A bit of a makeover

I'm in the process of giving my blog a bit of a makeover to correspond with giving myself a bit of one. The site may be in a bit of flux over the next little while as I smooth out the rough edges.

I was shopping for a spring coat a couple of weeks ago and in a sea of black coats I found a red one that I quite liked. I almost always as a rule wear black, it's what I'm most comfortable wearing but I tried on the coat and loved the fit so I bought it. I feel happy when I wear it and everyone seems to like it on me. I think they're all a bit shocked that I'm wearing a bold colour. It has a nice simple collar and I wear it without the hood.

Second Fill

I had my second fill earlier today. In the four weeks since my first fill I've lost 9 pounds which is right in line with my goal of 2 per week. It helped put it in perspective for me as during these past weeks I thought that I wasn't doing well because the scale hadn't moved for a couple of my weekly weigh-ins.

I tried drinking the required water after the fill but it was a slow gurgle down and I was a little foamy which I knew would be a problem.  I spoke with the fill nurse and she removed 0.75ccs from the 2ccs she had given me. I don't mind being a little less aggressive with my fills if my weight loss is averaging where I want it to be. I'll be on a business trip all week next week and there will be lots of work meals involved. I don't want to be too restricted and have any pb episodes with my colleagues, not to mention that flying may also make the band tighter.  Overall I now have 4.25ccs in my 10cc band. If this fill is any indication I may hit my sweet spot soon (I hope so!).  I'm on full fluids today and mushies tomorrow then back to regular food on Thursday. I'm going to have to remember to eat slowly and chew, chew, chew.

Weekday Dish

Breakfast - Protein Shake - made with water,  tsp flax oil, 1/4 cup plain yogurt and vanilla protein powder

Snack - apple & 21g of cheddar cheese

Lunch - 1 cup homemade chili, half slice of whole rye bread

Snack - Luna Bar

Dinner - 2 egg Omelette + veggies & 3  turkey sausages. Discovered these grocery shopping a few days ago, quite yummy.

2 Shortbread cookies

Fluids - 6 glasses water, 3 cups plain green tea

Calorie Challenged

So I did it, following my last post, I created a FitDay account and started logging my food and exercise. According to Fitday I need to consume approximately 2,000 calories daily to lose 2 pounds a week. Huh? I eat closer to 1,000. I recall complaining about stalled weight loss over a month ago and at that time I bumped up my caloric intake to get things moving. I just haven't been as diligent lately. For the past few days I've been working to consume between 1,400 to 1,500 calories which has been surprisingly difficult. Trying to eat enough and drink enough water is a challenge; there just aren't enough hours! I follow the wait-at-least- half-hour-after-eating-before-drinking rule and find I still  have a few hundred calories more to go by evening. That I would have any difficulty eating enough is hilarious to me. It seems a bit wonky, but I'm going to stick with it for a week and see if this experiment moves me out of the plateau and in the right direction.

I noticed that I have some new followers, hello! Glad you could stop by. I think I'm following all of you, but if I've missed anyone please post your blog address in comments.

All quiet on the scale front

The scale has not moved in over two weeks and it's starting to annoy me.

I've been working out 5 to 6 days a week and have been sticking to 3 meals and one or 2 small snacks ... well, I was until earlier this week when I realized it didn't seem to matter what I ate. I've been out to dinner a couple of times, ate more that I should be able to,  but far less than I would have pre-band. I've also been eating chocolate covered digestives as a snack every day for the last few days, M took mercy on me and ate the rest of them (ahh, the sacrifices ;)).  I expected to be down at least a few pounds as I've really been challenging myself with the workouts but to no avail, the scale will not budge. I will have to start journaling my activity and food - ugh, really don't want to but I think at this point I've got to do something. My second fill is at the end of the month and I'm hoping some restriction will kick in.

Running

I used to be a bit of an exercise fiend back when I was a much thinner version of myself. I would often work out 2-3 hours a day and enjoyed it, very rarely did I think of it as a chore. It remained that way for a long time until I got into a terrible car accident. I walked away with minor bruises, but the car was totaled. It had a profound effect on me and I think that in part started my downward spiral into eating for comfort. I also stopped exercising and very quickly gained 20 pounds. It’s been a battle ever since.

My work out routine used to consist of the following: bike for an hour, then elliptical, step-mill or stair climber for an hour, ending with 45 minutes of weights and some stretching (a bit intense but I loved it). I was never a runner; I would admire runners and wish I could do the same. I don’t know why I never tried. Because running has always been a goal of mine, I started the Couch to 5K program this week. So far so good. To think that in approximately 9 weeks I will be able to run 5 km is just amazing to me.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Weekday Dish

Last week Jen  suggested that we post what we eat one day per week.  The "Weekday Dish" post occurs on Thursdays and you can list either Wednesday's or Thursday's meals. Here's what I ate today:


30ml of Kéfir (part of my daily morning ritual)

Breakfast - Protein shake made with: water, 1/4 cup plain yogurt, 1tsp flaxseed oil & chocolate protein powder

Snack - 10 raw almonds

Lunch - 1 cup homemade turkey chili, 2 rye crisps

Snack - 1/2 Luna Bar (love the Lemon Zest flavour)

Dinner - Approx 3 -  4 oz of baked chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese (yummy), a few grilled veggies, a couple of forkfuls of rice. This was at a work function and I actually skipped the delicious looking bread, wine and dessert!!!! Glad I didn't have to regret what I ate later.

Fluids - throughout the day I alternated between water and plain green tea.