I'm proud of myself for yesterday's effort. Not only did I get in a really good workout, but I successfully ate at Panda Express. Boy oh boy, Panda Express is a calorie disaster! But Catherine had a craving and the Panda has a very good nutrition guide online.
It's still a mystery to me how people can go to a place like this and make healthy choices. The whole reason for me to be there is specifically to eat the orange chicken and crab rangoons. If I wanted a healthy option, I'd stay home and have something healthy without smelling the stuff I really want. I got online to see what I could do. Here's what I really wanted and what I certainly would have ordered if I was just going in without thinking about it.
Fried rice--520
Orange chicken--420
Beijing Beef--690 (OUCH!)
crab rangoons--190
Grand total--1820
Yeesh. That's terrible, even by my standards which can be pretty low when I'm hungry. I decided that I could live without two full entrees and I remembered that the portion of rice was ridiculously huge. So after considerable thought I went with this:
Fried rice (only ate half--brown rice would have been a better choice, but it was only 100 cal less and I eat it all the time, I decided I wanted a treat) 260
Orange chicken (shared with Catherine so I only ate half--PLUS I dropped one piece on the floor! Deep regret there!) 210
Shanghai steak instead of beijing beef (not a thrilling, but an adequate compromise this time) whole serving 220
Crab rangoons (non-negotiable) 190.
Total: 880 Still a heavy calorie lunch, but doable. It was a 2000 cal day, so I could still have some dinner, which was a good thing because lunch sure didn't fill me up. I've noticed that about fast food--I can eat an enormous amount of fast food calories and still be hungry. I first noticed the phenomenon with Arbys. I can eat a giant roast beef sandwich, a large curly fries and a turnover and STILL be hungry. It isn't fair. If I eat that many calories, the least my body can do is register as full! But the bright side of this is that because of the hungry factor, I rarely eat at fast food places.
Losing weight in spite of myself.
I began this blog in February 2011 as a way to help me not quit trying to lose weight, and to learn a few things. It's been an interesting and powerful experience. It certainly confirms what I've long suspected--that although I am a genuinely happy cheery person in the main, I am NOT a happy cheery dieter. I DETEST losing weight. I resent being overweight in the first place and I am a virtuoso in the art of self-sabotage. And YET--I'm doing it! I'm fighting and kicking and EATING all the way down, but the weight is finally going down. The plan I was following in February was a half-baked one largely based on wishful thinking. I gained a little weight and decided to get real. I knew I couldn't just join weightwatchers or count calories or do any one plan and expect to be successful. I decided if I was going to bother to make the effort to lose weight I was going to throw everything I could think of at the problem. And so I do. My real "Day One" for this blog is April 1, 2011. I joined weight watchers, I joined caloriecount.com (awesome website), I read the blog losingweighteveryday.blogspot.com religiously, I keep this blog faithfully, I joined the health programs sponsored by my insurance, I use the principles from overeater's anonymous, I use my church's 12 step program as well, I subscribe--and use--Healthy Cooking Magazine.
The result of all this? Painfully slow progress (About 20 lbs in 10 months). But it IS progress and like the little engine that could I keep on trying in my rebellious way. I have no intention of quitting. This is by far the longest sustained weight loss effort I've ever made in my life. Successful I think, because for the first in my life I've done this MY way--which I've discovered, involves a lot of pizza and restaraunt food. I'm convinced this is the only way to lose weight. For me it must be MY way. For you it MUST be YOUR way. Not weight watcher's way, not your doctor's way, but YOUR way. Any plan or idea I use is only a tool.
The latest plan to lose weight my way began on Oct 29, 2013. It really is my own crazy plan. As you'll see if you read that post. I've implemented the best ideas of all sorts of eating plans and thrown out the scale. A couple of months in and I'm definitely healthier. I'm actually enjoying myself. I won't weigh until April 1, 2014, so I'll see then if this works the way I hope it will.
There is no magic weight loss bullet. But there IS a great deal of magic in the discovery of what I can happily live with (very different from what weight watchers tells me I can happily live with) and still have the body and health I want.
Good luck to all of us on this journey. It's quite a trip!
The result of all this? Painfully slow progress (About 20 lbs in 10 months). But it IS progress and like the little engine that could I keep on trying in my rebellious way. I have no intention of quitting. This is by far the longest sustained weight loss effort I've ever made in my life. Successful I think, because for the first in my life I've done this MY way--which I've discovered, involves a lot of pizza and restaraunt food. I'm convinced this is the only way to lose weight. For me it must be MY way. For you it MUST be YOUR way. Not weight watcher's way, not your doctor's way, but YOUR way. Any plan or idea I use is only a tool.
The latest plan to lose weight my way began on Oct 29, 2013. It really is my own crazy plan. As you'll see if you read that post. I've implemented the best ideas of all sorts of eating plans and thrown out the scale. A couple of months in and I'm definitely healthier. I'm actually enjoying myself. I won't weigh until April 1, 2014, so I'll see then if this works the way I hope it will.
There is no magic weight loss bullet. But there IS a great deal of magic in the discovery of what I can happily live with (very different from what weight watchers tells me I can happily live with) and still have the body and health I want.
Good luck to all of us on this journey. It's quite a trip!
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