Eye Opener

Well, I had my first test yesterday and didn't do very well. Our friend Sally came over for dinner and to watch the playoffs. We started the evening with a couple of beers, Miller Lite for Kristy and I. For dinner, we made Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa, tomato-lentil cous cous, a mixed green salad and dinner rolls. Writing it all down like this seems like a lot, but at the time it did not. On my salad, I add very small amounts of blue cheese, sunflower seeds and cran raisins. I also had two dinner rolls with a small amount of margarine. Then for desert, we had 1 cup low fat ice cream.

All of that, plus the rest of my food intake for the day took me to a total intake of 2215 calories. That's 727 calories over what I should be taking in. That's half of the calories I usually eat in one day.

It goes to show you, if you want to loose weight, you really have to pay attention to everything you put in your mouth. I would have been perfectly satisfied yesterday without the beer, rolls and salad toppings. Everything I ate yesterday was due to not paying attention and falling back into the same old bad habits. I was enjoying good company and conversation while mindlessly eating at the table.

Next time, when I'm finished with my meal, I will get up and clear my plate from the table. Maybe that will help.

Drum Roll Please!!!!!!

Lost 5.5 lbs this week!!!! That brings a total weight loss of 12 . 4 lbs in the last two weeks and 27.20 overall.

I did learn something this week. Yesterday, I had a really busy day and did not take the time to eat what I should have. I had my normal breakfast, but I did not have any snacks in the morning or afternoon, nor did I have much of a lunch (salad only). By the time I got home I was ravenous. I went straight for the refrigerator. Kristy told me to get away from the fridge and we went for a walk. We had a nice steamed shrimp and baked fries dinner, but by bed time. I was hungry again. I had plenty of calories left to eat so I had a double serving of low fat ice cream and a piece of veggie cake. None of it nutritious in any way.

After all was said and done, I still didn't go over my calories; however, I did recognize the tendency to really fall back into some really bad habits. Left unchecked, I really could have blown everything I worked so hard to achieve this week.

Moral of the story, I need to pay better attention through the day to make sure I am eating enough.

Remebering Mom

19 years ago today at the age of 48, I lost my mother, Gwen to a heart attack. Living with diabetes and being heavy smoker, she had been in poor health for many years. Not to mention her terrible eating habits. She wasn't obease but until the last years of her life she did struggle with her weight.

Then, almost three years ago, I lost my father to a heart attack too and it appeared that I was walking in their footsteps unless I made some drastic changes in my life.

After years of half hartedly trying to loose weight, on my last birthday, I came to the realization that I was only a few years away of being the same age my mother was when she died. I guess you can say that's when the panic finally set in.

So hear I am, still a short fat girl, but with a triathlon only 142 days away.

Today's workout was for you mom.

Sleeping In

The alarm went off at it's usual time this morning; as usual, I didn't want to get up and go to the gym. I woke up and started slowly moving around. My excuse for today was I was going to be too sore to work out this morning since I had such a grueling workout yesterday. I told Kristy I was not going to the gym today and she re-set the clock for 6:00 and around 6:30 I rolled my butt out of the bed and headed down stairs.

When I got down stairs, it was the usual routine; pet the pups, head to the coffee maker and then booted up the laptop. Before I took my first sip, I decided to hop on the scale for a mid week weigh in. To my surprise, I had lost another two pounds since my weigh in on Saturday.

Needless to say, I immediately regretted not going to the gym this morning. I really wasn't that sore after all. So, I went upstairs and packed my workout bag and decided to go to the gym after work. I have a meeting with the doctors tonight which will probably make me miss my muscle works class, but nothings stopping me from jumping on the elliptical trainer.

One more day of motivation. The fight starts again tomorrow.

Cardio Kick Boxing

After a two week hiatus, I started back with the cardio kick boxing class today. It was like starting from the begining again and by the end of the class, I could barely lift my legs to walk out the door.

If it weren't for my friend Betsy being there, I think I would have given up half way through the class. For me, the hardest part was the warm down. They make you lay flat on a on a mat on a cold, hard concrete floor and start stretching. For some reason, I am unable to press my back fully flat which made it practically impossible for me to do some of the stretches. I don't know if it is a weight thing or a back thing. I looked around and didn't see any other people having any problem, but there weren't any fat people there either. I guess only time will tell. As they say fake it until you make it.

Nothing More Motivating

Nothing can motivate you more to loose weight than going clothes shopping.

To begin with, the fat girl or "women's" department is usually on the basement or ground floor nestled between the children's department and the maternity department.

After picking out something to try on from the meager selections, the next stop is the dressing room. For some reason, I look much better in my own mirrors at home than I do in a fitting room. It didn't matter what I put on, I looked awful in everything I tried on. I ended up only buying a couple of items to get me by for work and walked out of the store vowing to stay on my diet and drop this weight I promised myself I would do. I can't wait to shop on the main floor of Macy's

The Results Are In

I stepped on the scale this morning and it read 237.1. That is a lost of 6.9 pounds this week!!!!

I did several things this week that I would credit towards my weight loss.

• Wrote everything down - no matter what it was; what went in my mouth, was written on paper. I calculated all my calories, fat, fiber, carbs protein, and sodium.
• Did not drink any soda this week. That was extremely difficult for me. I can't remember the day that I went without drinking at least one Diet Coke
• Did not drink any alcohol. I was very proud of myself for that accomplishment. Went to Deena's house to watch Alabama v Texas championship football game. First time I watched a game without drinking at least one beer. Amazingly enough, I was ok. I could have been due to the fact that Georgia wasn't playing and there was no stress involved.
• Water!!!! - That is the only liquid other than coffee that I drank this week.
• Worked out - Though I only got three days in this week, they were all good. The weather has been extremely cold; I haven't even been able to walk the dogs. They aren't very happy with me by the way.

I guess the best thing I did this week was to pay attention to everything I ate. I was surprised to find that some of the foods that I thought were fairly healthy, we actually very unhealthy.

Some of the improvements I need to make are to eat more fiber, less carbs, more protein, and way less sodium.

Wish me luck!!!