No Longer a Joke

Well, if you've been reading this blog at all you know that I'm always trying some new diet, and I am constantly falling off the wagon.  One of the biggest reasons is that my husband and I totally bond over junk food.  Seriously, I think if someone would ask, what would you rather do, go to Disney World  with a close friend or hang out with your spouse watching a crappy movie and eating Doritos, we would pick the latter. (Feel free to insert some other fascinating place if you're the kind of asshole that would say Disney is lame)

  It was clear that last year we both let ourselves go.  My husband pretty much eats what I feed him and he's never going to complain that the food isn't healthy enough.  If anything, the healthy food I feed him never seems to agree with his system.  I blame his Grandmother. She actually used to feed him all yolk scrambled eggs when he was little because he liked it.  Thanks Grandma!  Now I have to undo all this shit! 

My husband, we'll call him Bob from here on out, (because that's his name) was in the Marines and so, he was basically forced to be in good shape when he was younger.  Also, during the years that he was 25 - 45, he put on local Elvis shows. Not corny ones (unless you think all Elvis impersonators are whack).  He was really good and his shows were always sold out.  He taught dance at Arthur Murray for a while as well.  I tell you this to explain why my husband could get away with eating crap and staying thin.  He was pretty active.

Last week my husband had his scheduled physical. At just under 260 my husband was looking pretty huge.    His EKG was not normal, he is borderline diabetic and he is at risk for kidney disease.  She also put him on medication for high blood pressure.  Not good.  The doctors orders were low carbs, low fat, low sodium, eat three different fruits per day, and eat fish at least 3 times per week. 

I have to say, the biggest challenge here is the low sodium part.  Veggies have to be fresh or frozen.  The soduim content in a can of anything is outrageous!  I bought every kind of Mrs. Dash there was.  We cannot use salt substitute because it will react with his blood pressure medication.  I cannot use soy sauce or Warchestershire because it is way to high in sodium.  I use a little olive oil, but cannot cook with butter like I used to. 

Bob and I have been losing about a pound every day.  My next several blogs will be on recipes and products I have found that fit out diet.  I had so much fun shopping with Bob last night.  He is basically a nutrition idiot.  I've never met anyone who knows less about nutrition than him.  Yesterday we read the back of everything before we bought it.  Not just the nutrients, but the ingredients.  We were totally bonding over health food!!!

This time, not sticking to our diet is not an option. 

How to Get Hubby on Board.

Weight 201.
I suppose we all have reasons why we keep failing.  It seems to be the same thing that makes us give in.  For me, it was my husband.  I could be good Monday through Wednesday, but Thursday, when my husband was home with me, all bets were off.  Why?  Because he was always in the mood for yummy food - to sit with his wife, watch a movie and have some Chinese.  Why didn't I just put my foot down?  Because I missed him, and quite frankly, movie night and Chinese with my hubby is too awesome to resist. 

So, to keep from falling off the wagon on Thursday, I decided I have to get this man on board.  How?  I listened to all of his excuses about how this or that was inconvenient to eat at work.  I said, "Why don't you just count calories with me.  Then we can eat whatever, just within the calorie limit. . . "  His problem: "I don't like the burden of having to enter it.  I just don't do it."  Lightbulb. 

"How about if I preplanned our food for the week?"  "Let's try it." he says.  I find out what is easiest for him to eat at work.  Turns out, he can do wraps pretty easily (as long as they're not too messy).  So, all week, we've been eating as follows:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Morning Snack: Fruit
Morning Snack: Banana

Lunch: Wrap (Hummus, Lettuce, Cucumber, Tomato) - This recipe will change next week to keep us from getting board.

Dinner:  For Bob Sun - Wed- can of soup, For me, every night, 8 oz meet and a bag of steamed veggies. I cook the meat in water instead of oil.  It's not boiling.  It's a technique I made up.  You have to be on the ready to add more water when it dries up,  but it turns out great.

Total calories for this day is right around 1500.  Perfect!!

We've both been steadily losing weight. 

Tonight is our first Thursday.  Why am I not worried?  Because, when my husband asks, "What are we doing for dinner?"  I can tell him, 8oz meat and a bag of steamed veggies.  He might complain a little that he's still hungry, but, if so, he can have some fruit or popcorn w no butter. Because he's been seeing results on the scale, he's excited, which makes it easier for him to play along.  

Wish us luck!

Quickie

Weight: 204

Well, I stayed within my calorie range again.  Working out BEFORE dinner has helped a lot!  I ate pasta with marinara last night and was stuffed!  If I workout tonight, I'll swim I think.  I could really feel it in my arms and back on the eliptical.  I was only able to go for about 10 minutes. 

My workout shirt really showed off my fat rolls!  It didn't have the same compression as the others.  If I were still in my 20s,  I would have had to throw on a T-Shirt, but I decided, the humiliation was good for me.  If I don't want to be humiliated by my fat rolls, I better lose some weight!  Can I get an Amen? AMEN!!

I'm Back!!

Weight 205 (down 2lbs from Monday)

I stayed under 1500 calories yesterday!  I also had a great workout.  I went straight to the gym from work.  It was busy, but the Y is huge and, while the weight machines are usually taken, there is always a treadmill or eliptical available.  My mile time is high, 12 minutes, but I still get through it.  I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the eliptical.  On the eliptical, I grasped the handles at their farthest away point, so I got a really good back and arm workout.  I'm almost glad the weight machines were taken. 

My husband and I are going to celebrate Valentines Day on Thursday.  We don't know where we're going yet, but I think I will do my best to eat healthy.  I'm going to try to convince him to go to the gym first.  We'll see how that goes.

Starting Over Again. . . again

I tipped the scales at 207 this morning.  I could feel this comming for a while.  I've just been having a good ol' time shoving food into my mouth.  My Dad got me a book for Christmas called "The Maker's Diet".  I'm going to try it.  It's basically low carb, but, I am shocked by some of the things the Bible tells us not to eat, i.e., shrimp, lobster, pork. . .  He gives great reasons scientifically for why these foods might be bad for us.  It's mostly about how the food they eat is processed allowing the bad stuff to stay in their bodies and subsequently be eaten by its prey (us).  So, some of the foods he says to eat is a no brainer, i.e., leafy greens.  Some of what he says is shocking, i.e., no beans.  Lentils are okay to eat, but no other bean.  Interesting.

I haven't really decided what I am going to be doing, although, I will say, I've stopped eating shrimp, lobster and pork.  It skeeves me now. 

I'm going to count my calories for sure.  I'm thinking 1500 per day sounds good.  I'm also going to go to the gym straight from work.  The bad thing about that is the gym is packed at that time.  It is the only time to go, however, since I proved to myself last night that if I try to wait until a less busy time, I just wont go.  I was going to put in a workout DVD, but I just couldn't get into it.  So, basically, last night I lounged around the house in my gym clothes. 

Fat Girl v. Skinny Girl Salads

I've wanted to address this issue for some time.  My mom, my sister and I were all sitting at a restaurant getting ready to order food.  My mom and I (fat girls) were discussing how high in calories salads are.  My sister (skinny girl) angrily protested saying, "Salad is the healthiest thing you can eat!  It's got roughage, you throw on some strawberries, chicken, pecans and some vinaigrette dressing, and you have a healthy low calorie meal!  It did no good to argue with her because she was absolutely right.  But, that is not the type of salad my mom and I were talking about.  That is NOT what goes on a fat girl salad.  When fat girls think salad, they think Cobb salad with ranch.  In case you do not know what goes into a Cobb salad, it's bacon, eggs, blue cheese, avocado, and bacon. Or, we're thinking chef salad with cheddar cheese, ham and turkey and ranch. All high calorie items.  If you are counting calories, you might as well have a cheeseburger and probably spare yourself about 500 calories. 

I'm not saying fat girl salads can't be healthy.  The salads I make at home consist of the following:

1 oz walnuts
1/2 cup slices cucumber
1 oz crimini mushrooms
1/2 oz pumkin seeds raw
1 serving raw sunflower seeds
1 serving organic spring mix
2 servings shredded cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

That is a healthy salad folks.   It's also over 1600 calories.  That's a whole days worth.  The only way to get away with eating that many calories and not gaining weight is to be on a low carb diet. Walnuts, olive oil and cheese are all high calorie items.  1 tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories.  1oz of cheese is 120 calories and, yes, walnuts are healthy, but 1 oz of walnuts is 190 calories. God forbid I throw on some healthy avacodo.  At the end of the day it is about calories in and calories out. 

A later discussion with my sister about this topic helped me to understand better the attitude skinny girls have toward fat girls and it is basically this:  Fat girls know nothing about nutrition and what is good for them. Well, that couldn't be further from the truth.  Most fat girls, maybe because we are so obsessed with food, could tell you the glycemic index of a tomato, and the benefits of lycopene, without having to think about it.  - I also want to add the side note that, while I do have extra body weight, I pass every physical with flying colors,  I can run a mile in under 10 minutes, and  I have preferred status on my life insurance.  I am healthy!

You see, its not a matter of knowing, nor is it necessarily a matter of self-control.  Its a matter of taste.  Just as some people enjoy cake and ice cream, I could go without it.  If someone told me I could never have it again, I seriously wouldn't care.  That being said, some people enjoy these foods on a level I could never appreciate  That, folks, is the difference between fat and skinny.

Did I Binge?

Okay, so yesterday I think I may have binged, but it's hard to tell.  I did put on a couple of lbs.  Let's review what I had:

1/2 grapefruit for breakfast
1 Apple and 1 nectarine for lunch
6 oz Chicken w cucumber & tomatoes

Okay I also had 3 bloody marys with pickles, but come on!! 

I was down to 194 yesterday and up to 197 today.  I am really worried that I have slowed my metabolism. 

The rest of the weekend I need to work hard to stick to the diet exactly, but it's so hard.  I'm hungry.  I have a headache (probably from the bloody mary's)  I'm feeling a little nauseous.  A large salad with some avocado, blue cheese, walnuts and olive oil would be so awesome right now, or some eggs and fried potatoes, or some . . . STOP!  

For now I'm chalking this up to junk food withdrawals and the fact that I had vodka last night.  I need to re-adjust and think about WHY I'm doing this in the first place.