Saturday morning

It'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!

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!!!

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.

Later....

A little spluge

I 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.

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!

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.

Fruits and veges

I 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.

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.

Going once, going twice, sold!

We are heading to an auction today at one of the local high schools. They have an annual FFA auction, where you just never know what you'll find. There is usually a ton of farm equipment and vehicles, and then just a bunch of you-never-know-what. I would actually rather not go, since I know if we go, we'll spend SOME money, but it's like an annual tradition.

While I head outside to chore this morning, I'll have to think about how to handle the eating part of the day. Usually, I just buy from the cook shack that they have set up - hamburgs, hotdogs, chili, chips, snacks, etc. I think I might try to bring some stuff today instead - sandwiches and fruit salad and drink are all I can really come up with in my head right now. We don't have a lot of other grab-n-go food, since that's usually not a wise diet choice. I may give it more thought though. If I run out of time to pack stuff, there is a McDonalds down the street. I LOVE their grilled chicken ranch salad more so than any hamburger that I've ever gotten at McD's. So, I have that as one option. There is also a grocery store just a mile or so away. I could always go there for other healthier choices. Just saying that gave me a brainstorm. I do sometimes get bored at the auction, even though they generally have 2 auctioneers set up at once in different areas. I could always go for my walk to either the grocery store or McDs. It's supposed to be a beautiful day, so I just might do that!

This is not an April fool's joke

Ok, I fell off the wagon there for awhile, and I think I must have gotten run over by it too. Not that I'm any flatter, just fatter. Ugh, ugh, ugh. But, I am back, and it came about in a strange way.

I was watching Wife Swap last week, and one of the couples were very into visualizing their success. They were maybe a little overboard with it, as is everyone on that show of course, but something about it struck a chord with me. It's the whole "secret" theme, power of positive thinking, etc. etc. Something clicked, and I thought to myself, I CAN do this. So, on April 1st, I started to change things. I've been walking both at lunch at after work several times this week. I looked at my normal breakfast, and trimmed it back a bit. I've started paying attention to calories and reading tips and hints to give me a new perspective on eating healthier.

Then, last night, Suze Orman was on Oprah, and she was insisting that people need to quit looking over their shoulder (to what they used to have) while they are trying to move forward. Of course, her advice was for finances, but it seems like great advice for losing weight. I have to quit thinking about where I was just a few years ago, several pounds lighter, and focus on how to move forward.

So, my new motto is: eyes on the prize! I need to visualize myself as a success, and focus on the end goal.