TGIF

Wow, I haven't updated in what feels like quite a while. I think it's because I'm embarrassed. I haven't exactly been the beacon of discipline this week. With the days being a little unpredictable from my brother's move and other things, I haven't been watching things this week.I got on the scale this morning to see if I have back tracked, but fortunately, I'm exactly where I was on Monday - still down the original 3 pounds. I am the queen of maintaining. No, really. I have been in the same 5 pound range for at least 2 years. I apparently burn right around the amount of calories that I consume on a given day. SOO, if I would stick the exercise and calories-conscious eating, I know I would lose the weight. I'm actually (surprisingly) still very motivated, so I'll hopefully get back in the swing of things. When I feel discouraged, I just think back to the turning point moment and remember how i felt and that image in the mirror.

Calories Burned:

General sleeping, sitting, reading, brushing teeth, showering, hairstyling, driving – 1319 calories burned


Calories Consumed:

Breakfast
Granola Bar - 100

Should've Posted this on Monday

Wow. What a weekend. I'm so tired I'm not going to use exclamation points because they have too much energy. No, actually, I'm not too bad. I had the deepest night sleep I've had in a long time last night, I just wish I could have stayed in it a lot longer. I had a great, but BUSY weekend of helping my brother move. My parents came into town to help too. So as it always goes, all of the men were on heavy lifting duty. My brother's wife was helping with the moving too, while my mom and I kept their kids.

I didn't really watch things this weekend with the calories but I know I burned a lot!
Here's Monday #2 of May... I lost 3 pounds!

Friday, May 14, 2010 Tracking

Calories Burned:

General sleeping, sitting, reading, brushing teeth, showering, hairstyling, driving – 1319 calories burned

AM Elliptical - 30 minutes, intervals, 238 (burned a few more than usual today!)

Calories Consumed:

Breakfast
Granola Bar - 140

Lunch
Chicken and sausage gumbo - 240
5 crackers 70

Snack
bowl of fruit loops 1 cup with 1/2 cup milk 155

Dinner
Five Guys hamburger with tomato, lettuce, mustard, grilled onions, ketchup - 600
1/2 a regular fry - 310

Total Consumed: 1515
Total Burned: 1557

Thursday, May 12th, 2010 Tracking

Calories Burned:

General sleeping, sitting, reading, brushing teeth, showering, hairstyling, driving – 1319 calories burned


Calories Consumed:

Breakfast
Granola Bar - 140

Snack
apple - 80
almond granola bar - 160

Lunch
southwest veggie soup - 100
crunched up taco and salsa - 80

Snack
I fell off the wagon :( Not feeling good today and it got the best of me
cheez-its - 500-600
Laughing cow cheese 35

Dinner
chicken 70
green beans 30
peas 100
blueberry cobbler topping on ice cream - 200

Total Burned: 1319
Total Consumed: 1495-1595

I'm surprised, that's more than my daily goal of around 1200, but it's still actually not that bad. And considering how few calories I had yesterday, I'm okay with it for one day. The trick is to not give up. That happens so often it seems - you mess one time and you think, "well, I've blown it. Might as well eat whatever the rest of the day or maybe even quit the whole thing." I'm not going to do that this time. I'm staying on track! I want this more than I want to quit.

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 Tracking

Calories Burned:

General sleeping, sitting, reading, brushing teeth, showering, hairstyling, driving – 1319 calories burned

PM Elliptical - 30 minutes, intervals, 220

Calories Consumed:

Breakfast
Granola Bar - 140

Lunch
Sandwich -2 slices of toast, cheese, tomato, lunch meat chicken - 250
Cheez-its serving - 167 (a serving plus 3)

Dinner
Honey chicken 120+100
asparagus (oil) 50
toast with garlic butter 100

Total Consumed: 927
Total Burned:1539
+

Tuesday, May 11th Tracking

I realize that I'm posting these a day late, but it'll probably be that way often. So far I've recorded the dinner calories the next morning in my tracking journal, thus they show up the next day.

Calories Burned:

General sleeping, sitting, reading, brushing teeth, showering, hairstyling, driving – 1319 calories burned

Calories Consumed:

Breakfast
No breakfast today – had a crisis this morning (no exercise for the same reason)

Lunch
Leftover taco salad from last night – 300

Snack
Granola bar 160
With an apple 80

Dinner
Chicken pot pie and Caesar salad at home – 400
Cobbler and ice cream – 300

Total consumed: 1240
Total burned: 1319
+

Monday, May 10th Tracking

Here is the info I'm tracking with my exercise and nutrition.

Calories Burned:
General sleeping, sitting, reading, brushing teeth, showering, hairstyling, driving – 1319 calories burned (I'm not entirely sure about the accuracy of this, as I got it from an internet calorie estimator, but I'll go with it)

AM Ellipitcal – 30 minutes, intervals, 2.15 miles, 220 calories burned (this info I got from the machine)

Calories Consumed: (these numbers come from the labels/restaurant's website nutritional info)

Breakfast
Granola bar – 140

Lunch
Subway Turkey Breast – 280
With Apples slices – 35
With lemonade – 10 (they didn't have any diet coke, and since I paid for a drink, it's hard for me to choose water)

Snack
Carrots - 35

Dinner
Taco salad at home – ground turkey, taco seasoning, crunched up taco shells, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, shredded cheese – around 600

Other
Lots of water, I probably won’t record this because I always drink a lot of water.

Total consumed - 1065
Total burned - 1539
+ (this means I was on the positive side, more calories burned than consumed; I will put a minus sign if I consume more than I burn for the day)

And, we're back

Well, I'm back after a few weeks of absence. Actually, quite a lot has happened since I've last posted. Maybe my blog will be interesting now, haha. Well, I've been to Destin, Florida and Baltimore, Maryland over the last two weeks. I'm so glad to have gotten to visit the beaches before the effects of the oil spill shows its ugly face. I'm from the coast and am SO sad about what might happen to our beautiful beaches.
Anyway, both locales were very nice. This was my first time to Charm City and I liked it, but I was really ready to be home after having been gone for 2 weeks.
Another thing that happened in the last week is that I've made a very important life decision. I'll report on this soon...

Coming up this week is the deadline to sign up for a local Farmers Market which is now open to home bakers! I think I'll do it! Yay!

One of the most important things that happened since I last wrote is a new challenge, surprise, surprise. This one feels different though. I don't think this is something that I'm doing just because. I experienced a turning point, an aha moment, if you will, while I was in Baltimore.

I've fought the weight battle forever, as many have. I've tried a million "diets" and exercise programs. I'm not going to say that these programs don't work for me, I'm going to be honest. I did not give them the effort. I did not stick with them. I gave up long before they could present results. It's probably not so bad that I didn't continue some them, as they're not all the healthiest approaches.
So I told you that to tell you this. When i was in Baltimore, I was standing by the sink area of a ladies' room waiting on a friend of mine and I just happened to look in the mirror. That was the moment. I had a realization. The question came to my mind, how did I let it get this far? That was it. Right then and there I decided it's time for some changes. And it's not just about the way I look, it's about health.

As of yesterday, Monday May 10th, I, and my husband actually, have started making some healthier choices. It comes down to it - you have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. You also need to include not only low cal items, but nutritious elements like fruits and veggies - they're naturally low in calories mostly anyway.

This feels different to me than other "attempts". I feel fed up. I'm tired of being defeated by something that is 100% in my control. I can do this. I think I'll use this as a forum for tracking my progress. Who knows, maybe someone will be inspired!

Even though I have a new outlook, there will be some challenges. Other than the usual food temptations, as I mentioned before I will likely be participating in the Farmers Market. That means I'll be preparing numerous baked goodies every week. As a rule, I cannot serve something that I have not tasted, so this should make this pretty interesting. I suppose we'll see!

Yesterday's tracking info to follow...