Dealing with Stress
I’ve been really thinking a lot lately about my issues with stress and how I stress-eat in response to that.
In general, stress sends me heading for the chocolate or other sweets. I don’t have to be particularly hungry, or hungry at all, to feel the need to indulge. I’ve also noticed that it tends to happen when I’m unable to remove myself from the stressful situation.
Let’s say I’m at work and something upsetting happens. I can’t do much there to deal with it, except continue working and try to ignore the event that bothered me. So far, that hasn’t worked well for me at all. I find that I head to the vending machine all too often in those cases, even when I don’t particularly even want what I’m buying!
Stress when I’m away from work is another story, and easier to handle. I’ll do something with my hands for a while, which helps a lot. I knit and spin, so working on something like that tends to help me get my mind off things. If I’m upset and angry, then I’ll do housework. If all else fails, I just take a nice nap and try to forget it for a while.
My point is though, I can do more away from work to deal with it than I can at work. So, stress eating is a particular problem for me there, and I’m not having much luck coming up with ways to deal with it.
I’ve actually considered putting some knitting in my desk and doing a few rows when I’m bent out of shape, but I have a feeling that wouldn’t go over so well. Besides, I’m so busy at the office, I would never be able to do that regardless of how much stress I’m under.
I’d consider taking a quick walk, but again, the busy factor comes in to play. There are days when I honestly don’t have time to do that, so while it may be an option some of the time, it’s not going to be one all the time.
So, I need to do some thinking and experimenting. How to deal with stress at work when I can’t use any of my usual techniques? If anyone has ideas, they’d be much appreciated.
Refocusing
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this blog, where I want to go with it, and whether I even want to keep writing it at all. For quite a while, it had gotten to the point that I just dreaded sitting down and trying to do a blog entry, and I didn’t want to keep it up like that.
I think the long hiatus was good for me, if not for the blog and my readership. I do want to continue writing here, but I want to have a broader view than before.
I really considered just starting another site and redirecting. I’m not crazy about the domain name, and I doubt that will change. However, I know this site has readers, and I hesitate to just jump ship and expect everyone to follow me elsewhere. So, here we are, and here we’re staying.
Yes, I’m going to still talk about my struggles with losing weight and our (my husband’s and mine) struggles with his diabetes. No, the blog won’t focus so exclusively on those subjects any longer.
One thing I hope to do is make the blog a little more personal. I avoided that at first. I think I was uncomfortable in the beginning with exposing so much of myself right away. I’m feeling better about that now, so the tone there will change too.
I hope you stick around and keep reading. I’m excited about this blog again, and I’m really happy about that.
My husband has his retina specialist appointment tomorrow, so wish us luck. I’ll be sure to post about how things go.
Fruitcake Recipe
This is absolutely NOT a diet recipe, so be warned. This is rich and fattening. There’s a reason I only make one of these cakes a year.
I know what most people think about fruitcake, but I promise, this is one cake you’ll absolutely love. It also converts easily into a plain applesauce cake (see variations below).
If you’re doing a fruitcake, you’ll need to soak the fruit overnight first. You’ll need about five cups of fruit (yes, I said 5 CUPS). For the cake in the picture, I used 3 cups of green and red cherries and 2 cups of pineapple. Note that this is your typical candied-fruit that’s out this time of year.
Fruit Substitutions:
- Use the fruitcake mix if you like the bitter citrus peel that’s included there. We don’t like that, so I don’t use it.
- Use whatever dried fruits you like. You may have to add a little more juice for soaking it if you go this route.
Put the fruit in a large bowl and add about half a cup of orange or grape juice. For a less sweet flavor, use brandy instead. Let the fruit soak about 10 hours or overnight, covered.
Cake:
Your fruit should have soaked for a few hours now. Make sure there’s no leftover juice in the bowl. Add in 2 cups of walnuts and 2 cups of raisins. Take about half a cup of self rising flour and sprinkle over the fruit and nuts and mix well so that the fruit and nuts are coated well.
Peel and cook a bag of granny smith apples, but don’t add any sweetener. Cut the apples in chunks, but you don’t have to be careful about size. Between cooking and mixing, they’ll be pulverized anyway! Measure out 3 cups of apples into a separate bowl. If you don’t quite have that many, round it out with a little unsweetened appleasauce. (I usually do this step the day before!)
Add your spices to your apples and mix it all thoroughly. Set aside.
- 2 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon
- pinch of cloves
- half teaspoon of allspice
- quarter teaspoon of nutmeg
Now work on the cake batter itself. Soften two sticks of margarine and add those to your mixing bowl (I use a stand mixer — it’s easier). Add in two cups of packed dark brown sugar and begin creaming the mixture.
Add in four eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.
Add in about half your apple mixture.
You’ll gradually mix in 3 1/2 cups of self-rising flour. When you’ve mixed in about half the flour, add the rest of your apples, and then finish the flour. When the mixture is well mixed, pour it over the fruit and nut mixture and mix well.
Pour into a greased and floured tube pan. Note that you’ll need a LARGE tube pan, not a bundt pan. This cake is huge.
Drop the pan three or four times on the counter to “settle” the batter. It’s thick, and you want to be sure there are no air holes in there.
Bake on 325 degrees for one hour. Increase heat to 350 and bake another half hour. Check the cake — it’s done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Tip: You may have to bake the cake as long as 2 hours, so don’t get worried if it goes a bit long. A lot depends on how wet the fruit was going in.
Applesauce cake variation:
Make the cake the same way, but don’t include the 5 cups of dried or candied fruit. Instead, add your 2 cups of walnuts and 2 cups of raisins, and that’s it! Bake at the same temperatures as above.
The cake freezes well, which is a good thing. It’s so big and rich, it’s not something you’ll be able to eat up in a weekend. Everyone who’s tried it has like it, even avowed fruitcake haters!
I talked in my last post about searching for some direction for the blog. I’ve decided to stick with health-related topics here, since it fits in with the domain and the readership I’ve built. I’m considering starting another blog where I can branch out a bit and discuss things that don’t really fit here.
When that’s up, I’ll be sure to provide you the link.
Searching for a little direction
I’ve been really struggling with what to do with this blog.
First off, I’m not happy with the domain name. This isn’t a weight loss blog, though I do talk about that. I also talk about exercise, eating better, dealing with diabetes, and other things as well. I don’t think the domain or the title reflect that well at all.
In short, I want this to be a place where I can discuss how I’m going about taking better care of myself, and I’m trying to work through how to accomplish that. I may end up redirecting this blog to another domain name. That way, those of you who are used to coming here will automatically get sent to the new home, and new domain, when that’s set up.
While this is in transition, I’d love to hear any comments you have about what you’d like to see more of, less of, etc. from this blog. Here are some questions to get started on, but feel free to not limit yourself to that in the comments.
- Would you be interested in a blog that’s more general, for example “health related”?
- If you read blogs on exercise, weight loss, health management, etc., what kinds of posts do you like best?
- Would you like to see one or two longer posts a week, or more frequent, shorter posts?
- Tell me anything else that might help me rethink where this should go.
Book Review: Personal Development for Smart People
If you head over to Steve Pavlina’s site, you’ll see plenty of reviews of his book, Personal Development for Smart People. I want to take a little different route here. I want to focus on what this book can do for you if you’re trying to lose weight or just get healthier.
What makes this book different is that he doesn’t focus on one aspect of your life to improve. This isn’t a book about making more money, improving your career, finding better relationships, or improving your health. It’s certainly not a typical weight loss book. You won’t find a particular diet or exercise plan here, but you will be encourage to find something that works for you.
In short, Personal Development for Smart People is a manual for improving whatever aspect of your life you choose to work on. Maybe you want to eat better, develop closer friendships, or work on finding a truly rewarding career. Regardless of what you want to work on, you’ll find techniques in this book that will help you.
Will you get a to-do list to fix your life? No. That isn’t what this book is about. You will get tools that will help you evaluate where you are, where you’re going, and how to change that path if it’s not something you’re happy with.
Part I
In part one, Steve discusses what he calls the fundamental principles. You’ll use these principles later in part two, when you focus on specific aspects of your life you’d like to change.
The three primary principles are truth, love and power, and they’re covered in the first three chapters. I found these chapters a bit abstract, but I read Steve’s blog, so I’m used to his approach. He might take a while to give you the background you need, but rest assured, he’ll get to the practical application.
Truth
For those of you who think of the truth as being a little subjective, you might be better served to think of this chapter as “fact.” One of the most important things you can do is learn to take an honest assessment of your current state and use that to predict what your future will be like. When it comes to our health habits, that can be a little uncomfortable. Of course, if you don’t like the prediction, changing it is what this book is all about.
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Think about your eating habits. If you continue doing what you’re doing now, what state will your body be in in five years? Ten years?
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Think about your overall health. What is your blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, blood sugar? Do those numbers look “good”?
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Are you likely to be able to live the life you want as you age, or will you face a host of health problems.
It’s difficult to do, but Steve will encourage you to take an honest assessment of where you are today. That’s the first step to making improvements.
Love
Love isn’t, in this book, really about romantic love, although it does encompass that concept. Think of love as being connected to others, and you’ll have a good idea of what Steve is getting at.
Being connected to others can help you appreciate the need to care for yourself. Your family and friends need you to be healthy, so that can serve as added motivation to improve your habits.
In addition, you may find that working with others who have the same goals can help you achieve yours. Meet and spend time with others who are trying to improve their health.
Power
Power includes concepts like self-discipline, focus, and effort. Obviously, losing weight and getting more fit are hard work. You’ll need self-discipline and focus in order to succeed. Take the time to focus on what you’re good at, where you’ve succeeded, etc. Use those as reminders for how strong you can be. Tap into that when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Part II
Here is where we get to the “meat” of the book. Resist any temptation to skip ahead to this half; you’re not likely to be able to follow it unless you know what Steve means by his principles discussed in part one.
Here Steve talks about practical things you can do to improve specific areas of your life. He covers habits, career, money, health, relationships, and spirituality. However, you’ll find techniques within these chapters that will help you evaluate where you are and work on changing your life into what you want it to be.
The chapter on health will be of particular interest. Steve talks about his changing eating and exercise habits, as well as things he’s tried that didn’t work out for him. One great thing about the book is his insistence that you try things for yourself and evaluate how well they work for you. That’s particularly important in weight loss. Remember, the best diet is the one YOU can follow, lose weight on, and stay healthy on.
The chapter on habits was also a useful one. Steve talks about his thirty day trials and how to do one of your own. Try giving up coffee for a month, or chocolate, or exercising every day for a month. Since you know you can stop at the end of the trial, it doesn’t feel like such a deprivation. Make it a game, and enjoy tracking your progress.
This book is a good choice if you’re tired of the typical diet and exercise book.
Exercise Habit, Day 11
I’ve been walking almost every day at lunch, so I’m please overall with the progress on the exercise habit. However, I hurt my back Friday helping my husband move some carpet, so I didn’t exercise yesterday or today. My back was just too stiff and sore to manage anything more than what I had to do.
Still, I’m going to work through the rest of the month. Losing two days is no reason to give up entirely.
We got some great news last week. My husband’s a1c is down again; this time it’s 6.8. We were very pleased, obviously.
If you don’t know what an a1c is, or why you should care, read my article on why your a1c matters. In short, your a1c is a measurement of your overall blood sugar for the last three months (roughly). Diabetics are encouraged to keep it below 7.0.
Exercise Habit, Day 5
I have to say, so far so good. I’ve gotten at least 15 minutes of exercise each day so far.
- Oct 2, walking
- Oct 3, walking
- Oct 4, went to the apple butter festival, so that was LOTS of walking. It was also a corn dog… but that’s okay.
- Oct 5, moving some things upstairs
I am very sore and achy today, so I’m not sure what’s up with that. My back is killing me, but I’ll do my 15 minutes tonight.
I’m not a big fan of exercise, but I realize that I need to do it to lose weight and generally improve my health. However, I do like the feeling of accomplishment I have when I do it regularly, not to mention the health benefits. I haven’t been doing it long enough to notice any changes yet (except maybe the soreness!), but I’m sure that will come along too.
As a little added bonus, I’m going to give myself permission to order a sweater’s worth of yarn at the end of my 30-days of exercise, if I’ve stuck it out until then. Yes, that means I can’t miss a single day of exercise, or no yarn. Ouch. I find that these types of rewards help keep me on track. After all, it’ll be a while before I start to see any benefits from the exercise itself, so it’s nice to have something to look forward to until that happens.
Way off track
Well, let me give a quick wrap up.
- Eating more than I should
- Too much junk
- Not enough exercise
I keep having trouble getting myself back on track. I’ve been trying to rethink what I’m doing and try to figure out why it’s not working for me. Because, obviously, it’s not working.
The good news is that I haven’t really gained much weight — only about 8 pounds or so. That’s not horrible.
One thing that’s been making me rethink what I’m doing is a book review that I’m doing. Steve Pavlina just released his new book, and he offered free copies to bloggers who were willing to review it. I’ll be doing that here in a week or so — as soon as I finish reading the book.
One thing that reading the book brough to mind was his 30-day trial method of improving habits. Since I’ve been reading his blog, he’s done or discussed doing 30-day trials for going raw food, learning to get up early, going vegan, etc. Basically, you choose one habit and work on building that habit for 30 days.
So, here’s my goal. For the next month, I’m going to work on the exercise habit. There are a lot of things I need to work on, but I think it’s important for me to take one thing at a time. Otherwise, I’m likely to get overwhelmed and not do well with any of them.
So, I’m going to commit to exercising at least 15 minutes per day, and I’ll keep the blog updated so you can track how I’m doing.
SlimShots Review, part 3
more animals
Here is my original SlimShots review.
I’ve been trying SlimShots off and on for a little over a month. I’m usually not a believer in weight loss pills or supplements, but I’d heard good things about this, and the explanation behind how it works sounded reasonable enough. I also liked the fact that it was stimulant free and seemed pretty harmless.
I tried it at both one and two shots per day, varying the times of day and whether I took it with or between meals. I found two shots per day most effective. I also found that it worked better for me if I took it a little after a meal and not with it.
Good
First, I do think that SlimShots helped me in appetite control. I can definitely tell a difference on the days I use it. I can tell an even bigger difference when I take two a day.
I think it’s also helpful in habit-building. I used it for about a week straight, and I was pretty successful in eliminating my afternoon snacking habit. That seemed to stick with me even after I quit the SlimShots.
Not-so-good
It seems to give me a pretty rough case of heartburn. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was the culprit, but after alternating between days I took it and days I didn’t, it became pretty clear that it’s the cause. I’m not sure why that is, but it was uncomfortable enough that I quit taking it, despite the fact that it works.
The problem didn’t start until I’d taken it daily for a little over a week, so it might be that I’d be able to do one or two days to get through a stressful time without side effect, but I haven’t tried it. The heartburn may not be a problem for everyone, but it turned out to be a show stopper for me.
Conclusion
- It did help me control my appetite
- The taste isn’t great, but it’s bearable
- It helped me correct some bad eating habits
- It’s a little pricey, especially if you do 2/day
- It causes nausea for some, heartburn for me
Weight Loss Plateus
Hitting A Wall
Originally uploaded by JOE M500
I’ve managed to lose only a couple pounds since starting to use SlimShots about two weeks ago. I do think I eat less, but I haven’t been taking the time to write down everything I eat. I think I’ve got a couple problems.
- First, I still eat too many sweets. When I’m tired and stressed, that’s what I reach for. Lately I’ve been really busy at home and at work, so I keep going for the sugar fix. That has to stop.
- I’m not getting any exercise. Hubby is sick with a bad cold, so we’ve put off putting that gym membership to good use. I think a little exercise might just be the think I need to start the weight loss up again.
- I know from experience that I sometimes just get “stuck,” and there’s really nothing to do but keep trying to do all the right things and wait it out. It’s hard not to lose patience, but I’ve done this enough to know it’ll end eventually.
SlimShots Update
Like I said, I’ve been doing SlimShots for about 2 weeks, and I’ve lost 2 pounds.
The taste is still pretty bad. I’ve also noticed that it tends to give me heartburn sometimes, especially if I had a light breakfast. I don’t remember reading that that’s a typical problem, but my stomach tends to be a bit sensitive.
I usually just need to take one shot a day now. If I get a bad case of the munchies, I’ll take a second in the afternoon, but that only happens about once a week. I do find that I’m eating less, to the point that I’ve skipped dinner a couple of evenings. I have to wonder though if the quick drop in my calorie intake has something to do with the failure to lose weight. Maybe my metabolism is resisting?
Well, I’m off to get a decent night’s sleep, for a change.
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