Sunday 20 May 2007

You've got the tools, so use them...

I'm pretty used to having a couple of days a week when it's difficult to impossible to record my nutritional intake in CoM - because I am eating out, away from the machine, without my scales... that sort of thing. But most of the time when I am able to, I use CoM and am glad I do because it lets me know where I am. Today I haven't recorded, and I really wish I had! I had breakfast here, and I had dinner here, and I should have weighed and measured and I didn't... and now I am sitting here wondering, did I get enough iron? and, there's no way I got enough if any B5; maybe I should eat some mushrooms.... Hey ho.

I'm not too bothered really. I let today be kind of a free day because I dropped to 110.6lbs on the scale this morning, and while I know that was probably because I was dehydrated after drinks with friends last night (oops) or because I skipped lunch the last 2 days (no choice), I really don't actually want to be under 8 stone. Well, I don't mind being under eight stone as long as I am not getting a skinny heart... I don't care what my BMI is as long as my heart is fighting fit and keeps doing its job! And as long as The Dress isn't too big on the day, of course.

The funeral on Friday went as well as these things go. Sad, quiet. I hate the conveyer-belt feeling of crematoriums (crematoria?). But it is amazing that they are such quiet, empty places, considering the amount of traffic that has to go through them... Amazing, and horrific. Urgh.

Yesterday P and I went up to Stratford on Avon again, this time to see The Seagull. LOL. That didn't really cheer me up! P enjoyed it though. When we got home, we joined my neighbours for drinks and later, a pot luck supper. I ate asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli, and salad leaves with chives and chive flowers (yum), and even a spoonful of the rhubarb from the rhubarb crumble that had been made for dessert. We drank a lot - tested out some more wedding wines and settled on our red - a Chinon.

Today I made brunch for us all to eat in the garden - coffee and croissants (I had half of one) and strawberries - and then P and I went to Bath to sort out the family meal for the evening before the wedding in one of our favourite pubs. We ate lunch there and it was as delicious as always - watercress soup, and asparagus with poached egg and hollandaise for me, and some cheese - but annoyingly there is not the space to have such a large group of people all sitting together, so we'll have to resort to Plan B for that. And then we went and bought more wedding wine... and test-drove another in the garden afterwards.

So, I guess I don't really need to worry about the weight! It will be back on soon enough. But I do wish I had recorded breakfast and dinner (asparagus (no, I can't get enough of the stuff), broccoli, peashoots, LLBY, spinach and lentils) in CoM. I'd feel happier knowing I was in the nineties on most things, even if the calories are higher than usual. No, not happier; safer. It feels irresponsible to be CR'd without tracking my nutrition... and it is. I must remember that, in future.

4 comments:

Robin said...

Sara,

What I find encouraging in your post is that you've internalized so much information about nutrition. I've done the same. I automatically know what to eat if I find I'm a bit low on any given nutrient. This is something I *never* could have done before starting CRON.

I feel quite certain that I was habitually low on many nutrients in my pre-CRON days even though I was overweight and eating huge numbers of calories every day. There's just no way I was getting enough nutrition when nothing green and/or leafy ever crossed my lips. So the way I see it, you're undoubtedly ahead of the game. At least you *think* about whether you're getting all the nutrients you need. Most people never bother about it.

That said, you're right - to practice CRON responsibly you do have to track the nutrients. I'm finding, however, that I really only need to pay attention to a few things - you know, the nutrients you always end up struggling to get enough of - and all the others just take care of themselves. And what's amazing to me is that I can just reach into my bag of nutritional tricks and pull out just the right thing to give me the nutrient I need. It sounds like that's where you are as well.

Sara said...

Thanks Robin!

Pre-CRON I thought I was eating healthily; I ate pretty much nothing more than green vegetables and salad veggies and oatcakes - but of course, healthy while that was, I was still missing out probably most of the B's, and E, and iron and calcium for sure, and good fats. And I was probably even more CR'd then than I am now, which is a little freaky - or maybe not, because I was eating a lot more bread and carbs in the last year... Anyway, I just love knowing that I have all the bases covered now, and that the weight I have lost I have lost safely. I am still confused about the actual science behind CR, how restriction works... but eating this way makes me feel so good that even if CRON doesn't give me a lot more time than I would have had without it, it's worth practicing for that.

I definitely feel I should push the "being responsible" angle both for my own benefit and for anyone new to CRON reading. I'm probably about to have to start finding a maintenance balance and restricted calorie level that isn't losing me much more weight, like you've been doing. That is going to be another challenge, but bring it on, is what I say! :-)

Illiah said...

Are there meetings? you know, I'm Illiah, and I am a COM a Holic?

Seriously, I'm no where near having stuff internalized yet, and to be honest, after all those years of bad eating, I am too out of with my body to be able to know what and how much it needs. COM really helps me there.

April said...

Sara,

I want to try the wedding wines too!

You should invite us to this wedding... we will come, and I am notorious for giving elaborate wedding gifts.

a