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.