Down 4.8 lbs

I must be doing something right.  I'm down 4.8 pounds since July 1.  Not bad!  I'm uploading my graph onto my stats page (for the first time in forever!).

Dinner is the hardest part.  If I don't eat a lean cuisine, then I have a hard time judging proper amounts.  I also have very good willpower on not going back for seconds.  I do very well during the day and make sure I"m not too hungry because I don't want to binge.  I make good choices ... and then there's dinner.

Tonight is going to be a rough one.  My older girls are back from a month long trip and they want a nice home cooked meal.  I'll be making steak, which I can never resist.  It's my favorite food ever.  Hopefully I will be able to eat a small 4 oz size portion and move on.  We shall see.

At any rate, the bike riding and the working out on the total gym are going well.  I'm supposed to do the total gym this afternoon, but I'll be in court.  I hope I get out early enough to do it before dinner.  I did ride the bike for 57 minutes this morning.  It felt good.

At any rate, things seem to be going well for me at the moment.  I like the mental energy I have right now.  I really wonder if that subliminal cd has something to do with it, or if it's just a coincidence.

I will keep on my routine and we'll see where it goes!

Keep Moving.

I like this quote for today.  I certainly talk a lot about all I'm trying to do on this journey, but sometimes I find I'm "just sitting there."  I have to keep moving!

I had a slight blip this weekend - it was a birthday party for my nephew and I was fine until I ate a cookie. They were magnificent cookies .. yes I said cookies - I couldn't stop eating them.  I probably ate 14 of them. 

I know, right??

And even though I ate well yesterday, I'm still up a pound.  Which is still down over all, but geesh.  

But as they say, I can't change what I did yesterday, but I can change what I do today.  

I'm off to a good start this morning. I rode the bike for 55 minutes and did some weight loss meditation.  I am now planning out my week.  I actually chose this quote for my cover page (I do a different one each week):

I have decided that taking this weekly is a good way for me to deal with it.  I make weekly goals and track my weight and keep track of my exercise each week.  I print out a booklet with each day on it and a cover page that inspires me.  I have a chart for logging my measurements each week.

I tell you what, though.  Even though I can't change yesterday and I know I'll do better today, I still don't like seeing that point on my weight graph go up a pound.  It was steadily going down for a week, and then BAM, back up.  Don't like it, don't want to do it again.

So, I'm taking it one week at a time.  It's not so overwhelming that way.

Right now I weigh 197.4.  The lowest I got last year was 188.  My goal is 145.  Lots of numbers to think about.

For today, I'm moving in the right direction.  I plan to keep it that way.

Priorities and Planning

I've found out for myself just how important planning is.  It's what even made starting on this healthy journey possible.  Without planning I wouldn't have gotten far.

And even with the planning, I fizzled out along the way.  I just lost that focus and even though I was still sort of on my healthy path, it wasn't a priority.

I have got to make sure I keep my health as a top priority.  One of the reasons I need to lose weight is to make sure I don't end up with diabetes.  And so I can get off my blood pressure medicine.  And to avoid the health issues that come from obesity - especially as I age.

So, I'm back doing what I was doing in the beginning.  Things I didn't think I needed to do anymore (CLEARLY I do ...).

I am logging my weight on one of my homemade graphs again.  I tell you, it's amazing what SEEING the weight loss (even 4 oz!) can do for you when you are seeing it on a graph.  And I took my measurements yesterday for the first time since February.  That was a good news/bad news moment.  I am actually down in inches in some places, but UP in others.

I made myself a little booklet for the week.  Every day is in the booklet and I log my exercise, meditation, water drinking and food.  I was kind of doing all this in my head before.  Nuh-uh.  WRITE IT DOWN.  Seeing it makes a world of difference.

And water.  I have GOT to drink more.  I have said this numerous times but it just doesn't seem to happen.  I must make a conscious effort to do more drinking.  Wait.  I mean of WATER.  Some days this health thing makes me want to drink other things!  But enough of that.

I read that drinking 1 gallon of water a day could help burn 12.5 lbs of fat a year.  Just drinking water!  But really, a GALLON??  I have trouble drinking more than 1 CUP.  Seriously.

At any rate, I've got to up the water intake and tracking it helps remind me of it and makes it a priority.

So, I'm back to basics.  Oh - and I'm really starting to think there is something to the subliminal weight loss cd I listen to at night.  I listened to it faithfully in the beginning (you know, when I lost the 24 lbs) and then kind of petered off of listening to it.  Now I"m back listening to it again, and I do seem to be sticking to my goals better.  I had one snack last night - an 80 calorie ice cream bar from weight watchers.  No wine, no other munchies, no other snacks.  Pretty impressed with myself on that one.  Is it the cd?  Who knows, but I'm going to keep it up for a while, just in case.

I will keep you all posted as usual!

Habit

I think this is a true statement.  I need to get back into the habit of doing my exercise and eating right.  I think that's why it was so easy last year - it became a habit.

This week was a good start.  I rode the bike 4x and I did the total gym 2x so far (with today going to be the 3rd time).  Right now it's hard, because it's NOT a habit.  But it WILL be.

Once I get back into the habit of healthy, it won't be such a struggle.  I need to struggle now, forcing myself to keep going until it turns into a habit.

And habits aren't just for the good stuff.  It's also about the bad stuff.  I got into a habit of having a glass of wine (or 2) almost every evening.  That's a bad habit because it's empty calories.  And it lowered my willpower so I ended up eating more.  So now I need to ditch my bad habits and hook into some good ones.

Because that's what's going to make this possible in the long run - good habits.

Mini Goals

Okay, so the thought of all the weight I have to lose to get to my goal is just way too overwhelming.  The monotony of doing the same thing every day to try and reach that goal is just daunting, because it's going to be like ... forever!

Hence the need for mini goals.

These goals can be physical (lose 1" off my waist) or they can be activity related (drink more water).  What they need to be is specific and reachable.

It would be crushing to set goals I can never reach, so it's got to be something I can really do.  Not too lofty, but then again, not too easy.

So, what should it be?  I want it to be something that will keep me focused on what I'm doing on a daily basis.  And something that I can see some kind of accomplishment from.

And what time frame should it be?  Should it be a daily goal?  Or a weekly one?  I think a month is too long - I'll forget what I'm doing by then.  So, maybe weekly ...

I do need to get more serious about my exercise.  And that's a goal that will work towards my end game as well.  So, maybe I should have a goal to work out on the Total Gym 3x this week and to ride the bike 4x.  I have court on Friday, so I can't do either one that day, but I should be able to do that.  Then again - it's already Tuesday.  Of course, I've ridden the bike 2 days already and I did the Total Gym this afternoon...so it may be a goal I can reach.  Or maybe it should be "exercise 7x this week" and then I can do other things too - like add in my trampoline.  No, I think it needs to be more specific.  I like the bike 4x and the Gym 3x.

I think that will be my mini goal this week.

No one said we can have just one, though, so I may think of some others.  Like, take time to listen to the weight loss meditation cd as I go to sleep.  I keep meaning to and never remember to do it by the end of the day.  If I make it a mini goal to listen to it each night for the week, that's reachable, right?

I think I just need to have some mini, reachable goals to keep me going.




What kind of goals do you set for yourselves?  I could use some ideas!

I will report back on my meeting (or not) of the mini exercise goals this week.  I think it's doable and I believe the thinking about it and trying to do it is going to keep me focused on staying on track.

It's worth a shot!

Garden Delights

The garden is really a wonderful source of low calorie healthy food!!  I have discovered a wonderful salad that I just can't get enough of!

It's cucumbers and tomatoes with a tablespoon of Paul Newman's lite garlic basalmic dressing.  Holy cow - it is GOOD!  And less than 50 calories - and crunchy and filling!  My mouth is watering and it's only 8:25 in the morning!

For dinner we had golden egg zucchini from the garden, fresh corn from the garden (okay, I did put butter on it, but it's still sort of healthy!), fresh green beans from the garden, and another stuffed eight-ball zucchini.  It was so satisfying!

I'll be so sad when the garden peters out.  Luckily, we have been able to freeze a bunch of yellow squash.  I think our tomatoes are all going to come in at once so I'll freeze some in the form of sauce of some kind.  I'm hoping to get enough corn to freeze, but we seem to be eating it as fast as it comes in!

At any rate, I'm enjoying the healthy garden veggies - plus the bonus of saving grocery money!

The Pros of Planning

I have been non-stop since we got back from vacation on Friday night.  Yesterday I worked 14 hours, and hubby was out of town, but ended up making it back in town by 10 last night.

If not for the plan I put into place regarding food this week, I would have been a train wreck.  I have been exhausted and have had a constant headache throughout all this, so I know I would have fallen back on the fast food fix this week.

But I have my menu posted on the refrigerator and down here in my office so that it's very clear what the plan is.  I stayed on track and am down to 198.4!  A bit of progress!

And my hubby has been fantastic.  Court on Monday ran very late and he actually had the meal I had planned out cooked and waiting for me when I got home.  Yay for support at home!

The only thing that is bad this week is that I only have had the chance to ride the bike one day so far.  No workouts on the Total Gym, either.  Still, I'm happy to have survived the worst of the week without self-destructing.

I only have one day of court next week and one meeting to deal with so I will plan on adding in the workouts again then.

It's nice to have a breather and to be able to come and post.  I always feel more on top of things and focused when I come blog about it all.

I'm fairly proud of being able to keep it together.  Now, all I can do is try daily to keep myself on track!  And watch what I eat:

Back From Vacation!

Well, I did it!  I managed to keep myself under 200 lbs!  I'm not sure how, since we did eat a lot of wonderful food!  I'm 199.8 so I did gain, but I'm so glad not to be back over that 200 lb mark.

I'm glad to be back at home where I can control what I eat and get my normal exercise in.  I have already planned out meals for next week and made the grocery list, including healthy snacks to keep me on track!  It will be a very hard week, though, and that's where I tend to fall apart.  I have two days of court, a settlement conference day and my husband will be out of town for one of the days.

I will just have to do my best to keep myself on track no matter how tired I get.

The garden is helping.  We had squash from the garden last night - just wonderful!  If I can get out there at some point today, I will pick corn, beans, squash and turnips.  It's been raining heavily and every day, so it's hard to get out there.  It's very cloudy out there as we speak, so I'm not sure how much I will be able to pick!

I'm wondering if I should add in running/jogging as a part of my exercise.  I have a bad knee, so maybe I should add in walking instead.  My knee makes all kinds of wonderful noises just going up and down the stairs.  Which is why the recumbent bike has been so wonderful for me.  I just feel like I need to do MORE to really get the weight loss going again.

For now, I'm back and on track!  I will keep you posted!