Tilapia Dinner

So today was an ultimate test of my diet. My friend Debra went to McDonalds for lunch, she got an extra fry for everyone to share at work....normally I would have dove right in and probably would have eaten the whole thing but instead I just sat there with the fries right in front of me and enjoyed my healthy lunch. She is trying to gain weight....wouldn't that be nice to have THAT problem? She's been sick lately.

Breakfast:

1 Egg w/1 T Heavy Cream in Micro

3/4 cup of Rice Chex Cereal Plain (worked out great as I am a 'car' muncher), I MUST have something to munch on in the car.

Lunch:

3 & 1/2 oz Chicken

2 cups lettuce

2 T low carb ranch dressing

1/2 granny smith apple

1 cup of Broccolli

Dinner:
1 Tilapia Fillet grilled with a mix of seasonings
1 cup of steamed broccoli
1 small orange
2 cups of lettuce with about 2 T of Sharp Cheese

It's Routine!

I am participating in several challenges right now, but one in particular is making me move and making exercise more routine for me. It's the Spring SEXC (Spring Exercise Challenge) over at choosing 2 Lose. It has been geared towards getting you exercising, and boy what a difference it has made! It is such a routine now, I don't have the inner self battles I used to, it's more, it's 8:30 time to go for a walk, not but my favorite TV show is on. I'm loving it! One of my challenges the Sizzling For Summer Challenge is ending soon :( I'll be sad it's been great, and the support of the other challengers has been awesome! I've been toying with the idea of hosting a "Fabulous N Fit By Fall" Challenge, more because I want to be SEXY by my birthday (Sept 25th) which is just a couple days after Fall Equinox, which is about 17 weeks away! Healthily I can lose 30# by then, which would put me close to my goal! I'm gonna go for it. Would anyone be interested? Just let me know, I will be posting details about it within the week.

New Progress Pictures!

I'm in my 14's they are tight in some places but these are my ALL TIME favorite pants, they make me feel young and skinny, mind you I just noticed that they are a 'misses 14', not sure if that's going to make a difference in size. These are a pair of pants that I was wearing when hubby and I met, they were lots looser on me then. In July 2008, I was a tight 22! I do hold my weight very well, and my biggest problem areas are my butt, tummy and thighs. My upper body is pretty slim, well except my arms. My calves are large but they are mostly muscular, I've never been able to wear boots that go up over my calves because of that. I am feeling a thigh gap coming on. I have noticed that I'm not wearing out my scrub pants at my thighs as quickly now. YEAH! I would always wear a whole in the upper inside thigh part.

Taken Last Wednesday:


This was in August at 228.8#

This was around my highest 250#
:

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

Small NSV for me today...

Today I got some 'sobering' news about my hubby from the doctor, and it really made me upset. I came home and just wanted to binge and eat whatever I could find, I had a bag of doritos ate 1-2 of them and then put the bag down and asked myself "What the HECK am I doing?" the Doritos are NOT going to make me feel any better. So I went and made myself a yummy healthy salad, and had some string cheese with it. MUCH better choice....and won't feel the shame and guilt of it all tomorrow...So my NSV of the day is, I SAID NO! I didn't give into those emotion cravings!

My hubby has to see a couple of specialists for his Blood Pressure and Asthma, and is also going to be joining me on the diet front, although will be doing a 'Dr supervised' diet/lifestyle change. He is already making changes, like giving away the rest of his 'large' family sized bag of Sour Patch Kids, and putting the rest of his Reece's Pieces in his M&M dispenser at work so his buddies at work could enjoy them. He also is drinking his water! I'm so proud of him!

So for today:
Didn't have breakfast cause we got up too late
For Lunch: Gourmet Salad (sunflower seeds, bacon, almonds, cheese, leftover chicken breast, and guacamole (100 calorie pack)
Snacks: String Cheese & Lean Lunch Meat
Beverages: Water x3 (28oz each) and still going, Diet Coke
Exercise: 100 Steps on my Stair Stepper (my knees couldn't handle any more) Hoping to be able to build up this #

I Beat the Stress Munchies!

Today was a very stressful day at work, I found out my kittens brother "Misaki" might have a serious hip condition in which he might need surgery on. He is only 9 months old. He came from a 'bad' breeder aka Kitten Mill. Misaki is Pipsqueaks littermate, Pippers had PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosis) when he was younger, but we corrected it medically. So that made me upset, then we xrayed my hand that's been bothering me and noticed some serious bone changes/swelling on my pinkie finger. I am calling my Dr tomorrow to get an appointment. Hopefully he can get me in soon. Then my hubby tells me that his work went over budget for the fiscal year so everyone's hours are getting cut 7.5 hours a week which is equivilant to $600.00 a month. OUCH! It's gonna be tight, but we've survived worse.

So me being the stress eater that I am, I was VERY tempted to just say screw it and eat out for dinner, but I didn't I stuck to the diet and ate Chicken cooked on "George" and then some broccoli with cheese. It felt rewarding NOT to give in to those horrible temptations.

Today was Weigh in for the Lucky Charms Challenge I am down to 208.0# WAHOO! I was at 212 last week because of my horrible binging on Sat/Sunday. It's been a lot of hard work this week, but I'm doing good.

Oops....there goes another one....

I had a lot of errands to run today, and my pants are WAY too loose! So I started at a 22 verge of 24 in July 2008, got 18's in November right before Thanksgiving, and now I am ready for a 16! I'm excited! It's been a long haul. I have a VERY VERY favorite pair of pants that look killer on me that are a 12 so I'm getting there! I can't wait to be able to wear them again. It feels great! My only problem is I have a lot of scrub pants that are size 2x and now they are literally falling off of me. It makes me feel good but have to replace them little by little with the $$$ issue.

I am trying the "Carb Smart" icecreams from Breyers (I think) I like to have my little 'sneaky' treats that are still "Low Carb" friendly. I think that's my biggest complaint is having to 'not eat' what are/once were my favorites. My hubby has helped out greatly with this coming up with new ideas. He makes this KILLER Low Carb cheesecakey type dessert that is REALLY yummy!

Non Scale Victory!

I work as a Vet Tech and I LOVE to wear different designer cute print scrub tops. I always try and get some for the Holidays. Well I have a Halloween one that I loved but it was a size Lg so I couldn't wear it last year well guess what! I can wear it! I have been wearing 2X tops! My butt still needs to shrink but other than that it fits GREAT! Excuse the hair; I only had 4 hours of sleep last night.

Here is a before picture back in July do you think I'm making progress?
I know I can see a difference in my thighs and my waist line. Hmmmm gonna have to have hubby take a pic of my butt LOL, no really, A LOT of my weight is in my butt and thighs. He's told me it's getting smaller though.