Quick Check In

I hope to write a real post soon, but in case this week swallows me alive I wanted to at least say good-bye :)  In all seriousness, work has been crazy busy and we are working on a big project at home. I won't be able to discuss details on this blog for confidentiality reasons, but my husband and I are in the final phase of becoming licensed foster parents. We have taken classes, had background checks and filled out stacks and stacks of paperwork on every subject imaginable. Our final home inspection is scheduled for a week from tomorrow. My craft room is becoming a child's (or two) room. Remember how happy I was about setting it up last summer? That didn't last long :)  We are excited and nervous as we move forward on this adventure.

In the meantime, I am still working on my weight loss. This week I am happy to report a 1.6 pound loss. I have also continued to track my food and post pictures of what I am eating on the Food Log page.

Better get back to it.....

Two Months In and a Weign In

Another weigh-in has arrived and I have lost 1.4 pounds this week. I honestly thought it would be a little more because when I weighed myself on Saturday I was already down 1.8 pounds.  Not sure what happened there, but as we all know these crazy bodies fluctuate for reasons we don't always understand.

This week's loss brings me to a total of 21.8 pounds lost. Some of the smaller losses can be disappointing - I am an impatient one.  However, when I look at the big picture I am happy :)  And 6 months from now I will be even happier!

We have now been on this new adventure for two months. As the newness of the adventure starts to wear off, how am I feeling, what I have learned and where do I go from here?

First, I am thankful for my husband's support. Doing this together has been key to our success. We have had fun trying new things. We have been able to talk each other off the ledge more than once. I have talked to other people that don't have the same support from their spouse. I don't mean to say that their spouses oppose their efforts. It is just that they don't necessarily do things they could do to make it easier. And a little praise and encouragement goes a long way when you are in this battle.

As far as my feelings go, I told my husband last night that I am feeling a bit trapped. I don't necessarily want to give up some of my favorite things. I don't want to think about what I am going to eat and how many calories every single day.  However, if I don't do these things I am a bit terrified that I will fall off the wagon completely.  For example, I have been craving nachos for weeks. My problem is that I don't want to make them at home because I don't want to buy all those ingredients for one meal - I don't want leftover chips, sour cream, cheese, etc. I know I can have all those things in moderation, but there is something very peaceful about a home without all the temptations to be debated everyday. Of course, I could "healthify" the nachos to a degree.  But being completely honest, that is not what I am craving.  And my concern is that it will just leave me dissatisfied and still craving.  Now if I go somewhere to get nachos, we all know it will end up being a huge portion and not just a reasonable serving. I can try to figure out all the calories, but ultimately I am guessing - maybe somewhat educated but still guessing. I am afraid to open Pandora's box. What if that one splurge leads to another? 

So, regarding nachos here is what I decided. Today for lunch I ordered a half order of nachos from a local BBQ place.  I did my best to calculate the calories and put them in my tracker. I got my order to go and was happily surprised that they had packaged all the components separately - made it much easier to figure how much of everything. It came out to almost 700 calories. I think I can still make it through the day within calories...and I am going to try to do just that.

What have I learned?  I can walk fast - even when I am not being chased :)  Seriously, I have learned that this is a process that take time and dedication. There are going to be ups and downs, but I can persevere. Oh, and some days this is very hard!

Where do I go from here? Just keep doing a whole lot more of the same things I have been doing for the past two months. Work on believing I can do this and stop letting fear of failure take up residence in the back of my mind. Focus on what I am gaining not what I am losing.

In somewhat unrelated news...Millie got her first bag of big girl food today. She will be one year old on Saturday, so it is time to make the switch. When my husband carried the dog food in from the car he realized that heavy bag weighed as much as he has lost :)  It is hard to imagine that he carried that much extra weight - no wonder he was tired all the time.

Official Dash and Splash 5K results (7-19-14):
           Husband - 24:41
           Nephew - 30:07
           Nephew's friend - 41:34
           Sister - 41:56
           Me - 43:29
I didn't beat anyone in my group, but I did beat 10 random strangers :)

All in a Day and Weigh-In

Another weigh-in has arrived.  This is weigh-in number 8.  Okay, first I would like to congratulate myself on sticking with this for 8 weeks. And the best part is I am not considering giving it up :)  I am thankful that my husband and I were ready at the same time to do this and that we have been able to encourage each other through the rough spots.

So, today's meeting with the scale says I am down 1.6 pounds.  I am very happy with that...but (why is there always a but?) it leaves me just .4 short of getting into another ten zone. It feels so good to see the second number on the scale change too :) 

I think I am getting my faster walking groove back.  At least I hope so since we have a race on Saturday.  Yesterday we had some crazy thunderstorms. This morning the temperature was crazy low for July in the 50s.  It felt great!!  Anyway, I managed to be under 15 minute miles for 2 or the 3 miles. With this race being a 5k and the competition of the other racers I am really hoping for sub-14:30 miles. The race is the evening so I am not sure how that will factor in.

Speaking of it being an evening race I have a question. I have thought it good to have a rest day before the race. I walk in the morning and since this race is in the evening I am a bit conflicted. Should I just rest Saturday morning or should I rest Friday morning too?  Any thoughts?

See this sweet innocent kitty...it kind of freaked me out this morning. I was walking along and all the sudden out of the corner of my eye I see this white steak coming across a yard and into the street behind me. I turned and the cat was coming right for me. Seriously, am I about to be mauled by a puddy-tat?  Thankfully, when I turned the cat changed course and continued to cross the road.  Then it stopped and gave me the stare down.

I suspect these people are waiting for someone else to come along and clean up their mess. Okay, technically someone does come to pick up branches, but most people pile them on the curb not just toss them in the street. I am constantly surprised by the things I see in the road or next to the road. The most tragic thing was an unfinished McDonalds shake smashed in the middle of the road. Enough remained to tell it had been strawberry. Even the cherry lay on the road :( 

When I finished my 3 miles I waited for my husband to catch up.  I was captivated by the light of the morning sun.  It was a little frustrating to be stuck just with my cell phone camera when I see the "perfect" lighting. The beautiful glow came out much more yellow. I love seeing the "da mooooonn" (name that movie!) during the day.

This monstrous electric pole was installed recently.  One day I was driving over to my sister's house and all kinds of construction equipment was driving up to a house. By the time I went home (an hour or two later) the house was demolished...turns out it was destruction equipment rolling up. Apparently the power company decided it was better to buy the people out and tear down the house rather than to try to work around the house. It made me tear up a little thinking about the memories that house held. 

I never get tired of this view - my husband running towards me. He is a little distracted by checking his watch though. His "slowest" mile today was 10:04. Crazy!! You can see we are not the only early birds. The woman in pink always walks her Australian Shepherd around the same time we are out.

Today I got my first FleurtyBand made by Jasmine at Fleurty and Fit. I ordered "Dreamsicle" from her Etsy shop. She was so sweet to include an extra one because I mentioned her on my blog a couple of weeks ago. I can't wait to see how much faster I walk with my hair under control :)  

I have a confession. I tend to write my blog throughout the day when I have a few minutes. Part of the reason I do that is I feel like it gives a more accurate portrayal of my feelings. I want the blog to be honest about the ups and downs of this journey. Today would be a perfect example. I felt pretty good about my weigh-in this morning, had a good walk and then sometime after lunch the bottom fell out. I have noticed the past few days I've been hungry in the afternoon even though I've been doing pretty much the same thing exercise and meals. Then when I am hungry I start to question the process. Am I doing the right things to achieve my goals?

I ended up getting myself all worked up about how hard this is and that I don't want to do it. I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know for sure I have another 50ish pounds I need to lose (then re-evaluate). Today that just seemed overwhelming. By the time I got home from work I was a bit of a mess. I was trying to make dinner through my tears. My husband was doing everything he could to console and encourage me. But you know how it is, sometimes nothing helps, but time.

We had talked earlier in the day about playing frisbee golf this evening.  We haven't played in months. I didn't want my crummy mood to change that plan. It seemed like it would be better than sitting at home stewing. It did help some, but I was still grouchy. I ended up getting down on myself for being a terrible frisbee thrower. Seriously, get a grip!  By the end I settled down some. Perhaps taking Millie wasn't the best idea. It was a little stressful because she didn't quite understand what we were doing and there were a bunch of squirrels taunting her.

On the way to frisbee golf I asked my husband to stop so I could get some chocolate. I got a Dove bar - so good. I don't feel guilty about the calories because it didn't make me go over.  However, I know there was some self medicating going on with that chocolate and I don't know how I feel about that.  That is going to have to be a question for another day. I am getting ready for bed and am just thankful I have made it through the day :)

Weigh-In & Date Night!

Today was our 5th weekly weigh-in.  First, I would like to say we have done so much better staying on track this time. Since we've been married we have "tried" a few times to lose weight and always seem to make it somewhere between 10-14 days before we crumble. I am super proud of how committed we both have been. It makes a world of difference to both be on the same page working for the same goal. Now if I could just lose as fast as my husband I would be even happier :) 

So, the weigh-in....2.6 pounds lost. That brings my total to 15 pounds or 20% of my "lose my puppy" goal.  Way to go, me!

I know I have been a bit in the dumps the last week or so about my knee situation. I am not sure when it will be ready for some serious walking again. I will definitely be holding out a little longer on my dreams of starting to run. Tomorrow I am planning to try the biking in the neighborhood for my workout.

Despite not working out like I want I have kept my calories in check. I feel really good about my eating. My calorie range is 1300-1500 - it has not been too much of a struggle. We eat lots of good healthy foods and work in enough "goodies" that we don't feel punished. Although, I might be glad when June is over - we have so many birthdays and events in May & June it has taken most of my extra energy to just navigate all the goodies.

I have made a discovery that seems to help me - I have been entering food into MyFitnessPal in advance. By doing so, I know about how many calories I have for the rest of the day. If I know a that piece of piggy cake is going to cost me 445 calories (see Sunday's post) I make better choices earlier in the day (fruit smoothie for breakfast - no snacks). Also, having a plan of what is a reasonable meal helps control the impulse eating. If I just wait until I eat it to record it I am concerned I won't make as rational of choices.  I'll be honest, I have not been to a party yet where I stuck completely to my plan, but I have stayed pretty close. I knew I didn't have much wiggle room and it certainly curbed the damage I could have done.

To celebrate a good weigh-in, I planned a date night for my husband and me. I didn't tell him anything about what we were doing other than to tell him to reserve extra calories for dinner...pretty romantic, right? We drove to a town about 20 minutes away. I told him we were going 4 places...he was so confused. He is so funny cause he usually likes to be in control and not knowing the plan was a bit disconcerting for him...and super fun for me.

First up...Go Karts :)  I asked for the fastest car, but it turns out speed is wasted on bad drivers. I was bringing up the rear the whole time...well, until my husband practically stopped and waited for me to catch up. I was trying to go as fast as possible with out crashing at every turn. There was another kid on the course and I think he was out to get me. Please keep in mind the following picture is taken from my "speeding" go kart. I wasn't afraid of dropping my camera but I was worried about careening out of control while taking pictures.

After go karts we tried the bumper cars. We were the only two doing it so a couple employees jumped in cars and joined us. It was so much fun! Check out that smile.  I wish he had had a camera too so I could see my face...I bet I was a sight!

After we played for awhile we headed off to location 2 & 3.  Location 2 was a restaurant we've been to a couple of times. I love, love their Gyro Salad. My husband thinks the place is okay, so I got a salad to go and we headed to location 3 - one of his favorite pizza places. I had called in an order for his favorite (sausage jalapeno).  I ordered a small pizza - gasp!  Earlier in the day I had worked my geometry skills and figured out the calories for a small pizza based on a slice of the large pizza.  Yes, I was pretty impressed with myself :)  Once we had gathered our food we drove to a park where I whipped out the picnic stuff from the trunk. My husband was very surprised and happy.

I took a picture of my salad, but turns out it is NOT photogenic. It was delicious and the ambiance of the park was perfect. We had a shady spot on top of a hill overlooking the lake. There was a light breeze. Seriously perfect.  We both had food we loved. Guilt free because we worked it into our daily calorie allowance. After we ate we fed the ducks and geese by the lake. I even remembered the bread. Loved this baby goose getting its grown up feathers. I will say for a baby it was a bit of a bully...bad goose.

The obligatory selfie and our date was complete....

It was the perfect evening and exactly what we needed. We have both been so caught up in the calorie counting and exercising (or not exercising in my case) it was nice to just relax and enjoy each other The whole reason we are doing this thing is to maximize our health so we can enjoy our life together even longer.

Happy Weigh-In Day!

Dodging puddles

First things first...today is weigh-in Tuesday.  I happy to report I lost 3 pounds this week.  Remember last week when I said I was disappointed that I only lost 3 and that I would be grateful later for a 3 pound loss?  I am. The first couple of weeks I hoped for big losses to just have that thrill of a fast start.  By the third week I realize things are going to slow down and I am okay with that.When I get discouraged about the day to day grind, I try to think ahead 6 months.  I am sure 6 months from now I would be content having lost at a 1-2 pound pace.

So that brings the official totals to 11.2 lost and 63.8 more to lose my puppy!  You can follow my weigh-ins on my Progress page.

My husband has been working his tail off too and I am proud to say he lost 5 pounds this week.  That brings his total lost to 24.2.  He started a little before me by quitting soda. He drank a serious amount of Coke. It is a hard habit to break and I am SO proud of him!

This morning's walk was good. I had been a little nervous because I'd been having some pain in the back of my thigh and knee area. Last night it was really bothering me. I could feel it a bit when I woke up. However, it didn't bother me at all while walking :)

When we left the house I thought the rain had stopped, but turns out it had just paused.  When I got to the far end of the loop it started again. Thankfully, it was a light rain and actually felt kind of good. I had planned to walk 3 miles, but ended up walking 2.5. I was a little concerned that my phone would get wet with only a pocket to protect it. My pace was about 16:15 minutes per mile. I would have liked it to be faster, but I was a bit cautious with the wet roads. Hopefully tomorrow will be drier and I can work on speed.

My husband has gotten me hooked on Pandora. I have the app on my cell phone now that I can pull up, plug in my headphones and listen to music while I walk. Pandora allows you to choose music you like and it will create a station based on that. I entered Girls Just Want to Have Fun and I got lots of peppy 80s music :)
I am working on a Tools page to feature things that help me through this lifestyle change. I added Pandora today.  www.pandora.com.

I never listened to music when I walked because I hated ear buds and I thought headphones would be annoying - slipping off my head and such. But I got a pair of Sony headphones a few weeks ago and now I am really enjoying the music. I am trying to decide if I want to wear them in the race Saturday. I don't want to look like a goof :) Also, if I decide to stop listening they are a bit cumbersome to carry and I don't like them down around my neck.

Tonight's dinner is a new favorite of mine - Salsa Verde Chicken Tostadas from Skinnytaste.com. They are super easy and so tasty. The chicken is made ahead in the crockpot with a jar of salsa verde and a few spices. Then later you use that chicken to assemble the tostadas with a little cheese and jalapenos. Bake to melt the cheese. This morning I cooked the chicken before work - takes about 2 hours on high. I put it in the fridge and then warmed it this evening before assembling the tostadas.

Now, I know many people are going to think this odd but the recipe includes a slaw to top the tostada - red cabbage, cilantro and lime juice. Sounds odd, but so delicious - it adds a freshness and crunch that sends the dish over the top. Not to mention the color is amazing. If you are completely irredeemably opposed to cabbage (like my husband) I would recommend red onions in place of the cabbage. Be sure to read the comment section on Skinnytaste - people have made several tasty suggestions for topping them. I have also used this recipe to make party snacks. Instead of tostada shells I have used tortilla chips or Tostito Scoops as the base. Yummy finger food!! 

For more recipes I have tried and heartily recommend check out Skinnytaste.com on my Top Blogs page.

Skinnytaste Salsa Verde Chicken Tostadas

Making Progress

Look at him go! Had so much fun he came back up and did it again.

Okay, drum roll...3.2 pounds.  I have slightly recovered before starting to write. I confess I am initially disappointed.  I know, I know...I should be happy for every loss.  And I know in a few weeks I will be thrilled by a 3 pound loss.  I just thought here at the beginning I would have bigger losses...like my husband.  He lost 7.2 this week!!  We both have worked really hard. Why does it seem to fall off men faster?? 

I am so glad we have that 10K race scheduled.  I am extra motivated to do well before the race and hopefully by race day habits will be taking root. 

Last night I ended up walking 2-3 miles with a friend so I decided to take this morning off.  The last couple of days I have felt a bit worn out so I think a break could be good. I am sure we will end up doing something active tonight...maybe a bike ride.  And I will be back to my morning walking schedule tomorrow morning.  My husband has to work early so I will be on my own.  I think I will try a new route and get in at least 3 miles.

As you may have guessed from the pictures we made it back to the prairie trails again tonight. We waited until about 7:30 p.m. for it to be cooler, but it sure was buggy out there.  At one point I got bit on the shoulder blade and I couldn't reach it.  My husband had gotten a bit ahead of me and I could not pedal fast enough to get to him for a back scratch. Next time we have to remember the bug spray!!

A "before" picture if I ever saw one :)

Before we started riding on the trails I challenged my husband to a biking dual.  There is a loop around the soccer fields that I think it about a half mile. I rode it first and then his challenge was to beat my time. I pedaled my heart out....for 4:21.  Then my husband cruises in at 3:07 - okay he pedaled hard too but I didn't realize he was going to beat me by so much.  My original plan was to ride again and try to beat my first time. I changed my mind though because I wanted to save some energy for the trails...maybe next time.

Just made plans for a good friend to join us on our long Sunday walk.  She has lost an incredible 87 pounds.  I hope she will let me tell her story on this blog.  She has been so inspirational to me!

5 Pounds!

My schedule was thrown off a bit by a last minute field trip with my niece.  I meant to post this yesterday. 

Tuesdays are our weigh-in day.  Yesterday my weigh-in showed a 5 pound loss!  No, I am not brave enough to tell you how much I weigh.  Maybe in time when I want to brag about how much I have lost :)  Okay, here is my struggle.  I always seem to make some excuse when I have a good weigh-in.  For example, this time it is that we had gone away for a day or so right before we started and after eating out my start weight was artificially high.  Why do I do this to myself?  It is so hard for me to accept my success or compliments.  Instead of just being happy/proud of the 5 pounds I am almost looking for reasons to question it.  Honestly I was hoping to have lost 6 pounds - you know, the big fast start because I know it won't be that much per week from here on out.

I am a constant weigher.  I will weigh will myself in the morning (which I consider most accurate).  Then I will sometimes check during the day and most nights before bed.  For the record, I usually weight about 2 pounds more at night than in the morning.  The problem is when you weigh yourself constantly the progress is so slow or you fluctuate and discouragement is at your door.  Since I was a struggling with my feeling about this week's weigh-in I decided I need to try something different.  I made a pact I would not weigh myself until next Tuesday...A WHOLE WEEK!  I guarantee that will be a more difficult challenge than eating or exercising this week. I know I won't since I promised my husband, but I will be thinking about it constantly.

Last night we had our oldest niece and her fiance over for dinner.  We had been looking forward to this for days.  Yes, because we love hanging out with them.  Okay, I confess we were excited because PIZZA was on the menu. My husband could live forever on pizza and never tire of it.  However, being just the two of us ordering pizza is a bit problematic.  First, if we have a take out pizza I am not sure we would be able to eat just a couple pieces and save the rest for the next day.  Even eating just a couple of pieces of pizza takes some serious calorie budgeting.  Say we succeed in eating just a couple pieces, we still have half a pizza constantly calling us from the fridge.  If we do manage to  save it for the next day we are doing back to back days of trying to make a higher calorie dinner work in our budget.  For now, I don't think either of us are that strong.

Good news - we have options.  Last summer we discovered grilled pizza and have become obsessed.  I have done calculations after calculations and have come up with a plan that I think will work for us.  The best part of homemade pizza is having exactly what you want on it.  For example, my husband loves a pepperoni pizza with jalapenos, green olives and cilantro - not something you would find in most pizza places.  I don't want to mislead you, the calories are still on the high side for a meal.  But there is great flexibility.  Last night we both had the same amount of pizza, but since I chose to do mushrooms and basil pizza mine was almost 200 calories less than my husband's pizza.  We both thought our pizzas could not be any more delicious and we had a quantity of pizza that satisfied us and no leftovers.  And neither of went over our calories for the day!!

The bottom line is that with some planning we can have both delicious food and a healthy lifestyle.

Full disclosure - this is pizza we grilled last summer, but the size is accurate.  This time we carefully measured toppings.  I used 1/2 cup of cheese on each.  My husband used half as much pepperoni and cut each piece in half to spread the flavor over the whole pizza.