RedRandaOne plods along

[RedPandaOne]

I was originally going to title it "keeping trotting along" but that made it sounds like I'm actually successful at the challenges. This one is going to be another wash, rinse, repeat, sort of I think. I had to stop and think of what I wanted to accomplish. 

 

You can't out exercise a bad diet

Actual food wise, I *think* I'm doing okay. Like I mentioned to my dad, I really only eat 2 1/2 meals a day. Cereal (yes I know it processed, but it keeps me....um... regular, and I haven't found a homemade version that's equal or less calories). Chicken and broccoli of some sort at lunch, and then a handful of cheese and crackers when I get home. I lost 3 pounds doing this... over a year ago. I've kept those 3 pounds off, but I've got another 50 to go. 

 

So I want to focus on what I'm drinking. Soda is a problem for me, but the last challenge I was pretty good at getting it down to once a week. However, I realized I was replacing it with Chai lattes, either from Starbucks, in k-cup form, and/or homemade. I need to cut back on those. Luckily, I've run out of the mix to make them at home, I'm running out of money on my Starbucks gift card, and I've only got half a box left of the k-cups at work. So as along as I don't stock up on any of those, it will be easier to do this. Hopefully. 

 

Goal - 3 sugary drinks max a week. One soda, and 2 chai

 

An Object at rest stays at rest, while an Object in motion stays in motion

 

While you can't out exercise a bad diet, and losing weight in ~90% diet (I forget the actual number), exercise is still needed and good for you. I live a very sedentary life. I sit 8 hours a day at work. I then go home and sit for another 4 watching TV and decompressing. I can like exercise. Once it's in my routine and I like what I'm doing, I enjoy it, history has proven so. I also need to get my legs ready for walking 24k steps a day for a week in October. I did 5k yesterday just walking to and from the train station to get to a conference and they are sore today. On average I'm lucky if I hit 2k a day. 

 

Goal - Exercise 3x a week

Mini goal - get the damn treadmill fixed (if anyone knows how to keep the tread centered, please let me know! I can get it centered but it shifts when I start walking on it)

 

Money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure makes life easier

 

Having lived with my parents until I was 30, money was never really an issue for me. I paid off my credit cards and other bills in full every month, was able to pay off my loans without an issue, and still be able to put about about 10k a year into Savings. And then lost my job, was unemployed for a year and a half. Got a new job and moved out. Lost that job, was unemployed for 4 months. Got a new job that started me at $20/hr then dropped me to 12/hr, 1 month later our landlord kicked us out because she couldn't provide us with a functional bathroom. So I moved for a second time in 2 years. Switched positions at my company, got a raise, but then got a new job that pays me more. And I went wild with spending knowing I was getting paid a decent amount again. 

 

tl;dr: I've been pulling from my savings since 2015, spending more money than I'm making and my savings account is showing it. I need to get my spending under control and start putting money away again. 

 

Goal - only use Travel credit card for actual travel expenses. Everyday credit card, only put $100 on it a month (I'm pretty sure I've already failed this for July/August statement)

 

Other Things Going on in my Life

 

I'm in Week 7 of being on Noom, and I'm thinking of quitting. I've seen no progress on it. I just hate leaving it so soon since the program costs cover 6 months of a subscription. I prefer the tracking of Sparkpeople. Maybe I'll still do their lessons, but track there going forward. 

 

I'm searching for outside help. I went to a clinic on Monday for their orientation and left in frustrated tears because they were not entirely what they advertised. Their program consists of only having Meal Replacement "foods" for 3 months, "eating" only 800 calories a day. So, I'm currently seeing if I can find a bariatric department in a hospital to work with (I do not want surgery though), or see if I should go a Nutritionist route, and track down someone to do a deep testing to make sure it's nothing medical. Do Nutritionist do that, or is it just food and exercise based? My problem is that I don't know who to look for. 

 

That's it for now!

[bdwilson]

40 minutes ago, RedPandaOne said:

I'm in Week 7 of being on Noom, and I'm thinking of quitting. I've seen no progress on it. I just hate leaving it so soon since the program costs cover 6 months of a subscription. I prefer the tracking of Sparkpeople. Maybe I'll still do their lessons, but track there going forward. 

 

That seems like a good approach. I can kind of understand why they don't, but I wish more of these services would expand their integrations. For example, I love the community features at SparkPeople, but prefer tracking (when I track) on MyFitnessPal. If SP would just read nutrition data from FitBit or Apple Health I could track where I want and still get my SparkPoints 

 

47 minutes ago, RedPandaOne said:

I'm searching for outside help. I went to a clinic on Monday for their orientation and left in frustrated tears because they were not entirely what they advertised. Their program consists of only having Meal Replacement "foods" for 3 months, "eating" only 800 calories a day. 

 

Oh no. I was hoping that would be a positive experience, but it sounds awful. Sorry it turned out to be a disappointment 

[Sylvaa]

Yay for coming back!

 

I totally love the fact that you recognize that chai has become a fall back and love your SMART goal for combating it! Do you drink any of these for the caffeine / pick me up or is the taste / sugar? Just wondering in case you need a plan to deal with the lack of caffeine from the drinks. I will say that there are some pretty widely available tasty chai teas you can buy in the grocery store that might help with the flavor and the caffeine. Bigelow and Twinings both have a vanilla chai that are pretty tasty.

 

1 hour ago, RedPandaOne said:

I'm in Week 7 of being on Noom, and I'm thinking of quitting. I've seen no progress on it. I just hate leaving it so soon since the program costs cover 6 months of a subscription. I prefer the tracking of Sparkpeople. Maybe I'll still do their lessons, but track there going forward. 

 

Do they have a 60 day money back guarantee? You might still be able to get out of it! I heard you on not liking their tracking - what do you think it is about it that bothers you?

 

1 hour ago, RedPandaOne said:

So, I'm currently seeing if I can find a bariatric department in a hospital to work with (I do not want surgery though), or see if I should go a Nutritionist route, and track down someone to do a deep testing to make sure it's nothing medical. Do Nutritionist do that, or is it just food and exercise based? My problem is that I don't know who to look for.

 

I love the idea of going the Bariatric Department route. They are actually a good resource for a lot of people because there is a fairly significant number of patients who do want surgery, have to lose weight first. Also, they definitely have specialists to work with patients who are overweight. If you go another route, you'll want to look for a Registered Dietitian or a Certified Nutrition Specialist. RD's can order labwork under their scope of practice, I'm not sure about CNS's, but both are able to interpret the blood work if you can get someone else to order it regardless. "Nutritionist" is actually not a regulated title, and you get people with all kinds of varying knowledge and experience who use it, so it can be a bit tricky to get a good one. (Slowly gets off her soap box)... I have a coworker whose wife is an RD. It's something we discuss kind of regularly.

[RedPandaOne]

47 minutes ago, bdwilson said:

 

That seems like a good approach. I can kind of understand why they don't, but I wish more of these services would expand their integrations. For example, I love the community features at SparkPeople, but prefer tracking (when I track) on MyFitnessPal. If SP would just read nutrition data from FitBit or Apple Health I could track where I want and still get my SparkPoints 

 

 

Yea, it would be nice if they all intergrated more! I know fitbit will read FROM sparkpeople for food, and sparkpeople read from fitbit for steps, but it doesn't help overall. Oh well. 

 

49 minutes ago, bdwilson said:

 

Oh no. I was hoping that would be a positive experience, but it sounds awful. Sorry it turned out to be a disappointment 

 

Thanks. You live and you learn. I'm just surprised that other doctors actually recommend the place. Four other people were there because their doctor (one was a cardiologist, I think another said their primary) recommended it. Makes me wonder if they know the process, or just care about the end result. 

[RedPandaOne]

4 minutes ago, Sylvaa said:

Yay for coming back!

 

I totally love the fact that you recognize that chai has become a fall back and love your SMART goal for combating it! Do you drink any of these for the caffeine / pick me up or is the taste / sugar? Just wondering in case you need a plan to deal with the lack of caffeine from the drinks. I will say that there are some pretty widely available tasty chai teas you can buy in the grocery store that might help with the flavor and the caffeine. Bigelow and Twinings both have a vanilla chai that are pretty tasty.

 

 

I do it for the caffeine. I hate coffee, and this is what I found to work for me. I had tried other regular teas, but found I was dumping sugar in them to help with the taste. So I guess it's a combo, actually.

 

6 minutes ago, Sylvaa said:

 

Do they have a 60 day money back guarantee? You might still be able to get out of it! I heard you on not liking their tracking - what do you think it is about it that bothers you?

 

 

Good question! I'll need to check this out! My biggest issue was a lot of things weren't in the system. And when I scanned the barcode to add it, the calorie count was off. Usually by 10 calories. Or if something was in the system, it was off as well, also by like 10 calories. Or if I manually enter something, it wouldn't put it in one of the categories. I've had entire meals just not show, but yet the calories were counted. It would be nice to know if what I ate was green, yellow, or red. 

 

6 minutes ago, Sylvaa said:

 

I love the idea of going the Bariatric Department route. They are actually a good resource for a lot of people because there is a fairly significant number of patients who do want surgery, have to lose weight first. Also, they definitely have specialists to work with patients who are overweight. If you go another route, you'll want to look for a Registered Dietitian or a Certified Nutrition Specialist. RD's can order labwork under their scope of practice, I'm not sure about CNS's, but both are able to interpret the blood work if you can get someone else to order it regardless. "Nutritionist" is actually not a regulated title, and you get people with all kinds of varying knowledge and experience who use it, so it can be a bit tricky to get a good one. (Slowly gets off her soap box)... I have a coworker whose wife is an RD. It's something we discuss kind of regularly.

 

See, I did not know that about nutritionists! I'll see if I can find a registered dietitian. A few of my friends have given me suggestions for bariatric departments, but I don't know if they were google searches or from some sort of experience. Just more research I need to do. One was actually around the corner from my house so I'm hoping that's a good one! Not having to go into Boston would be a huge plus!

[Sylvaa]

11 minutes ago, RedPandaOne said:

I do it for the caffeine. I hate coffee, and this is what I found to work for me. I had tried other regular teas, but found I was dumping sugar in them to help with the taste. So I guess it's a combo, actually.

 

Gotcha! So if that's the case, what are you planning on doing to counteract the caffeine part? Those headaches are no joke!

 

13 minutes ago, RedPandaOne said:

See, I did not know that about nutritionists! I'll see if I can find a registered dietitian. A few of my friends have given me suggestions for bariatric departments, but I don't know if they were google searches or from some sort of experience. Just more research I need to do. One was actually around the corner from my house so I'm hoping that's a good one! Not having to go into Boston would be a huge plus!

 

I hear you, that traffic can be crazy! Having one close to home would be amazing! At the end of the day, finding one that works for you is more important than what Google says or even their experiences. 

[RedPandaOne]

I have some black tea and chinese sweet tea that I might start mixing together. The chinese tea is not like southern sweet tea. It is loose tea leaves. I just need to be careful because if I reuse the leaves my throat starts to close. But first use appears to be fine.

Another thing I just realized I dont like about Noom tracking is that you can't create groups. For someone like me who has the same thing every morning its tedious to have to input it every day. But it sparkpeople I can create groups and just need to put in that one thing.

I also just took a screen shot of what I've had today. It's a minor difference, but overall there shouldn't be. And I trust sparkpeople more because I put those in directly from the package.

Oh. And noom only tracks calories, nothing else.

[Lateral Planet]

7 hours ago, RedPandaOne said:

So as along as I don't stock up on any of those, it will be easier to do this. Hopefully. 

This is a great way to approach it! I've done the same to cut down on tea; for me it was the sugar that was the problem. Since I only drink hot black tea with milk and sugar while at work, when I happened to run out of milk and sugar I just didn't replace them. I haven't had any tea in weeks.

 

It was a shame about that clinic, how disappointing! Why can't they just ne upfront about that stuff? And that whole approach of "Oh, you need help with food? It's easy: just don't eat food!" is so not the Nerd Fitness way. Best of luck finding a service that suits your needs

[RedPandaOne]

It's pretty much how I stopped drinking pepsi at home! Now I can only drink it when I'm out. And I'm too broke to go out, so win for me!

Yea, I kinda wish i knew somebody who did that clinic because I'd love to know how they introduce food back in. I'd also love to know how many people end up gaining the weight back. Oh well.

I did a little bit of research today on registered dietitians that my insurance covers. Not thrilled with the options. Hopefully my chiropractor gets back to me with his list of recommendations soon. If only he could do the lap work for me, he would done it months ago.

[RedPandaOne]

And Noom has given me thought distortion. I splurged and ordered Greek food for dinner, I was craving a gyro. I also got spanakopita. I was all panicked about eating just two spanakopita, and I ended up eating 3. I was like "I overate! This is horrible, this is why I cant lose weight!" Put everything in sparkpeople, and I'm within my range.

Now, I'm not dissing Noom, and I would suggest it to someone, it's just not for me. This thought process is just my own issues with food and eating.

Oh, and it does not have a 60 day guarantee, because it had the free trial period

[RedPandaOne]

Looking further into the bariatric departments at the hospitals and it looks like for every single one, one way that they use to help people lose weight is meal replacement. Though the hospitals say it's only 1 or 2 meals/snacks a day, not everything. I'm going to call one today to set up an appointment, hopefully when I meet with them they tell me that for my situation I won't need to do meal replacement.

[Countess D'If]

Hello! I'm glad you're back! I'm going to try to follow along!

[RedPandaOne]

1 hour ago, Countess D'If said:

Hello! I'm glad you're back! I'm going to try to follow along!

 

Thanks! I'm stalking your post and will pop in with a comment on occasion for support

 

I just had a minor heart attack. Logged onto to pay my Everyday CC and panicked when I saw the balance of my Travel card. Looked at it and said "why do I have a purchase of over $600?!" Then I realized it was both my friends and I Universal tickets and I only need to pay half with my own money. And while I did need to dip into Savings to pay my card today, it's because I'm taking money out for Comic Con. Otherwise, with all of my normal bills and expenses, my paycheck would have covered it all! No money left over, but no taking from savings is the goal right now.

[RedPandaOne]

I almost feel like I'm cheating for this challenge. 

 

I ran out of money on my Starbucks gift card yesterday. I had enough for two drinks, bought myself and my friend something. I have like 50 cents left. 

 

I used the last of the k-cups this morning. 

 

I have no way to make/have chai going forward until I buy it or reload the gift card. 

 

I do however have a 6 pack of pepsi sitting on my shelf at home. Well it's now a 4 pack. I had friends over yesterday so I like to keep some on hand for them. I had one. So I guess right now it's avoiding drinking the rest of it. 

 

I also talked to my parents this morning. Mom wanted to check on me since I went to school where the Oregon District shooting happened (University of Dayton, it's about 10 blocks or so over). She wanted to see how I was handling it, and if any of my friends who still live in the area was okay. From who I've been able to speak to and who has posted on Facebook, no one I know was there. But, it led into talking with my dad. He is still willing to pay for my weight loss, but he really thinks I should try Nutrisystem. He met a guy recently who lost 30 pounds with it. I tried to tell him I wanted to do it without replacing real food, but he really wants me to consider it. I'm starting to budge. But I know it's because I'm desperate. I don't want to, but am starting to do anything. I filled out the form to be a patient at a local hospital for medical weight loss, but haven't heard back from them yet. And if I did go on Nutrisystem, how does it work when I go away for a week? Do I bring food with me? I'll be in a hotel with no freezer/micro. Only a fridge. 

 

I did lose 1 pound over the last month! Took all my measurements on Saturday and that one went down. Granted I peed like 4 times between 2-9am, but either way, I'm taking the win. Now if I can just speed that up to 1-1.5 pounds a week instead of .5. 

[RedPandaOne]

I just got off the phone with the Mt. Auburn Weight Loss department. It's only about 10 minutes from my house (yay!). And so far we've scheduled two appointments. Fingers crossed this one is worth it. Now to let my dad know so he doesn't order Nutrisystem for me this week. 

 

I also realized this morning that I am not completely free of chai - I have a stash of k-cups at my parents house, and I will be going there for at least one day this weekend. She usually has pepsi stashed somewhere, too. 

 

Monday update

 

Drinks - I had the last two chai k-cups yesterday at work. So, good news is that they are gone and I won't be tempted there. But bad news is that I have already hit my weekly allotment for chai. No soda yesterday

 

Exercise - None got done. I spent about half an hour trying to get my treadmill fixed, so I was on and off that. I tried calling the number from the email I was sent but got a message saying the person was on the other line. I left a voicemail, so hopefully they will call me back. If I don't hear back by Friday, I did find a repair company and will just have them fix it. 

 

Money - no CC usage yesterday. Though I am counting down the days until my next Travel card cycle starts. I need to renew my TSA precheck and get Amtrak tickets. 

[Countess D'If]

Sounds like a good monday, despite the chai attack!

[Rookie]

Is this the same dumb treadmill that you had to fix last time??? 

 

Check Kijiji or Facebook groups for cheap ones lol 

 

I'm going to follow along in the challenge. I'm also trying to get a savings in my savings account.

[RedPandaOne]

8 hours ago, Rookie said:

Is this the same dumb treadmill that you had to fix last time??? 

 

 

It is! While I thought I had fixed it, alas it decided it didn’t want to be fixed. And since it’s brand new, right out of the box, I am determined to have the company fix it. It bugs me to no end that i know what the problem is, and I know how to fix it, I just can’t get the fix to hold. Ther is just something I'm missing. 

 

8 hours ago, Rookie said:

 

I'm going to follow along in the challenge. I'm also trying to get a savings in my savings account.

 

We can be 2 broke girls. Sucks that I know how to get money in savings, just can’t. I did it before by putting my entire paycheck into savings and then only transferring into checking what I needed until the next payday. Super end goal is to be able to do that again.

[Rookie]

Gosh, I feel they should have to replace it or at least send someone to fix it then. 

 

Yay broke buddies haha hopefully we get back into the rhythm of saving again by the end. I used to be good at saving but its a bit harder when you have a mortgage, bills, 3 dogs, a new car, most expensive hobby in the world apparently... T_T 

[RedPandaOne]

What is your hobby? Mine is cross stitching which is fine until I decide to start a new project and I'm like "it costs how much for fabric and thread?!"

Tuesday update since I'm here

Sugar drinks - I did have a Pepsi at dinner since it was trivia Tuesday, and the weirdest thing happened. Every time I took a sip a got a little bit of a headache. It was like reverse caffeine withdrawal. I also got more tired as the night went on. When I got home I took two advil, crawled into bed and passed out.

Exercise - nope

Money - with tip dinner came to $13, but that went on the debit card and out of my $50/week allowance (yes, I've put myself on an allowance)

Plan for tonight is to exercise as soon as I get home. And my reward will be cross stitching deadpool (almost done!) while watching Handmaids Tail.

[Sylvaa]

21 hours ago, RedPandaOne said:

I just got off the phone with the Mt. Auburn Weight Loss department. It's only about 10 minutes from my house (yay!). And so far we've scheduled two appointments. Fingers crossed this one is worth it. Now to let my dad know so he doesn't order Nutrisystem for me this week. 

 

Woot Woot!

[Rookie]

Horseback riding lol 

I pay for my partboard on a horse, my lessons and random things i want to buy for the horse or if I want to take her somewhere. 

And come September I get to pay even more for her because I will be leasing instead of partboarding :/ 

 

Sounds like your body says no more pepsi please.

[RedPandaOne]

Oh man, I miss horseback riding. All we did was lessons and have to buy my gear, and even in middle school I knew that was expensive. Jealous, but yes, one of the most expensive hobbies. But so fun!!! Do you jump or just ride? I'd love to take lessons again, but I feel like all teach how to jump, but all I want to do it ride.

[RedPandaOne]

Exercise complete! And now enjoying some watermelon and Handmaids Tale. I could tell my workout wasnt as intense as previous sessions, I had a hard time keeping up today. Fitbit confirmed it. But hey, a half assed workout is better than none!

And no phone call from the treadmill company, so an email was sent to the repair company I found.

[RedPandaOne]

What's a good way to get rid of gallbladder pain you ask? Why, it's being scared sh*tless by thunder and lightning. Takes your mind right off the pain!! 

 

My body wasn't happy with me last night. I had this huge gas bubble just work it's way through, and it hurt. Once that was gone my gallbladder decided to partake in my misery and flare up. However, it didn't last long. A storm was rolling through, and I was enjoying listening to it. Until my room just lit up with lightning, which was apparently right over the house because at the same time thunder just boomed. I jumped about a foot off my bed. This is only the second time where I've been so close to lightning that I could see and hear it at the same time. Took my mind right off my gallbladder that's for sure!

 

I also think my neck might be getting smaller? I don't take that measurement but I wear a necklace everyday and I feel like the pendant is sitting lower on my chest than before. I'll need to keep an eye on that. 

 

And I've either hit the horrible point where diabetes is happening, or my body is expelling all it's water weight. I've once again peed about 5 times this morning since 2am. I know that's a sign of diabetes, but I don't have increased thirst, which I think is the other sign. So I'm really hoping that my body is just like "oh! we are doing something, she's serious. Okay, let's get rid of all the water before we get rid of the fat."

 

I'm also really trying to suppress the urge to go to the bakery when I'm in Plymouth Saturday and get a frozen chai. I haven't had a frozen one since.... last summer, maybe the summer before? It's been awhile. But I know I've already had my two for the week. I keep telling myself I'll be back down there on the 24th, and I should save my allotment for then. I can do this! Oh, and I've got to remember to save next week's allotment for the weekend. It's comic con!!!

 

I'm saving money at comic con next week. Two of the people I was debating on getting autographs or a picture with (Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum) cancelled  I LOVED Smallville. They say they will be back next year. Fingers crossed!