Fruits and Veggies

Fortunately, I love veggies.  Not as much as chips and pizza but I do like them. I've known many who just won't eat them. At all. 


My friends husband won't let anything green pass his lips unless it's lime sherbet.  Ugh, sorry, that doesn't count. 

So while I do love fruits and veggies, I know that it would be easier and better for me to eat more of them.  My snacks are usually a granola bar of some sort, sometimes yogurt. My goal is to snack on more veggies. 

Fortunately my KIDS enjoy veggies too! 

For the longest time, I would cut broccoli, carrots, cucumbers and celery and just leave them on a plate in the kitchen for the afternoon.  My kids are homeschooled so are home all day with me.  They are constantly hungry and asking for snacks.  By leaving this plate out, they munch on healthy snacks and aren't constantly bugging me about wanting to eat crackers all afternoon. 

I used to do this several times a week. For some reason, I got out of the habit and stopped for the last couple of months.  I still have the fruit basket on the counter with apples, bananas, oranges and whatever else is in season, but not as much the veggies.

Needless to say, the kids are driving me crazy asking me to eat constantly and I'm ending up throwing away veggies that don't get eaten in the frig.  What the heck?  That's stupid!

So, starting tomorrow, I'm going back to the veggie tray on the counter.  It's going to be SO much better for the whole family, I know it will!  Hopefully I will stop my habit of eating granola bars for snack too!

Are you getting your fruits and veggies? 

Weigh In Wednesday & Hot 100 Update 5

Well, broke free of the 240's.  Again.  Barely. Everytime I do, I swear it will be the last time.  I really, really need this to be the last time!!  Today was 239.6.

The ankle swelled a bit and there was some limping after the 3rd time on the treadmill.  No pain, but it wasn't happy. So I didn't go on today.  I'll try it again tomorrow.

Sorry, actually posting this on Thursday, so tomorrow actually means today.  Ya, I'm confused to, I never know what day it is.


Hot 10 Update

Goal 1: Posting: I want to post regularly on the dieting blog here.

Continuing to do well.  I so don't want to be one of those people who just fall off the face of the blogging earth.  So sad when that happens! 

Goal 2: Food Tracking



Better.  Not completely consistent but better. 

Goal 3: Get moving regularly:



I've been on the treadmill regularly.  I'm aiming for 4-5 days a week on  it.  Plus I'm doing some pushups and weights and have been regular at it.  Yea!

Awesome Post

Ok, I was heading for bed and wasn't going to post but decided to read one more weight loss blogger.  This chick is amazing.  Her post here was from yesterday and it is so true and just rocks!  So check Skinny Emmie's post here if you haven't already!

Fall 15 - Week 3 (again)

Another beautiful day in the Fall 15!  That's right, I gotta lose 15 lbs. by December 20th to complete the challenge.  Well, actually 15.4 lbs as I sorta went the wrong direction awhile back! So that means a solid 2 lbs. a week to be in the running. I messed up somewhere on the weeks too so this apparently is week 3 again. 

Start Weight 239.4
Current Weight: 239.8

Pounds to lose: 15.4

In other recent news: I did manage the treadmill again and I've been regularly doing some exercising.  Still a long way from huffing, puffing and truly sweating but at least we're achieving some consistency!  Eating has been going well too. 

We did go Red Lobster last night as feared but I did really good.  I ate a light breakfast, we ate at the restaurant as an early dinner so it was really the only thing I ate all day. Came home full but not stuffed beyond belief.  I weighed myself before the restaurant for the Fall 15 because I knew the salt would be in me big time after it.  So I was up again this morning but not too much and I think it will be back in line by Wednesday Weigh in. 

I'm gaining a bit of focus so I'm just hoping to hold on to it!  :-)

The Treadmill

Okay, I got on the treadmill.  Yes, I really did it.  I've been whining to myself for weeks, well, months about just getting on there. I did today.

I mentioned in yesterdays post that I hate to exercise in front of people.  Well, we were watching a movie, I decided to get on it and watch the movie while walking. 

So I dropped the treadmill into position. Dust flew everywhere, spiders suddenly lost their home, I think I even saw a few squirrels who were trying to nest for the winter. 

Strapped on the tennis shoes and started walking.

No one noticed. 

No embarrassing squeals like "Oh look, Mom's on the treadmill!", "What are you trying to do mom, run a marathon!".

Nope, nothing at all. I asked at one point if I was too loud and they said no and that was it.  So I may be embarrassed to exercise in front of the family but clearly they don't care. 

So I walked for a bit over 1/2 hour. It was slow.  I tried the treadmill endeavor about 6 months ago, tried to walk too fast, even tried some light running and messed up my ankle and leg for about 3 weeks.  This time I am going to go slow. Very slow. Until my ankle can keep up or tells me otherwise. 

I don't want to get too excited yet.  But my goal is to get on there several times during the week.  I plan to change my Hot 100 goal from "get moving" to "regular exercise".  Not this hit or miss junk that I have been doing. 

Yea!

Exercise

Here's my problem. 

Ok, here's ONE of my problems. 

I view exercise as getting a gym bag, going to the gym and working out, doing weights and getting all sweaty for an hour.  That's just not going to happen anytime soon.

I've been receiving many comments about just getting moving for 5 minutes or doing SOMETHING extra each day. That got me thinking.

What I need to realize is:

That a simple walk IS exercise.

Dancing with my kids IS exercise.

Playing frisbee outside IS exercise.

The 5 - 10 minutes of lifting weights while watching tv IS exercise.

It doesn't feel like it though. 

I honestly don't know if I can go to a gym.  There are some inexpensive ones now that are close.  But I honestly DON'T have time.  I make a lot of excuses (boy do I ever) but this one isn't an excuse.  To make a long story short, I can't drive, my husband works retail and had very odd hours and different hours each week and I am stuck home doing daycare all day so there honestly isn't a regular time I could go. 

So the gym is out. 

But I am realizing that there ARE things around the house that I CAN be doing more of.  I have this treadmill in my living room.  Yes, right in my living room. (I dust it often). 

I have been afraid of it though.  First, I hate to exercise in front of people (did I mention it's in my living room?).  That is something I just need to get over.  Stupid excuse, it's not helping anyone.  Second, I have an ankle issue and I don't know what my capabilities for long term walking. 

(notice I said I DON'T KNOW what my capabilities are?)

Well, it's time I found out. 

My last treadmill experience was bad for the ankle and leg. Very bad so it scared me away. I also pushed it too fast, way too fast.  I will never be a runner, nor a fast walker but I CAN walk.  I walk every day. I just need to do it more. 

I know that if I get on that treadmill everyday, even if it's for a pathetically small amount of time, it will help.  Maybe I won't be burning 1000's of calories but mentally, it will be much harder to get on the treadmill and then go eat 3 handfuls of chocolate chips. Mentally, it will be better for me. 

Not to mention I am horribly out of shape and just need to get something regular going on here!  The stupid thing, I've been thinking this for MONTHS yet, I keep saying "later" or "tomorrow". 

Well, tomorrow has come, uh, not actually.  I am off to bed so my goal is to get on there tomorrow.

Thank you to all of you commenting and pushing me.  I need blunt comments.  I think it was Dr. Fat to Fit who recently told me that she saw 20 weeks of weight tracking from me with no loss and it mad her sad and mad. She is SO right.  It is sad and it makes me mad! 

I will post in the next couple of days and hopefully I'll have some treadmill miles in by then!  :-)

Also, check out my giveaway on my other blog!

This is linked with Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family!

Weigh in Wednesday & Hot 100 Update 4

Fun size butterfingers aren't really fun.  Not fun at all. 

I didn't gain, but I didn't really focus too well so this weigh loss doesn't really count.  At least not to me. 

You see, I vowed I would NEVER see 240 again.  So, yes, a slight weight loss, but still over 240. 

Today was 240.4.  *sigh*

Red Lobster has endless shrimp.  Yes, endless.  They have it once a year and we splurge and go every year. I don't WANT to go this year. I hate the way I feel after, plus it's expensive!!  Don't tell me to eat sensible because IF I go, I so won't eat sensible.  Well, not entirely true.  I will give the potato to the son and I'll get broccoli. But I'm quite sure I will eat way, and I mean way, too much shrimp. 

If we go.

I'm still trying to fight it.  The husband and the shrimp loving son really, really want to go.  Yes, I theoretically could just send them but I won't.  I'm hoping that Sunday will come around and all will just conveniently forget.  I even hid the coupons that were placed on my desk as a "reminder".

*****Would you like help cooking this years holiday meal?  Tricia from Once a Month Mom just came out with an incredible Holiday eCookbook.  She tells you what to do, how to do it easily and she even had the shopping list done for you!  She has it on sale for a fantastic price until November 1st so hurry and get yours! You can get a 40% discount with the code OAMM40 after you've put it on your cart.  I already bought it and LOVE it! Click the big link in the upper left hand corner of my blog to check it out!

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Hot 100 Update 4

4 weeks.  Sadly, I feel like it's been a wasted 4 weeks.  Actually, I feel like it's been a wasted 2 years.  That's how long I've been stuck. I made it down to 217.4 and then just stopped.  And slowly creeped up.  I'm so done creeping up but I'm still stuck.  So stupid.

So onto my goals.

Goal 1: Posting: I want to post regularly on the dieting blog here.


Still posting.  Once again, it helps to post, even on days that I don't feel inspired to do anything but whine.  Everything I type is a reminder though.  Commenting and encouraging others is a reminder for me.  It helps. 

Goal 2:  Food Tracking

No silly, I certainly didn't track the fun size butterfingers. That would be silly. Uh, actually, that would have been really helpful. Then I would have realized the stupidity of eating 500 calories worth of candy for NO reason and then eating a super small dinner and going to bed hungry. 

Goal 3:  Get moving:

This one I need to put a post it note on my computer monitor or something.  I need to find some sort of regular exercise.  Besides typing and cleaning up after 12 children.  (I only had 12 today, usually it's just 9).  Exhausting as that is, it's not going to build muscle in my flabby, sagging skin. 

Thank you to Steve again from Logmyloss.com who started the Hot 100.  He mentioned that we don't necessarily need to achieve our goals, we just need to stay accountable to them and continue writing about them.  It is so easy to set goals and then just sweep them under the rug and never pull them out again. Steve is asking us to keep them out and fresh in our minds every week.  This is good. It's what I need. It's what a lot of us need. So thank you!!

Fall 15 - Week 3

Time for the update on the Fall 15. Just a reminder to all, the Fall 15 started a few weeks back and the goal is to lose 15 lbs. by December 20th.  Updating on Mondays to keep track of everyone.  Well, apparently I misread the rules.

We're suppose to LOSE weight??!!

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!

That makes more sense. Here I have been GAINING all this time. 

Ha ha.

Enough joking.  Time to step away from the fun size chocolate bars and get serious.  Here are the depressing results of this challenge so far.

Start 239.4
Week 3 - 240.8
Gain 1.4
Pound to lose by December 20th = 16.4 lbs.

Excuses

Doesn't there always seem to be an excuse?

"I couldn't resist!"

"It was a party, I'm supposed to have fun!"

"I'm too busy all day, I don't have time to track my food"

"I'm too stressed out, grabbing a burger out is just easier"

"I got a promotion, I deserve a splurge!"

"I'm too tired by the end of the day to exercise."

Seriously?  The list could go on and on. 

We make choices all the time.  Decisions throughout the entire day.  What to wear in the morning?  Whether or not to bring the umbrella to work.  Which road to take to avoid traffic.  Do I flirt with the waiter at Starbucks today?  What TV show to watch in the evening. 

Decisions and choices throughout the entire day.  Most of which aren't too difficult.  We make these choices because they are a part of our every day life.

Food is also a choice.  Not only what we eat but how much and when we are going to eat it.  It's simple. 

At least it should be simple.  But clearly in a country with so many overweight people, it is not a simple choice. 

We find ourselves deciding to eat something that we KNOW we shouldn't and that we didn't originally plan. 

You need to choose what to wear to work. The blue business suit or the pink spandex pants and fluffy green sweatshirt.  The pink spandex pants and fluffy green sweatshirt are WAY more comfortable than the blue business suit but you know that you shouldn't wear them to the office. You make the wise decision to choose the business suit. 

So why do we choose to eat the burger and fries from a drive through window when we could go home and have a turkey sandwich?  Why do we choose to make cupcakes rather than eat the apples?  

It's often the excuses that get in the way.

You wouldn't show up to work in the fluffy green sweatshirt and start making excuses to your boss would you?  (though your co-workers might get a kick out of it!)

I have been making excuses my whole life.  I still am, every day. Some excuses are valid, most not valid.  Many excuses that I THINK are valid, but when it comes right down to it, they aren't.  

Stop. Making. Excuses.

This is linked with:

Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family

Weigh In Wednesday & Hot 100 Update 3

It's funny. I love to cheer people at their successes, attempt to pick them up when they are down, but don't listen to a word of the advice I give. 

Not. A. Word.

I wake up with hope and resolve that I will do better. But then I don't. 

It will happen.  At some point, it will come back. Just hopefully soon.

This morning I was at a whopping 141.1.  Seriously heading the wrong way here people. Worse, I can FEEL it.  I can see it in my face, feel it in my clothes. Ugh.  I hate it, it needs to change.

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Hot 100 Update 3

Goal 1: Posting: I want to post regularly on the dieting blog here.


Posting semi regular.  I'm snacking like crazy and eating way too big of portions so it's more embarrassing to post. But it would be way more detrimental if I just continued eating in denial.
Goal 2:  Food Tracking:
 
Not a bit.  I'll wake up, eat a 1/2 banana, then some egg beaters with salsa and write it down. That's as far as I get.  The handful of fruit loops, the couple of ham slices, few cheese and crackers, 3 - 4 pretzels just don't make the list.  Then portioning lettuce and dressing goes out the window which means I end up putting twice the dressing on my salads. Then by the time dinner comes, I just don't care and I eat what I want.  3 helpings of baked beans tonight.  3 helpings, people!  They were good but I do didn't need it.


Goal 3:  Get moving:
 
Uh, I think I am typing faster?  Does that count as exercise?

Two Words

Pecans & Chocolate Chips.

Okay, that's more than 2 words.  But it wasn't pretty.  That was dinner. No joke. Like THAT was planned!

I made delicious, healthy, whole wheat pumpkin pancakes for dinner for the kids. I did actually eat a small one.  The kids ate the rest, they were awesome. 

Headache, going to bed. (of course you have a headache, you ate chocolate chips and pecans for DINNER!)  Sheesh!

Blogging Community & Fall 15 Week 2

I just read a post that got me thinking about how awesome the blogging community is. 

They have helped me SO MUCH with my attitude about weight loss.  Those of who can see the side of the screen may infer that I have not had much weight loss success this summer.

Oh, but I have succeeded.

I have gained many invisible blogging friends who have motivated me NOT to mindlessly eat.  They have reminded me to get off my butt and move!  They have reminded me to cook healthy and not go out to eat. (...says the girl who just ate pizza take out yesterday)

They have helped me not to GAIN weight. If I had not started this blog, I am convinced that I would have gained weight.  I know it.

So no, I may not have lost weight this summer but just staying the same has been a total success for me.

This new challenge, the Hot 100, is just another way to keep me motivated. There are a LOT of new blogs that I so want to visit and hopefully eventually I will. It is crazy busy for me and just keeping up on posting on my own 2 blogs is tough.  But, I think that keeping up with my "friends" and making new ones is going to help me so I will do my best!!

If I don't always comment or get back to you, please know that I read and I am benefiting from your posts.  So thank you!

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Fall 15 - Week 2 Update

Gained, going the wrong way.  Horrible weekend.  I hate weighing in on Monday mornings, especially after eating way too much take out pizza the day before!  Grr.

Start - 239.4
Weight = 240.4
Gain  = 1 lb even.
Total for challenge = + 1
16 lbs. to go. 

Friend or Enemy?

Who knows us the best? Our best friend?  Your Mom?

It's not someone that we particularly like. It's not someone that we even spend a lot of time with. In fact, I think that I try to avoid him as much as possible.

Yet, he knows me better than anyone.

The scale.

He knows it all. He sees it all.  Sure we may avoid him for awhile but he still knows us. We can pound, stomp, slam and swear at him but he stays.   Day in and day out, he quietly sits there mocking us, taunting us.  He KNOWS we'll be back eventually.  We can't avoid him forever! 

I can order a cheesy stuffed crust deep dish pizza and eat the whole thing, throw away the box and NO ONE will know. 

But the scale will know. 

I can eat healthy snacks, carrots, celery and apples galore.  And yes, the scale will know.

So who knows you the best?

Yes, it's late, I so need to go to bed.

Weigh In Wednesday & Hot 100 Update 2

Gain from last week, loss from Monday.  Sorry, I'm posting this really quick.  I was at 238.2 this morning.  I so meant to write something earlier to post but didn't and now it's super late, just got home and I HAVE to get the kids to bed! 

Know that I am kicking myself in the butt for eating so bad this weekend and have been doing better!  Gosh, kicking my own butt would be some awesome exercise, wouldn't it?  :-)

Hot 100 Update:

Goals for the Hot 100:


Posting: I want to post regularly on the dieting blog here. My original goal was to post daily but that just isn't happening. Way too busy and half the time I don't have much inspirational stuff to say. I will continue to weigh in on Wednesdays and try to post other days as well.

I'm still here posting. I haven't given up, or thought about it.  Honestly, if I stop blogging, that means complete meltdown and major weight gain or I'm SO successful and busy that I don't need blogging anymore. Ya right. I don't see THAT happening so I will still post.  And be accountable.

Food Tracking: This is super essential for me to lose weight and maintain control. If I leave it to change, I stop caring. I lost 100 lbs. from tracking daily. It worked. Then I stopped. Now, 20 lbs. later, I NEED to get back into it. I've been whining about it forever but I just need to stick with it. I'm very hit or miss about it. It needs to become a priority again.

Nope, not a thing. Snacking like crazy and just eating awful. How's that for honesty!

Get moving: I hate exercise. I've made that clear on other posts. Plus I have ankle issues to prevent me from hopping around and running, BUT, there are still plenty I can do. I need to start doing it. Regularly.

Every so slightly better than before.  Nothing really breaking a sweat and nothing regular.  Gotta work on that!

Fall 15 - Week 1

Okay, so the Fall 15 challenge wants me to update on Mondays so here goes.

Didn't go too well. Totally heading the wrong way.  Seriously, just bad, bad, bad and worse all weekend and even into today. Not focused at all and I bought candy!  Yes, I bought candy! This time I can't blame the husband. Yes, I MEANT it to go to him but then we opened it and I ate WAY, and I mean WAY too much. Stupid, stupid. 

Moral of the story. I'm not buying anymore candy. I won't, I won't, I won't. Doesn't matter how cheap it is or how many coupons I have. It's not coming here any more. 

So as of this morning I was 239.4. Yikes! I told you it was a horrible weekend!!  Today wasn't as bad and HOPEFULLY I can make this up and try to refocus.  Today actually started bad but ended well. Which is odd as it is usually just the opposite.  I ate a stupid breakfast but then just kept it in check the rest of the day and wasn't really hungry for dinner and ate a small healthy dinner. 

Fall 15 - Week 1 - 239.4

Fall 15 Contest

So the summer 15 contest didn't go too well.  How about The Fall 15?  It's always the right season to lose weight, right?  The main thing I like about these challenges is to stay focused and be accountable.  Sure, I often forget after a few weeks but who knows, maybe one will stick.

I am really enjoying the Hot 100.  It just started and I'm loving all the new blogging buddies I've found!

So here's to the Fall 15! I'll be posting results for this challenge on Sunday night or Monday.

Not a lot of plans this weekend, I just need to get caught up on dumb computer work.  So hopefully it will go well with eating!  Wait, not hopefully.  Scratch that. It WILL go well with eating. Confidence is what's it's about!