Apathetic

I haven't been really excited about the program recently (like in the past 3 or 4 days). I need to find some motivation again. I had time today to excise... but I didn't. I could have eaten better today... but it was only mediocre. Not that it was really bad - just not really great. So now I have to go back to work tomorrow - so I need to go shopping. I need things to eat for the next 2 days. I have already found out that if I go shopping after working a 12 hour day, I do not make good choices. But it is 7pm, and I haven't had a lot to eat today. So I'm going to be tempted to buy the wrong things tonight. And maybe just admitting this - it will keep me accountable. I'm not sure. But I have to go now - before it gets too late.

Weigh in 8

After getting off nights yesterday - I decided that it would be healthier to go for a walk then sit in front of the TV for the night. So I ended up going on a 90 minute walk! Once I got going, it was easier - thanks in part to my new upbeat music. It felt good.

Today was the work golf tournament. I'm not much of a golfer. But I enjoy getting out there and having fun. And it was a glorious day for golfing - slight breeze, sunny but not too hot, and a great team to play with. One of the women I golfed with is very experienced and a couple of her tips totally improved my game. And it felt fun - not competitive at all (I was a little worried about people needing to win). Our team came in 4 out of 6 teams.

And then weigh in this morning. I'm down 1.9 lbs! Which is absolutely perfect. I did have sushi this evening and then ice cream - but I'm back on the wagon tomorrow. Actually, I'm back on the wagon right now (starting to change my attitude about having bad days - it is not a bad day - only a bad moment. The next moment can be great). No cheating. And I might even work in a swim tomorrow. But there are only so many beautiful days of summer left - I should try to squeeze in some more vitamin D. So maybe that will be a walk instead.

(Can you believe it - weigh in #8 and I'm down a total of 26.2lbs! Granted, that is not 8 weeks. I am weighing in every 9 days or so because that makes more sense with my schedule. Now I just have to think of a reward for hitting the -25lb mark... any suggestions?)

Up and at 'em

I got up this morning and needed to do some serious pep talking to go for a bike ride. I have a million excuses... it really isn't my favorite exercise, it looks like it is about to rain, it already rained, I don't have any fenders on the bike if it does rain or I have to ride through puddles... but I did it anyways. I'm feeling good about me. And I rode just a little farther than last time (I am talking in mere feet - that hill is a killer)! It would be great if I just didn't have to climb that last hill. But I'm going to keep biking. Once I get out there - it isn't so bad.

Weigh in 7

YAHOO!! Great weigh in... I lost 5.9 lbs! I just knew some weight was waiting to fall off! And I think it is time to post another picture. So I have lost a total of 24.3 lbs. Pretty good, eh? I'm pretty excited. I treated myself to some iTunes. And I have been dancing around ever since. I have been craving some white bread - but after this morning's weigh in - NO WAY. I'm sticking to the program.

I went for a swim this morning as well - it is amazing how motivating a large drop in weight can be. I was going to play around on the Wii this evening - but I might just dance a little around some more (the guilty pleasure songs... upbeat, top 40 hits, fun songs I will never admit that I actually bought).

So this dance... it's for a healthier me!

Balcony

After the weekend I spent with my family, my folks came and stayed with me for a couple of nights. And they took me shopping! Patio set shopping. Which is a great thing for someone who doesn't have a car. I get around the city pretty good by bus (or even walking to the stores close to me). Its looking for the big items that is a little tricky. We found 2 good chairs at a great price and then a table and 2 matching chairs. So now - 4 people can sit on my balcony at one time. It is like I now have a whole new room in my apartment! I found a pretty good deal (let me tell you - the beginning of August is the best time to shop for outdoor furniture) and I'm happy that I have something to sit on. While I'm not a fan of wicker - this was the best set for a balcony by far that I saw. And the most comfortable. And that includes the stuff in the store where we found single chairs that sold for well over a thousand dollars! Sure, they were comfortable, but not at all practical for my little balcony.

I just got off working 5 days - I did manage to go for a swim one of those days, but not much activity other than that. So far today - I have been cleaning, doing laundry - keeping busy. While not exercise - it is activity. And I have stuck to the diet plan really well (always so much easier when at work). I'm looking forward to weigh in tomorrow. Even with the visit to the family. I know it will be good!

The Weekend with Family

I think I'm going to ramble on for a bit about how my weekend went. I decided that I wanted to record this weekend's eating so I know I can eat well in less than idea situations and also so I have a record of what works so next time, I can refer back (I'm such a science geek).

So Thursday night (at Ricky's ), I had orange chicken (they were out of the fish) and instead of rice, I asked for 1/2 of the rice and more veggies. They couldn't do that (for some bizarre reason) so instead, I had all veggies. Great day.

Friday I had a non fat latte and multigrain, turkey bacon breakfast sandwich from Starbucks. I don't know how healthy it was, but it was the best breakfast sandwich and definitely the most filling thing I found there. Lunch was a fun sushi place (see previous posts for more about my love of sushi), but I did pretty good. We ordered some sushi (at my request) and more stuff from the grill (for everyone else). I had a few pieces of sushi and a couple of bites of the other stuff (1 piece of ginger beef, some stir fry veggies, some shredded beef and a few bites of salmon. REALLY good for being at a sushi place. Supper was at East Side Marios where I SKIPPED the pre-meal bread!!! and just had salad instead. I had a portabella mushroom panini (it had a lot of veggies, some cheese on a bun - not super awesome, but much better than the cheesy fettucini alfredo that I wanted). We stopped at a grocery store so we had a veggie platter and fruit platter (I didn't even touch the cookies or chips that were also bought!).

Saturday was not as easy as I was eating at people's homes and I still feel like I need to eat what is served. Breakfast was a small bowl of special K and half of a rhubarb muffin (with the brown sugar sprinkled on top) and many cups of coffee. Lunch was the luncheon meat/ cream puff mess (white buns, crackers, cheese, and luncheon meats). Supper was pizza that was brought in. And boy - not so great. I guess my tastes have changed. It was thick crust with lots 'o cheese and it just didn't taste all that great. But I did manage to eat 2 pieces (mostly 'cause I was hungry) - and then I had to have birthday cake, ice cream, and strawberries (how many 90th birthday parties have you been to?).

Sunday brunch was okay. It was the largest and fanciest breakfast brunch I have ever been to. I bypassed the bread table (and yes, there was a table for all the different kinds of breads), skipped the dressing laden salads, had some smoked salmon, a few potato chunks, some fruit, a veggie (and a small amount of cheese) omelet. Which would have been prefect, but I did go back to the dessert table. I had some cheese cake, a shot glass of strawberry mouse, cream puff, and a strawberry dipped in the chocolate fountain (which I had to try - it was a first for me). Early supper was at Swiss Chalet where I had chicken, salad, and FRIES. Oh, right, and ice cream sunday. Why is it when I know I blow the start of a day, I keep eating badly for the rest of the day? I think it comes from thinking "I'll start dieting tomorrow" when I really should be thinking "So I ate something that wasn't great - I have the rest of the day to eat right!".

I think this is why I find family gatherings so tough. I eat well to start out with, but then, after one slip up (and seeing others have fun eating junk), I start telling myself that I'm missing out and that I might as well keep going - I already fell off the wagon (so to speak). I need to learn how to recover from a slip up without it ruining the rest of my day (or week, month,.... year?). I think I'm going to work on this thinking for the next time I get together with my family for a week in October (all who read this blog). Nuts... I should have thought of that earlier - now I'm accountable to them.

I'm proud of the weekend and the choices I made. In recent memory, I have not gotten together with my family and not gained weight. So this weekend - SUCCESS!

I'm back...

I had a great weekend away at my Grandma's 90th birthday party! Saw lots of family and ate pretty well. There was a few times where I was at someone's house and then it is hard to right - especially if they serve luncheon meats and cream puffs, but it went pretty well. Exceptionally well when you consider that often my family uses get togethers as an excuse to eat poorly. So the unofficial weigh in this morning had me the same weight at 6 days ago. I'm pretty happy about that. I'm off to bed now 'cause I go back to work tomorrow. One successful holiday done!

Weigh in 6 (a little early)

Just a quick update. I'm down 0.3 lbs as of today. I had to weigh in during the middle of the day (tomorrow is the normal weigh in) so I actually believe that should be a larger negative number. I'm off to visit some family this weekend (looking forward to seeing them) so I have to figure out how to eat healthy. I could bring some Jenny Craig travel food, but I think I'm going to skip it and just try to eat in moderation. And try to get in a couple of walks.

Accomplishment

After working a 12 hour shift (and a busy 12 hours), I came home, put on my runners and did some strength training exercises. And I ate all the right things today. I have a good feeling of accomplishing my goals today (as well as realizing that I have a long way to go with building some muscle mass). Now I'm off to bed to do it all again tomorrow.