Journal - Day 2

August 30 Food and Exercise Journal

8:00 am- banana (1.5)

10:00 am- Nature Valley crunchy PB granola bar (4)

12:30 pm- 1/2 cup ff refried beans (1), 1/2 cup salsa (0), 1 tsp EVOO (1), 4 wasa crackers (2), 1/2 cup grapes (.5)

6:00 pm- baked french fries (6.5), 2 boca vegan burgers (3.5), 1 cup broccoli (0), 1 cup cauliflower (0), 1 tsp EVOO (1)

8:00 pm- 60 minutes walk/run on treadmill w/ incline (+6)

9:30 pm- veggie dog (1), bun (2), apple (1), VITAMIN!

10:00 pm- 2 cups soy milk (2)

Points Summary:
Daily used: 25/25
AP used: 2/6
WPA used: 0/35
note: I used 6 WPA on Saturday, August 28

GHG Summary:
Fruits/Vegetables- CHECK!
Healthy Oils- CHECK!
Dairy- CHECK!
Liquids- CHECK!
Lean Proteins- CHECK!
Vitamins- CHECK!
Whole Grains- CHECK!
Activity- CHECK!
Sugar/Alcohol- CHECK!

Lessons Learned:
I was way too hungry after work. I need to bring a snack to eat between lunch and dinner. Other than that, this was THE BEST OP DAY I HAVE EVER HAD. I met all of the GHGs and was satisfied with all of my choices. I have learned that if I eat mostly filling foods and stick to the GHGs, I can eat A LOT of food and still be OP. Yay!

August 31 Food & Exercise Plan:
morning- banana (1.5), granola bar (4)
midday- 1/2 cup beans (1), 1/2 cup salsa (0), 1 tsp EVOO (1), 4 wasa crackers (2), apple (1)
evening- "Throw together TOFU meal" (7), 2 cups vegetables (0), cereal (5), soy milk (1)
exercise- run/walk on treadmill (+6)
This plan leaves me with 1.5 points remaining. I don't know how to spend them yet, but I'm sure that I will come up with something!

Recipe: Tempeh and Vegetables

I have recently become very inspired by another blogger, Bitchcakes. I have a link to her blog under "stuff to check out" to the right, if you are interested! She is a vegan Weight Watcher who recently got to goal. One thing about her journey that particular inspires me is the way that she cooks. She recommendsa kind of cooking for beginners that she calls "throwing things together".

This is my first attempt, and it was quite successful!

Tempeh and Vegetables Dinner

Ingredients:

-1 chopped green chili pepper

-1/2 chopped large red onion

-2 chopped small tomatoes

-1 chopped/ripped up heart of romaine lettuce

-1 package of "Marinated Tempeh in cocunut curry" (shown in picture, bought at Whole Foods)

-some red wine vinegar

-some lime juice

-some salt

-minced garlic (I used the kind that comes minced, in the jar)

Instructions:

Pour some lime juice and some red wine vinegar into a large pot. Turn the heat to medium high. Add chopped red onion and minced garlic. Wait for onion to turn clearish brown and add pepper. Stir, adding more lime juice and a dash or two of salt. Add tomatoes

Meanwhile, on seperate skillet, begin to cook the marinated tempeh. On medium heat for two minutes on each side.

Back to the large pot: Add the heart of romaine lettuce to pot. Stire entire contents. Add some more lime juice and salt. Turn to low heat. Cover for a minute or two, until lettuce looks cooked.

Add the marinated tempeh. Stir all ingredients together in the big pot. Add some more salt to taste.

Makes 2 large servings for 2 points each, or 4 small servings for 1 point each. Or eat the whole darn thing for 4 points if you are super hungry! Lots of food.

If I had had more points available last night, I would have poured this over some brown rice. If I had needed another healthy oil, I could have added that to this, too.

The important thing is that I am learning to trust myself in the kitchen. Thanks, Bitchcakes!

Journal - Day One

This week I've decided to share my food and exercise journal with all of you, in my effort to be "as close to 100% On-Plan as reasonably possible for me". I'm inspired to do this by JBN and his blog "Everybody Weight a Minute" found here: http://everybodyweightaminute.blogspot.com/ and by Cheryl, AKA Bitchcakes and her blog found here: http://abitchcakesworld.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the inspiration!

I'm going to journal the previous day's results and then tell you my plan for the current day. Many (most) days my plan and what actually happens are two different things. I also plan to be completely honest, which for some reason is hard for me, especially when I eat oreos or chips.

August 29 Food and Exercise Journal:
time- food/exercise (points)
11:00 am- Kashi vanilla wheat cereal, soy milk (4)
11:30 am- grapes (1)
12:00 pm- 1 sandwich thin, 1 whole wheat hotdog bun, 2 teaspoons EVOO (5.5)
2:30 pm- 4 double stuff golden oreos, soy milk (7.5)
4:00 pm- sliced up red onion, 1 tbs dressing (1)
7:00 pm- meal that I COOKED (I will blog the recipe next) !!! (2)
8:30 pm- 1 hour on the Nordic Track (+6)
10:00 pm- veggie hot dog, whole wheat bun (3)

Points Summary:
Daily used: 25/25
AP used: 4/6
WPA used: 0/35

GHG Summary:
Fruits/Vegetables- CHECK!
Healthy Oils- CHECK!
Dairy- kind of CHECK! I drank two cups of soy milk.
Liquids- CHECK! (3 liters of water + numerous diet cokes)
Lean Proteins- CHECK! (tempeh in my dinner + veggie dog)
Vitamins- NOPE! I need to work on this one...
Whole Grains- CHECK!
Activity- CHECK!
Sugar/Alcohol- NOPE. (Oreos...)

Lessons learned:
I ate a lot out of boredom yesterday. Though my sugary delicous cereal was, well, sugary and delicious, it didn't really satisfy me and I ended up eating soon afterwards. I ate a LOT of bread yesterday (4 sandwich thins and 2 hot dog buns total, all were whole grain, but still). I learned taht I CAN cook a healthy and low point dinner quite easily, without a recipe. It was amazing. I plan to blog the "recipe" next. And I am still not taking my vitamins regularly. And, double stuff golden oreos are very high in points, moreso than regular double stuff oreos.

August 30 Food & Exercise Plan:
Breakfast- banana and granola bar (5.5)
Lunch- 1/2 cup ff refried beans, 1/2 cup salsa, 1 tsp EVOO, 4 wasa crackers, grapes (5)
Snack- carrot sticks (0)
Dinner- 2 boca vegan burgers, 6 oz baked french fries, 2 cups steamed vegetables, 1 tsp EVOO (10.5)
Evening snacks- veggie dog and whole wheat bun (3), soy milk (1)
Exercise- 1 hour Nordic Track (+6)

FRUIT... is amazing.

I only recently have discovered how amazing fruit is. Yes, I've eaten fruit before, probably since before I can remember.

But this summer my mind has been opened to the wide variety of fruits the world has to offer!

And yes, I am almost definately not eating local right now, which is very unkind of me, but... oh well for now. Maybe eating locally grown produce will come to me later.

I never like melon. I tried melon once or twice years ago, and decided that it wasn't for me. Recently, I have grown to LOVE melon. Especially cantelope and honeydew! Delicious!!!

Bananas continue to be a staple for me. I eat a banana every morning with my breakfast. Bananas and apples used to be the fruits that I ate on a regular basis.

In my fruit-to-be-eaten pile on the counter right now I have: kiwis, oranges, bananas, watermelon, black grapes, apples, and a plum. Only because I ate the rest of the cantelope last night. :-) Plus canned pineapple, since fresh is too expensive for me. But I made sure to get the kind without syrup, and it's amazing!

Forget what you've read about fruit being too high in sugar: It's low point because it's full of water and fiber. The natural sugar that fruit contains is just the icing on the cake, if you will.

WW Fruit tip: Use SetPoints! SetPoints are a part of the plan, NOT cheating. I don't weigh or measure my fruit, I just use SetPoints. http://www.weightwatchers.com/plan/int/planguide_12.aspx

Eat up!

WHY DO MY PARAGRAPHS KEEP DISAPPEARING?! JUST TO LET YOU KNOW, I ACTUALLY TYPED THIS POST WITH PARAGRAPHS BUT NO MATTER WHAT I DO IT KEEPS PUBLISHING IN ONE BIG PARAGRAPH. HOPE YOU COULD READ IT. :-)

Lose 50 pounds in 2010

31.4 pounds/50 pounds
18.6 pounds to go/19 weeks left

That is how my goal of losing 50 pounds in 2010 is going. I can't believe how well I've done!

On second thought, yes I can. I've worked really hard this year to get healthier and to lose weight. Notice that I put "health" before "weight loss". I am beginning to realize that when I focus on getting healthier, the weight loss follows.

I also transitioned from a standard American diet that includes meat, dairy, eggs, and honey to veganism. That has definately helped with both my health and my weight loss.

While it's true that there is A LOT of vegan junk food out there (my top two: oreos and plain potato chips) my temptations in my everday life have almost vanished.

The candy in the office candy bowl is NOT vegan, the donuts that co-workers bring in sometimes are NOT vegan, most fast food is NOT vegan, etc. These are foods that I no longer want. I will see the donuts, think, "I'll eat some pineapple or a couple of vegan cookies when I get home, both of which will probably taste better than donuts, anyway" and sometimes I do, but most of the time the craving to "be bad" is gone by the time I get home.

So in that sense, yes, becoming vegan can help with weight loss.

Also, I have learned to love exercise. LOVE IT. I will say that there are days that I don't feel like doing it, though. And on those days, I will usually let my body rest for the night. But the next day, if I'm still "not feeling it" I will make myself do it anyway. And usually halfway through my workout, I remember why I love moving and really get into it.

I feel like despite being 40+ away from my ultimate weight loss goal, I've already won the battle. My attitude about food and exercise has changed. I am done using food as medicine, and I am done being a couch potato. I don't miss doing either of those things.

Hurray for epiphanies!

1/4 there!

$2500/$10,000

That is how much I have saved towards my goal of moving to NYC. I am officially a quarter of the way there!!!

NYC, here I come!

Yay!

The 5 Stages of Weight-Gain Grief...

WHY?! HOW?!

I don't know how or why I gained 1.6 this week. :-(

But I do know that I did.

And it sucks.

Here's how I'm rationalizing this using the 5 Stages of Grief to make my thoughts a bit more clear:

1. Denial: What happened? There is no way that I gained 1.6 in ONE WEEK since in theory it takes 3500 extra calories to gain 1 pound, so I would have had to eat an EXTRA 5600 calories for this to have been a REAL GAIN, and that's on top of all the exercise that I did. Not a real gain.

2. Anger: F YOU, scale!!! You are an idiot. F YOU, WW. I followed you to a T and still gained. I hate WW and I hate my scale!!! And I hate birthday cake...

3. Bargaining: Okay, fine, so I gained some weight. I promise that I will be a good and perfect WW-er next week, and in return I will lose what I gained this week plus a pound! Right? RIGHT?!

4. Depression: Why me?! Everything was going so well. I was on track to losing 50 pounds in 2010 just last week. Now I'm behind. I suck at WW and at life. What is wrong with me??!!

5. Acceptance: Fine. I gained 1.6 last week. That was LAST WEEK. This is this week, and I will be owning up to the gain on ww.com, I will blog about it, and I will stay true to WW this week and losing at least some of the gain. Gains happen, and they aren't always explainable.

I can only change the present and the future, not the past. So, here's to me, moving on. *clink*