Lissa's Better Eating Journal

[play-doh]

Hi Lissa,

Thanks again for commenting on my journal and on our shared journal. I definitely have been having moments of why-should-I-care and during those moments I usually blow my eating plan. But I'm snapping out of it and hanging on tight to my vision of reaching my goal. Being part of a group as we are helps me a lot and your words of encouragement make a difference.

I didn't realize you have a journal here, so it's nice to read more about you and your work. Your post about drinking wine in the morning cracked me up, but it makes total sense given your backward days. And I know what you mean about having to be careful to not get a hangover. Since starting SBD this time around in January I've been strict about avoiding drinks during the week when I know my alarm will be waking me 5:30am.

Anyway, it sounds like you're doing great and that you're meeting your goal of good health. Well done!

[DCLissa17]

Thanks play-doh! Glad to hear that we're helping and that you're back on track. Last summer when I was on SB I journaled a bit but didn't have a group. It was very easy to just drift off of it from convenience, laziness, lack of accountability. After awhile so much time had gone by that it seemed way too hard to go back (and do P1 over again!) I think for me, since this is about creating a healthier lifestyle, rather than weight loss, it can make it actually more difficult to stay in the mindset. Because if I get away from the SB principles, there is no immediate consequence (such as starting to gain weight back).

But I am determined this time around to make this a permanent change. So far, I am doing really well and my resolve has not really wavered. I think by summer I will be solidly established and moving into P3. But definitely the journaling makes a BIG difference.

[DCLissa17]

Back to work! Had a massage before work, such a good thing. My back is doing better after that and the chiro adjustments the day before. I just need to keep up on the massages and DO my stretches/yoga/PT. Plan on doing stretches this morning after work. Freezing out so I don't think I'll do a walk. Maybe tomorrow. I'm going to start slow but if I just get going and keep going I think it'll be ok.

So anyways. Pretty high-stress/emotional day at work tonight. Luckily it quieted down and now we're just chilling. Thus the posting on SB

B: cup of beef/bean/veggie (p1) soup, glass of soy milk, a few carrot sticks
S: A valentine's sugar cookie celery stick w/ LC wedge, one slice WW toast w/ 1Tbsp PB
L: pork chop, baked sweet potato, roasted brussel sprouts/carrots, coffee
S: veggies w/ hummus, coffee
D: beef/bean/veggie soup, greek yogurt w/ jello powder

And to sleep.

[DCLissa17]

Well missed a day again. Last night at work was steady so no time to post. And then in the morning I was very good and did my stretches for the 2nd day in a row! Had dinner and watched the new episode of Vampire Diaries (kinda a blah episode, boo!) and went to bed. Tonight has quieted down finally at work. Got an inquiry on my dog that I'm finding a home for so hopefully I'll hear back from them tomorrow and maybe even place him this weekend! I have a 5 day weekend so I'm pretty happy about that! It's totally accidental because I have all my normal 4 days off (usually I schedule at least one extra shift on my "weekend") plus an extra since another coworker needed to switch a shift with me. A very happy bonus! I have a baby shower to go to, a quick job for my petcare business, and a networking meeting for my petcare business planned so far. Need to do some other planning work for the business, but otherwise lots of time to SLEEP! And luckily, after last week's crazy grocery shopping extravaganza, the sales this week are very subdued. Phew!

So here is yesterday:
B: scrambled egg w/ spinach, ham, V8 fusion
S: valentine's sugar cookie
L: beef/bean/veggie soup, coffee
S: so busy! cheesestick
D: I was bad and didn't make an actual plan for this week meal-wise, was super tired and didn't want to make a big deal to cook, so made a quick one: soft chicken taco (one WW tortilla, lettuce, cheese, chicken), jicama fries, sparkling lemonade V8 fusion (vitamin zero lemonade + diet sprite + splash V8 fusion)

Was sleepy after this so just went to bed. No snacks.

Today has been ok, too many sugary snacks though.
B: HB egg, strawberry yogurt (leftover LF Yoplait....HFCS :S way too sweet), V8 fusion
S: a few sweethearts
L: beef, bean, veggie soup, small scoop of Dreyer's strawberry ice cream , coffee
S: veggies & triscuits w/ hummus
D: spaghetti and meatballs w/ gravy, steamed broccoli, sparkling lemonade V8 fusion
S: kiwi + nuts

So far, I've been averaging 1-2 starchs a day and 1 fruit. It seems to have fallen this way pretty naturally. Sometimes I have 3 starches in a day, rarely 2 fruits. As the spring progresses and there is more fruit in season I will probably be upping that to 2/day regularly, sometimes 3. I'm pretty happy with where things are, feeling good and pretty solid in the plan regarding lots of veggies, small portions of starches, etc. I want to keep upping the exercise and need to work on drinking more water. But overally really good!

[DCLissa17]

Hmm well this is kinda a weird half-day. I fell asleep right after "dinner" this morning, hadn't even finished watching the episode of TV! Probably dropped off about 10:30a, woke up about 3:30p. Decided to just kinda get up for a few hours and then go to sleep late tonight since I have a baby shower to go to at 10a tomorrow morning. But "get up" is entailing hanging on the couch catching up on shows and generally staying mellow. It's a long 5 days off, I am officially taking this as a lazy day!

Soooo on "lazy" days I tend to be lazy with eating plan/schedules too. Basically try to just make good choices and space them out. I usually end up with kind of a grazing type schedule. For today:

"B": veggies and triscuit thins w/ spinach/artichoke dip, greek yogurt w/ jello powder
"S": 2T PB, small apple w/ splenda/cinnamon, sparkling V8, carving board turkey
L: beef/bean/veggie soup
S: popcorn

I'll add as the day goes along! Just want to keep a tally of the day. So far resisting the cookies n cream ice cream in the freezer, the box of chocolates that my Mom sent for Valentine's *shakes head*, and the bags of Valentine's candy I bought to take to work next week. Luckily there's no alcohol in the house or I'd be doomed!

Good news:
-I have a meet & greet set up tomorrow afternoon with someone interested in adopting my dog. It sounds like a PERFECT situation for him, so I hope all goes well and they fall for him. He's a wonderful dog so I am crossing my fingers.
-I have a new PAH (Pets At Home, my home pet nursing care business) client that I am meeting tomorrow night. It is set for a one-time instructional visit, but it may develop into a long-term care situation if she continues to have problems on her own.
-I have ANOTHER new PAH client that I am meeting on Monday. This will be an ongoing 2x weekly visit for 2-several weeks. This client may also likely become a repeat client as they have a number of other pets, some that have significant illness.
-On Wed night I have a networking meeting for PAH, which may lead to a good number of referrals and introductions to a wide range of people involved in the veterinary, home veterinary, home pet hospice care arenas - which is exactly what we do and who we need to be known about to!
-I'm hoping to have a meeting with an accountant also this week to finished getting some of the business stuff set up and rolling since its starting to pick up.
- I need to finalize some plans for a dinner presentation that I am holding for the specialists at my work to present the business to them and engender more referrals.

So lots of exciting things going on! Thus the lazy hide from the world day today. I also need to take down the Christmas decorations at some point, lol!

[DCLissa17]

Ok, so I decided to start thinking about food and planning food -- so that I would stop EATING food! lol. The couch is a powerful munching motivator...it's a terrible habit. Maybe I'll get OFF the couch and do a yoga session, then have some dinner..... hmm that's an idea.

Anyways, I made a tentative meal plan for the week, taking into account 2 starches and 1 fruit a day, which is where I am pretty comfortable at right now. I'm sure this will change up a bit as the week goes on, but at least it gives me some guidelines to work off of. I tried to take into account if I am working vs. have the day off and what fruit and veggies I have right now. Need to get more tomato sauce for chili though!

Sunday B: eggs/spinach, ham, V8 Fruit: 1/2 mango
L: Baby shower (starch?) Snack: possibly triscuits depending on baby shower food
D: Meatballs w/ spaghetti + broccoli

Monday B: WW toast w/PB, yogurt, V8 Fruit: 1/2 apple w/ splenda/cinnamon
L: Turkey chili + salad
D: Meatballs w/ spaghetti + broccoli

Tuesday B: HB egg, cheese slices, veggies Fruit: 1/2 mango
L: Turkey chili + salad Snack: Triscuits w/ hummus
D: Steak, mashed sweet potato, asparagus

Wednesday B: fried egg on WW toast, V8 Fruit: 1/2 apple w/ PB
L: Turkey chili + salad Snack: popcorn depending on AHELP food
D: AHELP meeting (starch?)

Thursday B: cheese/crackers, veggies, HB egg Fruit: kiwi
L: Steak, mashed sweet potato, asparagus
D: Tilapia, rice, peas/carrots

Friday B: Bagel w/ cream cheese, V8, ham Fruit: 1/2 apple w/ PB
L: Turkey chili + salad Snack: Triscuits w/ hummus
D: Hot dog, beans, raw veggies

Saturday B: eggs/spinach, ham, V8 Fruit: 1/2 apple w/ splenda/cinnamon
L: Tilapia, rice, peas/carrots Snack: goldfish crackers
D: Chef salad

[play-doh]

Is today the day of your Meet & Greet? Oh, I hope it goes well and your dog finds his forever family. It must be a very bittersweet business for you and I admire - and thank you! - for doing it.

[DCLissa17]

Thanks play-doh! The meet & greet at the dog park went well...but when we went back to their house, one of the dogs tried to eat my dog when the other 2 were playing. So that home did NOT work out, obviously! Sucks because it would have been a great placement. Luckily he's doing a lot better lately.

My computer was down all week with a virus and I had a long weekend and then VERY busy last couple of nights at work. Back now and will get caught up. Except for some Valentine's candy/cookie snacking, I've done very well! Even considering going out to Olive garden for Valentine's, a baby shower (ok didn't do great at that), and a business promotion event. Busy busy busy!

On the exercise front, I've managed to do stretches every couple days and even went for a walk on Thursday afternoon before work. And hour+ trips to the dog park on Mon/Tues for the meet & greets. I can definitely feel all of it - a little sore but in a good way

More food details to come. I have it all written down. Or I'll just skip journaling about last week and start by looking forward.

Go SB go!

[play-doh]

Oh, no! What a bummer about your dog and his possible new home. How disappointing! You'll find something better soon.
But I'm glad your computer is healthy again.

[DCLissa17]

Ugh stupid computer logged me out after I wrote a whole post!

Today is good. No acces to candy so even though I'm having some low-level sugar cravings, they're pretty easy to ignore. Trying to cut out the sugar snacks and have one on starch and one fruit a day for a bit and see if that abolishes those cravings again. Would like to not have to go back to a full-on P1 as that would be obnoxious.

Today:
B: HB egg, celery, LF vanilla yogurt
L: turkey chili + leftover cauli mashed potatoes, coffee
S: mixed nuts, tea w/ splenda
D: tilapia, barley w/ veggies, sparkling cranberry Vitamin Zero
S: ?? probably a kiwi + LC cheese Ugh. Not recalling what I ate after dinner right now, but I know it involved chocolates....and was yesterday the scoop of vanilla ice cream?

Planning to do Phase 1 stretches since my shoulder has been bugging me the last couple of days.Yes! Did these while waiting for my car to defrost before leaving work in the morning. That's what I get for not keeping up with it this week!

[play-doh]

Me too!!!! This morning I posted a response to you on my journal and I guess I took too long. Of course, everything I said was very profound, so, what a shame the post is gone.

I bet that just one day away from candy would be enough to help you walk away from it easily the next day. I've got a kitchen filled with Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies - seriously, my daughter must have cranked out several dozen in there - and I'm a bit worried. One bite and I'll be doomed for sure.

[DCLissa17]

LOL I know! The last of the Valentine's candy is in the drawer at work and I was doing SO WELL until after "lunch" at 3am when it was run run run all night. Then I was snacking on conversation hearts and mini reeses cups while helping get a cat into surgery. Sigh. Otherwise good so far. Tomorrow I'm off and I will do better!

Today:

B: 2 scrambled eggs w/ spinach, ham, Motts medley (fruit/veggie) juice
S: coffee
L: tilapia, brown rice, carrots, coffee
S: reeses PB cups (minis) 5-6, about a handful total of conversation hearts
S: veggies w/ hummus, coffee
D: ?? not sure. Maybe a big salad and a P1 healthy choice soup.
S: apple w/ PB, yogurt?

Need to do P1 stretches again and sleeeep before grocery shopping. Looking forward to sleep, hopefully that works out.

[DCLissa17]

Me too!!!! This morning I posted a response to you on my journal and I guess I took too long. Of course, everything I said was very profound, so, what a shame the post is gone.

I bet that just one day away from candy would be enough to help you walk away from it easily the next day. I've got a kitchen filled with Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies - seriously, my daughter must have cranked out several dozen in there - and I'm a bit worried. One bite and I'll be doomed for sure.

I so hate this! I had an awesome post nearly done, with very deep and introspective realizations....and GONE!!! I swear, I'm gonna start typing in Word so my posts don't just disappear and then copy/paste here to post. The candy situation is getting ridiculous. I totally agree with you, if I can just NOT eat any for a day, I think I could get right back on track. I just got done working five 13-hour shifts in a row, I have tonight off, then I work 4 in a row. So today I have no access to Valentine's candy and will be spending most of the day sleeping and grocery shopping so I have assigned today as the day of NO candy. Otherwise I'm doing very well for sticking to the diet. I've come to a few realizations (these are shortened from what WOULD have been on here if my post hadn't poofed!):

1. I cannot have alcohol in the house or I will drink it. I will find excuses and drink it. Rite Aid sells the mini bottles of wine (~6oz) singlely or in 4-packs. I bought one Saturday to have with dinner and it was perfect. Fills about 1 1/2 glasses of my little wine glass.

2. Veggies are good! I knew this, just expanding on it further this time. New discoveries: jicama "fries", roasted veggies in general, brussel sprouts (sauteed w/ EVOO, roasted, sliced), and spinach (in artichoke dip or scrambled w/ eggs)

3. Starches should not only be whole grain, but in small portions. Last time around I was pretty good about adding back the right type of starches, but in far too big of serving sizes. This time I am being very conscientious of portion sizes and concentrating on making sure the starch is a side dish, not a star.

4. Eating fruit in the morning is dangerous. I'm so sluggish to wake up in the morning that a sugar burst such as fruit can lead to cravings pretty easily.

5. Carving Board lunchmeat is awesome! So quick and easy and tasty. Plus I've gotten a pile of it for nearly free.

6. If I drink I will snack. If I start on candy/sugar/fruity stuff in the "evening" (esp. when watching Tv/reading) I will mindlessly munch on things and totally screw myself up.

7. Almost forgot! FF Greek yogurt w/ jello powder is AWESOME!! My new favorite dessert.

So yeah, that's the big things to start with. Despite the current candy struggle, I am SO happy with how committed I've been this year. I can definitely feel it starting to make the transition from having to focus actively on the diet and food choices to it beginning to become habit to take into consideration. Which is a huge step toward long-term contentment and satisfaction with this WOE. So go me!

Tired now. Plan for my day "off" is to sleep until I wake up (probably at like midnight-4am), make breakfast, catch up on some shows, send some business emails, do laundry, take down Xmas decorations (don't say it, I'm awful), organize my grocery shopping, go grocery shopping, maybe take dogs to the dog park.....and then back to sleep for a bit before work starts again Tues night. So should stay nice and busy!! Today my whole body aches from lack of sleep so I'm not pushing on the exercise button. When my muscles are this starved for energy doing anything exercise-wise ends up being more detrimental...sleep is the answer to recuperate. Exercise will have to wait. Oh well . . .

Take Care,
~Lissa

[play-doh]

Wow, that's a great list. I'm glad you took the time to rewrite it, as frustrating as it was.

I agree with everything on your list, especially the part about drinking. In the past, I've had a really hard time giving it up. But somehow, this time-around on SBD, I haven't been wanting to drink. There's a lot about it that I don't like, such as waking up thirsty, feeling tired and wonky the next day, not sleeping well... Plus, just overall, I feel displeased with myself.

Oh, and here's an idea for saving your post. Before you hit the Submit button, Cut and Paste your entry just in case you've been booted offline without knowing it. Then log back in and paste your message in. I'm doing that right now.

[DCLissa17]

So yesterday I managed to catch up on my TV shows, go grocery shopping, do laundry and well that's about it. Managed about a 2 hour nap before heading to work tonight. *sigh* I'm feeling pretty cheerful though and I did manage to NOT eat any candy.

Today has been fairly steady at work (even though we don't have many patients). The food is going well:

B: HB egg, refried beans w/ cheese, carrots, a few triscuits (like 4)
S: coffee, about 4 M&Ms
L: brown rice/chicken/peas/carrots w/ alfredo sauce "casserole" - basically a leftovers catch-all dish, coffee
S: apple w/ PB
D: sigh I need to figure something out. Didn't get around to making the week's meal plan which is going to bite me in the butt. *thinking thinking* I really want something fast and easy but good too. I'll probably end up with a chicken quesadilla + mixed veggies +/- hummus vs. sauteed.
S: greek yogurt w/ jello powder

And I want to do the Phase 1 exercises since I haven't done anything since Sunday morning. It's so hard when I'm getting less than 5 hours a sleep a day several days in a row.

*sigh*
Have a 4 day weekend this weekend though so I'll get all caught up!