Wake-up Call

I want you to meet Ketchup! We picked this little guy up yesterday and brought him home to live with our 12 lady birds. Ketchup woke me up at 5:00 this morning! And I was happy about it! You see, I have been praying for quite some time that the Lord would help me get up when I need to in order to have my quiet time, do some cleaning and get dressed before the kiddos wake up. The alarm clock just doesn't work for me. But Ketchup does! There is no way I can go back to sleep because he keeps cock-a-doodle-do-ing for about 30 minutes. My room is the only one close enough to be bothered by this and my husband could sleep even if a freight train came crashing through our house. Perfect.

Today is my First Place meeting, weigh-in day, and music practice for church! Wednesday, although usually crazy, is a day I look forward to every week. Regardless of what I think the scale is going to say, I still love going to the meeting. I'm so thankful that I was able to get past the "do bad-don't go" mentality. I know a lot of that has to do with the fact that I am the leader, so I'm thankful for that, too.

I filled out my tracker this morning since I knew I wouldn't be able to mess with it with the busy afternoon coming up. I think that is good policy--you know its a good day to plan ahead when there won't be time to track during it. No time to track means no time to think which can, many times, mean mindless eating or poor choices.

It should be easy to make sure I stay true to my tracker besides the jogging part. It looks like it's about to rain here so I might have to force myself on the dreadmill! NOOOOOOO! But I will, for the integrity of my tracker. I may post again tonight with weigh-in results...remember I'm going for 1 lb. per week!

On Track

Thank goodness, another successful day! Being on track feels oh-so good! Yes, I did go over on my fruit intake and I didn't hit my 500 calorie per day burn, but I still feel successful. I am really enjoying this tracker I made. I actually look forward to writing down what I am eating! So glad I made something the really works for me.

Over the past few days I have become aware of some really significant things because I have been extremely mindful with my eating. I realized that I am easily going over my "extra" or "empty" calories each day--even when I'm "being good". (This is the e/c line on my tracker.) I am supposed to keep it under 195 calories. I think I have been coming close to that every morning with just the creamer I put in my coffee!!! Not to mention stuff like ketchup, barbecue sauce, ice cream bars, etc. I added this line to the tracker in big bold print right at the top of each meal so that I will be aware of all the extra calories I am taking in. They add up!

The other thing I have become aware of, yet again, is the lack of water I am drinking. Yes, yes, yes. We all know how important water is...so why is it so difficult to get in? For one thing, it makes you need to hang out in bathroom for most of the day. But I need those extra squats, so no excuses ;-) I buy bottled water so I pull out 4 of them (80 oz. total) in the morning and make sure they are all gone by the time I go to sleep. It's working out well.

Some additional info I picked up from the http://www.mypyramid.gov/ (I swear they aren't paying me or forcing me to mention it!) regarding vegetables:

Dark Green Vegetables = 3 cups weekly
Orange Vegetables = 2 cups weekly
Dry Beans & Peas = 3 cups weekly
Starchy Vegetables = 3 cups weekly
Other Vegetables = 6 1/2 cups weekly

Keep in mind this is tailored to my specific food plan, but the breakdown really helps with making the best, varied choices for veggies. Variety is so important!

Today's tracker:

Have a happy hump day tomorrow! Are you on track...or bouncing back? Those are the only two options we have.

See, Pray, Live

It felt like I was back in a well worn pair of shoes today. Walking in the right direction again. I wrote down everything that I ate. I even struggled against some Cheez-Its, potato chips and leftovers I spotted in my parent's fridge, but guess what? I won!

I have been thinking a lot about the word trust lately. I have realized that when I get hungry, I lose trust in anything besides my stomach. Whatever my stomach tells me, I believe. What my stomach usually tells me is that I need more food than what I am planning on eating--that what I have planned on won't "fill me up." My stomach tells me that it can have just one potato chip and be able to turn down the rest.

Sometimes it's okay to go with your gut, but not in this case. I can't trust my literal "gut". I have been praying for the ability to trust what I know to be true about my body and the food that it needs. The food it needs, in the appropriate quantity, will satisfy. I know that to be true. Allowing my hungry stomach to call the shots on what and how much I eat will make me fat. I know that to be true.

I love this quote from Carol Lewis, the national director of First Place 4 Health:

"First, you need to see beyond the obvious; then you need to pray beyond the possible; finally, you need to live beyond the temporary."

For the majority of us, hunger is temporary. That feeling of wanting to eat your arm off will go away if you and I will simply proceed ahead with what we know to be true.

Sunday Tracker

It ain't pretty ya'll, but it is what it is.

If you are interested in the nutrition plan that I (am supposed to) follow, go here: www.mypyramid.gov . Fill out the info it asks for and then select to gradually move toward a healthier weight. When you get to the next screen it will give a breakdown of what you need from each food group plus lots of other important information. Read everything. Especially note that you should limit "extra" calories(what I called "empty calories or e/c on my tracker) to 195. Notice I had 1150 today. Boo!

This website is SUCH a great tool--and it's FREE! It is simple, basic and what we learned in elementary school. Who knew it could help us stay healthy!? ;-) Some other things I found on the site that are really cool: an online tracker, mypyramid plans for kiddos, info for pregnant or nursing moms, food group specific info and even a menu planning tool! Love it. Thank you, U.S. government!

I hope to never have a tracker like this again. Good night.

Goals. Accountability. Sigh.

This is what I ate yesterday. Why do I feel like I just walked buck-naked into a room full of people?

Thanks to Kimberlynn for the How-To on making these GORGEOUS boxes ;) 

I have been inspired to kick-up my accountability which has been pretty much non-existent lately! The plan is for me to post this food tracker everyday. I hesitate to do this because it is a big commitment and the whole "possibility of failure" thing, but I think it is necessary for me right now. I am just not happy or comfortable with the lackadaisical way I am doing things lately. (I will buy lunch for the first person who can tell me where I learned the word lackadaisical)

The proof is in the tracker above! I thought I did well yesterday...until today when I stopped to think about everything I put in my mouth. The sad thing is that I have been having plenty of days here lately that I really thought I did "bad" so you can imagine what those trackers would look like! :/

While I am setting this lofty goal I thought I would add another. My friend Norma pointed out (as we were having a dressing room melt-down this weekend) that we haven't been setting goals like we used to. We would aim for certain amounts of weight to be gone within certain amounts of time. Well, I know why we quit doing that--because we weren't reaching our goals. Ha! I told Norma that and she reminded me that even though we might not have been reaching them, we were getting closer than we are now.

Good point.

So my goal, for the time being, is to lose 1 lb per week. This may be crazy. I don't know. I mean I know it's not unhealthy. It just may be crazy to think that in this stage of the game I can lose 1 lb per week. But I still have 35ish pounds to lose so I think it is reasonable. I think that if I simply stick to my eating plan and burn 500 calories per day I can be successful in this goal. This is what I was doing when I first started--faithfully. The result was consistent weight loss.

Duh. I just re-read that paragraph and laughed because--DUH! I know what I need to do. Why is it so hard to do it!? :-)

I will not hold it against you if someone decides to start a betting pool for how long it will take me to abandon these goals. But I am praying for dedication and perseverance...so odds are kinda in my favor. ;-)

Hold me accountable!!!!!!