On a lighter note . . .

It's baking time for the holidays. Does anybody have any tried and true lower-calorie cookie recipes to share? I'll be doing some research on eatbetteramerica.com as well but if you have recommendations, I'd love to hear them!

Hot 100 Update: embrace failure

I'm not really embracing it, but besides my outstanding job on fruit  lately, I've not been doing well on my Hot 100 goals. I am so sleepy all the time that I'm usually in bed by 10 pm anyway but if i nap too much during the day I am up reading until midnight. I've been playing  around. Exercising - bah! eating when I'm not hungry, YOU BET!  playing around losing and gaining the same five pounds? Great fun! Bloggin 2x daily? I missed a whole day and nobody noticed so why bother? Chores? whatev.  The good news is I have a Dr. appointment first thing Monday morning and that'll prolly get me going. I HAVE made some progress since I saw her 2 months ago. . . I think. And I'll ask her all about what kinds of supplements she recommends to make sure they don't interact with anything i'm already taking.

Nothing really pushed me into this rut and I'll find my way out soon enough. The only explanation I have is that I was really REALLY close to weighing less than Sweetie. When I can truck along fine for a long while but when I notice I'm close to a goal, and especially if I say it to anybody out loud - then it's like the expectation is there that I will meet it quickly and my inner child or whoever rebels against it. Every time I think I have it figured out, then I just stop caring.  I haven't even been reading blogs much. had a great book to read, though.  I'll have a review for that prolly later.  I haven't even updated my Shelfari yet. I think I need to reread Women Food and God!

And so there ya have it. I'm all "why bother?" right now. Eating for fun, sleeping even more, exercising hardly at all . ..  but I am still weighing in every morning which is the only thing that's kept me within that 5 lb range - I'm sure of it.

Not counting calories

A few days ago, I posted that I estimated that many days my calorie intake is below one thousand. Tiny attempted to type his very well-reasoned and insightful response there in the comments, but it was too long so he posted it on his own blog here. Naturally, my response to him was also long-winded and wouldn't fit in the comments. I didn't think anybody else was interested, so I e-mailed it directly to him at home. Today I find myself without much new to say to the blogosphere so I'm posting it below:
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Oh yeah, I have my 150 calorie Pepsi every darn day and I"m gonna keep on a havin' it brotha! lol

Nutella and walnuts I do not have every day and usually it's one or the other if I'm wanting chocolate. Thought I said that, but really I'm too lazy to go back and look. Anyhoodle . .. .a serving of walnuts is actually 1/4 cup and that's what I'll snack on. And believe it or not, I have done Tbsp of Nutella and 5 "Hint of Salt" Ritz and felt quite satisfied that I had a treat. You forget just how easily entertained I can be. :-) I'll often have just a thin coating of nutella on some nice yummy whole grain bread. It's dreamy.

I have an UNDERactive thyroid, so I don't know how that works with your figures but I will definitely check out the websites you offered as they sound very educational! Thank you!
You don't have to worry about me getting enough proteins because I am still a carnivore. I just get them in less fatty ways than before. I have smaller portions if it's red meat, for instance. I eat chicken every chance I get, too! Confessoin time: I miss bacon.

Don't you HAVE to consume less calories than you're burning if you want to lose weight? Isn't that the whole idea?

Reminder: I'm not dieting. I'm eating when I'm hungry and stopping when the hunger goes away.

Another Reminder: I'm not counting calories, but I was estimating what I might eat on an average day. So some days I probably get plenty more than 800 but I doubt I ever get less than that. I honestly have no idea how many calories I've consumed today. I can tell you exactly what I've eaten, because I've been very thoughtful about each and every bite, but I'm not interested in the numbers. I trust my body to tell me when I need food, and then I feed it.

I'm not going hungry. You know how I feel about discomfort of any kind at ay level. I feel GOOD. I don't have any less energy than I had when I was eating everything in sight. I actually have more because I'm not eating a bag of Reese's miniatures every chance I get or any time my charming husband or some sappy commercial makes me want to cry. (Crying burns calories anyway, right?)

When I think about a time when I was skinny (I don't think I've ever been at a healthy weight) when you and I first met, it never really occurred to me to over eat. With 3 older siblings, there wasn't an excess of food around for the most part anyway but there were treats. But, I would've had to be home to do much damage that way. I ate when I was hungry and I got where I was going primarily by walking or biking. I didn't go hungry then either. I just didn't take the time to sit and eat recreationally until I joined my new family. Boy do these people know how to cook! (My mom still is a terrible cook. I had a spoonful of Kraft Mac N Cheese that she totally ruined just last week)

All this is said because I don't want you to worry too much about me not getting enough nutrients, et cetera. Because of my thyroid condition, I'm under pretty close scrutiny from my doctor, as well. Once my medication is balanced the weight should melt away faster. I appreciate your feedback because you have really given me some insight into where people must be coming from - although I doubt most of them have done the indepth research that you obviously have.