Today's Eating

 

Breakfast: Brown vegetable fried rice with tofu and egg
Snack: Latte, dates, cashews
Lunch: Nonfat plain yogurt with stevia, roasted almonds, quinoa, 2 small clementines
Snack: 2 oz chicken breast, 1 oz reduced fat cheese, hot sauce
Dinner: Spinach salad with beans, chicken, olive oil and spices, grapes
Snack: Roasted zucchini, olive oil

On Plan!!

What am I doing here?

That's a question I've mulling over for the last few days. What will I share? How personal? How many details? I'm still figuring that out, but here's what inspires me right now:


1. Accountability.
Even if few people are looking, if I am posting cold, hard facts about what I am doing, I know from personal experience that I will be more careful during the day regarding food and exercise.

2. Small Successes.
There are areas in my life where I have wanted to make progress for so long, but feel stuck and powerless. These areas include our home, my weight, and growing our family.
In regards to our home, getting our house fixed up in some pretty big, but basic ways such as paint, re-doing the floors, getting insulation, and re-wiring have been on the agenda for years. Money, time, and know-how are the barriers to these.
The weight is pretty obvious, and was the reason for starting this blog in the first place. Adding to our family is a tricky one, and may or may not be related to my weight loss. I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome about 3 1/2 years ago, and have more or less avoided learning exactly how it affects me, but it is likely having an impact on my weight and the fact that we have never conceived in over three years of trying. We don't know if my pursuing health in general will make a difference, or how far we would go with fertility treatment, or if adoption is our answer. Money has been the major barrier to all of this. During this time Brian lost one not-so-well-paying-but-fun job, but gained a new job, which could be described as "Potentially high-paying, very exciting, but thus far extremely challenging, often thrilling, very low-paying rollercoaster." We have felt trapped by our financial circumstances for some time. We have plenty to get by the way things are, but losing my income in any way would be disastrous.

3. Relationships
Self-explainatory. Especially the ones that keep me on my toes and point me toward God.



Forward movement in any of these areas will be considered successes. I tend to dwell on my shortcomings, feeling like I have not measured up in some way, and spend time trying to insulate myself from having to deal with these things. I hereby commit to celebrating successes.


Yesterday's Successes:
-Made an appointment with a respected Reproductive Endocrinologist for Brian and I to get some solid answers.
-Ate on plan, even with one meal out.
-Hung out at dinner and soccer with my husband and new friends.
-Got the dog groomed so he will stop filling our house with hair.
Overall, a pretty good day. :)

Resolution: Photo food journal every day for a week, exercise journal for a week.

Successes

Today, I stuck to the eating plan, exercised, and found a reproductive endocrinologist to figure out why it is that I could gain 80 pounds in five and a half years. That just doesn't sound right. I also decided that one weigh-in day a week is adequate, and probably best since there are little ups and downs. Friday is the day.
All for now. It's bedtime.

Working, working.

It's been quite the weekend. Saturday was a sleep-in day, then a soccer game, then hanging out with a friend to check out a really good vegan restaurant in Capitol Hill, followed by a 3.5 mile walk at Greenlake. The evening turned into all night after my wonderful husband instructed me to let loose a little.
Today (Sunday) I worked, did a Costco and Trader Joe's run, and now am home preparing food for the week. One of the biggest challenges I face is a busy schedule. When I don't plan, I fall off the eating well wagon. More to come...

Start a blog, lose three pounds!

Call it a false negative, or my starting weight a false positive if you want, but I'll take it! It's an auspicious start. Today was soccer day, so I'm writing this late at night...more tomorrow!

Getting Started....

Well, here I am. I'm stepping out, stepping up...reaching out. The opposite of how I usually deal with problems in my life. With the encouragement of my husband, who in return has agreed to step up in some areas in his life, I am forming a committee of friends to hold me accountable in this venture. While I am not quite sure what my posts will hold, I have to start somewhere!

I am currently about 19 pounds lighter than my heaviest weight, which is great, but my progress has been very slow. It's taken me about 15 months. In the last year I find that when I am stressed or sad, I tend to become undisciplined in the areas of my schedule, my finances, and my planning. Meals become haphazard and I end up eating out, or just eating unconsciously.

I need to lose more than 48 pounds, but I'm not sure how much. I have never been at a normal adult weight for a woman my height. I'll have to make further goals after I reach this first one.

I have a plan. I'm working with a great dietitian (who I will name later if she wants me to)who has set up a plan based on number of servings of fat, protien, carbs, dairy, veggies, and fruit. It's doable. Of note, I am dealing with two challenges: food allergies and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which I will talk about later.

That's it for now! Here it is. Now, to let my "Committee" know.