Saturday

 Saturday night after I worked in the morning and went to the gym, we headed to Northfield to Loon Liquor Distillery. 

It was in an industrial area, in a building with other businesses. It was all cute inside, candle lit and dark. They suggested this drink the Medusa, which was made with organic Vodka, honey, oj, and peppers. I normally don't like mixed drinks but this was excellent! 

After having just one drink each, we went to the brewery in town and had a beer before driving to Hampton to Merics for wood fire pizza and wings. We meet Celina and Don there for dinner. Had another huge beer that I probably didn't need. I defiantly didn't need it! Far too many calories with all the alcohol and pizza. Good thing the wings are baked in the oven and I don't eat the skin! Plus, the pizza is thin crust with thin meat. 

I will be going to the gym this morning. I upped my stairs workout to level 8, up from level 7. I also am lifting heavier weights by 5 pounds on some machines and doing an extra set to make it 3 of everything eventually. 

Making progress every day! There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about the fat that is left on my stomach and arms. I just have to stay consistent with working out, and being in a calorie deficit. I know weekends my calories will be higher and it will just make my weight loss progress slower. Even though I want the fat gone fast, it will take time. I have to be more patient and do the time and work its going to take. Weekends do set me back when I have a few drinks, eat more calories, but that's also called living and learning to adjust then go back to losing calories. I have to relearn how to maintain and live while not gaining back the weight too. No one is perfect on a diet and I'm not starting over because I don't have to. It's just get back on track the next day or meal. 

We plan to go on vacation for at least a week. I don't really have a plan other then to bring my low cal popcorn snack, make a few meals to save $. Share food and try to make good food choices. Get some walking/hiking exercise, maybe try to find a planet fitness and workout? That might be a stretch or just take the week off from exercise. I'll get right back on track when I get home. I might not lose weight that week, but I'm going to still track my calories, track any exercise. I just don't want to gain weight while on vacation. I'll just get right back to working out when I get home. 

Steve's cornea cell surgery

 Steve had his 9th eye surgery on April 25th. It was to regenerate the cells in his cornea. Normal cornea has around 2000 while his was down to 500 and his sight was very cloudy. 

He had surgery on April 25th, 4 days ago. 

Waiting to go into surgery, all prepped! 

1.5 hour wait while Steve was in surgery. 

After surgery, laying flat looking up for the next two days. 

At home, Day after surgery. 

Day after surgery, getting his sigh checked! Already seeing better!! Surgery went really well! 

Now to recover the next week, no lifting more then 5 pounds and no bending over. 

Our only concern is the eye pressure. If the wafer top of eye device is still working and not plugged from any of the silicone oil. They thought the air bubble would go right out the tube, but he still has an air bubble 4 days later. Normal eyes you'd see that gone in about 3 days.. or so.. Fingers crossed the eye pressure isn't an issue! He is on eye pressure reducing drops, but if it gets too high, he will be in a lot of pain. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Not sure if there are any other option to fix the pressure? 

It's a waiting game till next Wednesday's 1 week Eye appointment with Dr. Hou. If all is good. We go on a week vacation and he is back in to see the eye dr at the end of the month! 

Down 2 pounds!!!

 I need to celebrate the two pounds of weight loss. I actually weighted myself this morning. Instead of getting down that I haven't been losing 1 or 2 pounds a week, I need to celebrate I'm down an extra 2 pounds went from 168.6 to 166! Guess that's 2.6 pounds, almost 3 in 4 weeks. When you think in terms of three pounds of hamburger, that's a lot of fat to lose. Even 1 pound of hamburger fat gone is a lot of fat! Plus, who knows if the scale if fluctuating? Maybe some is just water weight from all that watermelon and added salt? Or maybe I put on some muscle weight too in the last 14 weeks of lifting heavy weights daily? Maybe I have 5 more pounds of muscle? I could have been less weight but not as tone. I'd rather be more tone then down 5 more pounds! Would 161 feel any different from 166? Probably not. Plus, I'm still making progress and all my clothes fit again! That's a win/win. I still have time to lose all the weight and get more tone before June 1st and all summer long and the rest of life. 

Wearing my size 6 jeans that are not stretchy! 

Just a tiny budge of skin above my waist line. I'm at the gym daily to work on that along with trying to stay under my calories for the day! 

Steve and I had Friday off. We tried a top 10 bakery in MN. Black Walnut. I think it moves up to #1 on my list. The selection was super and price was lower than the other bakeries. The flavors and crunch of the croissants were spot on! So flakey and buttery! 

I just would pass on the eclair. Patisserie 46 has the winner there! 

They did have the best ham and cheese croissant that I've tried! 

We have a list of other bakeries. 

Marc heu Patisserie, University W st Paul

Trung Nam French Bakery, University W St Paul

Aki's Breadhaus, Central Ave Mpls

Asa's Bakery, 34th street Mpls

Panaderia San Miguel, Lake street

Marissa's Bakery, Nicollet Mpls

Day 150 of my weight loss journey!

 I had a tough night where all I wanted to do was eat from lunch on. I ended up taking a nap and eating 1330 calories for the day. Thankfully, I was able to tell myself to stop and just not eat because I was not hungry! It was tempting to just feel over full, but I didn't. 

I'd like to weight myself, but I keep putting it off. I haven't stepped on the scale since week 18, 1 month ago. I'm guessing I lost at least 4 pounds in that time. 168 - 4 = 164 pounds. I doubt I kept losing 1.7 pounds per week with the calories I've gone up to on a daily basis. I'm also being conservative on my weight loss so I'm not disappointed if the scale doesn't reflect what I want. I do know that on a normal basis the scale is going to go up or down every day of the week. I'm not always going to weight the same every day. That's just how it works. Maybe I'm at the point where I want to start weighting myself daily? If I'm going to do it, I need to commit and keep recording from then on out! Next week I'll start on Wednesday! on Week #23. 

Right now I'll just keep monitoring my measurements and I added in my %fat and BMI in the mix. 

Week #22 of my weight loss journey.

 I'm not used to having my hair down. I washed and let it dry. Not curling it on our trip. I did end up putting it up in a ponytail after awhile. 

14 weeks of lifting weights at the gym and walking for 30 minutes on the stairs. 

This past week, I was on vacation for 2 days. I usually don't eat breakfast but had a yummy meal Monday. I might have drank a 2 more beers then I should have on Sunday, but I did have some lower cal seltzers instead of the high IPA's.  I also had pizza two nights in a row, but it was thin crust, so a little less calories. I only had a smoothy at Mcd's and a small at 190 cal on our way out of town. I opted to have a beef stick at 45 calories and some popcorn at 100. Of course we shared 5 servings of pretzels at the bar which I didn't need but was starving. We probably should have planned our snacks better. 

I also skipped Sundays workout since we were leaving early and on the road. I got zero exercise. I'm good with a rest day here and there. The higher calories didn't help, but you just move on and try better the next meal and day. Don't dwell on it and just move on and get back on track. 

Today is back to the Dr for Steve's eye recheck. Then wait a week and see how things are going. Fingers crossed all is good. We plan to take a mini road trip south for warm weather. It will be a camping save money trip while having more of an adventure. We just need to plan it this week! Steve will be off from working at least 2 to 3 weeks before he can lift 40/80 pounds. Just need the okay from the dr to go back to working. 

I'm making more of my Thai chicken soup for this weeks meals. It's easier to just have premade meals that I look forward to eating. It's mostly veggies and low in calories. I'll make enough for a week of meals. 

I did my weekly Tuesday measurements. No change from last week. That's two weeks in a row no measurement changes. I did also take my %fat and BMI which was down from the last time. In the normal fat range, which is great! No more over weight! I still have not weighted myself since I was at 168. I just don't want to see that I'm still at 168. That was over 3 weeks ago now, so I should at least be down to 164/165 by now. I'm just not sure as my calories have gone up over the last few weeks up to 1500 per day some days. Which is where I should be for losing 1 pound a week / or 500 cal deficit per day. I just would rather lose 2 pounds per week or 1.7. I'll take any weight loss or not gaining at this point. Still working on toning and getting rid of the last of my stomach fat. It's going down and almost gone!!! 

Duluth

We went to Duluth for a night. Sunday- Monday. We fit in a lot. Going to Gooseberry falls to see the rushing waters over the falls. It wasn't as extreme as last year, but there is still lots of snow to melt. 

We did a little brewery hopping on Sunday afternoon. Stopped at three and then went back to the Hotel for a little gambling. 

Jay cook state park

Duluth

The best breakfast at Duluth Grill

Home made caramel sauce on these caramel rolls. Delicious! 

Day #144 of my weight loss journey that I had to look up!

 It's not as easy keep track of the days I've been on a weight loss journey. I count the weeks, months and soon enough will be a 1 year mark. I doubt I'll need to be on a weight loss for a year, more maintain at some point, but I'll still be on a journey to maintain. I just won't start over as it's all apart of the journey to get back to my forever weight! I managed to stay at my goal weight for years, gaining it all back over covid and then some. I told myself the first time that I'd never weight that much again, and then covid happened, stress eating for enjoyment with lack of getting much exercise. We tried running outdoors, but not very consistently and only a mile at most. I drank too many alcoholic beverages and had too much bread and treats. Doing that over and over again got me to my heaviest ever and I didn't like what I saw in photos and in the mirror. I hardly had any clothes to wear. I kept buying larger sizes and XL was now getting tight and uncomfortable. I tried many starts of dieting but never was serious. I'm not sure what really set me in motion for getting me to stick to weight loss. Well, part of it was I didn't want to be over weight any longer. I wanted to enjoy summer and be able to wear a swim suit, unlike the last few years where I wore a sports bra and shorts along with a swim cover up in the water. I didn't have shorts to wear and was buying XL shorts. I hated photos of myself all plumped up. 

I started my diet a few days before getting covid and isolating myself. I think that really helped control the first few days of me eating and sticking with a diet. I didn't feel like eating much while I had covid and after those 5 days and the initial days of my dieting, I just kept going. I had a Christmas party that I wanted to lose weight for and I wanted to be thinner for Christmas/new years. I was feeling better about my weight loss at that point. I did weight myself right after NYE and was disappointed by the number on the scale. I did feel better by that point, so I didn't let that number stop me from continuing on with my weight loss journey. Here we are April 22nd and I thought I'd have reached my goal weight by now. I am still at least 10 to 15 pounds away from that number. I'm more focused on toning up and even if I didn't lose any more weight, I feel good about where I'm at. Of course I still want to reach that goal weight of 145/150. I don't have to do it over night.  I will keep going on my weight loss journey until I do reach that weight and then it will be still a weight loss journey to maintain. I hope by this point I will have my eating down, still enjoy some treats and just eat less over all and move more though out the day. 

What have I changed over One hundred and forty-four days? I go to the gym every day and do cardio for 30 minutes and weights for 30 minutes. 

I look for healthy food choices eating fruit every day for a treat, popcorn for fiber and to fill me up. More veggies for dinner and protein too. I eat pizza, drink beer but switch to seltzers for less calories. Share foods when going out and am aware of eating less to while out. I preplan meals during the week and stick to the same foods by choice. I make foods with lots of flavor, salsa and my spicy soup! I never feel starved even when skipping breakfast and waiting for lunch. If I'm still hungry I eat more, but I also estimate my calories. I've been eating more lately, but still under my maintain calories of 2000. I concentrate on just being in a calorie deficit every day. I also know I need to eat more protein. Working on that to keep me full and build muscles. 

Evan's Choir concert

 Evan is in a before school, 3rd - 5th grade choir. They had a concert last night. Just 4 quick songs. 

They were cleaning the stair stepper machines yesterday at exactly the time I went to workout! 

I ended up just walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes, but not breaking a sweat even on the incline going 3.1mph. 

It was a busy workday and I got in 30 minute on the cross ramp before work, which all helped burn calories since I didn't get my normal gym workout. I do notice a huge difference in what I perceive as hard. Running on the cross ramp feels easy compared to the stairs. Running hurts my feet, but I feel like I get a great workout from just doing the stairs probably equal to running! I'm only on level 7 which is pretty much non stop climbing, but a slight pause between steps. 10 is the goal speed which I'm working up to in the 30 minutes. Not sure if it goes higher than that? I started at level 4 for 5 minute then 15, jumped up to level 6 for 30 minutes and then shortly after to level 7. I did do level 10 for 2 minutes at the end, but I'm just working on staying at level 7, some days that's enough! 

Still getting in 30 minutes of weight lifting. I am just trying to do 3 sets of each machine. Some I only do 2 sets, other 3, but working on heavier weights eventually. I'm not trying to kill myself, just keep progressing when I feel like it's getting easy or easier. 

Still trying to drop some weight. I've gone up in calories so the weight won't come off as fast. I'll switch that up next week starting Monday and go back down to under 800 for the week. I think the last 10 to 20 pounds will be the slowest. I have the time and the will to keep at it! I just need to make a few adjustments  here and there to keep on track. If I keep my calories lower Sunday-Th, then I can splurge a little more on Friday and Saturday. I'm still trying to stay below 1500 or 1200 most days. under 1000 would be better for more weight loss. 

 

Thursday.. Still April rain...

 We drove to Hastings and checked out how high the Mississippi River got to yesterday. It was almost spilling over the top of the rock wall. We had a ton of rain last night that came down hard at some points. I'm expecting the river to be up even more today and we have more rain/snow coming today and Friday! 

We have plans to go to Duluth this weekend to see Jay Cook state park and Gooseberry falls. We did this last spring and it was amazing to see all the water gushing through. 

I ate a lot yesterday! 

I made some brownies and tried a small slice with a little ice cream. I ate most of my calories at dinner like I always do. It was finish up the sloppy joes, finish up the ravioli and have a chicken sausage. Yep ate it all and was okay because most was protein which I probably needed. In all I ate around 1500 calories for the day. I did burn a lot with working and working out! around 800! We will just call it a wash for exercise vs eating. I'm not going to beat myself up or quit over a higher calorie day. Just getting back on track today and the rest of the week. I can only control today, so just focusing on that and doing what I can. 

I did pick up another watermelon at Costco since they were 100% out of blueberries and raspberries. I was very sad to see that as that's the reason I went to that store. I skipped purchasing any at Cub since they were expensive at those stores for just a tiny bit. I still have an entire watermelon to eat. 

Next week, I'll make my Chicken Thai soup and add more chicken this way I'll have preplanned meals. I kind of like going every other week having planned meals and then taking a break. 

What are my spring time goals:

Lose another 10 pounds. Still working to get rid of the stomach pouch! It's almost gone but I check every day to see if it's still there! It is. I only notice it when I am sitting down. 

Still working on toning up. I haven't missed a gym day since the middle of February when I went to the cabin and skipped two days in a row. 13 weeks total working out 30 minutes per day on the machines. I'm starting to see muscles in my arms and the back fat and arm fat is going away! It's still there but more tone! I do notice now that I'm older I have more lose skin but gaining and losing over again is what the cause is and I'm okay with that because I would rather have lost the weight and have a little loose skin. 

Other than getting fit which is my #1 goal, I want to be able to do level 10 for 30 minutes on the stair stepper. I'm at level 7, which I've been doing for a few weeks. I used to do level 10 for at least a minute or two, but I've backed off and just keep at a constant speed. I'll know when to up it to level 8. Maybe the last 15 minutes soon? Weights I'll keep increasing the weight load. Right now I'm just doing all the machines and at least 2 or 3 sets of most x 10 reps. I also don't pause long between sets. I just want to fit all in and I have 30 minutes to do that. 

Work, I'm always good with adding new clients. More money and more exercise is always a good thing. I probably should advertise, but right now I'm good with my schedule. I did just pick up a referral so that's always a plus! 

Our house, there is  always some thing to do or I want changed. Still waiting for our bathroom to be updated. We are starting with the vanity/counter/sink and faucets. Adding two sinks and raising it up. Next will be the shower/ tile floor update. Might have to wait till next winter for that to happen? 

We also might need a new stove soon. Which I'd love to get! 

I want Steve to get an E-bike so we can explore a lot more trails around here and not be tired doing it in the evening. He keeps looking at bikes but hasn't decided on what to get. We are looking for around 1500 to 1800 cost. I did read MN might do a bike tax credit of up to 1800! That would be super! We would for sure get him an e-bike! So best to wait and see if that's going to happen! 

We also have a few spring trips sort of planned. We have Duluth waterfalls this weekend on Sunday/Monday. A not planned trip to Memphis/Nashville. Camping trip to Milwaukee to pick up Logan from college and stay the weekend. Memorial Day camping at the lake and 4th of July there too, We most likely will make one or two trips to Grand Marais this summer and possibly Brainerd. Not sure where else, but I'd like to go to South Dakota and Michigan this summer. Maybe spend more time in Milwaukee visiting Logan next year since he will have an apartment. 

 

Wednesday rain and river flooding

 This made me happy to see little Logan again! A Duluth trip. He must have been 9 or 10 years old. I miss little Logan. He would always lean on me at dinner at a restaurant. He loved his longer hair and was picky about his clothes. 

I wanted to eat my leftover sloppy Joes last night and didn't want to go play Bingo. 

So Steve and Celina went to his mom's house for dinner. He kept sending funny snap pictures. 

Got to love the filters! 

It's week #21 of my weight loss journey. I didn't weigh myself but was semi tempted. I didn't change any measurements from last week. Which is to be expected. It's impossible to keep losing inches every week. Maybe I lost some on my arms or neck? When ever I measure myself, it doesn't always come off where I expect or want. I keep wanting to see my waist go down every week. I've been stuck on 33 inches for 4 weeks. I do know that I can't give up on dieting. I will see the number go down if I stay consistent. 

I have gone up a little on calories since I know that I can still lose a pound a week if I eat up to 1500 calories a day. I still try to stay around 1000 for a 2 pound per week weight loss. I figure it averages out to 1.7 pounds per week. I could be down to 165 pounds or less? or still at 168 which was 3 weeks ago. I'm being conservative and not getting my hopes up on weight loss on the scale. If I am at 165 or below, I've finally reached one of my first weight loss scale goals. It's taken a few months to get to this point. I'm not done on my goals. My next scale weight is 160, 159, 155, 150, 149, 145. I have a few more to check off. I do plan to get some rewards and need to remind myself of finally reaching my goals and to not minimize them thinking I should have reached them already. My waist goal is 31". 3" to go! I've come along way. 

I had to change my habits. No longer sitting on the couch after work. I go to the gym in the afternoons. I'm  back to my morning work out of planks and weights. just added some cross ramp some days of the week where I'm not working much or the weekends. I also added in biking even if it's on the ebike to get in extra exercise other then work, and the gym. 

I count my calories and choose lower cal options. Drinks are also reduced or lower cal options. I skip breakfast most days unless I'm hungry and I grab berries. Popcorn is my low cal lunch which I love. Dinner I eat whatever and when we eat out, I like to share food. 

I still eat treats, I've bought crumble cookies but they are to share. I'll have a taste and be good. Same with ice cream. I don't make a bowl, I just have a taste on a spoon. I eat a few jelly beans when I have any sugar cravings, three or 4 do the trick. 

I preplan my dinner sometimes. Making enough of my Veggie/ Chicken Thai soup for meals. I make sure to have chicken sandwiches or anything I'm craving I eat and plan for that meal/ splurge. I don't have to be perfect. I need to live and still have fun and enjoy foods. It's re-training myself to eat and exercise all over again. It's working for me. It can't be a diet, it has to be how I do life to keep the weight off. I might not stay at 1000 calories, but I sure am going to try to keep on track and not go off again and gain. 

Tuesday... Still April!

 It's measure Tuesday! No changes at all. Go figure! I didn't weight myself either because I had extra salt and lots of watermelon yesterday. Maybe the reason for not seeing any changes from last week? Or maybe just a stall until I see more progress? I'm once again afraid to weight myself for fear I haven't lost any weight since three weeks ago. I want to keep the progress going and not give up. 

What I find helps for motivation is listing to others on their weightloss journey on Tic Tok. They just say, stay the course and stay consistent. You will see results if you keep going and not give up. Just stay in a calorie deficit and you'll be fine. Sometimes the number on the scale goes up and then back down. There will be weeks the measurements don't move. If I'm in a plateau the numbers might not move for a few weeks. At any rate, I'm going to keep working out, keep eating under 1500 calories and keep trying to lose weight. 

I try to be in the 1000 cal per day, which is 2 pounds per week. Or less than 1500 which is still 1 pound per week. 

Back to Winter in April!

 I don't think anyone woke up liking the snow on the ground AGAIN! We just had some 80 almost 90 degree days just on Friday! The grass was green, flowers were blooming and trees are getting green. 

I even set up my hammock and now it's snow covered. Depressing weather forecast for the week ahead. We have to wait another week to get back into the 60's!

More snow by Thursday, wonderful! ugh!!! Can we just skip to the good part of spring! 

We went out again Sunday afternoon to play Bingo at Baldman brewery with friends. I started with a hard seltzer and then had one amber beer. We also shared a small 10" wood fire pizza for dinner and then I came home and had some yogurt with berries. 1200 calories for the day. It's good to practice controlled eating when faced with going out. We always share food and I try to take the smaller slices or half. Plus, I try and make lower cal drink choices or limit it to one and done. It's not perfect, but in all I can live and still enjoy. 

I have the day off, going to the gym at some point. I have a few errands to run and a few calls to make to re-schedule appointments. Not a very exciting day, but stuff that needs to get done and I have the time to do it all. Plus, I probably should clean my own house at least the kitchen. 

My plan is to make sloppy joes tonight for dinner. Not everyone loves this meal, but I've been wanting it, so I'm making it for dinner even if I'm the only one eating it! 

Sunday, more snow.. maybe 6" oh NO!!!

 I suppose it is still April and that means weird weather. We went from perfect 80+ days in a row to cold, rain and snow today. I don't like it! Looks like all this week will be chilly only in the 40's and maybe 50. We have to wait a whole week just be make it to 60 degrees again. I hope this week is the last of the cold temps! At least everything is green and the trees started to bud. 

Since Steve worked Saturday and again today. We went out for drinks at Northern 20 the brewery close to home. Had one blood orange seltzer that was really good. After we went to Burnsville, to the pizza/brewery place and I had a strawberry-banana sour beer and then a prickly pear guava seltzer. We shared the fries and 12 wings. The fries are a 10 out of 10! Yum! I ate far too many of those and had around 4 wings before I was stuffed. I skipped the sauces and only had some ketchup on my fries. I also try not to eat the skin on the wings, only eating the crunchy parts and the meat, which saves some on calories. The meal and drinks put me around 1400 calories for the day. A lot which all added up fast. I ended the night having some ice cream in a fruit roll up. I took only a few bites as it was super good and tasty. 

I didn't do a whole lot with my day, just sat around, napped and watched some TV. Today I is more of the same. Oh, I did go to the gym and workout. Burned only 350 calories, not a whole lot! The weather has me just wanting to lay around. If we had an 80*F day, I'd be out biking and sitting in the yard soaking up the sun. That will have to wait till it warms up again in a few weeks. 

Steve said he is staring to see my toned arms from working out. It's been 13 weeks now and I'm finally getting toned! I don't want to be skinny fat, I'd rather be toned up! 

Wearing shorts that fit again in this photo. It's nice going into summer feeling good. Not like the last two summers.