Adventures with Mary Lou and the Plate Method

Adventures with Mary Lou, Day 25

Digital scale: Up .6 pound.

(To compare with yesterday: Dressed identically to Day 24, different long-sleeved t-shirt. Had the same breakfast before my visit to Mary Lou's Platform.)

Mary Lou: "You are 2 pounds above your starting weight."
(Curious...I didn't think my t-shirt was 8 oz. lighter than the previous day's shirt, but it's possible. And why does she always sound like she's suppressing a weary sigh after delivering the news?)
"Remember: Out of sight, out of mind. When dining out, ask for half portions of everything you order. That way, you won't feel guilty eating everything on your plate."
[I did not record this time, but am pretty sure I got it verbatim. The word "guilty" always sticks out, doesn't it?]

Mr. Handsome & Handy & Frugal, on hearing today's message: "I'd feel guilty about wasting money. Why not get a take-home box for the rest?"

Yeah, that's what I was wondering! Maybe it's because I don't dine out very often, but surely there are some other tricks to try. Like eating less during the rest of the day and the days around the dining out? Planning ahead by checking out the menu or nutritional info online? Splitting a dinner with another family member and get a salad or other veggie side to fill up on? I kind of have a hard time not picking at what I intend to take home, but I'm doing better at making it until the to-go box arrives. That way, I won't miss out on tasty leftovers in my lunch the next day.

The Plate Method

But I think what really bothered me about today's advice was the mention of "feeling guilty." I know a lot of people struggle with the "clean plate club" guilt, eating past the point of enjoyment or fullness to avoid "feeling guilty" about leaving food on the plate. But it seemed to me like Mary Lou's advice implied that you should feel guilty for eating a whole plate of food! I know, I know, some restaurant meals put enough calories on a plate to fulfill the caloric needs of a family of four for an entire day. But don't we have enough emotional baggage at the dinner table? And what if you're hungry and you fill your plate in a way that it meets your body's needs for fuel?

Enter the "plate method," with much fanfare and cymbal flourishes. I learned about this as part of my diabetes education. You can read about it here and see an illustration, but you basically imagine your plate in 4 quadrants. Fill half of the plate with non-starchy vegetables. Fill one quarter with a starch serving (1/2 cup is about the size of half of your fist). Fill the remaining quarter with a protein serving (about the size of the palm of your hand, or a deck of cards). The Zone method folks also have a variation on the plate method over on their Zone Quick Start Guide page, and it seems a lot easier to follow than carb:protein:fat ratio one hears quoted with respect to the Zone method.

I don't use the plate method all of the time, but it's handy when I can't weigh and measure my food portions, such as when I'm eating at someone else's house or in a buffet situation.

Which leads me to my illustrations! They're a little tongue-in-cheek, actually, so see the above links for the truly useful (and healthful) advice.

Ah....Now that's my kind of "plate method" plate! Back in December, I won a terrific prize on the Diabetes Mine web site contest (answering the question, "How do you deal with holiday stress?"): a "diabetic friendly" gift pack of chocolate from verē. They are a low-sugar variety of dark chocolate: intense chocolate flavor (not overpowered by other flavorings when present), smooth texture, and they did not spike my blood glucose levels. Yeayy! But for obvious reasons, this would not be a regular item on my plate: they're pricey goodies! Oh, and while one good-sized square has 13 grams of carbohydrate (with 4 grams of fiber and only 5 grams of sugar), there are 12 grams of fat.

Mr. Handsome & Handy demonstrates the more traditional variation, but with a nice bourbon-and-diet-cola accompaniment. Hmmm...I guess the medical people would get kinda frowny-faced over this one, too. Oh well....

Adventures with Mary Lou, Day 24

I realize that I've been a bit unfair to Mary Lou: putting her in the garage, varying my attire nearly every weigh-in, writing posts about our adventure that have been kinda snarky. I think I'm venting my plateau frustration on her Platform; is it really her fault that I eat too many nuts, am coasting on my cardio, and baked chocolate chip cookies to send to my dad on Sunday? (Granted, in The Life Before, Dad would have been shipped probably 3 or 4 cookies from the entire batch, and one of those might have even had a bite out of it. This time, I ate 3 cookies on baking day...which is still 2 too many, but I *did* monitor my blood glucose and was okay that way. Won't be for very long, though, if I keep that up.)

So...today I weighed in on the digital scale, and I was -.6 lb. Sweet! But when I stepped on The Platform, Mary Lou said, "Crikey! What the...? Ow! Ow! Ow!" No, just kidding, she's always so polite. "You are two pounds above your starting weight." Huh??? Yesterday I was half a pound below the starting weight. Let us analyze:

Yesterday: I wore my black sweats, long-sleeved "Zen Mickey" t-shirt, sports bra, undies, carried my running jacket and running shoes. No socks. No breakfast or pills yet.

Today: I wore the same black sweats, a long-sleeved Land's End t-shirt (lighter weight), regular bra (no underwire, so equivalent weight), similar undies, socks, same running shoes, and held my same running jacket. Had 12-oz protein shake and 8 oz. glass of water (and pills) in my stomach.

Difference: Socks, 12-oz protein shake, 8-oz. glass of water, pills.

Here's the funny part: Today's advice? Drink 8 glasses of water per day. "Imagine it flushing out all the bad stuff, and making room for the good."

Darn socks!

Weekly update, 2/24/09

Adventures with Mary Lou, Day 23:
(Frankly, I'm glad February is almost done. I'm running out of funny things to say, so I'll pretty much just let The Platform speak for itself. Look for the final analysis next Tuesday.)
"You are half a pound below your starting weight." (This was up from my previous weigh-in.) "Don't get discouraged. Focus on the fact that you're actually doing something to be a healthier, happier you." (I'm trying to focus on that. Really.)

Progress last week
7-day blood glucose average: 96 (met goal of <120)
7-day fasting: 95 average, all days <120 (met goal of <120 every day)
Weight goal: +1 (did not met goal of maintain or lose)
Food goals: Consumed 5 meatless, low-fat meals and 1 fish meals. (met meatless, missed fish by 1 meal)
Exercise goals: 4.5x30 min. cardio (4.5 because I was short 2 days, one day by 10 minutes and one day by 5 minutes), including 2 runs. Attended BodyPump class and did Yoga/rowing machine on Friday for my strength workouts. (Missed exercise goals by 1/2 cardio, 1 run.)
Misc. goals: Got adequate sleep all nights. Am documenting my adventures with Mary Lou's Platform. Refining food goals for better HDL/LDL still on the to-do list. Chatted with one fellow gym-goer, but fell a bit short on the encouraging "offline" others goal.

Monthly Measure
Ah...the good news! I think this can all be attributed to a month of BodyPump class, since it sure wasn't due to a weight loss.
Bust: -1" (may be partially due to better bra)
Ribcage: -.5"
Waist: -.5"
Hips: -.75"
Thighs: -.25"

Goals for this week
7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or lose.
Food goals: 4 or more meatless, low-fat meals and 2 or more fish meals.
Exercise goals: At least 30 minutes of cardio 5 days, plus 2 days of arms & abs strength training workouts. *This week only: omitting specific # of running workouts goal. Resuming next week. Note to self: Do this for a couple of weeks after every race; I felt that burned-out feeling again.*
Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.
Hang in there! It's the last week of Adventures with Mary Lou.
Try the Hatha Yoga class at the gym this week again to see if it will fit in with the regular school-time schedule.
Tighten up on the food plan in general, plus refine my nutritional goals regarding fiber and fats, to improve HDL/LDL numbers.

Pubsgal Tries Yoga!

Namaste, y'all! Happy Friday!

Today I made it to the gym at 6:20 a.m.; this week I was right on time for the 6:30 hatha yoga class at the gym. It was my first; all I really knew about yoga going in is that it's good for flexibility and that there's something called a "downward dog" involved. (In other words, I am pretty much totally ignorant about it.) But from the brief bit I've read a bit about it, there are many levels to yoga. This being a gym class, though, the emphasis was mostly on the physical practice, rather than the other aspects of the practice. (For example, in the class I took, maybe about 5 minutes at the start and 2-3 minutes at the end were spent on the breathing aspect, no meditation or other instruction.)

The instructor took some time at the beginning to get me orientated: helped with equipment (mat! blocks! straps! blankets! oh my!), suggested a place to sit near one of the regulars, and said to feel free to ask if I needed alternatives to the various poses. During class, he was very good about explaining what we were going for in the various positions, and he took time to circle the room, checking how everyone was doing and correcting form.

We started with a sitting position called the "hero pose," and I felt less than heroic. My ankles protested mightily, and I thought to myself, Oh good heavens, this is only the *first* pose??? (Note to self: Next time, ask instructor before class for a variation for making this work better for me. During the peaceful, starting chant/invocation didn't feel like the right time.)

The rest of the class involved assuming and holding a variety of poses (asanas), and I found that I was really using my muscles as well as stretching them. (And good heavens, have I been neglecting the flexibility!) I don't know all of the terminology, so I can't really describe it in a lot of detail, but I felt interested and challenged by the class and look forward to learning more. (Such as: it's "downward facing dog," and this pose is my new friend.) The most difficult items for me were the inverted poses: I felt a bit fearful of falling on my head when we walked up the wall with our feet (what??? smudge those nice, clean mirrors?). I was not able to do the handstand, although the instructor encouraged us to "play with it" and showed some intermediate poses if we couldn't do the full handstand. (Hey, I also learned why people wear those tightly-fitted tank tops to yoga class. Thank goodness everyone else was busy with their own poses! Note to self: Wear something under the t-shirt that looks less obviously like girly underthings.) I also felt the burn on the pose where you kneel and put your hips up to the wall, then bend backwards. We did that several times, and oooo, that was a toughie! I wasn't the only one grimacing and gritting my teeth (and trying to breathe properly and not gasp), so that was encouraging.

After class, the gal next to me and I chatted a bit. (The yoga people seemed much more interactive with each other than my BodyPump classmates...I get the impression that there are a lot of regulars.) She's been practicing for a year and a half, and she said that our instructor was great because he takes the time to make sure everyone is in proper alignment. She mentioned other good instructors, and I said this was the only class I could take, with my schedule. "You can't just do it once a week," she chuckled, and we talked home practice and DVDs. Hmmm...where to fit *this* in?, I wondered to myself. Will I be a regular on Fridays? I may need to try another week (when our schedule has resumed its normal craziness) to be sure.

Your turn! Do you practice yoga? Do you have any favorite resources (books, DVDs, web sites) that you go to? (The links in this article are from my 5 minutes of Googling, I'm a total yoga newbie.)

P.S. Here's a fun link: About.com's "What's Your Yoga Type?" I'm definitely mellow, so I guess I was in the right place.

P.P.S. Oh yeah, my other adventure, with Mary Lou! Today I was down 1.5 pound from my starting weight (slightly different clothes...the digital scale said I'm up .2 lb today), got the applause, and Mary Lou suggested that I try a combo of sparkling water and fruit juice instead of soda. Good idea, but for now, I think I'll stick to my chia powder and green tea..."slimy, yet satisfying!" as Timon and Pumba would say.

The Continued Adventures...

...blah blah blah.

Day...um, what day is it? Oh, never mind. Here's what Mary Lou had to tell me this morning:

"You are at your original starting weight."
(Mary Lou ever-so-politely pauses to allow Person on Platform to go, "What the...?" or to scream an expletive.)
"When you gain weight" (the Platform is smart and knows what you weighed at your last weigh-in) "you may be tempted to skip meals. DON'T. It can lead to low blood sugar and sudden hunger pangs" (I laughed out loud at this point) "which can lead to binge eating and unhealthy food cravings."

Heh. Mary Lou can rest easy that I will not skip meals, nor allow my blood sugar to get too low, for that matter. But this is the point I'd been warned about: I think the dramatic losses have ended. I've been bobbing around the same weight for about a month now. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Part of me is just happy to be resting here right now. My other health indicators are good, and I've lost a good amount of weight, even if it is 30 pounds from the top of the "healthy" BMI range for my height. However, I suspect that on some level I feel kind of frustrated about it. (For example, a friend's query about whether I'd broken through the plateau yet made me feel a flash of anger...I'm thankful it was over IM and not in person. Where did that come from?) Which means I ought to tighten up on the food intake and do more or different exercise. But part of what I feel is just simply tired of thinking of new things to change. I guess it's the same old story: fatigue vs. determination.

Oh, but I'd much rather close on a positive note. I was feeling really tired of the ol' neighborhood loop. Fortunately, Things 1&2 don't have school this week, so my morning routine has a bit more leeway, and today was sunny. I hit the coast trail...saw lots of little cottontail rabbits and a coworker going for a bike ride! Here's a photo from the trail...

Weekly update, 2/17/09

Busy times....Here's the weekly update!

Progress last week
7-day blood glucose average: 97 (met goal of <120)
7-day fasting: 99 average, all days <120 (met goal of <120 every day)
Weight goal: -.8 (met goal of maintain or lose)
Food goals: Consumed 7 meatless, low-fat meals and 2 fish meals. (met goals)
Exercise goals: 4x30 min. cardio, including 2 runs. Attended BodyPump class and worked out with weights at home. (Missed exercise goals by 1 cardio, 1 run.)
Misc. goals: Met my Q1 '09 goal of running a 5K race. Got adequate sleep all nights. Am documenting my adventures with Mary Lou's Platform. Tried chia; I couldn't find the whole seeds, but I found some ground chia seed fiber. I like it in green tea (which I've dubbed my "pond scum special") and in yogurt, not so much in soup. Missed my goal of attending the gym's Hatha yoga class this week. Refining food goals for better HDL/LDL still on the to-do list.

Goals for this week
7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or lose.
Food goals: 4 or more meatless, low-fat meals and 2 or more fish meals.
Exercise goals: At least 30 minutes of cardio 5 days, plus 2 days of arms & abs strength training workouts. For cardio, do at least 3 runs, weather permitting (Weather-permitting=not raining and temperature over 40 degrees).
Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.
Continue Adventures with Mary Lou.
Try the Hatha Yoga class at the gym this week.
Refine my nutritional goals regarding fiber and fats, to improve HDL/LDL numbers.

*New misc. goals this week*: Compliment/encourage at least 3 people offline this week, and talk to at least 1 other gym-goer. I feel like I've been on the receiving end a lot lately, both on- and offline, and in a way I think it's a "cosmic hint" to me to pass it on to others in the "offline" world. I'm kind of shy about doing so in person. And I'm still *really* shy about the fellow gym-goers...I tend to not even make eye contact or smile, which is silly of me...why do I see this as "different" somehow from passing people during my runs?

President's Day 5K Today!

Today was the President's Day 5K at Coyote Point!

It's a gorgeous place on a nice day...sad to say, but this morning was not very hospitable to racing....

We had quite a storm yesterday, nearly 2.5 inches of rain. Would I be the only nut out there this morning? I called the organizer to be sure...nope, the race was happening, rain or shine! Mr. Handsome-and-Handy, though, dug out a set of waterproof pants and jacket. I woke to another stormy morning, but made a nice, hot dish of oatmeal and peanut butter and went to the race!

No, I was NOT the only nut out there! There were folks of all ages and running abilities, and there were even a couple of young kids run/walking with their parents. But I was the only one in heavy plastic pants and jacket. (I squeaked. Oh, the shame.) And we weren't the nuttiest of the nuts...stage 2 of the Tour de California bike race was also happening this morning.

"Well," I said to one woman, "this is probably the only day I can say, 'If Lance Armstrong can do it, so can I!' "

I swear, she must have been a Bumbling Band member in disguise: "No! Today is the day to say, 'If I can do it, so can Lance Armstrong!' "

Then it was time! We assembled at the starting line, and the organizer informed us that the 5K was a little longer than that distance, by about .4 mile. I was near the back of the pack the entire race, and I was worried about getting too tired, so I just kept a steady jog the whole time and enjoyed the scenery. (I'm a pretty slack racer...next one, I'll have to go all out.)

All finishers got a nice medal, in addition to a sweatshirt. My time was 45:49, which is slower than I did in the Pumpkin Run. I probably would have been faster in less cumbersome gear. Oh well, it was a really pleasant run, even with the wet weather.

The early hour and wet weather prevented my fans from joining me, but I got a couple of nice banners to celebrate when I got home!