Just some quick notes

You know how just on Monday I was was going to be strict and eat right all week so that by the end of the month I'd meet my goal? HAHAHAHAHAHA! Ok, well I have an excuse (I'll talk about excuses in a min). Yesterday was my daughter's birthday and we went bowling, ate fries and nachos, drank a couple Corona's, and had birthday cake.We were driving home and I thought to myself, "What a pig!" Good news is that it's only Tuesday, so I have the rest of the week to act right and get that weight off.

Update on Angel - She had her tests yesterday and the good news is that she's not going into kidney failure. Bad news is that her tests were still elevated, and it was higher than the Dr would have  liked to have seen. So we're still playing the wait and see game. This time we'll wait three weeks, go into a high tech lab and she'll get a full panel done. Then we'll see what to do next.

EXCUSES!!
Don't you think we give ourselves WAY too many excuses? I know I do. I have to change my mind.  I have to make excuses in the right direction. No more excuses to eat crap food and be lazy. I have to find my reasons why I want to be healthy and fit, and make my excuses to get into the gym and eat salads. Just a simple frame of mind change. It'll be a hard habit to break, but I know I can do it!!!

Biggest Loser Check In!!

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 Well, It's Monday. This time of year that means that it's time to reflect on this past week, and decide how I'm going attack the week coming up. So here we go.

I can't say that I did great, but I can't say that I did horrible. The outcome of this week is a loss of 1/2 a pound. I always say, "A loss is a loss". It's a great thing! It means that you're on track, and you're still focused. But, if I think about this last week, I'm very disappointed.

I went over my daily caloric goal too many times. I enjoyed alcohol too much. I drank too much soda. I didn't drink enough water. I did not have enough self control. WOW, the stress this week too.

So, this next week I'm going to stick to my plan TO THE "T". I have 2 lbs to lose by the end of the month in order to stick to my monthly weight loss goal. I can definitely do this, but it means I have to be a good girl.

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Falling in love with Food Logging

A few days ago I was reading some new blogs and came across a post at The Fox Family. I commented that I actually loved logging my food, and she responded asking WHY? Frankly I didn't know. Why on earth would I want to take time out of my day to write down (or enter into My Fitness Pal) every thing that passed these lips. It's just a tedious job. Well, after days of thinking it over, I've finally figured it out.

It actually took me going over my daily calorie goals to figure it out, but now I know.

I LOVE logging my food because I LOVE being in control. I LOVE knowing that I can set a goal for myself, and I can accomplish it. I HATE knowing that I've gone past my daily calorie goal. It's almost devastating. Even when I know for a fact that I'm going to go over, and I consciously make that decision. I look back the next day and think, "Really! Did I HAVE to eat that!" I feel stupid for not making the right choice. Don't get me wrong, I occasionally go over my calorie goal and I don't have a problem with it. But it takes one day to make myself not want to do it again.

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So there you have it. I LOVE logging my food because I LOVE watching myself actually do something I set out to do. I can be healthy, and I can have self control, and I can look back and be proud of it.

Kiddo update and this week

A quick update. Well, the good news and the bad news is that there isn't much of an update. Angel does have some blood in her urine, so we have to go back in a week from now to get it checked out. What we want to see is that it's gone within the month. It's just horrible to sit, wait, and not do anything. There is literally nothing we can do to help it. But she's getting a bit better. Today her swelling is down, and the rash is turning into bruising. She can walk better today though, so that's progress.

Well, I enjoyed my drinks last night, but still went to bed early. I ended up laying in bed for a few hours before I finally fell asleep, so I'm exhausted  But, I also feel very energized and really ready for this week of exercising and eating right. I can not wait to feel accomplished!

Tonight, I've got this simple awesome recipe from my neighbor. She had it yesterday, and I tried it, and I fell in love with it. One of those things I wanna slap myself for not knowing how to do.

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Yeppers! Those are Brussels sprouts!!
coat the brussel sprouts with oil, spread lemon pepper (or your favorite seasoning) bake at 425 for 15 min.
THAT'S IT!!

I know. Why didn't I know this before! I can't wait to try that with asparagus,  green beans, kale (I gotta double check their recipe, but it's supposed to be good)

So! Here's to good news, and good health!!
OH!
And drink my water!!!!

After Binge

Has anyone seen a weight drop a couple days after a binge? I know I have, and it happens every time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about binging every other day. After dieting for a couple of weeks, you have a day where you do something special and you end up going over your calories. Hey, in real life, it happens!

I told you about Monday where I enjoyed my favorite naughty food (deep fat fried burritos), then ended up going out with my husband and enjoying some Fish N Chips (SOOOO Yummy). Well, today I stepped on the scale, and I'm down 2 more pounds!! I LOVE seeing this weight drop. So, I have a theory.

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My theory is that if you stick to low calorie, healthy living lifestyle, make sure you splurge every couple of weeks. It's good for the soul. Especially if you love yummy food!!

My Day Off

So I wasn't planing to have a "day off" from dieting, but that's the way it ended. I chose to treat myself to something I crave. My Monday was terrible, I had to go to the store anyway so I splurged with this treat. I measured out my calories for the day and made this treat fit right into my daily calories along with a salad for dinner. What is this "treat"? Deep Fat Fried deli Burritos. YEAH BABY!!! I know, most people are cringing. But I love these things. So I had my meals planned out, I ate my disgustingly delicious burritos, and them my day changed.

I joined my husband at a bar for a social meeting with friends. The bad part is that this bar has the best fish n chips in town. I had 1 Michelob Ultra, diet soda (which is also on the NO NO list), and I only at HALF of the meal. So I'm definitely over my calories for the day, I had a beer, and I had soda. And I was sick to my stomach on the way home. HA! I guess that's what I get for my gluttony.

The funny thing is that even though I know I messed up, I'm ok with it. I can't be perfect all the time, I don't expect to be. But if I'm good 6 out of 7 days a week, I'm good with that. It may dampen my goal of losing 50 lbs in 6 months though...we'll see.

Weekend

What a wonderful weekend this has been. Last night my husband and I went to a friends house to visit. It was very nice because they are also doing weight loss challenge, and we were able to discuss and share our differences and how we plan to go about it. My friend is doing Weight Watchers, and I have to admit that I'm a bit jealous. It worked so great for me. But that's ok. I'm doing what I can now.

I finally got my weight loss ticker to work, and I LOVE seeing my accomplishment.

Tomorrow is going to be a bit hard. We are joining a friend who lost a loved one. So it'll be the funeral, and then lunch, then gathering, then dinner, then bar. WOW. There'll be so much temptation. I have to say that I'm happy the husband will be with me. We'll be able to get through the temptations together.

3rd Day

So, today was much better than yesterday. This being said as I'm sitting here, 10pm at night, and my stomach is growling, "FEED ME!"

I believe it has to do with eating a larger meal for lunch, and a smaller dinner. I feel better through out the day. I feel like I can't function if I only eat salads for lunch, but I feel better at night if I eat salads for dinner. I guess that makes sense in a way.

What doesn't make sense is that I didn't eat breakfast this morning, and I wasn't as hungry. That makes no sense. I've heard from quite a few people that they get hungry earlier in the day if they eat breakfast compared to not eating breakfast. Why does that happen? It makes no sense what so ever. It doesn't matter if it's cereal, or eggs. I'm always starving around 10am if I eat.

My husband is doing great too. I thought he'd be very reluctant with logging food, but he has proven me wrong. It was just luck that we saw a news story about a woman who got into food logging in order to lose weight. I believe that positive story has really motivated him. I love it!!! Well, he's a bit annoying about making sure everything is perfect, but I'd rather have that than him not being involved.

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Oh, I'm not sure why my ticker hasn't changed, but I've lost a few pounds already. I love the initial weight loss!! And I'm totally steeling this counting system!! I'm making one this weekend. LOVE IT!!!!

Day 2

Only the second day, and it's very hard!! I wanted to eat all day long, but lucky for me I made some great choices. I had some banana spears to snack on, and some carrots. I need to get some more veggie snacks. I don't really like celery, but I think I'm going to have to learn to like them. I can do that. I don't hate them.

Something odd though. This afternoon I wasn't feeling very good. I thought it was just due to being hungry and changing my diet up, so I had a large chicken salad with a tortilla in order to get some carbs in. I feel worse. I was only able to choke down about half of the salad, and that's exactly how I feel. I feel like I forced myself to eat it until I couldn't get that fork to my lips anymore. I really hope I'm not getting sick!!

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My wonderful husband is doing great too. He has involved himself into the food journal almost too intensely  I keep telling him that an easy way to log your food is to find something that is near perfect and use that. Sure there's a few variations, but otherwise it takes too long. But no, today he had to enter everything he used on his sandwich with perfect measurements. Hey, whatever it takes dear!!!!

The Resolution

Yes! I've done it! I've started a stupid horrible no good very bad New Year's Resolution. Not only did I make a resolution. I've followed the fad and developed a diet. YEP! I'm one of THOSE people. But, I dragged a number of friends with me. DOH!!! Well, I'm not stopping there either. I've taken my family with me too.

I want to be healthy. Right now it's hard as we start, but I want it to be easier and easier. I not only need to lose weight, but my wonderful husband must be healthy. He has health issues, and it's vital that we start to focus on our eating habit. Wouldn't it be wonderful if my kids had these good habits too?

So today is day 1 of a strict 30 day diet. After this initial 30 days we will reevaluate and readjust as we need. I'm going for a 6 month turn around for my family. We are  not a fat family, but we could easily become one. I make my kids healthy snacks and sit down and pig out on chips. There's something wrong with that. So no more! We all become healthy.

We've started some mentally and emotionally positive habits too. I'm excited to watch all this play out. I'm also excited to see how things change, and to share my ups and downs as we go through these great new times.