147.0 Spontaneous Dinner Party

We went to a spontaneous dinner party last night where I indulged in French fries for the first time in 6 months. They had rented "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace," but their DVD player kept freezing up. We moved the party to our house where we finished watching the movie and shared some of the gourmet popcorn Scott's parents send us every Christmas.

Our friends have little kids, 4 and 3. They had seen cartoons of Star Wars, but this was their first time seeing one of the actual movies. The 4 year old boy really loved the pod racing scene. It was a fun time with some friends we are in a small group / family group / Bible study with through Lincoln Heights Community Church.

Scott took this picture of me in one of my new size medium T shirts a few weeks ago after my first shopping spree at TJ Maxx. The shirt reminds me of something Deanna Troi would wear. How did she always get away with being out of uniform in those low-cut tops?

I walked a total of 90 minutes yesterday: Half an hour at each of my breaks and half an hour with Scott and the dogs, in the rain. I am teaching today, too, and then next week is Easter Vacation!

Here is what I ate yesterday that gained me another .6 pounds and made today a diet day:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Raw carrot sticks with 2 tablespoons Parmesan spinach dip
Hot dog on a bun with mustard
Handful of French fries
Ladle full of green beans boiled in butter
Small bowl of cheddar cheese popcorn

146.4 No Cheese Omelette

I made this no cheese omelette for my lunch yesterday.

The trick is to fry bacon in the pan first so that there is an adequate base of fat for the eggs to not stick. I fried bacon and took it out to drain on paper towels. Next, I sauteed onion in the bacon grease on low heat. After about 90 minutes I added sliced mushrooms and sauteed them for 10 minutes.

Lastly, I beat three eggs in a cup with a pinch of garlic salt and then poured them into the sauteed veggies. I tipped the frying pan so that the eggs spread out. I let them cook for a minute, and then turned them over to cook on the over side for a minute. Here they are plated with salsa. They were good!

We went to a dinner party at Valley View Baptist Church last night. We had already eaten dinner because we didn't realize it was a potluck. Still, we had dessert. I went a bit overboard on it and gained .6 pounds. Today will be a diet day. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
No Cheese Omelette with three eggs, onion, bacon and mushrooms
Baked chicken, cauliflower, carrots and onion
Huge slice of lemon bundt cake and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream

We walked the dogs 30 minutes around the neighborhood yesterday.

147.8 The Dye Color Wheel

My mom taught me all about the dye color wheel while she taught me to walk and talk and eat with utensils. Reds, browns and yellows are warm earthy colors.* Blues, pinks and purples are cool colors. I have mixed feelings on if green is warm or cool. This might be because green is a primary color on the light color wheel.**

Artists and clothing designers have worked out a whole philosophy of colors which has made its way into the traditions of Western Civilization. I was familiar with most of this philosophy through my mother, who studied these traditions in her home economics major in high school. I already knew I could wear any color shirt with black pants or white pants. I knew that most browns were also neutral colors that went with almost anything. I was therefore surprised at the detail with which this book I am reviewing describes this philosophy. Get it if you honestly didn't know about the dye color wheel. It will open up a whole new world for you:

Frumpy to Fabulous: Flaunting It: Your Ultimate Guide to Effortless Style, by Natalie Jobity

In the picture above I am wearing a cool monochromatic blue outfit. It consists of pre-faded multi-tone denim blue Levi's 505 jeans I bought second hand a few weeks ago -- and an indigo blue Woolrich Woman shirt that Mom and I bought new before I went off to college in Berkeley in 1987.

I walked more than three miles yesterday, but we were invited to a surprise dinner party after I had already eaten, so I gained .6 pounds. Here is what I ate all day:

Small bowl of Special K, blueberries and vanilla soy milk
1 microwaved frozen beef burrito with 3 tablespoons chunky tomato salsa
About a cup of raw carrot sticks
Half a Qdoba naked BBQ steak burrito
Half a cup of spaghetti with meat sauce and a piece of garlic bread the size of my index finger

*Red is only warmer than blue in art and the human psyche. Humans associate red, orange and yellow with warm fire. We associate blue with cool water. An engineer friend once told me he constantly turned the water faucet marked with blue when he wanted hot water -- because in science, blue is hotter than red. The hottest fires burn blue. Scientists might also notice that the artists' color wheel is the rainbow bent into a circle.

**Blending light to get colors works differently. If you combine all your dye colors together you get black. The absence of paint is a white canvas. The opposite is true in the light spectrum. The absence of light is blackness. All the light colors combined make white light. In light, the primary colors are green blue and red.

160.4 Keep Trim Day 2 of 13

I ate two pieces of pizza at a dinner party last night instead of the one I meant to stick to. I gained .6 pounds and now weigh 160.4. My keep trim eating goal for this 13 day period is to maintain my weight at 159.8. I walked each dog one mile yesterday for a total of two miles.

Scott took this picture of me this morning, wearing the rust color size 10 corduroys I bought yesterday at The Salvation Army Thrift Store. I am bending down to pet the dog, so my tummy shows, but it doesn't when I stand up straight. I chose this picture because I like my smile. These pants have stretched out a little from wearing them and they are comfortable now. I am officially a size 10!

I wonder if the 15 additional pounds I plan to lose will make me a size 8 or just a really loose size 10. I guess we shall see. I plan on adjusting my goal weight so that I am comfortable in whatever size puts me below 145. [Later: I am a comfortable size 8 at 145 - 149.9 pounds!]

Here is what I ate yesterday on my first keep trim eating day of this cycle and gained .6 pounds while trying to maintain my weight:

Small bowl of Special K, blueberries and soy milk
Maple bar at church fellowship
Baked chicken, onion and carrots
Two thirds of a dinner plate of Papa Murphy's veggie pizza
(I should have stopped at one third a dinner plate, but it tasted so good!)

164.8 Diet Day 5 of 13

I lost 1.6 pounds yesterday and now weigh 164.8! We walked the dogs a mile around the park. It was almost 50 degrees out and I got too hot in my parka!

I successfully resisted cupcakes last night, at a dinner party. I brought hamburger and fixings over and made burgers for everyone. The host made some French fries in a deep fryer they had. I resisted those as well. He also showed up with a carton of fresh blueberries. Those were a cheat, but they didn't hurt much.

A fellow tourist took this picture of me and Scott in August 2011 at Mt Rushmore in South Dakota. At the time I had already lost 40 pounds off my original 240 and was thinking I felt great. Well, as of now I feel even better!

Here is what I ate yesterday and lost 1.6 pounds, along with walking a mile:

1 cup Special K, 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup soy milk

Baked chicken, onions and carrots

Hamburger patty, 1 tablespoon BBQ sauce, 2 cups steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots

1/2 cup fresh blueberries (cheat)

Edited later to add these links to other days I lost a lot of weight on my diet:

• lost a pound (12)
• lost 1.2 pounds (2)
• lost 1.3 pounds (1)
• lost 1.4 pounds (9)
• Lost 1.6 pounds (8)
• lost 1.8 pounds (2)
• lost 2 pounds (2)
• lost 2.2 pounds (1)

 

Keeping the Weight Off!

I stayed at 186.4! I am so happy I cannot describe it! I had a maple bar at church fellowship yesterday and ate normally at another dinner party with some more new friends. And I maintained my weight perfectly at 186.4! That is cause for celebration. Everyone knows that losing the weight is the easy part; keeping it off is the hard part.

I did walk my mile yesterday, and you bet that has lots to do with keeping the weight off. Yes. Scott took this picture of me and Oreo yesterday on our walk. It was such a good picture of Oreo that I just had to post it. My long hair is in a pony tail behind me. You can see how baggy these formerly skinny jeans, men's size 36 x 30 are on me now.

The size 34 x 30 jeans I bought on Saturday are not quite comfortable, but another 3 pounds and they will be. That will have to wait until after this two-week keep trim period is over.

Here is all I ate yesterday and still managed to maintain my new weight of 186.4:

1 cup Special K, 1 cup soy milk, 1 cup diced strawberries. black unsweetened coffee

1 maple bar (super yum!), black unsweetened coffee

Diet Ham Salad, Diet Coke

12 ounces of home made stew, 1/4 dinner plate of salad with 2 tablespoons lite raspberry-walnut dressing, three slices of rye bread with chunks of garlic baked into it (super yum!), two slices of apple, 1 Vanilla Wafer, water, tea with no milk or sugar

I do of course drink water throughout the day. Whenever I am not eating something I am sipping on water.

Dinner Party

Today I weigh 188, a .8 gain from yesterday. I hold out hope most of it is water from salt, but in any case it is just a bump in the road. It is worth it! We had a great time with our new friends at their dinner party last night.

We walked our mile yesterday before the dinner party. I stuck to my diet for breakfast and lunch, and I took it easy at dinner. I was off caffeine yesterday because I had some trouble with my bowels in the morning. Here is all I ate yesterday:

Breakfast: 1 cup Special K, 1 cup soy milk, caffeine-free diet soda

Lunch: 1 12 ounce can Amy's low fat minestrone soup, water

Dinner: 6 ounces roast beef, 3 tablespoons salty aus jus, half a dinner plate of salad with 2 tablespoons lite raspberry walnut dressing, half a cup of corn (maize), 2 tablespoons of mashed potatoes made with butter and sour cream, one small slice of pumpkin pie

During the dinner, everyone commented on how salty the aus jus was. I assured the hostess it tasted very good! I hold out some hope that my .8 pound gain is mostly water retained with all that salt, and that tomorrow it will pass with the salt. Time will tell!

Keep Trim Eating Day 13 of 14

I weigh 193 today. I lost .4 pounds on keep trim eating yesterday. I still have my cold, but it is getting better. I stayed indoors yesterday and drank lots of fluids. I ate the same as I did Monday and Tuesday. I could almost wish to have a cold all the time, if it means I lose .4 pounds a day without exercise. I did say almost.

I am on keep trim eating for today and tomorrow, and then it is back on the diet where I lose a pound a day if I stick to it and exercise daily. We got invited to a dinner party, and it falls during the time I am on the diet. I am debating if I should ask if they can change the date (it is just us and the couple hosting the party), or just go ahead and eat what they serve, but in moderation. I am tending toward just eating what they serve. They are both thin, so it should be healthy food.