Today's meals - Feb 12

Ok, so for some reason my phone was being stupid and the pictures are in the wrong order. This first picture is my healthy snack this evening after having a "bad" night and giving into having KFC for supper. Not diet friendly at all, but a slip won't end the world I guess. I'm trying not to beat myself up about it because in the past what I've done is be too much of a perfectionist and if I mess up then the whole week is ruined so I might as well just give up and "start over" next week. Then years later I am weighing 238 pounds and have "restarted" lord only knows how many diets. So this was a blip, and tomorrow I will try to do better. I am not going to expect perfection on the weekend either because we will be travelling and away most of the weekend but I know that I can make better choices than KFC LOL. 

I didn't get a chance to take a pic of the KFC so this next picture is of my lunch, it's a big old bowl of salad with thousand island dressing and another serving of the same quinoa dinner I had yesterday.

I had oatmeal again for breakfast, but I added some flax seed to it and I went with the brown sugar and just added a little less.



I haen't had a chance to do yoga today but I did do 4 hours of housework and I'm still sore from yesterday too so I'm calling that a win :)

Today's meals

My breakfast today was oatmeal with a teaspoon of coconut palm sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I added a bowl of mixed berries and some cantaloupe to it too. Don't forget 2 cups of coffe with the creamer.

For lunch I had a quinoa rice blend with broccoli, mixed peppers, and snow peas mixed into it. I also had some celery with a little thousand island dressing. The rice blend wound up being so filling that I had to wait an hour before I could finish the celery. 

I had 2 snacks today, the first was half of a dark chocolate Aero bar, and the 2nd was an English muffin with some peanut butter and an apple.

As you can see I almost forgot to take a picture that time lol. For dinner I cheated a little because we had a roll of crescent rolls that expires at the end of the month, but I used lite margarine instead of real butter. I also had a small portion of whole wheat rotini and chicken breasts with mushrooms in Campbell's cream of mushroom soup. For veggies I went with asparagus brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic salt and pepper. A little too much pepper for my taste but the hubs liked it :)

All in all it wasn't a perfect day but given my history it's doing a lot better already.

I also drank 6 glasses of water and 2 glasses of milk. I plan to have a cup of tea before bed as well.

I complete the strength yoga video too... Most of it anyways. I had to skip out on the backbends because it wasn't comfortable. But I will get there eventually.

Good day :)

Changing My Way of Thinking about Food

Yesterday I had my appointment with the dietitian. Most of the information that she had for me I already knew from years and years of trying to lose weight but the shocker for me is how much I am waaaay overeating meats. Apparently 2.5oz is one serving now, I swear it used to be 4oz, and you are only supposed to have 2 servings a day. But yet you are supposed to have 6 servings of whole grains per day, which is totally backwards from the low carb/high protein existence that I have been trying to pull off. So I'm going to give it a shot and see if it goes. The worst that will happen is that it won't work and I won't lose weight, which has been the story of my life so far anyways. So I'm adding a daily goal of making myself food diary sheets to keep track of my servings of everything. I'm also going to add the goal of trying to get more quinoa in my diet, it's supposed to be some magical superfood that's a grain but also has great protein. It sure can't hurt :)

Monday Weigh-in: 238.2 (ugh, it's worse than I thought)

Daily goals:
Keep track of meals
Yoga strength workout
Clean house
Make food diary sheets

Weekly goals:
Lose 1 pound
At least 5 days of healthy meals
Workout of some kind at least 3 times
Get more quinoa in my diet

Monthly goals:
Get a pedometer
Lose at least 4 pounds
Start the couch-5k program

Long-Term goals:
125 Pounds
Jog for an hour straight
Be a healthy role model for my daughter by creating a healthy life style opposed to fad/yoyo dieting.

Yesterdays Meals

Breakfast:
1 egg with 1/4c egg white added scrambled with 2 Tbsp red/yellow & orange peppers, 1 slice of Maple Leaf naturals smoked Black forest Ham, a sprinkle of salt, pepper and dried parsley. Plus 1c of blueberry/blackberry mix on the side. Along with 2 Cups of coffee with Fat Free International Delight French Vanilla Creamer (coffee is going to be my downfall, It's an eventual goal to eliminate it).

For lunch and dinner (so I'm using the same picture) I ate leftover chili that I made that was full of veggies as well as made with half ground turkey to cut a but if fat. I also ate a few handfuls of pretzels as a snack and forgot to snap a picture. I said I was going to try...don't expect perfection lol.

I didn't get a chance to do my yoga last night, I was way to exhausted and cramps to bother. I realize now it probably would have helped but it's the past... Any ways, Moving on. 

It's been awhile to say the least...

Well, looking back I have not been on here since my first trimester. So the short version of the update is that the rest of my pregnancy went by with no complications and even a speedy labor (4 hours, I have a lot of haters now) and I gave birth to a beautiful little girl that we named Avery! This picture is from when she was 3 months old.

I cannot believe that she is 10 months old already and I have to start planning her first birthday!! She's going to be a very busy toddler, I can tell already. She simply refuses to crawl, she rolls everywhere that she wants to go, it's quite entertaining, but she gets into everything. And she's not even walking yet! As I type she is playing with the leg of my little desk and moving it around. But I can't complain, she's a very happy baby and that makes me happy :)

Onto the weight loss. Earlier last year I decided to try going Gluten-Free as a lot of my problems were also symptoms of a gluten issue. When I first went gluten-free in September I felt a bit better and I noticed that my skin cleared up but I was still getting lots of heartburn and digestive issues. So I completed the 3 months that I had committed to and started eating gluten again. I started with eggs and toast, if I actually had a gluten problem that toast should have thrown me for a loop but I had no issues with it. So obviously gluten is not my problem. I heard excellent things about people losing a ton of weight being gluten-free but in those 3 months I actually gained weight. I was going to the gym and doing 20 minutes of cardio, either the treadmill or elliptical machine, and then weight machines that covered my whole body. I was doing this 2 times a week plus 2 swim lessons a week with Avery. I understand the whole concept of muscle weighing more than fat and all that but after 3 months there should have been some kind of difference. So back to the doctor I went... For a little history, I have been complaining to the doctors for years about not being able to lose weight even when I'm trying super hard. They've done blood work and sent me to an endocrinologist and it's always the same. I have low thyroid and insulin resistance, but both are still technically within the normal range so there's nothing that they can do about it, I should just try to lose some weight. Both of these conditions make it harder to lose weight but we won't help you with it at all. It is very frustrating.

I want to be clear, I am not looking for a miracle pill or a way out. I am willing to do the work involved but I want to be able to see results. I realize that they may not be immediate results but several times throughout my 20's I tried to lose weight for a few months without seeing any results at all. I've tried regular low-fat low-sugar dieting, several different fad diets, supplements, and different styles of working out. So far nothing has worked.

This time I am going to make it different....I'm not totally sure how, but as the joke goes I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I had blood work again on Friday to see if anything is different after my pregnancy. I am seeing a dietitian today, and I plan to start  running as soon as it's warm enough to be outside without the insides of your nostril freezing over. I plan to do yoga and jogging alternately and throw in some hand weight workouts and we had to give up our gym memberships for financial reasons. When my Husband's new benefits kick in I can see if they cover acupuncture, because that is something that I would like to add to my arsenal as well. I already utilize my osteopath and chiropractor as I am still experiencing hip problems. I am hoping that they will go away with losing weight as well.

So my plan for now is to check in on here once per day with a photo journal of what I have been eating. This will be my way of keeping myself accountable. I also plan to make myself daily, weekly, and long term goals. And of course I will include weekly weigh-ins. I don't feel totally comfortable with that part, but I feel this way I am kind of forced to be held accountable.

Monday Weigh-in: 238.2 (ugh, it's worse than I thought)

Daily goals:
Start blog
Keep track of meals
Yoga strength workout

Weekly goals:
Lose 1 pound
At least 5 days of healthy meals
Workout of some kind at least 3 times

Monthly goals:
Get a pedometer
Lose at least 4 pounds
Start the couch-5k program

Long-Term goals:
125 Pounds
Jog for an hour straight
Be a healthy role model for my daughter by creating a healthy life style opposed to fad/yoyo dieting.

Phew...

We are now officially 14 weeks along, which means we are out of the troublesome 1st trimester YAY.

So far I am feeling good but this past week I have had some particularly brutal headaches. I mean migraine strength, feels like your eyeballs are throbbing headaches. I had to go home early yesterday because it was so bad and I don't even remember driving home (which probably wasn't really safe). So I found a wonderful chiropractor that specializes in prenatal care yesterday and i even got in to see her last night. She was amazing, turns out my neck was out of place and cramped up 6 ways from Sunday. She also did some active muscle release on my hip, which has been bothering me for awhile now too. Of course today I feel like I was beaten with a 2x4 but I can feel a difference too. My headache is far less severe and my hip and leg have not gone numb yet. I just have to wait for the swelling from the "fixing" goes down then hopefully I'll feel back up to snuff :)

Pregnancy is boring ;)

It's not really, but after the initial fun and secrecy, and learning everything there is to learn about the early stages of pregnancy, it kind of feels like you just sit there twiddling your thumbs wondering what to do next.

We have seen the heart beat. We have made it past eight weeks, which is when your miscarriage risk is supposed to lower. We have book our scans and tests for the end of the first trimester. I've shopped for maternity clothes. We've gone through the baby section in several stores to map out the things that we need and the things that we want. We've even announced on Facebook with a cute picture!

It just feels like there's nothing really much else to do for now. So I guess I'll go back to focusing on work (as much as I can with pregnancy brain....it's a real thing!!). Wish me luck all :D