Today's plan.....

I spent half the day today cleaning  a friends house! That should eat up a few calories :)

Last night i put some split pea and ham soup on so that it was ready for me to take for lunch today. And i forgot to take a picture of it.

Came home and cleaned my own place :)

Snuffy was looking particularly cute this morning:

Tonight i'm making up a menu plan because i'm just about out of the current one! I also need to make a grocery list for it. This definitely saves me a lot of time. 

Sorry not much to say today, for a change :) Have a great night everyone!

On my walk...

Reason for the hat?? It was freezing!! Thanks Ron for sending your weather my way :)

Thanks guys :)

I received the nicest e-mail from someone who has been following my blog for about a year!! Thank you Linda :) You made might day. And a big hug and a thank you to everyone who sent such nice comments!!

Today i'm off to a meeting and then i'm meeting my walking group and hopefully taking some new pictures.

I am feeling better today. I guess we all just have some days that are harder than others.

I don't want to offend anyone but i felt i should warn people what my experience was. Remember a while ago i did very, very low carb. It was actually the first two weeks of south beach. Well at the end of the two weeks i felt really, really bad. I had an incredibly dry mouth no matter how much i drank and i had zero appetite, in fact i had to force myself to eat.

Well it turns out that when you do low/no carb. It's incredibly hard on your kidneys. And remember i have bad kidneys and in fact one doesn't function. Now i didn't know this when i was eating this way. I found out from my dr after. The reason i was incredibly thirsty is that the kidney are working so hard to process the ketones etc that you become dehydrated. Now this is just my opinion and no i'm not going carb crazy now. It's just that i can never again go that low in carbs and if i was to ever do south beach again(which i probably will never) i would start at level 2 or 3 where there are more carbs. I just felt i better warn you, especially if you've ever had problems with your kidneys.

Anyway i'll be back later with pictures i hope. Although it is raining and dull here again today!!

Back to normal today...

Well i'm back and to prove it i started my day with Pumpkin pie french toast and i'm off on a walk even though it's wet and dreary!!

Now as far as my weekly weigh in and goals i'm giving myself a pass this week. I know my weights up a bit and honestly i really don't want to go near my scale. So i'm going to be kind to myself and skip it this week, but don't worry it will be back next week. I'm just feeling bloated and i know i won't like what i see!

After having a day off, you guys are right i feel like i'm in a better place mentally :) I know i can do what needs to be done and i don't feel as overwhelmed.

I think part of it is that i'm soooo close to goal and i just never seem to reach it. It's close but untouchable!! Now i'm thinking i will get there, just don't focus on how long it's taking.

Oh and last night someone got in touch with me from the Nuru fitness decks/cards and has offered to send one for me to review and two for my readers so i guess i'm going to have my first give away soon! Stay tuned for more info :)

Taking a me day!

So today i'm going to take your advise and take a me day! No major post, no food pictures i'm going to veg until i have to get ready for work :)

Back to normal tomorrow!!

Back to work again...

Yes it's back to work today :) And being that it's friday it's going to be a busy one. Did i tell you they have a new donut out now at work, key lime!!

So i'm on my way out the door for a walk. Weights have already been done today, but i have a confession to make. Yesterday although i had planned to, i chose not to exercise but to take a day of rest and i'm o.k with that. I think i needed it.  I'm still 4/5 days this week so far. Not too shabby.

Does anyone else ever just get tired? Tired of journalling, counting points, counting calories, worrying about exercise, trying to get water in!! I must admit yesterday i just felt tired of it all. Today not as much, but sometimes it does get overwhelming. What do you do when you get like that?? Any suggestions?? I'm not giving up but sometimes it just seems to take so much energy out of me, and i feel like i'm alone in this fight!!

Oh well i must get some things done before work :)

Today's plan....

Today i plan on going for a nice walk, doing some cleaning around the house, doing my weights and then vegging :) 

And yep more goodies left on the table at work! Nope didn't touch :) Me thinks someone is trying to clean their house of candy??

Yep i plan on curling up with a book and a cup of tea and getting some serious reading in!

Ha, i peeked at the scale this morning and i laughed, it was up quite a bit. Now the reason i laughed is that there is absolutely no reason for the gain, oh well that's part of life and i'm definitely not bothered by it today.

So to start my day off right i had banana protein pancakes:

Back to work today

I'm working for someone else today so i get tomorrow off instead :)

The plan for today is to do some weights, and either go for a walk or do a DVD before work.

Wow i can't believe how much i'm enjoying working out! Used to be hard to get the energy to get up off my chair.

Had 2 NSV's yesterday:

1. Just a few blocks before i got to the meeting i checked my watch and it was getting really close to when i should be at the office! So i was going to hop a bus the rest of the way. I thought about it and realized that i was making excuses and i did have enough time to get there and get more steps in!

2. When i went to the meeting they had a shepherds pie, homemade butter tarts, cheese, fruit and buns. I was thinking about having a butter tart but decided it would be a set back so i decided not to. Also when i used to go to meetings i would spend a lot of time deciding whether to up to the table to get seconds. It used to be the main thing on my mind. By not wanting this stuff anymore i have paid more attention to the meeting and i feel good about myself when i go home!

Well that's all i can think of today. Have a great day :)

On my first walk :)

Back on track :)

Yes yesterday i stayed on track and nary a single item of sugar passed these lips!!

Today I'm going for a walk, and then i'm also going to walk to a board meeting where i will once again take my own food since i don't have a clue what they will serve :) And that will make 3/7 days for this week so far.

I do notice that since i can't get to my walking groups this week my pedometer step numbers are down a bit. Will have to fix that.

Last nights turkey sloppy joes turned out awesome and even the hubs was enjoying them.

Oops i did it again!

Yes the treats finally got to me! I was o.k. until i went to work where there was a big box of chocolates on the table. And yep i grabbed a couple. Then while i'm eating my dinner a very nice lady that works there gave  me some homemade Baklava :) Oh my it was sooooo good and well worth the points i used, but when i got home i threw out the rest so that i wouldn't be tempted anymore.  I didn't use all my flex points and i have enough left for the rest of the week, plus i never use my activity points so i'm not really worried. But yep, i'm human. Unfortunately i forgot my camera at home :(

Yesterday i did a WATP dvd and did my weights!! And today i'm going to be shampooing a friends carpets, plus my weights :) So that makes 2/7 days this week so far.

I'm also working on catching up to housework. A little bit a day goes a long way!

That's all for today.

Weekly weigh in and goal update....

I had a fantastic week!! I exercised 7 out of 7 days, i was bang on in the eating department, but i stayed at the same weight. And you know what?? I'm perfectly o.k. with that. I'm feeling strong and healthy and that means more to me than what the scale says :)

Here's my stats for this week:

1.# of days on plan-7  

2.# of days i exercised= 7  

3.Out of 35 flex points i used=10  

4.Activity points earned=16  

5.Activity points used= 0  

6.Average steps this week from my pedometer= 9,209/day

And here's last weeks goals:

 

1. To exercise at least 5 days this week.Done 

2. Drink 8 cups of water a day.Done 

3. Keep enjoying my food by planning ahead.I loved my food this week and yep i planned it all! 

4. Practice de-stressing.I went through some major stress this week but dealt with it and moved on :)

This weeks goals:

1. To exercise at least 5 days this week again :)

2. Try to drink green tea daily.

3. Keep doing my weights every morning.

4. Relax!!  

Today.....

Today went for a nice walk! And that, my friends, will make 7 days out of 7 for the second week in a row :) And did i say i've been doing weights every morning as well, working different muscles daily. Well i have! And yes i saw more grass today :)

Yep that was my brekkie today. Oats, banana, peanut butter and chocolate chips! Very tasty.

I'm also going to make more carrot muffins. They were awesome and very handy to have in the freezer. I know i posted it before but go here if you'd like the recipe :)

Check out my other blog to see what goodies were on the table when i got to work the other day :)

I had my review....

So i just got back from my review and they said i was an excellent employee, of course :) Oh and i got a raise!

The only thing they'd like me to do, is to delegate more so i'm not running myself ragged!! I can deal with that.

Here's to everyone having a great weekend.

Not sure anymore!

My original plan was to get to 125 which is at the top end of recommended weights for my height.

Now i'm looking at myself with open eyes and i'm thinking realistically i might try for 120.  Now i know to some this may seem really low but i'm only 5'0". It really isn't.

So for now i'll be happy when i reach 125 but i think i'm going to push on a little further, although goodness knows how long it will take me. I'm pretty slow at losing and staying down :) 

My daughter is coming for a visit from Holland this summer and my hope is to be where i want to be by the time she comes :) Great for motivation!

Today i've got to run to the grocery store and then i have a yearly job review, then i'm home for lunch and then off to work. Busy, busy as usual!

But first i'm doing some weights, that makes 6 days out of 7 :)

And the results....

First i walked to and from the dr's so that's 45 mins of walking for 5 days out of 7!!

Now for the Dr's news:

My good cholesterol HDL is 58 and good is considered between 50-60 so that is great :)

My triglycerides are normal

My LDL bad cholesterol is high 161!!

But i'm already taking something to help lower it as well as doing everything else possible! So the doc and i agreed with what i am doing. The only problem is that the arthritis medications i'm on have a lot of side effects. And one of them is that long term use (and i've been on them since i was 22) increases your risk of heart attack by 70%. So we're trying to stop one of the medications and if i can't go without it, he's prescribed another one that has the least amount of side effects.

Now for the good news, although my one kidney is very small and hardly functioning, my kidney function tests came back at low/normal. So we're just going to keep an eye on them and i have to have bloodwork/+other tests done every three months.

Other than that he says i'm doing everything i can do :)

Deja vu!

I've heard other people say they've had dreams about eating. Well now i'm one of them! 

Yesterday as i was reading blogs there was a lot of talk about binge eating. I am a binge eater, i know that, but i've kept it at bay for quite a while now. Last night i dreamt i had a BIG binge with candy, and i'm talking a lot!!!

I woke up and was thinking i'd better not step on the scale as i've eaten soooo much. Lol i hadn't had any and i'd stuck right to plan :) Although the scale was up anyway. Ha, that's what i get for peeking mid-week. I'm really not worried about it.

But i found it really weird that i woke up and actually believed that i'd had a binge, totally believed it.  Anyone else done that???

Today's plan is to go to the dr this morning to find out the results of my blood test that he wants to discuss!! I'll let you know what happens.

Great information

As you know i'm going to the dr on thursday to get the results of my blood work. Annette had a great post about cholesterol. Lots of information. I will definitely be going back to that post after i get my numbers on thursday :) 

This morning i started off the day with one of my favorites a Suzi McMuffin and fruit and yogurt: sorry about the fuzzy picture!

Off to another meeting this afternoon and of course i'm going to walk there, so today will be 4 days out of 7 so far for exercise!!

Tonight hubs and i are going to visit a friend and i know we'll enjoy that.

Have a great day everyone :)

On my walk today....

What a beautiful day and a gorgeous walk :) Went out for 60 minutes!! 

We still have snow though.

Ralph's before and after (so far :)

As you know the hubs had a mild heart attack at the end of September, well he dug deep decided to start eating what i do and in moderate portions.  He always exercised almost everyday even before the heart attack but now he exercising "in the zone" :) And boy has it paid off. At his highest he was 225 which was more the the before photo's here, at the time of his heart attack he was 200 and now he's 164!!  He inspires me every day.

It works for me!

Here's what i've been doing this week to help me get the results i want.

1. Drank at least 8 cups of water everyday.

2. Drank green tea daily.

3. Really, really enjoyed the food i made for myself!! (this for me is very important :)

4. Exercised everyday.

5. Got some weights in.

6. Did some little extra things, extra steps when i could, walk up stairs 2 at a time, standing instead of sitting etc.

7. Too time to put my feet up and relax!

Little things really do add up!!

Thanks

I iced 66 cupcakes for the bingo today :) And i didn't even have a lick! I simply wasn't tempted, which for me is awesome.

Spring is coming, but they're still skating on the outdoor ice rink at city hall.

Oh and a big thanks to everyone who follows me, i hit 100 today!!

Be careful!

This is why i sometimes weigh things just to see if what they say you get you actually do!! Not that i go crazy over things but just keeping my eyes open!!

Monday's plan

Well today i get to have lots of fun!! I'm helping to do a bingo afternoon where i volunteer and it's always a blast :)

Oh and of course i'm going to walk most of the way there so that's my exercise for today. 1 out of 7 days so far this week.

I have a question. I've read a few of the bloggers talk about using Braggs liquid. I saw it in my grocery store and have no idea what it is or how you use it. Is it high in sodium?? Anyone out there that uses it could you share :)

And i started the day with this: Grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich, yummers!!

This is what was waiting for me on the table at work last night. When i first got into work there was about 20 of them, and nope i didn't have even one because if i did most of that bag would be still in my tummy today.

Today's walk...

Oh and Ron there's a picture for you here, it has green in it :) Spring is a coming!!

Busy!

Wow, last night was crazy last night!! It was out the door busy when i started and it was so full of people and so loud it was driving me nuts :)

However, at least the night went quickly. And then i was on my way home where the hubs had made a nice cup of green tea for me! Every night that i work he has a cup of tea waiting for me, he's been doing this for 16 years. O.k he's a keeper.

So today will be my 7th day out of 7 for exercising. I'm going to go for another walk today. 

Oh Cammy is giving away a weight watchers cookbook be sure to go visit her for a chance to win it!

That's all for today, stay tuned for my weekly weigh in and goal update tomorrow.

My walk

This walk gives me 6 out of 7 days exercising so far :)