Wrapping up September

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Today was a very good nutrition day. I was able to stay within my 1600 calorie limit without feeling starved. Success! Work was low-key today. Steady, but not craziness. Tomorrow is a cardio day, so I need to be sure that I pack my work out clothes for tomorrow. I am also eating out for lunch tomorrow--so the plan is to drink water, choose a healthier option and halve my portion. I can do this!


It's hard to believe that September has come and gone. September brought Autumn, and lots of other good things. Let's recap the things I loved in September....

1. Cooler temperatures
The summer has been wicked hot in Austin and it was even joyous when it got down to the low 90's. We had a mess of rain and it actually became cool, which brings me to....

2. Cuddling
It was so nice to have cool enough weather to allow for cuddling with the hubs. I even felt inspired to bake....

3. Pumpkin bread
The first batch of the season was delicious and really signals that Autumn has arrived. That is, along with the start of...

4. College Football
Hubs and myself are big college football fans, so most Saturdays in September have been spent watching our fave teams hit the grid iron. Go Texas Longhorns and Virginia Tech Hokies!!!! Late in the month brought a major weekend of...

5. Birthday celebrations
Hubs as well as a couple of good friends celebrated birthdays in September. Lots of parties and good times were had by all.

October is expected to be even better--have vacation time and our wedding anniversary coming up. 5 years!!!

Today, I am thankful...

...that I have a break coming up in a few weeks so I can recharge and refresh.

Everywhere I look....Cake!

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Cake is following me. It knows my name and how much I like it. It's in my fridge, in the form of my hubby's left-over birthday cake. It's at work too. A celebration for something or other. A gift of chocolately goodness provided by the evil wenches in the marketing department. No, I'm kidding, they're sweet. Sort of.

I ate a piece before I even realized what I was doing and before I remembered...wait! you are supposed to be cutting back on sugar! How does that happen? How does one scarf down cake on auto-pilot?

Thankfully, the rest of my eating habits today were decent.
Oatmeal, grapes, a turkey sandwich, a hamburger (however--made at home with 97% lean beef and the tiniest wheat bun you have ever seen), 120 calories worth of baked french fries, fresh carrots and celery, and yes, more cake. Oh, and coca-cola. Darn it. I need to switch to diet. But I mostly drink water.

Today was a scheduled work out day. I multi-tasked and read my book club book while on the elliptical. I was able to do 20 minutes, which is super considering my most recent exercise routine has involved getting off the couch to get a soda from the kitchen. It is really convenient to work out in my office's gym right after I stop work for the day. I also belong to a 24hr Fitness, but am much less likely to head there after work. I save alot of time doing cardio at work and am much less likely to blow it off.

Today, I am thankful....

...that Autum has finally arrived. I love this time of year!

Calories, Schmalories

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Ah, calorie counting. The great American female past-time. I don't enjoy it in the least. It's not so bad if you are eating something that has the calories right there on the side of the box. It's also pretty easy to look up how many calories are in an apple. But when you are talking about a home cooked meal with alot of ingredients and then trying to figure out how many calories are in each item and then how many servings in the finished product.....eesh. That's alot of effort involved just to figure out how many calories are in my dinner.

But hey, I know that in order to combat mindless calorie munching, I have to know what I'm taking in and how much more I left to work with at the end of the day. I need to know if I can have that fudgsicle, you know, the really important things. So, I jot it down and then try to figure it up. Gee, and I thought by becoming a therapist I could effectively avoid math for the rest of my life.

Here's the (fairly accurate) list of what I ate today.

granola bar...180 cal.
fresh broccoli, carrots, celery, 2 Tbsp jalapeno ranch dressing
1/2 c. spaghetti, 4 oz chicken breast, 1/4 c. mozzarella cheese
5 individual rolo candies and 2 mini milky ways (thank you, cube mate's candy jar)
apple, 2 slices pumpkin bread
5 oz grilled chicken, green beans, 3/4 c. herbed rice
Slice of left-over birthday cake--red velvet, and (gulp) two scoops of vanilla

Ok, so I really don't have the energy or patience to look up the calorie counts of anything besides the granola bar. Pathetic, right? Well baby steps is what I'm shooting for. I mostly stuck to my plan, I drank lots of water and ate something every couple of hours. Yeah, I had too much sugar. Will work on cutting that down. Tomorrow, 4 rolos!!!

Today was pretty good for a Monday. I have been working on a project at The Office for over a month and it was due today, so it feels really good to have that finished. One thing I have to do this week is read the book for book club. We are reading All About Lulu. I could tell you about it, but I don't know much about it yet. I have, however, heard it's great. Book club is Sunday, so I have 5 days. It's kind of funny, though that now we only promise to read the first half of the book. That's because historically, half of the group doesn't actually read the whole book. We figure half of the book is not so intimidating!


Today, I am thankful...

....that not only did my sweet hubby grill chicken for us for dinner, he is now currently doing the dishes while I write this. Wow, how did I get to be so blessed?!

Beginnings

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I weighed this morning first thing.

302.8

Wow. And it's not my all-time high, which if I am not mistaken was 310. I think I fell off the scale and passed out at the sight of 310. I never want to see that number again.

Since I have such a long road ahead of me, I thought this picture was appropriate. The road to a healthy weight is long. However, every pound I lose improves my well-being. I feel like I have a fresh start and I am optimistic.

My first goal is to be safely below the 300's. Ten pounds sounds like a good number to focus on.

Goal:
Lose 10 pounds
Current weight: 302.8
Goal weight: 292
Target date: 11/1/09
Reward: Shopping excursion

Plan:
Stay at 1600 calories daily
Drink 64 oz water daily
30 minutes of cardio 3x/week--Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday
Post daily

Today was a busy day. I had to go into The Office for a bit and ended up missing church, which I don't like. However, I have a project due at The Office tomorrow and I couldn't quite make myself go on Saturday, so it had to be done. Next it was back home to prep food to take to a friend's celebration. I took a veggie tray instead of baking. I sampled the food at the party, but did not go nuts. The best news is I now have tons of fresh veggies ready to go for snacking. Yes!

I did not get a chance to take current photos, though hubby reminded me that we took "before" photos a year ago and suggested I use those. That's a clue how long I have been working on my weight. FOREVER. Definitely longer than a year. I want new photos though, so I will work on getting those done this week to post.

I plan to post daily. In my daily posts, I want to talk about how I have done each day with my daily objectives and how the day went. I also want to express how I am feeling and really use this blog as a tool to examine why I make the choices that I do so that I can make the changes I need to make. I also want to make note of what I am thankful for. If eventually someone decides to read along with me and comment, offer support and/or feedback, then I certainly welcome that!

Today, I am thankful....

...that every day is new beginning.

365 days, 365 reasons

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I am a beginner blogger, but I am no stranger to weight issues. I want to use this blog as a place to record my goals, chart my progress, vent my frustrations, celebrate my victories, and everything in between.

The Challenge?

365 days. Keeping a record of each day through this blog. The highs, lows, and plateaus.

Eating healthy, getting exercise. Sounds so simple. We all know that it's not. Because there is the emotional aspect. The shifting moods, PMS sugar cravings, boredom related binges, social gatherings, office birthdays, the candy jar on my cube mate's desk, holidays---temptation lurks around every corner. The overwhelming road ahead reminds me that there is much at stake. My health, my future, so many reasons why I must do this. I probably could come up with 365 reasons to lose weight. Here, the top ten:

1. Improve my chances of conceiving a child. I have PCOS, so already the cards are stacked against me. I am also now considered "advanced maternal age." Nice.

2. Reverse my pre-diabetic condition and prevent Type II Diabetes.

3. To no longer require medications for high blood pressure/GERD, etc. My health issues are starting to stack up and I am only 35.

4. Shopping for clothing is neither enjoyable or good for my self-esteem. I want to be able to buy whatever I want instead of only being able to shop in the big girl stores.

5. I don't want to stress over whether I will fit in a theatre seat, plane seat, or feel uncomfortable in public because of my weight. No one should have to feel that way.

6. I want to be physically fit and keep up with my husband, energetic labrador and our hypothetical children. Right now I can't.

7. I want to be able to be adventurous--go parasailing, skiing, wear a bathing suit at the beach, swim with dolphins (requires said bathing suit in public), rides at an amusement park with no fear of not fitting.

8. I want to look damn good in sexy lingerie.

9. I want to look damn good in general.

10. I want to succeed so I can show other curvy girls that if I can do it, they CAN do it too.

Tomorrow, initial weigh-in and photos.