A Story of Two Butterflies

You know the old saying that a picture can say a 1,000 words?  Well, here is a story of two butterflies, actually it is the same butterfly, it just looks different in each picture.  In one picture it is hard to even see the bench.  It was hard for me to look back at this picture to be honest.  However, I must be honest with myself and not forget how much work it has taken to get to this point in life. 

The location of this bench is at Patti's in KY.  It is a favorite restaurant of ours with quaint shops and antique stores dotting the street and grounds where the restaurant is located.  It is an 1880's settlement with several tourist attractions that keep us returning each year along with their delicious food.

I always order the same item: Southwestern grilled chicken salad.  It sounds healthy enough, right?  But as many of us know, restaurant salads can be sneaky by packing on the calories and being three times too big!  When I first ordered the salad there, I would smother it with their homemade dressing: avocado ranch with guacamole.  Then I would first eat the homemade tortilla chips surrounding the salad.   Finally, I would start on the healthiest part.  As the years went by I changed the way I ate the salad, dressing on the side please and I would just eat a bit.  I would just eat one or two of the homemade tortilla chips and focus on the greens and grilled chicken for my meal.  As my weight loss continued, I sharpened my skills at being able to eat out and not completely blow my hard work from all my other good choices.  I still flub from time to time (like the DQ basket in my last post) when it comes to ordering and eating out. 

Deep breath...

 

This year:

 



S

Sprained but not Drained

Well, I have managed to sprain my right ankle.  Early this week I was watering my flowers on the front porch and ran smack into a rocking chair.  I felt immediate pain in my right ankle and the swelling and bruising started.  I tried the old fashion walk it off approach but to no avail.  I took some Tylenol and went to bed that night with a throbbing ankle. 

Last week I had a three pound loss so I wanted to keep up my momentum.  I did some light walking just around the house on Wednesday and played with the kids outside.  On Thursday morning my ankle was feeling better after I had iced it down, so I decided to go for a walk.  I walked about three miles - not too fast.  My ankle was sore that night but not unbearable. 

I was being really strict with my eating since exercising wasn't working out for me this week.  Lunch was just a vegetable salad with some deli turkey on top with fat free raspberry poppy seed dressing.  I tried to do light dinners for most evenings.  Just one night was a bad choice: Dairy Queen grilled chicken quesadilla.  The DQ site states there are 1160 calories in the quesadilla basket!  I only ate 1 onion ring in the basket and left two quesadilla pieces behind but that it still a ridiculous amount of calories!  Yikes!!  I was just too exhausted after a day of shopping and my ankle was throbbing so no cooking for me. 

The final weigh in result:  minus a half of a pound.  Not great but I will take it after my injury.  I didn't let my injury drain me of my good intentions this week.  In the past, I would have allowed it to derail me and be an excuse to also eat however I liked.  If I couldn't exercise why not overeat was an old habit.  I'm hoping the swelling goes down this weekend and I can get back to exercising this Monday.  I realize now that I pushed myself too fast and didn't allow time for healing.  I want to get better as soon as possible. 

Run It Out!

"Run it out," is something I often yell to my kids after they hit the ball and try to make it on first base.  Well, on Friday night the phrase was switched on me.  My daughter's softball team has been struggling with tagging the bases when there are runners headed their way, so the assistant coach asked for some volunteers to run bases. My son and I volunteered to run the bases after an adult would hit the ball: over and over and over.  We ended up running the bases for about 20-30 minutes!  My daughter loved trying to get her momma out :)  I think she got a little too much enjoyment out of it.  This ended up being an excellent workout. 



There is a walking track at the ball pavilion and I had walked almost a mile when the coach asked me to run bases for the practice.  When we got home that evening my son kept talking about how much fun it was to keep running the bases over and over.  What!?!  I just wanted to find the liquid Advil in the cabinet.  I walk a lot but I am not a runner.  I've done some light jogging from time to time but nothing intense and lengthy like Friday night.  Let me tell you about how sore I was Saturday morning.  Parts of my legs hurt that I hadn't even felt in years!  It was  a good hurt though.  I hadn't challenged my body that way in a very long time.

I did get in several good workouts throughout the week.  My weigh in on Saturday was much better than last week's pound gain. This week I was down three pounds!  That is a  big loss for me.  I hope to keep up the exercising and healthy eating this week too. 

Baseball, Softball, Repeat

Last week was so busy that we only came home to crash around 11:00 p.m. each night.  Between our two kids, they ended up playing nine baseball/softball  games in five days!  I hang my head in shame to say this lead to a lot of late night dinners and bad ballpark eating.  One night we ended up having those big, salty pretzels for our dinner.  The concession stand was sold out of sandwiches and hot dogs so our choices were limited.  
This week the ball schedule isn't quite so demanding and I'm determined to get out ahead of it and prepare some meals in advance.  It was hard with early and late games in the evening to get in any dinner until very late.  I've already planned to do a healthy crock pot chicken meal for dinner tomorrow night.  Both of the games are at 8:00 p.m., so I am going to fit in an early dinner before we have to be at the ballparks. 

I think I have mentioned before that I tend to eat more when I am exhausted.  Fatigue makes me feel like I have "earned" a treat.  I'm not as bad about rewarding myself with food for a busy schedule, but I still fall once in awhile.  I found myself one night, the pretzel night, allowing myself to have another small meal around midnight.  I never eat that late at night.  However, I was exhausted and still had a lot to do.  I had to wash ball uniforms for the next day and get ready for a yard sale the next day too!  Whew!  I think if I eat I will find some more get up and go but I usually just end up feeling disappointed in myself if I eat something "bad" which I did that night. I had a small bowl of homemade chicken and dumplings.  My choice could have been better: some almonds, Greek yogurt, or a small piece of fruit and then I wouldn't have felt so guilty. 

When I weighed in on Saturday morning I was up one pound.  I am resolved to make this week much better by planning around our busy, tight schedules and finding more time for working out. 

Summer break

 Life has been so busy that I have neglected my blog.  As far as my weight goes, it has really stayed the same.  I'm working at changing that as soon as possible.   My last day of work until August was yesterday, so I can now spend more time on me.  I'm guilty of always putting myself last on the "to-do" list like all other moms/women out there. 

Summer means more cooking and trying out new, healthy recipes.  I've been saving new recipes to try out for the family.  I'm so lucky that my kids love almost all vegetables and fruits.  They are great about trying new recipes. 

We have been experiencing some severe weather in our area the last few days, and I'm so ready for it to clear up.  I did manage to get in some walking but not enough.  I am determined to make time for walking plenty of miles outdoors.

My family stays very busy during the summer with baseball, softball, gymnastics, dance, and other activities, but I'm glad the kids enjoy so many physical activities.  I wish I would have done more physical sports as a child. 

I Think We Have Survived

Well, I think my family and I have survived the flu/sinus season.  It hit each one of us...one by one.  It has been going on for over a month at our house.  First, my son went down with fever and congestion and then my daughter.  I'm not sure what I had either the flu or a wicked sinus infection.  My cough and congestion lingered for nearly three weeks!  Then, disaster struck...my husband got the flu.  Let me tell you that this was the worst!  He is a terrible patient, and it was harder on me than any of the other illnesses.  He is finally on the mend and back to work.

Today, the kids and I had a surprise day off from school and work due to the weather.  I have spent the morning cleaning house and catching up on chores.   It is nice to spend some extra time with the kids.  It is sleeting now but some freezing rain is headed our way this afternoon. We are not headed out anytime soon.

 I put my workout clothes on today, so I could clean and then exercise. I'm thinking I will do some step aerobics and yoga this afternoon.  I may even do The Biggest Loser exercise DVD this evening.  I'm finally feeling healthy and ready to get active! 

Life didn't slow down any during the illnesses but I sure did in the evenings.  Here is a picture from a charity event that I co-sponsored.  I sponsor  a club at work that does volunteer/community service.  We raised money by selling tickets to allow students to wear a hat to school.  The money goes to our local Hospice office.  I can't say enough good things about our local Hospice services.

Glenda the Good Witch Is Right

I have several friends and family members that are trying to lose weight as their New Year's resolution, and I'm so proud of them.   For some of us, it takes awhile to find that strength that is within us all.  My message to anyone trying to lose weight is to find that inner strength and willpower  because it is a tough battle.  There are temptations and just the stress of everyday life at every turn. 

I've mentioned on my blog before that I'm not real sure about what was so different at my attempt to lose weight this time, but I know it worked  because I stayed strong.  Now, I have had plenty of setbacks and failures when I've been tempted; however, I never threw my hands up in the air to quit. 

Don't beat yourself up for slip-ups or failures.  Just listen to Glenda, the good witch, and find that strength within you.