And the effort continues...

Yesterday...   eating every few hours. FAIL. 

It's weird. I'm working in a nutrition office, but don't have time to have good nutrition. Yesterday's food tally. 

Breakfast: cottage cheese w/raisins and almonds. 

Lunch: Truffled coffee beans (5) and few almonds. 

Dinner: mushroom pizza (2 slices) and mozzarella sticks (2) *roommate ordered in. WEAKNESS. 

Eat right... eat right... eat right... 

This weekend I'm going to brain storm snack bags and pre-chop and prebag them for the work week. Because this eating schedule makes me ravenous and is not good for me. 

I'm thinking... 

celery. 

carrots. 

tomato slices.

apples. 

bananas. 

those pre-cut watermelon things. 

more cherries bc those were amazing. 

spinach salads (pre-made and refrigerated). 

Today... I have the day off. I am going to eat a nectarine. Drink a gallon of water. Take a well-deserved nap. Call the realtor and see if they need anything else from me. And maybe go take in a photography exhibit with that boy I like. I could even get a gym session in if exhaustion doesn't win. 

Apparently, the hopefully new place is very close to a nice graveyard. Remember how I liked to go running? I would love to pick it up there again. Best thing about running in the graveyard? I've got the hottest body there... because it's not rotting. 

I might blog more later. Since being at home enables that. OH! Coworker is going to take vacation soon... so instead of 20 hour work weeks, I will have 50-60 hour work weeks for 2 weeks. That will help the finances SO MUCH. 

Big Fat DAY OFF Love, 

Nanette

STARVING... Okay... maybe just REALLY HUNGRY.

So yesterday is a fine example of the kind of problem I'm having planning stuff... remember the good intentions and the menu and stuff? Immediately after I wrote that, I got a call from my friend and I had to bolt (unshowered and gross) across town to see a property (we're looking for a lease) on the other side of brooklyn. Hurriedly, I threw on my work clothes just in case I couldn't make it home. But I mean, honestly, it was 9:00am. and I didn't have to be to work until 1:30. I should have had time, right? 

Wrong. 

The cab didn't show up. So we had to find an alternate route. run to the subway. Take a shuttle. But the realtor thought we would be there in like... 15 min. Turning out to be 30... 45...   I'm stressing my face off. Then we get there... and we speed walk 3 streets and an avenue (I've learned that they're different). Meet up with Boris and he drives us to the property. 

Driving takes 20 minutes. It's less than 5 miles away. TWENTY MINUTES. That is only slightly faster than walking. We see the apt in about 20 minutes as well... drive back in 20 minutes. Go to the office. Fill out paperwork for credit checks another 20 minutes... it's 11:45a.m. already! 

What subway am I near? Will it take me all the way to work? No. Walk another .5 miles. Realize that I left without breakfast. I left without lunch. I didn't pack a dinner. Balls. Hurry into a Duane Read and buy a bag of unsalted almonds and a water bottle. RUN the rest of the way to work. 

Work is slammed. CONSTANTLY going going going. Everything was going well though. From 1:30 - 8:00pm. I didn't have time to pee. I forgot entirely about the almonds. I get done. Drag myself to the train. NO energy. Start fantasizing about what food I'm going to order when I get home... realize I'm about to sign a lease and I have a total of $12 that needs to last me two weeks. Start thinking of the food I can make. 

Get home. Take of 80% of my clothes. Make a tuna melt and a salad and some cottage cheese... and a slice of cheese... and a tomato... and a huge bottle of water. Get a phone call from a guy I've been meaning to go on a second date with. Hurry and eat dinner. Meet him at 14th street... it's 12:20a.m. We walk from union square all the way to flatbush (across brooklyn bridge) and then poop out and take a cab home. It was approximately 5.5 miles. I get home at 2:30am. Realize I have to take papers over to the realtor in the morning. Must be up by 8:30. 

Accidentally sleep in. oops. Will fax the papers when I get to work. And the best intentions for today...  

Just eat something. a little something, every four hours or so. 

and drink water. 

Big Fat Tired Love, 

Nanette

day one: the constant blogger.

Hey guys...

So yesterday wasn't terrible with food... But ingestion in general, erm... try again.

Breakfast: Fresh cherries.
Lunch: Spinach, tomato, olive, almond, cheese, yogurt dressing salad.
Dinner: erm. 2 jack and cokes with a date. And a spoonful of talenti gelato when I got home.
Water: 80oz

I'm purposely trying to get more walking in since I've been nothing but lazy. So I made a trip to the bank instead of reading on my work break. I've been standing on the subway instead of just sitting. But ultimately... still didn't get to the gym. Today I've got a grand notion to go after I do laundry and household stuff that didn't happen this weekend.

Grand notion? Really, Nanette? How about a date. A committed time and place. I will go to the gym tonight at 9pm. That should give me plenty of time to do everything else and allow me to avoid heat and sunshine.

My friend, Laura, has invited me to join her for lunch today after a doc appointment. I'm sticking to the vegetarian challenge this week! That should pretty much safeguard me from all things pizza-y and burger-y and maybe steer me towards things more salad-y and fiber-y.

Tentatively the menu today looks like this.

Breakfast: sleep.
Lunch: with laura... something green.
Dinner: One of those spinach salads. or a tuna sandwich (Bc I allow fish, even though it's meat).
That Stupid Snack I always have before bed: a slice or two of cheese.

P.s. The date last night was great. Trumpet player. Teaches lessons, works at a music store. Lives with his mom... but in this case, he's the one supporting her. not her supporting him. Which changes my feelings from "ugh, get a life" to "daawwwwww. wait... apron strings?"

P.P.S. One of the doc's patients yesterday was a music major... that has happened to turn into a personal trainer. Basically... that's what I've been thinking about doing with my life over the last few months. So I'm going to have tea with her sometime this week to talk about how she did it.

Big Fat FOOOD Love,
Nanette

SSSD Update and This week's goal

Weight: 297 (-1) Which I didn't deserve.

Measurements: 

Waist - 45.25 (-.25")

Under waist - 54 (-1.5")

Hips - 61 (+.5")

Exercise: NONE. Aside from walking around.

Water: 5/7 over 100 oz. 

Food: Ate out so much. Also, had a little night out with friends, so adult beverages in addition. Saketinis. 

I didn't post a recipe this week. I just don't do that. My food usually doesn't require recipes. It's just like... this is a tomato. eat the tomato. Aren't tomatoes delicious?! Recipe! 

So these last two weeks, I've sorta taken a dating hiatus. When I date, I lose focus on all other things that are important in life. Which is stupid. Because along with that my sense of self sorta gets fuzzy too. What's so amazing is that last week, when I told myself no dating... No dating until you have a job. I got a job. So this week. I'm telling myself no dating until you lose 2 lbs. Don't get me wrong. I have gone on dates. But I'm not actively seeking them or trying to meet new people. I need simplicity and order and peace in my life in order to focus on changes. Look at all this learning! 

Plus, dating comes with spending money, eating out and generally other fat-activities. fativities? Though I did have a really good and enlightening date this last friday. The guy is a chef and we made stuff together (aka he made, I watched)... 

1st coursegazpacho with crouton, basil leaves and 3 basil gelatin noodles. 

2nd course

salmon three ways (sake, lemon, mint soaked sashimi, oven seared and salted and fried salmon skins) with roasted peppers and a pine nut/sunflower seed, lemon, mint and olive oil dressing.  

3rd course

thinly sliced apple with real maple and cinnamon glaze. 

I guess that's the closest you're gonna get to a recipe from me. heh! It felt like I was on the food network. It was all so fancy and not simple. not simple whatsoever. 

This week I also started the new job. Chiropractor/nutritionist's office admin person. It's been really great. I have an excellent coworker. I'm surrounded by positive, health-minded people and I can get supplements at wholesale cost which is great! I plan on trying Uber Greens (a drink mix) and a Whey Protein Powder at some point and I'll let you know how it goes. 

In the office they talk a lot about energies and amplifying the energies and stuff like that... which I don't buy 100% into. And it sometimes seems a little woo-woo, fictional science... that kind of thing. However, I was looking at his diet plans (he's got a big book of them, one for everything, stress, diabetes, weight loss, better sleep, arthritis, ulcerative colitis) and they make so much sense. He's of the abandon sugar, keep a steady blood sugar, don't be afraid of fats, school of thought. Which I am too... and that meat isn't the enemy, but vegan and vegetarianism are great too if you choose that route. 

I'm hugely skeptical of the homeopathy stuff sometimes. But I know that with proper nutrition you can prevent diseases and being heavily medicated...What the doc does, is essentially he builds each client a personalized multi-vitamin... sometimes to treat ailments, sometimes to prevent ailments. He will always yield to the medications that they're already on, and cooperate with other doc orders that clients have received. No harm, no foul. While I may not buy entirely into taking 15 supplements a day, I do think that good nutrition is essential to good health and I can stand behind that. There's a lot to learn in his office. I'm excited to take it all in and help my own little weight loss journey. 

Anyway... 

Goals

- drink 100oz every day. 

- work out 3x this week. 

- stick to the menu. 

- lose 2lbs! 

- Take progress photos... progress? I'm not sure they'll be much different than the last ones, but I'll take 'em anyway. 

Big Fat Workin' Girl Love, 

Nanette

WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Guess who weighed in today before swimming AND FINALLY SAW A LOWER NUMBER!!!!   That's right... This lady.

Weigh in: 326!!!! That's a whopping -6 lbs.
Veggies: every day.
Water: over 100 oz 4/7
Diet changes: Less carbs. Less saturated fat. More omega three fats.
Work out changes: elliptical every day. Weight lifting every day. Whining about how sore I am every day.

Okay... So I didn't believe the scale. So I moved it. It's not mine. It's the big medical kind at the gym. I got the same response. I walked away and put my towel on a hook by the pool... then went back and weighed again. STILL THE SAME. FINALLY...

I suspect three main factors: upping my exercise. Getting a bit more restricted with my carbs/grains. For the first time in 2 months I'm on the blank birth control week. Timing indicates that skipping my period by continuing on to the next month of pills began some of that plateau. I can't blame it entirely. I fell off some good eating habits. But I think that the pill was definitely a contributing factor.

Honestly... at this point... WHO CARES WHAT CAUSED IT! I'm feeling good. Going to try and keep up with the physical activity and food carefulness. Going to try and drain my water bottle 3x a day particularly over these next few days.

Met up with an ex today. He was an ex because he needed to go on his LDS mission. Well, he's back. We're considering getting back together despite some distance between us (about an hour and a half but both of us are car-less).

We took a cab to go christmas shopping. The cab driver asked us if we were married. I laughed and said "No."
"Dating?"
"No. But we have before."
"Well you'd make a good couple. You look good together and you seem to get along really easily."
From the cabbie... Boy and I looked at each other and kinda laughed about it. I wasn't uncomfortable as much as amused. Apparently our considerations were that obvious, even though we hadn't talked about it.

After we talked about it. Me moving. Him looking for an LDS wife. I told him that we can be "dating" but not in a relationship. I don't want him to give up chasing other girls to be with me, especially when I know he's hunting a bit more seriously. And I'm getting out of dodge and I don't want it to be all emotionally grating.

Big Fat FINALLY LOSING WEIGHT Love,
Nanette

PS. Finals Grades

Dance: C (absences).
Aquacise: A
Form: B
Writing: B
Diction: A
Pedagogy: A

The expansion...

Okay... well, I did really well last week with food and exercise and then the weekend happened. I let loose and for the first time since the challenge began missed 2 days of calorie counting. I had a burger one day, pizza another - again, a social situation. Both were on dates with a fine young gentleman. Even worse, in addition to the bad food choices, I had to skip dance class to go on a field trip for my voice ped class.

It was nice to take a step back. Though bad decisions were made, I can feel the affect on my body. And from that I can learn. I could see my body retaining water. I could feel my slowness and grogginess hitting. I had a coffee with him one morning too... first time I've had coffee/caffeine of any sort since May. I got anxious, sweaty and hit a terrible tiring crash MID-DATE! Horrible. I'm ready to return to my good habits... and a reliable internet connection so I can log into myfitnesspal.

The date was interesting... We shall call him J. J likes big women. J knows I'm working on becoming less of a big woman. J doesn't like it. I told him tough shit. I'm not losing weight to be twiggy or attractive. I know I'm attractive at this size. I'm losing weight to keep from getting diabetes or at least postpone as long as possible. I'm trying not to die of heart disease. I'm trying not to have to replace my knees/ankles/joints. I'm trying not to suffer from arthritis or wear away cartilage. He understands I do it for health. But he wanted me to understand that he thinks I'm attractive right now. I'm sad he finds it difficult to get behind my decision. I'm not changing my mind. He also second guesses my NYC plans. Again, I'm not changing my mind. Before we all jump on the "you need a man that supports your decisions and will stand beside you always" speech....   I'm moving. This might be short lived. I like him in EVERY other aspect. It's nice to feel sexy as is right now. I can have that and be moving down the scale. He knows that I'm not going to stop. I'm like that. Bullheaded, goal-oriented and determined to get exactly what I want.

So J might be a reoccurring theme. Yes. It is going to be very hard to lose weight with an active participator against it. Yes. He knows this is going to be a subject of oft butting heads. Yes. This might be a good thing too, to have someone to push against. I'm a naturally contrary person. Maybe I can work it in my favor. In the meanwhile, it's nice to be dating. It's nice to have romance and affection. Connecting with a significant other, while only slightly different than a best best best friend, is still an important connection to have. Again, save the "strong independent women don't need men to validate them" speech.

I am a strong independent woman. He's a strong independent man. And I like that I found an equal when it comes to arguing. heh.

Big Fat Newly Involved Love,
Nanette

P.s. Midterms went well...   Grades are passed out this week.
P.p.s.  Goals...
- Drink 100 oz of water a day.
- Eat carefully, under 1900 a day.
- Get 7 hrs of exercise in.
- Get to the halfway point with Skinny Bitch.
- Budget better. For reals.