Week 10 – Thursday/Friday (Wing Fest)

Last night I went out with some friends and got back late; I decided to skip the blog post and go to bed as soon as I got in, since I work in the morning.

After I got off work, I met up with my friends at a local pizza place while we waited for everyone to arrive.  While I was there, I ate a buffalo chicken salad with lettuce, cheese, peppers, and light ranch.  The salad had breaded chicken tenders on it (looking back I should have figured that) so I asked them to bring me a piece of grilled chicken breast and gave the tenders to one of my friends.  I diced up the grilled chicken and put it on my salad–which of course, was quite tasty.

Once we were all ready to go we headed out to the local WingFest where a few local restaurants compete to see who can make the best wings each week.  It was a really good time getting out and walking around listening to the band play not to mention getting to spend some time with friends.  I haven’t done anything like that in a while so it felt good!  I was generally pretty good health wise, especially since I had eaten before we went so that I didn’t have to stare at all the food on an empty stomach.  I expected the wings to be breaded, which is one more reason I wanted the salad before I went.  The wings were not breaded though so I decided to try a couple flavors.  I tried garlic parmesan, spicy ranch, sweet garlic, and honey bourbon (my guess is the last two were most damaging and highest in carbs).  I know the wings still had skin on them, but I thought about it and decided to try some anyway (my thinking was that the skin would be more of a fat problem than a carb problem–when given the choice between the two I usually opt for the fat because too many carbs can take me out of ketosis, or fat-burning).  I am happy that I decided to try them because they were great tasting, but I was able to control myself and not eat multiple of each kind–I still got the enjoyment without the overeating.  Next week when I go, I am not going to try any.  I have had enough to satisfy me for a while (I have never been a huge wing fan) and I don’t think I can justify eating any more carb rich sauces or fatty chicken skin.

After the band was done playing and wing fest was over we decided we weren’t quite ready to go home so we went to Denny’s.  I knew I had plenty of protein for the day, so I ordered my standard side of broccoli.  It always tastes so good–I probably like it even more because I can rely on restaurants to have it and have it taste almost identical no matter where I order it.

Today was a little bit of a different story for me.  Whereas yesterday I was able to get in all of my nutrition and water, today I didn’t even come close with the water and my meal times were a little off.  I ended up staying at work late tonight so my lean & green was late (I could have eaten another Medifast meal but I really wanted to eat my lean & green so that I didn’t have to wait until 8:30).  I also didn’t feel like cooking after a longer day at work, so we stopped by Sheetz to get a salad for me and subs for my husband and brother.  I got my usual grilled chicken salad with lettuce, cheese, egg, green pepper, bacon bits, and light buttermilk ranch–YUM!  I know I will get in my last Medifast meal before I go to bed tonight, but I also know I will not get in all my water.  It’s just too late to be drinking another 44 ounces of water (like I said I drank no where near enough water today).

I am really excited to be off for the weekend!  I can get to bed early and plan some activity (and cooking!) the next couple days.

Week 9 Weigh-In

Weight: 219.4

BMI: 37.7

Waist: 38″

Hips: 48″

This week’s weigh in was both a success and confusing.  Somehow, I managed to gain 1.4 lbs from they day when I weight 218 (and I know I was much stricter with myself after I saw that number on the scale).  However, I am still down 2.6lbs from last week, which is a big number (and still under 220)!!!!.  This week I lost 2 inches off of my waist and 1 inch off of my hips which is something I haven’t seen in a couple weeks so that makes me feel better about the difference in weight.  One thing I have been doing differently in the past few days is exercising–maybe my body was doing a little redistributing and I gained some muscle?–or maybe my scale is old and inconsistent…I’m happy to see 219.4 regardless.

I had a very strange day.  Early in the day, I couldn’t hear out of the left side of my ear for 10-15 minutes (thats what it felt like so as someone who has worked in retail I know it probably didn’t last near that long).  Shortly after I began hearing normally I started to feel strange.  Just sitting there felt like work and if I moved at all my head hurt and I felt off balance==I was really warm most of the day.  I made it through work and am feeling better now, I just don’t know why I felt the way I did.  I ate all of my meals and got them in on time; I also drank all of my water today (88 ounces–since it is a new week I am adding another 8 ounces to my goal), so I really don’t know what would have caused this.  A friend had mentioned it could be blood pressure related (I forget if she said low or high.  Odd as it may sound, I have never had a problem with high blood pressure).  Hopefully I won’t feel like this tomorrow, I really do not want to have to go to the doctor.

We didn’t cook today.  Instead we made a trip to our local Subway.  I ordered a steak salad with cheese, green pepper, mild pepper rings, and some light mayo (I opted for a small amount of fat today even though steak doesn’t require an additional healthy fat because Subway’s dressings are loaded with carbs).

Tonight I played 2 songs on Just Dance 3 on the Kinect.  After the second song I just couldn’t do any more because our house was so hot (We only have air conditioning in our bedroom and computer room).  I wanted to play for 45 minutes to an hour because it usually flies by when I play that game, but I just couldn’t bear the heat.  Tonight will be one of my days to relax and I will plan an outdoor activity for tomorrow.

Week 9 – Sunday (Sticking to That List!)

I had another fantastic day today.  I got up early, spent some time with my husband, got in all of my Medifast meals on time, drank more than my daily water goal and even got a bit of NEAT and EAT today.

Today we decided that we couldn’t put off grocery shopping any longer, so we made a list and went shopping.  I always like making a list before we go because I know what we actually need and want before we even leave the house.  When I have a list, I don’t have to spend forever at the store because I am just walking through the aisles picking up whatever looks good.  Instead I have made that plan ahead of time and am choosing the right foods and just enough of them.  I also move with purpose, I move around faster at the store because I’m just trying to get what I need and get out.  We have been really consistent with our grocery bill when we do this too, it has been the same +-$5.00 the last few times we have gone.  It really helps ease our anxiety when we go because we know what to expect money wise and that we will have enough to take care of ourselves for the week.

Since we went shopping (and lets face it–neither of us felt like cooking today), we stopped by Sheetz to pick up salads on the way home.  Today I got a steak salad with romaine lettuce, eggs, feta, green peppers, mild pepper rings, and bacon bits.  When I got home I added some fat free low carb Santa Fe dressing.  I normally love my Hidden Valley Light Butttermilk Ranch, but since I had steak on my salad, I didn’t want to add any extra fat–the steak had all I needed!

Something I have noticed about myself lately is that I have been eating a lot of salads–not because I have to, but because I want to.  It’s really nice to know that I am actually starting to enjoy and even prefer foods that are good for me.  That’s not to say a salad can’t be unhealthy, because many of them are.  I haven’t been eating salads like that though and I’m still enjoying them!  I think I have been liking them so much because it is such an easy way to get in a lot of veggies without a ton of cooking (if made at home) and you get to mix all the flavors together.

I was also happy with myself today because I actually wanted to go for a bike ride.  I didn’t go far or for very long but it was enough to make me sweat and feel like I got a good workout in.  I really enjoyed myself while I was out; I enjoyed being out of the house and doing something with my body.  I hope that I can continue to get better at it so that I can last longer and travel some more scenic routes than around the neighboring blocks.

The exercise portion of my program is something that I really need to begin focusing on.  I feel like I am good at making the right food choices; I just need to make sure that I am fully committing myself to health and getting in some movement.  I have found a couple things that I can do that are fun for me, so I should be able to start getting activity in on more days throughout the week.

What kinds of activities are fun for you and get you motivated to move your body?

 

The following link is a great post about curbing sugar cravings:

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/07/nine-ways-to-curb-sugar-cravings-without-quitting-sugar/