My Baby is graduating from H.S.

 The last of my children, my son Logan is graduating from High School. This is his last day of actual school. A new chapter from this day forward now that my three children are all grown up! 

Day 12 of weightless progress!

How much weight can I lose on a 500 - 1000 calories a day diet? That is the question! I've done this in the past and it took me 1 week in August to the middle of October to lose around 30 -35 pounds. That is 7 weeks of dieting! I've got this! Day #12 for me and going good for the most part. There are days that I have a tough time in the afternoons. It seems once I start eating, I want to continue to snack! 

 I ate up all my veggie, with a little chicken Thai soup yesterday. I ended up having two bowls and finishing it up. My snack is still low cal 3 cups popcorn for 140 calories. Sometimes I have 6+ cups. I've also been drinking lots and I mean lots of those low cal flavored waters, where you add the package right to the bottle of water. I like the pink lemonade the best due to less coloring. The other flavors I like are very red! 

What have I noticed so far about my weightless progress? My waist is getting smaller. I feel better for making progress with losing every day. Sticking with my diet is a big boost! I still have more pounds to lose and I know I won't be at the weight I want by June 5th, my son's graduation date. I'm only on week 2, going on week 3 and am only starting the journey for the summer of losing weight! I plan to go to 100 days and a few more beyond to my 53rd birthday, Aug 31st. It would be nice to reach a big weighloss goal by my birthday, but just to stick with it all summer will be a HUGE Goal! I just want to be healthier, feel good again about my weight what ever that might be. I am not going to step on a scale as it's not productive to know. I just go by my clothes and how I feel. 

Right now, I'm not too worried about getting lots of exercise. Some days its just hard to keep dieting. Other days I feel like I want to do more. I do know if I bike, run and keep busy, I will lose more weight than sitting on the couch. Somedays, I just need that couch down time. I'm trying to give myself permission to do whatever I need for the day. This is not a race, its just a journey. Of course everyone wants to lose weight FAST! I put it on over many days and it will take many days to lose it. 

The last time I did 100 day diet, I reached my goal weight fairly easily. I stuck to mainly eating dinner and what ever was served, just less of it. I saved drinking for the weekends and limiting that to 1 drink. I tasted every thing even deserts, but didn't eat it all. This way, I never felt like I had to miss out on going out to eat, having a drink and fun on the weekend. I did balance it with biking, and running. I just realized by having semi cheat weekends, it would take me longer to reach my goal weight. I have to be able to maintain the weightloss so learning how to go out, eat and drink on weekends while still maintaining or losing weight was necessary to pre-program how to go about doing that and not getting all mad at myself for messing up. There are no mess ups or set backs, just move on and start fresh the next minute, hour, meal, day and week. 

This weekend will be a challenge to stick with my diet and also after June 5th. I need to make a plan of action to keep my mind from trying to sabotage my continued progress. 

I know Steve wants to have breakfast Saturday, going out to eat. I plan to pick fruit, have a taste of what Steve is having or eat some eggs. Not sure where we are going, but I will just pick something healthy and have a taste of a pastry. Plus, make sure to run and bike before or after! We also will have opportunities to drink. I have to limit alcohol to 1 or 1/2 a drink. Maybe share a drink and have a few sips or switch to a drink I don't really care for, like red wine. This way, I'll drink slow with having sips of water. This way, I won't miss out. Sharing a dinner is also a great idea. This way, I don't have to eat as much and won't waste food or feel like I need to eat more. They always give too big of portions. We do order wings and I never eat the skins so its less calories. If I'm feeling hungry before dinner, it's always a good idea to eat a few carrots, or pickles. Fill me up a little so I'm not making poor food decision while feeling starved. 

Week #2, diet progress!

 Week #2, have I lost any weight? Not much I'd say! I do feel icky when I eat too much of carbs etc.. I had kind of a cheat day Saturday with  some beef jerky for a snack, then 1 big beer, and shared pizza and a huge pretzel with beer cheese for dinner. Probably over my 1000 calories but still made better choices since I could have easily opted for a donut, pancakes etc for breakfast, plus ate a bigger lunch other then my little bit of beef jerky which is some what low in calories. Splurged on a pizza with sausage, but stopped myself from eating more slices and tried to limit the amount of pretzel I ate. One beer was it for me, didn't have one more, which would have been easy to do! We also didn't pack any beers to drink at the lake while having a bonfire. This also saved on calories. 

Sunday, I had breakfast fruit, low cal yogurt and popcorn with a few bits of leftover beef jerky on the ride home from the lake. Dinner was a burger with 1 slice of thin bacon, no cheese and a wheat bun with onions, lettuce mustard and ketchup. We also had roasted broccoli, zucchini and some baked onion rings. 

Today, back to dieting and eating low cal. I might make some Thai Chicken soup for dinner. This way, I'll have my dinner pre made and ready to eat. No thinking required! 

I only have two weeks to go before Logan graduates and I want to lose more weight! I need a new dress or skirt /shirt outfit to wear that night too. I probably should start looking now! I just will feel better the more weight I lose before that date. Plus, I tried on my summer clothes and they are tight and not looking very good on me right now. At least I will know what I've lost by the way my clothes fit, I have some type of measurement system to know if I'm making progress! 

Did our mile run this morning and will go for a bike ride too. I'm waiting for a call back on our AC unit that isn't working, so I need to be around for the call. I gave them our home phone, so they don't have my cell number! Ugh!! 

Pre Holiday to the lake...

 The driveway into the lake... it always feels soo good to pull up in the driveway for the weekend at the lake. 

After we set up the bare items we needed for the one night, tent, tarp, air mattress, sleeping bags, pillows and lights we got to work! 

The new foldable cart worked perfect to carry all our camping stuff from the truck to the beach. Sooo much easier loading this cart up and making three trips instead of multiple trips or trying to break my arms and carry as much as possible. The only down side to this cart is to figure out how to fold it back up and store it like it came. I have yet to figure out where the bottom of the cart goes to store correctly. 

First  I had to sit and just look at the lake.. before helping bring the picnic table sections down. 

We had to carry the table from the truck to the beach in sections.  Steve then assembled the parts for this HUGE picnic table on our beach. 

All finished and set in the shade, under trees on the beach. 

We also moved the row boat from the shoreline, that was in front of the picnic table to the other side of our lake beach, next to the fence where the neighbor stores his table and other crap. We figured, might as well cover up our view of his junk with the boat! 

I had purchased all these little solar lights to put one the trees. Looked soo nice and festive. Really made the area brighter at night, not soo spooky!! Plus will be a nice area to have lit up if we come back after dark. 

I could still use two more sets of lights for two more trees. I need to find some big inside the tent solar hanging lights too.

After all the work, it was time to head out to the winery/brewery, Carlos Creek. Drinks and dinner! 

More carbs than I needed! Still managed to eat around 1000 calories Saturday night with 1 beer and 2 slices of pizza with some pretzel and beer cheese. Not the best choice but my only meal of the day. 

Back to the lake, a little rest on the hammock, a walk in the water and along the shore to check out the erosion from the spring thaw. 

Slept in the tent next to the water, and woke up to fog, and zero wind. Last night was bright out with the moon shining! Steve and I both didn't sleep very well. We are use to a very dark bedroom and this was like day light! I'm not sure if I even slept! 

Sunday we were packed and ready to go home by 11am. I would have liked to stay the whole day, but Steve wanted to get home. The weather cooled off to only 69 and it was cloudy. 

Perfect night for a bonfire, no wind, zero bugs and perfect temperature!

We at least got a lot done this weekend with bringing up the new picnic table and moving the boat. Figuring out where 100ft back from the shore line was at to know where the future cabin would start and how many trees we need to cut down. 

We also googled this dock company and found out we can purchase a similar 32 ft dock with a L section for around $4000 to assemble and have it delivered on site. Something to think about for a future addition. We took out and got rid of an old steel dock years ago. We have been fine without a dock and might keep it that way? 

Just a few more photos from our time at the lake.

Fingers crossed the Memorial Day weekend will be just as nice. Right now it's looking like low 70's with a chance of rain 30% each day. Not ideal camping at the lake weather! 

Noticing results!

 Okay, finally on day #5 of my low cal diet, I noticed some waist line/weight loss! I can just tell my waist is getting smaller and losing some F A T. 

Feels more motivating to noticing just a small change for now. Yesterday in the food are                                a was a little rough! Not going to lie, I ate more throughout the day but still managed to eat around 500 calories for the day. 

Here's what I ate:

4 PB nuggets 

Popcorn

Raspberries

BBQ chicken breast 1/2 no skin

Sweet potato 

Roasted broccoli

tiny bit of granola 

Total around 570-600 calories for the day. 

Exercise? 

Yoga 

Worked for an hour, 150 - 200 calories burned

Painted the stairs (100 calories)

Scraped paint from the deck 1 hour( 200 calories)

vacuumed our house and cleaned the kitchen (50 calories)

I tried to keep moving throughout the day, doing a little here and there. 

What was a fail? Nothing really. I did some projects, still ate low cal and around 500 calories for the day. Didn't bike or run (which was a fail) to be honest I was feeling a little low on energy due to the low cal diet. Perked back up with the extra protein boost from dinner last night. 

Weekend plan for meals? 

No fast food, 1 beer maybe, G-store for fruit, maybe subway turkey, no cheese for meals. Next week, I've got plans to make some Thai chicken soup, with 1/2 light coconut milk, lots of veggies and extra spices to kick it up for dinners. 

Weekends will be the toughest with temptations to drink more, eat more. I just have to stay focused. The main goal is to get to June 5th sticking to my low calorie diet plan and than on to 100 days for some 10 to 20 pound weight loss! 

Weight loss journey! Day 4

How's my progress on my weight loss journey? Day #4 and still hanging in there. It hasn't been a huge struggle for me mentally so far. The mental part is usually the hardest part, to get my brain to actually do the hard work of dieting! Sticking with losing weight by eating less and trying not to convince myself to quit and just eat what ever till I'm full. Dieting, your never full, just not starving after eating. I'm still hungry in-between but not overly starving. 

This is what works for me! I am back to my 5 calorie drink packages added to water. This keeps me from not having enough flavor in my life. Plus, it feels like a food cheat, when its not. I maybe drink one or two a day. Just plain Water mostly, since these flavored drinks actually make me more thirsty. 

I'm also snacking on store bought popcorn with cheese flavor. 3 cups for 140 calories. Sometimes I eat 6 cups  S L O W L Y! This way I don't go crazy waiting for diner and then over eating my meal. 

I also pre-make/bake sweet potatoes and have them ready to warm up for a quick, low cal dinner. I'd say any plain veggies are good to go! I had corn on the cob with just salt and pepper the other night, last night I had a salad with a lime vinegary dressing. Keeping my calories for the day around 500 to 1000. I'm trying to be closer to 500 as I want to lose weight by June 5th, my son's graduation. Or at least for the summer, swim suit and shorts season. 

So far for exercise I have kept up on running a mile with Zoey and Steve most days. If we skip running, I'll bike or do both. Today is raining so I have yet to run or bike. I'll have to pick one or the other even if it is raining this afternoon! Plus, working this morning and will burn around 200 calories just moving about. 

I keep track of the food and times I eat, plus an estimate of calories burned for each activity. Actually, food ate and burned calories are all estimates. So not an exact science! 

Weight loss? No idea, not weighting self or measuring anything! I do feel like my waist is a little smaller on Day 4. Just not noticing much weight loss which is difficult to stay on track. I'm more about checking off the days on my diet. I lost a lot of weight after 100 days on a  winter on a diet two years ago using this same method. I was not very ridged on the weekends with having a drink and eating what ever served for diners just eating smaller portions. I never felt like I was depriving myself or overly hungry. I think the key was just my mental game of wanting to make it to the 100 days. I had a goal number that I reached and felt my weight was in a good place. I should have made another goal after my 100 days, but I didn't and here we are again needing to lose the weight I gained back! I was doing great last spring March, April and May losing Covid Quarenteen weight, then started baking bread and drinking more and the weight crept up. Staying home and eating as a hobby is not good at all. 

Off to buy more popcorn today for snacks. I go through this stuff! I make sure to measure it out in a bowl too. This keeps my portions in check. I must be a little hangry this morning. Talking to my husband about me calling for plumbers is not going well with our communication. Ugh! I'm just the messenger! I just can't communicate with out being hangry! Time to breath.. and move on.. This too shall pass. Dieting is tough and I'm giving myself permission to not be okay all the time, but I won't give up and give into food to comfort me. It's not the answer! More updates to follow as I move on and do my 100 day diet or at least till June 5th! 

Back to Monday!

After our fun weekend in Duluth, here we are back to Monday!  

We at least made the most of our Sunday. A hike and some climbing at Jay Cook State park along the river before we drove home. 

 Once we were home, I wanted to get in a fast 9 mile bike ride since the weather was perfect around 70+F! 

I don't work till Thursday this week. A very slow work week, but every other week is busy with work, so I'll be using this week to do home projects, diet and get in biking/running! 

This is what I hope to accomplish this week!

- paint the basement stairs (3 coats of enamel) to finish up this project!

- paint the basement bathroom! 

- Spray paint the rest of the dinning room chairs stored in the basement

- run daily

- bike daily

- continue to snap my workouts

- try to sell, or donate some of our belongings we no longer need

- clean my own house, daily keep up

- weight loss (under 500 calories per day)! 

- dentist appointment/ flossing daily

- Make Chiro appointment

- Get a pedicure

- Logan tires and new wipers for his car

- mow the lawn

-get a new edge trimmer for our yard. 

- pay the car loan (Friday)

- drop off the picnic table at the lake

-yoga 2 times a day. (am/eve)

-brainstorm passive income ideas. 

Weekend of fun... Post Pandamic!

 It feels like we are now in Post mode.. That's beyond Covid 19! Steve and I did in reverse what we did right before the middle to end March 2020 Covid-19 lock down. We visited Hastings, had dinner and drinks inside! No masks! Since we have been fully vaccinated, and the mask mandate via the CDC says everyone vaccinated no longer needs masks. Low rate of catching and near impossible to transmit to others. It still feels weird to go without a mask. We have been sooo careful this past year. We threw caution to the wind and went with being a non masker. I felt a bit like a self centered trumpet, But then reminded myself, it's okay. We have permission to do this from the government health experts! 

Steve  and I split the beef fajita chimichanga. I cut it so I'd have a much smaller half, just added more salas  on top! 

We shared some beers to try two different IPA's. 

This weekend we were off to Duluth. We had our last winter trip up there before the lock down on Valentine's Day. There was too much  snow to stop at the cemetery where Steve's grandparents, aunt and uncle are buried.  We also drove by the school house his grandmother attended till 8th grade in the town of Clover Dale, next to Hinkley. The school has seen better days as it has not been taken care of and is falling down. 

We spent the night up by Duluth at Black Bear Casino Hotel. 

I hit four of a kind at least once and played on my $20 for a few hours. Today, I played another $20 and of course lost that too but was able to play for a long time on that amount which was entertainment value. I don't mind donating my money as long as it lasts a good long time before I go bust!  

There's my 4 queens! 125 nickels! A whole $6.25 I won on my queens! Steve and I don't play the machines in the same area, so we share our "big" wins with each other via text message and photos! He won back $125 he put in so almost broke even but was still down entertainment value. I feel like true addicted gamblers only tell you what they won, never what they put in and lost to "win". 

We stopped at a few breweries in Duluth that we've never been to before. Had a beer at each. We were close enough to all to walk to  each  location. 

Walked Lake Superior along the new board walk to Cannel park.