Weight update

Remember when I last posted about my weight?  Yeah, me neither.  It's been a while, but I'm ready to share.

I've been working to eat a mostly paleo-style diet since early last year or so.  I spent 2010 eating a lot of Lean Cuisines, canned ravioli, and sandwiches, so even though I was able to lose weight eating that, probably any change would've been for the better.  I'd done the low-carb thing many times, and paleo seemed like a healthier alternative.  My appetite was still a huge issue though, making weight loss feel impossible.

In August of 2011, a couple things happened: First, I got a new job.  Then I stopped taking the pill.   When I stopped the pill, I stopped getting nauseated when I waited too long to eat breakfast.  Within a few weeks, I was skipping breakfast.  Not everyday, but most days I wasn't hungry.

One day I didn't have time to go get lunch, so I just ate an apple I had brought for a snack.  And since I hadn't had breakfast, I thought I would still be ravenous, but I wasn't.

That's how I began intermittent fasting.  During the work week I "fast" 16 to 19 hours a day, then I have a small meal (usually an apple), then a regular-sized, paleo-style dinner.  Most weekends I just do what I feel.  It's a bit awkward to eat lunch with other people, but when we go out after work, I eat/imbibe normally with no weird rules or restrictions.  I've gained quite a few things from eating this way -- I have more energy, a reduced appetite, fewer cravings, and more free time.

I'm not saying it's right for everybody, but it's working well for me.   I've lost 23 pounds in the past 6 months, and I'm finally beginning to feel like I'm not a slave to my stomach.

Headaches

As a frequent recipient of migraines for the past, oh, 17 years of my life, you'd think I'd have effective solutions up my sleeve. My "solution", as it were, has always been the old 3 advil, cup of coffee or tea, then off to bed to writhe in pain and nausea while praying for sleep or death.

Recently, my headaches have been cluster in nature (from what I can tell), and what sucks about those is that I'll have them for daily for weeks sometimes. You know it's a wonderful day when you wake up with the same headache you went to sleep with. They're not as completely debilitating as migraines, but they make it very difficult to behave in a friendly manner (aka doing my job), be productive, or enjoy myself.

I haven't been able to find anything to even take the edge off of migraines or cluster headaches without involving unconsciousness. Until now. I was watching Dr. Oz one afternoon (... not that I do that frequently) (... not that there's anything wrong with that) and he brought up pepper spray as a way to take the edge off cluster headaches. WHAT. AND IT ACTUALLY WORKS. WHAT?!?!! I read the reason it works, and frankly, I don't give a rat's ass WHY it works (ok, yes I do, look up how ben-gay works), I just thank god that it does. Don't get me wrong, the headache is still there, but for a sweet 20 minutes or so (I haven't really timed it), it is dulled. I haven't tested it on a migraine, but it's definitely effective for cluster headaches. So that's that. I would post this in my HG section, but I sort of feel like that's cheating.

Insurance Underwriting and Low-carbing

As part of our life insurance underwriting process we had blood tests and health histories taken to determine coverage and premiums, etc. My health history went for pages, but I was determined that my numbers be square and small. For that, as I am [still] reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taub, I decided to go on a low-carb extravaganza for two weeks prior. Breakfast on the weekends: bacon and eggs! Other days: pepperjack cheese. Many other meals: Canned chunk light tuna in olive oil with bagged cole slaw mix and avocados, seafood curry with cauliflower and mushrooms... and even calf's live and onions on one beautiful night. Two weeks and many, MANY avocados later, here's how my numbers shaped up:

Total cholesterol: 164 mg/dl

LDL cholesterol: 67 mg/dl

HDL cholesterol: 71 mg/dl

Ratio: 2.3

Triglycerides: 132 mg/dl

Not bad, no? Triglycerides weren't great, but for the record, last February they were 183, and my cholesterol ratio was 2.8. Improvement! I was disappointed that my fasting glucose was "not valid due to glycolys" and that my A1C wasn't tested, but I'm hopeful (...not too hopeful) those were down. Poundage was lost (6), but I gained most of it back when I fell hard off the wagon 2 or so weeks ago. Diabetes is all over my family tree, so after seeing these numbers, I think I'm going to get back on the low-carb gravy boat for another month or more and report back with another set of numbers... maybe.

And because it's Monday, a song for your enjoyment:

More Remorse

Sorry, dudes, for my complete and thorough neglect. This is the first time that I've failed to post my monthly net worth since I started this in March of 2008 - and for 2 months, no less.

As you can probably guess, I fell off the wagon pretty hard. According to the laws of nature, an inverse relationship exists between my weight loss and my savings account balance. Since I've been relatively successful at the weight loss bit recently, my savings has taken a nose dive. New fall clothes and personal blues compounded the problem, and now I'm left with a "final sale" receipt-littered trail of regrets.

And now that I'm back from a week vacation, I'm up 8 pounds, and therefore ready for a budget overhaul.

Presidents' Day Breakfast

I have the day off work today, so I took some time to prepare a nice breakfast for myself. Can I just say that I love eating a meal that leaves me feeling satisfied, balanced, and energized? Because I do. Here are a couple of my favorite breakfasts that make me feel good for multiple hours (no pictures, because I didn't have the foresight over the last week to take any):

Breakfast 1
-1/4 cup (dry) toasted buckwheat (aka kasha), salted
-2 slices of turkey bacon
-1 white grapefruit

Make kasha, fry turkey bacon, chop up, and add to kasha. Eat grapefruit separately (der). Did you know that buckwheat really isn't a wheat product at all, but is closely related to rhubarb and sorrel instead? Plus, it's got lots of protein and fiber. The more you know.

Breakfast 2
-1/2 cup (dry) steel-cut oatmeal, salted
-1 oz reduced-fat white cheddar cheese (Cracker Barrel is the best)
-liberal splash of Tabasco (regular)
-can of tomato juice

Make oatmeal, turn off heat, add cheese and Tabasco. Drink tomato juice separately.

You'll notice a pattern here. I'm of the savory school of breakfast. I like my oatmeal like I like my grits: cheesy and Tabascoy. I put Tabasco on everything, by the way. It's a sickness.

Breakfast 3
-Fiber One cereal with skim milk
-2 hard-boiled eggs

Now, this one doesn't taste the best, and it could use some fruit or veg, but it's quick. I think Fiber One would win a lot more fans if it removed the aspartame from the recipe. As for the eggs, I could eat hard-boiled eggs all day. With Tabasco.

You'll notice I didn't include any breads here. I love Ezekiel bread, toasted of course, but no matter what I slather on it - peanut butter, almond butter, butter butter - it never sticks around past 9:30, so it's just not a great breakfast idea for me.


What are some of your favorite hearty breakfasts?

Labor of Love

Even though I've been treading water for the past year financially, there are a few things to celebrate:

1. One of my student loans has been paid off;
2. My total student loan debt is now under 10k!;
3. I've lost weight like I set out to do, and even though I've gained some of it back, I will never give up;
4. B has successfully completed law school and has earned a spot at a prestigious firm, although his start date has been deferred to October 2010 because of the economy; and
5. In the meantime, they're paying him to work for a non-profit, which means more us-time than we expected.

I'm excited for the future. I want to continue taking care of myself and make a habit of being forgiving of myself and others. I know it isn't new years, but it's never too soon for some new goals.

I lost about 5 lbs this past week, which is a total of almost 25 lbs lost since the end of May. I'm excited that I'm only about 15 lbs now from my first goal weight (I'll reassess when I get there).

Get your own graph at skinnyr

I know the graph looks really bumpy, but it's because they only show it for a certain time period. If it were an option to zoom out, you'd see a more even trend. :P

Fudge.

Still holding at -18.0 lbs. I didn't budge this week, not even an ounce.

And it's official, I'm visiting my hometown in 3 weeks. As I said before, I'd like to lose more weight before I see my parents, and at this point, even a little would do.

Oh, and I have a new hobby...
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..
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which I will divulge as soon as I've taken some pictures. Ciao!

Got to keep on movin'

I finally got my deposit back (+$50 in interest) from my old landlord. This sucker's going right into savings.

Also, I lost 2 lbs. this past week, so I'm officially back in the saddle, with a total loss of 18 lbs. since I started losing at the end of May...and 30 lbs. since last summer!!

Get your own graph at skinnyr

Spending Time, Spending Money

I haven't done a post recently because of all my non-progress in my finances and my weight. Let me explain.

We are still in the process of buying furnishings for the new apartment, so my savings rate is flat. It's really sad, because I had planned to get my emergency fund back up to $6k by now. I'm losing $100 here, $400 there, and with my large rent bill every month, it's hard to gain footing. Luckily, August is a 3-paycheck month, so I can do a little catching up with some careful planning.

Speaking of careful planning, I am contributing like mad to my Roth IRA, but only because I've been attempting to time the market. I know it's stupid, but I see a low price, and say to myself, "even though I've already made my purchase for this month, I'm sure this is the lowest the price will go, so I better get while the gettin's good." Then, I invest $250, and the price drops $0.30. Rinse, repeat! Thank goodness there's a ceiling to how much you can invest in one year, or I might play this game until my bank account is empty!

My other large expense, as I've discussed before, is my weight-loss program. However, in recent weeks, I have not been doing well. 2 weeks ago, I only lost 1 pound. Last week, I gained 0.5 lbs. Not a big deal, I know, but it stresses me out and only exacerbates the problem. Obviously I've hit a plateau for a couple reasons: (i) I haven't been getting in much physical activity, and (ii) I've become more comfortable and much less compliant with the diet. At this point, I can't afford any allowances. I've come so far, and I can't stop now. I think I'll take a walk at lunch today...

Bottle up and Explode

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. The past week and a half has been not so wonderful. I'm having a greater than normal number of health problems lately, and I think I've let the stress get to me in the following ways:

1. I went shopping... at Banana Republic. Granted, I hadn't bought new clothes in maybe a year, but I should lose about 5-8 more pounds before I go blowing my money anywhere, let alone BR.
2. I only lost a pound this past week (total: 16.5 in 6 weeks). I've let my diet slip, and I keep making allowances, which only lead to more allowances. Case in point: I had gummy candy for lunch and a feast of bread and butter for dinner tonight. Ugh.
3. My fingers are raw from biting. I've covered 8 of them in band-aids.

Back to work tomorrow, which is a huge bummer, but at least it'll give my day some structure.

Some Goals

5 weeks and 15.5 lbs down!

Get your own graph at skinnyr

Now's a good time to mention that, prior to starting my weight-loss program, I lost 11.5 lbs over about 11 months, which means I've lost a total of 27 lbs since last summer. Maybe you've noticed that I haven't talked about goals yet -- it's because I haven't made any. The "end" has always seemed so far away. Now that it's more within reach, I think it's time to sketch out some goals. Here we go (x=my current weight):

• Short-term: x-8 lbs in 3 weeks. My bf's firm is having some event in mid-July, and significant others may or may not be invited (we're waiting on confirmation). I haven't met anyone at his job yet, and I'd like to make a good first impression, which basically means I'd like to be down one more size by then, and while we're at it, I'd like to stop gnawing on my cuticles so I can shake hands with abandon.


• Mid-term: x-15 lbs in 6 weeks. I'm thinking about a visit home in August, and I'd like to surprise them. They do know about my weight loss, but it's always fun to see it in person (this would be about what I weighed junior year of college).


• Long-term: x-35.5 in 16 weeks. Honestly, I haven't weighed this little since the end of high school, but I'd like to get there again. My parents will also be visiting me in October, so that would be nice. I don't know how realistic this time frame will end up being, and I'd probably be perfectly happy at x-25.5, but we'll see!
  

I've just got to keep my nose to the grindstone until I'm there (same goes for my finances)!

Weighty matters...?

After 4 weeks in my program, I've lost a total of 13 lbs.

I'm happy to have made this progress, and I like to think that any amount of weight I lose is priceless, but in reality, the money I've spent only covers 4 or 5 more weeks. After that, I'm going to have to make a decision about whether I want to sign up for another 8 weeks, which would set me back another $600+.

It's easy enough to say that I shouldn't sign up, and that I should just do it on my own for free. But that's what I had been doing, and I didn't get very far. I'll have to give this a lot of thought before I make a final decision, but I'm leaning towards spending the money. It is my health, after all.

Mayor of Sandwich

Since we've moved into our new place, we've only gone out to eat once, and it was a cheap lunch at Chipotle. That's the great part. The bad part is that 9 times out of 10, I'll have a sandwich for dinner, which is cheap enough, but not the healthiest meal.

On a related note, I lost 3 more lbs this past week for a total of -10.5 in 3 weeks!

New Place, No Internet!

I just wanted to do a quick post to say that I don't have internet in my new place yet, and while I might do the occasional post from work, something tells me they frown on that sort of thing.

And let me just say that being TV/music/computer/internet-less for the past few days has been quite an experience. There's nothing that makes you feel more boring than realizing you have nothing to do (besides read) when those things are absent.

...In conclusion, more posts when I have internet!

(And, if anyone's keeping track, I lost another 3 lbs this past week.)

I could sleep when I lived alone

This move is draining my purse. Life is draining my purse.

Life is change. I know it. I've accepted it, and maybe I even embrace it a little [begrudgingly]. But this is kind of unacceptable that all these huge expenses are coalescing into a trinity of awful:

• We just bought a mattress for about $750.
• My weight-loss program will cost almost $700 for just 8 weeks, which, as you now know, is almost the price of a mattress.*
• My rent is about to increase $300 per month.

Seriously, I've got to seriously think about getting a part-time job...seriously.

On a completely unrelated note, how does everyone feel about bridge (the card game)? I know it's screams "grandma" in a huge way, but don't you think it's about time for a come-back?

*I lost 4.5 lbs this week.

[Almost] June Net Worth

I've been paid all the money that I expect to receive until June 6th, so I thought I'd do a little check-in. What you're seeing is the result of the up-front new apartment expenses, combined with the fact that I am starting a "medically supervised weight loss program," which is just fancy talk for a money pit. It's so expensive, the weight I'm losing should be gold-plated.

Emergency Fund: $5,200.78
Checking: $61.00
ING Funds (total): $1,946.00
Roth IRA: $3,300.00
401k: $415.00
____________
Total Positive: $10,922.78


Rent: Pre-paid
Credit card: $427.55
Student Loan I: $13,751.58
Student Loan II: $901.00
____________
Total Negative: $15,080.13


Net Worth: -$4,157.35

Orthodontia ain't cheap

Ok ya'll...confession: I'm obsessed with my teeth -- flossing them, brushing them, bleaching them, keeping them, basically. But I'm also very stressed, apparently, because I grind like a horse at night. This means I've worn various night guards, and while my teeth are still straight, they've kind of shifted inward. Apparently no one but me and my orthodontist can tell, but I'm obsessed with correcting it.

I had a consultation today with the orthodontist who did my braces. He confirmed my concerns and said he could totally fix everything with Invisalign! YAY, right?!? $5-$6k worth of "yay."

So I'm conflicted. While I would love to dive right in, I feel it would be a financially irresponsible move right now for me. How does anyone feel ok about spending that much money on a non-essential procedure?

Raggedy Ann

Over at Get Rich Slowly, JD wants to know what people splurge on.

Well, I'll tell you.

I splurge on anything vaguely medical. Or, let me clarify: I splurge on anything masquerading as necessary medical care and/or aesthetic preservation, including, but not limited to the following:

• Diet. I'd call Jenny, attend Weight Watcher meetings, or lay down $100.00 for a bottle of quality Rx-grade supplements. Just show me where to sign.
• Dental care. Less gladly, but just as quickly, I'd hand over the wallet.
• Skin care. I would use Retin-A and/or Differin even if my insurance plan didn't cover the cost. I contemplated Botox, but knowing me, I would get temporary eyelid paralysis.

I also go out to eat a lot. I never order drinks or apps, so that really cuts down on the cost, but I am a big tipper, so at least there's that?

Otherwise, I try not to hemorrhage money.