It’s all up to me

This will have to be a short post because the baby is fussy but I just wanted to update how I did last night.  I made excellent choices at the family event but chose to have some apple crisp.  My mom’s apple crisp is divine and she makes it with her home grown apples.  But I don’t feel bad because it was a deliberate choice that I made instead of an impulse.  I wanted it and waited over an hour before I scooped some onto my plate.  This morning I hopped back on the treadmill so I’m back on the program.  This is the first time I have ever strayed from my program and not gone balls-out binging.

Yay, the scale is moving again and in the right direction.  Last week I had gotten down to 285 (from 295) but Sunday morning I was up to 286.5.  I had expected a gain because as a treat my hubby and I got pizza and ate it without the crust.  Still low-carb but obviously higher in calories.  This morning after I worked out I checked and I was down to 284. 

After reading some of the other blogs I realize I should set some goals.  I plan to lose 10 pounds a month by sticking to my low-carb diet and exercising 5 days a week, 4 days after school and 1 day on the weekend.  With 2 weeks left in August I should be able to be down to 280 by Sept. 1st so here is where I plan to be by the following dates:

August 31–280

September 30–270

October 31–260

November 30–250

December 31st–240.

The last time I lost a bunch of weight I was down to 223 and in a size 16/18.  I can’t wait to be there again.  Knowing that I can essentially be there by Christmas is exciting.  I know there will be struggles along the way but I am also excited because when school starts it should actually be easier because when I’m in a routine I do much better with my diet which has always been the hardest part for me.

My goal for today is to eat according to the plan.  I have already worked out with the Firm but we have a family gathering tonight which is always a danger zone.  I am bringing a side-dish that can actually work as an entire meal so I will eat that as well as my mom’s fresh veggies from the garden like cucumbers and tomatoes.  I know tomatoes aren’t the lowest-carb veggie out there but I love them so much and they are good for you.   I WILL BE SUCCESSFUL!!!

I should know better than to write about how I overcame the Suzy-Q craving because later in the afternoon I REALLY wanted it.  I thought about asking my husband if he wanted to share it but then I realized that wasn’t fair to him because if he hadn’t thought of cheating I didn’t want to put it in his mind.  Once again, since he has been doing so well with his eating it gave me the strength to not eat it.  And on top of that I didn’t have a snack after supper because the baby didn’t go to bed until 10:30 and I usually don’t have my carb select fudgesicle until he’s in bed.  At that point I figured there was no need to eat anything.

This morning I got up as planned and got in my 45 minutes on the treadmill.  I feel fantastic.  I have to find a new show to watch, though.  I have begun watching TV shows while on the treadmill that I never get a chance to watch.  I’m through the first 2 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and I just finished the 1st season of Boston Legal, thank heavens for Blockbuster online!!

On a great note yesterday I tried on some clothes that had been a bit snug and they fit!  This is a huge morale booster because the scale isn’t moving too quickly but I can tell that my hips and tummy are shrinking.  I have always said I don’t care if I weigh 250 pounds as long as I’m a size 6.  I know that isn’t realistic but I’m focusing more on size than weight.

Today the kids are going to the sitter so that my husband and I can get some stuff done around the house.  I know we will be so busy that I will have to remind myself to eat so snacking shouldn’t be a problem.  I hope I didn’t just jinx myself by saying that:)

Hope everyone had a good weekend and is having a good start to the week.

Brandie

I can’t write much because I have the baby on my lap and it’s hard to type.  Just wanted to post that the weightloss has come to a standstill but I know it is because I haven’t exercised.  Between not sleeping much and this heat I haven’t taken the time.  But on a good note I have stayed with my diet which is a HUGE accomplishment for me when I’m not working out.  So tomorrow I’ll go back to the regular routine of getting up at 6am and get the scale moving again.

Oh, the best news of all is that I am really in the zone regarding eating.  I don’t want to jinx myself but I have no desire for sweets.  I still want them emotionally but as far as physically craving them I don’t anymore.  My in-laws brought some Suzy-Q’s over for my older son and they are sitting in the cupboard.  Normally I would have had one (especially since tomorrow is Monday, a good day to start anew) but I realized that I would just be eating them out of habit instead of really wanting them.  You don’t know how huge this is for me.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Brandie

I’m very worried.  Our youngest son has a terminal brain disease and one of the side effects is that he has trouble sleeping.  During the earlier part of this year there was a stretch where we got about 2 hours of sleep a night and that was with sleeping medication.  As the months went on he slept a bit more (4-5) hours, but once summer hit and I was out of school he miraculously started sleeping 8-10 hours a night WITHOUT MEDICINE!!  The main difference was that he was eating throughout the day instead of only eating after I pick him up after school.  For some reason that none of the doctors can figure out, he will only eat for me or my mother.  He would literally go the entire day without eating and then eat an entire days worth of food from about 4-10 pm.  I’m sure that gave him a tummyache which possibly led to his inability to sleep.

But 3 nights this week he has gotten up or gone to bed very late.  I’m feeling like we’re going back to those days when he wasn’t sleeping.  I know it’s not nearly as bad as it was then but school is starting in less than 2 weeks and I’m afraid that we’re going to slip into those bad days again.  Staying home for me is not an option because my husband was laid off from his job a while back and is now in school to finish his teaching degree so I am our sole source of income as well as the provider of our health insurance.  And the feeding shouldn’t be an issue anymore because over the summer he had surgery to insert a feeding tube so that others can feed him while I’m teaching or (gasp) just leave the house for more than an hour.

I know this isn’t diet related but I needed an area to express my concerns.  It’s now 3:13 am and he has been up for an hour and is now finally starting to act fussy which means there is a chance he will fall asleep.  I’m hoping that he goes to bed soon because we have family pictures tomorrow and both he and I need to be rested.

Otherwise the diet is still going well.  I overdid it on the low-carb products and had a funky tummy earlier.  I don’t think I’m going to be able to exercise today but I will make sure to get it in on Sunday.

Today is a good day.  I have been able to cross a bunch of small tasks of my To Do list as well as take some time for myself.  I was a bit worried about how yesterday would go since I chose not to workout.  When I don’t exercise in the morning it’s harder for me to stick to healthy eating but painting all day kept me busy.  And I realized when I woke up this morning that even though I didn’t engage in deliberate exercise, pushing a paint roller for 4 hours was a workout, my arms are killing me.  And as stinky as I was when we finished painting I know that I burned some calories.  Plus, our house looks fantastic!  My big tasks for the summer have been completed so now I can enjoy the last 1 1/2 weeks before school starts. 

Food wise, the good news is I’m not craving any sweets but unfortunately I’m getting a bit bored with what we’re eating.  To get over that I got ingredients for 2 new recipes that we’ll try out over the weekend or early last week.  I’m still waiting for my Firm DVD’s to arrive and can’t wait to try them out.

Both my hubby and I are down 10 pounds, which I’m trying to remind myself is a huge amount of weight in 2 weeks.  I just need to realize that now we’re at the reality part of weight loss where it’s only going to be a few pounds every week instead of a pound a day.  He faced his first big challenge today because he had to take a class and wouldn’t have a refrigerator available for his food.  I’m not worried that he’ll eat something that he shouldn’t, I’m just afraid that he won’t eat at all.  That’s what he did yesterday, didn’t eat until supper because he was busy putting in a new bathroom sink and faucet.  Anyone have any good suggestions for low-carb foods to eat on the go?  We have some of the nutrition drinks and bars but if he eats those all day he’ll be gassy and who wants that?????

So the plan for the weekend is to make sure I exercise tomorrow for sure to get myself back in the swing of things.  I didn’t get up early this morning because I was up late with the baby (again) and I just needed a break.  Fortunately we don’t have any plans so we can just stay home and relax, as well as be in control of our food choices.  I’m really excited at our progress and I think we’re going to do it this time. 

I will admit I overdid it today.  Our 16 month old woke up at 4:41 this morning and didn’t go back down until 7:00.  I tried to go back to bed but couldn’t fall asleep so I figured I might as  well workout.  I pulled out an old Firm DVD that I always liked but forgot how much it kicked my butt.  For the first time in a long time I could not make it through and had to rest on some of the reps, definitely pointing out how much I need to keep exercise a regular part of my life.  Anyway…the kids went to the sitter and from 11:45-3:30 I put 2 coats of paint on the bathroom, mowed the lawn, got groceries, did a load of laundry and cleaned myself up for an appointment at 3:45.  It all needed to be done but I think I pushed myself too hard.

To compensate I am going to allow myself to sleep in tomorrow and bypass the walk I would have taken.  I would love to take it easy tomorrow but my mom is coming in from out of town to help me finish painting and it’s the last day for a while that the kids will be out of the house.  My hubby is also going to install new countertops/sinks in both bathrooms with new fixtures so he will need my help for a little bit.

But after this I promise to slow down a little bit.  The bulk of my summer projects will have been completed so I won’t be so frantic.  And I even made an appointment for a pedicure for the day before I return to school.

Food-wise things are still going well.  I picked up some groceries for a few new recipies and my husband is willing to try one with spinach!  This is a man who previously would only eat corn or lettuce.  I haven’t weighed in since the other day and I’m going to try to hold out until Sunday.

I wish I knew how to relax.  My husband always tells me to “just sit down” but it absolutely drives me crazy.  Part of the reason is that I spend a good part of my day feeding and/or holding our disabled son so when I have a chance to accomplish something I feel like I can’t let it pass by.  And now that summer is nearly over and I will be returning to school I see my To Do list and want to cross things off.  We have been in the midst of an ambitious remodel and it’s now crunch time.  For the most part I need to have all of my part completed this week because I would like to have a few days before the school year starts where I can just relax like he says.

That being said today was a pretty good day.  I weighed myself this morning and I am down 9.5 pounds since last Monday.  I know this rate won’t continue but I love it at the beginning.  I chose to sleep in this morning (it was rainy here, perfect sleeping weather) but while I was waiting for a coat of paint to dry I got in 45 minutes on the treadmill.  Also, my hubby experimented and came up with a great low-carb meal.  He usually is the cook anyway so he wrapped some chicken breasts in bacon and used some great spices.  It was fantastic and he was pretty proud of himself. 

Tomorrow the kids will go to the sitter and we’ll get some more painting done.  My husband is also restaining cabinets and replacing the countertops in both of our bathrooms.  Beyond improving our home and getting something done, I love these busy days because I don’t think about food.  I often think if every day could be like that I would be thin in no time.  But alas, reality likes to check in every once in a while.

This is the beginning of the 2nd week and I am so proud of what we have done. My husband is still very serious about this which is helping me in ways I never imagined. I was having a weak moment and would have most likely eaten something high in carbs but I thought to myself “if he can do it so can I”.  I bet I have had that thought at least 10 times in the last week.

School will be starting soon which is a bit of a concern to me because I will not have as much time built in to exercise.  The way we do it right now is I get up at 6am and workout before everyone wakes up.  To continue that throughout the school year I would have to get up around 4am which is just NOT going to happen.  My husband is a full-time student and has an erratic schedule so we have to be creative.  The plan we finally developed is that I will stay in my classroom after school and workout before I pick up the kids.  I tried this last year and it didn’t work because the tile on the floor gave me shin splints.  But he bought me some foam tiles that can be picked up and put in my closet after I’m done.  I also ordered the new Firm package because the weights are very portable and each DVD has an express option which would allow me to complete the workout in about 30 minutes.  It’s not perfect but if I try to continue working out for an hour by getting up at 4am I know I will not be consistent.  The way I am trying to approach it now is that 30 minutes every day is better than an hour 1 or 2 days a week.

But until then I’m still going to workout for an hour every morning before the kids get up.  And if this darn heat and humidity would pass I think I could get my husband to talk a walk a night with me and the kids or take our older son for a bike ride.

Thanks so much for all of the people who commented, it holds me more accountable to know that others are checking in on me.

The first week is over and I am amazed at how well my husband has done.  To my knowledge he hasn’t cheated at all and has been very forthcoming with how difficult it has been for him.  I don’t know how much more weight he has lost but I am just so proud that he is still with it.  Our big challenge will be tonight when we are going to a friend’s house for dinner.  They are grilling pork chops and having potatoes and sweet corn, 2 of his favorites.  I called to see if I could bring some low-carb items and of course she said it was fine.  Unfortunately, though, he is not wanting others to know that he is dieting so I said the items were just for me.  Even if he does have some sweet corn, though, I am not going to say anything to him because the choices have to be his.  We talked about it last night and I said that if it is what he really wants to eat to have a few ears and then make sure to get right back on the program when he’s done.

He’s actually doing better than I am.  All day yesterday I was so hungry and made good food choices all day long, I just ate a ton.  Then last night I opened the fridge and found some chocolate covered peanuts that were there from before we started dieting and I ate them.  But to look on the positive side once I ate them I stopped, I didn’t think “Well, I blew it so I might as well eat everything in the house.”  I am now back on target and accept the fact (kind of) that I cannot be perfect in this quest and as long as I don’t give up I will get there some day.

Keep the comments coming!!

Brandie