Track before the food is ingested

Yesterday, I didn't track my dinner until after I'd already eaten it. I ate a large burger, some sweet potato fries, and two apple jacks (not the cereal, a delicious concoction of a hard cider with honey reserve whiskey added).  I thought for sure I would be well over my calories with just the burger, but it wasn't as calorie-heavy as I thought.  I added in the sweet potato fries and I was still under.  One apple jack, still under!  15 calories were left.  At this point...I could fib and say, no I didn't have a second apple jack.  Totally stayed under my calorie goal.  Yep.

Now, for the past three days, I've been over my calorie goal.  It was a lot to do with eating out and eating more than I should, but I am surprised at how tempting it is to fib.  Like really tempting.  Which is weird, because no one sees my food log but me. It's password protected and is only for my own records, but I really want to see "under her calorie goal" for some reason.

Ideally, I would be tracking food before it's in my face, but I was eating while working on something and thought, I'll have time to track it later. I assumed I'd be over my goal because, duh, cheeseburger.  So might as well eat whatever I want.  If I had stopped and tracked the food before I ate it, I guarantee you I would not have had  a second apple jack.  I would have been delighted to be under my calorie goal and would have happily had water.

Moral of this story: Track before the food is ingested.

Tracking foods

I've been doing pretty well at tracking my foods in myfitnesspal.com, and I've made some progress.  I've lost five pounds over the last two weeks, even without counting calories last weekend.  I'm pretty glad with that.  If I can keep my weight going steadily downward, that would be great.

So what have I learned since my last post?  I can have a cheat day.  I can even have a cheat weekend, if I want, as long as I don't go crazy.  If I make it the new regular to track my calories, and not-tracking is odd, I think I'll see my weight continue to go down.

I am much more accountable for what I put in my mouth if I put it down on paper (so to speak) first.  I know this.  Everyone knows this. It's, like, elementary dieting.  But it still surprises me how much of a difference it makes over a couple of weeks. Now, if I can commit myself to doing it long term, that would be just awesome.

It's easy to do when I'm at home, but it's harder when I'm on vacation, or out with friends, or whatever.  But even if I don't track for a day or a meal, that's okay.  I'm not perfect, try as I might.  Dropping the ball gives me the chance to pick it up again.

Love,

Rachel

It's a new year.

It's a new year, and I'm seven pounds down from last year.  It's not much, and my weight has fluctuated all year, but it's a downward trend I'd like to keep up.  Anytime I weigh myself, I am disappointed, but when I look at where I came from, I know that I am making improvements.  My weight is going down.  Slowly, surely. 

Again, this year, I am committing to myself to reach for healthier foods and work my body more.  I am adding to this by committing to also get up each morning, get dressed in flattering clothes, put on my makeup, and fix my hair.  I don't know why this makes a difference, but for me, it certainly does.  I get more done, feel better about myself, and I feel like I'm better prepared for emergencies.  If Matthew calls me at 11:45 to meet him for lunch at 12, I'm ready.  If I need to go to the grocery store, I'm not worried that I look like a slob the whole time I'm shopping. 

This year, I want to lose 13 pounds.  I want to lose at least a pound a month and at the end of the year I want to look back and say I'm down 20 pounds from two years ago.  Slow and steady.

Weekly(ish) Update

It's been a crazy few weeks around here, though why I think it will slow down I'm not sure.  Matthew is back in school and I'm back to my normal duties at work. This week has been interesting, and yet again, I dropped Weight Watchers.  It was time to renew my three month subscription and I was not interested in paying that big chunk of money again.  So it's back to myfitnesspal and keeping that up.

I gained about four pounds over the last couple of weeks, much of which had to do with a huge pile of stress at work and lots of eating out from having no off time.  Matthew said he gained weight too, which is no surprise, since he eats what I eat.  This week, though, I'm back down to 217, and I anticipate being back at 215 by the end of the week or so.  We bought lots of fruits and veggies this week to have healthy snack foods around, and I made a menu plan to stave off eating out.  Tonight: tortellini soup with lots of veggies and tastiness.  :)

Weight: 217
Water: 4 cups a day
Exercise: brief (and I mean brief) walks each day

Goals:
Weight: 215
Water: 8 cups a day
Exercise: five block walks at least four times this week.

Weekly Weigh In: Hello 2teens!

Hello, again!  The past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic, with a sudden, fast-paced project at work, parties, and dates with Matthew.  :)

I am still working on making healthier choices at parties and when we're out on a date, but the rest of the time, I've tracked pretty well, and lost weight to prove it!  As of this morning, I'm in the 2teens! Yay!

Weight: 217.2
Exercise: minimal
Water: about half my goal

Goals for this week:
Weight: 1 pound loss
Exercise: 3 twenty minute walks
Water: 64 oz. per day

I can do it!

Bye bye, arm flab

Okay, I know this is gross, but when I used to do my hair, I would notice the flabby, gross bits of nastiness hanging off my upper arms.  This morning, when I was putting on my workout clothes and pulling my hair into a pony tail, I noticed, Hey, there's no gross stuff on my arms anymore.  Now, yes, I still would like to see my arms get more toned, but come on, you have to admit, this is awesome.  I think all those push ups, mountain climbers, and plank walk outs that make me curse at the aerobics video chick are making a difference!

Slightly Elevated Blood Sugar

My aunt was recently diagnosed with type II diabetes, and this was definitely a wake up call for me.  We are similar in  many ways, but one of them is our love of unhealthy foods.  In my teenage years, when I headed to her house, I would pick up a package of cookies and the two of us would eat them all in a weekend.  We both love high fat, delicious foods, and this love of food has had a negative effect on both of our bodies.

When I went to see the doctor last month, she ran a full chemical panel on me.  I got the results today, and it turns out, my blood sugar was high.  Not high enough for me to be considered diabetic, but five points above the "normal range" at 104.  65-99 is considered normal and 125 or higher is considered diabetic.  I believe this makes me "pre-diabetic." Oof.  Pre-diabetic at the age of 26.  That's a wake-up call if I've ever had one.

Dr. Bettina told me in the office visit, "Rachel, overall, you seem to be a healthy girl.  Is it a good idea to get your weight in check now?  Yes." She reaffirmed this statement on my test results with an impersonal, "Strongly recommend: Healthy diet. Regular exercise. Weight reduction."  Well, Dr. Bettina, I'm workin' on it.