Tuesday, November 16, 2010

5 Week Challenge

Well, this might seem like an odd time to start a healthy living challenge, but as Amanda was saying over at Kind Over Matter, "No day like today" to start.

This is something that has been on the middle burner for a while. It never made it the back burner, but it certainly wasn't on the front. I was doing really well for about a month and then I got bored and started making little excuses here and there not to track food, not pack lunches and so on. Starting tomorrow (today is pizza and cake for Gary's birthday) I will have a packed lunch and snack. I will have a healthy breakfast and dinner even on busy days.

I know I have been doing okay because my clothes are getting bigger, especially my pants, but I know I can do more. Probably the next thing to add to the formula is movement. I will have to figure out when I can fit that into my schedule...Lots more excuses on that one than on the food plan.

Anyway, I plan to write to myself at least once a week here. This challenge is on top of my 21 Challenge at Rhonna Farrer's blog where I am trying to become a neater housekeeper. So far so good even though Gary has come home and has put a little kink in the works. I suppose it is better to have him home with a less tidy house than a clean house all alone.

So here's to T minus 1 day until I start Amanda's 5 week Be Kind to Your Body challenge in the middle of day 5 of my 21 Challenge. It's better than waiting until New Year's Day to make a resolution. By New Year's I will be that much farther ahead.

Below is my current image:

Below this is what I would like to look like by January:
If only it were as easy as photoshop.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Not Too Shabby

I feel I am making good food choices even if I am not always reaching my daily recommended calorie intake. I just don't see how I could eat more food. Below are the graphics from my daily nutrition reports.
Wednesday

Thursday
Friday
SaturdayCan you see I like my carbs??

I really like the two plans I am using to manage my weight. They appeal to my obsessive personality, but allow me to not go overboard. We can talk about that another day.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Chocolate Cake

Well it had to happen. Just didn't think it would happen so soon. We had a birthday at work and one of the ladies bought a chocolate cake. Not just a measly homemade box cake. This was a full fledged monster cake. I ate it but only half a piece.

When I put everything I had up through lunch, I still had enough room for dinner.

I don't want to fall into the habit of thinking cake everyday is okay, but is nice that can still have a special treat and not blow my whole week.

Monday, I will use the scale at school. I will be back then to give you an update...if you are still out there. :-)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

I Am a Little Confused

...but that's nothing new.

The weight loss plan I am using comes from a book published by Curves. It is based on a 30 day cycle of 1200 calories for a week, 1500 calories for 2 weeks and then 1800 calories for maintenance. If you find that you have gained more than 2 pounds during the 1800 calorie time period you drop back down to 1200 calories for a few days until you lose them. It is designed to help you be your own monitor and create coping skills for managing your own weight. There is also exercise involved, but I won't go into that today. This plan does not make you count calories, but gives you a list of things you can have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. If you are not interested in those, there are exchange lists in the back of the book to help you along.

The issue of calorie counting came up when I wanted to track what I was eating and joined SparksPeople.com. After I entered everything I was supposed to eat plus something I wasn't, I only came out to 1228 calories. Then yesterday, I ate everything I was supposed to eat and came out with around 1000. I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but I do know that the body craves food and energy. If it feels like I am depriving it, the body will start holding onto the energy to prevent me from starving.

Today, I am going to do it by the book and see what happens because I am a little concerned.

Regardless, I think I am losing weight already. I can't tell because my scale is defective.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The First Hurdle

I did really well from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. but the real challenge came when I went to a presentation that my friend was doing in a town about 1-1/2 hours away. Since it was supper time they were providing the meal. Last time it was cold cut sandwiches. I figured I knew what I could eat with that. When I got there they had brought in dinner from Cabo Bob's. Can you guess? Mexican!!! I knew I should have stopped along the way, but my need to feel included in what everyone else is doing outweighed my common sense. So what did I eat? A quesadilla and 5 tortilla chips. Not ideal, but at least I got to drink plenty of water. My greatest feat of all was NOT adding sour cream to the meal.

I started tracking my food yesterday and found that I consumed 1228 calories or so. I had to guess on the quesadilla. Not bad for not thinking ahead, or rather, thinking ahead, but not listening to myself.

I got in only 3-4 cups of water yesterday and no true exercise. That is what I need to work on.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Here's to Getting On Track

I am trying some new things to keep me accountable to myself in my goal toward living a healthier way life.

I am now doing somethings on this website called SparkPeople.com. Maybe you would like to try it with me.

Here is my first attempt at video blogging:You will have to excuse the time delay, I am using my laptop camera. It's still a work in progress.