Bumps in the Road

I wrote this blog yesterday but I am having computer issues. The pictures got saved but not the prose.  I am thinking of buying a laptop for both my writing and my photographs.  My desktop seems to have problems more and more frequently. I could write on my phone, as large as it is, but that seems problematic. Although I do write lengthy e-mails from time to time. And I have available time on my daily commute. Didn't the woman who wrote Shades of Gray do it on her cell phone?

So where is my life right now and my weight loss progress?  Well I only lost 2 pounds last week. And this week has not been good. I had  oral surgery this week on Wednesday which was a little more intense than anticipated. Having to eat soft foods and cutting back on my exercising was not a good combination. Besides I was feeling sorry for myself so I ate all the wrong things. I really did not enjoy them.

The above writing is from a few days ago.  Mouth is better.  I am picking up the walking again.  But I am on the last day of a 6 day stretch at work so it is difficult to get everything in I want to do.  I gained the two pounds back that I lost last week. I seem to have trouble with numbers.  Getting below them that is.  First it was 150.  Then it was 200.  Now 220 seems to be an obstacle.  But I will get back on track and I will do this 100 pound journey.  49 weeks to go.   The weather has been beautiful.

Photos are.from.a.shoot i

I did with a new friend..

My Fitbit

Have I mentioned my Fitbit yet?  A Fitbit is like a pedometer but goes on your wrist.  It tracks my steps and converts them into miles.  It also keeps track of my sleep, how long I am asleep, when I wake up at night and my restless periods.  It tells me how many very active minutes I have done and how many calories I have burned.  All of this information is synced to my smart phone with a Fitbit app.  I would have to manually put in the calories I have consumed and my water intake.  I just had a brilliant idea.  The next billion dollar money maker.  Figure out a device that will count your calories going in.  Now wouldn't that be something? But I digress.

I bought my sister, Judy, a Fitbit because she is trying to lose weight as well.  The best part is that on the app, I can follow and compete with my friends who also have Fitbits.  The reason I bought one in the first place is because Charlie, my daughter's boyfriend,  had one.  He is now one of my Fitbit friends.  I had a fantasy of out pacing him in the beginning but I know now that will never happen.  Yesterday I put in a total of 20,000 steps, twice my goal or 8 miles total for the day.  Best day yet and my Fitbit told me so.  As I was doing one of my laps around Horner park where I often walk, I ran across Charlie.  Now Kate and Charlie live about a mile west of me and I am 3.5 miles from the lake.  Charlie had already walk to the lake, run for a while along the lake front, walked back and was circling Horner park.  I will never catch up to him.  He loves to walk.  Apparently so does David Sedaris.  Very funny New York Times piece about his Fitbit and his walking.  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/30/stepping-out-3  Thanks you Judy, for sending me this article.

As David Sedaris suggest in the article, the Fitbit can make one become a bit obsessive if one is prone to that condition.  I find it highly motivating..  As Mr. Sedaris suggests, what good are the steps if they aren't being counted?  I now find myself walking to the El train, instead of catching a closer bus.  I look for excuses to get out and walk.  Last night when I came home I was about 100 steps short of the 20,000 so I paced around the house until I made it.  Maybe I am a little obsessive.  Maybe it is a good thing, if I want to reach my goal.

Cooking

I like to complain that I don't like to cook for just me.  I prefer to have someone to cook for and I suppose that has to do with validation.  I want someone to tell me my cooking is good.  My roommate once told me that I don't like to cook, but that I want to like to cook.  She is more of a baker.  But then my friend Wesley said something that make it all clear to me.  He said "I like to cook, because I like to eat."

Hmm, what a concept.  My friend Ro cooks for herself (and others like me) all the time.  She likes to cook. But she also likes to eat and I think she likes to eat what she cooks.  I know I do.  All of this reminds me of when I was a child.  It seemed I was cooking as soon as I could reach the stove top.  But what I was cooking was what I wanted to eat.  I was born with a sweet tooth and Mother was not really into making deserts so much.  So my sister and I would bake cakes and cookies and make puddings.  I don't know how many times I scotched the pan and ruined the pudding because I was in too much of a hurry to eat the pudding.  It didn't hurt that my father had a sweet tooth as well and enjoyed and encouraged our undertakings.

Later in life, however, when I became more mobile, I discovered I could get my fixes with out cooking. Plenty of candy and store bought treats.  Hostess Snow Balls were always a favorite.  And then there is fast food.  Is it coincidental that McDonald's, starting out in California in the 40's began franchising in 1952 the year after I was born?  By the time I was in high school we probably had several in Kansas City and one not too far from my house.

I also grew up on convenience  foods.  I wasn't baking cakes or making pudding from scratch.  Box mixes were just fine with me. We ate frozen dinners from time to time when my parents went out and we begged for them.  There was something about having a whole meal come out of the oven on one little tray.  Although my mother make most of her meals from scratch, I used many more packaged foods.  Mother made goulash, I made Hamburger Helper.  Mother made oven friend chicken, I made Shake and Bake.  I never saw instant potatoes growing up, but used a lot of them in my early marriage days.  I fed my children Spaghetti Os's, and tater tots and canned chili and soups.  I was a busy mother after all.  Real cooking was something I did when company was coming.

Now that I am eating mostly unprocessed foods, cooking has become a necessity.  I like to eat.  As much as I love fruit, sometimes I want something more.  I had an amazing experience just the other day but I need to back up just a bit. Even before starting this 100 pound journey, I have been experimenting with different diets: Paleo, Vegan, Slow Carb, Eat to Live.  All have influenced me in one way or the other.  And even before all of this experimentation, I have been trying to be gluten free.  The Paleo diet suggest grain free and I think I feel better not eating grains.  Grains also tend to be highly processed.  So because of this I have accumulated various grain free flours, potato starch, tapioca starch, almond flour and coconut flour.  I also use coconut oil and butter exclusively for my fats.  So the other day I had a craving for of all things, a muffin. I don't eat muffins much.  I have a few recipes I really like but they all include wheat flour.  I did an Internet search for paleo muffins and found a recipe for blueberry muffins.  And here is the amazing part.  I actually had all the ingredients I needed to bake the things.  Almond flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, eggs, maple syrup (real maple syrup), and blueberries.   I made them and they turned out really good.  A little butter...perfect.  All the ingredients very minimally processed.  I ate two.  And although they made me a little sleepy for some reason, I wasn't hungry again until dinner time.  I figured out the calorie count (just for curiosity sake) and they came in around 350 calories a piece.  Very satisfying and very yummy.

My favorite thing to cook at the moment is breakfast.  Perhaps it is because I have more time in the morning and more energy.  And my favorite breakfast is a skillet of boiled potatoes, onions, garlic, red bell peppers, mushrooms and Cheddar cheese.  Some times I put eggs on the top.  Sometimes I cook a little ham or uncured Bacon.  Sometimes I throw in some tomatoes. I do like eating and now I like to cook.

One Week Down and 51 To Go

One week down.  The first week, when I am motivated, is always the easiest. I love new things, new challenges. But I get bored quickly. And especially when things become difficult, I tend to give up rather than rise to the challenge. I am hoping this time will be different. Generally it will be after week 3 that things will become more difficult. The weight loss slows down. I get bored with what I am eating.

 But I feel a little different this time. I feel less anxious about what I am going to eat. When I diet I find my self spending a lot of time thinking and worrying about the food choices. Because I am limiting myself to whole, unprocessed foods it seems easier. I eat fruits and vegetables. I eat a little meat. Some nuts. If I don't know what is in it I don't eat it. Even dining out isn't difficult. I am sticking with "what you see is what you get". Veggie omelets. Salads. Roasted meats without mystery sauces. Baked potatoes. Vegetables without sauce. I do keep Kind bars handy. Perhaps a bit processed but least so of any protein bar. Just nuts, dried fruits, and seeds held together with a bit of honey. It does have non GMO glucose. Very delicious and satisfying if I don't have time to do anything else. Made in a factory, but I recognize all the ingredients.

My exercise has been going well. I had bought a Fitbit at the beginning of the week and I love it. It tells me how many steps I take, how many miles I walk. How much of that is real exercise. I now have a few friends that I can compete with. I can see their steps and they can see mine.  It even tracks my sleep. BTW I am sleeping much better this week. Probably because of the exercise. I walk between 3 and 5 miles a day. 3 miles seems to be just the normal walking that I do. So to reach 5 I have to put in two miles of intended exercise.  Shooting for 10,000 steps everyday.  That is generally consided 5 miles, but for me, because I have such short legs and take small steps it is only 4 miles. I was worried about my knees which have bothered me for some time.  But they are actually feeling better instead of worse.  And my feet are doing o.k. too.  (Have had a lot of feet issues over the years.)

The most difficulty I am having is finding times to accomplish things.  I am not as focused on food as I said, but it does take some preparations.  And the clean up, my least favorite part.  And trying to get the extra exercise in.  And trying to blog.  No time to waste.  Maybe that is a good thing.  But my laundry also needs to get done at some point.

Oh and I lost 7 pounds this week.  Good start.