Goint ToWork Today

I spent an hour on the Treadmill today early this morning. Then I read my email devotions and spent some time in prayer and typing in my journal. I feel pretty good this morning and I still have a little time before I have to get into work clothes and leave.

I am down another half pound today to make my total weight loss thus far 10.5 pounds from 165 to 154.5. I am determined to get back to 120 at this point. I have spent a few days cleaning a closet and a spare room filled with memories of when I was thin. I was only 97 pounds when I graduated from high school I was very thin but I really didn't have much muscle. So I really don't care if I get there again. I do however want to get as close to the 110 that I was five or so years ago or maybe six I really can't remember exactly when that was but my goal is now set at getting to and staying at 120 pounds or less. I don't want to be a body builder just toned up and not weak so I should not have the kind of muscle weight a man would put on.

I know it is not good to not be able to be confident when you are overweight but I am there. I feel like I was taken seriously and liked better when I was thin. I don't really think it was because I was thin but more because of the way I felt when I was thin. I felt healthy and more alive and so much more confident. I was also more disciplined in every area of my life so I felt like I was accomplishing goals. I really just feel like a big blob right now. I have no one to blame but my self and my laziness and I have to change it no matter what. I have no shape except kind of round. I am starting to see a waist again but not much I think the next 10 pounds will really make a difference though so we will see. I have to change a lot of things not just my weight. I need to keep my house up as well as be a better wife and friend. When I get lazy I don't just gain weight I stop doing most anything productive. I kind of give up on most things but I am going to work to change that.

Hit My First Weigh Loss Goal

I have every ten pounds lost as a day to celebrate. I have lost my first ten pounds. So today I am going to choose to be happy about that. I don't really feel much smaller yet but I picked up my two 5 pound weights and realized that is a lot of weight off my knees.
I know that I have been able to do a lot more without feeling like I needed to rest that I did ten pounds ago. I am also sure that I have gained some muscle as I work out so it is a bigger accomplishment than I can see right now.
The new low carb approach to my diet seems to be helping a lot. I really made up my own version of the low carb diet because I think some of them are just plain silly. I have been eating a lot of fruits and veggies and meat. I have not been eating bread at all at least not now. I think I am addicted to bad carbs so I am going to add some whole grain stuff in slowly but I need to stay away from it for now. Once I eat them I just want more and more. That is why I can't loose the weight I think? Even thought I was eating few calories they were a lot of empty calories or calories that made me still feel hungry. I still feel hungry sometimes now but when I eat more protein with fruits and veggies instead of breads and pastas I feel full much longer.
Of course the fact that I am working out is a big key to the weight loss but I have cut it back to an hour a day because it is easier for me to keep up with that than 90+ minutes a day. I seem to be able to be more consistent when I don't do too much. So each day I am going to start my workout with an hour in mind and then if I still feel like going longer after the hour I will if not I will stop. That is what I will be doing when I get done here. Since I don't have to work until tomorrow I just decided to do my work out a little later today. I got up at 5 in the morning but I did something different today.

Today I read some devotionals sent to me in my email and decided that I am going to get back to spending time in devotions and prayer. It is not that I don't ever do it either I pray just about everyday but it is random and not on my priority list. I really want to be a better wife and live a life with some more discipline to it. So I created a digital prayer list and a journal to keep my thoughts and prayers in. Typing or writing things down helps me organize all the crazy stuff in my brain. Faith helps me in so many ways I really want to develop that again. I am starting small with short email devotions and will eventually do something more in depth.

Skirt I Am Making

Well the picture is not that great I need to learn how to resize things better. It got fuzzy and the color is more vivid.
My awesome mother-in-law is teaching me how to sew. I have had a machine for over two years now and have only made a few things. I like the goth look but I hate the prices at stores like Hot Topic. So we went to the fabric store in search of a material I could work with. I started with a crushed velvet skirt and it was aweful. I couldn't get the material to cooperate with me and I put my sewing machine away for a year. After reading up a little I learned that a stiffer fabric was better to start with. I also messed up other things when making the skirt but it is done and can be worn but just barely.
For this skirt I need to finish do the waist band and a bottom hem but I am going to wait until Saturday for my next lesson. I think I might start another skirt just like this one for the practice. I messed up the zipper a little but I don't think anyone will notice so I am leaving it that way and will try to do better on my next skirt. I am excited to be able to finish a skirt and while it took a lot of time for me it saved me a lot of money. If you don't count the pattern it only cost me about 15 dollars to make. If you count the pattern it is still under 20 dollars try finding a skirt for that price at Hot Topic.
I also know now that it will be to my benefit to raid the fabric store right after Halloween since for the fabrics that suit me well. I have to go get a zipper today and will look at their sales and see if there is anything else I really like. I have a few at home from last weeks trip so no worries if I don't see anything on sale that just screams my name. I am going to take a look at a few shirt patterns too and see if I want to try one next or stick with skirts for now.

65 Treadmill Minutes Before 7 AM

First I just want to remind you I am taking donations for a family I know that is why the papal widget is on my blog. Read more here.

Second I want to say that I am trying to get back into a schedule where I am done with my workout early enough to get ready for work and preferably before my husband gets home. He works 10:30 at night to 6:30 in the morning so he gets home a few minutes before 7. He likes to play video games when he comes home for awhile before he goes to bed and we only have one television. I usually watch something from Netflix while I am on so I am not bored to death.

I did it today but I was sleepy most of the way through the hour. I tried to go to bed at 8:30 hoping I would be asleep by nine but I was still awake at 9:35 or at least that is the last time I looked at the clock. I set my alarm for 5 but hit snooze three times. Maybe tonight I will be tired enough to go right to sleep. I really hate a morning schedule but I also know myself if I don't work out before work I won't have the energy to do it after work.

I am still not sure when I am going back to work. Shellie the woman who replaced me when I was in school is very close to her due date but she is working until she is ready to go to the hospital. I have been working one day a week for the past few weeks when she is at the doctor. I am glad to have the opportunity to go back but I hate not knowing what day I will start. So for now I will just try to get back to a schedule that will allow me to be ready in a matter of minutes if I need to go to work. I just won't plan anything for the mornings during the week and be worked out and showered before 8 so if I get the call I just have to get work clothes on, throw some makeup on and pack a lunch.

I spent last night going through some of my old clothes and was surprised at how little I was for quite some time. I boxed up things that I won't ever fit into again but saved a very small box of my favorites just in case. I had a lot of clothes marked size 0-3 and I just don't see me ever fitting into them again. I did however think of somethings I might be able to do with them and my sewing machine. I may not be able to wear them again but I can use them to make something else. That is why I saved some of my favorites. I then boxed up all the clothes the warm clothes I might fit in but not this season and clothes I am not sure I want to keep. I pulled out jeans and dress pants that were size 7-10 and put them in a box to try on as I loose weight. I pulled out some shirt that I should fit into when I loose 11 more pounds. I could put some of them on now but I would look awful in them. It was quite the motivator to loose some more weight or at least inches. I have a lot of clothes I like and can't wear. I want to wear them again at least some of them.

Donation Widget

Donation Widget

I have been blogging about the Rye family lately because they are very close to my heart. I don't have any idea what I can do for them so I added a donation button to my blogs. I am sure they will have more medical expenses then they planned on and other expenses related to the surgery their baby needed. He is doing better and the surgery went well. If any of my readers feel led to donate it will give every dime donated to them.

Baby Jonah is going to be in the hospital for a while and they are spending a lot of their time there. I would like to help them any way I can. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. I just want you all to know the donation widget is not for me and as long as I have it up it will be for a family in need.

Having a Great Morning

Well I got up at 6:20 this morning and did some chores and had a mango for breakfast. Other than all the trouble I had cutting that thing up it was great. I have been eating fruit for breakfast the last three days. The best part about the morning was the weigh in. I am down another pound for a total of nine pounds weight loss.

Real quick I wanted to say thanks to Jeff King for all the encouragement. I understand what you are saying about feeling good about yourself but I just can't this overweight. I feel like crap not just mentally but physically as well. I have the frame of a say a tiny Asian woman. I not only don't look good at this weight but it makes my knees hurt and my hip that I broke last year. I am sure that will still hurt sometimes but I know my knees only hurt like this when I am way over weight. According to my BMI I am obese but that is only until I hit 155 which is now only one pound away. I also know that muscle weighs more but on that note unless I am trying to build a body builders body I should still fit in my healthy weight guidelines.

Like I have said before I don't need to be as thin as I used to be to feel good but I do need to be a healthy weight and I have never had this much trouble loosing weight before. I just have been having trouble remembering what I did to loose weight. Now if this new plan of staying away from breads and other starches for most meals continues to work I am staying on it. I really want to see my waist line go down some and I think this might work. If it doesn't then no one got hurt in the process I just have to pack up some food and take it to the food bank.

I worked out yesterday, toning for 20 minutes then straight to the treadmill for an hour. So hopefully with the new plan I won't have to workout 90 to 120 minutes everyday. I know I wont have time for that very soon I will be back to work.

Well Something Changed

The last day I worked out was Tuesday but I was on my feet for a good six hours yesterday. My post yesterday was that I was really frustrated that I gained weight. I hit 157.5 last Sunday and stayed there for five days. I always weigh in the morning when I get up and naked so there is not clothing fluctuation. So for whatever reason on Friday I weight 158 and on Saturday I weight 158.5. I was really upset because I couldn't get on the treadmill because the last time I was on I wore some leggings that apparently had a splinter of something hard in the seam and rubbed the skin right off my inner thigh. I didn't really notice it until I got in the shower after my 100 minutes on the treadmill. It is close to healed now and I bought some medical tape because a band-aide won't stay put there. Since I am so fat I couldn't walk without for extended periods of time without it bothering me and possibly getting worse.

So now your asking me why I was so upset right? Well it is because I was still making sure that I didn't eat too many freaking points (Weight Watchers). I was only hoping to maintain my weight without the workout. I was very frustrated because there is no way I can work out that 1.5 to two hours I have been doing when I get back to work. I will be able to get up early enough to get in an hour on most days but not much more. I will probably have to choose each day if I want to tone or do cardio except on the weekend. I also spent the day learning to make clothing and I will be happy to learn to take in the clothing but not to have to scrap what I made and start over because I have put all my weight back on. I will write about sewing later it was fun and I had a blast spending time with my mother-in-law.

Anyway all of this to say I am going back to a lower carbohydrate diet. I am not going to worry as much about points. I did it yesterday and woke up at 157 pounds today. That is a pound and a half in one day while I am sure there was something else going on as well like some bloating or something I am also quite sure I eat too much bread. I am just going to regulate my diet by what makes me loose weight. I can't stick to a strict no carb diet and I don't like many veggies so I have to be able to have fruits. I will just limit my grains and only eat whole grains when I do eat them. I am starting to think that while I love grains and breads that I don't process them well. What I do remember for sure about when I was thin is that I ate a lot of red meat and it seemed to make me feel full and make my toning more successful. Right now I feel very tired and weak after toning and really want something to eat and I usually go for the easy fix something low in calories and fat but high in carbs.

So I am just going to try to learn by seeing what works. I have seen some weight loss now I am at 8 pounds lost but I hold a lot of it in my midsection and it doesn't seem to be coming off there. I can see a difference in how the legs of my pants fit but I still can't see much of a difference in how the waist fits. So I really want to get about 5 more pounds off fast and still build muscle. I know it can be done I did it before I just can't remember exactly how. I lost a lot of weight in just a few months and then it took a while to get the last 10-15 pounds off but I managed to get rid of the bulk of it rather quickly. I know when you get older it is harder but I am only 32 so it shouldn't be that hard.

Last but not least if this new plan doesn't work I am going to see the doctor and make sure there is nothing physical hindering my weight loss. The only medication I take anymore is an occasional ibprofin and tums or a pepcid if the heartburn is really bad so it is not medication causing it to be so hard to loose weight. I bought yet another cookbook and I will let you know how I like it later.

Frustrated

Well I am really irritated with my body. I am going to try to keep smaller portions and writing what I eat down but I am going back to a low carb diet. Not a no carb diet because I can not handle that. I will try to just have non fruit or veggie carbs at one meal or for a snack. I am just going to do this for two weeks and see if I get any results. I had one cup of canned peaches(caned in fruit juice not syrup) for breakfast today and I am having chicken and fruit for an early lunch. I only have fruit in the house right now I will get some veggies when I go to the store tomorrow.

I can not figure out how in the world I can eat so little and still gain weight. I am not really sure what I can do but I am actually getting really ticked off that I have given up all kinds of stuff I liked already and still can't loose this weight. I didn't gain muscle this week either because I couldn't work out much. My husband eats like three times as much as I do and he eats a lot of junk food and he might gain 5 pounds that he can drop by not drinking pop for a week.

I don't drink any calories except an occasional cup of tea with a small amount of sugar or honey. I even transitioned to black coffee and I do miss the milk I put in it. I don't know but if I find something that works I will have to stick to it. I am really tired of being overweight. I am not getting good results with just a low fat diet. I thought I was but just a few days of not working out and still following the diet plan and I gain a pound there must be something wrong with the diet plan. I would not say that if I had stayed the same weight but I gained weight.

I am sure I did a low carb diet when I lost my weight before I remember eating a lot of meat and I really have been craving meat lately. I have been looking at medical and natural sites about weight loss and it seems that my suspicion that one diet doesn't work for everyone is correct. I know I used weight watchers when I lost the weight too but I think did a combination of a low carb diet and they didn't have flex points so at 130 pounds I was able to have about 25 points a day. I have a bad memory so I am not exactly sure I know that my personal trainer handed me a meal plan that said all I could have was fish and chicken and vegetables and I couldn't do that. I hate veggies and I love beef and other red meats and I don't like fish. I eat buffalo instead of beef most of the time now but the part I couldn't handle was I only like a few veggies so I needed to add fruit and I like to have carbs especially for breakfast so I only ate whole grains.

Well I guess it won't hurt to try this for a few weeks. I suppose the part that is really bothering me was that I ate a lot more then. I ate big steaks and was still loosing weight.

Grateful For My Life Today!

I am really feeling grateful that my life is so easy today. I am also really wishing I could figure out a way to help my friends who are really suffering. I don't cook well and that is what most people seem to be doing for them. I have a friend who is struggling with multiple health issues with her new born and another who is suffering from postpaid depression. I really don't know how to help other than to pray.

It really put my crappy week into perspective. I just had a week that slowed my weight loss plans down and made it hard for me to blog like I like too. Overall that is not a big deal at all. No one will die if I don't loose a pound this week or post on my blog.

I did however manage to get some of my house clean and finish sewing a skirt that I started last year and gave up sewing because it was so hard. Then once I realized a beginning sewer should not try using a fabric like crushed velvet no matter how cool it looks I sent a face-book message to my mother-in-law and she helped me pick out some easy to work with fabric. She also agreed to come over the next few Saturdays and help me with my sewing. So I spent the last two days working on sewing a lot of the time and checking face book to see how my friends were doing. I managed to make two pillows and cut out a few possible patterns. I also found out that I am not an average size and I don't know how I am going to make a skirt. I am not thin but I am also not huge but apparently my waist size is way off the charts but my hip size is a size 12-14. My problem is that my waist is not that much smaller than my hips and according to all the stupid charts my waist is supposed to be significantly smaller than my hips. Now I know why I always have so much trouble finding clothes that look good on me. They are either too tight in the waist or too baggy in the hips or legs. That is probably why it seems to take so long for me to loose a size because I hold so much of my weight in my midsection.

I will be back on the treadmill on Sunday and I will probably be back to work some of next week if not all of it. Shellie will be having that baby soon and I will have to fill in for her. I am praying all goes well for her. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers for my friends they are greatly appreciated.

Prayer Please

My friend Kelly just had a baby and he was born with his esophogus and stomach are not attached so he has to have surgery today at 10:30. 

So for all of you out there who pray please pray for the Rye family!!!

Going To Be Gone A Few Days

Sorry I am going to be out for a few more days I was not feeling very well and now I am behind on a lot of stuff.

My Crappy Friday

Warning men that read this blog skip to the second paragraph....trust me you don't want to read the first one.

Well I had plans to get on the treadmill yesterday but it is that time of the month and it was heavy and I had the cramps from hell. This made me want to sit on my couch and do nothing but I decided to try and drop a lot of cards. So I was double because this should not have been a problem. I was on a birth control that stopped my cycle for about 11 years. I was taken off of it after a hip fracture last year at 31. I had an operation to prevent pregnancy and was also supposed to have an ablation (not sure how to spell that) which was supposed to stop heavy bleeding. My doctor didn't think I needed it so she just didn't do it.  So now if I want this done I will have to satisfy my 2000 dollars in up front medical expenses again. There was a point in getting these things done at the same time but she wanted to wait and see if I had bad periods again.

GUYS START READING HERE
So I am done with that rant I am sorry to any bloggers who I may have commented on when I was super moody please accept my apology and feel free to delete my comments. There was something else I noticed yesterday when I looked at blogs that I commented on. Some people don't approve or delete comments they don't like. I have made some polite comments on blogs where I don't share the bloggers opinion and I have been deleted. I suppose that is the persons prerogative but I never thought of doing that. Well unless someone was downright nasty. I actually like to hear when a person doesn't like a book I like or disagrees with my weight loss plan. I don't have to change my mind but my readers don't have to think like me either. Usually when I make a comment other than yesterday that disagree with I try to do so with respect to the writer. I guess you can't win everything it just feels like I waste my time sometimes. I have been trying to comment on posts that stick out to me and on blogs I really enjoy reading.

I tried to get into my WoW game again and I am still frustrated I just keep getting killed and I have no motivation to get past that because I it takes so long to walk anywhere after you die. I wish I could just teleport then I would play more but I am rather sick of having to travel forever to get to anything. So that didn't make my mood any better.

So after a day of feeling like crap I am going to get on the treadmill again today I have too because I am going to eat pizza tonight. We are celebrating Valentines day today and I saved all of my flex points for today so I can eat as much pizza as I want and maybe a little dessert if I want. I was thinking I might make something sweet for my hubby and have a little myself but who knows it is only ten thirty right now and he doesn't get up until about three or four.

Friday Fittness

Well I am still going strong with my diet and workout plan. I have come in under my target Weight Watchers points everyday. I am down form 165 pounds to 158 since I started around January 6th.

Yesterday I did a half an hour of toning my arms and then 42 minutes on the treadmill. I watched the season finale of Heros while on the treadmill. I cranked up the incline so I didn't have to walk so fast. I forgot my heart rate monitor and didn't feel like stopping to locate it, did stop for a few seconds to check it on my treadmill. There are spots to put your hands but they only work well when you are not moving. My heart rate was at 180 so I put the incline down a little. I am happy to know that it works well to now that my bad leg will tolerate it I will walk uphill so I don't have to walk so fast.

I am not sure what I want to do today I might work on the Carmen Electra's Fit to Strip, Disc 2 (2003) video because I am getting bored of the treadmill but my arms are really sore from yesterday. I will decide after lunch.

Don't forget to check out my financial fitness post below.

Friday Finances

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey. I would love to get my husband on the plan with me but he doesn't want to work with me. He doesn't spend a lot of money until he wants something big. He gets irritated every time I try to talk to him about it. He insists that he doesn't spend money that I do. I don't spend that much money either but he seems to think that paying the utilities, rent and mortgage and buying groceries is my expense. I am not sure how to get him on the same page as I am on. He is fine with parts of the plan he just doesn't want to help or talk about it. So I am stuck working on it myself and having to change things when he feels like putting in his 2 cents. I asked him for one thing for Christmas and that was for him to read the The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness with me and get on the plan. He still responds with I don't spend money and didn't get me anything for Christmas.So I just asked to go out for pizza for Valentines day because I am craving pizza and I won't be disappointed.


Anyway I canceled all the credit cards and the only debt we have is the mortgage on the duplex we are trying to sell. My goal is to save enough cash to only take out a small mortgage on the next house we buy or pay cash. We will not move until the duplex is sold because we don't want to house payments. Right now we rent from my mom and step-dad because they had an extra house when they got married and it was bigger than the unit of our duplex we lived in. It was empty for awhile so we moved in.

So we just don't borrow money anymore and we have some of the Baby Steps finished.
Baby Steps
1. Save $1000 (we have this done)
2. Pay off Debt with the Snowball method except the house. (I think we have this done too unless the duplex would be counted since it is not our residence.)
3. Save 3-6 months of expenses for you completed emergency fund (we have more than that but the extra is for our housing fund)
4. Invest 15% of income for retirement. (I want to talk to my husband about this before we start and he won't really discuss it. So I have not done much I started myself a small IRA)
5. College Funding for Children (we are not having kids so we can skip this one)
6. Pay off home early
7. Build Wealth and Give

So we are doing pretty well but it is hard to move on without my husbands input. I don't want to tell him what to do or be a nag. I can't do his retirement for him they won't let me and he doesn't like to make decisions. So I think when I am going to sock away all my earnings from the next three months and see how much I have. Then talk to Ryan about this again. I will at least put 15% of my earnings into my own IRA.

I am trying to relax about the money thing because the problem is not that we don't make enough money. I don't need to work a full time job and I don't need to try so hard to make money at home although that would be a dream of mine. The reason I have such a hard time relaxing is because I like to have a plan and I can't make a plan without my husband on board. I want his opinion and I want to include the things he wants to save for.

I highly recommend any books by Dave Ramsey and I am also a member of My Total Money Makeover where I can work on a budget and track my progress. The best thing about this is that I get all three hours of the radio show and can put them on my ipod.

This Week In Review

Blogging

Well this week has been kind of strange. I have been working a lot on promoting this blog as well as my Dark Novels blog and have found that this blog is quickly picking up in popularity. I have been spending a few hours a day writing posts and dropping cards. I think I may put adgetize on this blog as well. While not significant having two blogs with Adsense seems to up my earnings as well. I don't get much but with more visitors to this site I am getting a few cents a day now compared to one cent or less. The occasional click boosts my earnings too.

I have found that I have many more things I can do with a relative amount of ease on this blog without sacrificing readers. It is a personal blog I can write about just about anything and right now my focus is on weight loss with a little personal finance mixed in. The problem is that now that I really enjoy writing for this blog I have been neglecting my other blog. I have to think about my book reviews and that takes time. So once again I will be in a search to find balance. I often wonder why it is so hard for me to find balance in anything I do. Is it my personality type?

Working out

I have been doing good with this still but Tuesday I worked and took a break although with all the snow I shoveled I am not sure it was really a break. I have been reviewing some of my books on exercise and decided I need to do more toning if I want to see fat loss and look better. I will have a review of a Jillian Michaels book for this blog soon. So I have been working on my Claudia Schiffer YouTube videos and getting on the treadmill. I try to do at least an hour a day as I am having trouble working out more than that now that I am sore everyday. I am not so sore I can't work out but when I do I start to feel exhausted if I do too much. 

Diet

I have been doing amazingly well with this aspect of my life. I am still praying for someone to invent a pill that makes sweets taste bad so I can arm myself with that when I go to a party or my small group. I am not asking for something that makes me loose weight here just something that makes me not want sweets. Okay since that is not happening I am following Weight Watchers and I have not used my Flex Points (extra points you can use after your target points) or my activity points all week and I have been a little under my target points every day as well. I will be using many of the points on Saturday for our Valentines dinner at a great local pizza joint. I will attempt to eat light all day to keep my points low but I really want pizza not one of the microwave Weight Watchers ones but real good pizza. Not that the WW's frozen pizzas are not good but they are just not the same.

Everything Else

Well my life is good this week except the snow. We got a little under a foot of snow over two days but the worst part was the wind that was making huge snow banks. I had to work on one of the days but because I want to be responsible and bring some money into the home I didn't call off. I hate driving in the snow it stinks but my Jeep did well and got me there and back with only one slip into a curb I couldn't see no real damage done. I have been doing pretty well remembering to say THANK YOU to people who are doing nice things for me. That does seem to change the way people talk to you especially when you are asking for help and you actually thank the person for telling you how to do something. I think at least where I come from people don't hear those two words enough.

Hungry Girl Cookbook Review

I have not tried one recipe in this book. Why you ask?? Because I bought it for the desserts and they all contain Splenda and I can't eat much of the stuff without getting a migraine. I just don't know why these types of books can't create a some recipes that are just low sugar. The recipes look fabulous but I can't eat them. If you can eat Splenda I say give this book a try!

That being said there look to be some good recipes for non-sweet items that I will try eventually after I get over my stubborn refusal to use the book because I can't make the desserts. The great thing is most of the meals make small portions. I have run across many books like this where they have low fat and low calorie recipe that serves ten. That means you have to find a way to divide the meal into ten equal portions before you can figure out how much you can eat. Then half the time you get a very small portion and have a ton leftover. It is just me and my husband so having 6 or more portions left over is just not worth it.  My husband can eat whatever he wants and only gains a little weight that he can keep off with regular workouts so he doesn't always appreciate my attempts at dieting. Many of these meals are easy to make and make single servings up to about 4 servings.

There are a few items in the book that I have never looked for in my grocery store as she substitutes pasta of any kind and a few other items. I don't know how hard they are to find or how expensive they are.

Over all I would suggest this book to anyone willing to do a little work at the grocery store that is not sensitive to sweeteners. I also again warn if you can't use Splenda or artificial sweeteners you won't be able to make the desserts even thought they sound heavenly. I might pick one that doesn't use a lot of Splenda one day and try since I can tolerate small amounts of it but for the most part these recipes are not for me.

Looking For Blogs to Link To

Well I am looking at starting a links list on this blog. I am looking for weight loss blogs and blogs that have a similar view on finances that I do. I will accept many blogs if you blog has a once a week finance article or weight loss article let me know.

I am going to be picky about the finance blogs if you follow the principals of Dave Ramsey or Larry Burkett or a similar plan that does not endorse borrowing money I will use your link. I don't borrow money anymore and it is like true freedom

As you leave me links it will take me a while to post them but don't worry if you meet the requirements and I don't find your blog offensive (I am not easily offended) you will make the list. I am leaving it open until the end of February.

Working Today

I was supposed to work tomorrow but there was an emergency and I now have to work today. So I am just going to get a short workout today. The good news is I am down another pound. I have lost 7 pounds now.

I did an hour and a half of the toning videos yesterday and I am a bit sore today. I thought I would be super sore but I am doing okay. I am sore enough that I want to wait until tomorrow to do the toning videos again. That is a good thing instead of being so sore that I can't do it again for a week.

Yesterday I ate a lot of stuff and wound up with three points less than my target points. I am pretty sure I can do that most of the week so I can have pizza on Saturday and not feel guilty. It is nice to find filling low point foods and I think that it helps to eat 4-5 times a day instead of stuffing myself at three meals. It is helping me control my portion sizes at my main meals. Well have a great day and those of you who are loosing weight good luck.

Claudia Schiffer Perfectly Fit Workout

I am so excited to find my favorite series of toning videos on YouTube, Claudia Schiffer's Perfectly Fit. I have been looking to purchase them on DVD because all I had was VHS. All of my VHS players went to electronic heaven so I gave my videos away. So this morning I found the complete set on YouTube and got to work after creating a playlist. I did an hour of the lower body workout. I couldn't finish some of the exercises on my bad leg but I did a lot more than I thought I could.  This was the series that got me started the last time I lost weight.

I started feeling super hungry after an hour so I had a high protein snack consisting of:
1 Weight Watchers english muffin
2 Egg whites
3 Slices of turkey bacon

I still had some coffee in the pot so I am going to take a break and then do the arms section of the videos. I am saving the abs for a separate day since I am weakest there. I may or may not get on the treadmill too but I will see how I feel when I am done with the arms. If I feel to tired for cardio I won't get on but if I feel okay I will get on for a shorter amount of time than my usual 90 minutes. I did two hours of working out on Saturday and had a hard time getting through an hour of the treadmill yesterday.

I am doing really good on my diet and I intend to do very well this week because I want to go out for pizza on Saturday for Valentines day. Not fast food pizza but one of the sit in joints around here that I really like. I am a cheap date when I am on a diet because I love pizza and I have to save it for special occasions. I intend to save all my 35 flex points for Saturday I think that should make having a few slices of pizza acceptable.

I have lost a total of six pounds now to weigh in at 159. That is great but now my target points go down to 21 instead of 22. So I have to find more low point meals that I like. I am a very picky eater and that makes dieting hard for me. The only diets I can stick to are the ones that allow you to have just about anything in moderation.

If anyone knows of somewhere that I can get the Claudia Schiffer videos on DVD I would love to buy them again. I have only seen the Japanese version on DVD and they won't play in my devices.

Lifestyle Changes

I have slowly but surely been making changes to my lifestyle to become healthy. I wanted to share some of those with my readers. The thing that has taken me quite some time is not putting milk in my coffee. I used to drink my coffee black but I got used to putting milk in it when I was drinking my husbands darker blend. Then I never went back to black because I had a lot of stomach issues and the milk made it possible for me to drink my coffee. I still have heartburn more than I should but it seems to get better with every pound I loose. So I found a that the Maxwell House vanilla coffee is light on my stomach and after two weeks of weaning myself off the milk a little at a time I am not drinking black coffee again.

I have also been changing my portion sizes and I eat at least 4 times a day three meals and one or two low calorie snacks. I have been following the Weight Watchers plan for about a week now and I have tried 2 recipes from the cookbook on the side. They were both good even thought I had to make some changes. The recipe on the front of the book was supposed to be grilled but I had to put it in a pan I was not going out in the snow to grill it. The serving size was very small so I ate more but since each serving is only 4 points it was not a big deal. I also made the Turkey chowder and made some changes as well because I didn't have turkey breast I used chicken breast and instead of regular bacon I used turkey bacon. It would have been better with regular bacon. I also substituted cauliflower for the celery. I think you could ad any veggies you like to this recipe without changing the points value. I really enjoyed this 5 point recipe and you get a cup and a half of the soup. I also added a little cheese because I had lots of points left that day but it is not needed.

So with the diet changes and the intense workout regimen I am starting to feel better physically. I hope to look better soon too which will help with my confidence. I have also been trying to make some changes in other areas of my life. I have been trying to say THANK YOU to my husband and to other people who do nice things for me. I have been trying to make better financial decisions so I don't have to worry about money since we already make enough to live on with my husbands income. When I work part time we will make more than enough and anything extra is just a bonus. So over all I have been trying to not stress out about things and just take life one day at a time. Like yesterday when my husband made me a coffee cake I just fit it into my diet plan instead of having a hysterical fit because he knows I am on a diet. I have to learn to appreciate the good things in life and focus on them!

Great Workout Today!

I started with 30 minutes of toning arms, abs and legs. I can't do much weight with my arms yet but I am getting some of my strength back and my legs are pretty strong from walking so much. I will just have to target some zones in my legs that don't get worked in my cardio. My abs are so weak I could barely finish the workout I had to quit and move on the the next thing a few times.

I also did 90 minutes on the treadmill with a 30% incline and went 4.8 miles. The only problem with that was I was super hungry when I finished. Since my sweet hubby made me coffee cake for breakfast I was not planning on eating lunch and then a snack before dinner. I only get 22 points a day if I don't use my flex points or activity points and breakfast was 10 points. I had a WW english muffin for lunch with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and that is 3 points. After my workout I had 3 slices of turkey bacon on and english muffin with an cooked egg white which is also three points. I miscalculated dinner earlier one serving is only 4 points but it is 4-5 shrimp and some of the papaya salsa on the side. I am going to have 2 servings but only have 8 shrimp total. The side is just lime papaya and some green onion.

Well now I am off to dry my hair and get ready to spend the evening with my husband.

Weight Loss

Well the weight loss is still going slow. I am at 5.5 pounds lost right now but my legs are noticeably thinner so I believe I am gaining muscle in them. My husband asked me if I got new pants the other day and pulled at the side of them because they were getting baggy. They were the only pair of jeans I could still fit into. I guess I should be able to try a few more pairs now.

I have done well with my diet and didn't use many of my Weight Watchers flex points or my activity points. Which was really good because my husband made me a coffee cake this morning and got my coffee ready. I could actually enjoy it without worrying about it being five points for a little piece. I ate two pieces and it was 10 points. I only get 22 points a day and I should earn an extra five on the treadmill today. I have a 5 point dinner planned but I don't see how I can eat just 5 shrimp so I will eat one serving and then see how hungry I am but I am expecting to eat a serving and a half.

I am feeling pretty good though I am not exhausted all the time anymore. I am still fighting food cravings but not as bad as they were. I only get really tired when I don't sleep well and that is normal. I have been getting more done around the house as well as working a little and working out. Things are looking up with my health and that seems to be making so many of the other areas of my life better.

I do wish I could see more pounds coming off but I finally took my measurements two days ago. I am going to take those once a week.

Question
I am looking at buying a new weight machine or a good set of free weights. The one I have is built for a 6 foot tall man. I can't use most of it the way it is meant to be used it doesn't adjust to my size. Does any one have any recommendations? I am a 5 foot 1 inch tall woman. I need to price them and save for one. I need to sell the old one too. It was my parents and it is at least 20 years old so it isn't worth much. I will probably put it up for 100 dollars as it works fine and people on craigslist want to negotiate.

Friday Fun!

First a quick update on diet and workout:
Yesterday I only ate my target Weight Watchers points and didn't use any flex or activity points. Which was really good because my small group had a party and I had to say no to almost everything on the table. I took a bunch of fruit so I could eat that if there was nothing else I could eat there.
I also did another 90 minutes on the treadmill with my heart rate in the target range at least 85 of those minutes. I went 4.7 miles and upped my incline a little.

Well today I get to clean and get my kitchen ready for my meat delivery. My local meat market delivers for seven dollars. No this is not normally cost effective but I make up for it by ordering things in bulk and freezing them. This way I don't have to carry my 40 pound boxes of meat in by myself since my husband is not up during normal business hours.
When the meat gets here I have 80 pounds in chicken leg quarters to to separate for my dog. I feed my German Shepherd on a raw diet. She gets meat, bone and organs and we feed her some veggies too because she likes them but we mostly use the prey model. This costs me about 60-70 dollars for a month and a half of food for the dog.

Then I got a 40 pound box of chicken breast for us humans and I have to separate that. The savings on that from buying Tyson chicken is about half. The Tyson chicken I buy is almost 4 dollars a pound and this big box is about 2 dollars a pound. The bulk chicken can vary in price but it is usually no more that 5 dollars.

So I am waiting for the meat market to call me and let me know when they are coming I don't want to be on the treadmill when they come because I will have to get off and separate the chicken. Well off to clean the kitchen and make a recipe in the crock-pot from my new Weight Watchers cookbook. Have a great day!

Workout and Food Plan Update

Well I said I would post my workouts and here I am to give an update on that as well as my food plan. I found my Weight Watchers stuff and I am going a little crazy with that. I am not sure how I am supposed to use my activity points and I am not sure if the plan I have is current. I went to meetings for a few weeks last summer and have a plan with flex-points. I didn't dig the stuff out until Tuesday so I had to guess on my points for Monday. I only get 22 points and by next week that will be 21 I am sure. That is before the 35 extra points I get to use during the week or at one or two big point meals. The only day I have gone over the 22 is Monday and I am not sure if I am supposed to use the activity points each day or accumulate them or just leave them if I can. I also bought a Weight Watchers Cook Book but haven't had time to look through it much.

I had to go to work today and ended up working over 6 hours so I had to get up early and get on the treadmill before work. I did 90 minutes and managed to walk 4.5 miles with my heart rate above 140 for at least 80 of those minutes. I have been adding a slight incline this week so I don't have to walk too much faster to keep my heart rate up. Yesterday I did 80 minutes and 4 miles with my heart rate up all but about 5 minutes. Well that is about it I hope to see some more results soon.

Goals and Dreams

Well today I have been thinking a little about what my goals and dreams are. I think that dreams are the things I want but are not immediately attainable and some may never be reached. I can only work on my side of things so dreams that require other people to change may never happen but I can still hope.

Goals are benchmarks that I plan to reach at some point or at least work hard to get there. Goals I can work with but I need to accept my limits. That doesn't mean I can't push those limits at times but I am talking about setting reasonable goals. For example a weight loss goal of 40 pounds in a months is not possible for someone who is only 40 pounds overweight. I am not having weight loss surgery or having liposuction so it won't be happening. A goal that pushes the limits would be something like loosing 40 pounds in 4 months. It is not impossible but it would be extremely hard. I would have to limit my diet severely and workout a lot. If I were not going back to work I would say that could be done if I didn't wavier in my convictions. I don't want to try that I would like a goal that is going to be work but not one that will be so hard I am unlikely to make it. So I have decided on a goal of loosing at least 5 pounds a month until I reach my goal of a healthy weight. I lost 5 in January now I need to loose 5 this month. Including last month that would be 40 pounds in 8 months.

I am working on some financial goals like that too but I have so much trouble getting my husband to work on that with me. It stinks to work up a budget and have him not care and not want in on the planning of our future. He just wants to live life and have me manage the details. I hate it because I also have to make most of the decisions on my own. Good thing is he is a hard worker and he is not mean but I am a planner and it is sometimes really hard to live with such a passive person. So my big goal is to save to pay cash for a house and some smaller things are putting aside money for that tattoo I want when I loose enough weight and a new treadmill and a good set of free weights. I don't need a new treadmill now I have an extended warranty so it can be fixed if it breaks. It is getting pretty old so I am thinking that if I start a replacement fund now I will have no excuses not to work out if it breaks when the warranty is up.

None of those goals are impossible if we can sell the duplex eventually and bank the money from the sale and ad it to our savings it would only take us a few years to save up for a moderate house. If we want something more expensive I am also fine with paying for at least half the house price but I can't even get my husband to let me know what he is looking for in a house so that is going to be a challenge when the time comes.

I need to start making some other personal goals but I am not sure where to start. I might start with figuring out how to keep a cleaner house or how to be a better wife or friend. I am sure there are little things I can do for each area that would really help me.

Oh yes I wanted to journal my workouts here on this blog as often as possible so here it goes. I went 3.6 miles yesterday in 71 minutes on the treadmill. I had a 5 minute warm up to get my heart rate above 140 and then I did a bit of jogging to raise it above 160 so I could slow down for awhile and still keep it above 140. I realized that my work outs up until now have not been getting my heart rate up much at all. I also added a slight incline so I didn't have to jog the whole time and will up that as my bad leg gets used to it. I did a 6 minute cool down so I had a full hour with my heart rate in the target zones.

I also got my Weight Watchers materials out again and I will be trying to follow that plan until I can get a handle on this healthy eating thing. I might check ebay for a Weight Watchers cook book to help me with cooking so I am not having to figure out points in every recipe I make.

Finished My Taxes!

I finished my taxes today and I owed the Federal government and get some back from the state. After paying for filing and my tax bill I get 25 dollars back. I am fine with that as long as I don't owe in the end. It took me 3 hours to get that done this morning.

Very soon I will be running to a sporting goods store to get a heart rate monitor. About 5 years ago I went to a personal trainer and got down to 115 and stayed there for about a year. I have been trying to remember what I did then. I know one of the things that helped a lot was that I used a heart rate monitor and during exercise I kept my heart rate between 150-160 for an hour. I didn't need to work out two hours and lost weight like crazy. I am not sure I will use that because he did say age changed you range so I am thinking that I will start at 140-150 and see how that works. I was also lifting weights 3-5 days a week and I am having trouble remembering to do that. 

Like I have said before I don't expect to reach the 115 or less again but I really need to get to where I am not overweight. I am going to try the methods that I used when I was going to that trainer. He put me on some crazy diet but I couldn't follow it more than two days. I just tried to eat healthy but I did eat a lot of lean meat, I think that helped me build more muscle and made me less weak when trying to lift weights.

Well off to get some chicken out for my lunch and then go to the store for a heart rate monitor.