First Hike Of The Season

Mark and I met up at Table Rock for our first hike of the season.

I almost died.

Okay, it wasn't quite that dramatic.

Spoiler Alert: I made it to the top of the mountain BUT I am really out of shape!

It was super windy at the top.  I almost lost my hat.

Here are outtakes of our attempt at trying to get us and the top of Table Rock in the photo at the start of our hike. I'm not very good with selfies AND background!

It was tough and we stopped more times than we usually do. The hike also took longer than usual. Who cares! We made it. I sure did not have the lung capacity for hiking though. My lungs have not been used to their full potential since my back went all out-of-whack last year. The flowers along our hike were very pretty and it was much more green this year as well.

After burning several calories we re-fueled with Costa Vida and Aspen Leaf. I knew froyo was a possibilty as we both love Aspen Leaf and it is also located in Downtown Bosie along with Costa Vida. I managed my DPA and made a deal with myself to only eat half of the beloved homemade tortilla so I could have some belly room for froyo. I also went lighter on my yogurt pour. When we last had Costa Vida and Aspen Leaf I was super full afterward.

Since I was already downtown I had to stop at Flying M for an Americano and Trader Joe's. I got some groceries and also some flowers.

It was a good day for APs and a good day for FitBit steps.  

I'm glad to have friends that enjoy being active AND eating yummy food and treats. I'm very lucky indeed.

Yummy Food

Good Morning to you all. I'll try and keep my food post brief this week. I didn't take as many photos of my food. If you are bored with my food post just skip over this. I'll be back tomorrow with some more enjoyable content.

Breakfasts:

The last of my thin bagels made up another yummy bagel sandwich. I have four bagels left in the freezer for another time. I made this one into an open faced sandwich so I had twice the food! Serve with cut up watermelon on the side.

Eggs with frozen potatoes and an orange. I had iced coffee with my breakfast this day.

Lunches:

I tired a delicious veggie patty at a graduation BBQ a few weeks ago and went in search for them at Costco. These are 4 PPV each and cook up nice and crispy. This was my staple this week for meals and snacks.

My WW leader Donna talked about her go-to salad. She doesn't like plain lettuce so instead she chops up veggies as her “salad”. She add beans and other protein and her salad dressing mixed with olive oil. I decided to try it out this week. It was a nice shake up. The first day I tried it I realized there is much more crunch. It sort of grew on me the next couple of times I had my veggie salad. I'm also getting more of a variety of veggies this way vs. plan lettuce. At the start of the week I chopped up 4 kinds of peppers, two cucumbers, baby carrots and celery. Each day I added kidney beans and twice I added shredded chicken breast. It was really great. I also added olive oil to my salad dressing. It makes me feel like I have twice the dressing and I am getting in my healthy oils more days than before. If you are reading this....Thanks Donna!

I bought an Amazon Social deal to a new deli in town called Pot Belly Deli. For $16 I purchased a five sandwich punch pass. I decided to redeem my first sandwich one day last week at work. I went for a turkey and ham with swiss. I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped to be. I have four other sandwiches to try though and many on the menu items look tasty. This time I went for the roll but next time I'll go for whole wheat bread. I only ate half the bread and added my meat and cheese to my half sandwich. I brought veggies and dip from home to go along with it.

Dinners:

At the start of each week I've been cooking up a large batch of chicken in the crockpot and then shredding for easy meals. I got this idea from Shay's blog Mix and Match Momma. I also found a frozen roast in the freezer so I also cooked that up in the crockpot. This made for easy meals when adding corn on the cob, broccoli, and green beans. Three veggies in one meal. Kenyon makes fun of me for this.

This and That:

My coworkers suggested a Memorial Day BBQ at work. I'll be honest, I was already thinking a BBQ sounded good. However, I had been working very hard at weight loss this week and I just couldn't rationalize a BBQ the day before WI. I also had met my girlfriends for happy hour at On The Border on Sunday and had date night plans with Kenyon on Tuesday. I stuck to my meal plan and enjoyed some jello salad I brought as my contribution. I was happy with my decision.

I picked up some chopped fruit at Albertson's at the start of the week. Both watermelon and pineapple were consumed.

Iced coffee from home a few days last week. I love my new mugs.

Happy Hour at On The Border with my friends. Danielle was laughing after taking my photo because of the photo-bomb guy behind me. Hahahaha. We had an awesome bartender/server and when I asked for just tequila and water so I could add my own sugar-free margarita mixer he brought it out in the fishbowl size glass just like my friends ordered. I felt like I was having a real margarita with half the PPVs.

Date night chocolate cake. Every week should end with chocolate cake.

Double Weekly WI And Date Nite

I'm calling this week a double loss week.

Actual weight was 183.4

I FINALLY showed a good loss and I'm including this as part of the loss I expected last week. I am really glad I stayed focused and stayed on track after my low loss last week. I really wanted my hard work to pay off and it sure did. I lost 2.6 pounds this week.

Of course now I'm dreaming of a large losses each week and how fast I could get back to goal. But this type of loss isn't realistic. I must stay focused!

Kenyon and I had a much needed date night on Tuesday. We are on opposite shifts for the next few weeks so we made plans to spend time together. Even when we are home at the same time Kenyon is often in his computer room and I'm watching TV in the living room. It is nice to carve out time for just us.

While I was in the mood for BBQ, Kenyon likes breakfast when he first wakes up. We had time to eat before our scheduled massages so we went to Cracker Barrel. Afterwards went for our 55 minute massages and then went out for dessert. It was a chocolate cake kind of day. I had managed my DPA and saved a few WPPAs for our date night.

I had the server box up half to take home and we shared the other half with two scoops of ice cream. Carino's Italian restaurant has the best chocolate cake.

Weekly Workouts

It was another successful week on the exercise front. I am feeling a bit board with my routine on my workdays but once I change shifts I'll have a bit more flexibility to get my workout in before I head off to work. It makes it easier.

FitBit totals felt a little low on the mileage. I don't get any steps for water aerobics but it is still a good workout so I'm not going to dwell on the numbers. Total steps 62,595 and 29.64 mies walked.

Wednesday: Water aerobics at the Y

Still feeling a bit bored during the class but a good workout overall. 3 APs earned.

Thursday: 3 mile walk outside

I went to Settler's Park again for my walk. I was feeling quite sluggish and so the best I had in me was 3 miles. I did keep a good pace of about 15 minutes/mile though. 4 APs earned.

Friday: 3 miles on treadmill with incline

I bumped my wake up time to 3am so I could get in a full 3 miles in the treadmill and not feel rushed before work. I also played around with some incline and speed today to try and get a more solid workout. Later I took a mile walk around the track at work. 6 total APs earned.

Saturday: No Activity

Today had not been a planned rest day but I never had the opportunity to get out for walk on the track at work. After work I was highly unmotivated so I just took a rest day.

Sunday: 3 miles WATP DVD

I mixed it up with a Walk Away The Pounds DVD at home this morning. The first mile dragged a bit but then I was able to focus and really get into it. It is amazing how sore my arms felt the next day. It was another busy day at work so I didn't get out on the track for a walk as I had planned. 3 APs earned.

Monday: 3 miles on the treadmill

I woke up at 3am again to tackle a treadmill workout. 3 APs earned.

Tuesday: Mowed lawn

I skipped mowing last week due to rain and laziness. So I finally tackled The Amazon. 2 APs earned.

My total APs for the week came to 21.

The Change Is Coming

I am on the horizon of our next shift change at work.  This is when I will rotate to graveyard shift but keep my same days off.  This means I cannot attend my favorite WW meeting.  I will be on this shift for 10 weeks.

I then rotate back to day shift but my days off change and I will have to work Tuesdays.  So for 20 weeks I cannot attend my favorite WW meeting.  When I get back to day shift I can at least attend the Monday morning meetings, which my WW leader Donna attends as well as my first WW leader Lynn.  So there is much to rejoice once I pass the 10 weeks of graveyard.

Working shift work, and having days off in the middle of the week, have both pros and cons.  Obviously a con would be not attending the WW meeting that supports me the most.  A pro is being on the same shift at Kenyon as he has already rotated to night shift.  If you have to be awake at 3am on your days off it is best to have somebody else in the house that can be awake with you. 

A pro is that my house is usually cleaner and more organized as I now have the time to do so.  What else do you really do at 3am?  A con is that while I can go to the store in the middle of the night you have to deal with boxes in the aisles and usually only one cashier.

But the biggest con of all is that I won’t be at my Tuesday morning WW meeting with the leader I love and the members I connect with.  It feels like I don’t have a home.  I can, and have, struggled during my time away from my meeting.  I also realize that the longer I do maintenance the stronger and more confident I become in my ability to keep the weight off.  I still need my meetings and I still want to attend my meetings. 

I enjoy going to my weekly meeting and it keeps me in check.  It helps me stay focused.  I need that check in with the “official” WW scale.  Sure, I can track my weight at home each week (and I do check my weight when I first wake up on WI day) but I know I need that accountability.  I really need that accountability now since I continue to be several pounds above my goal weight.

There is part of me that wonders if I could go it alone for the next 10 weeks.  My plan right now is to attend the Thursday night meeting that Natalie teaches.  However, if I work an overtime shift then I’ll either have to find another meeting or just use my home WI as my progress.  If I do that I need to make sure I stay really honest with my tracking and my program.  It isn’t about saving $9 a week but just feeling like I don’t have a place to call home. 

I think I’ll also check out some other meeting/leader options as a backup plan for when I do work overtime on Thursdays.  We have a lot of great meetings in our area and I’m sure a lot of great leaders too.

I still have a few more weeks before I have to stress anything. 

Treading Water

Lately I feel like I am treading water.

I lost 8 pounds in 12 weeks.  Then I gained 5 pounds in three weeks.  My goal weight feels like it is further and further away.  I take a few steps forward and few steps back.  Normally this would be maintenance.  I know that because I maintained my weight fairly easily for the first five years.  These last few months have felt like a doozy.

It is hard to stay motivated, focused, and it can feel very frustrating at times.  The newness for losing weight I felt in January after we came back from Hawaii has faded.  Last week was the 16^th week since I kicked it into gear and put all my efforts into losing.  No wonder WW used to give away a 16-week Stay And Succeed charm.  It is hard to keep going if after 16 weeks you aren't feeling very successful. 

I do know I’ve been successful.

In 16 weeks I have KEPT OFF 3.4 pounds.  Regardless of my forward and backward movement I am not the same weight as I was upon our return from Hawaii and I am not HIGHER than that weight either.

So not all hope it lost.

But it is fading.

Despite meal planning but not grocery shopping last week I am feeling successful of my food week.  I ditched my actual food plan and have sort of been “winging it” with foods we have on hand at home.  I bought some fresh veggies and cut up fruit but that is all.  I have mostly packed my food for work and eaten at home.  There have been a couple of meals out, which have also been successful.

My activity this week has been successful and I am on track for, hopefully, getting my usual 20 APs.  Perhaps that is also something I need to see about ramping up?

Lately I feel as though I have to eat salads all the time if I want to lose weight.  I was sort of veggie-d out a few days ago.  We will see what my WI shows this week at my Tuesday meeting.  I am hopeful for a loss but always fearful of a gain.

 

The scale does not define me.  It is just a tool…one of many…that aids me in my weight loss.  I have been toying with not doing a WI for a month to perhaps see a larger loss and maybe trick myself into feeling more successful.  However, I know I need the scale for accountability.  No firm decisions yet.

Why can’t this just be easy?

 

 

Happy 10th Birthday Hailey Bug!!!

Happy Birthday Hailey Bug!

We celebrated my niece Hailey’s 10^th birthday on Friday night.  I can’t believe it was ten years ago that I became an aunt.

Hailey was dubbed Lady Bug, or Bug for short. She is still our Bug and will always be. 

She had a pillow she carried around with her for the first few years of her life. Her pillow, which was dubbed “peeps” or “the peepster” as she grew and became more creative, followed her everywhere. When Hailey went through her Care Bear phase it was quite fun and I acquired a few Care Bears at my house.



Hailey's 3rd Birthday

Hailey's 4th Birthday

First day of 1st Grade

With Cousin Sarah from Colorado



Hailey's 8th Birthday

Hailey's 9th Birthday.  Cousin Sarah came to visit.