MmmCarb's Journal

[Chile]

Are you going to give yourself positive points for what you do eat on-plan? Give yourself credit for making good choices, too!

[MmmCarbs]

Sure, I just couldn't quite figure out how to do that. What would I count?

[Chile]

Count everything good! I dunno, I just wanted to make sure you are also focusing on the fact that you are making good choices as well as having some slips...

[MmmCarbs]

Ok, I'm using a smile/neutral/frown system

[MmmCarbs]

Week of 8/15
====== Mon ======
Wt: 121.8
B: oatmeal, cherries
L: rice, veggie stew
Snacks: bananas, dates
D: hash browns, mustard
Extras: bag of 'baked ruffles'

=== Tue ===
Wt 120.something
B: usual
L: Subway veggie delite wi/avo
D: ww pasta, veggie stew
Extra: diet soda, nacho cheese doritos !!!

=== Wed ===
Wt 120.something
B: usual
L: Chipotle bol
D: veggie stew
Snacks: bananas, dates
Extras: None!

==== Thurs ===
Wt: 119.8
B: usual
L: Subway veggie delite
Snack: potato, veggie stew
Snacks: banana, dates
Dinner: hash browns
Extra: Nacho cheese doritos

===== Fri ====
lost-- I can't remember.

===== Sat ====

Also lost-- I can't remember.

Either Fri or Sat, I consumed 1/2 pint of Ben & Jerrys (520 cals)

==== Sun ====
B: usual
L: Wendy's burger & fries
D: rice & veggie stew
Snacks: 2 bananas

==========

Well, the cheats were bad this week, culminating in a meal at Wendy's. I was just incredibly irritable (hormones, stress) and just tired of being hungry, didn't have time in between events of the day to come home and make real food, and I knew a plain potato wasn't going to cut it. I'm back on "real" food tonight, so I'm going to just move on.

I'm more worried about being back in the habit of having a bag of chips every night when I work late. I have extra fruit in my bag, but I just don't feel like a sweet snack. Maybe I should do damage control and start buying salted rice cakes for those incidents. It's not MWL, but at least it's still lowfat.

I didn't even weigh myself the past couple days. I certainly didn't lose this week, the question is more how much I gained.

On the plus side, I discovered a tasty new veggie. I bought a block of frozen squash and heated it up with curry powder and sweet corn. It made an interesting tasty addition to my veggie stews.

I also found that my regular store now carries brown basmati rice, so I don't have to make a special trip to find it.

[BeansNRice]

Hi Mmmcarbs,

Just wanted to pop in and say I think your doing great & I like your smiley/frowny face system.

[MmmCarbs]

Thanks BeansNRice. I like your username.

[shell1226]

Hey MmmCarbs. I like your system. I may have to adopt it. I'm only a few weeks into this and I think I need to start journaling and looking at what I am REALLY ingesting.

Great idea!

[MmmCarbs]

Hey MmmCarbs. I like your system. I may have to adopt it. I'm only a few weeks into this and I think I need to start journaling and looking at what I am REALLY ingesting.

Great idea!

Hi shell1226. Yes I find there's something really helpful about food journalling, whether it's private or here online.

[MmmCarbs]

Week of 8/22

==== Monday ===
Wt: 121.0
B: oatmeal, cherries
L: rice, veggie stew (squash, corn, greens, tomatoes, southwest mix)
D: hash browns
Snacks: bananas
Off-plan: saltine crackers (6?)
late night snack: oatmeal, cherries
extra late-night snack: french fries

Well I was doing great til midnight. I gave into the fat/salt craving and cooked up the last junk in the house-- partly empty bag of frozen fries.

=== Tue ===
Wt: 123? Or 122? can't recall
B: usual
L: Subway veggie delite wi/ avo
D: hash browns, half melon
Snacks: dates
Off-plan: smoked almonds, Handi-snak fake cheez n cracker pack
Late nite snack: pinto beans, tomatoes, spices

=== Wed ===
Wt: 123.something. Yipes, I'm gonna have to up my ticker
B: usual
L: rice/veggie mix
Snacks: dates
Dinner: nothing
Off-plan: nut cluster, smoked almonds, handi-snak fake cheez/cracker pak, bag of nacho cheez doritos

Oh my. This is bad. The off-plan list is getting longer than the plan list.

=== Thurs ===
Wt. 121.something
B: usual
L: Chipotle bean/rice bowl
D: veggie/bean stew
Snacks: potatoes

W00t! Made it a day with no cheating! And I'm full now, so not going to do any late night snacking.

=== Fri ====
Wt: 120.0 Yay! Hit my ticker weight at least once this week!
B: usual
L: last bit of veggie/bean stew, small potato, small sw pot
Snack: banana, starbucks fruit cup
D: oatmeal, cherries, success rice
Oops: about 1/2 t peanut butter, vending maching Doritos

====== Sat ====
Wt: 120.0
B: usual
L: ww pasta, corn, tomatoes/beans
Snack: hash browns, raspberries
D: rice, veggie stew
No cheats

========== Sun ========
Wt: 118.8
B: usual
L: rice, veggie stew, bean/tomato mix, half melon
Snacks: dates
D: hash browns, fruit bowl (banana, dates, raspberries)
Off plan: cup of lemonade, a few red vines

[MmmCarbs]

Cravings are so vivid right now. The high cal food and high intensity junk flavor (fatty/salty/cheezy) has such a pull. The fake cheez in the handi snak I ate yesterday tasted like the best flavor mankind could possibly engineer. The thought of buying and eating a whole bag of nacho cheese doritos seems really appealing. I didn't even eat them when I was on SAD. I preferred Cheetos.

Trying a different tactic tonight-- I don't have much pre-cooked food in the house to eat (my bad), but I dumped a can of beans & a can of tomatoes, added a *lot* of spices, and I'm going to eat the whole bowl or until I can't eat any more, whichever comes first.

===

Well that seems to have sorta worked, sorta, coupled with some more reading about cravings. I'm now stuffed with spicy beans & tomatoes, and definitely not wanting more. The idea of getting in the car and going to get nacho cheese doritos is quite a bit less, even thought the beans didn't really hit the 'nacho cheese doritos' cravings spot at all. I guess having a full belly makes any kind of eating less appealing.

[MmmCarbs]

I'm whining separately from my weekly log. In my mind I was going to do better today. Yet I did worse. My 10-pound loss is eroding, and this is no temporary vacation thing. This is my daily life, my normal daily life, and I'm falling off the plan with garbage food available around the office, and garbage food left in my home that I've successfully ignored for months. Work stress is high, but there's no reason to think it's going to let up in the next couple months. So this is my normal daily life.

The cravings aren't killing me tonight, but then I indulged the fatty/cheezy/salty thing already. My gosh, I'll bet it was more calories from junk today than from real food.

[f1jim]

Don't crash and cave in. You have successfully diagnosed where the issues are now do the vital step of adjusting them out. You can't keep sampling the junk food and keep a clean diet. Never happens. At work, at home, wherever, you have to have real food within your grasp. If eaten consistently it will allow you to walk away from the junk that surrounds you at work. We teach people to clean out their pantries for a reason here. No one seems to be able to resist leftover junk food laying about the house. You have heard us preach and whine about, now you have learned it. Make the changes, live the lifestyle, see the results.
Everyone can do this. Will you? Don't become the latest journaler with a creative username to disappear into the older journal pages, never to be heard from. This isn't easy but being heavy all your life is harder! (Not that you are terribly heavy to begin with!)
f1jim

[MmmCarbs]

Thank you, Jim!

Today I ate no junk. That broke my losing streak lately

[MmmCarbs]

I had no insane cravings today. Part of it was due to working from home most of the day, so I had my kitchen and no junk food here. I also ate larger quantities earlier in the day -- a large lunch, and a significant pre-lunch snack (small serving hash browns, one whole potato). I didn't get to the office til 5, and left at 8. Now I'm having another big veggie/bean plate. That's more real food than I've been having. And starch snack (taters) instead of sweet snacks (bananas, dates). Hmmmm.

I think I'll try doubling my breakfast, and/or adding more beans to lunch. Gotta pack in the real food!