An update and an experiment

Things are good here. I gained about five pounds but I have managed to take it back off. My new goal that I working toward is hitting 129.8. Weird? I haven't seen 129 on the scale in like, ever. So I want to do it just to do it. I don't necessarily want to stay at that weight. I know, weird. But I'm going to try it. BUT, I have always used the scale as a crutch. So I haven't been weighing, sort of. I have been weighing because I am OCD and I have to have my "log" so hubby has been looking and tracking while I turn my head! So there's the update.

Now for the experiment. I have been wanting to try going strictly whole foods for a while. No boxes, no preprocessed stuff. I don't think my family will respond well so I've decided to try it on my own for a while to get some ideas of how to make stuff before I throw them into the fire! I'm not going full-on vegetarian whole foods. I just want to go back to the basics-one ingredient foods (or multi-ingredient foods made by me from single ingredient foods). So here's the plan. I 'm going to eat fruits, veggies, lean meats, whole grains, and I need to look into the dairy thing. Most of it has additives which I am trying to avoid. So for now, the plan is really scratchy but I'll try to keep you posted on what exactly I end up doing and how it goes!

Now it's in writing, so I have to do it! Right?

Still here

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Just been spending most of my time over at My Fitness Pal.

It was working really well while the kids were in school. Now that they're out, and I have five kids ages 2 to 9 at home...I kinda quit.

Bad, I know. I haven't gained weight. But I feel blah. I haven't been eating right. I haven't been exercising. I think the exercise thing stems more from being too dang hot to exercise than anything.

Now the hubby is going out of town for 9 DAYS!! Ugh.....

My goal is to make it through July, without going over 135. There. I put it in writing. Now I have to do it! Right?

Kinda lame post, but I wanted to let you know that I'm still here (all one of you that actually still read this) :).

New find

If you're looking for a good dressing to liven up your salad, I have found one!

All I can say about this stuff is YUM!!!

We have served this dressing at two separate parties at our house and it was a major hit with everyone who tried it! I was having a hard time eating salads but this stuff makes me walk to the store to buy lettuce (and anything else I can dream of to put on a salad) just so I can have the dressing! It is 70 calories per serving but I have found a half serving to be plenty for an average salad.

Today, I had a GINORMOUS salad for lunch and only used one serving and it was plenty. Just in case your curious, here's what else I put on my deliciousness:

2 1/2 cups spring mix lettuce (my new favorite lettuce blend)
6 grape tomatoes
1/4 green pepper
a few slivers of onion
2 sliced strawberries
2 slices deli turkey
McCormick Salad Toppins (another of my salad favorites)

My plate was hugely overflowing, I am stuffed, and the total calorie count? 200 CALORIES! I am so in heaven right now!

Another 5K!

I completed another 5K! Notice I still didn't say "ran"! BUT, I beat my last time by 4 minutes and 30 seconds! Go me! Okay, I guess I should spill it and post my actual times.

First 5K - 40:00
Second 5K - 35:30

Not a fabulous time by any stretch of the imagination but I'm still excited about the improvement!

Switching to maintain

I have really liked My Fitness Pal (have a mentioned that before?). One thing that I really like is that it gives me guidelines for maintaining my weight loss. That has been one area that I have really struggled with before - "Okay, I lost the weight, now what?"

When I started MFP, I had a couple of pounds that I wanted to get off and it was working so well that I wanted to just keep going! But I finally decided that 135 is great. If I happen to take off another pound or two, great. But if I don't, that is fine too! I'm good where I am.

So here's to maintaining....for real this time! :D

Pretty sure I've been here before....

....and it sucked last time too....

Yeah, I went a *clears throat* little overboard with my eating this week. It was our anniversary, we went out of town (childless) and I just didn't care. I ate whatever I wanted, in whatever quantities I wanted. That was Thursday and Friday. And I still feel like complete and total CRAP. And, yes, I have done this before. And, yes, I felt like crap then too.

So why did I let myself do it again? Dunno...

But seriously, every part of my body feels BLAAAAAHHHH! If you really want to see how bad I did, go check out my MFP log. WARNING: It's UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGLLLLLLYYYY!!

BUT, I actually AM glad that I logged it. Seeing those numbers instead of just thinking "yeah, I did bad but I'll get over it" was a good thing. I am completely disgusted by those numbers!

So here's to getting back on track and getting back into an exercise routine and feeling BETTER!

So excited!

My hubby loves me. Wanna know how I know? Guess what he got me for our anniversary? I'll give you a little hint:


Yup! I have so been wanting one of these but couldn't justify the expense so he gave it to me for our anniversary yesterday! Now I can really track how many calories I burn when I exercise instead of just guessing! I already used it today and I have to say I was a little disappointed. NOT disappointed with the watch, just the results. I wasn't burning as many calories as I thought I was! BUT I am GLAD that I know how many I am really burning now!

Oh, am I am really liking My Fitness Pal...in case anyone was wondering....

The plan....

I am going back to planning my food. A few blogger let me know about this site. Thanks Tiffany!

I am going to give it a whirl but kind of in reverse. Rather than tracking what I eat, I am going to plan out my eating for the next day. I may change and go to tracking what I do eat...I don't know. I'll play it by ear.

It really seems like a cool website. Wish me luck!

Rethinking my way of thinking....

So I did this whole weight loss thing "naturally", you know, no pills, shakes, etc. I made "sustainable lifestyle changes" to get the weight off. Right? Well....now I'm thinking...not so much. I still eat most of the same foods, just in smaller quantities. I did make some ingredient substitutions (ie., low fat, reduced calorie, etc) and cut out some really bad stuff (like almost all of our fried favorites), BUT for the most part, the foods are still the same.

And it is starting to bite me in the butt! I don't want to cut quantities any more. The food is there and I just want to eat whatever I want! That doesn't work well for weight loss (or maintenance). Yup, still struggling....

I've been thinking a lot lately about the need for me (and my family) to really change the way we eat. We need to cut the complex carbs WAY down and WAY increase the fruits, vegetables and whole grains. When I think about it, it seems simple. Trying to put it into practice is a completely different ball game!

We have a huge food storage FULL of the crappy foods that I am talking about eliminating. Not to mention the fact that those foods have a better shelf life anyway making them more practical for food storage. It also makes it easier on the budget because when that stuff goes on a really good sale, I can buy 6+ months worth of it. It is a little harder to buy 6 months worth of fresh fruits and veggies!

I know, freeze it, can it. I have issues with freezing. One problem is the space. I don't have 50 cubic feet of freezer space. In fact, my freezer space is quite limited. I also have issues with freezing because what happens if the power goes out in the middle of summer? Yeah, my aunt (who has two full sized freezers) had that happen to her and had to throw out ALL that food!

Canning....BLAH! I know, stop whining and do it.

My other major issue is the kids. I have five kids ages 2 to 9 who have become accustomed to eating like crap. That's not exactly something that can be changed overnight. "Hey kids, I know you're used to eating Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes for breakfast every morning but from now on, we'll be eating tofu and muesli. Ummmm....yeah.

I have been taking baby steps but I get frustrated with baby steps. I know that baby steps are steps and I just need to keep plugging along. I wish I could just throw everything out and start over but from a budget standpoint, that would be suicidal!

Anyway, enough with the whining.

I made a list of vegetables and put an "x" (* means we tried it since making this list) by all the ones we as a family have tried at one point or another. This list isn't comprehensive. I took off all the herbs, beans, and anything that brought up a photography website when I googled it (that really happened BTW). I was actually surprised at how many we had tried. Let me emphasize "TRIED". We don't by any means eat all of the "x"-ed ones on a regular basis.

So our new baby step is to try everything on this list! Wish us luck!

Artichokes
Arugula
Asparagus
Avocado	x
Beets	x
Beets, Yellow
Bok Choy
Broccoflower	x
Broccoli	x
Brussel Sprouts	x
Butter Beans
Cabbage, Green	x
Cabbage, Purple
Cabbage, Red
Carrots	x
Carrots, Purple
Cauliflower	x
Celery	x
Chard
Corn	x
Corn, White	x
Cucumber	x
Eggplant
Endive
Escarole
Fennel
Green Beans	x
Greens, Collard
Greens, Leafy	x
Greens, Mustard
Jerusalem Artichoke	x
Jicama
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Lettuce	x
Mushrooms	x
Okra	x
Onion	x
Onion, Green	x
Onions, Red	x
Onions, White	x
Onions, Yellow	x
Parsnips	x
Peas	x
Peas, Pod	x
Peas, Snow	x
Peas, Sugar Snap	x
Pepper, Green Bell	x
Pepper, Orange Bell	x
Peppers, Chili	x
Peppers, Hot	x
Peppers, Red Bell	x
Peppers, Sweet	x
Peppers, Yellow Bell	x
Potatoes, Purple	x
Potatoes, Red	x
Potatoes, Sweet	x
Potatoes, Yellow	x
Pumpkin	x
Radicchio
Radish	x
Rhubarb
Rutabagas
Sauerkraut
Shallots	x
Spinach	x
Squash, Acorn	x
Squash, Ambercup	x
Squash, Autumn Cup
Squash, Banana	x
Squash, Butternut	x
Squash, Carnival	x
Squash, Chayote
Squash, Crook Neck	x
Squash, Delicata
Squash, Fairytale Pumpkin
Squash, Gold Nugget
Squash, Hubbard	x
Squash, Kabocha
Squash, Pattypan	x
Squash, Spaghetti	x
Squash, Sweet Dumpling
Squash, Turban
Squash, Yellow	x
Tomatillo	x
Tomatoes	x
Tomatoes, Cherry	x
Tomatoes, Grape	x
Tomatoes, Pear	x
Turnips	x
Watercress	x
Yams	x
Zucchini	x

It's official....

I am OUT OF CONTROL!!! I need to nip this in the butt like NOW!! No more excuses. No more waiting.

"Oh, it's the Super Bowl party on Sunday. I'll wait until after that."

"Oh, Valentine's Day is coming. I'll wait until after that."

And then anniversary....March Madness....birthdays...Easter....

I'm not even going to post how much I have gained in the last week and a half but rest assured, it is PATHETIC!!!!! I can't even believe how stinkin' hard it is and long it takes to take weight off but how easily and quickly it comes back on! BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!!!

I started out my day good. I exercised. Then I had a piece of homemade, whole wheat bread and a glass of juice (that equaled a serving of fruits and a serving of veggies). Go me! Then I ate leftover pizza and brownies from the party yesterday.....and it's only 8:25!!

No more excuses!! Change starts NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!