Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Wednesday Weigh In
Dr Mom weighs in at 154.8 lbs this morning. We've been on a vegetarian diet since last Friday. The kids are at a residential camp, so there is no one to complain about the salad and lack of meat or desserts. I think it has helped with overall sense of bloat and, ahem, gassiness; which is quite surprising considering I have "issues" with fiber. I presume it is the reduction in fat intake which is responsible for that.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Wednesday Weigh In
Hubby weighed in at 165 lbs. Dr Mom an inauspicious 157 lbs. (Yes, that's more than last week, you got a problem with that, matey?)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Weekly weigh-in
Dr Mom came in this morning at 154.4 lbs, while Hubby weighed in at 166.8 lbs. Yes, we weigh more than last week. As Hubby says, not an auspicious start.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
A new two
Since OEM has given up on me - though always welcome to return! - and since we haven't managed to write this blog since March... Hubby has decided that he wants to become my partner in dieting, at least temporarily.
Dr Mom's weekly weigh in today was 153.4 lbs.
Hubby's was 164.6 lbs.
Dr Mom's weekly weigh in today was 153.4 lbs.
Hubby's was 164.6 lbs.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Dr Mom's Wednesday Weigh In
Despite considerable back sliding - involving crisps, cake, chocolate, nuts and general snacking morning, noon and night - plus multiple visits to restaurants (last Wednesday I had meetings involving coffee, lunch, coffee and dinner) - I came out this morning at 149.4 lbs, which is just about the same as I have been for the past month. Must admit that's quite a surprise! I was fully expecting to have broken back through the 150lbs barrier.
It has also been raining pretty much continuously for the past two weeks, which means that I have only done a couple of long walks with Ruby. We were at Arasteradero yesterday for an hour but it was quite the mud bath. Today the rain has set in again.
Today I am at a conference all day, which will involve food at multiple opportunities. I plan to arrive this morning near the end of the "breakfast and networking" session so I don't eat anything. Well, anything much.
It has also been raining pretty much continuously for the past two weeks, which means that I have only done a couple of long walks with Ruby. We were at Arasteradero yesterday for an hour but it was quite the mud bath. Today the rain has set in again.
Today I am at a conference all day, which will involve food at multiple opportunities. I plan to arrive this morning near the end of the "breakfast and networking" session so I don't eat anything. Well, anything much.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
A Long Spring Walk
Yesterday Hubby, RubyDog, and I went for a 7.5 mile walk at Windy Hill. We set out at 9am, wearing our hiking boots which turned out to be a very good choice as it was muddy, muddy, muddy!
We walked up the Spring Ridge Trail to the summit of Windy Hill, something like a 1.200 feet climb along 2.5 miles. From the summit you can see the Bay and also the Pacific. Then we took the Anniversary Trail, which was a lovely winding path along the edge of the hill with great views across the Bay. We ate our chewy bars and dog snacks at a well placed bench, then turned onto the Hamms Gulch Trail for the return trip.
Spring Ridge Trail is very exposed, a wide, steep path that gently curves through meadow lands with very few trees. Hamms Gulch Trail is quite a contrast. The top part reminded up very strongly of Hawai'i, with moss covered trees, hanging vines, and water cascading off the hillsides. The spring flowers have started to open in abundance and the birds were very noisy just here. The trail itself consists of numerous switch backs, with the result that it is longer than the Spring Ridge trail, but a lot less steep. As the trail descends, California oaks feature more strongly, and it takes on the look of the drier foothills. The whole trail was thickly wooded, making for shade, birds, and a really delightful walk. We found another well placed bench to eat our sandwich lunch.
At the bottom of the trail, it crosses the confluence of Hamms Gulch and Jones' Gulch - two streams of which we'd never previously been aware. They had a fair bit of water in them. You cross by stepping stones, not too difficult a proposition; except that Ruby absolutely refused to step on the stones or in the water. She would rather have had her head pulled off than get her paws wet. In the end, Hubby had to go back across the stream and scoop her up in his arms to carry her across. She was in doggy disgrace for that.
We certainly felt like we'd been for a walk! We stopped at the Portola Deli coffee shop for a latte reward at the end of the walk, and Ruby lay muddily on the floor. Hubby fell asleep in the car during the twenty minute drive home, while the dog snored on the back seat. I had a teeny little snooze on the bed when back home....
We walked up the Spring Ridge Trail to the summit of Windy Hill, something like a 1.200 feet climb along 2.5 miles. From the summit you can see the Bay and also the Pacific. Then we took the Anniversary Trail, which was a lovely winding path along the edge of the hill with great views across the Bay. We ate our chewy bars and dog snacks at a well placed bench, then turned onto the Hamms Gulch Trail for the return trip.
Spring Ridge Trail is very exposed, a wide, steep path that gently curves through meadow lands with very few trees. Hamms Gulch Trail is quite a contrast. The top part reminded up very strongly of Hawai'i, with moss covered trees, hanging vines, and water cascading off the hillsides. The spring flowers have started to open in abundance and the birds were very noisy just here. The trail itself consists of numerous switch backs, with the result that it is longer than the Spring Ridge trail, but a lot less steep. As the trail descends, California oaks feature more strongly, and it takes on the look of the drier foothills. The whole trail was thickly wooded, making for shade, birds, and a really delightful walk. We found another well placed bench to eat our sandwich lunch.
At the bottom of the trail, it crosses the confluence of Hamms Gulch and Jones' Gulch - two streams of which we'd never previously been aware. They had a fair bit of water in them. You cross by stepping stones, not too difficult a proposition; except that Ruby absolutely refused to step on the stones or in the water. She would rather have had her head pulled off than get her paws wet. In the end, Hubby had to go back across the stream and scoop her up in his arms to carry her across. She was in doggy disgrace for that.
We certainly felt like we'd been for a walk! We stopped at the Portola Deli coffee shop for a latte reward at the end of the walk, and Ruby lay muddily on the floor. Hubby fell asleep in the car during the twenty minute drive home, while the dog snored on the back seat. I had a teeny little snooze on the bed when back home....
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Dr Mom's Wednesday Weigh In
149.2lbs this week, another loss of half a pound. I need to make more effort to avoid snacking, especially in the evening. I also have to confess that the occasional brownie and such like has been sneaking back into the overall diet....
Monday, February 28, 2011
A Magic Sprinkle to Melt Away Appetite?
My delightful elder daughter has started looking out for useful websites on weight loss. I guess it was only a matter of time before my proto-teenager started trying to improve me. Causing the abandonment of Mom Jeans must be on the cards soon. Anyway, here is today's interesting little nugget, on a food supplement called SENSA. Apparently this tasteless, scentless food supplement is sprinkled on other food, causing a suppression of appetite in eaters that, according to the product website, caused an average weight loss of 30.5 lbs among 1, 436 men and women who used it over a 6 month period.
Hmm. No dieting or exercise required. If it is so effective, why isn't everyone talking about it? Why isn't everyone using it? Why isn't Oprah Winfrey promoting it?
One alternative weight loss website notes that the main ingredient in Sensa's "tastants" (i.e. the sprinkly stuff) is maltodextrin (i.e. sugar derived from corn). The effect of that will be to give bland foods more flavor which, it speculates, may have the opposite effect of making diners want more of them, not less. Way back in 2008, the ABC news show 20/20 exposed the failings of the science underpinning this supposed breakthrough.
I remain sceptical of any product that claims seemingly miraculous results. I'd rather stick with the tried and trusted methods of portion control, good food choices, and a moderate exercise plan to promote all round health.
Hmm. No dieting or exercise required. If it is so effective, why isn't everyone talking about it? Why isn't everyone using it? Why isn't Oprah Winfrey promoting it?
One alternative weight loss website notes that the main ingredient in Sensa's "tastants" (i.e. the sprinkly stuff) is maltodextrin (i.e. sugar derived from corn). The effect of that will be to give bland foods more flavor which, it speculates, may have the opposite effect of making diners want more of them, not less. Way back in 2008, the ABC news show 20/20 exposed the failings of the science underpinning this supposed breakthrough.
I remain sceptical of any product that claims seemingly miraculous results. I'd rather stick with the tried and trusted methods of portion control, good food choices, and a moderate exercise plan to promote all round health.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
More Sinned Against Than Sinning
Little Starlet and I went up to the city today to the Sundance Kabuki Theatre see the National Theatre live broadcast of the Donmar Warehouse production "King Lear" with Derek Jacobi. He was outstanding. In fact the whole play was fabulous, there wasn't a block of wood attempting to act on the stage at all. A fine avoidance of teapot Shakespeare. Little Starlet more or less followed the play - I had forgotten, and so didn't explain, the Gloucester/Edgar/Edmund sub-plot - though she thought that Derek Jacobi had been replaced by another actor in the final scene. Quite why, I have no idea. There you are, the mind of a 9 year old.
The relevance of all this to this blog is that it meant I had a rather odd eating day. I began with a bowl of granola. We headed out at 9am. The play/broadcast started at 12:30pm and ended at 4pm, which meant that lunch would not be happening. So we stopped at the Fillmore Street Cafe for a breakfast bagel at 10:30am. I had a latte and the 49ers, consisting of ham, egg, and cheddar cheese on a plain bagel. Little Starlet had the Fillmore Special, with sausage, egg and cheese. Very hot and tasty.
We then headed up to the Japantown shopping area. It was freezing cold, icy wind blasting poor Little Starlet's uncovered legs (she never will listen when I tell her to put more clothes on), so we went inside to look at the stores. After walking though the Japanese language bookstore and admiring the plastic dolls with penises, we found ourselves at the Anderson Bakery. Little Starlet had a slice of chocolate ganache cake, while I toyed with a light, fluffy, delicious slice of coffee creme cake. As I always say to the girls, if you MUST eat food that's bad for you, at least make sure it is high quality. This certainly was worth every calorie.
We went into the theatre food-free, but once the intermission came along, it was clear that Little Starlet required yet more sustenance. So we went to the Peet's Coffee concession in the theatre and bought bags of popcorn (and yet another latte for me).
Hubby and Deep Thought have spent the week in Bear Valley. They got back this afternoon just before Little Starlet and I returned from the city. We were all exhausted and lacking imagination, so we tucked into Whole Foods' frozen pizza for dinner: pepperoni, hawaiian, and chicken quesadilla (note, three pizzas between four of us, so a small concession to thinness there).
All in all, a very fun day, but a bit peculiar on the dietary front.
The relevance of all this to this blog is that it meant I had a rather odd eating day. I began with a bowl of granola. We headed out at 9am. The play/broadcast started at 12:30pm and ended at 4pm, which meant that lunch would not be happening. So we stopped at the Fillmore Street Cafe for a breakfast bagel at 10:30am. I had a latte and the 49ers, consisting of ham, egg, and cheddar cheese on a plain bagel. Little Starlet had the Fillmore Special, with sausage, egg and cheese. Very hot and tasty.
We then headed up to the Japantown shopping area. It was freezing cold, icy wind blasting poor Little Starlet's uncovered legs (she never will listen when I tell her to put more clothes on), so we went inside to look at the stores. After walking though the Japanese language bookstore and admiring the plastic dolls with penises, we found ourselves at the Anderson Bakery. Little Starlet had a slice of chocolate ganache cake, while I toyed with a light, fluffy, delicious slice of coffee creme cake. As I always say to the girls, if you MUST eat food that's bad for you, at least make sure it is high quality. This certainly was worth every calorie.
We went into the theatre food-free, but once the intermission came along, it was clear that Little Starlet required yet more sustenance. So we went to the Peet's Coffee concession in the theatre and bought bags of popcorn (and yet another latte for me).
Hubby and Deep Thought have spent the week in Bear Valley. They got back this afternoon just before Little Starlet and I returned from the city. We were all exhausted and lacking imagination, so we tucked into Whole Foods' frozen pizza for dinner: pepperoni, hawaiian, and chicken quesadilla (note, three pizzas between four of us, so a small concession to thinness there).
All in all, a very fun day, but a bit peculiar on the dietary front.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Dr Mom's Wednesday Weigh-In
Hello OEM, Nice to see you around the blog. Go indemnity!
This morning I weighed in at 149.6lbs, which is heavier than last week - but then last week I was a prune. I'll write another entry to explain how I've been this week. Suffice it to say that the dots on the WeightWatchers weight tracker log graph thingy show a downward trend, and that works for me.
This morning I weighed in at 149.6lbs, which is heavier than last week - but then last week I was a prune. I'll write another entry to explain how I've been this week. Suffice it to say that the dots on the WeightWatchers weight tracker log graph thingy show a downward trend, and that works for me.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Nearly There
Dr Mom, where are you? Are you still suffering from the lurgy? If so, I hope it has the beneficial weight-loss side effect. But I'd rather you were better.
I am getting fatter this week. I am revising. It is unpleasant. Gu Rocky Road snacks make it slightly better.
The worst will be over by next Friday. At which point, I am signing up for Swimathon, with a view to getting David and NotSmallAtAll to be on my team. You have to do at least 1.5 km - I can do the .5 - well, .75 actually - and David can do about 100metres. NotSmall, fortunately, has form for swimming 2km all by himself. So between us, we should be able to do it easily - and more to the point, I will become healthier.
Now I must stop prevaricating, and learn about the indemnity basis for assessing costs.
I am getting fatter this week. I am revising. It is unpleasant. Gu Rocky Road snacks make it slightly better.
The worst will be over by next Friday. At which point, I am signing up for Swimathon, with a view to getting David and NotSmallAtAll to be on my team. You have to do at least 1.5 km - I can do the .5 - well, .75 actually - and David can do about 100metres. NotSmall, fortunately, has form for swimming 2km all by himself. So between us, we should be able to do it easily - and more to the point, I will become healthier.
Now I must stop prevaricating, and learn about the indemnity basis for assessing costs.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Dr Mom's Wednesday Weigh-In
Apologies for radio silence this week, I've been having a crazy busy week. This morning I weighed in at 151.8 lbs, which is a loss of a princely 0.4 lbs this week, but 10 lbs since the start of January. I reckon that is some kind of milestone.
I only achieved this loss by eating almost nothing on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On Sunday I wasn't well and spent much of the day in bed at the mercy of mysterious vertigo that left as suddenly as it arrived, but which had the virtue of making me feel nauseous and so not want to eat. For the rest, plates of salad greens dressed in vinegar. Banana for snack. That kind of thing. Yesterday I was visiting a friend at home and refused a biscuit. These are the lengths you have to go to in order to lose weight when you are 42. Bleugh.
I only achieved this loss by eating almost nothing on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On Sunday I wasn't well and spent much of the day in bed at the mercy of mysterious vertigo that left as suddenly as it arrived, but which had the virtue of making me feel nauseous and so not want to eat. For the rest, plates of salad greens dressed in vinegar. Banana for snack. That kind of thing. Yesterday I was visiting a friend at home and refused a biscuit. These are the lengths you have to go to in order to lose weight when you are 42. Bleugh.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Marked Up, In All Senses
This morning I took Ruby for a 50 minute walk at Windy Hill which is, as the name suggests, a hill and thus pretty good exercise. After I took her home, I went shopping. Of course, I hadn't taken the precaution of eating anything at home after my walk, so by the time I got to the pet food store I was feeling hungry. Ah, I think, I can feel a coffee at that Starbucks right there coming on. So I buy my nonfat decaf latte (nicknamed the "Why Bother?" by the staff in our local Starbucks) and add to it a Fruit, Nut and Cheese Platter (460 calories) as that is the only thing available to eat that isn't cake.
It consists of half an apple, a small wedge of brie, a little cube of gouda, and a slice of cheddar, accompanied by two wholewheat crackers and what appears to be a quarter cup of unsalted almonds with dried cranberries. It was actually pretty tasty and filling, and generally just what the doctor ordered.
The breakdown of nutrition reveals 29g fat, 34g carbs, 6g fiber, and 19g protein. I'm not really sure where all that carbohydrate is coming from, but there you are. Plug it into the WeightWatchers calculator and get out 12 points spent. Yikes! I guess I can see where it is coming from now I reflect upon it... The apple would count as zero points. The almonds and cranberries can't be more than 4 points, and the crackers surely no more than 2. So the cheese must be the remaining 6 points, which makes sense when you consider that one ounce of brie is 3 points all by itself.
The other thing I wanted to comment on was the price. It cost $4.95. I reckon that, even on a generous calculation - given that Starbucks can buy everything wholesale - the contents can't cost more than around $2.50 (cheese $1, apple $0.50, crackers $0.25, almonds and cranberries $0.50, packaging $0.30). So the markup is around 100%. Not a bad way to make a profit, eh?
It consists of half an apple, a small wedge of brie, a little cube of gouda, and a slice of cheddar, accompanied by two wholewheat crackers and what appears to be a quarter cup of unsalted almonds with dried cranberries. It was actually pretty tasty and filling, and generally just what the doctor ordered.
The breakdown of nutrition reveals 29g fat, 34g carbs, 6g fiber, and 19g protein. I'm not really sure where all that carbohydrate is coming from, but there you are. Plug it into the WeightWatchers calculator and get out 12 points spent. Yikes! I guess I can see where it is coming from now I reflect upon it... The apple would count as zero points. The almonds and cranberries can't be more than 4 points, and the crackers surely no more than 2. So the cheese must be the remaining 6 points, which makes sense when you consider that one ounce of brie is 3 points all by itself.
The other thing I wanted to comment on was the price. It cost $4.95. I reckon that, even on a generous calculation - given that Starbucks can buy everything wholesale - the contents can't cost more than around $2.50 (cheese $1, apple $0.50, crackers $0.25, almonds and cranberries $0.50, packaging $0.30). So the markup is around 100%. Not a bad way to make a profit, eh?
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Mmmm, Bacon's Up.
It's Wednesday, and that means cleaners at our house. They take over the entire house and clean every room simultaneously for a total of four hours. That might make it seem like we live in some kind of mansion, but we don't. We do have a nice house, but the main factor is their obsessive need to clean every surface, move every piece of furniture, and even tidy up inside drawers and cupboards. My usual strategy is to go out for lunch as it is impossible to eat while other people are working so hard.
Generally on a Wednesday, the diner at Stanford - the Palo Alto Creamery, Fountain and Grill, to give it its proper name - calls to me. And Ruby. We typically go for lunch, or brunch, or whatever you want to call it, and Ruby enjoys a little under-the-table treat, before we head off for a walk. The wait staff often bring her out a bowl of water and a dog biscuit, which she never eats as she doesn't like "milk bones" as they are called. Today lunch was two poached eggs, hash browns, four slices of crisply cooked bacon, and a slice of cracked wheat toast with raspberry jam, plus decaf coffee. This comes to a princely 14 Weightwatchers points, and worth every one of them. Ruby enjoyed her morsels of bacon and potato. In the past I have bought a side of bacon just for her, but I think we need to watch her weight too... and having an extra side of bacon on the table is no inducement to good behavior for Dr Mom!!
We rounded off our lunch with a 50 minute walk at the Palo Alto Baylands (worth 3 points).
Generally on a Wednesday, the diner at Stanford - the Palo Alto Creamery, Fountain and Grill, to give it its proper name - calls to me. And Ruby. We typically go for lunch, or brunch, or whatever you want to call it, and Ruby enjoys a little under-the-table treat, before we head off for a walk. The wait staff often bring her out a bowl of water and a dog biscuit, which she never eats as she doesn't like "milk bones" as they are called. Today lunch was two poached eggs, hash browns, four slices of crisply cooked bacon, and a slice of cracked wheat toast with raspberry jam, plus decaf coffee. This comes to a princely 14 Weightwatchers points, and worth every one of them. Ruby enjoyed her morsels of bacon and potato. In the past I have bought a side of bacon just for her, but I think we need to watch her weight too... and having an extra side of bacon on the table is no inducement to good behavior for Dr Mom!!
We rounded off our lunch with a 50 minute walk at the Palo Alto Baylands (worth 3 points).
Dr Mom's Wednesday Weigh In
Today I weighed in at 152.2lbs, which is exactly the same as last week. Not so much a plateau as a return to snacking, I think. But since I didn't actually put any weight on, even the snacking must be under some kind of control. Got to hunt out that willpower again.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Snacking is bad for you - shock
Well, it's not bad for you if you then reduce the amount of food you eat at the meals. In fact, eating many small meals are better for you than a small number of big meals. But the harm is done when the meals are normal, and the snacks are additional. I'm just reviewing my points for today, which came in at 43. I earned 10 activity points today (walked the dog twice for a total of 80 minutes, dance class tonight with about 90 minutes activity). So I spent my daily allowance of 29, my activity earnings of 10, and squandered 4 points from the weekly floating allowance.
If I look back on the scores for the day, I spent 4 points for breakfast, 12 points for lunch, 13 points for dinner, and 13 points on snacks. If I had not eaten the snacks, then I'd have been a more reasonable one point over the daily allowance. (Are you following this?)
Ergo, if one stops snacking, one should lose weight faster. QED.
Mind you, the snack in question was a large latte and a chocolate croissant from the Mayfield Bakery, so they were points well spent.
If I look back on the scores for the day, I spent 4 points for breakfast, 12 points for lunch, 13 points for dinner, and 13 points on snacks. If I had not eaten the snacks, then I'd have been a more reasonable one point over the daily allowance. (Are you following this?)
Ergo, if one stops snacking, one should lose weight faster. QED.
Mind you, the snack in question was a large latte and a chocolate croissant from the Mayfield Bakery, so they were points well spent.
Dr Mom's Wednesday Weigh-In
Today the scales report that I am 152.2 lbs, a loss of 2.8 lbs this week. Yesterday when I ate dinner, I could hardly eat anything, I was so full. :-)
Monday, January 24, 2011
Keep on Snacking
I haven't eaten anything very extravagent this week, so I am hopeful that there will be a small loss on Wednesday. We did have "smorgasbord" lunch yesterday at a friend's house - involving bagels (sharp intake of breath), salami (ouch) and various other bits and bobs - but this followed a 90 minute walk at Fremont Older, with a lot of uphill.
Anyway, today I wanted to share with you a tale of two chewy bars.
First exhibit, the "Pure Fit" bar, granola crunch flavor. 210 calories. Vegan, gluten free, blah blah. Verdict? Looks like dog poo, tastes like dog poo, smells like dog poo...
Need I say more than that I nibbled the end and then threw it away. Bleugh. I didn't bother to work out the points, as I'll never eat one.
Second exhibit, the KIND fruit and nut bar in apricot and almond flavor. Now that's more like it. Crunchy, chewy, sweet and salty all at once. Alas, it costs 5 weightwatchers points. FIVE. That is the same as two boiled eggs and a slice of toast.
These snack bars are a killer.
Anyway, today I wanted to share with you a tale of two chewy bars.
First exhibit, the "Pure Fit" bar, granola crunch flavor. 210 calories. Vegan, gluten free, blah blah. Verdict? Looks like dog poo, tastes like dog poo, smells like dog poo...
Need I say more than that I nibbled the end and then threw it away. Bleugh. I didn't bother to work out the points, as I'll never eat one.
Second exhibit, the KIND fruit and nut bar in apricot and almond flavor. Now that's more like it. Crunchy, chewy, sweet and salty all at once. Alas, it costs 5 weightwatchers points. FIVE. That is the same as two boiled eggs and a slice of toast.
These snack bars are a killer.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Glum Mum
Sorry to abandon you Dr Mom.
I seem unable to stop eating all the time right now.
Stress levels through roof.
Exams loom imminently. Job applications ditto.
Spouse is (sort of) job hunting.
Notsosmall is waiting to hear if he has got into any of his(our) schools of choice and in the meantime seems to have become totally disaffected with education. I don't think the two things are connected.
Neighbours have tonight decided that playing loud and unpleasant thugga-thugga-thud music is the way to spend an agreeable evening.
Am gibbering. And eating. Cheese anyone?
I seem unable to stop eating all the time right now.
Stress levels through roof.
Exams loom imminently. Job applications ditto.
Spouse is (sort of) job hunting.
Notsosmall is waiting to hear if he has got into any of his(our) schools of choice and in the meantime seems to have become totally disaffected with education. I don't think the two things are connected.
Neighbours have tonight decided that playing loud and unpleasant thugga-thugga-thud music is the way to spend an agreeable evening.
Am gibbering. And eating. Cheese anyone?
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Another startlingly bad beginning to the week
First of all, today is Dr Mom's weigh in day. 155 lbs today, which is half a pound up on last week. Not a big surprise - see previous post.
Today I ended up at the diner for lunch (with Ruby dog) because the cleaners invaded our house and it is impossible to stay in when they are cleaning every room simultaneously. Don't get me wrong, they do a fabulous job and I want them in the house very much; it's just difficult to sit around eating a sandwich when they don't stop to eat anything. (I have the impression that they eat in the car between jobs.) So I had an omelette with bacon, cheese and tomato. Not so low calorie, but very tasty. Ruby shared it with me (a bit). Plus hash browns and wheat toast. Ruby shared those too. She does like her food. We walked it off for an hour at Arasteradero Preserve afterwards.
This afternoon I had a business meeting which always ends with dinner. Twelve of us went out to Estrellita Mexican Restaurant close by our meeting place. I had an Enchilada Azteca, which came with refried beans and rice. I didn't eat all the enchilada or the beans, and didn't eat any of the rice. I did tuck into the home made tortilla chips and salsa rather, but maybe they don't count because of the air inside them...?
I am proud to mention that I have eaten no cake and drunk no coffee today. Such virtue.
Now, where is OEM? I am getting lonely.
Today I ended up at the diner for lunch (with Ruby dog) because the cleaners invaded our house and it is impossible to stay in when they are cleaning every room simultaneously. Don't get me wrong, they do a fabulous job and I want them in the house very much; it's just difficult to sit around eating a sandwich when they don't stop to eat anything. (I have the impression that they eat in the car between jobs.) So I had an omelette with bacon, cheese and tomato. Not so low calorie, but very tasty. Ruby shared it with me (a bit). Plus hash browns and wheat toast. Ruby shared those too. She does like her food. We walked it off for an hour at Arasteradero Preserve afterwards.
This afternoon I had a business meeting which always ends with dinner. Twelve of us went out to Estrellita Mexican Restaurant close by our meeting place. I had an Enchilada Azteca, which came with refried beans and rice. I didn't eat all the enchilada or the beans, and didn't eat any of the rice. I did tuck into the home made tortilla chips and salsa rather, but maybe they don't count because of the air inside them...?
I am proud to mention that I have eaten no cake and drunk no coffee today. Such virtue.
Now, where is OEM? I am getting lonely.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Not a Very Successful Week
I have got to the end of another week, and my points score is -2. That means I've eated all the points for each day (29) plus all the points for the week (49) plus all the points I've earned through exercise (16 this week). Not a very good result.
I can tell you exactly where the problems arose. First was that hazelnut blackberry muffin at Peet's Coffee on Wednesday: 14 points, more than a whole meal. Then there was the meal out with my friends on Thursday, that I calculated at 29 points all by itself. Saturday lunchtime was also a rather scary 21 points, a result of eating a bacon cheeseburger and a few fries at the cafe near Windy Hill. My excuses for that one are (1) the kids needed to eat at the end of a walk, and (2) the cafe only sells pizza and burgers.
By today I had lost hope. I ate some chocolate and a brownie bite at lunchtime because I knew I had gone over my allowance. For some people, that knowledge would make them stricter with themselves. Doesn't work that way for Dr Willpower.
I can tell you exactly where the problems arose. First was that hazelnut blackberry muffin at Peet's Coffee on Wednesday: 14 points, more than a whole meal. Then there was the meal out with my friends on Thursday, that I calculated at 29 points all by itself. Saturday lunchtime was also a rather scary 21 points, a result of eating a bacon cheeseburger and a few fries at the cafe near Windy Hill. My excuses for that one are (1) the kids needed to eat at the end of a walk, and (2) the cafe only sells pizza and burgers.
By today I had lost hope. I ate some chocolate and a brownie bite at lunchtime because I knew I had gone over my allowance. For some people, that knowledge would make them stricter with themselves. Doesn't work that way for Dr Willpower.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Exhausted
Little Starlet's bake sale went very well. We raised over $92 in small change. The scene at morning recess was like a mob. I was completely exhausted by the end. Then they did it again at lunchtime, luckily with other mothers in attendance. Little Starlet was thrilled.
Alas, I ate two fairy cakes. Bad dieter, naughty dieter. Of course, on the bright side, they weren't factory processed cake, but items made with my own fair hands in my own kitchen and not an additive in sight. Yum.
Alas, I ate two fairy cakes. Bad dieter, naughty dieter. Of course, on the bright side, they weren't factory processed cake, but items made with my own fair hands in my own kitchen and not an additive in sight. Yum.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Lemonade Recipe
In case you are interested in making lemonade like your chums in Palo Alto, here is the recipe we followed. We made six batches of it.
Layang Layang, Eating Eating
Today has been troublesome. First of all, smallest daughter is running a bake sale at school tomorrow, in support of Pennies for Peace; which meant that I had to spend the whole day baking fairy cakes and cookies. In the afternoon, Little Starlet brought her three co-conspirators home, and they continued the process by making gallons of lemonade (they squeezed 126 lemons), making another set of cookies, and icing the cakes. The house smelt delectable, but I didn't eat any of them.
It was just as well, really, because at lunchtime I went out with five friends to a Malaysian restaurant in Saratoga/San Jose borders called Layang Layang. It wasn't a very beautiful place, but the food was decent enough - a kind of cross between Thai and Indian, fairy spicey but with a curry overtone. We ordered far, far too much and ate far, far too much of it. I ordered three items: Mouse Tail Noodles (just for the name!), Sarang Mango Chicken (which turned out to have a punch, though billed as not spicey), and vegetarian steamed spring rolls. We ate family style. I brought home two boxes of noodles for Hubby to eat for lunch tomorrow. You can tell how naughty we were, lunch took two hours.
We completed the meal with two desserts, a deep fried ice cream with fried bananas, which was just okay; and a sticky rice with coconut milk and something that could in all honesty have been blackberry jam. It wasn't, I think, but we didn't really go for it.
I didn't have too much meat, and I eschewed the fried foods, but I imagine I ate every point available and for most of the rest of the week! This evening Hubby and I were out at a nonprofit event - a panel discussion on new media and high school education - which provided a finger buffet. We managed to eat just small plates of nothing very much. Virtue seemed obligatory.
It was just as well, really, because at lunchtime I went out with five friends to a Malaysian restaurant in Saratoga/San Jose borders called Layang Layang. It wasn't a very beautiful place, but the food was decent enough - a kind of cross between Thai and Indian, fairy spicey but with a curry overtone. We ordered far, far too much and ate far, far too much of it. I ordered three items: Mouse Tail Noodles (just for the name!), Sarang Mango Chicken (which turned out to have a punch, though billed as not spicey), and vegetarian steamed spring rolls. We ate family style. I brought home two boxes of noodles for Hubby to eat for lunch tomorrow. You can tell how naughty we were, lunch took two hours.
We completed the meal with two desserts, a deep fried ice cream with fried bananas, which was just okay; and a sticky rice with coconut milk and something that could in all honesty have been blackberry jam. It wasn't, I think, but we didn't really go for it.
I didn't have too much meat, and I eschewed the fried foods, but I imagine I ate every point available and for most of the rest of the week! This evening Hubby and I were out at a nonprofit event - a panel discussion on new media and high school education - which provided a finger buffet. We managed to eat just small plates of nothing very much. Virtue seemed obligatory.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Further Cake Horror
I was yet again killing time before going to Reading Partners, and I yet again ended up at Peet's Coffee. I had my usual medium nonfat latte (3 points, and a "power food" according to Weightwatchers); but I also yet again succumbed to the temptations of the pastry and cake cabinet.
Today I opted for a Hazlenut and Blackberry Muffin, which was a whole lot tastier than the reduced fat thing I had on Monday. Alas, it cost me as many points as a whole meal - fourteen. Yes, that's 14 points for one muffin. Here's the nutritional breakdown of the item:
500 calories
Fat 26g
Carbs 62g
Fiber 2g
Protein 8g
Sodium 450 mg
Given that I had got into the habit of eating a coffee shop cake or pastry every day, I can see why I was piling on the pounds. I brought home the Peet's nutritional guide and just did the points calculation for all the items I might be tempted to eat. The lowest is the Lemon Poppyseed Muffin, weighing in at 260 calories and 7 points. It turns out that the muffin I ate today is the costliest, tying with Gingerbread Loaf Bread at 500 calories and 14 points. The reduced fat items tend to come in around 11 points, because the reduction in fat is made up by an increase in sugar, in an attempt to get the product to taste decent.
If you try to lose weight by eating reduced fat sweet items, you are clearly just kidding yourself.
Today I opted for a Hazlenut and Blackberry Muffin, which was a whole lot tastier than the reduced fat thing I had on Monday. Alas, it cost me as many points as a whole meal - fourteen. Yes, that's 14 points for one muffin. Here's the nutritional breakdown of the item:
500 calories
Fat 26g
Carbs 62g
Fiber 2g
Protein 8g
Sodium 450 mg
Given that I had got into the habit of eating a coffee shop cake or pastry every day, I can see why I was piling on the pounds. I brought home the Peet's nutritional guide and just did the points calculation for all the items I might be tempted to eat. The lowest is the Lemon Poppyseed Muffin, weighing in at 260 calories and 7 points. It turns out that the muffin I ate today is the costliest, tying with Gingerbread Loaf Bread at 500 calories and 14 points. The reduced fat items tend to come in around 11 points, because the reduction in fat is made up by an increase in sugar, in an attempt to get the product to taste decent.
If you try to lose weight by eating reduced fat sweet items, you are clearly just kidding yourself.
Dr Mom's Wednesday Weigh In
The scales say I am 154.4 lbs this morning, a loss of 2lbs from last week, which is what WeighWatchers wants you to do. Gosh, I am so virtuous.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Cake Horror
This morning I had 45 minutes to kill between dropping off Little Starlet at school and getting to my volunteering gig in Mountain View. It was also perishingly cold - I even had to scrape the car before setting off from home. So the temptation to head to a cosy coffee shop was strong.
I ended up in Peet's Coffee - http://www.peets.com/ - which is a locally based chain. I had a nonfat latte, so far so good; but then I succumbed to the baked goods counter. Oh woe is me.
I now know that a slice of Peet's Reduced Fat Chocolate Cherry Cranberry Bread is worth 11 Weightwatchers points. It contains 70g of carbohydrate! And it didn't even taste that good.
I made up for it by eating a cheese sandwich for dinner.
I ended up in Peet's Coffee - http://www.peets.com/ - which is a locally based chain. I had a nonfat latte, so far so good; but then I succumbed to the baked goods counter. Oh woe is me.
I now know that a slice of Peet's Reduced Fat Chocolate Cherry Cranberry Bread is worth 11 Weightwatchers points. It contains 70g of carbohydrate! And it didn't even taste that good.
I made up for it by eating a cheese sandwich for dinner.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
How to Bake a Potato
I took a poll of family members - Deep Thought, sitting at the computer playing Civilization V - and we decided to have baked potatoes. I'm going to follow the instructions on this website and I'll let you know how they come out.
http://howtobakeapotato.com/
http://howtobakeapotato.com/
I Like Weightwatchers' Recipes
Weekends are definitely harder. I've only managed 30 minutes out with the dog today, because this morning I had to supervise Little Starlet and two friends organizing themselves for a bake sale (the torture - I have to bake cake for it) on Friday in support of Pennies for Peace (www.penniesforpeace,org), so Hubby took Ruby and himself out without me.
Then Deep Thought arrived back from her soccer practice bearing chocolate chip cookies from Peet's Coffee. She had, for the very first time, taken herself off to Peet's after practice to buy a hot chocolate - how the babies grow - and her altruistic impulses insisted that she not return empty handed. Cookies were duly stowed for dessert after lunch.
For lunch we had tilapia with boiled potatoes, asparagus (which the children pretty much refused to eat) and home made hollandaise sauce, courtesy of the Weightwatchers website. I have always avoided making hollandaise sauce, despite it being a critical ingredient of Eggs Benedict, which is one of my favorite meals, as the story goes that it is very hard to make. Poppycock, I say, it turned out to be very easy. The Weightwatchers recipe was: 1/3 cup butter, 2 egg yolks, 2 tbsp water, dash of salt, lemon juice to taste. Whisk the egg and water together till frothy. Then put over a double burner and continue whisking. As the mixture begins to firm up, pour in the butter (already melted in the microwave) and whisk some more. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice and salt to taste. It worked really well and was worth only one point.
Then we had half a cookie each, which was five points. Yikes.
I think the main thing about the points system is the way it makes you size up your food choices. Will I get as much satisfaction from the 4oz pot of yoghurt for four points or the seven crisps (yes, I mean individual crisps)? For five points I can have two boiled eggs and a slice of toast - or half a cookie. Of course, you don't always want to be eating egg etc, and sometimes the craving for sweet is almost overwhelming. Tonight's experiment in snack food is going to be cottage cheese with strawberries, in a 100 calorie pot courtesy of Kraft.
Now all I have to decide is what's for dinner: cottage pie or baked potatoes?
Then Deep Thought arrived back from her soccer practice bearing chocolate chip cookies from Peet's Coffee. She had, for the very first time, taken herself off to Peet's after practice to buy a hot chocolate - how the babies grow - and her altruistic impulses insisted that she not return empty handed. Cookies were duly stowed for dessert after lunch.
For lunch we had tilapia with boiled potatoes, asparagus (which the children pretty much refused to eat) and home made hollandaise sauce, courtesy of the Weightwatchers website. I have always avoided making hollandaise sauce, despite it being a critical ingredient of Eggs Benedict, which is one of my favorite meals, as the story goes that it is very hard to make. Poppycock, I say, it turned out to be very easy. The Weightwatchers recipe was: 1/3 cup butter, 2 egg yolks, 2 tbsp water, dash of salt, lemon juice to taste. Whisk the egg and water together till frothy. Then put over a double burner and continue whisking. As the mixture begins to firm up, pour in the butter (already melted in the microwave) and whisk some more. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice and salt to taste. It worked really well and was worth only one point.
Then we had half a cookie each, which was five points. Yikes.
I think the main thing about the points system is the way it makes you size up your food choices. Will I get as much satisfaction from the 4oz pot of yoghurt for four points or the seven crisps (yes, I mean individual crisps)? For five points I can have two boiled eggs and a slice of toast - or half a cookie. Of course, you don't always want to be eating egg etc, and sometimes the craving for sweet is almost overwhelming. Tonight's experiment in snack food is going to be cottage cheese with strawberries, in a 100 calorie pot courtesy of Kraft.
Now all I have to decide is what's for dinner: cottage pie or baked potatoes?
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Our Manifesto - A Reminder
At the start of this enterprise in 2010, Over-Educated Mother and I drew up our ten point weight loss manifesto. We didn't do too well at sticking with it, so maybe we need to remind ourselves...:
1. Eat less food.
2. But eat everything we want to in moderation.
3. No deprivation allowed.
4. Eat slower and with more thought.
5. Don't think about food all the time: Menu plan at the start of the week.
6. Limit daily calorie intake to 2,200 in the first four weeks. Reduce to 2,000 daily in second four weeks; then 1,800 in last four weeks. See what happens.
7. Good breakfast is essential.
8. No more than one visit to a coffee shop per day.
9. Stick to a proper time table for meals: No late lunches or dinners. No snacks between snacks.
10. Exercise once a week at first rising to three times a week.
OEM, How would you say you are doing on these points right now?
1. Eat less food.
2. But eat everything we want to in moderation.
3. No deprivation allowed.
4. Eat slower and with more thought.
5. Don't think about food all the time: Menu plan at the start of the week.
6. Limit daily calorie intake to 2,200 in the first four weeks. Reduce to 2,000 daily in second four weeks; then 1,800 in last four weeks. See what happens.
7. Good breakfast is essential.
8. No more than one visit to a coffee shop per day.
9. Stick to a proper time table for meals: No late lunches or dinners. No snacks between snacks.
10. Exercise once a week at first rising to three times a week.
OEM, How would you say you are doing on these points right now?
Weekends are Hard
Not having such a successful day today, though not for lack of portion control or not over-eating. The problem today is that the options have been too calorific.
Breakfast - rice chex and milk (while I cooked the kids a cheese omelette with beans)
Lunch - whole wheat bread stick with sunflower seeds (9 points!), cheese, and one slice of ham
Snack - Starbucks nonfat milk latte and a biscotti (which was 5 points all on its own!!)
Dinner - Quesadilla, for which the tortilla came in at 5 points too.
So today (so far) I have eaten my daily allowance, plus exchanged all my activity points, and eaten one point off my weekly allowance of 49. (For those who don't know, the Weightwatchers system gives you a daily allowance of "points", in my case 29, plus a weekly allowance, which I think is 49 for everyone; and you can earn points from doing exercise which you are then allowed to exchange for food points. You can either save your activity points and spend them at the end of the week, or you can exchange them on a daily basis. I chose the latter, as it seems more honest.)
Despite this discouraging total, I have to express some satisfaction at my willpower in Starbucks. They had holiday gingerbread for sale, which I really like. 440 calories per slice, with 74g of carbohydrate, adding up to a mighty 12 points according to the Weightwatchers calculator. That is more points than I have been eating for either lunch or dinner this week.
Given that I'd got into the habit of eating a cake or pastry every day, no wonder I had hit 160 lbs.
Breakfast - rice chex and milk (while I cooked the kids a cheese omelette with beans)
Lunch - whole wheat bread stick with sunflower seeds (9 points!), cheese, and one slice of ham
Snack - Starbucks nonfat milk latte and a biscotti (which was 5 points all on its own!!)
Dinner - Quesadilla, for which the tortilla came in at 5 points too.
So today (so far) I have eaten my daily allowance, plus exchanged all my activity points, and eaten one point off my weekly allowance of 49. (For those who don't know, the Weightwatchers system gives you a daily allowance of "points", in my case 29, plus a weekly allowance, which I think is 49 for everyone; and you can earn points from doing exercise which you are then allowed to exchange for food points. You can either save your activity points and spend them at the end of the week, or you can exchange them on a daily basis. I chose the latter, as it seems more honest.)
Despite this discouraging total, I have to express some satisfaction at my willpower in Starbucks. They had holiday gingerbread for sale, which I really like. 440 calories per slice, with 74g of carbohydrate, adding up to a mighty 12 points according to the Weightwatchers calculator. That is more points than I have been eating for either lunch or dinner this week.
Given that I'd got into the habit of eating a cake or pastry every day, no wonder I had hit 160 lbs.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Return of the Settled Insides
Not quite so vegetarian today, though still not a fully fledged meat eater. Today's food:
Breakfast - rice chex and milk.
Lunch - 2 egg omelette with a bit of cheddar cheese, and a side of baked beans. Fat free yoghurt.
Afternoon - Starbucks latte with fat free milk. Resisted cake.
Dinner - Angel hair pasta with a small piece of tilapia (a flat white fish), in lemon juice and capers.
Today I am feeling pretty hungry, but the insides have settled down considerably. You will notice that there is not so much as one lettuce leaf on the food list for today. Lemon juice can be risky, as acid can play havoc with my innards, but so far so good since dinner. (I keep mistyping "good" as "food" which I presume is deeply Freudian in some way.)
I walked Ruby Dog for an hour this morning and consequently have five points saved up for a little something in front of the telly after the kids have gone to bed. Mm, could it be a quarter cup of trail mix? And, yes, that is as small a quantity as it sounds.
Breakfast - rice chex and milk.
Lunch - 2 egg omelette with a bit of cheddar cheese, and a side of baked beans. Fat free yoghurt.
Afternoon - Starbucks latte with fat free milk. Resisted cake.
Dinner - Angel hair pasta with a small piece of tilapia (a flat white fish), in lemon juice and capers.
Today I am feeling pretty hungry, but the insides have settled down considerably. You will notice that there is not so much as one lettuce leaf on the food list for today. Lemon juice can be risky, as acid can play havoc with my innards, but so far so good since dinner. (I keep mistyping "good" as "food" which I presume is deeply Freudian in some way.)
I walked Ruby Dog for an hour this morning and consequently have five points saved up for a little something in front of the telly after the kids have gone to bed. Mm, could it be a quarter cup of trail mix? And, yes, that is as small a quantity as it sounds.
Gurgle Gurgle
Bad luck, OEM, on the wonky back; though it does sound like a pretty good strategy for being unable to get at the snack food. Are you taking it to the doctor, or are you actually showing stiff upper lip and just soldiering on?
Yesterday I had another vegetarian day - that's three in a row - but with all the consequences you might expect for someone with insides like mine. As a person with Crohn's, fiber has an interesting effect on the innards. By bedtime, mine were protesting severely.
I did persuade Hubby to go out for dinner last night (on our date night) before going to the movies. We went to a Turkish restaurant in downtown Palo Alto called Baklava. I had a starter made of potatoes, peppers and eggplant with yoghurt, and then my main course was yet more vegetables in a tomato sauce with cheese. We also had warm pitta bread and their special dip. Drank water. It was tasty but, as I indicate, possibly too fibrous as a choice given that I'd had beans on toast for lunch. I should also note that I only ate a few spoonfuls of the rice that accompanied the main course. I actually felt TOO FULL to eat it.
I also managed an 1 hr 45 mins walking yesterday with the dog - we went with Hubby to Windy Hill in the afternoon - so overall a pretty good day. Exercise-wise, having a dog is a good thing, as it makes you go out every day.
Yesterday I had another vegetarian day - that's three in a row - but with all the consequences you might expect for someone with insides like mine. As a person with Crohn's, fiber has an interesting effect on the innards. By bedtime, mine were protesting severely.
I did persuade Hubby to go out for dinner last night (on our date night) before going to the movies. We went to a Turkish restaurant in downtown Palo Alto called Baklava. I had a starter made of potatoes, peppers and eggplant with yoghurt, and then my main course was yet more vegetables in a tomato sauce with cheese. We also had warm pitta bread and their special dip. Drank water. It was tasty but, as I indicate, possibly too fibrous as a choice given that I'd had beans on toast for lunch. I should also note that I only ate a few spoonfuls of the rice that accompanied the main course. I actually felt TOO FULL to eat it.
I also managed an 1 hr 45 mins walking yesterday with the dog - we went with Hubby to Windy Hill in the afternoon - so overall a pretty good day. Exercise-wise, having a dog is a good thing, as it makes you go out every day.
Back-sliding
Not as dramatic as nearly being run over, but my back is out again and I am hobbling around like an ancient very grumpy hobgoblin. And I'm not doing it with a stiff upper lip, either.
On the plus side, all the food cupboards in this house are low down and I can't bend down to find random snacks.
Will now try to remember what I ate yesterday (unlikely to be complete). Breakfast - can't remember even slightly - Notsosmall went back to school and I had to get up in the dark and get out of the house while the streetlights were still on. Possibly I didn't have anything except the compulsory cup of tea. I do remember eating a crumpet sometime yesterday - that might have been breakfast. At lunch I ate a small bowl of leftover Indian takeaway (Wednesday was first day back at college and therefore cooking was impossible).
Dinner, on the other hand, I do remember. It was scallops and chorizo, with chickpeas and spinach. It is very good. The recipes are in Nigella Express, and it really does only take ten minutes to make, start to finish, while having the appearance and taste of something that you've slaved over for hours. I think it is also probably quite good for you. The steamed fruit pudding with cream (the end of the Christmas stuff) on the other hand,definitely had enough calories for a month. And there's some left over for tonight, which we shall eat defiantly.
I feel sure there must have been delinquent snack-eating as well, but I can't (won't?) remember. I do know there have been no snacks today but only because I can't find anything at eye-level.
Tomorrow is another day...
Today, I have had a crumpet for breakfast, a ham sandwich for lunch, and we will be eating salmon and rice and some sort of greenery (and the aforementioned pudding) for dinner.
On the plus side, all the food cupboards in this house are low down and I can't bend down to find random snacks.
Will now try to remember what I ate yesterday (unlikely to be complete). Breakfast - can't remember even slightly - Notsosmall went back to school and I had to get up in the dark and get out of the house while the streetlights were still on. Possibly I didn't have anything except the compulsory cup of tea. I do remember eating a crumpet sometime yesterday - that might have been breakfast. At lunch I ate a small bowl of leftover Indian takeaway (Wednesday was first day back at college and therefore cooking was impossible).
Dinner, on the other hand, I do remember. It was scallops and chorizo, with chickpeas and spinach. It is very good. The recipes are in Nigella Express, and it really does only take ten minutes to make, start to finish, while having the appearance and taste of something that you've slaved over for hours. I think it is also probably quite good for you. The steamed fruit pudding with cream (the end of the Christmas stuff) on the other hand,definitely had enough calories for a month. And there's some left over for tonight, which we shall eat defiantly.
I feel sure there must have been delinquent snack-eating as well, but I can't (won't?) remember. I do know there have been no snacks today but only because I can't find anything at eye-level.
Tomorrow is another day...
Today, I have had a crumpet for breakfast, a ham sandwich for lunch, and we will be eating salmon and rice and some sort of greenery (and the aforementioned pudding) for dinner.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Don't Have a Night Light
"After-hours brightness could even affect your weight. In a study published in October, researchers at Ohio State University exposed one group of mice to a dim light at night, while another group was allowed to experience a standard day-night cycle. Over two months, the first group gained 50 percent more weight than the second group—even though both ate the same amount of food and had similar activity levels. The only difference was that the first group began eating at unnatural times—when their digestive systems were not keyed to metabolize food."
http://www.oprah.com/health/The-Negative-Effects-of-Sleep-Loss/1
http://www.oprah.com/health/The-Negative-Effects-of-Sleep-Loss/1
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Dr Mom's Wednesday Weigh-In
According to the scales, I am now 156.4 lbs, which is a near miraculous loss of five pounds since Sunday. Either crisps make you very fat - and not eating them for three days has this kind of extreme result - or there is something a bit off about one or other of the weights taken. I feel like I must be following some kind of extreme magazine diet.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Life and Death Adventures
I went off to my San Jose meeting this morning sustained by nothing more than a bowl of rice chex and a cup of chamomile tea. By leaving the house ten minutes later than I intended, I prevented myself from stopping off at the Starbucks next to my meeting place. Of such confluences of unintended actions are diets made, methinks.
After that meeting I headed back to Palo Alto for my lunch meeting at Lavanda, on University Avenue. My host was already there, so we got straight into business and ordering. After he chose a club sandwich, I felt compelled to order from that part of the menu too - and my eye alighted on the croque monsieur. I am very partial to croque monsieur, and I was awfully hungry. It was tasty too. (For those who do not know, a croque monsieur is a grilled sandwich with ham in the middle and cheese melted on the top. A croque madam is the same, but with the addition of a soft-yolked fried egg on top. Extra yummy.) My concession to health was to reject the side of French fries in favor of mixed salad leaves. I drank fizzy water and a filter coffee sweetened with Splenda (bleugh).
Alas, Weightwatchers thinks that the average croque monsieur comes in at a hefty 12 points, so maybe it wasn't the best choice. Cheese rarely is. But it was worth it!
After lunch, I was almost run over. For real. I waited at the lights at the crossing. The lights changed, and I had the walk signal. i stepped out into the road - at the same moment that a large mom-mobile hurtled towards me, screeching its brakes, and ending up in the middle of the intersection with cars coming at it along the road that was on green. I just stood there, somewhat surprised. It literally missed me by a foot or so. If I had been walking slightly faster, I'd have been in hospital now. It turns out that a woman I know was actually in one of the other cars at the intersection, and when I saw her later in the day she commented on how impressed she was by my cool reaction: No banging on the offending car, swearing or anything. Well, it's that famous British stiff upper lip, isn't it?
After that meeting I headed back to Palo Alto for my lunch meeting at Lavanda, on University Avenue. My host was already there, so we got straight into business and ordering. After he chose a club sandwich, I felt compelled to order from that part of the menu too - and my eye alighted on the croque monsieur. I am very partial to croque monsieur, and I was awfully hungry. It was tasty too. (For those who do not know, a croque monsieur is a grilled sandwich with ham in the middle and cheese melted on the top. A croque madam is the same, but with the addition of a soft-yolked fried egg on top. Extra yummy.) My concession to health was to reject the side of French fries in favor of mixed salad leaves. I drank fizzy water and a filter coffee sweetened with Splenda (bleugh).
Alas, Weightwatchers thinks that the average croque monsieur comes in at a hefty 12 points, so maybe it wasn't the best choice. Cheese rarely is. But it was worth it!
After lunch, I was almost run over. For real. I waited at the lights at the crossing. The lights changed, and I had the walk signal. i stepped out into the road - at the same moment that a large mom-mobile hurtled towards me, screeching its brakes, and ending up in the middle of the intersection with cars coming at it along the road that was on green. I just stood there, somewhat surprised. It literally missed me by a foot or so. If I had been walking slightly faster, I'd have been in hospital now. It turns out that a woman I know was actually in one of the other cars at the intersection, and when I saw her later in the day she commented on how impressed she was by my cool reaction: No banging on the offending car, swearing or anything. Well, it's that famous British stiff upper lip, isn't it?
Monday, January 3, 2011
Soooo Hunnnnggggrrrryyyyy
Yesterday I ate 43 points on Weightwatchers, largely due to the homemade chocolate chip cookies that Little Starlet insisted we make in the afternoon. Each cookie turned out to be worth 7 points. (Seven!!) Today, so far, I've eaten 22 points, and the food diary is thus:
Breakfast - rice chex and milk
Lunch - wholewheat pasta with mushrooms, onion, and tomato sauce
Afternoon snack - two cups of popcorn
Dinner - ground beef with tomato and kidney beans, on quinoa
And I'm hungry....huuuunnngggggrrrrryyyyy.....
The kids are tucking into ice cream. Luckily ice cream isn't one of the food stuffs that shakes my world, and I don't even feel like I'm craving something sweet (despite the box of yesterday's cookies sitting on the countertop). But I do feel like I could eat dinner again.
Over Christmas, one of the books I read was "Sacred Hearts" by Sarah Dunant, in which one of the characters embarks on a self-imposed anorexia; and she talks about so-called 'Holy Anorexia' in which members of religious orders, or religious hermits, would starve themselves to make visions appear. I'm not quite there yet, but give me a couple of days.
Mind you, I have a lunch date at a fancy Palo Alto restaurant tomorrow. Do I really have to eat leaves? It's unseasonal, even for California.
Breakfast - rice chex and milk
Lunch - wholewheat pasta with mushrooms, onion, and tomato sauce
Afternoon snack - two cups of popcorn
Dinner - ground beef with tomato and kidney beans, on quinoa
And I'm hungry....huuuunnngggggrrrrryyyyy.....
The kids are tucking into ice cream. Luckily ice cream isn't one of the food stuffs that shakes my world, and I don't even feel like I'm craving something sweet (despite the box of yesterday's cookies sitting on the countertop). But I do feel like I could eat dinner again.
Over Christmas, one of the books I read was "Sacred Hearts" by Sarah Dunant, in which one of the characters embarks on a self-imposed anorexia; and she talks about so-called 'Holy Anorexia' in which members of religious orders, or religious hermits, would starve themselves to make visions appear. I'm not quite there yet, but give me a couple of days.
Mind you, I have a lunch date at a fancy Palo Alto restaurant tomorrow. Do I really have to eat leaves? It's unseasonal, even for California.
I did OK today - until this evening
Filled with virtuous intention, I started the day with a bowl of bird food. Well, muesli, but I've been feeding it to the birds this winter as we ran out of the echt stuff and the poor things needed food in all the snow. I hope it filled them up more than it did me.
However, I survived without snackage until lunch time, when I ate four pieces of sushi, two slices of ham and some leaves. Then I felt deprived and still hungry so I ate 2/3 of the bread bun I had actively decided not to make into a sandwich with the ham and leaves.
The afternoon was long and dark and involved reading about the duties of a solicitor in a police station, thus compelling me to eat a piece of stollen cake (that's nearly a joke!). Dinner was a pre-prepared Bigham's ready meal, the calories of which could be readily calculated if I could find the packet, with rice and peas and corn. That was ok, and tasty, and David made it so it was even better.
Evening involved watching Goldeneye, eating ONE long AfterEight matchmaker-style choco-snack, one ricciarelli (Sienese almond biscuit), and rather a lot of Goldfish. Dr Mom, did you know the Festive Goldfish you brought me were not all fish at all, but 1/3 Christmas Trees and 1/3 Stockings! And scrummy. I seem to remember last year that a small dish of them worked out to a reasonable quantity of calories - I will have to look them up again.
The moral of this story would seem to be: don't watch Bond films.
However, I survived without snackage until lunch time, when I ate four pieces of sushi, two slices of ham and some leaves. Then I felt deprived and still hungry so I ate 2/3 of the bread bun I had actively decided not to make into a sandwich with the ham and leaves.
The afternoon was long and dark and involved reading about the duties of a solicitor in a police station, thus compelling me to eat a piece of stollen cake (that's nearly a joke!). Dinner was a pre-prepared Bigham's ready meal, the calories of which could be readily calculated if I could find the packet, with rice and peas and corn. That was ok, and tasty, and David made it so it was even better.
Evening involved watching Goldeneye, eating ONE long AfterEight matchmaker-style choco-snack, one ricciarelli (Sienese almond biscuit), and rather a lot of Goldfish. Dr Mom, did you know the Festive Goldfish you brought me were not all fish at all, but 1/3 Christmas Trees and 1/3 Stockings! And scrummy. I seem to remember last year that a small dish of them worked out to a reasonable quantity of calories - I will have to look them up again.
The moral of this story would seem to be: don't watch Bond films.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
And by the way...
... why is it when I click on the 'Next Blog' button, I get a series of blogs from people writing about cupcakes and other forms of foodie obsession? Is this helpful? I don't think so!
New Year, New Blog, New Bleurgh...
I'm with you Dr Mom! Even without the photographic evidence, the need for reviving the quest is clear. Not least because I put my back out before Christmas and it is still wonky. Being exactly the same weight I was this time last year is not going to help it get better.
On which, I'm not sure whether to be happy (and surprised) that over all I have not gained weight, or depressed and grumpy that I failed to change the habits of a lifetime with any lasting success last year.
However, I am going Back to the Swimming Pool on Thursday morning - Notsosmall will be back at school, I will have gone back to college, and no excuses will be permitted. (David says I have to be fitter or he won't let me go to Italy - and I'm inspiring myself by looking at the steepness of the hills that will need to be climbed!)
We've nearly eaten up all the Christmas food, and to be honest I'm looking forward to a week or two of lettuce and thin soup. I might even go vegetarian for a few days - I don't want any slabs of meat for a while now. Or chocolate. The cheese will be trickier.
Here's to a thinner '11!
On which, I'm not sure whether to be happy (and surprised) that over all I have not gained weight, or depressed and grumpy that I failed to change the habits of a lifetime with any lasting success last year.
However, I am going Back to the Swimming Pool on Thursday morning - Notsosmall will be back at school, I will have gone back to college, and no excuses will be permitted. (David says I have to be fitter or he won't let me go to Italy - and I'm inspiring myself by looking at the steepness of the hills that will need to be climbed!)
We've nearly eaten up all the Christmas food, and to be honest I'm looking forward to a week or two of lettuce and thin soup. I might even go vegetarian for a few days - I don't want any slabs of meat for a while now. Or chocolate. The cheese will be trickier.
Here's to a thinner '11!
New Year, New Start
Hello again. It's been a while.
Dr Mom weighed in this morning at 160.6 lbs, again a record for heaviness. The first day of the year didn't go so well, food-wise, involving as it did a cooked breakfast, a burger for lunch, three mince pies, a Flake, pasta with cream for dinner, and a bowl of trail mix. But against that I have to mention the five hours sleep of the night before, and in such circumstances it is essential to keep eating tasty junk food in order to stay awake.
But today is the start of a brave new world. Again.
I was just watching some video of myself dancing on New Year's Eve. Tummy. Large boobies. Expansive bottom. And did I mention the tummy? Oh dear, really got to do something about that.
First step is to re-awake Weightwatchers. I logged in and discovered it had changed in my absence. It's like some perverse version of the supermarkets moving all the food around to make you spend more. Turns out that they have recalibrated all the foods so that I now have a higher point availability for each day and extra for the week (29 and 49 respectively). So it must mean that one point no longer roughly equals 100 calories - some more subtle algorithm is in play. Bah.
Hungry. Must drink tea.
Dr Mom weighed in this morning at 160.6 lbs, again a record for heaviness. The first day of the year didn't go so well, food-wise, involving as it did a cooked breakfast, a burger for lunch, three mince pies, a Flake, pasta with cream for dinner, and a bowl of trail mix. But against that I have to mention the five hours sleep of the night before, and in such circumstances it is essential to keep eating tasty junk food in order to stay awake.
But today is the start of a brave new world. Again.
I was just watching some video of myself dancing on New Year's Eve. Tummy. Large boobies. Expansive bottom. And did I mention the tummy? Oh dear, really got to do something about that.
First step is to re-awake Weightwatchers. I logged in and discovered it had changed in my absence. It's like some perverse version of the supermarkets moving all the food around to make you spend more. Turns out that they have recalibrated all the foods so that I now have a higher point availability for each day and extra for the week (29 and 49 respectively). So it must mean that one point no longer roughly equals 100 calories - some more subtle algorithm is in play. Bah.
Hungry. Must drink tea.
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