Ice Cream and Pizza

Yesterday was my birthday and I was craving chocolate, so I indulged in an ice cream, brownie and chocolate fudge sauce dessert. It was delicious going down, but after a bit the chocolate kind of made me feel sick. How ironic. Still it didn't stop me from chowing down a peice of pizza my kids had left on the counter. That too was good, but ultimately unsatisfying.

The weigh in tonight will show me the error of my ways I am sure! Nothing tastes as good as thin feels. So true so true.

Tune in later.

Down One

With only four days between weigh ins I was able to shake off a pound. Yea!

I'm a little freaked out. I learned that I have some awful foot deformity that makes walking feel like there is no cushion between the ball of my foot and the ground. I'm getting it looked at carefully tomorrow morning. It's put a damper on my walking--my favorite exercise.

So I'm making a list of things I can do exercise wise, so I don't get lazy

Gained this week

Weighed in this past Thursday night and I was up 2.5 pounds. I'm not worried, I know what to do--get more exercise. I got really lazy during this past cold spell.  This morning I walked three miles with the dogs and it was very invigorating.

Yesterday my exercise was helping to tear out a shower and haul it to the curb peice by piece. That was a lot of work, plus keeping up with the wall board and wood dust. I don't know how many calories it was, but I was beat by the end of the day.

The core classes are over now and I'm in the "ongoing" program. I stay in this program until I meet my goal. My new classes are on Tuesday nights so I will have a relatively short time between weigh ins. Having an easy time getting in fruits, but vegetables are a bit harder so I'm going to work on that. Doug made a nice squash, potato, celery and onion dish for me over the weekend that I enjoyed.

More on Tuesday.

Six Pounds in Nine Days--More is Better!

In our classes at SSM Weight Loss Center they always preach "more is better." Anyone who has ever dieted knows that is wrong, wrong, wrong. You have to starve to lose weight right? That is so ingrained in my mind as a life long dieter. What's different about this plan is that you are eating at the "lose weight" end of the simplified calorie system.

How Cari explained it to the class is that on a scale of 1-10, with 1-2-3 being at the weigh loss end and 8-9-10 at the weight gain end we are eating on the 1-2-3 end. Most Americans are eating at the 8-9-10 end that includes foods such as fried fish, red meat, tuna salad, cheese, cake, cookies, chips, muffins, mayonnaise, butter, pasta, ice cream. Well you get the idea.

At the weight loss end of 1-2-3 we are eating fruit, vegetables, beans, HMR Shakes, Entrees and Benefit Bars, water based soups, and non-caloric beverages. These foods are low calorie, lower in fat, higher in water content and higher in nutrition. At this end the foods are about 17 calories per ounce so you don't have to worry about portions. (more is better)

So if you are eating at the other end--like I was--even if you cut back on portions it's still too many calories to lose weight. And you aren't full because the foods are a lot lower in water content and significantly lower in nutrition.

In late December I moved into eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day in addition to three shakes and two entrees. That's my minimum prescription. Believe it or not, it's hard to get it all in. Last night I was sitting at the table with my boys eating 3 cups of lettuce (1 serving), bell peppers, tomatoes, celery (2 more servings) when they were finished in about 5 minutes. I was there munching away for another 20 minutes and still had an entree to get down.

Well I got my good news today when I weighed in and found out I lost six pounds in nine days! That included two days of travel that I didn't eat entirely in the box. So that's 24 pounds now. Only 38 pounds to go. I also go to buy a new pair of jeans--two sizes smaller than when I started. Now how fun is that?

Back Jowls--How Flattering!

Jowls usually refer to that slack flesh that is associated with the cheeks and sometimes the neck. I didn't know that I had back jowls until they were gone. Actually I didn't know I had back jowls at all--I always called it back fat.

In college my very polite Japanese roomate once asked me why Americans had fat backs. I didn't have a good answer then, but I certainly remember being embarrassed for my country. I mean, really, what do you say in defense of fat backs? It's fashionable? Today I can answer why I had a fat back--I ate too much and didn't move enough and wore clothes that didn't fit.

I had the occassion to wear something that skimmed my body (read "it fit nicely") over the weekend and my dear husband noticed that my upper back looked nice. "Your back jowls are gone," he said. Stunned, I laughed and when I really thought about it I laughed even harder. It was the perfect visual description. We have muffin tops, arm flags, and chub rub, right? The way I see it there is no getting around what people see and define.

I could have been offended, but why? I could "bright side" it too, but why? The fact is my back was indeed jowly and now it's not. No ones fault but mine. How's that for reality.