Posts by wordygirl

Hey, all

I made it back to the computer. And spent a lot of time just clearing out junk mail and other assorted collected stuff. My backside couldn't take more sitting.

Boy, eating when tired must be a seasonal thing. All I think about sometimes is my next meal. Or next snack. And now that the weather has turned to fall and soon to be winter, those thoughts are focused on warm, comfort foods. What is it with food that so captivates some of us?

Exercise for me has been a hard thing to keep doing. Well, nothing to do but keep on keeping on, I guess. Like my friend used to say, "You don't have to like it; you just have to do it".  And I need to remember my motivators: overall health; better-fitting clothes; old age ain't for sissies!

I may not check in often but I'm staying with this group.

Marta

Hello everyone,

Last week was a busy one with work and things to do at home. Sorry to say only half the home stuff got done but most of the work stuff is taken care of. And to top it off, the past couple of days have been hot for the Pacific NW.....95 degrees plus.  I don't have a/c, just fans. I had planned to get a free-standing a/c at the end of the season when they go on sale but I'm not sure I can hold out.  ANd I don't know if my 17 y/o cat  (that's 84 in cat years) can take it either. She's a tough old gal but it's hot for her too. I'm glad it doesn't usually stay hot for more than a few days at a time up here in Portland Oregon. I may be able to hold out afterall for the sales.

MY diet the past week hasn't been that good....too much starch & not enough fruits. I was doing better by planning my meals but I've negleted to prepare or even plan my meals for several days. I did manage to grab a frozen turkey from the freezer to use before it got freezer burn but it maybe too hot to use the oven. I guess I'll try smoking it on the grill. Then I won't have any excuse about not having anthing ready to eat.

I'm glad to hear you all just jump back in after screwing up.....makes me feel at home. ANd no one keeps score. Weigh Watchers used to keep score of my screw ups: that made me feel so bad I had to quit. 

Funny, the hold food has on some of us. It's not like AA or NA where you give up all forms of alcohol and/or drugs. A person can live without those but you just can't give up eating.  I can't at least.

Dess --- I don't like the scales either; I feel and look better around 160 lbs, not the 145 max limit the charts say

Donna --- Glad to hear the scope went well

Penny --- I'm glad the water problem is contained.

Marie --- you keep me going

Marta 

Hello everyone. Here's the rest of the weekly diet :

Tues: strawberries & 1% milk; 1 piece unadorned ww bread; a small checken breast w/orange-ginger-habenero glaze, probably 3 cups of garden salad; an apple w/ yogurt-maple dip; a pear; 3 oz grilled fish; a banana.

Wed: 2 slices ww bread w/ 1 T butter; 1 sliced apple (maybe it was a pear) w/ 1T peanut butter; a small chicken breast w/ soy-ginger glaze; 3 cups garden salad w/ l.f. ranch dressing; breaded baked fish w/ l.f. tartar sauce; 1/2 c fried potatoes; about 20 choc chips; 2 oz cheese w/ 4 multigrain crackers 

Thurs: 1/2 c orange juice, 1/3 c GrapeNuts w/ 1% milk; 8 or 10 baby carrots & celery sticks; 1/2 Quarter Pounder; a small bag of SunChips, a small piece carrot cake no frosting, a turkey burger & bun, a small banana; handful of nut-dried fruit mix; 1 diet Pepsi; 2 c garden salad   (I was busy and didn't get a chance to eat before work [I work Swingshift] so a workfriend split his McD QP...not my kind of burger but oh well. Then I left my lunch at home and was forced to eat that turkeybuger out of the machine. Glad I keep a health snack mix at my desk. Bad diet that day so I had salad w/ lite dressing after work.)

Fri: 1/2 order Cashew Chicken & 1/2 c white rice; 2 small pears; 1 single serv bag Cheez-Its; 1/2 peanutbutter & jelly sandwich; 2 beers (not working so I did more yardwork and kicked back with the neighbors in the evening); about 20 choc chips.

After seeing what I ate the past week, I can see room for improvements. ANd thanks for all the hints on nighttime eating. I'll keep the list handy and when the urge strikes, I refer to the list but I should have been more specific. See, I get home at 2 am (can't call anyone) and really, really want something warm and satisfying. But I'll try hot herbal tea or some kind of broth or light soup.  Maybe some warm milk. Your ideas got my brain working. 

Donna --- hope the colonoscopy went well

Penny --- I checked out the No S Diet. I like his philosophy and will try to incorporate it into my life.  Big thanks

Lora --- geocaeching sounds fun. Great idea to post what I ate

Alice --- have fun at Half Dome.

Marta

SO the challange is to let you all know what I eat for a week, huh? Here goes...

Fri 6/13: 1% milk, a banana, 1 & 1/2 molasses cookies (I donated blood that morning...poor excuse but they are my favorite); spinach salad w/ 2 slices of bacon,  tater tots (too many of those) w/ no-sugar ketchup; baked/ breaded fish; lots of strawberries; a handfull of baby carrots; a small pear.  I remember snacking too but I cant remember exactly what or how much but I'm sure it wasn't anything I needed to eat.

I read that as we age, our digestive enzymes decrease. And they decrease when we eat too much processed foods. We don't get the nutrition from the food and it doesn't metabolize like it should, leading to all kinds of digestive problems. I don't know if all that is true but I plan to do a some research on digestive enzymes to find out. As a consequence, I'm back on enzyme supplements. My doctor suggested them a while back instead of antacids or prescriptions. I feel better when I take them. Especially when I eat any kind of fat, oil or margerine/butter. 

I haven't done any hiking or swimming or power walking but I've been gardening, doing yard work and house work. The yard work gets my heart pumping and my pulse where it needs to be. Besides we haven't had sunshine and warm weather in a while so I HAD to get out into the yard.

Marta

wow!! tallk about some great posts this last week. everyone sounds so enthusiastic and motivated.......mel, you're a hoot. I laughed, really laughed, reading your replies to kansas' motivation lists, especially the ones about looking in the mirror without being frightened and either shopping at the plus-size store or going naked (talk about a frightening vision!). Haven't had that good a laugh in a while. thanks.......lora, every pound or inch lost is one step closer to your goal and keep bus dancing. I love that one.....dess, all that water just means another way to add more daily steps......I can't remember everyone else who posted but it's all inspiring and keeps me going....thanks. Without each of you I would have just given up and gone up another dress size.

Been doing a lot of reading about low thyriod, the resulting metabolic changes and disturbances, as well as the weight gain and I'm at the point where I'm pretty much convinced carbs are my nemesis and lean protein is my friend. From now on, any bread product that goes in my mouth will be 100% whole grain or it won't go in. And in very, very limited amounts, like 30gm/day. Same thing with any other carb....limit all of 'em. At least I've found some good substitutes for a few things so I won't feel so deprived while I experiment going low carb for a couple weeks.

My knee has recovered to the point where I can restart some serious exercising and just plain moving. And here in Portland Oregon, the weather is cooperating so I can be outside without a raincoat or umbrella. I just need sunglasses. Spring has arrived in the great Pacific Northwest!!!

marta

hello everyone

Monday will send me back to work and routine, thankfully. Being home these past two weeks were murder on my diet/exercise plan. I found myself eating out of frustration and boredom more than once and had to do something else with my hands. So I went through all those recipes I clipped from magazines & newspapers and tossed 75% of them. Got rid of all the cookbooks I never used and the diet books that I just can't follow for long. Could do much exercise because of my knee still being a little swollen and can't do the exercise bike for more than 6 or 7 min without paying for it the next day. But I did the bike 3 days last week. I figured a little was better than none and this knee thing wont last long.

marks1009--I like what you said about being aware of all the advertsing and marketing tossed at us all. I'm aware of the propaganda too.

songchild--my limit is 1200 - 1500 cals/day too.  Not hard to maintain if I manage to keep my hands busy with something else when I feel like eating junk.

carolf-new-- I'll have to try spending Saturdays fixing meals for the week. It sounds like a do-able thing. I like a good bit of routine in my life; routine in meal palnning can leave extra time for spontaneous fun!

lora--getting control of what I eat is the biggest challenge I have too and am happy you didn't give in.

everyone stay safe and warm. Stick to your goals and plans

marta

Name-- screen name: wordygirl.....real name: Marta.......prefer Marta or wordy

Married-- no and not for the lack of trying. I just haven't find that "spark" yet

Children- no

Have you tried many other diet before- or as I like to call them  DIE-IT'S  not working.  Since I was 14 or 15 so almost any diet out there and some I designed myself

State--  Oregon

Age--   55 this year


Birthday--    May 19

Do you work?      Yep
 
Did you work?     Sometimes two jobs so I could get $$$ for school...never finished and that's in the works

What do/did you do?  Several different things and currently  a warehouse supervisor

Do you believe you can stick to plan?  with support from each of you, I can. I know I share the same issues with many of you and can find someone to relate to if I put it put there. My way made me what I am and it sure isn't where I want to be so I have to change

Do you exercise?  now its just lots of walking....starting this Saturday it's on to the exercise bike, tai chi and toning bands........ alternate days

Do you enjoy posting?  yes most of the time

Journey---I'm with Kansas: I don't like using scales and don't presently use them. I'll use scales when none of my fat clothes stay on my hips with out some serious belting.   But whatever you feel would work best for you is what you should do. You can always change your mind, try something else until you can stick with it.

I'm a big emotional eater and need to figure out a pattern and trigger. I'm using a journal, as well as food and exercise logs now.  I'll start the toning bands next week, when my knee is a little more flexible.

"Never pass up the opportunity to keep my mouth shut" 

marta

Just checking in for a couple minutes. It wasn't a good weekend for me...I ate the wrong things, more than once, and ended up with an upset stomach. I think my body is telling me something but I'm not listening.  Well, I'll try to do better tomorrow. This morning, I put all the tempting things in the freezer in the basement and will give them to friends this week. Don't know yet what I'm going to do with all that marginal stuff I have in the kitchen. I just know I can't eat it. I'll figure out something even if I have to toss most of it. It'll be a great lesson on not following any kind of plan at all.

Planning! I need to plan ALL my meals, not just for a couple of days. I always end up snacking on bad stuff. and not eating real food.

A big thanks to everyone.

marta 

Here I am. I'm glad to hear everyone is doing well. It's been a hectic week for me but I made the time to stop in and say hello.

I'm not counting calories just yet but watching what I eat and avoiding those things that I know are bad for me.  I'm trying to eat a mini-meal (200 cals +/-)every 4 hrs...see how that works. ANd after years of 1000 to 1500 cals/day, I pretty much know calories counts.  Thanks to all of you for the help and good advice. It really helps to know I'm not alone and that we all share a few struggles.

Still haven't made teh effort to start exercising every day.  I end up walking 3 to 5 miles a day at work...usually 10 to 15 minute at a time. It's a start. And I'm doing tai chi a couple times a week. I use a recorded  program from Dish tv so I don't have an excuse not to do anything. I don't live in town and work Swingshift, 10-hr shifts: it would take 2+ hr out of the day just to get to a gym for the workout and get back home in time to clean up and leave for work. So that's my poor excuse. But I do have a Nordic track and a stationary bike on the porch, gathering dust and all kinds of dirt. Now I really have no excuse but laziness.

I also have throid issues. I'm hypothyroid and have played tag with my  thyroid for 10 years now. I have it checked every 6 months and end up with a larger dose of medication each time. Finally found a doctor who suspected something else was going on (like I hadn't told all those other docs for all that time but did they listen?) and after a few test, I found out I have a goiter (it's a family thing apparently) and a cyst on my thyroid. So I'm off to the endo in March for more tests and hopefully a resolution. And maybe more energy so I can workout for more that 10 min at a time and not end up exhausted.

everyone take care and I'll be back

Marta

You're right. Plain unflavored yogurt does have sugar; it's  lactose or milk sugar. Cultured milks aren't all that bad, sugar-wise,  since about half the carbs are used by the bacteria changing the lactose to lactic acid. That's their job and it's where the tangy flavor comes from. A portion of the sugar has been altered to where the gut can't break it down much more and can't use it very well. So about half the carbs (also known as sugar) are actually used by the body.

You'd  think labels would be straight forward but like everything else, there's more there than just the numbers. Don't worry so much about those sugars, Lora. It'd be really hard to avoid all sugars so start by concentrating on avoiding added sugars.  Which I'm trying to do but is making me nasty-tempered. Hey, I'll be be cranky for 10 days rather than fat for another year.

Hope this helped.

Marta (my non-e name)

Finally, I found the right group.

I've neglected my diet for several years and at 55, (in May) it has taken a toll on my body. My knees ache and I can't even walk up two flights of stairs without grabbing the railing to pull my carcass up another step.  I also have a couple other health issues going on where I could only benefit from losing this weight. Plus the doctor will stop nagging me :)  

For 25 years, I hovered around 160 lbs and felt/looked great.  I think I can get there again and maintain it. I don't get on the scales because: a) I'm disgusted with myself right now; b) I really do have a large frame and never reached the suggested weight in those charts; and c) I don't think weight is the sole indicator of health. I'll weigh myself when I can fit into a size that's not in the "plus" section.

I need lots of structure and some buddies. And it looks like this may be the place.

I can't do this one by myself! Hope to hear from each of you.

I just started with CC and saw your post. I can relate to the all-out-eating mode. All I can offer is what I've recently learned: forgive yourself and get back on the wagon. Learn why you went on a non-stop binge and avoid doing it again or at least control it: maybe binge for one 30-min meal, once a week.

And if seeing your weight gain is upsetting you, why are you doing it? That scale isn't the only determiner of weight loss: try on some clothes or take your measurements. Like Trustwomen said, focus on your accomplishments! And start again.