Week 7 of 52 - 2/13 - 2/19

Weekly Goals
1. Exercise 6 days - Nope
2. Drink 4 waters daily - Nope
3. Take a Before Picture by Sunday
4. Update Blog

Weigh-In = 167

Monday
Food
B: Cereal and Milk S: Kiwi & Goldfish L: Burger King - Whopper & 1/2 onion rings, coke S: chocolate milk D: small piece lasagna & bread, salad w/ranch S: chocolate milk
Water - 2 bottles of water
Exercise
None.
Comments
Ate small portions.

Tuesday
Food
B: Cereal L: Chinese - Pork Fried Rice & Crab Ragoon, Caffine Free Diet Coke S: Cereal D: Outback - 2 glasses of wine, cheese fries, salad, 7 ounce filet w/bleu cheese, baked potato S: 2 pieces of chocolate
Water - 2 bottles of water
Exercise
None.
Comments
Stuffed myself for Valentine's Day. Outback was really yummy!

Wednesday
Food
B: Cereal & Milk L: Potbelly's - Roast Beef on Regular, Pretzels, Diet Coke, S: 2 pieces of mint chocolate and 1 chocolate-covered strawberry D: Chicken Pot Pie, Bread, 1 low-fat chocolate angelfood cupcake, Coke S: Weight Watcher Ice Cream Bar
Water - 1 bottle
Exercise
None.
Comments
Depressing day at work. All about the chocolate today.

Thursday
Food
B: Cereal & Milk L: Chicken Pot Pie S: Kiwi D: Arby's - Roast Beef Sandwich, Curly Fries, Cheesesticks, Coke S: 2-100 Cal Chips Ahoy Packs
Water- 1 bottle
Exercise
None.
Comments

Friday
Food
B: Cereal (2 bowls) L: McDonald's - 1/4 Puonder with Cheese, Fries, Coke, 2 applepies S: Cookie, McFluury D: Spaghetti
Water - 1 bottle
Exercise
None.
Comments
Herceptin Day. Bad food all day.

Saturday
Food
B: Cereal (2 bowls) L: Mac&Cheese D: Applebees - Nachos, Smothered Chicken, Mashed Potatos, Seasoned veggies, Coke
Water -
Exercise
None.
Comments

Sunday
Food
B: Cereal L: Left over Applebee's S: 2-100 cal packs, chocolates D: Pizza Coke
Water -
Exercise
Comments

Week 6 of 52 - 2/6 - 2/12

Weekly Goals
1. Exercise 6 days
2. Drink 4 waters daily
3. Take a Before Picture
4. Update Blog
5. 1 Lunch Out
6. Stick to "healthy" meal plan through Thursday
7. E-mail friend
8. Bible Study Daily

So, not so good on the goal department. I did keep track of stuff though, so that's a good sign right?

Weigh-In = 168

Monday
Food
B: Cereal and Milk S: Apple and String Cheese L: Lunch out with client - Pinehurst Players Salad (chicken, veggies, oranges, macadamia nuts, and spicy peanut dressing), 1 pc of bread D: Marinated chicken breast, fries, mac&cheese, peas, Coke S: 2 - 100 calorie Chips Ahoy packs
Water - 2 bottles
Exercise
None
Comments
Had a Coke which was bad. Most of day was good. Could have skipped the fries and mac & cheese and dinner. Also could have exercised. Need to get better about drinking all my water.

Tuesday
Food
B: Oatmeal and Protein Shake S: Kiwi L: Chili w/cheese, no crackers S: Wheat Thins D: Chinese Takeout - Cashew Chicken on Steamed Rice, eggroll, 3 crab rangoon
Water - 3 bottles
Exercise
None.
Comments
Chili portion was reasonable size, so Chinese was the worst we got. Still skipped exercise, but no coke.

Wednesday
Food
B: Cereal & milk L: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, 100-calorie Chips Ahoy Cookies D: Round Steak (small portion) with bleu cheese crumbles, Green Beans, New Potatos with ceese S: Coke, Ice Cream and 100-calorie pack.
Water - 1 bottle
Exercise
None
Comments
Starting to give up for the week. Stayed home in the morning with Grace.

Thursday
Food
B: Cereal and Milk L: Steak Escape - Philly Cheesesteak, Diet Coke, S: South Beach Cereal Bar D: Macaroni and Cheese
Water- 2 bottles
Exercise
None
Comments
Didn't get fries or real coke at lunch. Not much snacking. Not eating good food, but not huge quanties either. Started steroids for chemo in evening.

Friday
Food
B: First Watch - Hot chocolate, The Works Omelet, English Muffin with jelly, potatos S: Chocolate covered almonds L: In Doctors office - 2 pieces stromboli and some spicy chinese chicken D: (early) Chipotle - Chicken Burrito S: Weight Watcher Ice Cream bar and Glass of Chocolate milk
Water - 2 bottles
Exercise
None
Comments
Chemo day. Lots of food.

Saturday
Food
B: Cereal and Milk S: French Toast L: Grilled Cheese D: Brucetta, Chicken Fettucini, 1/2 bottle of wine S: 1/2 Strawberry Daquari, Chips and Queso S2: 1/2 piece Snickers Cheesecake
Water - 2 bottles
Exercise
None.
Comments
None needed.

Sunday
Food
B: 2 bowls cereal, Chocolate milk L: 2 PBJ & Goldfish S: 1/2 piece cheesecake D: Hamburger helper S: 100-calorie pack
Water - 3 bottles
Exercise
None
Comments
Finished up steroids. Hoping the hunger won't be too bad next week.

Week 5 of 52 - 1/30/06 - 2/5/06

I'm going to try a new format for each week. I'll do one post for the week and edit it daily or as possible to see how I'm doing. Goals will be bolded as completed.

Weekly Goals
1. Exercise 6 days - Actual - 5 days
2. Drink 4 waters daily - No, see below
3. Take a Before Picture - No
4. Update Blog Yes
5. No buying lunch out (exception meeting on Wednesday)- No
6. Register for Chem 170Yes
7. E-mail friend - Not outside the usual
8. Bible Study Daily - Only 1 day

Weigh-In = 166

Monday
Food
B: Cereal & Milk, L: 2-Tuna Salad Sandwiches, Pretzels, Sugar-free jello S: Oreo McFlurry S2: 3 pc LJS chicken D: Baked Italian Chicken Breast, Mac&Cheese, Peas S: Cereal & Milk
Water - 3 1/2 bottles
Exercise
Windsor Pilates - Ab Sculpting
Comments
I feel like I'm still under the influence of the chemo. I've been noticing some side effects like tingling hands and bone pain, so maybe the insatiable hunger is part of it. I seriously feel like I can't get enough to eat. Hoping that fades by the time I'm ready to start BFL again on 2/20! Good news is no Coke today!

Tuesday
Food
B: Oatmeal, S: Pretzels, L:Chicken Breast, Mac&Cheese, Peas, S: Wheat Thins, D: Cube Steak, Rice & Mushroom Gravy, Green Beans, S: Ice Cream
Water - 4 bottle
Exercise
20 Minutes on Treadmill in AM!
Comments
No Coke today! Yahoo! Very proud I got up early today too. I felt I did a little better with portions today too. Not quite so hungry.

Wednesday
Food
B: Oatmeal, L: Cup of Veggie Soup, Patty Melt (Lunch out at client meeting), D: Caesar Salad, French Bread, Spaghetti & Meatballs S: Homemade Apple Pie and Ice Cream
Water - 3 bottles
Exercise
Bun & Thigh Sculpting Pilates DVD. Ouch!
Comments
Better on portions, I think the steroids are wearing off. Day 3 with no Coke!

Thursday
Food
B: 2 glasses orange juice, scrambled eggs, potatoes, 2 pieces bacon, 1 sausage link, strawberries, pinapple (Annual Staff Breakfast), L: 2 slices sausage & mushroom pizza, pink lemonade S: Handful wheat thins D: Popcorn S: Apple Pie
Water - 3 bottles
Exercise
20 Minutes on Treadmill - Got Shin splints while doing intervals, so just walked last 10 minutes
Comments
Goal for today is to skip pie and ice cream tonight. Also, Day 4 no Coke. No ice cream, but 1 slice of pie.

Friday
Food
B: Oatmeal L: Steak Escape (Philly Cheesesteak, Fries, Lemonade) S: Pretzels D: Totinos pizza
Water - 1 bottle
Exercise
Advanced Body Sculpting Pilates DVD
Comments


Saturday
Food
B: Bluebberry pancakes, 1/2 glass milk L: Grilled Cheese, Easy Mac S: Ice Cream & Pie D: Chili S: 1/2 bowl ice cream
Water - 2 1/2 bottles
Exercise
None
Comments

Sunday
Food
B: Cereal & Milk, Banana L: Chili S: Chips Ahoy 100-calorie Pack
Water - 1 bottle
Exercise
None
Comments

February Goals

Before I do goals for this week. Here are the goals for February.

1. Meet Monthly budget
2. No Credit card usage
3. Lose 3 pounds
4. Tithe weekly
5. Send Ashton a birthday card

2006 - January Update.

So, the resolutions have been going by the wayside a bit. Not too far off track, just not quite tracking them.

Here are some general thoughts for January.
- Budget - Not too bad. Might have went a bit over, but made concious choices and found some ways to cut costs. Also, Eric is possibly getting a part-time second job to help us out, so all good there.
- Credit Card usage - Only purchases were medical expenses and I did sign up for a CPCU course. I'll pay for the class when I get reimbursed from the last one I took.
- Lose 1 - 2 pounds - Not this month.
- Thithe Weekly - Yes!
- Cards - About 50%
- I kept my budget spreadsheet up to date.
- I didn't do great at daily bible study although I did get some in.
- I didn't start exercising or real dieting.

So here's what is planned for February. I'd like to get back into the weekly goal habit and check in here. I'm also getting serious on the diet and exercise plan. I've made some plans and am actually printing out my tracking documents as I type. The first part of February will be focused on starting some exercise and finishing up my chemo and some doctor's appointments. I plan to get back on the BFL plan 100% as of Feb 20th.

So, this weekend I'll throw together some goals for next week for all areas of life and see how this week goes. I think it'll be a good one.

Goals for Week 2 - 1/8 - 1/14

Here's what I want to accomplish next week.

1. Plan Meals - Already done except for Saturday.
2. Follow planned meals.
3. Drink 4 waters daily
4. Exercise 4 or 5 times
5. Update blog with progress
6. Update budget with weekly expenditures
7. Bible Study every day (except Saturday)
8. Memorize verse
9. Tithe - Already have check written, just need to give tomorrow
10. E-mail a friend.
11. Send card for Tammy's baby and card for Eric's cousin that just found out they are expecting.

Week 1 - Progress Report

So, I've finished my first week of the new year. I did ok. Better in some areas than others. Here were my goals for this week and how I did.

Health
1. Plan Meals - I did create a meal plan for the week.
2. Stick to Meal Plan - I didn't do too bad. Some of my dinners changed or got out of order, but we didn't eat out, so that was good.
3. At least 1 Healthy Meal - I did make chicken one night.
4. Drink at least 3 bottles of water daily - Not so much. I think I have today, but not other days.
5. At least 1 time on treadmill - Nope
6. Update Fitness blog - I'm doing it now.
I will weigh-in tomorrow, but I don't think I lost any weight.

Finances
1. Only 1 lunch out - Yes. And it was only 3.79!
2. Update Budget Spreadsheet - Yes.
I also was very good at the grocery store this week. I took a calculator and kept track of what I was buying. I even put some things back to help stick to my planned budget. Didn't use the credit card.

Intellectual
- Didn't have any goals this week. I did send out my transcript requests for the community college this week.

Spirituality
1. Bible Study 5 Days - Only did 3
2. Memorize Verse - Yes. Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future."
3. Tithe - Yes

Personal Development
1. E-mail friend - I did e-mail an old friend, but not the one I planned on.

2006 Goals

Health
1. Lose 20 pounds
- 5 pounds by April 1
- 10 pounds by July 1
- 15 pounds by October 1
- 20 pounds by December 31
2. Plan meals weekly (To start I just want to plan meals, I'll be trying to add a "healthy" dinner to the plan each week)
3. Exercise (by March 1, I'd like to be back up to the old BFL exercise plan, assuming I have clearance from my doctor due to my port and surgical issues)
4. Drink 4 to 5 bottle of water daily
5. Update Fitness Blog weekly.

Finances
1. Stay within monthly budget
2. Only eat lunch out once per week
3. Stop using credit cards

Intellectual
1. Take 4 pre-requisite courses for med school
2. Take 2 CPCU courses
3. Read 4 books for fun

Spirituality
1. Do bible study daily
2. Update and pray over prayer list daily
3. Memorize a verse each week
4. Tithe according to committment made to church
5. Get involved in some type of group study

Personal Development
1. E-mail a friend each week that I don't already communicate with on a weekly basis
2. Send birthday, anniversary and other cards
3. Join Young Survivor Coalition or other breast cancer group
4. Review progress at 6 months

BFL W7, D1

Food
10:00 a.m. FF Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
12:00 p.m. South Beach Chicken Wrap and FF Jello
3:00 p.m. Protein Shake & Apple
5:30 p.m. Chicken Breast, Pasta, Green Beans

Water - 4 bottles

Exercise
8:00 p.m. Upper Body - Mixed Feelings. Really felt good to work out. Made me remember a little of how I used to feel. However, I lifted in shorts and a sports bra and the sight of my belly about made me sick. I need to think of that as motivation. If I stay strong, it will go away and I'll look as sexy as I feel.

Comments
Weighed in at 159.5 today and feel like it. Yuck. I'm seriously going to try really hard this week.

9 Up, 9 Down

When you read all the pregnancy books about losing weight after the baby, one of the common themes is that it took 9 months to gain all the weight, give your self 9 months to lose it.

Of course you try sooner, but I am starting to think they might have been right. Tomorrow will be 7 months since I have not been pregnant. Lately, I've started to notice changes that make me think that my body may be starting to realize it. Even though I haven't been doing great at eating and exercising, I'm not putting weight back on. I feel a little less jiggly too and I haven't really been doing anything to firm up.

Technically, I have 7 1/2 pounds to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'd still like to lose about 15 pounds. Except for my vacation next week, I don't have much scheduled the rest of the summer. My new goal is to get the 7 1/2 pounds off by 9/12/05 (9 months post baby). The rest other 7 1/2 I'd like to get off before I try to get pregnant again (March?).

I actually started out today. I've been very good at eating, but skipped the exercise. I've got my meals planned for tomorrow and plan to get up early to use the treadmill. Wish me luck!

Bad Dieter

I just read my friends dieting blogs and we all seem to be on a downhill slope. I didn't plan on being good over the weekend and with GWO coming up on Thursday I didn't bother trying this week.

I think starting up again next week sounds good. I've seen results when I'm "on", so imagine what a good 6 to 8 weeks of being very "good" would do? I don't feel that bad right now (just when I see pictures), but I know I could do so much better. Why is this so hard?

I did get some motivation this weekend though. My Mom is doing a low-carb diet and actually stuck to hers all weekend long! Trust me, that is quite an accomplishment. If she can do it, so can I!

So the plan is starting up again full time on Monday! I'll have to figure out what to do when we are on vacation and visit Danialle. However, if she's being good, I may be able to pull it off!

BFL W4, D24

Wednesday

Diet
8:45 a.m. Special K Breakfast Bar
12:30 p.m. Lunch out - Chicken Fettucini Alfredo, 1 Roll, Salad w/Ranch, Diet Coke
4:00 p.m. Apple
8:30 p.m. 1 1/2 breadsticks (Pizza Hut)

Water - 3 bottles

Exercise
None. Head hurt too bad.

Comments Meeting in Louisville, ate breakfast on the run, no chance for a snack. Was starving at dinner and didn't think a salad would cut it. Had a migraine on the way home, but no meds with me. (3 1/2 hour drive). Came home and took meds, but still took 2 hours at home to kick in. No desire for dinner.

BFL W4, D23

Thursday

Diet
8:00 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
9:30 a.m. Detour Bar
12:00 p.m. Lunch w/Boss - Chargrilled Chicken Salad
3:30 p.m. Detour Bar
7:00 p.m. Client Dinner - 1 glass White Zinfindel, some French Onion Soup, House Salad, 3 Crackers, Ribeye Special w/mixed veggies and whipped potatos, Berries Jubilee

Exercise
6:10 a.m. BFL Cardio

Comments
Dinner was out of control, but fancy places are very difficult to watch myself. At least I did good at lunch.

BFL W4, D22

Diet
8:00 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:15 a.m. FF Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
12:00 p.m. Potbelly's Skinny Roast Beef (darn that restaurant!) & Diet Coke
4:30 p.m. Protein Shake & Apple
6:15 p.m. Flank Steak packet - few bites of Red potatos and Green Beans (Grace didn't think I needed to eat and ignore her!)
9:45 p.m. String Cheese & LF Popcorn

Water - 5 bottles

Exercise
Lower Body - Not sure why, but felt a little sexy working out today. I should do that more often!

Comments
Don't know how, but weighed in at 157.5. I'll take it and get back on track.

Very good water intake today.

Must do cardio in the AM tomorrow, as I'm leaving for a client dinner/meeting at 2:00 p.m. and spending the night in Louisville, KY. Planning ahead with bars and will make a concious effort at all of my meals out tomorrow and Wednesday.

BFL W3, D17

Diet
7:45 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:00 a.m. FF Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
12:00 p.m. Potbelly (I'm weak) Turkey on "Skinny" Wheat no mayo or oil
4:00 p.m. Protein Shake & Apple
6:00 p.m. South Beach Diet Southwestern Chicken Wraps w/Sugar Free Jello

Water - 3 bottles

Exercise
Planned - Lower Body
Just can't bring myself to do it. No excuses, just don't feel like it.

Comments
Baby steps. Baby steps.

BFL W3, D16?

Ok, So I was busted. Here's a hint. If I'm not posting, it's usually not a good sign. That's all I think you need to know about what has happened since Thursday evening. In summary, I haven't been eating great, and haven't exercised since Wednesday.

BUT...I'm not quitting. Even though tomorrow is Wednesday, I'm back on the horse. Tonight I'm going to actually cook tomorrow's dinner, so I won't have an excuse and I'll even restart exercising. That will give me a half week to get my butt back in gear and then start with a goal for a 100% week next week.

Here's what I learned. I'm a routine girl. Screw up my routine and I'm done. Friday I went to the grocery store right after work and thus, screwed up my dinner routine(meaning eating before 6:15 p.m.) plus I was hungry, so I saw all kinds of stuff I wanted that wasn't on the plan. I also need to do some planning in advance for Sunday. If we are going to eat lunch out, I need to think in advance of what I'm going to order. Monday this week I had good intentions, but I was working in Cincinnati (thus out of my routine), I brought some snacks that didn't need refrigeration, but I left them plus my extra water in the car. Nice. Then we ate lunch out and even the salads didn't sound healthy, so I ordered pasta. It was so good, but covered in olive oil, so very fatty. Tuesday (today) I should have been in good shape, but I caved and ate out with my friend LeAnn. They just opened a Potbelly's sandwich place next door and I had to try it out with her. Then, I thought I was going to have an issue as one of the CE's and I were meeting with some clients for an early happy hour today. We ended up not ordering food (I did get a Diet Coke) and it wasn't a big deal, but after picking Grace up I decided to pick up fast food since we were going to get home after 6. Long story short. I need to stick to my routine as much as possible or do some real heavy duty planning. As for exercise? No excuse, just been really tired and haven't felt like it.

Ok, so tomorrow, expect a post. And I'll plan ahead for Thursday when I will have to leave work early to take Grace to her 6-month check-up.

BFL W2, D11

Diet
7:50 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:00 a.m. FF Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
12:00 p.m. Flank Steak, Noodles, Peas
7:15 p.m. Applebees Fiesta Lime Chicken & Steamed Veggies

Water - 3 bottles

Exercise
Last night planned to get up at 6 a.m. for cardio, but didn't even remember I was going to get up early until the 6:20 a.m. alarm went off. By that time, it's too late to do cardio before I need to get Grace up, so I will have to do it tonight.

8:30 p.m. 2 min BFL Cardio. That's not a typo, I was on the treadmill and Eric camed down and handed me the phone. It was Samara and I hadn't talked to her since Monday, so I got off the treadmill. 45 minutes later I got off the phone. It was 9:15 p.m. so I decided not to do cardio. Another reminder of why morning exercise is best.

Comments
Major goal for today is planning next week's meals. I'm getting low on grocercies and probably need to go to the store tomorrow night. Grace only has 1 jar of fruit left (for day-care tomorrow), so I have to go shopping before noon on Saturday.

I should stay away from the scale except for my weekly weigh-ins. It was up to 158.0 today, but I was perfect yesterday, so I'm not going to let me effect me. I'll just keep going and see what Monday's official number brings.

Skipped my afternoon snack. Shouldn't do that. I was starving by the time I got home and decided I wanted Applebees. Eric agreed and after we fed Grace we left. I did choose chicken and I asked them to substitute veggies for the rice that came with the dish. Ate too large of a portion, so I skipped my evening snack too. Did exert extreme willpower when Eric ordered dessert and I didn't even steal a single bite!

BFL W2, D10

Diet
8:00 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:00 a.m. Detour Bar
12:10 p.m. Chicken Burrito (Chicken, Tortilla, Lettuce, RF Cheddar, dab FF Sour Cream, and Taco Sauce)
4:00 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
5:50 p.m. Flank Steak (small portion), Noodles, Peas
9:40 p.m. String Cheese & Popcorn

Water - 5 Bottles

Exercise
8:00 p.m. BFL Upper Body - Heavier weights started feeling good.

Comments
Stepped on the scale this morning (156.5). Yeah, that's motivation to keep this up for the rest of the week.

While it's still early, I think I'm starting to "feel" changes already. My legs feel a bit tighter and my belly flab doesn't feel quite as bouncy. I can't really see a difference yet, but hopefully soon!

BFL W2, D9

Diet
7:45 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:30 a.m. FF Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
12:30 p.m. Beef-K-Bob & Noodles
4:00 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
6:10 p.m. Chicken Burritto (chicken, lettuce, tortilla, dab of hot sauce, dab of FF Sour cream, RF Cheddar cheese)
9:30 p.m. String Cheese & Popcorn

Water - 5 bottles

Exercise
6:10 a.m. 20 minutes cardio

Comments

BFL W2, D8

Monday Weigh In - 158.5 (-1.5 pounds)

Diet
7:45 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:15 a.m. FF Yogurt & FF Cottage Cheese
1:00 p.m. Ham Sandwich (FF American & Wheat Bread), Carrots
4:00 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
4:45 p.m. 1 glass White Zinfindel & 1 mozzerella stick (went with coworkers to watch the Michael Jackson verdict)
6:15 p.m. Beef-K-Bob (1/4 pound lean beef w/green peppers broiled) & egg noodles
9:30 p.m. String Cheese & LF Popcorn

Water - 4 bottles

Exercise
8:30 p.m. BFL Lower Body

Comments
Wish the weigh in was a little better, but at least I didn't sabatoge it. Was very bad at the water drinking at work. Will try to make most of it up in evening, but need to be more concious of that at work.

Really should have passed up the cheesestick at the bar, but I only had one and I didn't want to be rude while they were passing the basket around! (I know that's an excuse)

BFL W1, D7

Diet
8:30 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
11:30 a.m. Applebees - Fiesta Lime Chicken w/crunchy tortilla strips
6:00 p.m. left over fiesta lime chicken, then popcorn
9:30 p.m. FF Yogurt and String Cheese

Water - 5 1/2 bottles

Exercise
3:15 p.m. Church Softball game - 6 innings (catcher-2, right field-1, center field-1, second base-2)
8:00 p.m. 20 minutes on treadmill

Comments
Started the day right by choosing the protein shake rather than taking Eric up on his offer to go get McDonald's breakfast. Biggest downfall today is no in between snacks. I got to sleep in today, so I had breakfast later and we went to lunch right after church, so I didn't get a snack in. I made a decent choice at lunch. The chicken breast was huge, so I took 1/2 home for dinner. I didn't touch the rice that came with the meal and only ate the crispy strips. Should have had a bar before the softball game, but didn't think about it. Starving when I got home. Ate the chicken and was still hungry. Really considered cheating and looking for something bad, but decided to go with popcorn. That helped. Still feeling a little like cheating, but will try to hold out. I don't want to sabatoge what I've worked so hard at this week.

Reflections for the Week
Overall very proud of myself. Planning was key.
Positives: Didn't cheat on eating at all. Very good on water intake. Very good on keeping my blog updated.
Negatives: Skipped Friday's workout. Sometimes missed some snacks.
For Next Week: Will only prepare meals a day ahead. I had some extra meals I never got to this week, because I had more left overs than needed. Every evening, I'll prepare dinnder for the next day. This will also help keep things fresher. Don't wimp out on Friday's exercise. I won't feel like making it up on Saturday. Next Sunday eat a snack before the softball game. Any time eating out this week, I need to make good choices!

BFL W1, D6 - Free Day

Diet
8:00 a.m. 4 packets low sugar Apples & Cinamon Oatmeal
1:15 P.m. Chipotle Chicken Burito and Chips and Salsa, Large Coke
3:00 p.m. Reeses Peanut Butter Cup
8:00 p.m. Texas Roadhouse - handfull peanuts, 2 rolls with Cinnamon butter, Salad w/ranch, 6 oz. sirloin smothered with onions, mushrooms, and jack cheese, baked potato w/butter and sour cream, 2 Cokes

Exercise
None.

Comments
The Chipotle was good, but I ended up getting really stuffed. The Reeses cup wasn't worth it. I also got groceries and plan to be back "on" tomorrow. Tomorrow evening I'll cook for the next week again. That really helped out this week.

BFL W1, D5

Friday, June 10, 2005
Diet
7:45 Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:10 a.m. FF Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
11:30 a.m. Tuna Salad on Wheat Bread, Carrots
4:00 p.m. Detour Bar
6:00 p.m. Chinese Pepper Steak, Veggies, and Egg Noodles
9:15 p.m. String Cheese & Popcorn

Water - 4 1/2 bottles

Exercise
Planned - upper body. Actual - None.

Comments
Didn't get around to posting on the correct day. This is the worst day I've had (water and exercising), but I'm planning on making up the exercise on Saturday and will be back on track on Sunday!

BFL W1, D4

Diet
7:45 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:00 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
12:00 p.m. Lunch Out - Chicken Breast w/spinach, roasted red peppers, and mushrooms and swiss cheese, 1 slice cibata bread
6:00 p.m. Carribean Chicken Salad
9:30 p.m. String Cheese Popcorn

Exercise
8:10 p.m. 20 minutes on Treadmill. 1.18 miles.

Comments
Was very pround of myself for lunch today. I had a client meeting followed by lunch. I passed on bread and butter, soup, and the steak fries that actually came out on my plate. I also ordered a sandwich, but only ate 1/2 the bread. I probably still ate more than needed though because I didn't get hungry mid-afternoon and skipped that snack.

I also wanted to skip my cardio today. I didn't get up this morning like planned and this evening I knew I should be studying for my exam, but I made myself take 20 minutes for exercise (I think I really wanted to procrastinate on the studying).

Another good day. One more day before I can have a free day. I'm not really craving anything though. I'm not planning on pigging out, just going to go with the flow. I do think I'll have Chipotle for lunch though. That rice is so good.

BFL W1, D3

Diet
8:00 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:30 a.m. Detour Bar
12:30 p.m. Caribbean Chicken Salad
4:00 p.m. Protein Shake & Apple
6:40 p.m. Chinese Pepper Steak with Asian Veggies and Egg Noodles
9:15 p.m. LF Popcorn & String Cheese

Water - 4 bottles

Exercise
8:00 p.m. Lower Body. Is it bad if you are sore before your workout is over?

Comments
Spent the day with Samara and Ava. Did pretty good staying on track with eating (some times moved a little). Didn't drink as much water as I should have. Samara layed down for a nap around 4:45 p.m., so I didn't get home until 6:40 p.m. I was starving! Luckily Eric had already started feeding Grace, so I grabbed something while they were occupied. I had planned on the salad again for dinner, but was starving and wanted something more substantial, so I ate left over Pepper Steak. Now I have a headache and want to sit on the couch and do nothing, but I must do lower body first! I've had a perfect week so far and don't want to quit now. Will also try to get at least 2 more bottles of water down tonight, I don't know if I can get the full five.

BFL W1, D2

Diet
7:45 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
11:20 a.m. FF Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
1:00 p.m. Italian Season Chicken, Rice, Green Beans
4:00 p.m. Protein Shake & Apple
6:10 p.m. Chinese Pepper Steak with Asian Veggies, Egg Noodles (made at home)
9:15 p.m. LF Popcorn & String Cheese

Water - 5 1/2 bottles

Exercise
6:10 a.m. 20 Minute BFL Cardio on Treadmill. 1.18 miles. I'm starting slow, but will kick it up next week. I used to do 2 miles in 20 minutes.

Comments
I've been hungry today, but have stayed on track. I really think I could have a good week. Tomorrow I'm spending the day with Samara and Ava, but I'm bringing my snacks and a healthy lunch. I have a headache tonight, but think I'm freaking out a bit over a CPCU exam I have on Friday. I'm not prepared yet, but keep procrastinating on my studies. Better get to it.

BFL W1, D1 (GWO C2,W7,D2)

Ok, it's going to be too hard to keep up with days and weeks for both my BFL and GWO challenges. So, I'll post my final weight for the GWO challenge, but I'll count weeks and days for my new BFL challenge. For anyone unfamiliar with my acronyms: BFL=Body-For-Life, GWO=Girls Weekend Out, W=Week, D=Day, C=Challenge.

Anyway, started today and am still physched and motivated! No picture yet, but I'll try to get Eric to take it when he gets home from Bible Study.

Diet
7:45 a.m. Protein Shake & Oatmeal
10:30 a.m. FF Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
12:40 p.m. Tuna w/light mayo, wheat bread, carrots
3:45 p.m. Protein Shake & Apple
6:10 p.m. Chicken Breast w/Italian seasoning, Rice, and Green Beans
9:40 p.m. Low-fat popcorn & String Cheese

Water - 5 1/2 bottles

Exercise
7:40 p.m. Upper body BFL style. It felt really good. I actually started dancing to my workout music between sets.

Comments
I was ready to start today. Beginning weight 160 pounds. Ten pounds to pre-baby weight, but my goal is 15 to 20 pounds. After my first successful BFL I was down to 136 pounds. I doubt I can get there again with my equipment at home, but I'd be really happy at 140 pounds.

I resisted a tootsie roll today. I was chatting at work and a girl offered me a tootsie roll. I said, "Sure" and started to unwrap it. I realized what I was doing and then walked away and gave it to someone else. No cheating on day 1! I also told my lunch buddy at work that I am definately back on the diet. She asked if I can find stuff on the menu if we go out, but I told her I'd do a better job if I just bring my lunch. Sad, but maybe she'll decide to do the same.

Last night I pre-cooked lots of meals, so I'm in good shape this week. Grace just needs to move back her dinner. I had dinner made by 6:10 tonight and she was already crying for her dinner. They are supposed to give her a bottle between 4 and 4:30, but it keeps getting earlier (3:30 today) and then she's hungry earlier in the evening. Once we get that fixed, my schedule should be good.

Blah

I feel really bad about my body right now. I think it's starting to affect parts of my life. I hate walking by a mirror for the off chance I'll catch a side angle. It's affecting my "romantic" life because I never feel attractive. And unfortunately, when I feel this way, I'm indulging more in bad food rather than doing something about it. I've actually restarted my "diet" several times, but then something happens and I stop.

I know it's possible to do something about it. In 2003 I did Body-For-Life. It was great! I felt awesome. I only lost 9 pounds, but I got fit and dropped from a size 10 to a size 6. I looked great too! I did the 12 week program from February to May and kept it up for the most part until I got pregnant in July 2003. After I lost the baby, I got depressed and didn't do anything to lose the 10 pounds I gained during those 10 weeks. After that I was consumed with trying to get pregnant and by the time I got pregnant with Grace, I had gained another 5 pounds. Now, I'm still 10 pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight.

Here's my motivation. I want to look and feel better about myself. I know once I get going I'll have more energy and feel better in general. I'm running out of time. Once I get pregnant again, I can't call these 10 pounds "baby weight." It's entirely possible that I'll be pregnant again in a year or less (we're planning on starting again next spring), so I want to be sure I get back to where I want to be before that happens. I want to make it a lifestyle so Grace will be used to eating healthy. I don't want to make it hard for her to stay at a reasonable weight growing up or as an adult. Maybe if I start losing, Eric will decide to join me. Sounds like I'm motivated right?

Here's the challenge...time. I definately can find time to exercise, but it will involve either getting up early (5:30 a.m.) which I'm not great at or giving up part of my evenings after Grace is in bed (after 8 p.m.). We have DVR now, so I can't use TV as an excuse. Dinners are hard too, because Grace starts dinner (and the rest of her nighttime routine) at around 6:30 p.m. The key will be to have a plan and start dinner as soon as I get home from work, so we can eat before she does.

Tonight I'm going to plan for next week, so I can get groceries tomorrow evening. We are going to Indiana Saturday and coming back Sunday afternoon, so I won't have time to shop then. I am planning on cooking what I can (chicken, etc) on Sunday's so I'll have less prep time in the evenings. I will keep track of diet and exercise. I'll update my diet blog, but I also bought the Body-For-Life journal and will keep it up daily. It was $25, so that in itself will make me not want to quit. I don't want to waste my money, by stopping on Day 3 and not being able to use it.

So, the diet starts Monday. I'll be taking "before" pictures, weighing and measuring with updates every 4 weeks. Feel free to follow along in my diet blog if you want, but wish me luck and I'll really try to stay on track this time.

C2, W5, D1

Food
8:00 a.m. Shake & Oatmeal
10:30 a.m. Cottage Cheese & Yogurt
1:30 p.m. McDonald's Fruit & Walnut Salad (change of plans b/c of Grace Dr. appt)
4:15 p.m. Shake & Apple
6:00 p.m. South Beach Southwest Chicken Wraps w/Sugar Free Jello

Water - 4 bottles

Exercise
Planned - 20 minutes on treadmill, some ab work
Actual - 20 minutes treadmill

Thoughts
I'm starting again. Weighed in today 160.0, that puts me at +2 pounds for this challenge. I've got lots of work to do, but I'm really unhappy with how I feel in my body right now. Yesterday, I made a plan for this week. It involved doing most of the prep work for dinners on Sunday (which I didn't get around to), but I'm going to try to catch up on that tonight. I have a couple of things I can make quickly tonight and I'm going to run on the treadmill after Grace goes to bed.

Where Have I Been?

Where have I been? Certainly not eating healthy and exercising.

Excuses - Working like crazy. Staying late or bringing work home nearly every night, which I start working on the moment Grace goes to bed. Still haven't figured out how to have a "good" dinner before we begin the Grace bedtime routine.

Plans? - I'm thinking baby steps. Hoping to be out of town this weekend to visit extended realative and brother home from Iraq for 2 weeks (stay in there, Bean! Sorry Samara). So, the plan for this week is to stay away from Coke and dessert type items (cookies, ice cream, candy bars, etc). I'm seriously talking baby steps.

I also need to do some serious thinking on how to get good dinners in. I could actually start back one week from today, if I can plan this week. I think I'm going to have to do some cooking on the weekends and have "ready meals" that I can heat or prepare in 15 minutes or less. If I leave work on time I have about 1 hour from the time I walk in the door, until I need to get started on Grace's routine. If you take off the 15 minutes wasted changing clothes, letting the dog out, changing Grace's diaper and looking through the mail, that gives me 45 minutes. If I take 15 minutes to prepare dinner, 20 minutes to eat it, I would still have 10 minutes to just play with Grace before she gets her dinner, bath, book and goes to bed. See? I really need to plan ahead. There is no time for indecision.

Exercise could come back into play after next week, definately by June 1. Work should slow down considerably after the 1st, so I should be able to come home on time and have time to myself.

This weekend I tried to talk Eric in to joining me. He seemed agreeable, but he'd also had a couple of drinks. He goes overboard though. The lowest I've weighed and the best shape I've been in as an adult was in May/June of 2003. I weighed in at 136 pounds and was really fit. Then all the baby stuff started. I am now hovering between 158 and 160 pounds. I told Eric my ultimate goal is to get to 140 pounds. He said I should get to 125. I said he was crazy. He said ok 130, I said 140. He said 135 and wouldn't budge. I asked if he realized that I didn't even make 135 when I was at the height of all of my fitness craze. I've had a baby since then and don't need to look like a super model. I honestly don't think I could get to 125 without major professional help (a daily personal trainer and dietician) and at 130 pounds would probably even have visible ab muscles. 135 would be awesome, but at this point in my life I don't really have the drive to work that hard. I would look great at 140 and more importantly feel good and I think that should be my goal. It's still 18-20 pounds! Shouldn't that be enough? Now in his defense, he was also setting crazy goals for himself of 210 pounds. Seriously. I said he would look great at 225 or 230, but he thinks 210 is the answer. He brings up weighing 190 in high school, but come on, you aren't fully developed yet in high school, so get real. He probably weighs 275 or so right now, so 230 would be 45 pounds. When he lost weight before he got down to about 235 and went from a size 42/44 to 38 pant. I'd love to see him permantely in a 38. He's a big guy, he doesn't need to try to be a size 34, just lose a little of the belly and he'd feel much better.

Ok, enough rambling. I didn't weigh in this week, if I weigh tomorrow I'll put my weight down and I'll probably update again next week, I know the everyday thing isn't happening yet.

C2 Week 1, Day 4

Ok, so I'm sort of back in the game. Work seriously has me stressed and I've been using it as an excuse to veg out at home. Monday was actually pretty good and I even ran on the treadmill and did abs (still hurts to sneeze 2 days later, thank you), but haven't exercised since then. I've been trying to make smarter choices with food. Yesterday, I got fruit instead of chips with my sandwich. Still no Coke this week (yeah!). Today, I had a lunch/3rd interview and they brought in food. I had a 1/2 chicken salad on a croissant, a diet coke, a few chips, and a cookie. I stayed late at work tonight, so I missed my window to eat before Grace's bedtime. Since then I've had an apple.

Tomorrow will be super busy. I have an 8:00 a.m. client meeting (thier location), a 10:30 a.m. client meeting (different client, their location), probably lunch with them, a 3:00 p.m. meeting with a person from our Finland office (my location, darn!), then we're doing an early dinner with my client executive, head of office, and collegue from Finland. I'll attempt to make decent food choices.

Don't really know what else to say. I'll try to do better about posting. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to update what I actually ate. If I get this new job, I may have a little more time at first (I'm sure there is some sort of learning curve, before I get swamped), so I'll hopefully figure out my evening schedule and do the exercising. I think I'm going to have to start cooking on the weekend, so I can just heat and eat.

Week 1, Day 2

Start of Session 2 Weigh In = 158.0

Food
8:00 a.m. Shake & 1 packet Oatmeal
12:00 p.m. 1/2 Salad w/Chicken & FF Honey Mustard, Flatbread
4:00 p.m. Shake & 1/2 Apple

Water - 2 bottles

Exercise
Planned - Cardio & Abs

Comments
Kind of hungry right now, but no real desire to cheat. Just need to take a look at my waistline to stay motivated. I've got a shot at winning session 2.

Week 12, Day 1

I've pretty much given up for this round of the diet contest, however, we are very close to getting our sleep back at night and Grace will be going to bed at 8:00 every night, so I see a possibility of "me time" in the future.

This week, I'd like to re-evaluate my goals and set new, more realistic ones. Also after spending the weekend with my "skinny" friends who have both lost over 10 pounds and my 7 1/2 month pregnant friend that still weighs less than I did before I ever got pregnant, I think I'll be set with some new motivation.

I have been weighing in, however. Last Sunday, I was up 1 pound at 158.5. This week, down 1/2 to 158.0 for a total loss of 4.5 pounds. Not impressive, but better than nothing. I'd like to double that (at least) in the next 12 weeks before our July weekend. I've got some adorable baby swimsuits, and I'd like to at not be too embarrassed to have one on as well.

Week 10, Day 1

Back to regular posting after my long break.

Diet
9:30 a.m. 2 packets Low-Sugar Apples & Cinnamon Oatmeal
12:00 p.m. Fudruckers - 1/2 pound burger w/mushrooms, onions, swiss, fries, Coke (we ate here for a fundraiser at church). Didn't finish the burger.
6:00 p.m. Apple
6:20 p.m. 5 left over wings w/blue cheese
8:00 p.m. Graham Crackers

Water - ? not sure between 1 and 3 bottles

Exercise
None.

Comments
Weighed in at 157.5 this week. Down a pound from last week (6 overall). Don't really know how, but I'll take it. I think the key for me has been portions. Even when I'm eating bad foods, I'm stopping when full or no longer hungry. I even ate 1/2 of a candy bar the other day. Who only eats 1/2 a candy bar?

I've been working on my meal plan and these are my 4 goals for this week (starting Monday).
1. No Coke Mon-Fri (I've been slipping again)
2. Exercise at least 3 days.
3. Drink all water every day.
4. Lose 1 pound.