Hi Elisha, Julie & CA Critter,

I have been rather busy these past few days and have not been able to check in with you. I have been struggling on both the food journal and the exercise front , I don't know why it is I am unable to knuckle down on a daily basis. I have been like this before, an "all or nothing" mentality. Can anyone identify with this? You're are either eating well and exercising, or eating anything in your way and being a slug on the couch! Each night I go to bed with the best of intentions, start the day out well enough, but then it all backfires on me. I agree with Julie about each day being hard (at the moment that is) .

To help me on the exercise front, I bought a pedometer. It is recommended you walk 10,000 steps each day, so I thought that would help motivate me to move more. This is my third day wearing it, and while I haven't cracked the 10,000 steps yet, each day has been an improvment on the day before .

Elisha - I posted on the July 4 Challenge thread and congratulated you on reaching your challenge goal weight! You must be very proud of yourself.

Julie - I hope your "not perfect, but good day" continued, we do need those days once in a while. Good luck with your 2lb on Tuesday!

That's it for now,

Lucia

One should eat to live, not live to eat. - Moliere



Sorry I didn't get around to posting yesterday evening. I'm a bit pressed for time again this morning, but I promise I will be back this evening with a full account.
See you then!
~Elisha

OK, well today was ok foodwise, but the day kind of fell apart towards the end! AND...I didn't get any exercise in! It's only 8:30pm and I've been ready to sleep for about an hour! Geesh! Perhaps it's that "no exercise" thing, huh?

I need to list my food here so I can track what I ate:
B-8 oz. hot lemon tea (I have heard/read that this really promotes weight/fat loss and so I have again tried to go with tea instead of coffee & flavored creamer. Will try for the rest of the week, but no promises!)
B-fast: 1 cup Kashi Go Lean plus 1/2 cup rasin bran, 6 oz. milk, l cheese stick
Lunch: 1 breaded/baked chicken breast, 3/4 cup coleslaw, 1/2 cup grapes!
Pre-Supper: 1 cup (ok, I really didn't measure, but I am judging it was about a cup based on the small plate I put it on) brown rice/cabbage/carrot concotion I made this weekend (I was STARVING when I got home!)
Supper: Chicken breast, 1 cup green beans, 1/2 cup stuffing

I am just guessing here, but I probably didn't have enough protein and went over in the fat dept! That's usually the case for me which is probably why I can't seem to lose the weight!

However...on a positive note: I stepped on the scale this morning and I was down to 168.75...My lowest weight ever since the beginning of this journey. I feel like I am making progress as it's nice to see something below 169!! I can still hope for 165 by the 4th of July, but I'd have to starve myself and well...that's just not too appealing to me!

But I know that daily goals are helping me to acheive this, so tomorrow I will
1)Work out in the morning AND afternoon...no matter how tired! That's my goal! 2) I will eat NO icecream either!!! NONE!! And 3) I will stay with my planned meals and snacks (and I do need to plan a snack, even if just a glass of milk in the afternoon....I need *something* or I'm grabbing for anything when I get home!)

Well, need to go check the journals and head to bed!


Elisha...I've been enjoying the quotes. Did you get a chance to check out that link to Ralph's motivation? It's awesome! You are doing great chickie! I want to lose 2#, not 1# by tomorrow!! Maybe if I don't eat breakfast and drink lots of water!!! LOLOL!!

Lucia...Yes! I know what you mean about the "all or nothing" mentality, only with me, it's all of one and nothing of the other! I can never seem to get the exercsing together with the food just right!!! Maybe try doing little daily goals to help get you to the place where you want to be! I have been and it does help. I'm not perfect and never will be, but it helps me to get where I want to be! How's the food journalling doing???

Jaymi...Glad to see you made it here! You are doing so good with your weight loss goals! I'm impressed! You've worked hard andit's paying off!

Goodnight all!

Julie

Evening chicks!

Motivation level: 3

Things are ok here. I've been incredibly busy for the past couple of days, but I finally get a day off tomorrow (my first since last Monday). But I have a bunch of errands to run. I have to take my car back to the dealership--it stalled twice today. The first time I figured I probably just didn't give it enough gas (it's a manual shift), but then it did it again. I wasn't stopped either time, and I've been driving a standard for years, and I've never stalled this car, not even the first time I got in it, so I really don't think it was my fault, which means it was mechanical. Eesh. I've had the car 9 days and something goes wrong. Good thing I got the super-duper warranty package, because I surely don't have any money to pay to have anything fixed.
Anyway, eating today was good. My calories came in at 1452, but I think that's a low estimate. Water was good. No exercise though. I'm just too tired. Going to watch Big Fish and then sleep. I wouldn't bother to watch it, but my brother says it's really good, and it has to be back tomorrow morning, so I guess I'll stay awake for another couple of hours.

Oh oh oh, big NSV today! I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you! While on my lunch break I was wandering around the store trying not to spend any money when one of the ladies I work with said, "You need to get some new pants, those are a little big on you." Granted, I knew the pants were baggy (though they were tight once upon a time), and this lady in particular knows how hard I've been trying to lose weight. I haven't been wanting to try on a smaller size yet, as I'm afraid that if it doesn't fit yet I will be very disappointed in myself. But anyway, I was wandering around the department store and I decided to go for it, just to try on a smaller size, so I picked up a size 16 and they fit! True, they were a little tight, but I could breath and zip them and everything! I was so excited, I think I told everyone in the store! I haven't been in size 16 pants since high school!
I've been concerned about that for weeks now. I've lost 23 pounds, but I'm just starting to see any real difference in my body. I know, the little signs were there before, but it's hard to notice change on a daily basis. I've been saying, "when am I going to lose a size? How much weight do I have to lose before I can buy a size smaller?" But I've been too afraid to try.
On the down side, now I'll probably be trying on 16's in everything and I'll be upset when they don't fit. *sigh*
They will in a few more weeks though. Change is inevitable.

Haha... that reminds me... that Moliere quote I posted this morning... well, when I opened my DietPower software this morning AFTER posting here, it gave me the exact same quote (it gives a quote or some nutrition or program info when you open the program). I guess it was just a good day for that quote.

Julie: I did check out that Daily Motivator site--it's awesome. I added it to my favorites. I've been wondering where everyone gets those lovely Ralph Marston quotes.
I think your menu looks great! A lot healthier than mine. Are you trying to watch your carb/protein/fat ratios?

Lucia: I have problems getting everything down too. Don't try to do everything. Just do one thing at a time until it becomes second nature. If you don't feel like exercising, try your best to eat healthily and drink lots of water. Or if you get a really good workout one day but your food intake isn't the greatest, don't beat yourself up about it.
Haha.. so many chicks here have told me that so many times, and now here I am saying it to you. Stubborn as I am, I had to go and learn it for myself, but hopefully you can learn vicariously.

Jaymi: Glad you could join us! I hope you get some time to yourself sometime soon!

Whew! Okay, that was a long one! Movie time!

Oh, goal for tomorrow: exercise for at least 30 minutes.

Have a lovely night, chickies!
~Elisha

Hi,

Well, no formal exercise today, but I did take a walk to our local newsagent this afternoon, it's not far, but a walk is a walk! I've eaten very well today, very in control .

Julie - on your weight loss. Any downward movement on the scale is always great. I love the Ralph Marston site! How inspiring! Food journalling just is not happening today, will be my goal for tomorrow.

Jaymi - Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Elisha - Ah...the wonderful feeling of moving down a clothing size .Well done! What a motivation! Thanks for the encouraging words. I know I am my own worst enemy - I promise to go easy on myself from now on . Hope everything is OK with your car.

My goal for tomorrow (seeing as having a weekly goal is not working for me at the moment ) is to wake up 45 minutes earlier, and do at least 2 miles of my 3 mile WATP video. I will also be committed to writing in my food journal.

Catch up with you tomorrow.

Lucia

To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.
La Rochefoucauld

Yea! I reached my 2# down goal for this week! I weighed in at 167.75 which is my lowest weight yet on this journey! I'm proud of myself!

I didn't however, get to exercise this morning. Slept in again! I don't have an alarm clock (it's on my list!) and have been having restless nights, so I wake up later than I would like to! My goal tonight is to get to bed right after I type this and then tomorrow do a WATP mile or more before my shower in the am! I will try again tomorrow to do another awesome bike ride like I did tonight, but forecast is for rain, so we shall see!

I met my friend for lunch today. She lives in Arizona (if you read my journal yesterday, you'll know what I'm talking about). The first thing she said when she saw me (she hasn't seen me in 4 years) was "you're so tiny!" Tiny! She said that! I almost died!!! No one has EVER called me tiny!!!! LOLOL!!! I guess I was about 20lbs heavier when I last saw her, so Iguess 20 lbs makes a HUGE difference on me! Anyway, we had a wonderful (2 hour-Yikes) lunch and caught up on all the "girl stuff"! Wish we could have visted longer, but she had lots of travelling to do!

Elisha...Hope you had a great day and that your motivation stayed with you all day! Working all those hours and days in a row....girl, you are doing so great! I'm proud of you! Keep it up...one day at a time!

Lucia...Thanks for the support! I hope your food journalling went well today! What will be your goal for tomorrow?

Speaking of goals...
Tomorrow is our monthly birthday party for the residents at work (I'm an Activity Director at a Nursing Home, in case you didn't already know)! I have started to dread them! Ice Cream is my one big weakness and it seems we have been having waaaaaay too much of this stuff around the place this summer! So, I will help get residents there, assist in passing out whatever needs to be passed out and get the heck out of there!!! That's my plan!

Exercise will be WATP tape 1-2 miles hopefully in the morning, but if not, I will do it when I get home!

Food will be:
cottage cheese & strawberries for b-fast
beans and rice concoction for lunch
glass of milk for snack in PM
leftovers for supper!

Confession: I ate 4 pieces of chocolate tonight! I just needed some chocolate, or so I thought! My food and water was good today other than that. Drank my lemon tea this morning! I am swearing by that stuff! Every time I drink it, I lose 2# that week! Hmmmm! Bfast was 2 cheese sticks & 1/2 apple (it was gross, so I threw it out after a few bites). I had a julienne salad for lunch when I went out with a diet coke! Supper was spaghetti & garlic bread (1 piece) and no snack this afternoon!

That's enough rambling for one night! I hope you all have a super day tomorrow! Hugs!

I was just looking at my goal weight for the challenge month (which ends July 4th) and figured that I only need to lose 2.25 more #'s by then! If I can do 2# in a week, I certainly can do 2.25 in 12 days, don't you think?

I am leaving for vacation on Saturday morning and I will let you all know what my weight is when I leave (although my scale does not match and is NOT accurate enough for me, so I weigh at work on a Dr. scale) I won't be able to check in while I am gone and won't be back until July 5 and not back to work until the 6th, so....what I am trying to say is I am going to let you all know what my weight is when I get back to work on the 6th. We are camping and I know I will be getting plenty of exercise, but food may be an issue. I will plan, but sometimes that doesn't really work when camping. I will NOT gain any of this weight back, however! I refuse! I've worked too hard to get it off!

So...with that said, any suggestions anyone??? I need snack type food suggestions (not carrots & celery, either!) I will be bringing a box of Zone bars. That will help! Muncy stuff, though...egads! I love to snack when we camp! No other time, but something about camping!!! I'm going to have to work hard on this and if I lose during vacation, you will hear a huge HALLELUIA coming from West Michigan when I return!!!! LOL!

Hugs again!
Julie

Well, today was so-so. Calories were pretty low, for me anyway, and ended up around 1380. I walked/jogged the hill, and even made a short side trip into the woods, making a total of about 20 minutes exercise. I had intended on getting on the stairclimber for at least 10 minutes when I got home, but that didn't happen. A good friend called and decided to come over (must be a good day for it, eh Julie?), so that was good. Got all my errands taken care of this morning. My car is going to the shop on Monday morning to be checked out. I hope it's nothing majorly wrong.

I got a new scale this morning. My old one has been acting up. The new one is not digital, but I think it might be more reliable. I don't know. The new one says I'm 5 pounds heavier than the old one. But that just means I started 5 pounds heavier, but I've still lost the same amount. I dunno. I'm not sure either of them is right.

Goal for tomorrow: a full 30 minutes of exercise. I have a long day at work tomorrow, so it's going to be tough, but I'll do it because I know I need to. I can't let myself get sluggish again, even if I am eating better. Once I let the exercise slide for a few days, it all goes out the window. I know this. I just have to keep at it and keep at it and keep at it. That's the only way it will ever work.

Julie: Congrats on your loss, and getting it noticed! Camping is always lots of exercise for me, so I'm sure you'll be fine on that front. As for snacks... raisins, marshmallows, sunflower seeds, mini rice cakes, and of course, carrots and celery (and cucumbers and cauliflower and broccoli and tomatoes and etc.).

Lucia: Keep trying with the journal. It really helps me to have it written down. Have you considered using some software, such as DietPower or fitday.com to log your food and exercise? I was really surprised at how many calories I was getting and using on a daily basis. If you stick with it, it will make your diet easier.

Well, time for sleep. See you all in the morning!
~Elisha

Hey Everyone

Boy am I tired!! Well I had a pretty busy day! I'm sitting here trying to post, although it's already late as heck!! My hubby let my daughter take a long, long nap, so she will be up FOREVER! Oh well here's the details:

~ MY GOALS FOR TODAY ~

Exercise -

60 minutes ~ Denise Austin
120 minutes ~ Swimming/floating
6,392 steps ~ on Pedometer (took it off after 3 p.m.)

Goals ~

Calories ~ Good
Water ~ Great
Attitude ~ Good


LUCIA--> You are doing SOO good!! You're right, a walk is a walk! That is true! Good luck with everything and hope you have a good night!!

HIKEIN--> Congrats on your 2 lbs!! Have fun on your vacation!!! I"m not realy good at "healthy" snacks, but one thing that I found were these granola bars mixed with different candies. I love the "Butterfinger" one! It tastes almost just like it....just w/o the chocolate! I'ts only 110 calories.

ELISHA--> Sorry about your car!! Hope everything goes well and they fix it fast!!! Congrats on your 16's!! Dont get upset if all 16's dont fit...because they wont!! I am now in a 13 and a lot of them are too tight! And I've tried on some 15's in some brands and they are too tight too! Dont' get discouraged about that...Just cuss out the clothing designers like I do!!

Goals for Tomorrow

Calories ~ Stay under 1200
Water ~ Drink at least 36 oz
Exercise ~ At least 60 minutes, but aim for 120
Attitude ~ Improve it by 20%

Well when I got into the pool, it was like a real attitude improvement! It's something about that water that relaxes me....but it also makes me hungry!!! I wish I could do some exercise right now, but i dont feel like getting too hyped up. It's almost midnight, If I dont get to bed, I can forget about waking up early for my exercises. My daughter keep waking up everytime I get up, If I get up early, or late!! So hopefully she'll stay sleep tomorrow! Well I hope everyone has a good night! I hope I didnt forget anyone again!! Bye All!!!

Love you chickies!!!!!

Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness. -
Earl of Derby

Morning chicks!

Motivation Level: 8

This is both good and bad. My motivation is up because my new scale is up. I know it's just a weight shift, and since they're both cheapo scales they're probably both a little off, but it's kind of disturbing to think I haven't lost 5 pounds I thought I had lost. I need to find something to calibrate the scales with, so I know how accurate they are. I'm very frustrated this morning. 215 when I thought I had finally made it to 210. And my diet and exercise has been really good this week. I don't know what is going on. *sigh*
But it's motivating me to work harder. So I'm 5 pounds heavier than I thought I was, so what? It's just a different starting point, but I've come the same distance. It just pisses me off. It makes me want to work harder to get back to where I thought I was. I still want to be under 200 by September 1, even if that means I have 5 more pounds to lose then I thought I did. It's just frustrating.

Anyway, today's plan--well, no plan, really. I haven't even decided what to have to breakfast yet. Eggs of some sort, since I haven't had any in a few days. For lunch, probably a LeanPocket and some Quaker cheddar cheese corn rings. For dinner, it's just hard to say. I will exercise this evening after work, hopefully a walk/jog and sometime on the stairclimber then some weights. I need to burn some calories. I'm feeling fat right now.

Ok, so on with the day! Hope everyone has a healthy day! See you all this evening!
~Elisha

Just typed a really really long post and lost it because I was checking on the radar! It's really storming here, so I am going to have to get off computer and re write all of it tomorrow!

Lots of NSV's to tell you about...food sucked today! Exercise sucked! But lots of NSV's! Yea!

You all keep doing whatever you are doing! You are all awesome!!

Hugs,
Julie

Hi,

Big news! I have written in my food journal and gone for a walk the last two days . I feel great! My goal for tomorrow is to do it again. One day at a time is how it's going to be from now on!
Julie - ...again . 4 pieces of chocolate will not hurt you! I think you showed amazing discipline stopping at just 4! You asked for healthy snack ideas for your holiday, one of my favourites is dried fruit (apricots, sultanas and paw paw) and mixed nuts (a few) they are nutritious, give you energy and are easy to carry. Have a great time!

Elisha - I have real trouble trusting digital scales. I bought a pair at the start of this year, and when I weighed in I sometimes got weight losses which were unrealistic. I returned them and went back to my old bathroom scales, which were always reliable anyway. Take your weight from the new scales and just keep on doing what you're doing, your clothes will be the best indicator, although we all like to see those numbers on the scale going down .

Jaymi - Thanks for your encouragement, you are going great guns too!

That's all for today,

Lucia