[Leeney]

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It all comes down to mindful choices

I think I should get this tattooed on my eating hand.

[MaryW]

Today's weight: 306.2

I think I might try some potatoes today. I got some little red new potatoes at the farmers market this weekend. I drank about 60 oz of liquid yesterday, but I was still very thirsty last night. It was warm in my apt (79 degrees). Maybe that had something to do with it.

[Leeney]

You're back on track, Mary, and way to go with the water!

[Sparticles]

MaryW, on 30 April 2011 - 11:41 AM, said:

I like using exercise videos at home. But my floor is squeaky and I'm very self-conscious. I wonder what the guy downstairs is thinking!

I've lived in apartments my whole life, so I know what you mean. Each time we move I figure out the downstairs neighbor's schedule and do my workouts when they're not home or when I know they won't be in the room I exercise in. The place we're in now, the woman downstairs is a nurse part time, so days she works I can do the noisiest videos I want. But when I know she's home, like every week day, I do my workouts in the living room, far away from her bedroom, and get my workout done at 6am without bothering anyone. On weekends, when my husband is sleeping late, I have to move my workout to the room with the computer at the other end of the apartment because the bedroom and the living room have adjoining walls.

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I also have a Leslie Sansone one but it's 4 miles, which is sometimes too much.

So just do one or 2 miles, each one about 15 minutes long. Just skip over to the cool-down stretches when done. Leslie herself is now mixing up her videos on her (paid) clubhouse on-line. Each month she offers 4 streaming videos of varying length, and for the past few months, instead of showing one of the DVD's from start to finish she takes one mile (or even a half mile segment) from one video, adds a few minutes from another, then a mile from another, etc. And she always says on all her videos since the 1980's, that if you can only do a portion of a workout, fine, you don't have to do the whole thing at one time.

Another way to customize the length of the workouts that I like to do is take my Richard Simmons DVD's and just do a song or 2, or skip songs, or do a few songs from one Sweatin' to the Oldies then a song or 2 from another. I love his videos *because* he breaks them down into one-song chapters on the DVD's to make it easy to do that. Make your workout any length you want! Want a gentle workout, just do the first 2 songs and last 2 - they're slower and have easier moves than the songs in the middle.

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It's called Cardio Dance Slimdown. It's really dance-y! I have as much funk as a school marm. So I struggle trying to get the moves.

You sound like me with a lot of the Richard Simmons stuff! LOL For decades now my all time favorite of his videos has been the one he did with celebrities' parents, including his own mom, called Richard Simmons and the Silver Foxes. I started doing this one when I was in my 30's, and here I am, almost 60, and still at it. Nice easy to do moves, slower music, but it still gets my pulse into the target heart rate for a good chunk of the time. Back in VHS days I wore out 4 copies of it and still have one tape still in its shrink-wrap that I bought just weeks before it came out on DVD. I still do this one at least once a week, especially when my sciatica or arthritis acts up.

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I know the point is just to move and burn calories, but I want to do what they do on the screen!

I was ALWAYS a klutz! As a kid, each year I would break another bone doing something simple, like walking up a flight of stairs or falling off my bike. At our wedding my husband and I just stood there and rocked back and forth for our first "dance" just long enough for the photographer to take the pic and others to join us on the dance floor. I KNOW I will never be able to do the workout videos like those nubile young things on the screen can do. Remember, they all had to go through auditions to get the job and had plenty of rehearsals before one second of footage was shot. And sometimes even THEY have problems! On Richard Simmons's second workout for seniors, Platinum Sweat, he made a point of getting seniors with experience in dance, sports, or other activities. They had a video of the workout to do at home for about a month before rehearsals together started, then 2 weeks of rehearsals as a group before filming, yet throughout the whole video you see many of them totally lost as to what they're supposed to be doing at any given time. Makes it hard to follow along, especially when the cameraman is more interested in a singer or the piano player than Richard or the exercisers.

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She says "shake it!" Well, I shake enough already! I'm trying to get rid of the shake.

LOL I hear ya! In my case, if I try to "shake it" like the instructor intends I wind up aggravating my arthritis or sciatica and have to spend the next couple of days with muscle rub and heating pads.

[MaryW]

Sparticles, on 04 May 2011 - 12:51 PM, said:

You sound like me with a lot of the Richard Simmons stuff! LOL For decades now my all time favorite of his videos has been the one he did with celebrities' parents, including his own mom, called Richard Simmons and the Silver Foxes. I started doing this one when I was in my 30's, and here I am, almost 60, and still at it. Nice easy to do moves, slower music, but it still gets my pulse into the target heart rate for a good chunk of the time. Back in VHS days I wore out 4 copies of it and still have one tape still in its shrink-wrap that I bought just weeks before it came out on DVD. I still do this one at least once a week, especially when my sciatica or arthritis acts up.

Hey, I used to do the Silver Foxes video too! I was in TOPS with my mom when I was a teenager. We got together with a bunch of ladies from our church and did this video in the social hall! My mom still talks about this video. I need to find a copy of it for her to do. She doesn't get around so well anymore, and I think gentle exercise would be very good for her.

Well, I ran into a bit of a wrinkle this morning. I got up, weighed myself, posted here. Then while I was waiting for the weather report on the morning news, I dozed off!! I woke up an hour later, terribly late. I quickly put the new potatoes on to boil while I jumped in the shower. I still forgot to buy yogurt yesterday, so I couldn't have my usual breakfast of yogurt, cereal and fruit. So I ate half the potatoes in the car on the way to work. I also had a few grapes to take with me. For lunch, all I had brought was the potatoes. So I went to the grocery store and got a salad at the salad bar. Instead of dressing, I put a few pickled beet slices on top. I ate about half the salad, planning to bring the rest home for dinner. I finished off the potatoes and grapes. About 2 hours after I finished my lunch break, I was STARVING!!! I've been hungry most days since I started the plan. I figured that my hunger drive is out of whack from binging so much and so often. So I've just suffered through the hunger pangs, thinking that I'm re-training myself. But today I was CRAZY hungry! I kept nibbling on the salad until I finished it. I don't know if I just wasn't eating enough, or I wasn't used to the potatoes, or what. For dinner, I had some leftover quinoa with a couple of spoons of the low sodium salsa I got at Trader Joes. That salsa is really hot!! I love spicy foods, but I will never be able to overeat that salsa. A little really goes a long way! I also had some frozen artichoke hearts. I LOVE artichoke hearts. I ate the whole bag! According to the bag, that's 3 cups. Maybe I over did it.

I just have to say, I'm not a fan of salad. It's cold and clammy. It's a pain to make it on my own. Chopping, chopping, chopping! I'd much rather have hot cooked vegetables. I've been eating quinoa instead of rice since the serving size is bigger. I feel like I'm getting MORE that way. So you'd think I'd go for the raw veggies since I could have 3 cups of salad instead of 1.5 cups of cooked veggies. But give me cooked any day! I know I need to eat more raw veggies. That's better for me, right? And as I lose weight, eating raw veggies will probably aid my weight loss. But for now, I'll eat most of my veggies cooked.

I went by the grocery store on the way home tonight to get the aforementioned yogurt. While I was there, I decided to look on the condiment aisle for some low sodium mustard. I LOVE mustard. But it is crazy high in sodium! I looked at every mustard the store had, and I finally found some that are low sodium!! I also found a low sodium sauce with habanero peppers, mango and coconut. It's hot and tangy. I don't know what I'll put it on. Grains maybe? Anyway, I'm happy knowing I have some condiments. I'm the condiment queen! I always have about 3 kinds of mustards and salsas. So now I can have some variety. Of course, variety can be dangerous if it makes me want to eat too much.

[MaryW]

Today's weight: 305.6

Woo hoo! I'm under 306. I've been dancing around it for days. Look out 300, here I come!

I think I'll try some rice today. I have a lot of kinds of rice. My favorite is Lundberg's wild rice mix. And i can try some of my new sauce on it!

[karolinakat]

MaryW, on 05 May 2011 - 11:44 AM, said:

Today's weight: 305.6

Woo hoo! I'm under 306. I've been dancing around it for days. Look out 300, here I come!

I think I'll try some rice today. I have a lot of kinds of rice. My favorite is Lundberg's wild rice mix. And i can try some of my new sauce on it!

Congrats, keep it up!

[Leeney]

Good to see the scale dropping again, isn't it?

Trader Joe's has a rice blend that I like...I think it's called brown rice medley and has brown rice, wild rice, some radish seeds, and I'm not sure what else.Yummy. Costco also has something similar, but it's seasonal and this is not the season.

I love condiments too. I have a honey mustard by Grey Poupon that has 5 mg sodium and I love Trader Joe's Aoli Mustard sauce at about 50mg sodium per serving. TJ's also makes a chipotle salsa that's yummy...maybe that's the one you got? Oh, and Costco's mango peach salsa is not bad either. Mr. Wonderful thinks it's a food group!

If you're still hungry on the RD, Mary, maybe you could tweak your eating schedule or choose foods with an eye to getting more protein in. I'm a big fan of lentils and quinoa for my starches. They seem to stay with me longer. You could also try spreading your food out so that you have something to eat every 2-3 hours. Don't know what your work situation is like, but if you can take a break now and then, that might be an option. This next is not strictly RD, but it's what I do, and it seems to be working for me. I include about a tsp of olive oil with each meal, especially with my veggies. It helps me to feel more full and is also necessary to absorb some of the vitamins in veggies. Speaking of which, I try to have 2 servings of raw veggies for every serving of cooked. I like the raw veggies cause I crave 'crunch.' In the cold weather veggie soup is my staple and in the warmer months...assuming we have those...I switch to a marinated chopped veggie salad. Lots of chopping, but I make a big batch and it keeps for days. A food processor makes this pretty easy, otherwise I can get into slicing and dicing too. Ask me about my left index finger!! Anyhow, I'm sure you'll figure something out that works for you.

[MonicaC]

Eating artichoke and foods that are wholesome as opposed to highly refined foods is a big step forward. Mary that you are posting everyday and making this a priority is great. My road has not been smooth there are weeks when you want more food. Make sure it is high quality whole foods and if you are staying away from processed refined foods that is a big step ahead. The key is consistently thinking about what you are eating and making the best choice you can. If you can prepare the foods yourself so much the better. Keep it up.

[MaryW]

Uh oh! A friend and I decided to go out for an impromptu margarita for cinco de mayo. Drinks turned into dinner. I got a freaky vegan chicken chorizo burrito and a side of squash and zucchini. I've been on this low salt diet for 3 weeks. I can't believe how salty the food was!! Did I eat it? yes. It was so weird. Under all the salt, the food had a good flavor. So why do we hose everything down in salt again? (and fat and sugar and...) And on top of it all was a big honkin margarita. OK, it wasn't that big. But I don't think I've had a margarita since last cinco de mayo. So it seemed really big to me! It's ironic that a person my size has no alcohol tolerance. It was great to see my friend, who I hadn't really sat and talked with for months. And it was nice to be out in public around other people. (I've been playing the hermit for months.) Between the salt and alcohol, I could feel myself mummifying like a giant prune on the way home. So I've been drinking loads of water this evening. Did I make the best food choices? No. Did I have fun with my friend? Absolutely!

[MaryW]

Today's weight: 306.4

Not as bad as I thought! I'll probably just eat rice and fruit today to help combat the salt. And water, water, water!

[karolinakat]

Drink lots of water today to help get back on track

[Brand_New_Day]

I think it is almost imposible to eat out and not see a spike on the scale. As I said in a post on my thread, I went out last night with my sister. I had no sodium (that I'm aware of - which is the problem) and even still the scale didn't move today. Having said that, my jeans weren't quite the death grip they have been, so that's something. I could actually breath when I sat down, which lately has been a problem!

I still wanted to say congrats on the 305. You'll see it and lower very soon and then on to the 2's. That's exciting!

Beth

[MonicaC]

Mary good for you to go out and have a good time with your friend. It is nice to be out in the public at a restaurant and not hidden at home with our diet. Your taste buds are changing and could feel all that sslt that is an improvement. In no time you will be in the 2's range and that is most exciting. We are humans with our slips and stops and I am no stranger to that, just move on from there. You can do it.

[MaryW]

I've really been struggling the last 24 hours. I got home from work yesterday and ate a box of crackers. THE WHOLE BOX!! Instead of a sensible dinner of rice and fruit, or even rice and veggies and fruit. I only meant to eat one or two, but once the box was open, they were gone pretty fast.

OK, so why did I eat a box of crackers. Especially when I have lots of healthy, appropriate things to eat? I was at work yesterday, standing next to the microwave, reheating a cup of coffee. Next to the microwave is a candy dish with a metal lid. I could see my reflection in the lid. I looked like a bloated bull frog! My double chin was HUGE!!! Now, I know that the rounded lid distorts images. And I know that I have a double chin. But I've been losing weight and feeling better about myself. And here was this horrible image of myself. Is this how people see me?? This is exactly what happened last summer. I was feeling so good about myself. And I SHOULD have. I had lost 50 pounds! But I broke that chair at my friend's house, and I was devastated. The current situation wasn't as bad, but I have to get a grip on myself!

Today started off OK. I had potatoes for breakfast, those red and white and blue ones from Trader Joes. Then long about lunchtime, I started munching on a box of cereal. This is really bad, not only because I ate too much, but also because that cereal was my breakfast for next week!! Overeating gets very expensive. And I also took into a day's worth of fiber in less than an hour! I thought I should eat something fresh after all that cereal, so I has some strawberries. but that just made things worse!! So I was very uncomfortable and nauseous this afternoon. Several hours later, when my tummy no longer felt like it was going to explode, all I could think about was putting more food down there. What is wrong with me?? I had this little voice in my head telling me that I scrfewed up last night with the crackers, so I might as well keep eating.

So I've been trying to get a grip this evening. I drank a lot of herbal tea. I'm so upset with myself! I do well for a while (not long in this case) then I freak out, screw up, and eat.

I don't really want to post my weight, but if I stop now, I will only continue eating and not posting. So today's weight was 307.2

[Brand_New_Day]

Mary - We all mess up. The worst thing you can do is beat yourself up about it. Learn what you can from the experience and move forward. I had mentioned in my thread that I got rid of the cereal and crackers and such. I tend to over eat them if I don't, or I get up in the middle of the night and snack. When they aren't here, I can't. You might try that. It certainly took care of the problem for me.

Keep moving forward. You'll get there. Maybe you should write down all the reasons you want to lose weight and get healthy and keep the list where you can see it.

All best,

Beth

[MaryW]

Today's weight: 307.2

I can't believe my weight didn't go up this morning! especially since I haven't--ahem--expelled all of that fiber I ate yesterday. I'm feeling much better today. I'm feeling much better today. Crazy munchies are gone. I seem to struggle most in the evenings, but yesterday was just all day food fest. I need to keep myself busy! Super minty gum (I hate eating after chewing gum) and maybe some needlework to keep my hands busy. A woman at work is expecting soon, so making her a baby blanket would be a great way to fill up the evenings.

Brand new day, I think you are right about getting rid of the crackers and such. I can't resist flour products. And once the box is open, I graze my way through it quickly. We're having a family dinner today at my grandmother's house for Mother's Day. I have a box of wheat thins and some mini rye crackers from Trader Joes. I'll make some dip and take both crackers with me to get rid of them. I'm also making lentil salad. I've looked at a bunch of recipes online. I'll make some kind of combo of all of them. I have lentils, wild rice mix, red pepper, red onion, maybe some carrot. Should be good. I also have a pineapple I need to cut up. I'm always nervous about these dinners. My mom and I are the only fat people in a family that is fairly thin, healthy, and active. I'm also the only one who isn't married and doesn't have children. On top of that, I'm a crazy vegetarian. So I just feel all around inadequate. Oi!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day!

[ketann]

Mary, I can't begin to tell you how many times I screwed up a weight loss plan. Forgive yourself and move on. Do the rice and fruit a day. Try to find out why and how you can prevent that in the future. Are crackers a trigger food? Banish them from the house. Not that I have any credentials to give weight loss tips...What's been working is I read parts of the RD book or go on this forum. If I'm in a crazy-like moment and can't think clearly, before I go for junk, I get a glass of crushed ice and eat that. Weird, but it's better than what it could be.
I hope today is better for you and you dust yourself off, then get back to being a healthier you.
Hugs, Keturah

[MonicaC]

Mary I am right there with you. My whole dog issue is driving me to comfort myself with food. I know that I have eaten more food this past week. I know that I need to cut down. Hang in there Mary, better days are ahead. I have wheat issues as well, one open cracker box and before long the whole thing is gone. I am right there with you. You and I can do this, we are bigger than this issue. Divine intervention will help as well so all you angels help us now. Happy Sunday.

[MaryW]

Today's weight: 307.6

Looks like my weekend caught up with me. I figured it would. At our family dinner last night, I tried the foods that other people brought, and they were so salty! My ankles are swelled up today. This is a rice and fruit day for me. Except I'm taking a friend out to dinner. What is with all of my eating out lately!? But they place we are going has really good salads that you can change to your taste. Hopefully I can get rid of some of this fluid today! And I think I need to stop the going out for a while so I can get my bearings.

Thanks for the support everyone. I really need it!