New Month! New Me!

Today is Feb 1, 2012. I just got off the scales here at home. I now weigh 212.0.  Down, but not by much.  Monday when I weighed myself, it was 211.5.  I do know that eating that late dinner last night did not help.  I did not get home until 7:30, took Tooey for his walk then was eating dinner at 8:30. Not good. 

This week I have been fighting with my allergies to this lovely pollen we have here so early in the year.  I understand that it is needed to make the trees, flowers, and grasses grow, but DANG  it doesn't need to make me sick!  Here I am trying to get ready for a lovely trip and I cannot even stay well because of the pollen!  Oh well...  I'll suck it up and continue on as usual. 

Friday, at work, we will be starting our own Biggest Loser weigh in.  I have signed up for that.  It is $20 initial sign up fee and $1 per pound gained and $1 per week if the weight does not go down.   The winner at the end of April will receive 60% of the pot, 2nd place will receive 30% of the pot and third place will receive 10% of the pot.  Maybe that will help to keep my incentive going to get this weight off.  Heck, I would be happy with third place, even though I am shooting for first place!

Wakeup call!

OK. I knew I didn't do all that great last week, food wise.  I didn't track and I ate what I wanted.  It definitely showed up on the scales!  I went up to 215.5 here.  Then I went to a new doctor for a new patient visit.  The scales there said I weighed 218.8!  UGGGGG!  Then the rest of the torture was visited upon me, my blood pressure was taken.  182/96!  About 20 minutes later the doctor came in and went over the vitals, saw the blood pressure and took it again.  160/94, down, but not by much.  We discussed my medications and surgery lists.  She has ordered blood work, which was a given.  I have an appt for Thursday this week to have that done. 

I asked her what I could do to lose this weight.  I am not having any luck on my own.   She said she wants to see the results of the blood work first and then we can come up with a game plan.  My follow up appt with her is 2/9.  We shall see what happens then.  In the meantime, I will be tracking ALL the foods I eat so that I will have a better record to give her so she can see what all I need to change and just how bad of shape I am in...

A Few Days Late...

Well, I am a few days late.  When I weighed in on Monday, I was down to 212.  That was fantastic!  However, this week, I seem to have stopped watching what I eat again.  I am sure that come Monday, the scale will reflect the gain.  I do have an appointment Monday with a new doctor.  I want to find out some things, such as why is my blood pressure still high and what can I do about the dizziness...  Even after 3 months I am still dealing with it. 

There is a new program coming out at work on 2/3/12.  We are going to have our own version of the Biggest Loser.  It has a $20 entry fee and if I gain, I have to pay $1 per pound gained.  I am going to join the group.  Also, at the end of the 12 week period whoever loses the highest percentage of weight will win 60% of the pot, second place wins 30% and third place wins 10%.   Heck, even 10% might give me back my money. 

It starts just in time for my mini vacation.  I will be going to the Bahamas for a few days with a friend of mine.  Hopefully, I will watch what I am eating. I know that I will be active.  She is wanting to go snorkeling and scuba diving.  We shall see what I end up doing.

Well, I'll get back with you on Monday!

Weigh in

Well, I got on the scales this morning after my shower and I weigh 214.  Down a couple of pounds!  Woo Hoo!  I just need to "listen" to my stomach a little more.  Just because it is dinner time does not mean that I have to eat if I am not hungry.  Tonight's dinner was a pear since that was all I really wanted.  If I get hungry later, I'll have a bowl of oatmeal.

Well, that is it for now...  Enjoy your week!

OK then...

Here it is, day 7. I have been writing down what I am eating.  A bunch of junk last night and today.  I have been walking at work and at home. Put my jeans on today and had to lay on the bed to button and zip them up. NOT GOOD! I guess Weight Watchers will have another participant next week once I find a location to go to that is convenient to me between work and home.  I really don't want to come home and then go back out. I may do the Saturday morning session to get the full benefit, but I have to start on Thursdays for now until I get through my starter sessions.  I just have to make sure I have the money each month to pay for it.

When I go to the doctor on the 23rd, I am going to see if  I can be referred to a nutritionist or a dietitian to help with my diet and to give me some ideas of substitute foods for what I crave. That could help with the weight loss.

Day 3

First day back to work in the New Year!  It was a long day and a hard day.  I did 2 - 15 minutes walks today, 1 at work and 1 at home.  Too cold to walk any longer at home (supposed to be 22 tonight).  Work was a challenge when it came to eating.  I am a boredom eater.  Granted, I was busy, but with it being repetitious, I get the munchies and start wanting to eat. then it becomes an obsession.  Oh well, I'll have to work through it.

Day 2

Ok, I have made it through day 2!  I went to jazzercise with my sister, Carla, this morning and got my hiney kicked!  I couldn't make it through the whole class.  I felt really down about myself because of it.  Time to pick myself up and brush off the blues.  I just have to realize that I did accomplish something by going to the class and participating in 3/4 of it. That is a plus!

I met a friend from school, high school that is, for lunch, and went shopping for a bit. Had a small lunch and then walked it all off.

Fixed a nice dinner this evening of grilled chicken, peas and corn.  I know, I know... too much starchy vegetables, but they were just delicious!

All in all, today was a good day.

Happy New Year 2012!

Hey everyone!  It's me again! Happy 2012 to you!  Yep, as you can tell, I am trying this again.  It's time to get serious.  My blood pressure is high, my weight is up and I need to settle the chaos in my life.  So, here I am starting all over again, but at least I AM starting over! So here is what I have put into my CM Memory Manager to get started...

Ok, here we go!  January 1, 2012 is my start date.  I tried this last year, but did not get anywhere with it due to my own laziness.  I have cleaned out my house and my collection of “junk.”  Now it is time to clean out my mind and body and toss it’s collection of “junk”! 

Maybe if I take the really horrible pictures, print them out, and look at them from time to time, they will inspire me to lose the weight!  It has to come off, it is killing me!

What have I allowed myself to become? This is just awful! I have the tools. I have the knowledge. Now I just need to put all of that into action!  Let’s begin this journey!  My weight today is 216.5. This is the heaviest I have been in a long time. My desired weight is 160. When I make it to that weight, I will set another to get to 150.  For now, 160 is my goal weight.  Let the fun begin!!!

Hey All!

Thought I would drop a note or two to update my post.  Not a whole lot going on at this time. Just trying to get my Australia book put together and look into what all I need to do for school.  I have just 7 classes to go to complete my AA and then try to figure out what I really want to be.  Even at 46, I am still undecided what to do.  I enjoy working with my hands and working with animals.  Yet I am in an office all day.  I guess one of the things I could do would be to volunteer at the wildlife center on Morse Avenue.  That would be a place to go to do something different.  I know that I cannot get my Veterinary degree since I wouldn't make it through school.  If it has taken me 10 years to get my AA, imagine how long it would take me to get my Vet degree!

Just a nice little picture to leave you with...

                                                               How curious...

Nothing like looking at the world through the eyes of a child.  I had helped Thara move to Colorado Springs where her husband is being stationed.  Dalton and I went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on my free day. We saw lots of animals there that the Jax Zoo does not have.  They even have mud "huts" set up along the trails for the children to play in and explore! 

The enclosures for the animals seemed a bit small, but I guess when a zoo is on a hillside, there is not that much level room to have big enclosures. The enclosures for the cats (tigers, mountain lions, leopards, etc) looked fitting for them being on the hillside.    

I'll leave you for now with a pretty picture...

 Enjoy your day!!!

You know it's warm when...

You know it's warm when... the yard is freshly cut and Dalton comes over and wants to play outside...  He was out in the back yard just a sweating due to the humidity.  Well, I said it was time to play in the hose...  Off came the shirt and the shoes and he raced me to the hose to pull it out and turn it on.  Just like the good old days when I was a kid. Even Thara got jealous and wanted to play in the hose, but she didn't have a change of clothes with her. It's always fun watching him in the hose.  Afterwards, it was clean up time...

So handsome when he is clean...  

Hello again

Well, I survived my first week without Cosmo.  I know it is silly, but I still miss that old boy.  At least missing him around the house got me outside more.  I trimmed up one tree and have another to work on.  Tooey has been walked every night this past week except Friday when we had a really good rain, the first in a long time.  Tooey is still  moping at time, but he is getting better as well.  When we go for our walk, it is like he makes room for Cosmo, cause he doesn't walk next to the curb, but still leaves the space where Cosmo used to walk.  Well, I had better get back to doing something other than looking at the computer.    Enjoy!

A Sad Farewell

My old boy...  What can I say...  He was 14 1/2 years old.  His hips were going and he would get stuck on the floor in a spread eagle position, unable to get up.  I had him from the time he was 8 weeks old and I will miss him terribly...

He was a joy and a pain to have. As with all dogs, he gave unconditional love to his "family" and was very protective. He did not like men, and to his last day, did not like my next door neighbors.  Any time they were outside, he would charge them and bark.  Luckily, there was a fence between them.   His coat stayed thick and fluffy which meant that there was always hair everywhere, especially in the spring and fall. I will probably be finding "puppies" all over the house for the next few months.  That was the "pain" side of life with him. 

His buddy, Tooey, my greyhound, is moping around the house.  I guess he is wondering where he is as well.  I'm sure it will hit hard tomorrow when I get up and not have two cold, wet noses and two sets of stinky breath in my face.

It's been a month!

As you can see, I met someone while in Australia!   My sister calls the koala my hairy boyfriend!  He was funny.  I was talking to him and when I stopped, his little mouth started moving. Then he would stop and I would say something.  Then his little mouth moved again.  The folks from the group were laughing and told me later that when I stopped talking, it looked as though he started talking, as if we were having a conversation!  What a hoot!!  He just looked sleepy with everyone else, but even in this picture his mouth is open and so are his eyes!

Well, it's been a month since I've come home from Australia.  I still can't seem to find the cookbook I saw over there (that I should have bought) called The Cookbook, Junior Masterchef Australia Vol 1.  It had a lot of the recipes of the foods that we ate either at the hotels or out on the town.  They were absolutely delicious!  One of the ladies on the trip bought the book at the airport in Cairns and I had a chance to buy it in Sydney, but passed up the opportunity.  Silly, silly me....

I am also still getting pictures developed.  I took sooo many!  One of the guys in the group took close to 2000 pictures and put them on a website where we can order prints from.  They are beautiful pictures.  The only thing is though, some of them look "touched up."  I have the same pictures, but mine didn't turn out the same and I don't remember seeing those colors in the view.  I'm not knocking them because they are quite beautiful!

I'm back!

Yep, it's been a while since I last wrote.  My weight loss journey has been a bust.  Nothing happening.  Oh well, that's the way the ball bounces, I guess.  I just got back from my wonderful trip to Australia and it was totally awesome!  The rough part was trying to stay comfortable on the plane over and back.  The plane ride  was a 15 hour flight each way so you can just about imagine how uncomfortable that can become...  Luckily, I had an aisle seat every time I got on a plane...  The picture above is the sunset at Uluru, formerly known as Ayres Rock.  It was absolutely beautiful!  More beatiful pictures to come...

Have a great day everyone!

Yard Work

I have this one "bush" in the backyard that every year I tackle to try to make some sense of it.  I don't want to completely remove it, but I want to be able to walk under it without getting poked in the eye.  Well, I think I have accomplished that feat this year (so far)! 

It is supposed to be a bush, but by the time I moved in back in 2001, it had become a tree.  It's a good shady spot for the dogs during the day, but a bear to cut under since there are sticky vines all through it. Well, not anymore!   I only have hand tools for trimming so out came the pruning shears for the smaller branches and vines, the loppers for the bigger branches and the hand saw for the large branches.

After the branches were cut down, I ended up with 2 garbage cans full of branches and a big pile of branches by the roadside.  Then I had to figure out how to get the sticky vines out to the road without getting all cut up.  Well, I pulled out an old shower curtain and raked the vines and dead smaller limbs on it.  Then I started to drag it across the yard.  Well, I got halfway before everything was off the curtain. So...  out came the string and scissors!  I laid two long pieces of string on the shower curtain and raked everything back on to it.  Then I tied it all up and was able to drag it across the yard and to the road without losing anymore of the vines or limbs that were tied up in it.

That took three and a half hours to complete.  That should count for a good amount of calories burned today!! I hope the garbage men appreciate how I tried to make it a little easier to maneuver that pile.  

A Restless Night

I started this earlier, but hit a wrong button and lost it all.  So... I am trying this again...

Last night I had my sleep study done.  I got there at 9:30 pm and was all hooked up with the goop in my hair and wires running in every direction by about 10:15, Luckily there was not a mirror in the room or I would have burst out laughing!!  My friend, whom I shall keep nameless, for her sake, had advised me that there would be a lot of goop in my hair and let me tell you... She was not kidding!!  She also said I would be out earlier than what was stated on the paperwork.  Once again... correctomundo!  I don't know what time they got me up, but I was home by 6:10 this morning!

By 7:00 a.m. I had showered to get the goop out of my hair, started the laundry, and was starting to put my dinner together to go into the crock pot.  My sister had given me a recipe for "Rotisserie" chicken a few years back and I decided that was what I wanted this weekend.  I guess I will fix broccoli and a sweet potato to go with it.  I may even try roasted cauliflower.  Sounds yummy to me!!  I need to explore more veggies outside of the realm of broccoli, green beans, corn, and potatoes.

I did weigh this morning and the results were that I lost 1/2 pound.  That may not be much, but at least it is a loss.  After reviewing my food journal, I know the biggest thing I need to cut out is the mindless eating of the M&Ms.  Even though I am measuring them out, I don't have to have them every afternoon at work.  I had bought a bag right after Christmas and have been measuring out the 1/4 cup serving daily for my afternoon snack at work.  Instead, when I go to the store tomorrow, I am going to buy some Extra Sugar Free gum.  I found that it also helps to curb that afternoon munchy time and at only 5 calories a piece, I can afford that!  (Dang, I sound like a commercial!)

I am tired from a restless night's sleep, but am fighting going to take a nap.  If I nap, I won't sleep tonight and will be extra cranky tomorrow.  I figure it is better for me to be tired now than to be cranky tomorrow.  So...

I did so-so with the recording of my food intake on the Lose It! site.  It seemed like I would get on there every other day to record my food intake.  However, when I did record it, I noticed that I was going over my daily recommended calories on all but one day.  That one day I did the Wii BL workout as well as walk the dogs and 2 other walks at work and it brought me in under me daily caloric intake.  So, as I already know, if I get up off my keister, I can lose this weight...

My goal for next week is to have lost 2 pounds and to have recorded more on the FREE Lose It! site.

Another week!

Well, I've done a bit better this week.  I took my sister's suggestion and bought a 6 pack box of the 100 calorie Oreos.  I am going to try this in place of the regular Oreos.  Right now, Oreos are what I am hooked on. 

I did weigh in and I lost an additional 2 pounds this week!!  I have been working out a little bit to the Biggest Loser workout on the Wii.  It's fun, but it also kicks your butt!  I am trying to make this more of a daily routine with Tuesdays and Fridays off.  Tuesday nights I usually have my grandson and Friday nights my friend and I get together. 

My sister told me about a weight loss site that is free to use.  It is www.loseit.com.  I am also going to try this site AFTER the Superbowl tonight... Go STEELERS!!!! 

Yesterday I went over to a friend's home and put together some Valentine's Day cards. I thought they turned out pretty cute.  Now all I have to do is get the message inside completed and send them off!  Woo Hoo!! Another New Year's Resolution complete.   Now...  What to get my niece for her birthday next month...  Any suggestions?  She'll be 11.  OMG!   A Tweenager!!  Yikes!!!

Not much else going on in my ho hum life.

It's been a Week!

Hey all!  It has been a week since my last post.  My grandson has spent the night with me two times, I've had two late nights with work and meetings, worked six days this week, and I am just exhausted.  However, I got up this morning, did 2 loads of laundry and hung them out, cleaned up the back yard (with 2 big dogs, that's a must!), took the dogs for a mile walk, and THEN walked over to Walmart to get a few things. 

I did get my pantry organized and I'll tell you, I haven't had to buy much groceries!   To be able to see exactly what I have, means the food bill has been drastically cut.  Ususally, I spend about $300 on groceries a month/  This month, I haven't even topped $200 and I still have a freezer full of food and the pantry is stocked.  Now, to just find some good recipes to follow to cook all this food!

Ok, according to my scales, I have not lost any weight since my last weigh in. At the same time, I haven't gained anymore either. So... I am ok with that.  I have been keeping a food journal and the main thing that I need to cut out is the 4 oreos and milk each night.  I have got to stop that habit.  I have tried, but then it's like I am not able to fall asleep as easily.  Now I have to find something else that is a non-food item to get into the habit of doing before bedtime.  Besides brushing my teeth, any suggestions?

It's been an UP & DOWN week...

My weight went up a half pound and my motivation has gone down! I must admit that I need help! I have the tools and the workout videos, I just need the get up and go! I have been walking at work 2 times a day for 15 minutes each time and I am now taking my dogs for a walk daily. I have to keep reminding myself that the weight did not come on overnight and it will not go away overnight! I guess that is what my big "downer" is, I'm not young anymore and it won't just disappear like it used to.

I know that I need to stop making excuses and put my money where my mouth is. Aside from this being my weight loss journal, it is also my "therapy" journal. I will be venting my frustrations and triumphs here. I have started getting somewhat organized by cleaning up my pantry and making some peace from the chaos that was there. It definitely makes it easier to determine what I need to buy at the store, if anything. Believe it or not, the only things I bought last week at the store were milk and tuna, since the tuna was on sale. I didn't realize how much food I had. I even had enough of some of the things to give the extras to my daughter.

Does anyone have any suggestions for fish recipes? I have some tilapia in the freezer. The only way I know to cook it is in the oven in foil with a little butter and lemon. Unfortunately I cannot use the Emeril's Essence because of the salt content. Let me know. Thanks for putting up with my whining! Does anyone have any cheese and crackers to go with my w(h)ine? HA!