Home sweet home / 190.6

The wicked weigh-in May 13, 2011

The first words out of my mouth this morning when I stepped on the scales for the first time in over a week:  HOLY SHIT!

190.6

The last time I saw this number was June 2008 (I checked my stats). I'd been on Weight Watchers for about four months at that point. I had gone from 240 to 190 in five months. I passed it quickly and never returned. Until now.

To say I'm horrified and scared is a BIG understatement. Have I been beating myself up all morning? You bet.

I gained five pounds in seven days. I didn't think I ate that poorly, but it would appear I was wrong. I barely moved off the couch in seven days since my sister was still recovering from pneumonia. She was doing much better and just had a mild cough, but she was very tired. Normally, she goes to the gym five days a week, every week. She's been doing this for over three years (she's 72 and normally the picture of health).

All week all of us (my sister and two adult nieces) sat around all day, talked non-stop, watched a little TV, went out to eat a few times, and I ate two things that never pass my lips normally:  full-fat cheddar cheese and candy (darn those grand-kids and their candy). These two things are my kryptonite. Extra sharp Tillamook cheddar cheese and every variety of candy you can imagine.

This extra weight is very uncomfortable. It's depressing, and I'm angry with myself that I let this happen.

What's next?
Number one on my plan to get back in control is the gym. I can honestly say I've missed it terribly in the past week. I know my consistent exercise has kept me from re-gaining all my weight. It makes me feel good and happy. It builds my self-confidence, and I really think it helps me keep better control of my eating.

As soon as I publish this post I'm heading out to the gym. I'm actually excited about it. It's become a huge part of my life and it's something I'll never stop if I can help it.

I have a plan for my eating too. Back to the basics. When I first went to Fairbanks I was following a Detox diet that some of my friends talked me into doing with them. One of them has a daughter that's a nutritionist and she'd put together an eating plan that was suppose to detox the body of toxins.

I tried the detox for the first couple of days. Since it's very restrictive and there were some things we were suppose to eat that I couldn't stand and things we weren't suppose to eat that I love, I was miserable. After two days I said to hell with it. That's when I started eating cheese and candy.

In addition, my sister is barely eating since the pneumonia (she barely eats much when she's feeling good). I counted her calories for a couple days and she was eating about 400 calories a day. She's just not hungry and she refused to eat. Getting her to even eat the 400 calories was difficult.

The result was I'd go long stretches without eating. Of course, I could have eaten anything I wanted at any time. I'm very relaxed at my sister's house, it's just like being at my own home. Yet I found I'd try to go long stretches trying to not eat since she wasn't eating and hoping I'd eat less overall. That did NOT work. When I finally ate something, I'd be starving and I'd overeat.

So when I say back to basics, it's back to eating basic food, and eating every three to four hours, and following the Good Health Guidelines (Weight Watchers, and why in heaven's name is this so freaking hard to find on their website? ).

The Good Health Guidelines
1. Eat at least five servings of vegetables and fruits each day, (nine servings if you weigh over 350 pounds.)
2. Choose whole-grain foods, such as brown rice and oats, whenever possible.
3. Include two servings of milk products – low fat (1%) or fat-free – each day. If you’re a nursing mom, teenager, over 50 years old, or weigh more than 250 pounds, you should have three servings of milk products each day.
4. Have 2 teaspoons of healthy oils (olive oil, canola, sunflower, safflower or flaxseed) each day.
5. Ensure that you are getting enough protein by choosing at least a serving or two of lean meats, skinless poultry, fish, beans, soy products, and lentils.
6. Limit added sugar and alcohol.
7. Drink at least 6 8-ounce glasses of liquid a day. Water is the best choice.
8. Take a multiple vitamin-mineral supplement each day. 

That's all there is to it. It's simple, easy, basic, nothing fancy. Just back to what worked before and I know will work again.


A note about the hCG Diet
I have three friends doing the stupid hCG diet, where you get injected with a hormone from a pregnant woman's urine, eat 500 calories a day, and you're NOT suppose to exercise (other than short walks). These are smart, intelligent women doing this diet. Until now I couldn't find a really good article about the hCG diet. I finally found one in the June 2011 issue of Prevention magazine. Check out this article:  Diet Spotlight:  Does the hCG Diet work?

I knew this was a bad idea!

A few Alaska pictures from my vacation

 About ten minutes from the Anchorage, Alaska airport

 More of the same

 About a minute before landing in Anchorage

 Obviously, I love mountains!

 The view from my sister's house, off the front porch.

 There's a moose out there, but you can barely see it on the left.

The view to the other direction

Spicy Basque Chicken

(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp paprika
  
  


• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
  
  


• 4 skinless and boneless chicken breast halves
  
  


• Low-fat cooking spray
  
  


• 2 red bell peppers (or yellow), cut into bite-sized pieces
  
  


• 1 thinly sliced onion
  
  


• 3 cloves minced garlic
  
  


• ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
  
  


• 1 (14½oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  
  


• ¼ cup low-sodium chicken broth
  
  


• ¼ cup pitted and sliced olives
  
  


• 1 tbsp fresh oregano
  
  

Preparation:

• Place flour in a shallow dish then add chicken, one piece at a time, and coat both sides then set aside.
  
  


• Spray low-fat cooking spray in a medium-sized skillet then increase heat to medium-high. Add chicken and cook for about 4-5 minutes or until browned on each side. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
  
  


• Add the red bell pepper, onion, and garlic in the same skillet and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in the paprika and cayenne and continue to cook for about 1 minute.
  
  


• Add the tomatoes, chicken broth and olives then increase heat to bring to boiling. Add chicken and spoon the sauce over the pieces. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center of the thickest part of the meat (about 10-15 minutes).
  
  


• Serve chicken on a platter with the tomato sauce spooned over and top with fresh oregano.
  
  

Make 4 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1 chicken breast (340 g)): 223 Calories, 30 g Protein, 19 g carbohydrates, 3 g Dietary Fiber, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 68 mg cholesterol, 384 mg sodium

Going home today

I'm still in Fairbanks, getting ready to pack up my suitcase and flying home to Seattle later today.

I've had a great seven days with my sister. I'm so very blessed to have her in my life. Even though there's 17 years difference in our ages (she's 72, I'm 55), we have a very close connection.

It's funny that we are so close now, but we barely had a relationship at all for the first 47 years of my life. We lived in different states, she was married with four children. I didn't marry until I was 33, and I never had children. We thought we had absolutely nothing in common.

Then our mother, that we both adored, became ill about eight years ago. We spent three weeks together, taking care her. Just my mom, who was very sick, my sister and myself.

We discovered a lot about each other during that time and realized we have a lot in common. In fact, it's almost like we're the same person. We have the same sense of humor, the same view of life, and the same struggles with our weight. We think the same and like an old married couple, we often finish sentences for each other because we know what the other is thinking.

We've had a great visit, actually getting some time where it was just the two of us. I love my brother and my two nieces and their families, but sometimes I just want to talk with my sister. This is the first visit since my brother-in-law passed away that other people didn't stay at the house while I was here. They were over during the day, but they went home at night. My sister and I stayed up after midnight most nights just talking. I'm so blessed to have her in my life.

I leave on the 5:15 p.m. flight, non-stop to Seattle. It's a three and half hour flight. I'm eager to get home, but at the same time, sad to leave my sister.

The good thing is I'll be back in July when my brother's daughter and her family fly in from New Jersey. I haven't seen her in over twenty years. We're all a little nervous since we lost contact for several years (my brother divorced her mother about 33 years ago). I think it'll be a good visit. I've talked to this niece on the phone lately and she seems like a really sweet, dear person. It'll be fun to get to know her better, along with her husband and 10-year old daughter that none of us have ever met.

The diet & exercise 
I've been doing my usual of eating at night. Perfect all day, then raiding the refrigerator at night. My sister sleeps upstairs and my room is right off the kitchen. My favorite food of choice lately is Tillamook extra sharp cheddar cheese. My sister keeps a 2-pound block of the stuff in the fridge. She eats about 1/2 ounce a day. I've been eating about six ounces a day. Add in some of the grand-kids candy I've been snacking on in the middle of the night, and I'm sure I have a weight gain.

Exercise has been non-existent. My sister is still a little sick from the pneumonia she had a couple weeks ago and hasn't been going to the gym. She normally does water aerobics five days a week and never misses a class unless she's ill, which is almost never. The pneumonia really knocked her down hard, and although she's almost well, she was still too sick to exercise.

I walked down to the Tanana river with one of my nieces one day (about three miles round-trip), but that's been it for my exercise. There's the treadmill upstairs that I could have used, but honestly, it's like we wanted to squeeze in as much visiting time as possible. I didn't want to go upstairs by myself and exercise. It just didn't seem right and I didn't want to do it.

Tomorrow I'll get back in the exercise routine, and I'm just itching to get back to the gym. I can honestly say I really miss it. Today I'll eat lightly and healthy, since there won't be any more cheese in my life. :)


Plus, I haven't read any blogs all week, and I miss you guys! I've barely been on the computer at all, which is really weird for me but at the same time, sort of refreshing. It turns out I can live without spending hours on the computer (although I really do sort of miss it).

BMI Calculator

Use this BMI Calculator from the CDC to find the BMI data points you need for the Goal Weight Range worksheet featured in the LivingAfterWLS Digest May 10, 2011. Read the newsletter here: Lies & Myth of Goal Weight and download the Free Worksheet to find your Goal Weight Range. This is a new and empowering way to map the course of healthy weight management with weight loss surgery.