Weight debt

Today I got on my computer and looked at my total debt. My husband and I both have student loans, a few scattered credit cards and my husband still has a car payment. We decided to make a conscious effort to work on getting rid of our debt. All in all, it's pretty hefty but nothing we can't manage. As I sit here reflecting on our monetary debt, it reminds me of our physical debt we get ourselves into with each pound we gain. We spend the money we don't have to enjoy pleasures of the present instead of ensuring stability in our future. In the same way, we eat calories that we know we won't be able to sustain. We don't exercise to "pay" off the debt we've accumulated that day, and then we turn around a year- 2 years- 10 years later and we wonder how we got to be this way.

I'm sure there are some people out there who are the perfect weight AND have no debt. And I'm super jealous of them. I need to find one of them to be my life coach. I really would love a life coach. Is there really such a thing?


If any of my readers are a life coach, hook me up. I need life help.

Weigh in day

Guess what...

I had a nice loss this week! I am down 2.8 pounds from last week, and a total of 17.6 pounds! I feel good! Tomorrow I am getting pictures taken, and I am starting to feel a difference in how my clothes are fitting. The weight is coming off rather slowly, but like I said before- this is a lifestyle change, it's not a diet. I am altering the way I eat for life, not trying to get down to the lowest number I can get to and then scratch my head and say, "now what?"

My neighbor told me yesterday she could tell I had lost weight. She asked me what I was going to do to reward myself when I got to 20 pounds down. I kind of laughed at her. I know I have worked hard, but not as hard as some of you bloggers out there! I read some of your blogs and you have consistent losses every week. You persevere and you make no excuses. Here I am, every other day writing about how I cheated. ha! It's kind of humorous to think about treating myself.

 So this is what I've decided to do, after 30 pounds down I am going to get a pedicure, so all you dedicated bloggers don't have to look at my nasty toenails on the scale anymore. I consider it a community win.

Pictures tomorrow!!


Good luck with your weight loss endeavors. You motivate me more than you know.

Wrapping up the week

Tomorrow is weigh in day! I feel good! I have stayed on my diet plan and made an effort to exercise every day. I think the work will speak for itself. My friend can't take pictures tomorrow, but we've arranged for pictures on Tuesday. I think I'll start taking pictures once a month instead of every week. I think the change will be more noticeable that way. Not much to report today, hope every one has a good week!

Good luck with your weight loss!

Sister sister...

Today is one of those pensive days. My endeavors for health and weight loss are on a nice cruise control this week, I feel as if I am doing well. I took a sneak peek at the scale this morning (bad Paige...) and I was happy to see the results thus far in the week.
As I sit here thinking about what to write about, my sister pops in my head. She and I have been struggling to keep close the past few years, mainly because she is constantly working or doing things for other people, and because I moved 5 hours away. One thing we have been able to bond over is these essential oils she gave me. I don't go into it too deeply, because I'm not trying to sell anything on here. However, I am writing because through these last 2 months as I have been striving for weight loss, I have now turned to strive for being healthy and fit. I want to treat my body and mind well. I want to live a nice, long life with J by my side. He keeps things interesting. If you are into all this aromatherapy stuff, you should check some of the oils out. I like diffusing them, I think they are helping with my stress level, and I really do feel better on the days I diffuse them around the house.





I really like diffusing Joy, Purification and Valor around the house. It's nice for a little pick-me-up. If you're not into aromatherapy, then just disregard this part. I guess I'm a hippie at heart.











Anyway, my sister doesn't know about my blog to date, so I'm not trying to get on her good side. (However, if you do get on her good side, she will make you dinner, and she is a VERY good cook!)

As I sit here reflecting on weight loss throughout life, a period of time comes to me when L and I were on college. I was gaining weight at a rapid speed, and had just started to be at the point where I was going to have to start wearing plus sizes. I already have no fashion sense, and I had no idea how to pick out clothes that looked good on me. One day during summer break, my sister approached me. She wanted to take me shopping. I remember that most of the clothes in my closet were either too small or too big. I had very little self-esteem, and I felt like I looked like Shamu (which is interesting, because I weigh a good 70 pounds more NOW than I did then. Perspective- it's somethin, ain't it?)

I was resistant at first, because my sister was tiny- she took care of herself. Now, you women out there with a few extra pounds- do you like going shopping with women who are small and look cute in anything? If you're anything like me, the answer is no. I guess she was persistent, because I did go.

It was one of the funnest experiences I've had shopping. My sister had several opportunities to criticize the things that I put on. She could have made jabs, and inserted in the conversation how things looked SOO good on her, but didn't on me. But she did not do that- not even once. She picked out clothes for me that she thought would fit, analyzed them after I modeled them for her, and then gave her advice. She was gentle, she didn't criticize. My weight didn't come up. She would look at me, and if she didn't think what I had on looked flattering on me, she would find something else. She doesn't know this, but that day meant more than a million bucks to me. She was patient, uplifting, and gentle.

L, I love you, and I think you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever met, inside and out. One day, you will read this. When you do, please know that you are an inspiration to me. You are the best sister anybody could have, and you mean more to me than you will ever know. Thank you for lifting me up when I was down.

Good luck with your weight loss endeavors this week!

 Here is a picture of L and me in my grandparents' RV. We were so young and cute. L is on the left, I am on the right.

Loveland Bike Trail

Today I tried out the Loveland Bike Trail. I think the whole bike trail runs over a hundred miles, and goes from North of Columbus down to the Ohio River. Eventually I would like to make it all the way down to Downtown and back, but that's over 30 miles.

This is where the bike trail passes through Loveland. It's beautiful! I didn't go far today, just scoping it out. Another phone app I love- My Tracks. I love it! I just pushed play when I was about to start my bike ride, put my phone in my pocket and took off. Here is a picture of my route:

I really enjoy my new bike riding hobby!

Healthy life = happier life

I have to admit that when I am eating healthier, I feel healthier. I also am expecting for my lower back and my knees to ease up soon, but they're still hurting after rough days. I enjoy waking up without a foggy head, and sleeping so well at night. It's been wonderful. Now, if only I could get that high from exercising like everybody talks about then we'd be doing even better! I can exercise all day and I still hate it.

What a great day!

I work today, and then I have 3 days off. I think I'm going to try something new as far as exercise. Any suggestions? King's Island Amusement Park is open. I thought about going there and walking around the park for an hour or so, it's so sunny and nice out. I thought about going on a riding path as well, we have one close to my house. Apparently it's almost 50 miles long. I bet that would be fun to explore that on my bike! I hear that they also have kayaks for rent along the Little Miami River. I think that would be a lot of fun, however, I'm not sure I want my first kayak experience to be alone. I don't even know HOW to kayak. Anyway, the day is young! Any suggestions?

Weigh in day

So this week wasn't my best. I think I kind of obsessed on that this week with my posts. I learned a lot about myself this week. First, I seem to have very little self-control. Now, in my defense, I have a very rough time on my cycle (Sorry male readers). I get emotional and it's hard to talk to me, and in a way I guess it's even hard for ME to talk sense and reason to myself during this time. Just some thoughts to ponder.
Second, I require a strict routine. When there is no strict routine in place, I start to get bored and cheat. I like to stay busy to keep my mind from wondering to food. This is where I am going to have to work hard to stay on track. There is absolutely NO WAY that circumstances will allow me to stay on a strict routine 100% of the time. Life happens. Things happen. It will be hard, but it is important for me to learn how to adapt.
Third, when I'm cheating, and being tempted I do not blog as much. Perhaps it should be the other way around. When I am doing well, I should blog, but when I'm not doing well, I should blog even more! I need that sense of accountability.

Reflecting on your bad points is the birth to personal enlightenment. Some people don't like to concentrate on their bad points, but how else will you grow? You have to know why you do certain things in order to be able to change your behavior.

Anyway, I bet you thought I was rambling so that you would forget it is weigh in week. Not so...here goes...

There you have it ladies and gentlemen. I have no idea how but I have maintained my weight, despite all the bad foods I ate. This week begins a better journey into weight loss. This week there will be a loss.

Good luck with your own weight loss endeavors.

Back on track

After a few days of making poor dieting choices, I am back on track. Although I expect I will have gained weight this week, I am not going to let this discourage me. I am going to continue to eat healthy, and continue to plow through. Poor J has had to fend for himself these last few days while I was at my conference. He didn't get his breakfast, and had to fend for himself for lunch until I got home. He could have easily gone back to how he use to eat, because no one was monitoring his consumption, but he did not! I'm so proud of him. Good job, J.

Enjoying the weather

Work has me beat. I haven't had much to contribute and because of this conference I've been thrown off my routine. This is not an excuse, and I will take credit for any fallbacks I have this week. Hope everyone is doing better than me.

And I built a fire and now it's raining. Just about right.

Why am I doing this anyway?

Everyone at work is required to attend a conference called "Reigniting the Spirit of Caring." Today was my first day, and this is my kind of conference. Today we talked about how each of us are important, and how to love ourselves. The conference will eventually go into how to become a better co-worker and then slyly elude how to become a better employee, but today they gave us rose-colored glasses and yelled, "Love thyself!"

One thing our counselor covered was that each of us are important, and therefore we deserve to take care of ourselves. We deserve to put ourselves first, then family and other things second, because if we don't take care of ourselves first, we can't adequately take care of anything else. They dipped into the important of diet and exercise (secretly I wondered if this was a ploy to decrease our insurance premiums, but who knows).

If anything, today reminded me that I am doing this healthy lifestyle thing for a reason. I want to be fit. I want to be healthy. I want to do things without being worried about my size and weight. I don't  want to sit in a room and secretly wonder if I am the biggest one there. I want to be proud of myself.

Today is fat Tuesday: J lost 2 pounds. We are on a roll!

Weigh in day!

Today day is weigh in day, and the results are:

I am down 1.4 pounds from last week for a total of 14.8 pounds. I'm not losing very fast, but at least I am still losing. I understand it is by my own doing that I am not losing as fast as expected. I chose to up my calorie intake so I wouldn't get bored on my diet, I choose not to exercise like I know I should. Honestly, after traveling and reducing my water so drastically I'm thankful to have lost at all.

I forgot about the pictures. (sorry!!) Maybe I can take some later today. I hope everyone excels at their weight loss endeavors this week! Good luck!

On the road again...

As we drive into the Cincinnati city limits, I reflect on how sedementary I was this weekend and hope it does not reflect on the scale tomorrow. Pictures are being taken tomorrow as well.

Welcome to Nashville, y'all!

Nashville has always been home to me. It's always good to come back. Yesterday on the road went fine. I had packed enough healthy snacks that we didn't even really get hungry for lunch. I didn't get hardly any of my water in, because if I drink too much we have to stop too much.  We brought all 4 dogs, and it's still to be determined if I'm going to pull all my hair out. They are bad dogs on roadtrips.

Dinner went well, we grilled some chicken and boiled some green beans. Mom was kind of funny, she kept trying to get J to eat more. After dinner, she offered ice cream which J can't turn down. We calculated how many calories he could have which turned out to be a cup of vanilla ice cream. My mom gave him a huge bowl. I started to protest, but mom scolded me.

"Let the boy eat." She said.

Southern women are so bossy.

Here is Luna, our oldest. She looks sweet, but she is really planning her next move to run away or pee on something. They all turn into bad dogs when we take them on roadtrips. Unfortunately, our dog sitter AND backup dog sitter were gone this weekend. So here we are.

Travel experiment #2

Today J and I are headed to Nashville to visit my family. I think we'll be fine with our foods, my whole family are chronic dieters. We are all trying to lose weight. I already called my mom and let her know we are doing our own thing. The drive up and the drive back are the times when I see a problem. Although, now that J and I are both on diets, maybe it won't be that big of a deal. We'll have to see. I'm glad, however, that my family is accepting, and will do anything to help us stay on track. Hopefully, we can get a little exercise in while we're there, too.

New recipes

It is officially grilling season! Until I really figured out how to get this calorie counting down to a science, I have been eating meals that have exact calories. I am always a little nervous I will  cook something and get the portion size wrong, or use an ingredient that will bring the calorie count up. Now that I am getting a little more familiar with portion sizes, and how to use my calories wisely I think I'm going to start cooking. Last night we got some turkey burgers and grilled them. I thought they were delicious. We put them on low-calorie pita bread, which was not so delicious, but I can try to figure out another alternative.

I'm really starting to get this down, and I hope know that through perseverance, and a little help from my friends I can continue to be successful in my weight loss endeavors.

By the way, J is doing really well, too. However, he feels like he is in food prison. He is 11 pounds down. Go J!

Work schedule conundrum

First of all, let me say I only work 3 days a week. I am spoiled. However, my job is chaotic. I am an RN on a critical care unit that is constantly busy. You never know what patients will be admitted, it is not uncommon we work short handed, and some of the patients can be very sick. Some days, there's just no way I'm gonna get lunch. I know this because there are days I quite literally don't sit down. My usual shift is 11:30 to midnight. I love this shift, because I can wake up about 8am, eat my breakfast, get to work a little early and eat a snack and then I'm usually good for a while. After management leaves I can eat out on the unit, so then I only have to wait until 5 before I can eat again. My eating schedule when I work 11:30 to midnight is like a well oiled machine.

However...

When I work 7:30am to 8:00pm, all bets are off. I get up at 5 and eat breakfast, and then, (for instance, yesterday) I don't eat again until 3. The next chance I get to eat is then after the shift is over, around 8:00. Yesterday did not go so well. I reverted back to the old Paige. I was so hungry when I left work that I was convinced I was going to cheat.
   
 "Just this once," my bad angel said. Then, the good angel on the other shoulder said, "yeah, actually she's right. You've done really well so far." So I went for it. I had a ton of calories left, so I don't think I blew it too bad- although I know I still went over for the day.

Anyway, I guess the whole synopsis of the journal entry is to tell you I cheated on my diet with fast food yesterday.

There I said it.

Shopping for a bike

A few weeks ago, I bought a new bike, and I love it! One of my favorite cardio workouts is riding an  hour on my bike. I must have made J jealous, because yesterday he said he wanted a new bike, too. J did (at one time)  have his own bike, but it was "adopted" by the neighbors across the street. As far as we know they are taking good care of it. It's kind of humorous actually. They asked to borrow it, and it never came back. J is too nice to ask for it back. Plus, this is an excuse to buy something new and shiny. Something both J and I have a tough time turning down.








We spent the day going from store to store looking for the perfect bike. Several stores didn't have a great selection, but we finally found one that fit J's fancy.













As soon as we got home, we both went on a long bike ride and enjoyed the nice weather. After the bike ride, we warmed up our dinner and build a fire in our chiminia.

The fire was not featured in this picture. It was shy and refused to get its picture taken.









Spring is finally here! What a great day!

Weigh in day

Today was weigh in day! No pictures were taken to today, because I worked day shift and had to be up well before the sun was up. My friend who takes my pictures was several hours from getting up when I left for work. However, I did snap a picture when I was on the scale:

Like my collage abilities? Thought you would. This week I lost 1.8 pounds- 13.4 pounds total. Way to go me. Anyway, I am tired and am now going to bed. Good luck with your weight loss endeavors!

My Dream

Last night I had the strangest dream. I dreamt I was super skinny, but that I had to get all my parts tacked up because I had lost so much weight and they were all saggy and I had lose skin. But in my dream I was smokin'.  I was on a cruise ship, in a tiny little bikini and everywhere I went all the boys stopped and gawked at me. My husband was nowhere to be found. I'm not sure I recollected I was married in the dream. (Don't tell J.)

I am a very modest person. Even if I lost a whole bunch of weight, I'm not sure I would be able to don a bikini and prance around. Anyway, this dream made me laugh, because a few years ago (when I was not dieting, or doing anything to lose weight) I dreamt I was on a cruise ship and I had accidentally packed my sister's bikini instead of my one piece, and had to walk around with a bikini on. In this dream, everybody stopped and laughed at me. I remember being embarrassed in my dream, but my subconscious self made no attempt to hide my body. I just walked around in that bikini, mortified. That makes me laugh. Two interesting dreams- almost identical.

Eating healthy makes me weird.

Preparing for Easter

Every year, our neighbor invites practically the whole church congregation over for a pot-luck lunch and a HUGE Easter egg hunt. Then, after the Easter egg hunt we sit on the couch and talk, and laugh until time for dinner. When it's dinner time she makes waffles. She's done it for years. It's become quite the tradition every Easter. This year I already decided that I'm just going to bring my own food. At some point in my lifestyle change I'm going to have to start incorporating other people's food into my regimen but I'm just not ready for that yet. My husband on the other hand is struggling a bit. He's already brought up the fact that he wishes he started his diet after Easter twice now. I told him that if it really bothered him just to eat the waffles, but I think he feels guilty unless I do it, too. But there will no cheating for this girl! I'm staying on track. Besides, it's not the waffles that call out to me. It's those delicious Cadbury Eggs. I know that Easter is all about Jesus, but I'm pretty sure those eggs are from the devil.

My dear friend

I finally did something that I wasn't planning on doing until I had lost a significant amount of weight. I told a friend about my blog. I'm just not sure I'm ready for my friends and family to know about it yet. This particular friend is very dear to me. We met in college, but I'm pretty sure our spirits have been friends for much longer than that. She's such an encouragement to me. The day before yesterday, we were chatting on the phone, and catching up. I was telling her about my weight loss endeavors and because it's her, I went ahead and just told her about my blog. She would completely accept me if I weighed 2000 pounds, so who cares if she knows I weight 279. As for the rest of my friends and family, I'm keeping it under wraps for now...unless they just happen to stumble across my blog websurfing. That would be quite impressive.

Sweet Tooth

Today I did something a little daring, I bought some sweet breakfast items. I usually buy a Jimmy Dean frozen breakfast sandwich. They are good, and most are under 250 calories! I really enjoy them. But yesterday, I was plagued by my overactive sweet tooth. I was thinking about what I could have that would satisfy it without going over my calories. That's when I saw them...the toaster strudels. There were some in apple, and some in pumpkin pie. They are 180 calories a piece, strudel and icing total. I bought them and opened my first one up this morning. They are tiny! I went ahead and ate it, but I know I will be hungry again really soon. It did satisfy my sweet tooth, but I can remember when I was a teenager eating 2 of those for breakfast. That's over 300 calories ( for those tiny things!), plus a glass of milk. I feel better now that I am watching calories. It's interesting to see what I use to eat that got me into this mess in the first place.

Fat Tuesday

As I had said before, my husband has joined my efforts to lose weight. He's already pretty skinny, but he's trying to lose his gut. He says he has 75 pounds to lose, but I can't figure out where he's going to lose it from. Anyway, I weigh in on Mondays and I asked him when he wanted his official weigh in day to be. He thought about it for a minute, and then said, "Tuesday. Then we can call it fat Tuesday!" I thought that was clever. I've decided to take some time and go Easter dress shopping today. Hopefully I won't look like a big cow like I always feel I look. Although I have lost 11 pounds, I have a looong way to go. Hope everyone has a good day.