Here I am at week 4 and I’ve gained 1/2 pound. I haven’t lost any weight! I feel pretty discouraged at this point and I’m going tol be stopping my weekly updates. I will keep you informed from time to time as I will still be trying to lose weight, but I don’t want to bore you will all the details when I’m not losing anything. I am heading to Reno to celebrate two life cycle events this weekend then I’m heading off to L.A. to help my aunt with her 80th birthday party. I will try to be good, walk and eat properly, but I also know that there will be temptations that will be hard to ignore. If you have been following my blogs and are having success at losing weight, please tell me your story and how you are doing.
Category Archives: Weight loss
Chronicles of Lori’s Slim Down Journey – 2nd week
OK, something isn’t right! Maybe I’m just not doing something right? I weighed myself yesterday, it being my second week watching what I eat, drink and exercise and I still am up the same 1/2 pound! Damnit!
Now, I know that I didn’t exercise like I did last week, I also really watched the desserts that I was subjected to. I drank less alcohol during the week, but I did splurge on Thursday and had a margarita with lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I was very careful to only have a handful of chips with salsa, and I ordered an open faced burrito which had no cheese in it. I did however eat about half of the re-fried beans. That is a serious downfall. Mexican food is really hard when you are watching your weight. You have the tortilla chips, the alcoholic drink, the beans with cheese on top. If I had ordered a tostada instead of the burrito it would have come with cheese, a fried shell that I would have been tempted to eat, etc.
During the week I had a tough time getting my butt out of the house to go for a walk. I don’t know why? Some days it was too hot, but other days it was very nice. Poor Elmer, (my dog) would really love it if I would take him out everyday.
I found myself craving chocolate the other day so I took a half handfull of chocolate chips. I ate them very slowly and that seemed to satisfy my urge.
I think what I’m figuring out is that I eat too much at each sitting. We went to a lecture the other night in Berkeley with Michael Pollan the author of the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
He had some very funny and practical things to say about trying to eat right and buying the wrong foods (processed) in the grocery store. One thing that stood out that he said, is that “Americans eat until they are full, but French people eat until they are no longer hungry.” If you think about that, it’s is a big difference. So my goal this week is to stop eating when I’m no longer hungry as opposed to when I’m full. I need to shrink my stomach, I need to exercise and drink more water.
Chronicles of Lori’s Slim Down Journey – 1st week
Well, I weighed in on Friday and to my surprise I gained ½ pound! This is why I hate trying to lose weight. I’m going to rationalize it by saying that the weight I gained is due to muscle weight since I walked 3 times during the week and started to lift weights.
I originally was going to write more often, but I’ve decided to write about once a week. This way it’s not too boring for you and it will also give me more time to write other things on my blog. I’m writing this while I’m eating chocolate chips. Why, you might ask are you eating chocolate chips if you gained ½ pound? The answer is because I’m craving chocolate and I can weigh the chips on my scale and know how many calories I’m ingesting while soothing my horrible craving. Today also was Yom Kippur, the day to atone. Larry and I stayed home and fasted all day (another reason why I feel that I deserve chocolate). While the chicken for dinner (see recipe below) was cooking dinner we did our closing prayers for the holiday and we broke our fast by dipping apples into honey. Yum!
Lori’s Sweet Honey Baked Chicken:
I took 2 eggs and ¼ cup of honey and whisked them together in a baking dish. In another dish I had 4 cups of Natures Path, Organic Flax Plus – Pumpkin Raisin Crunch cereal that I had bought at the natural food grocery store. I put the cereal into the food processor and gave it a few clicks. Some of it was ground and some of it was still whole. I put it into the dish and added salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Mixed it all up. Took the cleaned chicken thighs and soaked it in the egg/honey batter turning it several times then placing it in the dish with the cereal. Tossed the chicken on both sides to make sure that the cereal got all over the chicken. Then placed the chicken in a different baking dish that was sprayed with Pam. I placed the chicken in the oven at 400 on convection bake for 45 minutes. Do not turn the chicken. It will get nice and crunchy on the top and stay moist on the bottom. I served this dish with baked sweet potatoes and sautéed spinach with garlic.
Happy New Year! I hope it’s peaceful, sweet and healthy for you, your family and friends.
Chronicles of Lori’s Slim Down Journey – Days 5-7
Two days ago I got up and took Elmer for a 20-minute walk. We did 2 of the neighborhood hills. Then I went to play bridge. There were no edible temptations at the tables so that was good. Luree the hostess, had out fresh cantaloupe, grapes, and pretzels. Mid morning I took some fruit. I heated up a Trader Joes beef and barley soup box for lunch. I said no to the cake for dessert but I did take a bowl of the strawberries and raspberries. I was very proud of myself. At work I brought ½ cucumber cut up and a dozen small carrots. I had that for my mid afternoon snack. For dinner I had a ham sandwich on an Orowheat light bun. I had some of my trail mix, especially the dried fruits and almonds. On the way home from work I stopped off at Blush frozen yogurt shop and picked up Larry and I small sizes for dessert. No toppings. This was good, as I hadn’t had my milk portion for the day.
Yesterday I just couldn’t get out of bed early enough to do my exercising. I had cold cereal with banana for breakfast and a Fiber One bar for a snack. For lunch I had a piece of chicken and an orange. Dinner was a potluck at our bocce ball championship tournament. I brought an orzo salad with spinach, pine nuts, tomatoes, Gorgonzola cheese, basil and roasted garlic-lemon vinaigrette. The main dish there was pasta with a meat sauce. I was pretty good. I started out with two slices of baguette with Brie spread (probably shouldn’t have done that). Then I took a little bit of the pasta and sauce, my salad, no garlic bread and some fresh fruit. I shared a ½ beer with Larry. Then the dessert came out and I lost my willpower. Three cakes were there! I had a little piece of each cake. I feel a bit guilty, but also happy that I got to enjoy the cake but not go crazy like I could have. We won the first game 10-5, lost the second game 10-5 and then lost the last game 10-9 in the dark!
Today Larry and I took Elmer for a ½ hour walk. For lunch we went to a new Thai restaurant in town. I had their papaya salad. No great temptations today. We will be having hot dogs tonight with some friends. I will be serving corn on the cob and salad with the meal. I plan not to have a bun with my dog. We will be eating late enough to not have the urge to have dessert. I did have an apple for my afternoon snack and was still very hungry. So I had some trail mix and I’m trying to get my 6 cups of water down. Having a little bit of trouble with that today.
I give myself a “B” for the three days.
I’m going to have a challenging weekend with going out to dinner tomorrow night and then going to an event on Saturday night. But I will be staying active as we are going to be harvesting about 2-3 acres of grapes for Brandon to make the wine from this season. I will keep you informed.
Chronicles of Lori’s Slim Down Journey – Day 6
Wow! My challenge started off with a bang. On day 2 I was all set to go for a walk in the morning before my long day of sitting, melting candles, for my Mom’s booth at the Lafayette Art and Wine Festival. But just as I got my sneakers on my Mom called in a panic. She only had one melting box, she needed two, and that she couldn’t get through to Tap Plastics on the phone, could I please go and order the plastics she needs to put a box together and bring them up to her a.s.a.p. There went my walk, right out the window. So, Larry and I went there, ordered the plastics and while we waited shared a bagel and cream cheese from the local bagel shop next door. The bagel also wasn’t on the agenda. We finally got to Lafayette and then found out the the employee at Tap Plastics cut 4 out of 5 sheets the wrong size! We made due with two of the pieces and went on with the day. Sarah who was also working with us went to get lunch and ended up bringing back food from Panda Express. Yum! So an hour later I found myself at Panda Express ordering lunch for Mom and I. I got the black pepper chicken and some lo mien noodles. All was good except that I ate the whole order! The only good thing about that was that the temptation to go to Cold Stone Creamery, which we were sitting right in front of all day, was removed. UNTIL… a Cold Stone Creamery employee came out with samples of ice cream cake! I couldn’t resist! It was the middle of the day, it was hot and I was starting to get hungry. The good thing was that it was a small portion, but I did eat the whole thing!
We came home and Larry had made us a fantastic cold flank steak salad with a side dish of a cold potato salad made in a French style with no mayonnaise, but balsamic vinegar, olive oil, herbs, green beans, and a few tomatoes. Everything was delicious, light and cool. It was the perfect ending to not such a perfect day.
I feel that I survived the day ok. I give myself a “B-”.
Chronicles of Lori’s Slim Down Journey – Day 1
Today I came up with a great idea while I was supposed to be concentrating at work. Well, the work that I do on a part time basis, besides my website ViciVino.com, my Blog, and volunteer work in the community, is being a recruiter at the National Food Laboratories. The job is very tedious, doesn’t use up a lot of brain cells, it just takes time and energy.
Anyways, while I was leaving a message for yet another person who wasn’t home, I was thinking that I would love to have my readers help me along for a very hard goal I have set for myself. My goal is to lose 25 pounds by my 50th birthday on April 14. I am 5’2”, small boned, and there is no reason for me to be at the weight I’m at right now! I have been on Weight Watchers and a number of other diets over the years but the main problems are: I love food, I love to eat food, I love to cook and bake, I love to read about food, and as you all know I love to drink wine with food. Herein lies the problem.
So I was thinking that if I could go through my challenge of losing the weight while still keeping up with all of the things that I love, that would be perfect. Knowing that you are reading and cheering me on, or perhaps even doing it with me, will be a great support; then I won’t be all alone.
A lot of my challenges lie in the fact that I have many temptations to not eat properly.
For example, between bridge, bunco and Assistance League meetings I’m at other locations where I don’t have the control of the food served at least 8 times a month. The hostess is the one in charge of dessert and snacks. I always look to see what the snacks are and hope that there isn’t anything that I will have trouble resisting, like M & M’s. I always ask for a small portion of dessert, and they try to accommodate me, but inevitably I get a “small” piece that is too big. And when I should take just one or two bites and be happy, I usually finish everything on my plate. Problem #1!
Where I work, because it’s so boring, people tend to bring in food to help pass the time away. Problem #2!
Larry and I love to cook together. We do try and cook healthy, watch our carbs, but we are still cooking good food. We also love to have a small bowl of ice cream most nights. I count that toward my calcium, milk, fat and fruit (if I put banana in it) requirements. Problem #3!
I have some medical issues and need to eat 6 smaller meals a day rather than 3 large meals. Problem #4!
I know that I need to exercise. I try and get out and walk or ride my bike for a half hour at least 5 days a week. However I’ve lately had the desire and need to sleep 9 hours a night. The extra hour of sleep is eating into my work out time. Problem #5!
Problem solver: Me! I need to change some of my choices, deal with some temptations and overcome some rationalizations. With your help I’ll lose my 25 pounds in 7 months, which is about 1 pound each week. I realize that this is a tough goal, but I am more determined than ever. At Weight Watchers I was losing an average of ½ pound a week. If all goes well, by my trip in December to Cancun I’ll be down 12 pounds. This will help me to feel better about walking around in a bathing suit.
I know that losing this weight will be a big help in my health and mental being which is very important to me. The main things I need to work on is making sure that my eating and snacking options are healthy choices, and doing the exercising.
I plan to blog most every day the challenges that I have come across, and ideally how I dealt with them. I will weigh in every Friday morning, naked☺. I will be very honest and hopefully humorous. Wish me luck…….. Here I go!