Weekday Meal

I have seen several people posting this so I thought I would join. Now this isn’t a completely typical day for me. I normally don’t have sausage three times a day, but I am trying to use it up before it goes bad and I really love it! Also I had a major PB issue last night so I was a little sore today. I normally wouldn’t have split my lunch with my afternoon snack, but the extra restriction from the swelling made me eat less for most of the day. By dinner I felt fine so I was able to eat everything (but I loved feeling what real restriction feels like for once). Since I split my lunch and didn’t have an additional snack I was a little short on calories and protein so I finished the day off with a protein shake. I don’t do this often, but it works really well to get my numbers up on a slow day.

• Breakfast: Protein Shake
• Snack: Bagel Chips and low fat cream cheese
• Lunch: ½ Italian Turkey Sausage, Strawberries, and pita chips
• Snack: ½ Italian Turkey Sausage, Strawberries, and pita chips
• Dinner: 1 Italian Turkey Sausage, Wilted spinach with bacon and mushrooms
• Snack: Protein Shake 

I ended up spot on with my calories, protein, fat and carbs. And honestly I felt like I ate a lot today. The only thing I would have changed is the way I got a lot of my carbs. The pita chips and bagel chips were whole grains, but I would have preferred to have had one of those in a non snack food form.

Spring has Sprung!

I LOVE Spring!  It makes me feel so good inside.  I can still remember the first poem I wrote in first or second grade - Spring has Sprung/Enjoy the Sun/Lets Have Fun/Lets Run, Run, Run!  My teacher was so impressed...LOL!

I noticed that many of you are posting pictures of Spring in your area and I thought I would join in.  Now spring has just hit Michigan in a tiny way and I still have some snow on the ground, but the signs of spring are there.

I need to take the snowman off my porch, but I thought it made a great picture.

The vivid purple is one of the only signs of color we have so far in Michigan.

Even my babies have spring fever.  They keep fighting over the window seat.  The cat refuses to move!

"Mom! Make her move please...."

Mollie checking out the new flowers. She wants to go out and smell them all the time!

Picture update

When my mom was visiting last weekend I had her take a quick picture of me at 225. I am not sure the differences are as big as prior updates, but the longer I look the more I see. It is at a slightly different angle since she is almost a foot and half shorter than my dad (who took the prior picture), but even with the lower angle I am starting to see a big difference in my neck. I actually have a little of a hollow spot in my throat! Hopefully, it won’t be long before I start to see my collar bones :)

I really love the picture compared to my first. It is hard to recognize myself at 270. I hated the fact that I looked so different – and felt so different too. The 225 picture is ME. I was probably between 215 and 225 most of my adult life – or at least it feels like it. This is the ME that I feel like inside. Now that is a little scary since I will soon be under this weight. I am not sure what I will see when I get to 195, 185, or 175.

I am sure I will love it, but I still think it will hard – I already feel a little of the emotions I expect will come full force soon. As I went through my house bagging up clothes I got choked up a few times. Looking at my 3xs and 22s I couldn’t believe how large some of them looked to me now (they never really did before).

As I started getting my “smaller” clothes together I really started to feel … sad…happy…something unidentifiable… Many of them I didn’t even get to wear because I didn’t think I was going to fit into the stuff yet. Many of the ones that I was able to add to my closet were clothes that I bought the last time I lost a bunch of weight. Many of them looked brand new and I realized that many of them were probably only wore once or twice before I started to feel they were too tight.

Then it hit me… will the same thing happen this time?? Will these clothes get worn more than a couple times before they are packed back up? I am very close to where I normally give up. Will I give up again? Yes, I say I won’t and I really don’t think I will, but those thoughts are still there.

Other thoughts ran through my mind too. I am half way done.. in less than 4 months. I may not wear these clothes more than a few times and that is a good thing! I may move on to brand new sizes soon - sizes that I haven’t worn in over a decade. That is almost as scary as failing!!

So as I look back on the last two weeks and see how my weight loss has slowed down I have mixed feelings. On one side, I fear that this is just a sign that I will get stuck again and never get under than 200 point (which ever diet I have been on since college has failed at). On the other side, I feel a little relieved that I don’t have to deal with a new identity as quickly as I have so far. But then the impatient me kicks in and says if you lost this much this fast just think what you could do in a year – get your butt moving!

All in all I figure these emotions are normal and are part of the journey. None of them really worry me because most of the time I am an extremely rational person (too rational sometimes). I like facts, numbers, charts, graphs, and research. And the fact is the band works. The success numbers prove it. The fact is also that after a 50 pounds loss in 4 months my body will probably slow down. That doesn’t mean I won’t succeed. I may even speed up again, but a slow down is not an end.

Now after all those deep thoughts I will leave you with one more fact. I have lost 43 inches. FORTY-THREE!!! That is over 3 and half feet. I have lost almost a foot around my waist! No wonder those clothes looked so big :P Most importantly I am only 3.5 inches from hitting that important number of 35 which signifies a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.

50 Pounds Down!

I saw 225 briefly last week when I did a health assessment at work, but since it wasn’t my scale I didn’t consider it official. I had no idea it would take so long to get that number to show up on my own scale - it felt like much longer than a week :) It was the typical monthly stall, but I also have been slacking on my water intake.

Today I was rewarded with that magic number again!!! I am officially half way through my journey and I am so excited. I will update later with my new pictures and measurements, but for now I am going to leave you with a few pictures of 50 pounds really looks like.

Feb Update on My 10 goals for 2010

1. Lose 15lbs every 10 weeks

Progress: So far so good. In the four weeks of February I lost 10 pounds and have 5 more pounds to lose in the next 6 weeks (well now 4.5 pounds in 5 weeks). Even though I think I will have no problems hitting this I don’t want to change this goal at this time. I think 1.5 pounds a week is a good goal and a healthy goal. Plus, if I hit this weekly goal I will be assured of hitting my big goal by my one year anniversary!

Plan for March: Continue working towards a 1.5 pound a week loss. If you plateau for more than two weeks (less than 2 pounds lost in 2 weeks) start shaking things up!

2. Pay off 10k of debt (house, credit card, student loan,car) not including interest by end of year.

Progress: I cut back a couple extra payments this month, but was still able to put back a couple extra dollars. I am still on track to hit my goal by the end of the year.

Plan for March: This month will be hard due to tax season, but I am committed to same payments that I made in February. The goal would be to increase this slightly in May.

3. Toss or box for garage sale 10 items from each room each month until sale - trash doesn’t count :)

Progress: I am not sure if I achieved the letter of this goal, but I sure hit the spirit. During the month of February I sorted through the living room closet and eliminated over way over 10 items. I also sorted through a few boxes of clothes and was able to bag up a least 5 bags of clothes to donate - nothing good enough for the sisterhood :).

Plan for March: Spring cleaning began last weekend so I already have reached my goal :). My goal is to continue spring cleaning and remove at least 10 items from the basement and garage.

4. Complete 10 blog postings every month

Progress: 11 postings this month so this goal was achieved. However, with all the travel I am doing I am having a heck of a time keeping up with everyone. I am still out there even if you get any comments from me. However, I will be honest and say I know I have missed a few updates, but I am doing my best to keep up!!

5. Exercise 10 days every two weeks, with an average of 10 minutes of vigorous activities every day and 10 hours of total activity each week

Progress: Bad Bad Bad! My exercise has really fallen to the wayside! Part of this is due to the fact that I have been suffering from these strange leg and muscle pains for the last few weeks. After 4 weeks of pain, I think I narrowed it down to my shoes so hopefully no more excuses on the exercise side.

Overall, my activity levels were only slightly short of my goals. I averaged 9 hours and 48 minutes of activity each week and 7 minutes of vigorous activity each day. Even without the actually “exercising” I was able to burn on average 2431 calories a day – which is 31 calories over my goal.

Plan for March: Even though I hit my activity and calorie goals I don’t feel like I am getting stronger. I actually feel weaker than I did in January. So in what remains of March I am going to start back with my exercise routine. Back to the 52K program, Pilates in the hotel, and focusing on at least 10 minutes of cardio each day. I am also going get my free pass to the gym at the “health village” that my doctor is in during my next visit. I want to start resistance and weight training there and I think that will help with getting my overall strength back.

6. Attend 10 events this year

Progress: Nothing this month.

Plan for March: I have an event planned for March, but I need to start looking at the year in whole if I want to meet this goal.

7. Save 10% of income by year end

Progress: I increased my savings one more percentage this month.

Plan for March: No changes planned.

8. Complete a 5k by 10/10/10 and run a 25 min mile by April 15th, a 20 min mile July 15st, a 15 min by Oct 15th and a 10 min mile by year end

Progress: Before I gave up my running program I hit a 22:24 minute mile. So I am making great progress.

Plan for March: I will probably slow down a little once I get started again, but I will continue working towards keeping my mile under 25 minutes. I would like to get at least one mile under 22:24 this month. Hopefully my endurance will get stronger over the year, because a 22 minute mile sucks  I think some people can walk faster, but I will get there.

9. Decrease utility bills by 10% (in total) by year end (tv, cell, phone, internet, gas, electric)

Progress: I procrastinated again this month and didn’t make any progress. March will be a little better, but I need to make some more long term decisions with my utilities. I have a couple options, but they would require extending contracts. I would save more money, but I am not sure if I want to be locked into something for a year.

Plan for March: I know other things may delay decisions and that is ok, but don’t let procrastination delay any decisions.

10. Spend 10 hours a month dedicated to house work

Progress: I have made great progress on this so far. I believe I easily spent 10 hours on housework (who doesn’t), but the best part is more of this time was specifically dedicated to getting it done. I felt less rushed and less chaotic even though my house was probably messier than normal. On a side note how in the world does a house get dirtier the more time you spend away from it.

Plan for March: Spring Cleaning!

Trying a few new Designs

Just a little warning, but my blog may be changing a lot over the next few days.  I am trying to find a great spring design that relects how I feel, but I just can't nail it.  I will keep trying when I have a little time so hopefully I don't drive you all crazy :)

Big Daddy: BOO HOO :-(

Tip for Big Daddy.  Try change the type of  commenting that you have.  I think it is called Comment placement.  Try picking the one that is called embedded.  Your comment link is broken somehow and this might bypass that. 

Big Daddy: BOO HOO :-(