Nighttime Eating

I think most of us with serious weight problems have trouble with late night snacking. I certainly do, although it's probably not the single biggest reason why I became morbidly obese. (Ice cream for breakfast might be.) Still, we all struggle with nighttime eating, it seems.

This is an excerpt of an article that I stole from Melting Mama's blog. It has some good tips that I wanted to include. Some of them are reminders of things we used to do...I know there are things on this list that I remember working on when I was getting ready to have surgery, and I've sort of forgotten about them. So this is a nice reminder on how to get back on track. Enjoy.

Why We Eat at Night

There are many reasons why so many of our total calories tend to be eaten during and after dinner, including physiological, emotional, cultural, and possibly evolutionary influences. They include: It's part of our culture to eat a large dinner. It's also customary in many homes to enjoy a large dessert after dinner. Some people, especially women, skip meals or undereat during the day. It can take quite a lot of food to satisfy the body's hunger after a day of undereating. Overeating at dinner or late at night may help to calm people from stresses that build during the day. Studies show that meals eaten with others are, on average, 44% larger than meals eaten alone. Since dinner tends to be the meal that is more often shared, this may partially explain why it's also most likely to be the largest meal. From an evolutionary perspective, nighttime used to represent the longest time period without food and activity. In modern times; however, artificial light allows people to remain awake and continue to eat, perhaps, contributing to obesity. Tips for Overcoming Nighttime Noshing But even with all this working against us, experts say, it is possible to avoid nighttime overeating. If you're a nighttime nosher, here are some tips to help you kick the habit:

1. Get in the habit of enjoying a hot cup of decaffeinated tea at night. Tea comes in so many great flavors that you'll never be bored. In the warmer months, have a glass of iced tea instead.

2. Many people snack at night because they're bored. Keep your evenings interesting, and you'll find it easier to refrain from mindless snacking. Take a night class, plan an evening exercise session, find a new and interesting book or hobby, etc.

3. If you've gotten into the habit of eating in front of the television, vow to eat only in the kitchen and only drink no-calorie beverages while watching TV. Or limit your TV eating to fruits and vegetables. Occupy your hands in other ways -- ride a stationary bike, do exercises with an exercise ball, take up knitting, pay bills, or write notes to friends.

4. Because evening meals and snacks tend to be the highest in fat, it's especially important to make healthy food choices at this time. Go for foods that are rich in nutrients, high in fiber, and balanced with some lean protein and a little bit of "better" fat (like olive or canola oil, avocado, or nuts).

5. Though you don't want to eat too many calories at dinner, for some people, a small dinner could lead to a late-night snacking tailspin. Eat a balanced, high-fiber dinner. If you get hungry later, enjoy a smart and satisfying evening snack like low-fat yogurt with a sprinkle of whole-grain cereal, fruit with a few slices of cheese, or whole-grain cereal with milk.

6. Have a balanced, higher-fiber lunch and afternoon snack to help avoid overeating at dinner.

7. Don't skip breakfast. "When people skip breakfast, they end up eating more calories by the end of the day, and we know that they end up compensating for this skipped meal with high-sugar, high-fat foods," explains Bowman.

8. People who eat small, frequent meals tend to eat fewer total calories and fat grams than those who eat larger meals less often. Try eating small, frequent meals to see if it improves the way you eat and feel.

9. If you're in the habit of finishing your day with dessert, try having a mini-portion. The first few bites of a food always taste the best, anyway. Experts say a petite portion is more likely to satisfy if you choose a dessert you truly enjoy, take your time and savor every bite, and accompany your treat with a cup of hot coffee or tea.

SOURCES: The Journal of Nutrition, January 2004. Physiology & Behavior, 1987, vol 40. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December 1994. Body Mass Index New Research, 2005. Shanthy Bowman, PhD, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. John M. de Castro, PhD, chairman, department of psychology, University of Texas, El Paso. Edward Saltzman, MD, energy metabolism scientist, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston.

January snow

Ahh...more snow in Spokane. This past week it has been under 20 degrees all week, hovering mostly in the 12-16 degree range. Then this weekend, it warms up to the 30s and snows, I dunno, 6-8"? Something like that. Last night it warmed up a little more, just enough to slush it all up. Today was around 33 degrees, and made for lots of heavy, wet snow.

I did take some pictures of it:

Spokane snow

Weight loss is slow. I think maybe I need a fill. My meals aren't very big, but they are only lasting 2-3 hours. Starting school has been stressful, I haven't been sleeping well, and I'm sure that doesn't help. I lost a couple pounds after my last fill. Then things have stood still...and gone up a little bit...TOM so I expect that will go away next week, but I'd like to be losing weight nonetheless. I've revised my time goal, though, to another 12 months to lose these 27 lbs. I might want to lose more after I get to my initial goal, but I'm not sure, so I've kept it there for now. The BMI target is a little high--over 25--but I think it might be a good spot for me. We'll see. For now I'd just be happy to get under 30 and be just "overweight".

My workouts were going well before the storm. I haven't been able to drive anywhere these past couple days, but I did get a home yoga & resistance band workout in last night. I'll try some more yoga here tonight. It was kind of fun to make it up myself, based on the classes I've taken.

Size 10!?!

OK, this will be brief, but I am just very excited...my size 12 jeans were getting too baggy, so I headed to Old Navy to try on a 10, just to see if it was close to fitting...and they fit! Like, really fit, not just hold-my-breath-and-try-to-zip-them fit, but for real. I havne't worn a size 10 jean since probably 1993. Geez, 15 years! Bill Clinton was just inaugurated then. Nirvana hadn't made it big yet. I had just started college. I'm in shock!

The scale revealed 1 pound less today than it showed yesterday. More shock. I'm feeling pretty good.

A new year, another fill

Last month was very frustrating. I went up and down by as much as 3 pounds over the last month, and ended up down 1 lb for the month...and 4 lbs the previous month. It's not an official plateau, but I'm not crazy about it, anyway.

So today I met the famous Dr Emma Patterson, the main partner at Oregon Weight Loss Surgery and the only person there I hadn't met yet. She's very sweet and friendly, younger than I thought, and seems very genuine. I can see why her patients like her so much. Anyway, she gave me a 0.2 cc fill, which allegedly brings me to 3.4cc in my band, although I'm not certain that is the case. At any rate, I am on liquids today, and soft food tomorrow. Let's hope this helps my weight loss situation.

I've never been one for New Year's resolutions, and I'm still not. Last year I really wanted to have surgery and get closer to my goal, and I have done that. I have about 30 lbs still to lose, at least. I work out 5-6 days a week, and recognize that this will be necessary for the rest of my life (and I don't see that as a bad thing). I guess my only resolution is to get through this year with my sanity intact. Any other ideas?

Finally!

Some scale movement...I think it's been a month. Okay, probably 2 weeks, but still. I found a gym to join in Spokane...the YMCA in Spokane Valley. It's 9 miles away by freeway. But the facility is the nicest I've found in Spokane (other than the hoity-toity Spokane Athletic Club, which you have to be sponsored for and is about $100/month) and the staff will leave me alone to do my thing. I was so put off by the folks at both OZ Fitness clubs here that wanted to put me on their 5 part plan including a food plan as per their computer program ("it's the same one they use on The Biggest Loser!" they'd crow). And they wanted to sell me their supplements. I don't appreciate their hard-sell business model, and both of the gyms I visited were cramped, noisy and had no natural light. Not a place I'd want to go to recharge. The Y is a beautiful new facility and has lots of natural light, which sold me on the spot, despite the long drive. I can also use the downtown Y, but it is unbelievably bad...old, small, falling apart. It's due to be replaced in 2008, so maybe after that I won't have to drive so far. But it's worth it to me to drive to a place I actually like being in...because I love to work out (amazingly enough) and I want a place that truly helps me recharge.

New pictures...

Thanks, hubby, for taking these!

We're in Spokane now, mostly. I'm still going to Portland frequently, he's still coming here when I'm here and he can come out. It's not ideal. Nothing is really ideal right now...Spokane is small and I can't find a gym I like, it's far away from my husband, it's cold, my apartment is really noisy and odd...bleh. I feel terribly lonely out here.

But soon, school will start, and all of these concerns will be background noise and all but ignored. Except perhaps the noisy apartment...we'll see if we have to move in the near future.

My weight is moving ever so slowly. At least I'm not gaining...that much is good. I don't think I need another fill. But I've never gotten anything stuck, and I am not the best chewer in the world. Not even bread, apple peels, none of the usual suspects get stuck. I know this is good, but perhaps it isn't? Perhaps I should be filled a little more? I think no. I'll go with what works, keep trying to find a good gym out here, and eat like I should. 42 lbs in about 40 weeks is not terrible...not fantastic, but within reasonable expectations, right?

Moving slowly...but moving

Why does it seem like people who have the surgery I had lose weight faster than I do? And why can't I just get used to losing my weight slowly? It's about 1 lb per week, no more, sometimes a little less. I work out an hour a day, sometimes just cardio--elliptical, bike, treadmill, sometimes swimming--sometimes an exercise class like yoga or pilates (today I did pilates for the first time). Always at least an hour, and at least 4 days a week, usually 5, sometimes 6. I don't think it's too much. I'm an 85%-er with food: I follow all of my food rules about 85% of the time. (Except the water. I don't really believe in the water--- I KNOW, I KNOW, everyone says you have to drink so much water, but there is a lot of evidence to support not doing it, and it's just not going to happen for me, so get over it.) I usually have something that isn't "perfect" to eat every day, but it's usually small, less than 50 calories. I've reduced the sugars in my diet greatly. I'm trying to cut out the high fructose corn syrup, which is hard because it's in so many prepared foods. If I were a 100%-er I might lose weight more quickly, but I'm not.

So, I guess I know part of why I lose weight slowly. But some folks are lucky enough to cut the quantity of their eating with the lap band and just lose so much weight so quickly. It seems like they are the norm, but I think they are not. And it's so unproductive for me to even think about those people. I'm not one of them!

My last visit to the doc in October, I had lost about 6 lbs in a month and was right on track, and we decided not to do a fill. I thought I should just be more careful about my eating and working out and see how it goes. That was fine until the past week when I started noticing I was getting more hungry and sooner after I ate than before. I found myself foraging for food more, grazing more, and thinking about food more. So I went back today, had lost 3 lbs in the last 4 weeks, and got a fill of 0.2cc to get me to 3.2cc. Hopefully this is right. I am doing liquids and mushies today and things go down fine so it's so far, so good. I can't get too tight a fill now since I'll soon be in Spokane full time and won't be able to come back quickly for an unfill.

I might be losing more quickly if we weren't camping in our old place now with nearly no furniture or belongings...it's all in Spokane now...and eating out all the time. We're pretty good about splitting our meals and making good choices, usually, but it's still a lot of eating out, even if the quantity of food is smaller. It's kind of an uphill battle. I hate this in between time, not moved out, not moved in, nowhere to really relax and feel at home. Ugh. But we're carrying on, and in a couple weeks we'll be moved altogether.

Wednesday--Spa Week!

It's officially my Spa Week. I am doing a different exercise class each day and it feels like a week at the Spa, so there, I'm calling it Spa Week. I guess that means I'm going to have to get a massage or a manicure or something to round it all out; you can't have only exercise during Spa Week. *sigh* It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it...

So, the roundup so far:
Monday: Spinning class (Cycle Express, 50 minutes) and swimming
Tuesday: Yoga (apparently it was Advanced, but I did fine)
Weds: Flow Yoga and swimming
Tomorrow: Pilates

More movement seen on the scale...very nice...great success. (Right Borat?) But better than that, I feel like I'm working muscles that aren't used to working. I feel good, at peace. My mind is "right".

Vacation time

In the spirit of using up the rest of my benefit time before leaving my job and moving on to the next phase of my career, I took a week of vacation this week. The original plan was to go to Paris (I requested this time off back in the summer) but we couldn't get it all together in time and make it work. No matter. I've decided to spend this week trying different classes at march wellness, my wonderful gym, which I will sorely miss when I leave Portland. There are tons of classes there and I've either been intimidated by them or just didn't think to try them. Today I took a spinning class for the first time, which was surprisingly fun, although it made me sweat in a most unladylike fashion. I was going to take "Gentle Yoga" in the afternoon but the class was full. Boo. So, I swam 30 minutes instead. Tomorrow I'm taking a 12:15 Yoga class. Wednesday I think I'll take Pilates. There's a Power Vinyasa Yoga class I want to take, but I want to try a more basic class first. I'm excited about it! It's really time to shake up my workout routine. I'm not really bored with it but I think my body is.

Here's an NSV for me: I got my first pair of knee high zip-up boots today! I ordered them from Aerosoles and they took 2 weeks to get here, and I wasn't sure they would zip up, but they do and they are awesome! I'm so excited. My calves have always been too big for zip up boots. I had one pair of long boots a few years ago, but they were stretch and pull-up. They always fell down, since they didn't go all the way to my knees and they were pretty tight. Finally the seams just wore out and I had to throw them away. These are also stretch, but they fit nicely and are great quality. I have an Aerosoles obsession. Their shoes are so comfortable, and they make lots of lovely high heels that I can wear AND walk in comfortably. Not every pair is perfectly comfortable, but most are, and I can wear them all day without complaint. I'd rather spend a little more on shoes that I feel like walking in than half the price on shoes I don't want to walk more than 5 feet in. I usually get them on sale, so they tend to actually cost me $30-40 per pair. I'm totally obsessed with their shoes! Really, it is a problem. At least my husband thinks so. But in another month, I won't be able to buy shoes anymore for quite a while. I'm "living it up" a little now.

Another NSV: I wanted to get a pair of size 12 jeans today because my 14s are getting a bit big and soon it will be time to go to 12s. I tried them on, and they zipped up--they are definitely snug, and I need to lose 5-10 lbs to be comfortable in them, but I was a little surprised that they zipped up all the way. I also got a fall dress (on sale) and a sweater (on sale), both mediums, and they fit perfectly. Super cool!

I realize this is all pretty banal. Weight loss sort of has that effect. It's such an artificial thing to focus on, and yet it really is so important. The perks of improved appearance and buying fun clothes are nice, but the real goal is being a healthy old woman who can still walk and be active and care for myself. I have a lot of confidence in my constitution; I come from pretty healthy people, and I don't have a lot of concern for heart disease or diabetes based on my family history. But I want to keep my joints in good shape, and...well, hell, we all know the reasons for maintaining a healthy weight. The best thing right now is my physical fitness is improving, and I enjoy exercise. I have a lot more energy than I used to, I don't take my antidepressant anymore, and my mood is great. So while it's nice to get clothes in smaller sizes and have people compliment me on my appearance, how I feel is the best reward. My next scale victory: 40 lbs weight loss. I hope to get there in a couple of weeks.

The Halfway Point

Here I am, almost 7 months into the lapband journey, and I have lost one half of my goal. It's taking a long time to get here. It's hard not to get discouraged sometimes. I think my band is doing its job: I have restriction, and I stay full for at least 3 hours when I eat. I don't think the answer is another fill, although I never get stuck, vomit, or have any of the other "too tight" signs that other bandsters have, and I've never had any reflux, and I can eat bread easily, still. So maybe I do need a fill, I dunno. I suspect it's more a "me" thing than a band thing. For one, I probably eat more than I think I do. I still have a hard time estimating how much I have eaten and recognizing my "soft stop" before I blow past it. I also have a very hard time slowing down when I eat. I will probably always struggle with this. I'm trying to reduce/restrict the amount of breads and sugar that I eat, which hopefully will help as well. But also, this weight neighborhood I'm in right now is always where I plateau. Plus, 6 months into weight loss is a common plateau time. So it might not all be me (or at least things that I can change). I may have a perfect storm of weight loss stalling factors going on. I just keep plugging away, and do the best I can each day.

In 10 lbs, I will be the weight I was when I met my hubby. That is my next goal. After that I am in a weight zone that I haven't seen since I was 19. It's exciting!

I'm thinking of starting a more global blog. I'm not sure, but maybe a student CRNA/health care professional/chronic cynic sort of vibe. The whole package, including the weight loss stuff, moving to Spokane, being married (remarried), anything I can think of. We went to Spokane last weekend to attend the picnic for new students, meet the staff and current students, and scope out a place to live. Finding rentals in Spokane is sort of disappointing, but we definitely didn't want to buy a place and have to sell in 2 years, not with the trend in the housing market currently. We did find one absolutely perfect place, but the owner had just taken a deposit on it (asshole) and showed it to us anyway, and then drove us over a few blocks to his new manufactured-home type duplexes which were sparkly new and utterly depressing. View out the windows? More duplexes! Ugh. Then he was sort of disparaging about my desire to live in one of the numerous lovely old houses in Spokane that you see everywhere, kinda like the one he showed us first that we couldn't have. He really pissed me off with that little bait and switch. We decided on the first floor apartment of a beautiful historic home very close to the hospital where I will spend most of my time. Just waiting on the approval process so we can work out everything else. I would have preferred to rent a house with no upstairs neighbors, but we just didn't find one in a good location that was worth renting. There are some downsides to the place we are going with, but I think overall it will be a good fit.