A health, fitness, and weight-loss story.

4.11.2009

Steak, Anyone?

We've always been big beef eaters. That's one thing my hubby doesn't like about Weight Watchers, we eat more chicken than beef. Friday night he wanted a steak instead of what was on my menu. I agreed, because heck, I love steak and he was cooking.

I had 5.5 points' worth of sirloin and two small baked potatoes. Steak has always been one of my most favorite things. This meal? It was so disappointing. It just wasn't that good. The steak was flavored well, but I just didn't get filled up.

I think this is hands down the most disappointing meal I've had since starting Weight Watchers. The sad thing is that it was my hubby's favorite.

He's an Atkins type of man, and I'm a low-fat type gal. We just don't jive. We have discussed his health, and cutting down on red meat, but he's not interested. I'm not one to push because I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion. So, we have come up with something.

He doesn't like a lot of what I prepare, but eats it. We are going to try each of us preparing our own meals three nights a week. That will give me more pasta, tomato sauce, salads that I love and he can eat the beef from the fridge. My DS can eat whichever, as long as he's getting balanced meals.

I'm not really happy about this, because I think we should all eat the same meal. It's cheaper that way, and I don't really like the example it sets for my son. However, I understand hubby's desire. So we'll give it a try.

The only caveat is we must continue to eat at the same time at the table.

Life's not perfect, so we come up with solutions that will work. I'm glad I didn't enjoy that steak tonight because I know it won't bother me in the future.

4.10.2009

Why is it?

Why is it that as an overweight/obese person, the minute I walk into a new setting that involves people, I look around to see if there is anyone else fat like me?

Why is it that my husband mentioned to me last night at class that there are three other women here that are bigger than you? And why is it that I replied, "I know, I've already spotted them."

Why do we want the comfort in knowing we're not the only ones? I hate to say it, but having other women my size or bigger did make me feel comfortable.

Perhaps it was that I knew not everyone would be staring at me...
Perhaps it was because misery loves company.

Why should size and shape matter? I mean it's what's on the inside that counts.

Is weight so ingrained into our society that it's the first thing we think of during new experiences? I mean my husband mentioned it, and he's thin.

Weird. Sad.

I used to think, "Whew, I'm not the only one." Last night at class I thought, "I hope they start a journey to get healthy, too."

My Three Sons

Yeah, I know this isn't a dog blog. These guys just bring me such great joy and happiness that I like to see their smiling faces here now and again. This was taken this morning after a lively round of fetch. These border collies LIVE for fetch.

Owning a dog or more is very healthful. Seriously, you have to walk them, bend over to pick up poo, move around to feed them, clean them, clean their crates, clean up after them, train them. I mean it's never a dull moment with these three. The greatest reward is all the love they give in return.

When my Pip arrived, I remember whispering in his ear: You're going to help me get healthy. Little did I know a week later I was signed up for Weight Watchers, and moving quicker than I wanted cleaning up after the little guy. Now with classes and nightly walks -- yes, that habit has started!, he really is going to help me get healthy.





4.09.2009

Dog Class/Working Our Tails Off!

What a great day we had. I am exhausted tonight and so thankful for Weight Watchers.

We had our dog obedience class tonight. I was worried about not getting exercise in tonight, but that was soon alleviated. In class, we practiced heel for an hour. We walked for almost an hour. I would not have been able to do this if I had not lost 16 pounds. Seriously!

I can't believe it, but the sweat poured off me. We walked and changed directions and walked again. The instructor then threw in slow walking. Well, that was easy. Then she said it: Fast walk. She demonstrated, and that lady was running. She then gave the caveat that we would not have to run laps. Out of my mouth popped a loud THANK YOU.

The great thing? Even though we weren't running laps, I WAS ABLE TO RUN IN SHORT BURSTS without dying, embarrassing myself, or collapsing trying to catch my breath. I DID it. I was psyched! Feb 16 when I started WW, I would not have been able to do it.

I had no idea that this obedience class would be so physical. Even my son was exhausted. The dogs? They slept in the car while we ate, while my DH and son ran in to the book store and while DH and I ran into the pet store. They were pooped puppies.

I really am proud of myself. I'm feeling this great at 266, it's only going to get better!

4.08.2009

Whew! and Wow!

I got up this morning, poured a cup of coffee, put the dogs out, woke my son and told him to get going with his school. I also told him he was in charge of the care/feeding/loving of the dogs today.

In my nightgown all morning and to mid-afternoon, I got all my taxes together and done. WHEW. I hate doing it, but it isn't that bad once I start.

Showered, dropped the taxes off at the accountant, ran an errand, hit the library to return our overdue books and check out some more, then to the grocery store for my mid-week stock up.

Normally that much running, in and out of the car, on top of the stress from doing taxes all day would have done me in. When we were walking into the grocery store, though, I noticed something magical: I wasn't tired! I had a zip in my step. I wasn't ready to collapse into a heap on the couch. WOW If I feel his good now, how will I feel as I continue to lose weight?

I'm excited about this!

Oh, and to top it off, guess what my store carries now? Smart Pasta! I think it was TJ that told me about it when I had ordered the Fiber Gourmet. I was really excited over that and bought spaghetti and macaroni, as I have rotini, noodles and penne left in my cupboard. I can't wait to give it a try! It was $1.53 a box.

The roast is in the pressure cooker, I have to make mashed potatoes and gravy and some sort of veggie to go with it.

And I'm not tired.

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

Tonight I'll walk my Pip and to get my exercise in.

I'm feeling very confident, very excited that I am noticing more energy, and flat-out happy right now.

Tomorrow afternoon I have to wash my muddy doggies because they have class. I think I'll write out DS's assignments again and clean my house and do some laundry. He did great today, and I checked his work before errands and he aced his material.

What a great day!

4.07.2009

Feeling Stressed

I am feeling very stressed tonight. Why? Because I've been a lazy butt and not got my taxes together and done.

I called to make an appointment today, and I can't get in. I have to drop them off preferably before Friday. Which means I need to get off my shrinking butt and get them done. Tomorrow.

Why do I do this? I did it last year, too, but there was a reason. This year it was just plain lazy.

My house is a mess, the laundry is piled high, and my son needs schooled. I wrote out a list of what he must do tomorrow and he'll go it alone. Well, if he needs help he can bug me. He is a teenager, and he can work on his own more, and it's just review of what we did today in math. He'll live and learn.

I have two other projects hanging over my head. One was I volunteered to scan all the family photos to distribute to my siblings. I've scanned thousands, and have two albums plus some loose photos to finish. This has been a major source of stress in my life for reasons I can't go into here. I want it done. It has taken so much time. It has been emotionally painful. So after I get the taxes done, I'm going to move from the dungeon--basement, that is, and set up shop in the school room which is upstairs. I'm going to get 'em done.

Finally, we need to sell the two cars. I lost the car title to our old van. Who on earth loses a car title? My hubby and I tore through everything yesterday searching and came up empty-handed. So I stopped and ordered a replacement title today for $20. So it will be one to three weeks before we get that done.

I was thinking about my procrastinating, and wondering how it translates into the rest of my life. Today I finally made it to Walgreen's and purchased a bunch of vitamins. I also forced myself to take a walk, even though I was cold. Exercise is something that I keep putting off until I feel better. Hey, I do feel a little better. Besides, if I don't get moving now, I will continue to put it off.

I stress myself out. That's the bottom line. I set myself up for this garbage. Look what I did to my body? I got my weight up to 282.5, all the while thinking I'll start up Weight Watchers again soon. I stress myself out by not being organized, and losing the title to a vehicle. I stress myself out by not getting my taxes done in a timely manner.

I love my son more than anything. I would do anything for him, unconditionally. I try not to make his life stressful, I try to teach him well, and I put him first. Because I love him. Well, why do I not do this with myself, too? Why do I not love myself like I love my child?

It's stupid, really. It's time to work on loving myself more.

Life throws enough stress at us, there's no reason we need to add to it ourselves.

So tomorrow my sweet boy will do his work, I'll get the taxes done and work on the house, laundry, and at the end of the day, I'll further take care of myself with a lovely walk as a reward.

Because I'm worth it.

5 Percent Goal


I forgot to log my weight into WW Online yesterday. I just did, and I hit my 5% goal! I didn't even make a 5% goal on my personal goal chart, but I'm thrilled nonetheless!
Of course then I got a lecture about losing too fast. I'm not worried, looking at my stats, though. I've averaged 2 pounds a week. I don't count the first weigh-in where I lost 4, because there had to be water weight involved with that one.


Kelly's Give Away

Kelly at Happy Texans is having a blog give-away. She's giving away three bags of Carb Check Bagels. I haven't seen those around here, so I thought I'd enter.

Go visit her blog and maybe you'll win.

I haven't had a bagel in a long time, they sure sound good!

4.06.2009

A Fun Day

We had a fun day today. At 9 am I got an email our loan was approved and what time could we come sign the papers and pick up our car. At noon my husband came home, offered to take us out to lunch. I declined and had my tuna sandwich. Stopped and got our insurance papers, and we picked up the new car.

Every car needs a name, right? I thought all cars were female, but apparently this is male. His name is Jack. lol I call him Burb for short.

We drove around for and hour, and Jack really loves gas. We knew he would, so he'll be used mainly for our trips with the dogs and not running around town.

Came home, made a lovely dinner, walked the dogs in the freezing cold--hey, it's April, warm up for Pete's sake!!! Then my son and I decided we wanted an ice cream cone from McDonald's. I had points for it, and we drove the new car (breaking our no-errands rule already!) and sat down and really enjoyed our cones.

It was a great day. I was almost as excited about my loss as I was the new-to-us car.

I'm Finally Getting It

What is it I'm getting? The importance of food has on our health.

All my life I used to say it's just food, you just have to watch your calories. I just didn't want to believe that some things were really good for our body, and others were really bad. Now I got it about the sat fats and trans fats, but the other stuff...I refused to believe it.

One of my problems I have is that I don't like vegetables. Most taste like dirt to me. Seriously. I can eat a few of them. I eat salad, and I have branched out from iceberg lettuce to more green leafy stuff. I can gag down a little raw spinach, but I could never eat that cooked. Anything sugary I like. Carrots, corn--does that count as a veggie? lol, potatoes, yams, yup. Cruciferous veggies gag me terribly. I can't even stand the smell of them. I love tomato product, but the texture of a tomato is very gross to me.

So I made my list of veggies I will eat and started eating them. I am going to try new things, and fortunately my hubby loves veggies, so nothing will go to waste if I just can't gag something down.

But I really am getting the nutritional content of food. I am drinking tomato juice daily because it's an easy way to get tomato (albeit it has a lot of sodium) and it's very healthy for lungs, heart and prostate for men. I am upping my potassium content by eating a baked potato every day. I am eating a lot more tuna for the Omega-3. I need to branch out on food.

I am taking this in small steps. I have the "I can do that" attitude. One little change--I can do that. A serving of tomato a day? I can do that. And it's all adding up. Slow, gradual, permanent change. I hope that some day I will actually start liking veggies more. It is easier to eat them raw than cooked for me. I'm getting there.

Sure, I can pop pills -- and I do. I take a vitamin, fish oil and aspirin daily. I never made it to Walgreen's like I blogged about, but I plan on adding Folic Acid, Vitamin C and Vitamin E, too. I can also choose smart foods.

This is a journey. It has bumps in the road, like I experienced this weekend. However, when I keep moving forward, I am getting healthier. Reading, researching, finding what's best for my body is actually fun now. Small, gradual changes. It all adds up.

Weigh-In

266

Down 2.5 from last week.

Pinch me! I didn't think this would happen, especially after my bad weekend. I'm on cloud 9!

4.05.2009

Week 8 Menu

Week 8 Menu

Sunday: Cola chicken, rice, salad
Monday: Spaghetti, salad, mock French bread
Tuesday: Chicken and Stuffing, veggie
Wednesday: Roast, mashed potatoes, veggie
Thursday: out
Friday: Creamy Italian Chicken, veggie
Saturday: Mexican Night (beans and taco meat, lettuce and tomaotes--will make either burritos, nachos or tacos. Everyone gets what they want this way.)

I have everything in my house! Woo-hoo. I just need to get fresh salad/veggies/fruit and probably milk during the week.

I am going to eat a small baked potato every day at lunch to boost my potassium. I clean the taters, wrap them in foil, and throw them in my small crockpot. They come out just like oven-baked. Easy-peasy.

Will also drink 2 servings of tomato juice daily. Working on adding grape juice as well. Lots of sugar and salt, but also lots of good things, too.

Lunches every day will be tuna salad. We're stocked up on tuna as we hit a good sale, and it boosts my Omega-3. Plus, I like it. ;-)

Sunday

First thing I did this morning (after you know what) was hop on the scale. I am still down .5 from Monday, so I'm okay. Unless something weird happens today, which could happen, I'll have a small loss tomorrow. That's fine with me. I do tend to lose in chunks, rather than small bits. One of the advantages of weighing daily, knowing how it comes off.

Second thing I did was clean up my kitchen. It is the center of the house, everyone puts their junk in here, I had newspapers piled up, bills, junk everywhere. Also had a load of dishes to run. Done.

The journal was found under my piles, placed in its spot where I can reach it in a second. Breakfast is journaled. (I slept late, so I haven't had lunch yet.)

Next I actually went through my journal. I'm okay with flex points and yesterday. I'm still OP. That's a relief. I'm glad I have those flex points.

I then looked through my journal from years ago--I think it was five years ago--when I lost the 72 pounds. What happened was my weight loss slowed a bit when I started getting sloppy--which is what happened to me yesterday. I don't want to be so strict that it's impossible to stay OP, but I don't want to get sloppy, either. I need to find that balance. I do know I can't be sloppy with my health, though.

Now I need to make my menus for the coming week. I have to use food on hand because hubby spent 2/3 of our food budget at Walmart yesterday. He got stuff we needed, but I will have to be careful with the remaining 1/3.

I'm feeling better emotionally this morning. I have a terrible headache, but it's nothing compared to the cramps yesterday. I need to boost up my self-esteem a bit regarding the food part. Yes, Jo, you have lost 14 pounds, you are shrinking a bit, and most importantly, you're getting healthier. There, celebrate what I've done. Brushing myself off and moving forward.

Now off to do some laundry, some paperwork, my menus, and an errand for DS.

I'm better now. Thanks for the support!

Honesty, honestly...

Well, I really screwed up today. I journaled NOTHING. So I'm going to try to remember my crappy eating day here. I will confess (notes for my future doctor appointment) that today I was writhing in pain with cramps all day, Motrin did nothing, and I had taken two Vicodin left over from a sinus infection. So perhaps I was under the influence. That's NO excuse. I lost control--not too bad, but not good.

I had no balance with the food I chose. No veggies aside from Tomato juice. My attitude was: I don't care.

breakfast: cereal and milk 4 points
tuna sandwich 4, Fiber One Cottage Cheese 1, Baked Tostitos, 2
hour nap from woozy state
Breakfast Cookie 3
Klondike Slim-a-Bear 2
three hour nap when pain meds wore off
glass of tomato juice, unmeasured. Probably a cup and a half. ? points I'll say 2
oatmeal, diet bread toast, milk, promise spread. I did measure this stuff. 2, 1, 2, 1 = 6
pretzel 3
tortilla 2, tortilla with Laughing Cow Light 3
chocolate milk 5
12 oz tomato juice 2
2 soda crackers ? 1 pt ??

Okay, I feel better now, the damage wasn't too bad. I don't think I'm forgetting anything. I did take a small bite of my son's potato/cheese/ham soup he got at Kwik Trip. Hubby bought that for him.

I guess it wasn't that bad after all. Yet there was no balance, I had a terrible attitude: I just flat out didn't care what went in my mouth. I slept through dinner. Hubby cooked for DS and himself. My pain level was very high.

I cannot let this happen, though. I did not write anything down. This is losing control. This is the kind of thing that will lead me to more "deprived" thinking and make me fall off. Not having any fruit, veggies and protein other than tuna and milk was not good.

Sheesh.

Okay, so on the positive side, I didn't go out and get cookies, candy bars, fast food. I didn't cook up a huge pot of pasta. There's a lesson here: JOURNAL. When I feel like crap, ask for help.

UGH. Here it is nearly 3am, and I've had too many 3am nights this past week. It's all cycle related. I absolutely must bring this up with my doctor when I go, because these "female" issues are affecting my quality of life. The pain makes me crazy. The hormones make me crazy.

Tomorrow, Journal. Ask for help if I feel ill, get a better balance, stick to my menus. Measure, grab an apple rather than ice cream or breakfast cookie, have protein with dinner. Exercise.

Aaaack. I'm not quitting, my health is too important. Today is over, I'm thinking more clearly, and I have learned what I did wrong.