Well, my day wasn't great by any means. I got up this morning and was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the scale... only .4 lbs away from goal...so less than a half pound! The number looks nice, but there is still alot of strength training to get my muscle tone back where I want it and my fat % still lower. I just need to get back into my regular routine I had yet... Val and I have not been able to meet up at all this week... suppose to go tomorrow though.

Today's Body Blessings...
B: 3/4 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mandarine orange segments, drained of light juice, Mott's Bold and Spicy Veggie Blend

L: OK, I splurged today. I was REALLY missing my "girls" at Arby's so at at Arby's...but I bypassed my usual and got a Turkey Bacon Sandwich (and forgot to hold the mayo), and 4 mozz cheese sticks instead of 8...

D: Grilled Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, 13 Brussels Sprouts, 1/2 cup Scalloped Potatoes

Snack: 100 cal popcorn,

Beverages: 1 bottle water, 2 diet pepsi

Today's Workouts...

Only physical activity today was off-loading two trucks and running the MPU. MPU was pretty busy though so lots of lifting, walking, etc.

I'm kinda worried about tomorrow's day as it's Hubby's Birthday... He gets a free meal at Up The Creek for dinner, so we will be going there. I'll have to get my salad that I have been getting. It's probably the best choice I could get.

Hubby also took Leave for tomorrow so will be home... meaning, we'll probably eat lunch out too... so hopefully I can find something low cal wherever he decides he wants to go...
Suppose to get our taxes done too...and will need to get my grocery shopping done sometime tomorrow too...and Meet Val at the gym in the morning too..

Sounds like I'm going to have a busy day off...

Calories within Range...for a change!

Woo Hoo... I did much better today with my calories. Here it is almost 8:00 in the evening, I'm still full from dinner, and my calories are above the low end of my calorie range of 1200-1550. The last few days, I ended up over the high end. None where really by many calories but nonetheless. OVER.

We had two trucks today at work and I had a long shift that pretty much made it hard for me to get to the gym... granted, the gym is open from 5:00 am until midnight, but I really do not want to go up there that early and loose my much needed sleep, nor do I want to go in that late. I'd be afraid of getting too energized by working out this late and then not being able to sleep... On the bright side, I work late tomorrow, so I can go in tomorrow morning before I head to work... and I'm off on Friday so will be able to get my third gym workout for the week in. That's my plan, and I WILL stick to it!

I got home from work today and was excited to find my package in the mail I ordered last week. I bought the new Prevention Magazine Book last week and there as an ad in there for a free Personal Exercise & Analyzing Card I just had to pay $4.95 shipping and handling. It's a multifunction credit card sized exercise assistant, pedometer and fat analyzer. It will store up to 5 personal date profiles - step counter- Distance Counter- Calories burned counter - body fat meter and monitor - clock & alarm. It's pretty awesome! Can't wait to try it out. Hmmm, for as thin as I am starting to look, it still calculates me as overweight with 31.2 % body fat. Hubby thinks it's crazy, but it's possible. I have not done as much strength training as I was doing two years ago and I still see a lot of fat in the thighs which tends to be where I gain the weight... butt, hips, and thighs. I still have a small amount around the abs too that needs to go. Which, in time, will be gone.

Today's Body Blessings...

B: Whole Wheat Wrap with 2 scrambled eggs, 6 deli slices of ham, 1 slice of Provolone Cheese, and hot sauce

L: Subway Ham and Turkey 6" sub on Italian Bread loaded with veggies, no cheese and no dressing, 1 package of subway apples, water

D: Pork Loin Chop, 1/2 cup chicken rice, 1 cup canned spinach with about 1 tablespoon butter and vinegar

Snack: 1 oz bag of TGIF Cheddar & Bacon Potato Skins, Diet Pepsi... oh yeah... I had one hard strawberry candy today to sooth my sweet tooth and cravings

Today's Workout...

Incline Pectoral Fly 2 sets of 15 with 5 lbs weight

Flat Pectoral Fly, 2 sets of 15 with 5 lbs weight

Decline Pectoral Fly, 2 sets of 15 with 5 lbs weight

Alternating Bicept Curls, 2 sets of 15 with 5 lbs weight

Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 15 with 5 lbs weight

Incline Chest Press, 2 sets of 15 with 5 lbs weight

Decline Chest Press, 2 sets of 15 with 5 lbs weight

Flat Chest Press, 2 sets 15 with 5 lbs weight

Crunches with ball, 1 set of 25

Bicycle Crunch, 1 set of 15

Great Workout... Bad Food Choices.

Well, the day didn't start all that well. After waking up this morning and spending a bit of time with Hubby, I went in to take my shower, he went down stairs to start breakfast...Our usual Sunday Morning breakfast... and I didn't hold back today. I ate as much as I usually would before my "diet"...

After breakfast, I cleaned up the kitchen then came in to check out my board online before getting around to head into town with Holly. She needed some school supplies for her Clothing Design Class as they are going to make a pillow case and PJ Bottoms. We headed to JoAnn Fabrics and she picked out some flannel for her PJ bottoms and another flannel for her Pillow Case. She's decided that after she learns how to make pillow cases, she's going to make us some for at home too... and make her daddy some PJ Bottoms. :)

Since Holly had been cooped up in the house the last three days being sick, she wasn't quite ready to go home so we headed over to the mall and stopped at Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream... not good! Well, it really WAS good, just not good for the diet. We then walked down to CVS as she wanted to get some more powder and a correction stick. Well, CVS was no longer in the mall. They had finally gotten moved into their new building across the street. Instead of heading over there, we just walked back down to Target and she got what she needed/wanted there.

Drew called while we were in Target to see what my plans for lunch were as he was getting hungry. He decided that he'd just eat the left overs from last nights dinner since he needed to eat and not wait on us. Holly and I then walked to Subway and got out lunch. I was a good girl and skipped the dressing as well as the cheese. Not something I usually do. And you know what, that sandwich was just as good without it as it is with. :)

After lunch, we headed back home and I got back online to check my emails then decided I wanted to go to the gym. Drew was not feeling up to going with me today as his shoulder was bothering him... I'm sure his sitting on the floor cutting padding and carpet for the hallway didn't help matters any. I decided I'd go ask Holly if she wanted to go with me since she had an hour of gym classes to make up for since she missed 2 days of school... speaking of which, I need to write her gym teacher a note letting her know she worked out with me today at the gym. I forgot that her friend was here also, so she went up with Holly and I. Those girls did about 3 miles on the elliptical... and another 6 or 7 miles on the stationery bike. Lorrin told us that they keep that by summer they will have "Buns of Steel & Washboard Abs"...LOL. We all will!

We got home from the gym and Drew ordered dinner from Roughriders. I fixed myself a salad to eat also and drank a Mott's Bold & Spicy Veggie drink while Drew went to pick up the pizza.

Today's Body "Blessing"...

Breakfast: 2 biscuits with Sausage Gravy, 3 slices of bacon, 2 scrambled eggsLunch: 6" Subway ham and turkey loaded with veggies, no dressing, no cheeseDinner: 2 slices of Supreme Pizza, Salad with Kraft Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing, Mott's Bold & Spicy Veggie BlendSnack: Cold Stone Icecream... cheesecake flavored with Strawberries, Blueberries, and Graham Cracker Crumbs

Today's Workout...

Treadmill...
20 minutes with various speeds and incline (I accidently hit reset button so do not have actual data for the first 20 minutes, SP calculates at approx 228 calories burned)

44.02 minutes, 3.17 miles, 4.3 average mph, 387.9 calories burned

Photo's...

Ok, now that Crystal has told me how to put in my photos, I will give it a shot. I will actually post all three sets... my "beginning" which are not really beginning, just the beginning before my newest round of working out and really focusing more on my strength training and my workouts on the treadmill and elliptical at the Base Gym and what I am eatting.

Pics from December 28, 2008...

I couldn't smile for anything while taking these pictures. I was just so unhappy with the way I was starting to look again.

Pics from January 13, 2009

Looking better, but the smile just wasn't happening...

Pics from January 21, 2009

OK, there is a small smile... I can really see a bit of difference in my arms here...and a bit more in the abs. The new haircut and color helps though with the smile! Makes me feel better knowing I am doing things for myself...

OK, think I got them...

Today has been an OK day so far, though not great. Hubby wanted to stop at BK for breakfast as we had a few things to do on base... buy a birthday card for his mom, buy stamps to mail it, finally found the Woman's Day magazine I have been looking for. There is a walking program in there that I want to use on the treadmill and also see if I can convert it to the ellliptical so I have a program rather than just walking.

After coming home, I washed my hair, got around and we headed into town as we wanted to check out Menard's for some carpet rements so that we could lay some carpet in the hallway between the garage and the kitchen to help with the tracking in of salt, sand, snow, etc. The worse part of having a house full of tile and hardwood flooring. Next will be to carpet my office. Then the breakfast nook and formal dining rooms...

While in town, we stopped also for lunch at Wendy's...I was able to do much better there... then it was homeward bound where I am now working on laundry and have hand scrubbed the floor where the carpet will be going so that hubby can lay carpet tomorrow while I take Holly shopping for fabric, thread, and whatever else she needs for her Clothing Design Class at school. They are suppose to be making PJ bottoms and a matching pillow case I do believe...

Ok, think it's time for me to switch loads in the laundry room, then I shall head to the gym to walk on the treadmill for a while...

Today's Body Blessing...

B: Double Croissant (Bacon, Ham, egg, cheese), small hash rounds, Orange Juice
L: Mandarine Chicken Salad from Wendy's... half packet of Asian Dressing, 1/3 packet of the slivered almonds, none of the noodlesD: 1/2 Cup Mashed Potatoes, 1/2 Cup gravy with beef, onions, & mushrooms, 4 broccoli spears, 2 radishes, green olives (didn't count)

Snack: 100 cal smart pop popcorn

Today's Workout...

Treadmill30 minutes
1.94miles3.9 average mph
219 calories burned

Resistant Band 100, 1 set of 100
Resistant Band Striaght Leg dead lift 2 sets of 15
Seated Medicne Ball Twists 1 set of 25
Superman 1 set of 10 with 3 second holds
Bridge Ups 1 set of 10 with 10 second holds
Metronone 1 set of 10
Plank Lift 1 with 10 second hold, each side
Side Plank 1 with 10 second hold, each side
Crunches with stability ball, 2 sets of 25

Beverages:
32 oz unsweet tea
1 L bottle water
1 16.9 oz Diet Green Tea with Citrus

Lisa

Long, Slow, almost unproductive day...

Well, today was just not much of day for anything. The weather has turned COLD again. Was -15° when I came home from work tonight. It just takes so long for my Explorer to warm up when it's that cold, that I feel like I will freeze by the time I get home...and it always takes so long for my toes and feet to warm back up.

I got up this morning and didn't see Holly around, so figured she had headed off to school, feeling better today. I got online to see if Val was up to going to the gym this morning with me. She responded that her and her oldest were sick and she really wasn't feeling up to it for today but if she was feeling better tomorrow she would go with me to the gym. I went upstairs and was just about to get into the shower when my phone beeped letting me know I had a new Text Message. It was Holly asking me to bring her some medicine at school as she still was not feeling well, had a headache and felt like she was going to "puke". I told her it would be a bit since I was just getting in the shower. Then she sends a message right back saying that her teacher gave her a pass to go checkout. I guess the teacher felt that she was just not looking good and just needed to go home to rest.

After my shower, I headed into town to pick Holly up and bring her back home. I was putsying around downstairs when I heard her call for me. She was throwing up so she asked me to get her some crackers to help settle her stomache so I grabbed her crackers and took them up to her. It wasn't long before her and Lucy were both sound asleep on Holly's bed.

My phone rang just as I was starting some lunch for Drew and I. It was the store. Evidently, one of my guys neglected to tell me that he was still going to be at his other job in Minneapolis today (he works for the airport and communtes back and forth) and another was going to be late because his wife collapsed today during PT so Barb was by herself on SNC and was worried she couldn't handle it... she never wants to run SNC so will do anything to get out of it. I told her to try calling Josh since he was only working a few hours this week...and I would try to come in early...but wasn't sure how early I could make it since I was just fixing lunch and Holly being sick and all...

Drew got home a few minutes after 11:00 for lunch and we ate lunch then we both took off to head back to work. I ended up clocking in an hour and 15 minutes early. Work was VERY SLOW today. I did get the desk cleaned off as the guys just can't seem to remember to file the papers in the trays beneith the computer or put anything away after using it. It is so frustrating... especially since the Managers are coming down on us to get things done. And has basically told me that I have to get the guys to work and do as I ask them or I may be moved out of my position. I just don't know what else to do. I'm the type of boss that likes to be mean and what not. I've very fair to everyone and do not ask more of any of them then I would do myself. I guess I'm just too nice... I'm working on things to hopefully get the guys to "know" what to do since they seem to think they don't know... they are just lazy and don't want to do it. And it doesn't help that when I ask the other managers to help out and check up on them when I am not at work to make sure that they are doing their jobs... the managers can't even do that.
Honestly, I'm at the point, I sorta wish they would ask me to step down from Lead and let Mark take it over. It is getting to the point I don't even want to get up and go to work anymore....and I love my job. Just hate the frustrations that come with it...

Since I'm off all weekend Drew has mentioned that we should take some time and do some cleaning around the house. It's not really that bad, but we've not had much of a chance to do much with the floors over the past few weeks. And with all the snow, dirty, salt, etc. that gets tracked in on a day to day basis, they really need a good scrubbing. He also mentioned that maybe we will head to Menard's to see if we can get a small piece of carpet to lay in the hallway between the garage door and the kitchen to help eliminate some of the dirts, salt, etc. from being tracked into the house. Our house is all tile and wood floors except for the upstairs...and the arctic room/living room which we put wall to wall carpet down last year when we first moved in to help warm it up down there and stop the echo of the TV.

Tomorrow I also want to make a trip to the gym and get my workout in since I missed it today... and I did a bit too much snacking today too. I've not even tracked it on Sparkpeople but know I am over calories... pretty sure of it anyway.

Today's Body "Blessings"
... I say blessings, lightly...LOL

Breakfast: 8 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins & Mott's 100% Bold & Spicy Tomato Veggie Blend (Grab and go as I went to pick Holly up from School)Lunch: Broccoli/Cheese stuffed Chicken Breast & Fresh VeggiesDinner: Left over Cube Steak, Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom/Onion Gravy, Veggie Blend (Cauliflower, Broccoli, Carrots, white Corn)Snacks: M&M Cookies, Combo's, Popcorn (100 cal. pack)

Today's Workout...

None

Guess What... It's snowing AGAIN!

Guess What... It's Snowing AGAIN!
With all the snow on the ground, just what we need, more snow! Luckily though, they are getting the piles reduced down here on base, and the National Guard is in town helping remove the piles that are lining the streets down town. Otherwise, there would not be anywhere for more store to be pushed too. Though, tonight's and tomorrow's "snow" isn't suppose to amount to anything. Just flurries. But, it's blowing, so it could cause drifting.

Today was a better day than I thought with my calories...though, it's a guesstimate due to having to eat lunch out because Holly was home sick today and we had to take her to the Hospital to see a doctor since the base clinic could not get her in here. I again substituted the backed potato for veggies... so that helped a lot.

I also got up this morning and got around to head to the gym. I was all ready to go and sent Val a text to let her know I was ready whenever she was. However, we had to wait for the FPCON to change back to Alpha as the base is doing an exercise and put us on Delta for the exercise. Meaning, you had to stay put, no leaving your homes, no leaving wherever you were at at that given moment. It is such a pain having to do that. I can understand it for the active duty members during an exercise, but for the dependents... I had to miss work one day because they would not let me off base. Was to open the store, and had to call the store manager half an hour before I was to be there to let her know they would not let me off base...

The FPCON was changed back to Alpha shortly after 9:00 am, so Val and I headed to the gym to work out. We kept it kinda light today, yet, we had a good workout.

I came home from the gym just in time to get a quick shower, change my clothes so that Drew and I could take Holly into town to see the doctor. I went back with her while Drew waited in the waiting room. It was so funny, after checking Holly's lungs, heart rate, temp, ears, throat, etc., the doctor asked Holly if she has been drinking. She gave him this dumb founded look like "drinking, heck no, I don't drink"...LOL. I started laughing and said to her "Water, fluids, have you been drinking"...LOL She just smiled big and said, "Yeah, water". Needless to say, the doctor found it all to be pretty funny so started harassing her and saying, "You sure you didn't have a Budweiser or a Coors? I saw you drinking a Budweiser. You sure you're not just saying no because you mom's sitting here". It was so funny! Drew got a good kick out of too when I told him.

After leaving the hospital, we drove through the car wash and cleaned up the Explorer about before heading back toward base and stopping for lunch at The Rolling Pin. Then it was back home where I updated my SparkPeople page, started laundry (oops, which I need to go check loads again), & cleaned up the kitchen some. After my stomach settled from lunch, I decided to do the Ab workout that was in the Runner's World magazine I picked up last night. It's a pretty good deep core workout. Using my own body weight as resistance and to create the strength workout. The Plank and Side Plank sure did leave my legs and arms trembling a bit. Great workout for the upper body as well as the core. ;)

Not much else has happened today other than I responded to an email sent to me by someone who was very appeciative of the posts I had posted on Find A Grave Website on my family line. He said that through the posts I had done and the work that Deb Hayes has done (she does a lot of volunteer work on genealogy for the library, genealogical centers etc back home) he has found information that ties are family to his family. It's always pretty cool to see or find people on the site that is related to you or someone knew someone from the past generations whether through work, school, or in passing.

I work late again tomorrow, so with some luck, I can get up tomorrow morning and head to the gym again to workout on the treadmill and do some more strength training. Since I did my upper body today, I'll get to do my lower body and core again tomorrow. Usually I get embarrassed over people commenting or "checking me out" but last night, while I was at the shoppette, I had a guy checking me out as I left the checkout. Not sure if he noticed that I noticed or not, but it made me chuckle a bit...LOL. I guess I must be doing something right...
Today's Body Blessing...

Breakfast: Leftover Sauteed Cabbage and Polish Sausage
Lunch: Lemon Chicken (boneless skinless), 1/2 cup white rice, steamed broccoli, steamed vegetable blend, salad, ranch dressing
Dinner: Cub Steak, 1/2 Mashed Potatoes, 1/2 cup gravy with onions and mushrooms, vegetable blend, fresh veggies
Snack: Mott's 100% Spicy & Bold Veggie Blend, Pretzel
Beverages: 7 cups water, 2- 16.9 oz. Diet Green Tea

Today's Workout...

Elliptical, avg. intensity @ 4.5, 23 Minutes, .75 miles
Fly Machine: 2 sets of 10 with 50 lbs
Row Machine: 2 sets of 15 with 40 lbs
Pull Down Machine: 1 set of 15 with 30 lbs (not enough weight)
Pull Down Machine: 1 set of 15 with 45 lbs
Lateral Raise Machine: 2 sets of 15 with 25 lbs
Superman: 1 set of 10 held 3 seconds each
Bridge Ups: 1 set of 10 held for 10 seconds each
Metromone: 1 set of 10 on each side
Plank: 1 set held 10 seconds on each side
Side Plank: 1 set held 10 seconds on each side

Just a Quick Update...

Just a quick update before I head to work...

I got up this morning planning on going to the gym but still felt really tired so turned the alarm off and rolled back over to get some more shut eye. I finally got up about 8:40 and headed downstairs to see if Val had sent a message or tried calling about maybe hitting the gym together. She hadn't and it was kinda late to try and schedule something. I gave Kelly, one of my friends from FL, a call as she wanted to know if Holly would be interested in doing a facial with a few of her friends if she sent me the stuff. She's doing the 30 faces in 30 days challange so thought Holly might enjoy that with her girlies. I talked with Kelly for close to an hour. Winter has really hit down there in Panama City this year. She woke up to her furnice broke and her pipes frozen...so no water at all until the pipes though and she can get them fixed...
After talking with Kelly for a while, I gave Drew a call to see if he wanted to go to JR's for lunch. I was soooo wanting a Buffalo Chicken Salad with their home made Ranch Dressing. It's so good! We agreed on our lunch date to Jr. Rockers then I headed upstairs to get myu shower and get dressed for work.

Before getting dressed for work though, I donned my workout clothes and took my updated photo's for this week. I honestly hadn't noticed a difference in my weight or anything... well, OK, my work pants do seem to be REALLY loose right now... I was pleasantly surprised when I actually saw the pics from last week, versus the pics from this week...

Pics from January 13, 2009...

Pics from January 21, 2009 ...

"OK, I can't figure out how to insert the pics here...they keep going to the top of my page"

I've not planned out my dinner break for tonight... being I have to leave for work within the next 15 minutes, not sure what I will grab. Maybe the Healthy Choice pasta I picked up and some fresh veggies... some water & a diet Cranberry Juice. Sounds like a Plan.
Unless I feel like doing some strenth training tonight, when I get out of work, I probably won't get any in today. It's a truck day though again, so at least I will be a bit active with that.
Enjoy your day and hope everyone's day goes well.

Not as good as I would have liked, but not bad

Well, today was an "ok" day. Not the best for food choices, my burned calories were not really as much as I would have liked as I'm not used to the elliptical so took it easy as to not overdue it, but I did get to do some strength training which I have neglected to do over the past few days.
I slept pretty well last night, though I was up way too late. I work up about 8:00 and came down stairs to fix some breakfast. Again, I restrained from eating everything I fixed. It was our usual Sunday breakfast and I eliminated the gravy this time...
After cleaning up from breakfast, I had to get around for work as I was scheduled 11:45-3:45 today. I was concerned about how the roads were going to be after the yucky temps, blowing snow, and freezing roads yesterday/last night. But in all actuality they were really good going to work this morning. Though, there were 13 cars in the ditch or on the side of the road in the 18 mile stretch it takes me to get to work from home. Three of them that were there last night on my way home however had been removed...so that means there was a few new accidents last night.
I got to work and was the only one there for the first hour or so as one of my associates had called a cab to pick him up for work and it took them over an hour and a half to go pick him up. Once both of the guys got there, I taught them a couple of processes they did not know how to do, then I left them the SNC so that I could go process the softlines that were not completed from the last truck. That only took me about an hour or so to do then it was time for me to head home.
I got home and got changed into my workout clothes, was about to check my email messages to see if Val would be meeting me at the gym. As I was signing in, my phone rang and it was Val. She was at the commissary, needed to drop her groceries off then she would pick me up so we could ride to the gym together. We got there shortly after 5:00 and hit the elliptical as that is what she likes to work out on. Figured we did the treadmill last time, so we would do the elliptical this time. We did a 20 minutes workout then headed to the weight room and worked out for about 15 minutes in there. I would have liked to have been able to do a few more machines, but it's a Sunday and they close at 6:00.
I will probably end up doing my workouts at home tomorrow night as I work 10-6 or so tomorrow and the gym will be closed due to MLK Day... We will have to see how things work out. If nothing else, I'll get my crunches and some strength training in there.
Today's Body Blessing.
Breakfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs, 2 Slices of Bacon, 1 BiscuitLunch: Combo's... bad choice I know, but I was at work and hungry and would not get a lunch break.Dinner: 1/2 cup or so of Home Fries (I did not measure, just eyeballed), Salad with Raspberry Vinegarette Dressing, 1 Sloppy JoeBeverages: Water (not enough), 1 bottle Diet Green Tea, 2 bottles of Diet Pepsi

Today's Workout.
Elliptical, 20 minutes, ranging from level 1-4 (took it easy since my thighs burned and knees buckled last time)60 calories burned.52 miles Chest Press Machine, 2 sets of 15, 25 lbsAbdominal Crunches, 2 sets of 15, 20 lbsLateral Raise, 2 sets of 15, 20 lbsHip Abductions: 2 sets of 15, 105 lbsHip Adduction, 2 sets of 15, 105 lbs
I may still do more crunches, boxing, and torso rotation exercises tonight before heading up to bed... Can work on those as I watch Desperate Housewives... Enjoy your evening Ladies...

Warmer Temps, High Winds, Blowing Snow...

The weather today was good and bad... Temps FINALLY above Zero. Was actually 64 degree's warmer than it has been! Whoo Hooo. I think today's high was around 32° above zero. The warmer temps have caused snow to melt on the highways and then the winds picked up blowing snow across the wet highway causing them to get icy. Between Base and the mall where I work, there was between 10-15 cars in the ditch...including another one that has rolled over. One rolled either late last night or early this morning as we noticed that one when we went to town this morning for breakfast and our veggie run. It was gone however, when I went to work about 2:30.

I left work half an hour early tonight just so I was not traveling back to base my myself. One of the girls who works in the auto center also lives on base, so I followed her home. As long as we stayed in the right hand lane, we were fine but if we were to venture over to the left lane, that's where trouble could have happened. Some of the "finger drifts" or "pillow drifts" (both new terms to me, but some I have heard over the past couple of days...LOL) were close to a foot deep. That's enough to send anyone flying if they approached it and hit it unexpectedly.

As I mentioned, Drew and I got up this morning and headed to town to buy our weeks veggies as the store in town's veggies always look so much nicer than the commissary here on base. Before getting our veggies though, we stopped at Denny's to get breakfast. Let me tell you, for those dieting, Denny's is NOT the place to go. I didn't see any health conscious choices at all on the menu. I decided to go with a Half Moon over My Hammy instead of a full sandwich. Well, the waitress messed up the order as I had pointed to "Monday through Friday" only on the menu as I asked about whether or not I could get the "Half" sandwich today... Saturday. Well, she thought I was wanting the Half Grand Slamwich... I ate it anyway though it's not what I really wanted. It was "ok" but too much maple taste for my liking on a sandwich and I really did not want the sausage and bacon. The waitress kept apologizing and offered to have them make me what I wanted. I hate to see food wasted, so I just went ahead and ate it. Then, Drew went to take a bite of his sausage gravy and biscuits and you could swear they were feeing him a hockey puck instead of a biscuit. Again, the waitress was very apologetic and took it back to get another plate. The manager then came out and apologized and gave us a ticket for a complimentary meal and drink ($10.00 value) because Drew's $2.79 plate of biscuits was hard. Can't beat that deal... We paid all of about $14.00 including the tip for breakfast. I still tipped the waitress well as it was an honest mistake on mine, and she was very apologetic over the mess-ups.

We headed home after getting our veggies then got our grocery list around to head to the commissary. I can't believe we spent over $300.00 today on groceries...between the commissary and the store in town. Man, dieting is expensive! Though, we did grab a few extra's for the kids (Holly and the dog...lol). Like I told Drew when I was putting it all away, nobody can report us to Social Services for not feeing our daughter...LOL.

I then got my shower and got changed into my work clothes and headed off to work. I got caught up on a lot of my work that I have not had a chance to do because either 1, I was too busy with running the MPU, off-loading trucks, or 2, not being at work more than an hour... Since the weather was so bad, it was very slow today.

Well, I got home about 7:45 or so and decided that I should probably eat something as I hadn't had a break at work and not eaten anything since noon or shortly after. Now I'm just sitting here updating my blogs and catching up on my boards.

Today's body blessings...

Breakfast: Half Grand Slamwich from Denny's & Hashbrowns
Lunch: Ham, Provolone, Lettuce, & Tomato wrap with mustard
Dinner: Roast Beef and a small Yukon Gold PotatoSnack: Pretzel & 1 hard candy

Today's Fitness...
None...other than the walking I did while grocery shopping...

Tomorrow I am going to try and make it up to the gym if not before I go to work then after. Work, however, will depend on how the roads are. As of right now, they aren't looking good so I may not be going in. But then, I do not go into work until 11:45, so hopefully by then they will have them plowed. We will just have to wait and see what tomorrow holds...

I Figured Something Out Today....

Well, tonight while eating dinner, I figured something out. It's nothing I shouldn't have already known, but something I never paid attention to really. I carefully measured out my dinner, or I should say my husband did as he measured out his portions. (He is diabetic, so has to carefully measure and count every gram of carb and sugar). I had approximately 3 ounces of ham steak, 1/2 cup fried okra, 1/2 cup scalloped potatoes, and a bowl of salad. I still had about 4 bites to go when it dawned on me, I was full. Before I started my diet two years ago, and again when I lost sight of my new eating habits I had formed, I would have piled that food on my plate and just ate it until it was gone....then gone back for seconds, not even thinking twice that I was full.

I have always been a fast eater, and I guess for the most part, I still am. I think eating the salad really helps me to feel fuller faster. So, I need to continue with my salads. I just need to start buying other fixings for them so I do not get bored with the same old veggie salad every time. When I was doing my diet two years ago, I liked to buy the bagged salad kits. Some had fruits, some had meats, nuts, or a combination of ingredients other than veggies. I need to start creating salads like that to very my nutrients and keep me from getting bored. Time to scour the internet for some exciting salad ideas...

I've had a good day overall. I got up this morning. My alarm went off, I still felt sleepy and tired, so decided to set it ahead one hour. I fell back to sleep and got up when it went off again at "8:00". I got my shower, dried my hair, brushed my teeth, went to put on my watch and discovered it was now 7:30... hmmm, what the heck? I must have hit the time zone button on my alarm and changed the zone so the clock reset itself to the new time zone. No wonder I had felt tired. It had only been 6:00, not 7:00 when my alarm initially went off. So, I came down stairs after getting dressed and fixed myself some breakfast. Not necessarily the best choice, but it was within my calorie range and not totally awful. I fixed myself two whole wheat biscuits with apple butter, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, and a bottle of Mott's 100% Veggie juice. It was plenty satisfying and got me through the morning at work. We were slow again today and no trucks, so I just caught up on my filing, paperwork, UPS shipping, etc.

Lunchtime was good... though, I think that the salad had way too much cheese and ham on it. Drew had bought the salad for himself yesterday for his lunch, but changed his mind and ate something else so told me to go ahead and take it for my lunch. It was just a basic salad with ham cheese, cucumbers, lettuce, & tomatoes. I took my own Kraft Done Right Raspberry Vinegarette Dressing to top it with. I did munch on three Hershey Kisses that someone had brought into work, but I limited myself to the three and skipped the chocolate fudge brownies that someone baked to share with all of us. I fought temptation and I won that round... :)

After dinner, I came in and started working my boards. I was going to write my blog, but decided I needed to do some sort of workout first. I've not done one in a couple of days. I signed up for the SparkPeople.com New You Bootcamp which started this week but had not done any of the video's so decided I would do today's video. Today's was an ab and core workout with the stability ball. It was a pretty good workout. I've never really used my stability ball for anything other than doing my crunches, so it was kinda nice to use the video and see what other options I have with it. The workout was only about 9 minutes long, so I went ahead and did two other video's from earlier this week. They were an upper and a lower body workout. Man, the lower body workout is a killer! My butt was burning so bad, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to finish the workout...but I did the best I could and finished! Yeah Me!

I'm off work tomorrow, so if I can get the hubby and daughter out of the house or living room for a while, I'm going to do another cardio workout. I've not done one the last few days. I did get two really good workouts in early in the week, and some strength training, but not my third cardio. According to my reports from SparkPeople though, if I would have done another cardio, they advise that I should increase my calorie intake though..which I do not want to do. According to the calculation, I burned A LOT of calories with the kick boxing and the Walk At Home Video workouts I did. So, I think that my not getting my third cardio in was OK for me this week. Maybe I can talk my hubby into going to the gym and working out on the elliptical... be good "US" time. We do not get much of that anymore.

Tomorrow will be another busy day in my office/craft/workout room. I'm still weeding through my crafts and paper work trying to get it organized. It was quite a tight squeeze in here tonight doing my workout, so I gotta make more room. I can't do my cardio up here, but I do my strength training here as I can do that while hubby watches tv in the living room and not bother him any.

I'll also have to spend a good portion of the day working on my laundry and getting some house cleaning done too... I'll have to put a little bit of pep into that and get a good workout doing housework...lol.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday and an excellent week ahead of you.

Iky Day...

Well, today was a day that I totally blew it. Not just a little but by A LOT~

We woke up to 9 inches of freshly fallen snow on top of what we already had (this is probably close to 3-1/2 to 4 foot total snow already this winter). I was awake half the night and since I couldn't sleep, I kept flipping the channel on the tv back and forth between Walker Texas Ranger repeats and the Commander's Channel. I was so hoping that the Commander's Channel would say that highway 83 had been black flagged... meaning it was shut down and nobody was to drive on it. Which in turn would mean I would get a day off today. Well, that did not happen. I had to be at work at 9:30 this morning and I totally HATE driving on the roads.

Well, the base shut down except for essential personnel, so hubby didn't have to go to work. He was in a good mood this morning, so offered to drive me to work then come pick me up and take our daughter and I out to dinner after I got out.

I did not pack my lunch today and had initially planned on just going to BK or Subway and getting a salad for lunch.... but when lunch time came around, I wasn't in the mood for another salad so went to Arby's... my downfall, and got an Italian Sub and cheese sticks.

Then hubby came to pick me up and decided he was in the mood for China Star... I added mostly veggies to my plate, but Chinese food always tends to be sweetened with some sort of sauce...so even the veggies aren't all that low cal. I did only eat one plate, but I did have dessert too...

I've not yet worked out today at all... Work was slow, so not even a physically challenging day today. The only thing I have done tonight after getting home from dinner is work in my office/craftroom/weight training room is straighten, organize, and throw TONS of craft projects away that I have printed off of the computer in hopes to make some day and never did. It's all just CLUTTER and Clutter makes me sad, depressed, and not very motivated to really want to come in and work on my crafts or even do my workouts. Besides the fact it takes up so much space that I don't have alot of room to work out... My goal is to get rid of alot of the stuff through freecyle and get the banquet table out of the room so I have more room for my workouts.

Well, I'm not going to be hard on myself about my off day. I've had a pretty good week overall. Considering I was sick the first part of the new year, my calories were low. I had a couple days were my calories were less than 100 calories over but I did my workouts every day for the past 4 days or so... two days of strength training and two days of good cardio workouts.

Tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully we won't get alot more of the snow tonight. Suppose to have gotten 40 mph winds this afternoon which would cause alot of drifting, but as of right now, we've not had much winds at all. Highway 83 had very little drifting on it when we came home this evening, so hopefully by morning things will still be ok when I head to work.

Finally Feeling Better...

Well, I am finally feeling my old self again... only this time, ready to take on my new healthy way of life.

I was off work today and had planned on getting up early so I could get grocery shopping done, then head to the gym before Drew got home for lunch. Well, that did't work out. I woke up again about 3:00 in the morning and was wide eyed and bushy tailed; rearing to go. No matter how much I tried to go back to sleep, I just couldn't. It was terrible, my mind just would not stop thinking of all the things I needed to get done, things that were done and over with, whatever. Most of it made no sense at all...LOL.

Well, I finally got up around 8:00 this morning after finally dozing back off when Drew left for PT this morning. So, only about an hour extra sleep, but an hour that was much needed. I came down stairs, let the dog out, then checked my CafeMom boards and my emails. Worked on my grocery list, then started working some around the house. There is so much decluttering to do it's not funny... After a little bit of straightening up and starting a load of laundry, I went up and took my shower and got dressed so I was ready for lunch when Drew got home. We were suppose to have left overs from last night, but I kinda didn't get around to fixing them, so we went to J.R. Rockers and I had a Buffalo Chicken Salad. That thing is soooo good, but I'm sure the chicken is more calories than I really need as it's breaded.

I came home and grabbed my grocery list, sorted through my coupons, then headed up to the commissary to get my grocery shopping done. I loaded my cart with all sorts of healthy foods for me and the family... well, Holly did have a couple of special requests, so I did get her her Pop Tarts and Club Crackers (reduced fat though on the crackers. Gotta sneak in healthy were I can...LOL).

I came home and made up a batch of my Hamburger Veggie Stoup. A recipe I found on Crock Pot Mom's CafeMom group. It's sooo good. A tad high in sodium, but otherwise a nice lunch time meal for me to take to work. I just have to remember to drink extra water to help flush the sodium out.

I also boiled three boneless skinless chicken breast with fresh veggies, diced them up, and measured out single servings to freeze for use on top of my salads or into wraps; also items for lunches at work to add a bit of variety and keep me from heading to the Food Court.

I decided at 3:30, that if I was going to get a workout in, I had better do it now as Holly and Drew would both be home around 4:00. So, I turned on the On Demand workouts I saved and did half hour of kickboxing. Last time I did the kickboxing, it nearly killed me. Not really, but it was definately a great workout and probably would have been better had I not been laughing through it. I am soooo uncoordinated! Practice makes perfect right?

Dinner tonight was baked boneless skinless chicken breast, another big salad with Kraft Raspberry Vinegarette dressing, asparagus, and stove top stuffing. Yum...

This evening I will just enjoy spending time on my boards, post my daily activites on my SparkPeople page and just have a relaxing evening.

So, all in all... a GREAT day.

Not a Good day. Still Sick, and Busy at Work.

Well, I was feeling a bit better today... about the same as yesterday, minus the headache. I can almost deal with the achey body, but headaches I have trouble dealing with.

My diet today was a bit better... still under calories, but breakfast and lunch I just was not feeling up to eatting, so kept it light and dry... toast with a bit of apple butter and a cup of fruit. Lunch was just another Arby's ham melt, minus the swiss cheese and a bottle of water. I did eat a healthy well balanced dinner though... Roast Beef, potato, carrots, salad, and a couple of pickles...

Work was extremely busy for me today. We offloaded on applience truck which took it's toll on me big time since I didn't sleep well again last night due to my body aching. I was totally exhaused by the time we were done.... then came the other truck (tools, softlines, fitness, etc)... that one, I didn't get to do much of as I was on the SNC and was run raggid with customer pick-ups, staging requests, etc. Again, a very exhausting day. I ended up working an hour over, which was OK too since I went home 4 hours early yesterday since I didn't feel good and I was afraid they would shut the gates going out of town due to the snow storms...

Hopefully tomorrow I will be feeling better and I can get at least some light strength training in or maybe a few stretches at least before I head to work. I so want to get back in the habit of working out every day... I feel so much better when I do.

It's A New Year...time to start my diet again...

Well, it's a new year and things will finally slow down at work. Hours have been cut by more than 100 hours per week for my team of 8 people... so I'll have more time to dedicate to working out and losing my weight. Because most of my team is part time, I don't like to cut them back to so few hours a week that they will end up quitting, so I cut mine back to around 33 hours instead of working a full 40 hours... if we have a busy workload one day, then I'll just stay late as we will usually earn hours by the number of pick ups we have and the number of trucks received... so it balances out in the end usually anyway. Besides, i'm tired of 6 day/ 40 hour weeks... time for me time!

Make yourself a goal.... Yep... but it didn't go so well. My goal was to be within my 1200-1400 calorie range for the day... breakfast blew that right away as it's way more calories than I though... I'll know better next time.
What workout will I do today/ how will I be more active today? My only real "workout" for today was taking down all the Christmas decorations and hubby and I walked around Menards and Walmart after his hockey game. By mid afternoon, I had a major headache so went to bed fairly early.
What will I eat today?... Breakfast...was sausage gravy and biscuits. (I finally calculated calories at sparkpeople for my recipe, and decided that next time it's 1 biscuit with very little gravy)... Lunch... because breakfast was so high, I stuck to a bowl of cereal and milk. Then by 3:30 or so I was getting a headache so ate a few cashews...that didn't help so I ended up getting a candy bar for sugar at Walmart. Nothing seemed to be helping rid of the headache... I knew it was not dehydration because I had already drank 3 or 4 cups of water for the day...along with decaf tea and a small glass of diet pepsi... Dinner. Big Salad, fresh veggies also, and chicken cordon bleu. Last night when my head was really pounding, I pretty much said ok, that cake Holly and her friend baked smells so good, I'm going to have a small piece... so I did.

To top off my day... I DID NOT get a good nights sleep. I went to bed early to try and sleep off my headache, then about 2:30, my husband woke me up, unintentionally, when he got sick... he was up for the next 6 hours or so in and out of the bathroom. Every time I would start to fall back to sleep, he was up again...

Now it's off to work until 9:15.. wish me luck as I am sooooo tired!