The Unexpected

A few weeks ago my mother in law, who is fighting lymphoma, needed to be hospitalized for an extended period. It was an unexpected turn of events and changed our lives for awhile. There was not much time for the gym, computers, detailed meal planning, blogging... Our focus was on her, but for now, life has pretty much returned to its regular routine.

It is hard to spend many hours in the hospital without eating poorly. The highlight of the day is going to the cafeteria for dinner. (and boy did they ever have some yummy choices) BUT! Thank goodness that they also had a fantastic salad bar! I was not perfect. I did not always make smart choices. I was however aware of what I was putting on my plate. Looking back in my food journal I hit 2500 calories on two days. ouch, but the rest of the time I stayed under 1600 so I am happy with that!

I have sure missed the gym! I am looking forward to my zumba class tomorrow. My weeks were not completely void of exercise though. I walked alot to pass the time.

Even so, I gained. Not a whole lot, but still!

What did I learn in the last few weeks? I learned that it is important to take the time to take care of ourselves. No matter what is going on in life, we can still make healthy choices, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator and choosing baked instead of fried. Simple choices that make a big difference.

Glad to be back!!!! :)

I Have Not Missed This Feeling!

Today started out great. I had my cereal with berries, coffee with creamer, wrote it down.

Doing well.

Went to Costco and passed by buying the chocolate dipped shortbread cookies that my girls were begging for. Also passed on all of the samples.

YAY. Felt proud of that!

Went through the Starbuck's drive thru and ordered a skinny latte when I really wanted to get a white chocolate mocha.

Still O.K

Barista was giving samples of the new mini cookies so we bought three. I gave them to the girls, they did not like them. I DID! and I ate all THREE.

O.K. not the end of the world. Forget about it and drive on.

Got home. groceries put away. lunch for the girls finished. Time to make my lunch. I had grilled chicken for my lunches this week and had fresh spinach that I had just bought to make a yummy salad.

Open the fridge.

Spy the leftover mexicano pizza from hubbys dinner last night.

Plated it. Microwaved it. Ate all five pieces :(

Sitting here trying to figure out what happened and feeling full, tired and heavy. Yuk. I haven't felt like this for a long time.

Through years and years of diet after diet, I waited for something inside of me to "click". You know when you just get that unstoppable strength and drive that you know is going to carry you to your goal. Well, click it finally did and ever since, I have been worried about losing that drive...that one day I will wake up and I will quit.

This is NOT that day!! I am not going to let it be.

pic from google

Bob and I are doing day 4 of the C25K tonight and even though I am going to be dragging from all of the calories that I burdened my body with, I am going to suck it up and go anyway.

I think I have beat myself up enough now. Time to slide off this couch and go outside to plant the beautiful lavendar that I just brought home! :)

Hope your day is treating you well!

Sometimes I forget that I am still overweight

Since I have been going to the gym, outside walking, eating well...I have been feeling so healthy and athletic that my weight has not been the first thing that I think about(which is usually the way it was with me).

This weekend we went to my Aunt's house and there are these chairs on her deck that I always avoid (they are tiny and evil). Well, I get my plate of salad, my one hot dog without a bun, balancing my iced tea and just grab a chair without even thinking. Yep, you guessed it...I sat right in the evil chair and pretty much felt stuck there since my thighs were straining out of the sides. ugh. It didn't make me feel THAT bad, but it did make me realize that this road I'm on is just beginning and that I am in it for the long haul. For reasons like being able to fit nicely into that tiny chair.

Anyways!

My husband was busy with helping family on Sat and Sun so we didn't get to do our C25K this weekend, but are going to the track tonight when he gets home. I decided to take the monster dog out for a long walk. HA! :) Not a good idea...every bird, cat, dog, car, you name it...he barked and strained towards it. It was a very SLOW walk. I didn't even sweat! I need to either teach him to chill out or leave him home :)

We just had a new fruit/veggie stand open up a mile down the road. I love it! Probably not a new thing to some, but look what I found!

Tiny little avocados! I put a big one by them so you can see the difference. I have never seen anything like them and am excited because it will help me with my portion control. When I cut into a medium one I end up throwing alot of it away because I usually only need 1/2 and I have not figured out how to store them so they won't turn brown.

I weighed in today, 1.5 pounds down! Really close 10 down now!

Tonight might be hard for me since we just got a package from relatives in New Jersey. There are goodies in there...like crumb cake, chocolate marzipan, etc... I guess I'll just have to remember that chair! :)

Hope your week is going well!

Spring Weather and Summer Salad

It is so pretty outside tonight! Bob and I went for day two of our C25K walk. Since it was getting late and we still had to do dinner we just went around the neighborhood. This was very hard for me, as I was feeling ultra self concious!! When I am on the trail or if we go to the track, I don't feel this way. I think it was because so many people were out working in their yards tonight and I was imagining all eyes on me...watching my wiggly, jiggly, huffing, puffing, beat red faced self. Most likely (more like 100% likely) nobody even cared or noticed. It's all me. My husband says that I am way too hard on myself. Probably. I am really working on that! :) The healthier my lifestyle becomes, the more confidence I am gaining, and that feels good!

When we got home we grilled chicken on the bbq and I made my favorite salad. My friend gave me the recipe last summer and I must have made it 1000 times. I change it up...sometimes I add jalapenos, sometimes I skip the onion, sometimes I add tomatoes. Sorry I don't know the exact calories! I roughly added them up and I figure about 130 per cup. Enjoy!

Fresh Summer Salad

15 oz can black beans
15 oz can pinto beans
15 oz can kidney beans
(rinse and drain all the beans)
15 oz bag frozen sweet corn kernels
small chopped red onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped green bell pepper
(I always add a yellow bell pepper also)

The Dressing:
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
the juice of two limes
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional, but yummy!)

-Combine the top first 8 ingredients together in a large bowl.

-In small bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour dressing
over the salad and toss together.

This is good paired with grilled chicken or fish!

Hope you all had a good day :)

Rain, the Shred and Meals

With the non stop rain coming down, I decided to skip the gym and do the 30 day shred DVD. I really enjoy working out at home. I like the gym, too, but as I have said before it is nice to be able to crash onto the couch afterwards :) Jillian provided a good, motivating, sweaty workout! One thing that my body cringes at though, are the jumping jacks. J.J and my body are not friends. They make my knees hurt...bad, so until I am in better shape I am going to steer clear of them.

Yesterday my husband and I did day one of the C25K. It was hard for me. It was nice to have the prompts. He liked it and I liked it, so we decided that we'll do this together. We both have things to do tonight, so tomorrow will be day 2.

I don't know about you, but finding healthy dinners that everyone in my family will like and actually eat is something I have had a hard time with. My family is used to casseroles and now I am trying to make them eat grilled chicken, rice and steamed broccoli! HA!
I have been searching blogs for recipes to try and one of my favorites is Tj's Test Kitchen Last night I made THIS . It turned out SO good and everyone liked it! Thanks TJ :)

I have a ton of housework to do today and I am actually kind of glad to be staying home. It will give me a chance to get caught up on everything.

Hope you all have a great day.

On My Way to a 5K

Did you know that there is a phone application for just about everything?! I went in search of a C25K app and found calorie counters and food journals and all kinds of cool stuff to use on my "journey". My phone is kind of like my coach now! :)
Anyways, I am starting the C25K program today (as soon as my hubby gets home...he is doing it with me) According to the app...I will be running a 5K in 9 weeks or so. We'll see. I'm going to give it my best shot!

Monday weigh-in = -1.8  

I can't believe that I have already been at this for a month now. Time is really going by fast.

Yesterday I was stuck at home because my car is in the shop and I had nothing healthy in the house. That is a bad place to be! I forgot that I had bought these new flatout wraps at Costco, but I had nothing to put on them. Peanut butter and jelly to the rescue! :)  It has been forever since I have had PB & J. It was yummy and filling. The wrap (100 c) the PB (1 TBSP 90) and the jelly (1 TBSP 50) = 240 calories.

Well, I am on my way to the grocery store to pick up some things to fill up my empty pantry. I have a list ready and I find that it really helps me to avoid the temptation to buy foods that I do not need. (you know like chips, chocolate, ice cream, etc.). Maybe the sun will come out while I am in the store. It has been hailing here today and I really hope that it stops before we head out for our walk/run.

Have a Good Day!

Some Saturday Thoughts

Friday I only meant to stay for an hour at the gym and before I knew it, two hours had passed! I have been working on getting my speed up on the treadmill. As of now I am walking pretty slow (3.1) and at that speed I am not burning as many calories as I know I could if I walked/jogged faster.

Got on the Elliptical again and made it a whopping 5 minutes! HA! Still though- that is better than last time. I am hoping soon to be able to report that I made it 30 minutes!

There is a great machine at the gym that I can do stomach crunches on and for some crazy reason I can go forever on that thing and never get tired! I am paying for it today with very sore stomach muscles.

I'm curious about the C25K program that I have been reading about on various blogs. My girlfriends and I want to sign up for next years Susan G. Komen and since they are all in pretty great shape, I would like to be able to run with them instead of walking. I have over a year to get ready for this! I think I can do that :)

I find myself doing more and more of my walking outside. The weather has been so mild and the flowers and trees are all in bloom. The fresh air gives me extra energy! :)

my favorite pink dogwood!

Even when it is cloudy and windy!

on my walk last week

While cleaning out my closet this week I came across a Christmas dress that I had worn when I was a size 16. I was thinking that it would be reasonable to lose enough weight by December that I could fit into it again. Then I started thinking about how much fun it will be to go to my husbands work Christmas party this year as a new lighter me. He has always been so supportive of me and never once has he made me feel bad about my weight, but I can't wait to lose and look good and be healthy for him. It's that way with my kids too. They have never even so much as mentioned my weight, but I so badly want to be a healthier mom for them and not have all of the issues I have now from being overweight. I keep on saying that I am doing this for ME, but really, to be honest, I'm doing it just as much for THEM.

Hope you are having a great weekend! :)