Sunday, February 28, 2010

Menu Planning Monday




Our BBQ was rained out and I didn't get to the hawaiian haystacks, so we'll try again this week. My rice cooker died so we got a new one at Sam's club that steams veggies at the same time. I am so excited to try it.



Monday: Hawaiian haystacks

Tuesday: Chicken and spinach lasagna

Wednesday: tacos

Thursday: Chicken a' l'orange

Friday: Ham and sunshine potatoes

Saturday: date night

Sunday: BBQ chicken, steak and turkey burgers

Check out oranizing junkie for tons of recipe ideas

Friday, February 26, 2010

To your health

This week I have thought of my friend. He buried his wife today. She was in her 30's. Too soon.
There are exceptions to every rule. The rule is that you live a long life. The rule is you get to raise your kids. The rule is be healthy and you will be around a long time. This was an exception to these rules.
My best friend had breast cancer when we were 36. That's not supposed to happen. I'm so happy she is still with us. She fought to restore her health.
I took my health for granted for too many years. There are very few exceptions to this rule. If you are overweight for a long period of time, you will have health problems. I was on a bad road. I am off that road now. This doesn't guarantee anything, but I think it helps.
I am so grateful for my life. I am blessed to feel as good as I do now. Just about 60 pounds is gone from my body. I feel completely different. I can almost remember what it's like to be fit. However, at 19, I might have been fit, but was I healthy? Not necessarily. I will take pride in my health for the rest of my life. I will fight for it. This struggle will not have been in vain. I have learned many hard lessons. I hope I can pass those on and help others avoid my long and windy road.
Here's to your health!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Easy does it

I've only been able to get outside and run once a week for the last 3 weeks. The other 2 running days have been on the treadmill. Today was beautiful and my hands were only cold for about 1 1/4 miles.
I decided I was going to take it at an easy pace today and go for distance instead of speed. It is so funny to me that I even have an easy pace. Not long ago, any pace was hard. It was a great run. I went 5 miles. I have never done that. I was actually smiling during the 5th mile. Probably becuase I was walking part of it. It's amazing how free I feel when I am running.
Alright, I'm done gushing. Here are my lap times:

Mile 1-13:27 (running)
Mile 2-13:54 (running) total 27:21
Mile 3-13:44 (running) total 41:06
Mile 4-13:26 (running) total 54:33
Mile 5-13:47 (running/walking) total 1:08:21

I'm speechless. How about you?

Monday, February 22, 2010

Overabundance

Today I was putting my clothes away and I realized how different my closet looks. No longer are there 6 different sizes of clothing crammed into every nook and cranny.

Being overweight comes from an overabundance of food. It seems as though that overabundance creeps into all areas of life. Many people who deal with clutter also deal with weight issues. I know that there are skinny clutterbugs and heavy neat freaks, but I think they are probably the exception.

So many times you buy clothes to make you feel better about yourself. The feeling is short lived, however, because it is a quick fix. Now that I am doing something about it, I only have clothing that actually fits me in my closet. I also keep a small amount because I am constantly dropping to a smaller size. In the beginning of this journey, I was wearing a size 18/20 in pants, and a 1x/2x shirt. Now I am in a size 10 pants, and medium shirts. What a difference 4 1/2 months has made.

It is truly making me look at other areas of my life that may have an overabundance. One day, my office may not have an overabundance of papers. But, not today!

By the way, todays weight is 164.2. This is surreal.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Menu Planning Monday



Welcome to another week of attempting to be organized with my menu. The big hit from the week was the Slow cooker southwest chicken stacks. It was so simple and most of my family enjoyed the beans and corn. I took the chicken out instead of shredding it in the corn. We ended up having tilapia instead of salmon and I am moving the Chicken and dumpling soup to this week.



Monday: Leftover pork roast and potatoes from Sunday dinner

Tuesday: Chicken and dumpling soup

Wednesday: Grilled salmon

Thursday: tacos

Friday: Hawaiian haystacksSaturday: date night

Sunday: BBQ steak and turkey burgers

Don't forget to check out organizing junkie for tons of ideas.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Temptations

There are temptations everywhere. It has been almost 2 months since I really gave into strong temptations. That was when I ate the Christmas toffee...for 5 days. I was surrounded by great food and lots of desserts last weekend. They didn't even phase me. I never felt tempted.

Well, tonight we ate at a very nice restaurant. With all the tempting food, I chose a shrimp caesar salad. It was fantastic, by the way. Anyway, Orson and Katie both got desserts as part of their dinner deal. And all of a sudden, I was tempted. It also didn't help that Katie doesn't like chocolate and there was this beautiful mousse inside a chocolate cup. I was sooooo tempted. So, you know what. I gave into temptation. And guess what, I'm okay. It was totally worth it! I know I won't see a loss on the scale tomorrow (oh, I am not weighing until Monday), but I also don't feel any real desire to gorge myself like crazy. I ate it and felt satisfied. It will probably be another couple of months before I want to stray again. One day, I will be at my goal weight, and I will occasionally eat lavish foods. I may learn control after all.

Here's hoping!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Who am I?

I am on the verge of admitting that I am a runner. Today was my first run in a week. I couldn't wait to get out there. This weekend I was in California. On Saturday afternoon we spent an hour at the beach. How I wanted to take off running down the sand. But, we were in our regular clothes with our pants rolled up. I thought about running the rest of the day. I wondered how I could fit it in or where I could do it. It didn't happen. I couldn't wait for today to get here. I couldn't wait for Nathan to get home from school. I thought about running different races and how I might do. I thought about increasing my mile time, although it has come a long way in a few short months. Here are my lap times today.

Mile 1-12:06 (running)
Mile 2-12:18 (running)total 24:25
Mile 3-13:03 (walking/running)total 37:28
Mile 4-15:49 (walking, sprinting last stretch)total 53:18

Several things account for the slow finish. It was 75 degrees and I was dressed way to warm. That made me very thirsty and I just didn't have it in me to run the last mile with my lips cracking from dryness. Oh well. I can't believe I am running close to a 12 minute mile.

It was a little discouraging to step on the scale and only see one pound lost in a week, but I did little to no exercise and spent 4 days out of town with eating out and had lots of stress preparing for visiting teaching interviews yesterday. So, I expect this week will be much better. I realize that as I near my goal, I won't be dropping 5 pounds every week. This is where my mentality will be tested. I must stay with the program as temptations to cheat pop up and I am smaller and smaller. I really wasn't tempted this weekend by all the desserts and snacks and junk I was around. I just ate more of my lean and green and fat servings than normal. That's okay. I continue to go down, so its all good.

My health will be a priority for the rest of my life. Look what 15 years of it not being one did to me. I'm guessing that I have extended my life by making these changes.