My week

I got up early Monday and got on the scale and was shocked i hadn’t gained any weight since i last weighed on Friday. I hadn’t lost but hadn’t gained. Usually on weekends i don’t lose weight or Monday’s either … hehe guess you know why? Yes, too much eating out!

Monday was spent walking and walking and more walking. I did do a bit of cleaning inside of Ms. Southwind in between my walks. Not only that but i have to get all the walking in that i can with my friend Linda who is my great walking buddy. She is leaving me on Wednesday. Yes, i know .. can you believe she has the gall to pack up and leave me .. no just teasing, actually she has some medical issues to take care of and I'd appreciate it if you’d all keep her in your prayers.

I kind of stopped posting what I've been eating and I'm sorry and will try to do better at it as i know several readers are following my weight loss.

Lunch … lettuce salad with celery, radish, cheese, bacon bits and dressing and 6 Bagel

Breakfast … 1 C. bran flakes & 1/4 C milk with 1/2 C water added to make 3/4 C Calories …. 174

Chips … yes i got some of my addicting Bagel Chips last week from Sam’s, they are sooo good with my salads … Calories … 274

Dinner … 3 oz pork steak 1/2C mac & cheese and 1C cole slaw Calories …. 724

Snack … Sugar Free Jell-0 whipped Topping Calories …. 77

Total calories for entire day … 1249

Calories burned…. 613

Just a note when i post Calories walked off, this is how many calories my meter says I've walked off in a full day’s time. I wear my meter everywhere i go.

Tuesday I got up and got my cleaning done and did my morning weigh in and guess what? I lost a 1lb! Total I've lost in 3 months is 38 lbs! Then the day was spent doing more walking and Linda and I walked past dark since we both had things to do in the afternoon, so Linda walked with me since this was our last night together. I’m really dreading saying good bye to her.

Breakfast … bran flakes and milk … 174

Lunch … lettuce salad with celery, radish and dressing Calories … 89

Strawberries with Splenda Calories 73

Dinner …. 3 oz Pork Steak 1C Cole Slaw Calories … 535

Snack … Rice Krispie treat … 90 and Granola bar … 100 …190

Total Calories for the day 1

Calories burned … 563

Wednesday … i got up early and walked and said my good bye to Linda and waved as they drove out of the campground. Then it was back to walking. It got too hot to walk after lunch so i spent my afternoon visiting with Angela as she might be pulling out on Friday or Saturday. The last of my walking buddies is leaving me.

Breakfast … Raison Bran & milk … 220

Lunch … lettuce salad with celery, radish, cheese, bacon bits and dressing and 6 Bagel Chips Calories … 274

Dinner … Beef roast & potatoes and carrots … 436

Snack … sugar free jell-o w/whip topping … 77

Total Calories … 1007

Calories burned … 560

Thursday … i got up early to walk since it was going to be another hot one! I got on the scale and lost another 1lb! My total is 39 lbs! Wow, all that walking and moving paid off this week.

In the afternoon i decided since it was too hot to walk that i needed to keep busy so i defrosted the frig freezer and my freezer outside. Now both are nice and clean.

Breakfast … skipped today

Lunch …. lettuce salad w/radish, celery, cheese and cherry tomatoes … 153

Dinner …. Beef stew – home made from left over from night before and 2 grilled cheese sandwiches …. I use Sara lee wheat bread that is 45 calories per slice and cheese slices that are 60 calories per slice. Also another tip to making grilled cheese with less calories is to use the butter flavored pam spray, it works great and has 0 calories! Total calories per dinner … 631

Snack ….. sugar free jell-o w/whip topping ..

Total Calories …859

Calories burned … 459

I tried walking past dark tonight but the skeeters were biting too much to my liking, so not as many calories eaten for snack as not as many calories burned in the day.

Here is what my dinner looked like … it was nice and tasty and very filling.

Diet Tips …. I thought i would share some of my diet tips with you all.

When i first started my diet i completely did away with all caffeine! Yes, can you believe a gal who used to drink a gal of sweettttttt tea and anywhere from 12-24 pepsi a day just cold turkey her caffeine? I did cheat and bought me some diet pills that i took 1-2 a day to help with the withdraws, i only took these pills the first week and slowly kept cutting them down.

My friend Linda told me about the pam butter spray for grilled cheese and i just love it, Thanks Linda! I also use it to fry things that i want a butter taste to for example pancakes, grilled ham & cheese and etc. I also use regular pam to brown any meat with instead of oil. Usually after i get my meat browned to my liking i will add water in my elec skillet and stew it, fewer calories and much more tender meat.

I use some diet foods, for example i’m drinking diet soda every so often when i want a soda, what i did to get myself where i could drink the diet as you that know me personally know that i could never drink the stuff i hated it! I mixed my diet and a bit of regular until i got to where i could drink just the diet stuff. When i go out to eat i order a diet coke and glass of water. I still tend to drink more of the water then the diet soda (it is still taking me a bit of getting used to the diet .. not sure i will ever get to where i can drink the stuff all the time .. guess that is good though) I buy flavored water that has a bit of fiz but no calories from Wal-mart (Thanks again to Linda) I also buy the sugar free drink mix you add to a bottle of water (they also now have these in the 2qt mixes that i’ve been buying as their cheaper)

I have bought splenda, sweet & low and a cheaper brand of sweetner. I love the splenda on fruit to add a sweet taste to it, but other then that i’m not a fan of splenda in drinks. I use sweetner on my cereal in the mornings and that is about all i use the sweetners for. Drinks & fruits. I believe to much of this stuff is just as bad as all the calories from sugar.

I tend to like to stick with fiber cereals for breakfast as i’ve never been much of a breakfast person anyway .. usually for me it’s breakfast around 10 am .. hehe

I usually like to eat a nice salad for lunch during the week when i’m home and then i have a nice size dinner. I still cook and eat the things i did before starting my diet i just weigh and measure everything now! Portion control is the real deal with dieting. I have found that actually the first bite is the best bite of them all.

I found by eating something i want i have been able to do much better at losing weight. Yes, i limit how much and what i eat but like on weekends when i go out to eat if i want to try something, i usually just try a bite or 2 of it and that is enough to satisfy me. It doesn’t matter if it’s desserts, meats or a very fattening side dish.

I also allow myself more calories on the weekend then i do during the week since i enjoy going out to eat. Normally on weekends i will have anywhere from 1100 – 1300 calories where doing the week i try to stay under 1100.

I keep a journal every day of how much and what i’ve eaten and the program tells me how many calories i’ve had for the day and it gives me a graph of how much i’ve had in my basic food groups. It also tracks my weight and my loss and how many calories i burn in a day time. This website has really been a great help me to me and i just use the free version. yes, i’m still that big cheapie .. hehe Here is the website if your interested in trying it out. http://www.fitday.com/

Of course as anything in life you can not eat just junk food and expect to lose weight, you have to eat healthy. I do find myself reading labels now before i buy anything. I have found that i’m actually enjoying dieting and i never feel as if i’m starving. If i do i munch on veggies or fruit, they are great snacks. I also try to buy snacks that are 100 or less calories. Here are some things i keep in my cabnit for that time i need a little extra. Little Debbie Rice Krispie treats 90 calories .. granola bars … 100 calories Kellogs wheat crackers … 17 crackers/90 calories strawberrry/blueberry mini wheats 12 squares .. 90 calories

here is a apple salad that i love for a snack ….. apple, celery, grapes, mini marshmellows and enough yogurt to mix together and it only has 130 per 1/2C calories in it. what i do when i make something i’m not sure of the calories on … is measure out the servings for each item and then measure the finished food and divide the servings. You now have your calories per serving.

well until next time …. you all have a great weekend!