Amber's Get Healthy Journal (Comments Welcome)

[Foxfiregrrl]

I have been debating starting this journal for a week or so now, but I have finally decided to take the plunge. I started WISH on Jan. 3rd of this year.

I am 27 years old. I've been married for almost 4 years now. My DH and I are currently having a house built and hope to be in it by Thanksgiving. We plan to start trying to have a child around the end of this year or beginning of next year. I want to be healthier and have a healthier and more active lifestyle before we start our family.

My goal is to lose 65 pounds by August 1st. I started this journey at 205 lbs. I have lost 5 lbs so far.

I am not following any particular diet program. I am just trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, and fewer calories and fat. I try to stay below 1600 calories and 30 fat grams a day. Most days I have no problem staying under on calories but fat is a struggle. I know that if I am eating the right foods it shouldn't be but it is anyway.

Since the beginning of January I have exercised 5 or 6 days a week. Mostly I walk. My DH and I walk together when he gets home from work, which isn't until 6:45! My parents live next door, so my mom joins me for walking a lot of the time. She gets home earlier so sometimes I will walk w/ my mom for 30 minutes or so and then with DH for how ever long he wants to, usually 30 minutes. If I get motivated during the day I do some situps and floor exercises. I have several workout videos in storage. I want to get them out so that I can use them also.

I have been tracking my foods on Fitday.com and joining the challenges here on the Disboards. I have kept it up for a month now which is longer than I have ever continuously tracked my food or exercise. I want to keep it up and posting on these boards has been a Really Big help to me.

Some background on me:
I graduated with my bachelor's degree in Social Work last May. I worked part time for organization that I did my internship with until November. My Dh and I moved back to Macon, Ga (from Alpharetta, Ga) in November. Our families are here and we wanted to be near them again before starting our family. We moved in with my grandparents as a way to save money while we looked for a house. We didn't find a house right away and found a builder with a house plan we Loved, so we are building. This puts us in my grandparents house WAY longer than I had ever considered! It is a challenge.
A big factor is that I thought I would be able to find a job quickly, but as of yet have not been able to get one. I applied with DFACS in all of the counties near where we live, but have received no response. However, I applied this week at a Non Profit and they called me today for an interview!! I am very excited about that! It is the type of work that I was doing before we moved and I think that it will be a great position if I get it.
I have been challenged living with my grandparents because I am here w/ them (particularly my grandmother) all day and we get under each others skin. I have been just trying to stay in my part of the house most of the day so that I don't encounter her constantly, but it is hard. I think that once I have a job it will be a lot better.
The other BIG challenge in living with my grandparents is trying to diet! She loves to cook but everything she cooks is fattening or bad in some major way. Dh has to be careful with sodium because he has had high blood pressure in the past. When we first moved in I was happy to let her do most of the cooking, but when we started trying to lose weight at the first of the year I had to start cooking myself again. Sometimes she is fine about it but other times she seems to take it personally that I don't want her cooking. She has been watching her weight and dieting my whole life so this shouldn't be a big deal. But when she cooks it is generally bad AND she will claim "that doesn't have any fat/grease/etc. in it" when it clearly does. Like tonight she fried salmon patties and offered them to us saying "they don't have any grease in them". I know that they probably weren't the worst things we could eat, but it is the principal of the matter. I don't trust anything she makes to be healthy anymore.

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

So now for how my day went .
I did good on food today:
Breakfast - Cheerios w/ milk
Lunch - healthy choice chicken (2 slices) on whole wheat bread w/ swiss cheese and lettuce, mayo & mustard. Broccoli, cauliflower, & carrots in low fat cheese sauce (leftover from dinner) w/ rice.
Dinner - Chicken w/ spanish rice w/ black beans and corn.
My totals for today are Calories= 1076, fat= 23
I may still have a snack tonight, but if I do it will have to be quick. My kitchen is closed at 10:30.

I did some sit ups and leg work for about 5 minutes, and danced for 5 minutes today. I also biked for 10 minutes. Then when DH came home we walked for 50 minutes before dinner.
Doin' pretty good so far. I just have to keep it up.

 

[kmp1191]

WOW...you are doing great!! keep up the good work!!
Also keep in mind...she's your Grandma and she loves you....just stand your ground. Maybe you could do the cooking for her...show her what healthy food WITHOUT the grease really is!!

Good luck on the interview!!! let us know what happens!!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks! I am trying really hard this time to stay on track! I have tried to diet in the past and said I would exercise, but it always falls apart soon after.
I try to remember that my grandma loves me and that she is trying in her own way. I do love her too, lots and lots. I have been working on explaining things as we go along about why I don't want so much sodium in the food and what is healthy and what is not. It is a challenge, but I think it will all be ok in the end.

I did end up snacking last night but I did it before the "kitchen closed". I had 7 mini rice cakes that were cheddar flavored. A serving is 9 of them, but has 2.5 fat grams in it. I thought that I was already at 28 fat grams for the day and since I was so close to keeping under my goal I decided to only have 7, which was only 2 fat grams. Well, I look this morning and I only had 25 fat grams after the rice cakes! So I could have had those last two cakes after all, but I didn't and that is a good thing too.

I am not sure if I will get in any exercise today. I am going to try to do some before 1:30. My mom is getting off of work early today and she said that she can probably go shopping with me. I want to get a new outfit for my interview on Wednesday! Also there is a dance that DH and I are going to w/ my parents and 2 other couples. I wanted something nice to wear to that as well. I hate buying clothes especially when I KNOW that I'm gonna lose weight and they won't fit me soon, but I need some clothes cause all of mine are pretty old and not as nice anymore. I would like to find something that I can wear to both the interview and the dance. Wish me luck!

Oh something that I forgot to put down yesterday... I had 2 cups of coffee w/ sugar and 2% milk. I have this pretty much everyday and I am bad about not counting it cause I figure it isn't that much. The milk is included in the milk that I have w/ my cereal though cause I always say that I had a cup when I never put that much in my cereal. The sugar on the other hand is just empty calories, but I do love my coffee and don't care for splenda.

 

[Cruise04]

I am so glad to see you here. You are definitely on the right track and have the right frame of mind. I'm sorry that you have that battle of cooking - it's hard. Especially when you are doing really well trying to eat healthy. Older people seem to not understand what food is doing to people these days, and to themselves. It wasn't something they really had to worry about when they were our ages. And to them, I'm sure, food is bland cooked our way rather than their way.

Good luck on your job interview. I can't wait to hear how it went. Keep on doing what you are doing - you are on the right track!!! Remember to drink water too!

Keep on
Chris

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Chris - You are so right about my grandma's generation thinking the food is bland! She and my dad are always like Dumping salt on anything I make for them. My dad has some major heart issues and high cholesterol. I don't think he has high Blood pressure, but I am always telling him that he doesn't need all of that extra salt either. He never listens though, typical male.


I didn't end up getting any exercise in yesterday or today either for that matter . I went shopping w/ my mom and bought a dress. I like it a lot but I don't think I will end up wearing it to the interview I just think it is a little too girly compared to what I would normally wear. I will probably wear it to the dance though.

We went over to my DH's best friend's house last night and had take out chinese with him & his wife. I know it is not the best but I did get the chicken and veggies w/ steamed rice. I am not the biggest chinese fan and what I would normally eat would be Fried rice, Lemon chicken, or Sweet & Sour chicken, which is ALL fried. So I was proud of myself for branching out and getting something that was not as bad and eating a LOT of the steamed rice in proportion to the meat and veggies.
They know we are dieting, but they made chocolate chip cookie bars anyway She did cut them into tiny pieces though. About 3 would have been a normal size cookie bar. Now, Chocolate is one of my biggest weaknesses and chocolate chip cookies are almost my favorite form of chocolate. So this is Really difficult. I ended up having 4 pieces over the course of the evening and we were there from like 8 until 1am. So I think I did pretty good. The only bad thing is that I slipped up on my 10:30 kitchen closing time without even realizing it. Oops.

So what I ate yesterday was:
Breakfast - Kashi good friends cereal w/ milk
Lunch - No point Veggie soup (from the Disboards w/ slight additions), and a mini whole wheat bagel
Dinner - Chinese chicken w/ veggies and steamed rice
Snacks - 4 chocolate chip cookie bites
I'm not sure my exact calorie and fat intake for the day but my approximations are around 800 calories and 25 fat grams. The veggie soup has like 80 calories for a Big bowl. I may have under estimated my chinese food, but I still think I came out ok for the day.

We stayed up until 3:30am So we slept Late today. About once a month my husband and his friends get together at his mothers house to play Role Playing Games (RPGs) and this was the weekend. I decided to go over for a little while and ended up staying most of the day. We were all playing card games instead of the usual RPGs and I had a lot of fun. I don't play the RPGs cause they are complicated and DH usually complains anytime a girl plays cause they never quite understand the rules

Anyway I had planned to exercise on my own this afternoon and then just chill and do whatever I wanted to, but I stayed there until 8pm so I have just been chilling since coming home.

Today I ate:
Lunch - leftover chinese chicken & veggies w/ rice
Dinner - leftover chicken & spanish rice w/ corn and black beans
Snack - one serving of Cool Ranch Doritos 3 cups of coffee
When we were playing I got kind of shaky and needed to eat something so I broke down and ate the Doritos. DH saw them and said, "what are you doing?" I replied, "I'm having 7 fat grams!" and all of the guys had a good laugh at that. I was just gonna do a half serving but 6 chips just wasn't worth bothering with, not that 12 was really that much better Oh, well. BTW, I didn't have breakfast because we slept through it.

So, I think I'm probably gonna spend the rest of my evening knitting and watching tv. I'm gonna try to get to some other people's journals tomorrow along w/ getting in some exercise

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Oh, yeah, by the way, I changed my WISH clippie today. I didn't realize it at first but I did it backwards. My goal is 65 pounds, but I have only lost 5 thus far. So my new clippie is the 5 pounder. I like that way better anyway, cause you can see how far you've come.

 

[lindalinda]

Congrats on your hard work so far! I feel for you living with your grandma. When i was building my house i tried living with my mom but it was a disaster. I lasted about 6 weeks and then moved into a tiny studio apartment with my son. Sometimes things just start to get on your nerves no matter how hard you try. So heres to a quick house-building!
It sounds like you are doing really well on your exercising. Walking is really the best way to start, i think. And doing it with your hubby and mom helps.
From my experience though (and I bet youve heard this before) it looks like your not getting quite enough calories. I only say that because if you short yourself, you can end up binging. (I have done this...good as an angel all day, then late at night...totally lose it). I try to eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, this keeps my blood sugar stable so I dont get those urges (as bad anyway, it doesnt always work). Anyway, keep it up, you can do it!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Linda - you were right about not having enough calories. Most days have been a good bit more than the last two days though. Yesterday I was feeling it a good bit of the day. I had the shakes a little at one point. Last night I ended up having some Veggie soup w/ half a roll at Midnight, because I really needed to eat something.

When I posted last night I felt really guilty about not having done any exercise. A good song was on so I decided to dance for a bit. I danced for about 10 minutes but then I really didn't feel right. That is when I decided that whether or not the kitchen was supposed to be closed, I had to eat something. I went to bed at 2am so it is not like I ate and then jumped in bed.

I didn't get up until noon today. DH and I walked before lunch because we knew that we were gonna want to just chill out and be lazy for the rest of the day. We walked for 30 minutes, doing 1 1/2 miles. ....
Gotta go, because as I am typing DH just said, "we can do another 30 minutes if you want."
Off to exercise

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

We called my mom and she joined us. We walked for 40 minutes this time. So our total exercise for today is 70 minutes!

Lunch was cooked by my grandmother so I knew it was gonna be bad. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but not the greatest. We had Country Fried Steaks that are pre-battered and cooked. She just put them in the oven to re-heat them. It comes w/ gravy mix too, so we had that w/ rice. Also green beans, deviled eggs, and yeast rolls. I had a bunch of green beans and only half a yeast roll. I didn't eat my whole steak, but probably had a tad bit more than a serving of the gravy I Love gravy. The steak box had the nutritional info, so it was 340 calories and 18 grams of fat for the steak w/ 2 tbsps of gravy.
My totals for lunch come to: Calories = 739 and Fat = 30
The fat is that bad cause of the steak and the devil eggs (I had 2 halves).

DH is planning to cook dinner tonight. He is a Great cook and loves to do it when he gets the chance! You won't find me complaining . We will have some sort of lentil dish w/ chicken and probably more rice. I know it seems like all I ever eat is rice, but I swear this is unusual!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

My DH made dinner last night and it was YUMMY! He made a chicken curry like dish. He has a chicken curry that he does that is different, but this was something new he created. Then he made lentils w/ celery, onion, carrots, and chicken broth. He seasoned it w/ curry, coriander, cumin, etc. He was going for a Moroccan feel to the dinner. We also had some instant Couscous to go with it. I usually enjoy what he cooks and tell him so, but last night every other bite I was like, "oh, man, this is SO good." "MMM" etc. AND the best part is that it was practically fat free!! and very low cal. The worst thing was the chicken breast and that is not bad at all.
He used fat free, low sodium chicken broth in the lentils and for baking the chicken curry he sprayed a little bit of Pam on it, so not bad at all!

After having a fairly good day eating and exercising we broke down and ate some cheese dip that my mother gave us. It is a dip w/ ground turkey, velveeta, and salsa. We added extra salsa to ours and tried not to eat too much It was good though. Oh, yeah, I also had 2 margaritas . Yesterday kind of negated the rest of the weekend's good eating.

So my estimated totals for the day are: Calories = 1948 & Fat = 52 Wasn't TOO over the top until I had the chips, dip, & margaritas. Oh, well. I didn't drink the rest of the weekend when I had planned to possibly one other night, so blowing the diet one day is better than 2, I guess.

I did close my kitchen on time though.

This morning I had cereal and then went for about a 10 minute hike/walk out over our property. I don't walk all that fast but it is hilly and kind of rough terrain. I am seriously out of breath when I go out there and walk around. I can walk over a mile at a faster rate and not be as out of breath if I walk elsewhere. I think it is a good change of pace and scenery though.

I plan to walk more this evening and probably do some floor exercises today.

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

So yesterday I ate:
Breakfast - cheerios w/ milk
Lunch - chicken sandwich on whole wheat w/ lettuce and swiss cheese, and an apple
Dinner - Homemade soft tacos w/ ground turkey, ff refried beans, lettuce, salsa, ff sour cream, and a touch of cheese. Also we had canned black beans that we rinsed and reseasoned (taking out some of the salt), and mexi-corn (corn w/ bell pepper, onion, celery, and salsa added). It was really good and I ate enough sides that I only at one soft taco.
I haven't figured up my calories and fat for all of that yet, but it wasn't too bad.

I walked 20 minutes with my mom and sister yesterday afternoon. I stopped at that thinking DH & I would walk, but he didn't want to.

Today, I walked 20 minutes w/ mom and sis, but stopped for 2 reasons: 1) I was getting really worn out and 2) I Knew DH & I were walking tonight. When DH came home we walked for 25 minutes then came inside and he rode the stationary bike while I did situps and pushups for about 5 minutes.

I had good intentions for food today, but I went to lunch w/ my cousin and was kind of bad. She is a hairdresser and cut my hair so I took her to lunch. We had Mexican. I was trying to be good and I got a chicken taco salad. I had them leave off the guacamole, but I didn't think about how much sour cream they would actually put on it ! So it wasn't too good, but I didn't eat too much of the shell.

So today I had:
Breakfast - Cheerios w/ milk
snack - cheesy mashed potatos from a box (almost forgot about these!)
Lunch - Chicken taco salad, chips and salsa
Dinner - Leftover chicken curry, Lentils, and couscous Yummy!
Still trying to figure out calories and fat for today as well.

I have my interview tomorrow and I am starting to get nervous. I shouldn't be but I am. Instead of buying a new outfit I ended up borrowing a nice pant suit from my mom that she has only worn like once. It is really nice. I think I am ready, but I still always feel unprepared. Crossing my fingers.

 

[lindalinda]

Good Luck on your interview!

 

[kmp1191]

Amber-you will do great on the interview! let us know!
You are also doing great with your journaling and walking and everything!
Keep up the good work and again, just say no (or do like you did before-just eat half the portion) to grandma's cooking. Will she get offended if you just have a salad instead of what she makes? Just a thought.


marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Just wanted to drop in and update about the interview. I think it went pretty good. He seemed interested and told me all about the company and benefits, etc. He said that he will let me know something by Monday, but that he may needme to interview with someone else as well. I feel that I made a good impression, but I didn't think to take my references with me I'm kicking myself for that one. I have to fill out an application anyway, so he said to just fax in my references with the application tomorrow. I will do that first thing. I have spent a good portion of the evening preparing that cause they want employment history that goes back 10 years! I graduated high school ten years ago, so that means they basically want my Whole life story!

Anyway, didn't exercise today, but I am exhausted anyway. I was pretty good foodwise today.
Breakfast - frosted mini wheats w/ milk
Lunch - chicken sandwich w/ 1/2 bowl of 0 point veggie soup
Dinner - leftover mexican from 2 nights ago.
No snack and the kitchen is closed. Just water for me from here on out. think I'm gonna hit the hay early tonight too.

Will update when I hear more about the job. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

I am totally freaking out about this whole job thing!! I called around yesterday and got 2 references. The third is being more elusive. I tried emailing one of my former teachers and she is not responding. I tried calling another one and she is out of town. So now I have left a message w/ an old faithful reference that I have known forever and gives great references. The thing is I need to get the application and references turned in ASAP, because he said that he wants to pretty well decide by Monday who he will hire.
I was fretting big time last night! I was tired and wanted to go to bed, but I knew that I would toss and turn for hours and disturb my DH's sleep. So I sat up on the couch for a long time just worrying. I know that there is really no point. I know that, whether I did good or bad in the interview yesterday, it is over and no way to change it. I also know that either he will accept my references late and not think badly of me or he will think badly of me, but there is nothing I can do about that now. Worrying will not change what happened, or change his thought proccess, or make him decide to hire me. BUT, that isn't keeping me from worrying anyway.
The thing is this job would be perfect! I have some experience in this work and the money is Great! I really want to be working again and this would be a perfect opportunity.

Ok. I must stop whining and dwelling now. Thanks for listening, I just needed to get it out.

On a good note, I am not eating emotionally! I had my normal breakfast of cereal and am having coffee now. I'm just wondering... does worrying count as exercise? It sure takes a lot of energy.

 

[kmp1191]

If worrying counted as excercise, we'd all be at our goal weight!!
Stop fretting...did he give you a deadline on the references? It's Thursday morning...you still have time. I would try to get them in by the end of the day today if you can...
I know you are stressing, but that will not do any good. Relax, go for a walk, do a little workout...dance!!

Here's some ...think positive!!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thank you so much, Kmp1191! I must have gotten your pixie dust when you sent it! I finished getting everything together and turned it in a little after noon. Once it was out of my hands completely I felt one hundred percent better. I don't know why I was flipping out so much earlier or why I feel so much better now, but I do. I am still a bit nervous, but trying not to dwell on it. I really appreciate the support you offered! I really needed that.

I didn't exercise earlier in the day today. I mostly just layed around on the couch. I was not interested in cooking today either. DH had to be in Atlanta for work today and on his way home he called and suggested tv dinners (& sushi for him). I took him up on it and ran to the grocery store.
When I got back, my mom and sister were walking without me ! I said I would join them, but my sister was through. So it was just me and mom for awhile. We walked for about 20 minutes and she called it quits. I said I would too and wait for DH to come home, but I decided to continue on my own.
Then instead of just walking I decided to try jogging some. I've been toying w/ the idea of training for a 1/2 marathon or at least a 5k, even though I don't run AT ALL. So I have a driveway area that is about 300 feet. I decided that I would jog it once then walk it twice, jog once, walk twice. I thought I would fall out after the second one and then when I finished the walk portion I decided to jog it one more time! then I completed the walk cycle and did a few more laps for cool down.
I came inside to stretch and do situps with the full intention of calling it quits at that point. BUT DH came home and wanted to exercise. I had figured he wouldn't want to after spending 2+ hours in the car. So we exercised inside. We traded off between the stationary bike, a mini stair stepper, and a new "lateral thigh trainer" that I just got. The thigh trainer looks like the stair stepper, but has a different kind of sideways motion.
SO, I did 70 minutes of exercise this evening! Let me just say that it felt like a good bit more than that to me.

Today to eat I had:
Breakfast - Kashi good friends w/ milk
Lunch - chicken sandwich w/ leftover lentils
Dinner - Lean Cuisine Chicken Fried Rice and a salad
Totals - Calories = 1176 Fat = 25
Not bad I may end up with a snack though, cause I don't think dinner is gonna hold me all that well.

 

[kmp1191]

WOW....70 minutes!! you are doing great!! good job on getting the references done!! see how much better you feel!! i'm sure it impressed the guy you interviewed with too...it showed him that you're not a last minute person, that you are an achiever!! (sp) if they don't hire you, it will be their loss!!

have a great day, and keep up the good work!
i'm going to go blow my nose now!! hopefully i'll be back to normal by tomorrow!! (whatever normal is!! )

marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks again, Marie! I do hope you get to feeling better! I think yesterday I was still feeling a little funky about the job thing, but today I am really trying not to think about it. I just have to wait and see what they decide and keep my fingers crossed.

I did end up snacking last night around 10pm. I had a chocolate rice cake, 8 chocolate graham crackers, and some milk. Those graham crackers are so good I did not want to stop eating them . That brings my daily total to: Calories = 1457 and Fat = 33. The milk gets me everytime! I drink 2% and I just can't stand anything lower in fat than that. And I Love my milk I have it at least once a day, and twice if I have any chocolate .

Today I got up kind of late. I'm taking advantage of the sleeping late thing while I still can . I had cereal for breakfast and no coffee, yet.

I have had a lot of water already today. Someone commented that I need to be sure to get in enough water. I think that I almost always do. I drink water ALL day. The only times that I have anything else are at meals, when I usually have sweet tea, and whenever I'm drinking my coffee. I don't have a good way to track how much water I drink, but it is a good bit. I have a big cup that I use and fill w/ ice. After it is full of ice it holds about 16oz of water. In the morning I will drink that before breakfast and then refill it and it will be gone again in 30 minutes or so.

I know that DH and I won't exercise this evening because we are going out to dinner. So I did this new exercise video that we got w/ the lateral thigh trainer. It is a pretty good workout. You walk on this trainer and then she talks you through different arm movements, so that you get a full body workout. It is just short of 30 minutes, so I finished off w/ some situps.

I just want to say that I think our bathroom scales must be broken! I wish I could say that I only weigh once a week but I really do it like every other morning. Since the middle of January the scales have not Budged!! I have been on the 200 pound line for WAY too long!! I know that I haven't been perfect with my diet, but I am trying and I exercise Way more than I have done in the past 2 years or so. So I can't stand the fact that nothing is changing? It is very frustrating. I am now trying to up the intensity of my workouts, like the jogging yesterday. I also know that I am going to have to be Way more careful with my food. Like tonight when we go out. Maybe a chicken salad or something. One thing I have noticed is that my fat always seems to be on the high side, so I will try to find ways to bring that down. This is harder than I remember it being last time. But I'm gonna stick with it!

If my mom and sister walk today I will probably walk with them, too. That will give me about another 30 min. for the day. That would be good.