Day 11 - Weigh-in Day

Today is Tuesday so it's the day I am scheduled to weigh in each week. This is my first weigh in since taking my starting weight. I wasn't too excited when I saw it was only about 2 lbs down this morning. I was also frustrated to see that anytime I moved while standing on the scale my weight changed too. It went from 2 lbs (up) to 5 lbs (down). So I'm not sure if I need a new, more accurate scale or what??? Any suggestions?? I'm not going to worry about it only being 2 lbs because I know that I already feel a lot better and more comfortable in my clothes so that is a great start. I'm sure the pounds will come off with time.

I did pretty good yesterday. Breakfast was cereal with a banana, lunch was a salad with 2 slices of turkey and a bit of shredded cheese, a cookie (not quite part of my plan) and for supper we went out and I had a salad, fish and a few fries. I shared my meal with one of my kids, he ate most of the fries and about 1/3 of the fish so that wasn't too bad.

My 'dangerous' time is when I'm alone. That's when I used to eat what I wanted and no was there to see it. This last week following my plan has been really good, even when I've been by myself, and that seems to be a lot during the day since the kids are all in school again. But I know that's when I really need to be careful.

Andrea

Honest Scrap Award

I have been awarded the "Honest Scrap" award by my friend Dawne. Thanks Dawne!

Here are the rules:

1. “The Honest Scrap” award must be shared!
2. The recipient has to tell 10 true things about themselves.
3. The recipient has to pass along this prestigious award to 10 more bloggers.
4. Those 10 bloggers all have to be notified they have been given this award.
5. Those 10 bloggers should link back to the blog that awarded them.

Like Amy, I am "only going to follow #2…... since I have a real thing about anything that even smells of a chain letter."

So here goes,

1. I have been married for almost 15 years (wow that's a long time!!) and have 4 great kids.

2. I moved from Niagara Falls, Ontario to small town Saskatchewan about 2 years ago. The decision was a little scary at first but after being here only a month we knew it was the right one.

3. I'm a stay at home mom and wouldn't want it any other way. I do a bit of bookkeeping for a few small businesses as well as some volunteer work.

4. My husband and I have often opened our home up to anyone needing a place to stay, some have stayed only a short time and some have stayed for months.

5. I love God. In the last few years I have become dissatisfied with just going through the motions of "church" and more hungry for who God is and what he has for me. I've just started to read the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. "This book is written for those who want more Jesus. It is for those who are bored with what American Christianity offers. It is for those who don’t want to plateau, those who would rather die before their convictions do."

6. I love to worship. Most of the day I listen online to a christian radio station and love to sing along. I sing on a worship team at church. Next week I'm heading to Saskatoon to hear Chris Tomlin and am looking forward to some awesome worship.

7. I am so not a writer. I'm pretty intimidated just writing on my blog because people might actually read it.

8. I am not a gardener and have no desire to be. When we moved here I noticed that everyone had a garden. I tried the first summer but failed miserably. Now I just acknowledge that fact and don't even bother. I think our retired neighbours feel sorry for me so they bring me over potatoes and tomatoes from their garden. That works for me!

9. We have a TV but don't get any channels. We choose not to get cable because of the extra garbage you get with it. We'd rather our kids spend time outside and find things to do other than watching TV. We do have a lot of good movies and a few older TV series that we watch (and I also watch a few of my favorite's online). So if you have any suggestions for good movies I'd gladly hear them.

10. I'm definitely a morning person. Paul and I are usually up by 4:30 a.m. during the week and probably 6:00 on weekends. But then we're also usually in bed by 9:00 p.m. Saturday was a busy day so we were all in bed by 8:00 p.m. Weird, I know!

So there you have it. It took me a while to find 10 things to write but now you know a bit more about me.

Andrea

Day 9

This weekend has been hard. The weekend itself has been pretty good but I have had a hard time making good food choices. My usual thing to do when I blow it during the day used to be to write off the whole day and maybe start over the next day. I did get off plan once on Friday and once on Saturday but this time I didn't let it ruin both those days. I just got back on track and made good choices the rest of the day. Today has been good so far. I had eggs and slices of tomato for breakfast and passed on the pancakes. Lunch was leftover soup and some coleslaw with a bit of egg. We are heading over to visit with some friends after supper and I'm sure there will be dessert so I will probably keep supper really light and have a bit of dessert later. I think that's a pretty good plan.

Andrea

Day 7

The last few days have been really busy for me. Lots going on around here. But I've been doing great sticking to my plan. I've gone out to eat twice this week and made great choices. I've even said no to ice cream twice this week and instead just had a little taste from the kids. I'll be doing the Terry Fox walk with the kids school this afternoon too. I've never really been one to want to get on the scale that often, probably because it normally discouraged me but now I'm looking forward to seeing how I'm doing, scale wise. I'll wait until Tuesday morning to see.

Having this accountability on here is a big thing for me. Just knowing that you guys are reading this and care about how I'm doing is really important for me. And your comments have been really encouraging. Thanks!!

Andrea

Day 5 - Stars

Still going strong. Yesterday was another good day. I find myself thinking about food a lot less now that I have a plan. I don't really have to think about what I'm going to eat, I just know my options for breakfast and lunch and then supper is whatever I've made for the family.

Paul and I are still walking in the mornings. I really love getting out early (we usually walk around 4:30 a.m.) because we get to see the huge night sky. People really don't understand how big and deep the sky is in the prairies until they've seen it. Probably because there aren't many trees to block your view and there aren't the city lights either. It's amazing the depth to the stars. I don't know how people could deny that there is a God who created it all. And that same big God who is holding each star in it's place is holding on to each one of us! Wow!


Going to have another good day today.

Andrea

Day 3 - Stressful Day

Today started out good but quickly went downhill. I headed into Swift Current to do my shopping and to get an oil change on my van. As soon as the oil change was done I called to see if Paul wanted to meet me for lunch. He was busy so I was just going to get my groceries and head home. Almost to the grocery store, my battery light came on and all my gauges, speedometer and radio shut down. The van kept running but I knew something was definitely wrong. I wasn't far from Canadian Tire so I ran into the service department while my van was still running and luckily they could take me fairly soon. I also called Paul back and let him know what was going on. The funny thing is that I actually had my cell phone along, because for months it has been at the bottom of my purse and just yesterday I charged it and took it along today. So I sat in my van which I kept running (I wasn't about to shut it off and not be able to start it again) for about an hour until I could get it in. The good thing was that I had brought my bible along (I am reading through the gospels out of the Message right now) so I didn't mind the wait. I ended up getting a salad for lunch while I waited (which was a much better choice than the burger and fries I would have had otherwise) and then had a bowl of yummy homemade soup for supper when I got home.

I guess when I look back at my day, it wasn't all that bad, just not what I had expected. And I still did great with my eating.

Tomorrow is Tuesday, the day I will normally weigh myself, but because I just started on Saturday I think I will wait until next Tuesday for my first weigh in.

I also noticed my followers doubled in the last day. From 1 to 2!!!!! WOW!

Andrea

Day 2 - Doing Good

After 2 days of sticking to my program, I'm feeling really good about it.

Saturday went really well, I stuck to my plan and felt good about my food choices. Usually Sunday breakfast consists of eggs and toast in our house. This time I skipped the toast and had slices of tomatoe with my egg and some grapes. After church was our usual 3rd Sunday of the month potluck. As I was helping to put out the food I noticed that there was only one salad so ahead of time I put a serving of salad on my plate since normally I'm one of the last in line and by then there isn't that much to choose from. What I ended up choosing was salad, sliced cucumbers, 1/2 a cob of corn, a 2 bite size piece of chicken and a small spoon of beef stew. That was pretty good since there was LOTS to choose from. For dessert I skipped all the tempting treats and had some fruit instead. I didn't feel at all deprived! The rest of my family wasn't hungry for supper later in the day since they had eaten a lot at lunch, so we skipped supper all together. That was ok with me since I wasn't feeling hungry anyway. So all around a good first 2 days.

I also walked both days. Getting my walk in each day isn't really that hard for me. Normally Paul and I get up a half hour before he has to start getting ready for work (or before our days start on the weekend) and we head out for a good 30 minute walk. Not only is it good for both of us to get the exercise every day but it's really good for our relationship. We started walking together this summer while Paul was on his holidays from work and have just stuck with it after he went back. This summer was really good for our family. We headed out to Niagara Falls, Ontario, where we moved from about 2 years ago, and spent a few weeks visiting with family and friends. While we were there, the church that we were a part of before our move was involved in a conference that was being held in Niagara so we decided to stay the extra few days and go to that. The kids stayed with my parents while Paul and I went to the conference. It was a great time of just getting refocused on God and Him becoming more real in both of our lives. A lot of exciting things came out of those few days! So I really love spending time walking in the morning with Paul and just getting our day off to a good start!

Andrea

Day 1 - Today's the day!!

I woke up today thinking "I can do it!".

I have been following my friend Dawne on her weight loss journey the last few weeks, all the while thinking "I wish I could be so committed to losing weight". I have done a few other programs, Weight Watchers, Weigh Down, and lost the weight (about 50 lbs) but gained it back within a few years of losing it. Talking to my friend Kim yesterday, I guess I realized that I actually haven't wanted to get serious about my weight. Sure, I've tried in the last 6 months to get serious about it again but I just haven't been able to keep at it. I am not one who can do it on my own, I need the accountability of at least someone knowing that I'm on a "program" and someone who will ask me how I'm doing. But even that isn't enough. I have to be committed to losing the weight. I really haven't wanted to get serious yet.

Then I woke up this morning to a quiet house and I just lay in bed thinking about all of this. And I thought "I can do it, I want to do it!". I'm tired of my clothes slowly getting tighter, and always feeling self conscious about how I look. I know that God, my husband and my kids love me, whatever size I am, but I sure don't love myself all that much when I've got all this extra weight on me.

So, today's the day that I make a change. I don't want to be constantly counting points or measuring. So I decided to follow a program similar to Dawne's. Here's the plan (sorry Dawne for copying from your post).

My food plan will look like this:

Breakfast - Fruit, Yogurt Smoothie, cereal (haven't decided which one) or 1 egg omelet and fruit

Lunch - Salad with some protein or soup, fruit

Supper - Salad or veggies and whatever I am cooking for the family but never overeating! I will eat to just about full every supper (I'll start by cutting what I used to eat in half).

Snacks - fruit or low calorie yogurt - mid afternoon

Once a week, if I need it, will be a Freedom Day. This is not a day to pig out, but a day where I am free from the constraints of my program.

Once a Month - fast and pray. (liquids only)

Exercise: Walk at least 5 days a week, 30 - 45 minutes.

Weigh-in: Tuesday morning, around the same time each week.

I'll weigh myself today so that I know where I'm starting from. My goal is to lose about 50 lbs and it would be nice if it was off by the beginning of next summer.

This is really scary for me putting this on my blog for everyone to see (really it's only one person) because I feel if I completely mess up and don't lose any weight, everyone will know it. As if no notices by looking at me that I've blown it!!

Well, here goes, I'm off to start my first day!

Andrea