Paleo success

My weight loss yesterday was............4.2 pounds!!!!!!! I am beyond thrilled and I am amazed at this whole paleo concept. I am finding the 30 day challenge not only simple but doable for life. I know how easy it is to get derailed though so I am trying to do this from a total health standpoint and not from a "I want to fit in a size 8" standpoint.

I took before pictures which hopefully someday I won't be too embarrassed to show especially if my after pictures are incredible.

I have continued the exercise plan which so far has flared up my hip pain a little but it's manageable so I will plunge (or lunge) forward. The weight watchers leader had a stunned look when she asked how I lost the weight this week and I told her it was paleo and I gave up dairy! I probably will continue with WW as I like the accountability of weighing every week and the shared success with my co workers.

So onto the next week!!

Posted with Blogsy

Weigh in day(again)

Wow didn't I just weigh in? How crazy is that. This week flew by and since I am off tomorrow it's my Friday today.

So today is weigh in day and I think I did pretty well. This paleo diet seems to be working so we will see if the scale agrees today.

Pretty glad to be have a four day weekend coming up as there is a ton I need to get done before my daughter, SIL and Hattie come next week. Every time I think about seeing Hattie I go crazy. I mean look at those cute rolls on her ankles!! Can you stand the cuteness!!!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Dairy withdrawal?

So I woke up feeling crappy today. Headache, sneezing, fatigue and I am wondering if it is dairy withdrawal. Or I am getting a cold and it has nothing to do with dairy!

I do feel better without it and someone at work even commented the other day "well you are sure in a good mood today" and I was! The normal stuff that bothers me really didn't. I just felt lighter somehow.

So after a pork chop, blueberries and some walnuts for breakfast I am ready to start the day (and Advil for my headache). I have actually done paleo before (except for the no dairy part) and this amazing thing starts to happen after a few days. You start to feel leaner and you start noticing your muscles. I know it sounds crazy but it's like your lean self starts to come out or maybe it's your real self that was always there.

Either way it is fantastic and I will just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Paleo week one

So I started the 30 day paleo challenge yesterday. What does this have to do with being a long distance Grandmother?

Everything.

I not only want to be around a long time, I want the time I am around to be the healthiest years I can possibly have. When I was in my 20s I could cut back on my unhealthy eating and lose weight really easily. I remember doing Weight Watchers after my daughter was born and I lost 40 pounds in four months. Once you turn 50 however the weight just is so darn stubborn about coming off.

But it isn't just the weight. I lost two parents to cancer. My dad ended up with diabetes as he got older and high blood pressure runs in my family and I have been on meds for it for years. So honestly I don't have great genes so I have to do the best I can as that clock is so ticking. Is it super easy, no. This morning I want a creamy iced coffee so bad I could scream but I am going to look at pictures of Hattie to help get me through.

I also want to be a good example to not only Hattie but to my kids also. We all need to take care of ourselves because what we do now so affects us down the road and I am tired of rolling the dice and hoping for the best.

So here I go. It's 30 days and I can't wait to see where I will be at in a month. Hattie will be my inspiration.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

30 day challenge

As I mentioned in my last post I have decided to shake up my eating plan as once I thought about how I was feeling, I realized I wasn't feeling that great. I felt bloated and just plain clogged (how's that for TMI). I am going to attribute that to the extra dairy.

I have read lots of information that since celiac disease damages your intestines you end up not being able to tolerate lots of other foods and dairy can be one of them. I actually tried giving it up once before on the advice of a nutritionist and it was so hard as I was going gluten free at the same time. So I was a fail on giving up dairy but I want to try it again.

So for 30 days I am doing a Paleo challenge. It's not much different than WW SImply Filling but there is no dairy allowed. I will also be adding in some healthy fats such as avocado and nuts as I have never believed in the low fat lifestyle.

It just makes sense. The artificial sweeteners, gluten, beans, dairy all make me feel terrible. My damaged stomach cannot handle them and I feel that I over eat as my body is screaming for nutrition and always has been. So back to real food it is and sadly always should have been.

So here we go, I do wish I could shame a family member into doing it with me but this is something you really have to believe in to do. Wish me luck!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

It's all in how you look at it

Well I only lost a 1/2 pound. Could have been better but it could have been a ton worse too.

It did make me think about what I ate and what I feel good eating and what I don't. So I will change it up this week and cut back on dairy. I just haven't felt that great since I have increased it so I will cut back and increase protein such as eggs, chicken etc and see if that makes a difference.

In the big scheme of life if I lose a 1/2 pd instead of 2 it doesn't matter. What does is what I do next so I will change things up and hope for a better week.

But it's Friday and the weekend is upon us. Enjoy!

And BTW two weeks from today we will drive to the airport to pick up this sweet thing and her Mom and Dad. I am so excited!!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

It's weigh in day!

I honestly have no idea how I will do today. Overall I was really good again this week. We did go out a couple times but I did not overdo it and even though I might have had a cocktail I at least just had one. We did have breakfast out on Sunday and I definitely overdid it on the hash browns so we will see if those things threw my weight loss off track.

The good thing is since we did so much around the house this past weekend I probably worked off some calories and work stress has kept me from thinking about eating. So think of me at 11:30 stepping on that scale and send good weight loss karma out into the universe please!

I really can't believe it is Thursday today and the start of the state fair. We need to get a bunch more things done around the house this weekend and there is a table I just have to go back for at Ikea. It's actually a desk but in their catalog they had it in a living room with plants on top of it. So cute and if we get it I will post a picture. Plus it's only $39!! Of course that means I have to get plants for it and keep them alive (a challenge).

 

Posted with Blogsy

If you don't have anything nice to say....

It has been a challenging work week so far to say the least. There were lots of issues from the weekend which led to more issues and that has caused lots of team stress. So with that said work has not been the most fun place to be the last few days.

I have not finished painting the kitchen and I also feel like I haven't lost an ounce. I will chalk both things up to things at work and move on and hope this week turns around.

The good thing is next week is a short work week as I am off the Friday of labor day weekend. Then the next week I am off Monday for Labor Day and then on Friday I am off as Hattie comes!!!! I am so excited to see them and I just can't wait to see how much she has changed. They leave that Monday so I took that day off too just because. So once I get through this week lots of short work weeks to come and that's a good thing!

So in anticipation of Hattie's arrival I am posting a new picture. She is just getting so big and so darn cute!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

What a productive weekend!

We should have our family come for a visit more often as we got a ton done Saturday & Sunday and it looks fabulous!

We just need to touch up some spots but we need a smaller paintbrush so hopefully we can finish tonight. The new cabinet pulls really brightened it up too even though they aren't exactly what I wanted but some of those darn things are like $4-5 a piece.

I also have the fall bug now so I just ordered a wreath for the newly painted kitchen from Etsy (don't you just love that site!!)

I also ordered some pictures of Hattie and bought some nice black frames from Ikea so those will look great too. Of course now I am looking around thinking about tons of other projects that need to be done. When you have a house from the 70s pretty much everything needs a facelift. But one thing at a time and I am happy we got as much done as we did.

BTW, my husband's patch job on the walls actually came out ok but don't tell him I told you.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Not a day of rest in our house!

Ok. We are going to hit the ground running today to get work done in the kitchen. I am guessing this is how our morning will go:

1. Remove all old cabinet pulls-check
2. Install new cabinet pulls-half check as we miscounted and are five short. Crap
3. Patch walls from when old wallpaper was removed and pulled chunks of wall with it-check sort of. (Actually my husband patched last night and still has to sand it but my guess is it will look terrible and he will think it looks fine)
4. Fight after number 3-check
5. Breakfast out at our local cafe to calm down after numbers 3 & 4-check
6. Finish taping after starting at 6am & getting bored- check
7. Start painting & realize the paint over the patched wall looks really bad-check
8. I have two options after number 7. Ignore the ugly painted over bad patch job & goosh over what a great job hubby did. Or two well is there a two really as I am not going to sand it down, patch it and paint it again-check
9. Finish the kitchen, stand back & marvel about how great it looks & how now we need new light fixtures, countertops and that ugly popcorn ceiling removed-check

Posted with Blogsy

Saturday. What does it mean?

So yes it is Saturday and what does it mean? Literally I mean. Well I looked it up and quite frankly I am not sure I knew the answer by the time I finished. It might have something to do with Saturn or whoever invented the days of the week just sat around on their butt all day and thought that was a good start to "urday".

But in our house it means:

• Coffee and relaxation to start (so some butt sitting is involved)
• Dog training (once again lots and lots of hot dogs)
• Errands (ewwwww)
• Trip to Ikea for random things we need to spruce up our house for Hattie's visit (not that she cares but I do)
• Maybe a side trip to the Mall of America (since its basically in the same parking lot)
• Maybe dinner at the MOA (only allowable Simply Filling foods of course)
• Home to prep the walls (think painting tomorrow and lots of swear words from my husband)

And before I start my "Sat" urday, here is a picture of Hattie looking all Buddhaish and adorable after her bath. In 3 weeks I get to squeeze and kiss the heck out of her!!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Success all around!

Well drum roll please! I lost 3.8 pounds and I am thrilled!! It really was a great first week and I am so happy with the Simply Filling eating plan and with my results. So now on to week two.

I really like that I have a list of foods to work from and that I just do not have to think that hard about any of it.

I need to find some good recipes so I do not get bored but then again I find my meals are pretty basic anyway. I usually have a yogurt and fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and something from the grill and a side of veggies for dinner. Snacks are usually string cheese, fruit or popcorn.

So yay for a great weight loss and that it is Friday. I also just got a bunch of Hattie's Christmas presents I had ordered and they are all adorable. What a great week overall (other than craziness at work) and now it is the weekend and time to relax and enjoy.

 

Posted with Blogsy

It's weigh in day!

It's time to weigh in today and it is about killing me to know how I did this week. I am surprised I have stuck to my "no weigh ins at home" pledge but I did. I swear if I haven't lost an ounce someone may get slapped at this meeting (probably me). I would just start to second guess what I am doing and it would kill my philosophy of just eating what is on the plan and try not to think about it. In other words just be on automatic pilot and it will all work out.

I am thinking good thoughts and I know it will be a great weigh in. (can you tell I am trying to convince myself of this!) Check back tomorrow for the results. I hope you can sleep tonight!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Happy Hump Day

I swear I just blogged about it being Wednesday and now another week has gone by. It's pretty quiet around here with not much new news. My new favorite show "Broadchurch" is on tonight on BBC America. It's a crime drama and it's one of the best shows I have seen in a long time.

With my daughter back at work pictures of Hattie have of course dropped off so hopefully when she is off tomorrow and Friday I can get some new ones to share. I actually did a ton of online Christmas shopping this weekend for Hattie and I would like to say I am done but something tells me that I I'll fine a few (20) more things I "have" to buy for her.

The joyful news for today is that my husband's nephew was married yesterday on the beach in Florida. After a day of rain it cleared up in time for the ceremony. We so wish we had been there but we plan on rocking the reception here in Minnesota in a few weeks. Lots of love is sent to two amazing people.

So that's about it from Grannyland. Not much burning hot news but sometimes that can be a good thing. Wednesdays should be that way, a day to breathe after a crazy Monday & Tuesday and get ready for the wind down to the weekend. (think painting and yard work).

Posted with Blogsy

Day in the life of my brain

I kept thinking about what to blog about today but honestly I don't have something glaring me in the face. So I will give little snippets (great word that I feel is very underused) of the various things that are going on. Nothing earth shattering but still fill up my brain.

 

• We started Duncan in aggression classes. No he hasn't bitten anyone and he likes most people but he does overact and bark aggressively at a few select people. So we are trying to nip that in the bud (haha) before it goes any further. Mostly training involves cramming massive amounts of hot dogs in his mouth so he associates people with food. I am so sick of the hot dog smell I could hurl and now I associate people with the hot dog smell which now may cause me to bite someone.
• Weight Watchers continues to go well and since I work with several people who are also members it is great to have the support. But then again we now talk about food the entire work day. What we are craving, what we can eat, what we can't eat and how many minutes it is until we can eat again.
• We are on the countdown for Hattie and my daughter and SIL to come home. Of course that has led to thinking about the tons of things we have to get done in this house before they get here. Thoughts of redecorating, buying new furniture, having cable run into their bedroom, planting flowers out front and painting are consuming me. My guess is we never paint, we don't buy a stick of furniture, we never call the cable company and I just buy a bouquet of flowers for inside. So you would think knowing that I could let the other stuff go, wouldn't ya!
• I got a call yesterday from my daughter that their septic tank backed up which of course had me worrying all day about that. What if it's $500, what if it's $5,000 or $10,000 and their entire yard has to be dug up. (it ended up it was clogged and it was $200).
• Work is crazy. I truly love what I do but it is so busy that it is in my thoughts all day (along with the other things listed) and I have bolted awake at 3am several times lately thinking I forgot to do something. So I run around like a crazy person all day wondering why I am there working with 20something year olds but knowing I need to pay for Duncan's classes, the bouquet of flowers, my weight watchers at work meetings and the psychiatrist sessions I sorely need.
• It's exhausting to be me.

Posted with Blogsy

Weight Watchers update week one

As I blogged last week I started Weight Watchers at work. I had resisted going for years as the thought of counting points made me want to scream. Plus since I have Celiac Disease I know I am better off sticking to whole foods which would of course be healthier anyway.

But then I heard about the Simply Filling plan with WW and it seemed like it would fit perfectly with my eating.

With Simply Filling I can eat allowable Power Foods until full (not stuffed) and I don't use points for them. I do however get 49 extra points a week that I can use towards anything that is not an allowable Power Food.

What I have found so far is this:

1. It is a super easy program to follow that I have not struggled with at all. Of course since I have celiac I have to stay away from most processed foods anyway so I might not have as hard of an adjustment as someone else just starting.
2. My weakness this summer has been iced coffee drinks with flavored sugary creamer. I would crave them all the time and at 4-5 dollars a pop that really added up. So I switched to an iced coffee with just half and half and guess what. My cravings have stopped altogether. Without the sugary carmely stuff added it has no appeal to me.
3. I am addicted to a scale when I diet and this time I refuse to weigh in between meetings. I found when I used to obsessively weigh if I was doing well I would cheat and if I was doing badly I would throw in the towel. This time I have no idea how I am doing so I just keep going.
4. I am learning how many points are in some foods that I love. For instance we might go the movies today and I LOVE icees and buttered popcorn. Well a small icee has like 4 points and usually my husband and I split a large one so that would be like 6 points. A large buttered popcorn is 40 points so even if we split it that is 20. That's almost half of my extra points for the week so forget that.

To sum it up is this is making me aware of all the extra calories I would take in and make me really think if that particular food is worth it. I really want to have lost something this week so I don't want to take a chance that a certain food won't blow my success when I step on the scale Thursday.

So onward healthy eating plan soldiers ( I guess I am not supposed to say diet) and hopefully I continue to rock the Simply Filling plan!

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Hattie is coming!

Well after a long and stressful work week I just found out the best news ever!!! Hattie and my daughter and son in law are coming for a visit next month.

It's my nephew's wedding so they decided that would be a great reason to make a trip out and we couldn't be more excited.

They will only be here a few days so I'm trying to decide after the wedding Friday night how to make the most out of the two full days we will have after that. Do we have a party, do we plan some fun day trips, do we just hang out and play, hug and smooch on Hattie?

Really, it doesn't matter. Just being together will be amazing no matter what we do. This is better then winning the powerball and I owe less in taxes!!

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

I need a vaca

I am getting the August blues. You know that moment you realize that summer is slowly starting to wind down and what do you have to say for it.

Maybe it's living in Minnesota but every year around February when there is a foot and a half of snow on the ground you start dreaming of the flowers you will plant, the vacations you will take, campfires, etc.

Well now it's August and I have one day left of vacation time at work so a trip is out. I bought one large pot of flowers which died in the string of hot days we had and we have only been to the cabin twice and won't get up there again until Labor Day.

The bright spot was of course that Hattie is here. Every second of every day I am so thankful that she has come into this world and is a happy, healthy sweet ball of love. I can be in the worst mood and someone will ask how she is and I immediately break into a smile.

I guess we just have such big dreams for these three summer months and the reality is it's like 12 weeks and it's hard to cram all that fun in. The truth is though that there are still some great months left until the dreaded "W" word is back. We will be going to the state fair soon, Labor day weekend at the cabin is always fun and I will be planning a trip to visit Hattie again this fall.

I guess I just wish I had one week of vacation left to run away to a quiet lake and savor these last days of gloriousness (I think I made that word up). One week to just kick back, forget about work, Play some cards, read some great books and eat and drink too much. Oh well, I guess there is next year......

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Sort of Wordless Wednesday

Well it's Wednesday, officially mid week. I don't have a lot to blog about so it seemed a good day for a nearly wordless Wednesday and sharing a new picture of Hattie!

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

It's almost state fair time!

I don't even know if there was a state fair in NJ when I was growing up. I am sure there was somewhere in the Garden State but I know for a fact we never went.

So this obsession in MN for their state fair is a new concept to me. Even though it doesn't start for 3 weeks people are already plotting their plan of attack. What time to get there, what food booths they hit at what time and in what order, what they want to see before it gets too hot or crowded. If you ask them what their favorite foods are there they don't list off two or three, they usually have a list of like ten and describe in detail how amazing each one is.

My husband used to work in sales so he had to work at the fair every year. SInce he was there for five or six days anyway the last thing he wanted to do was go the fair on his day off.

But now that he has a different job we are starting to get into his whole fair thing. We were super excited to go last year but then I graciously fell down some steps and broke my ankle and needed surgery. But that didn't deter us as we just rented a wheelchair. I think I should get a medal for posting this horrid picture of myself but hey I had just had surgery the weekend before, showering was challenging and so was doing my hair! (and those were the only pants I had that would fit over my cast) Plus it's the fair and have you seen some of the people there!

Are we the obsessed MN fair people yet? No but I can see it happening. I am already envisioning eating the tornado potato with the sausage in the middle. Not sure how that will fit with Weight Watchers but hey it's state fair time and diets be damned!

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Mondays. Yuck.

So here are a few reasons that even though I am so happy to be alive, thrilled my family is happy and healthy and ecstatic I have clothes on my back, food on the table and a beautiful new Granddaughter that I am not appreciative that it is Monday:

• All the work stuff that I try so hard to keep out of my thoughts comes roaring back the minute you open your eyes.
• Of the 100 things I should have done around the house this weekend I did two.
• It is raining out. Which started as thunderstorms at 2am. Which woke me up. Which caused me to start tossing and turning till 3am.
• I have a dentist appointment. Really on a Monday! Of course I will be reminded I should floss more and that I have work (which means lots of $$) that needs to be done that I keep putting off which now means I probably need additional work.
• It's Hattie's first day of day care and my daughters first day back to work. I'm praying my daughter doesn't call me after she drops her off because then if she is crying I will start crying and everyone at work will ask what's wrong but I won't be able to answer because I will be sobbing so hard.
• Then a rumor will start at work that I was crying uncontrollably and my marriage must be falling apart. Which then will cause my co workers to avoid me as they won't know what to say.
• Then I will get paranoid wondering why nobody in the office is talking to me which will make me think I am in trouble at work and everybody but me knows that I am getting laid off.
• All of this could have been avoided if I had won the Powerball.

Posted with Blogsy

Sunday, the 2nd best day of the weekend

When I was younger I hated Sundays as it was always the day my weekend ended and the day before I went back to school.

Now I have to say that even though I am a much bigger fan of Saturdays I certainly savor that second weekend day. Usually they are pretty quiet around our house and that's just fine with me. So with that said I will keep this short, share a picture of Hattie and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

It's all in my head

So yesterday morning I was driving into work and pretty much examining my thoughts and why I was feeling them (I do this often by the way) and thinking about how many of those feelings I am comfortable sharing on this blog.

Blogging I've discovered is a great way to share a diary of what you are going through and wish you weren't and what you wish you were doing instead.

So I contemplated peeling away some of those layers I have built up to protect myself and share the things I am most terrified of. Things that make me cry when I'm alone in the car, things that keep me up at night and things that I swear if you all knew you would look at me in a different way or not at all.

Then as I started to write the post and deleted it and started over again I remembered what my sister in law always says. I'm not that important. Not in a shouldn't even be on the earth way but in a get over yourself way.

Everyone has their stuff. Now that Oprah is over we tend to forget that. We all have our demons. We feel overweight, under loved, overworked and overlooked. I don't handle money well, I eat really bad things, I have days where I think a therapist wouldn't even know where to start with me but my guess is I'm not alone. But the truth is no matter how little money we have in the bank, how fat we feel, how much baggage we carry from things we wish did or didn't happen in our lives there is someone that has it worse.

Life is hard and maneuvering it is even harder but let's say for today we press delete to all that stuff that clogs your brain because really it all is just stuff. Find some place that has fruity drinks with an umbrella, bring some slutty novel and your IPod and let it all go because It isn't worth spending one more nano second thinking about.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

No excuses

I have come to the realization that I need to take off the extra pounds I have put on and I am going to join the Weight Watchers group at work.

Of course once I came to that realization the little excuse fairy perches itself on one shoulder.

Excuses from that fairy:

1. You shouldn't spend the money with trying to save and pay off unnecessary bills.

2. You hate exercising and never do it.

3. You have celiac and that will never work with Weight Watchers.

4. You have done this before and never kept it off.

Then the smart annoying fairy sat on my other shoulder during the WW open house and said this:

1. You actually just realized you have been overpaying on your insurance allotments and it is the same amount as the dues.

2. You don't have to exercise you just cut back on points.

3. They have an app for celiac.

4. Maybe this is the time you can and should do this to be sure you are around a long time for Hattie.

I hate the smart fairy.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Hattie is two months!

Actually Hattie has been two months for over a week but somehow I missed the official day.

I sure miss that sweet girl and celebrating all of these milestones with her in person. She is smiling all the time and my daughter said she even giggled. She has slept through the night a couple of times and we can only hope she starts doing that regularly with my daughter going back to work Monday.

Most times I am fine with living a zillion miles away but then my husband and I will be out somewhere and see a baby and just go crazy. I am sure people think we are nuts gasping and googling at their son or daughter but as soon as we explain our situation they seem to get it (even though they probably call 911 as soon as we walk away).

So happy two month birthday Hattie Mae. I miss you so much that I can't stand it some(most)times. I kind of miss your Mom and Dad too but don't tell them I said so!

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy