Weigh-in Sunday brings good news alas!!! I am down 15 pounds now (almost half-way to my target of 132 lbs).  So my weight is now 151.  What a great change it was to see some success in the scale department after weeks of plateauing.  Today I spent the day watching basketball games and am not willing to analyze my calorie count, versus go to bed.  But here is what I had- interestingly there are no grains in today’s calories (just fruit, veggies, and protein):

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
1 smoothie	1 apple	2 cups green salad with toms, avocado, peas, red onion & ranch Steamed broccoli topped with veggie marinara sauce- I love subbing the pasta for broccoli! Delish!

February 25, 2016

Hello!  After careful consideration about how to best approach my plateau…I have decided to be strict about keeping my calories capped at 800 daily, until I get through this, then I can go back up to 1200.  Because I am not a person who has success, makes the right decisions, or feels very good if I follow the theory that we should eat small amounts several times a day- that is not my approach.  Instead, I am going to have my small breakfast late and my dinner early and no snacks or meals at lunchtime.  For example, today I made a smoothie at 10:30.  I was pleased to see that I really was not hungry by lunch time.  However, by 2:00 I was quite ready for dinner.  My calorie count was about 730 at best.  Here is how it broke down:

Breakfast	Dinner
Smoothie (almond milk, banana, blueberries, honey & spinach)	2 enchiladas (meatless and no dairy of course) served over a bed of baby spinach topped with ¼ cup guacamole

May this plan be the demise of the 150’s zone! 

February 24, 2016

Hello people! Weigh in Wednesday is same ole, same ole this week.  I have been stuck on 154 pounds (total of twelve pounds lost) for a week and it is a test of patience, consistency, and not becoming discouraged and giving up.  Throughout my dietary past, I have usually practiced two philosophies when plateau is the only result of my effort. 

a)      I try to remember that my body is actually fighting to keep all that it worked hard to store and is fighting the change at all costs BUT… persistence will win!

b)       I can either continue on the slow and steady approach or hit my metabolism with a new impact of reduced and/or changed calories.

In the case of my current situation, I am not sure what to do.  On one hand, this voyage is all about behavior change and consistent good choices over time, so I am inclined to go for the slow and steady route.  However, it has been a little too slow and not steady enough.  It is said that a weight loss of 2-3 pounds per week is a healthy rate.  I am not achieving that at this point. 

So on that note, I am inclined to cut my calories down to a firm 800 per day and let the long awaited results come my way.  The only problem with that?  I would be going hungry daily…that is something I typically have not done throughout losing the last twelve pounds.  I have had 800ish calorie days, but more commonly 1200ish.  Time will just have to tell with this one, but I would like to be at my goal weight by May.  If I am to achieve that, I have three months to lose 22 pounds.  That is totally do-able if I lose two pounds a week from here on out.  Wish me luck, wisdom and above all good health!

Today, I did not get my morning run in…however I did better on calories and was under a thousand today.  Hooray!  Tomorrow I will get my morning run in and I expect to feel like a million bucks after such making healthy choices the last couple days.

I made some pretty amazing enchiladas today and followed my plan of having only one.  I got the recipe from “oh she glows” and they are called “next level vegan enchiladas”.  I would definitely recommend this recipe to a friend.  I had my mother over for dinner and she was surprised by how much she enjoyed these enchiladas without cheese.  So check them out if you want! 

Today my calories were about 970:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snack
½ toast with plant butter Smoothie (the usual)	½ peanut butter & honey sandwich ½ apple	1 enchilada 5 tortilla chips	Orange

Today I have to share my small success story.  I have already lost one of the two pounds I gained this week after a day of high calorie intake.  Also, I had leftover homemade pizza for lunch and I had one piece (it was large, but one all the same).  I have learned in life how small goals lead to large goals so I am celebrating my healthy practice of moderation today! 

Today I am having leftover soup tonight so I already know what my calorie intake for the day.  Here is how the 1200 calories breaks down:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
½ piece dry toast 1 smoothie	1 piece no cheese veggie pizza Carrots Cauliflower Celery Vegan ranch	1 bowl tortilla soup 2 tortillas	1 Orange

Well, weigh-in Wednesday is not good news as forecasted.  Again, I know what I have to do with my calorie count in order to achieve my BMI goal.  Today I ended up weighing in two pounds heavier than on Monday!  If that does not bring home the cause and effect of my actions, I don’t know what will.  Yesterday’s dietary decisions came with a price!  I have a feeling it is going to come right off, though. 

Today is the second Wednesday of the season of Lent.  My husband and I agreed to fast each Wednesday from sunrise to sunset (eating only dinner) during Lent.  So, today my calorie intake was just fine, even though I went ahead and enjoyed a second bowl of soup.  It was hard to analyze but as far as I can tell my calories were at or less than 650. Here is what I ate today:

Dinner

2 bowls of veggie stock based tortilla soup (no dairy products or meat- just broth, beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic, bell peppers, and spices for soup with toppings which included cubed avocado, tortilla chips, corn tortilla, and cilantro). 1 small dinner salad (1 cup) w/ ranch and two saltine crackers on it

February 16, 2016

Greetings!  Well every journey has its ups and downs and today my calorie count was up, so tomorrow my weight will surely not be down.  It is at the end of the day and I have learned a couple things…

1)      There are a ton of calories in peanuts and raisins alone, so do not add a soda (even though it is amazingly yummy).

2)      If your spouse has steamed and halved red potatoes in the fridge and you come home from errands starving …DO NOT indulge in them. Look the other direction or shove the nearest celery stick down the hatch for distraction if you have to!

3)      Save your calories for pizza when you know your going to make it because you love it and will likely have 500 plus calories in pizza alone.

Today for whatever reason I just got exhausted and extremely hungry and my mission became a faint voice in my head.  I did not feel tormented or really sorry about my choices until I entered them into my food tracker tool.  Tomorrow is made for better choices but I will inevitably be dealing with today’s consequences because tomorrow is my mid-week weigh in and it cannot be good news.  I will keep my fingers crossed for a “get out of jail free card.” 

Here is what all this rambling is about…1865 calories…only double my target!

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Smoothie w/out banana ½ toast w/ plant butter	½ veggie sandwich 1 red potato w/ ketchup 1 cup potato soup	5 pieces of thin crust homemade pizza (no cheese, w/ veggies) Garden salad w/ ranch	¼ C. raisins ¼ C. peanuts 1 Blue Sky Root Beer made with real sugar

PS- I did get a 2.5 mile run in this morning, which burned about 300 calories.  Thank goodness for running!  

February 15, 2016

Good morning and Happy Presidents Day!  It feels like this blog took a back seat to all my other priorities this week.  I travelled out of town and was unable to participate in my Sunday weigh-in event.  So welcome weigh-in Monday I suppose.  This morning I saw that I am down another pound.  With traveling and eating late in the evenings the last couple nights, I am just grateful I am not up.  So I am at 154 pounds which makes a total loss of 12 pounds so far. 

I don’t have an exact account of what I ate while traveling, but I packed my own food aside from a Saturday night taco salad with a friend.  I successfully travelled overnight without eating out or gaining weight (the two are probably related).  I packed peanut butter honey sandwich supplies, soy & wasabi almonds, peanuts & raisins (an amazing combination), apples, cuties, and fresh cut veggies with ranch and hummus. 

Overall I am very happy with this week even though I only lost one pound.  It is hard to stay on track when your kids bring home all kinds of Valentine junk food and also when you are traveling out of town overnight, but I am proud to say that I have stayed on track.  I’ll happily take my one pound loss and keep moving on!  In five pounds I have the “40’s” to look forward to.  What could be better?  After all,  I weighed 166 pounds in early January.  Here’s to my slow and steady progress and hopefully yours if you have similar goals!

February 10, 2016

Weigh in Wednesday is here and I am standing strong with my eleven pound loss still (at 155 pounds).  Today is also Ash Wednesday.  In observance of this special day, my husband and I fasted between sunrise and sundown.  Then in the evening we enjoyed a homemade soups, bread, and salad.  It was indeed a real treat! 

The bad news?  Well, I was pretty hungry by the evening time and the aroma in my kitchen from the  tomato soup, potato soup, and bread was amazing.  So of course I attacked my dinner.  The soup and salad were not bad at all, especially since they were vegetable broth based, with no dairy or cream of any kind (and still delicious I promise) - it was the bread that got me.  Ok, so maybe I should not have eaten four slices…but hey, the damage is done now so I just have to fess up and move on.  Did I mention I was hungry? 

The day’s result equaled into about 920 calories (half of which was bread alone which sort of makes me want to cry a little):

Dinner

1 ½ cups green salad with homemade ranch 3 saltine crackers 1 bowl of tomato soup 1 bowl of potato soup 4 slices of homemade bread with plant butter

Happy Happy Day!!!  I am pleased to report that almost a month ago I began this voyage to obtain and maintain a healthy BMI and today I am a third of a way there.  My weight this morning was 155-  down 11 pounds!  This is a huge milestone!  The first ten pounds has given me inspiration and provided encouragement to keep going!

This weekend I have not gotten to blog much, but I would like to recap briefly.  Friday evening I celebrated Valentine’s Day by having dinner with family.  Two things kept me on track that day.  First of all I made sure to not starve myself all day in anticipation of having a feast (in order to not overeat at dinner).  Instead, I had conservative portions throughout the day.  Secondly, I enjoyed everything on the menu I wanted to, at a reasonable amount.  The key to keeping morale, was to ensure I had a dessert to enjoy with the family.  I prepared a chocolate pudding with carob chips, measured out a quarter of a cup and brought it with me.  Clearly no damage was done because I still lost two pounds this week.  Also, Saturday I had a dinner out with family.  I prepared my own ranch dressing ahead of time and packed it, then created my own salad when I got there. 

So, you can say Friday and Saturday went very well dietarily and otherwise.  Sunday has been a great day, but I did celebrate the Super Bowl holiday with plenty of white rice, baked beans, chips, guacamole, and pico de gallo. That is okay!  I don’t plan on living my life without these things or celebrations.  I also don’t plan on letting myself be defined by food, which to some degree happens when a person is overweight. 

Even with my celebratory food today, my total calories were not too terrible at 1240:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
½ toast with butter Blueberry smoothie	1 cup rice 1 cup baked beans	½ cup rice ½ cup guacamole ¼ cup pico de gallo	Sriracha chips (one serving of 13 chips) Blue tortilla chips (8) Guacamole Dip & Pico

  

Weigh-in Wednesday is here and my weight this morning was 157 flat.  No change from Sunday on the scale.  There is change in my approach though!  I am no longer going to carry on with my latest plan of switching my lunch meal into dinner and have a smoothie for dinner.  It is not working for me at all.  I find myself overeating during lunch because I only have a smoothie to look forward to later that day. 

I call that pattern “preventative eating” because you are eating with an intention to compensate for future missed meals, versus eating a sensible and satisfying portion.  That kind of thinking and dietary behavior is not healthy.  I compare it to filling your stomach like you would fill up your car with gas.

I have to conclude from this that I still struggle with moderation.  Behavior is a funny thing.  It is hard to just change because you want to.  Even when a person feels determined, old habits are indeed hard to kick.  Luckily, I am in the mindset to embrace my mistakes and struggles on this voyage and forgive myself without the enabling future bad behavior.  After all, how else can I learn new habits?

In other news, I was able to complete my first morning run of 2016 today.  It was invigorating me!  I love to start the day with a run.  The fresh, crisp, cool air awakens the body and mind, while the physical exertion jumpstarts your system and by some miracle creates joy.  I hope everyone finds a way to get moving and enjoy the outdoors on a regular basis.  It is an unmatchable experience!   

A couple years ago I watched a PBS documentary about some high school kids on a cross country team.  I really enjoyed it.  I think it was called “Racing the Rez” or something like that.  Everyone should check it out.   Anyways, the native tribe featured apparently believes that to get up and run before and during the sunrise is a spiritual experience.  There have been countless mornings that I am running into the eastern sky, thinking the same thing.  Good stuff! 

Today is hopefully the last day I report a meal of total mis-proportions for lunch (Monday was a 4 egg roll mis-hap).  My calories totaled 1102 and this is how it went (notice I had too big of a lunch to have an evening smoothie-bad idea):

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snack
2 T granola 1 cutie 1 toast w/ almond butter 3 raspberries	2 lentil/rice mix burritos w/ pico de gallo, spinach, & hot sauce 3 avocado spears		2 cuties 5 cauliflower florets 3 T hummus ¼ cup acorn squash w/ brown sugar

Today I was just hungry!  I have not been really hungry throughout this voyage until last night.  My husband popped some popcorn at about 8:00 pm for him and the kids, while I had accidently forgotten to have my smoothie for dinner.  On 700 some calories for the second day in a row, I started to feel neglected (which is why it is important not to go hungry while trying to lose weight in a healthful manor).  So that is how I ended Sunday night…with a rumbling belly.

 Then to my unpleasant surprise, I woke up at about 2:30 am and could not get back to sleep until well after four.  During those crucial hours laid awake in my hungry state, I started to think about having a mid-night snack.  Conveniently, my baby started to cry at about 3:30 and gave me an excuse to get out of bed.  Do you think I went right back to bed after caring for my little one?  Oh no…I stopped by the fridge and poured myself a small cup of apple juice and cut a half banana to go with it.  It seemed like a healthy way curb the hunger pangs distracting me from sleep. 

Much to my dismay, as I was analyzing calories today I learned apple juice has about 100/cup!  Next time I would opt for a glass of water and a fruit.  No wonder we are told to have our children eat fruit, not drink it.  Lessoned learned!  I’m not even sure how that juice even got there.  It must have been left over from a “snack mom” moment.  But next time I may be the snack mom coming in with miniature bottled waters for the kids.  Good thing I’m not worried about being the “cool mom” when it comes to nourishment.

Sadly, the juice at four in the morning was not today’s biggest error.  I made the best egg rolls I have ever made before, so I had no other choice but to eat four of them, right?  Wrong, but that is just what I did.  Today was more of a reflection of how I ended up obese this year versus where I am going.  However, I am not down in the dumps by any means.  Tomorrow is another day, and I believe in change! 

Here is how all 1,240 of my calories broke down:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
¾ cup apple juice 1 banana (1/2 at a time) 1 toast w/ almond butter	¼ cup raspberries 5 florets cauliflower 2 T hummus ¼ cup acorn squash w/ brown sugar- yum	4 homemade meatless egg rolls (Note: next time three will do) w/ soy sauce & sriracha	1 ½ cuties