Dieting Again

Easter has come and gone with all the chocolate temptations for dieters. I chose to NOT diet or restrict myself during the last 2-3 weeks, because it's easy for me to feel that I'm always on a diet. After getting on the scale again on Tuesday, it was time to get back to my diet plan. The plan that my friend taught me has worked quite well and I didn't gain back weight when I stopped following the plan, so it seemed smart to return to that plan.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent doing THE CLEANSE. My boys and Madelyn love to razz me when I rid my body of carbs. My emotions tend to be a little closer to the surface than normal during this faze of the diet. The last time I did THE CLEANSE, every time I asked someone to focus on their studies or pay attention, it was blamed on THE CLEANSE. This time I didn't tell anyone that I had began the diet again, so the kids missed out on their opportunity to tease me.

I've set a fairly high goal for the first month, mainly because my sister is getting married in 1 month. I won't punish myself if I don't hit the goal, but it's good for me to aim high.

A friend introduced me to an on-line weight loss tool that allows me to keep a food and exercise journal. The tool is extremely helpful because it lets me see if my daily nutritional needs are being met. After completing all of my food intake today, I checked the number of calories. It was surprising to see that My total caloric intake was 969 for the day. I followed the diet plan fully and didn't leave out any foods. No wonder this plan works so well!

The prescribed food is based on low fat meat, lots of vegetables and fruits, and no cheese. Everyone knows that fruit and vegetables are low in calories, but I never considered what a huge difference in that the number of vegetables instead of brown rice or pasta can make. I'll have to keep that in mind when I reach my goal.

Healthy Eating and Moods

Yesterday was a really bad day for me emotionally. Major crabby mood. It's been a long time since I was so cranky. After spending some time thinking about changes in my lifestyle over the last year, I realized that I have been eating more refined foods, sugars, and fat recently. December I ate a modified diet with treats. The plan was to maintain my weight. Since December, it's been difficult to not eat sugar, refined foods, and more fats.

The change in my diet has made a huge difference in how I feel. My migraine headaches returned in December, my nerves aren't as calm as they had been and I'm more easily depressed. Even though my diet still contained a large number of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, I need to go back to eating whole, low sodium, low fat foods. The delicious taste of sausage pizza is not worth the mood swings and blah feeling.

Diet

My weight loss had hit a plateau and I was getting really discouraged. A friend who has started the same program that I'm using spoke with her weight loss counselor today and mentioned that she isn't using nutrients with her program. The counselor said that if she wasn't using nutrients, she needed a different plan. So tomorrow, I begin using a different plan also. According to my friend, I will get to eat 200 calories of starches. YUM! Life is good.

Long Day

Mike and I drove separately up to Amy's apartment and moved all her stuff. I made multiple trips in the van, while Mike repaired Amy's car. We are so thankful that her car is now repaired. 650 miles later and all of her belongings are scattered throughout the house. The kids helped me unload the van and carried some stuff upstairs to the room that Amy will share with Katie. They carefully stacked boxes up in a nice empty area of the room. When I arrived with her futon, they discovered that the empty floor space was for Amy's "bed". She graciously offered to sleep on the couch tonight, until the boxes are unpacked and the floor is once again visible.

Last night, Amy's boss asked her if she was interested in replacing her at the library. The supervisor spoke to the head of the library, suggesting Amy for her position when the supervisor leaves in 6 weeks. Amy was also granted an interview with the head of the library. Amy is very optimistic about this job possibility.

I got up early and placed a roast in the crock pot with seasonings and spoke with Steve about what to prepare as side dishes. I turned the crock pot on, but forgot to check that it was plugged in! Mike ran to the store and purchased pre-cooked barbecued beef to replace my uncooked roast. The house smelled wonderful with the spicy beef and cooking roast. Because I am not allowed sauces on my diet, I had a cold grilled chicken breast. They are getting a little boring. But the results are worth the loss of tasty interesting food.

Diet

Today was the last day of my cleanse. The cleanse has been really successful. I haven't gotten hungry at all. The beef and salad is beginning to get boring. Tomorrow is the first day of the actual weight-loss plan. There will be a wider range of foods available, but I'm a little nervous about adding the new foods. As long as my choices are extremely limited, I don't have any choices to make. More choices mean more opportunity to veer off the path.

I'm going to try to plan my meals a day in advance, so the choices are made when I'm not hungry. This diet plan does work, I just need to find the easiest way to make it work for me.

Healthier Habits

A dear friend spent the last year losing weight....a lot of weight. She's inspired me to make healthier choices in my own life. I've been exercising regularly, but not to excess. Due to our life on a budget, I need to lose weight without dropping tons of money on meetings and pre-measured, prepared foods. Weight Watchers has a good program, but I spend too much time looking for ways to get more food for my allotted points. The Biggest Loser is inspiring, but I can't spend 5-6 hours each day exercising. It also appears that past winners aren't able to keep the weight off in the long term. Maybe because they lose the weight outside of their normal life.

Anyhow, now that I've got 2 months of exercise under my belt and have developed the exercise habit, I'll be embarking on a plan to change my eating habits. My friend (with the hugely successful weight loss) has agreed to be my weight loss coach and keep me motivated. I'm trying to look at this as a change of habits and lifestyle as opposed to a diet or quick fix. I didn't gain weight overnight; I can't lose it quickly either. Anyone with words of wisdom? I'd love to hear from you!!!

A Diet Dilemma

Snoopy seems to read my mind.

Diet Update and Mom Only Time

Well I didn't make my first goal of 14 pounds. I ended up losing 11.5 pounds for the first 7 days. Tremendous strides were made in the amount of exercise I can complete in one hour. Two inches were lost from my waist and 2 inches from my hips.

The down side of all this exercise is that I'm tired. The children and I swim from 10-10:30am and then I work out in the gym. After we get home and I shower, I am wiped out. The kids have been doing a great job getting up early to complete the bulk of our school work by 10:00 am. It's good that they are so happy to check off their completed assignments each day, because I am not as on top of school as I should be. Today, I even took a short nap.

There has been a lot of talk on a homeschool email loop that I belong to about moms needing time to themselves. This is the first time in 21 years that I have taken time to do something by myself almost every day. I'm dropping my two youngest children off at daycare for 1 hour each day. I listen to music that I enjoy and am not interrupted with little children wanting to hug me or get on the treadmill with me. Part of me feels guilty about taking this time. Time that I should spend teaching Latin verbs or reading stories to the younger girls or ironing shirts for my husband to wear to work. On the other hand, I really need to take better care of myself. I didn't get regular exercise for many years, my blood pressure was high, I am overweight. All things that deplete my energy, make me crabby, and don't allow me to do all the things I need to do. Is it sinful to take this time away from my vocation as wife and mother?

My older and younger children have positive experiences while I workout. My children enjoy going to daycare. They like playing with more children. My older children thrive on the extra time at the library. I'm also playing tennis with the older children on a regular basis. None of us are great players, but we chase balls, volley the ball back and forth, and laugh together a lot. Should I try to get all of my exercise with the children? Probably. But for now, I will use the Y center membership to get myself back into good physical condition and continue to incorporate more family sports.

Diet and Exercise

I've been dieting and exercising a lot this week. My goal is to keep "in play" with the Biggest Losers weekly percentage weight loss each week. I started my program on Monday. After watching the program on Tuesday, I realized that I should have started the week before. So I know how much weight I should lose before my first weekly weigh-in.

Having a set goal for the week has been a great inspiration for me. I'm motivated to keep moving, even when my shin splints are aching and I'm tired. I can be a very competitive person, so competing with a friend is not an option. Competing against the show's contestants is providing me with inspiration and a goal, but without making someone I know feel unsuccessful.

On Thursday, I fell when playing tennis with my children. My ankle was twisted slightly and my shoulder is sore and bruised. Instead of doing the intense workouts I've been doing, I will be taking the kids for long walks in the woods.

In 5 days, I've lost 10 pounds. My heart rate is down 10 points when resting. My blood pressure is in the healthy range again. My jeans are looser. The big question: Can I lose another 4 pounds by Monday?

Family Exercise (major venting)

We joined the Y Center so that all of us could get exercise throughout the late fall and winter. Our local membership was finally completed today. Unfortunately, we were not able to exercise. The Y has changed the availability of almost every area for the fall and winter. Family swimming is only available from 10-10:30 am or 7:30-8:30 pm. By 7:30 pm, my 3 year old is exhausted and I won't take her anywhere because she doesn't always behave. The staff spent over an hour getting our membership cards created and we missed the early swim time.

My 3 and 5 year old children could go to child care, the 13 and 15 year old children could go to any area at the Y that was open. My 10 and 11 year old children were not allowed anywhere in the facility. I understand the difficulties of only opening areas that are going to be used by a number of members. I understand the budget constraints. I understand that they don't want to make different rules for members in different situations. After our experience today, I also KNOW why all my friends have dropped their membership at the local Y.

I asked where the 10 and 11 year old children were allowed. I was informed that they could use racquet ball and tennis courts if I was present. They could swim during Family Swim time. They could use the 6-12 year old area. The racquet ball courts are reserved for the next month. The tennis courts are booked.

So now I'm trying to figure out a way to change our schedule, so we could go to the Y after normal school hours. A new problem arises. My 3 and 5 year old children are not allowed anywhere in the facility except the pool and Child Watch. Child Watch is only open from 8:30am-12:30pm.

I asked if the 10 & 11 year olds could read in the Child Watch room. They are too old. Could I take them up to the 6-12 year old room and watch them while they used the equipment there. No. The 6-12 year old area is only open from 4:30pm-7:30 pm. The manager offered the solution of having the 10 & 11 year old children sit in the lobby at a table near the door, while the rest of us used the facilities. Somehow, I didn't see that as a good solution. We left with everyone in tears. Our Family Y membership was supposed to be a large portion of the children's Christmas present. We will end up only doing the Family swim. I may let the older children walk down to the library a couple of times a week, so I can work out, while the younger 2 kids are in Child Watch.

Maybe a better name for the center would be Adult Y Center, with child care available for limited hours.

We ended up at a neighborhood park. We all played tennis for an hour and then the kids were allowed to play on the climbing equipment. At least we all ended up having a good time and getting some exercise. All of us.