Weight loss is a bonus!

[Maralian]

I have another theory but I was a little shy to post it, let’s just say that I spent more time on the potty the day before and flushed a couple of pounds away…

About the calories, actually I have a program called balance log where I enter everything I eat and I was logging everything for a while, I think in average I eat about 1200-1400 cals a day. According to the program I need about 1250-1300 to lose 1pound/week, and I think that is pretty realistic for me.

Actually, years ago, I managed to lose 20 lbs just by counting calories with this program and I kept them off for a long time until I had my kids. Last year I tried to do the same when I had just 10 pounds to lose but I had a lot of stress going on and instead of losing those 10 pounds I gained another 10! Of course I was even more depressed! Then I found SB, that changed my life! I started SB and counting calories at the same time and I realized that with no effort I was still in the 1200-1400 cal range and it is so much easier not to have to log everything with the quantities and so on, so I am not counting calories everyday anymore because I am lazy. But I think it is good to do it from time to time because it is a good way to realize how each bite counts! It keeps us from going too high (very easy to do) or too low (never happened to me).
What about you? how do you count your calories, is the buggsbunny counting them for you?

OK, yesterday there were some changes in the plan: for lunch I went to the Thai restaurant where I had a buddha’s delight with shrimps and brown rice, I don’t know how bad is the sauce but as always I tried not to eat a lot of it (before I used to finish it all by sucking the rice on it, yummy!) and ate half of the rice. My afternoon snack was the jicama, hummus and the cheese stick. For dinner I had one egg with ham, and cheese and a small slice of pizza (thanks DH!). And for dessert I had a few chocolates (kisses). Ah! and I ate the nuts before lunch.

Bad eating day but at least I exercised! I went to my spin class and actually it was not that bad, I was tired and sweaty but it was not as boring as I thought it would be, I think I could do it.

Today’s plan:

B: twigs and yogurt
S: peach
L: beef with red bell peppers and salad
S: mixed nuts
D: TBD
S: strawberries with chocolate

Mom’s D-17

[joesuzzi]

Yeah...the only drag with the bodybugg is that I have to enter everything I eat onto the
plan page............since I eat a lot of food that I have created myself it is not on the "normal" list. Good thing is that once I enter (example 3X3's) the 3X3's will stay on my food list so I can easily put it into a daily meal again.
I think I counted calories for about a week....and found the same thing as you did...it is easy to stay within range on the beach ! The bodybugg is all about calories in and calories burnt.which is fine but I am not following the meal plans they have set up for me.....I am staying beachy !
I don't think your menu yesterday was that bad ! The shrimp is beachy and so is the brown rice. The big thing is that you have control of your cravings now...I plan on doing exactly what you did when I stumble.........PH 1 seemed to help you a bunch !

[Maralian]

Yesterday I ate pretty much according to the plan, even though the morning snack became the afternoon snack, and I had for dinner what I planned for lunch. I went to panera and got a sesame chicken salad for lunch with ww baguette. I also had a fudgesicle and a few bites of a cinnamon crunch bagel (I love this forbidden thing!).

Today’s plan:

B: twigs and yogurt (I need to start adding more variety to my breakfast)
S: nuts
L: TBD (going out -again!)
S: apple and hummus
D: TBD
S: ?

This week I have been eating out too much, that is not good but also I have been so lazy to cook. I think what really works better for me is to spend a whole day during the weekend cooking for the week. It is not that I don’t enjoy cooking but it feels like a chore when I feel that I HAVE to do it. But, I HAVE to because I need to pack lunch for my kids (food allergies) and I want to pack good food for DH and me. This weekend we have guests on Sat so I guess I will cook for them and some dishes for the week because Sunday we may go out with friends to celebrate father’s day. I may prepare something tonight as well, no! I WILL prepare something tonight: I will cook some beans, some pork with zucchini, and some green beans.

Tonight I have my yogilates class!

Mom’s D-16

[joesuzzi]

WOW...you are SO CLOSE to your goal !!! You should feel very proud !
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I wanted to pop in and tell you bye................and also ask you to post in Halfame's journal while I am gone....to keep here company ! I am gonna miss you guys....but hopefully I will be back on line for sure by next Thursday...and possibly Monday ???
*
You keep going.............your doing fantastic !!

[Maralian]

I miss you cyber mom!

OK, first the bad news: I gained 0.5 lbs.
Now the good news: I ONLY gained 0.5lbs.
After all the food and drinks of the weekend it could have been worst.

So, friday I did pretty good until dinner time because we went to a pool party (and we may do so pretty often on fridays during the summer), where I ate pizza and drank a margarita. Then saturday had friends over. I prepared mexican food, which was not too off-the-beach: appetizers: jicama, some cantaloupe and prosciutto (not very mexican, haha), guacamole, tortilla chips (I had a few). Then the food was grilled chicken breast (marinated in a mango sauce) and flank steak (plain) with spinach salad, nopales (cactus salad), charro beans, brown rice, rajas con crema (poblanos with onion and cream), volcanoes (tortillas with melted cheese on the top). Dessert: flan and chocolate cake. Food wise I didn’t over do it but I had dessert, and the main problem was the drinks: pina colada (super sweet), wine, bailey’s.
Sunday was not too bad but I had little veggies: I had steak and beans for breakfast with a couple of corn tortillas, for lunch/dinner (we ate pretty late) I had grilled steak and salad with some guacamole, couple of tortillas w/cheese and fruit salad and a cookie. And I ate the flan leftovers (large portion).
Also I didn’t exercise *sigh*

Well but today is Monday and I have my meals planned so I am for a very good start this week:

B: yogurt (not hungry)
S: maybe none, I am not hungry
L: flank steak, beans, brown rice and salad
S: pistachios, peach
D: salad
S: some fruit

Mom’s D-12

[joesuzzi]

Margarita's..................my downfall !!! I could not of turned one down either.
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The fact that you only gained .5 lb is great ! Even that is probably from the salt that is still in your system..........so you will get rid of that 1/2 lb quickly...and probably have at least another 1/2 lb to go with it !
*
I posted about my mini-trip tomorrow in our beach buddies thread.......so I will check in with you again on Wednesday evening.
12 more days until your Mom arrives...................it should be a great visit !

[Maralian]

Mom, you made my day, is so nice to hear from you, this place is not the same without you.

OK, I have a confession: yesterday I had a big bar of 70% dark chocolate on my desk and thought that I could have a couple of squares, and I did, then, I had another couple, and another, and another, and I finished the whole darn thing! I cannot believe I did that! Of course at night I was feeling sick, I was all dizzy, kind of hungry but not really, and then I ate a yogurt thinking it would help my dizziness and then I had a taboule, and I started feeling really nauseous, bloated, still dizzy and my belly hurt a lot. I went to bed and then I felt better. This will teach me to stop after 2 squares but to be honest I cannot think about chocolate anymore because I get nauseous… maybe that is a good thing, maybe I am over chocolate, maybe I will stop being chocoholic, maybe I am just dreaming. What I know is that I will not buy any chocolate for a while, it is really an addiction, *sigh* I am so frustrated and disappointed.

Today I didn’t have any breakfast because I had to fast to get my blood drawn at work at 11am (annual medical monitoring). I was not that hungry in the morning but after the blood draw they offered us some stuff to eat, of course not very SB friendly but then I was really hungry so I had a small poppy seed muffin and some grapes. Now I am ready to go for lunch. This is the plan for the rest of the day:

L: pork with zucchini and green beans, brown rice and beans
S: jicama and pistacchios
D: TBD
S:?

[Maralian]

I didn’t eat the jicama yesterday, if it is still in good shape it will be my afternoon snack for today. For dinner I had a stir fry with flank, yellow peppers, tomato, onion, a little bit of soy sauce, lime juice, ginger and olive oil. I prepared it with leftovers and it was very good. It was great to have already chopped veggies. I also prepared a guacamole that I ate with a few chips, oops!

Today I have been very tempted to eat a donut or cookie because I only had a yogurt for breakfast but I am going to start drinking water, I need to go back in track, Mom is coming soon and I want to be beachy beachy beachy…

Today’s plan:

B: yogurt
S: pistachios
L: grilled tilapia with olive oil, lime juice, garlic and basil, brown rice, salad
S: jicama or apple with hummus
D: TBD need to include fruit
S: ?

It is weird, I’ve been “feeling fat” lately, actually since I went to my yogilates class wearing tight clothes and I saw myself in the mirror. I felt sad, I cannot believe I already lost a lot of weight and I look like that. It is my huge belly that bothers me so much and the fact that it is getting so difficult to stick with the plan. I know, I have to be patient, it is a long process, but it is really hard sometimes. I started exercising and already found excuses to skip classes. I think one thing that bothers me is that very little people had commented on my weight loss, pretty much only the ones that I told I was going to start SB. Why do I care? I don’t know, I shouldn’t, I should only think about the benefits of eating and being healthier, but I guess those are my insecurities that I need to fight.

OK, now I feel depressed after reading again my post so let me cheer myself up: Maralian, you have accomplished a lot! you are getting better, healthier, stronger and you a learning a lot. And in the top of things, you are meeting amazing people along the way, and new things like yogilates, even spin that you never thought you would enjoy!

Mom's D-10

[joesuzzi]

YOU HAVE acomplished a lot !! You are doing great so don't beat yourself up...........we are ALL still learning.
Also keep in mind that YOU are your worst critic ! I am thinking that you have not gotten a lot of comments because you probably looked pretty good when you started the beach !
We "larger ladies" show a very noticable difference when we lose...............So you should be proud of yourself for not ever getting extremely overweight.....OBESE....God, I HATE that word. I really wish I would have found the beach when I weighed 150............instead of weighing in at over 200 pounds.
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And about the chocolate thing.............well, I am right there beside you !! (Read my journal for my chocolate attack)
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Tomorrow is a new day................we are all going to finish this journey....one step at a time.
Huggs to you little one...........I hate hearing you feeling so down....

[Maralian]

Thanks mom! you are right, I have accomplished a lot, I guess the problem goes beyond the looks and it is more about self confidence, in many aspects of my life it is the same, I think I need to work on that at the same time of taking care of my weight and health.

I feel a little better today, yesterday I bought a couple of pants for my yogilates class that I will resume this Saturday after I officially join the gym. Actually, I went to buy a present for a birthday party that we have this Sat and couldn’t decide on anything (for a 15 year old girl, it is tough!) but since I was already at the store and they sell this type of clothes I decided to try a few and could find a couple that I liked. Maybe another day I will buy the tops. And I need to do my hair, that will help me feel good as well because right now it is a mess. Following mom’s advise: one step at a time.

Food wise yesterday was not that good: I didn’t eat the salad at lunch and for the afternoon snack I had the jicama with no hummus and I had 3 mini chocolates. My dinner was a ww thinwich with prosciutto, cheese and tomato and a spinach salad. For dessert I had a sf jello, still not convinced with the sweetener taste but made the trick.

Today’s plan:

B: ww bread, yogurt
S: pistachios
L: pork with red sauce, beans, salad, couple of corn tortillas
S: none
D: not hungry at 6pm, ate too much at lunch time
S: ice cream (planned cheat)

I know I don’t “deserve” a planned cheat but that is better than my unplanned pig out days.


Mom’s D-9

[joesuzzi]

I had my 45 minute telephone session with a personal trainer (it was free with the bodybugg). She likes the South beach diet....but she said that all diets all boil down to calories in and calories burned. She went on to say that South Beach works so well because of the veggies...so without having to track calories you eat a lower calorie plan.........
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OK...what this all is about is your "Planned cheat"..........If you compensate for that ice cream (by less calorie rich food during the day....or a little more exercise is you are eating your full menu) it won't effect your total calories in/calories burn thing. (does that make any sense????)
Her example to me was ICE CREAM !! Some people can not live without it and insist on having it everyday...which they can do as long as they make adjustments somewhere else.
*
I am in NO WAY telling you to eat it everyday ...........guess what I am saying is that it is not going to kill you !
So enjoy your ice cream tonight !! You are the one in control........eat it guilt free !!! (Take a bite for me too )

[Maralian]

I understand what you are saying, actually, years ago when I lost a lot of weight before my babies, I did it by counting calories, and it worked very well because I learned to control portions. With SB the big difference is that the food is much healthier and it helps to control cravings as well. As long I am able to indulge from time to time without getting the cravings back, then I think it is fine, but if that planned cheat of ice cream leads to another one and another one, then it is not worth it. The good news is that this time I was able to go back in track right away! I had my ice cream, and I requested the kid's size in a cup instead of my typical big size in a cone!

Yesterday I felt very good because even if I didn't have a good plan, I stayed beachy. The thing is that it was not a typical day. In the morning I had a pretty heavy breakfast, with a slice of bread, banana and yogurt, not great I know but that kept me full the whole morning. Then, at lunch I thought I would not have time to eat because I left work at noon, then I went to get my haircut, and then I went to my DD preschool to read a story and I was supposed to be there by 3pm The good thing is that the haircut and color took only one hour and I was able to go home to have lunch. I had tilapia, brown rice and eggplant with tomato and mozzarella. In the afternoon I didn't have any snack but I had a good dinner with chicken marsala (SB recipe) with mushrooms, beans and eggplant.

I feel good, ready to head to my yogilates class, I need to run!

[Maralian]

This weekend was very good, not food-wise but mood and exercise-wise because I did join the gym and went to my yogilates class which actually I think is called yoga vinyasa what we do there. I really love it, it is a lot of stretching and twisting but it is also a lot of focus on your body, and your mind, your intentions, your balance, your breathing, so relaxing! but at the same time you need to push yourself to do better and then you feel better! I finally got (I think) what RedRox has written in his signature, something like yoga is not about touching your toes but about what you learn on the way down. I was so focused on how little flexibility I have that I was not paying attention to all the rest. The instructor insists a lot not to look at the mirror (evil mirror) but to focus on ourselves.
Saturday night I went to a party where I had a blast dancing like crazy, I even removed my shoes to keep going! that was fun! And Sunday I went to my step class. Since we went to bed pretty late on Saturday, I didn’t want to get up but DH had a squash game at 9 so he dragged me out of bed, we got the kids ready and all went to the gym: DH played squash, I went to my step class and the girls played in the kiddy section. We were all happy!
The bad news is that I ate pizza for dinner, but I also spent some time preparing some food for the week, I did my grocery shopping and chopped a ton of veggies for my salads this week. I also prepared a few hamburgers with lean ground beef and they tasted very good, I just mixed the meat with chopped onions, some worchester sauce, mustard and parsley, formed the patties and cooked them in little evoo. I hope the family likes them.
When I was doing my groceries I was undecided about getting another box of uncle sams. I think I prefer kashi go lean because I can have it dry and tastes kind of sweet, whereas I don’t like uncle sams by itself. But this morning I had it with yogurt and I enjoyed it, and the good thing is that it usually keeps me full until lunch (same as KGL)


My plan for today:

B: uncle sams with yogurt.
S: none
L: chicken marsala with mushrooms and eggplant with tomato and mozzarella
S: apple with hummus
D: TBD
S: fruit

Mom is coming this Saturday! D-5

[Maralian]

OK it seams that the plan for the day becomes the probability of the day. Yesterday I switched the food: what I planned for lunch I had for diner because we went out for lunch to a vietnamese restaurant where I got a “crepe” which is pretty much like an omelet with mushrooms, bean sprouts, pork, onion and shrimp and you eat them in lettuce wraps with fish sauce. It sounds SB friendly but to be honest I don’t know if there is some flour in the batter and it may be a little oilier than what I usually cook. My pm snack was the apple and pistachios instead of the hummus and my 3rd snack was a little piece of banana thanks to my kids who stole 2/3 of it from me. I grabbed a second one and they took half each, oh! well, I was not that hungry anyway.

Today’s food:
B: banana, uncle sams and yogurt (done)
S: none (done)
L: chicken marsala (last piece) with mushrooms, beans and green beans. (done)
S: kiwi and pistachios (plan)
D: TBD
S: fruit

Mom’s D-4

[Maralian]

Today I followed the planed meal! well, it is easy when I write it half way through
For dinner I had a lean hamburger and instead of a bun I used a ww thinwich, very good, I used avocado instead of mayo and added lots of spinach, lettuce and tomato. My dessert was a delicious peach and I am going to eat a fudgesicle.