190.5

I had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago that showed fatty liver (my fois is gras) so now that's one more thing saying LOSE WEIGHT!

I've asked Spouse to make me exercise 30 minutes 5 times per week and he's been quite god about it so far. We've even had negotiations about days I want off or how I can trade one activity for another. While I'm not thrilled about having to exercise, I do notice how much better I feel after I've done it. Eventually it may get to a point where I look forward to it, but I don't see that happening for a while.

Brunch
scrambled eggs with leeks and spinach
tea with 2% milk

Snack
Cider down the pub

Dinner
veggie pizza (whole wheat crust)
salad

190.5

BREAKFAST
tea
egg and cheese sandwich

LUNCH
leftover homemade lasagna

190

BREAKFAST
tea
toast

SNACK
Tea and biscuits

LUNCH
convenience food, microwaved frozen lasagna

DINNER
Proper home-made lasagna (albeit with jarred sauce)
wine

189.5 - Weigh-in Day

BREAKFAST
grapefruit
tea
egg and cheese on croissant

LUNCH
BBQ tofu
Quinoa
broccoli
pumpkin pie (damn you pie!)
fizzy water

188.5

BREAKFAST
scrambled egg with spinach
toast
tea
water

188.5

BREAKFAST
Pink grapefruit (can one even buy white grapefruit anymore?)
Tea
scrambled egg with spinach
toast

LUNCH
Salad of veggies with hard boiled eggs
tea
biscuits (2)

DINNER
"chicken" pot pie
rum and diet cola

191.5

I was 186.5 on Saturday. Let's pretend it's Saturday today.

BREAKFAST
Quorn sandwich (1 slice of bread)
tea

LUNCH
Another sandwich (2 slices of bread)
water
Nice cup of tea and a biscuit


Okay, two biscuits

DINNER
Another Quorn sandwich (with spinach in it this time)
cider

188

BREAKFAST
tea
toast with honey

187.5

Sick again. Throat is sore, probably from the acid reflux (or whatever you want to call it) over the weekend.

toast with honey
tea
veggie calzone
water with bitters
plain water
ice cream

188.5

Bread and boxed mac and cheese today. Water and tea for drinks. Home sick because of random acid tummy thing that kept me up all night.

190 - Weigh-in Day

Fuck you scale

BREAKFAST
tofu
tea
egg and cheese on croissant (yea, that'll show that scale)

LUNCH
mushroom quiche
kale
carrots
tea

187

BREAKFAST
veggie bacon
scrambled egg with kale
toast
orange juice
tea

LUNCH
macaroni and cheese
garlic spinach
mixed veggies
corn bisque
water
tea

DINNER
soup of baked tofu, rice noodles and mixed veg
diet Coke

189

Fresh, hot bread at 11:30 at night is not such a good idea for the waistline

BREAKFAST
veggie bacon
scrambled egg with kale
toast
pineapple juice
tea

LUNCH
vegetable soup
slice of dry bread
water

DINNER
Quorn with:
potato, parsnip, apple, saurkraut
cider

188

BREAKFAST
tea
toast

LUNCH
spaghetti with tofu and red sauce
zucchini
green beans
leek and apple soup (not that tasty)

DINNER
"chicken" noodle soup
cocktail
fresh, hot bread

186

Ah, avoid solid carbs at night and the weight comes right off

BREAKFAST
egg and cheese on english muffin
tea
grapefruit juice

LUNCH
brie
bread
minuscule amount of fruit
glass of wine

189 - Weigh-in Day

Okay, 187 by next week even if I have to stop eating all together

BREAKFAST
scrambled egg
veggie bacon (2 slices)
dry toast
tea

LUNCH
I have no willpower
Cafeteria mac and cheese, broccoli, green beans, a cup of homemade soup
water

DINNER
beer
3-4oz tuna
breaded Quorn (it was a protein extravaganza tonight)
rum and Coke

189

The back is slowly recovering. I make a point of getting up periodically throughout the day so I'm not stuck in the same position in my chair.

BREAKFAST
shirred egg with spinach
dry toast
tea

LUNCH
cafeteria salad bar: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, roasted veggies, broccoli, potato salad (not much), sesame dressing
water
tea

DINNER
When Spouse went off to UDS he said I'd be having lots of girls nights out while he was gone. Well, no such luck (do I *ever* go out when it's not a show someone I know is playing?), so tonight I had a Girl's Night Out instead and went to Franklin Southie for a cocktail and decided to have dinner there as well since the special sounded good.
Salmon
lentils
carrots
beet relish
Daiquiri thingie made with vodka but somehow didn't suck

Came home to roast the squash for the soup I'd originally planed for tonight. Soup part only takes 20 minutes so I should be able to make it to take to work.

189.5

Yesterday was 189. I'm creeping back up, which is not good. I wish I was able to exercise but my back is still in bad shape.

BREAKFAST
onion soup with less than 1oz cheese
tea with soy milk

LUNCH
salad bar: lettuce, cucumber, roasted veggies, hard boiled eggs, sesame dressing
water

DINNER
Onion soup with cheese and bread
wine
dried apricots

188

Yeah, that was a lot of food last night.

TODAY
tea
mushrooms and spinach in cream on bread
beer
highball
tuna with spinach and a splash of cream, seasoned with garlic and shallots

186.5

No real breakfast to speak of as I didn't get out of bed until after noon. Had lots of orange juice though.

LUNCH
veggie bacon, peas and ricotta on spaghetti

DINNER
We went to Marlaive for in impromptu date night. I started with Lake's Edge cheese, then on to trout (without the shrimp) then finished with tapioca, which was huge and Spouse had to eat half. Also had almost tow Jennie Churchill cocktails (far too full to finish the second one.)

188

See, I knew it was too much pasta and cider!

BREAKFAST
fresh mozzarella
tea

LUNCH
salad with veg, egg, pasta
water

DINNER
cocktails
veggie calzone

185.5 - Weigh-in Day

I'm up far too early this morning in order to get to work by 7:30. It wouldn't be so bad had I been able to get to sleep before midnight instead of tossing and turning. But hey, it's official weigh-in day and I'm down!

BREAKFAST
orange juice
tea
"bacon" sandwich with thinly spread ricotta

LUNCH
Korean barbeque tofu
quinoa
broccoli
water
and just a soupçon of stress

DINNER
too much pasta and cider

187.5

Slow and steady

BREAKFAST
tea
bread with ricotta

LUNCH
Leftover stirfry and wheat berries
water tea

DINNER
"chicken" parmesan
linguine
tomato sauce wih mushroom and zucchini
bread with butter

188.5

BREAKFAST
"bacon" sandwich
tea

LUNCH
went to the farmers' market



Lunch in the raw



Lunch prepared

DINNER
salad
wine
stir-fried veggies and "chicken" on wheat berries (out of brown rice)

188.5

Didn't diet over the weekend. Back on track today.

BREAKFAST
tea
creamy potato leek soup

LUNCH
more soup
water

DINNER
cider
"chicken" sandwich
water

187.5

Up, down, up, down

BREAKFAST
grapefruit half
veggie bacon sandwich on whole wheat toast
tea

LUNCH
"ham" cheese and pickle sandwich
tea

189.5 - Weigh-in Day

Well, that went up fast.

BREAKFAST
tea with milk
scrambled egg with spinach
veggie bacon

LUNCH
"ham" and low fat cheese on whole wheat

DINNER
Quorn naked cutlet
mushroom and brown rice pilaf
asparagus
far too much wine

185

I had gin and tonics for dinner, which apparently are conducive to weight loss.
And I met Neil Gaiman!!!!!!!!!!!

BREAKFAST
egg and cheese on croissant
(2) 12oz Coke with real sugar

LUNCH
Salad with fatty things

DINNER
"meat" loaf
roasted potato and golden beets
salad
gravy

189

The long weekend was spent nursing my bad back, hosting an out of town guest and running off to attend a wedding. I ate and drank lots and didn't weigh myself until this morning. Not bad, considering.

BREAKFAST
tea
egg and cheese on croissant

LUNCH
cheese and pickle on whole wheat
an under-ripe pear
lots more tea

189

Sheesh! Can I just blame the weight gain on my period?

188.5 - Weigh-in Day

No change.

BREAKFAST
shirred egg with mushrooms and veggie bacon
tea with skim milk
water

LUNCH
cheese (reduced fat Irish cheddar) and pickle sandwich with cucumber on whole wheat
water

DINNER
My back had a freakoutt. It took me 30 minutes to walk from the office to the T. When I got home I lay down on the floor and directed Spouse on the making of a Manhattan. Food was leftovers from the night before.

188.5

Need to get back on track.

BREAKFAST
scrambled egg
veggie bacon
toast with butter
water
tea with skim milk

SNACK
orange
tea with soy milk

LUNCH
frozen curry meal
water

DINNER
linguine with mushrooms and leeks
salad
water
wine

187.5

Clearly the whole box of Annie's had an effect.

BREAKFAST
Nyquil
tea with skim milk
hot granola with skim milk

SNACK
brie-wrapped dates

DINNER
packaged foods
Real salad

187

This Lump On The Couch Over A Vaporizer Diet is working wonders!

BREAKFAST
tea with skim milk
orange juice
water
egg and cheese croissant
grapefruit juice

LUNCH
Nyquil
Orange mango juice smoothie

DINNER
Annie's alfredo shells with added peas and garlic
water
Nyquil
lemon fro-yo

Weekend Sickies

I came home early on Friday with a cough. Spouse made tea and went out and got us a veggie calzone to split, which probably bumped my caloric intake up quite a bit.

Saturday - 190.5 - I stayed on the couch drinking tea and orange juice and eating whatever (Quorn nuggets and fig bars). Spouse made black bean soup, which was very yummy.

Sunday - 188 - Who knew lying on the couch with a book and a vaporizer could be so slimming? Food plans for today include ice cream and soup.

190.5

I new the 180s were too good to last.

BREAKFAST
scrambled egg with kale
three veggie bacon slices
water
tea with skim milk

189.5 - Weigh-in Day

Yeah, you read that right: 189.5. I lost four pounds in a week. I know the rate will slow down, but this does show that I had been consuming far too many calories and not exercising enough (or at all to be honest.)

BREAKFAST
scrambled egg with kale
three veggie bacon slices
orange juice
tea with skim milk

LUNCH
Stupid me didn't pack a lunch today. I had a very busy and stressful morning at work and our cafeteria had macaroni and cheese today. But I RESISTED! Instead I went to another food place on campus and got veggie sushi and a container of carrot and celery sticks with dip. Bad me ate the dip but I think that was my food reward for not eating mac and cheese.

DINNER
Post work beer
scalloped carrot, white and sweet potatoes
seitan and sprouts in mushroom sauce (low fat milk in both)
Walked for a bit over half an hour

190.5

I did end up going for a walk last night but cut it short when I got rained on.

BREAKFAST
granola and yogurt, 1/2 cup each
1/2 cup orange juice
water
black tea

LUNCH
Boca burger on bread (1 slice) with Branston pickle
vegetable soup
plum
tea with soy milk
water

DINNER
wine
toad-in-the-hole
gravy
beer

No walk

191.5

And hour's walk and a low calorie dinner kept me at the same weight. This is going to be a long, slow journey.

BREAKFAST
1 egg scrambled with mushroom
2 slices veggie bacon
1 slice toast with bitter
tea with soy milk

LUNCH
Boca burger on bread (1 slice) with Branston pickle
vegetable soup
plum
water

DINNER
Manhattans
"meat" loaf
roast corn with butter and garlic
steamed green beans
water

The weather was crap tonight so I didn't go out for a walk. Although I'm feeling guilty not (at 10 to 8) and might do 30 minutes before bed.

191.5

One day of bad eating (and eating late) has already caught up with me.

BREAKFAST
1/2 cup granola
1/2 cup FF Greek yogurt
tea with soy milk

LUNCH
vegetable lasagna
Caesar salad
garlic toast
ice water
(I'll be back up to 192 tomorrow I'm sure)

DINNER
vegetable soup
wheat bread
1 oz brie
a beer

EXERCISE
walked for an hour in the drizzle. The soup hit the spot after that

191

In spite of all the alcohol yesterday, I'm still on a losing streak. Today we're going to Six Flags and I don't think they'll have the oyster stew that's on today's menu.

BREAKFAST
tea with soy milk
left over Quorn roast - 4oz

LUNCH
vegetable quesadilla and diet soda at a fast food place

SNACKS
sno-cone
some cheesey bread thing

DINNER
vegetable lomein
diet soda

Not enough water today. The amusement park was great fun though AND I got in for free! Some guy gave his free passes to me when I was in line to buy a ticket. I only needed one (Spouse was using a friend's season pass) so we all got in with no charges for the day.

192

BREAKFAST
multivitamin
tea with soy milk
veggie bacon - 4 slices on
toast - 1 slice with 1/2T veganaisse

LUNCH
No real lunch to speak of
Glass of wine
some green beans nibbled while prepping dinner
grapes for the same reason
2 beers

DINNER
Tuna crusted with pepper and cumin
sweet potatoes
green beans
custard with bananas
More beer
more wine

193, BP 118/82

BREAKFAST
Orange Juice - 1/2 cup
veggie bacon - 2 strips
scrambled egg - 1 with
mushrooms - 2T
buttered toast - 1 slice
tea with soy milk

Lots of blood work done at Dr today along with TDaP and 'flu vaccines.


LUNCH
Salad of tomato (1), lettuce (1 cup) and seitan (3 oz) with Branston pickle
water
vegetable soup
Banana - 1 med

DINNER
Quorn Roast - 5.5 oz (was supposed to be 4 oz roast chicken)
baked potato - 1 medium
steamed green beans - 1/2 cup
FF veg gravy with diced fresh mushrooms - 1/4 cup
Manhattans - 2 small with 2 Luxardo cherries each

193.5 - Weigh-in Day

BREAKFAST
Tomato Juice - 1/2 cup
Granola - scant 1/2 cup
FF Greek yogurt - 1/2 cup
tea with unsweetened soy milk
water
multivitamin

LUNCH
Vegetable soup
Sandwich of:

egg - 1 hard cooked
veganaisse - 1/2 T
mustard - 1/2 T
White bread - 2 slices
sliced radish - 2

carrot - 1 cut into strips
orange - 1 small
water

DINNER
Seitan - 3 oz
Roast potato - 1 medium
Brussels sprouts - 1/2 cup
brie cheese - 1 oz
tea

Food, Glorious Food

We had an agreement when my class started this semester that Freddie would make me dinner on class nights. It's not that he hates cooking, or is bad at it, but he often doesn't want to bother or just is uncomfortable both using recipes or making something on the fly. You can see where this is going, can't you?

Here we are mid-way through the semester and I finally got my dinner last night. And it was lovely! I called it a deconstructed cheese burger and chips. He filled a bowl halfway with fresh spinach, topped it with bits of cheddar then some oven fries and a veggie burger. The top garnish was sliced tomato. There was even bread as well, although served sliced on the side. He promises he'll cook again, but lucky for him he has a one week reprieve as next week is spring break.

And no, I've not been dieting or exercising. Bad me. But hey! Spouse cooked!

Hungry + Work Stress = GRUMPY

I was horrible when I got home. I snapped at spouse for putting something I use almost daily (the oil spray bottle) in the back of the cupboard above the stove where not only could I not reach it, but couldn't even see it. He's done that sort of thing before (being 6'3" it never occurs to him that these things are far out of reach for me) but I usually just get the step ladder and start searching rather than snap. I did thank him for starting dinner and for cleaning the kitchen. He also made toasted bread crumbs out of my failed bread so now we have that for katsu and the like.

Dinner last night was scheduled to be:
Broiled ham (3 oz)
stuffed baked potato (1/2 med)
sprouts (1/2 cup)
carrot curls (1/2 med)
celery sticks (3 stalks)
gingerbread (2" cube)
coffee

I planned to do a pork chop for Spouse and seitan for me (with an onion and white wine sauce), but he opted to just have the potato and veg. I did have sprouts in the 'fridge, but we went for asparagus instead. The potatoes were just baked and he had butter on his while I went for plain yogurt on mine. In lieu of carrot, celery, gingerbread and coffee I had Manhattans. It was that kind of day.

The morning menu was fairly close today. Scheduled:
tangerine (1 med)
vienna sausage (2oz)
scrambled egg (1)
whole-wheat toast (1 slice)
skim milk (1 cup)

Actual:
grapefruit (1/2)
Quorn sausage (2oz)
scrambled egg (1)
whole-wheat toast (1 slice)
tea with soymilk (practically the whole damned pot)
orange juice (1 cup)
multi vitamin (1 giant horse pill)

Lunch was supposed to be baked 4oz salmon steak but good luck finding one that small. I get all flustered buying salmon too as it's on the environmental "NO" list so I picked up flounder fillets and baked them with some curry spices, onion and a splash of white wine. Green beans go with and a pear for dessert.

Tonight I'm going out with Miss E so have no idea what I'll actually have for food. The book, which I did get yesterday, has a meatloaf meal listed but I don't think I'll bother with that even if I do cook. I'll see what Spouse feels up to when I get home and go from there.

Hungry today

Last night turned out to be a bust as far as exercise goes. Plus I forgot to bake the bread I set in the oven to rise and it had fallen this morning (baked it anyway and it's vaguely edible.)

Last night's meal was listed as:
Roast veal (3 oz)
Whole kernel corn (1/2 cup)
cauliflower (1/2 cup)
salad of grapefruit and orange (1/2 each) on lettuce
strawberry gelatin (1/2 cup)
coffee

Actual meal was:
Homemade seitan (3 oz)
brocoli and green beans(1+ cup)
pear (1)
beer (1 very large bottle)

This morning's breakfast didn't work out as planned either. The boiled egg wasn't cooked (!) even after 5 minutes, the bread was flat and I felt generally rushed. Proposed breakfast menu:

orange juice (1/2 cup)
rice flakes (1 cup)
banana (1/2 med)
egg cooked in shell (1)
buttered bread (1 slice)
skim milk (1 cup)

Actual breakfast menu:

grapefruit (1/2)
homemade fruit granola (1/2 cup)
fat-free Greek yogurt (1/2 cup)
dry bread (1 very small, heavy slice)
tea with soy milk (1/3 cup soymilk)

As you can see, that's much less food than I ate yesterday and I'm already hungry (at 9:30). Lunch is quite small as well as I'm skipping the Perfection salad (a vegetable and gelatin mould - yuck!) and cup of skim milk. Lunch will be sauteed Quon naked cutlet (original called for chicken), 1/2 cup egg noodles and 1/2 asparagus with an apple for dessert. I could eat the whole thing now. I may need to grab a banana to help tide me over.

****
UPDATE

Snagged a banana and some supposedly steamed (they tasted like there was some kind of fat on them) green beans from the caff at lunch.

Apron Revolution February Challenge

I decided to join the challenge this month at the Apron Revolution. It's a diet and exercise challenge using the Better Homes and Gardens Diet Book and Jack Lalane exercises! Go to the Diet and Exercise page to see the info. I only just ordered the book yesterday so have started today based on the menus posted on the site. I'm going to have to be doing a lot of modifying to omit the meat, but veggie meats tend to have fewer calories anyway. Having such a large breakfast definitely kept hunger away during the morning though. It's just past 1:00 and I'm finally hungry and sitting down to lunch

Today's menu was scheduled to be:
BREAKFAST
stewed prunes (8)
shirred egg (1)
bacon (2)
buttered muffin (1)
skim milk (1 cup)

LUNCH
Sandwich of:
whole wheat bread (2 slices)
American cheese (1oz)
Sliced tomato (1 med)
Tossed green salad (1 cup)
Rosy dressing (1 T)
Lemon sherbet (1/3 cup)
skim milk (1 cup)

DINNER
Roast veal (3 oz)
Whole kernel corn (1/2 cup)
cauliflower (1/2 cup)
salad of grapefruit and orange (1/2 each) on lettuce
strawberry gelatin (1/2 cup)
coffee

The actual meals are:
BREAKFAST
grapefruit (1/2)
shirred egg (1)
Smart bacon (2)
buttered whole wheat muffin (1)
tea with soy milk (1/3 cup soymilk)

LUNCH
Sandwich of:
whole wheat English muffin(2 slices)
cheddar cheese (1oz)
raw spinach (1/4 cup)
mustard
Tossed green salad (spinach, carrot, celery) (1 cup)
Blue cheese dressing packet from the cafeteria (1.5 oz)
water

DINNER
TBA

With luck I bang those exercises out when I get home too!

Does having a salad for dessert count as cheating?

And does the mozzarella on the salad make a difference?

Last night I managed 42 minutes on the Wii Fit, 30 of it on the island cycle (basically stepping up and down on the board). It made me really wish I wasn't so afraid to ride a bike. I didn't learn to ride until I was 18 and then only rode in Vermont. The last time I was on a bike was back in Burlington, VT and I was TERRIFIED! That's what over 10 years of not riding will do (and time in Boston where I've known many people hit while riding). Maybe when the weather gets warmer I'll look into bringing my bike down to the nice path by the water, or riding around the river. It's going to be getting my bike there and back though that will be the challenge!

On the food front, I forgot my lunch again. Feh! It's the last of the potato soup and really needs to be eaten. I've had soup every day since I made a big batch of broth when I came home from England. I tend to make a large batch so we can have soup for several meals so in the past week I've only made three soups: vegetable bean, potato leek, and lentil. The lentil probably has one more meal left, that is unless Spouse finishes it off today. I'm at a loss as to what to make next. Maybe a garlic soup?

With the soups we've been having bread, salad, usually with fresh mozzarella, and the occasional bit it broccoli. I still need to train Spouse in bread baking as it would make it much easier for me to prep things and just leave it to rise when I go to work and have him kneed, shape and bake during the day. However, since I haven't managed that yet (he has been ever so helpful by cleaning the kitchen during the day though!) I'll be mixing the dough tonight from the sponge I made up last night. The full day of ripening should do wonderful things for the flavour!

Exercise

I really have a hard time making the time for exercise. The one time I was able to lose weight without some sort of diet was when I was unemployed and made a point of walking for an hour a day. This time I'm not exercising just to lose weight, but more importantly to get stronger.

Fortunately I have the Wii Fit now which makes moving my body around like a dork actually enjoyable (I do like long walks too, but it's too cold now for that). I've managed two 30 minute sessions on it this week and am shooting for a total of four. Eventually I'd like to be able to do it every day, but it always feels like it takes too much time (although what else I'd do with that 30 minutes I don't know.)

Remember me?

I had a good breakfast this morning. My doc reminded me that I really should eat breakfast every day. She said it was okay if I couldn't face more food to just have fruit. Now I just need to remember that I do in fact have fruit in the house!. Brekkies today was scrambled eggs with the broccoli left over from dinner and a bit of parmesan (less than 1/2 oz), plus tea with soy milk. I even remembered to take my enormous multivitamin that I need to bite into thirds to get down.

Lunch will be the leftover potato leek soup (which I didn't have last night because I was full from the starters) and a Tofurkey and spinach sandwich with Branston pickle on homemade bread.