Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Tuna truth revealed amidst random meanderings

First the truth on the tuna talley:  By far the respondents to the very serious question of whether pouch or canned tuna tastes better...drumroll please....Tuna In A Pouch.  DareIsay I told you so;-)

I noticed something rather revolting today...in a good way, if that's possible.  Or about a good thing? 

I got on the scale and was pleased with what it said.  Also a little surprised.  I'll post an official weight on Friday, but like many other sneaky bloggers, I do jump on that would-be fortune teller most mornings, just to keep it real and not let a bad trend go too far.  When I saw the more-pleasing-than-I-expected number, I did a double take.  I even stepped off and back on and shifted around to see if it's verdict would change, being ever the suspicious gal.  But it held it's ground and my weight. 

I quickly showered and coiffed (don't you love that archaic word?), put my lunch together and headed out to the 7 a.m. meeting I go to before work.  I stopped in Starbucks (because someone had given me a card) and was having chatty little upbeat conversations with people (strangers inc. the Barista), totally enjoying myself and "working the room".  While adding milk to my coffee, it dawned on me...I was feeling extra happy, outgoing and expansive because the SCALE GOD rained good tidings on me a half hour earlier.  UGH.  I know that if I'd gained or in general didn't like the too important number, I'd have been quiet and self-contained at best, or crabby at worst.  Me thinks the scale should not have that kind of power.  Actually me knows it. 

I guess recognizing it is something - a little progress and awareness of how the whole food/weight issue is out of proportion in my life.  I don't want it to be that way.  I want freedom and peace from the endless dominance that my eating disordered mind has over how I regard myself.  I think I want that as much or more than I want to be lean.

On to another observation - at the same time I was pouring the aforementioned milk into my coffee, a guy next to me took the lid off his cup and poured a good ounce or more into the trash to make more room for his dairy product of choice.  He looked at me and shrugged sheepishly, and I speculated to him that they probably had a huge urn worth of coffee poured in over the course of the day.  And it occurred to me that maybe it's only in America where we pay premium bucks for coffee, only to pour some into the trash to make room for milk!  I've done it a zillion times, even when I've asked for "room at the top", if it wasn't roomy enough.

That profound thought thread got me thinking about a couple of questions for fellow bloggers today:

1)  If you drink coffee or tea, does your "food plan" or "diet"  dictate whether you use skim, whole or 1/2 & 1/2 in your brew?  Or do you use whatever you like best regardless of the fat %?   I vary depending on the day.  Usually I use whole milk in coffee only.  I never EVER drink milk as I hate it alone.  On the rare occasions that I have dry cereal, I use exactly 1 ounce (a medicine cup full) of 1%.  For the milk drinkers at home, I get 1% and they are happy with it.  When my daughter was home at Christmas, hubby made the grave mistake of getting whole milk and she carried on as if he'd bought battery acid.  Glad I was innocent on that one!

2)  Do you "count" the dairy/soy/whatever lightener you use in your daily intake, or leave it out as insignificant or not enough to worry about?   I do not count coffee dairy as I don't use much at all.

3) In general, are there things you may have every day, like a few hard candies, gum or other little stuff that you don't count?  (Someone else posed this question many months back and I don't remember what people said...it was when I first started blogging.)  See #2.  Also, I don't count gum or the occasional Root Beer Barrel or Butterscotch.  If I have more than one, I do count it.  Normally this wouldn't come to mind except someone gave me a bag of gourmet root beer barrels, so I've had recent exposure to this complex issue...tongue inserted into cheek.

4) Do you have a standard "default" breakfast that is mostly a daily thing?  Mine is 1 cup Trader Joe's non-fat Greek yogurt (22 gms of protein!), with 1 cup berries, plus 2 hardboiled eggs minus one yolk with a 1/2 cup of 1% cottage cheese and yellow mustard mixed in.  Makes it taste like egg salad.  If I didn't get out of the house so early for my AA meeting, I'd mix up breakfast a lot more.  But this is fast and easy.  for 2 years it was the yogurt, fruit and 1/2 cup oatmeal, but I definitely OD'd on the oatmeal.  Now I can only eat steel cut, which takes too long for weekday mornings.  Weekends there is much more variety, and I eat b'fast out at least one of the 2 days.

5) Any favorite b'fast food you limit?  Bacon!  I LOVE BACON.  Uber crisp but not burned.  I have it once a week.  It is one of the true pleasures in life.  I read a survey asking vegetarians what they missed most, and bacon topped the list!

That's all from me today.  I'm still happy about the scale, but if I don't watch my p's and q's, I might not be.  SO here's to a good sane healthy day for us all!

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous09 June, 2010

    Glad the scale god showered you with blessings this morning. It is kind of crazy how we let "him" dicatate our mood. I'm with you on that one.

    When I'm on a fully engaged losing path, I journal every bite that goes in my mouth. It's keeps it real and honest. That way if I don't lose, I can look back and see what's happening.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1 & 2. 15 years ago when I used the old Weight Watchers plan to get off my "quit smoking" weight, I gave up all milk/cream in my coffee because I used enough that it was counted as 1 dairy serving. Been drinking it black ever since - which is why I do not like Starbucks. Tastes burned to me.

    3. It was me that asked the counting question. I don't count gum. At all.

    4. In the winter my default breakfast is steel cut oats. In the summer it's one hard boiled egg, 2 turkey breakfast sausages, and 1 Fiber One English Muffin.

    5. Bacon, definitely. I *puffy heart* bacon. And I don't like imitation bacon - i.e., turkey, chicken or whatever!

    6. If you sent me your address, I never got it :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. All of this TUNA talk made me want it for lunch- pouch placed in fridge for makin later! :)

    Ok so I do WW and do not COUNT dairy because I am lactose intolerant. But What I do use in my coffee- its from trader joes- fat free 1/2 & 1/2. I use to use the high sugar coffee mate creamers but I decided to cut out the sugar and go with just the FF !/2 & 1/2 I love it and I only use 1 pt worth for 2 cups. :)

    GO to breakfast- yeah I luv my breakfast sandwich! Sometimes its a lil different from day to day but it fills me up and I LUV IT!!!

    I pop a couple of those WW fruities each day and do not count them because they are ONE point for the ENTIRE box. SO I guess if I added up a point each week that would work lol :)

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Numbers always make me crazy- be they in the for4m of dollars, time or numbers on the scale, and it is my life's ambition to overcome any impact they have on me. Strangely enough I found the best way to rebel is to approach all numbers as if they were a form of sacred geometry ( 2s are a vesa pisica, threes are triangles and so forth). If it looks like something else it does not have power over me, but serves as a guide to how I should proceed. Yes crazy sounding, but not as crazy as numbers make me !

    1. I usually take mine black or add sugar free creamer . I measure it (2 T) but do not count it

    2. I do not count it towards dairy intake. I do not count dairy intake because there are numerous other food forms that contain as much or more calcium as dairy and are more bio-available. Broccoli and kale are two examples.

    3- other than coffee creamer and 2 T salad dressing on my dinner salad, I count everything. Even the square of dark chocolate I have every night.

    4. At the moment it is 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 cup berries and 1/3 cup home made granola. With the steel cut oats, you can make them overnight ! For one serving take 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil, remove from the heat and add 1/4 cup steel cut oats. Cover and let sit all night. In the morning, heat and eat.

    5 No real food that qualifies as a must limit for me for some reason. I don't have a problem with losing control over food any more, but when I was younger it was bing cherries of all things !

    And congrats on the loss !!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. So many questions!

    First, thank you for the very thoughtful comment you left on my post today:) Second, I can very much identify with giving the number on the scale too much power. And with wanting something else as much as wanting to be lean. I want to just have control over my eating and not let it rule my life anymore!

    Now on to answers...

    1. Skim. And I never drink milk alone either. Yuck.

    2. No, but I have very little.

    3. I don't count the many pieces of gum I chew. I don't count the ingredients in a marinade.

    4. For most of my life I have eaten the same breakfast day after day. For years it was cereal. Now it is homemade "refried" beans with cheese on top - fiber, protein, and carbs all in one.

    5. Breakfast is the time of day I have the most self-control. I never eat things like pancakes and waffles then... they are a dinner food if we have them:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. 1. I drink my coffee black so no conundrum there.

    3. I don't count gum, but if I'm being really strict on my calories, then every piece of candy/mint is counted. Mmmm, root beer barrels - I used to love those!

    4. Yes to the default breakfast! I think Dr. Oz suggested having some default meals and breakfast is definitely one of mine. It's almost always Greek yogurt, fruit and lately, Fiber One (instead of Kashi Golean - trying to save on calories). It's just easier this way, plus I know I'm getting a good amount of protein in the morning. Your egg salad thing intrigues me, although I'm not a huge cottage cheese fan. Still, egg salad! But I would eat that for lunch.

    5. I would have to say waffles and pancakes, because to me, they need butter and hot syrup. Which really makes them a dessert at that point, lol!

    Glad your morning was so upbeat - I wish it wasn't attributed to what the scale said, but I know that emotional attachment to the scale all too well. Do you ever think we will get past it?

    ReplyDelete
  7. It is funny how a good weigh in (official or not) will put you in a good mood.

    As far as coffee, I have definitely poured some out to make room for creamer! In my coffee I want full fat creamer, to drink it's skim only, can't handle the heavier stuff and only when I'm eating something with it. I don't count creamer but I don't drink coffee all the time due to GERD.

    I counted tic tacs. lol.

    My favorite go to breakfast has been the Special K cereal line up. My favorite is red berries but vanilla almond and the fruit and yogurt are pretty good too. Didn't care much for the cinnamon flavored one.

    I put bacon in my salads! It's only 70 calories for three slices of the precooked stuff. I just nook it so it's fast and easy clean up.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1. skim and a tsp of vanilla syrup be it coffee or latte
    2. I keep a running talley of my fuels and I like lukewarm dairy ladden coffee so I do count the 4 oz.
    3. I dont chew gum or have candies or tic tacs or mints around... just never thought to buy some.

    5. going out! I live in the land of 3 dozen walkable cafes and the scones in my hood are to die for.


    4. two scrambled eggs and wheat toast dry
    or steel cut oats made the day before with berries and greek yogurt
    or greek yogurt 1 cup frozen blueberries a sliced banana and 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts.

    ReplyDelete
  9. 1. & 2. N/A don't drink them. :)
    3. Snitches. The food that I swipe with one finger when nobody is looking. No. That is not endearing. At all.
    4. Summer-1 serving yogurt 1/2 serving granola 1 serving frozen berries
    Winter-Plain oatmeal pecans craisins
    5. Sausage. I love it but I usually don't have it when it's available. I NEVER eat bacon, but I hate bacon. So, not hard. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. That was a lot of questions and I'm too brain dead today to scroll back up and see what each one was. My diet (calorie counting) definitely has a huge say in what I put in my coffee. As soon as I started blogging, I started using Coffeemate sugar-free hazelnut creamer....1 Tbsp per cup, which is 15 cals. I know some people spend 200 cals a day on creamer alone and I just cannot fathom that. Same reason I use Pam olive oil cooking spray instead of actual olive oil in most cases. Do you realize that 1 Tbsp of olive oil is like 120 cals all by itself, and you're getting no volume for those 120 cals???? Just can't handle that thought, lol.

    What else? You probably already know from my food pics that my normal breakfast is egg white scrambles. That's because I have no job and have time to cook a nice hot breakfast. As soon as I'm employed again, that will change. It will probably more like a banana and Kashi balckberry graham bar, which I always have on hand. And bananas are the perfect portable fruit if you don't like apples, and I really don't care for those too much.

    Bacon is the perfect food when it comes to taste in my opinion. Love that stuff. However, because I've always known how greasy/fattening it is, interestingly enough I've never eaten much of it simply for that reason...even when I didn't give a crap about trying to lose weight. I got up to 340 lbs w/o much help from bacon.

    You really made me stop and think about that hard candy/gum question. I chew sugar-free gum every day and never considered the calories...can't imagine it's much, but now I need to check. I never come across hard candies so that's not an issue. If I count 1 Tbsp of creamer in my coffee for 15 cals, then I'm obviously pretty anal about it. I also count each 45 cal piece of dark chocolate that I have. I try to count everything I possibly can because it's already a given that we can't be exact, and w/ eating so many different things over the course of a day, I figure I'm getting several more than are being counted in the first place, so I try to really watch it and stay accountable (when I actually care). I've been trying all friggin' day long not to face plant into a bucket of fried chicken. What a struggle it has been. I'm at 1380 cals right now and it's 7:30pm. We'll see if I make it...where it gets hard is eating your last bite by 7pm, and then being awake til 3am due to insomnia and listening to your stomach growl. I hate that part.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09 June, 2010

    Well--I think this is a first. I had to take notes to make this comment! chuckle.

    coffee cream choice--sigh, I do let the diet thing count a little. I use whole milk instead of 1/2 & 1/2--but I don't count it. IF I do use 1/2 & 1/2, tho, I DO count that.

    Counting tastss. Hmmm. I'd count a root beer barrel. I don't count 1 carb mints, tho. I also don't count a taste if it is truly an itsy, bitsy taste. Like my favorite non-counting taste is: after I stir the grdchildren's chocolate milk, I tap off the spoon on the edge of the glass and stick the spoon in my mouth for that teensy taste of chocolate. I don't count that--how could you count that?

    Breakfast. I eat steel cut oats a lot. I'm considering the yogurt thing, tho. Sometimes I have vegetable soup. shrug. But oats is probably 5 out of 7 days.

    ok. I got tired taking nutes. So I forget what was next. :)

    For a huge chuckle, check out FoolsFitness' post for today. You will howl.

    http://foolsfitness.blogspot.com/2010/06/ninja-in-candy-aisle.html

    Deb

    ReplyDelete
  12. I had an acquaintance (real life) that was doing the hard candy thing - and was talking about the calories - but what ended up happening is she ended up needing major dental work because of it. Carried it in the same spot in her mouth.

    I eat same breakfast nearly every day (for years) and if I am having a really bad food (WANTS) day - I might eat this breakfast plan for lunch and dinner also. It is my safety net.

    I don't count anything - I eat formula.

    have you tried making batch of steel cut oats (like once a week) and then warming up portion each morning - ? not sure if it tastes the same. My mom puts her oatmeal in a tiny crock pot when she goes to bed each night so it is hot and waiting for her in morning.

    ReplyDelete
  13. but on the other hand - I eat at meal time and do not do bits and bites. that was one of my HUGE former life problems.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I don't eat much tuna . I do love chicken salad. But I can eat a tuna salad. On the diet thing this is not in order but for breakfast almost every morning inless we have good leftovers from supper I eat a ham and cheese sandwich with a coke or cherry dr pepper. Not diet. But it is the only one I drink all day. On a good day anyway. I only get whole milk. But I only take a drink of it when I need a milk fix. I never drink a whole glass and I want my son drinking whole milk. I never count calories but I eat small portions. On a good day I eat 6 small meals and nothing after 5 or 6 pm. If I have it I eat a piece of choc. sometimes a small piece after each meal. if I can't help myself . But If I don't eat the things I like in small amounts than I am going to pig out on it on a bad day. So far I have kept my 40lbs off I lost over 2 yrs ago. But I have gained inches back. I need to make more good days than bad days when I eat less meals and bigger portions. Don't forget to read my post . The next to the last one because It is for you and two other wonderful bloggers friends.

    ReplyDelete