11 days?

Really? Since I last blogged? How time flies when you're having fun. I've been, umm, less diet oriented the last few days, but not making horrible choices either. I wouldn't be surprised if I hadn't put on a few pounds though.

Right now, the plan is this: Next Saturday I'll weigh in. Then I'm back on the wagon big time, and I'll accept whatever weight gain I have and deal with it. Until then, I'm just doing my own thing, having a little of what I enjoy here and there. No weighing, no guilt. I've got the opportunity to enjoy my extended family and the food that we all count as special at this time of year, and I'm going to enjoy it all, in moderation.

I had an awesome Christmas - my daughter had a blast, and I had a blast watching her. Really, that's the funnest part of Christmas for me. I'm not particularly religious (and if I was I'd probably lean more towards pagan than Christian) but I do enjoy a special time of year when I get to see my family and live it up during the darkest days.

So there it is - a quick update. It's hard to get on the computer while there are so many people around, so updates will be a bit sporadic, but I'm reading a ton of other blogs and keeping my goals at least in my sightline.

I've also been able to give some thought to a New Years resolution. I don't usually bother, but this one I think is key. More about that next time I get a few minutes to write.

HYC Update...

And even this is a day late...

And I'm typing it in stages. Busy has not been the word for the last week, I have not stopped since last Thursday. My paretns are here and I'm doing OK, food wise. I've fallen into a fairly good routine and managed to lose another pound last week. That's pretty good since I usually abandon all pretense of good eating habits when my parents get here and bring all kinds of goodies, so I'm considering that a voctory. The goodies are still in the cupboard, ready to be tasted at Christmas. The hardest thing with this arrangement is remembering that Christmas does not last a month, just because my family is here.

The other good thing I've leanred this week? I've learned that even out of my usual routine, I can still stick to my plan, just a bit more a rough version that previously. Usually I'm someone for whom a routine is essential. This last week I've actually been flexible.

Things to work on this week? Exercise. I need more of it. I'm pretty active at the moment but I could use some formal exercise. Other than that? I'm actually doing well. For a crazy month, that is!

Just a quick post...

I'm still alive, I've just been running around like crazy. I managed to pull out another loss this week - this time 1lb.

I'll be back with more later, but I didn't want to disappear :)

I'm makin' a list...

Actually, it's not a nice Christmassy list, it's a list of stuff that has to be done before tomorrow. It should be easy to keep the blahs away today - I have way too much to do to be mopey today. Nothing huge (like years past - when I was working I found it impossible to keep the house clean) but enough finishing touches to have a day of work.

I've already exercised and gone to the store for the last few bits I need. I plan to sit down now and have some breakfast, and then get to work. Yes, it's past 10am and I've yet to eat breakfast. There goes the super organised image I was trying to project.

But the most important thing is that the blahs are gone, at least temporarily. Ask me tonight when I collapse into bed wheter that's going to last...

HYC Weekly round up

So here I am again - and I'm not sure what's going on. I'm sticking to my plan fine, but for some reason I'm just not feeling it this week. I've been losing weight, but it doesn't totally feel like it yet. Sure, my jeans, which I could barely slide on when I started this, let alone button, are actually starting to look baggy on me, but something in my mind just isn't working as far as this goes.

Does anyone else have this feeling sometimes? I feel like I'm just going through the motions - like I'm some kind of diet fraud or something. The scale continues to move in a vaguely downward motion, but part of me thinks that it's just that the scale is broken, and that my jeans have somehow stretched - that I'm just not really achieving what it seems like I'm achieving.

Maybe I'm just in an off mood these last few days - this weekend I was so thrilled with myself for reaching the 20 lbs lost mark, and the last few days I've been in denial that it's actually happening. That and I'm feeling a ton of stress from other areas of my life right now.

On a plus note, my parents arrive Thursday. It's going to create some diet issues for a month or so, but I'm also going to be able to get a ton of good dinner ideas from my mum, who is an awesome cook and who knows nutrition inside out. Plus, you know, my parents will be here - that makes everything a little better.

So if I can just hold out the next few days, maybe my mood will improve after that.

So there's my big HYC goal for this week - stick to it and hang in there!

Phew!

I've finally got three minutes to sit down and actually write something. I've had snowy kids in and out of the house all morning - we ended up with nearly 6 inches of snow yesterday so the neighborhood kids are in the front yard exhausitng our snow supply - we've already built a snowman (as you can see above) and had many many snowball fights, and frequent breaks with demands for hot chocolate. My kitchen feels like a cafe.

I was pretty surprised, actually - in the last few years my threshold for staying out in the snow has been measured in minutes. I'd shovel for a few minutes, and then give up for a half hour. Yesterday I shovelled for half hour straight and still had time to help gather snow for the snowman and throw a few snowballs. I've already said that next year ew might attempt a day trip to a local-ish ski resort - I used to love to ski but I'm still a little too round to do it right now.

So now I get some time to chill, watch some football, and have my Sunday "day off". I've noticed something about my days off lately. When I first started this, I would crave a list of stuff and make sure I got it on Sunday. Lately, I've just had a few things. This sunday, I didn't even care if we had pizza or not when it was suggested. There will always be pizza - the world isn't going to run out of pizza anytime soon.

Today really is the calm before the storm too. My parents are flying in from the UK on Thursday to stay with us for a month. I have a ton of cleaning to do, and some planning as far as workouts - I won't be able to use the living room anymore. I'm not so worried about food - my mom actually cooks ten times halthier than I do (my dad controls his diabetes by diet alone), so calories at dinner time won't be a problem. The problem is going to be persuading myself that this isn't a month of treats, and that Christmas isn't going to be a month long. If I can do that, I'm golden.

Let it snow!

Especially since I really have no place to go this weekend. We're chilling out on the couch this morning watching the snow fall. The Izlet is excited beyond words, but I keep reminding her that it's probably not going to amount to much, even though it's supposed to snow all day.

Not only are we cuddled up in the living room watching the snow, but I weighed in today with a 3lb loss. Where it came from I have no idea, since I didn't do fabulously this week - I only worked out three times, but I'll take it.

This means that I'm just 2 pounds away from meeting my end of year goal. I've been considering another goal, but I don't want to get attached to it. I'd love to get to the end of the year with less than 100 lbs left to lose. Since, as of my weigh in this morning it would only be 4 more pounds, I'm going to aim for it, but not be too upset if I don't make it. It would be a pretty cool way to start the new year though. I've not had less than 100 pounds to lose for at least 2 years now (ugh - how pathetic does that sound?). 4 pounds over the next 3 1/2 weeks is a bit much when you remember that Christmas is right in the middle of that, but it might be some good motivation to stay away from the cookies.

I'm back!

Back with a vengeance. Apparently all I needed to do was spend a day miserable because I binged. Hopefully next time I start flagging I can skip the feeling lousy and sick part and just re energise.

Yesterday was a perfect food, water and exercise day. I'm going to plan on repeating it today, and I'm actually excited about repeating it today - earlier this week I just was not feeling it, but now I seem to be back in the stride of things.

I really have no desire to repeat Tuesday's suckiness, eating wise. I ate so much junk at lunch that day that I didn't have any calories over for dinner. I ended up eating some cheddar crackers and a handful of shrimp for dinner. It was miserable. But, I have to say, my hubby was right there for me. When he got home from work I confessed what I had done (not too difficult to do since half the leftover pizza in the fridge was missing). He looked at me and asked me why I had felt the need to do that. I cataloged my generally crappy day, and after that he asked me if eating like that at lunch had made me feel better. That was the point I burst into tears (I'm such a wuss) and admitted that it had actually made things worse. He immediately helped me restructure dinner so that he and the Izlet had something to eat and I could pick at something low cal, and reminded me that I couldn't "take the rest of the night off" because I screwed up.

I also have to admit that if he had done that to me in the past I'd have killed him. Or at least cried a lot. But this is what I've asked him to do, and he's being my biggest cheerleader. Even though he weighs 155 on a heavy day. We look like the number 10 when we stand next to each other. When we met I could wear his jeans. He's been with me for 13 years and stuck with me throughout. He's awesome.

So heres to back on track. Oh, and cleaning. I have a ton of laundry to do today, and a guest room to sort out since my parents arrive next Thursday. Eek!

Of course....

Of course I just can't say "let's pretend I've had the binge and regretted it and move on from there". Apparently, I have to actually go ahead and have the binge, and really regret it.

So I had the binge. I regretted it. And you know what? Today I'm totally back on track. I've already exercised, I've had an awesome breakfast, I've made plans for the rest of the day that make it awesome. Ooooh - too much awesome there, but hey - it is what it is.

And speaking of awesome, last inght I got a new phone. I got a new phone because my hubby's phone finally broke. It had been on the fritz for six months, and he had been putting off making a decision about going to a different network. You see, Verizon has been sneaking new charges onto our account - an upgraded text plan (at double the price) for me, a text plan for hubby (who hates to text), without us actually requesting them. But in our area, Verizon does have the better network - just like the stupid ads.

So yesterday we made the decision, and now we have a new network. One that means I can get a iPhone when I get a new job! But until then, I found an adorable little phone that's a thousand times cuter than my old one, and it was $30!

And the other awesome thing?

Kaitlin, over at Everyday Grace has given me:

Isn't it cute? Thanks, Kaitlin - you're awesome! It's good to have blogger friends!

So the rules are as follows:

The Rules & Regulations are as follows:

Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass the award on to five most deserving bloggers.Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author and the name of the blog from whom s/he has received the award. I got this award from Kaitlin.

Each Superior Scribbler must display the award on his/her blog, and link to The Scholastic Scribe, which explains the award.Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.Each blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr Linky List. That way, they'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives this prestigious honor.

And my fave five? (Apart from Kaitlin of course, since I can't send it back to her)

Lyn, over at Escape from Obesity - She's such an inspiration! A smart woman who has taken charge of her life.

Chibi - who is an awesome, entertaining writer - one of the bloggers who makes my day with a new post (and cheers me on - I love that!)

Chubby Chick - I don't even know your real name but I stumbled on your blog about 6 weeks ago and it's been a huge inspiration. It was one of the first weight loss blogs I found, and it keeps me going.

Little Miss Fatty Pants - how can I not love someone whose favorite word is awesome? Another blog I check daily.

Amy at Operation Lose It - She's so active! Another inspiring blog. She's doing what I need to be doing.

Phew! So there you go. Inspiration all over the place :)

HYC Check in Tuesday...

Hmmm - I'm really not sure what to write about this week.

I'm eating OK, I'm staying within my calories, I'm still kind of on track. I mean, I'm staying within my calories but I'm not making the best choices. A big handful of M&M's and a slice of pumpkin pie yesterday are not the best choices, even if I have the calories. Especially when I had the M&M's for breakfast.

BUT:

I'm just not feeling it. I'm not get-up-and-go about it like I have been. I'm worried that this is going to turn into an epic slide, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to stop it.

So here goes. I have to recommit. I'm going to just pretend I've already had the horrible binge and move on from here.

At least half an hour of exercise today. Sticking to the plan I've written down today. Every morning I write down a plan for food, counting calories to make a good total. Today I won't swap things out as I go. The plan I write is perfectly good. I should stick with it.

If I can do that day by day for a week, I'll consider that a success.