Day 5/ Week 1

Today has been a different day...
I got up and had breakfast and waited... waited... and waited...
I was waiting for my son to get up and/or my daughter to arrive.
Well I decided I couldn't wait any longer... so I started my work without either.
 My dd did eventually arrive but our plans didn't fully work out so had to go to Plan B.
My son finally got up and he met me outside in the barn where we had about 2 hours of work to do.  Once finished (he did an amazing job and had great ideas) we came in for a later lunch than I like to have...I had kept my water intake up while working outside..

BUT while I made my lunch... my son made pizza.

I am a pizza fanatic... It took everything within me not to have a piece - and boy did I want a piece!
My daughter had some and later my son had a friend over and they ate more... each time I opened the fridge I had to move it or get something beside it and OH MY it was difficult not to "just have a sliver". 
I was full, I didn't need to eat it... I kept telling myself "how am I going to explain this in my blog" and I could just take a piece and not count it or not say anything but I know I wouldn't be happy with myself and would be very mad about giving in.   I had very satisfying food.  My body got what it needed and I knew I would feel crappy if I ate the pizza.  You see I am sensitive to wheat - it makes me bloated and icky.. I don't like that feeling so I am trying to completely avoid bread... also tomatoes bother my stomach and give me acid reflux - so the sauce would have caused me grief.  All these things were going through my mind and YES I can say that I never had any of it... not even a sliver!
After I write this I am going to bed (I am aware that there are 2 more slices still in the fridge but my son will take them in his lunch tomorrow).
I told him not to make pizza around me and he said I needed to have some will power... I said it was like dangling a beer in front of an alcoholic... its not as easy as "will power".

After the barn work I went to town and later I got a nice dinner all ready... I ate dinner a little later than I would have liked but sometimes farming causes that. Our cows broke through a gate and we had to fix it and put them back on the right side of the fence.  Of course they don't do this at a convenient time LOL

I am still pleased with my day and even hubby has been stepping on the scale and he's been losing weight too.  
It is historical that if I lose weight my hubby gains and vice versa... but I think this time we have broken the spell - we are losing at the same time.

Well, part of losing weight is getting enough sleep (which I usually lack) so I better get myself off to bed.
Until tomorrow...

Day 4/ Week 1

Today was WI day... Normally I begrudge this day cause I know I haven't been following protocol.. but today I KNEW I was going to be down.  I could feel it (and I stepped on the scale the day before).  Yes the day before... my battery died on my scale over night so I couldn't weigh myself this morning.  Go ahead and laugh! I am! LOL

WI was funny... I was given my 'card' and when I got up to the scale knowing I had done well the gal says..somethings wrong.. this can't be you.. I said Oh, are you sure cause I know I did okay!? ... Then I realized that the gal who handed out our "cards" must have handed me the one that belonged to the girl behind me.  She had got them mixed up.   I said "hey either I did real good or she did awesome!" LOL  All of us had a good laugh cause the gal whose card got mixed up with mine (and is very humorous!) is quite a bit larger than I.

We traded cards and all was well... the meeting was good too.  I got 3 "bravo" stickers for my steps.  I had reached 3 more towns since my last count.   There were several weight loss awards too. 
I am "re losing" my weight so I don't get awards at this time for losing.  If I would have left WW (not gone to meetings for awhile) and then came back that would be different.  But when I have been in the same seat for several years and gained while sitting there - yeah I don't get awards for losing the same weight again.

Really, I don't want any awards for losing it until I have actually got my 30 lbs off (where I left off before gaining again!)... then any weight loss after that I am willing to get awards for.
If I got something now I would feel like I would have to explain myself.  Although there are new people attending and don't know how long I have warmed the seat at the meeting.  There are also people attending that are life timers and DO know how long I have been warming the seat.. and have seen me lose the weight and put it back on.

In conclusion to today, I guess I should tell you how much I am down :)

I lost 5.7 pounds!

My goal is to lose 10 by cruise time... I have 6 more weeks to lose roughly 4 lbs... but if I lose more - HEY who's complaining?

Day 3/ Week 1

I had a good day today food & fluid wise but not so good emotionally.

I had a lamb that I have been trying to "make better" for the past 4 weeks and this morning I found her in respiratory distress and had to euthanize her.    That is the part of farming that I really, really don't like.
I will move on because I know there was nothing I could do and doing what I did, did her a favor.  She is no longer suffering

So, after saying that, the rest of the day went much better and I buried myself in paperwork... which meant I sat at a desk a good part of the day.  Good that I got lots done but not so good that I didn't move much.  I didn't make my 10,000 steps today even though lately I have been averaging 12,500 steps in a day.  I will make it up tomorrow as I have a bunch of barn work to do.

I am proud of myself cause I got informed that we were "eating out" at lunch.  I had my lunch already prepared and took it with me.  I ate mine while others ordered and ate theirs.  It was at a fast food/gas station so no one pays attention that you aren't ordering or eating what they have there.

Tomorrow is WI day for me.  I am actually excited about it.  I will let you know how it went tomorrow evening... if your lucky maybe even  sooner :)

Day 2/ Week 1

Yesterday went well...
I drowned myself in water and have been following my food menu quite well.
I am not hungry and haven't been craving any chocolate, Skinny cow or the like... this is when I KNOW my head is in the right space.  I do have these things in my fridge/freezer but I have a goal... when I have a goal (and I am desperate) I stick to it.
Oh I have had thoughts... but my goal leaps in front of me and says "nope, no thx". 
I haven't been really challenged... cause I have been eating at home every day... Thursday will be a challenge as we go out for lunch - its a given (long story).  So depending on where we go as to what choice I will make.
I am not going to lie, so far I do step on the scale every morning, not to obsess, but to make sure I am on the right track.  To be aware of what I am doing is working.  Morning is the ONLY time I step on the scale... and it keeps me motivated.  I will only post my weight when I do official WI.
I do know that weight fluctuates all day long - you weigh heavier at night than in the morning... blah blah blah...
I am feeling pretty good about all this - but I will admit I have only been on this for 2 days (strictly) and it feels like a month already. 
Time to get to back to work... my desk needs clearing of a pile of paperwork.. which means I will have to be double sure I take some time out for a long walk today.

The beginning

The beginning of my 7 week journey:
Stats:
Weight (official weight on May 16 @ a WW meeting)

• 181.4

Next WI will be May 30th

Measures: as of today May 28

• waist 40
• Hips 42
• Bust 43.5

Wow, I am square LOL
I could measure more places but I think it would overwhelm me and I want to keep this as simple as possible.  Those are the important spots - and I guarantee the bust will disappear first!

Okay now for the real thing... what I actually look like... the before pic

Move more?   I LOVE this... I was reading an article this morning and a guy commented about the partial  definition of  "Glutes: non-weight bearing devices"

Cruisin' motivation

Long story... kinda.  Back before Christmas I mentioned to my hubby that "next" year (2013) is our 25th wedding anniversary.  Hubby quite likes watching the Gold Rush shows on TV and has tried a little gold panning himself around our area - for fun.   So I mentioned to him "why don't we take an Alaskan cruise?" I know he would love the ruggedness of it (shore excursions), the glaciers, the GOLD PANNING...

 BUT

 and yes its a BIG but.. timing is key.  If and when we take holidays is usually in the winter when no field work needs to be done (we are farmers if you haven't guessed).  Alaska isn't a place I want to be in the winter and Cruise ships don't run then either; end of August is usually the best time for us. 

BUT

 - yes another BIG but.   Hubby wasn't so sure he wanted to take that much time away - well actually depending on the weather depends on when we crop and if we go away in the summer its usually a last moment decision... a Cruise you have to book and stick to it.  So I had kind of all but given up the idea.

THEN... around March (or was it April?) I got a message from my cousins hubby.  He said "Hey, its our 25th anniversary coming up this summer and I would like to surprise my wife (my cousin) with a Cruise to Alaska... you two want to come?"

WELL... My hubby and my cousin's hubby get along very well (Two rednecks in a pod)... so I broached the subject with my hubby again.  Long story short, the answer was YES.

SO... with the cruise booked... for a week in July. We had to do the math in regards to when the ships sail  and estimate approximately when cropping would be getting done (gotta go between cropping) and what other things are scheduled around that time on top of arranging around my cousins schedule...yep it was interesting but we managed. 

SO...

That brings me to why I have posted this here....

 I have 7 weeks...

7 weeks to:

• get into shape
• lose weight

I don't want to look like a beached whale beside the pool on the ship... ;P

I have set out a plan... with a goal which I believe I can reach.

  Today is Day 1/week 1
I am determined to lose at least 10 lbs before we leave. I think that is reasonable.   That is 1.43 lbs a week.
Over long term I know I would not be able to keep that up and I shouldn't keep that up cause its unhealthy to lose fast (easy go, easy come back on).

So I have pulled out my Eat Clean book with its menu plans and will follow it for 1-2 weeks... All the while keeping track of my portions and tracking in my WW app what I eat and drink. Then I will switch to the WW menus that they give each week on 3 different topics. It's for members just starting. You get to hear about it during the meeting after the main meeting.  That's 5 weeks covered... then I may switch back to the Eat Clean menu. 

My plan is; I want my body to keep guessing and not get lazy... All the while I have cut out pop and foods that my body is sensitive to.  Recently I try to cook fresh and not out of a can or use prepared food processed food (unless its my own healthy canning) - and we have, over the past 3 weeks, severely decreased the amount of times we go out to restaurants and fast food places. ( hubby lost weight and I gained weight when we made this change... go figure)

One good thing though is I seem to be getting the determination back and drive to get this done...
I'm trying not to look at how far I have to go but just making sure I'm following the plan I've set for myself... Everything else should follow in succession right?

And I know what you are thinking... NO I am not going to "pig out" once I get on the cruise.  We will be exploring so much stuff that I will get lots of exercise in and they have an awesome diabetic menu... yes, I use their diabetic menu.  It keeps me in check and the food tastes great!

Last year when I went to Europe for 3 weeks I lost weight... we walked, and walked, and walked, and drank lots of water and although it seemed we ate a lot it was small portions and I never went for seconds.  I also didn't eat foods I knew my body is sensitive too.

So this is all doable!  I just have to keep my mind in the right head space.

This is what we have to look forward to... that should be incentive.. yes? ;)
Island Princess heading to Alaska