Day 4 Food Diary and Update

Ok, so I haven't logged my last two days of food. I intended to do two days back yesterday morning but never got around to it. I planned on doing yesterdays last night and same story. *Sigh*. Oh well. New day, new start.

Its 5:44, so don't be concerned by my lack of food. I'll update again later.

Breakfast
1/2 can baked beans, 1/2 can tinned tomatoes (set aside the other halves for tomorrow)
3 mandarins

Interesting fact- I didn't eat my first orange until I was 17! Crazy. I did try mandarins and nectarines before that, but I hated the texture and the white crusty bits between the mandarin and the peel. I still spend a long time getting rid of all of it before I stick it in my mouth. I've also had a lifelong hatred of orange juice, but I don't mind juices that are made in my jucier. Delicious when combined with apples! Can't wait to use it again :) Still, its better to use the whole fruit than just the filling, because just having the juice is bad for your teeth, and having the other bits is more nutritional and filling.

I tracked my food for a few months on sparkpeople last year, when I was doing a lot of walking and I lost about 10 kilos. It was really helpful. I never do anything in halves. Either I'm under eating or overeating, its not very often that I eat the right amount of food. I like sparkpeople.com because they let you know where you need to catch up on your nutritional needs (too low on carbs, or fats or protein etc) or when you haven't eaten enough. You also get a quick idea of when you are overeating and malnourished. If you eat healthy, you can eat a lot more food for less calories. Its a sweet deal.

I haven't had any comments on this blog yet, but someone did read my blog and suggest that I track what I usually eat for two weeks than make changes. I just don't think I should keep putting my diet/lifestyle change off. I haven't made any process or stuck to good eating at all, so maybe I should follow their suggestion. I have been doing some work in the garden though. I had the brilliant idea to clear some of the leaves on the side of the house, and there was this ugly tree growing sideways with nothing off it but ugly branches, so I convinced my sister to help pull it out, and then upset the parents when they told us it was a grape vine! Opps! I think my gardening days are over. I'll just stick to picking up leaves and assisting mum from now on.

Another issue thats been going on is that I haven't been taking my pills for the last week or so. I don't know what it is. Laziness? Forgetfulness? ''Oh, I didn't take my pill this morning, so I'm not going to bother taking it tonight?''.
I told my mum this morning so she can keep an eye on me. She doesn't tend to keep me accountable for things unless its important to her, like getting the dishes done. I might ask my sister to remind me, but I don't know if she'll remember. She spends the most time with me, so thats probably my best bet. Having alarms on my phone hasn't helped much because I don't usually have it with me, or I don't want to get up at 7 o'clock in the morning everyday to take a pill than crawl back into bed. My laziness is probably the reason I get sick. Most complaints about people with Bipolar are about those who have been off their meds, so I should probably be careful about that. I have a pill infront of me now, and I'm about to take it.

I haven't actually joined the gym yet. Its like, ''why bother?''- my eating habits still suck!

Grr. I suck at this!

Just some thoughts

-I need to start being pickier with my clothing choices. Some of this has been due to lack of funds, which explains buying things made out of cheap fabric, but I need to buy things that suit my body, so theres more of a demand for it in my body. Even when I was a slim, young girl, I had trouble finding things long enough for my torso and arms. I have a few jackets and coats now and they only go about two thirds down my lower arm, which really isn't good enough. Why is everything, even the bigger sizes, all modelled after girls who are probably only 5'3? What good is that for those who are 5'6 and up? (I'm 5'8). I shouldn't have to shop in special stores to find coats that fit, I'm not THAT tall.

-Why did I eat so badly today? Was it because I knew I wasn't joining the gym until tomorrow and there would be no exercise today? Is that any excuse to put off healthy eating?

-Somehow I've been calling what I've been doing a lifestyle change, without really changing anything. A lifestyle change should mean that your whole life changes and is impacted. You need to do everything different, not just diet and exercise. That means, getting out of the house, taking up new classes, meeting different sorts of people, finding things to do instead of sitting in front of the tv and computer, setting goals for yourself etc. I've found that when I try to just change my diet and exercise, I'm not fully focused on change, I only remember that I'm trying to do things differently for about twenty minutes a day, so nothing really changes. If I schedule in different activities everyday, and spend time either there or getting ready to go there, then I'll always be as focused as I need to be. Just arranging to get off three or four bus stops earlier or park further away from the mall isn't going to be enough, unless I'm making lots of changes like that.

Day 1 food diary

Todays intake was disastrous! No wonder my weight keeps going up!

Breakfast
Two chocolate chip muffins
A salad

Lunch
Toasted bun with Marmite and butter
1 banana and 2 mandarins
1 chocolate muffin
2 glasses milk or was it 3?

Afternoon Tea
a Diet Coke
Butter Chicken wrap (was out with friends)

Dinner
A piece of schnitzel
assorted vegetables
A bread bun with 2 slices cheese and mashed potato
1/2 box salt and vinegar rice crackers
1 chocolate muffin
1 glass juice
2 glasses milk
1 cup of tea

See? Terrible! Still, its probably good to have a few crappy days where you guys can see what my starting point was like. Usually my diet is 90% good with a few bad things thrown in, but today was bad, even for me. Bad, but delicious.

Week 1 Measurements

Height: 174cms/5'8

Weight:111.8 kilos/246.4lbs

Waist:108cms
Hips:114cms
Stomach:120cms
Thigh:74cms
Upper Arm:36cms
Neck:43cms
Calf:49cms
Bust:114cms
Knee: 46cms/48cms
Below Bust:107cms

Waist to Hip Ratio: 0.95
Needs to be below 0.80
BMI: 37.46

Since I took measurements earlier in the year, I have gained about 9 kilos. Its interesting seeing the difference in measurements, I had added a lot less cms to different parts of my body than I would have expected. The biggest difference was on my stomach, which shouldn't have been so much of a surprise! Thats always been my worst area, even when I was slim I had a big gut. Some parts of my body were the same.

It makes me wonder how much difference there will be between now and getting to my goal weight, since the measurements between now and the measurements I mentioned weren't so different. I guess they'll have to be pretty different if I want to go down several clothing sizes!

I'm planning on joining the gym this week

Oh, and my food today so far as has been 2 chocolate chip muffins (home made, so they weren't as big as you would expect, but still, not the best start to the day!), a salad with dressing and a glass of milk.

I'm really happy, because this week I'm getting signed to an employment agency, a friend I haven't seen for ten years is visiting (which is a long time when you're 22!) and we got our first deep freezer in three years after living in England! Yay! Now I can make meals in bulk and freeze it! (I guess its pretty obvious what I'm most excited about... sad)

Strategies for July/August 2012

Only Drink Water
I drink an insane amount of milk. I probably go through 1-2 litres a day without any assistance. I always seem to crave it, I guess its just as much a food as it is a drink. Don't worry, we get skim. I don't think it tastes as good as it used to though. We found out my Dad has Osteoporosis this year, so maybe my body is trying to stock up on calcium to avoid me inheriting such a condition? I also drink a lot of tea, which isn't so much of a problem. Honestly, its been a real blessing because I struggle to drink straight water. I find Diet Coke/Pepsi addictive, but we don't tend to have it in the house. I am also a big fan of Tomato Juice. Oh, and Chocolate Milkshakes- just the ''Make a Shake'' powder and milk though. I only drink Alcohol once or twice a year, and I don't really enjoy it.

Keep My Eating Hours Between 7:30am and 6:30pm
Most of my eating probably happens when everyone else is in bed. I often have trouble sleeping, or just enjoy being up at night time because I don't have anyone around, telling me what to do or distracting me. 20-40% of my food intake can happen after dinner if I'm not being careful. Its not surprising, sometimes I don't have my first bit of food until 4pm!

Do This Every Morning After Waking Up and Every Night Before Going to Bed
• 200 punches (alternating, in a medium squat)
• 15 push ups (against a wall or chair if you need)
• 20 squats
• 1 minute of jumping jacks
• 1 minute of skipping straight up
• 1 minute of lunges
• 1 minute of skipping straight up (again!)
• 1 minute of jumping jacks (again)
• 100 crunches!
    -26 "normal", 24 alternating sides, 25 with legs extended up, then 25 normal.

The lovely @tennisx92 on sparkpeople.com came up with this list. It was in this board topic- Little Things That Add Up


Snack on Fruits/Vegetables/Yoghurt/Toast
Because most ''snack food'' seems to be between 300-600 calories, and that isn't a snack, its a meal! Apparently the French don't snack at all, they have 3-4 main meals a day, and they like to savour every bite. Apparently some schools have three course meals at lunch time! I'm not a great cook and since I don't really know how to live that way, I'll stick with my snacks- I'll just try and make better choices!

Updates

I've been talking about gyms with my parents. I would really like to go to the Aquatic Centre one, because they have a pool, classes and a gym which is what I was used to in my hometown, and I took full advantage of all the facilities. They also had a sauna and steam room! Win! It was only $15 a week.
Instead, they would prefer me to use the University one because its $20 a fortnight for a premium membership, and I will be able to meet people my own age. Bah! I don't like the idea of people striking up a conversation with me, then finding out that I'm an uneducated fool. Plus, there will probably be lots of people.
The gym does sound good though. There's everything I want except possibly the sauna/steam room thing, which is a shame. They even have zumba! They have a pilates intro course which runs for 6 (?) weeks, but its $70 and its only one night a week. I'm not sure if its worth it or not, but I would definitely meet people.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that for now. Since I have a car, going to the gym seems like more of a possibility than it was a month ago.

I've had a few arguments with my parents about food. I really want to get my own groceries, but they would prefer it if I give them some money each week. They pay about 2/3s of my grocery bill because I can't afford to contribute more. The problem is, that my mum doesn't buy a lot of foods I like, and I feel like I am lacking freedom. I loved living on my own because I had full control over my diet, I could eat chocolate everyday and I was losing a good amount of weight. At home, we have sausages once a week, which is not something I'm a fan of. The problem is, I was paying $70 a week for food when I lived on my own, but since the Rugby World Cup and all the problems with the economy, prices have skyrocketed. There were a few people in Healthy Food Guide that only pay $20 a week for groceries, but I have no idea how they manage that. Since we are living on a lifestyle block now, we will eventually grow our own fruit and vegetables, but we can only eat whats in season. Now it costs about $150 a week to feed one person, according to my sister at least. That's money I just don't have.

Still, I've made some progress. Mum has said I can have a small amount of chicken with lunch or some tuna, I am allowed to prepare my own meals and she will try to include me a bit more in the weekly shop. Two weeks ago, we arranged so each of the girls cook two nights a week, and on the last night, either Dad cooks, or Mum cooks an extra night. Should make things a bit easier for her.

Kangaroo Autoseal Bottle

 

I would love one of these!!! When I was a member of David Lloyd's gym in England, I was constantly lugging around a bottle, keys, money, a towel etc, plus my gym bag, a spare change of clothes, my togs etc.
Well, of course, I didn't have each of these items on me at all times, but the first four things, sure. There's not much I can do about the towel, but this bottle would be so handy at the gym! I never really know what to do with my locker key, and its always good to have some cash with you.

I first saw this bottle on pinterest.com, and I knew I had to have it! I would love to buy one for my sister as well, but they are pretty expensive. Since I got into photography though, I've gotten used to spending a bit more on things, although I can't really afford it.

I would have never been able to justify $25 on a drink bottle before. Maybe I'll get lucky and a special will come up on grabone.co.nz? That would be fab!