Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Fast day is here again.  I really wanted to have a Mtn. Dew (my true weakness), so the "food" aspects of today will be a little bit light.  My weight is currently down 4.5 lbs. and I'm really excited to lose 3.5 more (hopefully within the next 3 weeks) and see a number on the scale I've not seen for about 9 years!   First though, I thought I'd share some of what I've learned in the past few weeks.

1.  I frequently eat more than I need to.  I have become more aware of my bodily needs.  Take yesterday; I was out running errands and was incredibly hungry.  I hadn't eaten since noon and since that time had put in a rigorous 30-minute workout, painted cabinets, cleaned my kitchen, made dinner and priced 3 large boxes of children't clothing for a garage sale this weekend.  8 pm. rolls around and I'm done with my grocery shopping and staring McDonald's in the face.  I ordered a small fry and a cheeseburger.  Not the worst thing you can get there (also, not the best).  As I ate, I realized I could have gone with just the cheeseburger or the fries; my body didn't "need" both.

2.  Being hungry doesn't really bother me.  This has been the biggest revelation to me thus far.  I feel freed in fasting.  I'm hungry, and that is okay because I SHOULD be hungry.

3.  I have more than sufficient energy on my fast days.  I get A LOT of work done on fast days.  One of my biggest problems is that I frequently snack because I'm bored.  Well, I don't want to be bored and feeling snacky, so I do stuff.  I sew, paint, do laundry, take walks, read- you name it!

4.  Because we eat fairly healthy as a family, it isn't too difficult to plan an evening meal that we can all eat, and we're still enjoying some family favorites! 
7:04 AM Macy
Fast day is here again.  I really wanted to have a Mtn. Dew (my true weakness), so the "food" aspects of today will be a little bit light.  My weight is currently down 4.5 lbs. and I'm really excited to lose 3.5 more (hopefully within the next 3 weeks) and see a number on the scale I've not seen for about 9 years!   First though, I thought I'd share some of what I've learned in the past few weeks.

1.  I frequently eat more than I need to.  I have become more aware of my bodily needs.  Take yesterday; I was out running errands and was incredibly hungry.  I hadn't eaten since noon and since that time had put in a rigorous 30-minute workout, painted cabinets, cleaned my kitchen, made dinner and priced 3 large boxes of children't clothing for a garage sale this weekend.  8 pm. rolls around and I'm done with my grocery shopping and staring McDonald's in the face.  I ordered a small fry and a cheeseburger.  Not the worst thing you can get there (also, not the best).  As I ate, I realized I could have gone with just the cheeseburger or the fries; my body didn't "need" both.

2.  Being hungry doesn't really bother me.  This has been the biggest revelation to me thus far.  I feel freed in fasting.  I'm hungry, and that is okay because I SHOULD be hungry.

3.  I have more than sufficient energy on my fast days.  I get A LOT of work done on fast days.  One of my biggest problems is that I frequently snack because I'm bored.  Well, I don't want to be bored and feeling snacky, so I do stuff.  I sew, paint, do laundry, take walks, read- you name it!

4.  Because we eat fairly healthy as a family, it isn't too difficult to plan an evening meal that we can all eat, and we're still enjoying some family favorites! 

Monday, April 15, 2013

Saturday was a crazy day for me- my husband was busy doing "house work" and I was painting rooms and it was just really busy!  Around 3pm. I felt a little bit hungry, realized I hadn't eaten since my bowl of cereal around 8 am., so I grabbed a couple slices of leftover homemade pizza and got back to work.  7 pm. rolls around and I'm a bit hungry.  I did some quick math and realized I'd had just under 500 calories for the day so far.  I decided to work through the hunger and finished my fast.  This was a GREAT fast day for me.  The whole day felt easy because I didn't decide until more than half-way through that it would be a fast day.  In essence, it only felt about 3 1/2 hours long- because I went to bed at a decent time ;)  It was a great way to squeeze in my second fast day for the week since Thursday and Friday (days I usually choose for my 2nd fast of the week), were NOT going to work out. 

I'm a few weeks into my fasting routine and down 4 pounds.  I'm encouraged and this feels like something I can continue doing.  My non-fast days haven't changed much, although I am considering skipping lunch a couple times a week to reduce my caloric intake, or just reducing lunch to an apple- something small.

If anybody is acutally reading this blog, I'd love to hear some feedback.  Thanks!
9:42 AM Macy
Saturday was a crazy day for me- my husband was busy doing "house work" and I was painting rooms and it was just really busy!  Around 3pm. I felt a little bit hungry, realized I hadn't eaten since my bowl of cereal around 8 am., so I grabbed a couple slices of leftover homemade pizza and got back to work.  7 pm. rolls around and I'm a bit hungry.  I did some quick math and realized I'd had just under 500 calories for the day so far.  I decided to work through the hunger and finished my fast.  This was a GREAT fast day for me.  The whole day felt easy because I didn't decide until more than half-way through that it would be a fast day.  In essence, it only felt about 3 1/2 hours long- because I went to bed at a decent time ;)  It was a great way to squeeze in my second fast day for the week since Thursday and Friday (days I usually choose for my 2nd fast of the week), were NOT going to work out. 

I'm a few weeks into my fasting routine and down 4 pounds.  I'm encouraged and this feels like something I can continue doing.  My non-fast days haven't changed much, although I am considering skipping lunch a couple times a week to reduce my caloric intake, or just reducing lunch to an apple- something small.

If anybody is acutally reading this blog, I'd love to hear some feedback.  Thanks!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

I tried a new tactic for delaying my first meal- sleep!  I stayed up really late last night watching the NCAA championship - Go Cardinals!!!!!!  After I got the little lady off to school, I crawled back into bed, a tiny bit hungry, but I did get another hour of sleep.  Luckily the little kids didn't tear the house apart while I snoozed!  I haven't fasted for over a week, and I'm anxious to get back to it.  I'm positive I've put on a few lbs. as my jeans are a little more snug.  Here's the game plan:

Noon:  1 hard boiled egg - 78 calorie
             Gala apple- 74 calories
             slice of whole wheat toast with 2 tsp. apple butter - 93

1 pm.:  This is the hardest part of the day for me - the hour or two after I've eaten.  I just want to snack.  Sometimes I think it would be easier to forgo food altogether . . .

3:30 pm.  A little 76 calorie piece of chocolate.  It was delicious!

6:30 pm  4 oz tilapia 108 calories
                1/3 c. homemade parmesan risotto  78 calories
                1 c. broccoli  30 calories

I used THIS recipe for risotto, but did make some modifications.  I reduced the amount of butter by half and used only 1/4 c. parmesan for the entire dish.  Still REALLY delicious! 

Kittencal's Creamy Parmesan Risotto. Photo by An4ik
4:10 PM Macy
I tried a new tactic for delaying my first meal- sleep!  I stayed up really late last night watching the NCAA championship - Go Cardinals!!!!!!  After I got the little lady off to school, I crawled back into bed, a tiny bit hungry, but I did get another hour of sleep.  Luckily the little kids didn't tear the house apart while I snoozed!  I haven't fasted for over a week, and I'm anxious to get back to it.  I'm positive I've put on a few lbs. as my jeans are a little more snug.  Here's the game plan:

Noon:  1 hard boiled egg - 78 calorie
             Gala apple- 74 calories
             slice of whole wheat toast with 2 tsp. apple butter - 93

1 pm.:  This is the hardest part of the day for me - the hour or two after I've eaten.  I just want to snack.  Sometimes I think it would be easier to forgo food altogether . . .

3:30 pm.  A little 76 calorie piece of chocolate.  It was delicious!

6:30 pm  4 oz tilapia 108 calories
                1/3 c. homemade parmesan risotto  78 calories
                1 c. broccoli  30 calories

I used THIS recipe for risotto, but did make some modifications.  I reduced the amount of butter by half and used only 1/4 c. parmesan for the entire dish.  Still REALLY delicious! 

Kittencal's Creamy Parmesan Risotto. Photo by An4ik

Saturday, April 6, 2013

I've been away from home since last Thursday- no fasting on vacation for me.  Prior to my hiatus, I had lost 2 lbs.  We'll see if that stuck :)  My guess is no- Easter candy was on sale!!!!

8:42 AM Macy
I've been away from home since last Thursday- no fasting on vacation for me.  Prior to my hiatus, I had lost 2 lbs.  We'll see if that stuck :)  My guess is no- Easter candy was on sale!!!!