Lesli's Changing Life at 40 Journal

[Lesli54]

Here I am.......again. Originally, I began this journey in March of 2005 and was successful at losing about 42 lbs. My original journal was "Lesli's Live Long and Strong WISH Journal." http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=761361 Things were going pretty well and I was learning to enjoy life again. I had energy, both mentally and physically! Clothing fit well for the first time in a long time. Plus, I was able to get alot accomplished and stay on top of things better. I wasn't hungry, got plenty of water, felt rested, and could make it through sticky situtions such as a buffet or party. Stress was so much easier to handle and I could simply enjoy day to day life with my family. That is the life that I long to have again.

So why did I let it go? Not to make excuses, but much changed after my car accident and it took a long time to gain my strength and energy back. Add to it the stress of a college student and the inability to be very active, well, let's just say that the weight creeps back on. Fortunately, I have regained most of my energy and I am now ready to bump up my strength. I see women all the time anymore who are changing their lives at 40 and look great in few years. If they can do it, then I can too.

For those who don't know me, I am a mother of 4: DD20, DD18, DD10, & DS5; with a wonderful DH, who supports me in all that I do. Trust me, that was very helpful the first time around on my weight loss journey. I do alot of volunteer work, help DH with our business, keep track of everything in the family (maybe I should charge to be a Personal Assistant ), and I try to engage in my favorite hobby, genealogy, where I can. Did I mention that we are still trying to update our home, which also takes much of my time since I am the main "contractor". So let's just add weight loss and planning better meals to the list, right?

Currently, I weigh 224.5 lbs and plan to get down to 150. When I get there, I will decide how much more I would like to lose and still be at a healthy weight. Last fall, I saw 186 on the scale and I would love to see that again soon. My heaviest was 230 and I promised myself that I wouldn't go there again. It's getting dangerously close, so now is the time to get back on track.

I thought that by starting a new journal, it would be like making a new commitment. Over the last few years, I have learned many things, of which the most important is: I have to hold myself accountable for my choices. Being honest with my food choices, exercise choices, stress management, and quality of life choices made a huge difference in the amount of weight I lost the first time around, not to mention how much more I enjoyed life. Also, it is very essential to have support, such as those the WISH board.

Most people say that you should wait until after the Holidays, but I think that I will just keep making an excuse not to start. Now is as good a time as any.

Currently, my goals are:
1. Lose 10 lbs by year end
2. Increase my water intake
3. Increase my exercise

This time around, I am focusing on changing my life for the rest of my life. It won't always be easy, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Check back from time to time, as I update my goals and make some great progress!

 

[toystoryduo]

Welcome Back Lesli!

I think it's great that you are making your goals now and not waiting until after the holidays. Your goals look good. You CAN do it!

I understand what you mean when you said you should charge for being a Personal Assistant. My DH owns his own business that I help him with, I homeschool, and keep things flowing somewhat rotfl: ) smoothly at home. It would be great if these were all paid positions!

Hope you have a great week! Welcome Back!

 

[Lesli54]

Thanks for the warm welcome back, Toystoryduo!

Yesterday was quite productive, although I wasn't very "active". I did manage to get alot done at my desk (still a ways to go), so my office is looking much better. Also, I kept up on things such as dishes. DH and DD8 got alot done outside, so things are shaping back up around here. So, although I didn't move around alot, I am fine with the fact that I was still productive. One thing that I have found is that if most of my house is in order then I reduce stress greatly and have tons of time and energy to spend on other projects or relaxation.

Water yesterday, wasn't so good, but I did try to take in more fluids throughout the day. I used to be so good with water, but when I was unable to move around as much, I drank less and then I got out of the habit. Fortunately, water is my favorite drink, so I think I can get it back on track.

Food yesterday was: Breakfast - 1 egg over easy, 1 english muffin, 1 c grapefruit juice, and some ham. Lunch - 1 c. cheesy broccoli soup and a few oyster crackers. Lemonade. Later, I ate about 6 SweetTarts and a handful of Cinnamon Sun Chips. I think there might have been a few nuts in there as well. For supper, we went to Pizza Hut. I ate 1 bread stick and 2 slices of taco pizza, plus drank a glass of Pepsi. Not as bad as things have been before, but I forgot to ask them to cut the pizza into 10 slices (the old way), so now they cut it into 8 which really makes 2 slices a bit much. But I didn't eat anything before going to bed and that is a plus!

The scale is the same today, so at least I didn't gain more.

Today's food plan:
Breakfast - 1 c. cream of wheat, ham, 1 c. grapefruit juice
AM Snack - 1/2 c. nuts
Lunch - 1 slice taco pizza
PM Snack - yogurt & fresh pineapple
Supper - spaghetti, 1 slice cheese bread, & salad

I have found in the past that an AM snack is essential to my weight loss and to staying on track with food for the day. Right now I am clearing out the freezer and the cupboards so that I can start all over with better foods. That should be in a few days. Until then, I will get rid of the completely unhealthy foods and add fresh fruits and veggies to the semi-healthy foods.

Goals for the day:
1. 48 oz water
2. 30 minutes of exercise broken into 15 minute 'breaks'
3. No eating after 7:30 (drink herbal tea, if I want something)

That's it for now. Gotta go tackle the bookwork, the bills, and mudding of some walls that I want to start painting. Everyone have a great day! Drink lots of Water!

 

[Lesli54]

Well, I was down .5 lbs today! I will take what I can get.

Yesterday went ok for a first day back kind of thing. I did get a little side tracked but managed to pull it back together by the end of the day. All things went as planned for food until I went shopping. I was getting hungry and kept trying to tell myself that I could have my PM snack when I got home.......but, the peanut M&M's got me. Fortunately, it was a small bag and it could have been much worse. For supper, I had to change things a bit to accomodate schedules. So I had a Manwich and some potato salad. I made some SF chocolate fudge pudding for the kids and had a sm spoon of that. Still not too bad. Then later, I started munching on Cinnamon Sun Chips. Fortunately, I didn't have too many and I switched to a cup of herbal tea, which really satisfied me even more for the night. It is a great way to finish of the day and add a sense of relaxation. Water was about 30oz. and dedicated exercising didn't happen. Although, I was up moving around alot and did not sit much through the day. Personally, I think that I had a lot of little victories yesterday and I can do it again!

Today started off early and I didn't get a chance to get breakfast before I left, so now I am tyring to turn around my day. When we did stop, I got a 6pk of mini chocolate hostess donettes and ate them all. Later, I picked up some Cheetos to go along with my Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sub from Subway (6", tomato, mayo, cucumber, gr peppers, & sweet onion sauce). These are the things that happen when I dont' eat properly in the morning.

Today's food plan (what is left):
PM snack - yogurt & fresh pineapple
Supper - Scrambled eggs & waffles (hopefully. I will be out so if we run late, then it will be something to go and I will try to make it reasonable.)

Goals for the day:
1. 48 oz water
2. 15 min of dedicated exercise
3. No eating after 7:30pm

Well, I better get going. There is much to do and my plans for the day keep getting changed, so I better do what I can. Everyone have a great day!

 

[AlyssinWonderland]

Lesli- Hello! I'm glad to see another new Journal on here! Lots of ppl already have 40+ pages to read so it's hard to catch up! LOL Sounds like your goals are good! I like that you decided to start now and not wait til after the hoildays. I'm impressed that you could make fudge and only eat a spoonfull. I'd be in so much diet trouble if I tired to do that...No will power at all, so I'm super impressed! And down .5 is awesome! Good Job! I'll root for you!

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi Lesli,

You are doing a great job! I think you definitely should celebrate each victory no matter how big or how small.

Keep up the good work and have a great day today!

 

[postesf]

Hi Lesli! Welcome!!! Sounds like you have a plan in place. You can do this!!! Congrats on the loss! I'm the same! I'll take whatever I can get!

Hope you have a great day!
Stacie

 

[Lesli54]

Thanks for the warm welcomes and the support! It really helps.

So yesterday wasn't too good in terms of food up through lunch and it didnt' get any better. I started to get a headache in the early afternoon. Part because of the change in weather pressure and part because I hadn't eaten well and had too little fluids. After laying down a bit, it got better and I was doing fine until I went to run errands yet again. For supper, I had a qtr lbr w/ cheese, fries (yes, all of them), and a tea. At the grocery store, some little debbie swiss rolls jumped into the picture and I ate them later. Then a spoon of pudding, then there was the cup of eggnog w/Bailey's, and later a piece of cheese. Water was barely 12 oz. The sad thing is, that I hardly drank anything yesterday. Yes, I ate after the cut off and I didn't get that exercise. Yes, I used the excuse that I was too busy. But, I am being accountable and honest with myself and there will be good and bad days. Fortunately, this day was better than it could have been. The up side? I "reminded" myself of what poor choices can do to me. I did manage to get to bed at a decent time and get some real sleep, also I remined myself that I need to reconsider again what I could choose at fast food restaurants and still be within reason. I know that it is possible to navigate fast food, but you have to have a plan of attack first.

Today? More errands, DH wants to go to lunch, Girl Scout planning for an event tomorrow, and bookwork. It will be busy, but I am ready to keep on track of my journey.

Food plan for the day:
Breakfast: 1 egg omelet w/cheese, 1 slice wheat toast w/jelly (no butter), 1 c grapefruit juice
AM snack: yogurt
Lunch: Probably Panera's - 1 bowl French Onion soup, 1 3" piece baguette, tea (that is usually enough to fill me up)
PM snack: grapes
Supper: Not sure, probably will clean out more of the freezer

Goals:
1. 48 oz water (I am going to nail this)
2. 15 min exercise (run around the house, stretch, belly dance, anything, just do it)
3. No eating after 7:30pm

Well, that is it for the moment. I am going to post my weight loss goals and mini goals, now that I have them figured out. Time to tackle the day.

 

[Lesli54]

I have broken down my weight loss into what I believe is manageable goals. Last time, I did this and was quite successful.

I started out this time at 224.5 and want to get down to 150, which is 74.5 lbs to lose. Based on the following plan of how much weight I would like to take off by certain dates, I should by within sight of my goal before I get to WDW next year!

10 lbs lost - by New Year's Eve
30 lbs lost - by Sr Night for BasketBall (end of February)
42 lbs lost - by Easter (March)
55 lbs lost - by DAR St Conference (end of April)
60 lbs lost - by Graduation of DD18 & Trip to Rome (middle of May)
65 lbs lost - by WDW trip (first of June)
74.5 lbs lost - by possible trip to DC (early July)


Now for the mini goals which I will do in increments of 5lbs lost, expect for the first one. The rewards for each goal is something that I would like to have or do, but will never be clothing unless it is a very special item such as a shawl. I don't believe in rewarding myself with clothing, only because it is too easy to tell yourself that you can't buy something until it fits or you buy it always trying to get into it and get frustrated when none of those plans work. Instead, I feel that the purchase of clothing is just part of the weight loss (the cost if you will). If you don't look good in it, get something that makes you look and feel good and immediately get rid of the old. I have backslid into bigger sizes because I was wanting to save money until I got down a few sizes. Not too mention that when you feel you look great, then you have the energy to move forward and realize that your goals are achievable.

Mini goals:
first 4.5 lbs lost - Cut my hair, updated style
second 5 lbs lost - Get a new makeover on my makeup

When I reach these goals, I will update.

 

[toystoryduo]

Your goals look really good, Lesli! You CAN accomplish each and every one of them.

Hope you have a great Thursday!

 

[Lesli54]

Well, I am calling yesterday a success! Plus, I am down another lb.! That is a total of 1.5 since I started so only 3 lbs til my mini goal!

Food went pretty much as planned. I didn't get my AM snack so I ate it for my PM snack. Lunch and breakfast as planned. Supper was 1/2 of a super thin crust frozen pizza. Not great, but I drank water instead of pop and was very happy not to feel over stuffed. I didn't miss the pop either. Water for the day was about 36 oz. - getting much better. Yes, I did eat after 7:30. I got hungry and grabbed a few slices of deli ham, which led to a cup of eggnog w/Bailey's, but then I stopped before I started devouring the kitchen without thinking. I did a little stretching and alot of running around. Not true dedicated exercise, but at least I am becoming more active. All in all, I felt good for the day and I managed to go to bed at a decent time and get plenty of rest.

Today's food plan:
Breakfast - 1 egg over easy, 1/2 slice 7 gr toast w/jelly, ham, 1 c. grapefruit juice
AM snack - 1 sm chunk of cheese (anything to keep from mindless eating)
Lunch - PB sandwich, 1/2 grab bag of BBQ chips
PM snack - grapes
Supper - Turkey dinner buffet (turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn pudding, the rest I will pick carefully, and leave space on my plate)

Goals for the day:
1. 48 oz water
2. No eating after 8pm (supper is later tonight)

I am doing alot of running getting ready for the GS event tonight. Potatoes are made, turkey is cooking, gravy is in the process, tea is made. Now I have to make another dish, haul it to the church, decorate, organize, and hopefully breath somewhere. Maybe, I can run off everything I eat today?

Better get going, my mom is stopping by over lunch and I have lots to do. Talk to you all later, and remember to drink that water!

 

[MIdanceMom]

Welcome back Lesli!

It looks like you have some great goals that are obtainable. Being accountable is a key. If you are having trouble getting all your water in, try getting a sports bottle with a straw. You will be amazed how easy it is to drink those oz. through a straw.

I am glad to hear that you have recovered from your accident, and Congrats on the 1.5 pound loss.

Keep up the great work.
Beth

 

[Lesli54]

Thanks for stopping by Beth. The water tip sounds great. My main problem is reminding myself that there actually is time to "stop and drink the water".

Well, I am down another .5 lbs! I am going to take all that I can get because at least I am seeing the numbers go down and that is a great feeling

Thursday went pretty well. Water as about 46oz, so I reached that goal. For lunch, I ate the entire grab bag of chips. Missed the PM snack. I did really well for the buffet, turkey, potatoes & gravy, corn pudding, roll, tried some macaroni salad (stopped at one bite, didn't taste good), & about 2/3 piece of blueberry pie. I think I ate something after I came home, but I don't remember what it was. No dedicated excercise for the day, but I was up on my feet all day cooking, running to the church, setting up the event, working the event, and cleaning up afterwards. That in itself was a lot of exercise.

Yesterday wasn't so good in terms of healthy food and activity, but it wasn't so bad since I didn't have the energy to over indulge. I think water was between 12-24oz, but not sure. Breakfast was 1 c. cream of wheat. Lunch was a Marie Calendar's chicken potpie, and a Little Debbie oatmeal cream pie. I was tired and looking for comfort food. Fortunately, the cookie didn't taste as good as I thought it might. For supper I ate 1/3 of a LC chicken club panini (good, but I cooked it too long) and some chips. Later, I had a c of eggnog w/Bailey's (out of eggnog now and won't have more for awhile, but at this time of year, it is a nice little treat). I wasn't active since I spent most of the day doing bills and bookwork. That was alright because I just didn't have a lot of energy after Thursday. DS and I watched Dennis the Menace Christmas last night while everyone was out. It was a good evening.

Today. I actually slept in and that was nice to do.

Food plan:
Breakfast - 7 gr toast w/ PB&J (ate late)
AM snack - piece of cheese
Lunch - 1 egg omelet w/ chives & moz, ham
PM snack - yogurt
Supper - chicken breast on angel hair pasta w/ a wine & tomato sauce topped with parmesan or moz, salad, maybe a piece of cheese toast

Goals for the day:
1. 48 oz water
2. no eating after 8:00pm (Saturday's are late suppers)

Aside from cleaning up the house today, I am hoping to get to start doing some repairs in the living room so that we can paint. Don't know if I will get that far, but I hope so.

Not much else. Everyone have a great day!

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi Lesli,

You are off to a great start! Keep up the good work and you will make your goals!

Hope you have a great week ahead....

 

[larry's girl]

Sounds like you are off to a great start! I am sorry for the car accident and having to deal with the after-effects, but glad that you are back to a point where you can start again with the weight loss efforts!

Keep going - you're going to do it for good this time!

Susan

 

[postesf]

Hi Lesli! You goals look great you are doing fantastic!!! You'll have to post a pic with the new 'do!

Keep it up! You're going great!
Stacie

 

[Lesli54]

It's me again. Wow, I didn't realize that Thanksgiving week went by so fast and I didn't even post anything. The good news is that on Thanksgiving day, I was down 4lbs. The bad news, I now appear to be up 4.5 lbs, but I am not sure if that is my scale acting up, not watching really close to what I am eating and when, or TOM, or all the above. For the most part, I have been eating leftovers of turkey, cheese, veggies, and fruit, healthy stuff. But then there has also been the pop here and there or the piece of candy, etc. Oh well, I guess, I will know in a few days where I am at. For now, it is time to bump up the water and get back on track.

Last week, I spent alot of time tying up loose ends, cleaning, and getting ready for Thanksgiving. It was a great! I stayed busy the entire week, plus had the energy to prepare a large meal. That is something that I haven't done in a few years, so it felt really good. Of course, it also helps that my children are older now and they can help with various tasks. We had 11 for dinner. My mom and aunt were over which hasn't happened in many many years, both DD20 and DD18 had their boyfriends overs, plus we had DH's brother. Everyone had a great time and the best part was that we still had company until the late hours of the evening, that doesn't usually happen at all.

Over the weekend, DH and DD20 ripped a shower out of my office so that I can have a closet. Yes, you read right, I had a shower where the closet is. It was a closet and is still mostly in tact as one, but a shower unit was put in there when the previous owner couldn't get upstairs anymore. I am thankful that probably close to week's end, I should have storage space in my office. It is much needed!

Food for today:
Breakfast - 1 egg omelet w/onion, gr peppers, & cheese (moz, prov, & baby swiss), toast w/jelly, 1 c grapefruit juice
AM snack - pineapple
Lunch - pizza (leftover from PH the other night)
PM snack - yogurt
Supper - spaghetti & salad

Goals for today:
1. 60 oz water
2. 30 min exercise (2 breaks of 15 min)
3. no eating after 7:30pm, drink hot tea if I am hungry
4. Bedtime no later than 10:30

I have found one thing this week, that I kind of forgot. Real food that is prepared fresh with a variety of spices and flavors is more satisfying and helps curb the munchies. This morning when I mixed the different cheeses for my omelet, I got a wonderful surprise in flavor. It is so easy to forget that food has flavor when you are eating alot of junk.

I better get going. The plan for the week is to keep on those home improvement repairs (I get to mud & paint) and get alot of bookwork done.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[Lesli54]

Here we go again. I know that I have come back more times lately than I can count, but what I am doing on my own is not working and I need accountability. Plus I have narrowed down some other factors that I need work on in order to be successful. So now is as good a time as any.

I am up to 226 and it irks me that I will knowingly sabatoge myself. Even though I didn't want the holidays to do me in, the food won out. Although, I did notice that I had some very stressful moments and instead of dealing with them, I kind of hid and went for the numbing effect of a food coma, so to speak. The result? Weight gain and more stress because sooner or later, you just have to deal with things. There were some good things that came out of the stress though. I found that if I just think of some new ways to address the issues at hand, that I can come up with something that will be more pleasant in the long run and I am not as apt to eat as much. Example: We were going to do Christmas at my grandmother's and the food planning, present opening, time of day, etc, got to be very stressful and way out of hand. Instead of a simple meal, it became very complex, which means my sister and I clean up while others watch tv or nap after dinner, giving us little time to visit with others, plus alot of other issues that creep it because everyone is stressed. This had me stressed so much it was unreal. Fortunately, the day was postponed due to bad weather. When we were able to finally get together later, I came up with the idea of just doing appetizers and snack foods. Instead of a dinner, we had a party. Gifts for the adults became reprints of family pictures. This turned out to be the most relaxed, easy to clean up Christmas we had ever had. Everyone visited, laughed, relaxed, and no one napped because the food was light. The moral of the story? Find new ways to help reduce stress and still get done what needs to be done. If I am hiding from the stress, then I need to change something and not go for the food.

So here is my simple plan for the day.
1. I will take 1/2 hour to 1 hour to begin reading Dr. Phil's weight loss solution and will do this daily. It worked for me before because it helped with structure so I know it can work again.
2. Any snacking that I feel I need will be healthy. Cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies. (I did clear the cupboards of almost all junk)
3. Work on a project to get it done and make life simpler. I have bookwork that needs to be caught up and better organized, I have closets to paint so we can hang the shelving units, which will declutter and create less stress, etc. If I take one project at a time each day this week, I will be active and feel a since of accomplishment. Not as much chance to eat.

It doesn't sound like much, but I did start the day by actually getting out of bed when I woke instead of trying to catch a few more minutes. I have to look at this as a lifestyle change and know that I can live the best possible life that I want and give my family the best of me.

Food so far today was:
Breakfast - 1 egg over easy, 1/2 slice 7 gr w/jelly, 1 c grapefruit juice.

At least it is a start and I will make myself accountable each morning. Everyone have a great day.

 

[Lesli54]

Well, yesterday went pretty well considering what I have been doing lately. Today the scale was the same, so I should be thankful that it didn't go up.

I did read Dr. Phil yesterday and today I plan the same. The great thing, even though I knew what was being said, was that I started the book and shortly into it I remembered more of what it was like to succeed at weigh loss and remembered how good it felt. I also knew that I could do it again, which is great mind booster. My project yesterday was bookwork and I managed to get alot done. It did help to stay focused.

Food wasn't bad, but I slipped a little. Fortunately, I did reign it in. I had a very small shortbread cookie before lunch. Then I had a tuna roll-up and some chips. Now, I did use my head on that one. I was hungry for chips so I opted for a grab bag that was split between DD18, DD10, DS5 & myself. This way, I got the taste I wanted, no major binge, and no leftovers. Later DD18 made some cinnamon biscuits and I had one. I was still hungry but reminded myself of healthier snacks so I went for cheese and crakers (although probably too many). Supper was 1 1/2 bowls of chili & crackers. Later, I relaxed with a cup of cocoa. Could have been better, but the portions were more in line and I reminded myself that this is just the start.

Today's food plan:
Breakfast - 1 egg omelet w/cheese, ham, 1 c grapefruit juice
AM snack - yogurt
Lunch - tuna roll-up, veggies if I have any (need to shop)
PM snack - apple
Supper - taco salad

Goals for today:
1. 60 oz water
2. read 1/2 hour of Dr. Phil
3. project - bookwork
4. bed by 10:30

I know I can do this, I know I can do this, I know I can do this....... You get the picture. Everyone have a wonderful day!

 

[Zela]

You can do it Lesli! You've done this before and you can do it again! Good job on making the healthier snacking decisions Let me know how Dr Phil's book is