Balancing Your Hormones

I started reading Jillian Michaels' new book, Master Your Metabolism, this week, and I must say that that girl makes sense when I think about my own struggle with weight and the craziness that seems to be happening in my body.

Jillian suggests that the way to getting yourself in your best shape possible is to first balance your hormones. This means getting those estrogen levels in check, having your thyroid tested, and making sure you are at the right levels of insulin.

I'm about 1/3 of the of the way through the book, and I'm really, really into it. I hope that once I get past the science of my body -- which I'm a big nerd and really enjoy understanding -- I can kick my butt in gear to really "fixing" my unhealthiness.

It doesn't mean cutting out ice cream, but it means enjoying smaller amounts of the real stuff!

Stress Eating

For the past two months, all I have done is stress eat. For two weeks, I pretty much had nabs and a candy bar for lunch every day. Unfortunately, this was because I have had an incredibly, horribly stressful time at work for the past two months.

I should probably be relieved that the stress eating hasn't caused more of a weight gain -- I'm at least 5 pounds up -- but I can't seem to get back into the cycle of good eating and tracking. Part of it is that I'm still a little depressed from work which I'm sure is complicated by the bad eating habits.

I really just want to sit around the house, never go to work again, and eat all day. Thank goodness there is no ice cream in the house.

I Want Candy!

My sugar tooth is calling for candy. I've probably eaten a pound of those soft peppermint candies over the past week. You know the ones I'm talking about; they just melt in your mouth.

I counted the first few that I ate, but after a while, I figured they were freebies. Probably not the right approach because a pound of peppermints is probably a gazillion calories which means a bazillion points.

Mmmmm, this just makes me want homemade peppermint ice cream.

Just Past 16 Weeks

Wow! I can't believe it's been over sixteen weeks that I've been living healthier, for the most part. I'm down 35 pounds! That's about what my daughter weighs, and I can't imagine carrying her around all the time. It's so amazing to realize how much better your body must feel and operate with that weight gone.

Of course, this means the next 35 will probably be harder to lose. Right now, though I'm just focusing on this week and making it through without devouring every thing in sight. I'm craving salty and sweet foods. But I'm trying my best to plan and count everything that goes into my mouth.

I did discover an incredibly delicious ice cream last week. Well, actually a frozen yogurt. And while we destroyed the whole container, I still managed to lose weight. Yummy!

Ice Cream of the Day: Schwan's Triple Lemon Frozen Yogurt (1/2 cup = 13o calories and 3 grams of fat)

Tracking the Good Life

Almost seven weeks into Weight Watchers, my re-commitment to tracking and food journaling, and I'm right at twenty pounds lighter. It's a great feeling to know that I'm on track, really into portion control, planning ahead and writing down every morsel that goes into my mouth.

What's different? When will it end?

Okay, so I'm trying to remain positive, but I've been here before; I've lost thirty plus pounds on WW in the past. How is this time going to be different?

My dad told me years ago that one day you'll just have it "right in your head" and you'll stick with it. Sounds like mind over matter -- maybe it is -- but I know what he meant now. Getting healthy is a priority at this point, for lots of reasons, and I can tell that it's "right in my head".

It's a good life!

Craving Salt

I've been craving salt all week. Not sure if it's a deficiency or good ol' PMS cravings, but all I've wanted all week is SALT!

So on my visit to Trader Joe's this week, I bought a couple of bags of salty goodness -- sweet potato chips and veggie chips. I calculated the points of a serving -- mostly 3 - 4 points per serving - but was quickly moved to multiply that by the servings per BAG. Yes, you can have a whole bag of sweet potato chips ... for like 17 POINTS or something!

Not a good week for staying on track, although I have tracked every last point of every last taste of salty goodness that has made it across my lips. Goodbye, weekly 35 points! I'll be finishing out the weekend with the last of the zero point soup.

Stuck in the House with Food

We've been home for three days due to a winter snowstorm. I did my grocery order on Friday before the bad weather hit and made healthy choices with the idea that we'd probably not go out for a few days and might lose power. I bought oranges, bananas, grapes, pears, and strawberries. I got rice cakes and rice chips.

We did snack on the rice cakes and the chips, but I have had no desire for the fruit which would have been a better choice, I'm sure.

And then last night I wanted something sweet. Chocolate bread pudding. Yes, that's what I ended up fixing. I calculated the recipe and figured out that I could have an eighth of the dish for eight points, exactly what I had left for my week of WW points. Mmmmmm! It was tasty!

But today the rest of that chocolate bread pudding is calling my name in the refrigerator. I know that I can have more -- at eight points a serving -- but I don't want to use my points that way. I just want that bread pudding to be "free"!

Ain't gonna happen!