Mary's weight loss ramblings

[bunsofaluminum]

stairs are great! A good substitute for a long walk, if the weather is ick or something. And besides that, lugging the clothing down, and back...that counts for something too

keep on doing it yayayaay!

[sksamboots]

Hey Mary,

Hope your day is good

[MaryW]

Well, I've been away for a while. I went to a conference out of taown last week and didn't have internet access. When I got home, my internet connection was working right, so i have only been able to post the occassional message. Let me just say, I miss the board! Posting and reading posts is SOO helpful and supportive for me. I do much better when I can come here every day. So I'm posting this from work (which i don't like to do) so I can at least get something posted for the week.

I decided to try Mary's Mini this week. Or I should say, I've joined the 15 day challenge on the MWL board. I've done pretty well this week. I bought two bags of my favorite jumbo russets and Oreida potatoes were on sale. i bought SIX bags! I've nearly used up all of my potatoes, so gotta get some more.

My weight before I left last week hadn't changed from the week before. After I got back from the conference, I was up a pound. I'm ashamed to say, I gave in to that little voice in the back of my mind that screams "potato chips!" at me all day long. I bought a bag. And ate it. And then i was up THREE pounds! But I've been on track all week. On weigh in day i couldn't post cuz i couldn't get online, but I was back down to my weight from last week. No loss to report. and this morning, I was down a half pound! God bless potatoes. And God bless Dr. McDougall!

I've had a crazy, stressful week at work, and next week looks like more of the same. I didn't plan my food very well yesterday. Planning right now means nuking lots of potaotes. So i ended up eating out for lunch and dinner. I had 2 meetings after work and didn't get home til 9:30. I went to a Thai place for lunch. They usually have good veg soup, but yesterday it was all tofu and a few pieces of onion. I HATE tofu! Serves me right though, I should have gone to Wendy's and gotten a baked potato. Dinner was steamed broccoli and rice from a Chinese place. Again not MM but not awful. And right now that little voice in mty head is saying that a pizza would make all of my troubles a little bit easier. It will NOT!! Not even a cheeseless pizza! I'm doing mary's mini!!! but hey...I could make the potato pizzas from the fat free vegan blog. Yay!!

My 100 day MWL challenge: I've totally lost track
Days w/o chips: 4

What I ate today (so far): I've been eating on a bag of Oreida hash browns most of the day (cooked at home and brought to work). Now I am STARVED. Must go in search of more potatoes.

[MaryW]

I had a pretty good weekend. My mom asked me to come over on Saturday to help her with some yard work. We moved a couple of flower beds. it was hard work! But I love gardening. Since I don't have a yard, i have to rely on other people to get my hands dirty. I have to say, digging and lugging is much easier now that I am 50 pounds lighter. I used to get tired so easily, much sooner than I wanted to. But i went all day yesterday. I'm a bit sore today, but not bad.

I took a bag of potatoes with me to mom's house. I wanted to try to stick to mary's mini while I was there. I made that layered potato casserole with spinach and tomato. it was the first time I had made it. I used too much sauce on the bottom layers and didn't have enough sauce to go on top! Those top potato slices kinda shriveled up. But it was very tasty anyway. Next time I'll ration the sauce better and use more nutritional yeast. Nutritional yest kinda weirds me out. I was afraid to use alot of it. Then for dinner, mom made a pan of roasted potatoes, onions and carrots with fresh rosemary. it was SO good! i want to make both of those dishes again.

I've been trying mary's mini this week. So far, so good. A few missteps, but nothing too tragic. I bought two more bags of my favorite jumbo potatoes and 6 more bags of hash browns. I am ready for the week!

What I had today:
B-baked potato
L-hash browns with braggs
D-hash browns with braggs

Days w/o chips: 6

[sksamboots]

Yay for your successful day and being prepared for the week!!!

[MaryW]

I'm so upset with myself. I had more potato chips yesterday. Why am I doing this to myself? I'm doing really well, so why would I want to sabotage my success? Yes, I'm having a stressful week at work. But it's not the first time or last time. How can eating junk food help me? It only hurts. And it didn't even taste that good!

Even so, I was back on track today. I had 4 baked potatoes. Onward and upward (hopefully).

[sksamboots]

Yup onward and upward my friend, keep on keepin on [/url]

[MaryW]

I've been sadly neglecting my journal. I thought I'd better post something before I get bumped down to page 3!

I had a few extra minutes yesterday, so I stopped into Fashion Bug to try on some clothes. I only looked at the clearance racks in case I found something I couldn't leave without. I tried on a few things and was pleased with the declining numbers of the sizes. But me in the dressing room was a nightmare! I know that dressing room lighting is notoriously unflattering. But I saw every dimple of cellulite, every wrinkle, every jiggle. It was awful! If that sight doesn't get me exercising, nothing will!

[MaryW]

I went for a walk yesterday. Yay me! This was SUCH a big hurdle for me. Now if only I can do it again. And again. And again. I had planned to go out for 20 mins, but I kept going and when I got home, I had been walking for 40 mins! I wasn't breaking any speed records or anything though. But still it felt good.

[Anna Green]

Yah you! on the exercise and smaller sizes! As far as the dressing room, a sadist created the lighting in the dressing rooms.

[MaryW]

I have just been a bottomless bit this week. I was mostly eating potatoes a la Mary's Mini. But over the weekend I made a crock pot full of barley and cherries. And I ate barley and cherries and ate barley and cherries. I never seemed to fill up. And I haven't seemed to fill up since then. I'm back to eating more potatoes. And I haven't eaten anything non-McD. I just haven't felt satisfied and I wonder if I might have been eating more than before.

I'm meeting a friend for dinner at a Mexican restaurant tomorrow night. I was just looking at the menu online and of course it's heavy on the meat dishes and the veggie dishes are heavy on the cheese (sigh). By the by, I'm probably going to have a margarita too. been a long time since I had one. So maybe I'll just drink my dinner and eat when I get home! I should probably stash a potato in my bag so I won't be starved when I get to the restaurant. And no tortilla chips!

[sksamboots]

I've felt pretty hungry myself lately too. Maybe it's the change in weather? I dunno...Your doing great, enjoy yourself tomorrow. The drink sounds yummy

[MaryW]

I am completely insane. Why, you ask? Because I decided to make some cupcakes for a coworkers birthday. Why did I have to MAKE them?? Couldn’t I just go BUY some and give to her? Having all of those ingredients in my home was a really bad idea. I have to admit, I ate some of the unfrosted cupcakes. They were so greasy and disgusting! WHY did I eat them?? And of course, I sampled some of the frosting, which was cloyingly sweet and greasy. Ugh! My taste buds have certainly changed. And I ate much less of the stuff than I used to when I baked for people. But afterwards I felt SOOOO awful. Fat and sugar and processed flour are not fit for human consumption. I have learned yet another painful lesson.

I forgot to mention something that happened the other day. At least, I think I forgot to mention it! I went to a Chinese place for some steamed broccoli and rice. The waitress brought it out to my table. A woman was standing at the counter looking at the menu. She saw my food and asked, “Is that just steamed broccoli? Is that all you’re having?” I told her yes and she started peppering me with questions about my food. She said it looked good and smelled good and she thought she would order some too. But when she gave her order to the cashier…it was for general tso’s chicken. In case you don’t know, it’s battered and fried chicken in sauce with stir fried broccoli. She got her broccoli all right. Along with a large side of fat, cholesterol and salt!

[sksamboots]

Mary,

Keep on keepin on

[MaryW]

I've been thinking for about a month now that I need to resurrect my journal. Lots of exciting things have been happening, but I haven't been writing them down and they have all merged into a confusing blur. Also, writing my thoughts down helps keep me straight. Or at least accountable!

I'm changing my name to potato chip girl. My food issues haven't gotten much better. Anytime anything bad happens, I run for the potato chips. Days without chips: ZERO!

I went out to eat with some friends last night. We went to a pizza place. Pizza is easy to make vegan, right? Unless they put cheese in the crust and sauce. Anyway, the waiter was going over the menu items. They had many entrees besides pizza. But they all contained copious amounts of meat, cheese, cream, bacon, ham, etc. I could have gotten a pizza, but they only came in one size (large) and i didn't want to bring a lot of pizza home. So I got a large salad (without the feta and ham). It was really good! I love salad. I just hate making it at home.

I'm really enjoying working out at the gym. I go every day that I can, work permitting. Some weeks that is 6 or 7 days. Some weeks it's only 3 or 4. I'm trying to push myself really hard. I'm seeing lots of changes. When I first started using the elliptical machine, I could only stay on for 5 minutes. In fact, I had to MAKE myself stay on. My heart rate shot up over 150 beats per minute and I felt like I was going to die. Now I can stay on for 60 minutes. Depending on how energetic I feel, I keep the machine around 4 to 5 mph (but I have gotten it up to 6 mph!) and my heart rate very slowly increases to around 135-140. So I know I'm doing my heart good. Just walking around during the day, I feel like I walk quicker. I would like very much to complete a 5k, but I don't know if I'm ready yet.