Last day of week #9

 I am soo ready to say goodbye to week #9 and on to a new fresh week. 

Measurement Tuesday last day of the week for my diet 

Waist = 34, Down 1/2 inch!

Thigh = 24 down 1/2 inch!

Hips = 43, no change

I am now able to wear a smaller sports bra I have. Fits better too. Plus tried on summer skirts that didn't fit last summer and they look great! Wearing a size 11, skinny black jeans and can't wear XL shirts or leggings as they are far too baggy. 

I still have some back and underarm fat that I want gone. I feel like in maybe another week it should be gone. I also still have stomach fat that I can grab. It also has shrunk a lot. Just need it 100% gone for the summer swim suit season! 

Yesterday, got to the gym and increased my time on the stair mill (15 minutes!!) burned 100 calories 

Walked 30 minutes rolling hills with a 1% incline for 150 calories burned

Machine weights 15/20 minutes no idea of calories burned. 50? 

Here's what I ate on Monday

B-fast - nothing

Lunch- 3 cups popcorn 130 cal

Dinner (9:30pm!) 1 slice French bread and Thai soup 2-1/2 cups, 500 calories 

This is what happened Monday night at 6pm. Steve experienced his left arm just going dead for 30 seconds while working around 4:15pm. Then once home it happened again but for about 5 seconds with some vision colors. So off to the Urgency room where they sent us to the hospital's emergency room. They did an EKG, and head scan to rule out a stroke. He did injure that left shoulder a few years ago in a biking fall. It most likely was just a pinched nerve. His blood pressure was up really high and needs to lose 20 pounds. So now he is back to wanting to drop 20 and running to lower his blood pressure. Glad it wasn't a stroke and he checked out fine. It was a long night and right through dinner, which I was starving. I could have skipped eating last night since it was 9pm before we ate, but I ate since Celina warmed up my soup and she had made fresh French bread. 130 calories for the day was too low. So I ate late and had 630 or so calories for the day. 

Monday

 I'm almost at week #10, just today and Tuesday, then I start fresh on a new week with hopefully more weight loss! 

Steve made this chicken chili soup yesterday that was pretty spicy. It was good, but I wanted to just eat my Chicken Thai soup which I love. Funny how we are both into making soups now. I would have never made soup from scratch when I was younger. I do make a good southwestern soup and have made a creamy wild rice soup from scratch also. Just not going to make a creamy high fat soup any time soon. 

Celina also has been making her no-kneed breads, which are delicious. I had to have a slice, hot out of the oven. I should have taken a photo. She is baking the 2nd loaf today, so I'll be sure to get a photo of that. 

I have a busy work day 9 to 12:30/1pm I'm guessing since I have to drive out to Prior Lake. I haven't seen a customer in a few weeks, since she was on vacation. Wonder if she will notice a weight loss? I don't plan to say anything so we shall see. I would think people would start noticing the weight change, but?? I probably need to lose at least another 10 pounds for that to happen. 

I'm ready to leave week 9 behind. I think this week went pretty good with eating and exercise. 

Here's the totals for the week

Exercise/calories # burned  / # calories ate

Wednesday:

730    /      500

Thursday

530.     /    770

Friday

600.       /  500

Saturday

730.    /     250

Sunday

825.   /    200

Monday(Predicted)

500.    /    530

Tuesday (predicted)

530.   /     300

In all not bad since I exercised every day this week going to the gym and skiing Wed and Thursday after it was too cold outdoors to ski. I splurged on coffee and some homemade bread. No going out to dinner or having alcohol this weekend helped keep the calories/splurges down. 

I'm thinking my reward this week will be a pedicure on Wednesday. I really need one since it's been since the end of summer. I'm also still in search of more tank tops! Size medium!! Which means a trip to Kohl's and more Walmart searches for black tank tops. 

Day #61, Sunday

This has been a pretty boring weekend. It's been very cold here, single digits with windchill. I was okay with not going out at night in the cold. Plus, we ate out a lot last weekend -  Tuesday. I was kind of over going out to eat. I just made my Chicken Thai soup and have been eating that for dinner. 

Updated photo today of my weight loss progress. Still have stomach fat, but I keep telling myself every day I've lost more weight and more fat! Plus, I've been lifting weights and doing cardio burning more fat and creating muscles to replace the fat! 

I need to find medium tank tops at Walmart in black that will fit better. This is a large and now too sloppy.

Every time I check a Walmart, they are out of size medium in black. They have all the other colors that I don't want. I just like the fact they are only $3. Maybe I'll have to check out Kohl's and get a tank tops there for $10 or more. I wear this tanks a lot under everything and to workout. 

I completely forgot to take a whole photo of my iced coffee flight this morning. I saw a instagram post from Froth and Cork and I had to try it out myself. I think they have a new flight a month. It might be my new thing to do on Sunday morning, visit different coffee shops that offer flights. Now I need to do a search to see where else I can go. I don't really like coffee, but these all were good and small enough for me to enjoy. I would like to try a hot coffee flight at some point, so I hope to try that next. 

I looked up the calories of a caramel iced coffee and it was about 150 calories.  Most of the drinks were ice and whipped cream with a tiny bit of coffee. 

I also found some other chicken to try at Bon Chon that I need to try. I'm okay with splurging on certain items I want to try and share. It's more like a taste of something new. This way I have a splurge to look forward to eating and an experience too. 

Aft4er coffee, we went to the gym. Got in 10 minutes on the stair stepper, 30 minutes walking 3.2mph rolling hills with an incline, followed by 15 minutes of weightlifting and last a chair massage. Still no cross country skiing today as it's just far too cold. I think by Saturday I can ski again, maybe sooner when the temps are in the high teens. I'll just dress warmer and have on bigger gloves. I am sure that I'll warm up once I start skiing. 

My goal this week, stick to my diet of closer to 500/600 calories per day. Go to the gym every day. Increase stepper to 15 minutes, walk 30 minutes rolling hills with incline and 3mph, with 3 sets, 10x of weight machines. Plus, do my morning plank 1 min and dumb bells. I'll also burn calories cleaning M-F. 

Here's my food today:

Breakfast 9:30am - coffee flight 150 calories

Lunch 3:30pm- Spicy hummus and pita chips 160 calories

a few raspberries 15 calories

Dinner 6pm- Thai chicken soup 400 calories

Taste of chicken chili 6pm, 20 calories  

Total calories = 725

Total calories burned: Walking 150 

stairs 100

Weights 50 

plank/dumb bells ? 

Total burned= 300 

I will wait till Tuesday to remeasure. I am not sure I've lost any extra inches. I seem to be a little suck where I'm at. There will be weeks were nothing will change. I'm still too afraid to set up the scale. I would like to know where I am in my weight loss journey. I figure I should be losing up to 4 pounds per week on this low calorie diet. It could be more like 2 pounds due to weekend splurges. Which is why I'm worried about stepping on the scale. I'd like to have lost 4 pounds per week, but I think more like 2 is what is really happening. Which sets me back as far as what I think I weight. It's still going down every week, just not as quickly as I'd like of course. I still have time to lose weight as I wanted to be at my goal weight by May. I have Feb, March and April to lose the weight 3 more months. I've only been on this diet since Nov 30th. 9 weeks, so that adds another 12 weeks of dieting where I can easily lose another 20 pounds in that time. My weight doesn't have to drop fast, just has to keep going down. I just want to make sure when I do stop on the scale it's not going to de-motivate me to keep going and losing weight. I don't want to feel disappointed if I'm not where I think I should be in this weight loss journey. When I first got my new scale at week #6, I stepped on thinking I'd be closer to 180. Well, not knowing how much I weighted starting out, I was 190. 10 pounds heavier. So I do have a weight from 3 weeks ago. If I lost just 2 pounds a week I'd be at 184/183 now. If I was at 4 pounds a week I'd be at 176. I think there is too much fat on my stomach to weight 176, but then again I am fitting into my old black workout jacket and size 11 skinny jeans fit me comfortably. Or maybe I'm some where between 184/ 176. Like exactly at 180/179. Which is still too heavy. I need to be at 155/145 to be able to wear a swim suit this summer. That is the goal weight and then to maintain once again 20 to 30 more pounds to go! So at what point will I just step on the scale? Not sure.. Maybe in May! 

We also went to Menards to pick up Steve's customer's tile. Shopped at Fresh Thymes and now I'll be working on more of our tax receipts all the data entry. 

 

Day #60!!!!!!!! Big Goal day

 I hit yet another big goal day on week#9, day 60!! 

It's hard to look back to day#1 and realize what a big first step that was on my weight loss journey. So glad I am sticking with my diet and will continue until I reach my goal weight. I just need to remember to go back to this 500 - 1000 calorie a day diet during maintenance were I'll need to cut back and count calories on the weekend splurge days. I lost and re-gained all the weight I lost before. It's my 3rd time losing at least 40 pounds over the years starting when I was around 42 years old. Now at 54 I need to do it all over gain after the covid pounds came back after that stay at home, don't go anywhere year. I re-lost more weight right before lockdown and with having happy hour and indulging in whatever for the entire year with little to no exercise. That was the gaining combo. This diet worked the last two times and I just need to continue to day #100 and beyond. I know it's going to take additional days to get to my goal weight but I'm on the right path that works for me. 

Is it difficult to only eat 500 calories per day. Yes! I am more around 600 to 700 calories per day with up to 1000 on the weekends Friday/Saturday. It's mostly just food choices I make, wanting to not punish myself because I have to learn to maintain after and I still want to live life. I'll have more than 1 drink, eat pizza and fried foods. I just have a taste or half and I make sure that's my meal for the day. I get right back on schedule the next day. 

Also having 3 cups of popcorn for lunch helps keep me full till dinner. I'm not starving. I also pre-plan simple meals like baking a few sweet potatoes for dinner. Making my Thai soup. I also check the menu before going out if I can. Always ask to split a meal and I take the smaller portion. Try to limit myself to 1 lower calorie drink. 

Day #59!!

 Can you believe that I'm on day #59, coming up to another BIG goal day of #60!! 

I've been doing good too, even with the weekend splurges and eating out. Plus, I'm getting back into exercising every day since I have a few workout buddies. It's helping me stay motivated and doing a little extra exercise every day. I've been working (getting exercise) going to the gym, doing my home exercises and then cross country skiing daily. My legs felt some what sore last night and I almost could have used some Advil to help me sleep, but I pushed through and didn't cave even though it kept me up with achy legs. I feel back to normal this morning. 

I also look more like my normal self looking in the mirror. Normal I mean more back to my pre-weight before gain weight over covid. I still don't want to stay at this normal. I have arm fat and some stomach fat to still lose. I've been lifting heavy weights to tone up, but probably need to do more time with weights and get in 3 sets instead of 1 or 2. Just need to go through all the machines twice to get the last rep in. I haven't felt sore arms, so I need to up that too. All baby steps as I'm doing great for just sticking with my exercise plan. I think having lost interest in going to the gym a few years ago and now going to a new PF gym has changed my outlook again. I used to like going every morning to the gym.. then not so much. I'm back at it again and liking it. I want to keep it that way along with always liking to get in some type of outdoor exercise, running, biking, hiking and skiing. 

It's time for an updated photo. I'll do that today with a tank and my leggings. 

Food choices were a lot better yesterday. 

Lunch- 3 cups of popcorn

Dinner - 2 medium baked sweet potatoes 

1 pomegranate

hummus (2 tbsp) and pita chips 4 or 5 (just a few) 

I'm guessing around 530 or so calories for the day. Right in my 500 range, which is low but I felt full. I don't really get hungry till around 3 or 4pm. Popcorn always takes time to eat, has a crunch, is salty and flavorful and low in calories for 3 cups or so... I always look forward to my lunch! 

Exercise yesterday:

1 min plank

Dumb bells 10/10/30/10

Cleaning 1 hour (200 cal)

Cross country skiing 1 hour / 4miles (470 cal)

Gym: stairs 5 min (100 cal)

Walk hills 30 min (100 cal) 

Weight machines 15 min

Total burn 870 calories. 

I don't feel hungry in the morning either. I think after 9 weeks of this diet I've trained my body to not feel hungry. In fact it's only difficult the first 3 days of dieting to start training to not feel hungry. I'm not a morning breakfast person any way, so waiting till lunch is no problem. I do always want to keep eating in the evening after I have dinner. I'm not hungry but it's more of a comfort, habit thing then anything else. 

One more day till I reach goal day 60! and half way through week #9. I'm I ready to weight myself? Nope. Even though I bought a new scale, I'm still not ready to know what my actual weight is. I really don't want to see I'm still in the 180's. I want to be somewhere in the 170's, better yet down to 150's. I'm not there yet and I do know that. It's going to take more weeks, more exercise and less calories to get down to my goal weight of 145/155. I'll have to adjust my calories as I know staying low around 500 to 1000 is not long term. Exercise will stay a priority to keep the weight off. I know exercise is key to keeping the weight off and also a bad diet is impossible to out exercise. I think once I reach my goal weight, I'll need to keep weighing myself at least 2 times a week. Monday and Friday. This way, I'll be able to get back on track after a splurge weekend! Also drinks are always going to be limited and the choice. I'm liking hard seltzers and some amber beers. I'm just not sure of the calories in amber are, but according to what I look up around 150 to 160 calories per 12 oz bottle. Seltzers are only 90 to 110 per can. Otherwise, I drink just water all day long and lots of it. Too much to track! 

All that fried food and cheese!

 We went out last night to dinner with neighbor friends at their restaurant. Of course I was hungry having only popcorn for lunch and also working, going to the gym and cross country skiing burning at least 500+ calories working out. They ordered a bunch of fried appetizers, cheese bread with a cheese dip. I tried to not eat much of it, but did have at least one cheese curd, 1 fried mushroom cap, 2 fried walleye fingers, some bread with this cheese dip, the few carrots with some dip. 2 hard seltzers and some asian lettuce wraps, 1 fried chicken wing, no skin. I tried to estimate calories, I figure it was at least 750 calories for the day. In all thankfully, I exercised a lot! I was really looking forward to just having a baked sweet potato and a pomegranate for dinner. I'm defiantly having that tonight! We've been eating out since last Friday and I need a break! I don't feel the need to go out this weekend for a meal. Maybe a coffee flight at this local coffee shop. 

This looks sooo good. A flight of coffee. Since I'm not really a coffee drinker and I'm trying not to drink my calories I'll be sharing this flight with water. I've never been so excited to try coffee. I think this flight idea is great! 

We are supposed to have single digit temps from Saturday - Saturday. I'll have to bundle up if I ski. I usually end up over heating skiing so I wear a light jacket and just take off my headband and face warmer, so I'm sure it won't be bad outdoors next week. Just would rather ski in 20+ temps! 

I have a neighbor friend signing up for the gym. She went with yesterday. We did the stair master for 5 minutes and then walked on the treadmill for 30 followed by about 15 minutes of weights and after a hydromassage. I need to up the stair master to 10 minutes and do more hills for walking. According to my Fitbit, my heart rate doesn't get into the fat burning zones much at all. I'm like what? How can that be? Maybe taking it too easy at the gym? 

Since I have an easy workday. It's back to the gym after work, ski and do my morning exercises. Plus, I have taxes to do and dishes to clean up in the kitchen. A full day! 

Week #9

 I made it!!! Week #9 and going strong on my weight loss journey. How much weight have I lost? No clue. I'm at least down 20 + pounds.. I'm guessing 28 maybe 30 by now? Size 12 comfortably in skinny jeans. My XL tanks are swimming on me. 

I went from a 40-1/2 inch waist to a 34 inch waist in 8 weeks. Eating around 600 - 900 calories per day is more accurate. I do try to aim for around 500, but usually go over on weekend or whenever I eat out. 

I had a reward facial yesterday with a neighbor friend. Plus returned a pair of leggings for another reward of skinny black jeans, size 11. They fit perfect and I actually have to pull them up sometimes as they slip down. I'm looking forward to when I need a belt to wear them. 

My weight? what's my guess? I'm at least low 180s if not in the high 170's now or at least this week. Do I think I could have kept up losing 4 pound a week? Not sure at least 1, if not 2, maybe 3? 

Feeling thinner and was told yesterday that I looked great by the neighbor friend. Of course I did say that I had been on a diet for almost 9 weeks and said I've at least lost 20 pounds since Nov 30th. I'd like some one to notice without me saying anything. I'm sure that's to come in the next few weeks! 

More rewards are to come, I'd like a pedicure and a new hair style with my hair colored. 

I've been going to the gym, doing the stair master for 5 minutes (it's hard!) and then walking 2.9mph for 30 min on the treadmill with some hills. I need to make this at least an hour. Plus, I lift weights for at least 15 min at the gym. Need to increase this too. Skiing is in the afternoon for about an hour. I also do my min plank and dumb bells. Oh and work to burn 200 to 400 calories M-F. It all adds up to calorie deficit. 

So Proud

 It was a bitter sweet moment of dropping Logan back off to school for his last semester of his 2nd year in college. Two more years left after this year and I know it will go fast. It's hard to see them go for months at a time, but he will be back in March for spring break week and then off for the summer early in May - the end of August. A good long summer break! 

We bought him a months supply of food before we dropped him off. It was a trip to Target, Trader Joes and Best Buy. 

Plus, we went to lunch by the Public Market at the Wicked hop. Sunday is brunch all day, so Steve and I shared a waffle and chicken with potatoes meal. Sooo good. 

I only had a 1/4 slice of the waffle and a small portion of chicken with some potatoes. They had an orange butter with maple syrup and some saracha sauce on the side to add maple syrup. A delicious combo on the chicken. Logan had a burger with an egg on top that also looked good. 

Here is Target with the funny cart escalator. It's a two story building and they created this for carts. 

After dropping off Logan we headed to the Dells where we got a room deal at the Ho chunk casino for $89 a night. I spent $20 in all on gambling Sunday night and Monday morning. We also stopped at the Moose Lodge and shared a Mexican pizza and a beer. Monday we drove home and headed to Hudson for wings at Lolo and a seltzer for me. After we crossed the river to Stillwater to have dinner at Caps, a shared burger and fries along with another seltzer for me. 

I forgot we also stopped in the Dells at the Cheese store and I bought some cheese curds and beef sticks we had for lunch on the drive home. We also did a quick look at TJ Max, I found jeans and some leggings that need to be returned. Clearly miss marked on size as they were super tight! 

Diet was good considering there were lots of unhealthy temptations with meals out. I shared my meals with Steve and gave him a bigger portion. Plus, had mostly seltzers instead of beer with the exception of Sunday night with our Mexican pizza. In all I think each day calories were some were around 800 - 850 for the day. I do feel hungry this morning which I'll save to eat at lunch. Might be another day of eating out? 

The new jeans are a diet reward. Size 12 skinny darker jeans that stretch. Plus the facial today with a friend at 10. 

It's the last day of week #8! Did I lose 4 pounds? Not sure but I do need more tank tops as XL size is way too big. I'm thinking maybe medium size? Which will be tight but large will be baggy. I am thinking I'm at least high 170's if not just at 180. This week will be the big weight loss to get closer to my goal weight the next few weeks. The weeks sure did go by fast. Not really, but kind of since I'm now moving on to week #9! I'll do a measure tomorrow. Not sure I want to step on the scale either. I'm at a good point where I don't feel the need to really know as long as I have an estimate. Last time I stepped on the scale was I think the start of week 6, at 190 pounds or was it week 5? That's 3 weeks gone, and should have been 12 pounds ago. Or at least 5 to 6? No idea. That's the issue with having no idea what my starting weight was at. I was too afraid to really know! Well, over what I ever want to weight again!!! No thank you!!! Even if I stayed this weight around 179 I feel good. Just not bathing suit looking good. Just how my clothes fit good. Still need to tone up and lose at least another 20 pounds!! I've got this!! I'm more than half way at day #56, only a few more days to the next big goal day of Day #60. 100 isn't that far away and I'll hopefully be close if not at my goal weight. I just need to keep doing what works and what I have been doing. 

Today, is facial, gym, and cross country skiing. Plus, data entry of taxes all week. Not to mention my 1 min plank and dumb bells. I'll walk and do the stair master at the gym along with the machine weights. I do need to increase my time on the stair master keeping walking the same distance. but more hills at 2.9mph. 

Forgot about the snow sculptures in Stillwater. I loved the dog the best! 

Saturday Month #2 almost done!!

 That's right almost 2 months on a weight loss journey. It feels like I always lose more weight after I have a splurge night out. Splurge was about 780 calories for the night. Or maybe it's just when my body decides it's time to drop some weight? I figure there are still 6 weeks left to go to lose more weight another 1-1/2 months! Still time to lose the weight before summer/spring. I put my weight loss goal at mid March! I'll still work on building muscle fitness and toning up! So some of that fat weight might turn into muscle weight. 

We shared both meals not really even eating much of the brisk. I cut the sandwich mostly in half giving Steve the much larger side. I had about a little over 1/4 of the chicken. It was HOT! Super good but hot! I ended up putting the aloi sauce on to kill the burn. I also ate 2 potato wedges, coleslaw/vinegar dressing and little  corn without butter. Tasted a little brisk with BBQ sauce. We also stopped at a brewery before and I tried a sour beer and had one hard seltzer at the restaurant along with lots of water! A delicious meal out and a great planned cheat night! 

Here's where we are on weight loss goals

182 - 179 week #8  almost done!!!

178 - 175 week #9   - 6 weeks to go!!

174 - 171 week #10 - 5 weeks to go

170- 167 week #11 - 4 weeks to go

166 - 163 week #12 - 3 weeks to go

162 - 159  week #13 - 2 weeks to go 

158 - 155 week #14 - 1 week to go

Goal weight..155, but I would like to get down another 10 pounds to 145 at my ideal weight. 

Here's what I plan to do for exercise today:

Gym - stair master 5 min

walk 30 min

Weight machines

xski

What I did yesterday /Friday for exercise: cleaned 1-1/2 hours nothing else! 

How many inches have I lost since starting?

waist 6-1/2 inches

hips - 3-1/2 inches

I'd like to lose another 3 inches on my waist. 31/32 

Today will be more popcorn for lunch

Dinner beef and a taste of chocolate cake

mashed potatoes

No drinks just water, so I can have a taste of cake. 

Plus, plenty of exercise to burn calories 

8 Weeks of weight loss journey

 I didn't lose any inches when I was at the end of week #7, give it a few days and my waist is down another inch and my thighs 1/2 inches! That's progress!!! 

I've been staying low on calories with having my sweet potato at night and some raspberries. They fill me up! I also splurged on some spicy hummus with spicy jalapeño pita chips. Still around 500 calories with the "splurge". 

Since it's the weekend, my calories will be higher. Tonight we have reservations at the Handsome Hog. I want to try their fried chicken sandwich. Which I will be sharing with Steve and eat the smaller half. Maybe have a taste of sides, but not too much and opt for a sparkling hard seltzer at 100 calories instead of a beer. It's good to pre-plan so I am thinking right when eating out. Although, we leave for Milwalkee Sunday, which will more unpredictable eating with a lunch and dinner. I can bring some popcorn and my container to measure out that meal. Dinner will also be a splurge but shared. I won't be getting much exercise on our road trip, so I can't over indulge!! 

I got to watch this cutie yesterday for a few hours. I picked her up at Daycare after her nap. We went to Target where she picked out a few snacks and a toy. Evan came home from school at 4pm so I got to spend time with both kids. 

Snow and more snow!

 It's snowing today! I love some fresh snow to ski! We had rain a few days ago, so now with the fresh snow it covered up all the icy ski trails. Should make for good cross country skiing this afternoon! 

I skipped doing any extra workout yesterday. It was a rough work day and long! I didn't finish till around 2pm with about an hour break between 11 and noon. I still managed to burn at least 500 calories for the day. After I just went shopping with Steve at the grocery store. 

Here's what I ate:

Popcorn (11:30am) 130 cal

Sweet potato (4pm) 160 calories

small tiny bowl of Udon noodles with raw carrot sticks (6pm) 100 cal

(5pm) 1/4 slice of pork belly 50 cal

(5pm) Taste of pita chips and hummus 100 

Total Calorie  = 540

I don't know how much I weight.. my estimate is 4 pounds per week at 7 weeks done is 28 pounds, adding an additional 4 pounds lost this week is 32 total. Do I think I've lost that much? Yes, and no. Hard to know for sure. I'm okay with the estimate. I might have weighted as much at 210 when starting this diet

Which brings me to 182 pounds or 178 by the end of the week. Do I think that's about where I am? By the way my clothes fit, I'd say that's a good guess as to my weight aprox. It's still too heavy! I do look a lot better than I did at 210, but I still need to lose more weight! 

Saw a customer I haven't seen in a month and they didn't notice any weight loss or didn't say anything. Which says that I need to lose at least another 10 to 20 pounds for anyone to say something! 

I'm excited to be in the 170's even if it's on the high end. The next 8 weeks is where I should really see a weight loss difference! I would love the weight to come off faster, but this is the pace I can go and not have to starve. I don't think I could have gone this many weeks on less food per day and a few cheat meals. In all I'm still losing weight fast as they recommend only 1 pound to 2 a week in weight loss. I would never stick to a diet that I lost weight so slow! Even if I'm not losing up to 4 pounds, I'm still losing weight and keeping focused on the goal of getting back into shape for summer swimming. Getting closer to a health weight and my goal weight 

My dog grooming table arrived yesterday. I put it together and am now ready to cut Zoey's fur. I just need a place to store the table when not in use. The laundry room is already full, so not sure where this is going to go? It does fold up, but I'd have to take the top part off. I'm excited to try it out and maybe just maybe this is a way to earn some extra money? I do think it's fun and so rewarding when she is all cleaned up. I am not sure why dogs aren't bathed after the cut. Seems to me, it would be easier to do the bath after? I'll do that with Zoey so her fur dries fast! 

 

Day #50!!!!! Half way to day #100 on my weight loss journey!

 Super excited to make it to day #50! Half way to 100 days on my weight loss journey. Do I plan to stop at day #100, no this has to be a life change to not gain back the weight. I do wonder where I'll be at day #100 with my weight loss. Only time can tell and with the effort I'm putting in will be positive no matter what I weight. 

It's crazy to look back to day #1, how much weight I had gained and that I took the first step to losing weight. It was a good thing I had covid and was able to just focus on me and my diet. Made it easier to start dieting and get on the right track. It's always the toughest on day #2 and 3, but then there is no going back after those first few days. I never gave up because I didn't want to stay at my heaviest weight. I wasn't feeling comfortable in my clothes and I didn't really want to see people at that weight. Plus, I didn't want to keep buying more fat clothes! 

My big motivation is being able to wear my swim suit again. Last summer, I only wore a sport bra, biker shorts and my swim coverups in the water. I couldn't even fit into my swim suit and sure didn't want to go into the water with out my swim dress on. This summer I want to be in my swim suit and take off that cover up! It's my motivation for getting back into shape, working out and losing the extra fat! 

I might be kind of taking it easy at the gym since I'm on this low calorie diet, but I'm trying to be more consistent and develop a habit of working out again. Moving more and less couch sitting. I'll work on increasing my exercise and fitness level as time goes by in the next few weeks. 

I also record my food and pre-plan meals and cheat meals too. It's all about balance and making sure I can live to. It's not a punishment losing weight, so I want to have cheat days. It might push back my weight loss effort but I'm still making progress just a little slower. 

Back to wearing a tight gray tank top and one of my favorite cardigan's. They fit again and I could wear this out. Still working on that stomach fat, but I can tell my arms are smaller too. I never did measure my arms, and it seems like that never really changes that much with also adding muscle by lifting weights. My arm pits have a lot less fat.

I had a little splurge night. The kids and Steve's parents played Bingo with us. Logan won $30 on Bingo. So it was a good night for him! 

I had one beer that I made last.. and then drank water. Just had two taco's without cheese to save calories. Brought extra salsa to kick them up a bit with spice! Still around 730 calories for the day with my aprox 180 cal beer. I also went to the gym and walked on the tread mill for 30 minutes and did 5 minutes on the stair climber. That was tough. I skipped weights due to a time limit, but did get in dumb bells and my plank for the day. 

Today, is a busy work day. I will be burning at least 400 calories from just work. Plus, I have plans to rest after work then go to the gym and walk for 30 minutes and lift weights. Always have to treat myself to a massage or two! 

Last day week #7!!

Logan arrived home last night from his road trip to Alabama with his 4 friends. Well, one lives there and is going to college that the three went to stay with. It was a 15 hour drive which they drove the entire thing in one day last Tuesday. The drive home was split up into two days driving 7-1/2 hours yesterday and staying over night at a KOA cabin just outside of St. Louis Mo. They drove the rest yesterday, with having to stop in Mankato to drop off another friend at college then driving home. It was another 9+ hours coming home through all weather conditions, sun, rain, storms, hail, fog and snow! Glad he made it home safe and had a super time on his road trip. 

We take him back to college in Milwaukee this Sunday. It's a 5 hour drive and we will pick up food to stock him up, then drive back another 1-1/2 hours to the Dells for the night. 

I have One more day to go and I'll be at week #8, and day #50!!!  Super excited to meet yet another goal day!! And also to check off one more week on my weight loss. 

I made it to the gym yesterday and just walked for 30 minutes at 2.5mph with a little incline. Not sure how far I walked, but it was 120 calories burned. A little more calories burned then I would have on the bikes. I need to add some running in there too eventually. I also tried out the elliptical for a few minutes. Lifted weight for maybe 15 minutes. I also did a 1 min plank when I got home, but skipped dumb bells since I had done the machine weights at the gym. 

What I ate. 

Breakfast - nothing

Lunch - 3 cups popcorn 130

Dinner - 1 large baked sweet potato 160

After dinner - Raspberries 60 calories (1 cup plus some) 

For around 350 calories total. 

I was going to eat a chicken breast, but Steve didn't cook any and I wasn't hungry to cook. I did resist the urge to have some nuts while he was munching on them while watching TV. Goes to show you, my sweet potato and raspberries filled me up! 

I'll need to go to Costco to stock up on more popcorn. Everyone seem to eat it on me all the time. Plus, we are out of raspberries and the pomegranates are not completely ripe just yet. We do have avacodo's that need to be used up! Might have some with chips and salsa tonight along with my sweet potato. 

I need to take my measurements. It's hard to tell if I've lost weight since last week. 4 pound or 3 maybe 2 is hard to notice every week. It does add up and may not show up till ? So off to see if I lost any inches on my waist and thigh since last Tuesday. Still not going to weight myself. I just can't go there as I've been working so hard on my dieting and trying to lose weight. I just don't want to get disappointed if I'm not in the low 80's or under by now!! 

Day #48 on my weight loss journey

 I'm doing it!! Still on my weight loss journey and losing weight every day, getting closer to my goal weight! 

I finally notice weight loss in my face. The underarm fat is also gone! I still have a few inches of stomach fat, but that's getting smaller every day! Clothes are defiantly fitting much better and loose. I did wear an old black workout jacket and it's still a little tight. It was always tight but I still don't want to zip it, open is good for now. It will be a good measurement in a few weeks to see when I can zip it and it looks good again. 

This is what I ate on Sunday

Lunch- 3 cups popcorn 130

Dinner - 1 large sweet potato 160

1/2 pomegranate 50

1 cup raspberries 50 

6 slices Canadian bacon 120 

Roasted broccoli 25

Grand total = 535 calories for the day

Seemed like a lot of food and very filling. 

Here's my exercise for the day

Gym - Biked 30 minutes 100 cal

X-skiing 44 minutes of 350 calories 

Total calories burned = 450

I did skip my morning plank and weights. Wish I would have at least lifted weights while at the gym or come home and at some point just did my plank and dumb bells. 

I cooked up 4 sweet potatoes, so most likely I'll be eating those for dinner Monday - Wednesday night. I do like Canadian bacon for protein too. I have enough to last till Wednesday also. Keep it simple and good tasting. Plus, I have raspberries that are super low in calorie along with a pomegranate that taste so good. I found out they help speed up weight loss. 

I'll wait till Wednesday morning to measure myself or maybe Tuesday morning since I've been doing that at the end of my weeks. Moving on this week to number 8!! Can I say I've lost 28 pounds and next week will be 32? Maybe?? I'm still afraid to get back on the scale. I just don't like the number I'm seeing. I'd rather wait till I'm in the 160's closer to my goal weight of at least 159 - 145. I don't need to go lower than 145. I think 142 or 145 I was at my lowest weight. I was able to maintain that. 

I haven't really seen anyone that would notice my weight loss. Only family so far. They see me every day so I'm sure its less noticeable. Even if I were to stay this weight I feel so much better in my clothes and appearance. It's a huge difference to me! I'm on the right track and to just keep it going. 

Today it's raining in January!! The snow conditions will be awful for skiing I'm guessing. It's going to snow again on Wed/Thursday, so there will be new fresh snow and more chances to ski later this week. I'll be going to the gym this afternoon, biking and weight lifting along with my 10 min chair massage! Got to treat myself too!! I also work this morning for an hour, so burning more calories!! 

Did I mention that I fill up my water bottle many times with ice and water through out the day? No idea how many refills I do, but it's a lot as I love water and drink it all day long. 

Sunday

 Last night was a splurge calories night. We had dinner plans at Earl Giles Distillery/Restaurant. I found out about it on Instagram. It was nicely decorated with lights and greenery. Glad I made reservations last week because we would not have been able to get in! It was packed with people! 

We shared the wood fire pizza. 

Yes, I ate all three of my slices! The pizza was only a 12 inch with very thin crust. Not over loaded with toppings either but very good. 

I tried quite a few hard spritzers 3, but never drank all of it. I probably had a glass total since I had Steve drink the rest of them. I did finish one cosmo drink that was far too sweet. Thankfully, it was a small drink! 

After dinner we went to Centro and shared two street taco's. I ended up eating the pork and Steve had the beef. So tasty and delicious! 

 

Day #47 of my diet. Closer to day #50 and week #8 coming up! 

Saturday...

 It's Saturday, which Friday's eating didn't go so great but also not so bad either. 

It's time to drop the beers! They are high in calories at around 180! I do like the Vodka spritzers that come in around 100 calories. I tried pineapple High Low spritzer and I really liked it. I can have two for one of the beers! Maybe just keep beer to a sip of Steve's from now on! This is how I gained all the weight having beers on the weekends and through the week during covid to pass the time. I do just stop after 1 beer, but with the calories it's just not worth it! 

What did I eat on Friday? 

popcorn for lunch 130 cal

1/2 not very ripe pomegranate 50 cal

4 fried wings with skin and sweet sauce and some blue cheese 400/500? 

Bar popcorn 2 cups? Not sure of calories 200

6 slices of Canadian bacon 120 

Grand total 1000

That's above 500, and around 1000 for the day which is my weekend splurge. I will have another splurge day today with pizza tonight and a drink. 

Just makes me more hungry the next day having drinks over food and picking higher cal foods and eating  less of it. 

I did purchase some sweet potatoes and more not so very ripe pomegranates to eat this week. I'll cook up the sweet potatoes and have those for dinner plain. That will be my go to along with Canadian bacon this week and then the following week, I'm going to get back to having veggie loaded chicken Thai soup! I am craving a lot of pasta sauce on some zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes and onion. That will have to be one meal too. Sounds delicious! 

I got my 2nd shingles shot last night. My arm was pretty sore all last night and still is today. I felt super tired and had a low fever the first round. This time I just had a slight headache last night and over slept this morning after being up hours early this morning. 

Here it's almost 10 am and I just did some yoga, blogged and now to do some floor exercise, and head to the gym. After I'm going to go ski when it warms up and we have dinner reservations tonight at 6:15pm. I'm thinking we will head out early, have a drink at a brewery / play some cribbage and then head to the restaurant. We'll be home early is my prediction! Time to burn some calories and get motivated to get going! 

I''m thinking Sunday night, I want to go down hill skiing at Buck hill. It's only $20 or early in the morning  10 to noon which is only $20. I just need to rearrange my work schedule on Monday  or some other day to do that! Maybe Tuesday or Friday this week too? 

Still need to get my hair cut. I'm waiting till my stomach is gone before I do that. Or before V-day! 

It's already been over 1-1/2 months on my weight loss journey! What can I accomplish in another 1-1/2 months? 20 more pounds gone or more! That's what the plan is! The end of Feb I should be in a better body! 

I already feel so much better in my clothes. They are no longer tight. They are loose and my pants are slipping down. Very soon I'll have to switch out and no longer wear my bigger XL sizes or even Large! 

Day #45!!! Another goal day

 This full body picture is the only one I have from the end of August. I need to do a new updated photo of my weight loss progress. I'm now half way through week #7.

I can't say it's been super easy staying on my diet these past few days. I have no desire to give up, but some evenings I sure feel like eating more. 

Thursday meals:

popcorn for lunch 3 cups, 130 cal

6 slices of Canadian bacon, 120 cal

1/2 chicken gyro, 200 cal? 

1 cutie, 35 cal

Aprox 485 calories for the day. forgot about the 1 pb nugget and 3 nuts. Add another 30 calories on to the total. 

I also got in some exercise working /burning 600 calories, gym biking 30 minutes 100 calories, lifting weights 15 min, 1 min plank and dumb bells 10/10/30/10. 

I went shopping and got a reward shirt. It's just black and a pull over warm shirt to wear. I was looking for sunglasses and jeans. I did try on one pair of size 31 jeans. They fit, but I didn't really care for the bottom of the jeans/frayed and cut in a V. Weird. I did google the size and they are a 12. Dropped two sizes. Plus, they were skinny jeans! I'd like to be a 8/10, small/Medium instead of large. I can only drop more weight as I continue on....

I do need to purchase more popcorn so I have lunch today. We do have spicy popcorn that I could eat. I'll still need more for Saturday etc.. Not sure since it's Friday if we will go out. I'd rather save that for Saturday night. I might just have more Canadian bacon for dinner as it filled me up. Plus, since it's only 120 calories I can still have soup or something else low in calories. 

Today, I'll also be working maybe just one hour burning around 150/200 calories. I'll also do my morning plank/dumb bells/ plans to go to the gym and maybe ski too. Not really sure about skiing since the trails are extra slick. I'll probably just save it for Saturday when it warms up and the trails will be more slushy then slick. 

I'm not really overly hungry on this diet. I do look forward to lunch and dinner. I want to keep eating at night out of boredom? Not really sure? I feel this diet is manageable and fairly easy to stick with since I can eat anything, have splurge days and can still have a drink on the weekends. 

It's also been easy getting to the gym since I always get in a massage, do some biking and lifting weights. Nothing overly crazy, but it takes up afternoon time where I'd be tempted to eat. 

I'm awake extra early this morning, but might fall back to sleep for a little while since I don't have to leave for work anytime soon. 

Ice - day off

 It was icy out yesterday morning till around 10am. I had one cancelation due to school being off for the ice storm. Decided after that, I didn't want to drive all the way out to Prior Lake. It was nice having the day off, but I was lazy. Went back and took a morning nap, tried hard to wait till noon to eat my popcorn lunch, after I started our 2022 taxes, doing some data entry. I finally got up off the couch and skied at 3 for 50 minutes. It was icy on the ski trails. Then had to wait to close to 5pm for dinner. Which was a chicken gyro, a few corn chips with salsa and guac. I also had a cutie and half a pomegranate. for 610 calories. I managed to burn around 400 calories for the almost hour of skiing. 

My stuffed half a gyro chicken sandwich. I added 2 slices of chicken, onion, tomatoes and lettuce with lots of tiziki sauce. The pita bread is only 30 calories and I'm guessing it was about 300 calories in all? Delicious! 

It's been tough staying on my diet in the late afternoon. This is why skiing around 2 or 3pm helps. Plus, going to the gym to stay busy till 5pm is important, plus helps burn more calories. 

Goats while skiing. They blend right into the snow. 

Skiing with Celina on the icy trails. 

I made it to week #7 which would be 28 pounds lost so far if I was losing 4 pounds a week? I'm ready to move on to week #8 even though this one is only 2 days in. I still have more fat on my stomach than I'd like. I want it all gone, so I can't grab a few inches. I want to only grab skin! 

I find myself scrolling through food on Pinterest. Everything looks so good. I also want to make this cake mix I purchased from Trader Joes, Chocolate chunk cake with PB frosting. Yum. Only, I can't make it or I'll eat it. Maybe for Valentine's Day? or not.. because I'll want to eat it. I could make V-day cakes or cupcakes and give them away? Still try one and be done. I'll have to think about that. 

I'm sooo close to moving on to the next lower weight group. I just can't step on the scale until I know I've lost that much weight. I don't want to be disappointed in the lack of weight loss. I just want to keep focused on the main goal, get rid of body fat and not concentrate on the number the scale says. I'm on the right track, losing and keep losing every hour, day, every week, month... 

I've also been wearing my Fitbit and trying to keep up on entering food /Exercise as well as the gym app when I go.