Day 35

I weighed in on Sunday. Last week I lost 3 pounds for a total weight loss of 20.4 pounds.

In an effort to try and incorporate more vegetables into my diet, I made a veggie-heavy pasta sauce last night with canned tomatoes, red peppers, red onion, swiss chard, mushrooms and ground beef.

I had a new roommate move in yesterday afternoon and I have several tasks that I am working on for the Kansas Equality Coalition. My parents are coming next Monday to visit for Thanksgiving. What I'm saying is: I'm pretty busy so you may not be hearing much from me this week.

Day 31

Breakfast (7:30 a.m.)
1/8 "Thing" (2"x4" piece)
Hot tea with splenda

The Thing is gone! I'll have to work on some sort of fruit and nut bread, cookie or bar that is a bit more pleasant. It was edible, though.

Snack (10:00 a.m.)
2 clementine oranges

Lunch (12:45 p.m.)
2 1/4 c. broccoli cheese soup

Snack (2:00 p.m.)
2 oz dry roasted almonds
1/4 c. chocolate chips
1/4 c. raisins

Dinner (5:30 p.m.)
2 c. broccoli cheese soup
5 c. popcorn (popped in oil with salt)
1 O'dell's Ale

Day 30

Breakfast (7:30)
1/4 of "Thing" (4"x3" piece)

Read yesterday's post. The "Thing" is a late-night creation. It's okay. It's a somewhat bland carbohydrate vessel for putting rasins and walnuts in my belly. There are ways on which it could be improved. Perhaps someday I will make real granola bars, or walnut-rasin wheat bread. For now, I have the "Thing" and it is edible if not great, so I will eat it until it is gone.

Snack (9:45 a.m.)
1/8 of "Thing" (2"x3" piece)
2 clementine oranges (tangerines? satusmas? mandarins? What the hell are these things?)
2 c coffee w/ 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

Lunch (12:30)
1 1/2 c. broccoli cheese soup
2 Weight Watchers chicken ranchero snack wraps

I wound up eating dinner at my friend Jon's house. He had picked up a bunch of hours d'oeuvres from Sam's and wanted to try some.

Dinner (6:45 p.m.)
2/3 c. mixed nuts
3 bacon wrapped tenderloin bites
1 mini spinach dip
1 chicken spinach cup thing (?)
1 mini raspberry brie en crute
3 "little smokies" in blankets

Snack (8:00 p.m.)
5 c. popcorn, salted, popped in oil

Day 29

Its been a couple weeks since I kept a food journal - updating throughout the day the foods and beverages that I have consumed and calculating the calorie content. I find food journaling helpful because: 1. It helps me keep track of how many calories I am consuming; and 2. It helps me make sure that I am eating enough fruits, vegetables and dairy.

Breakfast (9:00 a.m.)
1 slice wheat toast
1 teaspoon honey
2/3 tablespoon peanut butter
1 pear
2 c. coffee with 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Lunch (12:30 p.m.)
2 Weight Watchers chicken ranchero smart mini wraps
1 grilled cheese sandwich
1 1/2 c. skim milk

The comfort food craving continues. Last week, I made a chicken-noodle-veggie casserole. Tonight, I made broccoli cheddar soup. I've had a bag of frozen broccoli hanging out in my freezer for several months, and it was starting to show signs of freezer burn. Soups, stews and casseroles are good ways to use up less-than-perfect produce.

Dinner (6:15 p.m.)
2 c. broccoli cheddar soup

About the soup:
It started with a roux made from about 3/4 stick butter and 1/2 c. flour. To that, I added about 1 1/2 cups lowfat, low sodium chicken broth and 2 1/2 cups skim milk. That mixture was brought to a simmer, then 2 cups frozen broccoli pieces were added. Once the soup reached a low simmer, I added salt and pepper to taste, then added about 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar. This resulted in a soup with a medium-thin "creamy" base. It wasn't as thick (or as high in calories) as most of the broccoli cheddar soups I've had in restaurants.

Snack (8:30 p.m.)
1/2 (4"x7") of "Thing"

So, I was kind of hungry, wanted a granola bar but didn't have any. I set out to make my own. But I didn't have any oatmeal. But I did have whole wheat flour. What resulted was a "Thing." The "Thing" consists of 1 cup whole wheat flour, 2/3 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup rasins (briefly reconstituted in water), 1/3 cup shredded coconut, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 egg and 1/3 cup skim milk. I wanted to make an 8"x8" pan of "granola" bars. The mix I made up didn't quite fill the pan, so it wound up being 8"x7". The "Thing" was about 1/4 inch thick. It was okay. I was hungry. I ate half.

Day 27

This week I weighed in at 328.6 pounds. I only lost 0.4 pounds this week, but I have lost a total of 17.4 pounds since early August.

This was a busy week. I ate more restaurant food than I have in the past few weeks. At Monday's 140conf, there were heavy hours d'oeuvres from Marcella's. Tuesday night I met with the Reno County Democrats at the Anchor Inn (greasy, heavy Mexican-American buffet). Wednesday, I didn't feel like cooking so I went through the drive through at Spangles (cheeseburger and fries) before going to the grocery store. Thursday I assembled a casserole during my lunch break and then threw it in the oven before heading to the Fox Theater to volunteer during the performance of Oklahoma!

Last night I volunteered at the Fox for another show, then went to my friend Christian's house afterwards. Although I ate dinner around 5:30, by the time Christian and his roommate Jason pulled enchiladas out of the oven at 9:00, I couldn't resist trying them. Around 1 a.m. I had another. Oh, and Friday night I made a batch of (18) homemade chocolate chip cookies. I'm the only one who has eaten any. There are only 6 left.

By eating more meals at home next week and by being a bit more meticulous with tracking my food intake during the day, I hope to loose 1.5 to 2 pounds.

Day 22

Yesterday was my first day working the 5:30 a.m. shift at work. After work, I got the awesome opportunity to attend the 140 Character Conference Small Town at the Fox Theater.

I was under the impression that the conference would be about how to use Twitter and ...stuff...and...well, I wasn't really sure what it would be about, but I got a free ticket from my friend Patsy Terrell so I went. It was more than I expected it to be. The conference consisted of many 10-15 minute presentations by a variety of people - educators, volunteers, the Hutchinson Police Department, the girl who got Topeka to change it's name to Google, marketers, adventurers and farmers.

The conference was less about "This is the internet. This is how to use Twitter. This is how you use social media to make money." and more about "Hey, we have a never-before-seen opportunity to connect with people around the world in amazing and incredible ways. This is my story. This is something awesome that has happened because of this crazy technology."

The conference was organized by Jeff Pulver and Becky McCray. It was the first "Small Town" 140 character conference. Others have been in New York, LA, DC, Vegas and other large cities. At the end of the day, Jeff and Becky told us that Hutchinson had the 4th highest turn out (better than DC, Boston and San Francisco) and the most people still in the audience at the end of the day. They also told us that we had the best live vido streaming and wi-fi connection - thanks to my friend Ron Williams at HutchNet Wireless.

Yesterday I did pretty good, although I did consume a large amount of cheesy, creamy spinach dip and a croissant (as part of a turkey sandwich). Today I slept very late and had some white bean and chicken soup for lunch. The soup consists of mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot), garlic, chicken broth, about 1/3 chicken cut up into small pieces, and 3 cups navy beans. I made the soup Sunday for dinner and had some for lunch yesterday

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 15

First day of the new job! Up before daylight! Breakfast...at breakfast time!

Breakfast (6:45 a.m.)
1 1/2 c. Special K Red Berries
1 c. skim milk
1 c. coffee w/1/2 tablespoon heavy cream

I have a little bit of a soft spot for statistics, so I'm kind of addicted to Google Analytics. This site allows you to track statistics about who visits your site. So far I have had 78 visits from 53 unique visitors. This blog has been viewed by people in 4 countries other than the United States: France, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom. Within the United States, this blog has been visited by people in 12 states. The majority of views come from Hutchinson, Kansas. My visitors from Illinois and New York spend the most time on the site (10 min 25 sec and 9 min 20 sec respectively). For all visitors, the average time on the site is 1 minute 43 seconds.

(End geek-out for the day)

Day 14 - availability and cost of nutrition

So, I got that job I interviewed for last week, yay! I've been having a pretty in-depth discussion about nutrition availability on Facebook with Cody Heitschmit. More about this later - I've got to go in and sign all that "yay you have a job" paperwork.

Breakfast (11:30 a.m.):
1 1/2 c. Special K Red Berries Cereal
1 c. skim milk

Coffee (12:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.)
4 c. coffee
3 oz heavy cream

Yes, I've had 4 cups of coffee in an hour and a half window. Insert pscychotic twitchy grin here: O.o

Snack (3:30 p.m.)
1/2 c. low-fat plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon honey.

Back to this nutrition discussion. It was prompted by a column in the Hutchinson News. In the article, the author expresses dismay at seeing a family using a Vision card (food stamp money) to buy pop, candy and other non-nutritional items. He goes on to ponder about how to ensure that food stamp funds are providing nutrition to low income families instead of paying for nutritionally deficient items.

The main focus of the article was on the items being purchased, how to limit the use of government funds to purchase non-nutritional food, and how to educate people who use these benefits about proper nutrition. However, one point stuck out at me - the author seemed to be dismayed that food stamp users were purchasing food at a convenince store "at convenience store prices." Admitedly, in Hutchinson, Kansas, grocery stores are very accessible, even in low-income neighborhoods, and shopping at Kwik Shop is probably unnecessary.

In the discussion, I brought up the fact that in many parts of the country, people do not have easy access to nutritious food. In many urban areas (and, after futher digging, rural areas, too), low-income people may live over 1 mile from a large grocery store or supermarket. For people who cannot drive, it can be difficult for them to get access to affordable, nutritious food. Many convenience stores carry bread, milk, eggs, and canned goods, but there is a lack of availability of fresh fruit and vegetables.

In discussions about nutrition, we often focus on what people are or are not eating. Sometimes, we have to look at the availability of nutritious foods. Are fruits and vegetables available at affordable prices in all communities? Unfortunately, in some places the answer is no. In many areas groups have organized community gardens in these areas and have encouraged small corner stores to increase the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables. However, it is difficult for small, non-chain stores to provide fresh produce at low prices because they do not have access to the bargaining power and bulk prices that large supermarket chains do.

I think Jason Probst's article brings up some important issues about nutrition. Our country is facing a health and nutrition crisis, and we are getting to a point where we have to have a very serous conversation at the national level about how to provide actual nutrition to our low income population rather than subsidising eating habits that lead to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Beyond government assistance, we will need to have an in-depth discussion about how we teach our children about nutrition and how to promote healthy lifestyles among our entire population. It may sound cliche, but obesity IS an epidemic which leads to lost income, lost productivity, and ultimately loss of life. In order for us as a nation to live quality lives and be productive, nutrition needs to be a priority and not an afterthought.

On a different note...

As some of you may know, I have been unemployed/temporarily employed/under-employed for about 6 1/2 months after resigning from the City of Hutchinson in order to explore different career options. I've been trying to get my own business doing event planning and providing personal chef services off the ground, but it will be a long time before that business is profitable enough to pay all the bills. A few weeks ago I started job hunting. I took the first offer that was given to me because I am running out of savings very fast. The schedule is part time and will allow me to continue working on the business if I so choose or take on another part time job. However, it will be a long time before I am earning anything near the income I was earning at the City of Hutchinson.

I have made some minor adjustments in my spending and lifestyle over the summer. However, because my personal long-term economic forecast is grim, I need to buckle down and cut costs. Nutrition is a priorty to me and I will continue to purchase nutritious foods. Although many people think that processed foods are cheaper, prices are often similar or lower for homemade foods made "from scratch." Oftentimes, the real hang up is the time needed to prepare healthy food from scratch. Dry beans need to soak for several hours or overnight. Bread has to rise, a whole chicken needs 1 1/2 to 2 hours of cooking time versus 20-30 minutes for boneless skinless chicken breasts. However, planning and dedication can ensure that you get the most nutrition for your money.

Friday night I went to the grocery store. I spent $43.67 on about a week's worth of food. I may need to go back for a specific ingredient, but that constitutes the bulk of my grocery shopping. Albeit, I am only one person...but still, a week's worth of groceries for under $50 per person is not bad. Keep in mind that I have other staples that will round out my meals, but those are often incorporated into my regular weekly shopping.

What can $43.67 get you (from Dillons on 30th)?
5 pounds of apples
1 large head of cauliflower
1.65 pounds of broccoli crowns
2 cloves of garlic, 2 pounds of carrots
1 bunch of celery, 2 yellow onions, one red onion
1 two-pound tub of Dannon low-fat plain yogurt
1 carton (20 tea bags) Twinning's Decaf Earl Grey tea
1 carton (20 tea bags) Stash English Breakfast tea
2 whole chickens (one for the freezer to be used at a later date)
1 loaf Dillon's sliced wheat bread
1 gallon of skim milk
1 package (8 cubes) of vegetable bullion

If I had not bought the teas (just drink water or the coffee I have), bullion (make my own vegetable stock) or the 2nd chicken (purchase at a later date), then my grocery bill for the week would have been about $30.37. By cooking with whole, unprocessed foods, I am able to eat a healthy, low-cost diet.

Dinner (5:45 p.m.):
3 c. steamed white rice
1 1/2 c. broccoli flowerets
1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
3 slices bacon
(everything was combined together - kind of a one-bowl meal)

Snack (8:45 p.m.):
2 oz roasted almonds

Snack (9:30 p.m.):
1 teaspoon salted caramel sauce
1 c. skim milk

Final calorie count for the day: 2208.

It just so happens that my first day at my new job is tomorrow...which is also the department "bring stuff to work for someone's birthday/because we feel like it" day. I made an apple galette with salted caramel sauce and couldn't resist sneaking a spoonfull of the caramel. I hope my offering of sugary goodness will win me brownie points with the new co-workers.

Day 13

I weighed in this morning at 331.2 pounds. Last week's weight was 331.8. This week I lost 0.6 pounds. This is evidence of how just one or two days of overeating can affect your weight loss goals.

Today I decided to try Jillian's new Sunday brunch. They just started 3 weeks ago and aren't really advertising yet. It was a buffet, and most of the stuff was pretty good. A few things were a little bland, but overall it was a decent brunch. I personally prefer a brunch where you can order off a menu - it is typically a bit cheaper, you can make healthier choices, and it isn't as easy to overeat. As we saw last week, when confronted with a buffet or other endless source of food, I, like many people, tend to overeat.

Brunch, Jillian's Italian Grill (11:00 a.m.):
1/4 cup fresh fruit
1/4 cup quinoa salad (with cranberries, bell pepper, carrot, cucumber and onion)
1/8 c. caprese salad (tomato, mozzarella, vinegar, olive oil, basil)
1/8 c. penne w/tomato sauce, mini meatballs and cheese
1/8 c. green beans
1 slice bacon
1/8 c. scrambled eggs
3 oz. ham (carving station...nice)
1/10 c. escallopped potatoes (potatoes au gratin?)
1 oz. chicken marsala (chicken with white wine mushroom cream sauce)
1/3 biscuit with 1 tablespoon sausage gravy
3 homefries (seasoned 1/4 inch potato cubes)
1/4 egg benedict (english muffin, canadian bacon, poached egg, holandaise sauce)
1 pumpkin pie individual tartlet w/ 1 1/2 teaspoon whipped cream
1 mimosa (sparkling wine and orange juice)
3 c. coffee
2 oz heavy cream (for said coffee)

The problem with buffets, especially if it is the first time you've had the buffet at a particular restaurant, is that you want to try everything. Even eating very small amounts (about 2-3 bites worth) of most of the things on the buffet add up very quickly. This goes double for things that are cheesy or creamy - escalloped potatos, chicken marsala, holandaise sauce, gravy.

The total calorie count for this extravaganza: 1494. For many people, this would be their caloric intake for the whole day. For me, this is over half of what I need. I should have eaten about 1/2 of what I consumed, passed up items that didn't look particularly interesting, and rejected the owner's insistance that I sample the eggs benedict.

I have about 1000 calories "left" for the day - that's about how much I can consume without "busting" my diet. Considering how full I feel at the moment, that shouldn't be a problem.

Dinner (8:00 p.m.):
1 weight watchers quesadilla (black beans, cheese, vegetables, about 230 calories)
1 bacon egg and cheese sandwich
    2 slices whole wheat bread
    1 slice bacon
    1 large egg
    1/4 c. grated cheddar cheese

Calorie intake for the day: 2287.