WEIGH IN 1-27-20

162/172/135

Quick post this morning

Another pound down!  Now if I can just drop 1 more before Bob and I weigh in on the 13th :-) I'd rather have 2 but you know.. I'll take the 1.

My sugar numbers are reflecting the weight loss. I know if the weight went down so would the glucose. 

But here's something odd. Carbs don't seem to be affecting my morning number. doesn't matter if I have cinnaon raisin toast or a bowl of coco wheats, my numbers will be lower in the morning. I am trying to make sure I eat late so that the carbs continue to burn through the night.

Today is all about my favorite Chinese buffet and I'm really craving a cheese burger.

Speaking of, I tried the no meat burgers from Burger King. They're pretty good but I'm going to research what they are acutally made of before I eat another one. I'll try to remember to post those results on Wednesday.

How are you doing on your path? comment below and let us 

Enjoy the Journey... together!

~Kelly

NEW YEAR.... NEW PLAN - Weigh In

165/ 166/135

Great way to start out the year! Actually, that isn't bad. two days ago I weighed 163! Not sure what I did differently, but we shall see. 

My overall goal is to lose ten pounds this year and keep it off. Maintaining is important. However, I've recently had a health scare that brought things into perspective. While I always thought I was eating right, in retrospect I realize I kept a lot from myself.

While I can't be completely forthcoming with you all, I am living in a totally transparent state with myself. I'm being honest about what I eat, what I drink and more importantly what I leave out.

Twelve days ago, with the realization I had to make some changes, I went back to a low carb/ high protein way of life. That's the key.. WAY OF LIFE.  I've done this round before but never stuck with the plan. Now it's not a diet as the way I have to eat if I want to live long enough to see my granddaughters become amazing young women like their mom. 

In the past twelve days I haven't had a single soda. I have still taken my sips large enough to take my vitamins but that is it. No more frozen cokes, mini sodas, etc. Possibly not even as a treat down the road... a LONG way down the road.

What going back to low carb/ high protein has forced me to do is take a serious look at my vegetable intake. I'm now eating vegetables every day... usually 2-3 times a day. I've sucked up the denture issue and begun eating salads. Through trial and error I've learned I can't chew spring mix but I can ice berg or romaine if I cut them up small. 

I'm eating fruits, both canned and fresh but in moderation. While they are good for me, they are high in sugar. So I'll add 3-4 slices of peaches to my bowl of oatmeal. I still have a problem eating fruit with cottage cheese so yeah, pretty much with the oatmeal. I'll also incorporate fruit to my protein pancakes as soon as I find the recipe. They're great with Apple Butter, too. I make my own but will have to watch the portion on those. 

Oh yeah... and the fluffy coffee recipe... 

No longer am I putting 1/3 C of mix to a cup of coffee. Now, I'm only adding 1 T. 1 TABLESPOON with a splash of milk. While it's not my super duper fluffy, I am still able to enjoy my mocha/ caramel coffee.

When it comes to health, some things are just worth the sacrifice and small in comparison to the larger picture.

Did you make New Year resolutions regarding your health? I'd love to hear what you're doing. Let's talk... we can talk and...

Enjoy the Journey!

TOGETHER!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can't believe we are saying 2019! I have great plans to get back to be more productive and on time this year and I hope you'll come along for the journey.

I had planned to start the blog posts tomorrow but Bob is still home and he is trying to get some medical appointments taken care of before he goes back out. Those trips require near full days with travel/ appointment/ lunch. Ugh. One even has required an overnight to the big city.  That means I'm not getting the creating done ahead of a writing retreat I have the 3-6.  So my plan now is to spend the week following the retreat to get posts scheduled on the blog beginning Monday January 14th.

My one GOAL for 2019 is to drop 10 pounds. That's all I'm asking. I'm stepping in to the new year with a fresh plan. 

What are you looking forward to in 2019?

Whatever your plan, 

Enjoy the Journey

RECIPE WEDNESDAY

I had planned to have a recipe up for today, as well as a Flylady post for yesterday.

I have developed a pinched nerve in my left hip that is really throwing me off kilter. All I want are the pain meds and a comfy place to sleep. Hopefully, I can get relief and be back on track for next week.

I'm still Enjoying the Journey - just at a slower pace.

Kelly

WEIGH IN 4-16

175/ 166/ 135

No roller coaster this week. I've managed to keep an even keel. Of course, Bob may be home Wednesday night and I've not hit my goal of 165. We weigh in on Thursday morning so I'll be thrilled to have lost more than him - cash wise. On the other hand, he needs to win a few to get a motivation going. Competing against someone you truly love and want to see succeed is tough.

The step counter on the waistband has been working like a champ... literally. Know that I'm able to wear it from the time I get dressed in the morning until I switch to jammies at night, I'm seeing that while I thought I wasn't moving much, most days I'm getting in 6500 steps or more a day. That's over 2.5 miles - mostly just multi-tasking within the house and a walk to the mailbox and back. Seeing that I'm not as sedentary as I thought is a big motivator to keep going. 

Not sure how my week will go. In a couple of hours I'll attempt to load Bear into the back of the Suzuki. After the diagnosis from the vet to let him be happy as long as he wants to be, I discovered he has an abscessed canine. No wonder he isn't eating or barking and just lays around. If his abscess is anything like we get, then he is miserable to the core. Hopefully, this vet trip will put him on the road to at least being comfortable AND happy.

As I said, Bob is due home on Wednesday night. While I didn't accomplish much in the living room/ dining room last week - but did make strides on the office. My goal is to at least get the white folding table down and the holiday tubs moved to the basement. With that, I'll call that area a success for this month.

This week brings on a new area of the house but with Bob due home, my first three days will be more about finishing tasks I wanted done before he arrives.

What's on your plan for the week? Whatever your choices, remember to...

Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 4-9-18

175/ 166/135

Wheeeee! Down we go to the 166 mark again. I really would like to actually LOSE at least 1 more pound before Bob comes home. That would put me down two pounds since March 4th. I have somewhere between 1-2 weeks to accomplish that goal.

I talked about my step counter issues last week and I've solved the problem:

You can just see the large safety pin slipped into one of the holes on the band. When I get dressed in the morning I pin the Copper Step into place and I'm good to go. No  more taking it off to work at the computer and not counting steps while I'm multi-tasking around. I wore it yesterday and racked up almost 5,000 steps = 2.5 miles clearing off my work table, running the vacuum cleaner and basic errand stuff around the house. 

I'm sure I get a few extra counts during bathroom trips but I'm okay with that. I'd rather have those few extra jiggling the counter when I pull my pants up and down than not be getting any count at all because my wristband is laying on the table. 

At night, when I take it off, I note the steps in the designated spot on my planner.

I'm also going to be serious about getting on the Gazelle this week. Last week began a very sad journey for me.  My Great Pyreneese/ Chow mix is aging fast. Bear is almost 14 and after all the weeks of curling up in his dog house to avoid the rain (he prefers to lay out in his kennel), the damp, the cold, the ick has caught up to his bones. He's moving slow, some days chooses not to eat and bowl movements are infrequent no matter how much wet food/ olive oil/ warm milk & karo I give him. I had the vet make a stop by the house Saturday. He said Bear seems happy over all so just let him be happy as long as he wants to be.  I'm hoping the warmer temperatures will help increase his mood, act as a heating pad for his bones and make his last period of time with me at least somewhat comfortable. Bob is building him a bigger doghouse when he gets home. Nothing extravagant but something larger that he can really stretch out in. He fits in this one okay but it's narrow. Walking in then turning around to see out the door is hard for him these days.

So if my posts become irregular, know that I'm just spending extra time with my boy. 

Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN - 3-5-18

179/167/135

I'm back on the roller coaster. I'm up a pound from last week but there should be a big change. Bob left last night and is back on the boat as I type. Whether he'll be gone for three weeks or five... who knows. With him gone I'm back to my fifteen-hour days, lots of vegies/ fruits and my eating schedule. I'm on my first cup of coffee. I'll have a second cup with my morning glory muffin.

I bought a loaf of English Toasting Bread. Relatively soft bread and thinly sliced. Since I can't bite into French bread, I'm going to try the English Toasting Bread triangles as a base for Shrimp Bruschetta. Bob's not a fan and I have a taste for it. The pesto in the fridge is calling my name. 

I've restructured the post schedule. I did that while having coffee with Bob one morning and have no clue what is coming up next. With Bob gone, I can get several blog posts written and scheduled so tht is my plan for this week.

What's your plan? Menu ideas for the week? Please share!

Enjoy the Journey

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Flylady

Yes, I know it's Thursday. But considering I was part of the way through yesterday before I realized Wednesday was half gone....

Anyhow... I'm showcasing Living Room progress this week. Keep in mind, that a week ago there was a path between stuff and our chairs, with an opening big enough to see the TV screen through.

I never seem to take 'before' pictures. Not because I'm embarrased for people to see the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) but because I just dive right in to the cleaning and don't think about taking a 'before' photo. I'm going to make a point to do that for the office this weekend. 

Anyhow... this is the East side of the living room. Prior to it looking like this, there was a large Sterilite tub in front of the window (which may go back because it's a favorite sleeping spot for the cats) as well as the portable kitchen island and the dog supply cart. This is also where the treadmill used to take up twice the space the gazelle does. This side of the entertainment unit holds Bob's videos and also has a couple of shelves designated for the girls' coloring books/ games/ videos. The empty shelf on the bottom is used to house the Wii board. I'm going to move the girls' videos to this shelf.

The Gazelle is heavier than it looks when it comes to folding it up. I'm going to buy short bungi chords this weekend so that when I fold it up against the book case, it doesn't roll back out on it's own. Once the office is cleaned up, I can move it in there for the holidays as this is where our big 8' tree goes.. the one I've been unable to put up in the past four years! The last time our big tree saw the light of day was in 2013. You can see it HERE

This is the West side of the living room. A little more bare. We have to have the blanket rack to keep the cats from laying on our lap blankets when not in use, otherwise I'd get rid of it. The black tripod is temporary. That's where I'm putting my blog boards this weekend while the office cleaning is in progress. I should be able to move it back to the office by the following weekend at the latest.

I have little things on the shelves that don't belong that I'll move to their appropriate homes over the next couple of weeks. This was about decluttering the big items.

The point of this first step is that I can see the floor. 

Next week - the office. And I promise... before pictures will be taken. They will come with a warning :-)  

Enjoy the Journey!

Kelly

WEIGH IN 9-11-17

“One of the worst days in America’s history saw some of the bravest acts in Americans’ history. We’ll always honor the heroes of 9/11. And here at this hallowed place, we pledge that we will never forget their sacrifice.”

—President George W. Bush at the Pentagon in 2008

185/167/135

Down two pounds. Whoo Hooo! Well, technically I was down a pound the day after Bob and I weighed. With Bob gone I eat more of the food I like that he doesn't care for and I don't fix full meals. Mostly proteins here and there with fruits and vegies for snacks. Looks as if he'll be gone until at least the first week in October, possibly longer so I have plenty of time to stay on track and hopefully hit my goal of 165 by October 12th - in time for the Ozark Creative Writers Conference.

I apologize for not getting in here on Friday. I started out running errands and didn't get back until late evening.

The flylady program is working pretty good so far. While I'm still building habits - baby steps - I am making progress. Before I can build a full-fledged routine, I have to get the house back in a semblance of order. I've packed up the girls' toys. I need to pick up another Sterilite footlocker for their beach/ sandbox toys.  Pictured below, I bought ours at Walmart for the Home Depot price. They have inset wheels on one end to make them easy to move around. We chose this rather than standard tubs. They'll make nice 'toy boxes' for the girls' items when they come back and we know at a glance these are their things - separate from home stuff.

My focus for this week is some of the mixed media items in the office. I HAVE to have the office in a semblance of order in time for my brother -in-law and his wife to visit us the week after I get back from conference. 

Whatever you have planned for this week, remember to 

Enjoy the Journey!

Kelly

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

When I posted last, I did not realize my new editor would be handing me edits on my novel as quickly as he did. Nor did I know that three weeks later my book would be on Amazon.com.  Suffice to say things have been a bit crazy around here. And although I've not been posting, the journey is a daily progress- and battle.

The protein shakes with the fruit turned out really well... until we went on two mini -vacations back to back and got away from our schedule. We tried a variety of frozen fruits. One I was sure I would enjoy tasted AWFUL! Through this I discovered I may not like Mangos. This bag had a mixture of pineapple, peaches, strawberries and mangos. The mangos left a nasty aftertaste. So I'm either sticking to just strawberries, or at the very least using the fruits individually.

One thing I did discover is that I was more apt to make a strawberry protein shake than a chocolate shake. As much as I love chocolate, I found that interesting.

What is your fruit of choice as you enjoy your journey?

INNER PEACE - Week 5

Before I talk about this week's Chakra, I am going to make a quick abbreviated post that should have been up yesterday. Yesterday was m first full day home so of course it meant running errands with Bob. What is it about one or the other of us being away from home that the first day back becomes 'errand day'? I spent part of the afternoon catching up on some email.

I did get on the scales yesterday morning to discover I had GAINED 2 pounds over the course of nine days. I guess the couple 'treats' I allowed myself were enough to make a difference. While I can't go 'liquid' like my daughter, I do know I have to be really careful this week if I'm to not gain any more and look 'presentable' at the symphony on Saturday night.

Speaking of my daughter, I hope you'll check out her new blog and story. She is an amazing woman. Like me, when she gets something in her head, she's like a locomotive on a run away track when it comes to focus. Her blog - getfit4younotthem is a testimonial story of what you can do when you set your mind to something.  We are both on our own personal journey, just taking different paths while finding what works for each of us. That's what the 'journey' is all about. Thanks to her journey, I know I'm ready to get back to exercise.

Okay... CHAKRA time.  Today we're talking about the Fifth Chakra - the Throat. We all know where our throat is located, but do we understand the connection this chakra has to the rest of our body? Represented by the color BLUE, this energy center is associated with the thyroid and parathyroid glands. Because this chakra involves sound, we also associate it with communication, speech and self-confidence.

If the Throat Chakra is stagnant, you might have difficulty communicating with others and expressing yourself. Signs of problems may include frustration, social anxiety, dishonesty and a short attention span. Bob will tell you the only one of these I may deal with is the latter. I have what we call 'ooo shiny thing' syndrome. If something catches my attention, I am off. Though the 'medication' for this unbalanced chakra is NOT something I deal with. When the Throat Chakra is out of wack, you may find yourself stuffing your throat full of food, causing weight gain.

When balanced, you speak the truth and can express yourself creatively in a variety of ways. You are also a good listener. When the Fifth Chakra is healthy, you have energy for speaking, singing, thinking and other creative pursuits such as writing.

To stimulate the Fifth Chakra wear colors blue and blue gemstones such as lapis. When it comes to food, think Anchovies, Blueberries, Blackberries, Organic Honey, Crabmeat, Crayfish (mud bugs), Lobster, Mussels, Salmon, Sardines, Scallops and Shrimp

Do you notice something about the proteins in that group? They are shell fish (with the exception of Salmonand Sardines. Fresh, blue-water types of fish. I think Swordfish would also be a good one to add to the list.

And when it comes to exercise for opening up the Throat Chakra, you can not beat a good Yoga routine. Breathe!

Enjoy the Journey