I'm wearing my Orioles t-shirt all day today, the one with Markakis' name on the back. He plays right field. The opening game is at 3:30 in Baltimore, and Mark and I will be watching. He will watch the whole thing, but I can only watch until 5:30 or so when I have to head up to the ballroom for the Starliters rehearsal.
Another exciting thing about today is that it will be the first day I can play Mah Jongg in many weeks, and we will be using the NEW CARD! That's always an exciting day.
It's also the beginning of HELL WEEK for the Starliters show. We are moving into the ballroom for the entire week; the stage extension will be up; the tech crew will have installed the actual sound system; the lights will be used. It will feel completely different. Although we don't have to wear all of our costumes today or tomorrow, we do have to use any accessories that could affect lighting plus wear the shoes that we will use. For me, this means wearing a wig and heels tonight. Oy!
AND I had a good weigh-in, 242. I am down a whopping NINE pounds for the week. Geez, that was a great week. I know that the first four were lost in the first two days, and that was just water retention weight. The next five were over the next five days. That's an amazing week.
This week is looking very, very good for weight loss. Because it's hell week, I have rehearsals Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. The show is Saturday, Sunday, and next Monday. That will keep me busy and out of the kitchen! LOL! Very little time to be naughty. LOL! It also means that all of my meals will be home this week with only one exception, lunch at Outback on Thursday for the monthly NARFE meeting. At that meeting, I always have a salad, grilled tilapia, and steamed veggies. As long as I don't eat the loaf of bread and butter, it's a great lunch. I feel confident that Mark and I will say no to the bread.
I will also go to the gym for weight lifting and take a walk this morning before lunch. It's going to be a great day! If I have as good a week as I expect to have, there is an excellent chance that I could report a number in the 230s next week. Wouldn't that be nice?
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Good day, down two
Yesterday I said I should be down a pound today, but I'm actually down two. I weighed 243 again this morning. Lovely.
I did everything right, including walking 30 minutes and eating only 1218 calories. The sodium was only 1497 mg. Perfect!
Later this afternoon we are heading to Epcot. The Lovin' Spoonful are performing at the American Garden Theater tonight. We have heard from two other families that they aren't very good anymore. John Sebastian, the main singer and performer of the group, left decades ago. They still have a few originals, but they weren't the ones doing much of the singing back in the day. At least we will recognize the songs and should enjoy some old memories. The weather is going to be perfect for it, sunny and mid-70s.
Today dinner will be at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival kiosks. I'm pretty sure we are eating entrees at the Italian and Mexican kiosks, so there will be pasta and cheese involved. The portions are small, fortunately, but there is no way to count the calories or sodium. I will be having a good breakfast and lunch at home before we go, so I'm going to try to be sure the sodium content is as low as possible for those meals.
My plan for tonight is to eat the Mushroom-Cheese Quesadilla in Mexico and the Cheese Manicotti in Italy. I haven't decided whether or not to have a drink, too. Mark is going to have the manicotti and the Caprese salad in Italy with some wine. I have decided to skip the caprese because I'm not a big fan of it to begin with, and this one is swimming in oil.
Here's a link to the Disney Food Blog where you can read all about all the food choices at the festival. There are pictures for everything. If it's not pictured on the first blog, there are links to other pages with pictures of every food from every kiosk. We had the tilapia and eggplant "scallops" last week, both fabulous! I wish they also published nutritional info for these foods. Wouldn't that make things simple. If this link doesn't work, just copy and paste it. I hope it works. You'll love looking at all these menus and beautifully prepared foods. At least it's a LONG walk from the parking lot to the back of World Showcase. At least two or more miles of walking should help burn off some of these calories.
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2014/03/05/2014-epcot-flower-and-garden-festival-full-food-booth-menus-photos-and-reviews/
I did everything right, including walking 30 minutes and eating only 1218 calories. The sodium was only 1497 mg. Perfect!
Later this afternoon we are heading to Epcot. The Lovin' Spoonful are performing at the American Garden Theater tonight. We have heard from two other families that they aren't very good anymore. John Sebastian, the main singer and performer of the group, left decades ago. They still have a few originals, but they weren't the ones doing much of the singing back in the day. At least we will recognize the songs and should enjoy some old memories. The weather is going to be perfect for it, sunny and mid-70s.
Today dinner will be at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival kiosks. I'm pretty sure we are eating entrees at the Italian and Mexican kiosks, so there will be pasta and cheese involved. The portions are small, fortunately, but there is no way to count the calories or sodium. I will be having a good breakfast and lunch at home before we go, so I'm going to try to be sure the sodium content is as low as possible for those meals.
My plan for tonight is to eat the Mushroom-Cheese Quesadilla in Mexico and the Cheese Manicotti in Italy. I haven't decided whether or not to have a drink, too. Mark is going to have the manicotti and the Caprese salad in Italy with some wine. I have decided to skip the caprese because I'm not a big fan of it to begin with, and this one is swimming in oil.
Here's a link to the Disney Food Blog where you can read all about all the food choices at the festival. There are pictures for everything. If it's not pictured on the first blog, there are links to other pages with pictures of every food from every kiosk. We had the tilapia and eggplant "scallops" last week, both fabulous! I wish they also published nutritional info for these foods. Wouldn't that make things simple. If this link doesn't work, just copy and paste it. I hope it works. You'll love looking at all these menus and beautifully prepared foods. At least it's a LONG walk from the parking lot to the back of World Showcase. At least two or more miles of walking should help burn off some of these calories.
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2014/03/05/2014-epcot-flower-and-garden-festival-full-food-booth-menus-photos-and-reviews/
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Staying the same
I had an excellent day yesterday. I ate exactly what I planned with no cheating. My total calories were 1419, which is slightly high for dieting, but currently my program is allowing 1423, putting it right on target. The number of calories allowed goes down as the weight goes down. Once I put in my weight on Monday as 251, it bumped me up to the 1423 calories. That allows for a two pound per week loss. I did go to the gym and do my weight routine, but I never did walk. We ran out of time.
This morning I am still 245, like yesterday. I was sort of surprised because sodium was still at 2,108 mg, kind of high. 2,000 mg a day is the recommended amount according to some websites. I ate all my meals at home, but even regular foods have sodium.
Here's what I ate, the calories and the sodium content:
Breakfast:
1/2 cup of Fiber One Cereal 60 calories, 105 mg sodium
Dannon Lite Greek Yogurt 80 calories, 45 mg sodium
1/2 cup blueberries 42 calories, 0.7 mg sodium
Lunch:
2 slices of Flax bread 160 calories, 280 mg sodium
4 slices of diet Cheese 100 calories, 1,000 mg sodium Here's the problem! Low fat means high sodium in most cheeses, and I had forgotten that. Eating a can of low sodium tuna cuts the sodium by 80% (by 60% for regular tuna), keeps the calories essentially the same, and vastly increases the protein. TUNA is the answer!
Raw carrots 23 calories, 43 mg sodium
1 cup green grapes 104 calories, 3 mg sodium
Dinner:
2.5 ounces challah 165 calories, 268 mg sodium
2 ounces sweet wine 94 calories, 5 mg sodium
2.5 cups tossed salad 55 calories, 90 mg sodium
Mark's Chicken Ragout 250 calories, 326 mg sodium
Snacks:
1 shot whiskey 96 calories, no sodium
1 medium banana 105 calories, 1 mg sodium
1 large peach 68 calories, no sodium
1 sugar free Popsicle 15 calories, no sodium
I made good choices for snacks in regards to the sodium!
I could have cut the sodium nearly in half if I had eaten a tuna sandwich instead of a cheese one. I could also cut the sodium drastically by eating real cheese but the calories go up. Cheese is always problematic. I love it, but it's always too high in calories, sodium, or fat no matter which type I choose. I hate giving it up entirely, but I really need to think about that before I eat it.
This also shows again why it's probably better for me to weigh in only once a week. If I had waited until Monday morning, even a two or three pound weight loss would have looked good. Right now I'm already down six pounds, but I'm feeling bad because I haven't lost more. That's a ridiculous thing to feel, but it's my own craziness!
Today all my meals will be at home. Dinner will include a Morningstar Griller burger, which has 130 calories and 260 mg of sodium. i will definitely be eating a can of tuna with salad for lunch. I will take a walk no matter what, and I expect to be down a pound tomorrow morning! We shall see.
Have a great day and eat healthy.
This morning I am still 245, like yesterday. I was sort of surprised because sodium was still at 2,108 mg, kind of high. 2,000 mg a day is the recommended amount according to some websites. I ate all my meals at home, but even regular foods have sodium.
Here's what I ate, the calories and the sodium content:
Breakfast:
1/2 cup of Fiber One Cereal 60 calories, 105 mg sodium
Dannon Lite Greek Yogurt 80 calories, 45 mg sodium
1/2 cup blueberries 42 calories, 0.7 mg sodium
Lunch:
2 slices of Flax bread 160 calories, 280 mg sodium
4 slices of diet Cheese 100 calories, 1,000 mg sodium Here's the problem! Low fat means high sodium in most cheeses, and I had forgotten that. Eating a can of low sodium tuna cuts the sodium by 80% (by 60% for regular tuna), keeps the calories essentially the same, and vastly increases the protein. TUNA is the answer!
Raw carrots 23 calories, 43 mg sodium
1 cup green grapes 104 calories, 3 mg sodium
Dinner:
2.5 ounces challah 165 calories, 268 mg sodium
2 ounces sweet wine 94 calories, 5 mg sodium
2.5 cups tossed salad 55 calories, 90 mg sodium
Mark's Chicken Ragout 250 calories, 326 mg sodium
Snacks:
1 shot whiskey 96 calories, no sodium
1 medium banana 105 calories, 1 mg sodium
1 large peach 68 calories, no sodium
1 sugar free Popsicle 15 calories, no sodium
I made good choices for snacks in regards to the sodium!
I could have cut the sodium nearly in half if I had eaten a tuna sandwich instead of a cheese one. I could also cut the sodium drastically by eating real cheese but the calories go up. Cheese is always problematic. I love it, but it's always too high in calories, sodium, or fat no matter which type I choose. I hate giving it up entirely, but I really need to think about that before I eat it.
This also shows again why it's probably better for me to weigh in only once a week. If I had waited until Monday morning, even a two or three pound weight loss would have looked good. Right now I'm already down six pounds, but I'm feeling bad because I haven't lost more. That's a ridiculous thing to feel, but it's my own craziness!
Today all my meals will be at home. Dinner will include a Morningstar Griller burger, which has 130 calories and 260 mg of sodium. i will definitely be eating a can of tuna with salad for lunch. I will take a walk no matter what, and I expect to be down a pound tomorrow morning! We shall see.
Have a great day and eat healthy.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Even more suprised today
Today the surprise is in the opposite direction. I'm up two pounds to 245 this morning, and I have no idea why. This is the main reason that I should not get on the scale every day.
I'm not depressed about it thought because I know this big drop over those three days couldn't continue. I expected to be the same this morning, though, so I was a little surprised.
Sometimes I can blame it on water retention, and I'm still doing that. There's no other way to gain two pounds on 1400 calories except water retention. Sodium usually causes that, so I guess there was more sodium in that lunch out yesterday than I realized.
The food was spectacular for our group yesterday. I tried to estimate the calories and got 452. I had a small piece of grilled tofu in Bibb lettuce with some grilled vegetables inside that wrap. I did not add either of the two dressings that were served on the side. I estimated that at 125 calories. I had a small portion of grilled salmon served on quinoa and 2 small Brussels sprouts, which I estimated at 189 calories. The meal started with a spinach salad with chopped apples, pomegranate pieces, and some orange vinaigrette. I didn't love that because I couldn't get it without dressing, and I don't love crunching pomegranate seeds. I didn't eat all of it, so I estimated those calories at 138.
These calorie counts came from just looking up these foods on generic calorie count lists, so they may or may not be accurate. Mark and I split each of the entrees, so neither portion was too large. My total calories for the day were 1400, and I walked 30 minutes.
Dinner last night might have had too much sodium, too. I had a large salad with grated Parmesan cheese, about 1/2 cup of cheese. The main course was a small, individual pizza that Mark makes using a tortilla and fried in a pan. Interesting process and quite tasty, but it also includes pizza sauce, shredded cheese, and vegetarian pepperoni slices. Although the pizza has only 250 calories, I bet there is a LOT of sodium in those ingredients. I know that whenever I eat salad with the grated cheese, the sodium goes up. The 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese is 611 mg of sodium. Breakfast was only 200 calories, but it was yogurt and vegetarian sausage links, also sodium rich. I just realized that I fell back in to my old habit of eating soy products at all three meals. I love that stuff, but it's not good for me to eat it three times a day because of the potential soy estrogens in it. Processed foods like the links, pepperoni, and grilled tofu all contain high amounts of sodium. My Lose It! program tracks sodium if it knows it. I didn't put in the sodium from lunch because I didn't know it, but it tracked me at 1991 mg of sodium just on the breakfast and dinner foods!
YIKES! Of course, I had too much sodium yesterday.
Hopefully, the water weight will leave today.
Today I am having all my meals at home plus lifting weights and walking. It's Shabbat tonight, so that meal is always bigger than usual due to the wine and the challah. Tonight I have to be sure to weigh out the portion of challah and measure that wine. Then I have to put the rest AWAY and OUT OF SIGHT so there are no seconds! Challah is one of my trigger foods because it's so good and so easy to nibble, nibble, nibble until it's gone! LOL!
And today I will NOT eat soy and will watch the sodium content. I feel confident that today will be great and tomorrow I will be down two pounds. We'll see!
I'm not depressed about it thought because I know this big drop over those three days couldn't continue. I expected to be the same this morning, though, so I was a little surprised.
Sometimes I can blame it on water retention, and I'm still doing that. There's no other way to gain two pounds on 1400 calories except water retention. Sodium usually causes that, so I guess there was more sodium in that lunch out yesterday than I realized.
The food was spectacular for our group yesterday. I tried to estimate the calories and got 452. I had a small piece of grilled tofu in Bibb lettuce with some grilled vegetables inside that wrap. I did not add either of the two dressings that were served on the side. I estimated that at 125 calories. I had a small portion of grilled salmon served on quinoa and 2 small Brussels sprouts, which I estimated at 189 calories. The meal started with a spinach salad with chopped apples, pomegranate pieces, and some orange vinaigrette. I didn't love that because I couldn't get it without dressing, and I don't love crunching pomegranate seeds. I didn't eat all of it, so I estimated those calories at 138.
These calorie counts came from just looking up these foods on generic calorie count lists, so they may or may not be accurate. Mark and I split each of the entrees, so neither portion was too large. My total calories for the day were 1400, and I walked 30 minutes.
Dinner last night might have had too much sodium, too. I had a large salad with grated Parmesan cheese, about 1/2 cup of cheese. The main course was a small, individual pizza that Mark makes using a tortilla and fried in a pan. Interesting process and quite tasty, but it also includes pizza sauce, shredded cheese, and vegetarian pepperoni slices. Although the pizza has only 250 calories, I bet there is a LOT of sodium in those ingredients. I know that whenever I eat salad with the grated cheese, the sodium goes up. The 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese is 611 mg of sodium. Breakfast was only 200 calories, but it was yogurt and vegetarian sausage links, also sodium rich. I just realized that I fell back in to my old habit of eating soy products at all three meals. I love that stuff, but it's not good for me to eat it three times a day because of the potential soy estrogens in it. Processed foods like the links, pepperoni, and grilled tofu all contain high amounts of sodium. My Lose It! program tracks sodium if it knows it. I didn't put in the sodium from lunch because I didn't know it, but it tracked me at 1991 mg of sodium just on the breakfast and dinner foods!
YIKES! Of course, I had too much sodium yesterday.
Hopefully, the water weight will leave today.
Today I am having all my meals at home plus lifting weights and walking. It's Shabbat tonight, so that meal is always bigger than usual due to the wine and the challah. Tonight I have to be sure to weigh out the portion of challah and measure that wine. Then I have to put the rest AWAY and OUT OF SIGHT so there are no seconds! Challah is one of my trigger foods because it's so good and so easy to nibble, nibble, nibble until it's gone! LOL!
And today I will NOT eat soy and will watch the sodium content. I feel confident that today will be great and tomorrow I will be down two pounds. We'll see!
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Even I am surprised this morning.
Down another three pounds to 243 this morning! Just WOW! That's a loss of 8 pounds in three days. I may have set a new record. Well, I've always known I can gain it fast and lost it fast. This pace will not keep up, but it seems that my body is willing to drop this most recent weight gain. On February 28, I reported that I had just cracked under 240 by a few tenths. Sadly, from that point on it was up and up and up.
I had another good day yesterday, but I did not follow the detailed plan I wrote about. When Mark and I went up to the gym and to take our walk, we decided we didn't feel like going to Downtown Disney after all. Mark made us dinner at home that actually lowered the dinner calories. I had enough left for a snack of my favorite low-calorie ice cream at night bringing my total calories for the day to 1275.
Today we are eating lunch out with our HEAL club. The chef of The Stonegate Grille, one of the Solivita restaurants, is making a special, healthy lunch for our club. Last I heard there are 16 of us going. For $12, the chef has prepared a salad and a choice from two entrees. Mark pre-ordered the salmon, and I pre-ordered the tofu wrap. Our plan is to share both entrees. The chef is going to talk to us as a group about healthy eating. It should be a lovely afternoon event, but I can't really count up the calories too well. I will just assume that they aren't going to be too bad.
To compensate, I will eat my usual breakfast and a good dinner that Mark is making. I have programmed breakfast, dinner, and bedtime snack at 695 calories, leaving 725 for that lunch. I doubt if it will go over that much for the lunch. I also hope to get another 30 minute walk in.
Once I get through this lunch today, there are no other meals out on Friday or Saturday. Sunday will include dinner at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. Again, there is no way to calculate those calories very successfully. I have to hope that controlling breakfast and lunch and lots of walking at Epcot will help. Monday's weigh-in will tell me what happened.
I had another good day yesterday, but I did not follow the detailed plan I wrote about. When Mark and I went up to the gym and to take our walk, we decided we didn't feel like going to Downtown Disney after all. Mark made us dinner at home that actually lowered the dinner calories. I had enough left for a snack of my favorite low-calorie ice cream at night bringing my total calories for the day to 1275.
Today we are eating lunch out with our HEAL club. The chef of The Stonegate Grille, one of the Solivita restaurants, is making a special, healthy lunch for our club. Last I heard there are 16 of us going. For $12, the chef has prepared a salad and a choice from two entrees. Mark pre-ordered the salmon, and I pre-ordered the tofu wrap. Our plan is to share both entrees. The chef is going to talk to us as a group about healthy eating. It should be a lovely afternoon event, but I can't really count up the calories too well. I will just assume that they aren't going to be too bad.
To compensate, I will eat my usual breakfast and a good dinner that Mark is making. I have programmed breakfast, dinner, and bedtime snack at 695 calories, leaving 725 for that lunch. I doubt if it will go over that much for the lunch. I also hope to get another 30 minute walk in.
Once I get through this lunch today, there are no other meals out on Friday or Saturday. Sunday will include dinner at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. Again, there is no way to calculate those calories very successfully. I have to hope that controlling breakfast and lunch and lots of walking at Epcot will help. Monday's weigh-in will tell me what happened.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Two good days in a row.
Yesterday went as planned: 30 minute walk, 1100 calories, no grazing or snacking.
For behaving myself for two full days, I have been rewarded with a five pound loss. This morning I weighed 246. If only losing weight could continue at this rate forever...
Of course, weight loss does NOT continue like that. I have probably lost five pounds of water that I gained last week with lots of eating out and higher sodium foods. I know that, so when it starts to slow down, I need to stick to the plan anyway. It always works, given enough time.
The plan for today is simple: stick to IT! LOL! Seriously, here's today's plan:
1. go to the gym and lift weights for at least 15 minutes
2. take a 30 minute walk
3. eat dinner out
It's number three that is a biggy today. I'm actually going to eat dinner out alone tonight because Mark has a meeting here in Solivita and I have the SOJC choir over by WDW. We are also going together to Downtown Disney today between lunch and dinner to attend a book-signing. We expect the line to be long, so we will head over after lunch to get a place in line for the 4 p.m. event. Originally, Mark was going to choir with me, so we were going to eat dinner out together at our favorite buffet, Sweet Tomatoes. Now we are taking two cars over, and he's heading home for a quick dinner at the Bistro before attending a meeting in the ballroom. That leaves me alone over by WDW for dinner before my choir rehearsal.
The plan now is to skip Sweet Tomatoes. The potential for a healthy dinner is there because it's a huge salad bar and several types of vegetarian soups, but it's a buffet. I'm not so good at not going back for seconds, thirds, fourths, you get the idea. Instead I'm going to go to Denny's because I feel I can control that better by myself. I know what to order and how many calories it has. I can control it and there are no seconds. If I go to Denny's, dinner is easy to order and calculate. Here's my plan for dinner:
1. A build your own Grand Slam that consists of four items:
2 orders of scrambled egg whites for 100 calories (50 calories each order)
English Muffin with one packet of margarine for 180 calories (130 muffin, margarine 50)
Fruit cup for 70 calories
2. Garden Salad with no dressing for 120 calories
3. Two extra sides:
steamed broccoli for 25 calories
sauteed zucchini and squash for 60 calories (I could get these steamed for only 15 calories, but I like the taste of the sauteed and can afford those extra calories.)
Dinner is then only 555 calories, healthy, and BIG. I still like lots of food to feel full and to make me feel like I ate something substantial. I think this will do it. I have never actually ordered this combination of foods before, but I've eaten all of them separately with other things in the past. I got all the calorie counts off the Denny's nutritional information website. This will mostly likely cost a fortune because of ordering the salad and sides a la carte. I don't care! The price is worth the reward of a healthy, low-calorie dinner.
Breakfast and lunch will be at home and should be fine, pending no last minute grazing!
For behaving myself for two full days, I have been rewarded with a five pound loss. This morning I weighed 246. If only losing weight could continue at this rate forever...
Of course, weight loss does NOT continue like that. I have probably lost five pounds of water that I gained last week with lots of eating out and higher sodium foods. I know that, so when it starts to slow down, I need to stick to the plan anyway. It always works, given enough time.
The plan for today is simple: stick to IT! LOL! Seriously, here's today's plan:
1. go to the gym and lift weights for at least 15 minutes
2. take a 30 minute walk
3. eat dinner out
It's number three that is a biggy today. I'm actually going to eat dinner out alone tonight because Mark has a meeting here in Solivita and I have the SOJC choir over by WDW. We are also going together to Downtown Disney today between lunch and dinner to attend a book-signing. We expect the line to be long, so we will head over after lunch to get a place in line for the 4 p.m. event. Originally, Mark was going to choir with me, so we were going to eat dinner out together at our favorite buffet, Sweet Tomatoes. Now we are taking two cars over, and he's heading home for a quick dinner at the Bistro before attending a meeting in the ballroom. That leaves me alone over by WDW for dinner before my choir rehearsal.
The plan now is to skip Sweet Tomatoes. The potential for a healthy dinner is there because it's a huge salad bar and several types of vegetarian soups, but it's a buffet. I'm not so good at not going back for seconds, thirds, fourths, you get the idea. Instead I'm going to go to Denny's because I feel I can control that better by myself. I know what to order and how many calories it has. I can control it and there are no seconds. If I go to Denny's, dinner is easy to order and calculate. Here's my plan for dinner:
1. A build your own Grand Slam that consists of four items:
2 orders of scrambled egg whites for 100 calories (50 calories each order)
English Muffin with one packet of margarine for 180 calories (130 muffin, margarine 50)
Fruit cup for 70 calories
2. Garden Salad with no dressing for 120 calories
3. Two extra sides:
steamed broccoli for 25 calories
sauteed zucchini and squash for 60 calories (I could get these steamed for only 15 calories, but I like the taste of the sauteed and can afford those extra calories.)
Dinner is then only 555 calories, healthy, and BIG. I still like lots of food to feel full and to make me feel like I ate something substantial. I think this will do it. I have never actually ordered this combination of foods before, but I've eaten all of them separately with other things in the past. I got all the calorie counts off the Denny's nutritional information website. This will mostly likely cost a fortune because of ordering the salad and sides a la carte. I don't care! The price is worth the reward of a healthy, low-calorie dinner.
Breakfast and lunch will be at home and should be fine, pending no last minute grazing!
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Better today
I behaved myself yesterday for the first time in weeks and weeks. I can't even remember the last time I had a really good day. Well, I know that the last time I recorded a full, good day in the Lose It! app on my phone was February 26, so that's a month ago. Yeah, it's been awhile.
Yesterday I went to the gym and did a 15 minute routine with the weights. That felt good. Then we walked for 30 minutes. I walked 30 minutes today already, too. I had only 1,050 calories yesterday and used 164 calories exercising. That's a great day. The main thing I did right was not graze in the kitchen. I ate what I planned and nothing else, no cheating. For me that is a HUGE accomplishment.
So, yeah, I feel proud of myself for yesterday.
Today is going well. I ate breakfast and then took that walk. I am eating all my meals late today because I will be out for rehearsal from 4:30 to 8:45. I decided to eat dinner when I get back, so dinner at 9 p.m. is so late that all my other meals will need to be late as well. I had an 80 calorie yogurt at 10:40 and then went walking. I'm hungry right now at noon, but I don't want to eat lunch until somewhere between 3:30 and 4. Of course, I have plenty of calories left for the day even after I have lunch, dinner, and a bedtime snack programmed. In order to prevent out-of-control grazing, I think I had better eat something else now and call it the rest of breakfast. I can eat my usual 3 Morningstar sausage links for 120 calories and still only have 1147 for the day. I should probably add another 100 to lunch so I don't get hungry at the rehearsal.
I beat myself up yesterday writing the blog, but at least I turned it around and had a good day. Today will be easy, but tomorrow will be harder. Tomorrow I'll be eating dinner out, by myself. I'll just have to stay strong!
Yesterday I went to the gym and did a 15 minute routine with the weights. That felt good. Then we walked for 30 minutes. I walked 30 minutes today already, too. I had only 1,050 calories yesterday and used 164 calories exercising. That's a great day. The main thing I did right was not graze in the kitchen. I ate what I planned and nothing else, no cheating. For me that is a HUGE accomplishment.
So, yeah, I feel proud of myself for yesterday.
Today is going well. I ate breakfast and then took that walk. I am eating all my meals late today because I will be out for rehearsal from 4:30 to 8:45. I decided to eat dinner when I get back, so dinner at 9 p.m. is so late that all my other meals will need to be late as well. I had an 80 calorie yogurt at 10:40 and then went walking. I'm hungry right now at noon, but I don't want to eat lunch until somewhere between 3:30 and 4. Of course, I have plenty of calories left for the day even after I have lunch, dinner, and a bedtime snack programmed. In order to prevent out-of-control grazing, I think I had better eat something else now and call it the rest of breakfast. I can eat my usual 3 Morningstar sausage links for 120 calories and still only have 1147 for the day. I should probably add another 100 to lunch so I don't get hungry at the rehearsal.
I beat myself up yesterday writing the blog, but at least I turned it around and had a good day. Today will be easy, but tomorrow will be harder. Tomorrow I'll be eating dinner out, by myself. I'll just have to stay strong!
Monday, March 24, 2014
Out of control, Angry, Frustrated
I haven't written a blog in a week. I've been busy, but you've heard that before. Mostly I've been eating out of control. I have had lots of meals out, some in restaurants and some in homes, but the biggest problem has been snacking. I have eaten too much at meals and eaten too many snacks. That's why my weight this morning is 251, up four pounds for the week. In October, I had hit the mid-230s and thought there was a good possibility I could lose another 20-25 pounds before the wedding. Instead I have gained nearly 20 pounds and now there is not enough time to get to some decent weight by the wedding, especially with Passover coming in about three weeks.
What I need to do is get a handle on my eating and curb the snacking. What I need to do is start walking every day and lifting weights three days a week. What I need to do is start logging my food into the Lose it! program again and keep to about 1300 calories a day.
As I say frequently on this blog, I know what to do. I know how to lose weight.
Why can't I do any of the things I know?
I don't know.
What I need to do is get a handle on my eating and curb the snacking. What I need to do is start walking every day and lifting weights three days a week. What I need to do is start logging my food into the Lose it! program again and keep to about 1300 calories a day.
As I say frequently on this blog, I know what to do. I know how to lose weight.
Why can't I do any of the things I know?
I don't know.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Sad Monday weigh-in
It's sad for several reasons. First, I weigh 247 this morning, up two pounds this week. Too much partying for the birthday and Purim, I guess. I'm kind of out of control again.
It's sad because my high school girlfriend, Laverne, posted on FB this morning that her mother passed away over night, just shy of her 90th birthday. She had suffered from Alzheimer's for years, but she was at home, surrounded by her husband and youngest daughter. My condolences go to Laverne and her whole family.
It's sad because there's a huge, big rainstorm coming through today. It's gray and blustery and wet out. Central FL could get 2-6 inches of rain today, which is a LOT. Hopefully, our area won't get any flooding. It should be interesting to see how we fare with such downpours today.
On the other hand, there is another 5+inches of snow in MD today. Another snow day for all the central MD schools. I'm starting to think Emily will never get out of school this year! LOL!
And it's St. Patrick's Day! Seriously, how sad can you get on this day. I am wearing a green t-shirt and a plastic shamrock necklace. Mark is wearing his green Shamrock hat while making an Irish beer cheese soup for dinner with Irish soda bread purchased at Publix. On the TV we are listening to the Clancy brothers doing a concert on YouTube. So life is still good. And when we get home from rehearsal (me) and concert (Mark) tonight, he is going to make us "Dave's coffee," 1/3 black coffee, 1/3 Jameson's Irish whiskey, and 1/3 Bailey's Irish cream. Something to look forward to for sure!
Mark is starting to feel slightly better, little by little. At least he has not had a fever since Saturday night. Yesterday we delivered Mishloach Manot bags to a dozen or more people in Solivita, then took off for shul to deliver more. We heard the megillah Saturday night at home on YouTube and Sunday morning at shul. It was fun.
After shul, we headed to the Magic Kingdom. We had an email to Fastpass lunch at Be Our Guest and pre-order the food. So we had a 1:15 lunch reservation. They had our reservation but the food choices didn't come through. We were told that was happening to them a lot. We re-ordered the food and were seated very quickly, not much waiting, so that part was nice. After lunch we snagged a great view on a bench to watch the new Festival of Fantasy parade. After the parade, we just went home instead of heading to Epcot for a concert. We were both just worn out from such a busy day. It was the most activity Mark had had since we got home Thursday afternoon.
Here's a few pictures of the parade.
It's sad because my high school girlfriend, Laverne, posted on FB this morning that her mother passed away over night, just shy of her 90th birthday. She had suffered from Alzheimer's for years, but she was at home, surrounded by her husband and youngest daughter. My condolences go to Laverne and her whole family.
It's sad because there's a huge, big rainstorm coming through today. It's gray and blustery and wet out. Central FL could get 2-6 inches of rain today, which is a LOT. Hopefully, our area won't get any flooding. It should be interesting to see how we fare with such downpours today.
On the other hand, there is another 5+inches of snow in MD today. Another snow day for all the central MD schools. I'm starting to think Emily will never get out of school this year! LOL!
And it's St. Patrick's Day! Seriously, how sad can you get on this day. I am wearing a green t-shirt and a plastic shamrock necklace. Mark is wearing his green Shamrock hat while making an Irish beer cheese soup for dinner with Irish soda bread purchased at Publix. On the TV we are listening to the Clancy brothers doing a concert on YouTube. So life is still good. And when we get home from rehearsal (me) and concert (Mark) tonight, he is going to make us "Dave's coffee," 1/3 black coffee, 1/3 Jameson's Irish whiskey, and 1/3 Bailey's Irish cream. Something to look forward to for sure!
Mark is starting to feel slightly better, little by little. At least he has not had a fever since Saturday night. Yesterday we delivered Mishloach Manot bags to a dozen or more people in Solivita, then took off for shul to deliver more. We heard the megillah Saturday night at home on YouTube and Sunday morning at shul. It was fun.
After shul, we headed to the Magic Kingdom. We had an email to Fastpass lunch at Be Our Guest and pre-order the food. So we had a 1:15 lunch reservation. They had our reservation but the food choices didn't come through. We were told that was happening to them a lot. We re-ordered the food and were seated very quickly, not much waiting, so that part was nice. After lunch we snagged a great view on a bench to watch the new Festival of Fantasy parade. After the parade, we just went home instead of heading to Epcot for a concert. We were both just worn out from such a busy day. It was the most activity Mark had had since we got home Thursday afternoon.
Here's a few pictures of the parade.
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| Seriously, Merida from Brave looks a little crazy here, |
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| Maleficent as a steampunk dragon breathes FIRE! Pretty spectacular. |
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Mark's birthday was fabulous and then he got sick.
We checked into the Villas at the Grand Floridian for a 1 BR standard view. What a surprise when they gave us an upgrade to a 3 BR Grand Villa. Ridiculously huge place for two people. We called our friends Barb and Al to come party in the evening with us. We invited them to sleep over, but they couldn't do that.
We had two lovely days, Wednesday and Thursday, in the villa. Then we could barely drag ourselves home. Mark started spiking a fever along with his coughing, nasal congestion, and sore throat. I have felt unusually tired and dragged out, but so far not many of the other symptoms. We have stayed home all day Friday and today just sleeping and resting and watching TV.
Here are some pictures of the Grand Villa at the Grand Floridian.
We had two lovely days, Wednesday and Thursday, in the villa. Then we could barely drag ourselves home. Mark started spiking a fever along with his coughing, nasal congestion, and sore throat. I have felt unusually tired and dragged out, but so far not many of the other symptoms. We have stayed home all day Friday and today just sleeping and resting and watching TV.
Here are some pictures of the Grand Villa at the Grand Floridian.
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| Enjoying the view from one of the two very long balconies. |
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| Master bedroom. There are three bedrooms and four full baths plus a media room that sleeps two more people in this palace! |
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| Master bath with jetted tub |
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| Giant master bath shower. One other hall bath has a big shower and the other two baths have extra deep tub/shower combos. |
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| Living room and dining room with gorgeous floors and ceiling. |
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| Giant dining table |
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| Media room |
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| Me looking happy in the kitchen |
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| Art on the kitchen wall |
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| Mark checking out the outside. We are the second floor unit, all the windows and balcony from side to side. There are six 3BR Grand Villas, one on each floor, taking up the entire end of the building. |
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| Waiting for lunch to arrive at the pool bar |
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| Swimming in the pool even though it was a little cool out |
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| Dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe |
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| Dessert sampler that I bought and took back to the room to share with Barbara |
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| Me and Barb toasting |
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| Some of the goodies Mark got for his birthday. Barb and Al brought him the Bailey's. |
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| Couldn't eat Mickey so he's in my fridge at home now. |
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| Me and Barbara eating Mickey ice cream bars in the media room, after we had consumed almost two bottles of wine! |
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| Sunrise the next morning |
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| Scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast Thursday morning |
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Going Home!
As soon as we get to the entrance gate, we will hear the guard say, "Welcome Home." When we walk into the lobby, we will hear the doorman say it, then the registration desk cast member, and everyone else we encounter all day. I wonder if it will get old? NAH!
We are going to our new home away from home, the Villas at the Grand Floridian, using our DVC points for the first time since we bought into the Disney Vacation Club on February 7.
Today is Mark's birthday. Happy Birthday, my beloved husband!
He has caught up to me in age for a few months until I pass him again in August. LOL!
For his birthday, we are celebrating at WDW and staying over night at VGF in a 1 BR unit. There will be plenty of pictures taken today. If it doesn't rain, we will swim in the pool this afternoon and have lunch at the pool bar area. Dinner tonight is at the Grand Floridian Cafe, a nice sit-down restaurant, but still casual. It's the next-to-the-last restaurant for us to try there. The only one left is Victoria and Albert's, and we aren't too likely to go there any time soon. Breakfast tomorrow will be in the apartment. We are taking things to make scrambled eggs and toast in the kitchen in the apartment just for the fun of using the kitchen! Tomorrow will be in the mid-60s, so it's a good day to go the Magic Kingdom and see the new Festival of Fantasy afternoon parade.
This should be a very memorable birthday for Mark!
We're starting the celebration off with a free Grand Slam breakfast at Denny's for him because he got a coupon in his email for a free breakfast on his birthday. Then we are heading straight over to VGF. I have been looking forward to this for a LONG time!
Just in case you forgot what it looks like, here's a picture of the Grand Floridian taken from the top of Bay Lake Towers across the lagoon. There's also a picture from the day we bought the points.
We are going to our new home away from home, the Villas at the Grand Floridian, using our DVC points for the first time since we bought into the Disney Vacation Club on February 7.
Today is Mark's birthday. Happy Birthday, my beloved husband!
He has caught up to me in age for a few months until I pass him again in August. LOL!
For his birthday, we are celebrating at WDW and staying over night at VGF in a 1 BR unit. There will be plenty of pictures taken today. If it doesn't rain, we will swim in the pool this afternoon and have lunch at the pool bar area. Dinner tonight is at the Grand Floridian Cafe, a nice sit-down restaurant, but still casual. It's the next-to-the-last restaurant for us to try there. The only one left is Victoria and Albert's, and we aren't too likely to go there any time soon. Breakfast tomorrow will be in the apartment. We are taking things to make scrambled eggs and toast in the kitchen in the apartment just for the fun of using the kitchen! Tomorrow will be in the mid-60s, so it's a good day to go the Magic Kingdom and see the new Festival of Fantasy afternoon parade.
This should be a very memorable birthday for Mark!
We're starting the celebration off with a free Grand Slam breakfast at Denny's for him because he got a coupon in his email for a free breakfast on his birthday. Then we are heading straight over to VGF. I have been looking forward to this for a LONG time!
Just in case you forgot what it looks like, here's a picture of the Grand Floridian taken from the top of Bay Lake Towers across the lagoon. There's also a picture from the day we bought the points.
Monday, March 10, 2014
It's over!
It's been about two weeks since I wrote a blog, so at this point a lot of things are over.
Sara and Jeff's visit is over. Michael and Lore's visit is over. The play is over. Wow! So much has happened.
First, let me report my weight. Two weeks ago I weighed in at 243, a slight gain from the week before. This morning, I weighed in at 245, a gain of two pounds in the two weeks. I was actually RELIEVED because there has been way too much eating going on with the company and the show. Crazy.
Now I plan to get back to work on losing weight. Haha! I just typed that and then thought about how Wednesday is Mark's birthday, and we are checking in to the Villas at the Grand Floridian in a 1 BR unit to use our DVC points for the first time. I'm taking him out to dinner that night. Yeah, there will be some eating out this week. Oh, well....
Now for what's happened the past few weeks. We had a fabulous time with our company the last few weeks. I never took any pictures with Michael and Lore. (I KNOW! How is that possible?) They came to the play Saturday night and loved it. We spent the afternoon on Saturday poolside because the weather was perfect for it. We took Sara and Jeff on the airboat ride and up to the Monument of the States. We took long walks and spotted lots of animals. It was a great visit with all of them.
Another big thing was Mark having his face shaved and his hair cut really short. His character in the play is a crazy, hypochondriac from 1953. The director asked all the men with facial hair to shave, but Mark was the last one to do it. He looked so different that people actually didn't recognize him. Of course, he hates the look, so now that the last show was last night, the beard is going to come back ASAP! He wouldn't let me take any pictures of him that were labelled with his own name, but he is okay with people seeing pictures taken during the show and labelled Ira Stone. If I can figure out how to move some of those pictures into the blog, I will.
The show was a HUGE success with three sold out audiences. They were all great audiences, and the cast was fantastic. I wish everyone could have seen it. There is so much talent here in Solivita. I just did props and stagehand work, which meant frequent shopping for bagels, cream cheese, and pound cake. When I signed up for props, I didn't realize that there was so much eating in this show.
This morning the cast and crew are dismantling the set. Tonight I have the costume parade for the Starliters show, which is about three weeks. Non-stop fun in Solivita!
Here are some pictures from Jeff and Sara's visit, and after that are some photos from the first dress rehearsal of the play. Mark has not shaved yet and there are no sets, but you can see a little of the action going on.
Sara and Jeff's visit is over. Michael and Lore's visit is over. The play is over. Wow! So much has happened.
First, let me report my weight. Two weeks ago I weighed in at 243, a slight gain from the week before. This morning, I weighed in at 245, a gain of two pounds in the two weeks. I was actually RELIEVED because there has been way too much eating going on with the company and the show. Crazy.
Now I plan to get back to work on losing weight. Haha! I just typed that and then thought about how Wednesday is Mark's birthday, and we are checking in to the Villas at the Grand Floridian in a 1 BR unit to use our DVC points for the first time. I'm taking him out to dinner that night. Yeah, there will be some eating out this week. Oh, well....
Now for what's happened the past few weeks. We had a fabulous time with our company the last few weeks. I never took any pictures with Michael and Lore. (I KNOW! How is that possible?) They came to the play Saturday night and loved it. We spent the afternoon on Saturday poolside because the weather was perfect for it. We took Sara and Jeff on the airboat ride and up to the Monument of the States. We took long walks and spotted lots of animals. It was a great visit with all of them.
Another big thing was Mark having his face shaved and his hair cut really short. His character in the play is a crazy, hypochondriac from 1953. The director asked all the men with facial hair to shave, but Mark was the last one to do it. He looked so different that people actually didn't recognize him. Of course, he hates the look, so now that the last show was last night, the beard is going to come back ASAP! He wouldn't let me take any pictures of him that were labelled with his own name, but he is okay with people seeing pictures taken during the show and labelled Ira Stone. If I can figure out how to move some of those pictures into the blog, I will.
The show was a HUGE success with three sold out audiences. They were all great audiences, and the cast was fantastic. I wish everyone could have seen it. There is so much talent here in Solivita. I just did props and stagehand work, which meant frequent shopping for bagels, cream cheese, and pound cake. When I signed up for props, I didn't realize that there was so much eating in this show.
This morning the cast and crew are dismantling the set. Tonight I have the costume parade for the Starliters show, which is about three weeks. Non-stop fun in Solivita!
Here are some pictures from Jeff and Sara's visit, and after that are some photos from the first dress rehearsal of the play. Mark has not shaved yet and there are no sets, but you can see a little of the action going on.
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| On the airboat |
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| Mark and Jeff posing with the wild boar |
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| Sara with the giant alligator skin |
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| Lunch at the Three Sisters in downtown Kissimmee |
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| At Lake Toho in Kissimmee's lakefront park |
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| at Private Island ice cream |
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| Sara holding Poseidon! |
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| Jeff and Poseidon |
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| I never get tired of holding baby alligators. |
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| Mark's opening scene. Remember, this is not on the stage, so there is no set yet, just costumes for the first time. |
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| And, of course, his hair is still pretty long and he has the beard. |
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