The Weekly 5

Last week’s:

1. Double my workouts. – Actually didn’t work out at all this week. Sick!
2. Drink at least 8 cups of water a day. – I was faithful in this until I got sick.
3. Do the FIRM workout in it’s entirety. – Didn’t get that done either…
4. Continue the 10 sit-ups a day. - Nope
5. Cook a healthy recipe and do a post on it. – Nuh uh.

Yeh, not quite sure why I’m even posting these this week! lol But I am cutting myself some slack due to unforeseen circumstances.

So I’m going to make this easy for myself and stick to the same goals as last week. One exception. To number 1, I’m going to attempt to do the 30 day shred for 30 days, starting tomorrow. So this will be my Tuesday/Thursday workout and if I want to do another workout that day I will, but if I’m tired, I won’t. But I will also continue my C25K MWF, or at least 3 times a week.

I’m really afraid of the scale this week. While I had lost all of that weight when I got sick, I gained it all back and some more. Want to know why? This is gross but my body is holding everything I eat in. That’s right. I haven’t had a “movement” since I started eating food again on Friday evening. UGH- When will it be back to normal? It’s quite uncomfortable. Any recommendations for my “troubles”? lol Sorry for TMI!!

Health!

I’m feeling MUCH better today, THANKFULLY!

We even went to go get groceries this afternoon and stopped at Panera bread for lunch. I had their new Medditeranian Salmon Salad. This was really delicious and I would recommend giving it a try next time you’re there. I always get the You Pick 2 Combo, and the half salad is 6 points. It’s great that Panera has a nutrition calculator on their website now too!

I got lots of goodies at the grocery store. It’s really funny about a big container of blueberries gets me just about excited as I would have been, pre-lifestyle change, to buy a candy bar. I’m looking forward to having 1/2 cup of them in my oatmeal tomorrow morning!

I had a funny dream last night that has stuck with me. For some reason we were making sweatshirts. I really don’t know why? lol But I was so determined in my weight loss and lifestyle change efforts that I wanted to come up with the perfect saying to have put on the front of my sweatshirt. I decided to go with a black sweatshirt and in pink lettering I wanted it to say, “Don’t Quit!” I love that! I don’t want to quit. :)

Hubby is gone off to a retirement party for his colleague. I am going to be working on homework. I have a healthy supper planned of a chicken breast and a little bit of rice and green beans. I mistakenly came upon a good combination. I make enough rice for one serving and use JUST A TAD of blue cheese salad dressing and mix it into the rice. It gives it this wonderful flavor. Looking forward to that tonight!

I just want to say how thankful I am to have health. I think that I have taken it for granted but when you get sick, you realize how wonderful life really is when you’re feeling good! More the reason to continue with this healthy lifestyle I have begun to create for myself and my husband- AND our family one day! :)

Sorry this post is jumbled! Have a great one! :)

Hopefully on the Mend

I woke up this morning feeling better so I thought I would wake up and eat some toast and maybe go to work. After I was standing for a while I felt nauseous again and after eating the toast I felt worse. So I’m home again. This time missing work AND school. But I think I’m on the mend. The nausea isn’t as debilitating as it was yesterday, but it gets a lot worse when I’m standing up.

I hopped on the scale this morning to see I was 1.4 lbs from my 50 lb goal! While I would LOVE for this to be true, I know I shouldn’t get used to it!

It’s amazing to me how my body can survive on 7 up and a couple pieces of toast for over 24 hours. How is that possible? It just shows me that I must eat a lot more than I would really need to when I am feeling well.

My Mom was showing her friend some pictures and I was in some of them and my Mom emailed me to tell me what her friend said, which made me feel so good! She said, “Be sure to tell her that she looked fabulous to me on your digital camera.  I am so proud of her.  Tell her I could use a few tricks on keeping true to myself on eating healthier too. Impressive!”

What a compliment!!

Unavoidable

I guess it was just wishful thinking that I wouldn’t get the stomach flu since I haven’t had it since I was in 3rd grade. I’m 24 years old. I guess I’ve been lucky!

I woke up at 2:30 AM feeling nauseous and fun the continued from there- ugh!

So I called in to work, which will be my 2nd day in a row now. I hope I’m feeling better by tomorrow. I can’t believe that it will be Friday tomorrow!

So my day has consisted of waking up this morning, taking a hot bath and going back to bed. It seems like I can be up for about 2 hours and then feel to sick to stand or sit. Nothing helps but laying down flat on my back.  So then I would go back to sleep for another 1- 1 1/2 hours and the trend has continued. I’m going to try to stay up now so that I can sleep tonight.

I’ve been drinking 7 up and recently a glass of water. At 2:30 I decided to try 1/2 of an Arnold sandwich thin and so far it is staying down- 10 minutes later. So I might try some chicken noodle soup tonight and see how that goes.

Hubby stayed home again today and it was really nice to have him here. He’s been taking good care of me. :)

I’m sure that I will lose weight tomorrow morning but I know it’s not “real.” I always get excited seeing low numbers on the scale when I’m sick and then it’s a little depressing to gain it back a few days later.

Looks like my plans for the weekend are to sanitize the house!

Weigh in Day

The last few days have a been a little off for me. Monday, I went to work and school and by the time I left school we were in a blizzard. It was the most stressful drive I have ever had. Completely white out conditions, I about cried. I was so scared! So I got home with a really bad headache. I wish I could say that I ate a healthy snack, but I proceeded to just snack on whatever I wanted. I don’t remember the last time I did that. I lost count of my points after that.

Tuesday was back on track and everything went smoothly until I got off of work. I had a message from my husband that he was so sick he didn’t think he could drive home. So I drove 1 hr to go pick him up. He was throwing up and had diarrhea, along with pain in his stomach. I’ve never seen him so sick before. He had blood in his stool, so I called the Ask a Nurse to see what we should do and she said he should be seen that night. So we headed off to the ER. They gave him fluids, morphine, and did lots of tests. Everything turned out to be fine but he has a bad case of the stomach flu. I’m glad that we went though, just knowing that everything was ok. We didn’t get home and to bed until after 2 AM. There was no way I could be up at 4:30 AM and go to work and school. So I called in to work and explained everything. I got some sleep and then got up and went to school. My eating has been on track today. I actually haven’t eaten very much because my stomach doesn’t feel quite right either. But I never get the stomach flu, so I’m not worried about it.

So…all of that into consideration, I lost .6 lb this week. I wasn’t thrilled, but was happy to at least have seen a loss.

I weighed in at work yesterday for the challenge and that was depressing!! I weighed 10.2 lbs. more on that scale than I did at home on my scale the same morning! How is that possible? I know I was fully clothed, had drank 6 cups of water and eaten breakfast…but STILL! Let’s hope it was a false reading and I’ll have a huge loss next week! haha

So that’s what’s going on with me. Just trying to make it through the week!

The Weekly 5- New and Old

Here’s a check up on last weeks:

1. Workout a minimum of 5 days.
   1. Monday- c25k
   2. Tuesday- Biked
   3. Thursday- c25k
   4. Friday- The Firm DVD. I won this in a giveway from Katie- Thanks! I’m planning on doing a full post on this in the future- but I really enjoyed it!
   5. Saturday- c25k
2. Paint my toenails- Yep; French manicure base.
3. Take the stairs down at work – Every day!
4. Do 10 sit-ups a day. Everyday- I actually ended up doing 20 on Sunday, but my side has hurt for the rest of the week- so I did the 10 Monday-Friday and I totally forgot to do them last night- Oops!
5. Add one new song to my workout playlist.- downloaded Iyaz- Replay.

This week’s Weekly 5:

1. Double my workouts. I have to get in two workouts a day. This is for the weight loss competition at work. I can see myself dreading this, so I’m only going to require the 2nd workout to be at least 10 minutes, but more if I’m up to it!
2. Drink at least 8 cups of water a day. I currently require myself to drink at least 6, and many days I go over, but not all!
3. Do the FIRM workout in it’s entirety. Last week, I did 20 minutes of it.
4. Continue the 10 sit-ups a day.
5. Cook a healthy recipe and do a post on it.

Why I want to Lose Weight

I know that I’ve done this post before, but I feel like it’s important to go back and remember why I want to lose weight. Sometimes in between workouts and counting point or calories, it’s easy to forget those reasons.

• I want to have a healthy heart. Heart problems run in my family and this is a great reason to try to get healthy.
• I don’t want to develop diabetes, along with all of it’s complications. I have a few family members who have this also. I’m so scared that maybe I’m pre-diabetic or actually have diabetes. The doctors always want me to get checked out and I never have. I think I’m fearing what the results will be. Maybe I should do it just to find out!
• I want to be able to have kids someday. My doctor told me, that with my blood pressure, it wouldn’t be a good idea to get pregnant right now. That scares me. While we’re not ready for kids yet, I want them someday! I don’t want to have complications due to my weight problem.
• I want to develop healthy habits for both my husband and I so that when we do have children, we can teach them healthy habits.
• I want to be athletic.
• I want to run a 5k and eventually a 1/2 marathon and a marathon.
• I want to be able to shop at any store that I want to and not in the Plus sizes! I would love to be able to dress stylishly. I try my best, but sometimes I don’t have all of the options that I will when I’m thin.
• I want to look amazing. I want to be trim and thin. I want my husband to be proud of me. Not that’s he’s not now, but I always worry!
• I don’t want to be judged by my weight.
• I want to be able to run without getting out of breath.
• I want to lead by example. I have family members who don’t have very healthy habits. I care about them and don’t want them to have health problems.

I think I could go on and on. But these are good reminders to me for why I want to lose weight and get healthy. What are your reasons?

Happy Weekend!

Wow! This week is finally over. Sometimes I feel like I’m wishing my life away, always wishing it was the weekend! But, now it’s here…so no more wishing! :)

This week has been an interesting one.

Monday, no school since it was Martin Luther King, Jr. day. So I had a 1/2 day of work and then home, which was nice. Tuesday was just an average day of work, 7-4:30. Wednesday we were hit with an ice storm. I left work at 11 and instead of going to school went straight home where I would be safe and not on the interstate! My husband got to go home early too, so it was nice to spend some extra time together. Thursday, I had to work but ended up being able to leave at 2:45, which was great, but would have been better if I hadn’t been feeling so terrible. I don’t know if it was from getting up early in the morning and running or if it was because I started the white pills on my BCP or what? But I had the most terrible migraine headache all day long. Nothing helped it. My vision was blurry. And let me tell you, people at work SMELL! Whether it be from smoking and not showering or just wearing too much perfume- seriously, it’s terrible and it’s only amplified when you have a headache. It caused so much pain in my sinuses. Today was my ordinary work and school day. Still not feeling quite right, but definitely not like it was yesterday!

One of our New Years resolutions this year was to pay off our debt. So we’ve set some rules and boundaries and so far we’re doing wonderfully. We allow ourselves to go out once a week, but it has to be a casual place where you don’t leave a tip- hence, it costs about 1/3 of a sit down restaurant. So tonight is SUBWAY! I used to grab this for a lunch frequently and I have missed it soooo much! I have it all planned out that I’m going to get a 6” Sweet onion chicken terriyaki and baked BBQ lays. My fave! We will allow ourselves to go to a nice restaurant once a month. We’re waiting for Valentines day for the next one.

So I guess I don’t have anything too interesting to write today, but I just wanted to update you all that I’m still alive and sticking to my plan! :) The scale is up, but I’m not worried a bit because it does this every week and then I lose it. Must be the way my body works.

Weigh in Day

I weighed in this morning at 242.6! What does that mean? It’s means that I met a NEW low!!! I lost 1.4 lbs. this week, which is above my 1 lb/week goal. I’m way happy with that. I have now lost a total of 45.4 lbs! That 50 lb goal is closer than ever!

I had a good week overall. I stuck to the plan. I ate all of my weekly points and 2.5 of my AP points. I don’t like to do that and the 2.5 points was a mistake, due to my not looking ahead before I ate something.

I earned 23 AP last week, which I’m really happy about too!

This just shows that if you stick to the plan you will lose!

Weight Loss at work: Contest

I took a leap, bloggies.

Every year in January, my company hosts a company-wide weight loss contest. I have never participated in the weight loss contest, although every time they hold some type of competition to improve health, I always do it on my own.

Well this year… I’m participating! I have a team of 2 other women and myself. We named ourselves the Lady Losers.

The only part I’m dreading is the weigh in. We will weigh in, individually, with someone in the HR department. I’m a little nervous about weighing in front of someone as I have only weighed in front of nurses and my husband. But I don’t even know the people in the HR dept, so it’s not like I’m weighing in front of my boss or something. But I’m still nervous about that!

I’m really excited about this and I am determined to at least win the prize for the largest percentage of body weight lost for the individual. I know this may not happen because a lot of people will be just beginning to lose weight and will have large numbers at first, whereas I will not, having been dieting for over a year now. But I’m sure going to try!!

I am looking for tips on ways to improve my weight loss. How can I get big losses on the scale? Don’t worry, I’m only going to be going far above what is sustainable during the competition, which ends in March. The winning team gets $150 of gift cards, that’s $50 each. There will also be 2 or 3 prizes for individual weight loss, the first prize being $50. So if my team wins AND I win, we’re talking $100. I’d really like that!

So, what can I do? Any ideas? Have you ever participated in one of these? What was your experience like?

The Weekly 5

I’ve decided to come up with a five weekly goals to accomplish. I will try to do this every Sunday.

1. Workout a minimum of 5 days. This is something I’m trying to make a habit of and since my interruption over the last few weeks, I need to make this a priority again.
2. Paint my toenails- Even though it’s winter and no one sees them, it would still make me feel pretty! (Thanks Spunkysuzi!)
3. Take the stairs down at work- I know I should take them up too, but I have my hands and arms full. I’ll save that one for another week. ;) Baby steps.
4. Do 10 sit ups a day. Maybe that’s not very many, but I’m really not sure how many I can do yet, and 10 sounds like a good number to start with!
5. Add one new song to my workout playlist. I can’t believe how much new songs can really motivate me. This is a good way to not only motivate me to workout, but is a great reward FOR working out.

As you can see, some of these goals are fitness oriented and others are just ways to pamper myself. I feel that both are important for mental health. Should be pretty easy to do! I’ll check in next Sunday with the results.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Awards and Such

Thank you so much for these awards. I was given the Beautiful Blogger Award by Jenn, Foodie Girl, and Spunkysuzi. It means so much to me to know that you enjoy my blog. I certainly enjoy all of yours! If you haven’t checked out these women’s blogs…DO so!!

The rules are that I need to tell you all 7 things you may not know about me, then pass on the award to 7 more beautiful bloggers. Here we go!

1. I’m a Junior in college. That being said, I’ve been in college for 5 years now. I completed the first two years and received my Associates in Arts. I took 1 year off to get married and move to a different state. Now that I am back in school I only take 2 classes at a time. So I will graduate eventually! I’m an English major. I hope to get a job writing. I would LOVE to be able to work from home someday.
2. I LOVE to sing. I was in choir in High School and wish that I could be again. I sing all the time.
3. I work in customer service and handle all of those angry customers. I’m the second level of support, so I get the really mad ones!
4. I hate peas with a passion. I have tried to eat them numerous times thinking as an adult I would outgrow this, but it’s never happened!
5. I have two cats. Daisy and Dudley.
6. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. This started when I was in second grade. I thought I would be a teacher for a short stint, but I’m back to wanting to be a writer again. I love researching and writing papers. I know, weird, right? It’s what I love to do.
7. I grew up in a family of 6. I’m one of the middle children.

Now, here are 7 bloggers that I love to read. Just because you’re not on here, doesn’t mean I don’t love your blog! I’m going to choose different people from the ones who gave me the award to spread the award a little further. I love all of your blogs! These are in no specific order.

1. Lori
2. MizFit
3. Lyric Girl
4. Marcelle
5. Darci
6. Hallie
7. Katie

Be sure to check out all of the above blogs!

I was also tagged in the Happy 101 by Lori. I have to list 10 things that make me happy and then list 10 others to do the same.

1. My husband- He’s my best friend and makes life wonderful.
2. Vacations to the beach.
3. Being with my whole family. This doesn’t happen as often as I’d like it to since we all live in different areas.
4. Getting in a good workout after talking myself into it.
5. Music
6. Sunshine
7. Finding a good deal.
8. Weekends
9. Good books
10. Getting comments on my blog. I love all of your comments and they mean so much to me.

Maybe this is cheating, but I’m going to nominate the 7 that I listed above along with 3 more. :)

1. Becca
2. Happy Texans
3. Julie

Just an Update

I am on day 5 of being totally back on track and it feels so good. My body feels smaller. My husband often comments, “You are losing weight!” and compliments me on how much smaller I’m getting. My clothes are fitting looser and it’s a wonderful feeling.

I have made it point to use my weekly points a little differently than I have in the past. It seems like I started to get in that rut where I’d use all of my weekly points to have extra snacks in the evening. So, instead of my eating 31 points a day, I’d have 5-6 more points a day. What I’m trying to do now is to use them when I have planned in advance. They’ll be for special treats instead of mindless snacking. I’m not expecting perfection out of myself, sometimes I feel like a snack and the beauty of WW is that nothing is off limits. But, for the majority of the time, I want to save them for something more special.

I am happy to say that I did my c25k all 3 days this week! I am planning on getting another workout in tomorrow, since I took yesterday off, to complete my 5 workout days for the week. I know exercise is the key, it’s just making myself do it. Does it ever get to the point where you don’t keep trying to come up with excuses in your head for why you shouldn’t workout today? haha

My eating has been under control. We are running out of fruit and it’s time for groceries tomorrow! I had to go through the cupboards and find some canned fruit to pack in our lunches today because we’re out of all the fresh fruit, except for apples. I am trying to learn to deal with hunger. It’s ok to be hungry. I’m definitely not starving!

I did meet a new low on the scale today. It doesn’t OFFICIALLY count until weigh in day- but I sure hope it keeps going lower!!

I’m really looking forward to this weekend. It’s great to be back in school and back to a schedule. I need everything to be orderly for my mind and my health. Looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning, especially! :) Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Weigh In Day

I have to say that I’ve had 2 on track days this week. Monday and Tuesday. I did not go over at all. So proud of myself for that and I’m going to try to keep that up and save the weekly points for something really worthwhile and maybe planned instead of just extra snacking at night.

I lost 1.8 lbs. this week!! I am about 1/2 lb from my lowest, so that makes me happy to know that I’ll probably get there next week. :) I’m really happy with this loss. I have EXACTLY 100 lbs. to lose half of my body weight. I weighed in at 244.

I feel so much better when I am eating right. I’m not bloated. I feel smaller. I’m happier when I exercise.

Have a great day!!

First Day Back at School

I am so happy about the way that today went.

The day started off sketchy when I made the decision last night to get an extra half hour of sleep and not get up in the morning for my c25k workout, promising my husband that I would workout when I got home from school… I know, very dangerous choice. Keep in mind, I wake up at 4:30 am to workout, so sometimes that extra half hour sounds really nice.

For breakfast, I had oatmeal w/ fresh blueberries- Love this combination! I also had a banana and a glass of milk. I headed off to work from 7-11. That went smooth and not stressful at all- FOR ONCE! While I was there, I had a snack of another banana. After that, I headed off to school. I ate lunch in the car. I made a PB and J sandwich, I had pita chips, and sugar free, fat free chocolate pudding. I headed into school from 12-1:50. On my way home, I had 1 small clementine and a small apple. I was starving by the time class got out, so I was happy to have these snacks handy.

All of the way home I contemplated whether or not I would run. I had a headache, my shoulders were so tight from the tension and nerves at school. I was exhausted. I kept saying, “no…I’m not going to do it.” Knowing that my husband was going to be disappointed in me and most importantly I would be disappointed in myself. And then I got almost home, and the sun popped out from under the clouds, *hear the Hallelujah chorus* and I thought, I can do this! I looked around and thought, “I really want to run outside.” But I quickly remember my near slip on the ice walking to class and decided that probably wasn’t the best choice. So I got home and thought to myself, do I really want to do this? I sat down, checked my email. Got up, and got dressed in my power pink shorts, pink sports bra and tank top, and hooked up my pink heart rate monitor and pink iPod. (No joke on all the pink…lol…when I write this it sounds like too much, but it really isn’t!). I felt sexy in my pink workout outfit. I ran the c25k and no matter how hard it got, I ran each segment at 5 mph and I’m so happy with myself for doing it. I haven’t run since Christmas Eve. Feels so good to be back at it!!

I will finish the night out just as healthfully!! How could I mess up such a perfect day?!

Back to the Basics

When I started this journey, I spent a lot of time thinking about the basics of weight loss. When I began, a huge focus for me was getting my fruits and veggies in. I remember posting on the WW community boards for ideas to get more fruits and veggies in. I got a response that said, “It’s not that hard to get your fruits and veggies in and I can’t even understand why you would ask this.” While at the time, I was a little hurt and miffed as this person, as this was supposed to be a place to go for help and encouragement (I’ve since found you bloggers MUCH better support than the WW message boards!!), I started to realize that I was making this too hard on myself.

Today, I have no problems getting my fruits and veggies in. I eat them regularly with no questions asked. It’s just part of how I eat now. Are there days where I don’t get them all in? Yes, but they’re rare and far between. Yay for this NSV! While I beat myself up now, thanks to all of your lovely comments to my last post, I have realized that I really have come so far.

But the purpose of this post is to think about the basics again. Before I decided to join WW online and lose this weight, my Dad had given me a copy of Quit Digging your Grave With A Knife and Fork: A 12-stop Program to End Bad Habits and Begin a Healthy Lifestyle written by Mike Huckabee. This book was what really got me started on this journey and was so inspirational to me. I really need to ask Dad if I can borrow it again! But this book about how simple this concept really is.

Huckabee makes the comparison to taking care of your car. You would never think about putting low quality oil in the car, or bad gas, or not even getting the oil changed. You do the best for your car because you want it to last. This really struck home with me and I thought, “Why am I not taking care of my body? Why am I eating things that aren’t good for my body?” This was over a year ago and I feel like I have started to forget the basics of this journey to health.

This was a good reminder to me that I need to start focusing again on what I’m putting into my mouth. More and more fruits and veggies. They’re never going to hurt me! Taking a closer look at food labels to make sure that they’re not laden with unhealthy fats, sugars, or even artificial sweeteners.

It’s a matter of doing the things that are good for your body. Exercise is key and I know I need to be more faithful in this. This would be SO GOOD for my HEART! We often forget about the health of our minds. What kind of thoughts are we allowing there? Positive thinking will help reduce stress and there are so many health benefits to that.

Take care of yourself- Your body can take you a long way!

Staying Focused

First of all, I just have to say that I am so sore today from the 30 Day Shred that I can barely walk. Happens every time. It’s such a good workout. The only problem is that I am not able to run today as I had planned to because I am SO SORE. I was thinking about doing the 30 Day Shred 30 days in a row soon, but I’m not sure I can handle that!

Yesterday went well. Only problem was that I got to snacking later on in the evening. I tracked everything and I am still on points.

This morning we woke up to 6 inches of snow. My husband’s work told him they didn’t want them coming in today because of the road conditions and they were to get worse as the day goes by, because of increasing winds. So he took me to work from 7-10 and then picked me up. I love it when I don’t have to drive on the terrible roads! We headed over to the University book store to get the books that I couldn’t find online- so expensive! We then went to Panchero’s for lunch- which I didn’t make the best decisions at and to top it off, had Coldstone for dessert. I counted this as 32 points! THAT’S INSANE! But I’m still within my points.

I keep falling back into these old habits. Why can’t I seem to eat healthy 100% of the time? Why do I keep letting myself slip up? I’m having a very hard time getting motivated. I don’t have that spark that you have when you first start dieting. It’s gotten mundane. But this is life and I’ll have to deal with it.

I read some of your blogs and don’t know where you get your dedication? Losing 100 + lbs in a year? I lost 40 lbs. in a year. That’s very slow and I know I could do better if I always stayed focused. What do you do to stay focused? Any tips to help me on this would be greatly appreciated.

I know that overall, all that matters is that I keep plugging along. It’s not about how fast I can lose weight, but sometimes I get really impatient. I have no right to be impatient if I’m not doing everything I can to lose the weight.

Hubby and I are going to spend the rest of the day just relaxing. Looking forward to it!! :)

Back on Track: Weigh in Day

I’m feeling much better this morning and so ready to get back on track. I know I keep saying that, but I am confident that today is the day.

I stepped on the scale this morning and had a 2.2 lb. loss. I’m still 2.2 lbs above my lowest, but I’m very happy with today’s loss! If I am eating healthy I should be able to get back down to my lowest in no time at all.

Today is my last day off. I’m feeling better than I did yesterday. Another good night’s sleep and just relaxation is what I needed. I had a good breakfast this morning. A few more points than I would normally allow, but everything felt healthy and right, so I don’t care. :) I love being able to cook good meals for myself when I’m at home. When it’s off to work, I have oatmeal or cheerios everyday. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but it’s always nice to have something different. This morning I whipped up an egg white omelet! So good!

We are in for another big snow storm. Today is only 1-2 inches. But tonight they’re calling for 3-7, with blowing and drifting snow tomorrow. We’ll see what actually happens!

I’m going to get together a workout schedule for the month like I used to do. It always helps me to feel organized and in control. I have lists and schedules for everything. :) Today, I’m going to do the 30 Day Shred. This will be my first exercise in quite a while and this sounded more appealing than running today. Why do I feel guilty for not running? Exercise is exercise, right? I’m so ready for spring to be here. I love to run outside and bike, etc. A few more months!

Exhausted

It’s been a busy weekend with family and getting prepared for the funeral. Grandma’s funeral was yesterday. The whole day was emotionally draining and I am exhausted today. I have today and tomorrow off and think I’m going to need it to re-coop.

But now it is time to move on with life. It’s so hard to lose someone you love. We have been lucky so far, having this been the first family member, that we really knew, to pass away.

My eating hasn’t been the best, but not absolutely terrible either. I’ve been below last week’s weigh in, so hopefully I will have some sort of loss. I am ready to start eating very healthy again.

School starts next Monday. I have mixed feelings about that. Christmas break always makes you start to relax and by the time you have started to relax it’s time to go back. It’s always hard to be motivated in the Spring semester. But hopefully only 3 semesters left!

Not much else to say, just wanted to check up and let you know what’s going on!

Heart Health

I had a conversation with my sister that made me start thinking seriously about heart health and what to eat to promote a healthy heart. My grandma and grandpa on one side, and my grandpa on the other side all had heart surgery for blocked arteries and heart problems. My husband’s family has so many different heart issues, whether it be for defects or other problems. Knowing that there are heart problems on both sides of our families is a huge wake up call to me. What can I do to promote a healthy heart? I decided to do some research.

Mayo Clinic has come up with a List of 7 steps to promote a healthy heart diet. I have listed these seven steps along with steps that I can take to incorporate them into my life, some the Mayo Clinic Staff mentioned in the article, and some that I came up with myself.

1. Limit unhealthy fats and cholesterol

What I can do:

* Use Olive Oil when cooking. This is something that I already do, but something that I can continue.

* Watch prepackaged foods and avoid saturated fats. Watch out for hydrogenated oils in the ingredients.

* Get healthy fats from nuts and other natural foods.

* Continue using Smart Balance margarine. Look for margarine that does not have saturated fats, to replace butter with, while baking.

2. Choose Low Fat Protein Sources

What I can do:

* Eat more fish.

* Eat more legumes.

* Eat less red meat. While this would be a fantastic idea, we also get a freezer full of red meat every year from the in-law’s. It would not be practical to eliminate red meat, but it would be a great idea to find ways to make eat red meat healthier. I drain the fat and trim the fat when cooking red meat. It may be possible to substitute beans for half of the meat, or at least a portion of the meat in recipes. This would add veggies and fiber. Any ideas on this one? Or is there no way to avoid the unhealthy sides of red meat?

*Pay attention to the nutrition labels- go for the low fat options.

3. Eat More Vegetables and Fruits

What I can do:

* Get at least 5 a day in, sure wouldn’t hurt to get more! I have a problem with snacking, why not replace those unhealthy snacks with fruits and veggies?

4. Select Whole Grains

What I can do:

* Lately, I have been selecting the cheapest bread to try to save money. By choosing breads with whole grains, I could save much more money in the long run by avoiding medical complications. Once again, read the labels!

* Always buy whole wheat pastas and brown rice.

* Pay attention to the fiber content when selecting cereals. What is the cereal made from? Mayo Clinic recommends 5 grams of fiber or more.

* Buy whole wheat flour to bake with. Even if I substitute half of the what the recipe calls for with whole wheat flour, this still makes it healthier for the heart.

* Continue eating oatmeal for breakfast. I always eat the oatmeal from the can, not the packets. The packets are almost always filled with sugars.

5. Reduce Salt in Your Food

What I can do:

* Do not add salt while cooking. This is one thing that I have been faithful in since starting this journey to a healthy lifestyle. I have high blood pressure and I am on meds for it. I would LOVE to be off of those meds someday. Come on, I’m 24 years old. I shouldn’t be on blood pressure meds.

* Instead of buying canned soups, which come in so handy for work, make my own low-sodium soups and freeze them. Not only will they be healthier, they’ll taste better too!

* Whenever possible, buy the low sodium version.

* Look for salt substitutes.

6. Practice moderation

What I can do:

* I feel like this one is so important. I have the clean your plate syndrome. I have realized that using smaller plates really helps this. I have cute seasonal plates that are much smaller, but I should try using smaller plates year round.

* Continue to measure and count portion sizes. My husband and I have both learned a lot from doing this. Not only does it make for a healthier diet, but you save money by making foods last a lot longer!

7. Plan Ahead: Creating Daily Menus

What I can do:

* To help my husband lose 24 lbs, I created daily menus for him, knowing that I couldn’t be there to count his points for him and knowing he wouldn’t take the time to do it. He lost this weight in 2 months. It obviously works. He’s kept it off, by the way!

* This is about taking the previous 6 steps and putting them into action.

Reading this article and writing my own plan to incorporate these healthy habits into my own life has been most helpful. I encourage you to take a look at the article referenced above. There is so much valuable information out there and information is the key to success. This year, I want to focus on having a healthy heart!

New Years Resolutions

1. Run a 5k.

How I will do it:

• I will continue to follow the c25k program

2. Be a better wife.

How I will do it:

• Be kinder to my husband. Not that I’m mean or anything.
• Be more positive.
• Lots of hugs and kisses. :)

3. Continue to become healthier

How I will do it:

• I want to be very faithful about:
  • getting my 5 a day
  • drinking 6 cups of water
  • getting exercise 5 days a week
• Learn how to incorporate fun activities into our lifestyle. Examples, going sledding, maybe take up a sport.

4. Get debt under control

How I will do it:

• Stop spending frivolously
• Only going out to eat somewhere nice once a month, other than that, somewhere cheap once a week, max.
• Check back in at the beginning of every month to see where we’re at.

5. Weigh less on January 1st 2011, than I do on January 1st 2010!

How I will do it:

• Track points!!!
• Plan meals
• See step 3