Thursday, November 28, 2013

HAPPY TURKEY DAY

OKAY, SO I'VE REACHED MY DEADLINE, BUT NOT MY GOAL WEIGHT.  That is the bad news.  But the good news is that I came pretty damn close.

I am very proud of myself for sticking to my plan with a couple of bumps in the road.  Even though I had planned on being 20 lbs down by this point,  I lost 15-16, so that's a pretty good showing for the first leg of the journey.  

I am moving on from here, with the goal of losing the next 20 by Valentines day.  I have to make a goal for this holiday season, because if I do not, temptation will surely take over and I might be back where I started by New Year's Day.  I have Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holiday occasions to think about, (and they will probably be off the reservation days) but if I am focused on the days in between, I should make it through all right.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

TWO WEEKS LATER AND TEN POUNDS DOWN...

Hey there,

Just checking in to give you an update.  I'm still going strong. The good news is that I'm still eating well, exercising and right now I'm down ten.  I've got ten more to go for my first goal of twenty by Thanksgiving.  

This is where I left off before, so it is kind of a small little hill to get over since I'm trying to lose the first twenty.  Once I get there, it will be pretty cool since I haven't been that weight for years.

I'm looking forward to the blog update where I tell you that I have reached the first goal.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

PUTTING THE TWENTIES TOGETHER (Part 2)

CALL ME STRAWBERRY



Strawberry is my name for this blog, anyway.  I'm using a fruit because is what I should be eating.  I'm using this fruit because it is my favorite.  I love strawberries.  If I ate them more frequently, I'd be a much fitter person.

I am sitting here in front of the computer in my home, eating an apple and starting over once again.  In January, I made a pledge to myself and to my blog that I would lose 20 lbs at a time and reach my goal by the summer.  It did not happen.  I also pledged to weigh myself once a week in a bathing suit.  I did it the first week, but after that, I did not.

I was at a party for my softball team this past Friday.  Plenty of food, drink and fun.  The highlight of the night is a photo collage that one of my teammates puts together every year for the team to watch.  Everyone gathers around the tv to watch a DVD of pictures of our team from year to year, including the season that has just finished.  I always hate watching it, because I never look good in the pictures.  Some of the pictures are those that I was not prepared to take (whether sweating on the field or whatever).  Usually at the end of the collage I feel as if I should go on a diet.  So here I am again.

Nobody said that losing weight is easy.  If it was easy, everyone would be at their goal weight.   Gaining weight is easy.  I'm good at that.  I love my beer and chips.  I'm not big on cakes and pies, but I do like them. I know that when I'm serious, I can cut all the bad foods out of my diet and 20 lbs would drop pretty easily, or that was what I thought.  This past year, I got as far as 10.  But even when I do get to the first 20, Its just hard to get past it.  I have lost 20 lbs numerous times, but not in a row.  That's my problem.

I know what I have to do to lose weight.  That is not the problem.  The problem is sticking to the program.  Eating the wrong food, or too much of the wrong food, is an addiction, just like smoking or drinking.  I often wonder about people who cannot quit smoking, and may shake my head at them because they are ruining their health.  But, those who are addicted to food are doing the same thing.  

I joined Weight Watchers and lost 20 last year doing the online thing.  I did not have the time or money for meetings, although I knew that it was extremely difficult to lose weight without the meetings.  After a year, my net weight gain was 5 lbs.  I had some good weeks and bad weeks.  I basically maintained the weight that I have been for the past 10 years.  For every week that I logged in my meals, there were 5 that I did not.  I spent 20 dollars a month to gain weight.   I don't blame them.  It's me.

Now I'm doing Spark People.  Once again, I will be blogging my progress good or bad to keep me on track.   I make no promises about how often I will blog, because I found that if I failed during the week, I did not blog.  Eventually, I avoided the blog like the plague.  This is the first time I've blogged since February 20.  Right after Valentine's day?  Could it be coincidence?

However, I will weigh myself once a week. Today was day one. 

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

AFTER ANOTHER SHAKY EXTENDED WEEKEND...

I can't wait until winter is over.  I've never been a winter person.  You'll never see me out on the slopes or ice skating on the lake.  Winter makes me want to stay inside and keep myself warm, instead of going out there for a walk, or something like that.  When I am inside, I am tempted more than if I am outside.  There was some chocolate involved, and even though I had a moratorium against chocolate on Valentines Day, my husband still got me a little.  I didn't share it with the kids, and it is gone now (so it never happened?).

Speaking of the cold, I have to admit that I admire those people who go out walking in 10 degree weather.  I saw one yesterday.  She was dressed in a hat, gloves, jacket and sneakers.  She must be dedicated, because she looked like she was having a horrible time fighting the wind with her red face.  She reminded me of Tom Coughlin (NY Giants head coach) at that NFC Championship against the Packers.  Like his, her face was practically blue.  


brrrrr!



But, she's in shape...

I guess that is the moral of the story here.  If you are determined to reach a goal, do not let anything get in your way.  

There will be bumps in the road, and if you fall off the wagon, make sure that you get back upon it to continue your journey until you reach your final destination.  

That advice is for myself as well.  After another vacation, I'm back on track now.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

MY CONSCIENCE GOT THE BETTER OF ME

To start off, I am happy to report that I still did not get the stomach virus that the rest of the family had to suffer through.  My oldest missed a week of school, as a matter of fact, but now, he and everyone else is back to normal. 

As for the challenge, I am now down 10 lbs, so I'm 10 away from my first 20.  To tell you the truth, I am a little disappointed, because I was hoping to be closer to that first twenty. 


This is not my birthday cake, but I wish it was.
Courtesy of Kim Brandon, pastry chef (my cousin in CA...she does not ship to NY).
  
However...I did have a birthday weekend where I did not journal what I ate, so I did take a mini-vacation from the challenge.  I did not go hog wild, because I do become full faster, causing me to stop eating when the time is right.  I confess that I did have a couple of glasses of beer.  I did not gain weight this week, but I did not lose any, either.  So, a weekend of being somewhat bad has cancelled out a week of being good.

I am back to it, though.  But that was not the reason for the title of this blog post.  The title comes from what I did today.  I went shopping at the local CVS and bought some items.  I had a cloth bag in the cart filled with my mail, which I have to pick up at the post office (PO Box).  I paid for my items, including candy and valentines for the kids,  and went to the van to unload my bags.  Once there, I realized that I had forgotten to pay for some cans of tuna that were in the cart behind the cloth bag.

My conscience got the better of me.  I walked back into the store with the 10 cans of tuna that I thought were 10 for 10 dollars.  Maybe it was because it is Ash Wednesday, I don't know.  I know that some people might think that I was stupid for doing this.  I could have left and no-one would have known that I did not pay for them (and I could have used that 10 dollars).  But, like I said, my conscience would not let me do it.

So I went back in the store. The checker was confused when I came back because I put them in a bag.  It turns out that the tuna that I wanted was not on sale, so I ended up paying 20 dollars.  Instead of saving 10 dollars, I lost 20.

I may want to kick myself, but at least my conscience is clear.

Friday, February 1, 2013

THE FLU...OR WHATEVER THIS IS

I sit here, anxiously awaiting what the rest of the family has...the stomach flu or virus or whatever. I am the last woman standing at this point.  I am not looking forward to it, because as weight loss tools go, it is effective, but the most horrible way to do it.  Every twinge in my stomach gets my attention, thinking "This is it!".


Right now I am the caretaker--handing out glasses of Gatorade and cleaning up messes so that the house is in good shape before I go down.  Two of the kids are vegging out on the couch, in and out of sleep, watching Adventure time and other cartoons.  They were up late last night sick, and today, they are just listless and tired, sleeping off a bad night.  Luckily, there were no fevers involved, as it is only a stomach thing.  The oldest one is in his bed, listening to tunes and complaining about stomach cramps. Nobody has the stomach to eat anything.  Hubby went to work, as he had his ordeal yesterday, and is on the road to recovery.  Hopefully, everyone else is okay after a day, and thank God that it's the weekend.

As for my bathing suit weigh in, I lost another pound, so I am -8 and 12 away from the first 20.  I'm still sticking to the plan--eating well, taking vitamins and drinking water.