Back from the Big Apple!

My fun weekend in the City is over, but I am glad to be back where things are more predictable. I really am such a homebody.

The weekend with my mom and my daughter was fun, but not without my mom's digs about my eating and my daughter's eating - honestly, my mom is getting even more cruel and more self centered as she gets older. She really doesn't want to hea what I have to say when it comes to eating or being healthy. But I didn't let that dampen things - it was beautiful weather.

Friday we picked her up around 9:30 and hit the road. We pulled over around noon in a state park for a picnic lunch (mine was PB&J, hard boiled egg, carrots, banana, rice cake chips, 1 cookie, my 8 oz coke) - I didn't think we would get a chance to eat before dinner (and I was right) so I wanted a big meal!

We got to our hotel around 2:30 and immediately headed out to stroll down to Rockefeller Plaza and the American Girl store. Me and my daughter did quite a bit of shopping there and literally had to run back to the hotel to change to make our 6:00 pm dinner reservation. Food was Italian - I had some bread, a few olives, a couple glasses of wine, a salad, pasta (the portions weren't very large), and chocolate mousse for dessert. Yummy! Satisfied but not stuffed.

We went to see 'Cinderella' - fanstastic! We got back to the room at 11:00 and I fell asleep immediately.

Breakfast was at the hotel - I got 2 scrambled eggs, bacon, wheat toast, home fries, and OJ. The OJ wasn't worth it - It was fresh squeezed and I don't like pulp. I had a nibble of the home fries (they weren't real home fries - they were deep fried) and ate the rest.

We wandered through Central Park and made our way over to Serendipity, with the thought of having a morning snack of Frozen Hot Chocolate. But it was 11:00 and it didn't open until 11:30, so we decided to wait and have lunch there. Before getting in line we went to a candy store, but only got some stuff for the kids. Lunch was a burger (not a very good one, which I didn't eat it all) and we all shared a frozen hot chocolate. Yummy!

After lunch, we went a bunch of places and then to Tiffany's so I could check out their Keys, which I plan to buy once I hit Lifetime. At that point my mom and daughter headed back to the hotel. I kept looking at Tiffany's and then went and got a snack New York bagel with CC and a Coke - not very healthy!) - I never did get a Pretzel, Pizza, or any other street food like I wish I had. Next trip!

After  a quick rest at the hotel, we went to the Met to meet up with my mom's cousin. I knew there was nothing at the restaurant for dinner that my daughter would eat, so she got some pasta at the cafeteria while my mom and cousin got tea, and I had water.

Dinner was at Turkish Restaurant. We got bunch of appetizers, and then I got a Kabob for dinner, and Backlava for dessert. Yummy. Again, satisfied, not stuffed.

I had a horrible nights sleep and knew I had a long day ahead. I indulged a bit for breakfast - pancakes, egg, bacon - No OJ. I didn't know when we would have lunch. We drove to NJ to see my cousin preach and then back to her house for lunch (takeout pizza, no salads). We left around 3 and at 4:30 stopped at a rest area. I needed caffiene, so got a Mocha Frappe from McDonald's (my daughter got a chocolate shake) - Turns out that was my dinner as we didn't stop again and got to my parents around 7:30. I was starving but exhausted so chose not to make myself anything at home. I was in bed at 9:00!

The scale was up 3 lbs this morning - Not sure how much of that is "real" - One thing I don't like about traveling is not being able to get my water in. My body kind of rebels.

But back to the grind and hopefully back on plan, even though this week is kind of off kilter.

Weekly Weigh-in #23

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 217.6
Current Weight:  216.0
Change Since Last Week: -1.6
Total Change: -16.2
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

Weighing in a day early before my trip to NYC.

Very happy to see 216 this morning!

I saw the scale say 236 after my trip to Florida in November, so 20 lbs gone. But officially (well pseudo officially because I won't be able to get to WW this morning) 16.2 down since December 1st.

Making no predictions on my weight a week from tomorrow. I am not using a 3 day trip as an excuse to eat everything in sight, but I am going to enjoy myself as well. But Monday, exhausted or not, back on track.

One Pound at a Time

I know I have constantly said here that I don't do well with goals and 'I want to lose X # of lbs by Y'. I always fail, miserably. Any week I say I am going to do well, I gain...a lot.

We all say Baby Steps and I think I just need to concentrate on 1 pound at a time. Make good decisions that will allow the scale to go down by 1 pound. 1 pound a week at this weight SHOULD be attainable. Not trying to do 1.5, or see how many pounds I can lose by my next meeting. BUT should I not lose a lb, I think I should work extra hard the next week to make up for it. So that is how I am going to think from now on.

So here I sit at home, trying to work, being very distracted by housework I am trying to do before I leave for the weekend, packing for the weekend, being excited about the weekend, being excited about all the weekends to come (I love spring!), and trying not to dive into goodies I bought at the grocery store per the request of my husband (who will be home with my son) and my daughter (road trip food).

I trying with all my might because I am dieing to see a new number. I have been stuck in the 217's for 3 weeks (okay, I've been way above them as well, but the first time I dipped into the 217s was on April 13) I haven't seen 216 anything yet. 216 is the elusive number because that was my starting number on 3/25/2010. Granted, even if I saw it tomorrow morning, it ain't going to look that way on Monday!

Speaking of which, this is what I think my weekend nosh will look like. I will confess that I am very nervous about this all because I am going with my mother who is hyper critical of my weight and also of my daughter's eating habits (even though I keep telling my mom that one of my issues is that junk food was a rarity and forbidden in my house so as soon as I could buy my own food, I bought junk (though that majority of my weight gain is from overeating, not eating junk food) and thus I am teaching/allowing my kids to eat SOME junk - not a lot, but I don't want them to think it is forbidden. Granted, my daughter has turned uber-picky and only wants the junk food. So my mom will be hyper critical of snacking. She believes if I don't give my daughter snacks then she will be forced to eat whatever we put in front of her because she will be starving. Can you said food issues much?

Friday breakfast - Home as normal - may be larger than normal because I doubt I'll bring a morning snack for myself, as i will be driving
Friday lunch - Bringing a picnic lunch
Friday afternoon snack - either something in the room or something on the street!
Friday dinner - Italian

Saturday breakfast - hotel
Saturday snack - Something I bring in my purse
Saturday lunch - TBD
Saturday snack - Hoping for frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity or candy from Dylan's
Saturday dinner - Turkish

Sunday breakfast - hotel
Sunday snack - something I bring in my purse
Sunday lunch - TBD - with my cousins after church
Sunday snack - in the car
Sunday dinner - TBD, probably on the road

I didn't wake up to run - I am mad at myself. I am hoping to go out with my daughter after school or before dinner.

Size 18 Pants are a No Go

As expected, the Size 18 pants from Lands End have to go back. They are too small in the thigh area. Which means I have to wear black capris I hate until I can fit into my 16W (I tried them on for encouragement, but I've got a long way to go!)

I've been making some new meals the last couple of nights which has been very challenging, as the food is really yummy. As it is I probably ate too much as a first serving, but it took everything i had not to have seconds.

Cross training needs to start next week! I'll finish out this week with running, but next week, when my next Bootcamp starts, I am really going to try!

It is May - I am so excited!!!!!!

Outside running at 5:30 am!

It felt so wonderful! Still a bit chilly (41), so I wore a hat and long sleeves. I wish it could be this light at 5:30 am all year long! But I will take it being able to run outside in the morning for the next 3+ months.

W7D1, 25 minutes, 2.0 miles. 4.8 mph/12:30 min/mile. I rate reading about people training and 4.8 is their walking pace! But whatever. It's better than sitting on the couch!

I was tempted to run an extra 2:30 out, so I could run a total of 30 minutes, so in essence graduating from C25K, but I chose not too. Maybe Thursday I will since I won't get in a run this weekend - just a lot of walking on Saturday. And then I can gradually add a few minutes on to get back to my 5K. And then what, not sure. Fitting in a 5K in a my neighborhood is going to be a squeeze - My street is about 1.3 miles end-to-end - going off my street you get into either traffic or very tight, windy, so-so busy street (with no sidewalks).

Beautiful weekend! But way too short!

Monday morning brain here, because I am trying to remember what I did!

Saturday I went to WW - I got my 16 week charm (shows how many times I have skipped since I just hit weigh-in #22). Then I went grocery shopping - I didn't have a ton to buy, just fresh fruits and veggies and dairy. Filled up with gas and was ready to go.

I took my daughter to soccer. Her team isn't very good. She is trying though. I couldn't help but notice that 3 of the 8 girls are overweight. Fantastic that they are doing soccer, but I can already tell at age 6 that they seemed miserable, weren't able to run very fast. One of the girls has a sister who at age 5 is already overweight as well. I saw both her parents and a bunch of grandparents and they seemed fine. I was always a very thin child, though I did gain weight around puberty, but that was also due to me then having money to buy junk food. I was never overweight according to the BMI scale until I was 29-32 (in that period of time I flucuated in the 150s). Once I stopped training my weight rose to 172 where it was when I met my husband, then it ballooned from there.

But back to my daughter - I worry because lately she has gotten so much pickier. She doesn't seem to want to eat anything remotely healthy. But I also don't want to deprive her of junk food (we do it in definitely moderation).

After soccer we all hung around at home doing stuff. We went out to our favorite Italian restaurant. I had no wine, no bread, a caeser salad (I know, not the healthiest). Their portions are enormous. I immediatel cut off a portion and stuff a spoon in my bowl to act as a barrier so I would only eat a small bit.

Sunday I got up to meet a friend for a run. I think we ran a little over 2 miles - nothing very fast as she is recovering from surgery. It was the first time in a long time that I had run while talking, so our pace was definitely slower. I could have gone further - I almost wanted to go running again when I got home, but I didn't.

TOM arrived last night - Hopefully I won't do too much damage this week. I so badly want to get to 216, my starting point in March 2010. But this week may not be it - but I am going to try to eat well this week since I am going to NYC next weekend and have lots of yummy meals lined up!

Weekly Weigh-in #22

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 220.0
Current Weight:  217.6
Change Since Last Week: -2.4
Total Change: -14.6
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

I was pretty surprised by the # this morning - though I always seem to have a dip right before TOM. But I will take it! I am away next Saturday, but if I like the # on the scale on Friday morning I may try to go get weighed in. I am anxious to get to 216, which was my starting point 3 years ago, plus it will drop my BMI under 35.

Friday I had a training class all day, so lunch was served. Pizza and salad. I had a 12 oz coke but didn't finish it. I did have 2 pieces of pizza, but vegetarian. I had salad with oil dressing. Last night was swimming so I had my typical PB&J sandwich.

A friend of mine, who is recovering from gall bladder surgery, the one who got my into running in the first place, asked if I wanted to meet on Sunday morning for a short run. C25K would have me running 22 minutes, but not sure if it will be slightly longer. I am okay with that!

Last night at the Y I saw that they have bootcamp on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 5:30 am - I think I may give that a try. Probably not this week, but I would like to start the week after.

May is coming - by far my favorite month of the year :)