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February 6, 2006
950 May Be Too Low
After four days of 950, I had burnt off most of the excess from Thursday night, and I was wiggy, absolutely wiggy, with hunger all day. I ate my new breakfast of a half cup eggwhites, 1 slice fat free cheddar and 23 calories Asian mushrooms, along with a teaspoon flax oil. Then I went to work, and all was well until at about 10 am I was ready to chow down on my co-workers (some of whom could stand to lose a little fat, so I probably could have gotten a decent meal, but eating your co-workers is frowned upon in a professional setting.) At 10:45, I consumed my all organic salad of 70 g kale, 30 g mustard greens, 74 g olives and 1 cup nonfat organic plain yogurt with salsa verde. That was yummy, and I felt quite satisfied. I ate while working at my desk, as I had plans to hit the gym over lunch.
Hit the gym a little post noon, had a great workout -- it is so pleasantly un-crowded at that hour! No giant dudes threatening to drop dumbells on my tiny foot! Went back to the office feeling refreshed, enjoyed afternoon snack of 130 g organic lowfat blueberry yogurt with 14 g almonds. Ate the fat first.
An hour or so passes. I am so hungry. Like really hungry, not that "I'm bored so I'm hungry" or "I smell food so I'm hungry" type of hungry. More like the, "My body is eating itself and might eat someone else!" type of hungry. The re-reading the RANT to remind myself of why I'm doing this type of hunger. Hmmm.
Ate 10 more g almonds. That usually solves all problems. Was drinking lots of water all day, along with my usual coffee and green tea.
My best friend Jeff wrote me email suggesting that we meet for a glass of wine after work at a bar about two minutes from my house. I agreed. I had to stop off at the store to grab eggwhites and cat food (things you can't go home without -- MR, can you believe I've eaten all those eggwhites that were in the fridge???) so I left work and headed to the store on the corner.
Then I started to think. I can have ONE (and only one -- still keeping the anxiety at bay by keeping alcohol consumption at a minimum) glass of wine, but I would not want to do so on an empty stomach. And I was hungry, really hungry.
I had planned a quotidian dinner + eggwhites to up my protein for when I got home, but I quickly re-thought and decided it best to put some food into my stomach *before* having a glass of wine. Better for the liver, and better at avoiding those post-drinking a glass of wine on an empty stomach urges to eat everything in sight. So I attacked the Clemmen's grocery store salad bar, one of the seven wonders of the world.
I had a big pile of romaine with celery, red onion, cherry tomatoes, hot peppers, sweet bell peppers, vinegar marinated hot peppers, and pickles, doused with plain red wine vinegar. (Yes, I love vinegar.) I figured it would be good to eat some protein and fat with the meal, especially to soak up my small glass of wine, and the imitation crab meat that I adore was missing! Not wanting to take my chances with any of the apparently mayo-covered chicken or tuna salads, I grabbed two small hot pink pickled eggs (it's a {Pennsylvania thing -- they look totally bizarre but taste amazing!). I ate my dinner in the car in the parking lot of the grocery store -- that's how hungry I was by this time.
The bartender at the local bar said their pours were six ounces, but I made him check it with my Good Grips measuring cup to be sure. Whenever I bust out with my measuring cup for wine, I always announce that I am participating in a medical study, so I have to know exactly what I'm consuming. It's true, in so far as it goes -- I am participating in the CR Society medical study. So there! I'm not a neurotic freak of a girl, I'm a lab rat! We are Dr. Walford's mice... we find a longer life quite nice...
I doubt that I went much over calories if at all, since the vegetables were very low calorie and the total of the eggs, even if they were as large as the ones in the USDA database, would be 140 calories, but the fact that I was completely wiggy with hunger all day makes me think that 950 may not be what I'm ready for right now. Considering that my average was in the neighborhood of 1300 pre-January, that's a steep drop, and as Miss Tenacity has pointed out, I have added exercise which is going to do *something* to my metabolism. I'm thinking I will return to 1050 for a few days and see how I feel. 1050 is still well below my previous average, and if I'm not cutting the consistent days with going out days that are well over calories, I should be in a gradual calorie decline.
It was a very nutritious day, though I'm sure a DWIDP would show my lack of brewers yeast in some nutrient columns. I had more than the RDA of calcium between my fat free cheddar single, my cup of nonfat plain yogurt at lunch, and my carton of fruit yogurt at afternoon snack, not to mention my kale. Kale has tons of vitamin A, and blueberries have something or other that's good. Too much saturated fat in the pickled eggs, but it's not like I eat pickled eggs every day. Panto acid in those mushrooms.
I think that tomorrow I may eat a big breakfast, with my old cup full of eggwhites plus the fat free cheddar plus the mushrooms. It's a great way to space out my calcium consumption, add just a few carbs to breakfast, and keep the protein high so that I feel satisfied all day. I'm always telling those who are new to CR or just trying to lose weight: Never leave the house in the morning without 29 grams of protein in you. Maybe I should take my own advice!
I felt rather silly eating my salad in the car, until I thought about how I would have handled the situation pre-CR, or even in the earlier stages of CR. It would have been tempting to declare the day a disaster and then eat a whole whack of high-carb gak, and keep eating after the biological hunger had been satisfied. A big plate of low calorie vegetables topped with plain red wine vinegar and two small boiled eggs is not exactly a crisis, especially not when it follows days of very low calorie, nutrient perfect eating. Onward we go!
Now I'm home and exhausted... had a horrible insomnia attack last night from 12:30 - 2:30, in spite of melatonin. I often have insomnia after having more than one glass of wine, but I hadn't had a drop of alcohol of any kind since Thursday, so it really doesn't seem fair! Oh well, Philomena enjoyed the extra petting.
Speaking of Philo, she's doing well. She's eating, cuddling and meowing. Her doctor says her white blood cell count was very high on account of the infection, but that her kidneys are doing well, which is great as she has chronic kidney disease. She's yowing at me to come upstairs and pet now, so I'll take my work calls and my chamomile tea up to her room to cuddle the calico.
Posted by april at February 6, 2006 6:28 PM