Finding ONEderland

I have been getting in walking each day that the weather has been good. Yesterday it was an hour walk to work on building stamina. Today was 30 minutes at lunch and plans to mow the yard this evening with a push mower. It's rough right now building up to be more active but I know it is worth it and I am starting to feel better. I know this will only get better.

I am also still working on cooking at home much more. I am really enjoying the control on my food that this gives me. I am glad to see spring here because it is so much easier to eat healthy when grilling and having warm weather foods like fresh fruits and salads. Those are the types of foods I like when the weather is warm....stuff that doesn't heat me up more.

Posted by Annie at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I do not normally make New Years resolutions...but this year I am going to. My resolution is to get back on the healthy track I was on a couple years ago. Seriously start watching what I put in my body. I have got too lax with stuff....slowly some of the crap has crept back into my diet. And my diet should be a healthy one. Now when I say diet I mean as in what I eat, not as in going on a diet. It's just time that I got back into my healthy lifestyle that I had been doing and that was making me feel so much better.

I need to make sure I get in at least 5 servings of veggies a day. That I eat all whole grain type of foods. Getting low fat milk and cheeses (cheese is the big one where I let that slip). Watching the sugar...let that slip way too much too. And trying to stay away from the processed foods. Get in plenty of water...once again something I let slip which is not one I thought I would as it is so easy for me to do really cause I like water. READ READ READ food labels at the store....this is a must. I actually bought some cereal that I thought was healthy to get home and find out it had trans fats in it.

Also on my list is putting exercise back into the forefront of my life again. It also slipped to the side...even more so after the accident as I was too sore to do anything. Once I stopped then I never got back at it. I have my exercise bike, balance ball, DVDs and I can go out bundled up and walk some too.

And the last thing is putting some creativity back in my life....in different ways...like drawing, playing the guitar, computer graphics and even some crafts. I use to love to make stuff and design things and I have totally let that drop to the way side because I was just too busy.

Oh and i am going to start doing weigh-ins again on here. However it will be my WW ones so they are a little heavier than before as I am fully clothed with shoes on. And part of my creativity will be working on my website...that will come later in the next month or two.

So when some folks are resolving to not make resolutions I am finally doing some because I feel I need it for a kick start to reclaim so much of the parts of my life that make me happy.

Posted by Annie at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Things I have done to make my office more health friendly for myself

• put a bowl of mixed fruit by the coffee machine
  
• put some sugar free hard candies in the candy dish
  
• brought my pedometer each day so that I can keep up with my steps
  
• stocked bottled water under my desk
  
• keeping low calorie snacks in my filing cabinet
  
• wore my walking shoes and comfortable clothes to work
  
• got my co-workers thinking health -wise too
  

Posted by Annie at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have seen the scale go up a little but it is now coming back down. We are eating at home now each day. I had tried real hard to break my eating out habit but it is strange that it finally got busted cause of a bad experience. We ate out Tuesday at Fatz Cafe for lunch, when I had taken half a day off, and the bun on the sandwich my DH got was moldy all over the bottom. He found this out after taking a bite out of the thing. It so grossed me out that I have been cooking at home ever since and have no desire to allow anyone else fix my food. I know at least I will look at the bread before I serve it to my DH or myself. I guess it's really a blessing but YUCK.

Another thing I am doing that I wasn't sure I would manage is I am wearing sleeveless shirts. I found a couple of cute ones and my arms aren't bothering me. Sure my arms are big and I want them smaller but I don't think they look any worse in these tops than they do in my t-shirts. And it sure feels a heck of a lot better with the warm weather. It really helped how I felt when we walked yesterday. I think this is something that comes with age...I am learning to appreciate what I got. I am still alive, I am still moving and life should be about enjoying everything and not worrying about something I can't fix right at that moment more than what I am.

Posted by Annie at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I'm doing really well. I have gone and worked out at Curves the last two days. I will probably go today but if I don't then I will go tomorrow so that I have three days in. I have been using the software I bought from fitday.com over a year ago. I had started last year but I was trying to do it and WW together. It works much better for me to not try and do both. I have decided to stop going to the WW meetings as they truly weren't working for me right now. WW does work, don't get me wrong....it' is just time for me to do something else now....to move on and up really. I will continue to use things I have learned from them along with all the other health information I have picked up from my reading addiction (knew my bookworm-iness would come in handy some day).

I am focusing eating healthy and being active. I love how the software I am using breaks everything down. I can see how much fiber, sodium and all kinds of other stuff I am getting in for the day. Though a little more work than just doing points it is letting me see how to do a more healthier picture.

I will weigh in on Saturdays at home. I have a nice digital scale that seems to be very accurate. I will continue to post my weigh-ins here. I am going to enjoy being able to sleep in an extra hour on Saturday. Then I can get up, weigh and have a healthy breakfast....getting the morning started off right from the get go.

As far as support I have all of you. And you all have gave me more motivation than the meetings by a long shot. I'll have my support group in that way.

Posted by Annie at 08:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was another beautiful day. I got in two walks during my breaks at work even though on the second walk I had to talk myself into it. My stomach was a little sore...I think from where I tighten my abs when I walk. But I pushed on past that, didn't let the heat stop me as it was sunny and nearing the top of the 70s....which wouldn't really normally be hot but is a bit of a jump for right now. Once I got home and had dinner, my DH and I went for a walk, this one 30 minutes. I was amazed at how fast I was able to walk however I did pay the price with an awful shin cramp last night and sore muscle this morning. I guess I need to do a warm up and then stretch some before I start walking.

I'm so glad to see the warm weather showing up. I do hate that this weekend is going to be cool but I plan to still make the best of it. My DH and I are going to go watch a movie this weekend again and we have decided to use the mall as a place to get a little walk in.

One thing about my walks this year as compared to last year is that starting out I seem to have more stamina that I did last year even after a few weeks of going all the time. I think the weird chest feelings I was having last year caused this. When they were happening it ran me down bad. And for a while they were happening a lot. When they do happen now I have been lucky enough that they are short and rare. I think part of this is due to the supplements I am taking. I am taking flax seed oil with my morning vitamins and a Q10 and fish oil combo in the evening. The Q10 is suppose to help the heart and the healthy oils are good for the body including the heart. I really feel that this year I am back to myself.

On a food note I have been much better to get in my oils and milks. Also I found a couple of new Kashi meals to try. The one I had today is good. It is the Pesto Pasta Primavera, 6 points and made with canola oil and whole wheat pasta. I'll get it again for sure.

This morning when I stepped on the scale I saw a loss. My weigh-in is not till Saturday. I'll post how much then but I was really glad to see the scale moving down.

Posted by Annie at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The meeting was okay but there was one thing that bothered me. The "there are no bad foods". I disagree with that because there are ones that are. First off anything with trans fats in it. Bad for the heart. Stuff that is way over processed or extremely high in fat. There are things that I avoid and do so not because of the weight gain but because of what they would do for the inside of my body. Now I do have some processed stuff. I do eat some low cal and artificially sweeten things as treats. But I try and limit those too because there are better things I can get in. I guess I just worry that some people out there don't know the whole story and saying there is no bad foods is hiding the truth that there are things out there that should have a frigging warning on them of what damage eating them could do to you. *sigh* I'll get off my soap box now.

I got a 25 minute walk out today as it was 60 degrees outside. Just a little nippy cause of the a slight breeze but over all it was very nice. I've also started doing my WATP DVD again. Tomorrow is suppose to be 60 again but with rain so I am not sure if I will get to walk outside.

Posted by Annie at 07:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have had a pretty good day. I spent it doing some house cleaning and a lot of laundry. I always feel better when things are clean and in their places. I also took time to do a bunch of reading today to help fuel my motivation on healthy eating. My eating was OP and all I really need was a little more exercise, though the cleaning did give me some. I also prepared some things ahead of time for my work meals so I will make good choices. I have some chopped veggies for snacks and hard boiled eggs so that I can get a "stick with me" protein in for breakfast.

The snow is almost gone outside. It didn't stick around long which is not a surprise. When I was out today I didn't see a single snowman...that did surprise me but maybe I just wasn't in the right neighborhoods to see any. From what I can see about the weather it is suppose to warm up this week. Low 50s tomorrow and then moving up to mid 50s for a couple of days and then reaching mid 60s by Thursday. I hope to get at least a couple walks in during this. It's suppose to rain some but hopefully not all the time.

Well time to get to sleep. I am working on getting enough as I seem to loose much better when I do.

Posted by Annie at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made a point of getting some sleep last night. I was in bed by 8:30 so that I could even make up some sleep that had been missed. It felt good to get so much rest. I need to start heading to bed by 9:00 so that I have time to read for 30-45 minutes and still get 8 hours sleep.

My weigh-in day is tomorrow, I stepped on the scale this morning and can't really tell any difference from last week. I really want warm weather to get here. I know once it does that I can get that scale number to start going down better. I am just not much of a mover when it is cold. My skin gets dry and itchy and I only want to find some place to curl up and sleep. Not that I do much of the latter because I tend to miss out on my sleep most the time.

Have you heard about the peanut butter warning? MSNBC article I had this stuff in my shelves but we had barely ate on it. Can't help to wonder if that might have been the reason I got so sick last year with my tummy issues twice in a roll. It's been tossed in the trash now and I was able to get over whatever it was without having to do to the doctor...not sure if you can do that with food poisoning or not. Seems like every where you turn there is something wrong with our food supplies these days. It's kinda scary.

Posted by Annie at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the things I have been doing is looking back when I had my best success with loosing weight. Going over those things that helped me the most with doing well.
1. I followed the plan to the T. Getting in all the things that WW required at the time. They have added the oils now and I must admit I fail a lot on that one and really there is no reason too. Well other than I need to cook at home most the time. It's a goal I have.
2. I use to cook more at home. I use to love cooking, the chopping of the veggies...seeing what new things I could make. I know I will again, it's all a matter of getting back at it.
3. I had buddies that I shared/talked WW stuff with. One in particular, my friend Beth, was the most help to me. We would even switch off cooking WW meals at each others house once a week. After which we would relax with a glass of wine and play guitars. She's moved a couple hours away so that isn't an option now. However maybe I could "buddy up" with my husband and cook meals. I also have you all to share stuff with. My other friends at work that did the WW aren't really doing it right now, in fact the office as became an after Christmas candy trap which I am very proud to be avoiding successfully.
4. I kept a food journal all the time. This is one I am working with again. I love to keep my journal for the most part. It's fun to fill out and mark off the things in it. I do feel a little weird pulling it out when I am out eating but I still use it and I am working getting over that. Any one else experience that? This week I was inspired by another blogger to work even harder at keeping a good and accurate journal. If you want to read what Jack had to say, click here. I have realized that just as this journey will never end, I will also aways need to journal so that I keep myself truly aware of what I am doing.
5. I was active...very active. I walked, hiked, worked out at Curves, danced, rode my bike and used DVDs. I also took my work breaks and got in 2 ten minute walks there each day. I really do miss all that. Even more so I miss how it made me feel. This one is another current goal. I should be returning back to Curves tomorrow. Gym bag is packed and I am ready to go even if I have to pop some Advil to get through the work out. I realized that I could try the WATP DVDs, the 1 mile one during the times I am not feeling up to going to Curves. I beat the cold and will be in better shape once warm weather is here and hiking season begins for me.
6. I was active at the meetings. I brought recipes each week and shared them of something I had made that week. There were a few of us at the time that did that. We all sat together and had formed a group of friends. I haven't clicked like that with anyone that is going there now but hey there are tons of new people...(new year and all) and who knows what the future holds. Well other than me beating this thing and getting to goal. I KNOW that is going to happen because I AM going to get there.

Posted by Annie at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I went to the doctor the other day for the vein that busted in my thumb. She does not know what caused it but is going to check with the department that specializes in such things and run it by them. So maybe here in a month (she goes to them with multiple questions each month) I will know something. Least we did rule out a few things from some of my blood test.

While I was there I got a flu shot, so I know have a sore swollen arm with a itchy red spot. From what I read that should go away in a couple of days.

Looks like I am going to have to let me thumb have complete rest for a bit. I went to get some water from the tap and just from the pressure of lifting the thing to turn on the water it started to hurt and made another blood bruise. I'm not use to be fragile.

On the flex points side of things I have kept on plan on week. Still logging everything in my quik trak and I think it's became habit again. YAY! That feels like a milestone cause it takes work to get a habit back in place.

Posted by Annie at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm doing pretty good on the ww plan, keeping within my points...needing to work on that healthy oil still. I have lost 3 pounds in the two weeks back...I'll take it. I know it will be more soon as I get to moving a little more. Got to get the exercise built up to doing 4 points a day.

I wanted to share with you a couple of products I have tried that I find very helpful and they taste good. First one is Uncle Wally's Smart Portion Muffins. I got the cranberry apple ones and they are very good. They come 2 muffins to a pack, 140 cal for both so only 1 point each. Great for breakfast. The other one that I want to share with you is Kashi Southwest Style Chicken. Kashi is now making frozen meals and the one I tried so far was very good. And at 4 points it was a tasty and very filling lunch.

I am making a goal of posting more. First though I have to format and reinstall my computer to correct a software issue. So I will make that goal start next week. Hopefully I can do it sooner than that but I wanted to give myself time to do the computer repairs.

Posted by Annie at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Saturday morning I woke up at 3 am struggled with something that had been on my mind. It was about going back to WW. I had been feeling the desire to go back since I started this challenge at the gym. Though the one at the gym is a good plan it is just not one I was clicking with and it left me longing to be back on WW. I was thinking of joining back up after the challenge was over. So in the middle of the night I was weighing out the reasons to stay with the current challenge. None were for me. All were from keeping hurting someone else's feelings or causing them problems. The straight fact came down that going back to WW was what I wanted. I decided to not waste another moment or let this month sidie away without doing what I knew I needed to do. I set my clock for 8 am, went back to sleep and went to the WW meeting that morning. I'll talk to the girls at the gym Tuesday and explain to them my choice. We have to do what we have to for ourselves.

The WW meeting was great! The leader I had before was still with them and she was wonderful as ever. It was about matching up nutrition terms and explaining what each of them was, from free radicals to omega3 fatty acids. I love seeing people get more informed about nutrition.

DH is going to be doing WW with me though he'll not go to the meetings. I know we are going to do great with it. I am looking forward to cooking some stuff, especially some hearty healthy soups and stews since it is the fall time of the year.

I also got a couple of things for my kitchen (part was using the money we got for our wedding gift). We got a candy red microwave and trash can. Plus some red dish towels and cloths. And a red dish drainer. I am moving my kitchen away from the blue I had used an as an accent color and going with the red. I like it much more and it is more vibrant. Trying to make the kitchen more more likable so I will cook at home often.

Posted by Annie at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Weight 274.5

Well that lesson learned (least for now) and I am back to what makes me feel good.

Posted by Annie at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have read a couple blog enteries Jonathan and The Shrinking Knitter , that talk about how well preparing their veggies ahead of time is helping them. When I read them I thought of Rachel Ray because she says to do this all the time on her 30 minute meals. I have though many times that I need to do this too. Last night I ended up doing some radishs because the leaves were starting to wilt and I knew if I didn't act they would be moving on to rotting next. So I cleaned and cut them...ate some because I was having big veggie cravings last night and threw the left overs in a zip lock bag. Well when I was grabbing snacks this morning I grabbed my carrots (the mini bag kind) and then grabbed the radishes since they were right there and ready. You don't realize how good something works till you do it. Here I got a great snack that kept me from eating some processed 100 cal pack kind of thing. WOW....okay why didn't I realize this a LONG time ago. Looks like I got to start spending more time with the shopping once I am done other than just shoving it in the fridge. While I am at I need to go to doing my own carrots. It will save money and I can get them at any store and not have to make a trip to the only one that carries them here.

Continue reading "A little prep work is well worth it" »

Posted by Annie at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Weight 276

Wow what a week. I got my bood work done Thursday. I passed out after they got the blood drawn....least I was able to give them warning and tell them I wasn't feeling so good. I am so curious to see what my blood sugar was because even though I get yucky feeling when they draw blood, too much poking cause my viens don't like to play along nicely, I haven't passed out before.

I have stayed on plan with my eating and exercising, though I did miss Friday...however I made up for it yesterday and today. Yesterday was a 2 hour hike to the radio towers on the mountain. Talk about a workout giving a good butt kick....I was drained but it was in a good way. Then today we went for a hike around the dam and made it just in time to miss the down pour that hit just as we got in the car. We then got another walk in this evening. For a total of 85 mintues.

We went shopping and got some food stuff to make it healthy through the weekend. I didn't get much to cook right now as I need to go over a few recipes and I figure I can make some stops on the way home.

Posted by Annie at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So far it has been a good day. I have ate well and plan on stopping at the market on the way home and picking up some stuff to grill. If the weather works with me I'll go walking tonight. There is the chance for thunderstorms all week. As far as cooking goes I am going to try and cook at home through the week. I will try and find some new and yummy recipes to try out. I have seen a couple that caught my eye. One being a corn flan, I think I saw that one in the new issue of Cooking Light.

I read a post in The Daily Skinny Post about the fear of food. I hadn't really thought of that. I actually feel blessed it is not something I fear. In fact I look forward to working with food to make healthy meals. It's really a lot of fun to see what I can make that is good for me. I enjoy chopping veggies....coming up with new ideas, trying out new recipes and getting to eat stuff that I know I made. Because if I made it then I know what went into it and it wil be good for me.

Posted by Annie at 02:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Weight 276.5

I am very happy about my weight going down like it is. It's been so long since I have been in this place where I feel in control and actually loosing some weight. I missed being this person that I am now. I also missed being active.

Posted by Annie at 01:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow my webpage has been down for couple hours. I thought I was never going to get to post to the blog. I sure hope that is not something that happens much.

Yesterday I got 20 minutes of exercise from mowing the yard. I wasn't feeling great so I figured that was better than nothing at all. Hopefully today I can get a long walk in…or at least one longer than 20 minutes.

My doctor appointment went well. I am going to get some blood work done and see how things are there and then back for a follow up in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to the blood work to find out if my cholesterol is going to be better.

I did manage to go shopping yesterday and get some summer shirts for work. I didn’t spend a lot of money because I am planning on getting down where these are too big on me in a few months. I really miss that part of it even though it can be expensive replacing a lot of clothes.

I have been doing well on my eating. I do need to start working on cooking at home more. I have got in several magazines (Cooking Light, Health, Eating Well and Weight Watchers) and need to try some of the recipes out of them…especially ones that use lots of healthy veggies.

One thing I am really thankful for right now is that I finally found my motivation again. It had been so long of trying and not getting the steam to even get a real start. I feel like I am back on the road to health. I feel like I can truly do it and that I want to do it enough to get it done. I know there are those of you out there that can really understand that feeling. It was like being lost on my journey to good health but now I have found the path before me again. Alot of it has to do with having the support and help of someone doing it with me. I really needed that and I never would have thought it was going to happen. I don't feel all alone anymore.

Posted by Annie at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

....stamina that is. Woohoo! I was able to do much better on the walk tonight than I had all week. We walked for 45 minutes and it felt great. This has been a week straight for the exercise and 3 days for the eating. I am very happy that the rain stopped midday and that it cleared up so nice afterwards.

Posted by Annie at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Weight 280.5

My weight today is the same as last weeks. However I know when I checked it yesterday that it was actually a pound less. This was before bad eating and depression I dealt with yesterday. Both steming from feeling like I had too much on me. I work full time and seem to be the only person currently working to make sure all the home matters run smooth. Plus I got a call from work that someone had quit. On a side note I found out that the person has changed their mind to just needing some time off for a couple of weeks. I can understand this cause this person just lost their brother, he died from a heart attack and I know very well how hard a family death can be on you. As far as the home matters I have a talk with my partner about how things were going to have to change.

I am currently working an extra shift today to cover the girl I work with being out. Once I get off work I will do some grocery shopping so that there are healthy things at home to eat. I have been looking at my little personal datebook, it's one with a health minded notes in it, and for March it talks about how important it is to get enough sleep. It is a topic that hits home with me right now. To say my sleep schedule has been off would be an understatement. I really need to work on this cause I know it's important.

Posted by Annie at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been while since I posted. I wanted to post but it doesn't seem to have been happening. It is hard to sometime bring myself to use my computer at home after sitting in front of one for 8 hours and there are days that it is too busy here at work for me to take time to write anything. Time to move past that and work to find the time to update....not that anyone is reading but it matters to me in getting all this out....this blog is for me after all and to help me lose the weight. Another thing I need to do is post to my blog first and then go read the blogs I read afterwards.

As far as weight goes I have lost and I have gained. My doctor told me I lost 3 pounds over the Christmas holidays. I was suprised....seems it must have been a good week during my visit to her. I will go into WW and one week I lose and another I gain back. I know it's because I am having such a hard time getting myself back on track and then staying there once I do. I also am having a problem with feeling well enough to exercise....this is a major problem cause if I was execrising regularly everything else would fall in to place better just because I would feel better.

I have had some good days. I have got a few workouts in. I made taco soup which was low point and very good. I decided that the fitday program was very good but not sure that I will use each part of it....however it is a great program.

My best friend ordered me a book as a late Christmas present. It's the Superfoods HealthStyle. I need to check with her today and see if that came in....I am really looking forward to reading it. I know FatBlogger has had wonderful things to say about the book. Each time I would read something I just couldn't wait to get my copy of the book.

During the last week I started to use a hypnosis cd a friend made for me. She just got her certification and I am one of her first subjects. It has helped me to sleep better. I think it has helped me to make some better choices food wise which is one of the main things it focuses on. I'm going to keep trying it and see how it goes.

So I face the music and get my butt on the road to a happier healthier me.

Posted by Annie at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made it into Curves once last week. It had been a while since I had been. My plan for this week is to make it to Curves to work out at least 3 times this week. I really need to get myself into some regular exercise. It's hard to believe how far I have fallen back on doing that. I use to workout, walk, hike or do something almost every day. And I felt good cause I did that.

I am also working on eating better. I went shopping tonight and got food to fix a whole week worth of meals. I was doing this before I got sick and it was working out well. I have the makings for taco soup, my home made gyros, baked chicken (sort of like a chicken tender but much healthier), 40 clove garlic chicken and tacos. I got a lot of veggies to use for sides. I am also thinking about making a stuffed peppers at some point.

I go to the doctor tomorrow to find out the results of heart monitor I was wearing. I also need to ask her about a mole like place on my back. I can't see it well but I think it has changed color and it feels different.

Posted by Annie at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)