O, Life.
I didn't go to my meeting this weekend, as you probably gathered. A couple of my relatives were in town, and I spent the weekend shuttling them to various tourist locales and drinking wine at every stop. Oh those Dutch people!

I would not say I ate particularly well or particularly badly. The week leading up to their visit was very good, eating-wise. Since then, it has been a little more iffy. Work has been unbelievably stressful. I have been pressuring myself to be absolutely perfect, and every time I turn out not to be perfect, which is several times a day, I feel stressed out. (Why the pressure? Well that's another story. But sometimes, people make big, big, big, big, incredibly expensive mistakes. And sometimes those people are me.)

I am not the type of person to run to the vending machine at work--sometimes I'll get pretzels and a Diet Coke, but really, there's not much in there that I find tempting. But over the past two days, I've had Pringles and chocolate-covered graham crackers, and I've been skipping lunches, and snacking all day on bad snacks plus the fruit and veggies and yogurt I bring from home. It's confusing. And then last night I had to work until ten and we ordered Thai food. Eggrolls and peanut sauce is probably not such a healthful choice.

Anyway, I am still writing things down, and am going to go to my meeting this weekend. I am working on being perfect at work, I think I am going to give myself a break from being perfect in eating, too.
- posted by mo @ 4:59 PM

 
Savings
Today is the third day in a row that I have been under points for the day. On Sunday I was -3, yesterday -2, and today -4. It's bizarre, because there are some weeks where getting in under points is a constant struggle, and I wonder how the hell I can possibly stick with such an impossible program. (It is annoying to me that I can count on at least one week of that per month. But I digress.)

I have also been sticking to the good health guidelines--for those of you who are unfamiliar with Weight Watchers, it's kind of not okay to save up all your points for a cheesecake at the end of the day, even if that works out pointswise, due to the good health guidelines. You are supposed to have at least five servings of fruits and veggies, at least six glasses of water, two servings of dairy, and two servings of healthy oils per day. I've been doing very well on that front also!

This whole under points thing is weird because usually I use my Flex Spending Spree points at the beginning of the week. I always try to go under points not at the start of the week, but the day before I weigh in. That is one of those neurotic things that we weight losers should probably not do, but hey, whatever works.

This week, though, I am saving up those points for Friday, when my cousin* from Holland is coming to town. On Saturday I will try to go under points--I will make sure that whatever I am eating while I am reading the new Harry Potter book doesn't have too many points in it.

*She's not technically my cousin--I think she's my dad's cousin's daughter. It's actually a little embarassing that I don't exactly know how she's related to me. Anyway she's in her late 40s, and she's bringing her son, who is probably in his early 20s, which freaks me out, because in my head he is ten years old. And anyway, I am guessing we will go to Fisherman's Wharf and have clam chowder in bread bowls.

I forget what my point was. Oh, yeah, under points so far. I haven't had much of an appetite this week, I guess--work has been busy and I've been planning my meals and eating that breakfast muffin and salads for lunch, and it's all been going smoothly. And now that I've said that, I'm sure we're going to have another beer-and-ice-cream rooftop party* at work tomorrow, and I will be hosed.

*We had one of these last week, and I just want to say for the record that I bypassed the beer and all three kinds of Drumsticks, and had a popsicle. And ate it while I enjoyed the gorgeous panoramic view of SF from the top of my building. And felt smug that I had surely saved myself 7,000 calories. (Now if it had been wine and cookies, I would be telling you a completely different story.)

Man, why do I keep babbling away? It must be all that extra energy you get when you lose weight!
- posted by mo @ 9:26 PM

 
Moving Right Along...
This week I finally scored my first bookmark, at least this time around! I dropped 2.0 pounds, for a grand total loss of 6.0 pounds. Hooray!

I knew I had lost this week, because I could feel my body making its way back to the comfort zone. (I feel comfortable at around 220 pounds. I feel fantastic at 215 pounds. I have never made it down to 210 pounds, but I am sure it will feel like a party when I get there.)

I did have a couple of shortcut days. For instance yesterday, when I starved myself all day and then had an In N'Out burger and fries. (The burger itself is only 5 points without meat, which is how I eat it, so that's okay. But the fries are 9 points, so that kind of blows the diet right there. The milkshakes, I have to avoid altogether, as they are 17 points.)

Anyway so that wasn't good. But the rest of the week went great. I've been going to Trader Joe's (the semi-annoying hippy grocery store) to stock up on food for the week. Since it worked so well last week, I got the same things this week. Salads for lunch, blueberry bran muffins for breakfast (since I heard that the fiber content of the breakfast is where you get the benefits, and each muffin has 20 grams of fiber). Fruit and veggies to snack on. (Strawberries, sugar snap peas, nectarines.) I also got some of the 1-point Laughing Cow cheese wedges (very satisfying when you crave cheese), and some smoked maple turkey slices. (I actually had a package of these turkey slices for lunch. So, so tasty.)

As you can see, my eating during the work week is going well. Oh, I also have been buying a $1 box of soy milk and cutting down my Starbucks trips to maybe once or twice a week, instead of every day. That is saving me both calories and money!

I am kind of disappointed that it's taken me seven weeks to lose six pounds. I was trying to lose 25 pounds, and at this rate, it's going to take me half a year! But you know, if it does, it does. I know I am heading in the right direction.

However, I am going to try to make an effort to lose weight a little more steadily. We'll see how long it takes to earn my next bookmark; I hope it's closer to two weeks than two months.
- posted by mo @ 1:48 PM

 
Okay, Okay! I Surrender!
Someone named Mary Crawford has been commenting and e-mailing up a storm regarding her diet plan. And in the effort to get her to calm down about it, I am writing this entry!

Ms. Crawford bills herself as a weight-loss counselor, although I have no idea what her actual qualifications are. I think she wants me to try out her weight-loss plan, and then be wildly successful, and then tell you all of its miraculous success. But I think I will skip the middle man and tell you to read the plan in the comments here and decide for yourself if you want to try it.

Here are the reasons I will not be trying it at this time.

1. I have no evidence that it works, or that Ms. Crawford is qualified to give dietary advice. No offense! But if someone wrote me with the "I Just Pulled This Out Of My Ass Diet Plan" and told me to try it, I mean, why would I?
2. I am on Weight Watchers already, and it is a plan that works for me, if I follow the program. I do eat the foods I like. I do plan three meals and three snacks per day. I do eat fiber and protein and fruits and veggies and all that stuff. And it works!
3. Indulging my food cravings does not make them go away. I used to crave Starbucks muffins for breakfast, and I ate them every single morning (yes, at the same time). This created a bad habit; it did not cure my craving. For a long time, I ate chocolate every day. Did this cure my craving? Um, no. No, it did not. And more's the pity.
4. I don't think cutting my calories in half every other day is feasible for me. That would be 14 points, or about 700-1000 calories. I am sure starving myself every other day would lead to some dramatic weight loss, but somehow it doesn't strike me as a healthy or sustainable idea.

I am sure if I am missing some crucial information, Ms. Crawford will pop into the comments and let us all know. And I am also sure she will post her qualifications and anecdotal evidence. And I am reasonably sure she will answer your questions about her diet plan. Okay then.
- posted by mo @ 9:57 AM

 
Whatever, Blogger
Well, it turns out that I didn't actually do anything to the template. Mary Ann forwarded me this information from Bill, and it worked! Thank you to both Mary Ann and Bill, because I never would have figured this out.

"For some reason...someone decided that Blogger should automatically insert a clear: both; before and after every post, as a part of the post body where you can't avoid it. Since the clear property says "don't allow any floated elements on my (left|right|both sides)", that makes doubly sure that if your layout consists of a sidebar created with float:right, then your post will start below it... adding div {clear: none !important} to your stylesheet ought to overrule their... interesting idea about what they ought to do in your posts."

That is very irritating. Thank you so much for the fix, Mary Ann and Bill!
- posted by mo @ 9:42 AM

 
A Wish
Just once, I would like to have reverse PMS. My body would look and feel five pounds lighter overnight. I would suddenly develop an aversion to chocolate and a craving for lentils and carrots and cardiovascular exercise. I would have a Spock-like command of my emotions, which would be extra-rational, and I would feel a warm glow of love for the entire world and everything in it.

I guess that's not happening this month, though. Maybe next time!
- posted by mo @ 3:48 PM

 
Scroll Way Way Down For Cry For Help
My template is all wack, yo. But I can't figure out what, if anything, I did. Any insight would be appreciated!
- posted by mo @ 2:08 PM

 
Monday Monday
Somehow I don't exactly feel like I'm on the "fast track" to weight loss; over the past couple of weeks I have gained .8 of a pound. But somehow I am not worried, because I know in which direction I am pointed. I am still being mindful, still writing things down, still attending my meetings. I will get there.

(Aside: the Sunday meetings suck. The meeting leader is really sort of dense and smiley and terrible at public speaking. Useless. Screw Sundays, man.)

Here is something I've been wondering. Everyone always says it's important to have a good breakfast, right? It jump starts your metabolism or whatever. Well, if I drink a latte in the morning, does that count? I mean it has protein and calories and nutrients and all that stuff. Do I have to physically chew something in order for it to count as "breakfast"? Because I prefer a late breakfast, more along the lines of what others would consider a mid-morning snack. But I looove my morning latte. (Or actually soy misto, recently, since it only costs me $1 per week to make it at work.)
- posted by mo @ 9:11 PM