Little By Little...Step by Step

Its funny how the lessons one learns fade away at times and need to be relearned only to fade again.  My little quest to regain control of the scale is still on.  This weeks epiphany is...big changes kind of fail. Little ones changed progressively seem to work better (at least for me).

You all know abut my long and failed relationship saga with Starbucks.  My goal over the last week or so has been to back off not quit the coffee habit and increase the food related calories cause lets face it there have been days where most of my calories came from a stupid frappaccino.

so..Here is a reporting of a very (I think) successful weaning (not off just a step away mind you).

Last week I down-sized from two venti frapps a day to 2 grandes.  I did not feel any pain.  In fact the coincidental alignment with the return of my long lost period made it so I would have been too tight to drink something as big as a venti anyway.

Yesterday was round two of the cut backs.  The whipped cream on top is off the menu.  Now I have been very scared to look at the calories I have been ingesting ala Starbucks but now..now is the time to compare.  OHHHHH MYYYYYY GGGGG (yes that was a real time search and reaction..eek)

I checked...Calories of old: 540
Grande with whip: 420
Grande without the whip: 290
Tall will by 230.

I just cut my calories in half from those things.  hanging my head in shame.  Coffee milkshake drinks are evil.  This weekend I am moving to tall in the morning and an orange drink in the afternoon.  A Trenta sized one of those drinks is just 170.


The result has been good.  My ticker is almost truthful again.  The scale hit as high as 182.  This morning I was 177.

The Good the Bad and Hormones

I thought I had finally found menopause.

I rather liked it.

Everyday the same mood-Not always great but not the highs and lows of myself pre-meno.  No pads, no worries that I would have embarrassing 'accident' on that heavy day.  Now worries that i would run out of pads at an inopportune moment.  No 'difficult laundry'.  No gauging what day should I stay home because of high volume 'flo'.

The downside however was that with no water gain I didn't have a tightening and loosening of my ban during the month.  I managed to get really good at judging, sliding and otherwise maximizing my calorie intake with the restriction in place.  With the ebb and flo of hormones I retain water in strange and mostly a pain-in-the-ass-like way.  boobs, swell, ankles swell, I get tense and irratable (who wouldn't sloshing around an extra 3-5 pounds of water).  Even post-band I noticed my belly bloats (in a crazy and noticeable way).

but...that restriction....

So I had 6 glorious months of menopause.  I like it mostly.  I didn't like the creeping scale.  Not all of my weight gain is due to menopause but some of it definitely is.  I have now had two months of fertility revisited-out of menopause and back to normal womanly monthlies.  Mostly this sucks.  but a my little and significant silver lining is the band tightening that water retention brings.

I am tight..and although the recent stuck episodes (I have had a few) and a meal or three where I had a drink and discovered dinner was not going to happen were pain in the arse.  I mostly consider this a silver lining.  Hello again 170's I hope to see all of you.  Especially if I have to put up with all of this other hormonal crap.

I feel like one of these right now...

Did I Really Say That?

Drinking...ahem the calories.  Today my favorite girl machine-the scale-presented me with 178 :) I do like-y.

Food: grande frapp.  for breakfast
Lunch: One cheese-y omelet ala David.
Mid Afternoon: one grande frapp.

One Pimms Cocktail.
one hot chocolate and rumpleminz.

Dinner: 1/3 burger, 4 fries.  (these got stuck and returned about half).

The drinks came before dinner as we had 40 minutes to wait until happy hour...I have no business eating food after 8pm...I did it anyway.


Drink much?  :(

It is midnight and my tummy still hurts.  Oh..the stupidity.  I wonder if tomorrow's scale will be so kind.

It Is All About Eating Food

Well hit my up side the head with a 2x4 guess what?  When you drink your calories you don't lose weight!  When you drink your calories you gain weight.  Duh...but have I learned this enough to not do it.  Why of course not.

Today-More food down the hatch.  My precious frapp: (I had a free one and a girl can't pass up free can she?).  Shared an egg sandwhich with Grace (yes a splart of mayo).  I had the egg late so I wasn't hungry at lunch.  At 3:30 I had another Frapp.  and an oatmeal cookie (The Starbucks baked good suck now by the way..Bleh).  and then...way until 10pm I had a tiny tiny plate of nachos (8 chips, 1oz cheddar and one splart of sour cream).  Not a great day food-wise but there is more.......


Last night David made me go play Ingress (forever after this call the stupid game as we do around the house).  We did this get a group of people together to mark portals (landmarks) in our team colors and make them all at a high level.  Anyway..the point is.  This involved bucket loads of walking.  MIles and miles of walking.

The scale this morning in payment for my good behavior was...down to 179.0  I have been rolling as high as 184 and dipping to just above 180 for about a year now.  This 179.0 is grand.  I like this new tighter band and my better behaved self.  Fingers crossed I can keep it up!!  I want to see 170 again.

xxoo

view from my buggy windshield.  Driving along the Columbia River Gorge into the sun.

1 splart =1 tablespoon according to my 12 year old

Things my 12 year old says that make me go Hmm....

1.  After reading her my post from yesterday and the comments she said in a very authoritative voice:  Well actually a splart is a little known unit of measurement approximately equal to two tablespoons..hmm or is that one?  Of course I believed her because she has the gift of LIE---There is no such mention of a splart in any google search.  If you find one definitely link it.

2.  When the local air show (just 1/2 mile down the road) started their fireworks show at 10:15 at night and it ran until 10:45 she came into our room and moaned in a very moany way.  "what the heck are they doing making such a racket at this time of the night?"...Ok she is 12 and those are fireworks.  I would expect..lets go on the rooftop or can we walk and go see but?? when are they going to end????  I guess 12 is the new 90.

3.  David is restoring an old APPLE IIe desk computer.  One just like the one he learned on at the age of 10.  He ordered old floppy disks and they arrived.  He pulled them out of the package and asked Grace if she could identify them.  She did without hesitation and you should have seen him puff up with pride.  I then gave them both a rash of crap..as you could see him thinking in his head..that my girl..my technological nerd girl..she knows the gear.  Some serious nerd love going on in my kitchen over stupid floppy disks.

A photo of this nerd girl:

Two in Two days-Wahoo

Blogging is good for the banded soul.  After my several month hiatus I posted yesterday and  cconfessed to my horrible eating/drinking habits. Today I am trying a little experiment I am going to call..EAT FOOD DAMNIT! :)

So far:

Shared an egg sandwich with Grace: 1 slice of bread, 1 egg, 1oz cheese, 1 splart of mayo.
Mid-morning snack:  one Tall peppermint mocha frapp.
Lunch: Shared fish and chips with Grace.  I ate two oz deep fat fried fish (and yes it was beer batter and yes it was YUMMY).  one french fry.
Mid afternoon: iced tea (no calories baby)

I am not sure what dinner will bring-I will be back.

My photo of the day:  My cat Kokomo is a cutie-She can sit in the oddest positions in the oddest places.  Yesterday she tortured Grace from the banister.  If Grace went near she batted at her head using just those dangling feet.

August 24, 2008

I had a call from the researchers at the hospital last week.  they want me in to do follow-up blood tests, fitness junk, and psychological questions.  It has been almost 5 years since I had this lovely little band installed and I am pleased as punch.

Funnily enough I am on a losing streak again.  Even funnier is I am not trying really.  This band has decided to tighten up on its own and I have been experiencing greater restriction than normal..actually...unpredictable restriction.

I figured something out.  When one has predictable restriction you learn really quickly how to work around it.  Sneak in calories and optimize meals.

My typical, honest but not something to take pride in eating day:

breakfast: venti peppermint mocha frapp with whipped cream
Lunch: cheese and some bread/cracker/chip vehicle.
2:00pm-grande peppermint mocha frapp with whipped cream
Dinner: some small (1/2 cup) of food.  I usually share with Grace, David or have a cup of soup.
Late at night: alcoholic beverage (lately pimms with lemon aide or dessert)

Now is this good? no..is this normal sadly yes.

Now:
Sometimes the above, sometimes switch the drink to a grande at breakfast.
have an egg for lunch stay full until 2pm have a grande drink sneak a careful dinner down (a couple of bites or 1/4 soup).  then full until bed with maybe a little snack.

the unpredictable nature of the band right now means that I am scared to overdue it and waste food or drink.  Thus I eat and drink less across the board.

Of course what should I do?  skip the darned drinking and swap it for water of course.  Do I? well not so much.

I am facing blood tests in the next couple of weeks.  Blood tests do not lie..I am pretty sure they will find out if the above food is not enough of the good stuff and too much liquid junk in my trunk.

Now..exercise?  I have not been doing anything formal but we are still playing 'the game' of two posts back.  We walk around our neighborhood and I have a friend who tries to do 10,000 steps a day. I often walk with her int he evenings and thus by proxy get in 10,000 or so steps too.

The store is still there and going well.  The work load is huge and I am taking on a partner (fingers crossed it all works out).  The community college gig is still going well although I have taken summer off.  The department chair likes me and let me pick my class next term, days and times..I love him and if ever offered a full time gig..will jump.  Hence getting my partner on board so I can juggle both.

We have been doing a bit of adventures out and about.  Yesterday we went to the county fair and today a renaissance fair.  Both were good fun.  I even bought a bodice as I am planning a little costume for future participation and have been assured that I can wear it braless and it will look great.  Oh I will show you photos if it works at all.    wahoo..I was inspired to slip off my bra and give it a try :)  It is way more comfortable than I thought it would be!! and..voila even my saggy old girls are peeping north!!

 Grace and David Walking into the fair.  The tents you can see were the local SCA.  The shops and jousting were in the woods.  It was very well placed but had quote a few booths made up of cheap trinkets.  I would have preferred more handiwork kinds of booths.

 A spinner-A group of us are plotting to do a bunch of this at a local renaissance fair coming just down the road from me.  This is why I thought of getting a bodice in the first place.

 Even the renaissance fair needs a pub.  The green porta-potties were directly across the dusty path (eww)

 Sitting in the bodice. It is rather more comfortable than I thought it would be and boy oh boy are the girls hoisted.

Not bad at cinching in my waist either.  What do you call a muffin that appears below your bodice instead of above your jeans anyway? :)