Week 7 in Review, Birthday Cake #2!

Week 1, Monday, 10/5/15, Weight: 148.8 lbs.

Week 2, Monday, 10/12/15, Weight: 145.2 lbs.

Week 3, Tuesday, 10/20/15, Weight: 147.0 lbs.

Week 4, Monday, 10/26/15, Weight: 146.2 lbs.

Week 5, Monday, 11/2/15, Weight: 145.2 lbs.

Week 6, Monday, 11/9/15, Weight: 142.4 lbs.

Week 7, Monday, 11/16/15, Weight: 142.0 lbs.

Week 8, Monday, 11/23/15, Weight: 142.2 lbs.  Up 0.2 lbs from last week, and down 6.6 lbs overall in 7 weeks.

So, it’s official: I lost 5 lbs by my birthday (actually, 6.6 lbs in 7 weeks)!  Yay!!!  Now, here's my new goal: 5 more pounds—from my lastest weight—in 6 weeks (137.2 lbs by Monday, January 4^th).  This will be a challenge because I’ve still got Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year’s holiday meals to get though.  But I’m going to try!

My successes with my goals from last week:

1. I jogged three times again this past week—I think it’s starting to feel like habit.  I’ve been trying to think ahead and schedule it in.  Even though I cut down on my speed and distance a bit, I feel better about it because I don’t feel as exhausted after my workout.  I’m glad that I’m making the time, and sticking with my commitment.

2. I ate pretty many green veggies this past week, but I could definitely eat more.  It’s hard to always get the greens if we eat other veggies instead (like butternut squash soup).  I think it’s important to get those veggies in too, but I think green veggies are still King.

3. My food diary is the BOMB.  Honestly, I think it makes a huge difference in keeping me “on track” with my eating and keeping me honest.  I’m definitely sticking with it.  Yay!

4. Oops, I don’t remember feeling very hungry this past week.  It’s so easy to slip into eating more than I need to, so I need to watch my portion sizes again.

5. I skipped dessert three days again this past week, but I again had three very big dessert days: Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.  One dessert was a (huge) hot fudge sundae with extra cherries at Leon’s in Milwaukee—a family tradition.  It was delicious, and worth every bite/calorie.  Honestly, while I was eating it, though, I couldn’t help realize how ridiculously HUGE it was.  I still proceeded to eat it all, mind you, but I think recognizing the excessiveness of it was a good first step for me.  Hopefully next time I’m faced with a huge dessert portion, I can recognize it faster, and just eat 2/3 of it.  Saturday and Sunday’s desserts were my delicious birthday cake (this time, with my parents).  I did manage to eat just one piece on Saturday night, and I skipped the ice cream (two small but meaningful differences from what I would have done in the past).  Every (lack of a) bite matters!

6. I ate out 2 times this week, but it was worth it.  Leon’s was fun and was great people watching.  I also ate out Thai food with a good friend, and I fortunately brought a lot home as leftovers, so I did pretty well with avoiding overeating at least.  That’s progress too!

7. I baked twice: one time was buttermilk biscuits for dinner, and the other was a scrumptious, super-rich birthday chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and ganache, recipe courtesy of @BadgerReader (what can I say, she’s good with cakes!).  Like the cake last week, I cut the recipe in half and made a 2 layer 8” cake instead of a 3 layer 9” cake, which worked perfectly (we had leftovers, but not an excessive amount).  Making the biscuits out of 100% whole wheat flour was a first for me, but I wanted to see if I could still enjoy them in a “more healthy” version (and yes, they were still really tasty, though a bit less fluffy/layered).  And it was really fun to bake both times, so I don’t regret it one bit.

8. I’ve noticed that I’m still eating a LOT of “sugar” in its many forms: sugar in homemade goodies, jam, maple syrup, honey, and lots of white flour.  Oh boy, I have a lot to improve on.  I wonder how I can really reduce this, and if I’ll feel the sugar cravings when I start really cutting back a lot more.  I have to do more research on how to do this (cold turkey doesn’t seem realistic to me).  Right now my approach is baby steps: to reduce a little at a time.

9. Something I haven’t mentioned yet: Beverages.  I am lucky that I was never a big drinker – of anything with calories!  I did occasionally drink fruit juice (preferably 100% juice), soda (yes, full-on HFCS), and very limited alcohol (beer and wine make me flush).  But when trying to lose weight, it makes sense to avoid all of those right now.  (I even strongly believe that diet soda and beverages are NOT okay, since they have been shown to increase insulin and fool your brain into wanting more sugar/carbs later due to the lack of sugar hit from the sugar-free stimulation.)  Luckily, I love drinking (filtered) tap water and hot green tea (though now I skip the sugar).  I do usually drink milk when I eat dessert, but of course I’m trying to limit that as well.  I don't really mind sticking to water and tea, but I am planning on “cheating” occasionally with a cup of cocoa, cider, or sparkling beverages.  It’s the holidays, for heaven’s sake!

10. Oops, no whole-foods, plant-based vegan meals again this week.  We were “vegetarian” for all of our meals on one day (not a big deal, but a good start).  I think I eat chicken, beef, and pork more than I realize, and I’d like to reduce that!

11. I need to think about how much sleep I'm getting (not enough), and figure out how I’m going to get more.  Also, I want to incorporate breathing and relaxation exercises into my day.  I bet both of those would help me lose weight and be happier and mentally healthier.  Something to think about and research more…

Here’s to enjoying the holidays and maintaining traditions without breaking my goals and waistline!  New traditions (more veggies/less dessert) are good too!

Forward Flavor!

Week 6 in Review, Birthday Cake #1

Week 1, Monday, 10/5/15, Weight: 148.8 lbs.

Week 2, Monday, 10/12/15, Weight: 145.2 lbs.

Week 3, Tuesday, 10/20/15, Weight: 147.0 lbs.

Week 4, Monday, 10/26/15, Weight: 146.2 lbs.

Week 5, Monday, 11/2/15, Weight: 145.2 lbs.

Week 6, Monday, 11/9/15, Weight: 142.4 lbs.

Week 7, Monday, 11/16/15, Weight: 142.0 lbs.  Down 0.4 lbs from last week, and down 6.8 lbs overall in 6 weeks.

Awesome, I made it through the weekend (of eating delicious birthday cake with @BadgerReader, yum!) and still managed to maintain/even lose a little.  Yay!  But there’s another tricky Birthday weekend ahead (more cake with my family ;), and then the Thanksgiving feast week.  Here we go, I’ve got to keep it down!

My favorite “foodie” movie that I’ve just watched in the latest bunch is called Fed Up, narrated by Katie Couric.  It’s a pretty hard-hitting, anti-sugar documentary movie with plenty of news clips, facts, and personal stories to keep it interesting.  I found it equally inspiring and depressing.  My takeaway: no one is going to protect you and make sure you eat the right things (not the food companies, the government, your family, or your friends), so you have to take it into your own hands to eat better.  But it’s an uphill battle because of all the marketing and accessibility to “garbage” food that’s all around us.  And they basically point to the “lie” of the energy balance—calories eaten must equal calories expended.  Rather, they state that sugars (in all its forms, including sugar-free artificial sweeteners) make the pancreas work harder and release more insulin which keeps us hungry and stores these sugars as fat.  I’m not sure I believe/agree with everything in the movie, but it’s full of pretty interesting ideas.  And it made me realize that all I can be certain of is that I should be making most of my diet full of fresh, whole (organic/local) vegetables and fruits, and cutting out sugar as much as I can.  I may even try their 10-day challenge (no sugar in any form/honey/syrup/white flour), but probably AFTER all the holidays are over!

My successes with my goals from last week:

1. I jogged three times this past week, and two of them were 30 minutes at 5.6 mph, and the last was 10/5/5 minutes at 5.8/5.6/5.4 mph.  However, I’ve decided to take a new approach going forward, because I’m not enjoying it and feeling “invigorated” afterwards, as you can see in my previous post.  I think it’s time to focus more on feeling good while/after exercising, and not hating it (so that I continue to do it!).  I’m planning a separate post on my heart rate while jogging and what I plan to do next.

2. Green veggies are my friends; they're both healthy and tasty!  I’ve realized that I feel less like having cold salads lately (brrr!), and more like eating sautéed greens, steamed green veggies, and stir-fries.  I even incorporated spinach into homemade lasagna noodles that I used in butternut squash white lasagna, mmm, here’s the recipe.)  I admit it’s pretty “putzy” with many steps, but I think it’s still worth it because: 1) it’s really tasty (though I would add some nutmeg or other spices to the white sauce next time, in addition to the mozzarella I topped it with), and 2) we’ve eaten 2 meals off of it already (and there are 3 more in the freezer!).

3. I’m still keeping my food diary up-to-date.  It’s so interesting to look back over the past week to see what I’ve been eating.  And it holds me accountable – I can’t hide the fact that I ate 8 homemade peanut butter cookies in one day (yup, I did that this week, eek)!

4. I’m still working on reducing the quantity of my food eaten.  But in general, I’m still feeling a bit more hungry than before I started this, so that’s good.

5. The good news is that I did skip dessert three days this past week.  The bad news is that I had three very big dessert days: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  However, I tried to compensate a little by eating fewer other “bad carbs” (white bread, rice, etc) on those days.  The more I learn about this, the more I realize that I would likely have to go “cold turkey” and eliminate all sugar if I wanted to truly beat my sugar addiction.  Ugh, I don’t know if I can ever do that…

6. It feels great that I didn't eat out at all this week!

7. I baked twice, but they were some big, delicious kahunas: homemade peanut butter cookies (husband JK took some to work, and then I froze the rest, but not before I ate too many—see item #3 above!), and delicious, decadent homemade birthday “Chocolate Pudding Blackout Cake” with @BadgerReader.  The good news on the cake is that we cut the recipe in half and made a 6” cake instead of an 8” cake, and then I fed some of it to JK and froze the rest.  Mmm, it is so chocolately!  Here's some tempting pictures...  (I promise to take more pictures of my "healthy" foods too in the future.)

8. I’m done with my antibiotics, but I’m still eating my almost-daily plain, whole-milk yogurt (with a ripe, sweet banana or a spoonful of homemade jam).  Soon I may start some probiotic pills to continue to “heal” my gut.  I figure it can’t hurt to have healthy gut flora, right?  Especially if there’s any truth to that helping a person be thinner/healthier.

9. Hmm, whole-foods, plant-based vegan meals: oops, I didn’t do any of these…  I need to work on this, and shoot for making one recipe a week!  I do have some tofu in my fridge, waiting for a stir-fry soon.  And I did make vegetarian lasagna, so that’s a step in the right direction.  Also, even though we are currently eating more meat and chicken, at least it’s in small amounts (like the chicken stir fry that lasted more than 2 meals for us both).  The thing I like least about the animal products we are eating now is that we are still eating a LOT of cheese (too much, really), and probably still too much processed/cured meat (even if it is from a “local” farmer/processor) such as both cured bacon and pepperoni just this past week.  I’d like to stick with more of the “whole” animal products (and do my own processing, if needed), and really minimize the bacon and nitrates in general!

I just hope that I can use this way of eating to achieve my weight loss goals, and then maintain a happy weight for the rest of my life.  Do you think it will work?

Forward Flavor!

Workout Exhaustion: What am I doing wrong?!

OK, time for full disclose: I’m not feeling too great.

Today I did my 30 minute run on the treadmill at 5.6 mph.  And then my face was all red and I felt exhausted.  And I mean: exhausted.  Like I could barely walk around and lift my arms to fix my lunch.  I thought that exercise is supposed to help a person feel more “energized” after working out.  Instead, I feel physically exhausted, and then I feel mentally bad about feeling so exhausted.  I mean, I’m glad I “put in” my time (for exercise), but if I keep feeling this way, I think I probably will want to give up on working out!

So, what could my problem be?  I figure it’s one of these following problems (or a combination).  And I’m going to list my intended “solutions” right after each, so I can hopefully get to the bottom of this…

1. Improper pre- and re-fueling before and after my work out session.  Yes, I need to do research on what the proper workout “fueling” food/amount/timing is.  I don’t like to do a long (30 minute) run first thing in the morning, when I’m still fasting before breakfast, so that’s probably already a good approach.  Instead, I usually run in the mid-morning or afternoon.  But I also don’t usually eat right after my run (I need a shower!).  I bet I could improve on this, and feel better—I need to do some research.

2. Too intense / improper exercise.  Hmm, maybe; I’ll start wearing my heart rate monitor again.  Historically, when I’m over 140-150 beats per minute for duration, I would feel like crap and get a red face.  Maybe I’m exercising with too much intensity or for too long of a duration at my current level of fitness.

3. Not enough recovery time.  Nah, I don’t think so.  I usually have at least a day of rest between runs.  If not, my second day is an “easier” run: shorter or slower.

4. Not sleeping enough.  Yup, I definitely need to get more zzz’s, and put a higher focus/importance on sleep.  I wake up to an alarm every morning, and I rarely feel rested enough.  I know this is bad, and yet I continue to stay up too late.  It’s easier to stay up than to put myself to bed.  It’s widely accepted that you would be doing harm to a child’s overall health if you kept them up late night after night—and that’s frowned on by society too, I think.  And yet it’s prevalent in our society that many adults brag about their sleep deprivation like it’s a badge of honor.  I believe that mentality is very harmful, both to our society and to the individual!  Perhaps it’s silly, but I need to act like I’m putting a little kid to bed (the little kid in me!), and put myself to bed earlier.  Of course, now I need to get my spouse on board too, and yet NOT treat him like a little kid (wish me luck!).

5. Lacking energy from environment (dreary, cold days, and lack of sunshine).  Sure, this could definitely be affecting me.  I’ll double check that I’m taking enough of D vitamin, and get out in the sun when I can.  I’ll drink a cup of green tea when I feel like it, but not more than a cup a day, and probably not past 3PM (so the caffeine doesn't interfere with my sleep)!

6. Seasonal depression.  Who knows, maybe this is affecting me!  I definitely could add in more time for myself: meditations and visualizations, positive self-talk, and making sure not to focus on negative things or self-talk.

7. Low self-esteem.  Yes, I do actually struggle with low self-esteem currently.  In addition to doing the items above for seasonal depression, I also need to work more directly on my career goals.  I need to more clearly define my goals, write steps to achieve them so that I can make positive steps forward, and not feel down on myself or depressed about where I am at in life right now.

8. Improper fuel (food/drink) for my body.  Sure, to some degree this could be a contributor, since I do still eat some sugar and “bad” carbs, after all!  But I am improving and working to eat healthier and healthier: lots of good veggies and fruits and fewer carbs.  Even though I’m craving sugar/carbs like a bear getting ready for hibernation, I have to continue to try to limit them, since I know they bring me down in the long run.

I hope this was interesting.  Any ideas, please share!

Forward Flavor!

Week 5 in Review, A Big Drop

Week 1, Monday, 10/5/15, Weight: 148.8 lbs.

Week 2, Monday, 10/12/15, Weight: 145.2 lbs.

Week 3, Tuesday, 10/20/15, Weight: 147.0 lbs.

Week 4, Monday, 10/26/15, Weight: 146.2 lbs.

Week 5, Monday, 11/2/15, Weight: 145.2 lbs.

Week 6, Monday, 11/9/15, Weight: 142.4 lbs.  Down 2.8 lbs from last week (?!), and down 6.4 lbs overall in 5 weeks.

Huh, that’s a lot of weight loss in one week, and I’m not sure why.  I have been doing pretty well this past week with keeping up with my goals, but I can’t say that I did amazingly well.  I still ate all kinds of delicious things (including a Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish from the farmer’s market, mmm).  Weird. 

So, I’ve met my short-term goal of losing 5 lbs by my birthday, since I’ve exceeded that already.  I just have to keep it off from now through my pre-birthday weekend (ahem, cake!) and maintain 143.8 lbs or less by Monday, 11/23.  Then I’ll hopefully keep it off and even lose more through Thanksgiving and the Christmas/New Year holiday season.  Oh boy, this is going to be a challenge.  One day (or holiday) at a time…

My new additional short-term goal is 2 times a week to eat a “whole-foods, plant-based” meal (healthy vegan).  I’ve noticed that I’ve (unintentionally) shied away from eating beans and legumes lately, and they are SO GOOD this time of year when it’s getting cold outside.  A big pot o’ steamy beans and a side of sautéed greens?   Mmm!  And of course, I have lots of ethnic recipes to choose from that taste delicious without meat, dairy, or eggs.

I also have been watching some “foodie” movies lately, and I was introduced to the idea that I may need to do some kind of fresh veggie juicing “detox cleanse”, to rid my body of toxins from losing weight.  The claim is that many toxins are stored in fat cells, and since these cells are now (hopefully) being burnt off, they are thus releasing the toxins back into my bloodstream and liver.  Yikes!  Seems a little fishy though—shouldn’t my body know what to do with the toxins naturally?  It turns out that, yes, no need to do a special detox or cleanse, according to these two sources that I trust:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/18/detox-health-nutrition-diet_n_5173783.html

http://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/detox-diets

My successes with my goals from last week:

1. I jogged three times this past week, and bumped up my times on the treadmill for 2 of my runs: 29 and 30 minutes at 5.6 mph.  I hope I can keep that up this week and get more used to it, since I currently finish with a red face (which to me means that I’m running too fast and/or too long).

2. I ate lots of green veggies this past week (though always room for improvement).  The good news is that I went to the final outdoor farmer’s market in Madison on Saturday, and then the local food co-op on Sunday, so my fridge is literally stuffed with fresh, delicious, local and/or organic veggies.  And it really forces me to cook and use them up!  Yay!

3. I’m still keeping my food diary up-to-date.  I should do a better job of updating it after every meal though, so I’ll have to work on that.  It’s hard to remember what I ate yesterday, and 2 days prior is almost impossible to remember.

4. I think I improved on reducing the quantity of my food eaten.  I’m feeling a bit more hungry, in a good way.  J  What a strange feeling that is!

5. So, I had dessert every day this past week, minus one.  Oh well.  The good news is that I’m eating less when I do have it, and I’m not having it after every meal on a given day.  These are improvements for me.  But I am definitely still a sugar-aholic.  No joke, I am majorly addicted to sugar and flour (mmm, cake).  I wonder if I’d really have to go “cold turkey” to kick the bad carb habit.  I’ll have to do more research on this in the future.

6. I didn't eat out at all this week, yay!  (OK, except for that aforementioned Danish.)  Pretty cool, and probably helped with the weight loss, now that I think about it.

7. I baked just twice: one time it was to make partial whole wheat yeast rolls for dinner with bratwurst (yes, I’m still eating bratwurst), and the other time was to make ginger pear coffee cake that I shared with friends who were stopping through.  All the other baked goods (homemade sourdough bread, English muffins, a S’mores cupcake) were all previously made and frozen, and then reheated as needed.  I totally recommend freezing baked goods.  They stay fresher that way, and then you have automatic portion control (who wants to eat a frozen roll?).  I can pull out what I need for a given meal instead of eating a whole loaf of fresh homemade bread in two days (yup, I’ve done that—with my husband too, of course).

8. The only thing I did different this week was my doctor started me on an antibiotic (for nothing serious, don’t worry).  So, I’ve been eating yogurt daily (whole milk, full-fat, though!), because I am worried about losing my “good gut bacteria” and hope probiotics in food will help restore/maintain them.  Could those two things be helping me lose weight somehow…?  I did a quick Google search, but found conflicting evidence.  Perhaps good gut microbes can help maintain a lower weight, but even if they don’t, they are good for overall health.  So in addition to stocking up on yogurt, I bought naturally fermented (and unpasteurized) dill pickles at the farmer’s market, and an unpasteurized sauerkraut-like product from the food co-op.  I’ll have to ease into them, though, since I had both for lunch today, and had major icky stomach (maybe unrelated, but I better take it easy initially).  I even bought some probiotic pills, but I think I’ll wait to take those until after the antibiotic series is finished.  Hopefully it will help my good gut flora in the long run.

I haven’t eliminated any delicious foods from my life, and I’m still losing weight.  Hurrah!  Comments, thoughts?  Is anyone reading this?  I hope so!  ;)

Forward Flavor!

Fresh Produce Inspiration

I feel like I'm in a rut when it comes to eating fruits and veggies right now.  The days are getting colder and shorter (oh, sunlight, I miss you already!), my home garden is "over", and my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares are finished for the year.  Since I try to buy local produce when I can, and organic produce instead of conventional, my produce choices seem to be dwindling and completely uninspired.  But what the heck, isn't this Harvest Season?  Thanksgiving Season?  A Time of Plenty?!  My local grocery store's organic produce section is better than many stores, but it's not great, and I still feel like I need a little Fresh Produce Inspiration.

So, I've decided I need to do two things:

1. I need to go out of my way to buy good, fresh, and tasty produce (local and organic, if possible).  This means:

     a. I need to "get off my duff" on Saturday morning and go to the Farmer's Market (outdoor in Madison for one last week, then indoor--but better than nothing!).

     b. I need to make a (weekly/bi-weekly?) trip down to the food co-op where they have better produce choices.  I finally became a member this summer, and their produce always looks good, so I have nothing to lose!

2. I need to get over it, and buy produce that isn't necessarily local or organic.  What this means, though, is that I'm taking more of a risk with the pesticides that I'm potentially ingesting.  I know, it's scary, but true.  In order to deal with this, I've decided to "manage" my risks by using the data and lists that the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has put together: the "Dirty Dozen Plus" and "Clean Fifteen" lists.

     a. The Dirty Dozen Plus lists the top 12 (plus 2 additional) produce items that are the "dirtiest" in terms of number and quantity of pesticides and other chemical residues found in them during testing.

     a. The Clean Fifteen are the 15 produce items that have the least chemicals in them.

     c. Here's a link to the EWG website (http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list.php), and my easy compilation below.  I'm going to print this list off for myself, and put it in my purse to use during grocery shopping.  For instance, if I can't find local/organic apples, I'm probably going to skip buying conventional "dirty" apples (the #1 dirtiest item!).  But if I feel like getting a pineapple, I'm not going to sweat it if I buy a conventional pineapple (#48), because it's the 3rd "least dirty" item they tested.  Yay!

I hope this helps everyone be inspired to incorporate more fresh, tasty, healthy produce into your meals.

Forward Flavor!

EWG’s 2015 Dirty Dozen &

Clean 15 (1=worst to 50=least bad)

1. Apples

2. Peaches

3. Nectarines

4. Strawberries

5. Grapes

6. Celery

7. Spinach

8. Sweet Bell Peppers

9. Cucumbers

10. Cherry Tomatoes

11. Snap Peas-Imported

12. Potatoes

13. +Hot Peppers

14. Blueberries-Domestic

15. Lettuce

16. +Kale/Collard Greens

17. Cherries

18. Plums

19. Pears

20. Green Beans

21. Raspberries

22. Winter Squash

23. Tangerines

24. Blueberries-Imported

25. Carrots

26. Summer Squash/Zucchini*likely GMO

27. Broccoli

28. Snap Peas-Domestic

29. Green Onions

30. Bananas

31. Oranges

32. Tomatoes

33. Watermelon

34. Honeydew Melon

35. Mushrooms

36/15. Sweet Potatoes

37/14. Cauliflower

38/13. Cantaloupe

39/12. Grapefruit

40/11. Eggplant

41/10. Kiwi

42/9. Papayas*likely GMO

43/8. Mangoes

44/7. Asparagus

45/6. Onions

46/5. Sweet Peas-Frozen

47/4. Cabbage

48/3. Pineapples

49/2. Sweet Corn*likely GMO

50/1. Avocados