Working on Goals

"Carrots for Sale" by Paul Brennan

I've been weighed twice now with the new community program. My weight is more than I want or thought it would be. I weigh in at 232-234 lbs; BMI is 39.4; and my body is 48.8% fat. How depressing, but it is only the beginning. It is about measuring progress, right?

Goal Progress

I successfully went to bed by 10ish two nights in a row. That's great for me! So that means I can get a professional massage on 9/8 if I keep this goal for 29 more days. I still feel somewhat tired, but I have sleep to catch up on. My oldest was in pain last night and he woke me around 1 am. I was so out of it. He was better in the morning, thank heaven.

I've been tracking my food intake since Friday. After my appointment with a dietitian last week, I chose the diabetic exchange system. I just count servings instead of writing down each food I eat or the calories. It's simpler for me, but I still have to measure my food.

My last goal was to exercise twice a week. I've sort of kept that goal. I walked around the grocery store and rode my bike to and from a meeting over the weekend. I need something more formal, in my opinion. It's just difficult because I'm still feeling rather tired. Need to catch up on my sleep. I'm also debating whether to work with a trainer or not. I could save around $1000 a year if I don't do group training. I could even drop my gym membership and save around $350 a year, but the cold months are coming.

Rethinking The Formula

I mentioned The Formula plan to the dietitian at the appointment. She looked over the book and commented that it asks for a little too much protein and fat. Instead of 40-30-30, she suggested 50-25-25. So just 5% less calories from both protein and fat. It's still pretty close to the 40-30-30 formula. The dietitian recommended modifying the recipes.

We talked about the glycemic index for carrots. She said it's the glycemic load that matters. So high glycemic foods like carrots and bananas are back on my radar because they have a low glycemic load. I may try the lower glycemic formula recipes in The Formula because it may help. For now, I'm keeping life simple.

So for my diabetic exchange system, I can have 8 starches, 6 proteins, 4 non-starchy vegetables, 4 fruits, 3 fat, and 2 dairy. This is according to my weight, height, gender and age, so it's different for everyone. Here's an online calculator, but a dietitian is a better expert to determine number of servings. The dietitian handed me a booklet to show servings in the diabetic exchange system. (Here's an online list.) Looking through it, the vegetable and fruit servings are larger than I thought and the protein, fat, and starch servings are smaller than I thought. Of course that would be the case.

So now to keep moving forward. The day-in day-out seems really difficult. I just want a magic surgery for weight loss (that isn't expensive or risky in any way).

So how are you coming along on your goals?

Day 13: To the Movies

"Popcorn" by Cristie Guevara

I kept track of what I ate on My Fitness Pal today. I ate one of the suggested 40-30-30 breakfasts: oatmeal, cottage cheese, almonds, 1 teaspoon of milk and low glycemic sweetener. (The Formula suggests fructose, or fruit sugar, but blue agave is easier to find. My former trainer suggested it.) I got in some upper body toning this morning and walking around running errands.

For lunch, I ate watermelon, string cheese, chicken & barley soup. I still felt hungry after eating, so I probably didn't have enough protein. I don't know. My stomach felt upset. I was at my husband's computer desk when I found a gold nugget--a mini chocolate gold nugget! That seemed to help. I grazed on more watermelon during the afternoon. Watermelon is a high glycemic fruit, so it doesn't keep me full very long.

For dinner, I had three pieces of combo pizza. I feel better because we get it from a local store that makes it healthier than some of the chains--it's not very greasy. Also half of a pizza was left after the whole family ate. Usually I would have eaten that half of the pizza by now. Progress.

We went to see Inside Out at the theater tonight. My preschooler was scared during some of the scenes. It seems to be more of a preteen, teen, and adult movie. Little kids have a much simpler understanding of feelings. My kids screamed at some parts and cheered at others. A movie about emotions brought a lot of emotions to my children...more than normal for a movie.

Of course I had to have popcorn and one candy. Only one candy! I had diet soda, but I've heard that some sugar substitutes actually mess more with metabolism. WebMD discusses artificial sweeteners here. However, I didn't want sugar filled soda. Don't want to drink my calories. I got buttered popcorn because it provides a little more balance with the fat from the high glycemic popcorn.