E2E Update #5

If you didn't read my last whiney post, I'm glad.  Sometimes you just have to write it out in order to get it out of your head.  To you who did comment, thank you.  I am normally a very positive person, but am being tested on this.  I don't plan on mentioning it again in such a negative way.

Here are the facts for my week from hell:

Weight today:  138.  Same as last week.  A miracle, considering...  This week I am going to pray to get back to 135.  I am going to tell God that I will be satisfied at 135 and not keep wanting to get to the 130 that is probably not good for my body.

Waist today:  32.  Same as last week. 

Calories:  Goal is 1200 per day, with an absolute limit of 1500.  This week I averaged 1348 per day.  In looking back, I had three restaurant or take-out meals.  Sometimes convenience trumps healthy choices for me.  WHAT I ate was not very healthy.  But the number of calories was within range.  I do not make it a habit to either overeat or eat unhealthy foods, but there are always exceptions to this rule.  These  meals were individual, isolated meals, and did not continue for the rest of the day.   I will not beat myself up, and I did have to eat to avoid hypoglycemia.  The End.

Hydration:  Probably 5 out of 7 days I got enough water in.  This is good but not great.  I have to drink water in order to wash the sodium, MSG, and other evil ingredients that have invaded my body through food.  Not done this week.

Exercise:  4 out of 7 days.  Definitely needs improvement.  I did move my body, but did not get all my walking in, and did not lift weights consistently.

Reading:  I am still reading Refuse to Regain by Barbara Berkeley.  There is a lot of good information here.  And it makes sense for those who have lost the weight, that it is oh too easy to put it back on.  She gives you a lot to work with in order to make sure that does not happen.

Quote:  Look to the right, at the top, by Mario Andretti.  Another one that comes to mind this week is:
      "When you're going through hell, keep going."  --Winston Churchill

Buddy Angela:  I am so proud of her this week.  She biked 15 miles in mud and gravel.  All I can think is she must have legs of steel!

Support:  I have been around to most of you this week.  You inspire me.  You lift my spirits.  You make me feel all this is worth it.  You are my friends, and I am grateful.

Meditation:  This is a new one.  I desperately need to find a way to calm my mind.  I am listening and re-listening to some CD's given to me by a fellow challenger.  I am making progress slowly, and love the program and the way it is presented.  I will do a separate post on this later after I get into it deeper.

What I did for me:  This is another new one.  I visited with my 4-year-old little girl twice this week.  Once for about an hour, and the second time for a planned 4-hour visit to help my cousin, who is her grandmother.  Grandmother had her for 24 hours while the parents were out of town.  It was the first time Little Girl stayed overnight with Grandmother.  This little girl is the best therapy I have ever done.  And that is priceless.  Now she is calling me "Sister." 

Quitting:  Never!

Goals for the next week:  This is another new one, and may not be listed every week.  I just want to get my focus back on my health and weekly goals are more do-able than the long-term ones.

- Take some time to calm my brain.  Meditation, journaling, listening to music, a bubble bath, anything to calm the noise and thoughts flying around like honeybees.

- Get my water in every day this week.  I have slowly slipped away from this habit.  And it was a habit for me.  I have told you many times before that it was a healthy habit for me.
-  Make better food choices this week.  Today I am going to cook up some dinners for later in the week.  I have a produce drawer full of salad fixings.  I have baked chicken.  I have healthy soup.  There is only one planned restaurant meal mid-week and it is a place I know well and can make a good choice.

Sometimes when we get off track we have to go back to the basics and remind ourselves of what got us this far.  Sometimes the good habits we have made are easy to forget for a few days and then they're not good habits any more.  And finally, sometimes life gets in the way.  Then we just have to do what we can to get life back on track, then come back around to focus on our health.  As long as we come back to our health, we will improve it.  It's when we don't come back around to it that puts it at risk. 

So keep going.  Never give up.  Never quit.  I hope everyone has a great week!