Achieving My Destiny.....

Weight: Down! Will post once a week on Wednesdays :-)
Breakfast: Bagel w/cream cheese, banana
Snack: Turkey Hot Dog, 1 slice Velveeta Cheese
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salad, Cucumbers, Cheese, Light Ranch Dressing
Snack: Cucumber slices, 2 Slices Velveeta Cheese
Dinner: Stroganoff, Corn, Garden Salad
Water: Yep got it all in and then some!
Exercise: Zumba 20 Minute Express

"Your Destiny will be achieved when you plan your journey!" Julia Griggs Harvey
I really like that quote, as how can you know where you are going if you don't plan it? Just like you need a road map to go on a trip, you need a roadmap for your dieting journey. My #1 Vice right now is probably Diet Coke w/splenda, and you may be thinking, well it's diet so that's okay....well in moderation maybe....but I drink 6 cans a day, which is way too much for the caffeine part. So that is my #1 Vice I am going to be working on replacing Diet Coke w/Water, so far so good...only had 1 can today. Rather than trying to change everything about me overnight, I am taking this one step at a time, one action at a time...I really like that philosophy. I know in the past I have failed miserably at dieting and weight loss because I try to bite off more than I can chew. I am also starting to create a vision of things to come....not just the weight loss but how I will feel and act, and the things I will do when I lose the weight. You don't have to have the perfect body to start visualizing who you want to become. I did struggle a little today with doing the exercise....I had a very long day at work, groomed incredibly hard huge dogs, and was just beat....but I can't start making up excuses in week 1 so I did exercise.

Hungry Monster....

1- On Plan: I ate WAY too much.
B: Banana, 1/2 Cup Shredded Wheat w/skim milk
S: Broccoli w/lite ranch dressing
L: Nachos w/cheese
S: Banana, Apple, Broccoli, Carrots, Trail Mix, Nachos w/cheese
D:Chicken w/Four Cheese Potatoes
2- Water Only had 4 diet cokes which is a good thing for me, considering that we are broke until next week and I can't afford to buy more...I'm rationing...good for the diet
3- Exercise: Only exercise I did today was walking to the dumpster which is about 9 townhouses up the hill...so not a big exercise day...it was rainy and dreary, even snowed a little today although it didn't stick.
4- Productivity: Can we say I was VERY lazy today? Took a 2 hour nap with my hubby, then woke up and played on the computer/internet for hours! Then ran to the bank and was going to pick up some cat litter but their machines were down, so I came home, did a couple loads of laundry and cleaned up a little bit, took some garbage up to the dumpster, but I am quit dissappointed in my activity levels today....it was my day off I spent the majority of it on my fat a#$. I should put I shocked my husband as I did 4 loads of laundry today and even got them hung up in the closet and folded and put away in the drawers (my usual is just to leave them in the clothes baskets...I'm lazy what can I say?)

Daily Summary: It was my day off...I was very lazy, I didn't watch a ton of TV, but did watch Criminal Minds and then about 1/2 of CSI New York, where I fell asleep in my chair and woke up around 1:00am then went up stairs, I feel horrible as I left my dog Shellie outside, from about 9pm till 1am and it was VERY VERY cold last night, and since she's not an outside dog she doesn't have any shelter outside to keep her warm I had a hunger that would NOT die today, I felt like no matter how much I ate I was still hungry.

Quick Question for my readers? What do you do when you have those days where you just can't get enough to eat, no matter what you do? I tried sipping on water, drinking peppermint herbal tea, munching on vegetables. It just seemed like I wanted to keep shoveling crap in my mouth. How do you keep the hungry monster at bay?

Tuesday September 29th

1- On Plan:
B: Onion Bagel w/cream cheese
S: Broccoli w/lite ranch dressing
L: Chicken BLT Salad w/ranch dressing
S: Celery w/peanut butter
D: Grilled Salmon Patty, Mixed Veggies, Small Baked Potatoe
2- Water I did reasonably well but I still drank too many diet cokes.
3- Exercise: 15 Minutes on Elliptical while watching TV
4- Productivity: I put a yes and no on this one as I did better than usual, but still watched TV. This was a hard one as the NCIS TV Shows were on, but what I did was worked on folding laundry while watching them, and on commercials worked on picking up things, load of dishes etc, which is a lot more productive that my usual.

Daily Summary: Today I drank a lot more water as I was using the Crystal Lite powder mixins, but I still drank too much Diet Coke, weigh in today was up, which is no big surprise with the free for all weekend I had, so I am gonig to stay on track this week so I can lose it again! Sometimes I think my body subconsciously does not want to get below 200# either that or I have some bigtime fear of doing so which I do not understand as it seems like everytime I get within range (5# to go) I sabotage myself...but I WILL do this. The thigh seam on my scrub pants started to split today...luckily my mom owed me some scrubs for my birthday so I begged her to take me to walmart as I live 30 minutes away so it's not just like I can run home quick and change. This has me to thinking I need to do something about my "Sims" thunder thighs (I get them from my dad's side of the family I think). As this is the 2nd pair of pants I have split in a week!

Monday September 28th

Well I decided that I would start keeping track today, since this weekend was my birthday and I wasn't exactly very on plan, as hubby spoiled me big time! And I know I have mega water gain because of it, so I would have been posting a bunch of no's, but I am back on track. So here goes nothing...
On Plan Exercise: Water:
Breakfast: Onion Bagel w/cream cheese
Snack: Broccoli & Celery dipped in light ranch dressing
Lunch: Garden Salad, Roast Beef/Swiss Grilled Sandwich
Snack:
Dinner:
Exercise: 30 Minute Walk with my dog (ever tried walking a dog that is in heat? NO the funnest of times...she's wearing a cloth diaper but had a couple boys who thought that she needed a boyfriend....she's getting spayed about a month after she finishes her heat cycle....not only does she have health issues, but I don't think I would like to pass on her OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder and Hyperactivity to her puppies, I don't think I could live with myself :P.
I will come back after dinner to finish posting. I have decided to start over with the FLY Lady thing, I started and did well for about 2 or 3 weeks, then let stress and depression get in my way of keeping up with things. But I'm once again tired of living in CHAOS, and am going to do something about it. We have decided we have a fork monster that is hiding all our forks, we only have about 4 that are in the drawer right now...

Stress....knicked in the bud....

I am going to start using a 'checks n balances' type system as I am a nut :) I am going to start keeping track of my days with my little smilies:Yes:No:
On Plan: Water: Exercise:
Well for as stressful as today was, I did amazingly well.....it was a VERY long day at work 15 hours altogether including commute time (I'm on salary so no overtime :( . My only dog I groomed today was a Schnauzer who had bad teeth and arthritis so she really didn't want to be groomed too badly, they wanted her face shaved and it was causing her pain.....so she was a battle to groom. We had an emergency come in at 6pm (closing time), it was a Shih Tzu newborn puppy who was born with it's intestines outside it's body, then the mom was having complications so we had to assist her with the delivery, we were able to poke everything back in and sew the puppy at, it has a 50/50 chance of making it. I was there until 9pm. Which totally stressed me out as the people were there from 6pm on waiting for my dad (vet) to get there as he was teaching school, puppy was not in immediate danger so I stabilized it, then we waited for him to get there at 8pm, Rob has to leave for work by 8:30...it takes 23minutes for him to get to work and right now we only have 1 car....so that was MEGA stressing me out. But he woke up with a bad belly so called in sick to work today...that eased my mind. I walked with my dog, Shellie in our doggie daycare room at work since I figured it was gonna be a late night.....30 minutes. So that was my 'bonus' for the day.
Food Intake: B Green Smoothie, Detox Drink, 1 Banana
L: Detox Drink, Green Apple, Garden Salad w/low carb dressing
D: Detox Drink, Garden Salad (Grilled Chicken, Cucumbers, Olives, Cheese, Romaine Lettuce) w/low carb dressing, 5 french fries
Snacks: Green Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Detox Drink, Popcorn
**Detox Drink Lemon Juice/Maple Syrup/Cayenne Pepper
**Green Smoothie: Parsley, Ginger, Pineapple, Honey, Water, Splenda
Exercise: 30 Minutes Walking with my dog

Tuesday May 26th

Tuesday May 26th : Weight 207.0#
Morning: Started the day off with a Ginger/Parsley/Honey/Lemon Juice/Pineapple juice drink,
Breakfast: Yogurts, Fruit, Almond Smoothie
Snack: 2 Cheese Sticks
Lunch: Salad w/salmon patty/cheese
Dinner: Baked Potatoe/Chilli/Cheese
Snack:
Exercise: 30 Min Walk w/dog
Water: Drank it all

Not suprised that my weight is up with all me excess snacking/munching yesterday. Need to start scrapbooking again or something so I'm not so 'mindlessly' munchie on days off. As long as I keep busy I don't have to keep shoveling stuff in my mouth.

On a sad note, this morning I discovered one of my budgies passed away during the night, Skye, she was egg bound (bled to death while having an egg). Here is a picture of her:

Happy Memorial Day

glitter-graphics.com

Monday May 25th : Weight 205.6#
Morning: Started the day off with a Ginger/Parsley/Honey/Lemon Juice/Pineapple juice drink,
Breakfast: Yogurt/Fruit/Almond Smoothie
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Hummus Veggie Pita Plate, again really yummy, hubby hates it but I LOVE hummus
Dinner: Tuna Bake, Potato Chips
Snack: 100 Calorie Popcorn, Frozen Otter Pop Type Things, way too many of them at 20 calories each....UGH, Potato Chips
Exercise: 30 Minute walk with my dog
Water: Drank All My Water


Just had a lazy day, spent a good majority of it relaxing, doing laundry and dishes. Also reflecting on the wonderful freedoms I have because of all the wonderful military/navy etc men and women who sacrifice so much for me. My Grandfather was in the Army was in WWII, and when he was older just before he died, I did a project where I started going through his pictures and labeled them, he had Alzheimers so was sketchy on what he could remember. But it was so amazing to hear some of his stories, as well as at his funeral the salute he was given. He died just after my Sr year of high school in 1995 (actually lost 3 grandparents that year, January, April and November). I had never lost anyone close to me other than a little boy I had babysat, so that was a very tough year. When I was on my mission in WV there was a gentleman, Marvin who was one of the most amazing men I have ever met, he was in the army severed in WWII and he took us to a memorial in Virginia. It was so touching to see his reverence at the memorial site. I am honored and blessed by all those who have served and the families who support them. THANK YOU!

Snacks, Snacks Snacks...What to have?

Sunday May 24th Day 5 : Weight 206.0# Down 0.4# 1290 Calories
Morning: Started the day off with a Ginger/Parsley/Honey/Lemon Juice/Pineapple juice drink,
Breakfast: Berry Fruit N Yogurt Parfait w/almonds
Snack: 100 Calorie Popcorn
Lunch: Thai Peanut-chicken wrap
Dinner: Navajo Tacos
Snack: 100 Calorie Chocolate Bar, 100 Calorie Protein Snack
Exercise: 30 Minutes WATP DVD (It's raining here), and 2.5 hours cleaning at work...very active
Water:Yes

K weekends are ALWAYS the hardest for me, as you can see I've eaten a few more snacks than normal. It is so hard for me, it's like I have to have something in my mouth, not so sure if it's because I spend a lot of time on the couch, or the computer chair just vegging, trying to think of ways to be more active on weekends so I can stay more occupied as this sucks! It's been such a challenge today. So I'm looking for 'healthy' 100 calorie snacks, either the ones you can buy or the ones you make yourselves. What are some of your favorite snacks to have?

Simply Saturday

Saturday May 23rd : Weight 206.4# 1.6# Loss 1290 Calories
Morning: Started the day off with a Ginger/Parsley/Honey/Lemon Juice/Pineapple juice drink,
Breakfast: Oatmeal, peanut butter, banana for breakfast, it was really yummy!
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Thai Peanut/Chicken/Bell Pepper Wrap
Dinner: Chicken Fajitas
Snack: 100 Calorie Popcorn
Exercise: 45 Min Walk w/dog
Water: Drank it all

Recipe:
Thai Peanut Chicken Wrap
2 tsp peanut butter
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp honey
2 oz cooked chicken breast, cubed (I seasoned mine with Garlic, Onion Powder & Seasoned Salt)
1 cup red bell peppers, sliced
1 whole-grain tortilla

Blend Peanut butter, 2 tsp water, soy sauce and honey until smooth. Mix peanut sauce with chicken and peppers, and wrap in a tortilla.

Today was saturday, and I LOVE working on Saturdays, why you might ask? Because my day is cut 4 hours shorter than my normal as I only work 9am-4pm and things are generally a tad bit slower on saturdays so I am able to get some 'busy work' and tedious tasks done. Today I did doggie daycare and it was fun, we have a lot of dogs boarding this weekend:
Saturday we had 6 standard poodles in doggie daycare, 1 golden retriever, 1 Bernese Mountain Dog, 2 German Shepherds. In little dogs we had 2 schnauzers, 2 jack russels, 1 shih tzu and 2 chihuahuas. Just about EVERY noisy dog that ever boards with us is there this weekend, the only quiet ones were 4 of the standard poodles, the bernese mtn dog (only noisy for attention) and the chihuahus. So you can imagine the headache I endured :) But I like it when we have a lot of dogs as there are more playful ones there and they can 'entertain' themselves easier....i.e..find someone to wrestle with.

We have a client who for the past 7 years has 'blended' her dogs food up and frozen it into individual servings. It's a german shepherd and she has something called Megaeosophogus so she can't swallow properly. She is a little skinny but doing amazingly well for her condition, most don't live this long at all. She's such a good girl, she stands on her hind legs on a counter to 'lap' up her liquid food mix, then after she eats she has to stand for 20 minutes on a chair to help gravity. She is so good she stands there for the entire time....you might ask while I'm telling you this....because It made me realize that preparation is the key.

I try to make my meals the night before, well at least when I work I make my breakfasts/dinners as it makes it so much easier in the mornings, and I have less chance of not taking something healthy. If I'm running late, I don't have to worry about not having time to make up my meals n snacks if I prepare them ahead of time. What do you do to prepare yourself to eat healthy?

Baby Shower & new motivation!

Thursday May 21st : Weight 208.0# Down 2.2# WOOT WOOT! Aiming for 1290 Calories
Morning: Started the day off with a Ginger/Parsley/Honey/Lemon Juice/Pineapple juice drink,
Breakfast: Italian Toast (Cottage Cheese/Tomato/Basil on toast)
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Pita/Veggies/Hummus Plate (cucumbers/green peppers/carrots)
Dinner: A small plate at the baby shower I went too (fruits, a chicken salad, and yes I had 2 cookies :(
Snack: None seeing as how dinner wasn't on plan
Exercise: 30 Minute walk with my dog, Shellie, she had ants in her pants today because she saw some cats on our walk and was freaked out by them so kept the walk short.
Water: 2 Diet Cokes (doing good in that regard), yes I drank all my water

Yes I did go 'off' at dinner time, but I kept portions small and didn't eat another dinner or snack tonight to hopefully 'balance things out'. I went to a baby shower for my cousin Kristen tonight. It was a lot of fun. I made a baby journal and a photo album as well as took some gifts. BTW If anyone is in need of any baby items (pacifier, paci pocket, diaper bags) I am selling some items on my hubby & I's personal blog http://robnheather.blogspot.com
Also got some new motivation! My Aunt Joyce (who is one of my favorites if not my absolute favorite Aunt :) She's just one of those 'fun' people, very active in the outdoors, and always good for advice & very supportive! She also was the person who introduced me to Fresca when I'm sick. I don't remember how old I was but I was sick and she came and picked me up from school once and gave me Fresca, I've been drinking it ever since any time I have an upset tummy) has been doing a 'Biggest Loser' challenge with her work, and has lost quite a bit of weight, she looks AMAZING! Great job Aunt Joyce! Her contest ends tomorrow and she was in 1st place last week so I'm rooting for her to get the pot! (I heard it was a huge cash prize). Anyways she was saying how I have lost weight and how she checks my blog to see if I'm still going! That boosted my spirits as well!

I was quite pleased with my weigh in this morning down 2.2#. It was a nice surprise and made my day start off good. I am working on The Fabulous N Fit By Fall Challenge, and just about have things ready. But I wanted your opinions, what types of things do you look for/like in a challenge? Weigh in pictures? Mini Challenges? Prize at the End? Daily inspirations? Measurements? Leave your comments about things you like about challenges so I can gear this towards what you like!

Do Something About it!

Are you frustrated and burned out? What are you going to do about it?

Is there something you really want to achieve? What are you going to do about it?

Have you just become aware of an incredible opportunity? What are you going to do about it?

What are you going to do today, right this moment? What actions will you take to end your frustration, to achieve your dream, to take advantage of opportunity?

Success and achievement depend not on how much you complain, or on your ability to garner sympathy from others, but on what you do. And right now is the time to start.

Go ahead and move beyond the frustration, begin to work toward the dream, and make the most of your best possibilities. Go ahead right now and do something positive and effective about it.

-- Ralph Marston

Read more: "The Daily Motivator - Do something about it" - http://greatday.com/motivate/090401.html#ixzz0DHGyMqQH&A

This is something that came into my in box a while ago, and I really like it. I think that today I fully 'did something about it'. I exercised not only 1 time today but twice today. I feel great!

Food Intake Meals & Snacks:
B: Left over Steak
L: Salad w/greens, nuts, guacamole, low carb dressing
D: Pork Chop, Salad, Garlic Butter Noodles (low carb)
Snacks: Pepperoni, Cheese Sticks, Banana Bread 1 slice

Blessing my body with loving movement:
I didn't really feel the 'burn' like I normally do from my morning workout, and I've been itching to see if my Chihuahua can keep up with me on a walk, so I went again this evening. He didn't really keep up with the pace I would have liked to have gone, but did good, so I had to slow down a bit, but he did pretty good.
30 Minutes (2 Miles) Walk Slim DVD (in morning)
30 Minute walk outside with my dog, Sebastian

Happy Easter!

The Jelly Bean Prayer

I really have always loved this! Anyways I hope you all had a great Easter. Rob and I got some sort of food poisoning and spent the majority of the day in the bathroom, I guess as a bonus, it means that since everything was passing straight through...I didn't gain weight :) My family has a dinner almost every major holiday, I had taken some immodium and felt well enough to go, although hindsight 20/20 probably should have stayed home. Rob stayed home. My sister put about $60.00 in many different plastic easter eggs around my parents front yard, we only had 2 Grandkids there, one is 3& 1/2 the other I believe is 2, they had a blast. Then we had dinner, (see below) it was really good. My mom made a 5 Minute Key Lime Pie and boy was it yummy! It used 'low' fat Jello, Yogurt and Whipped Topping, and I ate it without the crust so that helped cut back on the carbs. It was SO good. Here's the recipe: Recipe for 5 Minute Key Lime Pie

April 12^th Weight Loss Day #6

B: 2 Hot Dog Links, Apple Actual: 2 Bratwursts, Chili, Onions, Cheese
L: See Above
D: Ham, Cheesy Taters (Funeral Potatoes), Green Bean Casserole, Roll, Key Lime Pie Dessert (Low fat)
Snacks: Cheese Sticks, Hard Boiled Eggs x2, 1 Chocolate Caramel Egg, 2 Peanut Butter Eggs

Dogs kicking my butt....

My sister has a show dog, a silver standard poodle named Jewel. Jen has asked me to show her in the AKC Conformation shows for her (like the ones you see on TV). Well we enrolled her in a handling class so she can get used to the ring environment etc. Tonight was the first lesson. And OMG, I forgot how much moving they do. Basically everyone runs (when I say RUN, I mean RUN!) around the ring showing off their dogs. The class was for an hour, and I think we ran around the ring at least 12 times if not more. Jewel is a mover, I'm gonna have to get faster to keep up with her. She's still very much a puppy (just turned 8 months old), so is still silly, and inquisitive about everything, wants to play play play so it's going to be fun :) I'm going to have to start jogging so I can keep up with her. She's FAST! . She has a show coming up here locally the 1st weekend in May. So we've got a lot to do until then. Hopefully we'll be ready! We have to find something she likes as 'bait', Strider (my sisters finished Champion) was VERY picky and really only liked grilled chicken strips....which although are healthy aren't the most practical to cart around at dog shows. Here is the pretty dog, that's my older sister with her (and yes she needs some more love and happiness in her life ;).

Today was a bit stressful at work but I didn't let it get to me, just 'grusfrabah'd' the situation and moved on. (I fired a client of ours...she REFUSED to leave her dogs for grooming for longer than 1 hour), we can get them out fast but not have 2 dogs bathed, dried, clipped etc in less than 1 hour. It was a mess but she ended up picking her dogs up WET cause I had already had them bathed when she was upset. Anyways that's besides the point. ....I'm just proud of myself. Also it is one of my workers birthdays today, so I am making a cake, and got ice cream for tomorrows staff meeting....and I'm quite proud of myself, while I won't be having any cake, I did get the Carb Smart Ice Cream so I can at least have a little of that.

Does anyone know of a 'start your jogging' routine? I am NOT a jogger but apparantly I might need to start. I do have arthritis in my ankles, knees, hips, hands etc (yep I know I'm a youngun...had it since 19 basically). My dr thinks that part of my problem is Vit D deficiency that I've had a lot of symptoms of since I was in Jr. High. Anyways..sorry for rambling.

Food Intake Meals & Snacks: Protein Day #4
*I'm supposed to do 3 protein days, but I sort of cheated last night and had a sprite float, I couldn't resist, so to kick my body back into ketosis I did another protein day today.

B: 3 eggs, Bacon pieces, 2 deli ham slices, 1 T cheese
L: 1 Salmon Patty
D: 3 Hot dog links with cheese
Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

Blessing my Body with Loving Movement: (Exercise):
1 hour of Dog Show running around :)
Stability Ball DVD Strength exercises (figured I got my cardio in with the class).
10 Minute firming exercises

Weight: 205.0#

Many blessings on monday

Today was a good day. I went to the Dr. with my hubby for a followup on his sleep study. He has Sleep Apnea you can read more about it on my personal family blog here: http://robnheather.blogspot.com/2009/04/another-update-on-rob.html

I must say that I know that God's hand has been in Rob's doctors and care lately, we are getting to the bottom of his issues (Blood Pressure, Asthma, Sleep Apnea) and getting him on the road to better health (and added longevity).

I have been doing Flylady's baby steps for about a month now, and am really enjoying it. My house is MUCH better as well, I don't come home frustrated because it's a mess. It's so easy to do the 1 hour Home Blessing Hour. I still have a little bit to go like the upstairs (office, scrapbook room, master bath) and then the basement storage mess.

Food Intake Meals & Snacks: Protein Day #3 of 3
B: 3 eggs, Bacon pieces, 2 deli ham slices, 1 T cheese
(I'm only supposed to have 1 protein serving but I am on medications and If I don't eat more I get sick and toss my cookies shortly after taking medications.)
L: 3 Hot dog links
D: Chipless Nachos
Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

Blessing my Body with Loving Movement: (Exercise):
30 Minutes Elliptical

Weight: 205.0#

Pizza Pizza anyone?

I have to add...I told Rob I was doing the "Sizzling Hot for Summer Challenge" and his reply was "Why, you are already sizzling, get any hotter and I'll get burned". LOL. Such a sweetie I love my husband....he's such the practical joker. He keeps things 'interesting' to say, the least. We have discovered how to make a 'really' easy pizza using Pita breads as the crust, I'm on my protein day so am avoiding carbs, so I just ate the toppings. Anyways the pizza on the right is the one he made for me....it's on a ritz cracker :) He pulled this trick a while back with "Sprite" Floats...see here: http://robnheather.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-husband-and-i-are-equals-in-every.html
t
There are a couple of great quotes in my Lean for Life book I'd like to share today:
"Motivation is a decision. Remind youreself several times every day why you'weightve decided to become lean for life."
"Losing weight---and keeping it off--has at least as much to do with what we put in our minds as what we put in our mouths."
Both quotes are from Dr. Stamper.
Anyways they just hit home with me today as I really believe that what you tell yourself affects how you act. I tend to sabotage myself a lot, and I'm really trying to overcome this. I am making many adjustments/behavioral changes etc in order to become "Lean for Life" and in order to get this weight off, so I can be healthier, and make it easier on my body to have a baby if that's in God's plans for me.

April 5^th Protein Day #2

B: 2 Eggs, 1 Sausage Patty
L: Pizza Toppings
D: Salmon Patty w/cheese
Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

Exercise: 30 Min Walk Away the Pounds (I was going to not exercise today, but I just felt like it so I did)

Weight: 205.2# Woot Woot! This is my lowest so far with this journey! YEAH!

Here are my cutie pies: L-R: Munchie, Pipsqueak and then DeeJay is the one on the kitchen table. Munchie is 2 years old, Pipsqueak is 10 months and DeeJay is 9 years old. Can you tell we were in the kitchen cooking? This is Munchie's 'favorite' chair and he plays 'cute' so he will get little tidbits.

No emotional eating for me today....

No weigh in today, I will probably only post weigh ins on days when I can 'void' before weigh in, as I generally have a good one in the mornings (somedays up to three pounders) sorry if TMI, anyways I generally am not to that point on my work days, so I will probably post weigh ins on Saturdays, Weds, Thursday and sometimes if I'm lucky Saturdays. Otherwise I fluctuate too much for my own comfort. Today started off good, I worked, groomed a few dogs, wasn't too super hungry for breakfast so I ended up just eating a couple of cheese sticks. I know not the best, but it's better than nothing.

Anyways for the emotional part, one of my recently adopted furkids (he was a littermate to my cat Pipsqueak), he was only about 10 months old. Anyways we've had him for adoption since he was a baby, but he's had some health issues (prolapsed intestines, hip dysplasia etc) so no one has really wanted him, well about 2 weeks ago I convinced my hubby to let me bring him home, he quickly stole our hearts. Anyways to make a long story short, he collapsed today while he was at the vet (aka my work and my dad) getting rechecked for a respiratory infection. We immediately did CPR, we worked on him for a good 20 minutes, my dad even did open chest heart massage, but it was all to no avail. He had something called Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, which is non curable, it essentially causes an extreme thickening of the heart wall so the blood can't be pumped normally. So Misaki left us at only 10 months old. Both my hubby and I are devastated. He was such a sweetheart, and we both were quite attached in just a short time (I have been wanting him forever, and been spending a lot of time with him at work). Rest in Peace my sweet baby boy Misaki aka Paleface. Here are some pictures of the sweetheart:
http://thethompsonzoo.blogspot.com/2009/03/misaki-teacheshow-to-win-heartsand-new.html

http://thethompsonzoo.blogspot.com/2009/03/remember-misaki.html

Now for the no emotional eating....normally when I have stressful situations I just grab whatever I can find, or stop on my way home from work and get fast food. Today I was strong, I had the urges but I didn't! Instead I came home and exercised, I did the Leslie Sansones Walk Slim Fast start 2 miles (30 min). I am quite proud of myself. I didn't stress eat! I didn't stress eat! This is a Big thing for me, as that is my 'norm' is burying my stress, emotions, sadness with food and/or diet coke and I remained strong! YEAH ME!

April 3^rd Prep Day #3

B:2 cheese sticks, 1 Morning Spark Orange Juice
L: Tuna Salad Sandwich, Green Salad w/dressing, Orange
D: Salmon Patty, Baked potato sour cream, butter, Green salad, apple
Snacks: Cheese sticks, lean deli meats, lower carb yogurt

Is it a fluke?

208.6#?????? Seriously I had to take a picture for my weigh in this morning as I couldn't believe it wasn't a fluke, I stepped on and off the scale like 5 times! WOW what a nice reprieve. Probably a lot of water weight as I am TOM right now. No matter the cause I'll take it! I needed this so much this morning.

Here is the meal plan for today:

April 2^nd Prep Day #2

B: 2 Eggs, 2 Pieces of Deli Ham, 1 Slice whole wheat toast w/butter spray, 1 Morning Spark Orange Juice, 1 Red Apple
L: Tuna Salad Sandwich, Green Salad w/dressing, Orange
D: Salmon Patty, Baked potato sour cream, butter, Green salad, apple
Snacks: Cheese sticks, lean deli meats, lower carb yogurt

Hubby is wanting a pizza pasta bake, not sure if I will have any or not, am going to use low carb pasta for it though. I think I will stick to my diet, as I don't want to blow it already :) I have a lot to do today, have to run to walmart, bank (at walmart so that's 2 errands in one hit), Petsmart (which is in the same area as walmart) and then Costco. Since Rob has been on his diet as well we are going through a lot of fruits (1 box of oranges --not the huge boxes the smaller ones, and 1 large bag of oranges, and 2 bunches of bananas a week). It's been good though. He sure is losing weight, I can tell because I can wrap my arms around him closer and closer every day :) When we met I could touch/hug him with both my hands all the way around him, it's getting better. He probably has at least 200# to lose before he's at a 'healthier' weight. He says he gets down to about 250# then gets stuck. So we'll see.

Getting Started

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started" Mark Twain
I am so ready for my 'restart'. I am pumped today, was able to eat breakfast (although it took me a while). I am hoping I can hold on to the enthusiasm and really get going again/finally with my weight loss. I went in to work for a few hours to groom a couple of dogs and that was good. I got home just in time for our snowstorm to REALLY start going. It's really windy out today. I took a scale shot and my stupid camera battery was on the fritz, so I will take another one but it's probably gonna be higher because I have eaten today. :( I am going to do a core training dvd a little later today. I will come back and 'update' on how things go today. So far I'm not really hungry, have had breakfast. Am looking forward to lunch, as I love Tuna Fish. I really should start planning my menus on a regular basias as it helps out so much, especially with my hubby who likes to play the "Food, Good, the kind you eat" game, when I ask him what he wants for dinner.

Here is my meal plan for today
April 1st Prep Day #1

B: 2 Eggs, 2 Pieces of Deli Ham (actually at only about 1 piece), 1 Slice whole wheat toast, 1 Morning Spark Orange Juice, 1 Orange
L: Tuna Salad Sandwich, Green Salad w/dressing, Orange
D: Salmon Patty seasoned w/lemon pepper, Baked potato, butter, cheese, broccoli, Green salad
Snacks: Cheese sticks, lower carb yogurt

Exercise today, just did my 10minute workout, I ended up taking a 5 hour nap this afternoon :P It was MUCH needed, I only got 4 hours of sleep last night, and while I had a lot I wanted to get done, I think my sleep was more important :)

In the Lean for Life Diet book it talks about the 6 essentials for success:
1- Make your goal "to learn to be lean for life".
2- Your level of interest and enthusiasm will determine your level of success
3- Learn to recognize and eliminate your defensive barriers
4- Learn to control cravings
5- Learn to use relaxation techniques and "stress less"
6- Follow the maintenance program for lasting success

These can be applied to any diet program, I am looking forward to learning more about each one of these subjects and how to 'get over them' and apply them to my life. I am more focused than I have been in a while lately. So hopefully I will be able to use that to my advantage.

Here is my Sizzling For Summer Challenge Starting Weigh In Picture:
Sorry about the glare it is 211.6#

Sizzling for Summer 2 Week Menu Plan

Challenge Week 1:

April 1^st Prep Day #1

B: 2 Eggs, 2 Pieces of Deli Ham, 1 Slice whole wheat toast, 1 Morning Spark Orange Juice

L: Tuna Salad Sandwich, Green Salad w/dressing, Orange

D: Salmon Patty, Baked potato sour cream, butter, Green salad, apple

Snacks: Cheese sticks, lean deli meats, lower carb yogurt

April 2^nd Prep Day #2

B: 2 Eggs, 2 Pieces of Deli Ham, 1 Slice whole wheat toast, 1 Morning Spark Orange Juice

L: Tuna Salad Sandwich, Green Salad w/dressing, Orange

D: Salmon Patty, Baked potato sour cream, butter, Green salad, apple

Snacks: Cheese sticks, lean deli meats, lower carb yogurt

April 3^rd Prep Day #3

B: 2 Eggs, 2 Pieces of Deli Ham, 1 Slice whole wheat toast, 1 Morning Spark Orange Juice

L: Tuna Salad Sandwich, Green Salad w/dressing, Orange

D: Salmon Patty, Baked potato sour cream, butter, Green salad, apple

Snacks: Cheese sticks, lean deli meats, lower carb yogurt

April 4^th Protein Day #1

B: 1 Egg

L: 2 ½ oz Tuna Fish

D: 3 ½ oz Chicken Breast

Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

April 5^th Protein Day #2

B: 1 Egg

L: 2 ½ oz Tuna Fish

D: 3 ½ oz Chicken Breast

Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

April 6th Protein Day #3

B: 1 Egg

L: 2 ½ oz Tuna Fish

D: 3 ½ oz Chicken Breast

Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

April 7^th Weight Loss Day #1

B: Eggbeaters, Apple

L: Salmon Patty, Mixed Veggies steamed, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

D: Chicken, Green Beans, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

Challenge Week 2:

April 8^th Weight Loss Day #2

B: Eggbeaters, Orange

L: Salmon Patty, Mixed Veggies steamed, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

D: Chicken, Green Beans, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

April 9^th Weight Loss Day #3

B: 2 Hot Dog Links, Apple

L: 2 ½ oz cold cuts Mixed Veggies steamed, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

D: Beef, Green Beans, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

April 10^th Weight Loss Day #4

B: 2 Hot Dog Links, Orange

L: Tuna Fish, Mixed Veggies steamed, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

D: Pork Chops, Green Beans, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

April 11^th Weight Loss Day #5

B: Eggbeaters, Orange

L: Salmon Patty, Mixed Veggies steamed, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

D: Chicken, Green Beans, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

April 12^th Weight Loss Day #6

B: 2 Hot Dog Links, Apple

L: 2 ½ oz cold cuts Mixed Veggies steamed, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

D: Beef, Green Beans, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

April 13^th Weight Loss Day #7

B: 2 Hot Dog Links, Orange

L: 2 ½ oz cold cuts Mixed Veggies steamed, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

D: Pork Chops, Green Beans, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

Snacks: Cheese Sticks, 4 oz Cottage Cheese, 2 ½ oz Lean/Fat Free Cold Cuts

April 14th Weight Loss Day #8

B: Eggbeaters, Orange

L: Salmon Patty, Mixed Veggies steamed, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

D: Chicken, Green Beans, Orange, Green Salad Low Carb Dressing

Things that make you go mmmmm.....

I have found several REALLY neat items this past week or two and I'd like to share them with you. The first one is a Water bottle. It's made for walmart, but the cool thing about it is the lid, has a straw that pops up and you can rotate the lid to hide the straw and close the bottle so it doesn't leak if it gets knocked over. This was VERY handy today. I am a clutz and am ALWAYS knocking things over. Here's a couple pictures: (****Addendum...wasn't sure if Rob would like it or not so I didn't get him one but he LOVES it so I will be picking him up one tomorrow).


Then the next AWESOME Find that has made my life EASIER is Ken's Lite Dressing that just has 1g Net Carbs! So far I've tried the Northern Italian and the Buttermilk Ranch that have the 1g Carbs. There are several other "Light" ones of his that have 2-6g carbs which isn't bad for a salad dressing as well.

The next is one that I've been considering for a while, just hadn't done anything about it is Coconut Oil www.coconutdiet.com There are supposed to be a LOT of health benefits from it, and I have several people I know who are taking it and having good results, so I'm excited for it. I'm all about the supplements and more 'natural' ways of doing things. Hubby calls me the supplement queen!