Category Archives: weight loss

Quick Takes Friday

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Friday, Friday, my favorite day of the week.  (Well, not until after 5:30pm, but it’s my favorite day of the week,nonetheless!) and so Friday means wrapping up the week with Jennifer Fulwiler @ Conversion Diary and her gang o’ bloggers….check ’em out!!

1)  It’s been a crazy week at work, so crazy I haven’t been able to take care of ANY of my personal business during the day.  That is SO wrong!!!  This whole work thing really doesn’t work for me.  I mean, it gets the PB&J on the table and supports our other dietary needs and stuff, but it really, REALLY puts a damper on my personal productivity level.  I need a secretary.  A free one, of course.

2)  In home budget cuts, we’ve decided the girls have reached the level of maturity to handle after school at home.  This is a HUGOLA savings money-wise, however, it’s a good thing for them as well.  I pick them up on my lunch break and bring them home and so far, they’ve fallen into their brother’s habits of doing homework right away with a snack, then chillin’ out until one of us gets home.  Their brothers are home with them, but it has taken a huge stressor off of me to have to constantly stress over my last patient and getting to pick up on time if Hubby is working out-of-town that day.  The other great thing, is on the days that they have practice, they are fully ready to go as soon as I get them….they’ve had their down time, their homework time, their snack time and the whining/tired/complaining pre-practice has essentially disappeared this week.  That.  Is a huge bonus!!!

3)  Rain, rain, rain.  We’ve had it essentially every afternoon.  I’ve managed to adjust my workout schedule somehow and holy, cannoli!!  It’s Friday and I am still sore!!!  A wonder of wonders how the body responds when you mix it up!

4)  The debate.  I didn’t watch.  There.  Irresponsible?  I think not.  I am so completely frustrated with our choices.  Really.  I know who I’ll vote for, because there is one person my conscience simply will NOT allow me to vote for, however, it doesn’t mean I’m happy about my selection.  I am possibly considering choice #3….throwing my vote away?  Meh.  Maybe.  There is just so much trash slinging in the ads and blah, blah, blah generalized empty promises it is draining and frustrating.

5)  For the last few QTs, I’m doing some links….one is to Jen’s Conversion Diary…see #1…super news!!  I just love other people’s baby news, stories, pictures.  It’s awesome.

6)  Next up is to Camp Patton and her post o’ woe on the arsenic hours of 5-bedtime.  Oy.  I laughed, but so definitely remember those days and when you are in the thick of it….so NOT funny or entertaining and yet, Grace makes it sound fun.  ish.  I just remember being exhausted.  And grumpy.  And counting the minutes to bedtime.  And now…….I can’t even look my oldest in the eye without craning my neck 6 inches up.  <sigh>

7)  That’s all folks.  I’ve got to wrangle these kiddos up and at ’em and get ready for the day.  Have a great weekend.  I’ll be on the road 2 6a.m. tomorrow morning to drive and hour and half to a football game. Try not to be too jelly, K?

Blessings!!

Over the hump….week 3!

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If I did not simply suffer from one moment to another, it would be impossible for me to be patient; but I look only at the present moment.  I forget the past and I take good care not to forestall the future.  When we yield to discouragement or despair it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future.  St. Therese of Lisieux

We are heading into Week 4 with the Peak 313 5 week challenge and I am pleased to say that Week 3 was a FAR better effort in every manner (for me).  I KILLED it in exercise, mainly cardio however, I did squeeze in serious sets of lunges during a cardio session and hit my abs as well.  The biggest deal (for me) was that I ate amazingly well.  The key was simply…..plan.  Wow.  It worked.  I was ready each day with my snacks and I wasn’t hungry and get this…..I had energy.  Crazy, right?

The scale deal for me is I’m not weighing until the end of the challenge.  The scale is a deal breaker for me.  I can be doing EVERYthing right and if the scale isn’t where I want to be….I’m done.  I will hit Dunkin’ Donut, Starbucks, whatev….because…why? Apparently I like to derail myself.  Therefore, as I get older (and hopefully wiser), I aim more for how I feel, in my clothes and and my skin.

This week, I have my snacks and lunches pretty much stocked and ready to go.  We are changing up a kiddo routine which calls for adjustment in my lunch hour, but that’s life…fluid and ever-changing, if we can’t adjust…..we’re sure to combust!

Stay focused this week!  Here’s this week’s Scripture verse….

 

Work it, girl!!

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THIS week I have hit my stride.  Serious talk.  Week 3 of the 5 week challenge and I’ve worked.  IT.  like.  nobody’s.  business.  or everybody’s since this is a blog on the WORLD wide web and all.  Anyhow…..like I was sayin’….THIS week I’ve been an exercising-eating-well-logging-my-food-goody-two-shoes.  It’s been CaRAAAAZaY!!!  So crazy, that I am entertaining the thought of eating clean, like FO REALZ, eating clean.  However, in Friday fashion, and in joining in with Jen’s blogging gang @ Conversion Diary, I thought I’d wrap up the week with 7 things I’ve experienced during this week o’WORKIN’ IT!

  1. Oatmeal.  Yum.  Delish.  Can do lots with it.  This week it’s been pumpkin.  But…..how long, O’ Lord is my belly going to grumble afterward????? Anyone??  Anyone???
  2. Walking lunges.  Super good for your gluteus maximus.  Around the corner of the track.  2 sets.  2 days later=ouch.
  3. Packing my lunch at night makes a lot of sense.  Speeds up the morning, too.  Maybe I’ll actually do that next week.  Baby steps, people.  Baby steps.
  4. Cutting out ice cream at night hasn’t been as bad as I thought.  Apparently, my low point comes when I get in the door after work…..veggie straws are where it’s at.  Trust me.  You can have a lot of those suckers in a serving…it’s perfect!
  5. Lots of walking=dry, scaly feet.  A little love on the weekend with the ped-egg, lotion and some new polish…….happy tootsies!
  6. Regular working out makes for some GOOD sleep.  So I’ve heard.  However, don’t hate but….our kiddos are bigger and now that we have sleepers-through-the-night, I pretty much fall asleep in about 2 seconds flat, so I haven’t noticed any change there…but “They” all say it’s true…so I’m sure it is.
  7. Maybe I’m the last to know..maybe you are…but here’s a little ditty that is (according the my newest teen) all the rage right now…PSY–Gangnam style.    Maybe you could run to this on your next run.  or not.  whatev.  Now you’re cool.  You’re welcome. And you’re one of the many who made clicking on the video part of the Guinness world record book for “most watched”….kewl.

Have a great weekend.  We’ve got both games…wait for it….AT HOME!  WOOT WOOT!  Maybe I’ll get a nap.  HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

don’t forget to visit JEN and everyone else, too!!

Blessings!

Mid-week JUMP!

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This week has been drastically different, in a good way, as far as exercise and food choices go. Of course, it’s only Wednesday…..however, one major change is that I’ve (so far) been able to wrap my brain around “One day at a time”.  Eating that elephant in small bites is a lot easier than tackling the entire thing.  Therefore, my planning for lunches has helped tremendously–especially at work when I hit the “hungries NOW” AND making it through the evening without that little “somethin’ somethin'”.

While I can’t say I’ve gone CLEAN EATING so far, I have absolutely cut a lot of junk and made some substitutions, i.e. brown rice with my sausage and spaghetti sauce instead of pasta.  Not quite the same, buuuuuuuuut, extremely filling and satisfying.  And I’m curious for those of you out there who have “cut the processed stuff” and gone clean….how long did it take you to lose the “craving” for sugar and junk?

This articleby Candace Cameron Bure via Peak313 was great, and my favorite “vision” in fighting against temptations is this excerpt:

In my book, Reshaping It All, I talk about “the eye covenant” found in Job 31:, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” Using Job as a role model, many committed husbands, like mine, have decided to make the same covenant with their eyes. If a beautiful woman walks by, a man may take notice, but if he gazes at her for a while, his mind will travel to places it shouldn’t. So rather than looking her way, he turns his eyes and his attention to something else.

If this covenant helped Job overcome lust of the flesh, it can also work for us in regard to food! Instead of fantasizing over lunch, or spending the evening meditating on what dessert we’ll have, let us turn our thoughts and attention to something else. Use this covenant of the eyes to avoid the snack isles while shopping, passing up free samples instead of stopping to consider them, replying “No, thank you,” the next time someone passes a brownie your way and to stay focused on the car ahead of you when you drive by a fast food chain.

Thankfully, this week’s challenge Scripture verse is ALL about cravings and I find God’s timing is once again perfect.

1 John 2:16

For everything in the world, the sinful cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does, comes not from the Father but from the world.

Monday mourning..

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Blah.  At some point perhaps I will try a boring weekend and see if that makes Monday more palatable.  Naaaaahh….

This Monday starts week 3 of the Peak313 “5-week challenge” and I’ve got to say, so far, I’m sucking.  OK, well, not a total lie…the first week was pretty good…with room for improvement on the food choices, but the second week.  Blech!

  • Sick child
  • Hubby dealing with some personal issues…which I then take on (because that’s what I do..I empathize to the point of making it MY problem) and then revert to comfort food and busy-ness wherever I can find it
  • Open house for the Elem school
  • Change in soccer practice, unexpectedly
  • Super busy at work

Nothing truly earth-shattering, however, life got in the way and I let it.  Bummer.  It derailed my exercise AND my eating and so I fully experience the saying “when you fail to plan, plan to fail”.  And fail I did.  When you fall (or fail) you have to get up, brush yourself off and get back on the path.  One day at a time.  One foot in front of the other.  And so on.

Somewhere around Friday I began to rally mentally.  Better food choices.  A little exercise.  Saturday was a busy sports day for the girls with LOTS of driving, however, better food choices and a decent mental outlook on the day as a whole.  Sunday was the RESTART:  Mass.  Walk. Grocery shop.  Pre-cook for lunches for the week:  Baked chicken breasts, brown rice, quinoa, hard-boiled eggs, cut up some veggies for the kids to snack on (and me).  I also made some treats for the fam–not exactly “clean eating” but a treat…moderation, right?  Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies–I’d give you my recipe, but it’s a little of this, little of that kind of deal but you could use this one from A Sweeter Thing.  I made the cookies for a treat for the week (we’ll see if they last that long!) and I made a peanut butter pie for dessert last night.

Moving on….we have fruit and veggies in the house…I’ve got food prepared for the week…I can’t wait to try this pumpkin oatmeal recipe for breakfast this morning… I’ll be hitting the gym @ lunch today…we have a healing mission @ church tonight. Day 2.  Week 3.  It’s ON!

This challenge is motivating and encouraging and I am also EXTREMELY motivated by Socially Fit’s blog and Twitter feed throughout the day.  Focus.  Focus.  Focus.

I’m off to start the morning rush…..How’s your week looking?

Peak 313..Week 3 Scripture verse!