Kim’s Journey to a Healthier Place

I could come with so many excuses. Here’s just a few…. new meds = sleepless nights = insanely grumpy moods = emotional eating. That’s what’s been up with me for the past 4-5 days. Sooooo not good. I haven’t been this far off track since before I started WW back in June. I’m not going to dwell on it, but I need to readjust some of my goals for the week.

Starting today (it’s been great so far) I’m focusing on what I eat. I tried to conquer eating and working out, but if you know a little about me, I have to take one step at a time. Working on both wasn’t working, just frustrating me and giving me more opportunities to fail. We’ll try adding the working out goals back next week. I need just one thing this week to focus on… food.

I’ve got to get my head back in weight loss mode. Recent health challenges have made losing more weight very difficult. Between Dr.’s making me maintain and now this new med that makes me retain fluids and keeps me from sleeping well, I need to work harder and more diligently. I know I can do this. I think I wasn’t taking into account my new challenges. I don’t want to lose control again, because to me that’s the worse feeling. This morning I hopped on the scale and it was 163 lbs! Yikes! Worse than that, my shirt and pants feel snug. That’s a feeling I really hate.

On a good note, I went out of town for a family reunion this weekend to see family I haven’t seen in 5-12 months. They were all shocked by my weight loss. It made me feel good and reminded me why I’m on this journey- to be healthier and happier!

1. I will work out 4 days a week- 5 days, DONE!

2. 2 of those workouts will include strength exercises.- 3 days, DONE! 

3. 1 of those workouts will include exercise dvd (counts as 1 strength)-Wednesday, DONE!

4. I will journal!- Mon.-Fri., need to work on journaling during the weekend.

5. I will drink a glass of milk everyday- in addition to milk in cereal.- 4 days, need to keep at it!

6. I will eat 5 fruits and vegetables everyday.-Not very good. I got close most days, but I need to work on this.

Overall I’d say it was a great week. I stayed well within my points Mon.-Fri. I need some work on the weekends, eating veggies, and drinking my milk. I totally rocked the exercise goals this week! Go me!

Thanks for dropping by. Have a fabulous weekend! 

Better late than never, right? This week I just haven’t been making good choices. And while the scale hasn’t moved much, my clothes don’t fit comfortably. RED ALERT! I also haven’t felt real focused since Christmas as can be seen with my late Jan. goals. This morning I had my mind made up that I was going to write down my goals and stick with them. Instantly I had an attitude adjustment and felt ready to move ahead. This month I’d like to do things differently. Each week I’ll review my progress instead of just at the end of the month. Let’s do this!

1. I will work out 4 days a week

          a.  2 of those workouts will include strength exercises. 

         b. 1 of those workouts will include exercise dvd (counts as 1 strength)

2. I will journal!

3. I will drink a glass of milk everyday- in addition to milk in cereal.

4. I will eat 5 fruits and vegetables everyday. 

So let’s see how I did this week. I’ll review on Fridays.

1. ACCOMPLISHED. I exercised Sat., Sun., Tues., Wed., and today… 5 times!

          a. and b.  ACCOMPLISHED. I did the dvd which counts as one strength and did weights today at the gym.

2. NEEDS WORK. I only journaled today.

3. NEEDS WORK. I ate cereal w/ the last of the milk today, so I’ll have to pick some up. Today and one other day (I don’t remember) I met this.

4. NEEDS WORK. Who knows… I didn’t journal. Doesn’t look like I’ll meet it today either. )c:

I CAN do this, I CAN do this, I CAN do this!

* Fruits and Vegetables

^ Dairy 

I obviously need to get to the store and stock up on fruits and veggies.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Bret over at Heart Healthy threw a question out there about inexpensive rewards for meeting mini goals. It was such a great question, I mulled over it a bit and decided to post about it here. This list is also a great idea for inexpensive Christmas gifts. Be sure to stop by Bret’s site to add more ideas to her blog, too!

Christmas socks

Splurge on a $10 Christmas ornament that you normally wouldn’t buy

Smelly candle for a long, hot, bubble bath

Bubble Bath for bath mentioned above (c:

New smelly lotions or scrubs

New nail polish or lipstick

Loose stem flowers from the grocery store to arrange in a vase at home

Ticket to a movie you’ve been wanting to see and haven’t made time for

A book- Amazon.com sells used books for VERY reasonable prices

Purchase a pre-viewed DVD from the video store

A new picture frame for that “current” picture of yourself (Because you look so good since you met your mini-goal!)

Kitchen gadget (ex. peeler, baking pan, cutting board, dish towels, etc.)

New spices for new recipes

WW or Low-Fat recipe book (Check for used books at Amazon.com.)

I have to say, not a bad list! Who knew that rewards didn’t have to be so expensive! Originally I had made rewards for my 5% weight losses to include pedicures, facials, massages. Um yeah, that got expensive and stopped after the facial (At least I had a gift card from graduation to cover that.) So thanks again to Bret for this great idea. This will really help me from being broke when I get to goal. They’re good gift ideas for the holidays, too!

No, Cracker Barrel did nothing wrong but make really soft, buttery buscuits. Yesterday I had my sensible dinner at home all planned out, but WH had to work late and suggested we eat out at Cracker Barrel when I got back from the gym. I thought, heck, why not? Dinner started off great with my choice of Beans N’ Greens (pinto beans and turnip greens) which is about a 2 point meal. Well, I was hungry preoccupied with conversation and before I realized it, I had eaten a cornbread muffin before dinner came out (WWP=8!). After I was satisfied (I didn’t eat all my dinner) I put my napkin over the leftovers to tell myself to stop picking. The buscuit plate didn’t get covered up and I guess what I ate. TWO buscuits as WH and I chatted. It was totally mindless…I wasn’t hungry! GRRRRR… Each buscuit was 5 points! Okay, my 2 point meal QUICKLY turned into the 20 point meal. I hate when I do this. My good intentions for the meal were ruined. I would have rather used those 20 points on a cheeseburger and fries. Live and learn.

NOTE TO SELF: Cover up the bread basket/plate, too!

B-fast: cereal and milk (4)

S: grapes (1)

L: Thanksgiving lunch at work (est. 6)

D: Cracker Barrel Nightmare (20)

S: PB w/ chocolate chips on graham crackers (I know, I know…. 6)

Exercise: 3 AP

Total: 34

WPA used so far: 22

I need to get a handle on it! Thanksgiving/being out of town for 4 days is right around the corner, and I still need to get these last couple pounds off before then to reach my mini Nov. goal! Shape up girl!

Goal = accomplished. During my lunch-break workout today, I ran my first 10 minute mile. It wasn’t intentional; I just pushed myself harder today. I’ll scratch that off my November goals!

 It’s amazing that I’m a smaller size than I’ve ever been. But on the fitness front, it’s amazing to physically do things that I’ve never done before (like my mile). This is awesome… I’m going to go bask in my feeling of accomplishment for awhile… Happy goal accomplishings!

So I’m rehearsing the goals I made for myself last night and getting focused for the week ahead. I WILL do this. So far today is going well, and the week is off to a great start! With the 5K being this Saturday, here is my proposed work-out plan for the week.

Sun: resistance

Mon: 3 mile jog

Tues: jog, elliptical (lunch)

Wed: elliptical, resistance (lunch)

Thurs: 3+ mile jog (after work)

Fri: none

Today’s food

B: grapes (1 WWP), RF string cheese (1 WWP)

L: 2 serv. veggie soup (2 WWP), grapes (1 WWP)

S: 2 angel food cupcakes with strawberries and Cool Whip Free (2 WWP)

D: 3 crunchy tacos w/ lean beef, salsa, FF sour cream, FF cheese, black beans, jalepenos (14 WWP)

Daily WWP total: 21

Daily fruits and veggies: ~6

Exercise: construction clean up for 1 1/2 hours at the house we’re building (shoveling dried concrete, picking up and tossing broken cinder blocks into dumpster)

I couldn’t tell you what I’ve eaten over the past few days. Bleh… I haven’t been tracking what I’ve been eating and eating way too much. Sweets have infiltrated into my days and they’ve made me sick. Brownies, ice cream, candy…they all taste so good, but they physically make me sick to my stomach. So why do I do it? Not only do I feel horrible that I’ve put those worthless calories into my body, but I physically feel horrible! What gives? Taste is not worth this misery. (That’s worth saying again, a bit louder so I remember it.) TASTE IS NOT WORTH THIS MISERY! That’s what it boils down to.

Okay, now to analyze what I’ve done wrong so I can learn from it. 1) I had at least 3 lunches out to eat this past week. That totally blows my points and doesn’t give me enough in the evening. Thus, I go over. 2) I didn’t work out during my lunches because of aforementioned lunch outings. 3) I gave in to the candy dish calling my name with no sugar-free gum to back me up. 4) I don’t have enough fruits and vegetables in the house. 5) I don’t think I cooked all week. Thus, we ate out too much. 6) I didn’t journal.

I did exercise pretty well this week. My 5K is one week from today. I’m really excited about it. On Dec. 8, I’m jogging in an 8K. That will be a huge accomplishment for me! I can’t wait.

Okay…I need to focus. I’m jumping on board with all the other bloggers who created November goals. (I love getting great ideas from my community buddies!) I haven’t made goals this short term before, but I’m now seeing a REAL need for it to keep me focused.

1) I WILL jog in a 5K on 11/10/07

2) I WILL be 160 by Thanksgiving. (~6 lbs away, 19 days away)

3) I WILL jog in an 8K on 12/8/07

4) I WILL work out at least 4 days a week until the 8K. 

5) Out of those 4 workouts, I WILL do strength exercises at least 2 times.

6) I WILL run a 10 minute mile by the end of my WW’s 12 week interval (11/27/07).

7) I WILL eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day.

8 ) I WILL journal!