Healthy Habits and Routine

Today's WW Meeting Topic was all about Routine and Healthy Habits. Sometimes the meetings can really make me reflect on the changes I have made, the need I have for a Routine (which I have talked a lot about lately), the healthy habits I have adapted, and the unhealthy habits I have eliminated.






Healthy Habits I have adapted that have helped me eliminate some of the Unhealthy Habits I had.

1. Journal and Photograph my food.

I take most of my pictures with my Ipad, so they are nothing fancy, but the photos force me to put a little more planning into my meals so they appear attractive and tasteful, and I have more variety.

2. Blogging.

Sometimes I am honest to a fault. Knowing that I will tell it all has made me stop a few times when I wanted to over eat. Wanting an interesting blog to read has helped me to be more creative with my food when I felt lazy about planning and preparing the same meals over and over again.

3. Planned exercise with friends.

It is so much easier to keep plans with a friend than it is to keep plans with myself. I loved the 8 week Bootcamp and went because someone else was counting on me to be there. My Tuesday and Thursday morning walking club in the neighborhood has gotten me out the door on many mornings I would have slept in and procrastinated exercising for the entire day!

4. Meal Planning.

Planning and shopping for meals has helped me to eat lower point meals because we are at home and I am in control of my portion size. I also feel guilty eating out at the last minute knowing I will let food spoil and have to throw it out. It's also help cut back on dining out expenses!

5. Drink Water

I try to drink two 8 oz glasses of water before each meal, and I drink a lot of water throughout the day. Drinking water before a meal helps me to feel full quicker, and drinking water throughout the day helps keep me away from the Diet Coke, which I still enjoy on occasion.

6. No more fast food.

I can't say never, but I can say hardly ever. When I am out and about, and meal time unexpectedly comes around, I opt for a grocery store salad bar. It cost a little more, but it is completely worth it to me.

Today's Weigh In went REALLY, REALLY well. I have never had a one week loss like that before. I feel last weeks gain was a lot of water weight due to the Birthday Celebration.......But I felt like I was 21 too!





I just wanted to have fun with The Birthday Princess......



Anyhow.......serious work this week with the 5K, lots of exercise, lots of fruits and veggies, lots of planning, lots of water, and even dealing with a couple of unexpected sleepovers in the hospital.

I lost 6.8! (had to be some water weight there)
Today's weight = 165.8





So I am back at my lowest weight and moving forward in my three month journey to finish this weight loss thing up! The increase in exercise and the "no drinking" will help things move along much quicker. I am certain of it!

Since I skipped dinner Thursday night due to my sleep fest, I woke up starving! But I was so eager to have a Kick Ass weigh in, I didn't eat or even take a sip of water before my meeting. I did cook an egg sandwich and wrap it up "to go".

Egg white Sandwich, coffee with Steamed Milk
5 PPV




Lunchtime!

THIS.....1/2 the bag is 6 PPV.




PLUS THIS......One burger is 3 PPV




EQUALS.......





I dumped the entire bag of greens into a big bowl, then I added half of all the other things that come in the bag of salad.

1/2 of the dressing
1/2 of the chips
1/2 of the cheese
And none of the sour cream.
Then I topped it with a veggie burger chopped into pieces and gave it all a big stir.

9 PPV

Super satisfying in taste and filling too!





More coffee on a rainy afternoon with steamed milk.
1 PPV

After my treadmill workout, a smoothie was in order.
WW Vanilla smoothie with 1 cup frozen blueberries.
2 PPV





Tess came in town for the weekend, so we all went to dinner. She was so excited to order her first beer at Sunset Grill!

She was a little disappointed that Mike and I both ordered .......water. :)



I went with my safe plate of Hawain skewers.....Chicken, pineapple, bell peppers and onions....with a side of potatoes and a side of broccoli.
11 PPV





Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate today and it's PPV.

Breakfast = 5
Lunch = 9
Snack = 3
Dinner = 11

Total = 28

Activity Points Earned Today = 2
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 47
How many glasses of water I drank today = 8

Excited to see what the week brings!



"love the life you live, live the life you love"

With Coffee.....anything is possible.

I really had a caffeine overload the last few days. This photo was taken before 6:00 a.m. on Thursday after a rough night in the hospital. Tess had IV complications, back pain, lots of tossing and turning, and little rest, but really.......who gets a good nights rest in the hospital?




The good news? Tess was released from the hospital and sent home with a prescription for some antibiotics and hopefully to rest a little. I didn't hear the rest part prescribed, but the "mom" in me thinks she needs it. I am not sure how much rest she will get after missing three full days of classes so early in the semester. Hopefully some. I am just so glad it wasn't anything more serious. Prayers answered. :)

Thursday's eats....

Breakfast
Icky eggs, Icky bacon (hospital food)
Apple and Banana
Latte
8 PPV




Lunch at Starbucks (Yes. Thats right! More COFFEE!), after being released to the outside world......
Smoothie and tomato, spinach Sandwich for Tess......
Latte and Oatmeal for me........
6 PPV




When I got home around 2:00 in the afternoon, I really wanted some comfort food. I was so happy to find some leftover potatoes and a diet coke in the fridge!
6 PPV




The rest of the day, my stiff neck and lack of sleep left me in a slumber on the couch. I literally went to bed without any dinner and was fast asleep shortly after 8:00 p.m.

Not the greatest of food choices the last couple of days, but not really too bad either considering where I was and the options I had.

I think due to the exercise and lots of fruits and veggies and good choices earlier in the week, Friday mornings Weigh In should go really well.

Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate today and it's PPV.

Breakfast = 8
Lunch = 6
Snack = 6

Total = 20

Activity Points Earned Today = 0
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 33
How many glasses of water I drank today = 3






"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Day 2 in the Hospital.....bummer.

Well, better safe than sorry. It is clear that Tess has a Kidney infection, but unclear whether she has Kidney Stones. They are keeping her for another 24 hours so she can get a good heavy dose of antibiotics, and to do a more intense CT scan to look for stones.

So at least one more day of movies, visits from friends, naps, snacks and girl chat.

After sneaking into the empty bed beside Tess and catching a few zzzzz's last night, my stiff neck from the last couple of mornings is so much better. NOT!!! But this is not about me. :)

At some point during the day, I climbed in bed with Tess, after fetching myself a Starbucks, her a hot tea, and some popcorn for us to share.





We watched the original Arthur, thanks to Netflix. So funny. We needed a good laugh. Seriously.....how cool are computers that we could just curl up in her hospital bed and watch an old movie!






I could have used a shower long before I decided to take one at three in the afternoon, but when I finally decided to hop in, it did help relax my neck a bit. Too bad I didn't have any clean clothes to put on.

Tess took a shower before lunch, just for something to do, but with the whole IV thing and apparently the "no lather" shampoo, it didn't really make her feel better. The 24"x24" bath towels didn't impress her either. Did I mention this is her first time in a hospital?

I was determined to wait to eat breakfast until the Dr. came to the room, so I could meet him and ask my "mom" questions. He didn't show up until almost 11:00 a.m. Urg.

So when I finally made it to the cafeteria, I was starving and overwhelmed with choices. So I got a variety. I couldn't decide if I wanted breakfast or lunch.

Oatmeal, Latte, Peanut Butter, Carrots, Cucumber, Tomatoes, and one of those Banana's.
Total = 11 PPV



Boredom and a movie resulted in.......

Cheese = 3 PPV
Wheat Thins = 3 PPV
Popcorn = 4 PPV

Then Dinner....basically a Taco Salad from the cafeteria (with 2, not pictured, mini burritos)
17 PPV





I did not make the best choices today with the buttered popcorn and the mini burritos and lack of water, but hopefully I can get a walk in tomorrow.


Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate today and it's PPV.


Lunch = 11
Snack = 10
Dinner = 17

Total = 38

Activity Points Earned Today = 0
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 33
How many glasses of water I drank today = 3

Tess says thanks so much for all of your prayers and well wishes!




"love the life you live, live the life you love"

An Unexpected Visit To See Tess......In The Hospital

Tess turned 21, made her relationship "Facebook official", and was hospitalized for the first time.......all in one week!




Sidenote: When Tess made the phone call home, I was participating in Walking Club. Here is what I saw when I left the house at 5:50 a.m. to go walking. Eeekkkkk.




I might take a flashlight next time.

It seems as though Tess may have Kidney stones, which I hear is extremely painful! She for certain has a Kidney Infection. :(

I hated being an hour and a half away from her when she called, but I'm so happy she is close enough for me to go to. I guess it proves no matter how old your kids are, you want to be there when they're sick.

(She did not approve the above photo, however, I think it's similar to her "First Day of School" photo that she did approve, so I don't think she'll mind.)

I could feel a little anxiety set in as I was getting ready to make the drive to see her. I called my mom to cancel our coffee date we had scheduled, and she made me promise to "get calm" before I got in the car to make the drive. I promised. So I made myself a quick breakfast, took care of the dogs, then threw a kind of, sort of, overnight bag in the car. On the drive, I thought of all the things I would usually take overnight, that I forgot. I felt a little guilty taking the time to cook eggs, but they stay with me a while, and I wasn't sure what the rest of the day had in store for me food wise, or otherwise for that matter.

I got to the hospital at 9:30 a.m. Apparently I just missed the Doctor (of course I did). It's because I stopped to cook those damned eggs! Seems as though they want to keep her 24 to 48 hours to keep any eye on her and see if she passes any stones. Poor thing. She is hooked up to the IV and receiving antibiotics and pain meds.

So we spent the day napping, visiting with the many friends that stopped by, eating lunch, watching movies, more napping, eating dinner and MORE napping. Those pain meds are STRONG!

Prayers for the least painful night possible and a speedy recovery are appreciated.

Now for the days eats......
My Guilty Breakfast
Egg Whites, Cheese, English Muffin
Peanut Butter, Banana
6 PPV




Tess' lunch......she said it wasn't bad.
She ate the Chicken Breast, Steamed Carrots (which she actually really likes), potatoes (her favorite food, no matter the preparation) and the dinner roll. Then she drifted off to sleep......





I went to the grocery store to buy her some magazines, and make myself a salad. I put a little Macaroni salad in there because I didn't like any of the dressing choices, and I needed a little something to "mix in". I am guessing Heavy on the points.
10 PPV?





The hospital is tiny, but truly has everything you would need as a Visitor. Starbucks, Free Wifi, nice lounge area, lots of TV's and a small Cafeteria with lots of options. I made another salad.

The cheese cubes were for Tess. I had chicken, kidney beans, eggs, lots of veggies, and pickled beets. Why doesn't everyone love pickled beets?? Again, not happy with the dressing choices, so ate it dry. Boring, I know. But I was really hungry and it was fine.
7 PPV





I grabbed a banana and a packet of peanut butter to have with some coffee later this evening. I have no idea where I am sleeping at this point, so I just might watch movies on the computer and drink coffee all night! And I have great Girly magazines!






Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate today and it's PPV.

Breakfast = 6
Coffee with Milk = 2
Lunch = 10
Dinner = 7

Total = 25

Activity Points Earned Today = 3
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 45
How many glasses of water I drank today = 6

"love the life you live, live the life you love"

A Pain In The Neck

I wouldn't say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, because I woke up in a really good mood, but I certainly slept in the wrong position. I woke up with a terrible stiff neck!

I googled "Pain in the Neck", thinking I would find something animated to put here, you know, just for fun.......I found this......reminded me of myself.





It's like we're twins......





But in sticking with my new written out weekly schedule, I decided to not let this keep me from working out before I did anything else today! I loaded up on Advil and ate breakfast, and let the drugs do their magic.

Then I headed out for my walk.

Walked with two friends for an awesome 60 minutes....(I might have just went 30 minutes alone. Thanks Girls!)

Then I took the doggies for a Sniff & Stroll......


Breakfast
Egg White Scramble with Cheese and One Turkey Sausage Link, diced.
Grapefruit Soup? Okay, just grapefruit, but look at all that juice! It was so good.
Coffee with Steamed Milk
Total = 4 PPV





Lunch
Leftovers...Chicken, broccoli, pasta and parmesan.
5 PPV





I had SIX of these today! It made me think about painting the bathroom...



I munched on a fist full of nuts.......
3 PPV

Later I had.......
1/2 mini bagel, with less than a T. of Nutella
3 PPV







Dinner was a marinated Flank Steak with Roasted Potatoes and Carrots.





I love Flank Steak on the grill! The key to this tender dish, is to literally poke the living daylights out of the flank steak with a fork, both sides, marinate over night, then cook on the grill. Six minutes, each side. Then let sit for 10 minutes before cutting across the grain. I will never cook Flank Steak any other way. (I haven't tried.) :)

The hardest part is staring at if for TEN minutes!




But then slice it and watch all that yummy juice slip out. (My dogs appreciate a little of this drizzled on their dry food. So spoiled.)




Then I roasted up some Sweet Potatoes, Carrots and Small White Potatoes. I hadn't tried this combo before, but I really liked it!




Dinner was DELISH!
Steak = 3 PPV
Potatoes = 5 PPV
Olive Oil in Potatoes? Total big guess here..... = 5?
Total = 15 PPV






Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate today and it's PPV.

Breakfast = 4
Lunch = 5
Snacks = 6
Dinner = 13

Total = 28

Activity Points Earned Today = 6
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 45
How many glasses of water I drank today = 18!

It's been a GREAT week in Weight Watcher World!






"love the life you live, live the life you love"

My First 5K!

Head for the Cure Foundation raises money and awareness to fight brain cancer. I love that so many charities have now found "Runs" as a way for people to donate money to a good cause, and get out and do something healthy! It felt great to be a part of something so important!

I really did it! I mustered up the guts to register to run in a 5K. I know to some people, this must sound like such a trivial accomplishment, but for me, it was a milestone. The fact that I even had the desire to do that was huge, and it shows me how I have changed over the last three years in the "Taking Care of Me Department".



I met another blogger a while back, Racheal, who signed up to do Head for the Cure, and I thought I should sign up too! She is an actual runner, and I knew I couldn't keep up with her, but thought it would be fun to at least start out together!

I have another blogger, Roberta, actually my Sister-In-Law, that I follow too! She is an actual runner too! We have been following each others weight loss stories. She decided to sign up to support me!

They were both real troopers with me, the beginner. I was worried about needing to stop running and walk for a bit, so I told them both to feel free to "go ahead". But when I decided I needed a break, they both told me they were comfortable jogging at my fast walking pace. Yay! I had to walk a few times, but did run more than I thought I would, so I was pleased. (They were BOTH able to RUN AND TALK at the same time!) who knew? I did lots of listening. :)

It felt great to RUN across the FINISH line!

Me and Racheal....




Me and Roberta......




Breakfast before the Big Run!
Egg Whites, Toast with Laughing Cow Strawberry Cream Cheese
3 PPV




My reward after running.....yes.....I did reward myself with FOOD! Kinda.....
Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte
3 PPV





Leftovers for Lunch....
Spaghetti Squash, Grilled Chicken, Marinara, Parmesan....
5 PPV



Snack
Toast with Better N Peanut Butter and a sliced Banana
2 PPV




Nice THICK slices.......mmmmmmm




I spent my afternoon cleaning house and Grilling in the rain! I recently spent a day grilling up a variety of meats, then froze them. Everything tasted so good, and it was so handy during the week, I did it again! Just Chicken today......




We decided to hit the Movie Theatre late Sunday afternoon, so I had a snack that I knew would satisfy AND hold me over until dinner.

1 T. Nutella and 12 almonds
4 PPV

Then we went to see The Odd Life of Timothy Green. Kinda Cheesy, Kinda Corny, Super Sweet!

Then home to.........

Dinner! Yum!
Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

This was actually really, really good! I knew I would be playing on Pinterest later in the afternoon looking for something different to make with chicken and broccoli, so I was glad I had the chicken already cooked up! You can't tell at all in the picture, but this was really creamy, cheesy and delicious! The Alfredo sauce is garlic, olive oil, chicken broth, skim milk and Greek Yogurt!

Making this again soon for sure! In this one meal I got in......Olive Oil, whole wheat pasta, broccoli, chicken breast, Greek yogurt and garlic!

I did 2 oz chicken, 1/2 C pasta
Total Dish = 9 (olive oil, flour, Parmesan)





Dessert.....I dipped each bite of fruit in a little Nutella. Yummy.
2 PPV





Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate today and it's PPV.

Breakfast = 3
Snack = 3
Lunch = 5
Snacks = 6
Dinner = 11

Total = 28

Activity Points Earned Today = 3
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 47
How many glasses of water I drank today = 15!



Regarding Commenting on My Blog.........

I spoke to some really smart people......(my fellow bloggers and 5K runners), .....and made some changes to my settings that should now allow you to leave comments easier! Yay! Thank Goodness I know some Smart people!!!

I love your comments, whether in person, or email, or Facebook, but hopefully you will be able to make them here now if you would like! :)


Here are my thoughts are doing something you've wanted to do, but haven't mustered up the guts yet.........





"love the life you live, live the life you love"