Totally Disheartened

This losing weight stuff can be tough on a gals self-esteem some days. Today I feel very fat and unhappy. I really feel like I should be further ahead. Especially considering the fact that I've been really watching what I'm eating- I feel like for all that effort I should have some reward. But no. I only lost one pound and .5 inches in the last 7 days. Hmph. I know I need to actually get motivated to exercise and stick with it and I would see more desirable results. But I'm just not that into exercise.

Black Bean Soup

I found this recipe after my sweetie and I decided to go vegetarian twice a week to cut out some unnecessary fat and cholesterol. I made this Tuesday night and it was so yummy and so easy that I had to pass it on.

3 cans of black beans- low sodium
2 cans of Rotel- one spicy
1 can of corn
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped carrot
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 Tbls Canola Oil

Just throw the veggies into a pot with the oil and cook until tender. Add in the cans of stuff and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

This was a really good recipe. Sweetie and I both gave it five stars. A nutritionist probably would too because it is loaded with good for the heart fiber and protein. Plus, it is very low in fat and calories.

By the way...I updated my numbers today (from Monday). I get kind of lazy about posting those each week...

Better up the Vitamins and Minerals!

As I said a few posts ago, I've had to keep a journal of things I've eaten for my nutrition class and we have some awesome software to plug that information into. I have found, for the most part, I eat well. But I am lacking in some vitamins and minerals. I'm headed to the Walgreen's to them up and start focusing on getting more of what my body needs.

I am also posting a link to Tuft's University Heath & Nutrition newsletter. This is a reputable source to get health and nutrition related information. I am ordering a trial issue. If I like it, I might just subscribe!

Well, how about that?

I lost two pounds since last Monday!! My organs must have squeezed out some excess water! Or maybe those lipid cells squeezed out some excess fat! Whatever.

The Yoga Cat

My cat loves to do yoga with me. Dave captured these pics during our workout this morning.

"Sun Breaths"- He's still learning how to sit up and do these, so he just does it on his side on the floor.

This is a "Kidney Squeeze" position.

Here, Orf is doing "Downward Dog".

Now he is just showing off!

My new little companion

I just started a five-week human nutrition class (for credits towards my degree). It was a coincidence that this class started at the beginning of my weight loss adventure. Part of textbook package we received was a computer program called Diet Analysis Plus. This software is ridiculously addictive!!

We are required to track everything we eat and drink for three days (I did Thursday, Friday, and Saturday). I had a lot of fun entering my items into the system. It would search and then pop up suggestions of what it thought you meant. I had to create a few items because they weren't in the database, but it was no big deal. Very user friendly. I learned so much about the food I normally eat. NO WONDER I'M FAT!! I have stopped two very regular food habits.

1. My two-cup in the a.m. coffees. With cream and sugar it packed in nearly 400 calories right out of the gate! Not good. Not good at all.

2. My "Breakfast Thursday" tradition with the girls at work. We always have a Sausage McMuffin from McDonald's. I might as well just get an English muffin and smear a half-pound of animal fat on it.

This system prints out a 20+ page report about everything you ate over a three day period (calories, fat, vitamins, minerals, ect).

I actually plugged in the foods I ate yesterday before deciding if we could go to Dairy Queen last night. I had 1,000 calories to spare. I went online and printed off the nutritional data from the DQ website. The most "diet friendly" Blizzard is the small Banana Split Blizzard with 440 calories. So that's what I had. It was really yummy! Even with the ice cream, I had about 500 calories "left over" at the end of the day. Pretty cool.

One thing I do know- I'm going to keep using this software. I think it really helped me understand a few things about what I am used to eating. I totally recommend it to anyone, even people not on a diet.

Check it out at Amazon.com

Does water make organs heavier?

Okay now the bike works, but the seat is sooo hard that my little sit bones feel bruised. I went to the Walmart last night and bought a gel seat, which will undoubtedly help, but no bike for a few days until my bum has a chance to heal up. Maybe with the new seat and the repairs we have made I'll be able to start exercising soon...

Please note, I did get 50 minutes of exercise between Sunday night and last night.

I posted my stats from yesterday. As you can see, I have again lost inches (4 inches in fact). But, my weight hasn't budged. This is really unexpected. I lost 8 pounds right off the bat. I attributed this to lost water weight and I expected to gain most of it back. I haven't gained any, but I haven't lost any either. I have lost several inches though. WTF? I wonder if because I'm drinking water instead of Diet Coke if my organs are just heavier now? I'm not bloated- the measuring tape would tell me if I was. Very strange occurrence.