Bye Bye, Paxil Munchies

So, last week and the week before I was hungry all the time. I blamed it on the Paxil. Now my munchies are gone. Maybe it was just a getting-to-know-you thing between my body and the drugs. Appetite seems to have returned to normal.

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be feeling any less "blah". I still have that borderline-depression-don't-feel-like-doing-anything feeling. Perhaps I perpetuate this by not doing anything. Maybe if I actually forced myself to do things, I'd feel more like being productive.

My weight this week has remained steady. No weight lost, probably because of pizza consumption. I order pizza when I don't feel like cooking and/or don't have anything to cook and/or don't feel like leaving the house. Unfortunately, even a small amount of pizza has a large amount of calories.

The Journey Continues...New Job, More Weight Lost, and my battle with the Paxil Munchies

So, I promised I would be sharing more blog posts throughout my Choose 2 Lose experience but did not follow through on that promise. I give you no more promises, but I do come bearing an update.

A big part of the reason I have not been posting much lately is because I have changed jobs (yet again...yes, I know). I got hired as a cook at Wilder's Bakery and Bistro around mid February, and for a while I was working there and at the Hutchinson News (65-70 hour weeks, yikes). Even after I resigned from the News, I was still getting used to being on my feet all the time and the more physical nature of working in a kitchen. I was tired all the time and pretty much all I did was eat, sleep, work, watch movies on Netflix and do laundry. I'm finally starting to get into the routine of having a somewhat physically demanding job.

Working a job that requires me to be on my feet 40 hours a week has definitely helped with achieving my weight loss goals. Since starting at the restaurant, I have lost about 15 pounds. Yesterday I weighed in at 309 pounds. I have lost 37 pounds since I went to the doctor before my trip to Panama.

About 2 weeks ago I started taking generic Paxil (anti-anxiety/anti-depressant) which I think is affecting my metabolism. I am hungry all the time. It's seriously so bad I've started referring to the phenomenon as the "Paxil Munchies." They come on almost without warning and I feel like I'm starving even if I just had a snack a couple of hours before. In order to deal with this constructively, I try to eat about 5 small meals a day. I also make sure I have high-fiber granola bars on hand at work for a healthy snack, because we don't really get designated breaks, and it's a "grab what you can and stuff it in your face while trying to do 15 other things" situation.

Despite constantly eating, I have lost 8 pounds in the past 2 weeks (before I was losing 1-2 pounds/week). Something has reved my metabolism up, and for now I'm not complaining. Last night, I went out dancing with some friends and I wore a pair of jeans (2 sizes smaller than what I was wearing last fall) that I have not been able to wear for about a year and a half or two years. It was great motivation to continue eating healthy!

Sample day of Amy's Paxil Munchie diet
Breakfast:
2 cups of coffee w/2 tablespoons of heavy cream
1 1/2 cups Active Lifestyle red berry cereal
1 cup skim milk
1 cup lowfat plain yogurt
4 sliced strawberries

Mid-morning snack:
1 cup skim milk
1 medium banana
1 Active Lifestyle granola bar (high fiber, high protein)

Lunch:
Turkey Sandwich:
2 slices light wheat bread
1/2 tablespoon light mayo
1/2 tablespoon stone ground mustard
4 oz turkey
few thinly sliced red onions
few spinach leaves

1 cup low fat yogurt w/ sliced strawberries
1 medium apple

Afternoon snack:
1/8 "cookie cake" (equivalent to about 2 2-inch chocolate chip cookies)
1 cup skim milk

Later afternoon snack:
1 cup lowfat plain yogurt with 1/2 sliced banana

Dinner:
1 1/2 cups cooked white rice
1 cup black beans (cooked with tomatoes, bell pepper, onion and spices)
1/8 cup shredded cheese

Night snack:
4 cups popcorn popped with 1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup pomegranate juice

Okay...that was actually 7 small meals. Did I mention that my meds make me hungry? All. The. Time. My strategy is to be prepared with something healthy to munch on so that I don't give into the temptation to run to Burger King or order from Papa John's.

Choose 2 Lose

So, its been a while since I've posted anything here. During the holidays I got out of my healthy eating habits and gained back about 5 pounds. I still have lost a total of 16 pounds since starting my weight loss journey. Wintertime is always difficult for me because I am more prone to depression, and the combination of darkness, loneliness, and cold make me crave high-sugar, high-fat comfort foods.

At my workplace, we have formed teams for Choose 2 Lose. This is a program put on by the Hutchinson Clinic in which teams at different companies compete in a weight loss/fitness challenge. The program lasts 10 weeks and teams receive points for days participants work out, number of pounds each participant loses, and percentage of weight lost by team members.

Each Choose 2 Lose team has a team captain. I was elected captain of my team. Part of my strategy is to provide weekly healthy eating tips to my teammates and archive them on this blog so that they are easily accessible to my teammates and to others who are interested in weight loss.

Sometimes the greatest motivation is motivating others.