Promise Ring

Today we celebrated my friend's birthday.  For her birthday we love going to Outback Steakhouse - actually, for my birthday, I love going to Outback, too.  It is my favorite chain restaurant.  Usually, when we go, JD and I share the large ribeye, both order salads, and the loaded mashed potatoes.  On top of that, we usually order the loaded cheese fries or the Blooming Onion - or both - for the table to share.  Well, this is the year to honor my temple, so I prepared myself, pulled up the nutrition guide, and selected in advance what I was going to eat; the 6 oz special sirloin with the grilled asparagus, and fresh seasonal vegetables.  I would still have my steak, but cut out the stuff that I need to cut out. 

However, I chose to do something else, too.  While I was getting dressed, I looked in my jewelry box and pulled out the butterfly ring that JD bought me for my 27th birthday.  I used to wear it everyday - wore it so much that the bottom of the ring is flat from wear - but sometime over the last little while, the ring got a little too tight.  Not any more.  =)  Even the few pounds I've lost have made the ring comfortable again.  I slipped the ring on my finger and decided to wear it as a promise to me and to him that I would make the right choices at lunch.  After all, although losing this weight is going to directly impact me - it also impacts JD.  I'm doing this for him, too, and I will remember that.  So, the butterfly ring became my promise ring. 

Well, good news...I went to lunch, ordered my steak, sides, and water with lemon, passed on the Blooming Onion, and bread for the table, and walked away a stronger person for it. 

I think I'll wear my ring each time I think I might need a little extra encouragement.  Just a little reminder of what is important. 

This is a beautiful life.

The Best of Intentions

Strangely enough, I woke up in the middle of the night and thought "I forgot to blog last night before bed".  Yes, that really happened.  I promptly decided that I might would just have to do two blogs today.  =)  We'll see about that.  Somewhere between going to church, finishing up some homework, and watching the Broncos vs Patriots football game, I completely forgot that I had wanted to post something. 

Anyways, I went to church last night.  Since September, my church has offered a Saturday evening service, and although I've thought about attending several times, I hadn't until last night. I love it when I go to church and hear something that I know I needed to hear.  In the middle of the message, our pastor reminded me of a saying that I hadn't heard in a while:

The more you sweat in preparation, the less you bleed in battle.

Now, I know he wasn't talking about weight loss, but actually he was talking about preparing yourself for things to come in your life - and right now, I'm focusing on honoring my temple by losing weight.  Lord knows for this is happen, I have got to be prepared.  Let me give you an example...

JD and have not eaten out in over two weeks, and for those of you who know me, you are going to understand how amazing that is.  =)  However, yesterday morning, JD and I got up and I decided that we would go have breakfast at Denny's and then run to Sam's to pick up some stuff I needed for lunches - and more eggs, since I'm very sure the reason I was even open to eating out is because we ran out of eggs Friday morning.  Before we left to go to Denny's, I pulled up their menu online and checked out the nutritional value on what I normally order - the veggie and cheese omelet.  It looked decent, especially since I knew I was just going to be ordering the omelet without the toast or hash browns....and maybe a side of bacon.  I went in all ready to order.  The waitress comes up - I order my veggie/cheese omelet add mushrooms with a side of bacon and a water with lemon to drink.  About five minutes later, the waitress comes up and says that they are all out of spinach, mushrooms, and several other vegetables.  WHAT??  Completely out of veggies????  Now, I'm sitting here, faced with a decision, but thankfully, I had planned ahead.  That's right.  While I was looking at the nutrition guide for what I thought I might order, I checked out a couple of other options just in case I changed my mind and mentally made a note of what would be the 2nd and 3rd best choice.  I went with choice two and felt like I walked away with the win.

Let me say this, had I not done my research, the next thing I would have naturally ordered, would have done me in for the day.  There are a surprising number of calories, fat, and carbs, in the other menu items.  I was shocked at how many actually.  So, even though I went with the best of intentions, had I not prepared myself in advance, I could have really thrown myself off. 

See the thing is not that I'm going to give up eating out, but that I will do it with intention.  I will make the decision beforehand, look up what I think I want to eat, and make an informed decision - not just go somewhere on the way home because I'm too tired to cook, and give in to eating something unhealthy.

Like Friday night....Friday night was a rough one for  me.  I felt hungry (as I posted), but more than that, I had convinced myself I was hungry for anything but what I had planned on eating.  You know what?  I stuck with the plan, and was satisfied.  I was not hungry.  I went to bed that night and really realized how we can talk ourselves into believing all kinds of things when it comes to food.  If I'm hungry, then a healthy protein and veggies will fill me up just as nicely as a corn dog and some chili cheese tator tots - only it won't leave me craving more junk or feeling defeated by the choice I made.  It might be a little harder in the moment you are feeling the battle to say no, but once you do, the pay off is worth it.

This is a beautiful healthier life - being lived with intention.

Fighting for it Friday....

When I get done writing this blog, I might just have to go back and read some of my posts from earlier this week and last week, when I was feeling strong.  Tonight...not so much.  I feel so hungry!!!!  I mean HUNGRY!!!  I don't know what my problem is - I'm eating the same as I have been.  Yet, for some reason, I have felt hungry the whole day.  I ate what I was on the plan for today, and now I'm slowly eating my dinner, but tonight has been a bit of a struggle.  I have had to go to some of my internal scripts of why I am not going to make poor choices, and how making the healthy ones will leave me feeling confident and satisfied in more ways than a DT Double from Wendy's will. 

Okay, that is it for tonight.  I'm going to finish up dinner, and then try to get warm - since it is absolutely freezing outside.  Maybe that is why I'm hungry...my body is getting ready for winter.  hahaha!

This is a beautiful healthier life.

Triumphant Thursday

Since last week, I knew today would be a day that I needed to be aware of what I was doing.  We had orientation for our Employee Development group, and I had to be there to help with logistics.  Part of those logistics include setting up all the food...which I ordered over a month ago.  The same month that was right before Christmas, when I was tired, and not really paying attention to what I was going to eat a month later.  Well, I'm going to consider today Triumphant Thursday.  When surrounded by mashed potatoes, gravy, fresh large dinner rolls, sweat tea, and a giant platter of mini brownies, and cake, I chose to eat 3/4 a plate full of salad with almost no dressing (and on the side), a spoon full of green beans, and two small slices of roast beef without gravy or sauce.

You know what?  I felt amazing.  I ate and didn't feel deprived.  I was satisfied physically and I was satisfied in the end because I didn't make poor choices - even when so closely involved in the food process.  Plus, I spent the whole day running back and forth, so normally, I would have used that as an excuse to eat a little bit more than usual.  Not today.

Well....Triumphant Tuesday is also Tired Out Thursday, so I'm going to settle in.  I have my cozy pajamas on - with my cozy socks...yeah, probably not attractive, but definitely comfy and since it is supposed to get to 29 tonight, I'm good with comfy.  =)

This is a beautiful, triumphant, healthier, life.

Weigh-In Wednesday - Week 2

Well, after last night, I wasn't so sure how my weigh-in would be - so, I got up and bravely stepped on the scale, looked down and after one week with my new lifestyle, I'm down 4.2 pounds.  Yeah!  Monthly issues and all - 4.2  pounds.  While I realize that my success each week is not going to necessarily show on the scale - this week it did, and it felt good.  I was also amazed because every other time I've decided to watch what I was eating, I would schedule a cheat meal or day on the day I weighed in or the day after - not this time.  I stepped off the scale, did a little victory dance, and got ready for the day.

4.2 down since my first official weigh-in of 2012
8.0 down since I started tracking my weight
17 left until my first goal of 25 pounds (by April 18th - my birthday)

This is a beautiful life.  =)

One Day Before Weigh-In...

It's the night before my official weigh-in day, and boy today has been rough.  I'm really not sure why it was rough.  It started out good enough...had to pick something up at Publix at 8 for work, so got to leave a little later than usual.  Nice.  The weather was yuck, but not raining, yet.  It just seemed like a full moon or something.  Work was super busy, but has been for a while, so I can't really say it was that.  Oh, and did I mention that I started feeling like I was going to start?  The frustrating thing about that is that I'm on these pills where I'm not supposed to have this issue but once every three months, but they don't seem to be working.  I came home, finished up some homework for school, and low and behold - it happened.  The pills failed.  ha!  So, it's the night before my weigh in and I started.  Boo.

You know what though?  Even if I wake up tomorrow and have to report that I haven't lost a pound - thanks to my hormones - I can lie down tonight and rest easy knowing that I absolutely did everything I was supposed to do this last week.  Not only did I not cheat - I didn't even seriously consider cheating.  I recognized what my weaknesses were and didn't give in.  So, even if I wake up tomorrow and the scale shows no loss, I'm going to be okay.  After all, I'm treating this like I would if I were training to run a marathon...I'm staying on the program, and at the very end of the race, it will have paid off.  There will be good weeks, bad weeks, and even some weeks I will classify as great, but I will always try to focus on knowing that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

With that said - I'm going to bed.  =)

This is a healthier beautiful life.

Tuna Salad Dinner...

I got home tonight - an hour or more later than usual - and realized...oh man, I'm supposed to take my nephew home.  He was camped out on my couch, where he had been since he walked over from the bus stop after school.  Well, I was already struggling with wanting to pick something up.  I wasn't going to do it, but having to go out again almost put me over the edge.  Then he happens to mention that they have some boiled eggs at his house...bingo.

I took some of the boiled eggs, came home and made myself some quick tuna salad.  I have since realized that nothing fills me up faster than tuna salad.  Yep, after 32 years, I still am not a fan of tuna from a can.  Ugh.  However, it did curb my appetite and help me stick to my plan.

So, now it's 8:30, the BCS Championship game is on, and yet - I think I'm about to read a few minutes and head to bed.  Hoping for some pretty great sleep tonight. 

This is a beautiful healthier life.