No Soda Challenge, Day 12…tired

Well, I did make it through day 12 without a soda, but, this afternoon, I sure could have used that little boost I get from the caffeine.  Went in to work at 6 am, worked on setting the ad for 5 hours, then had to start working on getting things ready for our corporate visitor (he’ll be here Tuesday).  There’s so much to do and we’re so terribly busy that I can’t seem to get anything done.  So tomorrow starts at 5 am and will last until it’s all done (heck, I could be spending the night…)

I did hop on the exercise bike and did upper body strength training before I went to work…and managed to get in quite a bit of walking.  Took my yummy pizza to work for lunch, along with my crustless pumpkin pie…it tasted just as good as it did yesterday.  I had a bowl of trail mix (well, Cheerios and dried fruit), but ended up not taking an afternoon break…so now I have it for tomorrow!  Think I’ll head to bed in just a bit…I need to get up pretty early and I am really making an effort to get enough sleep.  I think lack of sleep is a big issue for me as far as weight gain goes.  So now to tackle day 13…

No Soda Challenge, Days 10 and 11…and Pizza!

First the challenge…yesterday I walked down to PetSmart on my break and I can’t believe there was another diet Pepsi in the cooler at the end of the register just begging me to take it back to work with me.  And silly me, I did it!  You’d think I’d know enough to just not even look at that cooler…look at the pets people bring in, look at the other people, look at the candy bars…no wait, don’t look at the candy bars…so no looking at diet Pepsi, no looking at candy bars…just focus on the cat food and treats I’m buying for my little Spooky girl, pay and get out before another diet Pepsi comes on to me…that’s the plan for my next PetSmart visit!!

Today was  much better…mainly because I was at home (my last Saturday off until Christmas…boo) and don’t have any diet Pepsi at home.  I stopped at the grocery store after work last night and have to admit, I did consider buying a six pack of diet Pepsi (it was even on sale), but I did manage to resist that temptation, and consequently, drank no diet Pepsi today!!

Did a lot of cooking today. ..made a big pot of vegetable beef soup in the crock pot, made my crustless pumpkin pie (pumpkin pieless) and the most delicious homemade pizza I’ve ever made in my life…

Lots of veggies (mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, spinach and one of the last of my tomatoes), my own crust with whole wheat flour, ground flaxseed meal and toasted sunflower seeds, and of course, cheese!!  And the best part (aside from the taste) is leftovers for lunch for work!! 

So…great pizza and no soda for tomorrow…I can do this!

No Soda 30 Day Challenge, Day 9

Another crazy busy day at work…huge truck, lots of customers…but no soda for me!!  So not too bad overall for the challenge…1 soda in 9 days.  I did think about getting one once yesterday, but the thought was very fleeting…just kind of passed through my mind in a moment and then disappeared.  I drank plenty of water and ate fairly healthy foods for each meal.  Got in a good workout before I left for work (was awake at 3:50 am and could not go back to sleep…just decided to get up and work out), and some short bursts of exercise throughout the day.  Really, the exercise isn’t a problem for me at all, being able to control my eating is the main issue for me…but I’m getting better at it, slowly…but what the heck, it’s a journey and at least I’m taking part in it rather than just sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else…

More Ambience

Okay, for most people, this wouldn’t seem like a bad way to spend the day at work…I had to use the Cricut machine to decorate story boards for our stocking stuffers aisle.  It turned out pretty good, but it took me most of the day to do it…I had to decorate 10 two and a half foot boards, then hang them up to hide the overstock.  It does make it look nice, but I kept thinking about all the things I need to do…but they’ll still be there waiting for me tomorrow.

One of the women started decorating the breakroom…took wide velvet ribbon and used it to wrap the fridge like a present…then put a huge bow on top…pretty cute!

Lost another pound of the four I gained…2 down, 2 to go!  And made it through another day with no soda…actually hadn’t even given it a thought until I sat down to write this blog…cool!!  Got a lot of exercise in today, but all of it in fairly short bursts…10 minutes here, 15 minutes there…but it all counts!!  And didn’t buy a single thing from the vending machine today!!  Ate the lunch and snacks that I’d packed, drank lots of water…good day in that regard.  Now I’m watching Survivor and thinking about going to bed fairly early…gotta do it all again in the morning…well, hopefully not the Cricut stuff…

Feel Good Fitness

I had the day off work today…thank goodness!  I came home exhausted last night and really needed a day to take it easy (sort of).  I decided I wanted to prepare some meals and snacks for the rest of the work week so I can stop putting my dollars in that blasted vending machine (saving myself both dollars and calories).  At first I thought I’d make out a grocery list and head out to the store.  Then I looked in the pantry and the fridge…decided to use up some of what I have before buying anything else.  I get on these frugal kicks every once in a while…unfortunately they don’t last very long and I end up buying (and ultimately throwing out) more food than I need.  So… had pumpkin puree opened in the fridge…it became pumpkin muffins…delish, if I do say so myself (and I do).  There’s a (relatively) healthy snack for my afternoons at work.  Prepared some lentils and whole wheat couscous to take in my lunch the rest of the week.  For tomorrow, I cut up a little onion, mixed in a little olive oil and have a cup of grape tomatoes to put on top of it…yummy lunch!  I also baked a batch of healthified oatmeal cookies (whole wheat flour, yogurt, only 2 tablespoons of oil in the entire recipe)…ended up putting most of the cookies and muffins in the freezer…kind of keeps me from eating more than I planned.  And it keeps them fresh longer.

Now on to the feel good fitness portion of this blog…rode the exercise bike this morning…set the tension really high…wow…not sure how that feels good, but it was a good workout.  Went outside for a walk/run…didn’t realize it was so cold this morning…but it sure felt good to be out there moving.  And this afternoon I put some oldies on in the kitchen and danced my little heart out for half an hour…I’d forgotten how fun (and what a great workout) that is.  And music…really…for me, that’s such a mood lifter…everything goes better with a little music, the more upbeat, the better!! So now I’m ready to face another hectic day at work, prepared and uplifted!!

Breakroom Ambience…really

Another crazy busy day at work…this just in from our corporate offices…we need to ambience the breakroom for Christmas!  Seriously?  We don’t even have the time to do all the work we need to get done every day and now they want us to decorate the breakroom…heck, most of us don’t even manage to make it back to the breakroom to actually take a break! I usually try to get outside for a quick walk and often end up eating my lunch at my desk while working on the computer…hmm…maybe I should try taking a real break at least once a day…could do wonders for my stress level…I think the whole ambience thing has more to do with corporate visitors being in our stores over the next couple of weeks than providing us with a relaxing place to take a break.  Hey, I’m all for relaxing…how about some recliners and a nice television…that’ll happen, you betcha!  Okay, okay…let it go…this could be fun…what do I want to see in the breakroom?  I’ll have to give this some thought.

Now on to the challenge…yep, made it thru another day without resorting to the evils of diet soda…have to admit I was tempted once, but just refilled my water bottle and kept moving on.  Tomorrow I’m going to do some real cooking…something to take to work for my lunches for the rest of the week, maybe some pumpking muffins (love, love, love anything pumpkin) and I just remembered I have some rhubarb in the freezer…what can I do with that that doesn’t involve pie?  Looks I’ll be searching for some recipes tonight while I watch my favorite show, Dancing With the Stars!

I did work out this morning before heading out the door to work.  I really do feel so much better when I sweat a little before going to work…seems to at least start my day on a high note.  It usually makes me more aware of what I’m eating, but I have to admit to eating a donut today…we had a birthday girl at work today and, instead of cake, she got donuts.  I can’t really say why I felt the need to eat a donut other than the fact that they were there…that’s one of those bad habits that I’ve got to work on again…thank goodness I never smoked!!!  As difficult as it is to kick that habit, I’d be in real trouble!  No donuts for me tomorrow…but I will be going out for a run, my first one in several days…hopefully I haven’t lost much in the way of fitness…we’ll see…