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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 24 Nov 2015 12:45 am |
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Weight: 169.6
I've virtually lost no weight since starting the new set of DietBets. 23 days to go and I'm so far behind. I'm having problems this time because I'm not able to exercise as hard as usual, and I don't have the willpower to make up for it in food. I'm going to try something slightly different this week. I want to see if I can do about 30 minutes on the bike trainer without further injuring myself. So far the walking seems to be doing the most damage, but I'm only walking when necessary so it can't be helped.
I also caught a cold. I think. It could be allergies. Sometimes I feel absolutely miserable and sometimes I feel fine. Mostly I feel tired and sleepy. My asthma has been extremely bad and I've had to increase my maintenance meds to double my usual dose. I feel like I've had a pot of coffee and that I'm about to vibrate out of my skin. I'm also taking a daily decongestant so I can be functional.
I think I can get in a 45 minute strength routine and then a moderate 30 minute spin on the trainer. It's optimistic given how much I have to do tonight, but right now I'm feeling antsy.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 24 Nov 2015 06:57 pm |
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Weight: 171.8
Intake: 2258
Yesterday was a total bomb. I ate a lot more than I planned and indulged in some pretty bad foods. Not only that, but I didn't do any of my workouts either. I didn't get home until almost 10 pm. I was so hungry by then that I mentally gave up on the day and just ate for comfort and then crashed.
Today is going to be a better day and the start of another good phase in my diet and exercise plan. I'm going to stop feeling sorry for myself (about being injured and not being able to race) and commit to working on my swim even though I don't want to. I'm looking at some interval workouts and will try to build strength and speed. Like running, I will start out small and work my way up every week so I don't hurt myself.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 25 Nov 2015 09:11 pm |
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Weight: ?
Intake: 2284
I'm still not back in the groove. In my defense I don't think it's laziness. I think I'm truly not at my healthiest and that's why I can't seem to get my act together. I feel so tired and have a lot of difficulty managing my asthma. Trying to do little bits of exertion is making my heart race and has me grabbing for my rescue inhaler. I think I must have been sick this past week with a cold instead of just allergies. I'm slowly getting better as last night was the first night I could sleep without a decongestant. Now if I could just get off or even reduce my asthma meds.
I've planned some new swim workouts for the next few weeks while my foot continues to heal. I'm going to do 3-4 swim workouts per week. Most of the workouts will be intervals with the one optional workout being an open water swim. It will be interesting to see if the intervals really do help improve my swim speed. That would be awesome for me considering how reluctant I am to be in a pool. Faster swim = shorter workout.
I also vow to get my eating back under control. The things that I've been indulging in lately will not be touched until after the DietBets are over, which is another 3 weeks. That means no ramen, no pizza, no movie popcorn and no desserts. I'm going to get my momentum back and finally lose this weight once and for all.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 28 Nov 2015 04:45 am |
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Weight: 170.6
I've already broken my diet plans several times over. I should have realized I could not handle the Thanksgiving feast. Most of it is gone now except for one dessert. I want to throw it away but know that i'll get in trouble for it, so i've come up with an alternative plan. I'm going to freeze it for another time. I'm hoping it will freeze poorly, and I'll have a good reason to trash it later.
The other problem I'm having is due to the weather. I don't feel like eating salad when it's cold and wet out. I find I'm gravitating towards hot comfort foods. Soups are the best, so I'm hoping I can find some good soup recipes to keep me satisfied.
At least my workouts went well. I've done 2 of the swim intervals so far, and I've already seen huge improvement. My top speed has gone from 1:40/100 yd to 1:25/100 yd. My average speed has gone from 1:55 to 1:43. The workouts are hard on me, not just physically but mentally. I find that my anxiety goes up when I swim anaerobically. Struggling to keep my breath to 3 strokes during a 100 yd sprint comes awfully close to feeling like drowning. I think I will eventually get used to it, and as I do my swim anxiety will come down. Who know? Maybe someday I'll actually enjoy swimming.
I also did a turkey trot yesterday. I still can't run, but I didn't want to miss out on a family tradition, especially since this was the first year I had gotten my mom to come out and race with us. I walked the entire race with my mom and ended up being her pacer. She had no trouble keeping up with a 17:30/mile pace which got her 1st place in her division, beating 6 other 75-79 year old women. I'm so proud of her. My boy also got 1st in his division, running a sub-6 minute pace. His division of 14-15 year old boys was so competitive that all of them ran under a 7 minute pace. Wow!
Today we went down to San Diego to do some clamming. Traffic was beyond horrible because of an accident so we lost a lot of daylight. We only had about 1.5 hours to comb through the beach. Luckily it was a perfect day for it, and we were able to dig up 5 pismo clams that were big enough to keep. They look to be about 8 inches across on average. My friend found 7. I can't wait to eat them. I think there's enough for several different dishes including clam chowder. Yum!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 5 Dec 2015 12:09 am |
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My diet has been horrible lately. I feel the need to do something drastic. I now have about 2 weeks left in my DietBets and need to lose about 9 lb. My plan is to go on a juice fast for as long as I can for the next 2 weeks, starting tomorrow. Part of me thinks I'm insane, but part of me is excited by the challenge and outcome. I just know that by the end of the fast I'm going to get rid of a lot of my bad food cravings while making my body healthier.
My longest juice fast was 3 days which was preceded by a few days of raw vegan dieting as prep. Those 6 days were hard, but I felt so good afterward and had dropped a lot of weight. For this fast I want to go for at least 10 days, all of it on juice. My stretch goal is 13 days. If I start to fail I'm willing to cheat with some solid food, but I plan to keep that food to fruits and vegetables only. I also realize that cold weather sometimes requires comfort food, so I plan to try making myself some vegetable broth as well. I'm going to take the leftover pulp from the veggie juice and boil it with some no-salt seasoning. I hope it comes out tasting ok.
Another thing I'm going to do to keep myself on track is to journal more often. I found that when the fast started to hurt I could get on here and purge my negative feelings and talk myself into a better mood. It helped. I imagine I'll be posting more than several times a day for the first couple days as those are the most painful. Good thing I'm starting on a weekend. I won't have to worry about trying to work on a light head and growling stomach.
The hardest part about this diet is keeping my family from worrying about me, especially my mom who shows love through cooking. I can't not tell her, because she lives with me and is going to notice. The only thing that I have going for me is that she is a big juicer herself and hardly eats anything solid. She's seen me do the 3 day fast with no problem, but she did protest a little and tried to get me to eat solid food. Attempting a nearly 2 week fast may be too extreme for her to keep silent. I'm going to have to think about ways to pacify her.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 5 Dec 2015 05:32 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 1
Weight: 172.6
This morning I've started my fast with a 12 oz glass of berry juice. I've talked to my mom and she's ok with me doing the juice fast, but I deliberately did not tell her how long I plan to fast. Hopefully she will not catch on until I'm almost done. Hehehe.
I'm debating whether I want to forgo coffee during the fast. I should give it up because it is a fast and the caffeine can take up some of the bodily resources required to remove toxins. However I just bought an organic medium roast to make cold brew, and I don't want to let it go stale. I think I'll be ok if I make a weaker brew and stick to drinking it straight, no sweetener or milk.
The boys are eating a breakfast burrito, and I'm already missing food.Last edited on 5 Dec 2015 05:33 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 5 Dec 2015 08:53 pm |
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| Just finished juice number 3. The kids are eating chicken tamales and salad. Yummmm. I already have a little headache. The worst is the maddening urge to eat. I'm not hungry. I just have this constant urge to pop something in my mouth and chew. It doesn't help going through Costco with all of their samples and putting away the groceries. Bakeries are the worst because they small so good. I have one more grocery store to hit today. No matter how good the food looks, I'm going to get through today on juice only.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 6 Dec 2015 12:52 am |
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I've hit and hopefully passed one of my dark hours of this fast. There was so much good food at the grocery store that I was having a hard time staying committed. I have gone from just one bite to I can start over tomorrow. I finally had to leave the kitchen before I failed for sure.
I'm now in my bedroom sipping on the last of my juice for the day. I have more, but I'm feeling really tired and am pretty sure I'll be asleep before I feel hungry again.
Here's todays's intake, drunk about every 2-3 hours:
12 oz berry juice
8 oz veggie juice
16 oz veggie broth with no salt seasoning
8 oz veggie juice
8 oz veggie juiceLast edited on 6 Dec 2015 12:53 am by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 6 Dec 2015 03:17 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 2
Weight: 169.8
Hardest day done. Time for the second hardest day. I have a nagging headache but am not feeling hungry at all, yet. I hope today is not as bad as yesterday, but if it is I'm prepared to endure. The result so far is very satisfying. I'm down almost 3 lb.
Today I'm going to try and drink more juice and water. I want to get in about 64 oz of juice.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 7 Dec 2015 02:30 am |
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Today is much better. The headache is gone, and for the most part I've been too preoccupied to be hungry. I'm planning my first primitive camping trip to Catalina Island. There's not a lot of hiking which is good. The 7 miles will give me a good idea what it's like to hike with a certain weight pack. I'm also trying something different. I've purchased an inexpensive inflatable kayak. The campground is on a beach known to have lobsters. We're going to bring a lobster hoop and kayak out deep enough to see if we can net some lobsters for dinner. The kayak is heavy, but I won't use it often. My real goal is to get into fast packing, a close cousin to ultra running.
Not wanting to spend a lot of money, I've been bargain hunting as much as possible. It's definitely an expensive hobby. I splurged on the tent, and the kayak was an unnecessary purchase, but everything else was cheap and fair quality. The cooking supplies will be brought by another camper. That means the only other stuff I need is clothes for 2 nights, food (snack bars and ramen) and some other small camping knick knacks. Here's what I've purchased so far:
40L lightweight backpack 12.7 oz $22
inflatable kayak 1 person 18 lb $88
Synthetic fill sleeping bag 3.5 lb $59
Tent 18 oz $160
Tarp 6.5 oz $12
Seam sealer $13
Tent stakes (16) 7 oz $30
100' rope (2) 10 oz $20
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Total $404
So far my pack weight is about 25 lb. I don't think I'll need to bring a lot of extra clothes, so I'm guessing I won't need to add more than 5 lb. We don't need to carry water as there will be a campsite locker filled with water and firewood. That's not too bad. If I didn't bring the kayak my pack would only be about 10-11 lb.
Right now I'm forcing myself to drink another juice. Writing all of the camping stuff above got me through dinner which smelled so good (tuna steaks, shrimp and garlic bread). Thank goodness I didn't have to cook it. Still, the desire to eat is still pestering me. The juice is so unsatisfying. I don't know if I'm going to be able to continue this for 10 days. No, I can't start thinking like that or I know I'll end up giving up too soon. I can do this.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 7 Dec 2015 06:55 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 3
Weight: 168.4
These juice fasts are painful but so rewarding. I'm still getting a slight intermittent headache, but it's not bad. There is also some burning and gurgling in the bowels. Drinking water seems to help. Maybe my juices are too spicy with the ginger and garlic. I haven't had a bm since day 1 which makes me think my bowels are moving food through the system pretty quickly despite the kink. We will see though. I feel bloated for some reason so maybe something is stuck.
Speaking of the kink, I'd been feeling pain in my right side for a week before starting this fast. Yesterday I began experiencing lower back pain while walking around the farmer's market. I don't know if the 2 pains are related, but I feel like they are. The pain always spreads and gets worse before it gets better. Today my right side is feeling better and so is my back, and I haven't done anything extra like massage or stretching to help it get better. I think having no food in my bowels relieves the pain. That's not necessarily a good thing, because eventually I'm going to start eating solid foods again. At least I know that when the pain starts I can always do a juice fast to ease the pressure on the kink.
I had a 16 oz breakfast juice at 7 am and am starting to feel hungry again. Time for a veggie broth. I'm dreading the end of the work day when I'm at my hungriest, and I look forward to a warm, satisfying dinner. Tonight I get to look forward to a cold veggie juice. Not very appetizing. To stay motivated I must keep looking towards the results. Today I'm down another 1.4 lb. Tomorrow I'm hoping for another 1 lb.
Today I also need to start working out again. Last week was a total wash. I felt awful and tired, and it didn't help that I was eating all the leftover sweets from Thanksgiving. Since I'm starting to get my energy back, I'm going to do a 30 minute trainer ride and at least 20 minutes of strength.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 8 Dec 2015 06:17 am |
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My stomach is growling, and I can't stop thinking about food. I'm not really hungry, but I'm dying for something tasty. Veggie juice just gets so boring. It doesn't help that I've been looking at vegan recipes for the past hour. It all looks so good, especially the zucchini pasta and nut cheeses. I can't wait to try it all. I've already ordered a spiralizer to make the veggie noodles.
I've been researching raw vegan foods because I've decided to strengthen my healthier food habits post-fast by eating raw vegan for another 10 days. After that I'm not sure what I'll do. I guess I will wait and see how I feel and then decide.
Today I did a lot better on water and also indulged in some white tea. Juices were the same with 16 oz fruit and 24 oz veggie. I also had 16 oz of veggie broth made from the leftover pulp of the veggie juice and an onion for flavor.
I'm having trouble falling asleep, but I'm going to try. I don't want to take anything while I'm fasting so no melatonin. Time to count sheep.Last edited on 8 Dec 2015 06:18 am by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 8 Dec 2015 05:37 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 4
Weight: 167.4
Yay! Another 1 lb down. This juice fast is not fun but watching my weight go down is awesome. Still need to lose 4.4 lb in the next 8 days. It's going to be close, even with the juice fast.
Last night I managed a 30 minute easy spin on my trainer but wasn't able to do the strength workout. It was late and I was feeling a little weak. My asthma is also still a bother, and I got hit several times by palpitations during my ride. I will be really glad when I can get off my maintenance meds.
I'm starting to have little dizzy spells but only when I get up too fast or turn my head too quickly. It's happened twice today. I hope it's not from the fasting and that it goes away soon.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 9 Dec 2015 12:03 am |
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Today seems to be much better. I don't feel hungry and am not really craving solid food. I didn't even drool while looking at raw vegan recipes. The best thing that happened was when I opened up the candy jar to refill it and couldn't stand the smell of the chocolate. It smelled overly sweet with a faint overtone of chemicals. It made me gag. Turns out the chemical smell comes from the wrapper. My sense of smell is definitely more sensitive.
I am feeling tired again. I'm going to try another 30 minutes on the bike and then the strength after work. Since my energy is highest in the morning, I'm going to try to get up early and get to the gym for my swim. If my energy continues to wane I might end up supplementing with some almond milk to see if it's a lack of protein.
Last edited on 9 Dec 2015 03:58 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 9 Dec 2015 03:25 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 5
Weight: 166.8
I was hoping for a full 1 lb loss today but I'll take what I got. It was close enough. I now have only 3.8 lb left to lose and a week to do it in. No problem there. My concern is when I start eating solid foods again. The weight is certain to go up a little, but by how much I don't know. Since my weight loss is slowing down I don't think I'm going to lose much more than 10 lb in 10 days. I have a feeling I'm going to need to continue to fast beyond 10 days even if I meet my DietBet goals.
Last night I could tell I was a little constipated. I guess I don't get enough fiber to get things moving enough. A little enema took care of that, but I still feel like something is not right. I don't have that light and empty feeling. Instead I feel bloated and still have that bowel pain on my right side. Other than that I feel better overall. My sinuses are draining and the pressure is gone, the rash on my face is clearing up (allergic to my own sweat), and for the first time in months I didn't have to use my rescue inhaler this morning.
I also feel a little stronger. Last night my 30 minute ride had a little more power, and I got through it with no palpitations or asthma problems. I was able to ride in a bigger gear too. Unfortunately I did not feel strong enough to do my strength workout. Every time I bent over I felt lightheaded and dizzy.
I also didn't make it to the pool this morning. Not my fault. I woke up in plenty of time, but my mom wouldn't let me leave the house until she'd made my juice (I was going to buy my juice today). It shouldn't be a problem. I think my energy will be high enough to do my swim at lunchtime instead.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 9 Dec 2015 10:43 pm |
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I just finished my swim and am feeling a little nauseous. That happens sometimes when I do a tough workout so I can't completely blame it on the fast. Today's workout was 13 x 100 yd intervals with 300 yd warm up and cool down for 1900 yd total. The 100 yd intervals are done in cycles of 100 yd sprint and 2 x 100 yd race pace with an extra 100 yd sprint thrown in at the end. I was definitely slower on this workout than the ones I did a couple weeks ago. The slowness I can definitely blame on the fast.
I sacrifice a bit on my workouts in order to do a fast. For me it's totally worth it. This past Thanksgiving has taught me how bad my sugar addiction really is. I went from having a small sliver of pie at Thanksgiving to eating half a pie 5 days after. This level of gluttony is so embarrassing. I do it against my will and better judgement, and the sense of helplessness I sometimes feel from my addiction makes me want to cry. What's strange is that it doesn't happen all of the time. Sometimes a small treat will trigger nothing, and I have no idea why. This is where I find fasting really helps.
When my eating behavior jumps completely off the tracks and crashes into the ravine of obesity, I find it hard to identify all the triggers that caused me to lose control. Rather than suffer a long term trial and error, I find it easier to go cold turkey by doing a juice fast. Not being able to eat solid foods means greatly reducing my eating options and thus, my eating behaviors. All of my bad behaviors are stopped at once. I have just one option - juice. In the time that I fast, my cravings will go away and hopefully for this long one, my bad behaviors will fade as well.
As my bad eating behaviors disappear, I'm going to try and build some new good behaviors. That's where the 10 days of raw vegan dieting come in. At first I was apprehensive about considering something as extreme as raw vegan. Why not just do vegan? But, I realized vegan allows way too many refined carbs which might be too soon to eat after coming off a sugar addiction episode. Choosing raw vegan means the rules are set so I don't have to think about it. I just follow the recipe. And, the recipes look delicious. I can't believe the variety. I was expecting nothing but salads, but the nut cheeses and zucchini pastas opened up so many possibilities. I can't wait to try them out. I just hope they taste as good as they look.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 10 Dec 2015 02:18 am |
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| I have a headache which started a couple hours ago. My neck feels tight so I think it's muscular. I'm really tired too and want to just go to sleep, but I still have to drink another 16 oz of juice. Ugh. I'm not hungry. This is going to s*ck.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 10 Dec 2015 06:34 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 6
Weight: 165.8
I'm very pleased to see another 1 lb drop. With 6 days to go, I only need another 3 lb loss. My plan is to continue this fast for another 7 days now that I feel comfortable with how things are going.
This morning I woke up early and for the first time in forever, I was wide awake. No grogginess and no need to crawl back under the warm covers. I was all bright eyed and busy tailed. I did have a little headache, but my PT helped loosen my neck and I feel a lot better. I also decided to do another enema this morning, and lo and behold, there was that sudden feeling of lightness.
For a while there last night I was feeling a little nervous about my fast. With the headache and exhaustion I was concerned that maybe I might be missing something in my nutrition. After I forced myself to drink my juice I felt even worse with a bloated tummy. Thank goodness I feel so much better this morning. I'm much more confident that this fast is the right thing for me and am going to keep this in mind should I need another reboot on my eating behaviors.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 11 Dec 2015 03:23 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 7
Weight: 164.6
I was really surprised to see the 1.2 lb drop this morning. I was expecting something much less than 1 lb. I think if this continues then I won't have to fast past 10 days. Instead I think I'll juice breakfast and lunch and then have a raw salad for dinner.
The headache is gone although my neck is still a little tight. My right side is really bothering me, as well as my left shin and arch, and the pain goes beyond what I normally experience from PT. I've read that old damaged tissue can start to hurt during a fast. It makes sense. My guess would be that the body has access to an abundance of nutrients required to dissolve scar tissue and the energy to do this at an accelerated rate. It will be interesting to see if this still happens when I switch to a vegan diet for a while.
I had another good 30 minute ride last night. It was a little stronger than the previous one, so it seems my body is adjusting well to the fast. I did decide to skip the strength workout as I felt that it might be too stressful on my body.
Overall I feel good, but I do miss food. I miss the taste and the comfort. That's probably not a good thing. I'm afraid I might binge when I start eating solid foods again. To keep this from happening I'm going to find some tasty raw vegan recipes and plan my meals for next week. Even better, I can try making them ahead of time this weekend.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 Dec 2015 08:48 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 8
Weight: 164.0
Last night my stomach was super gassy and burning. Maybe there's too much ginger in my juice or maybe I shouldn't have added garlic this time. In any case, I felt the need to drink something a little more soothing besides my spicy veggie juice. I made a banana peach almond milk smoothie and felt tons better. It's a small cheat on my fast, but not a big deal.
I also didn't workout yesterday because of the pain, but I did do a nice 1 hour ride this morning. It was pretty cold, but there was no wind and the sun was out. It was a perfect winter day to be outdoors.
I feel great today. I haven't had anything to drink except tea and water and am only a little hungry. No gas pains and no headache. Only 3 more days left on this fast.
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vicincali2
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| Joined: | 1 Nov 2011 |
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| Posts: | 2290 |
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Posted: 13 Dec 2015 12:00 am |
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| Hello Michelle. I see you are having much success with the juice fast that you are doing. Where are you getting your juices from? Are you juicing from a machine? I would like to start after my mom leaves on Jan 12. Last edited on 13 Dec 2015 12:38 am by vicincali2
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mchen01
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Posted: 13 Dec 2015 01:50 am |
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Hi vic! I'm juicing my own, but I do a combination of juicing and blending. I currently use the Breville 800 JEXL and the Vitamix, although when I first started I was using the Jack Lalanne Power Juicer which was cheaper and fine for just one person. I juice the hard stuff life celery, carrots, kale and beets and then pour that into the Vitamix and add soft leafy greens like spinach, arugula and cilantro. I think it's fine to start off with just juicing. I didn't add the blending until last year.
I'd be careful with buying juices. Many of them are pasteurized which destroy nutrients, and I've heard of people getting food poisoning from purchased juices.Last edited on 13 Dec 2015 02:02 am by mchen01
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mchen01
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Posted: 13 Dec 2015 03:13 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 9
Weight: 163.4
Alright, only 2 days left to go, and I'm done with my fast. I'm excited to try some tasty looking raw vegan recipes for my first few meals. I got my spiralizer in the mail yesterday so I'll be buying zucchini and sweet potato to make some fun veggie noodle.
I had a nice leisurely 1 hour ride yesterday. It started out very cold at 43 degrees but warmed up nicely. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and there was not even the slightest breeze. It was a gorgeous winter day.
I'm off to the farmer's market to do some shopping. After that I'm going to hop on the trainer for an hour and a half to make up for the shortened ride yesterday. My foot is feeling better, and I want to get a feel for what it can handle by going a little longer.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 Dec 2015 08:26 pm |
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I had a cheat today, not because I needed it but because I tried out a new recipe and really wanted to taste it. Who knows when I'll make it again. It was the vegan mac and cheese made with cashews. It turned out pretty good. It tastes a little bit like Kraft mac and cheese but sweeter and less cheesy. I ate about a quarter cup, so not much at all.
Anyway, that was it for me. I'm not cooking anything until my fast is over. I want to complete the fast. There's no reason why a little cheat should stop me now.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 14 Dec 2015 03:58 pm |
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Juice Fast Day 10
Weight: 163.2
It's the last day of my juice fast. My weight did not drop as much as I'd hoped today, just 0.2 lb since yesterday. I guess that little cheat and lack of exercise messed me up. I hope I'm more successful today. I want to be below 163 lb tomorrow.
I got some nice veggies yesterday and am excited to try the sweet curry zucchini noodle recipe. It'll be my first solid food tomorrow evening. I could technically end my fast tonight around 10 pm, but I don't want to restart my bad habits so soon. I'm going to start back with solids slowly and minimally. To make it easier on my digestion, I'm going to peel the zucchini and eat only half a serving. My other planned dinners include a sweet potato noodle in a red pepper sauce and mushroom stroganoff on squash fettucine.
Today I plan to do a short run/walk. I really hope my heel responds nicely. I'm going to go very easy and run for a minute and walk for a minute. It's good timing that I'm ending my fast now that I'm ready to start running again. I find that the fast really does zap my energy. Yesterday I never got around to doing my ride. I got very tired and could barely keep my eyes open around 1 pm. By 2 pm I was out like a log. I woke up around 6 pm, drank my last juice and went back to sleep. Ugh, there went my weekend.
I also had to do another enema last night. I'd thought that with an all liquid diet I would not suffer from constipation, but that's so not the case. In fact, I often feel dehydrated. One of the things I've learned is that I need to drink water with my juices. For every couple sips of juice I need to follow with an equal amount of water. It helps calm my stomach and with the hydration. On top of that I still need to keep drinking water throughout the day, which is hard for me. I'm usually the camel type, pounding down my water only when I feel like I need it. Maybe I should change my water drinking habits. Jeez, the list of changes keep growing.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 15 Dec 2015 04:29 pm |
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Weight: 163.2
Yay! I'm done with my fast. I lost a total of 9.4 lb in 10 days. I can't believe I made it to 10 days with minimal cheating. I did have another small cheat last night. I couldn't help it. I was truly hungry. I ate about an ounce of cooked spinach, another 2 spoonfuls of the vegan pasta and a glass of almond milk. Wow, that all tasted so good. I could have eaten a lot more, but I kept myself under control and only ate enough to make the hunger go away.
Today I had my usual breakfast juice, but I'm adding coffee back into my diet. I only drink one cup a day at most, so I don't think it's a problem. Plus, coffee helps with regularity. Mostly I just like the smell and taste of it.
Lunch is my juice and broth, but this time there are a few cooked vegetables added to the broth. Dinner will be the exciting meal. I finally get to use my spiralizer. What fun!
Overall I'm pretty happy with fasting for 10 days. It was hard but not torturous. The best thing about it is that I've reset my eating behavior and taste and have gotten rid of my sugar cravings. Sweets look appetizing but don't have such a powerful draw anymore. Subtle tastes are now delicious versus bland. I think I can handle smaller portions of my trigger foods without being triggered now, so it's back to near normal eating. I'd like to say that I'm going to stay like this forever, but experience tells me to be realistic. It will be interesting to see how long this lasts. I'm going to at least try hard to make it last a long time, but I can see maybe needing to repeat this fast once a year until I get the hang of things.
Last edited on 15 Dec 2015 07:18 pm by mchen01
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Sassykat
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Posted: 15 Dec 2015 09:26 pm |
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Wow! Congratulations on your 10 day juice fast Michelle! Holy cow, that is so awesome! That is quite an accomplishment!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your endeavors. Thank you for sharing that. It was very inspiring!
I am keeping track of my calories...on days when I am home and not eating meals out.
I read about a tip of adding clear fiber (Benefiber specifically) to a cup of coffee or juice to help control appetite and I think I will give that a try to aid me in keeping my calories low.
I've tried making my own juice before but it seemed like a lot of work with a great deal of clean up, not to mention the expense of using so many fruits and veggies just to get a small glass of juice. It seems like it would be very healthy though, especially if you are adding garlic and ginger!
Anyway, that was some enormous will power you had to do 10 days of juice fasting!
Very motivational!
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mchen01
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Posted: 16 Dec 2015 04:25 pm |
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Thanks Sassykat! I'm still amazed I made it to 10 days too. I remember how hard my first fast was and that was only 3 days. It has gotten easier now that I know what to expect.
I agree it takes a lot of time and effort to juice. I'm very lucky to have my mom do almost all of my juicing. I thought all of that leftover veggie pulp was a waste too until I found additional uses for them. I was using them for compost only (my garden has never been so lush), but now I find it makes excellent broth. I also throw some of it into my smoothies or blended juice for added fiber. I don't even notice it's there. Now that I think about it, I can probably throw a little into just about everything: soups, sauces, meatballs... Hmmmm. Thanks for the idea!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 16 Dec 2015 05:47 pm |
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Weight: 164.2
I think that's my weight this morning. I've got a little bit of fog brain going on and can't remember exactly what the scale said. I'm feeling a little sluggish this morning. Maybe I ate too much last night. I had a major craving that just wouldn't go away. I was really good at dinner, eating a half bowl of soup my mom had made for me (I didn't really want it because it had a lot of flour in it, but I felt the need to please my mom). I then made my much anticipated zucchini noodles in sweet curry sauce (more on that later) and ate one zucchini worth for the meal. I also couldn't resist a tiny bit of the pasta from the family meal and ate about a 1/4 serving. After a brief rest and cleaning the kitchen I went to do my workout, and after that my cravings hit me.
I wanted protein so bad. Could it have been my workout? I had a difficult start on my ride. My legs felt like burning mush. It was hard to push my pedals in even the smallest gear. My power output was a measly 45 Watts. I struggled like that for the first 5 minutes but gradually increased my power into the 70s during the next 5 minutes. I thought no matter how bad my workout turned out, I was going to complete it. It took about 20 minutes before my power edged up into the 100s and my legs felt better. Maybe the combination of fasting and not running took their toll on my leg muscles. Maybe my first run in over a month on Monday made me a little sore. In any case, I think this workout triggered a big need for protein. I wanted nuts, in any form, so I went against my rules for post-fast eating and ate a serving of raw macadamias. They weren't enough. I was worried that too many nuts might be hard on my digestion so I switched to peanut butter. I ate some peanut butter pretzels, and then I ate some more. Still not enough. Finally I ate a small serving of leftover vegan mac and cheese (cashew sauce). Ahhh, relief from the gnawing hunger.
Considering all of the food I ate I'm surprised my weight is not higher. My stomach seems to feel ok this morning so hopefully I didn't do too much damage. I do feel full and not hungry at all. I had to force myself to drink my morning juice. That's a good thing as my diet bets end today. I'm going to take in nothing but water for the rest of the day until 5 pm. Then, after work I'm going to do a swim and sit in the sauna for a while so I can shed some water weight. After that I'll do another light spin on my bike trainer. Once I weigh out around midnight I can start drinking again and maybe eat a light dinner.
Now for a review on the zucchini noodles in sweet curry sauce. I liked it although it wasn't as flavorful as I thought it would be. It wasn't very sweet, but I think I needed another orange. The sauce came out thicker than the one in the picture. I did switch out one ingredient because I was missing curry. Instead I had an Indian mixed curry that I used which may explain the lack of curry flavor. However, the light flavoring made the dish refreshing. I especially loved the noodle format and will definitely be using the spiralizer a lot. Unfortunately I think I may have hurt my mom's feelings by making my own food. Sigh.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 17 Dec 2015 06:03 pm |
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Weight: 162.6
Yesterday I fasted one more day so I could make my DietBet goals. Luckily I still wasn't feeling very hungry so no big deal. I rode my bike on the trainer for over an hour. That dropped me down about 1.4 lb in sweat. After that, it was just another couple trips to the bathroom and I was there. Yay! Another 3 bets in the bag. I think I'll make at least $40. I'm going to use the winnings from my diet bets to offset the cost of my camping equipment. It's going to take a lot of bets. Good thing I have a lot of weight to lose.
I don't start my next set of bets until January 1. I wanted a break for the holidays, where I didn't have to be so strict on my diet and could enjoy a slower pace of weight loss. I want to be able to go to a couple Christmas parties and not worry about having a glass of wine or a few appetizers. My goal is to start the next bets at no more than 165 lb.
Last night's ride went really well. I threw in some sprint intervals to bring on the sweat and was surprised that I felt no pain in my foot. I am still pushing a small gear as a precaution, but I was able to get my sprints up to 180-200 watts. Not bad considering how long I've been rehabbing the foot and that I was on a fast. I want so badly to be able to push myself into the red zone, but I know I'll still have to take it easy until I'm fully recovered. Nothing higher than zone 2 for the next 3 weeks at least.
I didn't do my swim yesterday. My dislike of swimming seems to get worse during cold winter days. Once I get outside in near freezing temps, the thought of getting into a lukewarm pool makes me shiver. I really need to find some motivation there. I have the potential to improve my swim times by a lot.
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Sassykat
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Posted: 17 Dec 2015 07:45 pm |
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I think it's so sweet that your mom makes some of your juices. I'm glad that you have her. My mom passed away several years ago and even though we weren't super close I feel a bit lost sometimes, feeling like I don't have a parent around to ask for any bits of wisdom. And one of my sisters dis-owned me after she (my mom) passed away from inexplicable reasons that I am unable to understand. It's made me a little bitter and I don't like it.
So hearing about other people's family relationships are heartwarming.
What are diet bets? Whatever it is, it really seems to motivate you. Is it online or someplace local where you weigh in?
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mchen01
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Posted: 18 Dec 2015 05:02 pm |
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Hi Sassy. I feel very lucky to have my mom too. She's the only one I've been close to besides the hubby. I also have issues like you with the other members of my family, disowning and all kinds of other silliness. It doesn't bother me. I prefer to be around people who lift me up instead of bringing me down anyway, even if that excludes family.
As for the diet bets, it's an online site (DietBet.com) where you put money down as a motivator. There are 2 kinds of bets, but I do the short term one which is to lose 4% weight in 4 weeks. If you make your goal, you get your money back plus a portion of the money from whoever loses. For instance, my last bet I put in $30 and won $48 (my original 30 plus 18). You don't win much, but for me the big motivation is to not lose because I hate to throw away money. It's turned out to be fun, and the people who participate are very nice and supportive.
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mchen01
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Posted: 21 Dec 2015 10:24 pm |
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Weight: 168.0
Yes, my weight is up by a lot. but I can almost guarantee it's mostly water weight. Last night I ate popcorn at the movie theater while watching Star Wars. I wish I hadn't eaten the popcorn at all, but I was man-in-the-middle tasked with holding the popcorn for everyone else. Besides I had brought some nuts from home as my movie snack. I really didn't need the popcorn. Next time I'll be sure to not be the one stuck holding the bag.
As for the movie, I've got to say I was disappointed. While it was a good movie, it wasn't anywhere near the quality of the previous movies. The story was good, but the way it was executed made it seem fluffy. My biggest complaint is that it lacked the menace of the Dark Force and the pure evilness of the characters that represent the Dark Force. It was too goody goody for me, and the plot was too simple. I did love one of the new characters, Maz Kanata, who reminded me of Yoda but much cuter.
I am still looking into recipes, most of them healthy. Last night I made cole slaw using my wonderful spiralizer. My mom made fun of me for needing a special gadget instead of a plain old knife. Hey I admit I'm cooking challenged. I'll take all the help I can get. Anyway, the cole slaw turned out good enough for the family to enjoy in fish tacos for dinner. I still have one more sweet potato recipe to make with my spiralizer, and then I'm moving on to a Filipino dessert called buko pandan. I've been dying for a tapioca pudding, and this dessert is close enough. In fact, I think I can make it lighter and less fattening with some non dairy substitutions. I guess I better find some pandan quick.
This past weekend I stumbled upon a device called the Squatty Potty. I found the concept intriguing considering my problems with constipation and hemorrhoids. The SP is basically a foot rest that allows you to lift your knees up while on the potty in order to relieve the pinching effect on the rectum while sitting flat. Rather than shell out $25 for the SP I just grabbed a regular step stool from the kitchen and gave it a test drive. OMG! It worked better than I could've imagined. I haven't had a BM so effortless since before I had kids. When I get a chance I'm going to make a simple one out of wood. Until then, I hope no one notices the step stool missing from the kitchen.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 2 Mar 2016 01:23 am |
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It's been a crazy busy and sometimes crazy yucky couple of months. I'm going to try and get back on track though.
One of the yucky crazy things was our old house had been broken into and vandalized twice in the past couple months. It cost about $3k to fix everything. We used to rent it, but the military town has lost a lot of people due to military down sizing. We put it up for sale, and after the first break in, we dropped the price drastically. The last break in happened during escrow, and we were scared the buyers would back out. They didn't and the sale closed today. What a huge relief!
The family has also had two car wrecks. The first one was with the girl. A woman decided to cross through a lane split and rammed into the girl's car while she was getting on an on ramp. Nobody was hurt, and she admitted fault. Crazy thing in California though is that even if a person admits fault, side swipes can still be split in fault between both drivers. It took over a month for the investigation to rule in our favor so we could get our $1k out-of-pocket cost back. The second accident was with the hubby. A motorcyclist, who was splitting lanes, swerved to avoid a car changing lanes and ran into the back of the hubby's car. The impact broke the fork off the motorcycle and sent the driver head first through the hubby's rear window. Incredibly, the motorcyclist wasn't too badly hurt, maybe a broken leg. Unfortunately, he didn't speak English (we think he was Persian), had no driver license but did have a sketchy (according to the police officer) image of his VISA on his phone and no license plates on the bike. Thankfully, we are covered for uninsured motorists so we should get our out of pocket cost back. We are also very relieved he wasn't more seriously hurt or killed. That would have haunted us for life.
So, all's well that ends well, but it feels like we were bleeding some big dollars for those past couple months. Tack onto that the inconvenience of being down a car and all the paper work and phone calls, the stress was getting a bit high. Thank goodness it is almost all over. We should have the last car fixed in a week and then everything will be back to normal (almost).
I'm still suffering from my abdominal adhesions. My last half marathon was one of my worst yet. The abdominal pain hit me around mile 6, and by mile 8 my back had joined in. By mile 12 my groin and hip were killing me. All of this was on my right side. It hurt to run, but it hurt to walk even more. I've had to cancel my next triathlon. The pain is still bad enough that I can't exercise more than 15 minutes. I'm doing some extra yoga and am crossing my fingers that things will improve soon.
I've also started a new change to my diet. I've decided to juice for breakfast and lunch and have a regular dinner. I think this will be a healthy way for me to bring down my weight. I started doing a full fast, but changed my mind on the third day when I started experiencing terrible burning and bloating pain. The point of doing this is to get rid of pain, not make it worse. I'm anxious to lose the weight, because I think it will help with the bowel obstruction. Less weight means less fat which means less pressure on the bowels. I'm going to push hard to get below 160 in the next 2 months.
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zenobia
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 16 Mar 2016 02:32 am |
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Hey Michelle,
My gosh you have had a whole lot of crazy. i'm happy that no one was seriously hurt- it could have been really bad. Congrats on the house selling!
Yeah, with all of that, it's no surprise you took a hiatus. I hope things are starting to chill out for you. Sounds like you are on a good path with eating better and yoga- that might help the pain. fingers crossed that it does!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 2 Apr 2016 01:38 am |
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Thanks Zen!
Weight: 181.4
My weight has exploded into a number I thought I'd never see again, and it happened in less than a week. I gained about 7 lbs in 5 days. I'm hoping that most of it is not true weight gain, but yesterday I was at my worst at 184. It's hard to imagine that I'm holding much more of this weight from bowel blockage.
It started last Friday with bad abdominal pain again. It got worse over the weekend and by Monday I was too bloated to fit into my work clothes. On Tuesday I spent the morning gagging over a toilet hoping I wouldn't have to go back to the hospital. Luckily, by Wednesday I felt well enough to go back to work, but the discomfort made it difficult to eat real food. The only thing I felt my bowels could handle were simple carbs like mashed potatoes and bread. I'm not going to beat myself up over this weight gain. There's not much I can do about it. I'm still learning what foods I can and cannot eat. I think the cause of this particular bout was too much granola (2 cups in 2 days).
Yesterday I was feeling much better after downing a gallon of water and other fluids. I wanted to get back to working out but I got stuck at work until 8 pm after having started at 7:30 am. I had just enough time to get to the school to pick up the boy from his track meet. I finally got home at 10 pm.
I'm very behind on my workouts, but I plan to get out of here tonight at a reasonable hour so I can check off a few things from my training plan. I need to do a 30 minute bike trainer ride, a 30 minute treadmill run and then a 30 minute strength routine.
Back to the food thing. I find that not eating animal protein makes it a lot harder to feel full. Besides the animal protein, I find it hard to eat protein period. Even beans give me a hard time so I limit my daily bean and legume intake to about 1/2 cup. I'm thinking of adding protein shakes to my diet again, although I'm not sure that will help since it's designed to be quickly digested. In any case, today I start counting calories again and actively work on bringing my weight back down.
Other than the usual work and training, I've been obsessed with this year's presidential election. I'm a big Bernie supporter, and have been glued to my computer every night since Iowa's primary, reading and watching all the news about him. I love the way he truly cares about people and marvel at his courage in standing up to the economically and politically corrupt powers. Not only that, but he's extremely intelligent and novel in finding solutions outside a messed up system. He's a once-in-a-lifetime candidate. Much as I love Bernie though, I need to stop obsessing and get back to the other more pending stuff in my life.
The girl is ready to make some college visits, and since she's on spring break next week I plan to take a couple days off to drive her to Santa Barbara and Riverside to get a tour, which are only available on weekdays. After that, I am taking the hubby and kids to Catalina for a camping trip, staying at the same place I was at last year. I need to go through a supply list and make sure everyone is geared up for the 4 days of primitive camping. If the water is not too cold, I'd like to do some free diving in the cove. Last time the surf was too rough to try, but the bay looked like it might not be too deep. If I'm lucky maybe I'll catch a crab for dinner.
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zenobia
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 2 Apr 2016 12:50 pm |
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Hey Michelle!
Glad to hear that you are feeling better! it's good that you have a plan to get back on track- how is it going?
" I'm a big Bernie supporter, and have been glued to my computer every night since Iowa's primary, reading and watching all the news about him. I love the way he truly cares about people and marvel at his courage in standing up to the economically and politically corrupt powers. Not only that, but he's extremely intelligent and novel in finding solutions outside a messed up system. He's a once-in-a-lifetime candidate. "
OMG ME TOO!!!!! :D
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 2 May 2016 09:24 pm |
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Last month was pretty rough. My dog had been sick with what I thought was a stomach problem. The treatment for nausea didn't work completely, and he got weaker. After a couple more trips to the vet for x-rays of his spine, steroids and pain meds, during which he lost vision in his right eye, I was finally referred to a doggy neurologist. An MRI revealed that he had a massive tumor in his skull that was causing severe pressure on his brain. It was beyond treatment. I wanted to keep him longer since he was eating and performing other bodily functions, but I had to admit that despite this he was losing weight quickly and could barely walk. Two days after his diagnosis, I made the painful decision to bring him peace and had him euthanized yesterday.
I thought I would be able to work today, but I can't seem to stop these intermittent crying fits. It all happened so quickly, less than 2 months from his first vet visit for nausea. I haven't been able to prepare for his passing like I did with my previous dog. I want him back so badly. He was my buddy who kept me company while the hubby was deployed, sleeping next to me with his head propped on my leg. He always greeted me with a spastic wagging of his stumpy tail and a little lick on my knee or foot. He was so smart that I never had to give him a command. I spoke to him in complete sentences and he understood. At puppy training he was the first in his class to learn how to roll over.
He was only 11 years old. It was such a short time to be together. I'm going to miss him forever.
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vicincali2
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 1 Nov 2011 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 2290 |
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Posted: 3 May 2016 04:34 pm |
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| So sorry to hear about your dog.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 7 Aug 2016 09:02 pm |
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Current Weight: 196.4
Predicted Weight: 196.5
A lot has happened in the last few months, some good, some bad. It's all just life and I'm into living no matter how it goes.
I got laid off (finally) at the end of May, not for performance issues but because the CEO questioned my loyalty after he laid off my manager and friend. It was a little earlier than I wanted to leave, but I can't say that it was a bad thing. At least I got a severance and am able to collect unemployment. I'm also now able to work full time on my personal business. I completed a rough draft of one design and along with my business partner am working with a mechanical engineer to finalize the draft and submit it for a prototype build. We will then submit it for a patent and hopefully go on to either selling/leasing the patent or manufacturing it ourselves. In the meantime I am doing some Swift programming and updating my graphics skills by learning the new Vulkan library. I'm going to build a simple app for my first submission to the Apple Store and Google Play to get an idea of what's required. Then I can switch to working on some bigger ideas for apps.
I'm still looking at jobs as well but haven't found something in my niche. I have been lucky in that I've always been able to define my job with the skills that I have. Given my expertise in graphics and AI, my bosses have always created new projects around my capabilities. I've been spoiled and am having a hard time with the idea of having to conform to a project outside of my interests. Luckily I'm not desperate for a job just yet.
This past June I participated in my last race of the year. I did Ironman Hawaii 70.3 in Kona. My weight was just below 190 lb, and my training up until then had been almost nil. I only did the race because I had prepaid for the trip and shipped my bike to Kona a month before the race. I figured the hubby and I deserved a little vacation to ourselves anyway. We hadn't been alone on a trip since our honeymoon 25 years ago. Anyway, despite the odds, I completed the race. I missed the finish line cutoff by 5 minutes so my finish didn't count, but I'm please that I did the distance. The swim and bike portions had gone better than expected, but the heat, humidity and my fat body brought me down on the run. The race took everything out of me. My GI system went bonkers for a month following the race. I was in almost constant pain and could only handle liquids and simple carbs. I gained another 10 lb. after the race which brought me up to almost 200 lb.
I'm doing a little better now and am able to eat more solid foods again. I still limit my animal protein to about 2 oz. every 2-3 days. I've also found that canned beans cause me problems but dried beans seem to be ok. Not sure why that is but I'm happy to have found an alternate source of protein my GI system can handle. I've also started exercising again, but I've fallen pretty low. In just 2 months I've lost all of my fitness and can barely jog a tenth of a mile. I'm so fat that my swim suit and bike shorts don't fit me (apparently lycra does not have infinite stretch). All I have to wear are good ole yoga pants which at least work well for walking.
I now walk 4 miles in the morning and another 2 miles in the evening, which I share with my new border collie puppy. His name is Bullitt, and he's filled the hole in my heart left by the passing of Spyder. It's been a long times since I've purchased a dog from a breeder and since I've had a puppy this young. We got him when he was only 8 weeks old. I had no idea that he would need to go potty every 15 minutes. That was totally exhausting and so time consuming. Now that he's 3 months though, he's able to hold it longer and has been trained to ring a set of bells when he needs to go out. I've never had a dog so smart and sociable. He's going to be a joy to run with.
Other things going on in my life right now are planning the girl's move to college and checking on my dad who's been sick for the past couple months. The hubby has also retired and is in the process of looking for another job. This summer has been eventful to say the least. I try to take things as they come and not to worry too much yet. Some things will sort out by themselves and others will just take some extra hard work.
In the midst of all this my priority is to restore my health. I've set a goal to bring my weight down to 155 lb in 180 days. I'm counting calories again and have a training plan that adjusts to my weight loss. I'm using the weight loss calculator on Precision Nutrition's website. It takes into account the slowing metabolism that comes with dieting. It will be interesting to see how accurate it is. Using the calculator, my goal intake is about 1500 calories. My exercise will include 3 days of light jogging and 3 days of light cycling at 30 minutes each. In between I'll continue the long walks with the puppy. I can't wait to get this weight back off of me. I feel like I've got a pillow stuffed into my belly, pushing up against my lungs. It's hard to take a full breath. It's hard to believe I did a 70.3 just 2 months ago. Ugh.Last edited on 7 Aug 2016 09:19 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 9 Aug 2016 03:44 am |
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Current Weight: 194.8
Predicted Weight: 195.5
I had a big drop in weight today. Usually I'd feel awesome about it, but I'm in Vegas now which means bad foods everywhere. Today's calories are already double what they should have been. We are staying at the Paris Casino, and all the food is super rich. Lots of French food including pastries. We did find a noodle restaurant, but the noodles I ordered turned out to be dripping in oil. I can already feel the pimples popping out on my chin. Luckily I will be home on the 10th and my predicted weight for the 10th is 194.9. lb. If I can skip breakfast and lunch tomorrow and eat a reasonable dinner I think I can maintain my weight until then.
I'm back in our room early, and I feel a little guilty about it. I usually try to keep my mom company until about midnight, but I find I just can't handle cigarette smoke at all any more. My asthma is really acting up, and my eyes are burning. When I look around I see that the majority of people don't smoke, so why the casinos think that smoking is necessary for business boggles my mind. If it weren't for my mom there's no way I'd come back to a casino ever again. At least she's winning big tonight so she's definitely having a good time.
Tomorrow I'm going to get up early and get in a walk. The Bellagio fountains are across the street and there are plenty of stairs and overhead walkways for me to get a decent workout. After that I'll be happy to devote the rest of the day to my mom. Time to turn in early.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 14 Aug 2016 03:27 pm |
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Current Weight: 195.8
Predicted Weight: 193.6
I'm off today's goal weight by 1.8 lb. I think I can catch up though. I've been sick these past 3 days with what's either a stomach bug or food poisoning. I tend to think it's food poisoning as the buffet I had at Paris was awful. The girl and I were both feeling sick the next day after that awful dinner. I spent most of the last few days in bed with hardly any exercise and lots of ice cream.
Today I'm feeling much better and was able to get up early for a 4 mile walk with the puppy. Or rather, I walked/carried the puppy. Bullitt is still reluctant to leave the house even though he seems to enjoy the walks. Once we get a mile past the house he's much better and I can rely on him to do his own walking.
I'm hoping that today will be a low calorie day full of vegetables and fruits. I want to be back on goal in the next few days to a week.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 15 Aug 2016 08:10 pm |
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Current Weight: 195.6
Predicted Weight: 193.3
I've fallen a little further behind on my goal weight, but I'm hoping it's just temporary. I ate a little extra yesterday but I also did extra exercise, walking 8 miles instead of 5.5. This morning I felt a little sick again so maybe I'm having a relapse. The runs are back and I feel weak and tired. I want to take a nap but I have so much to do.
I have a final design for the app I'm making and will get started on the Swift/iOS version today. I'm giving myself 4 weeks to complete it, and then I'll move on to the Android version. My goal is to have both versions accepted by November 1. That way if I have to start looking for work, I'll have this to add to my resume.
I also have a new idea I'm working on. It's something that I've been wanting to build for a garden, but it requires skills I don't have. I think I can create something that makes it easier for diy people like me who want to do things ourselves without the risk of amateur stupidity.
Time to get to work.
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 16 Aug 2016 12:19 am |
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Hi Michelle, nice to see you back again.
Congratulations on the Ironman...especially without the training, that is QUITE an accomplishment. I admire your drive!
I'm sorry to hear that you were laid off sooner than expected. You seem to have a great attitude though about building some new things for your resume during your period of unemployment.
It's great to see you are recommitted to health and fitness goals and are using the tools again. We definitely know "how" to do this and it sounds like you are in the right headspace of being motivated. I hope to catch a little motivation from reading your posts!!
Keep up the good work girl and congrats again on the Ironman!!!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:51 pm |
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| Thanks mollymoo for the kind words. I'm glad to be back. Whenever things go astray I can always count on coming back here to regain my footing.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:40 pm |
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Current Weight: 195.2
Predicted Weight: 193.0
I'm still 2.2 lb behind my goal. At least I'm not falling further behind. Still I suspect I might be further along today. I forgot to take my weight this morning and had a glass of juice first before getting on the scale. If I can push myself hard on the exercise and diet over the next week I'm sure I can catch up.
Besides I'm dying to be out of the 190s. It's a humiliating weight. I look and feel awful. Almost none of my clothes fit, and I refuse to buy new ones. I won't be able to go on a bike or swim workout until then. Yoga pants just don't work for those activities. So I'm super motivated right now. I'm going to be in my best shape ever after this 180 day push.
My walks along the beach have been great, but there are now signs all over the trails warning of West Nile Virus. This is the first year that mosquitos with the disease have been found in this area. No human infections yet though, so I'm not concerned enough to start wearing insect repellent. It's been so dry here I'm surprised we had a mosquito problem to begin with. We're still in drought mode, and what little water there is tends to dry up quickly.
Well, time for a late breakfast and some work. I have a few hours before I have to take the girl to IKEA for college dorm shopping. I still can't believe it's time to send my first child off to college. So many worries swarming through my head. I need to let go. She's a grown up now, right?
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 17 Aug 2016 08:12 pm |
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Current Weight: 195.2
Predicted Weight: 192.7
No weight loss today so I've fallen further behind in my goal. This just makes me even more motivated. So later today I plan to hop on the bike for an extra workout. It's not going to be pretty, and I'm going to be a little sore riding in yoga pants, but it's the only way to get some extra exercise without getting injured. Already my feet and ankles are sore from the heavy weight during walking.
Today I'm working in the library. It's my favorite place to work. This library has private study rooms with white boards so it's perfect for meetings. There are also plenty of tables with outlets so I don't have to worry about running out of juice for the laptop. Too bad it's a hike, about a 30 minute drive on the freeway. The best thing about that though is that I feel the need to make the most of a one hour round trip drive, so I stay at least 4 hours here. While I'm here I don't eat or drink anything. That means I skip lunch and end up with a low calorie day. Maybe I'll see a nice drop on the scale tomorrow.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 18 Aug 2016 05:03 pm |
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Current Weight: 194.0
Predicted Weight: 192.4
Yay, now I'm only 1.6 lb behind my current goal weight. I wonder if I can't get through skipping lunch for another day. I doubt it. I feel so hungry.
I finally bought one of those ceramic pans that are nonstick and scratch proof. I was pretty impressed with it. My scrambled eggs came out pretty well without the use of oil. I think I'll try toasting a sandwich on it next. Reducing cooking oil in my diet will make a huge difference.
Today I have a stupid doctor's appointment for my asthma. That means waiting an hour in the office before I get to see the doctor for 10 minutes. It's such a waste of time and a total scam by the insurance agencies. They won't renew my asthma medicine without this appointment so I'm trapped. Ugh. Maybe I'll treat myself to a cappuccino afterward to cheer myself up.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 20 Aug 2016 04:43 am |
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Current Weight: 193.4
Predicted Weight: 192.2
Just 1.2 lb away from catching up to my daily goal weight. It's been a little tough skipping lunch, but I'm getting used to it. Besides I don't think I'm really hungry then. It's more about reaching a point of boredom and wanting to procrastinate from work. If I can distract myself then I totally forget about being hungry. Instead I have a very early dinner at 4pm and then go on a long walk at 6pm. By the time I'm hungry again I find myself unable to go to the kitchen for fear of waking up the puppy. So far it seems to be working.
Tonight I went to a potluck party. Lucky for me there were plenty of healthy veggies. I did have too much of a really really good dessert, but otherwise I ate pretty well.
I'm going to try and get in my 4 mile walk tomorrow, but my left knee has started to hurt. This is what I get for gaining so much weight. Even the easiest exercise becomes too much for my body to handle. If I can't walk I'm going to have to try to make up the exercise on the bike. Maybe I've lost enough weight to fit into some bike shorts. It would suck to have to suffer chafing along with the bum knee.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 20 Aug 2016 09:34 pm |
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Today I forgot to weigh. I had a lot of things on my mental to do list and the weighing thing got lost amongst the brain flotsam.
I have been thinking about how my fear of waking the puppy has effectively stopped my night time snacking. I have begun to realize that much of my success can be attributed to fear. My first Ironman success was due to fear of not crossing the finish line. My last big success in weight loss was due to fear of letting down my weight coach. Work projects were completed for fear of having to explain to my manager why I didn't meet a deadline. Not that I'm a fearful person. After all, I wouldn't have to worry about fear if I didn't take risks, and taking risks goes along with following big dreams. So I like to think of myself as a dreamer who is willing to face my fears in order to accomplish those dreams.
Still, fear seems to be a great short term motivator for me. The problem is coming up with a fear. I got lucky with the puppy thing. Now I need one that will keep me from eating sugar, and one that will keep me from snacking throughout the day. It can't just be any fear. It has to be something that I would truly believe in and be afraid of. Well, lucky me, my doctor just put on medicine for hypertension 2 days ago. I've been reading about it, and one of the causes is sugar. So that's it. I hate taking medicines. One of my goals in life is to never require medication for cholesterol or hypertension. Now here I am, not quite 50 years old, and already needing drugs for hypertension. I'm getting myself off these pills as soon as possible. Part of that will come with weight loss. The other part will be reducing my sugar intake. Time to start (secretly) throwing away food.
I'm on the hypertension meds for 2 weeks and then I go back to the doc for a follow up. So I have 2 weeks to get off the sugar, reduce my weight and hopefully watch my blood pressure come down. Today's measurement was 136/84. I'm not sure what it will take to get off the meds, but I'd like to see my pressure drop below 120/80 before my next doctor's visit.
I'm also going to go back to yoga. The relaxation will also help bring down my blood pressure. My body's very stiff and prone to cramping with every stretch, so I'm going to try a light beginner's yoga. There's one on youtube that is a 30 day series. I really miss yoga. Once this 30 day series is complete I think I will include a yoga session in my dog walk. It will double as dog training to have my dog sit calmly and wait for me to finish. Yay, something new to look forward to.Last edited on 20 Aug 2016 09:37 pm by mchen01
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