Trip to Arlington

Today was a challenge and I failed. My sister Judy and I took my dad to Arlington National Cemetary for my brothers inurnment. It was a moving ceremony on a beautiful day, Larry would have been pleased. We left early in the morning to make the drive down and didn't have time to stop for coffee or breakfast. We did take healthy snacks along which was good because my dad took his insulin and didn't eat breakfast so we were forcing food on him. We arrived about 15 minutes before we were to meet with the Chaplain and 45 minutes later the ceremony started. After the ceremony we chatted with my sister Patty who drove in from Indiana and then decided to visit JFK's burial site. We left Arlington and wanted to stop at a restaurant near Mount St Mary's that my dad liked. We didn't get there until close to 2:00 and by that time we were very hungry. Should have known that my dad would pick a buffet. Yep . . . all you can eat! Well, Judy and I who are both watching our weight didn't do to bad first go around. Yes, there was a second visit to the buffet and I had a piece of fried chicken, some mashed potatoes and a red beet egg. Judy didn't do much better with chicken and mac-n-cheese. The worst was yet to come. Our visit to the desert bar was awful. We skipped the jello and fruit and went straight for the good (or should I say bad) stuff. I had a very small piece of chocolate cake with chocolate icing, a slice of lemon meringue pie and apple crisp. And of course the unsweetened ice tea with splenda to drink.

I'm hoping that pushing my dad in the wheelchair up and down the hills at the cemetary burned off the thousands of calories I later consumed. Guess we'll see on Friday.

TGIF

I'm ready for the weekend which is the reason for the title of my post. Certainly not because Friday is weigh day : )

I lost 1/2 lb this week. Not great but moving in the right direction. I take full ownership for the small loss and I have a boat load of excuses, I won't bore you with them.

Message for CandiO . . . The exercise ball is still not blown up but I do have the pump. I'll post right after my first exercise session with the ball.

Back on Track

Thought I'd jazz up the blog a little with some spring colors. Hope you like it.

It's been a tough couple of days. I haven't been able to control my appetite. Yesterday my doctor took me off the prednisone. It was only a small dose but I felt like it was making me want to eat everything in sight. When he examined my hands and feet and I told him I was virtually pain-free, he said we can do an experiment and stop the prednisone. I'm sure it is all in my head but nonetheless, I am off and already I can tell a difference : ). I'm still taking the anti-malarial but the side effects of that aren't bad and actually diminish with time.

I finally have a pump to blow up my exercise ball so no excuses there anymore. Mike is trying to lose weight also and we will be on the same shift for the next 2 weeks so the support is nice. Last night at the grocery store, I stopped at the bakery and was eyeing up the blueberry scones. Mike said, "you don't want to look at them." "You would feel bad after you ate them". I said "Oh no, I would feel really good after I ate them". We laughed, my battle with sugar is constant but I do recognize it. We bought some really good stuff. Stonyfield Farms Organic Yogurt is awesome. I add a little granola, sunflower seeds and cinnamon and it is yummy. That is my breakfast most mornings. Lunch is usually a salad of some sort which gets a little boring and supper is usually a protein like chicken or fish or steak, a salad and a small potato or wild rice. I also eat a lot of hardboiled eggs. My cholesterol has never been a problem so this is a good snack for me. I love raw veggies so carrots or celery or red and green peppers are usually my crunchy fix.

The more I stress over what I eat, the more I eat. I'm just trying to make better choices.

It's nice to have friends out there that are on the same path as me, helps to keep me strong.

Wrong Way on a One Way Street

Well, not surprising but a little disappointing, I gained this week. 1.5 lbs, so it looks like I will not make my goal of 10 lbs by Amanda's wedding tomorrow.

Missing my weigh in last week didn't help plus anniversary overload. Even though I ate pretty good, I felt like I ate too much. So back on track today. Gotta get my exercise ball blown up, to eliminate an excuse for no exercise. I did walk Sadie this week, one time, big deal. Maybe 10 lbs by the end of the month??? I'm not giving up. I know I can do this. Keep checking back!

No, I haven't given up

Sorry, it's been a while since I last posted. Mike and I left on Thursday for a long weekend in Chincoteague, Virginia to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. I wanted to weigh in on Thursday morning but in the rush to get things done, it completely slipped my mind. I was not well behaved over the weekend either although I didn't plan on it either. We had a lot of seafood so that wasn't too bad and I never got dessert at any meal so I consider that an accomplishment. I had oyster stew and Mike and I split fried flounder for lunch on Friday. We ate pretty late so didn't even eat supper. Saturday, continental breakfast which was a no-no. I had a muffin and a small donut and coffee. For lunch we stopped at AJ's on the Creek to see what it was like, a scouting expedition for dinner that night. I had a cup of cream of crab soup and a grilled cheeseburger for lunch. Took the top off it. Everything was good so we decided to make reservations for dinner. Dinner was at 7:30 and we arrived a little early to be seated right away. Our waiter was Carl, a very nice young man. We started with a bottle of Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling which was excellent. I had Oysters Rockefeller for an appetizer and Mike had a 1/2 dozen Oysters on the half shell. We both had a garden salad with an artichoke vinagrette dressing and Mike had seared tuna and rosemary potatoes, his tuna was very rare and delicious. I had seared scallops and rosemary potatoes. We ordered another bottle of wine and drank some but ended up taking the remainder back to our hotel and I finished it off. We were very pleasantly surprised at the caliber of the food at AJ's. I will be giving them a good rating on Travel Advisor. So now we are back at home and the seriousness begins again. I'm going to blow up my exercise ball today so I can start exercising and I'll also start walking Sadie every night. I'm not going to weigh in until this Friday so hopefully any damage that I've done can be undone before then. We'll see.

Thin Mints can't stop me

Great News, I lost another 2 lbs this week, despite the Thin Mints. Okay, maybe it would have been 3 again but I don't care, I'm moving in the right direction. Gotta get ready for work so I'll write more tonight.

Betcha can't eat just one!

For those of you who grew up in the 60's, you'll recognize the title of my blog. It was a commercial referring to Lay's potato chips. Well, in my case, it was Thin Mints and no, I couldn't eat just one. I ate half a sleeve of them. I'm not going to let it totally derail me. I went to the grocery store last night and bought celery and peppers and cucumbers and all good for you snacking stuff. Hopefully I didn't do too much damage but we will see tomorrow morning. I'm hoping to post a picture of my very handsome personal trainer tonight. Stay tuned . . . .

Where was I???

Sorry about the lack of postings and the pic of my personal trainer that I promised. I was at work unexpectedly on Sunday evening until late and sick yesterday. I'll try and get the pic of my personal trainer posted tonight. I've been doing really good although Girl Scout cookies came today so that will be a challenge. I have to eat at least one Thin Mint. If anything this new eating lifestyle has taught me it is "moderation". If I can make a sleeve of Thin Mints last for a month, then that will be a huge win for me. I'll keep you posted.

Welcome March!

It's March 1st. Such a great month in my opinion. Even though it is still cold, March always makes me feel like we've finally turned the corner and are headed out of the long dreary winter. Some interesting things about March:

• 7 days until we turn the clocks ahead, Yea!
• 13 days until Mike and I head to Chincoteague, VA for our 5th annual honeymoon (we've had a honeymoon every year since we've been married).
• 15 days until the Ides of March (watch your back).
• 17 days until St. Patricks Day, beware of the DUI checkpoints, one of the biggest days for this.
• 18 days until my 4th wedding anniversary and my nephew Ben's birthday.
• 20 days until spring, big YEA!
• 21 days until my niece Amanda's wedding

Once the days are longer and hopefully warmer, I can start walking everyday. That will help Sadie and I get our hour glass figures back.

Make sure that you check my blog tonight because I will be posting a picture of my personal trainer!!!!!!