Cautiously optimistic at 185 pounds.

Just a quick entry before the Daily Show comes on.
It's been 2 weeks since I started the diet.I'm still 40 pounds overweight, but having lost weight, now that I'm eating like a normal person, is encouraging. I tried on a skirt that looked pathetic on me a couple weeks ago. It fits better! Eating diary: Breakfast - 1 packet of oatmeal (3), double vanilla sugarless soy latte (2),=5 pts.Lunch - A boca burger. I was busy (5 pts)=5pts Supper - 1 cup of rice (4) and 1 serving of Japanese seitan curry (5) 1 servings of brocolli-cauliflower-carrot veggie mix, steamed, less than 1 point. = 9
So now I need to eat a few more points. I'm keeping it around 22-23 a day. I drink lots of Crytal Light, the new calcium-fortified kind that's orange flavored. It tastes like that drink we used to drink when we were kids - remember Tang? I eat tons of veggies, which have practically no calories and fill me up. It's getting harder and harder to make my points, especially since I quit eating the Korean noodle bowls, which were - gasp - as calorie laden as a big mac. Do I feel deprived? A little. I do love my noodle bows. But I've lost 9 pounds.

Trying to lose weight on the Internet

Here's an interesting image I found on the Internet. A lot of my pictures I get by going to images.google.com and typing in "fat".
This represents the fat that Americans consume, and how they consume it, and how that's changed over time.
I was watching the French revolution on the history channel, which was so interesting I almost forgot to leave an entry. I may not do them daily after today, as I'll be going back to my insane schedule of teaching full time and taking 5 classes--four at Highlands and 1 at UNM. I did want to leave the web address where I got a little program that calculates WeightWatcher points; all you have to do is type in calories, fat, and fiber, which you can get from Calorie King. Today, I ate 22 units. I tried "diet power" program, but I hate it. I love "life form" which is really easy to use, doesn't nag you or make you answer a million questions when you enter your info, and keeps track of your intake. It's at http://www.lifeform.com. You can download an evaluation copy.

OK. So, why do I want to lose weight? Lots of reasons. I have nicer clothes that don't fit. I hate the way my body feels when I run, especially down stairs (yuck). I hate the way I accidentally bump into things and people, because I've misjudged how much space I take up. I'm turning 40 soon, and I want to be 40, fit, and fabulous; not 40, fat, and flabby. Take your pick.After today, I'm going to write once a week, on Thursdays.

The latte's I drink everyday, they are made with the Silk calcium + iron fortified soymilk that my husband and I get at Cosco, espresso, and sugarless vanilla syrup or a packet of Splenda. Hubby has a quad. Of course, he gets 30 points a day. I only get 24. It's as it should be; he's 8 inches taller than I am. He uses his flex points on popcorn, which he loves. I try not to use mine, although I might bend a little on some great veggie pepperoni stuff that tastes just like summer sausage. I swear.

Discouragement

Today, we went for a drive to Santa Fe and I found out, after we got back, that the bean burritoes without cheese that we ate at Taco Bell were about 5 or 6 point EACH. I could have sworn that I saw that it was 1 point in the list. We were both pretty cranky at that revelation. Today, I ate 21 units.

This image pretty much sums up how I feel much of the time. Except you have to imagine the doorway as most of my clothes and, of course, the green fat alien is me.

Some encouragement!

Mood: Encouraged!
Today I woke up and had half the amount of oatmeal (1 packet instead of 2) and a double latte instead of a quad. The chocolate peanut butter pie is all gone, thank God. Even though it's made with silken tofu instead of cheese, the peanut butter and sugar really packs a punch. I wonder if making it with splenda would help? I felt pretty full most of the day, pretty satisfied.
Food diary:Breakfast: 1/2 cup apple sauce, double latte, 1 package instant oatmeal.Lunch:2 pieces of seared, seasoned firm tofu, brocolli, cauliflour, and baby carrots, crystal light, the new calcium-fortified kind.Total points eaten: 20

I eat like a 300 pound man.

Today I started keeping track of the foods I eat. For my height and weight, my immediate goal (losing 10% of my current weight) should involve eating 24 units per day. Earlier in the day, I'm horrified to learn that I've been eating about twice that. I do love my food. I've been eating to maintain a lineman's frame, but sadly, I am indeed NOT a lineman. :-( Today, I wound up "borrowing" from my weekly "flex" points, eating a total of 35 points for the day. Yikes. I had no idea I was eating so much!
Food diary:Breakfast: 2 packages of instant oatmeal, a quad vanilla soy latteLunch: a korean kim-chee noodle bowl, a can of greenbeans, green tea with splenda. Snack: half cup of apple sauce, piece of chocolate peanut butter pieSupper: rice/lentil mixture with vegetarian sausage and vegetables, crystal light. Piece of chocolate peanut-butter pie.

Time: Evening
Date: January 13th, 2005
Mood: OptimisticI went to that meeting and I feel like the "weight watchers" system is something I could do. We decided to call ourselves, the "big Losers club". I went online and found a little program that calculates weight watchers points, and I'll put a link to it later. I also found CalorieKing, where you can lookup just about any food there is to get the information you need to calculate the points.

Introduction

Why am I doing this
Well, I woke up this morning, January 14, 2005 and I weigh 194 lbs. When I graduated from high school, I weighed 120. Of course, I grew another inch that year, but even still, my "ideal weight" is around 135, with a 10% allowance either way for frame size. So, ideally, I should weigh between 122 and 148 american pounds. 194 pounds (which is 88 kg) places me in the "clinically obese" category.

I cannot go up a flight of stairs in the school where I teach without reaching the top, out of breath, and muttering "F**K!" under my breath.

My collegues say I don't look like I weigh much, but maybe they're being charitable. I'm 5'6" and pushing a size 18. I think that's the problem with the United States: Rampant denial.I'm also going to occasionally drop some images on this page that I got by going to googles images and typing in "fat".

The amazing thing is that I went from 142 to 194 in just 4 and a half years. 13 pounds a year doesn't sound like much, but after 4 years have gone by--behold, you've gained 52 pounds. This afternoon, I'm going to join a quasi-"weight-watchers" group of other teachers and set some goals.

I want to weigh less.
I want to be able to walk up a hill, or a flight of stairs, without feeling like my heart is leaping out of my chest and I'm going to throw up.
I want to wear normal clothes.
that's not too much to ask, is it?