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After a lifetime of battling my weight, I'm determined to win. This blog chronicles my journey. Stay tuned for the downs and ups of the scale, dieting, exercise, and life.

Not a good week at all

Well - accurately, I could say WEEKS. Because the last two weeks have not been "good." The first week, I cast aside as a learning opportunity - a chance to see how I could fit my new journey of healthful living into my "real life" This week showed me that it absolutely doesn't naturally fit.

Nope. This is going to be hard.

Very hard.

My natural tendancy is to eat. everything. in. sight. And then eat some more. I'm realizing what a conscious decision this is going to have to be. That I will have to say no. That it's not a matter of "moderation." It's a matter of saying yes to the right things and no to the wrong. Not maybe. Not a little bit. Not some today and nothing tomorrow - because tomorrow I will say the same thing.

So I don't know where that leaves me. I just want to whine and give up. But I'm going to keep trucking. Meal plan posted tomorrow, as usual. I guess that's just how it's gotta be. Maybe one day there will be balance and moderation - but no day soon.

A Mistake, A Set Back, Or Just Reality?


So The Boyfriend asked me, during the first week of this adventure, how it was going to be possible to maintain weightloss. He wasn't trying to be mean - it's just that well...I love food. We love food. We live in the Bay Area which is filled with food. Good food. Everywhere. So during that week, when I was on that strict 1200 calorie diet, the reality of being able to do that forever, seemed questionable.

And now, 2 weeks into this adventure, I'm having the same questions.

Really. Am I never supposed to have a scone from Arizmendi again? Or Chocolatine from La Farine? Or snacks at a party? Cause - well...I had all of the above this weekend. And I know - I had been so "good," but is it really about being "good," or is there space to be good and bad? And where's the line?

I guess I'll be figuring that out for a while. I still worked out this weekend (well today - I didn't yesterday or Friday). I still ate my fruits and veggies. Somewhere out there, there's balance. I just need to find it.

Meal Plan - Week of June 15-19

I'm back to the 1200 Calorie plan as a base - I want to continue really kick starting the weight loss. I'm revisiting some of my favorite meals from the last time I followed this plan and trying a new one. This should be a pretty easy week for me to keep up with the plan. I have a work event Tuesday, so I'm going to add in a Clif Bar to keep me from snacking during the event. Again, I'm going to try to not plan out my weekend. It didn't work too well this week - but I'm trying it again.

Here's the plan

Favorite Recipe: Pecan-Crusted Oven "fried" Chicken

Finding quick, easy, non-messy, good tasting, healthy food is hard sometimes. Seriously. I have about 5 million copies of Shape, Self, Cooking Light, and Eating Well, and half the time I look at the recipes and move past them because they require 20 different pots and pans and 40 different ingredients, and they're STILL bland.

Well here's an easy recipe for a tasty, crunchy, "fried" chicken piece that you can eat with some veggies, or on a salad, or in a wrap AND it requires only 1 pan and a ziplock bag. The chicken comes in just under 300 calories, leaving plenty of room in a 400 calorie lunch or dinner for the sides. I had it with a baked sweet potato (topped with a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice) and a mixed green salad with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Pecan-Crusted Oven "fried" Chicken
Serves One

  • 3 tablespoons crushed pecans (I used about 8 Trader Joes Spiced Pecans for a little more flavor)
  • 2 tablespoons panko
  • fresh or dried rosemary, crushed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 boneless skinless chicken thigh (or breast - I detest boneless skinless chicken breast, and they only save you a few calories and 2 grams of fat and have less iron. But it's your choice)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Place the pecans in a quart-sized ziplock bag; crush using a mallet (or hammer, or the bottom of a glass...your choice). Add the panko, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste. Place the chicken in the bag and shake to coat evenly. Place the chicken on a baking pan and cook till done (I think it was about 15, maybe 20 minutes). Enjoy!

Oops! I forgot to take a picture - I'll definitely make it a habit. Gotta get used to this blogging thing

Diet Plan Review: Health Magazine's Lose 5 Pounds in 7 Days




Last week, I decided to give this plan a try in order to kick start my efforts and to get me reaquainted with what real serving sizes and meals look like. Here's what I thought of it:

Pros: Meals taste good and are interesting. If you follow the plan exactly as they prescribe, you won't get bored because it's something different every meal. Also, every meal is pretty simple and easy to cook.

Cons: Every meal is different. While they make an effort to reuse ingredients throughout the week, it's not completely realistic. The good thing is, since all of the calorie counts are the same, you can repeat meals if you want or take leftovers for lunch. Also, the plan is only 1200 calories - which will definitely help you lose weight, but I was starving.

Overall grade: A-. I really liked some of the meals, especially the steak salad and grilled veggie sandwich, but I was starving all week. Well not all week, by Wednesday, I realized that it was WAY too few calories and I started adding another 100-200 each day. It works, I lost 4 pounds, but I wouldn't recommend this plan for long term or for anything other than wanting to kickstart your diet or lose a few pounds for a special occasion.


Lose 5 pounds in 7 days

This Week's Meal and Exercise Plan




So now that I've gone through the getting started phase, I'm working to lose 2 pounds a week. I'm using, as a starting point, Health Magazine's Feel Great Weight plan. This plan is 1500-1600 calories, plus an extra 50 calories a day for every inch over 5'4" you are. This gives me 1650-1750 calories a day to play with.

No, I haven't planned Saturday and Sunday, and yes (GASP!) I'm having 2 dinners out this week. I'll let you know how that goes.

Meal and Exercise Plan - Week of June 8-14

My goals


My new best friend.


My goal is to lose 85 pounds by December 2010. Why 85? Because I recently read this article from Health Magazine talking about a woman who lost 85 pounds doing it herself - no trainer, no plans, no programs. The thing is she started out at exactly my size and is now a size 8. A size 8! I have long believed that if I was a size 8, the whole world would be better, but I never believed that the size was attainable. And yes, I know that the world won't change much if I was a size 8...but I would have better clothes.

So my goal - in the near term, is to get back to my weight from last summer - about 215 - as soon as possible. I'm already 3 pounds closer thanks to Health Magazine's Lose 5 Pounds in 7 Days plan. So there's 17 pounds to go, hopefully by the end of this summer. I'd like to lose the next 15 by the end of 2009. Then there's just 50 to go. Easy, right?

Introduction

Who
I'm Gracie. I'm 26, live in the Bay Area, and I'm fat. I've been some degree of fat for most of my life. Seriously. I was 10 pounds, 1 ounce at birth, and it's grown from there to my current weight of 232. Actually, I was 235 last Monday, but I've already lost 3 pounds (yay!) this week when I started this latest and (hopefully) last journey to weight loss.

What to expect from this blog
A little bit of my day to day struggles, a few posts referring to articles I like, my weekly meal and exercise plan, and a lot of rambling. Because I tend to ramble. This blog will largely serve as a mind dump for all of my obsessive diet and exercise talk so that my friends and family don't have to hear me talk about what I ate, what I will eat, and what I hate that I can't. I invite you to comment, commiserate, celebrate, and cheerlead. Please, do not ask if I've tried X, Y, or Z - if it's a legitimate health tip (like eating less and working out more), I have. If it's a crash diet, I probably have. If it's some random thing that someone told you that helped them lose 40 pounds in a month, I'm not going to believe you, and I might be annoyed.