Lindas Journal - 2-29-2008.. BEWARE EDIETS!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

First of all, Congrats on the 3 pound loss!!

I enjoyed your introduction. Your son sounds really cool! I pray that when I have kids they make an easy transition into teens The teen years is what scares me most about becoming a parent.

Wow at all the sports you used to play! I have never been athletic. It is great that you have those in your past though, because you know that you are capable of doing all of those things and it helps to motivate you when the going gets rough. I think kayaking would be pretty cool too. I have thought that being a white water rafting guide would be pretty cool ever since my first trip as a teen. This really strong chick led our group & I said, I could do that! I doubt that I ever will do that exactly, but I know that I could if I set my mind to it.

I love what you said about being raised to believe you can do anything. I was too and it is truely empowering! We are women hear us Roar! (pretend he's roaring )

You are doing Great on your exercise also! If you did 3 miles in 50 minutes w/ stops for the dog, then I am Super jealous of your time. I will catch up with you someday. For now the fastest I have done is a 17 minute mile and that is pushing it the whole time .

Keep up the good work and have a great week!

 

[lindalinda]

Thanks for your support Amber! I needed a boost today, it was a bit of a nightmare.

I had to get my physical for work today. Its not a regular physical, I have to hold a medical certification to hold my job, and its very stressful to get this physical every year. Basically, its a possibility of losing your job if you dont pass it. I always struggle to pass it. I have poor vision, and always stress over that, and that makes my blood pressure spike, and well you can see that pretty much gets me every time. I have gotten my blood pressure checked recently, and I am sure it is fine. After all I have lost 63 lbs and exercise almost every day. But I get white coat anxiety and it shows high. It took 4 different people 13 tries to get an acceptable reading and pass me. I almost lost it completely. Then I had to go to work after! Which is better than not I guess, but it makes for an exhausting day. Thats why I didnt get too much exercise today, I decided I really needed to chill tonite. I passed, so I'm good for another year, but I will schedule an appointment to check it again (on my own time) just to make sure I'm good.

Anyway, heres my menu :

Pancake Mix 1 Package 110
Milk, Fat Free 1/3 cup 28
sugar-free maple syrup 1/4 cup 30

Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50
Cheddar Cheese Crunchy Curls (NutriSystem Classics) 1 oz. 110

Salad, tossed 1 med 25
Egg, poached or boiled 1 large 74
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30

NutriCrunch Chocolates 1 Package 130

Hearty Beef Stew 1 Container 180
mini rice cakes 9 cakes 70

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40

total cals-957

exercise today, 15 mins climbing stairs, 15 mins stairmachine 300 cals burned

 

[kimwim8]

Congrats on your loss!!

That's awesome! And thanks for sharing YOU with us. It helps us readers to get to know each other better. Maybe a picture, too?

The picture I have in my journal is my before picture, and I'm getting close to posting an after picture. Maybe another week or two.

Again, congrats! And I hope that at least one of my kids turns out as GREAT as your son!

 

[lindalinda]

Thanks Kim. I was looking for a picture from my original weight, a true before picture but I havent found one yet. (I'm a little camera shy, and I'm usually the one taking pictures) I'll keep looking, probably someone has one somewhere.

Another busy day at work. We are usually slow in the winter, and then get really busy as it gets warmer, and so its starting already. I didnt get much break time so I could only climb the stairs 3 times today. Evil boss was only there the first 2 hours so most of the day was ok tho. Also the manager was busy shredding. Big bags of stuff. Seems odd to me. I think somethings up.

I think my computer is getting ready to die. The power thingy where you plug it in to the computer is wierd and you have to jiggle it and the battery isnt charging right. I wonder how much a laptop costs now. Too much I bet.

I am rambling . Heres my meals for today. for dinner I used the nutrisystem chili and made an omelet with it (used half the chili, I'll save the other half and use it tomorrow I guess) It was pretty good for a change of pace.

Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50

Salad, tossed 1 med 25
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Egg, poached or boiled 1 large 74

Pasta Parmesan with Broccoli 1 Package 180

Egg Beaters 1/4 cup 25
Egg Beaters 1/4 cup 25
Chili with Beans 1/2 Bowl 115
Cheese, Fat-free 1 slice 30

Cheese and Garlic Pretzel Sticks 1 Package 140

Chocolate Fudge Cake 1 Cake 130

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40

total cals-944

exercise today 23 mins climbing stairs 30 mins stairmachine 521 cals burned

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Congrats on passing your work physical! That would probably stress me out too! Dh had a really high BP reading a couple of years ago and we think it was because he was sick & having some white coat anxiety as well. They wanted to put him on meds, but he said that he would diet and lose weight instead. That seems to have worked cause it is not reading high on our home machine anymore. But he practically Refuses to go to the doctor Men

I think it was also a good idea to take it easy after the stress of the physical. You need a break sometimes anyway. You are continueing to do great on your food and exercise! Keep up the good work!

Have a Great Day!

 

[lindalinda]

Ok, I taking today as a "mulligan". Horrible cramps. Diet disaster. I had to leave work early I was in such bad shape. I'm calling the dr tomorrow and see if I can get a new prescription or something. Yuck!

the damage:

Blueberry Bran Muffin 2 Muffins 120

Popcorn, air-popped 3 cups 60
Popcorn, air-popped 3 cups 60

Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50

Chocolate Pudding 1 Package 100

Chili with Beans 1/2 Bowl 115
Egg Beaters 1/4 cup 25
Egg Beaters 1/4 cup 25
Cheese, Fat-free 1 slice 30
Crackers, Cheddar, Goldfish 1 oz 130

Cheddar Cheese Crunchy Curls (NutriSystem Classics) 1 oz. 110

Pasta, Cooked 1/2 cup 80
Pasta, Cooked 1/2 cup 80
Beef, Ground, extra lean 1oz 74

Cookie, Oatmeal 1 110
Cookie, Oatmeal 1 110

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40

total cals: 1369

exercise-none

 

[lindalinda]

Okay I'm back. Missed 2 days of exercise and the diet was not good either. I didnt keep track yesterday, probably wasnt that many calories but it wasnt great. But I feel better today, called the Dr and changed my prescription and I hope that it helps. I shouldnt have to feel this bad just because its that time. Yuck! But today I felt better and got some stuff done. It was my day off so I went and picked out tile for the kitchen. I found a couple that I think will look good. I have to get up early to take my boy to basketball in the morning but hopefully I will get some work done outside tomorrow. Heres what I had today:

NutriFrosted Crunch Cereal 1 Packet 110

Egg Beaters 1/4 cup 25
Luncheon Meat, Turkey Ham 1 oz 35

Salad, tossed 1 med 25
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Bacon Bits 1 Tbsp 30
Egg, poached or boiled 1 large 74

Popcorn, air-popped 3 cups 60
Popcorn, air-popped 3 cups 60

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40

Apple Cinnamon Soy Chips 1 Package 110

Pot Roast - Gravy over Beef, Potatoes and Vegetables 1 Package 270

Chocolate Pudding 1 Package 100

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40

total cals-1039

exercise today 60 mins stairmachine 528 cals burned total for march 393/1250

 

[lindalinda]

okay, I'm back at work tonite. Didnt keep track of anything yesterday properly, I had such a busy day i had no "real" meals at all. Went to the home and garden show and I had an ice cream cone. At some point i had whole grain ritz crackers and turkey lunchmeat and later at my moms i had a brunsweiger sandwich. And no exercise yesterday, tho i did walk around the show for several hours.

Today was better. I got up and did 15 mins on the stairmachine. Tonite at work I did the stairs 4 times for 30 mins, so 45 mins of cardio today.

Heres my food:

NutriCinnamon Squares Cereal 1 Packet 120
fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25

Bacon Bits 1 Tbsp 30
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Salad, tossed 1 med 25
Egg, poached or boiled 1 large 74

Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50

Chocolate Drink 1 Package 150

Cheese and Garlic Pretzel Sticks 1 Package 140
fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25

Chicken Pasta Parmesan 1 Package 220
fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40

total cals-1034 45 mins exercise 468 cals burned

I am actually up 1 lb but I'm not gonna log it yet, I think its still water. If I havent lost it back by tuesday, I'll show it as a gain

 

[lindalinda]

Just got home from work. They got their moneys worth out of me today, I'm pooped! I did get the stairs climbed 4 times for 30 mins but I'm too tired to do any extra tonite. I'm going to bed early , so Heres what I had today:

Blueberry Bran Muffin 2 Muffins 120
fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25

Chicken Noodle Soup 1 Container 120

Salad, tossed 1 med 25
Bacon Bits 1 Tbsp 30
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Egg, poached or boiled 1 large 74

Cheese and Garlic Pretzel Sticks 1 Package 140
fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25

Hearty Beef Stew 1 Container 180

Chocolate Fudge Cake 1 Cake 130

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40

total cals-969

exercise -30 mins climbing stairs, 336 cals burned

 

[lindalinda]

Well its tuesday...thats hump day for me, and i'm still pooped! I worked until 6 (and worked hard today again). then I had to take my son shopping when i got home so i didnt get dinner until 8:30. So no time for exercise tonite, but i did climb stairs at work 4 times, so that's better than nothing. I'm behind on the march exercise challenge tho, the month is halfway gone and i'm not close to halfway to my goal.

But ...Yay! I did lose another pound. 2 actually, the one i gained and another. So I'm good on the easter challenge anyway. It really looks like i might make it to my goal #1 in time for vacation, just 13 pounds to go! Of course after i get there i will make another goal, but its still pretty good. That will put me at a healthy weight according to the charts.

Anyway heres what I ate today:

fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50

fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25
Salad, tossed 1 med 25
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Salad Dressing, fat free 2 Tbsp 30
Egg, poached or boiled 1 large 74
Bacon Bits 1 Tbsp 30

Chocolate Drink 1 Package 150

Banana, 9 inch 1/2 53
Chewy Fudge Bar (NutriSystem Classics) 1.2 oz. 90

Chicken Pasta Parmesan 1 Package 220

Chocolate Fudge Cake 1 Cake 130

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40

total cals- 1022

exercise- climbing stairs 30 mins 336 cals burned

I had a prob. with blood pressure today- it was 144/97 this morning. I dont know ifit was a fluke but i'm going to have to keep checking it. I really dont want to take medication so i am really trying to come up with ways to lower it. So, anyway, one of the guys at work said to try bananas, so i am gonna have a 1/2 banana every day I can for some extra pottassium. Hope it works.

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey Linda! I could have sworn I posted to your journal on Monday, but I don't see my post. I'm sorry, must have had a brain fart .

Congrats on another pound lost!! I think you are also doing pretty darn good on your exercise! It is ok that you had a couple of busy days and didn't get as much as you would have liked. You still manage to hit those stairs everyday! I also would say that your goal is Way higher than I am brave enough to set mine at . I think that you will definitely make it to 1000 minutes this month and if you just step it up a little more for the rest of the month you can hit your goal! You can do it! I think that I have a habit of setting my goal too low, then I know that I can achieve it. Next month I'm gonna have to step it up some and challenge myself a little more.

About the blood pressure, the one thing I know that is really important is your sodium intake. I know that lowering the sodium and losing weight is what helped Dh lower his BP. When he was first diagnosed w/ high BP we did the DASH diet. Here is a link http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf
I know that you are doing Nutrisystem, but it has a lot of good information in addition to the actual diet. Hope that helps. We don't follow the diet really anymore, but we kept some of the habits. We always eat whole wheat bread & Dh has a sandwich w/ lettuce everyday & we increased our fruit & veggie intake. I also try to buy No Salt Added on any of my canned foods like tomato sauce, etc.

Hope you have a good day! Keep up the good work! Join me for a jog this evening! We can run together in spirit!

 

[lindalinda]

Thanks Amber for your support! I am gonna check out that website on the bloodpressure info. I think I have to take a raincheck on the running tho, I'm not quite ready yet...its still cold here! We have only had a couple of nice days so far but hopefully it will be better soon!

Yet another busy day at work. It doesnt bode well for the year when we get this busy this early. But it wasnt too bad and I did get off work at 3:15 so I had the afternoon to catch my breath. I have to get up at 4am tho so I need to get to bed early. I did get my stair climbing in, and i did the stairmachine for 20 mins tonite, but the diet wasnt so good today. I went over on my calories. (junk)

Heres what I had:

Banana Spice Muffin 2 Muffins 120
fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25

Chicken Noodle Soup 1 Container 120
fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25

Cheddar Cheese Crunchy Curls (NutriSystem Classics) 1 oz. 110
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50

fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25
banana 1 small 90

baked chips 1 oz 120

Luncheon Meat, Turkey Ham 1 oz 35
Thin Crust Pizza with Cheese 1 Package 140

Chocolate Fudge Cake 1 Cake 130

mini rice cakes 9 cakes 70
mini rice cakes 9 cakes 70

total cals-1180

exercise today 30 mins climbing stairs, 20 mins stairmachine 512 cals burned

 

[goldcupmom]

Your exercise is AWESOME, Linda!

Is the stair machine you use the one that is like real stairs? I keep wanting to try that at the gym, but it is very intimidating!!

Hope your BP resolves. When I had problems between pregnancies I was told watch sodium, exercise, take a garlic supplement, try to sleep/rest on left side, lose weight, drink lots of water.

Hopefully yours is just a fluke - maybe hormonal related! It happens.

Have a great rest of the week!

 

[lindalinda]

Thanks for the tips on blood pressure you all. I have been trying several, I even slept on my left side last night ( I never heard that one before) I havent bought any garlic supplements yet but I plan to do that also. Anyway, it was 109/82 this morning and 110/78 this afternoon,so I think I am doing better. I know I need to cut out the sodium now, I never add salt to food but as you can see from my menu I have had baked chips and rice cakes lately. They are low-fat and low-cal and I really hate that I cant have them either. Anyway the rice cakes are gone so I will try to not buy any more.

Julie, the stairmachine i have is not like real stairs. It is a big hydraulic thing and it has variable resistance and it charts all your info but it does not compare to real stairs. That is why I do the real stairs at work if I can. We have 19 flights- 388 stairs if I counted them right and I can really feel it when I climb them. Gets my heart pumping.

I had a really awful "bad mom" experience today. It made me cry. Actually, several times. I work shift work and basically , my son has learned to fend for himself in many ways. But on thursdays I am normally there for him. I had an early shift and got home around 3pm. He had basketball today and I was supposed to pick him up at 5. Well, when I got home I turned on the tv (basketball was on) and fell asleep! When I woke up it was 5:50! I ran to the car and called him while I was on my way. I saw from my cell that he had called numerous times. He said it was ok, not to worry, he was at a friends house. He had called a friend whose Mom (you know, one of the "good moms") came and picked him up and took him to their house. I am so upset, and I cant seem to shake it off. Any single moms out there who work shift work probably know how guilty and horrible I feel, even tho he swears its no big deal, you know its got to be embarrassing to him that his mom didnt show up to pick him up. I kid myself sometimes , tell myself its good for him to learn to be independent and self reliant, but really I just hope he doesnt feel neglected. Actually, writing it out has made me upset again.

Heres what I had today:

Banana Spice Muffin 2 Muffins 120
fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25

Chicken Noodle Soup 1 Container 120
fat free hot chocolate 1 cup 25

Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50
banana 1 small 90

Popcorn, air-popped 3 cups 60
Popcorn, air-popped 3 cups 60

Chicken Pasta Parmesan 1 Package 220

mini rice cakes 9 cakes 70
mini rice cakes 9 cakes 70

Chocolate Fudge Cake 1 Cake 130

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40

total cals-1130

exercise today- climbing stairs 30 min, stairmachine 40 mins, 70 total 618/1250 for march, 688 cals burned.

 

[kimwim8]

Awww, Linda. You're not a bad mom! You have been working really hard lately & working out on top of it. You needed some rest - and most importantly - HE WAS OK!! He dealt with the situation very maturely, and he's probably over it by now. It was an honest mistake. Try not to beat yourself up about it.

You've really been doing great! I'm sure you're gonna meet your weight loss goal, your exercise goal and the challenge. You're an inspiration!

 

[lindalinda]

Well it was my day off, and I spent it running errands and doing laundry, but I did get 75 mins on the stairmachine done. Then tonite we went to an NIT basketball game. It was really fun. I took a nutrisystem bar for dinner and some snacks. (This kept me from getting an ice cream cone)

Last night I went to the web site Amber showed me for high blood pressure diet - DASH. I was looking it over and it was talking about how much sodium you should have in your diet, so I checked mine for yesterday. It was 2900mg. Obviously this is too much. I am going to start tracking this in my journal. I am not really trying to cut it all the way back yet, for a while I want to just see how much I am getting. I was very surprised what has the sodium in it. I was thinking it would be the chips, etc. My big probs were cottage cheese and salad dressing!


Heres today:

NutriFrosted Crunch Cereal 1 Packet 110 sodium 70mg
Banana, 9 inch 1/2 53

Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50 sodium 390mg
Cheese, Cottage, 2% 1/4 cup 50

Chewy Fudge Bar (NutriSystem Classics) 1.2 oz. 90 sodium 35

Cheddar Cheese Crunchy Curls (NutriSystem Classics) 1 oz. 110 sod 170
Turkey Hot Dogs 1 Hot Dog 90 sodium 330
smart-beat fat free cheese 1/2 slice 12 sodium 90
whole wheat hot dog bun 1 90 sodium 170

Chocolate Cookie Bar 1 Package 170 sodium 150

Chocolate Fudge Cake 1 130 sodium 220

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40 sodium 90

total cals-955
total sodium- 1715

exercise- 75 mins stairmachine 660 cals burned

 

[lindalinda]

test post

 

[lindalinda]

Ok, I didnt write in my journal yesterday but I decided to go ahead this morning. I was soooo lazy yesterday it was pathetic. No exercise whatsoever....I am sore...I dont know why, I just hurt. I guess it was the 75 mins on the stairmachine friday. That is a result of the wonders of TiVo. I had recorded Extreme Makeover Home edition and it was a 2 hour show. So by the time I fast-forwarded thru the commercials it was 75 mins or so. I usually dont do that straight, I usually take breaks and do it 20 mins at a time. I think thats why I'm sore. Anyway thats no excuse, I was just lazy. If you saw my house you would freak its so filthy. So today I will exercise for at least an hour and clean my house. Now, when I show what I ate yesterday....cut me some slack. I know it looks very very bad. But what happened was I was just snacking and running lots of errands and anyway, I knew what I was doing and adjusted, skipped lunch..kinda combined lunch and dinner actually. Still...all things considered...its not as bad as it could be..at least I'm being honest here....I have yet to see a journal where someone posts that they had 12 cookies (and I bet I'm not the only one who's done it)

Here it is:

cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11
cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11

Banana, 9 inch 1/2 53

Macaroni and Cheese 1 Package 250 sodium 750
Turkey Hot Dogs 1 Hot Dog 90 sodium 330

cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11
cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11
cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11

Scrambled Eggs - Smoke Flavor 1 Package 130 sodium 290

Chocolate Shake 1 Packet 90 sodium 290

cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11
cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11
cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11
cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11
cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11
cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11
cafe cookie 1 cookie 30 sodium 11

sugar free fudgesicle 1 40 sodium 90

total cals-1013

total sodium 1882

okay the cals are okay..obviously not exactly a good day...but the girl scout cookies are gone now! What I did was take one of the nutrisystem hot dogs and add it to the macncheese for one meal...then for dinner I just had the scrambled eggs. I bought some fake salt for the eggs. Its not so great, I think maybe I put too much on so I will have to tinker with that. I also put chili powder on the eggs and that was pretty good. The salt thing is way hard. I really dont know if I can do it. My blood pressure yesterday was 144/96! Maybe thats why I was so lazy? Anyway today it was back down 109/82. I wish I could figure this out.

No exercise yesterday, but my son just fixed the weight machine. It is one of those big pulley contraptions , so I can do lots of different exercises on it. It has the pull down bar and the butterfly and leg lift things, and a rower. I will have to figure some sort of program for it. I also bought some yoga dvds. I had trouble picking one out because they didnt have one that said beginner. I got one that is gaiam yoga now and it has 4 dvds in it. It has 10 min am energizer and 10 min pm destresser, a 30 min core workout anda 50 min accelerated workout. We'll see, I'll keep you all posted on how these are.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

isnt it hard when there are cookies around?! at least they are gone now! We all have lazy days, so enjoy it and then get back into it tomorrow!have a great day

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey Linda

Don't forget that your body needs a day off from exercise sometimes and I would say the day after 75 minutes straight on the stairmaster is a Great day for a break!

Way to go on the honesty about the cookies I have a tendency to forget to post when I snack late at night I swear it is not on purpose, I just forget by the next day. You still managed to do pretty good calorie-wise and that is really good!

I also just wanted to warn you to be careful w/ the fake salt too. Unfortunately most of it is made w/ Potassium Cloride and Dh read that it is not good for people with high BP. I know that is real stupid. The whole point of fake salt is to help lower sodium intake for BP reasons, but the alternative is just as bad. It took some getting used to but we just REALLY reduced the amount of salt that we added to food. Really most of the time when I cooked I wouldn't add any and then if we needed it we would add a little at our plates. Dh got used to little to no salt and now we don't even miss it. I do use more now though since he seems to have his BP under control. Good luck, you will be able to figure out what works for you!


Have a good day!