Trials of a Long Haired Girl

Happy Friday all!  I hope everyone has had a great week!  I am a little late getting this written and posted, but I wanted to check in and let you know how weigh in went.  I lost the 0.8 that I had gained so I am, again, at 199.  I am glad about that.  However, I know that I know that there is more that I can do and need to do.  I am feeling positive about what I have done to this point.  Today, however, I decided to focus on what I can do.  I did a search on YouTube for 10 minute shadow boxing workouts.  I picked one and did it, modifying where necessary since I can’t really do much jumping around right now.  I also did a couple of 10 minute walks that I found on YouTube as well.  I am hoping to add that or some upper body workout in at least twice a week.  I also picked up some paper trackers because while I generally track online, I don’t get online much on the weekend and wind up not tracking.  This needs to change.   I have plans tomorrow morning so I’m going to have to w

While I can say the weekend didn’t go quite as I had planned, I can say it was a good weekend.  My DS25 paid us a surprise visit on Friday evening.  Saturday, while we were waiting on Salvation Army to pick up our donations, I made some Mom-lets (they are muffin omelets that I make for my Mom) and washed and cut up some bell pepper (about 9) and made some bread.  It was a busy day, but I feel like I got something accomplished even if it wasn’t as much as I had hoped to accomplish.  My back muscle spasms started up again so I think it’s about time for a visit to my chiropractor.  I did hit my step goal on Thursday and Friday and am trying to hit it today as well.  I have also made some decisions that I think will help me greatly.  I have been trying to use my Day-Timer more consistently these days.  I have been posting stars on each day I hit my step goal.  I tend to be visual when it comes to things like that so I know it will help.  When I don’t hit my goal, I write down what I

This course to find myself is definitely not a direct route, but it continues to move much like my weight loss journey.  I had a slight gain last night (0.8) making my current weight 199.8, but I know I did not do well with my water and all last weekend.   I’m not going to let it shake my resolve.   I know this journey is a process.   To that end, I was watching one of the videos on YouTube from Mind Over Munch talking about “Having a Healthy Relationship with Food”.     This spoke volumes to me and I realized that even when I am not at my goal weight that my habits have truly changed.   I won’t say that I never reward myself with food, but I am trying to do better about that.   I try to portion foods out or have smaller portions rather than tell myself I can’t have something.   I don’t know about you, but if I tell myself that I can’t have something, that seems to be all I want.   I don’t want to live in a world where certain foods are “off-limits” because that can stress me out.  

Wow!  I have read a few blogs lately that have really hit home with me.  This article in particular:  http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Why-OK-Indulge-While-Dieting-39800209?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=d&utm_source=fitsugar This is very similar to negative self-talk vs. positive self-talk, but I never thought about it that way.  Going forward, I believe this is something that will help me.  I have been learning through this journey that this journey is about ME.  I know ultimately that my loss will benefit my family as well, but they can't do this for me.  I have to do this myself.   I know that I will not wake up and the weight be miraculously gone.  It is all about choices.  I can choose to have a slice of pizza and share a tiramisu with my husband and still lose, but each day is a choice.  Each meal I make the decision to follow plan or if I want to have something higher in Smart Points.  I know that if I open a bag of chips, there is a chance that I will binge if I

Overall, it was a good weekend.  I had yesterday off.  I did not take as much control over my weekend as I would have liked, but I did get some food prep done.  I feel much better when I am able to prepare for the week and have a plan in place.  I have boiled eggs, carrots, hummus and some fruit that I can easily access for snacks.  Also, I decided I would have a rice bowl.  I saw a recipe for them while trying to plan for the week and I decided to do my own spin on them with what I had handy.  I have 1 cup of brown rice, 1 cup of canned pinto beans (rinsed and drained), 1 cup of canned corn, lettuce and tomatoes with about an 1/8 cup of shredded cheese.  It sounded good to me, so I'm hoping it will be as good as it sounded in my head.  I am also wanted to have some veggie pitas or wraps this week.  I am really trying to take things one step at a time and focusing not so much on the weeks in the future, but one day or one week at a time so I do not get so overwhelmed.  I know I

This week I lost the weight that I gained is gone and took another 2 pounds with it.  I lost a total of 3.8 pounds this week and a total since the new plan’s introduction of 6.8 pounds.  Overall, I really like this plan and am making it work for me.  This is not always easy and it isn’t going to be, but I am going to figure out how to make it work for me.  This week I am going to work on trying to focus on doing meatless meals.  I have found something that I really enjoy at the Greek restaurant that is meatless.  It is a veggie pita (bell pepper, onion, tomatoes) with hummus.  It’s super tasty and I’m thinking I can figure out how to make this for myself along with some other tasty no meat options.  I’ve looked at some pinwheels that I can whip up for the kids/hubby and me and some veggie wraps.  I'm hoping to make it a good week again and hoping to continue these "meatless" habits into other meals each week.   My step goal will hopefully increase again this week.

Goals are subject to change without notice, right?  I am trying to only have fruits and veggies this week.  As such, I didn’t prepare any eggs and such.  I came to work prepared though!  I have 2 juices (DS15 prepared juices for both of us last night) for snacks and I brought Borscht that my sweet DH prepared last night.  I also brought an apple, banana, 2 halos, broccoli and baby carrots and carrot chips.  I thought I would steam the broccoli and carrot chips.  Tonight, I will likely put together a veggie soup and some roasted veggies.  If anyone has other suggestions, I would love to hear them!  We got up (as a family) and tried to go to the Rec Center.  By the time we arrived, however, all the machines (aside from the stair steppers) were taken.  We are trying to come up with a schedule that works for everyone, and we really thought getting a workout in first thing in the morning would be the best option.  However, unless we are waiting on them when they open, I’m not sure we’l

So, I had my first gain since starting the new program.  I gained 1.8 as of my weigh in last night.  My weight is currently 202.8 lbs.  While I am not thrilled with the scale going in the wrong direction, I know I can’t focus on that.  I can only move forward.  For me, moving forward means meal prepping/meal planning.  I am honestly pondering moving back to Simply Filling so that I can write down my food in my 12 week journal without worrying about how many Smart Points it is other than the occasional treat.  I feel like that may work for me right now, but I haven’t decided completely yet.  That may need to be my focus during the day and have whatever is planned for dinner with my family.  I know I just need to tweak this program to work for me. Goals for this week: MEAL PREP tomorrow.   This will include carrots, eggs, and veggies. Trying to hit my step goal 5 days out of 7. Focus on my water intake.   What are your goals for this week?   

Wow!  Did I really just type that??  Seriously, time has just flown by for me in 2015 and already this year.  I won't lie and say that I wish 2015 was longer or anything like that.  I had two friends lose parents and a FB friend that passed just between Christmas day and New Year's Day, not to mention the friends that were diagnosed with cancer and things like that.  I wish it were easy to make things better, but as we know, there are no easy fixes.  This goes for weight loss and exercise, as well as getting organized or meal planning.    To that end, I've really been trying to make sure I meal prep.  I wasn't feeling 100% on Saturday (the day I have been trying to meal prep) so I decided to wait until Sunday to meal prep, which didn't turn out quite the way I planned.  My DS25 had a blowout and needed my car.  I had enough time to go to the store and start eggs in the oven when he called to ask.  I don't feel totally prepared, but having the eggs and having stu