Here I go again...but this time I mean it

[honeymo78]

Well it’s time for me to get back on track again. I’ve been absent from the Wish boards for almost a year now. This place has helped me so much the last 2 times I’ve been around – if I could only figure out how to keep it up I’d be in great shape. So here I am back again, hopefully for the long haul.

I’m 28 and have been married almost a year. I’ve always been heavy but about 3 years ago I hit my peak – nearly 250lbs. I managed to lose over 50lbs that first year, b/w almost daily walking, a month or so of WW then somewhat following those principles, and eventually just “sensible” eating combined with the exercise. While studying for the bar exam I gained some back b/w bad eating habits and not exercising. Once again I managed to lose close to 20lbs before my wedding last year. I looked great compared to what I had been before but seeing those pictures still makes me cringe a bit at how large I am. Over the last year I again gained back those 20 or so pounds. My clothes aren’t fitting, I’m getting winded walking to the office and I generally feel like crap. It’s time to get back into shape. We’ve got 2 disney trips planned for the future – one in March (hopefully) with my mom and DH and one in Oct 07 for our 2nd anniversary. I’m going to Jamaica in a week and a half for our first anniversary and I can’t promise I’ll be good but I should be a bit more active than at home (they have aqua aerobics in the main pool which I love). My DH and I want to start a family sometime in the future (maybe in 2-3 years) and I don’t want to be unhealthy and pregnant.

So my plan is relatively simple, at least to start. I want to exercise at least 3 days a week, hopefully more, but I want to make a realistic starting goal. Food will stay somewhat the same but smaller servings/fewer helpings and at work I’m going to save money for Disney trips by not buying expensive “bad for me” lunches, but try to stick to simple soups, salads and sandwiches or lean cuisine meals. I want to bring healthy snacks to work – like veggies or fruit cups, so when I’m tempted to snack I can, but do so in a healthy way.

I unofficially got started last week and exercised 2 days until I sliced open the bottom of my foot and could barely walk. However I did manage to lose 2lbs somehow. My starting weight now is 211. I want to take some pictures to see how far I’ve come. I’ve seen some great inspirational pics here and I want to make my own. My first mini goal is to get back under 200 by xmastime and walk at least 1 mile at least 3 days a week (or comparable exercise).

Here I go again….and this time I mean it.

[honeymo78]

Breakfast - fruit yogurt, coffee
Lunch - chicken ramen, peach/pear fruit cup, coke zero
Snack - 4 saltines, coffee
Dinner - small bowl of beef stew/pot roast, tater tots

Water - 3 or 4 WL mugs (yes I use my refillable mug for water at work :) ), 2 big cups at home

Exercise - 1 mile on the treadmill

[Jane E.]

Stephanie, welcome back to the Wishboards! :welcome: I hope your foot gets feeling better. Great job on the exercising and goal setting!

[honeymo78]

Thanks for stopping by Jane. My foot is much better now, thank you, and I'm back to exercising.

[honeymo78]

Off to a late start today but I'm going to make sure I still leave work at a decent hour so I can be sure to exercise tonight.

Breakfast - vanilla yogurt, coffee
Lunch - ham and cheese sandwich, chicken noodle soup, pickle, handful of pretzels, Coke zero
Snack - baked lays, diet cherry coke
Dinner - beef and snow peas, rice, veggie egg roll, fortune cookie

Water - 3-4 mugs, 3 glasses at home
Exercise - 1 mile treadmill

Not a great food day but not out of control either. My snack was a healthier choice than usual and I only got a pint of chinese instead of my usual quart.

[toystoryduo]

Welcome Back Stephanie! :Pinkbounc

Your new goals look like good ones! I know you CAN do it! :cheer2:

Have a great Tuesday! :sunny:

[TomB'sWidow]

Welcome back, try and stay focused on your goals that seems to help me :wave:

[honeymo78]

Hi Toystoryduo and TomB'swidow :) Thanks for stopping by and all the encouraging words.

[honeymo78]

Ugh - I'm in full bloat mode this morning with the arrival of TOM. I already went nuts with breakfast - 2 buttered bagels when 1 would have been plenty or I could have had the yogurt I brought with me. I really need to stick to my pasta bowl for lunch and fruitcup or applesauce for snack and get plenty of water in today.

Breakfast - 2 buttered bagels, coffee
Lunch - pasta bowl, milky way mini, coke zero
Snack - caramel soy crisps, crackers w/pb, diet cherry coke
Dinner - 2 roast beef and cheese sandwiches, diet dr pepper
Snack - oatmeal w/tsp of pb

Water - 5+ mugs (stopped counting after 5), 1 big cup at home

Not a great food day but it could have been much worse.

[honeymo78]

Today will be a better day. I'm losing some of the TOM bloat and hopefully have some of my snacking under control.

Breakfast - med fruit salad

[CJK]

Welcome back to WISH!!! :cheer2: My story is quite similar to yours so I understand those ups and downs. You sound like you've got that determination. Just think of how strong and healthy you're going to feel - not to mention how gorgeous! Keep up the great work. We're all in this together! :goodvibes

[honeymo78]

Yesterday was pretty much a complete loss for me. Work was horrible - didn't snack but had a huge lunch. Then had to pick up my phone from UPS b/c no one was here to sign for it. DH also surprised me with dinner at outback after he heard how crappy my day was going. Lets just say I didn't hold back at dinner and we didn't get home in time for me to exercise either. Oh well, I don't plan on having any more days like that this week.

[toystoryduo]

Hi Stephanie~

Don't worry too much about yesterday.... Today is a new day! :sunny: Hope you have a great weekend!

~Tracy

[honeymo78]

Hi CJK and Tracy :wave: Today has been much better even though not perfect.

Breakfast - donut and bagel, coffee
Lunch - bagel and soy crisps, coke zero
Snack - single serving teddy graham bag

Water - didn't count today but I'm pretty sure it was at least 3 mugs

[honeymo78]

I'm back from Jamaica and ready to get back on track with a healthy lifestyle. I'm not going to post here everday since I'm posting in the biggest loser threads and I hate repeating myself. While on vacation my DH and I talked about some longterm goals so hopefully he's now committed to getting healthy too. I set a few mini goals for myself and I'm putting them down here so I don't forget them.

1) weigh in under 200lbs (approx 15lb loss) by the end of the year - as a reward I get to color my hair once I hit that mark
2) weigh in under 185 by the end of March (another 15lbs) - hopefully it will be before then since we are going to disney in early march
3) weigh in under 160 (another 15lbs) by the end of the summer 07 - I want to look and feel great for our 2nd anniversary at disney in Oct but I want to be able to buy new clothes so I'm setting the goal early.

I'd really love to be at 150 by this time next year but that is about 65lbs and I'm not sure if that is too high of a goal to set for myself so I've set the goal at 160. My "rewards" for hitting the 2nd and 3rd goals haven't been set yet but I know the 3rd will probably include a bikini to show off the new me. I'll probably be treating myself to a monthly mani and pedi if I keep up with exercise and weight loss for the month - I need a little extra motivation.

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Stephanie, welcome home from Jamaica! I just read through your journal and I am glad you came back to WISH. I was once on WISH too, took some time off and returned about six months ago. It has helped me immensely! You look like you are really serious and dedicated in this, you have set some awesome and realistic goals. Good for you wanting to lose weight and be healthy before you start your family. I can't think of better motivation than that. I hope you are having a great weekend, keep up your hard work it will pay off for all of us if we just hang in there! :wave:

[toystoryduo]

Hi Stephanie,

Welcome Back! I hope you had a great time in Jamaica! :sunny:

Your goals for the upcoming year look good. You CAN do it, Stephanie! :cheer2:

Hope you have a great Sunday! :sunny:

[CJK]

Welcome back! Did you have a nice trip? I'd like to go to Jamaica sometime.

You do sound like you've got the right mindset and your goals are very reasonable. You can do this and all your WISH buddies are here for you!!!! :cheer2:

[bekkiz]

I think that your goals sound right on track! I love the idea of treating yourself each month you stay on track--what a great call!

I had a really hard time about asking my DH to help me stick with my goals, but it sounds like your husband will be helping you. That can only make success come even easier!

Good luck--I'm right there with you :)

[honeymo78]

:wave: Thanks everyone for stopping by. Your encouragement means a lot to me.

Well I’m back to my journal now since I gave up my spot on the biggest loser team. I just have been too busy to keep up with the team even though I have been trying to keep on track. Since there was a waiting list I thought it wouldn’t be fair to keep my spot.

When I got back from Jamaica I had gained a couple pounds taking me up to 216. This morning I finally saw a loss – 1.5lbs. I’m very happy that even after a run in with pizza and wings plus TOM this week I managed to finally lose something. I also got in 3 days of exercise before TOM took me out of the mood so maybe that helped. I don’t think I’ll hit 5 for Oct but I hope I’ll get rid of some of it.

I’m still aiming for 200 by the end of the year. This month’s setbacks aren’t helping but I’m not going to give up. I really need to be in better shape, especially with another trip coming at the beginning of March. I get winded walking up the stairs (however I’m fine when I’m on the treadmill), how will I make it walking all day in Disney? Even days I don’t formally exercise I still walk 2 blocks to the train from where I park my car and another 2 blocks from the train to work, plus I don’t take the escalator in the train station so that’s 2 flights of stairs. I don’t want to imagine the shape I’d be in if I didn’t get in that little bit of exertion.

I have all these reasons for motivation but when will they actually kick in? I really need a haircut but I also want to get my hair colored which is my reward for getting back to 200. I guess I’m going to have to break down and get a trim before that happens. I also have this picture at my desk at work from our trip in 2004 with DH, my mom and brother. By no means was I in great shape but I weighed about 25lbs less than I do now, walked a mile almost every day and I think I look pretty good, especially compared to what I look like now. My mom has also lost a lot of weight lately due to having to restrict her diet b/c of pre-diabetes. Right there are 2 reasons to get in shape. I don’t want to end up with diabetes (although it might not be avoidable but the better shape I am in the lower my risk gets) and my mom looks and feels great and I want that too. She’s down to about 165 from 200+lbs. I’d be happy if I was that size. I know it will take me longer to get there since I’m not cutting out all the foods she had to but obviously it’s doable. While our genes will never allow us to be tiny women, my mom is showing me that we definitely don’t have to be fat.

DH suggested a few days ago that I should join a gym again. I really don’t want to since the ones nearby don’t have a pool and I love to swim – the Y has one but it’s a half hour away and its hard enough to find time to exercise. Some days DH is so committed to helping me then other days I really wonder what is going through his head. Like tomorrow for dinner we’re having oven fries instead of fried potatoes. Yet some days when I say I’m going to exercise after dinner, usually just in the basement on the treadmill since it’s getting too dark to walk outside at night, he’ll make a face or complain or something. It’s hard enough for me to exercise even when everyone is on board.

Last weekend we went to visit DH’s friend from work. His wife just had a baby 2 weeks ago – he’s so adorable and tiny. It reminded me again of how I need to get in shape if we want to have a family. She was in pretty good shape before the baby, but obviously it will take even her some time to bounce back. We hope to buy a house in 2 years (another prerequisite for our family) and I don’t want reach that point and still not be anywhere physically ready for a pregnancy. I’ll be 30 by then and I don’t want to wait forever. And speaking of babies, I start a new birth control pill tomorrow – seasonale, well the generic version. Hopefully I won’t end up gaining extra weight (never did with any others) and we’ll see how it affects my mood.

Okay enough venting – it really is great to have a place to put down all my thoughts and know I won’t be judged for whining or whatever. It makes me feel better to get that stuff out – especially to people who can relate and someone other than DH.

[honeymo78]

I should have weighed myself today and not yesterday. Yes, I am one of those people that hop on the scale almost everyday. Well this morning I was down another 2 lbs but I’ll wait until next week and hopefully I’ll see that loss again plus a little more. Maybe I can make 5lbs for October.

Food was okay yesterday, not great. I had a muffin for breakfast, a teriyaki noodle bowl and fruit cup for lunch and peanut butter crackers for snack. Then I asked DH to pick me up from work and he suggested we get cheesesteaks from Pats since we were already in the city. It took forever to get there between traffic and a small detour around some construction but boy was that cheesesteak yummy. I also had some regular soda *gasp* and we stopped at 7/11 and I got a king cone but no slurpee. I didn’t feel too bad since I had been good while eating at work. No exercise though since it was almost 8 by the time we got home and I just wanted to crash on the couch.

I got in some exercise this morning though. I had to walk 6 blocks to the train station to pick up my car since DH drove me home last night. I know it wasn’t much exercise but every little bit helps. I don’t know if I’ll get in some walking tonight since its trash night (lots of stuff needs to go out) and I’ll be at work again until dinner time. I might try and squeeze in even 15 min but I also want to spend time with DH.

I have no idea what I’m going to do for lunch. I forgot to bring something from home so I might end up with going to the drug store and picking up the same thing I had yesterday. I didn’t eat some oatmeal until 10:30 so I still have plenty of time to think about what I want for lunch.

*EDIT* Lunch was not healthy at all. DH has been trying to get me to try this gourmet burger place near work to see if it's any good so we can eat there when we are both in the city. Well it is good- I had a Kobe burger with applewood smoked bacon and carmelized onions and a small side of fresh cut fries. Very yummy. I made sure not to snack at work today because of it though. I did get some extra walking out of it too - about 4 city blocks each way.

[honeymo78]

As predicted, no exercise last night…and I probably ate too much at dinner. We had turkey and gravy on bread, oven fries and corn and I went back for seconds. It was late when we finally ate and I was famished.

Today started out kind of rough. The train ended up getting me to work a half hour late and I have no idea why we sat on the tracks for 30min going nowhere. I also found out that there are a lot more calories in the muffins I’ve been eating for breakfast than I though. I guess I’ll just stick to oatmeal or a bagel, although those muffins do fill me up andkeep me happy until about 1pm. This afternoon I found out that we have a tight deadline for a project I’m working on so it looks like I’m putting in close to 11 hours today. I will not be exercising when I get home. If I can get out at a reasonable hour tomorrow I need to do some laundry and get in some walking while it’s washing.

Food today was a pumpkin muffin for breakfast. For lunch I had a pasta bowl. Dinner is not agreeing with me though. I got a ham and cheese hoagie with no mayo or oil and plenty of veggies plus some macaroni salad (this is what I think is making my tummy unhappy). I’m not sure what nutritional value I got out of dinner since I’m not sure what exactly ended up staying with me. I’m sure DH will be hungry when he picks me up from work even though I’m hoping he grabs something between work and the errands he has to run. I’m really going to work hard to just eat some applesauce or a fruit cup if I feel the need to snack when I get home.

[honeymo78]

I’ve been meaning to update my journal for the past couple of days and I’m finally getting around to doing it.
Good news – I haven’t snacked all week with the exception of yesterday's meltdown.
Bad news – I haven't exercised all week, water consumption has been low – I’ve been putting in some extra hours at work on a project so I’ve been beat when I get home and the office itself is so cold that the last thing I want is cold water. I think I’ll just have to let it sit for a while before I drink it.

Okay back to Monday night. As predicted DH wanted food when we got home around 9 but I was good and just had some diet tea. Tuesday I had oatmeal and a banana for breakfast (I think or maybe a bagel – one was tues and the other was weds). Lunch was beef lo mein and wonton soup and I had hamburger helper with dinner. Each had some veggies with it so it wasn’t entirely bad, although I ate more hamburger than I needed to just because I was tired and hungry. Wednesday was the other thing for breakfast, beef barley soup and a roast beef sandwich for lunch and homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner (I ate way more than I needed to but I love it so much and there are worse things I could pig out on). I even said no to a slurpee run when we realized we needed carrots for the soup. Thursday I had a muffin for breakfast, a pasta bowl for lunch and more soup and bread for dinner (didn’t overdo it this time). Friday was an English muffin with honey for breakfast and beef and snow peas and wonton soup for lunch. Over the past few days I’ve tried to drink more hot tea instead of coffee since I’ve been too cold for just water. It hasn’t worked out perfectly but at least its better than nothing. Friday dinner was the last of the chicken soup and some toast with peanut butter. Saturday was a bad day. Brunch was a coke slurpee, a 99cent bag of sour cream and onion chips and peanut butter tastykakes. Dinner, probably the best choices of the day, was some buffalo wings, French onion soup, and prime rib. We skipped dessert but later that night while watch movies I had some popcorn with butter and half a pint of ben and jerrys. To make it worse – still no exercise.

Today for brunch I had homestyle chicken noodle soup and a chicken salad sandwich. Who know what dinner will be. Probably something made with hamburger meat and then some pierogis. Exercise, who knows. I still have some laundry to do before DH gets home from work around 6 but I don’t get home until 5. I think I just need to bite the bullet and get my butt on the treadmill while the wash is going (hopefully it won’t take long to put away the clean clothes from yesterday so I have an empty basket). Plus I’ll already be in the basement so I can give the kitty litter a scoop since trash goes out tonight and I won’t have to do it later.

I’m hoping next week will be better with exercise. I know that it is key for me if I want to lose weight. I find it hard to cut my food back enough that I have steady weightloss so getting my body moving is the way to go (and then I don’t feel so deprived of food that I go nuts and binge). I also have to work out a new schedule since septa changed the train schedule and the express no longer stops at my station. It means I have to get up either a half hour earlier (tough for not a morning person) and get in a little more time at work each day, or I can get up about 15 minutes later (and no I can’t get up at the same time and exercise instead, I’m lucky I get out the door) and catch a later train and stay at work until 6:30 instead of 6. Ugh, and I was finally getting back into the swing of things before that project and now the schedule change. Oh well, I’ll adapt.

Oh and I didn't weigh in yesterday but I did today. The scale hasn't moved - still at 213.5 from last saturday. I know it had to do with not exercising and not getting enough water.

[CJK]

Here's to a GREAT week of exercise, good eatin' and water consumption! I too wasn't so great on the exercise last week, so let's do it together. :thumbsup2 Don't worry too much about the scale not moving. At least it didn't go uip! From all I've read, you really know what works and what doesn't and are doing a great job. Keep up the great work!!!!

[honeymo78]

I think I’m getting the week off to a good start. We can do it CJK, I know we can!!

Sunday night I blew off laundry – it can wait until next weekend – and went for a walk before it got dark instead. Woohoo!! Dinner was pierogis, noodles, and corn. I did kind of ruin things with some ben and jerrys but it was about 1 serving and not a whole container.

Yesterday I had a muffin for breakfast and a wendy’s blt salad for lunch. Not a great choice but I only ate a few of DHs fries and couple bites of his burger. Dinner was Chinese and I focused on eating the meat and veggies and left most of the rice on my plate. I did have some regular soda because they were out of diet. I had a snack too last night, fresh popped popcorn with no butter – well DH gave me a few of his kernels which had some butter on them but that was by accident.

Today has been good so far. I have managed to avoid most of the Halloween candy in the office. I ate one small chocolate dum dum pop. Breakfast again was a muffin and lunch was egg salad with lettuce tomato and onion, chicken noodle soup, and a handful of pretzels and 2 pickles.

I have to work a little later tonight than I planned so I don’t think I’ll be handing out any candy – I’d still have to buy it anyway and it might be better to just keep it out of the house. Just as I thought I was done with special projects at work, another one lands in my lap. My plan is to get in some treadmill time when I get home tonight and do the same tomorrow. I’m not going to worry about Thurs or Fri – if it happens, great – and focus on getting in another walk on Saturday.

[honeymo78]

okay so I was reading through my own journal and I've learned that I must be slow because somehow I got it into my head that losing 1.5lbs when at 216 and weighing in on Sun at 213.5 are the same thing. DOH!!!! I should be celebrating because I lost 1lb last week and I'm 2.5 for october!

[toystoryduo]

Way to go on losing 2.5 pounds so far, Stephanie! :cheer2: Keep up the good work!!! :cheer2:

[honeymo78]

Here’s a recap of the past few days:

Tuesday night I did get on the treadmill as soon as I got home – okay I did book our March trip with the Disney Visa code first but that only took a few minutes. For dinner we ended up driving out to Scheetz and I got a meatball sub. So very yummy!

Thursday I somehow forgot to eat breakfast. I had planned on eating some oatmeal but that never happened. Lunch was beef lo mein and wonton soup and a little dum dum pop. I ended up needing a snack so I had some peanut butter crackers and a funsize bag of M&Ms. Dinner was chicken fingers and tater tots. Again I was good and got on the treadmill for a mile when I got home from work. I was up late last night trying to figure out our dining plans for March and working out airfare. So here’s the funny way things ended up. Airfare is super expensive for March, especially when we are used to paying $200pp roundtrip. However if we leave for Disney late Sat night instead of Sunday we can get the $200 airfare. Even with adding another night on to our reservation, we still come out $100 ahead plus since we added it to our package we’ll get another day of dining out of it. We won’t get into Orlando until 10:30 but it was only $75 more to add a “package” night instead of just getting a room only ressie. It was definitely worth it to basically add dining for 3 people for that $75. Of course we didn’t add another day of park tickets since we won’t be able to use them that night. Now I’m super excited to leave a day early and basically get an extra half day at Disney. We do have to use 2 different airlines – USair going down and Southwest coming back but that’s no big deal. They are still nonstop flights and were nice and cheap. Maybe stuff would have gone down if we waited but we didn’t want to run the risk of having to pay out the nose for airfare if waited too long. The cheapest we’ve ever gotten was $160pp so $200 was just fine and I doubt we’d get much better of a deal.

Friday I had some apples and cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast and a subway 12 inch veggie sub for lunch. A 6inch of veggies is never enough so I go with the bigger sandwich. I made almost all of our dining ressies that afternoon and got all the times I wanted. I had no problems booking the backstage magic tour and HDDR when I got home. Dinner was chicken and tater tots again.

Yesterday I played hookey and went to the zoo. We were there a couple hours and I got in plenty of walking. Brunch was 2 banana pancakes and a milkshake! Later in the day I had a pickle for a snack. Dinner was pot roast . I had couple cups of plain popcorn while we watched a movie and then had some milk and cookies (100 calorie pack of keebler fudge stripes – yummy!)

I think I’m catching a cold :( I was all stuffy when I woke up and I’ve got that tickle in my throat. I didn’t get to work quite as early as I had hoped for but at least I’m here. I might not stay as late as I had originally planned, but we’ll see how the day goes. Since I didn’t get any housework done yesterday – read DH’s laundry that I didn’t do last week – I still need to get to that stuff this week and it’s a lot easier to do when DH isn’t around. That means I need to be home by 7 to get at least one load done before he gets home at 8. If I feel better, I’ll try and get some treadmill time in while I’m doing the laundry but if not, I won’t worry about it. I don’t want to get full blown sick. Since I hadn’t planned on taking off on Friday I’ll have to come to the office on Sunday so its likely I won’t get home early enough to get some exercise in. Oh well, even without doing anything today I’ve exercised formally 3 days plus all the walking at the zoo must count for something. Since my goal is 3 days I think I’m doing great!!

So far today I had a bagel for breakfast. I think I’ll have a wrap and some soup for lunch. I’m really craving those comfort foods with this cold business. For dinner hopefully I can convince DH to find something on his own so I can make quesadillas – just fresh tomato, onion and cheddar cheese cooked in the quesadilla maker. I haven’t made them at home in ages so I’m really looking forward to it.

[honeymo78]

Well it’s been a while since I last checked in and I haven’t been staying on track. I got in absolutely no planned exercise last week :sad: but of course I only have myself to blame for that. There were at least 2 opportunities where I just decided to be a slug instead of doing something. My eating this week has been okay, I did stumble a few times and did some emotional eating. I also walked to a Drs appointment which was about 5 city blocks away so I guess that’s good. Water intake was okay but again not great, mainly because my section of the office is freezing and drinking lots of water makes me even colder. Before long I’ll be wearing gloves at my desk and searching the house for the little space heater (assuming they’d let me use it at work). I have gotten better at choosing lemon tea instead of coffee to warm up with although I still have a cup of coffee in the morning.

There was a little bit of good news this week though – I lost .5lbs! I really just need to buckle down and get some exercise in – just 3 days – and I know it would make a huge difference. But, as with almost everything in my life, I am a huge procrastinator and I keep putting off the exercise until it gets to the point where I’m either too tired that day or DH is home and we’re having dinner.

We’re also struggling a little with DH’s new job. The store he moved to isn’t doing as well as expected so he’s not getting a full commission which we were really hoping for. We certainly don’t need it to pay bills but it was going to allow us to get those credit cards closer to being paid off (yes we fell into that trap during college and grad school and we’re digging out of it now). So I’ve decided to try and get some more hours in a work each week so there will be a couple hundred extra at the end of the month to pay stuff off. This means longer days at work (10hrs a day instead of 8 or 9) and coming in one day on the weekend – which I do anyway. DH is trying to get a transfer to another store which is more productive (and closer to home) but there are no guarantees that they will pick him for the open position, but at least he’s looking. Any extra :wizard: would be wonderful. DH also might go back to school in Jan to get another masters – this time in adult education. He thinks this would help him at work since he wants to get into management/training. While it would mean taking out another student loan, there is a good chance he’d get almost all of it reimbursed through work. Plus if he takes out a little more than he needs for classes we could use that to get rid of a cc or two since the interest on student loans is so much lower than the ccs. We’d rather have federal student loan debt than cc debt.

I’m going to try and get in a 15 min walk during a break today at work. I really can’t get away with much more than that but I figure every little bit helps. DH works late 2 nights this week so hopefully, even with me working late, I’ll be able to get in a bit of exercise before he comes home. I wish our streets had more street lamps because I would still love to walk outside since it hasn’t gotten really cold yet but I’m never home when its still light out. Does anyone here walk outside at night? I’m not concerned about the neighborhood and it wouldn’t be very late, maybe 7ish, but I’m still not quite sure.

[honeymo78]

Yesterday was pretty good food wise, although my tummy started grumbling in the late afternoon and I got a small bag of pretzels to eat (about 200cals). It ended up being a good idea since dinner wasn't ready until about 8pm and I managed not to overeat since I wasn't starving. I also took a 15min walk as part of my lunch break - it wasn't that much but it definitely got my heart rate up.

Today I had pancakes and bacon for brunch. I had a few less strips of bacon than usual so I'm happy about that. We're going out to dinner with my mom tonight since DH needs to help her set up her internet - she finally is getting DSL instead of dial-up! Its my favorite diner/greasy spoon and I'll be getting a cheesesteak and gravy fries. I know, not a great choice but this place is only open oct-may and I don't get to go very often so I want to enjoy myself. Plus I'm not having lunch today - the 2 big meals should be plenty of food. I've got to get a few things done around the house then I'm off for a walk while DH is at the drs office.

[CJK]

Sorry to be MIA recently! Last week may not have had a lot of exercise, but you still managed a loss. Way to go!! :sunny: That tells me that you're getting the hang of the healthy eating. You sound determined to get back on track with the exercise, so there will be no stopping you!

I'm not sure about walking at night by yourself. I don't do it here, so I can't speak from experience. Maybe you could walk with a friend or at least wear bright clothing and carry your cell phone? Could you wait and walk with dh once he gets home? Be safe in whatever you decide to do.

Have a great week!

[honeymo78]

Good to see you again CJK :) I've decided that if I do walk at night I'll wear very bright clothes, always carry my cell (and let DH know I'm going) plus try and find the better lit streets since some seem to have more lights than others. Also it seems that around 7pm a lot of people have lights on in their houses so that helps keep the sidewalk brighter.

Yesterday I only ended up walking for 15-20 minutes. It was just sprinkling when I left the house but about 5 min into the walk it started to pour. I kept going since I wore my raincoat but I was moving a bit slower than usual and just didn't feel so great - a little lightheaded and warm (probably from the raincoat, I don't usually wear one when walking cause I get hot). At least it was some exercise and I'm proud of myself for that. I did end up eating a cup of soup (one of my fave 100cal or less snacks) when I got back home. I just needed a little bit of energy.

Dinner went as planned but getting my mom's computer set up took a lot longer than expected. She had tons up updates that needed to be done since she could never get them to finish when she was on dialup and she had a bunch of spy ware we had to remove. My mom kept trying to feed us and I had a handful of walnuts and a package of pumpkin seeds (only 40cals in the seeds but they were super salty). Not a great end to the evening but I could have pigged out on the chips she kept offering me. I also had a couple of glasses of crystal light :)

I was so tired when we got home that I pretty much fell right into bed and didn't want to get up this morning. I have no plans of exercising tonight and probably not tomorrow either. I had a bagel w/lite cream cheese for breakfast and I'm planning on some chinese food for lunch. I know chinese food isn't the best but its lots of veggies, brown rice not white and a very sensible portion size. And of course I just love wonton soup.

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Stephanie, I think you are doing great. You are losing and getting some activity in, not easy to do this time of year. And I think you can do well at the Chinese place if you stick to your very smart plan. Keep up the good work, you can do it!

[DisDee]

I'm having the same dilemma with my walking. My DH and I used to walk in the evening but now that its dark so early, I had to come up with an alternate plan. I've started walking at lunch time, and sometimes we hit the mall at night. Just be safe with the route that you chose, and let someone know that route. My DD used to do the night walks, but like you, she always had her cell. By the way, I live on the other side of the river, near the Cherry Hill Mall.

Good luck to you in reaching your goals! Slow and steady wins the race. Denise

[honeymo78]

Hi Amy and Denise :wave:

Denise, I remember when it was a treat to go shopping at the Cherry Hill Mall for xmas when I was little. It's always nice to hear from people nearby. I haven't managed to get in any night walks yet but I noticed driving home that only one side of the street has lamps so I'll be sure to walk on that side.

Amy, thanks for stopping by. I really love the little chinese truck I get my food from. Their veggies always seem much fresher than going to the restaurant, plus they are cheaper and smaller portions so I don't feel the need to overeat since I over paid. Plus eating at the chinese truck keeps me from stopping at the ones that serve burgers and cheesesteaks :rotfl:

Last night I had a KFC bowl for dinner and 2 biscuits. I was just starved by the time I got home. Breakfast today was a muffin and lunch was pork w/snow peas and wonton soup. Dinner - who knows? DH is off today since he had a drs appt so he is in charge of food. He found out he needs to have surgery to fix his sinus problems. We aren't really happy about that but if it will make him better we've got to do it. On a happier note, his old manager asked him to come to her store (which is near my work). He may start there as soon as Dec 1 (:wizard: for that date) or once they hire someone to replace him at his current location. I really want him downtown for the bulk of holiday season since he'll have more opportunities to make money which we'll need with his surgery which requires a week off from work to recover from. I'm sure everything will work out. At least one stressful thing was replaced with another instead of me having to deal with both at one time.

[CJK]

Sorry to hear about dh's surgery. You're right though, if it helps him feel better, than it's worth it in the long run. Glad to hear he may be moving to a different work location - hopefully in time for the holidays. Hope your week is going well so far! :sunny:

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Stephanie, sorry about your dh's sinus problems. Surgery is a bummer but if it does the trick very worth it. Good job with the chinese food. I want a Chinese truck to bring me some decent food! You are doing very well, I agree with DisDee, slow and steady is the best way!

[toystoryduo]

Hi Stephanie,

You are doing a great job getting your walks in. :thumbsup2 Please be careful at night, though. :hug:

I'm sorry to hear about your DH's sinus problems.... I hope that the surgery will help fix everything for him. Please let us know when the surgery is so that we can send good thoughts and prayers his way. :grouphug:

It sounds like moving to a new work location will be a benefit to your DH... I hope that everything works out for him. :goodvibes

Have a wonderful day! Keep up the good work! :thumbsup2

[honeymo78]

Thanks for stopping by ladies :sunny: DH talked to his mom about his surgery, she works at a hospital, and she said what he is having done is rather routine. He'll just look like someone beat him up afterwards (swelling and black/blue). His surgery is scheduled for Jan 16. The Dr wanted it sooner but DH really can't take time off during the holidays and its not like the condition is life threatening. Oh, and it's official, DH is moving to the other store 12/1 - we are both so happy!

Last night we had chicken tenders and tater tots, then I went crazy on the popcorn while we watched a movie, but at least it was barely buttered (maybe half a tbsp) and I didn't have any chips or other snacks. Breakfast was a whole grain bagel with lite cream cheese. I really enjoyed it. I was worried that it would taste funny but it was actually very good. I opted for something a bit more healthy for lunch, especially since I'll probably go get chinese again tomorrow. I had a veggie sub from subway, basically salad on a roll. Dinner won't be until sometime after 8pm and I'm going to do my best to keep it from being fast food but we really need to hit the grocery store soon so I'm not sure what I'll come up with. I'm going to try and get in a quick walk when I get home from work. I have to throw some clothes in the washer but I'm not sure how much time I'll have before DH gets home. Even 15 minutes would make me happy.

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Stephanie, good job with the salad sub. And I hope you got a walk in, you are right a short walk is still a very good thing. That is great news your dh is starting at the other store, its a good time of year to be in a better location! I hope you have a great weekend!

Amy

[honeymo78]

just a quick check in - I'm down 1lb this week!! I got in 3 days of exercise (about 20 min each time) and was good with food and water. I know I can do this.

[DisDee]

Good for you Stephanie! Congrats on the weight loss and getting that exercise in. We're all in this together and YES...you can do it!

[CJK]

Good news about dh's new store location and the fact that his surgery is fairly routine. Congrats on the weightloss!! :sunny: Isn't that great motivation? Keep up the great work. Those "salads on a bun" seem to be doing the trick! Have a great weekend!!

[toystoryduo]

Happy Thanksgiving Stephanie! :goodvibes

Congratulations on losing 1 pound! :Pinkbounc Keep up the good work! :thumbsup2