Today is a new day

Thank God yesterday is over!! Woke up this morning with a sore neck and shoulders. Maybe I slept wrong, or stress from yesterday. Who knows! Deep Relief to the rescue! I love my essential oils.
    Breakfast this morning is two eggs over easy, a piece of sprouted whole grain bread, a clementine, and water from my awesome DRINK ME bottle.

Eggs are just pretty, they look like little baby sunshines surrounded by a peppery cloud. Yummy.
     I'm not feeling well this morning, my nose and eyes tell me that the pollen count went up, I have been sneezing and coughing all morning. I want to make a tunnel in my blanky, be miserable, and go back to sleep. Unfortunately, that is not how you become skinny, So, Tuesday, her I come!

Murphy's Law is my life!

So, today was a total bust. It started out great, then things went downhill from there. I got up and did the whole morning routine thingy. Around 8 a.m., my mom texts and says that she has a flat of eggs for me, can I meet her in town. The parents and I live in very rural areas, so we meet in a nearby town much of the time. Obviously, I'm not going to pass up free food, so the Kiddo and I hop into the car for what should have been a quick jaunt to town. Since I have to be there anyway, I decide to pay a bill, meet the sister to pick up a pair of pants for the Kiddo, and to renew my car tag....
   Now, this whole car tag thing has been going on since October. I have been illegal since October through no fault of my own! The condensed version is; My drivers license has my married name and my car title has my previous name therefore I must get the title changed before I can get my tag.  Of course, I can't do anything the easy way. I had misplaced the original title, and my mom was co-owner on the title with me. Getting info from the helpful DMV is worse than pulling teeth. This was my 8th or 9th visit and every visit they forget to tell me one little thing that I need to know to get my tag, although there is plenty of misinformation to be handed out, and tons of phone calls to other people and departments to find out what we should do. In all of this I'm over here like, 'Umm, I just want to get my tag with no tickets, please..."
    Here's the list:

• Last week in October- Go to get my tag. Can't because blah, blah, blah. Go home look for my title.
• 1st week in November- file for replacement title and temp tag
• 3 weeks later- Title has not come in. Get another 21 day temp tag. DMV says title was mailed be patient.
• 3 weeks later- Title has not come in. Get another 21 day temp tag. DMV can't understand why I haven't received it.
• 3 weeks later- Same story, wait it out. another temp tag.
• 3 weeks later- Can't have another temp tag. It's a rule, you can only get three, but you can pay another $18 to file for a second lost title since the first one was lost in the mail. Call the parent, have a stroke out over the phone. Mom says, Oh! I have your title here! Face palm.
• 1 week later- Meet the parents. Pick up the title.
• 1 week later- Triumphantly take original title to DMV. Can't use it, because I have filed for a lost title that is now also lost, but I can buy another for $18. Go home angry.
• 2 weeks later- Bite the bullet, buy a new title. Still driving illegal.
• 2 weeks later- title comes in.
• 1 week later- take title to parents to sign.
• 1 week- church trip
• 2 weeks later (yesterday)- 11 a.m.- take signed title, marriage certificate, drivers license, proof of insurance to DMV. Wait in line for 30 minutes. Get to the window. Lady takes info, makes a phone call, says I need a bill of sale from my mom. I call my mom. Can she please drop everything and run down to the DMV to write me a bill of sale? No, she can't. Her car broke down right after I left her and she is sitting at the dealership .  Ugggggh! KILL ME NOW! Finally at 3p.m. I walk out of the DMV with my 16 and July stickers. The dealership was kind enough to allow my mom to fax over a bill of sale. I hate, hate, haate!! red tape
• In July I have to renew my tag. It's April now...  :/

Onward!

So, thanks to all the rigamarole, The kiddo and I missed snacks, lunch, and water for the whole day. Horrible for dieting and new healthy habits. I did come home and cook a healthy supper.

Zuppa white beans and quinoa salad on a bed of spinach with a lemon oregano dressing and a swirl of olive oil over the whole thing. It was pretty good. It even got good reviews from my carnivorous men.

Tomorrow is a new day!

Day 1

This is the official Day 1 of my weight loss journey. My day starts around 5:00 a.m. every morning. The Hubbs wakes around 4, showers 4:30, and ruins my day at 5:00. Let me go on record right now as saying I am NOT a morning person. Just the fact that I get up before Old Man Sun every morning should prove my love for the Hubbs. I could ramble endlessly about my dislike of mornings, but weight loss is all about change. Right?
   Change #1 was more water. Change #2 will be breakfast. I have been told that a person should eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking. That doesn't work for me. I will sleep until the very last second and then get up mad because I'm up. Yes, I'm that girl. The reason 30 minutes will not work for me is because I am taking care of the Hubbs for the first 30 minutes of my day. I get dressed, fix his breakfast, (today it was oatmeal with fruit), fix his lunch (leftover Pepperoncini pork roast on salad greens and veggies with homemade salad dressing, two clementines, a grapefruit, and a baggie of baby colored sweet peppers), make sure he has all he needs, and usher him out the door by 5:30-6 am.
Now... It's my turn. I usually brew me a cuppa coffee with a healthy splash of French vanilla creamer and settle in the recliner to scan facebook and/pinterest before getting the Boy up for school. Today, I made breakfast. I have to let you know, that although I am a somewhat fluffy woman, I prefer clean healthy foods as opposed to junk and sweets. I did not get fat from eating junk. I got fat from my slowing metabolism and lack of movement. After my last job, I became quite sedentary. I am very crafty and enjoy making my little projects, which keep me on the couch or setting at a sewing machine for the most part of the day. I do not eat regularly. Coffee for breakfast, forget lunch, huge dinner. That, my friend, is why this girl is a chub.
    Where was I? Oh, yeah, breakfast. Today I had a piece of sprouted whole grain toast, sauted spinach and garlic, and a poached egg.

...and water...

Today I also started my cardio journey. I dusted off the old treadmill and walked 10 minutes. I know that doesn't seem much, but I am going from couch potato to treadmill. Baby steps. :) Today I weighed in at 173#, which would be great if I was 6' tall. I'm not, I'm 5'4".   ~sigh~

Here is my exercise schedule and menu for this week.

March

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
27	28 Treadmill 10 minutes	29 Treadmill 10 minutes	30 Treadmill 10 minutes	31 Treadmill 15 minutes	1 Treadmill 15 minutes	2 Treadmill 15 minutes

March 28-April 2

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Breakfast	Oatmeal with fruit and nuts	Poached egg on toast with saute spinach and grapefruit	Yogurt with honey and nuts	Poached egg on toast with saute spinach and grapefruit	Fruit with whole grain toast and almond butter	Yogurt with honey and nuts	Fruit with whole grain toast and almond butter
Snack	Piece of fruit	Veggies and almond butter	Nuts	Piece of fruit	Veggies and almond butter	Nuts	Veggies and hummus
Lunch		Fruit salad, with greens and rice	Zuppa beans, salad	Fruit and nuts with yogurt	Lentil soup	Broiled chicken salad	Chicken with garlic and veggies
Snack	Nuts	Piece of fruit	Veggies and hummus	Nuts	Piece of fruit	Veggies and hummus	Yogurt
Dinner	leftovers	Zuppa beans, quinoa salad on greens,	Salmon with orange and lemon, baked zucchini,	Lentil soup over barley	Broiled chicken with lime and garlic, grain salad, boiled green beans	Tilapia in brodo over rice, salad with mandarin oranges.	Greek pizza, greek salad with croutons

This menu is subject to change at a moments notice. :) :) :)

Baby Steps- Water

 I was doing a bit of shopping this weekend and found this awesome bottle at Michael's. which is really great because I hate drinking out of plastic.



 I was very excited about my find! To add to my excitement, the bottle was BOGO 1/2 price. I bought 2! It didn't hurt that the original price was $4. I know... It doesn't take much to excite me. I'm easily impressed.

I am also  measuring my water intake. Evidently you are supposed to drink the equivalent of your weight in ounces. Good luck with that! That puts me at drinking 10 of those bottles a day. Ugh! That is a LOT of water. Oh, well, I guess I'm in it for the long haul. I don't drink tea. I only drink sodas if I am eating out, and even then I usually drink water. I occasionally drink a Starbucks coffee, my all time FAVORITE indulgence. I guess all that has got to go bye bye.

Here I am at 6 a.m. with my fun new water bottle.

I look like Qbert.

To change your lifestyle, you must change your life. Profound, I know. Yet, it's true. They, whomever the elusive 'They' are, say that it takes 28 days to change a habit. So, for 28 days, I will focus on changing habits. My first change will be WATER. I commit to drinking more water. My goal, because we must set goals, will be to drink 10 bottles of water a day. I may have to build up to it. Like  said, that is a LOT of water!

The Good, the fat, and the ugly!

I have  never been much for dieting. I have never had to diet. I was always that kid that got called Skinny Minnie, Bony Maroney, Stick, and the best one of all Scrawny. How's that for ego boosters?? Then there were the jokes. 'I bet you don't weigh 50# soaking wet!' or 'If the wind blows too hard you will just blow away.' and my personal favorite, 'I bet you have to run around in the shower just to get wet.' Needless to say, I grew up with a very healthy self esteem. NOT!
 
I was that little bitty slip of a thing that in the 8th grade still weighed less than 100#. Not only was I skinny, bony, and scrawny, I was short. 5' 3 3/4" to be exact.  I hated it!!! I hated everything about it!!!  I hated being underweight. I hated being short. I hated being in my teens and having no boobs. I hated my face, my hair, and my body.  Pimples were my only friend and I hated them too!!! Oh, I had some friends that liked to hang with me, but even they made comments about my appearance. At least they were nice about it, so I acted like it didn't bother me.  But it did.

I got married in my early twenties and had my first child at 23. By this time I was rocking my skinniness. I weighed 97# when I got pregnant. When I was in my 6th month, I was wearing size 6 jeans and for the first time in my life and filling them out. I even had great boobs. Most people didn't even believe I was pregnant. At 6 months my baby bump was still quite small. My due date was November 6, my sweet 6.6# baby girl was born October 18, 1991. I weighed 136#. I left the hospital weighing 120#.

In 1994, my darling son was born. I weighed 97# when I found out I was expecting him.  His due date was March 8. On February 24, my 7.12# bouncing boy was born. I weighed #140. My maternity clothes were nothing more than sweat pants most of the time. I did have some cute outfits. But why spend a lot of money on clothes when you don't have to?

After two divorces, and a few other events too rotten to mention, I found myself single with two youngsters to raise. Now I am 24 and a whopping 110#.  Not too bad. I have left behind that gangly, pimply, greasy haired little teen. Now I was a slender, more developed, mother of two.

I stayed single for 10 years. I didn't date for 5 years, and the last 5 only dated 3 people. Then came number 4.  We married after dating about 1 year. We got married in September of 2006. I weighed 115# at the age of 35. Ten months later we were blessed with our sweet surprise. His due date was August 8. He was born July 27 and weighed 6.2#.  I weighed 148#.  Guess who had a hysterectomy the following January.

So, at the age of 36, I had a baby, a hysterectomy, and quit my job to be a full time mom.

At the age of 47 I weigh 170#. Remember how tall I am?? Not only that, guess who went through menopause early. This girl, that's who!  It is hard to believe that only 10+ years ago I weighed 115#.  Now when I look in the mirror, I see a fat, unattractive, sloppy post-menopausal  woman. I am not happy with myself once again. I feel gross. I feel worse about myself than I did when I was skinny. I want a happy medium.

I never learned to watch my weight. I never had to be moderate in my food consumption.  I never had to exercise.  UGH!!!! I do not like what I see. I have decided to change. I need a game plan.

This blog is about change. The good, the fat, the ugly.