Weighing in

I've had troubles lately. It feels like -- and the scale has reflected! -- that I've been maintaining rather than continuing to lose. I have many more pounds to go, so that isn't acceptable to me. And I know that it's ME, not my eating plan or my exercise routine. It's ME. I haven't been diligent.

All of that changed this week, and despite a few challenges (church luncheon, unexpected eating out ...), I dropped 1.6 pounds this week! That actually puts me at an all-time low!

I've been paying a lot more attention to my water intake specifically. I have never measured out how much water I drink, but it's a pretty decent amount. Lately though, I had started drinking more of other beverages instead. Also, I haven't been as diligent in making sure I walk every.single.day I like I had been. And ... I have been snacking. Not much, and definitely not in the same manner that "before" me would have, but I have. All of that = stalling.

I'm not ready for that yet.

So, this week:

• I will make a point to walk every day. Even if it's just for 30 minutes.
• I will make better choices when I DO need a snack.
• I will make better choices during meals.

There you have it. The plan. I am considering going back to measuring and recording everything, depending on how I do this week. It's a pain, but it certainly does set everything out in black and white.

Onward and downward!

Happy (belated) birthday to MEEEEE!

Birthdays are a big deal in our family. Not gift-wise, but we make it a celebration. The birthday person chooses how to spend the day, in pretty much all aspects. As a homeschooling family we have the freedom to take a vacation day, so we do.

The day started with my daughter serving breakfast -- coconut pie. :) And yes, I actually did eat it. With a big glass of milk because that much sugar, that early in the day is not good for me.

Since this was MY birthday, I chose to visit a lighthouse museum, one that I'd been intending to visit for quite a while. This actually had the added bonus of qualifying for a history field trip (hehehe ~ sneaky!).

Afterward, on the way home, we had a few extra minutes, so I stopped on a whim at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. And I decided to climb Mt. Baldy, which is really just a huge sand dune. It is amusing and amazing to me that this -- climbing a sand dune -- was one of my chosen activities. That is so different from the person I used to be.

I like this me.

Weighing in

You'd think that I would be able to manage to have a simple weigh in post be written on time. Apparently not! Between husband, children, and dogs, I barely have had time to sit down!

This week's weigh in was quite a shock. I lost 2.6 pounds! Holey cow! That was completely unexpected, as ... um ... yeah ... we went out to eat four times. For dinner. And at least once for lunch. It has been crazy busy around here, and my husband tends to balk at cereal or oatmeal for dinner, so he made the executive decision for us to eat out. Thankfully, I think the busyness is over, at least for a while, so we're back to eating food that we prepare at home most of the time. Our only regular eating out is pizza on Wednesday night before church because it's fast and easy.

That brings my total weight loss to 56.6 pounds. Oh my word.

I've been making do with my husband's XL t-shirts most of the time. They are starting to be too big on my shoulders. For someone who lived in 3XL shirts (and was honestly about to outgrow those), that is more than a little astonishing. So I dug out the free t-shirt from the pet relocation company we used, and sure enough, that size Large shirt that my daughter was wearing as a nightshirt fit better than most of what I had been wearing.

Now if only I could get rid of the belly fat!

This week we'll be getting back into routine that will include actually getting the laundry folded and meals cooked at home. I'm not expecting a major loss like that again though. Losing that much in one week was probably related to the fact that I have been on the go so much!

A new recipe

A friend recently sent a link to a new (for me) bran muffin recipe from Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

I think it is perhaps the best bran muffin recipe I've ever made. And I admit that I was very skeptical, as it has some ... uncommon ... muffin ingredients, like All-Bran cereal and cottage cheese. As always when I've decided I like a new recipe, I added it into My Recipes in My Fitness Pal, and -- shock and surprise! -- the muffins are only 71 calories per serving, with 2 grams of protein. Well, I'll be darned!

On my first go with a recipe, I usually follow it exactly. However, this recipe called for walnuts, which I didn't have in my cabinet, and I don't particularly like anyway, so I used pecans instead. I also used dates for the fruit instead of the raisins. Both are listed in the recipe as an option. Those two differences to the original are reflected in the calorie content from My Fitness Pal. Also, I used a Pampered Chef small scoop to fill the muffin cups, which gave me a serving size of 30 muffins. I probably could/should have weighed them, but the batteries in my kitchen scale need to be replaced.

(Yeah, I'm never going to make it as a food photographer.)

My daughter has requested that I leave out the dates next time. She's not fond of raisins either, so that doesn't surprise me, and I don't think it will detract from the flavor at all. Other than the dates, she loved them. I think I will try a batch with dried cherries or cranberries as well.

I've actually cut most wheat and processed foods from my diet, but I do enjoy some sort of baked treat every now and then. These have made the cut and are worth it to me.

Happy baking!

Weighing in

Oh yeah. It has been a while! And to be quite honest, I've definitely not been concentrating on weight *loss* during my time away from the blog. My exercise has really fallen by the wayside, but thankfully, my nutrition knowledge has really stuck with me. I really don't even want to go back to the unhealthy ways, and it isn't a sacrifice at all, just a choice. Every time we were at a buffet (why do they always have to choose a buffet?!), I made the rounds to see what were my best options before I even considered digging in.

So ... on to the results. I can't even remember the last time I mentioned here, so we'll just start anew, shall we? This morning's weigh in was 183 pounds, exactly 54 pounds lighter than when I started my journey. That's only right at a 5 pound loss (4.8, I think) for this year. Not so great, but I can't beat myself up over it. I definitely will have to step it up though, if I want to meet my goal of losing 30 pounds this year. At my current rate, I'll only lose 20!

I started walking again yesterday. Walking as in exercise-walking, not the normal 'round the block thing with the urchins. I can tell that my endurance level has decreased, but I'm not overly concerned. I will get it back! My plan for this week is to walk every single day, even if it's only a couple of miles. On Saturday we (as a family) are going to participate in a spring clean for a local historic cemetery. Raking leaves, picking up sticks, cleaning some of the stones of moss ... just making it look nice for the community. I always feel like I get a good workout in whenever there is yard work involved!

Onward and downward! (And we'll hope it is slightly more downward than in previous weeks!)

Hmmm.

We have been traveling lately, quite a lot, which is -- in part -- why there have been no posts! Thankfully, I think we are home for a while.

The photo is of one of the many vending machines we encountered on our travels. Normally I just glance and move on, but this one was titled "Healthy Habits" so naturally, I took a closer look.

Look again with me ....

How many healthy items do you see?

On not wearing red

Friday, February 3 was "Wear Red Day." If you use Facebook at all, you probably saw it all over the place. I did anyway. Starting Thursday my friends posted links and photos and status updates relating to it.

While this is specifically about heart disease in WOMEN, this is an important issue to me. My grandmother died of congestive heart failure. My dad died of congestive heart failure. Statistically speaking, it is quite likely that this WILL be something that I'll face.

Seeing all of those reminders, I went to my closet on Friday. Red is one of my favorite colors because it's so bright and cheery, and it liberally peppers my closet. Or it did. The previous weekend, I had completely cleaned out everything that didn't fit and had passed them to a friend. I now own exactly one red shirt, and it was dirty. Unless I planned to do an unexpected load of laundry (which I really didn't have time to do), no red for me. I ended up choosing that thrift store shirt, which fits perfectly and is one of my favorites. I was satisfied.

And yet, there were a couple of raised eyebrows and a comment of "I would think you of all people [due to family history] would be wearing red today."

That stung. I am fully aware of my family history. I am the one, after all, who misses my dad every single day. I am the one who still misses my grandmother after 28 years. Believe me, heart disease is part of my reality every. single. day. I don't forget.


No, I did not wear red. Wearing red does nothing except put red on the outside of my body. In reality, it does nothing.

What did I do to raise awareness for heart disease? I did 40 minutes of cardio, and I walked 5 miles. And my children knew exactly what I was doing and, more importantly, why.