cindylynnwho's Journal, 15 January 2008

45.2

Well, yesterday didn't turn out as I would hope exactly. My calorie deficit is at a record low. I ate too much and did very little exercise. At least I'm not going in the positive, I don't think. (those ominous red arrows!) That's something, at least.

I broke my allergy elimination diet again and drank soymilk last night. I know it perhaps hasn't been long enough, but so far I don't feel at all better without having these foods and because I don't generally eat a wide range of foods, its been a problem for me to go without them. I know that's a problem itself-- that I don't eat a wide range of foods, and I'm working on that. I'm trying to be healthy, and, as a former vegetarian/vegan who still has a foot in that realm, I'm also trying to not be even less vegetarian than I now am. Anyway, the times that I experienced bad reactions to these foods were when I ate a ton of them or when they were in highly processed form. So as long as I avoid these scenarios maybe I'll be okay. Meanwhile I would like to find out for sure at some point if I have any allergies, because my book, the false fat diet, says that 80 to 90 percent of overweight people do, but I'm not sure which direction to go on that. I've been interested in fasting for years but am afraid to try it because of my history of hypoglycemia. I was also going to see this "natural weight loss" doctor who was going to test me for allergens, but he was a total jerk who ripped me off and I don't want to give him the profit. I wonder if my regular (much nicer, but much less informed about the matter) doctor could be of any help. Probably not. I'm just going to keep listening to my body's intuition and see what it says. Right now, I feel like it is telling me it is okay to eat these things I suspect, as long as I don't overdo it like I have in the past and eat tons of them. I think to have an allergy seems like an easy answer to me-- not that its at all easy, because of course it is very hard to live with one, but the way one of the books I have describes it you just remove the allergen and lay back and the pounds fall off. Not easy, but I've just been really wanting something to speed up my weight loss.

Well I think I am going to switch my official diet to The Diet Cure. I've been semi- following that the whole time but I get the feeling that if I follow it more closely I will get better results. I need more structure, and more balance in my diet. I reread the chapter on what to eat and there were a couple good tips in there:

"Here's some good news! You don't have to go hungry! If you feel you want more food than is represented here, you can have it. Just have more food as you need roughly in the portions I've described. Actually, you should eat freely but if you want extra high-carb foods on a regular basis ask yourself, "Is this an ideal portion for me or am I out of balance?" You'll find the answer in how you feel afterward: strong and content or happy and dissatisfied."

This is good for me to remember, because while I've been following her general portions of the plate meaurements, I don't come up with nearly as many calories as she recommends that way. I must be measuring differently. I've just been eating more carbs to close the gap a little (because I'm hungry, not because I feel a need to meet her minimum 2200 cal recommendation unless my body demands it). I've been worried that I've been eating too many carbs, and a buddy suggested that, too. It was a timely suggestion because I ate so many yesterday morning that I had hypoglycemia afterward. Though I regularly have it any time I skip meals or eat only half-meals, its been a long time since I've had it just from eating too many carbs, so I know I'm really overdoing it. Eating too many carbs seems to make me eat more in general, too.

Re: carbs, Julia Ross (diet cure author) says:

For weight loss, 2 fruits and 2 total cups of high carbohydrate vegetables, legumes, or grains works best.

I'm going to try to follow this. I've been exceeding it, and also getting in extra carbs from certain protein sources like my soy/rice milk and my hemp protein powder.

I'm also realizing that it is really important for me to do meal planning. Its something I've been very resistant to doing because I don't want to do the extra planning and because I rationalize that I never know what I am going to want to eat when meal or snack time comes around. But planning is better. I'm going to experiment with planning my meal ahead in my food diary and see how that works out for me.

204.8 lb Lost so far: 2.2 lb.    Still to go: 74.8 lb.    Diet followed poorly.

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2392 kcal

Fat: 109.72g | Prot: 150.57g | Carb: 219.08g.   Breakfast: olive oil, nutritional yeast, tofu, peanut butter, whole wheat english muffin. Lunch: hempseed, balsamic vinaigrette, tomatoes, spinach, olive oil, shrimp. Dinner: tahini, olive oil, nutritional yeast, onion, quinoa flakes, chickpeas, broccoli. Snacks/Other: edenblend, celery, carrots, cottage cheese, orange juice, almonds, pecans, banana. more...

2988 kcal

Activities & Exercise: Walking (slow) - 2/mph - 30 minutes, Stretching (yoga) - 10 minutes, Calisthenics (light, e.g. home exercise) - 15 minutes, Desk Work - 6 hours and 30 minutes, Walking (exercise) - 3.5/mph - 1 hour, Sleeping - 8 hours, Resting - 7 hours and 35 minutes. more...