Friday, September 16, 2016

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


Wednesday, September 14, 2016

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.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

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.

Monday, September 12, 2016

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.


Saturday, September 10, 2016

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!!!!

Friday, September 9, 2016

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!