Back On Board!

You know, its much easier to blog about dieting than to actually do it.

That's what I had been doing. All those previous posts about joining online groups and whatever. Nope, didn't actually follow through.

I've done it now! Yippee!

I didn't really say anything on blogs or to other people, b/c I didn't want to jinx myself. But its been 3 weeks now. I've lost between 8 to ten pounds. [My scale stinks, so its hard to really tell. I need to get a digital one!] What caused the change? I'm not completely sure. I had a conversation with my sister, and I admitted how much I weighed. She was shocked! Told me that was just unacceptable and that I needed to do something about it. After a few days of thinking that through and convincing myself that it really was time to start, I DID! I kept pushing it off with lousy excuses: Its a pain to keep track of points; its so hard to start b/c I'll be hungry all the time; its impossible to eat healthy while living with my husband. But to my amazement, starting off was so easy!

My favorite indulgence? Turkey Hill's Fat Free / Sugar Free vanilla icecream with sliced strawberries. ONLY ONE POINT for a serving of ice cream! How awesome is that?!?!?

Tales from the Scales is now obsolete. So I'm joining in with the Healthy You Challenge. It looks like a similar blog, and I'm excited about joining in.

Menu Plans

I actually did it. For the first time in months.

I made up menu plans.

So, this may seem 'old-hat' to some people. But its really important, and a big step to controlling what foods I eat.

I did it! -- well, sort of

My goal from yesterday was to wake up early and then exercise until Erica wakes up.

My plan was thwarted.

It started out okay. I woke up w/ Hubby, went downstairs to get his breakfast together. [He's a hot cocoa kinda guy; I normally can't afford that luxury and prefer coffee w/ sugar free flavoring.] I even managed to get out to his car and turn it on to warm up for him!!! I think he was surprised... its been a long time since I've done that for him.

Well, we were talking w/ each other. Totally acceptable. Except that our noise woke Erica up!!! I said "Oh Drat!!!" Hubby left, and I listened closely to her crying. She didn't sound awake. Not the kind of whining she normally makes when she's ready to get out of her room in the morning. Instead, she sounded half-asleep still. I decided to wait a few minutes and see if she fell asleep again or woke up completely.

Here was my mistake-- I laid down on the couch while waiting. She indeed did fall back asleep; and so did I! There went my brilliant plans. I was kinda miffed w/ myself. And often when I'm frustrated like that, I'll eat unwisely. But, we had cheerios: a good & nutritious breakfast. When Erica asked for a lollipop afterwards, I didn't raid the Halloween stash for myself. A plus chalked up for me.

We sat and watched a Care Bears movie then. Yeah, not the wisest choice for me again. BUT I DETERMINED that afterwards I WOULD exercise!!! And by golly, I DID! I put in my "10 minute pilates" video and picked three segments to do: buns & thighs; waist slimmer; and finally the stretching segment to calm down. At first, Erica exercised with me. IT WAS SO CUTE!!! But then she got bored and decided to "bake a cake." I paused my movie to quickly get out some safe supplies to use. [She wanted to use up my milk, eggs, and other important things. I gave her salt, pepper, an almost empty container of parsley, oatmeal, water, and an almost empty container of stove top stuffing. Not really cake-stuff, but they were things I didn't need.] So she spent time mixing it all together. Made quite a mess, but she was happy. And at least she was exercising her imagination skills :o)

Continued goals to remember today:

-Stay away from candy; if I eat any, remember to add it into my WW points allotment for the day

-Write my accomplishments down today: try to clean, do dishes, maybe a load of laundry.

And let's end with something "SCARY" in honor of Halloween...

Yes, isn't that scary? My arms are looking big. And my face is pudgy. What ever happened to my skinny body??? Next Halloween, let's aim at dressing as a mermaid or belly dancer! [Not really, but you get the point!]

Erica, of course, is cute. As always. She's my "Skinny-Minnie." Actually, she's in the 90th percentile for her age... but that's okay considering she's really tall. Actually, her weight is like 85 percentile, so she's good proportions. No, I'm not really obsessing over my daughter's weight. But I do need to remember that my eating habits are affecting her own eating habits... and I want her to start out in life with good habits, not bad ones that will need to be fought against later in life.

Mission Completed

Okay, I had a FAB time at the mall today w/ Erica. Can I count all of the walking as exercise? Probably not. Maybe. I dunno. If I had one of those pedometer things I'd have a more accurate idea.

I broke down and bought Crocs. **GASP** I swore that I never would b/c of the price. But my knees are so bad, and I can't wear my 'fake croc' sandles during the winter. I'd gotten the flip-flops at K-Mart, but they don't have any winterized ones. So, when I saw these at the mall, I had to get them. They're not the ordinary/original kind; there are no holes on it. And the top of the shoe has a fake-suede look. So I can wear them with almost anything. Hoorah!

I also stuck to my goal of not eating junk food at the mall. We packed sandwhiches [on 100 calorie / 8g fiber english muffins], apples, raisins, and unbuttered popcorn. [Popcorn is actually pretty good as long as its not buttered up. There's lots of fiber to it.]

My weekend goals:
-Find time tonight and either Saturday or Sunday to exercise
-Go easy on the food at Saturday night's family picnic. I'm supposed to take a cake, which is actually GREAT for me & my diet. I'm gonna make one regular, and another w/ Splenda and white whole-wheat flour. [Never used it before; heard its a great way to trick people into eating whole wheat w/o realizing it.]
-Take at least 30 minutes this weekend for "me" time, to relax, let go of stress, and think through goals, etc.

I DID IT!

Yes, I exercised today. Isn't it amazing??? Yes, you can tell how lame and out-of-it I am by this admission.

My knees are hurting though. That's probably my #1 excuse to not exercise. I have such terrible knees and certain exercises can aggravate them. But, I've found in the past that Pilates is good on my joints and even helps strengthen them. Today I used a new Pilates Video, and the one section was hard on my knees; I'll have to go back to the other DVD instead.

So, my goal/strategy: When Erica sits down to watch a movie, I put my exercise DVD into my laptop and work out at the same time. She's preoccupied and it's time that I can take undisturbed.

Another goal: Okay, this is a small thing. Tomorrow I'm taking Erica to the mall. My goal is to NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT buy anything to eat: no burgers, french fries, ice cream... Nada. Oh, does that also include coffee? Maybe a sugar-free latte with fat free milk would be acceptable; the only calories to it then are from the milk.