Five Minutes For Me

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!