Days 18 and 19

So, yesterday I CLEAN forgot to write my blog!  What the heck is wrong with me? I sat at my computer fiddling around last night while watching a movie (something I do when I write...sometimes) and kept thinking, "There is something I'm forgetting to do." Well, I remembered while I was in the shower this morning trying desperately not to cry while straightening out my left leg. What a mess this hip and leg are becoming! I guess I'm going to have to go to the doctor. RATS!

There wasn't a whole lot to talk about yesterday. Work is an area that I learned a LONG time ago, is all in the head and heart. If you have a heart for your work and get your head right (i.e. I make things as easy or hard as I like) then it always GREAT! Attitude is very important and I choose my very carefully when it comes to work. I love my work, company and coworkers, full stop!

Eating continues to be on a great track. I find myself being satisfied for longer periods of time now. As long as I'm busy, I don't even think about food. Conversely, if I run short of something to occupy my thinking, I do run to food in my mind...still! So, I'm working on ways to combat this. I started making a list (surprised?) of all the little things I can do if food starts popping into my mind. I'll share the list when I feel I'm finished. (Yes, you've been saved from a list today! Aren't you special?!!!)

I'm preparing to make a quick trip to see my sister on Friday morning. I'll be on the road from 5am Friday morning until about noon on Sunday. We always have a GREAT time together and no, we aren't about to cut our visits short! As I've said before, we alternate visits and it's my turn to go to her. I can't wait! I miss her so much. I think I'd be lost if it weren't for my sister.

Well, there isn't much more to say. I know I'm doing well as I've moved the hooks on my bra over to the last space this morning! I expect that within the month I'll be able to move to the next size down. That is real progress and I'm really feeling great. These are baby steps, but I don't care. I feel better every day. Now, if I could just get this hip fixed. Anybody got any quick hip fix-it stuff? I'm getting sick of this!! Okay, it's time to walk on the treadmill...it does make it feel better to get exercise. Wish me luck!! Until tomorrow, have a sassy evening, Sweeties!!

Day 17

Marvelous Monday! That is the best description of today. I was able to complete the enrollment process for our son's high school, which I've been concerned about for over a week now. All is satisfactorily completed and I'm so happy to have that off my mind.

There are a couple of changes that have been made around here recently that are having some wonderful consequences. One is that as we move along the whole family is now eating more of their meals as My Fit Food meals. The 'boys' had to be convinced that the meals would be tasty and portions would be enough. They are sufficiently convinced. I'm still eating 3 meals a day from MFF and they are up to 2 per day. The balanced nature of the meals is proving to be a lot more enticing than expected! I've done a list of why MFF makes sense, but we're also adding to the list that there are a LOT less dishes to do using MFF! I'm thrilled with the personal physical results and all the other savings that have come along with using the MFF services. I can't imagine ever being without MFF again!

The other change that is going to lead to an improved experience is the new high school my son will attend starting this school year. He will now attend an online charter school for high school. This will eliminate TONS of wasted time for him and should lead to a better learning experience. He was complaining previously that more than half of each class period is always taken up with the teacher dealing with disruptive students. Without these distractions the learning should be better and more efficient. There are other problems that this solves. No more driving to and from the school and waiting for him to go in or come out. No gas investment and no wear on the vehicle, plus the road will have one less vehicle in traffic, every day! Add on top of that the fact that there are 4,000 other students from our state attending the school, that is in effect closing down a large brick and mortar school and eliminating the costs of running that facility! We are really excited for our son and wish him the best learning experience, ever! So, lots of changes and lots of benefits, but then again, I look for the benefits. 

I promised pictures of my deep red or as they were called Black Red roses and here they are:

Black Bacarra Red Roses $5.99 a dozed from my HEB!

I'm going to spend some of the time I'm saving not cooking learning how to take better pictures! I love photography, but I don't really know anything about it, so I can spend time learning now. Like most people I love many things about life. There is much beauty around me; music, books, art of all kinds, creative people, amazing people who are skilled at saving lives, they are all around me and they are all beautiful. I love life. Easy everyday, it is not, but still, I love my life and I wouldn't trade it with anyone else.

I must do a better job of sleeping tonight, so off I go. Thanks for checking in on me. Stick around for more! No telling what's next. Until tomorrow, sweet dreams, Sweeties!

Day 16

A little slice of heaven; paradise on earth. That is what this weekend has been. The weather was SO nice yesterday I was left speechless (no small feat). Today started out warmer, but the clouds are rolling in and out, so we'll see what happens. Since we have added more 'stuff' to our little outdoor slice of paradise, I've taken some more video. Here is what I have:

Sorry the video is so shaky...don't know what my problem is except I'm a terrible videographer! You get the idea anyway. I'm also slowly loosing my voice, so no cracks about sounding like an old man or a frog!

I took some still shots of the seating area and made a little collage:

Some different angles on things. That HUGE tropical in the back from the video that I didn't know the name of...I searched online and found that it is a type of banana plant. I've never seen any fruit and it started out as a house plant that someone bought for us. When it died, or seemed dead in the pot, we tossed it out there to decompose, but instead it took root and grew. Year over year, it dies back to the ground and comes back to what you see in the back of the picture in the middle of the collage (to the right, back). A beautiful plant.  I love it!

I also took some video of the Purple Martin family that flies around eating mosquitos.  Love them too!

Just in case you're interested, I take all my pictures with a Panasonic Lumix 8x Optical Zoom and 14 mega pixels camera. I also took the videos on this particular blog with the same camera. I have an additional video camera that I use and I'll shoot the next videos that I upload with that camera.

While at the HEB yesterday I bought myself some long stemmed roses. They had all kinds of colors for $5.99 per dozen.  All of the colors were beautiful and I wish I could afford to buy them all, but narrowed it down to just one dozen of what they called 'Black Red' roses. I have taken pictures of them, but my collage app isn't working right, so I'll figure that out and put the collage in tomorrow's blog. I love roses and am not afraid to buy them for myself.

Food has been great so far (MFF today for every meal) and will for the rest of the day I'm sure. I won't call myself a 'reformed' overeater yet, but the day will come when I can. I will not do a cheat today. There were cheats earlier in the week and I'm not really interested in eating anything other than the MFF meals I have in my fridge. It is just SO nice not to have to think about food. I'll probably stop writing about food...some day...maybe.

The rest of the day is devoted to laundry and fun! Wish you where here!! Until tomorrow, happy trails, Sweeties!!

Day 15

What a wonderful day! We had a heck of a storm last night and it started off this morning overcast and rainy, but the afternoon and evening was BEAUTIFUL! I love days like this.

There is not much to share about the day. I ate appropriately and loved every one of the three MFF meals I had. This was one of the two days that I replenish my meals and so I stopped in at both the grocery store for a few items and then MFF for the meals. When I used to cook, a trip to the grocery story each week took me between 1.5 and 2 hours to complete.  Going to the grocery store had become such a chore for me. Plus then it all had to be put away, then prepared; too much work! Today was a totally different story. My trip to the grocery store took less than 15 minutes. It then took me about 15 additional minutes at MFF. I had so much more time on my hands! On top of that, because I spent over a certain amount at MFF today, I got a zippered insulated bag to carry my meals home in! I LOVE freebies!!

Now it's time to get ready for bed.  I'll dream tonight about the rest of the weekend being just like this!

Until tomorrow, sweet dreams, Sweeties!

Day 14

Wah Who!! Let's here it for day 14!!  Whoop Whoop!!! Okay, enough of the silliness. No, I am NOT wiggling. :) I am just happy to say that in a mere 2 weeks I've made real progress and am doing fine. I have great energy and am learning great things about myself. It's just all good! I may not be anywhere close to making a goal, but everyone has to start somewhere!

This was a mixed event day. I had great morning and mid-day meals from MFF. Lunch was a mere 270 calories and I was honestly satisfied with it. Tonight though, I took people to dinner. I didn't do TOO badly, but my tacos were made out of 'fried' tortillas. I took my coworkers to Lupe Tortilla Mexican Restaurant. It was delicious and I did enjoy it. When I left, I was full, but what I wasn't, was stuffed. Here is what I had:

Shrimp Tacos 2 of them (no cheese!)

Beans and Rice

The meal was really nice. I thought the service was great, wait time (they were very busy) was short and the food was hot and arranged very appetizingly on the plates. Yes, of course, I ate every bite. The taco shells were fried, but not crunchy. These are considered 'puffy' tacos. So, like the meal I had earlier in the week, I would consider this a 'cheat', but not the end of the world. Usually, I would order cheese enchiladas and other high-fat mexican, so I thought the shrimp tacos was a good alternative for me. Am I justifying? Maybe, but not so that I can eat out and cheat all the time. I do not plan to eat out or cheat like this frequently. I am usually able to control my business meals to a rare occasion. This was just an odd week. Also, I have officially given up the 'every-week-cheat' on Sundays. I reserve the right to a cheat, but I DO NOT want to cheat every single week.

Tomorrow I will go and pick-up my next batch of MFF meals to cover me through Tuesday. This time my selections are with a bit more intelligence, since I've tried so many options. I was very surprised at how much I liked one of the breakfast options I was sure I wasn't going to enjoy. Funny how you never know until you try something! Even being able to read the ingredients and see the meals, it is easy to assume you won't like something, only to find it's really delicious! So, I will purchase a few things that I'm not sure about, just so I become sure that I either like or dislike the meal.

I took advantage of the night out tonight and put on my smoky eye makeup and false eyelashes. I had so much fun taking my day makeup to night makeup! Someone should take me out at night more often! (Hint, hint...) As I age, the smoky eye makeup is getting harder and harder to pull off. My eyelids are not as smooth as they once were. :) My son informed me that he doesn't like the black around my eyes and my husband was silent on the subject. I do not mistake silence for acceptance here. I know his opinion well and it isn't one of 'like.' Okay, I guess I'm the only one who likes the look. I'm okay with that. What was it that Ricky Nelson sang? "You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself."

That's it for today. Thanks for checking in on me and look for me back at this same place tomorrow; Same Bat Channel; Same Bat Station! Now, what made me think of that? Sweet dreams, Sweeties!!

Day 13

The days are clicking by! There are points in my life when I want the time to slow down and then there are moments like this. I'm doing well and I want to experience the results of my work. I want to slow down, but I want results quickly. This time around I'm working to learn to enjoy the journey and not be constantly looking ahead to my goal points. It's hard not to want to see results, but I don't want to miss the more subtle results indicators that come from cleaning up my habits.

One thing that I knew would happen and I've just been waiting for, is that clean feeling. That's the only way I know to explain it. It is a distinctive feeling I get when sugar cravings are gone and nutritionally my body is getting what it needs. The last time I lost weight it took me more than 2 weeks to feel this way, but I can honestly say that today, day 13, I feel clean. I'm not craving salt or sugar (I've been controlling salt intake over the last 13 days, as well as sugar), my portion sizes are where they should be, I'm eating a diet balanced with good carbs, protein and the right fats and best of all, I'm satisfied...truly satisfied! Maybe it's because I want my health back so much, but honestly, I have to be done with eating bad food, big portions and empty calories. At my age, this is getting harder to deal with and I have things I want to do! The fat is just in the way.

After a week of telling you about My Fit Foods (MFF) I can say that this will be how I eat for as long as MFF will let me. I don't have any desire to cook as long as I don't have to. Okay, I'll scramble myself an egg now and then, but putting meals together, no...I'm not doing it. I love my family and they know that I do. I don't have to cook big meals for them anymore for them to know I love them. In fact, it's killing the whole family, me doing that, so I HAVE to stop it right now! So, thank you, MFF! I LOVE YOU!! Go to their website and read up on them at myfitfoods.com.

This will have been a tough week for me when it's all over! As you recall, I had a business dinner earlier in the week (Tuesday) and now I have another one Friday night! When I eat out, I'll provide a photo of my plate so everyone can see what I end up eating. This should help keep me honest. I like to make sure I know I'm not fooling anyone! I hope the group of people I'm taking will not be interested in a place that serves nothing but fried food! I've pretty much felt like I could eat anywhere except a fried food place. Fried food is just bad...really bad. I'm afraid of fried food. Fried food is now my kryptonite!!

I'm off to enjoy the evening. Until tomorrow, sweet dreams, Sweeties!!

Day 12

Twelve days? What?? This means I've been focused on being healthy for almost two weeks and I'm feeling great! Something else, I'm also NOT hungry. That's right! The bottomless pit of constant hunger is NOT, REALLY NOT, hungry. Way to go!!  Whoop, Whoop!!!! Okay, this may not be a big deal to you, but it's HUGE for me. Ask any one; I am ALWAYS hungry. Pardon me, I WAS always hungry, but I'm not any more. And honestly, I never want to go back to being constantly consumed by food ever again.

So, today I had three MFF (My Fit Food) meals and I loved every single one of them.  These were ALL 4 face meals!  Here is what I had:

• Lemon Turkey for Breakfast
• Almond Crusted Chicken for Lunch
• Blazin' Cajun Shrimp for Dinner

I added fruit to Breakfast and Lunch, ate plain non-fat greek yogurt with a small amount of frozen sliced strawberries for a snack. Really a good, portion controlled day.

Why I love My Fit Foods Today

1. I did not have to plan the meals I ate today.
2. I did not have to shop for the groceries for the meals I ate today.
3. I did not have to stand in the kitchen for hours to cook the meals I ate today.
4. I did not have to get home from work and FORCE myself to cook when I didn't want to.
5. I did not have to throw away food today.
6. I did not have to worry about cooking food that temps me to eat too much.
7. I did not have to LOOK at a frozen meal package! (YUCK!!)
8. I did not have to worry about what I was eating being the right size portion.
9. I did not have to worry about the food I ate being full of preservatives and additives.
10. I did not have to THINK about food, AT ALL, today!

Oh, happy day! I'm just so glad I have the support I need here to use MFF for as long as I want...forever would be nice. I don't know if I've lost any weight, but I sure do feel great and that is what it's all about.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and I hope you are, too! Until then, have a lovely sleep.  Night, night, Sweeties!!

Day 11

Lovely day and one where I had to eat out with people from the office. I think I did okay, not perfect, but better than I would have had I not been conscious of what I was doing. Here is what I had the entire day:

MFF Sausage Links and Kale (really good!  I'll eat this again for a breakfast! and only 250 calories!!)
A Medium Banana
1 Package of Pistachio Nuts (in the shells)
MFF BBQ Chicken (probably won't have this again. Not bad, but I'm not in love with chicken.)
Small Orange
6 oz. Non-Fat Greek Yogurt
Cover 2 Hickory Burger (no fries, no cole slaw, no nothing else!) It was just the sandwich and was quite enough. I am still full 3 hours after having eaten this burger!

All in all, I did okay. The MFF breakfast was a 'small' portion and it was okay with the banana. The lunch portion was a medium and more than enough, but just not a great taste for me. I thought the Nugget Nation meal was much better so I'll have that instead next time.

Anyway, I will always have issues with eating out, but I also know that I can get around those issues by just making the best decision that I can. Salad is sometimes a good choice, but nowadays that put so much extra 'stuff' on salads, they are hardly a slim choice. Today, I chose a burger as it like it would be a smaller meal than some of the hefty salads I was observing being served. Also, the salads were either topped with fried chicken (I'm really trying now to get that 'fried' food taste out of my system) or were smothered in fatty dressing. I know, I know, put the dressing on the side.  Really? Do you want a dry salad? I don't really think so, so why even make the pretense of a salad with all that goop on it? So, I ordered a simple grilled beef burger with a little cheese, pickles, onions and hickory BBQ sauce (just a dab!). What I learned is that I could have what I wanted (I LOVE burgers) and just have that. I was really, honestly satisfied. And, I'll do even better tomorrow!

It's almost time for me to visit my sister again. This time it's my turn to travel to see her. We alternate months as we live a little over 200 miles apart. We're trying to do day trips to surrounding areas each time, but I'm not sure where we're going to this time. It doesn't even matter! All I care about is I have her with me for an ENTIRE weekend and we talk and have a GREAT time together. Everyone should have a Gena in their life like I do! No, she does NOT have time on her schedule for any other sisters.

There is actually a funny story about that. Earlier this month when she was here visiting me, we were in one of our favorite stores, Sephora. When we arrived the sales ladies immediately said, "We remember you!" and before we were out of there (over 2 hours later...I LOVE Sephora) they were asking us if we had any openings for new 'sisters'! Yes, WE'RE FUN! We are also incredibly the same in looks and such. When we're out together people always ask us, "Are you twins?" We used to just say yes, but then decided to say no and see how many people could guess which one of us is older. The funny thing is,  the women who get into this conversation with us will generally say, "No, I don't want to guess that!" but the men will fall right into the trap! They will end up looking from one of us to the other, back and fourth, with my sister Gena saying something like, "You better get this right, friend!" or some such nonsense. It is always so fun to see what they come up with. Yes, we're a mess!

Well, that's it for tonight. I'm looking forward to tomorrow! In the words of the great Joe Namath, "I can't wait till tomorrow, because I get better looking every day!"  Night, night, Sweeties!!

Day 10

I want to start off this blog by saying that when I got home today, I found the yard had been beautifully manicured by family. It is SO beautiful, I just have to share, so here is my little ~3 minute video of the yard.  Oh, and by the way, you'll notice me huffing and puffing just waking that little bit...sad! AND...I got momentarily attacked by a dragonfly that was off camera...a little comedy interlude towards the end.  Enjoy!!!

Lovely! I'm sure I'll eat my supper tonight on that porch watching the pretty yard and the people in the park across the street. I love summer!

So, when I have supper tonight I will have had three meals of My Fit Foods!  I stopped by the My Fit Foods store today and had a GREAT shopping experience. I needed meals to cover me through Friday. Also, my husband and son want to start having some (not all) of their meals as My Fit Food meals.  So, I needed 11 more meals to get me through Friday night (I have a business dinner tomorrow night). I purchased 16 means, which gives us what I need plus 2-3 additional meals for them to try. My son is in there right now eating the Chicken Enchiladas and he says they're GREAT! Here are the meals I will have had today along with their ratings:

Breakfast Tacos - 

Okay, but not my favorite...I'm not a HUGE fan of eggs.

Killuh Chili - 

Ummmm...GOOD!!!  I'll eat this one lots!

Fit Beef and Broccoli - 

Ditto!

Nope! I didn't take any pictures of food today! You all should be VERY proud of me, seeing as though I have food issues. Go to myfitfoods.com and check the food out for yourself. If you live in Texas, California, Arizona, Oklahoma or Illinois be sure to check these guys out and see if they are close by. I now have the equivalent of a personal nutritionist and chef to take care of me and you can too!  Groovy or Sweet or whatever they say now to mean something's really FANTASTIC!!!! My Fit Foods is making me more excited than a kid on opening day at the neighborhood pool!! Here I am at the pool fence with all the other kids just waiting to jump in the pool! I've got my pink and purple floaty and I'm ready for business! That is EXACTLY how I feel knowing that good, healthy food is ready and waiting in the refrigerator for me; get out of my way, because I'm ready for business! I can't explain it except to say I fret and I fret mostly about food (okay....I fret about lots of stuff). Don't ask me why! It is how I'm wired. My Fit Foods is now in charge of rewiring Nancy's food thinking.

Not too much else going on today. A busy week ahead. I have at least one business dinner this week and I'm preparing by going online to the restaurant site and make sure I know exactly what I'll be ordering so there isn't any last minute, "oh, just choose something!" stuff going on! I hate having food issues, but I'll get over it. I'm on my way now to being over it, thanks to My Fit Foods.  What's their motto? Oh yeah, "Eat fit. Live fit." Man! I want that to be me now!

I hope you've had a lovely day! Until tomorrow, sleep well, Sweeties!!

Day 9

Welcome to Sunday, or depending on when you're reading, farewell Sunday. I love Sunday! Sunday is 'family' day. For me, everyday is family day, but that's because I love my family! So, first let me say that I'm being quite unconventional today, but I'm having a good time, so no matter. I'll take you through the food first so that you can FINALLY see a My Fit Food meal, since I FINALLY took pictures.

Breakfast was the unconventional part. I ate at about 9am, which by the way, seems like a good time for me to eat breakfast. I decided to have the My Fit Foods Blazin' Cajun Shrimp! This was FANTASTIC!  It is getting the Nancy food rating of:

Remember, 4 faces means 'I could eat this every day!' The plate was beautiful (sorry, I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture, RATS!!). There was a skewer of medium shrimp on top of flavorful turkey dirty rice with two nice asparagus and two lemon wedges. So colorful and eye appealing. Tack on to that the fact that it tasted GREAT; really spicy; it's a WINNER!!

For lunch, I finally took pictures. I decided since today is my cheat meal for supper, I would keep it light at lunch and stay on the 'fish' theme. The meal I chose is the Salmon Roasted Vegetable Dinner. I would rate this one:

Here are some pictures:

The reason I give this 2 Nancy Faces, is because it was okay, but not great. Taste was good and it was very filling, but not exciting. I think the shrimp is the seafood winner so far.

This was also 'cheat meal' day and that means I had a burger for supper tonight:

Can you tell that my burger and fries (yes, I ate all but one little piece of the fries) were from Whataburger? Uh huh, it was tasty, but I'm so stuffed, I don't think I want to do the cheat meal every single week. Frankly, I'm enjoying the My Fit Foods so much I don't see a reason to really cheat. I talked with my husband about splitting a burger and he's all for doing that, but honestly, I think I'll leave the burgers to the boys and only have a cheat meal when I really want one. I reserve the right to have a 'cheat meal' any Sunday, but I really don't want one every Sunday.

So, I'm DYING to write a list, so here is my list for the day:

Top 10 Reasons to Use My Fit Foods to Feed Myself

1. They have a great selection.
2. The meals are really tasty!
3. They are portion controlled.  (This is a BIG deal as I can eat VOLUMES of food!)
4. I can choose between small, medium or large portions, which gives me some flexibility.
5. These meals are made out of REAL FOOD!!!!
6. Each meal is a healthy combination of protein, carbohydrates and fats.
7. They seem to be low in sodium.
8. There is a HUGE selection of meals to choose from!
9. My Fit Foods is easily accessible in my area at several locations, including grocery store kiosks.
10. I DIDN'T HAVE TO PREP IT, PLAN IT, OR COOK IT!!!!!!!

I have lost more than 100 lbs. in my life, 2 other times. The first time I was on Opti-fast, which was very bad for me and caused all kinds of problems. I won't go into that story, but it was BAD...really BAD. The second time, I counted calories, but I never really got over the portions issue and when push came to shove, life got hard or I was pinched for what to eat I just ate whatever. Yes, because I'm lame. With My Fit Foods, I can have things that are really tasty and healthy in the fridge ready to go and if I'm out, guess what? They are right around the corner and I can pick-up what I want, just like at a fast-food place! NO EXCUSES NOW! So, I may have to eat My Fit Foods for the rest of my life, and you know what else? Yea!! They can cook for me forever if it keeps me healthy and fit. I may have to walk into the store, open my purse and say, "Take whatever you want, as long as I get to leave with all my meals prepared for me!" It may sound crazy, but this is me we're talking about and I think I deserve the best for myself. I think this is the best option for me. Yes, I may still prepare something now and then for myself, but you know what, I don't really think I will. Cooking as always been something I was good at, but it's really bad for me to do it, because I have NO WILLPOWER when it comes to good food. I want to eat...love to chew...love to taste...Yes, I'm LAME! Stupid!! Whatever you want to call me, I'm probably that, but I'm also, GREAT!!!!!!!

That's the extent of damage that I did to Sunday. Besides getting ready for the work week, I think I'll give myself a little spa night from 8-10pm! Until tomorrow, sleep well, Sweeties!!

Day 8

Hello, Sweeties!! A new day and a new week for me to tear up!!! I was a slow riser this morning and so had to grocery shop with all the other late Saturday risers. What a mad house! But I did do something I've been wanting to do for over a week now. I bought meals from My Fit Foods, to cover my next three days, instead of the items I put on the list last night. I'll include information about how these worked as I blog along over the next few days.

I at my first My Fit Food meal for lunch after the grocery store. Unfortunately, I was so hungry (not having had any breakfast this morning) that I failed to take a picture of it. That's okay, because My Fit Foods can be found at myfitfoods.com and you can see a picture of what I had there! So, my very first meal was the Texas Fit BBQ. I must say that it was delicious! With My Fit Foods, you can choose small, medium or large portions. I selected the small, because I wanted to see if the small one would fill me up. Take into consideration that I was really hungry, having had no breakfast when I ate the meal for my lunch today, at the end of the meal, I was satisfied and I would go even further and say, full. So, I'm preparing a rating scale for the My Fit Foods.  I'll be using my little drawing of myself as the scale. Here is the key to the rating system:  1 icon=okay; 2=average; 3=great!; 4=I want this every day!! Here is the icon:

So, the Texas Fit BBQ (small portion) I had today for lunch would rate as:  

Next time, I'll have a picture of the meal for you!

Last week I promised benchmarking pictures of me. This has got to be one of the hardest things I'll do in the blog; provide pictures of myself. As time goes by, it should get easier, but for now, please know that I didn't like taking or looking at these images. If nothing else, they do help me stay on track, because it is SO BAD right now. Here is my benchmark (I'm weighing in at about 280 lbs. here):

Yep, this is me. The plan is to get me to what I call, "I can think weight," which is about 100 lbs. less. Once I'm at 180 lbs. I will start the next phase, which is the fight, and I do mean FIGHT, to get another 30 lbs off me. at 150 lbs. (and by that time 55 years old) I'll be satisfied...I think...but maybe not. I know how I want to feel and look and I won't really be happy until I'm there.  Whenever that is and however long it takes to get there, I don't want to forget what it felt like and looked like being here. I'm so ashamed of myself! However did I let this happen? Thinking! That's my problem.  I think stupid things (see my "Out of Control" blog posting from July 12, 2013) all the time! To put it simply, I make s**t up, all the time, that simply is NOT true! Yet, I lamely go along believing it. What a mess I can be! But thankfully, I'm wise to my stupid thinking and I'm going to do things this time to stop that madness. 

I'm ready for a bit of rest and fun now. I'll take a walk today and see if I can help the sciatica thing go away. I do believe that losing weight has got to help. Thanks for checking in on me. Have a lovely Saturday, Sweeties!!

Day 7

Day 7, which means I've been focused on this properly for one week. That's 1/52 of the time where I will blog daily about the experience. A fraction of time, but so much work to do. Today was an odd eating day. I can't say I was actually hungry, but I ate what I wanted. Here is what I ate:

Breakfast - Leftover vegetable/beef hash and two pieces of toast

Snack - Half of a 130 calorie package of Pistachio Nuts

Lunch - Egg Salad Sandwich w/10 chips and a caffein-free Diet Coke

Snack - Handfull of Cheese Nips

Dinner - 2 pieces of pork BBQ Jerky and a 160 calorie cheese sandwich

The only reason I know the calorie count of the nuts is because I looked at the package and the Cheese Sandwich is something I eat a lot of, so I know the calorie count by heart.

One thing I have realized is that I have got to get the sugar out from everywhere I find it. The granola bars are gone. I've given them away to people at work who looked hungry. I'll use Stevia to sweeten tea and such, but no other sweetener, if I can avoid it. I think it's better for me that way. Fruit tastes miles sweeter with the sugar out of my system. Also, I can tell I'm not as hungry as it has been.

I've been working on my grocery list for the week. A few things that I will be purchasing regularly are:

Zucchini Squash

Yellow Squash

Spaghetti Squash

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Red Peppers

Grape Tomatoes

I have a thing for squash at the moment. I also am enjoying a combination of vegetables and lean meat, chicken or fish cooked together like a 'hash'. It probably doesn't sound appetizing, but really it's great! Easy to prepare and tastes delicious. My latest combination was onions, celery and cauliflower, cooked with extra lean ground been. Then add a small amount of of low-fat cheese to melt and hold things together and add a little zip to the taste. I sprinkled it with a garlic herb mix and a little salt and pepper. Delicious. I'm a big fan of one-pot meals. I make a mean skillet pasta dish, but pasta is not a favorite of mine. If I'm having spaghetti, it will probably be squash!

I'm looking forward to the weekend and yes, I'll have my cheat meal on Sunday evening. Until Day 8, sleep well, my Sweeties!!

Day 6

What a great day! I may still be dealing with the effects of somewhat painful sciatic nerve pinch, but it was no less a great day. When it comes to the experience of a day, I am a firm believer that you get what you expect. I woke this morning with a great expectation of enjoyment and alas, I had just that!

Eating was a bit off today. I ate a larger breakfast than planned (I was trying to use something up and get it out of the house). I am changing my food purchase plan for next week. This will help me to not have to go through the experience I had this morning where I was faced with food that I either needed to eat or throw away. Throwing away food is just bad; really bad. I will avoid that at all costs, so I have to make sure these things are not in the house again. The rest of the meals and snacks were as planned. I'm still happy with the day. I'm not a machine, after all!

Against all temptation I have avoided, once again, the desire to take photographs of food. I will have to find something else to photograph for the blog. No telling what I'll come up with. I continue to work on a plan for exercise. I need that more than anything. Walking for now is good enough and gets me started.

Looking forward to the weekend. Until tomorrow, have a lovely evening, Sweeties!

Documenting Progress and Celebrating Success

The idea is to lose weight, increase energy and stamina and improve overall health. As I stated in an earlier blog there are several areas I'm specifically targeting: Eating, Exercise, Thinking, Skin and Teeth. Here is what I know so far:

1. Earlier this year I visited a Dermatologist. I have several skin conditions that are not nice, but they are now being treated appropriately and I can say I am definitely doing better in the skin department. I will never be 'cured' of my skin issues, but they are being properly treated now.
2. I have great teeth; strong and generally very healthy, but they aren't very white. I will be doing some whitening on my teeth later this year.
3. In the area of thinking I am consciously stopping my negative self-talk and working to think that I 'can' change instead of being defeated by I 'can't,' thinking. This will probably go on forever.
4. There will be a plan for exercise, but I'm still working on that. This is a most important area, along with #5.
5. Eating! What can I say? If eating were an Olympic event, I'd win GOLD for the US!! This is my first target. But the results of better eating habits and exercise are what I want to document along the way.

The scale is a very poor tool to use to document results. My body weight naturally fluctuates up to 5 lbs. in any given day! Plus, as I lose weight, I want to also build muscle. From reading I've learned that it is actually muscle that will improve my metabolism and help me keep my weight down forever. I've also learned that with less time investment each week doing strength training I will be able to lose faster and forever! That's for me!! The thing is, muscle weighs more than fat, so I can't use the scale to judge how well I've done. Yes, the scale will be helpful and I've weighed, but I won't weigh again until I believe I'm in my maintenance phase. Then I'll share what the actual numbers are, along with pictures to show the physical results.

So, what am I going to use to help me know I've been successful? Clothes! When I recently redecorated my closet I let go of a lot of clothes in smaller sizes, but I kept some. What I've done is broken the next year down into 6 progress segment (one every other month). Each segment is represented by a different clothing item or outfit that I will need to be able to fit into properly and wear. Here are the segments and the outfits I'll be working with:

1. September 2013- Black Dress (size 22/24)
2. November 2013- Jeans and Green Burn-Out top (size 20/22)
3. January 2014- Red Jacket (Size 20)
4. March 2014- Exercise Shorts/Skort and T-Shirt (Size 18/20)
5. May 2014- Work Polo Tops (there are two of these) and Jeans (Size 18)
6. July 2014- Black Pants and Peplum Top (Size 16/18)

I realize that these clothing items don't mean a THING to you, but trust me, they will help me see how well I've done. My goal is to try on the outfit on the last day of the month stated and take a picture of myself in the outfit. In order to log success, I have to wear the outfit out! Here is how I will celebrate success:

1. September 2013 - Trip to the Chanel Store for a new lipstick.
2. November 2013 - Somebody has to take me out on a date!
3. January 2014 - Extra weekend visit with my sister!!
4. March 2014 - I get a weekend trip to the beach, like Ft. Lauderdale!!
5. May 2014 - A pair of cowboy boots!
6. July 2014 - I get an iPad Mini! (Oh, boy! I really want one of these!!)

So, I have to work hard and at each 2 month interval I'll measure my success by putting on the applicable clothing item and if it fits appropriately, then I wear it out. When that's done, then I get to celebrate. If I can't fit into the item, then I reschedule the segment for another date. That will make the other segments move forward. I'll update the plan if/when that happens. I'm motivated not to let that happen. I really don't want to have to come on this blog on Day 80 (September 30 - End of Segment 1) and tell you that I didn't reach my goal. I want to write a GREAT BIG celebration blog showing how I look in my Little (okay at size 22/24 still really BIG) Black Dress!

Yes, I will be taking pictures of what I look like right now...this weekend. I dread this, but it has to be done and posted so I can get on with making it all better. I'll also take pictures of each clothing item/outfit on the goal segment months. I tried to take some pictures now, but clothes with nobody in them don't photograph very well. :)

The changes I'm making now are lifestyle changes. These don't happen over night, but the weight will come off and I will sleep better, feel more energetic and healthy. All this plan is supposed to do is keep me focused and motivated. I want to get into these clothes and I want to feel better; like I did when I lost the weight before. Then, I NEVER want to forget what it took to feel good. As I've said before, "Nothing tastes better than losing this weight feels."  Good night, Sweeties!

Day 5

I'd love to say that something really interesting happened today, but it didn't. Average day with rain and work. I ate on target and felt good about what I did. You'll be happy to learn that I didn't take one food picture today! I must be improving. :)

I'm working on another blog entry concerning how I'm going to track progress and reward myself. As you know, I'm trying to make the process this time more fun. It is still hard work changing your habits, but having to do this all over again is so upsetting that I have to do something to keep myself motivated enough to do it one LAST time. The last time I took off all the weight I said I wouldn't gain it back again. I was wrong, so I won't say that this time. What I will say is that I know that THIS time the key will be making sure I have a forever plan. I don't know what that looks like, but my initial thoughts are that it's simple and gets dreamed up all along the way.

I'm reading up on exercise while I'm getting the eating under control. As you read in my Day 4 blog, I'm changing one habit at a time here. Eating is first since that is my BIGGEST problem. So far, so good. I love to read and am really finding some good, thought provoking information. I'll share as I get ready to build my plan for exercising this old body. Yes, of course there has to be a plan! My personal philosophy is, "Build your plan; work your plan." If you don't have a plan how are you going to know what to do? How will you know you have been successful?? How will you remember what it took to be successful??? Yes, I'm building a plan. The other delay for exercise is getting this sciatic nerve thing squared away. One day I'm good; the next day I'm in pain again. I have a positive attitude about it. I WILL conquer the pain!! It may never totally go away and if that is the case, then I'll just learn to live with it. I believe that every ounce that comes off of me has to help it feel better.

So that's it for the update. Thanks for checking up on me. Stick around! No telling what tomorrow will bring! Sweet dreams, Sweeties!!

Day 4

Life marches on! Day 4 has come and gone. I better stop quick or this is going to turn into the rhyming blog from he**!! This was a really good day. I had energy and made a few new realizations about my work to create a healthy lifestyle. Since there are a 'few' realizations, that means a LIST! Yep!! Here we go:

Top 10 Things I Discovered on Day 4

10.  Cake is still out there! (See, I thought for sure it was gone forever!!)

  9.  I can change one thing at a time and that won't break anyone's rules.  (I can be ME! Who knew!?!)

  8.  Eating healthy is not hard, just different. (I keep trying to make it hard!)

  7.  Getting more exercise starts with one step. (Again, I try to make things that are simple, hard.)

  6.  Healthy lifestyle people think about other things than food. (Wow! I want to do that!!)

  5.  Thin people do not think about food when they are full. (There is other stuff to think about?)

  4.  Thin people could care less about food. (This is just mind boggling to me!)

  3.  Thin people may not be healthy. (It's not about thin, but it is...does that make sense? Comments?)

  2.  I do not want to be defined by my body image. (Fat or thin...does it have to define me?)

  1.  I'm in charge of me and I get to decide...everything! (POWER!!)

Now that I've enjoyed the heaven that is writing a list, I'm ready to share more about the day's successes and failures. I ate pretty much according to plan. I skipped the afternoon snack successfully by being super busy. I really don't think the granola bars are a good choice for me. They are nice tasting, but really make me want more sweets. I had my planned breakfast this morning:

Scrambled Egg w/1 sausage cut in half and cheese on toast.  Yummy!!

That was nice. No break room Avante Market for me today! Yea!! A victory!!! Lunch was exactly as I had planned with the tacos, just like yesterday. Dinner was the leftover spaghetti squash, this time with rotisserie chicken I had in the freezer, combined with leftover pasta sauce:

All in all, a great day. I think I'll know I'm getting better about food when I stop feeling like I have to take a picture of every plate of food I eat. Somehow at the moment I think I have to do that. I'll just call it working on my camera technique...it could use some work! :)

During my lunch break today, I worked on an idea for a way for me to sort of know how well I'm doing and set personal goals for myself. I decided that the scale is out until the very end. I have weighed myself at the beginning, but I won't be sharing what the weight loss amount is until I feel like I'm in the maintenance phase of my journey. At that point I'll do a blog dedicated to just the numbers and such. Anyway, I decided that I would set my goals and judge my performance by clothes that I already own that I cannot currently wear. For instance. I have a little black dress that is size 22/24. I cannot really fit into this dress properly. It is my first goal clothing item. I will set 6 goal points (one every other month) and then work to be able to wear the goal item by the goal date. Each goal clothing item will be successively smaller in size. I think I have what I need to get me at least down to a size XL. Currently I'm a 26/28. I'm writing a blog dedicated to just this idea and hope to have it up within the next few days. I'll include in the blog how it will work and what will happen as I reach success. Part of what is important to me this time around is to actually make the process FUN! I hope you'll enjoy that blog when it comes out.

Anyway, that's what's what over here in what used to be 'Out-of-Control-Crazy-Land!' I'm feeling more in-control every day. I can't wait to see what tomorrow teaches me! until then, sleep well and have a lovely life, Sweeties!!

Day 3

Can we hear it for Day 3? Whoop, whoop!! Yep, this was a day, if ever there was one. Work was beautiful, as usual. Things are what you make of them, after all. Food wasn't bad. I'd love to say I stuck to the plan, but I dilly-dallied around this morning and had NO time to make my breakfast. So, I ate breakfast out of the Avanti Market in the break room at the office. (Cringe...) They have a product which is basically a sausage wrap that's about 450 calories. So, I had one. Extra 100 calories, but okay I wasn't hungry. Honestly, I have to stop doing that!

Lunch was what I had planned:  Bean and low-fat cheese tacos with cherry tomatoes and a piece of fruit (a peach).  I loved the lunch!  Was easy to prep, ready to pack in a jiffy and it was delicious. I added some Chalula Sauce to spice it up.

I ate my afternoon snack today and it was good, but sweet things make me want more sweets. Here's the snack that may have to be replaced in future days:

Really tasty but makes me crave more sugar. Right after eating it I found myself thinking, "You know, there is other GREAT stuff back there in the break room!" Then I had to tell myself to get a grip and stop being stupid. I opened an email and solved another problem which got me over the hump, but I don't want to have to be fighting the urge to raid the break room every day at 4pm!! We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Dinner was as I planned with an added twist of leftover mushrooms and asparagus. I microwaved the spaghetti squash and topped it with a half cup of bottled sauce, added a couple of spoonfuls of leftover sautéed mushrooms and 8 of the shrimps I made on Saturday (I froze the leftovers and popped them into the sauce).  I had a few of the asparagus leftover and added them to the bowl.  Here is what it looked like (right before I ate it up!!):

The sauce I used is a puttanesca variety with the black olives and capers...yummy!  You can see the yellow squash under the shrimp, mushrooms and sauce. It really was delicious. Leftover vegetables are always welcome on my plate. I'm trying to have as many veggies and fruits as I can.

I'm still fighting the sciatic nerve thing, but it is better. The more I move the better it is. Last night I stretched by doing a pedicure. When you are a big girl, like I currently am, it can be a challenge to do your toes! My finger and toe nails are actually kind of on the small side, so nail art is really only possible on my big toes so I painted them a neon pink by Sinful Colors called 24/7 and then painted a white daisy with a purple center on each big toe. The photograph doesn't do the pink justice:

Freshly pedicured, happy feet!

Post painting...the lighting in my bathroom made the color UGLY! Trust me, it's bright!!!

 So, that's what I've been up to on day 3. I must say that the blog is helping me keep focused and it also helped me have somewhere to go and something to do after dinner. Believe it or not, right after eating that great big bowl of squash, sauce, veggies and shrimp, what did I think..."I wonder what else is in the fridge?" I couldn't believe by stupid brain. I had to mentally say to myself, "You are NOT hungry! Go write your blog...dam-it!!" Rescued by a writing project. Only in my world! See you on day 4, Sweeties!!

Day 2

Hello! As I start this posting it is a bright, shining Sunday and I've been up since 7:30am. That is sleeping late for me! Usually my day starts at either 4 or 6am. It really depends on when my meetings start on any given business day, whether I'm traveling or not and what is on my plate for the day. Today, I have laundry and fun on my plate so sleeping late is okie-dokie! I'll write on this blog throughout the day and post it after I've eaten dinner tonight. So, in a way, this will be a kind of 'day-in-the-life' blog post.

I had the oatmeal breakfast I've planned for the upcoming week and to be honest, I think I have to change the plan. Although I love oatmeal, I think I need to have food in the morning that isn't sweet and I like my oatmeal a bit sweet.  Also, I was disappointed at the lettuce at the HEB yesterday, so I have no salad for my supper for the next few days. So, I'm modifying the plan for Monday-Wednesday to the following (I added calories and about what time I'm going to eat these, but don't get used to it!):

• Breakfast @7am - A scrambled egg sandwich topped with low-fat cheese, a little mayo and one link sausage (This is about 350 calories).
• Snack @10am - 1, 6 oz. Fage Fat-Free Greek Yogurt (140 calories)
• Lunch @1pm - Two bean and cheese tacos w/some kind of salad or vegetable and a piece of fruit (420 calories).
• Snack @4pm - 1 granola bar pack (180 calories)
• Dinner @7pm - Spaghetti squash topped with shrimp and sauce; a piece of fruit (242 calories)
• Snack @I-Don't-Know pm - Smoothy (240 calories)
• Total calories=1572 (w/out the smoothy=1332!  Not bad!!)

Last night (day 1) I didn't need the smoothy, so I'm hoping that continues. The fact that the smoothy has to be made might deter me a bit, since I can get where I run out of time in the evenings. When I have stuff that has to be done and need to get to bed, I don't even think about food! Weird, but true!! I like the yogurt and granola bar snacks, mainly because they are easy and again, portion controlled. The tacos were easy to pre-prep and the 6 tacos that I'll need for my lunch Monday-Wednesday are already prepared and in the frig! The salad will be an issue.  I don't see a problem with the spaghetti squash as that cooks in the microwave really quickly and the sauce is jared and the shrimp are prepped and in the freezer.  I will add 8 shrimp to each meal.

Today is my free meal day, but I'm sticking to plan except for dinner. I want my free meal to be dinner tonight. I haven't decided what I want, but I know that I don't want to prepare the meal myself; I want something different...I think...I don't know yet. As the blog moves along I'll figure it out.

I got a snapshot of my snack that I'm eating while I'm writing this. Although it is almost noon, I'm having my snack instead of lunch. I'm not sure I'll need a full 'lunch' today since I really do want something special for dinner...just don't know what...hmmm..... While I'm thinking about that, here is my morning snack:

One thing that I've been thinking about is using a food service for my meals for awhile. There is a local company called My Fit Foods (myfitfoods.com) that I'm considering using for a few days to see first, if I like the foods and secondly if the cost fits into my budget.  It isn't cheap, but if you check out their website you'll see that everyone who eats just My Fit Foods, loses weight and has more energy.  Well, that's what I want, so maybe it is what I should do.  I don't know yet. I'm still researching. Since there are My Fit Foods kiosks in my local grocery stores, I may just go in and buy foods for one day to check it out and see what I think. I'll blog about it when I do it. It will definitely be after Wednesday of this week!

Okay, so much for the 'I might not eat lunch today' idea! My husband made me a picnic of one of my favorite foods (to get it out of the house), which is HOT DOGS!!  Yummy!!  Here is my little picnic eaten on the front porch, true picnic style!!  The Real Ale Hans' Pils beer is his!!

These are my favorite Nathan's Hot Dogs on HEB buns with HEB 2% Sharp Cheddar, Whataburger Mustard (our grocery store now carries this mustard and it's GREAT) and Best Maid Pickle Relish. I added a small serving of Tostitos and some black tea in my official Starbucks tumbler.  It was DELICIOUS!! Yes, okay, this should be my cheat meal, but it isn't. This is a 'get it out of the house' meal. There may be some more of this in my future. I don't think the boys are going to get any more hot dogs as I don't think I can buy them and not eat them. Hot Dogs may become my official cheat meal, but only time will tell. We're only on Day 2, you know!!

I've decided that my official cheat meal this week is a P. Terry's Hamburger Stand, Burger and Fries! I ordered the Chicken Burger and fries.  Here is what it looked like:

We again ate the meal picnic style, as a nice cool front came through and made it a real nice evening for eating alfresco.  I don't know the calorie count, but the chicken burger has to be less calories than the double burger the boys had!  Fries aren't my favorite kind of potato, but I had some anyway. Great cheat meal for the week. I can honestly say that I'm ready for what the next week will bring. For now, I'm off to fold laundry, give myself a pedicure, clean my make-up brushes and get ready for bed. When next you hear from me it will be Day 3 and I'm ready for it to give me all its got! See you later, Sweeties!

Day 1 of 365, to a Better ME!

Today is day 1 of 365, where I focus on exchanging my life for a more healthy variety; one that I truly desire. There are 5 areas where I want to improve: eating, exercise, thinking, skin and teeth. As you have read, I have allowed myself to go back to old habits and if I do not change them, they will deprive me of my life. Yes, I've done this before and was stupid enough to go back to old ways of eating and not exercising. I know that this time I have to change my thinking in order to make the improvements stick, for good. At the same time, I want to improve health and appearance of my skin and teeth. So, here goes!

One of the things I know will help me stay away from extra food is to blog daily. There could be reasons why a blog isn't published on a day, but with good planning it will be fine. Writing will occupy me sufficiently and give my hands something to do. Also, I've learned that I cannot watch 'food' videos. I used to watch cooking shows on PBS and loved watching videos on YouTube, but these just make me hungry and crave whatever is being cooked in the video. Put on top of that the fact that I really love food and like to cook and it's like personal sabotage to continue watching this programing. So they go!

I promise to share pictures of what I'm eating, what exercise I'm doing or whatever will help me share what I'm doing to improve. Here is what I had for dinner tonight:

I love shrimp and it is an excellent source of protein for a person who wants to lose weight. 

It was hard to do this the last time around and I'm scared that it will be even harder this time. It's better for me to admit that I'm scared. That way I can face my task head on, without being encumbered by my own stupid thinking. Remember, I have to change my thinking!

The next step is to start exercising. This will be walking in the beginning. I have a treadmill, which will help since the temperature here is over 100 degrees daily this time of the year. The only problem at the moment is my hip/lower back. When my sister visited me last week, I made a little mistake and thought I was suddenly 16 again.  The two of us were dancing around the bedroom to a really great song and somehow I did something to what is probably my sciatic nerve.  Now I have excruciating pain in my left hip that radiates down my leg into my calf.  In the prone position I'm fine. Sitting down, I'm pretty good, but when I try to stand up...YEOWWWWW!!  It's very painful.  For now, I'm doing stretches.  I know that actually cardio will help me more than anything, but I won't try that until after the weekend.  If I had kept up with my exercise and not put the weight back on I probably wouldn't have injured myself wiggling around the bedroom!  See!  STUPID!!!

Okay, so for day one it wasn't bad.  My breakfast/snack was all in one and was a piece of Banana Walnut Bread from Starbucks and some Black Tea (okay, not great, but not too horrible either...at least it was portion controlled!).  Lunch was two, bean and low-fat cheese tacos with cucumber, tomato and onion salad.  A snack at about 4pm was an orange and dinner was as you see above:  Mushrooms, Asparagus and Shrimp.  Oh, wait a minute!  My husband brought me an ice cream cone at about 1pm.  I almost forgot eating that!  See!!  I didn't even think about it.  I took it and ate it...like I was on auto-pilot or something.  STUPID!!!  For a first day, not bad and tomorrow will be better.  The food is my greatest challenge so don't be surprised when I'm focused on it.  Next, exercise!  I know I'll have a good plan worked out in no time.  Thanks for stopping by and checking in on me. I can't wait for day 2 with the hopes that I'll be less and less STUPID as time goes by!!  Good night, Sweeties!!

Out of Control

Apparently I am living in "Out-of-Control-Crazy" Land.  Congratulate me, because I've successfully eaten my way to almost all the weight I lost back on my stupid body.  I don't know what I've been thinking!  Oh, wait a minute!!  Yes, I do...I am, after all, ME!  I know EXACTLY what I've been thinking and it wasn't, "You don't want that cake!"  Here are the top 10 things that I've been thinking (mentally saying to myself) that have launched me out of control (Oh boy!  A LIST!!):

10.  "You can eat sensibly tomorrow!" (Tomorrow never comes!)
  9.  "You're too tired to eat sensibly."  (Really?  Exactly how are these related, Nancy???)
  8.  "There is too much to do to waste time eating sensibly." (Lame!)
  7.  "There just aren't any quick, sensible eating options available."  (Lame squared!!)
  6.  "You can live a perfectly happy life being morbidly obese."  (Who the HECK am I kidding?)
  5.  "Everyone else is eating Cheesecake!" (Next, I'll be jumping off a cliff with everyone!)
  4.  "I work hard and can have whatever I want...damit!" (Good try!!  NOT)
  3.  "I'll die if I don't have cake right NOW!"  (Prove it!!)
  2.  "I HAVE to eat this cake because it's the last cake that will ever be available!!!"  (Just so you  know, this one applies to Corvettes, diamond jewelry and trips to Hawaii...don't you know!)
  1.  "No one will ever know that I'm out of control." (Honestly, we all KNOW, Nancy!!)

So, now I have to DIG my way out of this mess, yet again and it's not going to be so easy this time. Not that it was all that easy the first time, but I was younger. Yes, I could waste more time coming up with all the excuses for why I left the path of righteousness, but lets just say I'm stupid and leave it at that. As they say, there is no time like the present, so it starts again for me, now.

Last time around I counted every calorie. I'm not in a big hurry and I couldn't do that forever, so I'm not even going to try that this time. This time I'll use what I've learned about portion control and take an lesson from others who say to pre-plan the food so that it becomes a non-issue.  I'm also going to allow myself one meal per week, where I can have what I want and strive to make what I'm normally eating, really what I want.

There are thousands of tips and tricks available online and I'll use the "cherry" method to weed through these.  What's the "cherry" method?  Eat the fruit and spit out the pits.  In other words, I'll try things and what works stays and what doesn't goes, fast!  I've decided to eat three meals and three snacks per day and will space them out as evenly as possible.  My goal is to be able to reduce the snacks to just one, but we'll start with this. For me, I also know that it will be easier for me to buy the food once a week and pre-prep the meals for three days at a time. So, Sunday night I'll prep for Monday-Wednesday and Wednesday night I'll prep for Thursday-Saturday.  Sunday will be my day for a meal of whatever I want. Again, I'm going to be trying to always have things I want, so that I don't feel deprived. I just may have to rethink some of those things. I'm planning to eat the same thing every day for this week because it will just be easier for me to do that as I get started again.  Here is the menu for the week:

Meal Plan - Week 1

Breakfast - Oatmeal with Raisins and Walnuts and Tea
Snack #1 - Plain, non-fat Yogurt w/Frozen Blueberries
Lunch - Bean tacos with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese, a piece of whole fruit and Tea
Snack #2 - A (sensible calorie count) Granola or Protein bar
Dinner - Caesar Salad w/ Shrimp, Croutons and a light dressing, a piece of fruit and Tea
Snack #3 - A smoothy made with milk, protein powder, unsweetened frozen fruit and Stevia

The breakfast will be an easy 2.5 minutes in the microwave.  I'll prepackage the frozen blueberries for the yogurt snack and buy pre-portioned yogurt. I'll pre-role the tacos and portion the salad topping for the lunches and prep the salad for the dinners so that I just have to sauté the shrimp and add the toppings.

I don't have any idea of the calorie counts for the above.  I know what the portion sizes should be and I'll use my trusty measuring cups to help me get everything right. I'll be sure to give an update on Wednesday on how the prep worked and how all of the meals went for me. Groceries will be tomorrow, so I'll share what I ended up with (product wise) to cover the meals. On a side note, I'll also share what it cost to buy the supplies for this meal plan for 1 person for 6 days. Although I'm not trying to save money, it is always nice to know what things cost.

I know I've been here before, but the fact is I'm here again and this is a very bad place for me to be in. I can get out, but I'm the only one who can do it for me. So, here goes! Wish me luck!! Bye-bye for now, sweeties!