late--

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days. I have been busy!

Yes, we bought a new scale Tuesday, and since then it has said 149 each morning. I'm stuck, too. I think I forgot to weigh myself one morning. I have been trying to clean the house this week, and we have had a lot of appointments I had chicken cordon bleu on Wednesday and Thursday nights, after my normal breakfast and lunch, but yesterday I had a couple of extra cookies, and today, after mowing the front and back yards, I had a root beer and some extra almonds--a total of 15 instead of 8 or 9!

I worked a little longer in the yard, trying to rake up some of the moss, and then Dad turned the sprinkler on, and after a while, sprinkled some grass seed on the part he'd sprinkled. Hope the exercise counted for something!

One evening we had popcorn, too. I have to watch myself!

Tonight for supper we are having shrimp stir fry with vegetables and pasta, and I will try to go easy on the pasta.

I forget to think about food!

OK - Yesterday was just weird! It occurred to me while I was chatting with Julie that Katie and I TOTALLY FORGOT to go to Let's Dish on Wednesday. THEN - on the way home from work I was supposed to stop and pick up dinner - and again, COMPLETELY FORGOT. I remembered before I was all the way home - but mostly I forgot. So - it seems that I have managed to rearranged my brain enough that I don't make food my priority.

Spending money - THAT was my priority yesterday. I bought new boots (pretty, sexy, dress boots), tons of clothes - and as my weight loss reward - two bottles of shower stuff.

I am with Katie on the stuck thing. I seem to be a little bit plateaued too. I am hovering around 209-210. I need to get a wiggle on (literally!) if I want to drop another five pounds in the next month.

Katie - we need to increase our exercise. We need to decrease our weekend splurging (like, let's keep it to the weekend ONLY). Let's keep pushing forward for the next few weeks and see how it goes. As they say - it took a lot of time to gain it all - it will take just as long to lose it. Try pooping before you weigh yourself. I hear that works.

Tonight Katie and I are making up our missed session at Let's Dish. Good thing - because I really like the September menu and I would have hated to miss it!!!

Where did my appetite go?

I gave myself permission to ignore my diet today, but I didn't do very well most of the day! I ate my usual breakfast (with Lucky Charms, though). I had pizza for lunch but I was stuffed after one medium slice. I ate only three Nutter Butters through the afternoon -- I really thought I'd find myself pigging out on them. At dinner time, though, I got much better about not dieting. We had veal scalloppine, and I didn't eat much pasta but I had three smallish pieces of veal. I also had a caesar salad that was heavy on the dressing. And a big piece of chocolate cake. And a beer and a generous glass of wine! Oh, and homemade ice cream -- not such a small portion -- just a bit ago (several hours after dinner). But I was reaching full after the salad alone, so I couldn't have eaten more pasta than I did, and if I hadn't eaten so slowly I never would have had even that much. And I don't feel as good as I do on days when I eat a lot less. I'm actually not sorry to be returning to the diet tomorrow.

I wasn't planning on it, but I did get some exercise today. I ended up not going on Mary's field trip, but when we got home from dropping Mary off at Brownies it was clear I was going to be underfoot, with Daniel at home trying to get things done, so I put Alexander and Cecilia in the stroller and went for an energetic walk for about 30 minutes. It was probably only about two miles, but I was pushing a double stroller and it was hilly, so I got a pretty good workout.

I'm not having any trouble sticking to the reduced food intake. But I'm really getting tired of the exercise. I think the key for me will be to get more variety -- the bikes are just too boring most of the time. I do enjoy having some time to sit and chat with Daniel, without our sentences getting interrupted every two words or so, but we run out of energy for conversation long before we run out of bike time. The walk today was really refreshing, and it was the perfect day for it. But I don't like walking without a partner very often, and I get bored with the walking as quickly as I do with the bikes. And it will soon be too cool for the kids in the stroller. I am trying to get to a class once in a while, but it's hard to fit into the gym's schedule, and the afternoon classes are so packed. Daniel has a tennis racket and would like for us to try that, so I'm going to swing by Play it Again one of these days and see if I can get a cheap used one for me, but what to do with the kids will be an issue (and I'm really, really, really bad at any sports that involve equipment, so this will mostly be a game of Daniel hitting the ball and me running around to retrieve it after I've missed it).

I didn't have any real point in bringing this up, except to worry about the upcoming weeks, and in any case none of this matters for this weekend -- we're going to Alabamaville tomorrow and will be gone until Sunday, so I'm not likely to get exercise any of the next three days. There's a family reunion on Saturday (it will be interesting trying to keep to my diet on Southern potluck food), which will probably just about kill me with the standing around and chatting, but if I have the energy I'll go for a walk that day so I'm not completely out of shape by Monday.

I'm stuck

OK, I'm starting to hit the frustrated point of this diet. I'm happy with the food, I feel like I'm eating a good amount, but I'm keeping my calories under 1800; we're eating healthy, balanced foods; I'm exercising at least five times a week, if not every day, and I can't seem to break the 154 mark!! Monday I weighed in at 154.25, same as I have been for quite some time now, it seems. Weigh in day on Tuesday I did actually break the 154 mark and was down to 153.75, but that didn't stick around. Amy and I went out last night and bought a new scale--nice, digital, weighs in tenths of pounds (or, as Amy would have it, in twoths). And when I weighed myself this morning I was 154.2 *sigh* Any suggestions as to what I can do to start losing again?

I don't know if I've hit the five pound mark or not! When we started this I weighed in at 158 on our old scale, which was impossible to read. Then I switched to the scale at school and figured our home one was off by about 2 pounds, so I was probably actually more like 160 when this all started. So do I cound 155 as being five pounds, or do I have to wait until I'm solidly under 153?

Today was a weird day, food-wise. Amy and I packed our normal lunches--cereal and milk and applesauce for breakfast, pear for snack, tuna salad (made with cottage cheese and about a teaspoon of low fat mayo) on lite bread with TONS of lettuce and half a tomato, triscuits and string cheese for afternoon snack, and I have been STARVING all day! Normally I manage to save at least part of a snack (if not the whole thing) until I get home, but today I had it all polished off by 3:00! I ended up coming home and eating a few cubes of swiss cheese. I did my calorie/nutrient tracker with mypyramid and it said that I was only at 750 calories and was in good shape, balance wise, except I was low on (wait for it!) FAT. Not enough of my calories came from fat today. So Amy and I made up for it by having sushi for dinner. But we were good! We kept it limited to only two rolls and one appetizer, when normally we'd have two appetizers and about 4 rolls.

OK, so I just added the sushi to my chart and I'm still only at 1400 calories, and I have smilie faces for everything except meat and fruit. Maybe I'll eat a banana.

Happy Birthday, Emily!!!

Wednesday's report

Let's see... The Usual Breakfast. I had a banana for a morning snack. At lunchtime I discovered I'd forgotten to thaw the bread, so I had vanilla yogurt (less than a cup, not sure how much) and an ounce of ham lunchmeat, planning to thaw the bread and have toast as a snack. Well, naturally, I forgot, and then we left for piano and other activities at 2:45 without me having had any snacks -- and no chance of getting home until after 6! So by 6 I was starved. I ate an apple when we got home, and then I fixed dinner -- grilled salmon, half a baked potato (I could have used a whole one, since I was so short on starches, but we ran out of potatoes!) and a good-sized portion of green beans. Then we made homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert, but I kept the portion size reasonable. And that was IT for the day. That was WAY too few calories -- my poor body was in starvation mode all day! Today I weighed 166 when I got up. I'll probably gain three by tomorrow, between yesterday's starvation and today's relative gluttony. (But it's nice to see that low number -- no wonder people do crash diets!)

Neither Daniel nor I wanted to go exercise tomorrow but I had a dead hour between piano and Mary's swim lesson, so I made myself go, and that made Daniel feel guilty enough that he went, too. We cycled for 40 minutes on the reclining bikes and despite my apathy for it I managed to push the level up a tiny bit, for the end, so my average level was the highest I've done yet.

Today I'm being a lazy bum, although I am probably going with the Brownies for their field trip, and that will get me walking around a bit. Yesterday morning we went with Alexander's preschool class to the horticultural gardens, so that got me walking around, too. Any exercise is good!

Here I am!

I am SO into the idea of the badges. I never got to be a Girl Scout or a Brownie when I was little so this will definitely fill a gap in my life :) I'll have to see about getting the book. Maybe if I ever lose 5 lbs that will be my treat.

Yesterday and today are just hectic at work. We have a meeting in 45 minutes with the Baltimore City Fire Department that I have been steadily preparing for now for days. We have to help them with their hydrant inspection process...

I have been ok with food, although yesterday my portion control slipped a little but I think I am back on track today. The last 2 days I have walked; Tuesday with the dog and yesterday all around the city running errands at lunch time. Today I am going to be a bit of a slug, although when I get home there is laundry to be done as well as cleaning and also packing for our weekend in OC MD.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!! Y

Where is everyone?

Emily and I are the only ones who posted yesterday...

This moring I was down to 209.2. Woo-hoo! Katie and I had such a yummy dinner last night. It was grilled Rosemary Mustard Seed Steak with snow peas and a fresh mozzerella and tomato salad. We also each had a tiny (8oz) Candy Corn flavored soda. Yes - you read that correctly. That is why we had to have them yesterday - we needed to know what they heck it tasted like. I didn't finish mine - but it was OK. Kind of Vanilla Orange with a slightly spicy flavor.

Well I got paid today so I am off to get my just rewards for my 5 pound (now over six) pound weight loss.

Something must be wrong

This morning I lept out of bed at about 8:15 and felt like - drummmm rooolllll - CLEANING! That NEVER happens! Often in the mornings when I am getting ready for work I get the urge to do little things like fold laundry - load the dishwasher - sort mail... So I spend 10-15 minutes at it and then am annoyed that I actually have to go to work. I NEVER get that way when I have the day off. BUT TODAY - I did. I have spent the day cleaning my room. You have all seen my house. You KNOW this isn't normal. I think I must be sick. I keep checking for a fever - but nothing.

I cleaned out all of my drawers, put in drawer liners (mostly because Laura gave them to me and I had no where else to put them). I have a bag of about 20 pieces of clothing to donate. Then I sorted through over a years worth of mail (not ALL of the mail in a year, but I was finding stuff from last June). I cleaned out my bed side table. I came across all of my old Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers stuff. I found a neat article called "One Minute Weight Loss Secrets." I think I will post a few here and there - because some of them are kind of neat.

I cleaned off the top of one dresser so far. I am even dusting as I go. I had no idea I was living with so much dust. You have heard of dust bunnies? Well I have dust giraffes I think (and a few rhinos, lions, tigers, and alligators too.) I am now (after I finish posting) off to find some pledge. There are yucky things on my dresser that don't quite count as dust. I am hoping the pledge will do them in.

Emily - I LOVE the idea of a badge ceremony. I think we should embroider them if possible. I also like the idea of denium jackets. Julie, I agree with Emily - you should check out this book. You can find it on Amazon. You would probably like it.

Also, Emily - of COURSE tomorrow is a free day for you. I just have to see if I can resist making it a free day for me too. I have a present for you - but I haven't mailed it yet.

Eating today has been bad. I had whole grain toast for breakfast with a little healthy fake butter - I am not sure exactly what it is... but Laura buys it, and I sometimes eat it. Then some yogurt. I have been picking at a not quite ripe apple all day - but can't seem to make myself finish it. I am not hungry - or it isn't appealing or something. I haven't eaten lunch yet - but am kind of in the mood for it now. I actually am in a vegetable mood again. (Kind of backs up my "something must be wrong" theory.)

Working on at least two grown-scout badges!

I looked in "You Can Do It" this morning and we should all be well on our way to the fitness and nutrition badges. (Julie, you should get this book too -- it's girl scout-like badges for grownups.) For fitness ("Exercise Your Options") we need to do 5 or 6 days of cardio per week, 30 minutes a day, 15-20 minutes of strength training twice a week, and 10 minutes of flexibility 3-4 times a week. You have to plan this and carry it out for a month, finding something that you genuinely enjoy, and keep track of what you're doing. You're also supposed to start and end with a fitness assessment -- blood pressure, resting heart rate, whether you can reach your toes and do situps and pushups. They also say exercise gurus say it really takes six months to make fitness a habit -- so do we earn the badge after a month, or after six, I wonder?

I know we've been at this for three weeks now, but I'm going to have to count this as week one, because I didn't do any flexibility until this past weekend, and I'm way behind on strength training as well. But we all need to post when we feel we've earned the badge!

Nutrition ("Eat it!") is also along the lines of what we've been doing. You're supposed to spend a week on assessment -- either do the Health badge or just assemble your medical history, and keep track of what you're eating. Then get to know the Pyramid (we've all done that step). Then make a meal plan for the week, following the guide. Make a shopping trip to stock up on healthy foods (and the book lists "Dark chocolate" as one!!), and ditch the unhealthy foods you have lying around (I figure that's what my kids are for, right?). Then eat well for a month. They also point out that you need to make gradual changes, especially if you're feeding your whole family, or you'll meet resistance (like me with whole-grain pastas!).

The health badge ("Care for your Health") seems like a no-brainer. You're supposed to collect your health info, and I should probably do a bit of that -- I've got health records in five states that have probably never been pulled together, although most of the records are probably long since irrelevant (but I couldn't tell you when I last had tetanus and MMR shots -- were they in college, grad school, or more recent?). So that's the hard step. But you're supposed to get to know your health insurance, and I do know that pretty well; evaluate your providers, and I do that on a continuous basis; schedule a year's worth of appointments (OK, so I'm due for my annual as of tomorrow, but I'm up to date on my vision and dental exams); go to your appointments and make them useful (mine generally are, though I'm in good health so I don't have a lot of questions, but I never hesitate to ask those I have); and consider alternatives (they mean, do you need a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, a massage therapist, etc.).

So, do you think we can earn all three of these by Christmas? We need to have our first ceremony then! (And we should figure out what other badges we have earned -- our own scrapbooking, Quit It, sewing, knitting, singing? Does a badge count if you did it before you got the book?) And how are we going to do badges -- design some on Mom's machine and stitch them out, or just use the stickers in the book? If we have real, stitched ones, we need some place to put them -- so are we all going to get denim jackets or something, or make some cheesy vests, or put them on a tote bag?

Just something fun to think about!

I did NOT eat the macaroni!

I had my usual breakfast yesterday, then for lunch the kids had macaroni and I didn't! I ate leftover chicken-chili stew, with no cheese and no tortilla chips. After lunch I had one chocolate chip cookie (with a glass of milk) and stopped there. I can't remember my snacks for certain -- I think I had raisins but I forget what else. For dinner we had pepperoni and green pepper pizza, and I ate one (largeish) slice and drank water. But we had a friend over later for beer because it was his birthday, and I had one beer and the remnants of the doritos -- I couldn't say how many chips, but it was probably about the same as the half ounce I had the previous day, based on the size of the handfuls. So I wasn't stellar yesterday but I wasn't terrible. It's all about portion control, not total food avoidance. If I turn down every beer and all the chips I'll be miserable and I won't stick to this.

We went to the gym yesterday and did 40 minutes on the upright bikes. Today I'm trying to figure out how to work in a trip -- I'll either go between piano and swim lessons or after swim lessons, depending on Daniel's plans. I'm determined to go one way or another.

Tomorrow I'm going to cheat. No two ways about it. I plan on having wine with dinner and maybe a beer afterwards, and I'm not going to go skimpy on the cake! It's only once a year, right?

My Reward

OK. I am still really proud of myself for actually LOSING weight this time - and not losing momentum so far - that I really DO want a reward for the little goals (five pounds in my case)! Julie (bad influance that she is... she really MUST be a sister because she is TOO much like me!) pointed me in the right direction yesterday. There is a whole line of REALLY NEAT sounding beauty products called Philosophy. Check these out - go to www.qvc.com click on the Beauty tab and then in the side bar on the left choose Philosophy down towards the bottom. I love that their fragrances are called state of grace. I love that their bath stuff is state of being. I love the look of the bottles. I love that their night cream is "When Hope is Not Enough" because their moisturizer is "Hope in a Jar." I love that their tag line is "For make-up optional skin." This is a line clearly designed for me! So this will be my treat source for my little losses.

Today I have to get a new scale for home. I like my current scale because it tells me that I am 206 right now - but I suspect that is a big lie. (Although I WAS hungry last night when I went to bed and I DIDN'T allow myself to go and root though the kitchen for a snack - Yay me!) I would like a good scale at home because three days a week I am here instead of at work, and I have really gotten into the daily weight thing.

Mom? Did you get a new scale yet? You are the only missing weight I have for yesterday. Katie hasn't posted hers, but she told me. Hopefully she will be posting soon...

After that I am off to the grocery store to stock up on healthy food again. We are down to one apple - no fresh veggies, and no milk. Whole grains are getting low too.

154.4

Isn't it nice how my weight drops the day of weigh-in? I've been 154.8 the past two days, so I was hoping for 154.6, but instead got a nice little extra drop. So again (and for real this time) I'm officially no longer overweight. I also noticed that the skirt I wore today zipped up more easily than it had the last time I wore it about a month ago.

I've hardly eaten at all today--cheerios and milk for breakfast (and coffee, of course), yogurt, crackers, and an apple for lunch, and almonds for a late snack. Plus a lot of water to drink. I also went for a brief walk at lunch today, but it hardly counts as exercise because I was wearing stupid pointy-toed high heels so couldn't really move very quickly. We're having veggie lasagna for dinner.

I successfully made chocolate chip cookies last night without eating even one of them. I didn't know that was possible!

Never Mind...

I just dug through emails and blog posts and have managed to come up with fairly reasonable weights for all of us on all weigh in days. For those of you with scale issues - or weird starting points - I either made something up, or back tracked on an average basis... Too bad I weigh SO much more than the rest of you... The only way to fit me on the chart is by squishing all the lines together.

As soon as I get weights from Sarah and Katie I will post the chart here. I wish I could figure out how to do this so there is a link straight to the excell document. Oh well - a weekly posting of the chart should do it I would think...

Graphs 101

OK Mom - and anyone else who isn't sure... The graphs I created are very easy to use. You simply type your weight in the box below the date and then the computer does the graph part. That is for the weekly ones... The daily ones you just type your weight in next to the date and, again - the computer does the work. Setting up a graph to begin with is tricky - but once it is done then maintaining it is super simple.

I want to do a chart that has a line for each of us - but I have long since lost track of all of our weights. Can you each send me your weekly weights for 9/6 (starting), 9/13, 9/20 and now 9/27. You can either email me or just post them here in a chunk. Julie - I know you joined us late - but you can just use your starting weight for the first week.

Thanks guys!

darn!

Yesterday when I vacuumed, I knocked the switch off my scales, and put it back in. I have done that a number of times and it worked, but this morning it wouldn't go on for either Dad or me. So I couldn't do weigh-in, after all my hard work yesterday!

Today I had too big a bowl of granola for breakfast, and then I spent the morning first sitting in a doctor's office with Dad, and then driving all the way to the Eastern Landfill to dump some asbestos shingles, so I didn't burn off much of anything. After lunch we went shopping at Sam's, and I ate a bite of a pocket thing and a bite of sausage, neither one of which was good for a diet! Then we went to Target and bought a new scale, so can I weigh in tomorrow instead?

I haven't done anything with the graphs Amy sent because I don't know how they work.

Now I am tired and have to do some cleaning. Tomorrow will be just as bad. Dad has an appointment for a stress test clear out on Liberty Road at 8:45, then we have to go to the bank. At two p.m. a lady is coming by about an annuity we were about to set up the day after he had his heart attack, so it will be late again when I get going on my housework. I miss the days when I could stay home all day every day for a week!

167.5!

I've been seeing 168 most of the week so I was very pleased to see 167.5 this morning. It's not as dramatic a loss as the previous week, but it's still a pound and a half, so I have no complaints. I'm still wearing my "fat" jeans (really my post-partum jeans -- I bought them after Alexander was born and wore them for about three or four months, and they haven't fit since) but they're definitely feeling a bit loose, and soon I'll get brave enough to try my real jeans again.

I've included my weekly chart -- I selected the whole chart in Excel and did Copy, and then I opened Paint and did Paste, and then I saved it as a jpg. Then in the Blogger editor I clicked on the add-image icon, and I uploaded the image using their dialogue (that's a medium image). Simple.

Question for Emily

Hey there!

Is there a way to put our loss charts on the blog? Maybe on the side bar. Or - at least a link to a file where we can see everyone's loss? I am with Julie... It would be nice to be able to see everyone's progress!

Let me know... I can set up the cummulative charts if you want.

OK - Weigh in day... and I am down to 210. OK - That isn't my LOWEST (that was 209.8 last Thursday...) but I am content with this since it is down from last week's weigh in. Granted, it is only about half of what they tell you to shoot for (1% of your body weight) BUT it is still trending downward. AND - I have officially PASSED the five pound mark. I am down 5.4 pounds. In three weeks that is actually a good rate.

I have decided that my GRAND scheme goals should be five pounds a month. That seems a little bit low, I know - but it is do-able and allows for a certain amount of backsliding. It also allows me to form new LIFE habits - as we keep talking about doing, rather than just dropping a whole bunch of weight for a little bit of time. Five pounds a month means I will be down 20 pounds by New Year's Eve - and 60 pounds (my ultimate goal) by next September. It has been 11 years since I have been that low. My lowest was 145-ish when Sarah got married. I remember mom saying to me that she never realized that I was "willowy." I REALLY liked the idea of being willowy and so I want to be that way again. ESPECIALLY with the styles the way they are. Clothes are really designed for willowy figures.

I was saying to Katie last night that where you all are hovering weight wise is ultimately my goal. I guess it doesn't hurt that I am a good 3 to 5 inches taller than you all are - but 3 to 5 inches shouldn't add another 50 pounds. BUT - on the flip side of that - when I weigh 149 I am about as skinny as I can be... So, I guess it is true that weight really is just a number. Boobs weigh a lot - and even when I am skinny I have big boobs. See Emily - we can cling to that!!!

Last night - stir fry on brown rice with spinach on the side for dinner. Boot Camp for exercise. I felt like I could do more - but Katie was whipped from the day at Genosea Valley - and I wasn't motivated enough to do another workout alone.

How exciting

164.5 for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I find that incredibly exciting.

First day of work

I forgot to take my snacks with me today, so I was worried that I would get horribly hungry at work with no way to deal with it. But I was fine all morning, hungry at lunch (sesame chicken salad--probably too much, but it was the healthiest thing I could find on the menu. I was doing well, too--ate the chicken (grilled) and the huge salad and virtuously left the breadstick, but it was taking my new boss so long to eat and I was feeling stupid just sitting there watching him eat, so I gave in and ate it), then I was ravenous by the time I got home, so I ate a handful of almonds to tide me over until dinner (broiled fish, peas, and some pasta side dish thing). I don't know what my calorie count for the day was, but I don't think I was too far off my goal, and I'm a bit peckish now, which is a good sign overall that I didn't eat too much. I'm getting ready to do my pilates video.

Good news about work: people really do take a lunch break, and no one would think it's strange for me to use the fitness center at lunch, so I'm going to try to get in one or two cardio sessions each week there in addition to my weekend sessions and nightly pilates.

Bad news about work: everyone has candy at their desk. Well, maybe not everyone, but I saw at least three candy dishes in the department and the woman I'm replacing has a bag of candy bars stashed in a drawer that she plans to leave behind. Heaven help me.

I met Dan Friedman, a chemistry professor who has been at Howard since 1970 and says he might know Dad. He said my name sounded familiar. Small world!

Doritos are lower-cal than tortilla chips!

I know this because I found myself desperately wanting something salty, so I compared the nutrition data on them, and the Doritos were ten calories and one gram of fat lower per ounce. So I ate half an ounce, and it took care of the salt craving.

I was pretty good today -- my usual breakfast of cereal (Raisin Bran -- tomorrow's weigh-in day), milk, and OJ (but not quite a full glass -- I didn't want to have to mix more), then lunch of yesterday's dinner leftovers (half a chargrilled chicken breast, some rice pilaf, and about half a breadstick -- Alexander helped himself to the rest). I had snacks of raisins and a banana. Dinner was leftover beef stew and a small slice of the bread machine bread, toasted with a bit of margarine. And milk to drink. Oh, and I had one nutter butter after lunch and one chocolate chip cookie after dinner -- there were so many cookies in the house so I'm glad I kept it to so few!

I spent 45 minutes on the bike at the gym and kept it at a level 6 all the way, yay, me! 346 calories, the machine said. I know I've lost one pound this week (if it stays gone tomorrow) but I'm hoping for more!

Monday evening

This morning I only weighed 149 pounds, which thrilled me, since last night I had pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, lima beans and salad for dinner. I did go easy on the portions, and although I sat in front of the TV watching three episodes of Mystery last night, I only had one Oreo cookie and a glass of skim milk for bedtime snack.

Since I didn't fall asleep until around one this morning, I didn't get myself out to weed. But I put in a vigorous day. I washed and folded three loads of wash, I dusted and vacuumed a bedroom and cleaned two bathrooms, and I raked up all the walnut leaves that have fallen in the back yard, bagged them, and then joined Dick in fertilizing the lawn. He did two thirds of the front, and I did the rest, front and back. Our spreader was rusted, so we did it by hand. I am gaining all sorts of new skills!

I had my usual breakfast and lunch, with half of a large apple instead of a banana, and for supper I had leftover pot roast, noodles with sparse gravy, mixed veggies and salad. You girls all put me to shame with your more interesting meals!

Off to put a heating pad on my aching back!

Today

Today I had total raisin bran for breakfast, a turkey, swiss and tomato sandwich for lunch with a small bag of chips and a pear, a banana for a snack, and the prosciutto chicken breast with egg noodles and stuffed tomatos for dinner. Dessert will be 2 oreos. I exercised today as well, but not as long as I wanted to because Joe got home early.

I hope to register a loss tomorrow. I feel like I have been doing better and the last few days my pyramid has been right on. We'll see!

Emily is right

It is easy at this point to let things slide... Especially on weekends. Katie and I - I know - have been keeping ourselves aware of what we are eating, even over the weekends. We are just aware that we are eating poorly! The one thing I have to say is that I am NOT yet bored with this diet!! Maybe it is because we are reporting in everyday - and to people we know very well. But it doesn't seem like it has already been three weeks. I am with Emily too that the longest I have stuck with a diet has been just a handful of weeks - 7 at one stint, 11 at another. Neither of them were wildly successful for me. This one seems different in that I am not expecting dramatic changes quickly. I am looking for life changes, and I think we are all off to a good start.

I agree too that NO ONE CAN QUIT! Especially since you all will be hitting your goals in plenty of time to wear sexy spring dresses and then bathing suits next summer. I will be lucky if I am in the overweight catagory instead of the obese one!

Life change... Yesterday afternoon I did the Kickboxing video, even though Katie wasn't there. It was still fun. Then I watched a movie and didn't eat a darn thing. I did, however, drink another cider. Luckily I think that was the last in the fridge - so I will be forced to be good now.

I weighed myself today and was still at last Tuesdays weight. This is good because so far on Mondays I have been at my high for the week (if you start weeks on Monday, which I do). I just have to be REALLY good today so I will be down again for tomorrow's official weigh-in.

Sunday night

What a weekend. I learned that when I get stressed I want to eat sweets -- I must not have been terribly stressed over the past couple of weeks, because I wasn't missing the sweets until I had to deal with the mess about my credit card. So yesterday I had my normal breakfast, lunch of tuna and toast (whole wheat, minimal margarine), and then three caramel kisses, two marshmallows (or was it three?), about ten chocolate chips and a handful of Heath bar pieces. Then popcorn for a snack -- kettle corn, by accident; it wasn't labeled -- but I kept that to a reasonable bowlful, not over half the bag! For dinner I had leftover chicken with broccoli and rice, and I was careful with the portion size. I can't remember eating fruit yesterday, other than my morning orange juice; I must have missed it because of the sweets. I think I had milk with dinner.

Today we had waffles and bacon for brunch, and I kept it to one and a half waffles and one and a half pieces of bacon, so that's an improvement. I had some milk a bit later. I had a couple of friends over for Stampin' Up, and I had food out for them, but I barely touched it -- I ate a couple of cubes of canteloupe while I was cutting it up but until the friends were gone that was it. Afterwards, I ate a bunch more canteloupe and a banana (more than making up for yesterday's lack of fruit) and I had four cookies (two nutter butters and two chocolate chip, shame on me) -- actually I ate the banana to put a stop to the cookies. And I had a handful of doritos. We went out for dinner tonight, and I very virtuously ordered chargrilled chicken, and I only ate half of it. And they were out of baked potatoes so I had rice, not fries, and I only ate a few bites of that. And one bite of the breadstick. Frankly it was a very bland dinner -- I meant to order the cajun seasoning but either I didn't say it or she didn't get it -- though the chicken was very tender so it wasn't terrible; but I thought "rice pilaf" might have a little flavor. The dinner also came with a caesar salad, but it was so heavy on the dressing that I only ate a few bites. In any case, I was stuffed when I quit eating despite having eaten less than half the food.

I beat myself up over the cookies and things like that, but the truth is I am continuing to make an effort. I usually don't pay attention to how much I'm eating, but I'm sure it would have been a lot more than four cookies, and a lot more than one handful of chips, and I would have ordered a beer with dinner and gotten some kind of alfredo pasta, because, hey, we're eating out, so it doesn't count, right? And I would have inhaled the caesar salad and still stuffed myself with dinner even though I wouldn't have been hungry by then, because I wouldn't have wanted to waste the fresh food.

I didn't exercise today -- I did have that aborted attempt yesterday and I'll be back at it tomorrow. I had been thinking I'd try the Pilates class today since Body Flow failed yesterday, but the stamping event didn't end until about 15 minutes before the class was to start, which didn't leave me enough time to get changed and get there. And I was too pooped anyway. I still got more exercise in the past week than I've had in any week in years!

I feel like we're hitting the hard part now. We've been at the diet long enough that the novelty is wearing off, and it's so easy to pat one's self on the back and just let a few things slide, and before you know it you've started letting whole days or weekends slide, and then suddenly it's all over. But I think an important rule of this blog has to be nobody is allowed to quit. We need to keep coming back and reminding ourselves that we are trying to get healthy; we're not trying to get a quick fix, we're trying to change our lives and our habits permanently. The good thing about doing this with close friends and family is that we'll be missed if we try to disappear, and if we give up we have to admit it to all those people we see all the time. There will certainly be backslides, but maybe by meeting up in this forum we can prevent them from going on for months or years at a time.

My most successful diet ever was in 1998, where I lasted through roughly six weeks of counting food portions and sticking to a strict 1200-1400 calorie diet. I lost about ten pounds and kept it off for about five months. It was starting to creep back on, but then I went on a medication that made me sick at first and continued to kill my appetite longer-term, and I was on that until I got pregnant, so I did actually keep the weight off and never gained it back except while pregnant. Since then I've been either pregnant or nursing for all but two or three months, and at one fabulous point I weighed 17 pounds less than I do now, thanks to a Lent of no sweets whatsoever while I was nursing a one-year-old -- so maybe that was my most successful diet ever! The point is, I've never lasted longer than six weeks (six and a half, I guess, if you count Lents). This time it needs to be more, and I need you guys to stick around and drag me kicking and screaming, if necessary, through this!

Blisters

This happened last weekend, too. After my walk on Saturday, my feet were fine. After my Sunday walk, I was riddled with blisters all over my toes. This week I took preventative action and put bandaids on the toes that got blisters last week (they had already healed), but I ended up with blisters in three new spots. After looking it up online, I'm afraid my only option might be to get new shoes and better socks. I've had these shoes for a few years and never had a problem before, so I think I'll start with better socks.

After skipping breakfast yesterday, I still ended up eating over 1300 calories (all from healthy sources). Today I skipped breakfast again (I don't mean to, it just seems to happen that way on weekends), had a turkey sandwich for lunch, cottage cheese and pears for snack, and am planning grilled chicken and spinach salad for dinner.

My challenge this week will be to avoid stress eating--I'm starting a new job, Brian won't be home in the evenings, and I'll have PMS. This could be bad. Oh, and I have to bake cookies for a school bake sale, just to make the temptation that much worse!

Weekend Roundup

Hey All!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It was a busy weekend (except for today) and not a great one as far as eating and exercise go.

Friday Katie and I went up to the bluegrass festival in Arcadia - and had a great time (well, at least I did - I assume she did too since she was smiling and laughing most of the time). I was pretty good with my food intake on Friday. I had my usual whole grain cereal with skim milk, and fruit snack. I had a reduced fat p,b & pickle sandwich for lunch. I had a yogurt when I got home from work (a little after 4 since I was going to Arcadia). Then - at the festival I had about 2 1/2 ciders. We went home for dinner around 7:30 and I had brown rice and pulled pork with snow peas. I wasn't really that hungry since I had been drinking. Then we went BACK to Arcadia (good thing it is close) and I drank about another 2 1/2 ciders. Ugh - empty calories - but I was really thirsty - and I had forgotton my water... and campfires, and music and all that stuff. I really couldn't help it. Around about midnight we decided that hot dogs over the fire sounded like a REALLY good idea. So I had one of those too. I didn't have the cookies that were passed around however. I came home around one smelling like a very smoky fire.

Saturday was Heathers wedding. I slept late and then rushed to make her a card, get dressed and leave for the wedding (which was at noon). I didn't eat anything before that (bad bad me!) We ended up getting lost and not allowing enough time to get to Bel Air - so we totally missed the ceremony! I am SO upset over that. She had a tea for her reception - with yummy finger sandwiches, and scones, and mini desserts. I did pretty good... I did, however, drink again - blue raspberry martinis. They were yummy too! I had about three I think. I caught the bouquet - but the taller bridesmaid behind me snatched it out of my hands. Sigh - story of my life... Oh well - I teased her about stealing my bouquet the rest of the afternoon - and at least I didn't have to go through the garter ritual then. 8-b

Katie and I napped instead of exercised yesterday afternoon - and then had repeats of Fridays dinner. We went to the Friendly Inn for more bluegrass music and ONCE AGAIN drank a couple of mixed drinks. At least they are small at the Friendly.

Today I have been a big slug - after church I had yogurt and grapenuts. Then I had an egg sandwich for lunch. I went to the grocery store and spent my last $$$ on fruit and cottage cheese and other healthy lunch stuff. I also ate another pop tart - and have had the WORST reflux all afternoon. WHY do I do that????

I am now all geared up to do some aerobics - which I desparately need!

I hope to get back on track by tomorrow - and hopefully will reverse the negative affects of this weekend before I have to weigh in on Tuesday.

Saturday and Sunday

This was the first weekend in a really long time that I didn't binge the second that I was bored. Yesterday I had oatmeal for breakfast, leftover chicken parmesan for lunch and a ham salsd sandwich and a pear for dinner. I also had a cosmo last night made with cranberry juice and that Bacardi mixed berry stuff the Sex and the City chick pushes on the TV commercials. Sandra & I went to the Boyds Bear Country in Gettysburg because Longaberger was there this weekend making baskets. You could even buy the 2 baskets that are sold only in Dresden. It was fun, and that place in nuts! Three floors of Boyds teddy bears. I came home with one named Mr. Fuzzball.

Today was equally ok. Same breakfast, ham salad sandwich for lunch with a pear, and 4 oreos for a snack with some milk. Dinner will probably be a salad with a tomato sandwich.

I also exercised both days. That is impressive for me since I tend to turn into an absolute slug on the weekends. My weight was down this morning. I hope it stays that way for weigh in day!

Sunday

The last two days my weight-loss project dropped way down in my priorities because Dick has been sick. He spent Friday night in the hospital, but I brought him home Saturday. So my meals were catch-as-catch can. Sarah brought us delicious sandwiches to the hospital, and I ate a half of a big sandwich. When I went home, however, I had milk and three cookies!

Saturday I ate my usual breakfast and lunch, and for supper we had cold salmon, rice with chicken stock, parsley and onion, and mixed vegetables and salad. I had a glass of skim milk at bedtime and a cookie. Oh, I had a lrge free cookie at Sam's in the morning.

This morning I was 149.5 ! Yipee!

Wegman's

I was just checking Wegman's web site, and they have a lot of menus for weight control:
http://www.wegmans.com/eatwelllivewell/healthyEating/dailyMenus.asp

I look forward to their opening in Hunt Valley next weekend. Gucci Giant, look out!

Darn it! Well, I tried!

I went to the gym today to take a class called "Body Flow." It's an hour-long combination of yoga, tai chi, and Pilates. I was 25 minutes into it and feeling great (although alarmed at the sight in the mirror -- my rear end was twice the size of any other in the room) when the sitter came and pulled me out of class, because Cecilia was crying and wouldn't quit. Even I had a hard time calming her -- she didn't want to eat and didn't want to be rocked and didn't seem to get it that Mommy was there! But eventually I got her to nurse, and she got calm and sleepy, and when it seemed like she was permanently calmed I handed her off. Within 15 seconds she was back to wailing, and she wouldn't even go into the swing. So I had to go back to class and retrieve my shoes -- carrying Cecilia! -- and we left. As soon as I had her in the car seat and was obviously preparing to leave she cheered up, and then she fell asleep on the way home. Grr.

And now my credit card number has been stolen!!!!!!!!!! Just got a call from a company asking if I'd used it with them today. Nope! What a pain. I've canceled the card, of course, but what a day!

Boring post

I can't remember when I last posted. I've been very good at sticking to exercise--Thursday night I did the pilates abs workout (this was the third time I've done it, but for some reason, this time it nearly killed me--I was sweating after just a few minutes, and it really isn't a very difficult workout!) then followed up with some upper body exercises with free weights. Friday I did the pilates lower body workout and then some triceps exercises (I figure that at this rate my arms will start looking really good just when it gets too cold to wear short sleeves). This morning I went for a three mile walk, keeping up a 4.1 m.p.h. pace (wearing the world's fanciest pedometer, also known as a GPS--at least I know *exactly* how far I've gone and how fast! I'm such a geek.) and later I'll do another pilates video.

I haven't been so consistent in the food--I was fine Thursday and stuck to my usual diet, but yesterday I went over my calorie limit. My meals were good (cereal with blueberries, cottage cheese and pineapple, grapes, and pretzles for lunch, half of a *big* turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and cheese and an apple for dinner) but then I snacked on part of a big cookie at lunch (a last-day-of-work treat from the women I worked with), two Hershey's mini bars, and microwave popcorn at bedtime. Today I haven't eaten anything yet because I haven't gotten around to it--Connor had us up at 3 a.m. so I took the first shift and then slept through my normal breakfast time. I didn't want to eat right before my walk, so I put it off and now it's lunchtime and all I've had is two cups of coffee. Exercise seems to diminish my appetite for the hour or so after I'm done.

I was 155 even again this morning, but I think if I stick to my diet the next three days and keep working out, I might be able to get down a bit before our weigh-in on Tuesday.

Miles to go before I sleep

I missed posting yesterday and Thursday. I have an excuse for Thursday -- after school Mary had Brownies and I worked out, and then we came straight home and ate dinner, and then I was right back out for choir, and then home again for the kids' bedtime, and then all the chaos with trying to get the Baptism sorted out. Thursday evening I had a beer and some tortilla chips with cheese dip -- Daniel and I were so grouchy that we both headed for the comfort food! I restrained myself from overeating, though; normally I eat the dip until I'm nearly sick. I probably had more than a dozen chips, though. I paid for it on the scale yesterday morning, but it wasn't dramatic, and today I'm back to where I was.

On Thursday when I worked out I decided to try something other than the cycles, so I used a stairmaster-y thing with ski-type handles (not as complicated as it sounds) for 30 minutes. I don't think the workout was as good as the cycles, but it was weight-bearing (better for my bones!) and it at least used arms a little. The arm things were more of a nuisance than a workout, though, so yesterday Daniel and I went back to the cycles. We talked about doing toning instead, since he had a date to go running with a friend after the gym, but then our favorite bikes were open, and going to the weight room means being in front of a bunch of people who are actually in shape and know what they're doing with the equipment, so we ended up on the bikes anyway. (And he still went running later!) Since I had worked out the previous two days, I was feeling quite tired, and when I put the level at a 6 my thighs started to burn -- not in a good way, but in an eating-up-muscle way -- so I put it back down to a 5 and kept it there for the whole 40 minutes. Not that that's bad; that's still way better than my starting point!

Anyway, after three days of exercise in a row I've logged many miles of staying still. I think I'm going to have to start charting the route across the US or something. I was planning on taking today off and just doing toning at home, but Mary left her social studies binder at the gym, so we have to go back for it, and if I have to go there anyway, I might as well exercise. Oh, phooey! I just realized it's a game day and there won't be anywhere to park, but it's too far to walk. I'll have to think about that. We might have to go right away -- game time isn't for six hours yet. But I'll log some miles today somehow.

I ate much better yesterday than Thursday -- no beer or chips! I had ham and lettuce on whole wheat for lunch, plus a few cucumber slices (should have been more, but the kids discovered them and ate almost all of them), two bananas for snack (post-exercise -- I was only going to eat one, but they were small and Alexander didn't want his, and they were *so* good that I didn't want to see his go to waste), and meatloaf with dill sauce for dinner, with sides of partly whole-wheat bread machine bread and a salad. And milk to drink. I didn't have dessert; for the first time in aeons it simply didn't occur to me!

Today we're making blackberry muffins (Alexander's doing -- he would not be put off another day) but I'm going to eat just ONE. And I used skim milk and a third whole wheat flour, so I can pretend they're healthy. ;)

This week has been a good one and I have you all to thank for it

I have successfully avoided the snack machine at work every single day this week. I did get 2 diet sodas on 2 different days, but I did not buy a single thing of junk food to get me through the mid afternoon stress period. It may not seem like much, but that darn vending machine was out to get me. The one day I did go to get something since I skipped breakfast, it stole my money. Just wasn't meant to be! I will work next week at avoiding the soda machine.

Today I had the nutty flake cereal for breakfast with 2% milk (Blech! Giant was out of 1%), Qdobas chicken taco salad for lunch and probably will have a grilled cheese or another bowl of cereal for dinner. I didn't even snack today. I ate about 2/3 of the taco salad. It was really good. I don't doubt it was loaded with calories, but I am happy to report I didn't have any other extraneous ones to add onto it, so I don't think I faired too badly with my calorie bank account.

I came home and planted ten pansies in the back flower bed, a hydrangea in the front bed and moved a few periennels from their current homes to more appropriate ones. Then I cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom, and vaccumed the living room. I may get crazy and do some laundry a little later as well. My exciting Friday night...

Overall, a good week for me. The scale will tell on Tuesday, but I am grateful that you all are helping me stay accountable!!! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

The Scale Must Be Broken!

I am down to 209.4!!! Woo-hoo! I really expected to get on the scale and have it be up. For some reason I was feeling fat - but NOPE! That kickboxing really pays off. So does NOT getting up for a bedtime snack at 11pm.

SIX POUNDS total so far! Granted, this isn't official weigh-in day, and I KNOW that weight has extreme ups and downs - but STILL - SIX POUNDS! That - I think was the total amount I lost over seven weeks when I did Body for Life several years ago. Now - I do know with that I was getting in MUCH better shape - my butt wasn't quite as floppy then - but from sheer poundage this is much better. Also - when I did Jenny Craig the first time (the only time it really worked) the total I lost was 13 pounds - again over about 10 weeks.

The best thing so far is that this time doesn't seem like it is torture. I don't MIND saying no to goodies, and I have really been enjoying the veggies. The exercise has been sort of fun - and not too hard to be consistent about.

I know it is too soon to really judge - but I think this time might actually be the one that works. I DON'T feel like I am on a diet - I just feel like I am forming much more positive habits.

It must be that tapping thing Katie and I did to quit smoking. Now - all of my electrons, or whatever, are aligned and so my life is coming together too. 8-)

150.5

I was glad this morning to see that I had gone back to 150.5! I went out at 7:30 and weeded for an hour, but most of the weeding was in various pots that had been sitting in the driveway, so It wasn't as hard. I got rid of the weeds and dumped the dirt from the pots into the compost. Then I did climb the hill and pull some really huge weeds; surprisingly they had very small roots and came right up! After I got rid of most of the pots in the driveway I swept it up, so I was out about another fifteen minutes.
For breakfast I only had granola and milk--we were out of orange juice! Dad and I took a walk after breakfast, and another one before supper. For lunch I had yogurt and the last very small brownie, and a small banana. Snack was 9 almonds, and dinner was very sensible--a small baked potato with a bit of salt and Smart Balance, some broiled salmon, green beans and salad, and a fairly small slice of canteloupe for dessert. I will have another bowl of cereal before bedtime because I am really quite hungry.

I cana't think of a reward I want! I am spoiled enough already!

Exercise...

I forgot to mention I didn't exercise today. I managed to injure myself in my sleep...I woke up with a HORRIBLE cramp in my calf and it is still hurting. If it doesn't ease up by tomorrow I may even go to the doctor just to make sure nothing else is wrong in there. I am not sure what set it off but it hurt so incredibly bad I couldn't even stand on it when I first got up.

My Day

I haven't itemized yet, but today I think I over indulged. Breakfast was some honey nut flake thing (I let Joe pick out the cereal this week), lunch was turkey and swiss on wheat, yogurt, the small bag of potato chips, and a peach. Snacks today were an apple and a tootsie pop. But dinner threw me over I think--let's dish chicken parmesan with a glass of white wine and a serving of apple crisp for dessert. But I must say it was delicious and I am not really even feeling guilty about it because I truly enjoyed it.

I'm not sure how I'll reward myself when I hit the 5 lb mark. Maybe a facial or something like that? That's a big present though, but it might be nice to have the first reward be a big one. Maybe some lia sophia jewelry...

That's What I want to know

I asked a few posts back what we wanted to do for a reward system. As I said - I work towards gold stars... My problem is I can't think of anything I want that is physical. Usually - and not to sound greedy or anything - if there is anything that I want, I get it. Sometimes I will make myself wait - especially around the holidays. But this is one of the joys and disappointments of being forever single. I know no one else will get me spontaneous presents (Katie sometimes excluded) so I get them myself - but, then I am never surprised.

So - hopefully, we should all be hitting the 5 pound mark soon... I need a suggestion of something special that I can do. I don't want to get clothes - I am not at my skinniest yet. I HAVE all of the scrapbook supplies. I could get a pedicure - but sandal season is winding down. What I would love is to have a professional house cleaning - but that is something I would have to do to reward myself at 20 pounds or something...

Sigh.

What's your motivation?

One of the things I read in Fitness magazine said that the motivation to stick with a diet/exercise routine just for the sake of losing weight or being healthy will last just about four weeks--not nearly long enough to keep most people going for the long time necessary for most weight loss. They suggested finding other rewards that are more tangible and that don't require you to hit your final goal--like treat yourself to a pedicure for every five pounds lost. Lauren Sue, the woman who got into shape and lost 70 pounds with pilates, said that she rewarded herself every day, sort of, by not allowing herself to get on the internet until she had exercised.

I think it would be easier to pass up the tempting brownies or the vending machine food (or the Twizzlers in the kitchen in my case) if you have something to look forward that is more easily attainable. I'm using Twinkling H2O's--I've wanted more than the tiny set I have for a couple of years, so my original plan was to get myself new colors when I hit 150. Now that 150 pounds is further away, I'm going to reward myself with them when I've lost five pounds (starting with the 157 weight). I'll either set a new reward for myself or just stick with more paint sets after that time, probably a smallish reward for every five pounds, or roughly once a month if I stick with steady weight loss.

So think about what you'd like your reward to be (can't be food or drink!) and post it here so we all know what you're working for.

Not So Bad

I keep doing that too Sarah! I think I have had a horrible day, but when I start to itemize it isn't actually so bad. Usually one indiscretion is all it takes to make you feel like the day is shot. For me yesterday it was the idea of going out to lunch (although I did a really good job with that one) and then the trip to Coldstone.

I guess that is a good sign. We have become so hyper-aware of what we are eating that the things we know are not the best choices really leap out at us.

Slug Day

Yesterday was supposed to be my one day midweek when I would do an aerobic workout, but it didn't work out that way (get it? Workout work out? I'm such a loser.). Instead, it was slug day--I didn't move and I didn't even eat very well. I had *two* pieces of pizza for lunch then ate my whole dinner of grilled tandori chicken, couscous, and cole slaw (with vinagrette dressing at least). Actually, now that I look at it, it was just the lunch that was more than I needed. I had hoped to go for a walk either before or after dinner, but I didn't--Brian had brought a new video (to remain nameless) home for me and Claire so we watched that after work instead of exercising. I had stopped at the Girl Scout store on the way home from work to get Claire her Brownie vest, so I then spent most of the evening after dinner and after the kids went to bed ironing and sewing on patches. I still have six or seven more to go, but need yellow thread to do them. But I got the important ones on for her meeting today. Oh, and there was the emergency naso-pickle extraction as a further distraction in the evening. At least life isn't boring!

Isn't that cool what I did adding that link? I hope it works!

So then I planned to get up early this morning to get in a pilates workout so that I could go walking tonight, but instead I hit the snooze button. Twice.

Nonetheless, my weight was down a bit today--155 even--so I'm still on track.

I'm alive!!

But I've been binging on ice cream and guinness all week, so I didn't feel like I should post. Hee hee! Just kidding. I've been very good this week, after a HUGE backslide over the weekend, which was described by everyone else, so I won't elaborate--sufice it to say I was hoping that by ridding myself of the alcohol calories I ingested by putting them straight back into the toilet, head first, would keep me from gaining a bunch, but it didn't work. I was up a pound on Monday to 155.25. *sigh* Since then I've been holding steady at 155, until today when I was down to 154.25 again.

Sorry I haven't been a more active post-er here. I do manage to get on every day and read the updates, but I just don't have the time normally to sit down and post! What's it like to have a job that lets you spend time at a computer? This week has been particularly busy, because of choir really getting up and going. I have 73 fourth and fifth graders in choir this year!! But I digress.

So here I am with my only break today eating at my desk instead of in the faculty lounge (technically I'm not allowed food in my room, but with trying to eat two meals and two snacks while at school, I just really can't follow that rule). I'm eating a turkey and cheese sandwich with a LOT of lettuce, and BOY is it good! I've already had yogurt with grape nuts today, and some pistachios and some grapes. I still have more of each of those, as well as cottage cheese, V8 and applesauce to kill off before dinner.

Amy's kept y'all posted on our exercise routines. Last night it took me a good half hour to get my hips to face the right direction again after that ballet routine. I had to waddle around like a penguin for a bit. We are just NOT cut out to be ballerinas! More than the diet and weight loss, I feel like the exercise is making a huge difference. I was looking at my legs last night and there was definitely less wiggle and jiggle and bubble in my thighs, and more definition in my calves. And Charles said he thinks my arms are getting more toned already (but he could have just been trying to get me to have a beer with him). =)

So that's all for now. I will try to get on more often. Sorry for my delay!!

Ballerina Butt

Last night was lower body toning for Katie and me. We decided to do the 10 Ballet segment on my new DVD. Katie said it afterwards - "Now I know why ballerinas walk the way they do!" It was HARD! It looked so effortless - but I can assure you that my muscles don't work that way - and my arms! Sorry - I couldn't make them relax and gracefully float in conjunction with my legs! The instructor assured us that it will get easier with time - but I am thinking - a LOT of time. Tonight is aerobics again and I think I may try the boot camp. It is a lot of push ups and stuff - so I will probaby have to modify so I can do them.

OK - Coldstone yesterday... They have a Sinless Sweet Cream - that is fat free, and made with Splenda - YUCK! I opted for the lemon sorbet and had strawberries, almonds and graham crackers added. It was VERY good - ok - still way off the diet - but as treats go, it wasn't bad.

I binged again last night on Pop Tarts. I don't know why I do that. The reflux I get is NOT worth it.

I am back on track today and said no thank you to the bagels and cream cheese, and was perfectly content with my cereal and skim milk.

Too busy to eat

How many times can I start with "I had my usual breakfast"? Sheesh. Well, I did. For lunch I had macaroni and cheese again -- I do measure the portions, at least. I had planned on fixing something else for myself and just letting the kids eat the M&C but when I got to cooking it the pasta and saltinesss really appealed to me, so I gave up and ate some.

I was at it all day today -- on preschool days the time flies by, and I lose a lot of time to driving back and forth, plus most of Mary's subjects right now require direct interaction from me (anything that doesn't I hand her to do in the car). So by the time I stopped and took a breath it was after four, at which point I realized I hadn't had any snacks all day, so I grabbed a handful of raisins.

After the trip to the gym (another 40 minutes on the bike -- I've got the level pushed up to a 6 for most of it now, when I started at about a 3 last week. I don't think my fitness has improved that much but it's not so much of a shock to my muscles anymore) I had a banana, and then we had more of the chicken-chili stew with tortilla chips and a sprinkling of cheese. And a glass of milk. We haven't snacked or had dessert in the meantime, and the TV is off! I'm getting a bit hungry, though; I may have to scare up something healthy for before bedtime. I wish I could convince myself that a carrot would be appealing!

Milk?

I have started using the pyramid tracker, and it is extremely helpful. Come to find out I do not eat enough dairy. I hate to drink milk, I only use enough on my cereal to make it wet and I never drink what's left in the bowl. And I always skip the cheese on things. I think I'll have to look into finding a yogurt I'll eat. I go through phases with yogurt though. Sometimes it is so delicious and other times I can hardly choke it down. Maybe I'll get some exciting looking cheese at the grocery store and plan for it as a snack.

A good day?

Today seems like it has beena good day for me. I was so busy at work I didn't even think about food. I had yucky toast fo breakfast--I'm not really sure what went wrong with it, but since I can manage to screw up even the easiest to make food, it doesn't surprise me. Lunch was chicken salad on a croissant and the 25 cent bag of cheetos and a bottle of water. Then dinner was half of a let's dish pork chop, some green beans and a few bites of mashed potatos--the fake kind, and somehow those got lumpy. (I really can't cook) I am getting ready to go have some apple crisp I made from a recipe in Cooking Light magazine. The orchard up the street had gorgeous apples Sunday so I bought some. I could hardly wait to make the apple crisp.

Bad day

I had another brownie and more milk at bedtime last night. Despite the fact that I had weeded for an hour yesterday and taken one walk, slightly longer than we were doing at first, this morning my weight was up to 152. Darn! My own fault!. I switched to Honey Nut Shredded Wheat this morning, with milk and orange juice to round out the menu. Dad had avideostroboscopy at GMBC (fascinating to watch his vocal chords move as he vocalized), and then we went to Trader Joe's, where I ate a bite of pumpkin bread (delicious) and a give-away Chocolate Cip Dunker. At least they weren't giving out samples at the pet store, where we bought 20 pounds of cat food!

For lunch I had yogurt, milk and, yes, two little brownies, and later, a banana and five almonds. (I need to toast more almonds.)

I'm discouraged. I'm falling off the wagon too much.

What has happened with Katie? She hasn't posted in a long time!

I should have skipped the bratwurst!

Just for the record, the bratwurst sat in my stomach like a rock so I really regretted having eaten it! I'm planning on being much more virtuous today. Daniel also asked if we could get the office cleaned up so we could sit in there in the evenings -- if he's in front of the TV, he turns it on, and if he turns it on, he starts thinking about eating, and then if he eats, I eat. So we're going to nip the whole problem in the bud by not sitting in front of the TV.

I forgot to post yesterday that I did exercise -- I got Jane out and did the upper body segment. It was too easy -- I was left feeling like I hadn't had much of a workout on my arms. It's only 15 minutes. I don't know if I should do it twice, or if increasing the weights would make it worthwhile. But the weights I was using felt good on individual reps; I really think it just needs to be longer. Starting next week I have to figure out a new schedule -- Mary has swimming at about the same time Daniel and I usually workout on Wednesdays. Maybe I can talk him into workouts on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then on Wednesdays I can do the wimpy toning at home.

I have to post this -- Alexander is sitting on the floor, tunelessly chanting, "Fun-fun-fun-fun-fun-fun-fun-fun 'til Daddy took the T-bird awayyyyeeee!" It was stuck in my head one day a few months ago and he picked up on it then, but why it should show up now, I have no idea!

The TV Kicked My Butt

OH! I forgot to mention that Katie and I got our new work out videos. We did the kickboxing segment last night (and a few minutes of the boot camp). It was only 10 minutes but it seemed to do the trick. It was FUN too! Katie and I laughed the whole way through - mostly because we are absolute spaz-s! I really did feel like the TV was beating me up - and won too!

Chocolate Cake - Sigh

Yesterday was a good day for me. Even with the temptation of pizza at lunch and some of the richest chocolate cake you have ever seen. I did what people are supposed to do! I had one piece of pizza and a VERY skinny slice of cake. I ate the cake taking microscopic bites - and it was enough. I didn't finish eating before everyone else and I didn't feel TOO tempeted to have more. I also informed the rest of the group that a serving size was 1/30th of the cake!

Then I skipped my sandwich at lunch time, but ate my cheese, fruit and veggies. THEN - at about 4:30 I went into my eat everything in sight mode. The cake was still sitting in our area. So - with my usual lack of resistance - I had another VERY skinny slice. I would guess that my two slices combined were about the 1/30th allotment.

Today we had a going away lunch for Lynne Tuccy at Macaroni Grill. I resisted the bread - mostly. I had two or three small bites the entire lunch. I drank water - lots of it. I don't usually finish my glass of water - but this time I drank three. For my entree I ordered something called a "Skinny Chicken." It was a grilled chicken breast on a bed of steamed spinach with low fat feta and tomatoes. You know - I enjoyed it. I WANTED lots of pasta and cheese - but I didn't miss it once I tasted my yummy chicken. This afternoon Kristy and I are meeting a guy who used to work at TESSCO who has been nagging us to go to Coldstone. We told him today was a good day. I don't quite know how I will handle this. I know I have to have some icecream (to be polite don't you know...) I COULD have it with fruit - but it isn't the fillers that are the problem - it is the icecream to start. I can't remember - they may have a yogurt version. Well - I do plan on eating just a portion of my small size and throwing the rest away - but I HATE that sort of waste. Sigh. I will let you know how I handle it.

Yesterday was easy

I was having (to put it delicately) bowel troubles all morning, so didn't feel much like eating anything. We were out of milk, so I had a boiled egg and whole grain toast (no butter--not because I'm virtuous but because our butter was turning pink and blue, and I'm sure it's not supposed to be that color) for breakfast and the same sandwich for lunch that I had for dinner the day before (not the SAME sandwich, but the same ingredients!) and grapes. I only got hungry again around 7 p.m. when Amy and Katie rescued me with some wheat thins (that I had to share with Connor). Dinner was just fruit salad and string cheese. Weird, I know, but it was what I was in the mood for and I got home so late that I didn't feel like cooking, especially with just Connor and myself in the house.

I did the pilates lower body workout last night--it uses a resistance band and it felt great. I mean, it hurt like hell while I was doing it, but you could really feel it working in muscles you didn't know you have.

Ate too much!

I had my usual breakfast today, and for lunch I had 3/16th of last night's pizza and milk, an Oreo and, later, a half an apple. Then I had a committee meeting with dinner tonight, and I ate a sandwich from Bertucci's--a chicken filet on lettuce with Portobello mushrooms, I think, and something crunchy. Really good! I also drank a gingerale and had two of my brownies, and when I got home I had another with a glass of milk. The brownies were small, by the way. The trouble is, I am still hungry and it is bedtime---

Where's Katie??

Katie, you need to post your weight! We miss you!

Another day of food almost too ordinary to report, though I didn't eat enough. I had my normal breakfast. For lunch I had I grilled ham and cheese sandwich (less ham than usual, fat free cheese, and less margarine than I would normally use -- and, what do you know, it was plenty of margarine), but the fat free cheese had the texture of glue, with less flavor, so I gave up and ate one slice of the bread and the ham. I had an apple for a snack, and then a small portion of chips and salsa before dinner. Dinner was Swedish meatloaf with dill sauce (from the Heart Assoc. cookbook -- delicious and lowfat!), plus baked potatoes and green beans; I ate a smallish slice of the meatloaf and less than half the potato and had to give up, because I was too full! Milk to drink. This evening I was about to have a beer when I realized I was just wanting something cold to drink, so I had some water and forgot about the beer (until just now, but I'm not craving it anymore).

While I was typing this, Daniel produced some bratwurst, so I had a half a one on a bun, since I was getting hungry. Definitely not healthy, but also definitely not a frequent occurrence. Mypyramid says I'm still short on calories for today! Not on fat, though. Remarkably, I'm low on grains, after my rant on my cravings! Hmmm... think I'll go have a piece of toast to finish off the day.

I would definitely get voted off the ranch this week...

Good job to all of you! We need to start a spreadsheet that adds up all of our starting weights and keeps track of the total weight loss like the Big Loser TV show. I hate to admit I have been watching that since I have taken a public oath to NEVER WATCH REALITY TV. It is a bit inspiring to hear the contestants individual stories. Especially the man that is the dr on the current show. Now if we could just come up with $250,000 to give to the biggest loser...

I didn't change. Still 166. But at the same time, I know it is 90% because I didn't put the effort into it that I needed to and 10% the monthly act of God Amy was talking about. I predict next weign in day will show a larger loss for me because by next Tuesday my body will stop acting like a sponge with every liquid I drink. I look awful today too...I think frumpy is the technical term.

I need to find a way to stop eating myself out of stressful situations. Do any of you do this? Work has recently left me frazzled, and food is just so comforting. Gotta stop that or maybe see if lettuce or carrots gives me the same warm & fuzzy feeling as some form of sugar. And it is all such a crappy cycle because I am stressed, so I eat, then I am stressed again because I ate!

Do you think drinking Crystal Light will kill me? They have the little packets at work that you mix into your water bottle and yesterday I drank two whole bottles of adulterated water and I'll probably hit three before I leave today at the rate I am going.

Food yesterday was ok. Same old cheerios for breakfast, pasta for lunch (I even measured the portions!) a banana as a snack in the morning, an apple in the afternoon, and a tootsie pop to meet my daily chocolate requirements. Dinner was random stuff at a pocketbook party. I am not really sure how that food adds up--it was marinated olives, rotini with baby bellas and sun dried tomatos, bruschetta and lady fingers for dessert. Lots of flour that's for sure. One thing was good--I didn't totally pig out and I controlled the grazing to just the olives, eating them one at a time.

Today as been the same. I even packed the same lunch. Not sure what is on tap for dinner yet though. I'll have to assess that situation when I get home.

Exercise for today included taking the steps in the parking garage, and I have a date with Denise Austin later this afternoon.

I FEEL like I have lost weight

You know - I know the amount is SO not impressive at this point - less than 5 pounds (2% of my total weight) but for some reason I FEEL like I look better. Granted, at certain times of the month I look better - we all do. It is part of God great hormonal/reproductive plot. And it COULD be that is all it is. But maybe not. Maybe I am marginally skinnier. Maybe my muscles are fractionally firmer. Maybe my skin is a tiny bit clearer (although that was probably because of Arbonne...) Even if it isn't true - I FEEL good today. I want to keep feeling this way -and so I will force down my veggies - I will skip (maybe) the pizza for lunch - and I will work out after work again.

The neat thing this time around is that this has been going on for two weeks and I don't feel like I am suffering at all. It may actually TAKE this time. 8-)

My weigh-in, too

For some reason I seem to weigh more than I expect following exercise days, so I was bracing myself for my weight to be up again this morning. But it wasn't!! I weighed 169.0 -- the lowest number I've seen since I was pregnant!

Yesterday Daniel and I cycled at the gym again, and I put the machine at a higher level than I have the past couple of times. It felt great, and I burned more calories (according to it -- but I don't completely believe it, since the higher level on the recline cycle feels easier than the same level on the upright cycle, and it seems to base calories burned entirely on weight and level of difficulty). Today I'm planning to dig out Jane Fonda and do the upper body weight training on there; it's a segment I've always enjoyed doing.

My food yesterday was reasonable but almost too boring to report. I had the usual breakfast, a sandwich for lunch (I tried fat-free cheese but I also had lettuce and I discovered I couldn't even tell the cheese was there, so next time I'll leave it off), a quarter of a canteloupe (on sale this week!), and chicken-chili stew for dinner (low fat except for the cheese I put on top of it, and yummy) with tortilla chips. I had a very small scoop of orange sherbet for dessert (fat-free and tasty, and sweet enough to take care of my craving even in a small serving) followed by a banana because I was hungry an hour later. Oh, I had a glass of milk with lunch, but I drank a small glass of white wine with dinner -- it just looked really good to me!

We've inspired Daniel -- not only is he keeping me company at the gym, but he has started weigh-ins. He's not reporting the numbers to me, though! But he's setting his own goals.

I agree with Sarah's post yesterday that this shouldn't be about meeting a certain weight by a certain deadline but about making lifestyle changes that will persist even after the weight is gone. That's sort of why I keep having ice cream and sherbet every night -- I don't feel so bad about having it, because I know I have room for the calories, but I feel guilty when I report it!

The real change I've been working on making so far is in portion control -- I keep eating anything I want, but I'm eating a lot less instead of bingeing on the foods I'm craving, and I'm trying to focus on whole grains and fruits instead of empty calories. I'm finding my real weakness is not sweets but starchy foods. I love sweets but in the end they're easy to limit or dismiss entirely. When I wander around looking for food, out of boredom or real hunger, I find myself wishing for a big, chewy bagel or some cookies or crackers. So I need to find a way to eat foods like that in moderation, and to get healthy versions thereof.

Oh, and I still need to remember that when I think I'm hungry, most of the time I'm really just thirsty. Why is so hard to remember to try water first?

My weigh-in

I was 156 even this morning (153 still on the old scale) so I have no idea if I've lost weight, what my starting weight was, or anything. Should I modify my starting weight or just chuck it all out the window (including the old scale) and start over? The 156 is down from the 157.2 that I weighed on the new scale on Sunday, so that is encouraging. At that point, the old scale was registering anything from 152 to 155, so I think there's a three or four pound difference between scales, which would make my starting weight two weeks ago closer to 160. I don't know.

I'm still eating well and exercising, although the happy/sad faces on mypyramidtracker.gov tell me I should eat more fruit. I put blueberries and fresh spinach on the shopping list for today, both of which I love so I'll be more likely to eat them. My garden tomatoes are gone for the year (boo-hoo) and I can't stand grocery store tomatoes off season. Maybe in-season, too, but it's hard to tell because I haven't eaten a grocery store in-season tomato in years. I'm keeping my calorie intake around 1300 to 1400 calories per day.

Last night was a comedy of errors--Claire started complaining of a stomach ache in the car on the way home from mom and dad's so when we got home she went up to her room and said she didn't want dinner, so I decided to make sandwiches for me and Connor (turkey, lettuce, and tomato on whole grain for me, grilled cheese for Connor). To keep Connor from killing himself by falling off the porch, I tried to stick in a video, but the VCR ate the video. While I was wrestling with the VCR (it won--the video is still stuck in there) I smelled smoke and realized it was the grilled cheese just as the smoke alarm went off. I ran into the kitchen to get it and while searching for a spatula to get it off the stove, I slipped in the water leaking from our fridge (it leaks water all the time and we can't find the drain to unclog it). I got everything settled, made a new sandwich for Connor, and was settling down with my own when Claire decided she was feeling better but wanted her own sandwich AND a get well card. She didn't get the card. So by the time I got them all in bed, I wasn't up for much exercising but forced myself to do the pilates upper body workout. I hadn't done that one before but figured it would be an easier one--I'm usually pretty good with upper body stuff. Wrong! The reverse push-ups with one leg elevated nearly killed me. Even Brian said the woman doing pushups on her knuckles was too butch for him. Tonight I'm going to try the lower body workout.

Weigh-In, me, too

Yay, Amy! You have lost more than I have. I am currently stuck at 150.5, but that is four pounds down from where I started. I weeded this morning and went for a walk with Dad. Last night we had pizza--I ate 1/4 of a Freschetta pizza and some salad. Before bedtime I had a bowl of cereal. Yesterday after lunch I had a half a bagel with a small amount of strawberry jam instead of a cookie. Less fat, anyway.

Weigh In Day!

And I am DOWN - down to 211.0. Actually the scale flashed 210.8 and I got all excited for a split second - and then it settled on 211... which I am still pleased about. OK - it is still 1 pound ahead of where I thought I would be when we started two weeks ago - but STILL - it is 4.4 pounds down from where I DID start.

We have to start thinking of a reward system for reaching goals. Sarah - I love your idea of a new set of Twinkling H2os for hitting - was it 10 pounds lost? Katie - you are not supposed to use food (or drink in your case) as rewards. I used to use Coldwater Creek as my reward clothes - but then I discovered that they have a clearance section and now I get most of my clothes from them. I guess - really - my reward is losing weight, and dropping sizes anyway. That is what I really want.

What we SHOULD do is come up with rewards that we can give each other... Like a treasure chest. I don't know... I am just spouting ideas because I am pleased with myself and I am the type of kid who really WANTED the gold stars - even though I would forget to work towards them.

Anyway - YAY me!!!

Today I am not eating

What is up with me today?? I weighed myself this morning (down a little bit), I made up the charts, I posted on the blog - but I forgot to actually do the eating thing! So - around 10:30 I ate my cereal with milk. Then around 1:30 I heated up my califlower with salsa. Around 2:30 I got out my peach. The califlower and peach are still on my desk mostly uneaten. I haven't even touched my sandwich yet... or my afternoon snack. This is why my poor body is confused!! First it is being well fed - then it is given nothing but alcohol - then it is in starvation mode again. Sigh. I have to learn to form GOOD habits.

Change your mind

Can we please get over all this talk about "cheating" and being "bad?" I think that'll kill a person's resolve to lose weight and get into shape faster than anything. There is no one food, one indulgence, one day spent imitating a slug that'll make you or keep you overweight. Everything is cumulative. Losing weight isn't rocket science--if you burn off more than you take in, you'll lose weight. There are ways to speed this up (aerobic exercise is the fastest fat burner) or do it more effectively (strength training will build muscles that increase your metabolic rate). By the same token, we all got where we are by doing the opposite--eating more than we burned off. It didn't happen overnight, so as we continue on our way to becoming gorgeous, svelte, and healthy we need to keep our eye on the big picture. There aren't any foods that are off limits. You could eat nothing but ice cream sundaes and still lose weight as long as you burn off more ice cream sundae calories than you take in (you'll probably feel like crap, too, but that's beside the point). You may know your food weaknesses and choose to stay away from them. That's fine. But you could also choose to give in to your weaknesses, as long as you budget for them in your total calorie intake (thus my daily tablespoon of chocolate chips). Think of it like scrapbook supplies or fabric--if you bought all the scrapbook supplies or pretty fabric you wanted, you'd pretty soon be declaring bankruptcy. So you limit yourself, and you know what your limits are based on your overall income. Same thing with food--spend a couple of days honestly filling in the food intake and activity logs on mypyramidtracker.gov and you'll be able to get a good idea of exactly how many calories you are eating and how many you are burning. You only have to do it a few times before you get a good sense of how you are doing and what you can "afford" in the way of indulgences. Last night I had Ben and Jerry's ice cream. A serving (half a cup) has 250 calories. I couldn't stick to my calorie budget with that, so I had a quarter cup.

That's another thing. You really do have control over what you eat. No one is forcing those Twizzlers down your throat, and you do have the ability to eat two and walk away. What's more, after doing it a few times, it's (I hate this word) empowering. My inclination is to gorge on sweets, but it's really nice to know that I can eat a tablespoon and even though I want more, I can say no.

I said it isn't rocket science, but it also isn't easy and it is never quick. I spent time this weekend reading old copies of Fitness magazine. My favorite feature is about real women who have lost and kept off weight. Many of these women have lost a ton of weight (100 pounds or more) but most of them were like us--wanting to lose 20 to 50 pounds. There were a couple of universals in all of their stories: they started slowly and made significant changes in both their diet and their exercise over time, and with nearly all of them it took a year or more to lose all the weight. Didn't matter how much they had to lose--it still took that long. Another thing: only 5 to 15% of people who lose weight keep it off for a year or more. Of the women featured in this magazine, 84% kept their weight off over time. The way they did this was by *never* going back to their old habits. We all know this logically, but those of us who have lost weight before still reached our goal (or close enough) and then went right back to eating too much and not exercising.

So the other thing we need to stop doing is setting a date for when we'd like to reach our goal. One to two pounds a week is normal, healthy weight loss. Everyone has weight loss plateaus. Even if we've all lost 20 pounds by Christmas, we can't then eat all the Christmas cookies we want. Start thinking now about how to handle Halloween candy in your house and Christmas goodies, not just for this year but for all the upcoming years (personally my plan is to eat a bunch but work out more often!). I think by not having a time goal we'll be able to keep our eye on the overall goal better because we haven't set ourselves up for failure. If I know that my goal is to be between 135 and 140 pounds, then it doesn't matter too much if I haven't reached that weight in 13 weeks or if I gain a bit one week.

So that's my rant for the day. I also got a lot of other information from the magazines about weight loss and exercise, but I'll save it for later.

Oh...bad, bad, bad me

Well - I must say that as eating goes I wasn't too horrible. Friday I did my normal set schedule of food (ugh - carrots and all) and then when I got home for work I preped for the party. I actually didn't do too badly there - I mostly nibbled at the baked tortilla chips and salsa. I had a few veggies dipped in the garlic horseradish stuff. I did eat the corner of one no pudge brownie. We went out afterwards and Katie ordered the tuna sashimi (seared tuna on lettuce) which I had about 3 slices. BUT - I had two apple ciders and a hypnotique martini. GRRR.

Saturday - I was being good again - I had yogurt for breakfast, wheat thins for a morning class - then I cooked lunch for Katie and me - I can' remember what we had - Let's Dish something... OH! Tequila shrimp and rice - low fat, lots of tomatoes, and brown rice. That was healthy. THEN - Saturday night was the block party. Ohhhhhhh. Again! Eating I was pretty good. I had about half a hamburger - no cheese... and a few bites of pasta salad - with tomatoes and stuff again. BUT there was the darn drinking again!!! I drank a LOT of empty calories that night.

Sunday was better - I didn't drink at all. I had yogurt with grapenuts for breakfast and fresh fruit as a morning snack. Katie and I went for Sushi in the mid afternoon - which was lunch. Sushi isn't BAD - and we didn't eat WAY too much like we normally do. Dinner we had grilled chicken, snow peas and grilled carrots and potatoes. We packed our lunches for today and then I had some pistachio nuts. That was it. No alcohol at all.

Exercise was OK. Nothing on Friday - and we hadn't worked out on Thursday either for whatever reason. Saturday we did out upper body toning video and Sunday we did our aerobic video. Saturday night - I must say - in spite of all of the drinking - I got LOTS of exercise... running around, jumping up and down, dancing. I was VERY sore the next day. You know - if I drank WAY too much all of the time I would probably be skinny! (Well, except for the vast quantities of empty calories!!)

So - today I am resolved to be good again. 8-)

Whole wheat = healthy?

We didn't do a big brunch this morning so I had a bowl of cereal and OJ for breakfast and was feeling very smug. But it occurred to the kids that even though they didn't go to church this morning (they went last night) it was Sunday, so they were entitled to a brunchy meal even if they had had breakfast already. It being lunchtime, I agreed to make them pancakes. I used the simple recipe (instead of the usual buttermilk, which is a pain because I have to thaw it out, since this is the only thing I use it for) from Betty Crocker and substituted white whole wheat for the white flour, and I used skim milk and not whole, and they were AWESOME. Really yummy. I ate three (two right away, and then I grazed all afternoon on Alexander's last one which he'd barely touched) but at least they weren't huge. I also ate some ham lunchmeat to get some protein -- I resisted the urge to make bacon. I can't decide if I should feel guilty about the pancakes or not -- they were whole grain and skim, but they're made with 2 tablespoons of oil in the batch, plus I can't eat pancakes without margarine (which I kept to a minimum) and syrup (fat free, so it's healthy, right? sigh...), so they don't seem exactly low-cal. I think I probably should feel guilty.

I snacked on a banana in addition to the pancake, and then for dinner I fixed chicken breasts with broccoli and rice -- it's a casserole that uses a can of cream of chicken soup, but other than that there's no added fat so it's really quite healthy. I thought I had instant brown rice, but I didn't, so I had to use white, but I kept my rice portion small. I did eat dessert -- the last of the blackberry sherbet, about 3/4 cup -- but all in all I was very good today.

Unfortunately, I didn't exercise. The gym wasn't really an option, as I said earlier, but I planned to go for a walk after dinner. Except I forget that it's getting dark at 7:30! After that I failed to come up with an alternate plan. Phooey.