A Clean Day

My third day of clean eating passed perfectly. I am awake bright and early this morning - I am listening to DH sleep and hoping he will wake soon so we can enjoy the beautiful sunny day that we both have off.

I did not count points yesterday but feel great about my food. I packed my lunch for work and was not craving anything all day. Here was the menu

1 cup Flax Plus cereal
3/4 cup skim milk
Praventia Bar (these are a delicious bar made of almost all natural ingredients)
clementine
apple
homemade turkey chili (lunch)
carrot sticks
raw cauliflower
homemade turkey chili (dinner)
piece of 100% whole grain flax bread
smoothie (blueberries, soft tofu, skim milk)
fresh strawberries

I can't resist checking the points... 29 - that's only one over my daily target and it felt like I was consuming a lot of food. DH and I also went for an hour bike ride and then 1/2 hour walk with the pup. Today we are doing a 20k bike ride out in the country. It is one of our favourite routes and will be a perfect day for it. We are going out for dinner with my in laws tonight. It is a Bavarian restaurant - schnitzel and spaetzle anyone?? I already checked out the menu and they have a grilled chicken and veggie option that has my name all over it.

Ill try to take some pictures on my bike ride so you can all enjoy some of the gorgeous scenery around where I am lucky enough to call home!

Can you see the lightbulb that just went off above my head?

I have been avoiding blogging for a few days, first because of the insane headaches I wrote about earlier that have been plauging me and then because I have been researching and working on a new plan for myself. I have basically stayed the same weight since Christmas even though I am eating my WW point target and working out regularly. I will lose a couple and then one high sodium meal out (even with healthy options) will cause me to instantly gain a couple pounds that take a week to get rid of. For the first year of this weight loss roller coaster I did not have this problem at all. I still have 50 pounds to lose, I should not be plateauing, it should not be this hard!

In trying to come up with a reason for my sudden PMS symptoms (including the crippling headache) I have been reading up on how hormones affect metabolism and how chemicals in the food we eat can affect our hormones. For the past year I have been filling my body with all kinds of fat free, sugar free, non-foods that have helped me transition from my old eating habits slowly without feeling deprived. But, I honestly feel like I am filling my body with processed chemicals that are making me sick and stalling my weightloss. I drink 2 litres of Crystal Light every day, I eat fat-free mayo, baked potato chips, fat-free pudding, sugar free frozen yogurt. I have looked at every nutritional information label for everything that has gone in my mouth for the past year - counting the calories, fat and fibre and figuring out the points. I never look at the ingredients though. There is some scary stuff in these foods.

These foods have definitely helped me get as far as I am and I don't think I could have lost 60 pounds without them but now I am going to start on 'Phase 2' of this journey. I don't just want to be thin, I want to be healthy. I am going to cut out as much processed food as possible and whenever possible eat organic meat and keep my pesticide consumption to a minimum. I live in a part of the country where organic meat and veggies are easily available to me - I feed my precious doggie organic dog food, don't I deserve as much? I have planted a beautiful veggie garden and will soon have wonderful produce growing right in my own backyard.

I am going to continue with weight watchers, the meetings are a great motivator and keep my momentum up. I am not going to count points for the next two weeks though. I am going to follow the plan outlined in the book 'Master Your Metabolism' (written by Jillian Michaels). Weight Watchers has taught me so much about portion control that I think I will be able to utilize my eat until satisfied skills.

So, I am committing to two weeks of clean eating. I am hoping to regain some of the lost energy of the past few months, clear my throbbing head, and hopefully see some permanent movement on the scales.

some relief

I worked the afternoon shift and just got home. I packed a healthy dinner and just had then most delicious smoothie frozen mango, skim milk, 2 tbsp ff white chocolate pudding mix (powder). I have shed 3 of the water retention pms pounds I have been carrying around. My headache is clearing up and I am feeling much better today. I really hope this does not become a regular monthly occurrence for me.

I did not make it to the gym but will be going for a nice long bike ride tomorrow with DH and I WILL GO TO THE GYM ON SATURDAY (will capitol letters ensure it happens???)

This sucks..

As I wrote previously I have never suffered from the usual PMS and TOM related issues.. until now!! Besides ridiculous bloating I have been suffering from an deep throbbing headache, cramping and insane cravings for chips and chocolate. It is as if an alien being has overtaken my body... and I WANT IT BACK! This is such a foreign thing to me, I feel cranky and tired and exhausted. I have not gone to the gym all week.

Seriously, anyone have any suggestions to make this gross feeling go away??

Bloating.. a revelation

Last Wed I weighed 204, yesterday I was 206, today 209. I know I have been OP, this happened to me during my week of vacation and crazy exercise last month. I went back to look at the dates in my blog and it was 28 days ago.... hmmm and guess what arrived this evening??? TOM.

Bloating during TOM is probably not new to most of you but I have never had regular periods. In fact I can go many months between periods. The fact that I seem to be getting on some type of schedule, with real PMS symptoms is kind of exciting to me. I am planning on trying fertility treatments again later this year and this can only help the process.

So I will accept this temporary weight gain with a smile! But, it is amazing how much more obvious bloating is to me at 204 pounds than it was at 270 pounds.

Off to drink some water!!

Mambo Italiano..

DH bought me a pasta roller for Christmas. I love to cook and have been attempting over the past year to make as much home made, preservative free, fresh and healthy food as I can. I have used the roller to make pirogi dough so far but (after finally finding the authentic pasta flour) I decided to make some basic fettuccine. DH and I braved the process together, we had fun and it was much easier than we thought. Here are some pictures of the process and finished product. Delicious!!

I also made the Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes from the cover of the latest Clean Eating Magazine. I think mine look just like the magazine picture. They are really good, but stuck badly to the liners. Next time I will either spray the tins and forget about the liners, or spray the liners.

A picture says it all!!!!!!

Recovery

After my hotel snacking induced stomach ache I regrouped and have been back OP for the past two days. I did not make it to the hotel gym but I was run off my feet working all day long and pretty much passed out at the hotel last night. I just got back home after a 3 hour drive and I am exhausted but was so excited to step on the scale and see my lowest weight to date. I weigh in tomorrow night and am hoping to see that same number on the scale at WW.

My will power was strong today - I had a full day of meetings which involved donuts, muffins, white bread sandwiches slathered in mayo, creamy pasta salad, bowls of chocolates on the tables and no diet pop (WTF!!!). I skipped the high calorie breakfast foods (had lots of coffee instead) and I had a small turkey sandwich (scraped off most of the mayo) some raw veggies and only two small chocolates. (est 8pts) for lunch. I avoided the sugary pop and juices and had bottled water. Of course I was starving after the meetings and had to grab some fast food on the drive home. I stopped and Wendy's and had the grilled chicken sandwich (7.5 pts) and a small frosty (7.5). So, I have 5 points left for this evening.

Not the best use of my points, but I stayed in the range and I am proud of myself for not giving into temptation. I'm looking forward to posting my WI results tomorrow!

Stomach ache....

I am in a hotel in Victoria, I'm here for work for the next three days. To avoid eating out tonight I went to the grocery store and bought a veggie tray, some baked chips and some layer dip (bean, guacamole etc...) I have eaten way more than I should have. I should have eaten these healthy option in moderation, instead I have been laying on the hotel bed snacking away... now my stomach is so full and achy and I just want to roll over and go to sleep. I am slightly calmed by the fact that alot of what is making me feel sick is the pile of raw veggies I consumed, but I still feel disgusting.

A year ago I could have eaten all of that and more junk on top and would not have felt like this..

I am going to sleep now.. tomorrow I will have some yogurt and fruit for breakfast, subway for lunch and a deli salad for dinner - no snacks in the hotel room tomorrow night! I will also hit the hotel treadmill tomorrow night for at least 30 minutes.

I feel better after the confession... will check in tomorrow night to confirm I made good on my plan!

opinions please and a NSV

My brother is getting married this summer, it is going to be a pretty casual beach wedding. I bought two dresses on sale when I was in Arizona this winter, they were both a little tight but now are fitting pretty good. I think by the time the wedding is here they will be fitting great. I just want to know which one you like better and/or which you think flatters me more?? I would wear a cardigan over them both but if it is really warm I want to be able to take it off and feel comfortable. As a special treat my darling pup makes a guest appearance in the second picture. **i am adding a second picture of the second dress - I think the first one doesnt show it off the best**

On to my NSV.. I went to Victoria today to meet a friend who was flying in for the day for a wedding dress fitting. After the dress fitting we hit the malls for an afternoon of shopping. I tried clothes on in stores I have not shopped in since high school and all had clothes that fit me!! I am smaller on top than the bottom so XLs in stores like The Gap, Eddie Bauer, Banana Republic, RW&Co fit me great! I even fit bottoms in most of those stores as well. I work in a clothing store so I have a pretty good wardrobe but it was an amazing feeling to be able to try on clothes with my girlfriend and to be able to reject items because of colour or fabric - 60 lbs ago I would buy whatever fit just because it was hard to find things that fit. We had such a great time! I am definitely smaller than Christmas - especially in the bottom half of my body. I tried on size 16s in the Gap in December and they were too small - today they all fit. Made me feel so much better about my lack of success on the scale.

I had another NSV this weekend. I was standing on on of the small planters DH built in the back yard and he ran over, picked me up around my thighs and twirled me around the yard, and held me up there for awhile! His back didn't break, he didn't fall down in pain, in fact he was not even winded.. he has not done that since we were teenagers (used to toss me over his shoulder!).

These little things remind me everyday of how far I have come and how I WILL NEVER go back to the way things were!

Weekend Update

This was my favourite kind of weekend. DH and I were both off with no pressing obligations to take care of. We spend the weekend at home and at the garden center. One of the best things about living on Vancouver Island is that spring comes early! It was a gorgeous 15 degrees today so we began prepping our new veggie gardens DH has been building. We bought this house brand new last year so of course the backyard is a very very blank canvas. My kind DH built beautiful raised beds (to ease the stress on my temperamental back). We were able to but in some of the early veggies today - spinach, lettuce, beets, cauliflower, zucchini and
squash. The deck is going in next weekend, then sod and voila I will have a backyard!

I tried a new recipe last night from the Looneyspoons Cookbook. It is called 'A Curried Affair' and has the strangest mix of ingredients - my husband loves this kind of food, mushed together and saucy, I think anything with mushroom soup reminds him of his mom's cooking. It was actually better than I thought it would be but I had to add more curry powder to get it spicy enough for my taste and I added peas to ramp up the veggies.

***From "Looneyspoons" Cookbook
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 cup each chopped onions and chopped celery
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 cans reduced fat (or regular) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1 1/2 cups canned pineapple tidbits in their juice
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon each crushed red pepper flakes and black pepper

.
3 cups cooked white or brown rice Preheat oven to 350 Melt butter in a large non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, celery, and curry powder. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes, until onions begin to soften. Stir in undiluted soup, chicken, pineapple (with juice), bouillon powder, cumin, black pepper, & red pepper flakes. Mix well. Pour into a medium casserole dish. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Serve over hot rice!

I didn't have any rice so we had it over whole wheat pasta and this whole dish was 8 points. Pretty good for a really filling dinner.

I have volunteered to cook Easter dinner for DH's side of the family. We are going to my sister's for another Easter dinner so I needed at least one of them to fit into my healthy eating plan. I am still working out the menu but I think it will include glazed ham, Darth Tater (as a sub for scalloped potatoes) roasted brussel sprouts and a big salad. I will definitely post some pictures next weekend.

A new low!!

I just got back from my ww meeting and wi. The scale said 208.4 - so fully clothed I am pretty happy with that. It is the lowest weight I have officially recorded since starting weight watchers. The sad part it that when I weighed in at a meeting on Dec 10 I was 210.4 so I have only lost 2 lbs in the last three months. Of course there have been a lot of little gains and losses in that three months. I can safely say I have plateaued, I have been faithfully counting my points and exercising but the scale will not co-operate. I hope that I have turned a corner this week on the Wendi plan and I will be eating my 35 flex this week on the days that I burn at least 500 cal at the gym.

My clothes are fitting better and my body is toning up - the weight has to drop eventually right???