Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Make A Liar Out Of Me. Fine, I'll Take This One.

The "Growing" Bowl of Oatmeal.  Before it actually grew.
No sooner do I lament the 5 pounds that would not go away that they suddenly vanish (and take a few buddies along with them).  Suddenly, I find myself at 170 pounds lost with less than 2 pounds to go.

Initiating panic mode.

Panic mode initiated.

PANIC!

I think one thing that pushed me past the latest plateau is really holding myself accountable for EVERYTHING I shove into my face.  One of the culprits I continued to believe contributed (but took me long enough to do something about it, eh?) was the Growing Bowl of Oatmeal.  I initially remained true to the recipe, but was lured by the soothing sounds of "Fruits are Free!  FREE!"

It was innocent enough.  A little more than half an apple.  Okay, maybe the full apple.  Maybe some banana for creaminess.  Why just half a banana when you could have a whole flipping banana.  More berries.  Berries!  BERRIES, I TELL YOU, BUAHAHAHAHA!

... and so on.

So, it took maybe about 4 or 5 goes of the "10 pounds to go!  5 pounds to go!  10 pounds to go!"-yo-yo when I finally said, "Okay, no more oatmeal."

And this lasted 20 seconds.

No, I did not immediately have a bowl of oatmeal.  But I recalled that depriving oneself when trying to lose weight can really backfire on you.  At least, it did for me.

So I said, "B'klyn<3, do not eliminate oatmeal.  Write it down."

So I sat with the Weight Watcher's online recipe builder and placed in all of the components of my glorious over-sized oatmeal bowl.

All I will say on this matter is, "Gasp!"

When I decided that while it was (indeed) glorious, it was not glorious enough to allow "Gasp!"

So I rebuilt it in the system.  I removed the extraneous fruits that made it into the cooked bowl.  I even took out the "growing" portion (which was adding double liquid to increase the volume) since I figured maybe it was causing my stomach to stretch out (because I was starting to feel frequently uncomfortable eating it).  I figured, it would not be so glorious.

Turns out... it was just as glorious.  Just as filling, without the uncomfortableness at the end.  And at the end of the day, not something I needed to eat every single day.

So finally, 30+ years of having the same breakfast every morning for 3 month stretches has been broken.

Was this the key to getting under 2 pounds to goal?  Hell if I know.  I'd like to think so at least.

However, I panic because I'm not yet at the point where I can do a victory lap.  Hell, when I hit goal, I still can't do a victory lap.  There will still be stuff to do!

Taking it easy, and doing what I have been doing all along.  Eating well, working out, and trying new things.  This week's meeting was about tracking, so I decided (based on what another member at the meeting said she tracked) that I would make and track a goal every day.

I decided my goal for today was to take a picture of everything I eat.  EVERYTHING.  Even BLTs*, anything that goes down the gullet gets snapped.  It's amazing how much the thought of having to take a picture of it has prevented me from rummaging in the fridge for anything ever.

I may hang on to that method for now.  I leave you for now, but thank you very much for your continued support and encouragement.  I may make goal yet!

*Bites, Licks, Tastes.  No, not bacon.

Monday, June 6, 2011

It Finally Came To Pass That I Blogged.

A brief update as I touch back upon the earth I'd dropped off of a couple of months ago...
Savory Oatmeal.  Seriously!

It did come to pass became a vegetarian.

At least, on a temporary basis.

An extended temporary basis.

It started off with, of course, the "Less Meatatarianism," a term I picked up off the streets as I endeavored to learn more about who'd become my favorite producer of recipes, Mark Bittman.

Then, I followed (as we know) into the Meatless Monday deal, which I could totally get behind for health, for animal welfare, and for the environment.

I then started to read (again, pursuit of Mark Bittman things), Food Matters.  Reading more Vegetarian Times stuff.  Started thinking (lightly) about a conversion.
Got tofu right the first go.  I won't be as Nori
fancy in the future though.

Then, when reading Eating Well magazine (yes, I do have a slight food periodical and tv obsession), I found out that they were doing a challenge to go meatless in May.  Reading that, I giggled a bit, thinking Meatless Month of May sounded like Meatless Monday.

After the giggle, I though, "Eh, why not?"

So, after an April 30th farewell to meat (Tuna Steak, it was yummy), I went for it, and haven't had meat since.

Yes, it's no longer May.

A little ways into the challenge, I decided to also sign up for Vegetarian Times Veg Boot Camp.  28 days of Vegetarian living... which started about mid May.

So I am still eating Vegetarian-style.  I do eat milk and eggs and honey, but no animal meats of any kind.  I've not really even craved anything of the sort, at least not as of yet (a couple of whiffs of meat early on did make me salivate, but nothing to make me even vaguely seek it out).  Frankly, I'm loving just trying new things.

I did not make the sushi, which were leftovers,
but I did pack myself a cute Bento from it!
I may stick it full time, though I am still trying to decide.  Do I want to do it?  Do I want to still exclude fish?  Why is it still even in question?  All of these things!  In any case, we'll see what we will see.

It did not come to pass that I reached my goal weight.


At least, not yet.

I seem to continue swinging back and forth between The Last 10 Pounds! and The Last 5 Pounds! as of late.  It must be that particular 5 pounds is so incredibly magical that I regain it constantly to lose again!

I do realize much of it was to do with a lot of personal stress (which is what also kept me away from posting in the blogosphere).  There was also a recent Lebanese Food Festival where there were copious amounts of Spinach Pie (they had with or without Feta, and my poison of choice was without Feta).  I was there for a brief time over two days.  I ate enough spinach pie then might have been humanly possible.  Deep love for the flavor, and a good serving of stress eating as well.  In any case, I paid a heavy price for it.

The stress has not gone away.  If anything, it has increased substantially.  However, once I decided to stop hiding behind food and actually deal with it, things have looked up.  I've been eating better, and not letting things that don't matter get to me so that I can properly deal with the things that do matter.  I'm not sure how it works, but I feel like I'm in a better place mentally as of late.

It randomly came to pass that I got a new car.

Well, maybe not so random.


The Husband's car was on it's last leg (or wheel, or whatever), and it would have cost more to repair than it was worth.  So he test drove a few cars before deciding he'd go ahead and take mine.  So I got to test drive almost every Crossover SUV in existence, only because my true love Volkswagen's Tiguan wound up being not for me.

My true love for Volkswagen was shaken to the core.

There is no rhyme for the color of The Car.
So I went out, looking at other vehicles, feeling like the ultimate betrayer to the brand that has seen me through many years of Fahrvegnugen.

This was all forgotten when I drove the Kia Sportage.  I test drove it on a whim (it was on a list, and not even very high, but in top 10, of best rated Crossovers), and could not believe my senses.  Everything I had been looking for in the Tiguan was there... and more.  I couldn't believe I found another car that could make me feel so alive.  The red Kia Sportage could be the car for me.

And, as we made our way through the dealership, red was totally thrown out of the window.  In fact, I'd found what I come to think of as my vehicular soul mate.

Otherwise known as The Car*.

So here I am.  Vegetarian, still trying to lose anywhere from 5 to 10 pounds, and driving an orange crossover.    If you told me that any of these things would have come to pass I would have called the sanitarium for you because obviously I'd be eating a cow, wishing I only had 5 to 10 pounds to lose, and how silly is it that you think orange cars exist!

Nothing rhymes with orange.  You silly goose you.

* I don't think The Husband can be any more jealous of The Car than The Car can be of The Husband.  Besides, I drive, so The Car gets driven and The Husband gets to have a beer while out.  Everyone wins!