Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Christmas coming up, Can I still maintain?

I went to the store yesterday and did a weigh-in. I lost two more pounds and am now at 206. Just six pounds to my first goal, and 9 pounds to my half-way goal. 
We've had problems with our refrigeration system on the boat, so I had to put off my morning summer porridge. I have a glass of 100% pure juice in the a.m. or I make up a smoothie of Lo-fat choco milk (8 oz), vanilla yogurt (Chobani), a banana, chia seeds and a little ice. Sometimes, I add a teaspoon of pure maple syrup for a little more flavor.
I'm more busy now than before I started my eat-style program, so many days are no lunch days. Sometimes I will bring with me the fat-free flavored tuna packs with the crackers. If I'm at home, I will grab a burger bun with low cal mayo and a small pop-top can of tuna and make a sandwich.
Dinner is portioned controlled for chicken, pork, turkey meals. The turkey is usually ground turkey with a seasoning I got from Todd Wilbur's website. 
Snacks are my low-fat Lemon Meringue pudding cups, watermelon chunks, or the imitation crab bites. I also drink at least a bottle of water a day. About twice a month, Keith and I go out to the bar/restaurant for drinks and appetizers or dinner. I do portion control than, eating only half the dinner or a couple three of the appetizers, and sticking to light beer - no more than two - and I drink slowly. I usually skip lunch when I know we're going out.
So, even with all that, I'm still losing. 
So far, so good. 

Monday, November 28, 2016

Thanksgiving Weigh-In

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I did a weigh-in. Success! I lost another pound and am now at 208.
For Thanksgiving Dinner, I had a slice of Turkey, green beans and about 1/2 cup of brown rice with 100% fruit juice to drink. NO PIE and NO DRESSING (my two favorites). I conquered!

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Slow But Steady

So, I did my monthly weigh-in and blood pressure check a week ago today. I lost another 4 lbs. and the blood pressure is still good. That makes it only 14 more pounds to lose to get to my half-way point, and 39 total lost pounds to date. Cool!

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Update #4

I went and did my monthly weigh-in and blood pressure check. 
Yippeee.....I lost the 2 lbs. I accidentally gained, plus another 3 lbs. I am now down to 214!
My blood pressure is now registering as normal. Since I started my eat-style program, it had been registering as "cautious". In other words, running a bit high.
I will get back to other, more thought provoking posts as soon as things return to normal in my daily life. Things are a bit up and down right now.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Update #3

So, less than two weeks after I last weighed in at 217, I was at the store and decided to do it again. I usually wait for a month between weigh-ins, but I figured 'what the heck'.
Oh no! 219! How did I manage to gain 2 pounds? 
Well, I'll tell you.
Between the weigh-ins, DH decided he wanted my Beans and Ham soup for dinner. Of course, that takes ham. So, we had two days of ham dinners before I made the beans and ham soup. The soup lasted 3 nights. 
I didn't know what the calorie count was for the soup (or the ham, for that matter), and having a very stressful week, I was not doing portion control. Now, you know where the 2 pounds came from.
When I finally got on the internet, I tried to find a recipe online that was closest to my recipe, and that also included a calorie count.
The closest I could find - 370 calories in 1 1/2 cups!
Yikes!
I know I had about 3 times that in my bowl - maybe even more.
That's the end of beans and ham for dinner. 
At least, for a while.
And I'll be doing much better in portion control when I do make it again.
Was all this a disappointment? 
Of course it was.
Did I fall off my program?
No. I don't see it that way. I see it as a human trait to falter once in a while.
Can I recover from it?
Yes. I can.
Will I be stupid next time?
Hope not.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Update #2

Even though things are up in the air for me right now, I still am trying to find the time to track and report my progress. So, here's an update.
Another 3 lbs gone. I am now down to 217 from 249. In four months, averaging 8 lbs a month, I have lost 32 lbs.
I have calculated reaching my goal weight by next May. That's not set, just a calculation. 
Of course, the weather is helping with this a lot. It is so hot and humid, that I only seem to want my crab bites and watermelon.......and lots and lots of water.
If I am still here when the weather cools, I will be heading to the local fitness center twice a week - to start.

Friday, August 5, 2016

Just a Quickie

I wanted to get this recorded - down to 221 lbs. Seven more pounds gone. 76 more to goal weight. Getting there.

Friday, July 22, 2016

And Summer Goes On

Well, surgery was successful for Keith's right eye. We are in the last week before payday in the surgical financial crunch. Not really sure how "crunchy" it will get for his left eye, which needs to be done within 30 days after the left eye. But, at least he isn't almost totally blind now.
With the financial crunch, I've tried to stay on my eat-style program as much as possible. We've, basically, been buying whatever we can afford at the grocery store. I've been putting off my summer porridge, but will be making them again this afternoon (if the yogurt is still good in the icebox, that is). 
The heat and humidity of summer has kept me on the boat, but on the plus side, with the a/c working again, my heat rash is almost gone. So, I haven't been to the store to weigh in. 
Because we had accumulated enough reward points at the local pizza joint for a free pizza (this was before I started this program), to save money we used the points for a free pizza. 
One thing I discovered - pizza is something I'm going to have to stay away from while losing weight, because I can't eat just one slice. Oh no, I ate FOUR! Not good. As a result, I'm sure I lost points on pound loss. 
We've been able to keep dinners almost normal. I've fixed a lot of chicken and ground turkey meals.
Speaking of ground turkey, last night I didn't know what to do with the gr. turkey I had, so I got on the internet and found a seasoning for turkey burgers. It was delicious. It was a copycat seasoning for Fuddrucker Burgers from Todd Wilbur, and it was great (although I'm cutting back a bit next time on the black pepper and cayenne pepper. Some people replace the cayenne with cumin). Here is a link to the website.

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Fuddruckers-Hamburger-Seasoning-Copycat-Recipe.html

As there are other copycat recipes that are not so low-cal or healthy on this site, I do recommend browsing carefully, but do browse. There are a few that have been modified for low-cal. Not all links will give a complete recipe. You'll have to purchase his cookbooks for them.
But this seasoning I used on the turkey burgers made the burgers very flavorful, and not bland at all. I mixed the ground turkey with Worcestershire sauce and a little A1 Original with a mix of onion and celery bits first, then added the seasoning to the burger while pan frying. I'm not sure what the total calorie count is for these burgers, but it's gotta be better than beef. In fact, they were so good, I might not go back to beef.




Friday, July 8, 2016

Most Difficult Summer

With the heat index over 100 degrees F every day, it's been a brutal time for me. I am not heat oriented. I don't thrive on it, and I certainly don't love it. On top of that, our a/c unit went out. And we can't fix it.
First, DH can't see to pull the unit and take it in for repairs. Second, money's very, very, very tight this month with the first laser surgery scheduled for DH's cataracts (which thanks to the 6 month fed government waiting period for part b of his medicare to kick in, has left him almost totally blind). Third, we didn't exactly get all the costs for this surgery told to us, even though we asked for totals, what's involved, etc. Seems they left out the anti-biotic prescriptions to the tune of 338 dollars, and the EKG required before the surgery that must be done by a different doctor. 
So, what does all this have to do with my eat style blog? Well, between the heat (of which I'm not cooking except stuff for the thermal cooker once in a while), and the extremely low funds this month, I have had to "shed" my eat style as we are buying whatever food we can afford - this includes frozen dinners, canned stuff, and the all evil (to me, anyway) processed crap.
The heat has given me a heat rash on my stomach, chest, arms and the top of my right thigh. Yesterday, as I was opening a can, I deeply sliced my finger on the jagged edge of the can lid that the can opener did not open all the way. I couldn't get it to stop bleeding until I taped it up with non-stick pads surrounded by gauze. I also had to take two Aleve to numb the pain. 
I have been drinking a lot of cold water and some juice, but my morning porridge has gone by the wayside temporarily. It's just too hot to make it. I ended up having sweat drip down onto it from my forehead....yuck.
I still try to limit portions, which hasn't been that hard to do since the heat does not generate a lot of hunger.
I don't fancy summers in the south at all.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Learning New Internet Stuff

Well, my Virgin hotspot device finally bit the dust. It's not like I wasn't expecting it, as it's been giving me problems for awhile.
So, my DH and I went in search of a new ISP. We started by checking to see if we could administer CPR to the Virgin devices. No can do. So, we headed over to Verizon, our only other option for wifi on board the boat. To make a long story short, and because I despise touch pads, we ended up with a tablet that will connect to my laptop with Verizon service. We'll see how it works out.
So, this is completely new, and forced, learning experience for me. When I use just the tablet, as I am doing now, it is somewhat slow for me to type because I am use to a full keyboard, not this "hunt and peck" thing.
Yesterday, I went grocery shopping. Naturally, I weighed myself. I am now at 228 lbs. That leaves 83 more pounds to my goal weight. Cool!

Friday, June 24, 2016

Portion Distortion

So, I was doing my occasional cruise through Pinterest and I came across an interesting Pin called "Portion Distortion". Hmmmm.
I clicked the link. It turned out to be an analysis of how Fast Food portions and calories have changed over the years. It was very interesting. 
Naturally, this lead to portion control and calorie control. So, here are a few items I downloaded concerning this topic. For more info, just Google "Portion Distortion" or "Portion Tools".

I know they give you an actual serving size here, but pay attention to the grams of fat included. Definitely don't want this in my Eat-Style plan.

Again, look at the Calories and the fat grams. I'll skip these places, thank you. Note: I know Subway advertises on some healthy subs. If you do go, just pay attention to what is being put on the sub (and the bread type, too)

I'd definitely shrink that Bread pie slice, separate the fruits and Vegies, and increase them.

Funny thing about this - the FF Restaurants charge more for
the larger, higher calorie/fat portions they serve now, and
the ingredients are totally crap.

I think you're best bet is to know your food - and stay away from
FF Restaurants.

Not really part of the topic of this post, but I found it a few
days ago and thought I'd post it.



Might have to search around Amazon for this one. It's called "Meal Measure I Portion Control Tool"

https://www.amazon.com/Meal-Measure-Portion-Control-Tool

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Sleeping Away the Dog Days of Summer

Today, I finally made up 3 jars of summer porridge. It's the most energy I've had to do anything for about a week now.
Monday, I fell asleep between 1 and 2 pm and didn't wake up until almost 2 am the following morning. Then, I fell asleep about 4:30 am and didn't wake up until the afternoon. I, then, fell asleep before 5 pm and didn't wake up until 4:30 am the next morning. I did the same last night.
Not only are the hot days keeping me sleepy. They are also keeping my appetite down. I've been eating mostly watermelon chunks and, when I'm awake, I'll eat a serving of the tuna casserole. But only to have something in my stomach to take my vitamins. I'll have a glass of juice or low fat Chocolate milk during the day, and, sometimes a low cal pudding cup. That's it. 
I can't say it's healthy, but it is well within my calorie range.
Maybe the porridge will give me renewed strength.
I still have a lot of fat in my behind, thighs, and stomach, but I can see a difference from where I was 2 and a half months ago. My next grocery shopping trip will be either this weekend or the beginning of next week. I'll weigh myself when I go to the store.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

The Heat is On

Well, the heat and humidity is still having its effect on me - now, I'm not hungry. I have to force myself to eat.
Yesterday, I broke down and had a tuna sandwich - that was it for the day. Today, I had 4 bites of just the tuna mixture, and a small helping of the tuna casserole that I made this evening. That is divided into the next three nights, so at least I won't have to cook for a few days. That's another thing this weather is doing, too. I have no desire to stand over a hot stove.
Oh, I have had some fruit - chunks of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew. 
I had slacked off on the water for a bit, but I'm back on course now. I had been drinking just fruit juice and low-fat Choco milk. I only have one of the choco milks a day. 
I found a few more eat-style charts on Buzzfeed. I thought these were pretty good.














You can always click and download to zoom in on them for better viewing.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

New Weight Numbers

So, yesterday I went grocery shopping. As I do every time I get to the market, I weighed myself on the pharmacy's little "sit-down" scale. I am now at 232. That's about 16 lbs less than when I first started this eat-style program. I am now only 87 lbs away from my goal weight. I am averaging about a pound and 1/2 weight loss a week. I am pleased with that, as I want to lose slowly, not quickly. 
Yesterday, I actually went out to eat for the first time in months. My daughter was visiting and treated my DH and I to lunch. I chose a restaurant that served Sushi, as I know my daughter likes Sushi. Little did I know that on their menu they had a shrimp patty on flatbread w/ low-cal sauce. It was a decent 175 calories. I had it with just ice water, which I would have had anyways because the day was so hot and humid.
Speaking of which, the heat and humidity is affecting my eating habits. It is so hot, that I just plain don't feel like eating (or cooking, for that matter). I've been a bad girl and skipping meals - not a good thing as it will cause me to lose weight too fast. So, I have been fighting that.
The heat is also having an effect on energy and depression. Although, the depression has lightened up a bit, it is now mingled with a bit of lethargy. I just kind of stare into neverland at the things I need to get done. I need to do mental exercises as well as physical exercises.
I am keeping to my goals in not eating sugar and processed foods ( with the exception of already shredded reduced fat cheese in some of the recipes), and NO soda, diet or otherwise.  The fruit, most of the time, satisfies my crave for something sweet. When it's an extreme crave, I have an 80 calorie pudding cup. I don't look at these as snacking. In fact, I don't consider "snacking" as part of my program. Snacking, to me, is pigging out on all kinds of chips, cookies, etc. I don't do that. I feel a need for something sweet, I have fruit or a pudding cup. As long as I am well within my daily max calories, I don't find it a problem.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Taking It a Day at a Time

Seems that with heat and humidity, it almost always is accompanied by negative - irritation, sleeplessness, stuff breaking or breaking down, etc.
That's what it's been like the past couple of days. 
I've been awake all night and have been sleeping during the day when we can turn on the generator for the a/c without disturbing our neighbors. The gen can be a little loud. Still trying to figure out our fresh water problems, too. We put water in the starboard tank this time as we always put it in the port tank. So far, it seems to be working fine, so whatever the problem, it has to do with the port tank. 
We've also had a couple of other electronic things break down, too. And I've been fighting with my internet connection more than using it lately.
Irritation.
It's enough to drive a person straight to comfort food.
But I didn't. I had my hissie fits, but I didn't resort to my favorite fattening foods or soda's.
When I decided on changing my eat-style habits, I had just bought a 2 liter bottle of orange soda. As I said before, I was never without a cup of soda with ice. It has now been two months, and it is still sitting on the boat. I finally handed it to my DH and told him to take it to shore and give it to someone. It's not that its tempting. Actually, I haven't been tempted at all. I just hate to see money go to waste, and I would prefer not to throw it away. 
But irritation, bad mood, not feeling quite right is a powerful position for temptation to just say 'screw it all. I'm going to eat what I want". 
I don't cater to it. My resolve is stronger. At least, right now it is. I can see, and feel, the weight loss already. 

We finished up the Baja lasagna, so I just simply made skinless, boneless chicken breasts rubbed with packaged Italian seasoning, low fat cottage cheese with watermelon pieces. Tonight, I'll add some seasoned corn. The final night, I'll do up some Spanish rice to go with it. 
I got about 30 new free Kindle cookbooks from Amazon a few days ago. I'll be looking through those for appropriate recipes. All are low fat, weight loss, or low carb cookbooks. I'm sure I'll find something.
I made all choco peanut butter porridge last round, so I think I'll switch to Apple Cinnamon next round. Variety, you know.
I've got a challenge coming this week, too, as my daughter is visiting the Keys and we will be getting together for lunch at some point during the week. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how I do with this challenge. I rarely get out and about, so it will be interesting. Since we are both on our own dieting program, and we support one another, it will be great that we can be together and keep each other on track for an afternoon.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Depression and Weight Loss - Not the Way You Think

http://www.depressionhealth.net/how-to-lose-weight-when-youre-depressed/

I read this article today. It's a good article, too. It gives one path on the correlation between depression and losing weight.
It does address the connection of depression with gaining weight, and it addresses the connection of depression with losing weight.
I want to address the connection of losing weight and depression. What's the difference, you say?
Well, the weight loss or weight gain in the first two are the result of experiencing depression. In the third, it is the weight loss that creates the depression.
What? Now I have to deal with depression while dieting?
Well, yes. It's actually one of the things that makes it so difficult to lose weight. Let me 'splain.
Anytime a person changes something about them, such as dieting, that changes the internal body, there will be some depression involved. The changes in the physiology of the body triggers changes in the mental processes of the mind. As the body adjusts to not being fed all of the unhealthy food, and takes in all the good nutrients that it requires but was lacking before the eat-style change, the mental mind is also reacting to this adjustment. We call it cravings.
Depression sets in when the mind responds to these cravings by either giving in or not giving in to them. If one gives in to the cravings, a depression sets in with feelings of failure or weakness in their resolve to changing their eat-style habits. If one does not give in to the cravings, it becomes a resentment of limitations that was never there before due, basically, to eating whatever they desire. It's a Catch-22, really.
But there are ways to deal with it. Since, I have been going through this type of depression the past week, I have not given in to the cravings. But I have been resentful while watching my DH plow down the cookies, chips, popcorn, candy, etc. every evening before dinner. Lord, he does it EVERY night. I am also resentful that he does this and still stays thin. I swear, he doesn't gain an ounce.
Okay, so he doesn't gain 20 lbs a month by eating all of this junk. Fine. But, what about his health? What is it doing to his blood sugar levels? What is it doing to his muscles, internal organs, stomach lining, liver, etc? He is experiencing depression more often, waking up with cramps in his legs, has cataracts that require surgery (don't get me wrong, I don't know if there is a connection between cataracts and a poor eat-style regime, but I can't see where it would help), becomes fatigued more often. Some would say that all of these things were due to his age. My DH is in his seventies, but I think age is irrelevant concerning health matters. He comes from a long genetic line of ancestors living into their nineties and beyond. But when you eat unhealthy, all bets are off.
I realized I was getting resentful over someone damaging their health by what they were eating. Am I nuts? Why would I want to go down such a destructive road, too ? 
I'm on a pathway to good health and weighing less. The depression may be there, but it is temporary. The end results will be much more beneficial and rewarding than the end results to giving in to these cravings. And even though others may not physically see it now, when they do it will produce warm fuzzies of encouragement and pride on such success. And, more importantly, I will be in the best physical shape than I've ever been in my life.
When the depression hits, remember it is temporary. Give yourself a break, and pat yourself on the back for your daily accomplishments. The end of the path has a dazzling and beautiful reward at the end of it.

I did my daily morning regime of porridge, vitamins and water. Lunch is still a problem. But it is due to the weather. This has been causing sleepless nights, too, and feeling tired during the day. I actually ended up sleeping all afternoon. But before I did, I cleaned up the nav station desk (which was a disaster). 
We had the servings of the Skinny Cheeseburger Casserole. Before heating it up, I sprinkled some no salt Mrs. Dash, added chopped onions I had found in the icebox, and sprinkled a little more low fat shredded cheddar cheese on top to make it less bland and tastier. It did accomplish that. I served it with low fat cottage cheese (2 tablespoons for me) and watermelon chunks. I also had 4 oz of juice, too.

Interesting Article

https://authoritynutrition.com/11-graphs-that-show-what-is-wrong-with-modern-diet/

I found this article to be quite interesting and informative.
As a person of an "older" generation, I have seen how food buying and consumption has changed over the years. As Corporations take over and control almost everything in our lives, more and more processed and food substitutes have filled the supermarket shelves. It's gotten so bad, that we cannot trust the fruits, vegies, and meat we buy at the market.
One cannot lose weight without eating healthy, too. It's impossible. Let me explain how I know this.
In 2008, my DH and I were driving team long-haul coast to coast. With team drivers, the big Corporate trucking companies (of which we were employed by one of them) would push them for higher productivity and profit. Our particular company would say one thing to the general populace, and another to their drivers. 
In our case, we were told that teams could not run out of hours. By this, I mean hours of service for the driver. If I recall correctly, at the time, it was 11 hours driving, 10 hours off duty with 2 hours of on duty (not driving) in a 24 hour period without going over 70 hours driving/on duty in a continuous seven day period. Needless to say, yes, team drivers could, legally, run out of hours.
This created a very busy schedule with little time for personal care and eating. Oftentimes, while fueling, we would run into the C-store for quick purchases of junk/fast food and soda. Remember, I call these store's a Junkie's Paradise.
Over the years of team driving, this type of eating, and long hours behind the wheel, caused a massive weight gain for me. It always seemed that my DH ended up with the shifts that required loading/unloading (which was rare, by the way, for team drivers), or drop/hook (dropping a trailer and hooking to another), which was really the only exercise a driver would get during working hours. 
Oh, a few of our company terminals had exercise rooms, but we were rarely brought into a terminal. When we were there, we were busy with laundry, showers and going to Wal-Mart for road food (again, the processed, quick meals and junk snacks). 
So, in 2008, I found it necessary to tackle the problem of losing weight while doing my job. Since eating healthy was virtually impossible on the road, I concentrated on keeping the calories down. 
I spent over a year eating (and drinking) no more than 1500 calories a day, combined. I tried to cut out sugar, but processed foods are loaded with it, so I had to figure out my calories by the packaging info. I was eating shelf meals loaded with preservatives. I'm sure you've seen them on the store shelves. They sound good on the package - turkey and stuffing, chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, Swedish meatballs, lasagna, etc.
By the end of 15 months of eating like that, I lost weight. Oh, yes, I did. But I also gained stomach problems. In 15 months, everything I ate, or drank, gave me stomach pains. Some of these pains could get severe. 
By the time we quit driving in 2010, and I could cook normal meals, it would take almost 3 years before I could eat without the stomach pains.
So, you see, it is imperative when losing weight to chose your food selections wisely. 
Use butter over margarine, but go with butter that does not have the extra salt. Use Olive oil over Vegetable oil. If you have access to a farmer's market - use it. And wash all fruits and vegies. If you have access to a butcher market to buy meats that are organic or locally raised non-corporate, buy there instead of the supermarket. Do your research for your local food supplies, and utilize what's available for healthy eating. Ask - and read labels. Especially the ingredients. Watch for the added sugars, added salt, and added preservatives. Learn the various names used for these, too. Examples are: sodium=salt, BHT=preservative, corn syrup=sugar.  
Eating healthy isn't about tofu, or becoming a vegetarian. And neither is dieting. Eating healthy is about the foods that have the necessary nutrients for the human body. And dieting is about portion control and exercise.
Learn to eat healthy and learn to control your food portions. That's how to lose weight and stay healthy.

So, today, I had my porridge in the morning, followed by a bottle of water, and vitamins. 
We finished the last of the Baja Lasagna last night, so I made the Skinny Cheeseburger casserole, equally dividing it up between my meal trays for 8 servings. We ended up just having that for dinner, followed by one of my 80 calorie pudding cups. 
I drank 4 oz of my 100% pure fruit juices with dinner. 
That's it. Nothing more. Tomorrow, I'll add a vegie to the dinner meal and some fruit.


Saturday, June 4, 2016

Two New Cookbooks, PB2 and Meal Planning

So, last week (or was it the week before?), my two new R.S. Cookbooks arrived. 
The Never Say Diet cookbook I am saving for when I get within 10 lbs or less of my goal weight. Essentially, it is a cookbook for maintaining a healthy eat-style plan. It does not include calorie/nutrition counts, so I will make recipes from it with a maintenance weight goal in mind.
The other R.S. cookbook, Farewell to Fat, seems to have a combo of weight loss and maintenance recipes. It does come with calorie counts, so I will be looking at new recipes in this book to increase my variety in food for my weight loss plan.
My PB2 and PB2 with chocolate also arrived in the mail. I used the PB2 with chocolate in one of my porridge recipes, using the basic ingredients from "the yummy life" blog, then adding 2 Tblsp of PB2 with chocolate, 1 Tsp honey, and 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract. It can be refrigerated overnight, and add sliced strawberries or banana's before eating. I ate mine just plain - no added fruit and liked it very much. 
I'm getting pretty good getting into the habit of the meal plan concept. The other night I made the Baja Lasagna again. The last time I made it, I had to sub the chilies and ready cut tomatoes with mild Pace Picante sauce. This time I had the chilies and tomatoes, but no mushrooms. Since I plan on making it a regular menu meal, I know one of these days I'll be able to include all the ingredients.
This coming week I will concentrate on better planning ahead the recipes to make for the meal plan. Keith and I like variety, so I will probably print up a calendar to plan recipes for about two weeks or more in advance. 
Still struggling with getting the vegies into the diet. I am getting a bit of carrots in my current juice intake as I bought a carrot blend juice. It's not my favorite juice, but it's doable.
Variety in side dishes have also become a bit of a challenge. The hot temperatures of summer approaching keeps me craving cooler dishes - mostly cottage cheese and fruit. It's been okay, and just the main dish and c.c. and fruit has pretty much filled me up. Still - we do like variety.
It's funny. When I am standing or laying down, I can feel the change in my body of shedding some of these excess pounds. But when I'm sitting - not so much. It's a bizarre feeling, really. 

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Just a Quick Update

Just a real quickie update on progress.
We finished up the shredded pork tonight. Tomorrow, I am making the Baja Lasagna again since we both liked it, and a little goes a long way - very filling.
I made two new flavor porridge today - Coconut Pineapple and Chocolate Peanut Butter. I had to, kind of, create my own Choco P-nut Butter Porridge as I couldn't find one that suited my requirements on the Net. We'll see how it goes.
It has been very, very hot here. My hours are turned around again because it becomes near impossible to sleep at night. That's not a good thing when losing weight as sleep is very important. 
I'm faltering in my water drinking requirements. One would think that it would increase with the heat, but I can't drink it fast enough before it gets warm. I also have a little trouble keeping them cold in the ice box. See, I put about 5 in a day to get cold, but when I go to get one - they're not there. Someone else on this boat is getting them. hmmmm.......I guess I'm going to have to hide a few of them.
I'm trying to keep up on the vegies, too. But, in this heat, I seem to gravitate more to fruit. Mostly watermelon and grapes.
I really need to do better with my lunch, though. It's seems to be the meal I skip the most.

Monday, May 30, 2016

Warm Fuzzies and Progress

There's nothing like getting a warm fuzzy to keep one motivated to reach a goal.
On Saturday, Keith and I went to the market. I decided to do a few days of chicken, a pork recipe with a decent calorie count, and the Baja Lasagna again. 
So, I weighed myself not only on the scale outside the market, but also at the one near the pharmacy. That one is a "sit down" and weigh, blood pressure station. The scale outside the market is a huge "stand on" thing. 
The outside scale reported 244. What? One pound lost? In a month? Ha.
The BP/Weight station inside reported 239. Even though my start weight was weighed on the outside scale at 245, a conservative number would be about 248, give or take. My calculations (if the station inside is accurate) would be a weight loss of about 6 to 10 lbs. 
While we were loading groceries in the dinghy, a buddy of Keith's walked by. He watched me get in the dinghy and said, "you've lost weight". I was surprised. I had taken a look in the mirror when I had my shower, and I didn't notice or see any changes (a disappointing thing, I might add). I responded with a surprised, "you can tell?". He said, "oh yeah. You've lost weight". 
Woohoo! Progress! And it's showing, too. 
There's nothing like a warm fuzzy to keep one motivated to achieve a goal.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Using eReaders for Weight Loss


This is a Kindle Paperwhite from Amazon, similar to the one that I purchased last year.
I bought it because living on a boat does not afford me a huge bookcase full of books. And I've never lived anywhere that I didn't have some type of bookcase without a minimum of three shelves of reading materials.
Little did I know when I bought my e-reader that it would come in handy for cookbooks. And not just any cookbooks (although I do have a select number of various cookbooks), but cookbooks geared toward health and weight loss.
A few of these books I bought at very reasonable prices (99 cents to 4.99), but I often scour Amazon's Kindle Store for free books. It's amazing the number of free books you can order. I have diet cookbooks, juicing cookbooks, smoothie cookbooks, etc.
Now, reading recipes from a Kindle can get a bit difficult. I have Kindle on my laptop, too. And whether on my e-reader or my laptop, I can bookmark the pages with recipes that interest me. I can either write them down or display them on my laptop as I'm cooking.
And, once everything is cooking, and I have a few minutes to spare, I switch over to my favorite book and read.

I've been doing fairly well with my eat-style program. I say fairly well because, although I'm keeping my calorie intake well below 1800 calories, and I'm staying away from soda, sweets, and the like; I'm having a bit of trouble getting lunch included in my program. This makes my calorie intake too low, and I am losing too fast.
I have my porridge in the morning, followed by water and vitamins. Then I get so busy with computer work that when I finally "look up", it's getting close to dinner time. I need a time management adjustment, I think.
We finished off the rest of the Turkey Meatloaf last night. Keith and I both agreed that it was our least favorite, so far. I will make it again as it cooked up wonderfully in the Stove Top Oven, but I will be adding more spices to it. Ground turkey is very, very bland. The only way to eat it is to spice the heck out of it.
I'll be heading to shore for shower and store shortly. Until I decide on another new recipe, I'll just be getting some boneless, skinless chicken breasts and season them up. 
I've been having the Mandarin Orange porridge for the past week. Since Keith picked up another bag of frozen blueberries, I'll be switching over to the Maple Blueberry porridge. Our favorite.
And I'm hoping to get those lunches back in gear, too, and trying out new recipes for that.
This month will be the start of the fitness center, too.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Loose Skin?

My internet research on losing weight, and healthy eating led me to something I had never heard of before in my life. Loose skin.
What the blazes is loose skin?
Allegedly, loose skin is what you get for all your eat-style changes, weight loss, etc. etc.
How nice.
But there was one thing that bothered me in all of the photo's of people with "loose skin".
They still looked "fat".
If you listen to the doctors, the ONLY way to get rid of "loose skin" is to have surgery. Ooooo, more money in their pocket. 
Sorry, sounds like a racket to me. You must lose weight, they say. Gastric bypass or any other high cost surgical procedure is what you need (more money). Oh, now you've lost it too fast and the skin is not toning to the loss. Now, they say to have surgery to remove the "excess" skin. More money - for them.
Look, common sense tells me to lose weight slowly. Common sense tells me to eat healthy (uh, that's food that's good for the body). 
Common sense tells me that while I am losing weight to take care of the body - inside and out. That includes hair, nails, eyes, and skin.
For healthy skin limit sun exposure, drink plenty of water, increase your vitamin E intake (and/or use skin creams with vitamin E added), increase your vitamin C intake, too. Definitely eat fruits and vegies. And exercise. Lose weight gradually and exercise that skin. Focus a portion of your exercise that pertains to thighs, stomach, upper arms. 
I only see this whole "loose skin" worry as something concocted by doctors for more money out of your pocket - and into their pocket. 
Skin is actually thin. The photo's that I see claiming "loose skin" is just plain fat.
If you reach your weight goal and you see "loose skin", stay on your eat-style program. Lose some more. It's fat you're seeing. Not "loose skin".
Last week, Aunty Acid (from Facebook) posted about a couple from Michigan who, combined, weighed 704 lbs. The article was a little confusing. They met in 2013. At the time, he had already lost 72 of his original 420 lbs. She weighed in at 282. They each already had a tummy tuck to remove the "loose skin", but it wasn't enough. They had a GoFundMe page to raise the 8000 dollars it would take to pay for another tummy tuck for both of them. 
One part of the article stated that to help lose the weight they took long walks and rode bikes.
(I don't know about y'all, but I tried riding my bike last year. I had a difficult time of it, and when I saw my reflection - my first thought was a cartoon hippo on a bike at the circus. I quit riding).
Later in the article, the woman said that she noticed the "loose skin" kept slapping her as she tried to do her sit-ups.
Honey, that "loose skin" is fat.
A tummy tuck is cosmetic surgery to get rid of fat (and, now, they've added the "loose skin" angle). It is losing weight quickly, similar to crash diets. Your skin has not adapted to the missing fat. And as fast as it was removed, the skin will not ever adapt to it. It disappeared too fast.
I can almost bet that they were only focusing on losing weight as fast as possible, and not on the other aspects of their body i.e., skin, hair, nails.
Oh, and their photo's of "loose skin"? It was quite obvious that it was pockets of fat that they still needed to lose.
Losing weight is more than just shedding fat. And the body is made up of more than just size.
Pay attention. Use common sense. Take your time. And treat your whole body, not just the size of it.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

New Dinner Dish

So, last night I made R.S.'s Baja Lasagna. Well, sort of....as Keith missed getting the green chilies needed for the recipe. Uh oh....substitution time.
If you are like us (and I hope you aren't), a trip to the store is an all afternoon, slightly different affair than most people. Living on a boat, and not owning a car, we need to be creative in the way we do things when ashore. Such is the case with grocery shopping.
First, a list.....always a list. For living on a boat, the list is important as it keeps from overbuying for all that limited space. For losing weight, I make that list, than I go back and note items that I can save calories by marking low-fat, no fat, non fat, reduced fat.......well, you get the idea.
I also note on my list the exact measurement of what I need.....8 oz., 1 lb., etc. 
Controlled buying and controlled portions go hand in hand.
So, no green chilies, and he bought canned whole tomatoes instead of canned ready cut. I could have worked around that, but since I didn't have the chilies, I opted for a jar of mild Picante sauce. 
He also, with his eye sight as bad as it is right now, picked up regular shredded cheese instead of reduced calorie. Gotta work with what I got, now.
We both liked it. I portioned it out to the 8 servings it stated on the recipe, so we will be having it for the next 3 nights besides last night. 
This was also a no meat dish which didn't sit well with Keith until he ate it. Aside from the fact that he thought there were too many beans in it (I used Red Kidney, but pinto can be used, too), he thought it was good. We had lo-cal cottage cheese with it, too.
Tonight, I'll add a vegie with it, and fruit. Tomorrow, I'll do up the Spanish rice.
My plan for when the Baja Lasagna is gone, is to do a Turkey Meatloaf from R.S.'s Food Mover Cookbook. 
I sent Keith to the store for some of the ingredients.
I'll let you know if I have to modify the recipe or not.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Sometimes, You Just Gotta Muddle Through The Day

Every so often (or maybe more often than not), the day just doesn't work out the way you planned it....or, in my case, the night.
I usually make up my summer porridge at night, when Keith is asleep and I can actually do it without me getting in his way and vice versa (it's a small boat). 
I had been diligently making them because we've been getting some pretty hot weather. Day before last, it had reached 109 degrees F on the heat index. The heat index is the "it feels like" temperature, and I pay more attention to that than the actual temperature. 
So, the evening of this 109 day, I'm at the computer and I hear thunder. Oh great....here comes the weather that's been predicted for the past four days. I switch over to NOAA's website and, sure enough, it's almost here.....and a lot of it.
Dress, scurry, batten down, put out the pots for our various leaks, close hatches and port holes.....a normal routine for thunderstorms. Only this time is a little extra. 
Keith's been working on a new dinghy topside. He's now bringing down every power tool he has....with cases. And all materials that can't get wet. Oi.......no room. So, it's piled on the floor in the galley. Uh oh. Now, I can't get in to make the porridge. Well, I'll think of something for tomorrow's breakfast. Adapting, changing, doin' without.....it's the nautical way.
Even though the weather was to improve by morning, it actually didn't improve until early afternoon. 
Breakfast was a bottle of water, and I didn't get my vitamin pill until lunch (which was about 1/2 cup of tuna mix - no bread - and some fruit). 
Fortunately, by dinner, all was well. The cabin was back to normal, and we had the last of the chicken breasts with Spanish Rice Rice-a-Roni (1/2 cup), and summer crisp corn. Well, I thought it was the last of it, but, as it turned out, we had enough for last night, too....same meal. Only this time, after we ate, I accidentally knocked the left over rice on the floor while cleaning up. Ugh!
So, I finally got the porridge made last night, and tonight will be a new dish - Baja Lasagna from R.S.'s cookbook. 
So, what's my point?
Sometimes, under circumstances not good for meal planning, or it just messes up your plans - adjust, adapt. But always, always keep portion control in mind, even if you have to guesstimate the calories. If you know your food, the guess should be close to reality. 
Adjust. Adapt. But only until the situation gets back to normal.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Pinterest and Recipes

I love pinterest. I call it the clearinghouse of the Net. You can search for anything on Pinterest and have a gizzlion websites at your fingertips zeroing in on exactly what you're looking for. Love it.
That's why I use it for a weight loss, healthy eat-style tool. Most of everything from my last post came from finding it on Pinterest. Diet, weight loss, healthy recipes, low-calorie recipes, exercise, meal prep containers, summer porridge (aka refrigerator oatmeal or overnight oatmeal), and the list goes on and on. Find a pin, click on the pic to hi-lite, click again to the origin of the pin. There you can find more ideas, info, etc.
There are some recipes that I veer away from that claim low-cal, healthy, or great for losing weight.
First, anything with sugar. Even a little sugar goes a long way with body fat for me. Now, I'm not talking about natural sweeteners, such as pure honey. I'm talking about refined, such as granulated sugar. I also steer clear of confectioner, powdered, etc.
Second, any recipe that takes a weight loss substance, such as protein powders. I'll be more specific. Any program that claims their specially designed (with the "help" of nutritionists worldwide - think Herbalife) protein or weight loss powders added to a recipe will shed the pounds miraculously in a matter of days or weeks. 
A lady I once knew gave me these flavored powder packets and protein powders once. She said she lost weight with them. Okay, she wasn't as big as I was, but if she did lose weight with them, she stopped too soon.  Just sayin'.
Anyway, these packets claim the "scientific" method for losing weight. So, I did try them - once. A half hour after I had added one to my smoothie and drank it, I was in the bathroom (sitting, not standing). It came close to dehydration. Scientific, huh? I threw it all out.
Third is nut butters. Granted there are nuts that are high in protein - but also high in calories. Any thing, like nut butters, that come with a "general rules" list to watch out for, isn't worth my worry. I like the KISS system. Here's a chart for nut butters that I got from wikipedia:



The calorie range in these are about what my snack calorie range equals out to. I don't need these in my recipes as I find so many other good recipes without them. Sometimes, it just has to be handled like a store sale. Why are you buying 10 of the same item on sale if you've never used or will EVER use that item to begin with? It's not a savings if it's not used. It's a waste of money. Same here. You're not losing calories, you're gaining them.
Common sense tells me that I am not going to lose weight with every weight loss claim on the market. I go with what works for me, what makes sense to me. Balancing the nutrition I need with a controlled caloric intake is what works for me.

The past few days, I haven't recorded my food intake. Let me summarize. Breakfasts have been Summer Porridge, followed by water with my daily vitamin. Some of these porridges are quite filling actually. When lunch rolls around, I'm not hungry. However, some do wear off by lunch time, so I'll have a slice of bread with my tuna and either a couple of tablespoons of low-fat cottage cheese OR some chunks of watermelon OR about 6 grapes. 
Dinner has been boneless, skinless chicken breasts seasoned with these Grill Maker seasoning packets that a friend sent me. Since our grill on the stern doesn't work right now, I just rubbed the seasoning on the chicken, wrapped them in aluminium foil and cooked them up in the Stove Top Oven. They came out very good. I liked the fact that all the fat juices ended up outside of the foil wrapped chicken into the bottom of the oven container. The chicken was very moist. However, if you heat them up in the microwave, place a wet paper towel over them to retain the moisture. And heat it slowly, maybe 30 seconds at a time. Heating all at once just covered in a dry paper towel will dry it out.
I drink water all day, but I'm still not up to what I should be drinking - 4 eight ounces instead of the 8 eight ounces required. I was just never a big water drinker, so I am struggling a bit with this. 


Monday, May 16, 2016

Know What You Eat

 I love to troll the Net for things that will educate me, help me to eat healthier, and lose weight. 
I found if you're going to do all of that, at least know your food. 
These are some of my favorites from around the Net. Most of them have the website they came from. I recommend a visit to the sites for more information. 
























Impatience and Weight Loss

When it comes to weight loss, I've always been impatient. My heart tells me to take it easy, it can't be done overnight, it's a slow process to keep it off, and a eat-style change to maintain it.
By the way, I like the term "eat-style" better than "life-style". Losing weight does not mean that you need to change EVERYTHING about you. It's a separate choice to change your hair, make-up (if you're female...or not), style of clothes (okay, granted, losing weight will give you more choices on style of clothes - you just don't have to change your "look"), what you read, where you go, what movies you watch....etc., etc., etc.
Okay, let's jump back in the "subject" box. Losing weight is a slow process. The further away from your target goal on the scale, the longer it will take to lose. Impatience and weight loss go hand in hand, and it's more intense as life goes on; mostly because of the idealogy of people changing over the generations. I grew up with the idealogy, "I want it now". That concept progressed through the years to "I want it yesterday". Now, everyone wants it "last week". 
This idealogy does not fit into any weight loss program. Losing weight takes time, and there's no getting around that fact. There will definitely come a time when that impatient you will start justifying certain things. Things, such as, "If I skip this meal, it's just less calories and faster weight loss" or, at the other end of the spectrum, "If I eat this item (unhealthy or weight gain sugary/fat), I have lost x amount of pounds already it won't make a difference". First one, no, it won't; second one, yes, it will.
Changing your eat-style means you have to know yourself. Liken it to a person with a serious alcohol or drug problem. Ask yourself honestly, "Can I eat just one cookie? Slice of pizza? A couple potato chips? If you can't - drop them from your eat-style, permanently. 
I have a major sweet tooth. And my sweet preference is chocolate. I can't sit and have one chocolate chip cookie. I will eat half a bag - with a glass of whole milk. Does that statement make you want some? Make you hungry? Than both you and I need to dump that from our eat-style program. Forever. Because if we don't, it's a tunnel that leads to Justification Land for eating other foods that is high cal, high weight gain addiction. Believe me, it's not that you can't stop. It's the fact that you justify not stopping. 
Why do I paint such a silly picture of food addiction? Because that's what I use to avoid it. I will look at Keith's bag of cookies. I focus a picture in my mind that I'm walking through that tunnel. And I picture in my mind sitting next to a chocolate river in Justification Land (think Augustus Gloop), eating chocolate cookies, cakes, pies, etc. Who cares if I lose weight? I'm doing it for me, after all, not for anyone else? I want....I want....I want.....
Yes, you are doing it for you. Only you can accomplish your weight goal. Only you can prevent a setback. Only you can avoid the depression of falling back into eating the wrong stuff. 
And what is to gain from not falling back? Oh, let's see, now......health, feeling better, looking good, more energy, not being looked at like you are some type of disgusting alien from another planet.
Anyone who has been or is overweight can attest to this fact. Being treated as if you don't belong because of your weight is a common, every day occurrence. I know, I've lived with it all my life.
Some people embrace and accept their "overweightness". That's fine, to a certain extent, they are accepting themselves. But it does lead to an unhealthy state....always.....sooner or later.
So, I paint this absolutely silly, ridiculous, and stupid picture in my mind to remind me WHY I am doing this. 
I want to be able to walk around without having to sit down every few yards. I want to feel good, have energy, accomplish simple tasks without sweating up a storm because of the weight I carry around on my body. To have a better choice of clothing, than just limited items that hide my size or attempt to make me look thinner. To not have people give me that "look" because of my size. To discover another part of me I never knew before.
That's what reaching my goal means to me.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Maintaining and More Porridge

I missed posting yesterday, but weekends will be like that from time to time. It's not that we're doing anything exciting, it's just that Keith is staying on the boat more often on the weekends to work on the dinghy. Naturally, this takes up more of my time.
Last night we finished up the last of the Tex Mex Tuna Casserole. I liked it just the way it was, but Keith added salt and pepper to his portion. 
One night I added green beans, the next, a can of squash and onions, and last night, a can of red beans and rice. Keith had 3/4 of the can whereas I had the rest. 
Tonight I will be making up some chicken I have in the freezer section. After that, I will need to plan my next menu's. 
So far, we had had three mornings of Summer Porridge - Maple Blueberry, Almond Mango, and Apple Cinnamon. Since we like them all, we rate them by listing our top preferences. We both agree - 1) Maple Blueberry 2) Apple Cinnamon, and 3) Almond Mango. 
I will be making the Maple Blueberry again tonight as I need one more ingredient for the Mandarin Orange Porridge. Also, we will give the Mocha, and Pineapple Coconut a try, although I'm not sure if Keith will try the latter. He's not a big coconut fan.
I'm doing pretty good at melding my caloric intake with the food card allotments from Deal A Meal, but I do struggle with the dairy cards. An allotment of only two a day makes it difficult to plan any other dairy into the day when I have the porridge in the morning. However, I do not use all of my allotment cards with the meals so far planned. In fact, if I used every protein card and starch card I'm allowed, I'd be wallowing on the bed feeling like Porky Pig. 
I do need to up my vegie intake, though. I'm not getting near enough vegies in my diet right now.
I need to veer away from the low cal cottage cheese for a side dish for dinner, and add vegie's in its place.

Friday, May 13, 2016

I have a Winning Breakfast

I have found my new breakfast. Last night I made my first ever Summer Porridge (recipe from the blog "The Yummy Life"), Maple Blueberry. 
As the fresh blueberries were so expensive (10 bucks for three very small plastic containers), I opted for the frozen, patting them dry on a paper towel. 
Surprisingly easy to put together in my small galley, I set them on the freezer shelf in the ice box (our freezer section does not have a door, so the stuff in it just stays super cold, very rarely freezes anything). This made them just the right consistency for this morning's breakfast. 
So, this was my review of them on my fb page:

So, about an hour ago, I ate my first ever Summer Porridge. I am reposting the link below. Last night I made the Maple Blueberry. 215 Calories, 4 g fat, 48 g carbs, 8 g fiber, 12 g protein. I placed mine on the freezer shelf of our ice box for maximum cold without freezing. Our freezer section is open - no door. The porridge solidified perfectly. So, I took my first bite. hmmm...emmm....another bite.....oooooo.......gobble, gobble.....gobble. We have a winner. My new breakfast. Refreshing, delicious, healthy, good calorie range. A little high on the carbs, but I'll survive. I can't wait to try the other flavors. Tomorrow will be the apple cinnamon. Keith came back to the boat and had his serving. I had to laugh as he cautiously tried a small spoonful, than a bigger spoonful.......and ate it all up. The Summer porridge is two thumbs up from the both of us. Keith says he still prefers his eggs and bacon, though. Fine, as long as he eats the porridge at least 3 times a week because chia seeds are heart healthy with Omega 3 fatty acids. Good for both of us.



Next time I make the Maple Blueberry, I will 

top them with extra blueberries before 

putting them in the icebox.

So, that was my breakfast. I don't have an

equivalent for my R.S. food program, so I 

had to guess. I used 1 protein, 1 starch, 1 

fruit, 1 fat, and 1 dairy.  A lot of cards, I know,

but so well worth it. 

As for the chia seeds - didn't even taste 

them. 

For lunch today, I had my usual tuna 

sandwich on 1 slice of whole grain bread, 

and about 8 grapes.

Dinner will be the Tex Mex Tuna Casserole

with vegie and lo cal cottage cheese (last

night I nuked some canned green beans with

a tablespoon of diet butter and no salt Mrs. 

Dash). Tonight, I probably will do the canned

squash.  

Things are right on track.