Whew! Grandson just left again--dil had a funeral this morning so he got here at 9 in the morning. Thank goodness my dd is close to come help watch him. I made pancakes for the little guy--he loved them, and I'm in carb heaven!! I'm trying real hard not to let this ruin my entire day. I had to start on an antibiotic for this #(&^ leg and I think it's the one that makes me nauseous, so that may be a good thing, eh?
Lilion~~I hear you about the salty snacks. I especially love them after I eat something sweet. They are truly addicting--it's just better if I don't even have them in this house, it's so hard for me to resist.
Terri~~I may try journaling like that. I have a couple cloth-bound journals in the cupboard. I just never keep up with stuff like that--I'll do it for 2 or 3 days, then get lazy. I'm going to give it a try, though. I think I'll start in the morning--the pancakes really ruined my day, I'm positive of that. Hopefully I can stay OP for the rest of the day...I have, so far. I so agree with you about having the good stuff around. It makes choices so much easier. I've been making my steel cut oats and dividing it into four servings, then I have a serving every day. That works very well. I'll also buy leaf lettuce (I love that stuff), run it through my salad spinner and stuff it in a gallon ziploc with a paper towel, and I usually have lettuce for almost the whole week. Good job on the bike. I got my resistance bands I ordered yesterday. Now I need to try to find a good video to help me with them.
Angela~~Where does your mom live in Ohio? Mmmmm, thinking of that chocolate right now is making my mouth water. Congratulations on the will power! I'm looking for videos to help me work with the bands, and I also have a stability ball that I am not comfortable on!
Valerie~~Where ya' been? Are you out and enjoying this beautiful weather? Today is another gorgeous day. Hope all is well with you.
I am disappointed to say that I slept through exercise this morning. I fell asleep in the recliner with Daisy on my lap last night and did not wake up until 5:30, put the dogs out and fell back asleep.
Duke and I started obedience school last night. That was fun. He has an attention problem. However, he was not the rowdiest in class. I had trouble getting him out of the Escape because he was scared of all the noises of a busy street. I had to carry him from the Escape to the front door. I do have to get a harness because of the shape of his head, he can pull backwards on any collar and slip right out of hit. He has so much skin around his neck that finding a collar that fits is a problem. At least with a harness, I can better get him to and from the class without worrying about him getting out of it and smashed by a car. He seemed to enjoy it.
Food was great yesterday until the evening. I dipped into my flex points a little bit because we got something to eat on the way home; DH's favorite, Church's chicken. I got as small as I could get but I'm sure it was still lots of points. Next time, DH is going to have to make me a sandwich that I can eat on the way home and he can have the chicken if he wants to.
Tonight, we go see Phoenix at the trainers. Another night on the run.
Charlotte - I too have the problem of journalling great for 2-3 days and then "forgetting" and start over on Monday then forget by Friday. However, my incentive/accountability is that I want to have a complete journal to show the doctor at the end of 30 days. I also am motivated this time by the desire to show myself that, if I sincerely and honestly, commit to a plan, that it will work and to lose those thoughts in the back of my mind about past failures. I just need to show myself that it can be done IF I am 100% committed to the process.
Today's challenge will be that I'm taking my employees out to lunch because it is the 30th work anniversary for one of them. We're going to BBQ. I will either have a salad or salmon.
to all! Time to get up and pack up some snacks for the remainder of the day. We have fresh blackberries in the fridge!
Well, I did it. I walked my big butt up the hill to the Doctor's office and did my "official" WI for the first time since May 9. It wasn't fun and it wasn't pretty. I've gained 7.5 lbs since then. On the up side, I thought I'd gained 10 – so it's prettier than it might have been. (Funny how I feel every one of those 7 1/2 lbs when I didn't feel my gain of 15 lbs a year for 6 years!) My poor husband is back up to 245 and has been trying so hard to be good and I keep sabotaging him and I decided it's time to quit that! I need to get back in gear and get this done. SO – I'm changing all my various weight trackers to show the TRUTH and I'm climbing back on the WW wagon!
Well I didn't have a good day yesterday and it was one of those things that I usually let undermine me. Some folks were going out for lunch. I knew that if I went I wouldn't eat well--our restaurant choices are limited, and the only place the vegetarians like in town is not a place where one can get a reasonable lunch. But I thought, well, I'm going to have a small dinner, and I haven't eaten out or splurged in weeks. So I went and ate a 1000-calories lunch. Then as I returned to the office, my friends who just finished a major kitchen renovation asked if I would come to dinner to celebrate the completion of the project--and because they were having people to dinner who I think they thought I could help them with, long story. Luckily Chris cooked a healthy, low-fat dinner, but then there was bananas foster for dessert, and I ate it. So I was a ways over my goal yesterday, PLUS I didn't manage to fit exercise in.
Today is update day on my mother. They're giving her a "home visit" day on Saturday. Wish I could be there, but I simply can't.
I ordered two new exercise DVDs...they both look pretty good, I'll try one of them out when I get home this evening.
Charlotte--My mom lives in Leavittsburg (Trumbull County). We also have family in Newton Falls and in Champion. Right now, though, my mom's in an acute rehab facility in Warren.
Terri--Keep with that journal! It's the middle of the week, so don't forget!
Lilion--You can do it!!! Climb on up!
Well, ladies, I've got to finish writing an exam and grading a whole bunch of projects, so I must sign off.
Just a quick one. Boss is already on my back today. I HATE THIS JOB! Not true. I HATE MY DIRECTOR.
That's true.
So anyway, wanted to say I did mange to stay OP yesterday.
Angela, Social eating out is ALWAYS my downfall. I never seem to be able to say "I'll skip the cheesecake, thanks anyway." Or "Oh no, I don't care the anything but the salad." So you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again with the next meal. It's all you can do.
It's hot and humid and icky here and I am crabby as all get out! I finally sucked it up and bought the fitday software and have been tracking it all week. Oh - what a shocker. But it's good to see what is really going on in terms of calorie consumed versus calories expended and in what the form the calories are coming in.
Oops my kid just called for a ride, so personals later. Hope everyone is doing well.
Not much going on today. Did what I should as far as eating, exercised in a "serious" way. Didn't get everything else done that I wanted to, that's for sure.
Hope everyone's well.
Lilion, Do you have a pick of that director somewhere you can put on the floor and step on now and again?
Luja, Glad you're finding the tracking a revelation. It sure is for me, most days.
I've had three busy nights and have two more to go. I am so looking forward to Saturday morning. I want to have a quiet morning cleaning house.
I have been very faithful and honest in journalling this week. I feel very positive about how I've done this week. I admit that I've slept through exercise two mornings this week. I did get up this morning and got a workout in before having to shower and off to work.
Wednesday night, we went up to see Phoenix at the trainers. He comes home in a week so another horse to ride regularly. We ended up going through Taco Bell on the way home because it was so late. Nineteen points for a nachos bell grande. But I journalled it and deducted the appropriate flex points for going over. What I learned is that I could have had three taco supremes for less points. Yesterday, I made sure I came in under my points.
Last night, we were supposed to take Spanky over to DH's cousin to ride. They have an outdoor arena plus she is going to help me improve my riding and to continue on with Spanky's training. However, he acted like a huge horse's a$$ and would not load into the trailer. I ended up working him in the round pen and then rode him doing more trotting than usual. I finished by walking him around in circles at the back of the trailer. I was covered in sweat and was wasted by the time I was done with him. He might have won the skirmish over loading however he didn't get off scot free. Big jacka$$.
Tonight the farrier is coming to check on Ginger. Her feet are pretty sore and she needs help. I might start on yard work with the string mower tonight as we wait for Chris to arrive. More sweating.
Lilion - Its hard to make that first step back onto the OP path but you've taken it by facing the scale.
Angela - Great job on the "serious" exercise. Keep working at it, you're making progress!
Luja - I hear ya about the hot and crabby. That was me last night. I'm trying not to complain because it isn't as bad as last year but gads, I dislike the humidity so much. Good deal on getting real with fitday. It is an eye opener and that is why keeping track of what we're eating is the best way to success.
I need to post this and get ready for work. to all!
I'm having an ugly day today. Couldn't do a thing with my hair, couldn't find an outfit I liked in my closet (And it's casual Friday - how lame is that!) and looked in the mirror in the parking lot with natural light and thought "OH GOD! I need a facelift!" Got my hair cut last night and the stylist asked when I was going to color it again. I know it's her job to try to make money, and half the time I like my gray, but today I just wish I'd have said, "Right now! Hop to it!" I hate ugly days.
But I did okay OP yesterday. I'm sure I hit the max on my points. I was 4 down after dinner, but I had several bites of my DS ice cream and some tortilla chips (about 2 pts worth) so I probably went over, but since I'm not sure how much I'm saying I didn't. On the up side - I was late at the stylist and told DS I was bringing him food. He wanted burgers and ice cream. Imaging that - a 12 yr old wanting junk - but I caved. I got him burgers and ice cream and got myself a SALAD from the grocery store salad bar with low-fat dressing and didn't buy myself any sweets! I felt morally superior at the time. (And I did make him eat a large serving of fruit before I let him have his blizzard.)
Tonight DH and I are hitting the casino in St. Charles for DH birthday. His real gift was a new tattoo. He's been wanting one for a while. Anyway, I also bought him a set of the old Doctor Who series dvd's. I think he was happy. The casino will, of course, involve drinking and snacking, so I'm trying really hard not to use any of my flex points and I'll just mark off 35 for the uncountables tonight.
Terri, I really like Taco Bell! Amazes me that food that is SO BAD can taste SO GOOD. Good work journaling all week! Don't feel too bad about sleeping thru the exercise...I haven't gotten back to the Infernal Machine yet!
Angela - No photos of the director (the camera would probably burst into flame) so we settle for "hand signals" behind his back.
Luja - The first thing I did when I started seriously trying to lose weight was to go to calorieking.com and dietfacts.com and look at the NI listed for the various fast food and other items we ate regularly. Was a bit of a shock. This site has some good listings too. Education is the best tool though. I'll NEVER eat Sonic breakfast burritos again! (Over 750 calories each! - and the FAT - don't get me started!)
As I'm at work, I probably should skedaddle! to Ruth, Battle, Charlotte, Heather, and all our other hens!
Terri - Taco Bell...sigh...Lilion's right, how can something that bad taste so good. Sounds like a nice treat. Good work on the journaling. Do you go to the American Royal? My mom is thinking of coming up for this year. She won't bring her horses since she lives in Georgia right now. Maybe after she moves to Arkansas in a couple of years.
Lilion - the various calories in fast food has shocked me too. I used to LOVE Sonic breakfast burritos. Never again. Everyone has ugly days, but usually the only people who think we are ugly are ourselves. Good job on the just the salad and no sweets. Enjoy the casino!
Luja - without tracking I would be lost. I never really thought about what I ate before. I didn't always eat huge amounts, but the calories were huge. There have been days I would have a sonic breakfast burrito AND a Starbucks cafe mocha. The two things together are something like 1400 calories! Add regular meals & snacks in and while the quantity wasn't super high the calories were through the roof!!
I'm sitting here feeling "bleck" Not sure of the right word for it actually. I've been trying to find a protein shake that I like for a quick breakfast. I've been working on blending my own and so far no results. I experiment once or twice a week and I *will* find one, but right now ...this ain't it. The feeling is the same as the time I tried wheatgrass. Everyone told me how good it would be for me, so I wandered into the juice bar and ordered a shot. As I'm standing there I notice the girl pull out a tray of grass. She gets out the trimmers and cuts off a handful, which she then drops into a blender. At this point I'm thinking that I don't know what I have gotten myself into. Soon the girl comes back with this cup of dark green goo which I have paid $2 for. I decided to drink it outside. On the first try I couldn't get it past my nose. It smelled just exactly like lawn clippings...because it WAS LAWN CLIPPINGS. On the second try I held my nose shut and slammed it back. At this point my stomach rebeled. No way was that stuff going down and my taste buds wouldn't let it back into the mouth. It took some forcing to get it all the way down and for the next hour or so my stomach kept trying to force it back out. For the next couple of hours when I burped it tasted like lawn clippings. Took awhile to get over (emotionally I'll never recover). Today's protein shake combo of soy powder, juice and fruit is having much the same effect. Individually the fruits are good, the juice is good (the powder is blech) but combine the 3 and it is just all blech.
On a not-blech note. I checked my weight for the first time in a couple of weeks and I'm down 14lbs right now! It's 7lbs down since my last official weigh in and 1 since I checked just for the sake of changing my butterfly.
Stacey -- Here's the protein shake I drink after weight lifting. Don't know if you'll like it!
1 cup OJ
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use a scale and it weighs 30 g. I think it MIGHT be a 1/2 cup)
150 g mixture of frozen berries: blue, straw and rasp usually.
If you think it's something you might like, I can try to give you a better sense of the size of the scoop!
That version has about 300 calories. I also make a lighter version where I just cut the portions down (2/3 cup OJ, etc) that's 200 calories.
Well, yesterday was certainly a crappy day--had to have bloodwork done before I went to the Wound Care Center, so I was there at about 8 and didn’t get out til 8:45. No change at all in this leg, so we went back to this horrible wrap on my leg--I swear it’s worse than a cast, and the pain is just enough to keep me miserable all night and day. He wants me to keep it on until next Thursday, which means to take a shower I have to wrap my whole leg in a trash bag and secure it with duct tape. I’m just about beside myself with this whole ordeal, really. One step forward and about six back…
Stacey~~Oh my, that wheatgrass sounds bad. I do love the smell of freshly mown lawns, but I seriously don’t think I could drink it!! Good for you on the WI--that is certainly a significant amount gone since your last WI!
Lilion~~Good luck and have fun at the casino with DH. Have a Long Island iced tea for me, will you? Those are the most “flavorful” iced teas I’ve ever had! Good job with the salad from the grocery store. When I buy my ds junk food, I always make him save me one bite, which usually satisfies the craving I get from the smell. Drives him nuts, though.
Terri~~Congratulations on your journaling. I decided to try it, too. Of course, I didn’t yesterday (my second day!), but am trying to catch up yesterday and do today, also. Dinner is always a pain for me to figure out. I try to estimate as close as I can, and I think I do ok. I really need to force myself to start some kind of upper body exercise. I got the bands and still haven’t used them--they’re so smelly I put them back in a bag and closed them up. Guess I need to sit them outside and try to air them out--there’s a really strong latex smell. Yuck.
Luja~~How do you like that software? I’m so tempted to rejoin Calorie King, but just can’t justify $55 for one year. Do they upgrade it for you periodically? I’m in the county right below Trumbull! Did you grow up in Ohio? Valerie is about two counties west of here, too. I hope you’re mom’s “home visit” goes well tomorrow.
Guess I’ll finish up here at work and go home and elevate this leg. This is going to be a long 7 days til next Thursday…not only is this leg wrapped in a totally uncomfortable wrap, I’m on an antibiotic for 14 days that just tears up my stomach.
Hope you're all having a nice Sunday! It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted, - where does the time go????
As I mentioned in my last post, I had an appointment with my doctor for my "annual" physical. I thought I had better get myself in for one since I hadn't had my "annual" physical in about 2 1/2 years! They did all the tests, and I got my results back last week, - everything is good! I always worry when getting the tests done because my brother has diabetes and I always fear that I may get it too. But happily, my tests showed my blood sugar is normal. My thyroid test also came back normal, - so who knows why my hair seems to be falling out???? My doctor said it's probably temporary. Also, my TOM came this month, so I guess I'm not in menopause, as I was thinking maybe happened. Anyway, it's good to know that things are OK.
Hubby and I had a nice mini-vacation to Michigan to Souix Ste Marie in both the Canada and the U.S. sides, and also to Mackinac Island. On Mackinac Island, there are TONS of fudge shops up and down both sides of the street!! The give out free samples, which I did have a few. I have to admit, I did break down and buy a small slice of the peneuche fudge without nuts, - yummy brown sugar fudge, - I had never had that before and it was so good! I brought the slice of fudge home, and cut it into tiny little pieces and rationed it out so that I only allowed myself 1 tiny piece each day.
While at Mackinac Island, we did a lot of walking, - since there are no cars allowed on the island, - so that was good! We walked down one street and found a butterfly house. We went inside, and they had a room that was like a sun-room, - all filled with hundreds of different butterflies from all over the world. We took a lot of photos and got some nice close-up shots of the butterflies. I must say, those butterflies are pretty smart, they land on you to try to "hitch a ride" to the outside when you leave! There is a person by the door who looks you over to make sure there are no butterflies on you who are trying to escape!
The weather here has been really hot and humid these last couple of weeks. It's been nice for swimming, but not so nice for working out in the yard! Hubby has been working on painting the trim around the windows of our house, but can only do a bit at a time because it's just too hot!
Yesterday, we went to a Romanian Festival at the church of one of my co-workers. They had Romanian music, dancers, items for sale, and of course food! It was a nice time.
Terri - I love Taco Bell too! I've been seeing a commercial on TV advertising their new Beef Quesadilla, and I've been wanting to try one (I love their chicken and cheese Quesadillas), but so far have resisted. I have been having the WORST craving for Nacho chips and cheese, but as I know they are a lot of calories, I came up with something that satisfies my craving for nachos. I call it "Nacho Chips and Cheese Sandwich". What I do is get a small individual size bag of Doritos (whatever flavor you like, I use Nacho Cheese) and crush the bag of chips. Put the crushed chips in a storage container. Then to make the sandwich, I take 2 slices of Lite bread, put one slice of Sargento Chipoltle Cheddar Cheese on the botton slice, then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the crushed Doritos over the slice of cheese. Put the other slice of bread on top and microwave for 20 seconds. When you take it out of the microwave, immediately flip the sandwich over on the plate and let sit for about 3-5 min. to firm up. Then eat and enjoy! I have found this really satisfies my nacho craving - and it is only 184 calories!
Stacey - Wow, you are brave drinking that wheatgrass protein shake, - it sounds absolutely disgusting! One sip and I would have been gagging! Congrats on losing the 14 pounds, - that's terrific!!!
Wyllenn - Thanks for posting your recipe for your protein shake. It sounds really good, and I'm going to be trying it soon. We have lots of raspberries in our garden, so this will be a good way to use some of them.
Well, got to get going now. Hope you all have a good week!
To everyone else!
However, he was not the rowdiest in class. I had trouble getting him out of the Escape because he was scared of all the noises of a busy street. I had to carry him from the Escape to the front door. 
I do have to get a harness because of the shape of his head, he can pull backwards on any collar and slip right out of hit. He has so much skin around his neck that finding a collar that fits is a problem. At least with a harness, I can better get him to and from the class without worrying about him getting out of it and smashed by a car. He seemed to enjoy it.
to all! Time to get up and pack up some snacks for the remainder of the day. We have fresh blackberries in the fridge!
for Friday!
Couldn't do a thing with my hair, couldn't find an outfit I liked in my closet (And it's casual Friday - how lame is that!) and looked in the mirror in the parking lot with natural light and thought "OH GOD! I need a facelift!" 
Got my hair cut last night and the stylist asked when I was going to color it again. I know it's her job to try to make money, and half the time I like my gray, but today I just wish I'd have said, "Right now! Hop to it!" I hate ugly days. 
I felt morally superior at the time. (And I did make him eat a large serving of fruit before I let him have his blizzard.)
This site has some good listings too. Education is the best tool though. I'll NEVER eat Sonic breakfast burritos again! (Over 750 calories each! - and the FAT - don't get me started!)
Congrats on losing the 14 pounds, - that's terrific!!!