Weigh-in Sunday is here!  My plateau is putting my patience to the test!  However, I did see a small improvement this morning.  I weighed in at 157.  That makes a total of one pound lost this week and a collective nine pounds in this venture.  I look forward to celebrating a ten pound lost hopefully this coming week.  Ten pounds is a third of the way to my goal! 

Today I was busy trying to get all the “stuff” on my to-do list that remained undone this weekend.  I ambitiously pulled out my washer and dryer to mop the floor and discovered more dirt accumulates under there in a year and a half than I expected!  My original dietary plan for today was to have a smoothie for dinner.  I was too busy with household chores and forgot!  Maybe I lost my appetite when I looked under the washer also...

So again I am coming up short on calories today, as I did yesterday.  However, I have no doubt I will make up for it.  I am not happy about it because my intention is not to "do without"!  However, I have to remind myself that I am not struggling to thrive.  I am a well-nourished individual and I will not continue to come up less than 800 calories regularly or on purpose.

Also, I want to share a great practice I learned from a good friend of mine.  A great way to add fresh spinach to a meal is to heat up your food then either put some spinach on top of it then put the lid on and let it steam for a couple minutes (just enough to heat it up but not let it shrink up).  Or sometimes I place the spinach on the plate or bowl then the hot food over it.  By the time I sit down to eat it, the spinach is warm and it adds a good nutritional element to the meal as well as taste and substance.  As you notice below, I took leftover Mexican food and added spinach.  Delicious!  By the way I do not know how spinach would microwave, as I do not own one.

Here is how my 725 calories worked out today:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
½ banana 2 cutie oranges 1 toast (I use Dave’s Killer Bread- the good seed-yum!) ½ Tablespoon almond butter	1 cup Spanish rice ¼ cup black beans ½ cup veggies 2 cups spinach ½ roma tomato Valentina hot sauce	1 cutie	¼ cup raspberries 4 cauliflower florets 1 Tablespoon hummus

Hello!  Twice a month, I eat out with my family.  Today, we enjoyed one of our favorites- a local Mexican restaurant.  Since I knew this was coming, I kept it light with some raspberries in the morning before going out.  I analyzed my calories and as best I can tell, yesterday’s prediction of my meal being about 1,000 calories was correct.  It was worth every bite! 

Also, the Epsom salt bath from last night has completely subsided my sore muscles from my recent running come back.  So today I ran just over a mile and half.  It felt great!  I have no hopes for tomorrow’s weigh in because I have been back and forth between 158 & 159.  Now that I am running and putting more calorie emphasis on the earlier hours of the day versus later, I am confident success will come.  Here is how my calories broke down today  (1077):

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
¼ cup raspberries	3 veggie fajitas w/ corn tortillas ½ cup black beans ¾ cup guacamole Tapatio 10 tortilla chips ¼ cup salsa	zilch	zilch

Greetings all!  Today I weighed myself and saw that I am seem to be stuck in a plateau without an end in sight.  I considered my options.  The first option that occurred to me was of course to give up.  Why am I doing this?  I am not willing to eat less than 800 calories daily, because this mission revolves around my health and happiness.  It seems as though this is where my body wants to be…so be it! 

Then I came to my senses and came up with a second alternative.   I need to switch things up in my diet!  So I decided I would turn my diet upside down like an hour glass and hopefully reverse the direction of momentum.  In short, I will have my smoothie in the evening for dinner instead of for breakfast and include a more filling breakfast and lunch.  I think it was a great idea, we will see if it brings results.  It may be hard to tell right away because I am pretty sure tomorrow I am going to eat at a Mexican restaurant as my only meal for the day.   It will probably be about 1,000 calories. 

Additionally, I was able to get a second run in this week so far.  Wednesday was my first run since November, so yesterday and today I was pretty sore.  However, today after my one mile recovery run I treated myself to a wonderful hot bath with Epsom salt.  It really helped with the sore muscles!

I almost don’t want to post my calorie intake today but I vowed to be honest along this journey.  I did not try to cut down like this and I do not condone a diet for an adult less than 800 calories per day.  It was probably because I was busy and also satiated by my large lunch.  Also I did not realize how little calories my breakfast had because it seemed like a lot compared to just a smoothie.  Altogether my calories were about 760 and here they are:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
¼ cup oatmeal sweetened with brown sugar on top of a ½ piece of toast with butter	1 large burrito (whole wheat tortilla, about ¾ cup I think of refried beans, tomato, onion, olives, spinach, & hot sauce) ¼ cup green grapes	Smoothie w/ almond milk, ½ T honey, 2 cups spinach, ½ banana & ½ cup blueberries *This time I added some fresh grated ginger to my smoothie. YUM!	None

Hello “weigh-in Wednesday!”   What is a journey without some bad news along the way?  Well this one is no exception.  Today I actually weighed one pound more than on Sunday…I weighed 159 flat.  A little discouraging, sure!  After all, I am looking for change in the opposite direction.  To top it off I ate about 1,225 calories today, which is a little over my target. 

I may be down, but I am not out, people! Ready for the good news?  This evening I went on my first run since November.  Why have I not run since November?!  I love it and it felt great!  Oh yeah…I strained my hip flexor muscle.  While exceeding 80 miles per month last summer in order to train for a half-marathon in September I strained my hip in the process.  Note to self: maybe hold off on the half-marathon six months after having your fourth child. The good news is the body is self-healing and I am going to ease myself slowly back into the game.  Tonight’s run was short and sweet (1.35 miles).  So far no pain- pray for me!  I would love nothing more than this to be the first of many runs which culminate in my come-back story. 

As for food, this is how today went:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Smoothie w/ almond milk, ½ T honey, 2 cups spinach, ½ banana & ½ cup blueberries	Fresh veggies (celery, cherry toms, carrots & green bell pepper) Hummus Applesauce (Aunt Joyce’s famous homemade pink applesauce- yum!) 1 cup chili	½ cup rice 1 curry chickpea patty 1 cup garden salad 1 T olive oil & vinegar dressing

I am capping my caloric intake at 2:30 today.  I kind of feel a bit “blah” and could easily needlessly snack if I allow myself today.  It is just one of those days…I think having a cold is one factor.  However, I made an attempt to lower my calories this morning by cutting out my half piece of toast.  Maybe that is why I am a bit cranky- I want toast!  We will see tomorrow on weigh-in Wednesday if my efforts made immediate impact.  Given the recent declining speed of my success; I doubt it. 

Here is how my nutrients broke down today which equals about 980 calories:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Smoothie w/ almond milk, ½ T honey, 2 cups spinach, ½ banana & ½ cup blueberries	½ sandwich with almond butter & honey ½ apple ½ of a left over roasted red potato- I couldn’t resist…	1 ½ cups Minnesota winter chili from Scott Jurek’s Eat & Run novel.  I love this recipe!	¼ cup raspberries

Happy Monday!  I had thought today would be the day I begin to run again.  I planned on going in the evening, but I could not manage to get out there.  I came down with a bad cold and feel tired from weekend travels.  Since it is always challenging to get up and get going back into the routine of running, I think I will just go ahead and give myself a few more days to fight this cold off.  It is slightly difficult to get breathing right, when you cannot breath out your nose in the first place.  In the meantime I will try to stuff as much spinach in my blender for smoothies as possible in order to boost my immune system.  Today I had about 1150 calories:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snack
½ piece toast w/ plant butter Smoothie w/ almond milk, ½ T honey, 2 cups spinach, ½ banana & ½ cup blueberries- YUM!	½ veggie sandwich ½ apple	Black bean burger on whole wheat bun with condiments and veggies 1 cup roasted red potatoes & baby carrots	¼ cup raspberries

Bring on Weigh-in Sunday!  Today marks the end of my second week on this expedition and much success has been had already.  My weight this morning was 158, which makes a total of eight pounds lost.  Also, I measured my waist, since I felt more comfortable in my jeans. J I was happy to see my waist circumference is down to 38.5 inches (from 40).  In two pounds I can say I am a third of the way to my goal (hopefully next week).  Something to look forward to indeed!

Today I followed a team of ten year olds into the pit of all dietary evil…Dairy Queen.  I wondered if I would experience any environmentally triggered cravings…but I am happy to say- not in the least!  It is not that I don’t want burgers or ice cream; because I do and I will have them.  However, when I do it won’t be from fast food.  I really enjoy my homemade veggie patties far more.  It is such a better quality of nutrients and the taste matches the quality.  Also, maybe because I am so, so ready for change, but I am not in the mood for ice cream!  Instead I really look forward to reaching my goal and to know that I am doing everything in my power to be the healthiest and happiest version of myself.  I have already learned over and over the short term satisfaction that comes in the form of my “soy dreams” ice cream container.  So today I would rather honor the body that God gave me.  Take that Dairy Queen!  Cheers to another successful week!

 January 23^rd, 2016

Hello people!  Saturday is in full swing and I travelled today, so the dietary challenges were abundant.  Because I try to not eat out too often or while travelling…I pack my food when I can.  So today my car was filled with kids, a patient fearless leader (husband) and foods that could easily be grabbed and disbursed while in route or on stops.  This included: bread, peanut butter, honey, and jam (for sandwiches), celery sticks, carrot sticks, raisins, tangerines, apple slices, the final few triscut crackers from a box, and granola bars.  Fortunately, the granola bars were not something I made in my kitchen so they were a no-no for me.  It worked out to be about 1200-1250 calories.  Today’s moral is “The peanut butter adds up!”  Tomorrow is weigh-in day so we will see how well I fared.

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Homemade Blueberry multigrain waffle- plain	½ Peanut butter & honey sandwich 1 1/2 full celery stick with peanut butter & raisins (ants on a log)	½ Peanut butter & honey sandwich 8 baby carrots 6 crackers 2 ants on a log	3 cuties 2 apples

Happy Friday everyone!  Last Friday I was sick so this day is already off to a better start!  Good luck with all the weekend temptations that come in the form of food.  As for me I am inspired by finally breaking free of my plateau.  I weighed 159 this morning- finally!  Good-bye 60's!  May we never meet again. Muah!

Today was Weigh-in Wednesday and unlike last week, it did not deliver good news…or bad news.  I am still exactly 160.  It is a bit frustrating to have progress slow down after such a successful week one.  However, I already knew there would be times like this…that is why it is hard and people quit.  That is why I have quit before.  In the meantime I am keeping on track and am going to wait it out.

 Also I want to share how much measuring cups have helped me.  I measure all my dinner portions and keep rice to a half cup.  That has been a great practice for me!  Here’s hoping for better news on Sunday’s scheduled weigh-in!  Here is a glimpse of   today’s diet, which equaled about 1175 calories:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
1 blackberry waffle	1 ½ cups broccoli 2 small red potatoes  Steamed together with salt and plant butter	½ cup brown rice 1 cup south African sweet potato stew	2 Cuties

   

Today my family enjoyed “linner” as we call it at a new Thai restaurant featured in the Yakima Herald on 2^nd street.  It was good!  I wanted to finish my whole bowl of curry but I left a meager ¼ of rice just to show some sort of sensibility.  My calories totaled about 1020 today:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Smoothie (banana, almond milk, spinach, flax meal, homemade applesauce)	½ veggie sandwich	1 bowl vegetable green curry 1 ¼ cup white rice	Zilch

Today our plans to eat out changed, so we continued our tradition of having our beloved Mexican food while watching our team (Seahawks) play.  I came to the table prepared to practice moderation ahead of time!  Maybe this can work for you also.  At the table on top of my plate I had measuring cups.  I measured my food, put it on my plate and did not consider adding to it.  At the end of the day I am at 855 calories:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
½ piece toast w/ butter	1 apple	2 corn tortillas 1 cup Spanish rice ½ cup guacamole ¼ cup refried beans 2 raw carrots	1 banana

January 17^th, 2016

Weigh-in Sunday is here!!!  First off, I want to say that this first week was a success for both this blog and my voyage towards a healthy BMI.  Drum roll please….my weight as of this morning is 160.4.  Tah-dah J!  Good-bye obesity!  (Remember 163 and down is not obese).  What kind of a state am I in to be so welcoming over my new “overweight” title?!  Also, part of this week’s weight loss may be in part due to getting sick this weekend, but I am happy as long as I am making progress of about two or three pounds lost per week. As it turned out, I lost six pounds.

 I have not exercised yet this year but if I have learned anything throughout all my running days, a person can run overweight…you still have to watch what you eat and your portions if you want to maintain optimal BMI health.  I am really excited to see how great I will feel once I add in my usual running element in addition with all these great nutrition decisions.  I will feel great!

I have a couple reflections from this week.  First off, early in the week my husband called me on his way home and asked if chips and salsa from a local restaurant sounds good (a nice treat you can grab to-go for $10).  My typical response- sure!  My actual response- it doesn’t sound good to my blog.  Lesson learned, this blog is holding me accountable. Yay! 

Secondly, a friend was surprised I already published my “before” pics.  I guess they thought I wouldn’t post them until I could instantly redeem myself with some “after pics.  How honest would that be though?  My whole vision for this blog is to be perfectly honest about where I’m at, where I’m going, and how I do it.  In a way, I am calling my shot.  I am going to lose thirty pounds.   People always ask “how did you do it?”  I will just say check out my blog.

Finally, now that I have shown such sensibility all week, here is what usually gets me…I am going to eat in a restaurant tonight.  It is hard to control calories and portions while eating out! My game plan is to eat very lightly before dinner, set a certain amount aside on my plate when it comes so that I don’t eat every bite, and try to eat by 4-ish.  Here’s hoping I can maintain my success!  Also, congrats to myself for a successful week of matching my dietary behavior to my intentions! 

Welcome to the weekend with all the dietary temptations that come with it!  I have an unfair advantage (if you can call it that).  Friday night I got a stomach bug.  I’m not really feeling like eating too much.  So when my family had lunch at Red Robin today, I was not interested.  Also, we usually make a special breakfast on Saturday mornings.  This morning my husband made pancakes and I had one small, plain pancake.  It was good!  I won’t always make that choice, I’ll have syrup when I want to but today I really did not think I needed it and I am glad.  It takes up calories for no nutritional value.  May we all make those discretions this weekend!  My calorie count was about 969 today:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
1 pancake 1 cutie ½ banana	½ veggie sandwich ½ cup applesauce (homemade with sugar)	1 whole wheat tortilla 1 ¼ cup black beans Guacamole (one avocado, one tomato, diced red onion, salt, pepper)	None

Today I made one of my family’s favorite meals for dinner…lasagna.  As we already discussed, moderation has not always been my strong point so today was a challenge.  I don’t really know if I prevailed or not.  On one hand…I had seconds on lasagna.  Whoops!  On the other hand, my total calories for the day were at about 1030 (right about where I want them to be).  So I will just call this a wash!  Here is what I had today:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
½ piece toast w/ plant butter Smoothie (banana, almond milk, spinach, flax meal, honey)	1 cutie orange ½ veggie sandwich	2 2x2 squares homemade vegetable lasagna 1 bowl garden salad w/ vinegar & olive oil dressing	¼ apple (I intended on having half but a five year old hijacked the other ¼

Hello “weigh-in Wednesday”!  This morning the scale brought the first good news of this voyage.  I am down to 164 pounds (there is a happy dance going on in my head).  This is the last pound of obesity for my height….next stop, “overweight”- Woohoo!

Generally, I knew before I even stepped on the scale, it would be good news.  Don’t we all know ahead of time?  That is why I avoided my scale like the plague during Christmas week.  I knew those festive little peanut butter bon-bons came with a price!

I will be posting tips that I find helpful to me throughout this process.  Today I want to share what makes it easier to not eat late or after dinner.  For me the key is to brush my teeth, and rinse with Listerine right after dinner.  If I wait, I may be tempted to take a bite or two while I am cleaning up after dinner.  If my mouth is all fresh and clean though, I do not even consider it.  Hope this can help you also!

I had some “before” pics, taken this morning.  After all, what is a good story without pictures?!  For the last couple months I kept thinking I was getting some bad and faulty pictures…the ones you see and say to yourself, “they shot my bad angle”.  It turns out I don’t really have a great angle when I am in the obese category.  So here they are:

 

Today’s calorie count was about: 883

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snack
½ piece toast w/ plant butter Smoothie (banana, almond milk, spinach, flax meal, honey)	1 cutie orange ½ veggie sandwich	1 lettuce wrapped home made lentil mushroom patty with ketchup, Dijon, tomato, onion, & pickle	Half apple ½ cup hummus 3 celery sticks

Here is to another day carrying out my dietary plan!  Today went well.  I conquered my challenge of moderation and was too busy to really think about it.  However, I think I already feel a bit of the anticipation we all get when we work hard for something…we want results and we want them now.  We live in an instant gratification society.  Be that as it may, the endurance element makes this a journey!  Here is what I had today: 

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
½ piece toast w/ plant butter Smoothie (banana, almond milk, spinach, flax meal, honey)	Garden salad w/ vinegar and olive oil dressing 5 cauliflower florets 1 cup curried cabbage & potato	1 bowl butternut squash soup	1 cutie orange 1 apple

This is about 1072 calories according to supertracker.gov.  By the way I think everyone should use that website to track their calories and or fitness minutes.  It is a great way to keep oneself accountable.  Speaking of fitness minutes…notice I have not posted about any?  Well that is because it is snowing on top of the ice with no end in sight.  A treadmill is sounding pretty great!  

So now that I have publicly stated my “specs” I woke up feeling all inspired to track my success online!  Even though I plan on posting my weight on Wednesdays and Sundays, I have to say this morning I got on the scale with a smile on my face but found that I indeed gained one pound somehow.  Why?  Only one conclusion came to mind…Murphy’s Law in full effect in my life, haha.

Whatever, I am entirely un-phased by this!  I shall not be derailed.  Now to share my “diet”!  First off, when I say diet I mean the food that I eat regularly.  I do not believe people should go on diets that are not built to last, unless it is just to get a jumpstart on progress.  I also do not believe in spending any money on a plan.  I think some good philosophy, produce department, and pair of Nike’s are all we need for a healthy lifestyle.  With that being said, believe it or not this obese girl eats really healthy foods.  I think I eat more vegetables and more mindfully than most people I know.  Then why am I obese?!  Enter my old nemesis…proportion. 

I love food!  I love to cook it, plan for it, shop for it, smell it, eat it, and experiment with new recipes…the whole process is fun.  All except one tiny detail…buyers regret after I have eaten too much.  The good news is, I know my body.  When getting a minor in “Health and Wellness” I became quite familiar with tracking my diet and exercise and figuring out what works for me.  The results?  I need to eat way less than the accepted recommendations for calorie counts in order to lose weight.  I have to keep my calories between 800-1200ish daily in order to lose weight.  Additionally I seem to do best if I do not eat too much later than 4:00 pm.  Because I do not work right now, I can do that.  I may be one of the only non-retirees I know that has eaten dinner by 4. 

Sometimes it baffles my mind that some people have to “try “  to gain weight.  The truth is we all have such biological differences, that there is not a golden rule other than eat right… exercise … and practice moderation.  The latter being my struggle.  So today I did not do my best at moderation, but I could have done worst…of course I have done worst.  Here is what I had:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
½ Piece toast w/ plant based butter Smoothie: (1 banana, 7 ice cubes 2 T. flax meal, ½ T honey, 2 cups fresh spinach)- my usual!	2 cutie oranges ½ veggie sandwich	Small garden salad w/ olive oil and vinegar dressing Bowl of homemade butternut squash soup	3 celery sticks 1 ½ cup cauliflower ½ cup hummus

All of this equals to be about 1250 calories according to supertracker.gov.  Well, there it is…day two.  I’m still determined to let my BMI reflect the priority of my health.  Cheers!