Lesli's Changing Life at 40 Journal

[Lesli54]

Yesterday was great! Busy, but great.

Water was about 50 oz. For the first time in a long time, I am starting to feel that I am getting back on track with water. Food went as planned except.....at lunch I waited a bit too long and polished off some chips (more like crumbs) and almost went downhill from there when I told myself to get the salad and chicken. That was a good move because it was much more satisfying in the long run. The PM snack was a apple cinnamon rice cake. I was late getting anything there and at the store I picked them up and decided to eat one even though it was close to supper because I was afraid that I would go overboard if I waited. Turned out to be a good thing. Later in the evening (yes, after 7:30) I ate a piece of Godiva and had a cup of herbal tea.

The leader meeting was canceled, so I spent the evening stringing planets. Well I did some and DD10 did some. She had a lot of great ideas and her project looks really cool. The best part was when she said she had fun working on this project with me. Tonight I have to help DS5 modify his jet pack that we made awhile back. We are putting on rocket boosters. I did get alot of work done in my office and am thrilled to be wrapping up 2007. Talked quite a bit to DD20 who is still frustrated, but they are hoping that some of the "attention" at the school will go away soon. DD18 however is giving me the biggest problem. She suddenly doesn't care about anything, or says she doesn't and is hiding the fact that her boyfriend lost his job. Not sure why. She thinks they will be together forever and they may, but it bothers me that she has gone from 18 to 14 in a matter of weeks. Not sure how I am going to get her back on track or if she is, how I am going to get her to confide a bit more and start trusting us.

Today's food:
Breakfast - 1 egg omelet w/portebello & moz, ham, 1 c grapefruit
AM snack - cheese & crackers
Lunch - tuna wrap
PM snack - banana smoothie & rice cake
Supper - chicken strips & fries

Goals for the day:
1. 60 oz water
2. no eating after 7:30pm (I really enjoyed the hot tea, but can do without the chocolate)
3. work, work, work

I better get going. Everyone have a great day! :

 

[pearlieq]

Good morning, Lesli!

Congrats on a great day! Good for you for catching yourself at lunch yesterday--you should be proud of yourself!

I'm glad you and DD10 had fun stringing up planets together. Kids are just so much fun at that age--they're bright and interesting to talk with, and that teenage attitude is still a few years off.

Sounds like another round of growing pains are coming your way with DD18. It's so hard to make that transition from kid to adult. My heart goes out to both of you. The good thing is you're a loving and experienced parent--I know you'll get through this.

I hope today turns out to be a wonderful day. Sending lots of your way. You're a brave woman to have a rocket-powered 5 year old!

 

[Lesli54]

Well, the weight is going down, but I think I will do an official weigh in tomorrow. For the month, I will guess that I am about where I started at the beginning. Things did go down, then back up, and with the more recent focus on my weight it is back down. If it is the same, at least I will not have gained more and have realized how important it is to focus back on my health.

Yesterday was a good day. I stuck to my food plan except for the following: I didn't get the smoothie because I forgot to freeze the bananas. Then somewhere I had 2 pieces of Godiva, not at the same time though. Then very late instead of going to bed when I was tired, I had a small bowl of cheerios. At least it wasn't chips or ice cream or anything that was really damaging. It's all a process. Water was at least 50oz.

I did stay busy and got alot of work done. DD18 cleaned out a few cabinets for me that were low and very awkward to get into because we recently had a mouse. It gave me a good chance to go through pots & pans to see what I really needed to keep. I am back in the narrowing down mode of keeping only what you really need and use. DS5 and I didn't get a chance to modify the jet pack, but maybe tonight. Also worked on taxes for DMom and DAunt.

Today, I am hoping to finish up 2007 for the most part. I really need to get that down to the accountant since I am a few days behind. Other than that, I don't have much else going on, which is a good thing.

Food for today:
Breakfast - 1 bowl of cherrios, 1 c. grapefruit juice
AM snack - crackers & cheese
Lunch - meatloaf sandwich, small bag of chips
PM snack - yogurt
Supper - pizza and pop (I will try to keep the serving within reason)

Goals for today:
1. 60 oz water
2. stay busy

Time to get that work done. Talk to you all later. :

 

[pearlieq]

Buenos dias!

Congrats on another good day and an ever bigger congrats on the weight loss! It's great to see your hard work pay off.

How do you make your smoothies? I should give that a try someday--it sure sounds tasty.

Yesterday sure sounds like a full day. Don't you love the feeling of clearing out excess? It makes everything seem fresher and more manageable. Good luck getting the 2007 work finished. I bet it will feel great to get that off your desk and on to the accountant's.

Have a great day today!

 

[toystoryduo]

Great job yesterday!

I hear ya about finishing up 2007...My DH found a ton of receipts the other day and now we have to sort through them and match them up with the proper month. Then I need to go back and re-do all of the monthly summaries. Not looking forward to that unless it means we owe less $$ or get more back $$ once it all said and done.

Hope you have a great day!

 

[Lesli54]

Good morning, everyone!

Today has started out as a good day and yesterday was even better. Unfortunately, I am still working on 2007, but there is an end in sight today or tomorrow at the latest. Food yesterday was as planned, although I could have had slightly less pizza and I did have a piece of Godiva, but it was a success! Water was at least 56 oz!

DD18 is talking to me again, but wanted to go to the dance tonight after I said the privilege was taken away for her behavior the last few weeks (did that last week). I knew she was wanting something. However, hopefully now she will get back to communicating again and realize that we are always there for her. Besides, I am hoping that we can take our trip to Rome in a few weeks that has been planned.

I did some dejunking in my office this morning and am thrilled that I can see the floor! There are still things to go through, but until I get the shelves up in my closet, there isn't any point.

Food for the day:
Breakfast - 1 egg omelet w/portabello & blend of cheese, 1 blueberry yogurt, 1 c grapefruit juice
AM snack - cheese & crackers
Lunch - chicken salad sandwich
PM snack - apple cinnamon rice cake
Supper - not sure, maybe I will thaw some potato soup for supper, who knows.

Goals for today:
1. 60 oz water
2. bookwork (what's new)

The banana smoothies that I make is very simple. Just a frozen banana and 1 c. 1% milk put into a blender. Add a touch of vanilla for extra flavor. It's like a simple treat and a great way to get in good foods.

Time to get started on clearing the rest of my desk. Everyone have a great day!

 

[pearlieq]

Good morning!

Glad to hear that yesterday was a good day. Good for you! Keep up the great work.

Aah, teenagers. What can you do but keep your wits about you and your sense of humor? I hope she comes around in time for your trip. That's such a special tradition--I can't wait to hear all about it!

Have a great day!

 

[Lesli54]

Good morning!

Yesterday was good for the most part, but had a few unneccessary choices. Food was as planned, until I ate my PM snack shortly after lunch, then had DD18 go to the store later just for a bag of chips and I ate some of those, then I had another apple cinnamon rice cake just for the sweet flavor. Ok, here is the problem, if I am sending someone to the store for only 1 bag of chips, I think that is an indicator that the choice to eat them is going to be a foolish one. So, from now on I will stay busy to see if the "thought" of chips or whatever I am craving passes before sending someone out for the item. Supper was a MC chicken pot pie. Those just aren't as good as they used to be, so I think that was the end of eating them. Water was 70oz!

I worked all day on 2007 and felt much lighter just having alot more room in my office. DD18 and DD10 went shopping which is good for them. DH and I are still trying to figure out why DD18 insists on not talking to us about important issues, even some that are not a big deal. Her boyfriend lost his job a few weeks ago and we had to find out by everyone else, not her (we haven't seen him lately to ask). My guess is that he lost it about the time her attitudes towards us changed recently and it burst her bubble of how perfect life between them will be after she graduates. She is very much a dreamer. DH asked her about it today, but she still seems to think that we didn't really need to know. Not sure why. Guess, I will ask the boyfriend if he realized she hadn't told us. They really need to get on the same page. He is a good kid, but has few goals right now so getting out to look for another job and finding out how hard that can be is good for him (he was working for family). Kids, some days they just make your head spin.

Today is filled with laundry and 2007 work. I had hoped to be done with the books, but I forgot how long it took to do the DVD section that we rent. Between buying and selling the used, alot many pass through and I am always trying to figure out at the end if I have accounted for all ins and outs for depreciation. It is always a joy! At least I a making progress. DS5 is being a problem today and is refusing to get dressed until I wash his robe which he thinks he can wear around the house all day. At this rate, it is going to be a long day.

Food for today:
Breakfast - 1 egg, 7 grain toast, 1 c grapefruit juice
AM snack - yogurt
Lunch - a LC dinner that I have in the freezer
PM snack - banana smoothie (I better go freeze some bananas )
Supper - potato soup (need to thaw, going for quick and easy, yet healthy, so I can get this bookwork finished)

Goals for today:
1. 60 oz water
2. stay busy (laundry, bookwork)
3. no impluse eating (wait it out, drink water, think about it first)

DH and I are still talking about the Rome trip. I have the tickets booked, but need to get the hotel. Part of me isn't sure that DD18 should go because of attitude, but the other part (a bigger portion at the moment) says that she should go because she needs to be shown that we can have a relationship that is just fun and trusting, not just mother daughter. It would give me a chance to get her to realize that we have lots to talk about, not just surface issues. I don't know. With the new regulations it is not as if I can take someone else instead of her since you have to assign a name to them and you can't change it. Pros and cons, but I do like the tradition that I have started of taking my children to another country for graduation. Although this one is a few months before because the price was right. DD10 has already planned her trip for Sweden, we'll see in 8 years.

I better get going, since I have a lot of work to do today.

 

[pearlieq]

Wow! That book work sounds really complex. I think the family is very lucky that you have the willingness and ability to do that for the business!

Kids! They sure know how to make life, er, interesting. I used to babysit a little boy who would only go to bed if I led him upstairs like a puppy. Where do they come up with this stuff?

I can see how you would be conflicted about DD's trip. One the one hand, I think your instinct is right that it could be a great bonding experience for the two of you and could really help open up the lines of communication. On the other hand, if she decides to be a pill, it's a very long and expensive trip home...

Do you think DD20 might have any words of wisdom for her?

I hope you have a fantastic day today!

 

[Lesli54]

Well, we are going to call yesterday, the day of recklessness.

Water was great, coming in at 70 oz! Food however, was another story. The only thing that was on plan was breakfast and supper, of which I had 2 bowls of potato soup and overstuffed myself. As for the rest, well, I missed the AM snack (very bad idea for me), then I ate chips for lunch, later I ate half a bologna sandwich, then there was the rice cake, then a piece of Godiva, next came more chips until the bag was finished (yes, I ate almost a whole bag in 24 hours ), that was followed by a rice cake, finally supper. Of course, I couldn't stop there and I ate 1/2 a pint of B&J's New York Super Chunk ice cream. As I see it there are many fundamental problems here. A) no morning snack to help keep things on an even keel. B) no set meal for lunch, which actually turned lunch into an afternoon grazing buffet. C) I ignored the fact that I wasn't doing good for the day and instead of reigning things in, I said "what the heck" and ate the ice cream, only stopping when I realized that I had eaten 2 servings which was about 600 cal.

Hey, but I did get alot of bookwork and laundry done, which is good right?

Ok, today is a new day and I don't have to let yesterday define my progress and beat me down. It was one day and I have the chance of making today a good one.

Food plan today:
Breakfast - 1 egg omelet w/portabello & blend of cheese, 1 c grapefruit juice
AM snack - yogurt
Lunch - tuna wrap
PM snack - crackers & cheese
Supper - steak (getting out the grill ), salad, veggies

Goals for today:
1. 60 oz water
2. stay busy (bookwork, I think I can finish today)
3. No skipping meals (take a break from the work and make good choices)

My main plan of attack today is just getting the rest of this work off my desk. It may be a long day, but I will get it done. Also, I plan to get all the bedding washed, which DH and DD10 can fold or get back on the beds. Aside from that, I plan to go out for a few and get some fresh air, since the day is supposed to be 50! Spring is around the corner, spring is around the corner!

As for DD20 talking to DD18, she has tried, and although DD18 "hears" what is being said, she doesn't always listen. I think she figures that life will just be more blessed for her and she won't face the hardships of trying to go to school, have an apartment, and work all at the same time. Even though DD20 told her how hard it was after she left and had she to do it over again, would still be at home during her breaks from college. I guess spending all your savings to live kind of hit home with her. Tough love! But at least she learned. DD18 however, doesn't always learn that easily because she can be so stubborn. Oh well, the joys of parenting.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[pearlieq]

Happy Sunday!

I love that you're getting out the grill tonight! Are you wearing shorts and taking a dip in the pool tonight, too?

Just funnin' with you. We sure do love our first thaw here, don't we. I was prancing around without a coat all day and we have our sliding door wide open. Isn't it great to get some fresh air in the house?

I hope DD18 comes around a bit more today. Some just insist on learning things the hard way, I guess. She'll get there.

You have such a great attitude about getting back on the horse today. I've got a tip for dealing with the Ben & Jerry's. I've never been able to just scoop out one portion--who can get an ice cream scoop to work in that tiny container when it's so hard? I've found the easiest way to get portion control with that is to turn the carton upside down, get out the biggest knife you have (our big bread knife works well) and cut the whole container into fourths. I know it sounds crazy, but it works like a charm and you only get the single portion you want. Just store the rest in a freezer bag until next time.

I hope it turns out to be a wonderful day for you!

 

[toystoryduo]

It sounds like you had a busy weekend. I'm still not done with 2007 yet. I know that I have a few more weeks until taxes are due, but I'm just at a point where I can't do it right now. Sending for yours.

Also sending some for your DD18 as well.

Hope you have a great week ahead!

 

[goldcupmom]

Glad you're wrapping up 2007. I'm starting today.

sorry about dd18. Tough times..... do you sometimes wonder what possessed us to have kids????

Rome? I'll trade you 1 cruise for 1 Rome trip! (But you'll have to keep the 18 yr old)

Don't worry too much about falling off the wagon. You'll get in control again.

Have a good week!

 

[pearlieq]

Just checking in on you. I hope all is OK!

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

Hi Lesli, I'm just checking into to tell you how much your support means to me. You are awesome, and I hope all is well.

 

[Lesli54]

Yes, it is me. I am glad to FINALLY be able to get time for a bit of journaling.

Thanks for stopping by everyone. Looks like I have alot to catch up on. BTW, the B&J's portion control may work. I really don't understand why no one want to deal with an 18 yr old, they are so much fun. I will try to recap this past week as best I can remember.

Sunday, Mar 2: What a gorgeous day! I kept going outside instead of doing bookwork, but it was good for the soul. DH, DD10, DS5 & I spent most of the day on and off chopping up ice out of the driveway and sidewalk. If it was soft enough we were shoveling it off. I cannot believe that in some places it was at least 5" thick. We didn't have coats on, it was great! The kids had fun running in the snow with boots, but not coats. I did manage to get a lot of work in my office done as well. Water was great! Food followed the plan for the most part and the steak hit the spot. You just gotta love the chance at warm weather.

Monday, Mar 3: I was up early to finish off bookwork, put together stuff for GS and a few other errands. Dropped off the bulk of the tax work to the accountant, did a GS meeting, then worked on my agenda for my DAR meeting the next day. Water was pretty good. Breakfast was good, lunch was McD's, and supper was ???? Plus there were some oreos and a piece of chocolate. I went to bed early after coming down off the adrenaline from all the bookwork.

Tuesday, Mar 4: Up early, finishing up things for my DAR meeting, trying to get final figures for our personal taxes gathered. Breakfast was good. My mom stopped by for lunch and we had sandwiches. Went to the DAR meeting which went well and had a piece of cake, which was refreshingly light. Then off to sort GS cookies which came in. Sat waiting for parents and 5 didn't show, so off to cart all those cookies back to my house, which was a disaster because I was focused on tax work. From shear exhaustion, I decide it was a pizza night and I know I ate more than half. Did taxes for DD18 & DD20. Yes! Another thing off my desk. Water was so so.

Wednesday, Mar 5: Breakfast was good. Did payroll, made sure I had all tax documents, gathered things to return, and went to lunch with DH. We had gyros, mine was chicken. There is a very tiny little Greek restaurant that we love. The atmosphere is so so (not updated), but the food is great and the owner is fun to listen to with his stories of Greece. Met with the accountant. Yeah! Taxes are done! 2007 is officially over with the exception of getting all the paperwork out of my office and into storage, but that will go this next week when DD20 comes home to pick up some hours of work. Ran errands all over. Supper was chips. I am sure I ate some other not so healthy things. Water was so so.

Thursday, Mar 6: Breakfast was an english muffin w/ egg, ham, 1 c. grapefruit juice. Took DD18 to the ortho. We talked on the way home, or at least I tried. She still plans to go off on her own thinking that her savings (mostly funded by us & intended for a car or college) will get her through along time. The blinders that she has on are huge and her answer is that she just wants to do something different. Well don't we all? I told her that was fine but at least have a sound financial plan and reasonable time frame. Don't think it helped. I may have to move to plan B or is this C, and yank some financial support so that she realizes what it is really going to be like. Lunch was chips, concerned about DD18 and what I am going to do to try to get through. Supper was tacos, boy they make those shells smaller all the time. Got alot more work done in my office, cleaned up the dining room, topped off the day with hot chocolate and marshmallows. Water was lousy.

Today: I have been working hard to get all the little odds and ends off my desk and develop a better routine for dealing with them. Also did some cleaning and will have to do some more here in a bit. Hopefully, I can get started on getting caught up with bookwork for this year and get some bills paid tonight.

Food for the day:
Breakfast - 1 english muffin, 1 egg, ham, 1 c grape juice
AM snack - none
Lunch - salad w/turkey, tomatoes, mozerella, almonds and raspberry vinigrette (it's alright) I almost dug into chips and a sandwich, but once I started making it, it was very appealing and very satisfying
PM snack - crackers & cheese
Supper - probably pizza (DD10 is having a sleepover)

Goals for the day:
1. 60 oz water - I am trying to get myself back on track after this busy week
2. stay busy - no problem there

The week has been very hectic, but I have really enjoyed it. Just the fact that I am feeling productive is a huge plus! I really missed journaling though and when I had a chance in the evenings, I was so tired that I went to bed. But hey, I have a lot to show for this week and that's a good thing.

Done boring you for now, talk to you all later.

 

[Lesli54]

I can actually see the top of my desk in many places, not just a 2 inch square! I have only a very very small pile of things that I have to tackle this weekend to get them out of here, plus a few odd and end pieces that I have to decide on whether to keep or toss. It feels so good to this close to functional. I even took papers that the kids brought home and filled out what was needed and put them back in the bookbags. I also immediately did the paperwork for baseball signup and put them on the message board so they are ready on the day they have to go down. How is that for combating the potential clutter on your desk? That is a huge step for me. Also, I went through the folders of two of my non-profit organizations that I volunteer for and got rid of a lot of unneccessary paper, reorganized and tackled what was needed from me there so that I don't feel like I still have lots to do in those areas. I feel like I am on a roll.

Yesterday's food was track, but I did eat more than half of the pizza. Of course, I want to say, but the crust was very, very thin. However, I think I should be honest here.......overeating is exactly what it is no matter how think the crust. Ok, there I said it. There is no reason to eat that much other than taste and I could easily reheat it for the next day's lunch, right? The kids made popcorn for their sleepover and I was wanting a bag, thankfully, there wasn't any left. I also had hot cocoa with marshmallows. Here again, I must confess........It was in a large mug so equivalent to 2 hot cocoas with about double the marshmallows than I should have. Ok, this should be considered a treat and if it is considered one, then there is no reason to have a double serving so I will change my outlook on this. Water wasn't quite up to par.

Today's food:
Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 english muffin, 1 c 1% milk, 1 c herbal tea (apple cinnamon)
AM snack: cheese & crackers
Lunch: tuna wrap
PM snack: banana
Supper: maybe waffles since DH will be home late

Goals for the day:
1. 60 oz water
2. add milk to the diet (at breakfast, not a big milk drinker)
3. go to bed at 10:30 (plenty of rest is key to weight loss)
4. stay busy

Nothing important happening today, so I will get some bookwork done, do some bills, and play a computer game with DD10 and DS5. We like doing the find and seek games and haven't done one for awhile. I did promise them a few weeks ago that we would play when I was done with the tax work. It will be good for the soul to have a quite day that is relaxing but is spent with the kids.

Gotta get going. I think later tonight, I will devise some larger goals for this month.

 

[Lesli54]

Well, yesterday had some slips, but I managed to recover in the end. I did stay busy with things, although I got tired in the early afternoon and I decided to actually lay down rather than fight it. When I fight it, I end up eating even more and never anything healthy. The rest did do some good. The kids and I played some computer games until there were technical difficulties, but at least we had some fun time together. I went to bed later than planned so I will have to work on that.

Food was off at lunch where I mainly ate chips then later half of a chicken salad sandwich. Followed by a piece of chocolate. The banans were gone by the time the PM snack rolled around so I ate some more cheese & crackers. Then there were chips again, plus another piece of chocolate. Finally at supper, I saved myself from the downward spiral and had a tuna wrap. Actually, just one instead of the two that I had been having and it was very satisfying. Water was not great.

Food plan for the day:
Breakfast - 1 english muffin, 1 c milk, 1 c hot tea
AM snack - yogurt
Lunch - LC dinner
PM snack - banana
Supper - potato soup if we don't go out

Goals for the day
1. 60 oz of water
2. No eating after 7:30pm
3. In bed by 10:30pm

Not much going on today, so I will take care of some bills (didn't do it yesterday), get some things ready for the mail tomorrow, write up some articles for GS for the paper, and do some more bookwork. I am so close to being on a managable schedule for things that I want to keep going until I get there. I think that it will make a huge difference on my mood and my weight in the long run.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi Lesli,

Great job on getting 2007 done and getting your desk organized! We spent this weekend working on organization and we're at about 65%. now if I could get the taxes done........

Hope you have a great Monday! Keep up the good work!

 

[Lesli54]

Thanks for stopping by Tracy. I hope you get your 2007 wrapped up soon as well.

Yesterday was pretty good. Food was as planned up through lunch. PM snack was 1/4 PB sandwich and 2 Thin Mints w/ 1/2 c hot tea. DD10 and DS5 created a tea party for everyone so of course I had to attend and it is only polite to eat a little of what is offered. For supper, we went out to dinner. I had a rice pilaf, steamed veggies, and batter dipped chicken strips (very light on the batter & all breast meat, made from scratch). I didn't eat all of my dinner so I took the rest home for lunch sometime this week. Water was so so. Didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I spent the afternoon working on my mom's taxes and the evening trying to book our hotel for our Rome trip.

Today's food:
Breakfast - english muffin, 1 c 1% milk, 1 c hot tea
AM snack - missed (busy booking hotel)
Lunch - turkey on 7 grain bread, chips
PM snack - 4 thin mints, chips (not well planned)
Supper - the rest of last nights dinner of chicken, rice & veggies (meeting tonight)

Goals for today:
1. stay busy
2. 60 oz water (I am at 42-56, lost track, but doing good)
3. bed at 10:30pm

Finally got that hotel booked. Now I can look to see if I want to pre-book some excursions out of Rome for a day or two. Also, do an itinerary of sorts to fit in what we want to see and do. Off to get some bookwork in for the day. DD20 is either supposed to stop by this afternoon or tomorrow to get some filing done for me so that I can clear 2007 out my office and send it to storage.

Everyone have a good evening.