36 Week update (a little late)

I meant to post this on Saturday, but Saturday turned into a DMV nightmare.  Since then, I haven’t been able to get to it.

 

So, the DMV.  I FINALLY went to get my California driver’s license.  (I know, I know…procrastination…I really just wasn’t willing to admit I didn’t live in Wyoming anymore.)  I should’ve known something was up when it was going too well.  I got to the intake person quickly.  I only stood in line to get my picture taken for two or three minutes.  I passed my test and only missed two questions.  I got into the front of the line for the final lady right away. 

And then she asked me to verify the information.  (The following is an approximation)

Me:  “This has my maiden name on it.”

She pulls it back and then checks her computer screen.  “Yes, you brought in your birth certificate.”

“Yes, the website says to bring that or your passport.  I don’t have one of those so naturally…”

“Yes, we took your name from the birth certificate.”

“But that’s not my legal name.”

“Do you have your marriage certificate?”

“No, I’ve already proven my married name in Wyoming, which is why that license says “Miller”.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.  We don’t know the standards of other states.  We have our own standards so you will have to show your marriage license.”

“And how much does that cost to change my name?”

“Twenty-seven dollars.”

“So, I have to come back in, miss work because this is the last Saturday you’re open, and pay you another twenty-seven dollars just because you cannot accept the name on a driver’s license from another state.  I’ve proven it to them.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.  I have to follow our standards.”

“What if I show you my Social Security card?”
        “No, ma’am.  I can only use your marriage license.”

“I’ve haven’t used that name for twenty-four years.”

“Let me do this for you, I’ll put it in pending and if you can get back before the end of the day with your marriage license, we’ll get it in there with the right name.”

So I run home and Tyson and I search the house for over four hours looking for our marriage license.  No luck.  We found our marriage certificate, but no license.  We did eliminate about 25 boxes that hadn’t been unpacked yet and threw some stuff away, so that was a plus.  I went back to the DMV at about 3 and got my driver’s license in my maiden name.  I left the DMV sobbing.  I haven’t been that girl in forever.  It’s not who I am.  I felt robbed for some reason.

Tyson did order a new marriage license for us but even if I get that in the mail this week, I still need to wait for my hard copy of my DL before I can change the name.  In the meantime, I’m rolling around town with an ID that has my maiden name on it even though EVERYTHING else is in my married name.  Tyson told me he’d marry me again…. J

 

So, because of the fiasco there, I wasn’t able to get to Curves to work out that Saturday.  I did manage to make it four times for the week, though.  This week, if I make it on Saturday, I can get in five workouts. 

I’ve been frustrated because I haven’t been losing weight.  I’ve been working out for almost three weeks.  However, I have noticed that my fluctuations are smaller.  In the past, I’ve fluctuated five to seven pounds over the course of a couple weeks.  Recently, that’s gone down to three or four.  I guess that progress.

Of course, I was curious if I was retaining water like crazy or if my body was just really freaking out because I’ve been sedentary for a couple decades or if I’m just weird.  I found this website that helped considerably.    I also found a second website which verified the other one.  I probably am retaining water and it could last anywhere from two to five weeks.  I’m going to add a 10% buffer in that and try not to freak out until it’s been more than five and half weeks.  And I realized that I’m just weird.

I will be doing another weigh-in/measure appointment with Curves a week from Saturday.  They like to do those once a month.  We’ll see what that says.  Here’s the numbers from the first appointment: 

    Arms 13.5"

    Bust 47.5"

    Waist 46"

    Abdomen 55"

    Hips 58"

    Thighs 30.5"

    Weight 297.5#  (Fully clothed, with shoes, at end of day)

    Height 5'10.5"

    BMI 47.1%

    Short term goal: loose 27.5# in three months (1/8/16)

    Long term goal:  175#  - I had to come up with something.  I suppose this would be most ideal but truly, I'd be happy with 225 and really happy with 200.

This Week Was a Bad Week

This week was hard.  I had difficulty getting out of bed on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thursday I broke down and bought a Diet Dr. Pepper.  Friday I had another one.  Yesterday I had 1/2 and the other half today.  I felt better, more alert, more desire to get up.


This is going to be hard to kick.


Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I didn't walk.  Yesterday, I did 2 miles and today we did .6 miles.  Today we didn't walk until after church and it was really hot.  The dog didn't want to do more than two laps around the block.


I started keeping track of my calories again on Friday.  The last three days, I've hovered around 2200 calories a day.  I suppose keeping track is a good thing, it's just scary to see.  :/


Well, have a good Monday tomorrow.

Isildur's Bane? Nope, Annessa's Bane

Dr. Pepper, how I love thee.  How may I count the ways?  The sultry color when it's in a glass of ice; the fizziness as it goes down your throat; the 23 different flavors that combine to make a great tasting pop.  There's too many to count.
 


Uh, yeah.  I LOVE Dr. Pepper, but if there's none to be found, most any pop (soda) will do.  I've consumed Dr. Pepper regularly since I started college.  My habit soon became the only "liquid" I would drink.  I have been to the point where I have had six 20 oz bottles a day, but my "average" is usually sustained at three.

At one point, about eight years ago, I decided the reason I was so heavy was because of the pop so I switched to Diet Dr. Pepper.  That really didn't change much.

Then there was the big reveal about how bad artificial sweeteners are for your body, so I switched back to full-on sugar.  Well, that didn't help anything either.

I've tried to quit drinking it about four times now.  I'll do really good for a few weeks and then a stressful event will occur or I'll cave into my craving and BAM!, I'm back off the wagon.

There's three things about pop that I think are issues:
    1.)  The caffeine is addictive.  This doesn't really need to be explained, does it?  I've tried
           switching to non-caffeinate pop like Sprite or 7-Up, but after only a couple days, I
           can feel the difference.  I'm dragging and always tired.
    2.)  The high-fructose corn syrup is addictive.  This is something I've just figured out. 
           Pour some sugar into me, and a few hours later I have a headache and I'm craving
           more.
    3.)  The artificial sweetener is more addictive than the HFCS.  See #2.
    4.)  MY OPINION - The carbonation is addictive.  I've tried to switch to non-carbonated,
          caffeinated drinks and they just don't have the punch, even the ones that have HFCS.

The thing is, I can't have it in the house.  I can't be around it at dinner.  I can't be around it when I'm at somebody's house.  IF it's an option for me, I WILL CHOOSE IT EVERYTIME.  Denying it is a serious battle.  I can go a little bit and talk myself out of it but as soon as I allow myself one, then it's over.  I'll let myself have it over and over.  And I can't seem to control myself to only have one.  If they're there, I'll drink them.

And I'm fairly certain if I keep it up, it will kill me.

*SPOILER* This will sound gross.
I can smell it when I go to the bathroom.  There's a difference in my urine.  Pop puts too much sugar in my system and it dumps into my urine and it smells different.  (I am aware what that implies).  When I don't imbibe, the smell goes away.

I get kidney stones when I only consume pop.  I have only ever had one stone that has put me in the hospital.  And boy, did it ever cause problems.  I was pregnant with Stephanie and I had to have a stint (a straw in my ureter) put in.  The doctor told me my ureters were scarred so it wasn't the first stone I'd ever had.  It wasn't because of the pop per se that I got that stone.  The doctor put me on Macrobid long term to manage a reoccurring bladder infection.  What we didn't know at the time was I was allergic to the medication.  We assumed I was throwing up because of the pregnancy.  It made me severely dehydrated, which in turned caused the stone.  It was a few years later when I took the drug again when the allergy was discovered.  That doesn't excuse the pop.  When I drink exorbitant amounts, I become dehydrated and then start the cycle.

*SPOILER* Another gross subject.
It changes the pH of my gut, causing major issues.  This sounds odd, but with my strong chemistry background, it makes perfect sense.  There is Celiac disease in my family and it has been thought before that I have symptoms of it.  But they're light.  They don't happen every time I have gluten.  Blood tests I've had show negative for Celiac.  I assumed I may just have "Celiac-lite", a type that didn't show on blood tests.  Nope.  It's the SUGAR.  I noticed this a couple weekends ago when I went to a wedding reception.  I had a piece of cake with a TON of icing (what is the deal with that anyway?).  I hadn't had anything desert-like (or pop for that matter) for about three weeks.  Later that evening, I was in the bathroom with loose stools, just like the symptoms of Celiac I am assumed to have.  I attribute this to pH.  When I have things that aren't acidic, my stools go the other way.  Also, when I drink a lot of pop or have a lot of sugar, I have pain in my lower bowel.  My doctor diagnosed it as diverticulitis.  But, like the Celiac symptoms, it goes away when I don't have a lot of acidic foods.

:/

Yeah, yeah.  I see it all.  It's clearly in front of me.  But, try to tell me this when the next craving hits.....

PS.  Since Tyson's work hours have been dropped again (about a month now), we haven't been able to afford my addiction.  I have quit cold-turkey.  Thus, all of these amazing epiphanies.  However, I have quit before, only to run to the quickie-mart to grab a fresh bottle.  This is truly my bane.

Today I Woke Up Pissed Off - A Sixteen Week Update

  Today I woke up pissed off.  I was mad at myself for having gained so much weight.  I was mad at myself for looking like a balloon.  I was mad at myself for having such a nonchalant attitude about my weight when I was younger.  I was mad at myself for dropping the ball two months ago and not picking it back up.  I was mad because I had to get up and do something about it.  I was mad that I couldn't keep doing what I've always done, be lazy and not care.
   But I got up anyway.  After I prayed and unloaded all of that to the Lord, I reaffirmed my determination and decided to pick the ball back up again.


   So here I am, back in your hair, to discuss the roller coaster of weight gain and loss; life, basically.


   So in April, after we had moved, I dropped this ball to focus on NaNoWriMo.  I managed to write a 60,000 word first draft within those thirty days.  I continued to work on it in May for a couple weeks and then I dropped that ball, preferring to play on the Sims and feel sorry for myself.  When I was writing in April, I decided it wasn't worth the bother of writing this blog and the draft at the same time.  I just didn't want to deal with it.  It was an excuse, really.  If I don't do this blog, then I don't have to hold the mirror in front of myself every day.
   But the mirror is always there, whether I want to acknowledge it or not.  And my feelings about being overweight haven't changed either, just my desire to deal with it.
   I joined a sexual assault survivor's group back when I was twenty-three (1995).  During the second meeting, we watched a video of another survivor who did inspirational speeches about overcoming adversity.  This was her advice:
   "Do your work everyday."
   No matter how hard or difficult it is or will be, and it will be, do it everyday, without fail.  She was referencing the work of healing.  I suppose losing weight is a form of adversity; something I need to heal inside myself.  And it is work.
   It must be done everyday.
   And there will be days in the future when I will forget or want to forget and yearn for something "easier".  I was a member of that survivor's group for nine months before my family and I moved to Texas.  We worked very hard on many issues of being a survivor.  I remember many days of wishing I didn't have to do the work, of wishing it was easier or would simply go away.
   Some days were difficult; some were more difficult; a lot were extremely difficult.  However, at some point, I'm not sure when, the difficult days became fewer and farther between.  Somewhere along the way, my adversity became part of me instead of controlling me.
   So I need to do the work.  In some ways, I see that this weight is part of that same work I began in '95.  It's not the whole cloth, but there are many common threads.


   May wasn't all about avoiding the work.  About six weeks ago, I decided (again) I needed to start walking the dog.  It was something I was dreading, probably simply because I didn't want to do it. I started small.  I realized that I was (am) really out of shape.  Add that to my propensity of giving something up if I take too big a bite and don't like it, it was necessary to do that.
   I started with one lap around the block, about .3 miles.  I would take the dog with me when I took the kids to school.  When we got home, I'd take her out of the car and immediately go around the block.  I knew if I walked into the house, I wouldn't take her back out.  I'd find some reason not to.
   We walked every day that week except one.  My joints burned every time.  With the blessings of ibuprofen and naps, I kept doing it.
   The next week, I went around my block and then I did another lap around the next block.  One day, I drove the laps to see how far I was going.  They totaled .7 miles.
   Two weeks later, I added a third lap around another block bringing my total to 1.2 miles.  We did that once.  The next day, I drove her over to a park along the bluffs.  There's a really nice, paved walking path there.  It's divided into three sections, each one divided by distance and marked.
   We are now up to 1.8 miles five days a week, flirting with 2.4 (once this week).
   Two weeks ago, when the pool temperature finally got to a good place, I started swimming.  It's not Olympic swimming by any means, it's more just gently going back and forth.  And it's not everyday, but it's activity.

Feb 14, 2015 309 lbs

June 6, 2015 300 lbs

   I'm not sure what my diet is doing, just that it's not what it was back in February and March.  I started drinking Diet Dr. Pepper in earnest in April.  I justified it because I was under "stress" from writing.  Blah, blah, blah.  I'll talk about that more in another post.

Notice the dog patiently waiting for her leash....

So, for the update, I'm at 300 pounds today.  That's nine pounds down from the beginning.






























I'll be checking back in tomorrow...if for anything to report my food....

  

Update April 1, 2015

Hello all.


I haven't written in a couple days.  Sorry about that.  My mother-in-law and two nieces were here.  We've been very busy.


Monday we finally signed the closing documents.  In California, however, you don't get your keys right away.  It can be up to 72 hours afterwards.  In our case, we got our keys at 5:15 last night.  We were working until midnight to get everything moved.  Fortunately, lots of people from our church showed up to help us. If they hadn't, we would have been still moving today.


My mother-in-law, nieces and my granddaughter, Ryleigh, all climbed in the van and left for Salt Lake today.  I'm not built for toddlers anymore.  I've been exhausted having her around.  However, I know I'll miss her.  I was bawling today as she left.  :'(


After they left, Stephi and I went over to the old house and started cleaning.  My mother-in-law and a friend from church had already done a lot of the kitchen work.  I am so thankful for their help.  However, we focused on the carpeted areas of the house so the carpet cleaners could get their work done tomorrow.  Tyson was in and out, taking a load over, running errands like going to the post office, etc.  He finally joined us all the time about 4:30.  We cleaned until 8:00.  We met the goal of getting all the bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry room and hallway completed.  We even did the windows.  Ack.


That leaves the refrigerator, oven, counters, dishwasher, mantle and hearth, three more windows and waxing the kitchen, dining room and living room.  I think we can get it done while the carpet cleaners are there.


Another NaNoWriMo started today.  There's a competition on the internet.  To join, you must be willing to write a 50,000 word novel in a month.  The main one is in November.  There are secondary ones in April and July.  I enjoyed this last one in November so much, I wanted to do another one.  These secondary ones allow you to set your own monthly word count.  I stepped mine up to 60,000.  I didn't get anything done today so I'm already behind!!  Tomorrow doesn't look good either.  I guess we'll see how the day shapes up.  It's better to stay on top of it instead of falling behind.


Well, my diet has gone back to old habits.  I've been drinking a lot of pop, eating more sugary things, and just eating more in general.  Eating is how I handle stress.  Now that the moving stress is almost over, perhaps I can get back on track.


Let's see what tomorrow brings.


Same Bat time (maybe), same Bat channel.

Update March 28, 2015

Good evening!

Today has been a wonderful day.  My headache went away after I rested last night.  I've been very tense about the house/loan situation.  After learning we could move forward, I relaxed quite a bit.  My head and neck ached last night so I took plenty of ibuprofen and laid on the hot pad for a while.  That seemed to help.  Sleep did too.


My mother-in-law came today with my two nieces.  It's been a nice visit.  She took us out to dinner tonight to Olive Garden for my birthday.


Therefore, I am not counting my calories tonight.  It would be outrageous.


See you tomorrow!

Same Bat time, same Bat channel

Update March 27, 2015

Today was a roller coaster.  But it wound up being a good day.  Lots of packing done and the LOAN WENT THROUGH.  We're done with "It has to go back through underwriting.  It will be at least another five days."  HOOOOOORAY!!  We will sign Monday or Tuesday and move probably later that day.


5:45 - two pieces of turkey and a string cheese stick - 180 cal
7:15 - two chocolate chip cookies a friend made me for my birthday - 312 cal
11:45 - two of my burritos - 726 cal
4:00 - a string cheese stick - 80 cal
7:00 - two pieces of stuffed chicken, bacon pizza (two pizzas one on top of the other) - 730 calories
1 20 oz diet Dr. Pepper and 1 12 oz diet Pepsi
48 ozs of water
total calories for the day - 2028 cal

Update March 26, 2015

Hello.  I trashed it today.


5:45 - two pieces of turkey, a stick of string cheese, and two small pancakes - 265 calories
9:30 - four ding-dongs and a 20 oz diet Dr. Pepper - 660 calories - I had been craving the chocolate and I had a sugar headache.  As I ate the chocolate, I could feel the endorphins washing through me.  It was quite a trip and I found it interesting.  Headache went away too.
1:30 - Medium double quarter pounder meal with a medium diet Dr. Pepper - 1129 calories - yeah.  The burger was super tasty.  The fries tasted like usual, but somehow they didn't taste as good as they used to.  Actually, I thought they tasted like crap but I ate them anyway.  I really only wanted the burger.
6:30 - two of my burritos - 726 calories
Total calories of the day - 2780 - yeah, buddy.
Total water for the day - 32 ozs. - because I drank a lot of pop.


Tomorrow will be better.  Especially if I don't kill the mortgage people.  You think it would mess up the loan?


Same Bat time, same Bat channel

Update March 25, 2015

I didn't update yesterday because I failed miserably.


Today I did well.  I'm still very frustrated with the loan situation.  Waiting is difficult.  Buying a house is emotional.


5:30 - two pieces of turkey and a cheese stick - 180 cal
1:30 - two of my burritos and a 12 oz diet Pepsi- 726 cal
7:30 - two burritos with chicken chili, cheese, sour cream and guacamole and a 12 oz diet Dr. Pepper - 522 cal
Total calories for the day - 1428!!  SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?
Total water for day - 48 ozs


I was busy today.  A friend from church came over and helped me pack up the kitchen.  I laid Ryleigh down for a nap late, at 1:45 and I slept until 3:00.  Then we went to Stephi's swim meet.  I guess I didn't give myself time to think about eating.


Interesting.


See you tomorrow.
Same Bat time, same Bat channel

Update March 23, 2015

So today was quite the day.  I'm not going to go into my eating today, I'm finicky and don't want to.


This afternoon, I felt prompted to go by the mortgage office to see how things were going.  We're supposed to close on the 30th, but we've been pushing a little bit to see if we can close early.  The landlord of the place we're living in wants to sell the house and we just want to be out of the house and her hair (and vice-versa).  Because of this, we turned in our notice for the 31st.  I know it was cutting it close, but there was really no way we could financially swing closing on a house AND paying another month's rent. 


Anyway, three weeks ago we laid this on the table.  The title company said they could be ready.  The realtor said it was possible on that end.  The mortgage company said it was possible if everything went well.  Our file looked clean and should be good, five to ten business days.


That was ten days ago.  Okay, really early as far as the closing date was concerned but we didn't think it was impossible.  That day, a Friday, we received a phone call telling us all we needed was an up to date bank statement.  Done.  Five more business days.  Thursday, we call.  Haven't heard anything yet.  Expect late Thursday or Friday.  Friday, midday, no, but should be in by this afternoon.  LATE afternoon, nada.


So I go down this afternoon at 1:30.  Yes, they have our loan approved but there's four things that need to get taken care of.  The loan application and the loan paperwork have two different account numbers on them so we need to sign a new loan application.  Need some paperwork from the realtor.  Need to verify if a student loan was really paid off (even though its been paid of for FIVE years).  Need to have verifiable two years of job records (uh, hello?  Info on the loan application and we told you we had six years verifiable, all you had to do was ask.)  And why didn't this come up ten days ago when all we needed was a bank statement?????


Now, it HAS to back in through underwriting which will take four more days and then one to two days for loan docs to come to the office so we can most likely close on the 31st, get the keys on the 1st!!


WHAT????


In California, we must wait 24 hours for the buyer's money to go through and clear the bank.  (This is what they're telling me....)


THAT'S WHY I PAY IN CASHIER'S CHECK!!!


But, as we look this over, most of this should've been taken care of and they're really insignificant so there's no real reason why we can't move forward, but we still have to go back through underwriting.


Oh, and I spent 3.5 hours driving around today, getting the signatures needed so it didn't take an extra three days.


And then I was told we were lucky to be closing only ONE DAY LATE.


Lucky?


Apparently, it's common practice here to have to move the closing date, one, two or even three times.


Ohhh, SERIOUSLY??


Why do they accept doing half-ass business this way?  Why do customers accept it?  Why is it good business practice to sign deals late??  How can someone make the plans necessary to move their family if nothing is firm?  How can you trust these people?  HOW DO THEY GET RECOMMENDATIONS?!?!?!?


I may be a hick from a small town.  Things work different in a small town.  I get that.  In fact, I miss that.  At least I could trust the person sitting across the desk from me to DO WHAT THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO DO.


And I'm not even talking about closing early.  I'm talking about CLOSING ON TIME!!


Okay.  I'm done.  Rant over.  I'm looking forward to having this moving thing done so I can sit down and write more than just what I'm eating.


Oh, I had two packages of Swiss cake rolls and a small chocolate shake from McDonald's today so my calories are shot for a couple days now.


OH WELL.


See you tomorrow.
Same Bat time, same Bat channel.

Update March 20, 2015

6:00 - two pieces of turkey and a piece of cheese - 180
11:30 - two of my burritos and a 12 pz diet Pepsi - 726
6:30 - beef and bean nachos (940 cal), 1/3 cup of my fruit salad (47 cal) and a 12 oz diet Dr Pepper
44 ozs of water
Total calories today - 1893

Update March 19, 2015

Today was a good and busy day.  I'm tired.


I got up at five, well, five thirty and helped Tyson get lunches and breakfast ready.  Took the kids to school, etc.  Went to the Family History Center at ten and got a lot done.  Left at one to get Steph.  Took her to swimming and went home.  Came around the corner and saw the dog was out of the back yard.  Drove home instead of the neighbor's, where Ryleigh was.  Grabbed the leash and then grabbed the dog.  WALKED to the neighbor's to get Ryleigh.  Walked back home.  Laid down with her for 20 minutes.  Felt a kidney stone forming so stopped and picked up a can of green tea (prob why I felt like crap yesterday).  Drove by the new house, the termite repairs seem to be complete.  Went to the pool where Steph was and watched the intra squad meet and soaked up some Vite-a-minnn Deeee.  That felt really good.  Went to store and bought some more fruit and some hot dogs and polish dogs.  Was really hungry for most of the day.  The cheese puffs I bought earlier today didn't taste good.  I think I'm done with them. 


6:00 - Two pieces of turkey and a piece of cheese - 180 cal
9:30 - 1/2 bag of cheetos and a diet Dr. Pepper - 212 cal
1:00 - other 1/2 of bag of cheetos - 212 cal
1:30 - 1/4 of Steph's chocolate bar - 65 cal
2:00 - two string cheese sticks - 160 cal
3:00 - Taco hamburger burrito - 440 cal
3:30 - can of green tea - 210 cal
6:30 - Two polish dogs without bun (320 cal), 1/4 cup of my fruit salad (81 cal), 1/4 cup of r,w and bberry salad (35 cal) and 1 cup of spinach/romaine (16 cal) - 452 cal
11:15 - two pieces of turkey and a string cheese stick - 180 cal
Total water for day 32 ozs
Total calories for day 2111


Not too bad, I guess.  See you tomorrow.
Same Bat time (maybe earlier...), same Bat channel.

Update March 18, 2015

    Today was better than yesterday.  A friend came a visited with me today.  That made my day bright.
    I think I totally trashed yesterday's success.  But, I haven't added it up yet.  Here it goes.


    5:45 - Three strips of bacon (46 cal each, 138 total) and two eggs (72 cal each, 144 total) with two teaspoons of 2% milk (5 cal) breakfast total = 287
  11:30 - two burritos (726 cal) and 12 oz diet Pepsi (0 cal) = 726 cal
    2:30 - I've been feeling sluggish all day.  I had gotten some things done, but it was with major effort.  I'm craving sugar (I think I know why and I don't like the idea).  I find an excuse, driving over to the new house to see if repairs are complete, and I stop at 7-11.  My intention was to buy a whole box of the strawberry cake rolls and save some...yeah, right.  By the time I had gotten there, my craving had slowed and I bought a 20 oz diet Dr. Pepper and a package of three chocolate zingers at 390 calories.  I gave one to Ryleigh and scarfed the other two, so 260 calories.
    4:00 - 1/2 cup strawberry yogurt with two tablespoons of blueberries and 1/4 cup of granola (200 cal)
    6:30 - late with supper so I fix nachos.  :/  I really don't want to total this.  Corn chips, about 15 (219 cal), 1/2 cup 90% lean hamburger (392 cal), 1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese (217 cal), spinach/romaine (20 cal); tomato pieces (8 cal), sour cream and guac (49 cal) - total meal calories = 905
    8:15 - 10 chocolate eggs with candy shell because they were sitting on the table at church and were calling to me. 270 cal
   Total calories for day = 2388
   Total water for day = 64 ozs, even with two caffeine sources, which would normally replace, not add to.


    It's not my worst day, but not a spectacular one.  I'll share some thoughts tomorrow, hopefully.
    Same Bat time, same bat channel

Update March 17, 2015

   This is yesterday's journal.  I got myself caught up on Facebook last night and didn't get to it. :)


    I had a good day yesterday, but I didn't feel well.  I was extremely tired.  I think I have this figured out and I'll talk about it at a later date.


    5:15 - two pieces of ham and a piece of cheese 240 cal
  11:30 - two beef, bean and cheese burritos with spinach/lettuce, sour cream and guac, 12 oz diet Pepsi (0 cal) 800 cal
    4:00 - two string cheese sticks - 160 cal
    6:30 - 2/3 cup chicken chili (106 cal), two tortillas (188 cal), sour cream and guac (98 cal), lettuce (20 cal), 1/3 cup red, white and blueberry fruit salad (47 cal), and 1/3 cup last night's fruit salad (71 cal) total meal 530 cal
    64 ozs water total
    Total calories for day = 1730.  Wow.  I did pretty good.   


    No exercise, a moderate amount of little jobs around the house done.  That was Tuesday.

Recipe - Chicken Chili

This was our main course last night.  I love this recipe.  It is easy to remember and assemble.  It's easily doubled.  It's thrown in the crockpot to cook all day.  It has the approval of both the husband AND the kids.  (I'll add a picture next time I make it.)  For my friends in Laramie who requested this recipe, here you go!

1 pound of FROZEN chicken breast (426 cal)
1 pound of FROZEN corn (367 cal)
1 15 oz can of black beans (110 cal)
1 3 oz package cream cheese (298 cal)
1 pint medium salsa (or whichever sizzle you choose) (80 cal)

Combine in a crock pot.  Cook on high 3-4 hours, low 6-8 hours.  Remove chicken and shred.  Return to pot.  Serve alone, over rice or in a tortilla.  Garnish as desired.  Makes two quarts or 8 - 12 servings. Total calories 1281 or 106 - 160 cal per serving.

As my husband would say, "This is TASTY."

Recipe - Fruit Salad

In the spirit of adding more fruits and vegetables to our diet, I made this last night for supper.  It is a really good fruit salad.  When you see the calorie total at the end, you'll see why.

2 small (or one large) red delicious apples (128 cal)
2 small (or one large) granny smith apples (126 cal)
2 bartlet pears (162 cal)
1 medium orange (90 cal)
1 banana (121 cal)
1/2 cup mayo (458 cal)
1/4 cup sugar (194 cal)
2 tsp lemon juice (6 cal)
Cut fruit into bite size pieces.  Place in bowl and add lemon juice.  Toss.  Make sure fruit is well covered to prevent browning.  Mix mayo and sugar together to make dressing.  Pour over salad and mix.  Can be served right away or chilled for two hours.  It is actually better after sitting for a little bit.  Makes 6 cups or 12 servings.  1285 total calories, 107 calories per serving.  (Not as bad as I thought it would be.)

My grandmother made this salad.  When I became a mother and desired to make this, I asked around for the recipe.  No one had it.  The only response I got for amounts was "enough".  Actually, that's how I cook a lot.

Until last night, I had never measured the mayo and sugar before.  I had always added "enough".  Last night when I made it, I used a cup of mayo and 1/2 cup of sugar.  It was too much, almost by double.  So the salad I made last night had 1937 total calories or 162 cal per serving.

Update March 16, 2015

    I had all these ideas to blog about tonight and then it took forever to get everyone to bed.  Therefore, I'm just doing an update and I'll blog about those ideas at a later date.

    Today was shopping day.  Family home evening was tonight.  It was a very busy day.

    This morning I was up at 5 am, as usual.  Well...5:15.  I did all my morning stuff, breakfast, kids' lunch, kids up and out the door, mom-taxi to school, etc.  I got two loads of laundry through by 8:00.  I laid down and snoozed while Ryleigh watched Strawberry Shortcake.  We left for shopping at 10:30.  We went to Home Depot, ate lunch at Taco Bell, went by the new house to see if the termite repairs were started, went to the car wash, went to Sam's (I did NOT indulge), got gas, picked up Steph and took her to swimming, went to the other grocery store and got home at 4:00.  Tyson actually beat me home.  I laid down with him for twenty minutes or so and then fixed supper.  I gave Ryleigh a quick bath.  We did family home evening.  Tonight we talked about temptation.  Pretty ironic topic in my life right now.  Ryleigh skyped with Becca and Bryan.  The children got rowdy.  We did our end of the evening rituals and Tyson and I finally got to bed around 10:00.

My intake today:
5:30 Two pieces of ham and a piece of cheese - 240
11:00  Two soft shell supreme tacos and 32 oz DIET Pepsi - 440
12:30  Finished off the third taco from my meal - 220
3:30 1/2 cup strawberry yogurt, 1/4 cup granola, 1/8 cup blueberries - 200
6:15 Two servings of spaghetti with meat sauce (700), 1 1/2 cup spinach and romaine salad with two tablespoons of ranch (salad = 24 ranch = 140, total = 164), one cup of red, white and blueberry salad (~140 calories per cup - I had 3/4 cup = 105)  (recipe here)  total calories for supper - 969
Uh....8:00 post FHE snack - two small, very chocolaty brownies - 448
Water for the day: 52 ozs
Total calories for the day = 2517

SOOOOOOO........ I did really well, until supper.  Two servings of spaghetti killed me.  And then the brownies definitely didn't help, not to mention they were after 6:30.  Actually, if I hadn't indulged in the brownies, I would've been under 2200.   Hmm.

That was my day.  Talk to you tomorrow.
Same Bat time, same Bat channel.

It's been four weeks

    It's been four weeks since I've started this adventure.  I've learned a lot about myself and my eating habits.  I've worked at it.  I've changed some things.  I've definitely struggled.  I move forward two steps and step back one and a half, BUT there's forward progress.

    I estimate I've lowered my calories to about 2200 to 2500 per day.  It's about 500 to 1200 calories less than I was eating (see this blog and this blog).   I seem to handle that well without feeling like I'm starving.  I've gained some energy back.  I'm blogging regularly again (although I missed yesterday....it WAS Friday the 13th....  LMBO!)

    My rough idea in my head is to try and maintain at this calorie level for a couple weeks and then lower it again.  Of course, there's always the exercise  that I haven't even TRIED to fit into my day.  We are supposed to close on the new house on the 30th (We are trying to get it moved up).  The next couple weeks are going to be really busy.  I'm using that as an excuse to not start too many new things.

    I did finally speak to my friend who is the physical trainer.  She suggested this week I start adding in more fruits and veggies.  Okay.  I've heard of those......  8^/  We have an "appointment" to meet up on Tuesdays.  It'll be good.



March 14 2015

Feb 14, 2015
 

    So, this morning I weighed myself.  It said 305.  4 pounds, one per week.  Not bad, considering all the struggles I've been having.  And I doesn't feel as if I've really done anything.  So here's the pictures I took this morning (I tried to smile today):

    I don't see much difference (it's four pounds) and the pictures suck.  I may have to ask my hubby for help.

    More to come.  See you tomorrow.
    Same Bat time, same Bat
                                                channel.

Feb 14, 2015
 

March 14, 2015

Good Cook, Good Food...Bad for the Posterior

Good cook, good food

    My husband says I'm a good cook.  The kids agree.  Apparently my waistline agrees too.

    I think we can all agree that buying fresh produce is expensive.  In addition, the meats that are "better" for you are expensive as well.  The most affordable meat, in the past, has been ground beef, especially the kind that is higher in fat.  Lately, though (maybe it's California), I've noticed the price of chicken is comparable.
    Anyway, I have always spread my food budget out as much as possible.  I realize the majority of us do.  That being said, I seriously buy CHEAP.  When I first began my household, we were eating pastas and hamburger.
    We still do.  That's how I cook.  Over the past four or five years, I've started to incorporate other things, but hamburger and pasta is still the majority of what we eat.  And cheese, lots and lots of cheese.

Ref

    This is a very close representation of one of everyone's favorite dish.  This is baked goulash.  Of course, we don't call it that, it's called Squiggle at our house.
    Here's the short story explaining that, because we all need a diversion.
    When our third child, Stephanie, was about six, she approached me as I was making supper. 
    She asked, "What's for supper?"
    "Goulash," I replied as I was stirring the hamburger.
    She scrunched her nose and states, "I hate goulash."
    Later, when I placed the plate in front of her, she asked, "What is this?  Is this goulash?"
    "Uh, no," I lied.  "It's squiggle.  And you put cheese on it, like this."  And I plopped a pile of shredded cheese on it.  Well, all the kids loved the idea and that's how squiggle was born in our house.
    We have it about twice a month.  Spaghetti, we have about twice a month.  We have at least one other meal a week with pasta and at least one other per week with rice.
    We eat LOTS of carbs.


Ref

    They're cheap.
    And they're tasty.

    Well, since I've been paying attention to calories lately, I flipped the package over before I opened it.  HOLY COW.
    I got my calculator out again.  It's kinda bulky....
   So I figure one cup of this stuff is about 700 calories.  8-/
   Here's the thing, I dished myself up about a cup and a half (I was starving...I had a rough day sticking to the 1500 calories...we'll talk about that later...).  As I was eating it, I realized when we have had this in the past, I've had about four times the amount I was eating.  UHGG.

    The picture is becoming clearer.

    I'm going to have LARGE problems with portion control.

    AND I'm going to starve.