Week 7, Day 4

Dieting and healthy living seems to be so much about what's forbidden; lower calories, stop ingesting sugar, stay away from processed foods, etc. But according to Health.com there are really yummy foods that help in the weight loss war. Things like dips and desserts and other foods that I never think of as permissible, let alone a real help. Check it out!

I love my friends. And today was great because I had lunch with someone I absolutely adore and truly admire. She and I used to share an office, and she's just a fabulous person. I haven't seen her for months, and it did my heart good to see her again. She's losing weight with the Biggest Loser, too, and chose Jason's Deli for our healthy meal. It's really nice to hang out with someone who is on the same journey!

A word of warning about Jason's, though. It's a great place for natural and organic meals. So normally I feel really good about eating there. We each ordered the chicken salad wrap today and I got fruit with mine, making sure the let them know I didn't want any pineapple. I thought the wrap tasted really good, with a bit of a sweet flavor. I thought, too, that I detected some tiny bits of pineapple in the chicken salad. Nothing big, but enough to make me wonder. Pineapple wasn't listed in the ingredients on the menu, though, so I assumed I was wrong and didn't really think more about it. I was about halfway into my wrap when my friend got started on hers. A few bites into it she asked me if I thought it had pineapple in it. We both checked the menu again, which lists the ingredients in each of the items. No pineapple listed. But she took her wrap back up to the counter. Sure enough, pineapple. She and I both are severely allergic to pineapple. I was extremely disappointed, to say the least. Especially since I had told the lady who took my order that it was extremely important that I not have pineapple included in the fruit I ordered. I really feel that she should have said something about their being the offending fruit in the chicken salad. Really. So if you ever eat at Jason's Deli -- and I normally would highly recommend them, be SURE to ask about the ingredients if you have any allergies or special dietary needs.

I have done my exercising today. A half a mile of walking and about a half hour on the bike. I missed breakfast, had some of the chicken salad wrap and fruit for lunch, and haven't had dinner yet. I anticipate that I'll have some yogurt. Tonight Adam is back at work and I miss him -- so I would really like to have a lot of chocolate. Adam is so much hoping for a better, healthier life for me, though. So I will refrain for his sake and mine. But it won't be easy. Mmmmm....chocolate, yummy yummy chocolate..... NO! :)

Week 7, Day 3

Did I mention yesterday that Little Man weighs just a little under 25 pounds? Knowing that and the fact that I was able to do lifts pushing him up and down above my head makes me even more amazed at the progress I've made. I'll see him again at Thanksgiving, and I want to work really hard between now and then so I can play with him more and maybe not get so worn out. As he gets older, there are going to be more and more activities requiring that I be fit and able. I want to be ready!

Today is the last day of Adam's vacation. I'm so glad he took the time off! He needed it. I wish we had had the money to go out of town and just totally get away from it all for him, but he seems to have enjoyed just having a whole lot of nothing to do. I think we'll do something special for dinner this last night. Then tomorrow we're having lunch with a friend before he goes to work at 2. I don't like exercising in front of him, so I haven't done much on my bike this week. I hope I have the gumption to ride it more regularly once he goes back to work. I tend toward the lazy side of life at times, so I really need to keep pushing each day or I'll never make this whole weight loss thing happen.

I've got my hand weights by the couch so I can easily just pick them up and do my wattle battle while I'm watching television. See what I mean? Lazy. But this seems to work well with doing stuff while the boob-tube is on. If I get involved in the story, I don't even think about my arms getting tired so I end up doing more. My little way of tricking myself.

I'm off now to get my hair cut. I had hoped to do it as a reward for a 20 pound loss. But it can't wait. So just a cut now, and then once I dip under the 200 pound milestone, I'll do something like get my hair dyed or maybe just a real kicky cut and some new clothes. Something to look forward to.

Week 7, Day 2

Little Man was so sweet this afternoon. He's a big fan of Fraggle Rock, and we watched them for awhile before it was time for Adam and me to leave. I'm really nuts about him, even though he wears me out sometimes. The couple of days of way more activity than I'm used to was good for me, and it was an affirmation that I'm headed in the right direction with my acquisition of A New Suit. A few months ago I could not have played with him (or chased the little speed demon!) like I did this time. And in a few months more I will be even stronger. We each have our own motivation for the journey to fitness and health, and Little Man is one of my very good reasons for continuing on this journey.

Let's see....food. Mom made biscuits this morning, and I had two with a tiny bit of apricot preserves. Late lunch was a grilled chicken sandwich from Burger King -- which gave me a nasty case of the runs. Clearly, I'm not meant to eat fast food anymore because the past couple of times I've tried it, I've ended up ill. Dinner was good -- leftovers of Mom's chicken and noodles from last night. Back to my regular diet tomorrow. I love Mom and the meals she cooks for us, but while I'm on this journey, I like having more control over what I eat.

Fitness -- nearly none today. Just about 15 minutes of weights for my arms. I'm so sore from the past couple of days. So it's probably just as well to have taken it easy today. But tomorrow I will get back on the bike and work again. I hope to walk a bit, too. But it's Adam's last day of vacation, so we'll see.

Goodnight, Little Man. Thanks for the encouragement. And thanks for being you. Oma loves you!

Week 7, Day 1

Oh my goodness. I am so tired and hurt so bad. I got the opportunity to babysit with Little Man twice today, two hours this afternoon and three hours this evening. My parents were here, too, of course. But they are in their 80's. So I was the designated chaser. Up, down, around, over, under, cleaning up messes, picking up toys, and somehow finding time and energy to play Flying-Over-Oma's-Head game, knee bouncing, and foot toss with him throwing his blankie onto my foot and my tossing it back to him with the foot (just like leg lifts except fun!). And for some reason, Little Man insisted that he was going to play in the kitchen, and my mom has not kid-proofed it. So he would go zooming into the kitchen and I would have to retrieve him, listen to him cry and holler about it, and repeat the process too many times to count over the hours. Thank heavens Adam was here to help, too. He helped with the clean up, especially when Little Man took doggie's water bowl and flung it upside down -- clearly in defiance of my having told him many times to not touch it.

Between yesterday and today with Little Man, I've gotten more of a workout than I've had in a long time. And that's great! But as I said, I am so tired and hurt so bad tonight. As I look back on the day, however, I'm glad to have had so much activity because it gave me the opportunity to work off some of the food no-no's I've had today. Mom served cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then for dinner we had chicken and noodles with carrots. I know I shouldn't eat pasta, but the noodles were really good, and there was no way to politely pick them out of the food anyway. Mom loads her chicken and noodles with plenty of chicken and carrots, so that was great.

We watched The Biggest Loser tonight. It was the first time my parents had seen the show. It was an especially good episode, too. Very moving and a very good example of the diet tips, motivation, and exercise ideas that I've come to enjoy in the show. However, I think Mom doesn't quite get the spirit of the whole thing I'm trying to do. She baked a chocolate cake today and served it for dessert right after The Biggest Loser. I declined, and as she brought the over-sized servings of cake out to the living room, she brought them right up to me and said with a laugh, "Wanna sniff?" That's why when I tried dieting when I lived with them a few years ago, I failed. Miserablly. But this time I did well. I declined and stuck to my guns. I knew with cinnamon rolls for breakfast, cake tonight would have been like poison. I'm learning. I'm making progress. I turned down chocolate cake.

Week 6, Day 7

Ah, this is the life! Today and tomorrow I am in Oma-land visiting Little Man, his parents, and my mom and dad. For the uninitiated, "oma" is German for "grandma", and Little Man is my one-year-old grandson. Aside from my heart being totally delighted tonight, I am so pleased with my fitness level. A month ago I had trouble lifting him over my head even for a little bit. Today he and I played the Flying-Over-Oma's-Head game. This is where I hoist him off the ground and up over my head, then give him a slight extra nudge so he is temporarily airborne...repeatedly (and not too quickly lest I scramble his little head innards). Then I bounced him on first one knee and then the next, then back to the Flying-Over-Oma's-Head game, followed by more knee bouncing, etc. He loved it! And my arms and legs didn't even hurt! I got a little dewey from the exertion, but I DID IT!!! For about 15 minutes straight! My mom commented that she could never have done that kind of thing with her grandkids. Clearly, the war I've waged against my arm wattle is working!!! Oh my, I am SO happy!

We're staying here in Iowa until Wednesday morning, so I'm undecided about whether or not I'll weigh in here tomrrow. I think it's important to weigh in on the same day and the same scales each week. So I'm debated the merits of skipping this week's weigh in. I'll see how I feel about that tomorrow. What are your thougths about it?

Besides the workout with Little Man, I have not done any other exercise. I had peanut butter and whole wheat toast for breakfast, a peach smoothie for lunch, and a cup of chicken with noodles and a cup of peas for dinner. My lovely daughter-in-heart brought mini creme puffs for dessert, pre-dished up with each of us getting six of them. The calorie content is approximately 220 calories. Not too bad all things considered.

Adam is busy playing video games with his brother and sister-in-law right now. If he comes back before it gets too late, I think we might go out for a brief walk, so maybe I can work off a bit of the creme puffs. But whether or not that happens, I will sleep well as I dream about the fun Little Man and I will have tomorrow. Ah yes, this really IS the life!

Week 6, Days 5 and 6

Gosh, yesterday was just such a blah day that everything seemed to pass me by, including logging in here. I don't know what I have days like that where I feel so terribly unmotivated. It's certainly not a good thing for a diet!

I ate a sandwich, a bowl of soup, and a small piece of pumpkin pie -- and I felt stuffed. I think my stomach must be shrinking. And I spent about two hours doing the weights with my arms. No walking. I'm surprised that today my arms haven't hurt.

Today I walked a half a mile at the store. I would have gone longer, but it was so very hot in Walmart. Always is, and I don't know why they keep it that way. I suppose some of that is because when I go walking, I go at a pretty good clip now and work up a sweat. But really....they do keep it warm in there.

I haven't had much to eat today and really haven't been hungry. I had a tiny bit of chicken, a slice of cheese, and whole wheat bread for breakfast, and a ham sandwich for dinner.

Today's Tip: NEVER go to the grocery store without eating a little bit ahead of time. Even if it's just a little container of yogurt, it will take the edge off your hunger and keep you from being tempted by the goodies and more likely to happily choose healthy foods.

Now...I'm off to play video games with Adam. :)