It always amazes me at how fast my body remembers how to be good and what it feels like to be eating better. On October 2nd, I had to go to work and I had only had 2 days of tracking and eating better so I was a little nervous on if I would have the willpower to not eat a very yummy pan pizza or better yet, hot wings. MMMMM.... I had about 7-800 calories left for the day so I knew I couldn't go crazy no matter what I decided to purchase. Then I remembered, Tuesday is pasta day, so it would only cost me $3.00 for a pan of chicken Alfredo. I decided this would be my best bet, especially since I found out that 1/2 pan is 580 calories. I could do that. So I ate my pasta and it was yummy. Not quite as filling as say the salad that I ate for lunch or the Chicken Cordon Bleu that I wanted to make but couldn't cause I had to work. At the end of my shift I remember that I was suppose to get garlic bread with my pasta... mmmm. garlic bread!!! So I popped my two slices of bread in the oven finished work and by the time I was done, so was my bread. YAY! I decided to eat my bread on the way home, and that first bite... ohhh, so delicious! Then another, then another, then, I started noticing, my stomach not feeling quite so well. Turns out that my body just needed 1 day to realize a 1" slice of french bread slathered in garlic butter just wasn't a good thing. I did finish that 1 slice, but gave the 2nd slice to my daughter who promptly dropped it on the ground after I got home. Oh well for garlic bread.
My next NSV came last night. While at work, there was a mistake made and too many hot wings were made. I was given the option of bringing them home with me, and decided I would. I was looking forward to them too. I knew I wasn't going to eat them last night because I had already eaten everything for the day and had closed out my food diary so I was okay with saving them for today, but then I decided, it just wasn't worth it. Since October 1, I have lost 5.5 lbs with a total of 18lbs, and I really didn't want to ruin my loosing streak, so I gave the wings to a co-worker.
My NSV today was kind of similar to last night. I once again was given free wings, honey bbq tonight though. This time I did bring them home, but not for me, for my son to munch on tomorrow after school. I thought they would be a nice treat for him. I decided to have pasta again for dinner but no garlic bread this time, and I only ate half the pan. :-) And when I got home and put in everything that I have eaten for the day, I even had more than enough wiggle room so I could indulge a smidge and eat 1/2 cup (yes it was measured darn it!) of Dreyers slow churned Coconut/pineapple ice cream, and let me tell ya, it was heavenly!
So, since I've missed a couple of days, I kind of let the cat outta the bag up above. I have lost a total of 18lbs since I started my weight loss journey in March. I'm kind of proud of those 18lbs... I've worked really hard to get here, and the best part, my pants were trying to fall down all day. LOL.
Weight: 234.6, so it was actually a gain of .2lbs. I'm ok with that. I was kind of off my schedule yesterday, but today seems to be back to normal. :-) Plus I forgot to check under my wii board to see if there was anything under it before I weighed. My daughter put it on the floor and she's been known to just stick it on top of anything.
Water: I've been doing really good getting all 8 cups in each day, and sometimes more.
Exercise: Today I did 20 minutes of yoga for a total of 66 calories.
Breakfast: normal yummy pancakes w/ strawberries and whipped cream and 2 eggs
Lunch: Today I had a turkey sandwich. 2 slices of sara lee 100% whole wheat bread, 3 slices of fat free turkey, 1 tomato, 1/2 cup lettuce, and 1 TBSP of Best foods mayo. (yes the full fat. I bought it last month and I'm not going to waste it. Will switch to canola mayo once this is gone.) total calories for lunch 414
Dinner: As I mentioned Dinner was Pizza Hut Chicken Alfredo 1/2 pan. Total Calories 580
Snack: Dreyers Pineapple/Coconut Ice cream. Total calories - 140
Total calories for the day: 1604
Calorie Deficit : 126
According to My fitness pal if every day were like today I'd weigh 228.2 in 5 weeks. WOOT WOOT! I'm down in the 220's! yay!
If I can do it, you can do it... just never give up on yourself!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Falling into place
Today was a good day. My hunger levels weren't as high, and when they did peak I was able to satisfy them with a healthy snack. I purchased some more groceries so now I can have my wonderful/marvelous breakfast of pancakes w/ strawberries and whipped cream and eggs. I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to deal with this weekend since I have to work during dinner time, but I think if I either eat before I go or just eat a salad I should be ok. It's nice when things fall back into place. I'm starting to feel more like me again. The deep depression that I have been in for so long seems to be lifting, hopefully for forever. Enough with the depressing talk, I have great news. My weight this morning was -2.6lbs. Yes, that's right, I lost almost 3lbs in 1 day. WOOT WOOT! I know the weight I'm loosing right now is just because my body is in shock and cleaning itself out, but it's wonderful to see the number drop.
Weight: 236.6 (go me!)
Water: 8 glasses.
Exercise: (Does walking around Walmart shopping count?)
Calorie count: 1564
Calorie Deficit: 166
According to Myfitnesspal If every day was like today I would weigh 230.3 in 5 weeks. I think this is going to be an attainable goal.
Dinner today was Taco Pizza The way I made it, each serving was only 445 calories for 2 slices of pizza. This is one of the best pizzas that I have ever eaten. I hope you give it a try.
Weight: 236.6 (go me!)
Water: 8 glasses.
Exercise: (Does walking around Walmart shopping count?)
Calorie count: 1564
Calorie Deficit: 166
According to Myfitnesspal If every day was like today I would weigh 230.3 in 5 weeks. I think this is going to be an attainable goal.
Dinner today was Taco Pizza The way I made it, each serving was only 445 calories for 2 slices of pizza. This is one of the best pizzas that I have ever eaten. I hope you give it a try.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Starting over... Again
Yes, that's right. While I had really good intentions, life happened, and tracking my food was at the bottom of my list. My goal was to just get through each day, and I did...I survived. Now I'm ready to tackle the task to continue loosing weight. Yes, that's right, I said, continue. Thankfully, my really bad eating habits this summer did not cause me to gain weight. When I stepped on the scale this morning I was actually .7lbs lighter than my last weigh in on myfitnesspal.com. So instead of starting from the absolute beginning, I'm just continuing from where I left off. Today was actually day 2, not day 1. I did learn a couple of lessons, I do have willpower when I want it (had a healthy dinner instead of nachos) and Pizza hut garlic bread just doesn't sit right with my tummy.
Now you probably noticed, I'm not on the Weight Watcher's plan anymore. There's a very good explanation for that, I just don't have the funds to pay the monthly fee right now. Myfitnesspal.com is a free site and should work just as well. I can use the lessons I learned while on weight watchers and apply them to the myfitnesspal site. Before my WW subscription expired I did compare the two sites to see if there was a difference. The answer? Nope, not at all. I was suppose to eat 36 points daily (I think that's right). I put in all the food that I would eat and it came to around 1650-1700 calories which is what MFP says I should be eating. So I feel confident that I can do it.
So, since I know what breakfast and lunch meals work for me, to keep me from getting hungry I'm only going to post my dinner meals. The actual recipes will be posted on the cooking page.
Weight: 239.2
Calories consumed= 1490
Total daily allowance= 1730
Calorie deficit = 240
According to MFP if every day were similar to today I would weigh 232.0 in 5 weeks. We'll see. :-)
Tonight I made Panda Express style Orange chicken and rice. Total calories for my version, about 760 and that's including the rice. I was planning on adding a salad with tonight's dinner but I forgot that we had a school function and wasn't able to get the salad made before we had to eat. But still, not a bad meal at all.
I decided to curb my sweet tooth with a lifesavers gummy snack. not the healthiest, but it hit the spot.
Exercise: I need to start doing yoga and as of this post haven't done it yet, but I'm planning on it for later tonight. I did get some exercise in. It wasn't great, but it was something. I took a walk with my children and the dog and we went about a half mile, maybe 3/4 mile. It wasn't a long walk I just had to deliver a product to a friend, but it was long enough. Poor puppy was pooped. LOL. Tomorrow I plan on going on a longer walk, x2.
Now you probably noticed, I'm not on the Weight Watcher's plan anymore. There's a very good explanation for that, I just don't have the funds to pay the monthly fee right now. Myfitnesspal.com is a free site and should work just as well. I can use the lessons I learned while on weight watchers and apply them to the myfitnesspal site. Before my WW subscription expired I did compare the two sites to see if there was a difference. The answer? Nope, not at all. I was suppose to eat 36 points daily (I think that's right). I put in all the food that I would eat and it came to around 1650-1700 calories which is what MFP says I should be eating. So I feel confident that I can do it.
So, since I know what breakfast and lunch meals work for me, to keep me from getting hungry I'm only going to post my dinner meals. The actual recipes will be posted on the cooking page.
Weight: 239.2
Calories consumed= 1490
Total daily allowance= 1730
Calorie deficit = 240
According to MFP if every day were similar to today I would weigh 232.0 in 5 weeks. We'll see. :-)
Tonight I made Panda Express style Orange chicken and rice. Total calories for my version, about 760 and that's including the rice. I was planning on adding a salad with tonight's dinner but I forgot that we had a school function and wasn't able to get the salad made before we had to eat. But still, not a bad meal at all.
I decided to curb my sweet tooth with a lifesavers gummy snack. not the healthiest, but it hit the spot.
Exercise: I need to start doing yoga and as of this post haven't done it yet, but I'm planning on it for later tonight. I did get some exercise in. It wasn't great, but it was something. I took a walk with my children and the dog and we went about a half mile, maybe 3/4 mile. It wasn't a long walk I just had to deliver a product to a friend, but it was long enough. Poor puppy was pooped. LOL. Tomorrow I plan on going on a longer walk, x2.
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Illusion that isn't Weight Watchers
**Note** This is a picture of my mom at the age of 74. This was close to when she hit lifetime status.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Challenge day 11 out of 30 - In a funk
I know I've been quiet for several days, but for whatever reason I've just been in this funk. I'm not sure what's going on, but I think I may be done with it.. I'm hoping. Yesterday was my "bad" day. I went over my daily points and dipped into my weekly points. Now going over points isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the way I did it was not a good thing. I did track everything I ate, and I ate like crazy too. I had 14 points for breakfast, 5 for lunch and 18 for dinner plus 4 for snack, so that's a grand total of 41 points. Not bad since there are many people that use up their weekly points and that's the point of weekly points, to use. But my choices weren't the best on the food I ate, and because my choices weren't great, I gained .7lbs. I'm not upset by it, everyone at somepoint has days where they just don't feel like doing anything, and that was my day yesterday. I did good by tracking everything that I did eat and realizing what I was doing. I just have to make sure that I make better choices next time, and part of why I was making bad choices is because I ran out of some of my go-to foods and just thought I could wing it, I couldn't. I have to remember I can't do this. Another reason that I gained (and I actually may not have because I found a kit kat under my scale) is because I haven't worked out since Friday. Because I started feeling muscle weakness and having "tired" legs when exercising I decided to give myself a break and not work out, but last night I did do a little something. I did 20 basic crunches, 20 cross-over crunches, and 20 reverse crunches, or at least that's what I'm calling them. I laid on the floor and raised my legs up to a 90 degree angle from the floor then lowered them back down. It was quite hard. Oh and I did 10 push ups. Not a great start to getting started again, but it was a start. I plan on doing just as much today if not more (shooting for more especially the push ups). I'm glad I'm out of my funk, (at least I hope I am) and I'm back to being 150% commited. I have worked so hard to loose the weight I have, that I really don't want to gain it all back in just a few short days because I have gained that amount back plus some. I've gained 30lbs in 30 days, and I've gained 20lbs in 30 days, I know how easy it is to gain... I will succeed and reach my goal.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Challenge day 5 out of 30 - Running out of steam
Today was an odd day for me. I woke up very refreshed and got in a good 30 minute workout first thing this morning. But by the end of that 30 minutes I just wasn't in the mood to do anything anymore. I think I am getting bored with doing my wii fit. This is the 2nd time this has happened, first time was when I was doing richard simmon's sweatin' to the oldies. I just got tired of it. I had the energy to do it, but not the umph. So, I think I am going to have to change up my routine after this week ends. I think I am done with doing a full week of just one thing because I just don't feel it. So, my new idea starting Saturday will be to alternate between all of the different workouts, Saturday I will do the steps, Sunday a video, Monday Wii, Tuesday a different video, Wednesday steps, Thursday another video, and Friday the Wii again. Hopefully this will help me not get so bored. Plus if I feel the urge to do the other workouts on their off days, I can add that to my list. It's an idea... we'll see how it works.
Weight: 242.5 - no change from yesterday, but that's ok. Hopefully there will be a huge drop tomorrow and Saturday. If not, I'm still down 1.6lbs for the week. Not gonna stress it, but It would really be nice if it happened.
Breakfast: 6 pts
Today I decided to change things up a bit. While I really like my waffles, I decided I needed to use up my bread so I made French Toast. Now this isn't your normal french toast; it's from the website Sparkpeople.com. You do have to register with them to access their recipes. The recipe is called French (Women Don't Get Fat) Toast. Kinda neat huh? It's just a basic french toast but very yummy. I think tomorrow I am going to make a big batch of them so I can just throw them in the freezer and defrost when I feel the urge instead of cooking each morning.
I topped my french toast with my normal topping of fresh cut strawberries w/ 1 TBSP strawberry glaze and reddi wip. And since I had some points available I decided to drink 1 cup of fat free milk.
Lunch: 14 pts
I had a grilled cheese sandwich with 1 slice of fat free turkey meat and 1 cup 2% cottage cheese and a dole peach cup. To get in a few extra veggies I drank 1 cup of v8 juice.
Dinner: 11pts
I made chicken enchiladas. I don't think i'm going to make them very often because 11 points for 2 enchiladas with no side dishes is a lot of points for just a little bit of food. I'm not fond of just a little food. I like to eat and I want as much food as I possibly can get. So Chicken Enchiladas are now off my list of to go to foods.
Snack: 5 pts
My morning snack was 2 celery stalks w/ 2 tbsp of jif creamy peanut butter. My afternoon snack was a weight watchers ice cream cone.
Exercise: 65 minutes - Calories burned 310. Activity points 6
I tried to make my tracking a lot easier today. Instead of doing just a couple minutes here and there and a lot of cardio I decided to give myself even numbers. I did 10 minutes yoga, 10 minutes strength training, 20 minutes cardio, 10 minutes balance and a few other things that I cannot remember anymore. :-). It did make tracking a lot easier. I did a few exercises on one leg and my balance totally sucks. I really need to figure out how to fix this. I use to have good balance. I'm hoping that as I get thinner it will be easier for my leg to support my weight, but I don't know if that will happen. Also, my left leg has always been my weaker leg. I was born with 2 clubbed feet and what that means is that my feet were twisted completely around. My heels were where my toes should be. At the age of 2 weeks the doctor manually straightened them, and at the age of 6 I had surgery on them to fix it permanetly. While I have suffered from arthritis in my knees from the casts and such, I haven't really suffered any ill effects from the clubbed feet other than my left foot is very stiff. I have very little range of motion in it. So doing balance exercises on my left leg is very hard. I am going to keep at it and hopefully the more I do it the stonger and more flexible it will get, here's to hoping.
Weight: 242.5 - no change from yesterday, but that's ok. Hopefully there will be a huge drop tomorrow and Saturday. If not, I'm still down 1.6lbs for the week. Not gonna stress it, but It would really be nice if it happened.
Breakfast: 6 pts
Today I decided to change things up a bit. While I really like my waffles, I decided I needed to use up my bread so I made French Toast. Now this isn't your normal french toast; it's from the website Sparkpeople.com. You do have to register with them to access their recipes. The recipe is called French (Women Don't Get Fat) Toast. Kinda neat huh? It's just a basic french toast but very yummy. I think tomorrow I am going to make a big batch of them so I can just throw them in the freezer and defrost when I feel the urge instead of cooking each morning.
I topped my french toast with my normal topping of fresh cut strawberries w/ 1 TBSP strawberry glaze and reddi wip. And since I had some points available I decided to drink 1 cup of fat free milk.
Lunch: 14 pts
I had a grilled cheese sandwich with 1 slice of fat free turkey meat and 1 cup 2% cottage cheese and a dole peach cup. To get in a few extra veggies I drank 1 cup of v8 juice.
Dinner: 11pts
I made chicken enchiladas. I don't think i'm going to make them very often because 11 points for 2 enchiladas with no side dishes is a lot of points for just a little bit of food. I'm not fond of just a little food. I like to eat and I want as much food as I possibly can get. So Chicken Enchiladas are now off my list of to go to foods.
Snack: 5 pts
My morning snack was 2 celery stalks w/ 2 tbsp of jif creamy peanut butter. My afternoon snack was a weight watchers ice cream cone.
Exercise: 65 minutes - Calories burned 310. Activity points 6
I tried to make my tracking a lot easier today. Instead of doing just a couple minutes here and there and a lot of cardio I decided to give myself even numbers. I did 10 minutes yoga, 10 minutes strength training, 20 minutes cardio, 10 minutes balance and a few other things that I cannot remember anymore. :-). It did make tracking a lot easier. I did a few exercises on one leg and my balance totally sucks. I really need to figure out how to fix this. I use to have good balance. I'm hoping that as I get thinner it will be easier for my leg to support my weight, but I don't know if that will happen. Also, my left leg has always been my weaker leg. I was born with 2 clubbed feet and what that means is that my feet were twisted completely around. My heels were where my toes should be. At the age of 2 weeks the doctor manually straightened them, and at the age of 6 I had surgery on them to fix it permanetly. While I have suffered from arthritis in my knees from the casts and such, I haven't really suffered any ill effects from the clubbed feet other than my left foot is very stiff. I have very little range of motion in it. So doing balance exercises on my left leg is very hard. I am going to keep at it and hopefully the more I do it the stonger and more flexible it will get, here's to hoping.
Non-Scale Victories (NSV)
I started weight watchers for the 2nd (well actually I think it was the 4th) time on March 1, 2012 with the intention of just losing weight. I was tired of being fat and knew it was time to “put my big girl panties on” and just do it. There were some issues that I knew I couldn’t fix without losing weight. Never did I realize that I would also succeed at making other changes. I knew I had a flexibility problem. My muscles had become so tight that normal every day activities were hard. I would wake up in the morning and pretty much roll out of bed because I didn’t have the stomach muscles to actually sit up in bed. ***TMI*** I would go to the bathroom and could barely clean myself properly because my back hurt too much to twist right. I am very embarrassed by this fact. I’m only 34 years old! I should have these problems, but I did, and it was my own fault! I was in constant pain from my back being out of align and had to take muscle relaxers to help me even just sleep because of the pain. It was horrible. I never realized that in just 1 short month (well 1 month and 5 days) that I would overcome these issues. I can stand from my couch without pushing myself off with my arms. I can twist like a child. My back no longer hurts 24/7. I’m still working on fixing my neck problems and once I find the right activities to fix that I should be golden. J I no longer wake up multiple times each night just to roll over in bed, in fact, I am actually feeling rested so much so that I will wake up at odd hours at night and cannot go back to sleep. I have only lost 7.7lbs in this last month, and while that is a victory in and of itself, it’s not the ultimate victory. The victory is knowing that my pants are no longer tight. That I can move and that I am no longer in pain. For that, I will be truly thankful to weight watchers for helping me change my life!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Challenge day 4 out of 30 - A new light
I think a new light has finally clicked in my head. I had to wait until my kids were in bed before I could exercise cause my wii board was out of batteries and I had to wait for the batteries to charge... *note to self, don't let all the batteries die at once. :-p* Anyway, I know I could have done other activities, but I really wanted to complete my week of doing the wii, so I waited. Every little bit I kept checking my charger to see if they were finished... nope, not yet...nope, not yet...nope not yet. It was driving me nuts! Finally around 7pm the charging light turned off... YAY! but of course my kids wanted to play, dang it! LOL. Plus it was very close to their bedtime, so again, I waited. But I did get my workout in even though my body was saying, "nope, not gonna do it. I'm tired and I want to go to bed." I'm very pleased. I did 35 minutes with a calorie burn of 222. How's that for a round number? LOL. I do play to do at least 10 more minutes before bed, but I figure even if I don't, I'm ok with this type of calorie burn.
OH! Best thing ever, remember how I was worried that I was going to see a gain on the scale this morning after eating that yummy but high calorie/high point cake yesterday? Well, the good news is it didn't have a negative effect on me. :) I lost .4 ounces. Many people think .4 isn't a lot but every little bit helps and I will gladly take a .4ounce loss over a .4 gain. Hmmm, I just realized something, it's not .4ounces, it's .4 lbs. LOL. Oh well. That is my crowing glory today. On to tomorrow.
Weight: 242.5lbs, total loss 7.7lbs
Breakfast was the same, eggs and waffles - 9 points
For lunch I decided to mix it up a bit. I decided I just couldn't stomach another chicken sandwich. I think I ruined it for myself yesterday with all that extra sweetness, so today I went for a more savory type dish, grilled cheese with 1 slice of sargento colby jack cheese on Sara Lee 45 cal bread. I also cut up 1 cucumber and a couple carrots and had 1 tbsp of ranch to dip them in. It was a pretty good lunch but I should have added in a couple pieces of turkey or ham to my meal for some protein. It didn't give me the "full" signal even after drinking my 24oz of water and waiting 20 or so minutes. I still felt hungry, so what'd I do to fix it? Had a weight watcher's sundae cone for 2 pts. :) That did it. LOL. Total points for lunch and my snack was 10 pts.
Dinner was Tacos and a side salad for 10 pts. That left me with a total of 7 pts that I needed to fill, so for my evening snack I had 1 cup of 2% cottage cheese w/ 1 dole peaches cup - 7 pts. I would have been plenty happy to not have had the cottage cheese and peaches but I felt it was important to use up my points.
Exercise: 35 minutes wii fit plus including running, boxing, yoga, balance, strength (lunges YUCK!). The high light for me though was to be able to pass the advanced level on the bubble game and to also complete the add to 15 game also on advanced. YAY! Both of these I've worked for quite some time to figure out how to do it and finally did. SO AWESOME! lol. The little joys I find in life. HAHA.
Ok, Now it's off to dream land. gotta be up @ 6:30 to get the boy off to school. night!
OH! Best thing ever, remember how I was worried that I was going to see a gain on the scale this morning after eating that yummy but high calorie/high point cake yesterday? Well, the good news is it didn't have a negative effect on me. :) I lost .4 ounces. Many people think .4 isn't a lot but every little bit helps and I will gladly take a .4ounce loss over a .4 gain. Hmmm, I just realized something, it's not .4ounces, it's .4 lbs. LOL. Oh well. That is my crowing glory today. On to tomorrow.
Weight: 242.5lbs, total loss 7.7lbs
Breakfast was the same, eggs and waffles - 9 points
For lunch I decided to mix it up a bit. I decided I just couldn't stomach another chicken sandwich. I think I ruined it for myself yesterday with all that extra sweetness, so today I went for a more savory type dish, grilled cheese with 1 slice of sargento colby jack cheese on Sara Lee 45 cal bread. I also cut up 1 cucumber and a couple carrots and had 1 tbsp of ranch to dip them in. It was a pretty good lunch but I should have added in a couple pieces of turkey or ham to my meal for some protein. It didn't give me the "full" signal even after drinking my 24oz of water and waiting 20 or so minutes. I still felt hungry, so what'd I do to fix it? Had a weight watcher's sundae cone for 2 pts. :) That did it. LOL. Total points for lunch and my snack was 10 pts.
Dinner was Tacos and a side salad for 10 pts. That left me with a total of 7 pts that I needed to fill, so for my evening snack I had 1 cup of 2% cottage cheese w/ 1 dole peaches cup - 7 pts. I would have been plenty happy to not have had the cottage cheese and peaches but I felt it was important to use up my points.
Exercise: 35 minutes wii fit plus including running, boxing, yoga, balance, strength (lunges YUCK!). The high light for me though was to be able to pass the advanced level on the bubble game and to also complete the add to 15 game also on advanced. YAY! Both of these I've worked for quite some time to figure out how to do it and finally did. SO AWESOME! lol. The little joys I find in life. HAHA.
Ok, Now it's off to dream land. gotta be up @ 6:30 to get the boy off to school. night!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Challenge Day 3 out of 30 - Bad Choices = Learning Experiences
Ok, so I'm going to admit it, but only 1 time so pay attention. I'm not perfect. That's right, I said it. I'm not perfect. Now that I've cleared up that point, I wanted to share my whoops for the month. I can honestly admit that I since March 1, 2012 I have partaken of fast food a total of 3 times. Yup, 3. For me, that's actually pretty good because I've been known to buy fast food 4-5 times in one week (I went through a no cooking phase). Since I have been committed to loosing weight I have tried really hard to be good and not feed those nasty habits. My first indulgence was when I was on vacation at my sister's house. Because I was off my routine, I was extremely hungry one day while out shopping, so I purchased me a $1 McDouble from McDonalds. I already knew that those sandwiches are a little less than 400 calories. I've never really figured out the Weight Watcher's points, but figured it was around 7-10 pts just guesstimating. My next indulgence was on my way home from vacation. I usually try to travel between meals when I'm only going 3-4 hours away, but this time, I was on the road right at dinner time, so I again went to McDonalds and purchased Chicken nuggets and fries for me and my kids. I gave the fries to the kids split the 20 nuggets between the 3 of us, and had 8 nuggets while each kid had 6. My final indulgence was tonight. I went to my sister's house for my niece's birthday. I had already used up my day's points so I knew I would be using some of my weekly points and wasn't really worried about it. My sister ended up purchasing an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. It looked very delicious. I requested a small piece, but ended up with one bigger than I was hoping for. I should have cut the piece in half, but didn't: Mistake 1. Mistake 2 was eating the whole piece. It wasn't very large, but it was large enough. When I came home I searched the Dairy Queen website to find the nutritional information so I could track it. The closest thing I came to was the Oreo Blizzard cake. My sister purchased a sheet cake, and the website only had 8" and 10" round cakes listed. So I decided to go by the 10" cake information. My jaw dropped when I found out how many points that small piece was... guess... come on, guess... you'll never guess. Ok, I'll tell ya, that one piece of cake was about 21 points. GO FIGURE! I know that a large turtle blizzard is like 25 points (don't ask me how I know ;-). If I had known that I was going to blow half my weekly points on that one piece of cake I so wouldn't have eaten it. **Note to self, take Ipod anywhere I go. ** So, because a moment on my lips, I just spent the last 40 minutes busting my butt to keep that moment off my hips. LOL. Lesson learned!
Weight: 242.9 (yay! so excited. I don't expect to see a loss in the morning due to my bad choice tonight though.)
Breakfast: 9 points - Egg and Waffle breakfast
Lunch: 12 points - Chicken salad from yesterday, grapes, light strawberry yogurt and salad
Dinner: 14 points - Chicken Parmesan and salad
Snack: 21 points - DQ ice cream cake
Total points for the day - 56
Exercise: 75 minutes, Calorie burn 561
Exercise included running, steps, yoga, tummy exercises, and balance
Here's to a better tomorrow :)
Weight: 242.9 (yay! so excited. I don't expect to see a loss in the morning due to my bad choice tonight though.)
Breakfast: 9 points - Egg and Waffle breakfast
Lunch: 12 points - Chicken salad from yesterday, grapes, light strawberry yogurt and salad
Dinner: 14 points - Chicken Parmesan and salad
Snack: 21 points - DQ ice cream cake
Total points for the day - 56
Exercise: 75 minutes, Calorie burn 561
Exercise included running, steps, yoga, tummy exercises, and balance
Here's to a better tomorrow :)
Challenge Day 2 out of 30
Things are going pretty good so far. I accomplished a feat that I have never done before; I ran for 20 minutes straight with no stopping. Ok, so I mostly ran in place, but I still consider it a win. That is something I have never before accomplished. According to my Wii fit I ran 3.1 miles. I've ran outside and I know without a doubt that I didn't actually run 3.1 miles, but that's ok. That's not the success part of this post, the success part is I DID IT! I also worked on some core activities and some yoga (I'm a yoga trainer! go me! Lol). My balance is getting better. I only needed to hold onto my daughter's head for one of the activities. :-p. I did the single leg extensions and did pretty good with my right leg, but my left leg is a lot weaker than the right, so that is where I had to hold on to her head. I'm very proud of this. I have a very hard time with my balance, so yay, it's getting better. (And now I feel that I am rambling. lol). So, my total exercise for the day was 49 minutes with a calorie burn of 300 calories. In 2 days I've burned 608 calories. Not bad for a beginner. One day I will reach 500 calories in 50 minutes and then my next goal is 1000. I can do this!
Weight: 243.5 (YAY! I'm almost half way to my next 5lb goal!) Total weightloss of 7.3lbs
Food:
Since I usually have the same breakfast of 2 eggo nutrigrain waffles w/ 1 cup strawberries, whipped cream and 2 "fried" eggs, I am not going to post that... kind of repetitive. If I change up my breakfast then I will post that info.
Lunch I made a Chicken Salad with Grapes and Apples - from the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook
Chicken, Light vanilla yogurt, Honey Dijon Mustard, Apples, Grapes, Celery, All on 2 slices of Sara Lee 45 Calorie Bread (BEST BREAD EVER!!!).
I also had 1/2 cup of 2% cottage cheese and 1 dole peaches cup (easiest way to "measure" your canned fruit :)
Dinner was the best. Chicken Cordon Bleu (Recipe on my cooking page) with 1/2 cup of Idahoan loaded Mashed potatoes and 1/4 c brown gravy, 1 cup pickled beets and 1 1/2 cup salad with 2 tbsp of fat free Italian dressing.
Water: 96 oz (4-24oz glasses)
Exercise: 49 minutes with a 300 calorie burn. Exercise included running, yoga, strength training moves, and balance.
Weight: 243.5 (YAY! I'm almost half way to my next 5lb goal!) Total weightloss of 7.3lbs
Food:
Since I usually have the same breakfast of 2 eggo nutrigrain waffles w/ 1 cup strawberries, whipped cream and 2 "fried" eggs, I am not going to post that... kind of repetitive. If I change up my breakfast then I will post that info.
Lunch I made a Chicken Salad with Grapes and Apples - from the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook
Chicken, Light vanilla yogurt, Honey Dijon Mustard, Apples, Grapes, Celery, All on 2 slices of Sara Lee 45 Calorie Bread (BEST BREAD EVER!!!).
I also had 1/2 cup of 2% cottage cheese and 1 dole peaches cup (easiest way to "measure" your canned fruit :)
Dinner was the best. Chicken Cordon Bleu (Recipe on my cooking page) with 1/2 cup of Idahoan loaded Mashed potatoes and 1/4 c brown gravy, 1 cup pickled beets and 1 1/2 cup salad with 2 tbsp of fat free Italian dressing.
Water: 96 oz (4-24oz glasses)
Exercise: 49 minutes with a 300 calorie burn. Exercise included running, yoga, strength training moves, and balance.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Challenge Day 1 out of 30
Have you ever had days where you think... na, I'm not going to do it... it won't make a difference? That was me today. I knew today was day 1 of my 30 day exercise challenge. I kept pushing it off thinking, oh, I'll do it later, it's only x o'clock. I have plenty of time! I went and bought a ton of groceries, and still... I can do it later. Had lunch, had dinner, yet still, I kept pushing it off. Na, not feeling it now, I'd rather watch The Pretender than exercise. But in the back of my head the nagging thought would not go away, "It's day 1, gotta get off your butt and exercise" yet my lazy/devil side kept saying "Oh, you have plenty of time, you can do it later." 7:30 rolled around and I realized it was time to get the kids into bed. Bed time means a good 30 minute story to the kids, baths, etc. yet I kept pushing. Kids finally in bed and I still kept pushing it off. Finally, I decided, enough, and pulled out my Wii Fit Plus game. I wasn't sure what I wanted to work on tonight, so I decided to just do my favorites. I did 6 minutes of the Hulu Hoop Plus... killer ab workout. Then I did 20 minutes of free stepping, hit over 2000 steps. GO ME! Next was the free run for 10 minutes. Other than a few seconds where I was trying to get stuff off my feet I ran in place the whole time. Finally I ended with some yoga and balance games. I'm highly impressed with myself tonight. I did 48 minutes worth of exercise for a total calorie burn of 308. When I logged it into my Weight Watcher's Tracker, it said I did 5 activity points. Not a bad start at all for my 1st day! Tomorrow I plan to add in some strength training exercises.
My food for today, well, it wasn't as good as it normally is. I had ran out of pretty much all my breakfast stuff, so I decided to go grocery shopping before I ate breakfast. Yeah, not so great of an idea. I bought way too much stuff, but I am pretty well stocked for the month on most things. :) Due to my shopping trip then subsequent need to put the groceries away I completely missed breakfast and was STARVING by the time I did eat. But I tried to be good. I had 1 cup low fat cottage cheese and 1 dole individual cup of peaches, then had a grilled cheese sandwich. That did pretty good to fill me up and used up 12 points. (Cottage cheese is a high point item. :( ) For a snack I had 1/12 of a piece of pie for less than 10 points (I can't cut things into odd numbers so I cut it into 12 pieces into 10 and yes, I understand that 10 and 12 are both even numbers. LOL.) so that left me with a total of 14 points for the rest of the day, which I happily used them for a VERY yummy dinner of flat enchiladas, where I measured everything precisely... I'm so impressed with myself I can hardly stand it! LOL. I had 2 enchiladas with 2 oz of 96% fat free ground beef, and .13g of finely shredded fiesta cheese from walmart. Topped that with 1/8 cup of sauce, and lettuce and tomato. did that 1 more time. then I made me a pretty good sized side salad with the left over tomatoes and lettuce... my plate was heaping full!!! The kids raved about how yummy the food was. I'd say it was a success. I used up all my points and finished up the day with gosh, 4-5 24oz cups of water. no wonder I feel so waterlogged... Time to hit the hay for my 8 hours of beauty sleep.. (haha I wish) because tomorrow is my weigh in day for my biggest loser challenge... wish me luck!
My food for today, well, it wasn't as good as it normally is. I had ran out of pretty much all my breakfast stuff, so I decided to go grocery shopping before I ate breakfast. Yeah, not so great of an idea. I bought way too much stuff, but I am pretty well stocked for the month on most things. :) Due to my shopping trip then subsequent need to put the groceries away I completely missed breakfast and was STARVING by the time I did eat. But I tried to be good. I had 1 cup low fat cottage cheese and 1 dole individual cup of peaches, then had a grilled cheese sandwich. That did pretty good to fill me up and used up 12 points. (Cottage cheese is a high point item. :( ) For a snack I had 1/12 of a piece of pie for less than 10 points (I can't cut things into odd numbers so I cut it into 12 pieces into 10 and yes, I understand that 10 and 12 are both even numbers. LOL.) so that left me with a total of 14 points for the rest of the day, which I happily used them for a VERY yummy dinner of flat enchiladas, where I measured everything precisely... I'm so impressed with myself I can hardly stand it! LOL. I had 2 enchiladas with 2 oz of 96% fat free ground beef, and .13g of finely shredded fiesta cheese from walmart. Topped that with 1/8 cup of sauce, and lettuce and tomato. did that 1 more time. then I made me a pretty good sized side salad with the left over tomatoes and lettuce... my plate was heaping full!!! The kids raved about how yummy the food was. I'd say it was a success. I used up all my points and finished up the day with gosh, 4-5 24oz cups of water. no wonder I feel so waterlogged... Time to hit the hay for my 8 hours of beauty sleep.. (haha I wish) because tomorrow is my weigh in day for my biggest loser challenge... wish me luck!
Friday, March 30, 2012
One Pants, Two Pants, Good Pants, Bad Pants
Like many women, I do not enjoy purchasing clothes. I hate it. It's the most depressing thing I can do. I don't mind shopping for shirts or exercise shorts, but jeans and slacks are not fun. There have been many times where I have walked out of a store frustrated because I couldn't find pants that fit right. The pants may fit around my waist but because of my size the crotch would hang half way to my knees or to get the crotch to sit right I would have to pull the waistband to my boobs. Not a fun thing to deal with. I also have short legs, so many times even petite length pants are still too long. About 6 years ago I found 3 pairs of slacks that fit me wonderfully, well kinda. One pair fit perfectly! One pair was a little big, and the other pair was a little snug. Same designer, same style of pant, just different colors. It was rather depressing that they were all so different, but it wasn't too bad so I've worn them for the last 6 years.
Fast forward, and one pair of pants became ruined with bleach (of course my favorite). I was left with only 2 pairs of pants, the black pair, and the brown pair. I have been highly impressed that they have held up so well. This last year though a problem arised, I could only wear black pants to work, and only having 1 pair made it really difficult, especially for the weeks where I worked 5-6 days in a row. A miracle happened though and I found another pair of black slacks that fit me like a glove. They were a couple sizes larger than my previous pair and while I was not happy about the size increase, I still wasn't quite ready to make the changes needed in my life to loose the weight. The final deciding factor that finally kicked my butt in gear was having the zipper burst while at work. So embarrassing!!! Thankfully though I had to wear an apron so I could hide my burging stomach. I decided to chalk up the broken zipper to the pants being old... 6 years is a long time and a lot of washes. Then horror upon horror happened, the zipper on the other pair of pants burst also. What made this even more depressing to me was the 2nd pair (brown) had always been the pair that was too loose. So I am now back to only 1 pair of slacks, maybe.
Ok, so here's the point of my story, this morning, I weighed in (officially my weigh in date is tomorrow) and I am down 5.3lbs in the last month. I hadn't really noticed much of a change in my body because let's face it, 5lbs really isn't a lot in the scheme of things. But one thing I did notice when I put my remaining slacks on this afternoon, they were loose. I'm not talking about "pulling down without undoing the zipper" loose, but loose enough that I can pull the waist band away from my stomach. I'm very excited and happy!!! I'm happy that I am finally back to the mindset I should be in. I'm exicited to see what this next weight in will say. I'm excited to think maybe, just maybe by my 35th birthday *gasp* I might just finally break the 200lb mark that has been haunting me for the last 15 years! The lowest I've gotten was after my children were born, and I got down to 205 and 203 respectively. Even being that close I could not break that stupid milestone, but I'm gonna do it this time! You just watch me!
Fast forward, and one pair of pants became ruined with bleach (of course my favorite). I was left with only 2 pairs of pants, the black pair, and the brown pair. I have been highly impressed that they have held up so well. This last year though a problem arised, I could only wear black pants to work, and only having 1 pair made it really difficult, especially for the weeks where I worked 5-6 days in a row. A miracle happened though and I found another pair of black slacks that fit me like a glove. They were a couple sizes larger than my previous pair and while I was not happy about the size increase, I still wasn't quite ready to make the changes needed in my life to loose the weight. The final deciding factor that finally kicked my butt in gear was having the zipper burst while at work. So embarrassing!!! Thankfully though I had to wear an apron so I could hide my burging stomach. I decided to chalk up the broken zipper to the pants being old... 6 years is a long time and a lot of washes. Then horror upon horror happened, the zipper on the other pair of pants burst also. What made this even more depressing to me was the 2nd pair (brown) had always been the pair that was too loose. So I am now back to only 1 pair of slacks, maybe.
Ok, so here's the point of my story, this morning, I weighed in (officially my weigh in date is tomorrow) and I am down 5.3lbs in the last month. I hadn't really noticed much of a change in my body because let's face it, 5lbs really isn't a lot in the scheme of things. But one thing I did notice when I put my remaining slacks on this afternoon, they were loose. I'm not talking about "pulling down without undoing the zipper" loose, but loose enough that I can pull the waist band away from my stomach. I'm very excited and happy!!! I'm happy that I am finally back to the mindset I should be in. I'm exicited to see what this next weight in will say. I'm excited to think maybe, just maybe by my 35th birthday *gasp* I might just finally break the 200lb mark that has been haunting me for the last 15 years! The lowest I've gotten was after my children were born, and I got down to 205 and 203 respectively. Even being that close I could not break that stupid milestone, but I'm gonna do it this time! You just watch me!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Back from Vacation
***Note to self*** Do not go on vacation in the first weeks of learning a new lifestyle. Really really hard to eat right and exercise when out of your comfort zone.
That's right, I did it, I left town for about 10 days. My son was on spring break so I decided that we were going to go visit my sister up north. I had a lot of fun, but also struggled big time with my eating and exercising. My sister's family's lifestyle is completely different than mine. Not a bad thing for them, but it was a very bad thing for me. I was hoping to cook more than I did so I could have a little more control over what was in my foods, but because their lifestyle was very different, they weren't all that interested in eating the same foods that I was. I did do my best, but I didn't track anything while gone. I didn't know what all was many of the foods, or how much of various ingredients, so I just tried to eat less (most of the time) and decided if I gained, I wasn't going to worry about it. I did try to exercise, but again, very hard since we were constantly surrounded by 1293172389 children who wanted to "help". lol. The good news though is that I did end up loosing .9lbs between the time I left and when I weighed in yesterday morning. That was a huge accomplishment!!! Very excited about it. Now I'm trying to be back to eating better, but well, I'm having issues. I think my hormones are going wonky because today I have felt like I was just starving all day. I really hate that feeling because that is how I gained 30lbs in 1 month after it took me 4 months to loose those dang 30lbs. ARGH! I really don't want to do that again so I need to figure out how to curb the binge eating. This week is also going to be tough on me because it's the end of the month and my fridge foods are very low. Gotta restock Sunday. Only 3 days to go. I think another good news is that I think I managed to curb my eating tonight (after consuming almost a full packet of crackers). I don't feel like I'm gonna starve to death anymore. (That's what my cravings are... I feel like I'm starving and can't find enough food to put into my mouth).
Now more bad news... My sleep patterns are completely outta whack. I was very tired last night and went to bed at my normal time, but ended up waking up around 3am and couldn't go back to sleep so all day I have just felt like I am in a fog... exhausted, no energy, cold. At one point I even felt like I had a fever. I'm still tired and as soon as my daughter goes to bed I'm going to crash. Hopefully I can get enough sleep tonight so I feel like myself tomorrow. I'm very excited to try my new ZUMBA wii game. I had attempted just to learn the moves and 1 move was so hard that I gave up, but while gone, I let my niece try it and it didn't look too hard, so I'm gonna give it a whirl! ;-)
Good night, and happy loosing!
That's right, I did it, I left town for about 10 days. My son was on spring break so I decided that we were going to go visit my sister up north. I had a lot of fun, but also struggled big time with my eating and exercising. My sister's family's lifestyle is completely different than mine. Not a bad thing for them, but it was a very bad thing for me. I was hoping to cook more than I did so I could have a little more control over what was in my foods, but because their lifestyle was very different, they weren't all that interested in eating the same foods that I was. I did do my best, but I didn't track anything while gone. I didn't know what all was many of the foods, or how much of various ingredients, so I just tried to eat less (most of the time) and decided if I gained, I wasn't going to worry about it. I did try to exercise, but again, very hard since we were constantly surrounded by 1293172389 children who wanted to "help". lol. The good news though is that I did end up loosing .9lbs between the time I left and when I weighed in yesterday morning. That was a huge accomplishment!!! Very excited about it. Now I'm trying to be back to eating better, but well, I'm having issues. I think my hormones are going wonky because today I have felt like I was just starving all day. I really hate that feeling because that is how I gained 30lbs in 1 month after it took me 4 months to loose those dang 30lbs. ARGH! I really don't want to do that again so I need to figure out how to curb the binge eating. This week is also going to be tough on me because it's the end of the month and my fridge foods are very low. Gotta restock Sunday. Only 3 days to go. I think another good news is that I think I managed to curb my eating tonight (after consuming almost a full packet of crackers). I don't feel like I'm gonna starve to death anymore. (That's what my cravings are... I feel like I'm starving and can't find enough food to put into my mouth).
Now more bad news... My sleep patterns are completely outta whack. I was very tired last night and went to bed at my normal time, but ended up waking up around 3am and couldn't go back to sleep so all day I have just felt like I am in a fog... exhausted, no energy, cold. At one point I even felt like I had a fever. I'm still tired and as soon as my daughter goes to bed I'm going to crash. Hopefully I can get enough sleep tonight so I feel like myself tomorrow. I'm very excited to try my new ZUMBA wii game. I had attempted just to learn the moves and 1 move was so hard that I gave up, but while gone, I let my niece try it and it didn't look too hard, so I'm gonna give it a whirl! ;-)
Good night, and happy loosing!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Hump Day Blues
Wednesday:
Today has been really hard for me. I've been really exhausted today, and just didn't really have any energy. I had errands and cleaning that had to be done throughout the day so I didn't get a chance to exercise earlier like I wanted to. :( After putting the kids to bed, I did do my workout, but my heart wasn't in it. I was tired, sore, and just not in the mood, but I still did it. That is a huge milestone for me because normally I just wouldn't have done it and would have just watched T.V. or gone to bed instead. I'm proud of the fact that I did exercise. I also decided tonight that it's a really good thing this week is almost over because I'm ready to switch workouts. I had decided that I wanted to do each workout for 1 week. I think I am going to start doing my steps again, at least 10 minutes a day, along with a video workout. I haven't decided which one I want to switch to since I have a bunch... gotta think. Now to today's results
Weight: 246.9 (HOT DANG! Daily loss of .2lbs, overall loss of 3.3)
Breakfast:
eggs and waffles
Lunch:
Mac-Sketti
Ok, so this is my creation. It's a combination of Macaroni and Cheese and Spagetti. To make it, you cook the macaroni, once the noodles are done, use the same pan, and melt 2tbsp of margarine and add 1 8oz can of tomato sauce and 2 oz of cheese (about 1/2 cup). re-add noodles, wa-la!
Snack:
Apples and Peanut butter
Dinner:
Chicken Cordon Bleu, Red potatoes, and a salad.
Exercise: 55 minute Sweatin' to the oldies 2
Water 9 8-oz glasses
Oh, one more thing, before Sunday I could not grab my ankle when standing and stretch out my thigh. After just 4 workouts I can. Also, I've noticed some major definition in my arms... nice, (now to just finish getting rid of the old lady arms. Gotta work on that a lot more. )
Today has been really hard for me. I've been really exhausted today, and just didn't really have any energy. I had errands and cleaning that had to be done throughout the day so I didn't get a chance to exercise earlier like I wanted to. :( After putting the kids to bed, I did do my workout, but my heart wasn't in it. I was tired, sore, and just not in the mood, but I still did it. That is a huge milestone for me because normally I just wouldn't have done it and would have just watched T.V. or gone to bed instead. I'm proud of the fact that I did exercise. I also decided tonight that it's a really good thing this week is almost over because I'm ready to switch workouts. I had decided that I wanted to do each workout for 1 week. I think I am going to start doing my steps again, at least 10 minutes a day, along with a video workout. I haven't decided which one I want to switch to since I have a bunch... gotta think. Now to today's results
Weight: 246.9 (HOT DANG! Daily loss of .2lbs, overall loss of 3.3)
Breakfast:
eggs and waffles
Lunch:
Mac-Sketti
Ok, so this is my creation. It's a combination of Macaroni and Cheese and Spagetti. To make it, you cook the macaroni, once the noodles are done, use the same pan, and melt 2tbsp of margarine and add 1 8oz can of tomato sauce and 2 oz of cheese (about 1/2 cup). re-add noodles, wa-la!
Snack:
Apples and Peanut butter
Dinner:
Chicken Cordon Bleu, Red potatoes, and a salad.
Exercise: 55 minute Sweatin' to the oldies 2
Water 9 8-oz glasses
Oh, one more thing, before Sunday I could not grab my ankle when standing and stretch out my thigh. After just 4 workouts I can. Also, I've noticed some major definition in my arms... nice, (now to just finish getting rid of the old lady arms. Gotta work on that a lot more. )
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Fitter Single Mom: Over the Hump
The Fitter Single Mom: Over the Hump: Ok, so maybe over the hump is a little optimistic, but I'm ok with that. This morning I was kind of dreading getting on the scale, terrified...
Over the Hump
Ok, so maybe over the hump is a little optimistic, but I'm ok with that. This morning I was kind of dreading getting on the scale, terrified I would see once again, another gain, but to my pleasant surprise, I had a loss of .9 lbs. Can I get a "WOOT WOOT!" LOL. It was highly exciting. I am now back to my lowest weight since I started tracking this month. Is it a lot? no, but I'm not expecting miracles, I'm not expecting Biggest Loser numbers, I just want a healthy loss so I don't ever gain the weight back. So, onto my daily view
Tuesday:
Weight: 247.1 - Daily loss of .9lbs, total loss of 3.1 lbs
Breakfast:
2 eggs, 2 eggo nutrigrain waffles with strawberries and whipped cream
Lunch:
(Left overs)
1 serving of Sweet and sour chicken and 1 cup of rice
Snack:
Peanut butter and celery
Dinner:
(Left overs)
Corn chowder and chicken salad
Exercise:
1 hour Richard Simmon's Sweatin' to the Oldies 2
A side note on the exercise, after only 3 days of doing Sweatin' to the Oldies, I can already tell a huge difference in my body. Not necessarily in inches lost, but in the way I feel. I have a couch that once you sit down, it's very hard to get off the couch, but today, I noticed that instead of rolling off the couch, I was actually just standing right up... no hands on legs for support, no scooting to the edge, straight up. I also noticed that yesterday when I laid down on the floor to do the floor exercises, I screamed in pain due to the sore muscles in my stomach, this morning, while still sore, no pain. During the exercise there are several spots of stretching. When I was younger I had no problems reaching my legs to do the stretches, but as I've gotten older and lost flexibility I've had a hard time reaching my legs to do the stretching properly, today, I could do almost every stretch. Not quite as well as when younger, but I still did them. I'm very happy and excited. I am finally starting to feel better than I have in a really long time. Out of the 13 days in this month so far, I have exercised for only 10, and already I'm seeing a vast improvement. I can't wait to see what else I can do.
Water: 9 glasses
Tuesday:
Weight: 247.1 - Daily loss of .9lbs, total loss of 3.1 lbs
Breakfast:
2 eggs, 2 eggo nutrigrain waffles with strawberries and whipped cream
Lunch:
(Left overs)
1 serving of Sweet and sour chicken and 1 cup of rice
Snack:
Peanut butter and celery
Dinner:
(Left overs)
Corn chowder and chicken salad
Exercise:
1 hour Richard Simmon's Sweatin' to the Oldies 2
A side note on the exercise, after only 3 days of doing Sweatin' to the Oldies, I can already tell a huge difference in my body. Not necessarily in inches lost, but in the way I feel. I have a couch that once you sit down, it's very hard to get off the couch, but today, I noticed that instead of rolling off the couch, I was actually just standing right up... no hands on legs for support, no scooting to the edge, straight up. I also noticed that yesterday when I laid down on the floor to do the floor exercises, I screamed in pain due to the sore muscles in my stomach, this morning, while still sore, no pain. During the exercise there are several spots of stretching. When I was younger I had no problems reaching my legs to do the stretches, but as I've gotten older and lost flexibility I've had a hard time reaching my legs to do the stretching properly, today, I could do almost every stretch. Not quite as well as when younger, but I still did them. I'm very happy and excited. I am finally starting to feel better than I have in a really long time. Out of the 13 days in this month so far, I have exercised for only 10, and already I'm seeing a vast improvement. I can't wait to see what else I can do.
Water: 9 glasses
Monday, March 12, 2012
Monday Blues
Weight: 248
While technically the day started off REALLY crappy, it ended even worse... it's been tough. Not going to lie about it. When I first woke up, I decided to weigh, and the scale said I had gained .4 lbs again...AGAIN! I was so upset. It sucks to see the number rise when you are doing everything you think is right and still not see results. I later made the realization that I weighed too early. I know, I know... 1 hour shouldn't mean much, but for me it does. I have to be constant on weighing in the same time every day to see real results. Once I reweighed, I was actually at my above posted weight. YAY! so a loss of .4
Breakfast:
2 "fried" eggs
2 waffles w/ strawberries and Whipped Cream
Lunch:
Corn chowder
Snack:
Peanut Butter Grahamwich
Celery w/ peanut butter
Dinner:
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Rice
Salad
Water: 9 8-oz glasses
Exercise: 1 hour of Richard Simmon's Sweatin' to the Oldies 2
I would call this day a success. Monday blues... no way!
While technically the day started off REALLY crappy, it ended even worse... it's been tough. Not going to lie about it. When I first woke up, I decided to weigh, and the scale said I had gained .4 lbs again...AGAIN! I was so upset. It sucks to see the number rise when you are doing everything you think is right and still not see results. I later made the realization that I weighed too early. I know, I know... 1 hour shouldn't mean much, but for me it does. I have to be constant on weighing in the same time every day to see real results. Once I reweighed, I was actually at my above posted weight. YAY! so a loss of .4
Breakfast:
2 "fried" eggs
2 waffles w/ strawberries and Whipped Cream
Lunch:
Corn chowder
Snack:
Peanut Butter Grahamwich
Celery w/ peanut butter
Dinner:
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Rice
Salad
Water: 9 8-oz glasses
Exercise: 1 hour of Richard Simmon's Sweatin' to the Oldies 2
I would call this day a success. Monday blues... no way!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Sabbath Crunch
Sunday's are always my hardest day of the week. Our church is at 11:00 am so Breakfast cannot be too early or too late. Lunch is delayed and then dinner is almost not worth it since church ends at 2:00 pm. It's very hard to fit healthy food into this schedule. This morning I was excited for breakfast because this week I received a new cookbook in the mail, The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook. When my new book came in, I scoured the pages for recipes that I knew I would eat, and recipes I thought my kids would enjoy. I came across the Strawberry Breakfast banana split as a breakfast dish. Sounds good right? A banana split for breakfast, and not just a banana split, a healthy one? I told my kids about it, showed them the picture from the cook book, and eagerly, my children counted down the minutes until breakfast was served. My son even waited for me to make breakfast instead of making himself a bowl of cereal. As I was making breakfast, I was licking my lips in anticipation of the chocolate, strawberries and bananas that were awaiting my taste buds. I gave my kids their bowls, and sat down with them to eat my bowl, and after just a couple of bites, pushed it away...I just was wrong. My mind and body was screaming at me, "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING???? This isn't breakfast!!! I want breakfast and I want it NOW!!!" So into the freezer the banana split went to await a proper time of day, and I broke open the box of waffles. Finally, breakfast was served. :)
So on to my progress...
Sunday:
Weight: 248.4
I was so excited to get on the scale this morning, SURE that I had lost, and to my horror I gained another .4 lbs!!! ARGH! But it's a process. After looking over my food choices the last 3 days, I believe that I have figured out the weight gain trigger... bread/carbs. I've noticed in the last few days I've had A LOT of carbs and bread, so hasta la vista baby... carbs/breads are outta here! No I won't be cutting them out completely. I'm a carb girl. I loves my carbs, but I will be limiting them a lot more than I have.
Breakfast:
Waffles and whipped cream (too tired to cut up more strawberries)
Lunch:
Chicken Salad from yesterday minus the bread
Corn chowder from yesterday... gotta use up those leftovers
Dinner:
Creamy Italian Chicken with Rice.
I didn't get in nearly as many veggies today... ok, let's face it, I didn't get in any veggies today... gotta fix that tomorrow. Now I did add a few tomatoes to my chicken and rice, and a little cheese.
I need to exercise but since it's now 9:36 pm, I don't think I'm going to make it. My plan is to exercise 1st thing in the morning and again tomorrow night... here's to hoping.
So on to my progress...
Sunday:
Weight: 248.4
I was so excited to get on the scale this morning, SURE that I had lost, and to my horror I gained another .4 lbs!!! ARGH! But it's a process. After looking over my food choices the last 3 days, I believe that I have figured out the weight gain trigger... bread/carbs. I've noticed in the last few days I've had A LOT of carbs and bread, so hasta la vista baby... carbs/breads are outta here! No I won't be cutting them out completely. I'm a carb girl. I loves my carbs, but I will be limiting them a lot more than I have.
Breakfast:
Waffles and whipped cream (too tired to cut up more strawberries)
Lunch:
Chicken Salad from yesterday minus the bread
Corn chowder from yesterday... gotta use up those leftovers
Dinner:
Creamy Italian Chicken with Rice.
I didn't get in nearly as many veggies today... ok, let's face it, I didn't get in any veggies today... gotta fix that tomorrow. Now I did add a few tomatoes to my chicken and rice, and a little cheese.
I need to exercise but since it's now 9:36 pm, I don't think I'm going to make it. My plan is to exercise 1st thing in the morning and again tomorrow night... here's to hoping.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Which weigh do I go?
I'm not sure about you, but I really dread the new year. Why? Because I always have these high hopes and dreams of actually being able to accomplish something with my life and I set all these resolutions and after about 2 weeks I realize, "Screw it! Too much work!" and I give up. Doesn't matter what the goal is, it still happens. I've had on my resolution for the last, 15 years "loose 20 lbs", "exercise more", "clean house on a regular basis". This year, my New Year's Resolution involved my Etsy store... make more products for the store, and take better pictures. I actually gave up on the loosing weight thing, because it just wasn't happening. While my mind and heart was into it, my brain said, NOPE! Not happening. So I decided not to worry about it. I know I can loose weight, and I know eventually I would get to a place where physically, emotionally, and mentally I was ready to get back on the fitness wagon. Well, that time has come.
As of March 1, 2012, I finally decided I really was ready to get back in shape, and feel better. It's been a struggle. I'm having to over come all of my ghosts and fears that tell me I can't do this. That I am going to give up. I'm too weak. I'm not good enough to do it. I know these feelings are wrong, and I am determined to prove it. Last week was my trial week, to see if I really was back in the right place mentally. The result: I am. I have selected my weigh in day for Saturday, because let's face it, the week days are pretty simple, it's the weekend that's the killer, so I like to have my weekends be the beginning of the week so if I splurge it's ok, because I still have 5 days to fix whatever I messed up, where as if I weigh in on a Monday morning, I'm S.O.L.
So, last Friday night, I decided what I wanted to have for my main dinners for the whole week, and planned out my menu. Saturday morning I weighed in at 250.2lbs. (not my most proud moment). After breakfast I took my kids grocery shopping and spent a whopping $200 on groceries for 1 week... yup, that's right, 1 week's worth. Ok, so while the items I bought were suppose to be for only 1 week, I did stock up on a few items that could last longer than 1 week or bought multiples. When we got home, I made lunch did some cleaning, and then we had dinner. now... what did we have you ask... that's really the question right? WHAT was the food. For breakfast I had 2 "fried" eggs, and 2 slices of toast w/ a little butter. Lunch, well, I actually skipped it. Dinner ended up being Sweet and Sour chicken with Rice and for dessert Vanilla pudding. Not the greatest day, food wise, and I did get a little hungry. But I considered it a start. I drank around 9 8-oz glasses of water, and for exercise I did 5 minutes of steps on my stepper. By the end of the night I was exhausted!
Sunday:
I forgot to weigh.
Breakfast:
1 fried egg (fried with cooking spray)
2 eggo nutri-grain low fat waffles w/ blue berries and whipped cream
Lunch:
Turkey, ham and cheese sandwich with tomato and mayo
2 8-oz glasses of chocolate milk
Dinner:
Basil Chicken with potatoes
salad
raspberry hazelnut vinaigrette
Snack:
yoplait light pineapple upside down cake
Exercise:
15 minutes on the stepper
Sunday was really hard. Breakfast kept me filled nicely, but lunch just did not cut it. I got really hungry around 2pm. Since I had already tracked my food, I knew I didn't have enough daily Weight watcher's points left, so I just drank water, and more water, and more. I learned that a sandwich alone just isn't going to cut it yet.
Monday:
Weight: 249.2 (loss of 1lb total)
Breakfast:
1 Jimmy Dean breakfast bowl, the sausage and gravy
Lunch:
Tuna Macaroni Salad (my invention)
Dinner:
Hawaiian Haystacks with White rice.
Exercise: none (rest day)
This was a good day eating wise, but my legs were so sore, that I could hardly walk. I had major pains in my calves from the muscles being so sore. I wanted to continue to work them out, but the pain was too much, so I decided to just give my legs a break and pick everything up again the next day.
Tuesday:
Weight: 249.2 (no change)
Breakfast:
Egg and waffles again,
Lunch:
Tuna Macaroni Salad
Dinner:
Chicken tacos (again my invention)
Exercise: 10 minutes steps
The muscle soreness was almost gone, and food wise, I was doing awesome! I wasn't getting hungry at all. I was hitting most of my daily values... life is going good.
Wednesday:
Weight: 247.6 (total loss of 2.6lbs)
Breakfast:
egg and waffle breakfast
Lunch:
Tuna macaroni Salad
Dinner:
Chicken Enchiladas
Salad
Snack:
cottage cheese and pineapple
I had a lot of left over sauce from the Hawaiian Haystacks so I decided to use that as the sauce for my chicken enchiladas. It worked wonderfully! The flavor's were a little bit different, but not much.
Exercise: 18 minutes steps. I decided to increase each of my intervals by 1 minutes. It was really tough, and I thought I was going to die, but I completed each interval.
Thursday:
Weight: 247.1 (total loss of 3.1lbs)
Breakfast:
egg and waffle breakfast
Lunch:
1/2 serving of the Tuna macaroni salad
Turkey and ham cheese Sandwich
Dinner:
Tacos
Exercise: Rest day
I decided to give myself another rest day because I was dealing with some severe pain in my legs. At first I thought it was from the increased exercise and was going to reduce my time back to 5 minutes again, but by the time i went to bed, I realized that the pain was caused by the cold. I decided to take a pain pill which is never a good thing because it knocks me on my butt for about 24 hours.
Friday:
Weight: 247.4 (small gain of .3lbs but over all loss of 2.8lbs)
Breakfast: Because I was still feeling the effects of the pain pill, I had no energy to cook anything, so i decided that a sausage bowl was a good thing.
Lunch:
1/2 serving of the tuna macaroni salad (whew... finally gone!)
Turkey and Ham sandwich
Dinner:
Chicken enchiladas
salad
chocolate milk
Snack:
I had the bright idea to try to make my own frozen yogurt "ice cream" and froze 3 containers of the yoplait light yogurt, one for me and each of my kids. I was served the Black Forest cake container. While the idea was interesting, the flavor just didn't do it for me, it was just way way way too sweet.
Exercise: 12 minutes Steps
Still hard, but getting easier.
Saturday - Weigh-in day
Weight: *trumpet sounds* 248lbs (again, a small gain of .6lbs but an overall loss of 2.2lbs)
Now even though I put on a little bit towards the end of the week, my overall loss of 2.2lbs is a very healthy loss and still very exciting. I'm not sad/upset/disappointed or anything negative about this loss. No, it's not the 4-6lbs that I typically loose when first starting a new "diet", but I also typically kill myself exercising and I didn't do that this time. I decided to take it slow and ease myself back into exercising so again, 2.2lbs, I'm very proud and excited for it!
Breakfast:
eggs and waffles again
Lunch:
Chicken Salad w/ grapes and apples on sara lee 45 cal bread
Peanutbutter Grahamwich.
Dinner:
Grilled Cheese sandwich
Southwestern Corn Chowder
By this point, I was so stuffed i wanted to throw up, but I still had 9 points left to eat for the night. It has completely amazed me. In just 1 week, my body is already feeling the effects of eating better and eating the right proportions. It completely amazes me how the human body adapts. So, 9 evil points still to deal with. After some advice, I decided to drink 1 8-oz glass of chocolate milk for 6 points, and another grahamwich for 3 points. and finally 2 slices of turkey after my exercise for 1 point. (yes, I went over by 1 and I'm ok with that.)
Exercise: 55 minutes of Richard Simmon's Sweatin' to the Oldies.
This is one of the hardest workouts I've ever done in my life. This workout has helped me in the past to keep a weight loss maintained for 1 year (stopped working out. :( ) so between the steps and the video, I think I have my bases covered, and while I love doing the steps, I decided I needed a more total body workout. Don't want to get the sexy legs and still have a huge tummy. So, Richard, you're gonna be my buddy in this long journey to getting fit.
And this is where I end off. I'm feeling good, more hydrated than I've been in a very long time, and I have sore legs. What more can I ask? Will I keep it up? Oh yes. I'm ready for it. The one thing that is helping me keep motivated and feel like I'm in control is by tracking my food the night before so I do not have to think about it when I'm hungry. I can just look on my Plan manager and see what new and exciting food I will be eating that day. I can also decided if I want to do any snacks or whatever. It really has been a life saver.
I will be posting the recipes that I'm cooking with and the pictures of my meals on the cooking page, and linking them back to this page if anyone is interested. :)
I hope you will continue to join me through my journey and if I can inspire even 1 person to start their own journey to better health, then this has all been worth it.
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