Diet Day 7

So what happened to day 6? Well, I ate really well for breakfast and lunch. I walked 2.5 miles. I consumed my 64 ounces of water. The reason I didn't document it was because we had sushi for dinner and I'm not even sure how many calories I had but I'm positive that I was within my ranges. Of course, weigh-in this morning showed a 3.6 pound gain but I am attributing that to water retention because I would have to eat more than 10,000 calories to gain 3.6 pounds overnight. In case you're interested, here is my data for day 6 (not including dinner)goal/actual:

Calories: 1600/671
Carbs (g): 240/120
Protein (g): 80/33
Fat (g): 36/13
Dietary Fiber (g): 30/19
Water (8 oz glasses): 8/8
Walked (miles): 2/2.5

Weight loss as of this morning (total): 5.4 pounds


Here is the breakdown for day 7 (goal/actual):
Calories: 1600/1457
Carbs (g): 240/242.1
Protein (g): 80/67
Fat (g): 36/28.2
Dietary Fiber (g): 25/27.5
Water (8 oz glasses): 8/8
Walked (miles): 2/2.5

Weight loss as of this morning (total): 1.8 pounds

Tomorrow night, we're having sushi again for dinner so I will post my breakfast and lunch totals only. We're also going to be having birthday cake after dinner and I'm not going to deny myself but will try to only limit myself to a small piece (no promises!).

Day 5...and then I'm going to relax my eating

Even with eating out tonight, I'm still going to be sticking to my targets.

Here is the breakdown for day 5 (goal/actual):
Calories: 1600/1452
Carbs (g): 240/217
Protein (g): 80/79
Fat (g): 36/32.5
Dietary Fiber (g): 30/29
Water (8 oz glasses): 8/8
Walked (miles): 0/0 - Got too much other stuff to do today!

Weight loss as of this morning: 5.2 pounds

Mom is really concerned about what to fix while I'm home but I keep telling her to just relax and fix what she would normally make. Of course, I did veto the homemade cinnamon rolls because if I can't eat them...no one else can either.

For the next few days, I won't have my scale or my tracker so I'm not going to have anything to post. We will be getting back Monday night so I will officially start back on the "lifestyle change" on Tuesday. On the other hand, I'm not going to go hog wild and pig crazy this weekend either so Tuesday's weigh-in should be interesting.

It was a breeze I tell ya!

Day 4 was way easier than day 3. I didn't have any cravings the whole day and really didn't feel hungry all day. I had to force myself to eat a bowl of Fiber One cereal at about 9pm in order to get my calories and dietary fiber up. I really don't want to consume any less than 1200 calories and one bowl of cereal is 200 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, and 13 grams of dietary fiber so getting the 30 grams of dietary fiber is much easier!

Here is the breakdown for day 4 (goal/actual):
Calories: 1600/1391
Carbs (g): 240/210
Protein (g): 80/96.5
Fat (g): 36/26
Dietary Fiber (g): 30/34
Water (8 oz glasses): 8/8
Walked (miles): 1.2/2.45

Weight loss as of this morning: 4.4 pounds

Tomorrow we're heading home but I have my dinner already planned out so I feel prepared. I'm also taking a box of my cereal to eat for breakfast and lunch so I can be more liberal at dinner. Unfortunately, I won't have my tracker or scale with me so I will have to pick back up on that when I return.

Today I won my first battle

Today has been yet another stressful day at work and by 5:30 my stomach was screaming to eat. Sitting at my desk all day, I couldn't help but notice a cup from my last trip to Cook-Out last week and it seems that the cup had learned the art of torture. By the end of the day, all I could think about is "I WANT A BURGER, CAJUN FRIES, AND A SWEET TEA FROM COOK-OUT".

Of course, it was even more tempting because B was working late tonight so I had to fend for dinner on my own. In an effort to dissuade myself, I called my mom so that I could listen to her coaching me to stick with my healthy eating. Turns out, my mom wasn't really into coaching today. After I explained my great predicament and exclaimed that cup was practically begging me to drive to Cook-Out and that I was thisclose to giving in to my temptation...my mom tells me "Well.....I've gotta go cook dinner so I'll talk to you later". Huh?!

Your child just called to tell you that THE most powerful drug she could ever desire (fatty, calorie laden foods) is trying to bust down the door of her healthy eating temple and you have to go cook dinner? Gee thanks....when I gain 5 pounds of water weight from the fry seasoning, I know where to point the finger!

So, for the next hour I argued with myself...eat healthy....go to Cook-Out....eat healthy....one meal off the wagon won't kill you....eat healthy. Finally, I forced myself to drive to Wendy's and get a Grilled Chicken Sandwich. Believe me, it was touch and go all the way to the drive-thru menu because I really thought the car was going to overpower me and drive my ass to Fuquay-Varina and force (not really) fries and a hamburger down my throat.

The point of all of this is that I didn't give in to willpower. I know that Friday night, I probably won't be eating healthy because we'll be driving back to Abingdon and I don't want the eventual guilt of eating "poorly" two nights out of five. Besides, eating back home is so much harder than eating at home and I'm sure it will be even harder to eat healthier there. I feel like I've accomplished something by being stronger than the pull of the craving. I feel empowered! Oh, and that cup....I made B remove it when he got home! Try talking me into giving in now!

Here is the breakdown for day 3 (goal/actual):
Calories: 1600/1476
Carbs (g): 240/138
Protein (g): 80/49.5
Fat (g): 36/25
Dietary Fiber (g): 30/33
Water (8 oz glasses): 8/8
Walked (miles): 1.2/0**

Weight loss as of this morning: Still holding at 2.6 lbs

**I will be making this up on Friday.

Day 2 of the diet

I managed to stick with it even with some extra work stress....but it was a real battle not to grab the most fattening food I could find in the pantry. Here is the breakdown for today (goal/actual):

Calories: 1600/1244
Carbs (g): 240/170.5
Protein (g): 80/82
Fat (g): 36/35
Dietary Fiber (g): 30/23.5
Water (8 oz glasses): 8/6
Walked (miles): 1/2.6

Weight loss as of this morning: 2.6 lbs

Falling off the wagon

My name is LeeAnne and I am an emotional eater. If I'm stressed, I eat. If I'm happy, I eat. If I'm sad, I eat. It is a horrible cycle that I have yet to find a way to stop. I realize the need to improve my diet and exercise more....but losing weight has been exceptionally hard. I like convenience and I like quick and neither of these things really describe healthy eating and exercise. I also like immediate results which is probably why I have spent more time off the wagon instead of on it. I get really motivated at the beginning but the results take FOREVER so I lose what motivation I had...and then I feel bad about myself so I eat!

I'm also the kind of girl that can think of her favorite foods and instantly be overtaken by a craving that leaves me crumpled in a heap begging to get the images out of my head. Unfortunately, the only way to get rid of the craving is to give in....so I eat. Guilt then ensues and that only drives me to eat MORE...and the 6 Thin Mints have now turned into a whole sleeve of Thin Mints (damn you Girl Scouts and your little satan cookies!).

I began a new experiment yesterday to see if I have better results. My new "diet" consists of this (note: this is an experiment for a major Type A control freak):

1. I now keep a food journal (in Excel) of everything I eat during the day. I track how much I eat and the nutritional information for that item (calories, fat, protein, carbs, and dietary fiber).
2. My daily caloric intake will not exceed 1600 but I will not flog myself mercilessly in the town square if I sometimes find myself going over that target.
3. My carbs/protein/fat breakdown will stick as close to 60%/20%/20% as possible.
4. I will eat 3 meals a day PLUS 2 snacks...and no eating after 8 PM.
5. I will drink as close to 8 glasses of water a day as possible.
6. Before going out to eat, I will check nutritional information of the restaurant before leaving the house so that I have a plan and will focus on that plan so as not to be dissuaded by other "non-healthy but oh-so-tasting" items on the menu.
7. Every other day, I will walk 2 miles on my treadmill and if my fat inner self tries to talk me out of it, I WILL fight back and piss myself off enough to lug my fat butt onto the treadmill just to prove that I can do it.
8. I will walk a mile outside every day just to change up the scenery and get out in the fresh air.
9. If I find myself cowering in a corner because of a craving, I will picture myself pregnant and decorating the nursery to try and keep my focus.
10. If I give in to the craving, I will not beat myself up but will brush myself off and pick up where I left off.
11. I WILL TRY NOT TO GET DISCOURAGED when the weight seems to take longer to get off then it does to put on. To focus on the small victories, I will weigh myself every morning and record my weight in a nice, pretty graph.
12. I will set shorter goals (i.e., drop 6 pounds in 2 weeks as opposed to losing 30 pounds in 3 months) to keep my drive up and the finish lines in sight.

So there is my 12 step plan. I can do this and I WILL do this.

Yesterday wasn't so bad (and I even had Wendy's for dinner!). Here is what the final totals were for the day (target/actual):

Calories: 1600/1572
Carbs: 240/251
Fat: 36/26
Protein: 80/80.5
Dietary Fiber: 30/30
Water Intake: 8/7
Exercise: 3 miles/3.2 miles

Day 2 is a little harder because I've cut out caffine and am more hungry today for some reason but I'm holding onto my spreadsheet as hard as I can.