Plugging Along...

January 11,  2020: Week 2, Day 5

Trying to keep busy and avoid mindless eating...


1:30 - 4:00 I ate:

• 12 green olives - 60 cal.
• 1 bite cream cheese - 20 cal.
• 3 servings Delishaved Oven Roasted Turkey - 300 cal.

Dinner:

• Double Salad
• Lemon juice and Mayonnaise - 200 cal.
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese - 114 cal.

Ran 2 miles
Walked 8 miles
Total Steps: 24,616

~~~♥~~~

Inspirational Beauty

January 10, 2020: Week2, Day 4

I have been watching episodes of The Donna Reed Show. She is such an inspiration for my diet. I read that she was 5'7" and weighed 125 pounds. By the rule of 100 pounds for the first 5 feet of height and 5 pound for every inch above 5 feet, being only 5'5", my equivalent of that would be 115.  I think she looked amazing, and seeing her motivates me to keep working at my ultimate goal to be 115. Although, my current goal is only 124 pounds.


Breakfast:

• 1 cup milk - 160 cal.
• 1 bowl wheat flakes with yogurt clusters cereal - 160 cal.

Lunch:

• 1/3 cup lean ground pork -  95 cal.
• 3 celery stalks (I don't count vegetable calories)

Dinner:

• Salad
• Lemon and Mayonnaise - 100 cal.
• 1/4 cup rotini with spaghetti sauce - 125 cal. 

Walked 9 miles
 Total steps: 20,272

~~~♥~~~

Recovering from Yesterday

January 9, 2020: Week 2, Day3

Today was a much better day. Even the delicious aroma of my husband's hot buttered popcorn did not sway me from my goal. It was, in fact, delightful and satisfying and my tummy was gratified through my nose. However, the Sea Salt Caramel Espresso ice cream was very tempting and much more difficult to pass up, but pass it up I did. 😊

Breakfast:

• 1 cup milk - 160 cal.
• 1 bowl wheat flakes with yogurt clusters cereal - 160 cal.

Lunch:

• 1 boiled egg - 70 cal.
• Salad
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese = 110 cal.
• Lemon juice and Mayonnaise = 100 cal.

Snack:

• 6 Brazil nuts - 198 cal.
• 2 pecan nut halves - 22 cal. 

Dinner:

• Salad
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese = 110 cal.
• Lemon juice and Mayonnaise = 100 cal.

Ran 2 miles
Walked 4 miles
Total steps: 12,193

~~~♥~~~

When I Fall, I Crash and Burn

January 8, 2020: Week 2, Day 2

Let’s just start by saying that today I fell of the wagon. I blew my diet. I wanted to just skip posting today, not even look back at my failure, but that would not be very honest...

The day began at 1:15 A.M... I woke up early to take down my Christmas tree and cards of the walls and pack it all away. (Yesterday, I took down and packed all the trimmings around the windows and doors, including the outside decorations.)

I actually took an hour to wake up fully, make coffee, build a fire in the wood stove, browse the internet, including checking out what my Facebook friends are up to, and just relax.

Then, I got busy de-decorating. This took a few hours.

Around 5:30 A.M., I went outside for a run up and down my block.

At 6:00, I woke my husband, and we headed out for our morning, run/walk.

Back home, I washed and folded laundry.

I spend the hour of 9:00 to 10:00 packing away the Christmas ornaments.

10:00 I ate:

• 1 boiled egg - 70 cal.
• 6 hazel nuts - 54 cal.

11:00: I picked a back of tangerines from my backyard and ate one.

• 1 tangerine - 40 cal.

12:00: After lugging all the containers of Christmas ornaments, trimmings, and tree up the latter to the loft above the garage, I took a long hot bath. Then, after my bath, I went for a mile walk. So far, so good. Right?

Now, skipping up to my fall…

By 4:00 P.M., I was pretty tired and very hungry. So, I opened a container of cottage cheese, sat down on the couch, and turned on The Donna Reed Show. By the end of one episode, the cottage cheese container was empty. Cottage cheese somehow tastes better eaten right from the carton, but as you can see, that can be a VERY dangerous thing to do.

• 1 carton of cottage cheese - 720 cal.

Next I ate another tangerine – they are so delicious, and good for you. Right? So, I ate another, after all, what’s one more tangerine?

• 2 tangerines - 80 cal.

4:30: Well, as long as I was on a roll, (Oops, this is NOT going to go well; French women would never do this, and neither would ANY slender woman.) ignoring all thoughts of what I knew I should do, I decided to have one of my all-time-favorite foods, white bread with peanut and butter!

• 1 slice white bread – 100 cal.
• Peanut butter and butter - 200 cal.

Oh, I forgot that my husband (who was currently out shopping) was planning on making hamburgers for dinner. I certainly don’t want to disappoint him…

5:30 I ate:

• 1 hamburger: bun, patty, mayonnaise, pickles, tomato, and lettuce - 540 cal.
• Handful of chips (completely unnecessary, but why not) - 70 cal.

Somewhere in there, I grabbed a cookie, after all, it’s just a small cookie.

• 1 small cookie - 53 cal.

By now, I was full – stuffed – and my stomach was aching.

I was very sleepy, so at 6:45 I went to bed and fell right to sleep.

End of day. End of story.

Tomorrow HAS to be better!
AND I can tell you right now - I won't be stepping on the scale in the morning.
~~~♥~~~

Ran 2 miles
Walked 4 miles
Total Steps:18,379

~~~♥~~~

ONE GOOD NOTE:  When a day is done, good or bad, I am always happy when I can remember exactly what I ate.

Heading into the second week...

One week down - two to go. Part of me wants these next two weeks to fly by, but because my son has to begin his spring semester on the 21st, a bigger part of me wants the next to weeks to go by slowly.

Day 1 of Week 2

Breakfast:

• 1 cup milk - 160 cal.
• 1 bowl wheat flakes with yogurt clusters cereal - 160 cal.

 Lunch:

• 1 boiled egg - 70 cal.
• 2 slices turkey sandwich meat - 70 cal.

Snack:

• 1 cup cottage cheese - 240 cal.
• 2 hazel nuts - 18 cal.

Dinner:

• Salad
• Lemon juice and mayonnaise - 100 cal.
• Sprinkled shredded cheese - 55 cal.
• 1/4 avocado - 80 cal.

Ran 2 miles
Walked 4 miles.
Total Steps: 15,504

~~~♥~~~

Step Challenge:

I have joined a step challenge this week on Garmin Connect, and I intend to claim the badge. Actually, it's an easy one because I am placed in a beginners group. Whoever has the most steps, at the end of the week, wins.

 😏

You get moved up when you exceed challenge goal by more than 10,000 steps for 2 consecutive weeks. I expect the next challenge will have tougher competitors.

Garmin Connect's highest challenge level is 500,000 in a week steps. That is a little more than 71,428 steps a day. That's between 227 and 250 miles in one week (about 35 miles a day), depending on how many steps it takes one to go one mile. Probably only long distance runners are up to that challenge.

211,142 steps is the most I have done in a week, which is about 30,163 steps a day (about 15 miles a day).

~~~♥~~~

Finished Week One of Three Week Diet

Well, I reached the end of my 1st week, and I am happy to say that I lost my first 3 pounds.😊

Breakfast:

• 1 cup milk - 160 cal.
• 1 bowl wheat flakes with yogurt clusters cereal - 160 cal.

3:00:

• 1 boiled egg - 70 cal.

4:00:

• 1 beef hot dog - 230 cal. 🤫

Dinner:

• Salad 1 beef hot dog - 230 ca
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese - 110 cal.

Ran 2 miles
Walked 5 miles
Total Steps:18,634

~~~♥~~~

Nearly Finished with My First Week

I am doing okay, as far as dieting goes - not eating extravagantly. But if you want to reach my goal for January 21, I am going to have to be much better, especially because I have not been able to get as much exercise as I had planned on doing.


At 1:00 I ate:

• 1 boiled - 70 cal.
• 6 grapes - 17 cal.

 
At 3:30 I ate:

• 1 boiled - 70 cal.
• 1 cup cottage cheese - 240 cal.

At 4:30 I ate:

• 5 macadamia nuts - 102 cal.
• 1 Brazil nut kernels - 33 cal.
• 2 pecan nut halves - 22 cal.

For dinner I ate:

• Salad
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese - 110 cal.
• 1 slice bread - 100 cal.
• Peanut butter and butter - 200 cal.

I initially planned to run/walk 8 to 10 miles a day during my 3 week diet; however, because my knee has been a bit sensitive, I adjusted my goal to just run/walk 5 miles or 10,000 steps a day. 😕

I have a Exercise Fitness Ticker, below my posts, to keep track of my 21 exercise goal.

~~~♥~~~

A Good Day Done

~ Sunrise from bridge at Bridge Street ~

At about 1:00 I ate:

•  1 boiled eggs - 70 cal.

At 3:00 I ate:

• 1 boiled eggs - 70 cal.
• 1 cup cottage cheese - 240 cal.

Snack:

• 6 Olives - 30 cal.

For Dinner I ate:

• 1 boiled eggs - 70 cal.
• 1 cup cottage cheese - 240 cal. 

Snack:

• 6 Grapes - 21 cal.

I am happy with this day. 😊

I ran 1, walked 2.5 miles - burned about 270 Calories

I have 2 weeks and 2 days left...

~~~♥~~~

Hanging in There...

Yesterday, I thought that I was doing pretty well with my diet.

I started the day eating:

• 1 cup cottage cheese - 240 cal.
• 1 slice turkey sandwich meat - 30 cal.

At about 1:00 I ate:

•  2 boiled eggs - 140 cal.

Later, but not all at once, I ate:

• 6 pretzels - 55 cal.
• 6 green olives - 30 cal.

For Dinner I ate:

• Salad (I don't worry about counting my good vegetables) 
• lemon juice and mayonnaise - 100 cal. 
• 1 boiled egg - 70 cal.

I would have considered it a good day, if I had not finished it off with this:

• 1 cup cottage cheese - 240 cal.
• 1 cup grapes - 110 cal. (I actually ate the grapes during a very sleepless night.)

My only consolation is that I walked 3.5 miles - burned about 224 Calories

I have 2 weeks and 3 days left to fulfill my goal. I hope today goes better.

~~~♥~~~

More to Life than Dieting

I know that there are more important things to worry be concerned about than my diet. So I fasted (for prayer) on Thursday. However, I did drink bone broth made form New Year’s Day prime rib dinner. God is so good. And we are blessed with so much goodness. I am thankful for all the special people in my life. I pray for you all that the LORD will bless you and keep you close to Him.

Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. ABUNDANTLY PARDON. WOW, isn’t that encouraging! The LORD is GOOD and His MERCY endures forever!

~~~♥~~~

New Year's Day Dinner

Writing about my efforts is helping me keep my mouth shut. 🙂 New Year’s Day went really well, and dinner, at 4:30, was delicious. Even so, as the evening wore on, I was tempted a couple of times to eat something more. But, then I kept reminding myself that if I am going to write about it tomorrow, I don’t want to have to say that I messed my second day. 🙄 I ate 6 green olives throughout the afternoon. For dinner, I had delicious prime rib and onions, and salad with mayonnaise and lemon juice. And that’s it. Yay. I made it through the first day of 2020! Having you all there for me helped keep me strong and on track. Thank you, my darling family, for your support. 🥰


NOTE to my two friends along for the ride:

I feel very blessed this morning to wake up and know that I have people like you who care about me. You really encourage me. I hope that you and Clara have a great day. Thank you for all your support. I love you all so very much! It is so wonderful to know you girls are there alongside of me. I can think of you when I get weak. The nice thing is, we don’t have to be hungry; we just have to make good food choices and stay away from trigger foods. Peanut butter and butter on bread is my big downfall. And I really love cottage cheese. I can eat a whole container of it in one day… and sometimes, in one sitting. It’s scary. Once that seal is broken, I’m done for. There are 3 containers of it in the refrigerator right now. My darling husband always buys it for me because he know that I love it, but he doesn’t know that I may eat it all at once; I don’t do that in front of him. I keep telling him not to buy it. But he love me, so he keeps buying it. It is a new day, and we are so blessed to have good food to eat. Thank you, LORD.

~~~♥~~~

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day 🙂

Yesterday, I was not going to eat until 6:00 but ate at 5:30. I made beef pot pie and fresh bread for the fellas, and just had to taste that pot pie. I made pie crust for Thanksgiving pies and had some left that I froze. Having never used frozen pie crust before, I was not sure how good it was. That’s my excuse. I wanted to know if it was any good, and it was – very good. My tasting added up to a small pie serving, more than it should have been. (I did walk 8 miles – that probably burned about 450 calories. I told myself it all balanced out. 😁) About an hour later, I ate a slice of that hard to pass up homemade bread with mayonnaise and two slices of deli roasted turkey. It was very filling and felt like too much to eat; however, that did not stop me from eating again. Around 8:00, I ate and tangerine, and later, a banana. So much for eating a low carb diet! 🙄 But today IS a new day, a new year. Hopefully my choices will be better today. And there you have it. I am here writing this because 🤭 I am hoping that by having to openly confess all will force me to make the right choices and make a difference, reaching my goal. 😀


This morning, my husband and I ran two miles and walked 4. I won't be able to make my 8 mile goal today because my knee is bothering me a bit. Sad as it is, I think it would be wiser not to push it. Life happens. However, I do plan to keep busy and that should add extra steps.

And tonight, prime rib is on the menu. I AM having some of that (LCHF plan allows that)! But I will pass on the mashed potatoes and gravy because I am going to be good today.😇

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! 😀

~~~♥~~~