My new-and-improved, wacky-and-wonderful eating habits

It would be easy to blame it on spring, if spring had arrived when it was supposed to. To be honest, I'm not really sure why it happened and I can't definitely point to when it happened, but it happened and it's great.

My eating habits have become pretty awesome.

Maybe it was because I decided to step away from the scale and Weight Watchers for a bit. Maybe it was because spring kept flirting with me. Maybe it was because I subconsciously felt kind of blah and decided to fix that. Whatever it was, I'm suddenly eating apples; obsessed with salads; not really wanting carbs; seriously craving protein; and starting most days with a smoothie.

Sure, I was a bit hung over this past Saturday so I had pizza and chicken bites but the next day I had a smoothie and a super healthy dinner of fish and vegetables. I still drink coffee every morning (okay, often more than one) and I still have a beer or a chocolate bar when I want one but for the most part I suddenly feel wired to want to eat better.

I was talking to the Beau about this and he told me about when he made a serious change to his eating habits many years back (before I even knew him); he wasn't looking at the scale but was focused on being active and viewing whatever he ate as what would be good fuel for his body. So maybe taking a break from the scale was the impetus behind my new habits. I have to admit, it's very tempting to hop on because I want to believe that my new habits have magically helped me lose all the extra weight I'm carrying.

But I'm going to stick to my commitment to stay away from the scale until May 22. When I do weigh in again, I'm going to have to seriously think about how I want to continue on. I know that Weight Watchers is a good program (I had great success when I first started) but maybe it's just not the program for me. Maybe the program for me involves staying off the scale while making sure I properly fuel my body.

For now, though, I have no plans to stop eating well because I'm really enjoying how it makes me feel and when I do weigh in again, it may even show up on the scale too!

And here's the smoothie recipe I'm currently obsessed with. I may add some strawberries or raspberries next time, to make it more like a PB&J in a cup!

1 cup skim milk
2 tbsp protein powder
1 1/2 tbsp natural peanut butter
1 medium banana, sliced

Blend together and enjoy!

I'm trying

Behold, my lunch and afternoon snack for today!

 

It's really time for me to be honest with myself (and the four people who read this blog): a big reason I slacked and pretty much stopped tracking my points is because I didn't like seeing the points values of my favourite bad foods and how quickly they depleted my daily allotment. 

Out of tracking, out of mind, right? Maybe, but definitely not out of hips.

Knowing I need to be better and that I need to try harder - and knowing how crappy I feel (mentally and physically) after junk food - I set out today to start trying. For my lunch, I had turkey on whole wheat bread with lots of veggies and regular mustard (but no cheese - sigh). The salad was chopped veg (no lettuce because, really, why bother?) topped with reduced-fat Italian dressing and bacon bits for crunch. The fruit cup I'm saving for this afternoon when I inevitably crave something sweet. 

When tallied, the sandwich, salad and fruit cup come in at six points.

SIX POINTS.

That's it. I get to eat ALL THAT and it only costs me six points. My coffee this morning was two points so all told, by this afternoon I'll only have used eight points of my allotted 31.

So with 23 points left on the day, it really feels like I have endless choices. Of course, bad food will use up those points pretty quickly so I still have to be mindful. But when I actually stop to think about it, I can eat a lot of god stuff for minimal points so not tracking because I want to have a cheeseburger is a really lousy excuse. 

I'm definitely going to try harder, not just with eating better but with tracking all that I eat, cheeseburgers and salads and donuts and fruit and all of it.

WW Weigh-In #55

Oh hey, how's it going? Here it is, already Wednesday again. And Wednesdays mean the scale and I wasn't sure how to feel about it this week. Fortunately, 'twas good news.

Last week: 194.2 lb
This week: 192.6 lb
Total lost: 1.6 lb

You know, it's only taken me a year to realize this, but I'm finally beginning to accept the hard work that will have to go into losing the weight I want to lose and maintaining that weight loss. When I first started Weight Watchers, the first 10 pounds came off so quickly, which really was just the result of not eating like crap. The next five were not too bad but ever since then it's been a struggle and I know it's because I got cocky and started to ignore the hard work I'd have to keep doing to keep up the momentum.

And it was great to have that success but I stopped appreciating how hard it really was going to be and that's why I've been on such a weight roller coaster for the last eight months. So maybe this is the mental breakthrough that will FINALLY help me get on - and stay on - the right track. \

I know where I want to be but so far I've refused to accept that it's not only going to be hard but that it's going to continue to be hard. But hard is not synonymous with bad; it's just something I will have to work at.

Eventually, healthy eating and making the right choices will be habit for me and I'll make exercise a regular part of my life and then it will be easy. But until then it will take work, it will be hard, it will be a challenge.

Good thing I like a challenge.

WW Weigh-In #50

Holding steady:

Last week: 189.0 lb
This week: 189.0 lb
Total lost this week: 0 lb

So far so good through the holiday season, even if I'm not likely to hit my 185lb target by December 31. It's been a food-laden month, that's for sure, and my body finally revolted this past Sunday. After a few days of wine and deliciously rich food, I was throwing up in the morning as my body purged itself of too much salt, sugar, fat and all those other wonderful things that come along this time of year.

A two-hour nap had me feeling just right and I've been making sure to eat lots of salads and lean protein this week. And I feel so good doing that too.  I wonder if this is what I needed? This afternoon I went looking for a snack but the idea of chips or chocolate made me queasy so I ended up with a chicken wrap. Sure, the wrap is probably more than I should have for a snack but it's definitely better for me than junk food. And I feel satisfied and not gross after eating it.

After this week is done I'll have more time for myself too. I've got one Christmas present to finish making and all our presents to wrap and we leave Friday night for the first stop of our family tour so I've got to get on that!

I do love this time of year but I'm also looking forward to things slowing down a bit!

Breakfast of champions

For the longest time I didn't eat berries (or much fruit, for that matter). Since starting WW and knowing that all fruit is 0 points, I've become more open to fruity goodness - and it's a good thing. I've discovered I love strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Lately, I've been on a strawberry/blueberry kick, as evinced by my (slightly blurry) breakfast. 

1 cup spoon-sized Shredded Wheat, 2/3 cup skim milk and liberal handfuls of berries make for a delicious breakfast - all for only 6 points!

My secret weapon

When I first joined WW, I started strong right away and had some great early success. In recent weeks I've seen the scale creep up a bit more than I would like but I'm still doing well and I'm slowly getting myself back on track (now that the turkey-gravy-roast beef-chocolate trap of Easter has passed). Part of that getting back on track is utilizing my secret weapon.

Grapes.

And it's nothing to do with Don Cherry or (alas) wine. Before WW, I wasn't much into fruit. It just ever really appealed to me. Now, though, I've discovered I actually enjoy eating raspberries, blueberries, melon (okay, I always liked melon) and grapes.

I'm not picky on colour - red, green or purple will do just fine; all I ask is that they be seedless. And what the Beau and I have discovered is that if we leave the grapes on the vine in the fridge, we won't eat them. Instead, as soon as I get them home, I pull them off the vine, wash them up and load them into the biggest container we have. Then when we're jonesing for something to munch on while watching TV, instead of bad food, we pull out the grapes. We have eaten a bunch of grapes in a sitting before.

This is particularly helpful because all fruit on WW logs in a zero points. I bring grapes with me to work too, to snack on in the afternoon - or at least I did. I've stopped doing that as much now and it's something I need to pick up again.

When I eat grapes regularly, I feel good, I look good and the scale moves in the right direction. It's win-win-win!

Best secret weapon ever.

Yummy Wednesday dinner

It's not quite as pretty as the picture from the recipe but still...

I made jambalaya for dinner tonight and it smells AMAZING.  I had to look up the recipe and, oddly enough, jambalaya recipes are very complicated.  Here I thought it was just sausage, shrimp, veggies, tomatoes and rice - but most recipes also call for chicken, which I added.  Although the most complicated part was the spices; I never would have been able to spice the dish from scratch.  And even without the Creole seasoning that the recipe called for, I think it turned out pretty awesome.

And to keep it healthy, I used turkey sausage instead of pork sausage.  Turkey sausage is quickly becoming my favourite meat.  I find I can't tell the difference between turkey and pork sausage, which is great because it tastes delicious but is still good for me.  In fact, I quickly discovered that jambalaya is a pretty healthy meal. 

Since it's Wednesday, I also wanted something delicious for dessert, so I picked up some vanilla ice cream (vanilla is the Beau's favourite sweets flavour) and some fresh peaches to serve on top. 

I'm really excited for dinner tonight!

Vegetables

I've come to the realization that I don't eat enough vegetables.  This is strange, though, because I LOVE veggies.  Seriously, they are the best thing ever.  I could give up meat before I could give up veggies.  Heck, I would even give up chocolate before giving up veggies.

So I find it strange that I don't seem to eat enough.  Generally I get some for dinner - and some nights I get plenty (like when we make roasted cauliflower and I eat half a head of cauliflower in one sitting).  I've been finding at work that I don't get to the cafeteria before it closes, so I'm missing out on the salad bar most days.  My standard go-to for lunch are chicken wraps from Tim Horton's because they're yummy, they fill me up and they're pretty low in calories (420 for two).  But they only have lettuce and tomato on them and, while that may barely count as a serving, it's far from enough.

I keep snacks at my desk, but I prefer the pre-fab snacks, like almonds and All-Bran bars, because they're easier to keep.  We have plenty of fridge space at work, so it's not like I can't bring my own veggies...I just don't.

And that's what has to change.  I wish I could say that from this moment forth, I'm going to eat 5-6 servings of veggies everyday, no questions asked...but that is not going to happen.  I am going to make more of an effort though.  I'm going to try to get to the salad bar sooner, even if it's just for a side salad and then get one chicken wrap.  I'm going to try eating baby carrots again (I used to eat them all the time, then noticed I was, erm, awfully bloated and gassy...while at work...and it became uncomfortable for a few reasons).  I'm also going to make sure I get at least two servings worth at dinner.  I love steamed veggies and we always have bags of frozen vegetables at home, so I really don't have much of an excuse.

So here's to eating more veggies!

(Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about me and fruit.)

Another awesome Wednesday dinner

Today has been a great day.  I weighed myself and had a great workout (but I'll post on that later) and I made a wonderful dinner (if I may say so myself).


So what did I make?  I made fish tacos topped with mango salsa, served with garden salad on the side and cupcakes for dessert.  Although I confess - I bought the cupcakes.  We're trying to be healthy and having a couple dozen cupcakes around the house would be all kinds of bad news.

I also discovered how much I love my little juicer; it's not electric or big or anything, it's just one of those little ones that you squish the fruit on.  But I used it to get fresh lime juice for the fish marinade and for fresh lime juice and orange juice for the mango salsa and it was awesome.  I've been on this kick lately to make from scratch as much as I can and the whole juice thing works for me.

And now I am really REALLY full and we have leftovers for dinner tomorrow night, so all in all, a big dinner WIN.

Chicken parmesan

This morning, while at work, I was struck by an intense, all-consuming craving for a chicken parmesan sandwich.  Just the thought of the tomato sauce, melty mozzarella cheese and crispy chicken on a soft bun made me all Homer Simpson drooly for one.

But I put this out of my mind when I headed downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch...

...and saw that a chicken parmesan sandwich was one of today's specials.

Damn you, cafeteria.

I stood and stared at the sandwich for a few seconds, imagining what it would taste like - then made a beeline for the salad bar.

Take that, temptation!

It's all about the small victories.

On food and food relationships

I've been thoroughly enjoying my super salad lunches and I'm contributing some of my scale success with my healthier lunch habits.  But I also know that, sometimes, I need something other than a salad.  Case in point: last Friday, I decided to celebrate it being Friday with chicken wraps from Tim Horton's.  They're still good for me and have lots of protein and they're a lovely change from salad.

It's okay to indulge every so often (if chicken wraps can be considered an indulgence) and I'm reminded of this because of a conversation I overhead at the salad bar:

Woman #1: Look at you, salad bar queen!  You're here every day.  You must be sick of salad!  (laugh)
Woman #2: (serious) Yes, I'm getting pretty sick of it.
Woman #1: I was wondering.  I'm on my third day of spinach and strawberries and I'm already sick of them!

What a depressing relationship these women must have with food.  Yes, I know that's a broad assumption to make based on the snippet of (paraphrased) conversation listed above, but I don't think it's too far off.  If you're eating at the salad bar everyday because you want to, good on you.  If you're doing it because you feel you have to but you're hating it, then eat something else. 

Sure, the cafeteria at work doesn't exactly produce Wolfgang Puck-Oscar food, but there are enough options to make it work.  But the bigger point is that eating should be about enjoying food as much as about being healthy and giving your body what it needs. 

I know tomatoes are good for me, but man, I hate those damn things!  So I don't eat tomatoes.  I also don't like a lot of fruit and I'm hit and miss when it comes to yogurt (mostly miss).  Salmon is good, but only on occasion.  But I love me some vegetables and I'm happy to load up on them; lately I've been loving cauliflower.  (Later, I'll share with you a way to eat an entire head of cauliflower by yourself!)

I think this bad relationship with food is why so many diets fail and why programs like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig tend to be more successful.  Diets restrict food, force you to eat the same things over and over, make you feel guilty about having a Timbit; on the flip side, weight loss programs let you have a little bit of everything while teaching you how much to eat and how it will impact your body (at least this is the impression I get of them; I've never actually done one).  While I'm not participating in any weight loss program now, I am working on finding foods I like that are good for me and filling my meals with them. 

Eating should never make you miserable, whether it's eating salad every day and hating it or eating poutine every day and feeling guilty about it.  As goes the old adage, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die!"  Even with leaving off the dying part, it's still pretty good advice. 

What I had for lunch today

I had a great big honkin' salad.

 

I'm lucky that, at work, we have a salad bar as part of our cafeteria.  There are lots of awesome options at the salad bar and it's charged by weight so you don't necessarily have to break the bank to eat well.

My salad today came in just under $6, which isn't bad considering I loaded up on mixed greens, mushrooms, green peppers, cauliflower, red onions, chickpeas, chopped egg and corn salsa.  I also indulged in a wee bit of pasta salad and a sprinkling of bacon bits.  And I topped it all off with balsamic vinaigrette.  

There are lots of other great options at the salad bar, so I'll probably start being more selective with my salads each day so I don't get bored.  Other things I can add are roasted red peppers, orange segments, apple slices, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, sunflower seeds, carrots and broccoli and each day the cafeteria does 3-4 special salads (the pasta salad was one of today's).  Normally these salads are loaded with pasta, creamy dressings and other not-so-healthy things but sometimes there's beet salad or sweet potato salad, which will be good to try.

Also, the selection at the salad bar will help me to eat low g.i./high fibre foods (i.e. LOTS of veg).  I just have to exercise restraint and not go for pizza instead.   And because it's veg, I'm not so worried about my portion sizes, although I do try to keep my dressing to a minimum.  Even the healthy stuff adds up in calories.

For awhile I was trying to bring my own salads for lunch but I quickly realized that the cost and effort to keep the fresh produce and make my salad was quickly outweighed (heh) by the cost and ease of salads at work.  As long as I make breakfast at home and bring my own snacks, I should be able to keep my lunch-buying costs down.  

(I WILL be posting about my finances and budget, I promise!  I've started getting my tax forms so once I've got them all and have the black-and-white proof of where I stand with my student loans and other financial info, I'll be able to delve more into how I'm going to improve my financial health this year.) 

Eating good and stuff

I kicked off my healthy eating today and it was great!

(One day down, the rest of my life to go!)

In my endeavour to get in shape/lose weight/be physically healthier I've decided to go with low g.i. foods.  I'm not following the G.I. Diet, as I'm not looking for a diet so much as a lifestyle change.  G.I. stands for glycemic index and determines how carbs affect the body's blood sugar levels.  Foods that are low on the g.i. scale will keep your blood sugar lower, meaning you don't crash and get cravings for sweet, sugary stuff.

Eating low g.i. foods won't be that hard for me, as most of what I eat is considered low g.i.: whole grain bread, veggies, the few fruits I can choke down, lean meat, cheese, milk, whole wheat pasta, stuff like that.  As long as I avoid the white bread/potato/rice (but not basmati, thankfully)/processed stuff, I'm good.  It's my weakness for pizza that could be my downfall.

The other catch is portion size.  It doesn't matter that I'm eating whole wheat pasta if I'm eating half the package.  But I'm taking this in baby steps.  Right now, I'm going to focus more on the low g.i. foods, particularly good options for lunch.  I'm currently bringing great big delicious salads for lunch but a girl cannot live on salad alone so I'll have to find something else that will fill me up at lunch but isn't bad carby.

Once I've got the food thing down I'm going to really focus on portions.  Deep down, I know this is my Achilles heel in the whole weight loss thing but I'm going to work at this.  I'll likely get a kitchen scale so I can properly weigh things and really know what a portion size is and how much I should be eating.  And I won't sneak tasty bits from the chocolate drawer either - although, oddly enough, Snickers bars are low g.i.  I haven't had a Snickers bar in a very long time but if they now come in dark chocolate, I could be in trouble.  It's probably best if I just stay away completely.

I'm also lucky that the Beau is on board with this too (particularly because he does almost all the cooking in our household).  He's going to make sure we keep low g.i. foods in the house so he can not just cook with them but make them extra delicious (it's what he does).  It's great having his support and encouragement and it also helps me because I feel accountable to him.  I know he won't kick me out if I have a potato chip or three, but I feel that if he's making an effort I really should too.

Off to bed soon - sleep is another part of my health plans but I'll talk about that later.

Good night!