I remember when!
by Christine on November 2nd, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
3 years ago, I’d go to Moe’s for lunch and eat a whole Triple Lindy (which is a burrito with rice, pinto beans, steak, shredded cheese, salsa, guacamole).
Calories: 845, not even including the side of potato chips they give you, which is easily another 400-800 calories. No joking, kiddos.
I can’t believe selling food that high in calories is even legal. It’s not even tasty!
Or my co-workers would head over to the Cheesecake Factory. I’d have the Pasta Carbonera, which has 2134 calories. Granted, I wouldn’t eat it all, but I’d eat a good 3/4s of it.
Oh my. Those were the days, huh?
Who is on your cheerleading team?
by Christine on November 1st, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
This morning I came across this fantastic post by Krisz over at Chained to the Band. She was writing that she doesn’t give herself enough credit for her achievements, and that led into a discussion about who would you want on your personal cheering team, rooting you on for all your weight loss and weight goals?
Assuming that we’re following Krisz’s lead and accepting 4 cheerleaders on our own personal squad, here would be my picks:
First would be my husband. I’d choose him because his compliments and cheers are really scarce, but when he gives me a compliment I know that he means it. He’s not just saying it to make me feel better. This weekend he actually told me that I looked sexy, and I was like, “Woah…if he thinks so, then it must be true!” Also, my husband is a great voice of reason. If was trying to give myself kudos when they weren’t warrented, he would let me know, but he would also be the first to tell me if I was selling myself short. Yup, hubby would have to be on the cheerleading squad.
I’d also choose my friend Danielle. I see her about once a week, since she lives down the street and often stops by the house to take her dog for a walk. Danielle is fit and beautiful. She claims she struggled with her weight when she was younger, but for as long as I’ve known her it all just comes so easily to her. I admire her for that! Danielle is the type that is always game for trying some new exercise program. She got me to go to bootcamp with her when I was still losing weight. She tried yoga with me. She keeps trying to get me to sign up for spinning with her, and I really should make time to try that. Whenever we have friends over or go to a party, Danielle ALWAYS brings fresh veggies to munch on. She’s never a food pusher. She’s brought over healthy food options just for me, just because she knows that I’m trying to lose weight. Wow, that’s a good friend! Danielle would be on my list because she is always ready to encourage me to try something new and support me when I feel weak or like giving up.
And the last two cheerleaders would have to be my online besties, Sandy and Amanda. They’ve known me for, what, 7 years now? Maybe longer? They’ve seen me struggle with my weight and have been nonstop encouragement when I’ve tried different diets or exercise programs. They’ve kept me on task every single day (“Have you gotten your workout in yet? No? GET ON IT!”) and have given me advice when I’ve asked for it. (“Try cooking your chicken like THIS instead of like THAT to save a few calories!”) They’ve totally been where I’ve been with the whole weight-loss and self-image issues, so they’ve been able to relate to where I’m at, literally, at every stage of my life. They understand, and they get me. And every single day they are there to encourage me to get up, keep moving, try something new, and to be the very best Christine that I can be. Amanda and Sandy are extraordinary women, and I’m quite sure that I would not have been as successful with my weight loss if it weren’t for their constant support and encouragement. (Thank you ladies, from the bottom of my heart!)
My personal cheerleading squad:
What a good looking group, huh?
Who would be on your personal cheerleading team?
Microbrew weekend
by Christine on October 17th, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
Good morning Revolutionists! Did everyone have a good weekend? I hope so! Mine was great, but not long enough. I could have used a lazy day to relax a bit! Friday night I did a little clothes shopping (apparently I’m still a Size 4, hooray!) and then I went to the “Racino” in Saratoga, which is a combination harness track and electronic slot machine facility. I love people-watching there! I lost about $10 over the course of about 3 hours (not bad), and I hit a really fun 50-free-spin game! Everyone kept staring at me though; I felt really self-conscious. Did I have a booger hanging out of my nose? Toilet paper on my shoes? Weird. So I left and went home.
Tuesday I went to Peekskill, NY with a friend for a small brew festival. It was at the Peekskill Brewery, and they had several different breweries’ beer, some craft vendors, and some live music. We went to hear the Folkadelics play–what a great band! The beer was good, the price was good, the weather held out, and we made a few friends…a successful outing!
Beforehand we stopped for lunch at 12 Grapes. I had a glass of Austrian wine (not good) and a crab cake (delicious). Unfortunately my band was giving me problems, so I ended up barfing up all the food. Some days are good, some days are bad. Go figure. On the way home we hit up a new brew pub in Catskill, NY call the Crossroads Brewery. Again…good beer, great venue, and a fun live band! I would definitely stop by this brewery if I was going through the area again!
By the time I got home it was late, so I went to bed. I think we missed dinner….
Yesterday I went over to a friend’s house for a homemade card-making class, put on by a Stampin’ Up consultant. We made 20 homemade Christmas cards, and they turned out so cute! My friend had a great spread of food, and oh! The quiche! I had two slices! Piggy me! I was super hungry, which is no surprise after the day I had previously. I had lots of water, a few fresh veggies & dip, and a few crackers and cheese. Super fun!
Scale today was 128.0. It’s a much-needed coffee kind of morning!
What did you guys all do this weekend?
The daily grind
by Christine on October 13th, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
Not much happening here. On Tuesday we went to trivia, and I brought my Nook with me to read. (Hubby and his friends talk about their geek topics, and I get bored.) Well, I forgot my Nook at the bar! Oh no! I went there the next day at lunchtime and spoke to the manager. He has security cameras all over the place apparently, and found where I left the bar and left the Nook on the table…then the waitress came by and put it in her schoolbooks in the back! He called the waitress and she was all, “Oh yeah, yeah, I accidentally brought it home with me, I’ll bring it back to the bar tomorrow…” OMG!
Intake Wednesday:
8 a.m.: Yogurt (80) and half a small can of red bull (60)
Noon: Some chicken caesar salad, most of which I barfed up in a “sliming” episode (100), diet coke
4 p.m.: Apple cider (120)
7 p.m.: Tomato Soup with skim milk (175), water
8 p.m.: Some chocolate, approx. halloween-sized (70)
Total Calories: 605
Intake Tuesday:
8 a.m.: Yogurt (80) and some diet coke
Noon: Paneras: Black bean soup (110) and a classic cafe salad (80), diet coke
4 p.m.: Red jello with fresh berries in it (40), water
7 p.m.: (at bar, for trivia) 1 bowl clam chowder soup (300) and 2 beers (300)
Total calories: 910
Intake Monday:
8 a.m.: Banana (110) and coffee (90)
Noon: Salad (100) and water
7 p.m.: About 3 oz sirloin with marinade (190), baked potato (35) and some butter (50), skim milk (120)
Total Calories: 695
Oh my…I’m surprisingly low on calories this week! I just haven’t felt all that hungry, I guess. Perhaps tonight I’ll indulge in a yummy salad or some fish… This week my scale has been good to me: in the 120′s all week (127 today), and that number is really indicative of the low calories I suppose!
I’ve been jonesing for some mexican food. I think sometime soon I will make a mexican concoction: a mix of ground beef, mushrooms, and black beans, mixed in taco sauce, and put over a nice green salad, with perhaps a sprinkle of cheese on top. Yum! If you add mushrooms to your mexican meat, you can cut out a lot of calories without compromising on the taste.
I had to throw a bunch of food away from my refrigerator yesterday. It reminded me of one of the downsides to the gastric band: you really become a food spoiler! I always have leftovers, and I never seem to get to it all. So the food goes bad before I can manage to eat it. Boo! What a waste!
Just another boring weekend
by Christine on October 3rd, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
It was another boring weekend for me. This about three or four boring weekends in a row, and I’m going stir-crazy for a little excitement, let me tell you! I really wanted to go for a drive this weekend to try to find some fall leaf-changing colors, but it was cold and rainy all weekend, so we opted to stay home. Staying home is good for the wallet, but man it gets really boring! I’m not used to it.
We did go out and buy a new dishwasher. It’s nice stainless steel, hidden controls, lots of options. It was a good price, and the reviews ranked the dishwasher pretty highly. It gets delivered on Friday, and I’m pretty excited about getting it! No more hand-washing dishes, woohoo!
So now for a little dieting accountability again. Whereas last time I was under my calories, I suspect that I was over the calories this weekend. I have been counting calories for so many years that I count calories automatically, every time I come face-to-face with any food. However, since entering into “maintenance” mode, I’m trying to cut back on the tyrannical, obsessive calorie-counting, and just do periodic accountability checks. Time to find out how I did!
Friday
8 a.m.: Coffee (120), 1 yogurt (80)
Noon: Chili from Wendy’s (310) and a diet coke
4 p.m.: 1 beer (150)
6 p.m.: salmon (200) and some basmati rice (60) and some grilled zucchini (30), 1 beer (150)
8 p.m.: 1 cosmo (150)
Total Calories: 1250 calories
Saturday
10 a.m.: 1 yogurt (80)
1 pm: tomato soup (150), skim milk (120)
3 p.m.: Coffee (150)
7 p.m.: grilled steak, about 3 oz (140) and 1 texas toast (150) and greens&beans (80), water
10 p.m.: Chocolate (120)
Total Calories: 990
Sunday
11 a.m.: Grilled cheese sandwich (330), skim milk (150)
1 p.m.: French onion soup w/mozerella cheese (200)
3 p.m.: Oatmeal (120)
7 p.m.: Spaghetti Christine-style (about 1/4 cup sauce with meat, no noodles, some extra veggies thrown in) (120), 1 texas toast (150) water
9 p.m.: Chocolate (120)
Total Calories: 1190
Huh, not as bad as I would have thought, to be honest. Obviously the alcohol calories put me over on Friday which is not ideal. But the rest of the weekend wasn’t as bad as I thought…I was guesstimating about 1500 calories those days. There’s room for improvement, but not too bad overall. I felt like I was starving all weekend long!
My weight is holding steady at 130.0 pounds–right where it’s been all year.
My goal for this week is to make a conscious push to eat more veggies. We’re going to the grocery store tonight so I can stock up on som healthy stuff. More yogurt! I’ve been craving yogurt lately.
Have a good Monday, everyone!
