still feeling bad

Sorry I am not posting. I am still feeling yucky. Surely soon I will be well. Going to look at the library for books about different things that may be causing me to feel this way. I have had a hard time getting over this cough, sneeze, snot thing. blah. But I'm believing that I will be better soon.

Thanks for remembering me.

Marriage Conference Notes

For those who are interested, here are the notes from the marriage conference hubby and I attended this past weekend.
*********
Marriage Conference 4/23/10 Robert Kurz, marriage conselor
Session One- "Communication"

1. Communicate with a spirit of Truth - Communicate with a spirit of truth, not half truths. Do not hide things from your spouse.

2.Communicate with Grace, which is undeserved favor. Speak nicely to your spouse even when you think they don't deserve it. "Let your speech be always with grace"

3. Speak with Edification- build up your spouse. Let no corrupt communication proceed from your mouth. If you don't control your speech, you are like a city with broken down walls--defenseless.

4. Speak with Optimism- "Do all things without complaining or disputing" Phil 2:14

(Have the same attitude at home as you do with others. He tells the story of staying over very late after church because he was in his office conselling church members. He helped and helped his church members while his wife and kids waited for him. His kids fell asleep at the church. When it was finally time to leave, his wife pointed out that he gives so much to others that he had nothing left for his family. He was out of balance and was treating accquaintances better than he was treating his family. He saw his fault and determined to change that. He said "It is WRONG to use all of your energy doing good things if we have no energy left for our families")

5. Communicate an attitude of Humility- When you are wrong, admit it. When you are right, shut up.

6. Communicate with unity-- meet in the middle, compromise with your spouse, don't be selfish

7. Communicate by listening- Be there for your spouse even when you don't feel like it.


Session Two-- "Why don't we pray?"

Five minutes a day of praying together, aloud, for your spouse will build a strong marriage and is a mighty weapon against satan. However, 90% of Christian families don't do this. Most of them do pray for their spouse during their personal devotions, and that is good, but if we would also daily put our hand our our spouse's head and really PRAY FOR THEM, it would be very powerful.

Most people he counsels DO want to do this, but they are busy, or their schedules conflict or whatever, there are many excuses. But we end up doing what we WANT to do and if our desire for an awesome marriage is strong enough, we will discipline ourselves and pray. You will have pain either way.........the pain of self discipline or the pain of regret.

"The mightiest weapon we have is intercessory prayer"- Robert E. Lee

www.trainingforlifeministries.com

nonchalant & SRD definition

I am STILL sick. Still. wow. I guess it is allergies. I am taking meds out the kazoo and it doesn't seem to be helping. Cough. Sneeze. Red eyes. Sleepy. Snot. Blah. Surely it will be over soon.

Marriage retreat was *wonderful*! I will post a seperate post with a copy of my notes.

My eating has just been okay. No binging, really, but not being very strict on myself either. I just haven't felt like it.

We went to the fitness center of the hotel at marriage conference and on the treadmill I walked a 5K! It has been about a year since I've walked a 5K. It felt good!

Nothing really to say.........and I want to get school and housework done EARLY so that I can go to bed between 7 and 8 tonight because I am so sleepy. zzzz

Btw, someone asked what SRD stands for. It is State Recognition Days for TOPS (take off pounds sensibly) and it is a formal awards assembly/fun day held once a year in Tulsa, where our king and queen for the year for the orginization are crowned.

Thanks for reading!

I'm a Milkshake Drunk,sometimes

I would like to introduce you to my friend from "Escape from Obesity". Her post today really knocked me out of my stupid thinking.

Her post is here:

http://escapefromobesity.blogspot.com/2010/04/you-too-can-lose-0-pounds-in-20-months.html

My response to her post is here:

I read this at exactly the right time. See, we are going on a "date weekend" starting tomorrow and I have the CELEBRATE mentality and my brain keeps telling me to enjoy this time by not counting calories and by driving to sonic to get a big milkshake! BUT..........your post reminded me........of the struggle. I have struggled, struggled, struggled....still struggle with these crazy few pounds that are keeping me above 300. My first goal is to weigh less than 300. The closest I have gotten is 300.75 for ONE day, then I shot back up and fluctuate mostly between 303-310. One year ago I went to SRD for TOPS and I was losing well and I just knew that by this time I would have lost a TON of weight. However, this year's SRD is in EIGHT days and I'll be happy to just be below 300. STRUGGLE! So, what makes me think I can drink milkshakes and blow off counting calories and STILL make that goal? CRAZY and INcorrect thinking. THANK YOU for this post which woke me up from my milkshake dream. I have something to work for. Now I am going to get off my booty and go exercise! You are an inspiration!

Tomorrow hubby and I are going to this lovely hotel http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/tulbr-renaissance-tulsa-hotel-and-convention-center/ for two days for Marriage Conference. The kids will be going to grandma's. We are looking forward to it!

Facebook it messed up right now. Or is it just my account? I can't check messages...everything is in a very basic format---just messed up. Is yours?

Thanks for reading! I have a ton to do today! The regular stuff (school and housework), then be at the church @ 5 for prayer meeting. Also packing for the trip, packing stuff for the kids to take to grandma's, and I will probably need to go to the store. busy, busy, busy but fun, fun, fun!

Have a great day and thanks for reading!


Wednesday:

9 a.m....480 cals
2/3 c. bran flakes
1 c. kashi cereal
half a banana
1.5 c. 1% milk

11 a.m....50 cals
small apple

1:30 p.m....775 cals
3 mini pizzas made from English Muffins
2/3 cup corn
1 toast with jelly
1/3 pkg skittles

6:15 p.m....210 cals
12 nilla wafers

11 p.m...1390 cals
3 pc cheese pizza
2/3 cup corn
can of dr pepper
1.5 cups cocoa pebbles
1.5 cups 1% milk

2,905 cals total. Within range.

Back in the saddle

I have been in the saddle, fell off the saddle while throwing up, back in the saddle, back out of the saddle to clean up other people's vomit and am now BACK in the saddle again, hopefully to stay!

It is sad that the bumps in life can shake our determination to make healthy decisions. Life is ALWAYS going to happen. There has NEVER been an extended time of peace, calm and perfectness. Really....think about it.......has you ever had an extended time of idea weight loss conditions? Life is going to happen!!!! There will ALWAYS be excuses. So, I must get to the point that NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON, I still make wise nutrition and exercise decisions. Must. or fail. Do it or fail, it's that simple, really. *sigh* I gained 1.75 pounds this week. fail.

I try to take it day by day. But even that is too big of a stretch. I guess I need to ask myself every few hours "Am I making healthy decisions or am I failing?" Ok.......I will aim for that today.........asking myself that question every few hours. May even set my timer to remember to "check on myself".

In the spirit of honesty, I will post what I ate yesterday, although it was a fail day:

Tuesday 4/20/10

9 a.m.
maple long john donut
small carton chocolate milk

1 p.m.
3 layer nachos from taco bell
chicken quasidilla
approx 10 skittles

6 p.m.
16 oz milkshake from Braum's

9 p.m.
kiddie size milkshake from Braum's
medium fries
junior burger

3,782 cals (over by 622)

SPRING CHALLENGE UPDATE>>>>>>>
1. exercise= fail
2. no soda= failed but did drastically cut back
3. something good about me= I'm not ashamed to be seen without makeup. When I was 14, I wouldn't even let my own cousin see me without makeup because I was ashamed of how I looked. However, the next year I enrolled in a Christian school that didn't allow makeup and I got used to it and realized that I look just fine. Actually, after a few years of not wearing any makeup, my skin drastically improved.

sick.

I am sick. So is hubby and son. Stomach virus, fever, chills. Praying to be well tomorrow. We need to be healthy this week and to get school work done. Please pray for us. Thanks.

Thursday and Friday

I said I would post what I consumed on Thursday but I've changed my mind. It's just too much work and my heart isn't into doing that today for some reason. It is sufficient to say "I ate just fine until really late and then I went over my calories with a cup of ice cream and 3 granola bars. I was lazy and didn't exercise. I drank water, but probably not enough."

Now, today is Friday. I didn't journal today. I was/am in such a funk! Weird. I just needed a day "off" and I'm okay with that. Thank you for the nice comments. I really appreciate the lady who said maybe my allergies had something to do with it and that it was okay. I really needed to hear that. THANK YOU!

Tonight I was invited to a preacher and preacher's wife dinner. Which is odd, because my husband is not a preacher. We do a LOT at the church, have a lot of titles and hold a lot of offices, but preacher isn't one of them. So, we were honored to be invited. Strangely, I wasn't nervous at all or the least bit intimidated. It was good. Funny, someone asked me "Is your husband a preacher?" and I said "no" but later I thought of the funniest thing to say... I said "I'm married to a BM (which usually stands for bowel movement, ya know). I went on to explain that BM stood for Board Member. And since I am his Wife, that makes me a BMW! (and I even said it while we were sitting at the table eating...probably not the best time to say it..but it was hillarious and went over well) A young girl in her 20's went on to say that her husband was a pit...yes, a P.I.T.....Preacher In Training.
It was a good night.

Mayday! Mayday!

I haven't posted about yesterday yet or caught up reading the blogs (I plan to in a bit) but I am REALLY having an odd day and I am requesting prayers.

I have made a chain of unwise decisions in the past few hours.

It started last night. I ate a cup of ice cream even though it would put me over calorie limits.

Then I stayed up until almost 3 a.m. wasting time on the computer.

I ate 3 granola bars in the middle of the night.

I slept LATE (10:30).
(The kids are both sick, so we aren't having school today.)

I woke up starving.

I feel like having a "oh well" day. Not a very good attitude to have! hum......

so........................yeah. pffft.

allergies, challenge update, and Wednesday

Son and I had allergy issues like crazy yesterday! I sure hope it rains today and calms things down. I took a benadryl and felt sooooooooooo slleeeeeeeeeeeepy all day long. blah. I am DETERMINED that I will stay on schedule today and be productive. Yesterday I didn't really "do" hardly anything. I was just here.

Daughter woke up this morning vomiting and she still is. And running fever. Always something! So today I am perfecting the art of vomit catching and doing a lot of laudry. At least I'm glad I am able to stay home with her.

Challenge update:
1. exercise 6 days per week= exercised 3 days. Not very good. I was in the birthday/sugar/lazy rut. Sadly, I still feel quite lazy. But I am trying to get over it!

2. no soda= I had soda on my birthday and the day after..but those were the only two days of the challenge that I broke the rules.

3. something good about myself= I want to be a good wife. Some people just don't care if they are or not..but I do care. I am NOT the wife I want to be (yet) but I am working on it.

Hubby wore a pedometer after he realized that I was wearing one. He seems to think I do nothing all day except sit in front of the computer. Well, comparing steps, I moved around a LOT more than him. hehehehe I had to laugh. I guess that busts his theory. Still, I knew his pride was injured, so I said "Maybe it wasn't picking up right on you. Or maybe it picks up TOO much on me because I jiggle more when I walk." ;)

Wednesday
9:00....680 cals
1.5 cups bran flakes
half a banana
1.5 c. 1% milk

1:00 p.m....670 cals
1 c. hamburger helper (cheeseburger mac)
2/3 cup corn
2 kashi cookies

3:10....140 cals
fiber one bar

3:45 p.m.....280 cals
2 scrambled eggs
1 slice cheese
1 toast

6:00 p.m....500 cals
kashi almond bar
stick cheese
2 kashi cookies

10:40 p.m.....420 cals
bacon and cheese sandwich
fiber one bar

11:30 p.m....260 cals
1 cup ice cream

TOTALS:
2,950 cals (within range)
3,751 sodium (still too high)
64 oz water
ex= -0- (I could give an excuse..but I'm so tired of making excuses.)

Birthday cake + weigh in = not good.

This picture was taken a year ago, at TOPS State Recogniton Days, with the outgoing chapter queen. I am REALLY looking forward to attending SRD again this year, which is April 30th and May 1st in Tulsa (4 hours from my house). My hubby and kids go with me, but they just lay around in the hotel room and watch tv and eat and "vacation" while I am downstairs doing my TOPS stuff. It is a lot of fun. My TOPS chapter is giving me $100 to go toward the expenses. That was so nice.

Last night showed a 1.25 pound gain on the TOPS scales, due to my birthday and the unhealthy day that followed it. *sigh* It could have been worse. And it is NOT going to stay.

My computer is acting crazy. I had to restart it SEVERAL times before it would connect to the internet. So, if I come up missing, it means my computer died, and in that case, I will post from the library about once per week. I hope that doesn't happen though.

Tuesday 4/13/10

8:30 a.m.....801 cals
1.5 pb&j sandwiches
12 almonds
1c. 1% milk

11:00 a.m....200 cals
stick cheese
12 almonds

1:00 p.m....400 cals
small McDonalds' hamburger
vanilla cone

3:00 p.m....410 cals
1 cup hamburger helper (cheesy baked potato)
2/3 cup corn

6:30 p.m...490 cals
2 kashi cookies
1 mini fiber one bar
1 regular fiber one bar

8:30 p.m...700 cals
1 cup kashi cereal
half a banana
2/3 c. bran flakes
2 cups 1% milk
1 kashi cookie

TOTALS:
calories=3,001 (within range)
sodium=3,492 (still too high)
exercise= walked one mile (24 minutes)

I weighed 305.25 at TOPS this week. My calorie range is 2,100-3,163.

Getting over it and Eating what you plan.

Yesterday morning I wrote down a plan of what I would eat that day. I planned within calorie range and I planned that I would have something to eat every 2 hours. Then I FORBID myself to stray from my plan...NO substitutions whatsoever. I told myself "So, you want to eat a bunch of sweets, eh? Well, you can't have them. Not today. So, GET OVER IT." Somehow, that worked. I planned what I ate and ate what I planned. ding ding ding, we have a winner. ;)

I also FORCED myself to do the wii fit for 30 minutes. I REALLY didn't want to. I did some heavy talking to myself today. "too bad, so sad, you have no choice, now exercise". My heart wasn't in it...I did the easiest exercises on there..but I did it.

All day long my precious 8 year old daughter asked if we could go for a walk together. blah. That doesn't sound fun! But I wanted to make her happy. So after supper, we walked the neighborhood. It was nice. I was glad I did it.

So the day was a victory because I got my footing back. It wasn't an excellent day....but it was within limits. Since I have had 3 days of being over the limits, within the limits is good!

This evening is TOPS and weigh in. yikes.

Monday 4/12/10

10 a.m....760 cals
1.5 cups bran flakes
1.5 cups 1% milk from Braum's (the best!)
12 almonds
half a banana

12 noon......313 calories
1 can tuna
2 boiled eggs
4 pickle slices
1 slice toast

2:00 p.m.....615 cals
salad with lettuce, tomato, cheese, dressing and chicken.
1 and 1/3 cup dry honeycomb

4:00 p.m....410 cals
1 cup kashi cereal
half a banana
6 almonds
1 cup 1% milk

6:00 p.m.....650 cals
1 cup hamburger helper (cheesy baked potato)
2 rolls
2/3 cup corn
1 cup green beans

Bedtime....347 cals
half of a pb & j sandwich
4 almonds
1 c. 1% milk

DAY TOTALS:
calories= 3,095 (within range)
sodium= 5,274 (yikes! high!)
water= 70 oz.
exercise= 45 minutes

Weekend druggie :(

Once again, sorry for the pictureless post.

Saturday and Sunday were not good. When I had my "eat whatever you want because it is your birthday" day on Friday, I awakened the sugar/carb addiction within me. Saturday I didn't do well. I finished off the birthday cake....and ate quite a bit of pasta. I felt physically dependent on these things. I know that sounds silly, but if you've been there, you know, and if you haven't then you don't.

I realized that in order to get over this, I was going to HAVE to STOP eating the bad stuff... as long as you eat it, you will keep craving it. eerrr...it's like a drug, really.

So, Sunday I determined to eat healthy. But sometimes willpower is not enough. I felt like I was starving. But still, I stayed within calories UNTIL time for bed. I felt like I just HAD to have something sweet. had too. Luckily, there was nothing "sweet" in the house (i.e. ice cream, little debbies, etc). I knew a binge was coming on and I felt powerless to stop it. So......I compromised on myself. I told myself that I could eat granola cereal with almonds in it (because it does taste a little sweet but it is a natural sweet) BUT that I had to eat it out of a punch cup. LOL A punch cup! tiny! I refilled it twice. :)

So.............Saturday was ppfpfftttt.

Sunday was not perfect but making progress out of this terrible stronghold.

And today is Monday. New week. I'm forgetting the things that are behind and focusing on today.

Last night, our pastor preached about "man's days are few and full of trouble"....about life is NEVER going to be perfect...there are ALWAYS going to be struggles. He preached about learning to live life to the fullest DESPITE the struggles....about NOT WAITING for the struggle to end to enjoy your life. I thought it fit my weight loss stuff perfectly.
I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading!!!! :)

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday. As my present to myself, I told myself that I could "go wild" and eat whatever I wanted, but only during the 24 hour period. And I did. I'll spare you the details. Sadly, I didn't enjoy it (the greasy food) as much as I thought I would. I think that is good. Perhaps I have made some mental changes. Last night I was feeling somewhat sick (imagine that) and I felt like I really wanted a bottle of water and a kashi bar. Weird. But a good weird.
I only ate ONE piece of cake. I was too full to eat more. I've got to get the rest of that cake OUT of my house today. must.

I did not make my goal of being under 300. But that's okay. I'm close. And I'm still going down. I'll get there. My wii said I was 303.75 yesterday morning.

I cancelled school and decided that we would do things that *I* love all day. :) We went to yard sale after yard sale after yard sale! My son didn't particularly love this. But I bought him and his sister some stuff to keep the peace. Really, who wants to hear a bunch of whining on their birthday? "Here, take this 50 cents and find something to buy and be happy already." LOL :) It works!

I bought a blouse that is great for church and does NOT have to be ironed (yay!). I found a loveseat that I LOVE and I jimmied them down to $40 on it. I also got a beautiful end table for just $3. (these are pictured above). I was really looking for porch furniture but didn't find any. So I went to the dollar store and bought me some :) I reimbursed myself, partially, when mom gave me birthday money...so one of the chairs is from her. This made it float a little better with the hubby ;) It was a great day!

talking to myself

@Supper last night= "Well, that lasagna was really good. I want some more. I can eat more and still be in calorie limit. And look, hubby still has half a serving on his plate. I can eat that! No harm!"

"NO. Just no. You planned what you would eat and you ate what you planned. You don't need anything else. You've had enough. So, no. Just no. Now get up and wash the dishes" Then I threw leftover lasagna in the trash.

20 minutes later, while washing dishes "I am so glad I didn't eat that lasagna. I wasn't hungry. As a matter of fact, I'm rather uncomfortably full" burp

**************
9 a.m....600 cals
kashi cereal with granola, banana and 1% milk

11:30 a.m.....455 cals
strawberry smoothie

1:30 p.m....200 cals
12 almonds
stick cheese

3:30 p.m....281 cals
1 can tuna
1 T light miracle whip
pickles
2 slices bread

5:30 p.m......950 cals
1.5 servgings lasagna (yum!)
2 garlic rolls
1 and 1/3 cups corn
sugar free pudding cup
kashi almond bar

DAY TOTALS
cals= 2,486 (well within range)
sodium= 3,068 (better than yesterday, but still too much)
water= approx. 60 oz
exercise= short challenge on wii biggest loser game and then mowed the yard

In reference to the calorie comments.

Let's "Keep moving forward" (from "Meet the Robinsons, which, even though it is a kid movie, has a really deep meaning and is one of my favorites! I highly recommend watching it with your weight loss journey in mind!)

I don't think anyone was trying to be ugly with their comments. (one person even said "I'm not being ugly, okay?" ...so...no, they weren't trying to be ugly) I think they were just trying to offer advice.
It *IS* a bit frustrating for me to say "This is how many calories I eat and this is why" and feel *victorious* about the changes you have made, to keep getting "wow, you eat too much" comments.
I am NOT where I need to be yet. But I am way better than I was. And I am still moving forward. I am not ready to move my calories down. But I do appreciate all of the comments. It does me a world of good just to know that people are reading. Please don't stop commenting. I really do appreciate it. And we will all get to our goal...regardless of our route...as long as we are consistent and keep moving forward. yay!

(SkinnyHollie, in reference to your question, my leader said the following: "The Biggest Loser-The Weight-Loss Program to Transform Your Body, Health, and Life page 30 is where the chart figures that I use. But the formula of your weight x12 -500 (or -1,000) comes from my past readings and studies. I have come across it a couple of place but I can't remember where. That is the formula I used the last two years.")

Eating 3,000 calories per day.

I've gotten a lot of comments about me eating so many calories per day. I will address that issue here.

I have been a yo-yo dieter for YEARS. I'd do good, lose up to 10 pounds, give in to hunger, eat, gain it all back, repeat. When I wasn't journalling and watching my intake, a normal day for be was around 4,500 calories (mostly consumed in sweets and carbs). When I "got back on the wagon", I'd do 1,500-2,000 per day. BUT that was too much of a jump FOR ME. I would feast, starve, feast, starve. That is not healthy.

Enter *** (name has been removed). I am 100% sure heaven sent her into my life to help me with my weight loss. **** had been overweight for years and she, too, had been a yo-yo dieter. So, she can relate. BUT that was then. She is now 115 pounds of pure health. She owns a women's only fitness center. She has done TONS of research on HEALTHY weight loss.
She is the one who gave me my calorie goals. She said to take your weight, multiply by 12, then subtract 500. That number will be your max intake. For your minimum intake, you can subtract 1,000 instead of 500 OR you can use the biggest loser chart. (My min is 2,100 according to the biggest loser chart) Update your numbers weekly as you take off pounds sensibly.

So, that is what I have been doing for the past few weeks and I *have* been losing. It *has* been slow (except for the one week when I lost 4.25 for some reason that I don't understand) but slow weight loss is better than NO weight loss.....and slow weight loss is GOOD if it is permanent :)

Still, I had so many "you are eating too much" comments, I decided to email *** last night to make sure I was on base. Below are copy and pastes from that email:

Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 6:21 PM
To: ****
Subject: calories


I have a quick question.
I weighed 304 yesterday. 304 x 12 - 500 is just over 3,000 calories, so I set that as my limit.
However, I am getting a TON of comments on my blog saying that is WAY too many calories for me, even at 304.
I just am wondering what to say to these people....and wanting to make sure you are sure I'm okay with that amount.
Thanks for your help!
:) Amy

***********
Amy,
The below formula would be the maximum. If you want to lose one pound within a week, without exercise. For your weight, The Biggest Loser recommends 2,100. So your range should be 2,100- to 3,148. If you stay at the maximum all the time, it will come off as long as you are very diligent but it will be very slow. The more you cut your calories the faster you will lose weight but it most likely won't be fat. It will be muscle and bone. To lose the fat effectively, you have to burn it off. That means exercise! I did read your food diary this morning. It looks so much better! And I saw about 2 1/2 hours of exercise. That is wonderful!

Your exercise is burning more calories and will make a difference in losing weight faster.

Going lower than 1,000 calories of your maximum, is unhealthy. It actually messes up your metabolism because your body starts getting the protein it needs from your muscle. That's another reason why strength training is important. It keeps your body building muscle. CARDIO exercise is important because it burns fat!

The philosophy of eating more calories (the formula I use) and not starving is so against the norm. The Biggest Loser is always saying you have to eat to lose weight in a healthy manner. You can definitely try cutting back to 2,100 but if you get too hungry, go back up 250-300 calories (to 2,350-2400) for a few days and try going back down. You will have to retrain yourself.

Many people fail when they cut their calories to an extreme low. They can last only so long when they feel starved all the time.

That's my two cents worth. :-)
****

*********
Now, on to yesterday's food journal:

9 a.m.....460 cals
1 cup kashi 7 grain flakes
1 cup 1% milk
1/4 cup granola
half a banana

11:15 a.m.....495 cals
salad (lettuce, cheese, chicken, dressing)
sugar free pudding cup

1:30 p.m.....455 cals
strawberry smoothie

3:30 p.m.....280 cals
2 kashi almond bars

5:00....200 cals
stick of cheese
12 almonds (salt rinsed off)

9:30 p.m....600 cals
Repeated breakfast (cereal)

11:00 p.m....220 cals
popcorn chicken
(the chicken was NOT on the plan. I wasn't hungry, just wanted to eat. I ate it and realized that I was zoning out and that I was actually VERY tired. I know me, and I eat instead of sleep when I am tired. So, I identified that and brushed my teeth and said "NO MORE FOOD FOR YOU TONIGHT AMY". :)

DAY TOTALS:
calories= 2,710 (in range)
water= 40 oz (not too great)
exercise= -0- (I had a hectic day, but that is not a good excuse)
sodium= 3,788 mg Today was the first day I've tracked my sodium. WOW...it's in everything! (almost) Right now I am working on being more aware of the sodium content of my foods.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading and extra thanks for the comments. I love to check in and see that I have comments! :)

:) that TOPS lady

S-L-O-W weight loss

You know I went to TOPS hoping to weigh in at ANYTHING under 300. Even 299.9 would have been fine. But no, I was 304. Only down ONE pound. I really thought I had done better than that. I wondered (hoped) "Perhaps I drank too much water on my way to weigh in". Maybe. Maybe not. Before I went to bed, I weighed on the wii and it said 300.9 and I was excited. However, I weighed on the wii THIS morning and it said 303.5 eerrr.

I think I am weighing too much and putting too much focus on the "under 300 by Friday (my birthday)" thing. I need to be happy for the pound I lost, regardless.

Having said that, I am really watching my salt intake for these next two days! Wow..have you read the labels? 90% of the things in my kitchen have a LOT of salt. Except bananas. Did you know that bananas only have 1mg of salt? I think they are a super food!

Time for a SPRING CHALLENGE CHECK-IN!
This week I *still* have had no soda! Yay!!
I exercised at least 30 minutes for only FOUR days instead of the SIX. Mostly due to poor time management.....which I am STILL working on. eerr
Something good: This one is hard today because I sure am not feeling it. OK...something good.....I am content to drive an old junky van with no air. Sure, I'd love to have a nice vehicle, and I once did...but we were so financially strapped and couldn't even pay our bills. My van was repossessed in December. Now I drive a clunker. But it is paid for! And I am okay with driving it and not even complaining because I am enjoying how it freed up our income AND because we are getting out of debt and I know that as I am patient, we will eventually be able to get a better vehicle for me and won't have to go into debt to get it! yay! (We are huge Dave Ramsey fans.) The above pic is how my hair looks when I've been in my van with no air...with the windows down. ;) LOL



Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

9:10 a.m.....760 cals
1 c. granola
1 cup 1% milk
12 almonds
2/3 banana

11:10 a.m......100 cals
12 almonds

2:20 p.m.....900 cals
3 tacos

3:10 p.m.....160 cals
nature valley bar

6:10 p.m.....estimating 500 cals
snacks at TOPS party (chips, salsa, cheese, chicken salad)

8:00 p.m.....220 cals
cookie from subway (shouldn't have had this....started a sweet craving)

9:50 p.m....897 cals
half of a 6" sub sandwich (ham, no cheese)
2 ice cream cones
half a piece of pumpkin pie
(I should have just gone to bed...I was tired)

Day totals:
cals=3,537 (over by 377)
water= 86 oz.
ex= 2/3 mile walk

Somewhat worried about weigh-in

With the exception of Sunday, I have journaled my food everyday and have been within range. Just like I did last week, when I lost 4.25 pounds. This week I have exercised to the biggest loser, which is HARD. I've had enough water to fill a small pond. I *should* be good.

So tonight is TOPS and I weigh in. I also have only THREE more days until my birthday, which I am insisting that I weigh less than 300 on. So......I'm really wanting to be down, ya get my drift?

My scales (which are very unreliable anyway) are at my sister's house. Last night I weighed on them and was UP five pounds. (see worried/confused faces above LOL) I'm hoping that it was because I was wearing different clothes, weighing on carpeted floor, just drank a ton of water, etc.

So this morning I weigh on the wii and it shows me having not lost an ounce. eerrrrr. Once again, I'm hoping it's wrong. I will know at 5:30 p.m. when I weigh on the reliable doctor's scales at TOPS. Wish me luck!

Ok........here's my yesterday...Monday 4/5/10:

9:10 a.m....652 cals
half cup bran flakes
half cup granola
1 cup 1% milk
12 almonds
one third banana
fiber plus bar

11:10....100 cals
stick cheese

1:10....558 cals
3/4 cup alfredo
half cup peas
sugar free pudding
half order fries
(I am NOT happy with what I ate at this meal.)

3:10p.m.....250 cals
mini fiber one bar
nature valley bar

5:00 p.m......300 cals
fiber one bar (regular size)
nature valley bar

6:35 p.m.....280 cals
20 almonds
granola bar

9:10 p.m.....380 cals
baked potato
1 T. margarine
2 rolls

10:15 p.m.....660 cals
2 bean burritos
sugar free pudding cup

DAY TOTALS:
cals=3,180
water= 64 oz
ex= 31 min. biggest loser on wii

I love Mondays and Omega-3 Fish oil

I love Mondays. There is just something about the start of a new week!

Nothing much to report about Sunday. We had a dinner at church...there was a lot of calorie estimating and I didn't keep a journal. I did, however, keep reminding myself that I want to be unde 300 by Friday so that motivated me to not use the lack of journaling as an excuse to pig out.

I had said I might exercise on Sunday, but I didn't. Sundays are always church, eat, nap, church for me and it is the only day of the week I can nap without feeling guilty. So, for only exercising 6 minutes on Saturday, all I can say is "I messed up". But that was last week. :) This is Monday.

I still haven't had a soda.

I bought some Omega-3 fish oil supplements that are supposed to be really good for a lot of things but I bought them for the mood stablizing element. They are to be taked 3 times a day. Yesterday was my first day. We'll see if I can tell a difference. Do any of you take these?

Thank you for reading my plain looking, pictureless post. I am limiting myself to one hour of computer time for this morning and I don't have time to dig up a pic! I want to go read all of yall's wonderful blogs!

Have a greeeeeeeaaaaaaaat week!

;) -thatTOPSlady

Sunday morning rush

It is 6:35 a.m. Have you seen me posting much this early? NO! :)

I am cooking 30something sausage biscuits for Sunday School. Yes, we are expecting that many kids.

Then I have to iron (blah), wake the kids and force them to get ready (joy) and fix my daughter's hair. I need to be out the door by 8:50 a.m.

We are eating a free lunch at the church after service. yay! no dishes! And it is spaghetti, my favorite.

So, without further ado, the following is from yesterday's journal entry:

10:30 a.m.....790 cals
1.5 cup bran flakes
half cup granola
1.5 cup 1% milk
12 almonds
1 whole banana

1:45 p.m...1,105 cals (yikes)
salad with lettce, tomato, 2 T. dressing, chicken, 1 oz. cheese
extra large strawberry smoothie (it was so good!)

4:45 p.m....100 cals
20 almonds

8:30 p.m...740 cals
2 tacos
2 sugar free puddin cups
fiber plus bar

DAY TOTALS:
cals= 2,735
water=74 ounces
exercise= 6 minutes (wow...another one in the books for poor time management. Hope to make up the rest of it today, even though I normally don't exercise on Sundays)

If you celebrate Easter, happy Easter. I celebrate the resurrection, which may or may not have happened at this time of the year. But I have no problem using this day as a day to remember that. I *DO* however have a problem with the bunnies, candy and egg hunt stuff. It has nothing to do with Jesus rising from the dead, IMO. You ask most kids to tell you what Easter is, I'd say 99% of them will forget to tell anything about Jesus. I think that is because we let the glittery commercial stuff overtake us. So, my family does none of the glittery commercial stuff. To sum it up, if you are going to celebrate the resurrection, let it be THAT...the resurrection...and not a bunch of other junk. Ok...I'll get off my soap box now ;)

Thanks for reading (and by the way, you don't have to agree with me....I'm just telling how I see it)

Nachos and cake? NO.

We went to a birtday party last night. They had nachos and cake. I dropped the kids off and showed up late on purpose thinking they would be finished eating. (well, that wasn't the only reason...I was also running errands but I *was* thinking I would miss the food by showing up late) Not so. An hour and a half into the party and they were finishing the nachos and cutting the cake. Would I like some? My gut said yes but I said no. I just sat there and drank my water. This was quite an accomplishment for me.

Yesterday I did an hour of exercise. Two 20 minute sessions on the wii fit and one 20 minute session on the wii biggest loser. Man, that biggest loser game is HARD. They had me doing jumping jacks, which took a while to recover from! I've got a lot of belly flab that jerks around when I jump! Go away flab, go away.

What I ate yesterday:
9:15 a.m......370 cals
3/4 c. bran flakes
1/4 c. granola
1 cup 1% milk
half a banana

11:20 a.m.....190 cals
mini fiber one bar
stick cheese

12:45 p.m......486 cals
6" subway sandwich (turkey and cheese)
nature valley granola bar

2:30 p.m...330 cals
1 can sliced new potatoes
1 slice american cheese
8 ounce orange juice

3:00 p.m....90 cals
mini fiber one bar

6:00 p.m....340 cals
1 slice cheese pizza
half cup corn
mini fiber one bar

11:45 p.m.....755 cals
1 cup veggie soup
1 slice bread
nature valley granola bar
strawberry smoothie

DAY TOTALS:
cals=2,561
water=80 oz
ex= 1 hour

You reap what you sow.

Wednesday night, as I have already blogged about, I lost my head and stayed up until 3:30 a.m. googling STUPID stuff on the internet. Woke up the next morning (yesterday) and had a crazy busy day. I was gone from the house from 9 a.m. until around 8 p.m. The kids had activities to go to, I ran errands for my mother and then I bought groceries at three different grocery stores. (bad timewise, great bargain wise!) Thankfully, mom babysat the kids while I was at the grocery stores.

After I got home, I ate my pie and read some blogs. (yes, pie. Hershey Sundae Pie, which I love, was on sale and I told myself all day that if I would eat reasonably all day and have enough calories left that I could have 2 pieces...which I did) Hubby said he wanted to go to walmart and buy The Biggest Loser game for the wii, to which I said "I am going nowhere, but if you want to, go ahead". After he got home and was trying out the game, I laid on the couch "to watch" and fell asleep there within minutes.

My 30 minutes of exerercise did NOT get done. :( So, I failed on one part of the spring challenge yesterday. I plan to make up for it today by doing an hour of exercise.

Something else I need to tweak about the spring challenge is this: Writing something good about myself everyday is a bit much. It is hard to come up with something AND I sound really full of myself. LOL So, I am going to change that to once per week and my "spring challenge check-in" day will probably be Tuesday because that is TOPS day and I always report on that.

Yesterday:

(keep in mind, 95% of this was eaten while on the go)

9 a.m.....140 cals
fiber one bar

10 a.m....293 cals
junior breakfast burrito from sonic

12:10 p.m.....120 cals
4 pack pb crackers

2:40 p.m....630 cals
1.5 cups bran flakes
half cup granola
half a banana
1.5 cup 1% milk (I actually ran to the house between grocery stores to fix this cereal and take it with me. I knew it would be better than driving through somewhere...plus I didn't want to eat too much UNhealthy stuff since I planned to have the very unhealthy pie before bed)

7:30 p.m.....326 cals
6" turkey sub from subway

8:30....1,085 cals
2 piece hershey sundae pie
5 almonds
1 pc. pizza (little ceasars)
fiber one 90 cal bar

TOTAL CALS= 2,594 (in range)
water= 86 ounces ( I drove through and got a 44 ounce ice water twice!)


P.S. For many years, I told myself that I would be at my goal weight before I turned 30. But 30 came and went. Then I said "before 31". etc, etc. One week from today I will turn 32. All I'm shooting for is to be less than 300 pounds. That means I need to lose 5 and a fourth pounds. I'll have to really boogie if I'm going to. Wish me luck and a solid resolve!

Staying up late.

Good grief, what was I thinking? I fell into a trap last night. No, not a food trap--- a *sleep* trap. I didn't go to bed.....until 3:30 this morning! WHAT?! I know I have a bad habit of doing that, and I thought I'd kicked that habit. I guess not. Fall down, get up again.

Yesterday was the first day that I really *wanted* a soda. I opened a canned pepsi and poured it into a glass for hubby and I really wanted a drink. But I didn't. I asked myself just what I thought all of those chemicals were going to do for me? Besides, I'm in the challenge, so nope. Just no. So, I didn't.

I also didn't want to exercise (yes, I was obviously having a rebellious kind of day!). But I did anyway.

This afternoon my sister and I will go buy groceries. We plan to buy healthy *yay* and if I can get my coupons organized before then, we plan to buy cheap *yay, yay*.

Something good: hum......oh dear, I don't have time to sit here and think. This isn't as easy as it sounds---to come up with something EVERY day. hum..... ok...here's one....I let my pastor be human. I am in a big discussion on facebook about pastors who aren't good pastors and even though at times I *completely* disagree with my pastor, and at times I get TOTALLY frustrated and almost even mad at my pastor, I am learning to let him be human. He's not going to be perfect. He's just a man. He's not God. He's gonna mess up. He's trying. Get over it. :)

Busy, busy day today and I have NOT planned my meals for today---VERY dangerous.Plus, I am going to be at town almost ALL day. I have places I need to drop the kids off at and then before I do anything else, I need to PLAN what I am going to put in my mouth.

Wednesday recap:

9 a.m.....430 cals
cereal (bran and granola) w/ 1% milk

11 a.m......220 cals
half a pb & j

1 p.m......370 cals
1 c. veggie soup
1 pc. bread
fiber one bar

5:20 p.m......410 cals
can of tuna
9 tortilla chips
stick cheese
fiber one bar

5:48 p.m....140 cals
fiber one bar

9 p.m.....811 cals
3 small pieces cheese pizza
2/3 c. corn
strawberry smoothie

TOTAL cals: 2,381
water= 44 oz