kids woke us when it was still a bit dark, ready to hunt for Easter Eggs. Sure enough, the Easter Bunny had left plenty of chocolate plus some Easter-themed lollies because my son doesn't like chocolate much. I collected a few, but let the kids get most of it. We also give each other a big egg or bunny (or both). Here is my Easter loot:
The kids had some straight away but I couldn't face chocolate first thing in the morning. Tim and I went back to bed for a while. Meals have been fairly normal today except for dinner, but with lots of nibbles of chocolate between meals instead of my usual fruit. I ended up eating about 50g of chocolate (250 calories), which isn't all that much. And roast pork with crackling. Plus the dessert which had about a million calories (croissants soaked in mainly cream, with raspberries and Toblerone chocolate, then baked. I suppose it's a fancy bread-and-butter pudding). It was tricky moderating the kids' intake, not because I'm mean but because I know what happens! Aiden had a bit of a meltdown just before lunch. His little body just can't handle that much sugar with impunity. I'm making sure they eat real food as well, and after today they will only be having very limited amounts of treats each day.
Daylight Savings ended here last night so everything is a bit out today. It will take a few days to get used to. We will get to sleep in, though, and it will go back to being light when we get up - at least for a while. The weather has turned towards winter.
Straight after breakfast I started Fantasia. In the 45 minutes I finished the storyline and saved the universe from the evil noise pollution! I still have plenty to do, songs I haven't conquered and some I have only just unlocked and haven't even tried yet. But I've finished the plot of the game, which involves being apprenticed to a wizard and clearing each realm of "the noise" by mastering various songs. I would have kept playing but we'd arranged to meet some friends at the playground at the Arboretum.
The playground was pretty crowded but included more friends who happened to be there at the same time. I started by going for a walk while Tim supervised Jasmine on the equipment. Not that either child really needs supervision at their age. Aiden came with me, he had noticed the steep hill cut into big steps (each about 2 metres high) and wanted to climb on it. So we walked all the way down the hill, me on the path and him scrambling down the grass "steps" and then we went back up, both on the steps. Each one was taller than I am and at a very steep incline. I don't think they are actually there to be climbed on! But very tempting. I only touched down with a hand once, but jogged up each one leaning right forward and with my arms spread wide for balance. I threw myself into it each time, bounding up with a little run-up. Then a short rest walking on the flat area before the next one. I'm not sure how many steps, 15-20. My fitbit counted 14 flights of stairs from the bottom to the top. My heart rate got up to 143 and I was gasping for air! I probably looked like a tomato too, I go very red in the face. Near the top I didn't think I could finish but made myself go on. Never give up, never surrender! Aiden ran up each one, hardly noticing. The stamina of the young! It took about 25 minutes down and back. It was fun. And exhausting. And sweaty. And then I sat and talked to my friends until it was time to go home and have lunch.
After lunch I spent a long time catching up on reading blogs and dietbet forums, but then got up and did some more Fantasia. I selected some songs that had been unlocked but weren't part of the storyline so I hadn't done them; like David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and Lady Gaga's Applause. Another hour! That is over two hours of exercise today! I think I have well and truly earned my chocolate.
In the late afternoon (pre-evening or prevening as Sheldon would say) Tim took the kids to see the SpongeBob movie. I had to stay home to start dinner, but didn't mind at all. A nice bit of quiet at home! It's not one of the movies I want to see. It's school holidays in a week and I'll take them to see a couple, probably Home and Cinderella. Tim was not at all impressed with SpongeBob but the kids loved it. They are the target demographic, after all.
I only kept the CPAP on for four hours last night. My nostrils got very sore. It's like getting used to new shoes, it gets worse before it gets better. Still keeping to that four hour minimum. And, as you can tell by my increase in exercise, I have more energy already. Love that restful sleep!
I haven't been tracking my food for a few weeks, I plan to start doing that again tomorrow. Keep a handle on my chocolate intake!
Report card:
Diet: Poor. Celebration day.
Exercise: Excellent!
Water: Excellent! More than eight glasses.
Sleep: Good.
Mental health: Great.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Back to basics
Saturday:
This morning I was thinking about what I need to get my food back on track after my little lapse. One or two bad meals or days need not be a diet-ender. So what works for me?
The first thing that I've slacked off on these past few days, even before the slump, was including lots of vegetables. Eating my vegetables is always a bit of a struggle, I don't like that many kinds or know many appealing ways of cooking them. My meals revolve around the protein, and making sure there are enough carbs for Tim. Vegetables are the afterthought, the "because I have to". So when the gloss of a new diet wears off, the virtuous increase in vegetables is the first thing to go.
Yet not only are veges good for me, they fill me up. No wonder I start eating more junk when i stop eating vegetables, I have to fill my stomach with something. Clearly this needs to be a priority.
The other thing I need to careful of is the timing of my meals. For example if I'm not hungry for morning tea and don't eat my piece of fruit, then I am ravenous an hour later. Too close to lunch to snack, so early lunch instead. So I'm starving by afternoon tea time, and eat too much. Not hungry at dinner time, eat only a little. But hungry in the evening... So I spend the day snacking, maybe on healthy food but not proper balanced meals. All because I didn't have my morning snack on time. It can mess up my whole day.
Pre-planning works well for me. Each evening I write down what I'm going to eat the next day, and I stick to that pretty closely. If I don't do this, it's easier to eat something less healthy. I also always plan the week's dinners before I go shopping - I don't understand how some people don't do this, I would hate not knowing what I was going to cook until it got to 5pm and try to work something out from the ingredients I happened to have.
I decided to swap over all my food recording to the Fitbit. It's actually quite a pain because all the items are American. The database didn't have Lebanese cucumbers (probably not much different to standard cucumbers in nutritional value) or my brand of cheese (fat and salt content could vary a lot) or my brand of tinned corn (sugar and salt). Cuts of meat are named differently. Some types of food have completely different names which might trip me up if I don't know. For example in most of the world "marinara" means seafood - that is what the word "marine" means after all, from the sea. But in the US apparently it means a tomato based sauce, nothing to do with seafood at all. Very confusing. I'll give the Fitbit recording a go, but might end up going back to my Australian CalorieKing if it's too hard.
Report Card:
Diet: Ok. Since it was Valentine's Day, we had dessert with dinner and I also ate some of the chocolates I was given. I will only be having one a day from now on.
Exercise: N/A. Saturday is my rest day.
Water: Great. Finished 12 glasses well before bedtime.
Sleep: Ok. Had an afternoon nap.
Mental health: Good. Feeling much better today. Did my meditation in the afternoon, and enjoyed spending time with my family.
This morning I was thinking about what I need to get my food back on track after my little lapse. One or two bad meals or days need not be a diet-ender. So what works for me?
The first thing that I've slacked off on these past few days, even before the slump, was including lots of vegetables. Eating my vegetables is always a bit of a struggle, I don't like that many kinds or know many appealing ways of cooking them. My meals revolve around the protein, and making sure there are enough carbs for Tim. Vegetables are the afterthought, the "because I have to". So when the gloss of a new diet wears off, the virtuous increase in vegetables is the first thing to go.
Yet not only are veges good for me, they fill me up. No wonder I start eating more junk when i stop eating vegetables, I have to fill my stomach with something. Clearly this needs to be a priority.
The other thing I need to careful of is the timing of my meals. For example if I'm not hungry for morning tea and don't eat my piece of fruit, then I am ravenous an hour later. Too close to lunch to snack, so early lunch instead. So I'm starving by afternoon tea time, and eat too much. Not hungry at dinner time, eat only a little. But hungry in the evening... So I spend the day snacking, maybe on healthy food but not proper balanced meals. All because I didn't have my morning snack on time. It can mess up my whole day.
Pre-planning works well for me. Each evening I write down what I'm going to eat the next day, and I stick to that pretty closely. If I don't do this, it's easier to eat something less healthy. I also always plan the week's dinners before I go shopping - I don't understand how some people don't do this, I would hate not knowing what I was going to cook until it got to 5pm and try to work something out from the ingredients I happened to have.
I decided to swap over all my food recording to the Fitbit. It's actually quite a pain because all the items are American. The database didn't have Lebanese cucumbers (probably not much different to standard cucumbers in nutritional value) or my brand of cheese (fat and salt content could vary a lot) or my brand of tinned corn (sugar and salt). Cuts of meat are named differently. Some types of food have completely different names which might trip me up if I don't know. For example in most of the world "marinara" means seafood - that is what the word "marine" means after all, from the sea. But in the US apparently it means a tomato based sauce, nothing to do with seafood at all. Very confusing. I'll give the Fitbit recording a go, but might end up going back to my Australian CalorieKing if it's too hard.
Report Card:
Diet: Ok. Since it was Valentine's Day, we had dessert with dinner and I also ate some of the chocolates I was given. I will only be having one a day from now on.
Exercise: N/A. Saturday is my rest day.
Water: Great. Finished 12 glasses well before bedtime.
Sleep: Ok. Had an afternoon nap.
Mental health: Good. Feeling much better today. Did my meditation in the afternoon, and enjoyed spending time with my family.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Core strength, or lack thereof
Tuesday:
I actually didn't resent getting out of bed this morning! Amazing.
I went to the gym to tackle those pesky New Zealand mountains again. I tried to go a little faster, a little harder. Overall much the same as yesterday. I did the second half of NZ (there are six segments for each area, I think, around 10 minutes each), including visiting a glacier and a lovely hike to a lake. My right foot hurt quite badly nearly the whole time on the elliptical yesterday, no idea why, it stopped hurting when I moved on; today it started hurting after about 15 mins but not as bad. So that is an improvement. Maybe the elliptical set up is a bit different to what I am used to.
Then I got back on the bike to finish my ride through the Champagne region. I was just thinking yesterday, on the bike, how none of the exercises I was doing were targeting my core and I probably needed to add something else. But I was wrong. Somehow I didn't feel it yesterday, but today when I got on the bike my stomach muscles protested in no uncertain fashion. Apparently still tired and sore from yesterday. No other pose triggers the discomfort, only the bike. But it was pretty uncomfortable! I only made 20 mins today before finishing with a short walk. Ow my core.
So I got my hour of exercise in again.
After school we walked to a friend's house for a play date. I didn't feel hay-fevery at any point, and I noticed that there was hardly any Capeweed left around. And/or maybe this third antihistamine is working for me. Either way, it was great not to feel awful just for going outside. I took my own portioned out afternoon snack as well as healthy stuff for everyone. And that little walk there and back was a bit of extra exercise so it was good all round.
At Jasmine's dance class she was invited to audition for the Junior Performance group. She is keen and we all love dance here, but it is a big commitment. As well as her jazz funk she would have to add ballet and a special performance class. Three afternoons a week instead of one! Lots of driving, lots of sitting around (especially boring for her little brother), lots of expense! Three eisteddfods next year and a few other performances to commit to. And I'm not that keen on ballet (I've seen their damaged feet), although Jasmine wants to try it. We haven't decided yet.
Tim had to work very late so Dungeons and Dragons was cancelled, so I didn't need to negotiate the food. I decided to still have my low-cal hot chocolate for supper. And YUCK! I had forgotten how nasty fake sugar is. Spit yuck pthew. I must have been desperate when I had it before a couple of times. One of those "diet" things you do when you are denying yourself real food. Now I think back, I'm pretty sure most of the last packet was thrown away. As an experiment, I tried mixing pure cocoa powder (chocolate) with hot water - no sugar or sugar substitutes at all. And the taste was much nicer. Would be a lot better in milk instead of water, but it has a pretty good chocolaty taste for 40 calories a cup (two teaspoons of cocoa).
Oh my legs are sore this evening. Those NZ mountains are killers.
I actually didn't resent getting out of bed this morning! Amazing.
I went to the gym to tackle those pesky New Zealand mountains again. I tried to go a little faster, a little harder. Overall much the same as yesterday. I did the second half of NZ (there are six segments for each area, I think, around 10 minutes each), including visiting a glacier and a lovely hike to a lake. My right foot hurt quite badly nearly the whole time on the elliptical yesterday, no idea why, it stopped hurting when I moved on; today it started hurting after about 15 mins but not as bad. So that is an improvement. Maybe the elliptical set up is a bit different to what I am used to.
Then I got back on the bike to finish my ride through the Champagne region. I was just thinking yesterday, on the bike, how none of the exercises I was doing were targeting my core and I probably needed to add something else. But I was wrong. Somehow I didn't feel it yesterday, but today when I got on the bike my stomach muscles protested in no uncertain fashion. Apparently still tired and sore from yesterday. No other pose triggers the discomfort, only the bike. But it was pretty uncomfortable! I only made 20 mins today before finishing with a short walk. Ow my core.
So I got my hour of exercise in again.
After school we walked to a friend's house for a play date. I didn't feel hay-fevery at any point, and I noticed that there was hardly any Capeweed left around. And/or maybe this third antihistamine is working for me. Either way, it was great not to feel awful just for going outside. I took my own portioned out afternoon snack as well as healthy stuff for everyone. And that little walk there and back was a bit of extra exercise so it was good all round.
At Jasmine's dance class she was invited to audition for the Junior Performance group. She is keen and we all love dance here, but it is a big commitment. As well as her jazz funk she would have to add ballet and a special performance class. Three afternoons a week instead of one! Lots of driving, lots of sitting around (especially boring for her little brother), lots of expense! Three eisteddfods next year and a few other performances to commit to. And I'm not that keen on ballet (I've seen their damaged feet), although Jasmine wants to try it. We haven't decided yet.
Tim had to work very late so Dungeons and Dragons was cancelled, so I didn't need to negotiate the food. I decided to still have my low-cal hot chocolate for supper. And YUCK! I had forgotten how nasty fake sugar is. Spit yuck pthew. I must have been desperate when I had it before a couple of times. One of those "diet" things you do when you are denying yourself real food. Now I think back, I'm pretty sure most of the last packet was thrown away. As an experiment, I tried mixing pure cocoa powder (chocolate) with hot water - no sugar or sugar substitutes at all. And the taste was much nicer. Would be a lot better in milk instead of water, but it has a pretty good chocolaty taste for 40 calories a cup (two teaspoons of cocoa).
Oh my legs are sore this evening. Those NZ mountains are killers.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
No sleep
Tuesday:
Tim didn't get to sleep until about 3am (he's somewhat better this morning, sitting up and eating toast) which meant I also didn't get to sleep until around 3am. And I got up at 6.30 to let the puppy out. Actually I thought I heard the puppy so I got up and put on my dressing gown, glasses and shoes (it's below freezing outside at night now, need proper shoes) then realised all was quiet. I climbed back into bed with everything still on, with my shod feet sticking awkwardly out the side. After a while I decided the sheets needed changing anyway since my husband has been ill so I just pulled my feet in. I did take off my glasses eventually. Thor woke about 15 minutes later. I don't know if it was him the first time or I dreamed it.
I was so tired and headachy. I bullied the kids into getting ready for school and we were just about ready to leave when my daughter reminded me I hadn't made their lunches. Threw some things into their backpacks. Took Thor with us but I got so cranky with him pulling my arm off that I gave up only a few houses away and said goodbye to the kids there and dragged the puppy home again. I just couldn't deal with it and was going to lose my temper badly with him, better to just go home and take him for a walk later.
I felt better after lunch and took Thor for a short walk, then he got another short walk when we picked up the kids. The early afternoon was spent with an electrician here fixing all the things wrong with our lighting. We have a light in the bathroom again! No more candles. Bathing by candlelight is quite soothing, but you can't read.
... (Wednesday) I was too tired to finish this post yesterday. I took Jasmine to her dance class then Tim felt well enough to go ahead with our games night. I would have much rather TV and early night. I ate too much chocolate trying to stay awake, and eventually went to bed early while Tim & the others continued to play. After a good night's sleep I still feel really tired, need more to catch up.
My RSI is playing up so I can't do too much computer time today. I had to leave full-time work 12 years ago and can now only work a few hours a day because of RSI in my shoulders, arms & hands. It is usually under control, except when I spend too much time on the computer, sit around too much (including long car trips), it's cold weather or cold air conditioning like at a movie, I'm sick or it's that time of the month, and/or I'm tired. At the moment basically all of those are in force. Different bits flare up, at the moment my pectoral muscles hurt and the bases of both thumbs are swollen and inflamed. Hard to type. I need to look after myself today.
Tim didn't get to sleep until about 3am (he's somewhat better this morning, sitting up and eating toast) which meant I also didn't get to sleep until around 3am. And I got up at 6.30 to let the puppy out. Actually I thought I heard the puppy so I got up and put on my dressing gown, glasses and shoes (it's below freezing outside at night now, need proper shoes) then realised all was quiet. I climbed back into bed with everything still on, with my shod feet sticking awkwardly out the side. After a while I decided the sheets needed changing anyway since my husband has been ill so I just pulled my feet in. I did take off my glasses eventually. Thor woke about 15 minutes later. I don't know if it was him the first time or I dreamed it.
I was so tired and headachy. I bullied the kids into getting ready for school and we were just about ready to leave when my daughter reminded me I hadn't made their lunches. Threw some things into their backpacks. Took Thor with us but I got so cranky with him pulling my arm off that I gave up only a few houses away and said goodbye to the kids there and dragged the puppy home again. I just couldn't deal with it and was going to lose my temper badly with him, better to just go home and take him for a walk later.
I felt better after lunch and took Thor for a short walk, then he got another short walk when we picked up the kids. The early afternoon was spent with an electrician here fixing all the things wrong with our lighting. We have a light in the bathroom again! No more candles. Bathing by candlelight is quite soothing, but you can't read.
... (Wednesday) I was too tired to finish this post yesterday. I took Jasmine to her dance class then Tim felt well enough to go ahead with our games night. I would have much rather TV and early night. I ate too much chocolate trying to stay awake, and eventually went to bed early while Tim & the others continued to play. After a good night's sleep I still feel really tired, need more to catch up.
My RSI is playing up so I can't do too much computer time today. I had to leave full-time work 12 years ago and can now only work a few hours a day because of RSI in my shoulders, arms & hands. It is usually under control, except when I spend too much time on the computer, sit around too much (including long car trips), it's cold weather or cold air conditioning like at a movie, I'm sick or it's that time of the month, and/or I'm tired. At the moment basically all of those are in force. Different bits flare up, at the moment my pectoral muscles hurt and the bases of both thumbs are swollen and inflamed. Hard to type. I need to look after myself today.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Oncologist and chocolate
Tuesday:
My mum saw her oncologist today and there was some good news. The breast tumour had visibly shrunk and some of the tumours in her skull as well. So she is responding very well to the various treatments. She'd been getting a swollen leg from a regular injection in her hip, but last time they did it in her arm which seems to have solved that problem. She still spends a lot of time resting. She's never going to be cured, but her current situation is a far cry from when I first heard that she had breast cancer than had spread to her bones - at that time I thought she probably only had months to live. Now it should be years, at least. And she is still fully able to care for herself in her own home. She's even finishing the last couple of units in her Masters Degree.
I've always said chocolate isn't a problem for me, I love it but can eat a square or two and that is enough. It is not a trigger food for me. So lately it has been the only treat I have in the house, I felt it was safe. But since it is the only treat available, I have been eating it whenever I get a craving for something else. I've gone from a couple of squares two or three times a week, to a larger quantity every day. I keep buying different flavours and now have quite a few blocks to choose from. It isn't what I want to eat - I want salty chips or cheesy corn chips - but in the absence of that I turn to chocolate instead to fill the void. Not ideal! I guess it isn't a "safe" food for me to have in the house any more.
I've only just become aware of this behaviour and analysed it, so my first strategy is just to stop eating it so frequently - now I know what I am doing. But if I can't just stop, I'll have to throw it all away, which is fine. But if it comes to that, I'm worried I'll then turn to something else. It's possible to overeat just about anything. With a family, I can't ban cereal or bread or cheese from the house. But I'm hoping just being aware of it is enough to stop the behaviour.
I definitely feel a bit of a hole in my life that was once filled with unhealthy food. There are lots of other good things in my life, but it's not the same as being able to dive into a big bag of chips.
My mum saw her oncologist today and there was some good news. The breast tumour had visibly shrunk and some of the tumours in her skull as well. So she is responding very well to the various treatments. She'd been getting a swollen leg from a regular injection in her hip, but last time they did it in her arm which seems to have solved that problem. She still spends a lot of time resting. She's never going to be cured, but her current situation is a far cry from when I first heard that she had breast cancer than had spread to her bones - at that time I thought she probably only had months to live. Now it should be years, at least. And she is still fully able to care for herself in her own home. She's even finishing the last couple of units in her Masters Degree.
I've always said chocolate isn't a problem for me, I love it but can eat a square or two and that is enough. It is not a trigger food for me. So lately it has been the only treat I have in the house, I felt it was safe. But since it is the only treat available, I have been eating it whenever I get a craving for something else. I've gone from a couple of squares two or three times a week, to a larger quantity every day. I keep buying different flavours and now have quite a few blocks to choose from. It isn't what I want to eat - I want salty chips or cheesy corn chips - but in the absence of that I turn to chocolate instead to fill the void. Not ideal! I guess it isn't a "safe" food for me to have in the house any more.
I've only just become aware of this behaviour and analysed it, so my first strategy is just to stop eating it so frequently - now I know what I am doing. But if I can't just stop, I'll have to throw it all away, which is fine. But if it comes to that, I'm worried I'll then turn to something else. It's possible to overeat just about anything. With a family, I can't ban cereal or bread or cheese from the house. But I'm hoping just being aware of it is enough to stop the behaviour.
I definitely feel a bit of a hole in my life that was once filled with unhealthy food. There are lots of other good things in my life, but it's not the same as being able to dive into a big bag of chips.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Queen's birthday
Monday:
Today was Queen's Birthday public holiday. Some of our guests were still here so we had a more elaborate breakfast and lunch than I would normally make but I didn't overeat. I didn't have any of the chocolate I offered them, I had an apple for my snack. And tonight I only ate until I was full even though there was more yummy food available and I did briefly consider it.
One reason I was so careful was that I was saving up calories for a treat. Tonight for supper I am going to have that leftover chocolate mousse! I have been looking forward to it all day and it has actually helped keep me from straying. I didn't want to have to tell myself I couldn't have it because I had no calories left.
So I am doing excellently well sticking to my food plan, and I give myself lots of credit for that. Now I need to work on my exercise. I plan to spend the mornings working, Thor is happy to sleep on his daybed next to the computer and sleeps for about three hours with only a short wakeful period when he needs to be taken out, so I have plenty of time to get some writing done. Then after lunch I will try using the Xbox to dance. I'm not sure how my little puppy will react to that! I don't want to trip over him. He'll get used to it if I do it regularly.
Today was Queen's Birthday public holiday. Some of our guests were still here so we had a more elaborate breakfast and lunch than I would normally make but I didn't overeat. I didn't have any of the chocolate I offered them, I had an apple for my snack. And tonight I only ate until I was full even though there was more yummy food available and I did briefly consider it.
One reason I was so careful was that I was saving up calories for a treat. Tonight for supper I am going to have that leftover chocolate mousse! I have been looking forward to it all day and it has actually helped keep me from straying. I didn't want to have to tell myself I couldn't have it because I had no calories left.
So I am doing excellently well sticking to my food plan, and I give myself lots of credit for that. Now I need to work on my exercise. I plan to spend the mornings working, Thor is happy to sleep on his daybed next to the computer and sleeps for about three hours with only a short wakeful period when he needs to be taken out, so I have plenty of time to get some writing done. Then after lunch I will try using the Xbox to dance. I'm not sure how my little puppy will react to that! I don't want to trip over him. He'll get used to it if I do it regularly.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Day 6: today was harder
Tuesday:
I resisted so many temptations yesterday afternoon! PMS hit so I wasn't feeling at my strongest, but I negotiated shoe shopping with the kids and buying them a treat without getting myself anything (had my scheduled afternoon snack when we got home), and later didn't turn to food even though I really wanted to when the kids were bickering (this was probably my hardest challenge this week, I was feeling very grumpy and out of sorts), and I only ate my allotted amount of roast potato at dinner even though it was really yummy and there was more just sitting there, AND I had a healthy supper instead of the unhealthy one that was calling to me. I was so strong. I just didn't give myself a choice.
I weigh myself every morning, and I mentally prepared myself for a gain this morning due to TOM water retention. And it did go up, by 0.1 kg. Not so bad! It helps that I am not eating my usual salty carbs. Other times the gain has been ten times that overnight.
Pre-tracking is really helping. Each evening I write down everything I'm going to eat the next day. And that is what I eat. And all I eat. The only leeway I give myself is that I write "fruit" then I can chose whichever type I feel like at the time. It makes it easier that the choices for the day are already made. Decided. Done. Takes a lot of stress away.
I've also settled the breakfast issue, which has always been a problem for me. I just made a choice that fit with my diet plan, and I'm having the same thing every weekday (varies on weekends). No decision required. That is my breakfast now, so I don't even need to think about it.
So I'm still doing really well but it was a really hard day. I had another bad night's sleep, taking the mask off at 2am because I needed to cough a lot. The PMS was crushing me all day and it was taking every iota of my strength to stick to my eating plan. I've done little else today than resist, resist, resist. I read somewhere recently (can't remember who) a woman denying PMS existed and that other women use it as an excuse. Don't we all want to punch her? Try living with these hormones two days a month. I am using it as an excuse to put off things I don't want to do. But I'm not using it as an excuse to overeat. Not this time.
I finished dinner with 200 "normal" calories left plus the 200 extra I planned to allow myself at games night supper. I provided Greek yoghurt with raspberries, and some chocolate. There was some cheese and wine. Some more chocolate. And then this:
Apparently our favourite brand of chocolate was on special. Most of this was taken away again (they know I don't like leftovers left in our house) to be brought back every week until it's gone. Even so, when looking at the empty packets at the end of the night, there was easily 100g of chocolate per person consumed.
I had yoghurt and raspberries as part of my planned diet, but I served it to everyone in fancy cocktail glasses to make it special. I spent my 200 extra calories on 36g of chocolate and one wedge of brie cheese on one cracker. That was all. I felt mildly deprived late in the evening when I would have like to nibble on a bit more, but I shrugged it off.
Day six accomplished!
I resisted so many temptations yesterday afternoon! PMS hit so I wasn't feeling at my strongest, but I negotiated shoe shopping with the kids and buying them a treat without getting myself anything (had my scheduled afternoon snack when we got home), and later didn't turn to food even though I really wanted to when the kids were bickering (this was probably my hardest challenge this week, I was feeling very grumpy and out of sorts), and I only ate my allotted amount of roast potato at dinner even though it was really yummy and there was more just sitting there, AND I had a healthy supper instead of the unhealthy one that was calling to me. I was so strong. I just didn't give myself a choice.
I weigh myself every morning, and I mentally prepared myself for a gain this morning due to TOM water retention. And it did go up, by 0.1 kg. Not so bad! It helps that I am not eating my usual salty carbs. Other times the gain has been ten times that overnight.
Pre-tracking is really helping. Each evening I write down everything I'm going to eat the next day. And that is what I eat. And all I eat. The only leeway I give myself is that I write "fruit" then I can chose whichever type I feel like at the time. It makes it easier that the choices for the day are already made. Decided. Done. Takes a lot of stress away.
I've also settled the breakfast issue, which has always been a problem for me. I just made a choice that fit with my diet plan, and I'm having the same thing every weekday (varies on weekends). No decision required. That is my breakfast now, so I don't even need to think about it.
So I'm still doing really well but it was a really hard day. I had another bad night's sleep, taking the mask off at 2am because I needed to cough a lot. The PMS was crushing me all day and it was taking every iota of my strength to stick to my eating plan. I've done little else today than resist, resist, resist. I read somewhere recently (can't remember who) a woman denying PMS existed and that other women use it as an excuse. Don't we all want to punch her? Try living with these hormones two days a month. I am using it as an excuse to put off things I don't want to do. But I'm not using it as an excuse to overeat. Not this time.
I finished dinner with 200 "normal" calories left plus the 200 extra I planned to allow myself at games night supper. I provided Greek yoghurt with raspberries, and some chocolate. There was some cheese and wine. Some more chocolate. And then this:
Apparently our favourite brand of chocolate was on special. Most of this was taken away again (they know I don't like leftovers left in our house) to be brought back every week until it's gone. Even so, when looking at the empty packets at the end of the night, there was easily 100g of chocolate per person consumed.
I had yoghurt and raspberries as part of my planned diet, but I served it to everyone in fancy cocktail glasses to make it special. I spent my 200 extra calories on 36g of chocolate and one wedge of brie cheese on one cracker. That was all. I felt mildly deprived late in the evening when I would have like to nibble on a bit more, but I shrugged it off.
Day six accomplished!
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Chocolate and cauliflower fried rice
Saturday:
Yesterday I had been looking forward to a square of chocolate after dinner but then found I didn't have the calories for it, so didn't have it and I was ok with that. But later I realised that with about 20 calories to spend I could have several chocolate chips. I weighed out seven tiny little dots. I laid them in a pretty circle on a nice little plate and took them to the bath with me. With candles (although that has more to the with the fact that the bathroom light is broken). My husband went out for an evening with some friends and I luxuriated.
And ended up eating three chocolate chips, worth about ten calories. Seriously, they could have comfortably fit on my little fingernail. But it was enough. I wasn't interested in eating the rest, so I didn't.
I'm giving myself a lot of credit for this. I didn't eat out of my plan. I worked out a way I could have a taste of what I wanted without going over my limit. I stopped when I had had enough, even when the rest of the chocolate was sitting right there beside me.
Amazing, though, that 2 grams of chocolate has the same number of calories as a whole Lebanese cucumber of about 100 grams.
Today's exercise, in the Beck book, is practising leaving food on your plate so that was serendipitous. Tick!
Today for lunch I tried making cauliflower fried rice. Jasmine had specially asked for ravioli today so the rest of the family had that but I am trying to keep my carbs low-ish. I am not a fan of cauliflower - in fact when I make cauliflower cheese I use half broccoli and I only have the broccoli (I love broccoli) - so I don't even know why I tried this. Other people said that it's nice even if you don't like cauliflower much so I thought I would give it a go.
I pulsed half a raw head of cauliflower, not too much stalk, in the food processor until it was about the size of grains of rice. Actually ten seconds was a bit too long and it turned out a bit smaller than that. I finely chopped and stir fried some mushroom, capsicum, baby corn, shallots and lean bacon in a little olive oil, then added the cauliflower grains, a dash of soy and a splash of chicken stock, some celery salt and some onion powder; and stir fried a little longer. Half of what this created was a filling lunch for only about 116 calories and 3.8 grams of carbohydrate! And it was really nice. I couldn't taste the cauliflower, only the other stuff I put in, and it looked pretty much like fried rice. I feel this is a bit low in calories for lunch and it's not my intention to starve myself, but with a cup of tea I was satisfied so decided to wait until afternoon tea time before having anything else. Why eat when you are not hungry?
I also like quinoa "fried rice" but that takes longer because you have to cook the quinoa first, and no one else in this house likes quinoa so it's a fair bit of work just for me and usually I can't be bothered.
We went out for a family walk in the afternoon, 30 minutes, which is more exercise than I've done for a while. I walked briskly and steadily while Tim and the kids raced ahead or lagged behind to climb on something or blow a dandelion clock. I was pretty tired by the end and for half an hour afterwards, then I was ok. It's the third Chase the Stars 5k weekend, can I do it half today and half tomorrow? Anyway, it was good to get moving. My infected eye is a lot better today and overall I feel so much healthier than the past three weeks.
Dinner was yummy and I put perhaps a little too much on my plate. As I neared the end I was full but it tasted nice so I wanted to keep eating. Then I remembered that I was supposed to practice leaving food on my plate if I was full, so I left the last little bit. It was hard though, I wanted to eat that last piece of saucy chicken. But I have leftovers of that to go with the other half of my cauliflower rice to have on Monday lunch, so I can look forward to eating it then.
Three successful days in a row!
Yesterday I had been looking forward to a square of chocolate after dinner but then found I didn't have the calories for it, so didn't have it and I was ok with that. But later I realised that with about 20 calories to spend I could have several chocolate chips. I weighed out seven tiny little dots. I laid them in a pretty circle on a nice little plate and took them to the bath with me. With candles (although that has more to the with the fact that the bathroom light is broken). My husband went out for an evening with some friends and I luxuriated.
And ended up eating three chocolate chips, worth about ten calories. Seriously, they could have comfortably fit on my little fingernail. But it was enough. I wasn't interested in eating the rest, so I didn't.
I'm giving myself a lot of credit for this. I didn't eat out of my plan. I worked out a way I could have a taste of what I wanted without going over my limit. I stopped when I had had enough, even when the rest of the chocolate was sitting right there beside me.
Amazing, though, that 2 grams of chocolate has the same number of calories as a whole Lebanese cucumber of about 100 grams.
Today's exercise, in the Beck book, is practising leaving food on your plate so that was serendipitous. Tick!
Today for lunch I tried making cauliflower fried rice. Jasmine had specially asked for ravioli today so the rest of the family had that but I am trying to keep my carbs low-ish. I am not a fan of cauliflower - in fact when I make cauliflower cheese I use half broccoli and I only have the broccoli (I love broccoli) - so I don't even know why I tried this. Other people said that it's nice even if you don't like cauliflower much so I thought I would give it a go.
I pulsed half a raw head of cauliflower, not too much stalk, in the food processor until it was about the size of grains of rice. Actually ten seconds was a bit too long and it turned out a bit smaller than that. I finely chopped and stir fried some mushroom, capsicum, baby corn, shallots and lean bacon in a little olive oil, then added the cauliflower grains, a dash of soy and a splash of chicken stock, some celery salt and some onion powder; and stir fried a little longer. Half of what this created was a filling lunch for only about 116 calories and 3.8 grams of carbohydrate! And it was really nice. I couldn't taste the cauliflower, only the other stuff I put in, and it looked pretty much like fried rice. I feel this is a bit low in calories for lunch and it's not my intention to starve myself, but with a cup of tea I was satisfied so decided to wait until afternoon tea time before having anything else. Why eat when you are not hungry?
I also like quinoa "fried rice" but that takes longer because you have to cook the quinoa first, and no one else in this house likes quinoa so it's a fair bit of work just for me and usually I can't be bothered.
We went out for a family walk in the afternoon, 30 minutes, which is more exercise than I've done for a while. I walked briskly and steadily while Tim and the kids raced ahead or lagged behind to climb on something or blow a dandelion clock. I was pretty tired by the end and for half an hour afterwards, then I was ok. It's the third Chase the Stars 5k weekend, can I do it half today and half tomorrow? Anyway, it was good to get moving. My infected eye is a lot better today and overall I feel so much healthier than the past three weeks.
Dinner was yummy and I put perhaps a little too much on my plate. As I neared the end I was full but it tasted nice so I wanted to keep eating. Then I remembered that I was supposed to practice leaving food on my plate if I was full, so I left the last little bit. It was hard though, I wanted to eat that last piece of saucy chicken. But I have leftovers of that to go with the other half of my cauliflower rice to have on Monday lunch, so I can look forward to eating it then.
Three successful days in a row!
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Still forging on
Thursday:
I've been keeping up the healthy eating and daily exercise. Today I walked around the lake. About 5.7km. Lovely weather for it, we've just turned the corner into autumn and it was a cool cloudy day with no wind. I went around clockwise for a change and I noticed two groups of people whose paths I crossed twice as they walked around counter-clockwise - two older ladies power-walking (not too old, maybe 55), and a mother with a little kid on a bike. Both groups must have been going considerably faster than me because of where we crossed the second time. Those older ladies were zooming along and chatting as well. And a much older man jogged past me. Just shows exercise does not have an arbitrary age limit.
I had a blood test this morning for my thyroid, hopefully that and the sleep study will give me and the doctor some useful information. All the results will be sent to the referring doctor, the one at the uni, but I'm not at the uni any more and I want to return to my regular doctor. Not sure how to manage that. Maybe just see the uni doctor one more time. She's free. Or she was to students - which I'm not any more ... all a bit muddled. But I didn't like her much and she was 45 minutes late when I was her first appointment of the day and if I see her it will just be to get my results.
I went into a pharmacy on Tuesday to check my blood pressure again. It was a different place, and instead of just being able to use their machine the chemist came over and did it, which was nice I guess. He took three readings, only five or ten seconds apart, and I got 128/90 (a bit high), 141/91 (a lot high) and 116/80 (completely normal)!! Very confusing. He told me to ignore the middle one as it was too different from the others - I hadn't discussed any health history with him and that was the one most like other recent readings. But the three were so different from each other, which made me lose a bit of faith in the whole system. I suppose that is why he took three readings, to get some kind of average.
I got through Dungeons and Dragons supper with only a lovely little pear and a few squares of dark chocolate, which are apparently good for high blood pressure. So I am doing really well on the food front as well. Healthy all the way!
I've been keeping up the healthy eating and daily exercise. Today I walked around the lake. About 5.7km. Lovely weather for it, we've just turned the corner into autumn and it was a cool cloudy day with no wind. I went around clockwise for a change and I noticed two groups of people whose paths I crossed twice as they walked around counter-clockwise - two older ladies power-walking (not too old, maybe 55), and a mother with a little kid on a bike. Both groups must have been going considerably faster than me because of where we crossed the second time. Those older ladies were zooming along and chatting as well. And a much older man jogged past me. Just shows exercise does not have an arbitrary age limit.
I had a blood test this morning for my thyroid, hopefully that and the sleep study will give me and the doctor some useful information. All the results will be sent to the referring doctor, the one at the uni, but I'm not at the uni any more and I want to return to my regular doctor. Not sure how to manage that. Maybe just see the uni doctor one more time. She's free. Or she was to students - which I'm not any more ... all a bit muddled. But I didn't like her much and she was 45 minutes late when I was her first appointment of the day and if I see her it will just be to get my results.
I went into a pharmacy on Tuesday to check my blood pressure again. It was a different place, and instead of just being able to use their machine the chemist came over and did it, which was nice I guess. He took three readings, only five or ten seconds apart, and I got 128/90 (a bit high), 141/91 (a lot high) and 116/80 (completely normal)!! Very confusing. He told me to ignore the middle one as it was too different from the others - I hadn't discussed any health history with him and that was the one most like other recent readings. But the three were so different from each other, which made me lose a bit of faith in the whole system. I suppose that is why he took three readings, to get some kind of average.
I got through Dungeons and Dragons supper with only a lovely little pear and a few squares of dark chocolate, which are apparently good for high blood pressure. So I am doing really well on the food front as well. Healthy all the way!
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