First of all, I'd like to thank Yvonne for hookin' a sistah up with the 411 on Subway. Sure, I've seen the commercials over the years featuring Jared, the guys who lost over 100 pounds eating their sandwiches, but I never really gave them much thought. I guess it was because I really didn't believe the claims they were making. Until today, I hadn't been in a Subway restaurant since some time in 1997, and what I ate there at the time was nothing memorable, to say the most.
I can't remember ever singing the praises of a fast food restaurant, but oh, baby...this was quite a different experience. Subway was my savior today. I had one of the sandwiches from of their "7 Under 6" menu (under 6g of fat). It was off-the-hook! Now mind you, I was nearly starving when I got to the place, but I know a good tasting sandwich when I eat one. My selection was the 6" roasted chicken breast on the oregano bun. I actually bought the foot long and ate half for lunch and will have the other half for dinner. The trimmings included green peppers, sweet peppers, onions, tomato, jalapenos, a bit of wine vinegar/oil and some spicy mustard. Now I must admit that I'm having somewhat of a problem believing that this sandwich is only around 330 calories as they claim, but I believe that it's probably no more than 600 calories by my "conservative" calculations. And that is waaaaaaay kool with me. Here's how I figure it:
6 oz. chicken breast = 280 Oregano bun = 200 Various veggies = 50 Mustard = 20 Wine vinegar/oil = 50
So, it appears the diet gods have given me a break, at least for today anyway. In addition to my meager snack earlier today of a 3 oz. chicken breast and 9 Triscuits, my total intake is only about 1,580 calories for the day. I can hardly believe it. This is a faaaaar cry from my episodes over the last couple of days. By the way, I've decided not to even try to remember that mess. I'm not recording jack for yesterday or Thursday, but I promise not to skip tracking and recording my meals going forward.
In other news, as some of you can see, I changed this layout again. Hopefully this is the last time for awhile. I really like the other one, but it was just too cramped for what I want to do here. I just couldn't stand reading from that small window anymore and I got tired of that 8-pt. font. I don't know what I was thinking when I designed that, but it sure was pretty. I like this layout better for this site. It's a lot more flexible. Now I can stretch out and flex a bit, yanno? I'm not completely done with it yet, but it's pretty good for now. I'll probably mess around with the header a bit to see if I can make it a tad more interesting without going overboard, which I have a strong tendency to do. Or maybe I'll just leave it alone. Who knows?
Anyway, that's pretty much it for now. My British programmes will be on soon and I don't want to miss them. I'm just so ecstatic about my new found treasure! Thanks again, Yvonne. You made my day, girl!
Have a wonderful weekend, er'body. :o)
Namasté!
P.S. - I gave up on calculating the carb, protein and fat percentages for my meals. I need to just focus on keeping my calories in check and monitoring my carbs. Perhaps I'll start doing it again later, but I don't have time right now to keep lookin' all that crap up. It was driving me NUTS!
Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water, guess who's out of control...AGAIN? HA! I don't know what the heck my deal is. I mean, it's like my grandma used to say, "You're like a cow that gives a good bucket of milk and then kicks the bucket over." Dayum! I was doing pretty decent with my eating earlier this week, but then last night, all hell broke loose. I mean, I just got beside myself, big time. And today started off pretty well, too, until lunch time, when I just lost it. Something must REALLY be bothering me...DEEPLY! I mean, it's all self-sabotage. I can't even blame it on anybody. Needless to say, I am pissed!
Ya know, I'm really getting tired of starting over with the same damn thing. Geeeeeze! I mean, I know I'm premenstrual and all, but this is RIDICULOUS! Last night, I went over my 1,800 calorie limit by about 430. And as if that wasn't bad enough, I went berserk at lunch time today and ate a super large order of greasy french fries, complete with unlimited catsup and ranch dip. I have no earthly idea how many calories that was (probably at least 1,000). And this was after I had already eaten my healthy salad with broiled chicken breast. But did I stop there? Nooooo!!! I came home and ate about 3 oz. of Monterey Jack cheese, 16 Triscuits and a bottle of Tropicana Ruby Red Grapefruit drink (it wasn't even real juice, only 30%). That little snack from hell totaled 890 calories by itself. And the scariest part is that it's only 6pm! God help me!
And to top all that off, I didn't go to the gym yesterday and I'm not going this evening. I hope to get there in the morning and mitigate some of this damage.
I'll be back later after I am able to trace the steps of my food fiasco of the last 24 hours so I can count up all those calories and post them. I sure hope I've gotten this crap out of my system now.
My eating went better today, my water intake was up quite a bit, and I did my 6am workout again. It definitely helps a lot when I plan my meals in advance. I am very please with myself! :o)
I started counting protein and fat today. I decided to do a 40-30-30 system; 40 percent protein, 30 percent carbs and 30 percent fat. I know I won't always hit these percentages perfectly, but it's what I'm shooting for; a model, if you will. For 1,560 calories, the split works out to 117g carbs, 156g protein and 52g fat. I'll do this for a few weeks and see how my body responds. I did okay for my first time out. I fell quite a bit short on protein, went a bit over on fat, but I pretty much nailed the carbs. The split was more like 36-30-34. Gotta make some adjustments, but hey, I'm gettin' there. Here are the digits:
Calories: 1,560 Carbs: 115g Protein: 139g Fat: 59g Water: 92 oz. Total calories burned: 325*
*Treadmill (walking): 325 (65 min., 2.50 miles @ 2.5mph)
My eating was decent today and yesterday. I only went over my 1,800 calorie limit by about 20 today and yesterday I came in around 55 under. That's pretty good for me, but I would like to see my calorie count closer to 1,500 than 1,800. I ate five times today, ranging from 245 to 520 calories. This is quite a change from my usual two HUGE 1,000+ calorie meals (no breakfast) and super high calorie/fat nighttime snacks. My goal is to eat five times a day and not have any meal exceed 500 calories. I also intend to stop eating within two to three hours of bedtime. I'm working on it.
I'm going to starting tracking fat and protein so that I'll have a clearer and more complete picture of where I am with my eating. I got confused on my carbs calculation and ended up eating well over my 135-gram limit for 1,800 calories. The plan is to eat between 100 and 135 grams a day. Wow, what a huge error I made. Anyway, here are today's digits:
Calories: 1,820 Carbs: 169 grams Water: 80 oz. Total calories burned: 325*
I did my workout at 6:00 this morning and it felt GREAT!!! There were only a few people in the gym and I didn't have to wait for anything. I'm definitely going to continue the early morning schedule. It works well for me and sets the tone for the rest of my day.
I believe the self-sabotage is over. I'm starting to get a handle on things now. I'm feeling very motivated and encouraged and I really want to keep the momentum going. I think it may help me to set some short-term goals.
- Stick to my eating plan for 7 consecutive days. - Drink a min. of 80 oz. water a day for 7 consecutive days. - Have all my water in by 9pm 8pm. - Walk at least 5 days in the next 7. - Weight train at least 3 days this week. - Post my progress to this journal everyday, no matter what. - Lose 3 pounds by Feb 4 (my birthday).
I'm going have my body fat percentage measured soon and start monitoring it. Although losing weight is extremely important to me, I want to be sure that I'm losing fat instead of muscle. I'm also going have my measurements taken and start monitoring the inches I lose. Hopefully, I can have it done this week. I want to be aware of any type of progress I make, regardless of whether it's on the scale or not. No matter how small, I'll be grateful in knowing that I'm still improving.
I've been a baaaaad diva...AGAIN!!! I really don't know what to say. I just went wild last weekend. So much so that I didn't even bother trying to keep up with calories. A combination of stress eating and drinking too much wine. My weigh-in was yesterday and it's a small miracle that I didn't gain anything. I'm happy for that, all things considered.
I started off logging my food pretty well last week, but when I fell off the wagon on Friday, I just said forget it. I didn't even feel like posting all the crap I ate. Needless to say, I'm starting over with the food log. By the way, I've decided not to post my food intake online anymore. Too much of a pain to type it all up. I will post my daily calorie totals in my stats log and be done with it. But trust me, I will definitely be keeping track of my calories, carbs, water and exercise offline.
I did manage to take a 2.20 mile walk last Thursday evening, but that was it for the entire week. The good news is that I FINALLY made it to the gym yesterday. I got there around 7:25pm and the place was PACKED!!! I had to wait about 10 minutes for a treadmill to become available. I'm going to try getting there at 6am so I can get my workouts done in peace and get out. Anyway, here are the digits:
Monday - Jan 26
Calories: 1,745 Carbs: 64 grams Water: 84 oz. Total calories burned: 320*
*Treadmill (walking): 320 (65 mins, 2.5 miles @ 2.25mph)
Got up at 4:45 this morning. Feeling pretty good after last night's workout. Getting ready to make my way to the gym again, for weight training this time. Will post today's update later this evening.
That's exactly what I intend to do. Drop these unwanted pounds as if they were a hot dish in my hand with no oven mit. Yep! Yep! It's official. I've lost 6 of the 10 pounds I gained from last year's 26-lb. loss. Four more to go and I'll be back to where I left off in Jun '03. I am sooooo looking forward to handling my business with this weight issue.
I didn't make it to the gym yesterday, let alone walk. Doing my hair took quite a bit longer than expected, but it was WELL worth it. Not to worry, I plan to start my new workout schedule after work this evening. The gym will probably be crowded since today is Monday and folks tend to flock to the gym in droves right after the weekend, as if atoning for their sins. I'll just have to squeeze myself in there somehow.
Gotta finish getting ready and get to the office. Be back later to update my stats.
I finished updating my food log and stats log and got them back online. I also finished setting up my weight loss projection and variance analysis spreadsheet and my workout schedule. I've posted my workout schedule online (under the "Stats" section), but I won't post the spreadsheet data until I'm very near my goal. I'm still working on the details of my workout rountine and will post it when I'm done.
The "Before & After" section is next, but it's going to be awhile though because I have to figure out how I want to approach it. Plus, I don't have photos to put there yet. I plan to take a couple of head shots this week, rather than put up photos that are a year old. I'll also have a friend take some full-body shots to use later for comparison and progress tracking. Perhaps I'll take new photos after each 20-25 lbs. lost. We'll see.
Although I've given myself Sundays off from any form of exercise, I plan to go to the gym today to reacquaint myself with the facilities, plan my weight training routine and jump start myself by walking a bit on the treadmill.
I found these free-to-use, online calculators at CaloriesPerHour.com. This is one of the most useful sites for weight loss and fitness that I've run across in awhile. The site has calculators for weight loss, food calories and nutrition, calories burned, BMI and BMR. It's great!
That's about it for the moment. Going to have my hair done now. I'll probably be back later this evening after my visit to the gym and grocery shopping.
I've been doing reasonably well with my eating this past week. I've not been actually counting calories or journaling my food like I said I would, but after this afternoon's little episode with the GREASY pepper steak and rice (don't ask) I ate from a Chinese restaurant, I'm on it. That's it. There's a new rule in town:
No matter how hungry I get, if I can't count it or at least have some reasonable idea of approximately how many calories it is, I'm not eating it. PERIOD!
With the exception of the pepper steak fiasco today, I have been doing a lot better with limiting my quantities and making better food choices. I've still got some work to do, but I'm getting there. I also started drinking water regularly again. It's taking some time for me to work my way back up to the daily 64 to 96 oz. I used to drink, but I'm getting there. So far today, I've had 48 oz. and I know I'll get in at least 64, possibly 96 before I go to bed.
My official weigh-in isn't until Monday, but as of this morning, I have managed to lose 5 of the 10 pounds I gained back from my 26 pound weight loss last year. The sad thing is, if I had been better prepared, the "pepper steak" thing would not have happened. I need to get myself to the grocery store, pronto, and start cooking meals in advance like I used to. Plus, I need to start eating regular meals again, including breakfast, and eat at regular times.
I haven't restarted yoga, walking and weight training either. I have no excuse for this because I have plenty of time at the moment. I just haven't done it. But I'm making a promise to myself to go to the gym tomorrow.
Going forward, I'm going to start planning my meals and scheduling my workouts again. I'm also going to start posting my food and stats logs again. I just need to redesign the pages a bit so that they match the current layout and I'll be ready to roll. Uhmm, I guess now is just as good a time as any to get that done.
Be back later after I'm done posting my sorry a$$ stats for the day. LOL
I'm in the process of updating the site, so you may see some weird stuff going on for a minute. Hopefully, the update should be completed by 2pm CST today. In the meantime, you're welcome to check me out at DivaFlava.com.
I finally made it back from my extended hiatus and I'm all in one piece, thank goodness. Okay now, I could whine about how the last six months of 2003 were a COMPLETE bust as far as my weight loss goals are concerned. I could have a hissy fit about how I fell totally off the wagon. I could go into a mini-depression over how I went on a buck wild eating spree during the holidays that would rival an international food festival. I could scream like a banshee about putting back on 10 of the 27 pounds I lost last year. But nope. I won't. I won't do it. Instead, I'll just pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again. PERIOD! What I will say is -- good riddance, 2003! Don't let the door knob hit cha on the way out!
I'm not into making New Year's resolutions anymore. I gave that up years ago. But there does seem to be something about a new year that is kind of synonymous with a fresh start. I'm looking forward to 2004. I thought about it for a few weeks and decided to get myself back in the saddle starting today. I'm adding a bit of a twist to the old game plan, but for the most part, I'll pick up where I left off in June 2003; low-carb eating, water consumption, exercise, journaling, stats tracking, etc. The only modification is that, I will being eating right for my blood type. Details coming later. It's late and I must get to bed.
Wishing everyone success in 2004. Have a great week.
Not the
average girl in the videos, that's for dang sure. Lover of
jazz, good wine, green and chai teas. Sometimes serious, often
playful, always intelligent. Strong at times, weak at
others. Decent looking on the regular, sexy when I wanna
be. Hater of BS and drama, minder of my own bizness. Still
not satisfied? Click here.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?'' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't
feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us. It's not just some of us; it's in
every one of us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
—Marianne Williamson
Credits
& Props
Affiliations
Graphics/site
design by DivaFlava.com (Uhm, that would be me)
Not the
average girl in the videos, that's for dang sure. Lover of
jazz, good wine, green and chai teas. Sometimes serious, often
playful, always intelligent. Strong at times, weak at
others. Decent looking on the regular, sexy when I wanna
be. Hater of BS and drama, minder of my own bizness. Still
not satisfied? Click 
Copyright 2003-2004