Our weekends have been crazy busy this summer. No matter how I plan, I haven’t manage to be home during lunch on a Saturday all summer. We are busy and all of a sudden someone in the group is hungry, so we stop at a favorite fast food joint for junk food to hold us over until we can manage time to sit down for a real meal.

Well, I think I’ve got this weekend all planned out. No more food emergencies for me! I purchased some of those Ziploc food containers and quart size food storage bags. I have one of those big thermal lunch boxes to pack our snacks in.  

Our snacks include cut up veggies, grapes, sliced cantaloupe, chunks of watermelon, low fat cheese sticks, pretzels, apples, and a lot of fresh cold water… fresh filtered from our tap. 

I even bought a box of high fiber fruit and grain bars. I know they aren’t sugar free, but they are high in fiber and only 140 calories.

I think we’ll make it through until we get to sit down to a healthy meal.

Today at lunch time I was making my sandwich with whole grain bread from my favorite bakery. It’s made with whole grains, nuts, and flax seeds. There are zero trans fats and no high fructose corn syrup.  It’s high in fiber and not too high in calories.

The loaf of bread is larger than a regular loaf of bread, so the sandwich is large. I piled it with fresh sliced vegies and a couple ounces of sliced chicken breast. When I put my sandwich on my plate, my very large sandwich looked so small. 

Normally I’d pile some chips on my plate and possibly a serving of fruit to go along with. Well, when I realized how large my sandwich was, but how small it looked on the dinner plate, I knew something is all wrong.

It’s the size of my dinner plates! They are huge… no really. They are absolutely humongous!   So then I got to thinking about my coffee mugs. Oh how I love my huge mugs. But there ya go… that’s just it. They are huge. 

Okay, so you get the picture… my entire dinnerware set is super sized. 

Tonight I switched out my dinnerware for my old corelle dishes. It almost looks like I’m setting out the kiddie dishes, when they are next to our big size dinnerware. 

I use to eat on our small corelle luncheon plates and that’s what I’ll start doing again. If my plate is full, there is the chance I may eat fewer calories and yet feel full at the end of the meal.

Weigh in 7/15/08

• Starting weight 268
• Today’s weight 259
• Weekly weight loss 0 pounds
• Total weight loss 9 pounds

What have I done well this week?

What did I do well this past few days? Ummmm…. yeah. Let me think. Okay. I’m reaching here.

• I have written in my journal a couple times.
• I updated a few goals on 43 things.
• I’ve read through some of my old posts trying to see where I need to make changes.
• I have actually done 30 minutes of exercise 2 different days.
• When I ordered fish and chips tonight I ate half of the serving.  Deep fried… greasy. I felt guilty and realized I should have ordered something a whole lot healthier. Quiting at 2 pieces and about 1/4 the fries, I felt like yay… I can quit eating the garbage and next time I will remember to order something healthy.

Where I want to make improvements this next week:

• Drink more water
• exercise 30 minutes each day
• No soda!

 What have I learned this week?

Oh my goodness! This isn’t one day at a time… it’s one hour at a time! I don’t remember it being so difficult to stick to my plan last summer! Maybe it was and I simply forgot? Or maybe I was completely motivated last summer and this summer, I am not all that motivated. I don’t know what it is, but I’m telling ya, this has been difficult at best.

I’ve been tagged for this meme by John.  This past week I finally stepped on the scale to see where I was. I gained. Oh big surprise there… no exercise, bad food, and no thought of eating healthy for a few weeks, who would have thought I’d gain weight.  *note the sarcasm* Okay, so I’ve been giving this some thought for the past couple days… perfect timing for this meme! Thank you John for tagging me with the biggest health and fitness vice meme!

My biggest food vice has to do with the way I deal with stress. If I can get a hold on the stress in my life, I will be much healthier over all. Since I have no control over some of the things that happen in life, I need to figure out how to deal with the stress in a way, other than heading to the kitchen for a big bowl of icecream or chicken pot pie. Comfort foods… anything rich and creamy and full of fat and calories. I know writing in my journal (this wordpress blog) was a big help for me learning to deal with emotional eating.

My biggest health and fitnes vice is emotional eating.

To keep this meme going I will tag the following people:

Sarah - Weighing In With My .02 cents

The Pounds Slayer

Felicia

Cynthia

Would you like to participate in the meme but I didn’t tag you? Leave a comment or just make a post as if I had tagged you and I’ll add you to the list!

When I last wrote in my journal I was doing okay with my diet and exercise routine. Things have changed drastically in the past couple months. It doesn’t take long to create a new habit and my habits today are taking me down a road I don’t want to go down. I’m gaining weight and losing my health and self esteem.

Last August I started forming good habits… but those habits have gone out the window.

My elliptical machine is no longer center stage… it’s off in a corner of the room and rarely gets used. Okay. It never gets used.

I don’t watch much television so I don’t get up and move during the commercial breaks… as there are no commercial breaks in my life.  Hmmm. I don’t watch much TV. That is good… okay, so I like that change and it is a direct result of my original plan to get up and move during the commercial breaks… to take five minutes for me.

I’ve been eating a lot of bbq burgers and oh my gosh… remember the illegal ribs? Yeah… even those ribs have been on my menu a few times this summer.

My pantry is well stocked. That’s right… stocked full of cookies, chips, pasta, creamy sauces… oh and if you were to open my refrigerator you would find all sorts of your-going-to-gain-10-pounds this week foods like sour cream, half and half, cool whip, regular Hidden Valley ranch dressing, cream cheese, polish sausages, sliced cheddar cheese, blah blah blah… you get the picture.

Hubby and I are spending quite a bit of time together, but we haven’t been walking in weeks.

Alrighty then… so I’m not exercising. I’m not walking. I’m not eating healthy. I have gained some of my weight back, and I have no energy what so ever. Hmmmm…. think something ought to change?

Oh yeah. Something has to change.

I really need to make a few major changes in my life.  

Let me think about where I need to start. I know I have to make some changes and I need to make my changes really fast. Sooooo… in no particular order here’s what I need to do.

• Plan - menus - workouts - time to journal
• Set goals
• add in some sort of exercise
• start walking again
• empty the pantry and fridge of all the junk food
• shop the farmer’s market for fruits and vegetables

On the upside I’m so excited to report my boys are going swimming several times a week. They go to the pool and swim laps. They get a little exercise each day since they are more active. They get out and play ultimate frisbe, football, baseball, and they even play tag or hide and seek with my grandkids. It seems like the boys are doing great as far as exercise. Now this mom needs to get into gear so their menu includes a lot of healthy food.

Okay… so I made some healthy changes and created some healthy habits in my life once before. I am going to do it again… starting today.

Busy life… 

We get together and do the dance dance revolution once in awhile. My boys have installed a pullup bar and they are often doing some sort of competition here and there, pull ups, running, crunches, etc…  They continue to swim twice a week.

Hubby and I walk almost daily.  It’s been good for us. Not only do we get in at least 30 minutes of exercise, but we spend that time talking. I’m really glad we started our walking program together.

Our family has different needs. My 22 year old needed to gain weight. He started working out and running, and eating a much more healthy diet. He has managed to gain about 5 lbs since January 1st. 

My 19 year old could lose a few pounds. He’s about 6′1″ and on the chubby side. He’s been eating healthier. I can see he’s trimmed down a little.

My 17 year old is about 6′2 1/2″ and still growing. He’s really trimmed  down since we all started our healthy makeovers. He eats pretty healthy now days and his activity level is petty high. He’s on the track team and he’s in a body conditioning class.

I weigh in at 251 this morning. I haven’t given up on my plan of getting up and moving during the commercial breaks of my favorite television shows. That’s where I started… and it’s changed my life. We are more active as a family. We are healthier over all, and  I think it has helped our relationships as a family. Amazing… 

Thank you for the emails checking on me. I’m okay.  My life has been crazy busy lately. My 22 year old moved out to the Midwest a couple weeks ago. My mom is ill, she’s moved in with us for awhile, so I can take care of her. I have a lot on my plate right now, and I don’t always have time to get online to post in my blog. I apologize for not keeping up better. My apology is somewhat for me… I need to write. I need to take better care to make time for me. Right now I don’t know how to do that. So… for now I log off.

A Mississippi state lawmaker wants to ban restaurants from serving food to obese customers - but please, don’t be offended.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22997073/from/ET/

My goodness. My thoughts about this are fairly random….

• Shouldn’t lawmakers be spending their time on more important issues…. reducing crime.
• Deal with health insurance issues first.
• Is the state going to supplement the restaurant’s loss of revenue?
• Spend your state money to give fat people access to a gym.
• Start a program to encourage obese people to participate in state funded organized support groups.
• Not all obese people are fat because they over eat… hmmmm…. let me see… lack of exercise certainly has something to do with it.
• How do you determine who’s obese? *Step on the scale sir… Okay. Now let me check this BMI chart*
• What is the punishment for letting obese people eat in a restaurant? Community service? Time in the pokey?

I could go on… and on…. but I won’t. This is worse than the whole ‘big brother’s watching you’ issue, if you ask my opinion.

Yeah… some things just make ya go hmmmm….

My Scale Laughed at Me. Okay. It didn’t really. But if it could have….

Okay, so I didn’t gain or lose any. Ha. I probably lost a bit, but then gained it all back. This past week or so, I haven’t been keeping tabs on what I’m eating.

No loss means I need to lose 10 lbs in the next three and a half weeks, to meet my goal of losing 10 lbs by February 29th.  I have no doubts I can manage that, if I make a commitment to do it.

I’ve been getting in the exercise and drinking more water than usual. Not enough. I need to start measuring the water. I do very well on my program, when I measure out the amount of water I need to drink. So, tonight before I go to bed, I’ll do that for tomorrow.   

As far as the exercise… I managed the 30 minutes 3x this week.  That along with my regular program of exercising during the commercial breaks. I really feel better when I get up and move!

I’ve checked in… a few hours early. Who knows, maybe if I waited to weigh in tomorrow morning, I’d show a loss. Oh well… there we have it. Tonight I’m working on my plan for the next week. Without a plan, I’m basically falling back into old eating habits…

Have a great week everyone!  

Ohmy goodness! I forgot to check in on week four (my 2nd week) of the plan! My son’s friend was killed in a car accident and his memorial service was on Tuesday. Now there is something that takes your breath away. Life can change in an instant. Friends since kindergarden, the boys graduated high school in June of 2006…. young men, 20 year olds, not really boys… but when you think about the shortness of his life… he was a boy. 

Earlier this week my 22 year old (boy with the broken heart), announced he’s moving out to the midwest. Ohmy goodness… I have mixed emotions here. First of all, he took a break from college. I want him to complete his degree before he completely leaves the nest, but I can see that isn’t happening this next year. He’s leaving a very good job…  I know he can go out there and find something in his field, so that doesn’t concern me as much as it seems.  I don’t want to be an over bearing mom, I’ve let my children do what they think they need to do. So I’m not saying much to him about this. I expressed my opinion to him, and I think that’s the best I can do right now. It didn’t change his mind. He’s packing up his belongings and heading east in a few short weeks.

I’m not anywhere near meeting my challenges this week. I could easily blame it on stress. But the plain truth is, I simply didn’t try to stay with the program. I wonder why I have this mentality… when I go off plan with one food item, all of a sudden I think, well I blew it today, so I can have whatever I want to eat the rest of the day.  I know it’s something I need to work on. I haven’t figured out a sollution for the problem.

I have been getting in more exercise, but 30 minutes straight hasn’t worked out very well this week. Partially because I think I’m somewhat depressed. I’d rather stay in bed… curled up with my fluffy comforters and a good book or watching television. I have a real ‘take me away from it all’ mentality this week. However, I make myself get up, shower, and get ready for my day as if I’m heading out the door to go to something important. Right now, I wish I wasn’t a stay at home mom… I wish I had something I had to go do every single day. Sitting home alone sure isn’t working out for me right now. 

Okay, enough of the pity party. I’m going to take my fat butt out of this chair and go work off some of this stress… 

Oh and while I think about it,  Join with thousands of women, companies and organizations and cities across America on National Wear Red Day, Friday, February 1, 2008… tomorrow! Ha… maybe I’ll put on my red dress and hit the mall tomorrow. That sounds like a plan to me!

It’s Nature’s Path Organic Flax Plus Raisin Bran. Oh doesn’t that just sound yummy. Every time I see that box of cereal in my kitchen pantry, I wonder why… what on earth was I thinking when I bought that stuff. 

Let me tell ya, I didn’t want to open the package this morning… but then again… I was curious. Curiosity always gets me. 

After reading the nutrition label, I was a little surprised that I actually liked this cold cereal.  Eleven grams of fiber  and 650mg omega 3’s in one little 3/4 cup of cereal. I thought this is way too good to be true… it’s far too healthy to taste good. I figured it would taste like a bowl of shredded wood chips and powdered vitamins. But it’s pretty good. The bran flakes are thicker than the post bran flakes. There aren’t a whole lot of raisins, but just enough to add a little sweetness. It didn’t get all mushy in the milk. It’s a keeper in my breakfast menu.

I think it was actually the flax in the cereal that got me. So there ya go, add flax to anything and I’ll buy it.

Well, let me see what did I do this past week…

First of all, I’m not weighing in this week. I stepped on the scale a few days ago and I was thrilled with the results. But as far as that goes, my main focus here isn’t about losing the weight. I know if I continue to get up and move on the commercial breaks… and work out on a regular basis, the weight will come off.  After giving it some consideration, I have decided to weigh in on the first Tuesday of each month. 

For the most part I stuck with my plan. I’ve cut out most white foods. White flour, meaning soft white bread sandwiches are off the list, white pasta is off the list, and most anything from the  bakery is off the list. But I found some good whole wheat and nut bread I like. That is one trade off I enjoy! Whole wheat pasta… well, I’m not so hooked on it, but I’m willing to try out different varieties. Surely there will be one I like.

I didn’t stick with the no white rice this week. We had take out teriyaki one night. I didn’t have the extra sauce, but I did eat about half the rice served with my meal. As far as the soda… okay. One day I had soda. Why? It wasn’t even that great. Diet Dr. Pepper just doesn’t do it for me. I don’t think that will be a problem in the future. Now, regular Pepsi, Mt. Dew, or Dr Pepper might be a problem, but not the diet stuff.

I’ve done got up and moved… and that’s my main goal. I feel good about my first week!

Week #2 goals:

• ZERO soda
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
• Cut out the white stuff… sugar, white flour, white rice, white potatoes
• Enjoy the exercise! 30 minutes 3x this week added to my regular commercial breaks!

Okay, I’m off! I hope to visit several of my fellow challengers! I love the encouragement I’ve received so far, not only here on my own blog, but I’m talking about the encouragement I have received from reading your posts. You are all so amazing to me! Thanks!

Well, my son’s birthday party was postponed… of all the cruel things, a girl broke his heart on his birthday. She knew today was his birthday, but she chose to break the news of her seeing someone else today. So my kiddo called me and asked me to cancel. He didn’t want to see anyone tonight. He came home and crashed into bed for awhile. Later he was feeling somewhat better. We ended  up with us all going out to dinner.

This is the 2nd night in a row we’ve eaten out. I think I made great choices as far as the meal went. I had a small portion of lean meat, and a couple servings of vegetables. Last night it was steamed broccoli and a salad, I brought the dessert home for my son to enjoy. Tonight it was a variety of vegetables and a lot of them. Dessert wasn’t included in tonight’s dinner. Oh thank goodness. The way I was feeling, I probably would have eaten mine and my hubby’s dessert. Both nights  I went with water as my drink. So far so good!

I made it through a stressful day without going off plan. Okay, so I still have a party to look forward to on Sunday. Now I’m feeling like I have what it takes to skip the dessert the rest of this weekend.  

Hopefully my son is actually looking forward to a party with friends and family.

Since I’ve joined the Healthy You Challenge 2008, I’ve decided to move my weekly weigh in to Tuesday mornings.

Oh, but I couldn’t help stepping on the scale this morning. I’m doing well… now if I can just keep it up through the weekend!  We’ll be having a birthday party for one of my boys tonight. I’m not serving Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey, so I’ll probably pass on the icecream. I don’t like cake all that much anyway… so that’s not really an issue. As far as the rest of the weekend… I’ll do what I can to stay on plan. 

Well, I did it! I signed myself up for the Healthy You  in 2008 Challenge. For all the Healthy You challengers, welcome! I’m George (a nickname I acquired when I was knee high to a grasshopper)… AKA GeorgieGirl. I live in Washington state with my DH and the three youngest of our six children. 

I have been working on my weight/lack of exercise issues since August 2007. I started out at 268 lbs. Today I weigh 255 lbs.

I’m a TV junkie. Not so much now, as I was back in August. But I admit to enjoying several television programs. Before I started my program, I could easily sit and do nothing, but watch tv and eat bon bons, and be perfectly happy to never get out of the big comfy lounge chair.  

But that’s changed a lot during the past few months. I challenged myself to get up and move during the commercial breaks. Moving includes anything from walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water, folding a load of clothes and putting them away, getting on the elliptical machine and exercising for five minutes, or getting out of the house for a 5 minute walk.  

This year I’m actually setting goals, but my main goal is to be healthy. To get healthy, I know I need to lose some weight, but getting up and moving is my main focus. This next week, along with my usual routine of getting up and moving during the commercial breaks, I challenge myself to get out and exercise 30 minutes 3x a week.

I look forward to getting to know all of the other Healthy You Challengers!

Last fall I went through the process of creating a healthy kitchen pantry and refrigerator. 

Well, since I decided to re-evaluate my plan, I figured one good place to start is by going through my pantry and refrigerator once again. During the past holidays, I set myself up for failure on any type of weight loss diet. Our pantry and fridge were stock full of bad things… sugary cereals, boxes of hostess goodies, Chocolate chip cookies, potato chips, chocolate candy bars, alfredo sauce,  almond roca, and the list goes on… and on…

I’ve managed to toss some of it, and restock my pantry and fridge with several healthier choices. I’ve also written up a modified menu.

I have found several of the recipe websites that list the nutrition for the recipe. A couple of my favorite websites for low calorie recipes are the recipezaar.com website and sparkpeople.com with the nutritional comparison chart. 

On the recipezaar website, with  just a few clicks on different recipes, it was easy to compare the nutritional info. I can choose lighter calorie versions of my favorite recipes. Southwestern Chicken is on my menu this week. Oh this sounds sooo good!

Well, this is one step toward a real diet plan… I have a long way to go, but I feel like I’m definately on my way to a healthier me.