harp and choir

well...saturday was definitely a fail. i had company over this weekend and saturday managed to screw up my entire day with just breakfast. biscuits, sausage, cheese, eggs, ORANGE JUICE. and although i kept my portion sizes to a decent level... it was still bad. lunch was pretty good, i had leftovers from dinner a few nights before. dinner saturday was probably bad too, i had a salad, good start, then some pasta with alfredo sauce-low sugar, high fat- and then when everyone else was ordering dessert i did too. i'm not sure why. desserts are just too sweet for me, and it didnt' even taste good. it was dry, dry chocolate cake. i didn't finish it, which my grandma made sure to point out. she did comment on me losing weight. which is like a light shining down from the heavens above when grandma gives you a compliment. (complete with harp and choir) usually it's....kristian? what are you doing with your hair? i remember one time when i was pregnant she commented on the size of my butt. how nice. sunday i was back on track, had a piece of toast with sugar free jelly and a leftover piece of sausage for breakfast. some cheese and crackers for a snack at dad's....oh. oh maybe i wasn't back on track. i had a chicken sandwich from mcdonald's with a small fry for lunch. iced tea. some chips for a snack and then a chicken fajita for dinner. cookies. guh. what is wrong with me? well they were sugar free...but i guess not calorie free. i am wondering i i should look at this and compare it to how i do every day or to how i did BEFORE. if i compare it to every day i did horrible. bad bad kristian. but if i compare to how i used to do...then i did great.

i'm having another one of those days where i feel like i'm doing horrible but in reality i'm not. it's becoming a theme and i'm not sure how to get through it. no new progress, i guess that intial loss was it before a plateau. yesterday was good, i had a bowl of rice chex for breakfast, a brick oven style margarita pizza- tomatoes, mozz, basil on homemade crust for lunch with a salad and iced tea and for dinner i had a small portion of whole wheat pasta with turkey kielbasa and veggies. but after my photo workshop i got home and was starving so i had another small bowl of rice chex. overall not too bad i don't think. i know i didnt push fluids as i am supposed to just because i was at home and not thinking about it. i have been really really tired this week, not sleeping well and i think maybe that is a factor in how i am feeling. i am also a bit sick so my defenses are down. yesterday i had quite a dizzy spell when i was at my photo workshop. had to plant my feet on the floor and grip my seat. i have had a few of these in the past few weeks. not sure if it's neurological and combined with my headaches or if it's low blood pressure (that's a change) or what. my thought of it being low sugar was brought down by csaba :) i was thinking ice cream sounded good then.

more progress

i am proud to say that this weekend was GREAT! again i'm going through a bit of a tough time with needing something thicker to drink than water. I had a bit of milk this weekend but I watched the portion sizes. It's good for bones anyway so i'm going to keep it around. just not in large quantities or every day even. back on track today with my normal menus. i even passed some of the info on to my dad. we'll see if he tries it ;)

a bit of a wrinkle here but that's ok. the hips have slimmed down which is really nice. these are my skinny jeans...

i am noticing a dramatic difference in my face. which is why i included this photo.

in my head.

well, i have had a rough few days with how i have been feeling about what i am doing here. i am constantly feeling like i'm not doing enough or not doing GOOD enough. this is where the support is really needed. two days ago i felt like i ate a ton of food yet going back through it, it was just that i had had a huge variety of food, none of which filled me up nor was bad, it just seemed like it. yesterday i also felt like i did horrible, again, going back through it, it really wasn't that bad. i went on a zoo trip with zsolt yesterday and had to pack us lunches- peanut butter and jelly. i feel like it threw me over my sugar amounts but like i said, i counted and was withing. i think it's the feeling that i am doing bad and will continue to make bad choices. today i skipped having leftover (pork chops, squash/zucchini, and mac and cheese) for a turkey and cheese wrap with a salad. csaba threw in a pudding cup because it has zero sugar and is low carb. not sure how i feel about it but, man have i been craving chocolate and sweets this week. something else that is getting harder is only drinking thin liquids. i am used to drinking milk, chocolate milk or orange juice. now i drink water, sobe, iced tea and...more water. i think maybe i need to find something a little fizzy that has no sugar, or the good sugar like truvia. that might help. i had some of the sweetened almond milk the other day, i had previously been drinking unsweetened and after a large gulp of it i gagged and almost spit it out. csaba got to witness the whole encounter. i don't think i'll be drinking that straight up again. i guess deep down i feel like i'm not doing good enough. the past two days i hadn't felt that 'skinny' feeling like i did last week. you know what i'm talking about, that loose jeans tiny waist feeling? i think maybe its back today. maybe it's all just in my head.

SLUG.

i feel like this weekend was a wreck, but maybe it really wasn't. let's review: saturday- normal breakfast with english muffin, lunch was penne with tomatoes and dinner was pancakes requested by matthew. i had one and a half. snacks? i had a serving (3 pieces ) of sugar free voortman cookies and then i had one and a half SMORES because we made them for the kids. I wasn't about to pass that up. Sunday- we went out with rachel and matt for breakfast so i had some potatoes, eggs and sausage with a tiny serving of applesauce. not healthy as far as sodium and cholesterol but no sugar and low carb which is kind of where i am right now. lunch was leftover penne and tomatoes and for dinner we had chicken and rice with black beans and salsa. for a snack i had tortilla chips and salsa and before bed last night i had a few sugar free cookies and a small glass of milk. i have definitely done better than this and i think today i am paying for it. i am sluggish and tired. today will be better and so will this week. have to keep a positive attitude or i will get tired of doing this.

like jello

i realized last night that it's becoming easier to resist sugar, and i actually believed myself last night when i said that. not just words coming out of my mouth. grocery shopping was skipped last night due to my headache and the need to do some chores around the house. so we ordered pizza... and that is the last time i tell csaba 'it's up to you' when ordering the pizza. ended up with many meats pizza that didnt even taste good. atleast not to me anyway. i had some but then filled up on a pb&j sandwich with low sugar jelly. kind of spreads like jello... I also had some milk because i hadnt' had any in a while and i decided i needed to include it every few days. i think i probably overate a bit with dinner. the rest of yesterday was good with a turkey wrap for lunch and an english muffin and turkey sausage sandwich for breakfast. today i had a whole wheat bagel top with cream cheese and low sugar jello...i mean jelly with a sobe for breakfast. i am eating a turkey wrap (on tomato basil low carb kind) with some tortilla chips and hummus. i am considering a diet coke for some caffeine because of this headache but havent fully decided yet. i had some pop on weds when i had to eat out for lunch- i kept it to chicken in tortillas. just wondering if that is too much in one week...

Progress Report

let's do a little before and during. not after, i'm not done yet. Before:

During. FYI that's a shirt wrinkle on the right side, not a mushroom top. I checked. If it were mushroom top it would also be on the opposing side. Csaba measured my thighs this morning because i am noticing weight loss in my legs... lol... the left leg is about an inch and a half smaller than the right leg... maybe he measured in different places but that seems kind of funny to me. you can't really tell from the photo but the curves on the outer thigh, the lower hip area isn't as curvy anymore either. quite straight.

and here is the hip shot. a little mushroomy but not too bad. just need to pull my pants up :)

brain power

well it's been a couple of days since posting last. i would love to say i have so much to report...but i don't. the healthy eating has continued, the exercise has stalled. i should make a goal to start that up again, but the bed just seems too comfy in the mornings. my evenings have been spent editing photos which is taxing... and tedious. it's a mental overload and eye strain usually occurs with it. maybe i'm burning calories thru brain power!! i resisted birthday cake last night. i had a bite but the first thought of it sounding appealing....didn't last. i'm beginning to think that the real sugar i keep craving now is not that good once i actually have it. the only thing that still tastes good to me is diet coke. i had a small one this morning due to not having any sobe around and needing a bit of a caffeine pick me up. groceries are getting a bit low again so it's time for another weekly menu plan. i'm thinking about posting a few recipes every now and then that i have to share. i have found that allrecipes.com is the best source of ideas and they have healthy eating sections too.

i scream...you scream...

I want to say it was a bad weekend but as i am going back through all the food and exercise.. the only thing i can come up with is that i had some ice cream on saturday and some pop. i did photos that day and was constantly moving. didn't have much of a dinner and just some granola and almond milk for breakfast. it could've been worse. way worse. at the time it felt bad- like i was bringing the end of the world. yesterday wasn't too bad either, granola for breakfast, i treated the boys to lunch and a movie- i had pasta with chicken and a tomato and cucumber side salad, pot stickers. and at the movies i had popcorn and a few sips of orange pop because we had to share... i didn't want to subject zsolt to bitter tea. dinner was good- turkey kielbasa stew with rice and peppers and kale. maybe i should've put first, before the ice cream that this morning we noticed another 0.5" gone off the waistline. YAY! that's two total inches. i think i might budget for a scale this week when we go shopping. might help...or it might make things worse.....

ups and downs

i will admit to you that on wednesday i ate fast food ALL day. i stuck to tortillas instead of buns but the sodium count was probably through the roof! I also tried to do chicken instead of beef so atleast i was trying to use my head a little bit. yesterday was a great day for me, typical english muffin for breakfast, turkey wrap sandwich and carrots and hummus for lunch and my favorite italian soup for dinner that has turkey sausage, squash, tomatoes, zucchini, onions and green beans. i put a side salad with it and a piece of fresh bread. (ok so i had two pieces, but they were small and my carbs were limited the rest of the day.) for dessert i had a small bowl of blackberries with whipped cream. the no sugar no anything kind. i also want to talk about my water consumption... i am drinking anywhere from 66oz-90oz of water (including one Sobe or a glass of iced tea) every day. too much? probably not, i don't feel like it's too much and it's probably doing me some good. i will start walking again once my toe is not black and blue. zsolt landed on it on weds while he was carrying an anvil in his arms and babe the big blue ox on his head. then yesterday koo just happened to step on it twice and drop his big kong toy right on it. my whole left leg and foot is practically throbbing still between that and what koo did to it two weeks ago. wonder when that lump will go away on my shin....

disappearing...

yesterday when i was feeling particularly down a friend of mine said that i was being too hard on myself. that i needed to ease up a bit. so i tried that. and what do you know?? another half an inch is gone this morning. so maybe it had nothing to do with feeling better but the fact that i have done well and haven't measured in a few days but i found it all a little amusing. i think maybe it's time to get a scale so i can measure progress in more than just inches but i am a little hestitant because i don't really trust them. i have started carrying small packets of truvia around in my carry thingy (ie Purse.) so that when i eat out or need a drink i can get an unsweetened ice tea and use that as a little bit of taste. it still doesn't knock the edge off. i'd swear i was from the south with the way that i love sweet tea. even the williams family doesn't drink it as sweet as i like it and theirs is usually sweeter than most.

bleeeh

last night i had pizza. three pieces in fact. but not the crusts. does that count? incredibly high sodium and grease...and cheese. mm.. i mean... blegh, yuck. not surprisingly i was hungry again before bed. it's amazing how the unhealthy food doesnt last as long. empty calories i believe they call them? maybe i am wrong. this morning wasn't much better as i had breakfast burritos (so i need to go grocery shopping..) but i was thinking about it and besides the fat count, as least there isn't any sugar and it's relatively low carb. i'm not feeling as bad about that as i did the pizza. for lunch i had a turkey wrap (tomato basil, low carb, no sugar) some tortilla chips (tiny small broken pieces at the end of the bag) and fresh salsa. AND to give in to my sweet tooth i had a few blackberries and some rediwhip. and get this!!! there isn't anything in rediwhip! ha! beat that cravings! i'm feeling surprisingly full like i couldn't eat another bite all day. the dinner menu for next week consists of a lot of veggies. i noticed i think i actually DECREASED my veg count last week. Soooo we have italian soup- my favorite. it has some sausage (which i can buy lean or turkey) kale, squash, zucchini, green beans, onions, tomatoes and anything else i want to add, then i put taco salad- lean ground beef, kielbasa (turkey) with penne, peppers, squash and tomatoes, keilbasa (turkey) stew that has tomato soup, veggies like peppers and kale and rice, pork chops with wild rice and veggies and pork tenderloin. not so bad. i'm finding that with a few exceptions, it's really easy to do the low sugar thing. some days are harder than others but for the most part i just say, no i don't want that or no, i can't have that and i move on. (with a few times looking longingly at something sweet. but i get over it.)

doing great...

my post on friday didn't go thru. I think i said something like i ate mcdonalds on thursday for lunch and not only did it taste bad- and the pop was too sweet, i felt sick the rest of the afternoon. this weekend i did really well, even forgoing wedding cake! yay!! i didn't eat a whole lot on saturday since i was working and ended up with some chicken and potato salad from the reception for dinner. yesterday's breakfast i also resisted donuts and sweets and stayed with some sort of a breakfast burrito at the resort, which i didn't eat alot of. lunch was half of a pb&j (low sugar of course) and some chips and salsa. last night i just couldn't overcome the need for some sugar. after a nice healthy dinner of turkey and green beans i had a few cookies and a glass of milk. let me tell you something... after a few weeks without having cookies.....

they didnt taste good. they were too sweet and they were slightly stale...or atleast that's what they tasted like. the milk however, was like heaven.

back on track today even though i'm feeling like i imagined the 1 inch and don't know if i have lost any pounds and feel like i will never see results...
i won't be walking for a while because i tore up my feet on saturday, i've been limping around ever since. maybe that's ok because my 'workout' on saturday for 7 hours was enough for a week's worth of exercise!

oh, bacon...

so last night i was kind enough to make blt's for dinner. and i was seriously planning on having one myself...until. yes, i stopped at until. i was cooking the bacon and it just didnt really look that appetizing. and something in the back of my head said 'you already had your carb limit today' which my brain was really fooling me, because i didn't. so i made myself a salad with some low sugar low carb (HIGH sodium) dressing and i put a small bit of bacon on it for some flavor. turned out great, reduced the bacon amount and it was filling. for a while. i had a hard boiled egg for a snack before bed. lunch today will be a toss up, we didnt have time to prepare anything and are running out at lunch to get the car appraised for a trade in value so- fast food it is. paid for with quarters too :) i managed to go thru my day yesterday with a sugar count of probably at most 10g. yay me!

give a woman an inch....

ok so i measured myself this morning and almost an inch is gone off my waist. i'm sure that will be back over the course of the day but it made me very very happy! yesterday was a decent day. i started off with an english muffin sandwich with turkey sausage (give and take here people) and a sobe lifewater. for a snack i had a bit of celery and cream cheese and leftover spaghetti with chicken for lunch. i had celery and hummus before dinner as a veggie and leftover lasagna for dinner. i admit i am not proud of having pasta twice that day but didnt have time to cook since i had a meeting. i also drank a ton of water. today i started off with another english muffin sandwich, have celery and carrots and hummus for a snack, chicken salad pita for lunch and i'm not sure what's for dinner yet, maybe chicken wraps. i'm just totally excited that something is working :)

are you serious??

ok so friday i got weighed....remember how i said i would be mad if...? ok so i lost 1 lb. 1 measley little pound. the doctor tried to make me feel better by saying that lots of things could be affecting it- like it being a different scale, or how hydrated i was. still didnt make me feel that great. something must have gone on though because the jeans i wore friday fit a little better in the leg. that was the first place i gained weight when i started my last job- legs and butt. maybe that will be the first place to lose. i am proud to say i am officially low sugar. stopped by the health food store on friday to get a few things i knew i couldn't find at meijer and then last night when we went grocery shopping we looked at every label on the food that i would be eating. (i know zsolt's coco krispies must have gobs of sugar in it, but csaba eats those too, can't deprive both of them). and i talked to my doctor about being conflicted about the sugar ratio on the belly fat cure and the need to eat vegetables. she agreed that i should eat all the veggies i want. i think maybe finding a balance between all the knowledge i have about fat and sodium and sugar and calories... maybe that's the best way to go about this. i am going to admit that sunday we went to olive garden. ok, so not the greatest place but i will tell you this! i had three pieces of pasta and two steak medallions. salad. and a tiny small chocolate dessert. this is a milestone for me. i would've eaten tons of salad, ALL of my meal and a large dessert before. so i think that although i did eat dessert, it's atleast a step in the right direction. saturday and monday were great in respect to food and my exercise came from going to the beach and spending the day at craigs cruisers yesterday. i will say this though.... i can stand the flakes and flaxseed cereal, and the almond milk, and the tiny bits of unsweetened chocolate (green and blacks) and even trading my daily diet coke for a sobe life water (the low sugar ones) but i cannot, can NOT eat thos ezekial gluten free english muffins. those things tasted like glue!

wow, this is harder than i thought. if counting by that s/c ratio i ended up with 17/7 yesterday and you know what set me over? VEGETABLES. i didn't feel too bad about going over because my dinner was healthy. black eyed peas, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, small bits of ham and rice. i am still going to consider it a day well done. i had a few small pieces of english cheddar and three small pieces (less than the size of a quarter in diameter) of hungarian sausage before bed. today i am suffering from a nasty headache and that darn cold again. had my usual english muffin with turkey and cheese for breakfast with some water with lemon in it. plan on eating out for lunch since it's a friend's last day at work but i will try my hardest to pick something good. i get weighed today at the doctor and am a bit nervous. i don't want all my hard work and skipped cookies to be for naught. that would really be disappointing. what if the scales arent calibrated? what if it's a different scale than before??? yes, i am worried. I am thinking ahead to this weekend and the holiday... it's probably going to be light fare for me or maybe hamburgers without buns. maybe i can sneak a portabello burger in sans meat. the best part about all of this is that i have csaba on board to help. plus my rachels. thanks guys.

the belly fat cure

ok so i normally say i don't like diets. i don't do diets because diets fail. in the past i have done the 6 week body makeover and the liver cleansing diet...and they worked. i swear. both were great ideas. if you like eating tasteless food. i eventually went off of them and here we are today. my sister reccommended the belly fat cure and i decided to look into it. i was thinking that if i could get some new ideas to incorporate into my new healthy eating lifestyle it wouldn't hurt. so i bought the book and although i was a bit skeptical at first, i think some of this could actually be do-able. this guy claims that if you keep your sugars under 15g/day and your good carbs to 6 servings (120g) then your insulin levels will stabilize and your belly fat will disappear. while he doesn't focus on things like sodium and fat, he has a whole list of items that are acceptable to eat while doing this. and you know what? alot of it we are already eating! the few good ideas that i liked that i didn't take into consideration before was using sweeteners like truvia instead of splenda (or aspartame...there goes my diet coke) and adding psyllium husks for extra fiber. he has alternatives listed for typical condiments, snacks and beverages. I am proposing a research trip to the grocery store to see what is available and what i would have to get at harvest health. the good part about this is that csaba is actually on board with it and he is probably the most skeptical person i know, who has been there with me through all of these trials... he knows what works and what doesn't. the book includes some recipes that aren't too elaborate and include alot of food we already eat.
yesterday wasn't the greatest day...on top of being sick i splurged and got a piece of bread from the bosnian bakery that tastes just like our favorite hungarian bread. i scarfed that down. i told myself i was only going to try it but it tasted too good. then for dinner csaba made chicken with asparagus and rice... ..... .... we had a bit of a mishap with the chicken so i resorted to a bowl of honey nut cheerios for dinner instead.
this morning on a good track so far, english muffin with turkey and cheese (0/2- although maybe the muffin has some sugar, i will have to check that later) for breakfast along with a big glass of water with a bit of lemon juice in it (0/0 on the Sugar/Carb index) for lunch i have tuna salad with a bit of mayo and dijon mustard (i forget what the mayo was but tuna is 0/0 ) i didnt get a chance to add any veggies to it but included some herb lettuce, avocado and some cheese to put with it in a wheat pita (0/2 i think). for dinner tonight either chicken with angel hair pasta or the black bean gumbo. i have a piece of turkey and a small baggie of goldfish for a snack. turns out that on this plan i can have cheezits and goldfish, cheese sticks and hard boiled eggs for snacks. all of which, i like. we'll see how this goes though, it wanted me to list my weight (which we already know) and my stomach size. ugh. 35" unless i read it wrong. it was early.

pork tenderloin....

the past few days have gone pretty well. monday my menu was awesome and although i was starving after dinner i resisted and had a glass of milk before bed instead of eating again. thanks to a few glares from csaba. to give an example i had mini wheats for breakfast. a few small pieces of homemade granola (coutesy Sanchez restaurant) and half of a small banana muffin, for lunch i had a chicken salad pita sandwich that i had made up with lettuce and small amount of shredded cheese and grapes. (also one breadstick from csaba's lunch) for dinner we had pork tenderloin with steamed green beans and baked sweet potatoes. One piece of fresh vienna bread. for dessert i had an apple with a teeny tiny amount of peanut butter. I walked on the treadmill for a while that day too. yesterday was a day of eating out- breakfast was a bagel with egg, lunch was chicken and rice- in a curry sauce but i didn't slop up the sauce with my rice, just picked the chicken out. dinner wasn't so great but i had a good time with my dad, we got thin crust pizza that tasted kind of like cardboard so i didnt eat that much and a glass of chocolate milk before bed because i thought it might make my throat feel better ;) kidding. I didn't walk yesterday but was pretty active and went on a mini walk with dad between his house and grandma's. the past two days i have felt like i haven't even slept and i have a really sore throat and earache, so i believe i am getting sick. i can get weighed on friday at the doctor's office... if it goes up i will be ticked! :)

so far so good...

ok so i am proud of myself. not only did i eat pretty good this weekend i also managed to avoid almost two days of brownies and cupcakes. i indeed, broke down yesterday and had 1 brownie. but i made up for it by eating super healthy the rest of the day (as far as i think anyway!). saturday was a day of activity which was hard after not sleeping friday night (awful headache) so i did get in some exercise too. i'm going to try this week's menu as healthy as possible and then maybe try alli as well. first, i have to see if i can decrease the fat intake. so on the menu for dinner's this week: tomato and bread salad, black eyed pea gumbo, garlic and rosemary chicken (with asparagus and rice), basil chicken over angel hair pasta, avocado and tuna tapas, pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes and green beans and chicken salad pitas with lettuce and grapes. so far for breakfasts i have been having mini wheats, a change from the english muffins. i wanted some white grapefruit but they only had the red/pink icky nasty kind at the store, maybe another week. i skipped walking this morning because i was completely exhausted but plan on getting on the treadmill tonight.

that thing was heavy!

ok so the treadmill is now upstairs...complete with a window view, jerry rigged fan and place to hold my kindle. i am now rewarding myself with books for walking. last night i tried a run and i thought the machine would break so i slowed it back down. been walking twice a day now for the past few days, morning and evening and plan on building up my time. i think my goal is 20 lbs for loss and we'll see where i am when i get there. not sure on a time frame... but just put some new healthy recipes in my allrecipes box to start trying too....

sweetness

ok...the count is in. 189lbs. i know, i would like to say most of that is muscle. i have ALOT of leg muscle. ok, i will shut up now. anyway the i told the dr about what i was doing but he didnt say much. blood pressure is WAY down. which is awesome since it was rollercoastering all around for a few months. this weekend was a mix of good and bad with my eating. for the most part sedentary on the movement front. garage sale work requires alot of sitting evidently. i did, however read three books. maybe i can have csaba set up the treadmill again and read and walk at the same time. that might be my motivation again. anyway... back to this weekend. friday was decent, ate dinner at about 10pm though because of timing and going out and such. i tried to limit my portion and didnt eat much of the dinner. saturday i declare that i had breakfast burritos...i did. i admit it. my downfall. oh breakfast burritos, how i love you. i skipped lunch since i had that late and had a decent healthy dinner. sunday was ok, minus the ice cream but the boys loved it and it was a fathers day treat. yesterday was also good but i did have a kitkat... so my conclusion. cut out the sweets, man.

food FAIL

ok so getting back into food journaling for the past two days.
tuesday was great. breakfast: english muffin with a slice of ham and cheese (i know peanut butter would be a better alternative but i need SOME life) for lunch: leftover penne pasta with all the yummy veggies from the night before. dinner: a small bowl of chicken soup and part of a tiny chicken ceasar salad. snacks??: WALNUTS and a cereal bar. so, overall not too bad. except for when i woke up the next morning i was STARVING. it was the dinner from the night before, i wasn't so hungry but i paid for it later. yesterday was a horrible horrible day on the food front. breakfast: two muffin sandwiches (SHAME) lunch: a sammie from quiznos because of the worskhop i was at offered this as my lunch. dinner: PIZZA. many slices. lost count after one. snack: DONUT. damn that meeting. next time, bring my own or offer healthier solution.
beverages both days: lots and lots of water, one can of diet coke each day. movement?: ha, what movement? ok, i exaggerate a bit here. tuesday i tried to take the dogs for a walk. let's just say i almost got up close and personal with the pavement thanks to koo. that half a block felt like three blocks after what i went through. i turned around came home and hid inside my headache the rest of the evening. yesterday i spent a few hours on my feet getting boxes moved and unloaded for a garage sale, and also quite a bit on my feet during a presentation for work. still doesnt even out all that pizza i ate...

curves

ok so someone asked me if i was going to show before and after photos. well fine, here we go, with curves. some nicely tucked into some great jeans that show them off in a good way.

alright, that's not so bad. still a bit thick around the middle. why don't we get into a little bit of biology here... women traditionally have more fat around their middles than men because that protects the babies they carry in their stomachs a little bit better. or so i hear... wait, is this an excuse?

so here's what yesterday consisted of:

breakfast: bowl of special k with 2%milk because that's what get bought when i don't do the shopping. yes, i am blaming csaba again here. don't get me wrong, i love thick milk- but i know it's not as healthy. snack: special k cereal bar. found that i enjoy the south beach protein bars much better, they have more flavor and more protein. i was told to eat these at the end of my pregnancy with zsolt because they have 8g of protein per bar in them. lunch: leftovers, small piece of chicken, green beans and wild rice, good portion sizes. (and when i say good, i mean healthy not... GOOD) snack: small piece of fresh bread with peanut butter. dinner: bowl of penne pasta with kielbasa (not low fat) squash, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, and a small sprinkling of 'parma-john' cheese. (zsolt still can't say it right). portion size probably could've been a bit less but i was HUNGRY. beverages: lots and lots and lots of water. one glass of chocolate milk (this was a compromise). movement: 100 crunches (5 different positions, 20 each) 50 leg lifts, some yoga stretches.

a word on portions: i do know what healthy portions are. a few years ago while doing some BLAND diet (which actually worked really well) i had to measure out my food. i have a pretty good eye now about what is good and what is too much. i just tend to ignore it most times :)

Something has to be done....

ok... so after many many months, years even, of being unhappy with my weight this is how i have decided to go about getting happy about it. but, i've tried the diets, the makeovers, the exercise plans.... and yes some of them worked but eventually i fell off the wagon. this time, this i have to make so spectacular in end result that i would be too scared to ever go back to the dark side.
truths:
i know i love my curves. but there are just a few too many.
i have not known my weight since i had my son, 4.5 years ago.... i ever so nicely ask the doctor not to tell me.
i judge weight loss based on jean size and how well they fit.... currently a size 12. sometimes a bit of a mushroom top, depending.
i used to do crunches every night while watching tv, and it helped.
formerly a pilates/yoga fan.
i love vegetables.
i hate fruit.
i have not been a size 8 since my first year at college......
i have an office job where i sit, most of the day
i have been a bit more active in the past month due to moving to a house with sidewalks.
my husband bought me a video game for my birthday when i asked for a bike... ok, sorry, had to mention that here...seemed a bit fitting, i know it's not your fault, honey.
typical breakfast: english muffin made at home with a slice of cheese, slice of ham, sometimes a fruit smoothie.
typical lunch: varies- sandwich, salad, leftovers from dinner night before, eating out could be anything from pesto cavatappi with a cucumber/tomato salad to chicken nuggets with fries.
typical dinner: varies from pasta and bacon to chicken, rice and green beans. overall not too shabby on the health scale.
snacks: occasionally- chocolate chip cookies with milk, at night. chips and salsa, every now and then- CHEETOS, south beach protein bar- cinnamon/raisin (YUM), carrots.

conclusions:
exercise more.
love self.
eat less. or maybe eat healthier.
get better sleep.
reward self with lots of new, expensive clothes......ok, this will be harder to achieve.

how do i get there?
step 1. get weighed
step 2. eat cookies.


ok i am kidding.
let's start simple.
1. get weighed
2. talk to doctor
3. make an exercise plan that is easy enough to achieve. maybe twice around the block instead of once every night. crunch routine needs to be reinstated. buy a bike. scout parks.
4. continue eating right, more emphasis on veggies and healthy snacks.
5. blog.