Week Seven Monday

Today went really well.  I had a great coaching appointment which I walked to and from in the rain (thank you enormous umbrella that somehow we have).  I made my breakfast omelette of 2 eggs, mushrooms, and 1/2 c cheddar cheese.  For morning snack, I had my almonds.  For lunch, I had my bean salad with 1 oz of almonds and 1/2 cup cottage cheese.  All day long I had this nagging headache that I just couldn't shake.  Food didn't help, water didn't help, pain meds didn't help.  I wondered if it was a sugar headache (and no, this wasn't just a justification for eating a treat.  I really wanted to see if it helped and if this is something I just need to power through).  I got a  caramel sundae on the way home from school, but it didn't touch it.  I had a couple pieces of bread with butter on them, and then had dinner.  Holy Hannah the recipe I used was spicy.  I'm not going to put what was in it because you'll probably laugh at me for being too tender mouthed.  So I ate 3/4 of a portion on a cup of rice, but the only way I could eat it was with about 4 TB of sour cream to cool it down.  Sigh.  Good news is is that I wasn't hungry for the rest of the night.

In the evening, I took Pip on our long walk during a lull in the rain.  It was perfect.  I should have gone for another half hour.  I was going to work out today after school, but with the headache, I just didn't feel up to it.  My steps for the day turned out to be 10023.

Goal update:
#1- I ate my five meals
#2- The only processed foods I had were the caramel sundae and the bread (and even then it was light and healthy), so yes on this one, too.
#3- I'll do that tomorrow
#4- 523 steps over my goal
#5- Prepared and cooked a balanced, healthy meal.

Week Six Sunday

Happy Sabbath.  Today was Fast Sunday again, but today I only made 'til 2 instead of 5.

Here's what today looked like:

2- 2 slices of hawaiian pizza, 2 pieces whole wheat bread, 2 TB peanut butter

Dinner:  Hawaaian chicken freezer crockpot meal: chicken, chicken broth, pineapple, red bell pepper, onion.  I had it over 1 cup of brown rice with 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup chow mein noodles.  Then I had a skinny cow ice cream sandwich.  

Tonight I tried to take Pip for a walk around the park despite the rain, but we only made it about a quarter of the way around before it just wasn't worth it.  The sidewalk was half flooded, and Pippin was pretty wet.  I cheated and took an umbrella.  

Today I was able to get my salad made.  It made six 2 cup servings.  I'll have to have an ounce of almonds with it to bring the protein up to the right level.  I didn't get breakfasts made for the week, but I can do that tomorrow.

Steps: 4968

Here are my goals from this previous week:
1.  Eat 5 meals a day.
2.  Eat whole foods whenever possible.
3.  Work out three times a week.
4.  Record steps daily and get 9,500 steps in a day.
5.  Prepare for and cook a balanced dinner five days of the seven.

Cryptic Results:
1. Yes yes, no, no, yes, yes,
2. mostly, kind of, no mostly, no, kind of, kindof
3. Yes
4. 13021, 6281, 9103, 10709, 11457, 4026, 4968
5. yes, yes, no, yes, no, no, yes

As I look at these, I still need to work on 5 meals a day, but I'm getting closer.  The three workouts a week is getting easy.  The steps were generally high.  The weather of the weekend affected my steps, but I got walks in during the school day and think I'm good to keep that goal going.  The balanced dinner goal is going to be a success this week.  The meals are already ready to go- all we have to do is throw them in the crockpot and eat them.

The one that looks weird to me is the "eat whole foods whenever possible" one.  My results for the week were really wishy-washy.  I'm going to adjust the wording for that one.

Goals for next week, week SEVEN!
1.  Eat 5 meals a day.
2.  Only eat 1-2 processed food a day- the rest need to be whole foods.
3.  Add 3 more machine stations to my work out.  (Right now, it takes 24 minutes to make two rotations of the circuit.  I want to work up to three rotations.  I'll phase in three more machines a week, so I'll be up to three rotations in a month.)
4.  Get in 9,500 steps in six days a week.
5.  Prepare for and cook a balanced dinner five days.

Things are feeling aligned and right.  I'm excited for these changes and to see the results in weight and inches when I do my weigh and measure appointment in two weeks.

Week Six Saturday

What a blissful rainy fall day.  I love the changing of the seasons, and, man, has it changed with a vengeance!  Today Paul had rehearsals downtown all day and it was my goal to get the freezer crockpot meals all put together for the week, to get all my breakfasts done, all my snacks done, and just get all prepared for the week.  When I started working in the kitchen, I decided to re-organize the pantry and the shelves.  Don't laugh, but after deep cleaning and organizing the pantry, I alphabetized the spices so we could find things easier, and then rearranged the pans and bigger things that I've never really been happy with how they were arranged.  I did a load of dishes and then was ready to start on the meals.  Sad day.  We had no ziploc freezer bags.  I decided to work on the nitty gritty details of my menu instead.

So here has been my dilemma- I need to make sure I'm getting the right balance of carbs, proteins, fats, and calories in my meals.  When I select from the meal options Curves has- no problem.  However, when I make my own meals, I don't know how they shake down in those categories.  I've been trying to go by the "whole foods" principal until I had time to do the detail work.

It took me a couple hours to look at the exchange meal options on Curves, translate them into how many carbs, proteins, fats, and calories each option contains.  Then I went through ingredient by ingredient on the bean salad and all the crockpot dinner meals I had planned, and added it all up.  Since it didn't translate directly, I looked at the exchange information and made a "ranges" list- I should have between X and X amount of carbs, etc.  It looks like the meals will work, but that I'll need to tweak the bean salad a bit and find a way to get more protein in it.

Here's what my eating looked like today:
Breakfast: 2 slices whole wheat toast, 1.5 TB peanut butter (carefully measured out), and 6 oz. cottage cheese
Morning snack: 1 oz. almonds (oh- I went through my bag of almonds and weighed them out into 1 oz. portion baggies.)
Lunch: 1 can chicken breast meat, 1 TB miracle whip, 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, 1 whole wheat thin bun, 1.5 C light chips
Dinner: 2 pieces of pizza, 1 piece cheese bread, 1 package M&Ms

Today I had 8 glasses of water- 4 of them regular- 4 of them with apple cinnamon herbal tea in them with a couple of spoonfuls of raw honey.

Steps: 4026

Tonight I was able to put together 6 of the 8 meals that I wanted to for the freezer.  I'm excited to see if we like these recipes.  They're pretty close to what we've been doing already, so I think we will.  It will be so nice to have meals ready to go that I don't think we'll be picky. :O)   Tomorrow I'll make my breakfasts, brown rice to freeze and go with the meals, and put together my salad.

Week Six Friday

Wow!  Two really nice work days in a row!  Things are looking up.  Here's how today went:

• Walked to Curves, worked out. 
• Breakfast- Egg McMuffin
• Lunch- 2 whole wheat sandwich thins with 6 oz. taco meat and 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• After school snack- 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 red pepper
• Dinner- 7 oz. honey pepper sirloin steak topped with fried onions over a bed of potatoes.  4.5 mozzerella sticks for an appetizer and 1 glass of hot chocolate.
• Evening snack: 2 cups popcorn, 1 bag Mike and Ikes.  
• Drank 7 glasses of water
• Total steps for today:  11457

Week Six Thursday

Finally, finally today life started to balance and settle and be happy.  Thank goodness.  The down side was that I didn't eat breakfast and my morning snack.  I ate lunch- the rest of the Hawaiian chicken mixture with two corn tortillas.  Then, because I was feeling energetic and it wasn't raining yet, I did a lap around the school.  It was fun to get outside and to end upon the playground with the kids.  I taught a class and then had an afternoon prep and used ten minutes of it to do a walk around the neighborhood.  It was really nice to get out.  I think I'm realizing that my sanity depends on spending time outside.  It is therapy time for me.

After school, I had an afternoon snack of 1 cup of grapes and 1 cup of cottage cheese.

When Paul was heading home, he stopped at the store and asked if I needed anything.  I requested a snickers bar.  I love my sweetie, but he brought me home a king size snickers and a package of red vines.   I should have had half of the candy bar and maybe three pieces of the licorice.  I was stupid and ate it all.  I'm kicking myself for it now.  The past couple days the treats haven't bothered me.  I haven't been able to deal with things very well and it has been all I could do to just get through.  Today, though, was different.  I was feeling great, in good head space, but didn't have self control.

Paul and I didn't start dinner right away, so I grabbed one and a half peanut butter sandwiches with the peanut butter just loaded on.  I think I need to clear the house of peanut butter.  I crave it all the time and it's hard for me to control my portions on.  I thought it would be easier now that I've switched to all-natural peanut butter, but now I'm used to it and the portion sizes are climbing again.

For dinner, I had two beef tacos.  Throughout the evening, I had 10 glasses of water.  My pedometer steps now are at 10,709 for the day.

Week Six Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday:
Breakfast: McMuffin
Snack: 1 oz. almonds
Lunch: McMuffin
Snack: PB sandwich, 1 cup potato chips
Dinner: 8 oz. roast beef, 1 cup cooked carrots
Evening: 4 oreo cookies, 1 PB sandwich with honey

Steps: 6281, 3 glasses water

Wednesday:
Breakfast: 2 pieces whole wheat toast, 1.5 TB peanut butter, 1 C cottage cheese
Snack: 1 oz. almonds
Lunch: forgot it :(
Dinner: 4 leftover Hawaiian chicken mixes on whole wheat thin slice buns, 1 cup potato chips.
Evening: 8 oreos, 1 PB sandwich with strawberry jam, 1 cup potato chips

Steps: 9103, worked out today, 8 glasses of water

Not the best. Not the worst.  It is what it is.

Week Six Monday II

Things went much better today.  At school, things were so blissfully within my realm of dealing with them.  It was wonderful.

Here's what my physical activity was today:
Walked to and from Curves
Took Pippin for a morning and an evening walk around the park.
Worked out after work
Total steps: 13021

Here's what my food intake looked like:
Breakfast: Egg McMuffin
Morning Snack: 1 oz. almonds
Lunch: 2 cups bean salad
Afternoon snack- (fail!) 7 pieces of twizzlers, 1 final cup of Crunch 'n Munch, and 3 Hershey chocolate segments
Dinner: 6 oz. chicken, 2 cups green beans, 2 cups mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup chicken gravy

Week Six Monday

So yesterday turned out to be a transition day back into good habits.  I had a good breakfast and brought my water bottle to church and had some of it.  When I got home, I had a cup of my bean salad for lunch along with some Crunch 'n Munch and a peanut butter sandwich.  I took a nap in the afternoon and then friends invited us to dinner and we had taco soup, tortilla chips, a salad, and a piece of blueberry pie with ice cream.  It was yummy.  I don't know how many steps I've taken today or yesterday because when I used the restroom after the movie Friday night, I left my pedometer in the stall.  I don't think it's worth the drive back to Bridgeport to get it, so I picked up another one this morning at Curves.

Today I need to do a little goal setting and review.  Here are my goals from last week:

 1.  Eat 5 meals a day

2.  Eat whole foods whenever possible

3.  Work out three times a week

4.  Get between 7-8,000 steps in a day.  (This week I was on the 5,000-6,000 side because of my knee.)

5.  Prepare for and cook a balanced dinner five days of the seven.

In brief, here are the answers from each day this week:
1.  Yes Yes Yes No No No No
2. Yes Yes + Burger Yes No No No No
3. Yes Yes No Yes No No No
4. 9393 10176 ? 11615 ? ? ?
5. Yes Yes Yes No No No No

Looking at them, I started strong and then life happened. This morning my coach asked me what I was going to do if things get stressful again at work.  I didn't have an answer.  She suggested remembering that I remind myself that I am important and worth taking the time for; that taking care of myself is important to me; that I can spare five minutes to do that.  It resonated with me and I'll be using that and trying to stay on track.

So here are my goals for this week:
(I have a standing goal to blog nightly here, so I'll continue that one)
1.  Eat 5 meals a day.  Last week I did it 3 out of 7 days.
2.  Eat whole foods whenever possible- Last week I did it 3 out of 4 days.
3.  Work out three times a week- I did it last week.
4.  Record steps daily and get 9,500 steps in a day- Last week I averaged 10,994 on the days that I recorded my steps.  I know that the Thursday and Friday totals were high, too, but that Saturday and Sunday were down.  My knee is feeling better now- not 100% yet- but better, so I think this is achievable.
5.  Prepare for and cook a balanced dinner five days of the seven.  I was strong and did it 4 days in a row last week (I'm counting the Sunday meal before the week).  Crock pot meals are the way to go.  I'll stop and do some shopping on my way home today.

This morning I have my lunches ready for the next couple days, am going to go measure out my morning snacks and make my morning omelette.  I've already taken Pip for a walk around the park and walked to Curves and back.  I also made the decision to not be told what my weight is weekly, but find out at the monthly weigh and measure appointment how I did over the month.  I fall into the trap that if I lose weight, I start planning, "If I lost X amount this week and lose it again next week and the week after, by this date I'll be X pounds."  Then if I get off or gain, I beat myself up and get hung up on the number game.  I'm hoping this will help me focus on making long-term changes and not swinging emotionally week to week.

Work Overload, OCD, Allergies, and a Cold

This morning I just need to process a bit about the past few days.  This post is more of an epic journal entry than a food/exercise synopsis, so be forewarned. ;0)

First off, I love my job.  I understand how lucky I am to have a job.  I know how lucky I am that there are still music education jobs out there and that I have one of them.  I get that.  However, this year with the increased class sizes, all the teachers are expected to do more and more with less and less.  We are putting in place a new evaluation system which goes into effect next year.  We are switching over to the common core curriculum. I am trying to switch my music units over to match it and to develop new assessment strategies.  I have felt the stress at work of myself and others climb and climb.  I feel like if a colleague or a parent stops to talk, I hear the clock ticking loudly in my ear because if I can talk, that means it's my prep time and every second of that counts.  That's not good.

At my two schools, I am scheduling guru.  That means that if there is something not working, or if someone needs to change something, I get sucked into the middle of it to solve the problem.  That's what happened at one of my schools this past week.  That's what led to me working through preps, lunches, recesses, and after school preps trying to fix outside problems.  However, I do realize that I am the one who took this on.  It was my choice to take charge of organizing the schedule from the first staff meeting I attended.  I would rather work on it myself and solve things than watch a schedule put together where things are awkward and there is time wasted.  I also like to help others and see if I can make their lives easier.  I like playing Tetris with things and seeing if I can get them to fit in a smoother way.  I think it's a sickness.

Finally, after school on Friday, one of the major problems was solved and the result was an additional 20 minutes of prep a week for the specialists (after being willing to sacrifice some of our existing prep time and then finding out there was additional help I didn't know we had received that day).  I know that doesn't sound like much, but, like I said earlier, every second counts these days.  So I walked out of work finally feeling that my load had lightened, and that now I could focus on prepping for my classes instead of solving others' problems.  I had a great date night with Paul and felt much more free.

Saturday morning, Pip needed to go out at 5:30, so up I got.  Allergies or something sinus-y was setting in, so I took meds and tried to ease the symptoms.  One plus that I received this school year was the benefit of being able to check out an Ipad from the school.  I've been trying to find teacher apps that will make my life easier and help me keep all my information organized in one place.  Early yesterday morning I found it- the perfect teacher app that contained everything that I needed in one place.  That meant that for the next 6 hours, my obsessive compulsiveness kicked in and I transferred over class lists, set up behavior and achievement grading columns, started the work of transferring pictures of my students from my excel spreadsheets to the new system, and working on lesson planning . I didn't stop to eat, to drink my water, to take my vitamins- none of it.  I was like a dog with a bone- gnawing at it, working on it- not willing to give it up.

Finally at 1:15, Paul and I had to get ready for a baptism at the church that he was playing the piano for and at which I was leading the music.  Throughout the morning, I could feel my body fighting.  Three days of stress, not getting proper nutrients into my system, not drinking my water, not taking my vitamins, not stopping to rest, in general- just not taking care of myself- finally hit.  I had a full blown sinus pressure/stuffy nose thing going.  I felt motion sickness in the car on the ride over, and would get overly warm during the service for no reason.  After the baptism, we did some errands, got some groceries, and by the time I got home, I was not a happy camper.  When we were shopping, I couldn't think straight.  I couldn't organize meals. I hadn't made lists earlier of what I needed.  I was tired of never getting ahead of the game and always playing catch-up or barely keeping my head above water.

However, that evening even though I was tired and sick, I continued to work with that new app and finally got all my pics for my Monday school in place.  Did I drink water, rest, or try to introduce vitamins back into my system that would help?  Nope.  I decided to do laundry, wash and groom the dog, and to eat Crunch and Munch.  Lovely.

I went to bed not being able to breathe well, and stressed because I had commitments at church the next day that I needed to take care of and didn't want to stress Paul out with them by staying home and asking him to fill in for me.  I was able to get to sleep, but woke up at 1:30 with a killer headache and sinus pressure that made my teeth hurt.  I took some meds and then went back to bed waiting for it to pass.  On my way down through the family room, the clutter of the room really bothered me (I let Pip disembowel one of his toys on the family room floor, so there were cotton fluff innards everywhere).  In my room, things were cluttered and not put away, so, of course, in the middle of the night, I cleaned my room.  The good thing is is that I started to feel better.  Having a clean, clear room felt good to my heart and soul.  By 3:15 when I went back to bed (Pip had had enough of me with the light on disturbing his sleep that he finally went downstairs and slept on the couch), the headache and sinus pressure were gone.

At 6:18, Pip came back and was whining at my door so I would come and take him outside.  I actually felt much better, so despite my interrupted sleep, I got up without grumbling.  My body was feeling better, but the family room was still a mess, so I straightened, changed laundry loads, and, of course, vacuumed and shampooed the family room carpet.  However, getting things cleaned and taking care of my home was therapeutic.  I felt like I was slowly getting my home and life back.  I knew I was feeling good enough to go to church and take care of my commitments there.  Life was returning to a happy, balanced place again.

So here I type on my Sunday morning reflecting on the past few days.
1.  I know I'm being incredibly blessed that my body is bouncing back from being sick so quickly.
2.  When I don't take care of myself, it increases my stress level even more because I create the perfect conditions for getting sick.
3.  Today is a new day and I'm going to take care of myself with healthy eating and rest.  I'm looking forward to it.
4.  This is a new week and I believe it will be more balanced than the last week ended up being.
5.  Life is going to happen.  There are times when other demands just have to be taken care of and they will take their toll on me.  I just need to dust myself off and keep moving forward.

With those thoughts, I head off to the kitchen to actually stop to eat a healthy breakfast, drink water, and take my vitamins.  Things are good.

Week Five Friday

Today was another high stress day.  My preps before, during, and after school were taken up by school scheduling stuff.  I didn't eat until we got to Chevy's for dinner.  I had a chicken fajita platter and a Shirley Temple.  At the movies, I had a few pieces of licorice, some chocolate squares, and a couple handfuls of popcorn.

Luckily, the stress at work is tapering off and now I can focus on my lesson planning and classes now.  Tomorrow is a fresh new start.  I am relieved that now that I'm getting past the stress of this week, I still have my head in the game and want to get back on track.  My direction is still the same and I'm not looking for ways out to go back to old habits.

Week Five Thursday

Breakfast- Egg McMuffin

Aaaaaaand that's the last normal meal I ate.  Today was a high- stress- barely- keeping- my- head- above- water kind of day.  I didn't stop for my morning snack.  I didn't stop for lunch.  Oh boy did I stop on my way home... at Subway for sandwiches for dinner.... and at McDonalds for a McFlurry, large fries, and a chicken/bacon wrap.  I had Paul stop... at the store for a bag of twizzlers and a king size Hershey's bar.  So here I sit... full of food I shouldn't have had.

On the up side, I worked out this morning before work, my steps ended up at 11,615, and I drank 8 glasses of water.

Week Five Wednesday

Breakfast- 3 egg muffin-y things, 1 cup grapes
Morning snack- 1 cup cottage cheese, 1 cup grapes
Lunch- 2 cups bean salad
Dinner 1- shredded chicken salad from Taco Del Mar with guacamole
Dinner 2- barbecue crockpot chicken on wheat bread (4 pieces)
Evening- a peanut butter/strawberry jam sandwich on a whole wheat thin bagel.  4 nutter butters


Thoughts:
This is the fourth day in a row we've done crockpot meals.  I am loving how easy this is in the evening, but now I'm faced with the serving size/how much am I really eating problem.  I have noticed I'm not measuring my food in the evenings.  I'm not going to think about that today- I'll think about that tomorrow.

Week Five Tuesday

Today I've continued to feel really good- higher energy and easier movement.  I started the morning by walking to the gym, working out really well, walking home, and then prepping the evening crockpot lasagna.  As soon as I got to school, things got really busy.  I ate three of my little egg/mushroom/onion/egg muffin-y things and then thought I had grapes at work, but I remembered wrong and didn't have any fruit with my breakfast.  For morning snack, I got my ounce of almonds in barely.  For lunch, I didn't have time to run to West Union to get my bean salad that I left there yesterday, so I had a cup of cottage cheese and an apple.  By the time work was done, I could tell I hadn't had any water, not enough protein, and needed food.  I had to run to the bank and then to my acupuncture appointment in a half hour, so I stopped by Burger King and picked up a jr. whopper, a medium order of fries, and a medium root beer.  While not healthy, I needed food and eating and drinking felt good.

My acupuncture appointment was awesome- she really helped my knee feel better.  When I got in the car, my energy was climbing.  On the drive home, I was even considering going in and working out again.  Instead, I came home and took Pippin for our long walk around the park and junior high.  It was wonderful.  Perfect weather.

For dinner, I had two servings of crockpot lasagna, 3 slices of garlic toast, and a bag of steamed green beans.  Finally my energy and will power started fading and I ended the day with 5 nutter butter cookies.  I ended the day at 10,176 steps.

Week Five Monday

This morning was fun.  When I left the house to go to Curves for my coaching session, I felt energized and even jogged part of the way.  My appointment was great- I moved marbles the right way this week, lost inches this month, and registered on the body fat analyzer (not fun to admit that I was above what it would measure, but this is where I began and the progress I'm making now).

When I got home, it was success after success.  I baked my breakfasts for the next few mornings in the oven.  While they baked, I put together dinner in the crockpot and then started on my yummy bean salad for my lunches for the week.  I had to take the three ears of corn and slice the corn off into the salad during my morning prep, but I got it done.  After school, working out wasn't a problem at all.  I was able to start doing the leg stations as long as I was careful.  By the time I got home, I'd hit my step goal of 7,000-8,000.

For dinner, we had the chicken/black bean/yellow pepper/onion/corn/salsa mixture from last week.  I had about 4 tacos of it- only a couple with sour cream, but all with a couple TB of cheddar cheese.  It was delicious.  I added to it 1/2 a red pepper and 1/2 cup baby carrots.  I was craving something sweet, so I had 7 pieces of licorice.  That finishes off the sweets in the house except for the ice cream sandwiches.  However, I want to get something small that I can have at moments like this that will help me through, but not derail me.

This evening, I browned the hamburger for tomorrow's crockpot lasagna.  I also made a couple more breakfast egg mixture things to finish off the eggs I'd blended up this morning.  I feel ready and excited.  Part of me is frustrated that the old adage is true- the more energy you spend, the more you have.  I used to hear that and think it couldn't possibly work for me, but it's starting to.  I am doing more in my down time than just resting.  I'm finding energy I didn't have before to keep up on the small everyday things.  I love this quote by Gandhi I was sent today,

"Action expresses priorities."  

How incredibly accurate!  I think that one is going to rank really close to my Emerson quote.

Tonight as I was watching a movie, I realized I'd gotten my workout in and Pip hadn't, so I grabbed his leash and he and I scooted for a nighttime walk around the park.  Whenever we get home, his energy has increased, too, and it leads to a game of chase around the couch, up and down the stairs, in and and out of the family room- all over. It makes him so happy and we go until he's panting and lets me pet him.  I think he likes exercise, too.

My water intake today was low- only 6 glasses.  My steps, though, totalled 9393, and my knee is probably back up to 90% functionality.

Week Four- Sunday

Last night after I posted, Paul and I had dinner from Applebees one more time.  I wasn't as good at ordering- I had the Fiesta Lime Chicken instead of the Napa mushroom meal that was better for me.  In the evening I wanted to snack, so I sliced up a red pepper.  It was wonderful!  Sweet, crispy- awesome.  I had 8 glasses of water yesterday.

Today I started with a very nutty breakfast- 2 light pieces of wheat bread, 1.5 TB peanut butter, and an ounce of almonds.

For lunch, I had 3 oz. of deli ham, 2 laughing cow cream cheese wedges, and a cucumber, 1/2 cup of carrots, and 1/4 of a red bell pepper. Oh, and a handful of potato chips.

For dinner, I had 4oz. roast beef, 1/2 cup cooked carrots, 2 purple potatoes.

Now that it's evening, I'm feeling waver-y.  I've been craving sweets.  I had 2 skinny cow ice cream sandwiches, a piece of wheat bread, and 2 small cream puffs.  I'm trying to stave off more munching with a diet sprite.  I know there are varying levels of beliefs around pop, diet pop, etc., but for now, I'm hoping it will help.

Tonight's my night to report in on my goals, so here it is:

1. Write down all my food and activity choices and report back nightly to this blog.
2. Transition back to eating 5 meals a day.
3. Eat whole foods whenever possible.
4. Work out three times a week.
5. Take Pippin on a walk three times during the week.
6. Prepare for and cook a balanced dinner five days of the seven

1.  I wrote down everything I've eaten, except on Thursday.  

2.  I did it on six of the seven days.  (I didn't get both my snacks in today.)

3.  There were a few things daily that weren't whole foods, but I'm noticing a changing in what I look for when I eat.  I have an increased awareness of processed foods, cream-based soups, etc.  What I put into my meals is starting to shift.

4.  Yep.  Did it, even if all three times were after work.

5.  This one I didn't follow through on after my knee kept bothering me.  Pip and I did go on his long walk Monday night.  (He got other walks with Paul this week.  Never fear for Pip. ;O)

6.  I have a feeling this one is going to take a while.  Three of the evenings we ate take-out food.  Monday and Sunday I did crockpot meals.  I need to keep planning and to make sure the recipes I pick can be done quickly to fit my schedule.  

For the next week, I'm going to adjust my goals a bit.  I'm blogging my activity and eating choices consistently now and will continue to do it, but I don't think I need it as a goal any more.

1.  Eat 5 meals a day

2.  Eat whole foods whenever possible

3.  Work out three times a week

4.  Get between 7-8,000 steps in a day.  (This week I was on the 5,000-6,000 side because of my knee.)

5.  Prepare for and cook a balanced dinner five days of the seven.

Week Four Saturday Part One

This isn't my final check in for the end of the day, but I wanted to record my sensations today because it's been wonderful.  Today is one of those days that I feel lighter- lighter as I walk, lighter as I move.  My knee is mending.  I can bend it farther and walk on it better than I've been able to do all week.  My clothes feel looser- now I don't know if it's because I'm wearing shorts I wore yesterday again and they're already stretched out, or if my body is changing.  My arms feel smaller and stronger  My middle feels slimmer.   Today the stress level is much less than it has been and my desire today to stay on track and eat healthier has outweighed the habit of just grazing throughout the day.   Last weekend I really blew it on Saturday and Sunday.  I am going to do the absolute best I can to do better this weekend.

This morning I had oatmeal with raisins and almonds.  I snacked on almonds again around 11:30.  For lunch, Paul and I made little homemade pizzas on wheat thin bagels with sauce, cheese, mushrooms, and a couple slices of canadian bacon.  For a snack, I did have a bag of light kettle corn because I was hungry for volume, but when I was done, I wasn't as full as I thought I'd be.  I had a piece of string cheese with it and it totally helped.

This evening I planned out lunches and meals for the next few days.  Paul, being the awesome man that he is, is out getting the groceries now.  Crockpot meals planned for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.  Leftovers probably Wednesday. :o)

I just also had to add how grateful I am for the help I have been given by so many around me. A friend of mine from high school inspired me with his workout journey and his positive Facebook posts.   Because of my visiting teachers, I've switched to a new bread that I love and have found new thin wheat bagels that are great.  They have listened and counseled me and been so kind.  Because of a friend at work, I have new light cookbooks to use.  Another friend showed me a great site about freezer crockpot meals to make ahead of time.  My acupuncturist has given me amazing, steady advice time and time again that has been right for me and filled with balance.  She has recognized my progress even when I haven't.  My coaches at Curves have been wonderful.  The one I'm working with now encouraged me to go public with my journey, and that has made all the difference in achieving my goals.  I'm following through now.  My former health coach continues to be supportive and cheer me on. A colleague from school brought me her favorite "in a pinch" snacks/safe guards and has been nothing short of wonderful to me on my journey because she's been there, too.  Another dear friend has made numerous comments to me about my successes and continues to stay in touch almost daily as I learn and change.  My husband has been understanding, loving, and my champion as I continue to try every time I fall down.  These are just a tiny sampling of the network of amazing people I have around me.  I feel the timing is right and that I can't possibly fail with such friends lifting me up.  I know that it still comes down to me, but I am incredibly grateful for the help I've been given.

Paul and I have been watching "The Office" in the evenings and last night we watched the final episode.  In it, Pam describes what she hopes others will get from watching her story.  She wants someone to watch and say to herself, "Be strong. Trust Yourself. Love Yourself.  Conquer your fears.  Just go after what you want and act fast because life just isn't that long."  I think I'm ready to follow her example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drB-pxScTQA

Week Four Friday (Thank goodness!)

Well, I had a minor breakdown and missed a day yesterday.  I tried to recreate what I ate (I actually did pretty well), but my brain is overloaded and I couldn't remember.

I'm in much better head space today, so here's the run-down:
Breakfast- 2 eggs with onions and mushrooms, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 3/4 C pineapple tidbits
Lunch- Same as above, but with grapes and a whole wheat thin bagel-thingy.
Snack when I got home- red bell pepper
Dinner shortly after that- the Applebees Napa Mushroom meal with the spinach artichoke dip with chips.  I was still feeling hungry and low on protein, so I followed it up with a PB/jelly sandwich.
Evening snack- One last cup of chips.  They're gone and I'm going to try to not bring them into the house any more.  As I typed this, I made that request to my ever-supportive husband.  I also had a skinny cow ice cream sandwich.

When I got home from work today, I walked to the gym.  It was disappointing- I couldn't walk at my normal speed because my knee (and my ankle a little) would bother me.  When I worked out, I skipped the leg machines that were hard on my knees.  Then on the recovery station, I couldn't push myself as hard.  I left feeling like my workout was ok, but limited. :(

On the up side, Paul's students have paid him and I can go grocery shopping and put together freezer meals for next week.  A friend showed me a great crockpot site that'll be great.

Week Four Wednesday

Breakfast: Egg McMuffin
Morning Snack: 3/4 C cottage cheese, 1 C grapes
Lunch: Fruit parfait
Afternoon Snack: 1 C grapes, 1 yellow bell pepper
Dinner: 1 foot long chicken teriyaki sandwich, 3 cups baked lays
Dessert: 6 oreos

Activity: I worked out after work and skipped most of the leg machines and doubled up on the upper body and core machines.  Pedometer: 6249

Week Four Tuesday

Later night last night and when that alarm when off at five, I snoozed it a couple times and then decided to work out after work instead of before.  I got to sleep in until 6:15.  I got up ready to put together my stuffed peppers in the crockpot, but when I looked at the brown rice, it takes 30-40 minutes to cook it, so I didn't have time to put it together.

Breakfast was 2 pieces of light wheat toast with 1.5 TB peanut butter and 3/4 cup cottage cheese.  Morning snack was a cup of grapes and 3/4 cups of cottage cheese.  Lunch was 2 tacos with the chicken/bean mixture from last night with 1.5 TB sour cream and half of a cucumber.  For afternoon snack at work, I had an apple, a piece of string cheese, and a half of a cucumber.  I also had 3 tootsie roll suckers.  After school, I followed through and worked out, though my knee was bothering me a bit and my ankle occasionally.  My coach thinks it might be too much too fast.  I think I'm going to back off the leg machines a little and double up on the upper body ones, like she suggested.

In the evening, I had a couple cups of cheerios, 3/4 cups of cheddar cheese, a peanut butter sandwich with 2 TB strawberry jam.  For dinner, Paul made me a hamburger with pineapple, mushroom, and lettuce on light whole wheat bread.  I had 10 glasses of water.  My pedometer reading today was 6356.




Aaaand after the post I had one of Paul's special K bars, another peanut butter sandwich, and a piece of bread with butter.  Sigh.  Didn't want to record them here, but I want to look back in 6 months and have an accurate picture of where I was.  Hopefully my habits will be starting to change by then.

Week Four Monday

It took me a little while this morning to pull myself out of the funk of my choices yesterday, but when your day starts ramping up, there's little time to wallow.  I really wanted to put together a crock pot dinner, and was able to put together a chicken/salsa/bean/corn/onion/yellow pepper concoction that was hot and ready by the time we got home.  Because I was doing that, though, I had to stop for an egg mcmuffin on my way to work this morning.  I'd rather have cooked.

For my morning snack, I ran into a conundrum.  I thought I'd left a container of cottage cheese at the work fridge and just needed to bring the grapes.  It was the other way around.  I had grapes, but no cottage cheese.  I ended up eating two pieces of string cheese and only got about a 1/4 cup of grapes in, if that.  For lunch, I finished off the last two cups of the bean salad.  Good, good stuff.  Oh!  I almost forgot!  The first thing I did when I got to work was get out that tub of red vines that plagued me the last two weeks and marched it into the staff room.  It was gone by the end of the day.  I don't know why that was huge for me to give up, but it was.

When I got home, I headed straight for the hammock and actually fell asleep for about 45 minutes.  When Paul got home, I had a cup and a half of cheerios and a 1/4 cup of raisins.  Not my normal snack, but I didn't really think that one through very well.  For dinner, I had 4 small tacos on whole corn soft shells filled with the chicken concoction, about a tablespoon of sour cream each, and a dusting of shredded cheese.  They were great. Paul had a student pay for the month, so I was able to do some grocery shopping and get ahead of the game a bit.  I'm trying to do more crock pot meals, even though the temperatures are up this week.

My knee bothered me all day.  In fact, at one point in the morning, it was hurting so much that I thought I'd need to go in and have it looked at after work.  However, the day progressed, and I was able to get around on it.  Once I got back from grocery shopping in the evening after dinner, I even took Pippin on his long walk.  I have a step goal of 10-11 thousand a day, and I wasn't there yet.  The walk brought me up to 10,147.  I also had 8 glasses of water.  Back on track, baby!

Week Three Day Seven

So I didn't want to do this post, but it's what happened, so here goes.  Yesterday morning I don't know if it was allergies or being around all of the germs that my students carry around, but I felt congested and tired, so I slept as late as I could before church and then had to rush out the door before eating.  There were some stressful situations, and when I got home at 12:30, I was frustrated and very hungry.  I started well by having 2 more cups of the bean salad, but then I proceeded to eat whatever I felt like eating for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I didn't keep track and didn't care.  I didn't wear my pedometer.   My knee was hurting, and I kept trying to gently stretch it out, work the muscles, ice it, but it still is hard to put my weight on it.  By the end of the day, I was depressed- especially knowing that the next morning I would do my weigh-in.  Sure enough, I had to move marbles back this morning.  It makes me mad that no matter how much I say that the numbers aren't why I'm doing this, I still find myself getting caught up and fixated on them.  The good things I did this week far outnumbered the falterings of Saturday night and Sunday.  Still, I find myself measuring the success or failure of the week by the number on the scale.  It's a wee bit maddening and I hate it.

Now I am gearing up for the fresh day/week before me.  I want to review goals from last week:

1. Write down all my food and activity choices and report back nightly to this blog.
2. Transition back to eating 5 meals a day.
3. Eat whole foods whenever possible.
4. Work out three times a week.
5. Take Pippin on a walk three times during the week.
6. Prepare for and cook a balanced dinner five days of the seven

#1- With the exception of yesterday, I wrote down all my food and blogged it.

#2- On a normal work day, I seem to be doing really well at this.

#3- I would say I'm about 60-75% on this one.

#4- It was hard, and I had to do three days in a row, but I did it.

#5- Pip got four walks with me this week.

#6- Nope.  I think it happened twice this week.

For the next week, I'm keeping the same goals.  Try, try, try again.  I don't feel ready to increase anything just yet.  I have a little time this morning to get my food ready for the day.  I'm going to see if I can find a healthy chicken crock pot recipe to put together before I leave.  Onward and upward.  This is a marathon, not a sprint.

Week Three Day Six

Today Pippin decided that even though it was Saturday, it was not a sleeping in morning.  As soon as the gym was open, I walked right over to the gym and worked out.  On the recovery stations in between, I was able to raise my knees more and work hard.  Breakfast was 2 pieces of whole wheat toast and 6 oz. of cottage cheese.  Only a short while later, I was hungry.  I had a cup of corn chex cereal and another piece of bread with 1 TB of peanut butter.

For lunch, I had another 2 cups of that awesome black bean salad from yesterday.  It's still holding up well and it filled me up.  I did a lot of work around the house today and also worked on the garage. By two, I was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch.  I woke up really feeling my sore muscles.  Three days of work outs in a row have started to take their toll.  When I got up, I took Pip to the dog park.

I made a decision to relax a bit on the eating this afternoon.  I had a medium chocolate frosty on the way home from the park.  I turned our pop cans in and was able to get Applebees 2 for 20 for Paul and I.  I had their Napa chicken and portabellos with grilled potatoes.  For an appetizer we had the spinach artichoke dip.  For dessert, I had an ice cream sandwich and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.  Later in the evening, I had 5 twizzler pull and peels.  While I know it was not a red letter day, I am really encouraged by the progress and successes of this week and am not going to beat myself up about one evening.  Things are going really well.

I had 12 glasses of water and put 4728 steps on the pedometer.

Week Three Day Five

Today I really have felt good.  This morning I woke up early enough to walk Pippin before walking over to workout.  I worked out hard and felt so good about doing something physical that got me up and moving before school.

For breakfast, I had 1 cup oatmeal, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/2 ounce almonds.  My morning snack was my usual ounce of almonds.  Yesterday night I took a half hour and made a bean salad.  Now I have never been a fan of beans, but the last week, the taco meat hasn't appealed to me and it's been harder and harder to eat it.  I don't know the individual calorie breakdown of it because I'm not sure what a serving size is or how many of them there are.  Here's the recipe.

http://www.onceuponachef.com/2010/08/black-bean-salad-with-corn-red-peppers-avocado-lime-cilantro-vinaigrette.html

I adjusted it by not adding the salt, cayenne pepper, sugar, olive oil and cilantro.  I replaced the shallots with 1/2 of a large purple onion, and added a tomato to it.  It was FANTASTIC!!!  At lunch, I had 2 1/2 cups of it.  I loved it.

I noticed at school that, while I sat for some of the classes, I had the energy to stand up for a couple of my later ones.  I just felt like movement was easier.

For a snack when I got home, I ate the equivalent of three oatmeal/raisin/white chocolate chip crumbles.  I also had 2 pieces whole wheat bread and 2 TB peanut butter.  After the snack, I took Pippin for another short walk around the park.

For dinner, I had more of the bean salad- 2 cups of it, and a piece of cheddar cheese.

I drank 6 glasses of water and put 10487 steps on my pedometer.

Things feel good.

Week Three Day Four

I rocked this morning.  After a disappointing night last night and a night where Pippin kept growling at the thunder, I was exhausted when that crummy alarm went off.  However, I won a huge victory by getting myself out of bed, walking to the gym, and working out.  Go me!!!

Eating today went really, really well too.  For breakfast, I stopped off at McDonalds for a fruit parfait.  I ate my morning ounce of almond snack.  Though I put lunch off until my prep half hour, I stopped and ate though I had a mountain of things to do.  I had 2 pieces of wheat bread, 1.5 TB peanut butter, and 6 oz. of cottage cheese.  After work, I stuck to my afternoon snack of a piece of string cheese, an apple, and about a cup and a half of baby carrots.  For dinner, Paul and I had a Subway chicken teriyaki sandwich.  In the evening, I had 1/4 C of semi-sweet chocolate chips, but that's the only thing "off plan" that I had.  I added to that 9 glasses of water.

Also, when I got home from work today, I did one of my favorite things.  I walked in, dropped my stuff off, grabbed the harness and leash and took Pippin for our long walk.  I set a new record for my pedometer (since keeping this blog) of 11003 steps.  Though tired, I feel really good about today and am going to chalk this one up as a victory.  As a friend from Curves reminded me this morning, "I'm worth this."

Week Three Day Three

Yesterday was a pretty draining day.  I don't know if adrenaline helped me through day one or what, but I was really tapped out by the time I got home.  Finances are pretty tight right now, so I've been trying not to go shopping, but make due with the food in the house.  (Side note: If people take piano and voice lessons, they had better blasted well show up and pay at the beginning of the month like they're supposed to.  We count on that income.  Ok. Enough said.)  So yesterday after a successful morning (normal omlette and fruit breakfast), morning snack of almonds, lunch of tuna on wheat bread with a side salad (I also had a tootsie roll, a tootsie pop and 4 pieces of licorice.  I still haven't put the candy in the staff room yet.  For some reason, that's hard for me to do.  I'll try again next week.), I was late in getting my after school snack in.  I had errands to run and ended up at Fred Meyer with major hunger pangs.  Not a good time to go shopping.  I ended up getting a pizza for dinner, but didn't succumb to the candy aisle calling me to come over. 

Thoughts about the pizza.  #1- there were healthier choices I could have made.  #2- we didn't order from Main Street pizza, which would have been a ton more calories and a much bigger pizza.  #3- I ate half of it and Paul ate half of it.  #4- I wanted to get two pizzas, and only got one and it's gone now.

That whole evening I was craving food constantly and, because I hadn't planned beforehand, my mind kept going back to what was available in the house.  I had a bag of light kettle corn, a cup of baked chips, and 2 pieces of wheat bread.  Oh- and an ice cream sandwich.  Profile: carbs and sweets.  The things that are hardest for me to say "no" to.  I ended the day pretty bummed, but got to bed early so I could work out the next day.  I meant to work out after school, but was tired.  I'll need to do three-in-a-row- Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Oh- on the physical activity, I did get up early today, but Pippin was so peppy when we got up that I took him for a walk instead of working out. 

Total water: 8 glasses
Total steps: 8145

Week Two Day Two

Walked to the gym for my weigh-in and coaching session at 5:30.  I got to move more marbles today. Yay!

Breakfast was 2 eggs, 1/2 C cheese, 1 C mixed fruit

I made sure I got my morning snack of 1 oz. of almonds in during the kids' morning recess break.

Lunch was a bit rushed, but I was able to take a few bites, keep working, and take a few bites more.  I had a taco salad.

I ate my afternoon snack of an apple, a piece of string cheese, and a cucumber after school and on the drive to my acupuncture appointment.

It was an incredibly busy day, and I was thirsty, but worried because I had no breaks to use the restroom in.  I drank my 6 glasses of water after school.

For dinner, I had a chicken apple salad.

Then, for no better reason other than I just wanted the taste of them, I ate 4 oreos, 1.5 cups of chips, 1.5 TB of peanut butter with 2 tsp. of honey on a whole wheat hot dog bun.  Ugh.  Fail.

My steps for today: 7458.

Week Three Day One

Monday, Labor Day:

Breakfast: 2 light pieces of whole wheat bread, 1.5 TB peanut butter, 6 oz. cottage cheese

Morning snack: 1 oz. almonds

Lunch: Large taco salad with 1.5 cups pineapple

Dinner: Beef Stroganoff (I was supposed to have veggies with it, but forgot. :(

We had dinner later and I wanted to get to bed early, so I didn't have my second snack of the day.

In the evening before dinner, I took Pippin on a nice long walk around the park and around the junior high school.  My pedometer reading for the day was 5131.  I got 7 glasses of water in.

 Today I was in great head space.  I felt lighter and productive as I worked my various posters for my classrooms.  The walk with Pip was wonderful- I felt that I could move more easily and enjoy that movement.  Tomorrow's the big day and the start of my attempts to balance my work life and stress with taking care of myself.  I feel very centered and ready.  Let's do this!

Week Two Day Seven

Happy Sabbath friends and family!

Being Lds/Mormon meant that today was Fast Sunday.  One Sunday a month we fast for two meals, combine it with a lot of prayer, and then contribute the money that we would have spent on the meals to help those that are struggling financially.  Fast Sundays take self discipline and are tough to do.  Honesty time.  For awhile now, I have only been skipping breakfast.  Normally, I eat after I get home from church at 12:30 and don't wait until dinner to eat.  Today was amazing, amazing, amazing.  Unlike other Fast Sundays, I was barely hungry and was able to skip both meals.  My worry about eating dinner was that I would overeat- making up for the meals that I skipped, but I didn't!!  We had friends over for dinner who are doing a great job at eating healthily, too.  I had a grilled chicken breast, a green salad with red peppers, tomatoes, and green onions.  I had a piece of wheat bread with 1/2 TB butter and then about 2 cups of fruits.   Also, complements of my friend, I had some yummy grilled asparagus and summer squash.  I had three glasses of water with it.  Then our friend made vegan brownies and they were really good.  The texture was different at first, but they were moist and I really likes them.  I had two of them.  Later in the evening, I had a piece of string cheese and a cup of Baked Lays chips.

This day excites me so much.  I think it was such a success and I that didn't end the day with overeating because these past two weeks I have been starting to exercise my self-discipline.  I have been learning to say "no" or "choose a healthier option" more.  I know I have not been perfect about it by far, but I know I am getting better, stronger, healthier.  It makes me feel really good.  I know I'm heading in the right direction.

Tomorrow is my check-in with my coach (I think- I need to check to see if they're open on Labor Day), so I need to report on and review my past week's goals:

1. Write down all my food and activity choices and report back nightly to this blog.
2. Transition back to eating 5 meals a day.
3. Eat whole foods whenever possible.
4. Work out three times a week.
5. Take Pippin on a walk three times during the week.

#1- I have been absolutely honest and have logged everything I've eaten and all physical activity.

#2- I had five meals a day every day except for today, though sometimes I didn't stay away from other foods outside of those five meals.

#3- I did pretty well at this one, but was more successful last week.

#4- Yep, I worked out Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

#5- Yep! Pip and I walked Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

For this next week, even though it's more of the same, I'm keeping the same goals.  I need to make sure these are actual habits, not "diet-y" things.  I am adding one more- 

6.  Prepare for and cook a balanced dinner five days of the seven.

Dinner was where I struggled the most.  Tomorrow I will do meal planning and get them ready for the week.