A year and several days on, and I finally work out how to microwave a package of eggwhites.
(Slightly excused by the fact that we've only had packaged eggwhites on shop shelves here for a few months to my knowledge, and even then I've only seen them in Selfridges and Wholefoods).
Yes, prior to this, if I've been eating eggwhites I've been hard-boiling eggs and burning my fingers separating them out. It hasn't encouraged me to use them often. This 500g package though, after 10 mins in the microwave in my lasagne dish, has cut up into little cubes like tofu or quorn - far more appetizing than scraps with shell.
So, that's me sorted for protein for the next few days then.
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Monday, 28 January 2008
I never learn!
Last week I came up to town wearing my new jeans (admittedly a size up from the ones I was wearing with comfort back in July 2007, but temporarily so, surely) and feeling sexy and slinky. I might not have looked it but I felt it and that's always good.
Today those very same jeans are mumsy and frumpy and too tight.
It's a mystery.
(Oh, okay, so it's not a mystery at all. Damn my lack of self-restraint with calories in liquid form, and an over-fondness for expensive white burgundy. It's never the food.)
Still, no use beating myself up about it. Onwards and upwards... I can see lots of soup in my immediate future.
Today those very same jeans are mumsy and frumpy and too tight.
It's a mystery.
(Oh, okay, so it's not a mystery at all. Damn my lack of self-restraint with calories in liquid form, and an over-fondness for expensive white burgundy. It's never the food.)
Still, no use beating myself up about it. Onwards and upwards... I can see lots of soup in my immediate future.
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Hello World
Not much of CR interest going on in the life of Sara right now, but Arturo has reminded me it's too easy just to vanish back into the ether unless I keep posting here (I'm always reading the blogs, lurking away). I'm still plugging away at trying to lose the New Year pounds; I guess I need to remember that my body hangs onto weight, and while other people seem fine to drop 2 or so in a week, it will take mine at least a month of being fairly (or more) rigorous with watching what I eat. So much easier said than done when I socialise so much. Still, I'm eating well, and these last few days I've been experimenting with a version of Hilary's breakfast suggestion (300g Total 0%, 10g LLBY, 10g pumpkin seeds, 5g flaxseed, 5g gojis); at around 300 cals, it's certainly filling, and the sheer OMGIAMAGLUTTON feeling I get from eating 2 pots of yoghurt in a row first thing in the morning is enough to send me to the gym afterwards so... I guess that's a good thing! :-) Seriously though, it packs over 30g protein and yes, finally, I think this is making things feel a lot less edgy. So good.
Outside of CR considerations, I've eaten in a couple of really fabulous places in London over the last couple of weeks. We went to the new champagne bar in St Pancras station; freezing cold, but right next to all the Eurostar trains rumbling off for more glamorous, if not warmer, climes. Followed by a visit to Acorn House, where I ate the veggie accompaniments (scraping amaretti crumbs off the butternut squash - why, why??), and argued with P (who had ordered the veggie dish) about why veggie dishes in restaurants need always be so boring and pastry/pasta/rice based... Except when they are eaten in 32 Great Queen Street, however, where last Tuesday I had a fabulous salad with fine shavings of raw Jerusalem artichoke and pomegranate seeds and chicory and raddiccio and walnuts, followed by a comforting, earthy broth of wild and field mushrooms with barley. Mmm, mmm, mmmm. Maybe there's a reason it takes more than a week... :-)
The other thing of note that has happened this week is that I applied for a job a couple of weeks ago; sent off my old CV, slightly tweaked, and a cover letter and then basically forgot about it. On Thursday I got a technical telephone interview out of the blue, and then another with the head of personnel. My confidence is so shot right now that both calls left me in floods of hysterical tears, torn between fear that I had messed it up entirely and fear that I haven't and will therefore have to have a proper interview where (my shot confidence says) I am certain to embarrass myself and have my total uselessness at IT held up for all, including me, to scrutinize. I hadn't realised I had got this low and down on myself and that's a shock. I seriously need to work on rebuilding my self-esteem. But I am not sure that moving into another IT job, which is likely to be more stressful if ultimately more rewarding, is that right thing to do. When my back is to the wall I will get the job done - but I need to work out if putting my back to the wall is really what I want to be doing every day.
On a brighter note, I was talking to A Young Person (30) in the pub the other night who, when questioned, genuinely believed me to be aged around 27/28. Cool. I might feel old and knackered then, but perhaps I don't look it (even through beer googles). :-)
Right, it's 6.30am and I must take my yoghurt-filled self off to the gym for the daily stagger on the treadmill.
Love to all!
Outside of CR considerations, I've eaten in a couple of really fabulous places in London over the last couple of weeks. We went to the new champagne bar in St Pancras station; freezing cold, but right next to all the Eurostar trains rumbling off for more glamorous, if not warmer, climes. Followed by a visit to Acorn House, where I ate the veggie accompaniments (scraping amaretti crumbs off the butternut squash - why, why??), and argued with P (who had ordered the veggie dish) about why veggie dishes in restaurants need always be so boring and pastry/pasta/rice based... Except when they are eaten in 32 Great Queen Street, however, where last Tuesday I had a fabulous salad with fine shavings of raw Jerusalem artichoke and pomegranate seeds and chicory and raddiccio and walnuts, followed by a comforting, earthy broth of wild and field mushrooms with barley. Mmm, mmm, mmmm. Maybe there's a reason it takes more than a week... :-)
The other thing of note that has happened this week is that I applied for a job a couple of weeks ago; sent off my old CV, slightly tweaked, and a cover letter and then basically forgot about it. On Thursday I got a technical telephone interview out of the blue, and then another with the head of personnel. My confidence is so shot right now that both calls left me in floods of hysterical tears, torn between fear that I had messed it up entirely and fear that I haven't and will therefore have to have a proper interview where (my shot confidence says) I am certain to embarrass myself and have my total uselessness at IT held up for all, including me, to scrutinize. I hadn't realised I had got this low and down on myself and that's a shock. I seriously need to work on rebuilding my self-esteem. But I am not sure that moving into another IT job, which is likely to be more stressful if ultimately more rewarding, is that right thing to do. When my back is to the wall I will get the job done - but I need to work out if putting my back to the wall is really what I want to be doing every day.
On a brighter note, I was talking to A Young Person (30) in the pub the other night who, when questioned, genuinely believed me to be aged around 27/28. Cool. I might feel old and knackered then, but perhaps I don't look it (even through beer googles). :-)
Right, it's 6.30am and I must take my yoghurt-filled self off to the gym for the daily stagger on the treadmill.
Love to all!
Sunday, 13 January 2008
A stuttering start
Hmm. Rather ashamed to admit that despite the best of intentions, I don't seem to have got my second CRON year off to a good start - I've gained a pound if not two since the beginning of the year (*shame* (It could just be water retention though... *hopes*)), and I keep being ambushed by hunger and the close proximity of starchy carbs, aka delicious breads. Someone said (what I think of as) the dreaded words to me the other day - "Oooh, you are looking well". I always translate this as "My, haven't you put on weight lately...", while knowing of course that my friend means anything but. But it's true. 115lbs this morning which is in no way a disaster, but irritating because I really don't want that insidious creep to 120 and beyond happening again, and even more so because I was hovering just over 112-113lbs at Christmas. I am much better and much more myself at 112, and 110 is where I want to be. So, same goal as last year then. But I'll settle for 112.
This morning I managed a gym session (urgh, so boring), and an extremely blustery and cold walk on Salisbury Plain with friends and dogs. Benefits of which were all off-set by pub lunch (butternut soup, bread) and the necessity of getting calories back into me asap because I was frozen. This afternoon I have nothing more planned than huddling up with the papers, hot drinks, and Jazz FM. Dinner will be little gem lettuce and the remains of a huge pot of low-fat cottage cheese that I foolishly opened the day before going to London and now am trying to finish off before it goes fizzy and climbs out of the fridge by itself.
Then a day at home, two more days in London, and then a week (thankfully) at home to make a second/third/fourth start on cutting the carbs and upping the protein and making gym exercise an every day thing. And shaking up my diet a bit. I am planning to cut the fruit out at breakfast and replace it with extra protein and fats (yoghurt, seeds AND nuts), and see how that goes. If nothing else it's an easy way of reducing my calories and I get all essential vitamins / minerals that my servings of fruit provide in my veggies anyway. I'd like to get my carbs down this year and see if that helps the stupid blood sugar problems I have. Also need to cut the caffeine and, obviously, resist eating bread when I am eating out.
I think it's fair to say this is now, as April described it the other day, more weight-watchers with an eye on nutrition than CR.
This morning I managed a gym session (urgh, so boring), and an extremely blustery and cold walk on Salisbury Plain with friends and dogs. Benefits of which were all off-set by pub lunch (butternut soup, bread) and the necessity of getting calories back into me asap because I was frozen. This afternoon I have nothing more planned than huddling up with the papers, hot drinks, and Jazz FM. Dinner will be little gem lettuce and the remains of a huge pot of low-fat cottage cheese that I foolishly opened the day before going to London and now am trying to finish off before it goes fizzy and climbs out of the fridge by itself.
Then a day at home, two more days in London, and then a week (thankfully) at home to make a second/third/fourth start on cutting the carbs and upping the protein and making gym exercise an every day thing. And shaking up my diet a bit. I am planning to cut the fruit out at breakfast and replace it with extra protein and fats (yoghurt, seeds AND nuts), and see how that goes. If nothing else it's an easy way of reducing my calories and I get all essential vitamins / minerals that my servings of fruit provide in my veggies anyway. I'd like to get my carbs down this year and see if that helps the stupid blood sugar problems I have. Also need to cut the caffeine and, obviously, resist eating bread when I am eating out.
I think it's fair to say this is now, as April described it the other day, more weight-watchers with an eye on nutrition than CR.
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
Very, very, very quickly indeed...
I've had lots of things buzzing around my head recently that I wanted to write in a blog post, not least because I think tomorrow counts as my CR birthday - well, the day of my first post on this blog, so sort of my CR birthday... but haven't really had the time to get them out there in any coherent order...
I used CoM for the first time in several weeks yesterday and, as usual, when I totalled my food up for the day was around 1100 calories with 98% vitamins and 98% minerals - not bad going for ad hoc. Lots of veggies and low fat cottage cheese and fat free yoghurt and some eggwhites for good measure. Today isn't so good, I've been really snacky all day, and I missed the gym due to a combination of insomnia and unexpected late sleeping with bad dreams (hence exhuasted when I finally did wake up)... although I did go out for a healthy hour long walk, thinking about my 14 years... The report below is good for breakfast, lunch and various unncessary snackings from the fridge but with dinner still to go. Cooked by me, but to be eaten en famille with the neighbours so can't weigh and measure it really, but it will be mushroom stroganoff (ok, mushrooms cooked with some olive oil, white wine, garlic and onions and mixed up with Total 0%) so that should take care of the B's, cavalo nero and green beans (hopefully the latter should sort the E). There's ciabatta but I am determined to resist it... I'm feeling quite full, I've eaten far too many eggwhites today that I meant to save for tomorrow, plus more cereal than usual to finish up the packet; if I was alone I'd probably just have a plate of broccoli and be done with it.
===========================================
Nutrition Summary for 08 January 2008
Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.3
===========================================
General (68%)
===========================================
Energy | 942.3 kcal 79%
Protein | 73.1 g 81%
Carbs | 112.2 g 93%
Fiber | 27.3 g 78%
Fat | 28.0 g 31%
Water | 1308.3 g 48%
Vitamins (91%)
===========================================
Vitamin A | 13955.9 IU 598%
Folate | 553.4 µg 138%
B1 (Thiamine) | 0.9 mg 80%
B2 (Riboflavin) | 2.5 mg 231%
B3 (Niacin) | 9.4 mg 67%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)| 2.8 mg 56%
B6 (Pyridoxine) | 2.1 mg 162%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) | 2.6 µg 107%
Vitamin C | 169.9 mg 227%
Vitamin D | 420.7 IU 210%
Vitamin E | 13.0 mg 86%
Vitamin K | 380.9 µg 423%
Minerals (95%)
===========================================
Calcium | 1073.7 mg 107%
Copper | 1.5 mg 169%
Iron | 18.1 mg 100%
Magnesium | 355.8 mg 111%
Manganese | 2.5 mg 139%
Phosphorus | 1041.6 mg 149%
Potassium | 3747.3 mg 80%
Selenium | 115.3 µg 210%
Sodium | 1135.3 mg 76%
Zinc | 7.4 mg 93%
Lipids (42%)
===========================================
Saturated | 3.3 g 17%
Omega-3 | 1.4 g 130%
Omega-6 | 6.1 g 51%
Cholesterol | 6.0 mg 2%
(Rather irritatingly the yellows were back this morning. if it's food related, I ate a ton of butternut squash last week, and have been eating broccoli practically every day, and last night had a pile of kale. Over Christmas it seemed a lot better. I dunno... *sigh*)
I used CoM for the first time in several weeks yesterday and, as usual, when I totalled my food up for the day was around 1100 calories with 98% vitamins and 98% minerals - not bad going for ad hoc. Lots of veggies and low fat cottage cheese and fat free yoghurt and some eggwhites for good measure. Today isn't so good, I've been really snacky all day, and I missed the gym due to a combination of insomnia and unexpected late sleeping with bad dreams (hence exhuasted when I finally did wake up)... although I did go out for a healthy hour long walk, thinking about my 14 years... The report below is good for breakfast, lunch and various unncessary snackings from the fridge but with dinner still to go. Cooked by me, but to be eaten en famille with the neighbours so can't weigh and measure it really, but it will be mushroom stroganoff (ok, mushrooms cooked with some olive oil, white wine, garlic and onions and mixed up with Total 0%) so that should take care of the B's, cavalo nero and green beans (hopefully the latter should sort the E). There's ciabatta but I am determined to resist it... I'm feeling quite full, I've eaten far too many eggwhites today that I meant to save for tomorrow, plus more cereal than usual to finish up the packet; if I was alone I'd probably just have a plate of broccoli and be done with it.
===========================================
Nutrition Summary for 08 January 2008
Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.3
===========================================
General (68%)
===========================================
Energy | 942.3 kcal 79%
Protein | 73.1 g 81%
Carbs | 112.2 g 93%
Fiber | 27.3 g 78%
Fat | 28.0 g 31%
Water | 1308.3 g 48%
Vitamins (91%)
===========================================
Vitamin A | 13955.9 IU 598%
Folate | 553.4 µg 138%
B1 (Thiamine) | 0.9 mg 80%
B2 (Riboflavin) | 2.5 mg 231%
B3 (Niacin) | 9.4 mg 67%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)| 2.8 mg 56%
B6 (Pyridoxine) | 2.1 mg 162%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) | 2.6 µg 107%
Vitamin C | 169.9 mg 227%
Vitamin D | 420.7 IU 210%
Vitamin E | 13.0 mg 86%
Vitamin K | 380.9 µg 423%
Minerals (95%)
===========================================
Calcium | 1073.7 mg 107%
Copper | 1.5 mg 169%
Iron | 18.1 mg 100%
Magnesium | 355.8 mg 111%
Manganese | 2.5 mg 139%
Phosphorus | 1041.6 mg 149%
Potassium | 3747.3 mg 80%
Selenium | 115.3 µg 210%
Sodium | 1135.3 mg 76%
Zinc | 7.4 mg 93%
Lipids (42%)
===========================================
Saturated | 3.3 g 17%
Omega-3 | 1.4 g 130%
Omega-6 | 6.1 g 51%
Cholesterol | 6.0 mg 2%
(Rather irritatingly the yellows were back this morning. if it's food related, I ate a ton of butternut squash last week, and have been eating broccoli practically every day, and last night had a pile of kale. Over Christmas it seemed a lot better. I dunno... *sigh*)
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