Update

The weather had been crap for walking, but I have started Weight Watchers, and my first week, I lost 8.8 lbs! This coming Thursday is my second weigh in. So far I've been doing really good. I got my test results back from my physical, and it turns out I have high cholesterol. It's 275, and I guess anything over 240 is considered high. So I'll be going in this week to see whether we're going to go with a change of diet/exercise or if he wants me on meds. That's my story so far this week. I'll have a weigh in and more updates to come!

Again with the no walking!

That's right. Our day started with a trip to the grocery store to load up on healthy food. Then it was naptime. My naptime too - I slept until just after 4pm! Then it was up to make dinner. So I didn't get my walk to the park in like I wanted to. But I plan to do my Wii Fit tonight, and I must say I did a stellar job planning my meals today. I also discovered the joy of lemon yogurt. I bought one of those vat-sized containers of plain and lemon yogurts, and plan to cook with the first and eat the second. See, I have to get 2 milks in per day, but I don't like drinking milk. Lemon yogurt is just so refreshing, AND it kept me from being starving while making dinner. My worst cheat was eating a few asparagus before they went into the steamer!

Something I have decided, and what seems to work okay with this plan, is that I am refusing to eat "fake food". I.e. you will not catch me eating fat free dairy products like cheese and sour cream. If you actually eat a serving size (and don't dump half the bag on top of your meal), these things aren't bad for you. Case in point: today I had a huge spinach salad. I threw half a cup of mushrooms on two cups of spinach, added six (yup, that's the serving size) croutons and 2 Tbsp. of full fat bleu cheese. It was delish. Now, had I used a fat free dressing, the fat content and calories would be much lower, but I would have hated every bite. Instead, I got some great raw veggies in my body, and thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Which is better? I think it's obvious. Fortunately, I have this neat little spoon that measures exactly 2 Tbsp and has a kind of squeegy thing that helps dispense the dressing, because I've found that not all tablespoons are alike!

So that's my day. I'm pretty happy with it, walk or no walk.

Bah! I suck!

So I didn't walk today. In fact, I haven't walked since Monday. Nor have I Wii Fit-ed, though I plan to do so tonight. I went to the doctor for a physical this morning. I got on the scale and the nurse set the main weight to 200. I told her she needed to start at 250. Well guess what? That didn't work either. I weighed in at 304 (303.6 I found out later). When the HELL did that happen? This is the heaviest I have ever been INCLUDING when I was 9 months pregnant.

So I said "enough of this" and after my head-shrinker appointment, I went to a Weight Watchers meeting. I'm kind of bummed that they don't offer the Core program anymore, but as much as it will kill me, I'm hell-bent on writing down each morsel of food that passes my lips. I hate logging food. Tomorrow, I'm going to go grocery shopping, because though we have a cupboard full of canned beans and tomatoes, I'm going to need some chicken and maybe some yogurt in there somewhere.

So tonight I Wii Fit (if it will let me, since I exceed the 300lb weight limit) and tomorrow, I chart my food, walk with the kids to the park (since no school tomorrow) and then it's Wii Fit again tomorrow evening. This girl's gotta get on the ball! If anyone's got any great recipes that are low fat, lower carb, high protein and really yummy, please post a link in my comment box; I can use any meal planning help I can get!

Mama needs some new walking shoes!

I slacked over the weekend, but got to walking today. As penance, I walked 2.2 miles (with a break in the middle for lunch). It was a beautiful day, and I totally forgot my camera. I took some pics on my phone, but I'm not sure how to get them over to my PC without incurring charges. My feet feel pre-blistery and I'm thinking since (I almost typed 'if') I'm going to be walking every day, I should probably invest in some decent walking sneakers. (Do people still say sneakers? Or is it "walking shoes"? I'm thinking New Balance, since I think I can get them in double-wide (not unlike a trailer home for my over-large feet). If anyone has any better brand suggestions for good (but not over $100 good) sneaks, please advise.

I'm thinking of joining Weight Watchers (again) because while I'm hell-bent on my decision to walk five times a week, I haven't curbed my eating at all and I really need to. I may go check it out.

Vinny is going to be joining the Boy Scouts of America (as a Cub Scout) starting tomorrow. I'm really excited for him. He also wants to join Lacrosse (God help me) and I want him to start piano lessons. All of this on the advice of his teachers. So I'll have to make my walk tomorrow a speedy one so I can have him ready for scouts by 4:30pm!

Day One - 1.65 miles walked

So I did it. I got off my duff and walked today. I also resisted the temptation of buying a ooey-gooey soft caramel popcorn ball at the convenience store. Instead, I got Vin a Gatorade, the two little ones "bug juice" and a Smart Water for me. (Though I almost wasn't smart enough to open the dang bottle!) So part two (of three) of today's adventure will be to make the soup I said I'd make (I forgot all about the bread, so sandwich bread it is for the kiddos). After that, it's diapers, and pjs and back on the Wii Fit to log at least 15 minutes of that. I figure eventually I'll get up to 1/2 hour, but I'm not particularly a glutton for punishment here in the early stages of fitness.

I only took a few pics today, mostly of the kids, because we're still in that pre-Spring stage of tulips and crocuses just starting to push their way into the sunlight. I took a pic of the creek that runs through town and of the mountain (as seen from the school). So that's all there is today. Stay tuned for more exciting pics as the weather continues to warm. I'll post later with some pics of my fabulous soup. Gotta get started now, or it won't be ready!
Dinner is made and eaten (though not cleaned up after - that's for tomorrow because I'm BEAT). It wasn't as good as I remembered it, but it was still a good meal. Here's the link to the recipe and a photo of the finished product:

How I Got My Groove Back

I have let it all go. My waistline kept expanding and I kept ignoring how tight my pants were getting. I decided to get on my Wii Fit (for the first time in months) and after exclaiming "OH!" when I got on, it zipped on up the BMI meter and cheerfully exclaimed, "Obese!" (Tell me something I don't know...) Well, it turns out that I am 34+ lbs heavier than I was a few months ago. I can probably blame it in part on my medication - weight gain is a commons side effect. But mostly, it's the crap I've been stuffing in my face.

Speaking of crap in my face, my house has become unbearable. It is such a mess all the time, partly because I have two toddlers, and I can't stand to be at home. The only time my house (the last one) was ever clean was when I was trying to sell it. The key? I put all my things that I never used (and some that I did) into boxes in the garage, ate of paper plates, drank from plastic cups, and kept a Swiffer mop close at hand. By Thursday of next week, I will have purged my kitchen of all the things I don't need that are in it. We are turning over to paper plates and cups, being green be damned (for the moment, anyway)!

What I will not be stowing are my pots and pans, because, look out, world, I'm going to start cooking again. I have not been cooking at all lately (unless heating up soup can be considered cooking). I need to flex my culinary muscles and tomorrow sounds like a good day to start. I'm making Russian Potato/Mushroom/Leek soup and homemade bread tomorrow. I'll freeze what we don't eat for another day. I'll find something else to make for Saturday, and so on and so on.

The big fat walk home MUST and WILL regain its momentum. I'm starting over, and this time starting small. Over the next 16 weeks, I will walk 120 miles. That's 1.5 miles, five days per week. If I go over, sweet. I will not go under. Along the way, I will be taking pictures of my walks (the kids, scenery, whatever) to entertain you with and to give me something to mark my days with little photo memories. I'll start by walking to pick up my son from school. That's 1.65 miles if I go the long way. My goal is to walk 500 miles in one year, which I may bump up as time goes by.

So tonight, I logged a whopping 16 minutes on the Wii Fit and plan to update my progress there as well. I will be using the Wii Fit nightly and post about it here for good measure.

That is all. I look forward to wowing you all with my excercising prowess. ;)

Yardwork

Well, I didn't get much of a walk in today, but I still got a workout with more to come. My ex-husband lent me an aerator which doesn't fit through my back gate, but I was able to do the front lawn. What a MACHINE that thing is. You can barely push the bar and it's dragging you across the yard. And it's a bitch to turn. But, that's done, and I started mowing. I got about 1/3 of the yard done before my mower ran out of fuel. So now I get to wait for Mat to come home before I wrap it up and maybe even do the back yard if there's enough light. I forgot to change my shoes into my mowing-shoes though, so hopefully my super-cool skate sneaks won't be stained. LOL

I also had a fabulous experience with some local tomato growers from whom I bought 13 heirloom varieties of tomatoes. I got brown, black, yellow, green and red tomatoes and I can't WAIT to see what they produce. The plants are HUGE for this time of year and I'm just hoping I can keep them alive on my counter facing south. Hopefully I don't kill them.

So no walks, but that aerator kicked my butt. My face is red, and I've still got some mowing to do, so the day wasn't a complete loss. I got a lot of my water in too, so whoo hoo for me!