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Remember a few weeks ago, when I crowed that I had dipped below my prepregnancy weight? I should have shut up. Because I’ve regained 3 pounds since then. And the worst of it is, I’ve been doing all kinds of stuff to become healthier, and I’ve been exercising more. So imagine my teeth gnashing.
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Michael still “nurses” 4x a day–morning, night, and naps–but I put it in quotes because if we miss one I don’t notice, and he spends half his time jerking his head this way and that at any noise or interesting object. Nursing is virtually done; I’m just holding on. In any case, neither he nor I are exchanging significant caloric content that way, so I figure it’s safe to go to the next level (the one I’ve been trying like the dickens to avoid by making lifestyle changes), namely….
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I started a diet this week. Sort of. A friend of mine suggested loseit.com, and I signed up and started counting calories for losing 1/2 pound a week. I thought that seemed reasonable. Know how many calories loseit.com gave me? 1660. Ayah! I went over by 250 the first day, and I was STARVING ALL DAY. STAR.VING. I’ve spent so long paying attention to carbs, and virtually everything high in protein is also high in calories. I have to shift my entire way of thinking. By dinnertime on the first day, Christian was laughing. “There’s going to be a blog post on this, isn’t there?” Well, it would mostly be griping, so I’ll try to refrain, but… Well, anyway.
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At the same time, I’m trying to learn to make the homemade cakes turn out moist. Not that I’m ever going to get to eat one again, but I can dream, right? Here’s the list of tips I found:
a) use buttermilk or sour cream instead of milk
b) cut the fat by 15% and subsitute glycerine (whatever THAT is…)
c) stir the flour with a fork to incorporate some air; flour compacts and you use too much.
Anybody else have any wisdom to share? And remember, from-scratch cakes. I’ve decided I love the moistness of mixes, but the taste of homemade is better.
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Last night Christian and Alex had “raingutter regatta” for the Cub Scouts. If you don’t know what that is, it’s building a boat with two runners, a sail and a rudder, and you blow them down the “track” to see whose goes fastest. (That’s such a boy thing. The Cub Scouts are such an eye opener for me.) Afterward, Christian and Alex were heading out to come home and heard screaming in the boys’ bathroom. Christian ducked his head in and found some of the boys trying to race their boats in the toilet.
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As bad as the drought was this year, I had zero expectations for fall color. So when our trees turned crimson and gold, I chalked it up to the watering…until the walnut tree in the woods went through an alchemical process, and the baby maples in the woods began glowing. I can’t explain it, but it’s made me very happy.
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Last but not least, here’s a fiction piece, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Related articles
- Calories: How to Know if You Go Too Low (everydayhealth.com)
- Losing Body Fat (ultimate-vitality.com)
- A Shame-Free Food Lifestyle (health.usnews.com)
Kathleen M. Basi 
Have you ever tried Weight Watchers? They count “points” rather than calories, and allow as much fresh fruit and non-starchy veggies as you want. Points are computed using a combo of calories, fiber, and fat.
We’ve talked about that, but this one’s free. 🙂
I’ve been using My Fitness Pal, and I love it (and it is free). I’m a total WW drop out, and this one has been working for me. As for diets, they suck. I’ve been trying to lose weight for a long time, and I really think it all about head game. (I wrote a big post about it yesterday at the link below). But I will also say that there is just no way around being hungry–it is the great lie of the dieting industry if you ask me. The trick is to not be afraid of it. Or at least, that is what helped me. Good luck! The beginning is always the hardest. Hang in there!!
http://urbansimplelife.blogspot.com/2012/10/hunger.html
True, but if you are hungry all the time…
totally with you on the calories. I use Sparkpeople and it also gives me a range. I try to stay on the low end (around 1450) but… yes. STARVING.
Also, I love the rainwater regatta! wish our Pack did that one. We do the Pinewood Derby but I like this idea, too.
Happy weekend, Kathleen!
I used Weight Watchers a few times and lost weight using the points system. However, I started working out in January and ended up with no energy and very little weight loss. When I converted my food journals from points to calories, I found that I wasn’t getting nearly enough calories or protein. I use a smartphone app called My Net Diary and it’s great about telling me what I’m lacking. It works great when I use it. 🙂
That’s very interesting. Had a friend this morning tell me that a friend of HERS did WW and loseit, and likes this one better. Also told me I can add calories if I’m losing too fast. Today I blew it accidentally…pasta is BAD NEWS. Should’ve realized it, after the years I’ve spent trying to curtail pasta in favor of protein, but oh well, live and learn.
When I get discouraged about my weight after working really hard, I tell myself muscle weighs more than fat.
I’ve been thinking about that, but just don’t think I’ve done anything yet. I’ll bet you have, though. 🙂
I use myfitnesspal, but it only gave me 1200 calories a day.
I tried myfitnesspal last year, with no luck, so back to weight watchers. I am losing slow, but that’s because I keep cheating (not writing everything down). Weight watchers becomes free after you reach your intended goal weight which helps you keep the weight off. Good luck! You can do it!!!
That’s right, I had forgotten that. I guess it’s another reminder that everyone is different, and no one program works for everyone.