Annette's Journal

[AnnetteW]

Two different places to post definitely confuses me. I forget I want to do the "Mutual Accountability" board in the evening, and my morning rambles and plans here. I posted on the other. Ugh...just too confusing.

Weight was up about 1/2 a pound this week. I didn't expect a loss, I didn't feel it in my body. My body (under the fat) feels firm. When laying on my side in bed I could feel the space nicely between my hipbone and ribs, so the muscles are tightening and there's probably less fat there too.

I finally bought steel cut oats yesterday, and ate way too much of them. Cooked them on the stove top and then gobbled them all up. My stomach felt comfortably satisfied all afternoon. I will focus on oats for awhile as I liked the feeling in my tummy. I'm not overly sensitive to foods, but have dealt with so much gassyness lately and that has made me very uncomfortable. I have not figured that out yet. I'm trying to watch my bean consumption and not overeat those. I should figure out which beans are the least gassy also.

Not sure dinner plans yet. My husband want to bring food over to our daughter and family (she's going through cancer treatment). Usually it's crap, he's actually suggested some healthier options. Daughter and family seem to only eat crap. So I'm not sure yet if I'm bringing my own food or not.

Tomorrow we'll be stuck home during a snowstorm, so no eating out. That is what we tend to do on the weekends. But we'll probably go out on Sunday, so I need to prepare myself mentally.

The main thing I need to focus on, other than eating the right foods, is not to overeat. I just do, I know it, I always have...I sometimes wonder why I don't weight more than I do.

Okay, so plan for today:

Breakfast - oats, berries, oatmilk
Lunch - beet greens, sweet potato, vegan bean chili
Snack - oats, oatmilk
Dinner - hopefully some sort of salad

Exercise - yoga class, contemplating attempting to run on the treadmill...start building up my ankles if possible

[AnnetteW]

I usually skip the weekends writing in my journal, but I'm going to do my best to keep on track.

Yesterday was a good day, but my tummy was a bit hungry by the time I went to bed. Luckily I'm not a night eater, so ignoring it was okay.

Today's plan:
Breakfast - steel cut oats, blueberries, oat milk
Lunch - sweet potatoes, leftovers of some sort, small salad
Snack - steel cut oats, oat milk
Dinner - attempting to make homemade tortillas, some sort of taco filling with potato and lentils (need to invent it)
Exercise - walk in the snow with the dogs, maybe do yoga and hula hoop....not sure yet

[moonlight]

Hi Annette,

This question is not related to food! I noticed your comments about sewing. I like to sew, too, but in my area I can't find fabric I like for making clothes. Seems like fabric stores are not as common these days. Where do you buy fabric? Do you ever buy online? I can't imagine selecting fabric online that I can't see and feel.

Thanks!

[AnnetteW]

Hi Annette,

This question is not related to food! I noticed your comments about sewing. I like to sew, too, but in my area I can't find fabric I like for making clothes. Seems like fabric stores are not as common these days. Where do you buy fabric? Do you ever buy online? I can't imagine selecting fabric online that I can't see and feel.

Thanks!

I buy most my fabric online from fabricmart.com

[AnnetteW]

Looking forward to a good week ahead, except right now for some reason I have a really queasy tummy. Getting my oats started but my tea isn't sitting well. Hope it's nothing.

Weight was 146 even yesterday morning, it's dropping so very slowly, but still the pattern is down. If I would just put a little more effort into it. I will really give it a try this week till the Friday weigh-in. I'll probably just stay off the scale until then.

I had thought to do some good hard workouts, but my neck is really hurting and I will go get it worked on, and continue to do my exercise, but stick to the easier classes until this resolves. I've enjoyed the more difficult yoga classes, vs. my Functional Fitness classes, but I can take a week off from them. I had thought to add a 2nd Spin class in on Mondays, but that too is a bit harder on the neck, so I'll wait another week to decide that (and go to Spin on Thursday).

I need to continue to improve my fitness, and then something hurts, like my neck, and I feel like I take a step back. It's so difficult to get to the next level. I'm so worried about losing weight and being skinny. I absolutely do not want to be skinny, but I don't want to be fat and flabby either. And I know I will be flabby and have loose skin, just due to my age. I will have to get over that mentally. But until I lose the weight I don't really know what to expect.

Except that I do as I got down to 126 about 8 years ago, and yes, I had the weirdest skin, it just hangs off the body, and I had been exercising. But I didn't stay at that weight, so maybe being at that low weight and continuing for another year after will show an improvement in the skin tightening up...or it doesn't. It's just a natural part of aging, the loss of the collagen. And since we don't run around naked all the time, I guess no one sees it.

The whole aging crap freaks me out, yet I'm not one who is so freaked out that I would do anything surgically about it.

Oh, and I can tell my neck is losing weight. My double chin is definitely almost gone. I have a "weak" chin, but sideways in the mirror the difference is wonderful. Also my fatty armpits are showing a loss. I think my weight will have to be real low for that to go all the way away.

I sound so vain, I think I am becoming more vain.

Plan for today:

Breakfast - steel cut oats, blueberries, oatmilk
Lunch - Salad, potato, some lentils
Snack - steel cut oats, apple, oatmilk
Dinner - roasted eggplant curry, brown rice
Exercise - functional fitness class, upperbody weights done light, a little bit on the treadmill again, hula hoop tonight

[alishana]

I hope your neck pain is going to go away as well as your fears. It's not vain to want to be pleased with what we see in the mirror but for my part when I look at your profile picture I see a stunning lady ! Have a good week Annette !

[bunsofaluminum]

Hm, I like your observations about the difference under your arms and in your neck. It's one of those "Oh, I didn't know this was so hefty before" and one of the things I miss upon gaining weight back...dangit, my upper arms are solid and have cellulite now, not flappy skin anymore. Inner thighs, too.

Sorry about that neck pain...hopefully you find a fix soon.

[AnnetteW]

The neck pain is from an injury, I fell on my head years ago. I've been having dry needling lately.

Last night I spent is vomiting. Right after dinner my gut started cramping, and I had that nauseous feeling. Back and forth to the toilet, later I was so tired I brought a 5 gal bucket to the sofa next to me. Later around 4 (no clue when the vomiting stopped) I realized my tummy didn't hurt anymore. I thought it was the flu, but at least now I can recuperate and rest, and drink some water. I do not know what caused it though. I cooked my own food at home yesterday, and my husband ate the same dinner.

I think I'll just crawl back into bed.

[alishana]

I wish you'll get well soon !

[moonlight]

I'm sorry you've had to deal with an upset stomach. Hopefully you'll feel better once you get some rest.

[squealcat]

Annette: I have read (and discovered myself) that black beans are less gassy than the others. Just an FYI. I have a gassy problem as well, especially in the evening. It is much better when I am eating right.

Also, If you have the "Vegan Under Pressure" cookbook, there is a recipe in the "Toppings" section (not sure of the exact title of the recipe) but it is Lentil, mushroom and Kale recipe . I find that it is like a taco filling but I like it on my potatoes too. So if you have that one by Jill Nussinow , I would try it ! I am saying this because I read that you were going to make up a recipe with lentils that would work.

I am going to make up an instant pot full of steel cut oats to have on hand. Thanks to you !

Have a good rest of the day and hope you are feeling better ! I know of others who have this bug !

-squealcat

[AnnetteW]

Annette: I have read (and discovered myself) that black beans are less gassy than the others. Just an FYI. I have a gassy problem as well, especially in the evening. It is much better when I am eating right.

Also, If you have the "Vegan Under Pressure" cookbook, there is a recipe in the "Toppings" section (not sure of the exact title of the recipe) but it is Lentil, mushroom and Kale recipe . I find that it is like a taco filling but I like it on my potatoes too. So if you have that one by Jill Nussinow , I would try it ! I am saying this because I read that you were going to make up a recipe with lentils that would work.

I am going to make up an instant pot full of steel cut oats to have on hand. Thanks to you !

Have a good rest of the day and hope you are feeling better ! I know of others who have this bug !

-squealcat

I definitely still have the gassy issue going on more than I feel I should have. I've been cutting my beans back, trying for 1x a day. My taco filling was really good, it was lentils, jalapeno, potato, onion. Heck, I went to eat it yesterday and my husband had actually taken it to work for lunch. That's good though.

And this definitely wasn't a bug, but food poisoning. I'm fine now, minus being exhausted from being up all night, my tummy/chest muscles hurt, and the littlest bit of cramping. I ate a lot of saltines today, how come they are the best for sick tummies.

Tomorrow is another day.

Oh, and I'm definitely going to spend time learning how to clean my food better, and make sure nothing is old. I'm going to learn to date things. When I switched to this diet I took over the cooking, and so many recipes make giant quantities. There are only 2 of us here. I can't just freeze tons of stuff, I only have a small freezer. So I need to learn to cook smaller quantities. I don't mind.

Food still doensn't sound all that good right now.

[AnnetteW]

Wt was down to an even 145 this morning...one good part of being sick is weight loss. Now, if there is any chance of keeping it down, this is the time to do it. I'll try hard not to overeat today. I'm not going to the gym, doing a bit of babysitting instead and will catch up on the housework I had planned on doing yesterday.

My husband reminded me that tomorrow night we go to the dinner theater. I'm excited to go, we finally got season tickets, but the menu kind of sucks. I did see they have a menu request to submit 48 hours in advance for special diets. I might see how it goes off the buffet, and if necessary make a request in the future. I'll at least be prepared with my own balsamic vinegar for the salad, they cook fresh breads, I can eat veggies. Everything will be in oil/fat though and salted. I might weight in tomorrow morning instead of Friday morning

Plan for today, continue to take it a bit easy and eat light. I still don't have much of an appetite. I know it will kick in hard once it's ready.

Breakfast - oats, blueberries, oat milk (I plan on going back to my bit of soy milk, which I definitely like better)
Lunch - small salad, potatoes (depends on hunger)
Snack - oats
Dinner - possibly making a potato chowder with some white beans blended in, beet salad, green salad?

Exercise - being lazy today

[AnnetteW]

Yesterday's eating was fine though dinner was changed to rice and curried eggplant.

Still having a bit of stomach cramps after I eat, but it's not bad.

Plan for today

Breakfast - 7 grain cereal, blueberries, soymilk
Lunch - potato, beet greens, beans of some sort (not too many)
Snack - 7 grain cereal, fruit, soymilk
Dinner - buffet at dinner theater, will keep it light, will not be compliant but will be as close to vegetarian as I can make it
Exercise - none (still sore from retching)

[AnnetteW]

Last week was a bit rough for me. I see that I last posted on Thursday, when I still wasn't really wanting food.

That evening we went to the dinner theater and my appetite totally returned when it saw the prepared buffet of food in front of me. So I ate, and I enjoyed it. And yes, it was meat and fish and fatty dishes. And no, my stomach didn't rebel or anything bad...sometimes I almost wish it would.

And of course after a bit of a free-for-all it's hard to get back on track. I got back on the veggie track, but had oils and such. We ate out again on Friday and on Saturday, and I didn't worry about it. Sunday was at home, and still had extra calories and fat, but back to no oils (nuts though).

It's kind of nice to take a break but I know it's not good necessarily for my body. But mentally it is. I'm definitely not 100% there, not even close.

So my plan for this week is to just lighten up a bit and not stress out over it. I'm not even going to plan the day ahead, at least not outside of my own head. I just want to try to go with the flow, see what I want at the time. And I'm sure my weight will be up by Friday.