....aaaaaaand then a month goes by.
Sorry I haven't been around, but I kind of fell of the wagon pretty hard due to some personal stuff - a funeral and a car accident - but am back on track.
In a lot of ways, that was the ultimate test, and I feel a lot better having gone through it. The funeral in itself was quite stressful and emotional, and since we're Filipino and it was in Philadelphia, my eating habits were pretty deplorable that weekend. LOTS of heavy, meaty, starch-tastic and, let's face it, fucking delicious Filipino cuisine was on hand, as were cookies, cakes, cakey bread things, ice cream, and the ever-present Philly cheese steak. (If you really want to know, Pat's easily rules over Geno's, and I had been a Geno's fan for years before that.) And then the accident was pure mindfuckery. I didn't actually hit anyone, but a guy fell off his motorcycle in front of my car and I'm stuck with two tickets and a traffic court date on Monday. It was very much a wrong-place-wrong-time situation and I'm just praying for it to be over. Group these events with my sporadic start-and-stop work schedule and you've got yourself a dietary landmine. I've been really bad. Hell, I ate a patty melt yesterday. And the day before. However, those have been at lunchtime, and after long walks. Also, my other meals have been really sensible, and those patty melts are anomalies in my general food intake for the past month. So I guess I could be worse, like eating a dozen box of Dunkin' Donuts in front of my TV, watching Oprah, chainsmoking and crying with unshakeable self-hatred. Instead, I've tried to just accept my mistakes and try to make a better decisions the next time.
Apparently I've been rewarded by having my waistline shrink a half inch. Hooray! The exercise (while present, should honestly be more frequent) have been helping as well. Things that have really been making me happy and working for me:
- Greek yogurt. I love the regular Fage yogurt with the honey compartment, but obviously finding the 2% plain and dressing that up is better
- Barbara's cereals, namely the peanut butter Puffins. If I'm not careful I could eat the whole box in one sitting, but thankfully my willpower (and stomach capacity) is stronger than that
- bean salad with wild rice. Tasty!
- teas! Lots of green tea, although I occasionally have an earl grey lavender. Just a little honey, no dairy.
- ordering egg whites at the diner, and no potatoes
- when not working, forcing myself to leave the house for at least a couple hours to walk around, even to just windowshop. If not, then I have to do something at home. Case in point: today I did a lot of laundry, even washing my bathroom rug and my hiking sandals, and vacuumed
- no red meat! Minus the patty melts, I hadn't had red meat in 3 weeks.
Hopefully this is the start of just a general lifestyle change, and the results will just come naturally...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
cheat day, etc.
The past couple days have been good - I've found that my auto-lunch, besides Chipotle, is the salad with cranberries and feta. Only now I finally got peeled walnuts to add to the mix. I'm usually so bored with salads but I love this one so much I don't even need dressing! I've also found perch = not a fan. I dunno if it was the cut or if they went bad or what, they just didn't taste like ANYTHING. Super fail on that one. I ended up eating the salad and a greek yogurt with honey when that went wrong.
Also, on Thursday night, I tried the You On a Diet workout thing, and holy crap. Firstly, I love that there are yoga poses incorporated into it. If I could afford yoga classes I would do it in a second, it's so invigorating and challenging. Also, I like that it uses standard workout routines, like crunches and the like, along with stuff I've only done with personal trainers, like step-touches and the "invisible chair", the latter of which will seriously make you tremble after 20 seconds. Most of all, I love that I don't have to buy anything to do it. I woke up sore the next morning. But in a triumphant, "fuck yeah I did it" way. I did it again last night for the hell of it. I wonder if not sticking to specific exercise days will fuck up my progress. Are scheduling workouts just to help automate the person's activities, or are there health benefits or no? Must look into that.
Saturday has been designated as Cheat Day. I mean, it's not like I'm going to eat a plate of foie gras and 3 bags of Doritos or anything - I'm not a binge eater. I'm definitely a bored eater, though, but I think I've been reprogramming myself well with apple slices or nuts.
Anyway, cheat day. My boyfriend and I always go to a diner an el stop away from my apartment every Saturday morning/brunchtime. At first I was getting standard skillets or omelettes or pancakes-and-bacon combos, but more recently (even before this "diet") I started getting their Greek omelette. It's pretty standard - spinach, feta, tomato. But more recently, I started getting it with egg whites and no potato. However, this week I found that there's a new Greek skillet! The same thing, only the feta, tomato and spinach are mixed with the home fries. (They're standard chopped up and cooked potatoes, no serious frying, although I'm sure they use crazy oil or butter.) I had it and it was fantastic. Of course, it kind of defeated the purpose of my "no potatoes" thing, so I probably won't be getting it next time. Regardless, the Greek things are probably the lightest things I've ever eaten there. So that's cheat number one!
Cheat 1 was tempered with a good walk and a stretch, and later a lunch-ish smoothie. Strawberry, peach, banana, tofu, splash of milk. And now, I'm all about dinner cheat - hopefully a really, really good burger.
I wonder if cheat days are counteractive. I suppose they are if I allow myself to slip back into my old habits afterwards. But this past week has been so good and cleansing that I'm really looking forward to starting it up again on Sunday. I guess now is the time for experimentation, to see if I can handle it or not. I almost feel guilty, but I'll figure it out. For some reason, this time around seems like the most productive I've ever been about my health. Crazy!
Also, on Thursday night, I tried the You On a Diet workout thing, and holy crap. Firstly, I love that there are yoga poses incorporated into it. If I could afford yoga classes I would do it in a second, it's so invigorating and challenging. Also, I like that it uses standard workout routines, like crunches and the like, along with stuff I've only done with personal trainers, like step-touches and the "invisible chair", the latter of which will seriously make you tremble after 20 seconds. Most of all, I love that I don't have to buy anything to do it. I woke up sore the next morning. But in a triumphant, "fuck yeah I did it" way. I did it again last night for the hell of it. I wonder if not sticking to specific exercise days will fuck up my progress. Are scheduling workouts just to help automate the person's activities, or are there health benefits or no? Must look into that.
Saturday has been designated as Cheat Day. I mean, it's not like I'm going to eat a plate of foie gras and 3 bags of Doritos or anything - I'm not a binge eater. I'm definitely a bored eater, though, but I think I've been reprogramming myself well with apple slices or nuts.
Anyway, cheat day. My boyfriend and I always go to a diner an el stop away from my apartment every Saturday morning/brunchtime. At first I was getting standard skillets or omelettes or pancakes-and-bacon combos, but more recently (even before this "diet") I started getting their Greek omelette. It's pretty standard - spinach, feta, tomato. But more recently, I started getting it with egg whites and no potato. However, this week I found that there's a new Greek skillet! The same thing, only the feta, tomato and spinach are mixed with the home fries. (They're standard chopped up and cooked potatoes, no serious frying, although I'm sure they use crazy oil or butter.) I had it and it was fantastic. Of course, it kind of defeated the purpose of my "no potatoes" thing, so I probably won't be getting it next time. Regardless, the Greek things are probably the lightest things I've ever eaten there. So that's cheat number one!
Cheat 1 was tempered with a good walk and a stretch, and later a lunch-ish smoothie. Strawberry, peach, banana, tofu, splash of milk. And now, I'm all about dinner cheat - hopefully a really, really good burger.
I wonder if cheat days are counteractive. I suppose they are if I allow myself to slip back into my old habits afterwards. But this past week has been so good and cleansing that I'm really looking forward to starting it up again on Sunday. I guess now is the time for experimentation, to see if I can handle it or not. I almost feel guilty, but I'll figure it out. For some reason, this time around seems like the most productive I've ever been about my health. Crazy!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
3 days
I figured it would take some serious adjustment time to get used to eating differently, and the last few days have been no exception. As expected, it has been REALLY SUPER DUPER OMG HARD to give up coffee. I've tried drinking black coffee, I've even enjoyed it, but not going to Dunkin' Donuts and getting an iced coffee with cream and sugar is a tough habit to break. Most of the time I don't even think about it - I just see where my bus stops, hop off, cross the street and there it is. But, of course, that's the problem. At this point it's automatic, and hopefully eating a bowl of cereal or a yogurt and a banana at home will be more automatic eventually. But damn. The iced coffee. I even got a bowtie today. Shameful! However, I read in this book that sleeping less makes you more susceptible to cheating/making bad decisions to amp up your brain. So that makes sense. I guess getting four hours of sleep because of merrymaking the night before didn't do me any favors!
I just made and ate a really nice dinner: pan-seared salmon, and a baby greens salad with a little reduced fat feta, some dried cranberries and a little honey mustard dressing I made myself. Super satisfying! And it seriously took 10 minutes to put on my plate. I'm a fan of quick and tasty, although occasionally I'll go all out and make something more complicated. But nights like this call for quick and easy. I'm also a super fan of preparing fish in a foil or parchment pocket - just stick a serving in there with a drizzle of olive oil, whatever seasonings and herbs you want, maybe a lemon wedge, fold it up and stick it in the oven for 20 minutes or so. And voila!
Of course, I'm still thinking of the coffee. And how to curb this sweet tooth!
I just made and ate a really nice dinner: pan-seared salmon, and a baby greens salad with a little reduced fat feta, some dried cranberries and a little honey mustard dressing I made myself. Super satisfying! And it seriously took 10 minutes to put on my plate. I'm a fan of quick and tasty, although occasionally I'll go all out and make something more complicated. But nights like this call for quick and easy. I'm also a super fan of preparing fish in a foil or parchment pocket - just stick a serving in there with a drizzle of olive oil, whatever seasonings and herbs you want, maybe a lemon wedge, fold it up and stick it in the oven for 20 minutes or so. And voila!
Of course, I'm still thinking of the coffee. And how to curb this sweet tooth!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Prologue
When I was a kid, I was pretty normal, somewhat skinny. At around 8, I developed a little bit of pudge, just baby fat that signified the coming of an early onset of puberty. As I got older and as puberty hit (in which I stopped growing by age 12), I got certifiably chubbier, having completely moved out of the children's clothing section by age 10. However, I and my mother probably took it worse than we should have, because I now wish I was my middle school weight and size. I spent most of my middle school years in leggings and XL t-shirts, wanting to hide my body and feeling ashamed, until I realized I wasn't as big as I thought I was.
I'm 4'11" and, according to my doctor, 175 lbs. This is not cool. I suppose I never really took it that seriously past the age of 14 - I was bigger in the chest and stomach, but my arms and legs remained disproportionately thinner. I felt good, I wasn't easily winded, I could walk long distances. Personal trainers always commented on my unusual amount of stamina, even compared to the skinnier, fashion industry ladies who would come into the gym I frequented (sparsely).
Now, at 175 lbs and a couple years away from 30, I still don't look "obese", but I definitely feel it more. I gained this last 10 or so pounds within the last 5 to 6 months, which is pretty quick. A couple factors contributed to this:
- I developed a pronating ankle (not sure what this is technically called, but my ankle bends a little inward when I walk, becoming achey after a few hours, even in good shoes. Basically a sprained ankle gone wrong)
- I quit smoking (I wasn't a heavy smoker, but it was a habit I've had since the age of 15)
Now that those factors have been pointed out, where does that leave me? Despite not having an overeating problem, I do need to set a LOT of things about my diet in order:
- less greasy/fried things
- less carbs
- more greens
- more legumes
- wean myself off sweets
The last part will be the hardest - both I and my sister (who is an aerobics instructor) have got it bad. But I need to do it. I also need to set up an exercise routine, 3 times a week. The road to making myself over begins tomorrow.
And I'll be here writing all about it.
I'm 4'11" and, according to my doctor, 175 lbs. This is not cool. I suppose I never really took it that seriously past the age of 14 - I was bigger in the chest and stomach, but my arms and legs remained disproportionately thinner. I felt good, I wasn't easily winded, I could walk long distances. Personal trainers always commented on my unusual amount of stamina, even compared to the skinnier, fashion industry ladies who would come into the gym I frequented (sparsely).
Now, at 175 lbs and a couple years away from 30, I still don't look "obese", but I definitely feel it more. I gained this last 10 or so pounds within the last 5 to 6 months, which is pretty quick. A couple factors contributed to this:
- I developed a pronating ankle (not sure what this is technically called, but my ankle bends a little inward when I walk, becoming achey after a few hours, even in good shoes. Basically a sprained ankle gone wrong)
- I quit smoking (I wasn't a heavy smoker, but it was a habit I've had since the age of 15)
Now that those factors have been pointed out, where does that leave me? Despite not having an overeating problem, I do need to set a LOT of things about my diet in order:
- less greasy/fried things
- less carbs
- more greens
- more legumes
- wean myself off sweets
The last part will be the hardest - both I and my sister (who is an aerobics instructor) have got it bad. But I need to do it. I also need to set up an exercise routine, 3 times a week. The road to making myself over begins tomorrow.
And I'll be here writing all about it.
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