Saturday, January 24, 2009

Trying to Reduce my Fat Footprint

Earlier this week I was reading this article about how Tropicana has figured out that its plain ol' orange juice has a carbon footprint of 3 plus pounds of carbon produced for every 1/2 gallon of orange juice. It has something to do with fertilizer. It went on to say that in the near future, companies may start to actually print a product's carbon foot print on its label.

So this Sunday is Book Club and for every meeting we have to bring in something seriously yummy to share with the group. Since I now have a crazy obsession with cupcakes - which I should seriously not be having, I have to find ways to reduce what I am now calling my Fat Footprint. I guess its kinda making sure that I track the point from eating the cupcakes and then using my activity points to offset them. But it's a little more than that. For example, this afternoon I rode my bike to the bookstore just so I could buy red food coloring and some cream cheese for the icing. I'm also going to try to reduce the fat by using lower fat products. Like I am going to try to make butter milk using soy milk and vinegar. I probably should have bought a red velvet cake mix just in case this cupcakes suck, but I am going to trust that they won't and that everybody will love them. So I figure the fat footprint for the cupcake will be the points for the recipie minus the points I spent biking and then divided by how many cupcakes I make. I guess I could also try to figure out how many points I save by mixing it all by hand too.

So that is my plan for reducing the fat footprint for my cupcakes. I just hope they work out.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Say it Ain't So

My name is Emily and I have a problem. I love Cheese. See, I even capitalize the word "Cheese" because I love it so much.

I've had this love affair with Cheese for a long time. But I've realized that if I am ever going to lose this weight - I am going to have to break it off with Cheese, or at least say, "let's just be friends" and then not see it for a long time. And this is a hard thing to do. Somehow in my head, I've basically started using Cheese as a freakin' condiment. You know how like some people put ketchup on everything - I try to put Cheese on everything. Well, maybe not everything, but on a whole lot of stuff. There are days that I realize I have had Cheese at every meal. But no more. I can't live like that anymore.

So I'm starting an experiment - I am going to limit myself to one meal with Cheese per day. And I planned out my menu for the week, and I made sure that it wasn't a cheese love fest. And when I go grocery shopping tonight - I am not buying cheese of any form. So who's with me?!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

It's a new year

I just viewed my last entry and I have to say that it's been a while since I posted.

November and December were really tough. The closer I got to Christmas, the edgier I got - mostly because Christmas is no longer just Christmas. Christmas is now also the time when Chris died. All I knew is that I wanted to power through those months and just get my work done, get through the one-year mark, and get to my vacation. My energy was being stretched and so I told myself that I would concentrate on really keeping care of my mental health during that time and not worry so much about the physical. I didn't track what I was eating, I didn't pay attention to my water usage, I ate whatever I want and whenever I wanted, and I didn't really sleep well. My goal for the holidays - to start the year still under the 300 mark.

And I'm happy to say that I made it. JUST BARELY. The last time I weighed in December I was at 298.6. Yesterday I was at 298.4. So I maintained and below the 300 mark. I achieved my goal.

Of course this is about 12 pounds more than I was at my lowest. And I notice the differences. I don't breathe as easily, my newest clothes feel tighter, and I just feel kinda dumpy. But I am still 12 pounds less than I was at the beginning of last year. Of course then I can look at my friends like Susan who has kicked ass and managed to lose a lot more than 12 and I realize that I can totally do better than what I did.

So I am starting off again this year. I am dedicating myself to tracking what I eat and how I feel before eating. And to move more. (Yeah yeah - I know I'm basically reciting the WW program - what can I say - I'm totally drunk on their low-fat kool-ade)

Oh and I will blog more.