Thursday, April 24, 2014

DAY 58/365, 170.8 LBS, No Change, TWL 13.8 LBS

DAY 57/365, 170.8 LBS, Down 4.6 LBS, TWL 13.8 LBS

I am up WAY TOO LATE, getting ready to go out of town tomorrow. I plan on taking a nap when I get to the retreat center. Although I am over on my 1700 calorie goal, since I exercised twice today, I have not eaten more than I have burned.

My plan for the 4 day retreat is to eat healthy and exercise daily.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

DAY 56/365, 175.4 LBS, Down 3 LBS, TWL 9.2 LBS

Had a very productive day. I have been home two days in a row and have brought some peace back into our lives by getting house picked up and clean.

I am changing girls' clothes out for spring and purging things they don't like and therefore don't wear. I have 6 large bags of clothes to give to a friend and I'm not finished yet! Also have given quite a few toys away. Feels SO good to manage LESS STUFF.

Also feels good to really accomplish a lot of tasks. Haven't even thought about eating/food!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

DAY 51/365, 169.4 LBS, Up .2 LBS, TWL 15.4 LBS

Had a great (and busy) day. Ate two meals out so I think I I did okay calorie wise. Tomorrow is Bob's birthday. We are eating lunch out, going to the movie, and eating Mexican food for dinner. Calories will probably be over goal but I'm going to focus on celebrating with my awesome hubby and not worry about what I eat!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

DAY 49/365, 170.6 LBS, Down 4.4 LBS, TWL 14.2 LBS

Today was a great day. 100% GREEN. Focused on positives, only ate what I had already logged. Will log ahead for tomorrow as well.

Monday, April 14, 2014

DAY 48/365, 175 LBS, Down 1.4 LBS, TWL 9.8 LBS


Today was a frustrating day.  Not because I did poorly on my 5 goals but because I am SO tired of sabotaging myself and being on the weight loss/weight gain roller coaster.

Thankfully, I had a phone appointment with my "Life Coach" from Healthy Roads, my husband's company's healthy living incentive program.  Sherry is my coach and she is great.  She is able to see my progress from an objective view point.  She is always encouraging and doesn't judge me for my roller coaster decision making.

Sherry's observation when I told her how frustrated I was is that I am not happy with a "B" kind of day.  Last Thursday, when I ate at PF Chang, and had more calories than I normally do for lunch, was kind of the starting point of eating unhealthy for several days.  I had been having several "A+/100%" kind of days up to that point.  If I had been intentional and NOT self-sabotaging, I could have stayed within my calorie limit for the day.  But in my mind, I had "blown" it and I might as well eat whatever I wanted.

The reality is that I turned what could have been an "A+" day (with a some of effort) or easily a "B" day without a lot of effort into a series of "F" days.  In hind sight, a "B" day or even one "F" day is better than 4 "F" days.  I'm going to strive to be at 100% on my goals every day, but if I am off, for whatever reason, I'm going to remember it is not ALL or NOTHING.  There are a lot of things/days that are not going to be perfect and that is okay.  I just have to remember that sometimes "good enough" really is GOOD ENOUGH.

Sherry also asked me to focus each day on what I am grateful for.  It is good to focus on the positive things and not the challenges.  I really liked ending my day with those thoughts.  I have more to grateful for than I have room to write and that in itself is one more thing to be grateful for!!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

DAY 48/365, 176.4 LBS, Up 1.6 LBS, TWL 8.4 LBS

Today could have been better. I have already decided what I am eating tomorrow and Tuesday and have logged that food in My Fitness Pal. I will be right at 1200 calories and will not eat anything that is not already logged. This should help.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

DAY 47/365, 174.8 LBS, Up 2.2 LBS, TWL 10 LBS

I was mainly RED today. However, we went out with friends for dinner and to a comedy club. I ate some great food and enjoyed a couple of adult beverages (with salt), so I'm sure the scale will be crying tomorrow when I step on it. It was a fun night and I'm glad we were able to enjoy the night out.

DAY 46/365, 172.6 LBS, Up 2.2 LBS, TWL 12 LBS

Today was not a good day.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

DAY 45/365, 170.4 LBS, Up .4 LBS, TWL 14.2 LBS

My weight was up today for no apparent reason, other than eating a lot of salty food in the past couple of days.

I went out to eat for lunch and stayed within a decent amount of calories (for PF Chang) since I split lettuce wraps and an entree with my friend. I still had enough calories to have a light dinner. Instead, when I got home this afternoon I proceeded to eat (and not measure first):
Chips
Cheeze-It's
Animal crackers
Pistachios and
Jelly beans

With the exception of the nuts, can you say Carb-Fest?Seriously, between lack of water consumption, salt and all the carbs, I really blew it today.

I can fall back into old patterns and eat back the 10 LBS I have recently lost, or I can get back on track tomorrow with a 100% day. I'm planning on option #2.

DAY 44/365, 170 LBS, Up .2 LBS, TWL 14.6 LBS

I have been doing extremely well these last many days. I feel good and I'm using several strategies to keep me focused on one choice/ one day at a time.

Of course, I am a little disappointed that my weight is up at all, however, I ate several salty foods yesterday so I just have to relax and know the scale is not the only determination of how well I am doing. It is one indicator, one of many indicators.

Speaking of indicators, I have been 100% GREEN, more days in a row than I have probably ever been before. My body seems to want to hang out around the 170 mark. I'm just going to have to choose to persevere this time.

Monday, April 7, 2014

DAY 42/365, Up .6 LBS, TWL 13.6 LBS

My weight was up and there is no reason so I am not going to worry about it. I didn't exercise today. I turned off my alarm and instead of hitting snooze before I laid back down, I apparently turned it completely off. Figured I could get exercise in later in the day but I didn't do it. Hated to break my 100% GREEN streak, but I plan on getting back to 100% tomorrow.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

DAY 41/365, 170.4 LBS, Down .6 LBS, TWL 14.4 LBS

I successfully navigated the weekend, staying 100% GREEN. I don't think I have ever done that before. So awesome!!!

Saturday, April 5, 2014

DAY 40/365, 171 LBS, Down .6 LBS, TWL 13.6 LBS

Was able to eat out for dinner and go to a movie, and I still stayed within my calorie allotment for the day. I utilized some of the strategies from Made to Crave. I carefully considered my options, I logged my food BEFORE eating, and I anticipated the challenge that popcorn and candy would pose for me if we went to the movies. I decided to be successful and healthy BEFORE we got to the movie and it worked!!

Thursday, April 3, 2014

DAY 38/365, 173.2 LBS, Down 1.8 LBS, TWL 11.4 LBS

One moment, one choice, one prayer, one day at a time.

I just returned home for the evening and I feel like eating something. Not necessarily anything unhealthy, just SOMETHING. Fruit, or a healthy smoothie, or some nuts. It doesn't really matter what it is, I just feel like eating.

I've been here before. You see, I'm NOT hungry. I just FEEL like eating. I decided to apply my new found knowledge from Made to Crave. I am choosing to "consider my decision carefully because I won't always feel like making a healthy choice." When I consider my choice to eat or not to eat, it only makes sense to eat when I'm hungry. I wouldn't fill my car up with gas and then drive 10 miles only to stop and fill up again. So why would I take my body which has been adequately fueled up today with lots of healthy food and stuff more food into it? Doesn't make sense when I look at it that way.

When I take my old habits out of the equation (emotionally eating because I feel like it), and I really listen to my body, I can easily CHOOSE to not eat anything. I feel so empowered!

I'm also choosing to take it a step further. Not only am I going to choose not to eat since I'm not hungry, I'm going to praise God for giving me the ability to listen to and recognize my body's signals. I'm going to praise Him for giving me plenty of delicious and healthy food to eat today. I'm going to praise Him for loving me no matter what and patiently seeing me through this struggle with food. I feel like I am making real progress on my road to change very old, very bad habits. As I said before, one moment, one choice, one prayer, one day at a time.

DAY 37/365, 175 LBS, Down 2 LBS, TWL 9.6 LBS


I'm in a good place right now.  I'm working my GREEN vs RED system and my weight is going down.  Of course, I have done this countless times before.  The key to success this time, is to persevere through the challenges that are sure to come.  I have identified a few areas that tend to be challenging for me in sticking with my healthy lifestyle over a long period of time.

The first area that can lead to a setback is NOT logging my food BEFORE I eat it.  Also, I know worrying about the long road ahead instead of ONE DAY AT A TIME, is another potential pitfall.

Another area I have identified, is my LACK of PERSEVERANCE, when the journey gets difficult.  According to Lysa TerKeurst, in Made to Crave Action Plan "Perseverance is the path we walk between a trial and the blessing of maturity (spiritual completeness) that trial brings."  I want to exhibit a "resolute and unyielding commitment", "a dogged and determined holding on" and "steadfast and continued action over a long period" in order to see this journey through to a LIFETIME of healthy choices.  Notice, I did not say to persevere until the scale reads a certain number or I am wearing a certain size.  My end goal is to make healthy lifestyle choices on an regular and ongoing basis.  I want the blessing of maturity (spiritual completeness) that will come with continually making those healthy choices.

In order to have such perseverance, Lysa says "we must consider it because we won't always feel it."  When we consider something, we take time to think about it carefully.  When I feel tempted to neglect my healthy lifestyle in favor of unhealthy choices, I can choose to persevere by carefully considering my choices.  I can no longer just feel stressed and eat because I am stressed (or angry or sad or happy).  I must CAREFULLY CONSIDER the choices I am making because as I have proven time and time again, my desire to make healthy choices eventually is overruled by emotional eating (feeling a multitude of emotions that make me want to eat, whether it is to avoid the uncomfortable feelings or to celebrate happy feelings).  I must commit to considering what I am going to eat and WHY I am going to eat it.  I must CONSIDER AND CHOOSE healthy options instead of FEELING EMOTIONS and mindlessly making unhealthy choices.

According to James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I will choose to look at my difficulties in this journey as pure joy so that my struggle can be an opportunity to grow closer to God.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

DAY 36/365, 177 LBS, Down 5.8 LBS, TWL 7.6 LBS


I rediscovered a Bible verse that is really resonating with me right now:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

It doesn't say anything about being joyful if the scale reads a certain number or if I fit into a certain size.  It says to be joyful ALWAYS.  Pray CONTINUALLY.  Give thanks in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.  I've been focusing on this verse for two days.  It is amazing how this has changed my focus from me and what I can or can't eat, to God and how great He is.  I have also focused on how God has blessed me in too many ways to count.  I truly have a lot to be joyful about!