Battle of the Bulge - Day 19

Ok I must start working out. I did check out the Curves facility near my house, while convenient to my house, I drive an hour home and they close at 7, so if I get caught in traffic I would never make it to work out. Then that's just another excuse, although not entirely my fault I wouldn't do something else after battling traffic and getting home late. HOWEVER, I did watch some people doing their workout, as the girl was demonstrating the machines. Shane says this really doesn't count as a workout though. LOL

I also homeschool my son, so with working full time, homeschooling, trying to have a social life and working out, I really don't have a lot of time. But I am going to do this. I am going to work out, I am going to keep on track with my eating and finally win the battle.

I am going to check out another workout facility on my way home today, Snap Fitness. It is a 24 hour place, so if I get caught in traffic I could still work out. This will be an ok fix for now, I know they have treadmills and elipitical thingy, but once I really start losing I want to be able to tone up my arms, legs and abs. This is why I am checking it out before I commit, I don't know what kind of equipment they have. I really kind of like the Curves atmosphere because it's a circuit where you do different parts of your body, and most is low impact, which is what I need. I have plantar fasciitis, which is a shortening of the tendons in your foot. I have it in both feet which is really painful if I'm walking for long periods of time. Therefore, the need for low impact.

I am doing good with the calorie intake, so my only problem is the workout. Gotta get this going.

Quote for the Day - Do your best every day, and your life will gradually expand into satisfying fullness.

Rainy, Dreary Monday

Well it has been a very dreary Monday. Monday's are bad enough without the dreary rain. It has been a busy day at work, but I don't overeat when I'm busy. I have decided that I may change my calorie limit to 1250, because I really don't eat 1500 calories and I'm really not hungry. Tonight in looking at my calorie counter, I see that I could have had a large sandwich instead of a regular from Firehouse Subs, but I'm really not hungry at all after eating the regular. I'm not really sure how to decide what my calorie range should be.

I did not start my exercise today, and as I look back it, I once again had an excuse. Well, two excuses....1. it was cold and drizzly outside so I couldn't walk 2. I had a migraine when I got home. I am definitely looking into joining a gym tomorrow. I'm thinking Curves or the Ladies Fitness Center, I don't like working out with all the macho men lifting weights.

Now I must say something about my boyfriend. My boyfriend's name is Shane, he is the sweetest guy I know. He is my best friend, and I can tell him anything. He wrote about me in his blog last night which made me cry. Tears of happiness, not sadness. I am a very emotional person. I think he wrote this because I said my friend's boyfriend wrote her a romantic email, he's about to be deployed to Iraq, which I think implied I thought he was not romantic. I was not meaning he was not romantic, he is romantic, and I really love him a lot. He is really supportive of my weight loss journey.

Here's my calorie count for the day -

			Free Fat Counter my-calorie-counter.com
			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Breakfast
1	cup	Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim)	83	0	0	5	103	12	0	12	8
2	0.75 oz	Post® - Grape Nuts Flakes - breakfast cereal	150	2	2	0	240	34	2	4	4
			233	2	2	5	343	46	2	16	12
Lunch
1	serving	Lean Cuisine Cheese Lasagna & Chicken	270	8	2	30	590	33	3	9	17
			270	8	2	30	590	33	3	9	17
Dinner
1	1 sandwich 299g	Firehouse Subs® - Medium Sub - Turkey (4 oz of meat) - with smoked turkey breast	350	3	0	40	1780	53	2	5	28
1	serving	Diet Dr. Pepper	0	0	0	0	55	0	0	0	0
			350	3	0	40	1835	53	2	5	28
Snack
1	1 Container	Fiber One Vanilla Yogurt	50	0	0	0	55	13	5	4	3
1	serving	Del Monte Fruit Naturals Red Grapefruit	120	0	0	0	15	16	0	13	0
			170	0	0	0	70	29	5	17	3
Water Tracker
Totals Target Balance			1023 1500 68 477	13 65 20 52	4 20 20 16	75 300 25 225	2838 2400 118 438	161 300 54 139	12 25 48 13	47 50 94 3	60 50 120 10
			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Activity
Totals			0

Here's my quote for the day (I do quotes because reading several blogs I see they have quotes, and this sounds like a good idea. A quote to live by)-

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart, head and hands, and then work outward from there.

Second Day of Blogging

Well today has been a less than successful day in the eating area. I did so bad I didn't even put it in my calorie counter. However, tomorrow is another day. Weekends aren't usually this bad, because my boyfriend is very supportive and will eat whatever I make, he's really not picky. This weekend, however, there was lunch at his parents today (Pot Roast) and then prayer meeting, where we always eat and tonight was Lasagna.

I will just look to the week ahead, busy at work so I won't over eat, in fact sometimes it's hard to actually fit in lunch. But I will make it a priority to work in all my foods and snacks. I'm hoping to actually start exercising tomorrow. I know the weight loss is just water loss right now and will not last so I need to start exercising.

**Make no excuses. You don't have time, because if you use energy that way, you won't have any energy to deal with what you need to deal with, which is overcoming obstacles and obtaining your goals. - Frances Williams.**

In the beginning

This is going to be a story of journey to a healthy lifestyle. I want to accomplish this by the time I'm 45. They say that the weight you are at when you hit menopause is the weight you will remain the rest of your life. I hope this is not true, but do not want to take any chances, so I'm starting now to get rid of it.

I am 43 years old, I have a 22 year old daughter and a 17 year old son. I am divorced, and have a boyfriend, Shane. As you can imagine with a teenage son in the house it is nearly impossible to avoid all temptation, as they eat anything all the time. I try to keep all the junk food out of the house, but somehow it manages to sneak in somehow.

I am just like many of you out there, I have done every weight loss plan (Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, etc...) I even had a personal trainer at one time, but nothing really worked. I would get discouraged when I hit the plateaus and just give it all up, gaining back the weight I had lost and then some.

I have been following my friend Tammy's blog and she is very inspirational and motivating.

I have decided at this point in my life I need to do something. I have aches and pains everywhere and I can't even walk up the driveway without running out of breath. So I have made the ultimate decision to start losing weight the right way. I started on September 21st, weighing 222 pounds. Now I know what everyone would be thinking at 5'1" that is just too much to weigh. I've always had the philosophy that I'm not overweight, I'm just under tall. But is that really a healthy way to think, not really. So here I am, starting over. The only thing different this time is I'm really going to do it this time, FOR GOOD.

I know what I need to do. I have always known what I need to do, just doing it is the hard part. I'm always making excuses for not doing it, too much going on, not enough time, you know all the excuses. I know what I am supposed to eat, but I don't, it's just easier to do the convenient thing. But this is all changing now.

I have been counting my calories, and am staying pretty well within my calorie limit of 1500. My kids say I'm obsessed with this calorie counting thing. I count every calorie, and list out everything, if we have to eat out, I have to pull out my iPhone and check my calorie counter to see what I can eat at a particular restaurant. Fast food has an astronomical amount of calories and sodium. But I make sure wherever we're going has something I can eat within my calorie range. My days of milkshakes and fast food burgers are over. Something that has really been hard to give up is Sweet Tea. It's a Southern staple with every meal and in between. When I went to Las Vegas I thought I was going to die because they do not have Sweet Tea. I have found that, out of habit, when we go into a restaurant I automatically order sweet tea when asked for my drink order. I am making more of an effort to just say water. I'm even trying to avoid diet drinks because that is added sodium. I have noticed that EVERYTHING has sodium in it, things you wouldn't imagine, like milk.

Since starting my dieting on September 21, I have lost 8.5 pounds, and really don't want to find it again. I still have not started exercising, because, of course, I have excuses. I have week knees, a torn tendon in my foot, I have plantar fasciitis (which keeps me from doing a lot on my feet), back pain, hip pain. My doctor says a lot of my problems would go away if I lose weight, but that's easier said than done. I am going to start exercising. I must exercise if I want to actually lose more and keep it off. I actually walked today, but it wasn't a steady walk. My boyfriend and I went to the Civil War reenactment, at Allatoona Pass, so we were walking the trails there, but there was a stop about every 5 minutes or so, so it wasn't a steady pace for 15 - 20 minutes. But hey I was moving, which is more than I do most days. Usually just getting out of bed is a feat all in itself.

I have read a lot of blogs and have decided this is a pretty good way of accountability. Even if no one reads it, I can look back and find out where I was and feel as if I was accountable to God and myself.

Life is all about change and I want this to be the best change of my life. Life is short, and I want to live it to the fullest. To do this I must be able to get there and not be short of breath.

Okay, I am going to publish my food journals and see what kind of feedback I get from that. So here is the one for today. I am under my calorie limit, so yea for me. I am doing good with my water, but sometimes still need something else. However, trying to just drink water. I try to eat fruit as my snack during the day, but have been so busy today that I haven't had any snacks.

			Free Food Diary my-calorie-counter.com
			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Breakfast
1	cup	Milk, lowfat, fluid, 1% milkfat, with added vitamin A	102	2	2	12	107	12	0	13	8
1	serving	Special K w/Strawberries	110	0	0	0	220	25	1	10	3
			212	2	2	12	327	37	1	23	11
Lunch
1	serving	Smoked Turkey Breast	145	2	0	44	1155	3	0	3	29
2	serving	Natures Own Double Fiber Wheat Bread	200	3	0	0	380	44	12	6	10
2	Serving - 19 G	SARGENTO« - CHEESE - DELI STYLE PROVOLONE THIN SLICES 12 CT 8 OZ PEG	140	10	7	30	270	0	0	0	10
			485	15	7	74	1805	47	12	9	49
Dinner
1	serving	Stouffer's Easy Express Broccoli & Beef	350	6	3	25	1660	57	2	4	18
			350	6	3	25	1660	57	2	4	18
Snack
Water Tracker
Totals Target Balance			1047 1500 70 453	23 65 35 42	12 20 60 8	111 300 37 189	3792 2400 158 1392	141 300 47 159	15 25 60 10	36 50 72 14	78 50 156 28
			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Activity
Totals			0

This is all I will write for tonight. I was so excited to get my blog started, that it is way past my bedtime. So I will leave you with this thought...

Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.