Posts Tagged ‘fruit’
Power Rangers: Teamwork
June 9, 2011
366.6 pounds
Change from June 1st = -8.7 pounds
Change from highest = -36.2 pounds
I am now weighing in every day. I may not do this forever, but I’m doing it now for a big reason. I think it is an integral part of the mental health process for me to strip the scale of its power. Weight fluctuates, daily. You can do everything right and see a slight increase on the scale from the day before. Many weight loss experts say you should avoid the scale daily for this very reason, as it can cause undue stress.
Well, I can’t necessarily control temporary water gain and fluctuations of a few pounds. But I can control my stress over it. That’s what I’m doing now. Yesterday, my weight went up a bit over a pound. No worries; I knew it would drop. Today it dropped, almost three pounds. What will it do tomorrow?
It doesn’t even matter, so long as the overall trend for June is downward. I may start using PhysicsDiet again, just to see that downward trend.
Again, do understand that this is a work in progress for me. I’m sure some day my weight will spike, I’ll be confused by it, and I’ll have to struggle not to binge. Ignoring the problem, however, will not make it go away. I can only fix this by addressing it head on, which is what I am currently doing.
After today’s episode of Power Rangers, I’m going to take a brief break from Angel Grove and head to Camp Anawana and Salute Your Shorts! Oh, and in case you don’t know where to find these nostalgic videos, I’m getting the mall from YouTube. It’s like someone took my childhood and put it online!
Teamwork
First aired September 8, 1993
Plot
Kim and Trini are trying to get signatures on a petition to shut down a dumpsite.
Little do they know, the dump is actually a trap created by Rita Repulsa. When they go to the dump site to deliver their petition, they are attacked by Putties. In addition, Rita also sends her newest creation, the Minotaur, to fight the Ranngers.
While the girls finish fighting the putties, the boys attack the Minotaur. Zordon has the team unite, because it is only as a whole team that they can defeat Rita’s monsters. This is the toughest battle the Rangers have had to face yet, so Zordon gives the team their Power Weapons.
Even more impressively, their weapons can combine to make the Power Blaster, and with this weapon, Rita’s Minotaur is history.
At the end of the day, the Rangers have learned they are best and strongest when functioning as a team.
Weight Loss Analogy
Zordon gave the Rangers their Power Weapons, which was just the edge they needed to defeat the monster.
We all should have our own secret weapons in our battle, too.
We all know what to do. We know how to count calories or points, work out, eat properly… all that is a given. So why aren’t we all thin? Things come up. Bad choices are easier to make.
However, if we properly equip ourselves, then it will be easier to make the good choices.
One of my Power Weapons is fruit. Aside from the fact that fruit is a zero point food on Weight Watchers, it tastes good, it is good for me, and it is filling. If I am craving something sweet, then fruit often does the trick. It’s currently summer (or at least close enough), and there are more fruits available than ever before. Right now, I have apples, peaches, cherries, watermelon, and cantaloupe in my fridge, with even more (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries) in my freezer. I’m eating several servings of fruit a day. It makes me feel amazing. I know I am fueling my body with something it needs, and it keeps me from eating things I do not need.
What are your Power Weapons on your weight loss quest?
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A Healthy Calories Weigh In
As with last week, let’s get right to it, shall we? And if you are wondering, this is A Healthy Calories Weigh-in.
March 4, 2011
Last Week’s Weight: 358.0
Today’s Weight: 356.9
Change from All-Time High: -45.9 pounds
Change from Last Week: -1.1 pounds
That’s not significantly higher than my loss last week that led to me deciding to forego Weight Watchers and just count calories. Before I detail the last week, let me just say that I have enjoyed counting calories and I will continue counting calories for the immediate future.
I checked out an online calculator that said, based on my height, weight, age, and activity level (which I underestimated, just in case), I could consume 5100 calories a day and maintain.
That can’t be right, can it?
So far three days, I ate around 3500 to 4000 calories.
My weight initially dropped and then climbed back up.
For the rest of the week, I ate around 2,500 to 3,000 calories a day. And I lost 1.1 pounds.
I am currently weighing in everyday, and I am tracking my weight on PhysicsDiet.com. This is a screenshot of my chart thus far.
So, what has this past week shown me?
For one thing, one week is meaningless. I may do everything right one week and gain and do everything wrong one week and lose. It is the overall trend and my actions that will make me lose weight. This means I can occasionally eat fast food, even… so long as the key word is occasionally. I refuse to demonize any particular food. To be quite often, if I want something, I eat it and I count the calories.
It does help, honestly, that I’m finding myself craving healthy foods. Fruit is AWESOME. I’m still eating fruit, even though probably not as much as I ate last week when it was unlimited on WW.
And two, I’m in this for the long haul. One pound at a time is FINE for me. If I have a week where I do better, awesome. And if not, I’ll take one pound a week for as long as it takes.
So, to sum up:
I’m counting calories.
I do eat what I want, but I still emphasize healthy foods.
As long as it takes, one pound at a time, I will get to goal weight.
Oh, and in other news… I walk/jogged a 5K today. My last time was 56:47. Today… 53:36. I’m getting faster.
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An Albert Einstein Weigh-in
Let’s just get right to it, shall we? What kind of a weigh in is this? This is an Albert Einstein weigh-in. I’ll explain in a moment.
February 25, 2011
Last Week’s Weight: 359.0
Today’s Weight: 358.0
Change from All-Time High: -44.8 pounds
Change from Last Week: -1.0 pounds
Hey, I lost a pound. That’s great. Right?
Yeah, not so much. I was FLAWLESS this week. No splurges. No cheat meals. Healthy, nutrient dense food. Every point counted for. Every bite marked.
And I lost ONE pound.
One measly pound. In the words of Ned Flanders, big diddily deal.
Albert Einstein is alleged to have said, (and I roughly paraphrase), “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
I have flippin’ lost my mind, then, because I keep playing with the same few pounds. I’m tired of it.
I’m not giving up. I will NEVER give up, even if I am still struggling to get below 350 on my dying day. So… don’t worry. This isn’t going to turn into a woe-is-me-I’ll-just-die fat post. It isn’t.
But I’m not going to lie – I am FRUSTRATED to the nth degree.
So, when I realized this happened this week, when a week of SUPREME effort resulted in a loss of one pound, I decided to put on my scientist hat and try to figure out why this happened.
What are the major culprits? Let’s get those out of the way first.
Water gain caused by… salty foods… and weight lifting.
Okay, salty foods. Not going to blame that one this time. I purposefully ate very low sodium foods yesterday (i.e. – no spaghetti or popcorn, two foods that will make me gain water weight every single time). I drank lemon juice in every glass of water I had. That’s a diuretic. Can’t blame salt.
Okay, did I lift weights? Lifting weights will temporarily make me gain water weight because it engorges my muscles with blood. (And please pardon the twelve year old version of me who is now snickering in the corner because I said engorge.) Well, I can’t blame this one, either, because I did cardio yesterday. Cardio doesn’t make me gain weight, even temporarily.
Is it my thyroid? I was having some pretty ugly problems with my thyroid all last year. I don’t really think it is, because I don’t have the lethargy that came with that. I think my thyroid is fine, now. If I’m still struggling in a month, I’ll go have blood work done again, but for now, I don’t think that is the problem.
Is it stress? No, not stress. I’m happy as a clam, except for this weight loss problem.
Did I eat too much? I measured EVERYTHING, including things that I had been eyeballing before. I realized just how small a cup of cereal is. I ate less this week. Bingo.
Except for fruit.
Shit.
On the new Weight Watchers Plus, fruit is unlimited. Zero points. Is it really possible that I’ve screwed up my calorie deficit by eating FRUIT?
Okay, let’s think about this rationally. How much fruit (and veggies) might I eat in a day?
Four oranges. Three bananas. Four apples. LOTS of pineapple. Unsweetened applesauce…
Shit part deux.
I should have KNOWN this was going to happen! I cannot be given unlimited reign of ANYTHING! If I knew how to frickin’ limit myself to normal servings of food, I wouldn’t have ballooned up to 400 pounds in the first place!
“Okay, calm down, you’re scaring the twelve year old you in the corner.”
So, we’ve potentially identified the problem. How are we going to fix this?
As I see it, I have two options. One, I can continue doing Weight Watchers (which is a program I believe in, I really do) and just be more aware of my fruit.
Or I’ll just count calories. Of everything. Including fruit, which I do realize is not evil in any way, shape, or form. It’s just that 1,000 calories of fruit on top of a day of healthy eating is still 1,000 calories too many.
I’m counting calories. I’m a member of a Weight Watchers @Work meeting, and I am paid up until March 17th. I’ll continue going, because for one, I’ve already paid, and for two, I still enjoy the group atmosphere. But I’m going to count calories.
I’m still going to eat REAL food as often as possible. I think that’s just simply a matter of health. Even if I was a stick, I still think real food is preferable over processed frankenfood, which I’ll eat only in limited amounts.
I’ll continue exercising. I’ve already gotten in an excellent hour of weights and cardio at the gym. After all, I still have Run For Your Lives to train for.
And I’m going back to weighing in everyday. I promise myself I won’t freak out if my weight fluctuates a bit, day by day, but if I’m creeping steadily upward, I want to know. I may change this later, but for now, that’s where I am.
So, please don’t give up on me. I’m still trying. I swear I’m not stuffing myself with hamburgers from fast food restaurants and drinking Coke by the gallon. But I am struggling. I have my game plan. I just hope it works. And if it doesn’t, I’ll figure out why it didn’t work then.
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Veggie Dish #8 – Massaged Kale Salad
Kale is good for you. It’s leafy greens, and how many of us couldn’t use more leafy greens in our life? I know I don’t get enough. However, it also has a bitter bite to it that makes it tough for some people to get.
I drink it in green smoothies pretty regularly, but that’s not my favorite way to get them by any means. About a year ago or so, I came across a recipe from the blog of one of my favorite vegans, Kristen Suzanne. If you don’t know her blog, she’s worth reading, whether you are a vegan or not. I am not a vegan, but I LOVE finding delicious vegan recipes because they are usually, calorie dense or not, immensely healthy. Unfortunately, I’ve made more than one vegan recipe that tastes like crap. Not so with Kristen Suzanne. She makes recipes that even this omnivore finds delicious.
Anyway, I used one of her recipes this week for a kale salad that I have not had in a long time. She calls it a Candy Kale Salad, and for good reason. She’s found a way to take kale with its bitter bite and make it taste sweet.
To start off with, take some kale and wash it.
This next part is the magical step that takes kale from bitter to amazing, healthy food. Take lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. (I used pink Himalayan crystal salt.)
Tear the kale up into nice, salad-sized chunks. (I got rid of the stems. I can take them in my green smoothies or dehydrated kale chips. I can’t in a raw salad.)
Toss some lemon juice and olive oil (about a tablespoon each, give or take) and some salt onto the kale. With your bare hands, massage it into the kale. This doesn’t have to be a neat process. I just squeezed and scrunched and played with the kale until it all looked nicely coated and felt like I had given it a good workout. It took maybe a minute or two.
The hard part is over. Now the fun part. Put some fruity, salady stuff on top of it. There’s no way to go wrong here. For this salad, I used grapes, frozen blueberries, frozen blackberries (picked locally from a friend’s mother’s backyard last summer), some chopped pineapple, and a little coconut. You could also add tomatoes, avocado, sunflower seeds, mandarin oranges… the sky is literally the limit. Anything that you would like to eat in a sweet-ish salad, you can put in here.
Even if you don’t like greens, you should consider trying this salad. Crazy easy, crazy good for you, and crazy tasty. Definitely a winner.
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