Wednesday Weigh In

Got the battery for the scale and all seems to be working correctly now.
I've managed to maintain for the last few weeks. Not bad considering I haven't been following a strict meal-plan.

Keeping things short tonight...just wanted to post my WI so I can get back on track. Have to also report that I walked 1.5 miles on the treadmill last night - 1/2 mile was at 3 mph. I waled 1.25 tonight and again 1/2 mile was at 3mph. My first fitness goal is to walk 3/4 mile at 3 mph. I know I can walk faster, but I have trouble maintaining the speed. Think I will keep it at this level for now. The good news is that I didn't use my inhaler for either workout and am breathing just fine!

Getting Rid of Plastics

What would we do without plastics? There is plastic in just about everything we touch and use on a daily basis. I have a playroom FULL of plastic - which my father is always complaining about saying that he hopes I have stock in plastics. He complains because he's the one who takes care of our household recycling and trash (we have an in-law apartment).   

Two years ago or so when the whole issue of BPA being found in baby bottles first became a hot topic, I went ahead and threw away all my older son's bottles which I was saving for use for our second child and purchased all new BPA Free plastic bottles. I didn't give it a second though.t Mainly because I didn't want to have to deal with heavy glass baby bottles, and the thought of dropping one to have it shatter scared me.  And I honestly thought that by going BPA Free, I was going to safe.  Now I am realizing that I went with a safer option - but the best is glass!

Why would I ever think that plastic is a safe thing to put my food on or in?  I mean, just the smell of new plastic is enough to turn on the alarms!  So why do I continue to use plastic containers that stink to high Heaven when I first purchase them? Do I really think that by giving them a quick wash, I've removed all the toxins?  I guess somewhere in my mind I want to believe that plastics are OK. I want to believe that "big brother" is watching out for us to make sure that we have safe products.  And yet I know that that isn't so!  So why do I continue to turn a blind eye?  The answer is because it's just easier.

What does all this have to do with weight loss?  Well, in reading Jillian Michael's book, she speaks of the chemicals in plastics and in our food and how they release Endocrine Disruptors. Hrm? Could this be why my Thyroid is slightly out of whack? Could this be one of the reasons why every time I try to lose weight, I struggle and struggle and ultimately give up? Maybe. So here I am thinking it might be best to say good-bye to my friend, plastic.

So, I have gone through my kitchen and have removed all the BAD plastics. Here's a link to which plastics are safe to use.  There is still much debate about some of the options that are listed as "safe". All I know is that I am getting rid of all the plastics that I know are on the BAD list. 

Along with the bad plastics, I'm opting to remove melamine plates from our cabinets.  Again, I am not sure why I haven't thought about it up until now. I mean was I under a rock when melamine was reported in baby formula in China or when animals where getting sick from it being in their food?  No.  I simply turned a blind eye. I was probably thinking that the melamine I use for my plates is safe because it isn't in "powdered" form, I'm not eating IT - I am eating OFF of it. Big difference, right? How wrong I was!  Turns out that melamine can also leach chemicals onto our foods, thus now we'd be ingesting harmful chemicals. And for what?  So we don't have a broken dish?  Seriously. It's all starting to seem absurd to me.

Without further ado, here is my pile o'plastic and melamine. My kids are going to have to take one for the team and eat off of adult plates from now on and if they break, they break.  I would rather have a broken dish on my hands than potential illnesses that could potentially come from harmful chemicals we've ingested.

Stack O'plastic

Wednesday Weigh In

No avoiding it. Gotta weigh in today. Need to see how vacation went. 

I stepped on the scale this morning and was very excited!  I hopped off and hopped back on just to be sure and was depressed. I tried two more times and got two more results. Grrr!!  Do you know how many scales I've gone through?  Going to try replacing the batteries and will WI tomorrow.  I best not be depressed!  haha. 

There is another post coming - hopefully today. I was going to post yesterday but just didn't have the time.  Hopefully the kids will cooperate today.

Back to Reality

The family vacation is done. It's back to the daily grind we go. I sent my oldest off to Ninja Camp this morning. It's a full day camp. He's happy; Mama's happy. All is right with the world. With him being in full-day camp this week, I've decided to make the most of the time by getting organized...

I started pulling apart the kitchen yesterday. Organized all the cabinets, OK maybe not all, still have two to go. I want to make cooking as easy as possible on myself. I HATE to cook. Always have. But if I am going to do this - I mean really do it - I need to be in the kitchen making whole foods. No more junk! No more processed anything...or as little as possible.

I never thought I would hear myself say this but I'm turning into a "hippie". Like I've mentioned before, I won Jillian Michaels cookbook and have since picked up a copy of her book, Master Your Metabolism. So far, everything that she is saying is making so much sense to me! I mean, if you could walk in my shoes and do the workouts I've done and do the diets I've tried, you would know that I should have lost a lot of weight during those times, but I didn't. I struggled to lose every ounce that I've ever lost. I would give up. It's what I do. I mean seriously, why would anyone want to work out for an hour a day - I mean really sweat and work out, eat 1200 calories a day to only lose a pound - if that, each week. Sure, I would have some weeks where I would lose more, but most weeks were too little to even count.

I'm still reading the book, but I can sum it up in a few words.  No processed food and get away from plastics!  It's something we've all heard about before. I know I have. Let's face it though, processed foods are easy. They make our lives easy. We can run our errands, have our lunch in the car so we can get to the next appointment, spend less time in the kitchen and more time getting the to-do list done. All the while we are loading our bodies up with harmful chemicals.  I've always thought there has to be a reason for all the disease and syndromes and I'm willing to bet a lot comes from the foods we eat. I'm willing to put things to the test - and in a way I have already started.

I'm completely off the artificial sweeteners. That's right, no more diet soda, (for those who know me , know that that is an amazing feat! I was an addict!!) no more diet anything. I feel a change, I see a change.  I'm not craving more and more sweets and foods.  "They" have been saying it for years - if you use the artificial sweeteners, you are at a higher risk for obesity. I can now see that as a truth. I know that I've been eating less and hopefully soon it will show on the scale.

Vacation Week

Just got back from a short vacation with the hubs and kiddos. We still have a few day trips planned before hubs heads back to work though. All in all things have been going pretty well. I did bring lots of fruit with us on the trip and we did stop to shop for some sandwich stuff. That did help us save money and calories.

Tonight was track and field for my six year old. While he was partaking in the "field" part of his session, Rich and I hopped onto the track and walked two miles. YES! I said 2 miles! It felt great to get such a long walk in. I did have to come home and ice my foot but it was all worth it.

Speaking of my foot; it seems to be healing quite nicely. I was a little worried while walking around Sesame Place in water shoes all day. A little ice and some ibprofen did the trick- kept the pain at bay.

Weigh In

Still struggling! And it looks like I am back to square one. Sigh.

But, I am sticking my chin up and am going to keep on trucking. I really see the importance of planning. When I plan a few days ahead I find I stick to eating much better than when I have a loose plan or worse, none at all.

My clothes are getting tighter and tighter and I hate being in my own skin. My family went out to dinner - sadly, we went out three times this past weekend, none of which did I make even one good food choice. Anyway, at one of the restaurants we were in, I couldn't fit in the booth. I was horrified. Luckily though, the other bench had a little more room for me, but I was stuffed in there like stuffing in a Thanksgiving Turkey.

We also went out to dinner on the way to drop my husband off at the airport for his week-long business trip. Our son really wanted to go out for dinner before he left. For some reason, that night I felt very self conscious. We were in one of those long bench seats with table and chairs -you know, the ones I mean - where you are sitting inches away from the next party. Anyway, I felt like the people next to me were talking about me and then I felt another lady stare at me with eyes that showed her disgust. Could it have been me projecting my feelings onto her? Yes. That could have been it. Nonetheless, I feel the disgust and I see it in others eyes.

Why is it that when we are feeling our worst because of our weight, we still turn to food for comfort? I mean really?!? Isn't it that that got me to feeling this way in the first place?

Needless to say, I've shaken it all off. This is a new day and a new week. I've returned to my planning and am working really hard at keeping to the plan. The fridge is stocked with fresh fruits and veggies. The biggest challenge ahead is the weekend and into next week. We're heading on vacation. The plan is to bring cut up fruits and veggies and make sandwiches for lunches. Not only will we save on the calories, but will also save a few bucks on not eating out. I'm only hoping the dear hubby will follow my lead and keep to the plan.

Struggling

I'm in dire need of finding my mojo. I can finally stand on my feet without having pain and am able to get some exercise in but am not feeling it. I did my 1 mile walk last Thursday and did another one on Friday. Since then it's been nothing. No exercise. No eating well. Nothing good can come of this behavior and feeling. I know I will end up beating myself up on Wednesday when I see that I have a huge gain.

I'm going to work real hard for today to get things turned around. For the remainder of the day, I am going to focus on the here and now. I will drink nothing but water and I will get a workout.