OK, so I’m going to see how this weight-control oatmeal works out. I’m finding myself more and more pressed for time in the morning and don’t want to give breakfast…and grabbing something like a mcmuffin isn’t always the best choice.

So I got this oatmeal. I am hoping that it will keep me from snacking on the wrong things. It only has 29 grams of carbs…so we’ll see

OK so I finally bought a scale.

I am afraid to know the number associated with my fatness and it didn’t help that when I asked the Walmart employee where the scales were he pointed to the automotive area (it was in aisle before automotive but still). It made feel like I was big like a car. I know how stupid that sounds, I know, but it just made me feel that more fat and ugly — which a bad attitude can torpedo any effort one makes.

I was glad it took me 30 minutes to get home because I was really nervous because I’m afraid of failing…I know, you have heard this a million times.

I get inside and take the scale out…my hands are a little shaky. I get the battery connected. I put it on the floor….

I’m feeling a little sick to my stomach…thinking about the pizza and the ice cream and how this isn’t going to be pretty.

My weight generally sits at 220 (last time I was weighed).  220 for someone who is about 5′6, not exactly healthy.

So what did the scale say…queasy feelings as I stepped on the scale…trying to quickly get off my watch and kicking off my shoes…

OK…the result. Do you really want to know?

Fine.

207

Whew! I actually did lose some weight –13 pounds — and that explains why my jeans feel a little less tight!

The goal was to lose 30 pounds by December…so maybe we are moving in the right direction after all. But there are 17 pounds still to go before I can say I weigh 190…which by the way is still too heavy, but I will certainly feel better about myself.

I always start the day with good intentions. Today was a perfect example with some low-fat yogurt for breakfast, some cottage cheese and tomatoes for lunch. Heck, I even made sure I had snacks (an apple for the afternoon and a multi-grain tortilla for the mid-morning munchies)

And I spaced things out. I even only had a hand full of rice cakes for a snack before I cooked dinner. Even dinner went OK, spaghetti within reason and few meatballs. Will be the first to admit went overboard when I had two pieces of French bread.

But it was later this evening when I was craving ice cream — a blizzard-type ice cream. Ordinarily, I would say no, but somehow I felt it was OK that I just couldn’t deny myself the sweet cream.

Now, I regret it…since I sit here and feel totally fat and too full.

Snacks are evil.

Evil I said!

They are out to  destroy any efforts…and I am talking about the healthy snacks like Quaker’s mini rice cakes.

A friend from work suggested trying the mini rice cakes as a healthy, low cal snack.

Ginger, the busy bee as she is, took in the advice but didn’t act on it until last week when she needed quick and easy snacks that easily can be consumed  while she worked on her long paper.

Yeah…this is how I discovered the rice cakes are evil

Ginger and Willpower: “Huh, carmel flavor. We like carmel. Only 60 calories and 13 grams of carbs, might be worth a try. “ 

later at my desk:

Ginger and Willpower: “Huh, these are pretty good. Let’s just have he seven cakes (serving size) and put the bag away.”

Brain: “IT IS ABOUT TIME! I have wanted something sweet and tasty since you denied me kettle corn in May and June and July.”

Ginger and Willpower : <eye roll> “Glad you are finally happy.”

Brain: “We need to eat more of those…they are good for us.”

Ginger and Willpower: “OK”

And I proceed to eat two, three, OK four, handfuls of the mini rice cakes.

Lesson: Ginger still needs to learn moderation, even when things are low cal and healthy.

Verdict: While delicious, rice cakes are evil. 

Oooh, that reminds me, I need to pick up another bag at the grocery store today.

Hi guys!

I’m taking a little break between work and my long paper. Still working on that thing. Getting closer but it has taken up a lot of time and I haven’t posted like I should.

But I still struggling. I recently discovered rice cakes — the mini ones — and they are really good. However, I need to limit access to the cakes. I  can’t just eat the serving size. I try to rationalize it as “it is low in calorie so it is OK.”

But I know it isn’t.

g

Despite everything the people at my work say, I am not a morning person. And I have been staying up way past my bedtime the last couple of nights. I have to get up really early because I have to be at work no later than 6:30 a.m. 

Late nights generally put me behind in the mornings, so the first thing I skip in my morning ritual is breakfast.

This morning was one of those mornings. I was a little too pushed for time so I thought  I would do without my Cheerios, which was OK because we don’t have any reduced fat milk, just half-n-half (the full fat half-n-half).

By the time, I was close to the office, I started feeling a little peckish. Yup, I was a little hungry. So I thought, what the heck, I will treat myself to a breakfast sandwich from Mickey D’s.

Once I made this determination, I decided I would do the McMuffin — for some reason I thought an English muffin, with egg, cheese and Canadian bacon would be a little better than a sausage egg biscuit. There wasn’t any reasoning behind my thinking…I just thought it was a better choice.

So which one do you think is better for someone trying to watch their calories?

My weird little hunch was right. The McMuffin netted me only 300 calories, 30 carbs and 12 grams of fat. A sausage-egg biscuit would have costed me 570 calories, 42 carbs and 37 grams of fat.

What I thought was going to be a treat turned out to be good for me, or at least better than going without breakfast or getting something else.

I cooked a turkey breast on Saturday. It was the fist time I had ever cooked a turkey. I was a little nervous about it  since I’ve never cooked one. And I have pretty high standards for turkey…both my mother and my mother-in-law make really tasty and beautiful birds.

But on Saturday, my nearly 8-pound turkey breast turned out gorgeous and very juicy and tasty. And it didn’t make me sick with salmonella.

The eight-pounder has been more than a tasty dinner on a Saturday night. It has been a lifesaver and timesaver.  Eight pounds of turkey is a lot for a  couple of people to eat, but it has fed us,, well mainly me since Mr. X. is out on business, everyday since Saturday. Lunch is a sandwich and dinner is a turkey feast with mashed sweet potatoes. 

I can eat a little better and I still have time to write my paper.

So some very nice ladies came into the office today…
They were selling Dipping Dots.
I didn’t get any…but boy, I sure did think about it.