I’m Still Here!

Well that happened. Poof! Away I disappeared didn’t I. Well I’m here, no worries. Here’s what’s happened the last few weeks – basically work got crazy to a point that I was working wonky hours (like 4pm – 4am sometimes – don’t worry, 12-hr days are my normal, but usually it’s during the day) and I stopped tracking my food and going to weigh-in, but I kept exercising as much as I could – which wasn’t as much as I had, but enough to keep me accountable.

I finally weighed-in on February 25th, a good month after my last one and lo and behold I was down 0.7lbs to be 160.0lbs! Well that made me feel awesome. Then I didn’t weigh in for 2 weeks and boom! I was up 4.7lbs to 164.7lbs. Sigh. Well back at it am I. So that’s where I find myself – still with the up and down. I’m not too upset by the gain as I figure it will go away soon enough. I still need to find a better solution to it all but I haven’t figured it out yet.

I’m going to focus on my eating in the coming weeks and really try to not let myself get to a point of HUNGER because then I can’t/don’t control myself and find I’ve eaten way too much in way too short of a period of time. I am going to focus on eating well and healthy portions. I’m also going to not buy things I can’t control – like bread and cheese for the time being. I just need to take a little break from having it in the house as I’ve noticed I will eat it without taking stock of how much I’m eating.

So this is where I’m at. I’m still here and I’ll be blogging more regularly again. Thanks for sticking around 🙂

Holy Emotional Eating Batman!

Wow. So the other day I had a bad day at work and ended up having to stay late unexpectedly. Given I already work 12 hour days a 14 hour day was even worse because I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t have my dinner, I didn’t have plans that evening but I did have lots to do that night that I had to do when I got home.

Well what happened you ask!? I got home in a foul mood, I had started snacking badly at work because I wasn’t prepared with a healthy dinner or snack to tie me over so when I got home all I wanted to do was to eat, eat, eat. And that I did! I huge soup topped with lots of cheese and bread on the side followed by a big bowl of popcorn as I settled in to stay up late to get to the work I had to do.

It was such a clear case of emotional eating! I sometimes wondered if I was an emotional eater or not. Or if really at the heart of it of it all I just eat big portions. I know for sure I eat when I’m bored, other than that I had never really noticed if I ate when I was feeling  particularly happy, sad, or angry. But I am definitely noticing the connections now. Sheesh! How many years have I been at this?!

It’s good to see the connections though as it can only help me to plan ahead and fight it. I can talk to myself and be clear that I’m only eating because I’m tired or angry or upset. The first step is acknowledging the problem right?

Weigh-in’s Week 194 & 195: I haven’t disappeared!

Nope! I’m still here, but I got sidelined by a new job and wicked cold that has actually kept me from the gym and doing pretty much anything other than working and then coming home and sleeping. But I have been weighing-in! I’ve decided to switch my weigh-ins to Wednesday mornings. With this new contract starting I can’t make my Tuesday lunch-time meeting anymore and my leader has a 7:45am meeting on Wednesdays. I can’t stay as I have to work at 8am, but at least I can come and weigh-in and check in with my  leader which is a great motivator.

So my summary  – week 194 wasn’t so great. I was up 2.3 lbs to a new weight of 163.8. However, the following week (195) was much better and I was down 3.2lbs so I’m down to 160.6lbs and a total loss of 91lbs. I definitely feel much better at 160. Weight Watchers had a special promotion this month – I suppose to encourage new members to keep at it over the month of January. If you weighed-in 4 times over January you received a new WW charm ring. Not a key ring as it’s open at the top but a ring on which to keep your charms. I was so happy to get mine! I love all that kind of stuff – I think I’ve said it before that it’s silly, but I do love it.

Here it is!

So usually when I work I find it hard to lose weight as we have SO much food around – we have fully stocked kitchen with all sorts of snacks and we order out everyday or have catering. Since we work 12-hour days it gets difficult to make lunch in advance and although we have time for lunch, we don’t have a dinner break so reaching for the not-so-healthy snack gets easier. However for this contract the company is not paying for our lunches so that is motivation to make my own! I’m not being very adventurous right now, but it fills me up and keeps me going. My lunches have been pretty much just steamed vegetables – probably about a 1 1/2 cups and some protein. I made some cod at the beginning of last week and then grilled chicken breast on Thursday and Friday. I also cut up some tomatoes/cucumber/peppers with a tablespoon of hummus. It’s tasty and keeps me full which is important. I will take the time on Sunday to make 5 lunches for the coming week – I think I can keep this going and that’s very motivating!

Weigh-in Weeks 179 & 180: I’ve Been Struggling

Yes, we know it’s nothing new these days. But it got to a point where I didn’t even post last week. Well the lay of the land is that last week I was up 3.4lbs for a weight of 165.5lbs – OUCH! However, this week I was down 3.3lbs so I’m down to 162.2lbs. Still not great, but better then last week.

I’m struggling to get back on track these days it seems. It’s frustrating and it’s discouraging. I did have a good week last week and so far this week isn’t looking too bad. Although…it is Thanksgiving here in Canada this coming weekend and I do have a big turkey dinner on the Monday evening. My plan is to stay the course. Keep eating well, keep working out. Keep things going in the right direction. I haven’t been in a writing mood lately so I apologize that this is short and not really filled with much info. I’ve been wasting time on Pinterest, so I’ll leave you with these quotes and try to write something of more substance soon.

Weigh-in Week 166 : Well that’s encouraging

Eek! Such a late post. Not because I didn’t want to write it, but because work became insane this week. I worked a 14hr day followed by a 17 hr day (yes that’s right…6am-11pm people!) and then another two full 12hr days so finishing this post just wasn’t going to happen. The weekend was full of errands and meet ups with friends that I couldn’t get in during the week. I was speaking with a friend of mine this week who works for a large international touring company, and as some of you who have been reading for a while know I work in theatre and tv/film. He had a good point which is that most people enjoy the idea of working in our industries, but not the reality. Ain’t that the truth. We’re not known for our healthy habits or healthy work-personal life ratios. Trying to find strategies with this unconventional workplace/hours is a challenge, but I’m not giving up.  So here’s the post I started to write on Tuesday:

Well, well well. It would seem that not eating whatever you want at night and actually writing down what you eat helps! 😉  I was down 1.8lbs at weigh-in yesterday for a new weight of 156.6lbs and a total loss of 95lbs. It’s amazing how much better I feel after being down only 1.8lbs. I feel lighter and my pants feel better. I need to remember this feeling to keep me going. I love not waking up full from the night before, I love how good I feel when I don’t overeat. After all these years (seriously, I’m up to week 166!) why do I still not learn? Why is it so easy to forget? Why is it sometimes the most difficult thing in the world?

I’ve noticed that if I eat something more point (calorie) heavy during the day I am less inclined to eat at night mindlessly. I also noticed that if in the late afternoon/early evening if I have something substantial I am also less inclined to eat a lot at night. It doesn’t have to be a full dinner, but something hearty and I’m all good. This makes things a bit easier. I think I could easily make myself a sandwich without  too much hassle. One day at work we ordered pizza – I had one slice of vegetarian. Just the one. Tracked it and moved on. It was really nice to feel in control again.

Here’s an update on the splenda vs. sugar switch. It’s actually going really well!! I don’t now why I was so worried/afraid. I’ve noticed that I’m not longer craving the sweetness of splenda. I’m satisfied with my one teaspoon of sugar in my coffee. I’m hoping that eventually I’ll be able to ween myself off the sugar in the coffee entirely.

Here are a few of my lunches this past week. I try to always opt for the protein – either chicken breast or fish  – and always have a green salad with spinach and then some cooked vegetables.

Weigh-In Week 160: Well that’s more like it

Okay, so not bad at all. Today at weigh-in I was down 1.0lbs for a new weight of 153.5lbs and a total loss of 98.1lbs. Well that’s better than nothing! I’m hoping I can stay on track for next week.  Apparently this is what happens when you track everything you eat! Yay!

I wanted to continue taking photos of my food last week, but it turns out I was really bad at it! I did, however, manage a photo of the fish tacos I made on Sunday and the lunch I ordered on Monday

Here are the fish tacos, I used tilapia with sauteed bell peppers and chili peppers topped with a mango-lime salsa, low-fat cheddar cheese, and greek yoghurt:

Monday was a work day for me and we ordered out. I chose to go with some Lebanese – a chicken shawarma plate.  There was rice under the chicken, but I didn’t eat it and threw it out so I wouldn’t be tempted. I saved the hummus with the pita for an evening snack and it went over well:

So here we are. Doing okay. I hope to keep this going this week. It feels good to not gain this week and to be in control of my eating.

Sorry for the Photo of the Half-Eaten Lunch

Well I promised photos of my food to help keep me on track, but apparently I keep forgetting to take a photo! I got my last two lunches though, well sorta. Here’s what I mean:

Wednesday Lunch: Couscous salad with chicken and chickpeas and a bowl of red pepper soup with tomatoes and cucumbers on the side:

Thursday Lunch: Chicken breast with green beans and (what I had already eaten!) baby spinach salad with a balsamic vinagrette

So far so good this week. I have a three-day weekend which started this morning and I”m going to get in some good exercise and eating! I haven’t had proper sit -down dinners in a while so going to take advantage and head up to the market and get some good ingredients. Not sure what’s for dinner yet…what are you having?

Weigh-In Week 159: That Is NOT Cool

I was up 1.5lbs today at weigh-in for a new weight of 154.5lbs and a total loss of 97.1lbs. That is NOT cool people. Not Cool. What is up with me!? Seriously I thought I was eating better, though not being 100% careful this week. I guess that was a big fat lie I told myself.

The positives of this week is that I exercised the most I have in the last while: I ran 3 times with one long run, one weight-training session, and one bootcamp. I felt great! But alas we all know you can’t outrun a bad diet. And clearly I didn’t. I now I could eat better, make better choices but I didn’t. I’ve continued to struggle with my night-time eating. Mostly due to being unable to eat a proper dinner and by the time I get home I am ravenous and I just eat without thinking. Well it’s showing and it’s showing in a way I don’t want to continue. If I’m not careful I’ll gain even more back. There are no excuses anymore. I have to pay attention to what I eat and as the receptionist said today at weigh-in err on the side of over-counting points rather than under-counting. If I think it might cooked in 1 or 2 teaspoons of oil, put 2 into the tracker. I need to be more conscious of how much I am eating as well.

I like to read a website called Summer Tomato which is dedicated to Healthy Eating Tips and Articles. If you haven’t yet checked it out you should. In today’s newsletter was this image of the the food plate inspired, but altered from the USDA food plate:

Here’s the source and the original post. Check it out!

I LOVE this plate. I think this makes a lot of sense and it is what I strive for when picking up my lunch from the caterer. I didn’t think to take a picture of my lunch plate today, but I think I will from this point forward to keep myself accountable with what I’m eating. I tend to do well at lunch, but definitely let it slide in the evening so I’ll aim to take a photo of my evening meal as well.  If fact, today I actually chose not to go to gym after work so that I could come home and eat a proper dinner. I am SO happy that I did. I’m feeling in control right now and I hope this feeling continues.

So that’s where I’m at today after weigh-in. I refuse to give up and give in. I will keep better track of my food. I will not eat mindlessly. I will take it one meal at a time. I will try to eat without distraction. This is my pledge to myself this week. Let’s see how things go…

Are there any food/healthy eating/healthy living websites you like to peruse? Care to share? Please do!

Weigh-In Week 158: I’m Not Focused.

Nope. I haven’t been focused lately. And I can tell because the scale doesn’t lie. I was up 1.0lbs for a new weight of 153.0lbs and a total loss of 98.6lbs. Well I gotta say that’s annoying.  But not as annoying it’s really all m fault. I haven’t been tracking properly lately and clearly it showed!

On Tuesday, after weigh-in I got a call from my leader (who I don’t see anymore since I can’t go to the lunch meeting. I pop in to weigh-in in the mornings before work) who reminded me to stay the course. And also gently reminded me that I had, at one point, gotten down to 147lbs and was only 2lbs away from the high-end of my ideal weight. Oh gentle reminders! No so gentle are they!!

Well I’m happy to say I am getting my head back into it all and since Tuesday I have also been on track with not only my eating, but also my exercising. I ran Tuesday and Thursday night and hit the gym for a weight training session on Wednesday night. And I feel great! I’m also tracking everything I eat – which I know I know is the key. When I lie to myself, really the only person who loses is me.

I need to re-focus my thinking and start re-tracking my exercise, my measurements, and my food. Yes it takes a bit of time, but it’s worth it and it keeps me on track. I know it works and quite frankly I’m getting annoyed with the fluctuations. I know how to lose and you deserve more entertaining blog posts!

Weigh-In Week 154: Down a second week in a row!

Well, not expecting this I have to say. I am down 1.0lbs today for a new weight of 150.8lbs and a total loss of 100.8lbs. Yahoo!

Right before I stepped on the scale I mumbled the words, oh this isn’t going to be pretty…expecting a gain. Resigned to a gain once again. I have realized that I have very little confidence these days with my weight loss. Maybe it was the last year weighing on me? (Pardon the pun…unintentional I swear!) or maybe it’s the same pattern I’m starting to see that worries me? But yes, I  no longer think positively when I get to weigh-in. Part of it is that it’s easier to be surprised than to be disappointed. Maybe I’m protecting myself?

I found this on Pinterest and I thought it appropriate:

I think with my crazy work schedule that has my workouts and runs happening at irregular intervals, I am not feeling confident enough these days and so that translates into my weight loss…I start to think that if I’m not working out enough, I won’t be able to lose weight. Which is ridiculous. I have to focus on my portions and what foods I’m eating. Confidence. I need to re-find that confidence I once had. That had me believing I could do this against all odds. That had be believing all this was possible. I need to find that again. This second loss in a row is a small step towards  finding that part of myself once again.