jenny's journal

[raynjen]

so yesterday i did a really good thing, eating wise, and realized that i didnt have anyone to share it with! my boyfriend, who is also on the wagon in this woe, is very supportive in his own, quiet way, and sometimes, thats not enough for me, as narcissistic as that may be. anyways, i figured that its been 3 weeks and i think in a year from now, i would love to look back on my journal and my thoughts and see how much i have changed and grown, and i also think there is something so interesting about people's stories, and i have been enjoying everyone elses so much, and i think that i should share my own!

i am 22 years old, a current counseling psych graduate student/admin assistant/case aide for the county. i live in silicon valley with my boyfriend and our really cute dog, kasama. i like music, reality tv and animals. oh and art (i work at a museum). and tivo... where would i be without my tivo? my family is the most important thing in my life.

exercise-wise, we walk the dog every evening after dinner, and i use my elliptical 5-6 days a week. its really nice right now since its getting colder here at night, the room where my elliptical is is a very comfortable temperature, and i can even start with a sweatshirt on and take it off about halfway through, and when it gets close to the end, i am just beginning to get really warm. i love it! anyways, i would also like to get into some stretching and strenght training. i was going to curves for a long time and was amazingly helpful for me, healthwise, but as a college student, i was eventually unable to afford it anymore... i probably could have kept paying, but truthfully, when i moved in with my boyfriend 2 years ago, exercise kinda fell down on my priority list, and only recently have i begun to get back into an exercise routine, which is making me feel so much better about myself. i cannot fit into the outfit i wore on our first date, and i would really love to do that!

ok so i am 5'1" and not sure of my exact weight when i began sbd, since we just recently bought a scale, but the last time i was at the doc's office i was about 165. i had been sick with something no one could figure out, so i was getting lots and lots of blood tests, and my doctor told me my blood sugar was a little high. i got scared, and that is how i got interested in the sbd. i have to go back in for labs in about 2 months, and am excited to see how things look then.

today i weigh 157, and honestly i cannot remember the last time that i was under 160, so i am feeling great so far. i would like to eventually be down to somewhere around 120, but i am in no rush to get there at all. i know that this is not an overnight change, and it took me 2 years to gain all this weight, so it will take a while to get rid of it as well. i know that i can do it, and when it is done, it is done.

today is my 4th day of p2, and things have been great! i have been having steel cut oats for breakfast as my grain this week, and i am so happy. i missed cereal, but i realized that 3/4 c. and an egg for breakfast did not fill me up. on the other hand, i eat oatmeal and probably could go until 4 pm before needing to eat again. i dont, but i think i could. i dropped my unmicrowaved turkey bacon on the kitchen floor this morning, right onto the dogs favorite place to lay while we are cooking. i was a little saddened by that. sorry, random side note. it will happen often.

i have realized that i love to cook, and i think the reason why i didnt before was because we simply didnt have anything to cook with. before we began this new woe, i would just eat whatever i felt like, without thinking about it. now that we plan out our meals and shop for those ingredients that we need, i am in the kitchen so much. ray is always complaining about how many dishes he does. i really should do more dishes, but sometimes i really just dont feel like it.

wow ok this is really long. i hope that my others following this wont be so bad. im going to go make big breakfast cookie bars for this weekend. art sale friday night and estate auction sunday. yay!

lastly, here are a couple pictures!

[raynjen]

ok so the big breakfast cookie... not my thing, or i did something wrong. i just did not like it. and i planned it to be my breakfast tomorrow! oatmeal it is. yum!

anyways, dinner tonight was much better than last nights. we had chicken with wine sauce and tomatoes. i didnt think i would like it but it wasnt half bad. tomorrow we get to have seafood kebabs (prawns, lobster tail, scallops) and they are so so so good. but we only have 2! maybe the bf wont want one, we have some leftover steak that he seems interested in

one thing that i have noticed is that since beginning p2, i have been much less hungry. not that i was hungry in p1, but i needed my snacks and sweet treat after dinner. but now, i havent wanted any snacks, and even after dinner i havent really been hungry for a sweet treat. i also have begun to exercise at night, which oddly may have something to do with it. normally after exercising i am so hungry, but not anymore... weird. but good.

ok well the dog needs her teeth brushed. good night.

[raynjen]

things have been pretty much the same as always. today was my last day of classes until january, so this time off is going to be really nice. i hope that i will have alot of time to do more cooking.

introducing a serving of fruit this week has been great. so far i have been having santosha's smoothie each morning. not only does it taste great, but it also is so healthy. ray has been sick with a cold, and i woke up yesterday with a little tickle in my throat, the sign of a cold! so i had a smoothie yesterday morning with some vit c. when i woke up this morning, the throat was fine, but a stuffy/runny nose. this is a good thing. i usually have the sore throat for a few days before the nose starts, so i think that the cold is clearing up much quicker than usual. yay!

however, the cold means not so much exercise. i still do the daily dog walk, but will hold off the elliptical until i am feeling a little better.

my professor tonight baked chocolate chip cookies for our class. and passed them around. they looked good. but no. she also gave us all a beautiful poem titled kindness by naomi shihab nye. it was much more meaninful than cookies, in my eyes.

today what have i eaten...

smoothie
turkey bacon
carrots
salad with chicken
yogurt
latte
oatmeal cookie
water

wow is that all? i really must not be hungry because of the cold. it looks like so little, and its already 8pm! ray is on his way home and then we will have dinner. oven baked (fried? cant remember the name exactly) chicken with almonds. totally my favorite dinner, besides sashimi.

after dinner i will probably have some more yogurt, since the cookies kinda were my sweet treat today. but they were good!

i am going to make the peach/berry cobbler tomorrow or thursday, which is quite exciting. it looks good. i am so used to cobbler/pie with ice cream this may be a weird experience, but i also think i will be able to focus more on the flavor of the fruit, which should be yummy!

my TOM is coming up, it will be the first one since being on sbd. however, i never had the sugar/salty cravings alot of ladies have, so that shouldnt be a problem, hopefully!

ok should start getting dinner ready.

[raynjen]

dinner last night was good, but different. i dont know if it was my taste that was off due to the cold, but it tasted like nothing, which was sad because last time we had that i loved it.

anyways, the cold is better, just a really stuffy nose and pretty tired. i was supposed to have tomorrow off of work but no. must create/mail 700 holiday cards.

today, i dont know if i ate more than yesterday, lets see...

smoothie
turkey bacon
salad with chicken
yogurt with almonds/psyllium
cheese stick
popcorn
spaghetti squash bake (yummy!!!!)
peach/blueberry/raspberry cobbler
milk

no, still doesnt look like much food. i did have 2 servings of fruit today, a little prematurely. but as i said before, i am testing out recipes for christmas, so i had to try it. and its really good. not too sweet, ray actually said it was tart. but with a little bit of cool whip, he seemed pleased. it was good, but i think i can do better. i want to try the chocolate/pb fudge. sounds interesting. and good. but that is something that i think could be a trigger for me. i havent had anything yet that has made me have cravings, but fudge, i mean come on! i would really have to try hard to not eat the whole pan. but i also believe that i have the self control to not do that, and also can share what i had made with others (getting it out of the house)!

i also have like 6 apples. i didnt think i was going to love the smoothie so much, and thought i would be having apples this week as my fruit. but no, the smoothie is way too good and filling and healthy. so i was looking at the apple crisp recipes. they look good too, but i cant make that until i get rid of the cobbler. so yeah... decisions decisions

i woke up this morning weighing 2.5# less than yesterday morning. weird, i had been at the same weight for days, and woke up one morning and wow. i am really starting to feel a difference in my clothing, as well as my energy. in the middle of the day after work, i used to want to go home and sleep, but not anymore! now i want to cook! or shop...

not being able to exercise recently has been somewhat hard for me, but i took the dog on a little bit longer of a walk today since we were able to walk while it was still light out (doesnt happen frequently, we usually go after dinner) and it was much less cold than usual, so i could stay out longer.

im going to check rays bp right now and he will check mine! i love knowing how to take bp and enjoy actually having the equipment at home. none of those automatic push button ones. we do it old school around here, with a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer. its always fun being with someone in the medical field. not only because we have all these things around, but because i feel so much more safe, and know that if something bad happens to me i'll be taken care of!

anyways, this is the first time we've taken our bp since beginning. (ive always been pretty normal [except at the dr.'s, where i am usually 130/90 and then the doctor gets worried], but he has tended on the higher side...)

here are the results:
me: 118/78
ray: 131/80 (he used to be higher!)

thats good. im constantly worried about him and his heart. i have taken him to the hospital 2x, exactly one year apart) for potential MI. this year it certainly was not his heart, but last year it might have been. that is when i made him quit smoking. he quit exaclty a year before the next time he was in the hospital. but i am proud of all the changes he has made since then.

ok im really tired. i took my nighttime medicine and it makes me sleepy. and it has HFCS in it...shhhh dont tell anyone.

[raynjen]

ok so i am waiting until noon to leave on my road trip. ok not really, just 3 hours there, 3 hours back. man i hope my sister is packed and ready to go when i get there, which i doubt. anyways, im trying to think about snacks to bring... nuts, ceral mix, cheese stick. that should be ok. she said we can eat when i get there... i havent eaten her school's food yet, so i am looking forward to comparing how mine was to hers.

ok so i have done lots of baking as of late. amish apple crisp and pumpkin cheesecake. both are to die for. ray made a trifle last night, but the cake part came out pretty nasty. really salty, and kind of tastes like baking powder. but he went ahead and made the trifle anyways. we didnt try any, i think probably tonight will be the tasting. im scared.

this week, i am at 2 grains 1 fruit. it has been going quite well. having 2 grains makes this feel like much less of a diet. i felt somewhat restricted last week, always thinking about when i was going to have my grain, when i was going to have my fruit. i have felt better about that this week.

things we have been eating recently:

panda express - mixed veggies, beef and broc, chick and mushrooms
lots of salads
spaghettis squash bake
sesame crusted salmon
soba noodles
cereal mix
santosha smoothies
cereal
oatmeal
broccoli, my favorite!
homemade broccoli and beef

ive been watching alot of food network lately and i have seen lots of good things! i am making one of rachel rays 30 minute meals tomorrow night (flank steak, broccolini, blt smashed potatoes). if they turn out, i will post the recipes.

i had my first cooking accident last night, and sliced into my finger with one of the knives from our new knife set. surprisingly, it bled for a while but didnt hurt at all. ray said i must have cut it perfectly, because its a pretty deep cut... he wasnt home so i called him at work and was like uh i just cut my finger kinda bad, what do i do?

im just glad i have an excuse not to do dishes for a couple days...

[katelynn]

Hey Jen! I've read a few of your posts and i saw you had a journal, so i wanted to come by and say hi. I am also 22 and i recently graduated with a degree in sociology, but i have no idea what i'm going to do with it. Job hunting takes up lots of free time though.

Sounds like you're really liking south beach. I like it a lot!! And i love cooking too!! You're doing a great job, keep it up!!

[raynjen]

hey katelynn, thanks for stopping in! i actually minored in sociology...very interesting subject matter but, like you say, i had no idea what i would do with it!

oh man dont even get me started about job searching. luckily my boss loves me so i can stay as long as i need to, but i feel your pain. i start substitute teaching in february which i plan on doing until i get my masters. i was all crazy about finding a "real" job but then i realized, um yeah im just going to quit in two years after you get liscenced, so whats the point? so that has really helped me stop being so crazy about it!

im glad to hear that you are liking this woe, i am loving it, i have to admit. who knew it could actually be fun??? anyways, thanks again for the comment, feel free to pm me if you want to talk ever!

ok well i guess i can also add a journal entry in here.

ive lost about 2 pounds since beginning p2, which is ok with me. honestly, i havent been doing so great on my exercise. its just so freaking cold! ok ok, its like 30 something at night, but im used to california weather! tonight we went out for a dog walk at about 9 and i wore so many layers, as well as gloves and a cap, and even borrowed one of rays down coats and was comfortable on the walk, so it must be cold. anyways, i used my elliptical today when i got home from work, and realized that if i do it earlier in the day its not so cold and im not so tired. although i am exercising indoors, its in the patio that rays family added on when they lived here and has no heating or insulation. i just made curtains for it to make it a little warmer. not helping so far. but i did find some free weights in the patio today that i used during my workout, which was good. im almost out of workout entertainment, im just about to finish season 1 of entourage, but ray is going to borrow the lost box sets tomorrow from a friend, yay i cant wait. i almost had to watch sex and the city seasons 1-6 for the millionth time... i would have still enjoyed it though, i really cant get enough of that show.

anyways, food-wise things are looking good. things and decisions are becoming so much more automatic for me, which feels really good. this week is 2 starches 2 fruits. its 11pm and i havent had my second fruit yet. my plan is to have it very soon... i want to have a banana with melted pb. yummy! ive really been enjoying a new salad with romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, lite shredded cheese, roasted tomato salsa, guac, and a little ranch dressing. oh and chicken. its great. would be better with beans.

what else? oh yes, rays trifle turned out really yummy! however, rachel rays meal wasnt so great. not bad, just boring tasting. tonight we had hot dogs and cheesy broccoli. mmm, velveeta. tomorrow i am making a mac and cheese broccoli chicken casserole thing. i think it will be quite good. another rachel ray recipe, so we shall see...

other things i have made recently:
french toast... so good!
cream puffs... also really freaking good!
chocolate mint truffles... havent had one yet, but ray says they are yummy! i made them for my boss and rays boss, so they both get 10 and we keep 7 at home for us, so they arent just sitting around.

dinners this week are pretty standard:
prawns, lemon cous cous and chicken, crab cakes, and orange chicken. we will be going to my moms restaurant on thursday night... we havent eaten there since we began sbd, so that should be interesting. we also will be with family on sunday evening, so i am glad to not have to cook a couple nights. no no, i like to cook, but dont like to do dishes!

i have to make a huge apple crisp for xmas, should be quite a challenge, but fun as usual.

i guess that is all for now, i am off to have a banana.

oh by the way, i tasted a 100% cacao bar today... wow it was gross. but there is a recipe for velvet cake on the wrapper that looks good and doesnt take much tweaking to make "friendly". maybe after xmas...

[raynjen]

so today was interesting. the plan was a usual day, work and such. but as i was eating breakfast beofre work, the director called and said the whole university lost power so dont come in to work. i wonder why my boss didnt call? oh well...

so instead i took the dog on a hike! it was very fun, and took up a good chunk of my time today. we walked not too far, about 4 miles total, and she was a great sport. we went out along this little creek and she loved seeing all the little critters (i think we saw a coyote pup!), and it was great exercise for both of us. my mom called when i got home and i told her i just went on a hike with kas and she sounded surprised as she said "well thats really healthy young lady!"

speaking of, i am still planning on doing the elliptical tonight, as soon as ray gets home with the lost dvds. oh i cannot wait. i may even extend my workout time to watch a whole episode in one workout.

i have weighed the same for the past couple weeks or so, and i think its eating more desserts. i dont have a larger serving and they are all "friendly" but i dont think they are meant to be eaten every day. so no more of that, or at least not as often. but at the same time, apparently gain/plateau after beginning p2 is normal so i will just keep on going!

today i have eaten:
b - kashi go lean, raspberries, milk, 2 slices turkey bacon, v8
l - salad, 1 truffle
s - yogurt with almonds

and dinner will be mac and cheese with chicken and broccoli. yum!

must have another fruit today after dinner as well. probably one of rays bananas. hes gonna kill me.

[raynjen]

ok things are looking up, somewhat. im not sure what i did, but my weight is back to the lowest it has been since i started, which is making me feel a little better. i exercised last night even though i was tired, and have been better about dessert. and drinking more water. so its only been a couple days, but already am feeling good. yeysterday i ate:

b - ww pancakes, v8, turkey bacon, milk
l - santosha smoothie, salad
s - yogurt with 5 almonds
d - ginger soy prawns, broccoli
s/dessert - 1 banana with melted pb, choc. syrup, and cool whip

oh i just had 1 grain yesterday! hmm maybe thats why i got back to my lower weight...

i walked the dog at school, as well as worked on the elliptical for 30 minutes

today i have eaten:
cereal with raspberries, turkey bacon, v8

lunch will most likely be salad, dinner is orange chicken and some veggies. we are going to dave and busters tonight for a friends birthday... making sure we eat before we go so we dont fall prey to their food and drink!

things have been kinda crazy around here and shouldnt slow down until wednesday... yesterday had to go gorcery shopping unexpectedly, because my mom said we are having clam chowder and french bread for christmas eve... so ray and i had to figure out what we were going to make for ourselves to bring along, and we were not expecting that. blah it was busy! but we got it done... i also made peppermint bark (non-legal) for my xmas goodie tins to go along with legal truffles for some of my family members. i did try the bark, and it was yummy! i also made a "legal" pumpkin roll, half of which is going to some friends, and half to rays mom. we did eat the end that i cut off to make it pretty, and i enjoyed it.

today i have to make 3 batches of truffles and am debating whether i should make the cheesecakes today or tomorrow.... i also need to wrap 2 more gifts, and give the dog a bath before going to my moms house tomorrow. not too bad... tomorrow must make 2 apple crisps. man...

so tomorrow to aunt and uncles for dinner, then moms house to spend the night, spend the day there with mom, leave for dads house christmas afternoon, skiing day after xmas, and then come back home wednesday. i love the holidays, but sometimes its alot of work!

[raynjen]

ok so things have been pretty good thus far. not perfect though. ray has thrown sbd out the window since xmas eve and says after tomorrow no more cheating, will go to p1 until friday. he has been eating crazy, but i have been trying really hard to hold my tongue because he seems ok with his decisions, so i am as well.

what have i eaten the past few days?

sunday:
b - cereal with berries, turkey bacon
l - small salad with chicken due to early dinner
d - salmon, soba noodles, salad
dessert - legal apple crisp, 2 bites of flourless chocolate cake
im pretty sure i had a piece of peppermint bark sometime today...

monday:
b - 2 whole wheat waffles, turkey bacon
s - banana and peanut butter
l - ? i cant remember!
d - turkey, sweet potato, green beans
dessert - small portions of legal apple crisp/pumpkin cheesecake
dessert again - more apple crisp!

today:
b - cereal with berries, turkey bacon
l - veggie soup, salad, 1 piece of pizzeria uno pizza!
s - ff plain yogurt with almonds
d - turkey with gravy, salad
dessert - same as last night
i also had a mini peanut butter cup from trader joes today, it was pretty good!

so after writing everything down, i havent been too bad, and the "bad" things i ate were conscious decisons that i made and i am ok with them. the only thing i have noticed is that i didnt get nearly enough veggies yesterday.

i did work out on sunday evening, and took the dog on a long walk this morning. monday wasnt so great, exercise wise. spent all day driving from moms to dads.

we return to our house tomorrow and things are back to normal. i probably wont weigh myself for a week or so, just in case there have been some changes.

[raynjen]

ok so my weight is the same as it was before christmas. so ok, good!

anyhow, things have been normal. eating normal has resumed.

b - apple muffin w/ smart balance, 1 egg, turkey bacon, v8, milk, strawberries (i told ray the meal wouldnt fill me up...i was very wrong, i stayed full for a good while!)
s - larabar (did you know they sell them at costco???) i would have preferred it with a little pb, actually...but i was sitting outside costco wating for ray, who was inside with his mom. i was quite hungry, and it was the only thing in our cart i could have eaten right there and then. next time...
l - miso soup (actually udon broth with tofu i added), salad
s - i was at the mall... got some plain veggies from a japanese place, put some shoyu on, not too shabby, and really cheap!
d - asparagus w/ shoyu, crab cakes w/ mayo and lemon juice
s - apple with yogurt... will have a banana w/ pb a little later....

exercise - elliptical, 30 min.
dis - .92 miles
cal - 365

i have begun to keep track of my distance as well as the calories burned my machine reports at the end of each workout. i know there has been a great increase in both of these since i started exercising, and think it would be cool to see how much better i get as time goes on. i will also be doing some arm work with free weights and ab work every other day. i will also begin a class at the rec center in late jan. to keep things interesting!

so yeah i am thinking about my calories and not sure if i am getting enough. i will have to check that out. last time i checked, things were good, but im not sure anymore.

i guess thats it. im tired, had to get up early this am to go to dmv right when they opened in order to not wait in line forever.

[raynjen]

today was an ok day, im feeling tired still, slept until almost 10:30!
did lots of errands.

food:
b - 1 homemade ww waffle (1/4 of a whole waffle), 1 slice turkey bacon, 1 egg, v8, milk, yogurt with banana
s - larabar
l - santosha smoothie with 4 c. spinach!!!, popcorn
d - ginger soy steak, ww pasta w/ velveeta, broccoli
d - apple with yogurt

again, checked out calories for the day and they look good. so i guess im doing ok.

exercise:

30 min elliptical
d - .95
cal - 374

arm and ab work with stability ball, free weights

so i think the keeping track of "calories burned" and distance is going to be a good challenge. today when i was about 5 minutes away from end of workout, i was like, ok you can beat what you did yesterday! so thats awesome. i also think im ready to go for 35 minutes instead of 30, slowly work up to 45 or so... yay!

[katelynn]

Hey jen! How have you been? i hope you had a great Christmas. It was pretty low key around here. I managed to mess up everything a few days before Christmas, so i said, forget it, i'll just try to be okay until the 26th, and it worked out alright. I started back that day (26th)and i've been doing pretty well i must say. I plan on sticking to the plan completely after tonight. You're doing so well on exercise. Hopefully i'll be back in the swing of things soon and exercise will fall in with it! You're right though, it does get chilly at night and i'm a big baby!

I also agree with you on the whole job post. I'm going to an interview this week, and the job will pay crap, but its a job, and i'll be out on my own, so that will be nice. On the other hand i would love to find a job that will be a bit more challenging and a little more lucrative. THen there is always the option of going back to school that keeps popping up in the back of my mind!!! Makes me a little crazy really!! When i know that BF will be graduating in the semi-near future and we'll probably end up moving anyway. I get attached to jobs easily. What area are you in right now?? I have considered teaching. It would be nice to have the summer's off, but for now i'm going to keep that as a plan D or so. If i did it, i'd want to do high school. Its something to keep in mind.

Happy new year to you and good luck staying on plan!

[raynjen]

the last two days have been relatively easy, with some treats.

sunday:
b - cereal w/ berries, milk, v8, 1 piece turkey bacon
l - small salad. i woke up at noon and had dinner around 5, so i wasnt very hungry for lunch, and knew i was having an early dinner.
d - 1 sausage, 3 c. salad, blue cheese/balsamic dressing, diet coke, 1 new potato with boursain, yummy!
s - banana with 1 T pb, sf choc. syrup
s - banana with 1 T pb, milk
s - string cheese

lots of snacks... i am used to dinner around 8, so i got hungry after dinner, and still needed fruit, so it worked out...
i also had a small square of chocolate someone brought from brazil. very good.

we arrived home around 11:45 last night, and thats when i exercised, i guess that could explain my snacks!

30 min elliptical... so i did a HIIT type workout last night, but not as intense as real hiit. hence it being 30 min. i was actually planning on doing only 20 min, but i wasnt tired so i kept going.

cal - 390 something
distance - 1.02 miles

woohoo! i broke a mile!

today has been ok, feel really tired, dont want to go back to work tomorrow, and school next week. scary!

b - 2 small muffins, 1 piece turkey bacon, yogurt with 1 banana, milk, v8
l - salad, mongolian beef, broccoli, prawns, zucchini, 1 lumpia shanghai!!! and it didnt even taste good! and a sb trifle ray made
s - small salad, blt (1 piece ww bread, 1 T mayo, tomato, lettuce)

we were at our good friends house for a housewarming party for lunch... ray and all his friends are filipino, so there was ALOT of food we couldnt eat, and i am proud that i only had one lumpia. they used to be my favorite things!

dinner tonight is homemade pizza and salad. very good.

we took the dog on a long walk this afternoon on a new trail. interesting. it apparently wore ray and kasama out, since they are both sleeping next to me as i type this on my laptop in bed. i, on the other hand, am totally awake... ugh.

i also plan on 30 min elliptical, arm and ab work this evening.

[raynjen]

just wanted to add in my stats from exercise today:

elliptical, 30 min

cal - 402
distance - 1.04

arm and ab work done, but had to modify ab work due to back pain from something earlier today...