Jury Duty

I had jury duty today. This presented quite a challenge, as I had to plan my food and exercise around it, and Monday is my long day as it is.

My first problem was that I had to report for jury duty at 7:45am, which pretty much ruled out my going to the gym. I can get up early enough to go to the gym by 6:30am, which, while I'm certain that I have terrified several innocent people on my way to the gym given my general state at that hour,  will ensure that I finish my workout with enough time to get to work a little early and find parking. Unfortunately, I have a really difficult time motivating myself to get up much earlier than 5:30am.  Knowing this about myself, I went to my backup plan: I still woke up early, but instead of going to the gym, which would have made me late, I did my Wii Zumba workout for 1/2 an hour. It was not super high impact work-out nor was it a huge calorie burn. That said, it was fun, it was a good start to my day, and I got a respectable amount of exercise for 1/2 an hour.  Most importantly, it ensured that if my day went south and I didn't have time later, at least I'd done some exercise.

My second problem was how to plan my food for the day.  In my experience, days like this, where I know I'm going to be really busy and I'm not entirely certain how the day will be scheduled, lend themselves to a very high calorie intake. The courthouse is downtown, a very short walk from a number of restaurants, there are vending machines in the jury lobby, there is a Starbuck's right next door, and there can be a lot of free time to snack on these things. I had to make sure that I packed a reasonable lunch and I needed to make sure I packed something on which to snack. The challenge here was compounded by the fact that I couldn't really take a frozen entree to jury duty in my purse / briefcase, because (a) I wasn't sure if there would be a microwave in the jury lounge and (b) if there was a microwave, didn't want to tie it up for five minutes for just my lunch when there were probably a couple of hundred jurors on lunch break, at least some of whom likely needed to use the microwave as well.  I solved this problem by taking three blueberry yogurt muffins (see recipe on recipes page) with me in a plastic Tupperware container so as not to squish them in my bag. I also took two sliced Fuji apples, a low-calorie protein bar and a cup of plain cheerios (yep, I'm five, I was snacking on cheerios during jury duty). This worked beautifully. I had two muffins for lunch, and I snacked on the apples and cheerios. I didn't eat the protein bar or the third muffin because I wasn't hungry - but if I had been, I would have been prepared and I would not have had to run to the vending machine.

I came home at the end of the day to my husband's fabulous minestrone soup, yum!

There you have how I planned my Jury Duty Day. What kinds of portable, low calorie snacks could you use on a difficult "Jury Duty Day?"

The Next Step...

I'm a little nervous because my husband and I have been gradually adding "real food" into our diet over the past couple of months. We started on a medically supervised diet with just shakes and the food that was provided through our program. Then, we added fruits and veggies, and finally, frozen entrees (from Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine...). All of this was pretty easy. The fruits and veggies don't have a lot of calories and the entrees are pre-prepared and portion controlled. So, like I said, it was really easy.

A couple of months ago, we started to prepare our own meals for dinner.  It takes a little getting used to because we have to figure out the calories in everything we are making, and, as usual, we have to be honest about it. I do not ever trust the calories listed on the recipes...I have had occasions where I have run something through my calorie counter and it was twice the calories per serving the recipe claimed it was.  Once we are done obsessing over the calories, and we get the recipe down and the proportions correct though - it works nicely - and we add new recipes into the rotation and have a little tasty variety.  I'll try to post more of our recipes on this blog as we go.

So far, it has been working really well, both of us have continued to lose weight, and we are adding a couple more dishes this weekend (maybe).  Our goal is to get off of all the frozen, pre-prepared food and just be able to prepare our own meals.  This is not the way that everyone does it, I know there are a lot of people who rely heavily on frozen entrees, but like I've said before, this is a lifestyle change and you have to find something that you can maintain as your lifestyle, indefinitely. My husband and I like to cook (well, my husband in particular likes to cook), so figuring out how to cook in a healthy, low-calorie way is something we have to do. It is diet, not a diet.

I'm no health expert, I'm kind of learning as I go along, so don't be surprised if I change my mind and / or correct myself as I go. That said, I don't think that eating those frozen entrees all the time is good for us. Honestly, we will probably continue to have them in the house, because eating a Weight Watchers or a Lean Cuisine entree on a night when there is no time to cook is certainly more healthy than going out to dinner and the entrees are very convenient to take to work for lunch.  There is a time and place for the frozen entrees, but it's not every day for every meal.

So we are introducing more recipes and "real food" into our diets, and it is trial and error. Thus, it makes me nervous - because I'm certain that I'm going to miscalculate and gain back each and every pound that I have worked so hard to lose - tomorrow.  Okay, so clearly that is not going to happen, but I cannot help but to worry about it...

A Note About My Last Post

It occurred to me yesterday after I posted about fitting my exercise into my schedule that part of the reason I started this blog was because people would ask me for advice on weight loss, so I thought it would be helpful just to talk about how I am doing it.

That said, if I had read my post from yesterday 7 months ago, before I started my weight loss, I would have been overwhelmed. I wouldn't have thought I could do it.  So let me just say that I started my weight loss by simply walking for 45 minutes a day, every day. I would either walk for 45 minutes at the end of the day, or I would divide it into a couple of smaller walks. I then increased my walk time over the first few weeks and months. I have added the activities I talked about in my last post over time because I needed to find activities I enjoyed to keep up my weight loss. But, I did start out slow, with something that was comfortable and manageable and then I gradually expanded and pushed myself to do more and to try other things. This is all totally doable.

Fitting in my Exercise

I just got to work after my water aerobics class this morning. I try to do something in the morning several days a week, particularly on days when it looks like I am going to be fairly busy. This way, if my plans go south, I have at least done something. I don't necessarily do anything too high impact, I go to water aerobics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I do Nia on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. (Nia is kind of a combination of tai-chi, dance, and yoga). If I do not drag myself out of bed on time to make it to the gym by 6:30am (this happens frequently), I will do 1/2 an hour of my Zumba Wii game or Wii Fit at home (not terrific exercise - but it gets my blood flowing).  I really enjoy each of these activities, so it is easy to motivate myself to do them.

At lunch, I go for a walk for 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour. I find that the walk is really beneficial not only for my physical health, but for my mental / emotional well-being. My job can be stressful, and it is refreshing to get away from the office and walk around the beautiful area where I work for a while. I work on one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country (seriously, it's listed in the Princeton review as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country). My walk gives me a chance to be inside my head for a while and regroup in the middle of the day. As a bonus, it helps me to burn a few calories.  So, with my morning work out and my lunch walk, I've burned around 300-500 calories before I'm even home from work.

After work, I go on a nice long walk at the beach or the bay with my hubby or we go the gym and get a nice cardio workout in or I do my Zumba class.

This probably sounds like overkill, and to be honest, I do not always do all of this activity every day - but it is good to have all of these tools at my disposal. I'm still in the process of figuring this all out because, ultimately, it is a lifestyle change. Because of that, I need to find activities that I really enjoy and I need to, by trial and error, figure out how to fit those activities into my daily schedule. Having a bunch of different options will help me when my schedule inevitably changes due to any number of possible events that will change my ability to adhere to any routine that I ultimately establish.

Nothing Tastes as Good: The Benefits of Weight Loss: #3 The New Wardrobe

Yesterday I got rid of all my "fat" clothes, and it was oddly stressful. I hear all the time how almost no one keeps weight off and, frankly, it terrifies me. But I had to get rid of the fat clothes, and with them any permission, however subtle, to gain back my weight.  So they are all gone and now my closet is pretty empty. I think I have three pairs of pants and a skirt that fit me at the moment, and two of those are getting too loose.

It's a great feeling to be constantly shrinking out of my clothes, but it is expensive. I told myself that I would buy a new wardrobe when I was half way to my goal (which was about 15 pounds ago) and then when I reach my goal. But, I have to say, it is getting really difficult not to go nuts when I go shopping - even if the clothes are only going to fit me for a couple of months.

I used to hate shopping, and I thought that I always would. I was never the type of person that would go into a store and try on a bunch of clothes to find just the right thing. I quite preferred to shop online. I would know exactly what I wanted and what size to get - and I would order 12 of that thing in different colors. There. Done shopping for the season. Now, much to my husband's chagrin, I love to shop. It is exciting to actually be able to fit into "normal" sizes and to shop at "normal" stores. Maybe its weird to be so completely thrilled with this development, but I love that I don't have to shop for baggy clothes that are oddly tailored to hide my body anymore. I love that when I see something I like, chances are good that I can go find it an it will fit me.

So, there you are, another benefit. I knew this one was coming, but I didn't realize until I could actually shop for normal clothes how great it would feel.

Snacking

Yesterday was one of those days where I just could NOT get full. I kept feeling the need to shovel stuff into my mouth all day long. This usually happens on days when I am sitting around all day, whether it is because I have to work on a project or because I'm watching T.V. or reading. Yesterday morning was kind of dreary, I'm just getting over a cold, so I did not feel great, and I had to work on Saturday - so that all added up to my sitting around the house all day. I was productive, I got a couple of projects done that I have been putting off for a while. But boy did I snack! All day. When we started our weight loss program, my husband and I got rid of all the junk food in the house. It really paid off yesterday. I snacked a lot yesterday, but it was on apples, grapes, some plain cheerios, and veggies. Not potato chips, cookies, or ice cream. As a result, even though I was snacking, I ended up netting under 1200 calories after I got my daily exercise. Not bad for a day that would have been a disaster a little over six months ago.

The Elliptical, the Food Network, and Me

I really did not feel like going to the gym yesterday (honestly, this happens a lot). But I dragged myself in to get my workout anyway. Forty-five minutes on the elliptical can be excruciatingly boring. I can't read on the elliptical, because I am not quite coordinated enough to pull off that particular feat. If I attempt to read a traditional paper magazine or book, I'm certain it would result in my falling off the exercise equipment in spectacular fashion. Me and the book would end up on sprawled on the floor and / or caught in the machine  in what I'm sure would be a horribly embarrassing gym mishap that would emotionally scar me and everyone around me for life. If I tried to read from my Ipad, the same thing would happen, only it would be far more expensive. I would listen to my Ipod, but I fear that I would drop it or spill my water on it. That leaves the convenient little televisions that my gym has installed on all of the exercise equipment. Perfect.

My husband and I do not have cable, we stream everything on Roku or Netflix; and there is some programming that we do not get at home. So, when it is difficult to motivate myself to go to the gym, I will time it to coincide with programming that I cannot watch at home. Oddly, what I have settled on is Food Network programming. I love Chopped, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and Restaurant Impossible...and I can sit through (or rather, exercise through) a Cupcake Wars or two. Now I know that this sounds like a weird form of self torture, but it's really not so bad. The shows are entertaining and they really do not make me hungry nor do they make me particularly want to eat the food featured on the show. Hey, it works, I get my work outs, and I feel MUCH better after I work out...even on days when I absolutely do not feel like working out (maybe especially on those days).

Okay, so not everyone will be enamored with the Food Network - what do you do to motivate yourself to work out when you really do not feel like it?