Amber's Get Healthy Journal (Comments Welcome)

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, guys!
Linda- We do have a few trees that we have to get rid of, but that wasn't really the part that we were working on. We were just trying to clean up all the scrap wood and Nails, nails, nails! There are SO many everywhere! I think what really made it bad is how hot it was. Then we just decided that our time is too precious right now. I would rather go to the gym or six flags or a movie

Scott - I was thinking about those horrible Atlanta commutes yesterday actually. I used to sit in traffic heading to Stone Mountain for at least 45 minutes. Now at least I get to spend the whole 45 minutes zipping down the road I tracked the miles and it turns out that it is only 6 miles further from my house than Twiggs co. was, so that isn't too bad.

Thanks for the support! I really need some extra motivation these days. It has been a struggle to stay motivated. A lot of it has to do w/ me not planning well meal-wise and then seeing the chiropractor twice a week takes up a lot of time. As of this week I only go once so that should help. On the food front, I spent some time last night picking out recipes. Today I will finish working on the list and we will go shopping for ingredients. That should help to keep me on track better.

Started my new position yesterday. It is taking everything I've got not to be totally overwhelmed and freaked out. I am starting w/ 21 cases which is Quite a Lot! That means that I have to make roughly 105 contacts this month! I know that it can be done, but I just have to get organized and get it done. I have that mini vacation next week which gives me fewer days to get everything done too. The lady who's position I am taking said that there are about 5 cases that can be closed out, so that will help some once I can get them closed. I am just nervous. The county I came from had like 7 cases per worker which is a Huge difference. Oh well, I will just do the best I can and try not to get stressed out.

Yesterday's food:
b- kashi good friends cereal, milk
l- sandwich, apple, water
s- popcorn, coke
d- chinese chicken & mixed veggies w/ steamed rice.
We ordered the "diet chicken & mixed veggies" which was steamed w/ the sauce on the side. It is really good! I put a decent amount of sauce on it but I'm sure it was less than they would have put on it. YUM! (see this is what happens when I don't plan for dinner )

When I got home from work yesterday I went immediately to the gym for the 6:00 Tae Bo class w/ my mom. It lasted 45 minutes. He didn't stop as much this time so we got a pretty good workout. He is trying to go easy on everyone since this is the beginning of the class. I think that I am really gonna enjoy this class Hopefully it will help me to tone up a lot. Plus it is a good stress relief with all the punching and kicking. Also I have to pay attention to the instruction so I don't have anytime to dwell on whatever is bothering me I have a feeling that is going to help me a lot in the coming months

I am considering going to the gym today, but we will have to see how the day goes. We will be grilling out soon, so food is not going to be very good.

Happy 4th of July everyone! Have some fun!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

gone to florida, be back thursday!

 

[ScoJo15]

Enjoy your time in Florida!! (geesh...all these vacations are making me jealous )

 

[kmp1191]

Yeah Scott, I know what you mean!! I went to FL in October, and that's been it!! I'm going to talk to DH and try to plan a get-a-way for the weekend of the 21st.....we'll see.

So, Amber, sorry about hijaking your thread there for a minute!!
Hope you're enjoying your vacation....you deserve it! Good job on getting to the gym...i'm jealous.
Keep up the good work.....both the diet, exercise & the job!!

marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, guys! I'm back! I had a really nice time too bad it was over too quick. We spent most of Sunday at the beach, most of Monday fishing, and Tuesday we went to the beach then drove into Panama City for dinner. Today we slept late and then came home. I had thought that my sister that lives in Kentucky was gonna come down, but she wasn't able to get off of work. So it was just my mom, dad, dh & I. It was really nice and peaceful. It was just what I needed.

I ate really bad while we were gone! Lots of fried foods and ice cream and cookies. I figured I was on vacation so I decided to splurge. I think I burned a good many calories swimming and on Sunday we walked WAY down the beach and back. It was probably at least mile, maybe a mile and a half.

I wish that I could have stayed longer, but I really need to be back at work anyway. I am a teeny bit less stressed about work now. I think it is going to be really hard to meet my deadlines this month, but I think I can do it. If for some reason I don't make it this month I know that I can do it next month for sure. I just have come to the realization that I can only do as much as I can and that will have to be enough.

Hope everyone's been having a good week. I hopefully can get caught up on journals over the weekend. I am not sure how often I will make it here during the week for a little while. Life has just been feeling Very hectic lately. I think it will even out soon though.

Gonna try to make it to the gym tomorrow and get started back on track w/ the healthy eating and exercise!

See ya! Have a good end of the week!

 

[lindalinda]

Welcome back Amber! Glad you had a good trip!

Dont worry about the food on vacation...I'm sure you walked it off! Dont forget to log those walks on your exercise challenge, you deserve credit for them!

 

[kmp1191]

Boy Amber, do I understand about life being hectic!! (i think we all do!!)
Post when you can...we're still here to root you on!! Glad to hear the vacation was good....i'm thinking about just taking a day or 2 off just to do nothing!!!
good job on the walking!! definately log it!!

have a great day!
marie

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

Hi Amber,

Sounds like you had a nice vacation, I was just in Panama City Beach myself a few weeks ago. And I overate as well.

But now it's time to get back on the healthy eating/exercise road again.

Good luck, and keep up the good work!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, everyone! Thanks for all the encouragement!

I didn't sleep very much last night. I kept dreading work all night Today was not too bad, but I wasn't able to get as much as I would like done. I have a lot scheduled for tomorrow though so that should be good. I worked 10 hours today and will do the same tomorrow to try to make up for lost time

Today I ate pretty good!
b- total, milk
l- HC manicotti w/ broccoli
d- chinese chicken & veggies w/ rice (cooked by SUPERCHEF DH! ) It was pretty healthy

Exercise - Dh and I both had pretty hectic days and so we decided not to go to the gym. Instead we walked around the lake so we could chat. we made it twice around the lake and then were interrupted by my cousin. I also walked to the house site and back twice today. I would say total I did about .9 of a mile. Not much, but better than nothing.

I hope to get back on track w/ the exercise this weekend and next week.

Good night! Hopefully I will sleep Really good tonight!

 

[kmp1191]

sweet dreams!!!

 

[lindalinda]

Good job getting back in the groove so fast! You are doing great! Every little bit of evercise helps!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks Linda. It is a slow process 2 steps forward, 2 steps back.

Yesterday:
b- total w/ milk
l- small portion of the leftover chinese dish from Thurs., grapes, coke
d- Fuddrucker's triple cheese hamburger and chili cheese fries, pepsi

no exercise. Worked a ten hour day thursday and friday to get a little caught up.

Today so far:
b-none
l- Krystal's 1 chili cheese pup (mini hotdogs), 1 corn pup, and chili cheese fries
s- chex mix turtle flavor Yummy, but BAD
Haven't had dinner yet, but while I was out getting Krystal I picked up a sub from Subway for dinner. I am being Absolutely lazy today! No cooking for me I also had ordered 2 chili cheese pups and only ate 1 so the other will go w/ my dinner as well.

This morning we took the cts to the vet. They got some of their shots today. Poor Raven got 4, one in each leg! Puff only got 3 cause she isn't old enough for her Rabies shot yet. She is our cry baby though so she really It was so upsetting! They have slept most of the afternoon.

I did a little computer work this afternoon but other than that all I have done is watch tv and read magazines What a nice day! Dh is off hanging out w/ his friends today, so I get to play. I am sure that I have housework I could do but NAH who wants to do that.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and take some time to RELAX!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

After reading how Linda and Marie are getting back on track so MARVELOUSLY, I decided to get off my tush and get some exercise in!

So it was getting to be dusky and 9pm So I decided to go outside and walk around the lake. Well, I have been considering the whole race-walk thing since everyone around here says I shouldn't run That was the last thing that I had been doing on the treadmill at the gym. (that feels like forever ago!) So that is what I decided to do tonight is just walk as fast as I could.

On the first lap I felt really strong and fast. I had remembered my MP3 player but didn't have my stopwatch. Got it for the second lap.... 3.5 minutes Then for the 3rd lap my STUPID stopwatch messed up So I walked fast, but was messing w/ it so not as fast. Then I got it working again. I wanted to see if I could maintain the 3.5 for a whole mile, so I started counting that mile on lap 4. I wasn't able to quite maintain 3.5 minutes per lap, but close. I did the mile in 14:48 I know that I have done slightly faster on the treadmill, but this is the fastest that I have ever gone "in real life" if you know what I mean. And I haven't done any real walking in a few weeks. I finished off w/ just over a lap of cool down. I did 2 miles and I figure my total time to be about 33 minutes.

So, THANKS WISHERS!!! For being here and posting to your journals and reminding me to get off my lazy duff and do something!!

I promise to use this momentum going forward into the coming week! GO WISH!! We can do it!

Feeling really psyched up now, I'll probably be up all night! That is ok though it is worth it!

 

[kmp1191]

Glad we could help motivate ya Amber!!
Great job on the power walking!! That's pretty much what dh and I do on our 3 mile hikes. It feels great....stress releiver in my opinion!!!
Actually, after reading yours, i'm gonna go clean out the garage and set up a little gym area for me to work out in. DH and I have been doing some talking & contemplating, so we are gonna wait to join a gym for now....see what happens in the future....(nothing bad, don't worry!)

oh, and i know....kim just doesn't understand about sweet tea!! man, it's killing me....worse than when i gave up the cokes!! but, i can do this!!!

keep up the great work!!!!
marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

After all that great motivation on Saturday, Sunday was a bust! It is ok though, cause I let myself have that day as the "grand finale" of our vacation (even though it technically ended last Wednesday. I ate pretty bad and had some beer. no exercise.

Yesterday though I got back in the groove.
B- total w/ milk
l - 2 slices leftover thin crust pizza, grapes, water
d - chili, water

Exercise - 45 minute taebo class

I decided to only drink water and milk for one whole week as a mini sweet tea challenge. I decided to start Monday though since I wanted to drink on Sun. Also DH and I agreed to not eat out at all until Friday, July 28 which is almost 2 weeks. We have just been eating out constantly and need to stop for our financial and physical health. We usually eat out about once a week which isn't to bad, but we have just been going wild lately. I have been stressed from work and then I don't want to come home and cook. I promise to do better!

Today:
b- total w/ milk
l- chicken sandwich, grapes, water
d- chili, water, 1 slice of fried eggplant
water intake estimated at 140 ounces. I drink a lot of water, especially when I workout!

Exercise - 3 miles on the treadmill in 45:20 walking!! I was really pushing to keep my speed and it was really hard on the last mile. Unfortunately because I have Crappy shoes I rubbed a blister on each of my feet! It is those darn running shoes that I bought on impulse and spent too much money on! Now I feel like I can't buy new ones cause I just got those in March and I hate to waste the money. I may break down and buy a new pair anyway. Back to the exercise... I did 7 more minutes to cool down and I had done 8 minutes on the bike while waiting for the treadmill. So today's total = 60 minutes

Good night!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Yesterday:
b- total w/ milk
l- sandwich, grapes, water
d- chicken and veggie pasta dish made by DH w/ water

Exercise - 40 minute taebo class followed by 20 minutes on the elliptical.

So, last night we are sitting watching TV and DH gets a beer. Well, I'm thinking Hmm.. I think I have one left in the fridge. So I get it and drink it. When I get to the end I remember I wasn't supposed to drink anything but water and milk! Oh, well. I didn't have any sweet tea or soda at least.

Today:
b- total w/ milk
l- leftover chicken veggie pasta, water
d- leftover chicken veggie pasta, water
Water intake maybe about 90 oz. maybe a bit more

Didn't make it to the gym today. I had a headache and we had other errands to run. I plan to go tomorrow though because they are having a Friday Taebo class Why Friday I don't know. I should be able to make it, but I have to go to the chiropractor tomorrow. If I can get to both it will be awesome!

Ok, so the water challenge isn't going to go as planned. Woman can't live on water alone! DH is most likely going to do a bit of drinking tonight since he will be on call this weekend and therefore can't drink then. I will most likely drink with him just because I want to. I think that I am bad about being tempted by things just because I said that I wouldn't do/eat them. Like DH and I said we wouldn't eat out this week or next week, but I have wanted to go out to lunch like everyday this week. Mostly it is just because I can't.

Well, have a good night!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

So plans are like rules they are meant to be broken right? Yesterday and today didn't exactly go as planned...not terrible but not as planned.

Yesterday:
b- total w/ milk
l- hc chicken enchilada, water
d- chinese chicken w/ mixed vegetables, sauce on the side, steamed rice, water
s- chocolate graham crackers

Didn't make it to Taebo cause I really needed to go to the chiropractor. I was hoping to go earlier in the day but that didn't work out. The off plan thing was that we ended up eating take out after saying we wouldn't do any "eating out" this week. The reason we had take out is that DH's best friend and his wife invited us over to eat. I initially agreed to eat out with them because it is RARE that they actually go to a restaurant to eat (they have 2 kids and she thinks going in public w/ them is the end of the world). I foolishly believed they wanted to actually go out, then realized they just wanted to bring home the food Anyway, we haven't spent any time w/ them since before I got my job so we decided to break the no eating out rule.

Made it through the day w/ just water and milk.

Today:
Dh had to cut a 670 foot long trench today for our power, cable, and phone lines to go in. It would have cost us over $3000 for them to do it, so DH rented a ditch witch and did it himself (w/ some help from my dad). My job for the day was running back and forth from the house to them to supply fresh cold water. I tried to give them fresh water about every 20-30 minutes. It was super hot out there. I didn't get any solid exercise, but I went back and forth a LOT. I am going to count 45 minutes for exercise today cause I was working a good bit. Plus on at least 4 or 5 of the longer trips I decided to jog there and back which is uphill on the way back It was almost to hot for that!

Then since DH worked so hard all day and wanted a "Manly meal" like a steak or something, I told him we should just go out somewhere nice. Then we decided we would take my parents and treat them since my dad was a HUGE help on this project. We ended up at Cheddar's which is SO yummy, but I am almost always bad when we eat there. Today was no exception, in fact probably worse than usual. Mom wanted to order the onion rings as an appetizer, but I kind of wanted the spinach dip. So we got both. Between the four of us we ate it all and it was a BUNCH! Then I had ordered my usual meal from there which is Buffalo Chicken Tenders w/ mashed potatoes and corn. They brought me 6 good sized tenders. I was pretty good though. I only ate 2 and a couple of bites of my sides. The rest is dinner for tomorrow.

OH, yeah..... I failed the no sweet tea challenge I just couldn't stand the thought of eating such a yummy dinner w/ out some sort of flavored drink and it is my flavor of choice. BUT I did do WAY better than usual. Usually I drink w/ a straw and get about 5 or 6 refills minimum! This time I ditched the straw and was cautious about sipping (instead of gulping) my tea. I did get one refill, but I still had about a third of a glass left. I left about half of the second glass. So I drank just over one glass of tea for my entire meal which is a BIG difference for me. So I did cheat, but in moderation

food:
B - total w/ milk
l- 1/4 of an apple, whole wheat bagel w/ cream cheese
s- slice of zucchini bread
d - spinach dip, chips, onion rings, 2 chicken strips w/ buff. and ranch dip, 3 bites of mashed potatoes, 4 bites of corn, 1.2 glasses of sweet tea

Good night all! Enjoy your Sunday!

 

[kmp1191]

shame shame shame!!!!!! You drank the forbidden tea!!!! Do you KNOW how many times I've gone out and had the word on the tip of my tounge, only to order water w/ lemon??!!! C'mon Amber.....you're tougher than that!!! Don't let the tea win!!! Don't let Kim win!!! Tell you honestly....some days i'm fine w/o the tea, but it's REALLY hard when you go out and that's what you normally get....i would actually KILL for one right now!!!
Ok...so get back on track w/ the tea!!! NO TEA, JUST WATER & MILK FOR YOU!!
Sounds like the house is coming along pretty good.....bet your anxious!
Hang in there on the NO EATING OUT CHALLENGE...just think how much $$$ and calories you'll save!!

have a great day!
marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, Ok.... I'm doing better on the sweet tea thing. I snuck a few sips of DH's tea at lunch on Sunday, but none since then.

Been a busy week and I didn't realize that I hadn't posted since Saturday. Gonna make it short and sweet. My food intake has been pretty good mostly the usual suspects. I did falter a little because my grandma made some peanut butter cookies w/ peanut butter chips in them. I have had 3 so far. That isn't too bad since they have been staring me in the face since Tuesday.

I slipped on the no eating out challenge today because the HC meal that I took for lunch was defective. The plastic that covers the top was half missing. I chucked it and got a spicy chicken wrap from Chick-fil-a w/ water. I think that was an acceptable slip since I had to eat something

Exercise has been minimal this week. Made it to TaeBo on Monday and did the eliptical for 15 minutes afterward. Tuesday I didn't make it to the gym because DH and my dad were working on covering the trench they dug. I did get some exercise though cause I was using a shovel-like thing to scrap the dirt back into the trench. I spent some time doing it.... it might count as 10 minutes of exercise since it was good upper body work. Wednesday- no gym, nothing, just lazy. Today - eliptical for 6 minutes (treadmills were all full) then treadmill for 54 minutes. Did my walking at 3.8 miles per hour and then did some jogging mixed in. Tried not to push too hard. Did the first two miles in 29:26. Shortly after that I was getting really worn out so I decided to just walk the rest. It was SO hot in there today. I was also struggling with my heartrate. I got it up and it just would not come down. I did a total of 3.4 miles I think.

In other Offtopic news, my sister came home from Kentucky yesterday. She had been living there for awhile with her boyfriend. Everyone kept saying she just needs to come home. Well, she and her boyfriend broke up and she is home now. I am glad she is home. We are quite different, but life just didn't seem right without her here. All the rest of my immediate family is right here in the same spot and she was WAY off in Kentucky. So it was a nice reunion.

Have a great night and happy Friday tomorrow!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Friday -
b- total w/ milk
l- HC chicken w/ pasta, water
d- nachos w/ beef, beans, and cheese, 32 oz margarita (broke the no eating out rule, but not the sweet tea rule )
no exercise

Saturday -
Got up and went out for lunch, did some clothes shopping for DragonCon that we will go to Labor day weekend, went to see POTC (It was Awesome btw! Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in 1 movie is almost too much to bear ) then we went grocery shopping. Busy day but fun.

The clothes shopping went better than I had planned. I have been wanting to put together a renaissance outfit, but have been reluctant to pay the high prices for one. So I thought that I could at least come up with some "slinkier" or less preppy clothes to wear while we are at DragonCon. It is an annual SciFi/Fantasy convention that we go to almost every year. We are going to be there all 4 days this year. Usually I just wear jeans or shorts and t-shirts. People wear all sorts of things to this event including REALLY elaborate costumes. I thought that we would go to the mall and Maybe find something at the Charlotte Russe store that I could fit into and that might work and then we could try Hot Topic (that is the style for DC). Well, Charlotte Russe had like 7 different styles of corsets that were Awesome and fit perfectly into what I had been trying to find. They fit me too! They look pretty cool! I bought two corsets and one pair of size 13 pants. The pants are REALLY tight though, so I have to work hard this month so that I can actually breath the day I wear those Then we went to Hot Topic and I tried on this skirt that I loved, but they didn't have it in my size. The girl said try the online store. When I went there they had it in my size AND it was on sale! So I got another skirt and the 2 together were the price of the one in the store! I usually don't go wild buying clothes especially this type of clothes that I can't wear that often, but it felt so good to be able to fit into the hip young people clothes that are usually Way too small. I will try to post a pic of me in my new corsets later if I get a chance. Here is a link to the two skirts I bought from Hot Topic:
http://www.hottopic.com/store/product.asp?LS=0&ITEM=268051&RN=760
http://www.hottopic.com/store/product.asp?LS=0&ITEM=286914&RN=760

So my food for yesterday was really odd. I almost Never skip dinner. On Saturdays I usually skip breakfast because we sleep late, but then always eat dinner. But not yesterday.

l- 1/2 a chicken, pepperoni & cheese pannini, 1/2 a bowl of shrimp & corn bisque, 1/2 an italian pesto bagel, 1 glass of sweet tea. (broke the sweet tea challenge, but I didn't use a straw, so it was WAY less than I would have drank)
S- Lots of popcorn at POTC, lots of Dr. Pepper but we didn't put butter on the popcorn, I usually like it LOADED
S- 2 small chocolate chip cookies
S- 3 smirnoff ice
No dinner
I ate all that popcorn and then I just wasn't hungry at all. So I didn't eat dinner, but I am sure I more than made up for the calories I skipped at dinner.

I am considering trying to eat HC or Lean Cuisine dinners a few nights a week to try to control my calorie and portion intake better. I really would like to kickstart my weight loss again. I know that my weekend benders of eating out and drinking beer don't help me any. I will try to do better on that also.

Not sure what form of exercise I will get in today. I am going to try to do something though.
Oh, yeah, before my shopping trip yesterday I kept saying that I don't notice a difference in my clothes fitting me. Today I tried on a pair of shorts that were WAY too tight at the beginning of the summer. Now they fit again.... they are still a little bit too tight, but they are wearable now! I am feeling good this weekend. This was just the encouragement that I needed to kick it into gear again!
Have a good day!