Saturday, January 30, 2016
One Year, Two Weeks: Too Weak is Right!
My apologies for such a late post. Family emergencies and too many late hours took their toll this week. I will be making a fresh report on Monday...Promise! (and no worries- the family is fine! :) )
Monday, January 18, 2016
One Year, One Week: On Losing Ground- New Eating Lifestyle
It's been a weird week.
Sometimes I behaved, sometimes I caved. I was tempted and both failed and succeeded- sometimes in the same day!
Let the scale show I've dropped two more pounds. I'm now 307!
Surprised? Me too. Especially after having more than one doughnut that was brought home from the bakery. I really need to thank my husband for that...not.
The first major change this week was the snacks (minus the doughnuts). I took a banana or apple slices with me in the van and ate during work breaks. Apples go a lot father than bananas (and travel better!) so the main fruit this week was munchy, crunchy apples.
Good stuff, but after a week of eating apples, it does get a bit boring. Grapes are a good choice, but more sugary than fibery. Not as filling as apples, but maybe a combo of both would work.
Since I won't have time to wash hands during my driving jobs, the fruit has to be finger-friendly. Time to go to the market and start experimenting.
Soup was also prominent this week, but too many times I found myself having two bowls at mealtimes. Or a ton of buttered bread to go with the one bowl. I still need to cut back- not out. Bread is great with soup, but I don't need two huge slices- which is more like four regular ones!
The cold snap has finally arrived here so exercising outside of the van is a no-go. Exercise will have to be in the house or running around the downtown marketplace for now. At least until I save enough to get some kind of exercise equipment.
I was thinking of getting a rowing machine; something that would exercise all of me, and tighten up my muscle. I have a lot of muscle- it's just well insulated. Really well insulated.
Hopefully some of that insulation will melt off when Spring gets here sometime in July! (Juuust kidding! But it is a very late winter here!)
Lessons Learned:
Fruit works. Find more finger-friendly types.
Soup works. Make more varieties of clear broth soups for the week's lunches or dinners.
Quiche works. Much better than store-bought sandwiches, and much healthier too- since there's hardly any bread (I used a tortilla for the 'crust')- and I made it at home!
Lunch boxes work. They keep the apples from browning and the bananas from getting squooshed. And the containers keep grapes from rolling around.
Finding a compact, all-over body workout machine is harder than I thought.
I'll be honest with you- I didn't think I lost anything this week. Doughnuts are not my weakness, but taste really good when temptation comes and you've had a rough day. I was surprised I lost anything, no less two pounds! I give full credit to the fruits and soups this week. They saved my proverbial bacon.
Mmmm..bacon....
I never thought working and eating healthy would be so hard! Sometimes it seems to work great, then I fail- and I don't just fail an eensy-weensy bit, I fail gloriously! But as long as I learn from yesterday and plan for today and tomorrow, I should prevail- with a lot of prayers to God for help- because there's no way I could pull this off on my own!
Sometimes I behaved, sometimes I caved. I was tempted and both failed and succeeded- sometimes in the same day!
Let the scale show I've dropped two more pounds. I'm now 307!
Surprised? Me too. Especially after having more than one doughnut that was brought home from the bakery. I really need to thank my husband for that...not.
The first major change this week was the snacks (minus the doughnuts). I took a banana or apple slices with me in the van and ate during work breaks. Apples go a lot father than bananas (and travel better!) so the main fruit this week was munchy, crunchy apples.
Good stuff, but after a week of eating apples, it does get a bit boring. Grapes are a good choice, but more sugary than fibery. Not as filling as apples, but maybe a combo of both would work.
Since I won't have time to wash hands during my driving jobs, the fruit has to be finger-friendly. Time to go to the market and start experimenting.
Soup was also prominent this week, but too many times I found myself having two bowls at mealtimes. Or a ton of buttered bread to go with the one bowl. I still need to cut back- not out. Bread is great with soup, but I don't need two huge slices- which is more like four regular ones!
The cold snap has finally arrived here so exercising outside of the van is a no-go. Exercise will have to be in the house or running around the downtown marketplace for now. At least until I save enough to get some kind of exercise equipment.
I was thinking of getting a rowing machine; something that would exercise all of me, and tighten up my muscle. I have a lot of muscle- it's just well insulated. Really well insulated.
Hopefully some of that insulation will melt off when Spring gets here sometime in July! (Juuust kidding! But it is a very late winter here!)
Lessons Learned:
Fruit works. Find more finger-friendly types.
Soup works. Make more varieties of clear broth soups for the week's lunches or dinners.
Quiche works. Much better than store-bought sandwiches, and much healthier too- since there's hardly any bread (I used a tortilla for the 'crust')- and I made it at home!
Lunch boxes work. They keep the apples from browning and the bananas from getting squooshed. And the containers keep grapes from rolling around.
Finding a compact, all-over body workout machine is harder than I thought.
I'll be honest with you- I didn't think I lost anything this week. Doughnuts are not my weakness, but taste really good when temptation comes and you've had a rough day. I was surprised I lost anything, no less two pounds! I give full credit to the fruits and soups this week. They saved my proverbial bacon.
Mmmm..bacon....
I never thought working and eating healthy would be so hard! Sometimes it seems to work great, then I fail- and I don't just fail an eensy-weensy bit, I fail gloriously! But as long as I learn from yesterday and plan for today and tomorrow, I should prevail- with a lot of prayers to God for help- because there's no way I could pull this off on my own!
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Week Fifty Two: The Dear-God-It's-Been-A-Year New Eating Lifestyle
One year. Wow.
I've had a lot of ups and downs. I've worked hard to earn my successes, and I'm really mad at myself for my failures. But I've worked it through, sorted things out, and forgave myself.
That last part is very, very important.
When you're trying to lose weight and you're an emotional eater, berating yourself for mistakes and setbacks just pours jellybeans down your throat (or insert the 'taboo food' of your choice).
You fall back.
You get back up.
You try again.
Period.
No one ever had a perfect experience losing weight. No one. So who am I to belittle myself for setbacks? Giving up is the worst thing I could do! So I get back up, dust off the cookie crumbs, and start over.
I started over last week.
My kids gave me a really nice insulated lunch box for my birthday. I've been using it well.
Those breaks in between shifts are now spent in the produce section of the market instead of the candy section, and I hand-picked a nice assortment of apples- the nice crunchy kind. In the morning I core and slice one, put the slices in one of my lunchbox containers, make and pack my breakfast, fill my water bottle, and I'm good to go until lunchtime.
I was surprised at how long my food lasted. I ate my breakfast in thirds, and only when hungry. I'd snack on the apple slices throughout the morning and found I only ate half of them- so I saved the rest for my evening shift.
Lunch and dinner were at home, and I'm still working on better choices than sandwiches. Not a bad choice, but something without so much bread would be better.
I messed up a little. Sometimes I had seconds. But all in all it was a pretty good week.
The end of the week came. I stepped on the scale. I lost one pound!
That one seemingly insignificant pound broke my weight gain run. Too many weeks of gain, gain, gain, broken by this one little pound. I'm going to give it a "Farewell Forever" party- without the cake!
I'm going to get back under 300 pounds.
I'm going to get back to 288 pounds.
I'm going to beat 288 pounds!
That's the first three goals. I'll make new ones as I go, but this is a good place to start.
Lessons Learned:
Fruit and veggie snacks work- though fruit works a little better.
Don't prepare food when tired- Prep it when you have a clear head.
Recognize the difference between hunger and thirst. Drink first, eat second.
Any pound lost is a good pound lost!
I'm finally back on the road to weight loss once more. It feels so good to see those numbers going down again! My biggest issue is consistency- if I can just keep the foods interesting, prep them in the mornings and weekends, things will keep moving in the right direction.
What a great start to the new year!
I've had a lot of ups and downs. I've worked hard to earn my successes, and I'm really mad at myself for my failures. But I've worked it through, sorted things out, and forgave myself.
That last part is very, very important.
When you're trying to lose weight and you're an emotional eater, berating yourself for mistakes and setbacks just pours jellybeans down your throat (or insert the 'taboo food' of your choice).
You fall back.
You get back up.
You try again.
Period.
No one ever had a perfect experience losing weight. No one. So who am I to belittle myself for setbacks? Giving up is the worst thing I could do! So I get back up, dust off the cookie crumbs, and start over.
I started over last week.
My kids gave me a really nice insulated lunch box for my birthday. I've been using it well.
Those breaks in between shifts are now spent in the produce section of the market instead of the candy section, and I hand-picked a nice assortment of apples- the nice crunchy kind. In the morning I core and slice one, put the slices in one of my lunchbox containers, make and pack my breakfast, fill my water bottle, and I'm good to go until lunchtime.
I was surprised at how long my food lasted. I ate my breakfast in thirds, and only when hungry. I'd snack on the apple slices throughout the morning and found I only ate half of them- so I saved the rest for my evening shift.
Lunch and dinner were at home, and I'm still working on better choices than sandwiches. Not a bad choice, but something without so much bread would be better.
I messed up a little. Sometimes I had seconds. But all in all it was a pretty good week.
The end of the week came. I stepped on the scale. I lost one pound!
That one seemingly insignificant pound broke my weight gain run. Too many weeks of gain, gain, gain, broken by this one little pound. I'm going to give it a "Farewell Forever" party- without the cake!
I'm going to get back under 300 pounds.
I'm going to get back to 288 pounds.
I'm going to beat 288 pounds!
That's the first three goals. I'll make new ones as I go, but this is a good place to start.
Lessons Learned:
Fruit and veggie snacks work- though fruit works a little better.
Don't prepare food when tired- Prep it when you have a clear head.
Recognize the difference between hunger and thirst. Drink first, eat second.
Any pound lost is a good pound lost!
I'm finally back on the road to weight loss once more. It feels so good to see those numbers going down again! My biggest issue is consistency- if I can just keep the foods interesting, prep them in the mornings and weekends, things will keep moving in the right direction.
What a great start to the new year!
Monday, January 4, 2016
Week Fifty One: The Dear-God-It's-Time-To-Reboot! New Eating Lifestyle
Fifty one weeks. Why wait another week to reboot? I'm starting now.
But let's first look at the year in review.
The first six to seven months I did well, losing almost forty eight pounds. Then it happened.
I started working outside of my home for the first time ever. Stress overload. The New Eating Lifestyle I'd fought so hard for began to slip away- and I let it. But not without putting up a good fight first.
Unfortunately, I gave in to the abyss of stress eating. Eating on the fly, eating too much, and then buying the foods I knew would make me fall further back. Although I'm not sure jellybeans are a food...
So here I sit, feeling discombobulated. On one hand, I still lost twenty five pounds- but I could have lost almost fifty. I'm happy that I didn't completely fall off the vegetable truck, though it was a close call.
I begin the new year at a new weight. 310 pounds. Last year I started at 335. With a lot of hard work, that number should be a lot lower by this time next year. I hope.
Let the reboot begin!
No more second helpings. No more buying junk food. Have fruit and veggies cut and ready to take on the job. My family even helped by getting me a really nice insulated lunch box! Now I can take hot or cold foods with me- which opens up a whole new world of homemade healthy foods.
No more sandwich bags of chicken, baby spinach and tomatoes in my purse anymore! No more squashed bananas! (did you just hear that line from The Lion King??) Now everything will be cool and neat in their own little containers.
All I have to do is wake up a little earlier so I can pack a better breakfast and snack, and I'm golden!
Lessons Learned:
A twenty five pound loss is still a loss!
Since the gym is out and it's winter, find ways to get some extra exercise.
Meal plan. Snack plan. Do a lot of the buying and cutting over the weekend or during lunch breaks at home.
Whenever you feel the urge to eat more, go into another room and do something else- keep those hands and your mind busy!
It's been a rough year weight-wise, but still rewarding. Now I have a new goal- let's see if I can beat this weight loss by this time next year!
But let's first look at the year in review.
The first six to seven months I did well, losing almost forty eight pounds. Then it happened.
I started working outside of my home for the first time ever. Stress overload. The New Eating Lifestyle I'd fought so hard for began to slip away- and I let it. But not without putting up a good fight first.
Unfortunately, I gave in to the abyss of stress eating. Eating on the fly, eating too much, and then buying the foods I knew would make me fall further back. Although I'm not sure jellybeans are a food...
So here I sit, feeling discombobulated. On one hand, I still lost twenty five pounds- but I could have lost almost fifty. I'm happy that I didn't completely fall off the vegetable truck, though it was a close call.
I begin the new year at a new weight. 310 pounds. Last year I started at 335. With a lot of hard work, that number should be a lot lower by this time next year. I hope.
Let the reboot begin!
No more second helpings. No more buying junk food. Have fruit and veggies cut and ready to take on the job. My family even helped by getting me a really nice insulated lunch box! Now I can take hot or cold foods with me- which opens up a whole new world of homemade healthy foods.
No more sandwich bags of chicken, baby spinach and tomatoes in my purse anymore! No more squashed bananas! (did you just hear that line from The Lion King??) Now everything will be cool and neat in their own little containers.
All I have to do is wake up a little earlier so I can pack a better breakfast and snack, and I'm golden!
Lessons Learned:
A twenty five pound loss is still a loss!
Since the gym is out and it's winter, find ways to get some extra exercise.
Meal plan. Snack plan. Do a lot of the buying and cutting over the weekend or during lunch breaks at home.
Whenever you feel the urge to eat more, go into another room and do something else- keep those hands and your mind busy!
It's been a rough year weight-wise, but still rewarding. Now I have a new goal- let's see if I can beat this weight loss by this time next year!
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