Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year (and weigh in)
After a couple of days of disgusting holiday bloat, followed by more moderate period bloat, I have suddenly dropped 2 pounds overnight for a new low of 143.6, oh, and it's Saturday, so my body fat percentage is 29.2. Happy New Year, everyone!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sugar binge
Monday 12/27
Toast, scrambled eggs with chard and swiss, and 1/2 grapefruit (90+140+30+100+100=460)
2 chocolate truffles (210)
2 caramel waffle cookies and coffee (250)
1/2 TLC sandwich and tangerine (90+110+100+30+40=370)
Mini cupcake, pistachios, and chocolate (100+160+150+220=630)
Skinny Cow ice cream, 2 bars and 1 cup (200+150)
Chicken vegetable soup and a stroopwafel (500+125=625)
2 mini cupcakes (200)
460+210+250+370+630+350+625+200=3095
This is the diet of someone who has had too much sugar sitting right in front of her face for too many days in a row. But I tried! I started off with a healthy breakfast, see...
Hoping for better luck tomorrow.
Toast, scrambled eggs with chard and swiss, and 1/2 grapefruit (90+140+30+100+100=460)
2 chocolate truffles (210)
2 caramel waffle cookies and coffee (250)
1/2 TLC sandwich and tangerine (90+110+100+30+40=370)
Mini cupcake, pistachios, and chocolate (100+160+150+220=630)
Skinny Cow ice cream, 2 bars and 1 cup (200+150)
Chicken vegetable soup and a stroopwafel (500+125=625)
2 mini cupcakes (200)
460+210+250+370+630+350+625+200=3095
This is the diet of someone who has had too much sugar sitting right in front of her face for too many days in a row. But I tried! I started off with a healthy breakfast, see...
Hoping for better luck tomorrow.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas
I'm not weighing in this week because the number is unreliable - I had a super low weight yesterday due to special circumstances on Thursday, and a fairly high number today due to special circumstances yesterday, also known as Christmas Eve dinner.
However, I will talk about today a little. I figured I'd go to my parents' house, eat lots of chocolate and some teff muffins and also a real breakfast, stop by home and eat salad if I was hungry, and then go the dinner and not eat a ton of appetizers because I would have either eaten salad or not been hungry in the first place.
Unfortunately, my parents' plans did not involve a real breakfast and so until one o'clock pretty much all I ate was sugar. I'm sure the fiber-y, protein-y teff muffins helped a bit, but they were still basically a sweet carb-based food. So I was really pretty strung out by the time I got home and I ate some leftovers with my salad for lunch. I got myself back on basically the level, but it wasn't a good foundation for the day and I also ate a little cupcake on my way out the door and I did not have particularly good calorie control at the dinner.
I ate enough today to gain half a pound. I don't feel bad about it, but I'm a little worried about tomorrow. We're out of eggs, as well as many other things, since we usually shop on Saturday, so there isn't an evident protein source to get back on track with a healthy wholesome breakfast. I don't want to end up eating the waffle-pressed caramel cookies with coffee for breakfast. Maybe I will have a rice cake with cheese?
However, I will talk about today a little. I figured I'd go to my parents' house, eat lots of chocolate and some teff muffins and also a real breakfast, stop by home and eat salad if I was hungry, and then go the dinner and not eat a ton of appetizers because I would have either eaten salad or not been hungry in the first place.
Unfortunately, my parents' plans did not involve a real breakfast and so until one o'clock pretty much all I ate was sugar. I'm sure the fiber-y, protein-y teff muffins helped a bit, but they were still basically a sweet carb-based food. So I was really pretty strung out by the time I got home and I ate some leftovers with my salad for lunch. I got myself back on basically the level, but it wasn't a good foundation for the day and I also ate a little cupcake on my way out the door and I did not have particularly good calorie control at the dinner.
I ate enough today to gain half a pound. I don't feel bad about it, but I'm a little worried about tomorrow. We're out of eggs, as well as many other things, since we usually shop on Saturday, so there isn't an evident protein source to get back on track with a healthy wholesome breakfast. I don't want to end up eating the waffle-pressed caramel cookies with coffee for breakfast. Maybe I will have a rice cake with cheese?
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Solstice dinner observations and low calorie muffins
Last night my parents hosted Solstice dinner. I had allotted 1500 calories for dinner and I'd planned out my meals in the day and gone to Bikram in the morning such that even with the big dinner I'd have a small deficit for the day.
Solstice dinner is always a root vegetable soup, lots of bread and fancy cheese, and often a dessert that varies. I also made an appetizer that was on sample at the grocery store with chocolate and sea salt melted over oiled baguette. So I had a couple pieces of chocolate bread, then sat down to dinner. Starting off with a bowl of soup, and the various cheeses made their way around the table. I took a few pieces of bread and took small samples of each cheese that was available. There was a lot of cheese, but I didn't think I'd have trouble putting it away. I certainly had less on my plate than I've eaten in previous years. But this year, I was barely halfway through my cheese when I started to get full! I slowed down, sipped some wine to cut through the fat, and had another bowl of soup for nutrients and fiber. I managed to sample each cheese without becoming uninterested in food, but I was totally stuffed (a phrase I never truly understood the meaning of before now) by the end and only had a few bites of the funny raw-food "cheesecake" that was for dessert.
So that's the downside of losing weight and the dietary changes that come with it. You get used to eating small portions, and then when you get to an event where there's lots of good food you want to eat, your body has forgotten how to take it in stride. I used to have a similar problem with Thanksgiving anyway - after having a little of everything, I was too full for seconds of the things I really loved. Anyway, it's interesting to see the internal changes as well as the external changes to my body. I'll have to come up with strategies for satisfying my mouth and my eyes without taxing my stomach too much at events like these. Fortunately (or not?) there will be plenty of practice this week.
In other news, I tweaked the muffin recipe and achieved my goal of yummy, 150 calorie muffins! Now I have to do it all over again with teff flour so I can bring something gluten free to my mom, but here is the wheat recipe:
Low-calorie multigrain wholemeal muffins:
2 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp oil
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal, crushed
1/4 cup cornmeal (polenta)
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
300 calories' worth of add-ins, for instance:
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, and zest of 1 orange
- 1 diced banana, 1/4 cup chocolate chips, and 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup cubed butternut squash, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, and a few Tbsp grated ginger
Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then add dry to wet. Fold in the add-ins. Divide into 12 muffin cups and bake for 15-25 minutes.
Notes:
* Calorie content will vary slightly depending on the add-ins and also things like the brand of flour you use. However, as written, this recipe should give 12 muffins at about 150 calories each.
* A high volume of add-ins will result in slightly bigger muffins, and high moisture add-ins will increase the cooking time. So your cranberry-walnut muffins will be smaller and cook more quickly than banana or squash muffins.
* Some possible substitutions: use skim or 2% milk instead of applesauce (approximately calorie equivalent), use another kind of vegetable or fruit puree in place of applesauce, use all-purpose flour instead of whole-wheat, use more oatmeal or less cornmeal to lower calories further (I would keep 1 cup of wheat flour), use all white/all brown/raw sugar, use honey or agave syrup instead of crystalline sugar while cutting down the applesauce/milk a little, vary spices.
Solstice dinner is always a root vegetable soup, lots of bread and fancy cheese, and often a dessert that varies. I also made an appetizer that was on sample at the grocery store with chocolate and sea salt melted over oiled baguette. So I had a couple pieces of chocolate bread, then sat down to dinner. Starting off with a bowl of soup, and the various cheeses made their way around the table. I took a few pieces of bread and took small samples of each cheese that was available. There was a lot of cheese, but I didn't think I'd have trouble putting it away. I certainly had less on my plate than I've eaten in previous years. But this year, I was barely halfway through my cheese when I started to get full! I slowed down, sipped some wine to cut through the fat, and had another bowl of soup for nutrients and fiber. I managed to sample each cheese without becoming uninterested in food, but I was totally stuffed (a phrase I never truly understood the meaning of before now) by the end and only had a few bites of the funny raw-food "cheesecake" that was for dessert.
So that's the downside of losing weight and the dietary changes that come with it. You get used to eating small portions, and then when you get to an event where there's lots of good food you want to eat, your body has forgotten how to take it in stride. I used to have a similar problem with Thanksgiving anyway - after having a little of everything, I was too full for seconds of the things I really loved. Anyway, it's interesting to see the internal changes as well as the external changes to my body. I'll have to come up with strategies for satisfying my mouth and my eyes without taxing my stomach too much at events like these. Fortunately (or not?) there will be plenty of practice this week.
In other news, I tweaked the muffin recipe and achieved my goal of yummy, 150 calorie muffins! Now I have to do it all over again with teff flour so I can bring something gluten free to my mom, but here is the wheat recipe:
Low-calorie multigrain wholemeal muffins:
2 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp oil
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal, crushed
1/4 cup cornmeal (polenta)
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
300 calories' worth of add-ins, for instance:
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, and zest of 1 orange
- 1 diced banana, 1/4 cup chocolate chips, and 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup cubed butternut squash, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, and a few Tbsp grated ginger
Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then add dry to wet. Fold in the add-ins. Divide into 12 muffin cups and bake for 15-25 minutes.
Notes:
* Calorie content will vary slightly depending on the add-ins and also things like the brand of flour you use. However, as written, this recipe should give 12 muffins at about 150 calories each.
* A high volume of add-ins will result in slightly bigger muffins, and high moisture add-ins will increase the cooking time. So your cranberry-walnut muffins will be smaller and cook more quickly than banana or squash muffins.
* Some possible substitutions: use skim or 2% milk instead of applesauce (approximately calorie equivalent), use another kind of vegetable or fruit puree in place of applesauce, use all-purpose flour instead of whole-wheat, use more oatmeal or less cornmeal to lower calories further (I would keep 1 cup of wheat flour), use all white/all brown/raw sugar, use honey or agave syrup instead of crystalline sugar while cutting down the applesauce/milk a little, vary spices.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Am I back up?
So I'm back up to 144.0 today, back within my usual lean-mass range at 99.6 pounds, and my ticker says 40 point something pounds lost. I'm going to hold off declaring that microgoal, though, since water might want to bump me back up into the 145 range: I consider 99-103 to be my typical lean-mass range, but 100-102 comprises even most of that. Once my weight either stays steady for several days or goes down again, I'll consider the cleanse rebound over and celebrate if warranted.
I'm tantalizingly close to breaking under 30% body fat. I weighed in at 30.8% this morning and a) I might get another pound of free lean-weight from water, b) even assuming no more lean, that means I only have to lose about 2 more pounds of fat to break under 30%. Can I do it before Christmas? Possibly maybe!
I had super low calories all last week during the cleanse, and I ate up yesterday, having a delicious greasy breakfast and lots of yummies at my parents' house decorating the tree. Now it's time to buckle back down, eat right, eat light, and work out during finals. Don't let up in this last stretch toward the holidays - there will be a couple of particular days that will be sacrificed as break-evens or even surpluses, but that doesn't mean the whole week has to be a stall-out. Let's say 143-142 by the time I go traveling in January, eh?
I'm tantalizingly close to breaking under 30% body fat. I weighed in at 30.8% this morning and a) I might get another pound of free lean-weight from water, b) even assuming no more lean, that means I only have to lose about 2 more pounds of fat to break under 30%. Can I do it before Christmas? Possibly maybe!
I had super low calories all last week during the cleanse, and I ate up yesterday, having a delicious greasy breakfast and lots of yummies at my parents' house decorating the tree. Now it's time to buckle back down, eat right, eat light, and work out during finals. Don't let up in this last stretch toward the holidays - there will be a couple of particular days that will be sacrificed as break-evens or even surpluses, but that doesn't mean the whole week has to be a stall-out. Let's say 143-142 by the time I go traveling in January, eh?
Monday, November 1, 2010
Day 1 of reorientation
Well, on my first day of getting-my-shit-back-together, there was a bowl of Halloween candy in the Psych lounge. Then more Halloween candy was the snack in my conference class where we bring snacks. I admit, I ate quite a bit of Halloween candy. That's okay. I hadn't had any yet this year, I'm sure it was less than I've eaten in years past, and in a day or two it will all go away.
What's surprising is that after a couple tiny boxes of Milk Duds, a full-size 3 Musketeers, fun size Butterfinger and Crunch, and a Tootsie pop, I still ended up with a deficit for the day - a margin-of-error slim deficit, but still, I was expecting to go way over. I didn't count my calories until the end of the day, instead just making food that seemed good and reasonable last night and bringing it to school. If, instead of 595 calories of candy, I had eaten 200 calories of a more typical snack (sometimes cookies, but sometimes fruit and nuts or caprese crackers), my calorie count for the day would have been 1635, which is impressive to me. Actually, I might have eaten something after dinner as I'm still a little hungry, but as it is I'm inclined not to because then I WOULD have a surplus for the day. Then again, I might not have been hungry after dinner had I not eaten the candy, because we all know sugar actually makes you more hungry.
I didn't exercise, but I have a really good excuse for that. Today was actually my yoga day, but I skipped because I REALLY needed the sleep after being woken up every couple of hours by the consequences of my boyfriend's late-night Halloween party attendance. After that I basically didn't have time because of classes and reading I needed to finish. Tomorrow I'm definitely going into the gym in the morning, and I'm eagerly awaiting my Sansa. I really think that once I can pair exercise with music again this thing will just kick off and I'll hardly have to think about how much I'm eating.
Interesting thing is, while I've been struggling with my diet, my weight has looked like a sine wave but my body fat has evidently dropped. I noticed my percentages were going down much faster than they were before, and my lean mass was increasing when my weight increased, so I figured there was a water retention element but I didn't know if my fat weight was going down or not because that's not what I track in my spreadsheet. So I just changed the formula a little and looked at the past few weeks. While the net change in my weight has been very little, I've definitely lost between 2-4 pounds of fat. So that's good! I don't know what I could have been doing to promote lean mass, since I've REALLY been slacking on my strength training, but maybe it lends support to the idea that I should be eating more and exercising well at this point.
What's surprising is that after a couple tiny boxes of Milk Duds, a full-size 3 Musketeers, fun size Butterfinger and Crunch, and a Tootsie pop, I still ended up with a deficit for the day - a margin-of-error slim deficit, but still, I was expecting to go way over. I didn't count my calories until the end of the day, instead just making food that seemed good and reasonable last night and bringing it to school. If, instead of 595 calories of candy, I had eaten 200 calories of a more typical snack (sometimes cookies, but sometimes fruit and nuts or caprese crackers), my calorie count for the day would have been 1635, which is impressive to me. Actually, I might have eaten something after dinner as I'm still a little hungry, but as it is I'm inclined not to because then I WOULD have a surplus for the day. Then again, I might not have been hungry after dinner had I not eaten the candy, because we all know sugar actually makes you more hungry.
I didn't exercise, but I have a really good excuse for that. Today was actually my yoga day, but I skipped because I REALLY needed the sleep after being woken up every couple of hours by the consequences of my boyfriend's late-night Halloween party attendance. After that I basically didn't have time because of classes and reading I needed to finish. Tomorrow I'm definitely going into the gym in the morning, and I'm eagerly awaiting my Sansa. I really think that once I can pair exercise with music again this thing will just kick off and I'll hardly have to think about how much I'm eating.
Interesting thing is, while I've been struggling with my diet, my weight has looked like a sine wave but my body fat has evidently dropped. I noticed my percentages were going down much faster than they were before, and my lean mass was increasing when my weight increased, so I figured there was a water retention element but I didn't know if my fat weight was going down or not because that's not what I track in my spreadsheet. So I just changed the formula a little and looked at the past few weeks. While the net change in my weight has been very little, I've definitely lost between 2-4 pounds of fat. So that's good! I don't know what I could have been doing to promote lean mass, since I've REALLY been slacking on my strength training, but maybe it lends support to the idea that I should be eating more and exercising well at this point.
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