228 pounds

228 pounds. That's about all I have to say today.

I have NOT been journaling my food the past few days but I HAVE put a pad of paper in the diaper bag for Disney so I can jounral my food & log my steps.

I HAVE been more aware of my food & beverage choices even when I haven't been journaling my food.

I HAVEN'T been walking but I have a pretty good excuse. I live in the middle of nowhere & people let their dogs out to run wild. Keep in mind we have wild rabid animals out here as well. A German Shepard that NEVER goes after anyone went after ME the other day. I told him "No!" in a stern but not scared voice & he sat down almost immediately. I was on the road & not on his property, but when I see a mouth full of teeth & growling running at full speed toward me....it causes me to be concerned.

I think from now on I will be walking at the mall about three times per week. Walking isn't worth an animal attack....especially when I usually have my kids with me.

Speakig of walking, I will be doing a bunch of that at Disneyland!

That wraps it up for this entry. I will write again briefly after we return.

What happens when you don't journal your food...

What happens when I don't journal my food intake? My calories consumed shoot WAY up! I journaled my food & then stopped for a few days. I WON'T be doing that again. It was just laziness on my part. I've found that if I journal what I eat right before or after I eat it, then it gets done. If I don't then I can slip into my bad habits. You know what? At least I caught this & am able to stop it only 23 days into TOANL.

On a good note...it's only 4 pm & I've already drank my 64 oz of water. I'll go for at least 16 more before bed. I also will be walking again tonight. Last night DH had a little hissy fit so I walked without him! HUMPH! Nuts to not walking. He started the walk & then turned around after only FIVE minutes. I kept right on going, KNOWING that if I went back to the house, I would quit as well.

WOOHOO! GOOD FOR ME! I KEPT WALKING! WOO HOO!

I need to wake the kids from thier naps & get my walk in before it gets too windy here. I don't honestly like the tase of dirt flying into my mouth.

We are headed for "The Magic Kingdom" in February. We have already booked our lodging & are planning our trip. One day we are going to visit Bob's Grandma Marie. When were in California last time (Oct 2004) his Grandma was a remarkably young & sharp 92 years old. This time on the phone she didn't sound so sharp. She no longer drives & is having some significant health problems. Since she hasn't seen the new baby & she is the closet Grandparent (& the oldest in the worst health) we are going to drop in for a visit. Depending on how bad off she is, we are going to try to talk my MIL into driving out there to see her while she's visits us in March.

Crissy, we are not telling ANYONE about this trip to Disneyland. We just want to relax & enjoy our mini vacation without any remarks or critisims from the family. We are still thinking about an Illinois trip this fall, it all depends on finances & work.

Back to the subject of this post. We found a affordable hotel with continental breakfast just 150 yards from the main pedestrian entrance from Disneyland. Surprisingly, many hotels charge for parking, even of their guests! The hotel we found does not charge for parking. That will save us about $10 per day. Since we aren't big breakfast eaters, the breakfast saves us up to $30 each day! Since we are within walking distance of Disney, we won't have to move our car & lose or parking spot....plus we just burn that many more calories.

I am trying to plan ways for me to minimize that snacking & soda pop while in the park. There are many stands with fresh fruit & bottled water. Do I really feel like paying through the nose for that? You aren't supposed to bring your own food & drink into the park either. There are lockers just to the outside of the park entrance for rent. I will have bottled water to make Charlotte's bottles, which I can bring a couple extras & tell them it is to make the baby's bottles. Hopefully that will work. I think I will be drinking & filling a water bottle with drinking fountain water for myself. I will also probably bury a couple of Granola bars for each day in the diaper bag. Salad is available at many of the eateries in Disney. Like I said, I am really looking into this.

As for February instead of just journaling my food, one of my goals was to really be conscious of my food choices had already decided this BEFORE DH suggested the trip. Last night we all walked 3108 steps = 1.422 miles according to my pedometer in exactly 30 minutes. Elizabeth pushed a Barbie Doll in her doll stroller alongside her Daddy while I pushed Charlotte in the big stroller. I am going to drag DH & kids out for another walk tonight if he gets home early enough. The girls actually enjoy the walks, it is DH that doesn't like them so much. Walking was another goal I had decided to tackel beginning in February. The Disney trip just bumped it up by a couple of weeks. I will be wearing my pedometer in Disney & tracking my steps daily. I will also be tracking my food in my food journal & entering it at Fit Day shortly after we get home.

My DSH insisted that I book a reflexology session for my feet the Sunday before we leave. An hour long session is $85. For $15 more I could get a 30 minute reflexology session & a pedicure with a hand parafin dip! DH said if that was what I wanted I could have it. Sunday is the only day he can watch the kids while I go to the spa for some pampering. He'd better watch out because I could get used to that kind of pampering. Once again, that was HIS idea. I wasn't about to turn that down!

I will try to write at least once more before we leave for Disney

New BMI is 41.8

I know, I know it's still WAY too high. At least it is going in the right direction now.

I made some more good choices today that I am proud of.

1. I chose to eat a sandwich made from Stone Ground Bread, ONE slice of turkey & ONE slice of cheese instead of half of a frozen pizza.
2. I chose to drink Crystal Light INSTEAD of more than 12 oz. of diet soda.

The bad news is that I was so focused on cleaning carpet that I've only eaten a little over 500 calories today! The good news is that I was so focused on cleaning carpet that I didn't feel the need to eat due to boredom today!

WOO HOO! Progress is progress!

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=TOANLin2006

Yesterday I caved & gave into to my craving for rolls...at 10pm. I know, I know "Bad Mary! Bad! Bad!" *insert smacking of the hand sounds here* We made Cornish Game Hens in the crock pot with onions, red potatoes & carrots for dinner last night. It was SO good and VERY tender. I ate about 1/3 of my hen removed the skin before eating it. I once again made the decesion to drink water instead of soda at dinner. It doesn't seem like much to some, but to me it is HUGE. I used to drink as much as a two liter bottle of soda each day. I only drank 12 ounces of soda yesterday. Like I've learned in the past, tackle one thing at a time. This month I had deceided to do the following:

1. Journal everything I put into my mouth
2. drink at least 64 ounces of water daily (knowing that I would have to work up to that amount...from zero on most days)
3. Kick the soda habit
4. weight myself & use FITDay to keep myself accountable

I realise that this is more than one thing, but in my mind they ARE one thing. They all go together & will make it easier for me to take control of my health.

Today DH & I were out with the kids. He was told he had the day off but he is on call. He got a call to go to a job & on the way home I had DH stop by the grocery store. I was wanting a buger SOOO bad. We easily could have stopped at Mc Donald's & grabbed something but I had go to Frys. I hopped out, grabbed some pre-made burger patties & buns & we went home. I cooked the burgers while he got ready & I was proud of myself. Pre-TOANL I would have gotten the 1/4 lb Cheeseburger, fries & drink. Now I made the burger, had NO fries & had 12 oz. glass of diet soda. I followed that up with a 16 oz glass of water. Once again, I made a choice NOT to eat fast food. I swear there is something in the food that makes people like me crave it. It felt really good to drive by Mc Donalds & just keep on going.

If you want to check out my other blog here's the link.

http://purplepuddles.blogspot.com

I am getting a more accurate view of what eat now. As for calories, no wonder I'm a fat woman! I am noticing patterns in my eating as well. Things like WHEN I am snacking & WHAT I am snacking on. I will admit that I actually thought about NOT putting those 12 cookies in my mouth but went ahead & ate them anyway. When I had to write them on paper, enter them into Fit Day & I saw the total calories from just the cookies....it was painful. You know what? Before I wouldn't have given it a second thought. As for the burger...that is progress. In 2005, it would have eaten a 1/4 pounder with cheese, a super size french fry & a super size coke. I also made a concisious decesion NOT to drink soda at dinner tonight. THAT felt good. Progress is progress....right?

Tomorow it's time to break in another Christmas present...my new Easy Shaper.


http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=TOANLin2006

660 Calorie Cinnamon rolls!

I love my DSH to pieces but I told him he could not bring anymore of these particular villians home...66o Calorie Cinnamon Rolls from Sam's Club. Yes, they taste wonderful, but when I saw how many calories they have, I remebered that commerical with the woman walking along with two GIANT cinnamon rolls attatcehed to her rear end. I placed myself in that commerical in my mind. NO MORE 660 CALORIE CINNAMON ROLLS INSIDE THE HOUSE! PERIOD! I It is a reminder that I have to look at the nutrition labels BEFORE I eat something like that.

I need to fill out my food intake at Fitday now.
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=TOANLin2006

In closing, let me just say that I have the best "baby sis" in the entire universe! I was truly blessed to have her as my sister & truly fortunate to be able to call her my friend.

BMI 42.2

Okay I KNEW I was very obese. I had no idea my Body Mass Index was 42.2! That is both shcoking AND scary to me! In am also in the 98% of my weight for my age group. That means that 98% of people in my age group for my height are LIGHTER than I am! Talk about a wake up call. GEEZ!

As I said I would, I have written down everything I put into my mouth since Jan 3rd. For the most part, it isn't the amount that I am eating. Instead it appears to be WHAT I am eating. I knew that I needed to change my eating habits. I knew they were a mess. I had no clue how much actual junk I shoved into my mouth each & every day.

I did manage to get 32 ounces of water down today...up from 0 ounces on most other days.

Even though some of what I am discovering is shocking to me, I am SO glad I finally have deceiced to face it & do something about it. I know this will take a ton of work & dedication. I expect to fall of the wagon & make some poor choices. I take pride in knowing that even though others may see twin midgets rolling around in my pants from the backside, I am taking the steps to do something to change it. Change it permanetly.

I refuse to spend another year fat & feeling helpless to change it. SInce I am tracking everything, if I feel it's necessary to bring it my Dr.s attention, I can print it out & show it to him. I can do that in the form of reports of varoius types through Fitday.com

My Pyramid Plan
Based on the information you provided and the average needs for your age, gender and physical activity
Physical Activity:Less than 30 Minutes
your results indicate that you should eat these amounts from the following food groups daily.Your results are based on a 1800 calorie pattern*.

Grains 6 ounces
tips

Vegetables 2.5 cups
tips

Fruits 1.5 cups
tips

Milk 3 cups
tips

Meat / Beans ounces
tips

1 Make Half Your Grains Whole
Aim for at least 3 whole grains a day
2 Vary Your Veggies
Aim for this much every week:
Dark Green Vegetables =
Orange Vegetables =
Dry Beans & Peas =
Starchy Vegetables =
Other Vegetables =
ois & Discretionary Calories
Aim for 5 teaspoons of oils a day
Limit your extras (extra fats & sugars) to 195 Calories
*This calorie level is only an estimate of your needs. Monitor your body weight to see if you need to adjust your calorie intake.

Note*** I have to go back to the FGP site & recalculate my info to post it correctly. I will do this in the next few days. I didn't intend to eliminate the recommendations for all of the veggies. OOPS!

Fit Day Link & Weight

Today is the first day I have journaled my food/liquid intake. The info is on my fit day link.

Todays weight is a whopping 230.8 pounds! I'll post my BMI later this week when I have a chance to find a site so I can figure it out.

ANother area that need TOANL is my time managemtn skills (or lack thereof). I started that with putting the dogs next appointment into the book....no reminder cards needed! WOO HOO!

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=TOANLin2006