Doreen's New Way of Life (comments are welcome)

[septbride2002]

PIZZA? WHO SAID PIZZA? WHERE IS THE PIZZA WHERE???? Picture Animal from the Muppets as you read this. LOL!

I'm sorry to hear that you are not feeling well - remember to take care of yourself! I'm sending lots of your way today!

~Amanda

 

[honeymo78]

Just stopping by to say you're doing a wonderful job. No matter what comes across your path you seem to be able to get over those hurdles and get moving again. Maybe you'll be able to get some exercise in tonight. I think its a great idea to think of your 4 pillars and not wanting to let your building fall to one side.

 

[mickeysdsnyprncs]

Doe, you are doing a great job! Thank you for your continuted support even though I haven't shown my "face" around here at all lately. Busy busy busy.

Stay positive and you'll do great!

 

[Strings]

Hi Doe,

I'm running late today. I love your pillar visualization. That is very powerful. You are doing a great job with your goals this 2nd half of the month. You should be very proud of yourself. Enjoy your quiet evening.
Beth

 

[DoeWDW]

It's Thursday! I can see the weekend in sight! YAY!

I had a little nudge last night (thank you Amanda!!) to help me get my exercise in. I walked the puppy and it did us both good to get outside and have a stroll. I was going to be lazy and skip it, but Amanda was kind enough to remind me how much better I'd feel if I walked, and she was right! I think it helped that I wore my hat!

Today:
1. Take meds & vitamins w/ breakfast.
2. Water - 1 mug down and 4 to go.
3. Food - I hate to set a food goal, since I've been breaking every one I set. B will be apple w/ PB, L will be tuna salad on rye crackers (brought from home), S will be nuts from the EVM (hopefully the kind that are NOT coated in chocolate ), D will be ??? something.
4. Exercise - I need to walk the puppy tonight. The weather is supposed to be beautiful so no excuses!

When I got home last night, I had a cup of Ben & Jerry's Carb Karma half baked ice cream. It sounded good - vanilla & chocolate w/ pieces of fudge and choc. chip cookie dough. Unfortunately it didn't taste all that great and I had some serious gas last night! I think I'll throw the rest away - it wasn't worth the carbs. Then, since I felt so gassy, I wasn't really into any more food - rather unhealthy.

I've got some deadlines to meet at 1 PM today so I won't be doing journals until much later. Know that I'm thinking of each of you!!

 

[lulu201]

Woo-hoo the weekend is in sight!

It sounds like you got some healthy walking squeezed into yesterday! Hooray! Today should be beautiful, so maybe you and Maya can get in a walk after work. What do you say?

After you meet your 1 p.m. deadline, have a nice cup of orange green tea (I'll do the same this afternoon as a sign of solidarity ), lift your cup and remember all the WISH es out there who love you.

Have a great day, girlfriend.
Erin

 

[Strings]

Hi Doreen,

I'm just sending some to help things run smoothly at work, so you can meet the deadline without a problem. Enjoy your today. Yesterday it snowed here. Today the high is supposed to be 82. I'll take it.

Beth

 

[Carol36]

Hey Doreen!

You are doing a great job! I know you felt better after your walk. I hope you meet your deadlines and hope you have a great day!

Carol

 

[vald1977]

Hi Doreen,
Only one day until the weekend -- yay ! Wishing you a great Thursday !

 

[DoeWDW]

So far it's been a good day! It looks like I'm getting a consultant for 2 months to ease my workload on my major project. Of course I'll be responsible for training and reviewing his work, but I should have some more free time to do the new project that I've been assigned.

I've taken my meds & vitamin, eaten breakfast and lunch as planned, have no cravings for EVM carb junk and have been drinking my water. I didn't walk at lunch but I did go outside to a sunny spot and read for 20 minutes. I have a date with my cute little doxie when I get home for a stroll in the sun and maybe some training exercises.

I've been reading several books on shy / fearful dogs and am ready to start working with Maya to help her cope with the world a little better. We haven't been working on training her to go outside except for a potty stop in the yard before walking her. She has been using her litter pan more consistently so DH hasn't mentioned any more about it. I want to get her enrolled in obedience class again. We took a class 2 years ago but she needs the exposure to other dogs and people in a structured setting. Yeah - one more thing for me to do, but helping her to be a less fearful dog will relieve some of my stress and worry.

Now that I'll be getting a new consultant, I have a million things to do before he arrives on Tuesday (hopefully, if the contract gets through all the legal people ). He'll need a security badge, an account on several of our computer systems, reference materials, a clear task list - that should keep me hopping for a couple days but in the end he'll save me time and energy and anxiety.

Off I go!

 

[LAinSEA]

Doe: Remember the consultant is there to assist you - not you are there to assist the consultant! (Having had the "consultant" added to my mix several times over the past 20 years or so of work and having been the "consultant" myself, I can attest that the above statement is very important to take at face value.)

I'm so sorry not to get your journal sooner - but I'm so happy for you that you've had things brighten up around you! My walking has become a source of peace and strength for me lately - it's so easy to enjoy the world around me while moving through and with it. Your puppy will gain more confidence with each venture outside too - I hope.

The weekend is almost here! Keep up your positive outlook!

-Laurie

 

[DoeWDW]

Laurie, thanks so much for your advice about the consultant. I do tend to bend over backwards trying to make things as easy as possible for those around me, generally making more work for myself instead of letting other people share the load. You are wise!

Also, thanks for the reminder about walking my puppy to help her gain confidence. With all the reading I've been doing on fearful dogs, they stress that keeping them in the house will only make them more fearful so in spite of the stress of taking her out into the world, I've got to do it. We had a nice walk last night and I'm learning how to help her and understand her more every day. The saying goes that there are no bad dogs, just bad owners, and I'm learning how to be a better owner.

Friday is here! :happy2: I'm tired but I can get through one more day. The weekend looks like a laid back one - nothing planned at all! I'm going to try to keep it that way, in spite of my tendency to fill up my time with "shoulds" - all the things I "should" be doing. I've got to convince myself that I "should" rest and relax and recharge my batteries!!

Work should be pretty good today - am just getting ready for my consultant to come in next week. I'm only taking a half hour lunch so I can leave a half hour early with my vanpool. Funny how knowing I can leave half an hour early can make me as giddy as a little kid on the first day of vacation!

I've got all the usual goals and my food will be the same as yesterday.

Into Friday I go!

 

[lulu201]

Good morning, dear Doe-Doe. Here's some more on top of all we have on this glorious day! You can never have too much, right?

Doreen, thank you for all your encouragement this week. As always, your kindness lifted me up and helped keep me going. Of course that Energizer Bunny didn't hurt either!

If you ask me, I think you should have a Pajama Day this weekend. No housework, no running around, no phone--just total R and R. Even if you can't do it for a whole day, a Saturday morning spent just goofing off with the family has amazing energizing properties! Maybe invite DD for an at-home spa day! Do nails and facials and put your feet up with a chick flick. . .
let the guys do home maintenance or something. (Uh, please don't tell DH that suggestion came from me!)

Will you get a chance to plan ahead for Monday today? That strategy seemed to work well last Friday and gave you some peace at the beginning of the week.

and and a Friday Hip Hip Hooray!
Erin

 

[Strings]

Hi Doe,

Sounds like you have the perfect weekend planned to recharge your batteries, and you get an early start. I also like Erins suggestions, especially the menfolk doing all the work. I hope your weekend is a great one.
Beth

 

[CheapMom]

Hi Doreen- Today should fly by and then into your weekend of no plans you go. Sounds heavenly. Take care of yourself and do some quality relaxing for me.
Thanks for always having such kind, encouraging words for me on my journal- I was considering having a SECOND bowl of cereal today when I got a little pop-up "DoeWDW has replied to your thread CheapMom takes the WISH challenge" I clicked on it and read it and I said- 'breakfast is now OVER'- onward and downward.
It really made a difference- thanks!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Your plans sound wonderful because YOU HAVE NO PLANS!

How wonderful! Glad you get to leave work early. I remember what that was like. I must admit, I don't miss it. Now I just run around my house like a crazy woman instead!

Have a great one!

 

[lulu201]

Good morning, Doreen! Just popped over to wish you a happy Saturday. Enjoy the weekend and the and get in some quality "Doreen Time."

for you and yours,
Erin

 

[Strings]

Hi Doe,
So how's the weekend going? Are you relaxing, or did you get sucked into doing a ton of things? I hope right now, you are curled up with a great book or watching a chick flick. Take care of yourself.
Beth

 

[DoeWDW]

WARNING: Long rambling post

Today has been wonderful! The guys (DH & DS) went to my parents' house to do some work for them. DD & I have had the day to ourselves. We've definitely been relaxing all day. We worked on our tans and watched 2 different chick flicks among other things. I've walked the puppy twice. It's nice to spend a day with no to-do list, no agenda, just veg time!

I am a bit pensive today - basically means I've been doing a lot of thinking. April has been a total wash for me - I'm heavier now than I was at the beginning of the month. Laurie posted a thread on the main WISH board about how we have to be able to come to terms with giving up certain things if we want to lose the weight and become more healthy. I've been giving in to more temptations that I'd like to admit lately and exercising less than I should be. I guess I haven't been willing to make the sacrifices necessary to lose this weight and now I've managed to gain quite a few pounds back.

I start out in the mornings with the best of intentions and as the day goes on, I get less and less concerned with doing the healthy thing. It scares me that I went from 142 to 127 (at one point) and then maintained around 130 - 132 for weeks and now am at 136. I can feel the old me coming back and I feel almost powerless to stop it.

I do have to say that I'm much better about taking my meds & vitamins like clockwork every day. The water, food & exercise though have not been what they need to be. I do manage to eat a healthy breakfast and lunch every day so that's a plus.

I don't have any answers yet. I am still thinking about all this and wondering where my motivation went. I'm not eating everything in sight but I'm not being as good as I should be and it's showing. The pounds and inches are creeping back on and I'm afraid. I haven't totally given up though.

I haven't wanted to post to my journal - always a sure sign that I'm feeling unhappy with my behavior. I can't do that - I'm afraid if I ever stop journalling, I'll also stop trying and I don't want to do that. So here I am, putting my feelings and fears into words. I figure just writing about the problem may help me sort through it.

The solution requires work - meal planning, exercise planning. I'm tired - I just don't want to plan anymore. This is a vicious cycle though - no plan, blow off the goals, feel horrible, gain weight, lose motivation, no plan, etc. I don't want to spiral down and give up - I've still got some fight left in me. So I'm taking it day by day and trying not to put too much pressure on myself.

Those are my totally disorganized thoughts at the moment. Sorry to ramble but that's what I felt I needed to do.

I'm down but not out. I'm not giving up. I WON'T gain all my weight back.

Enough rambling - be back tomorrow.

 

[DoeWDW]

Well, I'm back for more introspection. Feel free to skip this post.

I've been looking at why I'm feeling unmotivated. It involves lots more than my healthy living goals. I feel like I'm not living up to my potential in every area of my life. This has been an ongoing thing with me and I'm trying to recognize WHY I feel this way.

I've got to break through this in order to truly be happy in life. I'm still working on it. In the meantime, I'm going to try to get some food ready for the week, take some small steps toward my healthy living goals. I can't give up.

The scale was at 134 this morning - thank goodness! Movement in the right direction is heartening. I have all day today with no agenda, no obligations. I can take some small steps in the right direction, while I continue to try to get at the heart of this matter.

I see a small bit of .