Follow me to me new home:)

Dear reader,

Just in case you missed it, my blog and I have moved.  But I am having growing pains and know that for some strange technological reason many readers are still being directed here (or to my old blog that doesn’t even exist any more).  Oh if only I knew how to fix this.

I hope you will follow me to my new location and subscribe to me there.  The best way to find me is to use this link or type in my URL www.waistingtimeblog.com and (fingers crossed) the magic of the internet will bring you to my new home.

If you would like to subscribe to my new site (and I sure hope you do), there are several ways to do this that seem to be working.  Unfortunately there are some ways that seem not work at all!  You can:

• Subscribe in a reader using the orange RSS button and link at the right hand side of my new blog
• Subscribe via email using the link at the right hand side of my new blog
• Subscribe using the blue feedburner button at the right hand side of my new blog

Thank you for you patience and support as I experience growing pains.

Karen

Link to Friday’s Post

Today’s post can be found here.

Spring Fever

Spring over and catch my new look and anticipation for spring.  Click here.

Which Weigh Did She Go?

Are you wondering, as I was, if I lost weight on my vacation?  Read about it here.

My Cheating Heart

Another new post can be found here.

Lessons from the Road

Second post at my new blog home… Lessons from the Road.

Don’t miss yesterday’s post that I forgot to … ahem… post here too.  Asking for your input on my new blog site.

Please don’t leave comments here; they will get lost in the move.

Karen

I’ve Moved!

I hope you will visit me at my new location

Please don’t leave any comments here; they will get lost in the move.

Karen

Oops… I forgot to publish this yesterday.  Darn my scattered brain.  Please read yesterday’s post too about my new home.

I’ll be Missing You

Waisting Time is wasting time and going on vacation.

Sometime soon after I return I may will be making the big blog move so be sure to look for me using the URL waistingtimeblog.com since that will go with me.  (During the process, my blog may vanish for a short time so don’t worry if you can’t find it.)  I will post a link here when I move so you can follow me to my new and improved digs:)

See you in a little over a week, weather and technology dependent!

Until then… I will indeed be missing  you:)

Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?

Here I sit, chomping away on my fourth piece of gum today, wondering how much is too much.

This is a new habit for me, part of my coping during dieting.  I am chewing sugar free gum, but even that has five calories per stick.  So I did some internet research and then some math.  Chewing gum burns a measly 11 calories per hour.  I am one of those people who only likes the gum as long as the flavor lasts, so some hours I will have many pieces.  It is a bit disheartening to confirm that I am actually adding calories to my total count with my new mastication fixation.

Why am I acting like a cow with her cud?  Several reasons:  chewing gum keeps me from snacking; the action seems to have some stress reducing benefit as I work out my frustrations with my jaw; and in the evenings it keeps me awake in the hours before bedtime when I find myself nodding off.   (Although I have come close to napping with the gum still in my mouth!)  I wonder if part of my current desire for gum is actually a craving for a sweet taste?  I don’t like that idea!

I have been experimenting with lots of brands and lots of flavors, searching for one that will hold the flavor long enough that I burn as many calories chewing as I ingest from the gum.  No such luck so far.  But I have found a couple favorites:  sweet watermelon, berry smoothie, strawberry citrus, and green apple/golden pineapple.  I obviously lean towards the strong fruity flavors.  No boring peppermint here!

Somehow this new habit feels like a weakness to me.  A gum crutch.  I don’t know why and I don’t know if I care… just saying.  I keep telling myself that I won’t buy another pack but then I do.  I know as far as addictions go, this is pretty insignificant and probably harmless.  It just seems like something I shouldn’t be doing.  And if it feels like I shouldn’t, than maybe I really shouldn’t.  If I hesitate to reach for that next stick, maybe I should be asking myself why.  Why chew so much and why not?

I know people who happily keep a piece of gum going for hours.  Maybe I would feel better about chewing if I wasn’t swapping out the sticks so often.  And I know several people who chew gum while they exercise; I think it keeps their mouths moist.  I don’t think I could keep my mouth closed while working out and I soooo hate hearing or seeing anyone’s gum.  Right up there on my pet peeve/fingernails-on-a-chalkboard list.  Maybe that is part of why I don’t like this constant chomp… that I have so often seen a woman chewing away and wondered if she knew how unattractive it made her look.  Like Sarah Jessica Parker in the Oscar’s audience.  Yep, she was.

So should I care?  Should I cut back or quit all together?  Does it matter?  And what about you… gum chewer or gum eschewer?

The Temptations

Last week I was in some inescapable and unexpected situations that presented a multitude of food temptations, something I have been avoiding so as not to test my new-found willpower yet.  The thought struck me that had I not been on my current last-ever-diet-motivated-not-to-cheat-and-going-strong-for-over-9-weeks-lifestyle-change,  I would have eaten some, if not all, of the items on the following list over the course of a few short days:

Sweet potato fries

Cake (chocolate and lemon, two cakes – not combined)

Pumpkin muffin

Lemon bar (and a corner piece, extra tempting)

Molasses cookie

Pizza

Lasagna

Bagels (and there were many and they smelled so good)

Zucchini bread (homemade by my SIL)

Ghiradelli chocolate squares

And that was just the stuff that jumped out at me and waved itself in front of my nose.   Some of the food even passed through my hands as I packed it to-go for someone else.  Three slices of zucchini bread in a ziploc baggy with nary a nibble.  And those bagels that I bought for other people while drooling.

But I was strong and made healthy South Beach friendly choices:  I ate a chef salad, canned salmon, green beans, string cheese, colored peppers, frozen cauliflower in cheese sauce, apples with peanut butter, more cheese, and more green beans.  And some Triscuits:)

In each moment that I encountered the tempting off-plan food, I felt mixed emotions.  Some sense of loss and longing.  But also a sense of power and control.  And when the moment had passed, the power and control stayed with me and the loss and longing was (mostly) forgotten.  I could clearly picture the old me, spending the day around these foods and eating one, then another, then another.  Yes, in the moment I felt some mourning that I can’t yet eat just a little piece of home-baked goodness, but I know that I am not ready for moderation.  And I am so much happier NOT eating those carb-laden foods than I would have been indulging.  What a change!