Day 55: Daily Report

As you may have noticed, I've been a slacker when it comes to the daily report. I've been tracking but it all makes so much more sense when I see it "in lights".

Breakfast

• banana
• apple

Lunch

• sweet potato w/1 tsp butter
• broccoli and cauliflower

Snack

• chocolate chunk cookie from Speciality's. I know, right?

Dinner

• brown rice, black beans, spinach, salsa, lf cheese
• baked tortilla chips

Dessert

• orange

Water

• 75 oz

Exercise

• walked 2 miles

Calories/fat/%: 1632/?/? Couldn't find info on the cookie, but I guessed that it was about 600 calories (nice, huh?). I'm off the charts for fat today. See what one little cookie can do?

Observations: It was a busy, stressful day. I did the best I could. There were probably a dozen cookies left over from our meeting and I didn't stash a bunch of them in my desk drawer, so that's a good thing...

Interesting Research Article about Chocolate and Solving Problems

Found this article online and thought it was interesting.

Chocolate Spiral Research Debunks Myths
Greenville, NC
Think reaching for chocolate can help you solve your problems? You may want to think twice, as researchers have recently shown through an extensive study proving that chocolate does not solve problems as some have previously thought.

Just ask Peggy Sue, mother of 5 children and regular consumer of chocolate. Peggy Sue took her 5 month old baby, Elvis, to the pediatrician on Monday for a weight check. It seems that, even though Peggy Sue herself is significantly overweight, the milk her body produces for baby Elvis is skim milk! The infant is not gaining weight well, and pressure from the pediatrician staff about supplementing catapulted Peggy Sue into what researchers call "the chocolate spiral".

"Women, and especially mothers, find respite in chocolate...often running to it as a problem-solver when really the opposite is true. It's a myth propogated by the media, movies, other women. Chocolate just makes their stress worse because of the guilt they feel afterward," said Dr. Downwith Sweets, Ph. D. and head researcher at the Chocolate Crisis Clinic (CCC) at Sugar University. "Peggy Sue was the perfect guinea pig for the study as she was suffering from stress AND lack of sleep, not to mention regular doses of guilt stemming from both her inability to lose weight and her lack of control in many aspects of her life. We followed her for nearly a whole day and recorded what she ate in response to stress."

Peggy Sue left her pediatrician's office on Monday, February 23, in a harried state. Having been told by both the nurse practitioner and the pediatrician that her baby's weight gain was unacceptable and that she would need to supplement, Peggy Sue's emotions were in full swing. All of her children, with the exception of her firstborn, began having issues breastfeeding between 3 and 5 months of age and all refused the breast once formula supplementation was begun.

"I didn't want to stop nursing them. But at the time, I didn't know any better than to just quit," Peggy Sue lamented.

Wanting what was best for her baby, but also knowing that a mother's intuition is rarely wrong, she left the pediatrician's office upset, confused, and feeling defeated. "I went through hell the first three months of Elvis' life, just trying to survive breastfeeding. I don't want to give up now because it will feel to me like I did all that in vain. And if this is my last child, I want to savor every moment of 'babyness' with him."

Peggy Sue went first to the craft store to buy cake decorating supplies, and bought a truffle for her and each of her kids at the checkout. "It was just a little truffle," she explained. But that wasn't the end. Far from it. Next, after leaving Target, she was accosted by Girl Scouts selling cookies. Limiting herself to one box, she led her crew down the sidewalk to Barnes and Noble. "I figured I'd be safe there," she recalled

If only that had been true. Strategically placed in the checkout line in most Barnes and Noble stores is a display of Godiva chocolates. Peggy Sue picked up a box of leftover chocolate hearts. "They were 50% off. 50% OFF!! How can you not buy that?" But as soon as Peggy Sue got back to the car and tried them, she knew she had been deceived. The chocolates failed dismally to improve her mood.

Next was the grocery store, where she bought a pack of Reese's peanut butter cups. "It is not uncommon for women to couple their chocolate needs with another medium, such as peanut butter, because that also provides a saltiness that they often crave in combination with the chocolate," explained Dr. Sweets. "This often signals a more serious condition, as is the case with Peggy Sue."

Having once again succombed to the checkout demons, Peggy Sue ate the cups in her car on the way home, while simultaneously opening the Caramel Delites to "share" with her children. "I can't resist that particular Girl Scout Cookie," she confessed. "They just melt in my mouth. But today they just felt, well, wrong somehow. I still felt upset."

Dr. Sweets has dealt with hundreds of women caught in the chocolate spiral. "They all have different stresses, different triggers if you will, but they all have one thing in common. They all run to chocolate in some form or another to deal with those stresses. In Peggy Sue's case, this spiral lasted many hours, well into the evening, culminating in a family dessert that masqueraded as an experiment in healthier eating."

Peggy Sue made a brownie mix for her family's "family night" treat. Lulling herself into a false sense of security, she substituted chickpea puree for the oil in the recipe. "It's a tragedy really. I mean, look at this otherwise sane woman. In her desperation to sort out her stress and emotions she turns to a fickle and unfaithful lover--chocolate--and continually justifies her repeated rendezvous with it. She's gone so far as to call her addiction 'healthy' just because she added some beans in," Dr. Sweets said. "This is why I do this research. This is why we started the CCC. To help women like Peggy Sue. But in the end, no one can do this for her. She has to be the one to make the changes."

Peggy Sue was later able to reach a friend by phone who talked her through the problem and encouraged her to trust her intuition regarding the breastfeeding problem. Together they were able to come up with a plan to tackle the issue. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. "Too often, women like Peggy Sue find a viable option for dealing with their stress too late. Looking back on their actions, they feel an overwhelming sense of guilt and remorse that often makes them feel worse than before. In Peggy Sue's case, the situation is most dire because she has the added burden of knowing that she may have to stay at her current weight for quite a while to insure that her baby's milk intake doesn't suffer," Dr. Sweets commented. "It's not a situation that will be easy for her. She has two choices, essentially...she can either give in to the stress and make the situation worse or she can accept the limitations that have been placed on her and 'make lemonade out of lemons' as it were. Well, diet lemonade."

Peggy Sue could not be reached for further comment at the time of this writing.

Betty Lou Gets Clear, Gets Organized, and Gets Skinny!

We could sit here all day and gripe about how hard/impossible/unfair this whole weight loss thing is, right? About how wish we had more time to exercise, or sleep, or plan, or get organized or [enter your need here].... or that we were pampered celebrities so that we could just hire a chef, or a personal trainer, or a plastic surgeon or a [enter your wish here]. But that's not getting us anywhere, is it? I mean, we've done that already, so we know that's not all that effective. Sure, Peggy Sue, we've both lost a little, but we've also backtracked a lot. So, once again, I'm thinking we need to circle the wagons, rally the troops, call in for reinforcement, put on our big fat girl pants (or would that be our fat big girl pants) and get this thing over with. What in the world are we waiting for?

I know this will come as huge news to you, PS, but it's all about the math and planning. And you know that math was never my strong suit, so maybe that's why it's taken me all this time to just put all down on paper, but that's what I did last night. I figured what my calories intake and activity level should be daily and weekly in order to lose 2 pound a week. Is it unrealistic to expect 2 pounds a week? Perhaps. But I'll work for 2 and be happy enough with 1 a week. I may not be good at math, but I can handle this. I'm perfectly happy to make this all one big math problem and take the emotion out of it as much as possible. Just look at the whole objectively. It's not forever... I mean it is forever, but it will only be this hard for a little while. Right? Please tell me I'm right. Pretty please?

So here, once again, is my plan:

• Track and count, track and count. 1600 calories per day. Whole, organic foods as much as possible. Lots o' fruits, veggies and lean proteins...the usual.
  
• Move and sweat, move and sweat. Burn 2600/week (using 100 cals per mile or 15 mins other cardio)
• Sip and drink, sip and drink. 100 oz water/day
• Sleep and dream, sleep and dream. Minimum 7 hours per night.

and finally

• Plan and plan, plan and plan. Plan to the cows come home. Plan meals, plan time to exercise, plan everything. I realize that no matter what I manage to achieve by doing the things above, if I don't go back to approaching this in an organized way I'll go back to square one the very moment I lose focus and try to wing it. So plan and plan and then plan the plan some more.
  

It's doesn't get more basic than that. Does it?

Day 49: Daily Report

I forgot to record my food as I ate today, so here's my food to the best of my memory:
Breakfast

• bowl of bran flakes with milk

Lunch

• leftover fish burritos from last night (with fresh salsa, spinach, tomato, cheese, baja sauce)
• a serving of leftover fiesta potatoes (trying to use up some taters)

Snack

• at homeschool co-op: one piece of sushi and a few bites from a sampler tray of various foods
• at home: smoothies with home-juiced fruits, yogurt, and spinach
• about a dozen saltine crackers

Dinner

• leftover fish burritos and potatoes

Dessert

• 2 pieces of lemon cake: lemon cake mix made with leftover fresh juice (pineapple, orange, carrot), chickpea puree in place of oil, and eggs

Water

• about 70 oz.

Exercise

• 1 hour walk with the kids (at a good pace, they're good at walking fast)

Victories: Getting back on the horse and recording again.

Defeats: The second piece of cake.

Observations: I shouldn't be making cake. I adore using up leftovers!

The Amazing Adventures of.....Absent Girl!

Chewing faster than a locomotive. Able to eat tall platefuls in a single bite. It's...it's....ABSENT GIRL!!! What's she been up to? Why, championing the cause of freedom, that's what! Liberating Dove Bananas Foster chocolates from their foil prisons. Freeing phyllo dough from the deep dark recesses of the freezer and baking it up to help it live out it's buttery, cinnamon-sugary dreams. Helping carbs everywhere realize their full potential. Sacrificing her own health to accommodate calories from every food group. What would we do without her?

The answer to your question is Yes, I am full of crap.

I don't know what's going on with me. Rebellion? Boredom? Stress? Well, actually I do know that last one is for sure going on. I keep thinking that I'm just going through a phase and that the next day will be better. But it's not. It's been so hard for me to keep track of everything lately. Add into the equation that Baby Elvis is making night time not so fun anymore, which has made me so much more tired and cranky. Hey Elvis, what's up with this getting up several times a night to nurse? What happened to the sleeping all night long thing, that by the way, you HAD been doing since you were 7 weeks old? But I digress.

My point, and I'm not sure that I have one, is that I have reached some sort of motivational plateau. I'm tired of tracking every morsel of food. Tired of trying to work exercise into the day. Tired of everything. Tired. I can't go back to the type of detailed tracking I was doing before, not right now at least. But I don't trust myself enough to just "wing it" either, because I can feel that I'm gaining weight back. What's a not so super girl to do?

The only thing that I can think of is to simplify my gameplan. Same goals, modified plan. I don't have it completely outlined yet, but here are my rambled thoughts:

• I need to try to sweat every day.
• I need to get in a minimum of 64 ounces of water a day.
• I need to eat 6 servings of fruit and veg each day.
• I have to make sure that there are no major temptations in the house.
• I think that recording what I eat is still important, but for now the calories and fat calculations are going to have to wait in the wings.
• Eating slower would be helpful.
  
• Also, some sort of cheat sheet reminder that shows me, in order of importance, what my daily priorities are.
  

Wow. Not too impressive is it? Well, it's better than nothing, which is about what I've been up to the last few days. I thought about not doing recording anymore, but my food behavior over the last several days has been...um....ahem....less than stellar.

Okay, so starting today, this very moment, I'm back. I'm probably not going to lose weight very fast, but it's a health commitment I'm supposed to be engaging in here, not just a weight loss commitment. Hopefully, persistance and determination will pay off in the long, long, long run. Absent Girl is officially retiring.

Now, if I can just get these stupid tights off.

Day 48: Daily Report

Breakfast/Lunch

• ww mini bagel egg, turkey bacon, lf cheese sandwich
• 1 cup grapes

Early Snack

• ww pretzels

Later Snack

• too much cranberry trail mix
  

Dinner

• 1 piece homemade cheese pizza (1/8 of 12" pizza)
• green salad w/veggies, vinaigrette

Dessert

• 1/2 strawberry popsicle (100% fruit)
• too many lf choc animal cookies (Traders Joes)

Calories/fat/% 1930/72/33%

Water

• 60+ oz
  

Exercise

• not
  

Victories: Not many.

Defeats: Same old story. Isn't this boring?

Observations: I'm a lazy slug and I snack too much. Good news is, the trail mix is gone. I shouldn't have bought it. On the other hand, if I'd just gotten a little walk in, I could have at least made up for the trail mix.

Day 47: Daily Report

Breakfast

• 1 c nf plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup Go Lean Crunch
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 blueberries

Snack

• 1/4 cup cranberry trail mix

Lunch

• chinese chicken salad light with 2 tbsp lite dressing, slivered almonds (no fried noodles or any of that stuff)
• small roll

Snack

• 1/2 c cranberry trail mix... too yummy
• 12 sesame thins

Dinner

• 1/2 bruschetta burger at Applebee's (sub veggie burger for beef)
• side broccoli

Dessert

• 2 bites of Diego's choc sundae

Water

• 60 oz

Exercise

• none, too rainy

Calories/fat/%: 1779/67/33%

Victories: keeping damage to a minimum at dinner. I'd planned to split my veggie burger with Gidget but as it turned out, I wasn't that hungry and she order a chicken wrap that was gross so I didn't eat it.
Defeats: too much trail mix/fat

Observations: I'm starting to realize that I need to find a time to exercise (with no kids to consider) and stick to it, rain or shine.

Gimme 5... er... Take 5!

What I'm trying say is: Whoohoo! I finally lost five pounds! 5.6 to be exact. Took long enough, huh? I got off to a slow start, but now that I'm tracking calories, I think I'm on the right track. That still leaves me with a whole gob of pounds left to lose, but I'm finally thinking I can do it. It's funny that my 5 pound "reward" was supposed to be new sunglasses (I broke my favorite pair and my backup pair disappeared off my desk at work!) and I bought some on sale a few days ago but forgot about them until my weigh-in yesterday. I guess my brain knew that I'd lost this week. I can't wait until my pants know!

I have some other goals/rewards in mind. I'm trying not to tie losses to dates because that usually doesn't work for me. Just going along with my plan... counting my calories and getting my exercise in... should keep my going in the right direction. It's so easy for me to get discouraged, but somehow, I have to keep my eyes on the ultimate prize and trust that I'll get to my goals if I stick with it.

I haven't been tracking my food carefully for the last few days. A crazy make-due schedule took over that was out of my hands and then I came down with the flu. I'm feeling better today and I'll be back to my normal meals and tracking tomorrow.

Betty Lou's Winter Buffet: Epilogue

As it turns out, not long after I posted my last whiny, self-pitying entry about this stupid party, I received word about a family emergency and I didn't end up going afterall. Saved by the bell? Perhaps. But I would seriously love to hear about a party and not panic about how crappy I look, you know? On the other hand, considering the nature of the emergency, I realize that there are much bigger problems in the world than "what am I going to wear?". I feel pretty silly about the things I stress out about sometimes.

Weigh In: Week 6

Well, that looks like a good weigh-in to me. Not that it's what I want to weigh... but it's a couple of pounds closer to goal. I had two things going for me this week: I tried really hard to stay on plan with food and I had some unexpected stress that kept me busy and in check. I would gladly trade the reason for my stress for a the pounds I lost if it would do any good... well, maybe gladly isn't the right word... but my life lesson this week is that I can't control anything except myself. And I did. I'm happy about that. PS. by the time weigh-in day rolled around, I was about to come down with the flu. That might have something to do with it, too.



Ick. I'm just not doing so hot. I'm having real motivation problems. And I'm also having issues trying to juggle everything. I wonder if maybe I need to just focus on water, exercise, and eating good foods and not worry about recording every bite for a while. Either that or record every bite and NOT exercise. I don't seem to be very good at handling all those components, with everything else going on in life right now. Not sure how I'm going to handle this. I really didn't think I'd gain this week, because many days I didn't eat that much. I'm in a pickle.

Day 45: Daily Report

I've been in bed with the flu today, but I think I'm starting to feel human again. This is what I've eaten today:

• 1/2 sleeve saltines
• 2 cans ginger ale
• 1 lime popsicle

Too bad weigh-in's not tomorrow!






Breakfast (late)

• Nutrisystem pancake mix with 1 banana, 1/2 c. cottage cheese, 1/3 c. homemade syrup, 1 tsp. smart balance spread (ick)
• 6 oz. milk/rice milk mixture

Snack

• 2 100 calorie packs of lite popcorn
• 1 oz. cheddar cheese

Dinner

• steak, cheese fries (made for us by my hubby for Valentine's Day)
• cinnamon oblivion (ala Outback) also made by hubby
  

Water

• 64 oz.
  

Exercise

• 30 minutes of cardio

Victories: Breakfast. Getting in some exercise.

Defeats: Dinner.

Observations: I'm still struggling with motivation and self-control.

Peggy Sue's Cake-athon!! It's not what you think

I've been noticeably absent the last couple of days, haven't I? No daily reports from me, but I AM still here. I haven't been reporting for a couple of reasons. One, I've been crazy busy cranking out cakes for Valentine's Day. Two, I haven't kept track of my food because when I get in funbusy mode, I just eat to satiate hunger and don't pay much attention to what it is. Usually, it's not the best choice, but my portions are pretty small. I honestly can't remember much of what I've eaten the last couple of days. But my cakes are all done (thank goodness, I'm exhausted and my feet hurt) and I'm going back to recording food/calories/fat tomorrow. Want to know what I've been up to? Here you go:
That's a lotta cake, huh? I've made cakes before but this was my first venture into fondant--both using it and making it. I had a TON of fun and I gave almost all the cakes away to friends and family. Almost, because I felt it was important to taste the fondant with the cake, so my first cake (the blue one with the single pink rose) is the one I tasted. I cut it up with the kids and we all sampled it. Pretty good. I need to experiment more (later) to find the best tasting recipes because I feel that the taste on these took back seat to the fondant. But it was still pretty good. I especially love the zebra stripes! Did those today.

Okay, so anyway.....my apologies, Betty Lou, for flaking out the last couple of days. I have been behaving for the most part, but I'm still afraid for tomorrow's weigh in. I hope it's not too bad. I really am ready to give this more attention; but I had to get this cake stuff done by Valentine's and now all the fondant is used up, my kitchen is all caked out, and I'm tired of standing up frosting, baking, kneading, decorating....at least until Easter.

I'm back. Miss me?

Day 42: Daily Report

Breakfast

• 3/4 c. granola
• 4 oz. soy milk

Rest of the Day

• Lean Cuisine frozen entree
• 1 banana
• overdose of KFC popcorn chicken
• spinach salad with lowfat cheese and lite dressing
• 1/2 peanut butter sandwich
  
• 1/4 c. chocolate candy melts
• 1/2 cupcake

Water

• 80 oz.

Exercise

• nope, literally never had a chance

Calories/Fat/%: I got not clue, man.

Victories: Water. Considering all the confections I was around today, it's a miracle I didn't eat more sugar.

Defeats: Still too much sugar, and I had a sugar crash. Not exercising, but I was SO busy today and I'm SO exhausted right now.

Observations: I don't feel good about the weigh-in tomorrow. I feel fat today, and I don't think the scale is going to be nice to me tomorrow. I have done better over the last few days, but my body just feels heavy today. I think I might be getting anemic...I have been craving meat the last couple of days and I never do that unless I'm anemic or getting close to it.

Betty Lou's Winter Buffet: Chapter Two

Well, well, well... what have we here? A winter buffet? Why am I not surprised that you sneaked up on me like that? It's just like you to be all quiet and lurky and then to pop off the calendar the day before. I predicted that I'd have nothing to wear and I was right! I knew that I'd feel all large and unattractive... even more so than usual... on the day you'd come to town. I have a way of knowing these things. I even knew that mapping out my weight loss five weeks ago wouldn't do any good and that I'd panic the day of no matter what. Don't you ever learn?

Is it that you don't care about me? Is that it? You know that I'm the type to just go anyway, right? Even though I'll feel all ugly and there will cameras there and everyone else will look all nice and be having a great time. Oh, I'll go, alright. Are you kidding me? I never get to go anywhere, so I'll go. And sure, I'll feel self conscience at first. And I'll avoid the cameras at all costs. And tomorrow or the next day when the photos go up on the company portal, I'll look through them in horror and, yeah, you might be able to spot the back of my big fat head in some of them. But, other than that, you'll have no evidence of me there.

After I'm there for a while and I'm chatting with all my work friends, many of whom I hardly see anymore because I'm always high-tailing it home to pick up kids at the end of the day, I might forget that I felt uncomfortable when I first arrived. A little music, a little champagne, an hors d'ouvre here and there. I'll start to have a good time. But at some point, maybe in the ladies room mirror, maybe in a reflection on the way out of the building, I'll see what I forgot about. And it won't be pretty. I'll see why I didn't want to go to the stupid winter buffet in the first place. I'll also see a reminder of why I'm on this dang journey to Shamrock. Because I so don't want to be the most uncomfortable person at the party anymore.

Day 41: Daily Report

Breakfast

• egg, spinach, feta wrap
  
• nf latte

Snack

• mini choc croissant

Lunch

• lf, vegan split pea soup
  
• small wheat roll
  

Snack

• frozen yogurt

Dinner

• mixed green salad, 1 T balsamic dressing
• 2 pieces toast w/cottage cheese

Dessert

• 1 2x2" piece of ginger bread

Calories/fat/%: 1632/70/38%

Water

• 60 oz

Exercise

• 4 miles walking (on my lunch hour!)
  

Victories: Not going over calorie goal. Not eating more gingerbread, believe it or not.

Defeats: Not enough water. Too many sweets. Still too much fat!

Observations: I had major cravings today. I think I did a decent job of controlling them. But even a controlled day is not a perfect day. This is challenging!





Breakfast

• 3/4 c. organic granola
• 4 oz. soy milk

Lunch

• Lean Cuisine frozen entree
• 1/2 peanut butter sandwich

Snack

• 1 banana

Dinner

• 1 small piece homemade cake with buttercream and fondant (baking experiments)
• 100 calorie pack popcorn

Snack

• spinach tortilla with 1/3 c. lowfat cheese and 1/4 c. homemade salsa

Calories/Fat/%: 1495/51.5/31%

Water

• 50 oz.

Exercise

• walked for 1 hour with kids and stroller

Victories: Not going over calories. Finally getting in some exercise.

Defeats: A little low on the calories. I would say cake, but I really needed to know if it tasted good as I was giving away another cake made the same way, and it was all new recipes. Not enough veggies. Not enough water.

Observations: It was a pretty good day. I was very busy making cakes and buttercream, and rolling out fondant, making fondant roses. It was fun. Whenever I am funbusy I never eat a whole lot. It felt good to exercise today, but my hips are killing me tonight!

Day 40: Daily Report

Breakfast

• 1 cup 1% cottage cheese
• 1 apple

Snack

• string cheese
• banana
  

Lunch

• salad w/veggies, lf cheese, 1/4 avocado, 6 tortillas chips, balsamic vinaigrette,and grilled chicken breast
  

Snack

• string cheese
• 1 tangerines
  

Dinner

• baked potato w/1 cup broccoli and cauliflower, 1 oz lf cheddar
  

Dessert

• lf vanilla yogurt frozen

Water

• 80 oz

Exercise

• that would be no

Calories/fat/%: 1774/66/33%

Victories: Ok food day, but a bit over my calorie goal and too much fat (all that cheese!)

Defeats: No exercise.

Observations: I like cheese.







Breakfast

• 3/4 c. organic granola
• 1/2 c. soy milk
• 2 Kris Kringles*

Lunch

• Lean Cuisine frozen entree
• 1 c. spinach with 1/4 c. homemade salsa for dressing
• 3/4 cup sf jello, 1/4 c. ff cool whip, 1 banana
  

Snack

• 100 calorie pack of popcorn
  

Dinner

• 4 small homemade waffles with butter and homemade syrup
• 8 oz. milk
  

Calories/Fat/%: known = 1899/43/20%

Water

• bad....32 oz.
  

Exercise

• none...ended up not feeling well when I had planned to exercise tonight
  

Victories: pretty well with the planned food.

Defeats: Having the Kris Kringles at breakfast (basically Rice Krispie treats with peanut butter instead of marshmallow, topped with combo of choc and butterscotch chips). I had the first one to test it, no really, because I was going to send it to work with Neo. But the sugar base cooked too long and made the bars too hard so I told him not to take it. Didn't stop me from having a second one. Dufus. Plus, I used generic butterscotch chips and that made them not all that great. Why am I wasting calories on stuff that's "not that great"? Huh? Not getting enough veggies or water.

Observations: Too often I eat something and then go "huh, I wonder what the calories and fat are of that?" HELLOOOOO. Do the math first, idiot. This could be a hard week, as I have a LOT of baking to do for Valentine's stuff. As for calories and fat.....I don't really know the actual number because I was doing a fair bit of tasting during baking today....testing homemade fondant, and I did eat the "debris" from leveling a 6" layer of cake.

Day 39: Daily Report

Breakfast

• Irish oatmeal w/berries
• hard-boiled egg
  

Snack

• apple
• string cheese

Lunch

• zucchini w/rice
  

We interrupt this daily update with a message from Betty Lou's nemisis... popcorn.

Hi! I'm popcorn. You may recognize me from the movies, your local microwave, or even the ballpark. But do you recognize me as a huge obstacle to your weight loss? It doesn't have to be that way! Now, for an unlimited time, when you avoid me at all possible costs, you'll lose weight faster, feel better, and stay on track longer. You'll no longer skip dinner after eating too much popcorn for no good reason. That's right! Simply avoid me and you, too, can have the success you've always dreamed of.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled daily update already in progress...

Defeats: the second half of the day
Victories: um...
Observations: I need to get it together! Sheesh.

Cool Cake Corner

In today's Cool Cake Corner segment, I am sharing this delightful and fun Valentine's Day Cake. Isn't it cute? I would love to learn how to do that, especially how to stack the cakes in that wonky way. And how to work with gum paste and fondant and pastillage. Hmmm...how would one learn that?

Oooohhh, I know! I know! I could take a 2 week Masters Course from the Wilton School in Chicago!

I would love to do that. And I may be able to, who knows? I'm not sure that I could get a babysitter for that long, but I am going to use this as a reward for breaking 169. I printed off a reminder for my fridge with a few cute cakes on it, hoping that this will keep me from grazing when I'm not hungry. I also have a few other rewards set up at strategic weight-milestones for added incentive.

For now, I guess I'll just do the best I can with the limited cake knowledge that I have. I'm planning on making some cakes this coming week for Valentine's Day. If they turn out nice, I'll post the pics. Wish me luck!

Weigh-In: Week 5

Hooray! I tried really hard this week and it paid off! Counting calories is tedious but not as bad as I thought it might be thanks to me beloved iPhone and the LiveStrong app. I'm was thrilled to find that I can eat more and lose weight. I'd be more excited if I hadn't followed up my good weigh-in with an self-sabotaging-all-you-can-eat-carb-fest yesterday. I'm back on track today.


I am not surprised to have gained. It was a stressful, minimal exercise week. I lost my drive and determination, but I have it back now and I'm ready to recommit and get 'er done.

Day 37: Daily Report

Breakfast

• 1 cup cinnamon puffins
• 1 cup lf vanilla soy milk
  

Snack

• 2 whole wheat tortillas w/butter and cinnamon

Lunch

• gnocchi w/marinara and parmesan

Snack

• popcorn

Dinner

• 2 whole wheat tortillas w/butter and cinnamon (is there an echo in here?)

Calories: 1647. I can hardly believe that it didn't add to waaay more. Not that it wasn't 100% carbs. Nice.
Victories: ending the carb-fest when I did. not asking Marido to bring ice cream from the store... I was sooo tempted.
Defeats: see above
Observations: A very busy and hormonal day for me. How embarrassing. Today was also the result of running out of the better choices I've been trying to keep in the house.

Go ahead. Yell at me. I deserve it. But know that I'm not giving in. I'm getting it together as I type and I'm back on track.

Day 36: Daily Report

Breakfast

• 1 cup cinnamon Puffins cereal
• 1 cup lf vanilla soy milk
• fake sausage

Snack

• apple
• green tea

Lunch

• salad w/grilled chicken, tomatoes, roasted corn, jicama, a few blue corn tortilla chips, black beans, 2 forksful of chipotle dressing
• ww roll
  

Dinner

• 1/2 cup ww pasta w/marinara sauce and meatless meatballs
  
• broccoli

Calories: 1452. I don't want to eat more this late in the evening. I thought that salad would put me over the top. Guess not.

Water

• 80 oz

Exercise

• 4 miles walking

Victories: Not ANY eating peanut M&Ms that sitting there are chocolatey and nutty in a big bowl at work.

Defeats: Not getting all my calories in (I didn't think I'd even in my life say that!)

Day 35: Daily Report

Breakfast

• 1 cup 1% cottage cheese
• banana

Snack

• apple
• lf string cheese
  

Lunch

• spinach salad w/carrot and zucchini & balsamic vinaigrette
• 3/4 cup 1% cottage cheese
  
• sweet potato (microwaved) w/1 tsp smart balance

Snack

• ww pretzels
• string cheese

Dinner

• 4 chicken tacos (4 corn tortillas, total of about 1 cup of grilled chicken, 1 oz cheese, lettuce, taco sauce)

Dessert

• 3 cups popcorn

Water

• 3 liters

Exercise

• 2 miles walking

Multivitamin

• yes

Victories: I'd say it was a good day overall but I could have used more breakfast.

Defeats: I'd planned to walk 2 more miles this evening but life took over as it does.

Observations: Uh, hello... eat tacos much? But by limiting the cheese, they were perfectly "legal" and within my calorie allowance for the day. I was surprised to see that after dinner I still had calories left for popcorn. I'm loving this calorie thing... unless the LiveStrong is really an evil plot to make me gain more and all the calorie counts in it are fake... and I have another bad weigh-in tomorrow. Then I'll hate the calorie thing.