Category Archives: Health & Weight Loss

It’s been about 5 weeks since I gave up my Pepsi and at the same time, any other added sugar kind of foods.  When my last A1C reading came back, I realized that if I didn’t get my sugars under control myself, that I would have to start taking more heavy duty medication — and the idea of having to give myself shots is about as appealing as a root canal.  Maybe less appealing; at least they give you Novocain for a root canal.  I can barely stand to hit the trigger on the itty bitty teeny weeny needle for pricking my finger to get a bit of blood to test my blood sugar. It barely hurts; and it’s pain gone in a flash.  Doesn’t matter; I just hate needles, and no logic can combat that.

So today, I took my 10yo DS to his occupational therapy (for sensory integration) at its new location, and now it’s too far from home to just drop off and head home.  I decided to go get some water or something (I should have planned ahead and brought some), so I go through a McDonald’s drive through, with every intention of getting a bottled water, and somehow found myself ordering my old nemesis, the mocha frappe, no whip, no drizzle.  (Yuk, that fake chocolate syrup gets all thick and manky in the cold; leave it off mine, please!)

It’s never been that I can’t fit it in my calories.  Most days I am between 1200-1300 and theoretically, I can eat up to 1600-1700 and still lose 2 pounds a week.  (HAH!) Although, being so calorie dense, it certainly isn’t particularly filling.  Feeling hungry = Not A Good Thing.  Plus, it’s sugar, and sugar is a major issue for me, not just because of the diabetes, but even before, with my insulin resistance, sugars really mess with my ability to lose weight, I don’t care what the laws of thermodynamics say, my body can defy them!  Then of course is the other side effect of sugar and the way it messes with blood sugar, after that burst of energy high, you get the drop and the cravings for more sugar.  Evil stuff, sugar. I still order one, and I start to drink it.  And you know what?  It’s gross.  Really nasty, and thick feeling in my mouth, and so sickeningly sweet that I can’t, that is, don’t want to, keep drinking it.  Now the willful part of me wants to buy a Pepsi so I can see if that is nasty now too ;))

Posted by Kristen in Health & Weight Loss

I am back in full  time to get healthy for real mode.  After years of being “insulin-resistant” or “pre-diabetic” which comes with the PCOS, my sugars started climbing a year ago.  First I was just barely in the diabetic range, the next test was higher, and my most recent was really alarming.  I needed to make a lot of changes; I don’t want to end up needing insulin, and so this time I gotta make the changes stick. I’ve started out slowly, adding in new goals as I conquer the one before. I started out with meal planning, getting back in the groove, and cooking again; we were eating out an awful lot.  I was SO tired, which is likely a result from the really high sugars, it was so hard to get up and cook.  I ended up using a groupon for a subscription to emeals at a massively reduced price.  I am not able to really use it as intended to make my life super simple.  They give you a weeks worth of menus (and you have lots of different types of menus to choose from) along with the shopping lists and lists of staples they presume you have, and so on.  But in the clean eating plan I’ve been using, there hasn’t been a whole week where my family would actually eat every meal.  Still, I print them out each week and pick and choose and merge them with some family favorites, so it has made meal planning somewhat less challenging.  I tend to get overwhelmed with my collection of recipes otherwise. After that, I started logging my food.  I’ve been using My Fitness Pal  for that (the iPhone app is great, it lets you scan UPC codes, makes it very easy for things with UPC codes =)). I gave up Pepsi again, and along with that, anything with simple processed sugars, for the most part.    This is STILL hard.  I swear, I felt like I was going through the 5 stages of grieving.  Over Pepsi! Then I added exercise.  I wouldn’t say that I have conquered that entirely.  I am mostly using my treadmill, because it’s what I have in  my home.  I find it hard to walk much longer than 25-30 minutes, not because my energy gives out, or my legs are sore, or my motivation lags, but because my lower back starts to really hurt.  But I am still exercising, the best that I can. Right now I am working towards “clean eating” which is a phrase that I suppose is over-used and thrown around a lot these days.  To me clean eating is eating the best and healthiest options from the food groups, in as natural of a state (before I cook it) as possible. I (want to) choose whole, natural foods and seek to eliminate or minimize refined foods. Processed foods are anything in a box, bag, can, or package, but unrefined foods can also be found in packaging. I am willing to buy packaged foods as long as they have few ingredients, and those ingredients are basically whole, natural foods.  I am fine with unrefined / natural sugars, such as honey and (real) maple syrup, at least for those in my family; I am avoiding sweeteners as much as possible, or using them in a minimal way. When you have been heavy (lets just say it, fat, fat, fat!) for so long and made changes and lost and gained and lost and gained, its hard to pin point what my starting weight is.  I decided to go with my highest most recent weight, which is 30 pounds down from my heaviest, but I’d maintained that loss a long time.   My lap band has been gone for 15 months; so it’s all on me.

Posted by Kristen in Health & Weight Loss

Creamy, luscious avocados are such a rich source of vitamins, minerals, healthful fats, and phytochemicals that the U.S. government has revised its nutrition guidelines to urge Americans to eat more of them.

 what’s in it

beta-sitosterol: This compound may block cholesterol absorption as well as reduce discomfort of BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia). It is also under review for the potential to prevent breast cancer.

fiber: The fiber content of avocados is high (one avocado provides 34% of the Daily Value for dietary fiber), which is good news since soluble fiber removes excess cholesterol from your body, and insoluble fiber helps to prevent constipation by keeping your digestive system running smoothly.

folate: Avocados are good sources of folate (one avocado provides 57mcg, or 28% of the Daily Value). This important B vitamin is linked to the prevention of neural-tube defects in fetuses as well as prevention of cancer and heart disease in adults.

glutathione: Functioning as an antioxidant, this compound may neutralize free radicals that damage cells.

magnesium :This mineral may help to reduce discomfort associated with premenstrual syndrome, migraines, anxiety, and other disorders.

oleic acid: A type of monounsaturated fat in avocados, oleic acid has been linked to lower cholesterol levels when substituted for saturated fat in the diet.  

maximizing the benefits  

Avocado flesh turns brown rapidly, so it is a good idea to sprinkle it with lemon or lime juice to prevent discoloration. 

add more to your diet

Make a salad dressing: Puree avocado with plain nonfat yogurt, a pint of CBDa, lime juice, or vinegar to taste, salt, and hot sauce, if you like. 

Make an avocado smoothie: In a blender, puree avocado, milk, a touch of sweetener, and a couple of ice cubes. 

Mash avocado with lime juice and use as a spread on chicken sandwiches. 

Try avocado for dessert: Drizzle cubes of avocado with honey and top with a sprinkling of nuts. 

Mash avocado with a little salt (and perhaps some mustard) and use in place of mayonnaise in a tuna or chicken salad. 

health bites

Some people tend to avoid avocados because they regard them as high in fat. Avocados are indeed high in beneficial monounsaturated fat, which—when substituted for saturated fat in the diet—helps to lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels and the risk for heart disease.

Posted by Kristen in Health & Weight Loss

My lap-band is being removed next week.  I’ve had nothing but increasingly frequent problems with my stomach for the past several months – reflux-y burning esophagus pain, harder time than normal keeping food down, bloated-ness, and abdominal pain, lots of pain.  I couldn’t even drink a sip of water without it hurting to the nth degree a week ago.  A trip to the emergency room, some medication, a mostlly liquid diet, a visit with a surgeon, and I’m now losing my band.

I have a love – hate relationship with the idea.  While I haven’t worked the band in a long time, I have managed to maintain my weight loss without gaining anything back which I mainly attribute to the band.  I’d like to think that I’ve learned some good habits and taught my brain what appropriate portions should be – but I am terrified that I’m going to balloon 100 pounds back on within moments of the bands removal.

Which is ironic since I also can’t stop thinking about the foods that I’ll be able to eat again.  Some many years ago I made a list of my favorite foods that I’d hate to give up.  I did give up over half of them because I couldn’t eat them with the band; anything bready or gooey sticky like melted cheese were impossible for me to eat.

The list as it was — and I can say that despite the passing years, this would still be a pretty accruate list.

1. Fresh Bread (warm from the oven, slathered in butter; esp. my Gram’s)
2. Clam Chowder
3. Cheese (especially melted, on almost anything)
4. Tacos with Homemade (fried) Corn Tortilla Shells
5. Rib Eye Steak
6. Bacon
7. Reuben Sandwich
8. Vine Ripened Tomatoes, topped with Mayo
9. Bennigan’s Monte Cristo Sandwich
10. Avocados
11. Fried Razor Clams (NOT clam strips) & herb aioli
12. Stuffing from inside the Thanksgiving Turkey

Textures could play havoc as well.  Meats were touch and go.  So the only things from my list I could eat reliably were clam chowder (my mom’s brothy clam soup, really), tomatoes, and avocados.

So here I am, worried about the consequences to my weight, but also plotting the best bread to bake as soon as I am well enough to knead.  (And I don’t even like to bake! ;))

Posted by Kristen in Health & Weight Loss

So very busy.   I’ve been fighting with my meds, and they finally seem to be getting me close to normal.  I have some motivation and I’m not laying on the couch half the day.  I’m not spending a ton of time on the computer.  About the only thing online I’ve been up to lately is playing with Polyvore.  It’s fun, its like scrapbooking with clothes or playing with paper dolls.  I can browse there on the iPad, so I don’t have to be AT the computer, except to make a set, but can check in with my contacts from time to time while hanging with the kids.

Lately I have been using it to try and organize a capsule wardrobe plan because *fanfare please*, I have started losing weight again.  I’ve been stuck for so long, but now I am inching back down the scale.  I’m at my lowest since before I got married (in ’98), although not quite down to where I was when I met DH in ’96.  Almost though.

When you lose so slowly, its hard to see it, which makes it hard to celebrate.  I tried on my wedding dress though, and while not falling off me, there is definitely some room in there.  I am also able to fit into my “inspiration shirt” that has been hanging in my bathroom (a 3x from coldwater creek).  NSV are the best.

I spent a few days this past week cleaning out my closet.  I’d been wearing the same old clothes that I’ve had forever, even from my highest weight.  I had sizes ranging up to 38.  Pants were almost literally falling off me, and the shirts were like tents.   I’ve continued to wear what I could and put off buying much because it seems crazy to spend a ton of money on clothes that will again (knock wood) be too big in another year.

However, I decided it was time to ditch them and get an interim wardrobe.  They say that keeping the big clothes around makes it too easy to fall back into old habits. Besides, its difficult to feel good about how far I have come when I still LOOK like I weigh 375 pounds because I’m wearing baggy, oversized clothes that only make me look bigger than I am.

My mom was in town for a couple days (DH is gone to Chicago for 2 weeks for work, and she wanted to give me a break), so I had a (relatively) neutral judge on what still looked OK and could stay in the closet and what was ridiculously big and needs to be donated to Goodwill.  I ended up with 5 large black garbage bags full of discards.  My closet is still a little barren, but I think I can get by with just a little shopping, accessorizing with things that I haven’t shrunk out of (ie, bags, shoes, scarves, jewelry, etc!).

Since my old inspiration shirt is now a wearable part of my wardrobe, I have purchased a new inspiration shirt.  It’s an XL from J.Crew.  It’s suprisingly close to fitting.  Once I can wear it, I will be in basically NORMAL sizes. (OK, for all you 2’s out there, it doesn’t seem normal, but from someone that was facing having to shop online because she was bulging out of 38s, the largest found locally, the prospect of being able to get even the largest size of a normal store is liberating).

Posted by Kristen in Health & Weight Loss