60 Day Challenge: Day 47

Exercise

Went for a walk this morning for about 45 minutes, not sure how far, but my guess is it was about two miles. I'm not feeling completely better, but we are dog sitting for my mom's dog and he is a very sweet dog but generally uses his excess energy for barking. I was hoping to tire him out so I could enjoy a quiet afternoon. So far it seems to have worked. Despite the fact that I am sick I feel surprisingly peppy right now.

Just for Fun

A friend of mine took some photos today, thought I would share the ones I like;

I've lost some things

119 lbs
10 sizes
30 inches
If you find them keep them, I don't want them back.

I can't believe its been five months, here are my picture updates.

Challenge on Hold

Considering that the least bit of physical exertion is sending me gasping for breath right now and I can't eat enough right now to meet my minimum calorie requirements, I'm going to put the challenge on hold until I'm feeling better. I hope I'm back up and running in the next two days.

60 Day Challenge: Day 48

I'm officially sick again! No exercise today, I barely ate and so it didn't seem like the best idea.

Food

2 hard boiled eggs
5 bites of a ham sandwich
2oz of chicken
1 oz macaroni salad
very small salad

60 Day Challenge: Day 49

Exercise
Today was my most grueling day yet :-) I let a 2 and 5 year old chase me around outside for about 40 minutes. I'm considering today's exercise challenge met.

Food
I only ate twice today, this cold is really kicking my butt and the post nasal drip is making me feel sick to my stomach. I did eat:

Half a bratwurst
2 tortellini
2 pieces of cauliflower
1 piece of banana bread

60 Day Challenge: Day 50

Exercise

Today I spent about three hours walking around the mall, I did this in four inch platforms, but I think three hours consecutive of any activity counts, so I'm considering my challenge met for the day.

Food

I think I'm coming down with a cold and didn't feel up to eating anything for dinner so my food is a bit light for the day.

2 hard boiled eggs
1/2 piece of banana bread
Chicken and Carrots out of a Bob Evans Pot Pie
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

Drinks

32oz of milk
12oz of caffeinated tea
23oz of herbal tea
24oz of iced decaf skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks

60 Day Challenge: Day 51

Finally back to my exercise routine, took a brisk 20 minute walk today with a friend (I should get extra credit cause it was FREEZING outside, real freezing not North Carolina freezing). Then we walked the mall for about an hour, though I admit it was not at the quickest pace, but we were out and about and doing something.

Food
1 6oz yogurt eaten in two sittings
1/4 of a sandwich on italian bread with ham and cheese
1/4 of a chocolate chip cookie
1 piece of bread with butter
1 small piece of pizza with some cheese that slid off another slice
10 almonds
6 jelly beans
1/3 of a blueberry muffin

60 Day Challenge: Day 52

Another day with no exercise, when I started this challenge I didn't anticipate how hard it would be to work exercise in when I was off my routine. Next time I plan to be away from home I'll need to find a way to plan in advance so it can happen every day.

Food
18 Almonds
Chicken and a few bites of sweet potato casserole from Cracker Barrel
White meat from fried chicken (didn't sit all that well)
Small Salad
1/2 of a biscuit
Few French Fries

60 Day Challenge: Day 53

Exercise
No exercise today, I spent 14 hours in a car with my inlaws and there was no opportunity for exercise. I'm going to try to do an hour tomorrow.

Food
1/2 of a turkey and cheese sandwich
1/2 Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich
20 almonds
1 South Beach High Protein meal bar
1 bag of quaker rice snacks with 90 calories per bag
1 small slice of pizza
1/3 of a breadstick

Drink
46oz of herbal tea
24oz of milk

60 day Challenge: Day 53

Exercise

Today I was at the hospital with a friend who was having an outpatient procedure. I was watching her 13 month old who was terribly tired. I walked the halls and outside with him for 1 hour and 15 minutes. I don't know how many miles I walked total but a brisk pace was required to keep him from fussing.

Food
1/3 of a cheeseburger
2 colby jack cheesesticks
Corned beef
2 carrots and a few bites of potato
1 hard boiled egg

60 Day Challenge: Day 54

I've been a little behind on my blogging, so I'm trying to catch up.

Exercise

I did twenty minutes on the treadmill and then about an hour of vigorous house cleaning. Cleaning the baseboards, scrubbing the floors etc. Google tells me house cleaning can burn calories so I'm counting it.

Food

1 hard boiled egg
Cheese and sausage from the top of the homemade pizza
Yogurt with Flax seed

60 Day Challenge: Day 55

Exercise

I did 45 minutes at a brisk walk with an incline on the treadmill today.

Food

One piece of crustless quiche with swiss cheese and sausage

2oz of pork with egg noodles

18 almonds

6 Pepperidge Farm snack sticks

Drink

40 oz of iced herbal tea

18 oz of decaf coffee with fat free half and half

60 Day Challenge: Day 56

Exercise

Today I did 30 minutes of exercises on the Wii Fit, it is probably not the most intense workout that I've done, but it was something different and kept me motivated to do my exercise tonight.

Food

4oz of chicken breast and 4 pieces of zucchini

2 pieces of colby jack cheese snacks

1/3 of a hot dog and six french fries

2/3 of a sandwich on one slice of bread with cheese and ham

Drinks

40 oz of decaf herbal tea

32oz of milk

85 lbs to go

As of today I want to lose 85 more pounds. My window to lose weight is generally the first year, and while people can lose weight after the first year, it gets much harder for them to do. I think it is a totally doable goal, but I am adding in the exercise just to make sure that I get there!

60 Day Challenge: Day 57

I really really didn't want to exercise today, I was tired and I have a blister on my toe, but I made myself do it. I spent thirty minutes walking on the treadmill. I even spent some of that time jogging. Granted I only jogged for thirty minutes at a time, but its the first time I ever jogged in my life.

Food:

It was a crap day for food, too many carbs and not enough protein. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Half a sandwich with cheese and ham and a bit of mayo.

Banana pudding with banana pieces and almonds (made with a scoop of vanilla protein powder)

Six chips from on the Border and 1/8 of a cheese and chicken quesadilla

1/3 of a slice of pizza

3oz of chicken breast

Drinks (not too bad drinks wise)

24oz of milk

1 decaf skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks

40oz of herbal ice tea

30oz of regular ice tea

60 Day Challenge: Day 58

Today the exercise wasn't quite as intense, but I met my goal. I walked with a friend for 45 minutes, we probably ended up walking about two miles.

What I've eaten:

One slice of bread with cheese and some mayo

3oz of chicken and four pieces of zucchini

40z of strawberry yogurt with two teaspoons of ground flax seed

18 almonds and 2 tablespoons of Craisins

60 day Challenge: Day 59

So today I woke up and tried to do an interval walking program on the treadmill. I only lasted 15 minutes, but I'm going to try tomorrow with a smaller incline and a little slower. I drank milk before that workout and felt fine.

Then I went to physical therapy about an hour and a half later, I didn't know they were going to put me on the stationary bike and after 12 minutes on that I passed out. Once I came to and drank some milk, I did about thirty minutes of abdominal exercises.

Tonight I walked two and a half miles with a friend. I might have overdone it a bit today but I have a feeling I'll sleep good tonight. it will be a little tricky figuring out what to do about the hypoglycemia, but I drank milk before my walk tonight and carried some almonds and jolly ranchers with me, I didn't need them though. My solution right now is to make sure I have milk in the house and to drink 8oz right before I work out.

What I ate today:

3/4 of a single serving container of Dannon fruit on the bottom low fat yogurt with three teaspoons of flax seed

1 snack size 2% milkfat cottage cheese

2 colby jack cheese snacks and 8 wheat thins

3 oz of chicken, three bites of a baked sweet potato and two peices of zucchini

1/2 a cup of banana pudding with vanilla protein powder and one cut up banana

18 almonds

24oz of milk

48oz of other beverages

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I have been lucky up until this point that I can eat pretty much what I want (except beef and jelly beans) and have not had any episodes of getting food stuck in my pouch. Last night it happened for the first time. I think that I was not as vigilant about chewing as I should have been and I was in pain for quite a while. About three hours after I ate the food I got sick, and spent about two hours being naseous and dry heaving. It was a harsh reminder to chew, chew, chew. I'm fine today but my pouch has been a little "pissy" and i'm sticking with mushy foods for the day.

My 60 Day Personal Challenge

I've been more than pleased with my weight loss, but with just about 100lbs to go I know I'm not going to succeed using diet alone. So I have decided to exercise at least once a day for thirty minutes for the next sixty days. I'm going to post about my daily progress here, so for all of you that complain I don't update enough, you will soon be eating your words.

Speaking of eating, I am also going to post here daily what I am eating. Feel free to comment, call me out on eating crap, or ask any questions that you have. I will post about every morsel that passes my lips, but be warned, I'm not a WLS saint.

I started the exercise today, I walked 3.5 miles and I actually feel pretty good. Score 1 for me.

Changes

What would life be like if I hadn't has the surgery. I'm pretty sure that I would still be living the same existence that I did before the surgery. The one that got me to the point where I needed surgery to get my weight under control. Where I was stressed out and so focused on others that I never took time for me. There was always one more thing to do for work, or for a client or for someone else, that I got lost in the shuffle. I'm not lost anymore, I feel like i've taken control of my life in ways that I never did before.

The biggest change is the pride I take in me. I used to get up about thirty minutes before I was required to be somewhere, shower, run a brush through my hair and off I went. Now I actually get up early to get ready, I blow dry my hair, I put on make-up, I wear pantyhose (those that know me well know of my life long hatred for pantyhose, I didn't even wear them on my wedding day.) I take pride in my appearance, I feel better when I look put together. Its also been a frustrating change, I am far more critical of my appearance now than I was before.

I went clothes shopping for the first time, I thought it would be a fun experience. The first day it was overwhelming and I got so frustrated that I came home with nothing. First, everything I took into the dressing room was too big, and I appear to be right in between two sizes. One was very baggy in the legs and the other gave me the oh so attractive muffin top. Clothes shopping was a lot easier 100 lbs ago, not a lot of choice, I was too big to camouflage anything and the rule was, if it zipped I bought it. I still look at my closet some days and wonder what the helk I was thinking. The second day I went back with a better attitude and a game plan and I found some outfits. I'm posting pictures here of the ones I think were winners, let me know what you think. You should be able to leave a comment and it will go up as soon as I approve it.

I've noticed people treat me differently, they smile more, engage in conversation with me more, go out of their way to talk to me. I don't know if this makes me sad or not. I can't figure out if it is because people are treating me differently because I've lost weight, or because they notice the changes in me.

My Wedding Dress

I tried on my wedding dress today, I'm not sure what possessed me to do it, but I felt like it would give me a real measure of my progress. For most woman it is a sad day when they don't fit into their wedding dress anymore , not for me. I don't fit into mine anymore, and I hope I never do again. Next time I get the urge I'll take some pictures.

Recipe of the day

I thought I would share with you all some of the recipes I make most often:

Crock pot mac and cheese
One box of Dreamfield low carb pasta (elbows)
Four cups of shredded cheese
20oz of fat free evaporated milk

Bowl Pasta to al dente and put it in crock pot, add the other ingredients and cook on low for four hours. You can also add 3/4 cup of finely chopped onion is you prefer.

Ricotta Pasta Bake
1/8 cup of pasta, I use whole wheat rotini or hodgson mill veggie rotini
1 cup Spaghetti sauce with ground beef or ground turkey
Ricotta cheese
Mozzarella cheese

Throw pasta into the bottom of a small dish, add about half a cup of spaghetti sauce with meat and then put two big spoonfuls of ricotta on top, add another half cup of spaghetti sauce with meat, top with mozzarella.

Bake covered at 325 for about 40 minutes, remove cover and bake another ten minutes to brown cheese. It usually makes between two to three meals for me.