Thanks, I'll ask Wal-mart if they have it too. I noticed something today about American cheese. I fixed my son some grits with cheese and I took a bite of the piece of cheese when I was fixing it...and it was gross to me! I have always loved it, but after going over a week without it, my taste buds must have changed. hmmm...this is a gooood thing!

I had written down what I wanted to do for exercise, but I don't think I actually wrote it all down.

45 minutes brisk walking around my house while on the phone.

15 minutes of walking and jogging on the treadmill- walked at a fast pace-4 mph and jogged at 4.5 mph- burned 100 calories (not sure on the accuracy of calories burned...my treadmill does not record or ask for my weight)

Total 80 crunches (regular, side crunches, legs folded"indian style" to work the lower stomach, and the ones with the knees bent and raised to touch the elbow)

8 lb. hand weights (series of different weight lifting exercises)
.....
Oh and I ate a handful of peanuts with my snack earlier.
.......


Started reading a book called, "The Writing Diet" - by Julia Cameron. All I've read so far is the prologue. It's pretty good so far....different, but good. Not yet sure if I'd recommend it.

Off to bed to read! Good night!

YESTERDAY

Weighed in at 223
Exercise: Swimming- laps for 15 minutes. crunches (don't remember how many.)

Breakfast: 2 eggs. 2 pieces of light wheat toast -(35 cal. a slice) handful of blueberries. Half a piece of cheese. 1 c. of orange juice

Lunch: half a cucumber, romain lettuce, chicken pattie(150 calories), 1 tbl. of thousand island dressing, 5 whole grain crackers. 1 c. of light grape fruit juice.

Dinner: None. After lunch I started to feel queasy and then I came down with a severe stomach virus. (My hubby and little boy have it too )

YUCK! We are all still feeling extremely sick today and don't think I will be eating anything. The thought is excruciating. My mom is staying the week at my house. Perfect timing because I just can't change "sick" diapers while I myself am sick (and so is my husband, Chris.) Back to bed.

Weighed in at 222.

So I ended up getting hungry after all. I drank gatorade today because of tummy issues and watered it down so that I wasn't drinking as much of it b/c of the sugar.....

breakfast: 2 pieces of special K red berry waffles. 1 tsp. of butter. blueberries. watered down gatorade.

Lunch:1 packet of "weight control oatmeal". blueberries. couple of peanuts. watered down gatorade.

Dinner:Boiled some organic whole wheat penne pasta and some cut up cabbage. Drained it and put it in a baking pan with the leftover garlic asparagus and some spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle parmesan and baked it for 20 min. I measured it and ate 1 Cup. Gatorade to drink.

Too drained to do any exercise today. I took a 3 hour nap!

.................................................. ..............................................
A couple of weeks ago my mom was diagnosed with Diabetes. It's very sad because she is not doing well with it. She is still making unhealthy choices and I know that she knows what she needs to do.

Well, this week she came to stay with us for a visit and she brought a ton of great books on healthy eating/dieting. I was so excited, because to me that meant that she was ready to take care of herself....AND because that's another person in my life that can be on this journey with me.

...........................Then it happened. My hubby said he was ordering pizza and my mom got all excited. I was sitting on the couch in shock. I asked them if they were joking! Then my hubby got on line and looked up the nutrition facts and said that if we get one without pepperoni or meat that it would be 420 calories for two pieces. I was starting to be okay with it, and then he changed his mind. I was so glad because I knew it would have only been a downward spiral. He apologized for even bringing it up and knew he should not have.

Well, my mom gets all huffy and goes to the pantry and starts digging around. She found a bag of chips (which I could not figure out where they came from and later remembered that they were from CHRISTMAS...7 months ago!) and started stuffing her face. I got sooooo mad! I felt like everything that we've been talking about for the last 2 weeks meant nothing! Then she gets all defensive and says that it's only a couple of chips. But to me, this is not the point. The point is that she has Diabetes AND here I am trying to change my life and I thought that she was supporting me. The way it all happened, it was like she was saying it didn't matter. I told her to throw the chips away and she said no and so I got up and threw them away myself and told her that she was being unsupportive and I was going to have to ask her to leave.

I don't know if I overreacted or if it was the right thing to do. Also, I am the most sick that I've been in a LONG time. I was up every 30 minutes last night running to the bathroom and I'm still feel queasy. Nobody is nice when they are sick, right? I don't know why I feel so guilty for asking her to leave. I did try to talk it out with her but she acted like I was being so silly over a few chips. I tried to explain to her that it's about PRINCIPLE. She is a smoker and so I asked her, "What if you were trying to quit and had gone 2 weeks without smoking and suddenly someone who was supporting you just lit up a cigarette in front of you and blew it in your face?" She still argued with me, so I just said okay and walked out. I am too tired and too sad to even say anything else. She left and now I'm just feeling so bad. Not a good day

I'm so sorry about your mother, but it sounds like you are doing a great job. If she doesn't want to help herself, that is fine but you are doing the right thing. It sounds like she is in denial. Keep doing what you are doing, give her as much information as you can and tell her how this all makes you feel when she doesn't seem to care. I think you will get through to her, just give her time. It is a tough situation, but she will see that her unhealthy lifestyle is only hurting her. My heart goes out to you and your family!!

Your diet on the other hand sounds great, it sounds like you are sticking with it and doing whatever you can to make it work! I hope you feel better soon!

Have a great night!

Thanks so much for the support. It means a lot. You are right about her being in denial. I was in denial for 4 years with my weight and I can definitely see that she is denying that she has diabetes. Also, I guess I just know now who my supporters are and who aren't. I know that we will get over this. I've never asked her to leave before and we don't have fights often, so hopefully she will see how serious I am. Thanks again!!!!! And I do feel much better today than yesterday for sure! I'm not 100% yet, but I'm getting there.

Also...I'm down to 220!!!!! That's 15 pounds total and 7 pounds lost in a little less than 2 weeks!!! I'm waiting to wake up and this be a dream!

These were taken on July 5th, 2008 at 223 pounds:


http://i311.photobucket.com/albums/k...th4life012.jpg


http://i311.photobucket.com/albums/k...th4life013.jpg




~*~*~**~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~**

These were taken today on July 11, 2008 at 220 pounds.

http://i311.photobucket.com/albums/k...y014-1-1-1.jpg

http://i311.photobucket.com/albums/k...uly012-1-1.jpg

Next time I take pictures I'm going to put a piece of tape down on the carpet so that I can be in the same spot each time. The new pictures are a little further away than the first ones. You can still see that my tummy doesn't stick out as much as it did last week though!

Weighed in at 220 today! That's 15 pounds lost since Memorial Day!


Today I swam for three hours at my dad's! I took breaks in between but I was determined to burn some calories...and to get a tan for Florida vacation, which is a week from Monday. My hubby, Chris, and I planned a date for tonight and my Dad and his wife watched our little boy. We went and saw Hancock, which was pretty good, and then we went out to eat. I felt so anxious bc it was the first time we've been out to eat since I basically started my life over (with being health minded and what not.) I stopped after I got full, which to my surprise was only after a few bites. I felt kinda silly just sitting there at first while my hubby ate, but I decided not to worry about anyone else. I enjoyed the rest of the time chatting with Chris about our upcoming vacation and our little boy. I got a to-go box and am thinking that with all the food I have left over I'll have enough for lunch AND dinner tomorrow! There was seriously enough for 3 meals on my plate! Back when I did not care about myself I might have eaten the whole thing. I say, "Back when" as if it were years ago, but seriously it's only been about 2 weeks....


Breakfast: Special K with strawberries and a handful of Kashi crunch cereal. Skim milk.

Lunch: Lean Turkey lunch meat and cheese sandwich on a hamburger bun. Mustard, Mayo(which was made with olive oil) Whole grain crackers and a piece of havarti. watermelon. Light grapefruit juice to drink.

Dinner: Ordered at a restaurant: Stacked Grilled Chicken with spinach, and sweet potato. small salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. The grilled chicken was stacked on a mushroom and it had cooked spinach and cheese and was served with sweet potatoes. Ice water with lemon to drink. Oh and I had 3 roasted oysters for an appetizer. I only ate a couple of bites of my actual meal bc I was full from the oysters and salad.


.....Glad I did a lot of swimming today!

Hey lady,

Thought I would check in see how you are doing. I too am sorry about the conflict with your mom, but I think you did the right thing. You have decided to make a lifestyle change for you... and she is forced to make one because of her condition, eventually I think she will come around.

Congrats on the 15 lbs! Thats great progress! You're doing a great job with both eating and exercising. Keep it up!

Cheers,
MissDFITT

I see a huge difference in your photos! Keep up the great work!

Hey MissD Thanks for the encouragement. I really needed that!

Thanks Dawn!!! You are doing great too! I read your jounal last night and was so encouraged by all the work you are doing too! Thanks for popping in!

Weighed in at 221 this morning.

I woke up starving so I ate my lunch for breakfast and my breakfast for lunch today O_o

Exercise: Walked a mile.

Breakfast: Leftover from last night. Half a grilled chicken breast. half a sweet potato and some spinach. Water with lemon.

Lunch: Special K and half of a banana. 2 % milk. cup of orange juice