Quest Way-In

I lost weight this past week!  Woo hoo!  1.5 pounds.  Not much, but it's better than nothing or gaining.  I set my calorie intake to be for 1.5 pounds a week.  Not bad.  The Husband is doing well, too.

Quest: Day 6

I've made it two days using the Lose It app.  I LIKE it!  I'm a little under my calories for the day, so I took a small (two bites) piece of leftover birthday cake.  Hey, it's better than a whole piece, right?  Right.

The Washington Post had a funny food calculator for seeing how many calories you will eat on Thanksgiving Day.  Try it....you'll be surprised.  I went one year without dressing, and I swore I'd never do it again.  So, I'm going to skip something else that I would choose and have some.  I'll probably not have the gravy, so I'm praying the turkey doesn't get dry after it's put on the table.  Why is it that you carve a nice juicy turkey, but by the time it hits the table, it's drier than my grass was this summer?

Well, on to day three of the Lose It app and watching my weight.  I lost weight when I weighed this morning, so it must be working!

Grade:  A

Quest: Day 5

Hallelujah!  My husband has joined me in losing weight.  It is so much easier to do it with someone else.  He's so diligent about it, too.  We are both using the iPhone app called "Lose It."  It keeps track of what we eat and the calories we consume.  I've done pretty good today.  I think if have less than 20 calories to consume before midnight, but I'm not going to use them.  I had to have a Caesar Salad today instead of the planned cottage cheese and pineapple.  It was left over from last week and went bad.  All in all, I did pretty good.  I'm avoiding going downstairs because there are cookies, cake, and hors d'oeuvres left over from Girl Child's 25th Birthday Bash.  Cake is my favorite food group, so I must stay away from the kitchen!

As you can probably guess, I've missed some days writing things down in my food journal.  I started AGAIN today using the Lose It program.  You have to journal in order to know how many calories you've consumed.

I almost blew it this morning when I was real sleepy.  The invisible dude on my left shoulder (he wears red and carries a pitch fork) told me to go downstairs and get one of those huge cookies from the food wagon.  I went down there, with the guise of needing to break a twenty, but the invisible dude on my right shoulder (he wears white and has wings) made it possible for all the donuts and cookies to be sold!  So, I trudged on back to my office and congratulated myself for not being able to go through with the planned purchase.

Grade:  A-

Thanksgiving is just three days away.  We're in charge of making the desserts.  AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!

Quest: Day 4

Yesterday went pretty well, I think.  I woke up this morning feeling a little bit lighter and a lot more confident in my ability to take the weight off slowly.  It's cold outside and it gets dark by 6:00, so walking at night is out of the question.  My pedometer isn't getting high marks!

What did I eat today?

• 7:15 a.m. Total cereal with milk and dried cranberries
• 9:20 a.m. Sweet for the Day:  three squares of chocolate with nuts
• 12:15 p.m. Cottage cheese and pineapple, pretzels, one piece of rye bread, one slide of deli corned beef, and one piece of low-fat cheese
• 6:00 p.m. Trailmix (handfull) while I cooked dinner.
• 6:30 p.m. Dirty Rice with ground turkey

Grade:  B+

I could have eaten less dinner.  I should have a snack in the afternoon, but I've been too busy at work to stop.  I have yogurt and Del Monte fruit cups in my fridge, but I've not had one since last week.

Prince Williams got engaged to Kate Middleton today.  The next year will be fun watching the smut magazines take pictures of Kate like they did Princess Diana.  I just hope they are a little more kind to her considering their constant badgering led to the Princess's death.  Can't wait to see the wedding dress!

Back to food -- I think this blog and recording what I eat is helping me.  I don't want to lie to anyone who might read this blog, so I am trying to keep eating to a dull roar!

Quest: Day 3

Okay, well it's probably day five or six or maybe even seven.  I got off track.  I "meant" to write my food down, but just didn't do it.  The journal was right there in my bag for Heaven's sake!  Well, back to the drawing board.  The good thing is that I lost one pound, so I couldn't have done that bad.......right?

Here is my food journal for the day:

• 6:30 a.m. Breakfast Burrito made with scrambled eggs, margarine, bacon, cheese, and a tortilla.
• 10:00 a.m. Sweet for the Day:  four squares of chocolate.
• 1:00 p.m. One half of an Arnold's Sandwich Round with peanut butter on it, cottage cheese and pineapple, and pretzels.
• 4:10 p.m. Banana
• 6:00 p.m. Pretzels while I made dinner.  I was hungry!
• 6:20 p.m. Mexican Night:  One Chimichanga, two Southwest Chicken Rolls, and Spanish Rice

Not bad.

Monday's aren't so good for the pedometer.  I only have 4,301 steps in as of right now.  I don't see another 5,700 appearing before I go to bed.  I'll have to step it up tomorrow.

I'm encouraged.  One pound loss on the scale isn't much, but I'm that much closer to fitting back into my jeans and crossing my legs.  It's the little things that make me happy.  My hair is finally doing something worthwhile, too.

Today's Grade:  A-

Good night!

Quest: Day 2

Busy, busy day.  Let's see how I did.

Food Journal:

• 6:15 a.m. Breakfast burrito:  2 eggs, 1 slice American Cheese, 3 slices already cooked bacon
• 9:00 a.m. Sweet for the day:  4 cubes of chocolate (like sectioned off in a Hershey bar) and five peanut butter pretzels saved from Day 1.
• 1:45 p.m. Salad:  Lettuce, grilled chicken, feta cheese, banana peppers, croutons, bleu cheese dressing
• 7:45 p.m. Polska Kielbasa, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, green beans

I ate larger meals today due to my weird schedule.  I ate lunch late and ate dinner late -- all due to appointments.  I could have cut out the bleu cheese dressing and gone for the low fat variety in my office fridge, cut out the croutons, and had less mac and cheese.

Grade:  B-

I walked to my meeting this afternoon and as of this writing, I have 6,166 steps on the pedometer.  My goal is 10,000/day, but some days the steps are just not attainable.

I got my nails done today, so that helps me feel somewhat better about my appearance.  They were looking a little bedraggled.  I discussed my hairstyle with my stylist this evening and we are looking at several different shoulder length styles.  I also spoke to the other stylist that has the haircut I have but aren't having my luck seeing.  So, I'll try drying it a different way tomorrow and see what that does.

My goal for tomorrow:  Keep trying not to eat anything after dinner.  Having no snack in the evening should help.

Life is good!

Quest: Day 1

My Mind and Body Coach thought starting a food journal would help me see how much I'm eating and when.  It would hold me accountable for what I put in my mouth.  Studies show that it takes twenty-one days for something to become a habit, so I'm choosing this idea to become a habit.  After a full day of journaling, I think the coach is right.  I wanted to go to the vending machine for something crunchy, but the idea of writing it down made me sit my butt back in my comfy office chair and rethink the situation.  Instead, I went to the fridge and got the nice snack-sized Del Monte Fruit Naturals in mixed berry.  The juice was sweet and the fruit was crunchy.  Problem solved!

What did I put in my journal today, you ask?  

• 7:10 a.m. Total Cereal with Craisins and Skim Milk
• 9:20 a.m. My sweet for the day:  pumpkin pie (small slice)
• 11:45 a.m. Leftover rigatoni (yummy)
• 3:10 p.m. Del Monte Fruit Naturals
• 6:15 p.m. Handful of veggie straws and handful of peanut butter pretzels
• 6:30 p.m. Diet Pepsi and DQ Cheeseburger

Okay, not good, but not bad either.  I didn't finish the peanut butter pretzels.  Instead, I put the rest in a baggie and will eat them tomorrow when I need that crunch.  I had to break a twenty, so I forced myself to stop at DQ and get some dinner.  I was running late getting home, so why not?  I did not choose the combo meal that included the fries, so I think I did okay.  Some potato farmer probably doesn't like me right now for not choosing to eat his potato turned into fries, but my dingle dangles will thank me when I can wear a jacket that doesn't fit snug on my arms.

I took a walk today for the second day, too!

Today's grade:  B+

What happened to me?

What motivates me?  That's the question I was asked yesterday by my Mind and Body coach.  Lots of things motivate me, but nothing motivates me to want to lose weight.  That's what my quest is.  Find something that motivates me to want to lose weight.

You would think it was the 30 pounds I've put on in one year.  Maybe it's the fact that I can no longer cross my legs.  Or maybe it's the dingle dangles on my arms and my big, huge butt!  Wouldn't you think that would motivate me to want to lose weight?  Sure it does.  But.......  But, I just don't have the will power to do it.  I wonder why? 

My hair is totally off.  I can't find a hairstyle that I like that doesn't look like the one I've been wearing for the past fifteen to twenty years.  I've tried the new style that is longer and angled to the front.  Looks good until my hair goes flat on top and curls on the bottom.  I told my husband and my coach that if my hair doesn't look good, I don't feel that I look good.

So, I'm on a quest to lose weight without having to count calories and finding something that will motivate me to stick with it.......this time.