Happy Easter!

Just checking in.....

Had a great Saturday celebrating some birthdays with girlfriends! We had a spa day at a house where the whole basement is permanently set up for facials. We had a great room to lounge in with cozy furniture, plenty of pillows and blankets, coffee and tea, water, wine and a yummy vodka drink and light appetizers. We went one at a time (duh) and had great Girly chat while we waited for our turn. I am officially glowing! (I didn't drink any alcohol!)

Sunday morning early church, a little break at home, then headed to Mom's. Look how cute she set the table!






I took Sausage Muffins! 2 PPV a piece!





Here are Saturdays Eats!











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

Right on track.....and moving forward.

Fridays weigh in went well and the new strategy seems to be working! I met with my coach after my WW meeting and we talked about what is working best for me and agreed that different things work for each of us. We also agreed that this journey we are now on together is teaching us a lot about ourselves, and I love that. We have tweaked our initial plan just a bit, but the key things that seem to be working are.....

1. 8 glasses of water daily
2. Exercise 6 times a week
3. 30 PPV a day as a general rule

The water for me is not a big deal. I stopped drinking pop on a regular basis a long time ago, I never have been a juice drinker, I don't drink milk (except in my coffee), and it seems if I'm not drinking coffee or tea throughout the day, I'm drinking water.

I exercised anywhere from 2 times a week to 5 times a week in the past, so this is a change, for certain. But I like knowing that Friday is my only day off of exercise. Before I could make all sorts of excuses to exercise on Wednesday instead of Tuesday, or convince myself that three times that particular week was much better than none at all. Now I know I exercise each day, except Friday, then none of those excuses can creep up.

WW suggest that I eat 26 PPV a day, and I have a weekly allowance of 49 PPV that I can dip into if I chose to. I have decided to allow myself to eat 30 PPV a day. That way, I am only eating about half of those extra 49. I like this for a couple of reasons. If I do only eat 26 PPV one day, I feel extra successful that I ended the day without eating all that I could have, but I have eaten plenty to nourish myself for the day. If I eat the 30 PPV, I don't feel guilty about going over a little, because I stuck to my plan for the day. I also know that if I do eat all of my 49 extra points, AND exercise 6 days a week, I will still lose for certain.

All that being said, I did go over a bit on Friday. :) I can still eat 30 PPV a day this week, and be fine for next Fridays weigh in.

Looking forward to a great and successful week!







So much truth in this!




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

Cookies for Breakfast!

I have been trying to not look at Pinterest as often as I was before, and I have been trying to not look at recipes and not watch the Food Network as often as I was before, in my effort to spend less time "thinking" about food. I really have only had a few "bad?" days in the last four weeks where I felt like I ate more than I should and turned to food as a result of stress or boredom. I feel like I am doing a pretty good job considering all the time I am spending at home alone. My new strategy includes a few changes, but still is a slow weight loss plan of possibly one pound a week. I think Friday's results will be right on schedule.

I did spend a couple of days this week browsing Pinterest for a few new ideas when I saw an idea for a cookie that was made from bananas and oatmeal.

1 C Quick Cooking Oats
2 smashed ripe bananas

Thats it. Add in whatever you want. Walnuts, Chocolate Chips, Cocoa Powder, Coconut? Make 16 cookies. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. This is basically the same ingredients I put in my Oatmeal Banana Pancake, minus the egg whites I put in my pancake, so I basically converted my pancake......,to cookies!

I added to the Oats and bananas..... 2 packets of Stevia, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of vanilla and 2 T. of PB2 (peanut butter powder). Then I topped each cookie with 2 Peanut Butter Chips. Possibly not the cookie your kid wants as an after school treat, but it was a great breakfast treat for me with my coffee!





I sent Tess an Easter "Box" this week, and when she came home from work and had received it in the mail, she called all excited, just like she was a little kid again, so we did FaceTime while she opened it! Then we got caught up and had a good 30 minute FaceTime conversation. Of course she had to catch up with the dogs too! I saw this later on Instagram. :)





It's been a really good week as far as Weight Watchers goes. Thursday I walked on the treadmill early in the day, then walked outside with a friend in the afternoon. I ended up getting in about 5 miles.

I worked in Blueberries, spinach and Green Tea on Thursday and ended up getting another good nights sleep. I hope this isn't a fluke? I am going to continue to attempt to get in at least three of those anti-inflammatory foods I listed yesterday in an effort to feel and sleep better!








I hope you all have a Wonderful weekend and that you have Wonderful people in your life to spend it with!




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

Foods as Anti-Inflammatory

While getting my medical massage on Tuesday, I had a great chat with Beki, my massage therapist. Well, whenever I have seen her in the past, we have always had good chats, but I find her incredibly interesting to listen to. We talked about inflammation, and Ibuprofen and Naproxen and Ice Packs and Food as a anti-inflammatory.

So I came home and looked up a few of the different foods that work as anti-inflammatories.

Here are some of my favorites that will be easy for me to work into my weekly meals.

Wild Salmon
Green Tea
Blueberries (and most berries)
EVOO
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Pineapple
Walnuts
Sweet potatoes
Spinach

There were many other foods listed, but these are foods I like AND I even know what they are!!

So for Wednesday, I plan to work in berries, spinach, EVOO, sweet potatoes and Green Tea! I'm curious to see if I feel and sleep better?

A good friend reminded me that shirts can be used for more than just shirts, so when I got hot while walking on the treadmill, I took it off and used it as a headband. Just trying to self entertain.........






I got in my hour, all uphill!

Dinner was a big skillet of seasoned bite size pieces of chicken breast and a nice variety of roasted veggies. Sweet potatoes, red onions, Brussels sprouts and carrots.




6 PPV




Wednesday's Eats.....







I did sleep well last night. Green tea before bed and a variety of the foods listed above throughout the day. I wonder if it's that whole placebo effect thingymabob???? I don't care. I feel rested. I'm trying it again today.

:)







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

Staying Home Apparently Saves Money!

As much as I have not enjoyed hanging out at home, the check book is balanced weekly (just for something to do), my Target browsing and spending has been limited, and I have only filled up my gas tank TWICE in the last six weeks!!!!

We're rich! We're rich!!

On Tuesday I got a medical massage and she worked those knots in my back and neck over really good!! 20 minutes of ice was required afterwards!

The treadmill was more of a chore than usual after the massage, so 30 minutes did it for Tuesday.

I was wanting breakfast food for dinner, and planned to see how "light" I could make biscuits and gravy, but ended up making a casserole that was on the "Lite" Sausage package.

Cooked Sausage
Egg Whites
Skim Milk
WW Shredded Cheese
Bite Size pieces of Lite English Muffin
S&P





Topped with salsa and a side of berries! Super filling, Mike liked it, low in points!

6 PPV





I woke up Wednesday feeling very rested. That doesn't happen too often. So I am looking forward to getting in my hour on the treadmill, then a trip to PT, then crossing off all the things on my "to do list" that I struggled to make up to keep the day full.

I have stepped on the scale each morning with pleasing results, so I am expecting Friday's weigh-in to go well.

I have discovered, in my ups and downs on the scale, that for me to lose weight, I must get in my exercise 6 days a week and keep my points average to 30 PPV a day. It's a very livable plan. It's finding new ways to deal with boredom and anxiety that is the challenge for me. I do notice that if I exercise first thing, I seem to keep a mental state throughout the day that seems to ward off any feelings of eating when I shouldn't. Ahhhhhh......self discovery.


Tuesday's Eats.....








Make it a great day!




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

Date night.....on a Monday!

I thinks it's been obvious that I am ridiculously bored lately.

When I get bored, I get cranky. Guess who suffers? Yip. The husband. And when he's not here? I get irritated with the dogs.

I did get out of the house Monday, ran a few pointless errands (just to be busy), and had the pleasure of lunch with a girlfriend!

Mike called late Monday afternoon to suggest we go out to dinner that night. Now I am a bit curious if it was his dislike of the dinner I made on Sunday night??? But I really do think he was trying to make me smile.

We had a great dinner out, got all caught up on conversation that we missed out on over the weekend, and my salmon was delicious!

When we came home, Mike started a fire and suggested we play a game instead of turn on the TV? Then he pushed two big chairs and an ottoman in front of the fireplace and we played........checkers! It was super sweet and he is back at the top of the list of my favorite people. Not that he ever really left the top of the list, but I vow to be nice to him, for at least the rest of the week. Then I tried not to gloat too much on winning two out of three. :)





I'm certain all are tired of hearing about my pain, but.........

Now I have a bunch of knotted up muscles in my back and neck, so Monday was a painful and frustrating day. I never did make it to the treadmill. So I have now added to my physical therapy a medical massage scheduled for Tuesday to work out some of the knots.

I sound like all of the old people that I know that complain all the time about their aches and pains. This will be my last post about pain. For future, I will just post facts about my progress, which by the way, according to the measurements taken at my PT appointments, is actually really good!

Mondays eats!









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

Survived another snow day.......

Well, after being trapped in the house all day, I did refrain from eating the walls. Instead I spent the day doing PT, laundry, watching movies, more PT, the treadmill, more laundry and more movies. We watched Zero Dark Thirty, and a few weeks back, we watched Argo. I also watched Beast of the Southern Wild this weekend. All really good movies.

I hope this week to be able to stay away from home as much as possible! I'm thinking coffee shops, soup and salads and possible Spring shopping!

I haven't been taking pictures of food, but I did snap a shot of dinner! I tried a new recipe I really liked! Creole Chicken. You can add as much or as little Cajun seasoning as you like. Apparently I could have used more, because when I asked Mike if he liked it, he said......

"My chicken tender has gristle. The rest of it is okay, but it needs something."

I guess the moral of this story is, Don't ask a question you don't want the answer to.

I.......thought is was delicious!!





Add noodles, toss, and serve!




I found the recipe HERE!

Sundays Eats!













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

Friends, Shopping, Wine

After weighing at home on Friday, then going to PT, I was ready to get out of the house for a fun Girly day. We did a little shopping at an outside event (it was freezing!) and I found a few great things that I am super excited about! I still have not finished painting my grandma's sewing machine, but when I do, I think this chalk board will look great hanging above it!





Then I found this great old tattered tackle box! There's even old fishing stuff in it!





Then this rusty two tiered shelf. I have NO plans to paint it. I like it just the way it is.





Then we went to a cozy bar with a fireplace for wine and appetizers. Did I mention it was FREEZING out? I ordered grilled shrimp and red wine. I had coffee while the other girls enjoyed their second glass of wine. I hate that I forget that it's really not that big of a deal to be out with the girls and still stay within my points. The best part of the day was spending time with my friends.

I was really looking forward to a full weekend since I recently had admitted to GOING STIR CRAZY!! We had dinner plans with two other couples on Saturday night that I was really looking forward to, but due to the Spring Snow Storm, it got cancelled. :(

Sunday we had big family plans for Palm Sunday with everyone pictured above, AND Aunts and Uncles and Mike's parents. CANCELLED!!

So here I sit again, fighting the urge to snack! So far, so good.

Fridays eats.....





Saturdays Eats.......









The treadmill workouts are going great. I have 63 miles on my chart now!

I planned the strength training before considering the fact that I am doing PT three to four times a day, and including icing my shoulder down afterwards, the whole process takes about 45 minutes each time, so I haven't gotten in the strength training like I had planned.

I had planned to give the Grandkids their Easter Buckets on Palm Sunday, so now I'm stuck with those jelly beans for most likely another week!!




If I get super tempted, I will either call my "sponsor", I mean my "coach", or I'll just have to throw them away and fill the eggs with dollar bills.:)


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

Planning for a Great Weekend!

I had a great talk with my "coach" last night. Maybe I refer to her as my "sponsor" from now on. In the middle of my rotten day and in the middle of making decisions that will not get me to my goal, I thought about calling her. I should have, but she has a real job, and I hated to bother her. She let me know that I could call her anytime. Our chat helped a lot, and she reminded me to focus on what my top priorities are. She asked what they were. I replied with.......

1. Healing
2. Losing weight while healing.

She said that each time I hesitate to make a decision that I know is not in my best interest, to think about these two things, and then ask myself. Will this decision help me to reach my goals.

I have a full weekend planned with friends and family, so time alone at home should be limited. When I am home alone, I will follow my schedule.

I had planned on going to my meeting to weigh in and then not stay for the meeting. Too much going on. Instead, I weighed at home. 170. I hate to have to put that on my chart, but it's all part of facing it.

I hope your weekend is great and full of friends and family as well.

:)


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

Blogging Late.....Here's Why.

Monday was all about fixing Sunday's mistakes and making it a great day. And I did. Tuesday was also a great day. Great mood. Kept myself busy. Exercised and ate as planned.

Wednesday just went all downhill. I don't know why. I couldn't focus. I felt like crap. Typically if I don't post a blog, it's because I had a crap day the day before and I'm busy trying to figure out why. After over-thinking, crying, praying and over-thinking some more, here is what I've come up with.

I AM OFFICIALLY GOING STIR CRAZY!!!!!

I am spending a LOT of time at home, and I am not liking it. I work three (very part time) part time jobs. I work Monday through Thursday for a few hours each day. I love all the jobs, and it's just enough to keep my day busy with the other usual house stuff, blogging, bills, taking care of the dogs, exercising, making dinner, and just being a busy body. I like my schedule. Friday is my WW meeting and errand running day and maybe (most likely) Happy Hour in the evening. Saturday and Sunday are typical weekends like most families with time with Mike, socializing with friends and coffee with mom or dad. Yes, I do realize that I am blessed.

I really did not know what to expect following surgery, as far as my every day life goes, or as far as a lot of things go, for that matter. I knew I would probably have to take 8 weeks off from work. I hadn't prepared for my day to day activities, or lack thereof.

I expected to be in some significant pain the two weeks following surgery. I expected PT to be painful. What I did not expect, and I am certain that no one could have prepared me for this, was to have so many sleepless nights, know how to handle my irritability, not have the desire to do much due to the constant feeling of being hit by a truck, 24/7 discomfort, and just an overall feeling of being overwhelmed by the slow healing process. I guess I thought I would feel pretty normal two to three weeks after surgery, and Physical Therapy would be painful while doing it, then I would go on about my day. Not so. Since last Thursday, here is my schedule. Three to Four times a day, stretch, PT, stretch some more, then ice it down. Somewhere in between the three to four times a day of that, try to be comfortable to do other crap.

Wednesday, I realized I had forgotten to weigh at home on Monday, so I stepped on the scale. 170. I weighed 168 at my WW meeting on Friday. I felt so frustrated and defeated. I lost it. I am having a hard time this past week mustering up the energy to feel real upbeat. I think I just feel exhausted from lack of sleep. I wouldn't say I was depressed yesterday, but I will say I had a depressing day. A lot of it I know, is simply that I just don't have anything to do, and frankly, I don't feel good, so I don't feel like doing much. I have a few projects that I would like to do, but without full use of my right hand, I would just find myself frustrated. I have been working hard at the treadmill, and it felt good to add in some small strength training, but how many days can you sit at home and simply not LOSE IT??? Apparently for me? Not very many. I realize I can leave the house at any time, but honestly, getting ready just adds to the discomfort. I really sound pathetic, I know. I just wasn't completely prepared for these weeks following surgery. Oh, and the weather is NOT helping things.

While I thought Easter Buckets for the grandkids was a great way to lift my spirits, I ate all the jelly beans. Then I went to Walmart to buy more. I actually bought jelly beans because I knew I wouldn't eat them because I DON'T LIKE JELLY BEANS!!!! I like chocolate eggs. But I didn't buy any of those because I didn't want to be tempted to eat any of the Easter Candy. And then I ate all the damn jelly beans.








I realized Sunday and Wednesday were total crap days, mostly because I had absolutely nothing planned, and I was extremely sore from hitting PT so hard. I'm not saying I am some kind of amazing PT over achiever, I simply did what I was supposed to do, but I was dying. So dealing with boredom, feeling a bit useless, and the pain, I turned to the pantry and the fridge (and my grandchildren's Easter Buckets!) I thought about getting drunk, but I didn't want to add hangover to my other issues. Kidding.

So now I need a plan. I did confess to my coach that I had a bad day. She sends me a text when I don't blog. She knew something was up. Smart one, she is. She is calling tonight to talk me through my "Whoas me moment".

I have mentioned my love of a "list", so after much over-thinking, I think each day I need to make a list of what I plan on accomplishing for the day, even if it is as simple as.....PT exercises, walk dogs, blog, cook dinner.......at least to see that I am DOING something. I made a "to do list" for today and had a much better day, even after a rough PT session at noon. She worked me over good, but also said I had made great progress in one week. I go back tomorrow too.

It seems rather pointless to post my food blog from Tuesday, even though that day was a great one. I didn't track my food after about 3:00 yesterday afternoon, so I don't even have that one to post.

I think when I get to goal, (this August) I will write a book. The first 19 chapters can be all about "What Not To Do To Lose Weight" then the 20th, and final chapter can be about actually losing weight.

Maybe I call it........

........."Nineteen Chapters of Screw Ups"

Then I can write a book about how to keep it off and live a healthy and happy life. I'll have to think about that title.

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

Fixing Mistakes? Maybe.

First, things are really going well. However, Sunday was just an all around bad day. I had some unexpected stress and by the end of the day, I ended up eating 36 PPV instead of my planned 26 PPV. It's not like I devoured an entire pan of brownies, or a whole pizza, but I ate more than I had planned due to stress, which added to the stress. Funny how that works, huh?

So Monday? I made Monday all about exercise and activity in an attempt to fix Sunday's mistakes.

My PT exercises are to be done 3 to 4 times a day. They suck. But that's what I started the day with. After a good rest, I walked on the treadmill at my 3.0 mph at a 7% incline for 60 minutes, then I felt a spurt of energy and increased the speed to 3.2 mph and walked for another 10 minutes, then I went to 3.3 mph and walked for another 10 minutes. I felt like I made up for a few of the extra points I ate on Sunday. So 80 minutes of a good paced walk, uphill. That's over 4 miles! :) My WW Tools tells me I earned 6 activity points!

I talked with my coach on Saturday about adding in some small strength training while I am working my way back to bootcamp. We came up with a plan of .....

20 crunches
10 lunges
10 squats
1 60 second wall sit

Repeat 4 times.

I am going to do this on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. I am certain it earned me some activity points, but I don't know how many?? I will give myself at least 1 activity point.

When I finished my 80 minute treadmill walk, I did the above exercises, four times. Egads. Then I drank a bunch of water. Then I chilled. Then I did PT again.

Then for the first time since surgery, I took Tucker for a walk. Mishka was left behind. I didn't want to risk a leash in my right hand, and a dog deciding to attack a squirrel or a bird. I can't even imagine the pain of the leash being yanked on, so I had to chose one dog. :) We took a short half mile walk.

Later, I met a girlfriend and we walked outside for an hour, at a pretty good pace, so I know we got in at least three miles. That's 5 more activity points.

Then I came home. Then I died. I have earned at least 12 activity points for Monday, walked 7 miles, and have eaten as planned.

I go Tuesday for PT, and I assume we will add more exercises to the current routine. It feels like such a long road. Some are the exercises are just painful, but tolerable. Others just feel impossible.

Sunday's Eats.....







Monday's eats......








This seems worth repeating........






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

Day with Dad......

Dad and I had planned on a Saturday morning coffee, but I slept like crap, until about 7:00 am, then I was sleeping deep, so I just kept sleeping, and he ran an errand that went until noon, so we had lunch.

I was in the mood for a Saturday morning greasy spoon, but we ended up at my breakfast "safe" place, First Watch. I had planned to try something a little different, so I ordered my usual egg white, turkey, spinach, feta omelet and replaced the dry toast with a fruit cup! I'm really changing things up here, huh?

We had a great chat, got caught up on the weeks news, then ran a few errands together. The man could talk for hours, and he always has a great story, so we put a few miles on the car and went all over town. Then, I was ready for a nap!

Instead I came home and did my PT exercises, which were almost intolerable, then walked on the treadmill. I only got in 45 minutes instead of 60. Doing the treadmill BEFORE PT next time. That didn't feel so great. Then I just felt like an old lady the rest of the day. We had Pizza while watching KU/K-State, then I was in p.j.s and ready for bed before 9:00. Sad. I know.

I talked to my coach about a few of my goals on Saturday morning. I've decided that alcohol twice a month sounds good on paper, but just isn't working for me. It is important for me to lose the weight, but I also need to have realistic goals that work for me and my lifestyle. I would much rather enjoy wine with my girlfriends at a spur of the moment occasion, and work it into my points, than only plan two events a month to be able to drink. I know this is not a problem for so many of you, because we have talked about it. I also know my beers have been a stalling point in my weight loss. I guess the key here is to figure out what works best for me. I think I will do fine if I work it into my points. I have talked to other members that this has worked for, so I know it is doable for some.

I have decided I am ready to work in a few wall sits, crunches, squats and lunges, so we discussed a plan for that for three times a week. I need to come up with a chart for that I suppose. It just seems easier to keep track of what I did and when I did it. And I really do like writing it down and seeing what I have done.


Sorry for such boring post lately. Obviously the blog has taken a different route. I hate to be so serious. I'll work on getting a little humor back into things and try not to be so stiff, but you guys, it's kinda serious stuff here.













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