Gretchen's WISH Journal-Take 2!-Update 1/20

[bellebookworm9]

Okay fellow WISHers, I need help. I kind of fell off the wagon. My mom was recently diagnosed with Type II diabetes. She is now committed to losing all the excess weight, because her doctor said it will probably go away if she does. She has joined LA Weight Loss again and she's lost 11 lbs in the last 4 weeks (5-8 of that was from walking up the hills when she came to visit me at school last month!)

We are going to Disney in May and I have 5 months and 24 days to do this! I'm not in great shape, but not terrible either. The hills at school have helped as has living on the 4th floor with no elevator! I'm home for the week and will be home again between semesters. We have a stationary bike, a treadmill, a Wii with WiiSports and numerous exercise videos. Today I weighed myself and I was 195.6 lbs. I did 30 minutes on the bike and played 6 games of Wii tennis. I also did the fitness test, which told me I was 80 I think it's a horrible judge because it tests you on hitting in tennis and baseball, and bowling and I have terrible coordination, so that could be part of my problem.

While I'm here, I'm going to try to do at least 1 or 2 of these things each day. At school, I have full access to a weight room with nautilus machines galore, treadmills, ellipticals, stairmasters and bikes. I'm going to try to get there for at least a 1/2 hour every day, but a more realistic goal might be 3-4 times/week. I have class from 10-10:50 and 12-12:50 on MWF and from 10-12:45 and 5-6:15 on TR. I also work from 2:30-5 every weekday next month, though I do run errands for that job and I'm normally walking up and down hill for 30 minutes 2x week.

I'm also going to try to eat better starting right now. I just had an apple and am drinking water. For dinner we will be having shepard's pie (not with lamb though). My mom only really has healthy food in the house anymore. I may have a pudding cup for dessert.

I need advice from you though! What are some good snacks that will satisfy a sweet tooth? Are those strawberry yogurt Chex any good? Also, does anybody have any exercises to get rid of thigh fat and back flab? Thanks for your support, and here I go again!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Whoo! I just played with the Wii for an hour-bowling and tennis. I got 193 on bowling. I don't think I've ever scored that high in real or Wii bowling! Tennis, I'm decent at-I can hit the ball, it just goes out most of the time. I don't think I won any games =(

 

[cclovesdis]

Hi,

I'm on Weight Watchers, but I'm not going to tell you to join. That is your decision. The best thing I have found is to avoid things that tempt you. Brownies are a terrible food for me to have around, as is cake. I can make a meal out of broccoli, so really the best thing for me is to only have healthy foods around. Here are some things I really like:
Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats
fat-free milk
Cabot cheese made with 1% milk
plain quick oats with 1/2 cup of milk and a diced up apple cooked for 90 sec. and then topped with cinnamon and sometimes Splenda too
93% lean ground beef (got to have an occasional hamburger)
lean deli meats like turkey and roast beef
Kosher dill pickles French's spicy brown mustard for sandwiches and burgers
fat-free Italian salad dressing to top a huge salad (just tried broccoli slaw and love it!)
Weight Watchers yogurt
and of course, water!

Best of luck!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Did really well at Thanksgiving yesterday! I ate a little of everything and left comfortably full, not stuffed like I normally do. We have another meal tomorrow, so I'm going to try my best then too!

 

[bellebookworm9]

I went to the gym yesterday and did some arm and ab stuff with the nautilus machines, then did 30 minutes on the elliptical, where it said I burned 370 calories. I've been trying to eat healthier, but we were having some sort of food shortage this weekend at school and all the healthy food was gone or didn't look so good (ie, Wilted salads)Yesterday I had a bagel and apple juice for breakfast, sun chips and an orange with water for lunch, and then there was a pizza party for a group I'm part of. I had 2 small square slices, 2 cups of pop, and a few treats. This morning I had apple juice and cocoa puffs with skim milks, while I'm waiting for our flights to go on sale!

 

[cclovesdis]

Last night, I had a "hamburger" made with ground turkey breast. It was very good. I topped with with a little bit of ketchup, 2 slices of Kosher dill pickles, and some mustard and put it on a Pepperidge Farm Deli Thin. I don't think the whole thing was 300 calories. I had a salad to go with it, which I topped with fat-free salsa. If I come up with any other good meals, I'll let you know. This one, I loved!

 

[bellebookworm9]

I love turkey burgers! Unfortunately, we don't have them on campus I know when I go home I'll be eating more healthy, because my mom is losing weight too!

 

[redlight]

Good luck to you and your mom!

 

[cclovesdis]

I love turkey burgers! Unfortunately, we don't have them on campus I know when I go home I'll be eating more healthy, because my mom is losing weight too!

Just my 2 cents here, but I wanted to mention that the college I went to had a campus nutrionist so was very helpful when I couldn't find much in the cafeteria that I could eat (lactose intolerant). He/She might be able to get the cafeteria to serve healthier foods. Like I said, just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

 

[bellebookworm9]

I've managed to lose 2 pounds since I've been home though I have no idea how! I saw an ad here on the DIS and decided to sign up for a free-one week trial through Weight Watchers. I'll see how I like it. It's much cheaper than LA Weight Loss. I am applying for a second job, so when I get a little extra money from that we'll see if I will continue with a paid subscription to WW.

 

[TxRabbit]

It's entirely possible that simply eating more homemade food has helped with the weight loss. Even healthy food at restaurants can have a high sodium content, and that's so horrible when trying to lose weight. Especially for women.

Trying WW should be interesting. Let us know how it goes and what you think.

Weird but true. A local radio station has a healthy segment. Healthy alternatives for bad cravings. If you crave chocolate, your body is actually craving endorphins. Get out an do something active to give your body that rush it wants. If you crave salty snacks, eat celery or cucumber, both of which are loaded with natural sodium that helps that salt craving.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Just exercised to Susan Powter's "Moving" from the early 90s. I'm feeling pretty good-yay for endorphins. I created a weight loss ticker to help inspire me. I go back to school on Saturday, so I'm going to ask my mom if I can bring the VCR, and some exercise tapes with me. I'm really going to work on eating healthier too. If I write down everything I eat, I think that will help.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Today I exercised a little bit to my Dancing with the Stars Cardio Dance DVD. A dancer I'm not! It just confuses me.

Yesterday I was reading a PARADE from a few weeks ago and it was all about making healthy changes in the new year. It said to make specific goals (no wine ever, gym every other day, no more cookies) as opposed to general goals (I will eat healthier). I figured out my schedule and I can probably get to the gum 6 days a week; whether that happens we'll see. However I did come up with a food plan for myself. As my mom pointed out, she's lost 20 pounds just by eating less food and more healthy foods, not exercising. So here goes:

Breakfast (8:45am M-F)
-One bowl of cereal with skim milk
-One bottle of water and a piece of fruit (apple, orange, or banana) OR one bottle of fruit juice (apple, orange, or cranberry)

Mid-Morning Snack (11am MWRF)
-One bottle of water
-One vegetable (cucumber slices, carrot sticks, celery sticks)

Lunch (12:45pm MWF, 12:00pm TR)
-One bottle of water
-One starch (bread or crackers)
-One dairy (yogurt or cheese)
-One fruit (apple/applesauce, orange, banana, kiwi, jelly)
-One protein (deli meat, peanut butter)

Mid-Afternoon Snack (2:30pm Daily)
-One bottle of water
-One packet trail mix

Dinner (Varies, but between 5-7pm daily
-One protein (chicken, turkey, ham, roast beef, etc)
-One starch (mashed potatoes, roll)
-One vegetable (whatever is being served, salad, or soup with veggies)
-One dessert
-One glass of pop or Loganberry

Brunch (Between 11am-2pm Saturday and Sunday)
-One bowl of soup
-One bowl of fruit
-Bacon or omelette
-One breakfast sandwich (biscuit, egg, cheese) or one waffle with syrup (possibly with fruit topping & whipped cream)
-One glass of apple juice

Two Treats per Week
-Small French Vanilla Cappuccino
-Cinnamon Bun
-Muffin
-Candy Bar or other vending machine item​

I'm also working around my class schedule which is why times change during the week. For example, I can't have a mid-morning snack on Tuesdays because I have a 2 hour biology lab. My schedule looks like this:

MWF 10-10:50-Anatomy & Physiology of Speech Mechanisms
MW 11:30-12:45-Dance History since 1900
MW 3:30-4:45-Human Bio Lecture
MW 5:00-6:15 (Possibly)-Art History
T 10-11:50-Human Bio Lab
TR 1-2:15-Language Acquisition
TR 3-5-Work
F 1:30-5-Work

So, busy schedule to work around! I'm hoping having everything spelled out for me will make this easier. I know what fills me, so this should work. I'm keeping a food journal as well. I will try and start tomorrow, but because it's moving day it might be difficult. Definitely Sunday! I should also probably buy a scale, to track my progress, otherwise I won't know how many pounds I'm down until I come home again in March!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Well, I'm back at school and there are literally about 4 other people in the dorm, so I'll update this since I don't have anything else to be doing right now! The diet plan was overall a success today.

Breakfast
-One bowl Honey Bunches of Oats with Milk
-One glass orange juice

Midmorning Snack
-Cucumber Slices

Lunch
-Angel Hair Pasta TV Dinner (with shrimp, carrots, red peppers in a cream sauce)

Dinner
-Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
-Yogurt Parfait with Crushed Oreos and Cherries

Evening Snack
-Package of Grandma's Vanilla Creme Sandwich Cookies


Overall, pretty good. And I got my exercise hauling my bags and TV back up four flights of stairs!

 

[cclovesdis]

Sounds like you had a great day. Also, what is your major? I am asking becaue I took some of those same classes-Language Acq. & A&P of Hearing & Speech Mechanisms.

Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[bellebookworm9]

I'm a speech & hearing handicapped major at SUNY Geneseo. Basically, it's speech pathology with my initial NYS teaching certification.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Okay, fellow WISHers, yesterday was tough and I didn't do as well as I'd liked. I woke up around 8 and had two bowls of cereal. I wasn't intending to go to brunch, but then my friend who I haven't seen in a month invited me to go with her. So around 11am, I had a small bowl of Golden Grahams, half an egg, cheese & biscuit breakfast sandwich, a few home fries, and a glass of apple juice. A few hours later some friends and I went into town because a few of them were hungry and we had to go to the local textbook place. At about 2 I had a chocolate reese's pieces cookie and a can of orange crush. Then we had to make a WalMart run (where I bought only a gallon of milk foodwise) and afterwards we stopped at Tim Horton's (4:!5pm) and I got a small iced cappuccino with whipped cream. At 6, my friend Jill and I went to the other end of campus because their dining hall just reopened. I had green beans, mashed potatoes & gravy, a slice of ham, cucumber slices, mandarin oranges, cottage cheese, and a twist soft serve ice cream cone. I drank water. Later we were hanging out in Jill's room and I had a few gummy worms at about 9:30. I went to bed around 1. I managed to make a guy downstairs very angry because he's a creep and I forewarned Jill's new roommate about him. He freaked out and came into my room and started ripping up my computer paper and thinks I ruined his chances with her (trust me, he never had a chance. She said so herself). At 1:25ish there was this huge crash that for a moment I thought seriously gave me a heart attack. In a moment of panic I thought this guy had managed to break down my door. It was actually just my mirror falling off the wall and then instead of falling to the floor it got caught by my cable cord for my tv. 30 minutes later I was still shaking (and hungry) so I had a few bowls of cereal. I should point out that at no point during the day was I revenous before eating or stuffed afterward. I was moderately hungry and just full enough. This morning I'm starting again and had one bowl of cereal. I'll go get water and fruit in a bit after I get some more sleep! I'm also probably going to the gym today

 

[cclovesdis]

Glad to hear that you are getting back on plan. Today is definitely a new day. Are you on a dining plan? Do you have to eat in the cafe? I ask because I could offer a few tips in that regard. I lived on campus for 4 years and our food was not exactly what I would call healthy and I managed not to gain any weight. I gained all my weight after I moved out of my parents' house and relied too heavily on restaurants. It wasn't my plan-I bought healthy food-but, cooking never went over very well.

Have a great day today! Oh, and I did my graduate program in Deaf Education.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Why yes, I do have a meal plan. I have 6 dining halls to choose from at various times. They do make an effort to be healthy, they have a "Lean Line" section in the grab and go area. Today I had some mozzarella sticks, part of a garden salad, and a package of cookies and water. So yes, if you have tips on not gaining weight while eating at the dining halls, please enlighten me!

And that's really cool that your grad program was in Deaf Education. That's not something you hear every day.

 

[cclovesdis]

The "Lean Line" sounds great as does having a salad. Any time you can have a salad, veggies, milk, water, or fruit, I highly recommend it. The pizza was very doughy and very heavy on the cheese. I rarely ate it. The cafe served a lot of French fires. I tried to avoid them. I did have a salad bar with loads of veggies and diced ham, chicken breast, tuna, stuff like that. I just had to be careful with the dressing. They were homemade and a lot of them were cream-based. Meats were another story. My cafe was always trying to dress them up somehow. I stuck to chicken if they served tacos. I tried to limit my pasta to once a week and almost always added veggies to it. Sometimes I'd eat the vegetarian option. It was pasta a lot of times, though, so not that often. Also, my cafe served hamburgers and veggie burgers every night. That or a deli sandwich would be my fall-back plan. At least I knew what when into either of those options and the 2 burgers were grilled.

Also, I highly recommend that you get a pedometer if you don't already have one. The reason I say this is that WW considers so many steps Activity Points earned. A few months ago, I learned that I really need to count my walking because I was eating so few of my weekly point allowance that I may have been stalling my weight loss. Also, if your school has a pool, swimming laps is great. Sometimes, I would hit the pool before showering and I always felt so much better about the day when I did.

Hope that helped. Have a great semester!