Stuck on Monday

The weekend was a little defeating.  Friday I gave in and we ordered pizza from downtown.  I just couldn't seem to move my body off the couch.  Emotionally, it was a rough week.

When we order pizza, we get a thin crust (NOT ETL), spinach, broccoli, mushrooms with tomato sauce.  Then we ask them to put ONLY feta cheese on top.  My husband really likes feta and I can pick most of it off.  That leaves me with less fat and salt, but still not all that nutritious. 

Then we hit the cookie swap on Saturday.  It was so fun.  Great time making new friends.  I brought some yummy raw brownies that we tweaked and renamed, Christmas Bliss Balls.

So, we brought some great, nutritious treats.  But, WOW was it hard to resist the toffee that someone else made!! And...I didn't.  I nibbled a few bites and then fought myself the rest of the weekend.  We packed away all the treats and are working to deliver them this week. 

Church potluck on Sunday but I did to really well there.  Just had my own taco salad for lunch and one of my Bliss balls for dessert.  Still, I was fixing myself toast all through the weekend, leaving me afraid to step on the scale. 

Today, I was at the same weight I've been since last Thursday, I think.  Still, way better than a gain after a weekend of poor choices. 

I was on track today and I'm looking forward to seeing what the scale holds for me tomorrow. I am SO close to the next decade!! And, it was my goal to be there by the 10th. 

Tomorrow is Picture Day!!

Another Monday Start

And the scale is down BIG! I am shocked.

This weekend I was seeing the scale going up and it was a little disappointing.  Heavy on the grains with the holiday meal and I almost didn't even get on the scale this morning.

So glad I did! Down 1.7 pounds!  That's a great motivator to STAY AWAY from the pizza at the party today.  (Ahem, yes, I was battling that temptation in my head)

I have 2.2 pounds left before I hit that next decade. Pizza ain't gonna help me meet THAT goal! 

Got a little spring in my step.  Yeah, it's a tiny bit telling that the scale sways my moods like that.  I need to work on keeping my eyes on the Lord.  He needs to be the source of my strength and my joy.

I AM praising Him for this.  I did say no to a lot of temptations whirling in my head this weekend.  That only comes by His power.

So close!!

I am SO close to that next decade, but it keeps eluuuuuuding me!!

And, then I went and pigged out today on a bean and sweet potato burrito from Dos Amigos, munching on the children's pb&j extras as the meal went on. Sigh.  My belly is way too full of tortillas to be comfortable.

So, likely tomorrow I will see a gain instead of getting UNDER that silly 180 mark.

When will I EVER learn????

Don't be surprised if I just ignore the scale tomorrow. :-P

Blech!

So, setting new goals wasn't a great motivator, I guess.

We headed out tonight for a dinner date. We were excited to find a local burrito place that has a vegan menu. Yay!

So, I carefully ordered my vegan bean and mushroom burrito. Yum.

Then we splurged and got the special order nachos. I wanted to try the vegan chili that topped it.

It was COVERED in cheese.  And, me, the queen of "stick to the plan" did my best to dig through the cheese to find the chili so I could enjoy it.

The cheese and chili were one.

And, instead of just setting it aside, I dug in and ate until I made my belly felt sick.  I haven't felt so full in I don't know how long.

What a mistake.  Not worth the indulgence, that's for sure. An hour later, after a walk around town, I felt sick to my stomach.  Several hours later, after shopping and coming home, I'm still sick.

Tomorrow, we juice fast and I just got hold of a detox bath protocol I'm going to try out too.

I guess I need to learn my lesson somehow, right? Cheese! When will I learn??? ;)

Bummer Day

That stinky little scale was up for the second day in a row!

Yesterday it was only up .2 pounds. No biggie. That could be anything.

Today, up .9 pounds. So, basically up a pound in the last 2 days. What??

I'm eating well and under on calories.

I'm exercising.

Sigh.

So, I was crabby about that today and fought with the "what's the point, just go get a shake" mentality while I was out with my boy today.

I didn't get the shake.

Tomorrow is a new day. 

Today was filled with my regular breakfast bowl, Indian Spiced Lentils served with romaine leaves for dipping at lunch, (I had a very small serving) and White Bean and Barley soup with some kind of funny biscuits Elizabeth made up.  Everyone had those with all fruit on them. I had a small salad.

I'm also feeling frustrated that my fingers are still swollen and my rings won't fit better. Was researching a little on that today.  Not sure what it means, though. Sigh.

Heading to bed soon.

Tomorrow is a new day. His mercies are new every morning...and every night, thankfully.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Snacky-snacky. 

That was me today.  The children and I made plans to go visit friends. I stopped to pick up some snacks for the children and caved when I saw those yummy Terra Exotic chips.  My oldest daughter and I munched on them in the van. 

We had to skip our visit due to a child getting sick on the way there.  Detour back home.  Cleaned up the house and then sunk down to enjoy a movie and snack.  More snacky. I munched on some blue corn tortilla chips and salsa. 

The food wasn't bad.  A little outside of ETL due to the oils and grains I'm supposed to avoid.  But, I really enjoyed the treat with the children. 

I felt SO full, though, by dinner time.  Maybe that was a good thing.  I made Lemony Steamed fish and chicken (separately, but same seasoning) and roasted vegetables.  I had one bite of chicken (eh, I haven't been missing much) and a small pile of vegies, only two bites of sweet potato in the mix.

I think I'm *okay* on calories for today. Maybe a bit over. But, wow, can I snack if I let myself! I really need to stick to that rule if I want to stay on track with weight loss.

I nutri-tized my taco soup recipe today.  I posted it on my recipe page. It turned out really good.  As I was eating it, I had the thought, "THIS is what I was wanting," as I remembered my frustration yesterday in finding something satisfying to eat.  I'm not sure what it was, the familiar taste/texture? This is one of our favorite meals.

Oh, and I weighed-in today. I'm calling that last weigh-in a fluke, as I'm up today. BUT, if I look at Tuesday's weigh-in compared to today's, I'm still down a pound. I will take that, for sure!

I pinned a few recipes tonight. I want to try making some crackers from juice pulp tomorrow when we finish up school.

My new habit building list has been a huge help to me.  I'm really happy with how our days are going.  We're getting lessons done and I'm pretty much keeping up with checking and grading work.  Still wishing I had a bit more time to keep up with meals, but, judging from the slow and steady progress we made with school and routine this week, I think it'll eventually come.

Wednesday, July 7, 2013

Today felt hard.

I woke up late because I stayed up too late.  I felt tired and dealing with a lack of motivation most of the day.

I still got our schooling done, got in 3 session of exercise. Though, my pre-lunch didn't happen until well after lunch.  I still got in three bits of activity with my three meals.

I'm feeling a little uninspired with food.  Maybe just bored.  We made veggie wraps today. Big bowl of lettuce and all manner of vegetables, fruit, beans, and nuts to fill it.  I was actually REALLY wanting to make a wrap for myself. It was HARD to build a salad and not enjoy that chew tortilla wrapped around it. I took a LONG time to eat my salad.  But, I was glad at the end that I didn't have the bread/grains. 

When dinner came around, I was equally down.  None of the leftovers seemed good to me.  I ended up with a small bowl of beans and a green apple with a few little pieces of walnut. I was feeling bad that I didn't have more greens or vegetables. That apple is a lot of sugar.  But, I was just plain worn out and didn't want to work so hard at feeding myself. At least I stayed on course, right? It wasn't quite the level of nutrition it should be, but it wasn't anti-nutrient either.

I need to find a good balance between prepping foods and getting school done. This is getting hard to do both.

I didn't weigh in this morning. I'm a little scared to see that the number that I was at yesterday go up because it was in error or something. 

I did got with David tonight to try some tennis. First time we've played alone. I need to change the name of that game to Chase-Balls cause that's pretty much all I did. 

Sunday, August 4, 2013

I did it. :)

This evening I was looking for something for dinner. We're mostly grazing our way through a lazy Sunday here. ;) 

As I hunted I had that "I want to feel FULL" mentality going on. I had visions of tortillas and chewy pita bread filling my belly.  I hunted.

I was pulling out foods to fill the bread.  No beans.  Well, lettuce is good. I can do lettuce and sprouts.  But, I knew that tortilla was way high in calories.  Keep hunting.

I saw that massive salad my daughter was building for herself. Yeah, salad.  Haven't had that since...ummm....okay, not since yesterday. So, a salad it is.  If I could JUST find some dressing I like!

Hunt. Hunt. Hunt.

Build. Build. Build.

Romaine and swiss chard with shredded carrots and beets.  Check.

Alfalfa sprouts...mmmm....this is getting better. Check.

Protein...fats??.....Sunflower seeds.  Check.

Texture variation?  Raisins. Check.

Dressing??  Need me some dressing.  No oily Italian.  No to the salsa my daughter is using. Not what I'm after.  The lime juice isn't the flavor for those yummy sprouts. 

Hunt. Hunt. Hunt. 

I sure do like my spicy brown mustard. What can I mix with that to make a dressing???  Too lazy.

Squirt. Squirt. Squirt. (only about 2 tsp worth)

Add a side of cold, leftover corn on the cob. 

Chew. Crunch. Chew. Crunch. 

Mmmmmm....Satisfaction.

I love that fully belly feel from foods that are nourishing me instead of weighing me down.  Walked away from the Empty Grain Craving victoriously. :)

Took a break from weighing in today.  I avoided fruits today since I felt overloaded by them yesterday.  This morning I just had some leftover stir fry for breakfast.  For lunch I gobbled up some corn chips and fresh salsa on the way home from church.  So, see? I DID have grains today and that just left me craving for more.

I had some fresh veggies and hummus and a bowl of leftover Mushroom Soup when we got home from church. Sort of an extended lunch. Then I had my salad and corn for a late dinner.

Not the best day as far as avoiding snacking.  But I'm still counting it a win that I trumped that bread craving and lazy bent for stuffing my face.

David went back to full juicing again. He has a good friend that started his juice fast today, so they are in it together.  He's looking amazing!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Real Quick:

Busy last couple of days.  Some ups, some downs.

This poison ivy has really gotten the best of me. Yesterday I could barely move my arms. I'm on David's meds and it is starting to lift a bit.

I haven't exercised for two days now. Needed to today, but got bogged down with a birthday gift project.  Yesterday was the first day I ended over on calories for the day. Bummer.

I did well today, though.  I made a very yummy French Lentil Soup from my End of Diabetes book. Turned out so good!  Who knew I really did like lima beans??

David ordered a late night pizza for the children to enjoy during bible time. Guess my soup didn't go over quite as well with them. ;)  It was SOOOO hard to resist a slice of that meat lovers delight!  But, he was sweet and ordered some plain potato skins for E and I to enjoy together.  So, we still got a treat. :)

It's been HOT here too, so no walks for me.  With David leaving early in the mornings to work now that the rain let off, I've been lazy and sleeping in.

I need to enter in the recipe for the soup so I can see how my day ended today. I'm feeling pretty confident that I'm close...but maybe over again with those potato skins.

My thrill over the scale going down-down-down ended when it went up that bit.  I need new incentive and motivation.  But, mostly, I need to get rid of this stinkin' rash so I can FEEL better and not be going crazy!!