5-30-10

Been a while since I wrote it looks like.  Not a lot has been happening.   I did lose another 1/2 lb.  So slow but for all that has been going on .....busy busy busy, pain , pain, pain....I don't feel that is too bad.  
I have been struggling physically.    PT sent my whole body into spasms so bad that I could barely walk...had to use a cane.  I actually felt like I was walking on two stumps.   Left knee was swollen so bad.   I kept moving though...doing yard work and then went to the Chiropractor and he helped some....wasn't my knees that were out of place.  Turned out to be my pelvis that was goofy.  

In spite of everything, I am still keeping a better attitude.  I wish it was faster but considering all the circumstances I am working through...feel good about things.

Happy Tuesday

It seems life just keeps rolling along...not sure where the time goes.    It has been a crazy 2 weeks with too much eating out and too many parties, etc.    I appreciate all the advice that is given and I am keeping it in my mind as I try to make wise decisions, etc.   In spite of all of the upheaval these past weeks.  I got on the scale this morning and it shows that I have lost exactly 12 lbs. now.    Which makes me very happy.  
I guess I have to keep in mind that even though this is a lot slower than last time...that this is a life time thing and not just a quick fix and then go back to my old ways.   Keep the advice coming and I will keep working at getting healthy.

Rainy Thursday

Sorry I have not posted for awhile.   It has been hard to find time to post much.  Another weird week in the making.  Lots of celebrations, Mother's day, Birthdays, Engagements, Births, Jewelry Party and Anniversary party.  Not good for the diet .  It is hard to keep track with all the extra food around.  Still feeling good about things because my weight is steady at least.   I don't want to get down on myself for not doing as well as I feel I should....so I won't.   My hip and knee feels a bit better which is good.  Got up and exercised for 35 minutes this morning.  So I can at least feel like I did something today right.

Happy Sunday

It is a Happy Sunday..1.  because it is Mother's day...2)  I didn't lose any weight this week but still feel ok about it in my mind.   It has been a weird week of eating healthy food ...not eating healthy food, exercising...not exercising because of major pain again.   But I did not gain weight and I feel OK about myself...not down on me as I usually am.    So that is why it is a Happy Sunday.

Thursday 5-6-10

Interesting week.   Have not had time to post or much to post about.   I got up this morning and did 45 minutes of weights and resistance bands this morning so this made me feel good.   The night before I  mowed and that increased my calorie burn by over 300 calories.   Not sure if that is the reason or not but the next day (yesterday) my glutes hurt so bad.   I not only was mowing but mowing against a very strong wind...strong enough that it kept almost blowing my shirt up over my head...so I was really pushing plus most of my mowing is on an incline around the house....!    I have upped my calcium and fiber quite a bit with my eating and also have found a calcium and fiber supplement to my liking.    Not sure how good that is...Target carries Calcium gummie suppliments and Gummie fiber supplements !  Aren't I horrible...it has to taste like candy to make me like it.    I just have to remember that they are supplements and you only take 2 a day...they are NOT candy.   They also made gummie vitamins but I think they have iron in them and supposidly you should not take iron at my age.

Better days ahead

I am posting because I need to.   I had a better week this week.  So far as of Friday, I have lost another lb from not having lost for a few weeks.  I think Stacey is right (this time..HA...she usually is)  about really watching every bite of food that goes in my mouth.  I did that and finally broke through with the lb. weight loss.   I have now lost 10.8 lbs....so far.  

I am still having trouble with the fat content of my meals.   Yesterday I burned 2147 calories and ate 1,288 calories.   I had 45 grams of protein, 164 grams of carbs, and the bad...54 grams of fat...46 gms of Cholestral, 1727 mg of sodium, I had pretty good fiber (for me)   16 gms of fiber..and I have gotten my calcium up with 1782 mg .  

I did 30 mins of weight lifting from one of my new DVD's...using weights and bands...I didn't get to finish it all since 6:30 came too early, Keith got up and I needed to start my day.   Will try to do that sometime during the day ...all the way through.

I found an interesting article yesterday on the Internet  called Cheat or Treat?   Kind of summed it up how I feel about food.  The question was , Why is it important to occasionally cheat when it comes to your diet?  The answer was "Let's define cheat.  If cheat means making room for a beloved high calorie treat then I am all for it.  You cannot feel like you're in diet prison because that just leads binging and throwing in the towel.  You have to feel like you have the right and the power to eat whatever you want; however the trick is to shape your wants to be for wholesome foods most of the time.  Over time, you learn to identify tasty foods that are low in calories or at least have nutrient profiles in proportion to their calorie counts.  If your day to day food is very tasty and satisfying you will yearn for a cheat less often.  But there are times when you'll want to partake in a favorite high calorie food and that is normal and good. You actually owe it to yourself to engage in that activity because that's how you develop self -trust.  You must keep practicing until you feel comfortable and guilt free for enjoying a reasonable amount.  A bad cheat is an eating frenzy that adds back the calories you've lost all week.  But that isn't a cheat...it is a binge.  I don't use the word cheat because it sounds so shady.  I'd rather  call it a splurge or indulgence or some word that addresses the sensual enjoyment but forgoes the guilt.  In my opinion the best cheat is the one that you really love, that tastes out of this world and is enjoyed slowly.  Realizing that there isn't much room in the diet for high calorie foods with little nutritional value, you will fine tune your discriminatory thinking to become very choosy about the foods you let in.  If you start to eat something indulgent and it doesn't taste great, then why bother?  Stop right there.  But its important to learn about the calories in the food so that you can make informed choices. "

I thought this article good and addressed some of my issues with food.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Don't have much time to write but doing better on tracking food.  That is one of the important keys.  Might even have a loss this week...we will see.  Will try to post more later this week.

Something's wrong

Ok....this is 4 weeks without a lb being lost.  Something is wrong.   Yes, I have lost inches...lost another 1/2 off of my thigh and 1/4 off of my arm but no weight lost.   I think I must be underestimating my calories.  They say even the back of boxes are not always correct.     Perhaps I should cut out all snacks...even the good ones of vegetables that I have .....of course those add up to less than 100 calories.....just not sure what is wrong.   I have not been able to exercise because of my hip and leg that much which is a problem but if my calories are truly lower than my burn.....still should be losing lbs.    Grrrrrr !  I use measuring cups and the scale at every meal........?   So what should I do?    I do sometimes think I might have a thyroid problem...I realize that could just be an excuse.   I am cold a lot of the time, thinning hair, tired and constipated at times...all signs of an underactive thyroid.   Years ago I was tested for that and they said no.  I had heard that the test I was given does not always detect this problem.   I am probably grasping at straws but I want answers.   This next week I will be a fanatic of watching every tiny thing that goes in my mouth and see if that helps.   Any suggestion???????  I am very tempted to go below a 1000 calories a day just to see some results !!!!!!!

Friday-yeah

Just a small post.   Did ok yesterday...probably not as good as I should but better than I  use to.
So far my weight as not moved.   No doubt underestimating my calories...something to work on.

Body bugg says I burned 2203 and ate 1479 calories.

Protein was 67 g,  Carbs 211gms, Fat 39 gms...still high....Chos 99 mg, sodium 1888 mg, fiber 21 grams...that is better than it has been, sat. fat 12 grams and calcium 1184 mg.  

Got up this morning and did 30 minutes of exercise.  Have not broken out the new exercise DVD's that I have bought.  Will try them out this next week.

I am a work in progress !!!!!!!!

Made it through the Night

Just a quick post.   Made it through the evening of the Women's fellowship meal without too much damage. 
We had a spinach salad that had oil on it.  My salad was fairly small so I ate that.   Then we had some wonderful (ask Melissa) soft and juicy beef, green beans and some red potatoes and cheesecake for dessert.  

I ate the salad, 1/2 or approx. 4 ozs of the beef .   It was so good I could have eaten it all.   Then I ate  2 of the little chunks of potatoes and all of the green beans.  I also ate 2 bites of the cheese cake.   Yummy ...I could have eaten all of that too.     Except for the meat, I forced my potatoes and my cheesecake onto Melissa...who claimed that I was trying to make her fat now !!!!!   She can stand the extra food more than me since she runs every morning and I barely struggle out of bed !

The speaker was really good .   She talked about inner beauty and how God sees us, etc.   She was speaking to  me.   I put too much emphasis on what the outside of me looks like.    I liked Nici's saying when she was talking about jewelry.   "If you can't lose it, decorate it !!!! "    I still want to lose it though...not so much for how I look.   I just want to feel good health wise and strong...and at the moment...I feel neither of those.  That is my goal.

Writing On Track

Weds.   I am feeling a bit better about stuff and trying not to get so down on myself as I tend to do.    I also watched The Biggest Loser that I taped last night.   Got in some exercise yesterday in the morning as I told you and then when I got home...saw that Big Grandpa had mowed so I spent some time mowing around the house and bushes and such.  My calorie burn for the day was 2,364 and my eating was 1469.   Protein was 66 grams, Carbs were 144 gm, Cholestral was 604 mg, Sodium was 2884 mg, Calcium was 561 mg and my last two...on the good side...my fiber was 18 mg.   But the ugly old fat gms mounted up again.  Was doing well till Dad wanted to eat at I-Hops.    (That buy one meal, get one free thing)   Anyway for being at I-Hops...I made the wisest choice I could.  I got a veggie Omelet and a piece of dry Rye toast.  I looked the calories up on line and was told it was 406 calories.  Who knows?  

Today as of 5:40 I have burned 1553 calories and have eaten 826 calories.   My Protein is 24 grams, my carb ia 113 gms, fat is 36 gms, Cholestral is 8 mg, Sodium is 627 mg, Fiber is 17 gms, Sat. Fat is 8 grams and calcium is 355 mg.   My problem is that the women's banquet at church is tonight and who knows what they will serve.  I have no way of knowing the calorie count when they do a lot of mixing stuff together.  My thought is that I will eat a little of everything.   Eat the most of say the vegetable if it is just a plan vegetable, A little meat if it not some weird type meat.   Take a few bites of dessert and leave a lot on my plate.  

2 nice things is I found a bar with fiber that I like.   Not sure on the health side of it.  It is made by Kellogg's and it is called Fiber Plus Antioxidants.   Here is the break down of it   1 bar 120 calories  Fat 4 g, Sat. Fat 2 g, Trans fat 0 g.  Sodium 55 mg,  Cholestrerol is 0 gms, Total carbs...26 gms, Fiber 9 g, sugar 7 g, and Protein 2 gms.     What do you think ?   Is it really too bad for a person... It  beats a candy bar.

The second thing was when I went to PT today.   The lady working on me said, "You've lost weight haven't you?   She said, I can tell.    That was pretty cool, considering they give you these shorts that "one size fits all" and some of them don't fit all !!!!   Plus she is rubbing your body so she can tell !   And a long with the shorts,  I keep my black socks on...so you have grey one size fits all and snow white legs and black socks....not the greatest picture in the world !!!!!   She told me that my knee  that is hurting so bad is swollen and has inflammation in it....no wonder it really hurts.  

Well, must go do my hair for tonight.  

Unsuccessful day.

Well my first day of trying to get on track did not seem to work.  I am a bit discouraged.

I burned over 2000 calories and kept my food calories to under 1500 but my nutrition was not that good.  Some of it was ...some of it was not.   I ate 59 grams of Protein, 186 grams of Carbs, Cholestral was 86 mg...fiber was up  16 grams, Calcium was not good at 487 mg, sodium was so-so with 1494 gms but the bad part was Fat....52 grams of fat.   Way too much !

On the bright side.....I got up and did a lower body exercise program for 30 minutes this morning.  Perhaps that will help with the eating today.  My computer was putt-putting along for a while so I am running out of time to plug into the body bugg program ...but will later.    

Busy Week

This has been a busy week as you can see by the lack of posting.   And apparently too busy to pay attention to my eating and my exercising since I lost nothing again this week.   I did not gain so that is a plus  and I lost another 1/2 " off of my thigh and 1/2 " off of my calf.   That is good but not good enough.  I seem to be stuck at the moment of losing 10 lbs.   It is my own fault...I need to really buckle down and get in gear...my body and my mind.  .I had an active day yesterday but can't tell you how active as the Body bugg site is down for maintenance at the moment.

I pledge this next week to try to up my exercise, watch my eating better and to post and see if I can get off this plateau that I seem to have gotten myself into for several weeks.   

Well Who Knows?

I thought I was doing better today...I certainly feel better.   But my nutrition still sucks.    For Breakfast I had Crispex Cereal.  I hate cereal.  But I had a bowl of it with some skim milk on it.   For a snack I had yogurt and felt fairly full all morning...at least not light headed.   Then for lunch I had the Vegetarian pizza with  zucchini, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, onions, spinach, etc.  For a p.m. snack some raw almonds.   Then for Supper the No noodle stuff that I wrote to you about.   I had approx 1490 calories.  Burned 2161 and that was with doing mowing....need to get moving more.

Here is the breakdown.   53g of Protein , 121 g of Carbs, 33 g of Fat, Cholestrol 77 mg, Sodium 1028 mg
and again only 9 gms of fiber, Sat. fat was 8 gms and calcium was over 1200 mg.   So there it is.

Suggestions??????

Exhausted Monday

I am sorry ...got up at 5:30 to exercise but at 6:04 ...still sitting her in a stupor!  I don't think I could move or exercise if my life depended on it.     I will try to do something about it later today.  My mornings are always so busy, eating, getting ready for work, making dad's lunch, straightening up the house.   Plus slept like a log but still feel like I need sleep.

I ate ok yesterday...enough calories.   Took Cleo's out for lunch at Ruby Tuesdays.   I ate a good salad at lunch (to begin with)   Had lots of mixed greens, zucchini, garbanzo beans, onions, tomatoes, and other veggies on it.   Had a mini turkey burger (2 of them but only ate 1)  My downside is that I ate 10 french fries...dad ate the rest of mine.     I had enough calories...did not go over .  Not sure about my nutritional break down for the day...here it is.    43 gms of protein, carbs , 174 gms of carbs, 41 gms of fat, 94mg of Chos, 1269 mg of salt ( probably too much again) 16 grams of fiber (that is a bit better) and 464 mg of calcium (still low)   So that is my breakdown.   I will keep trying.

Sunday 4-11

Rather disappointed today.  No weight loss.   I drank a lot of water before I went to bed.  Not sure if that is the problem or not.  My diet stunk yesterday.   I burned 2419 calories and oops...(busy) ate less than a 1000.   I did have a piece of Vegetarian Gourmet Pizza for supper with articoke hearts, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, etc on it.  So at least their were some vegetables on it.  I ate 1/12 of it which was what I was told was 270 calories BUT was probably more than stated on the web.  For the day My protein was 45 grams, carbs 98 grams, Fat 24 grams, Sodium (high again) 1577 mg.  Fiber 2 grams and calcium (low) 279 grams.     Need to work on this.

On the high side.  I lost another 1/2 inch off my waist, 1/2 inch off my hips and  1/2 inch off of my thigh..so good there.

Gotta go exericse.  Bye

Saturday 4-10-10

I think the hardest part of this whole blogging thing is coming up with a good title.   You can tell I had great imagination by the title above.    I hope this blog is a bit more interesting than yesterday.   I had some interesting emails yesterday that was full of some good information.   A couple of things come from a book by Michael Pollen called "Food Rules".   It is a book of 64 rules for eating.    Rule # 24 is Eat what stands on one leg (mushrooms, plant foods), which is better than what stands on 2 legs (Fowl), which is better than what stands on four legs ( cows, pigs and other mammals).    Rule # 64 is Breakfast like a King, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.    Which I think is the opposite of the way I eat and most of America eats.   We eat our large meal at dinner !  Then I had a email from the "Real" Jillian (not Stacey) about busting Plateaus.    One is to keep your salt intake down (which you will see later ...I DID NOT)  Eat no processed Carbs period...no chips, sugar, white flour. (minus the chips I am NOT doing that either)  Hit the gym hard  (hmmmmm...NOT doing that either...are we seeing a trend?)   Play around with your calorie intake..For instance have 1200 calories say Monday, Weds, Friday...Tues 1600 calories, Thursday 1400 and Sunday 1700.    And sometimes plateau can just be a simple matter of flagging resolve....(gee I am NOT doing any of the above!)   No wonder I am in a Plateau.  Some things for us to think about.   Also I was reading  ShopSmart, a neat magazine by Consumers Report, that covers all sorts of interesting facts.  One of the articles was called FAT PILLS which was about medications that can make you fat or at least hamper weight loss.    Did not like that the one drug I take is in that catagory.  Zyrtec can make you gain 1% or more of body weight.  Yippee...I need to hear that...Duh !    Not as bad as Antidepressants, blood pressure drugs, diabetes drugs, seizure drugs or Steroids but still not good.   Not that that is an excuse but it said if it does not make you gain weight it slows down your metabolism !

Ok here is the more boring stuff.   The bad thing of looking at my nutritional numbers is I see how bad I am eating.  The good thing about looking at my nutritional numbers is that I can see how bad I am eating and maybe learn something from it and improve my diet.   Yesterday for breakfast I ate an egg, whole wheat toast and skim milk.   For lunch I had 2 1/2 ounces of lean thin cut ham and a 1/2 cup of mash potatoes (left overs) and the pepper gravy.   For a snack, my usual of celery and cauliflower.  For supper I had a cup of Chicken lo mein.   Not bad as far as calories 1,412 and I burned 2297 calories but when you break down the nutritional part of it....horrible.   I upped my protein to 66 grams but my fat content is 55 grams, Carb 171 grams, cholestral 264 mg , Sat. fat 15 gms.  Sodium was off the charts at 4112 and calcium is low at 460 mg and Fiber was low at 11 gms.   Now I need to figure out how to change those numbers....sounds overwelming.   Any thoughts from any of you what to eat, etc to bring up the ones I should and take down the bad ones would be helpful.

Quick Post of Food Content

I will probably most more later today but Stacey asked me break down the nutritional count of my food.  When I do that....even though I have low calories...my diet looks pretty bad.    I am out of fruit at the moment so until I go to the grocery I am lacking somewhat in that catagory.  Here goes....
47 grams of Protein, 162 grams of carbs, 46 gram of fat, 86 mg of cholestral, 2967 mg of sodium, 14 grams of fiber, 16 gram of saturated fat, 516 grams of calcium.    Does anyone know what you actually should be eating a day of each for a healthy diet ????   Help !!!!!!!

Anyway, that is the highs and lows of my diet yesterday.  Interesting reading, huh?

Oh and does anyone know on this crazy blog where the spell check button is?   If not...you will just have to forgive all the spelling and grammer errors  !!!!!

Back on Track !!!!!!

Okay;  Now we have a new plan that hopefully will help me stay on track a bit better and get my mind all straightened out.    1) I have decided to open my blog for others to see.  That might make me feel a bit more accountable ...plus I think or hope that others besides my lovely daughters will either give me some advice or encouragement or both or yell at me or whatever they so feel led to do. 
2)  I am going to tell you exactly what I eat so that I will think twice before putting stuff in my mouth.   I don't want you to think I am a total moron when it comes to food.   (which I might be)   Since I did not know I was going to do this today....my food might not be the best but so be it.

Breakfast was a piece of whole wheat toast with about 1/2 t of butter; 8 ozs of skim milk and precooked bacon...not good but yummy.    They are only the middle of the bacon and for some reason the calorie count is only 70 calories for 4 pieces ...so that is what I had.   For a snack, I had some cauliflower and celery with 1/2 t of light ranch dressing.   For lunch 1 cup of Chicken Lo Mein and this is where my calories came in......1/4 cup of dark chocolate M & M's.    No afternoon snack and for supper I had fish with 1/2 t of Tartar sauce and 1/2 cup of green beans, 1/2 cup of mash potatoes with pepper gravy on them.   No food after supper.     Altogether my program said that I ate 1236 calories and as of 9:30 I burned 1900 and some but if I don't move another step the body bugg said that I will burn 2141 calories....Leaving me with a deficit of approx 905 calories.  

So there we are...the facts.   

Off the Wagon

It seems I have gotten off track and rather derailed since Easter.  I have not been as careful and such.   I doubt I will lose any weight at all.   I have been busy and apparently sloppy as well.   I need to get myself together and start tracking daily again.    So we will work to start tracking calories in and calories out on a daily basis.   It is not good for anything to be out of the ordinary for me.   

Sunday 4-4-10

Well finished my fourth week.   I lost 1.2 lbs this week.  Short of my goal but at least I am losing.   Sure am not setting the world on fire but with a bad hip and lack of exercise as much as I would like....at least it is a loss.  I am 2/10th short of 10 lbs.   9.8 total. or 2.45 lbs a week.    The good news is that I lost an inch on my waist and an inch off of my big hips !   Yippee.   Altogether I over all my body I have lost...1 inch off of my neck, 1 inch off of my bicep, 1 inch off of forearm,  2 inches off of my bust; 3inches off of my waist; 2 inches off of my hips; 4 inches off of my thigh an 1/2 inch off of my calf.....for a total of  14 1/2 inches !   I am not sure in what measurement they use to measure Lean Body Mass but when I started my lean body mass was 140.82 ????   And now my Lean Body Mass is 151.01 ??????   So more lean body mass by 10.19 ????   So if that is going up....my fat level is going down !!!!!  YEAH !

Saturday

Busy day getting ready for Easter and  did yard work.  At 8:30 I have already burned over 2400 calories.  It said if I do nothing the rest of the night...it will be 2700.   I am very tired.   Didn't eat enough I know today.   Didn't feel like it.     As of this morning I at least lost 1 lb.   I guess that is better than nothing.  On the Biggest Loser I would get voted off for sure.  

Stressful week

Not sure why but this has been a very stressful week.  Very busy...lots of appointments and activities.  Do not feel real good about anything today.  I did not exercise today.   I got up and it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other.   Allergies to the trees and grass is really  kicking in right now and I feel totally out of it.   I doubt if I have lost anything this week.   Food counting has not been the best and my mind is not in the right gear right now.

On one positive note...I wore a shirt I had not ever wore before.  It wasn't a small size but did not wear it all winter because it cupped my tummy and my butt and yesterday it didn't.   That at least felt good.

Tues 3-30

Just a quick post before I go to exercise or rather lift a few weights....I have not gotten on the scale so don't know if anything is happening good, bad or ugly.   I burned 2145 calories on a fairly non eventful day so I guess that is ok.  I ate 1231 it said but probably more since calorie count can be off in food.  

Doing some reading if you look at my last post...so we will see what happens later from that reading.  Gotta go exercise now.   See ya.

Sugar High

Hope my title did not scare you.  I am not on a sugar high but have been ready a book on sugar and carbs.
Rather scary  how it affects your body....I have eaten a boat load of sugar in my life.   Anyway, it is a book that Carol told me about.  About eating on 15 gms of sugar a day and 6 servings of Carbs.    Not sure how much I will follow it but it does talk a lot about health and healthy eating, etc.  It is called Belly Fat Cure.   I am only on Chapter 4 so not too far into it yet.    Also reading press pause before you eat.   Into that a ways too.   Need to read more.  

Yesterday we went out to eat with Grandpa's and Carol and Joanne.  Of course due to Grandpa it turned out to be  Country Buffet.  Yuck.    I ate 1 piece of baked fish, some cooked carrots, green beans, 2 T of mash potatoes and a roll and a salad with no dressing.    No dessert..not worth it.  Compared to the others...I ate very well but being at that place ...I am sure not well enough.  

We walked around the Mall then for a bit and then when dad and I came home we went to Muscatine and walked about 2 miles by the Mississippi.   Because of sitting in church from 9:30 to 11:30 and sitting at the restuarant several hours... I only burned 2277 calories...was hoping for more.   Got up and did some Miranda stuff .   Actually feel fairly well body wise.  It comes and goes.  Have PT this week and a Chiropractor appointment too.  

Sunday 3-28

Well...was not the best week I have ever had as I told you but when I got on the scale...I did not gain and I even went from 223.8 to 223.6....2/10th of a lb...which is guess is a plus.  I told you yesterday of my few inches lost....so all is not totally gloomy.   I checked my calorie burn yesterday and it was 2590.  Even though some of my evening was spent being lazy on the couch.  

Did my site get changed too?   I like the geese on the front flying away.  So of a symbol.  Flying away from my old habits and such...flying off into a new life...flying off.....well enough with the gushy stuff.   Have a good day.  

Two in One Day!

Just came in from doing some outdoor work.  Fun to be out there even if it is a bit chilly.    Just wanted to let  you know that by cleaning out 1/2 of your flower beds you can burn 590 calories.    So far and it isn't even noon....have burned over 1300 calories.   Yippee.   I don't think I will have trouble getting my 2400 today.   Of course I know from before that I never do on Saturdays.   I guess that is what happens when you do not have to sit behind a desk all day.  

Bad week !!!!!

This has been a very bad week for me.    Trying to watch my calories and they seem under control but I had a few slip ups!  Plus the Miralax still does not seem to be working as well as it should.   Thurs I had 2231 burn calories and Friday 2205 burn calories.    I just need to watch what I eat and eat healthy.  At this point I don't think I have lost a lb and might have even gained a few.  Not sure.  I feel very bloated at the moment.    I wish I could exercise more than I am able at the moment.  I am getting a bit discouraged.

I guess the main thing is to remember that I am trying and that it will take longer this time and that I am doing this in the long run for my health more than looks, etc.   I just need to get on track a bit more I think. 
On the plus side....my bi-cep went down an inch, my bust 1/2 inch and my thigh a whole inch so that is good.  Guess I have to look at every little part to get the big picture.  I just want to go down 6 lbs a day I guess !!!!!!!  :)   Suggestions besides watch going out...which dad wanted to do a lot this week.   We ate at a place  Jimmy Jack's last night.  I ate only 1/2 of a plain pulled pork sandwich, 3 fries and a tiny bit of corn bread.   I also did not get any ice cream when he stopped at Dairy Queen !!!!!!!!!!!  I realize this is a problem as of late but I also know I have also eaten less when we do go out.   As soon as he gets working full time the going out will quit (thank goodness) because he will get home at 8:00 and I will have time to prepare better food.  

Who Know?

I have no idea where I stand in the weight loss department.   I have not loss any weight so far this week.  I guess no gain is good.   Yesterday I ate a bit more than I should which always makes me feel bad.  I burned 2155 calories and ate 1518.    Today I have a good start on calorie burn if I can substain it.   So far it says since I did 30 minutes of lower leg exercises, squats, etc. that I have burned 500 calories at 6:59 a.m.  
Felt good to do a few exercises again besides just stretching.  The lower body had you  use some weights at the same time.

By the way the Miralax has done very little so far.   I took two full doses yesterday and went just a bit but not what I think I should.  I will keep it up though.

Feeling Defeated

I told  you I would post.  At the moment I am feeling pretty defeated.   Monday I thought I had the hip fixed since I was pain free...that is until I had to drive to Cedar Rapids by myself Monday night for parts.   Sitting in the car undid every forward step I made.  Last night I could not sleep again because of the pain.    1) I have pain   2)   I have not had a good night's sleep since Brian was here on Thursday where I slept all night.  I have woke up at 2 a.m. every night since then and cannot get back to sleep. 3)  Two days on Miralax and I have gone just barely a little bit.  Not a full bowel movement.   I have not taken the full doseage yet ...afraid too but with Miralax and fiber pills....still not normal.    My calorie burn for Monday was 2241 and yesterday was 2088.   As my title says...I am feeling defeated.

One note I am noticed is that I am more hungry lately.  The other day I averted a candy bar run in the middle of the afternoon by getting some wheat thins from VJ for 65 calories which was better than a 250 calorie Milky way.     So that is good.    Any suggestions?

Sunday 3-21

It is Sunday and 3 weeks since I started my new path to being on track.  It was a hard week.   Lots of stress and lots of pain and lots of late nights and no sleep and no exercise for part of the week except housework.

Here is the situation.   I have had lots of pain, 2 chiropractor treatments and one PT appt.   Sometime during the week...I peeked at the scale and I was down 1 lb. to 222.8 Which is getting close to 10 lbs being lost in 3 weeks (something the BL contestant has in 1 week...I know !)   Anyway then on Thurs, worked all day and then got ready for Brian to come...went to the Mill.  Got in bed at 2 a.m. and up at 6:00 ..no exercise because of the guys being here and afraid they would get up...no privacy.   When they left at 2 p.m.   I was a zombie...could hardly move.  Then left to go to a concert at 4:00 p.m.  Not home till 12:30....got up at 8:30 a.m. and went to chiropractor again.....no exericse ....still a zombie.

Which brings up to today.....Sunday ...3 weeks and counting.    I went back up to 223.8 ..the same weight I was last Sunday.    So I should be happy....remember I had told you I had gone up several lbs earlier in the week.     Plus here is something I am working on.......when I start going on a different food plan....I get constipated.   I don't think I have gone to the bathroom all week.....not good.   But that always seems to happen so I will have to try to take care of that.  That might help....sorry for that info but I thought it might be part of my problem.  

On the bright side.   I have a skinnier neck....down 1 inch and a smaller bicep by 1 inch and my bust is down 1/2 inch this week and my thigh is 1/2 inch down.   My waist and hips are down from the beginning but not this week.

That is all for now.

Weary Friday

Hello.  See if I can clear the brain fog enough to write.   Huh....I will be brief and to the point.

I burned 2,483 calories yesterday.  I was not able to estimate the cup of soup I had at the Mill.   It was tiny and I did not eat it all.   And I had 1 1/2 pieces of garlic toast.   I tried to find something close to it.  It said I ate 1065 calories yesterday but I probably ate more I imagine since you can't tell the calorie content .  
That is all I have today.

Thursday 3-18

Thought I had better do a post.  On Tuesday I had an ok day.  Had decided to stay at home and eat and dad called me at 4:00 and said we had to go up to CR and get parts.  Ended up eating at Perkins.  Had grilled chicken breast (no sauces or anything) and 1/2 baked potato since they were sort of on the bigger side...with just a small (very small) dab of butter and sour cream.   Those little cups they give you with both had most of it left in them.  Had carrots for a vegetable (small amount) and a roll.  For the day burned 2150 and ate around 1300....since I had PT that took up most of the morning ...had no snack. 
Yesterday, I burned 2613 (that housework sure does help rathter than watching TV)   And I ate 1425 calories.    I have not gotten on the scale so do not know if I have lost the weight I gained or if I have gained more  or if I have lost any.   Afraid to plus Stacey said it might be wise to only weigh once a week so as not to get discouraged by the ups and downs.

Feel pretty good about most of the week.   Now to decide what to eat at the Mill tonight for supper.  See you all there.

Down in the Dumps

I don't feel real happy today.   I am up two lbs and that bothers me.    I felt I ate according to the bodybugg within my calorie range BUT we ate out way too much...and I tried to get the calorie count of the foods off of Internet.   Did not exercise as much last week because of the hip and leg.
I guess I need to let that go and try to do better this week.

Yesterday it said I burned 2184 calories and ate between 1500-1550.   I should probably try to get the food a bit under control.   I feel good that I am eating healthy snacks (1) in the morning of veggies, and none in the afternoon but gum and water.   And I have only had about 4 ozs of 7-up lately....so trying to break the old pop habit....maybe that is why I have headaches.

That is all.   Suggestions, bawlings out, encourgement?????

Sunday 3-14

Not much to say.   No more weight loss this week.   Need to try to heal leg and get more active this coming week.  Hope that happens.   Will try harder this week.

Busy Saturday

I am finally getting busy. Spent the morning driving around again with dad.  Of course I am not sure I can do much more than that since I am in lots of pain.   I am growing weary of this.  My summer can't be this bad.  It seemed like I wasted all or most of last year recuperating from the left side and now the right side is causing major problems.   I am going to the Chiro Monday to see if I can get a quick fix (my PT people like Dr. G)   And then PT on Tuesday.     It is just so painful to walk and when I first stand up it feels like my leg is going to collapse.    Grrrrr....even so ...with all the sitting yesterday....I burned 2077 calories and ate close to 1400.    Wonder if I will have anymore weight loss this week?   I guess I have already lost a 1 1/2 this week.   Hope that isn't all but if it is ....I will be happy with that.  At least it is a loss. 

Tis Friday....3-12

So glad the week is almost over..I feel like it has been a rough week.  I am struggling with feeling like I am eating too much.  I probably am.   I burned 2122 calories yesterday but ate 1559 calories.   That is too much I feel.  I need to get it down, what do you think?      I guess it will feel like too much when you use to eat 700 calories on a diet.   I got up and did some exercise for only 15 minutes which also makes me feel like a failure but my leg hurt too much to continue.   So not feeling so hot about things this morning.  Need a pick me up but also honesty from you both.

Early Morning Thurs 3-11

Yesterday pm I took off for my PT appt.   Left side not in good shape...hips all lopsided...I could have told her that.   She gave me some stretching exercises to do for the left side.  Go back next week.   Due to not sleeping good last night because of the pain.  I have chosen not to exercise this morning.

Yesterday I sat at my desk on AM and then afternoon pruned the grapes and then went to town to PT and then home and did a small amount (very small) of housework and then sat at choir from 7:15 to 9:00 and then came home and did a bit more sitting due to pain.   In spite of all that sitting I burned 2287 calories.   The bad new is I ate 1630 calories.

BUT the good news is that when I got on the scale this morning I lost another 2 lbs.   So now I am down to 223.8 lbs.   A total of 8.4 lbs.   YEAH FOR ME !

3-10-10 Another day

Just a quick post before I go exercise.  Yesterday was a sit at the desk day...blah.   Even so I burned 2291 calories according to Mr. Body Bugg !   Some of that due to Melissa and I making a round at the Coral Ridge Mall last night...even if it was at turtle pace because of my stupid leg.   My calorie count was about normal.   At 1350 to 1400 hundred.   If Melissa hadn't MADE me stop at Dairy Queen and get that Baby cone ...I would have been better yet !   Sorry...Melissa actually stopped because I grabbed the wheel and made her turn in there.   Actually all I could find for a calorie count was that a small vanilla cone at DQ was 140 calories and I had a "Baby" cone so don't know if it was less yet.  I would think so.   What is sad is that the Bagette (sp?) was 150 calories that I had with my soup at Paneras ...more than the ice cream!  I felt it was sort of an experiment and since I had a few calories I needed to use.......don't know if I would do it again soon...ice cream really isn't my thing.  Looking on the calorie site I did see that a dreamsicle at DQ is only 80 calories so that is good to know.   I won't tell you Melissa how many calories was in that Blizzard you ate !!!!!!!!!

Mid afternoon 3-9-10 Post

Just a quick post.  Logged in body bugg and saw that yesterday I burned 2433 calories.
Today at noon ...I haver eaten 730 calories and have burned sitting at a desk 1119 calories.   Got to move some more....maybe I could dance on my desk !!!!!!!!

Early Tues 3-9 post

As you can see ....I am not as imaginative as Stacey is with titles.  Too early since it before 6:00 a.m.  Must exercise.  Still have a very hurt leg so I think I will lift weights for the upper body.    Did I ever tell you that last time I asked the PT lady if my problem was just muscular?   She said that my problems appear to be muscular and my skeleton had some major problems too....both   just kind of aggravate each other.   (where is the spell check on this thing....I am probably spelling words wrong right and left...especially since I have one eye closed still sleeping)   I have another appointment on Weds to try to get my leg stronger.   

I got on the scale this morning.  Not much damage done..in fact no damage done.I was down a tad...I now weigh 225.8 lbs.    Not bad.  

I realize you did not recommend the books or CD Stacey.   Sorry I left that impression.  All one has to do is point my nose toward a book or music or anything like that and I am like a bird dog in the hunt.   :)  One of my weaknesses....better than drugs !!!!!

You asked Stacey why 2400 burn calories.....I don't know...I guess from the information I gave the bodybugg that I wanted to lose 2 lbs a week and that I wanted to weigh 150 lbs.   They gave me those numbers of 2400 burn and 1400 eating and that the weight would be off by Dec of this year.   I still had a bit of time to go and I had 2140 calories burned.  Lets see ...that was with 30 mins of Miranda's stretching and sitting at a desk from 8:00 - 3:00 and then driving uptown and sitting at a foot doctor and then buying groceries and then cleaning house some in the evening.    So if I would have exercised sometime in the evening Iwould have probably done well.  I will let you know sometime when I log in how many calories I burned for sure yesterday.

Well must go exercise.  

Monday 3-8

I will post since Stacey reprimanded me for not posting since I was not happy with the weekend.  And rightly so.  If I don't post my failures too...It does not become real and I will not learn anything from it.

Monday after a long weekend of sitting and probably eating more than I should.   I felt like in one way I did ok at the church.   I might of told you how I ate there which was not too bad.  Saturday night dad of course wanted to go out to eat and just get away after sitting all day.  We ate at Panara's .  I had a cup of soup.  Looking at the calories on line was only 380 calories.   So not bad for that.   Sunday I had a half of a banana and a small bit of strawberries and a piece of rye toast.   At noon all I had was a glass of skim milk, 1 piece of bread with 1 T of peanut butter since I knew I would be eating at the party.  At the shower I had some fruit and some raw vegetables and the one thing that was not good was a piece of white cake.   Not too large.   But here is the bad part.  Again, we went out to eat at Steak N Shake.  I had a single burger and a few fries.  But this weekend is over and back to today.

I now have my bodybugg going and as of 8:54 I have burned 2,140 calories (suppose to burn 2400) and I have eaten 1476 (which is 76 calories over my allowance)    I am done eating for the day.   I exercised this morning for 30 minutes.  Tomorrow morning I will lift weights.  

So give me your opinion.   I also bought those CD's and book Stacey recommended in the last post.

2nd Post for the Day

Just remembered that I did not tell you in the last post a few of things I learned in yesterday's sessions...even though it was to do with conflict in the church...it also had some stuff that you can apply to your daily life and I saw  in my weight loss journey.  He said that family patterns and trouble also goes into the trouble that is in church.  You bring your own baggage with you.

He said that whenever you redefine yourself in any way ...you can expect resistance (dad)
The key to standing up to resistance is to focus on self and not try to change others.

Questions are a good way to challenge people (Don't you want me to lose weight and get healthy?)
You should persist in your misson despite all the opposition. Stay the course--listen to the opposition but don't cave in.  Stay connected.   Stay calm and don't become reactive and don't sabotage yourself.

Pretty good stuff, huh?

2 WEEKS AND COUNTING

Thought I had better post this morning since I did not have time yesterday.   As of today 2 weeks into watching ???? my weight and trying to stay on track....I have lost another 1.2 lbs or a total in two weeks of 6.2 lbs.      That makes me happy but going a bit slower than the first time I lost weight which was about 6 lbs in one week.   I guess though since I have not exercised as much (because of the hip) and have not eaten as little (700 calories) as last time ...it will come off slower too.   Just so it stays off is the thing.

Friday night and yesterday were hard since we were sitting the whole time.   For a snack they had ice cream and cookies on Friday night.  I took the ice cream 1/2 cup and they had cookies...skipped them.  Ate probably 3 bits and gave the rest to dad.  Saturday a.m. snack was fruit and cinnamon rolls.  I ate 3 manderin oranges, 2 slices of banana and one orange slice...skipped the cinnamon roll.   Lunch was a major problem.   We had chicken wrapped in bacon.  Ate 1/2 of that or less.   Scalloped potatoes.  Ate 1/4 of that, peas and carrots, 1/2 cup or less ...ate most of that and a salad with some sort of dressing.  I had 1/4 cup and a crescent roll.     For a pm snack  cookies, crackers, and apples.   I had 3 little slices of apples.     The problem came that we sat basically from 9:00 a.m.  to 4:30 p.m.   Blah. 

Well I would write more but it is almost 6 a.m. and I have to go and exercise.   

Fall off the Wagon Day ???????

Yesterday seemed to be a blah day where I feel like I didn't watch what I ate and I didn't exercise.  It didn't feel good either.   I doubt I did much harm but I didn't do myself any good either.   Rather sad but I guess today is a new day to start over.  

Today I got up at 5:40 so I could wake up to do my 30 minutes of exercise.    That feels good so at the least I started the day off right.    Now to conquer the eating a bit more than I did yesterday. 

Happy Wednesday

 Well, I am up at 5:45 a.m. to exercise.  I felt so bad yesterday I did not get on the scale at all.  Today I thought I would not get on the scale either since I figured I would be UP today because of my eating yesterday (which I thought was bad) and no exercise.  But figured ignoring stuff was how my weight came back on in the first place.   As of this morning I now weigh 227.2 ...a FULL 5 Lbs since I started my getting ON TRACK journey.   YEAH FOR ME !   Lost an inch around my waist for a total of 2inches from there as of this week and a 1/2 from thigh and 1/2 inch from calf.   The good old hips though ...have not done a thing yet.....still 52 BIG inches.     Gee I remember when I got married and I thought I was hippy at 38 inches......would be nice.    Well ...gives me something to shoot for !  :)  I will post more later...must go exercise now.

March 2nd - Blah Tuesday

I am struggling today.   Not feeling well, not feeling motivated, feeling blue.   I didn't accomplish much yesterday.  I worked out 25 minutes in the morning.  Ate ok.   Can't remember breakfast but it was ok I guess !!!!   Snack, carrots, celery and green peppers with a tad of ranch.  Lunch was a salad with flax seed, a few almonds and oz of ham and 1 T of ranch and tea.  Supper was  taco soup with a dab of sour cream and a small amount of crunchy frito type chips on top, 3/4 oz of cheese.  Snack, some popcorn.  

My problem is that I fell going out to the compost pile on some ice and snow and went down on my knees and hip.  Not good ...now both knees hurt.   Makes it very hard to feel motivated to exercise and such.   Makes me mad and makes me sad.....hence want to eat a candy bar but thanks to Melissa's pep talk have resisted so far.    

I want to be able to walk without pain.  Running sounds so good but not sure I will ever be able to  at my age without doing damage.  I couldn't even do it when I lost weight before. 

Read something online that said that you can lose but maintaining is hard.  Your metabolism slows down and your brain wants to think about food.  It says to maintain weight loss ..you need to of course watch what you eat but you need to exercise at a minimum 5 hours a week.   Guess that was my problem and why I didn't keep it off.

Monday Morning

Yesterday I had an ok eating day.   I didn't figure up my calories yet.  Had skim milk and a Luna bar 180 bar for breakfast.  Did not have any snacks since it probably would be frowned upon in church !!!!  :)  
For lunch I had my cabbage and ham soup.   Can't find any calories on it.  I had 4 oz of it.  It has cabbage, onions, carrots, celery in it plus a small bit of ham.  The bad part might be 1 cup of skim milk in the whole batch plus 2 cups of half and half.  That makes enough for about 3 or 4 meals for dad and I.   I had 3/4 of an ounce of baby swiss cheese.   Then for supper we went out with Deb and Bob Derksen.  Made the mistake of telling Bob he could order the pizza at Monica's.  He ordered a 5 meat pizza.  Not a vegetable in site.   I ate 2 little pieces of bread dipped in oil..not much....and 1 small slice of pizza and had tea to drink.  I will have to try to figure that out later.   Today, I got on the scale and I was down .8 lbs....so 3.4 lbs since the beginning.   I am not saying much to dad.  He still isn't real helpful.  I didn't tell him I even lost a lb yet because he won't be supportive.  I told him I bought some Turkey stuff because it is more healthy.  His comment is ..."Oh to help you on your YO-YO dieting?    I told him that wasn't supportive and he said not to blame him if I can't control myself.   It is true I have been up and down but comments like that are not a bit helpful.  If I had wanted to get into a royal fight I could have commented that only because he has good genes is he able to stay as slim as he is..because talk about NO CONTROL.   He talks about eating healthy and watching his weight and in the same breath wants to know if I can get him some cake and ice cream to eat.   So I guess I will just depend on you two for encouragement.  Kind of sad. 

End of First Week.

 Well it is the end of the first week of my getting on track and getting healthy.

It does not compare to the first time I lost weight...like 6 or more lbs in a week...but I am happy and feel I am doing it the right way and since my exercising has been limited somewhat...not bad.

I lost 2.6 lbs this week.   Down to 229.6 lbs.  and I lost 2 1/2 inches.   1 from my boobs , 1 from my waist and 1/2 from my thigh.   So pretty successful week.

I got up and did 30 minutes of mild exericse and stretching.  Gets the blood flowing a bit more.

Yesterday, an ok day with eating.  Hard to eat on the road.   I had a luna bar and skim milk for breakfast, 3/4 of a 6 inch sub and 5 cheetos  (oops) and then I had for supper (bad place to eat) a hamburger with all the vegetables at Culvers and 1/2 of my fries and ice tea.  That is all I had to eat.  I am sure not enough calories or a healthy diet but didn't feel stuffed or anything.  

Well on to the secon week.   Wish me luck.

Second Post of the Day

The day is just starting out but doing pretty good so far.  At least I did a bit of exercise.  Did 5 minutes of lower body.   Kind of scared to take a chance.   Then I did 25 minutes of upper body with weights.   Felt good to move some and at least I got sort of a workout.   Taking it sort of slow so that I can get my body moving without injuring myself.   I had a Luna protein bar and 2 pieces of low fat bacon and skim milk for breakfast.   

Friday

I guess I forgot to post last night.   I felt like I did fairly well yesterday with food.  I ate around 1300 calories.   I had a chicken crepe (for the night before) for breakfast.   My snacks consisted of carrots, celery and green pepper and a half T of Ranch dressing.   Lunch was on the run.   I had 1/2 of a hamburger and 2 potato slices.   Supper was a piece of chicken,  mash potatoes, and green beans.   The part where I did the worse was I had a small slice of cheese cake.   It wasn't as yummy as Melissa's so not sure it was worth the calories.

I did not exercise because of my leg and hip.   Went to PT and she worked on it.  Not as bad this morning but not wonderful either.  I think I will try to at least do the upper body weights this morning so that I am moving some anyway.    I hope the hip thing soon goes away so that I can do more all over exercises.

P.S.  Where on earth on these blogs is the spell check so I can see how my spelling is??????

Not sure about today

I have mixed feelings about today.  I don't feel so hot about it.   After a very sleepless night because of pain...I did not exercise today at all.   Which bothers me but it seems hard to get motivated with my mind on that. 

Then the second thing I am dealing with is that I ate about 1300-1400 calories and I because of that I feel like I am cheating.  I realize I am not but it feels like it.   With no exercise on top of that....I feel like I just took a step backwards.

I have a physical therapy session tomorrow.   I am growing weary of a whole year off and on with hip and leg problems.  I imagine a lot of it comes from the poor shape I am in and also my weight.  Hard to lose weight when it hurts to do anything.   Perhaps I will at least do  upper body tomorrow morning so I don't feel totally useless and helpless.  

More Calories

I just logged in my food for today.   970 calories.    I do remember that Doug told me that a person could be off as much as 400 calories .  In that case I would be ok.    I had bacon and toast with 2 % milk since I was out of skim and out of bananas.   For a snack I had carrots, peppers and a dab of ranch dressing.   Dad wanted to go to Wendy's for lunch so I had the small Wendy's chili and a few crackers and a very few french fries.  Not the best diet.   For supper all I had was a bowl of my home made ham and cabbage soup.   The soup has ham (not a lot in it)    Also cabbage, carrots, celery & onion.  Made though with skim milk and some half and half.  You guys said I needed more protein..how do I get it without eating tons of meat?   I did buy some peanut butter that I might either put on celery or a few crackers for a snack.   Is that good or bad?   

Ok that is all I know.   I will do weights for the lower body tomorrow morning.  I should be doing more exercise I think.   My problem is that dad is here in the p.m the minute I get home....we eat and then it seems if I exercise after eating....I get sick at my stomach.   Any suggestions.  I hope to walk some when the weather changes and we get into spring.  Looking forward to that.

Yippee !

Just a short post for now.   More later.   From Sunday to Wednesday. ....I am down from 232.2 to 230.6
Not much but hey every ounce counts !    (that is almost a tongue twister)  

I got up this morning and did a 25 minute Miranda stretch and such.   I am having some pain in my right leg...which is unusual for me.   It almost always is my left side and my left leg and foot that gives me trouble.  It seems like it is behind my knee.  Massage helps and such.    Say Stacey...how do you know if you have a blood clot in your leg.  I know it probably isn't that but when it is my right leg...it always worries me since that is my good leg !  

Will post more later.  Need to eat and get busy for work.  

Mom

So So I Guess

Today I thought I did pretty well ...at least part of the day.   This morning I got up at 6 a.m. and did 25 minutes of upper body weights with a tape for people over 40.....just think Stacey...you can do this tape in 3 or 4 years !!!!  I am sure you would appreciate that !   Sorry!

For breakfast I basically had a repeat of what I ate yesterday.  Going shopping tomorrow so perhaps I can expand my choices.    I had a snack then mid morning of 6 baby carrots, 2 strips of green pepper and a teaspoon of ranch dressing.  For lunch I had water and a salad minus the crackers.   I felt a bit bad in the p.m. that I had 5 hershey kisses.   But even with them I only had 690 calories.   For supper we went out which probably was not good.   I had a chicken taco salad.   I have no idea since it was El Dorado how many calories it had.  I would say 400-600 calories so I feel sort of like I cheated since I don't know how many calories. I looked in a book and the salads I saw were anywhere from 490 - 690 calories.   I won't be eating anything else tonight for sure.   I didn't eat the whole salad either.

Tomorrow I thought I would get up and do either my Miranda thing or lower body weight type stuff.  

Comments or suggestions asked for.

Doing good so far.

So far today as of 2 p.m. I am pretty proud of myself.   I got up and did a Miranda video for a whole half hour before work plus before work I shoveled snow for 40 minutes.  So I feel I got a pretty good workout.

For Breakfast I ate a banana, 2 slices of bacon which the calorie count said was 35 calories total and a piece of toast with 1 t of jelly on it and 5 ozs of skim milk.  For lunch I had 1 oz of ham in a salad with feta cheese a few slivers of almonds and 1/2 t. of dressing (you know how I dip my fork) and 4 saltine crackers.  I found a free calorie counter online and it said as of this time...I have eaten around 650 calories.  So not bad.

I was able not to eat anything but chew sugarless dentyne spicy cinnamon gum this morning and drank water....no pop...yesterday or today.   Yeah.  

This evening I plan to eat my chicken/spinach braut and 1/2 or less of twice baked potato and either a vegetable or a small salad.  Not sure of the calorie count of that.  

It seems when you exercise you hesitate to eat crap.  

I find myself wanting to eat though in the afternoons at work since I have all those hours of bordom looming..since I usually get all my work done in the morning.  Any tips as to what I could eat if I so desired that wouldn't break the bank?  

1st day

Well, the first day is almost over.   Lots to learn and to do.   Food not too good today.  For breakfast a no no...a muffin.  Got to work on that.  Stacey gave me some valid ideas.   Lunch a spinach chicken braut only 110 calories.   1/4 of a twice baked potato...have no idea on calories there.  And 1/4 cup of corn.   Supper again not too good.....4 chicken wings and 2 pieces of celery.
Need lots of work on the food issue.   Also need to go grocery shopping this week for some good food.

Exercise was exercise.   I shoveled a path all the way out from the front door around the house to the compost pile.   Then I did 15 minutes of a Leslie Samone workout video.  I realize this does not sound like much BUT I do not want to overdue it and then be hurt.  Believe it or not....I was hurting really bad from the video...legs, hips and such plus since I did it soon after eating (within 2 hours) I got bad stomach cramps.  I seem to have that problem.  Any suggestions.  I think even with that little exercise I will be sore.  Actually I am already.  That shows you how very out of shape I am.  Sad.

Embarrassed !

Well here I go ...trying to get back on track.  I guess to get on track I first have to tell you where I stand
on my weight and measurements.   This is the embarrassing part.  I am just about back where I was several years ago when I started the body bugg.   I guess I might as well jump in...it is not like I am hiding it...it is there for all the world to see on my tummy and butt !

My weight is up to 232.2 lbs.    (no comments on that please)
Neck is 15
Bust is 43
Waist is 41
Hips are a whoppin 52
Thigh is 26
Calf is 16

Those are all in inches.....not FEET !

One problem you can help me on is breakfast.   What do you eat that is low in calories and healthy when you absolutely hate cereal except for Granola ?   My breakfast is better suited to a muffin or donut or such.   Any suggestions.

I also was going to start using the bodybugg to check my food and exercise but it says I am not enrolled even though I am till 10/10.    So I can't tell you about calories burned.  I did go out and shoveled out a path all the way to my compost pile so far today.

Anyway...there it is all out for all the world to see or I should say my world....my daughters.

Let me know any suggestions you might have in this early stages of getting healthy again.