I Love Ed Connor!

After a fairly healthy eating day, I was running late in terms of fixing dinner. Ed jumped in and made ravioli with sauteed vegetables, and it was wonderful!  Of course, it was the refrigerated pasta and sauce, but I give him a ton of credit for chopping up and cooking vegetables (as we all know, I love eating vegetables, but I HATE chopping them!). A healthy ending to my day, and he even cleaned the kitchen.  Life is good....

On another note, I also love Jason's Deli!  Ed wanted to eat out for lunch, but by the time he got home from work (early, obviously), I'd already eaten lunch. So off to Jason's Deli we went - Ed had a sandwich, and Shelby and I shared a plate of fruit and chips and salsa. Nice to be together, be out, and still eat good-for-you, yummy food!

I think the bikini idea is great. I will have to adopt that one myself. I am doing better with the water challenge but not as good as I should. I have completely given up my diet Mt. Dew and don't feel any different. I have stepped on the scale thismorning and am at 141. I am also going to give up weighing every day. A Monday plan may well work for me too. I had a bad day with (still) more candy in front of me. I can not stear away from the Oreo's the kids wanted and the Hershey's kisses. The kisses are gone however and I am going to make a pack with the cookies. I really believe if I did not have kids I would weigh 120 easy. But then again....there was a time in my life when I did not have kids and did not weigh 120, so maybe that is not correct. I am doing really well with vegtables and a sensible supper. Malcolm has been off and is cooking for me. It helps that he is watching his cholesterol and wants to eat healthy. It all goes back to chocolate. What is a girl to do???

Goals for tomorrow: 8 glasses of water and NO chocolate.

Two Days In A Row

Yesterday was 2 days in a row of no Pepsi! I had some today when I went out to lunch, and it was super tasty, but I didn't get a refill and didn't even finish the entire cup. No comment on where I ate lunch-it wasn't healthy, but it sure was tasty! These next few days will be bad eating days for me...New Year's Eve is always bad, and then there will be lots of snacks and pizza during the Rosebowl on the 1st. I plan on indulging, but not over-indulging!! That is the key for me.

I've been busy and have been slacking on the running, but tomorrow there should be plenty of time for that. I've been weighing myself everyday, and while the numbers aren't changing...they aren't going up either. Once Laura is back in school and my husband is back to work, I think I will be more on track with exercising and eating less. At least, that's the plan!

My Monday Plan

I forgot to post this yesterday....

I've got a new "Monday Plan," in that every Monday morning I plan to weigh myself and put my my bikini on quickly. I figure this will help keep my weight in check, but also provide an additional way for me to gauge progress....if the scale stays the same (or heaven forbid, goes up!), but I look better in the mirror, I'll be happy.

No comment on the bikini, but the scale said 136.6.  Will report back in next Monday. Oh, and no pressure for anyone to report this stuff - just seems like a good way for me to monitor progress!

About my eating today....a really good, healthy day, but my biggest challenge (dinner, as in eating too much of it!) is yet to come. I'm eating whole grain crackers (TLC Stoneground 7 Grain - soooo good!) and drinking water now in the hopes that if I approach the dinner table and am not starving, I might not eat enough for a family of four! :-)  I'll let you know how that goes....!

The Secret to a Good Eating Day....

...is being by myself!!  Yesterday, I ate pretty healthy all day, and I'm convinced it's because Ed and Shelby weren't here!  Cereal for breakfast, a healthy lunch, and even a healthy snack (an orange)...and by dinner, I wasn't starving and didn't eat a ton. 

But, I still have the feeling by eating a breakfast, lunch, "second lunch" if you want to call it that, and dinner that I'm eating too much - I guess it just seems that I'm eating all the time!  Maybe I should actually try to do a calorie count to see if I really am eating too much, or if it just feels that way? That sounds like no fun though... 

More water is a must today.....and since it's 9:22 am, I better go find some breakfast!

Short-Lived Half n Half

I recently indulged in half and half and sweet and low for my coffee. I quickly discovered how good these two items were in my drink and have since then (the past 2-3 weeks) been craving and enjoying the fat filled extravaganza. Thismorning, I have given it up. I decided the huge amount of calories is not worth the gain. There are not many calories in a normal serving, however, who should be the one to decide what is normal??? So, now I am back to normal coffee with flavored sugar free creamer. Any hints on really good, calorie free coffee additives are greatly appreciated.

I also started with water again yesterday. I sat down and thought about how long it had been since I drank plain water. I only a few months ago gave up the habit and switched to diet Mountain Dew. It quickly became a habit. So, I gave it up. It was also costing too much at work. So, for lunch yesterday I had Water with a goal of much more today. I was surprised to see how much I liked water and I had forgotten.

Goals for today. Discover breakfast. Continue with water and coffee goals. Eat healthy lunch and supper. Cut out snacks (ie. Christmas Candy).

PS. Really cool treadmill installed!!!!!

No Pepsi

Yesterday's eating is nothing exciting to report grilled cheese for lunch (made to perfection by my husband!) and leftover brisket and mashed potatoes for dinner. What is worth mentioning is that I didn't have any Pepsi! I missed having some with lunch but I didn't have any in the house, so there was no way to give in to my temptation. Even better, we stopped for a quick snack while on errands and instead of pop I chose a G2 Gatorade to drink.

I love Pepsi, but I know it makes such a difference to skip those liquid calories.

Not a bad day...

So posting exactly what I eat is tedious.... Instead, I'm going to do a quick recap by saying it was a decent day overall in terms of my eating and exercising. A couple of bites too much of the bread store specialty, and an extra helping of dinner I might have done without, but having my family here to "do Christmas" put me in a festive mood! :-)

Two goals for tomorrow:

-- More vegetables

-- More water  

So let's get started...

I'd planned to wait until this evening to post, with a recap of the entire day, but I couldn't wait on this.  I ate a Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal and skim milk for breakfast (I like the almond/flaxseed kind - it's so good, high in protein, fiber, and so on), a salad for lunch with a dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and THEN.... Ed wanted to take Shelby to the park, and grab something to eat along the way. Because I had my lunch at noon, and this all took place at 2PM or so, I was hungry again too of course. So after some online research, we decided that Taco Bell (yes, Taco Bell) was our best option. I ate a chicken burrito and a steak soft taco, both fresco style, for a grand total of 13 grams of fat and 490 calories. Ok, so I probably didn't need ALL of those calories, and my first reaction was NO I CAN'T EAT THAT, because I'll have to POST that...but I'm not on a diet, I'm trying to make better choices with what I eat, and eat less in the process. So I'm good until dinner, and I feel good about the fat/calories of my "second lunch." Besides, it could have been a turkey sandwich at Arby's, which sounds healthy on the surface, but the one I normally get has 708 calories and 29 grams of fat!!!!  YIKES!

One more thing - I just read somewhere (could have been my new running book?), that an afternoon snack should be renamed the "second lunch" because of the difference between snacking and eating a meal. Would I eat chips for a snack?  Of course. Would I eat chips as a "second lunch?"  Not a chance....

So, here's to the skinnier me......again.....

Once again, it is time to loose weight. Angi, you are always right on time! Christmas is over, the blue jeans fit a little (alot) tighter and I played football in the back yard today with Tyler and felt my butt shake. Yuck!!!! I knew at that moment the time had come. So, for supper tonight I went out and had shrimp and grits, steak, full fat ranch dressing, baked potato with butter and lots of wine. I now am back in my fat pants and looking for weight watchers online. I did not cancel my subscription b/c I knew I would be back. My goal: 135 by March 31st and in great shape. I have 8-9 pounds to loose. My NEW treadmill is in my room waiting to be put together. Goal is set for Monday. So, before the new year I will be able to walk/run on a daily basis. Yoga tapes will be back out tomorrow. I should probably go to the grocery store tonight while I am stimulated.

So girls, I am most thankful I only have to type and do not have to post a pre and post picture of myself. Thanks so much.

This Blog Is The Antithesis of Someone Like Me

I wonder if Angela secretly started this blog with the sole intention of whipping me into shape?? I suppose that's a pretty self-centered thought, and very likely, untrue. Angela loves healthy food and good eating, so this blog is no surprise to me. Regardless, this is just the type of thing I need. I do not eat well. At all. I love yummy food, and in my mind, yummy food is a cheeseburger and fries, candy, pop, mashed potatoes, steak...I could go on and on. Yet as a semi-intelligent person, I know that I could probably lose weight fairly easily if I would only tweak my eating habits a little bit.

For some time I have planned on cutting out the majority of my Pepsi drinking. I do not do well with complete deprivation, so I told myself I will be allowed to drink it if I go out to eat (another area that needs work!). If I don't have it in the house, I can't drink it, simple as that. Yesterday I drank my last can of Pepsi at home and I don't plan on buying any more for the time being. That's step one. Step two is figuring out meals I can eat for lunch and dinner that are tasty, somewhat healthy, and very filling. I have a huge appetite. Sometimes I can eat more than my husband at dinner and still feel hungry. And not boredom hunger, actual "I must eat now" hunger. As a teenager it didn't matter if I ate a triple cheeseburger. My metabolism burned it off by the time I walked back to my car.

But times have changed. I'm 29, eat as much as I did 15 years ago, and the weight is slowly creeping up. Yet if I eat the size meal many experts recommend, I am still starving afterwards. I don't try to say this as an excuse. Perhaps some of it is in my mind. But as my husband can tell you, I need to eat a lot of food, and frequently, to keep from becoming a crabby, dizzy, tired monster. I truly believe I need a lot of calories to keep myself going. The key is the right calories!

I've often said I want to be 130 pounds by my 30th birthday, and while that is still true, what's even more important to me is that I be healthy and toned. 130 is a good goal for me to shoot for, but I bet with some changes to my eating, and some more work in the running area, I will be far better off whether I weigh 130 or 139 (my current weight, out there for the whole world to read). So I will end this rather lengthy entry here, and hopefully will be back soon to report about all the fruits, veggies, and other healthy food I am eating!

Welcome to The Eating Diary

Ok, so here's the deal....I'm a mom, a wife, a runner, a student, and about a million other things...and through it all, I try to eat healthy and make sure my family does too!  I'm creating this blog because our running blog (check it out... http://angelaconnor.blogspot.com) has been great motivation - I run even when I'd rather be lazy sometimes, just so I'll have something to post!  Seems like it should work for what I eat too - so here we go. Post if you like....feel free to point out my deficiencies (mock me for not eating enough vegetables, if you must!), or even share healthy eating tips or recipes. Or just help me by pretending to read this on occasion - if I think you're reading it, I'm guessing I'll be less likely to eat too much fudge.  

By the way, I hate to discuss my weight, but here goes. I am committed to weighing 130 by the time the pool opens. That's a healthy weight for me, and it actually may allow me to wear a bikini!  Will keep you posted....