Yesterday was a naughty day, and I learned my lesson.

I threw caution to the wind (read: my stomach was eating me alive) and went to Hardee’s, not caring one tiny bit about what was going to happen. I got a six dollar burger (it’s not really six bucks.) and curly fries. I snarfed it down like a dog with peanut butter on his nose, and proceeded to wonder about what I had just done.

hah! I waddled over to my Calorieking diet diary and added them to my day. Ouch.

One Six Dollar Burger? 1060 calories. 40g protein. 72g fat. 60g carbs. 3g fiber.

Medium curly fries? 342 calories. 4g protein. 16g fat. 42g carbs. 3g fiber.

Total? 1402 cal, 44g protein, 88g fat, 102g carbs, 6g fiber.

Well that was hardly worth it. I exceeded the ENTIRE day in ONE MEAL. In fact, that fat? Nearly FOUR DAYS worth. OMG. That was bad.

Purely out of curiousity, I got on the scale this morning. I’m not officially checking in until Saturday, so I still have a couple of days to redeem myself, thank God. The scale agreed with me when it screamed NO MORE HARDEE’S. No more.

That was not even worth it. That discouragement, that in-my-face “you shoulda known better, dummy” feeling.

If you’re looking for some motivational articles that make a whole lot of sense, check out Diet Bites.  There are many free diet plans and lots of encouraging articles that can be accessed without membership.  I spent two hours just reading this evening.  I hope you find something useful there.

Not a bad week at all – I’m down 4.5 pounds! What did I do? I ate from the WW Core foods list (97% of the time, they don’t include granola or trail mix).

I started things off the same way that I did last year, pretty much. I went to Sparkpeople.com and put my current and goal weights in, let it tell me how many cals, carbs, protein, fat & fiber I should have a day. Then I opened up my CalorieKing Diet Diary right here on my own desktop (I bought the software last year), and updated all of my information. My calorie intake – 1281. Fat=25g, Carbs=135g, Fiber=20g, Protein=100g. With all of this info, I start looking at how to fill those daily totals wisely, starting off with a fat-free vanilla latte (which I didn’t have to give up! yay!). I increased my water intake, it’s been on average about 66 ounces per day, sometimes a little more.

I haven’t even begun an exercise regimen yet – although I have picked up the pace while I’m at the grocery store or just walking to and from and here and there.

4.5 lbs. the first week back on track – not too dang shabby – I’ll take it!

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season and have an even better new year.  

So….. here we are again :wave:, back at square 1 once more.  Well, I guess it is good that we are here and not ignoring something important to us right?  I am trying to get my head in the right place so as to try to stay on track again.  It wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t have to gain back all the progress we have made time and time again, but I have no one to blame but myself.  When you quit paying attention, you pay, dearly.  Once again I come, tail tucked betweeen my legs to start over.  The good thing is I know you all are not judgmental and totally understand. :grouphug:

I am actually working on quite a few things, but in trying to get my head together, I have found this book a dear friend recommended I read, which she said is helping her tremendously.  It is called “The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity” by Catherine Ponder.  This is not a new book and has been around for a long time.  It deals in a nut shell about forgiveness, letting go and thinking positively.  It is doing me a lot of good.  I am not one for self-help books for the most part but this one seems very different some how.  I highly suggest it.  It is not just monetary prosperity but prosperity in all aspects of our lives. 

I have read some interesting things regarding belly fat and the cause of it:  1)  Lack of good, quality sleep of at least 8 hours.  2)  Trans fats.  3)  Stress.  So.. I will work on these.  Secondly, I am going to avoid sugar wherever I can and eat more protein.  3) journal my food intake.  4)  Most importantly, positivity and no negativity and just do the best I can. 

I will officially start my “diet” 1/8/07.  I don’t think I will weigh in tho… i can’t bear it right now.  I know really anyways by  how my clothes are fitting.  I hope we can all encourage each other once again… I know it was going pretty good last year.  Thanks Leanne for not shutting this down.  It was a lot of fun cheering each other on.  We can be successful, I know we can. 

Christmas and New Years have blessed me with a gain of 12 pounds. I feel like Homer Simpson in that I should be hitting myself in the head saying “Dough” (Yes, I’m sure it was bread or carbs or sweets that did me in!)

However, I’m taking the advice of the authors of “you on a diet” suggest and instead of beating myself up and throwing myself into the live volcano of Chocolate, I’m reapeating the diet mantra. “At the next available moment, make an authorized You Turn.” Get back on the right road now. This mantra helps by reminding me to be confident and positive and not to quit because of taking the wrong turn.

The illistration is of a GPS satelite navagation system. It gives you directions but if you miss a turn or turn onto the wrong street it doesn’t berate you or scold you by tell you that you might as well drive off a cliff. Instead all it says, very politely, is this, “At the next available moment, make an authorized U-turn.”

I’m all for directions, accountability, and cheer leading. Thin City is the destination and I’m all for traveling together. I need all the help I can get. Thanks for taking the trip with me.

Just had these sandwiches for dinner – everyone in the family loved them.

You’ll need:
Turkey Breast Cutlets, 99% fat free, lean jennie-o
(fry for 2-3 minutes on each side)
Thomas whole wheat square bagel
tomato
lettuce
sandwich pickles
light reduced fat kraft cucumber ranch dressing
sargento reduced fat mexican cheese

Put it together:
Layer on the bagel (these bagels are really soft, and REALLY good.):
1- 2oz. breast cutlet
pinch of shredded cheese
1- 2oz. breast cutlet
pinch of shredded cheese
add pickles, tomato, lettuce as desired
top with ranch dressing

Served with a side of 1/2 cup of low fat 2% cottage cheese – here are the results for this meal

Calories: 499
Protein: 54.8g
Fat: 7.2g
Carbs: 70g
Fiber: 8g

That was excellent – and I’m very full after one sandwhich and that small amount of cottage cheese. I’m even under my daily limits yet for every single category – and in just the last day or two, there’s a difference in my scale. I love when that happens! (Now why did I bail on myself again last June? D’oh.)

Just in case anyone is looking for a ready-to-go shopping list, here’s one I put together for my sister based on my own – which I relied heavily upon the WW Core food list to create. Hope this helps you get started!

BREADS/GRAINS:
whole grain tortillas
success brown rice boil in a bag
whole grain breads, soft bread – natural harvest is a good brand
high fiber cereal – shredded wheat w/grain (8g per serving), fiber one w/ honey crunch is high, but I couldn’t find it
trail mix california blend – no m&m’s
whole grain pastas
vegetable pasta (corkscrew multicolor)

VEGGIES:
green peppers
california blend frozen veggies (broccoli, cauliflower & carrots)
frozen corn
frozen sliced zucchini
carrots
celery
cauliflower
salad mix (bagged premade salad)
mushrooms
onions
delmonte diced tomatoes (italian seasoned, garlic, prepared diced tomato sauces)
dry soup mixes: cream of spinach, non chunky dry mixes for turkey burgers

FRUITS:
lite sliced peaches
natural applesauce (single serving container packs)
bananas
grapes (if they’re on sale, they’re out of season right now)
ruby red grapefruit

DAIRY:
lite ranch veggie dip
fat free or low fat (2%) cottage cheese
eggbeaters (3/4 c. per serving per day per person)
olive oil cooking spray
fat free ranch dressing
skim milk
2% milk
reduced fat shredded cheese – mexican blend
low fat yogurt – we get plain vanilla & fruit on the bottom jewel brand
eggs (for cooking)

MEATS:
canned tuna in water
sliced smoked turkey from the deli
John Soules chicken breast fajitas (chicken breast precooked for fajitas)
ground turkey
turkey medallions
turkey lean cuts
lean pork boneless chops
turkey tenderloins
chicken – breast meat, ground or whatever is on sale