Week 10 – Sunday

I slept in again today (I actually didn’t mean to, the first (and only) time I got up this morning it was already 11:15).  Because of that I had to eat some of my Medifast meals together in order to get in all of my nutrition.   I also struggled with my water today since I got up so late.  Tomorrow is another day I suppose…

Early in the day I spent some time thinking about definitions, robots, and consciousness (my husband and I talk about this a lot–I studied philosophy in school and he is a grad student in psychology so we both enjoy these kinds of discussions).  Later I played a little N64.  Around 2 we went to Hoss’s for lunch.  I got a piece of grilled chicken, broccoli, and the salad bar.  I made a my usual salad–lettuce, egg, green pepper, bacon bits, cheese, and light ranch.  I also had a little bit of low fat cottage cheese and a pickled egg.  The weather when we got back suggested rain, so I didn’t go for my bike ride or play basketball at that time.  I came in and browsed the web for a bit.  I got bored around 6 and decided to go shoot hoops and play around the world with my brother.  Since I decided not to go for a bike ride, we made sure we played longer.  We were at the park shooting around for about an hour and we were sweating when we were done.  We didn’t play one on one or anything, we just did a lot of chasing after the ball (no fence at this park) because we are both terrible (I used to be decent (really!) but I haven’t played in years) at this time.

Overall today was okay.  I got in some activity and did a good job of sticking to my plan.  I hope I can get my water in tomorrow!  Off to thaw our pork chops for tomorrow so we don’t have to go out to eat again!

 

Week 9 – Thursday

Today was another rough day.  I tried to fall asleep early last night and found myself still awake well past my bedtime.  As a result, I woke up exhausted again today.  I didn’t feel ill like I did yesterday, just a minor headache that was annoying.  I truly can not wait to be off tomorrow! Between trying to get to bed early and having the ability to sleep in if I need to, I should get back on track with my sleep tomorrow.

Same as yesterday, I didn’t do well with eating all of my meals and eating them on time.  I wasn’t happy with the meals I packed and just couldn’t bring myself to eat them.  The meals were too dry, I ran out of water, and was too busy to refill while I was at work.

I did do well with my lean & green choice.  Since I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, I forgot to thaw meat for dinner tonight.  We decided to head to Sheetz so I could get a salad and add dressing from home.  I got a grilled chicken salad with romaine lettuce, egg, feta cheese, green peppers, and mild pepper rings; at home I added 2 tbsp of Hidden Valley Light Buttermilk Ranch which tastes incredible.

I can’t wait until tomorrow night when my next order of food arrives!  I’m really excited to try the new cereal and to have more brownies, bars, (and especially) cookies!  I feel like I need the excitement of a new order and new month to help get me going again–I just don’t feel like I have been myself the last 2 days.

Hopefully with a day off and the upcoming weekend I will be feeling normal & on track soon!

Week 8 Weigh-In

 

222.0 lbs

The Good News: I’m down another 2 lbs–even after a 2 day vacation and my anniversary in the same week!!!!

Weight: 222.0 lbs

BMI: 38.1

Waist: 40″

Hips: 49″

The Bad News: Today was awful.  I had a pretty good day at work, but I started to feel worse and worse as the day moved on.  I just didn’t feel right beginning after lunch.  I started to have a pressure headache along with nausea.  As a result, I didn’t eat all of my Medifast meals or eat on time today.  I also struggled to get in my water.  I’m heading to bed early tonight (right after I finish this post) so that I can try to catch up on my sleep–I have been neglecting this part of my health the last few days and I think it may be at least part of why I felt so ill today.

I wish I had more to talk about, but as I said I didn’t eat much or even on time, so there isn’t much to report–other than today was definitely not a successful day.  I need to make sure I get in all of my water tomorrow so that I don’t get out of fat burning.  Hopefully some rest tonight will leave me feeling rested and energetic tomorrow so I can get back on track.  I’m going to make sure I find a few meals that would be easy to eat when I’m sick and stash a box of them away–that way, when I have a day like today I have something small and easy to eat and can stay on plan or at least have a better chance of staying on plan.

Week 8 – Sunday

I had an easy day today.  I did get up late, but I went to sleep on time so I’m not too worried about it.  I know I will be getting up on time tomorrow since I have work in the morning.  I will not, however, be going to sleep on time tonight, since I have a working N64 for the first time in like 8 years (I broke its coax cable a looong time ago and my brother bought an AV cable for it today) so I will be staying up to play it 🙂  DK64 ftw!

Today I got in all of my Medifast meals and got them in on time; I also got more than 80 ounces of water today.  We put together a quick meal for dinner today, 96/4 beef burgers with reduced fat cheese and roasted asparagus.  Today we tried our asparagus with a little olive oil and a bit of Ortega 40% reduced sodium taco seasoning.  It was a nice change, even though I find asparagus roasted with salt and pepper delicious as well.

I got to decide what I want to order for my next month of Medifast meals today and I am really excited!  Medifast just added two cereals to their product line and I am going to try both of them!  Cereal is something I have missed while I have been on the program, but no more!  They also added parmesan puffs and chili nacho puffs so I hope those are as good as they sound!

Tonight my husband and I planned on going for a walk and then heading over to a nearby park to shoot some hoops.  When we started our walk, I could feel my body starting to get super itchy so we decided to drive over to the park take a quick break and then shoot around.  We had a great time once my itch went away, I’m not sure if I just didn’t notice it because we were having such a good time or if it was because I wasn’t constantly moving–either way I’m glad I found a way to still get some activity in today.  Shooting around tonight really made me miss my basketball days.  I had such a good time and I want to continue playing basketball to get some activity throughout the week.

Off to play N64 (and I can feel good about this since I got in some movement today!)!!!!!!

Week 8 – Saturday

Today was a busy day for me.  I started the day by meeting my future sister-in-law for lunch.  We went to Applebee’s (I know I just went there, but I know what I can have there and I find their food quite tasty).  I ordered plain grilled chicken, a side salad, and a side of broccoli.  I did really well, but I couldn’t finish my salad.  I decided that since I wasn’t hungry anymore it was best to leave it and have some more veggies later.

After that we met up with the other bridesmaids in her wedding and tried on a few different gowns.  I was really surprised, I could actually get into every dress I tried.  They didn’t fit, but I could get them on which made me feel really good.  I was worried that I wouldn’t even be able to get them over my hips or bust, but I did.  They were sizes 12 & 14.  The 14’s even fit my hips and waist, they just didn’t zip!!!!  A few more pounds and I should fit in nicely (I used to wear at least an 18, many times a 20).  I’m glad that I could get them on, even if they didn’t completely fit; it would have been very discouraging for me otherwise (even though 14 and 12 are still quite small for someone my weight).

When we finished up, I headed to my parents house to spend a little time with them and pick up the top tier of my wedding cake for my anniversary on Monday.  We decided to all go out for putt putt golf to spend some time together while still getting a little activity.  I actually didn’t come in last–which has nothing to do with my journey, but made me feel good none-the-less!

The next thing on the agenda was dinner.  We all went over to Eat n’ Park–as I mentioned before, its cheap & you can eat healthy there without anyone questioning you (plus they are very open about their nutritional information).  On the way over, I seriously considered having a garden burger or piece of chicken with a slice of cheese.  I kept telling myself, “I had all my protein today, but I’d really like to taste the meat & cheese…maybe if i just eat 1/2…”  I eventually decided that I only was considering it because I wanted to taste it.  I already ate my protein for the day so i made the decision to have a side of broccoli and nothing more.  This was a major success for me.  I had a feeling, stopped and thought about the feeling and what I wanted for myself, and actually made the choice not to overeat. I think many times, we all stop thinking and just go with whatever our first impulse is when it comes to food.  Its important to slow down and think about it though, otherwise we might make a decision that ultimately isn’t good for our health.

Later, I got to spend some time with more of my family at my cousin’s baseball game.  Its always nice to see everyone and spend some time with them–even if its not for long.

When I got home my husband and I decided to go ahead and have our wedding cake for 2 reasons: 1 We weren’t sure if the cake would last until Monday (since it has been frozen for a year) and 2 We had the house to ourselves so it was nice to have that quiet time to spend together and focus on what the cake represented.  We each had a little bit and reflected on our first year together and future rather than focusing on the cake.

The first day of getting 80 ounces of water in went well, the first day of getting back on a normal sleep schedule…not so much.  I ended up playing a game on my cell phone longer than anticipated last night so when 7am rolled around, I was still quite sleepy.  I set an alarm for 8am when I couldn’t get up at 7, but I never heard it.  I didn’t end up getting out of bed until 9:30 this morning!  I really wanted to be able to take my time getting ready today and spend a little time with my husband since I wasn’t going to see him much.  Tomorrow is a new day though!  I hope to get to bed on time tonight so that I can wake up refreshed and ready to start my day tomorrow morning (even if I still can’t get myself up at 7, I at least want to keep working on it!)

Week 8 – Friday

Back to normal life today. I feel back into my routine quite easily today. I didn’t feel overly tired in the morning, and I had no trouble getting in all of meals today (and on time!).

I had my weekly check in with my health coach today and I learned a few things about water that I would like to share (and record so I don’t forget). 64 ounces of water per day is the bare minimum that we should be drinking. We should actually be striving for a number our ounces equal to 1/2 our body weight (I am 224 lbs so I should be drinking 112 ounces of water per day). In addition to drinking that much water, we should be drinking an extra 8 ounces for every 15 minutes of exercise! Knowing this, how many of us are dehydrated and didn’t even realize it? Dehydration is bad for weight loss for a variety of reasons. Did you know that being dehydrated actually can make you feel hungry? I am going to strive this week to increase my water intake to at lease 80 ounces of water per day so that I can work myself up to the 112 ounces that I need. I hope that once I get and keep myself properly hydrated, it will be easier for me to figure out when I’m actually hungry and stop mistaking my thirst for hunger.

Dinner today was the result of another kitchen experiment. A few days ago, my brother was eating crackers with (stay with me on this one) Frank’s Red Hot and peanut butter. I know there are a few people out there who’s stomachs are turning right now, but until you’ve tried the combo don’t write it off! I thought it was an interesting taste when I tried it, so I crafted a recipe around it.

“This” Shrimp and Scallops

6 Tablespoons of Franks Red Hot

4 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter

2 Tablespoons of Reduced Fat Cream Cheese

2 Tablespoons of Light Margarine

42 ounces of shrimp/scallops (cooked)

Mix Franks, PB, Cream Cheese, and Light Margarine together in a small sauce pan on medium-high heat stirring constantly. Once the ingredients have combined (they need not be 100% melted) you can add it to cooked shrimp and scallops and let it cook over low to medium heat until the sauce is completely melted together and the flavor has soaked into the seafood (test a piece to find out). This should make 6 – 7 ounce servings (if you are making less shrimp/scallops be sure to drain off the excess sauce or store it for future use, you’re only meant to have 1/6 of it!).

As soon as I finish my recipe card, I will post the PDF on my recipe page. Believe me, I know it sounds strange…but it really is quite good! I call it “This” Shrimp and Scallops because that is what we named the sauce…”This”. I think “This” would taste good on chicken too if any one wants to give that a shot.

Our vegetable tonight was roasted cauliflower–a little extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and just a touch of parmesan cheese. Yum!

Since I am back from my mini vacation, its time to get back on my regular sleep schedule tonight. In bed by 10, falling asleep by 10:30, asleep by 11, up at 7. I am actually looking forward to getting back on schedule, it feels good to have a healthy bedtime routine. Over the next day, I’m going to pick another healthy habit to add to my night time routine.

Week 7 – Weigh-In

Today was a fantastic day!

To begin, this morning I had my weight in:

Weight: 224lbs

BMI: 38.4

Waist: 40″

Hips: 49″

To date, I have lost 21.2lbs (3.2lbs this week)! What a great feeling to have lost more than 20lbs!!!

In addition to a good weigh-in, I had a lot of fun today, without losing sight of my primary choice of being healthy. The day started off by meeting a good friend that I haven’t seen in nearly a year for lunch at Applebee’s. I ordered a piece of grilled chicken (cut in 1/2 so I could split it with my husband) and a side salad with light italian dressing, both of which tasted great. I am always a bit disappointed in salad dressings, as they always seem to be loaded with carbs, but I only had 1/2 of what they gave me, so I should be okay.

After spending some time over lunch with my friend, we continued on to Philly and checked in to our hotel. We did not have a ton of time, so we decided to walk around near our hotel and try to find some dinner. We walked around for a while and quite a few blocks and couldn’t find anything that wasn’t a chain or something that looked expensive (not many of those either though!). We ended up going to the restaurant beside our hotel (TGI Fridays), because we ran out of time to keep looking. It was great to get to see a bit of the city and get some exercise in, even though we ended up where we started. For dinner, my husband and I split a meal. We ordered the sizzling chicken and shrimp, which comes with mashed potatoes as a side. We each took a piece of chicken and three shrimp. I gave him the mashed potatoes and ordered myself a side of broccoli. The only failure with dinner was that the dish came with on of my weaknesses…tons of melted cheese! I’m certain that I ate more cheese than I should have. It just made my broccoli taste so good! I need to remember that I should eat my broccoli because its good for me, not because its smothered in cheese and makes me feel good. I’m glad that I didn’t give in to the mashed potatoes though–those of you who know me probably also know that mashed potatoes are among my favorite foods.

As it turns out, Pat’s Steakhouse is not within walking distance from our hotel and is also no where near the Mann Center (the location of the concert). The goal is to go tomorrow for lunch on the way out of town. I will be having my lean and green for breakfast and eating my Medifast meals the rest of the day. I also have extra almonds packed in case I need something else to keep my mouth busy while I smell the greasy cheesy sandwiches tomorrow. Right now I feel as though I will do fine with the challenge; however, if I am feeling weak tomorrow, I am going to have 1/2 a lean & green in the morning so that I can try to find something else close by to eat while my brother and friend eat cheesesteaks.

I have been pretty happy that everyone has been trying to eat healthy on this trip. My brother is going to have a cheesesteak tomorrow, but he has told me that he is only eating 1/2 for lunch and saving the other 1/2 for dinner. If your going to go ahead and give in to the cheesesteak, that’s the way to do it!

After dinner, we headed over to the Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses which was an amazing experience. If you haven’t heard the 25th Anniversary album and you are a Zelda fan or like orchestra music, it truly is a beautiful album and I recommend you find a copy to listen to. We were lucky enough to hear pieces from it as well as additional pieces not included on the album. We even got to see the person who arranged the symphony tonight! They played all of my favorite LoZ songs along with great footage of game play. It really took me back and made me feel good about the experiences I had playing those games growing up (thanks for providing those experiences Mom & Dad!). The LoZ Symphony is another experience I highly recommend–it is still touring throughout the country for a large part of 2012.

The one thing I am being lax about it my sleep schedule–I figured 2 late nights won’t kill me 🙂

Week 7 – Saturday

Somehow my day is always easier when I know I have a day off the following day.  Work flew by today and I didn’t have any mishaps.

 

Tonight I made taco salads for dinner, so the meat was quite tempting to pick at.  I did a great job though.  I felt tempted to pick at the taco meat after dinner, so I asked my husband if he would clean up so I could avoid overeating.  In exchange, I offered to do the dishes.  Its nice to have someone who understands what I am going through and will help me with whatever I need.

 

Tomorrow I am determined to get up on time.  I am going to get up at 7am no matter what I feel like when my alarm goes off.  Once I go out to the living room and eat my first Medifast meal, I am going to wait 30 minutes.  If after that amount of time I am still exhausted, then I will go back to bed.  I know there are some other habits I need to incorporate into nightly routine before I will wake up feeling 100% refreshed, so until then, I might need a few more z’s.

 

Because I cook every day, I always have to be planning the next day’s meal when I’m done preparing dinner.  During my first week  I had some trouble forgetting to thaw my meat in time.  Planning tomorrow’s dinner today helps me make sure I have something to cook.  As a special treat this week, we purchased some lamb.  I have never made lamb before, but have had it on a few occasions and think it tastes delicious.  A lot of the recipes I found when browsing Google tonight included lemon (yuck!) and mint (not on my meat thank you!); I decided to just come up with my own sauce.  We all tasted the sauce tonight and it tastes great by itself.  I will be posting it tomorrow in my post regardless of how it turns out; if it turns out well, it will go on my recipe page.  I never considered myself a good cook–in order to be healthy, it’s something I need to learn to do.  Since this is a journal of successes and failures, I will include it even if we don’t end up liking it on our lamb.  At very least, experimenting in the kitchen usually turns out to be fun (so long as I’m not trying to cook for a party or guests).

 

Do you experiment in the kitchen?  What was the best experiment?  How about the worst?

Week 7 – Friday

A 7am wake-up time did not happen this morning.  Just before 6am, I woke up naturally.  I still felt tired so I went back to sleep.  At 7am, my alarm went off and I just couldn’t get myself out of bed.  I went to bed slightly late last night (only about 20 minutes), but I doubt that is why I was so tired this morning.  I will continue working on the habit though, because I want to wake up refreshed every day.  At very least, I need to keep making sure that I have a consistent bed time and the my TV does not interfere with it.

Because I woke up late (about 10am oops!) I had to double up on one of my Medifast meals to fit them all in.  I normally eat 5 Medifast meals per day and 1 Lean & Green meal per day and eat them 2-3 hours a part.  Today I still ate all my meals (if I don’t I won’t get all of my nutrition for the day), but I ate 2 Medifast bars at my last meal time.  I could have eaten one more meal at 10pm, but since I want to be in bed relaxing by 10 and trying to fall asleep by 10:30, eating at 10 would not have been a good choice.

Today I read Chapter 14 in Dr. A’s Habits of Health and the Take Shape for Life (TSFL) Exercise Guide.  I learned a lot about NEAT–Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis–and put it to use a bit today.  Today my husband, brother, and I all cleaned our kitchen and living room as well as went grocery shopping.  These activities seem too simple to help me get healthy, but they actually help me burn more calories throughout the day when I do them.  Sunday I hope to get in a little EAT–Exercise Activity Thermogenesis–by starting to follow the 12 week walking program found in the TSFL Exercise Guide.  I made the excuse today that it was rainy and cold so I could start Sunday.  I had been previously trying to walk 30 minutes a day 3 days a week, but I think the 12 week program will help me ease my way into EAT without getting discouraged and help me to know when to bump up my time and frequency.  In week 1, I will walk 3 days for 20 minutes (5 minute warm up-10 minute brisk walking-5 minute cool down).  I had never thought about doing a warm up and cool down for only 1o minutes of exercise, but I don’t want to hurt myself, so a warm up and cool down is a good secondary choice!

Today I decided that tuna melts are awesome!  I can have 7oz of tuna as a lean and get 2 healthy fats to go with it.  I used 7oz of tuna with 2 tablespoons of light mayo, mixed everything together, put a slice of reduced fat pepper jack cheese on it (I can have an extra 2oz of lean protein per day), skipped the bread, and baked it for 5 minutes.  It tastes delicious and took me less than 10 minutes to make!  Its nice to be able to have something that you can cook quickly and is still a healthy choice!

I felt really good today about my progress.  I was able to fit into an old jean skirt I have and had some extra room in my shirt and sweatshirt (two days ago I couldn’t sleep because of the heat and today I need a sweatshirt even inside–what is up with that?!)!!  I can’t remember a time when I had this much room in my clothes 🙂  Now I can’t wait for the day when I have to buy new clothes because the ones I have won’t stay on!

Week 7 – Thursday

Today was another easy day–for the most part.  My stress levels were low today and I did not have any trouble eating on time or getting in all of my water.  I only had one little mishap today: I had 2 snacks instead of 1.  My first snack was 3 pieces of sugar free gum (spread throughout the day).  My second snack came when I made my last Medifast meal for the day.  I made a brownie and saw our jar of peanut butter sitting on our kitchen table.  It looked really good so I decided to put a tablespoon of peanut butter on my hot brownie.  It tasted delicious, but I hope it doesn’t hurt too much!  New Rule:  Put the Peanut Butter away after anyone is done with it so that we don’t all have to look at it and be tempted!

I have set a goal for myself over the next few days–the goal is not directly related to my weight loss (though poor sleep quality does have an effect!), but it does have a direct impact on my health, which is my ultimate goal:

Incorporate 2 healthy habits into my nightly routine to improve the quality of my sleep (I do so much wrong when it comes to my sleep environment!).

One thing I am going to do is go to my bedroom with enough time to get 1 episode of whatever show I want to watch before I am ready to fall asleep.  When the show is over, I am going to turn the TV off, so that the light/sound will not effect my sleep.  The second habit I am going to start is a consistent sleep schedule every night regardless of when I work or what day of the week it is.  In order to be awake by 7 each morning, I need to be asleep by 11pm.  That means I need to start the falling asleep process by 10:30 each night and I need to be in my bedroom by 10pm (I guess I will have to start tomorrow!).