Sunday Weigh In March 18, 2018

[Barb135]

Well, another week has gone by and it's time to see how we've done, this week, on our challenge... I know some of you have been doing really well, based on the feedback we've been getting on last week's weigh-in.  

Personally, I've not done so well. There are a few reasons for that, admittedly, none of them really good...  :-(

First, we went to Sam's Club - you're all familiar with Sam's Club and the wonderful bakery items they put out...yeah, I knew you familiar with that!!  Well, personally, I wouldn't put a foot in that area for obvious reasons, but my husband has to check it out every time we go to the store.  As it turns out, he found these really yummy, moist sponge cake muffins filled with cream cheese filling...Unfortunately, hubby can eat whatever he wants in whatever amounts he wants and doesn't gain weight (forget about his climbing glucose levels and high cholesterol; he'd rather take a statin for that);  he, also, seemed to be in a more "sharing" mood with his junk food and for some reason, I was less resistant than usual.  You guessed it; there were 6 in the package and he "insisted" that I help him eat them (said like he forced them into my mouth and down my throat...eye roll).  Anyway, these things were HUGE and heavy... we did end up cutting the bottoms off and throwing those away because the cream cheese filling didn't go all the way to the bottom - ahemm... and - we ended up throwing one away because they really were too rich, but by then, the damage was done!!

One of my doctors has advised me to be gluten, dairy, sugar, and soy free because it's better for thyroid patients. I'm not totally sold on it for thyroid, but being gluten-free also means I'm not eating the things made from refined flour I'd normally be eating, such as bread, pasta, the muffins, cakes, cookies and other things.  This does seem to help with my digestion and some other issues, if not necessarily with weight loss.  Of course, cutting the sugar helps with all of it... This week, with the muffins and some other things I ate, I totally fell out sync with my entire plan.  How many of us can go to the fridge to get carrots and celery sticks and stare down those muffins with cream cheese filling??  I can, sometimes, but not every time.

On top of all that, my winter neighbor, who is also my winter walking partner has gone back to Oregon for the summer, so I haven't been getting out and "hoofing" my 2-4 miles every morning.  It's also been cold here, so the incentive to go out and do yard work hasn't been there either. Who's interesting in planting and sprucing up when plants are still covered against the cold???

So --- all of that said, I'm up by 1.2 pounds from last week - not as bad as it could be but bad enough.  We all know that I can sit here and say it was hubby's fault and it would be nice if he were more inclined to eat healthier foods and not put so much junk in my path, but we also know that I should have stared down those muffins with cream cheese filling and reached past them for the carrots and celery.  I can say I didn't walk because my neighbor left and sure it's more fun to have someone to go with, but we also know there's nothing that really stopped me from going by myself, other than the motivation just wasn't there.  

There was that craving for the sugar, lack of motivation to exercise, whatever it was, it's done now and I can't undo it.  Because of my health issues, my metabolism isn't like that of other people, so I know that eating the wrong foods and lack of exercise brings on adverse chain reactions in my body - weight gain being only one of them.  

This is a new week and a new start... We ended up throwing away one of the muffins and I don't plan to go back to Sam's Club anytime soon, even though it's just down the road...  :-)  My fridge is stocked with good things to eat and I have my resolve all ready for a new week...

Now it's your turn... let's hear those success stories!! Or, if by some chance, you ended up like I did, get it off your chest then be kind to yourself and start over again...

~have a great week and win by losing~

[Barb135]

Sarah, I dropped my cholesterol levels from about 250 to 101 and Triglycerides from almost 300 to 74 by cutting dairy and gluten (wheat, barley, and rye products), but it was probably mostly due to eliminating the dairy because I'd been eating a lot yogurt and cheese, etc.  My doctor wanted me to eliminate them completely, which I did not do, but I cut dairy to no more than about 1/4 to 1/2 serving/week, but when I do eat it, I eat the full-fat varieties, because they taste better and I can be satisfied with a much smaller portion.  

I do eat a bit more gluten than that because it's in almost everything, but I don't eat much.  According to my doctor, as soon as you turn a grain into flour, it's lost its nutrient value anyway, so we don't need it...

Exercise also makes a big difference for me, as do my thyroid hormone levels, which are lower now since my endo, unnecessarily, decreased my medication.

I've done okay with not eating much dairy, but not so well with the gluten or exercise.  I have to go for blood work in the morning, so we'll see how my cholesterol and triglycerides are...

I agree with AnnieBrooke about the fish - fresh-frozen, otherwise known as "flash frozen" is just as good as "fresh" if it was caught a couple/few days ago and shipped... Also, agree with paxiled about the fish oil... I've tried a lot of different ones and keep going back to Nordic Naturals.  They have a lemon flavored one that doesn't cause "fish burp" as bad as most others.

[dominosarah]

I walk all day long at work, dont eat cake,only have supermarkets, try to buy fresh veggies, fish i am sure is not fresh due to living in Minnesota!  Thank you everyone for the advice, it is appreciated.

[AnnieBrooke]

Fish caught and immediately frozen ("fresh frozen" fish) is actually tastier than fresh fish that has been shipped a couple of days from who knows where, and probably is better in other ways too. You might look in the grocery freezer case for simple fillets (not breaded, just plain) of sole or cod. One of my fave fish recipes for any whitefish is fillets, tomato slices, onion slices, dill, and some cream or half & half poured over the top, baked in the oven about 20 minutes. Easy and lovely.

[dominosarah]

That sounds yummy!!!  My love affair with Chobani strawberry banana yogurt is over too.  15 grams of sugar!  My hairdresser told me about another greek yogurt that has less sugar and uses stevia. I honestly never looked at some of the ingrediants in there as i figured it was Greek!!

[AnnieBrooke]

You're saying "It's all Greek to me?"

[dominosarah]

My bad cholesterol dropped 42 pts!!!

[Barb135]

Wow - 42 points... That's awesome.  Is it normal/close to it?

[dominosarah]

No, it is at 222 now but i was impressed with the numbers.  Wasnt expecting that much.  I thought maybe 5 or 10!

[dominosarah]

I do need to up my good cholesterol and lower my triglycerides more so any ideas would be good.  Numbers arent terrible but need to refine my eating even more.  Will cake help?!!  lol

[Paxiled]

You can easily elevate your HDL by taking fish oil or flax seed oil or hempseed oil.  And eat more wild caught fish.  You can avoid triglycerides by not eating anything with hydrogenated vegetable oil in it, or at least mostly avoid it.  Shopping in a good health food store instead of Sam's Club or supermarkets if you can afford it, and you can if you don't buy the expensive packaged items as much and buy more in the bulk section, will pretty much avoid having to worry about triglycerides in your diet as these stores just don't carry products that have them hidden in them very much.  My cholesterol is always high because I'm so high in HDL, and it comes from eating a lot of fish and taking fish oil caps as much as avoiding foods.  

[Paxiled]

But be careful with the brand if you decide to take fish oil -- most are not from clean waters.  Nordic Naturals is a reliable brand.

[specialmom]

DS, I notice a direct link to my HDL by eating cake AND by exercising.  When I'm active, my HDL goes up.  My doctor says to walk if nothing else for 30 minutes most days (can be broken up into 3 ten minute increments) of purposeful/moderate pace walking.  The American Heart Association says to get 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week.  When I'm good about this, my HDL is good.  I work on my diet but can not do anything too extreme.  It just doesn't work for me.  I do best by eliminating one or two trigger or danger foods.  cake's not on the list.  That's acceptable.  :>)  (once in a while).  

[specialmom]

I am also weight neutral.  Since I gained a pound last week, I'll take it.  I did better exercising.  I am REALLY trying on the eating but it's gotten cold again here and I swear, that doesn't help me!  And it was St. Paddy's day and kids are like . . .what treat are we having (have spoiled them) so I made a cake and BOY, was it good.  :>)  But it's not been awful either.  NO beer cheese binges! :>)  

[Barb135]

Weight neutral is okay.  There have been a lot of weeks that I've been grateful to weight neutral... Cold weather seems to be hardest for some of us; at least it is for me because that's when I crave the comfort foods, like mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc.  

I remember when my kids were young, everything I cooked was colored with green food coloring... My son is diabetic so no sweet treats; one year we had scrambled eggs for breakfast - yep, green eggs and ham!!  lol  

So what kind of cake did you have? Was it green, with white frosting or white with green frosting?  Neither? :-)

Whatever happened, laugh it off and don't look back cuz you're not going that way...

[specialmom]

I am trying to be happy with it.  :>)) Being weight neutral means I didn't pick up more gut over the week, right?  The cake was a white cake made with egg whites.  Whippy white frosting (light and airy) and then green sugar crystals all over the top.  I like the green eggs idea!  ha ha.  I've turned an entire gallon of milk green on previous st. paddy's days.  I've drawn a green mustache on my own face with goatee with green marker and just acted normal while the kids kept laughing and pointed at me.  I've turned every chair upside down in the house and put ALL of our shoes outside the front door.  Leprechauns play tricks, right?  But this year . . .   had one boy with a soccer game and had to get the other to a scout event and sort of forgot the tricks.  I think my younger son was disappointed.  I felt bad that I kinda sorta forgot.  So, made the cake.  

[dominosarah]

I have one test back so far.  Glucose went down.  I missed the normal range by 1!!

[Barb135]

1 isn't so bad... you've made a lot of progress and that's nothing to sneeze at...

[dominosarah]

I did okay.  Anxiously awaiting my blood work.

[Barb135]

I saw your last post in last week's thread... you've done very well overall.  We'll be waiting to see how your blood work turns out.  Good luck.

[atthebeach]

I did not lose nor did I gain, I stayed the same.
I have to dig out my last bloodwork to check for the thyroid numbers.

[Barb135]

Sometimes, staying the same is not a bad thing.  There have been many times over the past 10 yrs that I've been very happy to say I neither lost nor gained.  

Do you not get your thyroid levels tested on a regular basis?

[AnnieBrooke]

Well, I did mention the Snickers, right? Today I ate a half package of M&Ms. My sister's theory that sugar causes inflammation which in itself makes you heavier could be proven by my weigh-in tonight (admittedly, right after dinner, which, though it featured rice, veggies and meat, was not a very light meal even so). Anyway, I'll check in the morning when I have had a chance to digest some, but as of right now, I'm only 1 pound less than I was when we began this challenge, meaning of the 5 magic pounds I blew off when I went on that water-and-veggies so-called fast, 4 are back. I think probably there will be one more gone by morning (since I am still stuffed from dinner) but not more. It's not that a pound a week is so bad, that is a sane pace. But I should really not have bought candy!

[Barb135]

Yes, you mentioned the  Snickers... I guess the size of the package of M&M's is key there... You can also look on the bright side and say "it's better to eat just half the package than the whole thing..."  Yep, I can rationalize like that.  LOL  

A weigh-in after dinner? I'd never take a chance on that for an "official" weigh-in, though it's interesting to see how much weight I can pick up over the course of a day.  I don't know about anyone, but I've been known to pick up as much as 5 or more pounds between the time I get up in the morning and get ready for bed at night.

The M&M's may not have done as much damage, weight wise, as you think, but that would depend on how much you ate for breakfast and lunch, as well, plus how much energy you burned.

Loss of 1-2 lbs/week is considered safe weight loss, so if you ended up losing 1 lb over the week, you did well.