My Journey to Weight Loss Success

 I've had a pretty good week.  It seems like I've gotten a bit more under control every day.  Calories are under control. Today, I had my oatmeal for breakfast.  Jake mentioned picking up Papa John's Pizza for dinner, which I okayed.  I did a bit of research.  We've been buying the extra large BBQ Chicken Pizza, which is 370 calories for 1/10th of a pizza.  I decided this time to have a green salad first and then stop at one slice.  My dressing was only 10 calories plus the greens (maybe 30 calories).  I did go back later and have a very small slice (probably 250 calories).  Since then I had a small bowl of cereal.  I was rather proud of having the green salad first. I'm up to 25 minutes jogging!  I've been trying to think ahead and keep on jogging, not dropping out like I usually do.  I may level off at about 30 or 35 minutes and work on speed after that, not sure.  So will I take this jogging public?  Not sure ...

 Yesterday, I briefly got off track, but as of the moment, it only lasted a day.  Yeah for me! I can come up with all sorts of creative reasons to cheat.  This time, it was because I had a batch of bananas getting too ripe and thought I needed to use them.:/  So I immediately lost my head and made a batch of banana/oatmeal muffins.  It wouldn't be so bad, but I had 5 (they were rather large) muffins last night and 5 more this afternoon after I got up.   Later, I was thinking about making sure I didn't extend this little vacation into 2, 3 or more days.  I'm very proud that I fetched the last two muffins and put them in the trash.:)  Then I put the recipe into my FitBit app to see what sort of damage I did.  I was surprised to see that the five muffins only added to 844 calories, so I didn't do as much damage as I thought.  Since I had only had those 844 calories so far today, I had enough room to stay within my calorie limit.  ...

 There's not too much happening the last couple of days.  My left leg is giving me issues, plus my knees felt like they needed a break yesterday.  My left calf and hamstring are tightening up--maybe the same tendon or hamstring bothering me. I had a bad fall a couple of years ago, and it took a long time for my leg to improve.  Some of the pain reminds me of that--maybe it's flaring up.  I never went to the doctor about it; I could have torn a muscle.  It sort of felt like that.  Yesterday, I just took it easy.  I didn't even have 1500 steps.  Today, I had 6000.  I was thinking of doing more, but my leg is complaining, and I don't want to aggravate it.   My calories have been good, though, around 1200-1300 both days, though not very healthy.  I don't think I will even list what I ate.  I'm not too proud of my choices, but just keeping the calories under control is my biggest priority. I got my hair done yesterday even...

I actually got up in a fairly decent mood.  I didn't waste much time getting back on to our tax return.  All the figures checked out, so I finished up quickly and waited for Jake to come home for his signature and then took to copy and mail.  We're actually getting a refund which we'll just apply to next year's taxes. I was thinking about how hungry I felt yesterday.  It occurred to me that the bowl of oatmeal I eat, and usually a banana, have a lot of volume, much more than the little pb sandwich I ate yesterday.  It fills me up even if it doesn't last as long as some meals might.  I ate oatmeal again, but not until 2:00 (yes, I have a very weird schedule).  I did good the rest of the afternoon, eating a handful of almonds late afternoon and then had dinner (or more like lunch for me) about 6:30:  2 ounces of smoked sausage, a small potato with Brummel & Brown and steamed broccoli with a little Velveeta melted on top.  I did finally have...

 Another day, another post. My day started a bit late and slow, like many days.  (It took a very long time to fall asleep again last night.  It seems like when that happens, it takes a few days to fall asleep easily again.  I managed to not sleep extremely late, though.)  Thank goodness, my day doesn't have to end in that negative way.  I was sitting around too much and not in a very good place mentally.  I knew I had to get the income taxes done, if nothing else.  Plus I had my meeting with A. tonight. I was extra hungry this morning and afternoon.  I started with a 250-calorie sandwich, but it didn't feel like it made much of a dent with my hunger pains.  A few minutes later, I had a small bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, then an Atkins bar, coming to around 600 calories.  That held me for awhile, and I was determined to discipline myself the rest of the afternoon.   I finally got started on the taxes, slogged through it, and...

For some reason, last night when I went to bed I would not go to sleep.  I was probably actually sleeping at the lightest level; but finally, at about 4:00, I got up, took another Unisom, ate a Atkins lemon bar, went back to bed and went to sleep.  There's no rhyme or reason to nights like that. I got up about noon (boo), and went immediately to the IRS office and picked up tax forms (they have them out in the hallway, so I don't have to go into the office).  Jake asked me about our status yesterday; and it's a good thing he did because I was not even thinking about doing our taxes.  It's the first year I've totally forgotten.   I have my Quickbooks caught up for 2019, so I should be able to fill in the forms pretty quickly.  A funny story: a couple of years, I interviewed as a bookkeeper for an accounting firm.  I didn't have much real experience except for self-study and learning Quickbooks, plus kept a small set of books for a friend and her ti...

 So I've done what I planned, which was to be back on track on Monday.  Yesterday (Sunday), I tracked calories all day, coming in around 1500.  I really wanted it to be less since I had misbehaved, but 1500 was fine.   I noticed yesterday that I really had too many calories earlier in the day, which makes it very hard in the evening.  Jake wanted to pick up lunch, and I chose the fish at Chicken Express; but even though it is a good WW choice for fast food, it still made the evening much harder to keep my calories in check.   Today, I purposely conserved my calories for later in the day.  At the moment, I only have 775, and plan to eat my 240-calorie pb sandwich before bed, which will come to 1015 calories.  I really wanted a low-calorie day to feel like I am making a strong restart. When I think about taking a whole week off in my plan, it seems ridiculous now.  I didn't plan to take that much time off; one day just turned into ano...

 Well, this week, I definitely was not on track.  I did so well on our trip out of town, but not with having company.  I have no real reason--I think I just was not focused.   As I said before, my youngest (Jared), his wife (Kari) and kids (Colette --3 1/2 years old and Griffin (10 months old) stayed with us from Saturday until the next Friday.  Along with fun with the babies and lots of trips to the park, we had takeout three days (Mexican, Italian and Chinese).  I also cooked two days--marinated chicken with pesto pasta, then meatloaf with mashed potatoes.   I just stopped caring for a few days.  After they all left, which was yesterday, I still did not "feel" like getting back on track and really overdid it yesterday.  Today, I consciously cut back on my eating, but I'm not there yet.  I told myself that by Monday (day after tomorrow), I have to be back, but hopefully, even tomorrow I can be back on track.   I reme...

Today was not the day I got back on track.  And that's all I have to say about that! To be continued. . . .

 The last two days are not really worth recording.   This is like one of those times in the past when I arrived at a point where I never got back on track, and my aim is to change that pattern.  So many times in the past when I would start on Weight Watchers, I would be perfect for the first three weeks or so.  Then as soon as I cheated the first time, it seemed like I could never get back on track.  And then I would quit.  That perfection thinking defeated me. Also, the first time I had a weigh-in day when I knew or thought I would be up on the scales, I would not go to that meeting because I wanted a loss every time I went.  Then the next week might be worse, and the missed meetings would stretch out until I finally just quit. Now it's very obvious to me why I have not succeeded in the past.  With those kinds of expectations, who can measure up?  Any kind of journey is dotted with slipups and failures, usually many, along the way....

I did end up cheating yesterday.  I snacked more before I went to bed.  I probably had over 2000 calories yesterday.  But I don't think it was more than the calories I burned.  I still didn't want to get on the scales this morning.  I do need to watch it the next time I have a crash like this.  I think it would have been much better if I just went and took a nap.   But I was back on track today.  I started out with a walk--not too long, maybe about 1 1/2 miles.  Instead of the usual oatmeal I had Grapenuts with raisins for breakfast.  Yum!  I had a bowl of my bean soup that I made a couple of days ago for lunch along with five crackers.  Later a peanut butter sandwich, apple, some baked Cheetos, a banana.  For dinner I had a very small tortilla with sautéed veggies and hummus and a small waffle.  A small handful of almonds later in the evening.  I really should quit eating the waffles; that's not a good habi...

 Well, I would say that today was not exactly a raving success.  I had a banana and oatmeal (boring?) for breakfast.   I've been feeling like I needed to make some more of my 10,000 steps more about housework, lol.  So instead of just walking, I did the dishes, cleaned the stove top, dusted, laundry, and a few other things.   When I started to get hungry again, I made a corn and black bean salsa, which I like to put on salads.  I also sautéed some more squash, red pepper, mushrooms and onions.  Then I had a big salad with spring greens, the salsa (which also had jalapeno, tomatoes and cucumbers, garlic, cilantro and lime), the sautéed veggies, avocado, and some regular salsa plus a little bit of ranch dressing.  About the time I finished it, I suddenly felt exhausted   I don't know what the deal was. I went ahead and had a small bowl of Grapenuts with raisins, to see if I just needed more calories.  Then I tried doing my joggin...