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.

Day 20 - First week of work craziness

So, the whole daily journal thing kind of went out the window this week. I started a new job on Tuesday. Even though I'm only working part time, this is the first time in a while that I've had to keep a regular schedule (and be awake before 10 a.m...way before 10 a.m, actually). Although I had a day off on Wednesday, I didn't feel like doing anything except watch the Mad Man season 1 disk 2 dvd and other movies/shows on Netflix watch instantly. Let me give you highlights from the last few days:

Tuesday - snack day at work and fried chicken dinner at a volunteer banquet

Wednesday - grilled cheese and turkey sandwich, popcorn

Thursday - chicken, mirepoix and light gravy/broth over crash-hot potato (my new obsession), lots of coffee

Friday - Hutch High football game, small peppermint mocha at Metro Coffee afterwards (complete with whole milk and whipped cream)

Saturday - work at 7:00 a.m., crazy busy, more chicken & potato, more coffee

Today:

Breakfast (10:30 a.m.)
2 eggs, over medium
5 slices bacon
8 oz smoothie (1/2 c frozen peaches, 1/2 c lowfat plain yogurt, 3 oz skim milk)

I plan to make a white bean and chicken soup in a bit for dinner and food for this week.

This week I lost 2.8 pounds for a total of 17 pounds lost in the past 13 weeks.

Day 10

Today is a big day. I have a job interview this afternoon and a friend is coming over at 11 for a day of cooking, so there will be recipes to post later. I actually got up for normal people breakfast time!

Breakfast (8:15 a.m.):
2 c. Special K Red Berries cereal
1 1/3 c. skim milk
3 c. coffee w/ 2 1/2 tablespoons hazlenut creamer (7:30 is early)

Well, cooking day has been postponed. My friend is feeling under the weather.

Lunch (12:30 p.m.):
1 1/2 c. steamed white rice
7 oz. roast beef
1 c. gravy w/ 2/3 c. spinach wilted in

Interview went okay, I think. Going to Third Thursday tonight!

Dinner (5:00 p.m.)
1 Weight Watchers Smart Ones quesadilla
1 glass white wine

Sorry it took me a while to finish this post. I didn't get home until late Thursday night and today...well, I was just lazy.

Snacks/Dinner (6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.)
3 pieces pineapple
3 carrot sticks
1/2 teaspoon ranch dressing
2 crackers
2 .25 oz cheese cubes
1/4 cup popcorn and candy mix
1 ginger cookie
1 hot dog on bun with ketchup
1 cup peanut and candy mix
1/4 cup potato cassarole
1/4 cup baked broccoli and cheese
1 Bud light
1 chocolate chip cookie

Apparenly, snacking is my downfall. Total calorie intake: 2896.

Day 9

Breakfast (10:30 a.m.):
1 1/2 c. Kellog's Special K Red Berries
1 c. skim milk

Lunch (1:15 p.m.):
1 acorn squash stuffed with wild rice stuffing
1.5 c. wild rice stuffing
    1/2 c. wild rice
    1/8 diced granny smith apple
    1/4 c. golden raisins
    3/4 c. low sodium chicken broth
    salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tablespoon grated parmesean
2 tablespoons roasted squash seeds
2 c. coffee w. f.f. hazlenut creamer

The stuffed squash was AMAZING! It was also pretty easy to make.

First, cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Rub the flesh with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the stuffing. In a small pot with tight-fitting lid, mix 1/2 c. wild rice mix (unseasoned), 1/8 cup diced granny smith apple (or other tart apple), 1/4 cup raisins and 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth. Add salt and pepper to taste (for me, a dash of salt and a liberal amount of pepper). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook for 15 minutes.

When the rice and squash are finished cooking, spoon rice mixture into the cavities of the squash halves. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesean. Return to oven and bake for about 10 minutes.

If you're vegetarian, substitute vegetable broth. If you're vegan, sub veggie broth and leave out the parmesean.

I also roasted the seeds from the squash, but unfortunately I left them in the oven a bit too long. I tried a few, but they really were burnt. Just seperate them from the squash goo, rinse, let dry on a paper towel, then mix with olive oil, salt, and any other spices you'd like and roast at 375 for about 8-10 minutes (apparently 20 is way too long).

Snack (4:00 p.m.):
2/3 c. f.f. no sugar added peach yogurt

Snack (5:15 p.m.):
2 oz. smoked almonds

Tonight for dinner I was invited to join the Kansas Main Street Conference for a mini "Taste It" Downtown Hutchinson. Typically "Taste It" is a quarterly event where people buy tickets and visit 10-12 restaurants downtown to sample food. Food is included in the price of the ticket, but people pay for drinks. Tonight they did a smaller version just for the conference with 6 restaurants. I missed out on two restaurants because I attended another event.

So, we traveled around to different restaurants - dinner took about 3 hours.

Dinner (6:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.)
10 wheat tortilla chips (Anchor Inn)
3 tablespoons salsa
1 mini bbq sandwich (Danny Boy's)
1 oz serving baked beans
1 small slice pepperoni pizza (Carl's Bar)
1 small slice hamburger pizza
1 Ginger Bee beer
2 oz beef fillet (Marcella's)
1/2 tablespoon blue cheese sauce
1 very tiny roasted potato with sour cream
1 glass Riesling white wine
1 individual pumpkin tart (Jillian's)
1 "Cougar" cocktail

So I added up my food calories for the day and came up to 2587. Not bad, right? Oops, forgot to add in the alcohol. Final count? 3012 calories. I definately need to watch my calories the rest of the week. Yes, I did some walking this evening, but not 400 calories worth. FYI, before "dinner" I had only consumed about 1400 calories.

Amy, why are you so concerned about eating enough calories?

Our bodies need a certain number of calories to function based on our activity level, age and current weight. When we increase activity level without consuming more calories or if we cut our calorie intake, we lose weight.

When there are drastic increases in calorie burn or decreases in calorie consumption, our bodies begin to burn protein (muscle mass) as well as fat. The loss of muscle mass, aside from making us weaker, reduces our ability to burn calories and regulate blood sugar.

According to an article from MSN Health & Fitness, different people can lose weight at different rates without losing muscle mass:

Obese to morbidly obese: 3 to 5 pounds per week
Overweight: 2 to 3 pounds per week
Lean to average: 1 to 2 pounds per week
Very Lean: .5 to 1 pound per week

Although I fall into the obese/morbidly obese category, I am aiming for 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week. For me, this means consuming 2600 or fewer calories per day. I learned last week that when eating whole foods prepared at home (rather than eating pre-packaged foods or restaurant food), it is easy for me to reduce calorie consumption and almost hard to eat 2600 calories per day without making a concerted effort. I don’t stress too much about it, but I do try to eat at least 2000 calories per day.

In addition to trying to prevent the loss of muscle mass, slow weight loss helps us make the gradual adjustments necessary to sustain a long-term healthy lifestyle. Many people lose weight rapidly through diets that they don’t plan to follow for the rest of their lives. Once the diet is over, they return to their pre-diet eating habits and gain weight again – often more than they originally lost. This leads to a cycle of “yo-yo” dieting.

An article from Livestrong.com (Lance Armstrong’s foundation) talks about the dangers of dieting, especially “yo-yo” dieting. A factor that many people do not consider when dieting is the stress it places on the heart. As stated in the article:

“When you gain or lose weight, your heart must adjust to accommodate more or less body weight. Since your heart is a muscle, rapid weight loss or constantly losing and then gaining weight can place a lot of stress on your heart. As your weight changes so does your blood pressure and heart rate. You may also experience irregular heart rhythms and eventually heart failure. It is actually better for your heart to maintain a set weight then to continually gain and lose weight.”

Another danger of dieting is cutting out foods that provide necessary nutrients. This is why I like the nutrition tracker from MyPyramid. This USDA program allows users to enter the types and amounts of food that they eat and then analyzes it for nutritional content including protein, fiber, calcium, various vitamins, potassium, sodium, Omega-3 fatty acids and cholesterol. Many of us don’t get all the nutrients we need, and when people start eliminating foods during a diet, the risk of missing out on important nutrients is even higher.

Although we are often concerned about having too much fat, it is important to normal body functions. Fat is necessary for the formation and function of the brain and nervous system. It forms the membranes of every cell in your body. It also helps make hormones and transports vitamins from the intestines to the rest of your body. Eating extremely low fat diets can have negative effects on alertness, memory, and energy levels. To learn more about the importance of fats in your diet and the different types of fats, check out this article from youngwomenshealth.org.

A healthy diet will include carbohydrates, protein and fat. In addition to these “macronutrients,” we need to be conscientious of the vitamins and minerals that our body needs and food sources that provide them. And don’t think you can just sub in a multivitamin for healthy eating. Although they can help people who are extremely malnourished, the best sources of vitamins are a variety of fruits and vegetables. The natural combinations of vitamins and minerals from food sources are often more effective than a multivitamin. Don’t believe me? Read what recent research has shown about the effectiveness of multivitamins in preventing cancer and heart disease. Momma told you to eat your vegetables. She was right.

So, in summary, be aware of what you’re eating and how much you are eating. Aim for steady and sustainable weight loss. Eat whole foods. Eat a balanced diet. Thank you, and good night.