Why I Count Calories

So in the midst of horrible humidity and heat that affect my disposition like nothing else, I slacked off on tracking my foods. My weight has remained steady but I could tell that things were off. I was ravenous at times, yet never feeling really satisfied no matter what I ate.

And then it dawned on me that when I track my food I can make sure that I'm eating enough at breakfast and lunch so that I'm not too hungry when I get home for dinner. The last few days I haven't had enough at lunch to keep me going until evening, so when I get home I'm famished. And then I didn't plan enough protein at dinner, so what I ate didn't fill me up.

I'm going back to tracking. I know it works for me. I can't just "intuitively" spend money, and I can't just "intuitively" eat. I mean, I can form general meals in my head, but then I need to track them so I can tweak as necessary to add more proteins or fats or fiber to make sure my body is getting what it needs.

Plus, when I track I eat more veggies, so that's reason enough.

Starting The Week Off Right!

My cold/sinus thing is gone. Yay! Wonderful way to start the week. And I finally put the AC in the window so I could feel human and cook and clean. It made such a difference. I don't usually need it unless it gets over 90 for a few days, but it is a very nice thing to have when it does get that hot. Now that the sun has set, the windows are open again.

I julienned a bunch of veggies - carrots, zucchini, beets - and steamed them before adding a little butter. Then I poached some salmon, and made some fresh ravioli that I got at the farmer's market. What a lovely meal! Everything except the fish was local. The fish was from Trader Joe's which means it was probably horribly harvested and over-fished but I like to think that it all balances out. The meal will be repeated at lunch tomorrow.

Then at 6pm I biked down to the beach for a swim. It may have been the best swim of the last couple years. The water was so perfectly chilling after this hot and humid day, the sun was quiet again and on it's way down. Not too many people, just enough to say "isn't this heavenly?" to. (Well, and that weird chatty guy. But by then I was so happy to be floating in the water that I chatted right back.) I swam and floated for almost 40 minutes, until the goosebumps came and the veins in my wrists that had been so valiantly trying to cool me down all day were thin as pencil lines. I rode home without drying off, and after a quick shower to get the salt off me I can say that I am sufficiently chilled. The goosebumps are still on my arms and legs.

I am hoping the swimming and biking will lead to peaceful sleep. As I was floating around I thought "I could sleep in the water, it is so peaceful" but I think that would lead to drowning. There was a sail boat moored in the cove, and I wondered if people would sleep on it.

Being in the water just makes me happy. And being chilled and tired when I get out of the water makes me happy.

169.8

Down 1.4 pounds and out of the 170's baby!

And this is my thought - this process has been fairly painless. I'm well fed, I'm exercising how I want to, when I want to and the weight is coming off slowly but surely. So what they heck was I doing before? Was I really eating that much more? Was I that much of a slug (ok, the answer to that might be yes) but I don't feel as though I've made drastic changes and yet changes are happening.

Still no need for new clothing sizes, and I bought a new bra (love!) and have not gone down a size. And not one person has noticed that I've lost weight. Or if they haven't they haven't said anything.

I guess that's the down side to being tall, you can carry a lot more weight, but you need to take off a lot more weight before anyone notices.

Still blowing my nose a lot but feeling much much better.

Plan for the day: more coffee and breakfast, decluttering, cleaning, trip to the dump/recycling, farmer's market for some flowers (last week's bunch lasted all week!) and then we'll see.

Aaah, Sleep

I slept through the whole night! What a joy. I wonder if it was because I listened to the Yoga Nidra relaxation from Drops of Necter. Whatever the reason, I am very pleased to have slept all night and I woke up feeling much better. This cold has moved out quite quickly, I will remember that and be sure to head to the acupuncturist at the first sign of illness and not wait until it has a chance to settle in.

Sunny weekend in store. Maybe an early hike tomorrow before some decluttering at home?

Still losing weight despite lack of exercise. Down .6 pounds this week. Almost out of the 170's.

Sick

Ugh. I have a summer cold. Which is hopefully on it's way out. It was terrible yesterday so I went to acupuncture which seemed to get things moving. And then I followed the doc's instructions to drink 2 cups of ginger tea to try to sweat it out of me. And I kept my wool hat on all night to protect my aching ear and increase the sweat. But I slept like crap - from 10:30 - 3, then maybe 4:30 - 8. Today was a little better, lots of psuedoephedrine kept me awake and my nose not too runny.

The result of all this is that it has not helped me exercise more, although it does make me not hungry. But I would rather be hungry and not sick.

I do think that being sick gives me the benefit of being glad and appreciative of health when I feel better.

zumba-less

There was no zumba tonight. It was too hot for the sweaty rec center, and then I was going to go walking after work but the skies were rather foreboding so I didn't. Actually, that's a lie. I walked with the dog for a bit, and could see the mist rolling in and the skies darkening which is when I decided against biking down for a swim.

I did 40 minutes of yoga last night.

I need to get back on the bike. Back on the trails. Back on the mat. I can feel my muscles turning back to mush.

My eating is fine - I seem to eat about 1500 calories a day without really struggling one way or the other.

And I may be coming down with a summer cold caused by too much air conditioning at the office.

Funk-Be-Gone

So my little Sunday night pity party is done. Back in the groove. Sort of. Still haven't worked out in a few days. But zumba tomorrow night, so that should help.

Made a veggie tart last night which will be good for cold meals this week.

Today's food:

B: english muffin with almond butter.

L: veggie tart and a hard boiled egg.

S: 1 oz. cheddar cheese

D: I don't know. I'm hungry. I have shrimp. And veggies. And pasta. Or chicken and veggies and orzo.

I think dinner will be shrimp and veggies with pasta. Lunch will be chicken and veggies with pasta.

I just start chopping veggies and wait for whatever wants to join them to make itself known.

---

Dinner was shrimp, veggies and tagliatelle which is my new favorite pasta. It cooks in only 4 minutes, but is wide (not skinny like angel hair.)

Hopefully it will cool down a bit later and I can get in some yoga.

Not There Yet

Beware, this is a post in which I complain and generally feel unappreciative towards my body which does so much for me. But I know it will understand.

I tried to go shopping today for new clothes. I should know better than to try to buy things at the TJMaxx Runway section where the size run smaller and are made for women with a much smaller chest than mine. So, I tried on pants and discovered that losing 10 pounds meant that the 12's no longer fit me, and the 10's don't quite fit me. Great. I am an 11. Which would be fine if they made 11's.

And the cute pink dress I found to wear to my brother's wedding just looked like a big lumpy potato sack on a big lumpy potato.

So, I returned my 7 items to the rack, and wandered into shoes, where I got some great shoes to replace a few pairs that were getting tired.

And forward I trudge.

Recommitting

I need to recommit. This week has been a slow slide off the rails. Exercise got pushed aside. Yesterday's 1/2 eaten lunch caused way too much dinner and not even an attempt to track. I can hear a little voice saying "You've lost 10 pounds, you're fine. You can stop now."

But I don't want to. I like the way my body feels when I exercise more. I like not going to bed uncomfortably full. I am committed to this. And I have a plan.

I will spend the morning at the Farmer's Market, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's restocking my kitchen. I will chop fruit and veggies to have on hand. I will plan some meals so when I come home I can just cook and not wonder what to make.

And I will bike or yoga or lift weights.

- .2

Hey, I'll take it. Considering I only exercised twice this week, I couldn't really expect more.

Dinner Quandry

I can't figure out what to have for dinner. Tomorrow I can go and buy some new and exotic things to cook but tonight the salmon is staring back at me from the fridge and I don't want to cook it. And I don't want zucchini. Or anything involving english muffins. Or tuna. Or couscous. Or beets. Or chicken.

I want spicy shrimp over polenta with okra. But I have no shrimp. I want a grilled ham and cheese but I have no ham and no cheese.

I want to go to Kripalu for the Ecstasy of Chant: Get High on Mantra. How amazing would that be? I believe this weekend I will be making my reservations.

...

Well, I've settled on salmon and some paparadelle pasta.

Tomorrow will clearly involve a trip to Whole Foods and perhaps a perusal of some cookbooks to get me out of my rut of the same foods. I will stock my freezer and pantry full of new and interesting things, and maybe freeze some small flatbreads that I can turn into a quick meal.

This week has been a low exercise week. So I think I'm heading out with the dog for a little jaunt.

no zumba

no moving

no packing

no cleaning

no worries

no stress

no nothing to do for anyone else tonight. or tomorrow morning. my time is mine again. my weekends are mine. my worries will be about me and things that I can control, not about a parent who can hopefully take care of himself from here on out.

I have a big fat new book, The Forgotten Garden, that wants to be read.

And some Louise Hay Power Thought Cards that somehow always know the right thing to tell me: "I breathe in the fullness and richness of life. I observe with joy as life abundantly supports me and supplies me with more good than I can imagine."

Today's meals:

B: whole milk drunk out of the carton, whole wheat english muffin with PB& J eaten in the car on the way to work.

L: cold salad of whole wheat cous cous, salmon salad, beets and avocado. (one of the best meals ever.)

D: chicken thighs, couscous, zucchini & beets. boring but satisfactory. goat cheese toast on the side. wine.

I don't really seem to be calorie cycling this week, just staying within my range. And that's ok.

zumbaaaaaaahhhhh

Back to moving again today. A tired and hungry and hot zumba session, but the thing about zumba or yoga or hiking or biking is that no matter how miserable I am during it, I never regret going.

I know that next time I will have fueled myself better during the day, and brought *cold* water and remembered my towel but for now I will just be glad I went.

One final moving chore tomorrow morning which will prevent morning biking, and the tides don't seem right for an afternoon swim so I'm not sure what tomorrow holds in store. Maybe get back on the yoga mat.

Hoping zumba leads to some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's.

Lazy Days

I've decided to not go to yoga. I have been out of my house all day the last 3 weekends (cleaning and lugging) and I really just want to stay home (plus, I'm going to zumba tomorrow night. woot!) So, I took a late afternoon nap and will make dinner soon.

Dinner: chicken thighs sauteed with mushrooms, zucchini, onion and capers with a little milk over some farro pasta. And cantaloupe for dessert.

All Dressed Up But Not Going

I have my bike clothes on. But I can't get moving and I've decided to bag the ride. I may be having a slight existential crisis.

I've decided to pack a bag with workout clothes and then either do zumba or yoga at 5:45 tonight. I'm thinking yoga is what I need.

Breakfast: english muffin with almond butter. milk.

Snack: cantaloupe and cucumber.

Lunch: beets, salmon, whole wheat cous cous.

Dinner: chicken thighs and mushrooms?

Crazy Days

These last 2 days have been crazy. My dad is moving out of his house where he's lived for the last 40 years so my siblings and I have been helping to clean and pack and watch toddlers and make sure the dog doesn't run away and go back and forth about what to toss and what to keep and somewhere in all that eating just goes by the wayside. (Wine and beer drinking strangely don't go by the wayside) but the end result was I got home last night at 10 pm. having had about 1000 calories over a day that involved a 50 minute bike ride, a 45 minute round trip walk to the beach and lots of throwing stuff into the dumpster (and squirreling away the sterling silver into my car.)

Today was slightly better. Breakfast of eggs and goat cheese on english muffin, a little cheese and few crackers for lunch and then finally home to then unpack, cull and repack into pretty boxes the photos, letters and papers from generations past. There is a pile of sterling to be polished, but that will have to wait.

Right before I passed out from hunger I made dinner - shrimp, leeks, mushrooms, zucchini, tagliatelle pasta with a little butter and parmesan cheese. Ah, finally veggies. I still need to make some things for lunch for the week. Maybe roast some veggies, poach some salmon and cook a grain. I may have to make something that involved thinly slicing veggies on my new-to-me mandoline slicer.

And then I have to sleep.

10 pounds?

Early poll results are showing that I have lost 10 pounds.

Which just goes to show that if you have a big tantrum and then have over 100 grams of fat in one day (and do zumba), you will finally lose 2 pounds in one week and be back on the downward track.

Yay.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Plan for the Day

Today's Plan:

1. Coffee (in progress)
2. Bike Ride (on road bike, unless roads are wet, then on hybrid)
3. Recycling & trash to the dump
4. Buy light bulbs (2 in my living room burned out this morning.)
5. Help Pa clean out the house with the fam, and have yummy food. I have some beets, fresh onions and zucchini to bring for roasting.
6. Not sure what the tides will be like for swimming down there, may need to go this evening after I get home.
7. Laugh at the fact that the scale is down to the lowest number yet on this journey. Down 1.4 from last week. Finally. When I looked back at Sparkpeople to figure out what was going on, I noticed that the calorie differential report (the difference between my intake and output) showed that during the weeks that I hadn't lost, my average calorie intake per day was about 200 calories lower than on the weeks that I had been losing. So, I guess upping my calories this week, in addition to cycling them, worked.

Bodies are weird and funny.