You Asked For It!!!!!

So I'm getting it!!!

Everybody around the country is getting inches and feet and MORE feet of snow and I want me some snow!!! We missed the first couple of storms here in Chicagoland but our snow started last night. I call in "magic snow". Its so fine that you can't see it with a glance out the window. You must look closer and its this very fine mist of snow coming down steadily for hours upon hours. We are supposed to get 8-12 inches. Not so very much in comparison to others around the country but "enough", I guess. Abigail didn't have school today and yet I've still managed to accomplish NOTHING around the house today. Or yesterday. Lazy, lazy, lazy. Shouldn't happen that way. So as I write this, I look around my house, I hear a child pull open the refrigerator door as Curious George squeaks and grunts through the television and I know that I must start on the laundry soon.

I've lost 4 pounds in 3 days!! YEAH!!! It has been 5 months since last I was losing weight and I'm well past needing to have gotten started again. I have another 12 pounds to go to be back at where I was 5 months ago. I'm frustrated for allowing myself to gain any of the weight back. But, it has been good for me. It was so much easier to do everything having lost 61 pounds and I realized how much harder it was on my body to have that excess weight. Then I put 16 pounds of that back on and I could really tell the difference. It was eye opening. It has been impressed upon me in a new way how important it is for me, my family, and my health to get all this weight off. I need to lose another 84 pounds and I know that I can. I think that is the biggest thing in this weight loss journey - the realization that I CAN do it if I try.

But eating anything and everything you want is simply not an option - not for me, at least. I am learning to eat some things in moderation. I took the children to a pizza buffet after Abigail's doctor appointment last night and I loaded up on salad, minored on the dressing, then had a water based soup, one piece of pizza and one bread stick. I was satisfied, didn't feel like I deprived myself of anything, yet, my calorie intake was still very reasonable. I'm doing it. I'm also learning that some foods aren't worth the calories. Chocolate chip cookies - not worth the calories. Full fat Ranch dressing - not worth the calories.

Now about exercising . . . . . . . . . . . .

Monday Musings

Back on the weight loss wagon again as of this past Saturday. I had done so well. I was down 61 pounds and then I just hit a wall. Previously I was counting calories and exercising some but I got a little obsessive about the calorie counting thing. I had decided to go with a smaller plate and don't get any leftovers but that wasn't working. So I scrapped that and decided to go back to calorie counting. My clothes are getting snug and I feel heavier and I don't want that. My goal is to be at my goal weight by the end of this year so I must get started if I want to realize that.

The best thing about this is that my husband had actually started watching what he was eating before I did. He is letting me track his calories on Livestrong.com, too. I had tried to get him to let me do that for him when I was losing weight before but he didn't want to. After lunch yesterday and seeing how many calories are in certain foods, I think his eyes are being opened a bit to how bad the food is that he was consuming. Not that my consumption was much better but it always helps to see exactly what you are putting in your body. This is just one example of comparing foods. 64 ounces of sweet tea has fewer calories than one 20 ounce bottle of Mountain Dew. So if you like both, which do you choose? Easy decision!!!!

My 2 largest weight loss obstacles are exercise and late evening eating. I can do really well all day long and then once 8 or 9 comes along, I want to eat EVERYTHING. And I think its more of a mental thing than an actual hunger thing. Plus, I just hate exercising. I really do. I have my Wii Fit Plus and my Jillian DVD for the Wii. I have Shred and a Leslie Sansone walking CD so I have no excuses whatsoever. I just hate it. So I'm going to have to get victory in those 2 areas. My metabolism is such that I'm going to HAVE to get in the habit of exercises. Besides, my goal is not to JUST lose weight. I want to healthy. I want to feel good. So exercising is a must if I want to actually get in shape.

I hope everybody has a great Monday and if you have any low calorie meals or snack suggestions, please post them for me!!