New Plan

I have come up with a new plan for May. I am going to try it out and see how it works. On paper, it is great and would no doubt end with wonderful results, but let's see how well I can stick to it. As with any plan, it isn't completely fool-proof and I am sure there will be quite a few days I will stray from the plan and you will see why. My goal is to not give up after those days though - to get right back on track, which is the most important thing. So what is this plan? I am glad you asked.

My May plan is a three parter. Part I is exercise. My biggest downfall lately has been exercise. I did so well for all of about two weeks and then I got sick so I skipped a week and then last week there was "something" to do every day after work so I didn't workout then either. This week I am sick again so nothing yet again. This has to stop. I HAVE to make time to workout or I will never look or feel the way I want to. So, as far as working out, my plan is this: get up EVERY morning early enough (4:50 am on work days) to do 32 minutes on the treadmill with stretching after. Why 32 minutes? Well I am going to walk/jog/run at 3,4 5 and 6 mph for one minute each for a total of 8 reps, thus 32 minutes. Hopefully by the end of the month I might even be able to bump that up a bit, or jog/run a little more, but for now, this is where I will start. I am going to get a wall clock with a second hand on it and hang it right in front of the treadmill so I am not staring down at the clock on the treadmill, for some reason, I am more motivated when looking straight forward - I feel stronger. I am sure it is something in my head, but if it works... The second part of my workout plan is to do either weight machine/free weights/crunches in the evening before dinner, or do aerobics. I think I mentioned before that my sis and I are starting aerobics on May 11. I want to do that a minimum of 2-3 days per week with the other days being filled in by weight training. I figure the weight training won't interfere too much with my evenings because it isn't something I need to change for and I can even do it before dinners on Friday's because I don't get all sweaty doing it.

Part II of my May plan has to do with what I am eating. This week I have been totally lazy with my food, not getting my veggies or fruits in and eating WAY too much pasta (we had lots of leftovers from Saturday and it was too good to throw away). I also have not journaled any of my food. As most of us previous weight loss people know, that is very important. There is something about writing down all of you food and actually seeing the calories that help keep us on track. My plan for May is to plan. I will plan EVERYTHING I am eating for the day, a week at a time - rather than just planning dinners like we usually do. Weekdays are pretty easy since I am at work and am limited to what I can have, I just need to make sure the meals are balanced. I am going to write down the times to eat everything as well as when I need to drink water. It will be a time line of sorts and as I complete each one, I will check it off. I am such a list maker and for me, I feel like I have accomplished something by checking things off so maybe this will help me. Weekends will be tough because you never know what will happen. I will make my plan for the day, but I know that it might change. The most important things for me on weekends will be to drink my water and not go hog-wild on calories.

Part III just might be my biggest obstacle. I will not weigh myself for a month. Right now I am weighing myself every day and when I see no change or a change of .2, I get a little upset. When I see +2 or 3 lbs I get depressed and then I don't care, I went up anyway so why not eat what I want, right? WRONG!!! I need to quit obsessing. Maybe if I don't weigh myself for a month and then I see 8 or 10 lbs gone (keeping my fingers crossed) it will feel like much more of an accomplishment rather than seeing .2 lbs. I will weigh myself tomorrow morning, before I get on the treadmill and then I am having J hide it from me so there is no temptation. I will post it on my ticker (spoiler alert - it will be higher than where it is now!) and then I won't update again until June 1st.

So there's my plan for the month. Let's see how it goes.

Not in a blogging mood

I haven't felt much like blogging lately and I am not sure why. It's not because I have been eating bad things and I am trying to hide it. I have been doing very well this week actually. It's not that I have been gaining or not losing either - the number on the scale has been coming down each day rather well. Of course, it's not as fast as I would like - since my preference would be to drop the final 40 pounds by tomorrow, but it is coming off steadily and at a nice, safe rate. Well that's about it for the day.

How much have I lost

Well, so far I have lost 8 lbs, which is equivalent to this bakers dough scale - how ironic? I don't have too much to blog about today. I am pretty upset because last Friday I weighed in at 189.8, which I knew I would go up a bit because I was a little sick Thursday night, but it shot right up to 193 within 2 days. Even before I hit the 189.8 mark I was down to 190.8. It just sucks to have to re-lose the weight I already lost. I guess that's what happens when you drink 4 mojitos, some wine and eat 4 smores all in one night. Weekends are so difficult for me. I have no idea why though, it really shouldn't be any different but it is. I am really going to have to be careful on Saturday, it is my nieces 1st birthday and I am going to have to avoid the cake and ice cream because we are having the parent's over for penne ala vodka and bread with oil, and of course wine. I am just going to have to be very, very careful as to my portions of everything and limit myself to a couple glasses of wine - not a bottle. Also, the exercise has been slacking. I skipped Thursday because J and I went out to dinner for our anniversary. Friday was skipped because I went grocery shopping after work then we had dinner. Saturday was skipped because I got up early to go down to mom's house and when I got home, I got ready and J and I did some running around. I did get up on Sunday and did a little bit on the treadmill and weight machine. I skipped yesterday because we had to take Haylie to the groomers as soon as I got home, then we had to run to Target, then we ate, then we picked up Haylie and got home at 9 in time for 24. I think I am just going to have to get my rear end up at 5 am to make sure I get the workout in for sure. So, for not having much to blog about, this one went a little long...

Special Day

Today I am not going to blog about weight or weight-loss or food or anything related to any of those things - okay, so I guess I will be in a small way. Today I am going to blog about a very special day. Four years ago today I met my husband. We began talking online on February 28, but actually met, face to face on April 16, 2005. Anyway, I am not going to go into our past 4 years I just wanted to let him and everyone else know how much I love him and that I love him more and more every day. We both joke about how it feels like so much more than 4 years, which is true, but in a good way. I feel like we have always been together - like my life started with him or something - and I also can't imagine him not being here. Okay, enough sappy stuff. So I get up this morning and there is a rose with a card on my sink. I have to share the card with you because I was literally laughing out loud when I read it. Take note to his writing (in green). How sick are we? (The inside says, "all yours").

30 lbs gone!

Well, today I have officially lost 30 pounds. It is a great feeling really. I don't think I have been down to this weight in the past 7 years or so. I know I seem like I am obsessing about this and reporting every little ounce that I loose, but that is my way to keep on track. I need to see that what I am doing is really working and that even though it is going slow, it is going, which is all that matters.

I wanted to mention a contest that a one of my fav bloggers is having. Here is a link to her post. She is giving away $15 worth of granola mix from mixmygranola.com. I checked out the site and it is really neat, even though my dream granola turned out to be more of a party mix than granola. Even if you aren't interested in the contest (which is better for me:) you should still check out her site. She has really been an inspiration for me.

I have actually lost

This deluxe homemade wine making kit. I had to laugh when I found this one! Anyway, yesterday I have posted that I have lost a total of 7 pounds, which is true, but that is only since I began this blog. At my heaviest, right after the honeymoon, I weighed in at 222.2. Since then (last September) I have lost a total of 29 pounds. I think I needed to realize that, not just the 7 pounds in the last couple weeks since I have made the complete lifestyle change. I will continue to report weekly on the weight lost since this blog, and occasionally I will report a total weight lost, but that is updated daily in my ticker on the right anyway.

So, no more loss from yesterday, but that is fine with me. I am so excited to see NO gain at all from Easter. That actually amazes me. This week will be rough because it is "that week" and not only do I need chocolate, but I usually gain from the bloating. I will do my best though and I am not going to use that as an excuse to not workout. I plan on doing something everyday, even if it is only 10 minutes on the treadmill to get my heart rate up a bit. Something is better than nothing!

So far, I have lost...

A 7 pound bag of kitty litter! That's right, after a two week halt at 195.6, I finally made it into the 194's and beyond to 193.2. I lost 2.4 lbs this week. I know to some of you that doesn't sound like a lot, especially when I have lost a mere 7 pounds in 5 weeks. but it is definitely an accomplishment. Yay for me!

I had another breakthrough this weekend. I bought a dress about this time last year for my honeymoon. It is a 14. It didn't fit when I got it but I told myself that it would by the honeymoon. Well, needless to say, it most definitely did not fit. I tried it on a couple months ago and while we were able to zip it, it looked terrible because it was so tight. I tried it on again this weekend and it fit perfectly, and it even looked good! I think that is what I will wear to my cousin's wedding in June - provided it still fits then (maybe it will be too big ;p) I started tanning last week which is nice because that always makes me feel thinner and better. So now my nights will be very busy because I will have to fit in tanning before I get home to work out then fixing and eating dinner.

Until next time...

It's going to work this time

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday because I was up at 6 am with J (I know, how pathetic that I don't even sleep in on my day off). I did some things around the house, left around 9 to do a lot of errands and shopping, got home around 2, put the groceries away and took a little nap until 4 when J got home. The sinus meds that I am taking are wiping me out. I was a little upset yesterday when I got on the scale - it was up .8 lbs to 195. However, it made sense because for lunch I had a grilled chicken sandwich that had not just one but two pieces of cheese along with a cup of potato soup - not too bad but more than what I had been eating for lunches. Then when I was at mom's house I stole a mini Reese's cup from Kat's basket (hey - mom took one from Starr's too) and then dad had me try his sugar free cookies, I had a bite of potatoes and a bite of ham, so probably 150 calories there. Then out to Jalisco's with Marcy, had about 1/4 of my chicken from the chicken fajita with 1/2 of the rice and all of the pico, lettuce and sour cream. I had a few chips with guac and a big ole' margarita. Could have been worse, normally I would have eaten 1/2 of the chips with cheese sauce and all three of the tortillas with the fajita. So no surprise really that the scale was up. Now this morning was a bit different. It was down to 194. That is great, even though the past two days only netted a .2 loss, for me it was good to come right back down because previously when I had a gain, it was taking me 4 days or so to get it back off.


Yesterday was a great day for me. We started off by making these absolutely delicious breakfast sandwiches which were made with 1 egg white, 1 piece cheddar cheese, 1 slice cajun turkey, a little of Mr. Molody's hot mustard and these really good multi grain flat bun things we found. I was really surprised at how good these things were. The really good thing about yesterday was that I realized that this time it is going to work, this time I will actually get the weight off and that my healthy eating will stick with me forever. Again, I am not saying by any means that I am never eating chocolate, pizza, fried stuff, etc for the rest of my life. That is definitely not the case. I am saying that for the majority of the time I will be making smarter choices because I want to, not because I have to. This hit me yesterday at lunch. J called me to see if I wanted to join him and some friends for lunch at Bullfrogs. I asked him to see what soups they had and if there was a good soup then I would go and get soup and salad. I really have to watch my lunches because at 1000-1200 calories a day, I don't have much to work with. All they had was wedding, chili, clam chowder and something else I don't really like so I passed. I was deciding where to go, I didn't want an actual sit down restaurant because I was alone so I decided on Chik-fil-a. I looked up their menu before I got there and found that I could get a chicken salad and fruit. When I got there, I ordered - no problems, no thoughts of ordering anything else, not even a discussion with myself about how I could skip the fruit and get a small order of chicken nuggets instead. Nope, I ordered the food without any arguments with myself. I took my food back to my table and ate it.




It was while I was sitting there eating and looking around that I realized what had happened. I realized that it was very easy for me to choose this food and I also realized how truly good everything was. I didn't even miss the nuggets dipped in honey or the waffle fries. And, best of all, I didn't feel sick after finishing. I didn't feel like I needed to go lay down, I actually felt good (other than the sore throat thing).

Anyway, for dinner we had yummy honey chicken with rice and chicken egg rolls that were surprisingly good for only 90 calories each. Today will be a day of good food as well, we have planned: breakfast sandwich, asiago spinach chicken sausages and parmesan crusted tilapia (yes, you read right, I am going to try it) with capellini pomodoro. That is all I have for now. Time to hit the shower and head to the doctors to get a script. Till Monday...

Almost Forgot

I almost forgot to blog today! I have actually been pretty busy at work today with two payrolls and auditors. It wasn't until the email for mom's comment came through that I even thought about this thing. Anyway, yesterday was yet another good day which consisted of: yogurt, banana, protein water, turkey sandwich, strawberries and whipped cream, veggies, 2.4 oz steak, roasted red potatoes, zucchini and a strawberry/banana short cake. All that food and it was only 1117 calories!!! I ran/jogged for a while and did my crunches but no arm workout because my lil sis came over mid-workout and she is much more important :)

I am going to take a second and toot my own horn, because this is my blog and I can. I was so proud of myself this morning. Every day this week I have set my alarm for 5 am in hopes that I would get up and workout a bit before work. Of course, I never did it - until this morning that is. I knew that I would be heading straight down to Salem tonight after work to meet my bff for some yummy, but not so healthy, Mexican food so there would be no workout after work like I usually do. When my alarm went off at 5 am, I realized I now have a sore throat - thanks to my husband for sharing his with me. Guess what? Even though it was 5 am and I did not want to get out of bed, even though I could hardly swallow, I got up, got dressed and got on the treadmill. I didn't jog as much as I would have liked, but I did it. I think I need more than a 12 hour break between my jogging because my right hip hurt really bad as soon as I increased the speed to start jogging. It was sore (not muscle sore but joint sore) all morning but feels better now. So yeah, I am proud of myself.

Okay, enough self-horn tooting. I am really looking forward to this 3 day weekend. I have a lot of plans for tomorrow already, I just hope I can get them all done. I will try to log on tomorrow to give a quick update, but if I don't, have a great Easter!!!

Happy Hump Day

Well yesterday was another very good day. I had: protein water, yogurt, watermelon, delicious chicken sausage on a bun, string cheese, chicken with a stuffing topping, zucchini-broccoli-cauliflower and then a mint ice cream sandwich - yummy! My calories came in at 1103 for the day. I got on the treadmill and did the following: 1 min @ 3mph, 1 min @ 5mph, 1 min @ 6mph, 1 min @ 5mph, 2 mins @ 5mph, 2 mins @ 3 mph for a total of 10 minutes - 5 of which were jogging. I will increase a bit of the jogging tonight. I did 55 crunches and a lot on my arms - all of which I will increase again tonight. I can't describe how great it feels to eat right. J and I were talking last night about it and I love that I feel sick after eating crap - like at the IX Center. That tells me that my body really does want and crave the good stuff, the fruits, veggies and lean meats. When I fill it with grease and sugar it gets mad and definitely lets me know. By no means am I saying that I will never eat greasy or sugary stuff again, I fully intend on having Wedgewood when I hit the 190 mark and I know already I will be sick after I eat it, but Wedgewood is ohhhh so worth it! Other than those occasional times, I fully intend to eat healthy because I love how it makes me feel, I love that after I eat I don't feel sick and I don't just want to sit on the couch, I actually get up and do stuff after eating. I just don't know why I never realized this before. It's not for a lack of education or knowledge - I have read all of this for years and it is pretty much common sense - it just never really sunk in I guess. It has now.

On another note - I am going back to school. Yes, you read that right, I am going back to school for what, the 4th time now? I put my application in the mail this morning so now there is no backing out. I debated for a while if I really wanted to do this or not, it is going to be so much work and not as easy as getting my bachelor's. I figured if I am going to do it, I better do it now. I am fortunate enough to work for a company that gives 100% tuition reimbursement so I will be getting my Master's degree for free - that's a $30,000 value folks. I would be stupid not to do it. It is a two year track, but I am going to do my darnedest to get it done in a year. Am I a gluten for punishment or what? Poor J, just when he thought it was all over...

Happy Tuesday

This is just a quick update for my Monday. I had a great day yesterday all around. I had: yogurt, fiber bar, cantaloupe, watermelon, 1 slice cheese wrapped in 2 slices deli chicken breast with Jeff's hot mustard, an orange, a cheese stick, a wonderfully delicious mozzarella and roasted garlic chicken sausage (from Sam's club - I HIGHLY recommend), roasted zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower, and then a banana "shortcake" to finish the day off. My calories came in at 1040 which was perfect after a day of eating like I did at the IX Center! I got on the treadmill, even though it was only for 10 minutes. I really pushed myself though and walked a total of only 4 minutes at 3 mph, the rest was jogging at 5-6 mph. I know it doesn't seem like much, but I am NOT a jogger, and I never have been. I am going to change that though, by adding 15-30 seconds to each jog every day. Before you know it, I should be able to jog a mile! I just don't know how these people can run 5 miles at a time with no problem. I don't think I will ever be able to do that - but who knows!!! I also did 45 crunches which I thought was going to kill me - well maybe not, but I did think my stomach was going to cramp up so much I couldn't move. You can tell I don't use my stomach muscles for much. I will be increasing my crunches by 4 every day. I did some work on my arms too, which I will be slowly increasing every day. I don't expect to be able to run 10 miles, do 300 crunches and lift 100 pounds any time soon, but I think if I do these small increases every day, it won't seem so bad to me, and maybe I won't get discouraged. On a positive note, the scale is down to 195.0 today, so let's see if I can keep it going in that direction all week.

How much have I lost

Well, no change to report this week, which all in all is actually very good. I was bad, bad, bad last week and it will change this week. Over the course of last week I consumed 2 boxes - yes boxes - of girl scout cookies (they are all gone now so I don't have to worry about binging on them again), 5 or 6 drinks on Friday, an egg roll and order of General Tso's along with an apple dessert thing from Shanghai, lots of little treats from Sam's Club's spring open house, a Stromboli (or about half of one) almost 1/2 an order of fair fries, and 1/2 of a funnel cake. Yeah, it was bad. So, I am thankful that I didn't actually net out a gain for the week. J and I agreed that this has to stop, or we will end up right back to where we were before. Since Easter is on Sunday, and we will be going out, I will count that as a "free day." However, I will skip breakfast, or have only a yogurt if I am really hungry, and if I am hungry for dinner, I will have something very small, like a fat free hot dog or something - maybe even some veggies. Other than that, this will be a very healthy week. For today my plans are: yogurt, fiber bar, watermelon, cantaloupe, 2 slices chicken breast with 1 slice cheddar cheese, orange, chicken sausage with bun, veggies, and a low cal dessert for a total of 970 calories. I know that is low, but after what I had yesterday, I should keep it a bit low today. I might throw in a string cheese after work before I get on the treadmill which will put me up over the 1000 calorie mark. I am also getting on the treadmill every day this week, and maybe some extended exercise on Friday since I have the day off. I know, I know, I say this every week, but it will happen this week and I am going to report in every day with my food and exercise for the day before. I need to make myself accountable. I really would like to be in the 180's by my doctor's appointment on the 20th- she lectures me every year on my weight and I would like to go in there with a significant loss this year. It is do-able - only have to lose 3 this week and 3 next - I just have to stay focused.