First morning in how many weeks...

that I did NOT get up early and work out. *sigh* D was up and down half the night with the storms, AF was a pain, and I just couldn't do it. I made it up later though!

Eating is low today. a) I just didn't eat much today b) I'm ok with it because tomorrow is our splurge day, and I can't wait!

Breakfast was a Quaker Minidelites. Lunch was a Weight Watchers ziti meal plus baked chips. My afternoon snack was a fatfree yogurt. Dinner was Shake n Bake chicken nuggets with ketchup, Lipton butter noodles made without butter, and green beans. And my evening snack was 4oz of apple juice and a Kudos granola bar to end my day at 1234 calories.

Output: Since I didn't get up this morning, I had to make it up somehow. I did 5 minutes of a brisk walk this morning at work. Then at lunch I did two walks of 20 minutes each (ate lunch and had a bathroom break in between, OY!) to complete my 45 minutes. I'm almost to 2500 cals right now, so I'm estimating I will be around 2800-2850 cals burned today.

Welcome to the world, Nolan!

I just want to say congrats to my cousin Holly and her husband Jonathan on the birth of their baby boy! Nolan was born on Monday Apr 27th (yes I know I'm belated in posting this, just two days though!), healthy and weighing in at 9 lbs...something oz...lol I bet he's just gorgeous!!! *sniff* I haven't seen a picture yet, but I HAVE pimped DAM to Holly, doing my part to help...lol

Today has been a decent day although AF is raging. It sucks, but it happens. We're gearing up for a splurge on Friday evening (Texas Roadhouse!!), so I'm eating light this week to accommodate. Breakfast this morning was Quaker MiniDelites (no, still didn't go to the store to get bread). Lunch was a Lean Cuisine pizza and baked chips. My afternoon snack was a fatfree yogurt. Dinner tonite (since I just cleaned house and I'm determined to KEEP it clean til my friend gets in town on Thursday) was the usual at CFA: chicken nugget kid meals with ketchup. Dessert tonite was a Kudos Granola bar to end my day at 1254 calories.

Output: I got up and did 20 minutes on the bike this morning. It was all I could do since I spent all evening cleaning and didn't go to bed til late. Then this morning I took a 5 minute brisk walk around the building. This evening, I did 40 minutes (well 20 and 20 with bathroom breaks...lol) to make up the last 20 minutes I needed.

Happy birthday, Grandma!

I just wanted to say a big happy birthday to my grandma, Joyce. She is 84 years old today. The picture above was taken a year before my grandad passed away, so 3 years ago.

This morning was MUCH better than yesterday, but I did the same thing, had a Quaker minidelites for bfast instead of the pbj. Its 1/3rd of the cals...lol Yeah I'll be going back to PBJs soon, just need to get more bread! I did end up having some baked chips about midmorning because the minidelites were not enough, so yeah DEF back to pbjs soon. Lunch was with an old friend of mine whom I had not seen since before the diet, and her reaction was "look at you!", I SO needed that today!! We hit up Sweet Tomatoes, where I had a cup of their chunky chicken noodle soup, a big salad (romaine, tomatoes, a smidge of cheese, fat free ranch, and a few pickles on the side), plus one slice of lowfat sourdough bread with 1/2 tbsp of whipped butter, and then some of their lowfat chocolate frozen yogurt. It was yummy! My afternoon snack was a fat free yogurt. Dinner was two breakfast burritos (whole wheat tortillas, egg beaters, 2% milk cheese slices, canadian bacon and salsa) and a fudgsicle...lol My evening snack was a Quaker Minidelites (same cals as a choc pudding) to end my day at 1278 calories.

Output: I got up and did 30 minutes on the bike this morning (5.1 miles). Then this afternoon at work, I did 5 minutes of squats and lunges, and this evening I did 20 minutes of Wii Tennis (so 10 minutes towards challenge) to complete my day. I did lots of cleaning this evening so I ended my day at 3109 calories burned...woohoo!! And I must say, I'm starting to notice some definition in my calves from all this leg work...yay! I will say, I think I need to work more on my arms too, I do light weights while on the bike, but I need something else. Hmmmm...push ups? Which I can barely do one of...lol

What a monday...

This morning, was just horrible on the way to work. It was storming, I hit EVERY single red light on the way to work (to where it was COMICAL, I was cracking up laughing), and I had gas pump issues. OMG I can't believe I made it to work. But I did. Whew...and the day was decent after that.

Since I was stuck in traffic on the way to work, I ate my Quaker Minidelites in the car...lol so I didn't have my usual PBJ. Lunch was a Lean Cuisine pizza, plus baked chips and sugar snap peas. My afternoon snack was a fat free yogurt. Dinner was at the lovely Miss Beth's house. We're considering it a belated easter dinner as neither of us had traditional ones. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stove top dressing, green beans and rolls (well I had half a roll with a bit of light Country Crock, but only because I modified my evening snack), and then this evening I had a fudgsicle to end my day at 1226 calories.

Output: D had a rough night so I did not get up early to go to Curves, but I did get up with enough time to do 20 minutes on the bike. At lunch today I took a good 25 minute walk to complete my day. I hit 2989 cals today.

Better day but oh the temptation...

Today was a much better day than yesterday, although I was feeling pretty drugged this morning (not from having taken anything, just I guess the aftermath of yesterday's emotions) and D was being a PITA half the day. lol But it was a tough food day. My fam wanted to hit up Cristina's mexican food for a late lunch since my cousin is in town and its my gma's birthday in two days. But I made my plan, allowed for yummy controlled stuff, and omg when they dropped the bomb that they wanted to order sopapillas for everyone, I about passed out. lol I had a teeny tiny piece of D's (about the size of the tip of my thumb) and then consoled myself with getting an ice cream cone later at the mall (MUCH less cals).

Before we went, I had a granola bar and a fatfree yogurt for breakfast. At Cristina's, I had one serving of chips and salsa. Then I got the tacos al carbon (two tortillas filled with chicken). I added some cheese and lots of salsa to them, and stayed away from the sour cream, rice and beans!!! I was definitely full though. At the mall, I had a *gasp* Mcd's ice cream cone (darn CFA has to be CLOSED on Sundays!!). Dinner was a cup of Easy Mac, canadian bacon and sliced tomatoes, and this evening I had a Quaker MiniDelites to end my day at 1435 calories.

Output: I got in an hour of Wii sports earlier today (which counts for 30 minutes), and then at the mall, D and I got a 20 minute brisk walk in to complete my daily 45. I'm hoping to go to bed early tonite as tomorrow is Curves, which means D and I both have to be up and running early, so HE was in bed at 6:20, and happily went as he had no nap today...blah. I ended my day at 2862 calories, pretty close to 2900.

God chooses...

the strangest ways to talk to you sometimes...

I gotta share this, but I want to add a disclaimer first, that I need to give some backstory on it to show how meaningful it is. I don't want anyone thinking I'm asking for sympathy or whining about it, I really have tried lately to not bog everyone I know down with my own crap. But I can't share this without sharing WHY it meant so much to me today, so read at your own risk.

Today started out as a decent day. I was still stressing over D's leg but it didn't look worse this morning so that was good. He's still complaining some about it, and limping every now and then though. But no fever, nothing else, so I'm just praying the antibiotics kick in quick.

We went to a house party at my friend's house for lunch, and had a great time. It was just us 4 so the two boys played while the two momma's chatted. I took D home for a nap after making plans for a later movie. I guess I woke up cranky from my nap, plus my allergies were going insane, but shortly after, I just started feeling this weight on my shoulders. It was the usual "D and I are alone in this world" feeling. It happens a lot so I should be used to it, but it hits me hard every time.

This continued through the afternoon/early evening, and when my friend had to cancel movie plans on us, it just kind of spiraled. I was still determined to go to the movie though, couldn't bear to spend the evening alone, even if it was just D and I in a theater of other families. I fought crying several times just out of frustration, but had it under control for the most part. The movie we went to, Disney's Earth, was pretty good. D had a tough time with it as there were lots of scenery shots, so he got a bit bored at times. There were also real-life events (like a cheetah chasing down an antelope to eat it, lions attacking an elephant, a polar bear attacking walruses) that he kind of squirmed through (it was rated G though, not a lot of gore, just the build up to it), but otherwise he did fine.

By the time, we left the theater though, I was almost in full depression mode, and ready to hit up the nearest Taco Bell for some cheese rollups. I had already decided I was going, I didn't care, it was the ultimate in comfort food, and I would just deal with the consequences later. Thoughts were crossing my mind that noone cared where we were, that D and I could just drive away and noone would know, and I just was getting bogged down and didn't have the strength to fight it.

But God had other plans. As we were pulling out of the parking lot of the movie theater, right after I'd made my decision, I pulled up at a red light, and the license plate caught my eye. It was my initials followed by three numbers, which I don't remember...lol. BDV. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't switching letters around. And as if God was in the car with me, I heard "I know where you are at all times and thats what matters." I can't say that it was one of those profound lightning bolt moments where all my troubles are completely cast away and I was forever changed, but hearing that just kinda set with me in a quiet way. And it was enough for right then, to get me home without killin what I've worked so hard for these last few weeks. I want to ruminate on it some more, and turn it around and around in my mind til it settles in for good. And I just had to share that with my few readers. Its so amazing to me what God can use to get through to you. A license plate...who'da thunk it???

On to food...I think I did ok today. I did allow for somethings that I like, controlled junk basically...lol Before we went to the house party, I had a Kudos Granola bar to help. I had already planned out what I would have there. The first time I filled a plate, I got part of my CFA chicken nuggets, 4 meatballs (I skipped the rice though to help with cals), carrot sticks, lowfat dip (thanks for that, Casey!), 2 cheese slices, and apple slices. I ate that, and knew I was allowed to get up to get the other few chicken nuggets I had allotted for, and veggies. I will say it was hard to not get more cheese and meatballs! They were so good! But I got my nuggets, and more carrot sticks with dip. So I did decent there. After the naps for D and I, I had a whole wheat tortilla and yogurt. Dinner was baked chicken, mashed tatoes, and a romaine/tomato/cheese salad with Zesty italian light dressing. Tonite at the movies, I had some popcorn and a pickle to end my day at 1718 calories.

Output: this one was hard today. I didn't want to get up early and do it, so I ended up doing my 30 minutes on the bike (5 miles even) after our naps and snack. After we got home from the movie I had to do 30 minutes of wii tennis to make up the rest. Ughh it was close to not happening. I'm SO NOT missing a day though! Since the rest of our day was pretty passive without a lot of extra walking, I doubt I'll hit 2900 cals like I usually do with a good evening walk. Oh well. Tomorrow there will be plenty of walking as my family and I are meeting out at Firewheel for a late lunch and then some shopping.

Nothing like an ER trip...

to really get your weekend going! When I picked up D from school, he immediately showed me a nasty looking blister on his leg, and I noticed that the area around it was all red and swollen. Being on medicaid, we can't go to urgent care, which bites, and of course his doc office was closed, AND of course the little clinic I found awhile back, the doc there is on vacation. Joy. So we headed to the ER, which is really our only option. I'm glad I took him though. They said its cellulitis, which is an infection of the tissues under the skin, basically, a bacterial infection. So they immediately had me start him on megadoses of antibiotics. Poor guy. BUT thanks to the wonderful people of Medical City Children's, we were in and out in less than an hour, score!

I did good foodwise today. Breakfast was usual PBJ. Lunch was a Lean Cuisine pizza and baked chips. My afternoon snack was a fat free yogurt. Dinner was at Chilis with a friend, and I got the Guiltless Grilled chicken sandwich with corn (no butter). It was just as good as usual! And my evening snack was a 100 calorie Kudos Granola Bar to end my day at 1361 calories burned.

Output: I did 30 minutes on the bike this morning, instead of going to Curves. I just didn't wanna get up THAT early. This evening we walked circles around CVS waiting for D's antibiotic prescription to be filled to get my last 15 minutes in (though we actually walked for 20 minutes). Its almost midnight and I'm at 3051 calories burned so far. You can def tell I was active a lot today (lunchtime shopping at a warehouse sale helped too!!!)

Almost but not quite Friday...

Yeah, its only Thursday. BUT at least its almost over and Friday is almost here!

I did good foodwise. Breakfast was my usual PBJ. Then I had a quaker minidelights. Lunch was a South Beach pizza with baked chips. And my afternoon snack was a fat free yogurt. Dinner was chicken nugget parmesan...LOL I was going to make the chicken parmesan (basically chicken and shake n bake parmesan, over mini penne with spaghetti sauce and a sprinkle of cheese) but ran out of time to defrost it, so I had to cut it up small. Yeah, chicken nugget parmesan. LOL Oh well we both enjoyed it. Because I changed the menu, it was more cals, so I had to remove my evening pudding. No evening snack for me tonite and I'm ending my day at 1450 calories.

Output: I got up this morning and did a 30 minute bike ride. This evening, I did walk down the playground and back with D. So 5 minutes each way. I went ahead and did 30 minutes of Wii Tennis (so 15 minutes toward challenge) this evening anyway to work out some frustrations.

They say 3 weeks makes a habit...

Well I am over 2 weeks into this Exercise Challenge and its NOT getting easier...lol I highly doubt it will ever becoming habit...it was so hard to get up this morning, esp with being really active yesterday evening and not going to bed super early. Oh well...I'm going to keep plugging along at it, its better than having to squeeze in 45 minutes at night!

I DID notice though, that when I am more active in the evenings, that I burn more cals while sleeping. Its a little less than 100 cals an hour with no activity at night, and about 120 cals an hour with activity!! So I def think D and I will be out walking/playing/whatever more then. We'll probably hit up the playground this evening after dinner too.

On to food...breakfast was the usual PBJ. Lunch was a Smart Ones Ziti meal with baby carrots and Quaker MiniDelites to accompany it. My afternoon snack is a fatfree yogurt and baked chips. Dinner, I tried the Banquet Homestyle Bakes Cheesy Ham and Hashbrowns...lol Its got a lot of sodium but I'm not super concerned with that right now. At least not til two days before a weigh-in...ha! Its 280 cals for one serving, which is fine with me. It was decent enough for being a $3 meal that will last us 2 meals! lol My evening snack was a 100 cal pudding cup to end my day at 1337 calories.

Output: I got up this morning and went to Curves. I did the 36 minutes, 3 times around, although I will say I didn't push myself as hard as I did on Monday. a) I'm tired! b) I'm still kinda sore from Monday...lol But I got my time in and I did sweat still, def got my heart rate up. At lunch, I went and got a haircut so no walk then, but we did walk to the playground this evening. It was 5 minutes there and 5 back so I got my 9 minutes in. Thanks for joining us, Jen!

Its a beautiful day outside!

And I HATE that I can't be out in it ALL day, but this evening sure was nice! Aside from the mosquitoes...eeek

An old friend of mine was in town this evening and we had a great time!!

Breakfast was my usual. (PBJ if you haven't been reading...lol) I did have a morning snack of Quaker MiniDelites since Teresa and I went and walked before lunch. Lunch was a Lean Cuisine pizza and baked chips abit after as a boost for the afternoon. This afternoon's snack is a fat free yogurt. Dinner tonite, was a Chilis guiltless grill chicken sandwich and corn (no butter). My evening snack is a 100 cal pudding to end my day at 1451 calories.

Output: I got in my 30 minutes on the bike this morning, though it was really slow due to being sore (4.8 miles). Then at lunch, we walked 18 minutes (1 mile). And this evening, my friend and I (pushing D's stroller) walked Firewheel Mall for a long time. I burned 3432 cals which is AWESOME for a weekday!!

One BIG happy choice

So my aunt won this humongous easter basket and gave it to D. I'm so glad I had her take the chocolate out first! (D can't have choc anyway.) But there was still a massive amount of candy in there! So it stayed in my car all weekend, since I knew if it came inside, I'd be a goner. I brought it in to work today and put it all in the kitchen up here. It was gone within an HOUR...lol I was amazed! Anyway, looks like people needed a monday morning sugar fix, glad I could help!

Food today is pretty simple. I had my usual PBJ for breakfast, and then a morning snack before going to Walmart of Quaker Mini Delites (I was actually pretty hungry from my work out this morning). Lunch was a South Beach pepperoni pizza and these new South Beach wafer snacks I found (100 cal). Afternoon snack is a fat free yogurt. Dinner tonite ended up changing and D and I had our usual CFA kids meals, though I did give him 1/3rd of my fries to cut down the cals, I had some ketchup with them too to end my day at 1408 calories.

Output: I got in my first official workout at Curves this morning, it went great! I was definitely exhausted though from doing 36 minutes of that (3 times around the circuit)! And then at lunch I took a 10 minute brisk walk before doing grocery shopping at Walmart for lunch food for the week. And then this evening, I had a 10 minute brisk walk with Teresa at Firewheel, ending my cals burned at 2978 calories. SO close to 3K! lol

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Just wanted to say a big Happy Birthday to a beautiful 3 year old! We went to his birthday party today and had a great time. Well, D was quite the little punk at first. He had barely had a 20 minute nap, before I had to wake him up to head over to Beths. If he'd gone to sleep when I put him DOWN, it wouldn't have been a problem...silly boy.

I think I did good eating today. Breakfast was breakfast burritos again. Eggbeaters, cheese, salsa on a whole wheat tortilla, and I had two of them, along with a fat free yogurt. Lunch was at Beth's for the party. I had 2 hotdogs with ketchup only on them, plus a serving of chips, and a mini banana (which were so cute!). I did have a piece of cake which I had budgeted for. After the party, I had an AWFUL headache, I could barely see straight and was nauseous, so I napped while D played and watched tv in my room. I came SO close to ordering pizza just to not have to fight it tonite, but after a nap I felt decent enough to cook some dinner, so we had Shake N Bake chicken nuggets with ketchup, instant mashed tatoes, and broccoli. Then for dessert this evening I had a 100 cal pudding cup to end my day at 1871 calories. I'm glad to be having higher cals this weekend so I don't inadvertently go into a plateau again. I'll keep this up for awhile, the lower-mid cals during the week and upping it on weekends.

Output: I did 30 minutes on the bike this morning and then 30 min of Wii Tennis this evening. I'm going to bed early tonite since it's back to being up early to work out in the morning!

Survived a birthday party at Main Event!

Whew!!! I did. It was quite a long day, but it was fun, and I did really good planning out my food.

Last night was really difficult emotionally, and I struggled a lot with wanting to eat once we got home, but I promised myself that if I made it through the night, I'd make some yummy healthy breakfast burritos this morning. And I made it! WHEW! So this morning, D and I each had 2 burritos (whole wheat tortilla, cheese, eggbeaters, and salsa). YUM. It was definitely worth the wait. We had a late lunch with my brother at Olive Garden. I had my usual...lunch portion of linguine alla marinara, breadsticks, and salad with lowfat italian. OH and I had one of their Andes Mints. Dinner was a Chickfila Chicken Strips Salad with light italian dressing (and a bit of ketchup for the strips...lol). At the bday party for my friend this evening, I had some cheese and crackers, and just the icing off a small piece of cake to end my day at 1857 calories. I barely managed to stay under 1900, but did it. It was a food filled day but I think I made some great choices, I didn't snack on anything, didn't stop to get D or I a snack, just made sure we had filling meals at set points. I think we did great!

Output: I got my 20 minutes on the bike done before we left the house today. I knew it was going to be a late night and I didn't want to have to fit it in. Then at the mall we did a 30 minute brisk walk. I ended my day at 3396 calories burned so YEAH I was moving!

It's Friday!

And its a rainy, stormy, dark, dreary day here. I'm still in a good mood though...lol We did have a mishap this morning that I thought was going to make the day rough, but so far so good. D got tangled in his bedding when he woke up to get out of bed this morning, ended up falling out of bed and hitting his head on the bed! He's ok, it just scared the bejeebies out of him and gave him a lil lump on the head. But man. What a way to wake up!

Food today...breakfast was...of course...a pbj. No morning snack. Lunch was a Lean Cuisine Chicken Fettucini, applesauce, and baggie of Quaker Mini Delites. Afternoon snack is a fat free yogurt. Dinner was a kids meal from CFA on the way to a meeting at church. And then my evening snack was a 100 cal pudding cup to end my day at 1358 calories.

Output: due to the mishap this morning, I ended up not being able to go to Curves. :( It happened right after I was getting up and going, and by the time D was calmed down, I barely had time to get a home work out in. I did end up squeezing in a 20 minute bike ride though. This morning I took a 5 min brisk walk around the building, and then at lunch I took a 15 minute walk around the building (was NOT going out in the storm). And then I did 7 minutes of lunges, squats, and knee lifts while my meal was in the microwave. My thighs were a bit shaky after all that...lol

Curves

I've been debating this for awhile but decided to give it a shot. Today I went to the Curves near here and tried a free workout. Well, sort of, the owner ran me through all the machines, etc, I just didn't do the cardio part. She really took time though to make sure I had proper form! I like the thought of the routine of it, plus the hours are VERY convenient for me since I don't have childcare in the evenings. I'd be able to go either on a work morning or during lunch, so that rocks! I just need to figure out if I can budget for that...its expensive but no more so than a gym I guess. And its quick...30 minutes typically for a full body workout with cardio, though I could easily keep going if I wanted to. Tomorrow I'll be doing a full workout there so I will update tomorrow on that!

On the menu today, I am back to PBJ's for breakfast, I went by the store yesterday at lunch and got bread. WHEW! I missed my pbj yesterday morning. I did have a snack of Quaker Mini Delites before I went to Curves for a carb boost. Lunch was a Weight Watchers ziti meal and a baggie of baked cheetos. My afternoon snack was a fatfree yogurt. Dinner is going to be breakfast burritos! It will be 1/4th cup of eggbeaters, plus a whole wheat tortilla, a bit of mozzarella cheese, canadian bacon and salsa for each one. I'm going to have two of them, plus apple slices. My evening snack was a 100 cal pudding cup to end my day at 1410 calories.

Output: I got up this morning and did 30 minutes on the bike (slow again! 5 miles even. I think I need to take 5 minutes before I get on the bike to do some stretches and warm up, with getting up so early its hard to really get going fast.). And then at lunch, I did the Curves workout. I'd like to count it as part of my remaining 15 minutes, as I did sweat, but not sure on that. We walked to the park this evening with the boys and walked around the playground too, so I know I got my workout in...whew! I ended my day at 3009 calories burned.

Day after a splurge

Its always a bit difficult as my body immediately goes back into craving crap mode, so I definitely dealt with temptation this morning on the way to work. But I stuck it out thinking about my PBJ waiting for me at work...only to find that, my bread was moldy! Ewwwwwww. So I improvised, but that sucked.

Because of that, breakfast was a Quaker instant oatmeal pouch and raisins. Lunch was very much a kid lunch...lol I had a Lean Cuisine 3 meat deep dish pizza, carrots, and a baggie of baked cheetos. That was supposed to be reduced fat wheat thins but they were stale, AND a brand new box. I'm so not having good luck today with food. Oh well! My afternoon snack was a fat free yogurt. Dinner was Shake n Bake chicken nuggets with a bit of ketchup, Lipton butter noodles made without butter, and sliced strawberries. My evening snack will be a Quaker mini delights to end my day at 1387 calories, which is decent.

Output, yay I got in all my workout by lunchtime today! I got up this morning and did 30 minutes on the bike (5.1 miles) and then at lunch I had to go to walmart anyway so I changed shoes and walked several laps around the whole place briskly for 15 minutes before I got my stuff. I didn't get up much today at work otherwise as the phones were busy so my cals burnt seem a bit lower than they have been, I really need to work on getting up out of my seat every 45 minutes or so, even just stretching in my office! On weekends I almost always get close to 3000 or go WELL over it, as I'm moving around so much. But its hard with a deskjob, I'll work on it though.

Monthly weigh-in and a lesson learned

I don't know that I actually announced this on here, but last month I decided to go to monthly weigh-ins (weighing in the morning of our monthly splurges). I decided to do it because I was getting so frustrated with the day to day fluctuations of the scale. And especially now that I have the Go Wear Fit, I have a visible reminder of my activity, plus logging cals already, so I have plenty of numbers to keep me on track. I weighed in this morning but was quite disappointed. I am at 274.2 lbs this morning. I'm trying to remember that we JUST started the exercise challenge a week ago, plus I've had some super salty days lately. And last night I had a few pickles (with some juice)...SALT...that's definitely a lesson learned for me. I realized I need to limit my salt intake the two days or so before a weigh-in to minimize that. Oh well, live and learn. I'm happy enough with the 6+ lbs, I guess. That weekend awhile back where I didn't log really killed me too though, I think. Here's hoping this next month is awesome especially with the challenge and the Go Wear Fit and my wonderful friends supporting me, thanks ladies!!!

Today is a SPLURGE day btw...but after seeing the weigh-in today its a good reminder to not go all out in a splurge...lol We're hitting up Red Lobster tonite, woohoo! So while I am going to enjoy myself definitely, I'm only getting a half portion of the pasta I want. But I will be enjoying everything else.

OK so on to food today. Breakfast was my now usual PJB. No morning snack, and lunch was a tuna sandwich on whole grain bread with Miracle Whip. Nothing wrong with 2 sandwichs in a day right??? Its filling at least (I used the whole can of tuna) My afternoon snack was a Quaker Mini Delights. Dinner was Red Lobster. It's so awesome that RL has all their cal counts on their website, love that!!! I got the half portion of the Cajun Chicken Linguine Alfredo, plus a dinner salad with ranch, 2 biscuits, and a strawberry daiquiri... YUM!!! I also had 2 bites of D's icecream which put me at 2091 calories for the day, which is great for a splurge. Not too high, but high enough it will keep me happy til our May splurge...lol which is Texas Roadhouse on May 1st to celebrate the Losin Together 1 year anniversary of the diet...well and Beth's birthday...lol Love ya, Beth!

Output, I already got up this morning and did 30 minutes on the bike, albeit a bit slow (5 miles even...). And then 30 minutes of Wii Tennis this evening to round out my 45 minutes.

The weekend is over...

And I was up WAY too late last night...oh well...lol today was the ARD meeting for D's school, and I think it went REALLY well! I am definitely relieved from seeing the plans they have for him as far as to support him in the classroom. I also got to meet some of the staff from the elementary school he'll be going to, and I def like them! So WHEW. That took a load off my mind.

I did good eating today. I wanted to stay under 1300 cals since tomorrow is our splurge day (and it couldn't have come too soon!!!) So breakfast was what has become my new usual, a PBJ on whole grain. No morning snack. Lunch was tuna salad (a can of tuna with Miracle Whip basically...lol) plus a baggy of goldfish. I had a fat free yogurt before heading to the ARD meeting. After that, we headed up to the mall to walk around with the boys and let them play. I had originally planned to cook dinner, but I changed it to accomodate a CFA dinner, but planned it out so that it was the same cals as the dinner I had planned on. I had a CFA kids meal, but with only 2/3rd of the fries (I gave the rest to Beth's little boy...lol), no icedream, but did also have half of one of Beth's chicken strips to try it. When we got home, I had a Quaker Mini Delites to end my day at 1282 calories.

Output: I got up abit early this morning, though not early enough, so I only had enough time to do 20 minutes on the bike (but still got up!!). This evening, we did a 25 minute walk at the mall to get the rest of my time in. I'm ending my day at 2956 calories burned.

Happy Easter!

This morning ended up being a wonderful time of reflection on what today is. D was having a hard time upstairs in the house at the lake, since my aunts and grandma were getting things cleaned up and straightened. He just can't handle that much activity and not go berserk himself, so I took him downstairs to swing on the porch swing. We sat there and watched the rain for abit, and he was so quiet that I was having a wonderful time thinking about our Savior and what He did for us. After awhile, I realized D wasn't just quiet, he was asleep! lol So I was able to sit out there in the peace and quiet watching the lake for over an hour! My aunts came down a few times but quickly realized he was asleep as well and they all stayed upstairs. What a nice morning!

I'm doing great on food today. All of D's easter egg hunt candy somehow managed to be left at the lake...go figure...LOL! So its not at home to tempt me. I did purposely bring home a small piece of coconut cake today. I didn't have any last night because I knew I'd want more today, and figured one day was better than 2...hehe. I did great planning out my meals on short notice. I saw my grandma cooking pancakes, and was about to pass on them, but saw she was making them from a mix that only required water, AND we had sugar free syrup. So I had 2 small pancakes with a serving of scrambled eggs for breakfast, and a small cup of orange juice. Lunch was a turkey sandwich (with a slice of american cheese and mustard), plus grape tomatoes and half a serving of Sun Chips, and then 8 oz of sweet tea for the caffeine (it was all there was at the time, even though I wanted unsweet tea. :( Oh well, I badly needed it for the drive home from the lake). This afternoon when we got home, I had my little piece of coconut cake and it was divine! I'm so glad I passed on the cake last night, cause I SO would have wanted more today...lol Dinner tonite was 2 whole wheat tortilla pizzas (sauce, mozzarella and canadian bacon) plus a romaine/tomato salad with zesty italian light dressing. Later this evening, I had a 100 cal pudding to end my day at 1659 calories. I tried to make sure I upped cals a bit today since I was still at 1300 something yesterday.

Output...30 minutes on the bike this afternoon (5.2 miles!!) and then 30 minutes of Wii Tennis with D tryna play along...lol he's so cute. I got my 45 minutes in for today, woohoo! This evening we went up to walmart for some things and walked around a bit. I ended the day at 3430 calories burned.

Quick post, great choices!

I'm typing this out quick from my bro's laptop at the lake. I just wanted to make sure it gets posted.

Like I said, we're at my grandma's lake house this weekend. We are having lots of fun although its been tiring keeping D out of things, but at least he knows better than to get in the lake! lol

I'm very proud of myself for the choices I made today!! I had a Fiber One bar on the way here for breakfast. When we got here, lunch was waiting. I had a turkey sandwich with mustard, two slices of cheddar cheese (little sliced ones from a block, not typical slices), plus half a serving of Sun Chips, and a few slices of apple. For an afternoon snack I had almonds. Then for dinner, it was steak from the grill, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas, and a lettuce/tomato salad with light dressing. It was all pretty high cal but I stuck to good portions and had it planned out ahead of time how much I could have. Dessert was difficult, as everyone was having either coconut cake or oatmeal choc chip cookies. I thought about splurging, but I had brought a bag of Quaker Mini Delights white chocolate and sat there amongst everyone happily eating my white chocolate yumminess. I'm ending my day at 1371 calories...not bad for a lake trip with family!! WOOHOO for good choices!!

Output, not sure what today held, I got up a bit early this morning and did 30 minutes on the bike. When I was done, D still wasn't awake, so I did an 18 minute walk away the lbs dvd. YAY I got my workout in! Here at the lake, we did run around playing soccer and frisbee, and even took a walk with my grandma, but it was nice to know my actual workout was over with. My final cals burned for the day was 3123 calories.

5 days straight!!!

Ok I have to say, I am very proud of myself this week! For 5 days straight now, I have gotten up and worked out. That's a record for me!!! Granted, one day I only did 20 min, but still...to have actually gotten up, is HUGE for me! SO I'm insanely proud and really hope I can keep this up! Yay! Just a heads up, D and I will be headed to the lake this weekend with family. I'm nervous about food and exercise there, but I think, since we aren't leaving til 9 in the morning, that I'll get up and work out, at least most of it to get it over with for Saturday.

Today was bound to be a good day. It's Friday, YAY, and despite the fact that I do have to work today, traffic was light which put me in a good mood. Our friends came over this evening for dinner and to watch a movie, (although my house could use a thorough deep clean, it is what it is). We don't tend to have guests over much, it just doesn't happen, so I always enjoy when they do come. We already had dinner planned (made flatbread pizzas at my house), so that will kept it pretty healthy. Yay! (Ummm...lots of Yays today, I'm actually not really this giddy today, it just sounds like it...lol). I did have to work through some emotional stuff last night, and dealt with it again this morning. OH and I was worried about all the candy D was bound to bring home from his daycare's easter egg hunt. Well, once we got it, I immediately split off the chocolate which he can't have anyway, and gave that our friend's daughter to take home. Then the rest of the candy, I let him have a few pieces at the park, and the rest of it was made to studiously disappear while we were there. And I didn't eat a bit of it!!! YAY! (Gosh, theres another yay...)

So today...breakfast was a PBJ on whole grain. In keeping with the no snacking thing (which I noticed really made a difference yesterday AND today in how I felt about eating all day), I didn't have a morning snack. Lunch was a Lean Cuisine pizza, plus baby carrots. And then I will had an afternoon snack before going to the park of a fat free yogurt. Dinner was a flatbread pizza (which is this Light Italian flatbread I got (90 cals, woo!), plus some cheese, pizza sauce, and canadian bacon), then a romaine and tomato salad with Zesty Italian light dressing. Our dessert was angel food cake with light cool whip and strawberries. I'm at 1241 cals tonite which is fine. This weekend, we'll be down at the lake, so I'll prolly be closer to 1900 cals anyway. I may not be logging much this weekend with no inet except for my iphone, but I will be logging everything. I have to!

Output, I got up early this morning and did 30 minutes on the bike (5.0 miles even), and was thinkin I'd have to make the rest of the 15 minutes up throughout the day. However, I ended up getting to work extra early due to super light traffic (LOVE a holiday!), so I did a 15 minute walk around the building to get the rest of my time in. YAY! I took D to the park this afternoon since we got off early. I'm ending my day at 2949 calories.

I never know what to title these...

So I always use something lame-o. Oh well...

It was definitely another rough morning wanting to stop and get donuts. lol I had my phone in hand ready to text Teresa and Jamie but managed to make it to work without stopping. The rest of the day has been ok so far. I'm coming to realize things about my snacking habits at work and working on modifying those to stay in line. So I didn't have many snacks today. I'm debating cutting out the morning snack as it leads to me being MORE hungry the rest of the day, oddly enough.

So for breakfast this morning, I had a PBJ on whole grain bread. Lunch was a Weight Watchers salisbury steak meal and a minican of green beans. I will have an afternoon snack of goldfish. Dinner tonite was Subway as we had plans for this evening and needed something quick but safe. I got a 6 inch ham on wheat with american cheese, light mayo and tomato, plus apple slices, and then D and I split a baggie of baked lays. I had to stuff easter eggs for D's school party tomorrow, so I set aside a few pieces of candy ahead of time in preparation. It worked out as I had just enough candy for the eggs, not counting the 2 tootsie rolls and 2 laffy taffys I set aside for myself. I'm ending my day at 1631 calories.

Output, I had a rough night, could NOT stay asleep for the life of me. I did get up this morning to keep up with the habit, but only did 20 minutes on the bike. At lunch today, I was going to take a 5 minute walk around the building to stretch my legs and that turned into a 15 minute walk. And this evening, I did a REALLY fast 10 minutes on the bike again to hit my 45 minutes. I did hit my calories burned target though! Over 2900 cals burned! I hit 3011 cals today...wow!

A low day...

Another low day on purpose. I had such a rough morning food-wise. I did ok, but I struggled with wanting a lot. I came very close to stopping to get donuts, and then very close to getting a cinnamon roll out of the vending machine at work. Fortunately I stopped myself both times, but it sure was close. :( I was in tears on the way to work, it was hitting me so hard. I'm hoping that if I keep fighting through this, it will soon pass.

I had a pbj on whole grain and then a banana for breakfast, hoping the substance of it would kill the cravings. For a midmorning snack, I had a box of raisins. Lunch was a Smart Ones Ziti meal and sugar snap peas. My afternoon snack was a bag of goldfish, and then dinner was CFA. I got nuggets with some ketchup and a side salad with light italian dressing. I had an apple this evening to end my day at 1451 calories.

My output today was great! I got my 45 minutes in this morning by doing a 15 min strength training video and then 30 minutes on the bike. It was 4.9 miles even, since I was already worn out a bit, definitely slower. This evening, I've been cleaning house so getting more calories burned. My total calories burned was 2812 calories. So I def hit the 1000 cal deficit.

A purposeful lower day

I decided to go low on cals the rest of the week. BUT to choose cals that are fairly filling so I'm not feeling it. I think about the people on Biggest Loser, and sometimes it sounds like they are only getting 1200 cals or so, and burning MASS amounts, and its ok for them. So from now until Friday, I'ma do that too. Or at least below 1500. Plus I've had some high enough days that I'm nowhere near a plateau, and as long as I go back up on cals this weekend (to at least 1900 cals), it should be fine. Our splurge is coming up next week as well which I'm excited about. We'll be hitting up Red Lobster for that...yummy!

Ok here's what I have mapped out for the day. Breakfast was a Slimfast shake (made with skim milk) and a banana. My morning snack was a PBJ on whole grain bread and *BAG* two pieces of chocolate that someone put on my desk...urgggh... Lunch was a Michelinas Lean Gourmet lasagna with baby carrots and snap peas. Afternoon snack was a Quakers Mini Delights pack and gold fish. And dinner was the leftover porkchop from last night over a romaine lettuce salad with zesty italian light dressing. My evening snack was an orange while I watched BL and I'll be headed to bed early again and ending my day at 1441 calories.

Output, I did get up this morning and do my 30 minutes on the bike! It was 5.1 miles again! Woohoo!! I felt like it was slower but I guess I made up for it at some point, thanks to the newest BEP song...lol Its the perfect beat for staying consistently moderate on the bike. I also took two 5 minute walks around the building today, and then this evening I did a 10 minute strength training routine on Spark People. So YAY I got my 45 minutes in. I burned 2734 calories today.

Food for today...

Check out the post below for details on the challenge.

Today has been an ok day for eating, was kinda down tonite and didn't quite make a good choice but its ok, it could have been worse. We went grocery shopping yesterday with my friend yesterday (so I was definitely able to stay on task and get good stuff, not junk). After my workout this morning, I had a fatfree yogurt. When I got to work this morning, I had a Fiber One bar and half a banana (the other half was yucky and brown...ew). My midmorning snack was raisins and a baggy of goldfish. Lunch today was a Weight Watchers ziti meal and green beans, and then a Quaker mini delights and almonds. My afternoon snack was going to be a can of tuna, with some miracle whip, an apple and baby carrots. Dinner tonite was grilled pork chops, plus Lipton butter noodles (made without butter) and an orange. I was feeling pretty weak emotionally and ended up having an Easy Mac cup :( which ended my day at 2041 calories. Its "ok" cause I burned so many cals yesterday, so I'm still over 1K deficit, but still. I didn't need that.

Output...I got my 45 minutes in! Well, I actually got in 50 minutes. I did 30 minutes on the bike this morning (which ended up being 5.1 miles!), and today at lunch, I went to the mall and did a 17 minute walk (two laps around) and then 3 minutes of stairs which about killed me...lol I ended my day at 3207 calories burned.

The Challenge is ON...

And it begins today...Teresa, Jamie, and I have a friendly little exercise challenge we will be doing for the next 6 weeks. I like this one because it doesn't involve food. I'm def not that strong food-wise right now so this is perfect, and should be easy enough to finish strong as long as I don't miss a day. I started out strong this morning by getting up and riding the bike for 30 minutes (5.1 miles!!! That's a new best for me!).

Here are the rules...

Exercise Challenge

Teresa, Brandie & Jamie

Start: Monday, April 6, 2009
End: Friday, May 15, 2009

Challenge: 45 minutes of exercise per day

Prize: Winner to get one (1) Wii Fit game of their choice from the losers

Winner: The woman with the most total days wins!

Rules:
1) 45 minutes of exercise per day
a. 20 minutes must be straight cardio
b. 25 minutes
i. Cardio, strength, yoga
ii. Split throughout the day if needed
2) Wii Fit: 20 minutes of Jogging or Step Aerobics can count as 20 minutes cardio
3) Wii Fit: All other exercise counts as full time (minute for minute) towards additional 25 minutes of exercise
4) Wii Sports: All other Wii active games (baseball, tennis, bowling, etc) can be counted as half time towards the 25 additional minutes of exercise (20 minutes on the machine = 10 minutes of exercise for the day)

I'm definitely pumped about this! And having the Go Wear Fit, its neat to see the calories burned jump after a workout, so it keeps me motivated.

Good luck, ladies!!! I'll be enjoying that new Wii game in no time...lol

So much for it being beautiful outside...lol

As Texas weather always does, it changed on us! This morning, it was COLD and super windy. We attempted bluebonnet pics in it (thanks Susie!) and ended up at her house to finish the shoot. D was having a hard time focusing during it since it was a new place, so it was pretty stressful on me, he doesn't do well with having to sit still, but I'm hopeful we got some really cute pics out of it!!

I did try to make better choices today foodwise than I did on Saturday. I chose where we went for lunch (Chili's) because I knew I could get a guiltless entree and it be fine. I didn't eat breakfast so was HUNGRY when we got there. We did have chips and queso but I did ok with those and just had some. Then I got the guiltless grill chicken sandwich with ranch on the side, and corn on the cob (no butter) instead of steamed veggies. It was quite a yummy lunch! In the afternoon we went and walked the mall for a bit, where I had a Fiber One bar (I planned ahead for once! WOOT!...lol) and then a bit later, with my $8 bucks I made doing a research study up there, I treated D and I to some rainbow sherbet. Dinner was spaghetti and green beans, and then I had a Quaker Mini Delights Caramel pack to end my day at 1549 calories.

Output, no specific workout, other than the walk at the mall. I did stay busy all day which helped though, I burned 3552 cals today all total.

What a fun day outside!

It is SO beautiful here today! (Although windy) We spent the majority of our day hanging out with my brother. Yeah I didn't quite make some happy choices in eating, but I did try (considering we went out to eat for both lunch and dinner). I got LOTS of activity in though. After lunch, we went and walked around Firewheel Mall (which was CRAZY as they had some kinda event there. Then after a brief stop at Sonic for some unsweet tea for me and juice for D, we decided to head to Lake Ray Hubbard to go play by the lake and get some fresh air. And boy, did we! We had a great afternoon out there! After grabbing some dinner, D and I headed over to our friends house. D and J played outside for quite some time, and then we put the kiddos to bed and played some Wii Sports! I am SO TIRED! And I have a feeling my arms will be quite sore tomorrow...lol

Foodwise, yeah it wasn't great, but it really could have been worse. I didn't have breakfast. For lunch, my bro wanted to go to Pizza Inn. Yeah, I know, that one could have been really bad. I did stick with cheese thin crust, as I know I'm safe enough with that, and got a salad. I even managed to not have any dessert, NO idea how that happened! lol For dinner, we went to Furrs, its a pretty new one out in Garland. That one was awfully difficult as well (two buffets in ONE day! Eeeek!) But I did not do just awful there either. I did have some chicken with gravy, some mac n cheese, a piece of garlic bread, and another salad with ranch dressing. When I got D his dessert, I grabbed some Reese's Pieces for myself for a sugar boost, but steered clear of everything else. Late tonite after we got home, I had some jellybeans (darn those!) and a 100 cal minibag of popcorn to end my day at 1965 calories.

Output today was a LOT. First, there was walking at Firewheel, then lots of walking at the lake, and finally, lots of time playing Wii Sports (tennis, baseball, bowling, and golf). I burned 3788 calories today (WOW!) and ended up at 8507 steps. Not too bad, though I'm still curious to see what a typical workday is like.

The Go Wear Fit rocks!

I'd been hearing so much about these and the Body Buggs, so I made the decision last night to go get one today. If you don't know what the Go Wear Fit is, its an armband that has sensors in it that analyze different things to figure out how many calories you burn in a day, you wear it all day and it tracks it all. Go here for more info on it: www.gowearfit.com

I did end up splurging and getting the additional wristband which shows you real-time what the calories are so you don't have to wait to upload it. It shows my cals burned so far today, plus steps taken, minutes of moderate and vigorous activity, and of course, what time it is...

I can not rave enough about this! I've only had it a few hours, but its awesome! I can't wait to get into a regular routine wearing it. I definitely do feel it on my arm, but between that and the wristband, I have plenty of visible and physical reminders of how I need to up my activity level. (Now it would be nice if it were to send a mild electrical shock every now and then to make sure I get moving...LOL or not...)

Needless to say, I'm excited!

My food intake today has just been "ok" but I'm good on cals. And right now thats what I'm really focusing on. Sure, I could work on getting more protein to make my body more efficient, but right now, with as much as I am struggling, its best to keep it simple. Input in, output out. lol Reminds me of a song we used to sing at church camp when I was a kid. "Input, output, what goes in is what comes out, input, output, that is what its all about. Input, output, your mind is a computer whose input, output daily you must choose. Let the Bible be your primary feed, its got all the data you need, talk to Jesus, all the time, thats the way that you can stay onnnnn lineeeeeeee" Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat...lol Don't ask me how I remember all that...

Ok on to food...breakfast this morning was a PBJ on whole grain bread. No midmorning snack as I was too excited to go get this Go Wear Fit. Lunch was two chicken crispy tacos from Taco Bell (chicken, lettuce and cheese) and an unsweet tea with sweet n low. I also had Kosher Dill chips once I got back to work. My afternoon snack was an applesauce cup. Dinner this evening is a CFA kids meal with some ketchup, and an ice dream cone for dessert to end my day at 1581 calories.

Output today was a 30 min walk at the mall this evening, then a 15 min bike ride, and then I was still 40 cals under my 1000 cal deficit I need to burn 2 lbs a week, so I did 10 minutes of fast dancing with my headphones on and it JUMPED. So I'm ending the day at 2674 cals burned. An almost 1100 calorie deficit. That number will probably go up a few more before bed, but its close enough.

Bring it on!

Hehehe...I'm planning an exercise challenge with two other awesome chicks, and it all begins on MONDAY, April 6th. We'll be rockin it til May 15th (which also coincides with DAM BLC ending). I'm excited, I really need some good motivation to work out more. I've been doing ok with riding the bike, but these short bike rides are so not cutting it to get this weight moving!!! So I'm ready for it...ready to win it...and get my prizeeeeeee...muahahahahaha. Anybody willing to place bets on who wins? Stay tuned for more details on that on Monday when we start this, and I'm going to keep a counter on the right once we start so be looking there as well.

In other news, my big boy is REGISTERED for kindergarten!!! I'm so excited! Today was Kindergarten Roundup for our local elementary school, so I headed over there. I can't believe that in just a few months he'll be headed to big boy school...*sniff* I'm about 75% excited. The other 25% is scared to death about how things are going to work with special ed. As far as I know right now, he will be mainstreamed, but will probably have a fulltime aide shadow him most of the day, with twice a week pullouts for speech therapy twice a week. We have our ARD meeting in a week and a half, and I'll find out more then, but I'm def nervous about him being one of 22 kids with only one teacher! Eeek. So thats putting a damper on my excitement.

Today has been a decent day food-wise. Breakfast was a pbj on whole grain. No morning snack has I left for lunch early to go to Kinder Roundup. For lunch, I grabbed a grilled cheese and unsweet tea from Sonic, brought it back to work and had carrots, raisins and Kosher Dill chips with it. My afternoon snack was a 100 cal choc covered pretzels. Dinner was baked chicken with rice and ranch style beans. And for a snack tonite, I'm having a Fiber One Oats and Caramel bar to end my day at 1652 calories.

Output today was 30 minutes of Wii Tennis and 15 minutes on the bike (2.8 miles). It's not enough for the challenge but it'll do for tonite.

If this is a natural April Fools Joke...

I don't like it!! I have been hungry ALL DAY LONG for snacky food. And it needs to STOP. Urgghhh...so most of my day was a high carb day.

Breakfast was an Eating Right nutrition bar and a string cheese. My midmorning snack was a box of raisins and a baggie of Pirates Booty. Lunch was a Weight Watchers ziti meal and applesauce. My afternoon snack was a 100 cal choc covered pretzels and another box of raisins...lol sheeesh. Dinner was at Beth's house (thanks again!). We had minibagel pizzas and salad for dinner. I narrowly avoided having sugar wafers for dessert...lol despite D tryna put one in my mouth...(NOT helping, D!!)...hehehe but did have a 100 cal choc pudding a bit later on after my bike ride.

Output today was short...I did a 10 minute bike ride to get SOMETHING in, but went to bed early so didn't push it past that.