Decluttering challenge, days 12, 13, 14

Oh man, you’d think having four days in a row off work would allow me the time to declutter, take some pictures, and write about it.  You’d think.  I’ve just felt awful though.  Kind of feels like a waste of time off.  I had planned to do so much while I was off and was lucky to make it out of bed by noon.  Oh well…so my decluttering didn’t go quite the way I wanted it to.  Instead of tackling my closet, I pitched out enough magazines to cover days 12 and 13.

Then today I cleaned out the fridge.  You know all of those salad dressing bottles?  The ones you bought thinking they sounded good?  And then they turned out to be not so good?  Yeah, threw out several of those today.  Also a few carrots that I somehow overlooked to the point where they just didn’t look all that appealing any more.  Found some green onions that I had to pitch.  Wish I would have found them sooner, I could have cut the green part off and planted the bulbs and grown some more green onions in my house.  But I didn’t so I couldn’t.

Anyhow, I ended up getting rid of 15 things out of the fridge today, so was able to surpass my goal of 14 items. For the month of January, I’ve now managed to eliminate 127 items from my home.  I have to admit, it is becoming more difficult to find the number of items I need each day.  The refrigerator cleaning made for a pretty quick search today, but now it’s clean.  So tomorrow?  Not sure where I’m going from here.  Plus I have to go back to work tomorrow, so exhaustion and time play into it as well.  What I really need to do is start (or even finish) my search tonight, but I have other things I want to do too…argh!!  Why does life have to be so hard sometimes?  Ha!!  Yeah, because I have it so tough, right?  Whine, whine, whine…

What are you whining about  working on this evening?

Scout on the treadmill, literally on it~

I think Scout is trying to tell me something…like, “Hey, you need to start using this thing.  If you’re not going to, I will.”

Did you know this is Meatless Monday?

Yummy Meatless Monday Bento #152 (Photo credit: shashinjutsu)

I hadn’t given it any thought until I was going through my emails and saw the subject on one from Morningstar Farms (hey, wait a minute…do you think they have some kind of interest in making sure people eat vegetarian fare on Mondays?).  As I thought about what I’d eaten over the course of the day I realized I’d had a meatless Monday without even trying.

My protein for the day consisted of peanut butter at breakfast, hummus for lunch and Swiss cheese for dinner…yes, yes, the fat content for the day was high (especially so when you consider I ate avocado with my Swiss cheese this evening), but I sure didn’t miss the meat.  I’ve never been a huge meat-eater anyhow, so it’s not like going without meat is a struggle for me.  I am eating more vegetarian meals though…and fewer fast food meals…can’t hurt, right?

On another note, I’ve still been doing that little push-up/sit-up challenge…nothing too difficult yet.  I’m thinking I’m recovered enough from my cold that I may hop on the exercise bike or treadmill for a bit tomorrow (saw my doctor again today and got a guarded clean bill of health…still have a cough and temp was on the low side…hey, it’s cold here in Indiana, what can I say?).  We’re also starting that fitness challenge (company wide) next Monday…the 10,000 steps a day challenge.  The girls at work are getting excited about it…not sure if they’re more excited about getting fit or the prospect of winning prizes!  It’ll be fun, whatever they’re excited about.

So…do you eat any vegetarian meals?  What’s your favorite?

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Hardly working…

Sick Man (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Oh my, I can’t believe how sick I’ve been.  I had the weekend off (one of my very few weekends off) and I was sick the entire time.  Then yesterday I got up and got ready for work, actually went in and then told my boss I felt too sick to stay.  Ended up stopping at my doctor’s office on the way home.  Unfortunately she was on vacation.  Of course… I did talk with the nurse and she suggested some over the counter meds I could try.  So I stopped at CVS, picked up the drugs, went home, took said drugs and went right back to bed.

I still don’t feel great, but I did manage to make it through an entire day without being sick…so that’s something, right?  My stomach doesn’t feel as upset as it has been, so maybe I’m on the mend…sure hope so.  I need to get out of bed and get back to writing…

Good news though, I’ve exercised every day for a week now…not a lot and not very strenuously, but still…it’s a start!  And we all have to start somewhere…

Working it…

Green common beans on the plant. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Whew…I have been one sick pup (or kitty) the past couple of days.  Didn’t do anything yesterday except drag myself from the bedroom to the bathroom.  My boss texted me last night to let me know that the zone vice president was going to be in the area today and he asked me to come in early.  I didn’t have the heart to tell him how sick I’d been, he gets so freaked out when the big wigs come calling.  So I went in and worked today…no visit tho…and now he’s off to Illinois…gosh darn the luck!  I felt awful all day, not sure how much help I was…but at least I was there, right?

I take that back, the not doing anything at all yesterday…I did do a light upper body strength training workout.  Then followed that with a light core workout before work this morning…nothing too strenuous…but at least I’m getting back in the habit.  The light strength training doesn’t do a lot for me other than reinforce the habit of exercise and that’s what I’m working on now.

Still haven’t gotten back to writing…although I did sign up for Camp NaNo for August…so maybe not writing so much in July will be just what I need to succeed in August.

As for the kitties…well, sometimes they seem to be getting along and other times not so much.  Spook still chases Scout like she wants to kill her, but it must not scare Scout too much since she’s jumping out from behind doors attacking Spook…come to think of it, maybe that’s why Spook is trying to kill her!

I think I’ll actually be able to hit up the farmers market this weekend…I did pick three small ripe tomatoes from my “garden” the other day…yum!  I wouldn’t mind some green beans, cucumbers, summer squash, peaches and who knows what else…I’m ready for some taste tempting fresh-from-the-farm produce.

Alright, now it’s time for me to think about getting some sleep so I can (hopefully) wake up in the morning feeling better…no more upset tummy, fever, and headache please…

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 206

Wow!!  I’m so excited!  I’m making some good progress with my fitness quest.  Exercising every day and managing to stick with my food plan.  I even bypassed the donuts that someone brought in to work today!  Sat right there and ate the breakfast that I brought while everyone else was eating donuts.  And it didn’t even bother me.  Now that’s some progress!

And all of this is just in time for the livewell challenge that we’ll be starting at work on the 18th!  I’m ready!  I’m going to do this!

I’m a winner….and a loser!

Just came across this in an email and thought it was pretty funny…

We’re happy to let you know that you’re a winner in The Moisture Surge Intense Sweepstakes! You’ve won a Clinique Moisture Surge 7 ml sample, which has an approximate retail value of $0.90. Congratulations!

There’s nothing you need to do except look for your prize within 8-10 weeks after promotion conclusion. If we happen to need additional information from you, we will contact you at this email address.

Can you believe that?  I’ve won a prize worth 90 whole cents…well approximately…It doesn’t get any better than that!

Well, except when it does…when I stepped on the scale this morning, I discovered that I’ve now lost 4 pounds this year!!!  I’ve got a long way to go, but 4 pounds is a good start!  I’ve been exercising every day, sometimes for only 10 or 15 minutes, but still, that’s enough to get me back in the habit.  I woke up a few minutes early this morning and hopped on the exercise bike first thing…that was a great way to start my day.

And it’s getting easier to stick with my eating plan.  I haven’t completely cut out anything, just making sure I get at least 5 fruits and veggies every day, eating meals that I’ve prepared, avoiding the vending machine and fast food.  And those few things are making a difference! 

I really intended to spend January simply working to re-establish my healthy habits and I think I’m making pretty good progress!!  Each month I’m going to focus on something else, in addition to the habit I’ve established in previous months.  I’d really  like to get to a point where it just becomes my lifestyle.

How can I be this tired?

sometimes you just need a cozy place to curl up

Okay, granted I did work over 11 hours today.  And yes, I had to be at work at 5 am which meant I didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep.  Of course I was on my feet all day, running around, climbing ladders, going up and down stairs.  And I waited much too long to eat today, so I ended up with a headache to accompany my tired body.

But still, this is ridiculous!  My legs hurt, my back hurts, my head still hurts.  I know, as well as I know anything, that a lot of the pain will diminish as I continue to lose weight, but I’m not sure it’ll ever disappear completely…don’t remind me, I know I’m not a young whippersnapper any more.

At least I have tomorrow off work (I hope…hopefully I won’t get any phone calls asking me to come in because our zone vice president is on his way).  I have a few errands to run in the morning,some cooking to do in the afternoon, and I’m thinking sleeping in without an alarm clock forcing me to get up will be a treat!

A couple of good things about today…one, even though I was feeling so tired (a big trigger for me) and dealing with a lot of stress, I still ate healthy today, totally stayed within my calorie range (on the low end of it…woohoo) and still got in some core exercises before work and rode the exercise bike for a little while this evening.  High fives all around!

The long and winding road to fitness, day 202

Wow!  There are times I regret not giving this weight loss journey my all for the past 202 days…how much weight would I have lost had I done that?

But…I can’t change the past…what I can do is use this to motivate me to work harder to stick with my food plan and exercise program.  I’ve done really well for the past few days.  I guess going back to work does have its advantages.

I’ve been preparing my food the night before and keying everything into my nutrition tracker at SparkPeople.com.  Not sure what the psychology behind this is, but it helps me stick with it…hmm…could be plain laziness, I may be too lazy to want to go back in and change things.

I’ve also been exercising every day.  Not crazy, not over doing it, but doing some cardio and strength training every day.  My body will get used to it…sometime, I hope.

And I did lose 1 pound last week even with not so great eating the first part of the week…vacation, you know…I do much better when I’m on a routine.  But a pound is a pound and I’ll take it.  I’ll take it and work to lose at least that much this week.

Now to get some sleep tonight.  For some wild reason, we’re going in at 5 am tomorrow.  I thought those days would be over since the holidays are behind us.  Shows just how much I know, doesn’t it?

The long and winding road to fitness, day 195

Welcome to the new year!  How exciting to have another opportunity to make our lives better, to live healthier.  Today has been a good day with both nutrition and exercise.  I stayed within my calorie range (under 1650) and got in upper body strength training and some time on the exercise bike.  I also did some stretching.  I’m not sure if I’ll be sore tomorrow or not, but it felt good to get back to my exercise routine.

I even cooked a good lunch today.  I had tilapia, half of a baked sweet potato, and cooked cabbage (hey, you can’t overlook that luck thing that just might result from eating cabbage on New Year’s Day).  I have enough prepared that I can eat the same meal again tomorrow, except I’m going to make cole slaw instead of cooked cabbage.

I spent a little time on SparkPeople.com tracking my nutrition and fitness, visiting a couple of teams, leaving some replies to some posts, and doing a little reading.  I haven’t started the private spark team for our work livewell challenge yet, but I’m going to do that sometime this week.

I have to admit I had a couple of times throughout the day when I thought about getting something to eat that I hadn’t planned on…those pesky old habits are sure difficult to overcome, aren’t they?  One of my ingrained habits is eating snack food while I read.  I think, years ago, that’s how I learned to cope with things I didn’t want to think about and emotions I didn’t want to feel.    And it worked…while I was doing it.  But the funny thing about all of that is that those emotions and thoughts come right back as soon as I stop the combined eating/reading.  I’ve decided I’ll substitute a cup of hot tea with stevia for the snack foods while I’m reading.  At least that’s one way to break that habit.  Of course, there comes a time when I’ll have to deal with the other stuff…feeling the things I’ve spent a lifetime running from and allowing myself to think about and deal with everything else.  I know that works, I’ve done it before.  Unfortunately I allowed myself to slip right back into those long-established bad habits.  Now to become more aware and vigilant with myself.

A pretty successful day 195 on this road, wouldn’t you say? (Sorry no pictures today…for some crazy reason, I couldn’t upload any today…)

I’m dedicating the year 2012 to my health and fitness

It’s hard to believe that 2011 is coming to an end.  I didn’t manage to make the strides I’d hoped to make concerning my health and fitness this year.  Overall I gained weight and lost fitness.  Not quite the way I wanted to go.  I’ve spent the past few weeks planning how to make permanent changes in my life that will allow me to lose weight and regain my fitness.

The first week of the year, I’ll alternate walking on the treadmill and riding the exercise bike for my cardio.  I’ll do strength training, alternating upper body, lower body, and core.  I’m going to have to start with lighter weights than what I was using before, but you start where you are and go from there.

I’ve got a chart listing minutes for cardio and reps, weight and sets for strength training.  I’ll slowly increase the time for cardio and the reps and weight for strength training.  I want to get to a place where I’m regularly doing at least 30 minutes of cardio five days a week.  Once I’m there, I’ll begin increasing intensity.  I’ve got the plan in place.  I’m determined to follow through.

At some point in time, once I’ve got the exercise habit firmly in place again, I’m going to have to examine my reaction to stress and work on a better way to deal with it.  That’s a little ways down the road, but the thought is in my mind.   I’ll let it kind of percolate there while I’m working on my diet and exercise routines.

I stopped at Kroger today and bought some produce, low-fat dairy, fish and whole grain sandwich thins.  I’ve got my meal plan set for the next few days.  I find I’m really looking forward to eating good, home cooked food again.  Planning and preparation will be key.

And you can bet I’ll be visiting SparkPeople.com daily, if only for a few minutes a day.  There’s something about having that accountability that helps me maintain my motivation.  Of course, we’ll also have our four-week livewell 10,000 daily steps competition at work too.  It all helps!!  And anyone out there who wants to share the journey with me, jump on in!