Conclusions of the Week (2/7/10)
Saturday, February 6th, 2010- Weigh in: 197. Sodium really has an effect on water retention, who knew? I ate some of those ramen instant lunches and next thing I knew, I had gained like three pounds! I was disturbed, but after drinking copious amounts of water and avoiding the ramen, I went back down again.
- Even though I didn’t gain as much, I still gained some, which is because I didn’t pay attention to my eating this week. It started when I had a bad stomachache from, I assume, some bad salad dressing. I then went and cleaned out my kitchen and was left with little, so I ate out a bit more, including pizza yesterday. I really should go grocery shopping more often.
- This week was kind of blah. Not horrible, but not inspiring either. I was working quite hard last week to get some things done before a deadline, and I guess my brain just checked out. One day I just spent it daydreaming at work. It’s kind of like in college, when I would just disconnect after a big exam, even if I had other class assignments to worry about.
Sunday Scale 10
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010204
Still. Actually, I’m okay with this. I let a lot of things get to me this past week and I wasn’t as diligent with watching the food intake. I also let the exercise slide. It’s times like these, when things just get me down, that show me my true strength. Knowing that I didn’t just say ‘to hell with it all’ gives me the strength for the next time, because I’ve already gotten through it.
In other news, today, as I was grocery shopping, I had a sort of epiphany:
Turns out, I don’t really do traditional meals. When I eat, I tend to make for myself meals consisting of one thing. Like a baked potato or spaghetti. I’m more of a snacker or grazer by nature. When I do have a ‘real’ meal, more often than not I end up overeating and feeling too full. Especially when I was on my school’s meal plan and the food was prepared for me. What a realization! For the longest time I was confused about food shopping and meal planning because it is just not me. I know that one thing that helps for weight loss is to eat smaller meals more often. I’ve been doing this, but what happens is that I eat bigger, traditional meals on top of that. Shopping is going to be so much easier now.
Perspectives
Saturday, December 26th, 2009A couple of things happened this week that totally put this health journey into a very new perspective for me.
The first thing is that I just ate this soup I found at my local natural food store. It was so very delicious, creamy and satisfying; I could have sworn that it was super fatty and not really good for me. How wrong I was. Each serving of this soup is 110 calories! I’m so glad I looked at the package, because it was like a light bulb went off on top of my head like in cartoons. Good, satisfying, eating does not have to be packed with calories and other unsavory things. I knew this already intellectually, but I didn’t really take it to heart until just now. I’m so glad I did, this opens up so many options now.
The second thing that has given me some perspective is a movie called Food, Inc. This movie is about how drastically the food industry has changed in the past half century or so. For example, the thousands of items in a typical grocery store comes from just three or four companies. Most of those items contain some derivative of corn, due to the extreme subsidies given to corn growers by the government. High positions in governmental agencies whose task it is to police the industry are filled with former executives of those few companies that they are supposed to oversee. It is a very thought provoking documentary. I encourage everyone to watch it; you will come out of it with a new perspective. If you don’t, watch it again, and pay attention next time. For me, I am going to pay much more attention to the food I buy. I already don’t eat much meat, but now I am going to make sure that the meat and milk I do buy is as local as possible. I’m going to work up to eating fruits and vegetables in season, and buy as much organic as possible.
This new perspective of mine basically comes down to being much more conscious and deliberate with the things I buy and eat.
Sunday Scale
Sunday, November 15th, 2009This morning I weighed in at 204.0. A gain of 2.6 pounds.
I’m disappointed. Very much so. I’m so tired of being in the 200s. I want to see a 1 in front of my weight.
Although I felt powerless to stop it, I know the reasons my weight went up instead of down:
1. No breakfast
2. Eating fast food for lunch. Even though I had a plain turkey sandwich and ‘healthy’ Japanese food, I must have gone over my calories.
3. Not tracking calories. This is the biggest thing. When I track my calories, I am able to stay within range. Not tracking lets me delude myself into thinking it wasn’t as much as it really was.
It’s all symptomatic of it being my first week at work. I just need to settle into my routine, find a rhythm and things will be back on track. the weight gain could have been more than just shy of three pounds, and for that I am glad.
Sunday Scale
Sunday, November 8th, 2009My official week one can be called a success.
Weigh in: 201.4, (-6.8 lbs)
This is phenomenal weight loss! I’m excited, though I know most of it is water weight from my period.
As far as eating, I’ve been mostly staying within my limits, though some things do tempt me. I’ve done a cardio routine video I found online a couple of times, but it is kind of short; I need a longer one. Overall, I think I couldn’t have asked for a better week.
Goal for next week: find a longer cardio video/routine, and do it three times this week.
Future
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008I am currently freaking out about the prospects for my future. Oscillating between supreme confidence that all I wish for will come to be and feeling that I am a complete loser that has no science skills whatsoever, I am currently a wreck. Peanut butter cream cheese brownies help a bit.
