Public weight loss diary (I'm pregnant so I need to get serious)

[CraterCove]

Or rather, I think I might be. I've been able to tell the three past times before a test would show positive. I know at least once I saw the Doc roll her eyes when I told her I was pregnant even though the test was negative (home test). She was actually so disappointed I was right when she did the ultrasound that she suggested it was surely just a 'grape cluster' not a pregnancy... never asked what a grape cluster is...

Anyway, think I might be pregnant with child number four so it's time to get serious. I gave up caring about my weight and embraced my fatness about three years ago. My blood pressure has always been good, my cholesterol ideal so on and so forth. I am very active and have a goodly amount of strength to me. However, I am 34 now and I'm not going to be doing my pregnancy any good not caring about my intake anymore.

Already gave up drinking. I will consume a high quality stout daily for the positive nutritional value but no more than that. I don't actually smoke often, I only like really good cigars and can rarely justify the cost so that's easy. I have been off coffee for the better part of a year, feel no desire to drink it since I can't have my super fancy high quality kind. (yes, coffee snob!)

The thing that eludes me is the ability to give up the soda. The headaches are pretty bad but that's not the worst of it. I dream of Coke. I am an extreme Coke addict. Just to make clear I mean the soda not the illegal drug-- though sometimes I wonder what is worse. I am a binger too, it's compulsive but I have in past been able to subdue the tendency for extended periods of time.

Sooo.... Who wants to be my internet therapist? Maybe no one, maybe I can keep myself honest and on track simply by seeing the views tick up.

Here are my stats:

I am 5'4''

My ideal weight is 140 (I am a size 7 at that weight... any less and I start looking like a dairy cow, all bony points)

If I get back into the weights my ideal weight rises to between 150 and 160

My weight today is: 271 I wear a size 18

So I have 131 pounds to lose.

And I need to do a good deal of it over the holiday season, while I am pregnant. This is going to be fun. /sarcasm

The plan:

Cut out every processed food I can. If I am going to bake bread or have tortillas I need to grind my wheat and make it from scratch. I will be relying heavily on cheese and milk for the first while, I'm pretty sure to fill up and decrease feelings of deprivation. I will eat meat, nuts, vegetables and fruits. This is going to be expensive because we don't have a good enough garden this year. I expect to lose 4-5 pounds a week if I can be on track and not sacrifice necessary nutrition for the healthful building of a baby. Another motivator for losing this weight is my recent acquisition of horses. I can't in good conscience put myself on a horse's back at my weight. It's not right.

I need to go meditate (read play a violent video game or play with goats) because I am getting seriously anxious.

[CraterCove]

Okay this morning I weigh in at 268. I am already thinking far too much about the fact that I am not going to get a soda today. I had cut back from 2 litres a day to one of those 1.25$ mountain dew cans they have at the checkout of the grocery. Switching from my preferred Coke to Mountain Dew... I don't think it really helped all that much. It's 8 am and the obsession has started. Lovely.

So it's eggs with cheese for breakfast. I want to figure out a recipe that is fairly low carb using some of the crook necked squash I froze last season to make a kind of casserole. Tomato, squash and cheese, baked so I can have tray of something convenient for lunches. I already keep baked chicken on hand for chicken salads so dinner isn't all that hard-- honestly I usually skip dinner if I eat correctly the rest of the day. I need to have something like Cashews or Almonds to snack on throughout the day.

Here's to day one.

[mnn2501]

Just an FYI, I lost 10% of my body weight just by giving up soda (diet soda at that) I made no other changes to my diet.
Is your Coke worth 20-30 pounds? (or more)

[Patchouli]

I recommend reading Wheat Belly.

[Becka03]

Good for you! I hope that this works- I know I have not had diet pepsi in almost 2 months- and I have not lost any weight- but -BUT- the bloating in my belly is gone... that counts for something I suppose-

can you have a glass of Coke or 2 for a week or so then back to 1 glass?
I would take some excedrine too- to ward off the headaches- withdrawl from caffeine can raise blood pressure so be-careful.... you don't want to do that

[Brighton]

Originally Posted by Becka03

Good for you! I hope that this works- I know I have not had diet pepsi in almost 2 months- and I have not lost any weight- but -BUT- the bloating in my belly is gone... that counts for something I suppose-

can you have a glass of Coke or 2 for a week or so then back to 1 glass?
I would take some excedrine too- to ward off the headaches- withdrawl from caffeine can raise blood pressure so be-careful.... you don't want to do that

Excedrin is a lot of caffeine and just contributes to the caffeine addiction that this woman obviously has!

[Becka03]

Originally Posted by Brighton

Excedrin is a lot of caffeine and just contributes to the caffeine addiction that this woman obviously has!

Oh I get that- I understand- but cold turkey on caffeine- will put stress on your body and raise BP- if she is pregnant- she doesn't want to do that-
at least that is what my Dr told me...

[Doug Hodges]

2 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 lb bacon
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
dozen eggs
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup cream
16 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
Cook the beef with onions and drain. Mix in crisp bacon pieces. Line bottom of pan or two pans with this mixture about an inch deep. Sprinkle half the cheese over this. Combine all of he other ingredients except for the remaining cheese. Add over the meat and cheese. Add remaining cheese to top of mixture. Cook at 350 for about 45 minutes. Low carb and tastes great.

[Doug Hodges]

I went from 270 to 216 last night since Christmas.

[CraterCove]

Originally Posted by mnn2501

Just an FYI, I lost 10% of my body weight just by giving up soda (diet soda at that) I made no other changes to my diet.
Is your Coke worth 20-30 pounds? (or more)

Well... yes it is... just not right now. My bad habits, in some way is my way of asserting some measure of control over my mortality. Me choosing what contributes to my ultimate demise, if you dig.

As to the cutting down to a couple of times a week? It really doesn't work well for me. However, me promising myself that I can have a coke in two years once I'm done having baby and breastfeeding and I'm in better physical shape, that turns the addiction into a motivator. (Yes I am psyching myself up to believe that)

The blood pressure issues associated with caffeine withdrawal are just one of the reasons I need it out of my system. I am early on, really early, like maybe two weeks. But as I said, I've never, not in three times been wrong about when I was pregnant. Also, my blood pressure is really, really low usually 105 or so for the top number, can't remember the lower one. My temp runs about 97 degrees too.

Oh and you guys want yet another reason to not have caffine in your life? I actually have benign growths in my breasts. They aren't noticeable to anyone bit me and my doctor but yeah, they are due to extreme caffeine consumption and while they shouldn't ever cause and real issues its rather unpleasant to think about isn't it?

The Excedrin _might_ actually work a bit like they use methadone for heroine addicts. It certainly would at least not be carried into my bloodstream by copious amounts of sugar.

I have been slowly easing into better habits. I went this year, the first probably in all my life without eating a Cadbury Creme egg. I have taken less and less comfort in binging and gearing myself towards snacking on cheese and nuts instead of chips and candy. It's definitely time to piddle or get off the pot though.

I certainly appreciate the responses.

[CraterCove]

Doug I will be making that tomorrow, it sounds most excellent! I have all the ingredients already except the onion.

[Doug Hodges]

We love it at our house. I do most of the cooking and even the kids (who turned their noses up when I said I was going to make some the first time) ask for it now. It keeps real well. I will make enough to last a few days to a week. I left pepper out. I always use pepper. I don't use salt. You can but I try to stay away from salt. The bacon usually has enough salt in it.

[CraterCove]

I am jonesing tonight. Its right about the time I would be sitting here with my one soda for the day. Cold in my hand and sweet on my tongue, the rush of it flowing down my throat and on through all of me. People really don't take me seriously when I tell them I am addicted to soda, they really don't but the combination of high levels of sugar (oh and I prefer the old time Coke or Mountain Dew that has cane sugar) and caffeine has me hooked.

So I need a new obsession. Something else to fixate upon. Out have come the mechanical pencil and the drawing pad. I want to start with a Santa Muerte Owl and see where that takes me. I'm not a good artist but I always keep trying. Really where I shine is calligraphy and heraldic symbols. I at one point sold wooden boxes that I would decorate with geometric designs and heraldic art and Hieroglyphics and such. Didn't make too terribly much but I enjoyed it and the work kept me centered. Maybe I could do that again.

Hey anyone have a sir name to keep me busy with? lol

[frogmammy]

Try Perrier (spelling?) water instead of coke. It doesn't taste bad, and has the carbonation REALLY helps calm that coke addiction!

Mon....former 4+ liter a day drinker....

[CraterCove]

268 this morning as well. Not expecting to see any change for a good three days but its good so see there is definitely no upward change.

Feel okay this morning really. Spent last evening sketching and I have eggs and feta for breakfast, had mushrooms and onions and feta for dinner last night.

Feta was one reason I got goats in the first place, besides the fact that they are awesome. However, I am a complete cheese failure as of yet. Maybe during the 'nesting period' I'll try again with the knowledge gleaned by my past failures to help me make some cheese.

[Doug Hodges]

You should drink coffee. Coffee has lots of water in it and its also an appetite suppressant. Bah humbug if someone says its bad for you. We cook the contents out of a bean.

[CraterCove]

Having one of those darker days today. You know, little stuff like wondering why I'm here and what the point of it all is. eh, blah, mandatory check in done.

[Doug Hodges]

We all do.

[CraterCove]

So, a short time ago we bought hamburger patties at the grocery store, thinking the fact they were already formed and frozen ready to toss on a grill would make them very convenient for our frequent picnic trips to one of the many local parks. It ended up thundering and storming last weekend and the kids were disappointed we couldn't swim because of our lack of desire to end up with roasted people soup. I decided we could have a picnic at home, in the living room instead which to a 3 and 4 year old is cool... the 12 year old was just mildly disappointed and was okay with having a hamburger where he had wi fi connection for his nexus.

I pulled out the hamburger patties from the cooler and my husband set the grill outside to heat up. When I looked at the patties I suddenly doubted their beefiness... they had a weird grayish tone to them and when I picked them up, taking into account they were frozen, felt a bit off too. I had a sudden desire to read the ingredient list seems like the beefy portion of the 'hamburger' was beef heart. Eh not so bad really, but then the ingredients include stuff like 'textured soy protien'-- say what? I have three growing boys, I'm not a fan of feeding them plant estrogens.

But what's one soy beef offal burger? So I warned the husband he might want to take a look at the ingredient list for the burgers so he wasn't expecting something actually burger like when he received it on his plate. He shrugged and said, "It'll be like a McDonald's burger then."

I continued with my routine, sprinkled salt and pepper on the outside of the patty and grilled them up.

They did not taste like Mc Donald's burgers. Far more chemically and whoa salty. Now for the last week I have been trying to make them palatable for consumption. I thought, well what better to make chemical soy offal patties into but Salisbury steak! It was passable but that's about all (the gravy was awesome.) And yesterday I decided to go the taco bell route. I chopped up some patties added water and mexican seasonings, some oregano, chili powder, paprika and cumin. The patties fell apart and turned into a grainy soup and I added about a pound and a half of sharp cheddar and and pepper jack and made burritos with some tapatio and refried beans. It was actually pretty okay.

Moral of the story? If it's really cheap, you should probably have to put quotes around the term hamburger on your packaging.

[Fire-Man]

I have not read all the post, but being I have lost 42lbs in the last 3 1/2 months I thought I would mention a few things I do/have done. I eat the same things I have always eat but I have cut the portion size down alot and continue cutting more as time goes on.
My Wife is a Great cook and that is not a help(LOL) but I still enjoy her cooking. Example--Instead of eating 4 fried porkchops and a big plate of rice and brown gravy with vegetables--I cut down to 2 chops and a 1/2 plate of rice and gravy and some vegetables. Cut pepsi out alot and cut back on everything I eat. Then as I started loosing some weight, when she would fix me a plate for a meal sometimes I will divide everything on the plate in 1/2 with my fork---eat 1/2 of whats on the plate and wrap the rest and put it in the fridge, then in a few hours when I get hungry again I will reheat the "rest" of the plate and eat it. If I had eat all that was on the plate in the beginning I would still get hungry again in about the same amount of time---so dividing the plate helps alot for me.

We divide chips and snacks into small portions too-----so instead of grabbing a big bag of chips say and setting in front of the TV----grab a pint size ziplock bag of chips(you can reuse the bags). Leave the rest in the pantry. Look at the bag as you sit down and say to yourself---This is ALL I am eating of these tonight--eat them slow and enjoy them. In a little time you can eat a bag every other night or cut the amount down in the bag even smaller.
This is working for me, I only have 10 more pounds to loose to get to where I want to be---then I hope to stay at that weight------I sure feel better!!