Clarinetgal's check in!

Counting carbs/calories is a drag. Obsessive scale stepping is a recipe for despair. If you want to count something, "days on habit" is a much better metric. Checking off days on a calendar would do just fine, but if you do it here you get accountability and support. Here's how. Start a new topic in this forum called (say) "Your Name Daily Check In." Then every N day post a "reply" to that topic as to whether you stayed on habit. A simple "<font color="green">SUCCESS</font>" or "<font color="red">FAILURE</font>" (or your preferred euphemism if that's too harsh) is sufficient, but obviously you're welcome to write more if you want. On S-days just register that you're taking an S-day. You don't have to do this forever, just until you're confident you've built the habit. Feel free to check in weekly or monthly or sporadically instead of daily. Feel free also to track other habits besides No-s (I'm keeping this forum under No-s because that's what the vast majority are using it for). See also my <a href="/habitcal/">HabitCal</a> tool for another more formal (and perhaps complementary) way to track habits.

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Post by lpearlmom » Thu Aug 28, 2014 5:22 am

Ooh I've been wanting to make zucchini bread for awhile. Maybe I'll get to it this weekend. Sorry you had a couple disappointments with your food today but looks pretty well balanced. Btw, I never know what to order at Jamba Juice!

Will be so nice not to have to eat out so much. I really enjoy home cooked food so much more.

Sorry about your leg. Are there any exercises you can do right now?

Hope the rest of your summer goes well or are you back to school soon?

Linda
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Aug 28, 2014 6:24 am

Linda, I haven't gone to Jamba Juice too much, but their smoothies are usually good. Thanks, on my leg. Unfortunately, I have not received a lot of guidance on this AVM, so I'm not quite sure what to do. :( The most helpful advice I received was from a physical therapist I saw for 6 weeks, who suggested that it is okay to keep exercising, but to stop, if I feel too much pain. I have figured out, through trial and error, that 3 days a week of low-impact cardio, gentle strength training, and lots of stretching seem to help diminish the pain, at least. My older son starts next Wednesday (the 3 rd), so just a few more days of Summer break. :D

Heather

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Post by clarinetgal » Mon Sep 01, 2014 6:09 pm

I'm trying hard to buckle down on my eating this week, because next Tuesday, I have my angiogram and embolization on my right thigh, and I won't be able to exercise for at least a week. I'm not looking forward to the procedure, but if it takes away at least most of the pain, it will be worth it. Anyway, I have been working really hard on not eating after dinner. Yesterday night, I ate nothing after dinner. :D The night before, I only had 4 junior mints after dinner. I'm also cutting back on overall food intake, sodium, and carbs (although I would say my eating is definitely more moderate carb, ad opposed to low carb).

Breakfast: 2 homemade banana chocolate chip pancakes with syrup, 3 chicken sausage links, coffee with homemade pumpkin spice

Edited to add: The rest of the day ended up being a bust. I honestly think part of it had to do with having too many carbs at breakfast. I like having more 'carby' foods at breakfast, but I feel better, if I make them myself. My body seems to respond well to Paleo recipes (except for egg dishes). I will return to my normal breakfast tomorrow. Anyway, I didn't feel really nourished at breakfast, which lead to snacking before lunch and too big of a lunch, and it went downhill from there. I will try again tomorrow.

Pre- lunch snack: 1 fig newton, 3 Trader Joes school house cookies, left over donut from yesterday, some honey roasted peanuts.

Lunch: Veggie egg scramble, with eggs, basil, dill, turmeric, tomato, bell peppers, and kale (pretty good!). Hash browns.

PM Snack : Pumpkin spice latte

Dinner: 2 nitrate free hotdogs, corn on the cob, watermelon

Evening: Some chocolates and homemade nachos.

Actually, I decided tonight that the main habit I'll focus on for now is not eating after dinner. I 'might' still make an exception on my two band nights (Monday and Thursday), but I also might try eating slightly bigger dinners on those days, to see if that keeps me from getting hungry after band. Tonight was a bust, so I'll try again tomorrow.

Heather
Last edited by clarinetgal on Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by lpearlmom » Mon Sep 01, 2014 8:44 pm

Yay good job! I feel so much better when I don't feel stuffed at bedtime. I really hope this procedure helps with your pain. So hard to function when you have to deal with these issues.
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by clarinetgal » Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:56 am

Linda, Thanks! I really hope the procedure helps. As for eating at night, I agree. I don't like feeling stuffed before bed, either, plus I like being hungry for breakfast. I will try again tomorrow.

Heather

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Post by eschano » Tue Sep 02, 2014 1:54 pm

One habit at a time - in this case no food after dinner works brilliantly. So you go girl!
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Post by automatedeating » Tue Sep 02, 2014 5:28 pm

Clarinetgal, I vote for you hiding the jelly beans from yourself if you're working on your after-dinner snack habit! :)
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8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Sep 03, 2014 5:21 am

Well, I had a better eating day today, and I didn't eat after dinner tonight, but it was because my dinner really upset my stomach. :( I'm getting really frustrated with my stomach issues; I feel like I don't know what to eat anymore. I almost wonder if I need less plant based foods?

Breakfast: 2 homemade Paleo muffins (one zucchini, and one pumpkin chocolate chip), cherries, cashews, coffee with creamer.

Lunch: 2 candy bars (was super hungry after my workout), a chocolate avocado smoothie.

Dinner: Tried making a fish and bacon burger on a salad (so no bun). It was an interesting concept, but it killed my stomach. I'm guessing it was a combo of too much meat, and too much fat. I'm thinking a better dinner for me would be a fish burger on a bun, some chips or fries, some fruit, and some veggies with homemade dressing. I may try shifting away from smoothies and salads and more towards things like oatmeal and sandwiches. I'll still do veggie side dishes, though.

Heather

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Post by lpearlmom » Wed Sep 03, 2014 4:04 pm

Glad your day went a little better! Too much fiber can definitely mess your tummy so good idea to re-evaluate your food choices. GL !

Linda
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Sep 04, 2014 6:12 am

I had a decent eating day, not perfect, but not terrible, either. Plus, today is my 3rd day of not eating after dinner! :D

Breakfast: hot buckwheat with butter, coffee with creamer, 2 chicken sausage links, a kiwi

Lunch: Panera. 1 cup of baked potato soup. 1/3 of a baguette (I shared the rest with my younger DS). I was supposed to get a 1/2 sandwich, but they forgot to include it :evil: , so I improvised by just having some toasted coconut cashews, and some toasted coconut chips (the cashews and the coconut chips are from Costco. The cashews are really good, and the chips aren't bad).

PM Snack: A cinnamon roll from Panera (I was celebrating older DS first day of first grade)

Dinner: Chicken teriyaki frozen meal, and carrot chips with homemade ranch dressing

Linda, I felt a lot better today. Thanks!

Heather
Last edited by clarinetgal on Fri Sep 05, 2014 5:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by eschano » Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:02 am

clarinetgal wrote: Plus, today is my 3rd day of not eating after dinner! :D
Heather
How great is that? Well done!
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Post by clarinetgal » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:43 am

Yesterday was not the best eating day. Today wasn't a perfect eating day, but it was better, and I didn't eat after dinner again. :D I'm really liking this idea of focusing on one habit at a time. I do want to conquer the sweets, because that is a problem, but for now, I think it's important to firmly establish the habit of not eating after dinner.

Breakfast: coffee with creamer, 1 homemade zucchini muffin, 1 carton of lactose free yogurt, fruit with a small amount of whipped cream, cashews

Lunch: 2 Oreos, 2 snickerdoodle cookies, a green smoothie, 2 homemade banana bread muffins

Afternoon: Venti vanilla frappucino (DH brought it home as a surprise)

Dinner: Pizza chicken (yum!), and salad with homemade Paleo ranch dressing

Heather

Eschano, Thank you! :D

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Post by clarinetgal » Sun Sep 07, 2014 6:22 am

Today was an S Day. Since I'm not doing Vanilla No S, my S days are a little different. I usually just relax the rules on what I eat with my meals, and I'm more lenient with snacking.
I didn't eat after dinner again. I think this is the 5th day. :D

Breakfast: coffee with creamer, oatmeal with dates, maple syrup, hemp hearts, cinnamon, and pecans; a kiwi; 4 small chocolates.

Lunch: A dairy free pumpkin shake (yum!), and some chicken sausages.

Snack: Coffee with creamer, very small serving of chocolate covered raisins.

Dinner: Hamburger, fries with tartar sauce, the rest of the tomato I used for the hamburger (I love raw tomatoes!), corn on the cob with butter)

Heather

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Post by eschano » Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:46 am

You're doing so well with not eating after dinner!
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Post by clarinetgal » Tue Sep 09, 2014 7:39 am

Thanks, Eschano! :D
Tomorrow morning, I am having the procedure to (hopefully) get rid of the AVM in my right thigh. I'll have a 3 day recovery period, and I'll be staying at my parents' house during that time. I'm expecting my eating to be off, but I'll try to stay as moderate as I can. I will not weigh myself, for the next several days. I will definitely get back on track next week.

Heather

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Post by aspencer27 » Tue Sep 09, 2014 2:42 pm

Glad you are getting your leg sorted. You definitely deserve S-Days for your recovery, which means you aren't off track and no getting back on next week! I hope your leg feels better quickly.

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Post by clarinetgal » Tue Sep 09, 2014 4:15 pm

Thanks, aspencer! :D

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Post by automatedeating » Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:23 pm

Oh, good luck with your recovery! This is great news that they are able to treat it; yay! And definitely just relax and take it easy (as much as you can with two kids!!) in order to recover well.
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Post by lpearlmom » Wed Sep 10, 2014 5:59 am

Glad you're getting your leg taken care of finally.

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Linda
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Sep 10, 2014 8:47 am

Auto, Thanks! Thankfully, I'm able to stay at my parents' house for a few days, so it makes recovery a lot easier. :D

Linda, Thank you! :D

Heather

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Post by eschano » Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:25 am

Let them spoil you! SRecovery days are also S days ;)
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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Sep 11, 2014 5:22 am

Thanks, Eschano! I agree. :D

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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:59 pm

I'm still in my recovery period, and I'm staying at my parents' house for a couple of more days. I must admit, I am really enjoying not weighing myself, and not tracking my food. When I come home, I think I will try weighing myself once a week, and see how it goes.

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Post by automatedeating » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:51 pm

How is your leg feeling? What is the general time-frame for recovery and physical therapy?
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:53 pm

Auto, Right now, my leg still hurts really bad. :( One of the doctors I saw told me recovery could take a week. I'm really not sure about things like physical therapy at this point, but I have a follow up appointment in October, so I should know more then. Thanks! :D

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Post by lpearlmom » Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:51 am

Oh I hope your pain subsides soon Heather! Glad you're at least able to enjoy your respite from weighing.

Hang in there.

Linda
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by clarinetgal » Fri Sep 12, 2014 3:19 am

Thank you, Linda! :D

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Post by worth it » Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:20 pm

CG,

I'm sending get well vibes! Hang in there.

Worth it

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Post by clarinetgal » Fri Sep 12, 2014 11:23 pm

Thank you, Worth It! :D

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Post by clarinetgal » Sat Sep 13, 2014 6:03 am

I've been doing some thinking on how I want to focus on my eating when I get home tomorrow. I know I disclosed this awhile ago, but I have been tracking my calories on a diet site for a long time now. I have gotten to the point where I am really, really sick of it. I was finding myself getting too obsessed with the numbers (am I eating too many carbs? Too much sodium?), and I would feel depressed every time I went over my calorie goal. Well, since I've taken a break from tracking, I have felt so much better. Sure, I'm eating too much, but I know it's temporary. I'm just at the point where I am SO tired of tracking everything I eat.
I know I still need to use moderation, since I still need to lose weight. Here is my possible plan. 3 meals on 8 inch plates (or the equivalent), plus a small snack on a saucer. I think this would make my meals small enough so that they wouldn't aggravate my reflux, plus, by sticking to the no seconds and no snacks rules (other than the planned snack), I 'think' I should still be able to lose weight. Plus, I will go back to my rule of not eating after dinner. I'm still figuring out the sweets. I would like to get to where I allow myself 1 or 2 cookies a day, or maybe a small ramekin of ice cream, but I want to get to where I don't have to have sweets everyday. I think what I will do, though, is focus on the eating plan and the no eating after dinner first, and then I will focus on the sweets.
Finally, I am very serious about not weighing daily anymore. I have really enjoyed my break from the scale. I will weigh myself weekly for now (I think I will weigh in on Wednesdays), but no more weighing myself multiple times a day. :oops:

Heather

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Post by lpearlmom » Sat Sep 13, 2014 6:40 am

Yay--heather it all sounds like you're moving in a healthy direction. When trying to lose weight becomes all encompassing I think we need to re-think what we're doing and whether it's really worth it.

The beauty in NoS is suppose to be that we don't have to do all that crazy obsessive tracking. The plates simplify everything for us so I would definitely try your new plan for awhile and see how it goes. It sounds very livable!

I think having a contained amounts of sweets everyday is fine. The bottom line is that we all have to decide what we can & cannot live with long-term. I think it's better to work around our must have list instead of setting ourselves up for failure.

I'm really glad you had this time to think things through!

Linda
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by worth it » Sun Sep 14, 2014 3:58 am

Wow CG.

You have had some time to THINK! Great job using your recovery time in a positive way and to determine a way forward! What you propose sounds reasonable and totally doable and I agree with Linda on the whole sweets thing. Fundamentally I don't anything wrong with having them as a part of your planned meals.

I look forward to hearing how things fare for you.

Worth it

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Post by la tortue » Sun Sep 14, 2014 5:51 pm

Just popping in to say I think your plan sounds very reasonable and I hope your leg is feeling better. :)

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Post by eschano » Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:12 am

A brilliant plan Heather! Sometimes we need a bit of a holiday to get back refreshed and no-calorie-counting and weekly weigh-ins sound great!
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Post by clarinetgal » Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:38 pm

Thank you, Linda, Worth it, airmail, and Eschano! :D

Well, I have stuck with part of my plan. I haven't weighed myself since last Monday. I don't think I'll weigh myself until after I start exercising again, so probably next Wednesday.
I did go back to calorie counting, for now. I was getting a little nervous, since I have to eat something with the pain pill I take right before bed. I think I was afraid of eating too much. Anyway, I think I will use the calorie counting as a tool to help me figure out exactly how much I'm putting on my plates, but in the next couple of weeks, I really want to break free of calorie counting.
Here is what I've had, so far:

Breakfast: Creamy buckwheat with butter, fruit with a little whipped cream, coffee with a little whipped cream.

Lunch: Apple pie smoothie (yum!), 1 Trader Joes ice cream Bon Bon ( these are good, but so rich, you only need one)

Afternoon: 1 cup of coffee with whipped cream

Dinner: Salad topped with some really good chicken DH made in the crockpot. Some Pirates Booty white cheddar puffs. Raisins. Yogurt covered raisins and chocolate covered raisins. 1 more TJ ice cream Bon Bon. (I was having a really strong craving for raisins. I'm guessing my iron was low?)

Evening snack with pain pill: Small homemade cheese and bacon quesadilla. I can't wait until I can phase out this evening meal! I really don't like eating right before bed.
Last edited by clarinetgal on Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by lpearlmom » Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:35 am

Good job w not weighing yourself!

Now I'm gonna have to check out those Bon-bond at TJS for this weekend. Everyone thinks all sahm do all day is sit around and eat Bon-bons anyway so I might as well get some!

Linda
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by clarinetgal » Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:32 am

Linda, Thanks, except I broke down and weighed myself tonight. :oops: I was up 5 pounds since last week. However, I had just eaten my evening snack and had a glass of water with my pain pill, plus I had drunk 2 cups of tea earlier in the evening, so I'm guessing I'm up at most 2-3 pounds. Considering how much food I ate last week, and the fact I've spent the vast majority of time on my couch, I'm okay with it. My goal, for now, is to see if I can go at least 2-3 more days before I weigh myself again.

Heather

P.S. You really should check out those Bon Bons, Linda. :D I'm a SAHM, too, so I get the joke. :D

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Post by aspencer27 » Tue Sep 16, 2014 12:25 pm

No worries, Heather - sounds like you have the right attitude towards weighing yourself. Pain medication can also affect your weight, so I think you'll be back on track in no time. Your weight is just a measurement - it doesn't define anything about who you are. Focus on your habits, and things will settle down.

Hope your recovery is going well.

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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:19 pm

Very true, aspencer! Thanks! :D You're right that the pain meds could be affecting my weight. Today is my last day to take them.
I did weigh myself several times yesterday, but I have stayed off of the scale this morning. I'm determined not to step on the scale again until at least Saturday. I think it is really important for me to conquer my scale addiction, and to focus instead on establishing good eating habits.
Also, I'm evaluating the foods I'm eating, to see if I can find a way to be fuller with smaller meals. I'm interested in plant-based eating, and I've been experimenting with eating meat once a day, but it doesn't seem to fill me up enough. I flat out am not that excited about meat. I like it okay in sandwiches sometimes, on a pizza, or in other dinner foods, but I'm not a meat lover, by any stretch. I especially am not big on processed meats (bacon, sausage, salami, deli meat, etc... ). I'm seeming to be able to tolerate dairy a little better, so I may try a little more dairy. I also like beans, grains, nut butters, and eggs okay. I really limit soy, because one of my sisters was diagnosed with estrogen dominant breast cancer at age 27, and she was told to avoid soy (she's doing okay, by the way).
I didn't have the best eating day yesterday, but it wasn't horrible, either. I'm determined to have a better eating day today.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins, hemp hearts, cinnamon, and butter. Coffee with a little whipped cream. I also had a K cup mocha with a little whipped cream later this morning, because younger DS woke me up 2 hours earlier than normal, and I'm exhausted.

Lunch: Pumpkin pie smoothie, Lara bar alt. I also snacked on some baby bell peppers and some chocolate covered raisins before lunch, because I was starving. My bowl of oatmeal was clearly not enough. I'm convinced more and more that plant based eating is not for me.

Dinner: I made a burrito with my leftover chicken and rice, some mango peach salsa, some cheese, sour cream, and the tortilla. It was good! I didn't have any tortilla chips, so I had some Pirates Booty white cheddar chips.

Evening: I will have something with my pain pill. This will be my last night taking the pain pills (although I'll have to stay on Tylenol for at least a little while longer).

Heather

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Post by lpearlmom » Thu Sep 18, 2014 4:08 am

Glad to hear you're almost off your pain pills. It's hard to find non-soy veg protein options but protein during meals definitely helps with satiety. Having a poached egg in the morning really helps me get through to lunch.

Great to see you continue to work away from obsessing weighing (been there). Takes time to break those habits but you'll get there.

Hope the rest of your week goes well.

Linda
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by eschano » Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:13 am

The scale - it's probably a more dangerous place than I realised. I love not weighing regularly but I often tried and failed. If you could limit it to once a day it would already be a success. Btw, I never weigh myself other than in the morning naked pre-food. I'm too scarred of any time later! haha.

Glad your sister is ok and that you seem to recuperate as well!
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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Sep 18, 2014 9:52 pm

Thanks, Linda and Eschano! :D I'm doing okay with not weighing myself as much. I've only stepped on the scale first thing this morning, and my goal is to stay off of it for the rest of the day.
DH took me to Trader Joes last night, and I stocked up on quick, healthier processed foods, since I still can't be on my feet for too long. I miss cooking and baking, but I'll get back to it soon enough.

Breakfast : Coffee with whipped cream, Barbara's Puffins cereal with almond milk, cashews, fruit with a little whipped cream. (I don't find cereal to be a satisfying breakfast, but I like it from time to time).

Lunch: 1 TJ dark chocolate peanut butter cup, TJ chile relleno, small salad, slice of watermelon, coffee with a little whipped cream.

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Post by worth it » Sat Sep 20, 2014 10:17 pm

CG,

I have also heard that pain pills make one retain water, so I wouldn't worry.

I'm glad you seem to be feeling better, even enough to go to TJ's!

I continue to wish for a speedy, stress free recovery for you!

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Post by clarinetgal » Sun Sep 21, 2014 7:08 am

Thank you, worth it! :D

I have a confession. I have gotten really bad about eating late at night again. It started right after my embolization, when I had to eat something with my last pain pill for the night, and even though I haven't taken the pain pills for 3 days now, I'm still eating, after my kids go to bed. Tomorrow, my goal will be to not eat after dinner.
Here is my other observation. I still cannot be on my feet for too long at a time, which makes cooking a challenge, so I've been relying on Trader Joes frozen meals. I've enjoyed the variety of the different foods, but my stomach has not been happy with me. I'm guessing the ingredients that are most irritating my stomach are the garlic and onions, carrageenan, and dairy. I think, once I'm feeling a little better, I will start working on preparing meals ahead of time (maybe while older DS is at school). There's a decent chance I'll have to have one more embolization, and if that turns out to be the case, I want to have foods that are already prepared that won't bother my stomach.

Breakfast: Coffee with whipped cream, pumpkin spice green smoothie, Lara bar alt.

Lunch: Trader Joes wild salmon frozen meal (good, but bothered my stomach).

Dinner: Baked potato with TJ chicken chili, salsa, plain Greek yogurt, and a little cheese

Snacks: Starbucks pumpkin spice latte and a birthday cake pop, small handful of yogurt covered raisins, Chex mix, small handful of M and Ms and jelly beans.

Heather

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Post by lpearlmom » Mon Sep 22, 2014 2:02 am

Sorry to hear you're having difficulty w late night snacking again Heather. It's tough not to default to our old habits when in need of comfort. I can't tell you how many times I've found myself staring into an open frig, after a difficult moment.

Good idea on preparing meals ahead of time for next time. My tummy does best with homemade food too for some reason.

Hope things get better!

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Post by clarinetgal » Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:06 pm

Thanks, Linda! :D

I made it without eating after dinner yesterday, except I did have a cup of coffee with whipped cream in it. That satisfied my need to have something late at night. I may continue with the coffee or tea ritual for awhile.
I will update later on today.

Breakfast: Coffee with whipped cream, 2 homemade pumpkin muffins, cashews.

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Post by eschano » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:42 am

Well done Heather! No eating after dinner is also the one I struggle with most. Even when I am sailing through a green N week I always have that one day or two where I find it really hard at night. Thankfully now my struggle lasts about 5 minutes but I remember when I started where I literally had to fight every minute from 7.30pm (post dinner) until 11pm when I went to sleep. So I hope that in another 2 years I won't fight at all!
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Post by Tessytwinkle » Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:58 pm

It's funny how we all have our different times in the day when not eating is just sooooo hard :) I hardly ever feel like eating late at night. But of course that's because I've usually stuffed myself and blown my noS day by eating at 4 ish. Which is my vulnerable time !! A special cuppa sounds the perfect answer. Hope it helps you get through the evening :)
So sorry you have been in pain lately it's so wearing. I hope you are back on your feet without any pain soon. You are doing so brilliantly despite all your pain and trouble. Well done you :)

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Post by automatedeating » Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:57 am

Do you think it's the night owls that struggle with the after-dinner temptations to snack? Or do y'all think that's unrelated?
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8/14-24.5
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8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:46 am

Thanks, Eschano, Tessy, and Auto! :D

I'm still plugging away at reducing the size of my meals enough to lose weight, without feeling super hungry and deprived. I'm also still working on not eating after dinner. My two trickiest days are Mondays and Thursdays when I have band, since the rehearsals start around my dinner time, so I have to eat 1-2 hours earlier than normal. I've thought about having a smaller dinner at around 5, and having a small, preplanned meal/snack after band. I'm just not good at coming up with small meals.
I'll start posting my meals again tomorrow ( I'm really tired tonight).
Auto, It wouldn't surprise me if the temptation to eat late at night is harder to resist for night owls. I know I'm a night owl.

Heather

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Post by eschano » Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:49 am

I'm a night owl too! Not sure if that proofs anything but it just might.

As for small meals: my favourite snack: Bruschetta (the gift that keeps on giving): https://www.google.com/search?q=brusche ... 06&bih=820

There is virtually no topping that doesn't work. I buy a lovely baguette, cut it Bruschetta size, and freeze them individually. When I need a snack I get out one slice, prepare a topping and put on the oven, depending on the topping I put it on the bread while it's in the oven or I wait until the bread is ready and put it on later (e.g. tomatoes with mozzarella in the oven, avocadoes later). If you want to avoid gluten, you can get gluten free baguette or rice crackers or fried polenta (not sure that's gluten free).

Sorry for the long post!
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Post by lpearlmom » Thu Sep 25, 2014 4:41 am

I think the 4th smaller meal is a great idea as it's so important to be realistic. I'd just use a smaller plate or a small bowl & put anything you like in it.

My favorite snack though is Greek yogurt w granola or maybe toast w pb & honey?

GL w the tweaks--sounds like overall you're dong well though.

Linda

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Post by clarinetgal » Fri Sep 26, 2014 1:00 am

Thanks, Eschano! I'll have to try the bruschetta! Linda, Thanks! I think you're right about the 4th meal, at least for my 2 band rehearsal nights.
I've been doing pretty well the past few days. I haven't eaten after dinner for two nights in a row. :D Today, I did have a smaller meal before band. DH brought home some cake from Costco, so I had coffee and cake. I'll have a smaller dinner when I come home from band. It has not been the healthiest eating day, but it has been pretty moderate.

Breakfast: Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip muffin. Coffee with lactose free creamer.

Lunch: Panera You Pick 2. Turkey bacon avocado BLT and broccoli cheddar soup. Green power smoothie. 1/2 a cookie ( I shared the rest with DS). Small piece of baguette (I gave the rest to DS)

Afternoon meal: Cake and coffee

Evening meal: Homemade lasagna and a veggie.

I will work on having more lunches I can eat at home. I've been stopping at Panera too much lately. For now, it still hurts to stand for too long, so I need quicker meals. Linda and Eschano, I'll try your suggestions. :D

Heather

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Post by eschano » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:27 am

Hi Heather,
it might not healthy but with the cake and tea you are right where the English are with their afternoon tea and the Austrians. Although, I should add that I know few people who have it every day. I do know people who have it about 3-4 times a week and they are all svelte. Mainly because they are moderate all the time and don't have wild days so 3-4 slices of cake per week are easily doable. My Irish friend has a mid-morning scone with jam about 4x/week. Also svelte. But again, moderate otherwise.
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Post by aspencer27 » Fri Sep 26, 2014 1:12 pm

Sounds like the tweaks are going well. Sorry to hear about your pain from standing. For some quicker meals, you could do some prep ahead meals that you can do a few things at a time. I really like to bake things in the oven because once it's prepped, there's no more cooking work to do - the oven does all of the work! Plus, I can prep it a day or so ahead and just stick it in the oven when I get home. For that, you can try doing some of the prep work - rinsing, chopping, etc. Basically do the mise en place like what's done on the cooking shows. Then, at another point you can assemble the dish and just stick it in the oven. Or, can you move the prep work to somewhere you can sit down?

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Post by Tessytwinkle » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:57 pm

Hi there. I know how wearing it can be when it gets painful standing too long. So miserable for you. I try to cook something before I go to work. I often have more energy first thing in the morning. I don't do loads. Just get something ready. A small extra meal is important if you have a long day. I think you can't beat a little bowl of home made lentil soup, very simple, very nourishing, very nice :lol: can sit in fridge for days or be frozen in portions. give a shout if you need a recipe. It's dead simple. But you probably know that :-)

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Post by clarinetgal » Sat Sep 27, 2014 6:57 pm

Eschano, That cake and tea custom you mentioned, where the English and Irish have cake and tea 3-4 times a week is exactly what I want to get to! I love the idea of feeling free to eat a piece of cake or a cookie and maybe a cup of coffee or tea several times a week, but not having to have a sweet treat every day. I can certainly see working around the treats by eating moderately the rest of the time. Thanks!
Aspencer, I get what you're saying, and I'll probably just have to do that. I'm getting really tired of frozen meals. I think I could definitely sit and chop the ingredients for a dinner and do the rest later. I'll have to experiment with that. Thanks!
Tessy, I would love a recipe for lentil soup! That sounds good! Thank you!

Heather

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Post by clarinetgal » Sun Sep 28, 2014 8:05 am

I didn't have too bad of an eating day, except that I succumbed to the temptation of the cake my DH brought home from Costco a few days ago. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to have a bunch of sweets in the house. If he does it again, I'll definitely nicely ask him to not have sweets like that in plain sight.

Breakfast: Homemade egg mc muffin, fruit with whipped cream, coffee with whipped cream

Lunch (at a birthday party): 2 slices of pizza, 1 slice of birthday cake

Dinner: Boneless ribs (DH made them in the crockpot!), mashed sweet potatoes, peas (Note: tomorrow, I'll make sure to add some bread with the meal. This meal didn't fill me up nearly enough)

Evening: Ended up having 2 slices of cake, and a cup of coffee with whipped cream)

Heather

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Post by lpearlmom » Sun Sep 28, 2014 8:40 pm

Looks pretty good for an S day! Cake is okay for an S day right? Or was it just too much?
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Post by Tessytwinkle » Sun Sep 28, 2014 9:22 pm

Hi Heather, Your Sunday sounds good, cake is irresistible sometimes, but that's what S days are for :)
Here is how I make a quick simple lentil soup. Fry large chopped onion and a garlic clove or two ( if you like garlic). Fry gently till soft in olive oil. Add 2 large carrots chopped or sliced and 2 large celery sticks chopped, continue to fry gently. Add red split lentils about one cup ( that's a guess sorry! ). Stir to mix and coat with oil. Then add vegetable stock to cover and be a bit above the veggies or will be too thick when lentils cook. I use vegetable stock but you could use chicken stock. But not beef as it needs a fairly light stock. Cook till soft, you can liquidise this soup if you like ( I like chunks myself) and then eat with toast :-) yum simply but very comforting :)

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Post by clarinetgal » Mon Sep 29, 2014 6:46 am

Tessy, Thank you! I will have to give that a try!
Linda, thanks! Since I'm not doing Vanilla (yet), I have never been sure how to define S Days. I know my eating wasn't too bad yesterday, though.

Aargh! I'm really struggling with sweets lately. It seems like the more sweets that are around (especially cake and good cookies), the more I eat. I think I'm going to have to exert some good old fashioned will power and just say no, or I need to put much more of a fence around my sweets eating (to paraphrase Reinhard), so come up with stricter rules for eating sweets. Plus, for some reason, my stomach has been really off since my procedure 3 weeks ago, so I think it would be wise to lay off of the heavy sweets for awhile. Tomorrow, I'm going to dinner and a concert with some friends and Tuesday is DH's birthday, but on Wednesday, I can start to buckle down on my eating.

Breakfast: Bowl of homemade pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal (yum!), coffee with whipped cream, a sausage patty (I ate the sausage patty an hour later, because I was still VERY hungry. The oatmeal was not nearly filling enough). Very small handful of jelly beans.

Lunch: Lean Cuisine sesame chicken, 3 chicken nuggets (older DS took some of the chicken from my Lean Cuisine), strawberries with whipped cream, latte made with coffee, coconut cream, and a dash of cinnamon(yum!).

Afternoon: Homemade pumpkin spice iced coffee

Dinner: Boneless ribs, pretzel bun from Costco, peas, 4 Junior Mints

Evening: Piece of cake, 2 cookies, tea

Heather

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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Oct 02, 2014 6:35 am

I'm still working on eating more moderate-sized meals, in order to hopefully lose weight, and to help my reflux. Today was my first day in awhile to really try this. It went okay. I did eat more moderately, but I also snacked a little, which is not normal for me. I would love to be able to eat just 3 meals, and maybe a small treat at night, after my boys go to bed. However, I'm not sure if my body will allow it, so I'll keep experimenting.

Breakfast: Coffee with whipped cream, Square Bar ( a vegan protein bar), some strawberries.

Lunch: Roastbeef sandwich (Applegate naturals uncured roast beef) on Trader Joes rye bread, with mustard, some mayo, lettuce, and tomato. Trader Joes veggie chips. The rest of the tomato I used for my sandwich. Carrot chips with Annie's lite honey mustard dressing. 2 Trader Joes pumpkin spice cookies.

Snack#1: 2 Brach's peppermints, small handful of Annie's bunny grahams.

Dinner: 2 more TJ pumpkin spice cookies ( I was starving tonight, for some reason), salad topped with Lean Cuisine wrap additions. Small handful of TJ chocolate covered raisins.

Late night snack: Moderate sized piece of leftover birthday cake from DH's birthday yesterday, very small piece of fudge, coffee with lactose free creamer

Notes from today: 1) My best triumph was with lunch. Even though my plate was very full, everything fit onto my plate, and I did not get seconds.
2) My salad for dinner confirmed for me that I am still very bored with salads. I really do think I'll try to stick with cooked veggies, or cut up raw veggies ( such as carrots) with dressing. 3) I tried really watching my dairy intake until tonight, when I had a piece of DH's cake, which has a lot of cream. My stomach felt mostly decent today, until after I had the piece of cake, and the fudge. Maybe my increased dairy consumption is behind a lot of the stomach issues I've been having lately. I will keep experimenting with this.

Heather

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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Oct 02, 2014 7:09 am

I think I have come up with a working plan for myself. It is something I've hinted at repeatedly over the past several months, and I think I want to try it. My plan is for 3 moderate-sized meals, plus a 4th smaller meal at night, after my boys go to bed. Realistically, the 4th meal will usually be a treat, like a piece of cake, or a bowl of dairy free ice cream, with a cup of coffee, or tea. I am still counting calories for now, but I really am trying to get away from that. I will not have traditional S Days on weekends, but I will be looser about what goes on my plates. Instead, I will have S events, like for family birthdays, or the occasional social gathering. My only actual S Days will be for my birthday, and for major holidays. I am trying to limit my Starbucks drinks to 1-2 times a month, instead of several times a week. I have also been allowing myself small amounts of extra sweets with lunch and dinner, and I know I'm going to have to make a trade off: either have my sweets then, or have them at nights, but not multiple times a day. I may try having fruit with lunch and dinner, or maybe just a couple of junior mints after dinner. I'll keep working on this. Anyway, I will try out my plan for the time being, and see how it goes. I think it could be very doable!

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Post by eschano » Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:44 am

I am interested how the plan unfolds. As for salads: I don't eat them with one exception. There's actually not that many vitamins in salads. It's just cheap (calorie-wise) fill. I eat warm meals mainly and try to have lots of other veg. Wouldn't worry about that.
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Post by aspencer27 » Thu Oct 02, 2014 12:19 pm

Good luck with the plan. I am toying with the idea of adding a snack in the afternoon because I usually eat lunch around 1pm and don't get home for dinner until around 9pm - that's a long time, and I think my meals are bigger to make up for it!

I am looking forward to see how your tweaks work out - sounds like a great adjustment! Good luck!

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Post by lpearlmom » Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:14 pm

Seems like a good plan heather! Let us know how it goes!

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Post by Tessytwinkle » Thu Oct 02, 2014 9:58 pm

Hi Heather, plans to deal with your own individual eating patterns are good I think. You know you really need a little something in the evening and so it is better perhaps to factor this in than feel bad about it. I sometimes have to have something about 4 ish cos if I don't I go off the rails :) so good luck with your new plans I hope it goes well :)

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Post by clarinetgal » Sun Oct 05, 2014 6:08 am

I'm still here. I've just been in a bit of a funk the past couple of days, because my leg is taking so long to heal. It has been almost 4 weeks since the procedure, and I'm still having a lot of pain. :( I'm actually going to call on Monday, because that doesn't seem normal to me, but I don't know. Anyway, I was able to spend quality time with my mom today, and I'm feeling better mentally, so I'm definitely ready to start fresh tomorrow morning.
One thing I've thought about recently is instituting some LAM routines. For example, I have not slept well in awhile. I keep falling asleep early and then waking up in the middle of the night needing to brush my teeth, etc... I will try making sure I have my teeth brushed by 11:30, so if I do fall asleep, I won't have to worry about it.
Also, since I started having issues with my leg, I have spent a lot of time sitting around at night, in order to rest it. I've been watching a lot of TV, and I've been eating a lot of junk at night out of boredom. It occurred to me the other day that I really don't like watching TV that much. I have decided that, instead, I will limit my TV time and spend a lot more time reading ( which I love) and practicing my clarinet.

Breakfast: Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cake in a mug (yummy!), coffee with creamer, bacon. The cake recipe is low carb, and it was designed to be sugar free. However, it called for stevia and I don't like stevia, so I used 1 T of raw honey instead. It ended up being just a tad bit too sweet, but overall, it was good! Other note from breakfast: my stomach does not do well with processed meat. From now on, I will try to keep my breakfasts plant-based.

Lunch: McDonalds with my mom and the boys. Chicken nuggets, fries, diet Dr. Pepper.

Snack on the way home: A grande soy salted caramel mocha. It was a long drive home, so the caffeine helped, but it tasted too icky sweet. I won't get this one again.

Dinner: I was still full from the mocha, so my dinner was weird and snacky. Some spinach with sesame oil and no salt seasoning (surprisingly good!), TJ popcorn, some TJ pumpkin O's, 2 TJ pumpkin cookies, and some TJ chocolate covered raisins.

Evening snack : My snacky dinner did not fill me up, so I had a small saucer of homemade nachos. Next time, I will just have an actual dinner.

Thank you, Linda, Eschano, aspencer, and Tessy! :D

Heather

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Post by Dandelion » Sun Oct 05, 2014 10:45 pm

Your comment about 'icky sweet' jumped out at me. I really think having the freedom to eat anything leads to being more particular about what we eat. So that so often things we used to love - and maybe eat to excess are suddenly not so appealing. It's like are free to realize what they are truly like - not what deprivation made them seem like.

I don't know if I'm coming across as I mean to, or if it's been like that for you, but it sure has for me. One example is chocolate. If it was chocolate, I wanted it. Now I notice more subtle flavors in chocolate, and I am more choosy about the chocolate I eat.

I like the sound of your plan. Hope it works well for you.
'I do think the way to a full and healthy life is to adopt the sensible system of small helpings, no seconds, no snacking, and a little bit of everything. Above all, have a good time.' Julia Child

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Post by eschano » Mon Oct 06, 2014 11:02 am

I'm all for LAM :) Also, I started knitting a snood again (that time of the year and much to the horror of my boyfriend who didn't have the pleasure yet). It's great because it keeps my hands busy so no snacking during TV time.
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Post by automatedeating » Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:47 am

hey, what did the doc say today about your leg still hurting so much?
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8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
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3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Oct 08, 2014 3:29 am

I'm still here! I'm struggling with all of the extra sweets around the house, so I think I am going to have to put some limits around my sweets consumption. I have figured out that processed sweets are too addictive for me. My biggest struggles, lately, have been TJ pumpkin joe joes and TJ iced pumpkin cookies. I will definitely limit the processed sweets and snack foods I buy, because if I have too many of those foods around, I'll eat them. :(
I think I will also go back to not eating at nights, except for my two band nights, Mondays and Thursdays. I have found that eating too many sweets at night makes me too sleepy ( maybe a sugar crash?).
I still would like to have a time of day where I can eat a small amount of sweets, and drink a cup of coffee. I may move that time to 3:30, when my younger DS goes down for his rest time. However, I also really want to get away from 'having' to have sweets every day. I really don't think I'm ready for Vanilla No S yet, but I might try going 1 day a week without sweets, and work up from there.
I also want to try baking some sweets again. I'm still having enough pain that I can't spend a long time cooking or baking, but I think I'll look for some recipes where I can use my Ninja or food processor for most of the mixing. I have found, from past experience, that I am much less likely to overeat my homemade goodies than store bought sweets. My baked sweets are good, but I use less sugar, so maybe they're not as addictive?

Dandelion, I definitely get what you're saying. In some ways, it has worked well for me. There are certain sweets around my house in which I have more self control, like chocolate covered raisins, gummy sweets, and most store bought cookies. The fact that they're not forbidden makes me less likely to eat them.

Eschano, that's cool that you know how to knit! Yes, it would definitely keep your hands busy.

Auto, At this point, the doctor said to try heat, to see if it will relax the leg, and some sort of bike shorts or compression stockings. I have my follow up on the 28th, so I'm hoping I'll know more then.

Breakfast: Carrot cake smoothie (this was not very good), part of a square bar, cashews, coffee with whipped cream.

Lunch: Wrap with ham, lettuce, and tomato, veggie chips, 2 small apples, a plum, some peanut M and Ms, 1 TJ iced pumpkin cookie

Dinner:Pork, cabbage, and mushrooms over brown rice, 4 TJ pumpkin joe joes, TJ movie theater popcorn, most of a small pack of chocolate chip cookies my son didn't eat, a few TJ gummies, coffee with whipped cream

Now that I wrote that out, I can really see my excesses. I will definitely work on limiting the processed goodies.

Heather

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Post by lpearlmom » Wed Oct 08, 2014 4:07 am

Hi heather good to see you still around! Can you believe all the pumpkin stuff at TJs?! It was kind of overwhelming so I haven't bought anything pumpkin yet. My girls love the regular joe joes so maybe I'll try the pumpkin ones this weekend.

So sorry to hear your still in pain. Hope things get better soon!

Linda
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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Oct 08, 2014 4:48 am

Linda, Thanks! :D I tend to love all things pumpkin in the Fall. :D I would definitely recommend trying the pumpkin joe joes.
Take care!

Heather

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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Oct 08, 2014 5:32 am

One more quick update: I think I'm going to try just sticking to 3 plates, except for on Mondays and Thursdays, since I'm always hungry after band rehearsals. On those days, I would eat my dinner on my 8 inch plates, and have something small when I come home. I will give myself permission to have sweets on my plates, but I want to get to where I don't have to have sweets. I have found that if I have sweets and coffee in the afternoon, I'm not as hungry for dinner. If I eat just sweets and coffee at night, I'm either too wired or too sleepy afterwards ( no doubt the sugar). I'm trying this because, as I've mentioned off and on, I'm still calorie counting. However, I have become really, really sick of it -- especially when I have a meal with several foods, and I have to spend time logging each one. Plus, I never meet my goal (I'm always over), and I end up feeling stressed out and bad about myself. I am at the point where I want to find peace with food. Moreover, I want to stop obsessing about losing weight. For whatever reason, losing weight has become much more difficult for me, and I'm tired of worrying about it. Like Linda wrote in her thread, I would love to focus on being healthy and beautiful at any size.

Heather

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Post by eschano » Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:01 am

So much food for thought there - thanks for sharing!
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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Oct 08, 2014 4:03 pm

Thanks, Eschano! I'll see how this goes. I had one mini triumph this morning. I actually forgot to weigh myself first thing this morning, and I didn't realize it until I was already dressed, and I'd had some liquids. I decided I'm not going to worry about it. Once I get my eating habits a little better established, I will return to trying to break myself free of the scale.

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Post by Sinnie » Wed Oct 08, 2014 4:32 pm

Hey Heather! Just a thought about the calorie counting. I used to find it cumbersome and stressful after a couple days. I never use those logging sites because they take way too long - and I too never meet my goal (probably 99% always over). I stopped seeing it as a requirement. I typically estimate and when I'm curious I look it up or weigh it because I think it's fun, not because weight loss depends on it. I find enjoyment out of that information, but I keep it to myself (no one knows except DH). Because it's weird, I know :P Anyways, if you do find any enjoyment out of the process, just alter the need to be perfect and do it more for information/curiosity. I have been finding sticking to meals and just sorta mentally tabulating the plate 4 times a day gives me the fun and mental balance of knowing I'm eating well while also eliminating the need to track anything! For me it's a little game but I totally totally understand what you're saying - been there myself girl :) And I especially like your and Linda's comments on making your current self the best it can be NOW. Words to live by.Love it.

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Post by eschano » Thu Oct 09, 2014 8:27 am

clarinetgal wrote:. I actually forgot to weigh myself first thing this morning, and I didn't realize it until I was already dressed, and I'd had some liquids.
That's kind of perfect. Not worrying if you do weigh yourself but forgetting from time to time :) I'm soooo much happier since I stopped but I also know they first two years I needed the daily weighing so it all has pro and cons and it's all trial and error until I find what works for me. Plus, one thing I noticed is that what didn't work before does sometimes work now. So my new resolution is to reassess things that haven't worked before :)
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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Oct 09, 2014 6:05 pm

Thanks, Sinnie! I have a feeling that is what I'll end up doing. Eschano, Thanks! That makes sense, about reassessing what works.

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Post by clarinetgal » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:49 pm

Just a quick check in for now, I'll try to update more later. Remember when I mentioned that processed sweets were too addictive for me? Well, I have been doing some thinking, and I realized that I don't think I can completely give up sweets. They're just too much a part of my life. I also know that processed sweets are too much of a problem for me, so I'm going to go back to really limiting them. Moreover, I am honestly not ready ( yet) to do full vanilla no s. Therefore, I think the best solution for me is to go back to making my own sweets. My leg is still hurting enough that I can't do a lot of cooking or baking yet, but I might be able to do 1 baking project per week. Today's recipe is pumpkin spice cookies with vanilla cinnamon icing. I haven't tried them yet, but I think they'll turn out okay.
More to come later.

Heather

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Post by Tessytwinkle » Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:41 am

Hi Heather. Hope you get some ease with your pain soon. It is so wearing and very tiring. Like you I have thought about sweets a lot. I do not want to eliminate them completely because I already have a lot of excluded foods due to severe allergies and this will mess with my head. So I am also going to try to make more sweets at home. Use the best ingredients, share them and enjoy them at weekends. I am also going to try and make some candies and see how that goes. Starting with what we call cinder toffee in the uk. I hope you enjoy your cookies. Never underestimate the cost to your well being of ongoing medical issues so keep trying to be kind to yourself. You are worth it :)

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Post by clarinetgal » Sun Oct 12, 2014 4:14 pm

Thanks, Tessy! :D Yes, dealing with the pain can be very tiring, but oh well. You'll have to share how your sweets turn out, especially the candy.

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Post by clarinetgal » Sun Oct 12, 2014 4:16 pm

I had a great eating day yesterday! I stuck with my 3 plates, and I didn't eat anything after dinner, except for a cup of coffee with some homemade creamer. I will try to repeat it today. :D

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Post by lpearlmom » Sun Oct 12, 2014 4:50 pm

Great job Heather! Hope today goes well!
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Post by clarinetgal » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:20 am

I had a pretty good day today, in terms of sticking with the 3 plates structure, but it was definitely more of a struggle. I had wicked chocolate cravings tonight (most likely because my TOM is coming soon). Thankfully, I compromised, by having a K cup mocha with some whipped cream. It sort of helped.
Lately, I have been reading about Intuitive Eating, and I love the concept of it. I think I would keep it within the confines of No S, however. The book I'm reading is called How to Have Your Cake, and Your Skinny Jeans, Too. The author's first name is Josie (I forget the last name). It's pretty good, so far!

Breakfast: Pumpkin Pie smoothie, 2 of my pumpkin cookies, coffee with homemade pumpkin creamer. :D

Lunch: Ham sandwich on sourdough bread, TJ root veggie chips, a kiwi, homemade oatmeal, banana, raisin cookies.

Afternoon: Coffee with homemade creamer

Dinner: Zoodles with meat sauce, peas, sourdough bread with, butter, 2 TJ iced pumpkin scone cookies, 5 junior mints (I was feeling some rebellion at depriving myself of the more sugary treats. I think I'm going to have to come to some sort of a balance with processed sweets).

Tonight: K cup mocha with whipped cream

Heather

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Post by clarinetgal » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:21 am

Thanks, Linda! :D

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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:54 am

My last couple of days haven't been too bad. Today was pretty good. Yesterday, since I had a band concert, I ate breakfast, a late lunch/early dinner at 3:30, and I had my actual dinner at Applebee's after the concert. I ended up eating too much food at Applebee's, but I still stuck to the 3 plate structure, so I was happy about that.
Today was definitely better. I did snack a little bit at Bible study this morning, but since my breakfast was really small (just a smoothie), I considered my Bible study snacks a part of breakfast (especially since I ate breakfast right before Bible study). I also had a couple of samples at Costco, but since it was just two samples, I didn't worry about it.

Breakfast: Pumpkin smoothie, coffee with homemade pumpkin spice creamer

AM snacks at Bible study: Raw cauliflower, raw celery sticks, veggie dip, several green apple slices

Two samples at Costco

Lunch: 3 chicken flautas, chips with mango peach salsa, jelly beans

Afternoon: Coffee with whipped cream

Dinner: Chicken sausages, macaroni and cheese, mashed sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon, 4 junior mints (this was NOT a good meal for me. I had terrible reflux, for some reason)

Tonight: K cup mocha with whipped cream

So, yes, I'm eating too much sugar. However, I think I'm making a good start by confining it to meals. My next step will be to limit sweets to one meal, ideally. Also, I want to work more on tweaking what is on my plates. I think by keeping my food in the inside circle part of my 10 inch plates, that will be a natural way to cut calories, without having to stress too much about it.

Heather

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Post by clarinetgal » Tue Oct 21, 2014 8:02 am

I went through several days of eating late at night, after dinner, and it definitely backfired on me -- especially since what I ate at night tended to be junk food, or high in fat. I really don't like waking up feeling full and bloated, among other things. I like being hungry for breakfast. Anyway, I'm back to not eating after dinner. I'm still sticking with 3 plates, and at this point, not a lot of restrictions about what is on my plates. I do plan on working on cutting back on sweets soon.

Breakfast: coffee with whipped cream, a Square bar (vegan protein bar). My stomach was off because of what I ate yesterday night.

Lunch: Panera. B Green Smoothie, You Pick 2 with the turkey cranberry flatbread and the autumn squash soup, about 1/8 of the baguette ( I shared the rest with my DS), about 1/2 of a pumpkin cookie, small bag of Doritos, can of cherry coke zero.

Dinner: pork and carrots from the crockpot (the pork was seasoned with ginger, turmeric, and basil, and I used light coconut milk for the liquid); salad from TJ Harvest Blend salad kit, one spoonful of TJ Speculos cookie spread.

Also had one cup of coffee with whipped cream this afternoon.

Heather

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Post by Kookie » Tue Oct 21, 2014 6:44 pm

Hi Heather..

Just thought I'd swing by and say hello to you. I saw that you read that intuitive eating book by Josie Spinoza (?) or something. I loved it too and although a no-holes barred intuitive eating approach doesn't work for me long term, I also want to marry it wit No S. Freedom within boundaries!

I'm really loving how you are making NoS your own and taking it step by step. And the no eating after dinner is such a great habit! Honestly, I think you're onto something! Making it work for you is exactly what I think will bring long term success even if sometimes it feels like slower progress. I know you used to (or still do?) have 4 meals.? I think this might make things s little less stressful for me too so I'm going to mull it over.

So just to say, I hope you turn a corner with your leg soon and thanks for inspiring me to think about what works for me individually. And way to go ditching the calorie counting...and forgetting to weigh! Yay to letting go of these external measures of success..

Xxx

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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Oct 23, 2014 5:30 am

Thanks, Kookie! :D I'm really feeling better, since I stopped eating at night. Yes, that is definitely my goal -- to personalize No S so that it works for me. I'm actually eating 3 meals for the time being -- except for when I have band rehearsals or concerts, and I come home really hungry. I'm playing the number of meals by ear, though, it depends on whether my reflux is acting up (thankfully, it's doing better).
Thank you so much for stopping by! :D

Heather

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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Oct 23, 2014 5:37 am

Today was an NWS day, since it was my older son's birthday (he turned 7!). It was kind of a weird eating day, though. Older DS has half days for conference week, so this week has been hectic.

Breakfast: Green smoothie, part of a Square bar (vegan protein bar), coffee with lactose free creamer, vanilla extract, and cinnamon ( yummy!).

Lunch: This meal ended up being weird, because I was trying to feed both of my boys, bake older DS cake, and feed myself. While taking DS cake out of the oven, I dropped the pan, and burned my hand (ouch!), so I also had a big mess to clean up. Thankfully, my hand is okay, and I had enough batter left over to bake another cake for him. Anyway, lunch ended up being another green smoothie, and some of what I could salvage from the first cake. I also had some cashews.

Dinner: Maui burger, fries with fry sauce, diet Pepsi, birthday cake.

Heather

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Post by lpearlmom » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:08 am

Oh no sorry about your hand & the cake! Glad you could recover some of it though! Hope your son had a nice bday!


Now I'm craving a Maui burger! :D
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Post by clarinetgal » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:33 am

Thanks, Linda! :D Yes, my son had a nice day. Maui burgers are good! :D

Heather

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Post by clarinetgal » Mon Oct 27, 2014 7:58 am

I'm still here! I've just been super busy the past few days! I've been doing well with sticking to my 3 plates. I've been a little liberal about what goes on my plates, by allowing myself chips and/or sweets with lunches and dinners, but I can reduce that over time. For now, I'm really working on keeping my eating structured, and really limiting snacking. I am also back to not eating after dinner! I just read an article in the New York Times about reflux, and it mentioned that eating late at night is a major cause of reflux. That is definitely true, in my case. The article recommended cutting off your eating at least 3 hours before you go to bed, so I will keep on doing that.
I will try to update more tomorrow.

Heather

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Post by eschano » Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:30 am

Brilliant news Heather - back to no post-dinner eating :)
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Post by clarinetgal » Mon Oct 27, 2014 4:44 pm

Thanks, Eschano! :D

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Post by Imogen Morley » Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:17 pm

Happy to hear you've found what works for you, and thanks for checking up on me. Good luck!

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Post by clarinetgal » Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:46 am

Thanks, Imogen! :D
Today wasn't too bad of an eating day. I was a little more 'snacky' today, but today was my big follow up appointment for my leg, so I'm not worried about it. It sounds like the procedure I had in September got most of the AVM in my leg, but there is still some left. The doctors gave me the option of taking care of it now with another procedure, or waiting and seeing what happens. At this point, I'm still having enough pain, that I'm going to schedule it now, but if I have a big drop in pain, I might cancel.
Anyway, my food intake wasn't too bad today. My goal I will commit to soon is limiting sweets to once a day, except for special occasions. I'm still doing well with not eating after dinner.

Breakfast: TJ pumpkin waffles, chicken sausages, coffee with lactose free creamer.

Lunch: I bought a hemp milk latte on the way home from Bible study, and I had a small bite of my son's cookie. My main lunch was a 3 egg omelette with spinach, asparagus, various herbs, and Daiya cheese shreds.

Snack: A Nature Valley oatmeal square on the way home from my appointment.

Dinner: Homemade soup, a pretzel slider bun with butter, some peas, a Satsuma orange, and two Reese's peanut butter cups.

Heather

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Post by eschano » Wed Oct 29, 2014 9:37 am

I'm glad they have a plan of action for your leg!
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