Picture Menu - 2/2/08

Breakfast - Honey nut shredded wheat w/ skim milk (really good) 

Lunch - tuna, cheese, & tomato on a pita (low cal mayo)

Snack - english muffin w/ pb

Snack - yes, yes I know. But at least I ate the last of them!! 

Dinner - meatloaf with a baked potato and sour cream. Yeah, it's a pretty big serving of meatloaf. It's hard to resist, I make some damn fine meatloaf. ;) 

Junkie needing a fix

 Lemme just say this right now and get it outta the way....

I WANT SOME DORITOS!! A WHOLE BAG! I NEED CRUNCH!! I NEEED SALT!! GIMME! GIMME! GIMMMMMEEEEEEE!!!

Ok, wheew, now that's out of my system. ;) 

Today I'm feeling like a junkie in need of a fix. I can't tell you how many times today I had to squeeze my eyes shut and force myself not to get out of my chair, cross the parking lot, and stuff my face with hot, delicious, crunchy, french fries covered in catsup and mayo. Yummmmm.....

I read something the other day that said that those Depo shots I was taking can take six months to a year to fully get out  of my system and get my regular hormone flow back. Will I have this pre-period chocolate/salt cravings for a WHOLE YEAR!? Ugh! If that's the case, I'M DOOMED!! Sheesh. 

For those of you who have been reading my blog, you know that I'm trying not to dive into this whole thing to hard core to avoid burn out and really change my real habits - not just a temporary change. Well, I think I may be giving myself TOO easy of a time. I still think that I should follow my goals (workout for 20 min each day and eat healthy at least 75% of the time) but I need to actually DO it! I have a tendancy to get busy and my mind tells me "Hey! You have to run errands! You have to get the baby! We don't have time for healthy! Just grab a Twix at the checkout! We've got things to do!!" 

I need to face the fact that I'm probably going to be busy for about the next 20 years now that I have a child. I can't let my mind go to that reasoning forever. If we prepare well, then eating healthy should be close to as easy as the junk stuff is. 

Sometimes we get so busy I just feel like I don't have any time to relax or do anything enjoyable for days at a time. It's not that I'm not happy, I am! Things are good at home and my family is wonderful! But when I'm tired, stressed, and in a hurry -  it's like I KNOW that eating a bunch of carbs somehow makes me feel better and feels "good". You know what I mean! How many of us are on the run on a hectic day, grab a burger, take a big bite and litterally sigh in relief and your whole body relaxes for a bit ?

I can do it on the run, I can do it when we are in a rush, and it's available everywhere! That situation is so, so hard for me to fight, you know? I just gotta fight this stupid addiction. 

Rachel

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Bananas? BLECK!

 I'm glad to see that everyone is responding so well to my pictures! It's keeping me on track too because I KNOW that if I go off track and go to Burger King for lunch or something, I can't just pretend I didn't eat there. You guys will be like, "Ahem - where is the picture of your lunch? What was it that you don't want us to see?" ;) 

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering why it always looks like I'm eating in a cave - well, I kind of am. Here is a pic of my office:

I'm a video editor, so I'm in a room with no windows, low lights, and sound proofing. Actually it's really nice to have my own room - plus I have cable and a TV so I can have that on during the day or the radio. You might think thats weird - but being locked away into one of these rooms can drive you nuts with quiet if your not sound editing that day! It also gives us a reason to see what's on other channels and what kind of graphics they run on their shows and commercials.

Anywhoo..... I wanted to give a response to why there hasn't been any fruit in my pictures so far. I really don't like it. Isn't that weird? Honestly if you put a plate of cooked broc and a plate of chopped up bananas in front of me - I will pick the greens every single time. I've always prefered savory things to sweet things. Like cake for instance  - for our wedding I didn't want a wedding cake because I just don't like it that much. It's ok, but not great. Instead we ordered like 8 cheesecakes from the Cheesecake Factory. While they are still sweet,  they are more creamy and rich than sugary. 

But I am trying! I brought an apple with me today. (Which I won't eat unless I chop it up first!) And we bought a bunch of fruit cups and applesauce and yogurts. We have a hard time with fresh fruit because honestly, it usually goes bad before we eat it. The only reason we keep apples around is because they last so long. 

But I know its good - so we will start with apples and see how it goes from there!! :) 

Rachel 

242

Hey Big Spender!

Over the last couple of years Terry and I have been trying to pay down debt that we had from before (and after) we were married. Things like student loans, wedding stuff, and basics like car loans. We are doing okay with it - not great though. It's going down slowly, but surely - but we would both like it to go a little faster. 

Well, recently we switched our high rate card to a low 5% bank card and started using the old card for things like gas and little stuff to get the flyer miles. I planned it so that the money we are supposed to spend on gas just goes toward that card - with the plan that it gets paid off every two weeks.

That was a great plan (we've already got  $50 off our next flight) BUT somehow the balance was more than what gas should have been. Hmmm. Then the next two weeks the same. Hmmm. Time to investigate....

Well, turns out that between that card and our regular bank account we spent over $300 on FAST FOOD in the last month!!! ACCCKKKK!!! That is a fricken lot of fast food! Pizza, burgers, chicken, pasta! Yikes! 

Now both of us work and as I've said before we are very, very busy people, but that is just crazy. We both decided last night that we are going to try and go cold turkey with fast food - but if we get in a situation where we MUST buy something because we forgot our lunch or something, that no matter where we go we have to buy a salad. No exceptions. I think that if I really, really wanted Burger King, but knew I could only have a crappy salad I would change my mind! 

At least with this plan - if we must hurt our budget and go out, at least we are not hurting our waistline as well! 

Rachel

244

The Biggest Gainner

 Ugh. What can I say? I have been so, so bad over the last week. I swear, ever since I got back my results that said I didn't have diabetes, I've been eating like a fricken linebacker! I've managed to gain back SIX of the pounds I've lost. 

Friday was the worst! My husband was out at a dinner meeting for work and I knew I would be home with the baby. So instead of like making myself a tuna sandwich or something, I order a large pan pizza from Pizza Hut. I was even excited about it because I knew that the pan ones have all the butter on the bottom and I wouldn't have to share it with anyone. How messed up is that? I should have had leftovers like crazy! I don't know why I just can't seem to stop. 

BUT....

I know that I don't eat like that when I'm around other people (well, except for maybe Terry!), so I have an idea. I'm going to give it a shot and see how it works. I'm going to use my camera phone to take a picture of everything I eat and then at the end of the day I'll post them on here. I feel like if I have to own up to everything I put in my mouth, I might be a little more careful about what goes in there!!

Rachel

245

P.S. I did manage to have a diet soda and salad with chicken for lunch! :) 

Cheater, Cheater! Junk Food Eater!

 Sorry guys. 

I have to admit that I have seriously fallen off the wagon over the last week! I think after the whole no diabetes thing, my stomach gave my worried mind the week off. And now I am paying all four pounds of it. UGH! 

It started with a last minute dinner on friday (I think we had subs from the store), then a birthday party on saturday, Taco Bell on the way home because it was late, big pancake breakfast for no reason on Sunday, homemade pallea that night (SO high in cals, but oh so good!!) and just down hill like that since the last time I wrote. 

But I'm willing to acknowledge it and I'm moving on to better days! 

One positive thing did happen recently! We got a new kitten (3 months old) from the ASPCA and she is a hoot! She was so sweet at the shelter, calm and cuddly. But once we got her home she was still that, but also CRAZY! Doing flips and jumps. She even came right up to Harper and tagged her on the shoulder and then ran away. She was trying to get her to chase her! She would run up real close and rub on her, then skitter away. Harper was squealing. They were both having a lot of fun. 

Here's some pics of our new edition, Esther! :) 

999, 1000! Deep burn! My arms hurt because I did so many!

(Haha - gotta love Anchorman.)

So I think I need to come up with a new plan. Think I'm going to get up at 4:00am and start running a few miles, then once I get home I'll lift weights 3 days a week and do pilates on the other days. Then to eat - I think I will go the vegan route with protien bars to fill in for what I'm missing. Plus 10 to 12 vitamins and supplements each morning. Then....

HA! NO WAY! 

I think I've been a little down on myself lately for not instantly becoming "Health-Queen-O-Rama!" Right now I'm hardly doing anything other than trying to avoid extra high calorie stuff. And that has worked to an extent and will keep working - but very slowly. But I don't HAVE to turn into "Healthy-Queen-O-Rama!" Can't I just be "Rachel-Mom-With-Lower-Cholesterol-&-Lower-Bloold-Sugar!" and work on that?

So instead of getting down on myself for not instantly turning into a marathon runner (which I would have gave up on after 3 days anyway) and try this stuff for now instead:

1. Workout somehow for 20 to 30 min each day

2. Use my good judgement to eat better at least 75% of the time

That's enough to start with. Maybe after a month or two I'll push it up to 40 min and 80% of the time. But you know what, these are hard enough for me right now with my crazy life.

And the best part is - just because I'm not running 10 miles a day doesn't mean I'm not losing weight! It might actually mean that some of it stays off this time! ;)

Rachel

240 

Hot Moms

So I was in Wal-Mart the other day, looking something like death-warmed-over with a pony-tail, and I'm standing in line with probably a candy bar and a box of diapers, and there is this woman in front of me with 2 little boys. One is about 4 I would guess and the other somewhere around 2 or 3. 

Normally I wouldn't give someone like this a second glance in a store, but this woman had it going on! She wasn't particularly beautiful or anything, just cute I guess, but she was all put together. She had her hair in a natural kind of half up-down thing, her outfit was clean and matched (yes, she was in a shopping kind of outfit - jeans and a knit top), she had nice shoes, her makeup was done, this lady even found matching accessories! Now I'm not saying that she was like a lot of the ladies you see in Florida that wear gold lamme, 4 inch heels, and a mini skirt to the mall - no, this lady looked like she just stepped out of Parents mag in the new fashion section or something. And I just looked at her, then myself, and wished that I had at least taken the time to change into a shirt that didn't have a big snot swipe on the shoulder.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that my main goal for losing weight used to be to look better. But now that I'm a mom, a wife, and a working woman - I just don't have much time to even think about what I'm wearing and shave my legs, let alone do the full on makeup and hair thing, and I wonder if that is one of the things that is making it so hard to get back on track. 

I know that most of you out there are thinking that now that my health and my family need me, that should be more of a motivator than looking good ever was. But back when I was single and needed to pay more attention to the way I looked for the job I had then and when I was dating, I think that being THINNER was on my list of priorities - when it's not now. 

Now my goal is to GET HEALTHY and that is a whole different thing than thinner. Of course everyone always wants to look nice, but I think that healthy is harder to obtain than thin. 

I don't know, maybe I'm just talking in circles, what do you think?

Rachel 

239

Good News!

 Hey guys! Good news! 

I went to the doctors office to get my results of my 3 hour gluclose today. She said that I was still borderline (126 and over is Type 2 - I'm averaging about 110), which isn't really a GOOD thing, but it's better than finding out that I'm type 2 or anything like that. She said that if I keep doing well (I had lost 7 pounds since my last visit), lose more weight, eat healthy, and get at least a little exercise in, then I should be able to get down to normal levels. She also told me that my cholesterol levels where a little high. (Should be under 130 - mine was 139) 

I was surprised though - I called my mom to tell her the good news and I wanted to ask about my dads cholesterol levels and she told me that last time she went to the doctor her sugar levels were elevated too. That was interesting. She is only maybe 15 pounds overweight and her dad is my grandpa that I put down as my family history of diabetes. Not that this gives me ANY excuse not to lose weight and exercise - but it's interesting to know that maybe I really am predisposed to diabetes more through just my family than I thought. Hmmm.... maybe I ought to let my sister know that. I'll call her tonight. 

Rachel 

239

Funny Doodle!

Not a whole lot to report on today - still going on 239! But I find out about my test tomorrow and all my other blood work tomorrow at the doctor.

Rachel

239

P.S.

When you become a mom things like this become your weekend entertainment. :)