WEEKLY PLAN - October 28

Hard to believe we are heavy into fall. Last week I moved my tomato plants into the greenhouse and they froze anyway! Well, in their defense, the temperature did get down to 24 degrees. I was so looking forward to babying those fruits at least into Thanksgiving. Oh well. Hopefully next year I can better plan for the cold snaps.

Our local town held their Fall Festival last weekend. I avoided the funnel cakes, deep fried oreos. I did have 1 soda. At a benefit later I had 2 hot dogs. 1 with and 1 without bun, a small bowl of chili and a bottled water.

My plan for this week is to just stay on track and to remember to take my vitamins. I've not done well on that lately. I just get busy in the morning with work and don't think about them. Time to reprogram my brain.

I am also going to start stretching. I found a heavy quilt I can use as a floor mat until I can reach the yoga mat stuffed to the back of everything in the living room. Only another week without a bedroom. Then I can have my living room back with full access to the treadmill and the Wii.

Bob will be home Wednesday night and we'll finish the bedroom remodel. I'll be planning meals for 2 so I'll eat more vegetables. I hate to open a can of green beans because I find it hard to eat 1/2 of the can today then reheat the other 1/2 later. Buying the single serves is too expensive. Cooking for 1 is easy in some ways and more difficult in others.

What will you do this week?

189/187/135

EXERCISE - Ugh!

Okay...

For the most part I do like exercise. I'm active, despite my day job as a writer which requires a lot of sit-down time.

My Challenge: Things keep getting in the way whenever I plan to start a regimen.
This last time, I had repositioned the treadmill so I could plug it in and have it facing the TV. Three days later everything from my bedroom had to come into the living room/ dining room for a total 'rip the carpet up' remodel thanks to fleas. Ugh! I can't get anywhere near the treadmill.

I could go walking but I know my knees are not ready for the incline on my road yet. Driving into town to use one of the tracks is an option but it seems once I leave the house my day is shot. I really prefer to stay home.

Then there's my Wii. I LOVE my Wii for workouts. If there wasn't a King sized sleigh bed in the middle of the living room, I'd be good to go.

So for now I'm doing some yard work, moving furniture in spurts (as the remodel dictates) and doing stretches in the middle of the kitchen.

I just know the tummy has to go! What is your Tried and True Tummy Toner?

REGAINING CONTROL - a step forward

Okay, I never really lost control. Not of eating, anyway. Just my time.

From the time summer hit I've never gained a solid foothold in any aspect of my life. There seems to have been a constant string of 'occurrences' I couldn't do anything about. As I look at the contents of my bedroom, including my bed, overtaking the living room and dining room, National Novel Writing Month looming on the horizon followed by the holidays and guests from Poland I have to wonder. WHEN?

Well, WHEN? is NOW!

So I'm back and planning to get back on course with multiple things.
1) Blogging - I've put together my Blog Planner for 2014.

I spent time studying what I wanted to accomplish in the new year and the best way to track my activities for tax purposes as well as all my avenues of promotion. You can read the full description of the Blog Planner on my Creative Dreams blog. 

Although I've watched what I ate, I also found myself listening to other people and got into trouble. The only thing I use any sweetener for (Splenda is my chosen alternative) is my iced tea. I tried to eliminate the 'fake' stuff and instead switched to a 1/4 tsp. of sugar in a tall iced tea. That was the ONLY change to my diet. In two weeks I gained 5 pounds! I was at my heaviest weight EVER of 191 pounds. Oh so NOT going to happen! I've since dropped the use of sugar in brewed tea. I still use a packet of Splenda in the instant iced tea. But I've also found I don't need the Splenda in my coffee. 

In addition I'm trying to remind myself to eat more veggies. I buy stuff for salads but unless I eat salad 2x a day every day, the stuff spoils on me. I have a hard enough time trusting lettuce after so many issues with contaminates in the past couple of years. Walmart now offers salad kits in their produce section. The bottom part of the bowl is a serving of ice berg lettuce (okay, not my first choice since I was introduced to Spring Mix. The top tray looks like a paw print. Each 'pad' is filled with a salad additive based on the type of salad you choose. The Cob has chopped bacon, julienne turkey ( might be ham), chopped hard boiled egg. A separate smaller bowl contains salad dressing. I love how everything is sealed tight and clearly marked with an expiration date. Since my nearest SuperCenter is almost an hour one direction, this lets me see at a glance how many I can purchase for the week without risking spoilage. And after I've worked a 12-hour day, opening one of these and mixing everything together is more tempting that fixing a full-blown salad from scratch. My granddaughter, Adrian, has started me on grape tomatoes. I pick up a bowl of these when I purchase the salads. When time to eat, I wash 6 - 8 or them, cut them in half and add them to the salad. No more rotten tomatoes on the counter.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'll talk about my current exercise challenge and what I hope to accomplish in spite of the obstacle.

Enjoy the Journey!