Ready, Set....

First things first: Friday is weigh day for the Holiday Scale Accountability Club. My scale had good news. I'm still on track.

I'm getting more and more excited for my Whole30. The more I read about people eliminating migraines, skin problems, sleeping problems, etc., the more stoked I get.

Last night I made ghee. It's basically butter with the milk proteins cooked out. It's the only dairy product allowed on the Whole30. It was easier than I thought it would be, and it smells fantastic. I figured it would still smell like butter, but it smells like toasted pecans. Weird.

I also made some kale chips. I've never had them before and always figured it was too much trouble to make them. This was another thing that was way easier than I thought it would be. They were so good! I'll definitely be making them again (like, tomorrow). Tori, my 14-year-old, doesn't even like kale, but she was seriously digging the chips.

I have easy meals planned for the next couple of weeks. I don't want to be stressing out over difficult recipes when I'm going through sugar, carb, dairy withdrawal.

I haven't worked out at all this week; I've been so focused on food. I need to get my miles in!

My biggest challenge today has been to not dive head first into "forbidden" foods. I keep catching myself thinking, "I should have X because I won't be able to have it again for 30 days!" Umm, no. That kind of thing will lead me straight into a binge. I'll be eating what I normally eat. It's still not compliant, but it doesn't have that death-row-last-meal kind of feeling.

I'm going to try to make a post every day of the Whole30 (even on the weekends!) to share what I'm eating, and how I'm feeling. Here goes nothing!


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My First Challenge!!

 I'm doing my first blog challenge! Gwen at The Sunny Coconut has started the Holiday Scale Accountability Club. The goal is to not gain any weight over the holiday season. It starts today and ends on January 9, 2015.

I know I usually only weigh on the first of the month, but the challenge requires weigh ins twice a week. So I'm going to try not to get too obsessed and weigh on Tuesdays and Fridays.

So my first weigh in this morning showed me at 289.2. That's up a pound from October 1. I was actually expecting it to be higher. I can't say I've made great choices this month with food or exercise.

Speaking of exercise, I didn't go to the gym last night. I had to work late, so I went straight home after. My clothes are still here in the office though, so I will make it in today.

I've been looking at the pretty pictures of fall leaves on other blogs and on my picture of Walden Pond above. I love fall leaves. I love the colors and the way they drift down in a breeze. It's not something I see much of in real life.

I live in northwest Tennessee. We don't usually get much of a fall season here. We get a late summer, then maybe two days of fall, and then...rain. Rain, rain, and rain. Rain that beats the leaves off of trees. Rain that pounds the pretty fall colors right into the mud. By the time the rain stops, the cold has set in, everything is gray and washed out, and there is mud everywhere. It stays that way until it freezes. Then when it's supposed to be spring we get more rain, more mud, and maybe even some snow flurries (not actual snow. Oh no, that would be too pretty.). Then the sun comes out, dries everything up, and we get a week of green leaves, budding trees, and flowers. Then it's summer, hot, humid, and icky. So out of the entire year, there are really only about 10 days I want to be outside. Oh, well.

Tomorrow I'm traveling to the nearest "big town" (I live in a small town. Then you have big town, small city, good-sized city, and big city). It's a 45 minute drive, but I'm hoping it's worth it. That town has a YMCA with one of those machines that measure your body composition and stuff. They let you have two free readings a year even if you aren't a member. So I'm heading there tomorrow to see what I can learn about myself. Yes, I do have a Village People CD in my car. Why do you ask?

IF (and that's a big if. See the capital letters?) it isn't raining, I'm also going to try to do something outside. This summer I tried to relearn how to ride a bike. It's not as easy as people say. I was moderately successful. Maybe I'll go for a ride or at least take my little dog to the park. I just want to do something before I start my 6 month seclusion from the elements.

My Valentine. He's the bestest best thing ever!

I'd like to do more than just maintain my weight during the holiday season, but I'm hesitant to put forth a weight loss goal. I'm thinking instead of having some fitness goals. Of course, getting closer to Walden will be one, but there are other things I'd like to do. I'll have to think about that this weekend.

I don't usually blog on the weekends, so I'll see you all on Monday. Have a great weekend, and if you are somewhere with beautifully changing leaves on the trees, take some time to enjoy them!


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Finally Made It to the Gym!

Yesterday I actually  made it to my gym! I had some other errands to do, so I didn't stay long. But I managed to get one mile closer to Walden. Woo hoo!

My food was under goal, so that was great. My dinner was pretty high in fat with the Hollandaise sauce, but it's not something I make often. Eventually, I'll pay more attention to fat, sodium, and protein. Right now I'm mostly concerned with not binging, not feeding my emotions, staying under 1570 calories, and making exercise a habit. I definitely need more consistency on the last one.

Here is my food from yesterday.

Breakfast: Breakfast bar. 90 calories
Snack: Apple slices. 36 calories
Lunch: Cheddar, almonds, broccoli, and fat free ranch. 287 calories
Snack: Pretzel chips and hummus. 180 calories
Dinner: Chicken croquettes, turnip greens, and sliced tomato with Hollandaise. 856 calories
Snack: (not pictured) Lemon Italian Ice. 60 calories

Total calories: 1509 calories   Under budget!

As you can see in the photo, I also did 1.07 miles on the treadmill. I'm going for 2 miles tonight. There is one thing that bothered me about my workout last night. I wear a Body Media tracker. I'm supposed to get 45 minutes of exercise a day: 30 minutes moderate and 15 minutes vigorous. As much as I tried to push yesterday on that treadmill, I couldn't get up to a vigorous level. See:

That's my workout at 4PM. My normal brisk walking pace is 2.8 mph. I use 3.0 as my baseline on the treadmill, bumping it up to push myself, and going back to 3.0 when I need to. I thought that those high speeds would push me into the yellow, but apparently not. I've never been able to go faster than 3.3. Maybe I just need to build more muscle before I can go fast enough to be vigorous. I don't know. I'll try to stay in the higher speeds tonight and see where that takes me.

Tomorrow is going to be a challenging day for me. My husband's employer is throwing a huge picnic for all the employees and their families. There will be prizes given away, rides, and free concessions of hot dogs, pizza, funnel cakes, nachos, etc. for four hours. I really want to go and just not think about food, but I am committed to staying on track now. So my plan is to have a very low cal breakfast, a low cal dinner, and use the majority of calories at the picnic. I'm going to eat the foods I'd like to eat, but I'm going to eat small portions, track the calories, and not pig out. I'm going to focus instead on spending time with my husband, walking around and people watching, and getting to know his coworkers.

Wish me luck!

1307.51 / 1.07 / 1288.61 

Getting Back on Track

Today I shampooed all the carpet in my house. That's a lot of carpet. We have 3 dogs and 2 cats, so some areas I had to go over multiple times, and those shampooers are heavy. I am already starting to feel the soreness creeping in, so I bet I got a good workout from it, too.

I have a Body Media Body Bug. It's kind of like a FitBit. I've had it for a while, but I let my subscription lapse. I renewed it today, so now I'll be able to account for my sleep, steps, and workouts. I'm still only counting miles actually walked (or ellipticaled--is that a word? Is now.) for this blog.

I get paid on Tuesday, and I'm planning on getting lots of fresh veggies. I've not been eating the veggies like I used to. I can tell a difference in how I feel. I'm sluggish and cranky. That' might just be PMS, though, lol.

If all goes well, I'll be able to finish my work project on Wednesday, which means I won't have to stay late. Back to the gym for me!

Wednesday will also be weigh in day for me. I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm not really expecting a loss because I was off plan for so long and not exercising. But it will be my first month without a binge in a long time. I'm curious if that will show in my weight at all.

By the way, if anyone is actually reading this blog, I'd love for you to leave a comment. Even though I'm doing this blog to help myself work through things, it's sometimes is nice to know I'm not alone out here. Thanks!


1307.51 / 0 / 1289.68

Post Anniversary Report

My anniversary weekend was wonderful! I didn't keep track of calories, but I did not overeat--not even once. I don't just mean that I didn't binge; I didn't overeat. I stopped when I first started to feel full. Also, I didn't obsess over food. Usually on a trip like this, everything would be planned around the meals. Where do we eat? How many restaurants can we squeeze into one trip? How many of my favorite foods can I have? I didn't do that at all. I was so relaxed and happy spending time with Michael, I didn't even notice the food that much. We went to a festival that I know had concession stands right behind where we were sitting, but I couldn't tell you what was being sold. It just wasn't as interesting as talking with my husband and watching the boat races and people.

When we were ready to eat, we tried new places. I'm not usually big on trying new restaurants. What if it's not great? What if we "wasted" a meal on food that was just "okay" when we could have had my favorite meal at this other place? But I didn't do that. Food was just not the focus.

This may seem totally normal to some people, but it is a totally new thing to me. I've spent most of my life avoiding as much interaction with people as I can. Eating is a great way to avoid talking to people. But I didn't feel like that on this trip. It was a revelation. Maybe this is how normal people eat?

This morning we had another birthday breakfast at work. I had a spoonful of apple oatmeal that I brought, half a donuts, one slice of bacon, and a cup of chocolate milk. I also talked to someone new, which is also a big deal for me.

I have to work late until next week, so I haven't been hitting the gym at all. I hope to change that after this work project is finished. I'm still planning to make it to Walden Pond, so I will have to really step up my game.

Mostly, I'm just really proud of myself for this weekend!

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Went Wandering

Well, I'm back. The good news is I wasn't binging. I wasn't watching my caloric intake, and I did overeat, but I never binged. What kind of damage I did will be seen on October 1st when I weigh. I could go into the "reasons" I went off plan (sinus issues, migraines, etc.) but it comes down to laziness. I didn't "feel" like making the healthy food, so I didn't. I'm not sure how to change that.

Anyway, onward and upward!

This weekend is my anniversary trip. I'm going for 2000 calories a day for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I know I'll be getting in lots of walking, and the hotel has a pool.

I don't have a lot to share today; I just wanted to check in (does anyone even read these) and let you know I will be posting again. I'm back on plan. I will do this.


1307.51 / 0 / 1289.68

Fast Food Failure? Maybe not...

So yesterday was a frustrating day. Yeah, second one in a row. Sucks. My husband found out that the part he needs for his car isn't one he can install himself. That means the car will definitely be at the shop for a while. The good news is that the patch he did seems to be holding, so we have a little time to prepare for the inevitable. Still aggravating, though.

I was really looking forward to letting off some steam at the gym, not to mention getting some miles in for the blog. After work I walked across the parking lot to the gym. I decided to take a couple of photos since I had told you how dark and creepy my gym was. I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but my gym is in a historical building that used to be a movie theater in the 1950s. This is a picture of the ticket booth outside. It's okay during the day, but it's creepy once it gets dark.

Here is inside, from the balcony. You can see where the stage and movie screen used to be. All the weightlifting stuff is down there.

I'm usually in the balcony because that's where all the treadmills and ellipticals are. I didn't take a picture of that because it was full of people. I didn't want to add to the general creepiness of the place by being all stalkery. So what do you think? Creepy?

After I got my pics, I went to the dressing room to change. When I came back out, all the treadmills and ellipticals were empty. What luck, right? Nope. Turns out the circuit that powered that area of the gym blew or something. They were working on it.

Well, I was already there, so while they worked on it I went down to the strength machines and worked my shoulders a little bit. I have horribly weak shoulders. Seriously, it's hard for my to raise my hands above my head. So I did that. Then I went back upstairs to check the treadmills; they still weren't working yet. It's like the universe doesn't want me to get to Walden! I waited some more and tried out a few more machines, but eventually I had to go home. So I did go to the gym as promised, but I didn't get any miles in.

When I got home, everyone was in a bad mood: Michael about the car, my daughter because she had lost her mp3 player, and me because of the gym, the car, and one of our dogs had torn up the living room. Everyone wanted to eat out. We don't eat out too much. They wanted to go Long John Silvers for fish.

Now, I fully intended to get the healthy baked whatever with rice. But the thing is, I hate fish. I hate seafood in general. I always order chicken at seafood restaurants. The one exception is LJS's fish. I actually like it. So I caved. Now usually I would have 3 or 4 pieces of fish (drowned in lemon juice) and about 6 hush-puppies (also drowned in lemon juice). I knew I would be pushing it with my calories, so I only had two pieces of fish and three hush-puppies (and the lemon juice). I thought that if I skipped my fudge pops that evening, I would be under calories. I was wrong. When I got home and logged it, it put me 49 calories over.

Now, the old me would have quit the diet at this point. "Only four days in, and I've already messed up! This is impossible to do!" But last night I was able to look at the positives.

1. I ate much less at LJS than I normally would.
2. My calorie estimate was actually pretty accurate. 
3. I've done well for 3 2/3 days.
4. I've left the past 3 days with at least a few calories to spare.

So I wasn't even tempted to throw in the towel. I didn't have anything else to eat before bed. No fudge pops. Today I will stay under my calorie budget and carry on.

So here's my food from yesterday.

Breakfast: Whole wheat tortilla, two scrambled eggs, and 1/2 an avocado. 320 cal

Snack: Grapes. 29 cal

Lunch: Whole wheat pita stuffed with black beans, hummus, cucumber, and spinach with eggplant patties. 485 cal

Snack: Grapes 27 cal

Dinner: LJS--two fish pieces, three hush-puppies. 754 cal

Daily total: 1619

Bonus! I got 72 ounces of water in yesterday, and I'm still Co-Cola free!!

Today I'm hitting the gym again. Let's hope they have the treadmills working.

1307.51 / .5 / 1291.18 

The First Hard Day

Yesterday was the first really tough day I've had since starting this blog. As I was leaving work to head to the gym, my husband texted to let me know he was having car trouble. He'd made it home but needed a part. So I skipped the gym and went home so Michael could use my car for the part.

Car trouble really stresses me out. Michael and I have very different work schedules, so he has to leave the house 2 hours before I do. During the summer, it's not impossible for us to carpool, but during the school year, I take my daughter to school after Michael leaves. Having one car out of commission meant I would have to get up at 4:30, take him to work, come back, take our daughter to school, go to work, take a late lunch to pick him up at the factory where he works, drop him off somewhere to chill for a couple of hours so I could finish my workday, then when that was done, pick him up, pick up our daughter, and go home. I'm stressed just typing it!!

While Michael went to look for the part, I had all kinds of worst case scenarios going through my head. Before I even realized what I was doing, I had grabbed a package of Saltines and shoved one in my mouth. Then my daughter said, "Umm, Mom, not to bug you, but eating when you're stressed isn't the best thing."

I said, "But it's already in my mouth." I hadn't bitten it yet, just shoved the whole thing in there.

She said, "Give it to Valentine." That's my little dog.

I did it, too. I gave him the cracker rather than eating it. I was really proud of myself. Granted, I needed her help to even make me aware that I was doing it, but I did stop myself from what could have turned into a full blown binge.

As it turned out, Michael had to order the part, but he was able to do a patch job so he could get to work this morning. I still woke up early so I could go pick him up if he ended up stranded, so this is going to be a long day. I'm still determined to make it to the gym, though.

So here's yesterdays meals, with my binge avoided.

Breakfast: Whole wheat tortilla, two scrambled eggs, and 1/2 an avocado. 320 cal

Lunch: Whole wheat pita stuffed with black beans, hummus, cucumber, and spinach with three eggplant patties.485 cal

Snack: Grapes. 26 cal

Dinner: Half a serving of kielbasa and rutabaga soup with a double serving of salad. The salad was so good, I had another serving later. 578

Snack: Two fudge pops. 80 cal


Daily total:  1489 calories

Also, I haven't had a Coke since last Friday. That's four straight days drinking only water! I haven't had the withdrawal issues I've had other times I'd given up soda, no headaches or grouchiness. I really love Coca-Cola, but I just can't afford the calories on a daily basis, and if they are in the house, I'm going to drink them. I may still have one occasionally (like when I eat out), but I'm never keeping them in the house again.

1307.51 / .5 / 1296.68