Bunso Is Back

[carollynne]

Hi bunso, just catching up on your journal here! loved that kale sammich and will have to try it out soon too. Son and I love kale and he makes the bread too!
cool that you are back too!

[bunsofaluminum]

Yeah, jan, Hulu is my go to for TV shows. i watched the first episode of Biggest Loser within 48 hours of it airing.

It's also fun to catch up and have a "marathon" of certain shows, when they have a whole season available.

[bunsofaluminum]

Okay, just thinking about how to get the pounds to start dropping.

Thank you Lord, i didn't gain any over the holidays, but I certainly didn't lose, and if I were completely honest, I'd have to say a pound or maybe two DID creep on, though that might be normal fluctuation.

Anyway. Here's the deal. Eating when I get home from work is a mistake. I clock out at 9:30 pm and come home, where I habitually have a bowl of granola or a serving of whatever's available...and sometimes really stuff my stomach.

However, at this point I have my appetite trained: the tummy knows to start grumbling at about 9:30, so I feel like I want something by the time I get home. It doesn't seem to matter whether I've eaten big at lunch or dinner. In the mornings, I don't start feeling hungry until 9:00 ish or later...hmmm, could that be because I stuff my stomach right before bedtime?

One of the things I remember from Fit for Life is the idea that our bodies function best when we honor our diurnal rhythms. That is, we are in "elimination mode" first thing in the morning, so don't overload the body with heavy foods. (FFL says "Fruit only" which is impossible for me...I get way too hungry by noon, eating only fruit in the mornings) HOWEVER....is it wise to load my system with food an hour before I hit the hay? when does my digestion get a break? it's always ALWAYS working on something. Never empty. Never NOT digesting.

anyway. Starting last night, I came home from work, and very soon afterward, went to bed without eating anything. When I got up, soon after waking I ate a banana to wake up my stomach and now, here it is about 8:00 and I'm gonna have a bowl of butternut soup w/rice for brekkie. This should mean I'm ready for lunch by noon, and by the regularly scheduled 30 min break at work (5 o'clock) I will be very ready to eat.

Along with not eating right before bed, I'm also still planning on not eating seconds, with the ultimate goal of mindful eating for all my foods. Because...hey, I was back again in earnest with this in September and ate MWL without any wavering for weeks...up to Thanksgiving....and only lost 10 lbs. What to do differently? Well, listening to my body and stopping when full might be the thing that starts the lbs dripping off.

More on mindfulness in another post.

[mtns]

I think listening to the body is really important, unfortunatly I am still working on that one. I have come into the habit of having something to eat before bed as well. I have heard of just trying some herbal tea, maybe I will give that a try.
Kathy

[bunsofaluminum]

There is a flu bug going around, and I think it's trying to get me. I've been heavy-dosing with oregano oil, and keeping it from settling in too hard, but I still feel punky. Headache, joint pain, sleepy. No fever, though.

and...I have another earache. This is the third one since starting at my job in July, and I'm tired of it. gonna have to figure something out, or I may have to look for a different job.

I also called in sick for my PT job today and rested, mostly. Though I did go to Costco and Sprouts (Sprouts rant in The Lounge) for some things we really did need, I have rested and read all day long. Going to bed early, hopefully to wake without the earache OR headache. ugh.

food has been overall good, except I have been eating candy canes.
As for not eating late at night, I've had more nights not doing so, than doing so, and that's a good thing. I think the refined sugar is not doing me any good, so I may have to ditch the rest of the candy canes.
loving pomegranates these days

[mtns]

I am praying that you don't get that junk that is going around and that whatever you have is short lived.
Kathy

[bunsofaluminum]

so far, so good, Kathy. a bit of an earache, but that seems to come with this job, unfortunately, and somewhat tired the last few days so I didn't hit Curves Friday or today and called in on Saturday for my PT job.

I've been doing well with not eating late, and waking up hungry, which is good. It looks like a pound has dropped, too.

Sticking to McDougall, mainly MWL, but not being super strict with flour products. I had pancakes on Saturday YUM! And I baked whole wheat bread today YUM!

And, running with an idea I saw posted by Didi, I made a spread/dip out of

1 can artichoke hearts, drained
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 T malt vinegar (didn't have lemon juice)
2 T nooch yeast
garlic powder to taste (about 2 t)
onion powder to taste (about 1 t)

spin in the processor until smooth, and YUM!
I had it with carrot, celery, and green pepper stix, and made six corn tortillas into semi-crisps in the oven, and a slice of fresh home-baked bread with it spread on there, and YUM! Very, very good stuff.

That was lunch. I stuck with fruit in the morning, because I didn't want to cook. I was pretty hungry by 11ish.

Dinner is chili and bread. And it'll be a big enough dinner to hold me well. Nothing after I get home from work, but maybe a banana.

[mtns]

That dip looks so yummy. Great job on the not eating late thing and I am glad that your not getting that sickness junk.
Kathy

[bunsofaluminum]

This morning, because i did not want to go out in the dark of the day, in this bitter cold, and because I'm trying to stretch the last fumes of the current tank of gas, I decided not to go to Curves. Instead, I found a beginner's yoga routine on YouTube, and followed it.

And i feel SO GOOD. My leg and abdominal muscles feel stretched and worked, my head is clear and calm, and there is energy in me. I've never done a yoga routine before, and this one was perfect. I'll be doing it on the days I don't go to Curves, for sure. I worked up a mild sweat, and my heart rate was slightly up, so it wasn't a standard cardio workout, but my body can tell it has been through a good workout. Afterwards, moving through the house, getting a shower and getting dressed, I feel more aware of my body.

The video didn't get into the religious theory of yoga, though it did focus on breathing and calming throughout. Yes, i think I could get to really love yoga.

Another day of not eating after work! yay! so right now I am hungry. A pear and a banana to start, but granola sounds way good. And i think stir fry for lunch and dinner. Yesterday was a bean day, so I want to steer away from that today.

[mtns]

Yoga can be a lot of fun and a great way to build up strength. I have done Jillian Michaels yoga dvd and it killed me. I know you can also get some workout dvd's from the library as well.
Kathy

[~Beth~]

Glad you found something you can do at home. I hate leaving the house in the winter once I get home from work. Yucky snow

[kirstykay]

Sounds like you're doing great, Heidi! Hope you're feeling better soon. Your Yoga Youtube video sounds great! I love Youtube workouts...so many amazing FREE resources there!

Hope you have a great day today!

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Kathy and Beth and Kirsty!

Yeah, I did the same yoga routine this morning, and BOY do I feel my body! Going up the stairs is the hardest, but I also feel it in my neck a bit. I think I may have been tense through my shoulders and neck. At any rate, yoga is kicking my butt. I guess once I get good and limber from it, I'll kick my own butt! ha!

Food is good. Three days now, nothing big after work, though I did have a grapefruit last night. But waking up feeling hungry is a good thing. I like it, and won't be going back to late night eating.

Staying with McDougall 100%, and MWL maybe 80% of my foods. Bread and pasta being the main non MWL, several times a week.

[Shanzy]

That's so great to hear how well yoga is working for you. I was totally shocked when I first tried yoga because it really made me feel like I had done a serious workout. It's hard to believe how thorough it is! It's also amazing how quickly you start to see changes in your flexibility, love it!

It is definitely an advantage to have some kind of exercise to do at home for those days when you want to set your own schedule. Youtube is a gold mine, LOL!!

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi shanzy

I am loving yoga. A LOT. This morning, I found a routine that focuses on neck pain. It's 47 minutes, compared to the 15 minutes of the one I've been doing, and added a few poses, like the Plow... which I haven't done anything like it for decades! Up on your back, and lifting the lower back up, and the legs over your upside-down head.

anyway, when I was done with the routine, there was no neck pain or stiffness AT ALL, and it was a problem yesterday. And I felt calm, relaxed, and energized, which has stuck with me all day but I am still feeling it in my leg muscles...and I know that will right itself with consistency doing the routines.

It feels like I am very much connected with my body, which I think is going to prove quite healing, and possibly send me to a place of self-acceptance and healthy body image, and a strong desire to do right by my body as I learn to love all of it, just as it is. Which, wouldn't it be cool if that led to release of ALL the poundage!

I also notice that I am less stressful at work. I have a pretty tedious job, that normally I fret and chomp at the bit almost the whole time I'm on shift...this week, not at all. I've just been there, letting time go as it will, without hovering over the clock or wishing I weren't there. It just seems like there is a calm acceptance of my life as it is RIGHT NOW...yet without taking away from gratitude to God for everthing.

so, my plan is to make yoga a part of my daily routine. I think, even on days I go to Curves, I will probably at least do the shorter energizing yoga routine afterwards.

still doing real well with not eating after work, though I frequently have a piece of fruit. And I'm still having a candy cane more days than not...gonna have to make a commitment to stay away from refined sugar, methinks. Very bad for the immune system. Bad for the liver, they say.

TODAY'S FOOD:
B: oatmeal w/banana, prunes, craisins and brown sugar
L: hash browns w/ketchup and mustard; saute'd cabbage
D: LO oatmeal and an apple
S: Hm. Maybe a piece of fruit when I get home.

I love me some grapefruit!