Starting out strong!

We really need to go shopping so I have a better choice of healthy foods to eat.

Well, it snowed last night and I really do NOT feel like driving in this stuff so I have to do the best with what we have at home.

Here is a pic of my lunch for today:  cup a soup (1 point), 34 grams of Healthy Pop popcorn (3 points) and a pepper jack cheese stick (1 point).  If I went shopping, the soup would be homeade, but this was an ok substitution.

What healthy lunches can you share?  I'd love to hear about them!

A New Year: A New Me!

For my birthday my mom gave me a book by Chantel Hobbs entitled, The One Day Way.  At first I was a little hurt that she got me a weight loss book.  I mean, what is she trying to tell me?  After a little more thought, I realized that she was actually right on in gifting that to me.  I am a collector of many things.  Two of my favorite collections are books on weight loss/fitness and fitness DVDs.  So...after much complaining I started reading the book.

Chantel Hobbs lost 200 pounds and has kept it off for over 9 years.  That, to me, is phenomenal!  It makes the 50 I would like to lose sound a lot more do-able!  I am not finished with the book, but am highlighting and really taking what she says to heart.  She claims you need 3 things to successfully lose weight:

1. faith 
2. food and 
3. fitness.  

You need faith to believe in your ability to change, food to fuel your body, and fitness to commit to being the best you can be.  I am ready to make a significant change!


Here's what I have done so far:

• I started sunshine journal where I jot down what I have done to positively make a change in my body.  I think starting today, I will post that on my blog.  These are not necessarily earth-shattering events, just small positive steps that I need to celebrate.
• I organized all our family dvds.  In doing so, I found that I have 29 fitness dvds!  Sure do!  All different.  Some are actually multiple dvd sets so I actually have more than 29!
• I decided that my new year's resolution would be to try (that means actively get off the couch and do) each dvd in the year 2014.  I will be blogging about each one.  This is a totally do-able thing!
• I went to visit Trudy Treadmill, my long-lost friend and started Couch Potato to 5K today.  Week 1, Day 1 down!
• I tracked my food (even the "bad" stuff) on my Weight Watchers app.

Ok.  So, that is my start.  This is a new year and if I want to make changes, I have to try some new things!  

Happy New Year to you!  What are you doing different this year?

:) Carey

Adding activity

This year I have a new position at school which allows me much more time in the evenings and weekends than I am used to!  Yeah!!!  Unfortunately, I have not been using it to clean the house or redecorate.  Instead, I have fallen back to my old habits of sitting on my butt.

The past two and a half years have been super stressful for me.  I was teaching full time, working part time, on every committee imaginable at school, and taking 9 graduate credits toward a new degree.  So...when I was finally able to relax at about 11:00 p.m. at night, I did so by reading a book and sitting in a recliner.  This usually lasted all of 10 minutes and then I fell asleep.

Fast forward to this year when I have that new job, no part time job, no committees after school, and no grad classes.  This equals a lot more free time.  Sitting on my butt in the recliner from 5-11 is NOT how I need to spend that time.

So...I started adding exercise this week.  I started visiting my old pal Trudy Treadmill again and we are starting to bond.  We are taking it slow, but every little bit improves our relationship.

I got on the scale this week and was up .1.  Not anything to beat myself up about for sure, but I had been hoping for a little more thanks to the exercise component.  Data doesn't lie though.  Even though I added the exercise, I did have 2 days when I REALLY fell off the food wagon.  Exercise can only do so much for all those extra calories.

I am looking forward to next week's loss.  I will continue my relationship with Trudy and follow up with WW online.  Slow and steady, slow and steady...