One workday down...

And I went for a short walk after work. Sure, it was only 20 minutes. But I tried to walk briskly (even though I was quite tired after a 12 hour shift on my feet) and I even drank 9 glasses of water! I'm feeling good.

Update

Okay this past week I have tried to drink all the water I was suppose to. And I found out that it gets really difficult when I'm at work. So in order to try to drink more, I start my day out with drinking water and trying to fill up my water bottle right from the start of the day.
And I think I was fairly successful. Most days I got the 8 cups of water in. I believe there was one day I only drank 7. It helps having a water bottle that I know I have to work through.
I only exercised twice, so I'm going to continue working on that goal this week. I'm going to try to keep up the water AND do some aerobic activity 6 days of the week. So far, so good. I played 9 holes of golf yesterday and today went for a walk even though it was raining. I go back to work tomorrow so the next few days will be challenging. But I'm going to try.

3 Weeks

Okay, it's been 3 weeks since I have started logging in what I'm eating and how I'm exercising. And I'm down 6 lbs. Which I lost all in that first week. But I have continued with my goal of logging in each day to myfitness pal to write in the food that I eat. And I have seen how incredibly easy it is to over eat. I got Chinese take out earlier in the past week... I got less than I normally do and I still overate by 2000 calories! That is ridiculous! But my goal was to log everything I eat and I have stuck to that goal. So good for me. Now I just need to start modifying what I put into my mouth (I guess recognition is the 1st step right?). While this doesn't seem like I'm doing great, I feel good about the progress I am making. This next week, I am going to focus on my other goal of exercising/being active 4 times a week AND drinking 8 glasses of water (and continuing the logging EVERYTHING I eat). I know I feel better when I make these couple of positive changes.

One week

I have been working the last few days. Then this morning woke up with the stomach flu. Just managed to get something down at 3 pm. The truly unfortunate thing is I had plans to golf today. And I had to cancel. It looks like such a beautiful day out there and I have spent most of the day in bed. I think even a walk would be great, except it is probably not a wise move. I would hate too be too far from home.

I did decide that I'm going to update my weight on myfitness pal every Monday and Thursday. My work week ends up being 9 days long. I work 2 days, 2 nights, then have 5 days off (normally). I have read that one should weigh in at the same time of day in order to accurately compare weigh loss. When you work shift work, that can be hard to do. So I was weighing in every 9 days before. But I think that is too long in between weigh ins. So I'm going to just weigh in 2x a week and if I happen to weigh in at 5 am once then 6 pm later, I figure it will all even out. So as of yesterday, I have lost just over 5 lbs. so the journey begins again!

Okay - last night did not end well. I ended up having mac 'n cheese - not all that healthy. But I got up early before work today and quickly cooked quinoa (both the regular and red - the red stuff is new for me, but tastes pretty much like the regular while stuff) and baked some fish for my lunch both today and tomorrow. There was pizza at work (for Nurses appreciation week), but it did not look great so I just left it. I did have a couple of small chocolate chip cookies. But the splurge was going for a booster juice on my last break at work. I got to walk outside and get fresh air (which was good for the soul;). And for about 400 calories, it was a pretty good dinner. I'm going to do a couple of minutes of yoga (for the sore back from the very busy day at work) and then off to bed. So today was great. I guess that makes up for yesterday. I just have to work on having fewer bad days and many more good days!

Lacking energy

So far today, I'm eating just fine, but don't have much motivation to be active. It would be good to have someone here in the city who would go on a walk several times a week with me. I'm just not motivated enough not to go on my own. I don't think I would call and cancel on someone. I guess that's why all the experts say people are more successful at losing weight when they have a buddy to help. At least I have my blog. Over the past 3 days, I have made slightly better choices then if I wasn't going to blog about it. Maybe I need to think about getting an exercise buddy.

Day 2 of counting

I did really good yesterday. Walked 30 minutes, ate well. Today has been okay so far. I've eaten okay (except for the cake I just ate - i'll explain) and just did 30 minutes of swimming laps and 20 minutes of deep water running (or at least what I guess you are supposed to do when you deep water run).

So far, I really like my new app for recording food and exercise. I even have a friend already on the site! I decided that even if I don't have good days - I'm still going to record. Then I can look back and see what patterns I have and then maybe I can change.

So about that cake... Every month here in my apartment building they have "cake day" in celebration of that month's birthdays. I have seen it set up before, but never had any. Well, today I broke down and had some. Carrot and chocolate cakes. I don't have a very big sweet tooth, so if I'm going to eat cake, I'm willing to wait for the good stuff. I regret the cake I had today. Store bought slab cake, kinda dry and super sweet, chalky icing. I should have passed. But May is my birthday month. And it will likely be the only cake I have (like I said - not a big sweet tooth). So I'm no going to stress out. I'll try to stay in my limit for the rest of the day!

(and the 2.2 lbs lost since yesterday?... All that sodium in the Chinese food I had on Sunday. No reason to get excited yet.)

Back at it

I haven't been trying to be healthy for a long time time. But I have been thinking about it for several months now. In fact, last month, I did a "cleanse" (which I don't know if I actually believe if there are any health benefits to purging the toxins from your body) and I lost 10 lbs in 7 days. At the very least, it was great for weight loss. And looking back at my weight loss calendar, those 10 lbs have plagued me since November. So I felt really good for a week or so. Then I started to eat poorly again. So I'm recommitting to getting healthy and here are the first steps....

I signed up for "myfitnesspal". It is a good website that offers free membership to log your food eaten and the amount of exercise you do. I picked this one because I can use it on my iPad, computer, and blackberry (and yes, all this technology seems a bit much at times). All the reviews were 3 stars or higher and if any friends sign up, we can track each other's progress.

(If you are trying to recommit to weight loss or exercise, please - I would love to be your friend and we can encourage each other. My username is "MyraGettingHealthy".)

I am going to try to drastically cut done on my bread consumption. I don't have to eat very much before I feel really badly and I end up with acid reflux.

My goal is to work out 30 minutes 4 times a week. While that isn't much, it is a start. Once I'm feeling better, I will increase that. But right now, I find it difficult to do much as I get so winded from any activity. I would like to be able to walk up 2 flights of stairs without thinking about it (and I often do stairs at work with my coworkers, then I have to concentrate on my breathing afterwards just so I'm not panting).

So if you are feeling like you want a little more motivation in your journey, please join me. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

A long time

It has been pointed out by a few people that I have not been posting... I'm still here. I think about posting these and then wonder what I would say. My life seems slightly depressing right now. And I'm one of these people who mulls over decisions before I talk about it (instead of talking thru it - which is probably healthier), I haven't had much to say. I still working on it, but thought I would let my 3 readers know I'm still here. Just working on some personal issues. Which you might hear about someday. But not today.

Last post before holidays

Monday 1491-3269=1778
Tuesday 2950-2425=475
I work 2 nights and then I'm off to the lake for 2 weeks. I'm not going to report in for the next few days because I still have a lot of things I need to get done before I go. So this is going to be it for the next couple of weeks. I plan to move everyday (walks, swimming) and try to eat as well as I can (not indulge when I'm alone, but only if I"m am with others and to not do so would be to make a scene - like at some one's home, or celebrating something). The goal is to weigh the same when I get back as when I left. We will see how that goes. Wish me luck!!