Days 294 - 313

Forgive me, but I've again been AWOL for 20 days! This is what happens when you are far, far away from where you should be; doing things you shouldn't be doing. What has Nancy been doing for the last 20 days? Short answer:  Working and not caring much about what she eats. Clearly, I've tested every, single one of my crazy weight loss theories and only ONE of them has EVER worked. After a year of trying, like the devil, to make something else work, I give up! I'm finally going back to the root of what works: Counting Calories - Logging What I Eat - Exercise.

Yes, that's what I know works for weight loss and I'm convinced it is also what will work for weight maintenance, too. So, this is a lifestyle change this time around. This is just how it's going to work from now on. It's focused and completely doable no matter where I am or what I'm doing. However, I'm a person who doesn't function well without order. I need a plan. So here it is:

The Plan

• Limit my daily caloric intake to 1,500 calories per day
• Consume the calories in this approximate way:
• 520 calorie breakfast
• 100 calorie snack
• 430 calorie lunch
• 75 calorie snack
• 325 calorie supper
• 50 calorie snack
• Total = 1,500 calories
• Log every thing I eat in my blog, daily!!!!!
• Exercise on the treadmill (for starters) for at least 20 minutes per day
• Rest at least 7 hours per day and drink as much water as I can

It's really a simple plan. The idea is to keep to 1,500 calories and move the larger portion of food to the earlier part of the day. By spreading the calories out over the day, I shouldn't feel overly hungry at any one time, but it will take time for me to be comfortable with the amount. I've been eating indiscriminately again and that means I'll have to shrink my stomach down and endure a couple of weeks of hungry feelings until that process is complete. I'm not afraid of it, but when I feel hungry that's when I tend to forget (how convenient!) that I'm a fat person who HAS to watch what she's doing! I'll bump the exercise up as I build my stamina. The logging of what I eat will keep me honest and the weigh in each week coupled with posting the progress will keep me honest. Although there aren't a tremendous number of people reading my blog, there is someone out there who is watching and they will keep me on the straight and narrow path.

What's the goal, I hear you asking? Firstly, to be healthy feeling and then to have the healthy blood work results to prove it. Next, I have set a goal of losing an average of 2 lbs. per week. (This is a guide, but it helps me to work toward the number.)

So, it starts over today! I weighed on Sunday and here is what I weighed, sadly:  300 lbs.

Food for today:

Breakfast: Breakfast Sandwich and Tea = 488 calories

Snack:  Slice of Havarti Cheese and 1 small dill pickle = 85 calories

Lunch:  Night Hawk Salisbury Steak and Starbucks Moca Latte = 430 calories

Snack:  1/2 oz. Almonds = 95 calories

Supper:  Cucumber, Tomato and Onion salad topped with Tuna Fish = 218 calories

Snack:  Buttermilk = 100 calories

Total = 1,416 calories

I think I did pretty well. It will take me a few days to get back on track, but I know I'll be fine. I know this works. The only thing keeping me from reaching my goals is me. It may be a bit harder this time due to the fact that I'm older, but I don't care. This is who I am and if this is what I have to do to enjoy my life, then so be it!

Now it's time for me to end the day. I hope you've had a great time today. Until tomorrow when I will share what I ate and what I did to stay on track, Godspeed, Voyagers!!

Day 94

Another gloomy, rainy day in the neighborhood, but welcomed all the same. We have needed this for so long. Pardon the pun, but it really is just a drop in the bucket of what we need. **smile** So, I was indoors, of course, working all day, but was able to get a peek at the storms as they passed through the area. I love gloomy, rainy. It makes me appreciate happy, sunny all the more.

Today's exercise of choice was a video selection from the FitnessBlender folks. It will probably take me a good year to be able to do the exercises as well as they do, but I have goals and each time I get a little better at it. You can't expect to be over 100 lbs. over weight and think you're going to fly through these exercises like the young, fit girl doing them in the video! For heaven's sake!! So, here is the workout I did today (kicked me in the a**, it did!):

These guys have the best workout videos around. They are challenging and there are a wide variety of workouts available; all on YouTube! They also have packages of workouts that you can buy. I've looked at them and they look great, but for now, I'm good with the YouTube options. This one is challenging in some specific ways. First, I can't get my leg up as high as she can when doing the side lifts. Also, I'm not quite a fast as she is when doing the squat punches, but hey! I'm 54 and not fit and she's 24 and totally fit. Talk about opposites! But, I'm working to get as close to where she is, fitness wise, as I can. If I have nothing else, I have the wisdom to listen to my body as I work to become fit. My body tells me when I need more of a challenge. It also tells me when I need to slow down or change what I'm doing. Just listen...your body it's saying something to you, too. (By the way, make sure you have the okay from your physician before starting any exercise program.)

I've been really hungry all day. I wish I understood what drives this. Over the last few days I've been eating small meals that I put together using Chef Prepared foods from Central Market. The food is very tasty and there are grilled vegetables, salads and grilled meat, chicken and fish options available. The main benefit of purchasing the food this way is the cost. It is much less expensive. I calculated the last batch to be less than $4 per meal. MyFitFoods is GREAT! But expensive. The average cost is over $7 per meal. It adds up fast! When you're feeding 3 people you can feel the pinch pretty quickly. The other thing that buying the food prepared like this is helping me with is the portioning. I'm not cooking the food, so I'm not in there adding butter and salt, but I have to create the right portions, so it forces me to weigh and measure what I'm doing. I've learned to portion the food as soon as I get it home. That way it's easy to grab a meal when it's time to eat. Portion practice is really important. I STILL don't seem to be able to see what a right amount of food is without measuring. I hope I get better at this before one of us dies!

Thanks for stopping by the blog. You'll never know how much it helps me to sit down and write these few words or share videos that make me sweat, smile or think. I want everyone in the world who are challenged in the same ways I am to know that they have the power to resolve these issues. If I can do it, so can you!! There is nothing special over here about me. Don't tell me you can't walk or do the YouTube workouts! Neither could I 94 days ago!! It all starts with doing just one thing and adding to that one little thing every day. Before you know it, that one little thing = 40 lbs. lost and more flexibility, mobility and general fitness. Believe me, I can't do some of the things they do in the videos. When that happens, I just march or jog in place. Yes, it's frustrating, but everyday I do a little bit more and feel a little bit better. God! I'm ranting now!!  Who turned my switch on???  Okay, so use your power to make your life what you want. Write a plan for what you want your future to be and then execute against that plan. Don't let yourself forget the plan. I promise you'll make progress. Oh, and by the way, DON'T EVER GIVE UP!!

That's enough ranting and raving for one day. Until tomorrow when I'll probably find some other soapbox to stand on, sweet dreams, Sweeties!!

Day 69

It was a quiet day, as I suspected it would be, which is good. I have a hectic day planned for day 70 and this was a perfect wrap up for the week. We have been busily updating devises with the new Apple OS today! It kind of takes awhile to do the update and when completed, everything looks different...no kidding. Some of the stuff that happened when we updated didn't make sense to me, but there you go! Technology doesn't always make sense to me!

It is still HOT here and the mosquitos chewed me up tonight. I can't stand those little buggers, but if you're going to live in Texas you're going to have to put up with them. As you know, I love being outside, but in the evening time, if you don't cover up, you'll be a target for sure! So, yes, I sat outside for supper.  It was lovely!

Tomorrow I will be off (took the day off) so that I can have short meetings, 1-on-1, with each of our son's teachers. I've done Biology and now I'll get the rest. So, there are meetings scheduled starting at 10:30am with a break at 12:30 for 30 minutes and then from 1-5pm. What a day it will be. Let's hope it all goes well!

Nothing much else to report. I do my best with food, sticking to pre-portioned food and steering clear of sugar and refined flour. Neither of those help me so I just say, "NO!" If you aren't going to help me achieve my goals, you're OUT! (filtering question in use!) So, until tomorrow and day 70, sweet dreams, Sweeties!!

Day 28

How long does it take UPS to deliver a box? If it is a 5' tall, 37 lb. box containing a Rubbermaid Closet Organization system, it takes FORVER! Apparently my box that was put on a delivery truck at 6:29am Tuesday morning, is lost. Amazon has kindly sent a replacement, but I had to push for it. They wanted me to wait another week to see if UPStupid finds the box. You must be joking? Find it! They don't even want to talk to me about it. I started trying to think of how in the world they could have LOST this package and I suppose there are lots of places for a breakdown, but honestly! I wonder how much merchandise is lost (read 'stollen') just through shipping? I'm terribly afraid I would choke on the number. Thankfully, this is the first time this has happened to me, but I feel sorry for Amazon.com. They are out of pocket for two systems. I hope they can get some money back from UPStupid. (If you can't tell, I don't like UPS. Please use FedEx or USPS if you ever want your package to arrive.) So, that's been my afternoon; talking to UPStupid and Amazon.com about a missing shipment. Just what I wanted to do on my afternoon off. Well, not really, but I'm all about finding the happy in everything.

For the last couple of days I've been stuck in some terrible traffic and around some pretty bad drivers. I'm probably going to change my schedule again so that I can avoid these people. I really liked the 7-4 schedule, but sometimes I find it hard to get out of the office by 4. I'll just have to do better!

As day 28 is winding down, I can say that I'm happier than ever with MFF. I do want to stress that I'm still trying to figure out the best combination of foods for different days and am doing better at figuring it out. With snacks, added fruit and the meals, I figure I'm eating between 1,200 and 1,500 calories per day. Some days it is actually less than 1,200 calories! Before I started this I did a little calculating and found that to be gaining weight at my then weight of 270 lbs. and at the rate I was gaining, I had to have been consuming more than 4,000 calories per day. It was easy to see that most days were more like 5,000 calories. So, when I say I can eat VOLUMES of food, please understand that I know what I'm talking about.

One of the things I'll be doing this weekend, is going through my local grocery store (HEB) and looking for all of the food that is pre-packaged in a single portions and determining if it is something I can use in future. For example, I really love salsa and chips. You can buy salsa by the jar and a bag of chips, but then we run into the Nancy problem: Portion Size. (My what big portions you have!) So, I learned that a company called Sabra produces a single serve salsa and chips with total calories of 120! If I can't get that I'm going to look for just single serve chips that are okay for me to eat and get some salsa and create my own single portion setups that I can keep in the fridge. A snack of 120 calories of chips and salsa would be real satisfying sometimes. I know there are other options out there that I've just been missing. I love the MFF, but I also want to be able to function nicely when MFF isn't available. That means I need to be a bit more savvy. So, I'll be working on that this weekend. Don't get me wrong, I'll also be stocking up on MFF to cover Saturday-Tuesday!

Funny to think that we Americans have always had to be reminded to keep fit. The poster above is from WWII and even with all that was going on back then, I'm sure there were people just like me who got out of control. I really do think I have a duty to get and stay fit for my family, friends, coworkers and others around me. It's real easy to think of obesity as just MY problem, but it isn't. It affects all of the people around me. Just like their smoking, drinking and other bad behaviors affect me. Now, I'm not saying that everyone should look at this like I do, it just helps me to think of the people around me. That's just how I'm wired. Honestly though, can you guys quit smoking and drinking, please? Remember, I asked nicely!

Today is walk on the treadmill day! I have a new mild brace for my left knee (the one I shattered 15 years ago) and I'm hoping that will help reduce pain in the left leg. My left hip is not as sore today as it has been over the last week, so I don't want it to wake up and start hurting again. As I walk I'll think of all you out there working along with me to get and stay FIT! Until day 29, sweet dreams, Sweeties!

Update:  Walked 31minutes and 48 seconds tonight on the treadmill!  Happy, happy, happy...

Day 24

Back to the normal routine, is how I would describe today. I awoke this morning at 6am, mainly because I had set an alarm on my cell phone to wake me up while I was away and forgot to disengage it.  Oops! So, I was awake whether I wanted to be or not. The morning was mainly about watching the boys groom the yard, which they did, beautifully. I took some video of how we've updated the front seating area and added a place to eat comfortably. It is really working well. Also, I was lucky enough to capture some video of a hummingbird taking advantage of the Compact Spicy Jatropha plant (Jatropha integerrima 'Compacta') and the special feeder put up just for them.  Enjoy the video!

  

The day is hot (at 4:48pm it is 99F degrees), but lovely on the front porch. I'm eating well and on plan with My Fit Foods in the fridge. Day 60 is when I will try on my black dress and see if I made it to my first goal point. I'm really tempted to go in and try the dress on now, but then I think it will either disappoint me or make me cocky. I'd hate to start thinking I can reach my goals in half the time because it will be sad when I don't make my benchmarks. So, I will wait for the right time, keep walking and eating as right as possible. Just remember, I'm not a machine! (That's what I tell myself when my nail art looks less than perfect!)

I sent away today for the packet of information that allows me, as a parent, to provide my child with driver training in the State of Texas. Apparently, this much harder than it used to be. My son will be 15 on his next birthday and it's time to start learning to be a safe Texas driver. Is there such a thing? Not in this town! People here drive CRAZY. Don't believe me? Hop on over to YouTube to my channel (you can search for Nancy Hemati) and watch any of my 'Commute' videos.  You'll see what I mean!

It's been a lovely day off of work and now it's time to do laundry and get ready for the rest of the week. Go look for someone like My Fit Foods (myfitfoods.com) in your area. They are wonderful and have really changed my life and how I think about food.  Until tomorrow, sweet dreams, 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!!

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!

The Writing Plan

You can tell that it's been awhile since last my blog was touched.  I'll try to explain.  For a long, long time, I've wanted to write something for what I considered real publication. What I failed to realize is that I'm already doing it.  There is so much that I want to write about that I've been working for the last three months on ideas and just writing as often as I can in a very general way.  That activity has kept me from my blog; that and other silly things.  Now I know I can make this all happen and still have my blog.  Here's how I'll do it!  (You didn't think you were going to come out of this without reading a list, did you?)

The Writing Plan

AKA:  A List!

1. Decide what I'll write about.  I want to write about several things:
• Fiction, based on what I see in life.
• Leadership, based on what I live at work.
• Food, based on what I love to cook and eat.
• Life, because I love it and want to share my ideas with like minded people!
2. Set up a general blog.  That is this blog.  I can write about anything I like at HumbleVoyager.com and hopefully people will enjoy what they find.
3. Write in a big yellow tablet, two times a day for 30 minutes each on the subjects above.  One of the problems I have as a writer is my tendency to view anything I write on the computer as "finished."  It even looks finished!  All neatly typed and such.  This is a REAL problem for me.  I need editing and lots of it.  The danger of writing on the computer is that whatever you do looks finished as soon as it's typed.  These blogs are evidence of this problem.  So, I write in a big yellow legal tablet, because nothing in there looks finished...ever!  Then I take what I write there and transfer it into the computer editing as I go along.  This works for me!  (I bet you're wishing I'd done that with this blog right about now.)
4. Decide how I want to handle the food issue.  I love to cook, but I love to eat even more.  There in lies the problem.  If I'm going to write about cooking I have to cook and work on recipes. If I cook I want to eat, but I keep putting back on weight that I work darned hard to take off.  So, I've come up with a way to have my cooking and eating, but still lose a little weight.  Here is that plan:
• 5 days a week eat
• a 300 calorie breakfast (easy, I have several of these memorized by heart!)
• a packaged calorie controlled meal (like Lean Cuisine), a salad and fruit for lunch
• a Salad topped with protein, piece of fruit
• 1 day a week eat
• a fasting diet of no more than 700 calories
• 1 day a week eat
• whatever I want
• In general the plan allows for me to control things without counting a bunch of calories and still be able to have a treat of something I really want, if indeed I want something special, each week.  I'll know that days is coming each week, so when I'm tempted I can say to myself, "Nancy, just wait for X day and you can have that, if it's still what you really want!"  On the day I get each week to eat whatever I want, this is when I'll work on any food writing!  Yep, I think this will work.
5. Set up a leadership blog.  I haven't decided what this will be called yet.  I have to do some research, but mainly it will be tips, ideas and ways to make working in a leadership role more enjoyable and successful.
6. The bottom line is to just write.  A long time ago I learned that when I write I lose myself in the words.  I feel accomplished and positive about what I produce.  So, if when I'm happy I want to write, then I should be happy if I write all the time, right?  This isn't something I need someone to tell me to do or to validate that I do well!  I like what I write so therefore, I write.
7. Bring as much creativity into what I write as I can.  This will include, photography, ideas, plans, lists, recipes and etc.  I can't wait to share!!

So, that's what's going on now.  Be sure to check out more blogs as I work to organize myself and write, write, WRITE!