Morning walks three days in a row...

...and what a coincidence I have been within points those three days too. I think for me exercise is essential.

Struggling but still trying at least.......

Still at it but I have been having a problem where I do really well all day long and then around 7:30-8 I start getting hungry and it all goes out the window. It is so annoying. I'm not entirely sure what I am doing wrong, I am following WW, having snacks, meeting the healthy guidelines but I truly get hungry- uggh

So I am going to try a few different things to see if I can stop this. Today I am increasing protein, fats and almost no carbs, what I did have was whole wheat pasta- no simple carbs today at all. I will try that for a few days and see how it goes.

???/85

Ok so weigh in last week didn't go so well. I was back up to where I started more than a year ago. Uggghhhh. Oh well it is what it is. Unfortunately I let it turn into a bad week which doesn't help anything. well back on track today- it has been a good day so I guess I can say at least it was only a week. However I think it may be wise to stay away from the scale for the next few weeks. I still think it is important in terms of knowing what I am doing is working but I think for the sh0t term it is better for me to wait. Perhaps I will try weighing in once a month, on the first of the month.

well all set for another month. have some soup cooking on the stove, plans to hit the market on Tues and swimming Tues/Thurs and Sat next week.

7/81

Back from another awesome swim. I got the best compliment ever. the coach told me I had a nice easy, relaxed looking butterfly....on the 2nd length of a 50 even! Whoo hoo even though I was totally dying ha ha. It was a good workout again. Nice combination of swimming/hard swimming and stroke work. I was definitely tired at the end as was everyone else so that made me feel good too. And I have to say I do like the extra activity points I can earn with a 1.5 hour work out.

Food wise it has been a good day as well. Within points and once I have some fruit and yogurt as a night time snack I will have met my healthy guidelines for the day.

My weigh in day is tomorrow. I have been avoiding the scale so I have no idea what it will say or if it is up or down from last week. But that is OK. It can be my new starting point and what is more important is what I do every day and last week has been a good week. So week 1 successfully under my belt. Yay!!

6/81

Today was a so so day. Woke up with a headache which always throws me off. I ended up getting out of bed only to lie on the couch for a while so I didn't eat breakfast until later.

Then I headed out to do my Thanksgiving day shopping as I wanted to avoid the weekend crowds so I ended up being out over lunch without planning for it so I ended up coming home hungry and having snacky foods instead of a proper meal. To top it off, I had pea soup and leftover potatoes for dinner, yummy but not very protein heavy so now I am hungry. The upside is that I am having some veggies and dip- I bought a mix pack of pre-cut broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and dip. So with this snack I have met all my healthy guidelines for the day, something I am trying hard to do.

I have had to dip a bit into my activity points because I used up all my weeklies earlier this week. That is OK though as long as I don't go into the negative numbers.

Plus, I will be earning another batch tomorrow with swimming. I can't quite say I am looking forward to it yet, still a bit apprehensive about a 1.5 hr workout, but I know I will feel fantastic afterwards.

5/81

Watching portions and dog walking are awesome!! this has to be something you can do long term.

I wish there was a swim for you too! I tried looking for you this am but the one at the University is super expensive ($900 for the year or $99/month). Couldn't see anything in parks and rec like mine :(

I really enjoyed my swim today even though I tried my best to come up with a valid excuse to miss and go home instead lol.

I have to say i am proud of myself for lasting through a 1.5 hour workout and I can honestly say I didn't slack it at all. I swam as hard as I was able. Totally wiped at the end but in a good way. I even had a few lengths of backstroke that felt good, like I was a real swimmer!

Food wise things were pretty good today too. I ad some of my soup at lunch and the scalloped potatoes at dinner. I am slowly working more fruits and veg into my meals. Easy at this time of year with all the great produce at the market this time of year. I got some venetian pears this week. I think I almost like them better than Mac apples.....almost :)

kay so I am not being as meticulous on what i eat. Simply being more conscious on portions. I am definitely walking more since my puppy has had a friend over - so now I have two, count em, two busy puppies to think for me awareness and not eating just because it is time to eat and if so eat only what i need to eat to be full. I am hoping this will be more successful for me in the future. btw way to go sis you will do it- a little jealous of the swimming though

4/81

So yesterday didn't finish as well as it started. The problem was being away from home pretty much the whole day and not planning for meals properly. I had intended to have Subway for dinner but there wasn't one near where I was and also I came across a cheese shop that sold cheese curds so that is what I had for dinner. Aside from being very pointy they didn't fill me up enough to last until 9 (when I got home) so when i got home I was hungry and had some more to eat.

On the plus side, I did decide to track it all this am and it wasn't as bad as i thought. Definitely manageable - I'm out of weekly points but that just gives me more incentive to exercise through the rest of the week.

A bit later....

Just finished 20 mins on the exercise and it wasn't too bad. Tomorrow am is swimming and I made some pea soup as well as scalloped potatoes, neither of which I have had in a while so a bit of progress on the cooking more/new things front too!

3/81

Lol- Had to change the number of days because it took me a few to get started. But now that I have, it is going pretty well. I have been on track food wise for the past few days, am tracking and making better choices. I need to be mindful about eating enough protein and watching the carbs. I went to the market this am and got some venetian pears which I love, also some Macintosh apples but they are not at their best. Still having a bit of a struggle to get myself exercising but today I came downtown to look at fabric stores. I am getting the urge to get back into sewing so I wanted to look at fabrics. didn't buy anything but I did get a bit of a walk in while shopping so that was good. I am noticing I have a little bit of pain in my left heel and am worried about getting a heel spur so I am going to be careful about the walking for the next week or so and see how it goes. I have a lovely exercise bike all set up so I will try to make better use of that. And of course I have my swimming as well. So all in all feeling good and heading in the right direction.

2/85

So far so good today too. It is right before dinner and I am having whole wheat spaghettini and sauce and I will still have a few points left for a snack later on.

Unfortunately I did not go for my walk. My feet are still a bit sore from sat- so I decided to give ot another day.

I will try to go for a swim tomorrow am.

1/85

Well it took me a few days to get started but today has been a good day food-wise. I tracked everything in my online tracker and am within points for the day with enough left over to have some popcorn later on.

I did not exercise today but that is because last night I went to Nuit Blanche and walked around the city for about 7 hours. I was definitely sore and tired at the end of the night (or rather, early morning). This am I was a little bit stiff and my feet were still a bit sore so it was a rest and recovery day. Tomorrow I intend to start my day with a walk.

That is about as far as I have planned so far but it does feel good to have one good day under my belt for a change.

Setting some goals

I'm floundering again. Doing some stuff right, some of the time, but not enough of it right enough of the time to get where I am going. So I thought setting some concrete goals might help.

So I think there are about 85 days until XMas (lol I should know this).

I would like to lose 25lbs by Xmas- this is about10 lbs per month for Oct and Nov and 5 for the part month of December. Very realistic.

There are no major events/travel/disruptions to get in my way until then. There is thanksgiving in a few weeks but over the years I have learned to manage that pretty well.

So I think I can do this.

Things that are going well:

1) Found a swim team that I really like- this will give me 2 x 1.5 hr workouts per week.
2) I have started to cook more again- this needs to continue

Things I need to step up to reach my goal:

1)Tracking. I really like the online WW but I am not consistent enough in my tracking. I think this is a major tool for me so for the next 85 days everything gets tracked- good or bad.
2) The swimming is a good start but I want to add in some more exercise. So I will commit to walking 3 times per week- short or long doesn't matter I just need to get out there. I have found in the past that exercise is a key success factor for me so I just need to do it. Not negotiable. Swimming is for 9 weeks and I will try to make every workout- if I miss I have to make it up.
3) Work towards decreasing my carbs, increasing my protein, which is a challenge for me, and reducing sugar.
4) Continue to increase the amount of times I am cooking and trying new recipes. Once new recipe per week is probably too much so maybe I will try something new once every two weeks. Leftovers can be put in the freezer for quick meals when needed.

I will start with this and see how it goes, and will use my weigh in weight from Sunday as my staring point.

Rewards are important but have never really been a big motivator for me but I will try the idea again. So at least for this week (or until next Sunday which is my weigh-in day) if I meet those 4 targets I will buy myself a Nicole Miller nail polish- I love the colours and absolutely do not need any more nail polish so would be a fun little reward. And I think it is important to reward myself for the behaviour changes, which I can control, rather than the actual pounds lost which is not in my control but will follow with the behaviour changes.

so walked a lot today - was at a horse show and refused to use the golf cart! This really helps and the more I move the better it feels - I am feeling more optimistic that I am going to make this happen. The food is much better - eating health "most" of the time - I am trying to get more structure into my life and get my life more organized.

Having a great week!

Something seems to have clicked..finally!! I am liking the WW online, the meetings are helpful for the most part but they become something else on the to do list and I found myself not wanting to go. Weighing in at home is not a problem and I can do it first thing when I wake up. Tracking everything really helps and I do like the online tool. I have a fridge full of healthy food plus a few little treats which I also think is important. I can still use some improvement in my exercise though. As someone who used to be pretty fit and into all kinds of activity it is hard to feel this out of shape. The thing is though it will only get worse if I don't do something about it. Not only that but I am fortunate to even be able to get out and walk or swim or whatever. So I went for a walk this am, in the rain even and it was great. So while I keep working on redeveloping healthy eating habits I need to keep trying to put physical activity back into my life. Onwards and downwards!!

Day 2 Yay!!

Well yesterday was a good day! Yay! Ate properly and even went for a swim. I had thoughts of walking to the pool but it was cold and rainy....then again, I had thoughts of just staying home so at least I went. It was actually a really good swim, I worked harder than I have recently. Today's plan includes heading downtown via public transit so I'll get a fair bit of walking in. I am also going to go check out a gym that has a $10/month special. I am still suspicious that this deal is going to turn out to be too good to be true but we will see. I have never been a gym person but I want to give it another try, and I am also interested in trying out some yoga and/or pilates classes. We'll see. At least I don't have to make a long term commitment to them. The challenging part of the day will come later when I am getting together with my friends. I think my plan is to eat before I go and to save a few point for a few nibbles but not a meal. I am also going to drive so I won't be able to drink.

The Challenge!!!

I accepted the challenge - I know my sis and I are competitive. So I think we need something to work towards to prove to ourselves we can do it. I do pretty well at work = but am starting to let the extra weight get in the way of decisions of things I do and people I see. I have to stop that "self talk" I am so much happier when I am thinner and/or in the process of losing weight. I think it is the sense of self control even more than the lower weight. Maybe I am a control freak??? who knew???

30 Day Challenge

So I challenged my sister to a 30 day 100% on track challenge. I'm still struggling with some ups and downs. I think overall I am doing better but better isn't going to get me there, I need more consistency. If I start to think about the big picture, it gets a bit overwhelming, so I am going to focus on the next 30 days and see where I am at at that point.

So starting today until Jun12th 100% following WW. I have a birthday int there and a few other challenges but that is how life goes and there is always the next event or holiday. If this is going to work, I need to work it no matter what is going on. So here we go. Day 1. So far so good lol. Planning a swim in a few hours, possible joining the gym tomorrow.

Over to you sis!

April

Oh my it's been a while. This is such a struggle. I do think this blog helps but clearly I only like to write when I am doing well and have good stuff to report. So here I go again am back at it. Had a great convo with my sister this am, one of many we have have had, but we both realize how important it is for us to get back in control again. We both have the knowledge and both have been successful at losing weight before. We have both been able to maintain for a time although she has been far more successful at that part than I have. So what is the problem? Is it as simple as getting out of the habit and not making it a priority or is it more complex than that? I don't know but I think figuring that out will go a long way to long term success. All I know right now is that I have to just do what I need to do, one step at a time- quite literally! So on that note, I went for my walk today- 3.4 k route and am working on reducing/eliminating sugar from my diet. I have a real problem managing my hunger and think that sugar may be part of the problem. So that is where I am today. Onwards and upwards or actually hoping for downwards :)

lets try this again

okay new slant on an old idea - hats off to my sister for another way to get us motivated - eating only the filling foods -- I am going to seriously give this a try and then get together with her to make some meals to throw in the freezer-- I also have a dog for about a month and am making a commitment to him and myself to walk at least once a day. so far we are getting out 2x a day. each time we are walking a little further-- really tired of being fat i want to be healthy and normal size again

The results are in!

I lost 2.8 lbs this week...yay!!! The extra exercise paid off. And the best part is that the more I do the better it feels and the easier it is to get out there next time.

This week's plan includes Tues and Sat swimming and some walks. I got some new running shoes so I am all set to ramp up my walking. I might walk to the pool tonight and see how that goes.

Food wise I have 2 dinners out this week - one at a Greek restaurant which will be fine- chicken souvlaki- I always get that and always enjoy it so no problems there. It is fairly easy to eat healthy with Greek. The other is a soul food restaurant which had been recommended by a friend. I have never been there. The menu doesn't look too point friendly so what I may end up doing is trying to stick to a half portion of whatever I order and bring the rest home. We'll see.

Anyways I have had two good weeks in a row and am feeling really positive atm. Here's hoping it continues!

SO far so good this week

Did my swim yesterday- it was good but I definitely could feel that I am using muscles that haven't been used for a while, I was a little bit tight but it was still a good swim. I had planned to walk today but wasn't really in the mood for it so I rode my ex bike for 30 mins instaed and it was good. Oh ya and we got snow lkast night. I contemplated leaving it to melt but I didn't and I was out there shovelling for 5 whole m inutes LOL.

Food wise I am doing fine. I decided to try a few new recipes this week. Yesterday I made an Indian Chick pea spread from one of my Moosewood cookbooks and it was delicious. One of the keys for me is to have good stuff on hand. I am not likely to make proper meals 3 times a day but am more likely to just grab something quick and easy. I find that if I cook in bulk and have some healthy choices on hand it makes things so much easier for me. I am having chicken tonight but am cooking some extra so that I will have stuff for tomorrow.

:(

orry you are having such a rough time.

My best advice (besides my unsolicited advice yesterday lol) would be to pick one thing that you can realistically focus on this week and do that. Don't worry about the other stuff for now. So what is realistic? Can you commit to 20 mins of activity per day? Can you walk at lunch? Go to the gym at lunch? Go a bit early to pick up the kids and walk while you are waiting? Or maybe you can commit to tracking. Take 5 mins after breakfast, 5 mins after lunch and same at dinner. That might help you feel more in control. What about getting in the habit of stopping in a coffee shop at some point during the day 2-3 times per week to get a few minutes to yourself and take some time to plan out the next few days. What HAS to get done, what would be nice to do and what doesn't really matter. What HAS to be done by you and what could be done by someone else...and who is that someone else? The kids? Someone you hire? Another parent? Maybe it is someone else's turn to do something. And finally be realistic. I know you don't want your kids to miss out on anything and the responsibility is all on you but the best thing you can do for them is give them a healthy mom and continue to set an example about what is important and that taking care of yourself is important.

i'm loosing it - no i don'tmean weight

I just logged in and saw all your great success sis - way (weigh!) to go -- having a moment and just need to vent. I don't want to turn to the bag of miss vickie's my kids have in the kitchen. I am struggling with the demands of being a divorced single mom - with all the responsibilities ... I have great kids but they are kids and have challenges of their own that I somehow seem to take on. I am feeling the pressure. My neighbour rented his house out to university students and this weekend they decided to throw a "kegger" party that got way way out of control== and I don't know why but it has upset me a lot more than it should have. I was up for hours worrying about these really aggressive drunk university students -- watching the police arrest them -- it was not a fun experience not to feel safe in your own home-

I want to make sure i am not just making excuses - need to make more time for myself.

Aother swim done...

...and it was awesome!

The slow lane and the medium lanes were both crowded so I opted for the fast lane. I am definitely not in shape for that but it made me push myself and I held my own. It was a fantastic workout and right now I have the really good post exercise fatigue, muscles feel worked out and I am now home and warm. Plans are made to meet up again on Tuesday so we are on our way to making this a habit. Unfortunately though, walking back to the car I discovered this real cool loooking little bakery. The choclate chip cookies in the window looked amazing. Maybe one day I will plan for a treat there althoguh I probably don't need to know if their stuff is good. Ihave exercised every day since Tuesday! Not sure about skating tomorrow, we'll see maybe it will end up being a rest day instead. Feel really good right now especially because I just had Quinoa salad for lunch mmmm love that stuff!!!

On a roll.....

...exercise wise and it feels great. After my swimm on Tues, I went fopr a walk Wed (my longer route- 3.4K) and also a walk yesterday (about 2k). Today I plan to ride my exercise bike and tomorrow I am making plans to go swimming again. Sunday might be a skating day. It feels great to be getting back to a habit of regular exercise and coincidentally (not really) I have been staying on track with WW and eating within my points. Yay. Ok so it is 1/2 week out of the many that will need to follow but it feels really good to be on track- why would I mess that up?

Later:

So I managed to do 30 mins on the exercise bike which is longer than I can usually do- 20 mins has been the max until now mostly because I get bored but today I had a magazine to read as well as the TV so it wasn't too bad. Evn better, my plans for swimming have been confirmed- whoo hoo!

My Swim

OK so I have been talking about this forever and finally for the first time since the outdoor pool closed at the end of the summer I got back in the pool. Yay! It took making plans to meet up with a friend to get me there but hey it worked. I had wicked headaches all day long yesterday and if it was just me I wouldn't have gone. Lying on the couch wasn't making my headaches any better so I figured I might as well try a swim. It went OK although my bathing cap hurt so I had to take it off. I can't say I swam well but I did swim, lots of rests at the end of the lane to but that is OK as I work my way back into it. We swam for about 1/2 hour which I am happy with . By the end I started feeling really nauseous which sometimes happens to me when I have bad headaches but it went away after about 1 hr. I could feel the knots in my neck and shoulders when I swimming so I think keeping this up will be good for that. We are going to commit to a 1x/week swim for sure and try for a 2nd when we can. Yay!!

So So weekend

Could have been better, could have been worse. Haven't done much on the exercise front the second half of the week and the healthy eating has slipped as well. Ahhh oh well still trying. Have made plans to meet a friend for swimming on Tues PMs so hopefully that works out. Food wise I am going to pick out a couple of new recipes to try and try to have meals partly made to help keep me on track.

Okay so things have been pretty good this week - but how do I know when I will not write it down (I think it is because I really do not want to know how much I am eating and then I can not blame it all on genetics) So today will commit to writing everything down - hard to do on a Saturday. But the kids are really supportive and I will use their changes as inspiration - and no it did not go easily a lot of up and downs but the end is what matters. I am off to walk to the mall to pick up a lullaby cd for a baby gift.

okay ditched the ww meeting yesterday because i might be up .5 lb???? what is with that??? back on track and had everything organized today -- now kidling called - sick - had to take to doc....... long story short I will not be making it to the gym at the end of my day. I was a little frustrated but realized i have to run with the punches and will make sure I walk LB tonight - kidling is pretty sick so I don't want to leave her alone until she wakes up and I can make sure she is drinking -- we will leave eating till tomorrow. I do not remember any time that I was so sick that I did not eat!

Will get this all going again - how did the walk go sis? the quinoa salad was (is) amazing!!

Awesome!!

I think we are both back on track!

Small changes, one foot in front of the other and eventually we will get there! I struggled a bit the last few days with not being satisfied with my meals and feeling like something more. I ended up using 23 of my extra points over the last few days to get me through but hey that is what they are for! And today I find myself full after dinner with 9 points left- go figure. I still have to get in 2 fruit/veggies and might have some popcorn later for a snack. No exercise today but I have exercised the last 5 days in a row. Will do something tomorrow.

Now I am off to go work on my assignment....coming up with a full day meal plan to share with my sister and maybe try out this week.

so has been an interesting 2 weeks - I certainly am more conscious about what I am eating and how much I am eating. I am hoping it will result in wt loss -- but it is the balance of energy in and out - still need to watch the portions and make sure i am exercising. Have a dog with me for a few days so i am certainly walking more and walked to and from a friends house - even though my friends tried to "push" a ride on me. I did not get home till almost midnight - but enjoyed the walk. I am going to do this - with you sis - love the quinoa

Back from my walk...

Just got in from my walk to do some errands. My goal this week was to increase my activity from 0 to 7 activity points earned. I think my walk today brings me to 7 and I still have 2 more days :) It is not alot really and certainly not more than I used to do. Was I really that girl who ran at lunch, taught aqua fit after work and then went to my 1 hour masters swimming workout? Or the person who went for a run before a full day of downhill skiing because I wanted to get a work out in? Yikes no wonder my friends all thought I was nuts. Anyways I am far from thatnow but this week has been a huge improvement over doing nothing so I am very happy with my efforts. I will keep the same goal for next week as it is achievable and a good start to building my way back to fitness. Now off to finish my lunch of quinoa salad. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM love the quinoa!

Here we go again

Weighed in again this am but at home- will do the meeting thing next week.

Had a good day yesterday, tracked everything, met all the HGs and stayed within points. Will try for the same againtoday but with exercise. I am about to head downstairs and ride my ex bike. Think I might aim to ride in te ride for heart again this year. That would be an acheivable goal, lots of time to get in shape for it and it is a fun event. So off to go get started.

ETA: I did my 20 mins on the bike, ok for a start and it felt OK

Trying....

.... but haven't quite got it together yet. I start the day eating properly and tracking but it hasn't been ending that way :O I haven't got it together again on the exercise either. Oh well gotta keep plugging away, fake it til I make it.

Yeah, here we go again, baby steps. This week I commit to tracking again.

one more time

okay so we talked and agreed we need to do this. I heard that people who are successful share their successes -- even the small ones. The small ones build up towards the large ones. It is finding the success in every situation that helps us to move forward. Even when we are not quite perfect - that is a success in itself - recognizing that is important and not being hard on ourselves. So back to ww i went today. Lets see how my big sis does.

Cheers