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.

How much have I lost?

I decided not to put another picture up because I didn't actually lose any weight last week. I did go down to 194.4 but then came right back up after eating pizza and wings on Friday. I learned my lesson on that one, no pizza until I hit the 190 mark. I just can't eat like that I guess.

Saturday Haylie and I went for a very nice walk early in the morning. We did three miles in the park and it was great. I love being able to get up and go do that, it's a great way to start the day. I wish I could do it during the week too, but I would have to get up at 4:30 and be out there by 5 and I am just not comfortable being out there alone that early. Since it is going to be nice today we are going to walk that path again. I think I am going to bring my tennis shoes to work again and start walking at lunch on nice days.

Well, that is all for now, hopefully I can report some progress later this week.

Support

Yesterday was a pretty good day food wise. I had my usual banana and yogurt for breakfast, watermelon for a snack, a salad and apple for lunch and yummy chicken stroganoff, cauliflower and broccoli for dinner along with an ice cream sandwich for dessert. My calories came to 1215 so not too bad. Roasted broccoli tastes a lot like kale and it was yummy, I am going to get more of that for next week because J liked it too. I didn't get on on the treadmill though which I regret. My legs were still kind of sore and I was starving and had a lot to get ready for dinner so I used that as an excuse. I am getting on it tonight though.

I just want to say a little bit about support. I am so lucky to have all of the support that I do. First and foremost, from my husband. I can't say enough about how wonderful and supportive he is to me. I have read blogs and have heard stories from friends trying to lose weight about how their husbands bring home sweets and other hard-to-resist temptations. Not my J, he would never do that. He actually feels bad because he can eat more calories than I can, so much so that he makes sure to only eat what I do for dinner and he fills the rest in during the day for breakfast and lunch when I am not around. He always offers encouraging words and acts excited for my triumphs. He has even been so patient with my obsession of my missing extra chin. So thank you sweetie, I wouldn't be able to do this without you.

Next I would like to thank my two moms. Mom B has been there for everything in my life, supporting me in everything (good things only of course) that I have done and she is making no exception now. Even though she has always been such a skinny-minny who could eat what she wanted when she wanted, she still listens to me and always gives me positive feedback. She truly believes in me and that is important to me. Mom F has been a great source of support too. She always has great advise on what new foods to try and how to prepare them along with how to sneak in foods and not realize it. She calls me just to check and see how things are going, especially on the weekends when I don't really blog.

My final support comes from my coworkers. They don't even realize that they are being supportive but they are. We have been eating together in the lunchroom on Wednesdays and going on on Fridays and each time they ask me about recipes and my new foods. It really makes me feel good that they are interested in my cooking and want to try things that I suggest. Today, for example, we all got an email reminding us about lunch tomorrow. In that initial email it said, "Jenn, I can't to hear about new recipes." I emailed back and said something about getting to work on new ones and maybe I would give out a new one each week. I also said that I would bring in some kale because everyone wants to try it but they are chickening out from buying it. I got so many emails back from different people that were excited to try the kale and how they love new recipes. It is just a good feeling. The other thing they are doing that makes me feel good is saying things to me unprompted like, "you are going to need new pants soon if you keep losing weight like that" or "look at you skinny-minny" or "what happened to your butt" or even a simple "you look good, how much weight have you lost now?" It is those simple little things that make you feel good and make you want to keep going.

I just wanted to let you all know how thankful I am for your support. It really means a lot and I couldn't do it without you!

How much have I lost?

I have decided to use my total weight lost each week rather than a weekly amount of weight lost, that way it continues to get larger (hopefully) each week. So, I have lost thus far - 4.6 pounds, or a 12.1" Apple PowerBook laptop. Not too shabby I have to say. My weigh-in yesterday was 195.6 - I finally officially broke the 198 threshold. This weekend was absolutely wonderful for me. First, I had a coupon for a free $5 instant lotto ticket when I bought this $10 ticket, well I had a $5 winner in my purse so I only had to contribute $5 to the deal - not too bad. When I got home I scratched them off and won $20 on the $10 card and $100 on the $5 card!!! I was so excited. I lost a lot of weight this weekend, we got some yard work done, and it was pretty relaxing for the most part. And the best part of it all was my discovery of only having one chin!

On Saturday I was at my mom's house visiting and my niece Starr was there. She loves taking pictures of herself with people and J happened to have his camera there. She asked to take pictures with me, so we did. I noticed the pictures came out rather well, other than the fact that I had no make-up on. There was no double chin - at all! I thought maybe it was a fluke and that the angle was just right so I didn't say anything. When I was getting ready for dinner later that night I noticed in the mirror when I smiled I didn't see the double chin either so before we went to dinner I made J take a picture with me on my phone. On the left you will see that there is no double chin on me, I was so excited. This has become my new favorite picture. I have noticed that my pants are baggy on me and that I can wear pants that I couldn't before, but this was the first time I have actually seen the difference. It is wonderful! So onward and downward I go. I am really looking forward to the 190 mark, hopefully by the middle of April!