Need a Break

It has been a crazy busy week. I'm so ready for spring break! I'm behind on reading, slacking on goals....ugh!

Last night I had to pick up my oldest from school at 4. (She's switching from trumpet to tuba and started lessons last night) We had to run to town to the Verizon store. Waste. of. time. How can they not offer the same things in the store that they do online??? So we left there and went to Walmart. I got a few things and was sitting on a bench waiting for my mom. I honestly dont judge people, because I'm sure there are those around judging me. But I was just curious as to what people were buying. So I started watching carts.
Now I wasn't there to buy "groceries". I'm taking my oldest 2 and a friend to the movie tonight (Hunger Games, yay!), and we stopped to get candy and soda. (Shhhh, we're taking our own. I cant afford to buy it there!) I also had a bag of chips, because we'll stop to get pizza on the way home for dinner. We usually have soda if we get pizza (which isn't often), plus one of the girls will have a friend here ("special occasion"), so I had 2 bottles of soda. All that made my cart look bad. But I also had 2 things of strawberries, mixed greens for salad, protein bars and some juice.
I usually dont pay attention to what other people are buying. But I've read about others thinking about what they see in people's carts. Since I was sitting by the check outs, and had to wait for my mom, I decided to pay attention.
First couple: 2 overweight parents with a little boy (maybe 1 1/2). They have regular milk and chocolate milk, 4 2-liters of soda, poptarts, fruity pebbles, 2 bags of chips plus some other stuff. I saw no fruits or veggies. Now, maybe they're like me and were not there for "real" groceries...
But this seemed to be the norm...the heavy people were the ones buying junk. Do people think that about me when I have a shopping trip like last night? Do they think I shop like that all the time? I dont buy chips unless the girls have friends over and we're having pizza, or we're having a b-day party or something. We never "just have them in the house". And I really mean never. I dont buy cookies or other junk. I used to, but I'm really trying to change all of our eating habits. We dont have soda in the house (and I hear complaints about it from the girls)...I dont care if they have it on occasion, but I'm not going to have it here for them on a regular basis. And my grocery bill has gone way up. Eating healthy with lots of fruit and veggies is not cheap. At all. So maybe thats why so many people are heavy, and have the junk in the cart. I saw something on FB the other day that said, "No wonder we have an epidemic of obesity in the US when you can go to McDs and get a hamburger for 99 cents but a salad is $4.99". Yeah, no joke. Eating healthy is expensive.

But on to other things...
I have not exercised yet this week. Ugh! We had 2 concerts this week, I was cooking for a carry in at work one night, and had all the running around to do last night. I know they're excuses, but I have been utterly exhausted lately. I'm going to be lucky to get 2 days of exercise in this week. Sigh... Eating has been ok though.
I have to teach this afternoon. Kindergarten. Double ugh! I did it yesterday all day. Our kindy class is a handful to put it mildly. There are 26 of them in there, and she's documenting 7 of them for behavior. But---if I make it through this afternoon, spring break starts! An entire week off work. I'm so excited. We havent had a full week off since I cant remember when. We only used 1 snow day this year, so no days to make up. (Crazy!) I usually want to work a couple days over break, since I wont get paid being off, but since I taught yesterday and today, and have some extra hours from conference time to use next week, I should be ok. I'm just going to sit back and relax!

Hope you all are having a good week!

First Day

Tonight was my youngest daughter's spring musical. It was grades K-3. They really did a great job with it.

I think today was a pretty good first day. I had a couple changes happen during the day, so that threw off my eating plan, but not too terribly. I've really been trying to eat every 2-3 hours... I had breakfast, then took a snack for mid morning. I got a text that softball practice for my 10 year old was cancelled for tonight. That meant I could push dinner back to regular time instead of really early. But--I didnt bring a second snack so I could have something before tutoring. I had a protein bar in my purse, but thats what I had for my mid-morning snack, and I usually dont like to do that twice in a day. But it worked, and was better than other things I could have had. But I did have 2 pepperoni breadsticks from the cafeteria today with my salad (from home). Not all bad, but not in my original plan. Even with those, I'm still well within my calorie range.

Hoping for a good night sleep tonight and lots of energy tomorrow! Another long day ahead.

Its a start...

Thanks for the comments yesterday. I need to go follow everyone else's blogs! I've just been so limited in time that I have on here last week. I hope to do better soon. (Although, softball starts tomorrow, and that is 4 nights a week, so I dont know if I'll even have time to post. At least the week after is spring break! I need it terribly!)

I do pretty well on water. The quality sleep though...its severely lacking. I'm pretty sure my sleep (in time and quality) is being affected terribly by stress from work. Things are just bad there. (I work at an elementary school.) I'm hoping spring break gives everyone the chance to rest and regroup, and come back ready for the last 2 months. I'm hoping the break will get my sleep back on track. (I've even started taking melatonin, and while it does help me get to sleep on time, it doesnt keep me asleep all night, so I wake up a lot during the night.)

I have my menu ready for the week, and groceries have been gotten. (Now if this stupid migraine would just go away!)

So, tomorrow starts the challenge. I've been thinking of my goals for week 1:

Weight Loss: Since I want to lose 20 lbs, I suppose it should be 2lbs for the week. I'm not going to stress about a weekly weight loss goal though. Its the overall one that really counts. :)

NSV: ?

Nutrition: Count calories this week. Limit wheat. (Still no sweets since I gave them up for lent)

Exercise: 3 days. Since I've been doing 0, I should be able to do something 3 days (even with school concerts 2 of the nights)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Ugh!

I think I've had too much time to think about it. Ready for summer challenge starts Monday, and I'm soooo not ready now. :( I'm discouraged about the lack of movement on the scale. I know there are other things that matter as well, but this needs to happen for me. It seems I faithfully count calories, lose 5 or more pounds in a week, then none. And none the next week. And none the week after. Like seriously---none. So I haven't counted calories for the last few days. I haven't over eaten, even being at a retreat yesterday and today (with TONS of sweets that I couldn't eat ;) ). I've eaten things I'm trying to stay away from...carbs---in the form of wheat. But not an over abundance.
So Monday I will start again. Counting calories faithfully. I'm going to set weekly goals (I hope). Exercise wont start Monday, or even Tuesday (elementary program Monday, district band concert Tuesday), but my goal will be 3 days. I'm going to think about it more and post my weekly goals tomorrow. I also need to get groceries tomorrow so I'm ready with no excuses for the week!

I'm just not feeling so positive at the moment. :(

Goals

So its time to think about what goals I want to accomplish during the Ready for Summer Challenge. This will be my first challenge, so I want to make sure I'm realistic about this. :)

***All goals are subject to change***

1. Weight
In 10 weeks I'd like to lose at least 20 lbs. I dont think that is unreasonable during this journey.

2. NSV
Be down at least 1 clothing size. I also need a new bathing suit, and I'd like to get one 1-2 sizes smaller.

3. Exercise
This will be my biggest problem area. Although I might have found a motivator... My first thought was to say I'll do some sort of exercise 3X/week. I figured I'd start walking next week when my girls start softball. Since its in the next town over, I just stay for practice anyway, so instead of sitting on the bench, I'm going to go for a walk (at least during the older dd's... might wait a few times until my youngest gets comfortable...this is her first year of softball). But in addition to that, I'm thinking about doing the C25K program again. I saw on Kristy's blog about the Color Run. That looks like a ton of fun, and there's one semi-near me in mid June... so I'd have just enough time to prepare. I have a couple weeks to think about it before registration opens. The one down side is the cost to enter. Its not really all that much, but for me its a pinch, especially at the beginning of April when I have other bills due and my quarterly ones due too. :( So we'll see. Might still do the C25K and do the Race for the Cure in September.
I'd also like to do the 30 Day Shred in there too!

4. Nutrition
This is one area I finally have under control. I've been trying to stay between 1200 and 1500 calories (counting faithfully every day but Sundays), and its been working. I'm really happy where I am with this right now. I also gave up sweets for Lent, and its probably the best decision I've made. Not sure I want to say I'll give them up for the whole challenge, but I might really consider that. When I have to be accountable to someone, its easier to stick with it.

Now that I have some of these things in place, I really need to find a new pair of tennis shoes really soon. That has to be a top priority if I'm going to start walking/running.

Looking forward to getting to know more of you, and seeing some great results.

Lots of Stuff on the Mind...

Maybe thats the reason I'm not sleeping well??? I'm guessing I will sleep better tonight because I dont have to work tomorrow. We'll see...

There's been so much going on at school. I dont think I ever remember so many elementary kids being suspended in a year. It seems every week or so another kids is out for one thing or another. Add 3 more to the list today. Sixth graders this time saying and doing really awful things to their female classmates. Hopefully they'll learn something from all this, because one of the ones suspended has been giving me much grief in the last 2 weeks. Sigh...

When I have cafeteria duty, I walk around and chat with the kids. One day we got on the subject of eating fruits and vegetables. I told them I think its important, and I make my kids eat 3 spoonfuls of whatever vegetable we have for dinner, whether they like it or not. It doesn't kill them, and hopefully will make them understand the importance of a varied diet.
Anyway, this conversation was with my daughter's class (4th grade). There is a girl in her class that must weigh between 150 and 175 lbs. She said her mom never makes her eat veggies, and only fruit if she wants to. Um, yeah, I would have guessed. But I dont feel like its my place to say anything to her. I can just talk about a balanced diet and being healthy. I do it to hopefully keep my kids from having to struggle with their weight the way I have my whole life. And so far it seems to be working. Dont you think every parent would want that for their child? The mom of this girl is terribly overweight as well. So of course that would lead us to believe its their lifestyle. And she's passing that lifestyle on to her kid...who will probably pass it on to her kids someday because thats all she knows. Its sad. I know what its like to grow up fat. She's going to be ridiculed. She's not going to fit in. She's going to suffer with self esteem issues. It breaks my heart.

I know I cant save the world. (But thats my personality type) So I'm just trying to make a difference.

Tonight it was my youngest (7) who didnt want to eat her cauliflower. Sigh... She knows the consequences...no veggies, no snack. So before bed she's telling me she's SO hungry. She really wants something to eat. But she made the choice not to eat her veggies, so she chose not to get a snack. I told her to have a glass of milk, but thats all she was getting. I want her to learn to make the right choices.

Its hard. Its hard for me to lose the weight. Its hard to teach my kids to make good choices. I have to remind my oldest more than the others about choosing what, when, and how much to eat. She could end up like me faster than the others, and I just dont want that to happen.

I'm trying. I hope its enough.

Mmmmm

I try to always ask the girls what they'd like for dinner during the week when I'm planning the menu. It usually helps with the griping when they have a say in what we're eating. Well, this week B decided she wanted chicken fajitas. Doesn't seem too hard, but when you've never made them before, its hard to know what to do. I'm not all that creative in the kitchen...I'm afraid I'll ruin stuff, and thats just money down the drain. But, it couldn't be that hard, right?
I cut up the peppers and onion to saute in just a bit of oil, and told B to look up what seasonings to use. She said garlic, chili pepper and oregano. So a few shakes here and there, add the chicken (already cooked and cut into strips---bought it that way), and dinner was done. I ate mine on a low carb wrap with a Tbsp of sour cream. The girls also had shredded cheese with theirs. Oh my... what a great low cal dinner for sure! I'll be making those again and again...I hope they dont get tired of them! ;)

In other news...still plugging away. Every bit I lose now is a new low I havent seen in I dont know how long. It feels good. And so do I with the healthy foods I've been eating. (Like blueberries---they're not my favorite on their own, but I had them with strawberries for lunch today and that was a great combination.)

But, daylight savings time is kicking my butt. I haven't felt as tired as I did this morning in quite some time. I usually get up and get in the shower (never hit snooze---really!). This morning I had to almost literally drag myself to the shower. Its been really rough.

So I am heading to bed now. A little before 9pm. Sigh...

Good Week

This was a good first week back on plan. I lost 5.8 lbs overall! I know that wont last, but it was a good start.
Sundays are hard for me. We have dinner with extended family after church. When I have it here, I can control what we have and keep track of things a little better. But when its somewhere else, its so hard to know how many calories are in things. So I just try to make good (decent) choices. I know I ate too much for one meal today, but thats the main meal I had, and I probably wont eat again. (I had a good healthy breakfast this morning.) So I'm pretty sure I'm still under calories, but there's just no way to tell.

I joined a challenge. (See icon on side) I'm a little nervous about this. Its the first one I've found before it actually starts, so its my first attempt at checking in each week with others. Yikes. ;) But it lasts for 10 weeks, and I think it will be good for me to stay accountable to get ready for summer!

I hate daylight savings time. I hate that when I get up, its dark (or still dark for a longer time). I hate that I'm putting my kids to bed when its light outside. I hate that it messes with my sleep and I have such a hard time getting back on track. (I dont have as much trouble getting back on track in the fall...that is more my natural sleep cycle) So I'm tired. I have a headache. And its going to be a long week starting out like this.

Friday Five

My weekly reflections...

1. I'm back on track. After faithfully counting calories this week, I've lost 4.6 lbs.

2. When I plan ahead, I can make good choices when eating out and stay within my calorie budget. After looking at some nutritional values from different restaurants, I decided there are some I just need to stay away from, or I'll use my entire day's worth of calories on one meal.

3. I still need to add some exercise into my days. It was really nice on Weds (70), but I had to work, then had errands after school. Of course, on Thursday when I was off, it was near 60 but pouring down rain. Sigh... I want to start the 30 day shred soon.

4. I need to figure out how to get a good night's sleep every night. Or at least more than 1 night a week. This is getting out of hand.

5. But, I'm finding even when I'm not sleeping well, eating healthy makes me feel good. I'm not dragging around, I'm clear headed, less headaches, more alert. And it feels good. So why do I have such a hard time keeping it up??? (I think its definitely helping that I've given up sweets for lent.)

Positives

Finally a post where I can say things are back on track and going well. Started faithfully counting calories again on Monday, and so far this week I'm down 4.2 lbs. I had to run to the store last night, so we grabbed Wendys for the girls. I passed, and instead got a Lean Cousine pizza to bring home to make. A much better choice.
It doesn't hurt that I've given up sweets for lent either. Our janitor brought cupcakes to school yesterday for everyone. She told me she brought them yesterday because the PE teacher and I would both be there. Then I felt bad for telling her I couldn't have one, but thanked her for the thought. They looked good, but weren't really that hard to resist. I'm amazed at how easy its been to pass on the sweets.
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Just got back from lunch out with a friend. I'm so very proud of how I handled this today. I picked the restaurant, looked over the nutritional information before I left to choose something that will fit into my calorie allotment, and then stuck with my decision once I got there. So lunch out was 380 calories. (For the record, I looked at Applebees first and found nothing that would work there. Nothing. Can that really be?) Great step in the right direction for me!

Time to get serious

My dad came to visit over the weekend. We picked a time in May to head to Cedar Point. Its been several years since I've been there, so I cant wait. But---I have to have more weight off by then. Its a little over 3 months away, so I'm pushing for 30 pounds. It really has to be at least that by then. This will get me just about to my second goal for the year (50 lbs by my b-day, which is the end of May). I missed the first goal (20 lbs by Feb 16th) by about 6 lbs. So I must work harder.

Its supposed to get nice again by the end of this week (so I think I've heard). I'm really thinking about having the girls meet me at the school on days I work so we can walk on the trail for a bit after school. On days I'm off, I can do it myself during the day, or just pick them up at the school and go after. I know it wont happen every day, especially with softball starting soon, but I'm hoping our home field is somewhere I can walk during practices. I just need to add this piece in.

Since I had company over the weekend, the house is in pretty good shape. I'd really like to start back on the 30 day shred. Only I think I'm going to approach it differently this time... Last time I couldnt walk after just a few days. I was hobbling, I hurt everywhere, which I know is the point. But then I couldn't give it 100% because I just hurt too bad. So I think I will actually do the 30 day shred in 60 days, and do it every other day instead of every day. Might take a little longer to get the results, but I'm hoping then I can give it 100% every time.

And I'm back to measuring and counting calories. I'm going to try my plate at Livestrong to help me keep track. They tell me around 1500 calories will let me lose about 2 lbs per week. I'm hoping adding exercise will up that just a bit, so I can hit my 30 pound goal.

Motivation

I'm still sitting here at about the same place I've been for a couple weeks (again). But...I got a compliment at church today that made me feel good. Someone told me they could tell I'm losing weight. Honestly, I'm pretty sure it was just because of the shirt I was wearing, but it did give me the motivation to keep working. Sometimes I guess thats all we really need...

Still plugging along

I just dont feel like I have anything to say.

We went to Kalahari last Thursday and Friday with a friend and her 2 daughters. It was the first time there for me and 3 of my kids. We had a blast! It was so so so very fun.

Spent Saturday cooking and baking for the b-day party on Sunday. I did cupcakes this time... cookie dough cupcakes and brownie bite cupcakes, both of which I found on another blog. Gave me ideas to try my own concoctions though. :) I'd love to be more adventurous with cooking and baking.

But, it wont be for awhile. I gave up sweets for lent. I'm not catholic, but I find I stick to things like this better when I do it for lent. I guess I feel I'll be breaking a promise to God if I cheat. Thats bigger than breaking a promise to me or something like that. So, day one has been fine so far.

And that could be because I had a growth taken off my chin today. It was ugly. He asked me if I'd had any trauma to my chin, because it was a group of veins that had gone haywire, and they usually see that on hands after some kind of trauma. I cant think of anything that would have happened, but who really knows. At any rate, its gone now, and I'm left with a bunch of little stitches. Thankfully I'm not scheduled to teach the next 2 days. :)

We got all of Mom's apartment painted on Sunday and Monday. I think she and Ali are getting excited. Its really coming together.

Back At It

and doing better again. Yesterday being my weigh in day (and not really knowing what I was at last Thursday), I can finally post that I'm back on the losing train. I'm down 14.2 pounds! Thats probably around a 4 pound loss this week. I've been working hard again.

But---yesterday was also my oldest daughter's 15th birthday, so I took her out for dinner. And where did she pick??? A buffet! Ugh! I did really well though, and am happy with my choices.

I have 6 pounds to lose by next Thursday to make my first mini goal of the year. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do that, but at least I'll be close, and I can be happy with that.

Something New

First of all, I'm still here. I just really dont have much to say. Still hanging around the same place I've been for awhile. Sigh...

But, I have a friend who sent me a whole box of nutri-system food....a month's worth. While I would never spend the money to do it myself (who am I kidding---I dont have the money even if I'd want to), I'm thankful to have the opportunity to try it. I'm going to start Monday and try really hard to stick to it 100% at least 5-6 days per week. Thursday I'm taking my oldest daughter out for dinner for her b-day (she's turning 15---fifteen!), so I'll just make good choices then, but otherwise, I really want to put the effort into this. If it works for me, I can have one more box (month) for free. Then its all up to me again. If anyone has any helpful hints or experience with this program, I'd love to hear about it. I'm going in a bit blind.

In other news, they should start drywalling the basement on Monday, and he said we should be able to paint down there next weekend! Its really moving along. And I'm LOVING my new washer and dryer. I just cant believe how much they hold.

Sigh...

Sigh. I do that a lot. Still hanging at a 10 lb loss so far this month. While that may sound good, its not all that great when I lost almost 9 of that the first week. I get to this point every time and just sit. And sit. And sit. Nice to know I can maintain, but I'm not ready to do that at this point! Grrrrrr.

On a happy note, the new washer and dryer are coming tomorrow! I had to make some calls this evening, as no workers showed up today and I have no outlet in the bathroom for the dryer yet. So I should have everyone here tomorrow that I need before they bring the dryer. I cant wait to use it. Since the old stuff has been unhooked since Monday, I'm in need of a laundry day for sure!

Plugging along

I stopped counting calories this week and have tried relying on portion sizes and healthy choices. So far so good. We'll make sure of that tomorrow when I weigh in. If it continues to go well, I'll keep it up. I still measure some things, and will take a suggestion I read somewhere to measure everything the first 3 days of every month to make sure portions stay the right size. Portion control is my biggest issue for sure (followed closely by my sweet tooth).

Feeling a little off today...I have just a bit of a headache, and just a bit nauseous. Not sure what thats all about, but I sure hope I'm not getting sick!

Bad weekend

I'm not beating myself up over this weekend. Some choices weren't mine, and some were bad choices I chose to make.
Saturday we had a going away party for my cousin's daughter who is leaving for the navy tomorrow. The food was good. I dont particularly like potato chips, but we have a local company that makes the best french onion chip dip ever. So I had some with chips. And a little hot chicken dip with tortilla chips. And some creamed chicken with no bun. I also had a piece of cake. And full sugar soda. There was deli turkey, that I passed on. There were no veggies. Oh, I did have some water. So while I didnt eat healthy, I also didn't stuff myself silly with bad foods.
Today we had a birthday party. Ugh. I had a donut at church before the party. Then I had a coney at the party, a few baked beans, and some apple sauce. And a piece of cake with a scoop of icecream. Again, not healthy choices (but thats all that was there), but I also didn't stuff myself. Now today is over and I'll start fresh tomorrow.

I'm tired of counting calories. I don't think this is something I can keep up with forever. Tomorrow I'm going to start an almost-phase-1 SBD week. I dont know that I'm going to weigh and measure everything, but I'm going to try to follow what I've been doing and see what happens.

A Good Day

I feel good about today. I didnt get any exercise in so to speak, but overall today feels good. I think part of the reason is I ate well. The kids were good at school. I have my lunch packed for tomorrow. The dishes are done. Homework is done (the kids, not mine). :) Meat is browned for tomorrow's dinner.

Feels good!

Today:
B: english muffin, egg, RF cheese
Sn: yogurt
L: mixed greens, turkey, RF cheese, LC dressing and a brownie (small)
Sn: RF cheese stick, clementine
D: chili, light sour cream, RF cheese
Sn: mixed berry crisp, 1/2 c vanilla ice cream

Total: 1400 AND (drumroll please) 80 oz of water! I haven't done that in awhile!

The basement is still coming along. We had an interesting day yesterday. They were using a gas powered concrete saw and the house filled with exhaust. The carbon monoxide detector was going off in the basement, so we decided to leave early (we were going shopping). I left the back door and kitchen window open, even though it was cold. When we came home, they came up right away to tell us not to use any water. They had hit the sewer pipe. Ew! So we decided to go see a movie. (Beauty and the Beast in 3D) By the time we got home from that they had fixed everything. It was a fun day out anyway.

There is some sad news though. A lady I've known for a long time (she went to college with my mom and I went to school with her son) died unexpectedly on Sunday. They think it was either a massive stroke or a heart attack. Three of her family members work in the district I do, and her DIL worked at my school last year.
And a member of our church died today. He was older (80s probably) and had cheated death before. This one was expected, as he's been going downhill rather quickly lately.
They will both be missed.

Day 2

I dont think the shred can be getting easier by day 2, but I dont feel like dying tonight like I did last night. I'm still doing a couple things modified---like push ups. I hate those. Hate. But I'll get there...

I went appliance shopping with my mom again today. I ended up with a new washer and dryer. This was so not the plan when we started this whole process, but mine will not fit anywhere on the main floor of my house. And we've measured everywhere. So, I will sell mine and will be the proud new owner of stackable front loaders in about a week or so. My mom got her stove, microwave and dishwasher. We weren't so lucky on the shower and sink, and the shower is probably at the top of the list of things we need (or at least have measurements for) by Monday. So we'll probably be heading out again tomorrow after church and lunch.

As for today, we went out for lunch for Mexican. It was soooo good. I love mexican food. Love it. I'm sure I ate too much, but I havent been hungry since. I did eat a greek yogurt after working out, and that will be the end of my food for today.