All the excitement of drying paint

Today is my son's birthday. I am so proud of him - he's doing well in school, figuring out his own course in life. If you give kids the freedom to find their own way, it's so fun to watch how they grow and develop into their own unique selves.There have been some tough stages, but I've always loved him and liked him nearly all the time too! :-)

Not really anything to report here. We are both sick - I think with colds. Sore throat, coughing, drippy nose. Yuck.

The roofer is at the house now, hopefully fixing the gutter on the shed so we can spend this weekend spring cleaning and reorganizing our storage shed. Lifestyles of the rich and famous around here, I tell you.

I went out for Mexican for lunch today - 3 crunchy chicken tacos and a few chips. It was yummy.

We haven't gone to see "Black Panther" yet - hopefully this weekend. I discovered today that I have overpaid on health insurance the last 2 paychecks - they didn't take T off my insurance. I am getting a refund of $625 next paycheck - about enough to pay the taxes. Woot!

It's a rainy, yucky day here. Luckily the weekend weather should be good for our shed project.

Take care.

My slip didn't slide

One thing I didn't mention in my last post was that last Thursday when we discovered the leak, T got VERY upset - just feeling like so many things have gone wrong in this house. His stress + my stress = an overeating episode. The good thing was that I had a slip, but I didn't continue to slide. I got back up and got right back on plan.

Today was my third class at the VA - this one was a fitness class and he talked about the importance of core strength, and gave us exercises (and showed video how to guides). I can easily add a couple of things onto my weight training - win!

Food this week includes 3 ingredient protein pancakes for breakfast (cottage cheese, egg whites, oats), plus chickpea salad for lunch, and dinner vary as usual.

Take care.

More rested

Good morning!

Despite a busy weekend I am feeling more rested today. The scale continues to move slowly but steadily downward, so that is encouraging. I'm not doing anything I can't do for the rest of my life, so that's encouraging as well.

We have a leak in our storage shed - we think it's from the gutter system being damaged. No idea when/ how that happened. Maybe when they installed the new roof? In any case, I've called the roofer and asked if they can come and take a look. In the interim a bunch of stuff is in the carport side (visible from the street), so mom is going to bring my son's car to park there so the stuff is blocked. So I can't park there. It's always something!

The breakfast Saturday was a big success, unfortunately T was feeling lousy. We headed out early, went home, and he slept for 4 hours. Then went to bed at 8 and slept another 12. Not sure what he's trying to fight off, but there's a lot of nasty bugs going around. We are both back in the office and back to reality today!

It's supposed to be a kinda rainy, yucky week here. I hope they can get the roof fixed when they come out Wednesday. I'm going to look for some of that foam that expands to seal gaps as well, hopefully that will help!

Last week I made soup and the weather was gorgeous so I didn't want to eat it, but this week is perfect soup weather. Funnily enough I made lentil soup for dinner tonight. LOL

Take care.

Crazy Week

This is a crazy week.

1) My boss is out unexpectedly this week and most of next. I feel a bit like the deer in the headlights, but I'm trying my best to get it done.

2) I am doing Saturday breakfast at an event this weekend, so I'm shopping, prepping, planning, & packing to go out of town. I am tired.

I am feeling run down.

Take care.

Sloooooooooow Motion

Hello. Scale crept down another 0.4 pounds today. I feel like the tortoise, it's frustrating. OTOH, I am trying to make gradual, sustainable changes. All or nothing, cold turkey, etc. are not effective methods for me. I will get there, I just need to make changes over a period of time rather than all at once.

The weekend was nice. I had yesterday off so I went into the den and knocked out a project I've been wanting to do forever - moving the DVDs off a bookshelf and into a case. We can move/ eliminate that shelf - freeing up space. Yay! I am trying to focus on organizing and downsizing. While I was at it, I got rid of a box of DVDs that we either had duplicates or I didn't feel the need to keep them. So that's a win as well!

Today's class was about turning negative self talk into positive, identifying, addressing, and avoiding negative thought patterns (all or nothing thinking, rationalizing poor choices, etc.). It was a pretty good class.

It's Tuesday and I'm down nearly a pound from Friday - stay the course, it's slow, but steady.

Take care.

This may be a first

I have today off, so it's been a hectic, but fun (and somewhat productive day!) Guess who ended the weekend at a lower weight, as opposed to having to spend half the work week trying to get off the weekend weight? I was down 0.4 pounds this morning.

Maybe there is something to this weighing every day thing!

Take care.

Danger Zone

We have a new interim GM and she is hosting a pizza lunch meet and greet. Going is sorta mandatory, but I really don't want to eat the pizza.  (I love pizza, but due to the amount of calorie and carb potential, I prefer to make it at home). I brought my soup, so I plan to go across town and then have my lunch I packed.

I ended the week down a pound. I feel like I'm on a slow and steady track, and what I am doing is something I can do for always. The hard part is that I feel anxiety sometimes in the evening - it's like that feeling you have when you are waiting by the phone for some piece of news. Anxious is the best way to describe it. It's very frustrating and I'm not sure why I feel that way. I'm hoping that as I see that 1) what I'm doing is working and that 2) I have created a doable plan that the feeling will gradually diminish.

I am hoping this weekend is less busy than the last one.

Take care!

National half price candy day

I ran by the grocery at lunch for a couple of items - the Valentine's candy was in the marked down bin and the Easter candy was up on the shelves. It's amazing the difference the color of the bag makes in the price! LOL

Busy day at work today, but I headed out for lunch. I went to the gym for HIIT since I didn't come in to the office yesterday, and we are lifting tonight. Doubling up isn't optimal, but it's better than skipping IMO.

I've enjoyed the buffalo chicken soup this week. I bought a couple of bags of the pre shredded slaw mix, so I added a couple of cups of that to the Pyrex bowl so it had vegetables. I'm thinking of doing the lasagna soup next week.  Soup is great for easy, filling, and can be made low cal.

Not too much, busy today.

Take care.

Persistence and planning pay

Good morning and happy Valentine's day! Do you have anything special planned? We are having dinner at home - steak, potatoes, roasted asparagus, sauteed mushrooms. T makes an awesome steak - who needs to go out? And they are from our Omaha Steak Christmas gift, so I'm sure they will be excellent. Plus I used to wait tables in college and V day is MISERABLE in food service. Too many crowds. Ugh.

I have to say I was feeling a bit sorry for myself last night. I had a somewhat larger than normal snack Friday (but not egregious) and I was up nearly 2 pounds. It was gone by Monday, then no change yesterday. Last night I walked in and said "this is what 6 tortilla chips with half a single serve guacamole pouch looks like." I had that and 1 beer for my after dinner treat. It was delicious and I wasn't hungry, but I could have eaten that 4 times over (and in the past I probably have).

So I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I was down 1.4 pounds - I'll take it! So it seems like watching your portions, carbs, and tracking your intake works! Who knew??? LOL So it does seem like for now what I'm doing is working. I am going to continue to drift down on my carbs. We are eating what what is in the house (in moderation) and not rebuying. Last night we had "noodle bowls" for dinner - T did use rice noodles, but I spiralized a daikon radish and used that instead. But I am having at least part of an Omaha steak twice baked potato tonight. The potato is worth it - the noodles were not.

We also lifted last night. Squats are at 80 pounds, bench press 60 (less than half of what I once did), dead lifts at 125. I am making gains and getting to a good place. T didn't seem to have fun last night - I;m not sure if he is getting tired of this workout, it isn't what he expected, or he was just tired. I told him we really need to stick with a program for 12 weeks before changing it up. We'll see how he feels tomorrow.

I think that's all I've got for now. Have a good day!

Class 1 Review

Hello there!

I had my first "Move It!" class at the VA this morning. A brief overview: this is the weight management program the VA has put together. There are 3 options: physical class, one on one phone calls, or an automated phone service. I opted to do the in person option. You may use various options, and you may continue as long as you want. You may not use multiple options at once.

The in person option is 12 classes, 4 each on nutrition, exercise, and the psychological competent of weight management. You do one of each class and then have a week off.

Today was my first class (nutrition) called "Eat wisely to tip the balance". We discussed the basics of weight control (calories in v out), serving sizes, the government "healthy plate".

I walked away not impressed. It felt like and 8th grade health class. I did weigh in, and I didn't count it a waste since I had some follow up blood work done while I was there. I walked over to schedule my next appointments. While I was waiting, another gentleman from the class walked up. He said he hadn't enjoyed some of the classes (and specifically mentioned he didn't find the exercise classes helpful), but that he really enjoyed the one this morning.

That made me remember: we're all in a different place. It seemed very basic and overly simplistic to me, but he clearly took some good stuff away. Another gentleman was having an issue with the app, and one of the guys recommended my fitness pal. So people helped people. If nothing else, knowing I was going helped me stay the course since I weighed in. They show me down 4.4 pounds over the 2 weeks since the orientation. (My home scale has me down 4 pounds.)

I went into this with the mindset that if all I got was some extra accountability, then it was worth the effort. I feel like I am pretty knowledgeable when it comes to nutrition, and have worked with a nutritionist in the past. I didn't learn anything new, OTOH I have been tracking my food and workouts in sparkpeople pretty consistently and I've been eating more mindfully in the evening. So that alone has been very helpful.

Take care.

Weekend Update

Good morning and happy Monday! 

This weekend was very busy (as so many of them are).  I'd say we got done what needed to be done, but (as usual) not everything on the list.

I tried a new recipe - a low carb buffalo chicken soup for lunches this week. It's excellent! We lifted weights last night, even though we were both tired and neither wanted to, and I'm so glad we did. I did 3 weight sessions and 3 HIIT sessions in the gym last week. That rocks!

We were both a little tired and cranky Saturday, but we ran about a million errands. I got on the scale this morning and was the same as Friday - given my history of going off the rails on the weekend, I count that as a win.

We are really enjoying the Olympics.

I've begun (re) reading the book my doctor recommended on eating low carb. I'm not 100% there yet, but I've begun cutting back/cutting out the carbs. I'm hoping that I will begin seeing more movement on the scale soon. I know I feel less bloated and I can tell my fitness level is improving, so I do feel like it's making a difference.

Take care.

Note to self: Stay the course

Last weekend I was out of town, and tried to make good choices. This week I've been pretty careful and have tracked my food, gone to the gym, and was rewarded by a half pound gain. Ugh. We've all been there, right?

My plan is to double down, keep doing the right things, track over the weekend, and generally stay the course.

I'm still down 4 pounds from Disney.

Have a good weekend!

Messing with my head

You know I'm talking about the scale!!!

Yesterday the scale was up 2 pounds from last Friday. What!?!?!  (It was down a pound this morning, no I couldn't stay off.) So frustrating! So it looks like my goal for this week is to maintain. Grr. Oh well. I told T last night on the way into the gym, I feel like we are really really close. There are a few things we need to dial in, but I feel like we are falling into a good routine.

A big contributor to that is that we are both working, and we are both happy with our jobs. That makes everything so much better. It's incredible.

Things that have changed:

• T is finally adjusting to eating out as infrequently as I was used to doing. When he was unemployed, eating out was a big part of his "social time", which made it a hard habit to break. Now that he is teaching, he doesn't have the luxury of time to go out for breakfast or lunch, and we have gotten to a comfortable place with dinner. We use a good mix of stuff we prepare in advance or take out of the freezer, easy meals, or crock pot meals. We are coming up with the ideas together, so we are both pretty satisfied with what we are eating.

• Evening routine. On nights we are both home, I come home, we eat, and then we head for the gym if it's a lifting night. Afterward I may take a shower while he works on lesson plans, then we sit down on the sofa for an hour or so of tv time before bed. T comes to bed with me if possible (sometimes he has some desk work). We usually have an evening snack, but I try to have my eating done by 8 so I have a couple of hours before I fall asleep with no food and minimal liquid. 

• Gym. The last 2 weeks we lifted weights twice, this week we are on track to hit our goal of 3 times. We are using the YMCA in our town. We are both enjoying the Stronglifts routine - it's a great one if you are just starting or starting back at the gym. It's simple, and starts pretty easy - but doesn't stay that way! T is beginning to fall in love with the free weights the day I am. :-) I am going to the Anytime Fitness near the office for HIIT training at lunch, with a target of going 3 times per week. I am getting into a comfortable groove with that as well. T is talking about adding yoga to our routine. I am VERY pleased with the way this habit is shaping up!

• Calories. I have been tracking my calories the last couple of weeks, with a goal of finishing supper in the 1200-1300 calorie range. This leaves me roughly 300 calories for the evening. Since stopping evening snacking has never worked for me, I decided it was imperative that I plan for that snack. I've been using protein shakes and bars to help me stay on track. I'm not going to stop that entirely - I think the low carb high protein has definitely helped with my hunger and cravings, but next week I'm looking to pack a "real food" lunch. This week has been veggies and a protein shake. I think next week I will prep some chicken breasts to replace the shake. I will likely keep the shakes for my snacks. I have been shooting for a target of 1600 calories, which feels doable for now. My doctor recommended a good book to help with the low carb (which I bought), so I will review those guidelines. Let me add that my doctor has lost and kept off over 80 pounds doing low carb, so she has her own personal experience to draw from.

So that's where things are now. I hope that we are setting ourselves up for success!

Take care.

Clean bill of health and how often do you weigh?

I had my annual physical this morning. Other than my cholesterol ratio being borderline (my good guy is always near the bottom of okay), all my stats were good. I talked with my doctor about losing weight - she's lost 80 pounds using low carb, and she was helpful.

I weighed myself this morning and ugh - I get so frustrated with weighing. Do I weigh once a week? Every day? How do I take away the power I give the scale?

It's a rainy, yucky day here. I'm working at home and the dog won't stop barking at me.  Calgon, take me away! Lol

Take care.

What I'm eating now

I've tried many times over the past few months to plan and pack my food. And I have, but I've struggled with both tracking and with over snacking in the evenings. So I decided to add additional structure to my food. Breakfasts are consistent and I've been using bars and shakes to get low carb protein, adding roasted vegetables or a salad at lunch. I'm finding using a bit of carb in the morning (half of a Joseph's low carb wrap), then low carb for the day has translated to less snacking in the evening. Part of it may be that lower carb = fewer cravings, and part may be psychological: after staying on plan all day I don't want to "blow it!" come evening. In any case it seems to be working for now. The screen shot below is yesterday's food:

I guess you can click on it to enlarge. Anyway, you can see I did have something after dinner (a bloody mary and a slice of cheese), but that's a vast improvement from what it has been.

We didn't get in our weight lifting this weekend, so we only did 2 days last week. We are going this evening after dinner. Right now I want to do more, but am restraining myself because I don't want to overdo it in the weight room. Yesterday I did HIIT at the gym at lunch.

I'm glad to be home, glad that I will be home the next couple of weekends. I feel like we are beginning to get organized, and that feels good. A sense of normalcy has been missing from my life for the past ... oh ... 4 years??? I feel like I am finally breathing easier.

Take care.

An epic road trip

I am so tired of being in the car!!!!!  Friday was a 7 hour drive to Lagrange. Saturday was 4 hours (round trip) to Midway and back for the funeral, and yesterday was 8.5 hours, which included a side trip to Athens for the furniture and dog and some horrendous weather. I can't remember is I mentioned it, but mom took her best friend's dog. We also picked up some pieces that had been my grandparents' that we'd given to Ann, but since her son was going to donate them to GoodWill we took them back.

My great aunt's mind is really going downhill fast. Overall, it was a pretty depressing trip. But it's done, and we feel better for having gone.

Today I am back at work. Breakfast is eaten and tracked, lunch and snacks are packed. It feels good to be back home.

Take care.

Just a quick update

First, thanks fatfreefloozy!

I am packing now, having gotten T out the door and headed for school. I lost 3.4 pounds this week! I am very proud of myself!

We went to the gym last night. One thing I really like about this program is that the guy has a terrific (free) app for android or iphone, so we each have it loaded on our phone and use it to track how much we need to lift/ have lifted. Makes it easy to track, and if you have your phone you don't need a notebook.

Take care.

Heading out tomorrow

Mom and I are leaving tomorrow at 8 AM for Georgia. The funeral is at 2 PM EST Saturday and is 1.5 hours away from where my aunt Alma lives, so we have just enough time for a quick, early lunch with her before we heave to head out. So this trip is going to be weird and the schedule is going to be whacked. I am planning to take a couple of protein shakes/bars just in case. And a couple bottles of water.

Tonight is a load of wash and packing, a trip to the gym, and maybe watch a little tv with my sweetie.