Bad news arriving on Friday at lunchtime literally made the food taste like ashes in my mouth. But I remember thinking, "nothing will be better for my failing to eat at all". Today, when the final bad news was delivered and I knew I had done all I could, I made a nice healthy dinner for everyone, but I had three bowls of homemade ice cream with fresh strawberries, bittersweet chocolate sauce and a beer while watching ten episodes of The Mindy Project on my iPad.
Tomorrow is back to actual paying attention while eating. Plus moving from the couch occasionally.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Coasting
I've had a week or more of simply not tracking my food. Life catches up with me, and food logging feels both like work, and too self-indulgent, to spend the time to pay attention. It really isn't a lot of work or time, of course, to note down every bite, what with the phone and the ipad and the computer all as options. I can log it while waiting the 90 seconds for the microwave. It just requires being mindful enough to do it, and that is what has felt like the effort I don't want to make. I can spend those same 90 seconds thinking of what I have to do next at home or on the job, poke at my iphone to check email, or simply zone out and let my mind go blank while I watch the numbers go down.
But my automatic tools track my weight and activity. All I have to do is remember to stand on the scale and it sends the number wirelessly to the internet. I actually forgot to stand on the scale one morning - I am clearly very distracted! I also have to remember to take off my armband, plug it into the computer, and then put it back on - that was too complicated one day this week. I want a wireless activity tracking device!
As a result of the almost passive data collection, I know how the last couple of weeks have gone in the weight and activity realms - as far as actual results. Before I reveal the numbers, my data-less recollection is that I mostly made decent food choices except for an over indulgence of sweets in the evening (a couple times sparked by sweets in the afternoon at work). My focus this week was to get the vegetables up. Easy food that meets my criteria for low-carb tends to be prepared meat: sausages, meatballs, things in the freezer. Vegetables take planning and work - or else buying a pre-made salad. On the other front, my overall activity level was up most days, because spectacular weather means I am leaving the building at lunch time and working in the yard as I can.
Here's my weight graph:
It sure looks to me like there is the opposite of glass ceiling - a rubber floor? something like the sound barrier? - that I keep bouncing off at the point I'm at now. There is a lot of discussion of "set points" and what it takes to change it. What is clear to me, is that if I would like to stabilize my weight at about ten pounds less than I am right now, I need to focus and blitz it again. And then maintain it, with focused determination, for several months. Even then, it might not be possible. But do I have the desire to crank it up and do that now? I'm not sure. I want it, I want it bad, but enough to actually do it? I want it because those ten pounds would put me in a place where I could wear trousers and dresses that are the same size bottom and top, reduce my pear-shape to more of a background impression instead of the first impression of how I am shaped. Frankly, I don't think those ten (or fifteen) pounds would make an iota of difference in my health.
Activity levels? I like the activity for its own sake. I'm keeping up with the gym, I'm getting outside more, but I am not doing seriously aerobic stuff and I ought to do that. But I'm inching up my average calories burned by day, at least having fewer days falling below my target in the last couple of weeks.
So no resolutions, no vows. I am about to make my Spinach Breakfast Pie, because the thing that sets me on a happy course for the day is this most satisfying start to the day. It is slightly adapted from Fran McCullough's Low-Carb Cookbook, which is the source for a lot of my inspiration, but sadly not available anymore. She was first a food writer and cookbook author, and then realized that low carb was the way she wanted to eat. So the recipes here are adapted for my way of eating. They are full of fat, and low in grains and sugars, but do not use fake foods to achieve the low carb end. This recipe is basically the inside of spanikopita, baked in a pan with no phyllo.
Spinach Breakfast Pie
Serves 8 (or in my case, cut up into eight pieces and nuked by me and the family for breakfast all week)
1 pound fresh spinach, washed and somewhat chopped
2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium onion chopped small
6 eggs
15 oz container whole milk ricotta
1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
2 Tablespoons dilled, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil for pan
Sautee the onion in the butter till translucent, stir in the spinach, turn off the heat (I have an electric stove so it stays warm - its not necessary to cook the spinach, just wilt it).
Beat the eggs, whisk in the ricotta, then the feta and dill and parsley. Add the spinach and onions, stir well, and pour into the greased 13 x 9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until the top has dappled golden spots. Let sit for a few minutes before serving. Reheats very well in microwave.
But my automatic tools track my weight and activity. All I have to do is remember to stand on the scale and it sends the number wirelessly to the internet. I actually forgot to stand on the scale one morning - I am clearly very distracted! I also have to remember to take off my armband, plug it into the computer, and then put it back on - that was too complicated one day this week. I want a wireless activity tracking device!
As a result of the almost passive data collection, I know how the last couple of weeks have gone in the weight and activity realms - as far as actual results. Before I reveal the numbers, my data-less recollection is that I mostly made decent food choices except for an over indulgence of sweets in the evening (a couple times sparked by sweets in the afternoon at work). My focus this week was to get the vegetables up. Easy food that meets my criteria for low-carb tends to be prepared meat: sausages, meatballs, things in the freezer. Vegetables take planning and work - or else buying a pre-made salad. On the other front, my overall activity level was up most days, because spectacular weather means I am leaving the building at lunch time and working in the yard as I can.
Here's my weight graph:
It sure looks to me like there is the opposite of glass ceiling - a rubber floor? something like the sound barrier? - that I keep bouncing off at the point I'm at now. There is a lot of discussion of "set points" and what it takes to change it. What is clear to me, is that if I would like to stabilize my weight at about ten pounds less than I am right now, I need to focus and blitz it again. And then maintain it, with focused determination, for several months. Even then, it might not be possible. But do I have the desire to crank it up and do that now? I'm not sure. I want it, I want it bad, but enough to actually do it? I want it because those ten pounds would put me in a place where I could wear trousers and dresses that are the same size bottom and top, reduce my pear-shape to more of a background impression instead of the first impression of how I am shaped. Frankly, I don't think those ten (or fifteen) pounds would make an iota of difference in my health.
Activity levels? I like the activity for its own sake. I'm keeping up with the gym, I'm getting outside more, but I am not doing seriously aerobic stuff and I ought to do that. But I'm inching up my average calories burned by day, at least having fewer days falling below my target in the last couple of weeks.
 |
| Raw output from the BodyMedia report function |
So no resolutions, no vows. I am about to make my Spinach Breakfast Pie, because the thing that sets me on a happy course for the day is this most satisfying start to the day. It is slightly adapted from Fran McCullough's Low-Carb Cookbook, which is the source for a lot of my inspiration, but sadly not available anymore. She was first a food writer and cookbook author, and then realized that low carb was the way she wanted to eat. So the recipes here are adapted for my way of eating. They are full of fat, and low in grains and sugars, but do not use fake foods to achieve the low carb end. This recipe is basically the inside of spanikopita, baked in a pan with no phyllo.
Spinach Breakfast Pie
Serves 8 (or in my case, cut up into eight pieces and nuked by me and the family for breakfast all week)
1 pound fresh spinach, washed and somewhat chopped
2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium onion chopped small
6 eggs
15 oz container whole milk ricotta
1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
2 Tablespoons dilled, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil for pan
Sautee the onion in the butter till translucent, stir in the spinach, turn off the heat (I have an electric stove so it stays warm - its not necessary to cook the spinach, just wilt it).
Beat the eggs, whisk in the ricotta, then the feta and dill and parsley. Add the spinach and onions, stir well, and pour into the greased 13 x 9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until the top has dappled golden spots. Let sit for a few minutes before serving. Reheats very well in microwave.
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