Back to reality

So I'm home from visiting my Grandma. I wish I could say that I made good food choices and was active. My grandmother (who is 90) has chocolates stashed all around her house. And this time, they were good chocolates (thanks to the Halloween candy that is so abundant now). And she is always trying to get me to eat more. I have no idea why. Does it make her feel better if I eat twice as much as she does? Does she think I'm starving (insert a lot of sarcasm here)? Why is it when you visit people, they feel like they have to continually stuff food in your face? If it was healthy food, maybe I could understand it. But it usually is junk. I try not to force people to eat a lot of junk when they come to visit me. I offer food, but if they refuse, I try very hard not to keep after them to eat.

Is it just my family who does this? Or is it that I am overly sensitive to these suggestions, eventually breaking down and eating food just so people stop nagging me to eat? I think I'm very susceptible to guilt. I am going to have to spend more time thinking about these issues before I go visiting family again.

But not tonight. I go back to work tomorrow. First shift back in 7 weeks. And I'm really not looking forward to it. Maybe because I have been thinking about how many shifts I need to do now to make up for all that time off. Oh well, at least I won't be at home thinking about food. Getting back into a routine is always good for the diet, right?

Weigh in 13

So I decided that I need to weigh in today. I go back to work this weekend and back to my normal schedule for weighing in on the first day off. So today, I was down 0.4 lbs. Not a huge amount, but it is something. And at least I'm going in the right direction.

I'm out of town for the next few days visiting my grandma. Hopefully it goes well. I'm excited to see her. And we will see how much damage this visit does to my diet.

The past week

Well, if I look back on this past week - it was pretty good. My diet went moderately well (there was 2 meals of chicken tacos that was off the diet, but other than that - it was okay). I was going to swim every day this week - but my cold changed that. I did exercise every day this week except Saturday - I took the day off. If I wasn't swimming, I was walking. And I did a lot of walking. The week went well. I don't think the scale is reflecting that, though (and yes, I do weigh myself every day - I'm always too interested in how I'm doing not to weigh in daily). I was suppose to weigh in on Tuesday, but I don't think that is going to work out now. I've talked to my grandma and I'm off to visit her tomorrow. Which means that I could weigh in tomorrow. And that seems really soon. But I only have a few more days off before I head back to work (and for those who are counting, that was 7 weeks minus a day off - cool eh?) and I think I should try to get a visit with grandma in.

So I'm taking the bus down to see her on Monday (tomorrow) and coming back on Wednesday. I find it hard to visit with people at their homes and not eat poorly. Or at least, more poorly than I do at home. Someone else is in control of the food. And yes, I usually make the meals when I'm at grandma's, but I'm still limited with what food she has on hand. So, I'm not sure how this will go, but I know it is more important to see family than to make sure I only eat what's on my diet. Okay - that's it for this rambling post - I'm going to try to get through the next few days by making moderate and healthy decisions.

Life without a car

I felt a whole lot better this morning, so I decided that the swimming wasn't really helping the cold. So I didn't swim today again. I know. 2 days in a row. But I did some serious cleaning around my house (including moving furniture). And cleaning out my closest (at least a little bit). I did go for a walk (I needed to drop off my used clothes in the collection bin). I think not having a car has affected my fitness level for the better. I really don't think much of going for a walk to pick things up. It is a good thing that most everything I need is close. And then there is the bus for everything else. I might soon get a car, but I really like living without for now. I think it is making a healthier me.

Reporting in....

Just came back from my walk - 1 and 3/4 hours. But I wanted to say I did it.

Little break

So the swimming thing this week (swimming each day of the week) has been going okay. Until last night when I think I developed a severe sinus headache and ended up sleeping for 11 straight hours. And for someone who has a hard time sleeping more than 8 hours, that is a long time. I think it is from swimming. I have been feeling more congested after swimming and that really isn't helping my cold. So I'm going to walk today instead. And I think that I'll do my long route because I'm not going swimming. And the weather lady on TV just said that she thinks this is the last nice day before next spring.(she was right last year). Okay - off for a walk right now. I even need to put sunscreen on!

Still swimming

Went for a 60 minute swim today. I went later in the day because I thought that way I could have to pool to myself. Except there was way more people in the pool later. I was going to just a have a short, slow swim, but for some reason, with all the other people in the pool, I felt like I have something to prove. So I swam hard for 60 minutes. It is interesting that people's opinion matters to me. Especially when (without my glasses) I cannot really see them therefore I have no idea who they are. And yet - I try to out swim them all. I'm not always faster, but I usually can do more laps and I don't stop between each lap. For some reason, that matters to me. I'm not sure why.

Weigh in 12

I went for a swim today. Even though I am feeling more stuffed up than yesterday - this cold isn't going anywhere. The motivating factor was that I knew I would have to blog about swimming... so I figured I better do it. I only went for about 30 minutes. But at least it was something.

It was also weigh in day today. It is strange to weigh in every 7 days. My work schedule (2 days, 2 nights, then 5 days off) works better if I weigh in every 9 days (on the first full day off). I found that if I was trying to weigh in every week, it wasn't a really accurate weigh in. There is a huge difference from weighing in at 5 AM (when I get up for my 12 hour day) or 4PM (when I get up for my 12 hour night shift). I figured I was going to weigh in for my schedule and not some arbitrary 7 day weigh in. Seeing a loss is more motivating and losing weight every 9 days is easier than 7 days. For all these reasons - I decided to do it my way. But now, I'm on holidays. And I don't have all the same reasons not to weigh in weekly, so this week and next week, I'm going to report my weight loss like the rest of the world. So this week - lost 0.5 lbs. I guess I'll take it when I have been feeling under the weather. And doing a lot less activity now that I'm back home. But I'm feeling good about the weight loss and we will see how it is next week. So here's to a 0.5 lbs healthier me ;-)

Mini Goals for the week

I have decided that this week - I'm going to make use of the pool in my building (it was the biggest reason why I decided to move into this apartment). I'm going to swim every day this week. I was just thinking yesterday how I have almost another 2 weeks off and I need to make use of this time. So I'm going to work out really hard this week. And I'm going to let you know how I'm doing.

This morning I swam for 60 minutes... 25 laps frontcrawl, 10 laps backstroke, 5 minutes of jumping jacks (just to make it an even 60 minutes). And then this evening, instead of sitting and watching TV or reading (what I felt like doing), I went for a 60 minute walk. I just got home. Sure, I don't feel like I'm over my cold, but I figured I needed to some activity anyways... So this week.... more activity. It can be done!

Sick

I haven't had much to say for the last few days. Back at home is boring. There's just no other way to say it. And I feel like I show be doing more - I still have some time off from work and I keep telling myself that I shouldn't waste it. Except that I'm not doing much. It doesn't help that I have a cold. I was fighting a cold on my vacation, but after loading up on cold medication - I thought I had beat it. But it is back. With a vengeance. And it has been slowly getting worse. So today I hit the drug store and got some more cold medication.

I have been eating well these last few days. But I find it difficult to be active when I'm under the weather. I'm sure people can relate to this. I did go for a swim, got in a 2 hour walk on the last warm day of the year (I could sure feel the nip in the air today), done some Wii fitness, and cleaned up my house (well - it could use more cleaning - but I did windows). And that's about all I have done this week. I think I'm going to head off to bed - I'm trying to make sure that I get lots of rest. Which sometimes backfires - my nap this afternoon has ensured that I'm wide awake now... Hopefully I feel better soon!

Weigh in 11

I know that this post is about 4 weeks after the last weigh in post (well, 4 weeks and 1 day after weigh in 10 to be exact). I have been away from home for that entire time so I did not step on my own scale. I took the train to my folks' place several provinces away. I stayed with them for 1 1/2 weeks. It was really relaxing. I was active and ate well. I totally noticed the difference with my cardio and being able to move easier.

I then went on a great trip to Eastern Canada with my cousin. And saw parts of the country I have never seen before. I had fun shopping and playing tourist. I ate some great food, and boy - did we walk everywhere. And finally on the last day, we saw some stunning fall colours on the trees! And my cousin put me up for a couple of days at her place and I got to celebrate another cousin's 1st birthday. I had fun playing on bikes and baseball with little boys and wrestling with a puppy.

Then out west to the Rockies to spend a week with my family. Where I golfed a ridiculous amount (in 3 days, I'm sure that I tripled the amount of golf I have played in the past 4 years). And swam around a little bit in the hot springs, went for a couple of walks up the mountain. And finally celebrated my sister's birthday. And it was a pretty important one.

And through all 4 weeks.... I LOST WEIGHT!... It is amazing what moderation will do. So today, I'm down 5.1 lbs since last weigh in and down 31.1 lbs in total! And that's the absolutely best part of the entire vacation! I just did another happy dance. Please feel free to dance around with me...

Lack of Weigh ins

It is hard to weigh in when you are not at home. For example, at my parent's place 2 1/2 weeks ago, I used my mom's scale. I weighed in 3 days after I weighed in at home and somehow lost 6 pounds according to her scale. And that was after the train ride (where the eating wasn't the best). And that is the last time I have weighed myself. I'm finding that I'm going through scale withdrawal. So I know that this vacation has been better than most (eating and exercising), but I don't really know how I'm doing. I have a lot of new clothes for this vacation so I'm not really use to how they fit so I don't know if they are fitting better, especially after being washed. So I'm weighing in next Tuesday. And hopefully I made it through this vacation without too much damage to my weight loss progress.

The last 2 days I have golfed 48 holes! Well, maybe a little less. We went for 18 holes on Wednesday and I golfed 15-16 holes (by the end, I was tired and chasing my ball back and forth across the fairway was taking too long). Thursday we golfed another 18 holes (I probably did 14) and then another little par 3 (9 holes) in the evening. And you walk all 9 holes on a par 3 (the other 36 holes was in a golf cart). And now I'm going for another 9 today (on the par 5 - my dad and brother are doing 18 holes - I just don't think I could make it another 18).

Today is my sister's birthday, and I'm celebrating (Happy Birthday J!) so I don't think I should talk about what I'm eating tonight... I think birthday's are free days. Right? Well, I'm off to get ready for golf.

Still on Vacation

And I have some pictures to share.

To start out with, I have never been so far east in Canada. So I got to see some of the more historical parts of the country. I went on a couple of little tours, walked a lot, and played tourist a little bit. Unfortunately, it rained most of the time we were there. In fact, there were 2 nice days, but those days were the days we were traveling. At least it wasn't cold, but walking around wet for a while, I ended up chilled by the end of the day. We did have great hotels to warm up in at the end of the day and all the walking helped to keep me warm.

I managed to do more shopping that I had intented to do (isn't that the way it often it?) and ran out of room in by bag by the end of the trip. All that shopping was good cardio. Or at least that is how I'm going to tell it. And we did a lot of walking. Up and down hills. It was our main mode of transportation. One time we even rented bikes. Sure, they weren't great (not at all like my bike), but it was a nice change from the walking. And we sure covered more ground.

Eating wise - well, it could have been better, could have been worse. One day, I had yogurt, granola, and a banana for brunch instead of the many other less healthy choices. But I made up for it when one day I had nachos and wine for supper and brownies and ice cream smothered in carmel sauce for dessert.

Now I'm out in the mountains with my family for a week. I already have done 2 hikes today. And I'm trying to get more on point with my eating. I have some of the Jenny Craig food out here, but it is hard to pull out my little microwavable meal when such great meals are being made. So we will see how it goes. So here's to getting a little healthier than last week.