Monday Weigh In

I am so excited to post that I lost 4 lbs. last week! That brings my total to 13.8 lbs. I am still watching what I eat and counting calories. I also started walking this week. The whole planning our means and prepping is getting much easier. I have started getting into a little routine with it and it is so much easier that when we were doing it before. 

Craft Night Dilemma

Tonight is our monthly Craft Night at church. Of course we have fun being crafty and visiting, but we also snack through out the evening. Yummy dips and chips, chocolate in many forms, sods, you know all the good stuff! I decided to make things that would help me make good decisions while I am there and not tempt me too much. I love dips of all kids and I love them dearly. Nothing tempts me more than fried chicken or some kind of dip. So I replaced my spinach dip with homemade hummus and fresh vegetables for dipping. The gooey chocolate and other sweets were replaced with strawberries lightly dipped in chocolate and some grapes. That cheese ball looking thing isn't the healthiest thing in the world, but it was made with fat free cream cheese, half the pecans and all white chicken breast. And here is what it looked like:

I might still have a small sampling of what some of the other ladies bring, but I did plan ahead so that most of what I eat would be healthy choices. I am learning that this lifestyle does require planning, but by doing that planning, I have found it very easy to stick to. 

And for any of my friends that read this blog, yes that is celery on that platter! Anyone that remotely knows me knows that I absolutely detest celery in every way. I don't like the way it smells, I don't like the way it sounds when people eat it, I don't like the way it tastes. Basically celery is an affront to all of my senses! I bought precut carrots and they didn't have any without celery, that's why is is there, but I know some people do like it so it is there.

Planning Tool

I have mentioned before that I find it so much easier to follow a healthy eating lifestyle if I take the time to plan my meals on a weekly basis. This is one of the tools I use. It is a dry erase board that has a large space and is labeled for each day of the week. I make a rough menu on paper in a spiral notebook and then transfer breakfast, lunches and snacks to this board. Sometimes I add dinner on there too. but since I normally have dinner started or done when Kip gets home, I don't always do that. I prepare almost all of our food and so this keeps Kip in the look about when he is supposed to eat the foods I planned. It also helps me as I am getting ready in the mornings because I can simply look at the list, grab what we are supposed to have and go. It also helps with the finances. Since everything is planned, I am not going through the grocery store grabbing random food, I do get too much produce and the part of it goes bad, and we aren't tempted to go out "because there is nothing for dinner". We do still eat out on occasion, but it is planned too and not just random or more convenient. This system works the best for us.

Weekly Weigh In

I am a day late this week because we were out of town until late last night and I didn't have a chance to weigh until this morning. I am happy to report that I lost 2.2 lbs. this week. That gives me a total of 9.8 lbs since starting. I am extremely happy with that number since we have been out of town for the past two weekends. We spend yesterday in Gatlinburg and there  are just so many tempting foods there. I have to thank Kip for helping me stick with it too. I think if he hadn't been strong I would have given into too much temptation. We did have a few treats, but I think we really kept them in check.

I did pack some food for us. Last weekend, I packed a picnic and we stopped along the way and ate. That was the plan this time too and I packed what we need for our sandwiches. Well, except for the bread! We ended up stopping at a Subway and ate there instead. I do like to eat there and I can calculate exactly how many calories I am eating. Lots of places have the nutrition information online and I have been checking as much as I can before eating. I also have an app on my iPhone that is helping me keep up with calories. 

I really am just happy to see the numbers on the scale moving in this direction. Every little bit lets me know that I am doing the right thing for my body. 

Another Motivator

One more reason that I have made the decision to try and get healthy is the fact that my blood pressure is gotten very high. My cat bit me a couple of weeks ago and I went to a walk in clinic to have it looked at and to see if I needed and antibiotic or anything since it was red and swollen. My blood pressure was so high that they would not treat me and I was advised to go straight to the E.R. Kip and I had already been talking about making changes and we had actually started a couple of days before that, but I hadn't seen any weight loss yet. (BTW, I am under the care of my regular doctor.)

What a slap in the face. Not that they wouldn't treat me, but that I had allowed me health to get so far away from me. But like I said, we had already discussed making changes and had already started putting them into place. Today, it hit home even harder when I got a phone call from my Mother. She was at the hospital with her younger brother. He had a stroke. His blood pressure, according to my mom, was sky high. He is stable, and they are thinking it was a mild one. He was in a room waiting to see a neurologist. What a reminder of where I could be if I don't keep up with the changes and do get healthy. So if you are the praying type, please keep my uncle in your prayers. 

I went to the grocery store today. Of course I sat down first and planned our meals for the week and then made my grocery list from there. Lost of fresh fruits and veggies on that list! So it is harder to make coupons work for us. It is getting a little easier to cut costs eating healthy since I am making out meal plans and I am trying to incorporate the fruits and veggies that are in season. Of course I do find it easier this time of year since I do enjoy fresh veggies, you know when tomatoes actually taste like tomatoes! 

Weekly Weigh In

Oops, I forgot to write down what I lost last week! I do know that I have lost a total of 7.6 pounds so far. I keep up with my weigh loss, goals and everything using an app on my phone. I love it, it does almost every single thing I want it too. The only thing is does now do is tell my how much I lost since the last weigh in, it only gives me how much I have lost since I started. Not a big deal and watching that number grow is nice. Once I put in the new weight it replaces the last one and if I forget to look then I don 't have a weekly total. I am happy with that number.

One thing this app also does is let me record my food intake each day. And I have been good at logging all the food that I eat. I can see what I am eating and keep a running calorie count. It keeps the guesswork out of it for me and I think helps me stay on track.

We did pretty good this weekend, even with the traveling. I packed a healthy picnic lunch and we stopped at a rest area and had a picnic on the tables there. The weather was perfect for it too and we felt better knowing we did not spend money on fast food or waste the calories eating foods with no nutritional value. Thanks for the encouraging emails and comments I have gotten.

A Challenging Weekend

I hate that I am going to be out of town for the next two weekends and then the weekend I get back I have a birthday party. If I had a choice, I would have been on my healthy eating plan a little longer before spending two days completely out of my routine. I am packing healthy snacks and some yogurt and fruit for breakfast tomorrow. We are also packing a picnic lunch for this afternoon. Hopefully by planning some I not blow it too bad. Weigh in Day on Monday. My parents are notorious for eating out for almost every meal and they know all my favorite spots. By heading out this morning instead of last night we will miss my favorite breakfast place, and that was another piece of planning. 

I am thinking about taking pictures of myself and posting to chronicle my weight loss. Haven't decided yet though. Have a great weekend!

Still at it!

Well I am still following my healthy eating plan. I went to the grocery store on Sunday evening and got all the food for this week. I prepped as much as possible. That has made it very easy to stick with the healthy foods. As of this morning, I have lost 8.2 pounds. I am starting to notice the slightest difference in the butt of my pants. Once again, planning has come to the rescue!

Some success---finally

I had gotten so far off my healthy eating plan and got to the highest point my weight has ever gotten to before. After steeping off the scales that morning two weeks ago, I felt so bad about myself, so defeated that I had gotten and overwhelmed with how much weight I needed to lose. Later though, I realized that I could make the decision to continue on the path I am on and keep gaining weight or I could make some changes. So the first week I started cutting back on portion sizes and paying attention to what and when I was eating. I lost 2 pounds that week. This past week, I went to the store, bought mostly fresh vegetables and fruits. When I got home, I went ahead and portioned all the food into containers. I also sat down and planned my meals. This week, I lost 4.5 pounds. 

What frustrates me the most is that when I eat healthy, I feel better. So much better that you would think that I would want to keep doing it. I like healthy foods too, I love vegetables of all kinds. The difference in my energy level when I eat healthy is amazingly different. When I exercise, I also notice a difference in my pain level and the fact that I can go a little longer before having to stop. So I feel better when I eat healthy and exercise. But I still grab junk food. It's crazy, I know. 

This week's groceries

We went to the store on Saturday evening. I saved $37 + in coupons and then the sale items on top of that. Best deals? I got 4 cans of dog food for free, Snuggle Fabric Softener for  .69 for sheets and .99 for the liquid, a roll of paper towels for .09. We don't have a dog but I am passing along the cans of dog food to a friend that has two dogs. 

I did buy healthier food this week. But I am so discouraged on the weight loss front. I do good for a few days and then back to bad habits. I am so glad Easter is over and there is no more temptation with that candy. I swear Easter Candy is so hard for me to resist. If anyone has any good motivation suggestions, please let me know.