Time flies when the weather is great!

I hope you had a great weekend! Mine was really, really awesome! It was a good mix of accomplishing a lot around the house, and spending time with the family. T and I even took a nap together for half an hour yesterday!! It was lovely.

The weather was fantastic so we opened up the house to air it out. Unfortunately, T's allergies are in full swing so he is kinda miserable right now. :-( 

Dinner with his family was really nice - I made good choices (salmon, salad, spinach) and we had a great time. It's prom season so it was fun to see the outfits!

Yesterday we went to the gym and lifted weights - I gotta tell you, we're getting to the point that it is getting challenging for sure! I only lifted weights once last week, but I did HIIT 3 times - so a definite improvement!

I lost weight over the weekend - a nice reward for staying mindful.

Take care!

Creating inefficiencies

Happy Friday!!

Down 1.6 pounds from last week, now back to moving solidly in the right direction!

T and I had already committed to really tightening back down on our food, this morning we set a goal for May: no eating out. Yes, that's a challenge!! But not only will it save us calories and help us stay on track, it will also help us save money for our vacation at the end of summer.

Why the title? Now that I have a Fitbit, I try to be inefficient as I move around, creating more steps for myself rather than fewer!

I wanted to share this post on emotional eating as it really resonated with me: Cravings and Deprivation

We are getting together (and going out to eat) with my in-laws Saturday to celebrate my MIL's birthday. I have some mending to do, T may do some yard work, but I am hoping for a quiet weekend at home with my love and my fur babies.

Have a great weekend!

What happened to yesterday???

Yesterday was a busy day at work. I lost track of time and realized this morning that I never posted! Things are/were fine. I think spring may actually be here and I am so grateful. I am looking forward to evening walks with my husband and dogs.

We've been doing ... okay ... with our eating. My loss has slowed and T's has stalled. We aren't satisfied with that so we are sitting down this weekend and creating an even lower carb meal plan. They've been creeping back in, like weeds in a garden.

Other than dinner with his family Saturday night to celebrate my MIL's birthday, our plan for the weekend is to run the last of the guest room stuff to Goodwill. I have some mending to do, and T may do some yard work. May is dedicated to getting mom's house painted to get it on the market, so it's going to be busy!

Take care!

Interesting POV

I had another class at the VA today - this one was "Fitness for Life". He talked about 3 aspects of physical activity: cardio, resistance training, and lifestyle. I hadn't thought of it that way! Anyway, the instructor talked about the importance of creating a physically active lifestyle and that, even without "exercise", an active lifestyle will carry you a long way toward weight loss and being healthy.

I do things like walk with a colleague, or walk the dogs - I don't count those as "intentional exercise", but today was a good reminder that those habits contribute to our overall health!

Even though the loss feels SO SLOW, it's still happening!

Take care.

Home again, home again

I had a nice weekend. Uneventful trip home, although Mother Nature did gift me with my period and a fever blister (gee, thanks! NOT).

I am home, we celebrated my birthday. T gave me a FitBit, so that's cool! I lost a pound in Vegas and didn't gain over the weekend, so that's pretty good.

Onward and downward!

"I needed a reminder from a friend not too long ago that whenever I think I'm not good enough, I need to tell that voice to shut up and keep moving forward. Whatever it is that is holding you back from greatness- anxiety, depression, self doubt, jealousy, laziness, etc....make it your goal to work to overcome them. It will not be easy, but it will be worth it. Find the right people to support you, and you can do great things. ~Tony"

Take care.

Not a bad day

This morning after breakfast I figured out the car (with my son's help) - you had to have your foot on the brake to start the car. I drove up the strip, found the car rental return, gassed up car (it held $3) and got a diet pepsi for the morning. I hung out & read by the pool, managed a short nap, and we headed out at 11 for out meeting.

So our meeting (3 hours) went well. I was back in the hotel by 2:30. Right now I'm watching "Swamp People" and trying to decide whether I a calling room service or going down to eat. I plan to take a bath, pack, and go to bed early.

Once I figured out the car I was feeling better - honestly I was feeling sorry for myself, and feeling dumb (which I hate). This trip hasn't been great - it certainly would have been a lot more fun with company, but it hasn't been and and going to the meeting was very useful for me, and I think I was able to make some good contributions. I was the only person from the IT department there, and there were certain items they really needed someone with some knowledge to address.

Have a good evening.

Early morning pity party

I'm in Vegas, on my birthday, on business.

• Dinner was mediocre - I didn't even finish it.
• I can't figure out how to start my rental car. Seriously - they gave it to me running. I read the owners manual. Mystery.
• Missed getting to the Neon Museum (see points 1 and 2).
• Shower was tepid.
• A hot shower is especially nice when you wake up at 3 AM.

Meeting is today at 11:30 - lunch and then meet for ???? an unknown period of time. My plan is to order room service and go to bed early!

Thanks for letting me grump. I love to travel - I just prefer it be for vacation and not business! Luckily I don't travel much for business.

Let's make it a good day!

So far so good

Great idea on the oatmeal Beth! I had breakfast at home, a snack in the car, bought a salad & water to carry on the plane for lunch, and had nuts for afternoon snack. Now my problem is we have 6:45 dinner reservations - which is 9:45 EST and I am really really hungry. I think I need to grab a snack.

Take care.

You can have it all, just not all the time!

Hey there!  I am nervous about my trip. I feel ridiculous even saying that, but I am nervous about food. 

There are 2 issues:

• Airport food. I am arriving at the airport tomorrow around 9:30 and my flight leaves at 11:30. My best bet is to buy something to carry onto the plane - I don't want to depend on airline food! I am hopeful that I can buy a salad and a bottle of water - otherwise a sandwich and remove half the bread. I bought some 100 calorie packs on raw nuts and I plan to have a couple in my purse.

• Vegas food. Is the company team eating together Wednesday? Lunch Thursday is a business deal. My flight leaves at 6:30 AM Friday - I'll need a eat a little something before I leave the hotel and then hope I can find something.

There is plenty of food available - my concerns are around limited choices/ an overabundance and making poor choices. I need to remind myself that no one controls what I put in my mouth ... except ME!

Coffee????

I am feeling a little blurry this morning.

I woke up at 4:30, and caved and got up at 5. I went to bed early so I think I had had enough sleep! I am a little groggy though - getting off to a slow start today.

It was a nice weekend, but too busy! (Don't I always say that????).

Have a good day!

Done, for now. And the not so feral kitty!

I am proclaiming the guest room "done" - for now. There are still a few things that need to be gone through, but the progress is HUGE!

I don't think that cat was ever feral. She seems to be healing well, has discovered how to go out the dog door, and seems to have come to an accord with the dogs. She isn't so hissy and they aren't running, so I think a meeting of the minds happened while we were out & about yesterday.

Have a good rest of the weekend!

Quiet evening

So this happened last night. Susie was all happy, and the cat jumped up and tried to thug her into getting off the sofa. I swear that cat could get a job as a mob enforcer.

T went to Toastmasters, so I made supper, cleaned the kitchen, and hung out with the animals. Other than having too many baked chicken nuggets for my after dinner snack (apparently I am five years old), it was an uneventful evening. I was a bit on the tired side so skipped any effort to do more organizing in the guest room. Sometimes you just need an evening to veg.

My son is in town to help my mom move some of her stuff, so we are headed to her place tonight for supper. Today has been a good day.

Take care.

Can you relate? And - our triumphant return!! :-)

I was reading an article on MSN and at the bottom they had one of their slideshows - this one about some of the gals in the upcoming People magazine "half their size" edition. Here's a brief quote about one lady (Megan): "she was drinking five or more cans of soda a day, eating large quantities of food, and stopping at the drive-thru daily."

I can't even relate to that. I mean, being overweight yes, but those habits? I'm not judging this person or their lifestyle. AT ALL. And I know a lot of people find these stories inspirational - in a way I do too. Obviously I eat too much or I wouldn't be overweight, but I've never been a soda addict or eaten fast food on even a regular basis. I view these stories the way I see the contestants on "The Biggest Loser" - extreme examples. And good on them for losing the weight, but I think it also feeds into a false narrative that somehow this is what all or most overweight people are doing, when I think that's not true. I think a lot of us make a handful of poor choices consistently, and that's enough to add up. But I could be totally off base!

Last night we lifted weights for the first time in FOREVER. The good news is that neither of us decreased on any of our weights for the exercises, and we were able to complete the scheduled workout! My back was stiff at the end and T was sore this morning, but we did it! And at lunch today I went to Anytime for a cardio workout (I went Monday as well).

One thing I've been slacking on is my veggie consumption. I knew I wanted to do something about that so I bought several cans of these:

I chose low cal varieties (squash, okra and tomatoes (no corn) etc). I'm adding a half can into my lunch box. Yes they have salt added, but they are an easy way to get back into the habit of eating vegetables. I've been in a rut and this is giving me a break while I look for new vegetable ideas. I haven't met many vegetables I don't like (except fennel. And arugula.), so I have a good variety to choose from, I'd just gotten in the habit of buying the same ones and preparing them in the same old way. So I have some homework.

Also, I hate to jinx it, but spring may actually be here! (shhh).

Take care.

Back in the saddle (gym) again

Back from vacation, back to routine. This week is what we call a transition week: we are getting back to our gym routine. And while our eating isn't bad, it's a little bit hodge podge in that we are using up leftovers and stuff from the freezer since our planning, shopping, and prepping last week weren't extensive.

For a number of reasons I'm not prepared to open up about here, we both have been stressed and unfocused. But we have a course of action for dealing with what we can and letting the rest roll off our backs. We're ok, our pets are ok, our families are ok.

After being off last week, I was also back at my class at the VA. This week was about eating out. Nothing earth shattering - just some good reminders. Given that next week I have 2 days of flying and a day and a half in Las Vegas it was certainly a timely class!

Take care.

embrace the grind

It's been a tough week or so, not gonna lie. Leaving these things here to help keep me focused.

"What I'm getting is more valuable than what I'm giving up."

Off to the beach

Catch you on the flip side!