Friday, July 15, 2011

Minutia (avacados, nuts, yogurt, boundaries...in comments) (176.4)

I ran 3 miles last night.  It was hot, but not impossible (87 degrees with 49% humidity) but I told myself that runners push themselves to build endurance.  3 miles in 40 minutes in the late day heat is pretty good for me.  I was pleased.

I am finding I can't eat walnuts.  :(```  Very sad for me.  I have been having headaches the past few days, after I eat walnuts.  I have problems with almonds and pecans and peanuts, in quantities larger than around 1/8 of a cup.  I have been eating walnuts everyday (usu. 1/4 c or 1/4 + 1/8 c a day) for the past couple of weeks, and I think that whatever it is that causes headaches has finally built up enough in my system that I can't eat them that often anymore. I will have to find another healthy fat. 

Vickie, I know avocados are an option; will it make you laugh to hear I've only ever eaten them on a salad at a restaurant?  I've never peeled (or whatever you do to them) an avocado in my home.  I'm not a guacamole eater, and we just don't eat them.  I like them, and am willing to try my hand at them, so that will be on the shopping list this weekend.

I had to cut back my melatonin to half a 5 mg tablet.  I was having problems waking up even at 7 am, when I took my meds at 9 and was asleep by 10 pm.  So I cut it in half last night, slept fine, and woke up at 6:30 am feeling OK.  Hopefully that will be a dose that works and I will stay asleep all night.

Tomorrow marks 3 weeks on the whole foods eating plan.  I love it.  I need to mix up the food prep, so I don't get bored. I am thrilled with how the cravings are practically non-existent.  I don't have crazy food thoughts that cause me to obsess about what I am going to eat next. 

My size 14 dress I'm wearing today is big in the chest, shoulders, and armholes (you can see the side of my bra) and loose in the skirt (not that loose, though... the hips are going to be the last to go). 

Tomorrow morning I'm planning on running 4 miles.  The October half marathon is 12 weeks away, and I started training this week.

Sophie has the lead role in the musical her fine arts day camp is putting on this week.  She is playing a boy; the play is an adaptation of the Prodigal Son story, set in current day in a small town.  It's about 30 minutes long.  This is her second acting role this summer.  I think she may be a budding thespian.  It starts in 30 minutes, so I'm off to see her.

14 comments:

Jill A said...

Oh geeze, you had me at avocados!! I LOVE avocados and they are super easy to "peel". Here's a quick guide on how to do that: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_cut_and_peel_an_avocado/

I have been known to simply scoop the "meat" out with a spoon and eat it right then and there off the spoon. So so good! I have to be careful because I can easily abuse avocados, that's how much I love 'em!!

You are doing so great!!! Keep it up sistah! :)

Vickie said...

I didn't look at the link from Jill, it might have a better way.

What I do:
I buy my avocados at Meijers. They come in green mech bags and are smaller than the ones sold individually.

I buy two bags a week. I buy one bag where they are rock hard and green (for later in the week). I buy a bag where they are darker green/black and just barely soft.

I cut them in half with a knife. It is still 'whole/in one piece' after I cut it, because I go all the way around the center pit/stone with the knife and do not try to cut through the stone/pit. I am then able to twist the two halves apart. One half will have the pit/stone in it. Using the point of the knife, I pop stone/pit out into the garbage. I then use a spoon to scoop out the flesh and I pitch the skin (it stays intact like a little bowl).

I eat mine on my egg white omelet every morning.

my brother, nephew, oldest all have problems with tree nuts - no migraines, all allergic reactions. I thought I had tree nut migraine issue too, but it turned out it was feta cheese (at that time the only time I ate tree nuts was on salads and I used feta on those same salads).

Another good healthy fat would be cold press virgin olive oil.

NEVER heat it.

add it to already cooked foods or cold salads.

The heating process ruins the healthy parts of the oils and makes it just calories. There are links on my side bar (to Hanlie) explaining this in detail if anyone wants to know more.

Vickie said...

that was meSh bags

Vickie said...

What kind of yogurt are you eating? what are the stats for total calories, fat, carbs, protein? please

Vickie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vickie said...

Okay, one thing I just realized is this is the first time, since I have known you, that you have NOT been dependent on a 3rd party for your process.

Yes, you are taking bits and pieces from things and using tools(kay, me, whoever, therapist, doc, meds).

But you are totally standing on your own two feet.

I think this is the first time I have seen you do this (rely on yourself and not get tied into 3rd party plan or person) in regard to the outer change. And as you said, this is also the first time you have done really addressed your inner work too.

To be honest, when I see people tied to packages, partners, groups, etc, I always feel trepidation. That is sort of putting ones eggs in someone else's basket instead of our own.

yes, I get that we all support each other and we all gain ideas from other people's experiences. not talking about that. I guess what I am talking about is REALLY OWNING one's process.

we have to actually do it ourselves. We have to be dependent/responsible for ourselves.

(part of this also is our stopping feeling responsible for others as a means of avoiding our own lives. my former volunteer work is a good example.)


the dependency on others thing -
We can't have our process stop or stall because we stop going to the group (or it goes out of business), or because we loose our trainer or partner or whatever.

We have to change constantly. We can outgrown people (to put it plain) easily. The easiest way to think about this is my classes, I have needed to step up intensity many times over the years. I would think running partners would be the same as paces change. (I don't think it probably happens as much with sponsors in step programs because the fundimentals remain the same.)

but I really think that standing in our own shoes and NOT putting responsibility in someone else's hands, no matter how subtly, is a major part of the process.

delete was me, had to fix typo

Vickie said...

this 'dependency on ourselves' and having to drop dependency on others comes into play with enabling and codependency too.

we can not straddle both worlds and stay balanced for some of these people. Can't play the dependency/enabling game when we aren't that way any more. this is true in blog land. it is true in real life.

And that ties into your uncle post from the other day. We all try to have those family members turn into supportive people in our lives. We can't do that for them. If they figure out how to change to fit into our lives, it is their choice. If they don't, that is their choice too. I know it is hard, because deep inside us there is a little girl who wants them to be functional. When we learn to be functional, it is very hard to deal with the nonfunctional. We can't invested in being both.

Cindy said...

I have trouble with nuts, but the problem is I cannot limit my portion. I always want more. Congrats on the the three weeks. This is very hopeful for me, knowing the food cravings settle. I am beginning to no longer think of certain foods as actual food anymore. Thanks!

Vickie said...

Cindy - what kind of nuts are you eating? Are they salted? Are they roasted? Because both of those are triggering in my opinion.

My family eats RAW almonds and cashews and walnuts. And we eat dry roasted UNsalted peanuts.

A serving is a 1/4 cup. I do not eat out of package, I measure.

I also add to food, I do not eat seperately. So might add to yogurt or salad.

Julie said...

I agree with trying olive oil for your fat. I add a tsp to my breakfast oatmeal, it doesn't add flavour (to me anyway) but does make the texture wonderful. I add another tsp to my lunch salad. I don't find the oil creates any extra 'wants' in me as things like avocados or nuts can. Although I do also have 1/8 cup of almonds with yogurt in the afternoon. This will continue as long as I don't have any problem sticking to that amount, if I find myself wanting more they will have to go but so far (two weeks) so good.

Laura N said...

Yogurt--Stoneyfield Organic LF (unflavored). 120 calories, 2 g fat, 15 g carbs, 10 g protein.

I tried an avacodo Sunday morning. I wasn't nuts about the texture, but with a bit of my egg and Ezekial toast, it was OK.

Friday when I didn't eat nuts, I could feel the cravings for fats. I wouldn't have even known that's what I was craving if I hadn't read that Vickie craves fats when she doesn't eat her avacado in the morning.

I tried adding in 1/8 c walnuts on Saturday, and I didn't get a headache. I think it's all about quantity. If I have 1/4 c and then 1/8 or 1/4c again later in the day, it's too much. So I'm going to try that for a while.

1 tsp olive oil to oatmeal is brilliant! I will start doing that. Thanks, Julie.

I am measuring everything. I can't "guess" my way through portions. I know about what things equal, but that's a slippery slope. I'm not only concerned about eating bigger portions, but not getting enough. I could see myself erring on the side of smaller than actual measured portions, which doesn't help me either. Measuring takes the guess work out of it.

Laura N said...

my nuts are raw, too. no salt, not roasted, organic when I can find them.

Vickie said...

http://www.fageusa.com/products/fage-total-2-percent/

Fage 2% plain
Per 7 oz: Calories 150
Calories from fat 35g
Total fat 4g, 6%
Saturated fat 3g, 15%
Trans fat 0g
Cholesterol 10mg, 3%
Sodium 65mg, 3%
Total carbohydrates 8g, 3%
Dietary fiber 0g, 0%
Sugars 8g
Protein 20g
Vitamin A 2%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 20%
Iron 0%

if you can find it at a reasonable price

Julie said...

I should have said I add the oil to my oatmeal after it is cooked just before I eat it so the oil is not cooked.