Category Archives: staying on plan

Staying on track Monday.

Happy Monday everyone!  Or probably Tuesday by the time most of you read this 😀 Don’t forget to enter the cookbook giveaway!

Off to the gym this morning to workout.  It was really weird there today, as I overheard one of the new owners talking about pallbearers and funerals, and the other owner wasn’t there.  That got me thinking about Saturday and how the gym was not open in the morning.  I hope nothing happened, but it was pretty obvious something was wrong.

I did this:

  • Chinups:  2
  • Romanian barbell deadlift:  3 sets of 8 at 75 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Barbell bench press:  3 sets of 8 at 55 pounds
  • Seated lat row:  3 sets of 8 at 55 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Reverse lunges with 1 dumbell on shoulder: 3 sets at 20 pounds
  • Arnold press: 3 sets of 10 with 10 pound dumbbells
  • Plank:  3 sets with 90 second holds.

I was going to then walk on the treadmill, but then a woman came in crying and hugging the owner.  I felt so uncomfortable working out in this atmosphere and it felt disrespectful, so I decided to go home.  I checked in the paper, but didn’t see anything.  I don’t know them well enough to really ask much, you know?

I made some Cream of Wheat for breakfast:

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  • 35 grams of Cream of  Wheat
  • 1 ultraripe banana mashed
  • cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon cashew butter
  • 1 tablespoon blackberry jam

Unpictured cafe au lait on the side…  So tasty.  This is a new bowl, too.  A local potter made it!  I love pottery. I burned my tongue on this, too, because I was so hungry.  I actually did not eat a snack preworkout today.

Thinking about finishing the year strong.  I know Christmas is in there, but there is no reason I can’t make an extra effort on the other days.  I am starting to get lazy. I set 2 mini goals for today.  One goal was to not snack except for my planned snack.  This is really hard for me as working at home I can go get a few chips or some nuts if I so choose at any time.  And I have gotten into the habit lately of munching.  No wonder I can’t get off the last 10 pounds!

My other goal was to have 2 vegetables at lunch and dinner today.  So – lunch was a tuna wrap with lettuce mix, served with a side of baby carrots.

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And the most tart kiwi ever!  It was almost like a lemon 😯

I drank a lot of tea today to help keep me from snacking.  It worked pretty well.  I was ready for the planned snack of a latte!

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About an hour before dinner, I got really hungry and I told myself that I could have a clementine only.  No nuts or chocolate chips or the like.  So I had one.

I had another giant salad for dinner.  This used up the last of the lettuce, so there won’t be any salads for the rest of the week!

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Lots of protein on this salad.  About 3.5 oz of chicken and an ounce of feta.  And yummy pan sauteed broccoli.  Kermit would be proud of me today 😀

Ornament of the day:

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Another horn ornament!  This has a pretty stained glass appearance to it.  I have had this one for a long time and it is one of my favorites.

Question:  Will you challenge yourself to one thing tomorrow?

Kickoff to the eating season.

The eating season has officially begun.  Whether you made it through Halloween sans candy or awoke on Sunday in a chocolate-smeared haze, how you go about the next couple months can really make an impact on your mental and physical health for the rest of this year.

Many times, people sort of give up now and have the date of January 1st already in their mind as the next time to really get on track.  The problem with that is that it is so easy to give in every single day (60 of them) to the “Oh, I’ll make it my New Year’s Resolution to diet”, or “I’m too busy to take care of myself right now”.   There are a lot of treats out there between gingerbread lattes, pumpkin scones, office candy, office parties, etc…  If you eat a treat every day and consume an extra 400 calories (2 cookies, not hard to imagine), but slack off on the exercise – that is an extra 24,000 calories over the 2 months, or an equivalent of about a 6.5 pound weight gain.  And then we all know how hard it is to try to put that machine into 180 degree reverse right on January 1st, and then how everybody is so miserable at having to “diet” again.

How about doing it different this year and planning ahead a little bit?  For me, I love eggnog lattes.  Heck, I just love eggnog.  (One thing about me, when I love something, it’s always one of the most calorie dense items out there 😯  )

My plan is to let myself have 2 of them in a coffeeshop this season.  That’s what I did last year and it worked really well.  What that does is make the eggnog latte really mean something instead of just having one (or 2 or 10!) on a whim.  The rest of the time will be my standard lattes.

I also am going to make sure that I keep my exercise schedule.  Don’t ever be afraid or feel guilty about putting yourself first.  In order to get through one of the most hectic and stressful times of the year, you need to be at the top of your game, and that means doing for yourself what makes you strong and healthy. Happy you = happy family.

Let yourself have some indulgences, but keep them in control. It’s okay to have some treats, but really ask yourself if you need them every day (or multiple times a day). Is that the definition of a treat? Treats or indulgences are supposed to be special, not common place.

You can also think about treating yourself in nonfood ways. How about some ‘me’ time with a manicure or pedicure? Or a quiet couple of hours at the library, or just some meditation?

So instead of freaking out about the rest of the year, take some time today and make a plan for yourself and how you are going to handle the situations that come up through the holidays.  You don’t have to be 100% perfect to be successful.

Do you have a plan set up for the holidays?

Another on plan day.

Provided I get through the next few hours without raiding the fridge, another clean eating day with a good workout under my belt.
Tried to stay lower calorie again (1350). I will do well tomorrow until dinner, we are going out and I don’t know where yet – so that could present a bit of a challenge.

Breakfast will be out at Starbucks, and I am going to have the perfect oatmeal again. That will make me happy, even though it isn’t a bagel!

It just seems like there are oceans of food out there right now through the rest of the year. Platoons of cookies, special treats at the coffee shop (Cranberry Bliss bar, I am looking in your direction), hearty cream soups, eggnog. It’s kind of hard to decide which of those things to plan in, and which won’t be. I guess eggnog something is in, because that only comes around for a short time (thank goodness), except we do actually make nog, so I suppose we could do that anytime.

I was just thinking this morning that if I actually lost 4 pounds during the holiday season (which is feasible) I would be at goal for the beginning of the year. Now how about that for a New Year’s Resolution LOL. Kind of ironic to get to goal the time of year when you are supposed to be setting a goal.

New coat and staying on plan.

I found a coat at my favorite consignment shop today. I needed something that was warmer than my leather, but not as thick as my winter coat – and I found the perfect one. At first, I passed the coat by, because the size said “S”, and I thought there was no way it would even come close to fitting. That ended up being the only coat I really liked, and after looking at it again, I thought it looked like a very generous small, and it was. It fits perfectly! And only $20.

So, John is going out of town for a few days starting tomorrow. Since he is taking the only car, that leaves me with the scooter. So, I should be on plan, although the weather is supposed to be around 60 for a few days, so the scooter is definitely an option if I want to go out. I either eat really well or really poorly when he is out of town, and I am going to really, really try to eat well. I still show some scale ‘uppage’ from the chinese food, so that is motivation to behave.

I also joined Twitter, just to see what it’s all about. You can follow me on the left if you like, probably pretty boring LOL!