These are the calorie counts for each day this week and weight in the morning:
Monday 1423 275.9 (down from 283.2 the Monday after the cruise)
Tuesday 1338 273.9
Wednesday 1198 same
Thursday 1318 273 even
Friday 1450 same
Saturday 1305 same
Sunday 1208 275.8
WHAT? Seriously? I put back the whole week's weight loss in one day with calorie counts like that?
Of course, I haven't eaten those 1208 calories that are planned for today, but that's what I will do today. Those counts are as accurate as possible. I use the Lose It! program, log it all in, never cheat, and get the calorie counts from either Mark's recipes that he makes from Diabetic Living, the product label itself, or a best guess from Lose It! or CalorieKing. If I'm off, it's never by much. I only ate two lunches out, Wednesday at Subway and Thursday at the Grille. At Subway, the double turkey salad and Baked Lay's is a standard lunch for me when losing weight, and it is 320 calories. At the Grille, the bowl of plain mixed greens and about a six ounce grilled salmon was estimated at 310. It's possible there was more oil on that salmon than Calorie King might predict, but even if I added 200 more calories to that estimate, my day would not be over the limit set by Lose It!, which is currently 1566. I have been well under my limit every day.
It's got to be the EXERCISE! I have not exercised this week. Mark has been sick, so he did not feel up to doing weights or taking long walks. I had only minimal exercise such as shopping, a little swimming, and leading rehearsals. They probably don't add up to much. On the other hand, taking a 20 minute walk and doing 10 minutes of weight lifting only burns a total of 126 calories. Although the Lose It! program allows you to eat those calories back, I never do, but that amount of extra calories burned is not going to make or break a weight loss week.
Clearly, I need to do something, and there are only two things to change up. I can eat less calories and exercise more.
This past week was supposed to be one of my best because there were only two meals out. This upcoming week is going to be tougher. I will be eating lunch out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, dinner out on Thursday, and then there are two SEDERS, Friday and Saturday nights. Passover begins officially Friday night, but eating Passover food begins at lunch on Friday. Although we didn't buy as much stuff as usual, there will still be a LOT more calories consumed during those seders and possibly the rest of the week. I had really hoped to lose a lot this past week and now that opportunity is over. I am a little bit bummed.
What I must do now is NOT GIVE UP! I need to continue to log it all in, try to incorporate some exercise when possible, and not beat myself up if I gain weight during Passover. I can always lose it again after Passover.
During the two seders the meal will be four cups of wine, at least one board of matzoh, gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, turkey, stuffing, gravy, potato kugel from a mix, and my special asparagus with lots of margarine in it. Then there are the desserts, both those we bought (chocolates) and those others are bringing (cakes and cookies). And we get to do that TWO nights in a row. Even if I eat only small portions of all those items, the sodium content and calorie count will be through the roof.
We will have eight for the seder Friday night and five for the seder Saturday night. Dinner will be late Friday, about 8:30 p.m., and an hour later than THAT on Saturday. It's tough when you eat a high sodium, high calorie meal so late at night, too.
Well, Passover is coming whether or not I'd like it to be this week. I'm not going to give it another negative thought. Once it starts and the company is here, I'm going to try very hard to relax and enjoy it. Still, I will also program the calories, even if I go over the allotment. It is what it is.
Meanwhile, the Celebration of Life went very beautifully yesterday. I got through the song pretty well. Fred was very moved, so that was nice. I got a lot of compliments, so that made me feel great.
Today we are having a long dress rehearsal from 9 to noon at Lakeside for today's Cove Singers Recital. The show is 2-3:30. That's definitely going to burn up some calories today! Maybe I'll start the week out tomorrow back at 273. I would be so happy if that happens. Stay tuned!
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Still the same
Yesterday's calories were a bit higher than they have been because of Shabbat dinner. Having wine and challah with dinner always makes it higher. Then I messed up and ate twice as much challah as planned and parve margarine on it, which I had not planned for at all. My total calories were 1550, just about the max, but not over, for the day. I also swam in the pool for 20 minutes, although it was very slow swimming. Still, it felt great to do it! No one showed up to play Mah Jongg at the Cove at 2 p.m., so I just went in to the library and talked to Edward all afternoon.
My weight this morning is holding steady at 273.
Today my calories should be only 1200, and that will include a serving of the Mount Gay Great Cake (rum cake) that we brought back from Barbados! All my meals will be at home, and I've already programmed them all in.
Mark is so sick with a head cold! He has not been like this in so many years that we can't even remember the last time it happened. He had been saying since Tuesday that his throat hurt when he woke up in the morning, but it always went away. We were blaming it on dry air. Well, yesterday it just blew up into a very nasty head cold with lots of sniffling, sneezing, blowing his nose, and some coughing. I am praying it doesn't find me until after today and tomorrow's performances.
At 2 p.m. today we are attending the Celebration of Life of a Cove friend, Lana Van Nest, who passed away while we were on the cruise in March. Her husband has asked me to sing something uplifting and joyful, so I'm singing a medley of "You'll Never Walk Alone/Climb Every Mountain" to a track used with Guys and Dolls. It hits some pretty high notes for me because I'm basically singing the soprano part of a choral arrangement. I hope they like it, and I hope the cold doesn't settle in by then.
Last night while watching TV, I could feel a little tingle in my throat and chest. That's often how things start for me. As long as it doesn't blossom out too fast, I can get through this afternoon. Tomorrow I'm directing 9 songs for the Cove Singers' Spring Recital. I'm also supposed to sing in a six person ensemble as well as a solo. Mark is doing all of that, too, if he can. He can probably muddle through the chorus and ensemble songs, but he's not sure he can do the solo.
Currently, we are both taking it easy. He is watching cartoons and I'm typing this blog. Hot showers and lots of hot tea should help me get through today!
My weight this morning is holding steady at 273.
Today my calories should be only 1200, and that will include a serving of the Mount Gay Great Cake (rum cake) that we brought back from Barbados! All my meals will be at home, and I've already programmed them all in.
Mark is so sick with a head cold! He has not been like this in so many years that we can't even remember the last time it happened. He had been saying since Tuesday that his throat hurt when he woke up in the morning, but it always went away. We were blaming it on dry air. Well, yesterday it just blew up into a very nasty head cold with lots of sniffling, sneezing, blowing his nose, and some coughing. I am praying it doesn't find me until after today and tomorrow's performances.
At 2 p.m. today we are attending the Celebration of Life of a Cove friend, Lana Van Nest, who passed away while we were on the cruise in March. Her husband has asked me to sing something uplifting and joyful, so I'm singing a medley of "You'll Never Walk Alone/Climb Every Mountain" to a track used with Guys and Dolls. It hits some pretty high notes for me because I'm basically singing the soprano part of a choral arrangement. I hope they like it, and I hope the cold doesn't settle in by then.
Last night while watching TV, I could feel a little tingle in my throat and chest. That's often how things start for me. As long as it doesn't blossom out too fast, I can get through this afternoon. Tomorrow I'm directing 9 songs for the Cove Singers' Spring Recital. I'm also supposed to sing in a six person ensemble as well as a solo. Mark is doing all of that, too, if he can. He can probably muddle through the chorus and ensemble songs, but he's not sure he can do the solo.
Currently, we are both taking it easy. He is watching cartoons and I'm typing this blog. Hot showers and lots of hot tea should help me get through today!
Friday, April 15, 2016
Passover shopping just never ends.
We may be driving all the way back to the Maitland Winn-Dixie again today to get parve margarine. It was supposed to come in today, but if it's not going to be there in the morning, we will have to find another time. We both have obligations at 1 p.m. The closer W-D near our synagogue is also supposed to have margarine today, but a friend called yesterday and it was not delivered. To save a longer drive, I do plan to call them again this morning just in case it came in overnight or early this morning. No one can really understand why margarine is making everyone's life difficult this year. And even if we go somewhere today or next week to get it, we still have a yet another shopping day to do because we always get the fresh things like milk, eggs, fish, and vegetables just the day before Passover. After all the shopping, cleaning, and preparations are made, I usually relax and enjoy the holiday, but honestly, I don't think ANYONE likes the few weeks leading up to Passover. I don't bake or make any special foods until the day of the seder, but honestly, I don't know how some women do it. Some of them bake their cakes and cookies well in advance and store them for the holiday. I have never figured out how to make the kitchen kosher for Passover that far in advance just to bake. No thanks. I'll buy my baked goods!
Yesterday went as planned with the exception of skipping the movie. It's a good thing we didn't go because we got severe thunderstorm warnings and hail and high winds right around the time we would have gone to the movie. We didn't get much out of the storm, thankfully, just about 30 seconds of small hail. We've had more rain and higher winds at other times. Still, the emergency radio kept going off, so we made sure the yard had nothing in it that could be a projectile and unplugged our computers just in case there was a power surge. Better safe than sorry.
I had grilled salmon on a plain green salad with no cheese or dressing at the restaurant for lunch yesterday. That was by far the very best option. I had water to drink and that was it. It was National Pecan Day, so I weighed out 1 ounce of pecans, 196 calories. My day was great, 1320 calories, although there was no exercise. My weight this morning is the same as yesterday, 273, again. If we drive up to Maitland, we still hope to be back to eat lunch at home or maybe pack it and eat it in the car. That way all meals are at home today. Saturday and Sunday will have all meals at home, too, so I should be able to finish the week staying on track. With any luck, I can crack that 270 mark by the end of next week. Although there will be two seders and lots of Passover food as part of that week. That's going to be a serious challenge.
Yesterday went as planned with the exception of skipping the movie. It's a good thing we didn't go because we got severe thunderstorm warnings and hail and high winds right around the time we would have gone to the movie. We didn't get much out of the storm, thankfully, just about 30 seconds of small hail. We've had more rain and higher winds at other times. Still, the emergency radio kept going off, so we made sure the yard had nothing in it that could be a projectile and unplugged our computers just in case there was a power surge. Better safe than sorry.
I had grilled salmon on a plain green salad with no cheese or dressing at the restaurant for lunch yesterday. That was by far the very best option. I had water to drink and that was it. It was National Pecan Day, so I weighed out 1 ounce of pecans, 196 calories. My day was great, 1320 calories, although there was no exercise. My weight this morning is the same as yesterday, 273, again. If we drive up to Maitland, we still hope to be back to eat lunch at home or maybe pack it and eat it in the car. That way all meals are at home today. Saturday and Sunday will have all meals at home, too, so I should be able to finish the week staying on track. With any luck, I can crack that 270 mark by the end of next week. Although there will be two seders and lots of Passover food as part of that week. That's going to be a serious challenge.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Blog is being funky today.
I don't know why my blog is acting strangely today. I wanted to go back and look at some posts from last August at Aulani. Usually I click on the year, then all the months for that year come up. Then I can click on the month and see all the entry titles for that month. Then I can click on an individual title to read it.
Not today. Today no matter what year I click on, only the months from 2016 are showing up. When I click on 2015, or any other year, the final post for that year shows up. I can scroll back a few days when eventually it stops. At that point there is an "older posts" button. When I click on that, I can scroll back another few days of entries. Wow. That would take forever to go from the end of December to August. I'm not even trying, but I am bummed that the blog is acting like that today. I hope it's not going to stay like that! Geez. I hope it's not some update they rolled out because it sure didn't update anything in a positive way!
My weight this morning was 273, so I was happy. I wanted to go back to the Aulani entries to double check what my weight was when we left for Hawaii. I think it was about the same, so I feel like I made a milestone. Well, it's a good thing I record some of these weights in Lose It! and in an old-school paper and pencil notebook, too.
Our day went exactly as planned yesterday. I ate only 1200 calories. There was no specific exercise, but there was shopping, tidying up, and sweeping and mopping the kitchen. While we were out shopping, we had lunch at Subway. That's one of the few times that I eat non-kosher meat in a restaurant because the turkey is the lowest calorie item on their menu. I always order a double meat turkey salad, no cheese, no dressing, and pair it with a bag of Baked Lays. That is a total of 320 calories for lunch. That's about as good as it gets for eating lunch out in a restaurant. When we do our big two month road trip this summer, we plan to eat almost all of our lunches at Subway.
This morning I have 8 ladies coming here to play Mah Jongg. It's been several weeks since I hosted the Thursday morning group, so this is going to be fun. We will be using the new card, too. After playing, most of us are going to the Grille for lunch. The Grille changes its menu frequently and I have been there in awhile, so I don't know what I'm going to have. I hope to have a salmon salad. That's probably going to be the best choice. Mark is making tuna steaks, baked potato, and green veggie for dinner, one of my favorite meals! At 7 we are going to see the movie Truth in the ballroom. Unlike last week when I ate the popcorn, tonight I will NOT eat that. UGH. So much sodium!
Not today. Today no matter what year I click on, only the months from 2016 are showing up. When I click on 2015, or any other year, the final post for that year shows up. I can scroll back a few days when eventually it stops. At that point there is an "older posts" button. When I click on that, I can scroll back another few days of entries. Wow. That would take forever to go from the end of December to August. I'm not even trying, but I am bummed that the blog is acting like that today. I hope it's not going to stay like that! Geez. I hope it's not some update they rolled out because it sure didn't update anything in a positive way!
My weight this morning was 273, so I was happy. I wanted to go back to the Aulani entries to double check what my weight was when we left for Hawaii. I think it was about the same, so I feel like I made a milestone. Well, it's a good thing I record some of these weights in Lose It! and in an old-school paper and pencil notebook, too.
Our day went exactly as planned yesterday. I ate only 1200 calories. There was no specific exercise, but there was shopping, tidying up, and sweeping and mopping the kitchen. While we were out shopping, we had lunch at Subway. That's one of the few times that I eat non-kosher meat in a restaurant because the turkey is the lowest calorie item on their menu. I always order a double meat turkey salad, no cheese, no dressing, and pair it with a bag of Baked Lays. That is a total of 320 calories for lunch. That's about as good as it gets for eating lunch out in a restaurant. When we do our big two month road trip this summer, we plan to eat almost all of our lunches at Subway.
This morning I have 8 ladies coming here to play Mah Jongg. It's been several weeks since I hosted the Thursday morning group, so this is going to be fun. We will be using the new card, too. After playing, most of us are going to the Grille for lunch. The Grille changes its menu frequently and I have been there in awhile, so I don't know what I'm going to have. I hope to have a salmon salad. That's probably going to be the best choice. Mark is making tuna steaks, baked potato, and green veggie for dinner, one of my favorite meals! At 7 we are going to see the movie Truth in the ballroom. Unlike last week when I ate the popcorn, tonight I will NOT eat that. UGH. So much sodium!
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Another great day.
I didn't lose any weight between yesterday and today, but that's ok. You can't drop weight every single day, which is why most programs, like Weight Watchers, recommend only weekly weigh-ins.
I had an excellent day yesterday, eating only 1340 calories. Mark made a spectacular dinner of bean and veggie patties from the Diabetic Living collection and paired it with a lo-cal, lo-carb, lo-fat grilled cheese sandwich because it was National Grilled Cheese Sandwich day.
Yesterday was just wonderful. I had a fabulous and relaxing mani/pedi and haircut, followed by a lovely hour-long conversation in the home of a friend, followed by a picnic lunch by the pool with two more friends, followed by a two hour OUTSTANDING rehearsal with the Cove Singers, followed by that delicious dinner and lots of TV shows. That's a fairly perfect day.
Today I have been tooling around on the computer for so long that I've been up for three and a half hours and still have not eaten breakfast, just two cups of black coffee. The weird thing is that I'm not even hungry yet. That IS very weird because some mornings I just wake up ravenously hungry.
Soon we are going up north to do some more Passover shopping, so a lot of today will be spent in the car. We don't hate that because we have audio books and lots of talking and reading to do. It will mean eating lunch out, but we plan to do that at a Subway, so my calories will be good. Tonight we have a Solivita Disney Fan Club meeting, which we haven't been able to attend for a long time. It will be fun to reconnect with some friends.
I expect my calories to be excellent again today. I am really looking forward to getting out of the 270s. It will be a red letter day when I crack that number and work my way down through the 260s. I was in the 250s at Lowell's wedding in the summer of 2014 and then was in the 260s by the end of that year. I have been in the 270s and even 280s all through 2015 and into 2016. This is going to be the last of that! I am promising that to myself!
I had an excellent day yesterday, eating only 1340 calories. Mark made a spectacular dinner of bean and veggie patties from the Diabetic Living collection and paired it with a lo-cal, lo-carb, lo-fat grilled cheese sandwich because it was National Grilled Cheese Sandwich day.
Yesterday was just wonderful. I had a fabulous and relaxing mani/pedi and haircut, followed by a lovely hour-long conversation in the home of a friend, followed by a picnic lunch by the pool with two more friends, followed by a two hour OUTSTANDING rehearsal with the Cove Singers, followed by that delicious dinner and lots of TV shows. That's a fairly perfect day.
Today I have been tooling around on the computer for so long that I've been up for three and a half hours and still have not eaten breakfast, just two cups of black coffee. The weird thing is that I'm not even hungry yet. That IS very weird because some mornings I just wake up ravenously hungry.
Soon we are going up north to do some more Passover shopping, so a lot of today will be spent in the car. We don't hate that because we have audio books and lots of talking and reading to do. It will mean eating lunch out, but we plan to do that at a Subway, so my calories will be good. Tonight we have a Solivita Disney Fan Club meeting, which we haven't been able to attend for a long time. It will be fun to reconnect with some friends.
I expect my calories to be excellent again today. I am really looking forward to getting out of the 270s. It will be a red letter day when I crack that number and work my way down through the 260s. I was in the 250s at Lowell's wedding in the summer of 2014 and then was in the 260s by the end of that year. I have been in the 270s and even 280s all through 2015 and into 2016. This is going to be the last of that! I am promising that to myself!
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Cleaning burns calories
Just because cleaning burns calories does not mean I'm going to keep doing it. LOL!
Yesterday I dropped two pounds. I'm 273.9 this morning. I worked on cleaning the pantry and fridge and then shopped for Passover. It took all day, and I definitely worked up a sweat. Still, I hated every minute of it, so I don't plan to do it more than once a year. Haha!
Today I have an early mani/pedi at 9 a.m. and a Cove Singers rehearsal at 2:30, so I'm just going to stay at the Cove all day. I am packing my lunch, and there will be chance to snack or overeat on anything. This is our last Tuesday afternoon rehearsal because the show is Sunday afternoon.
Got to run. It's already time for the mani/pedi.
Yesterday I dropped two pounds. I'm 273.9 this morning. I worked on cleaning the pantry and fridge and then shopped for Passover. It took all day, and I definitely worked up a sweat. Still, I hated every minute of it, so I don't plan to do it more than once a year. Haha!
Today I have an early mani/pedi at 9 a.m. and a Cove Singers rehearsal at 2:30, so I'm just going to stay at the Cove all day. I am packing my lunch, and there will be chance to snack or overeat on anything. This is our last Tuesday afternoon rehearsal because the show is Sunday afternoon.
Got to run. It's already time for the mani/pedi.
Monday, April 11, 2016
it's a new week. Passover cleaning and shopping is starting today.
It's Monday, and my weight is 275.9, a loss for the week of 7.3. I am very excited.
There was no real loss from yesterday to this morning even though my calories were only 1362. I ate okay at Bravo Cucina Italiano and ordered from their "light" menu where they had printed calorie counts. I ordered the grilled mahi mahi that came in a light cream sauce with couscous and veggies. It was marked 570 calories. I also ate three of their piece of herb bread that was in the basket in front of me. That was 225 calories. My breakfast and lunch were very reasonable, and I only ate a banana for a late night snack. There was no formal exercise yesterday, although I did lead a two hour rehearsal at the Cove, mostly on my feet. I am only down one-tenth today from yesterday,which really is nothing since the scale can't measure that accurately. It is plus/minus .2 at best. However, the weekly amount is fantastic! I am quite pleased.
I know from so much experience that it's not possible to lose a significant amount of weight every day, in fact one or two pounds a week is the average. I know, also, that the first week of a strict diet is always the best week because there's usually a lot of extra water that is excreted. One time when I re-started Weight Watchers, I lost eleven pounds in the first week. The real test is what I do next. I need to settle into these routines that I have established this week and lose two more pounds this week. That would be a milestone, in a way, in that I weighed 273.something when I went to Hawaii last August. I was upset with myself for weighing that much for my 65th birthday, but now I'm trying to get back to that weight on the way to the next milestone and the next and the next.
Passover is less than two weeks away. This morning Mark and I plan to clean out enough for the fridge and freezer to get the first round of Passover food in there. After lunch, we are going to our local Publix for a few boxed and canned items and then up to the Winn-Dixie with the big kosher sections for everything except fresh foods.
We could have up to 11 people for our first seder night because people have cancelled; I replaced them; others forgot they were invited; they said yes then no! We really don't know what's happening, although we have a definite seven: me and Mark, Jonathan and Susan, Susie and Ed, and Frank. After that, the other three always seem to be in flux.
The concert last night was fantastic. The Maccabeats really excited that sold out crowd last night. I didn't take my camera, but there are plenty of pictures on Facebook from our friends who posted. It was just fun going to an auditorium of 650 people, all Jewish, and seeing lots of synagogue friends and dozens of Solivita friends. Twelve of us went to the restaurant, and that was just a wonderful loving feeling.
There was no real loss from yesterday to this morning even though my calories were only 1362. I ate okay at Bravo Cucina Italiano and ordered from their "light" menu where they had printed calorie counts. I ordered the grilled mahi mahi that came in a light cream sauce with couscous and veggies. It was marked 570 calories. I also ate three of their piece of herb bread that was in the basket in front of me. That was 225 calories. My breakfast and lunch were very reasonable, and I only ate a banana for a late night snack. There was no formal exercise yesterday, although I did lead a two hour rehearsal at the Cove, mostly on my feet. I am only down one-tenth today from yesterday,which really is nothing since the scale can't measure that accurately. It is plus/minus .2 at best. However, the weekly amount is fantastic! I am quite pleased.
I know from so much experience that it's not possible to lose a significant amount of weight every day, in fact one or two pounds a week is the average. I know, also, that the first week of a strict diet is always the best week because there's usually a lot of extra water that is excreted. One time when I re-started Weight Watchers, I lost eleven pounds in the first week. The real test is what I do next. I need to settle into these routines that I have established this week and lose two more pounds this week. That would be a milestone, in a way, in that I weighed 273.something when I went to Hawaii last August. I was upset with myself for weighing that much for my 65th birthday, but now I'm trying to get back to that weight on the way to the next milestone and the next and the next.
Passover is less than two weeks away. This morning Mark and I plan to clean out enough for the fridge and freezer to get the first round of Passover food in there. After lunch, we are going to our local Publix for a few boxed and canned items and then up to the Winn-Dixie with the big kosher sections for everything except fresh foods.
We could have up to 11 people for our first seder night because people have cancelled; I replaced them; others forgot they were invited; they said yes then no! We really don't know what's happening, although we have a definite seven: me and Mark, Jonathan and Susan, Susie and Ed, and Frank. After that, the other three always seem to be in flux.
The concert last night was fantastic. The Maccabeats really excited that sold out crowd last night. I didn't take my camera, but there are plenty of pictures on Facebook from our friends who posted. It was just fun going to an auditorium of 650 people, all Jewish, and seeing lots of synagogue friends and dozens of Solivita friends. Twelve of us went to the restaurant, and that was just a wonderful loving feeling.
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