Crunnnnnnnnnnch

Man oh man... my poor phone. Last night I was sitting on the couch and I heard it fall out of my pocket and between the sectional. I opened the recliner to find it and heard "crunnnnnnnnnch." UGH Sure enough it's dented on the back and the front is messed up. I'm thinking I'll just take it back to Verizon and try and get a new one under the insurance. That's why I pay it right? Let's just hope couch incidents are covered. lol

Breakfast - slice of leftover pizza

Fruit aisle please

I haven't had good fruit here for a while. I think I'm going to have to do a mid week produce trip. I'm finding fruit has gone soft or is pretty bruised by the end of the regular "shopping week." I'm tossing much of it. Not only does that leave me fruitless for a while but it's like tossing a big wad of cash away!

Breakfast - 1 egg, 2 soft wheat toast, 6oz strawberry yogurt

Meltdown in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.............. I told the kids we'd go out to lunch today with some birthday money I got. Went upstairs to change and saw the mess of all messes. I had a complete meltdown. Not only did we NOT go out to eat but they spent the afternoon cleaning their buns off. I held off on eating for a while myself then fell into my "if no one else cares about me why should I?" and ate a HUGE bowl of pasta and some cheese.

Lunch - whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce, american cheese

There goes the day! Ordered out pizza and junk. Whatever.

Dinner - cheese pizza, mozz sticks and potato skin

Total Calories: 2473

Move over please

Around 2am J came into bed with us. I just moved on over and made room. When I got up to go to the bathroom he wiggled over to the middle. He was so cute. Like, "here mom, I'll make room for you." lol When D got up he slid him over to his side. Then around 5:30 E showed up. I just moved over again. I got up to go to the bathroom again and had her wiggle over to the middle. lol

I got up before everyone and watched a show I DVR'd yesterday. Then did some dishes and checked things online. Once the kids started to trickle down I made them chocolate chip muffins, which I did not eat, and got them some milk to go with it.

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 2 slice light soft wheat bread, 1 apple

Lunch - whole wheat pasta with meat and mushroom sauce, salad and kraft free italian

Dinner - 2 soft tacos

Workout - 35 mins elliptical (381 cals)

Snack - 2 more soft tacos

Total Calories: 1497

Look at what you've done!

Hahahaha! D tried to bend up J's training wheels today. I started him riding off balanced and then let go. He went about 4 rotations before tipping to the training wheels. He got off and pointed to his bike saying "Look at what you've done!" So D said are you angry or happy? J replied "Angry!" and tipped his bike over. It was so hilarious. D bent them back a little but not all the way. I'm sure he'll be on a 2 wheeler at or before 4 like E was. oy!

Today was day 1 of Michelle's birthday week. I've decided my birthday has almost always sucked. It was usually during family vacations. I'd get school clothes for gifts. My dad always forgets me. It's just not a big group of happy memories for me. So this year is the big 3-0. I'M making it big for me. Ok, not big - but hopefully "not sucky" is big enough. ;o)

We did a cookout with a joint cake for me, SIL and SIL's fiance tonight. I ate terrible but skipped out on cake. I let myself be talked into burgers and that was dangerous once I thought of all the calories they were packing! Oh and MIL got cheese dogs because she knows I love them. DOH! I'm glad I brought salad!

Breakfast - bagel with 1/3 less fat philly

Snack - BBQ fritos

Lunch - Subway: 3" of a BLT on wheat and roasted chicken noodle and veggie soup

Dinner - 2 cheese dogs, 1.5 burger, salad

Total Calories: 1784

My legs are still crazy sore from weeding Saturday morning. I basically bent in half to pick them. So I stretched everything. I meet mom at the gym tomorrow. I hope to be ok on the elliptical. It not I may need to hop on the bike for a night.

Sunday Sunday Sundaaaaaaay

Track day again but this time I'm not working!! Yesterday I had to install some vinyl lettering for a customer so it wasn't a "real" day off. It is day 2 of Fun Ford Weekend and D is already there with his mom and "C2." Not our son but a friend. C2 was runner up yesterday and we're hoping to improve on that today... um or his mom. A win and r/u would be awesome.

Anyway, I'm making milk chocolate chip cookies for today and I've set aside about 1 tray to get walnuts. I'm not a fan but I figured I'd spruce them up a bit. :o) I hope to stay on track with eating. I couldn't get online yesterday so it killed me not knowing if those donuts killed me. Thankfully they didn't. That was pure luck.

Snack - 1/2 cookie hot out of the oven

Breakfast - 1/4 of an apple

Lunch - burger and onion rings

Snack - lemonade, small piece of steak tip and fritos

Dinner - pasta with meat sauce

Total Calories: 1477

LOTS of walking today. Quick walking at that. C2 went to the finals again with a runner up position! He was parked WAY down at top end. lol Back and forth, back and forth. I knew walking was better for me so I declined the many rides I was offered.

Rude Awakening

I woke up at 6 totally ready to be up but wanted to sleep more. I went back to sleep and didn't wake up til 9! I was glad to be awake though. I had 3 nightmares in that time and I had a wicked headache from it.

Breakfast - a waffle with PB, peach

Did some weeding. I hate wedding. Got it all into a barrel though and it's mostly done. Still have to rake the mulch and get all the twigs up. I hate the yard being so ugly.

Snack - 6oz light yogurt and small banana

Don't even ask about lunch. I made a big crock of sauce. I couldn't wait to make pasta and had a couple bowls of just sauce then had 2 rolls with it. lol It's been a long time since I made sauce.

Lunch - ground beef and mushrooms with crushed tomatoes and 2 light wheat rolls

Snack - 2 donuts

Dinner - grilled chicken and some BBQ fritos

Total Calories: 1555

Backwards Scale

This has been a long time coming. After a lucky streak of maintaining with my poor choices I have finally seen a gain. I'm going to try something different for my food log today and see if I can't turn this around immediately. I know breakfast looks boring since it's often the same but I enjoy it and I know it'll fill me up.

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 1 slice whole wheat toast and a peach

I just got off the phone with the interviewer for that job. No dice. The shift they are hiring for is 12:30-4:30. The after school childcare is about $50/kid. With 3 school aged kids that's $150 plus childcare for J. It'd cost me money to work. That seems just a bit counter productive. She did put me down for a call back should a 5 or 6 pm start come up again. Here's to hoping. For now it's back to the job hunt.

Snack - berry smoothie

Lunch - chicken, rice and carrots dish made with broth, peas

Snack - Zone Perfect Bar

Dinner - grilled chicken salad, roasted rotini soup

Snack - onion rings

Total Calories: 1384

It'll all get better in time...

I know my eating triggers and still walk right into them. I'm PMS-y. I didn't get the job call back I was expecting. My potential babysitter isn't returning my calls. And surprise surprise I'm financially stressed out.

I was doing so great until around 3pm. I had a plan and I was sticking to it. Then suddenly it all came crashing in on me at once.

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 1 slice whole wheat toast and a peach

Snack - small banana with 1 tsp PB on it

Lunch - 1 cup roasted chicken rotini soup with a whole wheat pita pizza

Snack - part of a leftover sub, cream cheese and crackers, chocolate chips

The day isn't so far gone I can't recover if I go to the gym. I just don't feel like it. This is an odd and unwelcome feeling. :o( The one good thing is that I got a little proactive and called the HR dept regarding that job. I apologized for having such a short time available for a phone interview and asked if she had time tomorrow at all. I will be talking with her at 11:30 (EST). So please send positive thoughts.

Dinner - small portion pasta and sauce, salad with kraft free

Workout - 30 mins elliptical (329 cals)

Snack - Zone Perfect Bar

Total Calories: 1962

Long time no see...

Good morning. I haven't logged onto the internet much since Friday morning. We had a hugely crazy weekend.

Saturday was the big night show at the track and C had karate in the morning. We got home after midnight. I'll share a funny story about that later when I have more time. Then Sunday D raced in 2 classes and C raced his junior as well. We got home around 11.

Then Monday we had our company. We haven't seen D's aunt and cousin since 11/11/07. I missed them both like crazy. It was a bit wild since his cousin is the only kid in their house and our 4 wanted all of her attention. lol She was quite overwhelmed and annoyed with them I'm sure. They arrived around 3 and stayed until about 7:30 last night.

I was so far off the wagon those 4 days I couldn't even see it! I hopped back on today though and will need to step it up in order to lose. I am cutting back my calories to what they were when I started out. Let's see how it goes.

For now I'm running out the door to take the kids to the Veggie Tales movie. See ya!

Breakfast - bagel and 1/3 less fat philly with 1/2 banana

Snack - popcorn and some dark chocolate

Snack - 2 hot dogs

Dinner - chili cheese fries

Snack - brownies

Total Calories: 2046

Big weekend coming up

Good morning. I am down a lb this week. I am attributing that solely to the fact that I worked out last night. I have a lot of work ahead of me to get back on track with fruits and veggies while keeping fat down. I still haven't done my regular shopping but I grabbed essentials for today when I left the gym. I made sure to pick up some fruits to have on hand too.

Today will be a day of cleaning. Monday we have overnight company coming. I am very excited. D's aunt and cousin are coming up from TX. They moved last November and talking on the phone just isn't the same. Today may be my last chance to get the guest room, bathroom and linens ready.

Tonight we've got track. Tomorrow C has karate in the morning then it's the big night show at the track. Then of course Sunday, Sunday Sundaaaaaaaay is track day. I need to be there early so we have to miss church.

Breakfast - Special K cinnamon pecan, milk

Cross your fingers

Today as I was paying our bills I was glad to be able to pay a couple week early on some things. I also realized that the "big" things don't show up til the end of the month though. I needed to really hunker down and start looking for work. This race season hasn't been the most reliable. We're not in trouble but it could be better.

So back story - I applied at a company back in February I think. I wanted the job so bad I could taste it. Starting pay was good and they offered evening hours. The work was similar to things I have done in the past with more challenge. I waited and waited and felt pretty rejected when they didn't call back. Nor did the other dozen jobs I put in for. Or so I thought.

There was an issue with my voice mail system. I didn't know I had one. I thought my messages would come through on my machine but Comcast's voice mail kicks in before my machine can. I had no idea! I found out on accident this June. I had over 130 messages that had collected over 6 months. One was from this company. I was sick over my missed chance. Until today - I got a second chance! They had a job listed on Monster again so I put in for it.

Breakfast - cheerios with 2% milk

Lunch - leftover chinese

Dinner - chicken and potatoes

Workout - 60 mins elliptical (642 cals)

Snack - Zone Bar

Total Calories: 1927

Day 30

I made it. I might not have been 100% on track but I'm still logging it all & owning it.

I wanted to share a funny pic and story from back in June. We took the kids on a Boston Duck Tour. It was a Christmas gift from D's family. I just found the photo code to find it online.

We got stuck in major traffic (in Boston - whodda thunk it right?) and practically ran from the parking garage to the Duck Tour counter. Then there was a line. I was stressing out because the email confirmation clearly stated "no refunds" on it. So I finally get to the front and ask her where to go. She says "oh they just pulled out a few minutes ago." AS WE WERE IN LINE! ugh The worst part - we ran past our boat as it was boarding to go get a ticket and our email was our ticket.

So long story short we had to pay $10/per person to move our ticket to a later time. We had to wait an hour and half for the next available boat. We hung out in the Museum of Science doing anything free since we brought little cash with us. Think the kids were tired???

Brunch - popcorn at the movies

Dinner - Chinese food

No real idea on Total Calories today since nothing was measured. I'm sure it was over 2000 though. I go back to the gym tomorrow night. Mom and I are switching to Thursday nights now.

Day 29

Got some news over the weekend I forgot to share. My SIL has set a wedding date. I guess the big day is going to be 5-9-09. Brides have every right to chose their special day. This one seems like an odd choice (a day after her dad's birthday and will fall on Mother's Day weekend) without knowing why they chose the date.

Anyhow, none of that matters I'm just rambling. My point is, that puts her wedding 9 months away and me 100 lbs heavier than I want to be. I am going to HAVE to get diligent with myself if this is going to happen for then. I don't think I will lose it all but I want more than 1/2 of that gone.

My desire is to hit my goal weight for our 10th anniversary on 12-10-09. Since we had a VERY small wedding I've always wanted to do a vow renewal and shin dig at 10 years (ok I said 5 at first but decided to wait for "a decade"). I would love to take a "just us" trip & go snorkeling, para-sailing or something. I don't want all this extra baggage on me!

Breakfast - 6oz cherry yogurt

Lunch - Pasta and Pizza

Dinner - peppercorn pork in the crock, mashed potatoes and corn

Total Calories: 1821

WHY is pizza so deliverable? That's my goal next week... no food deliveries! I've been so thrown off by summer vacation it's crazy. Shopping is so routine for me usually but with 4 kids trailing behind it's just not something I want to do. Once they are in school it's a piece of cake. I need to set a new "summer shopping" day and time so it becomes routine then too.

Day 28

We had a great day! We took the kids and headed up to ME for a beach day. When we got there D suggested we hit York's Wild Kingdom. I'd never been there so I didn't know what to expect.

Two thumbs up for having a ton of stuff for smaller kinds! Many many rides were 48" and under. N was like right on the line so he was able to go on the small rides and some of the big rides. C was a little annoyed most of the rides were too small for him. He was happy he was able to ride alone on stuff the other 3 needed an adult for though.

We stayed there for about 6 hours. We got stuck in about 4 rain showers that moved through quickly. We took shelter under trees or in the arcade. We walked down the street for lunch and just missed one. We even got to do paddle boats 3 and 3. I took E and N. D took C and J. We had a blast!

After we packed up there we headed over to the beach for some evening fun in the waves. All the kids got knocked over at some point which was pretty funny. D stayed at the tide line and I went in the water. So we had quick access to all the kids. J was hysterical... kept running in and out. E would grab onto me for fear of knocking over again. C and N were riding the waves in body surfing. Def need rafts or boogie boards next time!

Breakfast - leftover steak sub

Lunch - clam strips and chowder

Dinner - cheeseburger and waffles

Total Calories - 1676

Don't ask about dinner.... I had to rummage for food because everything was frozen. lol Before our adventure to York I swung by my gym and got a new key fob for entry. I have had no lunch finding my keys.

Day 27

Breakfast - english muffin with jelly and some bacon

Lunch - hot dog

Dinner - 1/2 steak and pepper sub and some pizza

Total Calories: 1887

This kind of eating really sucks because you see just how LITTLE food you get for big calories.

Day 26

Didn't expect to be at the track all day. C didn't have karate. Eating was quite out of hand (fat-wise) and not well preplanned. I stayed in my calorie ranger though, which surprised me when I plugged it all in at SP. I think my keys are gone gone. I can't find them anywhere. I'll have to go Monday and get a new key fob for gym access.

Breakfast - english muffin with butter, homefries

Lunch - chili cheese fries (yeah - I know)

Dinner - burger king: cheesy tots and burger

Total Calories: 1691

Day 25

By some chance of a miracle I haven't gained this week. I guess all the constant moving at VBS from 5-8:30 assisted in that. Tonight is our last night. I found out dinner is sandwiches and chips. At least I can figure this in before hand and work around it. I also have no appts between D getting home from work and leaving for VBS so I intend to fit in a trip to the gym.

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 2 whole wheat toast, 2 rings pineapple

Lunch - BLT on whole wheat with a cup of veg barley soup

Dinner - 1.5 ham and cheese, 1/2 PB+J, chips, a pickle and jell-o

Total Calories: 1592

Day 24

OK, almost at 30 days. I can't let 3 days in a row suck me in. I snuck a peek and was up a little this morning but not near what I expected so I can still turn this around. Dinner's will still be out of my hands but I'll skip dessert and keep portions in control.

Breakfast - bagel with 1/3 less fat philly, peach

Took the kids to lunch because it was E's last day of summer kinder-camp. I tried to make good choices but the salad dressing was funky and the apples were dry. I'm not having the best of luck with eating out lately. lol I think it's just my current unlucky streak finding me everywhere.

Lunch - McD's 6pc nuggets, some apple dippers and 1/2 a side salad with lowfat italian dressing

So much for not sucking me in:

Snack - BK trip, burger and cheesy tots

Dinner - 3 tacos, chicken rice

Snack - Doritos and PB cups

Total Calories: 2411

Day 23

More stress eating and just being lazy. Went school clothes shopping with the kids while D was at his day job. We went to the ::gasp:: mall. Once upon a time I loved the mall... now it's like misery. I'm sure once the kids are older and can branch of on their own it'll be better. Of course the "can I have that" items will get more and more expensive though. lol

Another night of VBS at church (they provide dinner/dessert). Tonight D had to work at the track so I had all 4 kids alone. Joshua was like a wild octopus covered in oil today. Keeping him sitting or even standing still was impossible. I guess the silver lining is that he had a great time... just very exhausting for me.

Breakfast - leftover pizza hut

Lunch - a big bowl of veg barley soup

Dinner - small portion amc and cheese, portion of american chop suey, green beans and fruit salad

Dessert - vanilla ice cream with a brownie

Total calories: 2143

I fully expect to see a gain this week. That's not going to feel good at all. It happens though. Next week E will be on summer vacation finally and no more full nights. I hope to get back to the normal swing of things.

Day 22

Oh yes it's been 3-4 weeks and now that wagon is getting away from me again. I'm hanging on by a thread and will need to hold on with white knuckles to avoid falling all the way off. I'm feeling so overwhelmed with all that is going wrong in this house and in general.

Snack - turkey on whole wheat

Lunch - pasta baked with meat sauce and mozzarella (pizza hut) and a bunch of garlic bread

Dinner - 2 slices pepperoni

Total Calories: 2660

Day 21

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 1 slice whole wheat toast, strawberries

Workout: 60 mins elliptical (623 cals)

Snack - Zone Perfect Bar

Lunch - breaded chicken, potatoes, peas and cherries

Snack - trail mix

Tonight we had family VBS at church. They're doing it different this year, where entire families stay together vs breaking up in age groups. I'm on the fence about whether I liked that or not. J def made it difficult to do things at times. He wasn't the only wandering little one though. I just get stressed because I have 4 kids to watch out for. Thankfully the older 3 were well behaved.

Dinner - 2 slices pepperoni pizza

Snack - 2 (real) grilled cheese

Total Calories: 2223

Day 19/20

It's now Sunday night and as you can see I lost track of the weekend. I'll try and fill it all in from memory. Clearly getting in my veggies was horrible. It was a busy work weekend for us and actually taking time to eat was like a second thought.

Saturday

Workout: 45 mins elliptical (623 cals)

Breakfast - bagel with 1/3 less fat philly and peach

Snack - almonds and banana

Lunch - 3oz grilled chicken

Snack - chips

Dinner - burger, onion rings

Total calories: 1673

-------------------------------------------------------

Sunday

Breakfast - bagel with cream cheese and plum

Snack - 1/2 oz sunflower seeds and banana

Lunch - 2 BLT on light wheat buns

Dinner - some fries & burger

Total Calories: 1400

Day 18

Good morning! I am showing a maintain on the scales but the measuring tape says losses all over. I can take that and be happy. Especially since I was over quite a few days and my weight was up almost all week.

Dare I say it's actually sunny out today in NH??? I am so happy. I tried to reserve a pass to the zoo (Boston) online with the library but it yelled at me. Said I'd had 3 unused reservations within a year so I can't. lol Guess I'll have to go pick it up in person.

My 2 older boys are upstairs getting into showers now. When they get out I will get the little 2 and myself all cleaned up and go into the city to pick it up. Cross your fingers we get it.

I plan to pack turkey sandwiches, cucumber sticks and fruits for us. I'll have to stop off for beverages though. I am hoping to get there as early as possible. I want to be home for 2-2:30 so I can hit the gym before we go to the track tonight. It's day 1 of adding weight machines and I may need extra time, since I'm not familiar with them anymore.

Breakfast - Special K chocolate delight with skim milk

Well I'm home again... and it's only 11:45. Yeah the whole pass thing has me very angry. Apparently I was not only blocked from reserving passes online but from getting any period! Even if I am there in person. Oh I let them know what I thought of that policy and asked who to write to to have that changed. I can see blocking me from online but to not have ANY? I left and had a mental breakdown over finances being why I need the passes. Once upon a time we would have memberships to these places or jet off without a worry. Now we have to figure out not only admission but gas to go anywhere. I wanted to go order a whopper and fries stat but I didn't. Feeling good for 5 minutes isn't worth the extra gym time.

So I swung in to fill up the van with gas. My discount was up to 40 cents off! I scanned my card and saw it only discounted me 10 cents. I asked the cashier and he simply replied "yeah that's happened to a lot of people today and we don't know why." So $64 later I was full and just ready to cry.

I called D all upset about everything and he reminded me that I DID go to pick up the last library pass. They were closed. The website said they'd be open but they had a closed note on the door. I called them back up and explained that. She said the website says closed Saturday but checked and saw that it indeed did not. HA! She reset me to be able to get passes again... too late for today though. :o( I'm going to try and salvage some of the day since it's nice out. We have about 3 hours to do something.

Lunch - leftover chicken and pasta from last night

Ok, when part of the boys' ceiling came down I let myself give into stress eating.

Snack - 2 cheese sandwiched and 2 PB+J sandwiches

Dinner - grilled chicken salad with kraft free Italian

Snack - hot dog

Total Calories: 1570

Day 17

Grocery shopping day! Horray for better options on hand. Right after I drop E off I will go right to the store with my 3 boys - which should be fun - and get that done.

After we pick her up we might have lunch and go to the library or something. We haven't done anything fun all week. We had to stop going to the free tues/wed movies because we had to leave early to pick E up. We'll go again in August when her school is out. And we'll probably skip the pool today due to rain or thunder storms. This rain is a real drag!

Breakfast - waffle with 1/2 tbsp PB and 1/2 banana

Just got in from grocery shopping. Totally forgot the ground beef. Tonights dinner? Meatball subs. I'll have to make a trip to get some later on. I remembered the rolls and sauce though. ;o)

Snack - 1/2 oz sunflower seeds and a peach

I'm now dry and changed into gym clothes. I got absolutely soaked to the bone when I picked E up at school. The rain had let up a little as I pulled into the parking lot then suddenly it just opened right back up. I tried to hide under her princess umbrella but all that did was keep my head and arms dry. lol

Lunch - breaded chicken tenderloin, mashed potatoes and peas

Drenched again. This is getting not funny. lol Picture it - 3 minutes left on the elliptical and I see a nasty black cloud move over head. I finish my session just in time for heavy downpours and strong winds. I tried to hug the side of the building in hopes it would die down. HA I was getting wet there! So I ran to my car. When I got in I was dripping wet. Good times I tell ya.

Apparently a tornado hit north of here. We're not used to that kind of thing in New England. Usually we only deal with blizzards and hurricanes. Wild weather - seriously wild! If you're interested the NH weather channel/site is www.wmur.com

Workout - 60 mins elliptical (623 cals)

Snack - Zone Perfect Bar

Skipped the meatballs sub idea and I was ok with that. I made one of my favorites. So yummy and filling!

Dinner - 3oz chicken breast with 1/4 c sauce and 1/ c mozzarella, 2oz whole wheat pasta with sauce and salad with kraft free Italian

Snack - 2 pieces leftover chicken from lunch

Total Calories: 1556

Day 16

Breakfast - banana, 1oz cheddar, 2 whole wheat toast

Snack - pasta bake, apple

Lunch - stuffed pepper

Snack - 2 PB on light hot dog rolls, 2 granola bars

I knew having a carbs at snack time would do it to me again, yet i keep making the SAME mistake! Oh well. As long as I stick with a sensible dinner I won't go over my max cals. My days are just rotten when I don't have them planned. I sat and made my menu for the week just now. I can't afford bad days like this.

Workout - 60 mins on elliptical (618 cals)

Didn't make it shopping yet today so I got the family Dominos. I however will not be eating that once it arrives. I will be having something that won't make my calorie count skyrocket.

Dinner - Stouffer's Baked chicken and mashed potatoes, cup veg soup

Total Calories: 1780

Day 15

Got of to a late start because I had errands to run after bringing E to school. I had a breakfast/snack in 1. I'm on my own for lunch today because I'm letting the kids have a "junk food" lunch. I got them canned pasta. They were all excited. You'd think I was giving them money. haha

Breakfast (late) - 2 eggs, 2 whole wheat toast, 1oz cheese, banana

Lunch - turkey, stuffing, potatoes, peas

Snack - raisin toast with 1/3 less fat philly and strawberries

Workout - 45 mins elliptical (466 cals)

Snack - Zone Perfect Bar

Dinner - Macaroni and cheese with a FF hot dog in a light wheat roll

Total Calories: 1729

Day 14

My body was angry with my last night for not getting in my fruits. That'll teach me to forget to pack my stuff in the morning. Today is D's day off so I'll drop E off at school and go right to the gym.

Breakfast - 3/4 c special k vanilla almond with 1/2 c skim milk

Workout - 60 mins elliptical (619 cals)

Snack - Zone Perfect Bar

oh my my my my my. Day was looking great. I was aiming for 1600. UGH

Lunch - linguine alla marinara, salad, 1/2 serving minestrone soup and the berries with zabaione

Dinner - 2 PB+J and a slice of leftover pizza

Total Calories: 1920

Day 13

So much for starting all blogs in the morning. We left early today and just got home a little bit ago. My 9 yr old raced his car today so I was busy trying to balance working and going to watch him. He got his first "round win" today and I just screamed I was so happy!! Not a great day for eating thus far. I didn't pack a thing to bring to the track... ugh. I am under almost everything because of that and it's 6:45. I have no idea what to do for dinner. We'll probably order pizza... oy. Not that I can't "afford" the calories it's just not a good food.

Breakfast - english muffin with grape jelly, sausage patty

Lunch - grilled chicken salad with regular Italian dressing

Yep, sure enough we got pizza. I did get in some soup before it arrived though. Also, SP show an increase in my calories based on my gym time. I'm not going to go hog wild but I'll bump them up. I'll just eat towards the bottom of the range still. I started out at 1250-1550 now I'm showing 1530-1880.

Dinner - 1c veg barley soup, 2 slices pizza and some fries

Total Calories: 1650

Day 12

Checking in from the track today... I'm melting! It's so hot and I have little desire to eat. I have gotten in lots of water however.

Pre-Gym Breakfast - banana

Workout - 40 mins elliptical

Post-Gym Breakfast - english muffin with butter, 2 eggs

Lunch - 1 c veg barley soup, 3oz grilled chicken

Treat - 1/2 c twist soft serve

A friend had a cookout at the track again. I'm guilty of bringing the cookies. Saturday is the day I slack off a bit.

Dinner - steak tip, grilled chicken, burger, cookies

Total calories: 1802

Day 11

Good morning blog readers! I have a new buddy on SP for weigh ins and accountability. She sent me an email and asked if I wanted a friend and I'm all for that! Any little "extra push" to get me to my goal and help someone to theirs is a good thing. It's just a bonus that she's a Red Sox fan too. WooHoo!!!

Today is our first official "what did ya lose (or eek gain) this week" day. I'm happy to say that according to the home scale I have dropped 4 lbs since Tuesday. I'd hopped on it just to see what it said. I am really looking forward to getting on my gym scale next Tuesday now.

I did make the choice to have leftovers at breakfast. It fits in my day though and won't mess me up so I'm not going to feel guilty. It wasn't a spur of the moment "need" either... I really thought before getting it. I paired it with a yummy but low cal fruit.

Breakfast - 1 slice mushroom pizza and 1/2 c strawberries

Workout - 15 min BL Cardio Max (175 cals *estimated)

Lunch - turkey on whole wheat, 1/4 c peas, 2 pineapple rings

I got to work in a trip to the gym because D got home early. I only had a little time but it felt good to go. I am actually starting to "crave" it. Weird!

Workout - 18 mins elliptical (190 cals)

Snack - Zone Perfect Bar

Dinner - 3oz grilled chicken, big salad with kraft free Italian

Snack - banana and smartfood

Man oh man I saw I was low on calories so I tried to fit in some stuff after dinner but I'm still going to end up under. I just can't eat anything else today. Mt fat and carb intake are below minimum too but just barely. Amazing since I had pizza for breakfast! lol

Total Calories: 1193

Day 10

I'm into the double digits, again. Feels good. Great start to the morning all around... eating, kids, everything. I'm hoping it stays good from here on out. Ok, 1 glitch. I dribble some plum juice onto my shirt.... it was a seriously juicy plum. Can't really complain about that though, can ya?

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 2 whole wheat toast dry, 1 plum

Snack - 1oz cheddar and 1/2 c strawberries

Lunch - turkey on whole wheat, 1 c veg barley soup

Workout - 60 mins on elliptical (617 cals)

Snack - Zone Perfect Bar

I was just reading an article that said you will become "used" to workouts and should vary them every so often. Today I had to step it up quite a bit to get my heart rate up. I see that as a good thing. It means I'm starting to get back into shape - even if I am significantly overweight still. Health before vanity right? Off to the pool!

I swam for about an hour. I did a couple laps even... so I felt good about it. I could swim forever, I'm like a fish. I'm just like the kids when it's time to go... all sad. Mom and her bf came with us again and bought pizza on the way home. I can feel that I had more than I should have. I tried to not go too crazy though. The hardest part will be not eating the leftover afters tonight. D will help me with that. lol

Dinner - 1 slice pepperoni and 1 slice mushroom pizza, a few fries and a buffalo finger

Total Calories: 1505

Day 9

I don't want to stay on this bad choices path. I know it's because I haven't been shopping for my menu yet. Really now, it's Wednesday morning and the menu runs Mon - Fri this week. So 2 entire days of "planned" food weren't here. I just made my list so after I drop E off I will go to the store and have what I need to eat on plan.

I didn't eat before I left for the store and no way was I eating out. So I just ate at home when I got home. I ate 2.5-3 hours later that I should have but I didn't eat crap, even if it is an "odd" breakfast. haha

Breakfast - turkey on a slice of whole wheat, banana

Snack - peach

Lunch - 2 toasted cheese on whole wheat and 1 c veg soup

Pool time... spent almost 2 hours at the pool with the kiddos and my mom and her BF. I love being in the sun and water. It's so relaxing. Even if the kids splash me in the face and have a nilly fit when it's time to go. lol

Snack - 1/2 c SF/FF vanilla pudding with 1/2 small banana cut up into it

Dinner - 2 servings pasta bake and 1/2 c green beans

Workout - 15 min BL Cardio Max (175 cals *estimated)

Total Calories: 1315

Day 8

Breakfast - 2 whole wheat toast with 1 tbsp PB

Snack - 2 graham cracker sheets

Rough start to the day so far. It seems like all I have had is carbs and a little protein. I'll have to fix that as the day goes on.

Lunch - 1.5 cup fruit salad

Not so impressed with the "fresh fruit salad" from Edible Arrangements. I love their fruit when I order it but the fruit salad today was obviously taken off skewers from an arrangement. Pieces had holes through them. Then the honeydew and cantaloupe were kinda dry and "weird." So I just ate the pineapple, grapes and strawberries.

Dinner - small steak and pepper sub, a few fries, a pita bread with some PB

Ay yi yi!! Rough start to the day and rough continuance. I am happy to say I stepped it up at the gym though.

Workout - elliptical 60 mins (607 cals)

Snack - Salad with kraft free Italian

Total Calories: 1356

Mom had my 2 older boys for a sleepover so we didn't get together for our workout today. The gym I go to alone doesn't have a scale so I will wait until next Tuesday to weigh in. I'm sure with all the elliptical stuff I bumped up to I am building muscle anyway. I'd hate to get discouraged if the scale has yet to move (or worse gone in the other direction).

Day 7

Woke up late - don't even think the alarm went off. D got E ready for school while I changed into gym clothes. I dropped E off and went right to the gym. When I got home I had breakfast and my mom and her BF showed up. My mom was giving me attitude while I was doing a favor for her. Then D gave me one. Whatever.

Workout - 45 mins elliptical (457 cals)

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 1 slice whole wheat toast dry, 1/2 cubed cantaloupe

Lunch - 6" Subway bacon and lettuce on wheat, apple slices and 2oz BBQ chips

Snack - 2oz BBQ chips

Egads I didn't resist the chips. I was fine til I had to take them away from the kids. Then they taunted me. At least they're gone now! This is 100% why I don't buy them.

Dinner - 3oz chicken breast, 1/2 c mashed potatoes, 1/3 c corn and 1/8 c peas

Snacks - 2 cheese sandwich on whole wheat and a PB sandwich on whole wheat plus some graham crackers

Total Calories: 1941

Not a good day, not at all! ::sigh::

Day 6

:::::Yawn::::: Good morning? Got home and finally to sleep at 2:45. Alarm went off at 6:20. I've got a new hat to wear today. It shouldn't be much more stress but it's new so we'll see. I'm confident about it. Now I just need to be firm with myself for my food choices. Cheat day/meal is done.

Breakfast - 1/2 big English muffin with butter, 2 eggs

Lunch - 3oz grilled chicken, salad with kraft free Italian

Man oh man I am not feeling well today. It's now 5pm and I've eaten breakfast and lunch. I'm not even interested in anything else right now. The idea of food isn't a happy one. I hope I'm better tomorrow because I need to get a trip to the gym in.

Dinner - BK hamburger and small onion rings

I wasn't super hungry but it was getting late and we were in the van. We grabbed Burger King. I was low on everything. Calories, protein, fat, carbs... you name it. I knew I was safe ordering almost anything so I went with what looked the best tasting and still stay kinda reasonable. I'm well under my total for the day but with the heat and the upset stomach I'll let it be. I'm not so happy about not hitting my goal of 3 veg and 2-3 fruits though.

Total Calories: 877

Day 5

Got to bed just after 12 last night. I wasn't tired but I knew I would be in the morning. Got up at 7 and by 7:30 I was at the gym. We've got another very full and late day ahead of us so I had to go early. I got on the trusty treadmill but lowered the time I was going to spend on it. I decided to try and one up my elliptical time from yesterday. I am so happy I pushed myself. I beat my "time" by 8 minutes! With the same amount of time on each I burned 100 more calories (and felt the burn 1000 times more hahahaha) on the elliptical.

Workout- 25 mins treadmill (166 cals) 25 mins elliptical (261 cals)

Breakfast - 2 whole wheat toast (dry), 2 eggs, 1/16 big old cantaloupe

Lunch - 3oz grilled chicken, 3oz light yogurt, 1/2 c strawberries

Dinner - chopped pork, beans, onion rings

Snack - sausage, chicken, cookies

Total Calories: 1801

DOH! I shoulda resists those onion rings but seriously, they just looked so good. I knew I'd be having a way too late snack at a cookout so yesterday was cheat day/meal. My "snack" was around 1am at a late night cookout.

Day 4

It's been a very triumphant day for me. I punched 40 minutes into the treadmill. At 18 minutes I was ready to call it quits. With each set of steps I started saying "no choice." Something a friend told me worked for her, a few months back. I pushed through and did my time plus cool down.

As I wiped down the machine the ellipticals were taunting me. I tried to use one once and darn near fell off. I was determined to try again though. I got on and conservatively punched in 5 minutes. After 2 minutes I had found my groove and was going at a good clip. My thighs were burning like you wouldn't believe. My heart rate started getting a little high so I backed down my momentum. After 4 minutes I bumped it to 10 and at 8 minutes I bumped it to 15. I am so shocked and happy I was able to stay steady that whole time!

I came home and had a snack, paid some bills online then headed out to Kung Fu Panda with the kidlets. This is the second time this week we've hit the theaters and I resisted popcorn! I am seriously patting myself on the back. Tonight is track night. Wed was so stressful I almost got a chili cheese fries. I didn't but I was thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close!

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 1 whole wheat toast (dry), cantaloupe

Workout - 45 mins treadmill (282 cals) 17 mins elliptical (176 cals)

Snack - 3/4 c Special K vanilla almond, 1/2 c skim milk, 1/2 c strawberries

Lunch - Subway 6" bacon and lettuce on wheat, small banana

Dinner - grilled chicken (3oz) salad with Kraft free Italian dressing, 1 c veg barley soup

Snack - 4 meatballs

Total Calories: 1335

I know meatballs are an "odd" snack food, especially an evening snack. I'm at the track though and low on calories, protein and fat. It's the best option I have to get those in. I'll be up for another 2 hours or so anyway so i won't feel too guilty about it. Having worked out today I really can't go under on calories.

Day 3

Today was a good day. I think I ate well... I hope so at least. I didn't get to the gym as I wanted to so I will go tomorrow (normally a day off).

Breakfast - 3/4 c Special K vanilla almond, 1/3 c 1% milk, banana

Snack - 1oz cheddar and an apple

Lunch - toasted cheese on whole wheat and cup of veg barley soup

Snack - 2oz turkey breast, 1/8 c raisins

Dinner - 1/2 turkey sloppy joe on a light wheat burger bun, corn on the cob

Snack - plain bagel with 1/3 less fat philly, salad

Total Calories: 1307

Right on target!!! I know I didn't mention it before but I am weighing on Tuesdays now. I meet my mom at the gym that night. I decided to jump on their scale so I won't be tempted to check everyday. Well I still could but that scales will likely be different and I will use that one for my official number. I kept my shoes on so it's a little "off" but I'll just do that every time. I have a lot of work to do. I am pretty much where I started back in April. EEK! The "2 months on, 1 month off" plan doesn't work so well.

The kids just got into bed and now I'm off to watch some tv with the hubby.

Day 2

Breakfast - 3/4 c special k vanilla almond with 1/2 c 1% milk, 1/2 c strawberries

Lunch - 3oz BBQ chicken breast, 1/2 c potatoes, 1/4 c peas

Snack - banana

Dinner - 1 c veggie soup, turkey on whole wheat, 6oz light yogurt

Snack - 2 ounce cheddar

Total Calories: 1117

So humbling to be back at "Day 1"

Took a little break here and nixed all my old posts. I started out "eh" and got into rhythm again then crashed and burned. I want to own the day though so here it is. I basically worked off all the "overage" in the gym. Not what I wanted to do. I'm just gonna move on from this though.

Lunch - 1 c veggie soup, turkey on whole wheat, canteloupe

Snack - kiddie cup chocolate from DQ

Dinner - 1 serving pasta and sauce, 1/2 green beans, salad

Workout - 20 mins on treadmill (141 cals) 20 mins on bike (269 cals)

Snack - 3/4 c special K vanilla almond with 1/2 c 1% milk

Disaster - 2 cheese sandwiches, 1 PB sandwich

Total Calories: 1725