Big and Beautiful

I have to go to the post office before class, so I have to make this quick. I’m doing this now because if I wait until later to post my food from yesterday, it won’t happen.

I received some bad news yesterday evening, so some of this reflects comfort eating.

Breakfast: Yoplait Yogurt

Lunch: Chinese buffet – waaaay over did it.

Snack: 3 Musketeers Bar, ¼ cup of the thin mint icecream

Dinner: ½ cup to cup (I didn’t measure) of mac and cheese.

Finally, I always read these interesting articles on MSN about weight loss, and have decided that I’m going to start sharing some of them. So, here’s the first:

Big Tips to Staying Slim (or something like that)

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100177217&page=1

P.S.  My scale is looking positive for being able to report a loss on Monday.

Breakfast: Scrambled Egg with cheese (made with skim milk), buiscuit with a touch of honey and grape jelly

Snack: Orange

Dinner: Asparagus (made with mushrooms, lemon juice, and a little bit of lite Italian dressing), 4 oz steak, 2 cresent rolls with creamcheese and honey

Supper: PB&J

Snack (projected): Popcorn

I know I’ve said this before, but this time I’m serious: I am going to be accountable for everything I stick in my mouth. So, without further adue (sp?) here is my food intake for the day:

Small bowl of cereal with skim milk

Deli turkey on wheat bread with swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato

24 oz soda

Few pieces of cantaloupe

Enchilada, rice, and beans TV dinner

And now I am snacking on pomegranate seeds; I don’t know how many I’ll end up eating, but I only have one pomegranate, so there’s the limit.

So, for some reason, I was reading sports articles just a moment ago, and this particular one really got to me.  It was about all the tragedies that have happened to NFL players this year.  4 players have died, two were murdered, one drowned when he fell off his jet ski, and another died after playing a game of basketball  and collapsing.  All of them were 24, the same age as me.

It was this last one that really got me thinking.  Murders can happen to anyone, and unfortunately, as I know through my work with the Coast Guard Auxiliary, boating accidents happens.  But here was an active, fit, 24 year old that just collapsed.  If it can happen to him, then it can certainly happen to me – someone who’s not active, am obese, and have known health problems.   Usually we think of it being those over 50 suffering from heart attacks and similar maladies and not making it, not 24’s.  I’m not afraid of dying and certainly don’t want to live forever, but I like to think I still have a lot to contribute. If I didn’t have enough motivation to get healthy so that I am able to contribute before, I do now.

stepped on the scale this morning, and I’m back up to 208.  It seems like I’m going to be stuck here for a while, and any chance of my making 180 by Jan. 1 is so far out the window, it’s south of the Antarctic circle.  But I’m not going to be depressed about it, instead, I’m going to reset the goal and give it another shot.  Does Spring Break sound reasonable? 

Had an X-ray done today. My stone’s barely moved and so the doctor’s talking procedures - one is a shock wave to break up the stone and the other is take it out.  Both apparently very painful.  I’m going to wait until after finals to have it done so I don’t lose any school time, and so I can have it done at home (i.e. where my parents live) so that I don’t have to worry about cooking and finding drivers and stuff.  I just want it out so I can go back to walking my 3 miles without ending in pain.

Survived Thanksgiving…. At least it was only 2 pounds which is actually a pretty normal fluctuation for me anyway.

BTW: If you love the Girl Scout Thin-Mint cookies, you really should try this icecream.  According to the website, it’s 120 calories per 1/2 cup serving, and believe me - 1/2 cup is enough!  What made me think of it was that Hungry Girl (they produce a weekdaily email with tips and suggestions) was mentioned Girl Scouts’ 100-calories cinnamon cookies. (If you haven’t, check out the site: www.hungrygirl.com

For the weekly weight in, I”m back down to 206.5, which is amazing considering I ate like a pig last week (I am adequately ashamed) and Tom’s visiting.  I know the eating was due to stress to boredom (and at the time it seemed like a good alternative to doing homwork), but all the same, it’s been a long time since I’ve had so much chocolate, so much steak, so much everything.

I need to go prepare a test for my students and finish up my own homework, so that’s all I have for today.

I’m back to 209.5, which is up three pounds from the last time I counted the W.I. 

 I’m thinking I’m going to buy a new scale….

Stress eating emergency! I’m going to make this breif because I have a TON of work to do, which is part of why I’ve been stress eating..

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Lunch: Turkey drumstick, mashed potatoes, and corn (I know that’s a lot for lunch, but hear me out - on days when I can, I’m going to try to eat my big meal in the afternoon and a smaller meal in the evening to help with metabolism and digestion issues)

At random points: Apple, chocolate egg, half a bag of marshmellows… I know there’s more, I just can’t think of it all at the moment)

Dinner: Cup of chili made with chicken (the restaurant advertised it as “low fat”) and…heres’ the kicker… Cheese fries.  Ok, I didn’t get all the cheese fries eaten right then because of time issues, but I finished them later that night as I finished writing a paper that was due today. 

Not the best choices in the world.  Then TODAY:

Bfast: Yogurt (not the low fat kind, I picked up the wrong stuff at the grocery store)

Lunch: Nachos with sausage from Mazzio’s (I’m cringing thinking about the number of calories…)

Dinner: PB and J, grapes, and mug of hot chocolate.

Oh, and yesterday and today when I weighed, it’s been hovering around 208-210. I was hoping to see that 199.5 again.  

Ok, so I know I normally post my weigh-in’s on Mondays, but the scale was being fickle.  It’s a digital scale, and whenever I stepped on it, it would give ma a value between 190-211 - there wasn’t even really one value that seemed to dominate the others.

So, I gave it another try this morning.  There was still variation, but after several tries, it read 199.5 like 8 times in a row… That’s a 6.5 pound loss. Now don’t get me wrong… I’m estatic at the prospect, but while I didn’t blog it, I know what I ate last week, and especially this weekend (I had to travel to St. Louis for an Auxiliary thing, and the food options weren’t anywhere near good), I just don’t think that’s realistic.  So, I’ll give it another try tomorrow and if it’s close, I’ll count it.  I just don’t want to set myself up for a big disappointment if I gain those six pounds back when I weigh-in next week.

 Update on the cake from last week… I did throw it away, but allowed myself a tiny sliver.  I thought that was a good compromise.. I allowed myself a little bit so I didn’t feel deprived, but I threw it it away so I couldn’t keep eating. 

Today has been  ug.  Here’s what I had:

Bfast: Omelette, hot chocolate

Lunch: Ham and cheese wrap, some stuff with couscous and vinegar (it was marked as a healthy choice by the campus food people),

Snack: Strawberries, grapes, muffin

Dinner: Enchilada tv dinner (only like 250 cals)

Currently snacking: Popcorn - I’m really getting to like the Kernal’s Seasoning stuff that someone recommended back awhile ago. I’m thankful for that recommendation!

I really want some more hot chocolate, but I know I don’t need the calories.  Actually, I’m just wanting something warm to drink because my apartment’s a little nippy, but my doctor says that until I get this damned kidney stone passed I definiately need to stay away from the tea, and I should really stay away from it permanently.  I don’t know what other hot drink to drink other than hot chocolate.  Any recommendations will be welcomed!

I have a ton of papers due this and next week, so I may not be posted or commenting a whole lot. I’ll try to catch up when I have more time.

Thanks to AJ, I was tagged!  I thought it was going to take forever because I’m never picked!  I hated playing Heads-Up 7-Up in class because I was NEVER picked!  This makes me feel and good inside. :-)   

The Rules:
1-Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2-Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird
3-Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4- Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog

Seven facts about me:

1. I recently had a kidney stone, an ailment that affects mostly men.  Can’t decide if that’s just more of my hormone problems (one of the reasons I’m trying to lose weight) or if it’s diet related (research is aiming towards diet)
2. I LOVE FIGEMNT!  For those who don’t know, he’s this little dragon-like character at Epcot.  Google him for a picture!
3. I’m a Geographer, with emphasis in physical geographer/natural resources/man-land interaction.  No, it’s not simply place names.
4. I’ve helped to develop an Excel-based model that demonstrates potential coral loss due to climate change. (http://hercules.kgs.ku.edu/coralclimate    I actually did a lot of the website content, too)
5. I’m in the Coast Guard Auxiliary (www.cgaux.org)
6. I am a popcorn junkie. 
7. I’ve been to Spain twice.

Now YOU are tagged, my friends:

Heather - http://settingherfreeweightloss.blogspot.com/

Suzi - http://blogs.weightwatchen.com/susan/

Swizzle Pop - http://blogs.weightwatchen.com/swizzlepop/

Loving Each Day - http://blogs.weightwatchen.com/laughingalltheway/

My Best Life Now - http://blogs.weightwatchen.com/bonita/

Journey to 130 - http://blogs.weightwatchen.com/bellasmom