Two

Two more pounds down. (Total of eight.) Somewhat surprising, I admit.

Two days I really exercised last week (five days a week is somewhat unrealistic for me, though I did manage some serious house-cleaning).

Two years is how long I think it will take to lose this weight.

Two recipes that I will make today.

Two sizes to go and I will have plenty of clothes to wear again.

Two shirts that I have right now that are decent enough to wear to church.

Two more days until there's enough money in the bank for me to refill the healthy foods in the fridge & pantry.

Two pounds lost this week (did I mention that already?)

In Recovery

This week, I decided to up the ante a bit with my exercise. I increased the weights - not significantly, I thought, but it seems that even a one or two pound difference is enough to make your muscles scream "Uncle!'"

I didn't want to work out at all. I'm not exactly feeling great, and I just wasn't in the mood. But I kept thinking about my goal, and the reason I want to lose the weight - so I pushed myself through anyway.

My eating habits haven't been spectacular, but they are still a drastic improvement over what I would have eaten a few weeks ago. I think it's time to back off the artificial sweeteners, because I seem to have a constant sweet tooth. I'm slowly decreasing the amount I put in my tea, although my morning brew is just going to have to settle for coffee with my cream & splenda. :)

In one of my former WW lives, I had started a mini-scrapbook, and I'm thinking about doing that again. I suppose I should take "before" pictures, too, even as much as I hate facing the camera. Having a visual comparison to see where I've been and where I'm going is an incredible motivation.

And on that note, I have cooled off sufficiently to hop in the shower, and then I think I'm going to turn in early. 'Night!

Goal 1: Met

I decided to follow the advice I see in every weight-loss article and set mini-goals of five pounds each. This morning, two weeks in, I met my first goal. Actually, I passed it - I lost three pounds for a total of six lost. This makes me happy, of course - especially since it's that time of the month ,and I tend to retain water pretty badly.

I have done my very best to force down as much fluid as possible. Yesterday I drank three Bubba Kegs ( 34 oz) of water and three of decaf unsweetened tea. (Funny how I measure water intake in Bubba Kegs!) I also spent two hours busting tail on the house, and even though I didn't really want to, another 30 minutes on the bike. 30 minutes is all I can take before my back & butt start to hurt. The seat is not the most comfortable thing in the world.

Moving on to this week... my goals are:

1) dig out a cardio video. I am awful at it, but I need to step up the cardio a bit from the bike. Not sure yet which one I'll do.

2) Keep guzzling the water - a minimum of 3 Bubba Kegs a day.

3) Plan menus for next week with at least one casserole-type food. I am quickly getting tired of piecing together all my meals in the form of sandwiches or salads. It just isn't the way I enjoy eating - I like complexity and crazy flavors.

I can do it, yes I can!

Scheduling

I have encountered an unexpected snag. Jeff's new job has him working nights (7pm-7am), which means that he sleeps in the daytime, and on days he doesn't work, is totally underfoot. The problem with all this is that it often leaves me without a good time to exercise. I can work out in my bedroom, but it's not ideal because there isn't quite enough room to move. If he is home, he and Bebo are monopolizing the TV in the living room, and I don't like working out with an audience. Obviously, daytime workouts are out of the question because my lardo butt stomping around on the hardwood floor in this little house wouldn't exactly be conducive to his bedtime, now would it?

Gotta figure out something...

In the meantime, I'm still figuring out cooking, too. I really love casseroles & soups, but it seems like lately with everyone going different directions, it's been easier for us to fend for ourselves. I don't like it, but it seems to be working for now. I might reduce my preferred weekend cooking to one or two casseroles, leaving the rest of the meals up to the whim of the moment.

What I really need to do is think of this as a lifestyle, and that can be the hardest part of all.

NSV!!

"NSV" is Weight Watcher speak for "non-scale victory." It signifies an event, however small, of achievement in the weight loss journey. Today I had a wonderful NSV.

When you're overweight, you might have the same problem I do - the inner thighs of my jeans are all worn thin. Since I usually only have 1-2 pairs of jeans at any given time, I tend to go through them rather quickly. My current pair is starting to thin, and I know it won't be much longer before holes are poking through. I had another pair, supposedly in the same size, but cut differently, that I haven't worn in a couple of months because they were so tight they were uncomfortable.

Tonight I only had one pair of jeans clean - the tight ones, of course - so I thought I'd try them on, hoping that maybe they wouldn't be too ridiculously snug and that I could at least suffer through an hour of church without being too miserable. To my total surprise, they fit quite comfortably! I'm not bothered in the least by wearing them. Woot!

Just goes to show ya that three pounds lost and a little bit of exercise can do more than you realize - even when the results just aren't visible yet.

Sliding

It's funny, isn't it, how one little foray into old habits can nearly sabotage the entire thing? Yesterday I needed to do a little work at the old house, and so I promised Braeden that if he was good, we'd go to Taco Bell. I intended to get my usual low-point meal - a fresco taco and pintos & cheese - but they have these new taco salads, and they were calling my name...

So yeah, I got off track a little. Then Jeff brought me back a corn dog from Krystal (I love their corn dogs!). I didn't make the healthiest choices, but what I did do was avoid a lot of unnecessary snacking. I also exercised, so I made up for it, at least a little.

Today my goal is to really pay attention to what I eat, and stay away from the junk food. I also have a date with the recumbent bike and a movie.

All is not lost, but I need to be very careful not to to make an out-of-control slide down a very slippery slope.

A Near-Miss

Yesterday got off to a good start, but wound up being an overload day. Our lunch plans (a healthy grilled Mexican chicken salad) were shot down when apparently the restaurant owners decided they should celebrate Easter, too. (Not that I blame them.) So we wound up at another local joint without any significant healthy options - at least none that I wanted to eat. To my credit, I didn't "lick the platter clean."

I did manage to stay out of the snack food at home, though. After church I wound up eating out again, and since I'd been craving pancakes lately, ordered a child's pancake plate at Cracker Barrel. I'll admit I was somewhat disappointed - the flapjacks just weren't as good as they usually are.

Then I got home too late to exercise. All of this is okay, though. I ate some food I had really wanted without going totally overboard, and it doesn't hurt to have a rest day here and there, either. This morning I felt a bit queasy - I think the milk I put in my coffee was bad or something - and so I didn't eat anything until lunch. I had another one of those yummy spinach-strawberry-chicken salads, and I think I'm going to finish it off with some pineapple chunks.

I should be going now... Monday calls.

Yay!

Progress - I lost three pounds this week! I know that most of it is probably water, but I don't care. The scale is moving in the appropriate direction. :)

Yesterday I took an exercise break so I could study and just chill a little. Tonight I will probably do another video.

I made some yummy, but healthy treats yesterday. First was a delightful salad - spinach leaves, strawberries, baked chicken (wish it'd been grilled, but alas - no grill), and fat-free raspberry vinaigrette. Sinful! Lots of dietary goodness, and it was soooo yummy!

The second treat was to curb my sweet tooth, which was begging for ice cream. I bought some fat-free vanilla ice cream (just 80 calories for 1/2 a cup) and paired it with a banana, fat-free caramel syrup and Hershey's dark chocolate syrup. A little of the syrups goes a long way, and really helps to deal with the craving for ice cream. The whole thing would've been the equivalent of 6 WWPs - a little decadent, but certainly better than indulging in a banana split from Sonic, eh?

I think breakfast is going to involve pineapple, banana, strawberry, apple and maybe some whole-grain toast with a smear of natural peanut butter.

Here's the key to all this: I've got to keep it doable for the long haul. If at any point I start to feel like I'm on a diet, that will be the end of it. That's part of the reason I'm not counting points - I just got tired of it the first time I was on Weight Watchers. Like I've said before, I am following the principles of the program, but not the letter.

Here's to the start of another great week!

Good Friday

It was so good to have a day off - two Saturdays are nice! :) I admittedly was quite lazy today - sleeping in until almost 11, then taking a nap again later in the day. Apparently I need to catch up on my beauty rest!

I didn't fritter away the entire day, though. I spent a good bit of time in the kitchen. First I cut up fresh strawberries, spread the pieces out on a baking pan, and froze them. Then they went to a ziploc baggie so I can easily make smoothies or whatever else suits my fancy. Next I tackled the pineapple, which wasn't as difficult as I'd expected. I'd read that you can squeeze juice from the peels, and I got quite a bit that way. I baked a batch of brown rice, then cooked a delicious sweet & sour dish.

Once I was finished in the kitchen, it was time to do some actual work, so I spent the next three hours or so cleaning the house. I still have more to do tomorrow, but it'll have to wait until Jeff leaves for work. I don't want to wake him while he's trying to rest between shifts. No exercise - hoofing it on the house counts, as far as I'm concerned! LOL

Hoping

I really hope that when I step on the scale Sunday I will have lost some weight. I've worked hard this week, exercising and trying my best to eat right (albeit on a budget). I did a tough sculpting video tonight, and my legs feel like jelly. I might not exercise tomorrow because I have serious housework to do - mopping, dusting, laundry - that sort of thing. I learned a long time ago that if I can burn some serious calories if I really attack the house instead of halfway cleaning at it.

Today I ate Uncle Sam's cereal with banana chunks for breakfast, a tuna-hummus-spinach English muffin sandwich, a small bowl of Fruity Pebbles, a miniature 3 Musketeers, a fresco chicken taco and pintos & cheese. I think I'll eat an apple for a bedtime snack.

I went grocery shopping and bought a lot of fruit - strawberries, pineapple, bananas, etc. Tomorrow I'll chop the berries and freeze them. I might do the same with the pineapple. Of course, I've never bought a pineapple, and I don't exactly know what to do with it (though I thought I might roast some of the slices in the oven.) Meals this coming week will be simple again, but I think I can tolerate that.

Here's to a healthy three-day weekend!

So far this week...

I've done well. I don't want to get too excited and brag too much, because it seems that I tend to backslide pretty quickly. It's like I jinx myself or something.

Anyway. . . I did a sculpting workout Monday and rode the recumbent last night. I'm keeping the workouts to 30 minutes because I don't want to burn out or try to do too much at one time.

So far, my food intake has also been good. I've tried to keep my portions down, and I've managed to eat relatively healthy foods. Still not counting points, per se, but I am at least giving careful consideration to what I do eat.

Next week will be tougher. We are ridiculously tight on money right now. It's going to be a struggle just to pay the bills, much less buy food to eat. I'll probably have to resort to scraping the pantry dry, which means decidedly less healthy food options. I'm praying that God will send a little extra our way. Jeff's new job will help, but it's going to take 2-3 weeks for him to get a paycheck, and we need the money now.

After a week and a half of no thyroid meds, I finally got a refill. It'll take a couple of days to get my system lined out again, but I'm starting to feel better already. It's rather pointless to try to lose weight when my thyroid is totally out of whack - I'm just spinning my wheels. I go to the doc in a couple of weeks, and I'm going to see if he'll give me T3 and T4 replacers, since I'm not convinced that everything is working as perfectly as I'd like it to.

Today is a rest day. I have homework and studying to do, plus it's church night. Tomorrow I'll be back to the sculpting videos.

Feelin' Good

NSV (non-scale victory) - Jeff brought home a yummy pizza last night - chicken, bacon, ranch, tomato, and feta cheese. Tasty as it looked, and even though I was a wee bit hungry, I only had one small piece. Yay me!

So far today I've had oatmeal with banana chunks, a couple of rice cakes, a spinach/tomato/cucumber salad with parmesan & a spray-on Caesar dressing, and a baked sweet potato with a wedge of French Onion Laughing Cow cheese. I was skeptical about the potato-LC combo, but it was fantastic. Tonight I'm thinking about baked tilapia with coconut breading. Mmmm....

I'm not counting points, and I'm not doing WW Core, either. I am somewhat following the principles - especially the "healthy guidelines" that tell you to eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies, 6 cups water, etc. Mostly I'm just watching my portions and trying to eat less junk.

Last night I baked an entire bag of chicken to use however we feel like this week. I'll use some of it for chicken salad - yum! I wish we had a decent grill, but that (like many other things) will have to wait.

Depending on how Bebo feels when I pick him up from school today, we might go to the old house and work for an hour or so. If not, I'll just do more housework here (like I did last night), and then I'm going to drag out one of my Firm DVDs. I am not sure yet how well it will work with my limited space, but I'm going to give it a whirl anyway. It will probably take a few tries for me to figure out how best to set up my workout space, and that's okay.

Must go now!

Better

Yes, today was pretty good (so far, at least - I suppose I could still ruin it). I managed to eat Mexican without having a disaster. No small feat, is it? I ate a grilled chicken salad topped with salsa instead of salad dressing, and about a dozen chips with salsa. For breakfast I had a PB & banana sandwich. Supper is going to be carrot sticks and a English muffin topped with homemade hummus, red pepper, and tuna. Sounds a little strange, but I'm up for anything, especially if it's cheap.

Last night I rode the recumbent for half an hour while doing light arm conditioning, then spent about 10 minutes doing various crunches. I finally figured out that I can do crunches on the bed without hurting my back. My mattress is firm enough that I still get the effect of the exercise, and it's definitely better than trying to do crunches on a hardwood floor. :)

I did it... I stepped on the scale. I knew it would be bad, so it didn't surprise me that I am only five pounds lighter than the day I went in the hospital to have Braeden.

But you know something? I don't care. I can't change what's already done. There's no sense in beating myself up because I lost the weight and gained it back, or even for gaining it in the first place. Can't do anything about it now, can I? I can only look forward, and that's what I am going to do.

Yesterday I got a piece of paper in the mail that really kicked me into gear. The first sentence read "The Chattanooga State Nursing Program is pleased to inform you of your acceptance into the 2009 night nursing class." Once I got over the excited jitters and called everyone I knew to tell them the news, it hit me that it's now or never. No more excuses. I am done being fat. I have a solid, concrete, real motivation.

A lot in my life has changed since January. So many things are looking up for the better - our new home, Jeff's new job, our marriage. . . might as well add my health to the list.

....and We're Off!

Haven't posted in a while because I haven't dieted in a while. My brain has just been too overloaded lately to think about eating healthy. The other gigantic problem is that fresh produce is way more expensive than ramen noodles and mac & cheese. But I've been thinking about it (as my "fat" jeans are getting increasingly uncomfortable) and have decided that it makes more sense to spend a litle extra money now instead of later.

My father-in-law is diabetic. He's in the hospital for the second time this year. While my family doesn't have a predisposition for diabetes, Jeff's does, and that means Braeden does, too. Yes, he's a skinny-mini, but I have got to change his habits now before permanent damage is done.

So I went to the store and bought (cheap) basic foods - tea, chicken, produce, whole wheat pasta - that sort of thing. I'm going to cook all the chicken at once and chop the veggies for the salad at the same time. We just can't afford the exotic stuff I really like, so we're going to have to get used to plain old food. bleh.

In a few minutes I'm heading over to the old house to do some serious cleaning. Depending on how hard we work, I might come home and do a WATP video or something. My big exercise goal for tonight is actually to make out a schedule for the month. I am more likely to work out if I schedule it in. It will be tough with finals coming up, but I am just going to have to make myself do it.

Oh, and I'm brining the scale from the old house. Time to face the music I've been avoiding for the last few months.