James White vs. Harold Camping links, take 2

Calories eaten yesterday: 1144
Fat: 24g (20%)
Carbs: 70g (27%)
Protein: 143g (53%)
Weight this morning: 127.8
Calories burned in exercise today: 169

This photo is of my new haircut that I got on Friday. My hair is very dry and splits and breaks because it's been thrashed so much. Cutting it helps keep frizzy hairs under control. Click the photo to enlarge.

I set my alarm, but forgot to turn it on so I overslept. I woke up too late to go to the gym, so I'll do the gym tomorrow. Today I took the train into the City to check my P.O. box.

I finally managed to download the KJV Bible (with book and chapter navigation) onto my iPod using the iPod Kindle app. Yay! I had to do it at Starbucks where I have WiFi access and it took about three sittings to download what I needed, register, and find the book I wanted.

Ok, I now present the rest of the James White and Harold Camping programs on Iron Sharpens Iron. I could not find the links on Dr. White's Website, so here they are directly from the Iron Sharpen Iron Website, where the quality is not quite as good. These links go directly to the mp3s of the broadcasts.

James White Reviews His Debate with Harold Camping
Harold Camping Reviews His Debate with James White

If you missed the two days of debate between White and Camping, the links to the mp3s can be found in this post.

Technorati tagged: diet, low fat, weight loss, health, exercise, obesity, overweight, fitness

Blood tests today

Calories eaten yesterday: 1085
Fat: 23g (21%)
Carbs: 75g (30%)
Protein: 126g (49%)
Weight this morning: 131
Calories burned in exercise today: 248

I was so hungover yesterday. I feel a bit better today, but decided to skip the gym. I think I may be on too high a dose of Armour and going hyper. That could explain why I've showed a drop in weight on the scale the last two weeks. I go into more detail in my Armour journey post.

I decided to get my thyroid blood tests today. Those should be in by the end of the week and I asked them to fax them too me. I called the doctor to reschedule since the original appointment was made before Brad's car broke and the original time is right when the car he needs to borrow is not available.

It's a good thing I called because the doctor's office had me set up with another doctor! No way no how am I seeing anybody else! I like Dr. Turns and refuse to see any other doctor at that practice. I now have an appointment with Dr. Turns for the following week (August 21) in the morning.

My exercise today was walking from the place I got my blood tests at Alameda Towne Center all the way into work - about 1 hour 25 minutes and 4.5 miles. :)

I have found the last two parts of the James White/Harold Camping programs on the Iron Sharpens Iron radio program, and will post those tomorrow. Unfortunately, I have to link these from the ISI Website and they only keep programs for 30 days.

Tomorrow I am planning on hitting the gym; I will do my City mail run on Wednesday.

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Week 110 Weigh-In

Start: 154
Week 1: 150 (-4) - Week 25: 137.6
Week 50: 138.4 - Week 75: 137.6
Week 100: 140 - Week 101: 138.4 (-1.6)
Week 102: 138.6 (+0.2) - Week 103: 139.4 (+0.8)
Week 104: 136.4 (-3) - Week 105: 137.8 (+1.4)
Week 106: 137.8 (-0) - Week 107: 138.2 (+0.4)
Week 108: 137.4 (-0.8) - Week 109: 136 (-1.4)
Week 110: 133 (-3)
Total loss (since starting a low-fat diet): -21
Total loss since I began dieting and exercising in 2004: -73

Body fat on Tanita scale:
Year start: 25.9%
Last month: 25.4%
This month: 25.7%

Ok, now to catch up on other stats.

Calories eaten Thursday: 1207
Fat: 24g (19%)
Carbs: 65g (24%)
Protein: 121g (43%)

Calories eaten Friday: 1596
Fat: 29g (18%)
Carbs: 90g (25%)
Protein: 134g (36%)

Weight Thursday morning: 128.6
Weight Friday morning: 128
Weight Saturday morning: 131.4
Weight this morning: 133

Calories burned in exercise Thursday: 277
Calories burned in exercise Friday: 172
Calories burned in exercise Saturday: 38
Calories burned in exercise today: 0

I really thought I'd see a big rebound because I ate horrible on Saturday - really, really bad. I think my weight dropped because I'm dehydrated from alcohol and expect it to go up tomorrow instead of down. :-p

Friday was rough. My sister called me and asked me to find a flight to come to Oregon to help clean out Dad's house at the end of this month. It has now evolved to me flying up to Seattle and then driving down through two states with her, clean stuff out, and drive back up to Seattle to fly south back home. WAY out of my way.

Between this and Brad not showing up on Friday until 10 pm when I wanted to go to bed, I ended up having an emotional meltdown Friday night. I woke up Saturday morning feeling emotionally drained. I was depressed and self-medicated with carbs and wine. Today I feel even worse because I'm hungover. Carbs increase serotonin in brain and I know I was depressed and trying to self-medicate.

I stuffed myself with vegetarian chili with cheese yesterday at the church potluck. In the afternoon Brad and I went to a jewelers at a little shopping center, but they were closed. We went to the Safeway there to get a diet energy drink. They had samples of lemon cake and spice muffins sitting out, so I took one of each to try. They were delicious!

Then we went to Alameda Towne Center, ran some errands (Trader Joe's and Safeway), and had drinks at Applebee's. Then we went to Tuttimelon on Park St. for frozen yogurt. I had a small chocolate frozen yogurt with granola topping and then had another frozen yogurt - a small plain with mini M&Ms topping. I was a carb maniac! The two yogurts together (not counting toppings!) had about 50g of carbs. The toppings were pure carbs, plus some fat in the M&Ms. Yikes! At least the frozen yogurt is fat-free and not too bad calorie-wise.

When I got home I drank more than one bottle of wine all on my own, had some snacks, and then had Brad make me a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches with the low-carb bread and fat-free cheese before falling asleep without brushing my teeth and with the sugar-free jelly sitting open on the counter and a piece of bread in the toaster!

Technorati tagged: diet, low fat, weight loss, health, overweight, weight loss, obese, fitness, weigh-in

Payday

Calories eaten yesterday: 1379
Fat: 27g (20%)
Carbs: 87g (29%)
Protein: 156g (51%)
Weight this morning: 128.6
Calories burned in exercise today: 277

Ug...I am such a fat pig. My calories yesterday were way too high. I have no metabolism and yet keep eating these huge amounts. :( Of course, I gained a pound since yesterday. :-p I'm eating lighter today.

I forgot to turn on my alarm last night and overslept. I was running to get out of the house because I had extra laundry to do and needed extra time. I oversleep because my Armour makes me need more sleep. I have more energy during the day, but I sometimes have days where I am more tired. :-p I'm having blood tests soon and that will let me know if I am taking too much.

Today exercise was a lot of walking. I walked to the laundromat and back. I washed everything. I separated the whites and colors and bleached the whites. I washed the sheets and blankets on my bed. Everything.

After getting back and putting the clothes away I walked down to the train station, went one stop, and then walked to work from there. It's payday so I stopped at WalMart for some basics like hair conditioner and coffee. Total walking time - about 1 hour 35 minutes.

I paid a couple bills, including the water bill which is always high because it only comes quarterly. I'm saving enough money for groceries tomorrow. My sister's (paper) check arrived so I'll be cashing that to pay my phone bill (really high this month because I got a new phone and the discount hasn't come through yet). I'll hopefully have enough left over from that for groceries next week plus a little more toward my credit card. With the iPod getting stolen and having to buy another, my credit card balance is quite high right now.

Tomorrow I'm getting groceries and hopefully going to bed early. Saturday after church Brad and I will go to Applebee's for Mochatinis (my payday treat - photo), but we're both too broke to afford dinner out. I also hope to hit Trader Joe's for a new cat scratcher, and Tuttimelon for some non-fat, low-sugar chocolate frozen yogurt. Yummy and not too unhealthy.

I'll be back on Sunday with my weigh-in.

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James White vs. Harold Camping debate links

Calories eaten yesterday: 1337
Fat: 30g (21%)
Carbs: 67g (21%)
Protein: 188g (58%)
Weight this morning: 127.8
Calories burned in exercise today: 393

I was sooo hungry yesterday and ate an extra chicken breast; that's why my calories are so high on a day I didn't go to the gym. :-p I ate more calories yesterday than I burned. :( I'm still very hungry, but stuffing myself with salads.

Feel blah today. Just tired. Dragged myself to the gym and did an hour of weight training and 40 minutes on one of the new elliptical machines. Walked to work from the train. I bought salads on the way in.

Tomorrow is major laundry - wash everything and bleach the whites. Oh fun.

Okay, here's the links to the two parts James White vs. Harold Camping debate. These links go directly to the mp3s:

White vs. Camping, Part 1
White vs. Camping, Part 2

I hear they will have both guests on alone in the next two days - James White the first day and Harold Camping the next, each taking calls. I will post both days of that if it happens.

Technorati tagged: diet, low fat, weight loss, health, Family Stations, Family Radio, Harold Camping, James White

Hunger...

Calories eaten yesterday: 1310
Fat: 30g (22%)
Carbs: 70g (24%)
Protein: 165g (54%)
Weight this morning: 128
Calories burned in exercise today: 79

I slept in and decided to take it easy today. I did just under a half hour of walking down the train station and that was it. Hopefully tomorrow I can hit the gym again.

I am so damn hungry today! I ate over 1300 calories yesterday so I don't know why, but I am. I even had a cup of eggs for breakfast, but I might as well have eaten oatmeal for how hungry I am. Grrr... I am doing so well on my weight - 128 this morning! Who wouldn't guessed that?

I know there is bread and peanut butter down the hall and I want to binge on it so badly, but I know my body. One binge equals several weeks of trying to get back where I was before. I can't give in now! I did eat an extra chicken breast - that shouldn't ruin my diet too badly.

Tomorrow I'll post the links to the White vs. Camping debate. The Iron Sharpens Iron website didn't have the whole debate (30 minutes of technical problems so only half of the debate actually aired) and the sound quality wasn't as good so I'll use the links from Dr. White's website.

In case anyone wonders about my interest in this debate, it's simple. I work for Family Radio and Mr. Camping signs my paychecks. As for James White, I have listened to his Dividing Line podcast for several months and really enjoy them. He makes me think about issues and that's a good thing.

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Upcoming: James White vs. Harold Camping Debate!

Calories eaten yesterday: 867
Fat: 21g (24%)
Carbs: 37g (19%)
Protein: 117g (57%)
Weight this morning: 130.8
Calories burned in exercise today: 388

Went to the gym today. Did one hour of weight training, 30 minutes on the stairmaster (I was dripping sweat), and 10 minutes on one of the new elipticals. I had my post-workout protein shake and then walked to work from my train stop (30 minutes).

Tomorrow hopefully I can sleep in and just do a lot of walking for my exercise.

I wanted to talk a little about my job, a video response, and an upcoming debate. As you may know, I work for Family Radio. The president of Family Radio is Harold Camping, and a few years ago he theologically went totally off the deep end and started proclaiming that the church age is over and people should leave their churches. Here is an in-depth video response from Dr. James White about this. Since then, Camping has set a date for the rapture - May 21, 2011, and another date for the end of the world - October 21, 2011.

Dr. White will be debating Mr. Camping tomorrow, July 28, and Wednesday July 29th. The latest update I found is here. Here is the Dividing Line link Dr. White mentions to listen to the debate. I will post links to the mp3s after the programs have aired.

Technorati tagged: diet, low fat, weight loss, health, Family Stations, Family Radio, Harold Camping, James White

Week 109 Weigh-In (Goal again!)

Start: 154
Week 1: 150 (-4) - Week 25: 137.6
Week 50: 138.4 - Week 75: 137.6
Week 100: 140 - Week 101: 138.4 (-1.6)
Week 102: 138.6 (+0.2) - Week 103: 139.4 (+0.8)
Week 104: 136.4 (-3) - Week 105: 137.8 (+1.4)
Week 106: 137.8 (-0) - Week 107: 138.2 (+0.4)
Week 108: 137.4 (-0.8) - Week 109: 136 (-1.4)
Total loss since starting a low-fat diet: -18
Total loss since I began dieting and exercising in 2004: -70

Woot! I see my goal weight again. I know it won't hold, but I was so thrilled to see that number when I stepped on the scale today! :) I guess eating a lot of salads with wine vinegar for dressing is helping.

Ok, now to catch up on other stats.

Calories eaten Thursday: 1204
Fat: 18g (14%)
Carbs: 85g (30%)
Protein: 123g (43%)

Calories eaten Friday: 1563
Fat: 26g (16%)
Carbs: 81g (22%)
Protein: 153g (42%)

Weight Thursday morning: 130
Weight Friday morning: 127.4
Weight Saturday morning: 129.6
Weight this morning: 136

Calories burned in exercise Thursday: 262
Calories burned in exercise Friday: 70
Calories burned in exercise Saturday: 66
Calories burned in exercise today: 290

Spent Friday alone. Brad was busy doing stuff so I bought groceries and then spent the afternoon cutting salad and doing household chores. I went to bad early since I'd already eaten way too many calories and was afraid I'd eat more.

Saturday I planned to call Brad after I ate breakfast to see if he was coming over, but he showed up while I was eating. I hadn't made anything for him. If he would have said he was coming over I would have made some for him.

After church he was supposed to go back to his house to do stuff. At first I urged him to leave but when I saw he didn't really want to go I stopped. We walked up to Safeway I bought some wine and got one of the new strawberry banana Vivannos at the little Starbucks store inside. It was okay, but I like the chocolate banana one better.

Then we went home and we pay-per-viewed Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and snacked on pork rinds (zero carbs!). The movie was better than I thought it would be, though certainly no masterpiece. I'd give it between a 6 and a 7 on a scale of 1-10.

After the movie we had dinner - grilled cheese sandwiches made with low-carb bread, fat-free cheese, and I had a slice of low-fat turkey breast on one of my sandwiches. Brad was of course the master cook - he knows how to make everything taste great! I had a Yoplait Light (Boston Cream Pie) yogurt and a granola bar from church for dessert. Before bed I pigged out on healthy stuff like cottage cheese.

Today we slept in a bit. Brad had coffee and toast. I just had coffee because I can't spare the calories. We walked to the train station, then walked from our stop to work. We stopped at WalMart to get more Diet Coke and sugar-free gum. :) We dropped off my stuff at work and since we were early we went for a walk in a local park for extra exercise and steps. Total walking time: about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The money my sister supposedly sent to my checking account still isn't showing up even though it was long since taken out of my sister's account. It's been well over a week now! Why is the bank dragging its feet? Walden Farms has a sale on their products. I need salad dressing from them and the sale is over at the end of this month! Grrrr!

April is planning a trip to Oregon with Dad soon. I will have to go also to help clean out the house, etc. and use my vacation time to do it. I won't get a real vacation for the second year in a row, but I hope to play tourist in San Francisco for one day to relax. (It's great having a tourist destination in my backyard!) :) Right now I am trying to save my vacation time for the Oregon trip since cleaning out decades worth of stuff is going to be a big job for sis and I.

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Fried Chicken & Donuts

Calories eaten yesterday: 1377
Fat: 29g (20%)
Carbs: 91g (29%)
Protein: 168g (51%)
Weight this morning: 130
Calories burned in exercise today: 262

I want to binge so bad today. The fried chicken place at the laundromat opened up in the last week (yes, there is a small restaurant inside the laundromat). One obese woman was chowing down on fried chicken, fries, and some sort of cake. The smell made me want to get my own. I just repeated my mantra: "The greasy fry, it does not lie, the truth is written on your thigh." That seemed to help.

I could see donuts in the shop and wanted to get one donut hole, but I resisted.

Exercise was walking to the laundromat and back, then down to the train station, then from my stop to work.

Weekend plans: besides church, nothing special. Tomorrow is grocery shopping, including chicken and salad. Come home, bake the chicken, and cut the salad while it's cooking.

Brad is busy packing and cleaning and may be moving and may not even come to my apartment to get picked up for church on Saturday. I'm planning a weekend alone except for church. I might pay-per-view a movie.

I'll be back Sunday with my weigh-in and how my weekend went.

Technorati tagged: diet, low fat, weight loss, health, exercise, obesity, overweight, fitness

Family insanity

Calories eaten yesterday: 1190
Fat: 25g (20%)
Carbs: 76g (28%)
Protein: 148g (52%)
Weight this morning: 130
Calories burned in exercise today: 348

Made it to the gym today. Did an hour of weights and 30 minutes of cardio. I've been trying to do 40 minutes, but I needed the extra time to stop at the store today.

Anyway, I walked to work from the BART station (30 minutes), carrying a bunch of salad over one shoulder for more than half the distance.

Busy day at work - one of those days where I actually work for my pay, lol! Having great fun with the translators dropping out and calling boss J. and J. in Sacramento and another J. over the the TV station. Fun fun.

When that was all settled I called my sister because the money she wired still hasn't showed up (also ran a couple ideas past her about the apartment building she is overseeing for Dad). Sis said the money will be here and then proceeded to ream me out for 10 minutes about how irresponsible I am and how I should have renter's insurance and pay of my credit card every month and that an iPod isn't a necessity and it's not an investment like a house. Hello? This is NOT just a music player. It connects to the Internet and is a bit like a mini computer.

But all that doesn't matter. All that matters is that she can pretend to be my mother. I said I had a mother. She said "But not a very good one." Direct quote there and one of the worst things I have ever heard her say in my life! That was just mean and a horrible thing to say about mom. She was a good mom.

Called Dad to say hi. He was moved from the nursing home to a "family care home" where he should be happier. He was not in a good mood when I called, wants me out of the city I live in, and then railed about the economy. I tried to ask him about his new living arrangements, but it was hard to communicate. He was difficult to understand because he was slurring his words because of the Parkinson's, and he still doesn't have a hearing aid so it was hard for him to what I said.

*sigh* This is why I hate spending time with my family.

Technorati tagged: diet, low fat, weight loss, health, exercise, obesity, overweight, fitness

Xena photo

Calories eaten yesterday: 1483
Fat: 35g (22%)
Carbs: 90g (25%)
Protein: 192g (53%)
Weight this morning: 131.4
Calories burned in exercise today: 192

Today I'll share a photo of Xena preening Brad's face. Click it for a larger size. :)

I ate so many calories yesterday because I was starving. I ended up having a package of shirataki noodles (40 calories) and an extra chicken breast (220 calories). :-p Still just as hungry today, too. :( I even had breakfast this morning - Egg Beaters high in protein - and it didn't help much. Last time i was this hungry was because of a change in my thyroid dose. This time I can't blame that as I have been on Armour about a month now.

Kinda tired today after yesterday's 12 hour shift. Walked to the BART station, went into the City, checked my P.O. Box, then walked from my stop to work when I came back. I stopped at Pac N Save for Diet Coke and salad. Hopefully I can hit the gym tomorrow.

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Overtime & Health Screening

Calories eaten yesterday: 989
Fat: 24g (23%)
Carbs: 62g (27%)
Protein: 120g (50%)
Weight this morning: 134.8
Calories burned in exercise today: 175

I'm working overtime today from 11 am to 11 pm to cover the second half of Brad's shift. P. came in and covered the first half of the shift. Due to the overtime I can't make it to the gym of course. My exercise was walking to the BART station and then from my stop to work - about 1 hour total.

Tomorrow is my bi-monthly main run into San Francisco and then Wednesday I hope to make it to the gym so I can at least go once this week.

One other thing happened on Friday that I wanted to talk about, but yesterday's entry was too long already. On my way down to the BART station to go to Lafayette I passed Walgreens and they had a health screening van parked in the lot and offered free health screening to anyone. I almost didn't go, but then decided that this doesn't happen very often and found out it wouldn't take very long anyway.

In the van they first take you into a little area and do a finger stick to check glucose and total cholesterol. Then there is another little area where they take your blood pressure, weigh you, take your body fat percentage, and waist size. In the final little area they do a bone density scan using your heel (a spine check is more accurate, but not feasible for such a small area). They give you a printout of the results right away and give a quick rundown of what they mean. More info. is contained in the little booklet your results are in.

My results came out pretty good. I had eaten that day, but only salad and a cup of sugar-free Jello followed by the walk, so that came out normal even though it wasn't a fasting test.

Also, the body fat monitor they used was the same type Curves uses - the handheld Omron (photo). At home I use a Tanita body fat scale (photo) and it seems that I carry much more fat in my belly and thighs than in my upper body.

For anyone outside the U.S. reading this, the normal fasting blood glucose range here is 65-99. I know other countries use other measurements.

These are my results:
Blood pressure: 105/53 - about normal for me, normal being 99/59.
Glucose: 81 - I wasn't fasting, but hadn't eating many carbs.
Total cholesterol: 140 - good, and about normal for me.
Body composition (fat percentage): 19.1%. At home my scale says about 25%, so I carry more fat in my lower body.
Bone Mass Density: 1.5. Anything above a negative 1 (-1) is good.
BMI: 21.9 - totally within a normal weight range for my height.
Waist: 31". The recommendation for women is less than 35", so I am fine.

Technorati tagged: diet, low fat, weight loss, health, exercise, obesity, overweight, fitness

Week 108 Weigh-In

Start: 154
Week 1: 150 (-4) - Week 25: 137.6
Week 50: 138.4 - Week 75: 137.6
Week 100: 140 - Week 101: 138.4 (-1.6)
Week 102: 138.6 (+0.2) - Week 103: 139.4 (+0.8)
Week 104: 136.4 (-3) - Week 105: 137.8 (+1.4)
Week 106: 137.8 (-0) - Week 107: 138.2 (+0.4)
Week 108: 137.4 (-0.8)
Total loss since starting a low-fat diet: -16.6
Total loss since I began dieting and exercising in 2004: -68.6

Amazing I lost any weight with the amount I ate yesterday! :)

Ok, now to catch up on other stats.

Calories eaten Thursday: 1039
Fat: 18g (16%)
Carbs: 74g (30%)
Protein: 97g (38%)

Calories eaten Friday: 1417
Fat: 25g (17%)
Carbs: 84g (26%)
Protein: 112g (33%)

Weight Thursday morning: 130.4
Weight Friday morning: 130.4
Weight Saturday morning: 135.8
Weight this morning: 137.4

Calories burned in exercise Thursday: 324
Calories burned in exercise Friday: 117
Calories burned in exercise Saturday: 77
Calories burned in exercise today: 177

Friday I had to spent time with my sister. To the right is the photo we took right before I left. Click the photo for a larger size. From left to right: niece Marina, brother Rob, nephew Jebediah, sister April, & me.

The day was stressful for me, but I survived. I took BART out to Lafayette and saw April and Eleanor. Then Rob picked us up at 3 and took us to his house. I stayed there until about 7:30.

By 7:30 they were getting ready to order dinner and I was supposed to meet Brad back at my house. I was starving. April, simply wanting to spend time with me with no regard for the fact that I was also hungry, asked me to stay and watch them eat (!). I knew that I would end up giving in and eating all the bad food they had planned (it was down to either pizza or Chinese), so I said I needed to leave. Rob gave me a ride home. When Brad came over we hung out for a while and then went to bed.

Saturday at the church potluck I ate way too many raviolis drowned in cheese sauce. They were just sooo good. After church Brad and I came home and did the grocery shopping that I normally do on Friday, but couldn't this Friday because of seeing my sister.

Then we walked part of the way to BART, then took the buses the rest of the way into Alameda. We stopped at Tuttimelon for frozen yogurt (I had a small chocolate with granola topping and Brad got gelato), then took the bus to the shopping center. We went to Applebee's and I had two Mochatinis and one glass of red zinfandel. Brad had a small beer and an iced tea. Then we went to Zeytinis and had a couple of their appetizers and two more glasses of wine each. We stopped at Safeway for a couple of items that my Safeway either no longer carries or or was out of.

We went home, stopping at Tuttimelon again on the way. I wanted more frozen yogurt; this time I got just the plain yogurt in a sugar cone. The banana we had bought at Safeway wasn't in our grocery bags, so Brad went up to Safeway to buy me another one (about a 10 minute walk each way). I was craving it which is why we'd bought it. I fixed him a mojito while he was gone.

Later we ended up getting into a fight. Brad wasn't hungry for dinner after that. I was. He made me some low-carb pancakes and went to bed. I ate the pancakes, then made myself a low-carb, low-fat turkey and cheese sandwich, and finished with three cups of cottage cheese.

Today Brad was really sweet to me. Because I couldn't prep veggies on Friday, I complained yesterday that there would be so much work for me to catch up on later this week. Brad got up early this morning (and let me sleep) and chopped and bagged the salad we bought yesterday, then even took the cucumber I'd bought and washed and cut those! I didn't even ask him to do that. He also scooped the cat's litter box. All that leaves for me is to take the celery and pull it apart into sticks and wash the outer stalks.

Brad is taking Tuesday off to work on his car and his upcoming move. He said he wanted tomorrow off too, so when we got in we talked to P. on shift and he said he can work 7-11 a.m. tomorrow. I will come it at 11 and work 12 hours. I soooo need the overtime so this is great! Overtime always comes before going to the gym because I always need money.

I have a little more to tell about Friday (not dealing with my sister), but I will save that for tomorrow's post.

Technorati tagged: diet, low fat, weight loss, health, overweight, weight loss, obese, fitness, weigh-in

A response to my critics

I'm receiving more blog comments from critics. Let's get a few things straight since people seem to think I live some sort of high maintenance lifestyle.

1) The iPod is a big deal for me for the simple reason that I am NOT rich.
2) I live in a tiny studio apartment for which I struggle to pay the rent each month.
3) The only reason I can afford my gym membership is because I pre-paid 3 years when I moved out of my old apartment and received my security deposit back. This was back before things got really bad when the economy went south.
4) I have never claimed to be a perfect Christian. No Christian is perfect. We all have our demons and struggles. This blog is all of me - the good and the bad.

I don't even own a car. I take the bus or train or walk everywhere. Bus and train fares have gone up recently, grocery prices have gone up, and my pay rate at my employer - let's just say that no one got a "cost of living" adjustment this year.

My friend and I never go out to eat anymore unless it's someplace really cheap. I shop at WalMart for everything I can. I'd buy groceries there if it was a Super WalMart, but it is just a regular one. I buy shoes from Payless and usually only when they have a "buy one get one half off" sale.

I don't need anybody to finance my "lifestyle" because I have a simple lifestyle. Here's a YouTube video I made of my apartment so you can see what a "high maintenance" lifestyle I live. :-p

By the way, the laptop computer in the video was bought quite a while back, in better times. My old Mac lasted 9 years, but finally gave up the ghost. No one put one dime toward the new one except me. I paid it off by myself and it has long since been completely paid off.

Next, for those of you who think I drink too much, you are probably right. It's one of the demons I struggle with. When does "enough" become too much? I have severe depression, and while my medication helps a great deal, I have a tendency to resort to alcohol when things are crazy. However, I want to make it clear that I don't drink every day. My diet simply can't handle that many calories.

It's no secret that my sister and I don't get along. We have nothing in common and while I love the heck out of her, I don't like to hang out with her. She considers me the "weird" sister, sort of like how we made fun of Aunt Margaret when we were kids. Margaret and I are similar and I get viewed like her - never married, don't want kids, only a couple really close friends, and neither of us ever learned how to drive. I can be a bit anti-social. My sister doesn't understand me because she is a social butterfly and loves being married with kids. I'm happy for her, but it's not the life I want.

My iPod holder and charger arrived!

Calories eaten yesterday: 1295
Fat: 26g (19%)
Carbs: 75g (24%)
Protein: 159g (51%)
Weight this morning: 130.4
Calories burned in exercise today: 324

Here's a photo of me with my new cell phone that came yesterday. Click the photo for a larger size. :)

Exercise today was walking to the laundromat and back. I took the long way around to avoid Fruitvale Ave. as much as possible (where my iPod was stolen last week). After putting the laundry away I walked down to the BART station, and then from my stop to work. 1 hour 53 minutes of total walking!

My new iPod holder came today, along with the charging jack I ordered! :) The cheap jack broke so I finally decided to get a proper one from Apple made of quality material. I'll keep it at work since I can charge my iPod on my computer when I am home.

And I love the new holder! It looks a lot like a wallet, but is so slim it easily fits in a pocket. Yay! :)

Tomorrow I'm seeing my sister. I know she's going to bug me again about moving to Seattle. :-p I wish she would lay off on that. I don't like Seattle and don't want to live there. (Nice place to visit - don't want to live there!) She also can't decide whether to treat me as a sister or a child. I hate it when she tries to play the part of my mother. I'm a grown woman.

Tomorrow I will post a response to some recent critical blog comments I've received.

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Sisters & Cell Phones

Calories eaten yesterday: 1097
Fat: 22g (19%)
Carbs: 70g (27%)
Protein: 143g (54%)
Weight this morning: 132.6
Calories burned in exercise today: 402

When to the gym and did an hour of weight training, 10 minutes on one of the new stationary bikes, and 30 minutes on one of the new ellipticals. Walked from BART to work for extra exercise.

My sister wants to see me. She's in town. So instead of buying groceries and prepping veggies for next week I get to see her, her baby, Eleanor, and Rob, Julie, and their baby. :-p *sigh* I hate family stuff.

In better news, my new cell phone came today! I get a $50 mail-in rebate, so my only final cost is the sales tax. They tax on the original price of the phone, so my cost is $27.30. This phone had a built in keyboard so now I can text much easier. :)

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iPhilosophize about my iPod

Calories eaten yesterday: 1211
Fat: 25g (20%)
Carbs: 71g (25%)
Protein: 162g (55%)
Weight this morning: 132.6
Calories burned in exercise today: 210

Today's exercise was just a lot of walking. I slept in and had some Egg Beaters for breakfast, then walked to the train station, and from there to work, stopping at WalMart for a flash drive for my computer. I can't afford it, but I need to backup my stuff in case of the worst case scenario of a hard drive crash. Hard drive crash=losing all my iTunes purchases.

Hotter than heck today! I had to stop at a gas station for a large Diet Coke.

Tomorrow's plan - hit the gym before work. :)
-----I wanted to take some time to talk about the whole thing about my iPod. First of all, to respond to a comment, I wasn't aware that I needed to apologize for being a victim if crime. I have every right to feel sorry for myself because $370 went down the drain. Maybe that's a small thing to some of you, but for someone like me it is a huge amount of money - nearly a week's pay or half of one month's rent.

During church on Saturday I came across some Bible passages that might shed some light on what is going on. I know I have wandered a bit from God. I have not done what He wants me to do, and I have done what I should not do. I know I need to work on that. Maybe this is His way of getting my attention and hitting me where it really hurts.

No, He didn't make the kid steal my iPod. All He has to do is remove a little bit of His protection from me and evil will do what it can within the bounds He sets.

Proverbs 3 is one of my favorite Bible passages. It is where the "35" in one of my screen names "Newbirth35" comes from, and stands for Proverbs 3:5 (and onto verse 6). Well, later in that same chapter are a couple verses about discipline. I'll quote from the King James because there is no copyright on it:

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. (Proverbs 3:11-12)

The cross-references for these verses led me to Hebrews 12, where verses 5-11 quote from Proverbs and expand further on this subject:

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, 'My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.' If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

"But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Easier to read translation of verses 5-11.

Perhaps God wants this to be a wake up call for me to focus more on Him.

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My iPod Touch arrived (again)!!!

Calories eaten yesterday: 1084
Fat: 21g (18%)
Carbs: 94g (37%)
Protein: 116g (45%)
Weight this morning: 135
Calories burned in exercise today: 388

Went to the gym and did one hour of weight training followed by 40 minutes of cardio of one of the new elliptical machines. I walked to work from my train stop for extra steps and calories burned.

The new iPod Touch I ordered arrived today. Super fast shipping all the way from China (why can't they make it in Amierica?). The case I ordered also came, but it wasn't at all what I wanted. I got the return started with Apple. There will be a 10% restocking fee, plus the $6.85 it cost to UPS it back. :-p I settled on a case that specifically says it is made to be slipped in a pocket or purse. Hopefully that one will work out.

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Week 107 Weigh-In

Start: 154
Week 1: 150 (-4) - Week 25: 137.6
Week 50: 138.4 - Week 75: 137.6
Week 100: 140 - Week 101: 138.4 (-1.6)
Week 102: 138.6 (+0.2) - Week 103: 139.4 (+0.8)
Week 104: 136.4 (-3) - Week 105: 137.8 (+1.4)
Week 106: 137.8 (-0) - Week 107: 138.2 (+0.4)
Total loss: -15.8 (since starting a low-fat diet)
Total loss since I began dieting and exercising in 2004: -67.8

I ended up binging on Thursday after my iPod was taken. I sometimes binge when I am stressed. It doesn't surprise me to show a gain after that.

Ok, now to catch up on other stats.

Calories eaten Friday: 1034
Fat: 11g (10%)
Carbs: 57g (22%)
Protein: 63g (24%)

Weight Thursday morning: 131.8
Weight Friday morning: n/a (due to binge)
Weight Saturday morning: 136.4
Weight this morning: 138.2

Calories burned in exercise Thursday: 79
Calories burned in exercise Friday: 64
Calories burned in exercise Saturday: 77
Calories burned in exercise today: 204

After having my iPod Touch stolen on Thursday and working a 12 hour shift at work I was still wide awake. I got off at 3 a.m. and Brad drove me home in the company car (since his is still broken). I came home and took my shower as usual. I stayed up all night doing work around the house. I swept the floor, wrapped the baby gift and birthday gifts for my sister, then dug through the closet (arranged one side a bit in the process) and found the bucket. I got the mop off the back steps and mopped the floor. I couldn't find any Pine Sol so I poured some Clorox spray cleaner into the hot water.

The grocery store opened at 6 a.m. so I went and got groceries. I bought chicken, veggies, and salad and came home and cooked the chicken and prepped the veggies.

Saturday there were only eight people at church. Both the pastors were gone and their children were either with them or at summer camp. The people who did come to church either don't have children or they are grown. We had a long reflective service sitting in a circle, and skipped Sabbath School. Brad and I were home by 2 pm - much earlier than the usual time of 3 pm or later. The service made me think about some stuff, but I will save that for a later post.

Brad got up early on Sunday to meet someone at work. They never showed up so he just hang out at work. I walked down the the train station alone, took the train one stop, and walked from that stop to work. I stopped for salads at the grocery store on the way and ended up carrying a very heavy bag for a good portion of the rest of the distance to work. :-p Brad met me very near work and carried the bag the rest of the way. I was already weighted down with my Pullman backpack.

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My iPod Touch was stolen!

Calories eaten yesterday: 1287
Fat: 26g (20%)
Carbs: 81g (27%)
Protein: 166g (54%)
Weight this morning: 131.8
Calories burned in exercise today: 79

My iPod Touch was stolen today! I was waking home from the laundromat and someone just graabed it off my belt loop, clip and all, and ran off. There is nothing I can do except order another and the first hasn’t even been paid out yet. Mom couldn’t help me, Dad said to call April (who’s in charge of Dad’s money), and she just chewed me out. Great family, eh?

I didn’t feel like doing any walking after that, especially walking past the area it happened, so I took the bus all the way into work.

Why does God allow bad thing to happen to His own? I don’t know except to say that if He protected us then people would because Christians not out of love for God, but simply for what they can get out of it.

I binged today because of the stress. :(

How did I gain a pounds since yesterday?!? I ate more than usual, but it was all healthy stuff like salad. My body really hates me when I gain weight eating lettuce. :(

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Week 107, Day 4

Calories eaten yesterday: 1047
Fat: 21g (19%)
Carbs: 66g (26%)
Protein: 142g (55%)
Weight this morning: 130.8
Calories burned in exercise today: 390

Went to the gym and did an hour of weight training and 40 minutes of cardio. I did 30 of those minutes on one of the new stair climbers (photo). That really gets my heart rate up! They used to have only one and have finally brought in several more.

Then I did 10 minutes on the treadmill, mostly just walking. After the gym I walked to work from the train station. I was SO gosh darn hungry so I stopped at Pac N Save and bought several salads (only one for today of course!).

Tomorrow I plan to do laundry and then I am working 12 hours from 3 pm until 3 am Friday morning. I plan to go home after that, take a shower, and sleep late. Friday afternoon I'll buy groceries.

I ordered some BCAA powder online yesterday. (BCAAs stand for "branched chain amino acids" - very good for building muscle. I add a heaping teaspoon to my protein shakes. Here's more info on BCAAs.) I feel they help augment my protein shakes to protect and build muscle. I think next time I'll pay a little extra and get the stuff I've bought before.

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Week 107, Day 3

Calories eaten yesterday: 1236
Fat: 28g (21%)
Carbs: 78g (26%)
Protein: 160g (53%)
Weight this morning: 132.4
Calories burned in exercise today: 195

Did my bi-monthly City run today to get my mail. The property check was there so I deposited that. Exercise was walking to the train station, and then from the train station to work on the return trip. I stopped at WalMart to get some stuff. They had the new Pledge fabric sweeper. I've seen it advertised as good for picking up pet hair, so I'll give it a try.

Tomorrow I hope to hit the gym again.

I gave me new boots a test run today by doing all my walking in them. They seem pretty comfy so far. The big toe on my left foot is a bit irritated, but that could be my socks.

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Buses, Boots, and Busting Butt

Calories eaten yesterday: 921
Fat: 20g (20%)
Carbs: 63g (28%)
Protein: 117g (51%)
Weight this morning: 134.6
Calories burned in exercise today: 348

Let's start with a random picture of my cat Xena for the heck of it. Click it for a bigger size. :)

As you can see from yesterday's weigh-in I didn't lose any weight last week. But considering that I didn't exactly stick to my diet at the church potluck I'm happy to remain the same weight. I ate way too many graham crackers and dried fruit mix at church. (Bad Victoria!)

My AC Transit pass seems to have been demagnetized. I tried to use it last night to get home and a "misread" message came up. The bus driver finally waved me on. Since sometimes one buses' reader can be messed up I tried it again this morning when I went to the gym. Again a misread. I asked the driver about where the AC Transit offices are and it turns out they are close to my gym. I went there before the gym and had to fill out a form and wait two weeks. They will send me a replacement for the number of rides I had left. :-p At least I got the woman into giving me a one ride ticket (came with a 25 cent ticket to make up for the new fare), so I can get home tonight and grab a new card.

The hiking boots (photo) I ordered from REI came today! I hope they work out for me. I'm trying to break them in right now. The diabetic test strips I ordered on eBay also came today. :)

Today I hit the gym and did one hour of weight training (I love weight training!) and 30 minutes cardio. They had these new Precor cardio machine that were kind of like ellipticals (with the moving arms and everything). It's like this one, only without the TV screen. It gave me a good workout and my heart rate was up in the cardio range where I want it. :)

My gym also got a bunch of new stairclimbers so now I have no excuse to not use them.

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Week 106 Weigh-In

Start: 154
Week 1: 150 (-4) - Week 25: 137.6
Week 50: 138.4 - Week 75: 137.6
Week 100: 140 - Week 101: 138.4 (-1.6)
Week 102: 138.6 (+0.2) - Week 103: 139.4 (+0.8)
Week 104: 136.4 (-3) - Week 105: 137.8 (+1.4)
Week 106: 137.8 (-0)
Total loss: -16.2 (since starting a low-fat diet)

Body fat on Tanita scale:
Year start: 25.9%
Last test (May): 25.8%
This month: 25.4%

Ok, now to catch up on other numbers.

Calories eaten Thursday: 1361
Fat: 27g (19%)
Carbs: 81g (25%)
Protein: 149g (44%)

Calories eaten Friday: 1507
Fat: 22g (14%)
Carbs: 71g (19%)
Protein: 156g (42%)

Weight Thursday morning: 131.4
Weight Friday morning: 131.4
Weight Saturday morning: 132.8
Weight this morning: 137.8

Calories burned in exercise Thursday: 283
Calories burned in exercise Friday: 161
Calories burned in exercise Saturday: 204
Calories burned in exercise today: 0

It was a long and horrible July 4th. Friday (July 3rd) was okay and pretty unremarkable. I bought groceries and puttered around the house putting the groceries away and prepping veggies.

Saturday after church Brad and I walked from my apartment all the way to Alameda Towne Center. We stopped along the way at Starbucks so I could get a skinny iced latte and at Tuttimelon for frozen yogurt (for me) and gelato (for Brad).

We planned to go to New Zealander for dinner, but they closed the kitchen for the holiday and only had drinks. Brad had a beer and I had a glass of wine (Brad paid for the first glass). We went with the backup plan of Tony Romas at Jack London Square, where the fireworks show would be. I was craving a nice steak. But when we got to Jack London, Tony Romas had closed - no longer in business. We tried a couple of other restaurants that would have steak, but they were too expensive.

I was pretty upset at this point. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant, but after changing my salad order a couple of times I ended up just having a side salad and two glasses of wine. The waiter was very kind about the changes I made and when he messed up the ticket (he charged me for the vegetarian salad [that I had cancelled] and left off the wine) he gave me one glass of wine free for the trouble so I only paid for the salad and gave him a nearly 100% tip (the salad was only $4 and I gave him a $4 tip).

Anyway, at this point I was too upset to care about the fireworks. I told Brad he could stay and watch them if he wanted, but I wasn't interested any longer. We ended up going back to Applebee's. We left a little before midnight, ran to catch our bus to the train station, and took the last bus home from there. Good timing with that or we would have had to take a cab!

At Applebee's I finally got my steak and veggies. Brad ordered the "2 for $20" deal. I ate two cheesesticks from the appetizer and nibbled at his french fries. To drink I had a Mochatini, a Caramel Appletini, two glasses of wine, and Diet Coke. I also had more wine when we got home and am a bit hungover today. When I am depressed I tend to drink way too much.

Today I am at work as usual, but did no exercise and have decided to take it easy for one day even though there were plenty of opportunities to walk. Hopefully I will feel good tomorrow and can go to the gym.

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July 4th weekend Dead Ahead...

Calories eaten yesterday: 1246
Fat: 25g (19%)
Carbs: 84g (28%)
Protein: 158g (53%)
Weight this morning: 131.4
Calories burned in exercise today: 283

Exactly the same weight today as one week ago! And I have been so good - eating light, lots of exercise, mostly kept to my plan on Saturday and making it a cheat day instead of a binge. All that and not one ounce lost! :(

Walked to the laundromat and back, then down to the train, went one stop, and walked from the train station to work. I stopped at WalMart for some essentials because it's payday.

I also downloaded a bunch of iTunes music - some Michael Jackson, greatest hits from the 80's by various artists, and two songs by George Michael.

This weekend is July 4th. It'll be my last change to see fireworks for the next several years (assuming I am still working at Family Radio) so Brad and I are going to Jack London Square to have dinner and drinks and watch the fireworks.

I did okay with my cheating last weekend. Now to see how I do this weekend! Yike! Wish me luck. God only knows what kind of bad food will be at the potluck after church this Saturday!

Next Thursday the overnight girl is going to a concert so I'll be here until 3 a.m. Friday morning. Bleh. But I need the money badly.

For now, I'm putting all my updates about how I feel on the Armour thyroid medication here. The date will be updated weekly so it always stays on the front page on this blog. There is also a link to it in the sidebar. Updates are made to the post as I desire.

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Bus and Train Fare Went Up Today

Calories eaten yesterday: 1058
Fat: 22g (19%)
Carbs: 65g (26%)
Protein: 140g (55%)
Weight this morning: 131.8
Calories burned in exercise today: 388

Bleh on my weight, but oh well. I just need to keep on going.

I barely eked in for my monthly step goal yesterday. I beat my entirely monthly goal (315,000 steps for June) by a mere 1500 or so steps.

BART raised fare prices today and there was no warning, and nothing on their Website or from the official update list I subscribe to. My $1.50 ticket wouldn't let me through the gate and I found out the base fare went up to $1.75 as of today. Why can't they let the public know? There were no warnings, postings, fliers, etc.! Gar! AC Transit bus fare also went up today from $1.75 to $2; Muni went from $1.50 to $2.

Went to the gym today. Did one hour of weights and 40 minutes of cardio. Walked to work from the BART station and I am BEAT! Tomorrow I plan to do laundry. Should get some good steps in.

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Playing Catch-Up

Calories eaten yesterday: 1213
Fat: 27g (21%)
Carbs: 73g (25%)
Protein: 159g (54%)
Weight this morning: 132.6
Calories burned in exercise today: 204

Slept in. Happy with my weight this morning. Exercise was walking from my apartment all the way to Alameda Towne Center. I fell behind in my steps this month due to hurting my foot on the last day of last month. I played catch up today to make my monthly goal. Tomorrow I hope to hit the gym.

I found a nice little coffee shop on Park Street that has Italian sodas and several sugar free flavors. I got a sugar free English Toffee soda. It was yummy.

Xena is being her usual annoying self. After refusing to sleep with me last night, she woke me up by curling up next to me this morning. I think it's because at night I'm awake and petting and kissing her when she wants to sleep. In the early a.m. I'm asleep and she can curl up next to be without being smothered with love, lol. She has such a hard life.

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Week 106, Day 2

Calories eaten yesterday: 1142
Fat: 27g (21%)
Carbs: 63g (22%)
Protein: 164g (57%)
Weight this morning: 134.4
Calories burned in exercise today: 392

Went to the gym today and did one hour of weights and about 41 minutes on the elliptical with arms. The first machine didn't work so I had to move to another and lost exact track of the minutes. Then I walked to work from the train station (1.5 miles and 30 minutes).

Tomorrow I don't have any errands to run before work so I hope to sleep in. I will, of course, do some walking. For one thing, I'm behind in my steps and only have today and tomorrow to make it up so I can hit my monthly goal. I need to do only 12,000 steps each day! I will make it!!!

Wednesday maybe I can hit the gym again. I do feel a little more alive on the Armour. I think the T3 is really helping! :)

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Week 105 Weigh-In

Start: 154
Week 1: 150 (-4) - Week 25: 137.6
Week 50: 138.4 - Week 75: 137.6
Week 100: 140 - Week 101: 138.4 (-1.6)
Week 102: 138.6 (+0.2) - Week 103: 139.4 (+0.8)
Week 104: 136.4 (-3) - Week 105: 137.8 (+1.4)
Total loss: -16.2 (since starting a low-fat diet)

Ok, now to catch up on other numbers.

Calories eaten Thursday: 1284
Fat: 26g (18%)
Carbs: 82g (26%)
Protein: 142g (44%)

Calories eaten Friday: 1501
Fat: 22g (14%)
Carbs: 79g (22%)
Protein: 154g (43%)

Weight Thursday morning: 131.4
Weight Friday morning: 130.6
Weight Saturday morning: 136.4 (Yes, I gained 6 pounds in one day!)

Calories burned in exercise Thursday: 210
Calories burned in exercise Friday: 204
Calories burned in exercise Saturday: 99
Calories burned in exercise today: 99

I don't think my weight is too bad given all the binging I have done recently. I am concerned that it was artificially low because 1) it is very hot right now and I know I was dehydrated this morning, and 2) I ate lower carb yesterday then before my last weigh-in so I wasn't retaining as much water weight as before.

Yes, I did okay yesterday sticking to plan. I did eat some Cheese-It's at church, but I think it was fewer than usual, and I only had a few bites of the trail mix and only one M&M out of it. I had more raisins from the trail mix than I should have, but mostly I just picked out the almonds and a few peanuts. I pigged out of the jar of peanuts on the snack table - more than two mini cups. I cut back on the granola bars. I had one of the peanut bars and one Oats & Honey. The Oats & Honey are my favorite, but I stopped at one. :)

I was hungry when lunchtime came. I had a little of Becky's enchilada casserole and a small serving of her carby salad, plus a small piece (very small) of the garlic flatbread. Other than that I pretty much just pigged out on Jane's salad with her homemade dressing. It had kiwi and sugar snap peas in it, but oh well. It was the healthiest thing on the table.

After church Anita dropped Brad and I off by the bridge (near the 7-Eleven I like to stop at). We walked to Alameda Towne Center to return my Old Navy tank tops for the right sizes.

We stopped at Starbucks on the way, and I got a grande iced skinny vanilla latte. I normally get the tall size, but they put so much ice in the iced ones that I get the next size up. Anyway, I got a skinny latte instead of the chocolate banana Vivanno I wanted.

I did break down and go to Tuttimelon for frozen yogurt, but the small size of the plain only has 30g carbs total, so it's not too bad. I wanted M&Ms or something sugary on it, but I got it with chopped almond topping instead.

After exchanging the tank tops we got on the bus and came home. We walked in to find a hairball and some throwup on the floor. The cats rarely hack up hairball so it may have just been because of the heat. The joys a being a cat mommy - I had to clean it up.

I made piña coladas because it was so hot and even had a beer - an MGD 64. Later I used the large wine glass (the one that holds one bottle of wine). I drank most of the wine. Brad and I snacked on pork rinds and watched the 1951 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Today Brad and I walked down to the bus stop where the 50 bus turns toward Alameda. We caught the bus from there into work so I only got 34 minutes of steps in.

Tomorrow I hope to hit the gym. :)

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Heading into the weekend...

Calories eaten yesterday: 1237
Fat: 27g (20%)
Carbs: 77g (26%)
Protein: 161g (54%)
Weight this morning: 131.4
Calories burned in exercise today: 210

Did laundry and walked to the laundromat and back. Then I walked down toward BART and to the 7-Eleven by the bridge.

Tomorrow is groceries bought on credit card since I am past broke. I paid too much on my credit card and then had a couple of medical bills for about $50 each hit me at the same time. Brad offered to buy me a few things.

The doctor’s office sent me the blood test order I called them about. For some odd reason it looks like only Free T4 was ordered – like that would help seeing as I just started med with T3! I wrote in Free T3 and TSH as well as "copy to patient" so that I see the results as soon as possible after the tests. And for some unknown reason they sent it to my P.O. box. :-p

I’m back on the healthy eating bandwagon. No more petite vanilla scones or Vivannos at Starbucks, no more sugary yogurt to snack on when I wake up in the middle of the night on Friday. I will snack on healthy foods such as cottage cheese, veggies, or Greek yogurt. Brad said he would get me some Greek yogurt – some for me and some to share and make my healthy chocolate pudding with. :)

I’m going to try to each healthy on Saturday at church and stay out of the Cheese-It’s and trail mix at church. I’ll still allow myself one or two granola bars because I do love them, but otherwise just stick with peanuts and pick some almonds out of the trail mix. :) No bad food at lunch. If I eat any lunch it has to be low-carb.

I’ll try to behave on Saturday and weigh-in on Sunday.

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Weigh-in and a comment response

Calories eaten yesterday: 1118
Fat: 22g (17%)
Carbs: 88g (31%)
Protein: 149g (52%)
Weight this morning: 134.4
Calories burned in exercise today: 388

Yes, I finally weighed in. It's a scary number, but it's a starting point. Time to unaddict myself to carbs and go back to merely cheating on Saturday and not binging like I have been. I can't lose weight that way; I gain!

Went to the gym today. I did one hour of weight training and then 40 minutes of cardio - 30 minutes on the elliptical with arms, and then, because the balls of my feet were hurting on that machine, 10 more minutes on the crossramp elliptical.

I had an interesting blog response a couple days ago. The person asserted that carbs are essential to good brain function. Um...no they are not. The brain runs quite well on ketones - it's one organ that thrives on them. Ketones are used in place of glucose when glucose is insufficient. Just do a Google search on "brain ketones."

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iPod charger and a scary incident

Calories eaten yesterday: 1173
Fat: 20g (15%)
Carbs: 84g (29%)
Protein: 162g (56%)
Calories burned in exercise today: 190

My new iPod charger came yesterday and I tried it out when I got home. It's a cheap, small little thing with an electrical plug on one side and a USB port on the other. Sure as heck cheaper than buying something similar from Apple! Apple no longer gives you a separate charger when you buy an iPod; they only ship a cord with a USB post and you upload and charge the iPod with the same cord, meaning you can only charge it with your computer around. Anyway, this little baby should do the trick!

Walked down to the BART station, went into the City to check my mail, then walked from my stop to work when I came back. I stopped at Pac N Save for salad on the way in. Tomorrow I hope to hit the gym again, though my butt is still sore from Monday's workout!

Scary thing that happened: I came home last night and my front door was open! I am sure that I locked it when I left yesterday. Nothing was missing and there were no other signs of anyone being in the house. Only Brad and I have keys and he says he didn't go over. The spare I hide on my desk was still there. Thank God (literally) that nothing was missing and that I am okay!

I called Colleen who works for the owner of the property and asked if someone who used to live there could still have a key and she told me Mr. Armstrong always changes the locks when a new tenant moves in. She even double checked with him and says yes, the locks were changed before I moved in.

So I am at a loss as the only explanation is that I failed to both fully close and lock the door when I left yesterday. When I came home Abby was out and Xena (having heard me coming up the street) was sitting in the doorway waiting for me. This is not the first time this has happened. Am I really that forgetful of something so important?

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Time For A Solid Plan

Calories eaten yesterday: 869
Fat: 18g (19%)
Carbs: 60g (28%)
Protein: 115g (53%)
Calories burned in exercise today: 402

I have got to get control of my eating. I am totally out of control. I think I need to do a more Atkins-type diet and stay away from the carbs even on Saturday. Eat just the peanuts on the snack table for example and stay away from the Cheese-It's and trail mix and fruit and nuts mix and cut back to just one granola bar. When I wake up in the middle of the night on Friday night, have a low-carb snack that I can reach for.

I suck and am gaining weight again. It's time to get back to basics and break this carb addition again!

So...

No more candies,
No more cakes,
No more sweets,
No more mistakes.

I went to the gym today and did one hour of weight training and 40 minutes on the crossramp elliptical. I walked into work from BART and stopped at the grocery store on the way for some salad. Tomorrow I plan to go into the City to check my mail.

We have new lockers at my gym. They closed the locker room all weekend and tore out the old metal lockers and in plastic lockers made to look like wood. Very solid and stylish. I like them. :)

There's an older guy at the gym named John who I sometimes chat with (old enough to be my father kind of old!). I told him I started Armour a week ago. He said I looked better, more energetic. I doubt that's really true, but I need to write it down anyway. Hopefully the T3 really is helping me.

An anonymous person posted a comment on yesterday blog entry and asked why I binged. It's actually a very good question and worth putting some serious thought into. A great part of it is how much I restrict during the week. By the time Friday rolls around I'm starved. But if I eat more during the week I can't lose weight. :(

The real problem is a true physical addiction to carbs and that addiction has to be faced and broken. So I have decided that if I get into a hungry binge mode I will eat fat and/or protein, but not carbs.

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I don't think I will ever weigh-in again :(

Calories eaten Thursday: 1328
Fat: 22g (16%)
Carbs: 99g (32%)
Protein: 127g (40%)

I ended up binging Friday so no stats for that day. :(

Calories burned in exercise Thursday: 306
Calories burned in exercise Friday: 146
Calories burned in exercise Saturday: 179
Calories burned in exercise today: 0

I somehow made it through my 12 hour shift on Thursday from 3 pm to 3 am. I went home, took a shower, and got to bed around 5 am. I only slept about 6 hours and very poorly. I knew I would need to get to bed early on Friday because I knew how wiped out Brad would be.

I went grocery shopping but fell asleep Thursday night (Friday morning) thinking about Chips Ahoy cookies. I bought a large package of them and a package of the chocolate chewies at the grocery store. I also bought three petite vanilla scones from the Starbucks store in Safeway and ate them on the way home. By the next morning there was very little left of the Chips Ahoy cookies and chocolate chewies to take to church. Brad ate a few of each, but I ate most of them. :( I also went to Subway and got a chicken breast footlong sandwich and potato chips and had that for dinner Friday night. At least that was halfway sane. But I also bought one cookie there and ate that, and I got the sandwich with extra cheese.

I went to 7-Eleven and bought cereal (two single-serve packages) and low fat milk for Saturday's breakfast, a banana, and a single-serve package of Nutter Butter cookies.

Food-wise the binging continued on Saturday. I had the cereal and milk for breakfast. I ended up drinking the rest of the quart of milk later that day. As usual I ate too many snacks at church and had some of the bad foods at the potluck.

After coming home Brad and I walked to Alameda Towne Center. We stopped at Tuttimellon where I had the fat-free chocolate frozen yogurt with graham cracker crumbs and he had fruit-flavored gelato with blueberries and nut toppings. Then we did some shopping at the mall, I got a nonfat chocolate banana Vivanno, and Brad bought me some wine at a nice restaurant.

Then we went to Applebee's and we were hungry by then so we got their 2 for $20 deal. We got the cheese sticks appetizer and I got the Quesedilla burger with a side of broccoli instead of fries. But then we got dessert, and I had a Mudslide (ARGH!) along with a lot of other drinks. :( Somewhere in all this Brad upset me so I ended up at Safeway buying a huge slice of german chocolate cake, which I ate.

We tumbled into bed (me in my bed and Brad on his cot) and slept in. We were woken by a call from P at work asking me to come in early, so I got Brad up and made coffee and we headed into work. We ended up even earlier than P wanted but he said he's go ahead and leave then, so I will get a couple hours overtime today. I feel like a fat cow and am hungover. :(

I have been on edge a lot lately and I think it's the Armour medication.

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