Off and Running

This is a snap of Ella and Jack on the first day of preschool.  Ella often had teary drop-offs last year, but is raring to go this year.  Jack is new to preschool, but seems to take after his daddy whom I remember running off to join the line of new kindergartners with never a backward glance.  Here's hoping that they're this eager every day!     I am not quite this geared up to meet my goals, but I can happily report that I'm starting my fourth week of being on program, exercise, and tracking what I eat.   

I lost 3 pounds the first week and, as Debbie wisely predicted in the comments of my last post, gained one pound last week (the day after my surgery).  Thank goodness for her counsel, because I just chalked it up to water and stress and kept on going.  Of course I haven't been perfect every day in my eating choices, but, on the whole, I'm pretty content with my diet.  I've tried lots of new recipes and bought a few new food items  to keep things interesting.  The WW online recipes are great.  I made their Classic Chicken Soup with Noodles for dinner the other night now that we're getting a hint of fall in the air.  It was a definite winner and will make a repeat appearance soon, I think.  As a side to the soup, I made a half recipe of Apricot Scones (just 4 points +) and used some of my flex points to have two!  Such indulgence!

Thank you all for your good wishes about my surgery.  It went well and I was back to my normal routine the next day.  I got the great news yesterday that the biopsy came back "all clear."  I'm not a huge worrier, but, as you can imagine, this was really good to hear.

Today I earned a gold star (well, an imaginary gold star).  I had the morning "off" and had decided to get out and do some exercise.  I woke to the patter of rain on the window panes, but got dressed and went out and did it anyway.  I went to my favorite river path and did Week One, Day One of C25K!  It's the first time I've actually run in any organized sort of way since my spine surgery in March.  Yay me!  And I didn't even melt in the rain--I guess it was only the Wicked Witch who melted.

With September, it seems like everything's starting up again.  This year, instead of BSF, I've joined another Bible study group (Community Bible Study).  They are very similar in content and format, but CBS is a bit closer to my WW meeting so that I won't be late.  

WI tomorrow and I'm hoping to lose.  

Are you off an running?

Monday, Monday

I think that cutting back on my computer time is helping.  My wrists and arms are still acting up a bit, but things are better and I was able to sleep last night.  It also frees up time that I spent on some of my "ought to" list.  Today I read lots of stories to my grand babies, wrote a thank-you note, did some laundry and got all caught up with my Bible study lessons.  All this while watching the kids.  What I didn't do is play a dozen or so games of "scramble" on FB (a minor addiction which I'm trying to nip in the bud) and spend a couple hours reading things online (blogs, articles I subscribe to, and new, mostly).  Baby J (20 months) loved Eric Carle's 10 Little Rubber Ducks and was able to operate the little "quack" button at the back of the book as soon as he saw it.  I heard that duckie quack about 37 million times.  Maybe time for a quack-ectomy . . . .  I do love sharing some of my favorite books for little people with my very own little people.  Three yr old E, on the other hand, on hearing the giant's Fee Fi Fo Fum threat to grind Jack's bones to make his bread, commented that the giant should take the beanstalk instead and make bean soup.  Pretty smart, that girl! I like Paul Galdone's version of just about any folk tale you can name.  His art is simple and the words are just right.

For dinner tonight, I made an old standby.  WW Baked Rigatoni.  Very tasty.  (1 c shredded mozzerella, mixed with 1 lb browned ground beef (93%), 4 cups cooked whole wheat rigatoni,  and 1 jar of Classico mushroom  & ripe olive pasta sauce--bake at 350 for 20 minutes).  That and a green salad plus a WW strawberry smoothie bar for dessert.  It was a good day.  Right now my shoulders are achey and I think I need to step away from the computer.

I'm hoping to feel good enough to go out for a run tomorrow--week 3 of C25K.  The weather's gotten rather chilly, but I know how to bundle up and that's what I'm aiming for.

My deciduous magnolia is just about to offer it's first bloom of the spring.  It's usually one at the very top of the tree (25 feet up there) where it gets the most sun.  Just  where I can see it from our sitting room window.  Here's what it looks like:

See you later.
Tish

Rainy Tuesday

My morning run

It was rainy when I got up this morning.  I briefly considered ditching my plan to run this morning, but I'm not the Wicked Witch of the West and I won't melt, so I headed out and was greeted by this beautiful sight at the very beginning of my run.  It was a wonderful run.  Not cold, not crowded, and I felt great. My new "do" does nicely in the rain, too.  I felt so good that I took a new route out to Dike Marsh--famous with birders hereabouts.  I saw lots of birds including lots of stately egrets.  This little group flew as I got near, but had returned to the side of the trail when I doubled back 10 minutes later.

Egrets at Dike Marsh

Today for lunch I made an old WW standby.  Open faced Reuben sandwiches.  I made 2 for a total of 320 calories.    

WW Open faced Reuben Sandwiches (this recipe is from the WW 365 Day Menu Cookbook)

Toast 2 pieces of Rye Bread (130 calories for 2 slices)

Spread dijon mustard on toast

Top each with with 1/2 oz turkey pastrami (I couldn't find turkey, so used regular--60 calories for 1 oz)

Top pastrami with 3 T sauerkraut (I used canned, well rinsed for a total of 10 calories)

Top each with 1 oz of thin slice Swiss cheese (120 cal for 2 oz)

Broil until cheese is melted and just begins to brown.

I don't drink a lot of soda these days, but I splurged and enjoyed my lunch with a diet A&W in an iced mug!   Yum.

Tomorrow I have BSF in the morning and then my WI at noon.  I don't want to run again (I try not to run on consecutive days), so DH is going to set up our Lifecycle (exercise bike) so I can exercise.  This will save me some time and I can get in that "last chance workout" that I've missed the past few weeks.  We've had this exercycle for a few years and I've never been on it, tho' DH uses it a few times a week.  I hope it's going to help me keep up my exercise plan this winter.

Do you let the weather get in your way?

What I Saw, WI, Don't Let this Happen to YOU

Wednesday morning are uber busy for me, with an early alarm, breakfast, a last-chance run,  a quick visit to my Dad, my Bible Study (BSF), and then my WI at noon.  It did not go by so fast, though, that I neglected to notice a new decade on the scale when I got back from my run! 179.6  HELLO 170s!  I haven't seen a 7 as the middle number for fourteen months!  This is only the first peek at the 170s, and the just out of the shower, unclothed weight, so my WI (fully clothed, at noon)  still has an 8 as the middle number, but I sure do love the trend!  :D

I did have a planned encounter with some yummy Thai food on Friday night and it took some intensive water drinking and a couple of days to reverse the upswing in my morning weights.  The Thai food was great and I limited the damage by hopping right back on the wagon after our dinner out.  Here's the physics diet graph.  The first red bumps are from my bike holiday, the second from the Thai food. Remember, green is good.  Oh, also, note that these weights are my first thing morning weights on my own scale and not my WI weights. My own scale usually weighs me a bit more unclothed than the WW scale clothed.  It doesn't bother me because each seems consistent to itself.

My WI today was also a happy time as I dropped two pounds, or 8 Sticks o' Butter in Paula Deen speak.

This all means that my goals for the Hot 100 Challenge, include a weight loss goal of 17 pounds (my WW goal) between now (tomorrow) and January 1st. I think I can do it. I think I CAN do it. I WILL do it.

The other thing I saw today?  I was very thirsty and stopped by the grocery on my way home from WW.  I searched in the coolers near the checkout until I found a diet Pepsi.  I don't often drink sodas these days, but, somehow that's what I wanted. I felt pretty virtuous standing there with just one bottle of diet soda in the checkout line and I studiously ignored the piteous cries from the chocolates in the candy  bar display begging for one last date with me before my no-chocolate ban is official at midnight tonight.  I got into my hot car and enjoyed the icy cold Pepsi during the half hour ride home. It was only when I pulled into my garage and picked up the bottle to toss it in the recycle bin that I noticed it was not a diet Pepsi.  It was a Throwback Pepsi. "Throwback, made with Real Sugar." Aaaugh!  Don't Let This Happen to YOU!

180.0

Regular Pepsi--Notice the bright BLUE label??

Diet Pepsi--the Label is Light Silver

Throwback--full sugar--  NO FAIR!!

Terrific Tuesday

Two year old E, mixing her mom's birthday cake.

Well, today seemed almost as busy as yesterday!  I had promised E that she could help me make her mom's birthday cake. She takes her job seriously (note the blue polka dot apron).  When we've cooked before,"helping"  meant washing hands, wearing an apron and dumping things in a bowl after I'd measured them.  Well, I'm here to tell you that she wasn't having that.  No, she wanted to do the measuring.  She wanted to crack the eggs.  And she wanted to wield the electric mixer.  Did I mention this is a chocolate cake?  I gave her an extra reminder NOT to lift the mixer and stepped back to take her picture.  She was great!  And the cake turned out wonderfully well.  I had a very thin sliver (DH noted it was  about 4 crumbs thick!).               

And there were more sweets in my day, too.  Cupcakes with a Cherry on Top!  This one is a blogger award from Deb at Deb Will Be FREE.  Thank you Deb!  And there's no calorie expenditure for this sweet treat!  Even better.

The Rules for Eligibility are: 1. Answer the question, "If you had one chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be? 2. Pass on to six people and inform them of the award. 


I'm going to follow Deb's lead and do part 1 today and part 2 tomorrow.  So, what would I change?  At first I thought, duh, I'd learn these things I'm learning now soooo much earlier in my life, but then, no, I don't think so.  I've actually loved my life.  I've never been one to wish myself younger--I've lived a great life and had some wonderful relationships, friendships and experiences. I think all my experiences, through thick and thin, have worked together to make me who I am.   What I'd change is I'd let my young self know is that I was eventually going to get the hang of living at a healthy weight.  




I changed my plan from last night and decided to make two pans of lasagna--one traditional and one seafood (instead of the lasagna roll ups).  The traditional lasagna is one I've made for 30 years.  It's an old WW recipe and my family thinks it's the best lasagna ever.  I made it for some Italian friends when we lived in Rome and they asked for the recipe, too.  It was good, but the seafood lasagna was AWESOME!   DIL loves seafood and doesn't eat ground beef, so I made it for her, but everybody else liked it, too.  That's the one I ate.  It had a few more "extras" than I usually eat (cream cheese, 2% milk, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella)  but I had a small piece and it was certainly within my calorie target--<350 per serving.   I've linked to the recipe, it's from a Cooking Light cookbook, but most of their recipes are online, too.


I did my gym workout after dinner.  There were only three of us in the workout room (such a nice change from the crowd at the beginning of January!).  I listen to a book on my ipod while I work out.  It really passes the time nicely and has the added benefit of keeping me going to the gym, because I don't allow myself to listen to that book except when I'm at the gym.


I'm hoping to knock off some more sticks o' butter at my WI tomorrow.  I'm going to get up early to run and I have my first BSF (Bible Study Fellowship--an intensive, year long Bible study of the book of Isaiah) before my noon WI.  My BFF (Best Friend Forever!) and I will go out for lunch together and then shopping.   Another full (fun) day.