Feeling Fat

Bleh.

Trans Fat

I just read this article about the foods that contain trans fats. After reading their Top Ten list I've basically determined that it's impossible to eat anything. Especially anything quick and convenient. Well, duh.

I'm just going to confess right here that sometimes I will be eating prepared foods and I'll be getting some trans fat. Maybe that explains the 15 pound gain. Well that and not working out. And eating sugar for the last 8 months with wild abandon. Maybe.

Book

I'm reading Tales from the Scale on the train every morning. At first I didn't like the format. It's set up thematically, with several different authors writing a section under each theme. At first, I found it disconcerting to jump from one author to another, but I'm liking it now.

I'm thinking I might try to follow the format of the book and write my own blurbs on each of the themes. Really talk about weighing more than I want to and the Fat Girl who I am on the outside and the inside. Weight issues have been such a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I hate that the number on the scale or on the tag of my clothes has such control over me, but it does.

I am disheartened a bit by my recent weight gain. However, knowing that I have lost weight in the recent past, and knowing that I'm still not as big as I was when I lived in Chicago gives me hope. It's like I know I can do this, I just have to make my mind up to do it again. I find it frustrating this week to have to be packing for my move instead of working out every night. I read the section in the book today about going to the gym, and now all I want to do is find an elliptical machine or flip on Denise Austin. Maybe if I get a decent job in Boston, I can join Healthworks, the fancy-schmancy women's gym. I hear it's very nice.

Today I'm putting up some stats over on the sidebar. Knowing that I'm back at 200 is a poopy feeling, but like I said, I know I have the capacity to lose what I've gained back, plus some.

Snackies

Does anyone have any good, sweet, sugar-free snackie ideas? I'm looking for something very particular and I don't know if I'm going to find it. I'm doing document review right now which is really boring, and it's so tempting to start thinking about what snacks I want and how I can go about procuring those snacks so that they're sitting next to me at my desk within my reach to pop into my mouth every few seconds to distract me from the boring work.

Red Raspberry Dollars were fulfilling this need. They're yummy and gummy and perfect to suck on for awhile because if I chew them I'm convinced my one filling will be yanked right out of my tooth. However, I'm not eating the sugar anymore.

I bought some sugar-free Creme Savers, and while they're good, they seem to be making my insides churn up a bit. Eww.

I've also been chewing gum toward the end of my workday, but mint and cinnamon get samey. Maybe it would help to buy some Carefree Coolers gum, which is yummy and sugar-free.

But in the meantime, does anyone have a good snack idea for me?

Starting Again

Well, it's serious now. This weekend I had the chance to weigh myself on the same scale I weighed myself on when I moved to DC 7 months ago. I've gained 15 pounds, which basically negates all the effort of last summer.

So today I am officially rededicating myself, for realsies now, to being healthier.

For one, no more sugar. I admit that I am unable to control the sugar intake. It's so easy to say, "Oh, I'll just have a little bit" here and there. Pretty soon I'm having multiple little bits of sugar every single day. It's much easier to just say "No, thank you" and give myself the one splurge day to look forward to. Plus, the longer I went without eating sugar, the less I actually wanted on my splurge day, which was an unexpected, but good result.

Two, more fruits and vegetables. I know it takes longer, but I need to make a concerted effort to have good fruts and veggies around to snack on, or have them prepared to take for lunches. The job I'm working now only has me working 6 days a week, so I need to take Sunday afternoon and prep for the week to come.

Three, consistent exercise. I have a good resource in my Tivoed Denise Austin shows. I just have to do them. I have to make the effort to get to bed earlier so I can either wake up early in the morning to work out, or not be too exhausted to work out at night. However, I'm giving myself this week off because I'm moving in a few days and I HAVE TO PACK. Packing has not even begun, although I managed to score a ton of boxes from my last job. Big, heavy, document-holding boxes. Hurrah!

So even though my rooommate's birthday cake is still sitting on the counter and she would be fine with me having some tonight after dinner, I must say no. Even though I have half a roll of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies left, I must save them for my splurge day. Today, I start anew.

Ooo, This Could Be Dangerous

I just discovered something that makes it a very good thing that I'm only working this job for a few more days. The firm cafeteria. Not only is the food there yummy, but it's also heavily subsidized so they can do things like offer ribs, fries and coleslaw for lunch for $4! Amazing. So guess what I had for lunch yesterday? In my defense, I had a Pria bar for breakfast and then got stuck on a project that prevented me from eating my mid-morning snack so I was famished. OK, that's not really a defense because it just reinforces in your mind that my eating habits really aren't that great despite my noble efforts. OK, then, that's my excuse. I was famished, there were cheap ribs available, thus I ate the cheap ribs.

And they were so, so good.

Updating

Let's see. I've been eating sugar because I haven't had time to go to the real grocery store and buy fruit for an energy boost in the afternoon.

I haven't worked out since last week because I've been working long, long hours and I'm not sleeping very well, so by the time I get home I feel like I've been beat up.

Add to that the fact that I have to move in the next couple of weeks and I haven't even started packing and I know that if I have any spare time at night I need to pack.

Plus, I have a writing exercise due for a job I interviewed for. It's due Friday. It's Wednesday. Have I started writing it? No. I'm sure they thought I'd have the weekend to get a good jump start on it, but I don't think they were counting on my having the type of job where I worked 10 hours both Saturday and Sunday. Ugh. That's at the forefront of my mind and I have to get it mostly done tonight so I have tomorrow to revise.

Then there's the whole missing the boyfriend thing. I've cancelled two trips now to go see him because I've had to work. He's supposed to come here this weekend and I'm crossing my fingers that I can take at least one day off this weekend to spend with him.

I'm tired.

Fell Off the Wagon

Well, obviously I haven't logged things for the last couple of days. I was in Boston and ate fine. Then I came back to DC and I was ok, until yesterday. Last night I got home and since I took a 7 AM flight and then worked until 7 PM I was way too pooped to work out with Denise. Plus, I was seized with PMS cravings like I have not had in months. I was fixated on Ben and Jerry's. However once I got to the store, I gave myself a little talking-to and wound up getting some Pepperidge Farm cookies and dunking them in skim milk. Slightly lower calories and slightly lower fat than a 1/2 pint of B&J's. And let's be honest. With the way I was feeling last night I'm pretty sure I would have downed the entire pint. I haven't had cravings like that in awhile. I needed chocolate in the worst way. The darker the better.

On the upside, I measured myself again and two weeks after starting the eating marginally better and working out with Denise Austin plan, I've lost a little in my arms. My upper body is always the first place I lose so I'm taking that as a hopeful sign that I am actually doing some good and that the lower body diminishment will soon follow.

Tuesday

Breakfast: (I went to bed at 1, woke up at 5:30, went back to sleep at 7:15, woke up at 7:50 and still managed to shower and get my butt to the bus on time, so thus...) Asiago bagel from Au Bon Pain. Just the bagel, no cream cheese. I"m really, really trying here.
AM Snack: Hot chocolate (I was cold and sleepy and I don't drink coffee. Hot chocolate is hot and caffeinated. And free from the machine at work. Perfection!)
Lunch: Half a chicken breast (do you know they sell some big mother chicken breasts in the economy family packs? Do people who buy the economy family packs necessarily need big mother chicken breasts?) with a sauce of mushrooms sauteed in red wine vinegar that I invented and that is super yummy, broccoli, and about 3/4 cups rice with some Trader Joe's teriyaki sauce sprinkled on it.
PM Snack: Serving of pretzels
Dinner: Chicken parmesan Lean Pocket and 1/2 cup cottage cheese

I think recording all of this is making me a wee bit defensive about my food choices.

Monday

Breakfast: Chocolate peanut butter crisp Pria bar
AM Snack: Cashews
Lunch: Potbelly Wreck sandwich on whole wheat bread
PM Snack: Cashews
Dinner: Chicken Parmesan Lean Pocket and apple

1 hour with Denise tonight. Things are so crazy with work stuff that I needed the extra workout, even though I'm pooped.

The Daily

I was up until 5 AM. Then I slept until 9:30 AM. Then I fell back asleep at 10 AM and slept until 2 PM. So that threw the whole food thing out of whack today. Eh.

Brunch (at 2 PM): Cheeseburger Lean Pocket and an apple. I am officially a Lean Pocket junkie. I blame my roommate.
PM Snack: Cornnuts in a teensy bowl
Dinner: Chicken breast, broccoli with lemon juice, sweet potato fries (following the guidance of ediets, I used a sweet potato about the size of my fist)
Dessert: Teensy bowl of chocolate splendified Breyer's

Back to the Oscars. Itzhak Perlman is playing.

Recap

Friday:
Dinner: Chicken Quesadilla Lean Pocket and apple
(Bad and Unhealthy) PM Snack: Cornnuts in a teensy bowl in an attempt at portion control. Sometimes I crave me some Cornnuts, but I can only eat them when I'm alone because I realize they stink.

1/2 hour with Denise. We worked our bums.

Saturday:
Breakfast: Pria chocolate peanut butter bar and a few cashews
AM Snack: A serving of mini twist pretzels and the last of the d***ed red raspberry dollars. They're so yummy though and so good to suck on.
Lunch: Cosi salad and bread(on the firm's tab. And just for the record, I bought a Diet Coke too and the bill was $9.34. Highway robbery!)
PM Snack: Mmm, sort of missed that bit. I wasn't hungry. Cosi bread filled me up.
Dinner: Philly steak Lean Pocket and a teensy bowl of Cornnuts (because I'm by myself, you see)
Dessert: Teensy bowl of Breyer's Carb Smart in chocolate (tonight the grocery store had Rocky Road in the Carb Smart, but it was $5.50, whereas Target has the regular chocolate for $3.19. I really want to try the Rocky Road sometime and see if Splenda can turn out a marshmallow)

No Denise tonight. I'm beat!

Don't Make The Mistake

A little more than a year ago I joined up with an online weight loss community, which I have since quit. However, I don't think they've realized they're not getting my payment anymore because I still get all my weekly emails from them. Last week their little online magazine came with the headline "The 10 Biggest Dieting Mistakes!"

This week's headline: "The 25 Biggest Dieting Mistakes!"

I think they need to get a little better at prioritizing.

Friday

First off, I did a 1/2 hour with Denise last night. This is after I ran to the train because I left work late, missed my train, took the opportunity to run to the bank before the next train came, and ran back to the train station (although this time I went into the opposite entrance and discovered where all the homeless men in the city sleep at night. Fun). I caught the train, but then realized I would probably miss my bus. So the train stopped and I took off running, up the escalator, through Pentagon station, and up the next escalator, only to discover an empty bus platform and no bus. Every other night the bus has dawdled for at least 5 minutes before leaving, but last night, of course, it left right on time.

Anyway...

To finish up Thursday:
PM snack: small apple with about 1 oz of cheddar cheese (cheese and fruit rocks, by the way) and 20 (a serving) of mini twist pretzels
Dinner: small apple, meatball Lean Pocket. Have you tried the Lean Pockets? One of my roommates is a LP junkie and the smell of them cooking used to drive me wild. Well, turns out they actually taste pretty darn good too. I'm working my way through the entire line and trying all the flavors, although I have to say the bacon, egg and cheese breakfast variety didn't thrill me.

Friday:
Breakfast: Pria chocolate peanut butter crunch bar and some cashews
AM Snack: 10 red raspberry dollars. Not healthy at all! Once this box is gone, I'm not buying them anymore. I actually just like to suck on them while doing document review.
Lunch: Chicken Milano sandwich from Quizno's. What's that? You say it's how many calories? La la la, I can't hear you! I ate the last of my curry for lunch yesterday and haven't had the chance to make anything else. I was going to get a salad at Cosi, but I swear their prices just keep going up. Pretty soon it's going to take $10 to get lunch at what is basically a fancy Subway (although I would kill for their bread recipe).

First Day of Blog Accountability

I decided to start this just for my own recording purposes, and also to shift over my weight loss thoughts to a new forum. And also because my sidebar on my other blog was getting really, really long so if I move the Other People Losing Weight list over here, then that skims a little of the sidebar. And we're all about skimming off a little bit here at Shake What Ya Mama Gave You.

The title is an homage to my favorite Fatboy Slim song, "Ya Mama." It's on the Charlie's Angels soundtrack, which really doesn't mean much to me personally since I didn't really like that movie, but I am totally behind the sentiment in the song. And I'm on a quest to make what my mama gave me a little firmer and a little perkier.

I've been working out with Denise Austin and I've been eating better. I'm back to my plan of 5-6 little meals a day, instead of 3 meals where I eat a ton because I'm famished. The little meals make my metabolism work better and keep me from being hungry and ornery.

So far I haven't really been able to stick to my no sugar thing, although I've made it a point not to buy sugary desserts for my house. Breyer's No Carb chocolate ice cream is awesome! It's creamy and chocolatey and you don't feel like you're eating Splendified ice cream, which usually tends to have an odd grainy texture. You have to get the No Carb. The Sugar Free is NOT the same, although technically they are both sweetened with Splenda and you would think it would be the same. But no.

This really may just be my imagination, but I feel like my abs and arms are getting a little firmer. I feel like my shirts are getting a little looser. Since I always lose weight in my upper body first, I'm taking that as a good sign.

I plan to post stats on here in a bit. That's a wee bit scary. But when I compare my stats now to where they were a year ago, I'm doing better. Compared to 6 months ago, I'm doing worse, but at least I am working on it.

What I have so far:
Friday 2/24 - 1 hour of Denise Austin
Saturday 2/25 - 1 hour of Denise Austin
Monday 2/27 - 1/2 hour of Denise Austin
Tuesday 2/28 - 1/2 hour of Denise Austin
Wednesday 3/1 - 1/2 hours of Denise Austin

I'll come up with something better looking and with what body parts were worked and things like that as I keep going. I should also take note of what I've eaten. For today:

Breakfast - Pria chocolate peanut butter crunch bar and some cashews
Snack - some more cashews and 8 red raspberry dollars (I told you I'm sucking at the no sugar thing, but the erd raspberry dollars are only 106 calories)
Lunch - pork curry that I made Sunday with onions, celery, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and mushrooms over 1 C. rice

I've been mulling over this project for a bit and am glad to have it in its formative stages at least.