Day 12

7:40  JDTM
9:30  Cranberry Juice (I got Ocean Spray 100% juice - no HFCS!)
11:00  Salad (I know - a vegetable!): lettuce, banana peppers, almonds & sunflower seeds, FF italian dressing
11:50 grilled chicken strips, multi-grain medley (brown rice, wheat, quinoa, rye, barley & oats - what am I, a horse?), garden veggie medley (potatoes, sugar snap peas & red peppers - I think I would have skipped the grain medley if I had remembered that this veggie mix has potatoes)

And then I ate a bunch of random things where I didn't track the time (in no particular order): three WW lemon cake thingies, one WW brownie (meh), baked cheetos, pistachios

6:00 Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich
6:30 - 9:00 Milk Duds

Notes: Except for the fact that I ate two too many lemon thingies I think work went well. Oh and I didn't eat my apple. Dinner was not a great choice. And then of course I had to eat the milk duds since it's Halloween :)

Day 11

Another day of not recording my food as I ate it. So I'm not even going to try to pin down the times. I do remember everything though, which is the point of this journal.

Morning
JDCBM
apple slices at coffee hour

Afternoon
BBQ riblets, mashed potatoes, green beans & corn
milkshake
pistachios

Evening
one slice of pizza
four pieces of halloween candy

Late evening
peanut butter & banana sandwich

Notes: I got some things at the store yesterday that I think will help me make it through the work day a little easier. Tomorrow night is Beggar's Night & we'll give away all our candy so I don't have to worry about that!

Day 10

I slept late today & have basically done nothing of note - except go to Walmart with Dr. M to get groceries. I don't even remember when I ate what, so the times are approximate.

9:30  egg, turkey bacon & laughing cow cheese on slimwich
12:15  pizza
12:45  pie
3:00  more pie
5:45 chicken bacon ranch sub from subway with baked cheetos
6:15  Weight Watchers lemon cake thingy

Notes: I bought some WW snacks to hopefully curb my afternoon sweet tooth at work next week. We'll see how it goes. Also - FRUITS - VEGETABLES! Where are these things in my diet? Hmm?

Weather: cold & dreary - intermittent rain & sun. 20s to 40s

Day 9

Frosty & foggy this morning - in the 30s. Brrr!

7:30  JDTM
8:45  Cranberry juice (I'll look for a better substitute this weekend)
12:00 Healthy Choice Sundried Tomato Chicken (why, yes, I DID  have a coupon for healthy choice dinners this week!)
12:15  cookies
12:50  KFC drumstick & wedges
3:45  banana
6:30  pizza
7:00 pie

Notes: well, what in the world was I doing getting KFC right after lunch? Apparently I just want to sabotage myself. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

Weather - cold & dreary. It's 36 degrees at almost 11:00 tonight.

Day 8

Weighed in this morning - 205.8. So my week long party made me gain .2 pounds. If only that were really true! I'm sure there's some hormonal glitch that kept the gain lower than it should have been. And I'll blame hormones in the future if I don't lose as much as I think I should too :)

7:30  JDTM
9:00  Cranberry juice. Gonna have to stop this - it has high fructose corn syrup in it. VERY bad for my health! Not to mention the extra calories.
10:50  Banana
11:45  Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan - yum!
12:30 Big ole' piece of bakery cake - it was Rita's retirement party!
2:15  Goldfish
6:15  Campbell's Tuscan White Bean & Chicken Soup
6:45  Apple pie

Note: So, not such an auspicious start. And the sad thing is the cake wasn't really very good at all. Sigh. I need to start thinking about what the thing I think I love will really taste like - & do I really want it after all? A lot of the time the answer is no. And, you know - this wouldn't have been the last time I could ever have bakery cake. I could wait until I really wanted some. AND if I didn't like it as much as I thought I would - I don't have to eat the whole thing. There isn't a law. I know! I never knew either!

On the other hand - apple pie? Oh yum!

Weather: dreary rainy day in the 40s & 50s. I saw a rainbow on my way home!

Day 7

OK, Mother Nature is schizophrenic. Yesterday morning it was in the 30s when I left for work - today it was close to 60.

7:45  JDTM
9:00  Cranberry juice
11:50  Healthy Choice Asian Potstickers - tasty but my mouth is on fire!
12:15  Milky Way bar
2:30  apple
3:25  Goldfish
5:30  KFC Mashed Potato Bowl
6:00  Cupcakes

Notes: OK, this ends my week of writing down everything I eat without trying to modify my behavior. I've been paying attention to when I'm really hungry & when I just crave something. Tomorrow starts my attempt to try to start eating in a more healthy way. I'm sure I'll slip up, but I'll keep track of the "wrong" food too. Wish me luck!

Day 6

7:30  sandwich thin with fried egg, turkey bacon & laughing cow cheese
9:00  cranberry juice
11:30  apple
12:15  leftover rice & veggies from yesterday (I picked out the carrots) & grilled chicken strips
2:30  Cookie dough. And that's all I have to say about that.
6:00  General Tsao (sp?) chicken stir fry (this is a a bag meal we get at the grocery store)

Note: Sigh.

Weather: GORGEOUS day! Up into the 60s (although it was 36 when I left for work this morning).

Day 5

Well that was rude! It was bad enough that it was pouring rain when I got out of the car this morning, but then the big ole clap of thunder was just rubbing my face in Monday. Grrr.

7:30  Jimmy Dean light Canadian Bacon english muffin (hereinafter referred to as JDCBM)
9:50  Apple
11:18  leftover bbq brisket, tomato slices, wild & brown rice mixed with cream of mushroom soup, Green Giant "antioxident blend" veggies - broccoli, carrots, red & yellow sweet peppers. I feel lied to - it's mostly carrots. Blech!
12:20  Milky Way bar
2:00  Yogurt
3:00  sandwich thin with light cream cheese (I always think I want this & then I'm disappointed in it)
5:00  Subway tuna sub
5:30  Ice cream

Notes: BBQ brisket & rice with cream of mushroom soup is not so fabulous. My afternoon snacks were mostly a waste of calories. Thank goodness I vacuumed tonight to use some of them up (I know, it's sad when vacuuming is exercise).

Weather: After the storm this morning the sun came out & it was gorgeous. 40-63 degrees in Xenia.

Positive Thought: I can probably ride a bicycle now that I've had surgery! We'll explore the idea in the spring...

Day 4

Busy day! I had church this morning & then a diocesan meeting this afternoon with the bishop about our upcoming convention. I'm an alternate delegate so I only had to pay half attention. Then I got groceries on my way home. Anyway, I'm just now writing this after 8:00 at night - let's see how well I do remembering what I ate, when. I do remember that there were a lot of snacks involved.

8:15  Grits & fried egg
11:00  Bell peppers with a little dip, mini chocolate chip cookies, brownie (coffee hour after church)
12:00  Egg salad sandwich (I know this is a lot of eggs for one day, but I wanted to use them up before getting groceries)
2:00:  Three bite-size pieces of candy at meeting (2 Snickers, 1 Twix)
3:45  150 calorie bag of tiny oreos after meeting (I was starving!)
6:00  BBQ beef brisket, mashed potatoes, peas
8:00  Peanut butter & honey

Notes: I should have planned to eat a pack of crackers or something after my meeting - I wasn't thinking that the egg salad sandwich wouldn't last very long.

Remember - this week I'm just being brutally honest about what I eat - I'm not trying to modify my behavior yet.

Day 3

I had to get up at 7:30 today so I could attend Lay Eucharistic training at church (I'll be helping take communion to shut-ins). AND I have to get up at 7:30 tomorrow because we have choir practice at 9:00 before church. So I might be a little cranky. Just a warning.

8:15  Fried egg sandwich with laughing cow cheese (have you tried laughing cow? you must!)
9:30  1/2 chocolate chip muffin & and indeterminate number of Tim Hortons Bits (donut holes).
1:30  Healthy Choice meatloaf with mashed potatoes & corn
4:00  One scoop chocolate peanut butter ice cream in a waffle cone
5:00  Black bean chips
6:30  spaghetti
8:30  peanut butter & honey

Notes: Why didn't I move the box of donut holes to the other end of the table?

Weather: Gorgeous! 38 - 59 degrees in Xenia

Day 2

I'm already bored with this keeping track business. Do you really need to know every evil thing I eat (keeping in mind that M&Ms don't kill people, people who want M&Ms kill people)? The thing is that every successful weight loss program involves some form of writing down what you eat. So, continuing on...

7:30  Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage English Muffin (hereinafter referred to as JDTM)
9:30  Cranberry Juice & Pumpkin Shaped Reese's Cup
11:40 Same lunch as yesterday (with less rice & more green beans - I had my proportions off)
12:20 Apple (oh Jonathan!)

                  ****DO NOT GET CANDY OR COOKIES. YOU HAVE CUPCAKES AT HOME****

1:50  Some goldfish (I'm not counting them anymore, but it's usually the same amount each day - total of 45 or so)
3:00  Chobani Black Cherry Nonfat Greek Yogurt (merciful heavens this is good stuff!)
6:30  Grilled tilapia sandwich & fries at Smokin Aces (where Dr. M & Amy ate ribs that one time)
7:30  Finished off the mini cupcakes!


Notes: Unless otherwise indicated (hello cranberry juice!) my beverages are sugar free or water. I usually drink a Diet Sundrop with breakfast & lunch, & Crystal Light Pink Lemonade or some other caffiene free sugar free beverage (diet 7Up) with dinner. Did you know that mixing the lemonade & the 7Up gives you punch?

Weather Report (just because): blue skies, fluffy clouds, 34-55 in Xenia

Day 1

I wonder if that's how I'll name all these posts? I don't know - it might get discouraging & intimidating. On the other hand it's even MORE intimidating to try to think up clever post names. Hmmm. We'll see what happens tomorrow!

My plan is to work on the posts throughout the day & then publish them at night after I've eaten my evening meal. So, right now it's 9:31 and I've had breakfast. I weighed myself this morning (205.6). Back when I was doing WW the first time & lost almost 50 pounds I weighed myself religiously every day. It was a way to hold myself accountable. I haven't found anything else that's worked as well, so I'm going to do that again this time around. I probably won't post a daily weight on here - just weekly.

7:30    Jimmy Dean Delight Canadian Bacon & Egg English Muffin
10:00  Small apple (Jonathan - my new boyfriend - yum!)
10:26:  Arrgghh! Apples always make me feel hungry. (gnawing on my elbow to avoid eating lunch at 10:30)
10:42:  20 whole grain goldfish
11:45  Grilled chicken fajita strips; green beans with almonds; wild & brown rice mixed with light cream of mushroom soup
12:20  Three very mediocre chocolate chip cookies (blech. sigh.)
2:50:    Remaining goldfish (24 pieces) & Kroger Strawberry Banana Carbmaster Yogurt (I stole it from Dr. M) I have to be careful - I almost stuck my hand in the yogurt instead of the goldfish container.
3:15:    Peanut M&Ms. Sigh. Coworker was thirsty & on a conference call & said she'd get me candy if I went to the cafe to get her a drink.
6:45   Spaghetti & turkey meatballs; 2 mini cupcakes

Thoughts:

• Obviously I need to plan to eat a more substantial snack when I have the canadian bacon muffins for breakfast - they don't last very long.
• I wanted something sweet after lunch, as per usual. The cookies were lousy - a waste of calories.
• Is there a particular reason I had to eat the M&Ms today?

beginning nonetheless...

Here I am trying again. We'll see how it goes this time. For now I'm going to use this space to record everything I eat and to write down my feelings for the day. I'm not going to try to change how I eat - I'm just going to examine what is and why it is.

I'm starting tomorrow. I know it's not the beginning of a week or the beginning of a month. But it's the beginning nonetheless...