Amber's "2009 will be my year!" journal (CW)

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, it's that time of year again when I start a new journal. This will be my fourth year keeping a WISH journal and I hope to me more successful this year than I have been in the previous three!! :cool1:

A brief intro for those of you who may not know me:

I'm 30, married, and work full time as a social worker. I've been overweight my whole teen and adult life, but actually recently have gained up to my highest weight. DH and I have been married for 6 years (7 in April) and finally started trying to have children last summer. I'm really excited about that and am ready emotionally! I have been wanting to lose some weight first but ended up going in the wrong direction.

One thing is that I have begun drinking more heavily than I ever had in the past. It is really dumb, but I kept thinking "better drink now cause once I'm pregnant I can't drink for at least 18 months". That began kind of a downward spiral in my thinking. Anyway, I'm ready to get back on track with that. I'm not going to say I won't drink at all, but I'm going to work on making it VERY minimal.

I also want to exercise more this year and eat better. My eating isn't terrible most days. It gets worse when I eat out mostly. Regular exercise is what I'm truely lacking.

SO, that brings me to my New Year New Mii Challenge!! :yay: Dh and I just bought a Wii with our Christmas money and I really want a Wii Fit!! So, I will challenge myself to do some of the things that I find hard and I will earn money for doing (or not doing) something. And I will lose money for certain things also. So far the challenge looks like this:

$10 for every 7 days in a row that I do not drink any alcohol. If I have any, my 7 days restarts on the next day.

$10 for every work week in which I don't eat out for lunch. If I eat out even once I don't get my money for the week. If I eat out twice in a week I lose $5. Also if, while eating out, I make a choice that is particularly fatty or fried, then I lose $2.

$1 per pound lost. If I gain it back before buying the Wii Fit then the money comes back out of the pot. Basically I will have a start weight and a finish weight and that will decide how much money comes from weight (I will weigh weekly though)

$.50 for every half hour of working out that I do.

$1.00 for each WISH Biggest Loser weekly challenge that I complete.

That is the plan for right now. It may end up being tweaked just a bit as I go along. I am hoping to have enough to buy my Wii Fit in 6 to 8 weeks. Then I will set a new goal.

I technically started the challenge yesterday. I am sick though and felt too bad yesterday to post. I stayed home from work today and slept for 13 hours total! I feel a good bit better having gotten the extra sleep. I have a bad sore throat and cough though. Yesterday if I walked from my living room to my bedroom and back I felt like I had run a mile! :upsidedow

I am going to start posting my exercise, food, and challenge info each day.

Yesterday:
L - onion rings, salad w/ ranch, croissant, chicken pot pie (Cheddar's), we went out w/ friends
D & snacks (i was sick so just munched a lot) - half a bagel, can of chick. noodle soup, pack of oatmeal, quarter of a bagel, cookie. I think that's it.

No alcohol! It helped that I didn't feel good :thumbsup2
No exercise.

Today so far I've had oatmeal and coffee.

Well, I think that is it for right now. I'll check in regularly to update. :goodvibes

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! It looks like you have a good plan worked out. I think you should make an actual container to put the money in too, just to make sure. A Wii Fit piggy bank or something.

Hope you feel better soon and have fun with the new Wii!

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Linda. I'm starting to feel a little bit better. I'm still really tired and cough constantly, but my throat is less sore today.

We played a little bit of Wii Sports earlier today and I played a bit of Rayman Raving Rabbids yesterday. It makes me way tired, but I've just been playing in short bursts.

I forgot to post my weight yesterday for a starting point. 218 :scared: My official highest weight. I hope to keep that the highest and not see it again!!

Yesterdays food:
oatmeal, coffee
can chicken noodle soup, half bagel w/ cream cheese and turkey, cookie
porkchop, lima beans, asparagus
.25 of bagel w/ cream cheese
hot tea
Again I didn't really have specific meals, but kind of snacked throughout the day.

Today we ran to the Fresh Market to pick up a few things and replenish my chicken soup supply :thumbsup2

So far I've eaten half of a chicken salad croissant sandwich (it was Delish) and half of a can of chicken noodle soup. I'm pretty hungry right now, but DH is cooking dinner so I'll be eating soon. We are having chicken, broccoli, and artichoke pasta. Dh is a great cook so I'm sure it will be Good! I'll probably have the rest of my soup later also.

No alcohol yesterday and I'm not having any today either.
No exercise either.

Guess that's it so far. I'm still taking it pretty easy since I'm not feeling too good. We were supposed to take down the Christmas decorations today, but I just didn't feel like it. We'll get it done sometime.

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber!

What is Rayman Raving rabbids? I haven't heard of that one, should I check it out?

I hope you feel better soon. Kudos on the no booze, too!

later!

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Linda. Rayman Raving Rabbids is a bunch of mini games that all vary. It is kind of goofy, but fun. It is hard to describe. One of the games you swing a cow around and throw it. In another, you close the doors of outhouses w/ bunnies in them. There is also a rhythm game sort of like guitar hero. We have enjoyed it so far.

I'm still a bit under the weather, but I think the cold is finally starting to get a little bit better. I went to the doctor today, but she said since it is viral there isn't much she can do for me. :sick: I did go to work today, but wasn't able to get a whole lot done.

Since I'm still sick I haven't gotten in any workouts. In fact, when I came home from work today I took a nap instead :rotfl: But, I'm determined that I will get going on the exercise as soon as I feel better! I figure not tomorrow, but hopefully Wednesday.

Food today:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - half a chicken salad croissant sandwich, half a can of chicken noodle soup
s - V8 fusion strawberry bannana smoothie thing
s - part of an apple, handful of mixed nuts
d - leftover chicken, broccoli, artichoke pasta
that's about 1328 calories so far. My stomach is growling though, so I've got to figure out a good snack.

Yesterday
l- leftover half of california style burrito, chicken noodle soup
s - coffee, fruit juice
d - homemade soup, quarter of a bagel
s - baked potato w/ a little butter and cheese
I'm not sure if I had something else.... I think so, but I can't really remember.

No Alcohol either day!

I weighed this morning and am down 2 pounds so far :cool1: but that is from not feeling well. I just hope I keep that off and more once I'm feeling better.

Well, gonna relax a bit before bed.

[DisDee]

Hi Amber, sorry to hear that your not feeling all that well. Napping after work is probably just what you need right now, and you shouldn't feel guilty about that. You'll work out again when you're feeling a little better. Take it easy on yourself and get better soon!

[lindalinda]

Feel better Amber! It's 2009! I had to write that yesterday and I messed it up. :goodvibes

nite

linda:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, guys! I'm actually felling a lot better today. I still have a little cough, but I'm mostly better. I didn't get up and exercise this morning, because I wanted to allow myself one more day to recover. I will be exercising tomorrow though.

We played an hour of Wii this evening though. I played a few new games on the Wii Play game. They are pretty tame, but I did stand while playing them. Then we did boxing and bowling on the Wii Sports. The boxing wears me out. We only did those two for about 20 minutes total though. It isn't really a workout, but I like that it gets me off the couch for a bit.

Food today:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - chicken sandwich (no lettuce or cheese today), chicken rotini veggie soup
s - apple
s - half a bottle of Green Goodness
d - chicken & veggie curry over couscous (DH says specifically it was Vindaloo:rolleyes: )
So I'm at around 1200 calories for today so far.

I was very proud of myself this afternoon. My coworker, M, who supposedly wants to lose 50lbs for a wedding in October that she's in, is a Terrible diet saboteur! She can find an excuse to be bad anytime and is somewhat negative. Anyway, she's not really trying to lose any weight and I think has given up on the idea already, but I keep trying to encourage her.

So, this afternoon she starts talking about wanting Ice Cream! I said I'm going to eat the apple I brought for my snack. Well, anyway, she and our other friend, L, decided they would go to the convenience store that is across the street. I walked with them, but ate my apple and did not buy anything. I even was able to convince L to get a V8 Fusion and pretzels instead of a Twinkie or Ice Cream. M ended up getting a Drumstick Ice Cream. :sad2: I was proud of myself for not even considering getting a bad for me snack! :cheer2:

Here is my food from yesterday:
B - kashi, milk, coffee
L - Chicken sandwich w/ cheese, apple
s - reese cup
d - Chicken salad, potato salad, spinich dip, crackers, celery, carrots (we went to Wild Wing Cafe and it was supposed to be my effort at being good) I only ate half the potato salad
I figured my day to be about 1600 calories, but it was probably at bit more since the food wasn't homemade.

Today is my 7th day in a row with no alcohol to drink :cool1:

I haven't eaten out for lunch at work this week so far, but there are still two days left. Gonna try to hold out.

I can't wait to get started back exercising again!

[lindalinda]

Glad you're feeling better Amber!

Great job avoiding the trap that your coworker was setting for you. I know its really hard.

Even though you haven't been feeling wel, you've been keeping on track with some of your goals. You'll have that wii fit in no time.

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Linda!

As of today, I have $10.50 toward my Wii Fit goal :goodvibes That's $10 for going 7 days w/ no alcohol and $.50 for exercising this morning.

I got up with DH this morning to exercise and plan to again tomorrow. I stayed in a decent calorie range again today. I only have to get through one more day of work with out going out for lunch and I'll have another $10 toward the Wii Fit! That's pretty good motivation.

Today's food:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - chicken sandwich w/ cheese, soup
s - mango
d - homemade chicken and bean burrito, guacamole w/ chips, and refried beans
calories = 1540

I'm starting to get back into the swing of things at work since the holidays and being sick. At home, I can't quite seem to get it together though. We still haven't taken down the Christmas decorations:sad2: I figure we'll get them down this weekend.

Have a great weekend!!

[lindalinda]

Wow amber if you keep it up you can get that wii fit in about a month! Yay!

So how did your weigh in go? I know you had a bad week, so don;t sweat it too much!

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

I weighed in this morning before exercising and then again afterward. I was 216.4 before and 215.8 after :confused3 So I went with the after weight of 215.8 :thumbsup2 That means I've lost 2.2 pounds this first week w/out really getting much exercise! :cool1: :cool1: What a great way to start the process! :cheer2:

I'm glad that I was able to lose this week even though I was sick. I tend to lose weight very slowly and get a bit discouraged. So, I'm happy to be able to get a jumpstart!

I didn't eat out at lunch today. I could have been talked into it Very easily. It has been a LONG week for me. I haven't slept well and I still have a pretty nasty cough lingering around (part of why I haven't slept well). Anyway, I was glad that none of my coworkers mentioned going out until After we were already all in the breakroom eating :thumbsup2 We all said that we would have liked to go out, but luckily none of us acted on it!

So food:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - chicken sandwich (no cheese), chick noodle soup, few bites of mango
s - mixed nuts w/ raisins, yogurt covered raisins, choc. covered peanuts, and small bits of chocolate (it's 2 fresh market mixes that I mixed together)
d - chicken and veggie curry over couscous
s - two cups of coffee (cause I'm SO tired)

I got up and exercised this morning for half an hour. We did Total Body Sculpt w/ Gilad. This one had a lot of sculpting in it. He was killing me w/ the leg lifts!

So I earned $10 this week for not eating out for lunch and then $.50 today for working out for half an hour. I'm at a total of $21.00 now!

I know it sounds like I'm earning my Wii Fit money pretty fast, but I know that I won't earn the Lunch Money part weekly. I figure if I can get it every other week I'll be be doing pretty good. Going out for lunch is as much about getting out of the office as anything else, so I'm not going to be able to give it up all together, it just needs to be under control.

Not sure what all will be going on this weekend. DH's friends are coming over tomorrow for gaming. I'm not sure what else will be going on though. My mom called this afternoon to tell me that our ex neighbor had her baby today. I figure mom and I will go see the baby tomorrow, but I'm not 100% sure that I should go because of the cold I've had. I don't think I would still be contagious, but I really don't know.

I do know that I'm going to try to get some good sleep over the weekend! I haven't had a good night's sleep since I started with this cold.

Have a losing weekend!!:goodvibes

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, it has been an interesting weekend around here. I haven't gotten any exercise in. I'm bad at exercising on the weekends anyway though.

We've been having some drama since Christmas with my sister-in-law (dh's brother's wife). She was not happy with the gift we gave her, which was Season 1 of House and has been insisting that we give her the receipt so she can return it. Well, it Really perturbs me because it was on her Amazon Wish List and was added around September, so I THOUGHT I was getting her something she wanted. She has been SUPER rude about it too. She actually pulled DH aside on that day and asked where we got the idea to get it for her. BTW, this is the BIL and SIL who don't work and mooch of my MIL.

Anyway, they came over to get the receipt yesterday. I had bought it on Black Friday for $14, so I warned them that they wouldn't get much for it. Well, they had called Target ahead of time but somehow got the idea that they would get the full $45 for it if they brought the receipt, even though that wasn't what was paid for it. Well, they went to return it and only got $14. SO, she comes back into our house (MIL stayed while they went) and tells DH that he can have the store credit back because she doesn't shop at Target. DH says You were just there why didn't you buy something then? So she replies They don't have anything I want! She had also commented to the family friend that drove them there that "no one bought me anything" WELL, we can't help it that we bought you something on your LIST that you later decided wasn't what you wanted and that I didn't spend a fortune on you!! Anyway, when she told DH that she didn't want anything from Target he pocketed the store credit and said, "well, I can't help you then" Oh, yeah, and she did all of this in front of all DH's friends, several of whom I'm sure found it Very amusing. I just have been REALLY irritated by her rudeness for almost a solid month now. I try to remind myself that she is just stupid and selfish, but it bothers me because I tried to get her something she wanted!

Anyway, on top of that, DH's best friend brought his two girls over during gaming. They were supposed to be there for one to two hours, but ended up being there for over 6. :sad2: They weren't much trouble, but started to get antsy after a little while. I wasn't really in the mood for entertaining kids yesterday either.

So, about 8:30 when all of that was finally over I got to spend some time relaxing and decompressing. It was just a draining day.

I didn't do too badly with my calories yesterday, but I didn't eat as healthy as I could have either.
b - slept through it ;)
l - chicken salad on half a croissant, pesto pasta salad, mango
s - coffee
s - peanut butter on ritz (4)
s - small bowl of kashi w/ milk
d - 3 cheese chicken penne from Applebees - I only ate half
s - half of a chocolate chip scone w/ a large glass of milk
total around 1700 calories

Today we ate w/ my family at my grandma's house. It was typical grandma cooking, which means too much fat and cheese, not enough good stuff. I did better than in the past though because I put a good sized salad on my plate first, then the rest of the foods.

I ended up spending a good portion of the afternoon at my parent's house w/ them and my middle sister. She is possibly breaking up w/ her live in boyfriend and was upset. We sat around talking about it for awhile and time got away from me. It was nice to just spend some time with them though.

Dh and I played some Wii this afternoon also. I've been trying to take it somewhat easy because I still have a lot of lingering cold symptoms. I am SO done being sick!! :sick: :mad:

So food today:
b - slept through it :goodvibes (it is just So nice to be able to sleep through the night)
l - ham, potato, and cheese casserole, green beans, pasta salad, reg. salad, biscuit, and the dreaded sweet tea
s - coffee
s - 2 teaspoons of peanut butter (got too hungry before dinner)
d - red beans and rice YUM!
total so far 1332

I'm feeling that I'll be hungry soon, so I'm probably going to eat the other half of my scone later.

I'm way behind on my exercise challenge for this month, but I'm hoping to get my morning workouts in this week, plus possibly hit the gym a couple of evenings.

Gonna chill now so I get get to bed a bit earlier tonight. Have a Fabulous week!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Food today:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
s - half a 100 calorie pack of cookies (was Starving)
l - turkey burger and salad w/ ranch, bite of hummus w/ pita chip
d - chicken and veggie soup

One of my coworkers forgot to bring her lunch, so we ate out. I will be good the rest of the week though!!

I'm REALLY tired tonight so I'm going to bed early. Nite!

[lindalinda]

Just catching up Amber!
wow your SIL seems like a total jerk. I wouldn't let her stress you out. I can't believe a grown woman is acting like that! Whining about christmas gifts! I would never get her anything again.

Sounds like you are doing pretty good. Except the sweet tea. You gotta stop the sweet tea girl. You might as well eat a brownie as sweet tea!

Keep going. 3 days til weigh in ( I forgot to say congrats on the loss last week!)

nite

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Linda. Yeah, I'm definitely not going out of my way for her anymore. I think next year DH will have to be the one buying her gift :thumbsup2 Not that he's a bad shopper though.

I don't drink sweet tea very often at all anymore. I will have it occasionally when I eat out or at my grandma's. Mostly I just drink water. I am part of the BL7 challenge and the weekly challenge is to drink 8 8oz glasses of water a day. On most days I have that and more done by the time I leave work.

I got up this morning and exercised. We did a 30 minute Total body sculpt. It was a tough workout!

I didn't do the best on my food today. We ate out tonight and went to Carrabba's. We almost never go there and my Favorite dish is the Chicken Bryan. Dh and I shared that and one of their pizza's. We brought half the pizza home with us though. I ate a little too much bread I'm sure. I was Hungry and it was Good.

Food:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - chicken salad on half a croissant, pesto pasta
s - chocolate tootsie pop
d - 2.5 pieces of bread in oil, Half a Chicken Bryan w/ pasta, Quarter of an Italian Chicken Pizza
I came up with about 1600 calories for today, but I'm not sure if that is right :confused3 Fitday often seems to give low calorie counts for things.

My coworkers and I worked out a workout plan. We will go to the gym on Monday and Tuesday nights together and do Hi/Lo Cardio and Step respectively. I will also continue to get up and do my workouts w/ DH in the mornings. They have a yoga class at the gym on Thursday nights, so I'm going to try to make it to some of them also. My coworkers are planning to complete their workout plan w/ a couple of mornings a week. I don't mind working out in the morning, but I don't like going all the way to the gym to do it ;)

Well, gonna call it a night. Gotta workout early in the morning.

[lindalinda]

Wow my post just disappeared. Anyway, I think your work out plan sounds great. I wish I had friends to work out with. It will give you motivation!

Keep it up! Hows the wii fit piggy bank coming along?

nite

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey! I didn't mean to let 2 days slip by w/out a post. I am having a hard time keeping up w/ all my online stuff. I'm on the Biggest Loser challenge and that thread moves SO fast! Then I had joined Facebook and spent a long time playing with it last night. I didn't realize how much time I spent until all the sudden it was bedtime.

So, what I have been up to for the last two days.... not too much.

Wednesday I got up with DH and exercised before work. After lunch I really started to wear out though. I was SO exhausted. I have some flex time so I decided to sleep late on Thursday so that I wouldn't be so tired.

At work on Wednesday my coworkers were planning to go out to lunch. I told them that I was not going to go. They all know about my Wii Fit challenge. They were really pressing me to go anyway. I said No I'll have to give money back if I go and I'm not going to do that. Anyway, I didn't go, but it was somewhat hard to say no. It kills me that two of them are significantly heavier than I am and they talk about losing weight, but then they do Nothing about it. Then when I try to do better they are all about sabotaging me! :upsidedow

Anyway, food Wednesday:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - chicken salad on croissant, lentil soup
s - mango
d - lemon butter chicken, mashed potatos, salad w/ light ranch
s - peanut butter w/ mini choc. chips, milk

Yesterday, I slept late which was SO nice! Then when I got to work I was particularly unmotivated. :rolleyes: I had to work a little late doing visits and got a little over hungry, so I stopped at Wendy's and got a 5 piece chicken nuggets. I love them, but I know they are Bad! Then Dh came home and was in a mood, plus he starts being on call tonight. So, we went out for dinner last night. We had mexican and I ate too many chips. I didn't do too bad ordering though. I had a beef and bean burrito and a guacamole salad.

food:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - leftover pizza, lentil soup
s - part of an apple
s - 5 chicken nuggets
d - chips & salsa, beef and bean burrito, guacamole salad
s - piece of bread (from carrabbas')

I was over my calories for the day, but not too badly. I figure it isn't terrible to have an off day here and there.

I weighed in this morning and was down 1.6 pounds. :cool1: I'll take it.

I am off work today because it is my furlough day. I have been pretty darn lazy today too! I watched Biggest Loser earlier and actually got up and exercised for 25 minutes while watching. I mostly walked in place, but added kicks, knee lifts, and some squats too. I tried to do some arm exercises too. My arms wear out fast though.

My house desperately needs some cleaning!! However, I just have not been able to motivate myself to clean it lately :sad2: Maybe I'll get it cleaned before I go back to work Tuesday. I'm off Monday also for MLK day!

I'll check in over the weekend, I promise!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Oh, on the Wii Fit piggy bank..

Add $10 for no drinking
Add $1.50 for workouts this week
Also, I forgot to add my weight loss last week, so that was 2.2 plus this week's 1.6 which gives me $3

So my total currently is $35.50 :cheer2: :cheer2:

I'm glad I didn't cave in and go out for lunch a second time, because I would have had to take away $5. NOT doing that!!

[lindalinda]

Congrats on the weight loss Amber!

Woohoo! Sounds like you are doing well. Good job passing up going out to lunch again. Don't be so hard on your co-workers though, this is YOUR challenge, and it's up to you. They might just not be "there" yet. It's takes a real commitment.

Almost halfway to wii fit! Keep up the good work!


linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Linda. You are right about the coworkers. They just aren't ready to make the changes that it takes to actually lose the weight. I just find it hard because they are the people that I spend the most time with and I want them to do better. Or at least not be complete saboteurs. I know that it is up to me though to make the right choices for me regardless of what anyone else does.

So, Friday I posted, but didn't put my food.
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l - chicken salad on croissant, black bean soup
s - veggie chips
d - chicken and broccoli curry over couscous
s - cheese on crackers

Yesterday we slept late and then tackled the MAJOR task of putting away the Christmas decorations. This was a major task because I never really had it organized in the first place and it had just gotten worse this year (and I got a bunch of new stuff). So we took everything out of the spare bedroom and carried it downstairs. We then staged it on tables in the main room. We sorted everything into tree stuff, house decorations, and gift wrap. Then we got it all compacted into as few boxes as possible. Then we brought it all back upstairs and were planning to put it back in the spare bedroom. I was able to convince DH that we should put it in the attic instead though. That meant more moving boxes up stairs. BUT, we got All the Christmas stuff out of the spare room and into the attic where I don't have to look at it all year!! :cheer2: :cheer2: It took us all afternoon and really wore me out, but I'm SO happy to have it done!

I'm counting an hour of exercise for that because I went up and down the stairs about a million times and was carrying boxes most of them.

Food:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - homemade chicken & bean burrito
s - peanut butter (just enough to tide me over til dinner)
d - italian pasta bake w/ chicken and sausage and Lots of veggies
s - scrambled egg

I'm not sure what the plan for today is other than lunch w/ the family and grocery shopping. My sister may come over to play Wii. I am thinking about seeing if she and mom want to go see Bride Wars tomorrow because we should all be off.

Have a great day!

[Foxfiregrrl]

WOOHOO!!! YIPPEE!!! :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT!!!!

HALLELUAH!!!!:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

I thought his speech today was great and very inspiring!! I'm so happy to be able to witness this particular moment in history!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, now back to the regularly scheduled broadcast :thumbsup2

Well, Sunday went as planned basically. Lunch with the family, then grocery shopping, then my sister and mom came over to play Wii. That was a lot of fun. My mom had a good time and was really funny on some of the games. :lmao:

Yesterday I went to see Bride Wars with mom and my sister. It was a really funny movie and we really enjoyed it.

Other than that I did a few chores and took it easy.

I got my workout in this morning. Food hasn't been the best over the last two days. I ate Way too much popcorn yesterday and it was really buttery. Then today I went out lunch because a coworker is leaving. I had been craving buffalo chicken fingers and fries, so that is what I ended up having.

I recorded everything on Fitday. I managed to do ok yesterday calorie wise, but today I was a bit high. I actually was still under what Fitday says that I burn in a day though. I don't feel like posting it all here tonight, but I'll get back on track and post everything starting again tomorrow.

Have a great week!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Yesterday we did not get up to exercise because DH has been on call this week and our sleep patterns have been really messed up.
Food:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - peanut butter and jelly sandwich, vegetable soup
s - leftover movie popcorn
d - salad w/ parmesan peppercorn dressing, shrimp and sausage over cheese grits We went out to a local place and it was the special. It was SO good. I ate all my salad, but only about half of my dinner. I will probably eat the rest for lunch tomorrow or Saturday
s - small bowl of chocolate ice cream
I ended up at around 1654 calories

Today I worked from home. I have been really struggling at work lately. We have an audit coming up, but I'm just not interested in working :sad2: Usually if I do a work from home day I really buckle down and get a ton of work done. Today I got some work done but not nearly as much as I could have. I just really can't get myself back in the swing of things lately. I've got to get it together soon though.

Anyway, I didn't get up with Dh to exercise this morning because I didn't have to "be at work" as early. I was also planning to go to the gym and take the yoga class this evening. Well, I finished working early and tried to go see a client of mine before going to the gym, but she wasn't home. So I ended up at the gym an hour early. I really wanted to go to the yoga class, but I couldn't figure out what to do w/ myself (in my gym clothes) for an hour. So I figured I would get on the treadmill for awhile and see how I felt. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill but my feet started to hurt (I think it's the shoes). Then I did 10 minutes on the stationary bike. At that point I decided that I was not up for another hour of exercise. I figured 40 minutes was enough for today.

Food:
b - kashi, milk, coffee
l - chicken strips, small handful of fries, small amount of light ranch (for dipping) this was leftovers from lunch the other day
s - apple w/ peanut butter on it
d - italian pasta bake
Calories for today 1457

Ok, that's it for tonight. See ya this weekend.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, this wasn't the most on plan week that I've ever had.

Yesterday I didn't get up with DH to exercise (I'm so proud of him for getting up anyway). I knew I would be working somewhat late so I decided to go in a little late. Then I had a lunch visit with one of my older foster kids. I had forgotten that I told her I would take her out for lunch. So, I always let her choose the place. I was hoping she would choose chinese since that is one of her favorites, but she didn't. She wanted to eat at a seafood place that is known for its large portions of fried seafood. I ended up getting the fried shrimp, fries, and corn on the cob, with hushpuppies of course. I know I didn't do well at all. I had allowed myself to get too hungry first and then overate.

so food was:
b - kashi, milk, coffee (only been drinking about half my coffee lately)
s - nut, raisin, and chocolate mix
l - shrimp, fries, corn, hushpuppies, sweet tea (I know it's bad.)
d - leftover shrimp, sausage, and grits from the other night
s - specialty popcorn - almond biscotti flavored YUM

I ended up being at a clients house until 8:30 last night so I got home Way later than I had been planning to.

I weighed in yesterday morning and was at 215.6, in other words, I gained this week :sad2: I expected it though. I didn't workout much and made some bad choices. I didn't get nearly enough fruits and veggies in this week.

Today I'm working on getting back on track, but still not completely back. I haven't been feeling the best today so it is harder.

We got up and exercised this morning which was a good start. Dh is working on a plan to workout 4 days a week and he missed a day Wednesday, so he had to do this morning to stay on track. I am really enjoying his dedication.

Food so far:
b - kashi, milk
s - spoonful of peanut butter
l - half an Arby's turkey bacon ranch sandwich and 3 fried mozzerella sticks

I will possibly eat the other half shortly. Dinner will be chili. We have the guys over today. Chili is something they really enjoy and it is a good day for it since it is cold and rainy.

I'm still down 2.4 pounds since starting which is not too bad, I guess. I have not been keeping track of my Wii Fit challenge stuff very well this week. I will have to go back and look over it all to determine where I am on that goal.

I have to really work on my fruits and veggies this coming week. I think if I could get that going I would be doing SO much better.

[Foxfiregrrl]

I did end up eating the other half of my sandwich and having a good sized bowl of chili w/ cheese and crackers. Later I had some cheese dip w/ tortilla chips. I'm sure I could have chosen something healthier, but didn't.

Today's food:
b - kashi, milk
l - pork chop, hashbrown casserole, biscuit, green beans, english peas, strawberry cake (there was a birthday in the family today)
d - homemade chicken and mushroom quesadilla, homemade guacamole, refried beans, tortilla chips

Today I've been pretty lazy. I started working on a puzzle last night and spent part of this afternoon working on it.

I'm going to do better this week! I promise!

[DisDee]

Hey Amber, sorry I haven't stopped by in awhile. I've been in a big old rut since returning from vaca. I promise to check in more often, and lend you some support!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Dee! I somehow missed that you had "stopped by".

I haven't been posting over the last week because I had gotten pretty frustrated. I haven't been doing very well with my eating or exercise, but I had a pretty good excuse. But, I couldn't share it yet... so I just stopped posting. But now I'm ready to spill the beans :thumbsup2

:cool1: :cool1: I'M PREGNANT!!! :cool1: :cool1:

As of Thursday I am 8 weeks! :goodvibes I was waiting to start telling everyone until I went to my first doctor appointment. I saw the midwife (here after referred to as CNM - Certified Nurse Midwife - cause it's easier to type) on Thursday. I had an ultrasound and got to see the teeny tiny blob of a baby and hear it's little heartbeat :cloud9: We started telling our family and I told my immediate coworkers. Dh has been a bit nervous about telling people because he's worried that we will end up jinxing ourselves. I told him that I don't think so and I just can't stand waiting to share the news anymore.

I had been doing well and not feeling too bad up until this week. I had a few days of extreme tiredness a couple of weeks ago, but other than that no real symptoms. But this week I started to get some morning (noon & night) sickness. It hasn't been extreme, but it has caused me to just eat anything and everything when I can. I find that if I keep my stomach fuller, then I don't feel nearly as bad and don't tend to get sick. So, I've been eating less than stellar foods just to fill my stomach. I'm going to work on doing better in the coming week. I want to try to get more fruits and veggies in and also try to get the 4 servings of dairy that are recommended. Geez, that's a lot!

I've been struggling to exercise. We had been doing morning exercises and I get too queasy if I exercise first thing. I'm going to try eating something first and hope that works. If not, I'll just have to work hard to fit in exercise in the evenings.

Anyway, I'm going to start back journaling and tracking my foods. I will be doing "bad" diet things like eating ice cream sometimes though since I have to have my dairy and all ;)

Well, wish me luck! I'm excited and nervous all at the same time!

[DisDee]

Amber, I am so happy for you! This is such an exciting time, so do all that you can to keep you and baby healthy. I know its tough when you're not feeling great, but try to choose healthy foods that will be good for you both. Keep us informed of how you're doing, and above all-enjoy the excitement of the pregnancy!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Denise! I'm really excited!

The feeling queasy thing is not very much fun and it is making eating healthy really hard. I have been trying to eat healthy snacks and meals, but I am not used to the constant grazing. Plus I usually get most of my veggies at dinner and I can hardly eat half of my dinner these days.

Today I felt like I ate nonstop all day, but the good news is that when I put it all in Fitday it wasn't That over the top calorie wise. I ended up at 2,037 calories. It is more than I usually allow for, but probably about the right amount. According to Fitday I burn about 2900 calories a day without exercising, which seems WAY high to me - and that is Before I start to add calories for the baby building. Anyway, so I'm probably going to allow my calorie intake to be in the 1900 to 2400 range for now and see how my weight responds.

Food:
snack before getting out of bed - spoonful of peanut butter
b - kashi, milk, orange juice
s - banana, "puppy chow" - coworker brought it, crispix coated in powdered sugar
l - healthy choice meal but I picked out the carrots (they were grossing me out), handful of ritz crackers
s - string cheese, apple, handful of ritz crackers, small amount of peanut butter on 2 of them (this was spread out across the afternoon)
d - pork chop, creamed corn, blackeyed peas
s - kellogg's fiber plus bar, milk

No exercise today. I've got to get back into the routine of doing some exercise. I've been very lazy lately. Dh strained his back over the weekend and stayed home to doctor it today. I'm not sure if he will be exercising in the mornings this week or not. That could be a good thing though. I wake up when he gets up and therefore don't sleep as well. Then I am more tired throughout the day and in the evenings. The less tired I am the more likely I am to actually exercise in the evenings.

Well, have a great tomorrow!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Yesterday I ate a little less constantly, but was probably higher in calories. We went out for lunch at work for a coworker's birthday. I had a cheeseburger with fries. I know it wasn't the best choice, but I do rarely eat beef or other red meat so I allow myself a burger here and there.

I felt moderately better yesterday and even better today. I still am having moments of queasiness, but not bad and not too often. I have gagged a couple of times over the last few days, but haven't actually had to throw up. :thumbsup2 That's ALWAYS a plus!

I didn't write down all my food from yesterday, but I'm gonna try to remember it.
yesterday's food:
b - kashi, milk, oj
s - banana
l - cheeseburger, fries, ranch dressing, sweet tea
s - ritz crackers with a little peanut butter
d - leftover spaghetti
s - chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie (from Kashi) with milk


Today's food:
b - kashi, milk, oj
s - banana
l - 1 slice of pizza (leftover from the weekend), half a can of minestrone soup, 12oz can of soda
s - apple, 1oz cheese, 2 chocolate caramel nut clusters
s - 1 choc. caramel nut cluster, 1 mini reese cup, milk
d - chips, salsa, nachos w/ beef, chicken, cheese, lettuce, sour cream and guacamole - we went out for Mexican. I only ate a little of the nachos, I would say close to a quarter of it.

I can't eat much at dinner for some reason these days. I started eating the mexican and I have a tendency to eat it too fast. I got a few good bites into the nachos and started feeling a little bad. I slowed down and then stopped shortly after that. I didn't feel queasy exactly, but just not great. I took that as my sign to stop. I'm still full now, but may end up having a small snack later. I try not to go to bed w/ an empty stomach because I wake up feeling better that way.

I have yet to get any sort of exercise in, but I will probably try to go to yoga tomorrow afternoon.

I am 9 weeks tomorrow :cool1:

Oh, I've been weighing myself pretty much daily and staying right at the same weight. That works for me!

[Foxfiregrrl]

I've decided that I probably won't post my food daily. I still need to be mindful about what I'm eating and try to eat healthily. But, I'm not going to not eat when I feel like I need to eat. I think that journaling my food helps mostly when I use it to stop myself from overeating.

Anyway, I had a pretty nice weekend. Friday we stayed in and chilled. I had a headache and ended up going to bed really early. Yesterday the guys came over and we all went out to lunch at Wild Wing Cafe. The plan was to order enough for lunch and dinner, so that no one had to cook or go out later. I ordered the queso dip to share and ate a LOT of it. Then I had chicken fingers and fries. I only ate one chicken finger and a couple of fries though because I was full from the dip. Then I went shopping for a bit while they went home to play games. I had 2 chicken fingers and a handful of fries for dinner. Other than the shopping, I watched tv and read all evening. I was actually a bit bored, but too lazy to come up with anything else to do. :confused3

Today we had lunch at my grandma's as usual. We celebrated my aunt's birthday, so my cousin and her daughters came. They were excited to find out about my pregnancy. I also got my haircut because my cousin volunteered to do it while she was there :cool1: She always does my hair anyway, but I usually have to go out to her shop.

The rest of the afternoon dh and I spent sitting outside in the Gorgeous weather we had and worked on a puzzle. We finished it today. It was fun.

Dh cooked pork and chicken and made guacamole for dinner. So we had burritos with guacamole dip. It was YUMMY!!

So, tomorrow is back to the grind :upsidedow blech. It's not that bad, but I'm just not excited. We have a big audit coming up so everyone's stressing, but I just really don't care. That's probably bad ;) :confused3 = I shrug.

Have a great week!

Oh, yeah... I forgot my teeny tiny bit of exercise today. I walked home from my grandma's house after lunch. It isn't much at all but at least I got a little bit of movement in. Like I said earlier it was a beautiful day today! I had on short sleeves and was very comfortable. I realize that it is too early in the year for it to stay that warm, but I would get a lot more exercise in if it would stay warmer! I feel as if I could manage a daily walk, but haven't been in the mood for anything else these days.

[DisDee]

Hi Amber, Hope you're feeling well and all is good!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, Dee! Yes, I'm feeling pretty well these days. I have to be sure that I eat at regular intervals though or I start to feel a little woozy.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

We've had a pretty good day today. It started out a little rocky though. Dh has been sick all week and so he was coughing and hacking all night long. (It has been that way all week, too, which means I didn't get much sleep this week) Anyway, we had both been planning to sleep pretty late today to make up for our lack of sleep during the week. But, he is on call this weekend and his pager went berserk at about 8:30am. They had a major power outage and his pager just went off every two or three seconds for about a half an hour, until he finally just turned it off. Anyway, by that time we were both wide awake so we ended up getting up.

We gave each other our Valentine's gifts. We don't normally do Valentine's gifts, but did this year. Anyway, I gave him a set of Vosges chocolates - truffles, chocolate bar, and hot chocolate. I choose them because we had hot chocolate and bought chocolates from the Vosges store in Las Vegas when we went last year. We both Really enjoyed it, so I thought it was a good memory gift, as well as yummy.

SO, he gave me his gift first and guess what he got me... 4 bars of Vosges chocolate!! :rotfl: :lmao: :rotfl2: When I opened it he said, "to remind you of Vegas" :laughing: We laughed and laughed when he opened my gift. I guess it shows how connected we are and how well we know each other.

The chocolate set I got him is all a particular flavor and he got me a variety, so we didn't get Identical presents. I'm sure we are going to really enjoy sharing our presents.

I know chocolate isn't the best gift for trying to stay on the healthy eating path, but we won't eat this all in one or two sittings. It is a slow and savor it kind of chocolate.

So, after we gave each other gifts, we lounged about a bit then decided to go out for lunch. We had agreed that there was no way we would brave the dinner scene, but we figured lunch wouldn't be too bad. We went to Cracker Barrel. It was pretty busy, but we didn't have to wait very long. We both got breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed it. While we were out we bought two new puzzles to work on also.

We started one tonight. It is a Disney Limited Edition that is a painted scene of Mickey and Minnie in Venice. I can tell that it is going to be pretty hard.

We're just relaxing this evening and taking it easy. I'm hoping to get a decent nights sleep tonight. My mom called earlier and wanted us to come to her church tomorrow. I told her that I am not planning to be out of bed in time to go to church. I would like to sleep till noon if I can pull it off!

I have been not doing great on my food intake lately. I've eaten out or gotten fast food way more than I should. Most days I'm getting at least one serving of fruit in, but veggies are hit or miss. A lot of times the thought of healthier foods completely turns me off lately. I want "bad" foods or greasy fried stuff mostly. I'm trying to keep it moderate but it has been hard. One example is that I usually will have a vegetable based soup as part of my lunch a few days a week, but lately I am not at all interested. I will heat it up and eat a few bites, but it just doesn't taste good to me. I may just be tired of soup, but it seems to be since I started with my pregnancy symptoms. Hopefully some of that will pass when I hit the second trimester.

I haven't really exercised any this week either. I did walk over to my parent's house and back on Tuesday, but that isn't really much. The weather was SO nice here this week, but I ended up having to work late Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday so I couldn't really take advantage of it. Friday I left work a little early because it was really nice outside at lunch time, but by the time I got home it was overcast and starting to cool off a lot. I'm hoping to start doing a little better in the next few weeks. However, we have a major audit at work that starts March 2nd and one of my cases got pulled, so I will have to work around that some. I think I'm about ready, BUT it depends on what my higher ups say when they read my file. :rolleyes:

Well, gonna go chill some more.

[traceycooper]

Hi amber
just read your journal & wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS ON THE PREGNANACY :)
& well done for trying to stay healthy & active too - your baby will thank you ;)

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, Tracey! Thanks! I'm really struggling right now with the healthy eating and exercise, but I'm trying to stay conscious of it. I'm hoping that as long as I at least keep health in the forefront of my mind, then eventually I will do better. I just don't have the energy these days.

Last night DH was coughing, etc most of the night and kept me awake pretty bad. A couple of times I considered going to sleep on the couch, but ended up not doing it. I got better sleep after about 6am and slept until around 10:30. DH slept until almost 1pm though :sad2: I know he needed the rest, but I could have used some peaceful rest too!

Anyway, his best friend came over about 2pm and we went out for lunch. I choose this local place called "The Stack". It is a burger place where you choose what toppings go on the burger. I got pimento cheese, mixed baby greens, sprouts, and hard boiled egg on mine. The sauce was a roasted garlic aioli. Yum! Then we ordered a large serving of sweet potato fries because they are SO yummy. In the past the burger didn't come with any fries, but this time and last time each burger came with regular fries. So we had a bit of french fry overload, but that was fine with me :thumbsup2 I ate half my burger and too many fries. I brought home the rest of the burger and some fries.

Other than that I've just been lounging around while Dh hangs out with his buddy. I'm so tired. I could go back to bed right now.

I can't wait until I start to get some of my energy back. I know that it would help if I did some exercise, but I just can't get the motivation lately.

I'm gonna try to get to the gym some this week.

[Foxfiregrrl]

It's snowing in Macon today!!! :woohoo: :woohoo: I stood in the snow and took a bunch of pictures. I didn't end up playing in it too much though because it was cold out there!

We are 12 weeks along. We had a doctor visit on Wednesday. DH went with me and we got to here the heartbeat. It was really cool! The baby's heartbeat was 164 bpm. I had gained 3 pounds since my last visit. I weighed in at 225, but that is not what I weigh at home. My blood pressure was 120/70 which is like perfect.

Everything seems to be going along fine. I have not been having too much sickness. I have some queasiness if I don't eat often enough and I've had an evening or two when I just felt sick for no reason. One night I couldn't eat dinner and threw up pretty bad, but that has been the only time that happened.

I still have very little energy though. I haven't made it to the gym either. Part of the reason is that we have been prepping for an audit at work and I haven't been keeping the best hours.

This weekend has been busy. I went to a scrapbooking crop on Friday night with my mom, 2 friends from work, and one of their roommates. We had a good time and got some things accomplished. It was a lot of fun.

Then yesterday Dh and I went with my parents to the "Mercer Big Dance" that is held every year. We've gone the last 3 or 4 years and always have a nice time. I had to take it easy this year, but still did some dancing. I was worn out though.

We slept late today and not long after I got up I looked out the window to see it snowing! It snowed for about 20 minutes and didn't stick at all, then it stopped. I was pleased that it snowed, but disappointed that it didn't last. Then we went to my grandparents for lunch and came back home. It was drizzling at that time. Then within 30 minutes it started to snow again and this time it didn't stop. It has basically been snowing ever since. It is sticking to the grass, cars, and my wood porch, but not to the road or my concrete patio. It is supposed to be below freezing tonight, but then be in the 50s tomorrow. So, I'm sure it will all melt away and we'll have to work tomorrow :sad1: But at least we got to see a little snow. Dh was being a bummer and didn't want to play in it. I decided not to either because I didn't want to get all cold and wet. We have a big umbrella for our patio set and we always forget to put it down. We had both noticed that it was getting covered in snow and said that we needed to take it down, but didn't. Then just before we ate dinner I looked outside and saw that the pole broke and it fell over. :sad2: I was so irritated with myself for not having gone outside and taken it down. I think we can fix it back together, but still it is aggravating.

Oh, yeah, my cats were totally freaked out by the snow! :laughing: Puff put her paws in it and was like "no way" and came right back inside. Raven wouldn't even touch it.

Well, have a great week!