Another One Bites It!

Good morning, friends!  Another pound is gone from this body and I'm glad!  My evening ended differently than I anticipated with a food-confrontation sorta conquered: Becca wanted to go out for a "bite" to eat after I got her from the train station (why do we call it a BITE??!  HA!) so we ended up at Friendly's at 10 pm where I'd determined I wasn't going to eat anything.  But you should have heard the conversation in my head as I tried to justify eating something, and went back & forth!  I even had the menu and was considering at least the 550 calories meals, but come on!!!  At TEN OCLOCK???  I thankfully decided not to eat even that, and drank decaf coffee.  Then Becca's Honey BBQ Chicken Melt sandwich & fries came, fresh and hot so I ate like, three fries and a bite of her sandwich.  SIGH. Then she ordered ice cream and that's when I  gave up some of the fight and ordered "No Sugar Added Vanilla" ice cream w/ "No Sugar Added" hot fudge sauce for me.  SIGH.  I have no idea how many calories or carbs that was.  Ack.  

Anyway, I consider the battle was half-won.  I could have ordered REALLY bad food, but didn't.  I could have ordered a meal at ten pm, but didn't.  And I could have eaten "real" ice cream but didn't.  So.  A small victory which I shall claim.  I beat myself up way too much, and any success is SUCCESS!  :)


So, I'm looking at the clock and mentally preparing myself (it's 8:17am) for my new cleaning job at the "Very Famous Vermont Person's" house (VFVP) this morning; I'm excited as I always am when I'm about to tackle a new house, but I'm a little nervous too.  VFVP won't be home today so I have six hours to dig in and get that very cool house spic n' span w/o interruptions.  But I hope he likes my work.  I hope he notices.  I'm sure he will.  


I gird myself with goodness this morning and here's my plan for the day:
Today's Eating:
AM:  Real oatmeal w/ dried cherries, walnuts, maple syrup and a little half n' half/coffee
AM Snack:  Almonds & cherries again.  Maybe a cheese stick.
Lunch:  Carrots & celery w/ hummus again, V8, leftover eggs from the other night.
PM:  Coffee in a thermos.  
Dinner: Chicken Caesar Salad at home w/ fresh fruit


Okay, I'm outta here.  No gym planned for today altho' I may hit it after work...we'll see how the day goes.  

A Good Day

It's been a good day.  Despite not getting to sleep till almost 2am this morning.  Why are my eyes not burning and why am I not yawning enormously?  I'm guessing because it was a "good" day!!  A good day of eating and a good day of exercise, following yesterdays good day.  Good begets good!


Today's Eating:
AM: big fat bowl of steel-cut oats w/ craisins (I wanna marry them!) and walnuts, then drizzled with real Vermont maple syrup and a little bit o' cream!  That, along with my coffee and a handful of vitamins was breakfast!  
AM Snack:  a handful of natural almonds (they taste so....fresh!  and light!) along w/ a few of my FAVE dried cherries (I'm gonna marry them, instead!).  Drank a mid-morning cup of coffee and lots of water and kept peeing all day long!!!  
Lunch:  Carrots & celery sticks dipped in yummo hummus, a big can of Low Sodium V8 and a cheese stick.  Mmmm good!
PM Snack:  cheese stick on the way to the gym to feed the metabolism!
Dinner:  Got home from the gym at 4:30 and devoured a plate of leftover (frozen & thawed) Thanksgiving turkey w/ 1/2 cup quinoa, little salt & pepper.  I was SOO hungry and that was quick and easy.  Filling too.  Low carb too. The dog and kitties appreciated bits as well!  
PM Snack:  ??  who knows.  


I had determined this morning to go to the gym right after my afternoon client, around 3pm.  So I packed my bags in the morning, one for gym stuff, one with my lunch and snacks and my usual work bag.  Looked like I was moving in!  When I plan and prepare, then I'm confident and successful!  So after 8 minutes in the tanning booth, I hopped onto the "stepper" which my friend, Sandra, has introduced me to, and spent a sweaty 45 minutes bopping up and down!  I burned 585 calories which made me happy!  Voila!  Day Three at the gym.  Check.


It's now 7:31pm and I'm tucked into my warm comfy bed w/ the laptop!  I intended to go to the Lane Bryant Outlet tonight and find some cuter workout clothes, but got home from the gym and was chilled after being all sweaty then going out into the cold.  Brrrrr.... so I think I'll just stay put till 9pm when I do have to go pick up Becca from the train station.  (She's returning from a week in NYC with her BF & family.)  


Well, tomorrow is a Red Letter day for me; it's the first day of cleaning for a new client.  A very famous Vermont-person client!  No name dropping, but think Coffee Heathbar Crunch!  :D  How cool is THAT??  I'll be there for six hours every week; can't wait to meet the man!  

Tim & I in November; he's so cute!  :)

Toodles!  I'm off for the night.  

A New Day

I'm so excited!  My scales show a 2 pound loss since yesterday; I ate well, kept busy right up till bedtime and didn't eat when I shouldn't!  I'm glad for a new day; yesterday was very busy and very tiring.  I had a pretty good time at the gym, met Sandra there and got some time to chat w/ her, but the machines were full, so we couldn't workout side-by-side.  :(  Sara came w/ me and that was cool.  


I made cheesey-egg tortillas for dinner; mine had onion slivers and tomatoes cut up in it.  On a 6g wheat tortilla, some carrots, celery and hummus topped off w/ a square of dark chocolate=YUMMO and very satisfying!  We didn't eat till around 7pm which is pretty late for me; good thing is, there's no hunger or imaginary hunger pangs later on!  
After putting away all the Christmas bins, doing laundry, cleaning the house and washing dishes, I finally got to bed w/ my laptop around ten.  I love to check out FB, revisit my email, and browse a little on Pinterest or Netflix.  This time I was re-reading this blog and clicked on links I'd posted last year.  I came across Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition!  WOW!!! http://www.hulu.com/watch/261305/extreme-makeover-weight-loss-edition-krista#s-p1-so-i0

It was SOOO inspiring and heart-warming; it made me thankful to be the weight I am, and not more; and it caused me to rethink how I'll work out, how motivated I really am, and what I plan to do that will let me accomplish my goal to lose 50 pounds by July!  Hmmmm....

Well, I have to leave for work in 15 min; got my delicious food all packed and ready for the day.  Ta Ta!

Late Afternoon Ramblings

It's 4:30pm and I'm unwinding with my afternoon coffee after cleaning my client's house at a frantic pace!  It's usually a very low-key, easy clean, but today I brought my brand-spankin' new Shark Steam Mop (thank you very much, Erin!!) AND a bottle of Orange Oil cleaner!!  Happy house-cleaner tools!!  


I seem to be in a deep-clean-after-the-holidays mode and am up to my neck at home w/ un-decorating from the holidays.  Boxes and bins and piles waiting to go back to the basement while I move furniture, dust, vac and polish every nook & cranny before putting the everyday decor back into place.  So today I got the wild-hair idea to do the same for my client!  It was very satisfying but I didn't have time to do everything I typically do for her.  I'm hoping she'll be happily surprised to see I put her living room furniture back in order, and thoroughly dusted, vac'd and steam-mopped every inch of her pretty house!  I left there later than usual, scrambled home to my own disorderly house, and am trying not to fret...gym-time is the priority and I'll probably be energized from that so I can tackle my own mess later on!  

My pretty living room decorated for fall

See?  Ramblings.  Good grief.  Okay.  Coffee's done and I'm taking off.  

How Committed Am I?

Got on the scales this morning and I didn't lose.  :(  Wahhh.  But hello!!  It's just proof of what I knew last night at 9pm as I was indulging myself w/ extra food which I didn't need.  Eat at night=no loss or a gain!  SIGH.   

This mornings email gave me a good article from Prevention: 50 Ways to Lose Ten Pounds.  It listed a website called stickK.com as a tool to use for accountability, where you create a profile, make a commitment to donate money to a charity, person or anti-charity (who wants to donate to an organization one DOESN'T want to support?  smart marketing!) and you set a goal/time frame/etc.  I started filling out the forms, thinking this would be a great way to motivate myself.  But I have to read the terms & conditions carefully so will take a little more time to consider whether I want to commit this way.  I tend to make rash decisions w/o thinking things over fully then regret afterwards.  Gotta be smarter!  :)

Well, it's almost 8am and I have to leave in 15 minutes so better hop off here.  

Today's Eating:

AM:  Greek yogurt w/ SF preserves & wheat germ/coffee

Snack:  celery w/ p.butter

Lunch: Janice's awesome soups/4 Triscuits

Snack:  V8/cheese stick

Dinner:  Not sure yet.  

Snack:  100 cal. popcorn/more celery poss. 

Gym: with Sandra at 5pm hopefully.

End of Day One

Well, Day One is over.  How'd it go?  Well, a little differently than my "plan" as I had two clients, not one, which meant getting to the gym later than planned.  I also had a dinner date w/ two friends in Hinesburg at 6pm, so I only worked out for half an hour total.  But that was okay; first day back at it, my foot was hurting and it seems the back of my right knee wants to funk out on me too.  SIGH.  Getting old stinks!! 


Today's eating:
AM:  Oatmeal w/ flax, etc.  Coffee.
Snack:  Almonds & dried cherries
Lunch: 2 cheese sticks/V8/strawberries
Snack: coffee & slice of cheddar
Dinner:  Butternut & Apple soup/Lentil Kielbasa soup/1 slice whole-grain rye bread w/ butter
Snack:  4 Buffalo wings (boneless; 100% meat) & 1/2 cup Chicken Pie (no crust)  


As you can see, perhaps I should have had more soup because I did come home from my dinner date feeling not quite satisfied and hence, ate some leftovers.  Oh well.  Tomorrow.  :)  It's another clean slate!  

Biker Babe!

My sweetheart COOKS!!  :)

Clean Slate

Did I NOT say in the past that I'll probably gain weight back and have to start all over again?  Well, here I am.  Back to Square One.  I gained back the weight I lost over the summer.  All of it.  Well, all except the last pound.  SIGH.  Oh well.  All I can do (once again) is let it go, leave it behind and strive to get back in stride, eat well and exercise.  January is the "clean-slate" month and although it's kinda cliche' as I join the rest of the hordes doing the same thing and crowding the gyms, that's okay!  I accept my failings, and am thankful for new beginnings.

Taken in July 2010

So, today I started my day with a Plan, which for me, is important.  Here it is:
1.  Weigh & record
2.  Eat a good breakfast
3.  Plan the days food (bkfst/snack/lunch/snack/dinner/snack)
4.  Plan exercise for the day.  Gym from 2-3pm.
5.  Re-read this blog to get re-inspired.  Read other weight loss blogs for inspiration.
6.  Pray for success.

This past summer brought good things into my life, despite the gradual weight gain.  I met a wonderful man named Tim White, in mid-July via an online dating website.  It's been a joy to get to know each other and our families and now to anticipate the coming year together.  He is a Harley rider and bought me my very own black leather Harley Davidson jacket for riding; SOOO fun!!  I'm so excited for spring to be here so we can ride again and do some longer trips together.

Gotta hop off here and start my day.  I'm comfortably full after a bowl of oatmeal with 4 Tablespoons of flax/Q10/walnuts/brazilnuts/craisins mixed in w/ a little maple syrup and half n' half on top.  Wow.  That's some serious cereal!

Tuesday Ponderings....

Hi folks!

I was so encouraged to read the comments some of you left for me; thank you so much for taking the time to not only read, but respond.  I have to admit, that after I hit "Share on Facebook" and saw the blog on my profile page, I cringed in embarrassment that I had so frankly put it all out there!  Good grief!  Have I no pride??  I had to tell my exact WEIGHT!??  Aaaackk...

I'm pretty frustrated with this Blogger thing as it's not allowing me to alter the original page I'd set up last year...I need to change the Beginning Weight, and incremental goals, etc. but my computer shuts down the program when I try.  So frustrating!  And when I see that back in the fall I began this at the weight of 232 (which was horrifying enough) and now, at 15 pounds more, I just...shake my head in disgust and disbelief at my...lack of control and perseverence.  Just can't figure myself out.  Oh well.  I don't mean to be negative; this blog is about being "real", for sure, but I also want to be encouraged and encourage others. 

It's been 9 days since I began, I've dropped 10 pounds, gone to the gym 7 times, and my size 18 pants are feeling a TAD loose!  That's cool.  I'm so happy to be back at the gym; alternating days of cardio for 45-60 minutes, with days of 15 min cardio warm-up, then 30 min or so of strength training on the machines.  Planet Fitness is a great place and I'm very thankful for it!  I'm glad that Erin & I will continue a swim class together; I missed seeing those dear (old-er) people each week that attend so faithfully. 

I know I've said this before, but I have to say again how thankful I am for delicious, healthy food that is SO satisfying!  Tonight I had baby carrots w/ garlic hummus while my garlic-chicken sausages cooked in marinara.  When it was almost done, I put a heap of fresh baby spinach on top, then stirred it in and let it cook down a few minutes.  SOOO delicious!  Topped w/ a bit of grated romano cheese!  mmmMMM!  Feeling comfortably full.  I was sorely tempted when shopping tonight to buy a loaf of handmade artisan bread, fully whole-grain, but I'm so afraid that once I get that in my mouth again, I'll tear into the whole loaf in one sitting!  I LOVE good bread, especially toasted, with either sharp cheddar cheese melted on (after buttering the toast, of course) or with natural peanut butter on one slice and jam on the other.  Eaten w/ a cup of hot, strong coffee...what could be better??  Wow.  Now I'm really glad I didn't buy it!!  :D

Okay, gotta hop off here and get to the gym.  Tonight is cardio.  Unfortunately I have a very painful plantars wart right on the ball of my right foot which really affects my workout, but I'll try to just deal w/ it, and get in at least 45 minutes.  Might end up on the bike, but that's fine too.  I have an appointment w/ a podiatrist next month, and hopefully it can be easily remedied. 

Ta Ta!  Thanks for stopping in! 

This is a stack of clothing I weeded out of my dresser since I don't fit them anymore.  Hoping to put them back in before too long!  Especially my favorite Levi's! 

I'm BAACCKKK (again.)

Good morning to whomever may happen upon this blog!

As you can see by the dates, I haven't written this blog since late January, a full two months ago.  What happened during those months?  I completely threw in the towel, began eating and packed the pounds back on.  I'd lost a total of 16# and by last Sunday, March 2oth, I'd gained not only those 16 pounds back but an additional SIX!!!  Holy CRAP!!!  :O  When I got on the scales Sunday morning, and saw my weight was up to 247, I about DIED!!  And said "THAT'S IT!!"  I know, I know, I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again.  What an idiot!!  But I'm not gonna beat myself up here; already did that and now it's time to move on. 

I began eating right again, low carbs, lots of water, good protein, and back to the gym.  Lost 2# by Monday AM, lost 4# by Tuesday AM, 2# by Wednesday, another pound by Thursday and this morning I'm at 238.  Nine pounds total in these last 4-5 days.  Thank GOODNESS my body drops pounds fast like that; it's a real shot-in-the-arm and spurs me on!  I've been to the gym twice, and did swim class last night with Erin.  I have the morning off and think I'll go do swim class at 10:15am.  I'd pretty much stopped going because they are at 5:30pm which means leaving the house at 5pm, right at dinner time.  I'd run out the door saying "I left you some food, Becca!" or "I'll make us some food when I get home!" (at 7pm) so we'd end up eating late, or not having a "proper" dinner, etc.  It just wasn't a good time to leave home 4-5 nights a week. 

Re: swim class, I'd gotten the mindset that because I loved it so much, I'd never have to do the treadmill/machines again!  So my brain (and body) was very resistant to going back to those.  During my two month "hiatus", I was still in the mindset that I couldn't go to swim class, yet wasn't ready to consider doing the other workout again.  Resisted it for a while, but realized it is OKAY!  Ideally, I'll be able to do both, which will give me a nice variety.  So here's my plan (uh oh!  When I make a plan, I seem destined to fail!):  gym at least 4-5 times a week, interspersed w/ swim class.  Erin wants to continue our Thursday class so we'll do that together.  Trying to finagle a time to workout at Planet Fitness with Sylvia can be challenging but we managed it once this week so far.  It seemed REALLY good, and familiar and comfortable to be back at the gym.  :)

Well, that's it for now.  I have a crockpot of chili simmering since last night so I had two small "sample" bowls this morning w/ a dollop of sour cream for breakfast!  YUMMO!!  I only have one client today so plan to clean my house and do some wash.   Dinner will be chili, a big green salad, my moist & delicious cornbread, and a glass of wine.  Not sure about dessert...maybe some fruit.  It's FRIDAY!!!  YAAAAAY!!!  :D 

So, here are some pictures to "inspire" me!  :)

Taken in the fall of...2010 I think.




Skinny Sharon Summer 09




Beach Babe in Florida w/ Sylvia April 2009




My "Hey, Big Boy!" picture for Kyle back in summer 09 



Haven't quite come back to THIS, but getting too damn close!!  :(



A good start on my first weight-loss endeavor, Fall 08




OH!  MY!  WORD!  :O  First time EVER at the gym in July 08



No words.... except look how cute Becca was!!  Probably 07?



WOW!!  Back in the day.  This is Becca around 2 years old!




Me n' Caty, spring of 2009, my HaPPy year!  :)




Sara & I enjoyed a lovely afternoon of bike-riding.  Summer 09



Monday, Monday

...so good to me; Monday, Monday, it was all I hoped it would be..."  well, in regards to the scales, anyway!  Total pounds lost last week are SIX!!!  My scales this morning said 225!!  For a grand total thus far of 16# lost! :D

 I'm really happy with the weekend eating; I was at Kyle's and he cooked for me on Saturday evening!  Homemade Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli.  It was a total comfort meal, delicious and healthy!  Sunday morning I had a big bowl of oatmeal w/ about a cup of my frozen peaches/pineapple/melon thawed out and chopped up, heated and stirred into my oatmeal!  It almost seemed like baby food, but was so filling. 
For lunch we had batter-dipped fish fillets, hot & crispy in the oven (no bread) and another big serving of broccoli.  I put a slice of American cheese on mine, for cheesy-deliciousness!  Coffee around 3:30 then didn't eat again till I had a bag of Smart Pop popcorn and another bowl of frozen/thawed fruit at like 7:30pm.  Done for the day.  Zip.  Zilch.  Not another bite. 

Happy Dance this morning.  Good eating today. I made my scrumptious Turkey Rosemary Pita pizza.  Oh.  My.  Goodness!!  SOOOO good!  Here's a picture.  It started with a big Lavash Pita thing that's about 12" long by like 8" wide.  Spread olive oil on it, then sprinkled on bits of chopped garlic, mozzarella next then tons of baby spinach leaves, cut-up grape tomatoes (they really had to be used up today), torn up pieces of sliced turkey, chunks of feta cheese, fresh rosemary bits and...um....think that's it.  The whole pita thingie is only 14g carbs, but I cut it up into 8 pieces and ate two.  I'm so psyched to think of all the variations of pizza to make on these amazing breads!  It was light and crispy, and the flavors of the toppings were not over-powered by dough. 


My pizza, unbaked.




Baked.  Yummo!

   Also made Becca gluten-free pizza w/ a bread mix from Mr. G's that I paid $1.69 for~!  Came out pretty good looking and she said it tasted good too!  SCORE!!  I was headed to swim class when hers came out of the oven, so no picture of it hot and ready to eat! 



Becca's Unbaked. 

Wow, it's 11pm and my eyes are shutting as I type.  Gotta hop off here and get to bed.  Another busy day tomorrow.  Wonder what I'll eat??  :D

Friday Night Success

It's so wierd to think I've lived through several Friday nights now that I haven't eaten junk/snacks or even wanted to!  How can that be?  What's making this particular weight-loss endeavor so different and successful, so far?  I've lost 15 pounds since the 3rd of January!!  That's 15 pounds in 19 days!!!  :O  How can that be???!!!  How can I sit here, on this Friday night, not wanting to dig around in the cupboards, looking for something to snack on?  These past few weeks I've also been very busy w/ organizing my stamping stuff and making cards; I tend to lose track of the time when I'm occupied and being creative!  But even when I'm lying on the couch, watching TV, I haven't felt the desire to eat.  Just can't figure it out. 

It was a good day; breakfast was 2 boiled eggs w/ a pat of butter, a bowl of strawberry yogurt w/ a generous handful of blueberries, coffee as usual.  Went to swim class at 9:15am~ pretty good workout.  Came home, putzed around and made a cheeseburger for lunch before heading out to clean a house for 3 hours.  Went straight from there to get highlights, stopped in to Body Le Bronze for some color, and zoomed home, starving!  Cooked more burgers, had one with a great salad and a little SF chocolate pudding cup.  That was at 7pm.  It's now 12:26pm (I forgot to mention my after-dinner, late-in-the-day cup of coffee) and I haven't felt hungry at all or tempted to snack!!  SO ODD!  SO AWESOME!!  :D  

Here's a stack of clothing I removed from my dresser a few weeks ago, because I just don't fit into them and they were taking up too much space.  Notice the jeans in the pile?  The top two pair are now out of the pile, and back into my drawers because THEY FIT!!  One is my size 16 Levi's!!  They're pants that I bought as I was slowly but steadily gaining weight back, but the fact they were 16's assuaged my guilt/conscience but of course, I soon became too fat for them.  Got back up to size 18, even a pair of 20's...  :{  HORRORS!!  So, even though the 16 Levi's aren't my goal pants, fitting into them (fairly comfortably, at that!) means I'm headed in the right direction!  YAHOO!! 

Still Moving Forward~

Good morning!  Sitting here, eating my bowl of Greek yogurt w/ a Tbsp of SF raspberry jam, blueberries and a generous sprinkling of flax, thinking about what I can have for lunch in between clients, giving brief thought to dinner options.  There are so many great little ways to stay focused and plan for the days eating.  Here's what I've been doing for 2 1/2 weeks:

• Write down what I eat every day, not portion sizes, just the food.  It helps to see it on paper. 
• Try to remember to drink a couple quarts of water; was adding a lemon slice last week, then remembered my Crystal Light packets and that helped make it more interesting!
• Definitely eat breakfast w/ protein every day!  After my enormous cup of coffee, I'm not always as hungry but eat anyway, knowing a comfortably full stomach is almost a guarentee I won't be snacking inappropriately.
• Plan for a snack each day, one in the AM, one in the afternoon.  Usually nuts, or fruit, or veggies, or peanut butter celery.  I love that I'm eating all day long, feeling satisfied and yet still losing weight! 
• Really try to exercise each day; last night I did shoveling so skipped the water class.  I'd also done vigorous cleaning of walls, cupboard fronts for a couple hours at a clients house, so my arms were really tired, then shoveled snow.  I felt justified in skipping.  :} 
• Don't eat after say, 7pm-ish.  So far, this has worked, although night-time snacking has always been my biggest downfall.  I ate a HUGE salad the other night, probably around 7pm, thinking "Oh no, this will probably affect my weight in the AM" but it didn't.  I still lost another pound.  :)  PHEW! 

I don't really see my face getting thinner yet; that could be due to my swollen face in the early part of the week.  It's pretty much back to normal now; but weight loss usually shows up in my face pretty quickly.  I also just barely noticed a loosening of my jeans, in my butt and upper legs.  SIGH.  Can't wait to really see it and really feel it.  But in the meantime, I'll keep moving forward, feeling a renewed sense of energy and determined to accomplish this goal!  Sylvia and I were talking yesterday about where to go on our vacation this spring, as our reward trip!  Florida?  A cruise?  St. John??  Who knows! We shall see!

It's Tuesday!

It's actually 10:17pm and I can barely keep my eyes open~ my Power Waves class was SO vigorous that I left there on shaking limbs, and feeling totally wiped out, but in a good way!  :}  Haven't been to one since last week, so it felt good to be back in the water.  Thankfully, Sylvia & I haven't signed our contract yet, which will say we agree to exercise at least 5X a week.  We do realize that there will be times that we can't always do that, due to kids activities, etc. but 5X is our goal. 

Been eating very well; love that I've had no sugar or white flour for two weeks!  I will have some eventually, but for now, it's all good.  Thinking about making pita pizza soon, but have to be sure the pita's are whole-grain.  Yummo!  Oh yah!  Weighed on Monday; down 3 pounds.  I'd gotten to 230 the day before and despite a good eating day on Sunday, Monday's scale said 231.  So.  Ten pounds is good!  :)  Can't wait to get below the three-zero mark!  Can't wait to fit into my next size down pants!  Can't wait to hear someone ask me if I've lost weight!  Can't wait to go bike-riding in the spring!  Random, I know!

Okay, gotta get to bed.  Good night.  :)

Change of Plans~

Well, my weekend didn't turn out the way I expected!  I had oral surgery on Friday morning and it was quite an ordeal which ended with vicodin, advil and antibiotics.  I can't drive while taking vicodin, so had to stay home.  :(  My face is all swollen, my mouth is full of stitches and I don't feel very good.  So, my weekend worries were all for naught!  :} 

Instead, I spent Friday night at home, on the couch, which is always good.  :)  Saturday was a pretty mellow day with the kids in and out.  Later in the afternoon, Erin and I went to Goodwill where I bought purses, shoes and a stuffed squirrel to sell on ebay.  The handbags are Gucci, Dior, Talbots, April Cornell and Coldwater Creek.  Shoes are Bandolino, Antonio Melani, Hype, and Ciao Bella.  They're really nice and were pretty cheap at GW.  We'll see if they sell though.  I may be peddling them on craigslist or at a yard sale!  :{ 

Later today, Becca and I are supposed to go ice skating with the diabetes support group; I'm not really up for being out in public looking like this, but it's important to meet other kids and families, so we'll go.  Actually, I probably shouldn't ice skate, because if I fall, I'll jar the stitches and the bleeding may start again.  SIGH!  What a hassle!  :(

Okay, Debbie Downer is getting off for now.  Oh!  I've lost another pound, for a total of four this week, eleven in all!  YAY!! 

Worried About The Weekend

This is going to be a difficult weekend; I'll be visiting Kyle and his family and we're going on a road-trip Saturday with his daughter, Desiree.  She's interested in buying an Audi from craigslist, but it's in Connecticut!  Which means a 3 1/2 hour ride, one way!  :{  We've done a few road trips with Desiree, one time to NYC, which was my very first visit, and we always have a blast!  A distinct memory from that trip was the three of us bellowing at the top of our lungs to a Stevie Wonder CD!!  (I'm sitting here, grinning, at the memory!) 

So what's the problem with a car ride this weekend, you ask?  Well, first of all, it means sitting still for about 8 hours-no exercise.  :(  And, road trips usually mean snacking; but I can't be snacking randomly, especially with sitting for so long.  SIGH.  I'm sure it'll be fun but I'll have to plan for low-carb snacks, like almonds, fruit, low-fat cheese sticks, etc., and lemon-water too.  And maybe run around the gas station every time we stop for coffee!!  :D

I always look forward to cooking and baking for Kyle and his family!  So I'll have to plan for that as well, figure out what to make that's good for all of us!  One thing I make fairly often there, is chili.  I have three bags of dried beans, so maybe I'll soak and cook those for the "scratchiest" home-made chili I've ever made!  (as in "from scratch"!)  :D 

Okay, today is a day off but I've gotta bring the car to Jiffy Lube at 8am for an oil change (I LOVE that they check everything AND vacuum my car!!) then have a 9:30am appt, then my friend, Janice, is coming over to talk and stamp!  We haven't seen each other in AGES, and I can't wait!  One of my New Year resolutions is to get back in touch with friends I've lost contact with over the past year.  :)

So!  Ta Ta!!  Have a great day!

And They're OFF!!

*Realized I never posted this from the other day~  good grief!

 Good morning!  Yesterday was our first weekly weigh-in, and I'm happy to report that I lost 7 pounds and Sylvia lost 4~  Woo Hoo!!  :)  It was a great week of healthy, satisfying eating, good solid exercise (Sylvia's doing a strenuous Boot Camp three times a week at 5:30am!!) and encouragement from each other.  We've been emailing a list of what we've eaten, at the end of each day.  That's good for accountability too~ 

I'm having  a really hard time not getting on my scales every morning; I'm so used to doing it and keeping a close watch on my weight (when I'm trying to lose it, that is!).  I admit I got on again this AM (down 2 more pounds-see??!!)  but will TRY not to weigh again till at least Thursday!  :D  It just kills me that I not only gained back the 10# I'd lost when I started this blog back in September, but added nine more to that!  So today, I'm back at the 232# weight (arrgh!).  SIGH.  Oh well.  Move on, Sharon.  This isn't a race, and my purpose isn't to lose as fast as I possibly can, but to steadily and realistically work off the weight, establish a positive perspective about food, and re-train my habits over time.  Yada Yada....

Here's what my salad looked like yesterday; I've decided to only buy baby spinach from now on.  The spring mix is prettier but the purple parts wilt and turn to slime too soon.  Kyle said, "Shouldn't you NOT look at pictures of food?  Doesn't it make you want to eat more?"  Not at all!  I love the visual part of good food; it pleases my eye to see the variety of color, textures, flavors, and even the color of the plate is part of it all!  And I look forward to the next delicious, healthy meal or food I'll eat later on! 

Yesterdays Eating:
coffee/oatmeal w/ craisins & figs
almonds/fig
chicken sausage and above salad
clementine
another sausage w/ brown rice pasta & meat sauce (1/2 cup)
p.butter celery
about 3 quarts of lemon water

Exercise:
Cardio Combo water aerobics (only 45 min as I had to leave early to get to my chorus rehearsal)

Well, we're off to a great start!  Gotta run! 

Weekend Happiness

Hey there!  Sitting here, feeling satisfyingly full after a delicious dinner of my signature salad (greens/red onion slivers/grape tomato slices/cuke/red pepper/bacon crumbles/feta/sunflower seeds/craisins/Caesar dressing/balsamic vinegar) and two scrumptious Tomato & Basil Italian chicken sausages simmered in No Sugar Added spaghetti sauce, topped with parmesan, washed down by a tall glass of lemon water!  Aaaahhhh....healthy food is soooooo GOOD!!!  :D  Oh yah!  My dessert was one of those delightful little fig nuggets rolled in unsweetened coconut.  mmmMMMM!!!  :D

Have I mentioned before how much I love the weekends?  Friday night is almost as good as a whole day, because I tend to stay up pretty late, stretching it to the nth degree, knowing I can sleep in if I want.  I actually missed my Saturday AM swim class 'cause I woke up 15 minutes before it began at 9am.  Whoops!  Didn't plan that very well!  But it's okay as I did the Sunday afternoon class instead, for a total of five days of exercise. 

Today I finished taking the tree down/out, vacuumed thoroughly, even taking up the living room area rug and non-slip thingie, so I could vacuum the crud underneath it.  Vacuumed my way through the house with my trusty Dyson, emptying the container about 3 times!!  Put the pretties back into place, did a couple loads of wash to finish out the morning. 

 I also got my stamping table cleared, finished a set of cards I've been working on, stamped out images from a new stamp, and colored happily with my markers and water-brushy thing.  Made 3-4 new cards and posted them on my splitcoaststampers gallery and on Facebook.  SO satisfying! 

4pm swim class wasn't too crazy, but still good to be moving with purpose.  Can't wait for classes Monday through Thursday when I know we're gonna kick butt!!  Back to chorus rehearsals Monday evening!  Mad scramble from swimming to singing! 

So here's a link or two.  http://www.sparkpeople.com/  I haven't checked this out yet, but a woman on another weight loss blog raves about it for the support in the weight loss community.  As soon as I finish this, I'll hop on there for a look around.  And another link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50UnD51CPkw for more inspirational weight loss photos! 

See Ya!! 

Mish Mash



Thank You card to VYOC for Becca's scholarship~




Book my Mom sent; can't wait to dig in! 



Another book Mom sent to help with Becca's newly diagnosed celiac disease. 



My list for today plus lots of other days!




Messy stamp table; I keep going over and fussing around but am DYING to sit down for a good stamp-session!  Got plans for my cards in 2011!





Isabel all curled up on a cozy wintery day.

 


Molly too! 




Bought this cheap at Hannafords; it's Xylitol, an artificial sweetener.  Anyone know anything about this stuff?  Thought I'd try it out for $2.49. 




FIGS!  Dirt cheap @ Hannafords.  .97 each package.  I've discovered I like figs and must go back to the clearance table and buy the rest!  Wonder if they freeze well?  Had some on my steel-cut oats w/ craisins and walnuts this morning!  YUMMO!  :D



I'm BAAACKK!!! :)

Starting with gall-bladder surgery the day before Thanksgiving and the week or so of recovery/lying around set me off on a period of "bad" eating and no exercise that extended through the holidays, resulting in my gaining almost ten more pounds!!  Sometimes I'm amazed at how quickly I can put the pounds on!!  :(  But the good news is, it's a NEW YEAR and a NEW BEGINNING!  Feels like a clean slate to start all over again, get up, dust myself off, and climb back on the horse!!  :D

Sylvia & I got together New Year's weekend, and hashed out a detailed plan for this renewed adventure of getting thin and fit again!  We realized that it had to be different, because we're different than we were two years ago when we became '2fatchicksonadiet'~ I have some more serious health factors, I've learned how easy it is to think we've arrived, get complacent and lazy about eating right and exercising, causing pounds to pile back on, and I don't have the excitement of losing alot of weight for the first time, to spur me on.  I'm a veteran at this now, and have to dig deeper for more realistic and solid reasons to get healthy. 

All that said, we have quite an awesome plan, that I can say, six days later and 7 pounds thinner already, seems to be successful!!  Wanna hear about it?  Of course you do!!  :D  Okay, here it is:

• Doing pretty solid Atkins the first two weeks for a jumpstart: so, no sugar/flour. 
• Exercise at least 5X weekly (non-negotiable as much as is practically possible)
• Weigh on Mondays only
• Measure each month & take progress pics along the way
• Call each other before  cheating
• Agree to pay one another $5 for every pound lost, on Mondays after weighing.
• Sign a 3-month contract, agreeing to the above, and also agree to continue to pay the other for # lost if we ourselves quit for some reason.
• Renew the terms and re-sign a contract every three months, up to one year.  Assess what worked and tweak the plan as neccesary.

Don't think I've missed anything.  We're both pretty pumped about it; it feels great to finally be addressing the problem and look forward to feeling better, looking better and getting healthy again.  I've also realized that in this coming year, my main goal is NOT to lose the weight, but to change my MINDSET about eating, to train my mind and tastebuds to dislike junk and unhealthy foods, and to crave and be satisfied only with healthy food.  I know it's possible and I look forward to being in that place! 

This week has been a good one; I've done four water aerobics classes so far and have eaten delicious, hearty and satisfying foods.  I did weigh myself a couple times earlier in the week, losing 3# the first day, then four the next!  Not sure I can only weigh myself once a week, when I'm accustomed to weighing daily just to see where I'm at; Sylvia suggested I get on the scales every other day to begin with, so I'll do that. 

It's so exciting to remember the fun of losing weight two years ago, feeling my clothes get looser, seeing my face get thinner, feeling more energetic and just knowing I'm doing a very good thing for myself!  Can't wait to get into some of those really cute, smaller clothes I have packed away, too! 



YIKES!!  Me at a horrifying 241 pounds!! 




Delicious sautee'd veggies with lentils and parmesan.  Yummo! 

 Okay, I've got a very long list of things to accomplish this weekend so I'm offa here!  Bye for now!  I leave you with a couple pictures. 

Daily Dose 32

I'm back; not happy with myself.  I actually feel kinda...blase' about this weight project, to tell you the truth!  About a week ago, I started in eating at night, then figured I'd gotten off-track, so might as well "enjoy" it while I'm off, kept eating badly during the days, eating at night, skipped a few swim classes due to busy-ness; (I WAS busy, but could have squeezed them in if I'd really wanted to) I was thinking "why bother w/ the daily classes if I'm eating like a hog?", so just didn't feel motivated to go.  Even today, because it's MONDAY, I'm feeling like I SHOULD get going again, have made a half-hearted attempt to eat wisely this AM and telling myself not to eat chocolate at my client's this morning.  (I'm actually kinda sick of candy from a week of indulging myself, with the grand finale last night!)  So, weight this AM??  228#.  Yup.  Six pounds flew back on after my lowest weight a while back of 222.  It took me a month to lose ten and about a week to gain back six.  Not exactly "easy come, easy go"...when will I learn??

So, the facts being stated, here I am again.  Bowl of Greek yogurt in hand, almonds in my work bag for a morning snack, plans for um....something good and healthy for lunch, and dinner....a busy day ahead, that only gets busier when I get home at 3pm...oh well.  That's life.  We shall see what happens. 

Here's a picture I took of myself last night; I was getting scary for Halloween but this is what I really feel like.  Ugly.  Not too swift.  Outta control... 

Daily Dose 31 (continued)

I'm back but not feeling too inspired tonight.  My friend, Cindi, joined me at the gym for Power Waves; that was great and we're going to try and do more of the classes together.  I hope she likes it as much as I do!  I had to hop out of the pool early in order to get to my second chorus rehearsal tonight; we usually only meet on Mondays, but our first concert is next week, so thus, extra rehearsal. 

Okay. 
Today's Eating
AM:  LF yogurt w/ flaxseed/coffee
Snack:  no snack
Lunch:   bowl homemade vegetable beef soup/bagel w/ cream cheese
Snack:  celery w/ hummus/coffee
Dinner:  chicken enchilada filling/broccoli & cauliflower
Snack:  SF chocolate pudding/cheese stick
Exercise:  1 hour water class

I'm actually sitting here this very minute wanting to get up & forage through the cupboards; have I mentioned that I LOVE to eat at night?  Not sure why; it's such a long-standing (bad) habit and just feels natural.  But it's 10pm and I already ate the choc. pudding/cheese stick a little while ago, so nothing more.  I should just go upstairs to bed w/ my book and read till I'm sleepy.  Sorry I dont' have anything interesting or informational for you today.  Just plowing ahead here.  Goodnight~

Daily Dose 31

225.  :(  Good grief.  Not feeling like writing now; got a lot going on with Becca's diabetes too, so my enthusiasm and energy for "me" fluctuates.  I'll write more later on. 

Daily Dose 30

Well, hello there!  Can't believe I haven't written since Friday but it was a busy, yet relaxing weekend and I didn't go near the computer till this afternoon!  First off, weight today 225#.  It is what it is.  Weekends, Chinese, birthdays, evening snacking.  I don't feel like I went crazy or anything, but I know I ate more Chinese than I should have (man!  I forgot about crab rangoons!!!), cake & ice cream ended up being eaten after 8pm, and leftovers on Sunday must be taken into account.  So, today's another day, and I will carry on. 

I'm about to leave for my evening water aerobics class, then zoom from there to chorus~ we have double practices this week, so I'll be doing the same thing tomorrow evening too.  I ate a good lunch around 2pm, so am still feeling comfortably full.  Problem will be working out for an hour, then singing for 90 minutes and getting home at 8:45pm, I'm sure to be hungry!!  :{  Guess I'd better throw a protein-boosted snack in my bag for after class.  Hopefully that'll hold me till AM.  SIGH.  We'll see...okay.  I'm outta here but will post more later. 

Daily Dose 29

223# this morning.  Did a 9am cardio combo class; it was good and I left feeling refreshed and invigorated.  Had an afternoon client for three hours then spent the afternoon cleaning the house and running errands.  I LOVE Fridays and weekends!  :)  Diet-wise, they're dangerous ground but if I have a plan, hopefully I'll stick to it.  We're going to NH on Saturday to celebrate my Moms birthday, meeting initially at a Chinese restaurant for dinner.  I really need to be careful of what I choose to eat there: I LOVE Chinese food!!  Afterwards, we're all going back to Moms house for cake & ice cream (groan) but I've already decided I'm going to have a normal sized piece w/ a reasonable serving of ice cream.  This is REAL LIFE, after all, and what I'm doing is for MY real life~ striving to eat well most of the time, with the occasional "cheat".  I hate to call it that; I'm not really cheating, because I'm allowed to eat whatever I want.  Gotta come up with another name for it...any suggestions?

Today's Eating
AM:  bowl of Kashi fiber-cereal w/ skim milk/coffee/banana yogurt w/ blueberries and flaxseed
Snack:  none
Lunch:  ham slice w/ slice provolone/2 BBQ'd chicken thighs w/o skin/1 SF fudgesicle bar
Snack:  coffee
Dinner:  veggie burger w/ grated cheddar, salsa & dollop Greek yogurt/celery w/ spicy hummus (yick)
Snack:  grape tomatoes/slice ham w/ T cream cheese, rolled up
Exercise:  1 hour cardio combo class

Here's a little excerpt from one of the blogs I follow; boy, can I relate!!  :}

 "I have become highly aware that the scale has WAY too much power over my state of mind.  I am very close to packing the scale away for a few weeks, but I'm not quite there yet. In the past, when I had been slacking off, I thought about hiding the scale as a way to avoid reality. At this point in time, I'm beyond that. But I have realized that seeing something I don't like on the scale in the morning has the potential to sway my whole day. Good sway or bad sway, that is wrong. So, if I can't get rid of this unhealthy relationship with the scale, I may have to crush it to smithereens get rid of it.

But for today--the scale remains. (Probably because I liked what I saw this morning. LOL)"

Okay, I'm outta here!  Goodnight, now!  :)

Daily Dose 28 (continued)

7:52pm

Today's Eating
AM:  greek yogurt w/ dollop LS (low sugar) apricot jam, blueberries and flaxseed/coffee
Snack:  celery with hummus
Lunch:  bowl vegetable beef soup
Snack:  coffee
Dinner:  BBQ'd chicken thigh w/o skin/salad/ 1 SF fudgesicle bar
Snack:  100 calorie popcorn w/ 1 T melted p. butter
Exercise:  none

Hello again~ busy day!  Six hours of cleaning & re-organizing my friends kitchen, weeding out old stuff to make room for new dishes, bowls, and other kitchen stuff.  FUN!!  Bro't my soup which tasted really good about 1pm~ 

No exercise today; I had to bring Becca to a party right at the time of swim class, but the base of my neck has been achey the last coupla days and I don't know if it's because of bad form in the water, or what...but I decided to give my body a rest today~ felt wierd to not go, though.  It's two weeks ago tonight that I found the water classes.  Tomorrow morning I'll go to the 9am class~ that should be a good one; the instructor told me last week that it's a harder workout and they use the big pool w/ the cool water.  Can't wait! 

Just want to say how much I appreciate the words of encouragement I recieve here and on my Facebook page re: my dieting efforts.  I hope more and more people will find my blog and get something good from it.  It's really been fun and helpful for me, just to get the thoughts and junk outta my head, and onto the page.  I'll keep looking for interesting links and pics to post as well...keep the blog fresh and unique. 

Well, it's time to hop off, call Kyle, then decide if I'm going to bed to read, or hit the couch for some HGTV.  "Property Virgins" has a new episode tonight!  Problem w/ lying on the couch is, I get the night-time munchies...I LOVE eating at night.  But really CANT!  So...tonight I'll either plan a very light snack (like 100 cal popcorn) or drink a Crysal Light to fill up my tummy.  See ya in the AM!