What I am looking forward to in 2017

I don't really feel like doing resolutions. Goal may be a better word, but there are also just things I am looking forward to

TRIPS (the lack of trips is actually something I am looking forward to too!)

• 2 week trip out west
• Booking a trip to Universal for 2018

HOUSE PROJECTS

• Built-ins in family room: Entertainment center and 2 book shelves; new paint and flooring

RUNNING/EXERCISE

• I am setting my goal to 365 miles. No, I am not going to streak. But I want to get out there every Sunday and 1-2 during the week (even if that means the dreaded treadmill)
• More steps - wear my Garmin every day and log my steps - try to get to 10,000 even if that means walking on the treadmill - but do need to get up from my desk more often
• We hope to get an exercise bike soon - my big exercise goal for 2018 will be to do a Sprint Triathlon so need to get biking
• Need to get into the pool as well - I may take adult swimming lessong

WELL  BEING (not going to make a goal of how much I will lose - that never works)

• Weigh myself every day
• Re-join Weight Watchers (well I am still paying for it, I just don't go)
• Sleep more
• No soda, no buying lunches
• 100 oz of water a day
• More variety of meals (don't care if the kids (or even my husband) doesn't like them)
• Eat less
• Me time - get back to (or start new ones) my hobbies - piano, photography, scrapbooking
• Get outside more
• Work harder at work
• Be more present in my kids' lives
• Less screen time (except if I am reading a book)

Bye Bye 2016

What a long, strange year it has been....I will not be sad to see it go.

 

But it hasn't been all bad - First are the good things:

TRIPS

March - Great Wolf Lodge for my son's 7th birthday

April - Disney trip and cruise

August family vacation to Montreal and Smuggler's Notch

December trip to New York City at Christmas time

HOUSE PROJECTS

 

The major thing was finishing our basement

 

I finally got my red front door

We painted our office and dining room (and all our bedrooms - not shown)

RACES

 

I started New Year's with my typical 5K

I ran 3 races (3, 4, and 5 miles) over 3 weekends

I ran a 10K before getting on our boat

I finally ran the 6.66 Devil's Chase

 

But overall it was a long, sad year

 

While we didn't lose any of our remaining (1) parents, my husband did lose his grandmother, our last remaining grandparent.

 

The biggest thing was my mom selling my childhood home. It was her choice and I feel better with her in a retirement community, but emptying the house took up 1/2 my Sundays this year

The house situation (both hers and mine) was mentally draining. Due to busy weekends, my running took a major hit. I only ran 177 miles (the previous 2 years had been slightly over 400). I didn't get up in the mornings because I was just so drained. I bagged out of more races than I actually ran. I did a #runstreak for 14 days - it was supposed to be Thanksgiving to New Year's, but after 2 weeks we lost heat in part of our house on-and-off for a week - it was very stressful (and very cold) so going down into a cold basement on the treadmill wasn't going to happen. And I haven't run since then (December 7th)

My weight - I am back to where I was in November 2012. I never, ever thought I would be there. It sucks. 2017 I really have to do something about that. But what I want in 2017 in another post.

Running Goals

Yeah, getting back to Weight Watchers didn't happen. I was fooling myself if I thought I would have the time when life is still so crazy (but the crazy should be dying down). Eating has been so-so - I really do think the 2nd have of my cycle is much worse, which is where I am right now.

But the good news is I ran 6.66 miles yesterday, without stopping.  Granted, it took 90 minutes. I did it because I am supposed to do the 6.66 mile race I have 2 DNS for, so I wanted to make sure I could actually do it. For the next 2 weeks I plan on trying to eat well, drink tons of water, and get lots of sleep. We went out for Thai food Saturday night, which isn't as bad as having Chinese food, but I still didn't feel great.

I am sore as crazy today, but feel good. The 90 minute run and since then have given me lots to think about in terms of my running goals. I need to have goals. But I also need to step back and not be running 6-7 miles when I ran 4 miles 3 weeks ago and hadn't run a 10K or more since June 4th. Not smart!

I plan on running 7 miles this coming weekend, then the 6.66 race and then after that cutting back to 5 miles a weekend. 2017 I really need to concentrate on the # of runs, not the number of miles. And that doesn't mean I all of a sudden am going to start running 2x a week during the week again. I'd like to do 3-4 1x during the week and then 5 miles on the weekend. I plan on continuing the 5 miles through the end of May.

The races I want to do in 2017 until then are:

New Years - 5K
3 part series: 3 mile, 4 mile, 5 mile (February/March)
2 5Ks in April
5 miler in May

Then once Memorial Day hits, start ramping back up to 6-7 miles because that is my happy spot. And then I can assess my goals from there.

But running less mileage and less runs, I can concentrate on losing weight and on re-gaining some of the speed I have lost. And still be able to walk around. Today I feel like I did when I used to run 9+ miles.

I also need to start doing strength training, hills, and hiking so I can be in shape of our very exciting vacation in August.

What a low, low month....

So the going back to Weight Watchers didn't work out. After my 1st week, when I stepped on the scale a week later I was up almost 3 pounds and decided not to go and haven't been back since. But I am planning to go tomorrow. Originally I was going to wait until after all the hecticness of October was over, but I have time tomorrow and for the next several weeks, so I am making it a priority.

The last 3 weeks since I last posted have been just really, really bad. I've barely had weekends with kids stuff and then going to my mother's every Sunday to work on the house, and even some nights during the week. This weekend both days I will be with her, but she is moving on Wednesday, I am taking Thursday off, and she closes on her current house in 3 weeks and then I am hoping things will be a little bit more normal for a bit before the holidays role around.

During this period, I was barely running, eating lunch in the cafeteria every day and just feeling really lousy about myself. The 2 year anniversary of my 1/2 Marathon has come and gone and knowing that that was the beginning of this cycle of gaining weight - 40 lbs in 2 years.

I've got to reverse this cycle and get back on losing weight. Losing weight makes me feel so good about myself. But I've only been successful when life isn't crazy. I need to learn to be successful when life is crazy, because life just is crazy.

So here I sit, working at home, one of my stressors and times I tend to overeat, knowing that I need to be "good" today.

As of this morning my weight was:  223.4. I so badly want to be under 220!

Week hasn't been so great....

Stepping on the scale this morning, it is almost where it was last Saturday. Though that does give me an incentive to eat well today, even though I am working from home (which will be my new norm for Fridays)

The week still has been a little crazy with the back-to-school stuff (Open Houses, a meeting for Band), along with the emotional baggage of my mom's house being for sale and knowing she isn't recovering as well as she would like and I haven't been able to be there for her. The results has continued to be too large dinners, and I ate in the cafeteria twice this week (but I didn't get any soda either time, so that is a plus!)

I would like to say that life will get a little better next week, but I am not sure.  But I can't let our schedule get me down too much.

My plan for the week is:
1) Do a lot of organizing in the basement so I am not all twitchy when I am down there on the treadmill
2) Run Tuesday morning (and hopefully Sunday but we have a date night Saturday night so who knows, and I need to be at my mom's early)
3) Don't stay up late every night watching all the new TV that starts next week - that is what DVRs are for - Thursday nights are the only nights I let myself stay up until 11:00.
4) Smaller dinners
5) Don't buy lunch at all
6) Hit my 10K steps every day

Dinners x 2

My portions at dinner continue to be a problem.

Last night I made taco stuffed shells. I've been wanting to make stuffed shells for years. Literally. And I was looking for a recipe to use the ground beef I had bought, so decided to finally make it. We weren't going to eat until later because my husband was going to be late, and I wasn't going to be able to even start making dinner until 5:30.

I ate my snack that I brought to work, but didn't eat, when I got home at 5:00. And snacked on some Monterrey Jack I was using for the meal. And we sat down around 6:40 and I proceeded to have 2 helpings.

This is my problem....Last year I didn't make a single new recipe, but gained tons a weight eating yummy stuff in the afternoon because dinner didn't seem inspiring and was totally boring and I was home in the afternoon for the first time and stressed about juggling being home and working.

Now I am finally cooking again and not caring that the kids won't have 1 bite (but at least they aren't complaining they are hungry!) But I like what I make so much that I have seconds.

I am not a big leftover person (in this case I made 2x the filling and froze it - score!) - I am mainly not a leftover person because I eat the same lunch every day and I know the Points in it and I don't keep track of points for dinner (another issue, I know) but  if  I don't know the points in my lunch as well as my dinner, then that is an issue as well.

Here I am typing this at lunch instead of taking a walk like I did on Monday - but today is 85 degrees (though thankfully not humid). I will have a lot of walking to do on the treadmill tonight because I've been sitting all morning.

I like the idea of only running 1 morning during the week - at least for now. I get in a run I normally wouldn't, but then only have to get up way too early once during the week. Baby steps. Doesn't need to be 2x a week or nothing.

Lunch mistake and a morning run

Monday went pretty well.
My 10 year old daughter is in a helpful mood, so I was able to get a crockpot meal (BBQ chicken) ready before school, which helped tremendously.

I took a quick walk at lunch - every 2000 steps helps!

After my walk I went to make my normal lunch and found the wrong Lean Cuisine in my bag - it wasn't one that sounded appealing, so I ran downstairs to the cafeteria and grabbed a sandwich for lunch. But I did get some pasta salad as well which I didn't need.

I did walk on the treadmill for a little bit - not watching a whole episode of Gilmore Girls but enough to get me over 10,000 steps.

I made plans to run Tuesday morning. For the 1st time since we got our new furniture at the end of June, I made up the pull out couch in our office and slept there so I could go to bed in the dark (my husband was reading and watching Monday Night Football in bed). I just don't sleep well trying to go to sleep with the TV and light on. And the bed was so comfortable. The only downside was that since it is our office, there are a lot of little lights on from various electronics.

The sleep wasn't without interruption and I was tempted to bag it, especially when my phone said 95% humidity even though it was only 52 degrees. But I did go and I am happy I did! 3 miles (instead of 4) but I really ran the last mile - it felt great, even in the dark.

First few days so far, so good....

This weekend was pretty busy, but over all my eating was pretty good.

After my Weight Watchers meeting I finished up my grocery shopping. I picked out all sorts of healthy food and I had menu planned!

I had to run to my mom's earlier than expected so I made a Shakeology drink to have on the way.

Lunch was egg salad - my mother was over for lunch, so I ate well.

I snacked on good snacks during the afternoon.

I planned on running on Sunday morning and dinner ended up being 'everyone-for-themselves' (my favorite kind!) so I made zoodles and spaghetti.

I was so excited to run on Sunday. I went to bed early, but I did wake up at 4 am which I had been doing all last week. I looked at the weather and saw 95% humidity and turned off my alarm. I just didn't have it in me to put myself through that torture unnecessarily.

Sunday was hugely productive - a lot of organizing the house, getting things ready for the week, and eating well!

I realized I needed  a few items for our meals this week so I went to the grocery store right before dinner, and I was hungry. I could have done so much damage but I did none. And I bought self some beautiful sunflowers - much better choice!



For dinner my husband grilled steak kabobs, asparagus and sweet potatoes. I had 2 helpings which has been my issue this week - too much dinner.

I didn't get my 10,000 steps in yesterday, but I was on my feet most of the day. I didn't have it in me to walk on the treadmill before watching the Patriots on Sunday Night Football. Because of said football game, I stayed up WAY too late. I will try for that not to negatively affect my choices today and I need to get to bed early to get up and run.

Weigh-in #1 and Where I Am At

A year ago when I went back to Weight Watchers, I was about 20 lbs lighter, so chose not to "Start Again" when they asked. But now that I am only 7 or so pounds lighter than when I re-joined on 2/1/2012, I chose to Start Again.

Today's Weight: 224.8
Last Week's Weight: N/A
Change since last week: N/A
Starting Weight: 224.8
Starting Date: 9/10/2016
Total Change: 0
Height: 5'6"

I am not even going to talk about how I got here or what went wrong or any of that. It is Day 1. Starting over.  I walked into the meeting today and felt fairly good (not good about myself, but good that I was there). The topic was evaluating how the summer went. Let's not even do that! It was a fun summer, but horrible weight wise and exercise-wise.

Notice the hiding....I did that a lot this year (or just didn't have my picture taken at all)

These are the notes I wrote over vacation of what I want to do to be healthier - Baby steps, they won't all happen at once....

Get more sleep
Weight Watcher meetings on Saturdays
Run a long run (5-7 miles) on Sundays
Weigh myself daily and record it in Excel on my computer - this is the only way it works for me
Drink lots of water - Don't drink alcohol or soda
Don't buy my lunch
Don't over eat when my kids get off the bus (this was a HUGE component of my weight-gain in the last year)
No eating while making dinner
1 serving at dinner

You don't see anything about tracking - I've never been a big tracker - I may do it, I may not.

Bring on the week - this past one has been very stressful!!!!

Can't muster up a re-cap, but I am here

We've been back from vacation for almost 2 weeks and I have managed to write, but I wanted to put something out here.

Vacation was great and it sucked. We went to Montreal for 3 nights and stayed at Smuggler's Notch in Vermont for 4 nights. Montreal was staying in a hotel room in a city where they speak a different language and need a passport to get there and we did lots of touristy things. Vermont was staying in a condo with lots of space and lots of trees and there was lots of lounging and very peaceful.

The part that sucked was that I wasn't feeling good about myself. I found myself doing a lot of hiding in pictures or choosing not to be in pictures at all. We went to 6 Flags Montreal (La Ronde) and I was worried about fitting into rides. I hated my clothes. I didn't like being in my skin.

When we got pack, I purged the pantry. I stopped drinking wine and soda. We started another Walking Challenge at work so I've been walking more (mainly on my treadmill which is now conveniently in our newly finished basement). I've run some!

I did also have to go to Kohl's to buy size 18W jeans :( But hopefully not for long. I refused to buy size XL shirts- I would have been swimming in them. So I will continue to occasionally embarrass myself with shirts that are too short.

I've been hoping to get back to Weight Watchers and this time starting from scratch. I was/am hoping for tomorrow but yesterday my mom tripped and broke her elbow so had to have surgery, all this on the same day her house was going on the market, so it's been a little crazy. So I may be spending another night at her house and/or I may just be too tired to go in the morning. But i hope not. I'll let you know!

I am still here.....

But having a really hard time. But I will start with the good news - I got up at 4:30 am this morning and RAN (and walked :( ) - It was HARD even though it was fairly cool and not too humid, but it is dark :(  There was a full moon out when I got up and it was fairly light by the time we finished, but knowing the days are getting shorter is hard.

I could have run the full 3.1 miles if I hadn't been chatting - I ran with a friend whose been recovering from knee surgery - we haven't seen each other in months. But my endurance is no where near what it was, so I can't run and talk like I used to.

I was all over the place trying to identify what my near-time goals are. I just really don't know. Part of me wants to go back to just running 1 a week (and doing 6-7 miles on Sundays) but I know I need to exercise more than 1x a week. I have a treadmill in my basement, so I could get up at 5:30 (a whole extra hour of sleep!) but the treadmill is just god awful!

I officially changed my goal on Runkeeper from 400 miles this year to 250 (to which Runkeeper told me that was being too agressive) - But I am going to stick to it.

But in the meantime we are trying to get off on vacation and work is crazy, but when we come back we can finally put our house back together (which will mean getting the rest of the stuff out of the garage and finally being able to park in there after 7 months of driveway parking!!!) and back to school routines will be in full force. And new routines for kids means new routines for me (like another New Year's) so I am excited. But in the meantime I am excited for vacation!!!!!!!

Seriously dragging this Monday....

The poor eating habits continued for the weekend:
--Breakfast - Normal

--Saturday lunch @ Cheesecake Factory: Bread (was starving), Sangria, helped my daughter finish her ridiculously huge Oreo milkshake, Summer Rolls, Appetizer size chopped salad - still huge. Because of the milkshake, we didn't have room for dessert - it was our dessert!

--Saturday dinner - spaghetti, salad, ice cream (with homemade chocolate fudge) and cupcake

--Sunday breakfast - normal

--Sunday lunch at the beach - 8 oz coke, water, PB&J, carrots, grapes, potato chips, cupcake

--Sunday snake - ice cream and chocolate fudge - serious fail here

--Sunday @ Melting Pot - 4 courses (cheese, salad, meat, chocolate, plus wine) --I felt so uncomfortable when I got home and still do - I am used to finishing eating at least 4-5 hours before going to bed - not 90 minutes. I slept sitting up, but still feel so gross.

I want to eat well today/this week, but I am seriously dragging - I slept very little and ate poorly = more food choices. I may not do well today, but hoping the whole week isn't shot!

Friday fails....

I was okay until about 11:30 and then bad eating got to me - chips and homemade salsa, these most amazing garlic croutons that we all love but haven't been at the store for months (yes, we eat them like chips, they are that good). Nothing really out of control but not what I had planned and felt like crap because of it.

Dinner was Chocolate Shakeology, and I didn't go crazy at the grocery store (except to buy things for this weekend).

Tomorrow is another day.....

Bring on a weekend of celebrating....

Today the scale was 220.2, same as yesterday.
Yesterday at work was crazy - I barely moved from my chair, which also meant not getting as much water as I would have liked. But I did eat my normal foods, even though I was stressed around 1:00 and was tempted to buy my lunch instead.
I brought my dinner to my mom's but had asked my husband to get my a sub at Subway instead, which I was fine with.

I am working from home today, but the scale tomorrow is really motivating me to eat like normal, plus we are going to be celebrating a lot this weekend
1) Saturday lunch at Cheesecake Factory
2) Saturday dinner at home, but with ice cream and cake
3) Lunch at the beach - we only go once a year, so always bring treats
4) Dinner at the Melting Pot

I am a little sad I am not doing my 10K in Maine tomorrow. This is the last of the races that I am signed up for that I bagged out on. This isn't a "in shape" thing - I really thought I would want to celebrate a decade of being a parent by taking a day to myself. But I realize I want to spend as much of the time with her (her birthday is Sunday), plus I really want to watch the Open Ceremonies of the Olympics (and with my family) instead of having to go to bed early to run a race. I may run tomorrow - I will see.

Over the hump of the week.....

The last couple of days have gone fairly well - 220.2 this morning. So close - definite motivation to keep me doing.

Eating during the day has been spot on.

Tuesday night I went to my mom's for dinner and brought my dinner - 2 hard boiled eggs, flax tortilla, carrots and an apple. I used fat-free mayonnaise from her house (we have Light at our house) - my "treat" was Skippy peanut butter to eat with my apple

Wednesday night's dinner was again a little much - not a full 2nd helping, but some extra of pasta and chicken sausage. But I did skip the ice cream treat the rest of my family was having. I am saving myself for our full weekend of celebrating my daughter's 10th birthday.

Tonight I am going back to my mom's and bringing the same dinner.

August 1 was fairly successful

Scale was 222.6 this morning. Hoping that isn't just a pre-TOM dip (I've always thought it was weird that the day TOM arrives, the scale is low. Very weird)

I ate my lunch I brought, including my 8 oz coke. Another thing I do is not drink the coke while I am eating my lunch - I have it as a treat afterwards.

I didn't move enough during the day - I barely got 6,000 steps.

I didn't really track my water - I don't think I was too good.

I had a little bit too much dinner - but nothing out of control.

It may not sound like a successful day, but it was in my book and I felt good getting on the scale this morning.

Tonight I am going to my mom's house to help her get the house ready to sell. I bring my own dinner when I go, so I packed all my good for the day this morning - dinner will be 2 hard boiled eggs, a flax tortilla, carrots and an apple.

Today I plan on doing the same as yesterday, but less dinner and hopefully more steps.

August is here.....

After being pretty out of control the last few weeks, I decided I needed to step on the scale this morning (TOM is almost here, so I figure that is a good time as any to have a "1st weigh in") - 223.8. Awful. How did I gain 7 lbs this summer?! I know I did - my clothes are really, really uncomfortable lately, which is a lot of what is prompting me to finally make a change. I am less than 10 lbs from my starting point, which means I have regained more than 40  lbs in less than 2 years. God awful!!

August will be a challenging month since I very busy and away a lot, but there are a lot of "normal" days in there. So my goals for August are:

1) Not to buy lunch at work at all - I've been buying pretty much every day and I realize I've been buying because I've been back on a Coke kick. And 12 oz regular cokes. So, as much as it pained me, I bought an 8-pack of the 8 oz cokes at the store - So I still have my Coke fix, but not all the extra calories of buying my lunch, and it is 4 oz less. And I plan on weaning myself off of it at some point.

2) More sleep - hopefully by 10:00 each night. I've been up late (11-12) binge watching shows and ready trashy books for months it seems. I need more sleep!

3) Try to get more steps in - at least wear my tracker. I wore it today - I've been in meetings all day so I really haven't gotten many steps in, but wearing it is a small step.

4) Back to daily weigh-ins, no matter how bad I think it may be

5) More water

I know there is a big thing missing here. Running. I don't know what I will do in this area. I know I should get up 2 days a week, but I also know it is easier to kick-start the weight loss if I get more sleep. I shall see.

I NEED TO DO THIS!!!!!!

Races that haven't been

I have had to cancel, or have bailed, on many, many races since getting back.

Since May 1st I have run only 8 times, for a total of 54 miles. None of which were mid-week, 5 am runs, until this morning.

In May, I did run 3 long runs: 8, 10 and 12.2 - The 12.2 was split though - I ran 6.1 miles to my daughter's soccer game and then ran 6.1 back to my car. And all of those runs did have some walking involved. I never used to walk, ever. But my endurance is shot. And after doing the run/walk 10K with a friend in March, I've allowed myself to walk, maybe too easily.

Memorial Day weekend I was supposed to do a 5 mile race in Boston. I had been out in the sun all day before in 100 degree weather watching a soccer tournament. I drank water like crazy and ate smart, but when my alarm went off at 5:00 am, I felt so dizzy and naucious - I went back to bed until 10:30 am.

The last weekend in June I was supposed to do a 10K - My family was away and I had been unpacking our finished basement and had so much work to do before they got home - I laid out all my stuff, but instead, when my alarm went off at 5:30, I got up and did work around the house like crazy (I contemplated running before working, but chose not to)

My whole family was supposed to do Finish at the 50 on July 3 - It is at Gillette Stadium where the New England Patriots play. We went down the day before and got our bibs because we had an annual party to go to the day of the race (the race started at 6:00 pm) and we wanted to stay at the party as long as possible. The party was fun and the wine was plentiful. If we hadn't left by 4:15 we wouldn't have made it to the race. Since the party didn't start until 1:00 and I would have had to get the kids out of the pool by 3:30 to change, I chose for us to stay at the party instead.

Tomorrow I was supposed to do Runner's World 5&10 - 5K at 7 am and 10K at 8:30 am. But my daughter announced in June that she would like to try overnight camp next summer and tomorrow they have a day where they can go visit the camp for the day. I couldn't deny her that, so off we go.

I am signed up for Beach to Beacon in Maine on August 6. I was going to take the 5th off and go to Maine on my own, but the other day I cancelled the hotel reservation. I could drive up the day-of like other people, but since it has ended up being the only weekend day I have free for the rest of the summer, I am thinking it may not happen.

I said I would start running in the mornings after the 4th, but until today that didn't happen. But I did 4 miles today with some girls, in 100% humidity. Holy humid and hot!!

Yes the mornings are already getting darker and before I know it we'll need reflectors and headlamps, but I am going to try to get out more. But that means going to bed at 9:30 am and I've really enjoyed staying up until 11:00 these last few months.

Disney cruise

Seeing that it was THREE months since we left and I haven't posted is never a good sign. And it has been a rough 3 months food and exercise wise, but I am hoping to change that.

But want to post pictures of the trip. A lot of the pictures I am hiding - I hate hiding. I want to get back to not hiding. But at the same time I didn't let my self-image distract from the trip.

Before the cruise we visited Hollywood Studios to get in the Star Wars mood.

And the magic kingdom

This picture was November 2012 and a real "ah-ha" moment. I am not there but unfortunately pretty close.

And I ran a 10k before getting on the ship

And I wore my medal for boarding!

We dressed up in costumes

And fancy clothes 

I didn't hide for all pictures 

And we hung out on the beach

And I ran 3 miles on the ship during one of our At Sea days.

I didn't eat too much which was good.

But the 3 months since have been rough.

Catching up and heading out!

After 14 months, the trip is almost here. Two days at Disney World and then we get on the ship. I am not where I thought I would be in terms of weight loss (I've gained 15-20 lbs since we booked the trip). But I am am going to enjoy myself! And when I get back I will try to dive into a healthier me, at the same time that our normal "spring hell" which is what we affectionately call spring sports and all the end-of-the-year activities (school doesn't end until June 17). But for now I need this trip so badly. Leaving on my dad's birthday was not ideal, but necessary. And when we come back, 10 days later will be the anniversary of his death. While I know the grief won't end on May 4th, knowing that I got through the first year in a milestone in my book. I have a another huge milestone sometime in the future - my mother selling my childhood home. I can't even think about that right now.

We visited the cemetery early and brought him some flowers and a homemade cookie, and my 7 year old brought his bug farm to tell my dad about.

Saturday I blew off Weight Watchers (which I've been doing a lot of lately) and ran a 10K with a friend. It was a tiny race and we came in last (it was her 1st 10K and she was doing the run/walk method) but she did fantastic!

 

The insulation is done in our basement, so the wallboard and plastering is next. This area is going to be for crafts and working out. I can't wait!

Off to get some work done and finish packing and then we are off bright and early. I can.not.wait!!!

Time is creeping by....

In a week we will be on vacation, but right now every hour feels like a day. I have been in vacation-mode since last week so only getting the work done that really needs to get done before I leave.

My eating last week was pretty bad - I worked from home every day except 1 and at too much leftover Easter candy. I made the decision at the beginning of the week that I wasn't even going to bother going to WW until after I came back from vacation. Tuesday night I went out with a friend, so ate junk and drank. Wednesday we had an unexpected power outage so ended up going out to dinner. Thursday I had dinner with my mom and even though I ate well, I got lectures from her about my weight. Fun times. Friday I took a sick day and didn't eat well

Thursday was in the 70s and gorgeous, spring was in the air. But then the forecast for the weekend made it clear we were going to get snow.

Saturday morning I went for a run because I sure didn't want run in the snow on Sunday. I was going to run 7 miles - it was a route a friend had mapped out, but it has almost a mile of "add-on" which meant we almost got to our car and then had to run 1/2 a mile in a different direction. I had a ton to do that day so didn't get all the way to the turn-around point - I cut one street earlier and ended up with 6.75 miles. Not shabby. But really, really slow.

I got a ton of packing done and went to bed late Saturday knowing it would be my last day to sleep in in a very, very long time. We woke up to blizzard like conditions - it ended up only snowing a few inches and by early afternoon it was sunny and by the end of the day most of it had melted. Monday was a different story. It wasn't really snowing when we got up but by the time it stopped snowing (around 9 pm) we had 6 inches. My husband had to snow blow. I woke up to a car-sicle on Tuesday morning. It was 20 degrees. It looked and felt like January. Very, very depressing.

I didn't get up to run this week because it was in the low 20s with a feel of the teens. I can't risk getting sick so close to vacation. I will get out and do 6-7 miles this weekend - most likely Saturday, the "warmer" of the 2 days - ie mid-40s. This is our punishment for a fairly snow-less winter. I won't say mild, though we definitely had warm days until last winter when it didn't reach 40 for almost 7 weeks.

But in a week we will  be in Florida. It just better not snow down there!

Happy Easter!

Easter isn't a big deal in our house. When it is later in the season I do go out, but March is just so early (thankfully it wasn't the 22nd, the earliest it can be). We had some reason unseasonably warm weather earlier in the month, but not lately. So I was just not feeling it. I just wanted the day to be over so I could concentrate more on the trip!

 I spent a good amount of time in the kitchen on Saturday (everything we do serve is cold or room temperature) so I could get out and do this on Sunday morning. Last year I waited for the kids to get up and open their baskets before heading out, but they've been sleeping in more so I didn't want to wait. I had 6.27 miles to run (the random number would bring me to a whole number).

I chose a rail trail near us. It isn't completely flat - it rises 100 feet over the 3.14 miles I ran - but then you lose it on the way back!

This is the rail trail I ran 13.1 miles last spring 5 days after my dad died. I hadn't been on it since. I've lost so much stamina since then, but my legs were tired from the hilly 5 miles I did on Friday. So now I am at a whopping 43 miles for the YEAR - last year I ran 51 miles in January alone.

Next weekend I am going to do 7 miles around town and then the weekend after I may do the hilly 7 miles from my house. Then I will be ready for the runDisney 10K!!!!

Once I got home, it was go, go, go before my mom and brother came over. The kids enjoyed their egg hunt, and didn't eat any of their lunch, except dinner.

But Easter is over and the trip is 17 days away!!!!!

Less than 3 weeks!!

I can't believe that the trip is less than 3 weeks away. The bad part is TOM came on Tuesday which means I will have it for the majority of the cruise. But I won't let it get me down!

This week has been an odd week. The basement did start - horray! They worked on the framing Monday - Wednesday, but couldn't do anything more until the HVAC guy comes - he is coming Saturday.

I was supposed to run Wednesday morning but the 1 person I was going with bagged out at 4:25 am. Grrr.... But I did get in 5 miles this morning - in daylight because the kids were at my moms for the night since they don't have school today, Good Friday. I am hoping to get out for some miles in Easter - not sure how many since I don't know how my legs will feel since I haven't run in almost 2 weeks.

Eating has been pretty awful this week - I haven't even looked at the scale. I will got to WW in the morning, but may not weigh-in. Once Easter is over, I sware I am not eating sugar until vacation!

I signed up for another race(s) this week. Runner's World announced another runners weekend - 2 years ago I did the 10K which was on Heartbreak Hill (a portion of the Boston Marathon race). It was my first 10K. Everyone was hoping they would come back last year and they didn't. This week they announced a weekend in mid-July at a college near me - so no trudging into Boston. I signed up for the "5&10" which is a 5K at 7 am and a 10K at 8:30...in mid-July. I am a little crazy. If closer to the race I don' t feel ready I won't do the 5K.

So my "upcoming" races are:
April 16 - 10K in Disney
April 22 - 5K in Castaway Cay (so I can say I've done an International Race (ie the Bahamas)
May 29 - 5 miler Run to Remember - Boston
June 26 - BAA 10K (need to sign up for in early April)
July 3- Finish at the 50 - 5K
July 16 - 5K/10K
August 6 - Beach to Beacon 10K

After Labor Day I will decide if I want to do a 1/2 in December

Happy Easter!

Hanging out in bathing suits.....

It has been far from a great week and with TOM on the horizon, the week shouldn't really be shaping up, but once it arrives I always do feel a lot better.

Last week was full of a lot of work stress, excitement (and disappointment) regarding our basement project, and looking forward to 1 1/2 days of at the end of the week to go to Great Wolf Lodge and celebrate my son turning 7.

After a beautiful weekend last weekend, the weather turned raw and nasty and brought everyone's mood down. I worked from home Tuesday - Thursday and ate like crap! And because I have no real junk food, I was creative - like dark chocolate bits, and lots of peanut butter crackers.

So by the time we left on Thursday afternoon, I was definitely feeling bloated and gross, but I wasn't going to let that get me down. We had all been looking forward to the trip for a long time and I knew I wouldn't be the biggest person there, so I was just going to put on my tankinis and act like a kid and that is what I did!

We all got to try out our 2 new bathing suits for the cruise. I loved how they felt. I can NOT wait to be swimming in the waters of the Caribbean in just a few weeks. We've been waiting for this trip for SO long!

The 1 night trip did remind me of some things - we didn't eat dinner until almost 8:30 and by 10:00 I was in bed - my body does not like that! I am used to eating fairly early so I woke up at 2:00 with a really sick feeling stomach and didn't sleep well for the rest of the night. I need to be reminded of that before our trip to not eat so late! Thankfully we are in the early seating for dinner.

One thing that didn't happen at all this week was running.  It was drizzly and cold last week. And while I laid out my stuff for a 6 mile run on Sunday morning, when my alarm went off at 6:30, it was 23 with a feel of 17. On the first day of Spring. I just don't want to risk bronchitis so close to the trip. We had plans to go to my mom's to work on her house, otherwise I would have gotten the run in later in the day.

We were "blessed" with snow this morning. The first full day of Spring. A lot of towns didn't have school today - thankfully we did. Otherwise, 1 more snow day would have brought up to the last day of school on a Monday - no one wants that! And the snow didn't stop the contractors, because they actually started our basement project today!!!!!!

Race series complete

The third race, a 5-miler, was today so the series is complete.

I did not adhere to my "night before a race" protocol - I went out to dinner (though not Mexican like 2 weeks ago) and even though I drank a ton of water, I still felt really dehydrated during the race. It was almost 60 degrees (I didn't wear the top below, I actually wore a tank top).

I had a lot of negative thoughts during the race (like 'What makes you think you want to sign up for all those races'). But I trudged through and finished in 1:01:44. It was the first time I had run over an hour in a 5 mile race :(

But I have a ton of improvement I can do by next year!!

On to the next race - a 10K in Disney. I did get into my 10K in Maine in August, and in early April I will register for a 10K in June.

Now I just need to continue running to prepare for the 10K - 6 flat miles this coming weekend. I was hoping to get out Tuesday morning but it is supposed to be raw and raining, so maybe not!

Gaffe

2016 Races (???)

I keep trying to think about 2014 when I loved running and what has happened since then to change my mind. Some thoughts are:
1) For the most part I was running on completely flat ground (rail trail)
2) Training for my 1st half meant new distances to look forward to
3) I was 30 lbs lighter
4) I was running on my own - no one to answer to
5) I wasn't waking up at 4:30 in the morning which meant more sleep (which can have an effect on #3)
6) I ran a ton of races, most of which included bling, so I had things to look forward to

2015 brought more weight gain, of the few races I did not many had bling, and I had to drop out of too many races, and I was running actual terrain (which is harder anyways, even harder when you gain weight).

But it is 2016 now, 2 months in. Losing weight isn't happening, but I CAN do something I enjoy. I can run more races, those that have bling, and I can try to have more control over where and when I run. I can't do that during the week because I am not going to run in the dark on my own. But I can take ownership of my long runs on Sundays (which were severely lacking after mid-May when I ran 13.1).

1) 1st Run 5k - January 1, 2016 - DONE
2) 3 Miler - February 28, 2016 - DONE
3) 4 Miler - March 6, 2016 - DONE
4) 5 Miler - March 13, 2016 - coming this weekend

Then I will continue to 6 miles and do 6-7 miles per weekend, even if it is flat, to prepare for my 10K

5) Star Wars 10K - April 16, 2016
May do a 5K on the Cruise
May run a local 5K the day after we return
6) 5 Miler Run to Remember - Memorial Day Weekend
7) BAA 10K - June 26 - I needed a June race and since I am not around for the BAA5K, I'll try it - It doesn't go on the Boston Marathon course, but still will be fun
8) Finish on the 50 5K - July 3, 2016 - This ends on the 50 yard line of Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots - I've wanted to do this for a few years, but it has been on a weekday the last few years and hard to get to after work with holiday traffic - this year is a Sunday so I figure this is the year to do it
9) local 5K I've done the last 2 years - mid-July
10) Beach to Beacon 10K - Registration is this week and sells out in 4 minutes - I hope I get in! If not, I may forego an August race
11) local 5K - September
12) 6.66 race - Salem, MA - end of October - I've had 2 DNS with this race - I really want to try it!
13) turkey trot - day after Thanksgiving
14) ??????1/2 Marathon in early December - I won't decide until the summer or later - I'd need to up my mileage in September, but not drastically so until October. It is a hilly course, but has a nice late date to allow minimal summer training.

I was supposed to run this morning - I went to bed early and when I woke up a few people had bailed at 4 am so I expected the 1 remaining person (who acknowledged at 4 am she knew they were bailing but never said what she was going to do) bailed too - after all I was a definite to join. So I am planning another early bed hour.

2 races down, 1 to go

The 4 miler is done. The last mile was rough and slow, even though it was completely flat. I was full of self doubt and was ready to through in the towel and never run more than 3 miles at a time. But I got through it and I bolted to the finish line and loved every minute of getting my latest medal.

I was definitely was better prepared this week:
-I had pasta for dinner (albeit at a restaurant), not Mexican
-I didn't wear my running group shirt, which isn't very foregiving
-I remembered my sunglasses
-I didn't have keys or my ID in my FlipBelt, so I wasn't worrying about anything falling out

I do wish I had worn a short sleeve shirt. It was chilly at the start even at 11 am, but after 48 minutes the sun was beating down on me.

And by the evening I was plotting out my race schedule for the year, which may or may not include another Half Marathon (this would be in early December, on a quite hilly course, so I wouldn't even up my mileage until after Labor Day).

But for now I need to concentrate on re-building my endurance because it is GONE :(  Next weekend is the 5 mile race and then I will up to 6-7 miles and continue that until we go on our trip during which I have a 10K.

I just need to get back my running mojo I had in 2014 and to me that means more races (though in 2016 I had to have DNS on just as many races as I did start).

But I also need to get back in the habit of losing weight and I don't have success doing that when I am running a lot.

But I feel like it has been a big circle - I haven't wanted to run because I am not running as well because I've gained weight and I haven't been eating well which doesn't allow me to run as well, but I also haven't been compelled to lose weight because because I haven't been running and I am not constantly being reminded of what a hindrence my weight-gain has been on my running.

I did got to WW on Saturday. She said I stayed the same when I knew I had lost 2 lbs, but I forgot the previous week I had taken a non-weigh in because I knew I had gained 2 lbs the week after my 3-day cleanse.

1 race down, 2 to go....

The struggle continues and continues - While the pre-dinner/dinner eating is fairly under control, it is only because it has been replaced with afternoon (or even morning eating) which is even worse because those times I am not hungry, it is all stress.

I had a race last Sunday. It was a 3 mile race, and the 1st race of a 3-part series. I did this race 2 years ago. I was supposed to do it last year, but the snow postponed 2 of the races to April.

I ate like crap the week before and went out for Mexican the night before. I usually never go out the night before a race, even for pasta, because restaurant food is so salty, but we had a family night planned so that was the choice of the family.

I also hadn't run at all - like none since February 3rd. But I figured it was only 3 miles, I didn't have to race it, the weather was supposed to be beautiful, and there were a bunch of ladies from my running group going, so I went.

I ran 1:40 slower than I did 2 years ago which I am okay with. There were more hills on the course than there were 2 years ago, so I am okay. What I am not okay with is the post-race picture. Ugh. It comes close to my "before" picture from November 2012 when I was 20 lbs heavier than I am now. I do realize I am squinting in both pictures, but all I can think of is my eyes are smaller because my face is so heavy.

But did I use the picture to do better this week? Not so much. I came home mid-day Monday and had too much to eat. I had brought my lunch Tuesday but had lunch with a friend and bought instead (including a 12-oz soda). I didn't run at all this week. Here I am working from home and hoping to eat normal. And I will have pasta Saturday night for dinner, even if it is at a restaurant because I've got 4 miles to do on Sunday.

This past weekend was nice (hence the short sleeve shirt in the race picture) but this week has been cold. But Spring looks like it will be re-appearing next week, so definitely something to look forward to.

Brand new week

Monday morning, how refreshing. The kids are back to school. Even though the 50's aren't in the 7-day forecast, either is snow, and even if it were to snow, Spring is less than a month away!!  While I dance a jig when Groundhog Day arrives, March 1st is even sweeter, even if they make us wait an extra day this year.

This weekend was very productive - our basement is now clear and clean. I will feel even better once the POD is picked up (today) and the Junk is hauled away (hopefully tomorrow - I had scheduled it for Thursday but it is supposed to be howling, torrential rain on Thursday so I re-scheduled for tomorrow). And then we just wait for the permits to be approved and for the contractor to say he can start.

Friday night we finished loading the POD and realized it wasn't big enough, so some stuff would have to remain in the garage, which means I will be parking in the driveway for the next few months. I've definitely been spoiled the last 3+ years - my first time ever having a garage.

Saturday we moved some stuff into the garage, both to store and to be hauled away. Then in the late afternoon we drove down to IKEA to look at closet organization, sinks, and entertainment centers. We decided on a kitchen sink for our basement - we don't like the utility sinks that are on the market and we decided we don't really need deep. We just want bigger than a bathroom sink, so we are going with the single farmers sink. We also will use their closet organization in our "sports closet". We didn't see entertainment systems we loved.

Sunday I moved all the Junk from the basement into the garage, so the basement is now swept clean and ready to go, except to move the kitty litter upstairs when it is time.

Eating.....eh, not so great. Not horrible. The scale is definitely back up some of the 5 lbs I lost on the cleanse, but PMS is rearing it's ugly head, so I am not going to fret. I am just going to try to eat my normal foods, try to not binge in the afternoon and have a Shakeology. We will see how the week goes *cross my fingers*

Didn't quite finish the 3 days.....

I had bought Shakeology last year, but only drink it some of the time. I keep saying that I am going to get back into it as an afternoon snake to ward of the most stressful time of day for me.

Last month I had bought their 3 Day Refresh kit which consists of:
1) Shakelogy for breakfast + 1 fruit (I use frozen bananas)
2) Fiber sweep mid-morning  (this tastes a little citrusy - but honestly, I drank it holding my nose)
3) Vanilla shake for lunch + fruit (I use frozen bananas) + veggie/fat (I had peppers or carrots with hummus)
4) Veggies/Fat for afternoon snack
5) Vanilla shake for dinner (no fruit) + your pic of a few veggie recipes which included a fat

The first 2 days I was home because the kids are on school vacation - My schedule was a little off, which really meant I wasn't eating until later in the morning, but I did pretty well. Because it was school vacation, it was easier for me not to be eating a normal dinner. The first night only 1 of the kids was home and it was kind of a everyone-for-themselves dinner. The second night we had frozen pizza and salad, so I only had the salad.

The 3rd day I went to work. I brought my breakfast shake with me (make with bananas, you don't have to eat it as quickly, made with ice, you want to eat it quickly). I decided I would go home at lunch time so I could make my shake there.

I am not sure what made me decide mid-afternoon to ditch it all (which really meant having a normal dinner). My afternoon snack consisted of 4 WW string cheese and the rest of a bag of croutons (yes, you read that right. They are these garlic croutons and really, really good!)
I didn't have anything for dinner planned, so I sent the rest of the family out. I had zucchinis and asparagus to cook. I roasted the asparagus, spiralized the zucchini with garlic, but also made 3 oz of spaghetti and ate it with cheese. But then topped that off with some sour dough bread I was saving for the weekend with fig jam and goat cheese. Yummy!!

So it is Friday. Originally I was going to go running with a friend in Boston, but I haven't been able to run and I still am not 100%. We have to finish filling up our POD for our basement project. And I am going to TRY to eat "normal".

Cleaning out....

I've been sick, again.....On Thursday February 4th I ran in capris and a short sleeve shirt at 5 am in 55 degree weather. And the next day it snowed. And I caught another chest cold and have been pretty miserable, thought not as miserable as October. But needless to say, I haven't been running since :( It has snowed and iced on and off the last 2 weeks so the sidewalks have not been condusive to running. The kids had 2 snow days, a Friday and a Monday, making for an impromptu 4 day weekend, and lots of Mommy Guilt because I had to work (thankfully from home) those 2 days.

Eating was completely out of control. The scale was saying 215 for multiple, multiple days. Horrifying.

Which brings me to the post title. Cleaning out.

I am trying one of those 3 day cleanses. I've survived Day 1 and today is Day 2. I am working from home because it is the kids winter vacation, but I may work from home tomorrow as well, Day 3, because it is easier to have the supplies here at at home. We will see how today goes. I just want to get under 210 and then work my way back out of the 200s. I really never, ever thought I would be back here :(

The other part of Cleaning Out, is we are finishing our basement, so we are in the process of cleaning it out. We've been boxing things up and the POD arrived and we need to fill it this weekend. Then I need to get one of those 1-800-JUNK people to come over and take away all the crap we decide we don't want.

Winter is half way over!!!

A year ago, we had our 3rd storm in 10 days and still had 2 major storms ahead of us. We had gotten to January 24 thinking we were scott-free for the winter and far from it - it didn't hit 40 from January 24 to March 4 and even March was very cold and the last of the snow left our yard on April 14.

January was quite chilly, which was part of the reason I only ran 3 times (Jan 1, 3, 14) for a total of 12 miles. A couple of the mornings I wanted to run it was going to be in the single digits with wind chill.

But here we are. February. 1/2 way through. Even if there were storms, we know they wouldn't stick around. Yesterday was 60. Thursday morning it is supposed to be 50 at 5 am!!

My absence as of late has definitely been due to stress. Work stress, cleaning out my parents house stress, Patriots stress (don't have that anymore!), finishing our basement stress, excitement about our cruise, PMS (my PMS seems to get worse with age). So the last week or so has just been bad. I haven't gone to WW in the last couple of weeks. The first was because of a funeral, but I could have made it work. This past weekend was just because I didn't want to face the scale.

But once TOM starts, I am a different person. I don't even have to wait for it to be gone.

I have vowed not to buy lunch or drink soda - I love regular coke, but it makes me so bloated (in addition to being so bad for you!).

I have started having a Shakeology shake in the afternoon to try to fill me up and ward off the pre-dinner munchies. While I have loved getting the kids off the bus this school year, it has not been good for my waistline.

I really had plans to go running Sunday morning to try to end the month with a run, but I chose to sleep in, hopefully for the last time in a while because I plan on my WW Sat/ Long Run Sun routines.

But I DID run this morning!!! Only 3 miles, but it was a great way to start out the month. I am hoping I am back! The cruise is in less than 75 days and I really want to feel better about myself and getting rid of some of the belly fat will go a long way in doing that. I am actually going to try one of those 3 day cleanses in a couple of weeks - I will be home while the kids are on vacation, which in one way means more temptations, but seeing that I don't know how I will feel, it is best if I am at home - and I sure don't want to do it over a weekend! So I will do it 2/15 (post V-day!) - 2/17.

Not good Tuesday....

Work has gotten really stressful again so I have gone back to not weighing myself daily, which isn't good.

Also, I have determined that during ovulation I have almost PMS symptoms. No fun on the food front (or the emotions!)

I owed a friend lunch and literally at the last second, as I was waiting in line to pay, I switched my water for a can of coke. I haven't had coke in like a month or more. I have been sleeping so awfully lately (mainly due to the work stress) that I was so tired.

Snack at home was yeah.....chocolate syrup and almonds - not together. Not proud of that moment.

Dinner was made by my husband....including the ice cream dessert. No reason to have ice cream on a Tuesday night except that it was there.

It is cold, cold, cold here in MA so no running outside. And I just don't have it in my heart to run on the treadmill. My warm bed is way more comfortable.

January is more than 1/2 over!!!

I've decided to celebrate each weekend in January (not with food!) instead of waiting until February to arrive. Yes, I hate January THAT much! Today is MLK day and my husband has a holiday and the kids are off from school and I am working. But I am working from home because it is snowing - Not terribly hard, but I am a wimp with driving in the snow and so many of the people on my team work remotely and my client has a holiday, so here I am while the rest of my family still sleeps.

I worked from home on Friday as well - with my full Sundays spent at my mom's house clearing stuff out, and Saturdays being so busy, I just needed to get laundry and the such done. It felt fantastic to go into the weekend like that. When the kids were infants I worked from home every Friday. I do miss that!

My daytime eating this weekend was spot on.

I went to WW Saturday morning - .4 gain. But I went!

Dinners both days weren't so hot.
I make Chili and Stew each January during the playoffs to remind us of when we used to have Patriots season tickets and I would make those for tailgating.
My chili is awesome, but not particularly healthy. And I made cornbread as well. And we had a ton of jalepenos left over from New Years so my husband made stuffed jalapenos.
I didn't drink beer during the game because I was planning on running Sunday.
Running didn't happen. At the last minute my partner called to say she wanted to sleep in. I was partly annoyed because we were only going early because of her - if I had planned on 8 like I would have liked to, I would have gone out. But instead I went back to bed for 2 hours which I really needed because I haven't been sleeping well.

I ate well all day at my mom's (no cookies this week!), but came home starving and had another meal of chili and cornbread and this time with a beer. AND I had chocolate ice cream for dessert.
But unfortunately the chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce kept me up way too late. So I am tired. But I am going to try my hardest to eat normal even though I am home.

I unfortunately haven't menu planned at all for this week. But I will make sure I don't buy my lunch at all this week (except I do owe my work-BFF lunch, so maybe once).

Failing but trying.....

I am trying to think about Tuesday. How did Tuesday go.....

I know I did end up buying lunch - this whole no-kitchen-nearby thing at work continued to throw me for a loop, so while I had packed my Lean Cuisine Deluxe pizza, I chose to go downstairs and buy lunch - which my fallback is chicken salad on a wheat rollup with a ton of veggies, but at some point someone introduced me to the spicy ranch. And I always get a side - the pasta salad looked fabulous, but I chose chips instead. But I didn't get a Coke - a win in my book!

I can't remember if I munched at home in the afternoon - I am thinking not. But I really can't remember. Instead of just making pasta on our crazy Tuesday night, I did make a huge salad and a frozen pizza and I had more salad than pizza. Though I did share my daughter's mac & cheese after she came home from Ski Club.

Wednesday we had our post-Holiday Lunch with my work group at a new relatively-authentic Mexican restaurant. Chips and salsa and guacamole galore. Along with shrimp fajitas.

And this morning I RAN!!!! For the first time since December 10th I got up at 4:30 am and ran.  I was nervous if it would be slippery (and it was cold - 18 degrees!) but it wasn't too bad. I had laid out my clothes, set me alarm. And then around 11:30 I decided to turn off my alarm (I had been trying to sleep since 10:00). But I woke up at 4:20 and decided I really had not excuses not to get up. I needed to go out. So I did. Only 3 miles, but it felt fantastic!

Another afternoon, another fail....

I arrived at work and found they had dismantled our kitchen, but I found a spoon, found the quiet nook they had hidden the fridge, on with my day. Had my breakfast, later in the morning had my snack of a fruit cup (drained) and a Weight Watchers cheese stick.

Around 12:30 I stopped and talked to my manager and before I knew it, it was 1:00. Instead of shlepping around to find a microwave, I decided to go home to eat lunch because I had a 2:00 and 3:00 meeting. I got home at 1:30, heated up my Lean Cuisine pizza and ate my carrots. At work I would have been fine. But then rice cakes (a full bag, 400 calories worth) called me name. Then the rest of a bag a prunes. Yes, prunes! I told you I didn't have much food in my house.

I didn't have another snack. But still - I didn't need those foods at that time of day. I could easily have done without. I wasn't hungry. I was stressed, anxious, bored, procrastinating.....

It was Taco night. I felt like I made wise choices.
I had 2 flax tortillas instead of the hard ones the rest of the family had
I had fat-free cheese instead of full fat
I had low fat sour cream (I just can't do fat-free for sour cream)
I made "rice" out of sweet potatoes and cooked it with peppers and onions instead of our usual bagged Spanish rice
I didn't have any of the chicken meat - it was perfectly healthy, I just was having other stuff
I had bought fire-roasted corn and cooked that up with black beans
I had salsa
I had 90 calories of guacamole (the single serving packs) split between my 2 tacos.

But later in the evening my stomach was going crazy - not sure if it was the prunes :) Horrible, horrible gas. I felt awful :( I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up way too late, and thus didn't get up at 4:30 this morning to run :(

Today is another day. Another day of trying.

1 week down, 3 to go!

January is by far my least favorite month of the year - I hate, hate, hate it. I love Ground Hog day because I can celebrate winter being 1/2 over, but last year we were in for a rude awakening. We celebrated, but the snow and the cold just kept coming in February. And the cold lasted into mid-April. But this year I will still celebrate even if February and March are god-awful weather.

Another reason to celebrate, especially for us morning runners, even though the shortest day of the year was 3 weeks ago, the sunrise has not been getting earlier until now!!!!

Friday I ate fairly well even though I was home. I went grocery shopping and bought healthy food. I had a flaxseed wrap with coleslaw (no dressing), chicken, buffalo sauce and blue cheese for dinner.

Saturday -
I went to Weight Watchers. 209.8.
I came home and started figuring out the new SmartPoints for all my favorite foods
I ate well all day until date night where I had 3 large beers and a ton of yummy, bad-for-you appetizers

Sunday
I continued with figuring out WW points before going to my mom's to work on cleaning out the house.
I had to bring my own lunch and I had healthy foods, though my mom did have some chocolate chip cookies - I needed the sugar with all the work we were doing.
I make Chicken A La King for dinner and only had 1 Pillsbury biscuit, with no butter


I didn't get a run in over the weekend - it was pouring rain on Sunday and I will no longer run on Saturdays over going to WW. I haven't run in a week and I am itching. I am extremely tired today because I couldn't fall asleep until 1:00 and still slept awfully, but I may get up early and run in the morning. Yesterday was almost 60, the next 10 days will be in the 30s. Hello Winter.

Here is to having a good week!!!!!

Very unsuccessful week

For so long I've been saying that all my weight-gain has been between 5 pm and 7 pm, but this week was clearly a demonstration that since my new schedule change in September, my weight gain has been mid-afternoon. I am supposed to leave work around 3:00 to get the kids off the bus at 3:30, but I've found that it is easier to leave around 1:30 and then get some work done at home before the bus instead of being stressed about leaving work on time and potential traffic.

But I find myself eating a ton in the afternoon, when really I am not hungry because I did just eat lunch, but now I have access to food I didn't used to in the afternoon. And this week, because I had done a fairly good job of cleaning out the pantry last weekend, I was eating even weirder foods - PB2, marshmallows (the rest of them have been tossed!), tabbouleh and crackers, lots and lots of string cheese.

So while I was very good at not buying my lunch this week (well, I did work from home 2 days), I need to do MUCH better with the afternoon eating. I know tracking would help this....I am horrible at tracking.

But I am going to my WW meeting tomorrow regardless of how this week went.

On to next week!

The Good and the Bad

My work buddy wanted to have lunch (usually she works from home on Mondays, or at least she used to) and I was good and brought down my lunch from home. The problem is when she wants to have lunch, she wants to eat at noon, so I was kind of starving later, but had my normal snack at home.

But.....

My son had swimming so he and my husband were gone from 4:30 - 6:00 and I found myself chowing on snacky type food (weird food since I had purged most stuff from the house) while helping my daughter with school stuff.

I've always said I gain weight between 5-7 pm - before dinner, while making dinner, and eating too much for dinner.

So it is definitely something I need to work on!

I am sticking to my plan to only run 2x a week (at least for a while) which made Monday so much easier knowing I didn't have to get up at 4:30 on Tuesday (especially since it was 7 degrees this morning!).

100 days from today we leave on vacation!!!!