Category Archives: weight loss

Fluffy fiesta

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Today was the day, kids:  weigh in.

Which, of course, means that last night was my “last supper”.  Because clearly I’m not fluffy enough, right?

And……………….Hubby out of town.  Girls out of the house.  Boys out of the house.  Just me and the dog.  Sign 1.  “Go home”

Perhaps I should have taken it as a Sign 2 that my “sisterhood” were all either sick or otherwise occupied to just go home.  But noooooooooooooooooooo.   One sister was meeting some mutual friends out for some quick mexican before hitting the movies with her college boy who’s home for break.  And so.  I went.

It was fun.

I haven’t seen the other girls in a while, so fun to catch up and the food is good.  I ordered a margarita—as one does in a mexican restaurant– and split a quesadilla with my girl.

Let’s just say that if you only had $10 but really wanted to hit up happy hour and treat your friend as well…..I am your date, because  this body….just can’t do it anymore.

Fortunately, my saving grace is that I KNOW this about me and so I also ordered a water as a chaser.  First sip with the provided straw—my mind fast forwarded to me on the floor in 10 minutes if I continued down that road.  Straw tossed and I commenced to nurse that puppy, so hard that 30 minutes later I was barely 1/4 way in.   At this point, I gave up and offered to share with my friend.  She finished it for me which was a good choice for my body and I went home early to watch Under the Tuscan Sun (again) with my dog.

This morning I woke up with a flippin’ headache!!!!  Can you believe that nonsense?  I was FURIOUS!!!

I managed to fight through my 8 a.m. workout, which my body realllllllllly wanted to sleep through.  I had to move my spot in the gym because the sun.  The SUN.  Burning my eyes.  Not helping my head.  But I did it.  No jumping squats but also…….No hurling.  Head minimally aching.  Muscles sure to be sore.  But truly.  C’mon.  Barely 1/2 a margarita?!?!!?  With food.  And water.  clearly my body is protecting me, so I’ll be grateful for that.

Anywhooooooooo.  All measured up.  Weighed in.  Blood results back.  And there is work to be done.  (not a shocker or I wouldn’t be doing this)

Groceries have been bought.  I have the evening to plan meals and decide what needs to be prepped tomorrow.

Game ON.

Stay tuned………………and enjoy Saturday!

If you dangle a carrot..

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One week into 2017, how’s everyone doing out there?

We’re doing well here, although this coming week will be our first FULL week back into school and work.  I can sure get used to 3 and 4 day work weeks!!!  Nice.  Very Nice!!

Any resolutions?  I didn’t really make any official proclamation of resolutions so to speak.  A few internal conversations with myself on organization and time management and healthy eating and food prep and yada yada yada, but really.  Nothing truly earth shattering.

Our Dave Ramsey train keeps plugging away.  A full year and 2 months in and I remember listening to Dave and at one point him saying that the average of people meeting financial goals through his plan took about 3 years.  That is a long time to be budget focused.  However, if you live another 40-50 years….3 years isn’t so much.  Right?  We’re definitely making headway, using our cash and are far more intentional with our spending.  A long way to go from perfect, but learning and making strides and that is something!

Tomorrow starts a 10-week “Mayor’s challenge” for the town I work in and so I joined with a few  friends.  Our team works towards points and each person needs to attend 2 of 3 workouts each week and at the end of the week the individual male and female winners are awarded $1000.  Hello there $1000 carrot.

My veggies are prepped.  Lunch is made.  Workout plan for the week is a go and now to turn  in for a good night sleep.  I am.  In it.  To win it.  Certainly going to work my tail off anyway.  And with the cold weather all weekend, we got the good cookies made and on their way out of the house via bellies, so I’d say.  I’m ready.

Stay tuned.  It’s only my 400 millionth effort at this, surely one of these will stick.  And for $1000, I am certain to have  a few good habits and results take root over the next 10 weeks!!!

Happy 2nd week of 2017!!

Food talk

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Currently, I have been switching to a more Paleo food focus.  I started 3 weeks ago, but week 1 was rudely interrupted by a hurricane and although I still managed to lose a pound that week, it was just too much  to stick to it in the midst of evacuation, power loss, clean up, etc. etc. etc.  Hey, if you ever need a rationalization parter, look no further.  So, the past two weeks , I’ve been doing very well:  on track, planning ahead and really focusing on will power.  The Hubs and I even managed to get to the gym 2x this week for strength work, so I am plugging along.

Let’s get real now, though.  If you’ve ever read “Made to Crave” by Lysa Teurkerst  it’s a great book really delving into WHY we overeat (emotionally) and her own story of overcoming and learning to better manage life with a food crutch.  In the book, there is a part where she talks about how she cried over not being able to eat bread (or pizza or sweets–I can’t remember exactly).  As I read it, I’m thinking, oh for the love….are you kidding me?  Then I started this little baby journey of 2 weeks and several times I have foregone sweets or super carby foods and although I didn’t cry, I ABSOLUTELY now understood what she was saying.  It’s flippin’ HARD!  You do not have to think one iota about eating crappy, but if you want to eat better and avoid processed foods, you have to think.  you have to plan.  you have to abstain.  HARD. It pretty much sucks right now.  I know it will get easier, but now…right now…. it blows.

My fitness pal app is really helping me to stay on track though, as well as giving myself permission to eat something once in awhile that is not so Paleo-ISH.  For instance, this week it was a birthday and there was a truly delicious and not run-of-the-mill cake to celebrate and so I had a piece.  One piece.  It was good.  And that was it.  I ate, I enjoyed and then my stomach kind of hurt, so I guess my body was not digging it as much as my mouth was.  Another day, I had a lemon bar.  I don’t make those.  But I find them enjoyable and so I enjoyed it.  And that was it.  So, I am learning, but man…..it’s hard. Because really, I could easily push through the pain for two pieces of cake or several lemon bars; I’m an overcomer.  Those choices, however, will not get me healthier or more energetic.  Sooooooooo, I’ll keep fighting the fight.

Like so many other battles, just taking it one day at a time and go from there.

Wish me luck!

The recurring battle

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I have worried about my weight for as long as I can remember.  Probably from middle school on.    When I look back on my school pictures though, I see a normal girl who went through her thick before shooting up phase and later on, in high school, a fit and athletic girl who looked super cute in a bikini.  What the heck was I worrying about my weight for??

Who knows really.  Yes, family drama and divorce and responsibilities far beyond a 14 year old’s capacity probably contributed to emotional eating and the beginning of bad habits.  We can finger point and dissect it a million different ways, but at the end of the day, we all have our battles and my longest-lasting battle definitely comes in the form of food.

Fast forward many moons and 4 kids and I continue to battle those demons.  My Hubby is amazing and supportive and certainly loves me whether I’m fluffier or more fit and I am grateful for that.  The truth is, I have seasons where I do better and others where I don’t give a rat’s a** and just give into the yoga pants on the daily.  In spite of the support and encouragement of family and friends.  There is always a battle present and it is exhausting.

At this time in my life, it’s not about being a size 2, I mean my skeleton isn’t designed for that.  And I’m OK with that.  What IS true is that I’m just uncomfortable.  I’m tired.  All those years of taking care of patients who tell me “don’t get old” and “I wish I would have taken better care of myself when I was younger”, well, that is getting to me.  I see friends and patients who are fighting cancer and I know that we fight our best fight when we are at our strongest:  mentally, physically, spiritually.  Most days I’m 2 out of 3, I want 3 of 3. That is not too much to ask and the time has come to put these beasts down.  For good.

So.  Here I go again.  Changing things up.  While I won’t say it’s a “diet” so much, mostly because I don’t do well on diets, but certainly changing my eating up.  More Paleo.  Ish.  A friend introduced me to Mark’s Daily Apple  and I really like his approach.  So for me, the focus is more FOOD food, less processed food and keeping my carbs under 100g a day.  I’m using myFitnesspal to track my choices and my fitbit to track my moving.

Technically I’m on week 2, however, week 1 got sidetracked by Hurricane Matthew and you just go on with your bad self if you can stick to cleaner eating while stuck in a 2 Br/2 Ba house with 7 people, 1 dog, 1 cat and the uncertainty of a massive storm potentially getting ready to wipe out your city and flood your neighborhood.  As for me, well…….I did my best, but I won’t lie; hte candy corn and the iced cookies, they went down.  Timber.  This week, however, power back up.  Home good.  Debris mostly cleaned.  Closing in on “normal” and it was a good strong week.  Slight “cheating” today, but not horrific and verdict is:  down 3 pounds total since I started.  I’ll take it.  It’s time to put this battle to rest.

Fitbit fun

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So I joined the fitbit party.  At work we are having a corporate-wide “Eat Right for Life” challenge and since I am already tracking my food (week 1–mostly tracked, definitely an improvement) I thought this would be a good addition.

And you might have read my recent post on how I’m not super motivated because quite frankly I’m comfortable, but……in all reality…..I do believe menopause is on the horizon.  So, I thought maybe I should put a little effort forth and be in my best fighting shape (plus I am reading diet MAY help with the hot flashes and holy heckfire…..if it does, I.  AM.  ALL.  IN. If not, I end up a little healthier, right?  Plus, I have a slight competitive side and am visually motivated, so when I see I am 2,000 steps short of my 10,000 for the day; I lace up and hit it until my wrist vibrates.  Done.

But my favorite part of the fitbit?  In addition to the heart rate feature and watch?  The sleep feature!  Oh my goodness.  I am ridiculously anticipating each morning’s sync so I can see how many times I was restless, woke up, how long it took me to sleep and how much sleep I actually got.  Weird, I know.  But it is SOOOOO COOL!!!

Anyhoo….I am on the lookout for a cuter wrist band or figure out how to make one, but in the meantime trying to get over my frustration of today since I forgot to put it on after my shower and pulled a shift at the hospital where I KNEW I’d bank serious steps, but alas, the steps were still banked, just not logged.  Life will go on.