2 small successes!

I have had two small successes since the last time that I wrote! YEAH!

The first is that I have been doing a good job cooking new recipes. I have discovered Zucchini and Green Pea Fritattas, as well as lowfat Lasagna. I also found a good stirfry recipe that has squash, zuchinni, and capers over Orzo pasta. (Does anybody know what a caper actually is?) It's been fun to go shopping for new types of food. It's alot like going on a scavenger hunt!

My second success is that I have been able to pull my belt in one hole! I am really excited! I guess that means that I'm losing a little bit around the waist!

I haven't had as much success with cutting out the soda as I would like. I'm going to focus more on that. I'm also getting a little bit nervous with the holidays coming up. There's always so much great food! I plan to take it one day at a time, and have small portions of food and one or two small treats rather than denying myself any. I think that it will work!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Related Topics: 10 Tips for Healthy Grocery Shopping, How to Keep Holidays Healthy and Happy

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Thank You!

Wow! Thank you for all of the supportive comments! After I read them, I felt so much better! I know that I'm not alone in this battle for better health, but sometimes it does feel like it!

I've tried two new strategies this week. First of all, I've worked on cutting back on the Diet Cola and Diet Root Beer. They are so addictive for me. I've decided to try to substitute 1/2 of the soda that I normally drink with a glass of water instead. That way the soda isn't completely gone, but there's less of it.

The second thing that I tried this week was to cook two new recipes. A long time ago, my mom gave me a cookbook called "Lite and Easy". The recipes are supposed to take 20-30 minutes total, but with my lack of cooking skill, it's more like an hour. But the main thing is that they are actually pretty tasty, and they make enough leftovers that we can have them for two nights. I hope that if I only try one or two new recipes a week, I won't completely overwhelm myself.

I like the idea of writing a log of everything I eat, because then I'll have to own up to the little things that I've been cheating on. For instance the "fun size" Milky Way bars that are out for Halloween. I guess that they do add up over time. I'm also going to work on doing more walking in the evening!

I'll let you know how it's going. Thanks again for the support!

Related Topics: Help for Soda Lovers, Recipe Makeovers: 10 Commandments of Healthy Cooking

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More Frustration

Okay, I have no excuses for being absent. I'm just really frustrated, and pretty much feel like a flop with this whole challenge. The longer I go, the worse I feel. I've been eating so much better, but haven't lost more than a pound or two. Which of course makes me more frustrated, because I feel like I'm letting you guys down (as well as me).

Finding time to exercise is awful. By the time I get home from work and spend time with my son and husband, I have house work, and school work to do. As a result, health goes by the wayside. Ideas?

Related Topics: Losing Weight is Easier with Support, Expand Your Definition of Exercise

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Back to work!

I've been so busy! School started again last week, and I have been running around trying to keep up with my new schedule, my new batch of first graders, and everything at home! The amazing thing is that since school started again, I've lost 3 pounds! I think it's because I don't have any time to sit down and snack. Or it could be from chasing my students all over the place!

I feel really good about the 3 pounds because I had hit a plateau for a long time and felt awful about it. Fitness and weight loss are a real frustration for me. Now that I'm back to work, I'm eating healthy salads for lunch, and I am much more conscious of how I use my free time for exercise since I have less of it. This includes time on the weekends.

This past weekend, Alex, Davy, and I took our dog to the county dog park. While we were there, we discovered that there are a ton of great trails for walking and biking. The nice thing is that they are up and down, but they are paved so that I can push the stroller. We went on an exploratory hike, which actually wore all of us out. But we are excited to start going every weekend. It will be especially nice now that the weather is getting cooler, and the leaves will start to change color!

A friend of ours is trying to get us interested in doing some 5K races with her. I think that doing one could be a good goal to aim for in a month or two. I don't think that I'll be running one any time soon, but I can definitely walk and push Davy in the stroller.

So right now, I feel upbeat about fitness and diet. Maybe I can lose 3 more pounds this week!

Related Topics: 5 Tips for Better Work-Life Balance, Getting into the Race

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I can do this!

I've decided to start over again. Up until now I've been cutting back on snacks and portions, but it hasn't been enough. I need to be better about exercising, and I need to eat better food, not just smaller portions. I am not going to let this beat me. I am determined to lose some weight. I have enlisted the help of my husband Alex, who has also decided that he needs to lose some weight, too. I think that his participation and support will help motivate me toward my personal goals. I'll check back in a few days.

Frustration!

I'm frustrated. I've been eating in moderation, I haven't been snacking, and I've been eating better food. But I'm not seeing or feeling any results. I know that weight loss takes time, but I've lost one pound. I want to get rid of these big clothes and start wearing my nice clothes that used to fit. Last night I was so annoyed that I ended up eating half a pint of Ben & Jerry's "Phish Food" frozen yogurt right from the container. Luckily it wasn't the ice cream...

Where did I put that fitness ball?

We just came home from our vacation in Washington State, and though I didn't make any progress, I didn't lose any ground either.

We spent much of our time in Spokane walking around visiting local sites, like the River Walk. It was fairly flat, but when we had a choice of paths, we took the hilly route. I also added to my workout by being the designated stroller pusher throughout the trip. Later in the week we visited Mount Saint Helen Park and Mount Rainier National Park. It was pretty hot, but we did some walking in at each park. I had planned to utilize the fitness rooms and pools at the hotels that we were staying at, but I never got around to that.

When we were at the airports, we were lucky enough to have time between flights. So instead of riding the moving walkways, I convinced my husband to powerwalk through the terminals with me. It felt really good to walk quickly and get some blood flowing while we were between flights.

I think that I did well with what I ate while I was on vacation. My meals were pretty well balanced, and I ate in moderation. I did a good job of remembering not to snack between meals, too. This was tough because there were lots of places to pick up a quick bite to eat, and since it was so hot, ice cream was really tempting.

Oh, before I forget, I met with Kate, the trainer, the day before I left for vacation. I told her about my history with joining the gym, and not enjoying it. Kate was really supportive about that, and she gave me some great ideas of simple things that I can do at home. One thing that she suggested was that I dig my fitness ball out of the pile of stuff in the basement. She showed me how to do a variety of exercises that range from stretching to strengthening my core muscles. Kate also taught me how to do squats by propping the ball between my back and the wall, and then carefully rolling down the wall. Boy, was that painful!

I discovered two other great uses for the fitness ball, too. The first is that my little boy, Davy, loves to sit on my lap while I bounce around the living room! The higher I bounce, the better! The second is that it keeps our highly energetic, two year-old black lab, Lucky, entertained for hours. He spent most of the night barking at the ball and chasing it all over the house. Then he slept for the rest of the night. It's fun for the whole family!

Related Topics: 10 Fitness Time-Wasters, WebMD Video: Have a Ball Building Muscles

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