Ruth's GI Diary

[ruth frances]

so yesterday wasn't great- woke up feeling really flu-ey and spent most of the day asleep on the sofa. Was craving chocolate hobnobs+++ Ended up eating way too much bread in a comfort food style.
B- porridge
L- 2 open faced cheese and baked bean toasties on grainy bread
S- slice of grainy bread toast with LF spread
D- chicken breast with nicola pot/bean mash, steamed veggies and gravy
S- slice grainy bread toast w LF spread. Bowl of choc chip ice cream.

Feeling better today, so hopefully I'll find it easier to keep on track!

 

[irish molly]

Hope you feel better now. Comfort eating is a problem for us all. It seems an automatic response to so many things. You handled it well by just turning to bread. As long as you are back on track today, you can limit any damage.

 

[Splenda]

Well done on your loss and I hope you're feeling much better today!

 

[ruth frances]

feeling better thanks : )
Forgot to add on Sat's diary 1 litre grapefruit juice - prob a bit excessive, but I love it, and managed to ration that the vit C was needed for the impending cold!!

Sun:
B- porridge
L- poached egg, 1/2 can baked beans 1 slice grainy toast.
S- fruit strip
D- channa masala, aloo gobi, 2 x chapattis and rice/barley mix. 3 low carb beers.

today:
B- porridge
S- fibre fix bar
L- channa masala, aloo gobi, rice/barley
S- large handful of mixed nuts/pine nuts/pumpkin seeds/goji berries. and a mandarin.
D- Chicken bake - chicken, pumpkin, capsicum in tomato sauce baked with a half-sized portion of fresh spinach and ricotta agnolotti with a small amount of LF mozarella on top. With mixed leaf salad and mangetout. 1 light beer

Second full day back at work. I'm finding I need a lot more snacks during the day than normal. Having my porridge at 6.30am before i leave the house, but it's often 2pm before I can have lunch, and then I don't get home until 7pm. I made up some mixed nuts with seeds and berries yesterday that I can take with me, hopefully to help with the 4pm slump!

 

[irish molly]

Doing well Ruth. Good plan to bring a snack with you for the long days. You are doing fab.

 

[ruth frances]

Warning: Meltdown Alert!

Last couple of days have not been good.
In general life, but of course that has a diet knock on effect...

Essentially it's been a trifecta of:
1. Incredibly high-pressure job which I'm suddenly thrust back into after months off work with wrist injury

2. Visa issues, which are a bit complicated (and boring!) to explain, but in essence my visa runs out in 3 weeks and work have been pissing around with deciding whether to continue my sponsorship or not (because I've been off work so much with the wrist injury, whick incidental was caused AT work). So I haven't yet been able to apply for a new visa. If it's not sorted out SOON, in 3 weeks me and my OH will be unable to work, or stay in the country for that matter. Our whole life is here, including a house full of furniture and belongings and our 2 cats! Stress levels now hitting the roof

3. Trying in free time to study for professional exams which are in 4 weeks - they usually need about 5 months fairly intensive study, but because I was unable to write with the wrist, I'm trying to cram it in to a few weeks. Unfortunately delaying them is not an option.:cry:
Of course, if have to leave country, then sitting exams is not an option, and potentially the last 3 years of training will have been wasted.

* sob *

food had been *reasonably* ok considering, if you don't count a tray of puff pastry cheesy rolls
However I did get drunk
on my own
in the middle of the afternoon yesterday
whilst sat in the bath.

And purposely too - I specific went out the buy beer to sit in the bath and get drunk with :sigh:

O dear.
Generally way too much boozy calories this week

Not looking forward to weigh in tomorrow

It just feels like I have no idea where my life is going at the moment. Its my 30th birthday on saturday - now I'm not one to get hung up on specific ages, but it just seems like such poor timing - a whole new decade and I feel a whole lot more useless than I did at 20...

Sorry for all the ranting

 

[irish molly]

Ah Ruth, mucho big warm hugs pet!! That is a huge triple whammy of stress to cope with. Is there anyone at work that you can speak with about the visa issue, someone who will have a sympathetic ear and will support you with management??
All three issues are interconnected for you so it is tough right now. The drinks in the bath were well deserved. Cut yourself a little slack right now food wise if it will help. Otherwise you just have to try and get through these hurdles as best you can.
I feel so sorry for you and hope it starts to settle soon.
Xxxx

 

[irish molly]

Ruth, hope things are going a little better for you. I hope you get to relax a bit over the weekend.

 

[Splenda]

Aww Ruth, sorry to hear you have so much happening just now, hugs!! How are you? x

 

[irish molly]

Ruth, hon how are you doing?? How are you coping with all that mega stress you have? Let us know you're ok.

 

[ruth frances]

hello all, thanks for your lovely messages
Visa paperwork has been done and given in to work - it won't be sorted in time, but apparently they can put me on a bridging visa so I can work/stay in the country etc.
Went out for a lovely meal and some drinks in the city last friday for my birthday. Had a yummy brunch on Sat (the actual bday) but then was at work from 2 til midnight (boo!). I've been working night shifts from Sun til now, hence the lack of posting. Have completely not bothered with the diet for the last week and eaten whatever I fancied. This was especially dangerous on night shifts where I tend to eat a lot of crap anyhow- still, today's a new day and all.
Not plucked up the courage to go on the scales though....

Body clock tends to go a bit crazy when I change back onto days, so some meals happen at bizarre times etc, but here's general diary.
Today:
Early brekkie- piece of grainy bread with peanut butter
Later brekkie- porridge with jam

 

[irish molly]

Ruth, I'm glad to hear visa issues are all in hand. It was a worry for you but now it's all sorted. I'm sure you will get back on track with food in the next few days.
Keep at it , it's worth the effort. H

 

[Splenda]

Morning Ruth! Glad to hear things are getting sorted, what a relief that must be! Enjoy your weekend

 

[ruth frances]

rest of yesterday:
L- campbells roast chicken and winter veg soup with 1 slice grainy toast with LF spread
D- 1/2 large chicken breast, potato/bean mash, steamed veggies and gravy
Was asleep intermittently for bits of the day- knock on effect of no snacking!

Today:
Braved the scales this am- pleasantly suprised to find a STS . All that junk eaten when I was on night shifts must have been offset by the amount of running round like a headless chicken
This was a nice motivation to eat properly and not give up.

Brekkie- porridge with NS jam

S- skinny latte at the Farmers Market - went to local farmers market and stocked up on some delish produce for the next few days. Lovely sunny day, so hubby and I went for a walk in the park on the way back.

L- sweet potato veggie burger (bought from the market!) with homemade hash brown (with leftover pot/bean mash from yesterday), 1 egg and baked beans.

S- slice of grainy bread with peanut butter.

D- planning on having 1 x pork sausage with mash (OH made the most ridiculous amount of pot/bean mash for dinner last night!!) plus some yummy veg from the farmers market- dutch carrots, broccoli, kale and cabbage.

Things are feeling much brighter and sunnier this week
Visa paperwork submitted
Night shifts finished, and hence a few days off work
Weather sunny
New sewing desk that OH made me for my bday
2 snoozy cats curled up with me
Some nice meals planned for the next few days

Hope everyone else is feeling good too

 

[irish molly]

That's a fab positive post !! Isn't it just great how with GL you can have the odd splurge but not do too much damage. A STS was a great result for you. Enjoy your few days off. Serious relaxation required after all your stress.

 

[ruth frances]

Update to yesterday:
Add on 1 x slice grainy bread with spread
Small handful of dried goji berries

Today
Been studying all day which is IMMENSELY boring. Felt like snacking a lot - I think mainly due to boredom rather than hunger. Have been trying to resist.

B- porridge and NS jam

L - homemade veggie and lentil soup with 1 x slice grainy toast with LF spread

S- handful mixed roasted nuts. fibre fix bar.

D- hubby was supposed to be making stew whilst I was studying, but when I went into the kitchen hungry at 7pm he hadn't even started it! So had 1/2 low GI pizza with a few nicola potato wedges. Wasn't supposed to be having any more bread products today, but oh well, it wasn't a complete disaster.

S- 1/3rd green and black milk chocolate bar. Yum.

 

[irish molly]

Well done on stopping at a third of a choc bar!! I find it hard to stop at that. When I have some I allow myself the whole bar. Otherwise I keep going back to it and then feel guilty for having it!!

 

[Splenda]

Well done on resisting Ruth!

 

[ruth frances]

it was a large bar rather than a normal sized bar . Unfortunately the rest of it did get scoffed the next day. But it was oh so delish

 

[ruth frances]

So yesterday was a bit of a write off all round

Started work an hour earlier at 7am - which means leaving the house at 6.15. I'm not a morning person, so this was a painful torture and I elected to spend an extra 10mins in bed rather than having brekkie. BUT, I had planned ahead and took some presoaked porridge with me to have at work when I got there.
Now I've never cooked porridge in the microwave before, so I'm not sure what went wrong, but I left it in (loosely covered) for a couple of mins, and when I came back it had exploded all over the inside of the microwave like brains from a gory B movie.... Obviously hungry I ended up eating 3 pieces of golden-syrup cake (the only thing around), but then of course slumped mid morning and had to dash to the canteen and get a bacon butty : ). This was followed by a mini boost bar that was lying around mid afternoon. However I was glad I had the butty, because it was super busy and I didn't get to have lunch (beef stew soup that I bought with me) until nearly 4pm.

Haven't spent much time with hubby lately with all the studying, so when he suggested going out for dinner I thought that sounded nice. Had a rather large portion of turkish bread and dips followed by lamb ragu gnocci - unlikely to be low GI, but very filling. I was saved though from any booze calories by not being able to drink - on antibiotics for peridontitis round my wisdom tooth.

I really need to start getting my head together - it's been weeks since I had any weight loss : (
I think the main issues I need to address are:
portion sizing
snacking on naughties
figuring out how to manage at work without eating whatever crap is around.