That would be Mary Tyler Moore, or really "Mary Richards" from the eponymous show, of course. A book was published about the show this spring, and the author made the rounds of the NPR shows I listen to. So I haven't read the book, but the interviews made me think about it. During my post college years, my room-mate and I often watched the show together, enjoying seeing women pictured on a sitcom who were more like we were than any other show on TV. But we were both Rhoda, not Mary, wanting to be darkly funny and knowing, laughing at Mary's sunny and bright naivete.
I've gone through life identifying as Rhoda, the sarcastic, wise cracking, sidekick. I have always mentally used adjectives like sardonic and cynical to describe myself, and thought of myself as the outsider. I was the family photographer, standing at the sidelines with the camera, not an actual participant. I liked that.
But as I struggled through some very stressful and unhappy times this spring and summer, I wondered if its possible to consciously change. I am forced by circumstance to participate more actively in life. Can I move myself so that I can turn the world on with a smile, suddenly take a nothing day and make it seem worthwhile? Make people happy to see me, by bringing happiness into the room?
Is the way we relate to the world inherent or under our conscious control?
All the reading I've done on resilience and happiness and depression and cognitive behavior therapy - and physical survival and adventure - says yes, we control this. The big lesson from the adventure / survival literature (of which I've read a bunch - lost at sea features heavily) notes that you cannot control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond to it. I've taken some profound thoughts and turned them into pop culture images in my mind of how to meet the world, with some small amount of success.
My first clue came from the clear realization that while humor may work with teenagers better than confrontation, sarcasm directed at them will simply outrage them. So I cut out the wise cracks, and tried to substitute more sympathy and empathy, directing my humor at the situation and the world in general, not them. Well, duh. Who wouldn't rather have that response?
Now I'm trying to act on these pop culture images in a physical way. When I walk, I think of Mary Richards, striding along with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face, joyfully anticipating whatever the world will bring her next. ("... with each glance and every little movement you show it...") It helps me, it really does. Even thought it's embarrassing to admit it. (This is far from all I am doing to cope with multiple issues, but it's one I can write about now.)
So I'm back, sort of. Today, with the humidity low, the sun out, and all the windows open, seems like a day anything is possible. What happened to my weight during the last couple of months since I've been gone from this space? Amazingly enough, nothing. I weigh now more or less what I have weighed for the past couple of years, which I have to keep reminding myself is quite a bit lower than I weighed for many years, while not as low as I would like to be. I seem to have changed some habits enough to sustain me through periods of less paying attention.
Excelsior.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Stress
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
Tomorrow is back to actual paying attention while eating. Plus moving from the couch occasionally.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Sandwiches
As the Onion says (and noted by my friend KCF) This Week!
We can't help but be emotionally affected by the news, even though for me it was thankfully abstract. No-one I know was in danger or hurt.
Personally, I spent the week being sandwiched between parent and teen issues, running back and forth between my mother in rehab (doing very well, thanks) and the school and home (don't ask). Plus I did my taxes from beginning to end in about four hours (80% paper and on-line record sorting and collecting, 20% clicking buttons on tax software). My old sciatica is acting out, and the allergies are making their annual appearance, so the body is no more than a C-. Work - oddly, kept going - no crises, even slight progress in positive directions. Hope.
So I stopped tracking my food, and even simply forgot to get on the scale one morning, nearly unheard-of for my obsessive record keeping. Results are pretty good, but there is no question in my mind I started to drift off the straight and narrow. Though I don't have the data staring me in the face to confirm. Typically, I would expect there to be a couple of weeks lag before drifting in food starts to show up on the scale, and I need to get back to my tools of tracking, planning, and prepping in advance. I have NO food on hand that is what I want to eat.
I didn't cook dinner once this week. This means my green leafy vegetable intake suffered mightily. I added some carb-y vegetables to my diet when eating off the rack - black and garbanzo beans, eggplant, peas. Oddly, when faced with choices to make at times I was dog tired, standing at the food bar in Whole Foods, or out on restaurant row in downtown, I craved comfort food but knew I won't find the comfort in cinnamon rolls, french fries, or ice cream. Sandwiches are so very convenient when you are on the run, but I know they will lead to cravings later. I looked over at the baked goods conveniently next to the check out lines in Whole Foods and felt an emotional tug, but it wasn't actually hard to step away. I went for comfort, soft and hot and creamy, moussaka, beef stew, cabbage, green beans, peas. At Chipotle, both guacamole and cheese on the salad. This is food that won't help me lose weight, but it keeps my insulin and blood sugar in check and thus keeps me from spiralling out of control. So this is a small victory, and it gives me the conviction to do some planning and move ahead in better form planning for this week. I do need to admit to the small pieces of chocolate at the end of the day, a very slippery slope I know.
Thank goodness I continue to follow the advice of my friends and I keep those appointments at the gym. If it weren't for that, my calorie expenditure would have been even lower, and my body hates this level of inactivity. No chances to get outside and walk at lunch or after work, with the sandwiched double duty.
We can't help but be emotionally affected by the news, even though for me it was thankfully abstract. No-one I know was in danger or hurt.
Personally, I spent the week being sandwiched between parent and teen issues, running back and forth between my mother in rehab (doing very well, thanks) and the school and home (don't ask). Plus I did my taxes from beginning to end in about four hours (80% paper and on-line record sorting and collecting, 20% clicking buttons on tax software). My old sciatica is acting out, and the allergies are making their annual appearance, so the body is no more than a C-. Work - oddly, kept going - no crises, even slight progress in positive directions. Hope.
So I stopped tracking my food, and even simply forgot to get on the scale one morning, nearly unheard-of for my obsessive record keeping. Results are pretty good, but there is no question in my mind I started to drift off the straight and narrow. Though I don't have the data staring me in the face to confirm. Typically, I would expect there to be a couple of weeks lag before drifting in food starts to show up on the scale, and I need to get back to my tools of tracking, planning, and prepping in advance. I have NO food on hand that is what I want to eat.
I didn't cook dinner once this week. This means my green leafy vegetable intake suffered mightily. I added some carb-y vegetables to my diet when eating off the rack - black and garbanzo beans, eggplant, peas. Oddly, when faced with choices to make at times I was dog tired, standing at the food bar in Whole Foods, or out on restaurant row in downtown, I craved comfort food but knew I won't find the comfort in cinnamon rolls, french fries, or ice cream. Sandwiches are so very convenient when you are on the run, but I know they will lead to cravings later. I looked over at the baked goods conveniently next to the check out lines in Whole Foods and felt an emotional tug, but it wasn't actually hard to step away. I went for comfort, soft and hot and creamy, moussaka, beef stew, cabbage, green beans, peas. At Chipotle, both guacamole and cheese on the salad. This is food that won't help me lose weight, but it keeps my insulin and blood sugar in check and thus keeps me from spiralling out of control. So this is a small victory, and it gives me the conviction to do some planning and move ahead in better form planning for this week. I do need to admit to the small pieces of chocolate at the end of the day, a very slippery slope I know.
Thank goodness I continue to follow the advice of my friends and I keep those appointments at the gym. If it weren't for that, my calorie expenditure would have been even lower, and my body hates this level of inactivity. No chances to get outside and walk at lunch or after work, with the sandwiched double duty.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
I've got the lazy gene
I've known for some time that I had the "thrifty" gene- when deprived of food, my body gets super efficient and doesn't need many calories. It's adaptive for those cold and dark and hungry northern winters, you know.
But now it's clear the Shellabargers have a lazy gene as well! I wonder how often they run together?
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/why-were-motivated-to-exercise-or-not/
Of course, as the last paragraph says, biology is not destiny. That's what makes us human, the ability to rise above genetic coding.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
But now it's clear the Shellabargers have a lazy gene as well! I wonder how often they run together?
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/why-were-motivated-to-exercise-or-not/
Of course, as the last paragraph says, biology is not destiny. That's what makes us human, the ability to rise above genetic coding.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Reversing the Course
So yeah, one week of eating the right stuff and bumping up the activity can change things. But really? What does this mean?
First, the facts:
I did in fact reverse the upward trend, and return towards the level I was at when I stalled. This week's average is two pounds lower than last week's average. This is good. There are enough low points in there to indicate an actual downward trend. The main things that helped that, I think, are: good weather, always alternatives on hand that met my criteria for acceptable; and bumping up the movement (which in turn was based on the weather).
The stress level at work this week was much less than last week, but on average hard to say about stress since my mother had her long-postponed shoulder operation yesterday. She is doing really great - I'm pretty sure all the life-threatening phases are behind us - but she's still in the hospital and I'll be spending a lot of time with her for the next few weeks.
Contributing to the stress level is my fancy new (and big) coffee pot broke this week. I am very dependent on that first cup of coffee, and am not in the best position to trouble shoot coffee problems before that first cup of coffee. So dealing with that at 5 a.m. was tragicomic, and resulted in both scald burns for me and coffee mess all over the kitchen.
And taxes not yet finished... in contrast to my self employed friends, its comically simple, just have to find everything then it will be 45 minutes tops. But I actually have to find everything first. It's the issue of getting started at all, squeezed in between teen dramas and hospital visits this weekend. So I think I'll do it now.
On the good news front, I'll be helping pick out a tux to rent for my boy this weekend for the prom in May! Not quite like dress shopping, but a big pleasure never-the-less!
First, the facts:
I did in fact reverse the upward trend, and return towards the level I was at when I stalled. This week's average is two pounds lower than last week's average. This is good. There are enough low points in there to indicate an actual downward trend. The main things that helped that, I think, are: good weather, always alternatives on hand that met my criteria for acceptable; and bumping up the movement (which in turn was based on the weather).
The stress level at work this week was much less than last week, but on average hard to say about stress since my mother had her long-postponed shoulder operation yesterday. She is doing really great - I'm pretty sure all the life-threatening phases are behind us - but she's still in the hospital and I'll be spending a lot of time with her for the next few weeks.
Contributing to the stress level is my fancy new (and big) coffee pot broke this week. I am very dependent on that first cup of coffee, and am not in the best position to trouble shoot coffee problems before that first cup of coffee. So dealing with that at 5 a.m. was tragicomic, and resulted in both scald burns for me and coffee mess all over the kitchen.
And taxes not yet finished... in contrast to my self employed friends, its comically simple, just have to find everything then it will be 45 minutes tops. But I actually have to find everything first. It's the issue of getting started at all, squeezed in between teen dramas and hospital visits this weekend. So I think I'll do it now.
On the good news front, I'll be helping pick out a tux to rent for my boy this weekend for the prom in May! Not quite like dress shopping, but a big pleasure never-the-less!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Does Knowing the Pattern Change It?
I've been stuck in a weight pattern for more than two years now. Here we go again:
After a few weeks of what my friend so aptly calls suckitude, interrupted with a little actual fun, do I want to take the time and make the effort to lose weight? Look at this pattern - I knew it going into it that the odds were this would be how I'd end up. I can lose for a bit on a blitz, then my body stubbornly wants to drift back up in weight. As soon as I lose focus it happens - the weight creeps up (or, shoots up). And I do lose focus.
I have all this data: my weight, my exercise levels, my food logs, this blog. Can I mine it, get my mind around it, turn it into useful information, some magic code that will explain why I can lose weight for about a month about once a year? Is it just motivation, or is there something physical that happens to derail me? I collected a bunch of data, and spent some time paging back through my food logs. What do I actually eat? How does it make me feel?
It is a freakin' lot of work to lose weight. It is clear to me that the secret to keeping my calorie count low, without feeling deprived all the time, requires many cooked vegetables. I can make myself eat salads, and I even enjoy salads, but nothing satisfies me so much as a nice warm full stomach. And the only way to fill my stomach without shooting the blood sugar into a frenzy craving more is to eat rich cooked vegetables, with lots of flavor. Meat too, for sure, but to lose weight I need the vegetables. This weekend, I made spinach ricotta pie (no crust), my secret to a satisfying breakfast. I cooked some asparagus, served with balsamic vinegar, and I mushed well-steamed broccoli with creme fraiche and asiago cheese.I roasted a cauliflower in pieces. I made enough of everything to have leftovers for during the week.
I want treats. My go-to treat is blueberries and creme fraiche, which I fancy up with mini chocolate chips and slivered almonds. A small serving is just fine. If I pig out on this, it's not the end of the world. So far, I haven't tired of it. My backup is mascarpone or ricotta with something pleasant mixed in, cinamon or cocoa. I have to be really careful to not overdo it with the sugar.
(Aside: I've wanted to post more extensively about my recent reading on food and nutrition, but I'll share one insight. How is it that eating low carb, and eating vegan, BOTH can lead to weight loss and good health? The secret is to do one-or-the-other. Eating low-carb, one learns not to be afraid of fat. Because the blood sugar is tamed, when I eat very low carb I eat fewer calories, and I will lose weight. My body is burning fat as fuel because it doesn't have new sugar coming in. However, when I start to add back carbs, I have to cut back on the fat, because my body will burn the carbs and store the fat. It's really easy to let the total calorie count shoot through the roof as soon as the carbs come back in, as my blood sugar demands to be fed more often, and I casually add butter to everything just as I did when I was low-carb. So for me, finding treats that don't bring a lot of sugar or simple starches to the table is the trick.)
My activity levels are really down. I've really fallen into a cave at work and home, and I sit in a chair and burn no calories. Except for my quick vacation my activity level has plunged. I broke my streak on my daily mile. I woke up one morning and realized I had simply forgotten to walk. I kept going back over the day, and my silly rules about the streak, and I realized there was no wiggle room. I had failed. So did I start over to build a new streak? No I did not. I gratefully sat down, and stayed sitting down.
At work, the pace is incredibly intense. One of my keys to success is to bring my lunch, but that also means I do not have to leave the building, or sometimes even my area. My work evenings, I make dinner - or dial it in - and then sit to read a book. Or surf on the interwebs, which sometimes leads to serendipity and more often leaves me feeling unsatisfied but wanting more, as if I had been eating cotton candy.
The past two weekends have been more active. The weather is getting nicer,and I hope my cooking this weekend will help - I know I've got spinach breakfasts for the whole week. I want to bump my activity levels while focusing on eating more plants. This is my plan, and I think there is a good chance I can stick to it for -- a week? Maybe a month? We'll see.
One possible bump in the road - a spectacular gelato place opened up in town. It's half an hour's walk away - which I know since I walked it last night. A small serving of gelato just about equals an hour's worth of walking, so if I keep myself from driving there I might be ok. But it's a sugary treat, and it can't be a daily habit, even if I walk it off, because sugar leads to needing more sugar...
My goal is to create a new, lower, set point to maintain. But first I have to get there.
After a few weeks of what my friend so aptly calls suckitude, interrupted with a little actual fun, do I want to take the time and make the effort to lose weight? Look at this pattern - I knew it going into it that the odds were this would be how I'd end up. I can lose for a bit on a blitz, then my body stubbornly wants to drift back up in weight. As soon as I lose focus it happens - the weight creeps up (or, shoots up). And I do lose focus.
I have all this data: my weight, my exercise levels, my food logs, this blog. Can I mine it, get my mind around it, turn it into useful information, some magic code that will explain why I can lose weight for about a month about once a year? Is it just motivation, or is there something physical that happens to derail me? I collected a bunch of data, and spent some time paging back through my food logs. What do I actually eat? How does it make me feel?
It is a freakin' lot of work to lose weight. It is clear to me that the secret to keeping my calorie count low, without feeling deprived all the time, requires many cooked vegetables. I can make myself eat salads, and I even enjoy salads, but nothing satisfies me so much as a nice warm full stomach. And the only way to fill my stomach without shooting the blood sugar into a frenzy craving more is to eat rich cooked vegetables, with lots of flavor. Meat too, for sure, but to lose weight I need the vegetables. This weekend, I made spinach ricotta pie (no crust), my secret to a satisfying breakfast. I cooked some asparagus, served with balsamic vinegar, and I mushed well-steamed broccoli with creme fraiche and asiago cheese.I roasted a cauliflower in pieces. I made enough of everything to have leftovers for during the week.
I want treats. My go-to treat is blueberries and creme fraiche, which I fancy up with mini chocolate chips and slivered almonds. A small serving is just fine. If I pig out on this, it's not the end of the world. So far, I haven't tired of it. My backup is mascarpone or ricotta with something pleasant mixed in, cinamon or cocoa. I have to be really careful to not overdo it with the sugar.
(Aside: I've wanted to post more extensively about my recent reading on food and nutrition, but I'll share one insight. How is it that eating low carb, and eating vegan, BOTH can lead to weight loss and good health? The secret is to do one-or-the-other. Eating low-carb, one learns not to be afraid of fat. Because the blood sugar is tamed, when I eat very low carb I eat fewer calories, and I will lose weight. My body is burning fat as fuel because it doesn't have new sugar coming in. However, when I start to add back carbs, I have to cut back on the fat, because my body will burn the carbs and store the fat. It's really easy to let the total calorie count shoot through the roof as soon as the carbs come back in, as my blood sugar demands to be fed more often, and I casually add butter to everything just as I did when I was low-carb. So for me, finding treats that don't bring a lot of sugar or simple starches to the table is the trick.)
My activity levels are really down. I've really fallen into a cave at work and home, and I sit in a chair and burn no calories. Except for my quick vacation my activity level has plunged. I broke my streak on my daily mile. I woke up one morning and realized I had simply forgotten to walk. I kept going back over the day, and my silly rules about the streak, and I realized there was no wiggle room. I had failed. So did I start over to build a new streak? No I did not. I gratefully sat down, and stayed sitting down.
At work, the pace is incredibly intense. One of my keys to success is to bring my lunch, but that also means I do not have to leave the building, or sometimes even my area. My work evenings, I make dinner - or dial it in - and then sit to read a book. Or surf on the interwebs, which sometimes leads to serendipity and more often leaves me feeling unsatisfied but wanting more, as if I had been eating cotton candy.
The past two weekends have been more active. The weather is getting nicer,and I hope my cooking this weekend will help - I know I've got spinach breakfasts for the whole week. I want to bump my activity levels while focusing on eating more plants. This is my plan, and I think there is a good chance I can stick to it for -- a week? Maybe a month? We'll see.
One possible bump in the road - a spectacular gelato place opened up in town. It's half an hour's walk away - which I know since I walked it last night. A small serving of gelato just about equals an hour's worth of walking, so if I keep myself from driving there I might be ok. But it's a sugary treat, and it can't be a daily habit, even if I walk it off, because sugar leads to needing more sugar...
My goal is to create a new, lower, set point to maintain. But first I have to get there.
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