Blogging for the motivation WIN

Day one of getting back into blogging DONE, and man-I can’t believe I ever gave it up. I got home last night (after taking Michael his keys, stopping in to get some YUMMY bubble tea and an order of spring rolls, and two hours worth of traffic) and decided instead of sitting on the couch watching Netflix I would pull out the Wii and try out the new Zumba game. When that was done I decided-the weather has been crappy and I can’t walk- I might as well actually use the elliptical machine in the downstairs room. 30 minutes of zumba and 45 minutes of elliptical later I was done with a workout that was purely inspired by my recommitment to blogging. Another win for the new found need to blog is the fact that last night when I stopped for bubble tea and spring rolls I knew I had to go home and cook meatloaf (it was supposed to be cooked 2 days ago). So, like any good wife I went home and made the meatloaf. The WIN comes in because instead of indulging in the meatloaf (which isn’t bad for me at all-in fact a piece would have been 6 points-but would I have only had 1 piece?) I decided to have an orange and then a banana with some nutellaspread. Why? Because I was satisfied by the bubble tea and the spring rolls and felt no need to eat another meal. Why else? Because I knew I’d be sharing it with the world and that motivation kept me in line. Last week probably would have been a different story. I would have had the bubble tea, the spring rolls, and the meatloaf. It’s crazy what happens when you find something in your life that keeps you in check. Oh blogging how I’ve missed you! Until tomorrow: good eats!

Wednesday Food Breakdown:

Breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal with bananas, chocolate chips, and walnuts. I didn’t even finish the bowl. Breakfast was 4 points.

Snacks included an apple, a banana, and a banana with nutella(2 points).

Lunch was a smart ones (pasta with vodka sauce for 8 points) and a morning star fake chicken patty (3 points) for a total of 11 points.

Dinner included (btw the hours of 5 and 10) a milk black bubble tea (it was like pure heaven) for 9 points, spring rolls (3=6 points), an orange, and a banana with nutella (5 points)

I used 8 extra points for the day (thank you black tea you were SO worth it) which leaves me with 21 extra points for the week!

Blogging-oh the blogging!

It feels nice to be blogging again. I had totally talked myself into believing that blogging less was a good thing, but I actually missed it-and the motivation it brought with it. I love the escape blogging allows-escape from my constant thought of tracking and food and life. For some reason, while the blog keeps me on track throughout the day, it somehow manages to allow me the freedom to not spend my ENTIRE day thinking about my points or what my next meals will be. Do any of you have a constant dialogue going on in your head? What am I thinking, of course you do, you are a woman. At least blogging allows me to escape from some of the thoughts that were once consuming my thoughts daily-food, points, and weight. Now I can spend my time aimlessly thinking about weekend plans, what dress to wear to the upcoming wedding we are going to, what color to dye my hair in 2 weeks when I FINALLY get to get a cut and color, how long of a walk I should take this afternoon (oh wait it’s raining, maybe I should do the elliptical, maybe I should take a break-and that back and forth). It’s amazing how many thoughts circulate through my (and every other woman’s) brain in like 30 seconds. I don’t think a man would last an hour in our shoes!

Along with the addition of blogging back in my life, as of yesterday (as I mentioned in yesterday’s post) I have gone back to the new plan and man did I miss it. The free fruits, the better choices, the healthier eating- it’s amazing how switching from the old plan to the new plan changed so much within just a week. Yesterday I had a banana, an apple, and an orange. It was AMAZING. And, as I mentioned yesterday, today’s post will include a food breakdown for the first time in a long time (go ahead and judge because the hubby and I went to a Braves game last night and we had a great time and I don’t feel one ounce of guilt about it!) Speaking of the Braves, I’m really looking forward to more impromptu trips to the Ted to get our Tomahawk Chop on-it should be a fun spring! Until next time: good eats!

Now for the part you’ve been waiting for:

Tuesday Food Breakdown:

Breakfast was a cinnamon raisin bagel thin (oh man I’m so glad they added more varieties to this line because I love me some bagel thins) with 2 T of whipped Cream Cheese for 5 points.

Snacks included an apple and a banana with Nutella (2 T=5 points).

Lunch was a smart ones (3 cheese baked ziti) for 8 points.

Afternoon snack included an orange-did I already mention how excited I am about the free fruit.

Dinner included wings (I had 5 of our 20 for 15 points) with some cheese fries (12 points-I don’t know exactly how many I had so I’m over guestimating here) and a coke (I filled it with ice so less soda and the hubby helped so I’m counting it as 4 points). We went to a little bar next to Turner Field before the game and just got to unwind from our work day before walking across the street to enjoy some Braves baseball. (Come onSpring and more baseball at the Ted!)

Yes, I can count, I used 20 extra points yesterday because of our dinner-but again, no guilt!

Tuesday for the Win!

I don’t know what it is about this blog that keeps me motivated but I’ve realized that in the last month or so that I haven’t been faithful to my writing I’ve found small (well large) loop holes for indulging in things that are definitely not point friendly and quite honestly nowhere close to being health friendly-Red Robin burgers (what happened to my not eating at food chains?), ice cream (I scream, you scream we all scream for….SUGAR and FAT), chips (don’t even get me started on the ways these are bad); I think you get the picture. While I have tracked-okay, back up a few steps, I have tracked most of what I eat but weekends come and I haven’t been as honest with my tracking as I was being. An oversight here, a forgotten soda there, and before you know it I’m finding myself back in that old rut of “I’ll just start over next week.” I even convinced myself that the plan wasn’t working as well (which, in all honesty I still question) as the old plan so I switched for a week. Guess what I discovered? I ate less fruit (that same old mentality of not wanting to “waste” points when they are so hard to come by), even bought some smart ones, and found myself in that old behavior of eating more processed foods and less of the good stuff. REALITY CHECK: while the results I was seeing while doing the new plan were definitely not coming as quickly (I apparently need instant gratification-what happened to my mantra: one day at a time?) as the results I saw using the old plan, results were still there. I’m down several inches all over. I’m wearing pants I haven’t worn in a year. Shirts are fitting better. So, results are there, the scale just isn’t being as friendly. [Enter the excuse making -stage right]

Luckily, unlike previous attempts, I’m not letting those excuses [exit stage left] stand in my way. Today is the start of a new week with tracking so I’m throwing that old plan out (as it should be) and getting back on track with the new one. Welcome back to my lunch box banana, apple, orange, and blueberries!

I do have to take just a second to make a clarification though. My weekly tracking has been great. Also, last week I walked 5 days a week with walks ranging from 2 miles a day to 5 miles a day. I even spent a good part of the weekend dancing (a workout all in itself I’m telling you) with friends while we played “just dance 2”.

I’m not exactly sure where I’m going to fit it in, but I’m getting back on track with posts too. It seems like for me it was way easier to stay motivated when I knew I was not only going to have to look at my journal myself but I was going to be posting it for anybody that stumbles upon this site to read-and let’s be honest: JUDGE. So, here’s to adding better foods back into my day, journaling like a pro, and posting on a daily basis. Tomorrow’s post will include the food breakdowns come back also!

Until tomorrow: good eats!

Changes

Spring is fast approaching. If you live anywhere near Atlanta you probably feel like it’s already been here for about a month. Yes we have our back and forth cold then warm (as is usual with this crazy state and its weather) but for the most part the last month has been AMAZING. You can definitely tell spring is here too because there are way more people out and about in the afternoons.

Recently Michael and I have been putting greater effort into discovering the local parks around us (Gwinnett County has done a phenomenal job with the park and recs throughout the county). In fact, we’ve found 4 wonderful parks within just 6 miles of our house. The park we discovered just a few days ago has been our favorite so far. It has a walking trail (perfect for me), a dog park (would be perfect but Jake HATES the dog park), playground areas (perfect for future additions), a skate park (I didn’t even know these still existed), picnic areas (tables and field space), grassy areas (perfect for the hubby and his Frisbee needs), a basketball court (perfect for me-I miss those days), and a general since of being a great park (perfect for ANYONE)!

Warmer weather means more time outdoors and more time outdoors means more time dedicated to reaching my goal. All around it’s a win-win for me. In the last week I’ve walked upwards of 15 miles with plans to only increase that number as the weeks progress towards my 3 day walk in October. The pending walk has been such a motivator. Each day I get home from work (weather permitting) I lace up my shoes, grab Jake’s leash, and out the door we go to hit the trail. Daylight savings time has been such a blessing. It gives me a much needed extra hour of daylight in the afternoons that allows me to get the stuff I need to get done at home before my walk done and still enjoy plenty of daylight for the perfect walk. While my sleep pattern didn’t like adjusting to it (who knew just one measly hour could wreak so much havoc on one’s life???) my weight loss and workout patterns LOVED it. Have any of you taken advantage of the extra daylight? How?

What’s interesting is that in the previous weeks whenever I missed out on posting I felt tremendously guilty. I felt like I was somehow cheating on myself and my efforts, despite the fact that I was fully tracking, working out, and all around doing well with the plan. Ironic. However, somewhere between the guilt and today I’ve discovered a state of no longer feeling any guilt at all. I’ve packed my evenings with walks, spending time with the hubby, getting stuff done around the house, and even getting ready for the next day-none of which left any time for posts. While I love this blog and what it has done for me in the recent months, I no longer feel an OBLIGATION to post every single day. As such, I will be changing my “commitment” to this blog and it will become a for sure once a week post and hopefully (time willing) I’ll find an opportunity to post here and there throughout the week as well in addition to the once weekly post. I mean, we only have this life to live once, so I’m going to LIVE it! Hopefully this will also help with the large writers’ block I’ve had of late.

The blog will still be filled with my thoughts on food, working out, and my journey but it is going to morph into less of a daily food breakdown and more into my weekly victories (scale or non-scale related) and my favorite meals throughout that week. That’s more of a lifestyle than the DAILY posting. To me that was becoming an obsession and quite honestly the break has been kind of nice. Don’t fret, this in no way means I’m going to stop doing my daily tracking or working out. Until next time: good eats!

Back in the swing of things!

Seriously, where does the time go? I just realized that I haven’t made a single post in nearly a week. A WEEK. Man, this working 40 hours a week thing is really affecting my ability to get things like this done. I mean, it’s already Thursday. It seems like just yesterday was the weekend.

I am happy to report, though, that it has not affected my ability to track and stay on target. In fact, I’ve been having a pretty great week this week. Several days I’ve even been under my daily target because at the end of the day I was totally satisfied and couldn’t possibly even give a second thought to putting additional food in my body.

I’m still holding strong on my “no weigh in” policy I adopted a week or so ago; well at least I’m trying to hold strong. It seems like every time I pass the scale it is taunting me: just step on and see what you weigh, you can do it, one foot at a time. However, after my total obsession with the scale a few weeks ago I think it’s healthy to avoid the temptation and focus on other things like the inches I’m losing all over!

In other update related news I just recently signed up to walk the Susan G. Komen 60 Miles for a Cure Breast Cancer 3 Day, and I’m getting super excited. It’s such an amazing cause (my grandmother is a breast cancer survivor), every time I hear the commercials I tear up. I think it’s going to be one of those incredible life experiences that only come along every so often. It’s also given me the extra motivation I needed to become serious about my working out again. While I was already walking (a few days a week) and occasionally lifting weights, preparing to walk 60 miles has given me that extra boost to step up my game. Thankfully Day Light Savings happens this weekend (it couldn’t have come at a better time) so I’ll have an extra hour in the evenings (getting home from work and trying to get my walk in before it gets dark has been quite a battle this week because their just aren’t enough hours in the day to get done with everything I need to get done) to walk just a little further! I signed up on Monday and since then I’ve walked almost 9 miles. I have about 30 more weeks to get prepared for the journey and I can’t wait!

Hopefully this experience will help me find that extra “boost” in my weight loss journey as well. I have really loved it this go round. Last time I was serious about Weight Watchers I was super committed to going to meetings and a bit OCD about tracking. Sadly, often I found myself (as in I’ve been reflecting on my last go round in the last few months) eating foods that weren’t necessarily the best options health wise but options that were easy to track (Smart Ones; Chick-fil-A; WW muffins, snacks, ice creams-you get the point). This attempt has been SO different. I’m preparing a lot more foods at home. I’m not filling my pantry and freezer with those overly processed, easy to prepare meals. I’m buying tons more fresh produce and filling my day with fruits (something that NEVER happened last time because they were a “waste” of points-thank goodness the new plan has FREE fruit) and vegetables. I’m making sure to be more active and be intentional with my activities. The side effects? I have way more energy. I feel way better health wise (not filling up with preservatives and other crap). I’m sleeping better. I’m losing inches. I’m creating a LIFESTYLE not sticking to a diet. It’s amazing to go back to my old food journal and compare it to my current journal. Have you done that recently? Ever? Are you making any changes in your life to make your journey more sustainable?

I do have to admit my one struggle with the new plan: With the old plan I saw results much quicker. It seemed like the weight was just falling off. This go round has been quite different though. I’ve had losses anywhere from .4 lbs up to 3 lbs. I’ve been up (remember that 5 lb gain week-the one that created the obsession????). I’ve been seriously tracking for nearly 2 months and I’m right around 10 lbs lost. With the old plan by month two I had already lost nearly 20 lbs. I know I shouldn’t get frustrated and I definitely know this isn’t a race-I know the loss will come. I also know that my body is going to be much better off once I reach my goal this time vs. where it would have been last time (again, I’m eating way way way better). I just have to continually remind myself: ONE DAY AT A TIME. Why is it that when we make any kind of attempts in our life if we don’t see immediate results and get immediate gratification we are unhappy and feel like we’ve failed? Does anyone else feel that way?

It will not hold me back! I will continue to push on! Until next time [I say next time because at this rate who knows when it will be (= ]: good eats!

(I’ll give you Tuesday and Wednesday’s Food Breakdown)

Tuesday:

Breakfast was a fruit smoothie made with frozen strawberries, a banana, and 1 c OJ with a splash of water. (3 points for the OJ)

Snacks during the day include homemade sweet potato chips (basically just sliced and baked with nothing added) for 2 points; a mixture of banana, strawberry and 2% Greek Yogurt (1/8 c) for 0 points; and Trader Joe’s spinach dip with carrots (4 points).

Lunch was a Boca Fake Chicken patty on a plain bagel thin with pickles. (7points-3 for the chicken and 3 for the bagel thin and 1 for mayo)

Dinner was a delicious combo of spaghetti squash (amazing alternative to HIGH in points pasta) for 0 points, with homemade chicken meatballs (combined ground chicken with grated parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, oregano, and basil) at 1.6 points each (I had 2 for 3.2 points) and marinara sauce (3 points). I was going to make a second bowl (because I budgeted for 4 meatballs) but after the first bowl I was STUFFED. As far as the squash is concerned it was SUPER easy to make because we just cut it in half, scraped out the seeds and gook with an ice cream scoop, put it in the microwave and let it cook for 8-10 minutes. After it cooks you let it cool a bit then you use a fork to sort of scrape the insides out and it looks like spaghetti noodles. For a bonus it tastes way better than a bland bowl of pasta too!

That was a total of 22.2 points for the day leaving me with 6.8 left over (again, I was completely stuffed and satisfied and couldn’t have imagined having another bite).

Wednesday:

Breakfast was quite the treat yesterday. I had steak (4 oz) and eggs (1 whole egg and 2 whites, scrambled) for 8 points. No we don’t usually make steak for breakfast but we accidentally forgot we sat steaks out the other day and had to cook them but we’d already made other dinner plans so we just decided to have them for breakfast (only legit because the steaks were from the whole ribeye we bought several weeks ago for 40 bucks and cut up and individually froze).

Snacks during the day included raspberries and blueberries with 1/8 cup of yogurt (0 points) and on the way home from work I had ¼ c of raw cashews (4 points) and grapes.

Lunch was an old favorite p-nutty chicken wraps (minus the wraps). It’s a combination of broccoli slaw, 2 T peanut butter (I used almond butter this time though), and 3 T thai sweet chili sauce and chicken (I divided the mixture into two so Michael could have lunch too). You put it all in a bowl, mix it up, and ta-da! The total recipe breaks down like this: broccoli slaw was 0, the almond butter 5, the thai chili sauce 3, and the 4 oz of chicken 4 for a total of 12. Since I divided it in half my lunch was 6 points.

Dinner was another old favorite: maple/soy/garlic (marinated over night) salmon with 2/3 c of rice and fresh steamed green beans (all of which was cooked and ready for me when I got home last night from ladies’ small group-BEST.HUSBAND.EVER) The fish was 5 points, the rice 3.5, and the green beans 0 for a total of 8.5 points.

The days total point value was 26.5 leaving me with 2.5 points left over (again, not another bite was doable!)

Mother Nature and her fury

Why is it that Mother Nature sees to it every month that we-as strong, capable women are rendered useless (at least in my case) for a solid day because she brings on us a wrath that has so much fury we can do nothing but bow down and take it. In other words, why am I in such pain? Why do I have to go an entire day (sometimes longer depending on the cycle) feeling like I don’t/can’t even get out of bed? Too bad the real world doesn’t work on the same schedule as Mother Nature; nope, here I am, out of bed, sitting at my desk and ready to start another work day. All because we “ate the fruit” well man ate the fruit too and what does he suffer? I say NOTHING like we do. They don’t deal with a painful issue MONTHLY, they don’t carry a baby, and they don’t give birth. Now, as far as the last two I’m sort of happy. A friend of ours made an excellent point last week. She said, “Sometimes I miss being pregnant. It allowed me 9 months to be so close with this person growing inside me. Everywhere I went, there he was. No one else got that. I felt EVERY movement.” I wouldn’t trade the opportunity to experience that for anything in the world. So, on day’s like today when I want to curse Mother Nature and her damn fury I have instead decided to take a step back and rejoice in the fact that one day soon (within the next two years anyway) these pains will go away (for a few months anyway) and they will be replaced with a human life. Every time I think about pregnancy or having a baby it amazes me to think about the fact that when that time finally comes I too will be able to experience so many things with that little person that my husband will never get. Sure he’ll be able to see it with his eyes (in the later months when it’s visible) and sure he’ll be able to touch my belly, but I’ll be able to experience so much more. So, unleash your wrath Momma N, because I will not let you ruin this day! I will overcome you. (In my mind the song “I am Woman” seems to be playing like theme music right now-haha) In fact, tonight after work I’m going to get all dressed up, splash makeup on my face, and head out to the symphony with my husband and you will be in the background-not even an after thought!

I say all this like I’m super empowered but isn’t it amazing what Mother Nature does to us each month? She brings on cravings (I had a piece of cheesecake yesterday), irritability (I have an extremely short fuse with my hubby and the things I’m willing to put up with-especially this month because I’m sick as well), mood swings, and a desire to do nothing but veg out. Yesterday when I made it home from work I wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and do nothing but I’ve learned a new trick. I’ve learned that if I immediately ask Jake if he wants to go for a walk than I HAVE to do it. Seriously, he follows me around the entire time I’m changing clothes, getting water, finding his leash, getting a plastic doggie bag (and whatever else I may need to do) giving me this guilt trip that we still haven’t made it out the door. You try asking a dog if he wants to go for a walk and seeing him get all excited and then try not to go-it just isn’t happening. Once we made it to the trail we got in our groove and made it 3 miles in 45 minutes. While I didn’t want to do it once it was over I was so glad I did. We followed our walk with a trip to Kroger for bananas and frozen fruit because as of late my favorite (extremely low in points) snack is a fruit smoothie made with orange juice. I knew I wouldn’t be having dinner until late because I was going to a ladies’ small group bible study gathering (last night was our first meeting and I’m already super excited about it-we are finally making a “home” in this church and it feels amazing) so I whipped up a smoothie and headed out the door-it kept me completely full and satisfied until I made it home at 9:30 and made dinner.

Moral of the post: Mother Nature cannot hold us back. We are STRONG, CAPABLE women and we will WIN! Until next time: good eats!

Wednesday Food Breakdown:

Breakfast was a peach, banana, OJ, protein smoothie for 6 points.

Snacks for the day included a nut/craisin mix (5 points) and another fruit smoothie sans protein (3 points).

Lunch included a turkey wrap (6 points) and blackberries.

Treat cheesecake because we had an office birthday party and I gave in (damn you Mother Nature and your cravings and cramping.) for 12 points.

Dinner included steamed fresh green beans (0) and marinated ribeye (8 points) and a bite of the hubby’s cheesecake (12-it is EXTREMELY high in points and bites are OUTRAGEOUS-I just figured out the points for it this morning and yao-zah-no more bites for me). I used 21 of my extra points for the week yesterday and have 28 left for the week but plan on avoiding them like the plague!

Is that sound the motivation train whistle coming back through?

I know I’ve posted on this before, but seriously, where does the time go? I’ve already been at Carroll Tire for a month now. CRAZY. I have to say, 40 hour work weeks definitely make the weeks fly by. It seems like it was just Friday (last week) and it’s already halfway through this week’s Wednesday.

Fortunately, I think I’ve finally gotten the work, workout, house work routine figured out for the work week. In fact, yesterday after work I took the dog for a 3 mile walk, did the laundry, and made dinner all before 8 o’clock. Afterwards I was able to sit down and relax and watch Karate Kid (the newer one with Will Smith’s son in it) with the hubby (definitely his choice). I’ve come to the conclusion that in order for me to be successful with my workout goals I have to get right to work when I get home in the afternoons-that means no lounging around on the bed/couch saying I’ll do it in an hour (because we all know that hour translate into the rest of the evening) but immediately changing out of my work clothes into workout clothes, lacing up the tennis shoes, putting Jake’s collars on and walking right back out the door and hitting the trail. In my head this sounds awful, when do I rest? But honestly, last night’s walk was amazing. I haven’t been feeling well the last several days (sore throat, achy body, light-headedness and headaches-thank you allergy season that came way to early because of all the Spring-like weather-at least I hope that’s to blame) but I powered through it and when I was done (no it wasn’t the miracle cure and no I didn’t feel 100% better, not even 75% better) I was so glad I did. The fresh air was great. The walk was invigorating. I know Jake was grateful to get out of the house. My body was happy. And believe it or not, the walk actually helped motivate me to make better dinner choices: I avoided the homemade oreo cheesecake in the refrigerator. (An article posted on a blog I read helped too: http://troykennedy.typepad.com/getting_stronger/2010/11/how-to-lose-a-pound.html ) As a final hooray for the walk, it helped me get a better night’s sleep last night also!

Taking a step back (to the link posted above): WOW. I mean we all knew this, but having it put into words and actually reading and then breaking it down into those snacks we all love but know are so not worth it-WOW. It definitely opened my eyes (and was another helpful tool to avoid the cheesecake last night). I LOVE reading articles, books, blogs, etc…about fitness, losing weight, and creating a healthy lifestyle. So, instead of just sitting in front of the TV watching Karate Kid I decided to multitask-and what woman doesn’t do this on a DAILY basis?- and pour through one of the library books I picked up a few weeks ago. It discusses the benefits of eating “power foods” and talks about ways to go about changing more than just our eating habits and in turn figure out that we actually like who we are (the way we are). I got some great meal ideas and I’ll be trying them out in the next few days! Have you read any interesting articles lately? Have any advice?

How have you been doing with your goals? Are you sticking with it? Giving up? Remember: One step and one day at a time-No one can do it for you but YOU! Until tomorrow: good eats!

Tuesday Food Breakdown:

Breakfast was a bit out of the normal routine with a Fruit Smoothie made with frozen banana, frozen peaches, frozen mixed berries, 1 C of OJ and ¾ C of water. DELICIOUS! (3 points)

Snacks during the day included a piece of beer bread (4 points) and a pomegranate.

Lunch included a leftover piece of meatloaf (from a WW cookbook with a few tweaks because I didn’t have everything it called for) for 6 points.

Dinner was a chicken breast cooked with sautéed onions, mushrooms and garlic combined with cooking wine and cream of mushroom soup (7 points) served over ½ c of rice (3 points) and brussel sprouts (2 points because I used oil to cook them). I also had a sprite (sore throat, remember and not feeling well) 4 points.

Total for the Day was 29.