My Journey Through Life

About two years ago I started using products from  philosophy . I first heard of the company on QVC  which is where I buy most of my beauty and skin care products. I shop QVC for a couple of reasons. One is that I really don't like shopping, two is that I trust them and their customer service is fantastic, three is that they sell the products that I use and love. philosophy® sells skin care for your entire body - head to toe. They have some wonderful facial products that, they claim, can give you 'makeup optional skin'. As much as I liked their products, I still doubted that I would ever feel comfortable going out of the house without make-up on.  Yes - I am that bad - even if I am just running to the convenience store to get gas or pick up milk or sandwiches, I have to have make up on my face...well...I did - that really has changed!  I still won't go to work or out to dinner without my face made up.  When I put on my make up I feel pretty - I am not saying I am

I had another good week!  Down two more pounds!  Yes...I am going to be happy about 2 pound losses!  Even my nights away for work have been good, I haven't spent the evening working and eating cookies! I increased my exercise to 3 workouts of 30 minutes and one workout of 24 minutes. I finally watched the rest of last week's The Biggest Loser. I was thinking about how they are disappointed if they don't have double digit losses...I would love to have double digit losses every week -but it isn't practical to think that I can lose that much in a week. The contestants on TBL are working out every day for hours...that is not the real life way to lose weight and keep it off long term.  I know that I could push myself to workout for an hour a day 5 days a week and I would lose more weight - but I would end up hitting a plateau and having no where to go to get past it!  I know this from past experience so this is my philosophy of healthy living and weight loss: Start out s

It was a cold night...I went to be with a positive feeling about my healthy lifestyle performance this week. I stayed within my calorie range everyday except one and I increased my exercise for the week......Then came the morning!  I woke up and all the old bad feelings about weight loss started kicking in. If you have ridden the same weight-loss roller coaster that I have been on for years - you will probably understand what I am talking about.  You had a great week. You feel good about yourself. You step on the scale only to find that you have lost a pound or nothing at all!  You feel like a complete failure. You shouldn't...and you know you shouldn't, but you do.  I sat there...staring at the scale as if it was my enemy - speculating on what it would tell me today.  I wanted so badly to step on but what if I didn't lose? What if after a week of eating healthy and exercising I was still the same weight that I was last Sunday.  The only logical reason I can find for feelin

Challenge Day went well.  I apricot chicken at Olive Garden - one bread stick and two bowls of minestrone soup.  Even with that I was under 700 calories for the meal so I had calories left over for some yogurt and fruit later that evening. The really great thing was that I wasn't hungry and didn't feel deprived. Weigh in is tomorrow...I have had a good week - added time onto my workouts and stayed under or very close to my calorie goals each day.  I add the Myfitnesspal tracker here - click on it and it should take you to the site...I love it cause it is so easy and I have it on my computer - phone and tablet! Big challenge day will be Monday - we have a family dinner at a restaurant that probably doesn't have the nutritional info online...but I am going to look! Have a great weekend! Go Ravens!!!

My challenge today is dinner out with friends. We are going to  Olive Garden  so we both went online today to check the nutritional content of the foods we want.  I have it all planned out already!  I know what I am going to eat and how many calories it will 'cost' me. For under 550 calories - I can have a meal that will fill me up and eliminate the normal guilt that I feel when I dine out!  It can be done. I was so happy to see my DH also checking out the menu and deciding to not have his favorite since it is probably the amount of calories one should intake for a whole day!  I got up this morning and worked out for 24 minutes...that gave me a few extra calories - but I won't need them.  We are going to a late lunch at 2 pm so I had breakfast and will probably have an apple to hold me over till then.  Apples are great for this cause they fill you up. I think this is at least partly due to their fiber content.  Here is a link to the  Mayo Clinic Website   that shows the fib

I got a good night's sleep last night...wanted to get up and cook a nice Sunday breakfast but I woke up at 4, went back to sleep and didn't wake up till 7:30.  When I finally climbed out of bed to brave the cold I stepped on the scale to find a 4 pound loss for the week!  Okay...it isn't a Biggest Loser loss, but it is great for me!!! So many things I want to get done today. If it warms up the way they say it is going to I might even go to the store to pick up some closet organizing supplies.  I need to do a workout...I plan to start adding minutes everyday to work up to 30 minutes 5 days a week. Have a great Sunday!!

As I come to the end of day six of my first healthy week of the year I am very pleased with my progress. I feel good.  I will weigh in tomorrow- it won't be a full week, but it is easier to weigh in on Sunday than Monday. I will do my measurements tomorrow also so I can track my progress in inches. I have stayed at or under my calorie range every day but one and I went over by less than 100 calories on that day!  Today I went over by 3 calories.  Pretty good considering that I probably have been eating double my suggested calories on a regular basis. I am looking forward to weigh in tomorrow - I really expect to see a loss. I  worked out for at least 20 minutes four days this week. I need to drink even more water and start adding time to my workouts little by little.  See you tomorrow to let you know the score!! BTW...Hooray...Ravens won!!!!!

I have been tracking my food and exercise since Monday and I feel great about it.  I have stayed at or just under my calorie allotment - even with yesterday being a work at home day!  If I can work from home for a full day without eating everything in sight - I am ready to make a change!  I worked out for 20 minutes on Monday - 10 on bike and 10 on elliptical - including some work on the Total Gym.  Tuesday I did 28 minutes of walking with a  Leslie Sansone  video. It was hard - I committed to 5 days a week - so I took off today. My legs were pretty tired since it has been so long since I have done two days in a row. I will be back at it tomorrow! Well- I still have about 600 calories to eat today so I am off for a healthy snack! Have a healthy evening!

I watched the biggest loser last night and it kind of inspired me.  So..up and on the scale this morning. Only a little worse than I expected.  Started using  My fitness pal  again to track my food.  I like it cause I have the app on my tablet and phone. I can keep track of what I eat no matter where I am.  It also has a scanner so if you have a package that something came it - all you have to do is scan it and it has the calories right there!  I love technology!  So I have done well today...one day down...almost. It is almost 7:30 and I am HUNGRY...I think I still have a little over 100 calories left for the day...hmmmm...maybe some carrots!  I know what I should do...I should go upstairs and take my mind off of food by working out.....here I go! Have a healthy night!

I actually went upstairs to the exercise room and did 10 minutes on the elliptical!! It has been ages since I did that!  It felt good! Wore my pedometer today and recorded over 3000 steps. I know that isn't the goal..that is 10,000 steps a day...but I was so happy that I found my pedometer - I just had to wear it!  What I used to do...and should start again is wearing it all day and if I don't get my full 10,000 steps by the evening- go for a walk or get on a treadmill to achieve the goal!  Trying to decide what the best plan for me to use for eating is...Special K...which would keep me from eating too many quick meals on the road?  I usually find that I can't maintain that plan for long but at least it would jump start me!  We need to stock the house with healthy foods and have them ready to go so that I can't use time as an excuse to eat unhealthy food! I am looking forward to a healthy new year for both us us!