So I decided to start up my Food Journal again after being on a 7 week weight loss stall. I finally broke my stall this week, BUT the scale went the wrong way – talk about frustrating!!!
While having a weight gain after being stalled after 7 weeks is horrible and depressing – having kept my Food Journal and being completely honest writing down what I ate may help explain what I am doing wrong. To start off I have posted about my winter depression in a previous post here: Seasonal Affective Disorder – Do you have it too? Dealing with this I know has been a big reason why I have not lost any additional weight for so long as well as my now weight gain.
I know my eating habits have gone down hill and I have been choosing foods and snacks that are more for comfort vs being a healthy choice for me. It is easy to know what I am doing wrong and a lot harder to stop and take action, but with summer around the corner and the fear of gaining more back I must take action now. It is a new week and I owe it to all the hard work I have done to make changes and get that scale moving in the direction in needs to go. I am NOT at my goal weight yet and I promised myself I would get there.
Having Gastric Bypass as I always say is NOT magic. Again it is just a tool to help get you started, but it does not fix your brain and how you think. Those who are thinking of going through it must know this going in. The chances of gaining weight back after having surgery are there because it is not a cure to why we got so heavy in the first place – that is the scariest part of it all. Now that I am past the Gastric Bypass honeymoon stage – which they say is at about a year and I am now past that – it is more up to me vs. the surgery to finish and get to my goal. It is not easy as you can read as I write and I am truly terrified right now.
Honestly I feel like all the other times I have dieted and succeeded then got to the point of feeling good and thinking – hey it is ok if I eat this cookie, oh a handful of chips won’t hurt and then it is a downward spiral from there – if you are reading this I know you know what I am talking about. Right now sharing my story and struggles on this blog I am hoping will be a lifesaver and get me back on track. Writing about my feelings and where I am at this point helps me become more accountable for my actions. With this weight gain and keeping my Food Journal this past week and being honest with what I put in my mouth and writing it down also shows me where I am going wrong.
I truly miss the weeks of losing weight no matter what I did after the surgery and the happiness I had to see the scale going down week after week. Again I am so scared that the rest is in my hands more so than before because obviously I had no self control and that is why I ended up to the point of surgery in the first place. I keep blaming my winter depression, but I have to stop with my pity party and get control back or I will find myself where I started and NO WAY do I ever want to be there again.
So let me share with you my Food Journal from this past week so you can also see what I am doing wrong and the changes I have to make!!!
Here is what I ate so you can see each day for the fifty seventh week:
(I am gonna add the times on as well)
Let me also add in I decided to start my Food Journal again mid week because I stepped on the scale on a non weigh in day and saw the scale go up 3 pounds.
March 13th
- 7:00 am – Coffee with Hazlenut Creamer – First thing every day when I wake up
- 9:30 am – Bite of leftover Chicken from my dinner the night before
- 12:45 pm – 1 Piece of Chicken (small cutlet) and about 1/4 Cup Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- 1:10 pm – Rice Krispy Treat – 90 calories
- 3:15 pm – 2 Dove Chocolates
- 4:00 pm – Protein Coffee – Contains 40.5 grams of protein (took me 3 hours to drink)
- 7:30 pm – Medium Greek Salad with a piece of bread (take out)
- 9:00 pm – Cup of Tea
- 10:00 pm – Snacked on Pistachios while watching TV
- 10:30 pm – 5 Candy Sour Gumdrops
As I stated I stepped on the scale this morning and saw I was up 3 pounds and immediately started keeping my Food Journal again. What I ate on this day was not that bad, but as you can see there were some things I could have done without such as the Rice Krispy Treat and the Candies.
March 14th
- 7:00 am – 1 Oreo Cookie
- 7:15 am – Coffee with Hazlenut Creamer – First thing every day when I wake up
- 10:20 am – I slice of Bread with Mayo
- 10:30 am – Protein Coffee – Contains 40.5 grams of protein (took me 3 hours to drink)
- 2:30 pm – 2 Slices of Provolone Cheese & Salami Rolled Up
- 3:15 pm – Finished my Greek Salad and a few bites of Bread
- 4:00 pm – 4 Sour Patch Candies
- 7:20 pm – 6 Meat Tortellinis I picked from my daughter’s dinner
- 8:10 pm – Cup of Tea
- 9:45 pm – Frozen Freschetta Market Veggie Pizza – Ate 3/4 of it. 450 Calories, 20.5 Grams Fat and 19.5 Grams of Protein for what I ate.
Today I was sooo bored and not feeling the best – I believe I have a sinus infection. I ventured out to do some food shopping, tried to relax with a sewing project and basically just laid around.
You may be wondering about the Bread with Mayo right? Well that is an old habit of mine – to me it is like bread and butter, but with mayo. I ate that because I needed something in my belly that was quick before I took a pain med. Not the best choice, but I had nothing else to grab at the moment. The rest of the day was not so bad until the Pizza. Yes I ate 3/4 of it, BUT it is a thin crust pizza and not heavy at all like a regular pizza – should I have eaten that much – NOPE, but I did. Shhh I enjoyed every bite too – it is yummy.
So I took a picture of the pizza to show you if you wonder how I ate so much – the crust is extremely thin and then it is pretty much a small amount of cheese with lots of veggies on top. Normally I cannot handle a lot of carbs and this pizzas crust is thin enough that I had no issues. Problem is that I should have not eaten 3/4s of it. What I ate totaled 450 Calories, 20.5 Grams Fat and 19.5 Grams of Protein.
March 15th
- 7:30 am – Coffee with Hazlenut Creamer – First thing every day when I wake up
- 9:00 am – 4 Slices of Provolone Cheese & Salami Rolled Up
- 9:30 am – 3 Oreos
- 1:15 pm – Handful of Baby Back Rib Chips
- 2:30 pm – Frozen Freschetta Market Veggie Pizza – Ate 3/4 of it. 450 Calories, 20.5 Grams Fat and 19.5 Grams of Protein for what I ate. (yes I did it again)
- 5:00 pm – Coffee with Hazlenut Creamer
- 6:00 pm – Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and pickles on a bun with a handful of baked French Fries
- 8:12 pm – 1 Oreo
- 9:30 pm – 4 Sour Patch Candies
- 10:30 pm – 2 Oreos
- 10:40 pm – Cup of Tea
- 11:00 pm – Handful of Baby Back Rib Chips
Wow now that I type this up – I had a horrible day and ate WAY too much – or just made some bad choices. Today my sinus infection kicked my ass and I felt like total crap. In between my eating binges I laid around all day watching TV and having a cat nap from 3-5pm. I am not a good sick person and when I have sinuses and stuffed in the head I am miserable and I was. Obviously it did not stop me from eating bad things, but I think it was more comfort for me. And yes I ate another one of those pizzas again – thank god I only bought 2 and now they are gone so that will not happen anymore.
March 16th
- 10:35 am – 1 Oreo
- 10:40 am – Coffee with Hazlenut Creamer – First thing every day when I wake up
- 12:00 pm – 1 Slice of Provolone Cheese & Salami Rolled Up
- 1:30 pm – 2 Leftover Cheeseburgers – No Bun, just dipped in ketchup
- 2:45 pm – Rice Krispy Treat – 90 calories
- 6:30 pm – Bowl of Baked Cheese Doodles
- 10:00 pm – A couple pieces of Broccoli and Cauliflower dipped in Ranch Dressing, 3 Slices of Provolone Cheese & Salami Rolled Up and 3 Oreos
Slept in until 10:30 today due to feeling like complete garbage. On top of that it is snowing – really? Mother Nature is not helping the situation at all. Today was another day laying on the couch watching TV and Movies. I ended up watching The Green Mile and then Forest Gump with my daughter. Those Cheese Doodles were a movie snack. I did not eat much today, but again not the best choices for what I did.
March 17th – St. Patrick’s Day
- 10:45 am – Coffee with Hazlenut Creamer – First thing every day when I wake up
- 12:00 pm – 2 Slices of Provolone Cheese & Salami Rolled Up
- 1:30 pm – Coffee with Hazlenut Creamer
- 6:00 pm – 2 Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 7:30 pm – Corned Beef, Roasted Potatoes with Onions and Cabbage
- 8:15 pm – 1 Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie
- 9:30 pm – Cup of Tea
- 10:00 pm – 2 Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Woke up late again today at 10:00 am, but I was finally feeling better. After a hot shower which I did not take for 2 days I felt new life in me again and my sinuses started to clear up a bit – thank god!! I put 3 Corned Beefs in my crock pots and could not wait until dinner – I love Corned Beef and Cabbage!! I pretty much saved myself for dinner, but those Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies were a secret sabotage from my sister I think.
This is me and my BFF who stopped by earlier in the day with her kids to come visit me. I am so happy to be feeling better and almost sinus free – now to deal with my bad eating habits and this darn weight gain!!
So that was my week – well almost week since I started journaling mid week. As you can see from what I had eaten there were lots of things I should not have had such as Oreo Cookies, Chips, Candies and too much of that Pizza.
Ya know what is really strange??? Prior to my Gastric Bypass Surgery I was never one for sweets – or at least candy. For some weird reason I crave candy now. It started with Twizzlers and now I love the gummy Sour Candies. I do not eat tons of them, but as you can see from my week at times I just need a few. Honestly I should 86 this new habit right away before it gets really bad.
Now looking back on my week it really does not look horrible, but not as healthy and full of protein as it should be. I have also not exercised at all and if you follow me you know it is not a favorite thing to do of mine. Over the winter I do not get much and while I can be changing that and use the treadmill that sits in my house I just have not gotten on it. Once spring hits and the warm weather is among us I will be getting outside and starting my endless yard work with plenty of exercise, but that is not helping now in the moment.
So with that all said I am going to continue with my Food Journal and work on making better food choices this week. Stay Tuned and check back next week to see if I got that scale to move in the right direction.
I would love to hear from all of you and what you think of what I ate and changes I should make – leave me a comment below and be honest – I am not too sensitive.
