lovinaz's "getting her act together" journal

[lovinaz]

Hello everyone! I had a WISH journal a loooong time ago, and think it's time to start another one. I need some encouragement to get my act together and get in shape before summer!

About me, I just turned 37 (yikes, I think that is the first time I've said that number! ), I am married to a wonderful man and have 2 kids - DS12 and DD9, along with a feisty beagle named Buckley.

I am 5'4" and weighed 143 this morning. I don't have a ton of weight to lose, but I would like to at least get back down to what my driver's license says - 135! And tighten up all my flabby areas, which seem to be taking over my body...

I eat pretty healthy already, although I have been known to go on food benders occasionally... I plan to journal EVERYTHING I eat, the good, bad and ugly (this will make for an insanely boring read!) and also aim to exercise 5x a week, before work. Currently I've been pretty consistent working out 3x a week, but I need to stop sleeping in on Tue and Thu! Weigh-ins will be on Fridays, hopefully I will start seeing the scale move in the right direction this year.

Thanks for reading this far, I could use all the encouragement I can get!

Amy

 

[Amy&Dan]

Okay, this one made my day! I am soooo excited to "see" you back here. I am onboard with your journal my friend. All these months you have come to Wish to see me and now I can support you too!

You can do it, I am here to help you in any way I can. Lets make 2009 our year!

Did I mention how glad I am you're back????

 

[lovinaz]

Thanks Amy! I knew I could count on your support!!!

Yesterday was definitely eye-opening. Since I have to write everything down now, I realized how much I was just grabbing a handful of pretzels here, a candy cane there, snacking while cooking, etc. I did NOT do that yesterday, simply because I didn't want it to "look bad" in my journal... I am going to try to keep it to B, L, D and 2 snacks. This will be hard when I go back to work Monday (I've been off since Dec 23! ) because I really struggle with the after work/before dinner time. I swear, I probably consume 500+ calories every day during that time. But I am going to fix that!

B: Mini-Wheats w/skim milk
L: 1/2 personal size (9.5") leftover Pizza Bianca (very thin wheat crust (thickness of 2 tortillas), cheese and pine nuts - no sauce); 1 graham cracker
S: apple w/peanut butter
S: candy cane
D: flank steak w/mushroom sauce (from Eating for Life cookbook); green beans; Healthy Choice fudge bar

E: 45 minutes on elliptical

I would say yesterday was a success! Hopefully that will continue... My biggest struggle is when I travel, which is quite often. In '09 I will have at least 7 trips to the UK (first one in March) and we are taking a 2-week family trip to Europe in June. I'm not going to stress about it now, I'll just have to deal with it when it gets closer!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Amy, you can do it! Yesterday sounded really good. I think we all have some sort of time every day when we overeat. For you its between work and dinner, for me its the time between about 1-3. Its good we know when our danger time zone is! Do you ever pack a snack to eat in the car on your way home? Maybe a mini Cliff bar or something? I am going to buy some of those and have one with a glass of milk and see what that does for me. Some lady in my WW group yesterday who is down over 50 pounds says she eats one every day on her way home from work.

Travelling is tough but you can do it. Just remember any trip is a finite piece of time, not a forever thing. If you go off program, you'll get back on.

Two weeks in Europe with the whole family, how cool is that??

 

[goldcupmom]

Great new journal, amy!

Pine nuts? I've never been brave enough to try them, but here in NM they sell them on every corner!

7 UK trips & 2 wks in Europe? Wow! this is going to be a busy year for you! Frequent flyer miles galore!

Hope you're having a good weekend!

 

[lovinaz]

Amy, I actually have a planned a snack when I get home (usually apple-n-peanut butter) but I just have this mental urge to nibble, pick, etc. It's horrible! I need to break the habit. I will try to drink tea or Crystal Light during that time, or chew gum, to see if that helps...

Julie, thanks for stopping by! I am in fact using my FF miles to fly everyone to Europe - in business class!! The kids are super excited they get to sit on the second floor of a 747.

Yesterday was another good day, with regards to snacking. Food choices weren't stellar, but I've done way worse! No gym, but I went 4x last week. I took Wednesday off, but was painting DS12's furniture from 10am-4:30pm! We totally redid his room while he was at his dad's, I can't wait to see his reaction when he gets back tonight! It actually looks like a teenager's room now instead of a little boy's room. Yesterday's food:

B: Mini-Wheats w/skim
L: 2 turkey rollers (from Costco); graham cracker
S: apple-n-pb
S: pecans (~1/2 cup); Chex mix (~1/4 cup) while watching the Cardinals crush the Falcons!
D: veggie burger (no bun); pretzels; 2 Ferrero Garden chocolates

E: none (but I plan to take weekends off, so I don't feel guilty about this!)

Tomorrow it is back to work after almost 2 weeks off. I'm sure the stress that comes along with it will come crashing back about 30 seconds after I get to my desk. But that's life!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Amy,

Your food yesterday for a weekend day with football thrown in sounds very good to me! I am the same way with the nibble thing. I budget in my snack, eat it and then still want to mindlessly graze. I like your Crystal Light idea, maybe I'll try that!

That is great ds is getting newly redone furniture! I hope the kids had fun at their dad's.

Good luck back at work tomorrow, just stay strong and you can do it!

Amy

P.S. I see your trip to Europe and my trip to WDW are at the exact same time (our counters are identical)! Lets make a challenge to do well on our vacations!).

 

[toystoryduo]

Welcome back to journaling, Amy! It's great to have you back!

It sounds like you are doing a great job with your food choices and your workouts. Keep up the good work!

How did your DS like his room?

I hope you have a great week ahead!

~Tracy

 

[lovinaz]

Amy, how weird our trips are starting the same day! Except the Disneyland we will be going to is Disneyland Paris...

Tracy, DS loved his room! He was very surprised, and his reaction was the best part!

Yesterday's food was fine, I have been doing pretty good on the weekends lately. Except now that I am journaling I have noticed that I could probably win the World's Most Boring Eater award...

B: Mini-Wheats w/skim
L: 2 turkey rollers, 1 graham cracker
S: apple-n-pb
S: cottage cheese; pretzels
D: turkey meatloaf; green beans; Healthy Choice fudge bar

E: none

The menu will get even more boring since I tend to eat the same thing for breakfast (I'm switching to chocolate oatmeal, yum!) and lunch while working. Today will be the big test of my willpower - not snacking after my post-work planned snack! I CAN DO IT, one day at a time, right??

 

[traceycooper]

woohoo welcome back Amy
I'm soo excited to hear your coming to my side of the pond!!
let me know where you are & hopefully one of your trips we may be ableto meet up!!
where are you visiting with your family - they are very lucky

 

[Amy&Dan]

Amy you can do well at work today! Just keep thinking about how long it takes to burn off those calories. It takes walking the length of two football fields to burn off one M & M according to my WW leader. That kept me out of the candy at the movie yesterday!

You don't eat boring, you eat very well. Variety is the spice of life and it can be deadly for the waistline!

 

[toystoryduo]

You're doing a great job with your food choices, Amy! Keep up the good work!

I'm so glad to hear that your DS loved his room!

I hope you have a great day tomorrow!

 

[lovinaz]

Well, I've already disappointed myself today by not getting up and doing my Pilates DVD! I still have a chance to go home and do it right after work, but I need to get a grip! There must have been something in the air, since both DD and DS slept through their alarms and I was SO tired when my own alarm went off (hence the sleeping instead of exercising... ). I need to make time for 40 minutes of working out when I get home today, NO EXCUSES!

Food yesterday was fine. I did pretty good when I got home from work, avoided the Cheez-Its as I was packing lunches for the kids (I like to get everything but the sandwiches ready the night before so I am not so busy in the mornings!). I ended up drinking 2 huge cups of tea, but that beats snacking, right??

Food for yesterday:
B: Chocolate oatmeal (1/3c oats, 1 scoop choc protein powder, 1 tbsp pb)
L: Salad w/chicken (3c spinach, 2oz grilled chicken strips, 2tbsp shredded cheese, 2 tbsp LF dressing)
S: 3 egg whites; 3 mini cucumbers
S: apple-n-pb; 2 pecans (DH left the bag on the counter, I stopped myself from going off the deep end! )
D: Shake-n-Bake pork chop (boneless thin cut); zucchini; HC fudge bar

E: 45 min on treadmill (5mph w/intervals of 6 and 7mph)

My breakfast, snacks and lunch will most likely be the same during the week. I'm such a creature of habit!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tracey, I always end up in Yeovil, about 2 hours SW of London. I drive by Stonehenge everytime We are going to spend a week in Paris (renting an apartment instead of a hotel) and then going to spend a week in Germany (Frankfurt area) to visit my dad and stepmom, who are there on a 3 year assignment. It's going to be so fun, I can hardly wait!!

Amy, don't worry about variety during the week, the only thing that changes is what's for dinner! And even my dinners are boring, I tend to make the same things every 2 weeks or so. I need to get some new recipes!

Tracy, thanks, it stinks being back at work after such a long holiday break, but someone has to pay the bills!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I am betting you do workout when you get home, I have faith in you! Your food looks great yesterday.

We overslept today too, so I guess it is in the air!

Keep up the good work!


Oh, and very good job not eating Cheese Its! One portion (and not a very big one) has four points. Someone your size on WW would get around 20 points a day total. So that gives you an idea of how deadly those little orange buggers are. I buy them for my kids too and I love them but am swearing off of them from here on out (at least that's the plan).

 

[toystoryduo]

I still need to get my workout in today too. You CAN do it, Amy!

Your food is looking good. Way to go on avoiding the Cheez Its!

Hope you have a great evening and a wonderful day tomorrow!

 

[lovinaz]

I did it!!! I actually worked out yesterday when I got home. I just did my Pick-Your-Spot Pilates (there are 3 10-minute segments, one each for butt, thighs, abs, plus a 10 min total body segment) instead of my Pilates Sculpt DVD, but hey, it's better than nothing, right?? DD9 actually joined me at the end of the thigh workout, she was struggling (so was I!). I can't believe I let myself get so out of shape - I have been only doing cardio for the past 6 months or so, obviously I need to get back to some toning/weights!! But I probably erased any benefit of the workout by having pecans for a snack... I need to lay off the nuts! I know they are good for you, but not in the quantity I usually eat...

B: chocolate oatmeal
L: salad w/chicken
S: 2 egg whites, 3 mini cucumbers
S: pecans (~1/2 to 2/3 cup )
D: chicken sir fry (w/bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, snow peas, red pepper and onion); brown rice; sprinkle of crunchy rice noodles; HC fudge bar

E: 40 min Pilates
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy, that is really eye-opening about the Cheez-Its! There have been so many times I have plowed through WAY more than a single serving... If I was on WW I wouldn't have been able to eat for 3 days afterwards!

Tracy, part of what made me do the workout was that I didn't want to be embarrassed and admit I slacked off!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Amy, I KNEW you'd do your workout! Great job, that is nice your dd did some too! My dd loves to go on walks with me and I figure its always good to have them start out early!

Yep, Cheese Its are deadly. You heard here first!

Keep up the good work, your stir fry sounded very healthy. And better to eat pecans by themselves than baked in a pie!

 

[toystoryduo]

Great job on the workout, Amy! Your stir fry sounds yummy.

Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[lovinaz]

I was pretty proud of myself this morning for getting up and doing my Pilates Sculpt workout! However, I was not so proud of myself after the workout proved to be WAY tougher than the last time I did it... I know I will be feeling the effects tomorrow, my legs were not thrilled to walk up the stairs to my office this morning, that's for sure!

Work is driving me absolutely 100% insane. The stress is unbelievable and I feel frenzied all the time. So far I have avoided emotional eating, but I know the temptation is coming. I have done really good the past 3 days as far as snacking after work goes, I really want to keep that up.

For yesterday:
B: chocolate oatmeal
L: salad w/chicken; small cookie (1/2 inch diameter)
S: 2 egg whites, 3 mini cucumbers
S: apple-n-pb
D: whole wheat spaghetti noodles; sauce w/Morningstar Farms meatless crumble; HC fudge bar

E: 45 min on elliptical
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy, I am willing to bet 1 piece of pecan pie has less calories than the amount of pecans I have mowed down in the past!

Tracy, I love making the stir fry, and the kids have actually stopped complaining about it, so I will make it more often!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Amy, you can stay strong, I have faith in you! I am sorry work is so stressful, with having two kids and a husband to deal with on top of work, you must definitely be feeling the affects. I hope it gets better soon! In the meantime, just stay focused and true to yourself.

Your food yesterday sounded perfectO!