This Might Work!

So I've got the menu posted where everyone can see it so they know what is planned for the day and what the acceptable snacks are.

For breakfast I made mini egg muffing/omelets (I put some turkey, spinach and cheese in a muffin pan and then added a scrambled egg in and then baked for about 20-30 minutes.  Very tasty and only about 120 calories - not that I'm counting them, but it's pretty low for a protein packed breakfast!

Lunch will be sandwiches in low calorie/100% whole wheat pita bread with grapes as the fruit.  I will make little apple slices topped with nut butter and raisins for snacks.  Dinner is a whole chicken with lima beans and turnips and probably left over garden squash.  Maybe grits, depending on how hungry I am, lol.

I'll put away a bunch of the chicken before we start eating because I need the rest of it for a 2nd meal later this week.

What I'm worried about is keeping this up.  This week has nothing major going on so I'm able to do it, but what about when I am swamped and things are super busy?  How am I going to manage this then?  I guess I can have it all planned and let daughter number 3 cook it all - she's great at that kind of thing and loves it, so that might work ...

I'm down a pound this morning, but I'm sure that's just water weight from the weekend we had (we went to D.C. and ate crabs and lots of rich food and drink).

I guess we'll see how it goes.  I did get the bike ride in this morning and will start up the bowflex again.  I want to have the muscle underneath so when the fat goes down, I've got the muscle tone under it that will look pretty good, I hope!

I will keep you posted!

Starting Day 4 of the 7 Day Diet

Wow.  This time this diet is kicking my butt.  I remember being starving on day 1 and hating day 4, but I don't remember feeling so tired.

I've only lost 3.3 lbs this time.  I feel like last time I lost a bunch up front and then slowed down as we add back in the protein, but ended up losing 8-9 lbs total.  I'm not sure that's going to happen this time.

I feel pretty bad.  I made sure to do this on a week when I don't have court so that I wouldn't be over-exerting, but boy, this is rough.

Today is the banana and milk day.  This is actually the first time I'm eating bananas since the last time I did this diet - that's how bad today is.  Not looking forward to it.

Daughter number 3 already lost the weight she needed, so she bailed on the diet yesterday.  Hubby, Daughter number 2 and I are still hanging in there.  Hubby is losing the most weight (which he says makes him feel fat because "everyone knows it's the fattest person who loses the most"  lol).  I've learned that men just seem to lose faster than women regardless.

Hopefully I'll feel better today with the calories I'll be eating.

If you can't find the diet I posted last time, here it is:

Food

I've been working hard on trying to eat healthy food and to come up with healthy food that's so yummy I don't feel deprived.

So, yesterday, I made something for lunch that was just out of this world.  I took a large portobello mushroom cap and baked an egg in it - it was fantastic!  I forgot to take a picture of it, but I can show you the empty plate:

What I did was put the mushroom cap in the microwave with saran wrap on it for about 2 minutes.  Then I put the oven on 350 degrees, cracked an egg into the cap, salted and peppered it and then baked it.  It took about 20 minutes to bake (I like the yolk runny), but you'll have to watch it - most recipes say it only takes 10 minutes to get a runny baked egg, but my oven took 20.

It was so rich and decadent - and only 111 calories!

Next time I'll try to hold off on my excitement and get a picture BEFORE I eat it!

For dinner, I used the actifry again - I cut skinless chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and threw them into the actifry with garlic powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and texas pete hot sauce.  Tasted wonderful - I think next time I'll add in some chili powder for a little more kick.  With the chicken I had cabbage (which I cooked in water in a frying pan with salt and pepper), lima beans and some Caesar salad.  Pretty tasty and I managed to control my portions - the only think I went back for seconds on was the cabbage.

I've also discovered the little salad kits that I like to eat for lunches.  They are about 240 calories and are all pre-portioned so all you have to do is mix it together and eat it.

I went up 10 lbs yesterday on the bowflex ... not sore today, which is weird.  Maybe I needed to go up a bit more?  Either that, or I may feel the pain by this afternoon.

At any rate, I'm plugging along like a good little trooper.  Hopefully I can keep it up!

Good Week

It was a good week, this week.  I did my exercises and ate fairly well.  The portion thing is still very tricky for me, but I made sure to not go back for seconds, and I've lost a few pounds this week.

I had pork, which I cut into pieces and cooked in my actifry - no oils, just spices - and it was really, really good.  Then salad and lima beans.  Huge portion of lima beans, but I figured better to overdo on the veggies than on the meat.  It was satisfying, and I lost some weight, so that's a good thing.  I'm telling you, the actifry is a huge diet tool.  Any time you can make fantastic foods without having to add oils to cook them in is wonderful.  I make "fried" rice in it, beef tips, chicken and now pork.  I've also done frozen french fries - just dump them in, add the spices and cook it up - no oils needed to get that "fried" crisp.

Tonight may be date night - we haven't decided yet.  I'm really tired this week, so I'm trying to decided if I'd rather spend a night at home snuggling in front of the TV rather than going out and eating really high-calorie food.

Hubby and I even tried yoga this week!  It wasn't really the best video, so we'll keep looking, but it was fun and very supportive of him to be willing to try it with me!

I like this partner thing.  It's helpful, although I'm very jealous of his determination.  His workouts are intense and I'm not that able yet.  He actually works out every day and has a whole plan for working different muscle sets on different days, etc.

I just ride my bike every other morning, do calisthenics every other morning, bowflex for strength training every other day and now am trying to fit in yoga.  I just don't think doing it every day would be good for me yet.  I tend to over do it so this Mon, Wed, Fri thing is working out well.  A good solid day of rest in between.

At any rate, I'm doing something so I'm happy about that.  Oh!  You know that feeling where your stomach feels tighter and smaller?  I've hit that point!  I was walking into the living room and my stomach just felt ... tighter.  It's a good feeling.

As usual, I'll keep you all posted!

Just So Tired.

The bike riding is killing me!

And my scale is going UP not down!  What's up with that!?

And I'm just sooooo tired - all the time!  From the time I wake up to the time I can finally go back to bed again.  I'm so tired.

I vaguely remember having issues before and it turned out to be an increased need for protein because of the weight lifting and bike riding, so I guess I'll try that.  I had a small steak last night (and, boy, when you eat the right portions, it just seems so SMALL!) and I actually feel worse this morning.  I ended up not riding the bike - my feet and hands felt tingly and swollen.

I think I just need to persevere.  I remember having trouble when I first began this journey and got very frustrated with all the work and pain with absolutely no gain.  Then I hit that tipping point and the weight finally just started to come off and I felt great.

So, I guess I just need to hang in there!

Other good news is that I finally got finished with a bunch of work stuff that was occupying 100% of my time (even my sleep - nightmares of trying to get it all done), so now I have a free moment to take a breath and take a look at my life.  I actually feel a bit shell shocked and have no idea where to begin, but I'll take today and get organized and do things that have needed to be done (like pay bills!) and I think come tomorrow I'll feel better.

I just hate this feeling so tired all the time.  I'll up the protein and see if it helps.

It's only been a week since I've been seriously paying attention to my food choices and exercise, so I have to just keep going.  It's got to get better.

Right?

Timing

Finally.  I've gotten through seminars, hubby being out of town and all the celebrations.

I'm ready to start.

Got up and rode the bike for 46 minutes today.  Went for 11.4 miles and burned 247 calories.  All that before the day even started!

I want to start the bowflex today as well, but not too much since I don't want to hurt my shoulder again and I am just getting started.  I tend to be one of those "I want to do it all in one day" type people and I have to prepare myself for the slow and steady.

I've been so exhausted and I'm hoping that getting back into the exercise routine will help with that.

We aren't supposed to wait for the timing to be "right" because then we'd never get anything done, but I've had some issues, so it's good to know that my time is here now.  And I'm ready for it.  There is something to be said about having your mental state in the right place.  There can't be a right time if you can't get there mentally!

Now I have to plan the menu for the week - I know the key is eating a lighter dinner and trying not to snack after dinner.  I will try and plan accordingly.  If I make up something that is just really good, I'll pass it on here!  I'm going to have fun trying to create tasty meals that satisfy.  I'm also going to try and learn to cook less.  I've always cooked for 6, even when there's only a few of us home and no matter how much I made, we'd eat it all.  Now that it's just 4 of us here most of the time, I need to learn to cut portions accordingly.

As I need humor to get me through this, I'll leave with this for the day:

So Hungry!

So, I guess my body has gotten used to eating goodies all holiday season.  Now that I'm eating "right" again, my body is saying, "What the heck??!  Where's the FOOD?!"

I was so hungry yesterday!  I managed to eat small snacks - some popcorn, some almonds, a small can of tuna (only 90 calories!) but I still felt hungry ALL DAY.  That's one of the bad things about working from home - the kitchen is right upstairs ...

At any rate, I still lost weight last night.  I just wonder what the loss would have been if I hadn't snacked all day.

Today I will try better.  I did not ride the bike this morning, though.  With the cold weather, I had to make sure I drove the kids to the bus stops this morning so my schedule was whacked.  However, I have decided I will try and work out on the bowflex this afternoon - I'm needing to start back on the strength training so maybe that will make me feel better about not riding this morning.  That's if I can get my files ready for court for tomorrow and Monday.  But I will make a vigorous attempt!

My new aria scale also measures my body fat, which, frankly, is not a very pleasant number to wake up to each morning.  But that was down this morning, too.  Not by much, of course, but any downward movement makes me feel like I've accomplished something.  Like the starving yesterday was actually worth it.

I know this phase will pass.  I remember being hungry before.  My body just has to get used to having normal sized portions again of healthy food.  I'll get there.

Anniversary Weekend Results

Well, I knew I was going to put on some weight over the weekend and I did.

I am up to 194.2 lbs today.  Up 3 lbs from the 7 day diet.

I may still be holding a bit of water weight from the weekend, so hopefully that will drop a bit.  Plus, I ate well yesterday and I rode the bike this morning for 25 minutes at a fairly moderate pace.  I wanted to do the bowflex yesterday but it didn't quite happen - too many things happening after a weekend off.  Will work on doing that today.

My jeans are fitting better after that 7 day diet, so I guess it did some good AND it jump started me to get motivated again.  I REALLY want to see the 180s.

I've learned that fruit is a really good thing to eat since so many of the water based fruits take more energy to eat than you put in.  I know I'll be craving more protein as I start working out more, so I will have to keep that in mind as well.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good!

Summary - 7 Day Diet

Thank God it's over.

I didn't lose any pounds yesterday, which is surprising as I think I only ate about 200 calories for the whole day.  If that.

It was brutal.

If I do this again, it will only be because I've reached a plateau or something.  If my husband hadnt' been doing it with me, I don't think I would have made it through.

Still, 8.6 lbs lost is a pretty nice jump start.

The worst day was the banana day.  The 2nd worst day was yesterday - the soup day.  That soup just really bothered me.  I don't know what it was - it tasted okay, but by the end of the day, just the smell of it made me want to throw up.

The diet made me very weak and very tired.

So now I have to integrate myself back into eating "real" food.  I must say the diet has made me very thoughtful about what I'm putting into my mouth.  After all that torture, I don't want to just go eat a bunch of donuts or something and waste all the pain I want through!  Lol!

Today I am really craving carbs since that was pretty much denied me for the last 7 days.   But rather than eating biscuits or processed breads (which REALLY sound wonderful right now), I think I will try a small bowl of mueslix cereal for breakfast.  Carbs, but complex ones and with minimal added sugar.  I do want to try and stay away from the sugars.  Tonight I'm going to eat a Lean Cuisine, just to have something controlled so that I don't go hog-wild.  I'm going to eat a lot of fruits today.  I found that I really do like them and I really don't eat enough of them.

I'm still not into the 180's again, which is disappointing.  But considering I started this diet at 199, that's not surprising.

Now I'm going to take it slow and try and be careful about what I eat.  I know this coming weekend (anniversary trip) will cause some weight gain, but I'm not going to deprive myself when I'm celebrating 29 wonderful years with my soul mate.  I am sure I'll consider the choices and if possible make "better" ones, but when you are drinking cosmopolitans, it's not really going to matter whether I eat the fried mushroom or broiled asparagus, though I will try and keep it in mind!

Do I recommend this diet?  I'm not sure.  It was very hard and I felt weak and grumpy.  If I had had to do anything remotely strenuous (other than the court, which was pretty rough), I might have passed out and that just can't be a good thing.

Still, if someone is frustrated and stuck on their healthy journey, I must say it's a morale booster to to watch those pounds drop off.  I do feel excited and hopeful about the future and it's made me very, very aware of what I'm eating.  So, yes.  I think I would recommend it for someone who needs the jump start.

I'm just so very glad it's over!

Starting Day 4 of the 7 Day Diet

Here we are beginning Day 4 ... this is the day I have been worried about.  Bananas and milk.  Scary.

Day 3 wasn't bad at all - it was veggies and fruits.  I was pretty satisfied all day long, though I must admit I was hungry quickly after eating, but that just meant I ate more.  The grapes were probably my favorite thing yesterday, but the green beans and asparagus were tasty too.

I am down to 193.2 - that's 5.8 lbs lost so far.  Hubby didn't lose yesterday, which is really odd given how little calories we ate.

So on to bananas and milk today!  I've had one banana so far and 1/2 cup milk.  I'm comfortable right this minute and for some reason I'm in a really good mood.  I don't know if there is a correlation or not, but given that I have a long court calendar to deal with, I SHOULDN'T be in a good mood.  Then again, seeing that number on the scale, which I haven't seen in a very long time, IS pretty sweet.

Luckily I'll be in court for most of the afternoon, so I'll be distracted for most of the day!  Tonight will be difficult.  It would normally be a date night for us, but with the diet, we aren't going to do the Mexican food and alcohol, but will probably watch movies or something.  Watching movies is HARD to do without food!  Am I right?

I'll check in again tomorrow!

Jump Start

I'm trying something a little different to get myself going again.

My mother's heart surgery went well, but it was very stressful and there weren't a lot of great food choices to be had for that week.  So I'm up in weight and I don't feel all that well.  Of course, I got a nasty cold while up there and it's lingering on ....

So I'm trying a 7 day diet just to get started on my path again.  Here it is:

I know it's probably not the healthiest way to go about things, but it doesn't look horrible, and I think I can do it and it's only short term ... plus my hubby is on board with me so I'll have a partner while doing it!

I'm hoping it will get me back on track and help get all the icky out of my body from the last few weeks.  

I am 199 today (I know - almost back at that big 200!!) though I know a lot of that is from the junk I've eaten and will drop back off.  I was 196.8 on Saturday, so a bunch has got to be just water weight.  That might give a false reading on the weight loss I may get from the "diet" so I will have to keep that in mind.

I will report in as we go.  I imagine it's not going to be pleasant, but since I can eat as much as I want of things on their day (mostly) maybe it won't be so bad.  Looking at it, the banana day is probably going to be the hardest day.

I will keep you posted!

Repetition = Habit

The more I do healthy things, the easier it gets.

Whenever I falter on my healthy journey, it's always soooo hard to get back on track - even when I was doing so well so easily before the fall.

But if I persevere and keep on doing the good stuff, it gets easier every day.

I've done really well for two days and that's saying a LOT because my hubby has been out of town for a week and my little one has had the flu (throwing up and diarrhea - yay) and I'm trying to get work all tied up so I can go to my parents' house to be there for my mom's open heart surgery (yikes!).  So, needless to say, lots of stress and I've managed to be good.

And today was easier than yesterday.  So I'll keep repeating and hopefully I will get back into the habit of eating right and exercising and it will be easy again!

I know I'll have some moments in Virginia with eating out - or worse - eating hospital food while my mom is in the hospital, but I'll try and make decent choices.  If I can keep it up, I know it will just get easier.

Here's to trying.  Every day ...

A New Plan

So, I'm spinning my wheels.  Time to come up with a new plan.

I can absolutely not control my eating lately.  Therefore, I'm going to actually DIET.  I've been trying to just eat healthier, with better portion control.  It's not working.  I can't seem to control myself.  So.  I'm taking way my free will and I'm going to control everything.

I am going to use Lean Cuisine this week to try and get myself on track.

I am going to eat Lean Cuines for lunch and dinner.  I'm planning out my daily snacks.  We'll see if it works.  So far the days range from 921 calories to 1042 calories.  I'm doing this for a week and I'll see where I am.  Maybe that one week will be enough to get myself back into the mind set I need to be in.  If not, I'll do it for two weeks.  There are plenty of Lean Cuisine options out there - the newest ones being a salad type kit.  I like that it's all pre-measured so I don't have the opportunity to say "Yeah, that looks like a cup" and really end up eating three ...

I can't trust myself right now, so I'm taking the trust out of it.

Meanwhile, I've hurt my shoulder again so I'm not sure about the weight lifting.  Which is really depressing because I was actually finally feeling something.  I could feel my work outs actually DOING something.  Now I'm back to square one.  I'm still riding the bike and doing calisthenics   But I really, really wanted to do the weight training.  Maybe I'll try with some really low weight and see how my shoulder goes.

So anyway, that's my plan.

I'll keep you posted!