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Weekly Updates

June 17, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

Didnt do so well this week. Though, I had about two hours of walking one day (to find cupcakes, and I had to ask them to get the cupcakes out of the freezer!) So, about 240 minutes of walking. (Low intensity).

Next week, Monday to Friday, is my “no artificial sweetener” week. If my grandmother would have cooked with it, it is fine. This includes sugar, brown sugar, honey, and molasses. If it is an artificial sweetener, or any fancy new stuff (high fructose corn syrup, agave syrup, Splenda), I will not be eating it.

My english muffins have sucralose in them :(

Wednesday is the YumJared No sweets challenge. He says he will write about it soon. But, I am taking the challenge as “nothing that has sweetener in it.” I might make myself whole grain bread and eat butter and bread and meat that day. May throw in a vegetable or two :)

So, Monday to Friday (defined as 12:01am Monday to 11:59pm Friday), no artificial sweeteners. Wednesday, no sweeteners of any kind.

Anyone joining me on the week or the day challenge?

Fat is not a bad word

June 16, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

I wrote this as a comment to a post on FitBottomedGirls.com.

(She) said “When I see the word “fat,” I think “hate” or “ugly” or, even, “not good enough.” In my mind, if you call yourself fat, you’re hating on yourself and not honoring the person you are inside and out.”

I am fat. Fat is a description. It says that I am larger than what some arbitrary person says I should be. Note: larger, not heavier. My blog is “Fat Girl Shrinking,” which is a description, and I do not think I am hating on myself when I say it. I am honoring the person that I was (at 320), that I am (240ish), and that I will be (whatever weight I will be.)

Women think they are fat because we have been told all our lives that we need to be “thin” to be pretty. Thus, if you are not “thin,” then you are “ugly” and “not good enough.” This is not any fault of the word, but rather a sickness that is in our culture.

I would rather live in a world in which ALL women (and all people), are considered beautiful for the beauty that they have, inherent to their being alive, rather than one that says our looks are the only thing that matters to them.

(See also Fat Rant 1 (and part 2 and 3!)

Sleep

June 12, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

I seriously need to get back on a more normal sleep schedule.

I have been going to bed around 5-7am. Waking up (if I dont set the alarm) between 2 and 5pm. The days that I do have to set my alarm and get up early, it takes me about an hour to wake up, and I still do not go to bed until 5am.

Yesterday, I woke up around 2pm to meet a friend for shopping. I stayed up all night, napped from 3 to 6ish, then got up for a friend coming over. I had hoped that going that long with that little sleep would have helped me get to bed. Yet, here again, it is 4am, and I am not sleepy. (Later today, I have a cake decorating class as well as a friend’s housewarming, so sleep would be nice :)

When i do get to sleep as long as I want and without an alarm, I sleep far too long (10-14 hours).

(Oh, and even with only 3 hours of sleep, and probably not enough watcher, only a slight headache.)

Anyone have good tips for resetting sleep schedules?

LHAS Wednesday Walking Weigh In

June 9, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

I walked.

Quite a bit. Sunday I set out walking. I knew that I had to get from my place to another, and that public transportation would be involved. I also figured out that the start point for the bus portion would be 2.5 miles away.

I figured that I didnt want to walk that far, but that I would start out walking towards the subway stop.

When I got to the subway stop, the signs had changed that said the bus I needed would go there! Woohoo! Of course, after June 28, it would have, but it wasnt at that point. Boo!

So, I figured I could walk to that bus. Which was then three long blocks from the transfer point.

Lesson learned: shorter walks with opportunities for extensions are good. I didnt realize that I had walked 2.5 miles until I got on the bus.

Then, because I took the IKEA shuttle rather than the actual bus, I didnt realize until later that I had to walk a half mile to get to the place I was going. And another half mile back.

I walked 3.5 miles, without realizing that I was doing it! The best kind of exercise is accidental.

So, about 4 hours of exercise total over the week (240 minutes.) Met my goal!

I will have a post up soon about my sugar & substitutes weekday challenge :)

Morning Coffee and Headaches

June 7, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

Well, not really.

In scholarly news, check out this study: “With frequent consumption, substantial tolerance develops to the anxiogenic (ed: anxiety causing) effect of caffeine, even in genetically susceptible individuals, but no net benefit for alertness is gained, as caffeine abstinence reduces alertness and consumption merely returns it to baseline.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/10202553.stm

I am still dealing with headaches. They are no longer daily (Yes!), but are still on the order of 4-6 per week. I am attempting to both narrow down triggers, and see what I can do to reduce the amount and intensity.

Basically, sugar + no sleep = Migraine with nausea.
little sleep = headache
back pain= headache
too much sugar= sometimes headache, mostly just a “you need to eat some protein or so help me I will make you hurt.” And then the headache (and nausea) if I do not have protein.

The amount of water and/or other liquids really don’t affect the headache that much past a certain (low) point (around 32ish ounces), though I do notice I wake up with a headache more often when I drink less than that. Drinking more, from 64 to 80 oz has little to no effect.

The most recent try was giving up caffeine. Didn’t work. Though, that week did give me perspective on exactly how much caffeine I had been drinking. (Venti Starbucks drink in the morning (225) plus 24-32 oz soda in the evening (135ish). Now, I drink a 2/3rd decaf veniti.

Whoo is that fun to order! My full Starbucks order is “Iced venti 2/3rds decaf sugar free vanilla soy caramel macchiato.”

Which means it is time to switch drinks.

I have also found that many places have caffeine free soda in their fountains. I prefer fountain drinks to non fountain ones, and ones in the can or bottle have to go over ice for me to really appreciate them.

Anyone else either notice how much caffeine they consume, or have cut down or out? Any fun effects?

Steel Cut Oats

June 3, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

One of my current breakfasts is Steel Cut Oats.

One cup of Steel Cut Oats
Three cups of Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk (I have heard weird things about regular milk in the crock pot, so I use soy milk. Works so far!) I am sure you can use other kinds of soy milk, but this is what I usually have around
1/4 cup of sugar free maple syrup. (I normally stay away from foods containing sugar alcohols, but I have this in my house because my partner likes pancakes when he is over. Split over the four servings gives me 2 grams of sugar alcohol per serving, which I am fine with.)

I put this in a 1.5-Quart Round Slow Cooker
Spray the crock with non stick spray before putting everything in. Cook on high for about three hours. I have also done this overnight on low with four cups of liquid, but it develops a skin on top.

I dish this out into four servings. I microwave it for about a minute, then add about a tablespoon of brown sugar, and microwave it for another minute. Delicious, and filling!

Cupcake Diet- #LHAS

June 2, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

Two weeks I had cupcakes (with French Buttercream). Two weeks I lost. Coincidence?

Probably.

I had two cupcakes (and a waffle) Monday. I also walked two miles, bought a dress, ate a 25 point Chicken Parmesan dinner, and did a 25 minute moderate intensity Cardio Fitness workout.

And lost 3.4 pounds today. WTF body? (Not that I am counting weight for the LHAS challenge, but still.) Activity for the week is 240 minutes.

A few challenges that I am asking myself to do this month:

Eat at least 7 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, and at least 2 different types each of fruit and vegetable.

Walk a mile each day. (This is Very Easy when I go to Manhattan, not so easy when I stay home.)

The last week of June (June 21-25) go completely artificial sweetener free. The Wednesday of that week, go completely sugar free as well. This is part of the YumJared project.

Anyone want to join me?

New Kitty!

May 27, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

Munchkin Cat on Computer

Pluto

Her name is Pluto, and she is a Munchkin. This is a natural mutation, and has no health issues associated with the short legs.

She is pretty shy, and has spent most of her time hanging out under our bed. She has not met the other resident cat yet (who is almost twice her size!)

How this relates to health? (Not that it has to, it is my blog, but still :) My roommates cat has gained some weight since living here, since he was used to living with other cats. We are hoping that having a second cat in the apartment will encourage both to be more active! Grab a friend and play!

LHAS Wednesday check In

May 26, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

Well, I didnt do as bad this week as I thought I would :)

We walked several museums (Including the Creation Museum!) I swam three days, doing actual “laps” for a part of the time. (Does hot tub time count for activity?) I got to play with kitty cats, and brought home one of my own! :) I will have a picture up soon.

Info from a friend

May 23, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

I am part of a twitter/blogger group that is doing Weight Watchers together. Our meeting this week was about Breakfast foods, and my friend Amber wrote up a blog post about it!

Check it out at TheAmberShow.net!

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