Monday, January 30, 2012

Food, food. Glorious food.

Hello again. B at your service, and today we're talking about food. Not the kind of food that I eat when I want to lose weight, but the kind that turned me into the balloon woman that you know now. Bad food in all it's gloriousness is the topic of discussion today.

I have to say this before I say anything else. This entry was extremely hard for me to write. It's bad enough to admit you might be just a little bit out of shape, but to admit what I'm about to tell all of you? This would so not happen 5 years ago. But, I've grown up a little, learned a little bit more, and I realize that reflecting on your eating habits is the only way to a true healthy self, so I'm ready to spill the beans on my bad eating habits in order for some of you to take a look at and analyze your own.

Here we go with that.

Now, I admit that there's some defect in me that doesn't like to cook all the time. Some women love their time in the kitchen and can razzle dazzle some delicious food, but to me, the kitchen was like Mars. I could turn a burner on, but most of my food ended up that way. Burned. But I could make a ramen soup that would make you slap. yo. momma.

In my ignorance of all the different sorts of food out there, I became a picky asshole, and I refused to eat it if it wasn't deep fried or came with a bun with cheese and bacon.

Since I can't cook, and it wasn't possible to Harry Potter a spread of various delicacies without putting in too much effort, most of my eating was done at restaurants and fast good joints. My personal favorite was Culvers. At my fattiest, I could put a major dent in my wallet at Culvers. And it was about a mile down the road from my house. Score! Easy freakin dinners all the time. But at what cost?

For me, an average meal at Culvers consisted of this:

1 Bacon Butterburger deluxe (double), fries and a large diet dr pepper (LOL at the Dr Pepper, by the way. Like that means anything.)

AND

1 Vanilla Concrete mixer and another small order of fries.

Fries were my addicition as you can tell. And, despite the fact that I want to drop a few pounds, I still crave them like mad. I have a pang for them almost everyday. Weird, huh?

Anyway, since I started to diet, I got a food app on my Android (Calorie Count)that listed all the nitty gritties of my eating. Fat, calories and all. Since I just gave you an example of a typical meal, I'll also give you an example of my typical intake. Fat and all.

1 bacon butterburger deluxe (double) is 751 calories, 50 grams of fat, and 34 grams of carbs.

1 large order of crinkle cut fries is 495 calories, 22 grams of fat, and 68 grams of carbs.

1 vanilla concrete mixer is 682 calories, 40 grams of fat, and 67 grams of carbs

In total, that one meal is 1,928 calories, 112 grams of carbs, and 169 grams of fat.

So, if I had this meal more than once a day, I pretty much fucked myself with every single bite. And rest assured, I did have this meal once a day. Sometimes multiple times a day depending on how lazy or tired I felt.

You guys, it's no wonder that I had a meltdown. This is horribly, horribly bad for you. I ate like this multiple times a day with almost no second thought. It's a wonder to me that I'm not even bigger than I am already, or just plain dead.

When I finally decided that enough was enough, I made some changes. As hard as this was to post and as embarassed as I am to be putting this up for everybody to talk about, this is the only way for me to wake up, and to hopefully wake up some other people too. And if I have to embarass myself a bit in order to get it into my head (and yours) that I need to stay home and cook, so be it!

What have I done since the discovery of the baaaad that I was doing to myself? This:

I opened up my wallet: I always bought processed food that was quick to make and made excuses when confronted with choosing something healthy over something fast. I make more of an effort as far as cooking and buying healthier food. I also take stabs at making food for the family. You know, by trying not to burn it.
Even my burnt food is healthier than the stuff I mentioned earlier in the post.

I stopped drinking soda: This one was really difficult for me. Where I work has a free soda/fruit program, and it is so easy for me to go to our cafe and grab a 32 ounce cup and fill it up with fizzies. However, for the past 3 weeks, I haven't done that. I'm proud of myself because cutting out the consumption of Dr Pepper (or as I call it, crack in a cup) has saved me 388 calories everyday. And let's not forget the 32 grams of sugar that I'm no longer consuming either.

I exercise: There's no way around it. I have to work out in order to drop the weight. At this point, I'm doing 30 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of weight exercise 3 times a week. It should be everyday, but I work hideous hours, and this is all I can make time for at the moment. As I get deeper into exercise, I will most likely end up modifying this.

Make small changes, show some big results! (Hopefully)

Thanks for reading my story today.

Until next time.


29 comments:

  1. Wow just wow. They are already great changes. Had to cut out dr.pepper because my body couldn't take it any more, it was so hard to get used to water but now i love it! If you have a sip of juice or dr.pepper ever again you will shudder from the sweetness....sweet tar.

    You are doing well, keep it up, you can do it step by step :)

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    1. Thanks! And trust me, I really went back and forth with myself about being so honest. I'm glad I did though. How am I to change if I can't be honest about my mistakes? :-)

      AND WATER RULES!!! I drink it all day now. Haven't even had a sip of soda in weeks.

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  2. Excellent changes you've made, B! Proud of you being so honest with everyone. I know exactly how hard it is to write something about yourself that you aren't even really comfortable talking to yourself about. It's huge, and it just emphasizes our desires to hold ourselves accountable and each other as well. Way to go!

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    1. Thanks...Bea. :-p

      This was tough to write for me. Mainly because I'm embarassed that it got so bad, but I decided that it's better to post it and be honest with everyone instead of being a lying liar. I just hope someone out there can learn from my mistakes.

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  3. I think that soda is the root of all evil!!!! I hate it and haven't drank a sip since I was like 5 (I don't enjoy carbonation). Word is that it's extremely addicting. Word is it can clean rust off of a car. Word is that diet sodas can trigger MS like symptons. awful!!

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    1. I've read all that and then some, my dear. It's why I stopped drinking it. My body can't take this nonsense anymore! And I don't want MS!!

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  4. Wow B, that must have been hard to not only admit to yourself but also post for the world to see. I get embarrassed about some of the quantities of food I've consumed so I don't even want to admit it to myself. But it doesn't do any good to pretend it didn't happen. Proof is is the waistline.

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    1. You're right, it doesn't do any good to pretend it didn't happen. Which is exactly why I posted this. I'm not hiding anymore. It's actually kind of liberating to do it. I don't think anybody here is going to be mean/assholey about my admission. And if they do, they're BANNED. :-P

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  5. Wow, many kudos for a) admitting to all that, and b) to cutting it out of your diet as well!

    One thing that might interest you is doing a once off cooking course. They can be really fun and enjoyable, especially the hands on one, you get social with the people at them, plus, you can learn to make simple dishes and even a couple of really fancy yet healthy ones too!

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    1. As soon as I realized how bad I was eating was for my health, I cut almost all of it off. I'm doing great now.

      And I just might take up your suggestion on a cooking class. I've been wanting to do one since I got out here, but I haven't really looked around for options. Thanks for the reminder!

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  6. I'm so proud of you for putting this out there for our benefit as well as your own. So proud.

    I have some super easy recipes I can give you that are so yummy and lo-cal! In fact I think I'll add a recipe to my post for Thursday. Woohoo!

    You're so strong and courageous and I have much to learn from you. Love you lots!

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    1. Great idea! I think we should all post some healthy recipes we've found.

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    2. Now that you two wonderful ladies have brought that up, I think that might be our next topic!

      And thanks layyydaaayyys. Love you both!

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  7. I try to avoid white potatoes due to the effect they have on the body's blood sugar level (it slows the metabolism) but sometimes I can't help it. I love me some potatoes.

    So when I really crave fries, I try to make them.

    I cut up a potato into pieces (generally small cubes because I am lazy and impatient and don't want to wait too long for them to cook, but you could cut into normal fry sized pieces too.) Then I spread them on a pizza stone (you can use a cookie sheet, but I love my stone!), spray them lightly with nonstick cooking spray (so the spices stick), and sprinkle them with seasonings. My favorite is "Fiesta Dip Party Mix" from Tastefully Simple - it adds just a little bit of zing. Their seasoned salt is also good. And then I bake at around 350 until they are done. It usually takes 15-30 minutes depending on the size of the pieces.

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    1. Wow, great advice! I didn't know that tatoes can do that to metabolism. Like you, I love my fries. I try to make them spicy because eating spicy food generally makes me feel full for longer and prevents me from eating as much as I normally would.

      I'm writing your recipe down so I can remember it when I have a craving. Thanks again.

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    2. Yeah, simple starches (white potatoes, white rice, white pastas) break down into sugars too quickly, and that elevates your blood sugar levels... like just eating sugar, but not quite as bad. And the reason the sugars are bad is not because of calories... it's because that glucose spike slows the metabolism. Which, at my age, is already slowing itself down, so I looked into how to speed it up again.

      I still want to come up with a recipe for baked sweet potato fries, since sweet potatoes are ok to eat. Then I can treat myself without guilt. :)

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    3. I was just thinking that same thing. I'm almost 40 and my metabolism is so different now. Plus, I had a hysterectomy (I'm still dealing with this)and I think my hormones are wreaking havoc with my weight. It's hard when you're not 25, to lose weight isn't it?

      I've switched everything over to whole wheat or whole grain. I love whole wheat pasta and brown rice. Potatoes. They are so good and so evil!

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  8. Well, look at it this way...you recognize what was wrong and you are working on fixing it! That is a huge step to take, so good for you and keep up the great work!

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  9. Having that calorie app on your mobile will really help. It will make you stop and think before you eat. I'm a night eater. I'm capable of sitting down with a bag of crisps (bacon flavored Mikesells) and a pound of cheddar cheese and eating it all in one go. And chasing it with 2 liters of Pepsi. I'm turning 50 this year, so I don't do that anymore. But there are nights when I really, really want to.

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    1. I have those nights too. I caught the flu over the weekend and had myself a snack in. But I can't feel too bad about it cause I made all the food myself and didn't do what I used to do. That's progress in my book. I may not be the perfect dieter, but I'm doing my best!

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  10. Good for you girl, and thanks for sharing! It helps me to hear other girls' stories... and it's the long term battle we're all going for, every single meal is one baby step. Don't beat yourself up too much if you mess up, either. This weekend I had a ridiculous amount of bad food, but I jumped back on the horse today. Thanks for sharing this, B!

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    1. Ha. Don't get it twisted, home slice. I majorly had some setbacks too. But they were home made setbacks! Big difference. I'm still in it though. But food is so good. :-/

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  11. B, you rock!
    Way to go fro putting this out there.
    And you know what?! an hour and 15 minutes of exercise three times a week IS something to be proud of. Seriously. Most people don't even do that once a week. Yeah, eventually you'll do more, but with how busy you are and with your apparently crappy hours, don't knock the changes that you have made! Those changes will soon be evident when you look at yourself in the mirror and get dressed each day.
    Every little bit helps!

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    1. haha. Fro. I love you.

      And thank you. I will not knock myself in the future. I will just continue to try and continue to lose the pounds. BAM.

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  12. the app is a great way of making you think about what you're eating...it certainly helped me. Just stick with the exercise make that a habit like brushing your teeth and it'll all work out :)

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    1. I will certainly try. Thanks for the support.

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  13. Bro, you've got balls. Lol. Seriously, well done. Not only for making the changes and improvements, but for opening up to everyone about your previous diet. I can't imagine how difficult that was for you to do..!

    Certain foods can become an unfortunate addiction. So you've done an amazing job getting out of your old habits.

    GM x

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  14. Thanks for being so honest. It's all about the changes. I started small too.

    You're an inspiration.

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