Week 12 Weigh In

Well it finally happened, the dreaded weight gain! I’d like to blame Easter but that had nothing to do it with it — stress was my killer this week. I have always had problems with being an emotional eater. My way of dealing with stress is by eating anything that contains carbohydrates! This last week I have been dealing with problems with my job. To be honest, I have never really been happy with any of the jobs that I’ve taken since I moved here. Why, you ask? Well, because in England (yes I have the accent still) I had a good chance of making a management position, I was in a team lead position getting as much on the job training as I could handle. Then I made the decision to move to America, a decision I have never regretted, but one that resulted in me stepping back down to a programmer. I haven’t been able to advance beyond that position since. So now I am considering my next career move, and filling up on fries and chips as a result! If you’re in need of a skilled software engineer with aspirations of moving back into team leadership and beyond, send me an email!

Be Careful What You Wish For

As a single woman, I’ve been rather eager the past few months to meet a man to go out with. I’m not interested in getting serious with anyone, whatever that means. I really just want to have some fun and companionship. At a party a couple of weeks ago, I was set to meet This Guy, the brother of a friend’s friend. It turned out to be a night of good food, good music, plenty of beer and a designated driver at a starry location out in the country. I pretty much threw myself at This Guy, making a tasteful pass at him so he’d have no doubts about whether I was interested. The Friday following the party, we went to a bar on the beach and had a couple of glasses of wine and flirted a lot. Maybe this is my middle age talking, but I liked how comfortable I was with him. Then, on Sunday night, we went to dinner and had an equally nice time. When he took me home, he said he’d call me.I heard from him again on Friday afternoon. We ended up going to dinner, then took the long way back to my house. Saturday I had a great day with friends that included yoga, a gyro sandwich and a local arts fest. On the way home, I persuaded myself to go clothes shopping — a necessary evil for me. By the time I was carrying the bags in the door, I was pooped. When This Guy called me Saturday late in the afternoon to ask what I was up to, I told him I was doing laundry and reading. I declined his dinner invitation because, well, because I wanted to do my laundry and read my book. After chatting a few more minutes, we hung up. An hour or so later, he called again. He was headed home from a work errand and was nearby. He asked me about dinner again and I think I was a bit short in reiterating my intent to stay in that night. I think I hurt his feelings, which made me feel bad. He’s a nice guy who wanted to take me to dinner. We ended up going out and having a very nice time. By the time I hung up the phone with him Sunday evening, I realized things had escalated. One sign of escalation is when he calls and doesn’t identify himself but you know who it is. And when you hang up, he doesn’t say I’ll call you soon; he says I’ll call you tomorrow. And then he does.

Grilled Lamb With Herbes de Provence

When I am grilling with good, flavorful meat I like to use recipes that don’t mask the natural flavor of the meat itself, this is definitely one of those recipes. It’s also great if you don’t have the time for a long marinade, just marinate the meat while you are waiting for your grill to heat up.

Ingredients

12 lamb chops
2 lemons
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
3 tbsps Herbes de Provence

Directions

1. Mix the oil with the juice of one lemon
2. Brush the mixture onto the lamb

What’s for dessert?

Having lost 30 lbs. last year, I didn’t want them back. From what I read online, a certain amount of weight gain is inevitable when you quit smoking. Apparently, smoking is worth about 200 calories of metabolism. So when you quit, even though your brain strongly suggests replacing the cigarettes with lots of chocolate and junk food, your body is actually demanding healthier foods in smaller quantities.My weight loss started unintentionally. When I realized my husband might actually dump me, I lost my appetite. Not wanting to eat in a stressful situation was a first for me. Like many people, I’m a nervous eater who seeks out food for comfort. I guess since the trauma of my marriage ending was the worst I’d been through, my stomach reacted accordingly. The idea of eating just didn’t appeal to me. When I did eat, it wasn’t much. This lack of appetite lasted three or four months. By then I had lost maybe 20 lbs. For my mental health, I had upped my workouts so between reducing my caloric intake and burning more calories, another 10 lbs. came off. I started buying new clothes that fit and decided to stay where I was weight-wise, give or take five lbs. My weight has been stable for the past nine or so months.

How I Quit Smoking

On January 2, I quit smoking at 7:30 in the morning. As a smoker of 32 years, quitting has been a thousand times easier than I ever imagined it would be. And the reason it’s been so easy is Chantix (Varenicline) — the prescription drug from Pfizer. I started taking the pills a week before my target quit date, as directed. Some time around the fifth day, smoking a cigarette was becoming an odd experience. The smoke had somehow gotten “neutralized” and I was not getting the satisfaction from a smoke like I used to. On top of that, the smoke itself tasted funny — not bad but not good, either. What was going on? Well, apparently, it was the Chantix at work.

Weight Loss Tip: How to Predict Your Weight Loss

Did you know that if you ate 3,500 fewer calories than the calories needed to maintain your weight you would lose one pound? So over the course of a week if you ate 500 calories fewer each day, you would lose a pound a week.

Ah, but how do you know how many calories you would have to consume to maintain your current weight? That’s simple, head on over to Calorie Control Council’s website, and use their handy calculator for men or their calculator for women to figure it out.

Smoking or chain-smoking?

You know how they say smoking kills? And how every cigarette pack comes with a dire FDA warning about lung cancer or some other morbid health topic smokers don’t want to know about ? And how it’s been common knowledge for years that smoking shortens your life expectancy? And how smokers can no longer smoke in most indoor places and even many outdoor ones? And how the price of a pack of cigarettes has gotten insanely high in recent years? And how badly a person who just stepped out to smoke stinks when they come back inside? And how smokers are now the worst of society’s pariahs? So what kind of idiot would continue to smoke in this day and age? Me, until 78 days ago. And frankly, I quit for the shallowest of reasons.

Weight Loss Tip: Avoid Using The Word Diet

di·et 1 a: food and drink regularly provided or consumed b: habitual nourishment c: the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason d: a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one’s weight <going on a diet>

Doesn’t that definition sound like by “going on a diet” you are essentially starving yourself? Given a choice between starvation or replacing unhealthy food with healthy alternatives and eating enough that you never felt hungry which would you choose?

Week 11 Weigh In

I’ve been trying to think of a way I could top Martha’s first post with mine, and I hate to admit it, I’m still thinking. Score 1 for Martha. So I decided to jump in with what will become a weekly feature, normally released on Mondays. Yes, it’s time for me to admit to the world how I’m doing on my weight loss!

Playing Hard to Get?

In August I got a divorce. I didn’t want a divorce but I got one nonetheless. By the time it was official, it had been nine months since my former husband moved out of our home. It had been 11 months since he announced he wanted to move out. And it had been 15 months since he asked me one Friday evening if I was happy. (Yes, I was at the time but the question struck fear in my heart and pretty much marked the beginning of the end for us.)