Day 21 - If It's Not One Thing....

 ...it's another! Late yesterday afternoon we had no water at the motel. So I was at work until 7:30pm last night with my hubby waiting for someone to come out. Turns out they couldn't fix it but it was fixed this morning. A wire decided to break in our well system. Go figure. What a pain that little wire caused. My dinner was McDonalds last night. They pretty much have taken everything healthy off there menu and I really didn't feel like trekking anywhere else. So McDonalds it was. I did stay within my calorie limits at least!

Day 20 - I Won't Lie, It Was A Bit Tough

Yesterday was a bit tough. I didn't falter, but it wasn't easy. I was home all day and did feel like I wanted to snack, but I didn't. And it wasn't hunger, it was just my old habits creeping back into my mind. But I stuck with it all day. I ate a nice plate of leftovers last night but hope to get back on track to getting my carbs back in check. I think that is what is causing the hunger and cravings to come back. 

So today my goal is to get back to my regular diet and keep the carbs in check at dinner. My dinners have been on the high carb side the last few days so going back to a better balance I think will help!

I have gotten back into building my Legos and I will say that helps keep me distracted. Especially at night when everyone else is snacking and I can't! Thank goodness for hobbies! 

Day 19 - A Bit Challenging

Friday was a bit challenging for me. I did fine during the day but then we went out and my choices were limited. I wanted steak and all the restaurant had, instead of the usual 8oz steak they usually had on the menu, was a 12oz steak! Well I was good and only ate about 8oz. So I was proud of myself. 

I did notice I was hungrier then I had been on this diet today then I had been, but I persevered!  

Day 18 - Thanksgiving Free Day!

 I did well on Thanksgiving! Enjoyed all the yummy dishes, which was really nice. I ate less then 20 calories over the calories I burned for the day! Over 3000 calories mind you, but still not much over my burn. Since I cooked dinner and did most of the prep I burned a lot of calories that day. 

Day 18 - Weigh In Today!

I weighed in this morning at 258.8! I am down another 1.8 pounds! Woohoo! Considering I dropped so much weight my first weigh in I am VERY pleased with that number!! 

My Running Totals

11/9 - 272.2

11/17 - 260.6

11/26 - 258.8

Now I am off to enjoy Thanksgiving! 

Day 11 - 17 A Good Week!

 I hadn't realized it had been so long since my last post! I ended up getting a flu shot on Friday and having a reaction to it that night. Was in bed all day Saturday and didn't really start feeling better until Tuesday of this week! So I wasn't very motivated to go online. 

Here is how my week looked:

Thursday 11/19/20 Day 11 - Steps 8008 Zone Mins 14 Calories Out 2953 Calories In 1031   

Friday 11/20/20 Day 12 - Steps 8019 Zone Mins 18 Calories Out 3033 Calories In 1151

Saturday 11/21/20 Day 13 = Steps 1287 Zone Mins 27 Calories Out 2255 Calories In 1104

Sunday 11/22/20 Day 14 - Steps 3812 Zone Mins 44 Calories Out 3812 Calories In 1370 

Monday 11/23/20 Day 15 - Steps 8130 Zone Mins 350 Calories Out 4605 Calories In 1129

Tuesday 11/24/20 Day 16 - Steps 7781 Zone Mins 32  Calories Out 2858 Calories In 1304

Wednesday 11/25/20 Day 17 - Steps 7476 Zone Mins 25 Calories Out 2904 Calories In 1180

I had more carbs this week as I was dealing with trying to get more fiber in my diet since I found out the Glucosamine Chondroitin I was taking was causing me to be constipated. Sorry if TMI. LOL. So I had Bran Cereal several times this week. but all in all, I stuck to my plan and it went well. I am going to work on making sure I eat at least 1200 calories a day. I fell a little short this week but part of it was I was just not hungry from not feeling well. 

Free Day & Weigh In is next!!

Day 10 - Week 2 Started Off Right!

Yesterday went very well, I was able to hop right back on with no issue. A little cravings here and there but nothing too bad. My daily calorie goal is to be between 1200-1400 calories per day. So far so good. Did the gym yesterday, which was great for my step count! 

Day 9 - Free Day

I thoroughly enjoyed my free day yesterday. I had just under 3000 calories but burned over 3600! I was busy deep cleaning my living room yesterday and I went to the gym. I enjoyed the following foods yesterday:

Sausage Egg McMuffin, Hashbrown & Diet Coke for breakfast. 

Apple Pie for a quick lunch.

Snyder Cheddar Cheese Pieces as a snack.

Double Quarter Pounder Deluxe & French Fries for dinner

M&M's & Cheetos. 

I also drank over 8 glasses of water yesterday. 

Remember, there are no rules on my free days except to eat less calories then I burn! 

I am feeling really good about my progress! I was surprisingly anxious to get back on track this morning which was great! Here were my stats from yesterday:

Drum Roll Please....

 .... So today is the big day. I have very successfully stayed on my 8 day plan and did not falter once. I tracked everything that I ate, I exercised and kept my calories down! So what was the result of my efforts on day 9? I lost 11.6 lbs!!

Which is utterly amazing to me! I have never lost that much weight in just a week and a day. 10lbs yes, but never almost 12lbs!! I know most of this is water and I will not expect this much weight loss next time I weigh in. But wow, what an amazing result. It does give me the motivation to keep going and to continue to do what I am doing! 

Today is my free day and I will enjoy some favorite foods, but I am also tracking everything that goes in my mouth today and I am not going to be crazy with the calories. I will eat within reason. My next "free day" is Thanksgiving. Yes I planned that on purpose, lol! Hopefully I will hop right back on track tomorrow and have the next 8 days be as successful as the first. Keeping in mind my goal is to lose at least 2lbs every weigh in. If I do that, I will be doing awesome and my motivation will go through the roof! Fingers crossed, the weight continues to keep coming off!

Day 8 - Higher Carbs Then Usual, But All In All A Good Day!

 I had a good day yesterday. Kept my calories under 1400 but my carbs were a bit high at 41%. We had a great dinner last night which I talked about in my previous post. It was delicious and really didn't take me too far off my goals. Here is my day in a couple of screen shots:

My Highest Percent Carb Day Yet!

This was my highest carb day yet! I made an awesome pulled pork dinner. And between the corn, baked beans and coleslaw I had a lot more carbs then usual! I was at 41% carbs but that included this awesome homemade baked bread my daughter made today! So goood! It was worth it! Hopefully I'm still on track with the extra carbs I had. 

Day 7 - Smooth Sailing!

Yesterday was another good day! This first week has gone really well! The high protein diet I stick to for breakfast and lunch is really effective! I don't find myself hungry or cravings things! And if I do, it is mild. 

Maybe my motivation is high, but in all honesty, it hasn't been too hard and I hope it continues! 

I went to the gym for 30 minutes this morning. Here are my stats:

 

Day 6 - A Fabulous Day

I had a great day yesterday! Deep cleaned for 5 hours! Didn't get my new Fitbit until later in the day, so I have no idea how much calories I burned!

Ate well all day as well!

Day 5 - A Little Better Then Yesterday!

Today was a good day! I was fine most of the day. Just felt a little hungry after dinner, so I had smoked almonds as a snack after dinner. Now I feel satisfied! 

We even went out for dinner! I had a grilled chicken sandwich with a salad with maple vinaigrette dressing at Rosie's.

I've been craving Snyder Cheddar Pretzel Pieces so I bought them for Tuesday. 

Here is to another great day!

Day 4 - A Little More Challenging

Today was a good day! I did have more temptation to grab candy but I fought those cravings hard and won! 

Until my low calorie intake is something I do for awhile there will be challenging days as my body adjusts to eating less!

I just have to keep up the fight and motivation. Here is a screen shot of today's food. Breakfast was scrambled eggs which is missing from this screenshot.

Ignore the over budget. I can't track calories burned until I get my new Fitbit!

 

I also went to the gym today and did weights, sit down elliptical abd swimming. So all in all, a great day!!

My Favorite Dinner!

These tacos are so good and less then 550 calories! 

We found these great wraps! Low in net carbs and calories! Expensive but very good!

Ordered My Fitbit Versa 3!

 Although I am not thrilled that my Fitbit Versa only lasted 2 years and 7 months, I am very excited to receive my new Fitbit Versa 3! I ordered it today and should get it by tomorrow! It has some new features such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Plus, you can actually take calls on the watch as well as play music. Some nice features that I am sure I will enjoy. I do really like the Fitbit Versa. It seems to be just as good as my old Bodymedia band I use to use. 

I am lost without it, so it couldn't get here fast enough! It should arrive by tomorrow! I will be sure to share how I like it. I am looking forward to all my information being available on my Fitbit app again! I miss not seeing how much calories I burn each day! 

Day 1-3 Fitbit Screen Print

 Here is a screen print for the last 3 days. Ignore the calories burned. My Fitbit has not been working since last week!

Monday ~ 

Tuesday ~

Wednesday ~

Day 3 - Another Day Under My Belt

 I did well on day 3. I did end up going to McDonald's again for breakfast and lunch. But stuck with scrambled eggs for breakfast and a sausage mcmuffin for lunch. I had a small bite of apple pie and a few walnuts for a snack. Dinner was chili that Morgan made and salad. I had 1378 calories and only 21% carbs! 

I also went to the gym in the morning! I think I am going to cave and purchase a new watch today. I am lost without it. It is a great motivator! I am feeling a little hungrier today. I was kind of expecting this to happen with lowering my calorie intake as much as I have. But I am determined to make Day 4 just as successful as the last 3 days and fight my way through any cravings!

A friend of mine gave me a supplement to try called "Crave Arrest" today. Looks interesting, so I will looks up some info on it today and give it a try!

 

Day 2 - A Great First Couple Of Days

I had a great first day. Ate 1216 calories and kept my carbs under 25% and only had  23% carbs today. I was not prepared yesterday but did not use that as an excuse to not get started. So I picked up scrambled eggs at McDonald's for breakfast and a sausage mcmuffin for lunch. I am in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store! So lots of eggs yesterday.  I had eggs, bacon and fruit for dinner. Whenever I reached for something to eat, outside of my 3 meals,  I reminded myself to wait for my free day. So far that has been working well. 

Today is my day off  from work and I started my day at the gym and did a couple of weights and 30 minutes on the sit down elliptical machine. My fitbit is currently not charging. I have had issues with it off and on and discovered that if it totally dies it is really difficult to get it to charge. Well, I was driving when I realized the battery was really low and by time I got to a charger it was completely dead. That was as of last Tuesday and I still haven't been able to get it to charge. If I can't get it working by Friday, I will unfortunately have to buy a new one. But it will be well worth it because I find it to be a great tool for me to track my activity. 

Today I ate 1383 calories. Since I was out and about today I had scrambled eggs again at McDonalds and a sausage mcmuffin for lunch. I was really good and did well controlling my craving for snacks. I did have a banana when I got hungry and a little bit of egg salad Morgan made this afternoon. 

For dinner we found these 60 calorie tortillas that only have 5 net carbs. So I had a couple of small burritos for dinner. So yummy! This is a dish I want to eat once a week! The 2 burritos were less then 550 calories total and were filling. 

Tomorrow I will have things at work to eat instead of getting food at McDonald's, which is always better! Two days down and 6 to go for my first round with my new plan! 

Onward....

 

Day 1 - A Reboot!

 Day 1 - As of today I am 272.2 pounds. Covid has not been easy to deal with as a business owner and life has been stressful. The gym closed and I dealt with a lot at work. So I have gained a ridiculous amount of weight! 

Last month, October, being my Anniversary, Birthday and Halloween month and this past weekend being my scrapbook retreat has not helped, I know I am past due to get back on track and desperately need to do so!

I am currently scrapbooking pictures from 2013 and I was much thinner back then. Seeing this encouraged me to get back to a better place health wise. 

So today, I take the first step to tying once again to find what works for me. My new tactic is to watch my diet carefully for 8 days and have one "Free Day" to eat a favorite food or two. But I'm actually putting it on the calendar so when I crave I will remind myself that I only have so many days until my "Free Day". I picked the 9th day to start because it's over a week but shorter then 2 weeks which I think will be manageable to start. I want to be reasonable and create a plan I can live with and holidays are a time I would like to enjoy good food.  Thanksgiving lines up just right with my second free day. I will not weigh myself until my free days as well. 

Once the holidays are passed, I hope to increase my time between free days to up to 12 days. These free days will be the light and the end of the tunnel in my mind. I think too many times I say to myself, I will treat myself thinking it wasn't that long ago since I had done so, when in all actuality I treat myself more often then I realize!   

I have been going back to the gym for awhile now and that has helped my joints and flexibility, but my real problem is my food intake, so I am going to really focus on that carefully for the next 8 days! I have my fingers crossed that weight loss will follow. But I will keep track of my clothes and how they fit as well, knowing that weight loss doesn't always appear on the scale as quickly as we all would like. 

Onward....