March madness

Last time I told you about my trip and how food is such a problem and temptation while I'm gone.  I forgot to mention before the trip I had worked out a few of the days before leaving.  I did the elliptical and weight machines.  Well, when I was on my feet all day and loading and unloading stuff I was having horrible pain in my butt/leg/calf.  I'm guessing it was sciatica.  It was horrible.  It would come and go.  Sometimes I felt like I was having contractions.  The pain would start coming and then get really bad and then lighten up.  Felt like a combination of sciatica and shin splints.  So, this week I have been afraid to work out.  Could say I found a new excuse.  Anyway, has anyone had any experience with sciatica?  Should I push myself through it or wait until I don't feel it?  

It feels so good to be back home having my Visalus every day again.  Most the time when we are on the road we still try to do our shakes at least once a day.  This time we didn't get any shakes in and I really miss my shakes when I don't have them.  The shakes also keep my heartburn gone so needless to say I didn't enjoy the heartburn either.

I leave again next Wednesday so my challenge will be to do even better with food selection while on the road and make sure I get my shake a day in.

Congrats to the winners of our first month and good luck everyone on month 2!!

travel trials

Hi girls!  Dont have time to say much, im in the denver airport waiting to catch a plane home.  What a trip.  Went to Dallas Texas and to make a connecting flight we had 6 min to get to the other end of the airport.  Yeah we made it but our luggage didnt so we had to wearour same clothes for 2 days and we were working setting up a convention booth and sweat like pigs.  Not fun.  When we are doing a convention show we usually have breakfasf around 6am and dinner around 10pm with a few almonds in between so we are starving and have a hard time choosing healthy food at a nice resturant.  I did great with my choice one night and chose salmon and veggies.  The only bad part was my boss ordering a blooming onion AND parmasan fries to start.  She makes it so hard.  Good luck this week.  Time to board!

We NEED Sun!!

Hi girls!  When reading the blogs I see a familiar story on most of them.  WE NEED SOME SUN
My Dr. recommended supplementing with Vitamin D.  It's the new wonder vitamin you know.  It can really make a difference.  Just my 2 cents.  :)

Today has been a good day except Marty took my car to work and I hate to drive his truck, especially when it's raining, and I let that deter my plans for the gym.  Gosh I have a lot of voices either talking me into things or talking me out of things.  haha  Not really.  I'm just a little weak but working on it.  I will drive the truck next time.  

M&M's ugggggg

I don't know how I missed blogging for more than a week.  Time sure flies.  I think I best pick a day of the week and blog on that day.  I haven't read any blogs lately either.  So, I think a good day of the week is probably a Sunday for me even though today is Monday. :)  I'm really not very good at this blogging stuff.  I read everyone else's and think WOW wish I could express myself like that.

Well, the bad news is I'm still struggling with my mind talk keeping me from getting motivated.  I tend to beat myself up all the time.  For some reason I don't want to lose weight or stay on track or get some exercise because every time I set a goal or have a plan I go out of my way to sabotage myself and make sure I fail.  It's like if I self destruct I'm not so accountable.  I think I'm afraid if I eat right and exercise I still won't lose weight and I won't have an excuse.  I don't have the confidence that I can keep it up so I might as well give it up right away.  So, I need to talk nice to myself and boost my own moral because I am the one cutting me down.

The good news is I went to the Dr today for my annual physical and he was very happy about my weight loss.  I was down 10 lbs from May even though I weighed more than I thought I should.  It was in the middle of the day with my clothes on..... He gave me lots of kudos!!  He was happy with all my lab results so I'm doing something right.

I'm struggling BUT I'm making progress in the right direction so that makes me HAPPY!

This week I need to get back into the Gym.  I started off gung howe and then the weather turned really cold and started raining and (excuses) I didn't want to leave my house.  It's kinda funny.  When you get to my age, over 60, you get this mind set that you can do anything you want because you have paid your dues.  That thinking has been disastrous for me.     Pretty much makes me think I can eat what I want, sit and watch TV or play computer games all day and that is ok.  NOT  So time to get this lazy butt out of my chair.

My husband eats a lot of M&M's (daily).  They are in our pantry all the time.  I can go ages without touching them and then all of a sudden I can't leave them alone.  That is where I am at right now so I plan on making him move them to some place a little less convenient.

So my plan for the week is to MOVE and leave the M&M's alone!!

Have a great week ladies.  Now I'm off to read some blogs.

Oopps! Starting over!

Well I guess I'm off to a rocky start.  Had to go out of town and didn't do anything like I had planned.  I didn't log my food intake, my exercise, and didn't ear right.  I am disappointed on how I behaved while out of town.  I went to a crafting retreat in San Jose for 3 days and all we did was craft, eat, craft, eat, play bingo for prizes, eat, craft, eat.  We did a little bit of sleeping occasionally.  What a bunch of crazy ladies.  I'm not really one to do any crafting so I think I did more eating than if I were doing something I was really really into.   I must admit though I have a real problem of what I eat when I am away from home. So, I'm gonna start all over and catch up with all you beautiful amazing girls.  Your blogs are so cool and interesting. Keep up the good job.  I'm right behind you...  :)

The 2014 Challenge Begins!!

Here we are a new year and a new challenge.  New - not so much.  Seems this has been a recurring theme.  I am happy to say though it has been up and down and very slow, I am making progress.  I have been doing my blog off and on for several years.  Having it written down shows me that I have made progress.  So here goes.

I am excited to start this new challenge with a group of great women.  The ones I don't know yet I'm looking forward to learning a lot about you and your inner thoughts and feelings.  This is the place to let it all out and hopefully get the support we all need.  So here we go ladies!!  

Of course, my daughter Annie is the most beautiful, wonderful, compassionate, loving, and awesome human being and will help all of us in reaching new heights.  She is my biggest cheer leader and motivator.   Love you baby!!!!

To start this challenge I would like to set a goal for my first month.  I plan on being diligent in logging my food intake.  I really hate keeping track of everything so this is going to be difficult.  I will be using My Fitness Pal for this process.  Along with tracking my food intake I plan on tracking my activity too.  Hopefully I have some activity to track.  I have no problem in finding food to track. :)

I think I will be more specific next week.  I will feel things out this week and decide how much food and activity I want to maintain.  

I would like to be consistent and will be aiming for posting to my blog each and every Friday.   

So, I just want to say hi and welcome and I look forward to reading your blogs.  

cindi  

WOW What A Detour!I'

Well, I am back on track.  Don't know what happened but I went back up to 192lbs and feeling horribly fat, ugly, unhealthy so I got back to very restricted eating.  So Today I am 178.6 which is about what I was in March when I detoured big time.  I am feeling better about myself again and feeling like I can actually accomplish some major weight loss and life style change.  I have gone 3 weeks without any sugar, bread, pasta, potatoes (all my favorites).  I am no longer craving those things.  I'm drinking a minimum of 1/2 gallon and shooting for a daily water intake of 1 gallon.  I have learned I still have some willpower left in me.  Thought I used it all up when I quit smoking 17 years ago.  I think I may have found it again.  Yippy I'm glad to be back and plan on posting weekly again.   See ya soon  :)      

March Weigh-in

Just a quick note to let you know I weighed on March 1st and I'm up 6 ozs.  Weighed in at 178.0  I am really gonna try to make March a better month for me.  Gonna start with a trip to San Diego for a visit with Gregg.  I can hardly wait to run on the beach with my dog.  I think the beach is the only place I can run anymore.  Must be because it's softer and less jarring on my knees.  It's also softer if I fall  (I fall a lot).  Love, Love, Love the Ocean!!  When I'm at the ocean I feel close to all the loved ones that have passed.  Guess it's my piece of heaven on earth.  Have a great month ladies.  Good Luck  Wishing you determination, strength and success!! :)

Feb isn't working out

So my plans for February took a turn for the worst.  After babysitting sick kids I got home and got sick.  Thats been about 3 weeks and I'm still hacking like an old lady smoker.  (I was one of those so i know how that sounds)  Anyway being sick I missed the first week of the YMCA Weight challenge.  I got signed up the second week and then missed the third and forth week traveling.  So needless to say I wasted my money signing up.  We took a trip to Utah for a family funeral.  A very special Uncle that was buried on his 101 birthday!  It was more like a celebration than a funeral.  We stayed with Marty's sister Sheryl.  I found it to be very hard to eat good at someone else's house.  I have been brought up to do things to make people feel happy and appreciated.  That means if food is offered you except it.  Like donuts for breakfast!  They were delicious but I didn't really want to eat them.  They had a heart on them for Valentines day and it was a special thought and effort on their part so i eat them.  We had a few stops at fast food and even an ice cream stop.  At least I picked ice cream made out of fat free Yogurt.  This was a pretty amazing place.  Called Sub-Zero.  You pick the liquid you want (creamy, fat free, etc.), pick the added extras like nuts, fruit, chocolate, caramel etc., and then they take the bowl and hold it under a machine that sprays nitrogen (?) 320 degrees below zero for 15 seconds.  They start stirring the liquid in front of you and it turns to ice cream instantly.  Had a good time tasting everyones concoctions.  Anyway, I think I am holding my own on my weight but not losing in Feb.  I will need to get on the ball here.  Haven't made it to the Gym in a long while.  It is always so hard for me to start up again.  Well, good luck ladies.  Will be weighing in on Tuesday.......  I'm crossing my fingers.  haha  

February Weigh-in

I know I'm a little late.  I've been babysitting 4 kids (two of them sick).  Came home Thursday night and had a cold before I went to bed.  There was a scale where I was staying but I weighed myself and it was about 170 so I knew it was off to say the least.  So I weighed in on Friday 2/4 and weighed 177.4  Down 3 pounds.  That is wonderful news to me since I was expecting bad news for bad behavior.  I plan to be a little more in control in February and get into some routine for working out.  I've been so hap hazard lately so I'm going to set my goals so I don't feel overwhelmed.  Kinda like back to basics.
I am going to go to the YMCA at least 3 days a week.
Get back to drinking more water.
Increase Vegetables
Decrease Meat - At least two meatless meal a week and one fish meal a week.

On Tuesday I will be starting the YMCA's Wellness Challenge which is a program with weekly weigh-in's speakers, journaling etc.  I missed the first week so it will only be 8 weeks for me but I would really like to drop 10 pounds  during that time.  I think I can do it if I put my mind to.  keep up some good chatter in my mind and watch what I'm putting in my mouth.

Good luck ladies and we'll miss you Annie.

Were did January go?

Wow I can't believe Jan is nearly over.  I though I would be a lot farther in my quest to losing some pounds but i have let the chatter in my head manipulate me and was weak much of this month.  So, I'm starting right now to shut that voice up and make it say good things.  When I weighed on Monday I was 179 so this month is hopefully a wash and not a gain.
Things are going to be a little different this next week.  I won't be at home most of the time.  I am staying at a friends house and watching her 4 kids while her and her husband get a much needed break.  I will be using the food they have to cook so I'm not sure how that will go. They will have lots of stuff I'm not used to having in the house but I'm hoping I can still eat light.  I'm not sure I can remember how to cook for 6.  My day will definitely be starting a lot earlier than I have been used to lately.  Now a days I don't have to get my self up and going at any particular time (which I love) so I tend to start the day at 9 or 10 but it will be 6:00 from Sunday until Thursday.  I figure Friday may not even have a morning.  I expect to be totally wore out by them.  Three of them will be in school part of the day and I will only have one rambunctious little 4 year old to hang out with during that time.  My dog is going to go crazy without me at home and I'm hoping Marty will hang out with us a lot.  This will be interesting because they don't have TV.  They can watch movies so i'm looking forward to Toy Story 3 and a few other kid flicks.  They also only have dial-up so the computer is kinda out.  I'm hoping to get to the gym since that will give me an hour or so break from the little one and get me going for Feb.  I might just decide to get motivated and start my days earlier from now on.  Hope so!  Winter is kind of a down time for me so I'm looking forward to seeing some spring.

I bought some Miracle Noodles but haven't tried them.  I will let you know how it goes.

So I am working on having positive thoughts and build on my determination and commitment.  I want to make it to the gym at least 3 days next week. I've been slacking on drinking water all day so I want to get back to at least 10 glasses a day.

I'm looking forward to reading all your blogs.  Good luck and have a great week.  :)

Stalled

Hi ladies.....  Can't believe it is Wed already.  I weighed myself on Monday and just keep putting off my blogging.  My Brother-in-law and his wife came for a visit.  We love to have them come.  The guys always do a little project around the house.  This time they installed an electrical outlet on the back porch so the hot tub could reach the plug and we don't have to try not to trip on the cord.  Cathy and I always go shopping.  We usually go out to breakfast and dinner a few times too.  That's not so good for the weight management so I was hoping we didn't go too overboard.  We did go out to breakfast two mornings but we ate in for dinner every night.  They were here four nights so I think that was quite an accomplishment.  Anyway, had a great time and Monday I weighed in with a 4 oz gain.  That I can totally live with.  So the plan was to get back to it as soon as they left.  I have felt under the weather since then and not to energized to exercise.  I hope I'll get out tomorrow.  I've had a sore throat and cough with a lot of drainage down the back of my throat.  I know, TMI.....


Oh Yeah I wanted to tell you about my grocery store outing.  I don't know if it was because I wasn't feeling real well or I was just hungry but while I was at the store I walked by the donuts and really, really wanted to get one.  First I thought about a donut then I saw the chocolate croissant and I could hardly help myself.  I finally walked away and did some more shopping and pretty soon I was right back at the bakery eying the apple fritters.  I convinced myself to walk away again but I can't even tell you how bad I wanted something in the bakery.  I felt like I could eat 10 of them right then and there.  I think I spent an extra hour in the store trying not to by something.  I just keep going back to the bakery and standing there.  I must have been a sad sight.  Anyway I made it but I just hate when I feel like that.  When the urge is so strong and your desire is haunting you and you want to throw the whole healthy eating out the door and pig out!  So this week has been hard getting motivated but I will keep on trying.  

 

Off to a good start.

I plan on weighing in on Mondays.  I think I like the once a week weigh-in to help keep me on my toes and accountable.  I guess that is probably easy to say as long as I'm losing weight.   I am happy to say Monday I weighed 178.2 so that is down 2.2 lbs.  It has taken forever to get under that 180 mark.  It was hanging on for dear life.  I have only been getting to the gym about once a week so really needs to improve.  It has been really cold lately and I hate leaving my house.  Darn, here I go again making excuses.  I just gotta stop that.  Well its late and I can't seem to focus on my thoughts so I'll say goodnight.  I really want to blog about my goals and thoughts but I will have to try again another time.  :)  Have a great week ladies. 

The New Year Begins!

Hello 2011! I love Annie's Blog about this being the year of the 1 Well I think I am going to focus on me being the 1 that needs me the most. Being a baby boomer are values were focused on everything but ourself. Your husband comes first, your children of course come first and so forth and so forth. Nothing left by the time you get to yourself. I began trying to focus on me last year and I think I did OK. I spent more time blogging, working out, analyzing my habits, and in general just trying to take better care of myself. I started 2010 at 189.0 and I weighed in on Monday Jan 2011 at 180.4. Almost 10 pounds. I had a lot of ups and downs this last year and I'm sure I can do better. My heaviest weight was 204 and I will never see that again! My goal this year is losing 21 pounds. That would make me very happy and a much healthier 159 Wish me luck!




I know you can really get bogged down and feel very worthless when we hyper focus on what is wrong with us. A big share of our personal happiness does not come from overcoming weaknesses but from building on strengths.

In one research study, people who found new and creative ways to express their best character traits each week got a lasting boost to their sense of well-being. When you work on your well-being your weaknesses become easier to tackle. You are more energized and appreciate the little steps forward. So what is right with you?




I found a great article about 8 New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep! I made it a google doc so I think this will get you to it.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dz9NS8p4M-HHjbb_jLpjp_F24eeB45_UQxJFNlsKHbA/edit?hl=en&authkey=CIuaitkF

ONE POUND OF FAT!!

Hello, do you know me? 
  
If you don’t you should. 
  
I’m a pound of fat, and I’m the happiest pound of fat that you would ever want to meet. Want to know why? It’s because no one ever wants to lose me; I’m Only One Pound, just a pound. Everyone wants to lose three pounds, five pounds or fifteen pounds, but never only one, so I just stick around and happily keep you fat. Then I add to myself ever so slyly so that you never seem to notice it, that is until I’ve grown to ten, twenty or even more pounds in weight. 
  
Yes, it’s fun being Only One Pound of fat, left to do as I please. So, when you weigh in, keep right on saying “Oh, I only lost one pound.” (as if that were such a terrible thing!) For you see, if you do this you’ll encourage others to keep me around because they will think I’m not worth losing. And I love being around you - your arms, your legs, your chin, your hips and every part of you. Happy Days!! 
  
After all, I’m Only One Pound of fat!!!

Time Flies in October

WOW I can't believe I have't blogged since Oct 7th.  I kept thinking I would blog tomorrow.  I hate when I do that.  
So not a lot has been happening.  I made a trip to CA and did better than I expected to at eating.  I'm only getting to the gym about twice a week so I need to pick it up.  I've been slacking on my Gazelle too.   I was doing really well at counting calories and then slipped up and here it's been almost two weeks since I logged calories and food.  So I guess you can see I have slacked off a bit in all areas but I'm headed right back to it.    


So, I would really like to take a few more pounds off by the end of the month since I will be heading to Lodi to visit Cathy and we are soooooo bad for each other.  We have planned on working on our eating and exercise while we are together but we always seem to enjoy ourselves with food and eating out.  This time I'm hoping we can help each other in our goal to eat less and move more.  


Watch out Cathy, here I come!! 


Good luck ladies on the final run in October.   

Oct Week 2

Hi girls!!  Not such a bad week.  I have made it to my 179 mark and vow never to see the 180's again!  I have actually started counting calories.  I HATE IT!!  What a pain in the butt!  I made a stew today and had to look up all the ingredients.  I hate the fact that if all your eating is a salad you still have to figure out how many calories in the ingredients.  I guess that is really the only way you know what your eating.  I just always figured veggies were free but they actually have calories.  Dang.    With the healthy eating I have been able to keep my cravings in check.  Marty has been keeping his food in his own plate and not offering me potato chips and ice cream.  He even said my Salmon dinner last night was really good.  


My Gazelle is together.  I tried it out for a whole 10 minutes last night but plan on watching a little tv tonight while working out.  I tried it in socks and the grid on the foot pads hurt my foot so I'll have to wear shoes.  


So I plan on getting really good at counting calories and making good food choices.  
Drinking my 80oz's of water.
Riding my Gazelle daily
Think positive thoughts (what you say to yourself matters)
Do some tapping (EFT) each day.  (explained below)


At my last class at the YMCA a Psychologist came and talked to us about having our mind chatter be of good thoughts and showed us a technique for relaxation and stress relief.  It is called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)  It is a series of finger tapping on different points on your face and hands and some focusing.  They use it on men with PTSD from the war.  If you think you want me to post process here let me know and I will.


Do have a great week everyone.  Off to dinner.  
        

Oct Weight

Hi Ladies - FINALLY SOME PROGRESS


I'm starting October 3 pounds down.  Yippy!!  I know I will get to the 170's this month.  I'm feeling much better about how I'm dealing with food.  This last week I have done a lot of pondering about when and why and what I eat.  I noticed my husband keeps putting stuff on my plate and I do the same to him.  We are actually trying to be caring and giving and taking care of each other but in fact that is not at all what we are doing.  I finally had to blow up at him and he realized how he was hindering my efforts.  It's ok if I take something out of his plate and eat it but he better not put it on my plate. haha  Anyway I think he is finally on board.  His M&M's are stored in his truck not the pantry anymore.  My new diet with the YMCA is working well for me. I am journaling what I eat but not counting calories yet.   It is all journaling and about spreading your protein out throughout the day, limiting your grains to 2 cups a day and eating lots of Veggies and fruits.  You also have a snack between breakfast and dinner and bed so you are eating about every 2 hours.  It seems to be keeping my cravings at bay.  The exercise part isn't going as well.  I went to the Dr yesterday about the foot pain I have had for 2 months since I rammed my foot into a cement ledge.  I have inflammation and a neuroma in the joint of my third toe.  Started Prednisone today for a week.  Dr. says it may make me irritable and hungry.  Just what I already am.  She put a pad on my orthodic with a cut out for my third toe to give my toe more room and not have to bend as much as the other toes.  I go back in a month if it's not gone.  Anyway walking is irritating to it so I will be doing more of the elliptical and my new Gazelle.  Also doing weights at the gym and want to start a stretching class.


So my goals are:
Keep up with a minimum of 80oz's of water a day.
Stay with the diet guidelines
Continue logging food intake
Start counting calories
Exercise minimum 3 days a week


I tried a recipe for Ranch dressing that is good.  
For amounts use the amounts for the package dressing mix 
Instead of the buttermilk or mayo use cottage cheese (light of course)
That is all it is, powder dressing mix and cottage cheese blended and blended and blended until smooth and creamy.
I added about 1/4 milk to make it runnier for salad.


A bottle of light Ranch is more than 1100 calories 
A bottle of this is around 400 calories.


Next time I want to try yogurt instead of cottage cheese.  


I had a birthday yesterday and feel like this will be a good year for me.  I am going to be nicer to me and my body.  I am going to love me more.


Have a wonderful week girls.  Would love to hear from you.


  

   

Another Year :)

Just wanted to write a quick note since I will be taking off for the coast for a few days.  We bought a used 5th wheel trailer so we could spend some time at the ocean.  We bought it just in time to try it out for our 39th anniversary.  WOW  
I have been doing great UNTIL I GET AROUND DESSERT THAT I DIDN'T PLAN ON BEING THERE.
I went to a baby shower planning on leaving early and I thought I would miss the dessert.  Guess what!  Who would think they would do dessert first!  I just don't have the will power to say no when it's in my face and it is homemade and looks soooooo good.  Other than that I have been eating my veggies and fruits and grains and lots of water.  So enough of that - it's over and better luck next time.  
Sure hope I do ok camping.  I will be hiking and playing on the beach so I should get a bit of exercise.  I love to run on the beach.  
Thursday I went to the YMCA and went to a class on brain health then everyone goes for a walk.  I walked at a pretty good pace and did 2.5 miles.  I was very happy with that because my foot is giving me a lot of trouble.  Today hurts to walk at all.  I made an appointment with the podiatrist for next Thursday.
Anyway,  Everyone have a great weekend - I will   

12 Steps

Not a lot to say about how I have been doing with eating and exercising.  Not too bad on the eating and I actually got to the gym and did the elliptical machine and some weight lifting machines.  That was only one day though.

The big news I have to talk about is my new class.  I am taking a class called "He Did Deliver Me From Bondage" which combines the AA 12 step program and the Book of Mormon to start dealing with my OCD and self destructing behavior issues from the inside out instead of the outside only.  This class involves weekly meetings for discussions (with other women only) and daily reading scriptures along with journaling.  I hate to read because I never understand or remember anything I have just read.  One of the first things I had to read was about "Capturing" which is really getting hold of something and making it your own. Its more than underlining or making note of the single thoughts that stand out to you.....  That is just identifying what you want to capture.  You must copy the quotes or write the thoughts down.  That still doesn't make it your own.  There is a 3rd and final step.  Otherwise you are just a collector of thoughts.  The 3rd step is to write all that comes into your mind about the thought or quote you previously copied.  How did it connect with you?  Why was it important to you? What does it say to you?  How does it apply to your life?  This is capturing.

This is probably not new to you guys.  Especially those that have gone to college have probably done this.  It is new to me and I think it may actually help me maybe learn to like reading. (I hope)  I am excited about this class in hope of taking control of my mind and thoughts and thus my body and actions.
Hope I haven't rambled on too much.

I am also going to join a "Healthy Living Challenge" through our YMCA.  It is a program with Weekly weigh in and accountability, food journal, weekly meetings with coaches, exercise accountability.  This class starts next Tuesday.

This is going to keep me way busier than I have been in a long time.  Both classes require daily effort and I will have to get on the ball if I want to succeed.  I DO WANT TO SUCCEED!!!!

With these two classes and the requirements that come with them I should be getting my Physical and Spiritual well being on a whole new level.

So my goals right now are to get involved with following the requirements of these classes and enjoy doing it.
Continue drinking lots of water!
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