I stayed in California and FaceTimed with my family while they opened gifts. :-) I stuck to plan 100% and plan to continue through these last 4 weeks without a cheat! Not much has changed. I am not having any more issues with dizziness thank goodness. We had the MD visit and labs this week and all was perfect! I lost another 3.something. So my total loss at the start of week 12 is 35.6lbs. I'm really happy with that number. :-) Technically I have been completed 10 weeks of full fast. So I'm averaging 3.5lbs per week. They say weeks 5-9 are the true predictors of ongoing loss and it looks like I lost about 3/wk during that time. The last few weeks things have picked up. I think I'm getting more steps in and more exercise minutes. I'm getting at least 40min/day avg and about 6500 steps most days. According to the MFP predictors I think I'll be just around 190 on transition week. Yeah! My short term goal is 164 which just puts me in the healthy weight range with no wiggle room. My ultimate goal is to settle somewhere in the 150s. But I'm also not trying to spend too much time thinking about where I'll end up right now.
I've been super emotional at work and I brought it up a little at group this week. One lady blamed hormones, but I know I've been unhappy in this job for quite some time. I know that it isn't the job I want to stay in for the next 20yrs and it's hard. I have feelings of guilt about it and I suppose the way I have been dealing with it so far is by eating those feelings and burying them. It's a huge relief to have told the doctors I work with and I hope that by doing so I can either make this job more fulfilling and interesting or I can move on. I applied for a job in San Diego that may or may not be more interesting. We shall see. The best case scenario would be my current job becomes more interesting and I can stay put. :-) We shall see what January brings!
I was going to write about something else, but it slipped my mind. Ah well. We briefly talked about transition again this week. We confirmed it is measure out 2c of veggies and THEN cook. Thank goodness! I don't think I could have managed 2 cups of cooked veggies. :-) I got my multi-cooker and it is unpacked and ready to be washed for my first meal. I am intrigued by the programs where people do full fast until they reach goal. I can't help but wonder if that is a good idea or a bad idea. While it is certainly inspiring to see the scale go down quickly, I think it is also good to see the numbers go down while eating real food. They did tell us that we could buy up to 3 products/day after week 20 (our last week of transition.) I have a feeling I will be doing that. I like having my shake at night and I think that it will help ease me back into things. It's a much healthier night time snack then a bowl of ice cream and just as tasty (or that's how I remember it-ha!!) Some people in group are talking about how bored they are, some are super excited for food, some have been through this before and assure us that it isn't all that exciting when we get food because it isn't much and I guess the rest of us are just hanging out. :-) I am in that group for sure. I am just trying to think of transition as more rule following. I plan to mostly eat the same things every day to make it easy (or at least the few items every week.) They say the people who are successful at losing weight and keeping it off log what they eat, monitor their weight, get 30-60min of exercise and pretty much eat the same foods all the time. Eating other things will be saved for dinners out with friends.
Guess that's all I've got for tonight!
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Until next week (or until I need to write!)
Friday, December 25, 2015
Friday, December 18, 2015
End of Week 10!!
So only 6 weeks to go and (5 weekends) before transition! It really feels like it has flown by!! This week I am down another 3.6 for a grand total of 32.2lbs. That's an average of 3lbs/week which is right on track. :-)
I am very happy with the weight loss. I'm feeling stronger and more like I will be able to meet my goals and get back to a healthy weight and enjoy staying there. I miss those days! Of course back then I thought I was fat at 155 (and I'm 5'8") so I wonder if anyone is ever truly happy with where their weight is at. I'm trying to think of it more as getting to a point where I can physically enjoy all the things I want to do and be comfortable doing them.
I have been stressed the last few weeks still about work. I'm considering making a change. I really love the vision I have in mind for how I want to function in ambulatory care, but when the director of your department and definitely not the practice administrator don't have that same vision it makes your vision seem impossible. It really would take all of those people to change my role which is why it is so frustrating!! I'm going to give it one more chat and if we can't make it work I think I'm going to go back to floor nursing while I finish my degree. There is a day shift position with the satellite unit of one of the major children's hospitals here. I am not crazy about the thought, but it is sort of a relief in a way too. I just really wish I could make this job what I want, but that's just not the way healthcare works. It makes me sad to think about it, but then I think about the pluses too: days off during the week, more money and feeling like a nurse again top the list. We shall see! I'm going to give it some thought the next couple of weeks before I actually apply (and talk to my current employers about whether they will ever be able to use me to my full scope of practice.) One thing I noticed is that in the past I probably would have stopped for pizza or ordered pizza and drowned my feelings in too many slices, but instead I had a good frustrated cry (it's also TOM so that does NOT help). The cry was cathartic and I'm hoping I'm thinking a little clearer. The other benefit to the position is that it gets me into a great health care system so that I have priority for jobs when I graduate! So I could get back into ambulatory or whatever and hopefully find something I really want. I really want my next job to be my forever job. Anyway, lots to think about and yeah me for not cheating!
On Rewards!
I have met 3 5lb goals so I bought myself a multi-cooker! I know I can't use it for a while, but it will be ready when I eat. This weekend I plan to get my apt cleaned up and find a spot for it on my counter top. :-) Our discussion this week was actually about rewards. I am rewarded every time I do my run/walk with beautiful views, a clearer mind (why am I not running when I come home frustrated?), loads of energy and feelings of confidence. I suppose those would fit into the physiological and psychological reward categories. I'm thinking a monetary reward would be putting money for some of my other rewards in a jar for doing things like strength training or drinking water or eating at my table or eating at my table in silence. :-) And non-monetary is apparently purchasing things (that doesn't make sense to me really, but I will take it.) So all the things I have already put on my reward list are those. :-) I don't remember the other types, but that's a good start. Ha! Think I'll start with strength training goals this week. I already have run/walk goals (I get to buy a song for my playlist with every week I complete of C25K). I should probably come up with a goal for completing the first 8 weeks since that is the 5k part and maybe another for the 10k part, etc. I guess I hadn't gotten very far on rewards. Anyway, for now I'll say for every strength workout I get to put $5 in a jar for fun stuff!
That's all for tonight! Best of luck wherever you are in your journey to whoever might be reading!
I am very happy with the weight loss. I'm feeling stronger and more like I will be able to meet my goals and get back to a healthy weight and enjoy staying there. I miss those days! Of course back then I thought I was fat at 155 (and I'm 5'8") so I wonder if anyone is ever truly happy with where their weight is at. I'm trying to think of it more as getting to a point where I can physically enjoy all the things I want to do and be comfortable doing them.
I have been stressed the last few weeks still about work. I'm considering making a change. I really love the vision I have in mind for how I want to function in ambulatory care, but when the director of your department and definitely not the practice administrator don't have that same vision it makes your vision seem impossible. It really would take all of those people to change my role which is why it is so frustrating!! I'm going to give it one more chat and if we can't make it work I think I'm going to go back to floor nursing while I finish my degree. There is a day shift position with the satellite unit of one of the major children's hospitals here. I am not crazy about the thought, but it is sort of a relief in a way too. I just really wish I could make this job what I want, but that's just not the way healthcare works. It makes me sad to think about it, but then I think about the pluses too: days off during the week, more money and feeling like a nurse again top the list. We shall see! I'm going to give it some thought the next couple of weeks before I actually apply (and talk to my current employers about whether they will ever be able to use me to my full scope of practice.) One thing I noticed is that in the past I probably would have stopped for pizza or ordered pizza and drowned my feelings in too many slices, but instead I had a good frustrated cry (it's also TOM so that does NOT help). The cry was cathartic and I'm hoping I'm thinking a little clearer. The other benefit to the position is that it gets me into a great health care system so that I have priority for jobs when I graduate! So I could get back into ambulatory or whatever and hopefully find something I really want. I really want my next job to be my forever job. Anyway, lots to think about and yeah me for not cheating!
On Rewards!
I have met 3 5lb goals so I bought myself a multi-cooker! I know I can't use it for a while, but it will be ready when I eat. This weekend I plan to get my apt cleaned up and find a spot for it on my counter top. :-) Our discussion this week was actually about rewards. I am rewarded every time I do my run/walk with beautiful views, a clearer mind (why am I not running when I come home frustrated?), loads of energy and feelings of confidence. I suppose those would fit into the physiological and psychological reward categories. I'm thinking a monetary reward would be putting money for some of my other rewards in a jar for doing things like strength training or drinking water or eating at my table or eating at my table in silence. :-) And non-monetary is apparently purchasing things (that doesn't make sense to me really, but I will take it.) So all the things I have already put on my reward list are those. :-) I don't remember the other types, but that's a good start. Ha! Think I'll start with strength training goals this week. I already have run/walk goals (I get to buy a song for my playlist with every week I complete of C25K). I should probably come up with a goal for completing the first 8 weeks since that is the 5k part and maybe another for the 10k part, etc. I guess I hadn't gotten very far on rewards. Anyway, for now I'll say for every strength workout I get to put $5 in a jar for fun stuff!
That's all for tonight! Best of luck wherever you are in your journey to whoever might be reading!
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Laziness...
It's looking like the weather predictors are going to be right and it might actually be an El Nino winter. I hope so! We need the water in CA and I do love listening to the rain! Unfortunately, I seem to be using a couple hours of rain as an excuse to not get outside and do my run/walk. Technically I am on week 5 day 3, but it has taken me about 7 weeks to get there. It all started with the little tweak in my back and continued with rain excuses. So I've only been doing 2 run/walks per week. I wish I was more disappointed, but I'm just happy to be doing something. I'm still getting at least 30min of exercise in daily so that's the most important thing! Another excuse I keep using is that the dogs are a pain in my butt out there. But they need their exercise too and I don't know that it is a good idea for me to do too much while I'm on such a low calorie diet. I do get dizzy and even more hungry when I have more than exercise. What I suppose I should do is take the dogs out for my warm up, bring them back in and head out for my run/walk and then give them a longer walk in the evening. Or vice versa-do their longer walk in the am and my run/walk in the evening. It's only 30min 3 times a week after all!! So silly! So that's why I think it is just laziness. :-)
I am starting to feel a little like it is my last semester in the school year again. You know that point? Where it's so close you can taste it, but not quite close enough? I have been at it for 122 days according to My Fitness Pal. It gave me the 120 day streak 2 days ago, so that's probably an estimate. :-) I have 45 days left until I start the 4 week transition. Putting it like that makes it look like I am well on my way to transition. Yeah! Just over a month. Less than a travel nurse assignment. Phew...I have bought a couple new spices and will try out some new recipes the next few weeks. That ought to keep me going. I finally bought whole bean coffee so that I can use my grinder and french press. I didn't quite make grind enough beans. I'll have to work on that. I used the calculations on the kettle and the grinder, but then realized that I don't really know if the kettle thinks of a cup as 6oz or 8oz or 5oz or any of the other ways cups of coffee and tea are measured. Ah well, tomorrow I will use more beans (or less water).
I've also started researching kitchen equipment to buy. I had made a list of rewards several weeks ago and haven't bought any yet. I could have bought 2. One of the things I'm rethinking is the steamer. I think I might combine several rewards and get a fancy counter top multi-cooker or electric steamer. The kitchen aid looks really nice, but it's pricy. There are cheaper options, but since it's a reward I want the best. I think the 200lb mark I will get that reward. That way I will have it for transition week!! The other reward that I haven't bought yet but really want to before transition is cute bowls and plates. The only thing I was thinking on the plates is they can wait because I do have those smaller ones, so they aren't needed for transition. SO, I think the other thing I will get before then is my cute smaller bowls. I might even just buy one here and there and have a cute little collection of mismatch bowls. The other thing I really want to buy is a spiralizer. I could get the fancy Inspiralized one, but there are cheaper options that work as well too. That can be a later goal as I know they really just want us having steamed veggies when we enter transition. I really think I will get good use out of the multi cooker. Esp since you can do grains, veggies and meat all at once. We can't have grains for a while, but eventually. I feel like I could have everything prepped the day before and even in the steamer dishes and then just throw it in when I get home from work, turn on the steamer take the pups out for 15-20min and then come home and eat. See? I have it all planned. That's the key to success right? I'm going a little crazy reading all these healthy recipes. I should start pinning them for the future.
Other than starting to feel slightly bored, I am doing well. I have cut back on the fluids and I plan to really add up my fluids for the day and not just water. I think that cutting back a little has helped with the dizziness. It has been better for sure. I'll keep it up and we will see.
On a non-diet topic...I can't remember if I mentioned I took out the personal loan to pay off my credit cards. I will be sticking to a very strict cash budget for the next 18mo which will hopefully continue after so that the money I was paying for the debt can be saved for a down payment on a condo in about 6-7 years. I could save 100000 by then which is just enough of a down payment in the bay area! That's almost an entire house or a 50% down payment in Kansas City! So crazy! It would actually be a decent down payment in SoCal as well if I'm ready to make that move by then. I will be only 15 years from retirement by then after all!
Yikes!! One day at a time....geez...
I am starting to feel a little like it is my last semester in the school year again. You know that point? Where it's so close you can taste it, but not quite close enough? I have been at it for 122 days according to My Fitness Pal. It gave me the 120 day streak 2 days ago, so that's probably an estimate. :-) I have 45 days left until I start the 4 week transition. Putting it like that makes it look like I am well on my way to transition. Yeah! Just over a month. Less than a travel nurse assignment. Phew...I have bought a couple new spices and will try out some new recipes the next few weeks. That ought to keep me going. I finally bought whole bean coffee so that I can use my grinder and french press. I didn't quite make grind enough beans. I'll have to work on that. I used the calculations on the kettle and the grinder, but then realized that I don't really know if the kettle thinks of a cup as 6oz or 8oz or 5oz or any of the other ways cups of coffee and tea are measured. Ah well, tomorrow I will use more beans (or less water).
I've also started researching kitchen equipment to buy. I had made a list of rewards several weeks ago and haven't bought any yet. I could have bought 2. One of the things I'm rethinking is the steamer. I think I might combine several rewards and get a fancy counter top multi-cooker or electric steamer. The kitchen aid looks really nice, but it's pricy. There are cheaper options, but since it's a reward I want the best. I think the 200lb mark I will get that reward. That way I will have it for transition week!! The other reward that I haven't bought yet but really want to before transition is cute bowls and plates. The only thing I was thinking on the plates is they can wait because I do have those smaller ones, so they aren't needed for transition. SO, I think the other thing I will get before then is my cute smaller bowls. I might even just buy one here and there and have a cute little collection of mismatch bowls. The other thing I really want to buy is a spiralizer. I could get the fancy Inspiralized one, but there are cheaper options that work as well too. That can be a later goal as I know they really just want us having steamed veggies when we enter transition. I really think I will get good use out of the multi cooker. Esp since you can do grains, veggies and meat all at once. We can't have grains for a while, but eventually. I feel like I could have everything prepped the day before and even in the steamer dishes and then just throw it in when I get home from work, turn on the steamer take the pups out for 15-20min and then come home and eat. See? I have it all planned. That's the key to success right? I'm going a little crazy reading all these healthy recipes. I should start pinning them for the future.
Other than starting to feel slightly bored, I am doing well. I have cut back on the fluids and I plan to really add up my fluids for the day and not just water. I think that cutting back a little has helped with the dizziness. It has been better for sure. I'll keep it up and we will see.
On a non-diet topic...I can't remember if I mentioned I took out the personal loan to pay off my credit cards. I will be sticking to a very strict cash budget for the next 18mo which will hopefully continue after so that the money I was paying for the debt can be saved for a down payment on a condo in about 6-7 years. I could save 100000 by then which is just enough of a down payment in the bay area! That's almost an entire house or a 50% down payment in Kansas City! So crazy! It would actually be a decent down payment in SoCal as well if I'm ready to make that move by then. I will be only 15 years from retirement by then after all!
Yikes!! One day at a time....geez...
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Week 10 and Dizziness!
I feel like I have been really lucky so far. I haven't had issues with the supplements, I haven't lost any hair, I haven't suffered headaches (other than a couple times I didn't drink enough fluids) and my hunger has been controlled by my plan to have a glass of water and wait and then have my product if I am still hungry. I would say I get hungry every 2hrs or 2.5 depending on my fitness that day. I think it's best to start that habit now so that I keep that habit when I move to real food (in 7 weeks!!)
So that brings me to why I am posting about dizziness...I have been dizzy since Monday. At first I attributed it to too much coffee on Monday, but it seems the reality is more like too many fluids. We were instructed to consume 64oz of fluid in addition to the fluids we get from the products. This would mean that if I do 5 liquid products/day I'm getting about 104oz of fluids plus a couple here and there for some other fluids I don't count (like the 8oz I use for the metamucil or the 4oz I mix up for my coffee shakes since I add it to 8oz of coffee). Anyway, I emailed the MD today and the response I got was to go back to 3 shakes, 2 bars and 1 soup. I did that until last Thursday. Basically, if I'm getting too many fluids, my sodium is probably a little low although my labs are ok. So I'm gonna try it. And since I don't have enough bars this week to really test it I will just eliminate a glass of water.
On to more exciting news...I am down 28.6lbs. I am quite happy with that. And I'm still on track to be halfway to my ultimate goal by the time I transition to food. I am not as nervous about transition as I think I should be. I think one of the reasons is that I'm really good at counting calories. What I am not good at is eating consistently throughout the day so that I'm not starving by the time I leave work. So that will be a big goal for me. I have never really been more than 20lbs overweight before and that was only twice, the pounds came off fast and although I gained it back I also lost it right away again. The times I gained it back were times in my life that I went through some depressing things. So my other big goal will be to not use food as comfort! I will have to be motivated to go out and run with the dogs instead. :-)
We very briefly talked about transition in class this week. Someone asked so our facilitator told us. She says the first week will be 3oz of protein and 2cups of cooked vegetables...That is a ton of cooked veggies! From what I had read online it was like 1/2cup. I'm a little worried about the volume. Especially because it is supposed to be steamed. I'm hoping they will tell us steamed, but that we can add no calorie seasonings even if we can't add oil. 2 cups of asparagus seems like a lot. :-) I might become the queen of cauliflower mash. Ha!
One of the guys in our class mentioned not seeing himself as smaller. In a way I wish I was having that issue now! I seem to see myself as smaller than I really am. :-) One tip for him was to draw the outline of your body on a piece of paper and then have someone trace you and see the difference. I've always thought that is an interesting task, but I think not needed for me at this point. Another suggestion was that he go buy clothes that fit! And I suggested he look at his face in pictures.
Someone cheated this week. She had lima beans and a cookie. Another lady cheated with a taco. At least she did it right. :-) I don't plan to cheat at all! I feel like I would just regret it if I don't follow the plan to a "T." In my head I would always wonder what would have happened if I hadn't and think maybe I would have lost more weight. I already regret not getting 10000 steps per day every day! I think I am getting close to 9000 most days now. I guess I should look at that closer next week! I am doing about 2 days of run/walk the last 2 weeks. The reason for this week was the dizziness. Last week was laziness. But at least I still walked. :-)
Guess that's all I've got for tonight!
So that brings me to why I am posting about dizziness...I have been dizzy since Monday. At first I attributed it to too much coffee on Monday, but it seems the reality is more like too many fluids. We were instructed to consume 64oz of fluid in addition to the fluids we get from the products. This would mean that if I do 5 liquid products/day I'm getting about 104oz of fluids plus a couple here and there for some other fluids I don't count (like the 8oz I use for the metamucil or the 4oz I mix up for my coffee shakes since I add it to 8oz of coffee). Anyway, I emailed the MD today and the response I got was to go back to 3 shakes, 2 bars and 1 soup. I did that until last Thursday. Basically, if I'm getting too many fluids, my sodium is probably a little low although my labs are ok. So I'm gonna try it. And since I don't have enough bars this week to really test it I will just eliminate a glass of water.
On to more exciting news...I am down 28.6lbs. I am quite happy with that. And I'm still on track to be halfway to my ultimate goal by the time I transition to food. I am not as nervous about transition as I think I should be. I think one of the reasons is that I'm really good at counting calories. What I am not good at is eating consistently throughout the day so that I'm not starving by the time I leave work. So that will be a big goal for me. I have never really been more than 20lbs overweight before and that was only twice, the pounds came off fast and although I gained it back I also lost it right away again. The times I gained it back were times in my life that I went through some depressing things. So my other big goal will be to not use food as comfort! I will have to be motivated to go out and run with the dogs instead. :-)
We very briefly talked about transition in class this week. Someone asked so our facilitator told us. She says the first week will be 3oz of protein and 2cups of cooked vegetables...That is a ton of cooked veggies! From what I had read online it was like 1/2cup. I'm a little worried about the volume. Especially because it is supposed to be steamed. I'm hoping they will tell us steamed, but that we can add no calorie seasonings even if we can't add oil. 2 cups of asparagus seems like a lot. :-) I might become the queen of cauliflower mash. Ha!
One of the guys in our class mentioned not seeing himself as smaller. In a way I wish I was having that issue now! I seem to see myself as smaller than I really am. :-) One tip for him was to draw the outline of your body on a piece of paper and then have someone trace you and see the difference. I've always thought that is an interesting task, but I think not needed for me at this point. Another suggestion was that he go buy clothes that fit! And I suggested he look at his face in pictures.
Someone cheated this week. She had lima beans and a cookie. Another lady cheated with a taco. At least she did it right. :-) I don't plan to cheat at all! I feel like I would just regret it if I don't follow the plan to a "T." In my head I would always wonder what would have happened if I hadn't and think maybe I would have lost more weight. I already regret not getting 10000 steps per day every day! I think I am getting close to 9000 most days now. I guess I should look at that closer next week! I am doing about 2 days of run/walk the last 2 weeks. The reason for this week was the dizziness. Last week was laziness. But at least I still walked. :-)
Guess that's all I've got for tonight!
Friday, December 4, 2015
If everyday were like today...
I am logging my shakes, soups and bars in My Fitness Pal. The best part of the day (and probably most motivating) is when you complete the entry and it says "If everyday were like today you would weight *** in 5 weeks." Seriously...I love that! I don't really know how accurate it is, but it must be somewhat. :-) I do have to "cheat" and lie to MFP a little bit by doing a "Quick Add" of 30-40 calories, because MFP doesn't want to support anorexia or unhealthy diets so they won't let you enter calories less than 1000. Ah well. I'm ok with that sort of cheating.
So the last couple of nights I've been told by MFP that I have the potential to be 198lbs in 5 weeks! The significance is obvious...I will finally be under 200lbs. I spent all of my life under 200lbs until I starting gaining weight when my BFF was battling and passed away from cancer in 2008/9. I was living with her, her husband and her daughter and helping them out at the time. I sprained both of my ankles that winter and then at that point I had already gained about 40lbs from my sort of "normal" weight. By normal I guess I mean the weight I used to think I was fat, but was actually healthy. I looked good in clothes, I could wear what I wanted, but I was always wanting to be model thin. That weight is 155. Anyway, I always go on about when I gained every pound and it's probably weird that I can remember them. If I get back to 198 then I will have officially lost all of the weight that I gained in that very sad time in my life. The 40 I gained first happened when I first went away to be a travel nurse. My friend had just been diagnosed (2007) and I moved to Huntington Beach for a 13wk travel assignment. I started out gaining about 10lbs and thought it was the end of the world or something. I had gained and lost that 10lbs a few times-and it didn't even put me in the overweight category!! Anyway, after that 10lbs I took a 5mo travel assignment in San Diego and gained another 30. I will never work night shift again!! Every night shift assignment resulted in weight gain for me! Due to lack of activity, depression from never seeing sunlight and feeling the need to eat constantly when I wasn't asleep. So there you go....My ultimate high weight was actually about 255, so really a 100lb gain. I managed to lose about 30 of those pounds but gained them back when I...took another night shift job!! Oops! Ah well, I know what I did wrong and I am determined to never lose control again!
I was thinking the other day that I feel like I wasted the years between Oct 2009 and now. So 6 years of my life gone! I can't look back-I can only look forward. I did see a lot and do a lot in those years and I want to revisit many of those places and enjoy them even more when I can move my body better!!! I was also thinking that there are 2 groups of people who know me. The ones who knew me before the gain (and during part of it) and the ones who have only known me fat. I feel like the ones that have only known me fat are only going to have known me overweight are going to always think of me as the fat girl who lost a bunch of weight. They will say things like "oh yeah she lost like 100lbs once." The thought of this terrifies me. I am slightly afraid that when I lose the weight I am going to want to move somewhere no one knows me again...or perhaps somewhere like San Diego or Orange County where I know a couple people who knew me in the in between phase. Arghhh...I guess we will see what life brings in the next year. I am also trying to think of all the things that losing weight will help me do here! One of which is find the perfect nursing role for me. It will likely not be with the clinic I am at now, but I will have the confidence to do what I want and to really think about what that is! It should make me proud that I lost all that weight and I can't keep thinking about the past. I will also admit that I let me old friendships in KC go because I was embarrassed to let them see how much weight I gained. :-( There is also nothing I can do about that but move forward, maybe try and rekindle those friendships when I return for holidays. Or just be ok with have Facebook friendships with them.
I didn't plan to write all of that, but I guess that's what journaling/blogging is all about, huh? :-)
Moving on and moving forward...and hoping to enter the new year in almost a new "century"of weight. :-)
So the last couple of nights I've been told by MFP that I have the potential to be 198lbs in 5 weeks! The significance is obvious...I will finally be under 200lbs. I spent all of my life under 200lbs until I starting gaining weight when my BFF was battling and passed away from cancer in 2008/9. I was living with her, her husband and her daughter and helping them out at the time. I sprained both of my ankles that winter and then at that point I had already gained about 40lbs from my sort of "normal" weight. By normal I guess I mean the weight I used to think I was fat, but was actually healthy. I looked good in clothes, I could wear what I wanted, but I was always wanting to be model thin. That weight is 155. Anyway, I always go on about when I gained every pound and it's probably weird that I can remember them. If I get back to 198 then I will have officially lost all of the weight that I gained in that very sad time in my life. The 40 I gained first happened when I first went away to be a travel nurse. My friend had just been diagnosed (2007) and I moved to Huntington Beach for a 13wk travel assignment. I started out gaining about 10lbs and thought it was the end of the world or something. I had gained and lost that 10lbs a few times-and it didn't even put me in the overweight category!! Anyway, after that 10lbs I took a 5mo travel assignment in San Diego and gained another 30. I will never work night shift again!! Every night shift assignment resulted in weight gain for me! Due to lack of activity, depression from never seeing sunlight and feeling the need to eat constantly when I wasn't asleep. So there you go....My ultimate high weight was actually about 255, so really a 100lb gain. I managed to lose about 30 of those pounds but gained them back when I...took another night shift job!! Oops! Ah well, I know what I did wrong and I am determined to never lose control again!
I was thinking the other day that I feel like I wasted the years between Oct 2009 and now. So 6 years of my life gone! I can't look back-I can only look forward. I did see a lot and do a lot in those years and I want to revisit many of those places and enjoy them even more when I can move my body better!!! I was also thinking that there are 2 groups of people who know me. The ones who knew me before the gain (and during part of it) and the ones who have only known me fat. I feel like the ones that have only known me fat are only going to have known me overweight are going to always think of me as the fat girl who lost a bunch of weight. They will say things like "oh yeah she lost like 100lbs once." The thought of this terrifies me. I am slightly afraid that when I lose the weight I am going to want to move somewhere no one knows me again...or perhaps somewhere like San Diego or Orange County where I know a couple people who knew me in the in between phase. Arghhh...I guess we will see what life brings in the next year. I am also trying to think of all the things that losing weight will help me do here! One of which is find the perfect nursing role for me. It will likely not be with the clinic I am at now, but I will have the confidence to do what I want and to really think about what that is! It should make me proud that I lost all that weight and I can't keep thinking about the past. I will also admit that I let me old friendships in KC go because I was embarrassed to let them see how much weight I gained. :-( There is also nothing I can do about that but move forward, maybe try and rekindle those friendships when I return for holidays. Or just be ok with have Facebook friendships with them.
I didn't plan to write all of that, but I guess that's what journaling/blogging is all about, huh? :-)
Moving on and moving forward...and hoping to enter the new year in almost a new "century"of weight. :-)
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Halfway there!!!
And by halfway I just mean halfway through with the full fast or "active weight loss" phase. Yeah!! It feels good to be there!
So here is a summary:
Optifast products: 6 per day...I typically have 4 shakes, 1 bar and 1 soup
Cheats: ZERO!!!!!!!
Water: at least 64oz per day, often times 72oz plus the fluid from the shakes. :-)
Weight at start: 241.6
Todays weight: 215.8
Total weight lost: 25.8lbs
3.7lbs/week
Weeks of product: 7
I'm somewhat surprised that I'm averaging 3.7lbs/week. I thought I would stay closer to the 2-3lb range. I do know that I lost more the first week so it ups the average, but I guess I thought it would even out by then. :-) Yeah!
I took the dogs on a walk this morning. I can't seem to make myself run/walk on Thursdays. I just don't get enough sleep because I need a couple hours to wind down at night and I don't think I get it when I don't get home til 8. Ah well. As long as I walk! I also parked at the free lot for the hospital that is about a 10min walk away. Doing both of those things brought me very close to 10000 steps per day so I think I'll keep that up.
I still feel like I should be more nervous to either go back to food or maintain, but I'm really just focusing on getting the job done! I've lost weight counting calories before so I'm not too worried about that part especially since I think I will have momentum going into it. As far as maintenance goes, I'll see when I get there!
A running coach came to talk to us last night. I've seen his car around town and I've been curious. During the maintenance phase Kaiser has lifestyle courses. One is going to be a running group. I have a feeling I'll be joining that one.
Other than that not much is going on. I suppose that's a good thing!!
So here is a summary:
Optifast products: 6 per day...I typically have 4 shakes, 1 bar and 1 soup
Cheats: ZERO!!!!!!!
Water: at least 64oz per day, often times 72oz plus the fluid from the shakes. :-)
Weight at start: 241.6
Todays weight: 215.8
Total weight lost: 25.8lbs
3.7lbs/week
Weeks of product: 7
I'm somewhat surprised that I'm averaging 3.7lbs/week. I thought I would stay closer to the 2-3lb range. I do know that I lost more the first week so it ups the average, but I guess I thought it would even out by then. :-) Yeah!
I took the dogs on a walk this morning. I can't seem to make myself run/walk on Thursdays. I just don't get enough sleep because I need a couple hours to wind down at night and I don't think I get it when I don't get home til 8. Ah well. As long as I walk! I also parked at the free lot for the hospital that is about a 10min walk away. Doing both of those things brought me very close to 10000 steps per day so I think I'll keep that up.
I still feel like I should be more nervous to either go back to food or maintain, but I'm really just focusing on getting the job done! I've lost weight counting calories before so I'm not too worried about that part especially since I think I will have momentum going into it. As far as maintenance goes, I'll see when I get there!
A running coach came to talk to us last night. I've seen his car around town and I've been curious. During the maintenance phase Kaiser has lifestyle courses. One is going to be a running group. I have a feeling I'll be joining that one.
Other than that not much is going on. I suppose that's a good thing!!
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Any new blogs out there??
When I was looking into this program I was on a hunt for blogs, specifically success stories. I read the ones that I could find, but I'm finding that this blog doesn't even show up on searches. Does anyone know how to search in a better way?? Or maybe there really aren't new blogs? I think what is hard about the old ones is that many stop at some point after the blogger enters maintenance and then starts gaining weight. I'm sure it would be hard to continue to blog at that point. I hope I succeed and a year after maintenance I start blogging about all of the benefits to losing the weight and keeping it off! Or something similar!
If anyone out there is reading this and has found any other newer blogs that appear inspiring let me know!
After Wednesday I will be halfway through full fast!! If I go buy my current weight I am in the upper 210s and will hopefully cross below 215 in a week and a half or so! I know I shouldn't set deadlines for weight loss goals, but I'm thinking of it more like a prediction. :-) I'm really hoping to have lost half of the weight by end of phase 1! If I can dip below 200 before transition starts I will be super happy. I remember a few years ago after I left my travel nurse assignment in San Diego I went to Seattle with some of my nurse friends from SD and I told one of them that I was horrified that my weight had ballooned up to almost a new "century." That number was 190-something. I remember being devastated and miserable. I thought my weight would never get that high. Previously when I had thought I was "fat" my weight was around 165-175 which really isn't too far into the overweight range for my height of 5'8". I never thought I would enter the obese category. I feel like I have lost the last 5 or so years of my life being at this weight because it has held me back from doing things I enjoy and meeting new people in the cities I traveled to. Even here it has kept me from going out and enjoying what I want to! There is so much to love about the bay area and I need to get out and explore more! Anyway, I didn't come here to write about any of that. And I can't think about what I haven't done, but I can focus on taking this 1 day at a time and think about all of the physical things I want to do when I meet my goals! I even took my bike out the other day (to ride to the movies) and I was so much more comfortable on it then 20lbs ago. I'm still a chicken and afraid to fall, but feeling lighter definitely helped!!
Signing off...keep up the hard work and let me know if you know of any blogs for people starting out on this journey or recently transitioned and successfully maintaining!!
Angie
If anyone out there is reading this and has found any other newer blogs that appear inspiring let me know!
After Wednesday I will be halfway through full fast!! If I go buy my current weight I am in the upper 210s and will hopefully cross below 215 in a week and a half or so! I know I shouldn't set deadlines for weight loss goals, but I'm thinking of it more like a prediction. :-) I'm really hoping to have lost half of the weight by end of phase 1! If I can dip below 200 before transition starts I will be super happy. I remember a few years ago after I left my travel nurse assignment in San Diego I went to Seattle with some of my nurse friends from SD and I told one of them that I was horrified that my weight had ballooned up to almost a new "century." That number was 190-something. I remember being devastated and miserable. I thought my weight would never get that high. Previously when I had thought I was "fat" my weight was around 165-175 which really isn't too far into the overweight range for my height of 5'8". I never thought I would enter the obese category. I feel like I have lost the last 5 or so years of my life being at this weight because it has held me back from doing things I enjoy and meeting new people in the cities I traveled to. Even here it has kept me from going out and enjoying what I want to! There is so much to love about the bay area and I need to get out and explore more! Anyway, I didn't come here to write about any of that. And I can't think about what I haven't done, but I can focus on taking this 1 day at a time and think about all of the physical things I want to do when I meet my goals! I even took my bike out the other day (to ride to the movies) and I was so much more comfortable on it then 20lbs ago. I'm still a chicken and afraid to fall, but feeling lighter definitely helped!!
Signing off...keep up the hard work and let me know if you know of any blogs for people starting out on this journey or recently transitioned and successfully maintaining!!
Angie
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Thanksgiving....
Happy Thanksgiving! I feel like a cheater...BUT it's not from food. It's because I'm choosing to spend the day alone. I didn't want to fly back home to KS mostly because I have a teenage niece and I don't think it's appropriate to share a diet like this with her. I might get some backlash for that but here is why: I grew up with an obese mother. I have memories of her dieting as I was growing up-I could be imagining it but I vaguely remember things like grapefruit, cabbage and some paperwork so I know I was aware of her doing this as a child. All the time I was growing up I was very thin (as in kids made fun of me for being really skinny-and I know some people who might read this might think oh, what a horrible problem, but really everyone has their own struggles and we shouldn't judge). Anyway, I digress. I was really thin and an extremely picky eater. I for sure had some sensory issues with textures and my mom tells me once she force fed me spaghetti (that I don't remember, but I must deep down because I didn't eat spaghetti happily until I became an adult). It wasn't until I got to college that I started really gaining weight. Even then I was always in a healthy weight range, but thought I was overweight. I think many of those issues go back to watching my mom struggle. I remember telling her once when we were camping that I was always going to walk around with my stomach sucked in. These aren't healthy thoughts and I don't think any kid should ever have to think about dieting. They should be given healthy servings of whole foods. We really shouldn't keep junk in the house and processed food shouldn't be their staples. Unfortunately I work in a pediatric gastroenterology clinic where we are forced to have a fatty liver clinic and it appalls me that this clinic is even necessary! I'm rambling again. My point here is this, my niece is also thin and very tall. Her friends are shorter and weigh in the 100lb range which is appropriate for their height. She is around 135 and is 5'7" so well within a healthy range for her height. Somehow she already thinks that she needs to be 100lbs. She also came home from health class one day saying that she was told she's only supposed to have 500calories/day. Clearly she misunderstood. So we have a beautiful 13yr old kid who is already having body issues and has been surrounded by her mother and my mother who are constantly talking about food and dieting. Most of the time she knew me when I lived there I was a healthy weight, but half her life I have been obese. When I see her again I want her to see me making healthy choices so that she will continue to make healthy choices and not think she needs to ever do a rapid weight loss plan. I just don't want her to focus. If my other sister and I are her only 2 positive food influences that's ok as long as she has 2! My plan is to go back in March for my nephews' birthdays and be very close to a healthy weight and enjoy my time with them without the stress of the holidays.
My friends here that are like my second family sometimes have people over, but I explained to them a long time ago that I wouldn't be spending it with them this year. They will survive and are going to dinner at a lodge near the ocean with their other second family. :-) I feel like I'm supposed to feel sad to miss out and not be eating, etc but I don't. I'm losing weight and feeling stronger. I know that it is only 1 Thanksgiving and 1 Christmas. I know that in the future I will be able to enjoy making healthy choices at holiday dinners and have more fun with the kids. SO there it is. My cheat is avoiding the holidays. :-) Christmas movies and a walk with my dogs is on the schedule for today. Maybe I will venture out to a movie in the theater, but right now I'm pretty comfy in my pajamas. :-)
Weight update!
I have finished week 7 of the program (6 weeks of full fast). I have not cheated one time. I have slacked on water drinking a couple of times and when that happens I get headaches so I'm trying to make it a priority. TOM is this week so I was slightly worried about what I would lose, but not because I knew if it was a small loss I would make up for it the following week. Gotta love being a woman. Plus they say everyone plateaus at a some point.
The verdict is...
This weeks weight loss 2.8lbs
Total weight loss 23.4lbs
So I'm right on track still to lose 2-3lbs/week which is my personal hope/goal. I've been walking the dogs 30min per day minimum. I've been moving more at work. I've been doing my run/walk. I did get behind so I'm on week 4. Call it laziness, but I knew I would be off 4 days so I thought I would save the last 2 days for this long weekend rather than do it with the dogs. They make it hard! Too much pulling in other directions, etc.
I wish I could say I have a magic formula for the shakes, bars, soups, but it is what it is. I'm good until people say "oh I could never do that" or "oh that must be so hard." Then, I start to doubt myself that I can finish, but I can't continue to let other people influence what I think I can do!! So I shut down those voices with I already completed 7 weeks, I'm almost halfway through and now I'm on the downhill. One thing that is good is that I will be moving into continued weight loss with transition so it should keep me interested and will probably come at a time when I will finally be bored.
We just started bringing up transition a little last week. I think some of the things I'm going to try now will help me. For example, my goal is to eat at my table 3 nights this week starting tonight! That should help me with mindful eating. I think it's ok to text while I eat just because a lot of people would be having dinner with their family then and be talking so how is texting different. I'm not sure I am ready to turn off the TV. So for now it is just sit at the table, take my time (15-20min) and feel what it feels like. I think I've been sort of practicing that now. I have been trying to pay attention to every single bite. OH! Also, I have passed the 220 mark so I get my first reward! I decided that the first thing I'm going to buy is cute small bowls! I can use them in my eating soup at the table plan and hopefully it will keep me interested. :-) I plan to go to our cute shopping street here and go to this little boutique store I really like! I think that's all I have to say today!
My friends here that are like my second family sometimes have people over, but I explained to them a long time ago that I wouldn't be spending it with them this year. They will survive and are going to dinner at a lodge near the ocean with their other second family. :-) I feel like I'm supposed to feel sad to miss out and not be eating, etc but I don't. I'm losing weight and feeling stronger. I know that it is only 1 Thanksgiving and 1 Christmas. I know that in the future I will be able to enjoy making healthy choices at holiday dinners and have more fun with the kids. SO there it is. My cheat is avoiding the holidays. :-) Christmas movies and a walk with my dogs is on the schedule for today. Maybe I will venture out to a movie in the theater, but right now I'm pretty comfy in my pajamas. :-)
Weight update!
I have finished week 7 of the program (6 weeks of full fast). I have not cheated one time. I have slacked on water drinking a couple of times and when that happens I get headaches so I'm trying to make it a priority. TOM is this week so I was slightly worried about what I would lose, but not because I knew if it was a small loss I would make up for it the following week. Gotta love being a woman. Plus they say everyone plateaus at a some point.
The verdict is...
This weeks weight loss 2.8lbs
Total weight loss 23.4lbs
So I'm right on track still to lose 2-3lbs/week which is my personal hope/goal. I've been walking the dogs 30min per day minimum. I've been moving more at work. I've been doing my run/walk. I did get behind so I'm on week 4. Call it laziness, but I knew I would be off 4 days so I thought I would save the last 2 days for this long weekend rather than do it with the dogs. They make it hard! Too much pulling in other directions, etc.
I wish I could say I have a magic formula for the shakes, bars, soups, but it is what it is. I'm good until people say "oh I could never do that" or "oh that must be so hard." Then, I start to doubt myself that I can finish, but I can't continue to let other people influence what I think I can do!! So I shut down those voices with I already completed 7 weeks, I'm almost halfway through and now I'm on the downhill. One thing that is good is that I will be moving into continued weight loss with transition so it should keep me interested and will probably come at a time when I will finally be bored.
We just started bringing up transition a little last week. I think some of the things I'm going to try now will help me. For example, my goal is to eat at my table 3 nights this week starting tonight! That should help me with mindful eating. I think it's ok to text while I eat just because a lot of people would be having dinner with their family then and be talking so how is texting different. I'm not sure I am ready to turn off the TV. So for now it is just sit at the table, take my time (15-20min) and feel what it feels like. I think I've been sort of practicing that now. I have been trying to pay attention to every single bite. OH! Also, I have passed the 220 mark so I get my first reward! I decided that the first thing I'm going to buy is cute small bowls! I can use them in my eating soup at the table plan and hopefully it will keep me interested. :-) I plan to go to our cute shopping street here and go to this little boutique store I really like! I think that's all I have to say today!
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Hungry today...
I have only had a few moments where I would say I am really truly just hungry. I've had regular, it's about time for me to eat hunger and I have a product and all is good. But today for some reason I'm having stomach growling, headache hunger. I wonder if it's about T.O.M cause I know that in general your metabolism goes up around then. It could also because I did week 4, day 1 of the C25K app first thing. I think I ran faster than usual and it was job 3m, walk 90s, jog 5m, walk 2.5m, jog 3m, all 90s, jog 5m. So a total of 16min jogging vs 9min previously. So it's entirely possible I was hungry, or didn't drink enough water first. The water part would explain the headache, of course so would hunger. Who knows...I am trying to get some fluids in and have moved my products to 2hrs apt for the most part today. I've also been skimping on the fiber the last few days which I know can make me feel less full. I'm trying to make sure it's true hunger and not mouth hunger (from boredom, emotions, etc.) I'm not really feeling stressed about anything. I might be a little bored, but I truly feel like it is real hunger. So water it is! If I'm hungry 20m after the water I think I'll make a tea. I really like to save my soup for at least 5pm.
It is lab/med check week at Kaiser. I went today to get the labs. Hopefully they are all good. The HH is back and totally fine, on the high side of fine so that also leads me to believe I might be slightly dehydrated. We'll see what the rest show.
I weighed myself this am (before the exercise madness) and I'm 219 this am. Whoop! Of course it only really matters what my weight is on Thursday am. I have a feeling it will be about 219 or maybe even 218. That would be great! If I'm at 220 or less I get to buy new bowls to eat my soup in. I'm pretty excited. Silly I know, but I never really let myself buy cute dining things hurrah! We are supposed to come up with a goal for group this week. It's supposed to be a smart goal and we are going to tell everyone. I think instead of doing an exercise goal I'm going to sit at my table to eat my soup. The obvious benefit is to stop mindless eating. The secondary benefit will be no more dogs staring at me hoping for a drop of soup. :-)
Not much else is happening. I feel very fortunate that I get to do this in an apt all alone and not surrounded by people all the time. Good thing I'm somewhat of an introvert or I would be going bananas. :-)
It is lab/med check week at Kaiser. I went today to get the labs. Hopefully they are all good. The HH is back and totally fine, on the high side of fine so that also leads me to believe I might be slightly dehydrated. We'll see what the rest show.
I weighed myself this am (before the exercise madness) and I'm 219 this am. Whoop! Of course it only really matters what my weight is on Thursday am. I have a feeling it will be about 219 or maybe even 218. That would be great! If I'm at 220 or less I get to buy new bowls to eat my soup in. I'm pretty excited. Silly I know, but I never really let myself buy cute dining things hurrah! We are supposed to come up with a goal for group this week. It's supposed to be a smart goal and we are going to tell everyone. I think instead of doing an exercise goal I'm going to sit at my table to eat my soup. The obvious benefit is to stop mindless eating. The secondary benefit will be no more dogs staring at me hoping for a drop of soup. :-)
Not much else is happening. I feel very fortunate that I get to do this in an apt all alone and not surrounded by people all the time. Good thing I'm somewhat of an introvert or I would be going bananas. :-)
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Week 7 Weigh-in
I feel like I should be writing about more than weights, but that's sort of what I'm focused on right now! So here it is...6 weeks of the program complete, 5 week full fast and my grand total is 20.6lbs! I'm considering it 5 weeks of weight loss since I didn't make any changes week 1. That's just over 4lbs/week! Wahoo!!!! That means I am 1/4 of the way to goal. I'm hoping next week I leave the 220s behind. Just a couple more pounds and I will be back to the weight I was at when I went to Europe (and came back) a couple years ago. So I'm happy about that. Next goal is to get back to my "leaving San Diego" weight. :-)
One of my friends I work with keeps making comments about weight loss which I think she bases on her own personal experience. She has never been overweight (although she claims to have gained 40lbs with her last pregnancy. I think what people who just think they weigh too much don't really grasp what it means to really be for real overweight. They also don't understand that when you weigh more you just lose weight faster. I shouldn't have been annoyed at her comment. After she made the comment that was basically that I wouldn't be able to lose 1-2lbs/week after the fast part of this is over she kept going on and on about how as we get older we don't lose weight as quickly, blah, blah, blah....this may be true, but when you take someone who has a lot of weight to lose they actually lose weight faster for a while. Of course everyone has plateaus, etc. I just think those sorts of comments are completely unnecessary. I don't have unrealistic goals. 1-2lbs/week is considered a nice healthy pace at which to lose weight. Grrrrr....ah well...I'm letting it go. I had lost a couple pounds earlier this year and she made another comment like that and I totally stopped counting calories because I felt so discourage. So the lesson is don't listen to her and don't engage in conversations with her about it!
I keep thinking I will do work the Beck Diet Solution, but I also keep putting it off. I feel like it will make more since when I eat food. But I also know that it focuses a lot on behaviors. Maybe I should look at what the days entail and see what seems like a good time to start in relation to when I will be transitioning to real food.
Not much else is happening. I had a little setback on my run/walk. I didn't drink enough water and had headaches for a couple days at the end of last week. Then on Saturday I pulled something in my back. So I got back on it on Tuesday and have only done 1 day this week, but it's Thursday so I can do tomorrow and then a day on the weekend. I have done my stretch video twice which is pretty good. Oh, I got into grad school...Can't remember if I posted that. Yeah!!
I suppose that's all for now! I think it might be a good idea to blog more frequently...I always think journaling is cathartic.
PS for the time being I'm considering my week to be Thurs-Wed. That may or may not change once my 30 weeks is up!
One of my friends I work with keeps making comments about weight loss which I think she bases on her own personal experience. She has never been overweight (although she claims to have gained 40lbs with her last pregnancy. I think what people who just think they weigh too much don't really grasp what it means to really be for real overweight. They also don't understand that when you weigh more you just lose weight faster. I shouldn't have been annoyed at her comment. After she made the comment that was basically that I wouldn't be able to lose 1-2lbs/week after the fast part of this is over she kept going on and on about how as we get older we don't lose weight as quickly, blah, blah, blah....this may be true, but when you take someone who has a lot of weight to lose they actually lose weight faster for a while. Of course everyone has plateaus, etc. I just think those sorts of comments are completely unnecessary. I don't have unrealistic goals. 1-2lbs/week is considered a nice healthy pace at which to lose weight. Grrrrr....ah well...I'm letting it go. I had lost a couple pounds earlier this year and she made another comment like that and I totally stopped counting calories because I felt so discourage. So the lesson is don't listen to her and don't engage in conversations with her about it!
I keep thinking I will do work the Beck Diet Solution, but I also keep putting it off. I feel like it will make more since when I eat food. But I also know that it focuses a lot on behaviors. Maybe I should look at what the days entail and see what seems like a good time to start in relation to when I will be transitioning to real food.
Not much else is happening. I had a little setback on my run/walk. I didn't drink enough water and had headaches for a couple days at the end of last week. Then on Saturday I pulled something in my back. So I got back on it on Tuesday and have only done 1 day this week, but it's Thursday so I can do tomorrow and then a day on the weekend. I have done my stretch video twice which is pretty good. Oh, I got into grad school...Can't remember if I posted that. Yeah!!
I suppose that's all for now! I think it might be a good idea to blog more frequently...I always think journaling is cathartic.
PS for the time being I'm considering my week to be Thurs-Wed. That may or may not change once my 30 weeks is up!
Friday, November 13, 2015
My Personal Start of Week 6 Official Weigh In...
Yesterday (Thursday) morning I had my own official first thing in the morning naked weigh in. I've mentioned before it is the only one I count.
And I'm down another 3lbs for a grand total of 16.4lbs after 4 full weeks of Optifast 800 shakes, bars and soups. Reminder, Kaiser Northern California is 6 products/day. I don't know why or different centers decide how many products they start people on, but alas, that is what it is here. :-) I think it is just right. Most likely my goal will be to eat 4-5 times/day so I like that the shakes are spread out in approximately those intervals. I consider my morning shake just my coffee for the morning and then think of the other 5 items as snacks and meals.
I decided to stay home from work today. I haven't talked about it much here, but I am a pediatric nurse working in an ambulatory care clinic and lately I have been working hard on some projects. I have also been feeling like our group doesn't really appreciate the role nurses can have in ambulatory care-we are a super Nurse Practitioner heavy clinic. In my old like I would have loved that because the NPs I worked with had been nurses and we really had a very collaborative approach. I think that maybe that relationship is going downhill a bit because of the advent of MEPN programs. For those who are curious, this is an accelerated program for individuals with a bachelors degree in something other than nurses who want to become nurse practitioners. The problem with these programs is that its very short and people with sometimes absolutely NO healthcare experience come out feeling like they can take care of patients they really don't have the clinical experience to care for (or just health care experience in general). Anyway, I've recently heard some of them say things like "don't they see the initials behind my name?" or "I'm not just a nurse." This has me really thinking about whether I am truly a valued member of the team and whether or not it is time for me to move on. So-mental health day!!!
So anyway, rant over...
Maybe because of the work situation (PS I adore my coworkers as people) I was having a poor me, I will never lose 70-80lbs moment. And a why did I let myself go this far moment...you know sabotaging thoughts, etc. So rather than cheat or sneak some food I did a couple of things. The first was take the pups to the park. While there I turned those thoughts into, of course you will become healthy and it is going to take some time, but you have spent 6-7years getting to this point and you will recover faster. The 3rd thing I did was look for inspirational charts, etc that would help me look at each milestone or victory.
I created 2 things today. The first is a chart where I can cross of the pounds and it has a list of my rewards (things to help me eat healthy later). Someone on a site I posted it felt the need to correct my spelling, but rather than feel bad or defensive I laughed at myself and replied that of course I wrote bowel instead of bowl-I'm a GI nurse! :-) And I also made a mental note to myself not to correct someone's obviously mistaken typo. The other thing I created was an excel spreadsheet that I can look at every week and watch my percentage of weight loss go up every week as the pounds go down. I'll attempt to post them here, but as I'm new to this blog thing I can't make any promises. :-)
And I'm down another 3lbs for a grand total of 16.4lbs after 4 full weeks of Optifast 800 shakes, bars and soups. Reminder, Kaiser Northern California is 6 products/day. I don't know why or different centers decide how many products they start people on, but alas, that is what it is here. :-) I think it is just right. Most likely my goal will be to eat 4-5 times/day so I like that the shakes are spread out in approximately those intervals. I consider my morning shake just my coffee for the morning and then think of the other 5 items as snacks and meals.
I decided to stay home from work today. I haven't talked about it much here, but I am a pediatric nurse working in an ambulatory care clinic and lately I have been working hard on some projects. I have also been feeling like our group doesn't really appreciate the role nurses can have in ambulatory care-we are a super Nurse Practitioner heavy clinic. In my old like I would have loved that because the NPs I worked with had been nurses and we really had a very collaborative approach. I think that maybe that relationship is going downhill a bit because of the advent of MEPN programs. For those who are curious, this is an accelerated program for individuals with a bachelors degree in something other than nurses who want to become nurse practitioners. The problem with these programs is that its very short and people with sometimes absolutely NO healthcare experience come out feeling like they can take care of patients they really don't have the clinical experience to care for (or just health care experience in general). Anyway, I've recently heard some of them say things like "don't they see the initials behind my name?" or "I'm not just a nurse." This has me really thinking about whether I am truly a valued member of the team and whether or not it is time for me to move on. So-mental health day!!!
So anyway, rant over...
Maybe because of the work situation (PS I adore my coworkers as people) I was having a poor me, I will never lose 70-80lbs moment. And a why did I let myself go this far moment...you know sabotaging thoughts, etc. So rather than cheat or sneak some food I did a couple of things. The first was take the pups to the park. While there I turned those thoughts into, of course you will become healthy and it is going to take some time, but you have spent 6-7years getting to this point and you will recover faster. The 3rd thing I did was look for inspirational charts, etc that would help me look at each milestone or victory.
I created 2 things today. The first is a chart where I can cross of the pounds and it has a list of my rewards (things to help me eat healthy later). Someone on a site I posted it felt the need to correct my spelling, but rather than feel bad or defensive I laughed at myself and replied that of course I wrote bowel instead of bowl-I'm a GI nurse! :-) And I also made a mental note to myself not to correct someone's obviously mistaken typo. The other thing I created was an excel spreadsheet that I can look at every week and watch my percentage of weight loss go up every week as the pounds go down. I'll attempt to post them here, but as I'm new to this blog thing I can't make any promises. :-)
Weight Loss % Chart
Reward Chart...I should have taken a pic of the marked off one but I went ahead and crossed off 225 since that is where I am now!!
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Week 6 weigh in...
This is the end of my 5th week of the program (4th week on shakes). Yeah! Time is flying by! Here's the verdict: minus 1.4lbs for a total of 12.5. Not bad for 4 weeks. I figure I will average closer to 2-3lbs/week. No particular reason why, it's just a feeling I have. ;-) I have had no cheats and really haven't even thought about it. I think I have a slight advantage in some ways since I live alone, no kids, no husband, no boyfriend to influence me. BUT I also have to say that the time I eat the most is when I am alone. I am not one who eats their whole meal at a restaurant. I typically eat 1/4-1/3 at the most. Maybe if it's a super fancy place with tiny portions I will finish, but otherwise that is not my problem.
We are talking a lot about emotional eating in class. I would say I occasionally have that issue, but I would more say that I don't eat when I am really stressed at work, but then I go home and I'm starving so I either 1. stop for fast food and eat the whole meal with a large drink or 2. order pizza and eat half saving the other half to eat throughout the next day or 3. I just eat whatever I can get my hands on at home. When that happens I eat so fast that I don't even realize I'm full until it's too late. Couple that with a few years of night shift and there ya go! It's interesting to hear how much some of the people in class miss food. I guess I'm lucky that isn't me. I have always had control issues with food that date back to toddlerhood that probably weren't helped by having a young mom who didn't know you shouldn't force kids to eat!
I'm really really trying to focus on not just setting a timer to have a shake or water. I thought I would do that in the beginning, but I decided that wouldn't really teach me about listening to hunger cues in the future. SO, I wait until I feel that first little pang of hunger and have a glass of water, wait 20min and then if I still feel it I have a product. It is never more than 3 hours and sometimes as few as 1.5. The time it is sooner is when I do my run/walk in the morning. My only real exception is if I get busy at work and notice it is getting close to 3+hours and I know that even if I'm not hungry yet if I think about it my energy is just a little low. I also might have a product early if I know I'll be busy for the next 5hrs or so because I DON'T want to get back into that mode where I'm starving! I think this is an important skill. For some reason, listening to hunger cues when I'm eating with a group isn't difficult. I'm thinking it's probably because I'm eating more mindfully. When I'm at home I'm eating in front of the TV and really not listening for "full cues." We talked about the hunger-o-meter tonight in class. -3 is famished, -2 is hungry and feeling it (this I call Hangry) and -1 which is just hungry. That is when you should eat. Then the other side 1 is comfortably full, 2 is uncomfortably full (wanna unbutton your pants etc) and 3 is so full you feel sick. I have been 3 only rarely. I have been 2 more frequently but I don't realize til it's too late. Hence the need to eat mindfully!!
Bottom line-it's 1/4 through products, I'm ready to start practicing not perpetuating bad behaviors (eating on the couch, while driving, etc) and will continue to get to know my cues. :-)
And I'm slightly anxious to see my official weigh in tomorrow morning. :-)
We are talking a lot about emotional eating in class. I would say I occasionally have that issue, but I would more say that I don't eat when I am really stressed at work, but then I go home and I'm starving so I either 1. stop for fast food and eat the whole meal with a large drink or 2. order pizza and eat half saving the other half to eat throughout the next day or 3. I just eat whatever I can get my hands on at home. When that happens I eat so fast that I don't even realize I'm full until it's too late. Couple that with a few years of night shift and there ya go! It's interesting to hear how much some of the people in class miss food. I guess I'm lucky that isn't me. I have always had control issues with food that date back to toddlerhood that probably weren't helped by having a young mom who didn't know you shouldn't force kids to eat!
I'm really really trying to focus on not just setting a timer to have a shake or water. I thought I would do that in the beginning, but I decided that wouldn't really teach me about listening to hunger cues in the future. SO, I wait until I feel that first little pang of hunger and have a glass of water, wait 20min and then if I still feel it I have a product. It is never more than 3 hours and sometimes as few as 1.5. The time it is sooner is when I do my run/walk in the morning. My only real exception is if I get busy at work and notice it is getting close to 3+hours and I know that even if I'm not hungry yet if I think about it my energy is just a little low. I also might have a product early if I know I'll be busy for the next 5hrs or so because I DON'T want to get back into that mode where I'm starving! I think this is an important skill. For some reason, listening to hunger cues when I'm eating with a group isn't difficult. I'm thinking it's probably because I'm eating more mindfully. When I'm at home I'm eating in front of the TV and really not listening for "full cues." We talked about the hunger-o-meter tonight in class. -3 is famished, -2 is hungry and feeling it (this I call Hangry) and -1 which is just hungry. That is when you should eat. Then the other side 1 is comfortably full, 2 is uncomfortably full (wanna unbutton your pants etc) and 3 is so full you feel sick. I have been 3 only rarely. I have been 2 more frequently but I don't realize til it's too late. Hence the need to eat mindfully!!
Bottom line-it's 1/4 through products, I'm ready to start practicing not perpetuating bad behaviors (eating on the couch, while driving, etc) and will continue to get to know my cues. :-)
And I'm slightly anxious to see my official weigh in tomorrow morning. :-)
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Optifast concoctions...
I hesitate to call them recipes and I'm not exactly gourmet, but I always wondered what people added and if it was ok per the plan so here are some of my favorites. Note that my plan is full fast so I can't add veggies, etc like some. Kaiser also limits our caffeine intake to 2 8oz glasses/day. I didn't realize that orange soda and creme soda have caffeine so I slipped on that one a few time! Now I have a coffee in the am and if I have another coffee later I won't have the orange or creme soda. I also am NOT a fan of fake sugars, but I haven't had any side effects so for the program I'm allowing them just to add variety and prevent flavor fatigue.
Hot Drinks*
Vanilla with pumpkin pie spice (or SF Pumpkin Pie Torani syrup)
Vanilla with SF Belgian Cookie Torani
Vanilla with Cinnamon
Chocolate with any SF Torani Syrup-so far I have tried: Almond Rocha, Salted Caramel, Belgian Cookie, Peanut Butter, S'Mores
Chocolate with peppermint extract
Coffee with either chocolate or vanilla Optifast
I cold brew coffee and have the concentrate for a few days. I've been doing 1/3c grounds with 3 cups water, stir and let sit out over night then pour through a filter the next day. Once I'm out of my already ground beans I plan to buy good whole beans and use my french press so it will be a little simpler. :-)
After adding the shakes I put it all in the micro for about 45sec-1min depending on how how you like things. Note I have tried to mix the shakes with hot water but it just doesn't mix as well.
Coffee + Choc + any of the above SF Torani syrups
Coffee + Vanilla + SF Belgian Cookie
Coffee + Vanilla + Almond Rocha
Coffee + Vanilla + Cinnamon
Soups**
Chicken + Fiesta Lime No Salt added Mrs. Dash
Chicken + Garlic Pepper No Salt added Mrs. Dash
Chicken + Lemon Pepper Lowry's
Chicken + Sriracha
Tomato + Cayenne
Tomato + Garlic and Pepper No Salt added Mrs. Dash
Tomato + Chipotle Southwest No Salt added Mrs. Dash
Tomato + Sriracha
Cold Drinks***
Vanilla + Diet Root Beer + ice
Vanilla + Diet Creme Soda (note buy caffeine free or count in your daily caffeine intake!) + ice
Vanilla + Diet Orange Soda (note buy caffeine free or count in your daily caffeine intake!) + Ice
Vanilla + Pumpkin Pie Spice + ice
Chocolate + SF Peanut Butter Torani syrup + ice
Chocolate + Peppemint extract
Strawberry + Diet Orange Soda (note buy caffeine free or count in your daily caffeine intake!)
Strawberry + Diet Creme Soda (note buy caffeine free or count in your daily caffeine intake!)
Strawberry + Almond extract
My next plan is to add basil to the strawberry
*I always mix the shakes with cold water and then warm it all in the micro or use ready made and warm it all in the micro
**Again I mix in the blender bottle or Ninja with cold water otherwise I have gotten sprayed or it clumps
***I'm not sure why I *** this. hahahah
I like all the bars. The peppermint, cinnamon and peanut are quite good if you warm them 15-20sec in the microwave. You could even eat the peppermint with a fork if you warm it-actually you have to because it is too gooey! The berry is my least favorite, but I keep it for variety.
The only shake I really don't like is the READY MADE strawberry. And to drink alone I prefer the powders to the ready made. The ready made is not milk based so I think that has something to do with it. I believe it is soy. It works well in my coffee, but otherwise I stick to powders-bonus they are cheaper!
My program recommends daily fiber so I drink 1 8oz glass of SF orange Metamucil daily. I realized not long after I bought it that I should have just bought Benefiber and added it to one of my shakes. Whoops! Ah well it gets me another 8oz of water and I just chug it. It's 112 servings, so it will last most of the active weight loss phase. :-) As a GI nurse this is obviously important to me. Our program does not allow for any other options (you don't have to buy the brands-you could just buy psyllium) and since it is medically monitored and they have proven success I am sticking to plan 100%.
Hot Drinks*
Vanilla with pumpkin pie spice (or SF Pumpkin Pie Torani syrup)
Vanilla with SF Belgian Cookie Torani
Vanilla with Cinnamon
Chocolate with any SF Torani Syrup-so far I have tried: Almond Rocha, Salted Caramel, Belgian Cookie, Peanut Butter, S'Mores
Chocolate with peppermint extract
Coffee with either chocolate or vanilla Optifast
I cold brew coffee and have the concentrate for a few days. I've been doing 1/3c grounds with 3 cups water, stir and let sit out over night then pour through a filter the next day. Once I'm out of my already ground beans I plan to buy good whole beans and use my french press so it will be a little simpler. :-)
After adding the shakes I put it all in the micro for about 45sec-1min depending on how how you like things. Note I have tried to mix the shakes with hot water but it just doesn't mix as well.
Coffee + Choc + any of the above SF Torani syrups
Coffee + Vanilla + SF Belgian Cookie
Coffee + Vanilla + Almond Rocha
Coffee + Vanilla + Cinnamon
Soups**
Chicken + Fiesta Lime No Salt added Mrs. Dash
Chicken + Garlic Pepper No Salt added Mrs. Dash
Chicken + Lemon Pepper Lowry's
Chicken + Sriracha
Tomato + Cayenne
Tomato + Garlic and Pepper No Salt added Mrs. Dash
Tomato + Chipotle Southwest No Salt added Mrs. Dash
Tomato + Sriracha
Cold Drinks***
Vanilla + Diet Root Beer + ice
Vanilla + Diet Creme Soda (note buy caffeine free or count in your daily caffeine intake!) + ice
Vanilla + Diet Orange Soda (note buy caffeine free or count in your daily caffeine intake!) + Ice
Vanilla + Pumpkin Pie Spice + ice
Chocolate + SF Peanut Butter Torani syrup + ice
Chocolate + Peppemint extract
Strawberry + Diet Orange Soda (note buy caffeine free or count in your daily caffeine intake!)
Strawberry + Diet Creme Soda (note buy caffeine free or count in your daily caffeine intake!)
Strawberry + Almond extract
My next plan is to add basil to the strawberry
*I always mix the shakes with cold water and then warm it all in the micro or use ready made and warm it all in the micro
**Again I mix in the blender bottle or Ninja with cold water otherwise I have gotten sprayed or it clumps
***I'm not sure why I *** this. hahahah
I like all the bars. The peppermint, cinnamon and peanut are quite good if you warm them 15-20sec in the microwave. You could even eat the peppermint with a fork if you warm it-actually you have to because it is too gooey! The berry is my least favorite, but I keep it for variety.
The only shake I really don't like is the READY MADE strawberry. And to drink alone I prefer the powders to the ready made. The ready made is not milk based so I think that has something to do with it. I believe it is soy. It works well in my coffee, but otherwise I stick to powders-bonus they are cheaper!
My program recommends daily fiber so I drink 1 8oz glass of SF orange Metamucil daily. I realized not long after I bought it that I should have just bought Benefiber and added it to one of my shakes. Whoops! Ah well it gets me another 8oz of water and I just chug it. It's 112 servings, so it will last most of the active weight loss phase. :-) As a GI nurse this is obviously important to me. Our program does not allow for any other options (you don't have to buy the brands-you could just buy psyllium) and since it is medically monitored and they have proven success I am sticking to plan 100%.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Having a boring day...
I need to figure out what that means to me. I walked with a friend (just a short 40 or so minutes) and went to see the new James Bond movie Spectre. I don't know why I feel a little blah today. I guess I'm tired of not doing much besides watch TV and walk with my dogs. They are cute and adorable of course, but it isn't a very full life! I need to figure out how to stay interested. I'm not really sure what the right word is...Anyway I suppose in January when school starts I will be plenty busy!
I could also be reading or coloring or folding the laundry I just washed so I guess bored might not really be the right word. Discontent? Hmmmmm....
The movie was fine. A little part of me missed being able to get lunch or brunch after or before. Those are the sorts of things that I think are going to be tough. I'm going to see a musical in a few weeks and that will be a similar thing. Ah well, I just remind myself it isn't forever. It's just 11 more weeks after all! And I'm hoping that by that time I will be more than halfway to my goal. I've also been wondering when we talk about goal and transition. I want to learn about how to eat and measure portions. I know I will need to buy a scale and some other things. I don't like waiting to find things out so I guess this is a good lesson in patience. :-)
I was trying to think of a reward system for sticking to this. I don't really know how the program feels about rewards. We haven't talked about it at all so I don't know if it is frowned upon. Anyway, I want to "reward" myself with some things for cooking and to make eating at my dining room table more enjoyable. Some things on the list are: a spiralizer, small bowls and plates, table decor and a cookbook holder. Maybe a pitcher and some things to hold spoons and hot dishes. It almost seems silly since I live alone, but eating at the table is an important habit. I'm also going to pick out a playlist to reward myself for doing the C25K week 1! I will finish week 2 tomorrow. So I think I will pick tomorrows play list tonight and then find another one for tomorrow. Or maybe just add a song for every week I complete it. That might be more fun. :-)
I feel strangely better for blogging (even if I am the only one who reads this) so yeah me! Think I will go fold that laundry. :-)
I could also be reading or coloring or folding the laundry I just washed so I guess bored might not really be the right word. Discontent? Hmmmmm....
The movie was fine. A little part of me missed being able to get lunch or brunch after or before. Those are the sorts of things that I think are going to be tough. I'm going to see a musical in a few weeks and that will be a similar thing. Ah well, I just remind myself it isn't forever. It's just 11 more weeks after all! And I'm hoping that by that time I will be more than halfway to my goal. I've also been wondering when we talk about goal and transition. I want to learn about how to eat and measure portions. I know I will need to buy a scale and some other things. I don't like waiting to find things out so I guess this is a good lesson in patience. :-)
I was trying to think of a reward system for sticking to this. I don't really know how the program feels about rewards. We haven't talked about it at all so I don't know if it is frowned upon. Anyway, I want to "reward" myself with some things for cooking and to make eating at my dining room table more enjoyable. Some things on the list are: a spiralizer, small bowls and plates, table decor and a cookbook holder. Maybe a pitcher and some things to hold spoons and hot dishes. It almost seems silly since I live alone, but eating at the table is an important habit. I'm also going to pick out a playlist to reward myself for doing the C25K week 1! I will finish week 2 tomorrow. So I think I will pick tomorrows play list tonight and then find another one for tomorrow. Or maybe just add a song for every week I complete it. That might be more fun. :-)
I feel strangely better for blogging (even if I am the only one who reads this) so yeah me! Think I will go fold that laundry. :-)
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Week 5 weigh in...
I don't think I've been writing the weeks right or it's confusing or I don't know...:-) Anyway, I started the 5th week of the Kaiser Healthy Weight Management Program last night. So it was technically my 5th weigh in. I've completed 3 weeks of product (remember week 1 is no product) and I'm feeling great! I'm sort of shocked by how good I feel and I don't know if it is because I'm finally on the path to losing the weight I've been carrying for the last 5 years or that I'm walking more than I have in months or that I'm in ketosis and slightly high all the time. Whatever it is I will take it!!
Everyone says the products become routine and they are right. I essentially have them at the same time every day. I don't set a timer or anything like that because I really want to listen to my body. I think that's a skill I need to have for the future. Much of my overeating was due to eating when I wasn't hungry or waiting until I was starving and then overeating at night. SO, my goal is to eat regularly but listen to my body and have a glass of water at my first sign of hunger and then wait 20min or so and if I feel hungry again then I will eat. This is making my products be about every 2-3 hours which is what is recommended by the plan-and I guess it's that way for a reason. I bought some Torani syrups that I am adding to the shakes still. They are all good. I'm thinking the 2 bars and 1 soup plus 3 shakes will be a good plan for me for the duration. I like being able to chew and it is sort of like having 3 "meals" and the shakes are like snacks. I imagine in the future I will continue to eat 5-6 times/day whether it is 3 regular meals and 2-3 small snacks or something similar. I know it's too early to really think about the future, but what better time?
I am still reading the Beck Diet Solution with the intent that I will just read it now and then start it again the week or so before transition. I think that cognitive behavioral therapy techniques are great skills to have for anything in life. Who knows, maybe I will use them to help with other fears, etc.
I've also been doing the C25K running app. I want to go back to running (slow jogging) a few 5Ks/yr and maybe a couple longer runs. It's going well. I have been waking up at 6 without any problems. I'm turning off my screens at 9 and reading for an hour or so (usually less because I'm tired!) I'm feeling rested and ready to workout most mornings. This morning was harder, but I haven't been drinking as much water (2L instead of 80oz) and I wonder if that's why. It was also Wednesday and I think I don't get as much rest on Wednesdays because of class and I'm anxious to see what my "official" Thursday morning weight is.
Speaking of weigh in! I lost 2.2lbs this week. This brings my total to 13.4lbs in the 3 weeks I've been on product. I'm more than happy with that. I also imagine that I will level out now at 2-3lbs/week.
We are supposed to start increasing our activity so I'm aiming for about 8000 steps/day this week. Today I'm falling way short, but I sat at my desk a lot. Tomorrow should be better. It's dark when I get home but I need to just get over that and get the dogs our for a 30min walk. The program doesn't recommend more than 30-60min of exercise based on our intake right now. I also plan to add in strength training starting next week. It will help me in so many ways-building muscle of course aids in weight loss because muscle burns more calories than fat plus it will help prevent injuries and strengthen the muscles around my joints.
That's about all I have for tonight!
Everyone says the products become routine and they are right. I essentially have them at the same time every day. I don't set a timer or anything like that because I really want to listen to my body. I think that's a skill I need to have for the future. Much of my overeating was due to eating when I wasn't hungry or waiting until I was starving and then overeating at night. SO, my goal is to eat regularly but listen to my body and have a glass of water at my first sign of hunger and then wait 20min or so and if I feel hungry again then I will eat. This is making my products be about every 2-3 hours which is what is recommended by the plan-and I guess it's that way for a reason. I bought some Torani syrups that I am adding to the shakes still. They are all good. I'm thinking the 2 bars and 1 soup plus 3 shakes will be a good plan for me for the duration. I like being able to chew and it is sort of like having 3 "meals" and the shakes are like snacks. I imagine in the future I will continue to eat 5-6 times/day whether it is 3 regular meals and 2-3 small snacks or something similar. I know it's too early to really think about the future, but what better time?
I am still reading the Beck Diet Solution with the intent that I will just read it now and then start it again the week or so before transition. I think that cognitive behavioral therapy techniques are great skills to have for anything in life. Who knows, maybe I will use them to help with other fears, etc.
I've also been doing the C25K running app. I want to go back to running (slow jogging) a few 5Ks/yr and maybe a couple longer runs. It's going well. I have been waking up at 6 without any problems. I'm turning off my screens at 9 and reading for an hour or so (usually less because I'm tired!) I'm feeling rested and ready to workout most mornings. This morning was harder, but I haven't been drinking as much water (2L instead of 80oz) and I wonder if that's why. It was also Wednesday and I think I don't get as much rest on Wednesdays because of class and I'm anxious to see what my "official" Thursday morning weight is.
Speaking of weigh in! I lost 2.2lbs this week. This brings my total to 13.4lbs in the 3 weeks I've been on product. I'm more than happy with that. I also imagine that I will level out now at 2-3lbs/week.
We are supposed to start increasing our activity so I'm aiming for about 8000 steps/day this week. Today I'm falling way short, but I sat at my desk a lot. Tomorrow should be better. It's dark when I get home but I need to just get over that and get the dogs our for a 30min walk. The program doesn't recommend more than 30-60min of exercise based on our intake right now. I also plan to add in strength training starting next week. It will help me in so many ways-building muscle of course aids in weight loss because muscle burns more calories than fat plus it will help prevent injuries and strengthen the muscles around my joints.
That's about all I have for tonight!
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Week 2 weigh-in
Minus about 7.8 total on the clinic scale (I'm not 100% sure about the weekly loss since it is a different scale. On MY all important scale I am down 11.4, 3.2 from this past week. I'm happy with that. Its that time of the month every woman retains water and maybe doesn't lose weight, so I'm especially happy that this time I did! I am not drinking quite enough water I think. However, I'm drinking at least 80oz/day so I'm not sure how that's possible. Anyway, today I have a little headache and I had this weird moment of nausea, but it passed. I switched to 3 shakes, 2 bars and 1 soup this week and next. I just thought it would be easier at work. We shall see!
As for activity, I restarted the C25K app and I'm on week 1 day 2. It's going fine. I was a little worried I wouldn't have the energy, but it worked out great. I had a shake first (630!) and the did the run/walk. I will say that since I started eating so early, I was extra hungry by 6. I will have to play with the timing. I think my headache might be related to not enough water because of the exercise. I also need to remember to drink a whole 8oz with my midday bar since I will be missing the fluids from the shake. I also didn't sleep great last night-I had coffee around 3 and it may have kept me up. Lesson learned (again).
I wanted to take a minute to talk about motivators and goals. Our homework for this week is to list 3 motivators and then 3 goals to move more (1 short term, 1 medium and 1 long term) so I've been thinking about that. One of my motivators is to be able to enjoy outdoor activities without being miserable (hot, out of breath, etc). Another includes shopping for cute clothes. :-) I'm having difficulty with the 3rd because I am not in poor health (yet) and that seems like it would be the next important so maybe it's to maintain my health. For the goals: 1. complete the weekly C25K program (it's 8 weeks so that's 8 weeks worth of short term goals) 2. Run a 5k in February 3. complete a 10k next fall (1yr). In reality I want to do the Nike women's half and actually enjoy it next year. But that will be a run/walk so that's why I'm choosing the 10k.
We are also supposed to read a chapter from the book Living Smart Five Essential Skills to Change Your Health Habits Forever. I'm also currently reading The Beck Diet Solution. I'm finding it really interesting and I'm excited to change my thinking around food. I feel like most of my eating occurs when I am alone. I never finish my entire meal at a restaurant, but if I order a pizza, it's gone in 2-3 days. The most overeating always occurs when I haven't eaten or had enough to drink throughout the day so I'm starving on the way home so I stop for fast food. I also stop for cokes and sweet teas. Those calories really add up! And I know that. One of the keys for me in maintenance is going to be drinking water. When I'm not thirsty I don't want sweet tea or soda!
I'm trying to work on other healthy habits as well. I looked at my average steps/day for last month and they were 6200. Our facilitator challenged us to increase them by 500/day/wk until we reach 10000. Already this week I'm getting closer to 7000 so I don't think it will be long til I'm reaching that goal. I am also making sure the dogs get at least one 30min walk. If I increase to 2 I will probably be at the 10000 steps/day. Another thing that I think is key to well being is sleep! I truly believe the blue light from screens interfere with sleep so I've been turning off my computer, phone, TV, etc by 9pm and just going to bed to read on my nook (which is the one with e-ink so no backlight). I'm sleeping so much better!!
So that's it, that's where I'm at! Sleeping more, walking more and in general I'm just happier. And 11.4lbs lighter!
As for activity, I restarted the C25K app and I'm on week 1 day 2. It's going fine. I was a little worried I wouldn't have the energy, but it worked out great. I had a shake first (630!) and the did the run/walk. I will say that since I started eating so early, I was extra hungry by 6. I will have to play with the timing. I think my headache might be related to not enough water because of the exercise. I also need to remember to drink a whole 8oz with my midday bar since I will be missing the fluids from the shake. I also didn't sleep great last night-I had coffee around 3 and it may have kept me up. Lesson learned (again).
I wanted to take a minute to talk about motivators and goals. Our homework for this week is to list 3 motivators and then 3 goals to move more (1 short term, 1 medium and 1 long term) so I've been thinking about that. One of my motivators is to be able to enjoy outdoor activities without being miserable (hot, out of breath, etc). Another includes shopping for cute clothes. :-) I'm having difficulty with the 3rd because I am not in poor health (yet) and that seems like it would be the next important so maybe it's to maintain my health. For the goals: 1. complete the weekly C25K program (it's 8 weeks so that's 8 weeks worth of short term goals) 2. Run a 5k in February 3. complete a 10k next fall (1yr). In reality I want to do the Nike women's half and actually enjoy it next year. But that will be a run/walk so that's why I'm choosing the 10k.
We are also supposed to read a chapter from the book Living Smart Five Essential Skills to Change Your Health Habits Forever. I'm also currently reading The Beck Diet Solution. I'm finding it really interesting and I'm excited to change my thinking around food. I feel like most of my eating occurs when I am alone. I never finish my entire meal at a restaurant, but if I order a pizza, it's gone in 2-3 days. The most overeating always occurs when I haven't eaten or had enough to drink throughout the day so I'm starving on the way home so I stop for fast food. I also stop for cokes and sweet teas. Those calories really add up! And I know that. One of the keys for me in maintenance is going to be drinking water. When I'm not thirsty I don't want sweet tea or soda!
I'm trying to work on other healthy habits as well. I looked at my average steps/day for last month and they were 6200. Our facilitator challenged us to increase them by 500/day/wk until we reach 10000. Already this week I'm getting closer to 7000 so I don't think it will be long til I'm reaching that goal. I am also making sure the dogs get at least one 30min walk. If I increase to 2 I will probably be at the 10000 steps/day. Another thing that I think is key to well being is sleep! I truly believe the blue light from screens interfere with sleep so I've been turning off my computer, phone, TV, etc by 9pm and just going to bed to read on my nook (which is the one with e-ink so no backlight). I'm sleeping so much better!!
So that's it, that's where I'm at! Sleeping more, walking more and in general I'm just happier. And 11.4lbs lighter!
Sunday, October 25, 2015
The Day After...
My first night out...;-)
Yesterday was a pretty busy day for me. It started out with getting my grays covered (premature gray thanks to my mom's side of the family). I had to get up about 7 on my day off, which I know isn't early in most worlds, but I like to get up slowly on weekends. I was tempted to tell my stylist about this journey. Mostly because I wanted to warn her about hair loss, but a little part of me is hoping that since I won't be fasting as long as some of the other blogs I have read and I'm not doing the Optifast HP program (which is even less than my 960 calories) I won't have the hair loss issues. Wow, how is that for a run on sentence? ;-) Remember I am a nurse not a writer! Anyway, I didn't and I sort of hope I don't have to. I am telling all of my friends and coworkers and that seems to be enough people for now. I've also told one sister, but I should probably tell my mom and my other sister.
Anyway, I got a little off track! One of my good friends owns a bed and breakfast near my hair appt and we had plans for the evening so I headed over there with my pups to hang out. I was mostly fine, but she did eat smoked salmon on a bagel in front of me and another friend that was their had toast with butter. I was a little jealous, but I need to get used to people eating in front of me. We just sat by the pool and relaxed for a couple hours which was nice.
The big event was the Bridge School Benefit that evening. It's a concert that Neil Young and his ex-wife Peggy started to benefit a school they founded for kids with special needs. We went for the Dixie Chicks, but there were some other real great performances: Ben Harper=amazing!!, Ryan Adams, Sheryl Crow, Gary Clark, Jr...all awesome!! I'm so glad I went. I definitely hope to make this a bay area tradition for me. :-)
I knew there would be challenges for the whole day: 1. taking all my product with me 2. timing my meals 3. drinking water while at the concert! and 4. not having to pee all night and miss all the acts (sorry if that is TMI for some, but I am a nurse...;-) )
How did I address this issues? I would say the taking all the products out with me was easy. When I come home with my supplies I separate it in to what I will need for each day of the week. So I just grabbed the days supplies, threw them in my purse and took off. As for timing, I had my first shake with coffee around 730 and then I was in the salon so I didn't have my next product until around 1115 which was a bit too long. I def need to have them every 2-3 (at the most) hours otherwise I do get a little loopy and hungry. My 3rd and 4th were simple because I was at the inn and could just make my shakes like normal. I did pretty well with water to that point. During the concert I waited to have a bar until 7 which was ok, but what I didn't account for was the fact that the concert ended close to midnight and I still had a shake to drink! Grrrr...So I started to get a little loopy, a little hungry and a little dizzy on my 800 calories so far. Fortunately the show got pretty exciting so I was distracted! But I never plan to do that again! As soon as we got to the inn I made a quick vanilla shake with some pumpkin pie spice, chugged it lukewarm and headed back to the car for my hour drive home. Anyway, lesson learned. Next big event I will take 2 bars because I think shakes are just too hard at events like that. I worry about not being allowed to take things in, etc. But I'm a rule follower and always afraid to be in trouble! My other big issue was water. As I said, I drank pretty well during the day, but then the concert came and I didn't want to get up to pee! As a result I only drank 10oz at the concert. I should have had another 20oz or so before bed, but I was just tired and ready to sleep and had to talk all the way home to not sleep! As a result I'm paying for that this AM. I had some cramps in my feet, my lips are dry and I have a hangover headache. The solution of course is to rehydrate...so that's what I'm doing!! Just not doing a great job! It's 1045am and I've only gotten 16oz down. But my headache is fading and the foot cramps seem gone. My weight was down 1.6lbs and I would say 1lb was probably water loss! Which to me isn't the same as losing water weight, because it was excessive!
All in all I would say it was a success! I recommend taking all the product with you if there is a risk you will be gone all day. And next time I will try to get all my water in before the concert! I am glad I enjoy things like music and musicals, etc. So many people only entertain themselves with food and I think I have a headstart on the maintenance portion by already knowing what activities, other than food I enjoy! But lets not go there yet...I'm only on week 2 day 4. :-)
Yesterday was a pretty busy day for me. It started out with getting my grays covered (premature gray thanks to my mom's side of the family). I had to get up about 7 on my day off, which I know isn't early in most worlds, but I like to get up slowly on weekends. I was tempted to tell my stylist about this journey. Mostly because I wanted to warn her about hair loss, but a little part of me is hoping that since I won't be fasting as long as some of the other blogs I have read and I'm not doing the Optifast HP program (which is even less than my 960 calories) I won't have the hair loss issues. Wow, how is that for a run on sentence? ;-) Remember I am a nurse not a writer! Anyway, I didn't and I sort of hope I don't have to. I am telling all of my friends and coworkers and that seems to be enough people for now. I've also told one sister, but I should probably tell my mom and my other sister.
Anyway, I got a little off track! One of my good friends owns a bed and breakfast near my hair appt and we had plans for the evening so I headed over there with my pups to hang out. I was mostly fine, but she did eat smoked salmon on a bagel in front of me and another friend that was their had toast with butter. I was a little jealous, but I need to get used to people eating in front of me. We just sat by the pool and relaxed for a couple hours which was nice.
The big event was the Bridge School Benefit that evening. It's a concert that Neil Young and his ex-wife Peggy started to benefit a school they founded for kids with special needs. We went for the Dixie Chicks, but there were some other real great performances: Ben Harper=amazing!!, Ryan Adams, Sheryl Crow, Gary Clark, Jr...all awesome!! I'm so glad I went. I definitely hope to make this a bay area tradition for me. :-)
I knew there would be challenges for the whole day: 1. taking all my product with me 2. timing my meals 3. drinking water while at the concert! and 4. not having to pee all night and miss all the acts (sorry if that is TMI for some, but I am a nurse...;-) )
How did I address this issues? I would say the taking all the products out with me was easy. When I come home with my supplies I separate it in to what I will need for each day of the week. So I just grabbed the days supplies, threw them in my purse and took off. As for timing, I had my first shake with coffee around 730 and then I was in the salon so I didn't have my next product until around 1115 which was a bit too long. I def need to have them every 2-3 (at the most) hours otherwise I do get a little loopy and hungry. My 3rd and 4th were simple because I was at the inn and could just make my shakes like normal. I did pretty well with water to that point. During the concert I waited to have a bar until 7 which was ok, but what I didn't account for was the fact that the concert ended close to midnight and I still had a shake to drink! Grrrr...So I started to get a little loopy, a little hungry and a little dizzy on my 800 calories so far. Fortunately the show got pretty exciting so I was distracted! But I never plan to do that again! As soon as we got to the inn I made a quick vanilla shake with some pumpkin pie spice, chugged it lukewarm and headed back to the car for my hour drive home. Anyway, lesson learned. Next big event I will take 2 bars because I think shakes are just too hard at events like that. I worry about not being allowed to take things in, etc. But I'm a rule follower and always afraid to be in trouble! My other big issue was water. As I said, I drank pretty well during the day, but then the concert came and I didn't want to get up to pee! As a result I only drank 10oz at the concert. I should have had another 20oz or so before bed, but I was just tired and ready to sleep and had to talk all the way home to not sleep! As a result I'm paying for that this AM. I had some cramps in my feet, my lips are dry and I have a hangover headache. The solution of course is to rehydrate...so that's what I'm doing!! Just not doing a great job! It's 1045am and I've only gotten 16oz down. But my headache is fading and the foot cramps seem gone. My weight was down 1.6lbs and I would say 1lb was probably water loss! Which to me isn't the same as losing water weight, because it was excessive!
All in all I would say it was a success! I recommend taking all the product with you if there is a risk you will be gone all day. And next time I will try to get all my water in before the concert! I am glad I enjoy things like music and musicals, etc. So many people only entertain themselves with food and I think I have a headstart on the maintenance portion by already knowing what activities, other than food I enjoy! But lets not go there yet...I'm only on week 2 day 4. :-)
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Week 1 is Really Finished!
So my official weigh in on my own scale this AM was minus 8lbs. Yeah! I think that my face is less puffy, my feet are a little less sore and I am feeling fine.
Today I think I'm a little behind on the water intake, but I have almost had 80oz plus my shakes so maybe not. I'll just keep drinking! Last night in class we talked about motivation and started touching on exercise. I've always enjoyed being active so the only reason I struggle with that part is because I can't do what I used to. I just really have to get over that and just be happy doing what I can! So we were challenged to do a couple things...increase our steps by 500 more per day than we are currently doing until we reach 10000 steps per day and write down 3 motivators. My motivators are 1. To be able to hike and walk and run outside and be comfortable doing it! 2. To be able to buy clothes I love! 3. To be able to travel comfortably! (and by that I mean, be able to walk and see places and fit in airplane seats and not feel clumsy and like I'm taking up too much space or feel like people are looking at me). According to my Apple health app I'm averaging 6200 steps per day on the month tab so my goal will be to get 6700. I think in reality I will probably start getting more than that since I am walking at least 30min.
I'm trying to decide what to do for the holidays this year. I think I am going to stay here and then go home in March between the boys birthdays. I'm going to Hawaii in March probably for a friends birthday so I could tack it on to that or go from there.
I'm not doing a great job of finding things to occupy my time in the evenings. I'm mostly obsessing over blogs and the internet. This isn't much of a change though, I just have different things to look at. :-) At some point I want to get away from having 3 screens going at night (phone, laptop, TV) and shrink it to maybe just the TV and some other activity. :-) I actually bought one of those adult coloring books so that's a nice way to start.
Off to have my last shake! Iced or hot? Hmmmm...
Today I think I'm a little behind on the water intake, but I have almost had 80oz plus my shakes so maybe not. I'll just keep drinking! Last night in class we talked about motivation and started touching on exercise. I've always enjoyed being active so the only reason I struggle with that part is because I can't do what I used to. I just really have to get over that and just be happy doing what I can! So we were challenged to do a couple things...increase our steps by 500 more per day than we are currently doing until we reach 10000 steps per day and write down 3 motivators. My motivators are 1. To be able to hike and walk and run outside and be comfortable doing it! 2. To be able to buy clothes I love! 3. To be able to travel comfortably! (and by that I mean, be able to walk and see places and fit in airplane seats and not feel clumsy and like I'm taking up too much space or feel like people are looking at me). According to my Apple health app I'm averaging 6200 steps per day on the month tab so my goal will be to get 6700. I think in reality I will probably start getting more than that since I am walking at least 30min.
I'm trying to decide what to do for the holidays this year. I think I am going to stay here and then go home in March between the boys birthdays. I'm going to Hawaii in March probably for a friends birthday so I could tack it on to that or go from there.
I'm not doing a great job of finding things to occupy my time in the evenings. I'm mostly obsessing over blogs and the internet. This isn't much of a change though, I just have different things to look at. :-) At some point I want to get away from having 3 screens going at night (phone, laptop, TV) and shrink it to maybe just the TV and some other activity. :-) I actually bought one of those adult coloring books so that's a nice way to start.
Off to have my last shake! Iced or hot? Hmmmm...
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
End of Week 1!!
So I did it!! I survived!! 14 to go. :-)
I got up earlier today so I'm hungrier later, but that makes since. Good to remember though! I weighed in on the body composition scale tonight and it's a little off from the regular clinic scale so it's hard to say how much I actually lost. So it's somewhere between 5-7lbs. We shall see what my official weight is tomorrow. :-)
Off to bed early tonight!
I got up earlier today so I'm hungrier later, but that makes since. Good to remember though! I weighed in on the body composition scale tonight and it's a little off from the regular clinic scale so it's hard to say how much I actually lost. So it's somewhere between 5-7lbs. We shall see what my official weight is tomorrow. :-)
Off to bed early tonight!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
One more day til the end of week 1!
I'm sort of surprised at how easy this is...I was really expecting to be starving, have headaches and just be miserable in general at least a couple days! Anyway, I will just accept that I didn't have to suffer much. :-)
My biggest issue right now is that I know I can't go out to dinner before shows, etc for a very long time. I am one of those people that did all of my overeating alone at night at home or because I stopped for fast food on the way home because I was starving. SO I am hoping this will really reset my body and brain into needing to eat every 3-4 hours in the future and drinking lots of water. I never used to have a problem being active and I am taking the dogs for 1 good 30min walk every morning. I'm hoping as I figure out what my body can do I will be able to restart the C210K running app. I want to ask more about that at class this week.
Class...we meet tomorrow night. I don't honestly feel that it has been super helpful at this point, but it's only been 2 weeks so we will see. I'm hoping there will be more dialogue. We have a couple people in group who are in their second round because they gained the weight back. And another who lost quite a bit of weight on his own and has kept it off, but plateaued. I would really like to hear how he has managed to keep it off. At the very least it will hold me accountable! And I think the maintenance stuff will be great!
I wish I was more worried about that, but historically I have not had much difficulty losing weight by counting calories when I needed to lose 10-20 pounds. Of course, my whole goal is to not ever have to lose that much weight again!
I have in my head an end goal weight of 155 with the whole +/- 5. That's seems to be where my body was happiest in the past. I don't think I have written on here where my weight started but I guess this is a good place! I was 242.6 on the clinic scale on Wednesday night and 241.6 on my scale. The sort of strange thing about that is I was fully clothed and wearing shoes on the clinic scale and it was the end of the day...which means my scale actually weighs me as more than theirs! Ah well....I'm using my naked morning weights as my official weights. :-)
Monday, October 19, 2015
Day 5 and holding strong....
I didn't write anything yesterday because, frankly, I didn't have anything to say about the plan. :-) I am assuming I am in Ketosis and perhaps my headaches on Friday and a little Saturday were related to it. I'm not honestly sure, because some people say "ketoflu" is horrible and enough to make you never want to cheat. For me, I get headaches frequently when I don't drink enough water and they have been much worse. Guess it helped I stayed hydrated. I've been logging all my product into My Fitness Pal. I like the app and plan to continue using it for a long time! Anyway, I have to add 40calories per day as a "quick add" because MFP doesn't like it when women take in less than 1000cal/day. I'm glad they have that feature in general because it would be a huge trigger for anoretics.
Something happened today that I should write so I'm reminded later! I had my chocolate shake on the drive to work then got to work and realized I had only brought a shake and a soup! I have been having 4 products before I get home at night and then just have the last 2 and maybe a cup of tea. I was ok and had a cup of tea around 4pm, but then I was heading to the elevator and got a little dizzy. SO! Lesson learned! I'm going to start taking all my product for the week to work on Thursdays after I pick it up on Wednesday night.
Now, I am occasionally hungry, but mostly when it is time for me to have another shake. And it isn't like before when I might not eat much all day and then feel sort of weak and "funny" and ravished until I ate a huge dinner. Something I will try and remember when I enter transition and maintenance! Of course, that seems forever away right now!
In reality I'm not even finished with week 1 yet and the novelty has not warn off. I still hear people mention food and my first thought is "oh poor me I can't have that" but I try to stop those thoughts immediately and change to "oh well I can't have that right now and the end results are going to be so worth it." So far that's working for me.
I am reading some of the Optifast Support posts on Facebook. While it is motivating, there seem to be a lot of people on there who are buying it online and it's sort of frustrating! As a nurse, I know how important it is to monitor labs, etc while being on a low calorie diet. These people are recommending people do things like take vitamin water (strictly forbidden by our doctor), eat veggies even if it's not on plan, etc. One study shows that it is better to not eat anything at all because to chew stimulates something in you and makes you want to chew even more. So I'll stick to my 1 or 2 bars. Other than the first night when I would have loved to have another (but didn't) I haven't felt the need to continue chewing.
I've been thinking about how to order product. I don't particularly like the fact that we basically ordered blindly (other than a taste test of the powder shakes and bars) for the first 2 weeks. I won't order strawberry ready made anymore. I'm also going to try 2 bars and 1 soup and then 3 shakes and see how that goes. Then I'll drink a glass of water with the bars. Water...that is something I am doing surprisingly well on. I used to drink 3L a day and somewhere in the last 5 years I just stopped drinking it! It feels good to be hydrated again...maybe that's why I'm not having many issues.
I have to confess to weighing myself WAY too often, but it's so fun to watch the weight come off even if it water weight! I heard about a study that says weighing daily might actually be a great way to stay on track esp in maintenance. This will surely be frowned upon by Kaiser, but when I stopped weighing myself is when I gained! Of course there were other factors, but that was one piece.
What else can I say? I'm mixing the shakes with a variety of things. Some favorites are:
1. Vanilla powder with diet A&W root beer with some ice
2. Coffee with a box of chocolate or vanilla are both good! I added some pumpkin pie spice to one and it was great-even though I'm not a fan of pumpkin spice lattes...yes I know, unAmerican.
3. Ready made chocolate warmed up and then add caramel sugar free syrup (I bought the Target brand)
4. Boil water in the tea kettle and add vanilla powder, pumpkin pie spice and a little vanilla and cinnamon (only because there isn't enough already....ha!)
5. Not a shake by cayenne in the tomato sou is tasty
6. And I highly recommend heating the bars for 15-30sec! They taste like a yummy warm dessert!
One thing I wonder is after all of this sweet stuff will I continue to want to end my night with something sweet? I'm not sure, but historically it sounds like people generally start to crave more savory and salty things. We shall see...in about 14.5 weeks. :-)
I hate to say it, but I'm excited and a little nervous to weigh in on Wednesday! I'm afraid that the number won't be as exciting as I thought it would be and I've been trying to think of what I would be ok with for a week 1 number. I think it's because usually people lose a large amt the first week due to water loss and then it tapers off so if I don't put up a good number this week, what will that mean for the rest?? I won't be very happy if I don't lose at least 2lb/week on this plan!! Also, its getting to be that time in the month where I always retain water....something I should document in My Fitness Pal so that I remember!
Signing off...time to turn the screens off! If anyone is out there reading this Thanks!
Something happened today that I should write so I'm reminded later! I had my chocolate shake on the drive to work then got to work and realized I had only brought a shake and a soup! I have been having 4 products before I get home at night and then just have the last 2 and maybe a cup of tea. I was ok and had a cup of tea around 4pm, but then I was heading to the elevator and got a little dizzy. SO! Lesson learned! I'm going to start taking all my product for the week to work on Thursdays after I pick it up on Wednesday night.
Now, I am occasionally hungry, but mostly when it is time for me to have another shake. And it isn't like before when I might not eat much all day and then feel sort of weak and "funny" and ravished until I ate a huge dinner. Something I will try and remember when I enter transition and maintenance! Of course, that seems forever away right now!
In reality I'm not even finished with week 1 yet and the novelty has not warn off. I still hear people mention food and my first thought is "oh poor me I can't have that" but I try to stop those thoughts immediately and change to "oh well I can't have that right now and the end results are going to be so worth it." So far that's working for me.
I am reading some of the Optifast Support posts on Facebook. While it is motivating, there seem to be a lot of people on there who are buying it online and it's sort of frustrating! As a nurse, I know how important it is to monitor labs, etc while being on a low calorie diet. These people are recommending people do things like take vitamin water (strictly forbidden by our doctor), eat veggies even if it's not on plan, etc. One study shows that it is better to not eat anything at all because to chew stimulates something in you and makes you want to chew even more. So I'll stick to my 1 or 2 bars. Other than the first night when I would have loved to have another (but didn't) I haven't felt the need to continue chewing.
I've been thinking about how to order product. I don't particularly like the fact that we basically ordered blindly (other than a taste test of the powder shakes and bars) for the first 2 weeks. I won't order strawberry ready made anymore. I'm also going to try 2 bars and 1 soup and then 3 shakes and see how that goes. Then I'll drink a glass of water with the bars. Water...that is something I am doing surprisingly well on. I used to drink 3L a day and somewhere in the last 5 years I just stopped drinking it! It feels good to be hydrated again...maybe that's why I'm not having many issues.
I have to confess to weighing myself WAY too often, but it's so fun to watch the weight come off even if it water weight! I heard about a study that says weighing daily might actually be a great way to stay on track esp in maintenance. This will surely be frowned upon by Kaiser, but when I stopped weighing myself is when I gained! Of course there were other factors, but that was one piece.
What else can I say? I'm mixing the shakes with a variety of things. Some favorites are:
1. Vanilla powder with diet A&W root beer with some ice
2. Coffee with a box of chocolate or vanilla are both good! I added some pumpkin pie spice to one and it was great-even though I'm not a fan of pumpkin spice lattes...yes I know, unAmerican.
3. Ready made chocolate warmed up and then add caramel sugar free syrup (I bought the Target brand)
4. Boil water in the tea kettle and add vanilla powder, pumpkin pie spice and a little vanilla and cinnamon (only because there isn't enough already....ha!)
5. Not a shake by cayenne in the tomato sou is tasty
6. And I highly recommend heating the bars for 15-30sec! They taste like a yummy warm dessert!
One thing I wonder is after all of this sweet stuff will I continue to want to end my night with something sweet? I'm not sure, but historically it sounds like people generally start to crave more savory and salty things. We shall see...in about 14.5 weeks. :-)
I hate to say it, but I'm excited and a little nervous to weigh in on Wednesday! I'm afraid that the number won't be as exciting as I thought it would be and I've been trying to think of what I would be ok with for a week 1 number. I think it's because usually people lose a large amt the first week due to water loss and then it tapers off so if I don't put up a good number this week, what will that mean for the rest?? I won't be very happy if I don't lose at least 2lb/week on this plan!! Also, its getting to be that time in the month where I always retain water....something I should document in My Fitness Pal so that I remember!
Signing off...time to turn the screens off! If anyone is out there reading this Thanks!
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Day 3!!
So, I'm still waiting for this Ketoflu thing everyone talks about. Right now I'm just a little hungry. Maybe I won't get the symptoms as bad as others. One can only hope right?!
I had 4 shakes and 2 bars today. I made a pumpkin pie spice vanilla creme tonight and it was delicious. Just boiled my water with the tea kettle, added the vanilla powder and added a couple shakes of the pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon and a dash of vanilla extract. I also went out and bought tea bags. I decided they might be helpful to mix things up rather than drinking water constantly when I have an inkling of hunger. I also don't want my body to think it needs to be full all the time either because that's when I feel like I eat constantly!
Anyway, all in all a good day. I walked the pups twice. Once in the AM, followed by some playtime at the dog park and some sprinkles of rain-much needed in California right now!! It felt so good. Then tonight I headed out near sunset and sat by the water for some great sunset and fog views! I love the bay area and am so happy to be making this very important lifestyle change here!
Off to have some Sleepytime Tea and hopefully a great nights rest! Eventually I need to do more than just hang out on my couch and outside for an hour a day, but a cool, drizzly, foggy Saturday makes for a great couch day!
I had 4 shakes and 2 bars today. I made a pumpkin pie spice vanilla creme tonight and it was delicious. Just boiled my water with the tea kettle, added the vanilla powder and added a couple shakes of the pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon and a dash of vanilla extract. I also went out and bought tea bags. I decided they might be helpful to mix things up rather than drinking water constantly when I have an inkling of hunger. I also don't want my body to think it needs to be full all the time either because that's when I feel like I eat constantly!
Anyway, all in all a good day. I walked the pups twice. Once in the AM, followed by some playtime at the dog park and some sprinkles of rain-much needed in California right now!! It felt so good. Then tonight I headed out near sunset and sat by the water for some great sunset and fog views! I love the bay area and am so happy to be making this very important lifestyle change here!
Off to have some Sleepytime Tea and hopefully a great nights rest! Eventually I need to do more than just hang out on my couch and outside for an hour a day, but a cool, drizzly, foggy Saturday makes for a great couch day!
Friday, October 16, 2015
Day 2...just a little headache, but more hunger
So I wasn't sure when to expect hunger and headaches and the dreaded ketoflu that everyone talks about. I don't think I'm there yet. I am hungrier today so maybe tomorrow I will feel it. I have had just a little headache today due to my brilliant idea of cutting out coffee. I think it might be better to wean myself off of it. So mid morning I had a vanilla ready to drink shake mixed in an 8oz cup of coffee and it was fine. :-) I wouldn't say it was as good as a Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha, but I don't have many of those anyway. I had the chicken soup at lunch time with some ground black pepper. It was pretty good. I think having the soups for lunch is a good idea anyway because that is a healthy habit I want to adopt after this crazy 15 weeks end. So in total I had 4 shakes, 1 soup and I'm about to have a bar. An aside for people who may be thinking about doing this...I mentioned I don't like the ready made shakes, but the strawberry ready to drink is especially not good. It's drinkable so I guess not horrible, but just not something I plan to continue to order. So far the vanilla powder is my favorite. I have added pumpkin pie spice twice and it's a great evening dessert. :-)
So overall today, I'm pretty hungry, maybe a 7 on a 0-10 scale. But that didn't start until about 5 this evening. I still have a dull headache, but I am really blaming it on the stupid choice of eliminating caffeine for no good reason. I'm drinking at least 2 liters of water in addition to the shakes so the bathroom is my best friend.
That's about it! Tomorrow I might head to the movies so that I can avoid sitting on the couch thinking about food! I am anticipating based on what I've read it might be the worst day. Which makes me happy I started on a Thursday...by the time Monday rolls around I should be feeling pretty good!
Day 1...10/15/2015
So Day 1...it wasn't that bad. :-) I was pleasantly surprised to not have 1 headache and to not feel very hungry. I did get a little anxious when I got home from work because I am a major eat alone on the couch while I watch TV girl. I am hoping that will be one habit I change through this process! I had 4 shakes, 1 soup and 1 bar. I am not a fan of the ready made shakes. They are dairy free and soy based I think so they have a little different flavor. I had the garden tomato soup which was surprisingly tasty. I have read about people adding things to the soups and shakes, but think I will mostly wait until I start to get bored before I do that. I walked the dogs for 30 minutes in the morning before work. I peed a ton and think I lost 2lbs of water weight. Haha...PS remember I'm a nurse so if I have crazy symptoms or things I won't hesitate to warn people. :-)
Overall it was a fine day. I did try and go to bed early just so I wouldn't be tempted to eat. My plan for Day 2 is try and have a couple supplements later or spread out just a little further.
Downfall...
I'm not a blogger and I have tried once before to create a blog to document a weight loss journey that wasn't successful. Anyway, I thought now might be the time to start again!
A little background on me! I am a pediatric nurse. I was very thin most of my childhood and I remember people forcing me to eat or sitting at the dinner table for hours because I would gag on certain foods. Now that I work as a GI nurse I understand that is the WORST thing you can do to a picky eater. Through high school I maintained a healthy weight mostly because my mom was overweight and I never wanted to have to deal with those issues myself. In college I worked a lot and ate a lot of pizza so I'm guessing that is when I start the cycle of gain 10lbs lose 10lbs, but it was never a lot of weight on my 5'8" frame. Fast forward to 2007...my best friend was diagnosed with colon cancer but I had plans to be a travel nurse...so I went. I loved it, but I was also concerned about what was happening at home, especially when I learned her cancer was stage 4. I still managed to only gain about 5 lbs. I decided to continue traveling and got an assignment...on the dreaded NIGHT SHIFT! I know a lot of people who like night shift, but it was NOT for me. I slept all the time and when I wasn't sleeping I was eating. I managed to gain 30lbs before I decided I really needed to be at home helping my friend. I lived with her and her husband and their daughter to help out. While there I managed to fall and sprain both of my ankles. I think of that as the beginning of all my loss of control. After she passed away I spent more a few more months at home before I resumed my travel nursing...where once again I was stuck on crazy rotating shifts. My weight managed to balloon to 250-a total 100lb weight gain! I couldn't believe I had gone from a pretty healthy, active person to someone who pretty much spent all my time asleep or eating on the couch.
I continued travel nursing and made it to Los Angeles where I was finally on day shift, but still full of horrible habits and managed to gain another 8lbs. I was having joint pains, plantar fasciitis (probably from both the weight gain and the bilateral sprained ankles that I never properly rehabilitated) and just plain lethargy.
I moved on to the San Francisco Bay Area and felt somewhat motivated to make some changes after a horrible hike with a couple of friends. There was a time in my past that hike would have been no big deal and this time I was practically in tears.
I entered a challenge at work and managed to lose about 30lbs. For some reason, I felt like I would never reach the end so I lost all my motivation. I just didn't think I could be successful. I have managed to keep off about 20lbs from my all time high of 260(ish).
At this point in my life I am almost 40 and love being outside and nature and it worries me that I am missing out on so many things in life due to discomfort, both physical and emotional, related to my weight. I don't enjoy social situations anymore unless it's a dark theater because I am sure people are looking at me. It's uncomfortable to go to theaters or ball games because I worry about stairs and if the person who sits next to me will be annoyed if my leg touches theirs. I want to run again and wear cute clothes! So here I am, I've decided to start the Kaiser Healthy Weight Management Program. I always scoff at fad diets or elimination diets so it will probably surprise some people that I am doing it, but I feel like I need the motivation of losing a lot of weight fairly rapidly and I feel like the transition program will help me return to my healthy roots. I'm going to do 2 more posts today about day 1 and 2. I'm doing it mostly for myself because I want to be able to remind myself of what I put myself through to get back my health! I also spent a lot of time looking for Optifast blogs and was surprised to not find many recent ones so I thought maybe someone out there would benefit. :-)
So wish me luck and if you are a fellow Optifaster...congratulations on your life change and good luck!!
A little background on me! I am a pediatric nurse. I was very thin most of my childhood and I remember people forcing me to eat or sitting at the dinner table for hours because I would gag on certain foods. Now that I work as a GI nurse I understand that is the WORST thing you can do to a picky eater. Through high school I maintained a healthy weight mostly because my mom was overweight and I never wanted to have to deal with those issues myself. In college I worked a lot and ate a lot of pizza so I'm guessing that is when I start the cycle of gain 10lbs lose 10lbs, but it was never a lot of weight on my 5'8" frame. Fast forward to 2007...my best friend was diagnosed with colon cancer but I had plans to be a travel nurse...so I went. I loved it, but I was also concerned about what was happening at home, especially when I learned her cancer was stage 4. I still managed to only gain about 5 lbs. I decided to continue traveling and got an assignment...on the dreaded NIGHT SHIFT! I know a lot of people who like night shift, but it was NOT for me. I slept all the time and when I wasn't sleeping I was eating. I managed to gain 30lbs before I decided I really needed to be at home helping my friend. I lived with her and her husband and their daughter to help out. While there I managed to fall and sprain both of my ankles. I think of that as the beginning of all my loss of control. After she passed away I spent more a few more months at home before I resumed my travel nursing...where once again I was stuck on crazy rotating shifts. My weight managed to balloon to 250-a total 100lb weight gain! I couldn't believe I had gone from a pretty healthy, active person to someone who pretty much spent all my time asleep or eating on the couch.
I continued travel nursing and made it to Los Angeles where I was finally on day shift, but still full of horrible habits and managed to gain another 8lbs. I was having joint pains, plantar fasciitis (probably from both the weight gain and the bilateral sprained ankles that I never properly rehabilitated) and just plain lethargy.
I moved on to the San Francisco Bay Area and felt somewhat motivated to make some changes after a horrible hike with a couple of friends. There was a time in my past that hike would have been no big deal and this time I was practically in tears.
I entered a challenge at work and managed to lose about 30lbs. For some reason, I felt like I would never reach the end so I lost all my motivation. I just didn't think I could be successful. I have managed to keep off about 20lbs from my all time high of 260(ish).
At this point in my life I am almost 40 and love being outside and nature and it worries me that I am missing out on so many things in life due to discomfort, both physical and emotional, related to my weight. I don't enjoy social situations anymore unless it's a dark theater because I am sure people are looking at me. It's uncomfortable to go to theaters or ball games because I worry about stairs and if the person who sits next to me will be annoyed if my leg touches theirs. I want to run again and wear cute clothes! So here I am, I've decided to start the Kaiser Healthy Weight Management Program. I always scoff at fad diets or elimination diets so it will probably surprise some people that I am doing it, but I feel like I need the motivation of losing a lot of weight fairly rapidly and I feel like the transition program will help me return to my healthy roots. I'm going to do 2 more posts today about day 1 and 2. I'm doing it mostly for myself because I want to be able to remind myself of what I put myself through to get back my health! I also spent a lot of time looking for Optifast blogs and was surprised to not find many recent ones so I thought maybe someone out there would benefit. :-)
So wish me luck and if you are a fellow Optifaster...congratulations on your life change and good luck!!
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