At Goal & Successfully Maintaining. So Why Am I Doing This All Over Again?
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We are in Day 4 of our “reverse vacation”. Our daughter is visiting from overseas, and has brought a list of all the American food she’s missed, ranging from Chick-fil-A (her first stop after getting out of the airport) to a famous local diner- the kind that starts you off with brioche and butter and a plate of spanikopita to tide you over while you drown in the endless menu.
After a bit of a rocky start, BL and I have settled down and are hanging in there- light breakfasts and lunches and large dinners, or for today, Doughnut Sunday, large donut-y breakfast, light lunch and medium dinner.
Last night I made an early Thanksgiving for her, complete with stuffing and homemade Mac and cheese. I was horrified the Mac and cheese came to nearly 7,000 calories, but heaved a sigh of relief when I realized I could easily get 28 servings out of the pan.
What’s been really difficult is the grocery shopping, and hitting the box stores like Target and Walmart.
After several years of me being in the habit of “shopping the perimeter” of the grocery, daughter wants to go down each and every aisle, slowly, see what’s new (OMG, Reese’s and Oreo products have exploded!), and pick up, fondle and reminisce about old favorites.
The Christmas candy aisle was torture. All my favorites I wouldn’t have thought anything about piling (literally) into the basket. I settled on a box of Hershey’s chocolate mint flavored candy canes (50
calories apiece and no temptation whatsoever to eat an entire package).
It has been absolutely brutal not to give in to the urge to sample all the tempting new products or enjoy each and every familiar one, not helped by her expectantly holding them over the basket.
I think she expected me to participate with her and thus give her permission. I’ve tried to gently explain that I no longer go there but she’s welcome to enjoy her old American favorites. She was disappointed at first but accepts it now, and has limited herself to just a few things, like a king-sized pack of Reese’s instead of a whole sack.
BL hasn’t been on a grocery trip (both our cars are two seaters, so it requires both cars to go to the diner or doughnut shop) so he hasn’t been tested like this, lol.
At the diner, he stuck with roast turkey with gravy, and asked for two veggies instead of the fries or stuffing. He also quite smugly avoided the brioche.15 -
Chocolate mint candy canes oh my gosh those exist?0
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sheahughes wrote: »Chocolate mint candy canes oh my gosh those exist?
I’m still working my way through a case of Spangler Oreo candy canes I bought in January. 45 calories a pop but they taste like Tootsie Rolls, which is better.
Once I discovered them, then I couldn’t find them anywhere I ordered the case. They are great for a quick pick-me-up while walking to the gym or yoga classes.
Frankly, the choc-mint are disappointing. There’s also Jelly Belly, Sour Patch, red Hots, and another version.1 -
Because she’s terrified she’ll catch Covid and won’t be able to go home to Europe, we’ve promised daughter we won’t go to gym, yoga, meetings etc, and that we’ll mask everywhere we go.
BL whispered to me last night that he was going to try to sneak out to get in an aquafit class this morning.
I reminded him of our promise.
He was crestfallen. “But I want to work out!”
Proof positive that losing weight increased energy levels on the other end.
If you’re overweight, tired and miserable now, just know that there comes a tipping point to the other side where you (literally!!!!) have energy to burn.
Weight creep. You don’t even realize how it saps your life force.9 -
springlering62 wrote: »
If you’re overweight, tired and miserable now, just know that there comes a tipping point to the other side where you (literally!!!!) have energy to burn.
Weight creep. You don’t even realize how it saps your life force.
THIS!!! It's so hard to tell yourself to "just get up and move something!", but it really does help. I've been at this for almost 4 months now, and I just feel fantastic! I feel better than I have in a couple of years. I was really starting to feel "old" and run down, but 4 months of just a little bit of exercise every day has brought back my "youth".
(With the exception of "hormonal days", where I feel like I've been hit by a truck... *shakes fist at perimenopause*. The difference is that now I can see those days for what they really are.)3 -
I've no idea what Tootsie Rolls taste like! I do love a choc mint combination anything though1
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sheahughes wrote: »I've no idea what Tootsie Rolls taste like! I do love a choc mint combination anything though
Wow. How do you describe a Tootsie Roll? It’s sorta like a chocolate taffy in a log or stick. Sorta like eating soft, delicious chocolate plastic. No redeeming qualities, other than bliss.4 -
I'm still stuck at "brioche".....
I wish I could buy bread and freeze it for gradual use but unfortunately I can taste freezer and that ruins it for me. Therefore, must consume the entire loaf in short order.4 -
Daughter chose a nice XL fleece for her dad and we plotted for her to lay on thick that it would make her very. happy if he’d wear it for her. (Wink wink nudge nudge).
He told her it was “too small and he could never fit in it”.
But he came downstairs in it this morning to please her and it was verging on being a bit baggy!
He wouldn’t believe us when we told him.
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but weight loss often isn’t.
For some reason it can be very very difficult to recognize it in the mirror or acknowledge it in the way your clothes fit.
I have stupidly not followed my own advice and taken progress photos of BL. Will start doing so immediately.
I didn’t recognize a large monthly weight loss myself, even though I’d sized down several times. The clothes were smaller. The scale had dropped 60+ pounds. But…..The brain still saw “fat me” in the mirror.
It wasn’t until my trainer began texting weekly photos and workout notes that I was shocked into,”Is that me in the photos? It doesn’t look like me.”
If you feel like you’re treading water, haven’t lost size, even though the scale shows pounds lost, take those photos. It will really help.
Even now, at 90+ down, I have a hard time remembering I’m thin. TBH, I feel kind of dirty using the word.
I still ease sideways between parked cars, apologize to people I’m sure I’m going to bump. I sometimes look in the mirror and have what mom Mom used to despairingly call a “you’re a fat *kitten*” moment.
Body Dysmorphia as they call it,does gradually lessen with time, but still rears its ugly head.
Next thing on the agenda is to take pics of BL’s butt so he can see how bad his pants are sagging. He bought new ones about six weeks ago but says they didn’t quite fit and hasn’t tried them on since then.
I’m scared he’s going to race pass that size altogether and he’s already outside the return period, lol.
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springlering62 wrote: »Daughter chose a nice XL fleece for her dad and we plotted for her to lay on thick that it would make her very. happy if he’d wear it for her. (Wink wink nudge nudge).
He told her it was “too small and he could never fit in it”.
But he came downstairs in it this morning to please her and it was verging on being a bit baggy!
He wouldn’t believe us when we told him.
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but weight loss often isn’t.
For some reason it can be very very difficult to recognize it in the mirror or acknowledge it in the way your clothes fit.
I have stupidly not followed my own advice and taken progress photos of BL. Will start doing so immediately.
I didn’t recognize a large monthly weight loss myself, even though I’d sized down several times. The clothes were smaller. The scale had dropped 60+ pounds. But…..The brain still saw “fat me” in the mirror.
It wasn’t until my trainer began texting weekly photos and workout notes that I was shocked into,”Is that me in the photos? It doesn’t look like me.”
If you feel like you’re treading water, haven’t lost size, even though the scale shows pounds lost, take those photos. It will really help.
Even now, at 90+ down, I have a hard time remembering I’m thin. TBH, I feel kind of dirty using the word.
I still ease sideways between parked cars, apologize to people I’m sure I’m going to bump. I sometimes look in the mirror and have what mom Mom used to despairingly call a “you’re a fat *kitten*” moment.
Body Dysmorphia as they call it,does gradually lessen with time, but still rears its ugly head.
Next thing on the agenda is to take pics of BL’s butt so he can see how bad his pants are sagging. He bought new ones about six weeks ago but says they didn’t quite fit and hasn’t tried them on since then.
I’m scared he’s going to race pass that size altogether and he’s already outside the return period, lol.
This is all so wonderful!
Definitely take progress photos. I think at some point the diet honeymoon wears off for a lot of people and visual motivation is a real boost to keep going.
I can't see my faint six-pack looking down at my body, which is how I see my stomach most of the time. I'm rarely in front of a mirror without clothes covering it. In fact, I didn't even realize it was there until I took a photo of myself wearing a new pair of linen dress pants and I had to hike up my shirt because it was covering the pants (it's okay, I was sending the photo to the SO, not posting it on social media
) and when I saw the photo I was startled by what my abs looked like.
I don't think I'd even bothered with "progress photos" up until then, but you can bet I've done them weekly ever since.7 -
Daughter is headed back home now. I’ve already (thank god!) dropped back into my old habits and am honestly jealous at how well BL kept his head while we girls were eating everything in sight. I think he stayed in deficit the whole time, even when we did an early Thanksgiving for her.
Daughter was so impressed with our results, she got a fitness tracker before she left, and plans to try MFP herself when she gets home, and wants to encourage SIL to do it with her.
She hasn’t had a kitchen since April, due to a move. In her adopted country, tenants customarily provide their own kitchen (yep, you read that right: cabinets, sink, appliances, even light fixtures) and due to supply chain issues…well....they have been eating from an Instant Pot and washing dishes in the tub, so they haven’t been eating well. She got lots of ideas while she was here. She hopes to have the kitchen installed by December.
I wish my awesome daughter much success! (And a kitchen.)
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BL, who is literally a statistical genius (he could tell your soft drink preference and preferred beverage container size without ever having met you simply by knowing a few things about you- yeah, these people exist!) can’t wrap his head around the tare function on the scale.
Folks, the tare function on your scale exists (so I like to think) to SAVE YOU DISHWASHING!!!!
Your food scale should have a “tare” button. If you touch it, it simply zeroes the scale.
Put your empty cooking pot on the scale. Hit tare. Now the scale is at zero again.
Add your leftover rotisserie chicken. 9 ounces. Write it down or enter it as a New Meal over on the Meals & Recipes tab.
Bow, hit tare and zero your scale again.
Add your 6 ounces of celery. Tare and enter to your new meal or diary.
Add your twelve ounces of carrots. Repeat above.
Add your 12gr Kitchen Accomplice low sodium broth. Repeat above.
Add your seasoning (herbes de Provence is a wonder in chicken soup, as is chipotle seasoning. Add your water.
Voila! Twenty minutes in the Instant Pot or an hour on the stove and you have soup.
Take your box or container of 10-minute barley, and put it on your scale. Tare the scale to zero. Now scoop or pour as much barley into your soup as you like. The negative number on your scale is the amount of barley you used. Log it.
If you used “create a Meal” all you have to do is save the meal.
Now go to your food diary, add a food, add “my meals” and your chicken soup is at the top of the list. Change the serving size to .25, and add a quarter (or whatever portion you ate) of the meal to your diary.
Easy peasy.
You just saved umpteen bowls to wash, and created a “meal” you can easily copy or edit to change next time when you don’t have as many carrots, but have a lot more leftover chicken to use up. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
This meal courtesy of my breakfast. Today is a fridge cleaning day, or what BL fondly dubbed “root hawg” years ago.10 -
The tare function is awesome. I use it mostly for 'negative' weights: pouring cooking oil, scooping out peanut butter or jam (I can then shamelessly lick the spoon/knife afterwards), etc.
As a side note: scales that time out quickly REALLY get on my nerves. Test your scale to see how quickly it turns off automatically, just so you know if you need to hurry or not when using the tare function!4 -
BTW when creating meals, I make everything 1 serving and then divide from there.
For example “1” serving of Epic Fail Biscuits (I was running my mouth and accidentally used the whole stick of margarine) made 18 biscuits. One serving was 1673 calories.
Even I would never sit down and eat 18 biscuits.
To add them to your diary, go to >add food >my meals and select your meal.
I’m planning to have two ham biscuits for second breakfast before going to see my trainer. Two biscuits is .111 of the recipe. (I divided 2 by 18 to get this percentage.)
Change your serving size to (in this case) .111. Now you HAVE to hit the check mark below to change the quantities that carry over to your diary, otherwise all 1673 calories carry over.
It’ll look like this after you correctly update your serving size. This is what you want to save to your diary.
If you do accidentally add the whole thing, simply delete the items and try again.3 -
While we're singing the praises of the tare function, let me just pop in here with a pro-tip that it took me several years of preparing food with a scale to figure out:
Take an afternoon--honestly, it probably won't even take that long. Take 20 minutes and weigh all your pots and pans and casserole dishes and tupperware and stuff. Write down those weights, keep that list somewhere handy. Now you can weigh your finished dish (saucepan, Instant Pot insert, glass baking dish, etc), subtract the known weight of the container, and know how much food you have, for purposes of figuring portion sizes. Also handy if you have a scale that times out faster than you can prep your ingredients, if you're anti-mise-en-place for some reason ;P (you can pry my prep bowls out of my cold, dead hands).10 -
Minor adjunct to "how long your auto-off scale stays on" - good idea to check. Once you have a feel for it, but in the moment worrying about getting back there in time, tapping the weighing surface with your fingertips will be enough to keep most scales awake.
I'm pretty much "team no correct single method", but I like to do number of servings as a count (for unit type things that are either a one-off prep or pretty consistent in number, like rolls), or the total number of grams of the finished food (for variable serving things like soup or whatever). For the latter, I can serve up a weighed 233 grams, call it 233 servings, avoid optional math in the moment. (Yes, the recipe builder will throw a grumpy message if one inputs 3237 servings or some other big number, but if you hit the button again, it will grudgingly accept that you mean it.)5 -
@goal06082021 crazy simple idea! Thank you! Will absolutely do this (weigh pans). I use the “meal” function and note how many grams are for the whole dish, then my serving is the appropriate percentage. Weighing the whole dish (finding an appropriately sized bowl, yet small enough to read when on my scale-sometimes having to weigh the total amount in two portions) was a pain in the tush!0
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MaggieGirl135 wrote: »@goal06082021 crazy simple idea! Thank you! Will absolutely do this (weigh pans). I use the “meal” function and note how many grams are for the whole dish, then my serving is the appropriate percentage. Weighing the whole dish (finding an appropriately sized bowl, yet small enough to read when on my scale-sometimes having to weigh the total amount in two portions) was a pain in the tush!
Sometimes, if the sizing and weight works out OK, it helps to put a smaller bowl on the scale, tare, then put the pan of food on top of the bowl. The bowl elevates the pan so one can read the display. Gotta pay attention to stability, though. 😉3 -
@AnnPT77 thanks!1
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….but my bowls all look identical but weigh different amounts!
Even my pair of identical vintage Pyrex mixing bowls!
🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️1
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