I was so busy and absorbed today at work that---- I forgot to eat lunch! I'm not sure that has ever happened before. I'm normally so obsessed and focussed on what I am eating that this is astounding to me. Even more astounding, I was home and thinking about dinner before I even realized it, in spite of stomach rumblings and other cues.
I had a satisfying breakfast (leftover bacon and chard). I took a brief walk at lunchtime (the giant heat has broken slightly) and when I got back to my desk, I decided to make some phone calls first. And during that, my phone gave me a buzz to make sure I had logged my lunch into the WW tracking system. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it" I thought. Then, I was hungry in the late afternoon and regretted not having brought a snack. But my lunch was there in the fridge across the hall, all nicely packed and ready for the microwave. "I wish I had some nuts" I thought around 4 pm. "Oh well, I'll just go fill up my water glass from the cooler.". And never once thought about that lunch. At least it's there for tomorrow.
I'm well under my daily points. Probably not a good idea to try to reach my cap by filling up on chocolate now!
Sherbert update
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
First Week on WW
My WW week officially starts on Monday (I don't know if that is a function of when I joined or if that's just what they do) but I'm not so likely to post during the week. Here is what I'm thinking.
The tools are imperfect but usable, now that I've gotten used to them. They are different on the different platforms (computer vs ipad vs iphone) and I can do things on the ipad I can't do on the computer. Weird. But I can live with it. Some parts of the website simply don't seem to work. For example, when I go to the main page, there is a box with headings for my instant summary - but no numbers appear there. That may be function of using Chrome as my browser, I suppose.
The allowances seem really generous. I read that my allowance, 29 daily points, is the lowest they give. I was able to live within the daily limit every day except my Ikea extravagance and the party last night. I had a couple of points each day to eat a couple of pieces of chocolate, my special evening snack. And I was able to cover the special occassions easily out of the weekly points and points earned for activity. But nevertheless, it is constraining my eating by guiding my choices and cutting back the snacking at night. (Evening snacking is also helped by my falling asleep at 9:30 every night!) So now, on the last day of my week, I have more weekly points left than my total daily points. So the trick will be - will I lose weight on this style of eating?
I weigh myself every day, and didn't gain as much on vacation as I feared (three pounds). I've bounced at the high end of this plateau-weight range all week, down and back up again. It's the average and the trend that matters to me, though WW is about the weekly weigh-in. Entering the weight on Monday stacks the deck against me - it is often the highest weight of the week, probably because of big and salty eating on weekends.
Ironic side note: I mentioned WW remembered me from years ago. The weight I was then is basically the weight I am now. I've been mostly higher, not lower, in between. How about that?
The tools are imperfect but usable, now that I've gotten used to them. They are different on the different platforms (computer vs ipad vs iphone) and I can do things on the ipad I can't do on the computer. Weird. But I can live with it. Some parts of the website simply don't seem to work. For example, when I go to the main page, there is a box with headings for my instant summary - but no numbers appear there. That may be function of using Chrome as my browser, I suppose.
The allowances seem really generous. I read that my allowance, 29 daily points, is the lowest they give. I was able to live within the daily limit every day except my Ikea extravagance and the party last night. I had a couple of points each day to eat a couple of pieces of chocolate, my special evening snack. And I was able to cover the special occassions easily out of the weekly points and points earned for activity. But nevertheless, it is constraining my eating by guiding my choices and cutting back the snacking at night. (Evening snacking is also helped by my falling asleep at 9:30 every night!) So now, on the last day of my week, I have more weekly points left than my total daily points. So the trick will be - will I lose weight on this style of eating?
I weigh myself every day, and didn't gain as much on vacation as I feared (three pounds). I've bounced at the high end of this plateau-weight range all week, down and back up again. It's the average and the trend that matters to me, though WW is about the weekly weigh-in. Entering the weight on Monday stacks the deck against me - it is often the highest weight of the week, probably because of big and salty eating on weekends.
Ironic side note: I mentioned WW remembered me from years ago. The weight I was then is basically the weight I am now. I've been mostly higher, not lower, in between. How about that?
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Vegetables
I totally believe vegetables are the key to success. My return from the Arctic has coincided with peak summer produce. I've gotten fruit at Whole Foods (which does make an effort to get east coast produce not just California) and the peaches and plums are completely wonderful. And free on WW. But they are not a meal.
This morning after the gym (smug virtuous reference) I finally got to a local farmers market. "Abundance" is the feeling. Despite the heat and drought, there is lots to choose from. I had to hold back because it all looks so good. My history is of overbuying and letting things rot, so I tried to focus on specific dishes for specific meals. There is another market tomorrow, so I can get more good stuff right away. I'm thinking that for this season, I should just try to get to a market or store every couple of days, so as to waste less and always have fresh stuff. It's more work, and we'll see how it works out.
I know we have ready ripe fruit on the dining room table so I didn't get any more of that. I got the usual zucchini, eggplant, peppers for side dishes. I was very restrained on the tomatoes. Only a couple of heirloom ones. If I don't know exactly when they'll get eaten, I should pass them up.
My one impulse buy was chard. It was so beautiful, fairly small sized leaves. Since it was still breakfast time, I had the idea cooking it right away for breakfast. I had in my mind a dish I've had with other greens: bacon and greens and a splash of vinegar. I've only cooked chard a couple of times, so I consulted How to Cook Everything, and modified a recipe. It worked out ok, but not up to my expectations. Served with fresh tomato, it was kind of a BLT with no bread and C instead of L. Not a big hit with anyone else, either.
I got a darling little cabbage as well, and I'm going to shred it with a cilantro vinaigrette for a cole slaw at a picnic tonight.
Here's to the season!
Sherbert update
This morning after the gym (smug virtuous reference) I finally got to a local farmers market. "Abundance" is the feeling. Despite the heat and drought, there is lots to choose from. I had to hold back because it all looks so good. My history is of overbuying and letting things rot, so I tried to focus on specific dishes for specific meals. There is another market tomorrow, so I can get more good stuff right away. I'm thinking that for this season, I should just try to get to a market or store every couple of days, so as to waste less and always have fresh stuff. It's more work, and we'll see how it works out.
I know we have ready ripe fruit on the dining room table so I didn't get any more of that. I got the usual zucchini, eggplant, peppers for side dishes. I was very restrained on the tomatoes. Only a couple of heirloom ones. If I don't know exactly when they'll get eaten, I should pass them up.
My one impulse buy was chard. It was so beautiful, fairly small sized leaves. Since it was still breakfast time, I had the idea cooking it right away for breakfast. I had in my mind a dish I've had with other greens: bacon and greens and a splash of vinegar. I've only cooked chard a couple of times, so I consulted How to Cook Everything, and modified a recipe. It worked out ok, but not up to my expectations. Served with fresh tomato, it was kind of a BLT with no bread and C instead of L. Not a big hit with anyone else, either.
I got a darling little cabbage as well, and I'm going to shred it with a cilantro vinaigrette for a cole slaw at a picnic tonight.
Here's to the season!
Sherbert update
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Planning is Everything
So after two whole days on WW, I've come to realize (for the umpteenth time) that planning is everything. Sadly, a new computer program to enter what I've already eaten will not do much for me at all. It's using the program to plan ahead before I eat that will make the difference. And it's planning that is all the work, especially as I go back to work. I love my job, but it sure does take a chunk out of my day!
So day one was a day out of time due to jet lag. I went wild for fresh fruits and vegetables, wasn't able to be awake in the evening hours that are my downfall, and so used my last couple daily points to eat some chocolate and went to bed feeling the allowances were generous and a piece of cake. Monday did include an Italian dinner cooked by my girl who attended L'Academie de la Cuisine while I was gone. All fresh ingredients, sounded like a good idea. But then I realized the salad she was making was bread salad, and the shrimp scampi had five tablespoons of butter in it! It was terrific, but I was tired and barely awake, and had munched on fruit and cucumbers all during the cooking, so portion control was not a problem for me. And luckily there were no leftovers.
Yesterday, a bonus day off from work, we spontaneously decided to have lunch at Ikea. Salmon, I thought. But the meatball lunch was only $2.99! How could I pass that up? With potatoes, of course. When I sat down in the afternoon to calculate points, I realized I had already gone over all my daily points, used my sole activity point, and dipped into my weekly extra allowance. For a while I contemplated no dinner, but the rest of the family wanted to be fed, so I coped. First, the afternoon was again full of fruits, totally free on the program. Then, I cooked baked salmon, using basil leaves and a squeeze of lemon instead of slathering in pesto as I would ordinarily do. I cooked zucchini, onion and tomato in sprayed olive oil for zero points. I didn't make a starch, instead offering the good Italian bread from the day before to the rest of the family. Worked for me, only six points for the salmon and nothing for everything else. Not a disaster, but an early lesson in planning ahead. Had I not calculated after lunch, I would have had a lot more for dinner.
So my complaints: I've done a lot of on-line tracking, starting with WW back in the last decade and then going mobile on my Treo with a different database, upgrading to at least three different ones on the iphone, and now back to WW, with iphone app. The WW database is small compared to others I've used. The name brand database so far has not coincided with the brands I use. The fast food database doesn't include the restaurants I frequent for lunch (Cosi and Quiznos and Panera). So far, I haven't been impressed with the way you add foods to use recurrently to the database. When I entered my Muesli cereal, for example, it only allowed entering one "portion" for the values. The portion on the box is 2/3 of a cup, but I want to eat only half a cup. I can do that to add to the tracker, but if I come back to this food after a while, I'm going to have to figure out all over again what a "portion" is and adjust for how much I actually eat. Also, I found a way to add permanent foods on the iPad app, but haven't found it on the computer version! How weird is that?
They have blogs and message boards so I'll have to find where the geeks talk about the way the interface works. The iPhone app is only rated 2 stars out of 5 on average, with which I would concur.
More later. Work awaits. Breakfast is ready, and lunch is packed. Starting out right.
So day one was a day out of time due to jet lag. I went wild for fresh fruits and vegetables, wasn't able to be awake in the evening hours that are my downfall, and so used my last couple daily points to eat some chocolate and went to bed feeling the allowances were generous and a piece of cake. Monday did include an Italian dinner cooked by my girl who attended L'Academie de la Cuisine while I was gone. All fresh ingredients, sounded like a good idea. But then I realized the salad she was making was bread salad, and the shrimp scampi had five tablespoons of butter in it! It was terrific, but I was tired and barely awake, and had munched on fruit and cucumbers all during the cooking, so portion control was not a problem for me. And luckily there were no leftovers.
Yesterday, a bonus day off from work, we spontaneously decided to have lunch at Ikea. Salmon, I thought. But the meatball lunch was only $2.99! How could I pass that up? With potatoes, of course. When I sat down in the afternoon to calculate points, I realized I had already gone over all my daily points, used my sole activity point, and dipped into my weekly extra allowance. For a while I contemplated no dinner, but the rest of the family wanted to be fed, so I coped. First, the afternoon was again full of fruits, totally free on the program. Then, I cooked baked salmon, using basil leaves and a squeeze of lemon instead of slathering in pesto as I would ordinarily do. I cooked zucchini, onion and tomato in sprayed olive oil for zero points. I didn't make a starch, instead offering the good Italian bread from the day before to the rest of the family. Worked for me, only six points for the salmon and nothing for everything else. Not a disaster, but an early lesson in planning ahead. Had I not calculated after lunch, I would have had a lot more for dinner.
So my complaints: I've done a lot of on-line tracking, starting with WW back in the last decade and then going mobile on my Treo with a different database, upgrading to at least three different ones on the iphone, and now back to WW, with iphone app. The WW database is small compared to others I've used. The name brand database so far has not coincided with the brands I use. The fast food database doesn't include the restaurants I frequent for lunch (Cosi and Quiznos and Panera). So far, I haven't been impressed with the way you add foods to use recurrently to the database. When I entered my Muesli cereal, for example, it only allowed entering one "portion" for the values. The portion on the box is 2/3 of a cup, but I want to eat only half a cup. I can do that to add to the tracker, but if I come back to this food after a while, I'm going to have to figure out all over again what a "portion" is and adjust for how much I actually eat. Also, I found a way to add permanent foods on the iPad app, but haven't found it on the computer version! How weird is that?
They have blogs and message boards so I'll have to find where the geeks talk about the way the interface works. The iPhone app is only rated 2 stars out of 5 on average, with which I would concur.
More later. Work awaits. Breakfast is ready, and lunch is packed. Starting out right.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Episode IV: A New Hope
Back from vacation and full of new resolve. I am groggy with time changes. My journey home involved being awake for 24 hours straight (that hasn't happened in years) with flight disruptions and all. I went to bed at 1 am, which by my body clock should have been getting up time. Ironically, it is actually likely to help me adjust faster - I was able to sleep in till seven this morning because I was so tired. The trip was a wonderful and magical time out of real life, to one of the few true wildernesses left on the planet. It was, however, a luxury tourist excursion, not a polar death march, and pretty much a diet and exercise disaster. I haven't visited the scale yet, but I downloaded my magical exercise tracking device and verified my overall activity level was about equivalent to the low side of normal life here. Hard to get all the steps in on a very small ship unless you go to the gym - which I did do twice, hooray for me. The food and drink was good, and I just went with it. I drank more alcohol last week than the previous year altogether. Almost entirely in the form of beer, which was what I was feeling. Ice cream as well every day. Dinner portions were small, but the rest was served as a buffet and that didn't help moderate my consumption of the good tasting food. But it was was it was, and now I'm going to re-focus back here.
During my seven hours in Newark airport yesterday, I went ahead and signed up for Weight Watchers on-line. I'm studying the meal suggestions, and getting ready for my first shopping trip. Every new diet seems to start with buying food, oddly enough. This time, it's fruits and vegies, baby. This is the right time of year for that! One of the things I dis-liked about WW last time was the emphasis on highly processed "lite" versions of things, as opposed to eating lower on the processing chain. Now, I think the fresh fruits and vegies, enhanced with leaner versions of meat and dairy, will work for me. Nuts are more welcome now than before, too, I think, which works for me.
I had done weight watchers on-line a while ago, and they still had my login information - I think it was 2002 when last I checked in.. I like tracking and counting, etc., and in the pre-phone app era, WW was the best on-line experience I found. Don't remember how long I stuck with it. They now have specific apps for the iphone and ipad, which I'll get a chance to check out soon.
Right now, clean up, weigh-in, eat something, start unpacking into the laundry, and off to the food store. No work today - a chance to adjust and get ready. I'll scan the hundreds of work emails later today.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Personal Bests
Ok, so the eating and drinking on this wonderful trip has been -- well, I'm going to describe it literally as calorific. I don't want to use a value laden word such as a disaster. It's been a lot more calories in than out. But I'm still feeling virtuous.
I'm just back from my second trip to the gym- a first for me on cruise ships. The other ships I've been on have a deck you can walk around, and I've walked and walked and walked. This one is too small. I am doing stairs a lot, but it's still a very small boat.
We've been to shore a couple of times but that hasn't been a great deal if exercise- a stroll where we study artifacts and flowers and wildlife every few steps. More field natural history than hiking.
I went kayaking for an hour or so. That was absolutely a thrill. But when I got back on board I went directly to the gym, because I knew it wasn't enough. I didn't do much- a little bit of walking an jogging on the treadmill. But even that little bit felt really good.
Now I'm just done with a good solid workout session. I covered two miles more quickly than ever before on the treadmill, which presumably means more quickly than ever period. I averaged 4.5 miles an hour. I stuck with the jogging pace for five minutes at a time which is more than Ive done in the past. I'm a little suspicious the settings on this brand of treadmill are a little generous compared to what I'm used to, but also this was really the optimum time to workout. Two hours after a couple of meals, plenty of sleep, ready and raring to go to get that heart beat up after several easy days in a row. I rounded out with some push ups and crunches.
There is no way this exercise bout makes up for the calories I'm consuming. But it does keep me in the pink of fitness. I wonder if my lack of sleep had me almost over training before. Often the workouts seemed to be going uphill. Walks at lunch were easy to by pass. But right now I'm strong and I'm happy.
As I finished my exercise, I looked down from the glass wall to the sun deck below. There were my friends, first in line for the outdoor beer and brats in the Arctic. It seemed the perfect finish to my lovely workout. My quota of three things is more like four or five.
I expect a good five pounds up when I get back. But as long as I'm strong and healthy, it'll be the perfect time to start a new diet and get to lower than I was before. So I'm happy.
Sherbert update
I'm just back from my second trip to the gym- a first for me on cruise ships. The other ships I've been on have a deck you can walk around, and I've walked and walked and walked. This one is too small. I am doing stairs a lot, but it's still a very small boat.
We've been to shore a couple of times but that hasn't been a great deal if exercise- a stroll where we study artifacts and flowers and wildlife every few steps. More field natural history than hiking.
I went kayaking for an hour or so. That was absolutely a thrill. But when I got back on board I went directly to the gym, because I knew it wasn't enough. I didn't do much- a little bit of walking an jogging on the treadmill. But even that little bit felt really good.
Now I'm just done with a good solid workout session. I covered two miles more quickly than ever before on the treadmill, which presumably means more quickly than ever period. I averaged 4.5 miles an hour. I stuck with the jogging pace for five minutes at a time which is more than Ive done in the past. I'm a little suspicious the settings on this brand of treadmill are a little generous compared to what I'm used to, but also this was really the optimum time to workout. Two hours after a couple of meals, plenty of sleep, ready and raring to go to get that heart beat up after several easy days in a row. I rounded out with some push ups and crunches.
There is no way this exercise bout makes up for the calories I'm consuming. But it does keep me in the pink of fitness. I wonder if my lack of sleep had me almost over training before. Often the workouts seemed to be going uphill. Walks at lunch were easy to by pass. But right now I'm strong and I'm happy.
As I finished my exercise, I looked down from the glass wall to the sun deck below. There were my friends, first in line for the outdoor beer and brats in the Arctic. It seemed the perfect finish to my lovely workout. My quota of three things is more like four or five.
I expect a good five pounds up when I get back. But as long as I'm strong and healthy, it'll be the perfect time to start a new diet and get to lower than I was before. So I'm happy.
Sherbert update
Location:Svalbard
Friday, July 8, 2011
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