Earning My Calories

Over the weekend, Jeff and I broke down and bought a tablet. We had been discussing an iPad for over a year and finally the time seemed right (well maybe not right, but not wrong either). Right would have involved us not spending a couple grand on a new air conditioner. But the point is that we bought one. And so far I've been enjoying it for one aspect more than any other. The moment we brought the iPad home, I installed My FitnessPal on it.

About seven years ago, I managed to lose 60 pounds by tracking what I ate and walking more. I had used a printed food journal at the time and loved it. Now, in the age of digital, I'm using an electronic food tracker and am hopefully that I can repeat my results from the past. I have about 60 pounds to lose.

So far the program has helped me make some smarter decisions. Of course I've only been using it for  a couple days now. But I'm optimistic. I went for a long walk yesterday so I could eat a good dinner and still be under calories. Today I spent 5 hours shifting books at the library. The program tells me that I burned a ton of calories enough for a great dinner and plenty left over. It even allowed me a glass of wine. So if I use the iPad for nothing else, at least it might help me lose a bit of weight. And that would be worth it.

Battle of the Bulge

Every couple of years it seems, I decide to do something about my weight. I've been heavy for a good chunk of my life and weight has always been a struggle for me. What can I say, I like food. Actually that's not right, I love food. And I tend to overeat if given the chance. For most of high school and college I didn't worry about it. My weight was still at an acceptable level. But the freshman 15 quickly became the college 30 and by the time I was married I was well over 60 over what is considered normal. I had bypassed overweight and headed for obese.

About six years ago I started on one of the easiest and most effective weight loss programs I've ever done. I managed to lose 60 pounds without really even breaking much of a sweat. It was incredible. No I didn't do any of those questionable pill programs or lose weight while you sleep gimmicks. I did something far simpler. I counted calories. I bought a 90 day food journal from Half Price Books on a whim and managed to lose 20 pounds in those first 90 days. I bought three more journals and lost a total of 60 pounds over the course of a year. I felt amazing. I was working out more but the big thing is that I was paying attention to the calories I was eating. When I reached something of a goal weight I figured that I didn't need the food journals anymore. I focused on exercise, often doing two workouts a day, and stopped writing things down.

Since then I have managed to gain back 50 of those pounds. Apparently just working out wasn't enough when I was eating way more calories than I needed. Then after a while I lost my motivation on working out. I sank back into my old habits and started racking up the pounds. Over the last couple years I've tried to restart different diet programs. I've focused on volumetrics, I've tried to eat mostly fruits and vegetables and so far I haven't been able to stick with the programs enough to lose any significant weight.

If this break has taught me nothing, it is that I am not as strong as I would like to be. I remember the struggle of trying to build arm muscles to lift myself. That could have been helped if I was weight training and didn't weigh as much. Now that I'm back to walking, my poor knees are not happy and keep reminding me that I'm carrying a bit too much weight for their tastes. So this week I've decided that the yo-yo has hit bottom again. I'm starting back on my weight loss program. I've bought another food journal and will start it today. It will be worth the cost of buying four of them a year if I'm able to lose weight and keep it off.

I'm writing this for you to read as a motivation to myself to stay with it. I always do a bit better at sticking with something when there is outside pressure on me. This probably wasn't the best week to start since I'll be out of town this weekend. But even if I go over my calorie limit (1800 calories a day) as long as I write everything down I'll consider it a win. And I have to simply accept the fact that I'll continue to write things down for the rest of my life. Weight has always been a struggle for me. But a food journal evens the odds considerably in my favor. Here's hoping.

The ultimate summer snack

Since I've been writing down my calories lately I've been looking for new healthy snacks to eat. I tend to be a bit of a bored eater so I like to have something that I can snack on without too many calories. And I've rediscovered my absolutely favorite summer treat: frozen grapes. 

When I was young we ate a lot of frozen fruit. My mother always stocked the freezer with frozen blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. We would open a bag and not wait for them to thaw. The blueberries would dye our fingers purple but they were so incredibly delicious. The raspberries were my favorite. After I left my parents house I stopped buying frozen berries. I didn't have a good enough freezer to keep them in any of the crappy apartments I lived in. 

It was finally after college that a friend of mine introduced me to frozen grapes. I would buy two bags of grapes on every shopping trip. One would be washed and left on the counter to eat fresh. The other would be washed, pulled off the stem, and put into a tupperware container for freezing. They become little frozen popsicles and I can eat almost unlimited numbers. I've frozen them for years now and love the cold sweet taste and the fact that they are good for me. I've also started buying other frozen fruits as well. I simply eat them plain but you can cook with them, add them to yogurt, or even cereal. 

A couple years ago I found that the Mayo Clinic offers a Healthy Weight Food Pyramid. I have this tacked up on my fridge as a reminder of how to eat healthy. And the big thing for this pyramid is the fruits and vegetables. As you'll see, they are unlimited. And with treats like frozen grapes, that's an awfully sweet deal.