Sunday, September 21, 2008

NROL - Week 7 - Sunday

No weight change this week, still at 151.5. I did not expect to see a loss, but I'm not sure if I'm really frustrated with my progress or if I'm just PMSing. I think exercise and food have been fine, but what if they are only good enough for maintenance and not good weight loss? There's so much conflict between the rational side of me and the impatient, emotional side. I know healthy weight loss takes time. I know there's some room for improvement in my nutrition and exercise. But I want it now and I want it fairly easily. I often consider going back to Atkins, but that's not the answer. I cannot sustain Atkins-style eating for the rest of my life. I lack the patience to follow the carb ladder. I don't like all that fat, especially on my meat. I don't like the texture at all, so I won't eat fatty meats. And of course, there are other fat options but still, the amount of grease in most Atkins meals is too much for me. Once in a while, fine, but not every day or even the majority of days in the week. I just can't do it. I want beans or brown rice or whole wheat whatever at times. I want my Cheerios and the Special K protein cereal I just bought and haven't tried yet. At the same time, I don't want to do super low fat. I want cheese and avocados and the occasional regular burger.

The irony: this week, I have more Atkins-style foods planned: crustless pizza tonight, jalapeno poppers tonight and Monday for evening snacks.

I do have to be more active. I need to use the Wii more often. I'm never going to get a good cardio or strength workout from the Fit (or the Sports) but I can work on my balance, which is really horrible and would probably improve my lifting. I'm still considering the Jillian Michaels Ultimatum but I need to see the exercises in action before I decide. I saw a short demo but it wasn't enough to convince me. I just know I need to get off my butt.

I also wonder if artificial sweeteners are giving me trouble but there's no freaking way I'm going to cut them out. I'm not drinking plain water all day. No way. I refuse to compromise on this. I drink my 80 ounces before moving on to coffee and pop. And no, I will not drink my coffee unsweetened, and I don't like Stevia. So sucralose is here to stay. But I am aware that it could be hindering my progress.

To summarize the week - I'm still not planning my meals out well, and I've overeaten a few times this week. I'm still very frustrated that I just can't be normal and eat without weighing everything out.

9:25 AM - coffee w/ cream & Splenda; eggs w/ chipotle sauce, onion & green pepper; eaten on couch; I delayed breakfast longer than I should have and the eggs were sort of bland, but I'm saving calories for dinner

12:40 PM - peppermint drops; eaten at desk; I am in a really bad mood and had to have something before I committed a felony

12:50 PM - pinto beans & mozzarella string cheese; eaten at desk; I'm so hungry and irritated right now

1:15 PM - broccoli; eaten at desk; is 15 ounces of cooked broccoli at once a binge? I'm certainly full now.

6:20 PM - Special K Protein Plus cereal w/ skim milk; eaten at desk; YUCK!!! I had high hopes for this but don't like it; it tastes like bran flakes but I shouldn't be surprised because the numbers for it looked quite healthy; my Atkins meal never materialized because my husband didn't slice up the pepperoni for me, even though I asked him a million times

9:30 PM - turkey bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers (half w/cream cheese, half w/ mozzarella cheese); eaten on couch; it's been a long times since I've had these and they are always a great treat

Calories - 1660
Carbs - 153 (43 fiber)
Protein - 120
Fat - 72
C/P/F Ratio - 35.1/27.5/37.4

2 comments:

Hayley said...

Believe me Becky...I feel your pain. I think part of why I sabotage myself is because I get so damn impatient!! I don't know why artificial sweeteners would be impeding weight loss though??? I had splenda on my oats and protein pancakes all throughout my first BFL challenge and I had no problem. I cut BACK on Diet sodas but still had one occasoinally and I drank Crystal Light when I got sick of water. Again...whatever I did still worked!

I don't think the Atkins idea is such a good thing either - it might make you want carbs so much again that you start overeating them and honestly right now your meals look really well-balanced. I think perhaps it just takes some time...it SUCKS, but maybe once your body gets fully used to the idea that you're not going to starve it and/or overfeed it it will start to let go of the weight it's holding onto.

As far as exercise goes, you seem to be doing really well with getting it done and consistently. Have you tried throwing some walking in there? I know it's totally cliche, but taking random walks around the neighborhood, parking the car farther away at the grocery store, taking stairs instead of the elevator, etc, etc...I was just thinking maybe taking a walk outside might be a nice break for you and will help get a bit of extra exercise in there? My plan (now that the weather is getting nicer!) is to start doing that more often when I need to figure out why I want to "eat my feelings." I love being outside and sometimes it just helps us clear our head. And moving our bodies a bit more isn't such a bad thing either!

Don't be so hard on yourself though...you really are doing awesome!!!

Becky said...

I will admit that I am very consistent with the weight training! I just love it so much.

Yeah, I don't think Atkins is a good idea for me. What I'm doing now, I don't feel like anything is off limits - I just know I'm not ready to handle certain things yet. I'm tempted to try now and then, maybe buy a small candy bar or something or make homemade candy. But I am not ready for it yet. I will be, but not right now.

Aren't you glad the heat wave is over?? I walked to the library last week and it was wonderful! I'll be doing that more often. I should go for more walks because I have nothing else to do and I'm always looking for a reason to listen to my mp3 player.