Week in Review Link Up

We challenge you to find at least one accomplishment from this week.  There is no accomplishment to small to be celebrated!

What did you accomplish this week?

Learn anything new about yourself, your exercise, your food? 

Non Scale Victories?

Defeats?

What do you want to work on for next week?

This link will be available until Monday evening.

Over a week but we both are trying….

There are days that turn into a week that there just isn’t enough time to do all that we want to do. Deb works very long hours just about every day and you know my schedule so this blog has sat on the back burner the last week plus. We are sorry, very sorry but sometimes you just can’t squeeze any more time out of the week. So for this week we are just going to concentrate on family, on our blessings and next week we will be back will bells on and will continue with our challenges for each other and you guys if you’d like to keep joining us.

We both want to wish you all the most blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for. Yes we all have our personal and extended challenges and problems but in the true realm of things we are the most blessed people.

Take care my friends and please have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Food challenge

Julie is an amazing lady with a LOT on her plate!! OK, maybe thats a bad analogy! Shes a lady with a LOT going on in her life!! 

Focusing on food and exercise and sleep is overwhelming! To much change all at once. When you're overwhelmed its easy to give up! You feel like a failure. Then you end up back where you started, or even worse.

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ONE thing at a time. Gradually adding something new. We are a society of I want it NOW. We have fast food, drive thrus, loans rather than saving. Instant gratification.
Weight loss isnt instant. It takes time!! One step at a time! That first success will push you to the next success!!!

SO, for this week and probably the next few weeks, Julie is being challenged to focus on food.
Portion control. Food makeup..ie.. carbs, sugars, proteins, portions,

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We are using My Fitness Pal, and we have opened our diaries to each other. This week, be honest, write it all down. If you eat three donuts for breakfast, WRITE IT DOWN!! No cheating on the journal. It only harms yourself! And we have agreed to be honest with each other. What do we notice about the diary, the good the bad and the ugly.

And plan. I used to have a food journal and and exercise journal that I used every day. No idea why I stopped. Last week Marc showed his journal in a post, and it triggered and AHAHA moment!! Get back to what worked!!!

Dont try this!!

This week I am not posting my weight officially. I was down seven pounds. BUT, before the applause and cheering comes, I want to share how it happened.

Do NOT try this at home!!!

Short version:
I didn't eat. On Monday, I literally had no food. Tuesday I had two diet cokes, and a caramel flavored coffee something or other. I didnt do this to lose weight. I did this because of stress, and I didn't know how to cope.

Long version:
The last six months have been very stressful at the doctors office. I wont give any details or examples because of privacy issues. There is a person in a higher position who, when first hired four years ago, became a very good friend. Within the last six months I became aware that he was lying about me to my boss. I started documenting EVERYTHING I did that involved him.
I went to my boss, and confided in her and showed her some of my proof. She in turn confided in me that they knew he was lying (sigh of relief) and they, meaning she and her bosses, were gathering information and proof as well. He has quite a bit of responsibility and has been reprimanded and is on probation.

He continues to make my life miserable. But, I know that my job is not in jeopardy. Some days I handle it much better than others.

Several weeks ago, I wasnt able to sleep and I stopped eating.  The last day of the week, I broke down in tears.
My primary job is the registration clerk, and I am the first and last person the patients sees at the office. A teary eyed person does NOT make for good PR!!!

This week, I reached my flood of tears level again.
I got 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night, and I couldnt eat. I was sick to my stomach and had to force feed myself! On Wednesday I actually passed out at work. (thankfully I work at a doctors office!!) I received a "YOU NEED TO EAT" warning, so I came home and at a pound of Chocolate Covered Peanuts. Felt absolutely horrible and ended up in the bathroom all night into the morning!!

This weigh in isnt real. It doesnt count. On Friday I was still feeling 'yucky", but I knew I had to have nourishment. I made myself some fruit smoothies, and I drank my nourishment.
I need to learn coping skills!!!
Today, Saturday, is better. I have a plan for next week. I will post it tomorrow. For now, It may only be 845 PM, but Im going to bed.

Honesty is the best policy but embarrassing too….

So I said I wanted to get healthy. I said that I was going to track all my foods, measure them. I said I was going to do yoga, planks and fish flopping exercises. Well here we are starting week three and what have I done to get healthy? Almost nothing at all. I am finding that I don’t take the time to do all these things. I am finding I don’t have time to do all these things or at least I haven’t figured out what to do to do all these things. I want to give you an idea of my daily schedule and if you have any suggestions I’m game.

5:15 – Alarm goes off and I groan and get up. Mornings are not my favorite.

5:30 I’m dressed and heading out the door to feed the chickens and shovel coal in the stove.

5:45 back in for a container of yogurt, banana, take my pills and send a very quick email to my mama.

5:55 out the door for work.

9:30 done with my morning bus route and heading to my grandma to see what she needs me to do for the morning. Sometimes it’s laundry or vacuuming or dishes or just to visit.

11:00 go to my parents and pretty much do the same thing for them, see what they need. Yesterday it was spreading hay on the drain field last week it was 3 days of cutting, splitting and stacking wood. Sometimes it’s just a visit too.

12:30 home for lunch, my own chores and house work and time with the dogs.

1:45 back to work till 5:30

Home at 5:45 and doing the outside chores. Or like last night I went to Mike’s and we put up his new drapes and I didn’t get home till 8:00. Jim and I are remolding Mike’s room into my new sewing/craft room and we worked on that until 10:30 and to bed I went.

If I’m not doing some of this I have my best friend that her dad passed away and I’m helping them cleaning out her mama’s house. I help Kim or visit Kim a time or two a week and we get things done at her house. I have my own coal and wood to shovel, chickens to take care of, a house that needs attention and I also pick up activities for driving, like Tuesdays I drive bus all day for library day. On at least 2 times month on Saturdays I drive for basketball/hockey/volleyball/tennis…you know. I try and get on my computer a couple times a day to read blogs, post a post and read emails. We have two family members with cancer so I try hard to get my parents over to them for visits and helpings. I took my mama to Brainerd this week shopping between bus runs.

I just don’t know guys. The time for me is very limited and I’m just not sure what to do. I can not help my grandma, I can not help my parents, I help Mike and Kim but not all the time. I have to drive bus, it’s my living.

I need to cut things down into smaller bites I think. I have read that exercise doesn’t have to be in hour incumbents that 10 minute here or 10 minutes there work but than how do you get your heart rate up? UGH!!!!

So the scale says 209. Up one but down one and a half. That’s not enough to even count. I did use my menu this week but not all of it. Another UGH!!!

So I am just going to repeat all that has been challenge for next week and see just how it all can fit together. It has too because being fat is not good for me and surly not good for my mind. You should hear myself and all the nastiness that comes out. I do know that other people are busier than me and doing this. So I just need to find the way.

Exercise, menu, veggies, meditation that’s what will be my job for the coming week. If you do have ideas or comments or kicks in the butt, please tell me because maybe it’s just me and I’m not seeing something.

I hope that Deb did awesomely this week, one of us has to. Did you know that she did a marathon last weekend and ran a relay race? That woman can move and she’s exercising and working 12 hour days and has a family at home.

Okay, got to go shower, do my chores and head over to mom and dad’s to put down some tile and cut some carpet and than meet with an insurance lady at noon. Take care my friends. You truly are all amazing and wonderful and helpful. Thank you!!

my menu….From Julie

Here is what’s on the menu around here for this week : I will add each meal to myfitnesspal and fine tune the calorie part.

Sunday - Big breakfast out with Jim and a salad for supper

Monday
Breakfast:  2 scrambled eggs with chopped sweet peppers, fresh fruit
Lunch:  grilled ham and cheese sandwich (using 45 calorie bread, thin sliced ham and 1 slice Velveeta cheese) with a salad
Dinner:  homemade chili and saltine crackers and glass of milk

Tuesday
Breakfast:  Oatmeal and a banana
Lunch:  tomato basil soup and a salad (lettuce, spinach, carrots, pepper, hard boiled egg, lite ranch dressing)
Dinner:  sliced turkey, fresh green beans, red potato (boiled) and a glass of milk

Wednesday
Breakfast:  Instant breakfast (sf with almond milk), yogurt with fresh raspberries
Lunch: chicken polish sausage, baked beans
Dinner:  turkey noodle hotdish ( turkey, noodles, gravy, mixed veggies) and a glass of milk

Thursday
Breakfast:  waffle with peanut butter, cup of blueberries
Lunch: left over chili with crackers
Dinner:  Tacos (hamburger, tomato, lettuce, cheese, taco sauce) with Mike and a glass of milk

Friday
Breakfast:  Oatmeal and a banana
Lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwich (1/2) and salad 
Dinner:  Spaghetti made with spaghetti squash and homemade spaghetti sauce and a glass of milk

Saturday - No breakfast, lunch out with Jim (small pizza), supper left over’s from week

Need to make a fresh batch of chili, bake a turkey, make homemade noodles, learn how to bake a spaghetti squash, make a hot dish and even though I’m not eating it make some cranberry bread and an apple crisp. I don’t just cook for me though no one eats with me. I bring meals to my parents, grandma and fix meals for my husband’s business.

I’ll get better at this but here’s a start. And doable. Now to get an exercise menu too.

Week 2 ….Julie's update...

Well I was suppose to put in a linky do hicky so that we can link us all together but I can’t find the linky tool I use to use so for this week can you just leave a comment with your thoughts, ideas, weight loss, help, anything you think will help us get back on track and learning along the way.
This week I am challenging Deb to making a menu, meal plan, and sticking to it. Really there’s a bigger reason for it, since I do the same challenge I give to Deb I too will make up a menu and stick to it. At least I’ll try. I really have issues when it comes to that. Since I am the only one that eats breakfast, Mike might come home for lunch and again I am the only one that eats supper and fixing one meal is not something I like to do. I would rather eat oatmeal, cold cereal, a piece or two of toast or just skip it all together than fix a real meal. But that is how I’ve gotten to where I am now so tomorrow I will start working on a menu. I don’t shop until Sunday so will work with what I have here. How to cook for one? Ideas?
So this week the scale says: Tilt. I was doing so good at the beginning of the week and than I had mama and daddy over for dinner, Mike and I had a pot luck with friends, I made dinner for my grandma and than stayed and ate with her and all these meals were not a diet type meal. I did eat lots of veggies and I did get lots of exercise in but not enough to make that scale move. Well it moved but only to 209. I can’t take a picture I have to charge the camera and with having Mike just moved out our house has exploded and I can’t find anything right now.
So it’s week two and a chance to try and do better. More yoga practice, more planks, meal planning, and just getting my act together.

I found this and I really need to get excited. Being healthy is what I want.
Take care my friends and here’s to a successful week.