Thursday 1/11/07

Another bright dry day – as good as we can hope for at this time of the day.

I am a little concerned how I will cope with the calorie counting aspect of this challenge. Part of me wants not to bother with the bonus – but another part thinks that I would be letting future team mates down by not translating my food to a number.

I have just seen how high my raisin calories are!!!!!! Even earlier this week - twice I got a pain in my abdomen which went away when I had eaten raisins and drank water. They are much more effective than painkillers.

I was less than happy last time that I went to see the doctor about this - so I really dont feel like seeing her again too soon. She already prescribed lansoprazole for 28 days which did no good. I also tried things the chemist recommended which also were no good. I will have to sort this out sometime though as I am clearly masking symptoms instead of treating the problem.

Still I suppose that I am losing weight at this amount of calories and my diet is generally healthy. Maybe I will see the doctor in a couple of weeks time.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 5 times (on two laps my husband came too)
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 13st 5.6lbs (i.e. 187.6 pounds)
Steps = 29,731
Distance = 11.02 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime

Food / Drink:

NB I have no target calories. I am not trying to reach any magic number.
1 banana = 107 calories
3 weetabix (190 cal), sweetener (4 calories), 350 ml skimmed milk (123 cal) = 317 calories.
2 handfuls honey Shreddies = 252 calories
200g roast chicken (248 cal), half a cucumber (45 cal), 6 small tomatoes (54 cal) = 347 calories
2 large handfuls of raisins = 812 calories
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola

Hi ya sweetie..

I'm sorry that part of the challenge stinks for ya.

Yer doin' great, so just try not to dwell on the #'s.

I hope yer havin' a Goal Reachin' Friday!

Have A Great Weekend as well.

hiya.

Just dropping by a few diaries. I'm suprised that the raisins do the trick with the stomach. Kinda cool. Wonder what aspect of the raisin is helping. If it works stick with it. Sounds cheaper & safer than any pill anyway! Hopefully things will improve for you & you find you don't need either.

As for the bonus. Don't sweat it. Its not asking you to change your calories or meet a calorie goal, just to be conscience of what you are taking in. Even if that number ended up being 5000 (which I don't see happening) as long as you log the food you are ok as far as the challenge. Its just about making those of us who don't have a realistic view of what we are eating to realize just how those cals add up.

I would rather rack up raisin calories than the candy calories I have been! Added fiber bonus at least!

Good luck.

Hi Stacy and Moongoddess

Thanks for the support. It's really appreciated.

I have decided to try to itemise the calories (like above) but never add them up.

Hopefully this will comply with the challenge rules and still not make me feel a failure when I eat for England as only I can. The fact is that I can splurge and probably 5000 is not as silly a number as I can get to at times. Eventually I always slip up and do just that.

Wierd about the raisins - but who would have guessed that it was nearly half my day's calories.....

Friday is going pretty well so far. Up a fifth of a pound - but that is neither here nor there and just part of the fun of weighing every day. Husband will be home for the weekend in about 10 minutes - he gets out half an hour earlier on a Friday - so hopefully we will go out on the last little walk of the day. Normally we do 0.7 to 1.4 miles (1 or 2 laps) at his pace - he is slower than me. If we get out soon it will still be daylight.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Hi Margaret
I am always amazed and inspired when I look at your ticker and see how far you've come! Truly a fantastic job! You must feel so much better in every way! I think it's great that your hubby goes for walks with you; I'd love it if mine would! He has a very physically demanding job (and yes, he is rail thin) and feels too tired to ever do anything outside of his work. Fortunately for me, my Mum lives just across the way, and she does like to join me!

Anyway, keep up the great work and don't get discouraged. You are a blessing to me!

Cheering you on from
Janice

Hi Janice

Thank you for your support and kind comments.

I certainly do feel such a lot better - being this much smaller - although I am still obese. I just wish that I had managed it while in my 30s.

I love my husband to come out walking with me. It is the best present. I get so worried about him - and would love him to lose some weight as I fear for his health.

You are lucky having your Mum so close and sometimes keeping you company. My parents are 300 miles away - and my mother is 85, my father will turn 90 in a week's time. He rarely goes out now - but when I visit she sometimes comes out for a short walk with me but the pace is a bit slower than I would normally do.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Friday 2/11/07

Another bright dry day.

For an experiment I am not going to have any raisins unless I get a pain. I have to admit that I have been having it to try and avoid the pain. This may mean that there are greater differences between one day’s calories and the next. It may give an opportunity to improve my weight loss though. It does mean that I need to have some extra things to stop my calories being too low if I don’t need it and to make up for that much fruit disappearing from my intake – but it will make them even higher if I find that I do need it later on.

Today I ended up not needing any raisins. I will need to see how the next few days pan out. Especially whether it alters my rate of weight loss - it could alter it in either direction.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 5 times (on two laps my husband came too)
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 13st 5.8lbs (i.e. 187.8 pounds)
Steps = 31,106
Distance = 11.53 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – missed off a bio-oil massage

Food / Drink:

NB I have no target calories. I am not trying to reach any magic number.

1 banana = 107 calories
3 weetabix (190 cal), sweetener (4 calories), 350 ml skimmed milk (123 cal) = 317 calories.
120g oak smoked ham = 131 calories
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice = 82 calories
120g oak smoked ham (131 cal), half a cucumber (45 cal), 6 small tomatoes (54 cal) = 230 calories
1 handful honey Shreddies = 126 calories
1 glass (200ml) orange juice = 92 calories
170g honeydew melon = 62 calories
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola
1 wine gum = 20 calories

Margaret,

Interesting experiment with the raisins. I'm curious as to the outcome. I'm not a calorie counter myself and I'm afraid if I make too many changes to my food, that I won't be able to follow the plan. I know my number one fat maker is soda pop. I am down to one a day.

I was also wondering how long it takes for calories/fat to actually make fat/lbs in your body? Maybe one of the experts can answer that question. I mean, like if I ate a piece of cake/junk, etc. last week, how long would it take for that piece of cake to add weight to my body? Would that piece of cake be hanging over my head all week in anticipation I'd see it show up on my scale, or once it is out of my system, and it doesn't show up right away, am I in the clear?

You don't need me to wish you luck this week---you are a woman on a mission and you aren't going to let anything get in your way. I admire your strength and motivation SO much!

Anne

Margaret - You exercise SO much, how can you take it? lol. I wish I was that strong. But it seriously kills me to just do 30 minutes of exercise a day. Maybe I can make myself stronger as time goes on so I can increase my exercise. It seems like you're under the 1200 cals. It seems not to be effecting your weight loss though, so I guess whatever works for your body.

Anne - I think, lol, THINK, that it takes 3500 extra calories to make 1 lb. of fat. That's what I remember anyway. So I'm always suspicious of people saying they gained weight, when I seriously doubt that they've ate 3500 calories in two days. It's probably just water weight. And about the cake, I think the calories just add up gradually over time with other things you eat and cause weight gain, unless you exercise and burn it off. But, I may be wrong. It may be better to ask someone that actually studied how the body works. :P Sorry for answering in Margaret's thread. I feel like it's a weird thing to do. :P

~*Happy Saturday Sweetie!*~

*Happy Day 1 of Challenge!*

I'm excited!

This is just what I need!

Have A Great Day!

Thanks for visiting my diary and giving me this continued support. It is much appreciated.

Anne
Like Jennifer - I too have heard of the 3,500 calories amount being quoted various places. Like so many things I believe it is supposed to be an average based on an average sized person. I am not sure how complete an explanation it is!!!

The whole area of calories is a bit of a danger area for me - so I generally try not to focus on it at all. So much so that I am a bit apprehensive about converting them.

Jennifer
There is no way that I could have walked the distances that I walk when I started out. It is something that needed to be built up. I am convinced that almost anyone could do it given time and dedication.

As far as calories go - I am convinced that there is more to the equation than pure calories alone - like how your unique body processes different types of food. As you know - I do monitor my food carefully and generally am very modest in my intake. I also do quite extreme amounts of exercise and weigh myself every day. I have got used to understanding my daily weight fluctuations - and being able to account for them regarding such things as my period, what I have eaten etc. Three times I have done over 10 miles of walking in the day (and surrounding days), eaten modestly, not been in a water retention mode etc - but I have gained two pounds on a single day. The only difference was that these were the only days where I ate the following snack:

1 slice unbuttered bread
1 dairylea cheese slice = 69 calories

The cheese slices are individually wrapped and are a very measured way of eating cheese.

There is no logic to it as far as anything written about calories is concerned - but when it happened for a third time - I axed cheese from my diet completely.

There becomes a time when you have to act on your own experience rather than what you find written in books. No matter how much you respect the author of the said book.

It has to be remembered that with anything scientific there is always something new waiting to be discovered.

Stacy

Thanks. I hope that everything including the challenge is happy and goal reaching for you.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Saturday 3/11/07

Another bright dry day. Went shopping to Tescos in the car in the afternoon.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 4 times (on one lap my husband came too)
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 13st 5.0lbs (i.e. 187.0 pounds)
Steps = 28,794
Distance = 10.67 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – missed off a bio-oil massage

Food / Drink:

NB I have no target calories. I am not trying to reach any magic number.

1 banana = 107 calories
3 weetabix (190 cal), sweetener (4 calories), 350 ml skimmed milk (123 cal) = 317 calories.
120g oak smoked ham = 131 calories
pork loin steak (200 cal), tin baked beans (210 cal), dessert spoon of apple sauce (20 cal) = 430 calories
1 handful honey Shreddies = 126 calories
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice = 82 calories
1 glass (200ml) orange juice = 92 calories
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola

Howdy OMEGA holy crap looky at all that weight you have lost
over 100 lbs that is awesome!I love your attitude on calories I get so stressed at times counting cals I really don't count but I keep adding things to my menue some days so I can atleast HIT 1,200 for healthy reasons but some days I would be happy with 900-1,000ish lol.Your doing great keep up the great work,also I hope your pain gets better and I never heard of raisins and water to help with pain I may have to try that,Tammy

So glad the weather is in your favor!

It's 76* here today and just beautiful.

I'll be heading out for a walk at the park/pond soon.

Keep up the hard work Margaret.

Hi Margaret,
Hope your day goes well!!! Thanks for explaining your calories and exercise. You are really motivating, I can't stress that enough.

Jennifer