Checking In

I know I don't post very often so I am not sure if anyone is still following along, but I thought just in case I would update. I hit 50 POUNDS!!!! Whooo-hoo, it took a year, but I did it. So even if it takes another year to lose another 50 I am going to stick with it. I would actually like to lose 50 more pounds by the time I go to Las Vegas in July for a conference, but that might be a little unrealistic. I hope everyone that is reading this is going great, I know I feel great! Thanks :o)

Still Going!

Just thought I would check in since it has been about a week. I had a great weigh in last Friday, I lost 5.8 pounds, but I didn't take my shoes off the week before and I did last Friday, so I am sure it wasn't an accurate weigh in. I know each week won't be that good, nor should I lose that much weight every week, although I wouldn't complain. But I will be happy with losing between 2 and 3 pounds a week, that is what will help me reach my goal that I have set! I have been cooking some new recipes that have been great. I will post a couple of them soon. The cold weather makes me want to cook and bake delicious stuff. I got a new cookbook the other day that is Diet Comfort Foods 2nd edition, and it was really great sounding recipes! Thanks for reading! :o)

Another Day, and I am posting again....

I guess snow days give me a little more time to do some of things I don't have time for, or take time for otherwise. I was re-reading some of my posts from when I first started the blog, and I realized I have definitely had a life style change. We are still using measure cups and spoons with our meals to help with portion control. We mostly eat whole wheat products, brown rice has been a little harder to work in. But we use whole wheat bread, pasta and tortillas. It is nice to know that I have changed our way of eating and that we are still sticking to it! Have a great day! :o)

And the Journey Continues on.........

Hello everyone that might still take the time to read this. It has been almost 6 months since I have posted to my blog, but I have not lost sight of my journey and my goal. I am about 3 pounds away from losing 40 pounds! I would like to lose about 40 more by the end of the school year. I continue to exercise almost daily. Most mornings I am up at 5 in the morning doing a Biggest Loser workout, they are great if you have never tried them! Then 2 or 3 days after school I walk with another teacher. It helps to keep me accountable and encouraged. There was a time around September and October where I started to gain some of the weight back and I realized then that I did not want to gain back what I had worked so hard to get off! I am still doing the calorie counting, and it does seem to work well for me. I have entered a weight loss competition at school in a team of three. The winning team is based off of percentage of weight loss. The winning team will also get around 3 or 4 hundred dollars to split. That is motivation to keep losing to have extra money to buy some new clothes! I hope everyone is still doing great, and thanks for reading this! :0)

I Am Back

School is back in session and so I will hopefully be better about posting. I have stayed on my journey this summer and have lost 30 pounds since the first part of May! I worked my way up to being able to walk 4 miles in just a little over an hour, plus I would walk some with a friend, that always helps the time past faster. Since I have started back to school I have begun doing the Jillian Micheal's DVD again, I am on day 3 and doing good so far, a little sore, but that is to be expected. A friend of mine found a wonderful cookbook at Sam's that I have gotten also, it is a Taste of Home book that is diet comfort foods. It has some amazing recipes that are good tasting and good for you. It is amazing how much better my clothes are fitting, and that I can wear somethings that I haven't been able to for 3 or 4 years! Tonight I made a Three Cheese Penne Pasta bake, courtesy of kraftfoods.com. I wanted to share the recipe:

1 1/2 cups of uncooked whole wheat penne pasta

3 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into big chunks

Garlic Powder and Italian seasoning to taste

1 Jar light Ragu sauce

2 oz. fat free cream cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375°

Cook pasta according to package directions. The original recipe calls to add frozen spinach during the last minute of boiling, but I left that out (not a big fan of cooked pasta)

In a large skillet cook chicken using the garlic powder and Italian seasoning to flavor the chicken to your taste preference. Cook until done, mix in jar of pasta sauce and cream cheese. Mix together and cook until the cream cheese has melted into the sauce.

Once the pasta is done drain and return to the pan. Mix in the chicken sauce mixture and stir in 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Pour into an 8 in square baking pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle the other 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese and return to oven until the cheese is melted.

A 1/2 cup serving of this pasta bake is approximately 215 calories, serve with a big salad with your favorite fat free dressing and enjoy!

It turned out really good. And very filling with a salad.

I hope everyone is staying cool in this heat wave, I am very ready for some cooler temps!

Been Awhile

Hello everyone! While I have not posted for a while I have stayed on track, for the most part. There have been a few days of distraction, but I have lost a total of 20 pounds so far. And I have now started walking with another teacher two days a week to go along with my early morning walks. For anyone that reads this and has a Droid phone there is an awesome free app called Cardio Tracker that is a great tool to track the distance you walk or the amount of time you work out. It will also calculate the amount of calories burned during the workout. Hope everyone is having a great summer. I plan on losing 15 pounds by the time school starts, that is almost one month exactly, I think I can do it!!! :o) The picture is of my Grandpa and Me at the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. I went on the Honor Flight with him the end of June!

Whoo-Hooo

I am so happy at how well my journey is going lately. I am about to meet the goal that I was hoping to have met by August. 7 more pounds and I will have lost 25 pounds!!!! Once I reach that then I guess I need to readjust my goal. It has been so much easier this time than any other time that I have tried to lose weight, I guess it just took being in the right mind set, and I am a firm believer in a keeping a food journal. It also helps with Jimmy and I both working on this journey together. He is doing a great job also, I am so proud of his accomplishments! I have been walking for about 40 minutes every morning, even in the rain. Friday and this morning I was caught in the rain before I made it home. It kept me from getting hot that way. :o) Hopefully I will have more good news the next time I check it. 18 pounds are gone, hopefully forever!!!!!

A Few More Pounds

Well, I haven't been as diligent as I had hoped to be about posting to the blog, however, and more importantly, I have been diligent in my journey. I am down 16 pounds as of this morning!!!! I have been on a two mile walk, and worked in the flower beds a little. I feel better with each pound lost. It seems like the longer I go eating healthy and eating less the easier it is. There are times when I think I should be hungry but I am just not. I have learned how to control my urges (except for icecream) and I am working on only eating when I am hungry. And resisting snacking just out of habit. I hope everyone is doing great!

I Am Back

Am not quite sure how many followed along with me when I was blogging more frequently, but I am back again, and I hope you follow along again. I have lost 11 pounds so far, and am exercising daily, it is a great feeling! I leave for a walk when Jimmy leaves for work in the mornings, it is so nice to be able to do that again. Plus I have drastically lowered my calorie intake, keeping a food journal is a great motivator to eat better. I have recently read some information on calorie-shifting, has anyone tried this or heard about it? It is a process of tricking your metabolism, and it does make sense. I have read a lot about it in the past few days and it sounds like something I might try this summer since I have a little more flexibility. The idea is to discover a baseline of calorie intake for yourself and then increase or decrease that by 400-500 calories every few days. The following website has some pretty good information on it, but there are lots more also. http://www.calorie-shifting.net/ I hope everyone is moving more and eating less, this is going to be a great summer for weight loss, I hope everyone joins in!!!! :o)

Neglectful

Wow, it amazes me how fast time goes sometimes. I just realized how long it had been since I last blogged, I have been neglectful to myself. But it has been a busy few days, I had parent-teacher conferences for two days last week till 8 and then Jimmy and I spent the weekend in St. Louis. Other than our weekend in St. Louis Jimmy and I have been doing pretty good with eating, just not with exercising. We will get there, small steps! As of this morning, the scale said that I had gained back 2 pounds :o( That just means that I am going to need to work harder, show more will power and make better decisions. Although, when I think I am making a good choice, it turns out that really I am not. I did a little in the flower beds after supper, pulling weeds, that is a never ending job. But well worth it when all the flowers are blooming and all looks great. Hope everyone has a great week. :o)

Yard Work and Small Bites

I worked in the yard for a couple of hours last night, and that has to be better exercise than anything I have ever done. I was lifting landscaping blocks, using the shovel, moving around mulch, it was quite the workout. Which is a good thing since I haven't been walking as much as I would like to. As soon as summer vacation hits I will be walking every morning that I can, I will set off as soon as Jimmy leaves for work! I have also realized that taking smaller bites and eating slower seems to make me feel as if I am eating more. Those of you that are teachers know how fast we have to shovel food in to be able to eat everything in the 3 minute lunch period we have....ok, it is not quite that bad, but some days it feels like it. But I have realized that if I stop and enjoy my food a more and eat it slower that I feel fuller. So maybe by taking smaller bites and eating slower we can trick our stomachs into feeling fuller. I hope everyone is having a great week!

Oh, and my weight is down 7 pounds since I restarted a little over a week ago!!!

Almost the weekend

The week has almost come to an end. And overall I feel that it has been a good week, busy, but good. Monday night went to a Springfield Cardinals game, Tuesday after school and after walking went to Wal-Mart to do my two weeks of shopping. Wednesday, Jimmy's softball game. Abby called and wanted to meet tonight, but by the time I got home from getting Hops from the vet I was ready to stay home. Sorry Abby, I hope we can meet up soon, I miss you!!! Tried a recipe, cheesy mashed cauliflower, NOT very good!!! I won't be making that again. We did have baked salmon though that I thought was pretty good! It is hard to fix meals that are healthy, especially when Jimmy and I both don't like too many veggies. I am not sure how you grow to like veggies, but I wish I knew. I would like to like more, but the ones I try just don't taste very good. :o( I guess we will just keep plugging along like we have been, it is a journey and life style change and change does not happen over night, it will be a slow change, but one for the best!!! Have a great weekend!

Another week is upon us

Well here we are again. I feel that I have been doing very well, and so has Jimmy. Actually he probably does better than me these days when it comes to eating and snacking. I have lost 5 pounds over the past week, I feel like that is a strong start to me renewed journey! I have been trying really hard to cut out the bad carbs and fix healthier suppers. There is a really neat website I found that has some great recipes and helpful tips. It is http://www.eatingwell.com/. I liked one tip they had for cutting calories. It was to take your current weight times 12 and that was the amount of calories needed per day to maintain current weight (which is DEFINITELY not what I am after). From that number you cut 500 calories per day to lose 1 pound a week and 1000 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I found that tip very helpful. Then as my weight goes down, so will my need for calories. I have been working on this post for three days now, I think it is about time to get it out there. It has just kind of been a crazy week and I haven't been getting on the computer much, especially at home. I hope everyone is having a good week. I will be checking back in soon! I thought the pyramid picture illustrated the amount of needed activity in each area. :o)

Another Beautiful Day

Wow, two days in a row, this might be a new record. I got in a 25 minute walk this evening, plus I worked at pulling weeds in the flower beds for about 30 minutes when I got home from school. Another good day of eating healthy. I made enchiladas for supper. I used whole wheat tortillas, and I fixed brown rice mixed with salsa to go with it. It is hard to work carbs or at least white processed carbs out of meals, but so far I am doing pretty good. I am thinking I need to get away from eating cereal every morning for breakfast. I am not sure if I need to try oatmeal or even eggs, but I probably need to cut back on cereal. My friend Sara has a blog also and she had a great suggestion on there. She said that she was no longer fast-forwarding on her DVR through commercials; she is doing short exercises during the commercials such as sit-ups and push-ups. I thought that was a great idea and just wanted to share. Hope everyone is enjoying the weather and having a good week!

Another week of Inspiration

Another week has come and gone. I have been horrible about blogging everyday, so I think I am just going to try the once a week thing. Just posing a question to those reading.... has anyone heard of or even tried the HcG diet? I am not sure it is really anything that I want to try to follow, something about giving myself a shot everyday and only eating 500 calories a day does not sound appealing. Our neighbor was telling us about this. I think the best thing is the traditional, food moderation and exercise. I truly believe that is the best way to lose and then maintain. I have been walking some, and I am going to try doing a few weight lifting and toning exercises. Jimmy and I walked again tonight after a supper of grilled steaks and salad. I am going to try to start eliminating so many carbs from our suppers. I am bad about fixing rice and pastas. We both do pretty good, Jimmy probably better than me, about not eating sweets. Today I did really good and didn't even feel hungry at school. I just had my cereal for breakfast, and a roast beef sandwich on rye bread with a few baked chips and a 100 calorie snack pack. I think the warmer weather and being able to be outside has helped with my mind set! Thanks to those that are still following along!

Here We Go Again!

Well, I am starting up again. I have done ok since I have been off, I haven't gained anything, I haven't lost much, but every little bit helps. The weather has been beautiful and I have been out more and walking more. All I have lost so far is 4 pounds, but I did lose .5% body fat. I have been doing better on eating again also. I have refused to buy peanut butter once again and I have limited my snacking big time. We had bar-b-qued chicken tonight for supper with baked beans. I worked in the flower beds tonight cleaning them out, and on Tuesdays and Thursday I am walking with our school secretary. Jimmy and I have been walking together some also. It is just so nice to be able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. Sorry to all of you that have been back to check on me and I have not been here. I guess I just got discouraged and lost my motivation. The spring weather has renewed my desire to continue on with my journey. Abby, you need to join up again with me, we have a beach to try to get to!

Fresh Idea

My friend Sara shared a site with me that is just a wall where people can leave notes. It is a neat idea to share ideas and exchange well-wishes. I have set up a wall, but haven't done anything with it yet. If you want to check it out it is http://wallwisher.com/wall/aleshawilliams :-) Enjoy!

Long Week

I haven't been feeling the best this week, which has also led to not doing the best on my journey this week. I think I just have a cold, but it is starting to drag me down. I actually feel better today than I have all week. I guess I really haven't been too bad with eating because stuff doesn't taste right, but I still have a bad feeling about the Friday weigh-in. Just wanted to check in for the week. Hopefully with the warmer weather on its way I will get to feeling better and be able to get out and enjoy the temps! Hope everyone is having a good week.

Opps....

Ok, I am not sure what happened to the post from the other day. I thought I had uploaded everything correctly, but I guess not. Who knows. I have done ok this week. I had one doughnut for breakfast one morning because a Mom sent them into math competition practice. I also had a DQ blizzard the other day. It was a small one, but it was still ice-cream. Other than those two things I feel that it has been an ok week. I was only able to get exercising in one day. I did lose one pound this week, so that is a whooping total of 4 pounds since I started all of this almost 2 months ago, but I guess that is still better than gaining 4 pounds. I don't really think I will be able to conquer my 22 pound goal by April, but I will keep working towards it and hopefully meet it soon. I am setting another goal to lose 30 pounds by the end of the school year. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Just a Quick Update

It's All In the Gum

I have discovered that chewing gum is a great way to prevent snacking and munching. I have been chewing sugar free gum like crazy, but I think it is helping. Today has been a great day. I started out with my normal bowl of cereal, followed by a half of a roast beef sandwich (no cheese) with a serving size of baked southwestern ranch chips. I also had a jello cup and 2 wheat thins flat breads. I did have one Reese's peanut butter cup from our secretary. I have discovered that the chocolate shredded wheat minis are a great snack. So I had one serving of those throughout the day, which is 52 biscuits, and yes I counted them out this morning. I made spaghetti for supper with salad and garlic bread. I just used sliced wheat bread and put a small amount of cheese, garlic powder and Italian seasoning on it and toasted in the oven. I decided to try using smaller plates at supper and that really helped me to keep my portion of spaghetti under control. I also worked out for about 25 minutes after school. I used my resistance bands, did push-ups, sit-ups and even a few jumping jacks. I don't think I am quite ready to jump in with Jillian just yet, but I am hoping to build back up to doing that video again. I have found a revived fire again that will hopefully boost me along. The weekend wasn't the best weekend, I had fried pickles and peanut butter pie, it was beyond delicious!!! Hope you all have a great week, I am hoping to blog everyday this week, we will see if it happens!

Busy Week

It has been a busy week and I feel like I have let myself down by not blogging, I have really come to enjoy blogging and sharing my journey with people. We had a field trip today to learn about the James River Water Basin, it was interesting and the kids had a good time. Yesterday and today I did a pretty good job of controlling my eating. I can't remember for sure what I had yesterday other than the normal bowl of morning cereal! Today I had that for breakfast, followed by a roast beef sandwich, on wheat bread, mustard and no cheese. I had some baked chips and a 100 cal. rice crispy treat. I did have a piece of white cake with whipped cream frosting during our after school meeting. We had a pork loin and stove top stoving for supper. Oh, and I had two girl scout thin mints, fresh from the freezer, I think they are best frozen! I walked almost three and half miles yesterday after school, and I hope to do that again tomorrow. I figured two days a week of exercising is better than none. Hopefully we can walk outside tomorrow. Hope everyone is doing great!

Another Week, Hopefully Another Pound

Well, the weekend has come to an end once again. It wasn't too bad of a weekend as far as eating goes, it was a great weekend as far as enjoyment goes. I am going to get on the exercise wagon this week, I think I have said that every week, but it has to happen. Yesterday some Clever Girl Scouts were selling cookies outside of Wal-Mart and I ended up buying two boxes for Jimmy and I, but we (or I) am trying to limit our intake of cookies. Tomorrow I am going to start putting my food log on again, I really think it helped me, especially with the little things. Such as eating a pinch of cheese while fixing supper or this and that just because, if I know that I am going to be faithful and honest and put everything on that I eat, then I will think twice about eating it. Thanks to those that have sent me words of encouragement, I greatly appreciate you all!!! Enjoy your day tomorrow if you are off for President's day, I get to spend the day with my Mom!!!!! I will check back in tomorrow. Have a good evening and day tomorrow!

Roller Coaster Ride

That is what I am on instead of a journey, I am simply on a roller coaster ride. I lost 1 pound again this week, which I guess just makes up for the one I gained last week! I absolutely cannot figure weight loss out, I was pretty good last week and gained a pound. I have not been so good this week and I lost a pound. I just wonder if maybe some weeks I am not getting enough calories and my body things starvation and so it doesn't let anything go. Starting Monday I am going to be writing my food journal again daily, I really felt like that helped to keep my on track and accountable, but then I though maybe people were tired of just reading what I had eaten for the day. Let me know your opinions on that, if anyone reads this!!! I haven't started Jillian again yet, but I am going to just make myself get on board, how is it going for you Abby? I would also like to congratulate my friend Sara for losing 11 pounds so far, that is amazing!!!!! You go girl! I hope everyone has a great weekend and Awesome Valentine's Day!!!

AWWWWW

That is what I feel like doing right now is just screaming!!! This has been such a hard start and for some reason I can't seem to get this journey going strong. I lose a little, but then I seem to gain a little. Abby has gotten the Jillian Michael's workout video, which I have also. It is a real butt kicker, I use to do that every morning for several weeks, but then I just kind of stopped and I wish I wouldn't have because I think it did really help. So thanks for the reminder Abby that I need to start doing Jillian again. I definitely need to be doing something and stop eating like I have the past couple of days. Where oh where has the will power gone???? I will regain it by tomorrow, I am not going to dwell on the bad days I am going to look forward to the good days! Have a great week, and I am going to start having a great week!!!

Blah

Well, I gained one pound from Monday till today. I can still feel the sand between my toes though, we have to make it to the beach Abby!!! Jimmy and I went to Nixa for Mexican for supper tonight. The school had a salad bar for the teachers today for lunch, and it was wonderful. We had a movie day today at school to raise money for Haiti, and I ate some popcorn, fresh out of the popper! Off to KC tomorrow, and not sure about Super Bowl Sunday. I hope everyone has a great weekend!!! And thanks to those that follow along, it is nice knowing that I have support out there!

Where Oh Where are you Sunshine

I would love to see some sunshine and warmer weather, this snow is not helping me much on my journey. I know that is a pathetic excuse, but I would love nothing more than to get out and walk everyday. Tomorrow is our weigh in and I am not sure how well it will go. My secret pal at school yesterday gave me a full size Hersey bar and I should no will power and had the whole thing eaten before 9 o'clock. Obviously my secret pal is not on my weight loss team! Today the school made chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese, that is my biggest weakness, and about the only school lunch that I eat, and it was wonderful. I have discovered a great low-fat snack. Take a graham cracker and put a blob of frozen fat-free cool whip on it and make a sandwich, it is actually really good. Last night for supper I made a pasta casserole with whole wheat pasta and tonight we had a delicious pork roast with mashed sweet potatoes. I have been doing much better about snacking through the day (I ran out of snacks at school and I am not buying anymore) but when I get home from school and cooking supper I seem to lose all control. But I am getting better and trying to quit snacking before supper. Hopefully all the snow will miss us on Sunday and Monday, but it is not looking good. Snow days are bad!!!!! Have a great weekend!

Going to be another good day!

The last two days have went well and so far this morning this one has started that way too. I walked last night after school and Monday afternoon I worked with my resistance bands and did some quick cardio exercises. I am hoping to be able to walk tomorrow after school again. I feel like I have been staying well within my bounds of caloric intake each day. I am feeling much better about my Journey than I was last week, I guess I just needed a renewed out look. I am hoping that I am down one more pound by Friday, and that will make five! I am happy to report that one of my other friends that has started a journey with me has now lost almost 7 pounds. Way to go Sara!!!! Where oh where are you Abby, I am sending positive vibes your way because I want to hit the beach and I need you there with me!!! Have a great day everyone.

WHAAA-HOOOO

Just a quick post. I decided to weigh again this morning when I got to school, and.................. I lost the 2 pounds I had gained plus one more, so that is FOUR pounds gone since I started, only 18 more to go till my first goal!!!!! Have a great day!

Round 2

So I got on the scale this morning just to see how things were going, and according my scale I am back down to the three pounds I had lost. I did pretty good eating over the snowday and weekend. I don't feel like I over ate, and we only ate out once, it was at taco bell, but.......... I also bought some resistance bands at wal-mart yesterday, I WILL use them starting tomorrow morning, there is no more putting off exercising it is time to get serious. No more excuses. It is like I feel more motivated and determined than ever to lose weight and get into better health, but for some reason my mind and my body are not agreeing. My plan is to use the bands and mix in a little cardio to start the day off. I thought I would try jumping jacks, simulated jump roping and even running in place. We also have the Wii active that I need to be using, in fact, I was planning on using it tonight, Jimmy will just have to watch, or he could join it! :-) I found a couple of interesting sites to share again http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/loseweight/loseweight.html this site tells you the four basics to weight-loss and is very cut and dry. The next site http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/calculat.htm is a calorie use calculator. It tells how many calories are burned during a specific amount of time based on your weight for 222 activities. It was interesting to see how much of what I needed to do to boost my weight loss. The first website said that 500 calories needed to be burned per day to lose 2 pounds a week. So that is my newest goal. Burn 500 calories per day, hopefully by Friday I will have lost instead of gained. Have a great week!!!

Snow Day

I know it has been a couple of days since I have blogged, but I have become just a wee bit discouraged. I don't think I have fallen off the wagon as much as feel like I have been thrown out of the wagon. I have eaten really well this week, or I feel like I have. But when I weighed in yesterday I had gained back 2 of the 3 pounds lost. I know I need to be exercising more, but I really thought that by eating better I would at least lose a little until I got into a steady exercise plan. I have found over the years that I do much better exercising when the weather is nicer and I can be outside. I would rather walk outside than do stuff inside. I just feel a bit discouraged right now, but not failed. I will not give up, I have set on this journey and I plan to conquer it! I am going to get my mind set back over the weekend and start fresh on Monday, I plan to try to work more exercise into my daily routine. I hope everyone is enjoying this snowing morning. Have a great weekend!

Something New

I got to thinking today that if anyone is reading these then they are probably getting tired of only reading about what I have eaten for the day. While I will keep posting what I have eaten for the day I am also going to try to find some interesting tips or funny fads. Today I am including a link to another page about 3 must haves that all women need. The address is http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2010/01/25/3_goofy_fitness_gadgets_every_woman_needs.php

I found them funny, but at the same time wondering if just maybe the VALSLIDES might be fun.

Here is another site that is full of funny, and I hope not true, insane fad diets. http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/insane-diet-fads.php

I hope they add a laugh to someones day.

Today I was able to walk afterschool, inside the building. I had cereal for breakfast, only 2 mini kit-kats today, meat free taco salad for lunch, an apple crispito and then enchiladas and refried beans for supper. I also had a 100 calorie twinkie pack today for a snack. I think today was one of my best eating days so far. Best of luck for the week of cold weather ahead to all who are following along on my journey and your own!

An Ok Day Off

I took today off to try out a new dentist, a hard thing to do after using the same dentist since I was 3, but it went good. I just had a lot of x-rays, and consultation done today, I have to go back for the cleaning. I had cereal and a lean pocket for breakfast, a half of Subway sandwich for lunch. I almost always get a foot long, so I was proud that I was able to resist that and just get the 6 in. sub. I also had a bowl of cocoa pebbles. For supper we had a rump roast and potatoes. So I feel that I did a OK today, I will do much better when I am back at school tomorrow. Till tomorrow.

A Horrible, Awful, No Good, VERY Bad Weekend!

While Jimmy and I had a blast this weekend in St. Louis, it was horrible on my calorie intake. Friday night we ate at Jack In The Box, Saturday we had a decent breakfast but then ate at a place in the mall food court where we got a sandwich and cheese and bacon fries. We followed that up with a piece of cheesecake from the cheesecake factory and finally we ended our night with White Castle! Today has been a much better day, but I am sure it will not help to make up for yesterday. I will just have to work hard all week and keep myself on track. It is so hard to be a good eater being away from home. We did have a great time at the hockey game. The Blues were ahead 3 to 0 at the beginning of the third period and then ended up letting the Ducks score three times to tie the game. This lead to overtime and then a 7 goal shoot-out which the Blues ended up losing. I will check in tomorrow and hopefully things will have gone better. I am off work tomorrow to go to the dentist. I decided to find a dentist closer to home. So this will only be the second dentist I have ever seen in my life.

Quick Post

Just a quick post about the weigh in. I only lost one pound this week, I was hoping for 2, but that is ok. It is better than gaining a pound. I will just have to work harder next week. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

A great day!

So I started using one of the websites I posted this morning. I love it, I was able to plug in everything I ate today and according to it I only consumed 1200 calories, which is well in my range. It is such an easy site to use and find foods on. The web address is http://www.fitday.com/ and it is totally free. You can pay a premium for an upgrade, but the free version is great. I was even able to enter in custom foods that were not listed. It also provided diagrams, which showed that almost 50% of what I ate today were carbs. But since I am going with the calorie thing only I am not going to worry about the types of food, I am going to see how well I can do with just monitoring calories. I didn't get in any exercise today other than going up and down the steps to my classroom about 20 times today. I had the usual bowl of cereal for breakfast and lunch, along with a rice crispy treat and 60 cal. pudding cup. I had 3 mini kit-kats, a fiber bar and one slice of provolone cheese. For supper we had shake-n-bake pork chops with mashed sweet potatoes. I also had a 100 cal. chocolate snack cake. And I just realized I haven't had any soda since Saturday, and I haven't even missed it. I do drink a lot of tea sweetened with splenda or sweet n low. But, I have to have something, I guess I need to be drinking more water. Jimmy and I are leaving for St. Louis tomorrow after work to spend the weekend. We are going to stay with family, going to a Blues game Saturday night and I am not sure what we will do through the day, I think we may go on a brewery tour. Hopefully we will get in some walking and I will be able to manage my caloric intake while we are away. Tomorrow is my second weigh in day. So I will try to post my weight loss, or hopefully my weight loss and not weight gain. Then it will be off for the weekend and no computer, nice break, but I think I will miss blogging, I have really grown to love this. Till next time... And Abby, I hope you had a good night at work!

A day late

Thought I would post this morning since I didn't get it done last night. Yesterday was another pretty good eating day, cereal for breakfast and lunch, 2 super mini snickers and 1 mini kit-kat. I guess this is why I need to post in the evening, because I am having trouble remembering what I ate. I made Stromboli and rice for supper, didn't eat after supper. I had one fiber bar before my meeting, and I think that was pretty well it. I am sure there were a few other little things throughout the day. Jimmy and I walked yesterday afternoon, I am glad he is walking with me some too. I haven't started the morning workout routine yet, but I will get my butt in gear soon! I am including a couple of sites that Abby and Sara shared with me. They are both tracking websites that are free, I haven't had a chance to try out either one yet, but I plan to when I have a chance. Abby shared this site http://www.fitday.com/ and Sara shared this site, http://www.nutritiondata.com/. I hope someone else is able to use these sites to help out. I need to go for now. Have a great day!

Another Day, Another Success

Today was another pretty good day. Had the usual bowl of cereal for breakfast, about 5 super mini snickers, a 60 cal. pudding cup, a handful of choc. covered marshmallows, another bowl of cereal for lunch (I love cereal), a quarter of a bagel and one fiber bar. Then for supper I fixed polish sausage with potato slices and cornmuffins. I am sure the polish sausage wasn't the most healthiest of food, but I am pretty sure I ate less than a serving size. I also walked after school for a little more than 30 minutes. I am going to try to start doing some muscle toning in the mornings since we get up at 4:50 these days. I have a few weights to use and then just some of the basics like pushups and crunches, and of course squats! I am sure I will be sore by Friday, but no pain to gain! LOL :-) I hope all is going great for everyone that is following and taking a journey of their own. I thought I would start adding a little humor to the blog. I have several ready for the next few days.

Eye Opening Speech

We had a speaker come to school today, and while I thought I knew what I needed to do for a life style change, he really drove the point home. He said that honestly the best weight loss and life style change is calorie deficit. It doesn't matter if you are only eating healthy foods that if you go over your daily caloric intake then you will not lose weight, and on the flip side if you are only eating twinkies and drinking coke but staying under your caloric intake then you will lose weight, although not a very healthy way, LOL! This really made sense. Of course you can always increase your calorie deficit by exercising. Our speaker said there are 3 important parts to an exercise program, 1 is cardio, 2 is weight training and 3 is stretching. If you don't know how many calories you should be eating, take your weight divide it by 2.2 and then multiply that answer by 25 and that will be close to how many calories you should try to consume less than to lose weight. Today's food journal, the usual bowl of cereal for breakfast, one super mini snicker, mccallisters for lunch, half of a grilled chicken sandwich, and half of a baked potato, and one pickle. A scoop of trail mix that was popcorn, bran flakes, dried cranberries, choc. chips and pretzels. Half of a bagel, we had meetings all day so there was lots of food around, but I still feel like I did pretty good. I also had about 7 low fat wheat thins with some pepper jelly dip, and then for supper we had salad with fat free dressing, a hamburger pasta casserole and bread. I finished off with a 100 calorie snack pack. So all in all with all the food that presented itself, I feel like I did a pretty good job of self control. I really feel that knowing that even one person is going to read this makes me more conscience of what I am eating throughout the day, and Abby, I am being truthful... LOL :-) Bye till tomorrow!

The start of a new week and a new way of life

I am happy to say that my dear friend Abby has also decided to blog along with me on our journey of weightloss and better lifestyles. We have been friends longer than I can really remember so having her join this journey is awesome. And according to Abby I need to start saving money for a trip to the beach when we have lost some of our weight. Yesterday was not the best eating today, but today has been better. Yesterday I had Chinese with my friend Tamara and then we went and watch "The Blind Side" (it is an awesome movie!) and of course with a movie comes movie popcorn. Today we took the Christmas lights off of the house, so I think that climbing up and down the ladder several times counts for some exercise. Starting Tuesday I will be walking with a friend afterschool. We have decided on 3 days that we will be able to walk. I read a tip that says to make exercise a routine of your week, even if you can only get in one or two days, just don't stop! I will check in again tomorrow. Enjoy the last few hours of the weekend!

Food Journal

I just decided that it might be easier to just keep my food journal in my entries instead along the side. I have done MUCH better today. I had a fiber bar for breakfast, after I weighed in and had lost 2 pounds since Monday!!! The school feed us a lunch of chicken potpie and Cesar salad, it was wonderful and then I have had 1 hersey kiss and one extra mini kit-kat. I am not sure about supper, but I will let you know later on. Well............... I had done good today until Jimmy and I went to Red Lobster for supper, I guess I will just have to be extra good this weekend and try to exercise more. Have a great weekend if I don't check in.

Good and Bad Day

I thought I would do better today by keeping the food journal, but I failed big time this afternoon. However I did go for a walk after school and realized how out of shape I am, but that is ok, I will start slow and work my way up to longer walks. Tomorrow is my first official weigh in, hopefully I have not gained, otherwise I have to pay up. I am looking at this as a life style change, not just some short lived diet. I am not eliminating anything, I am just trying to watch portion size and amount. I will let you know tomorrow how the weigh in went.

And the journey begins

I decided that I needed to become more accountable for myself and for what seems to be my lifelong journey to lose weight. So I decided that blogging would become my means of accountablitly and sharing. I am hoping to at least "weigh" in weekly in more ways than one. I will be weighed once a week at school because I have entered a contest and I hope to weigh in on my blog at least weekly if not more often. I am not sure how many or if anyone will read or follow along with me on this journey, but if you do, I am open for suggestions, hints, tips or simply words of encouragement! I officially started my latest and hopefully last journey on Monday the 11th of January, and I am hoping this time it will become a life-long journey and not just a few months like in the past. I am also considering using the blog as a food journal so that way I will think twice before I eat something in the case that someone might read what all I eat in a day. I have been unable to work exercise into my daily routine (I know it is a horrible excuse) but I am hoping that will follow soon. I wanted to get my eating habits in order first and then introduce exercise. I am not going to put my beginning weight on here, but I will say that I have a goal to lose 22 pounds by my birthday in April. So I am done for tonight, and hope to check back into tomorrow and post my first food journal!