Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Weekly Update, 5/5/10 (The Cinco de Mayo Edition)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

But, drat!  I missed Star Wars day yesterday.  (It's May 4, as in "May the Fourth be with you.")  But no worries!  There's still May 25 to plan for, which is both Geek Pride Day (i.e., the day Star Wars was released) and Towel Day (a memorial to Douglas Adams).

Embarrassing Moments

Glad I was able to amuse you all with my embarrassing tale last week!  Don't know why, but it's the doozies that really make the best funny stories.  But today, I feel the need to ramble and throw out what's been on my mind lately.  There's something non-funny embarrassing going on:  I'm struggling.  It's human, and I don't know why it should embarrass me, but it does.  Maybe because once I admit it, I'll have to do something about it, and if it doesn't work, I'll feel like a failure.  Damn.

Anyhoo.  So lately, I've been feeling a sort of desperate feeling, especially at last week's weigh-in.  My weight had been creeping up to my red line and finally went over, and I felt powerless to stop it.  (Which is bunk, I know!  I've lost over 70 pounds and kept it off for over a year now, so I know what I can do when my back is to the wall.)  Part of me wanted to just say forget it.  The pull of the salty, roasted nuts can be so strong.  I've gotten too smart about which calorie-bombs will satisfy me and yet not up my blood glucose levels, which at least is healthy stuff.  And then, walking the tightrope of too-many carbs: how many slivers of a donut will knock me over?  Otherwise, I probably would have said "*bleep* it" long before now and dove straight into a bag of chips with a pint of premium ice cream on the side.  This "shizzle," as MizFit would say, is really hard.  Fairly straightforward, but hard.


I think what really saves me this time around is the support and accountability of blogging and type 2 diabetes.  Lots of things came together:  The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans started a 21 Day Habit Challenge, and it wasn't tied to weight loss AT ALL!  (yeay!)  I decided to commit to tracking EVERY day and not avoiding the weekends when I could use more accountability.  (I also committed to flossing my teeth, which I had been really good about doing but has lately become a habit-on-the-slip.  Which isn't as out-there as it seems; there's a connection between diabetes and dental health.)  And Biz wrote her post today, "Keeping the Eye on the Prize," and it made me realize that I have some work to do.

Right here (yes, I'm back below red line weight) is a really comfortable place for me.  I still feel like I can eat enough to make me feel good and satisfy my "foodie" side, yet stay within a given range.  But lately, I've been feeling like I ought to try a little harder, to at least get back to where I was last summer (which is about 10 pounds lower than I am now).  I feel like I need to break though the plateau and get to goal, to at least taste it.  "Goal" for me is the upper end of the healthy weight range for my height, a little over what I weighed in college, and is 26.2 pounds away.  Is it a reasonable goal?  No way of knowing until I try a little harder to get there. (And no, I really don't think it's a matter of not eating enough calories; -.5 lb/week gave me a calorie budget of around 2000 calories, and I'd generally eat more when I exercised, so my net was rarely below my daily budget.  -1 lb per week gives me a budget of 1788, and my calorie counter counts one's
"net calories" for the day, which is gross calories-exercise.  Exercise calories, I know, are a guesstimate, but I do try to keep it conservative.)

So what's the plan?  Right now, I'm doing everything "fitness-ly" possible.  I can't give any more time to it than I do already, and I'm pretty good about intensity when I'm working out.  It has to be the food: portion control, planning what I'm going to eat before I put it in my mouth, mindful eating. (Mr. Handsome-and-Handy cooks in a highly supportive manner; I am the one who puts the food in my mouth on the weekends, though.)  *sigh*, I know, the usual stuff.  I also have to be okay with feeling hungry now and then.  I feel physically hungry right now, in fact.  I'm planning to eat in about a half hour, so I'll wait it out.  (Later: Greek yogurt and strawberries.  Yum!)

Good Listens

I often use my commute time to listen to books on CD that I want to read, but am too lazy to do at home.  In other words, non-fiction items from the library.  Well, not all non-fiction; I listened to a compilation of old detective radio shows lately.  But I've been listening to some interesting items lately.  One was "Steering by Starlight" by Martha Beck, and the other is "What Should I Do with My Life?" by Po Bronson.  Both are read by the authors, who do a fantastic job.  I enjoyed both quite a lot.  I think Beck's book was saved from seeming too woo-woo by her common sense vibe and friendly-gravelly voice.  The Bronson book is actually a re-listen, and it has all kinds of little "zingers" in it that I hadn't remembered from my last listen.  (Which was probably several years and many formative CDs ago.)  One theme in his book is that change often doesn't happen until it "gets personal": the suffering one is in becomes immediate and concrete, and one has to change.  Boy, I sure can relate to that one. 

Good Eats

Not sure how many of you follow Amy Tenderish's "Diabetes Mine" site; it's a good one.  Today, she posted an article called, "Five Foods to Consider," in which a nutritionist and CDE discusses the benefits of some food choices one may not have considered.  I knew about most of them--chia seeds, Greek-style yogurt, and 70%+ dark chocolate are in regular rotation--but I didn't know that quinoa was considered a seed rather than a whole grain.  I need to sneak some more salmon in there.  Mr. Handsome-and-Handy enjoys it also, but we tend to go frugal on the protein (and go for foods that the kids would eat--they're a little too old for the "it's pink chicken!" fib). 

Progress This Week

7-day blood glucose average: 102 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 102 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: -4.4.  Whew!  Back below my "red line" weight.

Food goals: I actually did it!  I set a goal of tracking all 7 days, no matter how painful.  And oh, was it painful!  Tracking over the weekend made me realize how much I slack off and mindlessly eat on the weekends.  I'd eat, and then sit down and track, and then remember stuff later on that I'd forgotten, and pretty soon I was over budget.  I think setting the calorie threshold to a 1 lb/week setting has been helpful, because even if I go over a little bit, I can still maintain.
Fiber: On days tracked, averaged 33 grams/day.

Exercise goals: Met all goals this week.
Total mileage: 35 miles
Wednesday - 80 minutes (.8 mile) - 10-minute solutions yoga in the morning; in the afternoon, treadmill run (10 minutes, .8 mile) to warm up for Body Pump class (1 hour).
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 56 minutes (12.05 miles) - Stationary bike (38 minutes, 10.5 miles) and treadmill run (18 minutes, 1.55 miles) at the gym.
Saturday - 4 hours - School clean-up day.  Lots of yardwork (sweeping, weeding, a bit of lifting heavy things), so I'm counting this as strength exercise.
Sunday - Rest
Monday - 70 minutes (22.15 miles) - Spin class.  It usually goes for an hour, but I was a little early and the instructor went a little late, so got some extra time and miles.
Tuesday - 40 minutes (2 miles) - Lunchtime walk

Teeth: Flossed all but one day.
Sleep: Getting 7-8 hours per night.
Hockey Respite for Mr. H&H: Accomplished, and then some!  Mr. H&H got to go to the first game of the Red Wings vs. Sharks series.  Though the way the Wings have been playing against the Sharks (not to mention the poor officiating), well, don't know how much longer this will be on the goal list.

Goals for Next Week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals:
* Track food intake DAILY.
* Track fiber, aiming for at least 30 grams/day average.

Exercise goals:
* 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.
* Spin class at least once per week. I'd like to shoot for two, since I'm doing the bike portion of the "Tri the Coast" in early June.
* 2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

Misc. goals:
Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans 21 Day Habit Challenge goal of flossing daily.
7 or more hours sleep/night.
Continued "Hockey Respite" for Mr. H&H: Get home in time for Mr. Handsome-and-Handy to watch the Detroit Red Wings playoff games. (Go Wings!)

7 comments:

Brooke said...

great job on the weight loss - sometimes it take a slump to wake us up and get us back on track!

i promise i'm going to do a vlog acceptance of my award, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the shout out - now could you just yell at me to "move!"

Ha, had to laugh about "its pink chicken!" Hannah thought fish was chicken for YEARS!

We went on vacation - and her cousin said "this is really good fish!" and Hannah argued "that's not fish, its chicken!"

I think its been 8 years and she hasn't had fish since - other than Gorton's fish sticks, and that doesn't count as fish in my book!

You are doing great!!!

Lori said...

Just because you struggle does not make you a failure. We all struggle. I can slip and slide around the scale with the best of them LOL!

I wonder if you and I and a couple other bloggers out there that seem kid of stuck close to a goal are having the same issues. I found it really interesting that when I backed down my exercise because of my injury, my weight drifted down and I didn't change too much in my eating. I think that eating less is not always the answer, but maybe relaxing a little bit on the exercise is. Hard to do with race season, but just something to ponder. At least for a couple weeks. Let your body settle down and then pick back up.

Fattie Fatterton said...

You are awesome!!

I still love a quote that I took from another blogger, Fitcetera, which was that she couldn't control the scale - only her eating and her fitness. The scale goes up and down on a whim.

debby said...

Aww, Pubsgal. I feel Just like you sometimes. And this week I am close to feeling that way again. How can I be on top of everything, thinking how easy this is, how 'perfect' I'm eating, and then fall into this chasm of just eating TOO MUCH? That's what bugs me the most of all. Not the choices I make, but that I choose to eat when I am already full. Yesterday was just such a day. But what choice do we have? Don't want to go back to where I was before, so just gotta keep working at it.

I reached my 'scream' weight AFTER I started working out with Vicky (weight went UP after starting with her!) And I did lose those 13-15 pounds in the year since then.

Sometimes I think all of us should learn to be content at the weight we are at even if it is not perfect and is still considered overweight and the BMI is not perfect. If my darn back wasn't hurting so much right now, I would seriously consider that.

Well, just keep on keeping on. Darn food. If only it didn't taste/look/smell/taste so good.

Quinoa--I'm a big fan. I mostly have it for breakfast, either by itself or mixed with oatmeal. But I've had it fixed savory too. I like the texture. Funny thing is, I've never tasted that 'bitter' taste that they talk about, and I never rinse it. And I didn't know it was a seed, but what's the diff--isn't the grain we eat actually the seed part of the plant too? It does look like birdseed.

Anonymous said...

Pubs, I love that you listen to books in the car. I do that on and off again, but I love to have a good book for a long car drive. :)

Sagan said...

You're doing fantastic. Keep up the awesome work!