A Long Weight!

Good morning all!

I've lost more weight! I am now a slender 312- WOOHOO! Bikini, here we come!

Okay, not a bikini- I don't think I would consider wearing one of those things even if I was rail-thin! But my clothes are feeling a little more loose, and that means I am losing inches as well! Feels good to be me right now.

I'm finding out I'm not hungry for an official breakfast anymore. I'm up before the crack of dawn (at least in Autumn), and I now have brunch around 10:00. Sometimes I get hungry before that and have a piece of fruit before I walk to school with my daughter. It feels good not to be full when I walk- I feel skinnier!

I've been walking regularly with her this past week and I can still feel the burn in my calves, though it isn't as prominent as before. Today was rainy so I drove, but I'll be expending that walking energy into getting the house cleaned up a little.

I miss those walks when it rains- we get to spend time talking without her big brother interrupting every 3.2 seconds not that he's in middle school and takes a bus. We both enjoy our 'girl time' and do a little nature appreciation too.

Last night I made pan-fried lemon pepper talapia. Yum! This is the only fish the entire family likes, and they polished off every scrap. I was hoping for some leftovers for lunch..er..brunch, but I was very happy to see how much they enjoyed it. I like shrimp too, and I think I have some in the freezer. Shrimp salad is a personal favorite, but I hate cutting up nice big shrimp! It seems like I'm cheating myself- I could have gotten popcorn shrimp and done the same thing- so maybe I'll stir fry instead. I'll ask my belly what it wants later. :)

The hardest trial at the moment seems to be not eating when everyone else is having a snack. I wasn't hungry (we just had dinner an hour or so before), and yet there I was, grabbing a handful or two of snacky stuff I really didn't need- only because my husband was eating it. Bad habits die hard, and good habits are hard to get. Life if full of irony- isn't it?

Patience is hard too- it took me eons to gain all of this, and it seems to take forever to lose it. When I feel that way I have to remind myself that I'm actually losing it faster, though it might not seem that way at the time. If it took me twenty years to gain it (not including other dieting methods), and it takes me ten years to lose it, I'm still ahead. So what's two years? Ten times as fast to lose it than to gain it, that's what! I think I can handle that.

If you're following me to lose weight, all I have to say is Keep Going. Don't let get you down. Get right back on track and start over. You can do it!

Slow Progress is Still Progress!

The day dawns bright and crisp this Monday morning, and what better way to celebrate than by weighing myself! It was a rough week due to bloating and having a head cold (not something I recommend having at the same time). Toast and chicken noodle soup were all I wanted, and not something I should have in place of meat and veggies- but who wants to chew a lot when your head hurts?

So I fed the cold, and starved the fever- and I laid on the couch a lot. I was surprised to see I'd lost one pound when I got onto the scale! Oh sure, that's a mere half-pound for the past two weeks, but it's still a loss! Especially surprising since I'd hardly gotten any walking in this past week. I hate being sick!

I still have some minor congestion, but the walk this morning was nice! I was feeling the burn in my calves, but not nearly as bad as it was the first time out- so I have a little more stamina, which is a good thing. The crisp air also cleared my lungs out a little, and I feel much more human.

The housework has been piling up, so I'll be doing a few vacuum lunges as well as working on getting arm muscle by hand-washing the dishes. Maybe even do a little stretching beforehand and afterward to get the cricks out.

Unfortunately the gym is looking less likely until the New Year, due to financial constraints. I am looking into other exercises to do until then, just to build up a little more stamina and gain more tone. I bought a book based on The Biggest Loser's exercise regimen (for home use- very little equipment needed), so once I study the guide, I'll let you know what I'm doing and how I'm doing it.

In the meantime...I'm Hungry! I haven't eaten yet (was up at 5:30- it's now 10:00), and the pangs have finally come, so off to a wondrous protein-filled breakfast! God bless, and may you have a fantastic day!

I'm Fighting...Temptation!

This weekend was a hard one- we went to an event where there was a pie baking contest, and my husband had entered! People came in to have a sample plate of each pie. And you know I had to try some too- just too see if 'ours' was a winner!

Yes, I did take a plate that had a sample of each yummy entry, but I only had a bit or two of each! I tasted temptation, and was able to resist pigging down the entire plate. I let my kids share the rest.

My husband's pie won!

He won a gift basket filled with things for fall- a pumpkin scented candle, handmade soap in fall scents, and a jar recipe for what looks like a really neat soup. I was so proud of him! He has a gift with spices that I could never match- that pie was a new concoction! I just wish he would write the recipe down- something he hates doing!

I had behaved myself for the rest of the weekend, but the beginning of the week I got the hungries really bad. I found myself eating when I wasn't really hungry, and craving things like bread and ice cream. Not together, but one after the other. I am redoubling my efforts to eat only when hungry, and listen to my body instead of my mouth.

Personally, I believe the bread and sugar didn't help matters. I'm not a sugar fiend, but I really love bread and other floured items (like pie crust), so that might have had a part in my cravings. That's one thing I plan on monitoring as well.

As for the weigh in- every time I've gone to that doc's office it's been closed! I need to call them for office hours (I know some days the office is either closed or opens late) or find myself another doc within walking distance that doesn't mind me 'borrowing' their scale. As soon as I weigh myself, I will post the results.

Eventually I hope to have some pictures or video up for you to see what I really look like, and see the changes as I go. I'll keep you posted on that as well!

God Bless, and remember...when the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!

Good Week, but Needs to be Tweaked!

Good day, Readers! Things have been quite busy here and yet I've managed to stay on track- for the most part.

Due to lousy weather, I've driven my daughter to school more than not, so I didn't get my full 10 miles in. I could have walked on my treadmill though- so that's no excuse. I can't keep 'waiting to afford the gym' before I get my butt in gear! So that particular task needs some serious motivation tweaking!

Food-wise I did well! Breakfast usually consisted of scrambled eggs and ham or a broccoli salad. When you're a protein person, those are good things! I listened to my body much better than last week (I would say at least 80% of the time), and wound up eating at weird times! Got up at 5:30, and sometimes didn't eat until after 10:00 that morning. But I noticed something interesting- whenever I had the eggs and ham, I lasted a lot longer before wanting lunch!

One time I ate eggs and ham around 9:00, and didn't get an inkling of hunger until 2:30 that afternoon- I don't think I've ever gone that long without having something- unless I was sleeping!

And the best part is- I don't feel deprived. I'm not eating as much, not because I'm starving myself (because I'm not), but because I've been resisting temptations to eat when I'm bored. Let's just say I kept myself busy enough all week so I wasn't that bored! And everything I've eaten are foods that I like.

The hunger came back a bit faster when I had something that was mostly veggies, but once I had some lean protein, I was good to go until dinner.

Dinner is the one meal I can't really mess with concerning time, because I cook for my family. We like to eat together- it creates a bond, and I don't want that to stop. But I don't want to be tempted by sitting there while they eat either! So I devised a way to get around this little issue.

When I get hungry later in the afternoon, I have half of what I was planning to eat for lunch that day. So when dinner comes around, I truly am hungry, but not overly so that I'll overdo it. There is nothing worse than trying to be good and feeling so hungry you eat seconds- and start eating the leftovers before they go into the fridge!

And if it's really close (say, after 3:00), I'll have an apple or banana to tide me over until I have dinner on the table. But I only had to do that once.

Drinking water throughout the day helped too, and I'm also learning when I'm really thirsty too. All in all, this has been a very educational week!

I'll be weighing myself at the beginning of next week, so stay tuned!