tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43256798690870464902024-03-08T15:25:36.709-06:00Gaining Control Over EatingJoin me on my journey!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-72728565822256206682009-09-13T09:49:00.002-05:002009-09-13T09:57:34.542-05:00Time flies when you're having fun!I haven't been here in awhile to update anything. It just seems like the time flies by before you know it. I finished my weight loss challenge at work...well, more appropirately, IT finished, but I didn't. My goal was to lose 15 pounds. I lost as much as 13.something, but the end result was just losing 10.2. Not great, but not bad either.<br /><br />My next motivation is vacation. It's nowhere exotic or anything, just that I'll be seeing some old friends. I'd like to finish that 15 pound weight loss for that. My #1 enemy is stress, and I know it. Money is so tight it squeaks, but I can't bring myself to stop certain habits that waste money. I mean, I do bring lunch to work every day, and I pack healthy snacks. But then I just have gotten into the bad habit of wanting 3 Musketeers bar - EVERY DAY! It wastes 65 cents each time. So, 65 cents x 5 days a week x 4 weeks a month = $13 wasted each month. How silly of me! Occasionally I can fight it off, but I know what I really should do is buy a package of minis at the store, and pack a few each day to take with me. The snacking would be smaller and the cost would be lower. I'm just afraid that if I had them at home, I'd hit up the bag at night and wouldn't limit myself to just 1 or 2. <br /><br />Well, that's my brief update. I will TRY to do better. As mom always said, "all you can do is try your best."lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-85367135809469199152009-07-19T14:48:00.002-05:002009-07-19T14:55:07.533-05:00Hanging in thereI haven't lost any weight in the past week or so, but (as of Friday) hadn't gained any more either. My dieting kind of took a hiatus last week, so I'm just happy it stayed the same. <br /><br />It's a gorgeous day out. I just finished hours of house cleaning, so I'm headed out to enjoy the day!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-62875153431034095892009-07-10T23:33:00.002-05:002009-07-10T23:45:26.992-05:00Another week, another pound gone.This is just great news for me, and surprising since I had a hard time staying on track this week. Just imagine how much better it might have been if I'd really focused my attention on controlling my eating habits! Especially since I worked my butt off ever since last weekend. (Not literally, of course, it's still there....believe me!) I did a lot of walking, gardening, lawn mowing, and lifting, and tried to do something every day. <br /><br />I mentioned before that I'm doing the President's Challenge to get 30 minutes of exercise (minimum) 5 days a week for 6 of 8 weeks. I was just on the website to enter all my activity for the week. I'll have completed my 8 weeks in 2 more weeks, and in order to achieve the goal, I can't miss doing some form of exercise for 5 days each week. It's because I already missed hitting the goal on 2 weeks. I don't feel like a slacker, but I must have goofed off more than 2 days each of those weeks. I don't remember not doing something, so that's why it is so important to write it down. This applies whether you're trying to lose weight, track exercise, log your spending, or whatever. It's so easy to think you'll remember and then you don't.<br /><br />Well, enjoy your weekend, whatever you're doing. It's going to be a hot one here, but I've been making good progress weeding our vege garden, so I'm sure I'll be out there over the next 2 days again. It might be early in the morning or later in the evening just so I don't overdo it, but I'll be there. It almost looks like a garden again!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-47597893615750916172009-07-03T08:10:00.002-05:002009-07-03T08:24:40.986-05:003-day weekend coming up for meAfter all my plans for last weekend, most didn't materialize since I ended up helping hubby with farm equipment problems. So, I have ALL the same plans for this weekend, with an extra day to accomplish them. We'll see how it goes. <br /><br />I'm down another pound, wonder of wonders. But I need to be careful. I've been a little lax these past few days, and giving into cravings, mostly at night. We had a few crises - up one night late with the vet stitching up a horse that got cut very deep. A lot of times in the summer, we don't eat until after dark, but this time it was midnight. Needless to say, I cooked something quick and easy, but it sure wasn't healthy....hotdogs. A few other nights, I had dessert after dinner, which is a habit I've been trying to break, but when I get stressed out I just eat out of habit.<br /><br />So...my plan for this weekend is to try to THINK before eating. I'm not writing down the calories for each meal, but maybe if I focus more on good healthy eating I can break a few of the habits that have started to creep back. We go to a cookout tomorrow night, and I'm going to try my best to keep under control then too. I think after this weekend I'll start writing down the calorie count again and tallying for the day. The pattern I've seen is that when I write it down, it stays somewhere between 1400 and 1600. When I don't, and do a mental tally at the end of the day, I can remember 1600-1700 calories but am never sure what I might have forgotten. The magic scale seems to know all though!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-17862707727557492392009-06-27T11:13:00.002-05:002009-06-27T11:29:26.893-05:00Is it HOT enough for you?!?!My goodness, but it is HOT out! And, to add insult to injury, it's very humid too. This has been going on all week, and I think we have several more days of it in store. The good news is that my squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and other vine-y type plants are doing good with this weather. My other plants look a little wilted. I didn't get to water for the past 2 nights, so maybe I'll do it this evening after it cools off. Or, if I can stand it, I might carry jugs of water to them and just water around the bases during the day. That's a lot of carrying, but it counts as exercise, so I just might give it a try. While I dislike the carrying, it beats watering everywhere and giving the weed water too.<br /><br />I've gotten the scale to nudge down a little bit more, to where it actually shows pounds lost on the sidebar. Yippee! I hope to see some improvement after this weekend too. I have a TON of things to do outside in the garden & yard. The other day while doing some chores, I spotted something floral that was near the back toward the woods. It looked like a big burst of cream color, so I investigated. It's some type of bush with these cream color clumps of blossoms that are 4 or 5 inches across. The flowers smelled wonderful! I noticed yesterday the blossoms have passed by, but I am definitely considering relocating it closer to the house.<br /><br />Then, there is the forsythia that needs to be trimmed. This has been on my list for weeks. There are two of them that have not been trimmed in....maybe forever. I attacked one of them back at the beginning of the month, and left a lot of bare branches with just some foliage at the top. The first benefit after doing that was I can actually mow around the thing with our riding mower. Before, I had to use the push mower and go all around it and push the mower in underneath it as far as possible, over & over to keep things looking semi-neat. Now, I just noticed yesterday that the bare branches are all sprouting leaves, which of course I knew they would. As soon as I can hack away at that 2nd bush, I'll do it. It's bigger and wilder than the 1st, but it will look so darn much better! <br /><br />Then, there is the lawn that needs its weekly mowing. That takes a good solid 3 hours, even if I don't trim anywhere with the push mower. <br /><br />I guess I'd better quit goofing off inside where the A/C is and get out there and SWEAT!!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-65648409701708416442009-06-18T22:26:00.002-05:002009-06-18T22:35:15.058-05:00Avoiding temptationI've gotten back on track again, and I'm happy to say that having a scale I can weigh-in on at work really helps out. I'm trying not to overdo it but I weighed 2 days ago and found I'd gained about 2 pounds with my weekend binge. I started looking back over what I was eating when I lost a few pounds, and recycled the menu. Yesterday I was back down a bit, and then I weighed first thing after I got to work this morning, and it had nudged down a little more. <br /><br />That made it MUCH easier to resist the 2 temptations I ran into today - cake and ice cream! And it wasn't like I had to avoid 1 event either. I saw the cake in the break room at work, leftover from some celebration. Man it looked good. I was in there getting ice water, so I just turned my back on the cake and remembered how nice it felt to see the scale go down. Fifteen minutes later, they announced an ice cream social taking place in the parking lot. OMG! What are they trying to do to me?!?!<br /><br />It was easier to resist both than I thought, so I'm proud of myself!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-91060532024553702772009-06-16T22:38:00.003-05:002009-06-16T22:42:24.757-05:00Yo yo yo!Up and down! Up and down! I went on a downward spiral over the weekend, and I'm trying hard to recover now. Nachos supreme and a brownie sundae on Saturday, I don't even remember what on Sunday, and no counting calories yesterday or today. When I don't count I KNOW that I overeat. <br /><br />I went shopping tonight and picked up more fruit, some 140-calorie granola bars and a few other things, so I should be able to put together enough food tomorrow to take for the day to keep me satisfied at work.<br /><br />Believe and you can achieve! I CAN DO THIS!!!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-20790402509813986612009-06-12T19:10:00.002-05:002009-06-12T19:20:28.984-05:00Yippee!If I didn't mess it up when I got home from work today, I'm headed down again in the weight department.<br /><br />After my last entry, I got brave one day and weighed on the same scale as I'd used for my weigh-in at work. It was down several pounds!!!! I've been doing exercise nearly every day, and sometimes for a few hours a day when it's gardening & lawn maintenance activities which I really enjoy. I'm sure some of it is not all that strenuous, but it must be doing me some good. The past few nights (but not tonight), I raked rocks out of the area of our garden where we'll be planting more tomato plants. THAT is work! I was really working up a sweat. <br /><br />The reason I hope I didn't mess it up tonight is that I was starving on the way home from work. I convinced myself not to stop for Chinese food for hubby & me, mostly because I didn't want to spend the money. I considered a grocery store stop for grapes, which are 99c a pound this week, but decided against it because so many other tempting things lurk in the store when you're hungry. So what did I do? Came home and ate many, many saltine crackers with peanut butter & jelly. Yum, but ugh! I'll just have to do better this weekend, and it should be easy enough to do since I have so much to keep me busy!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-18370066113064979592009-06-09T22:22:00.006-05:002009-06-09T22:50:04.886-05:001185 calories, and not even hungry!I tallied my calories for the day, and I've had just 1185. That's quite low for me, but I'm not even hungry. Bedtime is within the next 1/2 hour, I hope.<br /><br />Not to bore anyone with details, but in case it helps, this is what I've eaten today in about 5-6 small meals.<br />Breakfast:.1 cup cheerios with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)<br />...............1/2 pbj sandwich on 45-calorie bread (170)<br />Snack:.....1 banana (105)<br />...............1/2 granola bar (70)<br />Lunch:.....English muffin (130)<br />...............2 slices 2% cheese wrap (100)<br />...............1 cup broccoli (31)<br />...............10 cherry tomatoes (60)<br />...............1/2 granola bar (70)<br />Snack:.....1 banana (105)<br />Dinner:....hamburger patty (170)<br />...............1 cup cauliflower (24)<br /><br />Some of the calorie counts came right from the packages, others came from either <a href="http://www.nutritiondata.com">http://www.nutritiondata.com</a> or <a href="http://www.wellness360.com">http://www.wellness360.com</a>. So, even if I'm off a little here or there, I'm still well within the range that our wellness coordinator at work told me was a good calorie range for losing weight.<br /><br />I haven't officially weighed since I started counting calories last week, but I know I've been doing good on my calorie counts, and I've been very active. I hope it all shows!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-27863632957704247302009-06-07T00:27:00.002-05:002009-06-07T00:33:22.436-05:00Fantastic day!Today was just a gorgeous day, with plenty of sunshine and a nice breeze. Upper 70's, just like I like it. I got a LOT done outside, enjoying the day. It was also a great day in a nutritious way. I stayed under 1300 calories, and ate a lot of fruits and veges. Dinner was the best I've cooked in awhile too, at least in my opinion. Chicken breast cooked in a lemon pepper marinade, with onions on top. Corn on the cob (just 1/2 ear), and sugar snap peas. Nutritious, low-cal, and delicious!!<br /><br />Tomorrow is supposed to be a little warmer, but nice also. I hope to get some gardening done. Enjoy your weekend!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-20922709698380676402009-06-04T22:47:00.004-05:002009-06-04T23:01:28.534-05:00National President's ChallengeA busy few weeks have passed. I signed up today for a weight loss challenge at work. In the next 12 weeks, I pledged to lose 15 pounds. If nothing else has kept me motivated, maybe the chance of splitting the prize money will do it. It cost me $10 to join, so if I make my goal, I should at least get that money back. <br /><br />I also signed up for the National President's Challenge. It's a challenge to get people up and MOVING! All you have to do is be active 5 days a week for 6 out of 7 weeks, and log your activity at <a href="http://www.presidentschallenge.org">http://www.presidentschallenge.org</a>.<br />It's been an active week for me, with lots of outdoor gardening, walking, lawn mowing, etc. It all counts, so join in!<br /><br />I haven't been as committed to watching my calories & drinking water lately. Sometimes life just gets in the way. The problem is that I've been using that excuse now FOREVER. I need to figure out how to have life and healthy eating happen at the same time. But, now that I've committed, with a definite goal in mind, and that goal is written down with a fitness coach....NOW is the time!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-89212845153782280132009-05-23T23:15:00.002-05:002009-05-23T23:30:30.416-05:00Little miss muffetI've been doing pretty good the last half of this week. I didn't write down my food for today, but did for the other days. I seem to be averaging between 1300 and 1600 calories. Now that's not really "diet" calorie intake, I'm sure, but I am a little active, so I hope to have some visual results soon. I feel better emotionally being in control of things, and better physically because of eating better. I know fruit isn't chocolate, or even anywhere CLOSE to chocolate, but I've been really enjoying my fruit that I take for snacks at work. Sometimes cantaloupe, sometimes oranges, apples, bananas, or even canned peaches (in light syrup). <br /><br />It doesn seem like I eat all day long though. Breakfast at 6:30, mid-morning snack between 9 & 10, lunch at noon, snack between 2 & 3, sometimes another light snack at 7 and then usually dinner at 9. When I can, I try to cut out the last snack and have dinner right away, but things don't always work out right for that to happen. The trick is to keep each meal around 300-400 calories, and each snack 100 or 150. They say that's better for you, anyhow, but I find it just less depriving when I don't have to go so long between meals.<br /><br />I weighed in one night earlier in the week, but my scale is so weird that I really can't tell any exact weight. I might get on twice in a row, and if I happen to lean a little bit forward or backward one time, the weight fluctuates by as much as 5 pounds. I thought I'd try it again, and as I walked into the room, I saw a spider scurry toward the scale; hence, the "little miss muffet" reference. I braved it and got on anyhow, and I think it's gone a little in the general direction I want it to, but not enough to say definitely that I've lost any weight. A scale is not important, though; I'm much rather measure the success that I have based on how I feel, how my clothes fit, and how well I'm able to control myself!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-8072571987715655832009-05-20T06:42:00.002-05:002009-05-20T06:54:54.611-05:00Dinner dilemmaI had a business meeting after work yesterday, and planned so well to have mini-meals & snacks thru the day. <br />B: cereal & milk = 230<br />S1: 1/2 pbj = 170<br />L: chicken = 60, broccoli = 45, 1 c. fruit salad = 120 >> TOTAL 225<br />S2: banana = 100, crackers = 120 >> TOTAL 220<br />S3: banana = 100, 1/2 pbj = 170 >> TOTAL 270<br /><br />Total to here is 1115. Great, I thought. I'll just have one of my WW meals or a small salad and finish around 1375 calories for the day. I stopped at the grocery store to find something for hubby for dinner, but didn't like any of the meat prices. Instead I bought a 4-pack of frozen egg rolls and some Doritos on sale for $1.99. Huge bags!! I figured I'd just have one egg roll. <br /><br />And then....I fell apart. I wasn't all that starving, but I had a serving of chips while dinner was cooking (150 calories). And then, in addition to the 1 egg roll that I'd planned (170 calories), I also had 2 mozzarella sticks that I cooked (another 130 calories). Ahhhh!!!! :( Instead of 1375, I ended the day at 1565. <br /><br />Today is another day, though. No business meeting tonight, so I'll come right home after work, throw my chicken in the oven, and be back on track with a healthier dinner!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-71534684275027328632009-05-18T22:03:00.006-05:002009-05-18T22:19:43.285-05:001340 for todayI started counting calories again today. I really don't like doing that, but I think it's a necessary evil now. I hope I didn't miss anything in my list, but I was pretty careful to keep my notepad with me all day.<br /><br />Breakfast: 1 c cereal + 1/2 c skim milk = 230<br /> 1/2 pbj on light bread = 170<br />Snack: 1 banana = 100<br /> 18 wheat thin artisan crkrs = 200<br />Lunch: ww meal = 260<br /> 1 c cantaloupe = 60<br />Snack: 12 wheat thin artisan crkrs = 140<br />Dinner: 4 oz baked chicken, b/s = 120<br /> 2 c broccoli = 60<br /><br />Some of the calorie counts came from the products themselves and I paid attention to serving sizes too. The cantaloupe count came from <a href="http://www.nutritiondata.com">http://www.nutritiondata.com</a>.<br /><br />The Weight Watcher meal was Picante Chicken & Pasta. I found them reduced to $1 at Walmart and had coupons for $1 off 5. I bought a bunch of them (after I brought one home & tried it first). Cheap lunch, and quite tasty. It's very spicy, though, so if you don't like spicy, don't try it!<br /><br />I also walked at lunch, had 4 glasses of water (that's a record for me!), and planned chicken & broccoli leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-89395599539681192422009-05-14T20:58:00.002-05:002009-05-14T21:09:15.213-05:005 pounds....heavier!Well....crap! In the 5+ months since I started this, I've GAINED 5 pounds. Isn't that just dandy. If you've been following, you can tell I'm not real dedicated to this even though I want to lose weight. I just can't seem to follow thru consistently. I got results from cholesterol testing back, and mine is a little high. I guess I'm not real surprised, but now that gives me extra reason to take care of myself a little better. Just not today....<br /><br />I started off with Crystal Lite orange flavored drink (tasted a little like orange juice, but enough for me) and some cereal. I brought with me to work a pbj sandwich, 2 granola bars, and a WW frozen meal. Not a wonderful collection, as it's all a "little light" (i.e., next to none) on fruits & veges. That lasted me during the day, but when I stopped at the grocery store to pick up milk, I was dumb enough to buy some oreos (because I had a coupon off with milk!). I had some of those on the way home, since hunger was gnawing at me. As if that wasn't bad enough, tonight's dinner was hot dogs, steak fries, and tossed salad with ranch peppercorn dressing! I thoroughly enjoyed it all, but I don't see much on that list for the day that would really fit on any "diet plan", except for the breakfast. <br /><br />(sigh) Why can't this be easy?!?!?!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-55228891829365543812009-05-06T22:30:00.002-05:002009-05-06T22:53:04.903-05:00I'm my own worst enemyAfter figuring out what I wanted to do to help get things under control in my last entry, I faded away for awhile. I sure am very inconsistent. I've planned my snacks better a few times, but then gone astray many more times. I'm my own worst enemy! A friend just announced that she'd lost 20 pounds over the last several months. The kicker? She didn't even NEED to lose weight, at least not in my opinion. I haven't seen her in a long, long time (out of state) but she's always been roughly the same size & weight in all the years I've known her.<br /><br />I read all sorts of things about setting big goals and small goals, and focusing on the goal above everything else. It all sounds good in theory, but I have such a hard time getting past the "want-it-now". I've been a little down in the dumps lately too, so that's not exactly inspiring me to do better. <br /><br />For more thought-provoking ideas, I've read multiple times about strategies for cutting spending that involve just asking yourself a few questions before making a purchase, things like do I need this and do I have anything else that serves the same purpose? Other people say if they want something, they put it back and wait a few days or a week to see if they still want it just as bad. I think the same logic can be applied to bad eating habits. I usually don't NEED to eat, unless it's been hours since a prior meal and I'm feeling a little weak. I should ask myself if I have anything else (i.e., healthier to eat) that serves the same purpose. Or, the best, wait awhile (not days or weeks, but minutes or hours) and see if I still want it. Focus on the goal!!!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-45743559814970420592009-04-25T08:34:00.002-05:002009-04-25T08:50:30.439-05:00Saturday morningIt's a gorgeous Saturday morning here, and I can't wait to (hopefully) spend most of it at home doing things. Somehow it's much easier to be energized when it's nice outside, even if part of my day will be spent indoors doing laundry, dishes, and general household duties. I need to mow our yard too, but that's not a chore to me. For some odd reason, I love doing it! Weird, yes, but also quite handy. Might as well love something that has to be done!<br /><br />I can't say I've been doing so great in the dietary department. I've been faithfully taking a lunch to work that includes some type of fruit and an approximate 100-calorie snack for mid-morning. Sometimes that's 1 oz of cheese, sometimes it's a handful of crackers, or sometimes a serving of chex mix or rice cakes. Usually whatever is handy. For lunch, I take a salad, or leftover veges with a little meat, or a sandwich. I then try to take a 2nd fruit for lunch as well. I think I need to start tossing in some mid-afternoon healthy snack, though. I end up craving something sweet every day, and most days cave in on the way home and grab something to "snack on" at the grocery store for the ride home. This is just not good! Often, it's not a piece of fruit or a serving of anything, because I'm also trying to watch the budget and hate to pay 65 cents for a single snack of whatever it is when I know I can get a box or package with multiple servings for just a dollar or two more. So, I end up with granola bars, or chips or something unplanned. My ride home from work is long so I end up mindlessly eating more than one serving. Once I cave in to the temptation, it seems to be shot for the rest of the evening, and I often have some type of dessert after dinner also. I'm my own worst enemy!!!<br /><br />So, the new plan is to incorporate this need for something mid-afternoon, and start taking it with me. I'm not sure what that will be yet, since I wasn't planning to do any more shopping until next week. If we don't wipe out the stash over this weekend, I think I can come up with enough to help me make it thru the first day or two and I can plan my purchases based on the sale flyers for the rest of the week. <br /><br />Later....lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-40626990364102765792009-04-21T22:47:00.002-05:002009-04-21T23:01:19.244-05:00A nice day for a walkI resumed my lunch-time walks again today. Four laps on the track is a mile, so I spent about 20 minutes at lunch and walked my mile. It was beautiful out, and it's just so nice to get away from my desk for a little breath of fresh air. I think I might need new sneakers soon, though. I have some gel inserts, but they still don't feel all that comfortable. And I know it's important to have proper footwear for walking!<br /><br />It seems like every day there is something that gets in the way of my plans to cut back. I ususally buy light bread, with just 40 calories per slice. The store was out of my usual brand that I get for $1.59, or $1.09 when they have it on clearance (which is normally when I buy it). Other brands were $2.79 or something totally ridiculous, so I bought some regular wheat bread for $2 minus a 55 cent coupon. It's yummy! But each slice is the same number of calories as 2 slices of my light bread. So, theoretically, I should just have a 1/2 sandwich each time. It makes sense, but I haven't been doing it.lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-68247303630197876572009-04-19T17:19:00.002-05:002009-04-19T17:22:54.625-05:00Not so much in controlI'm not having a very good day. Finances are stressing me out, two of my dogs got in a fight, and it's raining. I should be able to suck it all up, but it's not happening today. I tend to fall back to my old ways when I get too stressed out, and my old ways involve mindless eating to relieve the stress. Ugh!<br /><br />It's getting late in the day, though, so I'll just try to make it thru dinner without doing further damage, go to bed, get up and start tomorrow on a brighter note.lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-23697303099050517942009-04-18T17:01:00.003-05:002009-04-18T17:11:00.459-05:00Good blood pressureI went to my doctor toward the end of this week, just to check in and refill a prescription. Nothing new, nothing exciting. I swear he was only in the room with my 5 minutes at the absolute most. I must make it too easy for him, with no questions at all. The nurse was in before him for about 10 minutes, so I guess it really will be worth the $125 or whatever they charge. The bad news? I've gained weight since I was there a year ago. The good news? My blood pressure is very good - 102/60. Can't complain about that!<br /><br />I've had some delicious salads this week, and I got all of them on the reduced rack at the grocery store. One day I found a bag of broccoli coleslaw for 50 cents. They might have been worried it was getting close to past date, but it tastes just fine. I can't really tell the difference between it and regular cabbage coleslaw. They also had a bag of fresh spinach for 99 cents. I was planning to cook that one night, but just a day later at the same store, they had bags of Dole complete Caeser salad mix (lettuce, croutons, dressing, and parmesan cheese) marked down to 99 cents. There were coupons right near them for $1 off, so I bought two of those free. They are still plenty fresh, and I've been having those with the fresh spinach mixed in for lunches and filler for dinner for several days this week. Yum! It makes me feel SOOO healthy when I go up to the checkout and I have all this green leafy stuff! (They probably look at me and wonder where I buy all the junk food that I must eat, because I sure don't look like I just eat salads!)lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-53925236953214276762009-04-15T23:18:00.003-05:002009-04-15T23:28:17.944-05:00Walking, walkingAfter some lousy weather that got in the way of my walking, I've been able to go the past two days. Yesterday I "hit the track" in between jobs. It was my last day at the 2nd job, at least until next year, so that won't get in the way of my walks anymore either. I had about 45 minutes to spare, so it was nice to take that walk and clear my head during that time.<br /><br />Today I went out at lunch time. It was just a gorgeous day! Birds chirping, freshly mowed yards, and all that good stuff. <br /><br />I haven't really been losing pounds in the past few weeks, since I started this up again. I don't know why! I've cut way back on the sweets, except for the last few days (since Easter). I'm trying to ignore the fact that the scale isn't budging, and focusing instead on how I must be replacing fat with muscle since I began my exercising. I mean, c'mon...SOMETHING good must be happening! I do find that the walks give me energy, so that's positive. I finally updated my weight tracker on the sidebar, but unfortunately it's up from where I was last time I tracked it. I didn't reset everything when I started up again. I just left the info like it had been so that I could have that positive reinforcement. But, when I logged on today, it told me it had been 80+ days, and I had to update it. So I did, but it went up a few pounds. Boo hoo!lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-65977399822396774582009-04-13T19:12:00.003-05:002009-04-13T19:19:59.331-05:00Post-Easter greetingsI hope everyone had a nice Easter. Mine was great! Lots of good food, and I don't think I overate. I did allow myself to eat some of everything, including a wonderful chocolate cake that one of our guests made. But, even with eating that, I didn't feel miserable, like I have at some other holidays. <br /><br />I had some delicious steamed veges. I don't think anyone else was thrilled with them, but I was! They are Pictsweet Steamables, Oriental Seasoned Asian Vegetables with Sugar Snap Peas. One cup is just 35 calories. Try it, you'll like it! The leftovers went with me for lunch today. I may stop by the grocery store again this week and pick up more bags on sale.lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-659532195830913102009-04-10T21:43:00.002-05:002009-04-10T22:01:03.159-05:00A little splugeI splurged a little tonight, and I probably shouldn't have. DH was in the mood for Chinese food, and I wasn't in the mood to cook, so I gave in and picked some up on the way home. Then we had some ready-to-bake cookies, so I stuck those in the oven to finish off the meal. It was all really delicious, but now I am super thirsty! Chinese food always does that to me. <br /><br />I'm determined to make this just a little blip in the radar though. It's supposed to be nice tomorrow (finally! it's been rainy for 2 days), so I'm planning to get up in the morning and go for my walk first thing. First, that will get it out of the way so I don't get too busy and run out of time, and second, that will hopefully kick start my metabolism for the day. Who knows, if it stays nice and I get the urge later in the day, I might go for a 2nd walk!<br /><br />I'm working on ideas for Easter dinner. I found a lower-fat recipe for scalloped potatoes, and I'm leaning toward having at least 2 dishes/desserts that are low-cal or healthy. Maybe fruit salad and/or a sugar-free jello whip. The rest will be normal things to please all the guys, but that way I can fill 1/2 my plate with the healthy stuff, and not overeat on the rest.lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-81713517326620986632009-04-08T23:40:00.003-05:002009-04-08T23:47:03.492-05:00National Start! Walking DayToday was the American Heart Association's National Start! Walking Day. I didn't "start" today, but I continued my progress lately of walking about a mile a day. Sometimes I go at lunch at work, and ironically today, even though they had an event to promote the Start! Walking Day at work, I couldn't go because I had a doctor's appointment. I would have liked to. They probably had some type of incentive for people that showed up too.<br /><br />Oh well, I didn't need any incentive. I just made sure to go when I got home from work. Me and 4 dogs! We live on back roads without many neighbors, so I don't need to put them on a leash or anything. They stayed with me part of the time, but then took off into the woods after a rabbit. Yesterday, it was deer they were chasing. That was comical. I saw the tails of the deer as they jumped a fence up ahead and went bounding off into the woods. The dogs gave chase, barking and yipping. Well, about 5 minutes later, here come the deer back across the road further ahead of me. A few minutes later, here come the dogs! Of course, they never did catch up.<br /><br />I'd love to hear if you started walking today...lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4325679869087046490.post-25388562325516993222009-04-06T23:00:00.002-05:002009-04-06T23:09:41.776-05:00Fruits and vegesI shopped so healthy today! Canteloupe, carrots, celery, onions, bananas, skim milk. This is in addition to purchases yesterday of lettuce & tomatoes. I think I'll be having lots of salads! I also might make a batch of stir fry some night with either beef or chicken.<br /><br />I was hoping for strawberries too, but I missed a great sale on them, so I didn't purchase any. It was just a 3-day sale and I didn't know it. Oh well, the canteloupe is fine by itself too. I thought the strawberries & canteloupe would make a nice fruit salad. I just finished the last of the salad I made last week with canteloupe, grapes and kiwi. Yummy. The canteloupe isn't quite ripe yet, so maybe I'll find some other fruit on sale later this week to add with it. Most of our stores have sales Wednesday to the following Tuesday, so a new ad should be coming out soon.lizajanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18311532220912768024noreply@blogger.com0