Wednesday Weigh-in

Here's the Wednesday Weigh-in and, yes, I know it's actually Thursday but I've been having technical difficulties.

After a week of mild to moderate exercise and a very flexible diet I have a deficit of 2.8 pounds! Woot woot!

My healthy eating started off great and then the weekend came. I found myself out of the house a ton more than during the week and I didn't make the smartest decisions, but the out of the house walking seemed to balance out.

Exercising wasn't as productive as I wanted it to be. I walked 3 miles 4 days this week and my 'Yoga Meltdown' 2 times. However, now that the weather seems to be cooler in the morning (YAY!!) I plan on running again. SQUEEEEE!!!

Sorry this is so short today. I need to get the house in order b/c we have a sweet, little 7 month old girl hanging out with us. Liesl will get her wish fulfillment of a baby sister for a few short hours today :)

Wednesday Weigh-in

The saying is true, "You reap what you sow." Rather than beat around the bush, I'm just going to fess up. My weight loss this week?

+.4

I'm trying to be honest and hold myself accountable for any losses or gains that happen. I'm still trying to get back into the groove of working out and watching what I eat (ha! obviously!). For the past 2 months I "gave up" and walked occasionally, didn't run at all, didn't do one single workout dvd AND ate whatever-the-fat I wanted. Am I ashamed of the past 2-3 months? Yes. Terribly ashamed. So ashamed I couldn't blog about it. I would sit and write and write and write and then...delete.

This whole weight loss thing is something I've struggled with all my life, but I am learning that it is a journey. I can't just quit! If I were to quit on my diet and exercise...my health, it would be quitting on life. Seriously.

If I haven't talked about it before I am going to mention it now. I'm pretty sure that there is such thing as a sugar addiction. And I'm also pretty sure that I've got it. :/ Diet is going to be my focus. Exercising will come when the weather becomes more tolerable--I do have such a passion for running that I can't wait to lace up my shoes and hit the pavement. But diet is an ongoing battle for me. More than just my "diet" is sugar.

I was successful on the Daniel Fast for about 10 days. I followed the diet/fast, but didn't embrace the spiritual fast. I'm not going to do this again because I think going cold turkey on all of these foods may have led me to binge in the end. I am going to attempt a dairy-reduced, sugar-reduced diet this coming week. I will update honestly on how it goes.

I must come back to this week, however. I am proud of myself because I do think that taking the first step is always the hardest.I did take that first step...again. My butt was served last night when I, for the first time in 3 months, put in a workout dvd and stretched, pulled, twisted, flexed and bent to Jillian Michael's 'Yoga Meltdown'. I also did it today during my toddler's naptime AND went for a walk 2 mile walk when she went to sleep.

Success!

Truly, though, I was scared to do it last night. I feared the length of the video, my out-of-shapeness, the impending post-workout soreness and not being able to finish it. I did finish (struggle through) it, I AM sore today but you know what???

I am glad I did it.

Exercising yesterday made exercising today easier. I was super sore but I knew what to expect and knew that I could get through it. I am just glad to have that "first workout" behind me. And, hey, if I can do it weighing #!@&* pounds...

so. can. you.

Friday Five: Happy Things

This morning I went for a walk, read, ate breakfast, read some more, perused the internet and knitted all before my dear little 2 year old woke up. It put me in good spirits. That's why I decided for the 'Friday Five' to list some things that make me happy.

Fun Mugs

Not fun "people" mugs, although those definitely have their place, but real mugs. Coffee Mugs. Oh yes, I am one of those people that would have mugs hanging from every cabinet in the kitchen. Sad to say, we don't go thrift storing or antiquing much so I don't have many. Maybe 3.

Hair Products

Mainly waxes and pomades. Gels, mousses and hairspray are okay but I love hair putty. It's gooey, messy and smells deli-sh. It's like play-dough for your hair. What's not to love?

Children's Poetry

love.love.love. Until recently Michael and I have been reading storybooks, fiction and non, nursery rhymes, picture books, ABC books and, well, everything but poetry. I picked up a couple children's poetry collections from the library and was hooked. They are so much fun to read and make great partners with other storybooks. I have to read them at naptime and bedtime, no matter what other books get read.

Yarn

Some women love shoes. Others love purses. Me? I love yarn. Yarn is like the promise of a new adventure. It's a colorful, multi-textured project a couple of needles away. Whether I'm working on a knitting project or not, I still keep a basket atop the shelf in our living room. Just to look at.

Moody Toddler

Even at her grumpiest, I find happiness in this little miracle. She's a joy to watch grow. Some moms say they want to slow down time when their kids are babies but not me. Nope, I like this age. She's just the right mix of "I do it I-self" and "I want to hold you" (which is her way of saying," I want you to hold me").


What's your "happy thing"?

Wednesday Weigh-in

I've been sick. Nothing major. Just your normal sniffles/cough/congestion/tired/voice losing, head cold. It has wiped me out this week, however, and ruined any and all plans I had of resuming my workout schedule.

I weighed in this morning and, no shocker here, I have a gain of 6 pounds since my last weigh in post in May. I've also thought about this a rather lot and, instead of hashing through the past few months of my absence, I'm just going to move forward. I feel that if I listed all the reasons why I "fell off the wagon" it would make it easier to fall off again. It would be like building myself a crutch. The "woe is me" mentality isn't going to help because things won't necessarily get easier. So, no looking back at the past few months. They are over. I only have here and now and, God willing, tomorrow.

My big workout plan isn't so very elaborate. I'm going to walk, because it's too dreadfully hot to run for me, and do an exercise dvd 3-4 times a week. Once the weather becomes a bit milder I am anticipating adding running back into my regiment.

My eating plan is simple. Cut and count calories. My goal is to stay between 1200-1800, depending on my workout.

Now. I'm going to curl up with a book while the Mr. and Mrs. Head Cold have their way with my body.

Friday Five: foods that are not invited into my house

It's Friday.

And I am BACK!

I will have a post chronicling what I've been up to, and why I haven't been here, later. But since it's the end of the week and my first post in over 2 months I thought I would keep it light.

I'm laying here on the couch (I'm sick and my hubby's back is out so, no, I'm not in the dog house-as if that were even possible--we just need rest), trying to fall asleep after thoughtlessly drinking a cup of coffee at 8:30 p.m., and I begin to think about my day and the grocery shopping excursion. Grocery shopping by myself is beneficial because I'm not distracted by a bouncy 2 year old. However, it's also potentially hazardous, because not being distracted, I tend to veer off my grocery list and actually peruse the store. That's when the cookies, chips, candy or other crap food gets picked. Tonight went fairly well. I bought a cookie mix because Liesl loves to cook. I plan on giving the cookies away, though. That food just can't be in the house. It's just too tempting.

So, here are my top 5 foods that never need to be in my house. Because if they are, it's likely they won't see many more days.

1. Ice Cream. Oh boy. It's so yummy and creamy and sweet. My family never practiced correct portioning so a "bowl" of ice cream is just that. A bowl completely filled with ice cream. You should be able to see the ice cream over the bowl's rim. That would be my family's portion. And sometimes seconds. Just ask my husband and former roommate :) I always make Michael buy a flavor ice cream that I don't like so I won't be as tempted.

2. Sour Cream. Kind of a weird one for most people but it's been one of my biggest downfalls. If it's in the house I base my meals around it. Sour cream just makes things taste better. Like ketchup. The main difference: sour cream is soooooooooo fattening, and the reduced fat stuff just isn't the same. I'd rather go without.

3. Chips. Especially Harvest Cheddar Sunchips. I've tried portioning the serving size into little baggies so that I don't mindlessly eat out of the big bag. Fail. It doesn't matter how they're portioned out, if they're in the house they are a goner.


4.Brownie batter/chocolate chip cookie batter. No, not the actual brownies/cookies. I can handle those (usually). It's the batter that calls out to me. Seems easy enough, right? Don't buy the stuff. Well, it's gotten to the point when I finally realized brownies weren't just from a pre-packaged box (so sad it's taken me 26 years to figure that one out) and I could make my OWN mix that I had to get rid of the cocoa powder in the house. I wasn't using it for anything else so it's not a big deal, but still. Drastic measures had to be taken.

5. Ranch. :sigh: I am a condiments girl. It probably has something to do with my father feeding me ketchup off of his fingers when I was a baby. (Parents of children: please don't feed your babies ketchup off of your fingers for your own amusement. It's cute when baby sucks on your finger like it's a bottle or boob, but not when it's sucking in ketchup.Think about it. Ketchup is, for the most part sugar and, WORSE than that, high fructose corn syrup. A pure, high fructose corn syrup-less baby should stay that way for as long as possible.) I am in no way saying all of my condiment habits are linked to my first ketchup encounter, but you never know... I do digress. Ranch is a staple in our house. It's the only way I can get my husband to eat raw, green veggies; and Liesl to eat more than 1 baby carrot stick. It's not as tempting as ice cream, though.

And, an unofficial, honorary edible substance (can't really be classified as "food" b/c it's just candy- a category unto itself): Peanut Butter M&M's. I think my life would be a lot easier if Mars would just discontinue them. And all chocolate/peanut butter combinations everywhere, for that matter. (I'm talking to you Reese's) Maybe I'll petition for it. Who's with me?

There you have it. My top 5 "trigger" foods. When consumed, they leave me wanting more of them, no matter how much I've already had. Therefore, they rarely cross the front door of my house...because I bring them in the back. Ha ha. Seriously, no.

I'll be back on Monday with a real update, and then I hope to resume as usual with 'Weigh-in Wednesdays.' It should be an interesting first week back.

(and thanks to all of you who've stuck around and asked where I was. I've contemplated "giving up" on this blogging, but I will try to stick it out. Even through the ugly...more on that Monday)