'Sighing'

I'm going to get straight to the point particularly because its late, I'm sleepy, and I went over my points again...

Breakfast - watermelon, bagel, water

Snacks - yogurt, 100 calorie oreos, wintergreen mints

Lunch - Smart ones meal, 1/2 bagel, and brownie

Snacks - 2 hard candies, 2 chocolate truffles, orange

Dinner - rice and chicken stew, brownie, water

Snacks - Mike Ike candy

Earned $0.25 for drinking water.

What a day....

And on to the next...

Smooth Day

Today started a little bumpy, running a little late and trying to make a stop at Dunkin D for a fritter and latte lite.  At lunch time I had to go to the bank again.  On my way out I picked up a piece of chocolate.  While at the bank, I picked up 3 cookies.  When I returned I had my lunch which was a Smart Ones lasagna and a salad. 

Today I recieved a gift from one our vendors thanking me for being helpful, business translation...thank you for helping us to get paid on time.  Nevertheless it was very thoughtful.  It was a box full of mini size brownies in different flavors.  I consumed two of those.  I also had two more pieces of chocolate.

When I got off work, I went downstairs to workout, which was for 45 minutes.  On my way home I ate an apple and drank some water.  When I got home I snacked on some pretzels and ate a peach.  That's about it. 

I did go over my points due to the cookies, chocolate, and brownies.  On another note, I earned $1.75 for drinking my water, taking my vitamin, eating my veggies, and exercising.

Tomorrow my goal is to stay in my points.  I think I'm getting a little comfortable going out of my point range.  Anyway...good luck to us all.

Pull it Together

Some time last week I convinced myself its okay to eat over my points.  As of today, this must stop.  Yesterday, I watched a movie, relaxed, and cleaned up.  I also cooked two big meals to last us through the week.  When your house is organized, its so much easier to operate sanely.  So when I woke up this morning, it was so peaceful, with no rushing.  I sat at the table and had watermelon for breakfast.  I had an early snack of a peach and cookies with water.  Before lunch I had to go to the bank.  I was starving, and there I managed to munch down 6 creme sandwich cookies.  At lunch I had two servings of broccoli, almost 4 ounces of beef ribs, and mashed potatoes.  I picked up chocolate a couple times too many.  At the end of the day I exercised for 40 minutes.  When I got home and was settled, I fixed a salad and heated up some rice and chicken stew.  I also had a bag of cookies (the 100 calorie) to top it off.  These days I'm finding it most important to focus on getting enough of the healthy things in my diet, specifically veggies, fruit, water, dairy, and my vitamins.  One thing I need to bring in more are legumes.  Not that I don't like them...I just don't really cook them.  So I will work to incorporate more into my diet.  Overall, a pretty decent day.

I went over my points.  I didn't even finish counting after it was over 28.  I did earn money today....$1.75 for drinking my water, taking my vitamin, eating my veggies and fruit, and exercising.

Best wishes to us all for tomorrow.

Saturday

Today when I woke up, I did my laundry.  I picked up a fritter and vanilla latte lite for breakfast.  When I was done I headed back home to get ready for my gym session.  Today, my trainer killed my arms!  It got to the point that my arms felt paralyzed, like I couldn't even do a push up.  I had to do the girl push-ups; even with that I thought I was going to die.  When I was done being tortured, I decided to do a little shopping.  I picked up some more things for my apartment.  I found alot of things at a good price at this store called A.J. Wright.  I found this stand to put my indoor water fountain on.  I got a few pics for the walls, as well as a thing or two for my bathroom.  I'm really excited about fixing everything up.  I started reading a book on Feng Shui, so I'm going to use it for a guide to get things the way I want them.  I also picked up a couple movies for a BB night.  When I got home I devoured a turkey sandwich, chips, and 100 calorie chip ahoy cookies, and water.  My husband picked up Jamaican food to go along with the movies.  So for dinner I had a beef patty, rice and peas, fish, and fried plaintain.  We watched "The Last Holiday".  Great movie.  It sent a strong positive message about living up life.  A good motivation to push me to work harder for this goal. 

Today I consumed a total of 47 points...definitely due to the Jamaican food.  I earned $1.50 for drinking my water, taking my vitamin, and exercising. 

I wish us all a better and more succesful day tomorrow, particularly if you had a day like me. lol

When?

When will I be able to bring consistency into my daily life?  Consistency of preparing my day for a successful weight loss journey.  I got up this morning around 7:30 and had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with skim milk.  After that I sat on the couch for awhile and ended up falling asleep again.  I got back up at about 10 and got dressed to go swimming.  I swimmed for about 25 minutes, and did 12 laps.  The snorkeling mouth piece helped.  I sat in the sauna today since I had a little time to spend.  When I got back home I snacked on an apple and drank some water.  I realized that it was time for me to head out to my religious service, so I jetted out of the house because its hard to find parking.  I ran into my aunt-in-law while there and hung out with her for the rest of the day.  Big mistake...I wasn't in control.  I had no food.  It was lunch time and I didn't have anything on hand, nor did I have a plan of what to pick up.  She needed to go to Wal-mart.  Being that I was starving, I picked up a bag of Combos and diet sprite.  I finished the entire bag.  After a few more stops and we finally got to her house, there I had a serving of lasgna.  I was there for dinner, which I had some rice with a stew and fried plantain.  It was nice spending time with them because its been a long time since I've seen them.  Once I left, I stopped at the grocery store to have some things for dinner this weekend.  I also picked up a fritter from Dunkin D.  lol....its so embarassing...they know me so well they're ready to get my order before I ask for it...I told the lady next to me "its a shame when Dunkin Donuts knows your order".  (sighing)...what can I say. 

Well my total points consumed equals 55 crazy points!!  Man!!  Can we get it together, you know.  I did earn $1.25 for exercising and drinking my water.  I look forward to a better day tomorrow.  I should be home for most of the day to get myself focused.

Striving, But It Ain't Easy

Today I went to work wanting to come home. lol  I made a point to not to have coffee today to see how I sleep tonight, maybe that explains my mood.  I had a good start food wise.  This morning I had Honey Nut Cheerios.  When I got to work, I had an early snack of grapes with water.  A little later I snacked on my apple.  When lunch came I had a serving of my Chunky Meat stew with a serving and a half of cooked okra and spinach.  While I was eating my lunch, some of the admins came in with leftovers from a lunch meeting, which looked more like a fresh order being that they didn't hardly eat anything.  I picked up 2 1/2 macaroon cookies.  Later on I had 2 pb cups and two pieces of hard candy.  Throughout the day I was dying to leave work early.  At one point I was going to actually do it, until I thought about how I could use the time later.  I did end up leaving about 45 minutes early.  I don't know exactly what was wrong with me today.  A part of it may be boredom from things slowing down from month end.  I don't know.  But before I left, I microwaved a bag of popcorn I brought to eat for on my way home. 

I've had it on my mind to work on fixing up our apartment.  I stopped at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and Wal-Mart to pick up somethings.  I'm going to redecorate our bathroom.  I want to give it the vibe of a spa.  I also bought some curtains for our bedroom to coordinate with out comforter.  I hope it matches well.  Oh, one more thing I got was a mouth piece for when I swim so I won't have trouble breathing.   

When I got home I had a turkey sandwich, 2 bags of chips, cereal, and bag of 100 calorie Chip Ahoy cookies.  After all that, I don't even feel like fixing up my apartment.  I think I'm done for today.  I'll be off tomorrow, so I should be able to get some things done then. 

Now let's get to the numbers.  I consumed 36 points...I'm slowly coming down from my crazy high.  I earned $0.50 for drinking my water and taking my vitamin.

I wish us all much success tomorrow.

Fear

My biggest fear in this journey is stopping, relapsing, giving up and starting all over again.  I don't want to be here next year trying to motivate myself all over again.  After seeing myself eat so many points yesterday gave me a reality check that this journey is not going to be a breeze.  There are going to be highs and lows.  WW preaches that the most important thing is what you do next.  Yesterday, I didn't even fully redeem myself because I ended up not exercising, so I really only earned $.75.  Today I tried to put myself back on the right track and halfway succeeded.  This morning I had a bagel and grapes with water.  I had an early snack around 9:30, a cup of coffee and half of a bagel.  I had 5 hershey kisses and 2 pb cups.  Somewhere in there I had 3 pieces of hard candy.  At lunch I had a spinach salad with tomatoes and another bagel.  Having two and a half bagels zapped up all of my points.  By the end of the day I was down to 2 points.  My co-worker gave me another cup of coffee.  I must cut out the coffee, I think its beginning to affect my sleep.  I was suppose to use my last points on an apple and veggies but her bringing the coffee had me turning things around again.  I mean its only 5pm and I knew I had a workout ahead of me, that could not possibly be the end to the food I was going to have today.  For a minute, I did convince myself to make that it, and just have veggies when I get home.  Well, least to say, after 45 minutes of cardio, lunges, squats, and streching...that wasn't going to be the end.  It didn't help that I had a conversation about an emotional situation.  So when I got home I ate the turkey sandwich and baked doritos I had ready for after my workout, which took me 6 points over.  I had calculated this into my day, but the bagels really messed things up for me.  After the sandwich and chips, I finished off my box of Junior Mints which brought me to 11 points over my limit.  I still wasn't "satisfied", so I had a 100 calorie bag of Cheese Nips, which brought me to 14 points over my limit.  I totaled out at 45 points today.  I earned $1.00 for exercising.

Its very difficult to not let weak moments get the best of you and make you want to quick.  I think I'm lucky to have this avenue to express my feelings of defeat so I work through it and overcome it to go on for more successful days.  I can't let one or two days get the best of me and cause me to forfeit 9 more months that are necessary to make successful to reach my big goal.  I have to keep looking at the big picture.  I have to turn things around now before these 2 days become weeks, months, or possibly years.  I promised myself I would not quit.  As my WW leader has said..."quitting is not an option".  Cheers to a better day tomorrow.

Whoa Mama!

Today I wanted to pick up a fritter and Vanilla Latte Lite from Dunkin D'.  In fact, I was running late this morning, yet still made time to take my favorite detour.  At about 11 I snacked on some grapes and had water.  I took lunch a little after 1 today.  While heating up my food I snacked on a bag of 100 calorie cheese nips.  My lunch was lamb and mashed potatoes from last night.  It was good, but I definitely paid for it later.  Between breakfast and lunch, I didn't really leave myself too many points for the evening.  After lunch I only had 2.5 points left!  Initially, I was willing to just finish the day out with veggies since I had only had one serving with the grapes.  Buuut, somewhere between getting a cup of coffee that took 2 of my points with the creamer and sugar and picking up 2 hershey kisses, I decided to give up on staying in my point range today.  Afterall, I have my 35 points reserve that I haven't touched yet.  Right?  Well, guess what...I ate my 28 points and exceeded my reserve!  How....well...let me tell you the story.  On my way home I ate my bag of baked doritos (3 points).  While running some errands, I picked up a box of junior mints and had the serving size of 16 pieces (3 points).  When I got home I had a turkey sandwich with cheese and mustard (5 points) and another bag of chips (3 points).  I still wanted more, well not really, I just knew that I was a little free sooo I went on to have 1/2 a cup of ice cream that turned into finishing the carton which totaled 3 cups (22 points!!!).  Today I consumed a total of 68 points!!!  It would not have been so bad going over my daily points because I have the 35 point reserve, but stepping pass that was simply pushing the limit.  I'm not completely upset, because it has shown me how important it is to be selective of what and how much you eat.  Eating high point foods in the beginning of the day was not a good idea, because at the end of the day I wasn't strong enough to just have veggies the rest of the day even though veggies are zero points.  It is at the end of the day that I'm looking forward to a treat.  So it may be a better idea to go light for the earlier part of the day to allow room to indulge in the evening.  I did manage to get all my water in today and dairy servings (through the ice cream lol), as well as exercise and take my vitamin.  So I'm still a little rich.  I earned $1.75.  Thank God, I decided to put a high value on exercise or else I would be shaking some change for today.  I have no doubts I'll shape back up tomorrow.  Besides, my overboard splurge wasn't all that fun anyway.  Its more fun to see my accomplishments.

Hope you guys had a successful day!  Keep the momemtum going.  Don't give up.  Remember this is a journey.  That's what I have to keep telling myself.  Let's raise our bottled waters to better decisions tomorrow!  Cheers :)

Monday - Is it over yet?

I woke up this morning waiting for the day to be over!  I dreaded going to work today.  Probably because I have been going to the office for the past two weekends.  Nevertheless, I sucked it up and got my butt out of bed.  For breakfast I had banana and a cup of milk.  I had two snacks before lunch, a 100 calorie bag of Cheese Nips and an apple.  At lunch I had a salad with spinach tomatoes, bell peppers and italian dressing.  A little later I had 5 hershey kisses.  When I got home I had a bag of baked Doritos and started on dinner right away.  Dinner was lamb chops, mashed potatoes, and asparagus.  Not too much happening.  I played catch up with a few friends from back home.  That's about it.  After this I'm going to shower, curl up with a book, and go to bed.

Today I consumed a total of 27.5 points and earned a $1.50 for drinking water, vitamin, dairy serving, veggies, and staying in my point range.  I have to step things up when I don't exercise!  I'm proud, I got everything in.  Woohoo!!

I hope everyone had success in one form or another.  Good to luck to us all in the journey ahead!

Relaxing

Resting up for this week.  It shouldn't be too brutal.  I had a pretty good day.  I woke up early today.  For breakfast I had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with skim milk.  Afterwards I headed to the gym to swim.  Swimming has not been easy for me.  But I would like to stick with it to see my progress. I would like to last longer.  My breathing makes it difficult.  I think I will pick up one of those mouth pieces used for snorkeling.  I'm trying to start swimming three days a week.  When I returned I got ready to head to the office.  I finally finished my assignment!  Woohoo!  I ate my lunch while there.  I had a turkey sandwich and baked BBQ chips with Diet Coke. 

Its so funny, I've been getting really tired of my job after only six months.  Well my mom called to tell me about this special on the public broadcast channel.  It was an author talking about her new book called "Refuse to Choose".  She talks about individuals who have a list of things they want to do, but get overwhelmed feeling they're doing to many things at once and should focus on one thing.  They start things but do not finish them.  They get bored at a job once they've mastered the work.  She calls these individuals "Scanners".  My mom says this was me.  I went to pick up the book...I think she's right.  The author encourages you to take on all of those things you want to do.  She says, 'refuse to choose'.  I was one of those people that said I want to be a CPA, fashion designer, group home owner, and teacher.  When I told people this, they thought I was crazy.  This author has liberated me!!  She claims I can be all of these things.  The book shows you how.  I always felt I could do all of these things.  I never thought about one thing I wanted to do at time as far as my career.  As for a job, I've always wanted to work for a temp agency so my assignment would only be 6 months, then I could start something new.  But my husband convinced me not to because of benefits.  But according to this author, I won't be a happy until I'm doing everything I want, not one thing I want.  Its true, I'm not going to be happy just being a CPA.  I want to be a CPA, fashion designer, group home owner for teenage mothers, and teacher.  If I can't do all of them, I'd rather do none of them.  This author validates that statement, she validates me.  I'm a SCANNER!  She says we have a unique trait and should embrace it.  By all means I will!

Ok...on with the rest of the day.  I had the 100 calorie Pringles chips and an apple for a snack before dinner.  For dinner I had 1/2 a cup of brown rice with 1/2 a serving of my Chunky meat stew with a boiled egg.  So far I'm at 21.5 points.  I think I will finish out my points with 1/2 a cup of ice cream and a bag of 100 calorie Chips Ahoy which will total me out at 27.5.  I earned $1.75 today for dring my water, exercising, and staying within my point range.